"But why, signore—why? It is inexplicable. Am I to understand that this strange idea forms one of his reasons for so obviously supporting your suit?"
Silvio looked at her quickly. "It is not inexplicable," he replied, quietly. "It is an idea—a sentiment, perhaps—or perhaps it is more than that. If one does not believe that the dead are conscious beings, princess, what is the use of praying for them? And, if they are conscious beings, why may they not exercise an influence over those who are dear to them, and whom they have left behind?"
Princess Montefiano regarded him with surprise—but at the same time with evident approval. She had certainly not expected to hear any such arguments from the lips of a son of Professor Rossano.
"Signor Rossano," she exclaimed, "I thought that you believed in nothing—I mean, that you were an atheist."
Silvio laughed. "Why, princess?" he asked.
"Why? Oh, because—well, because you are your father's son."
"My father is not an atheist," returned Silvio, simply. "He knows too much—or not enough—to be one."
The princess stared at him. Perhaps she scarcely understood the full significance of his answer; but all the same his words, coupled with his preceding remark, gave her a sense both of satisfaction and of relief.
"I am glad," she said, somewhat irrelevantly, "very glad. But as regards Monsieur Lelli, and this strange idea of responsibility towards the daughter of one whom he knew many years ago—how can you explain that? I feel sure that Monsignor Lelli is a good man, though I have heard him much abused. But I have also heard people say that he has been very hardly treated; and possibly his long exile here at Montefiano may have made him somewhat morbid."
"Signora Principessa," said Silvio, approaching the armchair in which she was sitting, "Don Agostino has authorized me to answer your question, in the event of your asking it. Had it not been for this authorization, I must have kept silence. It may be that his idea is a morbid idea; or it may be that, as he is firmly convinced, he is being guided by another intelligence than his own. Of that, princess, you must be the judge," and taking the case Don Agostino had confided to him from his pocket, he gave it into her hands.