"Piero," she said, looking up with eyes full of tears, "sometimes I
think I cannot bear it! He needs thy prayers as well as mine--wilt thou
not ask our Lady of San Donato to be kinder to him? And I have seen
to-day, on the Rialto, a beautiful lamp, with angels' heads. Thou
shouldst make an offering----"

The gondolier shook his head and shrugged his shoulders; he had little
faith or reverence. "I will say my aves, _poveriello_," he promised;
"but the lamps are already too many in San Donato. And for the bambino,
I will go not only once, but twice this year to confession--the laws of
our traghetto ask not so much, since once is enough. But thou art even
stricter with thy rules for me."

She did not answer, and they floated on in silence.

"To-morrow," said Piero at length, "there is festa in San Pietro di
Castello."

She moved uneasily, and her beautiful face lost its softness.

"It is nothing to me," she answered shortly.

"It is a pretty festa, and Messer Magagnati should take thee. By our
Lady of Castello, there are others who will go!"

"It would be better for the bambino," he persisted sullenly, as she did
not answer him. His voice was not the pleasanter now that its positive
tone was changed to a coaxing one.