7
“Are you prepared for mountain climbing?” Elena asked the next morning when Tacita woke.
“I am prepared for anything! I have had such a refreshing sleep! How long has it been?”
“Nearly twelve hours, my dear. Your ancestors must have come from Ephesus. I thought that I knew how to sleep; but the singleness of purpose with which you lay yourself away is something entirely your own. It is a gift. It arrives at genius. Now, who do you think that I can see coming over a rocky path above the olives?”
“Can it be Dylar?”
“It is Dylar. He will be here in fifteen minutes.”
The people of the house paid as little attention to their guests in the morning as they had the evening before. Elena brought the breakfast, if she did not prepare it. Probably they were all out picking oranges. Children w
