"Your wife! A woman!" cried Ligozzi. "Gian Visconti will burn in hell for tempting you, but, by all the saints, so will you, my lord, if you accept such terms."
Mastino was roused. The energy of Ligozzi broke the bonds of his dull agony. He turned, also passionately.
"Have I not prayed and implored for this—only this—her life and her return? Have I not sworn and vowed I would recover her—at any cost? Have I not warned them of it—and she shall not die! She shall not die! What care I for the cities! Did I not warn them? She shall not die!"
He fell to pacing the tent wildly, but Ligozzi stood in his place, bitter sorrow, deep anger in his face.
"Think what it means," he said sternly.
"I will not," cried Mastino. "I will be baited and hounded no more. What has their grudging help done for me? I tell thee I warned them, I would hold them as nothing when it came to saving her."
"Still, they trust you," returned Ligozzi. "Listen, Della Scala; I speak in the cause of honor—you shall hear, you shall know what it means, before you lend yourself to such a thing for love of a woman! It will give all Lombardy to Visconti, it and hundreds to the sword; it will mean the burning of cities to the ground; it will mean the misery of half Italy! It will give a mad tyrant to rule over thousands who are at present free—it will send d'Este and Vincenzo to prison—to shame, misery, death perchance—it will strip Julia Gonzaga of everything—and is she not as young and fair and good as Isotta d'Este—and did she not trust you with her all? And yourself? What will it make of you? What triumph will it not give Visconti to see you fall? Have you kept your name high so long to make it a by-word now? Beyond redemption will you be dishonored, Della Scala—an outcast, a traitor—to hold a little fief at Visconti's pleasure, the mirth of your enemies, the scorn of your one-time friends."
Mastino broke into a wild exclamation. "I will hear no more! I will hear no more!"
"I must wound you to save you," continued Ligozzi. "Against yourself I will persuade you; my love cannot see you do this thing. Oh, remember yourself! A man, a prince; no hothead of a boy. This black offer will be the turning point and strengthen you. No man's cause is bettered by such means as this. All Italy will rise to cry shame on Visconti—heaven itself will turn against him and make you firm to overthrow him!"
"And Isotta!" said Mastino fiercely. "Isotta will be slain!"