"Ask me anything," Silvio replied. "I am entirely at your service."
"What brings you here—to Montefiano—at this moment?" she continued, looking at him keenly. "It has been said that this disturbance of the peasantry has been largely fomented by you, for obvious reasons—that you wished to enlist public sympathy on your behalf."
"It has been said so, yes," returned Silvio, "by the Abbé Roux. But the Abbé Roux has said many things which will not bear investigation."
The princess winced. "But why are you here—at such a time?" she insisted.
"Because I knew from Donna Bianca that there were threatenings of a rising on the part of the peasants, and yesterday evening I read in a newspaper in Rome that troops had been asked for, to proceed to Montefiano. When I saw that, I determined to come by the first available train, lest there should be danger to her."
"You heard from my step-daughter!" repeated the princess in amazement. "But she knew nothing. Besides, how could she communicate with you, or you with her? There is some fresh mystery here, some new deception that I do not yet understand. Will you be so good as to explain yourself, signore?"
"Donna Bianca knew everything," said Silvio, "except that the troops had been summoned. This she did not know. When the mob burst into the court-yard of the castle, your fattore's daughter went to Donna Bianca's room by the secret passage, in order to implore her to come out and speak to the people—"
The princess stared at him. "By the secret passage!" she repeated. "Signor Rossano, what fables are these?"
"Ah—you do not know—they have not explained to you yet?" asked Silvio, quickly. "Sicuro—by the secret passage which leads into Donna Bianca's room—where the portrait of the cardinal is—"
"Maria Santissima!" ejaculated the princess. "How do you know," she continued, angrily, "that there is such a portrait in my step-daughter's room? It is an outrage—"