The Moncada family returned to Spain after spending some months in Rome. Two years later Doña Isabel’s husband died, and she, recalling the offers of her brother, the Cardinal, left Cæsar in an Escolapian college in Madrid, and went to Rome, taking Laura with her.
The Cardinal, in the meanwhile, had changed his position and his domicile; he was now living in the Palazzo Altemps in the Via di S. Apellinare, and leading a more sumptuous life.
They reproached him in Rome for his exclusiveness and at the same time for his tendency to ostentation. They said that if he was silent about himself, it was not through modesty, but because that is the best method to arrive at being a candidate for the tiara.
They added that he was very fond of showing himself in his red robes, and in fine carriages, and this ostentatious taste was explained among the Italians by saying: “It’s simple enough; he is Spanish.”
Publicly it was said that he was a great theologian, but privately he was considered a strong man, although of mediocre intelligence.
“A Fort is always strong,” they said of him, making a pun on his name. “He is one of the Spanish Eminences who rule the Pope,” a great English periodical stated, referring to him.
On receiving his sister and his niece, the Cardinal put all his influence with the Black Party in play so that they should be accepted by the aristocratic society of Rome. He achieved that without much difficulty. Laura and her mother were naturaly distinguished and tactful, and they succeeded in forming a circle.
The Cardinal felt proud of his family; and accompanying the two women gave him occasion for visiting many people.
Roman slander calumniated Fort, assuming him to be having a love affair with his niece. Juan Fort showed an affection for Laura which seemed unheard of by those that knew him.
The Cardinal was a man of exuberant pride, and he knew how to control himself. He felt a great fondness for Laura; but if there was anything more in this fondness than tranquil fatherly affection, if there was any passion, only he knew it; the fire lurked very deep in his overshaded soul.