BOOK THE SECOND.




CHAPTER I: THE BIRTHDAY.



In solitude and anxiety, with barred windows and bolted doors, did
the banditti pass the day immediately succeeding Matteo's murder;
every murmur in the street appeared to them a cause of apprehension;
every footstep which approached their doors made them tremble till
it had passed them.

In the meanwhile the ducal palace blazed with splendour and
resounded with mirth. The Doge celebrated the birthday of his fair
niece, Rosabella; and the feast was honoured by the presence of the
chief persons of the city, of the foreign ambassadors, and of many
illustrious strangers who were at that time resident in Venice.

On this occasion no expense had been spared, no source of pleasure
had been neglected. The arts contended with each other for
superiority; the best poets in Venice celebrated this day with
powers excelling anything which they had before exhibited, for the
subject of their verses was Rosabella; the musicians and virtuosi
surpassed all their former triumphs, for their object was to obtain
the suffrage of Rosabella. The singular union of all kinds of
pleasure intoxicated the imagination of every guest; and the genius