peared in the shadows with noiseless
steps.

CHAPTER VIII

All through the long Sunday afternoon Zorzi sat in the laboratory alone.
From time to time, he tended the fire, which must not be allowed to go
down lest the quality of the glass should be injured, or at least
changed. Then he went back to the master's great chair, and allowed
himself to think of what was happening in the house opposite.

In those days there was no formal betrothal before marriage, at which
the intended bride and bridegroom joined hands or exchanged the rings
which were to be again exchanged at the wedding. When a marriage had
been arranged, the parents or guardians of the young couple signed the
contract before a notary, a strictly commercial and legal formality, and
the two families then announced the match to their respective relatives
who were invited for the purpose, and were hospitably entertained. The
announcement was final, and to break off a marriage after it had been
announced was a deadly offence and was generally an irreparable injury
to the bride.

In Beroviero's house the richest carpets were taken from the storerooms
and spread upon the pavement and the stairs, tapestries of great worth
and beauty were hung upon the walls, the servants were arrayed in their
high-day liveries and spoke in whispers when they spoke at all, the
silver dishes were piled with sweetmeats and early fruits, and the
silver plates had been not only scoured, but had been polished with
leather, which was not done every day. In all the rooms that were
opened, silken curtains had been hung before the windows, in place of
those used at other times. In a word, the house had been prepared in a
few hours for a great family festivity, and when Marietta got out of the
gondola, she set her foot upon a thick carpet that covered the steps and
was even allowed to hang down and dip itself in the water of the canal
by way of showing what little value was set upon it by the rich man.

Zorzi had known that the preparations were going forward, and he knew
what they meant. He would rather see nothing of them, and when the
guests were gone, old Beroviero would come over and give him some final
instructions before beginning his journey; until then he could be alone
in the laboratory, where only the low roar of the fire in the furnace
broke the silence.

Marietta's head was aching and she felt as if the hard, hot fingers of
some evil demon were pressing her eyeballs