y with anxiety. He
had not dared to say a word to her of what her entertainer was, or what
her part should be. Premeditation might throw her out of balance,
conscious art might exhibit her a scheming courtesan; just in her
artlessness lay all her magic. No, no; he trusted her. She was still
adorably English--witness her on the ship! He could see how she would
do, how the sight would ravish him, lover as he was; for the rest, he
must trust to his early calculations. Yes! he was ready to stake
everything upon this move. The Borgia would be at her feet: so at his
feet also. Oh, wise, wise Amilcare!

"His Eminence the Duke will receive your Lordship," said the returning
monk, and turned once more to lead the way.

"My saint, my lamb, my meek burnished dove!" breathed Amilcare in a
glow, and pressed her to his heart behind the frate's broad back.

Cesare, magnificently tawny in black velvet, was in a window, raking
with a white hand at his beard, a prey evidently to cross-tides of
fever. When his visitors were announced he looked sharply round; but
Molly was hooded, her face deep in the shade. Of Passavente he had not
the slightest concern. That hero was prostrate, bowing and chattering,
and explaining with his hands.

Molly stayed twittering by the door, wonderful because she saw her King
of Men cringing like a footboy before a shorter than himself. True, it
was case of a duke; but she had not known such dealings in Wapping.
There men doffed caps to my Lord or his Grace; they gave and took their
due, but did not writhe on the floor. And then this particular duke's
blockish inattention to what her lord was saying filled her with
concern. There he leaned, and there he looked out of window at the
twinkling acacias, and there he picked his beard. Amilcare's tact must
have deserted him, since he could let this simple slave turn critic. But
the part, in any case, was difficult. Presently the Duke threw him a
hasty phrase, a sort of _pish, man_! which cut him off in the midst of a
period, and walked towards Molly in the doorway. Amilcare flew before on
tenterhooks. Cesare came graciously on--it was curious to see how his
face had cleared. Molly dropped a curtsy, covering herself closer with a
hand at the hood's tie. Cesare showed his teeth, held out both his
hands. Passavente, with a displaying air full of alacrity and deference,
unveiled his wife, and she went forward to greet his Grace.

She had been uncovered as by a deale