or she
would take all he had from him, little by little; and when they had
enough they would leave Venice secretly, and live in a grand manner in
Florence, or in Rome, or in Sicily. For she never doubted but that he
would find some way of coming to her, though she were guarded more
closely than in the slave-dealers' house, where the windows were grated
and armed men slept before the door, and one of the dealers watched all
night.

More than a year had passed since then; the strong Greek knew every
corner of the house of the Agnus Dei, and every foothold under Arisa's
windows, from the water to the stone sill, by which he could help
himself a little as he went up hand over hand by the knotted silk rope
that would have cut to the bone any hands but his. She kept it hidden in
a cushioned footstool in her inner room. Many a risk he had run, and
more than once in winter he had slipped down the rope with haste to let
himself gently into the icy water, and he had swum far down the dark
canal to a landing-place. For he was a man of iron.

So it came about that Jacopo Contarini lived in a fool's paradise, in
which he was not only the chief fool himself, but was moreover in bodily
danger more often than he knew. For though Aristarchi had hitherto
managed to escape being seen, he would have killed Jacopo with his naked
hands if the latter had ever caught him, as easily as a boy wrings a
bird's neck, and with as little scruple of conscience.

The Georgian loved him for his hirsute strength, for his fearlessness,
even his violence and dangerous temper. He dominated her as naturally as
she controlled her master, whose vacillating nature and love of idle
ease filled her with contempt. It was for the sake of gold that she
acted her part daily and nightly, with a wisdom and unwavering skill
that were almost superhuman; and the Greek ruffian agreed to the
bargain, and had been in no haste to carry her off, as he might have
done at any time. She hoarded the money she got from Jacopo, to give it
by stealth to Aristarchi, who hid their growing wealth in a safe place
where it was always ready; but she kept her jewels always together, in
case of an unexpected flight, since she dared not sell them nor give
them to the Greek, lest they should be missed.

Of late it had seemed to them both that the time for their final action
was at hand, for it had been clear to Arisa that Jacopo was near the end
of his resources, and that his father was re