"Better or worse, remember this: I did those things!"
he said.
Mrs. Hudson gazed at them vaguely, and Rowland said, "Remember it
yourself!"
"They are horribly good!" said Roderick.
Rowland solemnly shrugged his shoulders; it seemed to him that he
had nothing more to say. But as the others were going, a last light
pulsation of the sense of undischarged duty led him to address to
Roderick a few words of parting advice. "You 'll find the Villa
Pandolfini very delightful, very comfortable," he said. "You ought to
be very contented there. Whether you work or whether you loaf, it 's a
place for an artist to be happy in. I hope you will work."
"I hope I may!" said Roderick with a magnificent smile.
"When we meet again, have something to show me."
"When we meet again? Where the deuce are you going?" Roderick demanded.
"Oh, I hardly know; over the Alps."
"Over the Alps! You 're going to leave me?" Roderick cried.
Rowland had most distinctly meant to leave him, but his resolution
immediately wavered. He glanced at Mrs. Hudson and saw that her eyebrows
were lifted and her lips parted in soft irony.
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