Chapter 4: Carried Off.
It was with a feeling of considerable discomfort, and some awe, thatFrancis Hammond followed his conductor to the chamber of the Council.It was a large and stately apartment. The decorations were magnificent,and large pictures, representing events in the wars of Venice, hunground the walls. The ceiling was also superbly painted. The corniceswere heavily gilded. Curtains of worked tapestry hung by the windows,and fell behind him as he entered the door.
At a table of horseshoe shape eleven councillors, clad in the longscarlet robes, trimmed with ermine, which were the distinguishing dressof Venetian senators, were seated--the doge himself acting aspresident. On their heads they wore black velvet caps, flat at the top,and in shape somewhat resembling the flat Scotch bonnet. Signor Polaniand his companions were seated in chairs, facing the table.
When Francis entered the gondolier was giving evidence as to the attackupon his boat. Several questions were asked him when he had finished,and he was then told to retire. The usher then brought Francis forward.
"This is Messer Francisco Hammond," he said.
"Tell your story your own way," the doge said.
Francis related the story of the attack on the gondola, and the escapeof the ladies in his boat.
"How came you, a foreigner and a youth, to interfere in a fray of thiskind?" one of the councillors asked.
"I did not stop to think of my being a stranger, or a youth," Francisreplied quietly. "I heard the screams of women in distress, and feltnaturally bound to render them what aid I could."
"Did you know who the ladies were?"
"I knew them only by sight. My friend Matteo Giustiniani had pointedthem out to me, on one occasion, as being the daughters of SignorPolani, and connections of his. When their gondola had passed mine, afew minutes previously, I recognized their faces by the light of thetorches in their boat."
"Were the torches burning brightly?" another of the council asked;"because it may be that this attack was not intended against them, butagainst some others."
"The light was bright enough for me to recognize their faces at aglance," Francis said, "and also the yellow and white sashes of theirgondoliers."
"Did you see any badge or cognizance, either on the gondola or on thepersons of the assailants?"
"I did not," Francis said. "They certainly wore none. One of thetorches in the Polani gondola had been extinguished in the fray, butthe other was still burning, and, had the gondoliers worn colouredsashes or other distinguishing marks, I should have noticed them."
"Should you recognize, were you to see them again, any of theassailants?"
"I should not," Francis said. "They were all masked."
"You say you struck down the one who appeared to be their leader withan oar, as he was about to leap into your boat. How was it the oar wasin your hand instead of that of your gondolier?"
"I was myself rowing," Francis said. "In London, rowing is an amusementof which boys of all classes are fond, and since I have been out herewith my father I have learned to row a gondola; and sometimes, when Iam out of an evening, I take an oar as well as my gondolier, enjoyingthe exercise and the speed at which the boat goes along. I was notrowing when the signora's boat passed me, but upon hearing the screams,I stood up and took the second oar, to arrive as quickly as possible atthe spot. That was how it was that I had it in my hand, when the manwas about to leap into the boat."
"Then there is nothing at all, so far as you know, to direct yoursuspicion against anyone as the author of this attack?"
"There was nothing," Francis said, "either in the gondola itself, or inthe attire or persons of those concerned in the fray, which could giveme the slightest clue as to their identity."
"At any rate, young gentleman," the doge said, "you appear to havebehaved with a promptness, presence of mind, and courage--for it needscourage to interfere in a fray of this sort--beyond your years; and, inthe name of the republic, I thank you for having prevented thecommission of a grievous crime. You will please to remain here for thepresent. It may be that, when the person accused of this crime appearsbefore us, you may be able to recognize his figure."
It was with mixed feelings that Francis heard, a minute or two later,the usher announce that Signor Ruggiero Mocenigo was without, awaitingthe pleasure of their excellencies.
"Let him enter," the doge said.
The curtains fell back, and Ruggiero Mocenigo entered with a haughtyair. He bowed to the council, and stood as if expecting to bequestioned.
"You are charged, Ruggiero Mocenigo," the doge said, "with beingconcerned in an attempt to carry off the daughters of Signor Polani,and of taking part in the killing of three servitors of thatgentleman."
