"It is as irregular as the other," he said. "It is entirely worthless."
"Worthless?" quoth Cosimo, in an amazement that was almost scornful. "But
have I not already explained..."
"It sets forth here," cut in Galeotto with assurance, "that the fief of
Mondolfo and Carmina are confiscated from Agostino d'Anguissola. Now I
submit to your excellency, and to your worthinesses," he added, turning
aside, "that this confiscation is grotesque and impossible, since Mondolfo
and Carmina never were the property of Agostino d'Anguissola, and could no
more be taken from him than can a coat be taken from the back of a naked
man--unless," he added, sneering, "a papal bull is capable of miracles."
Cosimo stared at him with round eyes, and I stared too, no glimmer of the
enormous truth breaking yet upon my bewildered mind. In the court the
silence was deathly until Gonzaga spoke.
"Do you say that Mondolfo and Carmina did not belong--that they never were
the fiefs of Agostino d'Anguissola?" he asked.
"That is what I say," returned Galeotto, towering there, immense and
formidable in his gleaming armour.
"To whom, then, did they belong?"
"They did and do belong to Giovanni d'Anguissola--Agostino's father."
Cosimo shrugged at this, and some of the dismay passed from his
countenance.
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