Nevertheless, be had been very
strongly impressed with the propriety of Paolina's manner and
bearing, and after one or two more interviews, with the thorough
modesty of her mind, and purity and dignity of her character. And
the Marchese was a man well competent to form a sound judgment of
such matters.
He had no reason to think that the young man, his nephew, was as
prudent, as steady, as little liable to the influence of female
beauty, as cold, if you will, as he himself had been at the same
age. On the contrary, the character, which the Marchese Ludovico had
made for himself in Ravenna, was a rather diametrically opposite
one. But he was strongly of opinion that in any enterprise of an
illegitimate nature which his nephew might attempt with the young
artist, he would have his trouble only for his pains. And, of
course, any enterprise of any other nature was wholly out of the
question.
Still, as the months went on he would have been far better contented
that his nephew should have been less often at the home of the two
Venetians. There were circumstances which made such visits
especially inexpedient at the present time. He knew that the young
man was there much oftener than he judged to be in any way
desirable; and the young man was there much oftener than his uncle
knew. The Marchese Lamberto was still very much persuaded that
Paolina had not been led by his nephew into any false step of a
seriously blamable nature.
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