"On what grounds am I accused?" Ruggiero said haughtily.
"On the ground that you are a rejected suitor for the elder lady'shand, and that you had uttered threats against her father, who, so faras he knows, has no other enemies."
"This seems somewhat scanty ground for an accusation of such gravity,"Ruggiero said sneeringly. "If every suitor who grumbles, when his offeris refused, is to be held responsible for every accident which may takeplace in the lady's family, methinks that the time of this reverend andillustrious council will be largely occupied."
"You will remember," the doge said sternly, "that your previous conductgives good ground for suspicion against you. You have already beenbanished from the state for two years for assassination, and suchreports as reached us of your conduct in Constantinople, during yourexile, were the reverse of satisfactory. Had it not been so, theprayers of your friends, that your term of banishment might beshortened, would doubtless have produced their effect."
"At any rate," Ruggiero said, "I can, with little difficulty, provethat I had no hand in any attempt upon Signor Polani's daughters lastnight, seeing that I had friends spending the evening with me, and thatwe indulged in play until three o'clock this morning--an hour at which,I should imagine, the Signoras Polani would scarcely be abroad."
"At what time did your friends assemble?"
"At nine o'clock," Ruggiero said. "We met by agreement in the Piazza,somewhat before that hour, and proceeded together on foot to my house."
"Who were your companions?"
Ruggiero gave the names of six young men, all connections of hisfamily, and summonses were immediately sent for them to attend beforethe council.
"In the meantime, Messer Francisco Hammond, you can tell us whether yourecognize in the accused one of the assailants last night."
"I cannot recognize him, your excellency," Francis said; "but I can saycertainly that he was not the leader of the party, whom I struck withmy oar. The blow fell on the temple, and assuredly there would be marksof such a blow remaining today."
As Francis was speaking, Ruggiero looked at him with a cold piercingglance, which expressed the reverse of gratitude for the evidence whichhe was giving in his favour, and something like a chill ran through himas he resumed his seat behind Signor Polani and his friends.
There was silence for a quarter of an hour. Occasionally the members ofthe council spoke in low tones to each other, but no word was spokenaloud, until the appearance of the first of the young men who had beensummoned. One after another they gave their evidence, and all wereunanimous in declaring that they had spent the evening with RuggieroMocenigo, and that he did not leave the room, from the moment of hisarrival there soon after nine o'clock, until they left him at two inthe morning.
"You have heard my witnesses," Ruggiero said, when the last had givenhis testimony; "and I now ask your excellencies, whether it is rightthat a gentleman, of good family, should be exposed to a villainousaccusation of this kind, on the barest grounds of suspicion?"
"You have heard the evidence which has been given, Signor Polani," thedoge said. "Do you withdraw your accusation against Signor Mocenigo?"
"I acknowledge, your excellency," Signor Polani said, rising, "thatRuggiero Mocenigo has proved that he took no personal part in theaffair, but I will
submit to you that this in no way proves that he isnot the author of the attempt. He would know that my first suspicionwould fall upon him, and would, therefore, naturally leave the matterto be carried out by others, and would take precautions to enable himto prove, as he has done, that he was not present. I still maintainthat the circumstances of the case, his threats to me, and the factthat my daughter will naturally inherit a portion of what wealth Imight possess, and that, as I know and can prove, Ruggiero Mocenigo hasbeen lately reduced to borrowing money of the Jews, all point to hisbeing the author of this attempt, which would at once satisfy his angeragainst me, for having declined the honour of his alliance, and repairhis damaged fortunes."
There were a few words of whispered consultation between thecouncillors, and the doge then said:
"All present will now retire while the council deliberates. Ourdecision will be made known to the parties concerned, in due time."
On leaving the palace, Signor Polani and his friends walked togetheracross the Piazza, discussing the turn of events.
