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+The Project Gutenberg Etext Stories by English Authors in Italy
+Selected by the Editors of Scribners
+See others in our "Stories by English Authors in" series.
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+STORIES BY ENGLISH AUTHORS: ITALY
+By Various
+
+January, 2001  [Etext #2457]
+
+CONTENTS
+
+A FAITHFUL RETAINER        James Payn
+BIANCA                     W. E. Norris
+GONERIL                    A. Mary F. Robinson
+THE BRIGAND'S BRIDE        Laurence Oliphant
+MRS. GENERAL TALBOYS       Anthony Trollope
+
+The Project Gutenberg Etext Stories by English Authors in Italy
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+and John Bickers, jbickers@ihug.co.nz
+
+
+
+
+
+STORIES BY ENGLISH AUTHORS
+
+ITALY
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+A FAITHFUL RETAINER        James Payn
+BIANCA                     W. E. Norris
+GONERIL                    A. Mary F. Robinson
+THE BRIGAND'S BRIDE        Laurence Oliphant
+MRS. GENERAL TALBOYS       Anthony Trollope
+
+
+
+
+
+A FAITHFUL RETAINER
+
+BY
+
+JAMES PAYN
+
+
+
+When I lived in the country,--which was a long time ago,--our nearest
+neighbours were the Luscombes. They were very great personages in the
+country indeed, and the family were greatly "respected"; though not,
+so far as I could discern, for any particular reason, except from
+their having been there for several generations. People are supposed
+to improve, like wine, from keeping--even if they are rather
+"ordinary" at starting; and the Luscombes, at the time I knew them,
+were considered quite a "vintage" family. They had begun in Charles
+II.'s time, and dated their descent from greatness in the female line.
+That they had managed to keep a great estate not very much impaired so
+long was certainly a proof of great cleverness, since there had been
+many spend-thrifts among them; but fortunately there had been a miser
+or two, who had restored the average, and their fortunes.
+
+Mr. Roger Luscombe, the present proprietor, was neither the one nor
+the other, but he was inclined to frugality, and no wonder; a burnt
+child dreads the fire, even though he may have had nothing to do with
+lighting it himself, and his father had kicked down a good many
+thousands with the help of "the bones" (as dice were called in his
+day) and "the devil's books" (which was the name for cards with those
+that disapproved of them) and race-horses; there was plenty left, but
+it made the old gentleman careful and especially solicitous to keep
+it. There was no stint, however, of any kind at the Court, which to
+me, who lived in the little vicarage of Dalton with my father, seemed
+a palace.
+
+It was indeed a very fine place, with statues in the hall and pictures
+in the gallery and peacocks on the terrace. Lady Jane, the daughter of
+a wealthy peer, who had almost put things on their old footing with
+her ample dowry, was a very great lady, and had been used, I was told,
+to an even more splendid home; but to me, who had no mother, she was
+simply the kindest and most gracious woman I had ever known.
+
+My connection with the Luscombes arose from their only son Richard
+being my father's pupil. We were both brought up at home, but for very
+different reasons. In my case it was from economy: the living was
+small and our family was large, though, as it happened, I had no
+brothers. Richard was too precious to his parents to be trusted to
+the tender mercies of a public school. He was in delicate health, not
+so much natural to him as caused by an excess of care--coddling.
+Though he and I were very good friends, unless when we were
+quarreling, it must be owned that he was a spoiled boy.
+
+There is a good deal of nonsense talked of young gentlemen who are
+brought up from their cradles in an atmosphere of flattery /not/ being
+spoiled; but unless they are angels--which is a very exceptional case
+--it cannot be otherwise. Richard Luscombe was a good fellow in many
+ways; liberal with his money (indeed, apt to be lavish), and kind-
+hearted, but self-willed, effeminate, and impulsive. He had also--
+which was a source of great alarm and grief to his father--a marked
+taste for speculation.
+
+After the age of "alley tors and commoneys," of albert-rock and hard-
+bake, in which we both gambled frightfully, I could afford him no
+opportunities of gratifying this passion; but if he could get a little
+money "on" anything, there was nothing that pleased him better--not
+that he cared for the money, but for the delight of winning it. The
+next moment he would give it away to a beggar. Numbers of good people
+look upon gambling with even greater horror than it deserves, because
+they cannot understand this; the attraction of risk, and the wild joy
+of "pulling off" something when the chances are against one, are
+unknown to them. It is the same with the love of liquor. Richard
+Luscombe had not a spark of that (his father left him one of the best
+cellars in England, but he never touches even a glass of claret after
+dinner; "I should as soon think," he says, "of eating when I am not
+hungry"); but he dearly liked what he called a "spec." Never shall I
+forget the first time he realised anything that could be termed a
+stake.
+
+When he was about sixteen, he and I had driven over to some little
+country races a few miles away from Dalton, without, I fear,
+announcing our intention of so doing. Fresh air was good for "our dear
+Richard," and since pedestrian exercise (which he also hated)
+exhausted him, he had a groom and dog-cart always at his own disposal.
+It was a day of great excitement for me, who had never before seen a
+race-course. The flags, the grand stand (a rude erection of planks,
+which came down, by-the-bye, the next year during the race for the
+cup, and reduced the sporting population), the insinuating gipsies,
+the bawling card-sellers, and especially the shining horses with their
+twisted manes, all excited my admiration.
+
+I was well acquainted with them in fiction; and these illustrations of
+the books I loved so well delighted me. Richard, who had read less and
+seen more, was bent on business.
+
+He was tall for his age, but very slight and youthful-looking, and the
+contrast of his appearance with that of the company in the little
+ring, composed as it was of a choice selection of the roughest
+blackguards in England, was very striking.
+
+Many of these knew who he was, and were very glad to see him, but only
+one of the book-makers secured his patronage. The fact was, Master
+Richard had but one five-pound note to lay; he had been saving up his
+pocket-money for weeks for this very purpose, and he took ten to one
+about an outsider, "Don Sebastian,"--a name I shall remember when all
+other historical knowledge has departed from me,--not because he knew
+anything of the horse, but because the longest odds were laid against
+him.
+
+I didn't like the look of the "gentleman sportsman" who took custody
+of that five-pound note, but Richard (who had never seen him before)
+assured me, with his usual confidence, that he was "straight as a die"
+and "as honest as the day."
+
+The race excited me exceedingly; Richard had lent me a field-glass
+(for everything he had was in duplicate, if not triplicate), and I
+watched the progress of that running rainbow with a beating heart. At
+first Yellow Cap (the Don) seemed completely out of it, the last of
+all; but presently he began to creep up, and as they drew near the
+winning-post, shouts of "Yellow Cap wins!" "Yellow Cap wins!" rent the
+air. He did win by a head, and with a well-pleased flush on my face at
+my friend's marvellous good fortune, I turned to congratulate him. He
+was gone. The tumult and confusion were excessive; but looking toward
+the exit gate, I just caught a glimpse of the book-maker passing
+rapidly through it, and then of Richard in pursuit of him.
+
+A stout young farmer, whom I knew, was standing behind me, and in a
+few hurried words I told him what had happened. "Come with me," he
+said, and off we ran, as though we had been entered for the cup
+ourselves. The other two were already a field ahead, and far away from
+the course; but, fast as the book-maker ran, the delicate Richard had
+come up with him. I could imagine how pumped he was, but the idea of
+having been swindled by this scoundrel, who was running off with his
+five-pound note, as well as the fifty pounds he owed him, had no doubt
+lent him wings. It could not, however, lend him strength, nor teach
+him the art of self-defence, and after a few moments, passed doubtless
+in polite request and blunt refusal, we saw the miscreant strike out
+from the shoulder and Richard go down.
+
+The time thus lost, however, short-lived as was the combat, was fatal
+to the victor. There were few better runners in Dalton than my
+companion and myself, and we gained on the book-maker, who had
+probably trained on gin and bad tobacco, hand over hand. As we drew
+near him he turned round and inquired, with many expletives, made half
+inarticulate by want of breath, what we wanted with a gentleman
+engaged on his own private affairs.
+
+"Well," I said,--for as I could trust my agricultural friend with the
+more practical measures that were likely to follow I thought it only
+fair that I should do the talking,--"we want first the five-pound note
+which that young gentleman, whom you have just knocked down, intrusted
+to your care, and then the fifty pounds you have lost to him."
+
+He called Heaven to witness that he had never made a bet in his life
+with any young gentleman, but that, having been molested, he believed
+by a footpad, as he was returning home to his family, he had been
+compelled to defend himself.
+
+"I heard you make the bet and saw you take the money," I remarked,
+with confidence.
+
+"That's good enough," said the farmer. "Now if you don't shell out
+that money this instant, I'll have you back in the ring in a brace of
+shakes and tell them what has happened. Last year they tore a welsher
+pretty nigh to pieces, and this year, if you don't 'part,' they'll do
+it quite."
+
+The book-maker turned livid,--I never saw a man in such a funk in my
+life,--and produced a greasy pocket-book, out of which he took
+Richard's bank-note, and ten quite new ones; and I noticed there were
+more left, so that poverty was not his excuse for fraud.
+
+"Let me look at 'em against the sun," said the farmer, "to see as the
+water-mark is all right."
+
+This was a precaution I should never have thought of, and it gave me
+for the first time a sense of the great intelligence of my father's
+parishioner.
+
+"Yes, they're all correct. And now you may go; but if ever you show
+your face again on Southick (Southwick) race-course it will be the
+worst for you."
+
+He slunk away, and we returned to Richard, who was sitting on the
+ground, looking at his nose, which was bleeding and had attained vast
+dimensions.
+
+"Did you get the money?" were his first words, which I thought very
+characteristic.
+
+"Yes, there it is, squire--ten fivers and your own note."
+
+"Very good; I should never have seen a shilling of it but for you and
+Charley, so we will just divide it into three shares."
