"Then you have not the pocket-book?"
"Certainly not."
"And the gold crowns?"
"I gave them to Bufferio."
"Pietro Mostajo, you have betrayed me!" hissed the infuriated signor in the ear of his servant, shaking him convulsively by the arm. "Tell me quickly what has happened! Tremble, stupid coward! the Superintendent of Lucca shall know who you are!"
"Ebbene che sia!" answered Julio. "Then the Signor Geronimo shall also know who hired Bufferio to assassinate him."
A hoarse cry like a stifled groan resounded through the vestibule. The door was closed.
CHAPTER V.
VAN DE WERVE'S RECEPTION—SIMON TURCHI'S JEALOUSY AND HATRED.
Mr. Van de Werve, whose large fortune justified a lavish expenditure, was accustomed to receive at his residence every month the principal gentlemen of Antwerp, strangers as well as citizens. His love for art and science induced him to bring together the best artists and the most noted literary men of the day with the high-born, wealthy, and influential members of society at Antwerp; and his house had become the rendezvous of all that was excellent and celebrated in the city.