“Then I must accept, and let Sabina marry that man,” she said, after a moment’s silence.  “Tell me frankly, is that what you think I ought to do?”

“If Donna Sabina wishes to marry him, it will be a safe solution,” Malipieri answered steadily.

“My dear man, she is in love with you!” cried the Princess in one of her sudden fits of frankness.  “She told me so the other day in so many words, when she was so angry because I would not let her go to see poor old Sassi die.  She said that you and he and her schoolmistress were the only human beings who had ever been good to her, or for whom she had ever cared, You may just as well know it, since you cannot marry her!”

In a calmer moment, Malipieri might have doubted the logic of the last statement; but at the present moment he was not very calm, and he turned a pencil nervously in his fingers, standing it alternately on its point and its blunt end, upon the blotting-paper beside him, and looking at the marks it made.

“How can she possibly wish to marry that Volterra creature?” asked the Princess, by way of conclusion.  “She will have to, that is all, whether she likes it or not.  After all, nobody seems to care much, nowadays,” she added in a tone of reflection.  “It is only the idea I always heard that Volterra kept a pawnshop in Florence, and then became a dealer in bric-a-brac, and afterwards a banker, and all sorts of things.  But it may not be true, and after all, it is only prejudice.  A banker may be a very respectable person, you know.”

“Certainly,” assented Malipieri, wishing that he could feel able to smile at her absurd talk, as a sick man wishes that he could feel hungry when he sees a dish he likes very much, and only feels the worse for the mere thought of touching food.

“Nothing but prejudice,” the Princess repeated.  “I daresay he was never really a pawnbroker and is quite respectable.  By the bye, do you think he wrote this letter himself?  It would be just like him.”

“No,” Malipieri answered.  “I am sure he did not.  Volterra never did anything in his life which could not at least be defended in law.  The letter is genuine.”

“Then there is some one who knows, besides ourselves and Volterra and his wife?”

“Yes.  I am sure of it.”

“You are so clever.  You must be able to find out who it is.”

“I will try.  But I am sure of one thing.  Even if the money is not paid on the day, the story will not be published at once.  The man will try again and again to get money from you.  There is plenty of time.”

“Unless it is a piece of servants’ vengeance,” the Princess said.  “Our servants were always making trouble before we left the palace, I could never understand why.  If it is that, we shall never be safe.  Will you come and see me, if you think of any plan?”

She rose to go.

“I will go to the Embassy to-morrow afternoon, between three and four.”