"He hath lately sent offerings to her shrine."
"Signore, he hath. His confessor hath gone in person with the offering, as I know of certainty. 'Tis not a serious gift, but a mere remembrance to keep himself in the odor of sanctity. I doubt that his reign will not be long!"
"There are, truly, signs of decay in his system. He is a worthy prince, and we shall lose a father when called to weep for his loss!"
"Most true, Signore: but the horned bonnet is not an invulnerable shield against the arrows of death. Age and infirmities are more potent than our wishes."
"Thou art moody to-night, Signor Gradenigo. Thou art not used to be so silent with thy friends."
"I am not the less grateful, Signore, for their favors. If I have a loaded countenance, I bear a lightened heart. One who hath a daughter of his own so happily bestowed in wedlock as thine, may judge of the relief I feel by this disposition of my ward. Joy affects the exterior, frequently, like sorrow; aye, even to tears."
His two companions looked at the speaker with much obvious sympathy in their manners. They then left the chamber of doom together. The menials entered and extinguished the lights, leaving all behind them in an obscurity that was no bad type of the gloomy mysteries of the place.
Chapter XIV.
"Then methought,
A serenade broke silence, breathing hope
Through walls of stone."ITALY.