ere added to the number of the captives, whom he held in an
impregnable castle, situated on the height of the mountain. At the
mention of Rogero's name Bradamante started with delight, which was
soon changed to an opposite sentiment when she heard that her lover was
a prisoner in the toils of the enchanter. "Sir Knight," she said, "do
not surrender yourself to despair; this day may be more happy for you
than you think, if you will only lead me to the castle which enfolds
her whom you deplore."

The knight responded, "After having lost all that made life dear to me
I have no motive to avoid the dangers of the enterprise, and I will do
as you request; but I forewarn you of the perils you will have to
encounter. If you fall impute it not to me."

Having thus spoken, they took their way to the castle, but were
overtaken by a messenger from the camp, who had been sent in quest of
Bradamante to summon her back to the army, where her presence was
needed to reassure her disheartened forces, and withstand the advance
of the Moors.

The mournful knight, whose name was Pinabel, thus became aware that
Bradamante was a scion of the house of Clermont, between which and his
own of Mayence there existed an ancient feud. From this moment the
traitor sought only how he might be rid of the company of Bradamante,
from whom he feared no good would come to him, but rather mortal
injury, if his name and lineage became known to her. For he judged her
by his own base model, and, knowing his ill deserts, he feared to
receive his due.

Bradamante, in spite of the summons to return to the army, could not
resolve to leave her lover in captivity, and determined first to finish
the adventure on which she was engaged. Pinabel leading the way, they
at length arrived at a wood, in the centre of which rose a steep, rocky
mountain. Pinabel, who now thought of nothing else but how he might
escape from Bradamante, proposed to ascend the mountain to extend his
view, in order to discover a shelter for the night, if any there might
be within sight. Under this pretence he left Bradamante, and advanced
up the side of the mountain till he came to a cleft in the rock, down
which he looked, and perceived that it widened below into a spacious
cavern. Meanwhile Bradamante, fearful of losing her guide, had followed
close on his footsteps, and rejoined him at the mouth of the cavern.
Then the traitor, seeing the impossibility of escaping her, conceived
another des