+
+The farmer said, "No," but eventually took his L16 13s. 4d., and quite
+right too. Of course I did not take Richard's money, but he afterward
+bought me a rifle with it, which I could not refuse. The farmer, as
+may be well imagined, could be trusted to say nothing of our
+adventure; but it was impossible to hide Richard's nose. He was far
+too honest a fellow to tell a lie about it, and the whole story came
+out. His father was dreadfully shocked at it, and Lady Jane in
+despair: the one about his gambling propensities, and the other about
+his nose; she thought, if the injury did not prove fatal, he would be
+disfigured for life.
+
+He was well in a week, but the circumstances had the gravest
+consequences. It was decided that something must be done with the heir
+of the Luscombes to wean him from low company (this was not me, but
+grooms and racing people); but even this predilection was ascribed in
+part to his fragile constitution. A fashionable physician came down
+from London to consider the case. He could not quite be brought to the
+point desired by Lady Jane, to lay Richard's love of gambling at the
+door of the delicacy of his lungs; but he was brought very near it.
+The young fellow, his "opinion" was, had been brought up too much like
+a hothouse flower; his tastes were what they were chiefly because he
+had no opportunities of forming better ones; with improved strength
+his moral nature would become more elevated. That he was truthful was
+a great source of satisfaction (this was with reference to his
+distinct refusal to give up gambling to please anybody) and a most
+wholesome physical sign. "My recommendation is that he should be
+temporarily removed from his present dull surroundings; there is not
+scope in them for his mind; he should be sent abroad for a month or
+two with his tutor. That will do him a world of good."
+
+If it was not very good advice, it was probably quite as judicious as
+other "opinions" for which a hundred and fifty guineas have been
+cheerfully paid. It was at all events a great comfort to hear that
+there was nothing constitutionally wrong with "dearest Richard," and
+that he only wanted a tonic for mind and body. The doctor's verdict
+was accepted by both parents, but there was an insurmountable obstacle
+to its being carried into effect in Master Richard himself. My father
+could not leave his parish and his family, and with no other tutor
+could the young gentleman be induced to go.
+
+Now it happened that the butler at the Court, John Maitland, who, as
+is often the case in such households, had the gravity and dignity of a
+bishop, was so fortunate as to be a favourite both with the old folks
+and the young one. He really was a superior person, and not only
+"honest as the day" in Richard's eyes (which, as we have seen, was not
+a guarantee of straightforwardness), but in those of every one else.
+He had been born in the village, had been page to Mr. Luscombe's
+father, and had lived more than fifty years at the Court. The
+relations between master and servant were feudal, mingled with the
+more modern attachment that comes of good service properly
+appreciated. He thought the Luscombes, if not the only old family in
+the world, the best, and worshipped--though in a dignified and
+ecclesiastical manner--the ground trodden on both by the squire and
+Master Richard. My own impression was that under pretence of giving
+way to the latter he played into the parental hands; but as this was
+certainly for my young friend's good, I never communicated my
+suspicions to him. Maitland, at all events, had more influence over
+him than any man except my father. Still it astonished us all not a
+little, notwithstanding the high opinion we entertained of him, when
+we heard that the butler was to be intrusted with the guardianship of
+Richard abroad. Such a thing could not have happened in any other
+family, but so it was arranged; and partly as valet, partly as
+confidential companion and treasurer Maitland started with his young
+master on his travels.
+
+These were to last for not less than six months, and Italy, because of
+its warm climate, was the country to which they were bound. That it
+would do the young fellow good, both moral and physical, we all hoped;
+but my father had his doubts. He feared that Maitland's influence over
+his companion would wane when away from the Court; but it never
+entered into his mind that he would willingly permit any wrong doing,
+and still less that the man would himself succumb to any temptation
+that involved dishonesty.
+
+They travelled by easy stages; though they used the railway, of
+course, they did so only for a few hours a day, and got out and
+remained at places of interest. Richard was very amenable, and indeed
+showed no desire for dissipation; his one weakness--that of having a
+"spree"--had no opportunity of being gratified; and Maitland wrote
+home the most gratifying letters, not only respecting the behaviour of
+his charge, but of the improvement in his health. As they drew nearer
+to Italy, Richard observed one day that he should spend a day or two
+at Monte Carlo. Maitland had never heard of the place or of its
+peculiar attractions; and "Master Richard" only told him that it was
+very picturesque. The horror of the faithful retainer may therefore be
+imagined when he found that it was a gambling resort.
+
+He could not prevent his young master frequenting the tables, and
+though he kept the purse, with the exception of a few pounds, and
+would certainly have stood between him and ruin, he could not prevent
+his winning. Richard had the luck, and more, that proverbially attends
+young people--he had the luck of the devil; his few napoleons swelling
+to a great many on the very first day, and he was in the seventh
+heaven of happiness. The next day and the next he won largely,
+immensely; in vain Maitland threatened to write to his father, and
+even to leave him.
+
+"All right," replied the reckless youth. "You may do as you like; even
+if the governor disinherits me I can make my fortune by stopping here.
+And as to leaving me, go by all means; I shall get on very well with a
+French valet."
+
+It was dreadful.
+
+Richard grew happier and happier every day, as the golden flood flowed
+in upon him, but also extremely hectic. He passed the whole day at the
+tables, and the want of air and exercise, and, still more, the intense
+excitement which possessed him, began to have the most serious effect.
+That prescription of "seeing the world," and "escaping from his dull
+surroundings," was having a very different result from what had been
+expected. "The paths of glory lead but to the grave"; the young
+Englishman and his luck were the talk of all Monte Carlo, and he
+enjoyed his notoriety very much; but, as the poor butler plaintively
+observed, what was the good of that when Master Richard was "killing
+himself"?
+
+How the news was received at the Court I had no means of judging, for
+the squire kept a rigid silence, except that he had long conferences
+with my father; and Lady Jane kept her room. It was indeed a very sore
+subject. The squire wanted to start for Monte Carlo at once; but he
+was singularly insular, detested travel, and in truth was very unfit
+for such a "cutting-out expedition" as was contemplated. He waited,
+half out of his mind with anxiety, but in hopes of a better report;
+what he hoped for was that luck would turn, and Richard lose every
+shilling.
+
+The very reverse of this, however, took place; Richard won more and
+more. He would come home to his hotel in the evening with a porter
+carrying his gains. His portmanteau was full of napoleons. It was
+characteristic of him that he never thought of banking it. One evening
+he came in with very bright eyes, but a most shrunken and cadaverous
+face.
+
+"This has been my best day of all, Johnny," he said. "See, I have won
+two thousand pounds; and you shall have a hundred of it."
+
+But Maitland refused to have anything to do with such ill-gotten
+gains, for which, too, his young master was sacrificing his health,
+and perhaps his life. Still--though this did not strike Richard till
+afterward--he could not help regarding the great heap of gold with
+considerable interest. Added to the lad's previous gains, the amount
+was now very large indeed--more than five thousand pounds.
+
+"I should really think, Master Richard, as you had now won enough."
+
+"Enough? Certainly not. I have not broken the bank yet. I mean to do
+that before I've done with it, Johnny."
+
+"That will be after you've killed yourself," said honest John.
+
+"Well, then I shall die /rich/," was the reckless rejoinder.
+
+Richard, who was too exhausted for repose, tossed and tumbled on his
+bed for hours, and eventually dropped into a heavy slumber, and slept
+far into the next morning. He awoke feeling very unwell, but his chief
+anxiety was lest he should miss the opening of the tables; he was
+always the first to begin. He rang his bell violently for Maitland.
+There was no reply, and when he rang again, one of the hotel servants
+came up.
+
+"Where is my man?" he inquired.
+
+"Monsieur's man-servant took monsieur's luggage to the railway-
+station; he is gone by the early train to Turin."
+
+"Gone to Turin with my luggage?"
+
+"Yes, with the two portmanteaus--very heavy ones."
+
+Richard got out of bed, and dragged his weary limbs into the dressing-
+room, an inner apartment, where the portmanteaus were kept for safety.
+They were both gone.
+
+"What train did the scoundrel go by? Where is my watch? Why, the
+villain has taken that too! Send for the police! No; there is no time
+to be lost--send a telegram. Why, he has not even left me enough money
+to pay a telegram!"
+
+All his small change was gone. Honest John had taken everything; he
+had not left his young master a single sixpence. At this revelation of
+the state of affairs, poor Richard, weakened as he was by his long
+excitement, threw himself on the bed and burst into tears. The
+attendant, to whom, as usual, he had been liberal, was affected by an
+emotion so strange in an Englishman.
+
+"Monsieur must not fret; the thief will be caught and the money
+restored. It will be well, perhaps to tell the /maitre d'hotel/."
+
+The master of the hotel appeared with a very grave face. He was
+desolated to hear of the misfortune that had befallen his young guest.
+Perhaps there was not quite so much taken as had been reported.
+
+"I tell you it's all gone; more than five thousand pounds, and my
+watch and chain; I have not half a franc in my possession."
+
+"That is unfortunate indeed," said the /maitre d'hotel/, looking
+graver than ever, "because there is my bill to settle."
+
+"Oh, hang your bill!" cried Richard. "/That/ will be all right. I must
+telegraph to my father at once."
+
+"But how is monsieur to telegraph if he has no money?"
+
+It was probably the first time in his life that the young fellow had
+ever understood how inconvenient a thing is poverty. What also amazed
+him beyond measure was the man's manner; yesterday, and all other
+days, it had been polite to obsequiousness; now it was dry almost to
+insolence. It seemed, indeed, to imply some doubt of the bona fides of
+his guest--that he might not, in short, be much better than honest
+John himself, of whom he was possibly the confederate; that the whole
+story was a trumped-up one to account for the inability to meet his
+bill. As to his having won largely at the tables, that might be true
+enough; but he also might have lost it all, and more with it; money
+changes hands at Monte Carlo very rapidly.
