what had been done in the sacristy. Her intention was
good, no doubt, but it is very uncertain whether the result is valid!'

'And why should it not be?' Ortensia was very angry. 'There were
honourable witnesses, too! What can any one say against my marriage?'

'One thing is that the witnesses were not as honourable as you thought
them, my lady! The two gentlemen who helped you have turned out to be
two of the most famous Bravi in Italy----'

'Bravi?'

'Yes. Their pockets are full of pardons for the atrocious murders they
have committed for money, and they are as well known in Rome as Romulus
and Remus! As for the woman who signed the register after them, she is a
runaway nun, whose mere presence as a witness would discredit any
ceremony!'

'A runaway nun? Pina? What folly is this? She has been with me since I
was seven years old!'

'And she is forty now! There was time for a great many things to happen
to her before you knew her. Has she not one thumb unlike the other? You
see, I am well informed, for the Cardinal knows everything; and if he
says that your marriage is not valid, you may be sure that he is not
speaking carelessly or without full information.'

Ortensia was now very pale, and her breath came quickly as she leaned
against the pedestal of the Juno.

'It is not possible!' she cried, staring at Altieri in horror.

'It is more than possible that the priest may not have been a priest at
all,' he answered, 'and that the whole scene was cleverly prepared to
trick you. But the rest I know beyond a doubt and can prove. Your two
friends are well-known Bravi and are at present lodging at the Orso inn,
where you were, and your serving-woman is Filippina Landi, who escaped
from a convent in Lombardy with a young Venetian and was abandoned by
him. She was arrested in Ferrara some nineteen or twenty years ago and
confessed the truth under torture, but was soon afterwards pardoned by
the intervention of your uncle, the Senator Pignaver.'

'My uncle?' Ortensia almost forgot her new anxiety in her surprise.

'Yes, dear lady. Your uncle was, in fact, the young Venetian who had
carried her off out of the convent, promising to marry her! It was no
doubt in order to be revenged on him that she helped you to run away.'

Ortensia's hand strained upon the corner of the pedestal till Altieri
could count the small blue veins and purple arteries that showed through
the white skin. She was terrified by what he had told