'Why couldn't it have been five minutes late ?' They returned to the inn to find Mr.Wilder already on the front seat, and obligingly holding the reins, while the driver occupied himself with a glass of the famous wine.

The diligence was a roomy affair of four seats and three horses.

Behind the driver were three Italians gesticulating violently over local politics; a new _sindaco_ was imminent.

Behind these were three black-hooded nuns covertly interested in the woman in the pink evening gown.

And behind the three, occupying the exact centre of the rear seat, was a fourth nun with the portly bearing of a Mother Superior.