+
+In the end, however, and not without much objection, the landlord
+advanced a sufficient sum to enable Richard to telegraph home. He also
+permitted him to stay on at the hotel, stipulating, however, that he
+should call for no wine, nor indulge in anything expensive--a
+humiliating arrangement enough, but not so much so as the terms of
+another proviso, that he was never to enter the gambling saloon or go
+beyond the public gardens. Even there he was under surveillance, and
+it was, in short, quite clear that he was suspected of an intention to
+run away without paying his bill--perhaps even of joining his
+"confederate," Mr. John Maitland.
+
+The only thing that comforted Richard was the conviction that he
+should have a remittance from his father in a few hours; but nothing
+of the sort, not even a telegram, arrived. Day after day went by, and
+the young fellow was in despair; he felt like a pariah, for he had
+been so occupied with the tables that he had made no friends; and his
+few acquaintances looked askance at him, as being under a cloud, with
+the precise nature of which they were unacquainted. Friendless and
+penniless in a foreign land, his spirit was utterly broken, and he
+began to understand what a fool he had made of himself; especially how
+ungratefully he had behaved to his father, without whom it was not so
+easy to "get on," it appeared, as he had imagined. He saw, too, the
+evil of his conduct in having thrust a temptation in the way of honest
+John too great to be resisted. The police could hear no news of him,
+and, indeed, seemed very incredulous with respect to Richard's account
+of the matter.
+
+On the fourth day Richard received a letter from his father of the
+gravest kind, though expressed in the most affectionate terms. He
+hardly alluded to the immediate misfortune that had happened to him,
+but spoke of the anxiety and alarm which his conduct had caused his
+mother and himself. "I enclose you a check," he wrote, "just
+sufficient to comfortably bring you home and pay your hotel bill, and
+exceedingly regret that I cannot trust my son with more--lest he
+should risk it in a way that gives his mother and myself more distress
+of mind than I can express."
+
+Richard's heart was touched, as it well might have been; though
+perhaps the condition of mind in which his father's communication
+found him had something to do with it. By that night's mail he
+despatched a letter home which gave the greatest delight at the Court,
+and also at the vicarage, for Mr. Luscombe, full of pride and joy,
+brought it to my father to read. "I have been very foolish, sir, and
+very wicked," it ran. "I believe I should have been dead by this time
+had not Maitland stolen my money (so that I have no reason to feel
+very angry with him) and deprived me of the means of suicide. I give
+you my word of honour that I will never gamble again."
+
+Lady Jane sent a telegram to meet Master Richard in Paris, to say what
+a dear good boy he was, and how happy he had made her. This did not
+surprise him, but what did astonish him very much on arriving at the
+Court was that John Maitland opened the door for him.
+
+"Why, you old scoundrel!"
+
+"Yes, sir, I know; I'm a thief and all that, but I did it for the
+best; I did, indeed."
+
+Though the fatted calf was killed for Master Richard, he had by no
+means returned like the prodigal son. On the contrary, he had sent
+home a remittance, as it were, by the butler, of more than five
+thousand pounds. The whole plot had been devised by honest John as the
+only method of extricating Master Richard from that Monte Carlo
+spider's web, and had been carried out by the help of the /maitre
+d'hotel/, with the squire's approval. And to do the young fellow
+justice, he never resented the trick that had been played upon him.
+
+Richard was not sent abroad again, but to Cambridge, where eventually
+he took a fourth-class (poll) degree; and Lady Jane was as proud of it
+as if he had been senior wrangler. He kept his word, in spite of all
+temptations to the contrary, and never touched a card--a circumstance
+which drove him to take a fair amount of exercise, and, in
+consequence, he steadily improved in health. He was sometimes chaffed
+by his companions for his abstinence from play; they should have
+thought he was the last man to be afraid of losing his money.
+
+"You are right, so far," he would answer, drily; "but the fact is, I
+have had enough of winning."
+
+To which they would reply:
+
+"Oh yes, we dare say," an elliptical expression, which conveyed
+disbelief.
+
+He never told them the story of his Monte Carlo experiences; but in
+the vacations he would often talk to honest John about them. We may be
+sure that that faithful retainer did not go unrewarded for his
+fraudulent act.
+
+
+
+BIANCA
+
+BY
+
+W. E. NORRIS
+
+Not long since, I was one among a crowd of nobodies at a big official
+reception in Paris when the Marchese and Marchesa di San Silvestro
+were announced. There was a momentary hush; those about the doorway
+fell back to let this distinguished couple pass, and some of us stood
+on tiptoe to get a glimpse of them; for San Silvestro is a man of no
+small importance in the political and diplomatic world, and his wife
+enjoys quite a European fame for beauty and amiability, having had
+opportunities of displaying both these attractive gifts at the several
+courts where she has acted as Italian ambassadress. They made their
+way quickly up the long room,--she short, rather sallow, inclined
+toward embonpoint, but with eyes whose magnificence was rivalled only
+by that of her diamonds; he bald-headed, fat, gray-haired, covered
+with orders,--and were soon out of sight. I followed them with a sigh
+which caused my neighbour to ask me jocosely whether the marchesa was
+an old flame of mine.
+
+"Far from it," I answered. "Only the sight of her reminded me of
+bygone days. Dear, dear me! how time does slip on! It is fifteen years
+since I saw her last."
+
+I moved away, looking down rather ruefully at the waistcoat to whose
+circumference fifteen years have made no trifling addition, and
+wondering whether I was really as much altered and aged in appearance
+as the marchesa was.
+
+Fifteen years--it is no such very long time; and yet I dare say that
+the persons principally concerned in the incident which I am about to
+relate have given up thinking about it as completely as I had done,
+until the sound of that lady's name, and the sight of her big black
+eyes, recalled it to me, and set me thinking of the sunny spring
+afternoon on which my sister Anne and I journeyed from Verona to
+Venice, and of her naive exclamations of delight on finding herself in
+a real gondola, gliding smoothly down the Grand Canal. My sister Anne
+is by some years my senior. She is what might be called an old lady
+now, and she certainly was an old maid then, and had long accepted her
+position as such. Then, as now, she habitually wore a gray alpaca
+gown, a pair of gold-rimmed spectacles, gloves a couple of sizes too
+large for her, and a shapeless, broad-leaved straw hat, from which a
+blue veil was flung back and streamed out in the breeze behind her,
+like a ship's ensign. Then, as now, she was the simplest, the most
+kind-hearted, the most prejudiced of mortals; an enthusiastic admirer
+of the arts, and given, as her own small contribution thereto, to the
+production of endless water-colour landscapes, a trifle woolly,
+indeed, as to outline, and somewhat faulty as to perspective, but warm
+in colouring, and highly thought of in the family. I believe, in fact,
+that it was chiefly with a view to the filling of her portfolio that
+she had persuaded me to take her to Venice; and, as I am
+constitutionally indolent, I was willing enough to spend a few weeks
+in the city which, of all cities in the world, is the best adapted for
+lazy people. We engaged rooms at Danielli's, and unpacked all our
+clothes, knowing that we were not likely to make another move until
+the heat should drive us away.
+
+The first few days, I remember, were not altogether full of enjoyment
+for one of us. My excellent Anne, who has all her brother's virtues,
+without his failings, would have scouted the notion of allowing any
+dread of physical fatigue to stand between her and the churches and
+pictures which she had come all the way from England to admire; and,
+as Venice was an old haunt of mine, she very excusably expected me to
+act as cicerone to her, and allowed me but little rest between the
+hours of breakfast and of the /table d'hote/. At last, however, she
+conceived the modest and felicitous idea of making a copy of Titian's
+"Assumption"; and, having obtained the requisite permission for that
+purpose, set to work upon the first of a long series of courageous
+attempts, all of which she conscientiously destroyed when in a half-
+finished state. At that rate it seemed likely that her days would be
+fully occupied for some weeks to come; and I urged her to persevere,
+and not to allow herself to be disheartened by a few brilliant
+failures; and so she hurried away, early every morning, with her
+paint-box, her brushes, and her block, and I was left free to smoke my
+cigarettes in peace, in front of my favourite cafe on the Piazza San
+Marco.
+
+I was sitting there one morning, watching, with half-closed eyes, the
+pigeons circling overhead under a cloudless sky, and enjoying the
+fresh salt breeze that came across the ruffled water from the
+Adriatic, when I was accosted by one of the white-coated Austrian
+officers by whom Venice was thronged in those days, and whom I
+presently recognised as a young fellow named Von Rosenau, whom I had
+known slightly in Vienna the previous winter. I returned his greeting
+cordially, for I always like to associate as much as possible with
+foreigners when I am abroad, and little did I foresee into what
+trouble this fair-haired, innocent-looking youth was destined to lead
+me.
+
+I asked him how he liked Venice, and he answered laughingly that he
+was not there from choice. "I am in disgrace," he explained. "I am
+always in disgrace, only this time it is rather worse than usual. Do
+you remember my father, the general? No? Perhaps he was not in Vienna
+when you were there. He is a soldier of the old school, and manages
+his family as they tell me he used to manage his regiment in former
+years, boasting that he never allowed a breach of discipline to pass
+unpunished, and never will. Last year I exceeded my allowance, and the
+colonel got orders to stop my leave; this year I borrowed from the
+Jews, the whole thing was found out, and I was removed from the
+cavalry, and put into a Croat regiment under orders for Venice. Next
+year will probably see me enrolled in the police; and so it will go
+on, I suppose, till some fine morning I shall find myself driving a
+two-horse yellow diligence in the wilds of Carinthia, and blowing a
+horn to let the villagers know that the imperial and royal mail is
+approaching."
+
+After a little more conversation we separated, but only to meet again,
+that same evening, on the Piazza San Marco, whither I had wandered to
+listen to the band after dinner, and where I found Von Rosenau seated
+with a number of his brother officers in front of the principal cafe.
