And as soon as she had mounted her horse again and ridden away, with a final wave of her hand to the little black-eyed children, Domenico hurried to the _Croce d'Oro_ to inform the landlord that he also had had the honour of entertaining the _signorina Americana_, who had bought chocolate to the amount of five lire--five lire! And had given it all away! The blacksmith's wife, who had followed Domenico to hear the news, remarked that, for her part, she thought it a sin to spend so much for chocolate; the signorina might have given the money just as well, and they could have had meat for Sunday. But Domenico was more ready this time to condone the fault. '_Si, si_,' he returned, with a nod of his head: 'the signorina meant well, no doubt, but she could not understand the needs of poor people. He supposed that they lived on chocolate all the time at the villa, and naturally did not realize that persons who worked for their living found meat more nourishing.
When Marcia returned home with the announcement that she had visited Castel Vivalanti, her uncle replied, with an elaborate frown, 'I suppose you scattered soldi broadcast through the streets, and have started fifty young Italians on the broad road to Pauperism.'
'Not a single soldo!' she reassured him. 'I distributed nothing more demoralizing than a few cakes of chocolate.'
'You'll make a scientific philanthropist if you keep on,' Mr. Copley laughed, but his inner reflections coincided somewhat with those of the blacksmith's wife.
Marcia's explorations were likewise extended in other directions, and before the first week was over she had visited most of the villages from Palestrina to Subiaco. As a result, the chief article of diet in the Sabine mountains bade fair to become sweet chocolate; while Domenico, the baker, instead of being grateful for this unexpected flow of custom, complained to his friends of the trouble it caused. No sooner would he send into Rome for a fresh supply than the signorina would come and carry the whole of it off. At that rate, it was clearly impossible to keep it in stock.
By means of largesses of chocolate to the children, or possibly by a smile and a friendly air, Marcia had established in a very short time a speaking acquaintance with the whole neighbourhood. And on sunny mornings, as she rode between the olive orchards and the wheat fields, more than one worker straightened his back to call a pleased '_Buona passeggiata_, signorina,' to the fair-haired stranger princess, who came from the land across the water where, it was rumoured, gold could be dug from the ground like potatoes and every one was rich.