“I should like to,” he said, “but the girls are having the time of their lives, and this air is making a new man of me. Then the young count seems to have let go; he doesn't annoy us any more. I'm hoping that Forbes will settle this count business.” While we were eating a telegram was put in my hands which read as follows: _I am stopping at the Bristol in Florence and must have your professional advice immediately._ _I cannot go to Rome, so will you kindly come here._ _I am in serious trouble. If I am not at hotel look for me third corridor of paintings, Uffizi Gallery. Please regard this as strictly confidential. M. Mullet._ I answered that she should look for me the next day, and said to Norris: “I have to go to Florence to-morrow.” “Take the car and your wife and the young people,” said he. “The roads are fine, and you'll enjoy it.” I thanked him for the suggestion. “There's one other thing,” said he. “If you think Forbes means business tell him at the first opportunity that I am an ex-convict, and let me know how he takes it. We must be fair to him.” “Leave it to me.” “We'll take them down to Naples with the motor-car soon,” said Norris. “Vesuvius is active again, and we must see her in eruption.” He did not suspect that another Vesuvius was beginning to quake beneath us, and I did not have the heart to speak of it. I hoped that I could serve as a shock-absorber in the new eruption and save him any worry. X.--A DAY OF ADVENTURES WITH TUSCAN ARTISTS AND OTHERS NEXT morning I found Betsey and the young people eager for the trip to Florence. Richard and I had breakfast together at eight-thirty. “There's a new count in the game,” said he, as soon as we were seated together. “He came to our table last evening. He's a grand chap and in favor with the king, to whom he is going to present Gwendolyn and her mother. He knows how to talk to women, and I don't. I shall not be in it with him.” “As to which is the best man it's her judgment, not yours, that's important,” I said. “So long as I am managing the case you must take nothing for granted. Put her on the witness-stand, and let's know what she has to say about it. Before that I must tell ye something--in confidence. Norris is about the best fellow that I ever knew, but he got into trouble when he was a boy. He was the victim of circumstances and went to prison--served a year.” “I heard of that long ago,” said Forbes. “What!” I exclaimed, in astonishment. “Nobody cares anything about that. Everybody knows that he's a good man now--that is enough in America.” “Do many know it?” “Probably not. I have heard that even Gwendolyn and her mother do not know it.” It surprised and in a way it pleased me to learn that I had told him what he already knew. I remembered that he had said, in his walk with me, that the distinguished editor who had got the tragic story from my lips was an uncle of his. So, after all, it was not strange that he should know.