"You mean to tell me, Stephanu,"
he persisted, "that the Princess will have none of us?"
"She bade me go my ways, and not come near her; which was cold
welcome for a man after a nine day's sweat. She added that if I or
Marc'antonio came spying upon her, or in any way interfering until
she sent for us, she would appeal to her brother against us."
"Was the Prince present when she said this?"
"He was not. He was away hunting, she said, in the direction of
Nonza; but in fact he must have gone reconnoitring, for he had left
the camp all but empty--no one at home but Andrea and Jacopo Galloni,
whose turn it was with the cooking--these and the Princess. But the
Prince has returned since then, for I heard his horn as I crossed the
pass."
Stephanu, as we moved forward, kept alongside Marc'antonio's bridle,
or as nearly alongside as the narrow track allowed. I, bringing up
the rear, could not see the trouble in Marc'antonio's face, but I
heard it in his voice as he put question after question.
"The Princess was not a prisoner." "No; nor under any constraint
that Stephanu could detect.
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