he emotion she had betrayed, she suddenly passed on
to a song so gay and airy, that the steps of the dance seemed almost
to echo to the notes. BRAVISSIMO! burst instantly from the lips of her
delighted auditors, and she was compelled to repeat the air. Among
the compliments that followed, those of the Count were not the least
audible, and they had not concluded, when Emily gave the instrument to
Signora Livona, whose voice accompanied it with true Italian taste.

Afterwards, the Count, Emily, Cavigni, and the Signora, sung
canzonettes, accompanied by a couple of lutes and a few other
instruments. Sometimes the instruments suddenly ceased, and the voices
dropped from the full swell of harmony into a low chant; then, after a
deep pause, they rose by degrees, the instruments one by one striking
up, till the loud and full chorus soared again to heaven!

Meanwhile, Montoni, who was weary of this harmony, was considering how
he might disengage himself from his party, or withdraw with such of it
as would be willing to play, to a Casino. In a pause of the music, he
proposed returning to shore, a proposal which Orsino eagerly seconded,
but which the Count and the other gentlemen as warmly opposed.

Montoni still meditated how he might excuse himself from longer
attendance upon the Count, for to him only he thought excuse necessary,
and how he might get to land, till the gondolieri of an empty boat,
returning to Venice, hailed his people. Without troubling himself longer
about an excuse, he seized this opportunity of going thither, and,
committing the ladies to the care of his friends, departed with Orsino,
while Emily, for the first time, saw him go with regret; for she
considered his presence a protection, though she knew not what she
should fear. He landed at St. Mark's, and, hurrying to a Casino, was
soon lost amidst a crowd of gamesters.

Meanwhile, the Count having secretly dispatched a servant in Montoni's
boat, for his own gondola and musicians, Emily heard, without knowing
his project, the gay song of gondolieri approaching, as they sat on the
stern of the boat, and saw the tremulous gleam of the moon-light
wave, which their oars disturbed. Presently she heard the sound of
instruments, and then a full symphony swelled on the air, and, the boats
meeting, the gondolieri hailed each other. The count then explaining
himself, the party removed into his gondola, which was embellished with
all that taste could bestow.

Whi