Lissa was more attracted to the charming Frenchman Paul de Gue than she had even been to anyone - but still she wasn't quite sure if her feelings for him went deep enough for marriage. So she was glad to accept his invitation to his family chateau so that she could meet his relatives and try to make up her mind about him. Unfortunately this also involved meeting the head of the family, the austere Comte de Gue, who made it clear that he regarded Lissa as noting but a cheap little gold-digger whom he did not want marrying into his aristocratic family! He couldn't actually stop her marrying Paul, though - so why should Lissa care so much what he thought?