Society asked where Malipieri's father was, and learned that he was
nearly seventy and was paralysed, and never left his house in Venice,
but that he highly approved of his son's marriage and wished to see
his future daughter-in-law as soon as possible. The Princess said that
Sabina and Malipieri would live with him, but would come to Rome for
the winter.
Prince Rubomirsky, Sabina's uncle, sent her a very handsome diamond
necklace, which the Princess showed to all her friends, and some of
them began to send wedding presents likewise, because they had been
privately informed that the marriage was to take place very soon.
Sabina lived joyously in the moment, apparently convinced that fate
would bring everything right, and doing her best to drive away the
melancholy that had settled upon Malipieri. Something would happen,
she said. It was impossible that heaven could be so cruel as to part
them and ruin both their lives for the sake of a promise given to a
man dead long ago. Malipieri wished that he could believe it.
He grew almost desperate as time went on and he saw how the Princess
was doing everything to make the engagement irrevocable. He grew thin,
and nervous, and his eyes were restless. The deep tan of the African
sun was disappearing, too, and sometimes he looked almost ill.
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