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 270 THE FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE. Egypt. She now signs a secret treaty with the enemy who was to be attacked. The successes which Pisa and Genoa had obtained over her in Constantinople were to be compensated by her successes over them in Egypt. The price of lier triumph was the betrayal of Christendom. It was impossible to keep faith both with the Crusaders and with the Arabs. The signature of the treaty with the Sultan of Egypt meant that faith was to be broken with the followers of the Cross, and was therefore the immediate cause of the diversion of the enterprise from Egypt. The Crusaders at the time and for years afterwards suspected treachery, and some of the con- temporary writers did not hesitate to accuse Venice of betray- ing the expedition. But there is no evidence to prove that even any of the leaders had any certain knowledge that a treaty had been signed, by which the services of the Vene- tians in carrying the army to Egypt had become impossible. The presence of Sead Eddin in Venice, in July, 1202, possibly gave rise to doubts as to the good faith of the republic, though the presence of an envoy from the sultan may have been concealed or may have been disregarded amid the multitude of visitors to the great centre of Eastern trade in Western Europe. If such doubts arose, the conduct of the Venetians to the Crusaders while at Lido increased them, while the attack upon Zara brought conviction into the minds of a large body of the army that they were not being fairly dealt with by the Venetians. It is probable that the belief that Venice was not acting fairly was one of the causes of the ill-feeling which showed itself in the riot between the Venetians and the Crusaders within a week after the occupa- tion of the city. But the secret of the treaty was well kept. The interest of Dandolo was, on the one hand, not to allow its provisions to transpire, and, on the other, to take advan- tage of every circumstance in order to divert the attention of the Crusaders from Egypt. Henceforward, and without any explanation being suggested, we find that the Crusaders S2:>eak rather of going to Syria than to Egypt. The arrival of a smaller number of Crusaders in Venice than had been con- tracted for gave a plausible excuse to Dandolo, first, to delay