He
talked with her in the morning at great length and upon subjects poetical
or erudite, by which he meant to display his vast mental superiority over
the swashbuckling Francesco. In the evening, when the heat of the day
was spent, and whilst that same Messer Francesco was at some defensive
measures on the walls, Gonzaga played at bowls with Valentina and her
ladies--the latter having now recovered from the panic to which earlier
they had been a prey.
That morning Gonzaga had stood at bay, seeing his plans crumble. That
evening, after the day spent in Valentina's company--and she so sweet and
kind to him--he began to take heart of grace once more, and his volatile
mind whispered to his soul the hope that, after all, things might well be
as he had first intended, if he but played his cards adroitly, and did
not mar his chances by the precipitancy that had once gone near to losing
him. His purpose gathered strength from a message that came that evening
from Gian Maria, who was by then assured that Gonzaga's plan had failed.
He sent word that, being unwilling to provoke the bloodshed threatened by
the reckless madman who called himself Monna Valentina's Provost, he
would delay the bombardment, hoping that in the meantime hunger would
beget in that rebellious garrison a more submissive mood.
Francesco read the message to Madonna's soldiers, and they received it
joyously. Their confidence in him increased a hundredfold by this proof
of the accuracy of his foresight.
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