"He will escape," Polani said. "He has two near relations on thecouncil, and however strong our suspicions may be, there is really noproof against him. I fear that he will go free. I feel as certain asever that he is the contriver of the attempt; but the precautions hehas taken seem to render it impossible to bring the crime home to him.However, it is no use talking about it any more, at present.
"You will, I hope, accompany me home, Signor Francisco, and allow me topresent you formally to my daughters. They were too much agitated, lastnight, to be able to thank you fully for the service you had renderedthem.
"Matteo, do you come with us."
Three days passed, and no decision of the council had been announced,when, early in the morning, one of the state messengers brought anorder that Francis should be in readiness, at nine o'clock, toaccompany him. At that hour a gondola drew up at the steps. It was acovered gondola, with hangings, which prevented any from seeing whowere within. Francis took his seat by the side of the official, and thegondola started at once.
"It looks very much as if I was being taken as a prisoner," Francissaid to himself. "However, that can hardly be, for even if Ruggieroconvinced the council that he was wholly innocent of this affair, noblame could fall on me, for I neither accused nor identified him.However, it is certainly towards the prisons we are going."
The boat, indeed, was passing the Piazzetta without stopping, andturned down the canal behind, to the prisons in rear of the palace.They stopped at the water gate, close to the Bridge of Sighs, andFrancis and his conductor entered. They proceeded along two or threepassages, until they came to a door where an official was standing. Aword was spoken, and they passed in.
The chamber they entered was bare and vaulted, and contained nofurniture whatever, but at one end was a low stone slab, upon whichsomething was lying covered with a cloak. Four of the members of thecouncil were standing in a group, talking, when Francis entered. SignorPolani, with two of his friends, stood apart at one side of thechamber. Ruggiero Mocenigo also, with two of his companions, stood onthe other side.
Francis thought that the demeanour of Ruggiero was somewhat alteredfrom that which he had assumed at the previous investigation, and thathe looked sullen and anxious.
"We have sent for you, Francisco Hammond, in order that you may, if youcan, identify a body which was found last night, floating in the GrandCanal."
One of the officials stepped forward and removed the cloak, showing onthe stone slab the body of a young man. On the left temple there was anextensive bruise, and the skin was broken.
"Do you recognize that body?"
"I do not recognize the face," Francis said, "and do not know that Iever saw it before."
"The wound upon the temple which you see, is it such as, you wouldsuppose, would be caused by the blow you struck an unknown person,while he was engaged in attacking the gondola of Signor Polani?"
"I cannot say whether it is such a wound as would be caused by a blowwith an oar," Francis said; "but it is certainly, as nearly aspossible, on the spot where I struck the man, just as he was leaping,sword in hand, into my gondola."
"You stated, at your examination the other day, that it was on the lefttemple you struck the blow."
"I did so. I said at once that Signor Ruggiero Mocenigo could not havebeen the man who led the assailants, because had he been so he wouldassuredly have borne a mark from the blow on the left temple."
"Look at the clothes. Do you see anything there which could lead you toidentify him with your assailant?"
"My assailant was dressed in dark clothes, as this one was. There wasbut one distinguishing mark that I noticed, and this is wanting here.The light of the torch fell upon the handle of a dagger in his girdle.I saw it but for a moment, but I caught the gleam of gems. It was onlya passing impression, but I could swear that he carried a small gold oryellow metal-handled dagger, and I believe that it was set with gems,but to this I should not like to swear."
"Produce the dagger found upon the dead man," one of the council saidto an official.
And the officer produced a small dagger with a fine steel blade andgold handle, thickly encrusted with gems.
"Is this the dagger?" the senator asked Francis.
"I cannot say that it is the dagger," Francis replied; "but it closelyresembles it, if it is not the same."
"You have no doubt, I suppose, seeing that wound on the temple, thedagger found in the girdle, and the fact that the body has evidentlyonly been a few days in the water, that this is the man whom you struckdown in the fray on the canal?"
"No, signor, I have no doubt whatever that it is the same person."
"That will do," the council said. "You can retire; and we thank you, inthe name of justice, for the evidence you have given."
