ete-a-tete. Nonsense this, of
course; for the honeymoon had extended itself over months, and the
Princess was anxious to see as much as possible of her new
brother-in-law. Angelo, too, particularly wished Vanno to love Marie as
a sister, and report well of her to the Duke, whose favourite he was. It
was no secret that Vanno could do what he liked with his father,
although no other soul was permitted to take liberties with the Duke.

Nothing had been left unsaid which might assure Vanno of his welcome,
yet he insisted on remaining at some Monte Carlo hotel, only coming over
to lunch or dinner, though Angelo quite understood that his brother had
promised to live with him.

The cure, soothing the elder and defending the younger gayly, thought in
his heart that he knew better than Angelo why Vanno clung to Monte
Carlo. He supposed Miss Grant to be the attraction, but this was the
Principino's affair, and the cure kept the secret. Miss Grant's name was
not mentioned. Evidently Prince and Princess Della Robbia had not heard
of her.

Vanno's infatuation for the girl did not seem a light thing to the cure,
and he thought of it anxiously, hoping and sometimes believing that the
young man would be strong enough to hold himself aloof, unless Miss
Grant should show herself worthy of a noble, not a degrading, love. The
priest had kept his promise in going to see her; but until this rumour
of Vanno's gambling reached him he had not been able to regret his
failure. The responsibility of judging and truthfully reporting his
opinion of a young woman had weighed heavily upon his spirits. Supposing
the cure had said to himself that he saw Miss Grant and thought nothing
but good of her? The Principino might on the strength of his report be
reckless enough to propose marriage. A good and beautiful girl might
still be an unsuitable match for a son of the Duke of Rienzi; and on the
priest's head would, in a sense, lie the blame if she became the wife of
Prince Vanno. Altogether, the cure had been inclined to think that the
saints had perhaps had a hand in sending him twice to call when Miss
Grant was not visible. Now, however, he took himself to task. He had
been careless. He had considered his own selfish feelings too much in
this matter. If the Principino had taken to gambling (a vice he had once
sneered at as a refuge for the destitute in intellect) there must have
been some extraordinary incentive. The cure was sure of this; and
granti