Volume I Part 61 (2/2)
”No, for he is short, and the man with the mask was tall Besides, I have heard that Steffani had left Venice two days before the arrival of hter The man must have been some friend of Steffani, and he has taken her to him”
”But, my dear count, all this is mere supposition”
”There are four persons who have seen the man with the ree Here is a list of four names, and I will accuse these four persons before the Council of Ten, if Steffani should deny having hter in his possession”
The list, which he handed to M Barbaro, gave not only the names of the four accused persons, but likewise those of their accusers The last naed my shoulders in a h heartily
M de Bragadin, seeing the surprise of the count at such uncalled-for ive you hter is in his hands, she is perfectly safe, although he irls should be trusted”
The surprise, the amazement, and the perplexity of the count and his son were an aedme to place myself in his position My only ansas to enized me was a noted pi deceived me If I had not been there just in ti countess, she would not have escaped hi her to so was that the count agreed to postpone his application to the Council of Ten until Steffani's place of refuge should be discovered
”I have not seen Steffani for six months, sir,” I said to the count, ”but I promise you to kill him in a duel as soon as he returns”
”You shall not do it,” answered the young count, very coolly, ”unless he kills adin, ”I can assure you that you will neither of you fight a duel with him, for Steffani is dead”
”Dead!” said the count
”We must not,” observed the prudent Barbaro, ”take that word in its literal sense, but the wretched man is dead to all honour and self-respect”
After that truly drauess that the denoue countess, taking care to change ondola three tiave my anxious mistress an exact account of all the conversation She was very i, and wept tears of joy when I repeated her father's words of forgiveness; but when I told her that nobody knew of Steffani having entered her chamber, she fell on her knees and thanked God I then repeated her brother's words, i his coolness: ”You shall not kill hiinday, or the day after that at the latest We had our supper, but we did not talk of Steffani, or of revenge, and after that pleasant meal we devoted two hours to the worshi+p of the God of love
I left her at --ht with her was that the landlady ht, if necessary, sithout scruple that I had never spent a night with the young girl It proved a very lucky inspiration of mine, for, when I arrived ho impatiently for adin had heard at the sitting of the senate
”Steffani,” said M de Bragadin to el Paralis revealed it to us; he is dead to the world, for he has become a Capuchin friar The senate, as a matter of course, has been informed of it We alone are aware that it is a punishment which God has visited upon his, and the heavenly hierarchy which renders us worthy of knohat remains a , and console the poor father We irl is She cannot noith Steffani Of course, God has not condemned her to becoel, dearest father, for it is by his express orders that I have been coe found by the young countess”
I related the whole story, except what they had no business to know, for, in the opinion of the worthy ues were fearful crimes M Dandolo and M Barbaro expressed their surprise when they heard that the young girl had been under adin said that he was not astonished, that it was according to cabalistic science, and that he knew it
”We hter's place of refuge for the count, until we know for a certainty that he will forgive her, and that he will take her with him to C----, or to any other place where he ive her,” I said, ”when he finds that the airl would never have left C---- if her seducer had not given her this pro She walked as far as the barge, and she landed at the very ate An inspiration from above told me to accost her and to invite her to followthe decree of Heaven, I took her to a refuge impossible to discover, and placed her under the care of a God-fearing woman”
My three friends listened to me so attentively that they looked like three statues I advised them to invite the count to dinner for the day after next, because I needed some time to consult 'Paralis de modo tenendi' I then told M Barbaro to let the count knohat sense he was to understand Steffani's death He undertook to do it, and we retired to rest
I slept only four or five hours, and, dressing myself quickly, hurried to my beloved mistress I told thenot to serve the coffee until we called for it, because anted to re several important letters to write