"In order to seize his papers before there is time to put seals on them and notify his heiress."
"Who is the heiress?"
"Princess Agatha de Palmarosa."
"Ah! yes," said the bandit, changing his position, "a beautiful woman, so they say."
"That has nothing to do with the affair. But do you understand now why it is necessary that Abbé Ninfo should disappear during the cardinal's last moments?"
"So that he cannot seize the papers, you said. He may cheat Princess Agatha out of important documents, abstract a will. It is a serious matter for her. She is very rich, is she not? Thanks to her father's and uncle's loyal opinions, the government has left her all her property, and does not crush her life out with forced contributions."
"She is very rich, so that it is a great opportunity for you, for she is no less generous than rich."
"I understand. And then, she is a very beautiful woman!"
His insistence upon that consideration sent a shudder of anger through Michel's veins; the bandit's impertinence seemed intolerable to him; but Fra Angelo was not disturbed by it. He believed that it was simply a trick of the Piccinino's, to conceal his rapacity beneath an air of gallantry.
"So I am to act for your brother and nephew incidentally," continued the bandit, "while in reality I am to rescue the Princess of Palmarosa's future fortune by laying hands upon the suspicious person of Abbé Ninfo? Is that it?"