"I have; but as we are not accustomed to meet in thy father's rooms, on this errand, I thought this the necessary direction." "Hast thou much knowledge of the palace and the prison, Carlo?" "More than I could wish, good Gelsomina; but why am I thus questioned, at a moment when I would be otherwise employed?" The timid and conscious girl did not answer. Her cheek was never bright, for, like a flower reared in the shade, it had the delicate hue of her secluded life; but at this question it became pale. Accustomed to the ingenuous habits of the sensitive being at his side, the Bravo studied her speaking features intently. He moved swiftly to a window, and looking out, his eye fell upon a narrow and gloomy canal. Crossing the gallery, he cast a glance beneath him, and saw the same dark watery passage, leading between the masonry of two massive piles to the quay and the port. "Gelsomina!" he cried, recoiling from the sight, "this is the Bridge of Sighs!" "It is, Carlo; hast thou ever crossed it before?" "Never: nor do I understand why I cross it now. I have long thought that it might one day be my fortune to walk this fatal passage, but I could not dream of such a keeper!" The eye of Gelsomina brightened, and her smile was cheerful. "Thou wilt never cross it to thy harm with me." "Of that I am certain, kind Gessina," he answered, taking her hand. "But this is a riddle that I cannot explain. Art thou in the habit of entering the palace by this gallery?" "It is little used, except by the keepers and the condemned, as doubtless thou hast often heard; but yet they have given me the keys, and taught me the windings of the place, in order that I might serve, as usual, for thy guide." "Gelsomina, I fear I have been too happy in thy company to note, as prudence would have told me, the rare kindness of the council in permitting me to enjoy it!" "Dost thou repent, Carlo, that thou hast known me?" The reproachful melancholy of her voice touched the Bravo, who kissed the hand he held with Italian fervor. "I should then repent me of the only hours of happiness I have known for years," he said. "Thou hast been to me, Gelsomina, like a flower in a desert--a pure spring to a feverish man--a gleam of hope to one suffering under malediction. No, no, not for a moment have I repented knowing thee, my Gelsomina!" "'Twould not have made my life more happy, Carlo, to have thought I had added to thy sorrows. I am young, and ignorant of the world, but I know we should cause joy, and not pain, to those we esteem." "Thy nature would teach thee this gentle lesson. But is it not strange that one like me should be suffered to visit the prison unattended by any other keeper?" "I had not thought it so, Carlo; but surely, it is not common!" "We have found so much pleasure in each other, dear Gessina, that we have overlooked what ought to have caused alarm." "Alarm, Carlo!"