"We had better send for our lawyer," said the prince, at last.
"The sooner we know the real value of that bit of parchment the
better it will be for us. I cannot bear the suspense of waiting a
day to know the truth. Imagine that the very chair I am sitting
upon may belong to San Giacinto. I never liked the fellow, from
the day when I first found him in his inn at Aquila."
"It is not his fault," answered Giovanni, quietly. "This is a
perfectly simple matter. We did not know what these papers were.
Even if we had known, we should have laughed at them until we
discovered that we had a cousin. After all we shall not starve,
and what is a title? The Pope will give you another when he knows
what has happened. I would as soon be plain Don Giovanni as Prince
of Sant' Ilario."
"For that matter, you can call yourself Astrardente."
"I would rather not," said Giovanni, with something like a laugh.
"But I must tell Corona this news."
"Wait till she is herself again. It might disturb her too much."
"You do not know her!" Giovanni laughed heartily this time. "If
you think she cares for such things, you are very much mistaken in
her character. She will bear the misfortune better than any of us.
Courage, padre mio! Things are never so black as they look at
first.
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