Such a recommendation was, in fact, needed, as Ugo would otherwise have informed the Princess Chiaromonte, if no one else.

Considering how much feeling she had shown about Giovanni's supposed death, it would have been only humane to do so; but the Minister's instructions were precise and emphatic, and Ugo kept what he knew to himself and thought about it so continually that Confucianism temporarily lost its interest for him.
He had always been on good terms with Giovanni, though they had not seen much of each other after the latter was appointed to the Staff.
As for the brother who was in the Navy, Ugo rarely saw him or even heard of him, and since their father had died he himself had led a very lonely existence.

His delight on learning that Giovanni had escaped and was returning may be imagined, for, in spite of his apparent coldness and love of solitude, he was a man of heart, and like many Italians of all classes his ideal of happiness would have been to live quietly under one roof with his brothers and sister.
There is probably no other people in the world that finds such permanent satisfaction in what most of us would think a dull family life.

It is a survival of the ancient patriarchal way of living, when the 'family' was a religion and its head was at once its absolute ruler and its high priest.
The only preparation which Ugo had made for receiving Giovanni was the purchase of an iron folding camp-bed.

He told his orderly that a brother officer of his might have to spend a night in the house before long, which was strictly true.