Gino, who occupied the stern and managed the directing oar,
opened a small window in the canopy which communicated with the
interior, and bent to take his master's directions as the boat sprang
ahead. Rising from his stooping posture, the practised gondolier gave a
sweep with his blade, which caused the sluggish element of the narrow
canal to whirl in eddies, and then the gondola glided into the great
canal, as if it obeyed an instinct.
CHAPTER XVII.
"Why liest thou so on the green earth?
'Tis not the hour of slumber:--why so pale?"
CAIN.
Notwithstanding his apparent decision, the Duke of Sant' Agata was
completely at a loss in what manner to direct his future movements. That
he had been duped by one or more of the agents to whom he had been
compelled to confide his necessary preparations for the flight he had
meditated several days, was too certain to admit of his deceiving
himself with the hopes that some unaccountable mistake was the cause of
his loss. He saw at once that the Senate was master of the person of his
bride, and he too well knew its power and its utter disregard of human
obligations when any paramount interest of the state was to be
consulted, to doubt for an instant its willingness to use its advantage
in any manner that was most likely to contribute to its own views. By
the premature death of her uncle, Donna Violetta had become the heiress
of vast estates in the dominions of the church, and a compliance with
that jealous and arbitrary law of Venice, which commanded all of its
nobles to dispose of any foreign possessions they might acquire, was
only suspended on account of her sex, and, as has already been seen,
with the hope of disposing of her hand in a manner that would prove more
profitable to the Republic.
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