+These gentlemen, to whom I was presently introduced, were unanimous in
+complaining of their present quarters. Venice, they said, might be all
+very well for artists and travellers; but viewed as a garrison it was
+the dullest of places. There were no amusements, there was no sport,
+and just now no society; for the Italians were in one of their
+periodical fits of sulks, and would not speak to, or look at, a German
+if they could possibly avoid it. "They will not even show themselves
+when our band is playing," said one of the officers, pointing toward
+the well-nigh empty piazza. "As for the ladies, it is reported that if
+one of them is seen speaking to an Austrian, she is either
+assassinated or sent off to spend the rest of her days in a convent.
+At all events, it is certain that we have none of us any successes to
+boast of, except Von Rosenau, who has had an affair, they say, only he
+is pleased to be very mysterious about it."
+
+"Where does she live, Von Rosenau?" asked another. "Is she rich? Is
+she noble? Has she a husband, who will stab you both? or only a
+mother, who will send her to a nunnery, and let you go free? You might
+gratify our curiosity a little. It would do you no harm, and it would
+give us something to talk about."
+
+"Bah! he will tell you nothing," cried a third. "He is afraid. He
+knows that there are half a dozen of us who could cut him out in an
+hour."
+
+"Von Rosenau," said a young ensign, solemnly, "you would do better to
+make a clean breast of it. Concealment is useless. Janovicz saw you
+with her in Santa Maria della Salute the other day, and could have
+followed her home quite easily if he had been so inclined."
+
+"They were seen together on the Lido, too. People who want to keep
+their secrets ought not to be so imprudent."
+
+"A good comrade ought to have no secrets from the regiment."
+
+"Come, Von Rosenau, we will promise not to speak to her without your
+permission if you will tell us how you managed to make her
+acquaintance."
+
+The object of all these attacks received them with the most perfect
+composure, continuing to smoke his cigar and gaze out seaward, without
+so much as turning his head toward his questioners, to whom he
+vouchsafed no reply whatever. Probably, as an ex-hussar and a sprig of
+nobility, he may have held his head a little above those of his
+present brother officers, and preferred disregarding their familiarity
+to resenting it, as he might have done if it had come from men whom he
+considered on a footing of equality with himself. Such, at least, was
+my impression; and it was confirmed by the friendly advances which he
+made toward me, from that day forth, and by the persistence with which
+he sought my society. I thought he seemed to wish for some companion
+whose ideas had not been developed exclusively in barrack atmosphere;
+and I, on my side, was not unwilling to listen to the chatter of a
+lively, good-natured young fellow, at intervals, during my long idle
+days.
+
+It was at the end of a week, I think, or thereabouts, that he honoured
+me with his full confidence. We had been sea-fishing in a small open
+boat which he had purchased, and which he managed without assistance;
+that is to say, that we had provided ourselves with what was requisite
+for the pursuit of that engrossing sport, and that the young count had
+gone through the form of dropping his line over the side and pulling
+it up, baitless and fishless, from time to time, while I had dispensed
+with even this shallow pretence of employment, and had stretched
+myself out full length upon the cushions which I had thoughtfully
+brought with me, inhaling the salt-laden breeze, and luxuriating in
+perfect inaction, till such time as it had become necessary for us to
+think of returning homeward. My companion had been sighing
+portentously every now and again all through the afternoon, and had
+repeatedly given vent to a sound as though he had been about to say
+something, and had as often checked himself, and fallen back into
+silence. So that I was in a great measure prepared for the disclosure
+that fell from him at length as we slipped before the wind across the
+broad lagoon, toward the haze and blaze of sunset which was glorifying
+the old city of the doges.
+
+"Do you know," said he, suddenly, "that I am desperately in love?" I
+said I had conjectured as much; and he seemed a good deal surprised at
+my powers of divination. "Yes," he resumed, "I am in love; and with an
+Italian lady too, unfortunately. Her name is Bianca,--the Signorina
+Bianca Marinelli,--and she is the most divinely beautiful creature the
+sun ever shone upon."
+
+"That," said I, "is of course."
+
+"It is the truth; and when you have seen her, you will acknowledge
+that I do not exaggerate. I have known her nearly two months now. I
+became acquainted with her accidentally--she dropped her handkerchief
+in a shop, and I took it to her, and so we got to be upon speaking
+terms, and--and-- But I need not give you the whole history. We have
+discovered that we are all the world to each other; we have sworn to
+remain faithful to each other all our lives long; and we renew the
+oath whenever we meet. But that, unhappily, is very seldom! for her
+father, the Marchese Marinelli, scarcely ever lets her out of his
+sight; and he is a sour, narrow-minded old fellow, as proud as he is
+poor, an intense hater of all Austrians; and if he were to discover
+our attachment, I shudder to think of what the consequences might be."
+
+"And your own father--the stern old general of whom you told me--what
+would he say to it all?"
+
+"Oh, he, of course, would not hear of such a marriage for a moment. He
+detests and despises the Venetians as cordially as the marchese abhors
+the /Tedeschi/; and, as I am entirely dependent upon him, I should not
+dream of saying a word to him about the matter until I was married,
+and nothing could be done to separate me from Bianca."
+
+"So that, upon the whole, you appear to stand a very fair chance of
+starvation, if everything turns out according to your wishes. And
+pray, in what way do you imagine that I can assist you toward this
+desirable end? For I take it for granted that you have some reason for
+letting me into your secret."
+
+Von Rosenau laughed good-humouredly.
+
+"You form conclusions quickly," he said. "Well, I will confess to you
+that I have thought lately that you might be of great service to me
+without inconveniencing yourself much. The other day, when you did me
+the honour to introduce me to your sister, I was very nearly telling
+her all. She has such a kind countenance; and I felt sure that she
+would not refuse to let my poor Bianca visit her sometimes. The old
+marchese, you see, would have no objection to leaving his daughter for
+hours under the care of an English lady; and I thought that perhaps
+when Miss Jenkinson went out to work at her painting--I might come
+in."
+
+"Fortunate indeed is it for you," I said, "that your confidence in the
+kind countenance of my sister Anne did not carry you quite to the
+point of divulging this precious scheme to her. I, who know her pretty
+well, can tell you exactly the course she would have pursued if you
+had. Without one moment's hesitation, she would have found out the
+address of the young lady's father, hurried off thither, and told him
+all about it. Anne is a thoroughly good creature; but she has little
+sympathy with love-making, still less with surreptitious love-making,
+and she would as soon think of accepting the part you are so good as
+to assign to her as of forging a check."
+
+He sighed, and said he supposed, then, that they must continue to meet
+as they had been in the habit of doing, but that it was rather
+unsatisfactory.
+
+"It says something for your ingenuity that you contrive to meet at
+all," I remarked.
+
+"Well, yes, there are considerable difficulties, because the old man's
+movements are so uncertain; and there is some risk too, for, as you
+heard the other day, we have been seen together. Moreover, I have been
+obliged to tell everything to my servant Johann, who waylays the
+marchese's housekeeper at market in the mornings, and finds out from
+her when and where I can have an opportunity of meeting Bianca. I
+would rather not have trusted him; but I could think of no other
+plan."
+
+"At any rate, I should have thought you might have selected some more
+retired rendezvous than the most frequented church in Venice."
+
+He shrugged his shoulders. "I wish you would suggest one within
+reach," he said. "There are no retired places in this accursed town.
+But, in fact, we see each other very seldom. Often for days together
+the only way in which I can get a glimpse of her is by loitering about
+in my boat in front of her father's house, and watching till she shows
+herself at the window. We are in her neighborhood now, and it is close
+upon the hour at which I can generally calculate upon her appearing.
+Would you mind my making a short detour that way before I set you down
+at your hotel?"
+
+We had entered the Grand Canal while Von Rosenau had been relating his
+love-tale, and some minutes before he had lowered his sail and taken
+to the oars. He now slewed the boat's head round abruptly, and we shot
+into a dark and narrow waterway, and so, after sundry twistings and
+turnings, arrived before a grim, time-worn structure, so hemmed in by
+the surrounding buildings that it seemed as if no ray of sunshine
+could ever penetrate within its walls.
+
+"That is the Palazzo Marinelli," said my companion. "The greater part
+of it is let to different tenants. The family has long been much too
+poor to inhabit the whole of it, and now the old man only reserves
+himself four rooms on the third floor. Those are the windows, in the
+far corner; and there--no!--yes!--there is Bianca."
+
+I brought my eyeglass to bear upon the point indicated just in time to
+catch sight of a female head, which was thrust out through the open
+window for an instant, and then withdrawn with great celerity.
+
+"Ah," sighed the count, "it is you who have driven her away. I ought
+to have remembered that she would be frightened at seeing a stranger.
+And now she will not show herself again, I fear. Come; I will take you
+home. Confess now--is she not more beautiful than you expected?"
+
+"My dear sir, I had hardly time to see whether she was a man or a
+woman; but I am quite willing to take your word for it that there
+never was anybody like her."
+
+"If you would like to wait a little longer--half an hour or so--she
+/might/ put her head out again," said the young man, wistfully.
+
+"Thank you very much; but my sister will be wondering why I do not
+come to take her down to the /table d'hote/. And besides, I am not in
+love myself, I may perhaps be excused for saying that I want my
+dinner."
+
+"As you please," answered the count, looking the least bit in the
+world affronted; and so he pulled back in silence to the steps of the
+hotel, where we parted.
