And now, by her own action, and by the plot into which she had entered with him, they rose once more.
To thwart Guidobaldo might prove a dangerous thing, and his life might pay the forfeit if his schemes miscarried--clement and merciful though Guidobaldo was.

But if they succeeded, and if by love or by force he could bring Valentina to wed him, he was tolerably confident that Guidobaldo, seeing matters had gone too far--since Gian Maria would certainly refuse to wed Gonzaga's widow--would let them be.

To this end no plan could be more propitious than that into which he had lured her.
Guidobaldo might besiege them in Roccaleone and might eventually reduce them by force of arms--a circumstance, however, which, despite his words, he deemed extremely remote.

But if only he could wed Valentina before they capitulated, he thought that he would have little cause to fear any consequences of Guidobaldo's wrath.

After all, in so far as birth and family were concerned, Romeo Gonzaga was nowise the inferior of his Highness of Urbino.