Mark of his
revenue. She has received a largess from the Neapolitan, of wines grown
on his Calabrian mountains, and wishing to tamper with my honesty, she
offered the liquor to me, expecting one like me to forget my duty, and
to aid her in deceiving the Republic."
"Can this be true, Annina!"
"Why should I deceive thee! Are we not sisters' children, and though
affairs on the Lido keep me much from thy company, is not the love
between us natural! I complained to the authorities, and the liquors
were seized, and the pretended noble ladies were obliged to hide
themselves this very day. 'Tis thought they wish to flee the city with
their profligate Neapolitan. Driven to take shelter, they have sent thee
to acquaint him with their hiding-place, in order that he may come to
their aid."
"And why art thou here, Annina?"
"I marvel that thou didst not put the question sooner. Gino, the
gondolier of Don Camillo, has long been an unfavored suitor of mine, and
when this Florinda complained of my having, what every honest girl in
Venice should do, exposed her fraud to the authorities, she advised his
master to seize me, partly in revenge, and partly with the vain hope of
making me retract the complaint I have made. Thou hast heard of the
bold violence of these cavaliers when thwarted in their wills."
Annina then related the manner of her seizure, with sufficient
exactitude, merely concealing those facts that it was not her interest
to reveal.
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