mother's eyes as he turned.

Even to him, she looked very young just then, as she stood in the light,
smiling at him. A piece of lace was drawn half over her fair hair, and
the ends went round her throat like a scarf and fell behind her. Its
creamy tints heightened the rare transparency of her complexion by faint
contrast. She was a slight woman and very graceful.

"I have looked for you everywhere," she said, and she still smiled, as
if with real pleasure at having found him.

"I have been watching the shower" Marcello answered, drawing her to the
window. "And then the earth and the roses smelt so sweet that I stayed
here. Did you want me, mother?"

"I always like to know where you are."

She passed her arm through his with a loving pressure, and looked out
of the window with him. The villa stood on the slope of the Janiculum,
close to the Corsini gardens.

"Do I run after you too much?" the mother asked presently, as if she
knew the answer. "Now that you are growing up, do I make you feel as if
you were still a little boy? You are nearly nineteen, you know! I
suppose I ought to treat you like a man."

Marcello laughed, and his hand slipped into hers with an almost childish
and nestling movement.

"You have made a man of me," he answered.