for a nap. However, instead of sleeping, the Prince finds himself contemplating the recent vote taken on the question of whether Sicily should politically join with the new Italian Kingdom. The Prince remembers how he could not decide which way to mark his ballot. Eventually he voted 'yes'. He then recalls the celebrations which greeted the result — a unanimous vote in favor. The Prince contemplates what he believes to be the historical significance of the vote, as well as its deeper meaning. This leads him to ask Ciccio how he voted in the Plebiscite. At first reluctant, Don Ciccio finally admits that, as the son of a Bourbon royal gamekeeper, he could not bring himself to vote in favor of the revolution. Many others in Donnafugata voted the same way, but Don Calogero rigged the election and announced the results as unanimous in favor of the House of Savoy. The Prince asks Don Ciccio what the people of Donnafugata really think of Don Calogero. Don Ciccio speaks at angry length of how many people despise Don Calogero in spite of, or perhaps because of, his embodiment of a harsh reality — that 'every coin spent in the world must end in someone's pocket.' Don Calogero was moneylender to peasants and eloped with Angelica's mother, who was the uneducated daughter of a rough peasant farmer. The girl's father vowed revenge, but his corpse was later found, shot twelve times in the back. Angelica's mother never appears in public, and the rumor is that, because of her peasant background, she is unable to function in society. Don Ciccio reveals that he once glimpsed Angelica's mother at early-morning mass and discovered that she, like Angelica, is an extraordinary beauty. It is thus no surprise that the homely Don Calogero keeps such a woman under wraps. Although scandalized by Don Ciccio's stories, the Prince at last asks the question that is really on his mind — what is Angelica truly like? Don Ciccio speaks rapturously of her beauty, poise and sophistication, and then speaks about how her parents' vulgarity seems not to have affected her. The Prince bristles and informs Don Ciccio that thenceforth, because Angelica and Tancredi are to be married, the Sedàras must be spoken about with appropriate respect. Don Ciccio, who has believed that Tancredi was attempting to seduce Angelica and ruin her marriage prospects, in order to embarrass her