mamma!" came from Christina.

"Very queer taste, I should say," remarked Mrs. Copley.

"It isn't taste; it is combination of circumstances," Mrs. Thayer,
smiling, went on. "You see if I don't say true. My dear, such a place
as this is full of romance, full! Just think of the people that have
been married here; why, the first church was built here in 814; imagine
that!"

"Enough to keep one from flirting for ever," said Dolly, on whom the
lady's eye fell as she ended her sentence.

"Just go in and see those jewels and hear the stories," said Mrs.
Thayer, nodding at her. "That old woman will tell you stories enough,
if you can understand her; Christina had to translate for me; but, my
dear, there's a story there fit to break your heart; about a blood
jasper. It is carved; Mr. Thayer says the carving is very fine, and I
suppose it is; but all I thought of was the story. My dear, the stone
is all spotted with dark stains, and they are said to be the stains of
heart's blood. Oh, it is as tragical as can be. You see, the carver, or
stone-cutter,--the young man who did the work,--loved his master's
daughter--it's a very romantic story--and she"----

"Flirted?" suggested St. Leger.

"Well, I am afraid she did; but it is the old course of things; her
father thought she might look higher, you know, and she _did;_ married
the richest nobleman in Verona; and the young man had been promised her
if he did his work well, and the work is magnificently done; but he was
cheated; and he drove a sharp little knife into his heart. Christina,
what was the old master's name?"

"I forget, mamma."

"You ought not to forget; you will want to tell the story. Of course
_I_ have forgotten; I did not understand it at the time, and I never
remember anything besides; but he was very famous, and everybody wanted
the things he did, and he could not execute all the commissions he got;
and this young man was his best favourite pupil."

"How came the stains upon the stone?" asked Lawrence. "Did it bleed for
sympathy?"

"I don't know; I have forgotten. Oh yes! the stone was in his hand, you
know."

"And it was sympathy?" said Lawrence quite gravely, though Dolly could
not keep her lips in order.

"No, it was the blood. Go in and you'll see it, and all the rest. And
there---- Where are you going? to Venice? We are going on to Cologne
and then back to Rome. We shall meet in Rome? You will stay in Venice
for a few weeks, and then be in Rome abo