To the latter his orders were short and secret.
"Take four men," he bade him, "and remain in Urbino after I am gone.
Discover the haunts of Peppe the fool.

Seize him, and bring him after me.

See that you do it diligently, and let no suspicion of your task arise." The bravo--he was little better, for all that he commanded the guards of the Duke of Babbiano--bowed, and answered in his foreign, guttural voice that his Highness should be obeyed.
Thereafter Gian Maria made shift to depart.

He took his leave of Guidobaldo, promising to return within a few days for the nuptials, and leaving an impression upon the mind of his host that his interview with Valentina had been very different from the actual.
It was from Valentina herself that Guidobaldo was to learn, after Gian Maria's departure, the true nature of that interview, and what had passed between his niece and his guest.

She sought him out in his closet, whither he had repaired, driven thither by the demon of gout that already inhabited his body, and was wont to urge him at times to isolate himself from his court.