"Still, they trust you," returned Ligozzi. "Listen, Della Scala; I speak in the cause of honor--you _shall_ hear, you _shall_ know what it means, before you lend yourself to such a thing for love of a woman! It will give all Lombardy to Visconti, it and hundreds to the sword; it will mean the burning of cities to the ground; it will mean the misery of half Italy! It will give a mad tyrant to rule over thousands who are at present free--it will send d'Este and Vincenzo to prison--to shame, misery, death perchance--it will strip Julia Gonzaga of everything--and is she not as young and fair and good as Isotta d'Este--and did she not trust you with her all? And yourself? What will it make of you? What triumph will it not give Visconti to see you fall? Have you kept your name high so long to make it a by-word now? Beyond redemption will you be dishonored, Della Scala--an outcast, a traitor--to hold a little fief at Visconti's pleasure, the mirth of your enemies, the scorn of your one-time friends." Mastino broke into a wild exclamation. "I will hear no more! I will hear no more!" "I must wound you to save you," continued Ligozzi. "Against yourself I will persuade you; my love cannot see you do this thing. Oh, remember yourself! A man, a prince; no hothead of a boy. This black offer will be the turning point and strengthen you. No man's cause is bettered by such means as this. All Italy will rise to cry shame on Visconti--heaven itself will turn against him and make you firm to overthrow him!" "And Isotta!" said Mastino fiercely. "Isotta will be slain!" "She is one woman--how many as fair and good as she will perish if Della Scala betrays Lombardy! She is one woman against the fate of half Italy." "She is my wife!" cried Della Scala desperately; "that one woman is my wife! Thou hast forgotten!" "Forget it too, my lord; for your own honor's sake, forget it too." "Ligozzi, Ligozzi," whispered Mastino, "thou canst not mean it: deliver up to die by _Visconti's hands_ the woman I--love!" "If they hanged her from the ramparts where I must watch her die, they should not move me," said Ligozzi grimly. "But--by all the saints, I would take my revenge."