Gianbattista had only once seen the lawyer who was thus suddenly thrust into his place.
He remembered a thin, cadaverous man, in a long and gloomy black coat, but that was all.

He did not recall his voice, nor the expression of his face; he had only seen him once, and had thought little enough of the meeting.

It seemed altogether impossible, and beyond the bounds of anything rational, that this stranger should ever really be brought forward to be Lucia's husband.
For a moment the whole thing looked like an evil dream, and Gianbattista smiled as he looked down again at his work.

Then the reality of the occurrence rose up again and confronted him stubbornly.

He was not mistaken, Marzio had actually pronounced those words, and Don Paolo had sprung forward to prevent Gianbattista from attacking his master then and there.