This much I _did_ know,
and it grieved me that it was so; but of his child, never before this
instant have I heard! 'Tis a sweet countenance, father; it seems the
very abode of truth!"
"Why should we deceive you, grandfather?" rejoined Ghita, stretching her
arms upward, as if yearning for an embrace; "most of all at a time like
this! We come not for honors, or riches, or your great name; we come
simply to crave a blessing, and to let you know that a child of your own
blood will be left on earth to say aves in behalf of your soul"!
"Holy priest, there can be no deception here! This dear child even looks
like her wronged grandmother! and my heart tells me she is mine. I know
not whether to consider this discovery a good or an evil at this late
hour, coming as it does to a dying man!"
"Grandfather, your blessing. Bless Ghita once, that I may hear the sound
of a parent's benediction."
"Bless thee!--bless thee, daughter!" exclaimed the admiral, bending over
the weeping girl to do the act she solicited, and then raising her to
his arms and embracing her tenderly; "this _must_ be my child--I feel
that she is no other."
"Eccellenza," said Carlo, "she is the daughter of your son, Don
Francesco, and of my sister, Ghita Giuntotardi, born in lawful wedlock.
I would not deceive any--least of all a dying man."
"I have no estate to bequeathe--no honors to transmit--no name to boast
of. Better the offspring of the lazzaroni than a child of Francesco
Caraccioli, at this moment.
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