The young stranger's beauty and his adventures combined had impressed both Joan and Marie at the court of Avignon.

Marie especially had conceived a violent passion for him, all the more so for the efforts she made to conceal it in her own bosom.

Ever since James of Aragon came to Naples, the unhappy princess, married with a dagger at her throat, had desired to purchase her liberty at the expense of crime.

Followed by four armed men, she entered the prison where Robert des Baux was still suffering for a fault more his father's than his own.

Marie stood before the prisoner, her arms crossed, her cheeks livid, her lips trembling.