midday
`` I am so sorry ! I am very fond of Gouache . '' Giovanni Saracinesca , known to the world since his marriage as Prince of Sant ' Ilario , glanced quickly at his wife , so quickly that neither she nor the old gentleman noticed the fact . The three persons sat at their midday breakfast in the dining-room of the Palazzo Saracinesca . After much planning and many discussions the young couple had determined to take up their abode with Giovanni 's father . There were several reasons which had led them to this decision , but the two chief ones were that they were both devotedly attached to the old man ; and secondly , that such a proceeding was strictly fitting and in accordance with the customs of Romans . It was true that Corona , while her old husband , the Duca d'Astrardente , was alive , had grown used to having an establishment exclusively her own , and both the Saracinesca had at first feared that she would be unwilling to live in her father-in-law 's house .