was
needful, that Ferdinand of Naples was intriguing to draw Janus into an
alliance with a princess of his house; it was also known, by that
singular penetration in which Venice had no equal, that the new
Archbishop of Nicosia, Alvise Fabrici, was an agent for Ferdinand,
secretly working to further his ends in Cyprus; and finally in sign of
the willingness of Janus to break faith with Venice, came the rumor of
some coldness toward Andrea Cornaro, who had hitherto been his fast
friend.

It was enough to bring gloom to the brow of the Senator Marco Cornaro,
whose heart was set upon this royal marriage.

But nothing of this transpired beyond the walls of the Council Chamber,
from whence at last, to make an end of the pitiful waverings of this
fickle King, an ambassador was sent to the court of Cyprus to state in
terms that could not be misunderstood, that if Janus were to disgrace
his royal word, solemnly pledged by his Ambassador Mastachelli in
presence of the Serenissimo and the Signoria, the insult to a Queen
already betrothed to him would be a slight the Republic would not
suffer, and that Venice would become the enemy instead of the ally of
Cyprus.

But no misgivings troubled the heart of the betrothed in the Palazzo
Cornaro, where she waited in happy confidence, being taught through the
ceaseless vigilance of the Senate, that in royal marriages haste was
ever unseemly, and full time would be allowed for the fashioning of the
wedding trousseau, the weaving of wedding damasks and the complete
preparation of a household outfit consistent with the dignity of a
queen.

The prospect of further enemies was not an enviable one for Janus, who
already counted Genoa, Savoy and Portugal and his Holiness of Rome among
them; for he had won the wrath of the Genoese by recapturing their
important holding of Famagosta in the very heart of his own island, as
he had most heartily gained the disfavor of his Holiness by his alliance
with the infidel Sultan of Egypt; and through his sister Carlotta, the
enmity of Savoy and of Portugal was assured to him.

So the galleys and favor of Venice were not to be disregarded, and it
was not long before the Cyprian fleet appeared in the waters of the
Adriatic, bearing in response to the secret embassy of Venice, the
Ambassador sent by Janus to bring his young Queen to Cyprus.

V

Ser Gobbo Di Rialto bore on his broad breast announcements of intense
interest concerning the ceremon