"Pshaw!" cried Bianca, with a toss of her auburn ringlets, and a
shrug of her beautiful shoulders; "I must do my duty in that state
of life to which it has pleased God to call me,--as the nuns at St.
Agata taught me. But between uncles and nephews, I suppose any girl
would say, nephews for choice!"
"But you see, my child, the devil of it is that it would be the
Milan story over again. You would have all the family to fight
against. A Cardinal Legate can be quite as despotic, and
disagreeable, and tyrannical as an Austrian governor. You may be
very sure that these people have some marriage in view for this
young Marchese, the hope of the family! We know that the Marchese
Lamberto is hand and glove with the Cardinal. And there would be an
exit from Ravenna after the same fashion as our last!"
"I know for certain already, that there is a marriage arranged
between the young Marchese and no less a personage than the niece of
the Cardinal Legate himself," said Bianca.
"Well then; that is not very promising ground to build on, is it,
bambina mia!" replied Quinto.
"It may be, that as far as the man himself is concerned, the match
that has been made for him would be rather the reverse of a
difficulty in the way," rejoined Bianca.
"But the difficulty will not come from the man himself, cara mia! It
would be doing you wrong to suppose that to be at all likely.
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