atever issue had the affair, this man must not
remain in Roccaleone. He was too strong, too dominant, and he would
render himself master of the place by no other title than that strength
of his and that manner of command which Gonzaga accounted a coarse,
swashbuckling bully's gift, but would have given much to be possessed
of. Of how strong and dominant indeed he was never had Francesco offered
a more signal proof. Those men, bruised and maltreated by him, would
beyond doubt have massed together and made short work of one less
dauntless but when a mighty courage such as his goes hand-in-hand with
the habit of command, such hinds as they can never long withstand it.
They grumbled something among themselves, and one of them at last made
answer:

"Noble sir, it is our captain that we are bidden to arrest."

"True; but your captain, like yourselves, is in this lady's pay; and
she, your true, your paramount commander, bids you arrest him." And now,
whilst yet they hesitated, his quick wits flung them the bait that must
prove most attractive. "He has shown himself to-day unfitted for the
command entrusted him and it may become a question, when he has been
judged, of choosing one of you to fill the place he may leave empty."

Hinds were they in very truth; the scum of the bravi that haunted the
meanest borgo of Urbino. Their hesitation vanished, and such slight
loyalty as they felt towards Ercole was overruled by the prospect of his
position and his pay, should his disgrace become accomplished.

They called upon him to come forth from his refuge, where he still
stood, dumb and stricken at this sudden turn events had taken. He
sullenly refused to obey the call to yield, until Francesco--who now
assumed command with a readiness that galled Gonzaga more and more--bade
one of them go fetch an arquebuse and shoot the dog. At that he cried
out for mercy, and came wading to the edge of the tank swearing that
if the immersion had not drowned him, it were a miracle but he was
poisoned.

Thus closed an incident that had worn a mighty ugly look, and it served
to open Valentina's eyes to the true quality of the men Gonzaga had
hired her. Maybe that it opened his own for that amiable lute-thrummer
was green of experience in these matters. She bade Gonzaga care for
Francesco, and called one of the grinning pages from the gallery to be
his esquire. A room was placed at his disposal for the little time that
he might spend at Roccaleone,