"But, Carlton, the priest married us," said Florinda, shuddering at
the thought. "I am his wife!"

"Compose thyself, dearest; and believe me, thou art no one's wife,
but still my dear Florinda. All is well."

By degrees as Florinda became more composed, the whole matter was
told to her; and though she deeply sorrowed at the fatal necessity,
yet she could not blame Carlton for taking the life of him who was
at the moment seeking his. They sought her home in Florence, from
whence Carlton was no longer excluded, but came and went at will.
Signor Latrezzi and he never met; but it was plain that the servants
had been ordered to admit him in future, as any other respected
guest of Signora Florinda's.

The uncle's darling project was utterly defeated, and the hopes
thereby of securing himself from his just reward for the dishonest
act he had committed in appropriating a large sum of his niece's
property, was rendered abortive. What course did the old man pursue
in this dilemma? He did that which he should have done years before,
as soon as he awoke to the realization of the crime he had
committed; he went to Florinda, confessed his dishonesty, and begged
her to spare his gray hairs from dishonor. She was but too happy to
relieve him from his misery and suffering on this account.

"Uncle," said she, "give thyself no further uneasiness on this
point, but sit thee down, and draw a paper absolving thyself from
the matter in proper form, and I will sign it."