It was not long, though, before he married again, and his second wife, the daughter of the Admiral, Marco Giustiniani, had a sufficiently large fortune to permit of his establishing himself as a merchant in the East.
Either he must have left his wife behind on undertaking this expedition or else he sent her home later, for the adventures through which he passed at Constantinople would have been too risky, even for him, had he had any “incumbrances” with him.
Constantinople, at that time, was in the hands of a usurper, Andronicus, who had deposed his father, Carlo Yhomuas. Now Carlo Yhomuas was a friend to Venice and had gone out of his way, while he was on the throne, to show favour to Zeno’s father.
When it came to his ears that Zeno was in the city, it seemed to him that here was a chance to escape from his fortress and retake the crown, and that since the wife of his gaoler was an old “friend” of his, and still devoted to him, she would make an excellent go-between.
It was no very desirable undertaking for a woman, since Andronicus had filled the court with spies, and discovery would mean certain torture and death; but she accomplished her mission, and Zeno, to whom such adventures were the salt of life, fell in with the idea instantly and joyfully.
Having obtained the promise of support from some Greek soldiers, by ways known only to himself, he strolled out one evening along the shore, until he arrived at a point where, across the water and rising straight up from it, stood a high tower; being assured that no one was about, Carlo studied a window at the top of it speculatively.
It was not grilled, but it was small and it was a hundred and fifty feet up. From the land side he could do nothing; it was too well guarded, and all that he and the surprised captive up there had to rely upon was a small woman.
He would have to wait for the dark of the moon, he saw, and, besides, he must find some means of getting a long, stout rope into the Emperor’s bedroom. This was accomplished, I think, by winding it around the lady’s body, and since she had the privilege, while her husband’s back was turned, of ingress to the ex-Emperor’s apartments, she waited until the former was making his rounds in the evening and slipped past the unsuspecting sentry in the dark.
Then she dropped the rope from the window and left Carlo Yhomuas to himself. Carlo, who was as much a sailor as he was a soldier, speedily climbed up and, having hauled himself through the window, begged the Emperor to descend.
But, at this critical moment, Carlo Yhomuas’ nerve failed him. As he told Zeno, he had two other sons who were both at the mercy of Andronicus, and Andronicus was a desperate and bloodstained scoundrel who would probably cut both their throats if their father ran away.