after the marriage with Bianca he
intended to use every effort to procure the innocent man's
liberation, on the condition of his quitting that part of the
country. Of course it was he who wrote the letter to Marino, and he
had used the precaution of placing a sealed packet, containing a
confession of the truth, in the hands of a notary at Aquila, with
strict directions to deliver it to Ripa if the authorities should
appear disposed to carry his sentence into execution.

He had nevertheless suffered considerable qualms of conscience about
the whole affair; and the moment he saw Guerra on the road that
night, he felt certain that he had come with the intention of
waylaying him as before--the man being well aware that it was on
that day he usually received his rents. He perceived that he should
never be safe as long as this villain was free, and that he must
either henceforth live in continual terror of assassination, or
confront the mortification of a confession whilst the fellow was in
his power.

With respect to Guerra himself, he made but feeble resistance when
he was seized. He had, in the first instance, left Mendez for dead;
and he would have immediately fled when he heard he was alive, had
not the news been accompanied with the further information that the
Spaniard had pointed out Ripa as his assailant. He was exceedingly
surprised, for he could scarcely believe that he had not been
recognised. Nevertheless it was possible; and whether it were so or
not, he did not doubt that what Mendez had once asserted he would
adhere to. On receiving his dismissal, he had gone to some distance
from the scene of his crime; but having, whilst the money lasted,
acquired habits of idleness and dissipation that could not be
maintained without a further supply, these necessities had provoked
this last enterprise.

He had really been concealed behind the wall when Malfi and his
servant passed; but concluding that they were going to meet Mendez,
and that his scheme was defeated, he had thought it both useless and
dangerous to remain, and was intending to make off in another
direction, when their sudden return surprised him.

A few hours more saw Antonio Guerra in Giuseppe Ripa's cell; and
whilst the first paid the penalty of his crimes, the latter was
rewarded for his sufferings by the hand of Bianca, to whom the
Spaniard gave a small marriage-portion before finally quitting the
country, which he did immediately after Antonio's