Page 340 - tender-is-the-night

thing about this. It’s your business to protect American
citizens in trouble.’
But he was of the Eastern seaboard and too hard for her.
Shaking his head patiently at her failure to understand his
position he drew the Persian robe closer about him and
came down a few steps.
‘Write down the address of the Consulate for this lady,’
he said to the porter, ‘and look up Doctor Colazzo’s address
and telephone number and write that down too.’ He turned
to Baby, with the expression of an exasperated Christ. ‘My
dear lady, the diplomatic corps represents the Government of
the United States to the Government of Italy. It has nothing
to do with the protection of citizens, except under specific
instructions from the State Department. Your brother-in-
law has broken the laws of this country and been put in jail,
just as an Italian might be put in jail in New York. The only
people who can let him go are the Italian courts and if your
brother-in-law has a case you can get aid and advice from
the Consulate, which protects the rights of American citi-
zens. The consulate does not open until nine o’clock. Even if
it were my brother I couldn’t do anything—‘
‘Can you phone the Consulate?’ she broke in.
‘We can’t interfere with the Consulate. When the Consul
gets there at nine—‘
‘Can you give me his home address?’
After a fractional pause the man shook his head. He took
the memorandum from the porter and gave it to her.
‘Now I’ll ask you to excuse me.’
He had manoeuvred her to the door: for an instant the

340 Tender is the Night