Roman fever
From the terrace of a Roman restaurant, two middle-aged women gaze down on the splendor of Rome and its ancient ruins. The narrator describes one of the women as small and pale and the other u0093fulleru0094 and u0093higher in color.u0094 On the stairway leading to a courtyard below, two young girls hasten off to an adventure. The women overhear one of them saying, u0093Well, come along, then, and letu0092s leave the young things to their knitting.u0094
.......The pale woman, Mrs. Horace (Grace) Ansley, recognizes the voice as that of her daughter, Barbara. The other woman, Mrs. Delphin (Alida) Slade, says, u0093Thatu0092s what our daughters think of us.u0094
.......Mrs. Ansley says the girls were really speaking of mothers in general, but then she withdraws from a handbag some red silk pierced with two knitting needles, confessing that she sometimes tires of doing nothing but looking at the sights. Alida laughs.
.......It is late afternoon, long past the lunch hour, and the last of the other diners have moved on. But Alida suggests that they remain on the terrace to enjoy the view. They met at the restaurant in their youth, when both were younger than their daughters are now. Mrs. Slade asks the head waiter to grant them permission to linger on the terrace, providing him a gratuity, and he says they may stay as long as they likeu0096perhaps to eat dinner later on under the moonlight.
.......u0093Well, why not!u0094 Mrs. Slade says. We might do worse. There's no knowing, I suppose, when the girls will be back. Do you even know back from where? I don't!"
.......Mrs. Ansley says she thinks they are with Italian aviators they met at the embassy. The young men invited the girls to fly with them to Tarquinia for tea.
.......When Alida Slade asks her companion whether she thinks the girls are sentimental, Grace says she hasnu0092t the slightest idea u0093what they are,u0094 adding that u0093perhaps we donu0092t know much more about each other.u0094 They muse for a
.......The pale woman, Mrs. Horace (Grace) Ansley, recognizes the voice as that of her daughter, Barbara. The other woman, Mrs. Delphin (Alida) Slade, says, u0093Thatu0092s what our daughters think of us.u0094
.......Mrs. Ansley says the girls were really speaking of mothers in general, but then she withdraws from a handbag some red silk pierced with two knitting needles, confessing that she sometimes tires of doing nothing but looking at the sights. Alida laughs.
.......It is late afternoon, long past the lunch hour, and the last of the other diners have moved on. But Alida suggests that they remain on the terrace to enjoy the view. They met at the restaurant in their youth, when both were younger than their daughters are now. Mrs. Slade asks the head waiter to grant them permission to linger on the terrace, providing him a gratuity, and he says they may stay as long as they likeu0096perhaps to eat dinner later on under the moonlight.
.......u0093Well, why not!u0094 Mrs. Slade says. We might do worse. There's no knowing, I suppose, when the girls will be back. Do you even know back from where? I don't!"
.......Mrs. Ansley says she thinks they are with Italian aviators they met at the embassy. The young men invited the girls to fly with them to Tarquinia for tea.
.......When Alida Slade asks her companion whether she thinks the girls are sentimental, Grace says she hasnu0092t the slightest idea u0093what they are,u0094 adding that u0093perhaps we donu0092t know much more about each other.u0094 They muse for a