"And what is this law? And
why is the subject not fit for Venetian nobles to discuss, since it
touches them so nearly?" She was growing disturbed, for she feared some
injustice, since Marco had not been indignant at the strange condition
she had unfolded to him, and she had thought it must suffice only to
name it to him.
The young patrician looked at her in amazement. Fra Paolo was indeed
right, yet he had been almost indignant at the suggestion.
"The subject cannot be discussed," he said, in quick, hard tones,
"because the Abbot of Nervessa hath committed crimes so atrocious that
thou would'st shrink at the bare naming of them. And for Saraceni--the
Canon of Vicenza--there came one day to the Senate a noble lady of
Vicenza, young, and very beautiful, and in great trouble, casting
herself at the feet of the Serenissimo, imploring protection from
disgrace that the canon would bring upon her--a scandal I had never
thought to name to thee. And there are other charges."
"It cannot be true!" she cried, flushed and trembling.
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