My House in Umbria Page #4

No, I don't use the title.

I don't think academic distinctions

are important.

What is your field?

- I study the carpenter ant.

- Carpenter ant?

The red carpenter ant.

Camponotus ferrugineus.

I don't think I know the carpenter ant.

Our paths haven't crossed, as it were.

The interdependency

of carpenter ant colonies...

reveals behavior that's remarkably similar

to human beings.

Really?

I imagined his home

in Virginville, Pennsylvania.

The local police would have told them

about the bomb...

and Aimee, and the train.

There would have been

much discussion that night.

What to do with the child?

Should she come and live with them?

What alternatives were there?

Having no children themselves...

it was clearly a difficult situation.

Does Francine share your interest

in the red carpenter ant?

No, her field is entirely different.

Her specialty

is the Camponotus pennsylvanicus:

The black carpenter ant.

I'd hoped to find a photograph of Francine

that would confirm the picture I'd formed.

But there wasn't one.

This is what occupies him.

This is what fuels his ambition.

He's eminent and distinguished

and looked up to.

But he's not aware of ordinary matters.

Mr. Riversmith is an ambitious man.

That hadn't occurred to me before.

He is ambitious...

and Francine is ambitious for him

and for herself.

There are other professors

with microscopes...

watching ants of different colors

in other trees.

He and Francine have to keep ahead.

They have to get there first.

Where could they possibly find the time

to devote to a child...

who has come so tiresomely

out of the blue?

- Do you think he'll take me to Siena?

- Of course he will.

- You ask him, Werner.

- Me? Why should I ask him?

He's your uncle, not mine, isn't he?

Please, Werner.

Come on, Aimee, you're so brave.

You can do it.

- But I don't really know him.

- You'll get to know him.

Camponotus irritatus.

Damn nuisance.

What about taking her back to the States?

She'll need careful supervision.

Of course, I'll give you

all the medical records for your own doctor.

I mean, will she be okay for the journey?

There's no medical reason

why she should not travel...

but it's a long way.

We cannot know what effect

the journey might have on her.

There's one thing I don't understand.

Aimee insists that she didn't

paint those pictures.

Because she doesn't know she did.

Yes, but why should

the German pretend he painted them?

Sort of kindness.

If the child believes she didn't paint them...

there must be an explanation

for their existence.

Otherwise, it would be

very worrying for her.

Quinty, do you have to do that now?

We're having breakfast.

Yes, I do.

Buongiorno, dottore.

Good morning, Mr. Quinty.

I see you've met our new guest, dottore.

Come and join us for coffee.

Mrs. Delahunty, I'm sorry,

but Aimee is too shy to ask herself.

She wants to go to Siena.

- Why Siena?

- She didn't tell me much.

She said that she promised the doctor

she would go before she left for America...

and she wants her uncle to take her.

I'm sure he'd love to take her.

Isn't that so, Mr. Riversmith?

What's that exactly?

I was just saying to Werner,

I'm sure you'd love to take Aimee to Siena.

I think it's my fault.

I told her about Siena

because it's the city where I was born.

Why don't we all go?

I've never been to Siena.

Absolutely. The more the merrier.

Well, I suppose if Aimee wants to go...

This is the first time

we'll all have done something together.

We haven't had the confidence before.

I had the impression

that Mr. Riversmith stifled a sigh.

I'm surprised that Francine hadn't told him

that this habit of his appears impolite...

if not rude.

A few weeks with the right woman...

and all these little irritations

would soon disappear.

- Morning, Mr. Riversmith.

- Good morning, General.

Can we go in the back?

- Hello.

- Good morning.

- Good morning, General.

- Quinty said I could come.

Now look here, Quinty.

- You said it was okay. The more the merrier.

- I said no such thing.

You certainly did. It'll do the girl good...

You're making it up.

Her name was never mentioned.

You had a drink in you at the time.

You're coming in order to drive. It's

different altogether for a maid to tag along.

I know. We're servant class, I know that...

but it'll be a terrible disappointment for her.

She was up ironing her clothes

till the small hours.

I'm servant class myself,

as Quinty well knows.

- Let's go!

- Wait a minute, we're not all in.

But with everyone waiting,

I didn't want to explain to him.

But naturally there was a difference.

Siena the next stop!

You won't go anymore, amorous butterfly

Fluttering around inside night and day

Disturbing the sleep of beauties

A little Narcissus and Adonis of love

I had the most extraordinary dream

last night.

It was about you.

You were repairing the kitchen drawer...

that had just fallen to pieces

in your sister's hands.

You scraped away a kind of fungus

from the joints.

And then you placed the drawer in a clamp.

"It was so clever to do that"...

said Phyllis.

And the wooden slat of the kitchen blind...

tapped against the window frame.

Do you remember...

a Venetian blind that tapped against

the window frame?

No.

The reply came too quickly.

To remember, it is necessary

to think for a moment.

Even for several minutes.

It was disappointing

that Mr. Riversmith wasn't going to bother.

But I felt sure the glories of Siena

would soon make him more amenable.

Tell me about your sister.

Tell you what?

What sort of a person she was.

She was very like Aimee.

Every time I see Aimee,

I'm reminded of Phyllis.

- Yes, I know.

- It's the exit only, I'm afraid.

- We've go to go around the front.

- What a bore.

More steps.

- Aimee, wait.

- Come on.

But what happened? Why did you quarrel?

Phyllis had been very close

to my first wife. When we separated...

Phyllis did all she could

to bring us back together.

That must have been difficult for Francine.

It was. She was very angry about it.

Very upset.

There was a violent quarrel.

And you took Francine's side?

Well, of course. Phyllis never forgave me.

We never spoke to each other again.

A dozen times I'd come to the point of

writing to make amends...

but never did.

Come on, you two. Hurry up.

We're not all quite as fit as you are,

young lady.

Hoping to end bloodshed and rivalry...

St. Bernardino, 1380-1444...

wanted the feuding Sienese to unite

under his symbol of the Risen Christ.

That would be above the door there, see.

Did it work?

Unfortunately, the plague wiped out most of

the population, so he never found out.

Shall we go in?

Where's Aimee?

For heaven's sake. Where did she go?

There she is. She's over there.

- What are they?

- What are what?

Those colorful things on the wall.

They're crash helmets.

Crash helmets? How extraordinary.

- I wonder what they're doing there.

- I wonder.

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