who is married to the Dalmatian prince," replied the lady.

66

Right, love; thou art a true daughter of the house of Este. We will traverse the wilds of Dalmatia ere we submit to the mercy of the tyrant of Milan."

Struck, no less with the spirit of the noble pair, than with their constancy to each other amid so many misfortunes, the two adventurers, with one accord, offered to escort them into Tuscany, and Carrara made a signal for the little party to move. He himself went foremost, carefully leading his lady's mule through the wood, and they all reached Genoa late that evening, where the Doge, Antonio Adorno, greatly to his honour, gave the fugitive prince a most hospitable reception.

There Alfred and his comrade left them, and three days afterwards they arrived without any farther interruption in Florence, where they easily found out General Hawkwood. The veteran gravely reprimanded his young countryman for having outstaid his time; but on hearing his statement, which Oliver-one of the

few companions of Hawkwood whose name history has preserved-corroborated, he was at once admitted into the service of the company, at that time the most famous of all Italy, if not of Europe.

CHAPTER XII.

He dies and makes no sign.

HENRY VI.

Ir was about six months after the usurpation of the younger Visconti, that his uncle was sitting one evening in the apartment of the Castle of Trezzo which had been assigned to him as his prison. The castle was situated at the foot of the lake of Maggiore, and had been built as a place of confinement by the prisoner himself. It was winter; and the dull uncertain twilight of a gloomy December evening, shone

fitfully through the grated window of the chamber; the last rays of the setting sun at times beaming full on its naked walls, or resting on the iron-bound door, which seemed to mock all attempt at escape; and again as the black clouds swept in hurried masses across the sky, leaving it as suddenly in almost total darkness. The noise of the waters breaking sullenly around the foundations of the castle, was heard distinctly from beneath; and the wind moaning in broken gusts around its battlements, indicated the approach of a boisterous night.

The prisoner was seated at a small table, at the farther end of the room, with his head reclining on one hand, and his eyes fixed vacantly on the window. He was richly, but negligently dressed, and his health appeared to have suffered from the effects of long confinement and want. of exercise. But his countenance had lost none of its wonted imperiousness; the eye was still dull and lowering, and the brows contracted, as if the spirit of the tyrant still remained, although his power was gone.

Woman is the sole friend of adversity; and

one who had experienced the bounty of the lord of Milan in his palace, had not scrupled to share the solitude of his dungeon. Occupied with some light handiwork, a young female sat at the window, and strove by her discourse to distract the thoughts of the prisoner. His replies, however, were brief and careless, as if his mind was otherwise occupied; she looked up, sighed gently, and resumed her task in silence.

The sun at length went down, and Visconti strode slowly across the room to the window. He looked out for some time on the stormy surface of the lake, which was rapidly blackening with the approach of darkness. “A cheerless night," he muttered to himself; “not a star to be seen in all the heavens, and the wind howls dismally through the long empty corridors, betokening a change of the weather. I know not how it is, Donnina,*-I feel more than usually dispirited to-night."

*This is no fiction; one of his mistresses, Donnina Porri, accompanied him to prison, and remained with him till his death. Muratori relates the fact. See also Biographie Universelle.