He did not know that Beroviero was absent, and he intended to call for the old glass-maker.

It would be easy to say that he was an old friend of Jacopo Contarini and wished to make the acquaintance of Marietta's father before the wedding.

He would probably have an opportunity of speaking to Zorzi without showing that he already knew him, and he trusted to Zorzi's discretion to conceal the fact, for he was a good judge of men.
It turned out to be much easier to carry out his plan than he had expected.
"My name is Zuan Venier," he said, in answer to Pasquale's gruff inquiry.
Pasquale eyed him a moment through the bars, and immediately understood that he was not a person to be kicked into the canal or received with other similar amenities.

The great name alone would have awed the old porter to something like civility, but he had seen the visitor's face, and being quite as good a judge of humanity as Venier himself, he opened the door at once.
Venier explained that he wished to pay his respects to Messer Angelo Beroviero, being an old friend of Messer Jacopo Contarini.

Learning that the master was absent on a journey, he asked whether there were any one within to whom he could deliver a message.