"If I were, it would make a difference, I suppose. But I'm not. I'm plain Marcello Consalvi, no better than any one else."
"But vastly richer," Folco suggested.
"I wish I were not. I wish I were a poor clerk, working for my living."
"The air of this place is not good for you, my boy." Folco laughed gaily.
"No, don't laugh! I'm in earnest. If I were a poor man, nobody would think it at all strange if—" Marcello hesitated.
"If what?"
"If I married Regina," said Marcello rather desperately.
Folco's expression changed instantly.
"Was that the question you were going to ask me?" he inquired.
"Yes."