The men threw their swords down on the ground.

“Lead them outside, and bind them securely,” Francis said.

For the next minute or two, few words were spoken.  The girls sobbed with delight on their father’s breast, while he himself was too moved to do more than murmur words of love and thankfulness.  Francis went quietly out and spoke to the captain, who went in to the inner room, touched the sitting figure on the shoulder, and, taking her by the arm, led her outside.

“Come in, Francis,” Polani called a minute later.

“My dears, it is not me you must thank for your rescue.  It is your English friend here who has again restored you to me.  It is to him we owe our happiness, and that you, my child, are saved from the dreadful fate of being forced to be the wife of that villain Mocenigo.

“Embrace him, my dears, as a brother, for he has done more than a brother for you.  And now tell me all that has happened since I last saw you.”

“You know, father, the message that was brought us, that you had been hurt and wanted us home?”

“Yes, my dears, that I learned soon afterwards.  I went at five o’clock to fetch you home, and found that you had gone, and why.”

“Well, father, directly we had taken our seats in the cabin of the gondola, our gouvernante closed the doors, and soon afterwards she slid to the two shutters before the windows.  We cried out in surprise at finding ourselves in the dark, but she bade us be quiet, in a tone quite different to any in which she had ever spoken to us before.  We were both frightened, and tried to push back the shutters and open the door, but they were fastened firmly.  I suppose there was some spring which held them.  Then we screamed; but I could feel that the inside was all thickly padded.  I suppose our voices could not be heard outside.  I thought so, because once I thought I heard the gondoliers singing, but it was so faint that I could not be sure.  Then the air seemed stiflingly close, and I fainted; and when I came to myself one of the windows was open, and Giulia said she had promised we would not scream, but I think we were beyond the canals then, for I could see nothing but the sky as we passed along.  When I was better the windows were almost shut again, so that we could not see out, though a little air could get in; then the gondola went on for a long time.

“At last it stopped, and she said we must be blindfolded.  We said we would not submit to it, and she told us unless we let her do it, the men would do it.  So we submitted, and she wrapped shawls closely over our heads.  Then we were helped ashore, and walked some distance.  At last the shawls were taken off our heads, and we found ourselves here, and here we have been ever since.”

“You have not been ill treated in any way, my children?” the merchant asked anxiously.

“Not at all, father.  Until today, nobody has been into this room besides ourselves and that woman.  The door was generally left a little open for air, for you see there are no windows here.  She used to go into the next room and come back with our food.  We could see men moving about in there, but they were very quiet, and all spoke in low tones.