 CHAPTER XII On that day Marietta fell once more the full belief that Zorzi loved her, but the certainty did not fill her with happiness as on the first afternoon when she had seen him stoop to pick up the rose she had dropped. The time that had seemed so very distant had come indeed instead of years a week had scarcely passed and it was not by letting a flower fall in his path that she had told him her love as she had meant to do she had done much more she had let him take her hand and press it to his heart and she would have left it there if Nella had not passed the window she had wished him to take it she had let it hang by her side in the hope that he would be bold enough to do so and she had thrilled with delight at his touch she had drawn back her hand when the woman came and she had put on a look of innocent indifference that would have deceived one of the council's own spies could any language have been more plain it was very strange she thought that she should all at once have gone so far that she should have felt such undreamed joy at the moment and then when it was hers a part of her life which nothing could ever undo nor take from her it was stranger still that the remembrance of this wonderful joy should make her suddenly sad and thoughtful that she should lie awake at night wishing that it had never been and tormenting herself with the idea that she had done an almost irretrievable wrong at the very moment when the coming day was breaking upon her heart's twilight a wall of darkness arose between her and the future much that is very good and true in the world is built upon the fanciful fears of evil that warn girls hearts of harm there are dangers that cannot be exaggerated because the value of what they threaten cannot be reckoned too great so long as human goodness rests on the dangerous quicksands of human nature marietta had not realized what it meant to be betrothed to Jacopo Cantorini until she had let her hand linger in Zorzi's but after that one hour had not passed before she felt that she was living between two alternatives that seemed almost equally terrible and of which she must choose the one or the other within two months she must either marry Cantorini and never see Zorzi again or she must refuse to be married and face the tremendous consequences of her unheard of willfulness her father's anger the just resentment of all the Cantorini family the humiliation which her brothers would heap upon her because in the code of those days she would have brought shame on them and theirs in those times such results were very real and inevitable when a girl's formal promise of marriage was broken though she herself might never have been consulted it was no wonder that Marietta was sleepless at night and spent long hours of the day sitting listless by her window without so much as threading a score of beads from the little basket that stood beside her Nella came and went often looked at her and shook her head with a wise smile it is the thought of marriage said the woman of the people to herself she pines and grows pale now because she is thinking that she must leave her father's house so soon and she is afraid to go among strangers but she will be happy by and by like the swallows in spring Nella remembered how frightened she herself had been when she was betrothed to her departed veto and she was therefore much comforted as to Marietta's condition but she said nothing after Marietta had coldly repelled her first attempt to talk of the marriage though she forgave her mistress's frigid order to be silent telling herself that no right-minded young girl could possibly be natural and sweet-tempered under the circumstances she was more than compensated for what might have seemed harshness by something that looked very much like a concession Marietta had not gone back to the laboratory since the discovery of the new glass and a week had passed since then Nella went every other day and did all that was necessary for Zorzi's recovery each time she came he asked her about Marietta in a rather formal tone as was becoming when he spoke of his master's daughter but hoping that Nella might have some message to deliver and he was more and more disappointed as he realized that Marietta did not mean to send him any she had gone away on that morning with a sort of intimation that she would come back every day but Nella did not so much as hint that she ever meant to come back at all Zorzi went about on crutches swinging his helpless foot as he walked for it still hurt him when he put it on the ground he was pale and thin both from pain and from living shut up almost all day in the close atmosphere of the laboratory for a change he began to come out into the little garden sometimes walking up and down on his crutches for a few minutes and then sitting down to rest on the bench under the plain tree where Marietta had so often sat Piscuali came and talked with him sometimes but Zorzi never went to the porter's lodge he felt that if he got as far as that he should inevitably open the door and look up at Marietta's window and he would not do it for he was hurt by her apparent indifference after having allowed him to hold her hand in his she had not even asked through Nella what had become of the beautiful glass what he pretended to say to himself was that it would be very wrong to go and stand outside the glass house where the porter would certainly see him and where he might be seen by anyone else staring at the window of his master's daughter's room on the other side of the canal but what he really felt was that Marietta had treated him capriciously and that if he had a particle of self-respect he must show her that he did not care for if Marietta was like other carefully brought up girls of her age Zorzi was nothing more than a boy where love was concerned and like many boys who have struggled for existence in a more or less corrupt world he had heard much more of the faithlessness and caprices of women in general than of the sensitiveness and delicate timidity of innocent young girls Marietta was his perfect ideal the most exquisite the most beautiful and the most lovable creature ever endowed with form and sent into the world by the powers of good he believed all this in his heart with the certainty of absolute knowledge but he was quite incapable of discerning the motives of her conduct towards him and when he tried to understand them it was not his heart that felt but his reason that argued having very little knowledge and no experience at all to help it and since his airing reason demonstrated something that offended his self-esteem his heart was hurt and nursed a foolish small resentment against what he truly loved better than life itself at one time or another most very young men in love have found themselves in that condition and have tormented themselves to the verge of fever and distraction over imaginary hurts and wrongs was there ever a true lyric poet who did not at least once in his early days believe himself the victim of a heartless woman and though long afterwards fage may have brought him face to face with the tragedy of unhappy love fierce with passion and terrible with violent death can he ever quite forget the fancied sufferings of first youth the stab of a thoughtless girl's first unkind word the sickening chill he felt under the first cold look and what would first love be if young men and maidens came to it with all the reason and cool self-judgment that long living brings zorsi sought consolation in his art and as soon as he could stand and move about with his crutches he threw his whole pent up energy into his work the accidental discovery of the red glass had unexpectedly given him an empty crucible with which to make an experiment of his own and while the materials were fusing he attempted to obtain the new color in the other two by dropping pieces of copper into each regardless of the master's instructions to his inexpressible disappointment he completely failed in this and the glass he produced was of the communist tint then he grew reckless he removed the two crucibles that had contained what had been made according to beroviaro's theories until he had added the copper and he began afresh according to his own belief on that very morning giovanni beroviaro made a second visit to the laboratory he came he said to make sure that zorsi was recovering from his hurt and zorsi knew from nela that giovanni had made inquiries about him he put on an air of sympathy when he saw the crutches you will soon throw them aside he said but i am sorry that you should have to use them at all when he entered as zorsi was introducing a new mixture carefully powdered into one of the glass pots with a small iron shovel it was clear that he must put it all in at once and he excused himself for going on with his work giovanni looked at the very large quantity of mixed ingredients with an experienced eye and had once made up his mind that the crucible must have been quite empty zorsi was therefore beginning to make some kind of glass on his own account it followed almost logically according to giovanni's view of men fairly founded on a knowledge of himself that zorsi was experimenting with the secrets of paolo godi which he and ol beroviaro had buried together somewhere in that very room now ever since the boy had told his story giovanni had been revolving plans for getting the manuscript into his possession during a few days in order to copy it a new scheme now suggested itself and it looked so attractive that he had once attempted to carry it out it seems a pity he said that a great artist like yourself should spend time on fruitless experiments you might be making very beautiful things which would sell for a high price without desisting from his occupation zorsi glanced at his visitor whose manner towards him had so entirely changed within a little more than a week with a waves quick instinct he guessed that giovanni wanted something of him but the generous instinct of the brave man towards the coward made him accept what seemed to be meant for an advance after a quarrel it had never occurred to zorsi to blame giovanni for the accident in the glass house and it would have been very unjust to do so i can blow glass tolerably well sir zorsi answered but none of you great furnace owners would dare to employ me in the face of the law besides i am your father's man i owe everything i know to his kindness i do not see what that has to do with it return giovanni it does not diminish your merit nor affect the truth of what i was saying you might be doing better things anyone can weigh out sand and kelp ashes and shovel them into a crucible do you mean that the master might employ me for other work asked zorsi smiling at the disdainful description of what he was doing my father or someone else answered giovanni and besides your astonishing skill i fancy that you possess much valuable knowledge of glass making you cannot have worked for my father so many years without learning some of the things he has taken great pains to hide from his own sons he spoke the last words in a somewhat bitter tone quite willing to let zorsi know that he felt himself injured if i have learned anything of that sort by looking on and helping when i have been trusted it is not mine to use elsewhere said zorsi rather proudly that is a fine moral sentiment my dear young friend and does you credit reply giovanni sententiously it is impossible not to respect the man who carries a fortune in his head and refuses to profit by it out of a delicate sense of honor i should have very little respect for a man who betrayed his master's secrets said zorsi you know them then inquired the other with unusual blandness i did not say so zorsi looked at him coldly oh no even to admit it might not be discreet but apart from palo godi's secrets which my father has left sealed in my care at this astounding falsehood zorsi started and looked at giovanni in unfaithful surprise but which nothing would induce me to examine continued giovanni with perfect coolness there must be many others of my father's own which you have learned by watching him i respect you for your discretion why did you start and look at me when i said that the manuscript was in my keeping the question was well put suddenly and without warning and zorsi was momentarily embarrassed to find an answer giovanni judged that his surprise proved the truth of the boy's story and his embarrassment now added certainty to the proof but zorsi rarely lost his self-position when he had a secret to keep if i seemed astonished he said it may have been because you had just given me the impression that the master did not trust you and i know how careful he is of the manuscript you know more than that my friend said giovanni in a playful tone zorsi had now filled the crucible and was replacing the clay rings which narrow the aperture of the bokeh he plastered more wet clay upon them and it pleased giovanni to see how well he knew every detail of the art from the simplest