“To resume your travels soon?”
“Exactly so; and the next time that I quit Venice, to return to it no more.”
“No more?” she repeated, eagerly. “Oh, not so, Flodoardo! Ah, can you leave me?”—She stopped, ashamed of her imprudence. “Can you leave my uncle? I meant to say. You do but jest, I doubt not.”
“By my honour, lady, I never was more in earnest.”
“And whither, then, do you mean to go?”
“To Malta, and assist the knights in their attacks upon the corsairs of Barbary. Providence, perhaps, may enable me to obtain the command of a galley, then will I call my vessel ‘Rosabella;’ then shall the war-cry be still ‘Rosabella;’ that name will render me invincible.”
“Oh! this is a mockery, Count. I have not deserved that you should sport with my feelings so cruelly.”
“It is to spare your feelings, signora, that I am now resolved to fly from Venice; my presence might cause you some uneasy moments. I am not the happy man whose sight is destined to give you pleasure; I will, at least, avoid giving you pain.”
“And you really can resolve to abandon the Doge, whose esteem for you is so sincere, whose friendship has always been so warm?”
“I value his friendship highly, but it is not sufficient to make me happy, and could he lay kingdoms at my feet, still would his friendship be insufficient to make me happy.”