'I think I should tell you at once that my daughter has a very moderate income and she will have no more till I die.'
'I will be frank with you.
I have nothing in the world but this house and the few acres that surround it.
My son could not afford to marry a penniless girl, but he is not a fortune-hunter and he loves your daughter.'
The count had not only the grand manner, but a great deal of charm and Mrs Clayton was not insensible to it. She softened a little.
'All that is neither here nor there.
We don't arrange our children's marriages in America.
If Tito wants to marry her, let him ask her, and if she's prepared to marry him she'll presumably say so.'
'Unless I am greatly mistaken that is just what he is doing now. I hope with all my heart that he will be successful.'
They strolled on and presently saw walking towards them the two young people hand in hand.
It was not difficult to guess what had passed.
Tito kissed Mrs Clayton's hand and his father on both cheeks.
'Mrs Clayton, Papa, Laura has consented to be my wife.'
The engagement made something of a stir in Florentine society and a number of parties were given for the young couple.
It was quite evident that Tito was very much in love, but less so that Laura was.
He was good-looking, adoring, high-spirited, and gay; it was likely enough that she loved him; but she was a girl who did not display emotion and she remained what she had always been, somewhat placid, amiable, serious but friendly, and easy to talk to.
I wondered to what extent she had been influenced to accept Tito's offer by his great name, with its historical associations, and the sight of that beautiful house with its lovely view and the romantic garden.
'Anyhow there's no doubt about its being a love match on his side,' said Bessie Harding, when we were talking it over.
'Mrs Clayton tells me that neither Tito nor his father has shown any desire to know how much Laura has.'
'I'd bet a million dollars that they know to the last cent what she's got and they've calculated exactly how much it comes to in lire,' said Harding with a grunt.
'You're a beastly old man, darling,' she answered.
He gave another grunt.
Shortly after that I left Florence.
The marriage took place from the Hardings' house and a vast crowd came to it, ate their food and drank their champagne.
Tito and his wife took an apartment on the Lungarno and the old count returned to his lonely villa in the hills.
I did not go to Florence again for three years and then only for a week. I was staying once more with the Hardings.
I asked about my old friends and then remembered Laura and her mother.
'Mrs Clayton went back to San Francisco,' said Bessie, 'and Laura and Tito live at the villa with the count.
They're very happy.'
'Any babies?'
'No.'
'Go on,' said Harding.
Bessie gave her husband a look.
'I cannot imagine why I've lived thirty years with a man I dislike so much,' she said.
'They gave up the apartment on the Lungarno.
Laura spent a good deal of money doing things to the villa, there wasn't a bathroom in it, she put in central heating, and she had to buy a lot of furniture to make it habitable, and then Tito lost a small fortune playing poker and poor Laura had to pay up.'
'Hadn't he got a job?'
'It didn't amount to anything and it came to an end.'
'What Bessie means by that is that he was fired,' Harding put in.
'Well, to cut a long story short, they thought it would be more economical to live at the villa and Laura had the idea that it would keep Tito out of mischief.
She loves the garden and she's made it lovely.
Tito simply worships her and the old count's taken quite a fancy to her. So really it's all turned out very well.'
'It may interest you to know that Tito was in last Thursday,' said Harding.
'He played like a madman and I don't know how much he lost.'
'Oh, Charley.
He promised Laura he'd never play again.'
'As if a gambler ever kept a promise like that.
It'll be like last time.
He'll burst into tears and say he loves her and it's a debt of honour and unless he can get the money he'll blow his brains out.
And Laura will pay as she paid before.'