Then he caught sight of Arisa, smiling
at him, but not as she had been wont to smile. Aristarchi spoke at last,
in an easy, reassuring tone.
"My friend," he said, "I am not going to hurt you any more. You may
think it strange, but I really shall not kill you. Arisa and I have
loved each other for a long time, and since she has lived here, I have
come to her almost every night. I know your house almost as well as you
do, and you have kindly told me that your friends are all looked in. We
shall therefore not have the trouble of leaving by the window, since we
can go out by the front door, where my boat will be waiting for us. You
will never see us again."
Contarini's eyes rolled wildly, and still Arisa smiled.
"You have made him suffer," she said. "He loved me."
"Before we go," continued the Greek, folding his arms and looking down
upon his miserable enemy, "I think it fair to warn you that under the
praying-stool in Arisa's room there is an air shaft through which we
have heard all your conversation, during these secret meetings of yours.
If you try to pursue us, I shall send information to the Ten, which will
cut off most of your heads. As they are so empty it might seem to be
scarcely worth while to take them, but the Ten know best.
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