the shades of his ancestors, though at heart he was proud of them, and
the prestige and luxury of his surroundings suited him well; but he
chafed under his father's scrutiny, which, it seemed to him, unveiled
the differences of their temperaments to an almost indecorous degree.
The thought of Marina was tingling in his pulses, but he would not yield
it up until the propitious moment came; and the strong consciousness of
this sweet new queenship made the constant assertion of the sovereignty
of Venice not easy to endure. But the remembrance of his vow of
allegiance, just rendered before the Senate, returned to him rather as
the public investiture of his rights as a man than as a claim of
self-surrender; and he vowed to himself to use that right, in all
possible conflict between himself and the Republic, in questions
personal and dear; for the pleasant freedom of his life thus far had
left him less in awe of the senatorial majesty than Giustinian
Giustiniani would have deemed possible. But how could he hope to win his
father's consent to any unpatrician alliance!

He passed the elder Giustinian hastily and paused beyond the next group
of armor--battered breastplates, casques, and shields of the twelfth
century--but his thoughts were elsewhere.

"These," said the Senator, inexorably recalling him, "were of the famous
siege of Lepanto, where, but for the favor of the Holy Father, our house
had been extinct."

The young fellow's soul stirred within him, for he knew the story well.
How was it possible for a Giustinian to pause before this great stand of
antique trophies of prowess and not call to mind visions of heroism and
suffering in which the Giustiniani of those days--_every one who
belonged to Venice_--had yielded up his life in this great struggle with