It seemed to me altogether absurd, when you spoke to me, that the woman I have for years treated as a friend should thus betray me.
And yet your warning made me uneasy, so much so that I set off myself to fetch them home at five o'clock, only to find that I was too late.

I scarcely know why I have sent for you, Francis, except that as I have found, to my cost, that you were more clear sighted in this matter than I, I want to know what you think now, and whether any plan offering even a chance of success has occurred to you.

That they have been carried off by the friends of Mocenigo I have no doubt whatever." "I fear, signor," Francis said, "that there is little hope of my thinking of anything that has not already occurred to you.

It seems to me hardly likely that they can be in the city, although, of course, they may be confined in the house of Mocenigo's agents.

Still, they would be sure that you would offer large rewards for their discovery, and would be more likely to take them right away.