Where Angels Fear to Tread

by E. M. Forster



Chapter 1

They were all at Charing Cross to see Lilia off--Philip,
Harriet, Irma, Mrs. Herriton herself. Even Mrs. Theobald,
squired by Mr. Kingcroft, had braved the journey from
Yorkshire to bid her only daughter good-bye. Miss Abbott
was likewise attended by numerous relatives, and the sight
of so many people talking at once and saying such different
things caused Lilia to break into ungovernable peals of laughter.

"Quite an ovation," she cried, sprawling out of her
first-class carriage. "They'll take us for royalty. Oh,
Mr. Kingcroft, get us foot-warmers."

The good-natured young man hurried away, and Philip,
taking his place, flooded her with a final stream of advice
and injunctions--where to stop, how to learn Italian, when to
use mosquito-nets, what pictures to look at. "Remember," he
concluded, "that it is only by going off the track that you
get to know the country. See the little towns--Gubbio,
Pienza, Cortona, San Gemignano, Monteriano. And don't, let
me beg you, go with that awful tourist idea that Italy's
only a museum of antiquities and art. Love and understand
the Italians, for the people are more marvellous than the land."