"But this is so much, better than the worst," answered Faustina,
sadly.
"Who risks nothing, wins nothing," retorted the young man with a
bright smile.
In spite of his hopefulness, however, he had received a severe
shock on hearing the news of the intended match with young
Frangipani. He had certainly never expected to find himself the
rival of such a suitor, and his sense of possibility, if man may
be said to possess such a faculty, was staggered by the idea. He
suddenly awakened to a true understanding of his position in Roman
society, and when he contemplated his discovery in all its
bearings, his nerve almost forsook him. When he remembered his
childhood, his youth, and the circumstances in which he had lived
up to a recent time, he found it hard to realise that he was
trying to marry such a girl, in spite of her family and in
opposition to such a man as was now brought forward as a match for
her. It was not in his nature, however, to be discouraged in the
face of difficulties. He was like a brave man who has received a
stunning blow, but who continues to fight until he has gradually
regained his position. Gouache could no more have relinquished
Faustina than he could have abandoned a half-finished picture in
which he believed, any more than he had given up the attempt to
break away the stones at the Vigna Santucci after he had received
the bullet in his shoulder.
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