"
"It is not that," he answered. "You might starve."
She looked up anxiously to his face.
"And you?" she asked. "Have you no money?"
"No. How should I have money? I believe I have one piece of gold and a
little silver. It will be enough to keep me from starvation till I can
get work somewhere. I can live on bread and water, as I have many a
time."
"If I had only thought!" exclaimed Marietta. "I have so much! My father
left me a little purse of gold that I shall never need."
"I would not take your father's money," answered Zorzi. "But have no
fear. If I go at all, I shall do well enough. Besides, there is a man in
Venice--" He stopped short, not wishing to speak of Zuan Venier.
"You must not make any condition," she answered, not heeding the
unfinished sentence. "You must go at once."
She rose as she spoke.
"Every minute I stay here makes it more dangerous for me to go back,"
she said. "I know that you will keep your promise. We must say
good-bye."
He had risen, too, and stood facing her, his crutch under his arm. In
all her anxiety for his safety she had half forgotten that his wound was
barely healed, and that he still walked with great difficulty. And now,
at the thought of leaving him she forgot everything else.
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