It may be that when Astrardente spoke so tenderly to his wife after the Frangipani ball, he felt some warning that told him his strength was failing.

His heart was in a dangerous condition, the family doctor had said, and it was necessary that he should take care of himself.

He had been very tired after that long evening, and perhaps some sudden sinking had shaken his courage.

He awoke from an unusually heavy sleep with a strange sense of astonishment, as though he had not expected to awake again in life.

He felt weaker than he had felt for a long time, and even his accustomed beverage of chocolate mixed with coffee failed to give him the support he needed in the morning.