He had long suspected Del Ferice of treasonable practices; he did not doubt that with small exertion he could find evidence to convict him.

He would, then, allow him to marry Donna Tullia; and on the day after the wedding, Del Ferice should be arrested and lodged in the prison of the Holy Office as a political delinquent of the meanest and most dangerous kind--as a political spy.

The determination was soon reached.

It did not seem cruel to Giovanni, for he was in a relentless mood; it would not have seemed cruel to Corona,--Del Ferice had deserved all that, and more also.
So Giovanni went home and slept the sleep of a man who has made up his mind upon an important matter.

And in the morning he rose early and communicated his ideas to his father.