CHAPTER XVIII. THE LETTER
On tiptoe I crept down that corridor to the gallery above thebanqueting-hall, secure from sight in the enveloping darkness, andintent upon allowing no sound to betray my presence, lest Ramiro shouldhave awakened. Behind me, treading as lightly, came Messer Mariani.
Thus we gained the gallery. I leaned against the stout oaken balustrade,and looked down into the black pit of the hall, broken in the centre bythe circle of light from the two tapers that burnt upon the table. Theother torches had all been quenched.
At the table sat Messer Ramiro, his head fallen forward and sidewaysupon his right arm which was outstretched and limp along the board.Before him lay a paper which I inferred to be the letter whosepossession might mean so much.
I could hear the old man breathing heavily beside me as I leaned therein the dark, and sought to devise a means by which that paper might beobtained. No doubt it would be the easiest thing in the world to snatchit away without disturbing him. But there was always to be consideredthat when he waked and missed the letter we should have to reckon withhis measures to regain possession of it.
It became necessary, therefore, to go about it in a manner that shouldleave him unsuspicious of the theft. A little while I pondered this,deeming the thing desperate at first. Then an idea came to me on asudden, and turning to Mariani I asked him could he find me a sheet ofpaper of about the size of that letter held by Ramiro. He answered methat he could, and bade me wait there until he should return.
I waited, watching the sleeper below, my excitement waxing with everysecond of the delay. Ramiro was snoring now--a loud, sonorous snore thatrang like a trumpet-blast through that vast empty hall.
At last Mariani returned, bringing the sheet of paper I had asked for,and he was full of questions of what I intended. But neither the placenor the time was one in which to stand unfolding plans. Every momentwasted increased the uncertainty of the success of my design. Someonemight come, or Ramiro might awaken despite the potency of the wine hehad been given--for on so well-seasoned a toper the most potent of winescould have but a transient effect.
So I left Mariani, and moved swiftly and silently to the head of thestaircase.
I had gone down two steps, when, in the dark, I missed the third, thebells in my cap jangling at the shock. I brought my teeth together andstood breathless in apprehension, fearing that the noise might awakenhim, and cursing myself for a careless fool to have forgotten thoseinfernal bells. Above me I heard a warning hiss from old Mariani,which, if anything, increased my dread. But Ramiro snored on, and I wasreassured.
A moment I stood debating whether I should go on, or first return todivest myself of that cap of mine. In the end I decided to pursue thelatter course. The need for swift and sudden movement might come ereI was done with this adventure, and those bells might easily be theundoing of me. So back I went to the surprise and infinite dismayof Mariani until I had whispered in his ear the reason. We retreatedtogether to the corridor, and there, with his help, I removed myjangling headgear, which I left him to restore to my chamber.
Whilst he went upon that errand I returned once more on mine, and thistime I gained the foot of the stairs without mishap, and stood in thehall. Ramiro's back was towards me. On my right stood the tall buffetfrom which the boy had fetched him wine that evening; this I marked outas the cover to which I must fly in case of need.
A second I stood hesitating, still considering my course; then I wentsoftly forward, my feet making no sound in the rushes of the floor. Ihad covered half the distance, and, growing bolder, I was advancing moreswiftly and with less caution, when suddenly my knee came in contactwith a three-legged stool that had been carelessly left where none wouldhave suspected it. The blow may have hurt afterwards, indeed, I wasconscious of a soreness at the knee; but at the moment I had no thoughtor care for physical pain. The bench went over with a crash, and for allthat the rushes may have deadened in part the sound of its fall, to mynervous ear it boomed like the report of a cannon through the stillnessof the place.
I turned cold as ice, and the sweat of fear sprang out to moistenme from head to foot. Instantly I dropped on all fours, lest Ramiro,awaking suddenly, should turn; and I waited for the least sign thatshould render advisable my seeking the cover of the buffet. In thegallery above I could picture old Mariani clenching his teeth at thenoise, his knees knocking together, and his face white with horror; forRamiro's snoring had abruptly ceased. It came to an end with a chokingcatch of the breath, and I looked to see him raise his head and start upto ascertain what it was that had aroused him. But he never stirred,and for all that he no longer snored, his breathing continued heavy andregular, so that I was cheered by the assurance that I had but disturbedhis slumber, not dispelled it.
Yet, since I had disturbed and lightened it, a greater precaution wasnow necessary, and I waited there for some ten minutes maybe, a periodthat must have proved a very eternity to the old man upstairs. At last Ihad the reward of hearing the snoring recommence; lightly at first, butsoon with all its former fullness.
