'He has as much as you have,' observed Aliandra. 'Your uncle left no will, and you all shared the property equally—'
'You are not a notary's daughter for nothing,' laughed Tebaldo. 'That is true. But there was very little to share. Do you know what was left when the debts were paid? A bit of land here in Rome—that was all, besides Camaldoli. Both have been sold advantageously, and we have just enough to live decently all together. We should be paupers if we tried to separate.'
'You are nothing if not plausible. But you will forgive me if I say that this difficulty has the air of being really insuperable. You absolutely refuse to share what I earn, and you are absolutely incapable of earning anything yourself. That being the case, the sooner you go away the better, for you can never marry me, on your own showing, and you are injuring my reputation in the meantime.'
'I am engaged in speculations, in which I hope to make money,' said Tebaldo. 'I often tell you that I have appointments with men of business—'
'Yes, you often tell me so,' interrupted Aliandra, incredulously.
'You are cold, and you are calculating,' retorted Tebaldo, with a sudden change of manner, as though taking offence at last.
'It is fortunate for me that I am not hot-headed and foolish,' replied Aliandra, coolly.
They parted on these terms. She believed that her coldness would bring him to her feet if anything could; but he was persuaded that his brother had betrayed him and had told her about the American heiress.