"And you," he said. "You, lady, what think you of trusting Della Scala with an army?"
Julia Gonzaga smiled a little wearily.
"Where is he, to speak for himself?" she asked.
"We are waiting for him," Ippolito replied. "He said he would be with us. He is late," he added testily.
"Doubtless the hour has escaped him," put in Giacomo pleasantly. "The Duke of Verona will not fail us."
"He will disappoint us—if he turns up," said Vincenzo under his breath. But Conrad caught the whisper and choked with a suppressed laugh—not that the remark was funny, but that Count Schulembourg was foolish. Ippolito's stern eyes were turned on him.
"Is this a council of war?" he asked, "or a gathering of——"
"A council of war," interposed Conrad hastily, with his most winning smile.
But D'Este looked on him with mistrust; he had no love for the light-hearted German.