Was the fool about to intimidate him with talk of supernatural vengeance?
"Thus," Peppe continued, "you will perhaps be merciful when I confess my position.

I made most solemn oath to the man I met at Acquasparta on that luckless day, that I would never reveal his identity.

What am I to do?
If I keep my oath, you will torture me to death perhaps.

If I break it, I shall be damned eternally.

Have mercy, noble lord, since now you know how I am placed." The smile broadened on Gian Maria's face, and the cruelty of his mouth and eyes seemed intensified by it.