"All is forgotten, for I have thee here!"
It was well for these impassioned lovers that a friend watched for them without. Lucretia had mounted guard for half an hour, when Victorine returned to say that the marquis would be glad to see his sister; her visit had lasted long enough.
"Take my place, then, Victorine; holt the door, and admit nobody."
"Oh, signora, if the marquis finds us out, he will assassinate me!" said Victorine, trembling.
"He will not find us out; and you can very well endure some little uneasiness, when for a few nervous twitches you are to receive two thousand sequins. Think that, by to-night, you will be on your way to Paris."
"Would to God I were there, away from this frightful robbers' nest!"
Lucretia laughed. "You flatter the city of Venice. But I am not surprised that you are not in love with the Palazzo Strozzi, for when its master is contradicted, he is a raging tiger, whose thirst nothing save human blood will quench."
"O God! O Lord! I am almost dead with fright!"
"Have patience, mademoiselle. Look at yonder clock on the mantel. Precisely at the expiration of one hour, come with your message to my brother's cabinet. That will be the signal for your release. Are your effects out of the palace?"
"Yes, signora; they are all at the hotel of the Marquis de Villars."