+
+I don't know whether Von Rosenau felt aggrieved by my rather
+unsympathetic reception of his confidence, or whether he thought it
+useless to discuss his projects further with one who could not or
+would not assist him in carrying them out; but although we continued
+to meet daily, as before, he did not recur to the interesting subject,
+and it was not for me to take the initiative in doing so. Curiosity, I
+confess, led me to direct my gondolier more than once to the narrow
+canal over which the Palazzo Martinelli towered; and on each occasion
+I was rewarded by descrying, from the depths of the miniature
+mourning-coach which concealed me, the faithful count, seated in his
+boat and waiting in patient faith, like another Ritter Toggenburg,
+with his eyes fixed upon the corner window; but of the lady I could
+see no sign. I was rather disappointed at first, as day after day went
+by and my young friend showed no disposition to break the silence in
+which he had chosen to wrap himself; for I had nothing to do in
+Venice, and I thought it would have been rather amusing to watch the
+progress of this incipient romance. By degrees, however, I ceased to
+trouble myself about it; and at the end of a fortnight I had other
+things to think of, in the shape of plans for the summer, my sister
+Anne having by that time satisfied herself that, all things
+considered, Titian's "Assumption" was a little too much for her.
+
+It was Captain Janovicz who informed me casually one evening that Von
+Rosenau was going away in a few days on leave, and that he would
+probably be absent for a considerable time.
+
+"For my own part," remarked my informant, "I shall be surprised if we
+see him back in the regiment at all. He was only sent to us as a sort
+of punishment for having been a naughty boy, and I suppose now he will
+be forgiven, and restored to the hussars."
+
+"So much for undying love," thinks I, with a cynical chuckle. "If
+there is any gratitude in man, that young fellow ought to be showering
+blessings on me for having refused to hold the noose for him to thrust
+his head into."
+
+Alas! I knew not of what I was speaking. I had not yet heard the last
+of Herr von Rosenau's entanglement, nor was I destined to escape from
+playing my part in it. The very next morning, after breakfast, as I
+was poring over a map of Switzerland, "Murray" on my right hand and
+"Bradshaw" on my left, his card was brought to me, together with an
+urgent request that I would see him immediately and alone; and before
+I had had time to send a reply, he came clattering into the room,
+trailing his sabre behind him, and dropped into the first arm-chair
+with a despairing self-abandonment which shook the house to its
+foundations.
+
+"Mr. Jenkinson," said he, "I am a ruined man!"
+
+I answered rather drily that I was very sorry to hear it. If I must
+confess the truth, I thought he had come to borrow money of me.
+
+"A most cruel calamity has befallen me," he went on; "and unless you
+will consent to help me out of it--"
+
+"I am sure I shall be delighted to do anything in my power," I
+interrupted, apprehensively; "but I am afraid--"
+
+"You cannot refuse me till you have heard what I have to say. I am
+aware that I have no claim whatever upon your kindness; but you are
+the only man in the world who can save me, and, whereas the happiness
+of my whole life is at stake, the utmost you can have to put up with
+will be a little inconvenience. Now I will explain myself in as few
+words as possible, because I have only a minute to spare. In fact, I
+ought to be out on the ramparts at this moment. You have not forgotten
+what I told you about myself and the Signorina Martinelli, and how we
+had agreed to seize the first opportunity that offered to be privately
+married, and to escape over the mountains to my father's house, and
+throw ourselves upon his mercy?"
+
+"I don't remember your having mentioned any such plan."
+
+"No matter--so it was. Well, everything seemed to have fallen out most
+fortunately for us. I found out some time ago that the marchese would
+be going over to Padua this evening on business, and would be absent
+at least one whole day, and I immediately applied for my leave to
+begin to-morrow. This I obtained at once through my father, who now
+expects me to be with him in a few days, and little knows that I shall
+not come alone. Johann and the marchese's housekeeper arranged the
+rest between them. I was to meet my dear Bianca early in the morning
+on the Lido; thence we were to go by boat to Mestre, where a carriage
+was to be in waiting for us; and the same evening we were to be
+married by a priest, to whom I have given due notice, at a place
+called Longarone. And so we should have gone on, across the Ampezzo
+Pass homeward. Now would you believe that all this has been defeated
+by a mere freak on the part of my colonel? Only this morning, after it
+was much too late to make any alteration in our plans, he told me that
+he should require me to be on duty all to-day and to-morrow, and that
+my leave could not begin until the next day. Is it not maddening? And
+the worst of it is that I have no means of letting Bianca know of
+this, for I dare not send a message to the palazzo, and there is no
+chance of my seeing her myself; and of course she will go to the Lido
+to-morrow morning, and will find no one there. Now, my dear Mr.
+Jenkinson--my good, kind friend--do you begin to see what I want you
+to do for me?"
+
+"Not in the very least."
+
+"No? But it is evident enough. Now listen. You must meet Bianca
+to-morrow morning; you explain to her what has happened; you take her
+in the boat, which will be waiting for you, to Mestre; you proceed in
+the travelling-carriage, which will also be waiting for you, to
+Longarone; you see the priest, and appoint with him for the following
+evening; and the next day I arrive, and you return to Venice. Is that
+clear?"
+
+The volubility with which this programme was enunciated so took away
+my breath that I scarcely realised its audacity.
+
+"You will not refuse; I am sure you will not," said the count, rising
+and hooking up his sword, as if about to depart.
+
+"Stop, stop!" I exclaimed. "You don't consider what you are asking. I
+can't elope with young women in this casual sort of way. I have a
+character--and a sister. How am I to explain all this to my sister, I
+should like to know?"
+
+"Oh, make any excuse you can think of to her. Now, Mr. Jenkinson, you
+know there cannot be any real difficulty in that. You consent then? A
+thousand, thousand thanks! I will send you a few more instructions by
+letter this evening. I really must not stay any longer now. Good-bye."
+
+"Stop! Why can't your servant Johann do all this instead of me?"
+
+"Because he is on duty like myself. Good-bye."
+
+"Stop! Why can't you postpone your flight for a day? I don't so much
+mind meeting the young lady and telling her all about it."
+
+"Quite out of the question, my dear sir. It is perfectly possible that
+the marchese may return from Padua to-morrow night, and what should we
+do then? No, no; there is no help for it. Good-bye."
+
+"Stop! Hi! Come back!"
+
+But it was too late. My impetuous visitor was down the staircase and
+away before I had descended a single flight in pursuit, and all I
+could do was to return to my room and register a vow within my own
+heart that I would have nothing to do with this preposterous scheme.
+
+Looking back upon what followed across the interval of fifteen years,
+I find that I can really give no satisfactory reason for my having
+failed to adhere to this wise resolution. I had no particular feeling
+of friendship for Von Rosenau; I did not care two straws about the
+Signorina Bianca, whom I had never seen; and certainly I am not, nor
+ever was, the sort of person who loves romantic adventures for their
+own sake. Perhaps it was good-nature, perhaps it was only an indolent
+shrinking from disobliging anybody, that influenced me--it does not
+much matter now. Whatever the cause of my yielding may have been, I
+did yield. I prefer to pass over in silence the doubts and hesitations
+which beset me for the remainder of the day; the arrival, toward
+evening, of the piteous note from Von Rosenau, which finally overcame
+my weak resistance to his will; and the series of circumstantial false
+statements (I blush when I think of them) by means of which I
+accounted to my sister for my proposed sudden departure.
+
+Suffice it to say that, very early on the following morning, there
+might have been seen, pacing up and down the shore on the seaward side
+of the Lido, and peering anxiously about him through an eyeglass, as
+if in search of somebody or something, the figure of a tall, spare
+Englishman, clad in a complete suit of shepherd's tartan, with a wide-
+awake on his head, a leather bag slung by a strap across his shoulder,
+and a light coat over his arm. Myself, in point of act, in the
+travelling-costume of the epoch.
+
+I was kept waiting a long time--longer than I liked; for, as may be
+supposed, I was most anxious to be well away from Venice before the
+rest of the world was up and about; but at length there appeared,
+round the corner of a long white wall which skirted the beach, a
+little lady, thickly veiled, who, on catching sight of me, whisked
+round, and incontinently vanished. This was so evidently the fair
+Bianca that I followed her without hesitation, and almost ran into her
+arms as I swung round the angle of the wall behind which she had
+retreated. She gave a great start, stared at me, for an instant, like
+a startled fawn, and then took to her heels and fled. It was rather
+ridiculous; but there was nothing for me to do but to give chase. My
+legs are long, and I had soon headed her round.
+
+"I presume that I have the honour of addressing the Signorina
+Marinelli?" I panted, in French, as I faced her, hat in hand.
+
+She answered me by a piercing shriek, which left no room for doubt as
+to her identity.
+
+"For the love of Heaven, don't do that!" I entreated, in an agony.
+"You will alarm the whole neighbourhood and ruin us both. Believe me,
+I am only here as your friend, and very much against my own wishes. I
+have come on the part of Count Albrecht von Rosenau, who is unable to
+come himself, because--"
+
+Here she opened her mouth with so manifest an intention of raising
+another resounding screech that I became desperate, and seized her by
+the wrists in my anxiety. "/Sgridi ancora una volta/," says I, in the
+purest /lingua Toscana/, "/e la lascero qui/--to get out of this mess
+as best you can--/cosi sicuro che il mio nome e Jenkinsono/!"
+
+To my great relief she began to laugh. Immediately afterward, however,
+she sat down on the shingle and began to cry. It was too vexatious:
+what on earth was I to do?
+
+"Do you understand English?" I asked, despairingly.
+
+She shook her head, but sobbed out that she spoke French; so I
+proceeded to address her in that language.
+
+"Signorina, if you do not get up and control your emotion, I will not
+be answerable for the consequences. We are surrounded by dangers of
+the most--compromising description; and every moment of delay must add
+to them. I know that the officers often come out here to bathe in the
+morning; so do many of the English people from Danielli's. If we are
+discovered together there will be such a scandal as never was, and you
+will most assuredly not become Countess von Rosenau. Think of that,
+and it will brace your nerves. What you have to do is to come directly
+with me to the boat which is all ready to take us to Mestre. Allow me
+to carry your hand-bag."
+
+Not a bit of it! The signorina refused to stir.
+
+"What is it? Where is Alberto? What has happened?" she cried. "You
+have told me nothing."
+
+"Well, then, I will explain," I answered, impatiently. And I explained
+accordingly.
