They went on silently and soon they came to the Piazza.

"I don't see her," said the earl; "perhaps she has gone back to the
church."

They crossed the Piazza and entered St. Mark's.

"Not here," said the earl.

They walked up the south aisle and came to the anteroom of the treasury.
Its door was open. They entered what had once been a tower of the old
palace. The door of the treasury was also open. They went in and found
the sacristan and a woman. She held the turquoise cup in her hands.

"Did you buy it, Bobby?" she exclaimed.

She turned and saw that the earl was not alone.

"Your grace," he said, "I present you to Lady Nora Daly."

She bent with a motion half genuflexion, half courtesy, and then
straightened herself, smiling.

The cardinal did not notice the obeisance, but he did notice the smile.
It seemed to him, as he looked at her, that the treasures of St. Mark's,
the jewelled chalices and patens, the agate and crystal vessels, the
reliquaries of gold and precious stones, the candlesticks, the two
textus covers of golden cloisonné, and even the turquoise cup itself,