It would be an outrage on all authority, a scandal never to be forgotten, an unheard-of rebellion against the natural law by which unmarried children were held in bondage as slaves to their parents.

But Marietta was not frightened by the tremendous consequences her fancy deduced from her refusal to marry.

She was happy.
Some day, the man she loved would know that she had faced the world for him, rather than be bound to any one else, and he would love her all the more dearly for having risked so much.

She had never been so happy before.

Only, now and then, when she thought of Zorzi's hurt, she felt a sharp thrill of pain run through her.
All day the tide of joy was high in her heart.