In solitude and anxiety, with barred windows and bolted doors, did

the banditti pass the day immediately succeeding Matteo's murder;

every murmur in the street appeared to them a cause of apprehension;

every footstep which approached their doors made them tremble till

it had passed them.

In the meanwhile the ducal palace blazed with splendour and

resounded with mirth. The Doge celebrated the birthday of his fair

niece, Rosabella; and the feast was honoured by the presence of the

chief persons of the city, of the foreign ambassadors, and of many

illustrious strangers who were at that time resident in Venice.

On this occasion no expense had been spared, no source of pleasure

had been neglected. The arts contended with each other for

superiority; the best poets in Venice celebrated this day with

powers excelling anything which they had before exhibited, for the

subject of their verses was Rosabella; the musicians and virtuosi

surpassed all their former triumphs, for their object was to obtain

the suffrage of Rosabella. The singular union of all kinds of

pleasure intoxicated the imagination of every guest; and the genius

of delight extended his influence over the whole assembly, over the

old man and the youth, over the matron and the virgin.

The venerable Andreas had seldom been in such high spirits as on

this occasion. He was all life; smiles of satisfaction played round

his lips; gracious and condescending to every one, he made it his

chief care to prevent his rank from being felt. Sometimes he

trifled with the ladies, whose beauty formed the greatest ornament

of this entertainment; sometimes he mingled among the masks, whose

fantastic appearance and gaiety of conversation enlivened the ball-

room by their variety; at other times he played chess with the

generals and admirals of the Republic; and frequently he forsook

everything to gaze with delight on Rosabella's dancing, or listen in

silent rapture to Rosabella's music.

Lomellino, Conari, and Paolo Manfrone, the Doge's three confidential

friends and counsellors, in defiance of their grey hairs, mingled in

the throng of youthful beauties, flirted first with one and then

with another, and the arrows of raillery were darted and received on

both sides with spirit and good humour.

"Now, Lomellino," said Andreas to his friend, who entered the saloon

in which the Doge was at that time accidentally alone with his

niece, "you seem in gayer spirits this evening than when we were

lying before Scardona, and had so hard a game to play against the

Turks."

Lomellino.--I shall not take upon me to deny that, signor. I still

think with a mixture of terror and satisfaction on the night when we

took Scardona, and carried the half-moon before the city walls. By

my soul, our Venetians fought like lions.




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