"
"You will do as you think best. I have no power to make you follow
my advice."
"No power? Ah, Corona, do not say that!"
A short silence followed, during which Corona looked placidly at
the fire, while Giovanni gazed at her dark face and tried to read
the thoughts that were passing in her mind. She did not speak,
however, and his guesswork was inconclusive. What hurt him most
was her indifference, and he longed to discover by some sign that
it was only assumed.
"I would rather do as you think best," he said at last.
She glanced at him and then looked back at the blazing logs.
"I have told you what I think," she answered. "It is for you to
judge and to decide. The whole matter affects you more than it
does me."
"Is it not the same?"
"No. If you lose the Saracinesca titles and property we shall
still be rich enough. You have a fortune of your own, and so have
I. The name is, after all, an affair which concerns you
personally. I should have married you as readily had you been
called anything else."
The reference to the past made Giovanni's heart leap, and the
colour came quickly to his face. It was almost as though she had
said that she would have loved him as well had he borne another
name, and that might mean that she loved him still.
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