ou wish it
so, I will do it. What are the words?"

He repeated them slowly, and she followed him. He watched her at every
word, to be sure she overlooked nothing.

"I, Tullia Mayer, swear and solemnly bind myself that I will faithfully
keep the secret about to be committed to me; and that if I fail to keep
it, I will atone by immediately marrying Ugo del Ferice"--her voice
trembled nervously: "and I take to witness of this oath the blessed
memory of my mother, the hope of the salvation of my soul, and this relic
of the True Cross." At the last words she took the locket in her fingers.

"You understand that you have promised to marry me if you reveal my
secret? You fully understand that?" asked Del Ferice.

"I understand it," she answered hurriedly, as though ashamed of what she
had done. "And now, the secret," she added eagerly, feeling that she had
undergone a certain humiliation for the sake of what she so much
coveted.

"Don Giovanni cannot marry the Duchessa d'Astrardente, because"--he
paused a moment to give full weight to his statement--"because Don
Giovanni Saracinesca is married already."

"What!" cried Donna Tullia, starting from her chair in amazement at the
astounding news.

"It is quite true," said Del Ferice, with a quiet smile. "Calm yourself;
it is quite true. I know what you are thinking of--all Rome thought he
was going to marry you."

Donna Tullia was overcome by the strangeness of the situation. She hid
her face in her hands for a moment as she leaned forward over the piano.
Then she suddenly looked up.

"What a hideous piece of villany!" she exclaimed, in a stifled voice.
Then slowly recovering from the first shock of the intelligence, she
looked at Del Ferice; she was almost as pale as he. "What proof have
you?" she asked.

"I have the attested copy of the banns published by the priest who
married them. That is evidence. Moreover, the real book of banns exists,
and Giovanni's name is upon the parish register. I have also a copy of
the certificate of the civil marriage, which is signed by Giovanni
himself."

"Tell me more," said Donna Tullia, eagerly. "How did you find it?"

"It is very simple," answered Del Ferice. "You may go and see for
yourself, if you do not mind making a short journey. Last summer I was
wandering a little for my health's sake, as I often do, and I chanced to
be in the town of Aquila--you know, the capital of Abruzzi. One day I
happened to go into the sacristy of