Should the reader be of opinion that strict justice was not meted out to
the offenders, he should remember, that the Hebrew ought to be glad to
have escaped as he did.
"We must not conceal this judgment, nor its motive," observed the
Inquisitor of the Ten, when the affair was concluded. "The state is
never a loser for letting its justice be known."
"Nor for its exercise, I should hope," returned the Signor Soranzo. "As
our affairs are ended for the night, is it your pleasures, Signori, that
we return to our palaces?"
"Nay, we have this matter of Jacopo."
"Him may we now, surely, turn over to the ordinary tribunals!"
"As you may decide, Signori; is this your pleasure?"
Both the others bowed assent, and the usual preparations were made for
departure.
Ere the two seniors of the Council left the palace, however, they held a
long and secret conference together. The result was a private order to
the criminal judge, and then they returned, each to his own abode, like
men who had the approbation of their own consciences.
On the other hand, the Signor Soranzo hastened to his own luxurious and
happy dwelling. For the first time in his life he entered it with a
distrust of himself. Without being conscious of the reason, he felt sad,
for he had taken the first step in that tortuous and corrupting path,
which eventually leads to the destruction of all those generous and
noble sentiments, which can only flourish apart from the sophistry and
fictions of selfishness.
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