Veronica wondered vaguely what Bianca saw in him that made her like him so much.

But it struck her that the question had not presented itself to her before that day, and that, on the whole, she liked her friend's friend very well.
Presently she left them to themselves in the drawing-room and went to her own room to write a long letter to Don Teodoro, who was now in Muro, and actively engaged in carrying out her wishes for improving the condition of the poor there.

As she wrote, her interest in life revived, after having been unaccountably suspended for half an hour, and she felt again all her enthusiasm for the chief object she now had in view.
Soon after this, too, she began to examine the state of the big farms through which she often rode with Bianca, asking questions of the people and entering into conversation with the local under-steward when she chanced to meet him.

As was to be expected, the news that the young princess now took an active interest in the administration of her estates soon went abroad amongst the peasants.

They soon knew her by sight and were only too ready to come and stand at her stirrup and pour out the tale of their woes, since she was condescending enough to listen.