"But you, Agostino?"
"There is nothing against me," I answered impatiently. "What sacrilege
have I ever committed? The thing is a trumped-up business, conceived with
a foul purpose by Messer Pier Luigi there. Courage, then, and self-
restraint; and thus we shall foil their aims. Come, my lord, I will ride
to Rome with them. And do not doubt that I shall return very soon."
He looked at me with eyes that were full of trouble, indecision in every
line of a face that was wont to look so resolute. He knew himself between
the sword and the wall.
"I would that Galeotto were here!" cried that man usually so self-reliant.
"What will he say to me when he comes? You were a sacred charge, boy."
"Say to him that I will be returning shortly--which must be true. Come,
then. You may serve me this way. The other way you will but have to
endure ultimate arrest, and so leave Bianca at their mercy, which is
precisely what they seek."
He braced himself at the thought of Bianca. We turned, and in silence we
paced back, quite leisurely as if entirely at our ease, for all that
Cavalcanti's face had grown very haggard.
"I yield me, sir," I said to the familiar.
"A wise decision," sneered the Duke.
"I trust you'll find it so, my lord," I answered, sneering too.
Pages:
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392