"If girls were consulted as to the men they were to marry,
the world would soon come to an end. This is only a passing madness, of
which you should be heartily ashamed. Say no more about it. On the
appointed day, the wedding will take place."
"It will not," said Marietta firmly; "and you will do better to let it
be known at once. It is of no use to take heaven to witness, and to make
a solemn oath. I merely say that I will not marry Jacopo Contarini. You
may carry me to the church, you may drag me before the altar, but I will
resist. I will scream out that I will not, and the priest himself will
protect me. That will be a much greater scandal than if you go to the
Contarini family and tell them that your daughter is mad--if you really
think I am."
"You are undoubtedly beside yourself at the present moment," Beroviero
answered. "But it will pass, I hope."
"Not while I am alive, and I shall certainly resist to the end. It would
be much wiser of you to send me to a convent at once, than to count on
forcing me to go through the marriage ceremony."
Beroviero stared at her, and stroked his beard. He began to believe that
she might possibly be in earnest. Since she talked so quietly of going
to a convent, a fate which most girls considered the most terrible that
could be imagined.
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