xt it flared crimson, the veins on his brow stood out like ropes, and
his eyes flashed furiously upon Madonna Lucrezia. She was reading, her
bosom rising and falling in token of the excitement that possessed her.

"Madonna," he cried in an awful voice, "I have here a command from the
Holy See to repair at once to Rome, to answer certain charges that are
preferred against me relating to my marriage. Madonna, know you aught of
this?"

"I know, sir," she answered steadily, "that I, too, have here a letter
calling me to Rome. But there is no reason given for the summons."

Intuitively it flashed across my mind that whatever the matter might
be, Madonna Lucrezia had full knowledge of it through the letter I had
brought her from her brother.

"Can you conjecture, Madonna, what are these charges to which my letter
vaguely alludes?" Giovanni was inquiring.

"Your pardon, but the subject is scarcely of a nature to permit
discussion in the castle courtyard. Its character is intimate."

He looked at her very searchingly, but for all that he was a man of
almost twice her years, her wits were more than a match for his, and
his scrutiny can have told him nothing. She preserved a calm, unruffled
front.

"In five minutes, Madonna," said he, very sternly, "I shall be honoured
if you will receive me in your closet."

She inclined her head, murmuring an unhesitating assent. Satisfied, he
bowed to her and to Madonna Paola--who had been looking on with eyes
that wonder had set wide open--and turning on his heel he strode briskly
away. As he passed into the castle, Madonna Lucrezia heaved a sigh and
rose.

"My poor Boccadoro," she cried, "I fear me your affairs must wait a
while. But think of me always as your friend, and believe that if I can
prevail upon my brother to overlook the ill-turn you did him when you
entered the service of this child"--and she pointed to Madonna Paola--"I
shall send for you from Rome, for in Pesaro I fear you have little to
hope for. But let this be a secret between us."

From those words of hers I inferred, as perhaps she meant I should, that
once she left Pesaro to obey her father's summons, our little northern
state was to know her no more. Once again, only, did I see her, on the
occasion of her departure, some four days later, and then but for a
moment. Back to Pesaro she came no more, as you shall learn anon; but
behind her she left a sweet and fragrant memory, which still endures
though many yea