osed:

"The State hath little use for the lady's life--save in her keeping. And
she herself, perchance, hath less. For so hath her strange whim wrought
upon her that she knoweth naught of that which passeth around her, and
one face to her is like another."

The young Senator turned from the cruel speaker to the Doge in mute
appealing agony. The old man grasped his hand in a steadying clasp.

"Let us go to her," said Leonardo, very low, when he could command his
voice. "She is like a lovely child--resisting nothing. It is some
shock--it will pass."

* * * * *

And now there came a day when the proud heart of Venice was stirred to
its core, for a messenger dashed breathless into the Council Chamber--an
excited, protesting throng of the populace surging in through the open
door behind him. "Fra Paolo! Il caro Padre! Morto!"

"_Dead_!" They started to their feet with ready imprecations. Fra Paolo,
who had left them an hour before, with the Signor Malipiero and his
devoted secretary! They exchanged glances of terrible comprehension--the
triumph of Venice was avenged upon the faithful servant of the State!

The Consiglio broke up in confusion.

"Eccellentissimi," the messenger explained to the horror-stricken
questioners, "they were five,--rushing out from the dark of the convent
wall against him when he came alone down the steps of the Ponte della
Pugna,--the villains held the others down. And Fra Paolo lay dead on the
Fondamenta--stabbed in many places, as if one would cut him in bits--and
the stiletto still in his forehead! And they sent me----"

"'Alone'? you ask me, Illustrissimi?--Santissima Vergine! the whole city
pouring in to the cries of those that found him; and the murderers off
before one could touch them, and never a guard near! They carried him
into the Servi.--And the people--furious--are storming the palazzo of
the nuncio as I pass; and some one cries that the envoy is off to the
Lido, with his fine friends, who start for Rome. A thousand devils!--May
the good San Nicolo send them to feed the fishes!"

The Senate, to testify its honor, grief, and sympathy for the beloved
Counsellor, had instantly adjourned, and its members repaired in great
numbers to the convent to make personal inquiries, returning to a new
session prolonged through the night; for Fra Paolo, who had fainted from
loss of blood on his pallet in the Servite cell, had recovered
consciousness and hovered