Angela had no near relations on her mother's side to protect her or take her in.
Six weeks passed away without incident after Giovanni had left, and she had received three letters from him--one from Naples, written before going on board the steamer, one from Port Said, and one from Massowah after his arrival there.

The expedition was to start in three days, he said; it had been waiting for him and the officer who was to take the command, and who had gone with him.
A short time after receiving this last letter Angela was reading the news from an evening paper to Madame Bernard, translating the paragraphs offhand into French, by force of habit, because her old governess had often made her do it for practice.
Suddenly her eyes became fixed, the colour left her face, and she dropped the newspaper with a short, loud cry, falling back in her chair at the same moment.
Madame Bernard snatched up the sheet and glanced at the place where the girl had last been reading.
The expedition had fallen in with hostile natives a week after starting and had been massacred to a man.

The names of the dead were given, and Giovanni's was the second on the list..