to the most difficult operations would anything you can think of induce you to leave my father giovanni asked as he had received no answer to his last remark of course i did not mean to speak of mere money though a few people quite despise it that may be understood in more than one way answered zorsi cautiously in the first place do you mean that if i left the master it would be to go to another master or to set up as a master myself let us say that you might go to another glass house for a fixed time with the promise of then having a furnace of your own how does that strike you not one can give such a promise and keep it said zorsi scraping the wet clay from his hands with a blunt knife but suppose that someone could insisted giovanni what is the use of supposing the impossible so as he shrugged his shoulders and went on scraping nothing is impossible in the republic except what the ten are resolved to hinder and that is really impossible the ten will not make new laws nor repeal old ones for the benefit of an unknown dalimation perhaps not answered giovanni but on the other hand there is no very great penalty if you set up a furnace of your own if you are discovered your furnace will be put out and you may have to pay a fine it is no great matter it is a civil offense not a criminal one what is it that you wish of me asks zorsi with sudden directness you are a busy man you have not come here to pass the morning in idle conversation with your father's assistant you want something of me sir speak out plainly if i can do what you wish i will do it if i cannot i will tell you so frankly giovanni was a little disconcerted by this speech accepting where money was concerned directly his intelligence was of the sort that easily wastes its energy and futile cunning he had not meant to reach the point for a long time if he had expected to reach it at all at the first attempt i like your straightforwardness he said evasively but i do not think your conversation idle on the contrary i find it highly instructive indeed zorsi left you do me much honor sir what have you learned from me this morning what i wish to know answered giovanni with a change of tone and looking at him keenly zorsi returned to the glance and the two men faced each other in silence for a moment zorsi knew what giovanni meant as soon as the other had spoken the quick movement of surprise which was the only indiscretion of which zorsi had been guilty would have betrayed to anyone that he knew where the manuscript was even if it were not in his immediate keeping his instinct was to take the offensive and accuse his visitor of having laid a trap for him but his caution prevailed whatever you may think that you have learned from me he said remember that i have told you nothing is it here in this room ask giovanni not heeding his last speech and hoping to surprise him again but zorsi was prepared now and his face did not change as he replied i cannot answer any questions he said you and my father hid it together returned to giovanni when you had buried it under the stones in this room you carried the earth out with a shovel and scattered it about on the floor bed you took out three shovelfuls of earth in that way you see i know everything what is the use of trying to hide your secret from me zorsi was now convinced that giovanni himself had been lurking in the garden sir he said with ill-concealed contempt for a man capable of such spy's work if you have more to say of the same nature pray say it to your father when he comes back you misunderstand me returned giovanni with sudden mildness i had no intention of offending you i only meant to warn you that you were watched on that night the person who informed me has no doubt told many others also it would have been very ill for you if my father had returned to find that his secret was public property and if you had been unable to explain that you had not betrayed him i have given you a weapon of defense you may call upon me to repeat what i have said when you speak with him i am obliged to you sir said so as he called me i shall not need to disturb you you are not wise returned to giovanni gravely if i were curious fortunately for you i am not i would send for a mason and have some of the stones of the pavement turned over before me a mason would soon find the one you moved by trying them all with his hammer yes said zorsi if this were a room in your own glass house you could do that but it is not i am in charge of all that belongs to my father during his absence answered giovanni yes said zorsi again including parallel godi's manuscript as you told me he added you understand very well why i said that giovanni answered with visible annoyance i only know that you said it was the retort and as i cannot suppose that you did not know what you were saying still less that you intentionally told an untruth i really cannot see why you should suggest bringing a mason here to search for what must be in your own keeping zorsi spoke with a quiet smile for he felt that he had the best of it he was surprised when giovanni broke into a peel of rather affected laughter you are a hard catch he cried and laughed again you did not really suppose that i was in earnest why everyone knows that you have the manuscript here then i suppose you spoke ironically suggested zorsi of course of course amir just if i had known that you would take it so literally he stopped short pray excuse me sir it is the first time that i have ever heard you say anything playful indeed the fact is my dear zorsi i never knew you well enough to just with you till today parallel godi's secrets in my keeping i wish they were oh not that anything would induce me to break the seals i told you that but i wish they were in my possession i tell you i would pay down half of my fortune to have them for they would bring me back four times as much within the year half my fortune and i am not poor zorsi half your fortune repeated zorsi that is a large sum i imagine pray sir how much might half your fortune be in round numbers ten thousand silver lyrics silver sneered javani contemptuously gold then suggested zorsi drawing him on gold well possibly admitted javani with caution but of course i was exaggerating ten thousand gold pounds would be too much of course say five thousand hmm i thought you were richer than that said zorsi coolly do you mean that five thousand would not be enough to pay for the manuscript ask javani the profits of glass making are very large when one possesses a valuable secret said zorsi five thousand he paused as though in doubt or as if making a mental calculation javani fell into the trap i would give six he said lowering his voice to a still more confidential tone and watching his companion eagerly for six thousand gold liars said zorsi smiling i am quite sure that you could hire a ruffian to break in and cut the throat of the man who has charge of the manuscript javani's face fell but he quickly assumed an expression of righteous indignation how can you dare to suggest that i would employ such means to rob my father he cried if it were your intention to rob your father sir i cannot see that it would matter greatly what means you employed but i was only justing as you were when you said that you had the manuscript i did not expect that you would take literally what i said i see i see answered javani accepting the means of escape zorsi offered him you were paying me back in my own coin ha ha well well it served me right after all you have a ready wit i thought that if my conversation were not as instructive as you had hoped i could at least try to make it amusing light gay witty i trust you will not take it ill no not i javani tried to laugh but what a wonderful thing is this human imagination of ours now as i talked of our secrets i forgot that they were my fathers they seemed almost within my grasp i was ready to count out the gold to count out six thousand gold liars think of that they are worth it said zorsi quietly you should know best answer the other there is no glass as my father's for likeness and strength if he had a dozen workmen like you my brother and i should be ruined in trying to compete with him i watched you very closely the other day and i watched the others too by and by my friend was that really an accident or does the man owe you some grudge i never saw such a thing happen before it was an accident of course replied zorsi without hesitation if you knew that the man had injured you intentionally you should have just as said once said javani as it is i have no doubt that my father will turn him out without mercy i hope not zorsi would say nothing more javani rose to go away he stood still a moment in thought and then smiled suddenly as if recollecting himself the imagination is an extraordinary thing he said going back to the past conversation at this very moment i was thinking again that i was actually paying out the money six thousand liars in gold i must be mad no said zorsi i think not javani turned away shaking his head and still smiling to tell the truth though he knew zorsi's character he had not believed that anyone could refuse such a bribe and he was trying to account for the dalmatians integrity by reckoning up the expectations the young man must have to set against such a large sum of ready money he could only find one solution to the problem zorsi was already in full possession of the secrets and would therefore not sell them at any price because he hoped before long to set up for himself and make his own fortune by them if this were true and he could not see how it could be otherwise he and his brother would be cheated of their heritage when their father died it was clear that something must be done to hinder zorsi from carrying out his scheme after all zorsi's own justing proposal that a ruffian should be employed to cut his throat was not to be rejected it was a simple plan direct and conclusive it might not be possible to find the manuscript after all but the only man who knew its contents would be removed and barovaro's sons would inherit which should come to them by right against this project there was the danger that the murderer might someday betray the truth under torture or might come back again and again and demand more money but the killing of a man who was not even a venetian who was an interloper who could be proved to have abused his master's confidence when he should be no longer alive to defend himself did not strike Giovanni as a very serious matter and as for anyone ever forcing him to pay money which he did not wish to pay he knew that to be a feat beyond the ability of an ordinary person one other course suggested itself at once he could forestall zorsi by writing to his father and telling him what he sincerely believed to be the truth he knew the old man well and was sure that if once persuaded that zorsi had betrayed him by using the manuscript he would be merciless the difficulty would lie in making barovaro believe anything against his favorite yet in Giovanni's estimation the proofs were overwhelming besides he had another weapon with which to rouse his father's anger against the Dalmatian since marietta had defied him and had gone to see zorsi in the laboratory he had not found what he considered a convenient opportunity of speaking to her on this subject that is to say he had left the moral courage to do so at all but it would need no courage to complain of her conduct to their father and though barovaro's anger might fall chiefly upon marietta a portion of it would take effect against zorsi it would be one more force acting in the direction of his ruin Giovanni went away to his own glass house meditating all manner of evil to his enemy and as he reckoned up the chances of success he began to wonder how he could have been so weak as to offer zorsi an enormous bribe instead of proceeding at once to his destruction unconscious of his growing danger zorsi fed the fire of the furnace and then sat down at the table before the window laid his crutches beside him and began to write out the details of his own experiments as the master had done for years he wrote the rather elaborate characters of the 15th century in a small but clear hand very unlike old barovaro's the window was open and the light breeze blew in fanning his heated forehead for the weather was growing hotter and hotter and the order had been given to let the main furnaces cool after the following sunday as the workmen could not bear the heat many days longer after that they would set to work in a shed at the back of the glass house to knead the clay for making new crucibles and the night boys would enjoy their annual holiday which consisted in helping the workmen by treading this stiff clay in water for several hours every day a man's shadow darkened the window while zorsi was writing and he looked up pasquale was standing outside there is a pestering feller at the door he said who will not be satisfied till he has spoken with you he says he has a message for you from