t the fugitive was already
on his way to Milan, or Florence, where the possession of the secrets
would insure him a large fortune, very greatly to the injury of
Beroviero and all the glass-workers of Murano. The two men returned to
the house in silence, for the elder was too much absorbed by his own
thoughts to speak, and Giovanni was too wise to interrupt reflections
which undoubtedly tended to Zorzi's destruction.

Marietta was awaiting her father's return with much anxiety, for every
one knew that the master had gone first to the laboratory and then to
the Governor's palace, with Giovanni, so that the two must have been
talking together a long time. Marietta waited with her sister-in-law in
the lower hall, slowly walking up and down.

When her father came up the low steps at last, she went forward to meet
him, and a glance told her that he was in the most extreme anxiety. She
took his hand and kissed it, in the customary manner, and he bent a
little and touched her forehead with his lips. Then, to her surprise, he
put one hand under her chin, and laid the other on the top of her head,
and with gentle force made her look at him. Giovanni's wife was there,
and most of the servants were standing near the foot of the staircase to
welcome their master.

Beroviero said nothing as he gazed into his daughter's eyes. They met
his own fearlessly enough, and she opened them wide, as she rarely did,
as if to show that she had nothing to conceal; but while he looked at
her the blood rose blushing in her cheeks, telling that there was
something to hide after all, and as she would not turn her eyes from
his, they sparkled a little with vexation. Beroviero did not speak, but
he let her go and went on towards the stairs, bending his head
graciously to the other persons who were assembled to greet him.

He was a man of strong character and of much natural dignity, far too
proud to break down under a great loss or a bitter disappointment, and
at dinner he sat at the head of the table and spoke affably of the
journey he had made, explaining his unexpectedly early return by the
fact that the Lord of Rimini had at once approved his designs and
accepted his terms. Occasionally Giovanni asked a respectful question,
but neither his wife nor Marietta said much during the meal. Zorzi was
not mentioned.

"You are welcome at my house, my son," Beroviero said, when they had
finished, "but I suppose that you will go back to your own this
eve