“But I have heard you say that the stars are not so bright as we have them here.”

“No, I do not think they are, Matteo.  I do not remember now, but I do know, when I first came here, I was struck with the brightness of the stars, so I suppose there must have been a difference.”

“But you like this better than England?  You are glad that your father came out here?”

Francis Hammond did not answer at once.

“I am glad he came out,” he said after a pause, “because I have seen many things I should never have seen if I had stayed at home, and I have learned to speak your tongue.  But I do not know that I like it better than home.  Things are different, you see.  There was more fun at home.  My father had two or three apprentices, whom I used to play with when the shop was closed, and there were often what you would call tumults, but which were not serious.  Sometimes there would be a fight between the apprentices of one ward and another.  A shout would be raised of ‘Clubs!’ and all the ’prentices would catch up their sticks and pour out of the shops, and then there would be a fight till the city guard turned out and separated them.  Then there used to be the shooting at the butts, and the shows, and the Mayday revels, and all sorts of things.  The people were more merry than you are here, and much more free.  You see, the barons, who are the same to us that your great families are to you, had no influence in the city.  You are a nation of traders, and so are we; but in London the traders have the power, and are absolute masters inside their own walls, caring nothing for the barons, and not much for the king.  If anyone did wrong he got an open and fair trial.  There was no fear of secret accusations.  Everyone thought and said as he pleased.  There was no Lion’s Mouth, and no Council of Ten.”

“Hush! hush!  Francisco,” the other said, grasping his arm.  “Do not say a word against the council.  There is no saying who may be listening.”

And he looked nervously round to see if anyone was within earshot.

“There it is, you see,” his companion said.  “So long as we have a safe conscience, in London we are frightened at nothing, whereas here no one can say with certainty that he may not, before tomorrow morning, be lying in the dungeons of St. Mark, without the slightest idea in the world as to what his crime has been.”

“There, there, Francisco,” Matteo said uneasily.  “Do talk about other things.  Your notions may do very well in England, but are not safe to discuss here.  Of course there are plenty here who would gladly see a change in some matters, but one cannot have everything; and, after all, when one has so much to be proud of, one need not grumble because everything is not just as one would like.”

“Yes, you have much to be proud of,” Francis Hammond agreed.  “It is marvellous that the people of these scattered islets should be masters of the sea, that their alliance should be coveted by every power in Europe, that they should be the greatest trading community in the world.  If I were not English I should like to be Venetian.”