someone in venice which he must deliver himself for me zorsi rose in surprise end of chapter 12 chapter 13 of marietta the maid of venice by francis marion crawford this libra vox recording is in the public domain chapter 13 zorsi swung himself along the dark corridor on his crutches after pasquale who opened the outer door with his usual deliberation a little man stood outside in gray hose and a servant's dark coat gathered in at the waist by a leather and belt he was clean shaven and his hair was cropped close to his head which was bare for he held his black hat in his hand zorsi did not like his face he waited for zorsi to speak first have you a message for me ask the Dalmatian i am zorsi that is the name sir answered the man respectfully my message begs the honor and pleasure of your company this evening as usual where asks zorsi my master said that you would know the place sir having been there before what is your master's name the angel answered the man promptly keeping his eyes on zorsi's face the latter nodded and the servant had once made an awkward obeisance preparatory to going away tell your master said zorsi that i have hurt my foot and i'm walking on crutches so that i cannot come this evening but that i thank him for his invitation and send greeting to him and to the other guests the man repeated some of the words in a tone hardly audible evidently committing the message to memory senior zorsi hurt his foot crutches thanks greeting he mumbled yes sir he added in his ordinary tone i will say all that your servant sir with another awkward bow he turned away to the right and walked very quickly along the footway he had left his boat at the entrance to the canal not knowing exactly where the glass house was zorsi looked after him a moment and then turned himself on his sound foot and set his crutches before him to go in the squally was there and must have heard what had passed he shut the door and followed zorsi back a little way it is no concern of mine he said roughly you may amuse yourself as you please for you are young and your host may be the archangel michael himself or the holy saint mark and the house to which you are bidden may be a paradise full of other angels but i would have soon sit down before the grating and look at a hooded brother while the executioner slipped a noose over my head to strangle me as to go to any place on the bidding delivered by a fellow with such a jailbird's head it is as round as a bullet and as yellow as cheese he has eyes like a turtles and teeth like those of a young shark i am quite of your opinion said zorsi halting at the entrance to the garden then why did you not kick him into the canal inquired the porter with admirable logic do i look as if i could kick anything asked zorsi laughing and glancing at his lame foot and where should i have been inquired basqually indignantly asleep perhaps if you had said kick i would have kicked perhaps i am a statue zorsi pointed out that it was not usual to answer invitations in that way even when declining them and who knows what sort of invitation it was retorted the old porter discontentedly since when have you friends in venice who bid you come to their houses at night like a thief honest men who are friends say come and eat with me at noon for today we have this or that say a roast suckling pig or tripe with garlic and perhaps you go and when you are beaten and drunk and it is cool of the afternoon you come home that is what christians do who are they that meet at night they are thieves or conspirators or dice players are all three basqually happened to have been right in two guesses out of three and zorsi thought it better to say nothing there was no fear that the surly old man would tell any one of the message he had proved himself to go to friend to zorsi to do anything which could possibly bring him into trouble and zorsi was willing to let him think what he pleased rather than run the smallest risk of betraying the society of which he had been obliged to become a member but he was curious to know why cantorini kept such a singularly unprepossessing servant and why if he chose to keep him he made use of him to deliver invitations the fellow had the look of a born criminal he was just such a man as zorsi had thought of when he had justingly proposed to Giovanni to hire a murderer indeed the more zorsi thought of his face the more he was inclined to doubt that the man came from cantorini at all but in this he was mistaken the message was genuine and moreover so far as cantorini and the society were concerned the man was perfectly trustworthy possibly there were reasons why cantorini chose to employ him and also why the servant was so consistently faithful to his master after all zorsi reflected he was certainly ignorant of the fact that the noble young idlers who met at the house of the unused day were playing at conspiracy and revolution but that night when cantorini's friends were assembled and had counted their members someone asked what had become of the mirano glassblower and whether he was not going to attend their meetings in future and cantorini answered that zorsi had hurt his foot and was on crushes and sent a greeting to the guests most of them were glad that he was not there for he was not of their own order and his presence caused a certain restraint in their talk besides he was poor and did not play at dice he works with angelo barroviaro does he not asks one vignere in a tone of weary indifference yes answered cantorini with a laugh he is in the service of my future father in law to whom may heaven accord a speedy painless and christian death laughed foscari in his black beard not till i am one of his heirs if you please return cantorini as soon after the wedding day as you'd like for besides her rich dowry the lady is to have a share of his inheritance is she very ugly ask luridan poor jacopo you have the sympathy of the brethren how does he know sneered mochanigo he has never seen her besides why should he care since she is rich you are mistaken for i have seen her said cantorini looking down the table she is not at all ill looking i assure you the old man was so much afraid that i would not agree to the match that he took her to church so that i might look at her and you did ask to mochanigo i should never have had the courage she might have been hideous and in that case i should have preferred not to find it out till i was married i looked at her with some interest said cantorini smiling in a self-satisfied way i am bound to say with all modesty that she also looked at me he added passing his white hand over his thick hair of course put in foscari gravely any woman would i should think i suppose so answered cantorini complacently it is not my fault if they do not sure miss fortune added foscari with as much gravity as before his wine vignette had not joined in the banter which seemed to him to be of the most atrocious taste he had liked zorzi and had just made up his mind to go to morano the next day to find him out on that evening there was not so much as a mention of what was supposed to bring them together before they had talked a quarter of an hour someone began to throw dice on the table playing with his right hand against his left and in a few moments the real play had begun high up in iris's room the georgian woman and ara starci heard all that was said crouching together upon the floor beside the opening the slave had discovered when the voices were no longer heard accepted rare intervals in short exclamations of satisfaction or disappointment and only the regular rattling and falling of the dice broke the silence the pair drew back from the praying stool they will say nothing more tonight whispered irisa they will play for hours they had not said a word they could put their necks in danger answered ara starci discontentedly who is this fellow from the glasshouse of whom they were speaking irisa led him away to a small divan between the open windows she sat down against the cushions at the back but he stretched his bulk upon the floor resting his head against her knee she softly rubbed his rough hair with the palm of her hand as she might have caressed a cat or tame wild animal it gave her a pleasant sensation that had a thrill of danger in it for she always expected that he would turn and set his teeth into her fingers she told him the story of the last meeting and how zorzi had been made one of the society in order that they might not feel obliged to kill him for their own safety what fools they are exclaimed ara starci with a low laugh and turning his head under her hand you would have killed him of course said irisa if you had been in their place i suppose you have killed many people irisa added thoughtfully no he answered for though he loved her savagely he did not trust her i never killed anyone except in fair fight irisa laughed low for she remembered when i first saw you your hands recovered with blood i think the reason why i liked you was that you seemed so much more terrible than all the others who looked in at my cabin door i am as mild as milk and almonds said ara starci i am as timid as a rabbit his deep voice was like the purring of a huge cat irisa looked down at his head then her hand suddenly clasped his throat and she tried to make her fingers meet around it as if she would have strangled him but it was too big for them he drew in his chin a little the iron muscles stiffened themselves the cords stood out and though she pressed with all her might she could not hurt him even a little but she loved to try i am sure i could strangle conterini she said quietly he has a throat like a woman's what a murderous creature you are heard the greek against her knee you are always talking of killing i should like to see you fighting for your life she answered or for me it is the same thing he said i should like to see it it would be a splendid sight what if i got the worst of it asked ara starci his vast mouth grinning at the idea you arisa laughed contemptuously the man is not born who could kill you i'm sure of it one very nearly succeeded once upon a time one man i do not believe it he chanced to be an executioner answered the greek calmly and i had my hands tied behind me tell me about it arisa bent down eagerly for she loved to hear of his adventures though he had his own way of narrating them which always made him out innocent of any evil intention there is nothing to tell it was in naples a woman betrayed me and they bound me in my sleep in the morning i was condemned to death thrown in a carton dragged off to behind i thought it was all over for the cords were new so that i could not break them i tried hard enough but even if i had broken loose i could never have fought my way through the crowd alone the noose was around my neck he stopped as if he had told everything go on said arisa how did you escape what an adventure one of my men saved me he had a little learning and could pass for a monk when he could get a cowl he went out before it was daylight that morning and exchanged clothes with a burly friar whom he met in a quiet place but how did the friar agree to that asked arisa in surprise he had nothing to say he was dead answered our starchy do you mean to say that he chanced to find a dead friar lying in the road ask the georgian how should i know i dare say the monk was alive when he met my man and happened to die a few minutes afterwards by mere chance it was very fortunate was it not oh yes arisa laughed softly but what did he do why did he take the trouble to dress the monk in his clothes in order to receive his dying confession of course i thought you would understand and his dying confession was that he michael pendos a greek robber had killed the man for whose murder i was being hanged that morning my man came just in time whereas the friar's head was half shaved as monk's heads are he had to shave the rest as they do for coolness in the south and he had only his knife with which to do it but no one found that out for he had been a barber as he had been a monk and the most other things he looked very well in a cowl and spoke neapolitan i did not know him when he came to the foot of the gallows howling out that i was innocent were you of course i was answered are she with conviction who was the man that had been killed i forget his name said the greek he was an neapolitan gentleman of great family i believe i forgot the name he had red hair arisa laughed and stroked arisa's big head she thought she had made him betray himself you had seen him then she asked with a question i suppose you happened to see him just before he died as your man saw the monk oh no answered arisa who was not to be so easily caught it was part of the dying confession it was necessary to identify the murdered person how should michael paradose the greek robber know the name of the gentleman he had killed he gave a minute description of him he said he had red hair you're not a greek for nothing laughed arisa did you ever hear of odesius asked