tween them made her love and admire him the more.
In the midst of her pain she was proud that he also had conscience on
his side, however misguided it seemed to her. Why did the good Madonna
permit these differences? How was it possible for Marco, with his quick,
intellectual grasp, not to comprehend the truth--not to see the terrors
that Venice had brought upon herself! He was suffering also, but only
because she suffered; never would he understand her agony; the rudest,
crudest weight of the cross she must lift alone, weary and spent with
the bitter struggle.

She summoned all her strength to answer him as though the words were
easily spoken. "Since it is not Fra Francesco, whom we love," she said,
"I know no other; choose thou, my Marco."

His face flushed with pleasure that her resistance seemed conquered.
"And when we have found our confessor, shall we go together--thou and
the little one and I," he asked brightly, "to the Island of Sant' Elena,
which thou lovest, and we ourselves bring flowers to deck our chapel?
For it hath been long since Mass was said therein."

"Yes, Marco mio," she answered to the love in his voice, struggling to
repress every accent of dissent; for in her heart she told herself that
the chapel of the palazzo Giustiniani was his, not hers, since their
faith was divided; "and for me only, not for him, to worship there is
sin. And the beautiful day together, alone on the island with the
flowers--it is the gift of the Holy Mother to help me endure!"

And her husband, as he left her, carried with him a smile that satisfied
him.

But, turning in the doorway for another glance--so sweet it was to have
her all his own again--a pang shot through him, for the glory was gone
from her face--or was it the shadow that made it so wan and gray?--and
no smile hid the questioning anguish of her eyes. Nay, he himself was
fanciful, for it was too far to see, and he could not shake off the
sadness of the days that were past. But he must teach himself to forget
them. For Marina had smiled at him, radiantly, as in the sweet, old
days; and together they would deck the chapel for a benediction!

XXVI

Fra Paolo was fast becoming a centre of romance, so many were the
attempts from suspicious quarters to manage private interviews which the
Senate had thought necessary to frustrate; and the fact that he was
known to have declined the escort of guards which the Senate urged upon
him as means of safety endowe