"How dared they do that?" said the young lady indignantly. "I call it
not only sacrilege, but stealing."

"It was defrauding the owner of the property; they might as well take
his money," said Mrs. Kirkby, in languid protest.

The smile which this outburst of proprietorial indignation brought to
the face of the consul lingered with the Englishman's reply.

"But it was only robbing the old robbers, don't you know, and they put
their spoils to better use than their old masters did; certainly to
more practical use than the owners do now, for the ruins are good for
nothing."

"But the hallowed associations--the picturesqueness!" continued Mrs.
Kirkby, with languid interest.

"The associations wouldn't be anything except to the family, you know;
and I should fancy they wouldn't be either hallowed or pleasant. As for
picturesqueness, the ruins are beastly ugly; weather-beaten instead of
being mellowed by time, you know, and bare where they ought to be hidden
by vines and moss. I can't make out why anybody sent you there, for you
Americans are rather particular about your sightseeing."

"We heard of them through a friend," said the consul, with assumed
carelessness. "Perhaps it's as good an excuse as any for a pleasant
journey."

"And very likely your friend mistook it for something else, or was