+
+But, dear me, what a fuss she did make over it all! One would have
+supposed, to hear her, that I had planned this unfortunate
+complication for my own pleasure, and that I ought to have been
+playing the part of a suppliant instead of that of a sorely tried
+benefactor. First she was so kind as to set me down as an imposter,
+and was only convinced of my honesty when I showed her a letter in the
+beloved Alberto's handwriting. Then she declared that she could not
+possibly go off with a total stranger. Then she discovered that, upon
+further consideration, she could not abandon poor dear papa in his old
+age. And so forth, and so forth, with a running accompaniment of tears
+and sobs. Of course she consented at last to enter the boat; but I was
+so exasperated by her silly behaviour that I would not speak to her,
+and had really scarcely noticed whether she was pretty or plain till
+we were more than half-way to Mestre. But when we had hoisted our
+sail, and were running before a fine, fresh breeze toward the land,
+and our four men had shipped their oars and were chattering and
+laughing under their breath in the bows, and the first perils of our
+enterprise seemed to have been safely surmounted, my equanimity began
+to return to me, and I stole a glance at the partner of my flight, who
+had lifted her veil, and showed a pretty, round, childish face, with a
+clear, brown complexion, and a pair of the most splendid dark eyes it
+has ever been my good fortune to behold. There were no tears in them
+now, but a certain half-frightened, half-mischievous light instead, as
+if she rather enjoyed the adventure, in spite of its inauspicious
+opening. A very little encouragement induced her to enter into
+conversation, and ere long she was prattling away as unrestrainedly as
+if we had been friends all our lives. She asked me a great many
+questions. What was I doing in Venice? Had I known Alberto long? Was I
+very fond of him? Did I think that the old Count von Rosenau would be
+very angry when he heard of his son's marriage? I answered her as best
+I could, feeling very sorry for the poor little soul, who evidently
+did not in the least realise the serious nature of the step which she
+was about to take; and she grew more and more communicative. In the
+course of a quarter of an hour I had been put in possession of all the
+chief incidents of her uneventful life.
+
+I had heard how she had lost her mother when she was still an infant;
+how she had been educated partly by two maiden aunts, partly in a
+convent at Verona; how she had latterly led a life of almost complete
+seclusion in the old Venetian palace; how she had first met Alberto;
+and how, after many doubts and misgivings, she had finally been
+prevailed upon to sacrifice all for his sake, and to leave her father,
+who,--stern, severe, and suspicious, though he had always been
+generous to her,--had tried to give her such small pleasures as his
+means and habits would permit. She had a likeness of him with her, she
+said,--perhaps I might like to see it. She dived into her travelling-
+bag as she spoke, and produced from thence a full-length photograph of
+a tall, well-built gentleman of sixty or thereabouts, whose gray hair,
+black moustache, and intent, frowning gaze made up an ensemble more
+striking than attractive.
+
+"Is he not handsome--poor papa?" she asked.
+
+I said the marchese was certainly a very fine-looking man, and
+inwardly thanked my stars that he was safely at Padua; for looking at
+the breadth of his chest, the length of his arm, and the somewhat
+forbidding cast of his features, I could not help perceiving that
+"poor papa" was precisely one of those persons with whom a prudent man
+prefers to keep friends than to quarrel.
+
+And so, by the time that we reached Mestre, we had become quite
+friendly and intimate, and had half forgotten, I think, the absurd
+relation in which we stood toward each other. We had rather an awkward
+moment when we left the boat and entered our travelling-carriage; for
+I need scarcely say that both the boatmen and the grinning vetturino
+took me for the bridegroom whose place I temporarily occupied, and
+they were pleased to be facetious in a manner which was very
+embarrassing to me, but which I could not very well check. Moreover, I
+felt compelled so far to sustain my assumed character as to be
+specially generous in the manner of a /buona mano/ to those four jolly
+watermen, and for the first few miles of our drive I could not help
+remembering this circumstance with some regret, and wondering whether
+it would occur to Von Rosenau to reimburse me.
+
+Probably our coachman thought that, having a runaway couple to drive,
+he ought to make some pretence, at least, of fearing pursuit; for he
+set off at such a furious pace that our four half-starved horses were
+soon beat, and we had to perform the remainder of the long, hot, dusty
+journey at a foot's pace. I have forgotten how we made the time pass.
+I think we slept a good deal. I know we were both very tired and a
+trifle cross when in the evening we reached Longarone, a small,
+poverty-stricken village, on the verge of that dolomite region which,
+in these latter days, has become so frequented by summer tourists.
+
+Tourists usually leave in their wake some of the advantages as well as
+the drawbacks of civilisation; and probably there is now a respectable
+hotel at Longarone. I suppose, therefore, that I may say, without risk
+of laying myself open to an action for slander, that a more filthy den
+than the /osteria/ before which my charge and I alighted no
+imagination, however disordered, could conceive. It was a vast, dismal
+building, which had doubtless been the palace of some rich citizen of
+the republic in days of yore, but which had now fallen into
+dishonoured old age. Its windows and outside shutters were tightly
+closed, and had been so, apparently, from time immemorial; a vile
+smell of rancid oil and garlic pervaded it in every part; the cornices
+of its huge, bare rooms were festooned with blackened cobwebs, and the
+dust and dirt of ages had been suffered to accumulate upon the stone
+floors of its corridors. The signorina tucked up her petticoats as she
+picked her way along the passages to her bedroom, while I remained
+behind to order dinner of the sulky, black-browed padrona to whom I
+had already had to explain that my companion and I were not man and
+wife, and who, I fear, had consequently conceived no very high opinion
+of us. Happily the priest had already been warned by telegram that his
+service would not be required until the morrow; so I was spared the
+nuisance of an interview with him.
+
+After a time we sat down to our tete-a-tete dinner. Such a dinner!
+Even after a lapse of all these years I am unable to think of it
+without a shudder. Half famished though we were, we could not do much
+more than look at the greater part of the dishes which were set before
+us; and the climax was reached when we were served with an astonishing
+compote, made up, so far as I was able to judge, of equal proportions
+of preserved plums and mustard, to which vinegar and sugar had been
+superadded. Both the signorina and I partook of this horrible mixture,
+for it really looked as if it might be rather nice; and when, after
+the first mouthful, each of us looked up, and saw the other's face of
+agony and alarm, we burst into a simultaneous peal of laughter. Up to
+that moment we had been very solemn and depressed; but the laugh did
+us good, and sent us to bed in somewhat better spirits; and the
+malignant compote at least did us the service of effectually banishing
+our appetite.
+
+I forbear to enlarge upon the horrors of the night. Mosquitos, and
+other insects, which, for some reason or other, we English seldom
+mention, save under a modest pseudonym, worked their wicked will upon
+me till daybreak set me free; and I presume that the fair Bianca was
+no better off, for when the breakfast hour arrived I received a
+message from her to the effect that she was unable to leave her room.
+
+I was sitting over my dreary little repast, wondering how I should get
+through the day, and speculating upon the possibility of my release
+before nightfall, and I had just concluded that I must make up my mind
+to face another night with the mosquitos and their hardy allies, when,
+to my great joy, a slatternly serving-maid came lolloping into the
+room, and announced that a gentleman styling himself "/il Conte di
+Rosenau/" had arrived and demanded to see me instantly. Here was a
+piece of unlooked-for good fortune! I jumped up, and flew to the door
+to receive my friend, whose footsteps I already heard on the
+threshold.
+
+"My dear, good soul!" I cried, "this is too delightful! How did you
+manage----"
+
+The remainder of my sentence died away upon my lips; for, alas! it was
+not the missing Alberto whom I had nearly embraced, but a stout, red-
+faced, white-moustached gentleman, who was in a violent passion,
+judging by the terrific salute of Teutonic expletives with which he
+greeted my advance. Then he, too, desisted as suddenly as I had done,
+and we both fell back a few paces, and stared at each other blankly.
+The new-comer was the first to recover himself.
+
+"This is some accursed mistake," said he, in German.
+
+"Evidently," said I.
+
+"But they told me that you and an Italian young lady were the only
+strangers in the house."
+
+"Well, sir," I said, "I can't help it if we are. The house is not of a
+kind likely to attract strangers; and I assure you that, if I could
+consult my own wishes, the number of guests would soon be reduced by
+one."
+
+He appeared to be a very choleric old person. "Sir," said he, "you
+seem disposed to carry things off with a high hand; but I suspect that
+you know more than you choose to reveal. Be so good as to tell me the
+name of the lady who is staying here."
+
+"I think you are forgetting yourself," I answered with dignity. "I
+must decline to gratify your curiosity."
+
+He stuck his arms akimbo, and planted himself directly in front of me,
+frowning ominously. "Let us waste no more words," he said. "If I have
+made a mistake, I shall be ready to offer you a full apology. If not--
+But that is nothing to the purpose. I am Lieutenant-General Graf von
+Rosenau, at your service, and I have reason to believe that my son,
+Graf Albrecht von Rosenau, a lieutenant in his Imperial and Royal
+Majesty's 99th Croat Regiment, has made a runaway match with a certain
+Signorina Bianca Marinelli of Venice. Are you prepared to give me your
+word of honour as a gentleman and an Englishman that you are not privy
+to this affair?"
+
+At these terrible words I felt my blood run cold. I may have lost my
+presence of mind; but I don't know how I could have got out of the
+dilemma even if I had preserved it.
+
+"Your son has not yet arrived," I stammered.
+
+He pounced upon me like a cat upon a mouse, and gripped both my arms
+above the elbow. "Is he married?" he hissed, with his red nose a
+couple of inches from mine.
+
+"No," I answered, "he is not. Perhaps I had better say at once that if
+you use personal violence I shall defend myself, in spite of your
+age."
+
+Upon this he was kind enough to relax his hold.
+
+"And pray, sir," he resumed, in a somewhat more temperate tone, after
+a short period of reflection, "what have you to do with all this?"