Francis was led back to the gondola, and conveyed to his father'shouse. An hour later Signor Polani arrived.
"The matter is finished," he said, "I cannot say satisfactorily to me,for the punishment is wholly inadequate to the offence, but at any ratehe has not got off altogether unpunished. After you left, we passedfrom the prison into the palace, and then the whole council assembled,as before, in the council chamber. I may tell you that the body whichwas found was that of a cousin and intimate of Ruggiero Mocenigo. Thetwo have been constantly together since the return of the latter fromConstantinople. It was found, by inquiry at the house of the youngman's father, that he left home on the evening upon which the attackwas committed, saying that he was going to the mainland, and might notbe expected to return for some days.
"The council took it for granted, from the wound in his head, and thefact that a leech has testified that the body had probably been in thewater about three days, that he was the man that was stunned by yourblow, and drowned in the canal. Ruggiero urged that the discovery in noway affected him; and that his cousin had, no doubt, attempted to carryoff my daughter on his own account. There was eventually a divisionamong the council on this point, but Maria was sent for, and on beingquestioned, testified that the young man had never spoken to her, andthat, indeed, she did not know him even by sight; and the majoritythereupon came to the conclusion that he could only have been acting asan instrument of Ruggiero's.
"We were not in the apartment while the deliberation was going on, butwhen we returned the president announced that, although there was noabsolute proof of Ruggiero's complicity in the affair, yet that,considering his application for my daughter's hand, his threats on myrefusal to his request, his previous character, and his intimacy withhis cousin, the council had no doubt that the attempt had been made athis instigation, and therefore sentenced him to banishment from Veniceand the islands for three years."
"I should be better pleased if they had sent him back toConstantinople, or one of the islands of the Levant," Mr. Hammond said."If he is allowed to take up his abode on the mainland, he may be onlytwo or three miles away, which, in the case of a man of hisdescription, is much too near to be pleasant for thos
e who haveincurred his enmity."
"That is true," Signor Polani agreed, "and I myself, and my friends,are indignant that he should not have been banished to a distance,where he at least would have been powerless for fresh mischief. On theother hand, his friends will doubtless consider that he has been hardlytreated. However, as far as my daughters are concerned, I will takegood care that he shall have no opportunity of repeating his attempt;for I have ordered them, on no account whatever, to be absent from thepalazzo after the shades of evening begin to fall, unless I myself amwith them; and I shall increase the number of armed retainers in thehouse, by bringing some of my men on shore from a ship which arrivedlast night in port. I cannot believe that even Ruggiero would have theinsolence to attempt to carry them off from the house by force; butwhen one has to deal with a man like this, one cannot take too greatprecautions."
"I have already ordered my son, on no account, to be out afternightfall in the streets. In his gondola I do not mind, for unless thegondoliers wear badges, it is impossible to tell one boat from anotherafter dark. Besides, as he tells me, his boat is so fast that he has nofear whatever of being overtaken, even if recognized and chased. But Ishall not feel comfortable so long as he is here, and shall send himback to England on the very first occasion that offers."
"I trust that no such occasion may occur just yet, Signor Hammond. Ishould be sorry, indeed, for your son to be separated so soon from us.We must talk the matter over together, and perhaps between us we mayhit on some plan by which, while he may be out of the reach of theperil he has incurred on behalf of my family, he may yet be neitherwasting his time, nor altogether separated from us."
For the next fortnight Francis spent most of his time at the PalazzoPolani. The merchant was evidently sincere in his invitation to him tomake his house his home; and if a day passed without the lad paying avisit, would chide him gently for deserting them. He himself wasfrequently present in the balcony, where the four young people--forMatteo Giustiniani was generally of the party--sat and chattedtogether, the gouvernante sitting austerely by, with at times a strongexpression of disapproval on her countenance at their laughter andmerriment, although--as her charges' father approved of the intimacy ofthe girls with their young cousin and this English lad--she could offerno open objections. In the afternoon, the party generally went for along row in a four-oared gondola, always returning home upon theapproach of evening.
