Or, should he be pursued and
lighted upon by the far-seeing eye of the Ten, he could die but once and
get into trouble no more! He crossed himself decorously as he dismissed
the matter; but it was not an event that he could change by pondering.
There was another question that interested him more keenly at this
moment; when Messer Girolamo should know that his daughter was not in
Venice, could he fail to comprehend the hint he had given a few hours
before, and would he not follow them to Rome, as Piero devoutly hoped,
for he wished to leave Marina in her father's care. It was not easy to
predict what Messer Girolamo might do--the case had been too doubtful
for a more explicit confession, and Piero had been wise in his
generation.
He turned now to Marina with the question: "If thou hadst told thy
father of thy wish mayhap he might have come with thee?"
She shook her head sadly and made no answer, but after awhile she said,
"He is like the others. They cannot understand the need, for to them the
Madonna hath not revealed the desperate state of Venice.
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