"Then could you not have left justice to the duly authorised officers of the Republic?"
"Yes, your Highness. Ordinary justice. But this man is more than outlaw."
"What then?"
"I have said it. He trafficks with the Saracens. We pursued him, without his knowledge, to the Isle of Rabbits, where he met three Emirs, who landed from a galley which lay outside the lagoons. They came to ask him of the Crusade and where it was going, and——"
"Stay," said Dandolo.
He beckoned to his secretaries.
"Clear the room. I wish nobody to remain except these strangers. The guards may wait without."
Dandolo sat silent, his chin cupped in one hand, his eyes staring in front of him in the uncanny direct way which was one of his traits, until the fluttering of robes and the pattering of feet had ended with the shutting of the door.
"Draw nearer," he ordered abruptly. "Both of you. Stand by my side here."
He directed them to a position close to his chair.