Page:Her Roman Lover (Frothingham, 1911).djvu/28

 of their inherited ideals were identical, and they were both possessed of a seriousness of character which colored their view of life, and the sense of their relation to it. In the older woman this seriousness took the practical form of utilitarian works, in the girl it found expression in periods of thoughtfulness, and an occasional brooding which was not always a happy one.

Margaret Garrison had never been to Europe before, and now gave up her New England home for the winter because of her husband, who had suffered a dangerous breakdown from nervous strain on the stock exchange, and been ordered to cruise on a sailing vessel. One had been found bound for African ports, and expecting to arrive in the Mediterranean toward spring.

It was in expectation of this arrival, as well as in order to remain upon the same hemisphere with her husband, that Margaret had decided to spend the winter in Rome, and invite her niece to go with her.

Anne’s mother had died when she was a baby, and her father, an amiable and futile person, was quite willing that his daughter should fall into safe hands and leave him free to follow the golf ball through its seasonable migrations.

But now after two weeks of the experiment Mrs.