"Whatever you like," she said. But even while the laugh was on her lips her eyes sought his uneasily.
"Would you marry me, for instance, as the enchanted princess in the fairy story marries the prince who frees her from the spell?" He seemed immensely amused at the idea.
"Why not?" she laughed.
"It would be the only just recompense," he answered. "See how impossible the thing appears. And yet a few pounds of dynamite would blow up the Great Pyramid. Giovanni Saracinesca is not so strong as he looks."
"Oh, I would not have him hurt!" exclaimed Donna Tullia in alarm.
"I do not mean physically, nor morally, but socially."
"How?"
"That is my secret," returned Del Ferice, quietly.
"It sounds as though you were pretending to know more than you really do," she answered.
"No; it is the plain truth," said Del Ferice, quietly. "If you were in earnest I might be willing to tell you what the secret is, but for a mere jest I cannot. It is far too serious a matter."