I rose and proceeded now with a caution that must guard me from anymore unlooked-for obstacles. Moreover, as I approached, the darkness wasdispelled more and more at every stride in the direction of the light.At last I reached the table, and stood silent as a spectre at Ramiro'sside, looking down upon the features of the sleeping man.
His face was flushed, and his tawny hair tumbled about his damp brow;his lips quivered as he breathed. For a moment, as I stood gazing onhim, there was murder in my mind. His dagger hung temptingly in hisgirdle. To have drawn it and rid the world of this monster might havebeen a worthy deed, acceptable in the eyes of Heaven. But how shouldit profit me? Rather must it prove my destruction at the hands of hisfollowers, and to be destroyed just then, with Paola depending upon me,and life full of promise once I regained my liberty, was something I hadno mind to risk.
My eyes wandered to the letter lying on the table. If this were of thenature we suspected, it should prove a safer tool for his destruction.
To read it as it lay was an easy matter, and it came to me then thatere I decided upon my course it might be well that I should do so. Ifby chance it were innocent of treason, why, then, I might resort to therisk of that other and more desperate weapon--his own dagger.
At the foot of the short flight of steps that led from the hall to thecourtyard I could hear the slow pacing of the sentry placed there byRamiro. But unless he were summoned, it was extremely unlikely that thefellow would leave his post, so that, I concluded, I had little to fearfrom that quarter. I drew back and taking up a position behind Ramiro'schair--a position more favourable to escape in the untoward event ofhis awaking--I craned forward to read the letter over his shoulder. Ithanked God in that hour for two things: that my sight was keen, andthat Vitellozzo Vitelli wrote a large, bold hand.
Scarcely breathing, and distracted the while by the mad racing of mypulses, I read; and this, as nearly as I can remember, is what theletter contained:
"ILLUSTRIOUS RAMIRO--Your answer to my last letter reached mesafely, and it rejoiced me to learn that you had found a man for ourundertaking. See that you have him in readiness, for the hour of actionis at hand. Cesare goes south on the second or third day of the NewYear, and he has announced to me his intention of passing through Cesenaon his way, there to investigate certain charges of maladministrationwhich have been preferred against you. These concern, in particular,certain misappropriation of grain and stores, and an excessive severityof rule, of which complaints have reached him. From this you will gatherthat out of a spirit of self-defence, if not to earn the reward whichwe have bound ourselves to pay you, it is expedient that you should notfail us. The occasion of the Duke's visit to Cesena will be, of all, themost propitious for our purpose. Have your arbalister posed, and may Godstrengthen his arm and render true his aim to the end that Italy maybe rid of a tyrant. I commend myself to your Excellency, and I shallanxiously await your news.
"VITELLOZZO VITELLI."<
br />
Here indeed were my hopes realised. A plot there was, and it aimed atnothing less than the Duca Valentino's life. Let that letter be borne toCesare Borgia at Faenza, and I would warrant that within a dozen hoursof his receipt of it he would so dispose that all who had suffered bythe cruel tyranny of Ramiro del' Orca would be avenged, and thosewho were still suffering would be relieved. In this letter lay my ownfreedom and the salvation of Madonna Paula, and this letter it behovedme at once to become possessed. It was a safer far alternative than thatdagger of his.
A moment I stood pondering the matter for the last time, then steppingsideways and forward, so that I was again beside him, I put out my handand swiftly whipped the letter from the table. Then standing very still,to prevent the slightest rustle, I remained a second or two observinghim. He snored on, undisturbed by my light-fingered action.
I drew away a pace or two, as lightly as I might, and folding the letterI thrust it into my girdle. Then from my open doublet I drew the sheetthat Mariani had supplied me, and, advancing again, I placed it on thetable in a position almost identical with that which the original hadoccupied, saving that it was removed a half-finger's breadth from hishand, for I feared to allow it actually to touch him lest it shouldarouse him.
Holding my breath, for now was I come to the most desperate part of myundertaking, I caught up one of the tapers and set fire to a corner ofthe sheet. That done, I left the candle lying on its side againstthe paper, so as to convey the impression to him, when presently heawakened, that it had fallen from it sconce. Then, without waiting formore, I backed swiftly away, watching the progress of the flames as theydevoured the paper and presently reached his hand and scorched it.
