But soon came consolation. Pier Luigi had gone too far. Even rats when
cornered will turn at bay and bare their teeth for combat. So now the
nobles of the Valnure and the Val di Taro.
The Scotti, the Pallavicini, the Landi, and the Anguissola of Albarola,
came one after the other in secret to Pagliano to interview the gloomy
Galeotto. And at one gathering that was secretly held in a chamber of the
castle, he lashed them with his furious scorn.
"You are come now," he jeered at them, "now that you are maimed; now that
you have been bled of half your strength; now that most of your teeth are
drawn. Had you but had the spirit and good sense to rise six months ago
when I summoned you so to do, the struggle had been brief and the victory
certain. Now the fight will be all fraught with risk, dangerous to engage,
and uncertain of issue."
But it was they--these men who themselves had been so pusillanimous at
first--who now urged him to take the lead, swearing to follow him to the
death, to save for their children what little was still left them.
"In that spirit I will not lead you a step," he answered them. "If we
raise our standard, we fight for all our ancient rights, for all our
privileges, and for the restoration of all that has been confiscated; in
short, for the expulsion of the Farnese from these lands.
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