Things were taking a bad turn for Donna Tullia.  She believed the papers to be genuine, but a fearful doubt crossed her mind that Del Ferice might possibly have deceived her by having them manufactured.  Anybody could buy Government paper, and it would be but a simple matter to have a notary’s seal engraved.  She was terrified at the idea, but there was no possibility of getting the documents back from the old Prince, who held them firmly in his broad brown hand.  There was nothing to be done but to face the situation out to the end and go.

“As you please,” she said.  “It is natural that you should insult me, a defenceless woman trying to do what is right.  It is worthy of your race and reputation.  I will leave you to the consideration of the course you intend to follow, and I advise you to omit nothing which can help to prove the innocence of your son.”

Donna Tullia bestowed one more glance of contemptuous defiance upon the group, and brushed angrily out of the room.

“So much for her madness!” exclaimed Giovanni, when she was gone.  “I think I have got to the bottom of that affair.”

“It seems so simple, and yet I never thought of it,” said Corona.  “How clever you are, Giovanni!”

“There was not much cleverness needed to see through so shallow a trick,” replied Giovanni.  “I suspected it this morning; and when I saw that the documents were genuine and all in order, I was convinced of it.  This thing has been done by Del Ferice, I suppose in order to revenge himself upon me for nearly killing him in fair fight.  It was a noble plan.  With a little more intelligence and a little more pains, he could have given me great trouble.  Certificates like those he produced, if they had come from a remote French village in Canada, would have given us occupation for some time.”

“I wish Donna Tullia joy of her husband,” remarked the Prince.  “He will spend her money in a year or two, and then leave her to the contemplation of his past extravagance.  I wonder how he induced her to consent.”

“Many people like Del Ferice,” said Giovanni.  “He is popular, and has attractions.”

“How can you say that!” exclaimed Corona, indignantly.  “You should have a better opinion of women than to think any woman could find attractions in such a man.”

“Nevertheless, Donna Tullia is going to marry him,” returned Giovanni.  “She must find him to her taste.  I used to think she might have married Valdarno—­he is so good-natured, you know!”

Giovanni spoke in a tone of reflection; the other two laughed.

“And now, Giovannino,” said his father, “we must set out for Aquila, and find your namesake.”

“You will not really go?” asked Corona, with a look of disappointment.  She could not bear the thought of being separated even for a day from the man she loved.

“I do not see that we can do anything else,” returned the Prince.  “I must satisfy myself whether those papers are forgeries or not.  If they are, that woman must go to prison for them.”