Ginevra. "Have you never loved any one but me? Did you not leave me
for months together when you went on missions. I bore your absence
courageously. Life has necessities to which we must all submit."

"Ginevra!"

"No, you don't love me for myself; your reproaches betray your
intolerable egotism."

"You dare to blame your father's love!" exclaimed Piombo, his eyes
flashing.

"Father, I don't blame you," replied Ginevra, with more gentleness
than her trembling mother expected. "You have grounds for your
egotism, as I have for my love. Heaven is my witness that no girl has
ever fulfilled her duty to her parents better than I have done to you.
I have never felt anything but love and happiness where others often
see obligation. It is now fifteen years that I have never left your
protecting wing, and it has been a most dear pleasure to me to charm
your life. But am I ungrateful for all this in giving myself up to the
joy of loving; is it ingratitude to desire a husband who will protect
me hereafter?"

"What! do you reckon benefits with your father, Ginevra?" said Piombo,
in a dangerous tone.

A dreadful pause then followed, during which no one dared to speak.
Bartolomeo at last broke the silence by crying out in a heart-rending
tone:--