At that I dropped again on all fours, and having gained the corner ofthe buffet, I crouched there, even as with a sudden scream of pain hewoke and sprang upright, shaking his blistered hand. As a matter ofinstinct he looked about to see what it was had hurt him. Then his eyesfell upon the charred paper on the table, and the fallen candle, whichwas still burning across one end of it, and even to the dull wits ofRamiro del' Orca the only possible conclusion was suggested. He staredat it a moment, then swept that flimsy sheet of ashes from the tablewith an oath, and sank back once more into his great leathern chair.
"Body of God!" he swore aloud, "it is well that I had read it a dozentimes. Better that it should have been burnt than that someone shouldhave read it whilst I slept."
The idea of such a possibility seemed to rouse him to fresh action, forseizing the fallen candle and replacing it in its socket, he rose oncemore, and holding it high above his head he looked about the hall.
The light it shed may have been feeble, and the shadows about my buffetthick; but, as I have said, my doublet was open, and some ray of thatweak candlelight must have found out the white shirt that was showingat my breast, for with a sudden cry he pushed back his chair and took astep towards me, no doubt intent upon investigating that white somethingthat he saw gleaming there.
I waited for no more. I had no fancy to be caught in that corner,utterly at his mercy. I stood up suddenly.
"Magnificent, it is I," I announced, with a calm and boundlesseffrontery.
The boldness of it may have staggered him a little, for he paused,although his eyes were glowing horribly with the frenzy that possessedhim, the half of which was drunkenness, the other fear and wrath lest Ishould have seen his treacherous communication from Vitelli.
"What make you here?" he questioned threateningly.
"I thirsted, Excellency," I answered glibly. "I thirsted, and Ibethought me of this buffet where you keep your wine."
He continued to eye me, some six paces off, his half-drunken wits nodoubt weighing the plausibility of my answer. At last--
"If that be all, what cause had you to hide?" he asked me shrewdly.
"One of your candles fell over and awakened you," said I. "I feared youmight resent my presence, and so I hid."
"You came not near the table?" he inquired. "You saw nothing of thepaper that I held? Nay, by the Host! I'll take no risks. You were born'neath an unlucky star, fool; for be your reason for your presence hereno more than you assert, you have come in a season that must be fatal toyou."
He set the candle on the table, then carrying his hand to his girdle hewithdrew it sharply, and I caught the gleam of a dagger.
In that instant I thought of Mariani waiting above, and like a flash itcame to me that if I could outpace this drunken brigand, and, gainingthe gallery well ahead of him, transfer that letter to the old man'shands, I should not die in vain. Cesare Borgia would avenge me, andMadonna Paola, at least, would be safe from this villain. If Marianicould reach Valentino at Faenza, I would answer for it that withinfour-and-twenty hours Messer Ramiro del' Orca would be the banner onthat ghastly beam that he facetiously dubbed his flagstaff; and he wouldbe the blackest, dirtiest banner that ever yet had fluttered there.
The thought conceived in the twinkling of an eye, I acted upon withouta second's hesitation. Ere Ramiro had taken his first step towards me,I had sprung to the stairs and I was leaping up them with the franticspeed of one upon whose heels death is treading closely.
A singular, fierce joy was blent with my measure of fear; a joy at thethought that even now, in this extremity, I was outwitting him, fornever a doubt had he that the burnt paper he had found on the table wasall that was left of Vitelli's letter. His fears were that I might haveread it, but never a suspicion crossed his mind of such a trick as I hadplayed upon him.
So I sped on, the gigantic Ramiro blundering after me, panting andblaspheming, for although powerful, his bulk and the wine he had takenleft him no nimbleness. The distance between us widened, and if onlyMariani would have the presence of mind to wait for me at the mouth ofthe passage, all would be as I could wish it before his dagger found myheart.
I was assuring myself of this when in the dark I stumbled, andstriking my legs against a stair I hurtled forward. I recovered almostimmediately, but, in my frenzy of haste to make up for the instant lost,I stumbled a second time ere I was well upon my feet.
With a roar Ramiro must have hurled himself forward, for I felt my anklecaught in a grip from which there was no escaping, and I was roughly andbrutally dragged back and down those stairs; now my head, now my breastbeating against the steps as I descended them one by one.
But even in that hour the letter was my first thought, and I found a wayto thrust it farther under my girdle so that it should not be seen.
At last I reached the hall, half-stunned, and with all the misery ofdefeat and the certainty of the futility of my death to further torturemy last moments. Over me stood Ramiro, his dagger upheld, ready tostrike.
