This floating _bijou_ was called the _Bucentaure_, was guarded in the arsenal, whence it was removed on the eve of the Ascension.

Next day the Doge, the patriarch, and the Council of Ten embarked, and the galley was towed out to the open sea, but not far from the shore.

There, in the presence of the foreign ambassadors, whilst the clergy chanted the marriage service, the Doge advanced majestically to the front of the galley, and there formally wedded the sea." "He might have done worse," observed Willis.
"The ceremony," continued Sophia, "consisted in the Doge throwing a ring into the sea, saying, 'We wed thee, O sea! to mark the real and perpetual dominion we possess over thee.'" "And it may be added," observed Becker, "that the history of Venice shows how religiously the spouses of the Adriatic kept their vows." "Now," said Sophia, "that I have told my tale, let us hear what became of Cecilia." "Well, the marriage took place the morning after Herbert's ring had been thrown to the fishes.

Whilst the bride, bridegroom, and their friends were congratulating each other over the wedding breakfast, as is usual in England on such occasions, Cecilia's father was called out of the room." "Too late," remarked Fritz.
"Herbert Philipson had arrived that same morning; but, as Fritz observes, he was just an hour too late.

He had acquired a fortune, but his long-cherished hopes of happiness were completely blasted." "Why did he stay away five years without writing ?" inquired Mrs.
Wolston.
"He had written several times, but at that time no regular post had been established, and his letters had never reached their destination." "When did he find out that Cecilia was married ?" "Well, some people think it more humane to kill a man by inches rather than by a single blow of the axe.