"
"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.
Hosea looked earnestly at his companion; and reading in his eye and
countenance that the clue was agreeable, he answered promptly,--
"As that I live under the law of Moses! The bauble had been long on hand
without an offer, and I abandoned it to the uses of my money."
"The sequins are thine, excellent Jew! This clears the mystery of every
doubt. Go; thou shalt have thy reward; and if thou hast any particulars
in thy secret register, let me be quickly possessed of them. Go to, good
Hosea, and be punctual as of wont. I tire of these constant exercises
of the spirit."
The Hebrew, exulting in his success, now took his leave, with a manner
in which habitual cupidity and subdued policy completely mastered every
other feeling. He disappeared by the passage through which he had
entered.
It seemed, by the manner of the Signor Gradenigo, that the receptions
for that evening had now ended. He carefully examined the locks of
several secret drawers in his cabinet, extinguished the lights, closed
and secured the doors, and quitted the place.
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