In the course of the few words he had exchanged with
her, she had made it sufficiently clear to him that although she
disapproved in principle of his attachment to Faustina, she would
do nothing to hinder his marriage if he should be able to overcome
the obstinacy of the girl's parents. He was at first at a loss to
explain her severity to him when she had left her house to take
Faustina home. Being wholly innocent of any share in the latter's
mad course, it did not at first enter his mind that Corona could
attribute to him any blame in the matter. On the contrary, he knew
that if the girl's visit to the ruined barracks remained a secret,
this would be owing quite as much to his own discretion and
presence of mind as to the princess's willingness to help him. Not
a little, too, was due to good luck, since the least difference in
the course of events must have led to immediate discovery.
A little thought led him to a conclusion which wounded his pride
while it explained Corona's behaviour. It was evident that she had
believed in a clandestine meeting, prearranged between the lovers
at the instigation of Gouache himself, and she had probably
supposed this meeting to be only the preliminary to a runaway
match. How, indeed, could Faustina have expected to escape
observation, even had there been no revolution in Rome, that
night? Corona clearly thought that the girl had never intended to
come back, that Gouache had devised means for their departure, and
that Faustina had believed the elopement possible in the face of
the insurrection.
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