most sincere sorrow at her reproaches; he had known
the fear of seeing her no more, and the sweetness of pardon from her own
lips; he had found himself on a sudden in a frenzy of righteous wrath
against Del Ferice, and a moment later he had been forced to hide his
anger under a calm face; and at last, when the night was far spent, he
had received the assurance that in less than four hours he would have
ample opportunity for taking vengeance upon the cowardly eavesdropper who
had so foully got possession of the one secret he held dear. Worn out
with all he had suffered, and calm in the expectation of the morning's
struggle, Giovanni lay down upon his bed and slept.

Del Ferice, on the contrary, was very wakeful. He had an unpleasant
sensation about his throat as though he had been hanged, and cut down
before he was dead; and he suffered the unutterable mortification of
knowing that, after a long and successful social career, he had been
detected by his worst enemy in a piece of disgraceful villany. In the
first place, Giovanni might kill him. Del Ferice was a very good fencer,
but Saracinesca was stronger and more active; there was certainly
considerable danger in the duel. On the other hand, if he survived,
Giovanni had him in his power for the rest of his life, and there was no
escape possible. He had been caught listening--caught in a flagrantly
dishonest trick--and he well knew that if the matter had been brought
before a jury of honour, he would have been declared incompetent
to claim any satisfaction.

It was not the first time Del Ferice had done such things, but it was the
first time he had been caught. He cursed his awkwardness in oversetting
the vase just at the moment when his game was successfully played to the
end--just when he thought that he began to see land, in having discovered
beyond all doubt that Giovanni was devoted body and soul to Corona
d'Astrardente. The information had been necessary to him, for he was
beginning seriously to press his suit with Donna Tullia, and he needed to
be sure that Giovanni was not a rival to be feared. He had long suspected
Saracinesca's devotion to the dark Duchessa, and by constantly putting
himself in his way, he had done his best to excite his jealousy and to
stimulate his passion. Giovanni never could have considered Del Ferice as
a rival; the idea would have been ridiculous. But the constant annoyance
of finding the man by Corona's side, when he desired to be alone