"What a charming man your friend Mr Clayton is!" exclaimed the girl in English, as they were sitting together apart from the others. "Papa is delighted with him." "Oh, yes--a most excellent fellow for a parson," his Lordship laughed, and then their conversation turned upon motors and motoring. "How is your shoulder this evening?" she inquired. "Not at all painful," he declared. "It's nearly all right again. The car will be ready for the road to-morrow afternoon. I'm lunching with you here, and I wonder if you and your cousin will come with me for a run out to Tivoli afterwards?" "I should be delighted," she said. "Our car is only a sixteen `Fiat' you know, and we never travel faster than a cab. It would be such fun to have a run in your beautiful `sixty'! I don't suppose papa would object." "I'll ask him to come, too," laughed the man by whom she had become so attracted, and then they returned for another dance. Her ears were open, and so were those of the shrewd old man who controlled the internal affairs of the kingdom. There were whisperings everywhere, regarding the young man's wealth, his good fortune, and his aristocratic family. His Excellency had not failed to notice the attraction which the young English peer held for his daughter, and also that he paid her marked attention. Therefore the old man was extremely self-satisfied. Next day after the little family luncheon at the Peruzzi Palace at which only the Signora Boncini, Velia, and her cousin Ethel were present, his Excellency took his guest aside in his small private room for their coffee and cigarettes. Nassington offered the Minister one of his "Petroffs" which was pronounced excellent. Then, after a brief chat, his Lordship came to the point. "The fact is, your Excellency," he said, "a suggestion has occurred to me by which the Italian Government could, while benefiting the country to an enormous extent, at the same time secure a very handsome sum annually towards the exchequer." "How?" inquired the shrewd old statesman. "By granting to a group of substantial English financiers a monopoly for the whole of the motor-transport of Italy," his Lordship replied, blowing a cloud of smoke from his lips. "You have, in every part of the kingdom, great tracts of productive country without railways or communications. At the same time you have excellent roads everywhere. The concession, if granted, would be taken up by a great firm who handle motor-traction, and certain districts, approved by your government, would be opened up as an experiment. Would not that be of national benefit?" "I see," replied the statesman stroking his beard thoughtfully. "And you propose that the earnings of the syndicate should be taxed by our Department of Finance?" "Exactly." A keen, eager look was in the old man's eyes, and did not pass unrecognised by the man lounging in the armchair in picturesque indolence.