aristarci no what should i know of your greek gods if you were a good christian you would not speak of them odesius was not a god answered aristarci with a grin he was a good christian i've often thought that he must have been very like me he was a great traveler and a tolerable sailor a pirate inquired arisa oh no he was a man of the most noble and upright character incapable of deception in fact he was very like me and had nearly as many adventures if you understood greek you would repeat some verses i know about him should you love me more if i understood greek asked arisa softly if i thought so i would learn it aristarci laughed roughly so that she was almost afraid lest he should be heard far down in the house learn greek you to make me like you better you would be just as beautiful if you were all together dumb a man does not love a woman for what she can say to him in any language he turned up his face and his rough hands drew her splendid head down to him till he could kiss her then there was silence for a few minutes he shook his great shoulders at last everything else is a waste of time he said as if speaking to himself her head lay on the cushions now and she watched him with half closed eyes in the soft light and now and then the thin embroideries that covered her neck and bosom rose and fell with a long satisfied sigh he rose to his feet and slowly paced the marble floor up and down before her as he would have paced the little poop deck of his vessel i'm glad you told me about that glass blower he said suddenly i have met him and talked with him and i may meet him again he is old biraviro's chief assistant i fancy he's in love with the daughter in love with the girl whom kontorini is to marry esterissa suddenly opening her eyes yes i told you what i said to the old man in his private room it was more like a brick kiln than a rich man's counting house while i was inside the young man was talking to the girl under a tree i saw them through a low window as i sat discussing business with biraviro you could not hear what they said i suppose oh no but i could see what they looked aristoshi laughed at his own conceit the girl was doing some kind of work the young man stood beside her resting one hand against the tree i could not see his face all the time but i saw hers she is in love with him they were talking earnestly and she said something that had a strong effect upon him for i saw that he stood a long time looking at the trunk of the tree and saying nothing what can you make of that except that they're in love with each other that is strange said erissa for it was he that brought the message to kontorini bidding him go and see her in saint marx that was how he chanced upon them downstairs at their last meeting how do you know what was that message or not some other kontorini told me but if the boy loves her as i'm sure he does why should he have delivered the message asked the cunning greek it would have been very easy for him to have named another hour and kontorini would never have seen her besides he had a fine chance then to send the future husband to paradise he needed only to name a quiet street instead of the church and to appoint the hour at dusk one two or three in the back the body to the canal and the marriage would have been broken off perhaps he does not wish it broken off suggested erissa taking an equally amiable but somewhat different point of view he cannot marry the girl of course but if she is once married and out of her father's house it will be different that is an idea assented aristarchy look at us too it is very much the same position and kontorini will be indifferent about her which he is not where you are concerned between the glassblower and me and his wife and you he will not be a man to be envied that is another reason for helping the marriage as much as we can what if the glassblower makes her give him money ask the georgian woman if she loves him she will give him everything she has and he will take all he can get of course of course if she has anything to give said aristarchy but she will only have what you allow kontorini to give her the young man knows well enough that her dowry will all be paid to her husband on the day of the marriage it does not matter for if he is in love he will not care much about the money i hope he will be careful anyone else may see him with her as you did and may warn old kontorini that his intended daughter-in-law is in love with the boy belonging to the glasshouse the marriage would be broken off at once if that happened that is true so they talked together judging zorzi and marietta according to their views of human nature which they deduced chiefly from their experience of themselves from time to time arissa went and listened at the hole in the floor and when she heard the guests beginning to take their leave she hid aristarchy in the embrasure of a disused window that was concealed by a tapestry and she went into the larger room and lay down among the cushions by the balcony when kontorini came a few minutes later she seemed to have fallen asleep like a child weary of waiting for him so far both she and aristarchy looked upon zorzi who did not know of their existence with a friendly eye but their knowledge of his love for marietta was in reality one more danger in his path if at any future moment he seemed about to endanger the success of their plans the strong greek would soon find an opportunity of sending him to another world as he had sent many another innocent enemy before they themselves were safe enough for the present and it was not likely that they would commit any indiscretion that might endanger their future flight they had long ago determined what to do if kontorini should accidentally find aristarchy in the house long before his body was found they would both be on the high seas few persons knew of arissa's existence no one connected the greek merchant captain in any way with kontorini and no one guessed the sailing qualities of the unobtrusive vessel that lay in the gwedekka waiting for a cargo but ballasted to do her best and well stocked with provisions and water the crew knew nothing when other sailors asked when they were to sail the men could only say that their captain was the owner of the vessel and was very hard to please in the matter of a cargo in one way or another the two were sure of gaining their end as soon as they should have amassed a sufficient fortune to live in luxury somewhere in the far south a change in the situation was brought about by the appearance of his one veneer at the glass house on the following morning indolent tired of his existence sick of what amused and interested his companions but generous true and kind-hearted he had been sorry to hear that zorsi had suffered by an accident and he felt impaled to go and see whether the young fellow needed help veneer did not remember that he had ever resisted an impulse in his life though he took the greatest pains to hide the fact that he ever felt any he perhaps did not realize that although he had done many foolish things and some that a confessor would not have approved he had never wished to do anything that was mean or unkind or that might give him an unfair advantage over others he fancied zorsi alone uncared for perhaps obliged to work in spite of his lameness and it occurred to him that he might help him in some way though it was by no means clear what direction his help should take he did not know that beroviaro was absent and he intended to call for the old glass maker it would be easy to say that he was an old friend of jacopo conterini and wished to make the acquaintance of marietta's father before the wedding he would probably have an opportunity of speaking to zorsi without showing that he already knew him and he trusted to zorsi's discretion to conceal the fact for he was a good judge of men it turned out to be much easier to carry out his plan than he had expected my name is one veneer he said in answer to pasquale's gruff inquiry pasquale eyed him a moment through the bars and immediately understood that he was not a person to be kicked into the canal or received with other similar amenities the great name alone would have are the old porter to something like civility but he had seen the visitor's face and being quite as good a judge of humanity as veneer himself he opened the door at once veneer explained that he wished to pay his respects to mesur angelo beroviaro being an old friend of mesur jacopo contorini learning that the master was absent on a journey he asked whether there were anyone within to whom he could deliver a message he had heard he said that the master had a trusted assistant a certain zorsi pasquale answered that zorsi was in the laboratory and led the way zorsi was greatly surprised but as veneer had anticipated he said nothing before pasquale which could show that he had met his visitor before veneer made a courteous inclination of the head and the porter disappeared immediately i heard that you had been hurt said veneer when they were alone i came to see whether i could do anything for you can i zorsi was touched by the kind words spoken so quietly and sincerely for it was only lately that anyone except marietta had shown him a little consideration he had not forgotten how his master had taken leave of him and the unexpected friendliness of old pasquale after his accident had made a difference in his life but of all men he ever met veneer was the one whom he had instinctively desired for a friend have you come over from venice on purpose to see me he asked in something like wonder yes answered veneer with a smile why are you surprised because it is so good of you you have solemnly sworn to do as much for me and for all the companions of our society returned veneer still smiling we are to help each other under all circumstances as far as we can you know you are standing and it must tire you with those crutches shall we sit down tell me quite frankly is there anything i can do for you nothing you could ever do could make me more grateful than i am to you for coming answered so as he sincerely veneer took the crutches from his hands and helped him to sit on the bench you're very kind so as he said veneer sat down beside him and asked him all manner of questions about his accident and how it happened so as he had no reason for concealing the truth from him they all hate me here he said it happened like an accident but the man made it happen i do not think that he intended to maim me for life but he meant to hurt me badly and he did there was not a man or a boy in the furnace room who did not understand for no workman ever yet let his bloke pipe slip from his hand in swinging a piece but i do not wish to make matters worse and i have said that i believed it was an accident i should like to come across the man who did it said veneer his eyes growing hard and steely when i tried to hop to the furnace on one leg to save myself from falling one of the men cried out that i was a dancer and left i hear that the name has stuck with me among the workmen i am called the ballerin the noble meanness of zorzi's tormentors razed veneer's generous blood you will yet be their master he said you will someday have a furnace of your own and they will fawn to you your nickname will be better than their names in a few years i hope so answered zorzi i know it said the other with an energy that would have surprised those who only knew the listless young nobleman who nothing could amuse or interest he did not stay very long and when he went away he said nothing about coming again zorzi went with him to the door he had asked the Dalmatian to tell old Baraviero of his visit pesquale who had never done such a thing in his life actually went out upon the footway to the steps and steadied the gondola by the gunwell while veneer got in Giovanni Baraviero saw veneer come out for it was near noon and he had just come back from his own glass house and was standing in the shadow of his father's doorway slowly fanning himself with his large cap before he went upstairs for it had been very hot in the sun he did not knows one veneer by sight but there was no mistaking the venetian's high station and he was surprised to see that the nobleman was evidently on good terms with zorzi end of chapter 13 chapter 14 of marietta the maid of venice by francis marion crawford this lever vox recording is in the public domain chapter 14 zorzi had not left the glass house since he had been hurt but he foresaw that he might be obliged to leave the laboratory for an hour or more now that he was better he could walk with one crutch and a stick resting a little on the injured foot and he felt sure that in a few days he should be able to walk with the stick alone he had the certainty that he was lame for life and now and then when it was dusk and he sat under the plain tree meditating upon the uncertain future he felt a keen pang at the thought that he might never again walk without limping for he had been light and agile