"I love a secret, especially a state secret.
"Giulia, come and sit quite close, so that he can whisper it into our ears, and even the walls shall not hear it.
"Now, sir, explain yourself!" "I will explain it without telling you," Francis said.

"Have you not gone to see African lions, who were very much stronger and fiercer than yourself, and yet you did not fear them ?" "Because they have been in cages," Maria said.

"But what has that to do with it ?" "It explains the whole matter," Francis said.

"We do not mean to fight the Genoese fleet, if we can help it; but we are going to try to put them in a cage, and then we shall not be afraid of them." "Do not trifle with us, sir," Maria said sternly.

"How can you put Genoese galleys in a cage ?" "We cannot put them in a cage, but we can cage them up," Francis said.
"Pisani's intention is, if possible, to close all the entrances to the canals round Chioggia.