counter; but at length, as if controlled by some secret and
irresistible fascination, his eyes again met those of the young
artist. The effect of this collision was mysterious and startling. The
brilliant orbs of Colonna gradually assumed a stern and indignant
expression, and darted their searching beams upon the governor, as if
to pierce the inmost recesses of his soul. The dull grey eyes of the
again agitated Barozzo quailed and fell under this intolerable
scrutiny; his sallow visage was suffused with a ghastly yellow; again
he glanced in terror at the artist, and then half rose from his chair
in undisguised consternation. Controlling, however, with sudden effort
his agitation, he resumed his seat, and, with averted looks and
seeming indifference, inquired if Colonna had resided long in Venice.
The painter filled his brush, and answered carelessly, that he had
lived there a few months.

"Your accent is Tuscan," continued Barozzo. "Are you a native of
Florence?"

"I am," replied the painter, seemingly intent upon his employment.

"Do your parents reside there?" resumed the other, with rising
emphasis.

"Parents!" exclaimed Colonna, with a keen glance at the inquisitive
governor; "I have none! They are dead!"

"Who and what was your father?" demanded Barozzo imperiously.

This inquiry and its peremptory tone exhausted the patience of
Colonna. Dashing the paint out of his brush, he fixed a look of
startling fierceness on Barozzo, and answered, with marked and bitter
emphasis,--"He was a sword-cutler, and made excellent blades."

At this critical moment Laura entered the room with her mother to
observe the progress of Barozzo's portrait. Casting a hasty glance at
the imperfect sketch, she remarked that it did not at all realise her
expectations. The painter replied, that he should have succeeded
better if he had enjoyed the honour of a longer acquaintance with the
governor. "It is immaterial," exclaimed Barozzo, who had fully
regained his self-possession. "We shall ere long become better known
to each other, and you may finish my portrait at Venice in the course
of the ensuing winter."

"As your excellency pleases," replied Colonna, and removed the canvass
from the easel. The ladies now quitted the saloon with the governor;
and, soon as the door was closed, the artist defaced the ill-fated
portrait with a blow of his fist, packed up his drawing materials for
removal, and accompanied me home.

Conceiving that t