"Dog!" he taunted me, "your sands are run."
"Mercy, Magnificent," I gasped. "I have done nothing to deserve yourponiard."
He laughed brutally, delaying his stroke that he might prolong my agonyfor his drunken entertainment.
"Address your prayers to Heaven," he mocked me, "and let them concernyour soul."
And then, like a flash of inspiration came the words that should delayhis hand.
"Spare me," I cried "for I am in mortal sin."
Impious, abandoned villain, though he was, he said too much when heboasted that he feared neither God nor Devil. He was prone to forgethis God, and the lessons that as a babe he had learnt at his mother'sknee--for I take it that even Ramiro del' Orca had once been a babe--butdeep down in his soul there had remained the fear of Hell and an almostinstinctive obedience to the laws of Mother Church. He could performsuch ruthless cruelties as that of hurling a page into the fire topunish his clumsiness; he could rack and stab and hang men with theleast shadow of compunction or twinge of conscience, but to slay a manwho professed himself to be in mortal sin was a deed too appalling evenfor this ruthless butcher.
He hesitated a second, then he lowered his hand, his face telling meclearly how deeply he grudged me the respite which, yet, he dared not doother than accord me.
"W
here shall I find me a priest?" he grumbled. "Think you the Citadel ofCesena is a monastery? I will wait while you make an act of contritionfor your sins. It is all the shrift I can afford you. And get it done,for it is time I was abed. You shall have five minutes in which to clearyour soul."
By this it seemed to me--as it may well seem to you--that matters werebut little mended, and instead of employing the respite he accorded mein the pious collecting of thoughts which he enjoined, I sat up--verysore from my descent of the stairs--and employed those precious momentsin putting forward arguments to turn him from, his murderous purpose.
"I have lived too ungodly a life," I protested, "to be able to squeezeinto Paradise through so narrow a tate. As you would hope for your ownultimate salvation, Excellency, I do beseech you not to imperil mine."
This disposed him, at least, to listen to me, and proceeded to assurehim of the harmless nature of my visit to the hall in quest of wine toquench my thirst. I was running the grave risk of dying with lies on mylips, but I was too desperate to give the matter thought just then. Hismood seemed to relent; the delay, perhaps, had calmed his first accessof passion, and he was grown more reasonable. But when Ramiro cooled hewas, perhaps, more malignant than ever, for it meant a return tonatural condition, and Ramiro's natural condition was one of crueltyunsurpassed.
"It may be as you say," he answered me at last, sheathing his dagger,"and at least you have my word that I will not slay you without firstassuring myself that you have lied. For to-night you shall remain indurance. To-morrow we will apply the question to you."
The hope that had been reviving in my breast fell dead once more, andI turned cold at that threat. And yet, between now and to-morrow,much might betide, and I had cause for thankfulness, perhaps, for thisrespite. Thus I sought to cheer myself. But I fear I failed. To-morrowhe would torture me, not so much to ascertain whether I had spokentruly, but because to his diseased mind it afforded diversion to witnessa man's anguish. No doubt it was that had urged him now to spare my lifeand accord me this merciless piece of mercy.
In a loud voice he called the sentry who was pacing below; and in amoment the man appeared in answer to that summons.
"You will take this knave to the chamber set apart for him up there, andyou will leave him secure under lock and bar, bringing me the key of hisdoor."
The fellow informed himself which was the chamber, then turning to me hecurtly bade me go with him. Thus was I haled back to my room, with thepromise of horrors on the morrow, but with the night before me in whichto scheme and pray for some miracle that might yet save me. But the daysof miracles were long past. I lay on my bed and deplored with many asigh that bitter fact. And if aught had been wanting to increase theweight of fear and anguish on my already over-burdened mind, and to aidin what almost seemed an infernal plot to utterly distract me, I had itin fresh, wild conjectures touching Madonna Paola. Where indeed couldshe be that Ramiro's men had failed to find her for all that they hadscoured that part of the country in which I had left her to wait for myreturn? What if, by now, worse had befallen her than the capture withwhich Ramiro's lieutenant was charged?
With such doubts as these to haunt me, fretted as I was by my utterinability to take a step in her service, I lay. There for an hour orso in such agony of mind as is begotten only of suspense. In my girdlestill reposed the treasonable letter from Vitelli to Ramiro, a mightyweapon with which to accomplish the butcher's overthrow. But how was Ito wield it imprisoned here?
