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She was not the only one whose enquiries had been fruitless; it

was not a mere ceremony in the cardinal Frederick, when he

promised Lucy and Agnes, to inform himself of the history and

fate of Renzo; he fulfilled that promise, by writing immediately

to Bergamo for the purpose. While at Milan, on his return from

visiting his diocese, he received a reply, in which he was

informed that little was known of the young man; that he had

made, it was true, a short sojourn in such a place, but that one

morning he had suddenly disappeared; that a relation of his, with

whom he had lived while there, knew not what had become of him;

he thought that he had probably enlisted for the Levant, or had

passed into Germany, or, which was most likely, that he had

perished in crossing the river. It was added, however, that

should any more definite intelligence be received concerning him,

his illustrious lordship should immediately be informed of it.