Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1878-08-23
HER HOLTD1I.


Yes, It was to be her holiday all tor her.
Nobody else was to have any share in it eX-
cept mysclf-that is, if going as her courier,
paymaster, and general factotum could be
called having a share in holiday.
We had been married nearly ten years, and
what with the cares Of home and the training
of numerous olive-bTanchcs, she had never had
any chance of Il rest. OF course, we had been
to the seaside frequently, and all that sort Of
thing; but then, surrounded by children and
| nurses, these trips had only been continue
ton of the general London responsibilities
plus tile worries and inconvenience of lodg-
| ings or hotels. Moreover, within the last few
years there had been some trouble in her fam
| lily, which hNdactcdvery prejudicially uponher
| sensitive and high-stTung nature. So now We
were going away alone-going TO leave all the
| children at home in the charge of grandmam-
ma-were going abroad for six weeks togeth-
er wherever she liked. Her will was to be
| paramount l was to be her >lave-to pay the
bills and look after the luggage. Her afec-
ton and untiring devotion TO her duties de
served no less. She had thoroughly qualified
herself for enjoying holiday; she had earn
ed it, Italy" She said, where there was
sunlight, beauty, and quiet" Good l wav-
ed my magician's wand rubbed the lamp, or
spread the carpet, or did any one of those
wonderful things which necromancers Of yOre
We're wont to do when desiring to be trans
| ported to distant places-or, rather, resort
ed to the modern golden equivalent for such
| procecdings-an VIC found ourselves certain
| ", as if by magic, at Lucerne. Thence we
were to take it easy, and so logged along over
the st. Gothard Pass, and dropped into Italy
| at the Locarno end of the Lago Maggiore.
BY this time she was beginning to enjoy
herself thoroughly she had got over the IA
tigue, and already looked much as she did the
day | married her. Yes i. was very delight
full to see her so well and happy.
''Why, it is like a honeymoon over again,
she said "or rather it is as if there had been
no break, and that it was only the continua-
ton of those early days
We spent hours and hours upon the lake,
beneath the awnings of the tat-bottomed
boats, those first inceptions of the gondola, OF
we wandered up to the picturesque old con
vent or sanctuary of the Madonna del Sasso, sci
like jewel amid the blue hills behind the
town. And there in the soft autumn evenings
We sat and watched the glorious sunset, ant
the boundlcss panorama of alp, plain, anC
lake, while the bell in the campanle hard by
called the peasantry to yespers, and the peal
ing of the deep toned organ resounded through
the choir.
We selected LOcarno ~ "A halting- place, be
cause it was at that time and is so partly still
out of the rush of the tourist. A primitive
place with simple civil people willing tC
serve and oblige honestly, and without hay
ing for the first question in their minds
"What shall we get by it!' Thus We CANT
to know some Of them living up there nea,
the sanctuary aud to speak or nod when w
met from time to time
Notably among these was a mother and chil'
"A sweet little chubby cherub of a boy abou
four. The Italian folk in the north there ar
not as a rule handsome, but this mother wa
an exception, and the child WAS like her. Su
perior too, in all respects she looked bette
boru. bred, aud nWturod nay there was
look of culture and refinement about her.
Immediately attracted by this pair, my wifi
particularly would lose no opportunity Of civ
ing the little one a pat and kiss, and Of eX
changing pleasant word or two IN the bes
Italian She could muster with the mother, VIII
by degrees on her part began to speak littl
English. aud to take us into her confidence
| She explained that she had married an Eng
lishlnan a gentleman, she declared, who Ia
; | died suddenly more than four years ago, an
lust before the little one was born. His fan
| ily never knew of the marriage he had III
tended, she said to proclaim 1t, and lace ia
consequences of the HifSdLttdRce, as II woul
be called; but his sudden end prevented TIM
+ and to this day she believed her existence wa
unknown to her husbands people. But sll
did not care he had left her just enough t
live upon and she had come to dwell Z
., Locarno, where her aged father lived, an
= whose last days she desired to soothe, Sh
was quite contented with the humble life 81
led there in yonder little wooden chalet
least until the good God should take him
his rest.
h, Would we enter the abode and speak to he
father? He was a very handsome old man.
native of Tuscany who had seen better day
MAI it mattered little that, or why he ha
> come SO far north.
Her name, we asked,
All. her maiden name was one that IN pa
times had struck terror to the foes of liberty
'e she would rather not mention it. Her tathe
even, had considered it wise to drop it, al
had adopted her surname, her married nam
the name of her husband that is
What had he taken an English name
No, not an English name her husband M
mr. been nnaturalized as an Italian, had changed
t. name for reasons-they did not signify Al
n. he was known as GiorgiO Vianero, she WI
Iucia