It was late in the evening when Marcello reached the villa, and was told that his stepfather had left suddenly with his valet, before sunset, taking a good deal of luggage with him.

The coachman had driven him to the station and had seen no more of him.

He had not left any message or note for Marcello.

This was as it should be, and Marcello did not care to know whither he had gone, since he was out of the house.

He was glad, however, that he had left Rome at once instead of going to an hotel, which would have made an interesting topic of conversation for gossips.
Marcello vaguely wondered why Folco had told a perfectly gratuitous falsehood about Aurora, and whether he could possibly have lied merely for the sake of hurting him.