Pasquale opened his mental eyes very wide as he bowed and left the
room. He had never heard of this other Saracinesca, and the
appearance of a new member of the family upon the scene, who must,
from his appearance, have been in existence between thirty and
forty years, struck him as astonishing in the extreme; for the old
servant had been bred up in the house from a boy and imagined
himself master of all the secrets connected with the Saracinesca
household.

He was, indeed, scarcely less surprised than his master who,
although he had been aware for some time past that Giovanni
Saracinesca existed and was his cousin, had never anticipated the
event of his coming to Rome, and had expected still less that the
innkeeper would ever assume the title to which he had a right and
play the part of a gentleman, as he himself had expressed it.
There was a strange mixture of boldness and foresight in the way
the old prince had received his new relation. He knew the strength
of his own position in society, and that the introduction of a
humble cousin could not possibly do him harm. At the worst, people
might laugh a little among themselves and remark that the Marchese
must be a nuisance to the Saracinesca. On the other hand, the
prince was struck from the first with the air of self-possession
which he discerned in San Giacinto, and foresaw that the man would
very probably play a part in Roman life. He was a man who might be
disliked, but who could not be despised; and since his claims to
consideration were undeniably genuine, it seemed wiser to accept
him from the first as a member of the family and unhesitatingly to
treat him as such. After all, he demanded nothing to which he had
not a clear right from the moment he announced his intention of