Dreading the poignard of the Caraffas, if he should presume to marry her, he took the prudent course of slipping away in disguise from the port of Nettuno.

Diana maddened by disappointment, flew to the conclusion that the Duchess had planned her lover's removal, and resolved to take a cruel revenge.

The Duke of Palliano was residing at Soriano, only a few miles from Gallese.

To bring him secret information of his wife's intrigue was a matter of no difficulty.

At first he refused to believe her report.