For in the Church also we have had our part. A Giustinian
was first Patriarch of Venice; a saint was father to our else broken
line--we have had our share in Church and State, and it behooves a
member of the Consiglio to remember the honors of his house."
He stood for a moment looking up at the shield on which were blazoned
the arms of the Giustiniani, as if he missed something that should have
been there; then, slowly turning back to the central court, now flooded
with sunshine, he began the ascent of the grand stairway which led to
the banqueting hall. The gleaming marble panels bore a fretwork of
sculptured foliage with symbols entwined--the mitre, the cross, the
sword--in richest Renaissance; but in all the decorations of this lordly
palace, of the most ancient of the Venetians, not once did the mighty
Lion of St. Mark appear.
When they had reached the landing opening into the banquet hall the
Senator, turning in the direction of his own apartments, released his
son with a motion of his hand toward the great, splendid chamber from
which issued ripples of girlish laughter; and Marcantonio stood for a
few moments under the arches which opened into it, looking on
unobserved, for here it seemed that the fete was already reigning.
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