The mountain Democrat., 1865-05-06
E Ell DORADO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA 1865.

eye Of the State, sworn to celibacy and
the service Of the Church.
But the bright eyes of Blanche and the
piquancy Of her g3y>.YSH-,, :c1r, .E-, t-S-- T:Es
stronger than the ties.of forced betroth.
al, or the uockcry Of monastc bonds
Music from musicians stole at night thro'
the narrow canal where rose the palace of
the Pesaro. Flowers from unseen hands
were fioated at morn upon the marble
steps upon which the balconies of the Pc.
Saro palace looked down and always the
eager and girlish Blanche kept watch
through the kindly Venetian blinds for
the figures which stole by night over the
surface of the water, and for the lights
which glimmered in the patrician house
that stood over against the palace Of her
father.
A French lady, moreover, brought with
her from her own court more liberty for
the reveIs Of the Ducal Palace, and f01
the sights of the Ridotto, than belonged
to the noble maidens of Venice. 1t was
not strange that the Pes lro brothers fol.
lowed her thither, or that the gondoliers
who attended at the doors of the ambas-
sadors were accessible to the gold of the
Venetian gallants.
In all his own schemes, Enrico had
sought merely to defeat the intrigues of
Antonio, and to crafty by daring and sue.
ceSSful gallantries the pride of an offended
brother, an Oifcast OF the State. But in
the pursuit of Blanche there was a new
and livelier impulse His heart was stir.
red to depth that had never before been
reached; and to n jealousy Of Antonio was
now added defiance Of the State, which
had shorn him of privileges, and virtually
condemned him to an aimless life.
But if Enrico was more cautious and
discreet, Antonio was more bold and da-
ring. There never was lady, young or
old. French or Venetian, WHO did not pre-
fer boldncss to watchfulness, audacity to
caution. And therefore it was that Enri-
co-kindlcd into a new passion which
consumed all the old designs of his life
lost ground in contention with the more
adventurous approaches of Antonio.
Blanche, with the quick eye Of a woman,
and from the near windows of the palace
of the ambassador. saw the admiration of
the heirs of the Pesaro house, and looked
with greater favor upon the bolder advcn.
lures Of Antonio. The watchful eyes of
Enrico and Of the masked Fra Paolo, in
the gatherings of the Ducal hall, or in the
saloons of the Ridotto, were not slow to
observe the new and dangerous favor that
the senior heir of the Pesaro name was
winning from the strange lady.
1T is well, said Enrico, as he sat clos.
cted with his sanity adviser in a chamber
of the Pesar0 palace. 'the State will never
permit the heir of noble house to we'd
with the daughter of an alien; the Conta
rini will never permit this stain upon thciI
honor. Let the favor which Blanche q
France shows to Antonio be known to thu
State, and Antonio is
~ baniShed man, said Fra Paolo, soft
ening the danger to the assumed fears O
his brother.
And what them said Enrico, doubt
fully.
And tfcn the discreet Enrco attains to
the rights and privileges of his name
And Blanche =
You know the law of the State, my
SON.
A base law!
Not so loud said the cautious priest
the law has its exceptions. The ambas-
sador is reputed rich. If his wealth could
be transferred to the State of Venice all
would be WELL
1T is worth trial, said EnricO; and he
pressed purse of gold into the hands OF
the devout Fra PaolO.
The three Inquisitors Of State were met
in their chamber in the Ducal Palace. -
Its floor was of alternate squares Of black
and white marble, and its walls were Ia
pestried with dark hangings set off with
silver fringe. They were examining, with
their masks thrown aside, the accusations
which a Servitor had brought in from the
Lions Mouth, which opened in the wall
at the head of the second stairway.
Two Of the ihqustors We're dressed in
black, and the third, who sat between the
others-a small, stern man-was robed in
crimson. The face Of the last grew trou-
bled as his eye fell upon strange accusa-
tiOn affecting his honor, and perhaps his
safety. For even this terrible council
chamber had its own law among the mem.
bers, and its own punishment for indis-
rretion. More than once a patrician Of
Venice had disappeared from the eyes of
men, and mysterious message came to
the Grand Council that seat was vacant
in the chamber of the Inquisition.
The accusation which now startled the
members OF the Council was this:
Let the State beware; the Palace of
PeSarO is very near the Palace of France
ONE OF THE CoNTARINI.'
The Count Pesaro (for the inquisitor
was none other) in moment collected his
thoughts. lie had remarked thegbeauti-
ful daughter of the ambassador; he knew
Of the gallantries which had filled the life
Of his son Antonio; he recognized the
jealousy Of the Contarini.
For in the members of the fearful court
Of Venice, no tie was recognized but the
| tie which bound them to the mysterious
authority Of the State. The Count Pesa.
ro knew well that the discovery of any
secret intercourse with the palace of the
ambassador would be followed bY the
grave punishment Of his son; he knew that
any cons tracy with that son to shield him
from the State would bring the forfeit of
his life. Yet the inquisitor said, Let the
spies be doubled 7
And the spies were doubled; but the
father, more watchlul and wakeful than
all, discovered that it was not one son
only, but both, who held the guilty COM
munication with the servitors of the am.
baSSador's palace. There was little hope
that it would long escape the knowledge
of the Council. But the Count anticipat.
ed their action by sacrificing the younger
to the elder the gondolier of Enrico was
seized, and he brought to the chamber of
torture.
The father could not stay the judgment
which pronounced the exile Of his son,