"True, my lords; but the fighting had already begun!" answered Dassel. "The Milanese hemmed me in on all sides, and I was no longer the aggressor, but in the position of legitimate defence." "Your representations are not sufficient!" said the Duke of Bohemia; "your tongue is more skilful than ours, and you are our superior in all that is tricky; but your treason must and shall be punished! Are you ready to clear yourself of this stain in single combat?" "Your lordship must be aware," replied Dassel, with a smile, "that the canons of the Church forbid this mode of justification to the Archbishop of Cologne?" "Bah!" said the Count. "You are only a layman like us; only a consecration can make you a priest or a bishop. So long as you are not an ecclesiastic, you have no right to shelter yourself behind the privileges of the Church." "My lords!" cried the Emperor, angrily, "we will not permit this assault upon a man whose honor and veracity are known to us; we declare him absolved from all blame; we are satisfied with his explanations!" Rage and mortification were expressed on the faces of the knights. "If your Majesty wishes to shield your Chancellor, we must obey," said Conrad; "but as some amends for the outrage, we request that you will release the consuls who were captured despite our word of honor as gentlemen and knights." "It cannot be!" answered Barbarossa. "These consuls are the chiefs of the rebellion, the ringleaders of the conspiracy, which, for many years, has been plotting against us. It would be gross folly, on our part, to send away the promoters of the disorder. They must remain with us as captives, until the surrender of the fortress." "But, Sire," added the Duke of Bohemia, with difficulty restraining his indignation, "the Milanese will say that we are _disloyal felons_, who desire, not the reduction, but the destruction of their city!" "As for me," said Conrad, boldly, "my honor is at stake, and I will avoid all intercourse with the Chancellor.--To-morrow, I and my troops will return to our homes." "Your term of service has expired, and we have no right to detain you," answered Barbarossa, calmly. "However, I shall expect you next spring, when you will return with more numerous and better disciplined troops. If, before that time, Milan shall have fallen, there will still remain enough to do in Italy, before we can restore the Empire to its ancient splendor." Although these last words were prompted by a desire to flatter the nobles, they left his presence with a discontented and dissatisfied air. Meanwhile Rechberg, Bonello, and Nigri were standing in front of the city gate, near which the consul's tent was pitched, and Erwin related the circumstances which had induced the order for his banishment from Italy. The sad and despondent tone of the young man moved Bonello's sympathy.