and very swift of foot as a boy he fancied that marietta would pity him but not as she had pitied him at first there would be a little feeling of repulsion for the cripple mixed with her compassion for the man it was true that as matters were going now he might not see her often again and he was quite sure that he had no right to think of loving her zwan veniers visit had recalled very clearly the obligations by which he had solemnly bound himself and which he honestly meant to fulfill and apart from them when he tried to reason about his love he could make it seem absurd enough that he should dream of winning marietta for his wife but love itself does not argue at first it is seen far off like a beautiful bird of rare plumage among flowers on a morning in spring it comes nearer it is timid it advances it recedes it poises on swiftly beating wings it soars out of sight but suddenly it is nearer than before it changes shapes it grows vast and terrible till its flight is like the rushing of the whirlwind then all is calm again and in the stillness a sweet voice sings the chant of peace or the melancholy dirge of an endless regret it is no longer the dove nor the eagle nor the storm that leaves ruin in its track it is everything it is life it is the world itself forever and a time without end for good or evil for such happiness as may pass all understanding if god will and if not for undying sorrow so as he had forgotten his small resentment against marietta for not having given him a sign or sent one word of greeting he knew only that he loved her with all his heart and would give every hope he had for the pressure of her hand in his and the sound of her answering voice and he dreaded lest she should pity him as one pity's a hurt creature that one would rather not touch it would not be in the hope of seeing her that he might leave the laboratory before long he felt quite sure that Giovanni would make some further attempt to get possession of the little book that meant fortune to him who should possess it and Giovanni evidently knew where it was it would be easy for him to send Zorzio on an errand of importance as soon as he should be so far recovered as to walk a little the great glass houses had dealings with the banks in Venice and with merchants of all countries and Barovaro had more than once sent Zorzi to Venice on business of moment Giovanni would come in some morning and declare that he could trust no one but Zorzi to collect certain sums of money in the city and he would take care that the matter should keep him absent several hours that would be ample time in which to try the flagstones with the hammer and to turn over the right one Zorzi had convinced himself that it gave a hollow sound when he tapped it and that Giovanni could find it easily enough it was therefore folly to leave the box in its present place any longer and he cast about in his mind for some safer spot in which to hide it in the meantime fearing lest Giovanni might think of sending him out at any moment he waited till Pasquale had brought him water in the morning and then raised the stone as he had done before took the box out of the earth and hid it in the cool end of the annealing oven while he replaced the slab the effort it caused him to move the ladder told him plainly enough that his injury had weakened him almost as an illness might have done but he succeeded in getting the stone into its bed at last he tapped it with the end of his crutch as he knelt on the floor and the sound it gave was even more hollow than before he smiled as he thought how easily Giovanni would find the place and how grievously disappointed he would be when he realized that it was empty it occurred at once to Zorzi that Giovanni's first impression would naturally be that Zorzi had taken the book himself in order to use it during the master's absence and this thought perplexed him for a time until he reflected that Giovanni could not accuse him of the deed without accusing himself of having searched for the box a proceeding which his father would never forgive Zorzi did not intend to tell the master of his conversation with Giovanni nor of his suspicions he would only say that the hiding place had not seemed safe enough because the stone gave a hollow sound which even the boys would notice if anything fell upon it but for Nella it would be safest to give the box into Marietta's keeping since no one could possibly suspect that it could have found its way to her room at the mere thought his heart beat fast it would be a reason for seeing her alone if he could and for talking with her he planned how he would send her a message by Nella begging that he might speak to her on some urgent business of her father's and she would come as she had come before they would talk in the garden under the plain tree where Pascuali and Nella could see them and he would explain what he wanted then he would give her the box he thought of it with calm delight as he saw it all in a beautiful vision but there was Nella and there was Pascuali the former indiscreet the latter silent but keen-sighted and quick-witted in spite of his slow and surly ways everyone knew that the book existed somewhere and the porter and the serving woman would guess the truth at once at present no one but himself knew positively where the thing was if he carried out his plan three other persons would possess the knowledge it was not to be thought of he looked about the laboratory there were the beams and crossbeams and the box would probably just fit into one of the shadowy interstices between two of the latter but they were twenty feet from the ground he had no letter and if there had been one at hand he could not have mounted it yet his eye fell on the big earthen jar more than half a man's height and as big around as a hog's head half full of broken glass from the experiments no one would think of it as a place for hiding anything and it would not be emptied till it was quite full several months since besides no one would dare to empty it without Barov Yarrow's orders as it contained nothing but fine red glass which was valuable and only needed melting to be used at once it was not an easy matter to take out half the contents and he was in constant danger of interruption at night it would have been impossible owing to the presence of the boys if Pasquale appeared and saw a heap of broken glass on the floor he would surely suspect something so as he calculated that it would take two hours to remove the fragments with the necessary care to avoid cutting his hands badly and to put them back again for the shape of the jar would not admit of his employing even one of the small iron shovels used for filling the crucibles with considerable difficulty he moved a large chest that contained sifted white sand out of the dark corner in which it stood and placed it diagonally so as to leave a triangular space behind to guard against the sound of the broken glass being heard from without he shut the window in spite of the heat and having arranged in the corner one of the sacks used for bringing the cakes of kelp ashes from egypt he began to fill it with the broken glass he brought from the jar in a bucket when he judged that he had taken out more than half the contents he took the iron box from the annealing oven it was hard to carry it under the arm by which he walked with a stick the other hand being necessary to move the crutch and as he reached the jar he felt that it was slipping he bent forward and it fell with a crash bedding itself into the smashed glass oh zorsi drew a long breath of satisfaction for the hardest part of the work was done he tried to heave up the sack from the corner but it was far too heavy and he was obliged to bring back more than half of what it held by bucket fools before he was able to bring the rest dragging it after him across the floor it was finished at last he had shaken out the sack carefully over the jar's mouth and he had moved the sand chest back to its original position no one would have imagined that the broken glass had been removed and put back again the box was safely hidden now he was utterly exhausted when he dropped into the big chair after washing the dust and blood from his hands for it had been impossible to do what he had done without getting a few scratches though none of them could have been called a cut he sat quite still and closed his eyes the box was safe now it was not to be imagined that anyone should ever suspect where it was and on that point he was well satisfied his only possible cause of anxiety now might be that if anything should happen to him the master would be in ignorance of what he had done but he saw no reason to expect anything so serious and his mind was at rest about the matter which had much disturbed him ever since Giovanni's visit the plan which he had attributed to the latter was not however the one which suggested itself to the younger Barovaro's mind it would have been easy to carry out and it was very simple and for that very reason Giovanni did not think of it besides in his estimation it would be better to act in such a way as to get rid of Zorzi forever if that were possible on the Saturday night after Zorzi had hidden the box in the jar the workman cleared away the litter in the main furnace rooms and the order was given to let the fires go out Zorzi sent word to the night boys who tended the fire in the laboratory that they were to come as usual they appeared punctually and to his surprise made no objection to working though he had expected that they would complain of the heat and alleged that their fathers would not let them go on any longer on Sunday according to the old rule of the house no work was done and Zorzi kept up the fire himself spending most of the long day in the garden on Sunday night the boys came again and went to work without a word and in the morning they left the usual supply of chopped billets piled up and ready for use Zorzi had rested himself thoroughly and went back to his experiments on that Monday with fresh energy the very first test he took of the glass that had been fusing since Saturday night was successful beyond his highest expectations he had grown reckless after having spoiled the original mixtures by adding the copper in the hope of getting more of the wonderful red and carried away by the love of the art and by the certainty of ultimate success which every man of genius feels almost from boyhood he had deliberately attempted to produce the white glass for which bere of yarrow was famous he followed a theory of his own in doing so for although he was tolerably sure of the nature of the ingredients as was every workman in the house neither he nor they knew anything of the proportions in which bere of yarrow mixed the substances and every glassmaker knows by experience that those proportions constitute by far the most important element of success Zorzi had not poured out the specimen on the table as he had done when the glass was colored on the contrary he had taken some on the blowpipe and had begun to work with it at once for the three great requisites were transparency, ductility, and lightness in a few minutes he had convinced himself that his glass possessed all these qualities in an even higher degree than the master's own and that was immeasurably superior to anything which the latter's own sons or any other glassmaker could produce Zorzi had taken very little at first and he made of it a thin file of graceful shape turned the mouth outward and dropped a little vessel into the bed of ashes he would have said it in the annealing oven but he wished to try the weight of it and he let it cool taking it up when he could touch it safely he felt it in his hand like a thing of air on the shelf was another nearly like it in size which he had made long ago with bere of yarrow's glass there were scales on the table he laid one file in each and the old one was by far the heavier he had to put a number of penny weights into the scale with his own before the two were balanced his heart almost stood still and he could not believe his good fortune he took the sheet of rough paper on which he had written down the precise contents of the three crucibles and he carefully went over the proportions of the ingredients in the one from which he had just taken his specimen he made a strong effort of memory trying to recall whether he had been careless and inexact in weighing any of the materials but he knew that he had been most precise he had also noted the hour at which he had put the mixture into the crucible on saturday and he now glanced at the sandglass and made another note but he did not lay the paper upon the table where it had been lying for two days kept in place by a little glass weight no it had become his most precious possession what was written on it meant a fortune as soon as he could get a furnace to himself it was his own and not the master's it was wealth it might even be fame Beroviaro might call him to account for misusing the furnace but that