Then his eyes wandered to the man who had brought it, and to me it seemed that they dwelt particularly upon the hat the courier was holding in his hand.
"Take this good fellow to the kitchen," he bade the servant that had introduced him, "let him be fed and rested." Then, turning to the man, himself, "I shall require you to set out at daybreak with my answer," he said; and so, with a wave of the hand, he dismissed him.

As the messenger departed Ramiro returned to the table, filled himself a cup of wine and drank.
"What says the Lord Vitelli ?" Lampugnani ventured to ask him.
"If he knew you," answered Ramiro, with a scowl, "he would counsel me to strangle some of the over-inquisitive rascals that surround me." "Over-inquisitive ?" echoed Lampugnani boldly.

"Body of God! It were enough to wake the curiosity of an ecstatic hermit to have a mud-splashed courier from Citta di Castello at Cesena three times within one little week." Ramiro looked at him, and by his glance it was plain to see that the words had jarred his temper.

Whatever it was that Vitelli wrote to Ramiro, this gentleman was not minded to divulge it.
"If you have supped, Lampugnani," said the Governor slowly, his eyes upon his offending officer, "perhaps you will find some duty to perform ere you seek your bed." Lampugnani turned crimson, and for a moment seemed to hesitate.

Then he rose.