I climbed down from my seat, flinging wide the door, and saw the porters and pages hurrying from the swing-doors of the hotel to meet us.

Like the conductor of a choir he must, by force of personality, induce his team to sing in harmony subdue the raucous, encourage the timid, conspire with the young, flatter the old. Beppo, as driver, may have been responsible for the safety on the road, but I, as guide, manager, mediator, and shepherd of souls, held their lives in my hands.Ī courier can make or break a tour. Any facetious remark made by the courier helped to establish the relationship between passengers and pilot. 'Welcome to Rome, ladies and gentlemen,' I said, 'the city of popes, emperors, and Christians thrown to the lions, not to mention movie stars.'Ī wave of laughter greeted me. I turned round, smiling, to my load of merchandise. The latter generally fell to me, no matter who had come out on top with the betting. We each kept a book, checked the kilometres against the time, and then settled up when either of us felt like paying. Our bets were continuous throughout the tour. 'In Naples I shall present you with a bill for more than two thousand lire.' 'We'll see about that in Naples,' he said. 'You owe me five hundred lire,' I said to Beppo.

Glancing at my watch, I saw that it wanted three minutes to the hour. Sunshine Tours informed its passengers on the printed itinerary that their coach was due at the Hotel Splendido, Rome, at approximately 1800 hours.

Daphne du maurier flight of the falcon