Andrea, sobbing, told him about the letter, and Gerard's moody ways of late.
That lacquey was a spy of the Princess Clælia.
Their Italian tongues went fast till they neared the Tiber.
But the moment they felt the air from the river, and the smell of the stream in the calm spring night, they were dead silent.
The moon shone calm and clear in a cloudless sky. Their feet sounded loud and ominous. Their tongues were hushed.
Presently hurrying round a corner they met a man. He stopped irresolute at sight of them.
The man was bareheaded, and his dripping hair glistened in the moonlight: and at the next step they saw his clothes were drenched with water.
"Here he is," cried one of the young men, unacquainted with Gerard's face and figure.
The stranger turned instantly and fled.
They ran after him might and main, Andrea leading, and the princess's lacquey next.