He never did me any good or ill. When he saw that I would not forgive my daughter he forgave me for being her father. And as for his son, he forgave him, too, when he abandoned Lucrezia to make a good marriage.”

“And have you forgiven this son, so worthy of his father?”

“It was not for me to forgive him, although, after all, he was within his rights. He had promised my daughter nothing in writing; it was she who was wrong to trust his love, and when he left her they had debts; her theatre venture had gone badly at the beginning. However, he is dead and God is his judge! But, excuse me, your Excellencies, I have left my nets by the water’s edge and if a storm blew up during the night they might get lost. I must bring them in. They are still in good condition and capable of catching plenty of fish. I supply my daughter’s table with them, but she pays for them, of course. Oh yes, I don’t give anything for nothing! And I say to her ‘Eat, eat, and make your children eat Fortunately for them, the more fish they eat, the more money I will leave them when I die.’”

6.

“What a vile nature,” said Karol, when Menapace had gone.

“It is human nature in all its nakedness,” replied Salvator. “He is the true type of the son of toil Foresight without enlightenment, uprightness without delicacy, common sense devoid of ideals, honest greed, ugly and sad.”

“It is more than that,” said the prince. “For me it is an example of an odious lack of morals, and I cannot understand how Signora Floriani can live with such a spectacle before her eyes.”

“I presume that when she came back to him she did not expect to find something so vilely prosaic. In her poetic memories of her old father and the thatched cottage, the noble creature was probably aspiring to the rustic life, the return to patriarchal innocence, to a touching reconciliation with this old man who had cursed her and whose name she could only utter with tears. But possibly there is even more virtue in staying on here than in ever having come at all and probably she understands, tolerates and even loves him in spite of everything.”

“To understand and tolerate is not a sign of a delicate soul; in her place I would certainly shower the old man with benefits, but I could not live near him without unendurable suffering; the mere idea of such a disaster shocks me and cuts me to the heart.”

“Where do you see all this perversity? This man does not understand the meaning of luxury nor the liberality which goes with easy circumstances among generous people. He is too old to feel that having and giving go together. He amasses what he receives from his daughter so as to preserve it for his grandchildren.”

“So she has children?”

“She had two; perhaps she has more now.”

“And her husband?” said Karol, hesitating, “Where is he?”

“She has never been married as far as I know,” said Salvator, calmly.

The prince was silent and Salvator, guessing his thought, could think of nothing to distract him. He certainly could not invent any good excuses for that fact.

After a moment Karol continued: “When a person’s behaviour is left to the hazards of life it is because of the lack of high standards in early youth. Could she receive any from a father who has not the slightest feeling on the subject of honour and who, amid all the irregularities of his daughter’s life, saw nothing but the money she was earning and spending.”

“Such is man seen at close quarters, such is life stripped of its glamour,” replied Salvator, philosophically. “When my dear Floriani used to speak to me of her first error she accused only herself and did not remember her father’s faults which were probably intolerable and which could have served her as an excuse. When she mentioned him, she would deplore, yet speak highly of his obstinate anger. She attributed it to an ancient virtue, to respectable prejudice. She would say, and I recollect it quite clearly, that once she had freed herself of all the ties of the world and all the fetters of love, she would go and throw herself at his feet and purify herself in his nearness. Well, the poor sinner will have found a saviour very unworthy of so noble a repentance and this disappointment must not have been one of the smallest in her life. Great hearts always see things as beautiful They are condemned to be constantly deceived.”

“Can great hearts resist many unhappy experiences?”

“The more or less harm they suffer proves their more or less greatness.”

“Human nature is weak. I therefore believe that souls which are truly attached to principles should not go out of their way to seek peril … Are you utterly determined to spend a few days here, Salvator?”

“I didn’t say that We shall only stay an hour, if you wish.”

By always giving way, Salvator controlled Karol, at least in external matters, for the prince was open-hearted and ready to sacrifice his aversions for the sake of good breeding and those ideals of behaviour which he upheld in all his actions.

“I do not wish to thwart you in anything,” he replied, “and to impose a deprivation on you or cause you regret would be unendurable to me; but at least promise me that you will try not to fall in love with that woman.”

“I give you my promise,” said Albani, laughing. “But it will be all to no purpose if my fate is to become her lover after being her friend.”

“You invoke destiny,” exclaimed Karol, “when it lies in your own hands! Here, it is your conscience and your will which should be sufficient to save you.”

“You speak like a blind man talking about colours, Karol. Love breaks all obstacles which confront it, as the sea breaks its dykes. I can swear to you that I shall not remain here longer than one night, but I am not certain that I shall not leave my heart and my thoughts behind”

“So that is why I feel so weak and dejected to-night,” said the prince. “Yes, my friend, I keep on returning to the superstitious fear which seized me when first I cast my eyes on the lake, even from a distance! When we entered the boat which conveyed us here, it seemed to me that we were about to drown. Yet you know that it is not one of my weaknesses to fear physical danger, that I do not dislike water, that I sailed with you calmly all yesterday, and even during a real storm on Lake Como. Well, I ventured on to the calm surface of this lake with the timidity of a nervous woman.