“How?” shouted a score of voices.
“Cospetto!” exclaimed the accused, “the thing is simple enough.”
“Explain it! Explain it!”
“Buono! buono! Listen, and I will. Well, like yourselves, I want to procure the riscatta. I didn’t think the Inglese would get it for us. The letter directed by him wasn’t strong enough. While you were gone, having nothing else to think of, I prevailed upon the galantuomo to write another. What harm was there in that?”
“It was to his father, then?” asked one of the spokesmen.
“Of course it was,” replied Popetta, with a scornful inclination of the head.
“How was it sent?”
“To the posta at Rome. The young man knew how to address it.”
“Who carried it to Rome?”
To this question there was no answer. Popetta had turned aside, and pretended not to hear.