Montevarchi sent the servant who answered the bell with a message begging Donna Faustina to come to the study at once.  Since it was to be a day of interviews he determined to state the case plainly to his daughter, and bid her make ready to comply with his will in case the match with Frangipani turned out to be possible.  He seemed no more disturbed by Meschini’s anger than if the affair had not concerned him in the least.  He had, indeed, long foreseen what would occur, and even at the moment when he had promised the bribe he was fully determined never to pay it.  The librarian had taken the bait greedily, and it was his own fault if the result did not suit him.  He had no redress, as Montevarchi had told him; there was not so much as a note to serve as a record of the bargain.  Meschini had executed the forgery, and he would have to ruin himself in order to bring any pressure to bear upon his employer.  This the latter felt sure that he would not do, even if driven to extremities.  Meschini’s nature was avaricious and there was no reason to suppose that he was tired of life, or ready to go to the galleys for a bit of personal vengeance, when, by exercising a little patience, he might ultimately hope to get some advantage out of the crime he had committed.  Montevarchi meant to pay him what he considered a fair price for the work, and he did not see that Meschini had any means of compelling him to pay more.  Now that the thing was done, he began to regret that he himself had not made some agreement with San Giacinto, but a moment’s reflection sufficed to banish the thought as unworthy of his superior astuteness.  His avarice was on a large scale and was merging into ambition.  It might have been foreseen that, after having married one of his two remaining daughters to a man who had turned out to be Prince Saracinesca, his determination to match Faustina with Frangipani would be even stronger than it had been before.  Hence his sudden wish to see Faustina and to prepare her mind for what was about to take place.  All at once it seemed as though he could not act quickly enough to satisfy his desire of accomplishment.  He felt as an old man may feel who, at the end of a busy life, sees countless things before him which he would still do, and hates the thought of dying before all are done.  A feverish haste to complete this last step in the aggrandisement of his family, overcame the old prince.  He could not understand why he had submitted to wasting his time with Gouache and Meschini instead of busying himself actively in the accomplishment of his purpose.  There was no reason for waiting any longer.  Frangipani’s father had already half-agreed to the match, and what remained to be done involved only a question of financial details.