Then he uttered a laugh of such
contempt that the colour sprang to Gonzaga's cheek.
"Take him out----" he began furiously, when Valentina interposed, setting
a hand upon his arm.
"Nay, nay, Gonzaga, your methods are all wrong. Tell him---- Nay, I
will question him myself. Messer Fortemani, you have been guilty of an
act of gross abuse. You and your men were hired for me by Messer
Gonzaga, and to you was given the honourable office of captain over them,
that you might lead them in this service of mine in the ways of duty,
submission, and loyalty. Instead of that, you were the instigator of
that outrage this morning, when murder was almost done upon an
inoffensive man who was my guest. What have you to say?"
"That I was not the instigator," he answered sullenly.
"It is all one," she returned, "for at least it was done with your
sanction, and you took a share in that cruel sport, instead of
restraining it, as was clearly your duty. It is upon you, the captain,
that the responsibility rests."
"Lady," he explained, "they are wild souls, but very true."
"True to their wildness, maybe," she answered him disdainfully. Then she
proceeded: "You will remember that twice before has Messer Gonzaga had
occasion to admonish you. These last two nights your men have behaved
riotously within my walls. There has been hard drinking, there has been
dicing, and such brawling once or twice as led me to think there would be
throats cut among your ranks.
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