GUIDO
Yes, the dog seemed to think so, I remember.
GRACIOSA However, perseverance is always rewarded. So I still hope that one or another of my kinsmen will contrive to kill this Eglamore before I go to court.
GUIDO (Sits at her feet.) Has my Lord Balthazar yet set a day for that presentation?
GRACIOSA
Not yet.
GUIDO
I wish to have this Eglamore's accounts all settled by that date.
GRACIOSA But in three months, Guido, I shall be sixteen. My sisters went to court when they were sixteen.
GUIDO In fact, a noble who is not rich cannot afford to continue supporting a daughter who is salable in marriage.
GRACIOSA No, of course not. (She speaks in the most matter-of-fact tone possible. Then, more impulsively, the girl slips down from the bench, and sits by him on the around.) Do you think I shall make as good a match as my sisters, Guido? Do you think some great rich nobleman will marry me very soon? And shall I like the court! What shall I see there?
GUIDO
Marvels. I think—yes, I am afraid that you will like them.
GRACIOSA
And Duke Alessandro—shall I like him?