They entered the room prepared for them, and Signor Di Bello regarded in wonder the white shape on the dressing case. “Soul of a camel!” he cried. “What is that?” “A little surprise that we have for the bride,” answered Carolina, advancing and raising the window shade. “A wedding present, in fact. _Eccolo!_” She drew off the veil quickly, and the Last Lady stood revealed in the streaming sunlight. “By the Egg of Columbus!” Every eye turned from the marble Juno to the Juno of flesh and blood. She had let fall the counterfeit blossoms that the signore had just placed in her hand, but gave no other token of disquiet. A glow of admiration lit up her face as she gazed steadily at her double in stone. “It is really beautiful,” she said calmly, moving nearer. “I knew I should look well in marble.” She passed one hand behind the bust as though to judge it by the sense of touch, but before any one could hinder she lifted it to the window sill and sent it somersaulting into the rear court. The crash brought a score of heads to the lower windows, and the guests set up a cry that disaster had again visited the wedding of Signor Di Bello. “_Infame! infame!_” chorused Carolina, Armando, and Marianna when they looked out and beheld the Last Lady in a dozen pieces on the flagstones, while the bridegroom merely laughed, for it seemed to him a capital joke. Juno was quick to follow her prompt action with suitable words. “You dogs of Genovese!” she said, sweeping the company with her flashing eyes. “Do you like the bust now? Did you think I would stand still and be made a fool of, or that I would fall down and weep?” Then, turning to Carolina, “And you, Signorina Old Maid, you are a large piece of stupidity.” “Ha! You do not like my present!” said Carolina, ready for the combat. “That is a grand pity. But, mark you, on her wedding day a _married_ maid must be suited to her heart’s full desire. I will give you another present--yes, a present that every married maid must have. Do you guess? No? How strange!” She went into the hall and called, “Bertino!” Instantly he darted in and stood panting before his wife. “Here is the other present, my married maid--your husband!” At the same moment there arose from the parlour a tumult of voices, and Angelica entered and said that the priest had arrived. “Are you her husband?” groaned Signor Di Bello, his hope all gone. “Yes,” Bertino answered, glaring at Juno. “She is my wife, the viper! She put me up to stabbing you, my uncle. She told me you annoyed her; that she did not want you. But she shall pay!” he cried, waving his hand above his head. “Do you hear, you Neapolitan thief? You shall pay. After that to inferno with you, and may you remain there as long as it takes a crab to go round the world! _Figlia_ of a priest! Wolf of----” “Stop!” broke in Signor Di Bello. Going up to Juno, he asked mournfully, “Is he your husband?” She answered, tossing her head: “He says so. Let him prove it.”