ain_, and kept us laughing the
whole day. Good-bye; I do so wish you had come."

"I was very sorry," answered Corona, quietly, "but it was impossible. I
am glad you all enjoyed it so much. Good-bye."

So they parted.

"How she wishes that same husband of hers would follow the example of my
excellent old Mayer, of blessed memory, and take himself out of the world
to-day or to-morrow!" thought Donna Tullia, as she walked up the church.

She was sure something unusual had occurred, and she longed to fathom the
mystery. But she was not altogether a bad woman, and when she had
collected her thoughts she made up her mind that even by the utmost
stretch of moral indulgence, she could not consider herself in a proper
state to undertake so serious a matter as confession. She therefore
waited a few minutes, to give time for Corona to drive away, and then
turned back. She cautiously pushed aside the curtain and looked out.
The Astrardente carriage was just disappearing in the distance. Donna
Tullia descended the steps, got into her brougham, and proceeded to the
studio of Monsieur Anastase Gouache, the portrait-painter. She had not
accomplished much, save to rouse her curiosity, and that parting thrust
concerning Don Giovanni had been rather ill-timed.

She drove to the door of the studio and found Del Ferice waiting for her
as usual. If Corona had accompanied her, she would have expressed
astonishment at finding him; but, as a matter of fact, Ugo always met
her there, and helped to pass the time while she was sitting. He was very
amusing, and not altogether unsympathetic to her; and moreover, he
professed for her the most profound devotion--genuine, perhaps, and
certainly skilfully expressed. If any one had paid much attention to Del
Fence's doings, it would have been said that he was paying court to the
rich young widow. But he was never looked upon by society from the point
of view of matrimonial possibility, and no one thought of attaching any
importance to his doings. Nevertheless Ugo, who had been gradually rising
in the social scale for many years, saw no reason why he should not win
the hand of Donna Tullia as well as any one else, if only Giovanni
Saracinesca could be kept out of the way; and he devoted himself with
becoming assiduity to the service of the widow, while doing his utmost to
promote Giovanni's attachment for the Astrardente, which he had been the
first to discover. Donna Tullia would probably have laughe