"Meanwhile, there is this Farnese dog
with his parcel of minions and harlots making a sty of my house. He
threatens to remain until I come to what he terms a reasonable mind--until
I consent to do his will and allow my daughter to marry his henchman; and
he parted from me enjoining me to give the matter thought, and impudently
assuring me that in Cosimo d'Anguissola--in that guelphic jackal--I had a
husband worthy of Bianca de' Cavalcanti."
He spoke it between his teeth, his eyes kindling angrily again.
"The remedy, my lord, is to send Bianca hence," I said. "Let her seek
shelter in a convent until Messer Pier Luigi shall have taken his
departure. And if she is no longer here, Cosimo will have little
inclination to linger."
He flung back his head, and there was defiance in every line of his clear-
cut face. "Never!" he snapped. "The thing could have been done two weeks
ago, when they first came. It would have seemed that the step was
determined before his coming, and that in my independence I would not alter
my plans. But to do it now were to show fear of him; and that is not my
way.
"Go, Agostino. Let me have the night to think. I know not how to act.
But we will talk again to-morrow."
It was best so; best leave it to the night to bring counsel, for we were
face to face with grave issues which might need determining sword in hand.
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