There chanced to have been just room for the sentence at the foot of the page, and by the time her friend had turned over the leaf, she had already forgotten what she had written, and was running on with a different idea.

It seemed as though Corona were haunted by Giovanni at every turn; but she had not reached the end yet, for one letter still remained.

She tore open the envelope, and found that the contents consisted of a few lines penned in a small and irregular hand, without signature.

There was an air of disguise about the whole, which was unpleasant; it was written upon a common sort of paper, and had come through the city post.

It ran as follows:-- "The Duchessa d'Astrardente reminds us of the fable of the dog in the horse's manger, for she can neither eat herself nor let others eat.