Garibaldi of much the same nature as that which in 1860 had been
maintained between Garibaldi and Cavour during the advance upon
Naples. The Italian Government kept men under arms to be ready to
take advantage of any successes obtained by the Garibaldian
volunteers, and at the same time to suppress the republican
tendencies of the latter, which broke out afresh with every new
advance, and disappeared, as by magic, under the depressing
influence of a forced retreat.

The prince knew all these things, and had reflected upon them so
often that they no longer afforded enough interest to keep him
awake. The warm September sun streamed into the study and fell
upon the paper as it slowly slipped over the old gentleman's
knees, while his head sank lower and lower on his breast. The old
enamelled clock upon the chimney-piece ticked more loudly, as
clocks seem to do when people are asleep and they are left to
their own devices, and a few belated flies chased each other in
the sunbeams.

The silence was broken by the entrance of a servant, who would
have withdrawn again when he saw that his master was napping, had
not the latter stirred and raised his head before the man had time
to get away. Then the fellow came forward with an apology and
presented a visiting-card. The prince stared at the bit of
pasteboard, rubbed his eyes, stared again, and then laid it upon
the table beside him, his eyes still resting on the name, which
seemed so much to surprise him. Then he told the footman to
introduce the visitor, and a few moments later a very tall man
entered the room, hat in hand, and advanced slowly towards him
with the air of a person who has a perfect right to present