To Francis this time was delightful. He had had no sister of his own;and although he had made the acquaintance of a number of lads inVenice, and had accompanied his father to formal entertainments at thehouses of his friends, he had never before been intimate in any oftheir families. The gaiety and high spirits of the two girls, when theywere in the house, amused and pleased him, especially as it was incontrast to the somewhat stiff and dignified demeanour which theyassumed when passing through the frequented canals in the gondola.
"I do not like that woman Castaldi," Francis said one evening as, afterleaving the palazzo, Giuseppi rowed them towards the PalazzoGiustiniani, where Matteo was to be landed.
"Gouvernantes are not popular, as a class, with young men," Matteolaughed.
"But seriously, Matteo, I don't like her; and I am quite sure that, forsome reason or other, she does not like me. I have seen her watchingme, as a cat would watch a mouse she is going to spring on."
"Perhaps she has not forgiven you, Francisco, for saving her twocharges, and leaving her to the mercy of their assailants."
"I don't know, Matteo. Her conduct appeared to me, at the time, to bevery strange. Of course, she might have been paralysed with fright, butit was certainly curious the way she clung to their dresses, and triedto prevent them from leaving the boat."
"You don't really think, Francis, that she wanted them to be captured?"
"I don't know whether I should be justified in saying as much as that,Matteo, and I certainly should not say so to anyone else, but I can'thelp thinking that such was the case. I don't like her face, and Idon't like the woman. She strikes me as being deceitful. She certainlydid try to prevent my carrying the girls off and, had not their dressesgiven way in her hands, she would have done so. Anyhow, it strikes methat Ruggiero must have had some accomplice in the house. How elsecould he have known of the exact time at which they would be passingalong the Grand Canal? For, that the gondola was in waiting to dash outand surprise them, there is no doubt.
"I was asking Signora Giulia, the other day, how it was they were solate, for she says that her father never liked their being out afterdusk in Venice, though at Corfu he did not care how late they were uponthe water. She replied that she did not quite know how it happened. Hersister had said, some time before, that she thought it was time to begoing, but the gouvernante--who was generally very particular--had saidthat there was no occasion to hurry, as their father knew where theywere, and would not be uneasy. She thought the woman must have mistakenthe time, and did not know how late it was.
"Of course, this proves nothing. Still I own that, putting all thethings together, I have my suspicions."
"It is certainly curious, Francisco, though I can hardly believe itpossible that the woman could be treacherous. She has been for someyears in the service of the family, and my cousin has every confidencein her."
"That may be, Matteo; but Ruggiero may have promised so highly that hemay have persuaded her to aid him. He could have afforded to begenerous, if he had been successful."
"There is another thing, by the bye, Francisco, which did not strike meat the time; but now you speak of it, may be another link in the chain.I was laughing at Maria about their screaming, and saying what a noisethe three of them must have made, and she said, 'Oh, no! there wereonly two of us--Giulia and I screamed for aid at the top of our voices;but the signora was as quiet and brave as possible, and did not utter asound.'"
"That doesn't agree, Matteo, with her being so frightened as to holdthe girls tightly, and almost prevent their escape, or with the row shemade, sobbing and crying, when she came back. Of course there is notenough to go upon; and I could hardly venture to speak of it to SignorPolani, or to accuse a woman, in whom he has perfect confidence, ofsuch frightful treachery on such vague grounds of suspicion. Still I dosuspect her; and I hope, when I go away from Venice, you will, as faras you can, keep an eye upon her."
"I do not know how to do that," Matteo said, laughing; "but I will tellmy cousins that we don't like her, and advise them, in future, not onany account to stay out after dusk, even if she gives them permissionto do so; and if I learn anything more to justify our suspicions, Iwill tell my cousin what you and I think, though it won't be a pleasantthing to do. However, Ruggiero is gone now, and I hope we sha'n't hearanything more about him."
"I hope not, Matteo; but I am sure he is not the man to give up theplan he has once formed easily, any more than he is to forgive aninjury.
