Her vanity was confined to a modest wish to make the best of her appearance, while her ambition went no further than the strictest possibility, in the shape of a marriage with Gianbattista Bordogni, and a simple little apartment with a terrace and pots of pinks.

Had she known how much richer her father was than she suspected him of being, the enlargement of her views for the future would have been marked by a descent, from the fourth story of the house which was to be her imaginary home, to the third story.

It could never have entered her head that Gianbattista ought to give up his profession until he was too old to work any longer.

In her estimation, the mere possession of money could not justify a change of social position.

She had been accustomed from her childhood to hear her father air his views in regard to the world in general, but his preaching had produced but little impression upon her.