will find that during
the few hours left him he will have little leisure to think of you and
afflict you with his odious wooing. Be strong, then, for a little while,
for Cesare is coming to set you free."

She looked at me now with eyes that were wide open. Suddenly--

"Could we not gain time?" she cried, and in her eagerness she rose and
set her hands upon my shoulders. "Could I not pretend to acquiesce to
his wishes, and so delay your end?"

"I have thought of it," I answered gloomily, "but the thought has
brought me no hope. Ramiro is not to be trusted. He might tell you
that he sets me free, but he dare not do so; he fears that I may have
knowledge of his dealings with Vitelli, and assuredly he would break
faith with us. Again the coming of the Duke might be delayed. Alas!"
I ended in despair, "there is nothing to be done but to let things run
their course."

There was even more in my mind than I expressed. My mistrust of Ramiro
went further than I had explained, and concerning Madonna more closely
than it did me.

"Nay, Lazzaro mine," she still protested, "I will attempt it. It is, at
least, well worth the risk.

"You forget," said I, "that even when Cesare comes we cannot say how he
will bear himself towards you. You were to have been betrothed to his
cousin, Ignacio. It is a matter upon which he may insist."

She looked at me for a moment with anguish in her eyes that turned my
misery into torture.

"Lazzaro," she moaned, "was ever woman so beset! I think that Heaven
must have laid some curse upon me."

Her face was close to mine. I stooped forward and kissed her on her
brow.

"May God have you in His keeping, Madonna mia," I murmured. "The sun is
gone."

"Lazzaro!" It was the cry of a breaking heart. Her arms went round my
neck, and in a passion of grief her kisses burned on my lips.

Then the door of the anteroom opened--and I thanked God for the mercy
of that interruption. I whispered a word to her, and in obedience she
sprang back, and sank limp and broken on the chair once again.

Ramiro entered, his men behind him, his face alit with eagerness. There
and then I swamped his hopes.

"The sun is gone, Magnificent," said I. "You had best get me hanged."

His brow darkened, for there was a note of mockery and triumph in my
voice.

"You have fooled me, animal," he cried. His jaw set, and his eyes
continued to regard me with an evil glow. Then he laughed terribly,
shrugged his shoulders, and