Gregorio was in the insane asylum.

The cardinal and the world at large were in total ignorance of all the truth except the facts which could not be concealed; namely, that Bosio Macomer had killed himself and that his brother was mad.

The latter fact explained the former; for everybody said that there was insanity in the family, and that Bosio had been mad, too.
Veronica's first, chiefest, and most immediate difficulty lay in finding a reason which she could give Bianca and the cardinal for refusing to live any longer with her aunt.

She cared very little what society might say, for she was at once too inexperienced to attach the true measure of importance to its opinion, or to understand that the unhappy Princess Corleone was not in a position to socially take the place of a chaperon; and, at the same time, she was too great a personage to be easily intimidated by the fear of gossip.

Bianca was her friend, and to her she went unhesitatingly, feeling quite sure that she was doing right.
There were people, however, who thought differently; first among whom were the cardinal and the Duchessa della Spina, Gianluca's mother.