Five minutes later the affair was arranged. The foreigner, Luisa by
name, was at first incredulous on hearing of her new comrade's mixed
nationality, but she readily accepted such explanations as Toni gave
her, and was quick to recognize the value of Toni's perfect English at
the present juncture.
Toni's lack of luggage puzzled her a little, but Toni murmured something
about a lost dressing-bag which satisfied the other woman; and when the
long train steamed out of the station at last Toni was comfortably
ensconced in a reserved first-class compartment, making friends with the
two little girls with whom she was to travel.
This fact explains the non-success of all inquiries at the railway
stations, or, later, on the boat. The authorities were on the look-out
for a young Englishwoman journeying alone; and never associated the
young Italian lady travelling, apparently, with her two children and a
nurse, with the solitary girl for whom they searched.
Toni's fur coat was by no means a unique garment. There were plenty to
be seen at this time of year; and in any case the girl, protected by her
unassailable bodyguard, was able to pass under the eyes of the very men
who were anxiously on the look-out for her.
The journey to which Luisa had looked forward with such apprehension
passed off well enough. Toni was obliged to rouse herself from her own
dejection to look after the children, who were both delicate and spoilt;
but luckily they took an instant fancy to the travelling companion so
strangely provided, and behaved with commendable good-temper throughout.
When at length the train ran into the railway station at Naples, Toni
suddenly found herself faced with another problem. The nurse had taken
her on trust, so to speak, and had been too grateful for her help to
seek to probe into her private affairs; but now that she must face the
mother of the pretty children, to whom she had become quite attached,
Toni realized that she would have to give some more plausible
explanation of her situation than that which had contented the impetuous
Luisa.
She got out of the carriage at last, her arms full of the children's
wraps and toys, with knees which shook under her at the thought of the
ordeal to come; but one quick look into Mrs. Moody's frank and kindly
face reassured her a little.
She soon found, moreover, that the lady was as ready to take her on
trust as the maid had been. When she had heard Luisa's voluble
explanation of the part Toni had played during the long and wearying
journey, Mrs. Moody turned to Toni with an expression of real gratitude
on her still pretty face.
"I really don't know how to thank you, Miss ... er ..." She hesitated,
and Toni quickly supplied her with the first name she could think of,
the name of her Italian mother's race. "Oh, but surely you are English?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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