"'No,' said I; 'but from gratification and joy.'
"'Joy!—are these, then, tears of joy? and can they be had for a piece of gold? Oh! human misery! Woman, take all, I beg you, but do not weep for joy! Think of your fellows, so poor, so numerous, so degraded and miserable, and remember, I cannot aid them all.'
"He left me with a sigh. I did not dare to follow, for fear of betraying myself. He had left his gold on the pavement, where he let it fall in his hurry to get rid of me. I picked it up, and placed it in the poor-box, to fulfil his noble charity. On the next day I saw him again, and having watched him go into St. Mark's, determined to be more calm and resolved. We were again alone, in the half obscurity of the church. He mused long, and all at once I heard him murmur in a deep tone as he arose—
"'O, Christ! they crucify thee every day of their lives!'
"'Yes,' said I, reading half of his thoughts, 'the Pharisees and the doctors of the laws.'
"He trembled and was silent for a moment. He then said, in a low tone, and without turning—
"'My mother's voice again!'
"Consuelo, I was near fainting, when I saw that Albert yet maintained in his heart the instinct of filial divination. The fear, however, of troubling his reason, which was already so excited, made me pause again. I went to the porch to wait for him, but when I saw him pass I did not approach him. He perceived me, however, and shrunk back with a movement of terror.
"'Signora,' said he, with hesitation, 'why do you beg to-day? Is it, then, really a profession, as the pitiless rich say? Have you no family? Can you be of use to no one, instead of wandering through the churches at night like a spectre? What I gave yesterday would certainly have kept you from want to-day. Would you take possession of what belongs to your brethren?'
"'I do not beg,' I said; 'I placed your alms in the poor-box, with the exception of one sequin I kept for love of you.'