第298页 / 共1118页

At this moment the servant announced the arrival of the vicar,

and the prince was obliged to leave his daughter alone to receive

him.

The good man had come with a preconceived opinion that Gertrude

went voluntarily to the cloister, because the prince had told him

so. It was one of his maxims, however, to preserve himself

unprejudiced, and to depend only on the assertions of the

candidates themselves. "Signorina," said he, "I come to play the

part of the tempter; I come to suggest doubts where you have

affirmed certainties; I come to place before your eyes

difficulties, and ascertain if you have well considered them. You

will allow me to trouble you with some interrogatories?"

"Say on," replied Gertrude.