"Then Gemma is actually as dangerous to us as Vittorina was?" Malvano said, deeply reflecting. "More dangerous," she declared in a low, harsh voice. "She must be parted from Armytage at once. Every moment's delay increases our danger. Exposure and disgrace are imminent. In this matter we must risk everything to prevent betrayal." CHAPTER NINE. BENEATH THE RED, WHITE, AND BLUE. August passed slowly but gaily in lazy Leghorn. The town lay white beneath the fiery sun-glare through those blazing, breathless hours; the cloudless sky was of that intense blue which one usually associates with Italy, and by day the deserted Passeggio of tamarisks and ilexes, beside the most waveless sea, was for ever enlivened by the chirp of that unseen harbinger of heat, the cicale. Soon, however, the season waned, the stormy libeccio blew frequently, rendering outdoor exercise impossible; but Charles Armytage still lingered on at Gemma's side, driving with her in the morning along the sea-road to Ardenza and Antignano, or beyond as far as the high-up villa in which lived and died Smollet, the English historian, or ascending to the venerated shrine of the Madonna of Montenero, where the little village peeps forth white and scattered on the green hill-side overlooking the wide expanse of glassy sea. Their afternoons were usually spent amid the crowd of chatterers at Pancaldi's baths, and each evening they dined together at one or other of the restaurants beside the sea. One morning late in September, when Armytage's coffee was brought to his room at the Grand Hotel, the waiter directed his attention to an official-looking note lying upon the tray. He had just risen, and was standing at the window gazing out upon the distant islands indistinct in the morning haze, and thinking of the words of assurance and affection his well-beloved had uttered before he had parted from her at the door, after the theatre on the previous night. Impatiently he tore open the note, and carelessly glanced at its contents. Then, with an expression of surprise, he carefully re-read the letter, saying aloud-- "Strange! I wonder what he wants?" The note was a formal one, bearing on a blue cameo official stamp the superscription, "British Consulate, Leghorn," and ran as follows:-- "Dear Sir,-- "I shall be glad if you can make it convenient to call at the Consulate this morning between eleven and one, as I desire to speak to you upon an important and most pressing matter. "Yours faithfully,-- "John Hutchinson, His Majesty's Consul." "Hutchinson," he repeated to himself. "Is the Consul here called Hutchinson? It must be the Jack Hutchinson of whom Tristram spoke. He called him `jovial Jack Hutchinson.' I wonder what's the `pressing matter'? Some infernal worry, I suppose. Perhaps some dun or other in town has written to him for my address." He paused, his eyes fixed seriously upon the distant sea.