+
+"I am not bound to answer your questions, Herr Graf," I replied; "but,
+as things have turned out, I have no special objection to doing so.
+Out of pure good-nature to your son, who was detained by duty in
+Venice at the last moment, I consented to bring the Signorina
+Marinelli here yesterday, and to await his arrival, which I am now
+expecting."
+
+"So you ran away with the girl, instead of Albrecht, did you? Ho, ho,
+ho!"
+
+I had seldom heard a more grating or disagreeable laugh.
+
+"I did nothing of the sort," I answered, tartly. "I simply undertook
+to see her safely through the first stage of her journey."
+
+"And you will have the pleasure of seeing her back, I imagine; for as
+for my rascal of a boy, I mean to take him off home with me as soon as
+he arrives; and I can assure you that I have no intention of providing
+myself with a daughter-in-law in the course of the day."
+
+I began to feel not a little alarmed. "You cannot have the brutality
+to leave me here with a young woman whom I am scarcely so much as
+acquainted with on my hands!" I ejaculated, half involuntarily. "What
+in the world should I do?"
+
+The old gentleman gave vent to a malevolent chuckle. "Upon my word,
+sir," said he, "I can only see one course open to you as a man of
+honour. You must marry her yourself."
+
+At this I fairly lost all patience, and gave the Graf my opinion of
+his conduct in terms the plainness of which left nothing to be
+desired. I included him, his son, and the entire German people in one
+sweeping anathema. No Englishman, I said, would have been capable of
+either insulting an innocent lady, or of so basely leaving in the
+lurch one whose only fault had been a too great readiness to sacrifice
+his own convenience to the interests of others. My indignation lent me
+a flow of words such as I should never have been able to command in
+calmer moments; and I dare say I should have continued in the same
+strain for an indefinite time, had I not been summarily cut short by
+the entrance of a third person.
+
+There was no occasion for this last intruder to announce himself, in a
+voice of thunder, as the Marchese Marinelli. I had at once recognised
+the original of the signorina's photograph, and I perceived that I was
+now in about as uncomfortable a position as my bitterest enemy could
+have desired for me. The German old gentleman had been very angry at
+the outset; but his wrath, as compared with that of the Italian, was
+as a breeze to a hurricane. The marchese was literally quivering from
+head to foot with concentrated fury. His face was deadly white, his
+strongly marked features twitched convulsively, his eyes blazed like
+those of a wild animal. Having stated his identity in the manner
+already referred to, he made two strides toward the table by which I
+was seated, and stood glaring at me as though he would have sprung at
+my throat. I thought it might avert consequences which we should both
+afterward deplore if I were to place the table between us; and I did
+so without loss of time. From the other side of that barrier I adjured
+my visitor to keep cool, pledging him my word, in the same breath,
+that there was no harm done as yet.
+
+"No harm!" he repeated, in a strident shout that echoed through the
+bare room. "Dog! Villain! You ensnare my daughter's affections--you
+entice her away from her father's house--you cover my family with
+eternal disgrace--and then you dare to tell me there is no harm done!
+Wait a little, and you shall see that there will be harm enough for
+you. Marry her you must, since you have ruined her; but you shall die
+for it the next day! It is I--I, Ludovico Marinelli--who swear it!"
+
+I am aware that I do but scant justice to the marchese's inimitable
+style. The above sentences must be imagined as hurled forth in a
+series of yells, with a pant between each of them. As a melodramatic
+actor this terrific Marinelli would, I am sure, have risen to the
+first rank in his profession.
+
+"Signore," I said, "you are under a misapprehension. I have ensnared
+nobody's affections, and I am entirely guiltless of all the crimes
+which you are pleased to attribute to me."
+
+"What? Are you not, then, the hound who bears the vile and dishonoured
+name of Von Rosenau?"
+
+"I am not. I bear the less distinguished, but, I hope, equally
+respectable patronymic of Jenkinson."
+
+But my modest disclaimer passed unheeded, for now another combatant
+had thrown himself into the fray.
+
+"Vile and dishonoured name! No one shall permit himself such language
+in my presence. I am Lieutenant-General Graf von Rosenau, sir, and you
+shall answer to me for your words."
+
+The Herr Graf's knowledge of Italian was somewhat limited; but, such
+as it was, it had enabled him to catch the sense of the stigma cast
+upon his family, and now he was upon his feet, red and gobbling, like
+a turkey-cock, and prepared to do battle with a hundred irate
+Venetians if need were.
+
+The marchese stared at him in blank amazement. "/You!/" he
+ejaculated--"you Von Rosenau! It is incredible--preposterous. Why, you
+are old enough to be her grandfather."
+
+"Not old enough to be in my dotage,--as I should be if I permitted my
+son to marry a beggarly Italian,--nor too old to punish impertinence
+as it deserves," retorted the Graf.
+
+"Your son? You are the father then? It is all the same to me. I will
+fight you both. But the marriage shall take place first."
+
+"It shall not."
+
+"It shall."
+
+"Insolent slave of an Italian, I will make you eat your words!"
+
+"Triple brute of a German, I spit upon you!"
+
+"Silence, sir!"
+
+"Silence yourself!"
+
+During this animated dialogue I sat apart, softly rubbing my hands.
+What a happy dispensation it would be, I could not help thinking, if
+these two old madmen were to exterminate each other, like the Kilkenny
+cats! Anyhow, their attention was effectually diverted from my humble
+person, and that was something to be thankful for.
+
+Never before had I been privileged to listen to so rich a vocabulary
+of vituperation. Each disputant had expressed himself, after the first
+few words, in his own language, and between them they were now making
+hubbub enough to bring the old house down about their ears. Up came
+the padrona to see the fun; up came her fat husband, in his shirt-
+sleeves and slippers; and her long-legged sons, and her tousle-headed
+daughters, and the maid-servant, and the cook, and the ostler--the
+whole establishment, in fact, collected at the open folding-doors, and
+watched with delight the progress of this battle of words. Last of
+all, a poor little trembling figure, with pale face and eyes big with
+fright, crept in, and stood, hand on heart, a little in advance of the
+group. I slipped to her side, and offered her a chair, but she neither
+answered me nor noticed my presence. She was staring at her father as
+a bird stares at a snake, and seemed unable to realise anything except
+the terrible fact that he had followed and found her.
+
+Presently the old man wheeled round, and became aware of his daughter.
+
+"Unhappy girl!" he exclaimed, "what is this that you have done?"
+
+I greatly fear that the marchese's paternal corrections must have
+sometimes taken a more practical shape than mere verbal upbraidings;
+for poor Bianca shrank back, throwing up one arm, as if to shield her
+face, and, with a wild cry of "Alberto! come to me!" fell into the
+arms of that tardy lover, who at that appropriate moment had made his
+appearance, unobserved, upon the scene.
+
+The polyglot disturbance that ensued baffles all description. Indeed,
+I should be puzzled to say exactly what took place, or after how many
+commands, defiances, threats, protestations, insults, and
+explanations, a semblance of peace was finally restored. I only know
+that, at the expiration of a certain time, three of us were sitting by
+the open window, in a softened and subdued frame of mind,
+considerately turning our backs upon the other two, who were bidding
+each other farewell at the farther end of the room.
+
+It was the faithless Johann, as I gathered, who was responsible for
+this catastrophe. His heart, it appeared, had failed him when he had
+discovered that nothing less than a bona-fide marriage was to be the
+outcome of the meetings he had shown so much skill in contriving, and,
+full of penitence and alarm, he had written to his old master,
+divulging the whole project. It so happened that a recent storm in the
+mountains had interrupted telegraphic communication, for the time,
+between Austria and Venice, and the only course that had seemed open
+to Herr von Rosenau was to start post-haste for the latter place,
+where, indeed, he would have arrived a day too late had not Albrecht's
+colonel seen fit to postpone his leave. In this latter circumstance
+also the hand of Johann seemed discernible. As for the marchese, I
+suppose he must have returned rather sooner than had been expected
+from Padua, and finding his daughter gone, must have extorted the
+truth from his housekeeper. He did not volunteer any explanation of
+his presence, nor were any of us bold enough to question him.
+
+As I have said before, I have no very clear recollection of how an
+understanding was arrived at and bloodshed averted and the padrona and
+her satellites hustled downstairs again. Perhaps I may have had some
+share in the work of pacification. Be that as it may, when once the
+exasperated parents had discovered that they both really wanted the
+same thing,--namely, to recover possession of their respective
+offspring, to go home, and never meet each other again,--a species of
+truce was soon agreed upon between them for the purpose of separating
+the two lovers, who all this time were locked in each other's arms, in
+the prettiest attitude in the world, vowing loudly that nothing should
+ever part them.
+
+How often since the world began have such vows been made and broken--
+broken, not willingly, but of necessity--broken and mourned over, and,
+in due course of time, forgotten! I looked at the Marchese di San
+Silvestro the other night, as she sailed up the room in her lace and
+diamonds, with her fat little husband toddling after her, and wondered
+whether, in these days of her magnificence, she ever gave a thought to
+her lost Alberto--Alberto, who has been married himself this many a
+long day, and has succeeded to his father's estates, and has numerous
+family, I am told. At all events, she was unhappy enough over parting
+with him at the time. The two old gentlemen, who, as holders of the
+purse-strings, knew that they were completely masters of the
+situation, and could afford to be generous, showed some kindliness of
+feeing at the last. They allowed the poor lovers an uninterrupted
+half-hour in which to bid each other adieu forever, and abstained from
+any needless harshness in making their decision known. When the time
+was up, two travelling-carriages were seen waiting at the door. Count
+von Rosenau pushed his son before him into the first; the marchese
+assisted the half-fainting Bianca into the second; the vetturini
+cracked their whips, and presently both vehicles were rolling away,
+the one toward the north, the other toward the south. I suppose the
+young people had been promising to remain faithful to each other until
+some happier future time should permit of their union, for at the last
+moment Albrecht thrust his head out of the carriage window, and,
+waving his hand, cried, "/A rivederci!/" I don't know whether they
+ever met again.
