when I say that I did not tell my illustrious friend here of the
adventure. He was told, it is true, but not by me. If it will satisfy
you, I will take my oath to that. I had no intention of depriving you of
your mistress; far from it, that would have destroyed my particular
object, which, I will now confess, was to take your place in Donna
Aurelia's regard, for which you would not ask. I own also that I did not
care to have you in her neighbourhood, and that I very much desired to
get rid of you. Why? Because I could see that Donna Aurelia was in love
with you."

He paused while I admired his affectation of candour. Presently he went
on: "When my friend here proposed to secure your mistress by means of
the Capuchin I gave him a free hand; that is to say, I gave you no
warning, I admit that. Why again? Because I knew you, Don Francis, and
was certain that you would never allow a hand to be laid upon her. I was
right, you did not. You did precisely what I desired. You as good as
killed the Capuchin and you went into hiding. I wished to keep you
there, and so I did. If I had not sent Carabineers into the Piazza--if I
had been accessible to your messengers--you would have been fatally in
my way. You were never in danger of arrest or imprisonment--but you
believed that you were, and that served my purpose.

"You left our State. All was well until you entered it again. I admit
that when I saw you in Siena I was in Donna Aurelia's company, and
feared the effect of your apparition upon her. She did not recognise
you, but I did. I confess that I had you arrested, and assure you that
you would never have gone to Volterra, but to Leghorn. You would have
been placed upon an English ship and sent to your own country, where
your peculiar qualities would have had freer play. Lastly, I admit that
I was vexed at your reappearance here in circumstances of prosperity