He was in his way as happy as Corona, and he
knew that real happiness proceeds from something more than a score
of titles and a few millions of money, more or less. He regarded
the long morning's work as an intolerable nuisance, which
prevented him from spending his time with his wife.
In the middle of the table sat the two notaries, flanked by four
clerks, all of them pale men in black, clean shaved, of various
ages, but bearing on their faces the almost unmistakable stamp of
their profession. The one who was reading the deeds wore
spectacles. From time to time he pushed them back upon his bald
forehead and glanced first at San Giacinto and then at Prince
Saracinesca, after which he carefully resettled the glasses upon
his long nose and proceeded with his task until he had reached the
end of another set of clauses, when he repeated the former
operation with mechanical regularity, never failing to give San
Giacinto the precedence of the first look.
For a long time this went on, with a monotony which almost drove
Giovanni from the room. Indeed nothing but absolute necessity
could have kept him in his place. At last the final deed was
reached. It was an act of restitution drawn up in a simple form so
as to include, by a few words, all the preceding documents.
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