“That may be, Matteo; but Ruggiero may have promised so highly that he may have persuaded her to aid him.  He could have afforded to be generous, if he had been successful.”

“There is another thing, by the bye, Francisco, which did not strike me at the time; but now you speak of it, may be another link in the chain.  I was laughing at Maria about their screaming, and saying what a noise the three of them must have made, and she said, ’Oh, no! there were only two of us—­Giulia and I screamed for aid at the top of our voices; but the signora was as quiet and brave as possible, and did not utter a sound.’”

“That doesn’t agree, Matteo, with her being so frightened as to hold the girls tightly, and almost prevent their escape, or with the row she made, sobbing and crying, when she came back.  Of course there is not enough to go upon; and I could hardly venture to speak of it to Signor Polani, or to accuse a woman, in whom he has perfect confidence, of such frightful treachery on such vague grounds of suspicion.  Still I do suspect her; and I hope, when I go away from Venice, you will, as far as you can, keep an eye upon her.”

“I do not know how to do that,” Matteo said, laughing; “but I will tell my cousins that we don’t like her, and advise them, in future, not on any account to stay out after dusk, even if she gives them permission to do so; and if I learn anything more to justify our suspicions, I will tell my cousin what you and I think, though it won’t be a pleasant thing to do.  However, Ruggiero is gone now, and I hope we sha’n’t hear anything more about him.”

“I hope not, Matteo; but I am sure he is not the man to give up the plan he has once formed easily, any more than he is to forgive an injury.

“However, here we are at your steps.  We will talk the other matter over another time.  Anyhow, I am glad I have told you what I thought, for it has been worrying me.  Now that I find you don’t think my ideas about her are altogether absurd, I will keep my eyes more open than ever in future.  I am convinced she is a bad one, and I only hope we may be able to prove it.”

“You have made me very uncomfortable, Francisco,” Matteo said as he stepped ashore; “but we will talk about it again tomorrow.”

“We shall meet at your cousin’s in the evening.  Before that time, we had better both think over whether we ought to tell anyone our suspicions, and we can hold a council in the gondola on the way back.”

Francis did think the matter over that night.  He felt that the fact told him by Giulia, that the gouvernante had herself been the means of their staying out later than usual on the evening of the attack, added great weight to the vague suspicions he had previously entertained; and he determined to let the matter rest no longer, but that the next day he would speak to Signor Polani, even at the risk of offending him by his suspicions of a person who had been, for some years, in his confidence.  Accordingly, he went in the morning to the palazzo, but found that Signor Polani was absent, and would not be in until two or three o’clock in the afternoon.  He did not see the girls, who, he knew, were going out to spend the day with some friends.