"In fact," he said, "Rapallo suits me exactly. What think you, Hermengarde?"
"I think, father, that you have excellent taste."
The old man was delighted; it seemed as if he was about to gain his purpose more easily than he had dared to expect.
"You agree with me, then, my child? I am glad of it; for Heribert will make an excellent husband, and I shall be most happy to call him my son-in-law."
The young girl shuddered, but Guido continued,--
"I am very old now, my dear child; death may come at any moment, and leave you without a protector. The Emperor Barbarossa has again crossed the Alps, and opened the campaign. What will become of you in a country where robbers and marauders can kill and plunder with impunity? No! I would not die in peace unless the walls of Castellamare were defended by some valiant knight."
"Dear father," she said, with emotion, "do not allude to this painful subject. You are strong; your health is excellent; why, then, speak of what may still be far from us, and which can only serve to make us unhappy?"
"You speak, dear child, as all do at twenty; youth lives thus careless of the future, and with scarcely even a thought for what the morrow may bring forth. Thank God, my health is good, but, at my age, a man should always be prepared for his last journey, and should accustom himself to the thought of death, which may come when he least expects it. As I have said, your isolation troubles me, and you should relieve my heart, Hermengarde, of this anxiety. You have seen and known Rapallo intimately; you tell me yourself that he is noble, and generous, and worthy of you--"
The young girl was silent; her lips moved convulsively, and tears fell from her eyes.
"Do not weep, my child; doubtless you are thinking of the gallant Erwin; he deserves all our sympathy, but why cherish a vain hope? He is dead; he has fallen beneath the weapons of the Saracens, like so many thousands of brave knights, victims of their devotion to the faith. As you must resign all thought of him for spouse and protector in these troublous times, another must take his place. Your marriage is the most ardent desire which your father now has. If you truly love him, you will relieve his heart of the burden which oppresses it."