'Then he is an even greater villain than I had supposed him to be,' returned Sant' Ilario.
'That is no reason why you should force me to humiliate myself to him—'
'Send him to me, if you are afraid to face him. I will explain the situation—I will—'
'You will simply quarrel with him, father. You would insult him in the first three words you spoke.'
'That is very probable,' said Sant' Ilario. 'I should like to. He has been scheming to catch you for his sister ever since the evening they first dined here. But I did not think you were such a childish idiot as to be caught so easily.'
'No one has caught me, as you call it. I love Vittoria d'Oriani, and she loves me. You have no right to keep us apart because you did not approve of her grandfather and uncle.'
'No right? I have no right, you say? Then who has?'
'No one,' answered Orsino, simply.
'I have the power, at all events,' retorted his father. 'I would not have you marry her—would not? I will not. It is materially impossible for you to marry with no money at all, and you shall have none. Talk no more about it, or I shall positively lose my temper.'
It occurred to Orsino that it was positively lost already, but as he kept his own, he did not say so. He rose from his seat and calmly lighted a cigarette.