Farewell: Nikola

By: Boothby, Guy

We were in Venice; Venice the silent and mysterious; the one European city of which Inever tire. My wife had not enjoyed good health for some months past, and for this reasonwe had been wintering in Southern Italy. After that we had come slowly north, spending amonth in Florence, and a fortnight in Rome en route, until we found ourselves in Venice, occupying a suite of apartments at Galaghetti's famous hotel overlooking the Grand Canal.Our party was a small one; it consisted of my wife, her friend, Gertrude Trevor, and myself, Richard Hatteras, once of the South Sea Islands, but now of the New Forest, Hampshire, England. It may account for our fondness of Venice when I say that four years previous wehad spent the greater part of our honeymoon there. Whatever the cause may have been, however, there could be no sort of doubt that the grand old city, with its palaces andchurches, its associations stretching back to long-forgotten centuries, and its silentwaterways, possessed a great fascination for us. We were never tired of exploring it, finding something to interest us in even the most out-of-the-way corners. In Miss Trevorwe possessed a charming companion, a vital necessity, as you will admit, when peopletravel together. She was an uncommon girl in more ways than one; a girl, so it seems to me, England alone is able to produce. She could not be described as a pretty girl, but then theword "pretty" is one that sometimes comes perilously near carrying contempt with it; onedoes not speak of Venus de Medici as pretty, nor would one describe the Apollo Belvedereas very nice-looking. That Miss Trevor was exceedingly handsome would, I fancy, begenerally admitted. At any rate she would command attention wherever she might go, andthat is an advantage which few of us possess. Should a more detailed description of her benecessary, I might add that she was tall and dark, with black hair and large luminous eyesthat haunted one, and were suggestive of a southern ancestor. She was the daughter, andindeed the only child, of the well-known Dean of Bedminster, and this was the first timeshe had visited Italy, or that she had been abroad. The wonders of the Art Country were allnew to her, and in consequence our wanderings were one long succession of delight. Everyday added some new pleasure to her experiences, while each night saw a life desiregrat

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B086G3F4XD
• ISBN13: 9798631115859
• Release Date: January 1
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 152 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.0" x 8.0"