"Pity!" she cried. "Spare my father's life; he regrets his crime! Oh! pardon him!"
"Enough of these lamentations!" said Barbarossa; "let some one lead this woman hence!"
The Bishop Gero hastened to comply with the Emperor's wishes, whilst the latter explained to those present the crime of which Bonello had been guilty.
"If you consider our sentence unjust, speak, and the criminal shall be released," said he.
"Bonello is a valiant soldier, although he has drawn his sword in a bad cause," replied Otho. "Still, I implore you to pardon him for his daughter's sake."
"Pardon him, Sire. I fear your sentence may cause the death of two persons," said Henry, pointing to the pale and trembling Hermengarde.
"This time justice must take its course," answered Barbarossa.
"The sentence is perfectly just," added Werner, of Minden. "Who would deserve death, if traitors were allowed to go unpunished?"
The two other bishops nodded in token of approval; they never dissented from any apparent desire of Barbarossa.
"You perceive, my lord Abbot, that it is impossible for us to pardon----"