y for an instant. Then she longed to beat her for saying
them, and still Nella alternately moaned and howled, and twisted herself
in the corner of the big chair. Marietta wondered whether her servant
were going mad, and whether this might not be a judgment of heaven for
telling such atrocious lies about poor Zorzi. In that case it was of
course deserved, thought she, watching Nella's contortions; but it was
very sudden.

She made up her mind to call the other women, and turned to go to the
door. As she did so her skirt caught a comb that lay on the edge of the
table and swept it off, so that it fell upon the pavement with a dry
rap. Instantly Nella sat up straight and rubbed her eyes, looking about
for the cause of the sound. When she saw the comb, the serving-woman's
instinct returned, and with it her normal condition of mind. She picked
up the comb with a quick movement, shook her head and began combing
Marietta's hair again before the girl could sit down.

Peace was restored, for she did not speak again, as she helped her
mistress to finish dressing; but though Marietta tried to look kindly at
her once or twice, Nella quite refused to see it, and did her duty
without ever raising her eyes.

It was soon finished, for the pleasure the young girl had taken in
making much of the first details of the day that was to be so happy was
all gone. She did not believe her woman, but there was a cloud over
everything and she was in haste to get an answer to the question which
it would not be easy to ask. She must know if Zorzi had been to Venice
during the night, for until she knew that, all hope of peace was at an
end. Nella had meant no harm, but she had played the fatal little part
in which destiny loves to go masking through life's endless play.

CHAPTER V

Zorzi had slept but little after he had at last lain down upon the long
bench in the laboratory, for the scene in which he had been the chief
actor that night had made a profound impression upon him. There are some
men who would not make good soldiers but who can face sudden and
desperate danger with a calmness which few soldiers really possess, and
which is generally accompanied by some marked superiority of mind; but
such exceptional natures feel the reaction that follows the perilous
moment far more than the average fighting man. They are those who
sometimes stem the rush of panic and turn back whole armies from ruin to
victorious battle; they are those who