"Do you suggest that they fled together ?" "My lord!" Guidobaldo's voice rang sharp and threatening.

"It is of my niece that you are speaking.

She took this gentleman with her just as she took three of her ladies and a page or two, to form such attendance as befits her birth." Gian Maria took a turn in the apartment, a frown wrinkling his brow, and his lips pressed tight.

Guidobaldo's proud words by no means convinced him.

But the one preponderating desire in his heart just then was to humble the girl who had dared to flout him, to make her bend her stubborn neck.