Certainly Vanno's surprise at hearing of her presence on the Riviera,
and her questions concerning the family, had not been of an agreeable
nature. He had thought that she was in America, and evidently would not
have been sorry if she had stayed there; yet any uneasiness he felt had
not, apparently, been on his own behalf. Angelo's name had been
mentioned, and then Vanno had rather abruptly turned to another subject.
The cure blamed himself for curiosity, yet he could not help feeling
curious concerning the young woman with eyes which he had described as
like those of a statue.
He wondered if she knew that the Prince was at the Hotel de Paris, and
if she had come there to see him; or if, perhaps, they had already met
since he first mentioned her to Vanno. He wished that his small
knowledge of English were larger, but though he spoke the language not
at all, and understood only a little, he gathered here and there a word
of the conversation. Idina Bland's companion was evidently telling her
about the "celebrities"; therefore he deduced that she was better
acquainted with the Riviera than was the younger woman. Now and then the
cure caught the word "Annonciata," and he wondered if the pair were
staying at the place of that name. He knew it well, the beautiful little
pointed mountain above Mentone, with its deserted convent, its sad
watching cypresses, its one hotel in a fragrant garden, and its famous
view of the Corsican mirage. If Vanno's cousin lived in that hotel,
which could be reached only by a funicular or a picturesque mule path,
it looked as if she had a wish for retirement.
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