XXII. THE SECRET PASSAGE 226 XXIII. FOR LOVE OF AMBROGIO 231 XXIV. TREACHERY 238 XXV. IN CLOTH OF GOLD 243 XXVI. IN VISCONTI'S HANDS 255 XXVII. UNEQUAL ODDS 267 XXVIII. THE VIPER 272 XXIX. THE ORDEAL OF MASTINO DELLA SCALA 287 XXX. THE WEDDING 303 XXXI. THE PRIDE OF THE D'ESTES 314 XXXII. THE PRICE OF DISHONOR 327 XXXIII. THE STORM 334 XXXIV. AN INSTRUMENT OF GOD 344 The Viper of Milan CHAPTER ONE GIAN GALEAZZO MARIA VISCONTI It is a day in early summer, as beautiful as such days were in the Southern lands of 500 years ago. It is Italy steeped in golden sunlight which lies like a haze over the spreading view; the year 1360, when cities were beautiful and nature all-pervading. Here is Lombardy, spread like a garden in the hollow of the hills, ringed about with the purple Apennines, covered with flowers, white, yellow, purple, and pink. This wide road, one of the finest in Italy, winds from Milan to Brescia, its whole length through chestnut woods and plains covered with flowering myrtle. Primroses in great clusters border its sides, and from the midst of their delicate blooms spring the slender stems of poplar trees; these are red-gold, bursting into bloom against a tender sky; tufts of young green; clumps of wild violets. But for all its unspoiled beauty, the road was one of common use, for Milan was within hail. Villas, the summer dwellings of its wealthy peers, stood back among the trees, surrounded by magnificent grounds. Behind them beautiful open country spread into the blue distance, fragrant and glorious with budding trees. And cold and magnificent the great city itself, with its huge walls and gates, crowned and emphasized the landscape's beauty. The lines of hundreds of turrets and spires, bold and delicate, leaped up against the sky. And paramount, catching the eye with color, weighing on the mind with meaning, were the city's banners. They floated from the gates and the highest buildings, half a score of them, all with the same device. Far off could that device be read: a green Viper on a silver ground: the emblazonment of the Visconti.