e's house, Donna Tullia
had been anticipating and going over in her mind the scene which would
ensue when she told Corona the secret. Donna Tullia was a very sanguine
woman, and the idea of at last being revenged for all the slights she had
received worked suddenly upon her brain, so that as she paced her
drawing-room in expectation of the arrival of Del Ferice, she entirely
acted out in her imagination the circumstances of the approaching crisis,
the blood beat hotly in her temples, and she lost all sense of prudence
in the delicious anticipation of violent words. Del Ferice had cruelly
calculated upon her temperament, and he had hoped that in the excitement
of the moment she would lose her head, and irrevocably commit herself to
him by the betrayal of the secret. This was precisely what occurred. On
being told that he was out of town, she could no longer contain herself,
and with a sudden determination to risk anything blindly, rather than to
forego the pleasure and the excitement she had been meditating, she
ordered her carriage and drove to the Palazzo Astrardente.

Corona was surprised at the unexpected visit. She was herself on the
point of going out, and was standing in her boudoir, drawing on her black
gloves before the fire, while her furs lay upon a chair at her side. She
wondered why Donna Tullia called, and it was in part her curiosity which
induced her to receive her visit. Donna Tullia, armed to the teeth with
the terrible news she was about to disclose, entered the room quickly,
and remained standing before the Duchessa with a semi-tragic air that
astonished Corona.

"How do you do, Donna Tullia?" said the latter, putting out her hand.

"I have come to speak to you upon a very serious matter," answered her
visitor, without noticing the greeting.

Corona stared at her for a moment, but not being easily disconcerted, she
quietly motioned to Donna Tullia to sit down, and installed herself in a
chair opposite to her.

"I have just heard the news that you are to marry Don Giovanni
Saracinesca," said Madame Mayer. "You will pardon me the interest I take
in you; but is it true?"

"It is quite true," answered Corona.

"It is in connection with your marriage that I wish to speak, Duchessa. I
implore you to reconsider your decision."

"And why, if you please?" asked Corona, raising her black eyebrows, and
fixing her haughty gaze upon her visitor.

"I could tell you--I would rather not," answered Donna Tul