His fine face flushed hotly.

He did not answer immediately, wishing first to quell the anger burning within him by an act of mental forgiveness.

At last he assured the Abbot that it was both, his duty and his wish to enlighten him.
"This young man," he began, "Is a certain Piero Maironi of Brescia.

You must surely have heard of the family.

His father, Don Franco Maironi, married a woman without birth or money.