Well, there was no fear of her doing so if he could help it! He was more than willing to follow this receipt. Indeed, there was something about her so agitating and alluring that he knew in his heart all men would feel the same towards her in a more or less degree, and wild jealousy coursed through his veins at the thought.
"My Paul," she said, "do you know I have a plan in my head that we shall go to Venice?"
"To Venice!" said Paul in delight. "To Venice!"
"Yes--I cannot endure any more of Lucerne, parted from you, with only the prospect of snatched meetings. It is not to be borne. We shall go to that home of strange joy, my lover, and there for a space at least we can live in peace."
Paul asked no better gift of fate. Venice he had always longed to see, and now to see it with her! Ah! the very thought was ecstasy to him, and made the blood bound in his veins.
"When, when, my darling?" he asked. "Tomorrow? When?"
"To-day is Friday," she said. "One must give Dmitry time to make the arrangements and take a palace for us. Shall we say Sunday, Paul? I shall go on Sunday, and you can follow the next day--so by Tuesday evening we shall be together again, not to part until--the end."
"The end?" said Paul, with sinking heart.
"Sweetheart," she whispered, while she drew his face down to hers, "think nothing evil. I said the end--but fate alone knows when that must be. Do not let us force her hand by speculating about it. Remember always to live while we may."
And Paul was more or less comforted, but in moments of silence all through the day he seemed to hear the echo of the words--The End.
It was a beautiful apartment that Dmitry had found for them on the Grand Canal in Venice, in an old palace looking southwest. A convenient door in a side canal cloaked the exit and entry of its inhabitants from curious eyes--had there been any to indulge in curiosity; but in Venice there is a good deal of the feeling of live and let live, and the _dolce far niente_ of the life is not conducive to an over-anxious interest in the doings of one's neighbours.
Money and intelligence can achieve a number of things in a short space of time, and Dmitry had had both at his command, so everything, including a _chef_ from Paris and a retinue of Italian servants, was ready when on the Tuesday evening Paul arrived at the station.