was no capital offense after all and it was more than paid for by the single crucible of magnificent red glass Zorzi was attempting to reproduce that too for he had the master's notes of what the pot had contained and it was almost ready to be tried he even had the piece of copper carefully weighed to be equal in bulk with the ladle that had been melted if he succeeded there also that was a new secret for Beroviaro but the other was for himself all that morning he reveled in the delight of working with the new glass a marvelous dish with upturned edge and ornamented foot was the next thing he made and he placed it at once in the annealing oven then he made a tall drinking glass such as he had never made before and then in contrast a tiny ampoule so small that he could almost hide it in his hand with his spout yet decorated with all the perfection of a larger piece he worked on careless of the ton his genius all alive the rest a distant dream he was putting the finishing touches to a beaker of a new shape when the door opened and Giovanni entered the laboratory Zorzi was seated on the working stool the pontil in one hand the porcelo in the other he glanced at Giovanni absently and went on for it was the last touch and the glass was cooling quickly still working in this heat asked Giovanni fanning himself with his cap as was his custom there was a moment silence then a sharp clicking sound and the beaker fell finished into the soft ashes yes i'm still at work as you see answered Zorzi not realizing that Giovanni would particularly notice what he was doing he rose with some difficulty and got his crutch under one arm with a forked stick he took the beaker from the ashes and placed it in the annealing oven Giovanni watched him and when the broad iron door was open he saw the other pieces already standing inside on the iron tray admirable cried Giovanni you are a great artist my dear Zorzi there is no one like you i do what i can answered Zorzi closing the door quickly lest the hot end of the oven should cool at all i should say you do what no one else can return to Giovanni but how lame you are i had expected to find you walking as well as ever by this time i shall never walk again without limping oh take courage said Giovanni who seemed determined to be both cheerful and flattering you will soon be as light on your feet as ever but it was a shocking accident he sat down in the big chair and Zorzi took the small one by the table wishing that he would go away it is a pity that you had no white glass in the furnace on that particular day Giovanni continued you said you had none if i remember how is it that you have it now have you changed one of the crucibles yes one of the experiments succeeded so well that it seemed better to take out all the glass may i see a piece of it inquire Giovanni as if you were asking a great favor it was one thing to let him test the glass himself it was quite another to show him a piece of it he would see it sooner or later and he could guess nothing of its composition this specimen is there on the table Zorzi answered Giovanni rose at once and took the piece from the paper on which it lay and held it up against the light he was amazed at the richness of the color and gave vent to all sorts of exclamations did you make this he asked at last it is the result of the master's experiments it is marvelous he has made another fortune Giovanni replaced the specimen where it had lain and as he did so his eye fell on the file Zorzi had made that morning Zorzi had not put it into the annealing oven because it had been allowed to get quite cold so that the annealing would have been imperfect Giovanni took it up and uttered a low exclamation of surprise at its lightness he held it up and looked through it and then he took it by the neck and tapped it sharply with his fingernail take care said Zorzi it is not annealed it may fly oh exclaimed Giovanni have you just made it yes it is the finest glass I ever saw it is much better than what they had in the main furnaces the day you were hurt did you not find it so yourself and working with it Zorzi began to feel anxious as to the result of so much questioning whatever happened he must hide from Giovanni the fact that he had discovered a new glass of his own yes he answered with effected indifference I thought it was unusually good I dare say there may be some slight difference in the proportions do you mean to say that my father does not follow any exact rule oh yes but he's always making experiments he mixes all the materials for the main furnaces himself does he not encourage Giovanni yes he does it alone in the room that is kept locked when he has finished the men come and carry out the barrows the materials are stirred and mixed together outside yes I do it in the same way myself have you ever helped my father in that work no certainly not if I had helped him once I should know the secret Zorzi smiled but if you do not know the secret said Giovanni unexpectedly how did you make this glass he held up the file why do you suppose that I made it Zorzi felt himself growing pale the master has supplies of everything here in the laboratory and in the little room where I sleep is there white glass here too of course answered Zorzi readily there is half a jar of it in my room we keep it there so that the night boys may not steal it a little letter time I see answer Giovanni that is very sensible he was firmly convinced that if he asked Zorzi any more direct questions the answer would be a falsehood and he applauded himself for stopping at the point he had reached in his inquiries for he was an experienced glassmaker and was perfectly sure that the file was not made from Beravio's ordinary glass it followed that Zorzi had used the precious book and Giovanni inferred that the rest was a lucky accident will you sell me one of these beautiful things you have in the oven Giovanni asked in an insinuating town Zorzi hesitated the master had often paid him a fair price for objects he had made and which were used in Beravio's house as has been told Zorzi did not wish to irritate Giovanni by refusing and after all there was no great difference between being paid by old Beravio or by his son the fact that he worked in glass which had been an open secret among the workmen for a long time was now no secret at all the question was rather as to his right being Beravio's trusted assistant to sell anything out of the house will you ask Giovanni after waiting a few moments for an answer i would rather wait until the master comes back said Zorzi doubtfully i'm not quite sure about it i will take all the responsibility Giovanni answered cheerfully am i not free to come to my father's glass house and buy a beaker or a dish for myself if i please of course i am but there is no real difference between buying from you on one side of the garden or from the furnace on the other is there the difference is that in the one case you buy from the master and pay him but now you are offering to pay me who am already well paid by him for any work i may do you are very scrupulous said Giovanni in a disappointed tone tell me does my father never give you anything for the things you make of what you say are in the house oh yes answered Zorzi promptly he always pays me for them but that shows that he does not consider them as part of the work you are regularly paid to do does it not i suppose so as Zorzi said turning over the question in his mind Giovanni took a small piece of gold from the purse he carried at his belt and he laid it on the flat arm of the chair beside him and put down one of his crooked forefingers upon it i cannot see what objection you can have in that case you know very well that young painters who work for masters help them but are always allowed to sell anything that they can paint in their leisure time yes that is true i will take the money sir and you may choose any of the pieces you like when the master comes i will tell him and if i have no right to the price he shall keep it himself do you really suppose that my father would be mean enough to take the money ask Giovanni who would certainly have taken it himself under the circumstances no he's very generous nevertheless i shall certainly tell him the whole story that is your affair i have nothing to say about it here is the money for which i will take the beaker i saw your finishing when i came in is it enough is it a fair price it is a very good price as Zorzi answered but there may be a piece among those in the oven which you will like better will you not come tomorrow when they are all annealed and make your choice no i have fallen in love with the piece i saw you making very well you shall have it and many thanks here is the money and thanks to you said Giovanni holding out the little piece of gold you shall pay me when you take the beaker objected Zorzi it may fly or turn out badly no no answered Giovanni rising and putting the money into Zorzi's hand if anything happens to it i will take another i am afraid that you may change your mind you see and i am very anxious to have such a beautiful thing he laughed cheerfully nodded to Zorzi and went out at once almost before the latter had time to rise from his seat and get his crutch under his arm when he was alone Zorzi looked at the coin and laid it on the table he was much puzzled by Giovanni's conduct but at the same time his artist's vanity was flattered by what had happened Giovanni's admiration of the glass was genuine there could be no doubt of that and he was a good judge as for the work Zorzi knew quite well that there was not a glass blower in merano who could approach him either in taste or skill old Beroviaro had told him so within the last few months and he felt that it was true he would have been neither a natural man nor a born artist if he had refused to sell the beaker out of an exaggerated scruple but the transaction had shown him that his only chance of success for the future lay in frankly telling old Beroviaro what he had done in his absence while reserving his secret for himself the master was proud of him as a pupil and sincerely attached to him as a man and would certainly not try to force him into explaining how the glass was made besides the glass itself was there easily distinguished from any other and Zorzi could neither hide it nor throw it away Giovanni went out upon the footway and as he passed Pascuali thought he had never seen him so cheerful the sour look had gone out of his face and he was actually smiling to himself but such a man it would hardly have been possible to attribute his pleased expression to the satisfaction he felt in having bought Zorzi's beaker he had never before in his whole life parted with a piece of gold without a little pang of regret but he had felt the most keen and genuine pleasure just now when Zorzi had at last accepted the coin Pascuali watched him cross the wooden bridge and go into his father's house opposite then the old porter shut the door and went back to the laboratory walking slowly with his ugly head bent a little as if in deep thought Zorzi had already resumed his occupation and had a lump of hot glass swinging on his blowpipe his crutch being under his right arm half a rainbow to windward observed the old sailor there will be a squall before a lawn what do you mean asked Zorzi if you had seen the senior Giovanni smile as he went out you would know what I mean in our seas when we see the stump of a rainbow low down in the clouds we say that it is the eye of the wind looking out for us and I can tell you that the wind is never long and coming did you say anything to make him smile asked Zorzi going on with his work I am not a mount bank growled the porter I am not a strolling player at the door of his booth at a fair cracking jokes with those who pass but perhaps it was you who said something amusing to him just before he left who knows I always took you for a grave young man it seems that I was mistaken you make jokes you cause a serious person like senior Giovanni to die of laughing end of chapter 14 chapter 15 of Marietta a maid of Venice by Francis Marion Crawford this LibriVox recording is in the public domain chapter 15 Giovanni sat in his father's own room at home with shut doors and he was writing he had received as good an education as any young nobleman or rich merchant's son in Venice but writing was always irksome to him and he generally employed a scribe rather than take the pen himself today he preferred to dispense with help instead of trusting the discretion of a secretary and this is what he was setting down quote hi Giovanni Beroviaro the son of Angelo of Moreno the glass maker being in my father's absence and in his stead the master of the honorable guild of glass makers do entreat your magnificence to interfere and act for the preservation of our ancient rights and privileges and for the maintenance of the just laws of Venice and for the honor of the republic and for the public good of Moreno there is a certain Zorzi called the