Mr. Cardan held up his hand. “No, no,” he objected with decision and shook his head. “Don’t talk to me of fish. Never safe in these little places,” he explained to his companions. “Particularly in such hot weather. And then, imagine eating fish from Bolsena—a place where they have miracles, where holy wafers bleed for the edification of the pious and as a proof of the fact of transubstantiation. No, no,” Mr. Cardan repeated, “fishes from Bolsena are altogether too fishy. Let’s stick to fried eggs, with fillet of veal to follow. Or a little roast capon....” “I want fish,” said Miss Elver. The passionate earnestness of her tone contrasted strikingly with the airiness of Mr. Cardan’s banter. “I really wouldn’t, you know,” said Mr. Cardan. “But I like fish.” “But it may be unwholesome. You never can tell.” “But I want it,” Miss Elver insisted. “I love fish.” Her large lower lip began to tremble, her eyes filled with tears. “I _want_ it.” “Well, then, of course you shall have it,” said Mr. Cardan, making haste to console her. “Of course, if you really like it. I was only afraid that it mightn’t perhaps be good. But it probably will be.” Miss Elver took comfort, blew her long nose and smiled. “Thank you, Tommy,” she said, and blushed as she pronounced the name. After dinner they went out into the piazza for coffee and liqueurs. The square was crowded and bright with lights. In the middle the band of the local Philharmonic Society was giving its Sunday evening concert. Planted on the rising ground above the piazza Sammicheli’s great church solemnly impended. The lights struck up, illuminating its pilastered walls. The cupola stood out blackly against the sky. “The choice,” said Mr. Cardan, looking round the piazza, “seems to lie between the Café Moderno and the Bar Ideale. Personally, I should be all for the ideal rather than the real if it wasn’t for the disagreeable fact that in a bar one has to stand. Whereas in a café, however crassly materialistic, one can sit down. I’m afraid the Moderno forces itself upon us.” He led the way in the direction of the café.