"What have you done with the body?" asked the cardinal.
"It is at the bottom of the Tiber," replied Mardocchi, "I am somewhat late, for we had to drag him into Michelotto's house, near St. Jerome's, and we did not like to carry him to the river bank as long as a single soul could be seen moving in the streets."
"Right--right," said Cæsar Borgia! "that might have been ruinous."
"Not an eye saw," said Mardocchi, "though he fought for a minute or two; for Michelotto missed his first blow, and it took nine wounds to dispatch him. Some one must have given him three. I only gave him two, but they were good ones. One was between the throat and the breast-bone; the other, which was the best, was in the middle of the left side; that brought him down, and he never moved or spoke after that."
"You are a good and faithful fellow," replied Borgia, "and have bound you to me for ever. You shall take away with you to-night the ducats I promised yourself and your companions; but that ring is for yourself, and engages you in my particular service."
Mardocchi took the ring and held it in his hand, apparently hesitating.
"I beg your Eminence to pardon me," he said, at length, "but I cannot quit the Lord Ramiro."
"Ha! do you love the good lord so much?" asked Borgia.
"No, your Eminence, I do not love him at all," replied the friar; "but--but--I have an object in staying with him."
"Speak out--speak out, Mardocchi," said Cæsar Borgia; "you have nothing to fear from me, and if I can help you, I will."