_Mrs W._ Yes; but we are in sad trouble now: a canister of arrow-root
must have remained on the Lucca Railway, and baby will get ill without
it. We had a good many small packages, and this one was overlooked in
the confusion; but--

_Banker._ (_Promptly._) I'll write to the clerk in charge at the
station about it at once.

_Mrs W._ Oh! thank you. I was going to ask you to do so. A brown,
japanned canister, fastened down with some strong twine.

_Banker._ Very good, very good. How do you like your house at the
Villa? I gave orders that the beds should be aired, and charcoal and
oil provided before your arrival, just as you directed.

_Mrs W._ Thank you; pretty well; but, as usual with all Italians, the
owners are most disobliging. I wanted a cot put in for baby, but they
say they have none, and that it was not stipulated for in the
agreement. Now, surely (_impressively_), surely a person of your
experience would never take a house for a lady and young children
without such an indispensable thing as a cot?

_Banker._ You did not mention it in your letter, my good lady, and
having four other friends' lodgings to fix that same day, it has, I
fear, escaped me. (_Good-humouredly._) But we'll try and arrange
matters. I'll come down and talk to the Padrone di Casa--

_Mrs W._ (_Taking a memorandum out of her reticule._) Let me see. Ah,
yes! butter, milk, eggs. Could you favour me with the exact prices of
all these necessaries? for I am certain the people of the house have