"And our heads may have to pay for it," grumbled the officer who led Graziosa's escort. "Men, see the Princess does not escape, or there will no one of us live to save ourselves."
"Shame! shame!" said the Duke again, as Graziosa, white as death, was laid in a litter. "You have done a mad thing!" And the whole fluttering cavalcade whirled in startled confusion toward the palace.
Valentine looked after them, and there was no remorse in her face.
"You must answer to the Duke for this, madama," said the officer, "and at once."
She turned her horse slowly, and at a quiet pace rode toward the Visconti palace. Costanza began to weep.
"Nothing can save you now, mistress—why did you do it? Oh, why!"
"Count Conrad is in Milan!" was Valentine's answer to herself; and to Costanza she said, coldly, "Do not fear for me. I am too valuable to be meddled with. Even a Visconti would not dare to slay his sister before the Frenchman's eyes."
They entered the courtyard in silence, the soldiers forming up close around her. The cavalcade had ridden slowly, and there was no trace of Graziosa's arrival. The palace seemed quiet. Valentine dismounted as usual, and was mounting the entrance steps when de Lana advanced.
"I have a painful duty to discharge, Princess," he said. "You are my prisoner."