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"
There was a murmur of surprise from the younger nobles, who were
standing in groups about the hall of the Gran' Consiglio; they had
supposed the face to be merely a dainty conceit of the artist's fancy,
and those nearest gathered about the case with sudden interest.
But the face of Marcantonio betrayed him, while he stood unabashed in
the circle of the senators, though with mounting color, his hand, under
shelter of his cloak, resting upon the jeweled hilt of the sword upon
which he had sworn his first knightly vow.
Giustinian Giustiniani rose to his feet. "Her name, Messer Paolo
Cagliari!" he thundered.
But it was the young Giustinian who answered to the challenge--"Marina
Magagnati!" with an unconscious reverence, as he confessed his lady's
name.
"Is no face found fair enough among all the palaces on the Canal Grande
to charm thy fastidious fancy?" cried the angry father, losing all
self-control. "It were fitter that the name of thine inamorata were
first declared elsewhere than in this presence!"
"Not so, my father," Marcantonio replied, undaunted.


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