Don Agostino glanced at him. "Are you so sure?" he asked. "That is well. But, Silvio, we can hardly realize the pressure that may be placed upon a young girl by her family."
"She has no family," observed Silvio, tranquilly. "It is true," he continued, "that there is her step-mother, who is her guardian until she is of age. But Bianca is not a child, reverendo. She will not allow herself to be coerced."
Don Agostino looked at him for a moment and appeared to be considering something in his mind.
"How come you to know her character so well?" he asked, presently. "How can you know it? You guess at it, that is all."
Silvio shook his head. "Her character is written on her face," he said. "Besides, when one loves, one knows those things."
Don Agostino smiled. "Yes," he observed, "or one thinks one knows them, which does quite as well, so long as one is never undeceived. So," he continued, "you think that the girl has sufficient strength of will to resist any pressure that might be brought to compel her to marry somebody else. That is well; for, unless I am mistaken, she has been brought to Montefiano for no other purpose than to be exposed to pressure of the kind."
Silvio started. "What do you mean?" he exclaimed. "I thought you said you knew nothing of the princess and Donna Bianca—that nobody went inside the castle. Do you mean to say that they are already trying to coerce her in some way? But not by forcing her into another marriage. Giacinta declares they do not want her to marry, and she knows."
"Giacinta?" said Don Agostino, inquiringly.
"My sister. Ah, I forgot; I have not spoken to you about her. She is sure that a priest whom the princess confides in does not wish Bianca to marry at all, for some reason—"
"Yes," interrupted Don Agostino; "the Abbé Roux—a Belgian."