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"Fifteen years." He gave the blue and placid sea a glance, and a
strangely tender smile hovered on his thin lips. "I fell in love with the
place at first sight. You've heard, I daresay, of the mythical German
who came here on the Naples boat just for lunch and a look at the
Blue Grotto and stayed forty years; well, I can't say I exactly did that,
but it's come to the same thing in the end. Only it won't be forty years
in my case. Twenty-five. Still, that's better than a poke in the eye with
a sharp stick."
I waited for him to go on. For what he had just said looked
indeed as though there might be something after all in the singular
story I had heard. But at that moment my friend came dripping out of
the water very proud of himself because he had swum a mile, and the
conversation turned to other things.
After that I met Wilson several times, either in the Piazza or on
the beach. He was amiable and polite. He was always pleased to have
a talk and I found out that he not only knew every inch of the island
but also the adjacent mainland. He had read a great deal on all sorts of
subjects, but his speciality was the history of Rome and on this he
was very well informed. He seemed to have little imagination and to
be of no more than average intelligence. He laughed a good deal, but
with restraint, and his sense of humour was tickled by simple jokes. A
commonplace man. I did not forget the odd remark he had made
during the first short chat we had had by ourselves, but he never so
much as approached the topic again. One day on our return from the
beach, dismissing the cab at the Piazza, my friend and I told the
driver to be ready to take us up to Anacapri at five. We were going to
climb Monte Solaro, dine at a tavern we favoured, and walk down in
the moonlight. For it was full moon and the views by night were
lovely. Wilson was standing by while we gave the cabman
instructions, for we had given him a lift to save him the hot dusty
walk, and more from politeness than for any other reason I asked him
if he would care to join us.
"It's my party," I said.
"I'll come with pleasure," he answered.
But when the time came to set out my friend was not feeling
well, he thought he had stayed too long in the water, and would not
face the long and tiring walk. So I went alone with Wilson. We
climbed the mountain, admired the spacious view, and got back to the
inn as night was falling, hot, hungry and thirsty. We had ordered our