ballerin who was a servant of the aforesaid Angelo Beroviaro a Dalmatian and a foreigner and a fellow of no worth who formerly swept the floor of the said Angelo's furnace room which the said Angelo keeps for his private use this fellow therefore this foreigner the said Angelo being absent on a long journey was left by him to watch the fire in the said room there being certain new glass in the crucibles of the said furnace which the said Zorzi called the ballerin was to keep hot a certain number of days and now in the torrid heat of summer the conicular days being at hand the furnaces in the glass house of the said Angelo have been extinguished but this Zorzi called the ballerin although he has removed from the furnace of the said Angelo the glass which was to be kept hot does insolently and defiantly refuse to put out the fire in the said furnace and forces the boys to make the fire all night to the great injury of their health because the conicular days are approaching but the said Zorzi called the ballerin like a raging devil come upon earth from his master Satan heeds no heat and he has no respect of laws nor of persons nor of the honorable guild nor of the republic working day and night at the glassblowers art just as if he were not a Dalmatian and a foreigner and a low fellow of no worth moreover he has made glass himself which is a forbidden for any foreigner to make throughout the dominions of the republic moreover it is a good white glass which he could not have made if he had not wickedly secretly and feloniously stolen a book which is the property of the fore said Angelo and which contains many things concerning the making of glass moreover this Zorzi called the ballerin is a liar a thief and an assassin for of the good white glass which he has melted by means of the said Angelo's secrets he makes vessels such as files ampulas and dishes which it is not lawful for any foreigner to make moreover in the vile wickedness of his shameless heart the said Zorzi called the ballerin has the presumption and effrontery to sell the said vessels openly admitting that he has made them and they are well made with diabolical skill and the sale of the said vessels is a great injury to the glassblowers of Moreno and to the honorable guild besides being in a front to the republic I therefore said Giovanni was indeed unable to believe that such monstrous wickedness could exist I therefore went into the furnace room myself and there I found the said Zorzi called the ballerin working alone and making a certain piece in the form of a beaker and though he knows me and I am the son of his master he is so lost to all shame that he continued to work before me as if he were a glassblower and though I fanned myself in order not to die of heat he worked before the fire and felt nothing raging like a devil I therefore offered to buy the beaker he was making and I put down a piece of money and the said Zorzi called the ballerin a liar a thief and an assassin took the said piece of money and set the said beaker within the annealing oven of the said furnace wherein I saw many other pieces of fine workmanship and he said that I should have the said beaker when it was annealed wherefore I being for the time the master of the honorable guild in the stead of the said Angelo entreat your magnificence on behalf of the said guild to interfere and act for the preservation of our ancient rights and privileges and for the honor of the republic moreover I entreat your magnificence to send a force by night in order that there may be no scandal to take the said Zorzi called the ballerin and to bind him and to carry him to venice that he may be tried for his monstrous crimes and be questioned even with torture as to others which he has certainly committed and be exiled from all the dominions of the republic forever on pain of being hanged that in this way our laws may be maintained and our privileges preserved moreover I will give any further information of the same kind which your magnificence may desire at moreno in the house of Angelo Bero Vero my father this third day of July in the year of the salvation of the world 1470 Giovanni Bero Vero the glassmaker end quote Giovanni had taken a long time in the composition of this remarkable document he sat in his linen shirt and black hose but he had paused often to fan himself with a sheet of paper and to wipe the perspiration from his forehead for although he was a lean man he suffered much from the heat owing to a weakness of his heart he folded the two sheets of his letter and tied them with a silk string of which he squeezed the knot into pasty red wax which he worked with his fingers and upon this he pressed the iron seal of the guild using both his hands and standing up in order to add his weight to the pressure the missive was destined for the bodesta of merano which is to say for the governor who was a patrician of venice and the most high and mighty personage Giovanni did not mean to trust to any messenger that very afternoon when he had slept after dinner and the sun was low he would have himself rode to the governor's house and he would deliver the letter himself or if possible he would see the dignitary and explain even more fully that Zorzi called the ballerin was a liar a thief and an assassin he felt a good deal of pride in what he had written so carefully and he was sure that his case was strong in another day or two Zorzi would be gone forever from merano Giovanni would have the precious manuscript in his possession and when old Baroviero returned Giovanni would use the book as a weapon against his father who would be furiously angry to find his favorite assistant gone it was all very well planned he thought and was sure to succeed he would even take possession of the beautiful red glass and of the still more wonderful white glass which Zorzi had made for himself by the help of the book he should soon be able to produce the same in his own furnaces the vision of a golden future opened before him he would outdo all the other glass makers in every market from Paris to Palermo from distant england to egyptian alexandria wheresoever the vast trade of venice carried those huge bales of delicate glass carefully packed in the dried seaweed of the lagoons gold would follow gold and his wealth would increase till it became greater than that of any patrician in venice who could tell but that in time the great exception might be made for him and he might be admitted to sit in the grand council he and his heirs forever just as if he had been born a real patrician and not merely a member of a half noble caste of glass blowers such things were surely possible in the cooler hours of the afternoon he got into his father's gondola for he was far too economical to keep one of his own and he had himself rode to the house of the governor on the grand canal of mirano but at the door he was told that the official was in venice and would not return till the following day the liveried porter was not sure where he might be found but he often went to the palace of the contorini who were his near relations the senior Giovanni to whom the porter was monstrously civil might give himself the fatigue of being taken there in his gondola in any case it would be easy to find the governor he would perhaps be on the grand canal in venice at the hour when all the patricians were taking the air it was very probable indeed the porter bowed low as the gondola pushed off and Giovanni leaned back in the comfortable seat to repeat again and again in his mind what he meant to say if he succeeded in speaking with the governor he had his letter of complaint safe in his wallet and he could remember every word he had written in order to go to venice the nearest way was to return from the grand canal of mirano by the canal of san pierro and to pass the glass house the door was shut as usual and Giovanni smiled as he thought of how the city archers would go in perhaps that very night to take zarzi away he would not be with them but when they were gone he would go and find the book under one of the stones when he had got it his father might come home for all Giovanni cared before long the gondola was winding its way through the narrow canals now shooting swiftly along a short straight stretch between a monastery and a palace now brought to by a turn of the hand at a corner as the man at the aura shouted out a direction meant for whoever might be coming by the right or left as one should say starboard helm or port helm and both doing the same two vessels pass clear of one another and to this day the gondoliers of venice used the old words and tell long-winded stories of their derivation and first meaning which seemed quite unnecessary but in veraviero's time the gondola had only lately come into fashion and everyone adopted it quickly because it was much cheaper than keeping horses and it was far more pleasant to be taken quickly by water by shorter ways than to ride in the narrow streets in the mud in winter and in the dust in summer jostling those who walked and sometimes quarreling with those who rode because the way was too narrow for one horse to pass another when both had riders on their backs moreover it was law that after nine o'clock in the morning no man who had reached the fig tree that grew in the open space before san salvatore should ride to saint marx by the merceria so that people had to walk the rest of the way leaving their horses to grooms the gondola was therefore a great convenience besides being a notable economy and ol francesco sensivino says that in his day which was within the lifetime of angelo beraviero's there were nine or ten thousand gondolas in venice but at first they had not the high peaked stem of iron and stem to stern were made almost alike as in the venetian boats and skiffs of our own time Giovanni got out at the steps of the congerini palace which of the many that even then belonged to different branches of that great house was distinguished above all others by its marvelous outer winding staircase which still stands in all its beauty and slender grace but near the great palace there were little wooden houses of two stories some new and straight and gaily painted but some old and crooked hanging over the canals so that they seemed ready to topple down with crazy outer balconies half closed in by lattices behind which the women sat for coolness and sometimes even slept in the hot months for the great city of stone and brick was not half built yet and the space before saint marx was much larger than it is now for the procurati did not yet exist nor the clock but the great bell tower stood almost in the middle of an open square and there were a little wooden booth set its base in which all sort of cheap trinkets were sold there were also such booths and small shops at the base of the two columns also the bridge of realto was a broad bridge of boats on which shops were built on each side of the way and the middle of the bridge could be drawn out for the great bucintaro to pass through when the doge went out in state to wed the sea Giovanni Beroviaro was well known to Contagrini's household for all new of the approaching marriage and the servants were not surprised when he inquired for the governor of Murano saying that his business was urgent but the governor was not there nor the master of the house they were gone to the grand canal would the senior Giovanni like to speak with Mesa Jacopo who chanced to be in the palace and alone it was still early and Giovanni thought that the opportunity was a for ingratiating himself with his future brother-in-law he would go in if he should not disturb Mesa Jacopo he was announced and ushered respectfully into the great hall and sense up the broad staircase to the hall of reception above and below his gondoliers gossiped with the servants talking about the coming marriage and many indiscreet things were said which it was better that their masters should not hear as for instance that Jacopo was really living in the house of the Anus Dei where he kept a beautiful Georgian slave in unheard of luxury and that this was a great grief to his father who was therefore very desirous of hastening the marriage with Marietta the porter winked one eye solemnly at the head gondolier as who should imply that the establishment at the Anus Dei would not be given up for twenty marriages but the gondolier said boldly that if Jacopo did not change his life after he married Marietta something would happen to him upon this the porter inquired superciliously what in the name of a great many beings celestial and infernal could possibly happen to any contourini who chose to do as he pleased the gondolier answered that there were laws the porter retorted that the laws were made for glass blowers but not for patricians and the two might have come to blows if they had not just then heard their master's voices from the landing of the great stairs and of course it was far more important to overhear all they could of the conversation than to quarrel