"I shall get well, Marco mio," she
said, with a sudden conviction that surprised them; but still there was
no smile in her eyes, and their hearts were sad, though the change that
had come over her was so extraordinary that they hoped much from the
explanation which the great Santorio had authorized.
But for whom should they send in this moment, when life and death hung
in the balance, to speak that authoritative word.
The Bishop of Aquileia, first and greatest of the Venetian bishops, had
incurred the displeasure of the Senate for refusing to perform the
duties of his office while the Republic remained under that fulminated
but unacknowledged censure, and a new prelate, of opinions approved by
the Most Serene Republic, sat in the vacated see. The Bishop of Vicenza
had likewise signified his sympathy with the Holy See; and in Brescia
their wandering prelate had scarcely yet received that strengthening
monition of the watching Senate which was to recall him from his
hiding-place and hold him steadfast in his cathedral service.
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