He thought they wavered a little, reassured by his words.
'However, sirs, since you feel so strongly,' he continued, 'my Lord Facino would be very far from wishing me to insist.' One of them drew a breath of relief. The others, if he could judge their countenances, moved in apprehension. The Regent remained inscrutable. 'It remains, sirs,' Bellarion ended, 'for you to propose an alternative guarantee.'
'Time will be lost in submitting it to my Lord Facino,' Carreto deplored, and the others by their nods, and one or two by words, showed the returning eagerness to seal this treaty which meant so much to Montferrat.
'Oh, no,' Bellarion reassured them. 'I am empowered to determine. We have no time to lose. If this treaty is not concluded by to-morrow, my orders are to assume that no alliance is possible and continue my journey to the Cantons to levy there the troops we need.'
They looked at one another blankly, and at last the Regent asked a question.
'Did the Count of Biandrate, himself, suggest no alternative against our refusing him this particular guarantee?'
'It did not occur to him that you would refuse. And, frankly, sirs, in refusing that which himself he has suggested, it would be courteous to supply your reasons, lest he regard it as a reflection upon himself.'
'The reason, sir, you have already been afforded,' Theodore answered. 'We are reluctant to expose our future sovereign to the perils of a campaign.'
'That assumes perils which could not exist for him. But I am perhaps presuming. I accept your reason, highness. It is idle to debate further upon a matter which is decided.'
'Quite idle,' Theodore agreed with him. 'That guarantee we cannot give.'