That will set
every gondolier on the canals on the alert, and some of them must
surely have noticed a closed gondola rowed by two men, for at this time
of year very few gondolas have their covers on. It seems to be terrible
not to be able to do anything, so I came straight off to tell you."

"You had better send your gondola home, Matteo. It may be wanted. We
will paddle out to the lagoon and talk it over. Surely there must be
something to be done, if we could but think of it.

"This is terrible, indeed, Matteo," he repeated, after they had sat
without speaking for some minutes. "One feels quite helpless and
bewildered. To think that only yesterday evening we were laughing and
chatting with them, and that now they are lost, and in the power of
that villain Mocenigo, who you may be sure is at the bottom of it.

"By the way," he said suddenly, "do you know where he has taken up his
abode?"

"I heard that he was at Botonda, near Chioggia, a week ago, but whether
he is there still I have not the least idea."

"It seems to me that the thing to do is to find him, and keep him in
sight. He will probably have them hidden away somewhere, and will not
go near them for some time, for he will know that he will be suspected,
and perhaps watched."

"But why should he not force Maria to marry him at once?" Matteo said.
"You see, when he has once made her his wife he will be safe, for my
cousin would be driven then to make terms with him for her sake."

"He may try that," Francis said; "but he must know that Maria has
plenty of spirit, and may refuse to marry him, threaten her as he will.
He may think that, after she has been kept confined for some time, and
finds that there is no hope of escape, except by consenting to be his
wife, she may give way. But in any case, it seems to me that the thing
to be done is to find Ruggiero, and to watch his movements."

"I have no doubt my cousin has already taken steps in that direction,"
Matteo said, "and I feel sure that, in this case, he will receive the
support of every influential man in Venice, outside the Mocenigo family
and their connections. The carrying off of ladies, in broad daylight,
will be regarded as a personal injury in every family. The last attempt
was different. I do not say it was not bad enough, but it is not like
decoying girls from home by a false message. No one could feel safe, if
such a deed as this were not severely punished."

"Let us go back again, Matteo. I