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Show (Love or Death I By RAFAEL SABATINI CCopyrtrtt.1 I WNU Service U CHAPTER II Continued 5 At work nt a table spread with papers pa-pers sat tlie black-gowned figure of Apiliito Gherardl, the duke's secretary. secre-tary. "You have tlio aerumintnnoe, have v.iu not," (jnoi h t'osaro, "of Madonna Hianca. the daughter of Fioravntiti of San I.co?" The young man, taken hy surprise, flushed slightly despite his habitual gelf-possession, ami his blue eyos, avoiding the duke's, considered the siiininer sky and the palace gardens through one of the windows that stood open to the broad marble balcony. "I have that honor in some slight drjxee." be answered ; and (Vsarc considered from his air and tone that ilie magician's golden elixir was scarcely needed here as urgently as Madonna Bianea opined, and that what still was wanting to enchant him the sorcery of her beauty might accomplish ac-complish unaided as the magician hud supposed. lie smiled gently. "You may improve that ucquaint-mice. ucquaint-mice. If you so desire." ' The young man threw back his lieiid very haughtily. "I do not understand your potency," paid he. "You have my leave," (he duke explained, ex-plained, "to convey in person to Jln-flnnr.a Jln-flnnr.a Hianca the news we have received re-ceived that her father lies sick in San l.eo." Still the young man held himself loftily upon the defensive, as a young lover will. "To what end, this, highness?" he Inquired, bis tone still haughty. "Why. to what end but a Christian one, and" the duke slightly lowered his voice to a confidential tone, ami smiled inscrutably "a kindly purpose pur-pose toward yourself. Still, if you disdain the latter, for the former any oilier messenger will serve." Ill at ease in bis self-consciousness, a little mystified, yet well content at heart, the condottiero bowed. "1 thank your highness," be said. 'Uave I your leave to go?" The duke 'nodded. "You will wait upon me on your return. re-turn. 1 may have other commands for you," he said, and so dismissed him. An hour later cams Castrocaro back lo the palace library in great baste cnil some excitement to seek the duke iiptin. "My lord," he cried, all in trembling eagerness, "I have conveyed the message, mes-sage, and I am returned to crave a town. Madonna Hianca besought of me in her aflliction a written order to 1'iiss the lines of Delia Volpe, that she might repair to her father." "And you?" cried the duke sharply, '- his level brows drawn together by a t sudden frown. i me young captains giauvc ic. iway. Obviously he was discouraged I and abashed. . I "I answered that I had no power to 1 pant such an order, but but that I I Kould seek it of your highness ; that I I knew you would not desire to bold J (laughter from her father's side at J such time." I "You know a deal," said Cesare I I'nirly, "and you promise rashly. Pre-I Pre-I initancy in making promises has I wver yet helped a man to greatness. I that in mind." J "lint she was in such sore nfllic-I nfllic-I tlm!" cried Messer Lorenzo, protest-I protest-I ln8- I "Aye!" said the duke dryly. "And I fhe used you so kindly, eyed you so I fondly, gave you such sweet wine to 1 Mnli, that you bad no strength to I sist her SOft appeal." J Cesare, watching bis condottiero I 1 flosely, observed the dicker of the I luing man's eyelids at the mention of I 'to wine, and was --atislied. But I t5w more fully was ho to have the I "ssuranee that he sought. I "Have I been spied upon?" quoth I Messer Lorenzo holly. I Cesare shrugged contemptuously, I a deigning to reply. n I "You have leave to go," he said In i I Cllrl dismissal. I Rut Messer Lorenzo was In a dar- j I "S niood, and slow to obey. P- 1 Ri'An(1 the nnUiorilV for Madonna , "'a to Join her father?" he asked. H I Tliere ar good reasons why none 11. jnuld enter San Leo at present," was no "e cold reply. "Since you lav such ta we by , r re,.et t,,e n(,CPssity to "i J?r vo"' Bl't In time of war neee.s- . T Is Inexorable." Ip- . '"'Si'lned and downcast, the con- ur. J l'ero bowed and withdrew, ilav- ,trf J Promised, and finding himself now t Whle to fuitin thu ,in,miso made lo r Inlt" "lllt c"l of wil,e ullid' s,"! 567 , ''' hi,n u'iUl "er own f:Ur Vr hivol not present himself to i ,,a ng!1,n- Instead he dispatched a 'K her with the unwelcome news f 7,( Clio's refusal. i ,'" this mailer Cesare Borgia "'''".v Inconsistent. For scarcely ie' l.ttUt.aS,rnc"ro left "Is presence than oi ,,vrne,i t0 his white-faced secretary. IV.,i r,',te me three lines to Holla C ,e he' '"IPi'l'iK that If Mil-::,.' Mil-::,.' anci tie' Fioravanti should t,,, X 10 stel through his lines and ii,,,..'1"1 Uo. he is to oil'er her no Agablto's round, pale countenance reflected Ids amazement, at this order, or-der, ltut Cesare, surveying him, smiled Inscrutably for all reply, and, from his knowledge of his master and that smile, Agabito perceived that Cesare was embarked upon one of those tortuous, subtle courses whose goal none could perceive until it had been reached, lie bent to bis task, and his pen scratched and spluttered briskly. Very soon a messenger bearing bear-ing the order was on his way to Delia Voipe's camp. That very night Madonna Iiianca considerately did what the duke expected ex-pected of her. She slipped past the Borgia sentinels in the dark, and she was in San Leo hy morning, though in Urbino none knew of this but Cesare, Ce-sare, who had word of it privately from Delia Volpe. Her. palace by the Zoccolanti remained opened as if inhabited by her, but to all who came to seek her it was said that she was in ill health and kept her chamber. And amongst these was Lorenzo Castrocaro, Cas-trocaro, who, upon being denied admittance ad-mittance on this