At three o’clock he returned, and found that Polani had just come in.

“Why, Francisco,” the merchant said when he entered, “have you forgotten that my daughters will be out all day?”

“No, signor, I have not forgotten that, but I wish to speak to you.  I dare say you will laugh at me, but I hope you will not think me meddlesome, or impertinent, for touching upon a subject which concerns you nearly.”

“I am sure you will not be meddlesome or impertinent, Francisco,” Signor Polani said reassuringly, for he saw that the lad was nervous and anxious.  “Tell me what you have to say, and I can promise you beforehand that, whether I agree with you or not in what you may have to say, I shall be in no way vexed, for I shall know you have said it with the best intentions.”

“What I have to say, sir, concerns the Signora Castaldi, your daughters’ gouvernante.  I know, sir, that you repose implicit confidence in her; and your judgment, formed after years of intimate knowledge, is hardly likely to be shaken by what I have to tell you.  I spoke to Matteo about it, and, as he is somewhat of my opinion, I have decided that it is, at least, my duty to tell you all the circumstances, and you can then form your own conclusions.”

Francis then related the facts known to him.  First, that the assailants of the gondola must have had accurate information as to the hour at which they would come along; secondly, that it was at the gouvernante’s suggestion that the return had been delayed much later than usual; lastly, that when the attack took place, the gouvernante did not raise her voice to cry for assistance, and that she had, at the last moment, so firmly seized their dresses, that it was only by tearing the girls from her grasp that he had been enabled to get them into the boat.

“There may be nothing in all this,” he said when he had concluded.  “But at least, sir, I thought that it was right you should know it; and you will believe me, that it is only anxiety as to the safety of your daughters that has led me to speak to you.”

“Of that I am quite sure,” Signor Polani said cordially, “and you were perfectly right in speaking to me.  I own, however, that I do not for a moment think that the circumstances are more than mere coincidences.  Signora Castaldi has been with me for upwards of ten years.  She has instructed and trained my daughters entirely to my satisfaction.  I do not say that she is everything that one could wish, but, then, no one is perfect, and I have every confidence in her fidelity and trustworthiness.  I own that the chain you have put together is a strong one, and had she but lately entered my service, and were she a person of whom I knew but little, I should attach great weight to the facts, although taken in themselves they do not amount to much.  Doubtless she saw that my daughters were enjoying themselves in the society of my friends, and in her kindness of heart erred, as she certainly did err, in allowing them to stay longer than she should have done.