"Through the secret passage!"
Otto started.
"Mother of Christ!" he exclaimed. "Had they seen you they would have killed you."
A smile of disdain curved her lips.
"I should have welcomed the release."
"But what do you want here—and at this hour?"
"Your Saxons are storming Castel San Angelo. By a feigned attack they lured its defenders to a part of the ramparts, where no real danger threatened, but to scale the walls on their rear. Send a messenger to Eckhardt to desist. Crescentius is ready to treat for honourable terms."
If there was indeed truth in her words, the message was lost on him, to whom it was conveyed. His heart was dead to the voice of gladness, as it was dead to any added pang of misery.
"Thrice the Senator of Rome has broken his word! His fate lies with himself!" he replied with a shrug.
Stephania's pallor deepened.