'You are noble!' said Theodore. 'You gird at a captive! Am I to remain here to be mocked?'
'Not for me, faith,' Bellarion answered him. 'I have never contemplated you with any pleasure. Take him away, Ugolino. Place him securely under guard. He shall have judgment to-morrow.'
'Dog!' said Theodore with venom, as he drew himself up to depart.
'That's my device, as yours is the stag. Appropriate, all things considered. I had you in my mind when I adopted it.'
'I am punished for my weakness,' said Theodore. 'I should have left Justice to wring your neck when you were its prisoner here in Casale.'
'I'll repay the debt,' Bellarion answered him. 'Your own neck shall remain unwrung so that you withdraw to your principality of Genoa and abide there. More of that to-morrow.'
Peremptorily he waved him away and Ugolino hustled him out. As the door closed again, Bellarion, relaxing the reins of his will, sank forward in a swoon.
CHAPTER XV
THE LAST FIGHT
When he recovered, he was lying on his sound side on a couch under the window, across which the curtains of painted and gilded leather had been drawn.