But as was usual at that hour of the day the city
appeared tranquil, for though a slight alarm had passed through the
canals at the movement of the rioters, it had subsided in that specious
and distrustful quiet, which is more or less the unavoidable consequence
of a system that is not substantially based on the willing support of
the mass.
Jacopo was again in the attic of the Doge's palace, accompanied by the
gentle Gelsomina. As they threaded the windings of the building, he
recounted to the eager ear of his companion all the details connected
with the escape of the lovers; omitting, as a matter of prudence, the
attempt of Giacomo Gradenigo on the life of Don Camillo. The unpractised
and single-hearted girl heard him in breathless attention, the color of
her cheek and the changeful eye betraying the force of her sympathies at
each turn in their hazardous adventure.
"And dost thou think they can yet escape from those up above?" murmured
Gelsomina, for few in Venice would trust their voices, by putting such a
question aloud. "Thou knowest the Republic hath at all times its galleys
in the Adriatic!"
"We have had thought of that, and the Calabrian is advised to steer for
the mole of Ancona. Once within the States of the Church the influence
of Don Camillo and the rights of his noble wife will protect them. Is
there a place here whence we can look out upon the sea?"
Gelsomina led the Bravo into an empty room of the attic which commanded
a view of the port, the Lido, and the waste of water beyond.
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