'Oh, God! Oh, God!'
Then, with a great sigh, he rose and said,—
'Be it as you will.... For the good of my country!'
'Ah, thanks, thanks!'
Bartolomeo took him in his arms and kissed him on both cheeks. Then suddenly Checco tore himself away.
'But listen to this, all of you. I have consented, and now you must let me speak. I swear that in this thing I have no thought of myself. If I alone were concerned I would not move; I would wait for the assassin's knife calmly. I would even sacrifice my wife and children, and God knows how dearly I love them! I would not stir a finger to save myself. And I swear, by all that is most holy to me, that I am actuated by no base motive, no ambition, no thought of self, no petty revenge. I would willingly forgive Girolamo everything. Believe me, my friends, I am honest. I swear to you that I am only doing this for the welfare of the men I love, for the sake of you all, and—for Liberty.'
They warmly pressed his hands.
'We know it, Checco, we believe it. You are a great and a good man.'
A little later we began to discuss the ways and means. Everyone had his plan, and to it the others had the most conclusive objections. We all talked together, each one rather annoyed at the unwillingness of the others to listen to him, and thinking how contemptible their ideas were beside his own. Checco sat silent. After a while Checco spoke,—
'Will you listen to me?'