She did not know that Piero was watching
her--compassionate and comprehending--while she was struggling to
outlive the agony for the very love's sake which made it so keen.
It was the only sweetness left in life for her, that this cruel parting
was yet for Marco's sake; that she might still plead with the Holy
Father for this desperate need of which Marco seemed unconscious--since,
in a vision never to be forgotten, the blessed Madre of San Donato had
confided this mission to her. She could bear everything to win such a
blessing for her beloved ones, only she must reach Rome--surely the
Madre Beatissima would let her live to reach the Holy City!
The tide was brimming the canals, rising over the water steps; the
growing light gleamed coldly on the polished marbles of her palace,
burnishing the rich gold fretwork of frieze and tracery--but not any
face of any dear one responded to her hungry longing, watching for her
in the deep spaces of the windows, in token of the love from which she
was fleeing.
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