re that when they heard
Ortensia they would exalt him above all his predecessors and all his
contemporaries; at last he would enjoy that absolute supremacy which is
the prime birthright of genius in all ages, and to which he firmly
believed himself entitled. Ortensia alone could assure to him that final
victory, and beside it all objections, all scruples, all petty questions
of technical honour sank away to nothing. He must marry her himself, of
course, so that he might order her to perform his works whenever he
pleased, and she must be a married woman before propriety would allow
her to sing to his assembled friends; but marriage was a detail and of
no consequence compared with the triumph he expected to gain by it; the
girl's flight with the musician was a childish escapade of little
importance, since it could be kept quite secret, and she might be
supposed to have been spending a few days in a convent in Ravenna to
complete her education. As for any resistance on her part, it was
absurd to think of such a thing; no doubt she would cry her eyes out for
a few weeks, after Stradella was despatched to a better world, but she
would soon see the error of her ways and be only too glad to accept the
magnificent position the Senator offered her, instead of being murdered
herself, or forced to spend her life in a convent.

The two Bravi did not hurry their new acquaintance to a decision, though
Gambardella had flatly declined to discuss the terms of the bargain;
they only made it clear that their offer must be accepted or declined as
it was, and they seemed quite indifferent as to Pignaver's decision.
Trombin continued to eat pilaf in a leisurely way, as if he could go on
for ever, and Gambardella sipped his wine, filled his glass again, and
ate several little morsels of salted crust, while the Senator turned the
matter over in his mind and plied his knife and fork in silence.

'The truth is,' he said at last, 'I should not wish you to start till
the city has been thoroughly searched by the police. As you wisely
observed, I think, a man of Stradella's reputation cannot remain long
concealed, and will be more easily found next week than to-morrow.'

'I believe,' answered Gambardella politely, 'that the remark was yours,
and it is a wise one. Are we then to understand that if the Signors of
the Night do not find the pair, you desire our help on the terms I have
stated?'

'Exactly so,' said Pignaver. 'That will give you time t