"And now, my dear lady," he said, gently, "will you tell me exactly what you have done?" "This morning," answered Madame Mayer, in a stifled voice, "I heard of the Astrardente's engagement to Don Giovanni. It seemed such a terrible thing!" "Terrible, indeed," said Del Ferice, solemnly. "I sent for you at once, to know what to do: they said you were gone to Naples. I thought, of course, that you would approve if you were here, because we ought to prevent such a dreadful crime--of course." She waited for some sign of assent, but Del Ferice's pale face expressed nothing but a sort of grave reproach. "And then," she continued, "as I could not find you, I thought it was best to act at once, and so I went to see the Astrardente, feeling that you would entirely support me. There was a terrific scene. She sent for the two Saracinesca, and I--waited till they came, because I was determined to see justice done. I am sure I was right,--was I not?" "What did they say?" asked Del Ferice, quietly watching her face. "If you will believe it, that monster of villany, Don Giovanni, was as cold as stone, and denied the whole matter from beginning to end; but his father was very angry. Of course they demanded the proofs. I never saw anything like the brazen assurance of Don Giovanni." "Did you mention me?" inquired Del Ferice. "No, I had not seen you: of course I did not want to implicate you. I said I would show them the papers to-morrow at the same hour." "And then you came to see me," said Del Ferice. "That was very rash. You might have seriously compromised yourself. I would have come if you had sent for me." "But they said you had gone to Naples. Your servant," continued Donna Tullia, blushing scarlet at the remembrance of her interview with Temistocle,--"your servant assured me in person that you had gone to Naples--" "I see," replied Del Ferice, quietly. He did not wish to press her to a confession of having tried to get the papers in his absence. His object was to put her at her ease. "My dear lady," he continued, gently, "you have done an exceedingly rash thing; but I will support you in every way, by putting the documents in your possession at once. It is unfortunate that you should have acted so suddenly, for we do not know what has become of this Felice Baldi, nor have we any immediate means of finding out. It might have taken weeks to find her. Why were you so rash? You could have waited till I returned, and we could have discussed the matter carefully, and decided whether it were really wise to make use of my information." "You do not doubt that I did right?" asked Donna Tullia, turning a little pale.