It is a contempt which he shall bitterly repent him." Then he thundered to Giacomo to marshal his men, and he called upon those of his courtiers who were knights to put on their armour that they might support him.

Lastly he bade a page go help him to arm, that he might lead his little force in person.
I saw Madonna Paola's eyes gleam with a sudden light of admiration, and I guessed that in the matter of Giovanni's valour her opinions were undergoing the same change as the verses had caused them to undergo in the matter of his intellect.
Myself, I was amazed.

For here was a Lord Giovanni I seemed never to have known, and I was eager to behold the sequel to so fine a prologue..