at the day appointed for the marriage
was the anniversary of that on which Mendez had been robbed and
wounded. Nobody, however, appears to have thought of this
coincidence, till Mendez himself, observing the day of the month,
requested that the ceremony might be postponed till the day after:
'Because,' said he, 'I have business which will take me to Aquila on
the 7th, so the marriage had better take place on the 8th.' And thus
it was arranged.

This alteration was made about ten days before the appointed period,
and nothing seems to have occurred in the interval worth recording,
except that as the hour of sacrifice drew nigh, the unwillingness of
the victim became more evident. We must conclude, however, that
Mendez, whose object in marrying her appears to have been fully as
much the soothing of his pride as the gratification of his love, was
not influenced by her disinclination, for when he started for Aquila
on the 7th, every preparation had been made for the wedding on the
following day.

The object of his journey was to receive the rents before named,
which became due at this period, and also to purchase a
wedding-present for his bride. On this occasion Alessandro Malfi was
to have accompanied him; but when Mendez stopped at his door to
inquire if he was ready, Malfi came down stairs half-dressed, saying
that he had been up all night with his wife, who was ill, and that
as she had now fallen asleep, he was going to lie down himself, and
try to get a little rest. This occurred early in the morning; and
Mendez rode on, saying that he should call as he came back in the
evening, to inquire how his sister was. Upon this Malfi went to bed,
where he remained some hours--indeed till he received a message from
his wife, begging him to go to her. When he entered the room, the
first question she asked was whether Gaspar was gone to Aquila; and
on being told that he was, she said she was very sorry for it, for
that she had dreamed she saw a man with a mask lying in wait to rob
him.

'I saw the man as distinctly as possible,' she said, 'but I could
not see his face for the mask; and I saw the place, so that I'm sure
if I were taken there I should recognise it.'

Her husband told her not to mind her dreams, and that this one was
doubtless suggested by the circumstance that had occurred the year
before. 'But,' said he, 'Ripa's safely locked up in jail now, and
there's no danger.'

Nevertheless the dream appears to have mad