In doing all this he had no intention of injuring either Gouache
or Faustina. He perceived clearly enough that their love affair
could not come to any good termination, and as his interests were
now very closely bound up with those of the Montevarchi, it seemed
wisest to break off the affair by any means in his power, without
complicating matters by speaking to Gouache or to Faustina's
father or mother. He knew enough of human nature to understand
that Gouache would be annoyed at losing the chance of a meeting,
and he promised himself to watch the two so carefully as to be
able to prevent other clandestine interviews during the next few
days. If he could once sow the seeds of a quarrel between the two,
he fancied it would be easy to break up the relations. Nothing
makes a woman so angry as to wait for a man who has promised to
meet her, and if he fails to come altogether her anger will
probably be very serious. In the present case he supposed that
Faustina would go to the church, but that Gouache, being warned
that he was not to come, would not think of keeping the tryst. The
scheme, if not profound, was at least likely to produce a good
deal of trouble between the lovers.
San Giacinto returned to the Palazzo Saracinesca, but he found
only the old prince at home, though he prolonged his visit in the
hope of seeing Corona or Sant' Ilario.
Pages:
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226