"But are not you in danger, my lord? If you fall, who will protect me against this monk?"
"A dagger thrust—not in your beautiful bosom, my poor angel, as you threaten, but in the throat of a vile beast, who is not worthy to die by a woman's hand, and who will never expose himself to that risk."
"Where must I agree to meet him?"
"At Nicolosi, at the house of Carmelo Tomabene, farmer, who, you will tell him, is your friend and kinsman. You will add that he is absent, that you have the keys of his house, and that there is a large sheltered garden which he can enter, unseen by anyone, by going down through the ravine of the Destatore's Cross. Can you remember all that?"
"Perfectly; and will he go?"
"He will go without any doubt, and without a suspicion that this Carmelo Tomabene is on very intimate terms with a certain Piccinino, who is said to be a leader of bandits, and to whom, only yesterday, he offered a princely fortune on condition that he would kidnap your brother and at need murder him."
"Blessed Madonna, protect me! The Piccinino! I have heard of him; he is a terrible man. Will he be there with you? I should die of fright if I saw him!"
"And yet," said the bandit, overjoyed to find that Mila knew so little of what was going on, "I will wager that, like all the girls in the neighborhood, you are dying with the longing to see him."
"I should rather like to see him, because they say he is so ugly! But I should want to be sure that he did not see me!"
"Never fear; there will be nobody but myself at the farmer's house in Nicolosi. Tell me, are you afraid of me too, child that you are? Have I a very dreadful, very wicked look?"