I leaned forward now, scarce daring to draw breath lest I should lose a
word of what was to follow. The blood that had earlier surged to my face
had now all receded again, and my pulses throbbed like hammers.
Then Galeotto spoke, his voice very calm and level.
"Will your excellency first permit me to see the papal brief upon which you
acted in summoning hither the accused?"
Silently Gonzaga delivered a parchment into Galeotto's hands. The
condottiero studied it, frowning. Then he smote it sharply with his right
hand.
"This document is not in order," he announced.
"How?" quoth Cosimo, and he smiled again, reassured completely by now,
convinced that here was no more than a minor quibble of the law.
"You are here described as Cosimo d'Anguissola, Lord of Mondolfo and
Carmina. These titles are not yours."
The blood stirred faintly in Cosimo's cheeks.
"Those fiefs were conferred upon me by our late lord, Duke Pier Luigi," he
replied.
Gonzaga spoke. "The confiscations effected by the late usurping Duke, and
the awards made out of such confiscations, have been cancelled by Imperial
decree. All lands so confiscated are by this decree revertible to their
original holders upon their taking oath of allegiance to Caesar."
Cosimo continued to smile.
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