His first impulse on leaving Corona was to go to Giovanni and tell him what he had done; but he reflected as he went home that his son was ill with his wounds, and that it would be bad for him to be angry, as of course he would be if he were told of his father's doings. Moreover, as old Saracinesca thought more seriously of the matter, he wisely concluded that it would be better not to speak of the visit; and when he entered the room where Giovanni was lying on his couch with a novel and a cigarette, he had determined to conceal the whole matter. "Well, Giovanni," he said, "we are the talk of the town, of course." "It was to be expected. Whom have you seen?" "In the first place, I have seen Madame Mayer. She is in a state of anger against you which borders on madness--not because you have wounded Del Ferice, but because you forgot to dance with her. I cannot conceive how you could be so foolish." "Nor I. It was idiotic in the last degree," replied Giovanni, annoyed that his father should have learned the story. "You must go and see her at once--as soon as you can go out. It is a disagreeable business." "Of course. What else did she say?" "She thought that Del Ferice had challenged you on her account, because you had not danced with her." "How silly! As if I should fight duels about her." "Since there was probably a woman in the case, she might have been the one," remarked his father. "There was no woman in the case, practically speaking," said Giovanni, shortly. "Oh, I supposed there was. However, I told Donna Tullia that I advised her not to think anything more of the matter until the whole story came out." "When is that likely to occur?" asked Giovanni, laughing. "No one alive knows the cause of the quarrel but Del Ferice and I myself. He will certainly not tell the world, as the thing was even more disgraceful to him than his behaviour this morning. There is no reason why I should speak of it either." "How reticent you are, Giovanni!" exclaimed the old gentleman. "Believe me, if I could tell you the whole story without injuring any one but Del Ferice, I would." "Then there was really a woman in the case?" "There was a woman outside the case, who caused us to be in it," returned Giovanni. "Always your detestable riddles," cried the old man, petulantly; and presently, seeing that his son was obstinately silent, he left the room to dress for dinner. CHAPTER XV.