I wondered why Mariani had not returned, only to remember that thesoldier who had locked me in had carried the key of my prison-chamber toRamiro.
Suddenly the stillness was disturbed by a faint tap at my door. Myinstincts and my reason told me it must be Mariani at last. In aninstant I had leapt from the bed and whispered through the keyhole:
"Who is there?"
"It is I--Mariani--the seneschal," came the old man's voice, verysoftly, but nevertheless distinctly. "They have taken the key."
I groaned, then in a gust of passion I fell to cursing Ramiro for thatprecaution.
"You have the letter?" came Mariani's voice again.
"Aye, I have it still," I answered.
"Have you seen what it contains?"
"A plot to assassinate the Duke--no less. Enough to get this bloodyRamiro broken on the wheel."
I was answered by a sound that was as a gasp of malicious joy. Then theold man's voice added:
"Can you pass it under the door? There is a sufficient gap."
I felt, and found that he was right; I could pass the half of my handunderneath. I took the letter and thrust it through. His hands fastenedon it instantly, almost snatching it from my fingers before they wereready to release it.
"Have courage," he bade me. "Listen. I shall endeavour to leave Cesenain the morning, and I shall ride straight for Faenza. If I find the Dukethere when I arrive, he should be here within some twelve or fourteenhours of my departure. Fence with Ramiro, temporise if you can tillthen, and all will be well with you."
"I will do what I can," I answered him. "But if he slays me in themeantime, at least I shall have the satisfaction of knowing that he willnot be long in following me."
"May God shield you," he said fervently.
"May God speed you," I answered him, with a still greater fervour.
That night, as you may well conceive, I slept but little, and thatlittle ill. The morning, instead of relieving the fears that in thedarkness had been with me, seemed to increase them. For now was the timefor Mariani to act, and I was fearful as to how he might succeed. Iwas full of doubts lest some obstacle should have arisen to prevent hisdeparture from Cesena, and I spent my morning in wearisome speculation.
I took an almost childish satisfaction in the thought that since, beinga prisoner, I could no longer count myself the Fool of the Courtof Cesena, I was free to strip the motley and assume the more sobergarments in which I had been taken, and which--as you may recall--hadbeen placed in my chamber on the previous evening. It was the veryplainest raiment. For doublet I wore a buff brigandine, quilted anddagger-proof, and caught at the waist by a girdle of hammered steel; mywine-coloured hose was stout and serviceable, as were my long boots ofuntanned leather. Yet prouder was I of this sober apparel than ever kingof his ermine.
It may have been an hour or so past noon when, at last, my solitudewas invaded by a soldier who came to order me into the presence of theGovernor. I had been sitting at the window, leaning against the bars andlooking out at the desolate white landscape, for there had been a heavyfall of snow in the night, which reminded me--as snow ever did--of myfirst meeting with Madonna Paola.
I rose upon the instant, and my fears rose with me. But I kept a boldfront as I went down into the hall, where Ramiro and the blackguards ofhis Court were sitting, with three or four men-at-arms at attention bythe door. Close to the pulleys appertaining to the torture of the cordstood two leather-clad ruffians--Ramiro's executioners.
At the head of the board, which was still strewn with fragments offood-for they had but dined--sat Ramiro del' Orca. With him were halfa dozen of his officers, whose villainous appearance pronounced themworthy of their brutal leader. The air was heavy with the pungent odourof viands. I looked round for Mariani, and I took some comfort from thefact that he was absent. Might heaven please that he was even then onhis way to Faenza.
Ramiro watched my advance with a smile in which mockery was blent withsatisfaction, for all that of the resumption of my proper raiment heseemed to take no heed. No doubt he had dined well, and he was nowdisposing himself to be amused.
"Messer Bocadaro," said he, when I had come to a standstill, "there waslast night a matter that was not cleared up between us and concerningwhich I expressed an intention of questioning you to-day. I shouldproceed to do so at once, were it not that there is yet another matteron which I am, if possible, still more desirous you should tell us allyou know. Once already have you evaded my questions with answers whichat the time I half believed. Even now I d
o not say that I utterlydisbelieve them, but I wish to assure myself that you told the truth;for if you lied, why then we may still be assisted by such informationthe cord shall squeeze from you. I am referring to the mysteriousdisappearance of Madonna Paola di Santafior--a disappearance of whichyou have assured me that you knew nothing, being even in ignorance ofthe fact that the lady was not really dead. I had confidently expectedthat the party searching for Madonna Paola would have succeeded ere thisin finding her. But this morning my hopes suffered disappointment. Mymen have returned empty-handed once more."
