She seemed to have
gained strength from her sorrows. So he was gone! She gave a sigh of
relief, which was instantly followed by a sharp throb of pain, so sudden
that she hardly understood it.

Her preparations were all made. She had at the last moment realised that
it was not fitting for her, at her age, to travel alone, nor to live
wholly alone in her widowhood. She had revolved the matter in her mind,
and had decided that there was no woman of her acquaintance whom she
could ask even for a short time to stay with her. She had no friends, no
relations, none to turn to in such a need. It was not that she cared for
company in her solitude; it was merely a question of propriety. To
overcome the difficulty, she obtained permission to take with her one of
the sisters of a charitable order of nuns, a lady in middle life, but
broken down and in ill health from her untiring labours. The thing was
easily managed; and the next morning, on leaving the palace, she stopped
at the gate of the community and found Sister Gabrielle waiting with her
modest box. The nun entered the huge travelling carriage, and the two
ladies set out for Astrardente.

It was the first day of Carnival, and a memorably sad one for Giovanni
Saracinesca. He would have been capable of leaving Rome at once, but that
he had promised Corona not to attempt to see her. He would have gone to
Saracinesca for the mere sake of being nearer to her, had he not
reflected that he would be encouraging all manner of gossip by so doing.
But he determined that so soon as Lent began, he would declare his
intention of leaving the city for a year. No one ever went to
Saracinesca, and by making a circuit he could reach the ancestral
castle without creating suspicion. He might even go to Paris for a few
days, and have it supposed that he was wandering about Europe, for he
could trust his own servants implicitly; they were not of the type who
would drink wine at a tavern with Temistocle or any of his class.

The old Prince came into his son's room in the morning and found him
disconsolately looking over his guns, for the sake of an occupation.

"Well, Giovanni," he said, "you have time to reflect upon your future
conduct. What! are you going upon a shooting expedition?"

"I wish I could. I wish I could find anything to do," answered Giovanni,
laying down the breech-loader and looking out of the window. "The world
is turned inside out like a beggar's pocket, and there is nothing