"I know where he is?" said little Jehan.
"Where is he, my boy?" asked Benvenuto.
"Down at the end of the garden, where he has been walking for half an hour; the student and I went there to talk with him, but he begged us to leave him alone."
"Strange!" said Benvenuto. "How did he fail to hear my shout? How is it that he did not hasten to me with the others? Do not wait for me, but sup without me, my children. Ah, there you are, Scozzone!"
"O mon Dieu! what is this they tell me,—that some one tried to murder you, master?"
"Yes, yes, there was something like that."
"Mon Dieu!" cried Scozzone.
"It was nothing, my dear girl, nothing," said Benvenuto consolingly, for poor Catherine had become as pale as death. "Go now and bring wine, of the best, for these gallant fellows. Take the keys of the cellar from Dame Ruperta, Scozzone, and select it yourself."
"Why, you are not going out again?" said Scozzone.
"No, never fear: I am going to find Ascanio in the garden. I have important matters to discuss with him."