"For which mercy may Heaven be praised!" I burst out.
He scowled at me; then he laughed evilly.
"My men have returned--all save three. Captain Lucagnolo with two ofhis followers, has undertaken to go beyond the area I appointed for thesearch, and to proceed to the village of Cattolica. While he is pursuinghis inquiries there, I have resolved to pursue my own here. I nowcall upon you, Boccadoro, to tell us what you know of Madonna Paola'swhereabouts."
"I know nothing," I answered stoutly. "I am prepared to take oath that Iknow nothing of her whereabouts."
"Tell me, then, at least," said he, "where you bestowed her."
I shook my head, pressing my lips tight.
"Do you think that I would tell you if I had the knowledge?" was thescornful question with which I answered him. "You may pursue yourinquiries as you will and where you will, but I pray God they may allprove as futile as must those that you would pursue here and upon my ownperson."
This was how I fenced with him, this was the manner in which I followedMariani's sound advice that I should temporise! Oh! I know that my wordswere the words of a fool, yet no fear that Ramiro would inspire me couldhave restrained them.
There was a murmur at the table, and his fellows turned their eyes onRamiro to see how he would receive this bearding. He smiled quietly, andraising his hand he made a sign to the executioners.
Rude hands seized me from behind, and the doublet was torn from my backby fingers that never paused to untruss my points.
They turned me about, and hurried me along until I stood under thepulleys of the torture, and one of the men held me securely whilstthe other passed the cords about my wrists. Then both the executionersstepped back, to be ready to hoist me at the Governor's signal.
He delayed it, much as an epicure delays the consumption of a delectablemorsel, heightening by suspense the keen desire of his palate. Hewatched me closely, and had my lips quivered or my eyelids fluttered, hewould have hailed with joy such signs of weakness. But I take pride intruthfully writing that I stood bold and impassively before him, and ifI was pale I thank Heaven that pallor was the habit of my countenance,so that from that he could gather no satisfaction. And standing there, Igave him back look for look, and waited.
"For the last time, Boccadoro," he said slowly, attempting by wordsto shake a demeanour that was proof against the impending facts ofthe cord, "I ask you to remember what must be the consequences of thisstubbornness. If not at the first hoist, why then at the second or thethird, the torture will compel you to disclose what you may know. Wouldyou not be better advised to speak at once, while your limbs are soundlyplanted in their sockets, rather than let yourself be maimed, perhapsfor life, ere you will do so?"
There was a stir of hoofs without. They thundered on the planks of thedrawbridge and clattered on the stones of the courtyard. The thought ofCesare Borgia rose to my mind. But never did drowning man clutch ata more illusory straw. Cold reason quenched my hope at once. If thegreatest imaginable success attended Mariani's journey, the Duke couldnot reach Cesena before midnight, and to that it wanted some ten hoursat least. Moreover, the company that came was small to judge by thesound--a half-dozen horses at the most.
But Ramiro's attention had been diverted from me by the noise.Half-turning in his chair, he called to one of the men-at-arms toascertain who came. Before the fellow could do his bidding, the door wasthrust open and Lucagnolo appeared on the threshold, jaded and worn withhard riding.
A certain excitement arose in me at sight of him, despite my confidencethat he must be returning empty-handed.
Ramiro rose, pushed back his chair and advanced towards the new-comer.
"Well?" he demanded. "What news?"
"Excellency, the girl is here."
That answer seemed to turn me into stone, so great was the shock of thissudden shattering of the confidence that had sustained me.
"My search in the country failing," pursued the captain, as he cameforward, "I made bold to exceed your orders by pushing my inquiries asfar as the village of Cattolica. There I found her after some littlelabour."
Surely I dreamt. Surely, I told myself, this was not possible. There wassome mistake. Lucagnolo had drought some wench whom he believed to beMadonna Paola.
But even as I was assuring myself of this, the door opened again, andbetween two men-at-arms, white as death, her garments stained with mudand all but reduced to rags, and her eyes wild with a great fear, camemy beloved Paola.
With a sound that was as a grunt of satisfaction, Ramiro strode forwardto meet her. But her eyes travelled past him and rested upon me,standing there between the leather-clad executioners with the cords ofthe torture pinioning my wrists, and I saw the anguish deepen in theirblue depths.