Alone in the world, with his two little boys, and possessed of
considerable wealth, the longing had come over him to take the
position to which he had a legitimate right, a position which, he
supposed, would not interfere with his increasing his fortune if
he wished to do so. He had left the children under the supervision
of old Don Paolo, the curate, and had come to Rome, where he had
lodged in an obscure hotel until he had fitted himself to appear
before his cousins as a gentleman. His grave temper, indomitable
energy, and natural astuteness had done the rest, and fortune had
crowned all his efforts. The old blood of the Saracinesca had
grown somewhat coarse by the admixture of a stream very far from
blue; but if it had lost in some respects it had gained in others,
and the type was not wholly low. The broad-shouldered, dark-
complexioned giant was not altogether unworthy of the ancient
name, and he knew it as his wife nestled to his side. He loved the
wild element in her, but most of all he loved the thoroughbred
stamp of her face, the delicacy of her small hands, the
aristocratic ring of her laughter, for these all told him that,
after three generations of obscurity he had risen again to the
level whence his fathers had fallen.
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