XVIII
The Lady Marina was wan from fear and fasting but very resolute, though her face showed traces of tears, as her husband entered the oratory of the palace, whither she had implored him to come to her before he went to the Senate Chamber—a dignity to which he had but just been elected.
\"Why hast thou summoned me hither?\" he asked somewhat coldly; for, like most light-hearted people, he disliked scenes, and differences between himself and his wife were the more intolerable to him because he truly loved her.
\"Oh, Marco, my beloved!\" she exclaimed imploringly, \"thou lovest Venice as much as I, and thy little word can save her from this great horror, for thou art in the councils of thy people.\"
\"Nay, Marina, thou dost not understand,\" he answered deprecatingly, softening at the sight of her trouble. \"I have but one vote; it is as nothing in the Senate—it would but draw indignation against our house. It is not possible to fail in loyalty to the Republic on this first occasion of moment.\"
\"Thy father might be won, if thou hast but courage. Thou art a Giustinian; it is thy duty to speak in time of peril, and thy words would make others brave to follow thee. Thus shalt thou save Venice.\"
\"If thou didst but know, carina, how the Senate and the Ten are set against this wish of thine! I should not speak of this matter to thee, for it is secret—but to calm thee and help thee understand.\"
\"How shall it calm me to know that the people and the city are rushing under the ban? If this terrible resolution passes, if our child—our tender child—were to die to-morrow he would go without burial—a little wandering soul! Marco, thou lovest our child?\"
Her pauses and her desperate struggle for control were full of inexpressible horror.
\"Calm thyself, my darling; it shall not be,\" he answered, reassuringly.
\"Oh, Marco mio! And thou wilt give thy vote against it? And thou wilt use thine influence in the Council? Promise me!\"
She clung to him, sobbing and exhausted.
He soothed her for a moment silently; should he leave her under such a misunderstanding? It would be easier for them both, but he had intended no untruth. How was it possible to make such a woman understand? She was quiet now, and he was stealing away from her with a kiss on her forehead.
\"Promise me!\" she insisted, following him and clasping his arm with sudden strength.
\"Marina, they are very set; and the Ten—thou dost not know their power.\"
\"And shall all Venice brave the wrath of our most Holy Church because the Senate is afraid of the Ten? Are the Ten more powerful than the Holy Father and all the priesthood and sacraments of the Church? Marco, my beloved, how shall I save thee?\" \"Carina, these things are not coming upon Venice; thou dost not understand the law of Church and State.\"
\"No, Marco,\" she answered boldly, \"it is rather thou who dost not understand. There will be no services, no marriage for our people, no burial, no consolations of our holy religion, no sacraments—if this excommunication should come upon us.\"
\"If we had sinned, Marina, and laid ourselves open to interdict, then these things should come—not otherwise.\"
\"Ay, but we have sinned—by rebellion against the Holy Church. Marco, it is not easy for men to submit; but Father Francesco says the women shall save Venice.\"
\"The women of Venice are priest-ridden!\" the young Senator cried angrily, breaking away from her. \"If there is trouble, it is the priests who have brought it. They cannot be a separate power within Venice!\"
\"Not a separate power, Marco, only the representative of the Church, which is the supreme power.\"
\"These things are not for women to discuss,\" he exclaimed in astonishment that she should attempt to reason on such a subject.
\"Not for women, and not for men,\" she answered quietly. \"The power of the Holy Father is by divine right.\"
\"Marina, if thou canst say so much, thou shalt understand the rest!\" he cried desperately. \"So also is the power of temporal princes by divine right—if not even more, as some of the authorities would have it. But the temporal prince hath right only to that within his own jurisdiction. Granting the divine right to the spiritual prince, it lieth only within his own province. Paul V hath exceeded his rights. Leonardo Donato, Serenissimo of the Republic, is not guilty in self-defense.\"
She quivered as if a knife had been thrust through her; then, controlling herself by force, she dipped her fingers in the basin of holy water that stood upon the little altar. \"It is sacrilegious to speak against the Holy Father,\" she said in a low, grieved tone, as she made the sign of the cross upon his breast. \"May God forgive thee, my dear one—it is not thy fault. But in the Senate they are misleading thee!\"
\"My sweet wife,\" he answered, much troubled, and folding her closely. \"Do not grieve. All will be well for Venice. We shall not bring harm upon her.\"
But she detected no yielding in his tone. She lifted her head from his breast, and moved slightly away from him.
\"Marco,\" she asked firmly, \"when is the vote to be cast?\"
\"To-day, before sunset, and I must not linger. It would bring misfortune upon our house if I were to be absent in an affair of such moment. Else would I not leave thee.\"