"This is a matter I had not considered," he replied with some hesitancy, which remained not unremarked by the Senator.
Alberic was a man of few words, and he possessed a discernment far beyond his years. At the first glance at this stranger whom fate had led across his path, he had known that here was one he might trust, could he but induce him to become his man.
He held out his hand.
"I am going to be your friend and I mean to requite the service you have done the Senator, ere the dawn of another day breaks in the sky. There is a vacancy in the Senator's guard. I appoint you captain of Castel San Angelo."
Ere Tristan could sufficiently recover from his surprise to make reply, another voice was audible, a voice, soft and insinuating—the voice of Basil, the Grand Chamberlain.
"My lord—the chain of evidence against Gamba is not completed. In fact, later developments seem to point to an intrigue of which he is but the unwitting victim—"
Alberic turned to the speaker.
"The proofs, my Lord Basil, are conclusive. Gamba is a traitor convicted of having conspired with an emissary of Ugo of Tuscany, to deliver the Archangel's Castle into his hands. He is sentenced—he shall die—as soon as we discover his abode—"
Basil's face had turned to ashen hues.
"What mean you, my lord? Gamba is awaiting sentence in the dungeon where he has been confined, ever since his trial—"