of the cavaliers, their hands
conspicuously white, and their fingers adorned with magnificent rings;
with them sat two auburn-haired Venetian beauties, radiant and laughing,
and sipping Eastern wines from tall goblets of Murano glass. At one long
table near the wall a serenading party was installed, their pretty
instruments hanging on pegs behind them, together with their hats and
cloaks. Beyond, in a corner, a pale young Florentine, with a spiritual
profile, was supping with a lady who turned her back to the hall, and
whose head and shoulders were almost hidden in a cloud of priceless
lace. These two spoke little and ate delicately, and now and then their
dark eyes met and flashed upon each other.

The air was hot, and heavy with the fumes of Greek wines and savoury
dishes. At the farther end of the hall a large door opened now and then,
and showed the bright kitchen where the host's wife presided, and whence
neatly dressed youths brought dishes to the guests. Considering what the
place was, an eating-house kept by a foreign money-lender, there was an
air of luxury about it, and an appearance of orderly and temperate
behaviour among the guests, that would have surprised a stranger who
knew nothing of Venice, if he had been suddenly introduced by the gloomy
entrance from the street through which Trombin and Gambardella had made
their way.

CHAPTER VI

The lady who chose to go about Venice at dusk in the disguise of a monk
encountered no further adventures after the loss of her ring; but she
met with a very grave disappointment, of which the consequences directly
concern this tale. After leaving the Bravi who had robbed her, she
threaded the narrow ways northwards with a quick step till she came to a
point near to the Fondaco dei Turchi on the Grand Canal. There she took
the gondola that waited for passengers at the old traghetto, and she was
quickly ferried over to the landing by the Palazzo Grimani. A few
minutes later she was knocking at the door of Alessandro Stradella's
lodgings near Santa Maria dell' Orto.

She knocked firmly and confidently, like a person quite sure of
admittance. But no one came to open, and she heard no sound from within;
so she knocked again, and after a shorter interval a third time. There
was no answer, and nothing broke the stillness. With small regard for
her disguise, the lady stamped twice in a most feminine way, then tried
to shake the solid door with her hands, and finally