Holy St. Mark! can deceit like
this be practised under the sanction of thy blessed name!"
"Father, it is, and more. I had other duties connected with the
interests of the Republic, and of course I was practised in their
discharge. The citizens marvelled that one like me should go at large,
while the vindictive and revengeful took the circumstance as a proof of
address. When rumor grew too strong for appearances, the Three took
measures to direct it to other things; and when it grew too faint for
their wishes it was fanned. In short, for three long and bitter years
did I pass the life of the damned--sustained only by the hope of
liberating my father, and cheered by the love of this innocent!"
"Poor Jacopo, thou art to be pitied! I will remember thee in my
prayers."
"And thou, Gelsomina?"
The keeper's daughter did not answer. Her ears had drunk in each
syllable that fell from his lips, and now that the whole truth began to
dawn on her mind, there was a bright radiance in her eye that appeared
almost supernatural to those who witnessed it.
"If I have failed in convincing thee, Gelsomina," continued Jacopo,
"that I am not the wretch I seemed, would that I had been dumb!"
She stretched a hand towards him, and dropping her head on his bosom,
wept.
"I see all thy temptations, poor Carlo," she said, softly; "I know how
strong was thy love for thy father."
"Dost thou forgive me, dearest Gelsomina, for the deception on thy
innocence?"
"There was no deception; I believed thee a son ready to die for his
father, and I find thee what I thought thee.
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