I ask only
what I have been the means of saving, eccellenza,--life."
The Signor Grimaldi shook his head, though it was very evident that he
declined the required intercession with much reluctance. He and old
Melchior de Willading exchanged glances; and all who noted this silent
intercourse understood it to say, that each considered duty to God a
higher obligation than gratitude for a service rendered to themselves.
"Ask gold, or what thou wilt else, but do not ask me to aid in defeating
justice. Gladly would I have given for the asking, twenty times the value
of those miserable baubles for whose possession, Maso, thou hast rashly
taken life; but I cannot become a sharer of thy crime, by refusing
atonement to his friends. It is too late: I cannot befriend thee now, if I
would."
"Thou nearest the answer of this noble gentleman," interposed the
chatelain; "it is wise and seemly, and thou greatly overratest his
influence or that of any present, if thou fanciest the laws can be set
aside at pleasure. Wert thou a noble thyself, or the son of a prince,
judgment would have its way in the Valais!"
Maso smiled wildly; and yet the expression of his glittering eye was so
ironical as to cause uneasiness in his judge.
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