"But I daresay it has made us
all change our opinion of the Ten," he added with a smile. "Good-bye.
Let me come and see you at work at your own furnace before long. I have
always wished to see glass blown."
Without waiting for more, he walked quickly away, waving his hand after
he had already turned.
It was noon when Zorzi had folded his patent carefully and hidden it in
his bosom, and he and Beroviero and Pasquale went out of the busy
gateway under the outer portico. Beroviero led the way to the right, and
they passed Saint Mark's in the blazing sun, and the Patriarch's palace,
and came to the shady landing, the very one at which the old man and his
daughter had got out when they had come to the church to meet Contarini.
The gondola was waiting there, and Beroviero pushed Zorzi gently before
him.
"You are still lame," he said. "Get in first and sit down."
But Zorzi drew back, for a woman's hand was suddenly thrust out of the
little window of the 'felse,' with a quick gesture.
"There is a lady inside," said Zorzi.
"Marietta is in the gondola," answered Beroviero with a smile. "She
would not stay at home. But there is room for us all. Get in, my son."
NOTE
The story of Zorzi Ballarin and Marietta Beroviero is not mere fiction,
and is told in several ways.
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