But she was no match for the actor whom she had promised to marry.

Del Ferice began to read, and as he read, his frown relaxed; gradually an ugly smile, intended to represent fiendish cunning, stole over his features, and when he had finished, he uttered a cry of triumph.
"Ha!" he said, "I guessed it! I hoped it--and it is true! He is found at last! The very man--the real Saracinesca! It is only a matter of time--" Donna Tullia now stared in unfeigned surprise.

Instead of crushing him to the ground as she had expected, the letter seemed to fill him with boundless delight.

He paced the room in wild excitement, chattering like a madman.

In spite of herself, however, her own spirits rose, and her anger against Del Ferice softened.