y in
that respect--and, as your cast of features and physical characteristics
developed themselves, that hideous doubt and that racking uncertainty
increased until there were times when I was nearly goaded to do some
desperate deed. Those mild blue eyes--that rich brown hair--that
feminine softness of expression which marked your face belonged not to
the family of Riverola!

"Time wore on, and my unhappiness increased. I suspected my wife, yet
dared not proclaim the suspicion. I sought to give her back my love, but
was utterly unable to subdue the dark thoughts and crush the maddening
uncertainties that agitated my soul. At last I was sinking into a state
of morbid melancholy, when an incident occurred which revived all the
energies of my mind. It was in 1505--Nisida being then ten years old,
and you, Francisco, four--when Margaretha informed me one evening that
the countess had received a letter which had thrown her into a state of
considerable agitation, and which she had immediately burned. By
questioning the porter at the gate of the mansion, I learnt that the
person who delivered the letter was a tall, handsome man of about
thirty-two, with brown hair, blue eyes, and a somewhat feminine
expression of countenance. Holy Virgin! this must be the gallant--the
paramour of my wife--the father of the boy on whom the law compelled me
to bestow my own name. Such were the ideas that immediately struck me;
and I now prepared for vengeance. Margaretha watched my wife narrowly,
and on the evening following the one on which the letter had been
delivered, Vitangela was seen to secure a heavy bag of gold about her
person, and quit the mansion by the secret staircase of her
apartment--that apartment which is now the sleeping-place of your sister
Nisida.

"Margaretha followed the countess to an obscure street, at the corner of
which the guilty woman encountered a tall person, enveloped in a cloak,
and who was evidently waiting for her. To him she gave the bag of gold,
and they embraced each other tenderly. Then they separated--the countess
returning home, unconscious that a spy watched her movements. Margaretha
reported all that had occurred to me; and I bade her redouble her
attention in watching her mistress. Now that the lover is once more in
this city, I thought, and well provided with my gold to pursue his
extravagance, there will soon be another meeting--and then for vengeance
such as an Italian must have. But weeks and mont