gs for her holy work!"

"Thou hast an understanding quicker than I had believed," he answered,
with irritation; "and listen further, Marina--'since a Giustinian should
know the reason for the matters which concern the government,' that was
thy word, if I remember--the half of the territory of Venice hath
already passed into the hands of the clergy. Is that not ground enough
to hold their establishments, that thou wouldst grant them more? And for
the value of these possessions--for nowhere is a government more
generous to the ecclesiastics than the Republic hath been--it hath been
rated that a fourth part of the entire realty of the dominion--nay, some
count it a third part--is already the property of the Church. Shall we
nobles of Venice turn paupers and humbly beg of the clergy a pittance
for our children?"

He laughed and kissed her hand as he rose. "Since thou hast asked it,"
he said lightly, "I have given thee the law--and there is an end of it.
But let it not fret thee; Venice will know how to care for her own."

But Marina had suddenly grown very pale. "Marco," she gasped, detaining
him, "will it be a war?--a war between Venice and--and----"

She broke off; she could not speak the word which seemed a sacrilege.

"Think of our child!" she whispered, as he gathered her in his arms, and
tried to soothe her. "Marco, are we not a Christian nation? And our
Patriarch--does he know about the displeasure of the Holy Father? What
will become of us?"

"There will be no war," Marcantonio declared, with assurance. "Thou
see'st, carina, these matters are not for women to discuss; they cannot
understand; they are questions for the government alone; and well it is
for us that the clergy are out of it, or we might have the spectacle of
a Senate drowned in tears! There will be no war," he declared again,
mistaking the self-control for which she had bravely struggled as an
outcome of his attempts at consolation. "And now, since thou art thy
sweet self again, hath the boy not made the day richer for thee with
some tale of wonder thou wouldst unfold?"

XVI

There was no longer any doubt as to the intention of his Holiness toward
the rebellious spirit of the Most Serene Republic; the Ambassade
Extraordinary which had been appointed to convey to the Holy See the
dutiful congratulations of her devoted Venetian sons, on the accession
of Paul V, had few amenities to report in those lengthy dispatches to
which the Senate listen