sober concern, the task upon which he was engaged
forgotten.

"Admit him instantly," he commanded. And whilst he waited he paced the
chamber in long strides, his chin thrust slightly forward, suggestive of
deep thought. And during that pause, I, too, was thinking. Not indeed
of him, nor vainly speculating upon such matters as might be involved
in the message, the announcement of which seemed so deeply to engage his
mind, but chiefly of my own and Madonna Paola's concerns.

It was not fear of what I had seen that now sent my thoughts into a new
channel and inspired me with the wisdom of obeying Ramiro del' Orca's
behest that I should don the hateful motley and play the Fool for his
diversion. It was not that I feared death; it was that I feared what the
consequences of my death might be to Paola di Santafior.

However desperate a position may seem, unlooked-for loopholes often
present themselves, and so long as we live and have sound limbs to aid
us to seize such opportunities as may offer, it is a weak thing utterly
to abandon hope.

Was it, then, not better to submit to the shame of the motley once again
for a little time, when by so doing I might perhaps live to work my
own salvation, and Madonna's should she suffer capture, rather than
stubbornly to invite him to put me to death out of a feeling of false
pride?

The very resolve seemed to lend me strength and to revive the hope that
lay moribund in my breast. And then, scarce was it taken, when the door
again opened, and a man, who was splashed from head to foot with mud, in
earnest of how hard he had ridden, was ushered in.

He advanced to Meser Ramiro, bowed and presented a package. Ramiro broke
the seal, and standing with his back to the fire, immediately in the
light shed by one of the wax torches, he read the letter. Then his eyes
wandered to the man who had brought it, and to me it seemed that they
dwelt particularly upon the hat the courier was holding in his hand.

"Take this good fellow to the kitchen," he bade the servant that had
introduced him, "let him be fed and rested." Then, turning to the man,
himself, "I shall require you to set out at daybreak with my answer,"
he said; and so, with a wave of the hand, he dismissed him. As the
messenger departed Ramiro returned to the table, filled himself a cup of
wine and drank.

"What says the Lord Vitelli?" Lampugnani ventured to ask him.

"If he knew you," answered Ramiro, with a scowl, "he would cou