"When did
they get you, Ferralti?"
"Last evening. I walked in the garden of the hotel and they threw a sack
over my head. I resisted and tried to cry out. They beat me until I was
insensible and then brought me here, together with my travelling cases,
which they removed from my room to convey the impression that I had gone
away voluntarily. When I awakened from my swoon I was in this room,
with the doctor bending over me."
"The doctor?"
"Oh, they have a doctor in this accursed den, as well as a priest and a
lawyer. The Duke entreated my pardon. He will punish his men for abusing
me. But he holds me a safe prisoner, just the same."
"Why?"
"He wants a ransom. He will force me to purchase an ancient brass
candlestick for fifty thousand lira."
Uncle John looked at his companion thoughtfully.
"Tell me, Count Ferralti," he said, "who you really are. I had believed
you were Il Duca's accomplice, until now. But if he has trapped you, and
demands a ransom, it is because you are a person of some consequence,
and able to pay. May I not know as much about your position in life as
does this brigand duke?"
The young man hesitated. Then he spread out his hands with an appealing
gesture and said:
"Not yet, Mr. Merrick! Do not press me now, I implore you. Perhaps I
have done wrong to try to deceive you, but in good time I will explain
everything, and then you will understand me better.
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