Two Dozen Red Roses

She determines to take a short vacation at a winter resort with a woman friend of hers. Alberto is somewhat upset until his wife explains that her project is no way "improper"

He therefore consents with fairly good grace. Chance has it that a telephone message intended for a nearby florist comes to his home from a well-known Countess, ordering roses

Alberto decides to play a little game with the Countess and sends her the roses on his own, together with a brief anonymous note from a supposed admirer

He believes that an innocent flirtation of this kind is not entirely out of order in view of his wife's plans. Just before Marina leaves for the station the roses intended for the Countess are by mistake delivered to her, together with her husband's anonymous note

Marina is of course, intrigued and decides not to go away. Alberto, unwilling to admit his slight but innocent trick, keeps his silence. So for several days the roses come regularly to Marina, each accompan- ied by a mysterious note

Matters threaten to become even more serious when Marina is seen to be drifting farther and farther from her husband in the direction of the unknown admirer

In an attempt to set matters right a family friend, Tomasso Savelli, resorts to the desperate measure of telling Marina that he himself is the unknown admirer

However, that story will not hold water, and in the end the Veranis are not only reconciled but they have established a more genuine understanding and affection than existed before Marina's original plan to go away