Hast thou tidings from my
bride?"
"Follow, Don Camillo, and you shall quickly meet her."
Words were unnecessary to persuade, when there was such a promise. They
were both in the gondola of Jacopo, and on their way to one of the
passages through the Lido which conducts to the gulf, before the Bravo
commenced his explanation. This, however, was quickly made, not
forgetting the design of Giacomo Gradenigo on the life of his auditor.
The felucca, which had been previously provided with the necessary pass
by the agents of the police itself, had quitted the port under easy sail
by the very inlet through which the gondola made its way into the
Adriatic. The water was smooth, the breeze fresh from the land, and in
short all things were favorable to the fugitives. Donna Violetta and her
governess were leaning against a mast, watching with impatient eyes the
distant domes and the midnight beauty of Venice. Occasionally strains of
music came to their ears from the canals, and then a touch of natural
melancholy crossed the feelings of the former as she feared they might
be the last sounds of that nature she should ever hear from her native
town. But unalloyed pleasure drove every regret from her mind when Don
Camillo leaped from the gondola and folded her in triumph to his heart.
There was little difficulty in persuading Stefano Milano to abandon for
ever the service of the Senate for that of his feudal lord.
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