He had seen at once that Artois either knew, or suspected, who were
the occupants of the white boat with the green line, and he had also
seen that, influenced perhaps by one of those second thoughts which
lead men into caution, Artois desired to conceal his knowledge, or
suspicion. Instantly the Marchesino had, therefore, dropped the
subject, and as instantly he had devised a little plan to clear the
matter up.

The Marchesino knew that when Artois had arrived in Naples he had had
no friends in the town or neighborhood. But he also knew that recently
an Englishwoman, an old friend of the novelist, had come upon the
scene, that she was living somewhere not far off, and that Artois had
been to visit her once or twice by sea. Artois had spoken of her very
casually, and the Marchesino's interest in her had not been awakened.
He was not an inquisitive man by nature, and was always very busy with
his own pursuit of pleasure. But he remembered now that once he had
seen his friend being rowed in the direction of Posilipo, and that in
the evening of the same day Artois had mentioned having been to visit
his English friend. This fact had suggested to the Marchesino that if
his suspicion were correct, and the ladies in the white boat with the
green line were this English friend and a daughter, they probably
lived in some villa as easily reached by sea as by land. Such villas
are more numerous towards the point of the Capo di Posilipo than
nearer Naples, as the high road, after the Mergellina, mounts the hill
and diverges farther and farther from the sea. The Antico Giuseppone
is a small waterside ristorante at the point of the Capo di Posilipo,
a little below the Villa Rosebery.

The Marchesino's suggestion of a dinner there that evening had been
prompted by the desire to draw his friend into the neighborhood of his