"Ang," said Marietta.

"That was Cardinal Udeschini--that little harmless-looking,
sweet-faced old man!" Peter wondered.

"Sicuro--the uncle of the Duca," said she.

"Good heavens!" sighed he. "And I allowed myself to hobnob
with him like a boon-companion."

"Gia," said she.

"You need n't rub it in," said he. "For the matter of that,
you yourself entertained him in your kitchen."

"Scusi?" said she.

"Ah, well--it was probably for the best," he concluded. "I
daresay I should n't have behaved much better if I had known."

"It was his coming which saved this house from being struck by
lightning," announced Marietta.

"Oh--? Was it?" exclaimed Peter.

"Yes, Signorino. The lightning would never strike a house that
the Lord Prince Cardinal was in."

"I see--it would n't venture--it would n't presume. Did--did