"No," replied Don Agostino, smiling, "he is an engineer, and some day he will be a great man, I believe. His father is a great man already, the famous Senator Rossano. You have perhaps heard of him?"
"_Altro_! So it is he whom the _principessina_ is in love with! Well, _reverendo_, is it not better than marrying that old baron with ink-pots under his eyes?"
Don Agostino laughed. "Certainly!" he replied. "But the baron and the Abbé Roux think otherwise. That is the difficulty; and what they think, the princess thinks."
"Signor Fontana," said Don Agostino, suddenly, "you said just now that you would do anything for Donna Bianca. Were you in earnest?"
"_Bene_! You have the opportunity of proving your loyalty."
He rose from his chair, and, taking Silvio's packet from the writing-table, placed it in Sor Beppe's hands. "I have promised Signor Rossano, Donna Bianca's affianced husband, that this should reach her without delay. She has been waiting for it for weeks. Will you undertake that it shall be given into her hands, and into her hands only?"
Sor Beppe's eyes flashed. "I swear it!" he said. "Concetta shall give it to her this very night."
"As much as I am to be trusted, _reverendo_. Concetta would do anything to serve the _principessina_. You need not be afraid. Donna Bianca shall have her lover's letter this very night. You can guess how?"
"Of course. But will she not be terrified at seeing your daughter enter her room in such a manner? Remember that the princess sleeps next door to her."
"Concetta will know what to do," returned Sor Beppe.
"Good. But there must be no failure--no risk of the packet falling into other hands, or its delivery being suspected."
Don Agostino held out his hand. "You will not regret what you have undertaken," he said, "and you may be sure that the _principessina_ will not forget it, either. We must save her from a great unhappiness, my friend, and perhaps from, worse than that. Now, I must be inhospitable and ask you to go; for it is late, and you have to arrange matters with Concetta, who by this time is probably asleep. Who knows what led you to visit me this evening? I had been turning over in my mind every means I could imagine to insure that packet reaching Donna Bianca safely. It is certainly very strange."