which she had selected for her temporary residence. From
time to time he gave her news of mutual friends, which she repaid
conscientiously with interesting accounts of the latest scandals. They
were a congenial pair, and Ugo felt that by his constant attention to her
wishes, and by her never-varying willingness to accept his service, he
had obtained a hold upon her intimacy which, in the ensuing winter, would
give him a decided advantage over all competitors in the field. She
believed that she might have married half-a-dozen times, and that with
her fortune she could easily have made a very brilliant match; she even
thought that she could have married Valdarno, who was very good-natured:
but her attachment to Giovanni, and the expectations she had so long
entertained in regard to him, had prevented her from showing any marked
preference for others; and while she was hesitating, Del Ferice, by his
superior skill, had succeeded in making himself indispensable to her--a
success the more remarkable that, in spite of his gifts and the curious
popularity he enjoyed, he was by far the least desirable man of her
acquaintance from the matrimonial point of view.

But when Donna Tullia again met Giovanni in the world, the remembrance of
her wrongs revived her anger against him, and the news of his engagement
to the Astrardente brought matters to a climax. In the excitement of the
moment, both her jealousy and her anger were illuminated by the light of
a righteous wrath. She knew, or thought she knew, that Don Giovanni was
already married. She had no proof that the peasant wife mentioned in the
certificate was alive, but there was nothing either to show that she was
dead. Even in the latter ease it was a scandalous thing that he should
marry again without informing Corona of the circumstances of his past
life, and Donna Tullia felt an inner conviction that he had told the
Duchessa nothing of the matter. The latter was such a proud woman, that
she would be horrified at the idea of uniting herself to a man who had
been the husband of a peasant.

Madame Mayer remembered her solemn promise to Del Ferice, and feared to
act without his consent. An hour after she had heard the news of the
engagement, she sent for him to come to her immediately. To her
astonishment and dismay, her servant brought back word that he had
suddenly gone to Naples upon urgent business. This news made her pause;
but while the messenger had been gone to Del Feric