Two months later Bernard Longueville was at Venice, still under the impression that he was leaving Italy.

He was not a man who made plans and held to them.

He made them, indeed--few men made more--but he made them as a basis for variation.

He had gone to Venice to spend a fortnight, and his fortnight had taken the form of eight enchanting weeks.

He had still a sort of conviction that he was carrying out his plans; for it must be confessed that where his pleasure was concerned he had considerable skill in accommodating his theory to his practice.