about a point of law Giovanni was too full of his plan for Zorzi's destruction to resist the temptation of laying the whole case before contourini who was so soon to be a member of the family and as Jacopo who was himself going out accompanied his guests downstairs Giovanni continued to talk of the matter earnestly and contourini answered him with occasional monosyllables and short sentences much interested by the whole affair but wishing that Giovanni would go away now that he had told all he was in constant fear lest Zorzi should say something which might betray the meetings at the house of the unused day and had often regretted that he had not been put quietly out of the way instead of being admitted to the society now after hearing what Giovanni had to say he had not the slightest doubt but that Zorzi had really broken the laws and it seemed an admirable solution to the whole affair that the Dalmatian should be exiled from the republic for life that being settled he wished to get rid of his visitor as Arissa was waiting for him i assure you Giovanni said that this miserable Zorzi is a liar a thief and an assassin yes assented contourini carelessly i have no doubt of it the best thing is to arrest him at once this very night if possible and have him brought before the council yes contourini had agreed with Giovanni on this point already and made a movement to descend but Giovanni loved to stand still in order to talk and he would not move contourini waited for him it is important that some member of the council should be informed of the truth beforehand he continued will you speak to your father about it messa giocppo yes answered contourini and he spoke the word intentionally with great emphasis in the hope that Giovanni would be finally satisfied and go away you will be conferring a benefit on the city of morano said Giovanni in a tone of gratitude and this time he began to come down the steps the gondolier had heard every word that had been said as well as the servants in the lower hall but to them the conversation had no special meaning as they knew nothing of Zorzi to the gondolier on the other hand who was devoted to his master and detested his master's son it meant much though his solid face did not betray the slightest intelligence Giovanni took leave of contourini with much ceremony a little too much giocppo thought to the grand canal said Giovanni as the gondolier helped him to get in and he backed under the fells try and find the governor of morano and if you see him take me alongside his gondola the sun was now low and as the lightcraft shot out at last upon the grand canal the breeze came up from the land the cool and refreshing scores of gondolas were moving up and down some with the black fells some without and in the latter there were beautiful women whose sun dyed hair shown resplendent under the thin embroidered veils that loosely covered it they wore silk and satin of rich hues and jewels and some were clad in well fitted bodices that were nets of thin gold cord drawn close over velvet with long sleeves gathered to the fore arm and the upper arm by netting of seed pearls besides some of them set their husbands or their fathers in robes and mantles of satin and silk or in wide coats of rich stuff open at the neck bearded men straight featured and often very pale wearing great puffed caps set far back on their smooth hair their white hands playing with their gloves their dark eyes searching out from afar the faces of famous beauties or if they were gray haired men fixed thoughtfully before them overall the evening light descended like a mist of gold reflected from the sculptured walls of the palaces where marble columns and light traceries of stone were dyed red and orange and almost purple by the setting sun and nestling among the carved beams and far projecting balconies of wooden houses that overhung the canal yielding the water itself where the broad bladed oars struck deep and churned it and swept aft and steered with a poising feathering backstroke over tiny waves were dashed up by the gondola's bright iron stem slowly the water turned to wine below the clear outlines of the palaces stood out less sharply against the paling sky the golden cloudlets floating behind the great power of saint marks presently faded to wreaths of delicate mist the bells rung out from church and monastery far and near till the air was filled with a deep music telling all venice that the day was done then the many voices that had echoed in greeting and in laughter from boat to boat were hushed a moment and almost every man took off his hat or cap the robed counselor and the gondolier behind him and also a good number of the great ladies made the sign of the cross and were silent a while it was the hour when venice puts forth her stealing charm when the terrible distinctness of her splendor grows gentle and almost human and the little mystery of each young life rises from the heart to hold converse with the sweet mysterious all through the long day the palaces looked down consciously at themselves mirrored in the calm water where they stand and each seems to say I am finer than you or my master is still richer than yours or you are going to ruin faster than I am or I was built by a lombardo or I by Sansevino and the violent light is ever there to bear witness of the truth of what each says within without in hall and church and gallery there is perpetual brightness and perpetual silence but at the evening hour now as in old times a spirit takes venice and folds it in loving arms whispering words that are not even guessed by day the ave Maria had not ceased ringing when Giovanni's gondolier came up with the governor of morano he was alone and at his invitation Giovanni left his own craft and sat down beside the patrician whose gondola was uncovered for coolness Giovanni talked earnestly in low tones holding his sealed letter in his hand while his own oarsman watched him closely in the advancing dusk but was too wise to try to overhear what was said he knew well enough now what Giovanni wanted of the governor and what he obtained not tonight the governor said audibly is Giovanni returned to his own gondola tomorrow Giovanni turned before getting under the fells bowed low as he stood up and said a few words of thanks which governor could hardly have heard as his boat shot ahead though he made one more gracious gesture with his hand the shadows descended quickly now and everywhere the little lights came out from lattice balconies and palace windows left open to let in the cool air and from the silently gliding gondolas that each carried a small lamp and here and there between tall houses the young summer moon fell across the black water rippling under the freshening breeze and it was like a shower of silver falling into a widow's lap but Giovanni saw none of these things and if he had looked out of the small windows of the fells he would not have cared to see them for beauty did not appeal to him in nature any more than in art except that in the latter it was a cause of value in things besides as he suffered from the heat all day he was afraid of being chilled at evening so he sat inside the fells gloating over the success of his trip the governor who knew nothing of Zorzi but was well aware of Giovanni's importance in Murano had readily consented to arrest the poor Dalmatian who was represented as such a dangerous person besides being a liar and other things and Giovanni had particularly requested that the force sent should be sufficient to overpower the raging devil at once and without scandal he judged that ten men would suffice for this he said the fact was that he feared some resistance on the part of Piscuali whom he knew to be a friend of Zorzi he had carefully abstained from alluding to Zorzi's lameness lest the mere mention of it should excite some compassion in his hearer he had in fact done everything to assure the success of his scheme except the one thing which was the most necessary of all he had allowed himself to speak of it in the hearing of the gondolier who hated him and who lost no time in making use of the information it was nearly separate time when he deposited Giovanni at the steps of the house and took the gondola round to the narrow canal in which the boats lay and which was under Nella's window the shutters were wide opened and there was a light within he called the servant woman by name and she looked out and asked what he wanted then as now gondoliers worked indoors like the servants were not busy with the boats and slept in the house the man was on friendly terms with Nella who liked him because he thought her mistress the most perfect creature in the world i have ripped the arm of my doublet he said can you mend it for me this evening bring it up to me now answered Nella there is time before supper you can weigh outside my room while i do it my mistress is already gone downstairs you are an angel observe the gondolier from below the only thing you need is a husband you have guessed wrong answered Nella with a little lap that is the only thing i do not need she disappeared and the gondolier went round by the back of the house to the side door in order to go upstairs in a quarter of an hour while she stood in her doorway and he in the passage without he had told her all he knew of Giovanni's evil intentions against Zorzi including the few words which the governor had spoken audibly the torn sleeve was an invention Giovanni was visibly elated at supper a circumstance which pleased his wife but inspired Marietta with some distrust she had never felt any sympathy for the brother who was so much older than herself and who took a view of things which seemed to her assorted and she did not like to see him sitting in her father's place often talking of the house as if it were already he is and dictating to her upon matters of conduct as well as upon questions of taste everything he said jarred on her but as yet she had no idea that he had any plans against Zorzi and being of a reserved character she often took no trouble to answer what he said except to bend her head a little to acknowledge that he had said it when she was alone with her father she loved to sit with him after supper in the big room working by the clear light of the olive oil lamp while he sat in his great chair and talked to her of his work he had told her far more than he realized of his secret processes as well as of his experiments and she had remembered it for she alone of his children had inherited his true love and understanding of the noble art of glassmaking but now that he was away Giovanni generally spent the evening in instructing his wife how to save money and she listened meekly enough to what he told her for she was a modest little woman of colorless character brought up to have no great opinion of herself though her father was a rich merchant and she looked upon her husband as belonging to a superior class Marietta found the conversation intolerable and she generally left the couple together a quarter of an hour after supper was over and went to her own room where she worked a little and listened to Nella's prattle and sometimes answered her she was living in a state of half suspended thought and was glad to let the time pass as it would provided it passed at all this evening as usual she bathed her brother and his wife good night and went upstairs Nella had learned to expect her and was waiting for her to her surprise Nella shut the window as soon as she entered leave it open she said it is hot this evening why do you shut it you never do a window is an ear answered Nella mysteriously the nights are still and voices carry far what great secret are you going to talk of inquired Marietta with a careless smile as she drew the long pins from her hair and let the heavy braids fall behind her bad news bad news Nella repeated the young master is doing things which he ought not to do because they are very unjust and spiteful I am only a poor serving woman but I would bite off my fingers like this and she bit them sharply and shook them before I would let them do such things what do you mean Nella asked Marietta you must not speak of my brother in that way your brother hey your brother cried Nella in a low and angry voice quite unlike her own do you know what your brother has done he has been to messager copo canterini your betrothed husband and he has told him that Zorzi is a liar a thief and an assassin that he will have him arrested tonight tonight if he can and messager copo promised that his father who was of the council shall have Zorzi condemned and your brother has seen the governor of morano in venice and has given him a great letter and the governor said that it should not be tonight but tomorrow that is the sort of man your brother is Marietta was standing she had turned slowly pale while Nella was speaking and grasped the back of a chair with both hands she thought she was going to faint end of chapter 15 this recording by Michelle Fry, Baton Rouge, Louisiana