Malipieri hailed a
cab.
Even in wet weather there are no closed cabs in that part of Rome. One
is protected from the wet, more or less, by the hood and by a high
leathern apron which is hooked to it inside. The cabman, seated under
a huge standing umbrella, bends over and unhooks it on one side for
you to get in and out.
Malipieri employed the usual means of eluding pursuit. He gave an
address and told the man to drive fast, got out quickly on reaching
the house, enquired for an imaginary person with a foreign name, who,
he was of course told, did not live there, got in again and had
himself driven to Sassi's door, sure of losing his pursuer, if the
detective followed him in another cab. Then he paid the man two fares,
to save time, and went in. He had never taken the trouble to do such a
thing since his political adventures, but he was now very anxious not
to let it be known that he had any dealings with the former agent of
the Conti family.
The matter was settled easily enough and to his satisfaction. Old
Sassi worshipped Sabina, and was already fully persuaded that whatever
could be found under the palace should belong to her, as also that she
had a right to see what was discovered before Volterra did, and before
anything was moved. He was at least as quixotic in his crabbed fashion
as Malipieri himself; and besides, he really could not see that there
was the least harm or danger in the scheme.
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