"I trust, my dear Count, that we shall meet again ere long," added Guido. "Milan is not far distant, and an excursion to our mountains will break the monotony of your camp-life." "I will gladly avail myself on every possible occasion of your invitation," answered Rechberg. "Farewell, dear Bonello; God keep you, noble lady!" And as she extended him her hand, he knelt and kissed it. Guido accompanied his guest to the court-yard, and in a few moments, the hoofs of the knight's charger were ringing upon the drawbridge of the castle. _CHAPTER XIV_. _THE SIEGE_. Erwin was soon able to realize the devastations committed by the Emperor's army. In the place of smiling hamlets and rich villas, nothing could be seen but smoking ruins; the fruit-trees had been uprooted, the vines pulled up, the crops laid waste. Here and there were the bodies of peasants swinging from the trees, the ground was strewed with booty abandoned carelessly by the marauders. The plain once so green and smiling, appeared as sad and barren as a Russian steppe. This desolation afflicted. Erwin painfully, and he rode rapidly forward to escape the mournful spectacle. Soon could be seen the tents of the Imperial camp, with the varied standards floating proudly above the sharp roofs of the canvas city. The vague hum of the multitude was mingled with the clang of arms and the strains of martial music, and the noise of the workmen in the trenches. From the elevated point on which he stood, Erwin could distinguish the beleaguered city with its mighty walls above which towered the brilliant edifices and lofty turrets. As he gazed with admiration upon the town, Rechberg could not but experience a feeling of sorrow at the thought that all this greatness and power was doomed to destruction. After a short ride he found himself in the interior of the camp, where it was easy to perceive that he was almost entirely surrounded by the Italian contingents.