is useless.'

"'No,' I exclaimed; 'I will not leave you until I shall have exacted
from you a promise that you will be mine, and only mine! For I could not
live without you; and most unjust should I be, most unworthy of the name
of a man, if I were to allow a contemptible prejudice to stand in the
way of my happiness.'

"She returned no answer, but the rapidity of her breathing and the ill
subdued sobs which interrupted her respiration at short intervals,
convinced me that a fierce struggle was taking place within her bosom.
For it was now quite dark and I could not see her face; the hand,
however, which I held clasped in my own, trembled violently.

"'Beautiful maiden,' I said after a long pause, 'wherefore do you not
reply to me? Were I the proudest peer in Christendom, I would sacrifice
every consideration of rank and family for your sake. What more can man
say? What more can he do?'

"'Signor Cornari,' she answered at length, 'prudence tells me to fly
from you; but my heart prompts me to remain. Alas! I feel that the
latter feeling is dominant within me!'

"'And you will be mine?' I demanded eagerly.

"'Thine forever!' she murmured, her head sinking upon my breast.

"But I shall not dwell unnecessarily on this portion of my narrative.
Suffice it to say we parted, having arranged another meeting for the
next evening. It was on this occasion that I said to her:

"'Vitangela, I have thought profoundly on all that passed between us
yesterday; and I am more than ever determined to make you my wife. Let
us away to your father, and demand his consent to our union.'

"'Stay,' she said, in an emphatic tone, 'and hear me patiently ere you
either renew the promise to wed me, or reiterate your desire to seek my
father. You must know,' she continued, while I listened with painful
suspense, 'that my father will not oppose a step in which his daughter's
happiness is involved. But the very moment that sees our hands joined,
will behold the registry of the marriage in the book kept by the
lieutenant of police; and thereby will be constituted a record of the
name of one who, if need be, must assume the functions of that office
which my sire now fills.'

"'What mean you, Vitangela?' I demanded, horrified by the dim yet
ominous significance of these horrible words.

"'I mean,' she continued, 'that the terrible post of public executioner
must remain in our family while it exists; and those who form marriages
with us, are co