is power to revive and
maintain the tradition. He is a custodian, a trustee. He has no right
to sit down, idle and contented, to the life of a country gentleman in
England. He is the banner-bearer of his race. He has no right to
leave the banner folded in a dark closet. He must unfurl his banner,
and bear it bravely in the sight of the world. That is the
justification, that is the mission, of _noblesse_. A great nobleman
should not evade or hide his nobility--he should bear it nobly in the
sight of the world. That is the mission of the Conte di Sampaolo--that
is the work he was born to do. It seems to me that at present he is
pretty thoroughly neglecting his work."

She shot a smile at him, then lowered her eyes again upon her encircled
star.

"You preach a very eloquent sermon," said Anthony, "and in principle I
acknowledge its soundness. But in practice--there is just absolutely
nothing the Conte di Sampaolo can do."

"He can go to Vallanza, and marry his cousin," reiterated she. "Thus
the name and the estates would be brought together again, and the
tradition would be renewed."

She had slipped a ring from her finger, and was vaguely playing with it.

Anthony only laughed.

"Does n't my proposition deserve better than mere laughter?" said she.

"I should laugh," said he, with secret meaning, "on the wrong side of
my mouth, if I thought you wished me to take it seriously." ("If I
thought she seriously wished me to marry another woman!" he breathed,
shuddering, to his soul.)

"Why should n't I wish you to take it seriously?" she asked, studying
her ring.

"The marriage of cousins is forbidden by Holy Church," said he.

"She 's only your second or third cousin. The nearest Bishop would
give you a dispensation," answered Susanna, twirling her ring round in
the palm of her hand.

"There would, of course, be no question of the lady rejecting me," he
laughed.

"You would naturally endeavour to make yourself agreeable to her, and
to capture her affections," she retorted, slipping the ring back upon
its finger, and clasping her hands. "Besides, she could hardly be
indifferent to the circumstance that you have it in your power to
regularise her position. She calls herself the Countess of Sampaolo.
She could do so with a clear conscience if she were the wife of the
legitimate Count."

"She can do so with a clear conscience as it is," said Anthony. "She
has the patent of the Italian King."

"P