"
A flame of anger passed over the Duke's face; but he subdued it
instantly.
"Go to the Signorina Vivaldi," he said, pointing to the door by which
Fulvia had left the hall. "Assure her that there is no danger, but ask
her to remain where she is till the crowd disperses, and request the
faculty in my name to remain with her."
The equerry bowed, and hurried up the steps of the dais, while the Duke
signed to his other companions to precede him to the door of the hall.
As they walked down the long room, between the close-packed ranks of the
audience, the outer tumult surged threateningly toward them. Near the
doorway, another of the gentlemen-in-waiting was seen to speak with the
Duke.
"Your Highness," he said, "there is a private way at the back by which
you may yet leave the building unobserved."
"You appear to forget that I entered it publicly," said Odo.
"But, your Highness, we cannot answer for the consequences--"
The Duke signed to the ushers to throw open the doors. They obeyed, and
he stepped out into the stone vestibule preceding the porch. The
iron-barred outer doors of this vestibule were securely bolted, and the
porter hung back in affright at the order to unlock them.
"Your Highness, the people are raving mad," he said, flinging himself on
his knees.
Odo turned impatiently to his escort. "Unbar the doors, gentlemen," he
said. The blood was drumming in his ears, but his eye was clear and
steady, and he noted with curious detachment the comic agony of the fat
porter's face, and the strain and swell of the equerry's muscles as he
dragged back the ponderous bolts.
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