Messer Guido
and his fellowship of the Company of Death were like to be unhorsed and
swallowed up in a wave of popular enthusiasm. Messer Guido restrained
the kindly intentions of the crowd with some difficulty, and thereafter
harangued them at some length, and with eloquence worthy of a Roman
patrician of old days. He told them how the fortunes of Florence were
again, as ever before, triumphant, how the devils of Arezzo had been
taught a lesson they would not be likely to forget in a hurry, and,
furthermore, how much Florence owed to the splendid assistance given to
her arms by Messer Griffo of the Dragon-flag and his Free Companions.

Now, at every pause in Messer Guido's speech, the air was shattered with
deafening huzzas, some echo of which would, one must surely think, find
its way into that solemn and sombre church where the fairest lady in
Florence was being given to Florence's greatest knave. How great a knave
none of us realized at that moment, for we, of course, were ignorant of
the intention of Messer Simone with regard to us, and the narrow escape
we had from being annihilated by those very Free Companions whose
praises Messer Guido was so generously voicing. Even while Guido was
speaking, those of us behind and about him heard many things hurriedly
from the citizens that pressed against us. One of them was the news of
our own supposed slaughter at the hands of the people of Arezzo, and the
other--more terrible, indeed, to one of us--was that on that very
instant Madonna Beatrice was being wedded to Simone dei Bardi in the
Church of the Holy Name.

It was just when Messer Guido had made an end of speaking that the ill
news came to Dante's ears, and when he heard it he gave a great cry and
urged his horse forward through the throng, crying to the people in a
terrible voice to let him pass, and there was something in his set face
and angry eyes, and in the manner of his command, which made the people
yield to them, and so he rode his way, slowly, indeed, because of the
press, but as quickly as he could, and still calling, like one
possessed, for free passage. When Guido knew what had happened, for the
tale was soon told to him, he foresaw what trouble might come to pass,
and he resolved to stand by Dante and lend him a hand in case of need.
So he called upon his friends to keep with him, and we all followed hard
upon Dante's heels, and, as rapidly as was possible for the crush in the
streets, we made our way