Do you realise what
it would be like, what a position we should occupy if we were
suddenly declared beggars? We should be absolute paupers. We do
not own a foot of land, a handful of money that does not come
under the provisions of that accursed clause."
"Wait a minute," exclaimed Giovanni, suddenly recollecting that he
possessed something of his own, a fact he had wholly forgotten in
the excitement of his discovery. "We shall not be wholly without
resources. It does not follow from this deed that we must give to
San Giacinto any of the property our branch of the family has
acquired by marriage, from your great grandfather's time to this.
It must be very considerable. To begin with me, my fortune came
from my mother. Then there was your mother, and your father's
mother, and so on. San Giacinto has no claim to anything not
originally the property of the old Leone who made this deed."
"That is true," replied the prince, more hopefully. "It is not so
bad as it looked. You must be right about that point."
"Unless the courts decide that San Giacinto is entitled to
compensation and interest, because four generations have been kept
out of the property."
Both men looked grave. The suggestion was unpleasant. Such
judgments had been given before and might be given again.
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