"Bad news! Sire," cried the Count Palatine. "Cinola, your strong fortress on the Adda, is in the hands of the enemy."
Barbarossa sprang to his feet, and gazed with surprise upon the Count.
"Cinola taken!" cried he angrily,--"when--by whom?"
"To-day, by the Milanese; but here is a man who will give full details to your Majesty."
And he pointed to a soldier who, until then, had stood at a short distance from the group.
"Ah! is that you, Gero?" said Frederic, whose extraordinary memory never forgot a name or a face. "Tell me at once, everything!"
"The tidings which I bring to your Majesty are most unfortunate. Cinola was, this morning, surrendered to the Milanese."
"Surrendered?" said the Emperor, angrily.
"Yes, Sire,--surrendered by the base Guelph, the traitor Bonello, to whom your Majesty had intrusted the command of the fortress."
The face of the Emperor grew black with rage.