Something terribly real lay between them, of which it seemed better not
to speak, since all his efforts to change her point of view had failed.
It was utterly sad to have her so nearly herself again, and yet so far
from him. Life was hard for this young senator with his multiplied
honors, his wealth, and prestige. Marina had always given impetus to his
life; now it was he who watched and cared for her, while she seemed to
have no will for anything, yet had lost that old charming ingenuousness
which had underlain her power. He had promised himself, out of his new
pathetic yearning when she had begun to improve, that never again should
she know an ungratified wish, yet now he feared that she would give him
no opportunity of granting a request, so apathetic had she grown. But
one day, when he was trying to rouse her to express a desire, she laid
her hand eagerly on his, asking a thing so strange that unconsciously he
started away from her.
"Marco, mio, take me to Rome!"
For a moment, in spite of all that had gone before, the young Senator
was betrayed into a forgetfulness of his tender mood--it was so strange,
this request of a Lady of the Giustiniani, to choose Rome rather than
Venice at a time of contest; but her face and manner and speech were
luminous with hope; she was radiant again, as she had not been for many
months; yet the words escaped from him unintentionally and sternly:
"_To Rome_!"
"Yes, Marco, thou and I and the little one! We should be so happy again
in the palazzo Donatello, where baby came to us.
Pages:
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380