When he was alone, Giovanni retraced his steps, and again took up his position near the entrance to the reception-rooms.

He had matter for reflection in the interview which had just ended; and, having nothing better to do while he waited for Corona, he thought about what had happened.

He was not altogether pleased at the interest his marriage excited in high quarters; he hated interference, and he regarded Cardinal Antonelli's advice in such a matter as an interference of the most unwarrantable kind.

Neither he himself nor his father were men who sought counsel from without, for independence in action was with them a family tradition, as independence of thought was in their race a hereditary quality.

To think that if he, Giovanni Saracinesca, chose to marry any woman whatsoever, any one, no matter how exalted in station, should dare to express approval or disapproval was a shock to every inborn and cultivated prejudice in his nature.