"However, here we are at your steps. We will talk the other matter overanother time. Anyhow, I am glad I have told you what I thought, for ithas been worrying me. Now that I find you don't think my ideas abouther are altogether absurd, I will keep my eyes more open than ever infuture. I am convinced she is a bad one, and I only hope we may be ableto prove it."
"You have made me very uncomfortable, Francisco," Matteo said as hestepped ashore; "but we will talk about it again tomorrow."
"We shall meet at your cousin's in the evening. Before that time, wehad better both think over whether we ought to tell anyone oursuspicions, and we can hold a council in the gondola on the way back."
Francis did think the matter over that night. He felt that the facttold him by Giulia, that the gouvernante had herself been the means oftheir staying out later than usual on the evening of the attack, addedgreat weight to the vague suspicions he had previously entertained; andhe determined to let the matter rest no longer, but that the next dayhe would speak to Signor Polani, even at the risk of offending him byhis suspicions of a person who had been, for some years, in hisconfidence. Accordingly, he wen
t in the morning to the palazzo, butfound that Signor Polani was absent, and would not be in until two orthree o'clock in the afternoon. He did not see the girls, who, he knew,were going out to spend the day with some friends.
At three o'clock he returned, and found that Polani had just come in.
"Why, Francisco," the merchant said when he entered, "have youforgotten that my daughters will be out all day?"
"No, signor, I have not forgotten that, but I wish to speak to you. Idare say you will laugh at me, but I hope you will not think memeddlesome, or impertinent, for touching upon a subject which concernsyou nearly."
"I am sure you will not be meddlesome or impertinent, Francisco,"Signor Polani said reassuringly, for he saw that the lad was nervousand anxious. "Tell me what you have to say, and I can promise youbeforehand that, whether I agree with you or not in what you may haveto say, I shall be in no way vexed, for I shall know you have said itwith the best intentions."
"What I have to say, sir, concerns the Signora Castaldi, yourdaughters' gouvernante. I know, sir, that you repose implicitconfidence in her; and your judgment, formed after years of intimateknowledge, is hardly likely to be shaken by what I have to tell you. Ispoke to Matteo about it, and, as he is somewhat of my opinion, I havedecided that it is, at least, my duty to tell you all thecircumstances, and you can then form your own conclusions."
Francis then related the facts known to him. First, that the assailantsof the gondola must have had accurate information as to the hour atwhich they would come along; secondly, that it was at the gouvernante'ssuggestion that the return had been delayed much later than usual;lastly, that when the attack took place, the gouvernante did not raiseher voice to cry for assistance, and that she had, at the last moment,so firmly seized their dresses, that it was only by tearing the girlsfrom her grasp that he had been enabled to get them into the boat.
"There may be nothing in all this," he said when he had concluded. "Butat least, sir, I thought that it was right you should know it; and youwill believe me, that it is only anxiety as to the safety of yourdaughters that has led me to speak to you."
"Of that I am quite sure," Signor Polani said cordially, "and you wereperfectly right in speaking to me. I own, however, that I do not for amoment think that the circumstances are more than mere coincidences.Signora Castaldi has been with me for upwards of ten years. She hasinstructed and trained my daughters entirely to my satisfaction. I donot say that she is everything that one could wish, but, then, no oneis perfect, and I have every confidence in her fidelity andtrustworthiness. I own that the chain you have put together is a strongone, and had she but lately entered my service, and were she a personof whom I knew but little, I should attach great weight to the facts,although taken in themselves they do not amount to much. Doubtless shesaw that my daughters were enjoying themselves in the society of myfriends, and in her kindness of heart erred, as she certainly did err,in allowing them to stay longer than she should have done.
"Then, as to her not crying out when attacked, women behave differentlyin cases of danger. Some scream loudly, others are silent, as ifparalysed by fear. This would seem to have been her case. Doubtless sheinstinctively grasped the girls for their protection, and in her frightdid not even perceive that a boat had come alongside, or know that youwere a friend trying to save them. That someone informed theirassailants of the whereabouts of my daughters, and the time they werecoming home, is clear; but they might have been seen going to thehouse, and a swift gondola have been placed on the watch. Had this boatstarted as soon as they took their seat in the gondola on their return,and hastened, by the narrow canals, to the spot where their accompliceswere waiting, they could have warned them in ample time of the approachof the gondola with my daughters.
