"And do you know what you have done?" I went on. "Do you know to what you
have sold her? Must I tell you?"
And I told him, in a dozen brutal words that brought him to his feet, the
lion in him roused at last, his eyes ablaze.
"We must after them," I urged. "We must wrest her from these beasts, and
make a widow of her for the purpose. Galeotto's lances are below and they
will follow me. You may bring what more you please. Come, sir--to horse!"
He sprang forward with no answer beyond a muttered prayer that we might
come in time.
"We must," I answered fiercely, and ran madly from the room, along the
gallery and down the stairs, shouting and raging like a maniac, Cavalcanti
following me.
Within ten minutes, Galeotto's three score men and another score of those
who garrisoned Pagliano for Cavalcanti were in the saddle and galloping
hell-for-leather to Piacenza. Ahead on fresh horses went Falcone and I,
the Lord of Pagliano spurring beside me and pestering me with questions as
to the source of my knowledge.
Our great fear was lest we should find the gates of Piacenza closed on our
arrival. But we covered the ten miles in something under an hour, and the
head of our little column was already through the Fodesta Gate when the
first hour of night rang out from the Duomo, giving the signal for the
closing of the gates.
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