"Yes, live for my sake," she
repeated in an under tone.
Unhappy beings! they were intoxicated with love, while the abyss was
yawning beneath their feet. A spy of the state inquisition, who was
going his rounds, saw Alvise enter the palace, and recognised him.
Denounced before the dreadful tribunal, he was dragged thither
that very morning. Convicted of entering the abode of the French
ambassador, he was desired to explain his motives tor so doing, but
remained obstinately silent. The members of the inquisition were
confounded, accustomed as they were to see every thing yield before
them, and reminded him that death would be the inevitable result of
his silence. "Death," he replied, "had no terrors for me when I fought
at Lepanto for the glory of my country and the salvation of Italy; on
which day I proved, that under no circumstances could I ever become
a traitor. I call heaven to witness that I am not one. But something
dearer to me than life or fame now imposes silence on me."
He was beheaded, and his body exposed between the two columns of the
palace, with this inscription: "For offences against the statute.
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