"And the cavalier? He waits for some sign of courtesy; it is meet that we should not withhold it."
"I see him not. His servitor is seated on the steps of the landing, while the gondola appeareth to be empty. The man hath an air of waiting, but I nowhere see the master!"
"Blessed Maria! can aught have befallen the gallant Duca di Sant' Agata?"
"Naught but the happiness of casting himself here!" exclaimed a voice near the person of the heiress. The Donna Violetta turned her gaze from the balcony, and beheld him who filled all her thoughts at her feet.
The cry of the girl, the exclamation of her friend, and a rapid and eager movement of the monk, brought the whole party into a group.
"This may not be," said the latter in a reproving voice. "Arise, Don Camillo, lest I repent listening to your prayer; you exceed our conditions."
"As much as this emotion exceedeth my hopes," answered the noble. "Holy father, it is a sin to oppose Providence! Providence brought me to the rescue of this lovely being when accident threw her into the Giudecca, and once more Providence is my friend, by permitting me to be a witness of this feeling. Speak, fair Violetta, thou wilt not be an instrument of the Senate's selfishness—thou wilt not hearken to their wish of disposing of thy hand on the mercenary who would trifle with the most sacred of all vows to possess thy wealth?"
"For whom am I destined?" demanded Violetta.
"No matter, since it be not for me. Some trafficker in happiness, some worthless abuser of the gifts of fortune."
"Thou knowest, Camillo, our Venetian custom, and must see that I am hopelessly in their hands."