"I have, as you may believe, thought the matter deeply over, for it wasevident to me that the news of my daughters' coming must have reachedtheir assailants beforehand. I was most unwilling to suspect treacheryon the part of any of my household, and came to the conclusion that thewarning was given in the way I have suggested.
"At the same time, Francisco, I thank you deeply for having mentionedto me the suspicions you have formed, and although I think that you arewholly mistaken, I certainly shall not neglect the warning, but shallwatch very closely the conduct of my daughters' gouvernante, and shalltake every precaution to put it out of her power to play me false, evenwhile I cannot, for a moment, believe she would be so base andtreacherous as to attempt to do so."
"In that case, signor, I shall feel that my mission has not beenunsuccessful, however mistaken I may be, and I trust sincerely that Iam wholly wrong. I thank you much for the kind way in which you haveheard me express suspicions of a person in your confidence."
The gravity with which the merchant had heard Francis' story vanishedimmediately he left the room, and a smile came over his face.
"Boys are boys all the world over," he said to himself, "and though myyoung friend has almost the stature of a man, as well as the quicknessand courage of one, and has plenty of sense in other matters, he has atonce the prejudices and the romantic ideas of a boy. Had SignoraCastaldi been young and pretty, no idea that she was treacherous wouldhave ever entered his mind; but what young fellow yet ever liked agouvernante, who sits by and works at her tambour frame, with adisapproving expression on her face, while he is laughing and talkingwith a girl of his own age. I should have felt the same when I was aboy. Still, to picture the poor signora as a traitoress, in the pay ofthat villain Mocenigo, is too absurd. I had the greatest difficulty inkeeping my gravity when he was unfolding his story. But he is anexcellent lad, nevertheless. A true, honest, brave lad, with a littleof the bluffness that they say all his nation possess, but with a heartof gold, unless I am greatly mistaken."
At seven o'clock, Francis was just getting into his gondola to go roundagain to Signor Polani's, when another gondola came along the canal atthe top of its speed, and he recognized at once the badge of theGiustiniani. It stopped suddenly as it came abreast of his own boat,and Matteo, in a state of the highest excitement, jumped from his ownboat into that of Francis.
"What is the matter, Matteo? What has happened?"
"I have terrible news, Francisco. My cousins have both disappeared."
"Disappeared!" Francis repeated in astonishment "How have theydisappeared?"
"Their father has just been round to see mine. He is half mad withgrief and anger. You know they had gone to spend the day at thePersanis?"
"Yes, yes," Francis exclaimed; "but do go on, Matteo. Tell me all aboutit, quickly."
"Well, it seems that Polani, for some reason or other, thought he wouldgo and fetch them himself, and at five o'clock he arrived there in hisgondola, only to find that they had left two hours before. You wereright, Francisco, it was that beldam Castaldi. She went with them therein the morning, and left them there, and was to have come in thegondola for them at six. At three o'clock she arrived, saying thattheir father had met with a serious accident, having fallen down thesteps of one of the bridges and broken his leg, and that he had senther to fetch them at once.
"Of course, they left with her instantly. Polani questioned thelackeys, who had aided them to embark. They said that the gondola wasnot one of his boats, but was apparently a hired gondola, with a closedcabin. The girls had stopped in surprise as they came down the steps,and Maria said, 'Why, this is not our gondola!'
"Castaldi replied, 'No, no; our own gondolas had both gone off to findand bring a leech, and as your father was urgently wanting you, Ihailed the first passing boat. Make haste, dears, your father islonging for you.'
"So they got on board at once, and the gondola rowed swiftly away. Thatis all I know about it, except that the story was a lie, that theirfather never sent for them, and that up to a quarter of an hour agothey had not reached home."