"Dost thou find a clue? What is the sign of which thou speakest?"
"Naught, noble senator, but a slur in a letter, which would not be apt to catch the eye of an over-credulous maiden."
"And thou parted with the seal to----?"
Hosea hesitated, for he foresaw some danger of losing his reward by a too hasty communication of the truth.
"If it be important that the fact be known, Signore," he said, "I will consult my books. In a matter of this gravity, the senate should not be misled."
"Thou sayest well. The affair is grave, and the reward a sufficient pledge that we so esteem it."
"Something was said, illustrious Signore, of a hundred sequins; but my mind taketh little heed of such particulars when the good of Venice is in question."
"A hundred is the sum I promised."
"I parted with a signet-ring, bearing some such design, to a female in the service of the Nuncio's first gentleman. But this seal cannot come of that, since a woman of her station----"
"Art sure?" eagerly interrupted the Signor Gradenigo.