"Now, Giuletta, come hither thou," said Valentine. The other lady stepped forward and threw back her hood.
"Now, my lord, Giannotto shall satisfy you—is this Isotta d'Este?"
The secretary did not flinch.
"My lord," he said, "you must know Della Scala's wife well enough, if by hearsay only. Look yourself. This is not she."
They moved on again, de Lana uneasily convinced.
"Ma foi," said the silent d'Orleans suddenly. "It is growing very damp. These Italian nights are most unhealthy." And so they passed into the palace.
That night a light tap was heard by Giannotto, sitting in his room, and Adrian entered and put two emerald earrings and a bag of ducats on the table.
"For the lapse of memory," he whispered, and went as softly and as swiftly as he had come.