is this exemplary lover, then; what is he?"

"A Neapolitan; one of the oldest houses in Italy. He is a prince in your
English sense of the word, for he has a princely fortune. He is very
young; he is only just of age; he saw the signorina last winter
in Naples. He fell in love with her from the first, but his family
interfered, and an old uncle, an ecclesiastic, Monsignor B----, hurried
up to Naples, seized him, and locked him up. Meantime he has passed his
majority, and he can dispose of himself. His relations are moving heaven
and earth to prevent his marrying Miss Light, and they have sent us
word that he forfeits his property if he takes his wife out of a certain
line. I have investigated the question minutely, and I find this is but
a fiction to frighten us. He is perfectly free; but the estates are
such that it is no wonder they wish to keep them in their own hands. For
Italy, it is an extraordinary case of unincumbered property. The prince
has been an orphan from his third year; he has therefore had a long
minority and made no inroads upon his fortune. Besides, he is very
prudent and orderly; I am only afraid that some day he will pull the
purse-strings too tight. All these years his affairs have been in the
hands of Monsignor B----, who has managed them to perfection--paid off
mortagages, planted forests, opened up mines. It is now a magnificent
fortune; such a fortune as, with his name, would justify the young man
in pretending to any alliance whatsoever. And he lays it all at the feet
of that young girl who is wandering in yonder boschetto with a penniless
artist."

"He is certainly a phoenix of princes! The signora must be in a state of
bliss."

The Cavaliere looked imperturbably grave. "The signora has a high esteem
for his character."

"His character, by the way," rejoined Rowland, with a smile; "what sort
of a character is it?"

"Eh, Prince Casamassima is a veritable prince! He is a very good young
man. He is not brilliant, nor witty, but he 'll not let himself be made
a fool of. He 's very grave and very devout--though he does propose to
marry a Protestant. He will handle that point after marriage. He 's as
you see him there: a young man without many ideas, but with a very firm
grasp of a single one--the conviction that Prince Casamassima is a very
great person, that he greatly honors any young lady by asking for her
hand, and that things are going very strangely when the young lady
turns her back u