Joan uttered a cry, as though the noble old man had been slain before
her eyes: she respected him as a father; then, sinking back, she
remained profoundly silent.

"How did they kill him?" she asked at last, fixing her great eyes in
terror on the count.

"Yesterday evening, as he left this castle, on the way to his own home,
a man suddenly sprang out upon him before the Porta Petruccia: it was
one of Andre's favourites, Conrad of Gottis chosen no doubt because he
had a grievance against the incorruptible magistrate on account of some
sentence passed against him, and the murder would therefore be put down
to motives of private revenge. The cowardly wretch gave a sign to two or
three companions, who surrounded the victim and robbed him of all means
of escape. The poor old man looked fixedly at his assassin, and asked
him what he wanted. 'I want you to lose your life at my hands, as I
lost my case at yours!' cried the murderer, and leaving him no time to
answer, he ran him through with his sword. Then the rest fell upon
the poor man, who did not even try to call for help, and his body was
riddled with wounds and horribly mutilated, and then left bathed in its
blood."

"Terrible!" murmured the queen, covering her face.

"It was only their first effort; the proscription lists are already
full: Andre must needs have blood to celebrate his accession to the
throne of Naples. And do you know, Joan, whose name stands first in the
doomed list?"

"Whose?" cried the queen, shuddering from head to foot.