Island of Mermaids by Iris Danbury Page B

daughter did not know. Cristo was more than usually talkative about cars, Rome, his own future and places he intended to visit. Althea longed for the moment when she could escape to the sanctuary of the ‘ gingerbread house ’ .
    At last the meal was over and after coffee on the terrace she left the two men. Let them talk if they wanted to.
    It seemed that Mr. Buckland had no wish to have long conversations with Cristo, for he joined Althea in their sitting-room after a short time.
    ‘ I ’ ve had enough of Cristo for one day, ’ Althea said. ‘I felt I couldn ’ t take any more. ’
    Her father smiled gently. Tie ’ s a bit irritating, I ’ ll admit. Seems rather vain and shallow, but perhaps I ’ m too old to understand young men of today. ’
    ‘ He ’ s twenty-five and he seems to have all the faults of a nineteen-year-old, ’ she snapped.
    ‘ Remember he ’ s Italian. The young men mature quickly in some directions and in others seem to us quite callow. But the same could be said of Englishmen. ’
    Althea related the incidents of the day and how she and Cristo had lost touch with the rest of the party.
    ‘ No doubt I shall hear all the news tomorrow morning. I hope Carla was successful. ’
    ‘ I ’ m not sure about that, ’ was her father ’ s comment. ‘ It might be a happier future for Carla if her voice isn ’ t quite good enough for a professional career. She ’ s not really cut out for it. ’
    ‘ Well, even a few lessons in Naples will provide her with a little variety in her life, even if eventually she never makes the grade, ’ returned Althea.

 
    CHAPTER THREE
    Althea was correct in her estimate that she would hear all the news the following morning.
    She and her father usually took their breakfast coffee and rolls in their sitting-room with the french windows open on to the garden.
    Carla followed Rosanna with the tray. Obviously the girl was in a gay mood.
    ‘ Oh, I am so happy! ’ she exclaimed before even a ‘ Buon gio rn o ’ could be exchanged.
    ‘ The news is good? ’ queried Althea quickly.
    ‘ The professor will take me as a pupil. He likes my voice. But there is more than that to make me happy. ’
    ‘ Have some coffee with us and sit down and tell us all about it, ’ invited Althea. ‘ Rosanna, would you bring a cup for the Signorina? ’
    But Carla was too exultant to sit down. She roamed excitedly around the room, perching on the arm of a chair, springing up and whirling around to some other fleeting resting place.
    ‘ I ’ m terribly sorry we missed you, Cristo and I, ’ began Althea. ‘ Actually, we were only at a cafe in the square opposite the professor ’ s house, but somehow the taxi went away when we weren ’ t looking. I wanted to know how you got on. ’
    ‘ Oh, it didn ’ t matter. Kent took us to lunch and we celebrated. Then we went for a drive along the coast. We stopped for tea and cakes at a small place, where there was an hotel they were getting ready for the tourists. Kent met a friend who had a boat and we all went out in it. ’ Carla giggled. ‘ Mamma was not very keen. She does not like little boats, only large steamers. Still, she was not ill. Then we came back to Naples in the evening and had dinner at a new hotel in Mergellina. That was most exciting, for there was dancing in a kind of covered garden and I danced with Kent many times. ’
    ‘ And how did you come home when the last steamer had gone? ’
    ‘ Kent told Mamma not to worry. It would be no trouble to hire a motor launch to bring us back to Capri any time we liked. So that is what we did. Past midnight when we arrived here. ’
    ‘ You seem to have enjoyed yourself very well, ’ put in Mr. Buckland.
    ‘ One of the happiest days of my life, ’ agreed Carla.
    ‘ Now you will have to work hard at your singing, ’ Althea reminded her.
    ‘ Oh yes, indeed. I must work hard for Kent. I must please him. ’
    Carla took a couple of sips at the coffee, then skipped off