His large wallet was so full of gold that he could hardly draw the strong silken strings together and tie them.

“A friend’s house!” laughed Loredan, who had lost somewhat less than the others.  “It would give us much delight to know the colour of the lady’s hair!”

To this Contarini answered only by a smile, which was not devoid of satisfaction.

“Take care!” said Foscari, gloomily contemplating the bare table before him, over which so much of his good gold had slipped away.  “Take care!  Luck at play, mischance in love, says the proverb.”

“Oh!  In that case I congratulate you, my dear friend!” returned Contarini gaily.

The others laughed at the retort, and the party broke up, though all did not go at once.  Venier went out alone, while two or three walked with Contarini to his gondola.  The rest stayed behind in the shop and made old Hossein unroll his choicest carpets and show them his most precious embroideries, though he protested that it was already much too dark to appreciate such choice things.  But they did not wish to be seen coming away in a body, for such playing was very strictly forbidden, and the spies of the Ten were everywhere.

Contarini dismissed his gondola at the house of the Agnus Dei, and was admitted by the trusted servant who had once taken a message to Zorzi.  He found Arisa waiting for him in her favourite place by the open window, and the glow of the setting sun made little fires in her golden hair.  She could tell by his face that he had been fortunate at play, and her smile was very soft and winning.  As he sank down beside her in the luxurious silence of satisfaction, her fingers were stealthily trying the weight of his laden wallet.  She could not lift it with one hand.  She smiled again, as she thought how easily Aristarchi would carry the money in his teeth, well tied and knotted in a kerchief, when he slipped down the silk rope from her window, though it would be much wiser to exchange it for pearls and diamonds which Contarini might see and admire, and which she could easily take with her in her final flight.

He trusted her, too, in his careless way, and that night, when he was ready to go down and admit his companions, he would empty most of the gold into a little coffer in which he often left the key, taking but just enough to play with, and almost sure of winning more.

She was very gentle on that evening, when the sun had gone down, and they sat in the deepening dusk, and she spoke sadly of not seeing him for several hours.  It would be so lonely, she said, and since he could play in the daytime, why should he give up half of one precious night to those tiresome dice?  He laughed indolently, pleased that she should not even suspect the real object of the meetings.

By and by, when it was an hour after dark, and they had eaten of delicate things which a silent old woman brought them on small silver platters, Contarini went down to let in his guests, and Arisa was alone, as usual on such evenings.  For a long time she lay quite still among the cushions, in the dark, for Jacopo had taken the light with him.  She loved to be in darkness, as she always told him, and for very good reasons, and she had so accustomed herself to it as to see almost as well as Aristarchi himself, for whom she was waiting.