"I have heard of this man before," continued the Count, "and marvellous stories are told of him. Now I leave what shall come to me in the hands of Heaven; for to know is not to alter, and knowledge without power is but fretting of the heart; but----" And Antonio broke off. "Ride then, if you can safely, and beg him to show you Lucia's face," said Tommasino. "For to that I think you are making." "In truth I was, fool that I am," said Antonio. "But be wary; for Baratesta is but ten miles from the city, and His Highness sleeps with an open eye." So Antonio, albeit that he was in part ashamed, learnt from Bena where the wizard dwelt on the bridge that is outside the gate of Baratesta--for the Syndic would not suffer such folk to live inside the wall--and one evening he saddled his horse and rode alone to seek the wizard, leaving Tommasino in charge of the band. And as he went, he pondered, saying, "I am a fool, yet I would see her face;" and thus, still dubbing himself fool, yet still persisting, he came to the bridge of Baratesta; and the wizard, who was a very old man and tall and marvellously lean, met him at the door of the house, crying, "I looked for your coming, my lord." And he took Antonio's horse from him and stood it in a stable beside the house, and led Antonio in, saying again, "Your coming was known to me, my lord;" and he brought Antonio to a chamber at the back of the house, having one window, past which the river, being then in flood, rushed with noise and fury. There were many strange things in the chamber, skulls and the forms of animals from far-off countries, great jars, basins, and retorts, and in one corner a mirror half-draped in a black cloth. "You know who I am?" asked Antonio. "That needs no art," answered the wizard, "and I pretend to none in it. Your face, my lord, was known to me as to any other man, from seeing you ride with the Duke before your banishment." "And you knew that I rode hither to-night?" "Aye," said the wizard. "For the stars told of the coming of some great man; and I turned from my toil and watched for you." "What toil?" asked Antonio. "See, here is money, and I have a quiet tongue. What toil?" The wizard pointed to a heap of broken and bent pieces of base metal. "I was turning dross to gold," said he, in a fearful whisper. "Can you do that?" asked Antonio, smiling. "I can, my lord, though but slowly." "And hate to love?" asked Count Antonio. The wizard laughed harshly. "Let them that prize love, seek that," said he. "It is not for me." "I would it had been; then had my errand here been a better one. For I am come to see the semblance of a maiden's face." The wizard frowned as he said, "I had looked for a greater matter. For you have a mighty enemy, my lord, and I have means of power for freeing men of their enemies."