.

AMONG THE DREGS OF WINE.
And so it befell that whilst by Guidobaldo's orders the preparations for Valentina's nuptials went forward with feverish haste--whilst painters, carvers, and artificers in gold and silver applied themselves to their hurried tasks; whilst messengers raced to Venice for gold leaf and ultramarine for the wedding-chests whilst the nuptial bed was being brought from Rome and the chariot from Ferrara; whilst costly stuffs were being collected, and the wedding-garments fashioned--the magnificent Romeo Gonzaga was, on his side, as diligently contriving to render vain all that toil of preparation.
On the evening of the third day of his conspiring he sat in the room allotted to him in the Palace of Urbino, and matured his plans.

And so well pleased was he with his self-communion that, as he sat at his window, there was a contented smile upon his lips.
He allowed his glance to stray adown the slopes of that arid waste of rocks, to the River Metauro, winding its way to the sea, through fertile plains, and gleaming here silver and yonder gold in the evening light.
Not quite so complacently would he have smiled had he deemed the enterprise upon which he was engaging to be of that warlike character which he had represented to Valentina.

He did not want for cunning, nor for judgment of the working of human minds, and he very reasonably opined that once the Lady Valentina immured herself in Roccaleone and sent word to her uncle that she would not wed Gian Maria, nor return to the Court of Urbino until he passed her his ducal word that she should hear no more of the union, the Duke would be the first to capitulate.
He contended that this might not happen at once--nor did he wish it to; messages would pass, and Guidobaldo would seek by cajolery to win back his niece.

This she would resist, and, in the end her uncle would see the impassable nature of the situation, and agree to her terms that it might be ended.