The table was set on the terrace; breakfast was served and the company was gathered.

Breakfast consisted of the usual caffe-latte, rolls and strained honey, and--since a journey was to the fore and something sustaining needed--a soft-boiled egg apiece.

There were four persons present, though there should have been five.

The two guests were an Englishman and his wife, whom the chances of travel had brought over night to Valedolmo.
Between them, presiding over the coffee machine, was Mr.Wilder's sister, 'Miss Hazel'-- never 'Miss Wilder' except to the butcher and baker.

It was the cross of her life, she had always affirmed, that her name was not Mary or Jane or Rebecca.