ratulate him. This little boulevard is not much to speak of. The
hills are lovely. Friend,' she dropped her voice on the gondola's
approach, 'we have conversed on common subjects.'

Nevil had her hand in his, to place her in the gondola.

She seemed thankful that he should prefer to go round on foot. At least,
she did not join in her father's invitation to him. She leaned back,
nestling her chin and half closing her eyes, suffering herself to be
divided from him, borne away by forces she acquiesced in.

Roland was not visible till near midnight on the Piazza. The promenaders,
chiefly military of the garrison, were few at that period of social
protestation, and he could declare his disappointment aloud, ringingly,
as he strolled up to Nevil, looking as if the cigar in his mouth and the
fists entrenched in his wide trowsers-pockets were mortally at feud. His
adventure had not pursued its course luminously. He had expected romance,
and had met merchandize, and his vanity was offended. To pacify him,
Nevil related how he had heard that since the Venetian rising of '49,
Venetian ladies had issued from the ordeal of fire and famine of another
pattern than the famous old Benzon one, in which they touched earthiest
earth. He praised Republicanism for that. The spirit of the new and
short-lived Republic wrought that change in Venice.

'Oh, if they're republican as well as utterly decayed,' said Roland, 'I
give them up; let them die virtuous.'

Nevil told Roland that he had spoken to Renee. He won sympathy, but
Roland could not give him encouragement. They crossed and recrossed the
shadow of the great campanile, on the warm-white stones of the square,
Nevil admitting the weight of whatsoever Roland pointed to him in favour
of the arrangement according to French notions, and indeed, of
aristocratic notions everywhere, saving that it was imperative for Renee
to be disposed of in marriage early. Why rob her of her young springtime!

'French girls,' replied Roland, confused by the nature of the explication
in his head--'well, they're not English; they want a hand to shape them,
otherwise they grow all awry. My father will not have one of her aunts to
live with him, so there she is. But, my dear Nevil, I owe my life to you,
and I was no party to this affair. I would do anything to help you. What
says Renee?'

'She obeys.'

'Exactly. You see! Our girls are chess-pieces until they 're married.
Then they have life and character s