plea, concluded that she was angry with him for having failed to do as he had promised, and thereafter grew oddly silent and morose. mo-rose. Two days after her flight came news of Fioravanti's death in the grim fortress lie defended, and Castrocaro was dispatched by the duke of Cesena on if mission which might well have been intrusted to a less-important odicer. It was ten days later when his immediate return was ordered, v V i ?A Vi V M ft yy ' - She Slipped Past the Borgia Sentinels Senti-nels In the Dark. and in view of the terms of that order, or-der, he went, upon reaching Urbino, all ' dust-laden as he was, into the duke's presence, with the dispatches that be bore. Valentinois sat In council at the time, and Delia Volpe from the lines under San Leo was in attendance. "You !tre very opportunely returned," re-turned," was his greeting of Messer I orenzo, and he thrust aside, as of no consequence, the dispatches which the latter brought. VWe are met here to consider this resistance of San Leo, which is being conducted now by lo-lentino lo-lentino with all the firmness that was Fioravanti's. We must make an end ; and you, Messer Lorenzo, are the man to accomplish it." IT- cried the young soldier. -Sit" Cesare bade him. and obediently obedi-ently Castrocaro took a chair at the ." o "Listen. V,,u are to understand under-stand that I am not commanding you o do this thing, for I command no -'-f-fe''-shorwh" J-:;;;' wmnilgm he done by who has your knowledge and i o heart is stout enough to bid jrrJ-eH.kw...ob the thing en- "'Tne condottiero nodded his under-standing, under-standing, his blue eyes set upon the duke's calm face ,n. you told us here, Cesare 1 ued, "of a perilous way into San Leo which Is known to few, and to yourself your-self amongst those few. You said that If a man were to gain the plateau pla-teau on (lie southern side of the rock's summit be might, with a rope and a grappling book, effect an entrance. Now, if a man were to do this at dead of night, choosing his time wisely so ! as to take the sentry unawares, stab that sentry, and thereafter reach the gates and loose the bars, the rest would be an easy task. Delia Voipe's troops would, meanwhile, have crept up by the bridle path to await the signal, upon which they would pour forth against the unbarred gate, and so San Leo might be reduced at last with little loss of life." Messer Lorenzo considered for some moments, the duke watching him. "It is shrewd." he said, approvingly. "It is shrewd and easy, and likely to succeed, provided the man who goes Is one who knows the rock and the fortress itself." "Provided, that, of course." said Cesare; Ce-sare; and he looked steadily at the young man. Messer Lorenzo bore that look a moment with the self-possession that was natural to him. Then, translating translat-ing its quiet significance: "I will go," he said quietly, "and, heaven helping me, I will nicceed." "You have counted the cost of failure?" fail-ure?" said Cesare. "It needs no counting. It Is plain enough. A rope and a beam from the castle wall, or a leap from the rock itself." "Then, since who gambles should know not only what he may chance to lose, but also the stake he stands, to win," said the duke, "let me say that if you succeed I'll give you the governorship of the fortress with a stipend of ten thousand ducats." Messer Lorenzo flushed in his agreeable agree-able surprise. His eyes sparkled and bis tone rang with youth's ready confidence con-fidence In its own powers. "I will not fail," he promised "When do I make the attempt?" - "Tomorrow night, since you hava resolved. See that you rest betwixt this and then. to fit you for the fatigue of such an enterprise. And so, sirs,, let us hope that we have at last a solution to this riddle of San Leo." Chapter III Tou see, I hope, what Messer Castrocaro Cas-trocaro did not yet see, nor for that matter ever saw knowing nothing of what had happened on the night when the duke visited Messer Corvinus Trismegistus. You see in the. duke's choice of him for this enterprise an instance of that fine discrimination with which Cesare picked bis instruments. instru-ments. Macchlnvelli, who studied the duke at close quarters, and who wo-shiped him as the very embodiment of all the virtues of princeship, was no doubt inspired by the duke's unerring wisdom in the choice of ministers to devote to the subject a chapter of his "The Prince." "The first conjecture made of a prince and of his intellectual capacity capac-ity " he writes, "should be based upon n consideration of the men by whom he surrounds himself, and when these are faithful to him, and suliicient for his occasions, he is to be accounted a wise' prince, for having chosen them sufficient and kept them faithful." Macchiavelli writes thus no more than Cesare might himself have written writ-ten had he theorized upon princeship instead of practicing It. Indeed, it is upon Cesare Borgia's practices as Macchiavelli half admits In one place that the Florentine founded his the-orio3 the-orio3 So that it is hardly an overstatement over-statement to say that whilst Alacchia-velll Alacchia-velll wrote "The Trince," Cesare Bor-cia Bor-cia was Its real author, since his were the conceptions and actions that Macchiavelli Mac-chiavelli converted into precepts. Yu see him here selecting for this one who, although the youngest among a" 'ls captains, was yet un-, un-, ubttdly the most sn.iicien, for his articular need. And observe the mnlitv of bis sufficiency. In a meas-It meas-It was adventitious, depending nnon Castrocaros chance ncquaint- ce with that back way up the rock "f S-,n Leo. Hut I" " still greater n e-.'sure It was the result of Cesare'a "lever manipulation of circumstances. (TO BE CONTINI'ED.) |