THE ENGLISH GARDENS
211
God!" Amazed, he stopped still. "What does it mean?" he de–
manded, throwing out an arm, oblivious of the two staring gon–
doliers beneath him. He walked on. "Let's see ... hmmm. The
old five-letter ones, Eliot, Frost, Pound, Moore, Auden, we can
safely put them in a group--poor Manas, out of his time. But
what of the
six?
Old Wilder,
me!
Damn!" Striking his fist ·he
stamped down the narrows into Morosini.
As
he crossed that
large campo and the problem of Meredith Wilder had come back
to mind he debated what to say on a card. It would not do for
Manas and Wilder to meet.
ulmpensabile!"
Walter announced.
(Unseen, a couple in shadows nearby guiltily drew apart.) He
knew that Nicolas went through all the mail coming into or going
out of the apartment. "Impudence!" Walter cried, "but what
can you do? Manas is one of the angels, we
all
are. Why shouldn't
Wilder lend a hand?" Walter snickered. He remembered that
Nicolas planned to stay several weeks, possibly months, in Venice.
His snickers faded away. When depressed, Walter liked to sing a
German song. Imitating Lotte Lenya singing
M oritiits Lied,
furtively looking around and putting his key in the lock of his
door, he was actually thinking that, perhaps, Nicolas ought to be
persuaded to see more of Europe. Maybe he should suggest Ger–
many. Yet he felt vaguely ignoble planning to send Manas off,
so soon, and knowing he was sending him to plague Wilder.
His postcard, which he took right out again and mailed, was
a reproduction of Caravaggio's Chastisement of Love and it
read: "Dear Meredith, I am at present up to my, uh, hips in
fellow poets. Manas is here. And there are many Early Morning
Scenes being played out. Do you know him? Otherwise I would
say 'do come.' Lamely me, Walter."
Eight weeks later, Walter's mind was completely changed.
His reluctance to impose Nicolas on Meredith was worn down by
the unrelenting exploits and exploitation of his guest. Door after
door in the city was being closed to the pair of them. The third
week of May a new danger evolved in the young American girl,
Mary Jane Lerner, who took to following them around. At first,
