I had feared thou
might'st feel shame at being the husband of a jailor's daughter; nay, I
will not hide the secret longer, since thou speakest so calmly, I have
wept that it should be so."
"Then thou hast neither understood the world nor me. Were thy father of
the Senate, or of the Council of Three, could the grievous fact be
known, thou would'st have cause to sorrow. But, Gelsomina, the canals
are getting dusky, and I must leave thee."
The reluctant girl saw the truth of what he said, and applying a key,
she opened the door of the covered bridge. A few turnings and a short
descent brought the Bravo and his companion to the level of the quays.
Here the former took a hurried leave and quitted the prison.
CHAPTER XX.
"But they who blunder thus are raw beginners."
DON JUAN.
The hour had come for the revels of the Piazza, and for the movement of
the gondolas. Maskers glided along the porticoes as usual; the song and
cry were heard anew, and Venice was again absorbed in delusive gaiety.
When Jacopo issued from the prison on the quay, he mingled with the
stream of human beings that was setting towards the squares, protected
from observation by the privileged mask. While crossing the lower bridge
of the canal of St. Mark, he lingered an instant, to throw a look at the
glazed gallery he had just quitted, and then moved forward with the
crowd--the image of the artless and confiding Gelsomina uppermost in his
thoughts.
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