Then both assailed Noemi with questions.
Yes, Jeanne had recognised him the night of their arrival, and now Maria and Giovanni could understand the reason of the faintness she had experienced.

Their meeting had taken place the following day at Sacro Speco.

Concerning the meeting Noemi knew only this much, that Jeanne's hopes had been dashed to the ground, that he was clad as a monk, and had spoken as one who has given himself to God for ever; that she had promised him to dedicate her life to good works, and that no direct correspondence between them was any longer possible.
Jeanne now wrote from Villa Diedo, the home in the Veneto where she had gone with her brother from Rome, two days after leaving Subiaco.

She wrote in a moment of most bitter despondency.

Her brother, surprised at her devoting so much time to the poor, was irritated by this innovation in her mode of thought and of life.