But Gian flew along the level road.
"Milan!" he cried, "on to Milan!"
Carrara swayed forward to grasp Visconti's cloak, but he shook him off with a laugh.
"What ails you, Carrara? The army waits, you must ride faster still if you mean to ride into Milan to-day with me."
But Carrara was clutching at the neck of his doublet with staring eyes.
"My heart!" he gasped. "I suffocate—ah——!"
And he rode on blindly.
"Your heart?" laughed Visconti, drawing rein a little. "Do your treacheries stop its beating? You suffocate?—Do your lies choke you?"
A cry of mortal agony broke from the unhappy Carrara.
"Stop!" he gasped; "I am—dying—stop——"