CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE A Merlin for a Lady The Baronessa Margarethe da Montacuto was in her little parlour when the sound of running feet and excited barking reached her ears. Perhaps it is another message from Silvano, she thought, jumping up and dropping her grospoint. But it was better than a message. Her son himself burst in, dishevelled and dirty but sound and full of life, followed by his deliriously happy hound. ‘Madre,’ he said, lifting the Baronessa off her feet and swinging her round. ‘Silvano!’ she said, breathless. ‘Oh my darling boy! Are you all right? Your hair needs cutting. And whatever has happened to your shirt?’ ‘I used it to bind a man’s wounds, mother,’ he said truthfully, putting her down and looking at her soberly. The Baronessa clutched at her throat. ‘Mon Dieu!’ she said. ‘Where have you been that such dangerous things happen?’ ‘I left Perugia because of such a danger, remember?
