instead. I shall not be portionless. You shall not be ashamed of me when
you meet your old friends."

"Ashamed!" His arm pressed her to him till she longed to cry out for
pain, yet she would not have had him less rough.

"You are so strong!" she gasped in a broken whisper. "Yes--a little
looser--so! I can speak now. You must go to Murano to-morrow and find
out all about this Angelo Beroviero and his daughter. Try to see her,
and tell me whether she is pretty, but most of all learn whether she is
really rich."

"That is easy enough. I will go to the furnace and offer to buy a cargo
of glass for Sicily."

"But you will not take it?" asked Arisa in sudden anxiety lest he should
leave her to make the voyage.

"No, no! I will make inquiries. I will ask for a sort of glass that does
not exist."

"Yes," she said, reassured. "Do that. I must know if the girl is rich
before I marry him to her."

"But can you make him marry her at all?" asked Aristarchi.

"I can make him do anything I please. We drank to the health of the
bride to-night, in a goblet made by her father! The wine was strong, and
I put a little syrup of poppies into it. He will not wake for hours.
What is the matter?"