And yet she had a preference, and in her heart she knew it was a strong one.

It was by no means indifferent to her which of those two men left her side and which remained.

She was above suspicion--yes, above the suspicion of any human being besides herself, as she had been for five long years.

She knew that had her husband entered the room and passed that way, he would have nodded to Giovanni Saracinesca as carelessly as though Giovanni had been his wife's brother--as carelessly as he would have noticed Ugo del Ferice upon her other side.

But in her own heart she knew that there was but one face in all Rome she loved to see, but one voice she loved, and dreaded too, for it had the power to make her life seem unreal, till she wondered how long it would last, and whether there would ever be any change.