Love-at-Arms

in the courtyard below, and at his side stood Fanfulla degli Arcipreti, whom he had su

ino, to perform the comedy of wooing the Lady Valentina. This was the explanation of that scurrying of servitors and pages, that parading of men-at-arms, and that

ht his Highness at last to a sense

in the future I shall give them thanks, for I see how much worse it might have been-I might have been born a prince, with a duchy to rule over. I might ha

Fanfulla, "assuredly t

what it portends. What compen

ave seen the niece of Guidobaldo, and having seen her, can you

d out long enough against this alliance, but now that necessity is driving him at last, he goes about it much as he would go about any other State affair-a coronation, a banquet, or a ball. Can you wonder now that I would not accept the throne of Babbiano when it was offered me? I tell you, Fanfulla, that were I at present in my cousin's shoes, I would cast crown and purple at whomsoever had a fancy for them ere they crushed the life out of me and left me a poor puppet. Sooner than endure that ho

ghed, his b

hould reason thus to-day," said he. "These tho

o sighed

gether, in the little time that I beheld her, it may be that she dealt me a

Duke and Valentina were brought together at the banquet of welcome given by Guidobaldo to his intended nephew-in-law. The sight of her resplendent beauty came as a joyful shock to Gian Maria, and filled him with as much impatience to possess her as did his own gross ugliness render him offensive in her eyes.

le. The more strenuously did he strive to please, in his gross and clumsy fashion, the more did he succeed in repelling and disgusting her, until, in the end, wit

have her smirk and squirm at every piece of flattery you utte

a little," complaine

inscrutably, and it may have crossed his mind tha

s glance. "So that you woo with grace and ardour, what woman could with

nations of her heart. Reasoning thus, and having in support of it his wondrous fatuity, it so befell that the more she shunned and avoided him, the more did he gather conviction of the intensity of her aff

ly as if a cannon had been fired upon the Palace, the festivities were interrupted. The news that an envoy of Caesar Borgia's was at Babbiano with a message from his master ca

sers the cause for fear. This sudden presence of Valentino's messenger, coming, too, at a time when it would almost seem as if

agic news with the two nobles who had accompanied him-Alvaro de Alvari and Gismondo Santi-and both of them, whilst

," said Santi, "and thus you will go back to Babbian

of the haste he now manifested. Guidobaldo listened gravely. In its way the news affected him as well, for he feared the might of Caesar Borgia as much as any man in Ita

news of it to Valentino's messenger. When you have heard this envoy, deliver him an answer of such defiance or such caution as you plea

est of the lady. He gained her ante-chamber, and thence he despa

nd, Gian Maria caught for a moment the accents of an exquisite

bella assai c

after the boy had gone. Then it ceased abruptly, and a pause followed, at the end of whic

ve a crimson prie-dieu hung a silver crucifix, the exquisite workmanship of the famous Anichino of Ferrara. Yonder stood an inlaid cabinet, surmounted by a crystal mirror and some wonders of Murano glass. There was a picture by Mantegna,

ourt. One of these-that same Gonzaga who had escorted her from the Convent of Santa Sofia-most splendidly arrayed in white taby, his vest and doublet rich with go

er framed a request that he might speak with her alone. In a tired, long-suffering way she dismissed that court of hers, and Gian Maria stood waiting until the last of them h

I have news from Babbiano that demands my instan

to see and interpret aright the sudden sparkle in her eye, the sudde

low, collected voice, "we sh

but the empty echoes of what should have been meant; was he so new to courtesies in which the heart had no share, that those words of Valentina's must bring

s glance growing mighty amoro

bruptly to

r endeavours to release her hand proved vain. For despite her struggles he held on stoutly. This was mere coyn

continued. "Bethink you of w

nswered, with an odd mixture of humour, ardour a

repugnance that he lacked the wit to see. "But it is not necessar

rehend me rightly. Is it not fitting that all of u

s, my lord, yes

n he woos? What fitter shrine in all

ill struggling. "Your Highness

icul

up with a mighty evil gleam in their cruel blue. A moment he stayed so, then he rose up. He re

e that was far from steady, "wh

e face that was so near her own, inspiring her with a loathing she could not rep

ow passionately I love you?" he

you are hu

t is a pinched arm when compared with such wou

a bound she had reached the window-door

like the growl of a beast than the cry of a lover. He caught

lips, intending to fight for her liberty with her uncle. But now, since he handled her as though she had been a serving-wench; since he appeared to know nothing of the deference due to her, nothing of the delicacies of people

ught him a stinging buffet on the ducal cheek which-so gre

anted. "This in

which he recoiled. And as she now towered before him, a beautiful embodiment of wrath, he knew not whethe

I have known naught but the respect of all men, be they born never so high? That to such by my birth I have the right? Must I tell you in plain words, sir, that though born to a throne,

the storm; and Gian Maria was so tossed and shatt

ecome a lover? What is a Duke then? He is but a man, and as the meanest of

for all that he dared not a second time arr

to hear me. In another hour I shall be

eard since your coming." And without waiting for his repl

ed to follow her; but as he reached the window the little crook-backed figure of Ser Peppe

Duke. But the odd figure in its motley o

ntina you seek," said

r, and moved ponderously towards the door by which he had originally entered the room. It had been well for Ser Peppe had he let him go. But the fool, who loved his mistress dearly, and had many of the ins

nificent," he called after him. "Where your wisd

acherous tongue unheeded. But Dignity and Gian Maria were strangers

e to sell," he gue

d Duke. Such as imports you I will bestow if you ask

ithout relaxing the grimness t

e bo

and Mighty, to win the love of Mad

. E dunqu

ndid height, the shapely limbs, the courtly

me?" the Duke ques

you those glorious attributes of him I speak of, and of whom she dreams, it might be easy. But si

egs as he was of tongue, eluded the vicious grasp of those fat hands, and