I had but to deny; I had but to make
myself the mouthpiece of the rumour that was abroad, and Heaven alone could
foretell what the consequences might be.
Then I smiled bitterly to myself. Deny? 0, no! That was a last vileness
I could not perpetrate. The Ruota should hear the truth, and Gambara
should be left to shelter Giuliana, who--Cosimo was assured--had fled to
him in her need as to a natural protector.
It was a bitter thought. The intensity of that bitterness made me realize
with alarm how it still was with me. And pondering this, I fell asleep,
utterly worn out in body and in mind by the awful turmoil of that day.
CHAPTER III
GAMBARA'S INTERESTS
I awakened to find a man standing beside me. He was muffled in a black
cloak and carried a lanthorn. Behind him the door gaped as he had left it.
Instantly I sat up, conscious of my circumstance and surroundings, and at
my movement this visitor spoke.
"You sleep very soundly for a man in your case." said he, and the voice was
that of my Lord Gambara, its tone quite coldly critical.
He set down the lanthorn on a stool, whence it shed a wheel of yellow light
intersected with black beams. His cloak fell apart, and I saw that he was
dressed for riding, very plainly, in sombre garments, and that he was
armed.
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