+
+The whole scene, I confess, had affected me a good deal, in spite of
+some of the absurdities by which it had been marked; and it was not
+until I had been alone for some time, and silence had once more fallen
+upon the Longarone /osteria/, that I awoke to the fact that it was
+/my/ carriage which the Marchese Marinelli had calmly appropriated to
+his own use, and that there was no visible means of my getting back to
+Venice that day. Great was my anger and great my dismay when the
+ostler announced this news to me, with a broad grin, in reply to my
+order to put the horses to without delay.
+
+"But the marchese himself--how did he get here?" I inquired.
+
+"Oh, he came by the diligence."
+
+"And the count--the young gentleman?"
+
+"On horseback, signore; but you cannot have his horse. The poor beast
+is half dead as it is."
+
+"Then will you tell me how I am to escape from your infernal town? For
+nothing shall induce me to pass another night here."
+
+"Eh! there is the diligence which goes through at two o'clock in the
+morning!"
+
+There was no help for it. I sat up for that diligence, and returned by
+it to Mestre, seated between a Capuchin monk and a peasant farmer
+whose whole system appeared to be saturated with garlic. I could
+scarcely have fared worse in my bed at Longarone.
+
+And so that was my reward for an act of disinterested kindness. It is
+only experience that can teach a man to appreciate the ingrained
+thanklessness of the human race. I was obliged to make a clean breast
+of it to my sister, who of course did not keep the secret long; and
+for some time afterward I had to submit to a good deal of mild chaff
+upon the subject from my friends. But it is an old story now, and two
+of the actors in it are dead, and of the remaining three I dare say I
+am the only one who cares to recall it. Even to me it is a somewhat
+painful reminiscence.
+
+
+
+GONERIL
+
+BY
+
+A. MARY F. ROBINSON
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+THE TWO OLD LADIES
+
+On one of the pleasant hills round Florence, a little beyond Camerata,
+there stands a house so small that an Englishman would probably take
+it for a lodge of the great villa behind, whose garden trees at sunset
+cast their shadow over the cottage and its terrace on to the steep
+white road. But any of the country people could tell him that this,
+too, is a /casa signorile/, despite its smallness. It stands somewhat
+high above the road, a square white house with a projecting roof, and
+with four green-shuttered windows overlooking the gay but narrow
+terrace. The beds under the windows would have fulfilled the fancy of
+that French poet who desired that in his garden one might, in
+gathering a nosegay, cull a salad, for they boasted little else than
+sweet basil, small and white, and some tall gray rosemary bushes.
+Nearer to the door an unusually large oleander faced a strong and
+sturdy magnolia-tree, and these, with their profusion of red and white
+sweetness, made amends for the dearth of garden flowers. At either end
+of the terrace flourished a thicket of gum-cistus, syringa,
+stephanotis, and geranium bushes; and the wall itself, dropping sheer
+down to the road, was bordered with the customary Florentine hedge of
+China roses and irises, now out of bloom. Great terra-cotta flower-
+pots, covered with devices, were placed at intervals along the wall;
+as it was summer, the oranges and lemons, full of wonderfully sweet
+white blossoms and young green fruit, were set there in the sun to
+ripen.
+
+It was the 17th of June. Although it was after four o'clock, the
+olives on the steep hill that went down to Florence looked blindingly
+white, shadeless, and sharp. The air trembled round the bright green
+cypresses behind the house. The roof steamed. All the windows were
+shut, all the jalousies shut, yet it was so hot that no one could stir
+within. The maid slept in the kitchen; the two elderly mistresses of
+the house dozed upon their beds. Not a movement; not a sound.
+
+Gradually along the steep road from Camerata there came a roll of
+distant carriage-wheels. The sound came nearer and nearer, till one
+could see the carriage, and see the driver leading the tired, thin,
+cab-horse, his bones starting under the shaggy hide. Inside the
+carriage reclined a handsome, middle-aged lady, with a stern profile
+turned toward the road; a young girl in pale pink cotton and a broad
+hat trudged up the hill at the side.
+
+"Goneril," said Miss Hamelyn, "let me beg you again to come inside the
+carriage."
+
+"Oh no, Aunt Margaret; I'm not a bit tired."
+
+"But I have asked you; that is reason enough."
+
+"It's so hot!" cried Goneril.
+
+"That is why I object to your walking."
+
+"But if it's so hot for me, just think how hot is must be for the
+horse."
+
+Goneril cast a commiserating glance at the poor, halting, wheezing
+nag.
+
+"The horse, probably," rejoined Miss Hamelyn, "does not suffer from
+malaria, neither has he kept his aunt in Florence nursing him till the
+middle heat of the summer."
+
+"True!" said Goneril. Then, after a few minutes, "I'll get in, Aunt
+Margaret, on one condition."
+
+"In my time young people did not make conditions."
+
+"Very well, auntie; I'll get in, and you shall answer all my questions
+when you feel inclined."
+
+The carriage stopped. The poor horse panted at his ease, while the
+girl seated herself beside Miss Hamelyn. Then for a few minutes they
+drove on in silence past the orchards; past the olive-yards, yellow
+underneath the ripening corn; past the sudden wide views of the
+mountains, faintly crimson in the mist of heat, and, on the other
+side, of Florence, the towers and domes steaming beside the hazy
+river.
+
+"How hot it looks down there!" cried Goneril.
+
+"How hot it /feels/!" echoed Miss Hamelyn, rather grimly.
+
+"Yes, I am so glad you can get away at last, dear, poor old auntie."
+Then, a little later, "Won't you tell me something about the old
+ladies with whom you are going to leave me?"
+
+Miss Hamelyn was mollified by Goneril's obedience.
+
+"They are very nice old ladies," she said; "I met them at Mrs.
+Gorthrup's." But this was not at all what the young girl wanted.
+
+"Only think, Aunt Margaret," she cried, impatiently, "I am to stay
+there for at least six weeks, and I know nothing about them, not what
+age they are, nor if they are tall or short, jolly or prim, pretty, or
+ugly, not even if they speak English!"
+
+"They speak English," said Miss Hamelyn, beginning at the end. "One of
+them is English, or at least Irish: Miss Prunty."
+
+"And the other?"
+
+"She is an Italian, Signora Petrucci; she used to be very handsome."
+
+"Oh!" said Goneril, looking pleased. "I'm glad she's handsome, and
+that they speak English. But they are not relations?"
+
+"No, they are not connected; they are friends."
+
+"And have they always lived together?"
+
+"Ever since Madame Lilli died," and Miss Hamelyn named a very
+celebrated singer.
+
+"Why!" cried Goneril, quite excited; "were they singers too?"
+
+"Madame Petrucci; nevertheless a lady of the highest respectability.
+Miss Prunty was Madame Lilli's secretary."
+
+"How nice!" cried the young girl; "how interesting! O auntie, I'm so
+glad you found them out."
+
+"So am I, child; but please remember it is not an ordinary pension.
+They only take you, Goneril, till you are strong enough to travel, as
+an especial favour to me and to their old friend, Mrs. Gorthrup."
+
+"I'll remember, auntie."
+
+By this time they were driving under the terrace in front of the
+little house.
+
+"Goneril," said the elder lady, "I shall leave you outside; you can
+play in the garden or the orchard."
+
+"Very well."
+
+Miss Hamelyn left the carriage and ascended the steep little flight of
+steps that leads from the road to the cottage garden.
+
+In the porch a singular figure was awaiting her.
+
+"Good-afternoon, Madame Petrucci," said Miss Hamelyn.
+
+A slender old lady, over sixty, rather tall, in a brown silk skirt,
+and a white burnoose that showed the shrunken slimness of her arms,
+came eagerly forward. She was rather pretty, with small refined
+features, large expressionless blue eyes, and long whitish-yellow
+ringlets down her cheeks, in the fashion of forty years ago.
+
+"Oh, /dear/ Miss Hamelyn," she cried, "how /glad/ I am to see you! And
+have you brought your /charming/ young relation?"
+
+She spoke with a languid foreign accent, and with an emphatic and
+bountiful use of adjectives, that gave to our severer generation an
+impression of insincerity. Yet it was said with truth that Giulia
+Petrucci had never forgotten a friend nor an enemy.
+
+"Goneril is outside," said Miss Hamelyn. "How is Miss Prunty?"
+
+"Brigida? Oh, you must come inside and see my invaluable Brigida. She
+is, as usual, fatiguing herself with our accounts." The old lady led
+the way into the darkened parlour. It was small and rather stiff. As
+one's eyes became accustomed to the dim green light one noticed the
+incongruity of the furniture: the horsehair chairs and sofa, and large
+accountant's desk with ledgers; the large Pleyel grand piano; a
+bookcase, in which all the books were rare copies or priceless MSS. of
+old-fashioned operas; hanging against the wall an inlaid guitar and
+some faded laurel crowns; moreover, a fine engraving of a composer,
+twenty years ago the most popular man in Italy; lastly, an oil-colour
+portrait, by Winterman, of a fascinating blonde, with very bare white
+shoulders, holding in her hands a scroll, on which were inscribed some
+notes of music, under the title Giulia Petrucci. In short, the private
+parlour of an elderly and respectable diva of the year '40.
+
+"Brigida!" cried Madame Petrucci, going to the door. "Brigida! our
+charming English friend is arrived!"
+
+"All right!" answered a strong, hearty voice from upstairs. "I'm
+coming."
+
+"You must excuse me, dear Miss Hamelyn," went on Madame Petrucci. "You
+must excuse me for shouting in your presence, but we have only one
+little servant, and during this suffocating weather I find that any
+movement reminds me of approaching age." The old lady smiled as if
+that time were still far ahead.
+
+"I am sure you ought to take care of yourself," said Miss Hamelyn. "I
+hope you will not allow Goneril to fatigue you."
+
+"Gonerilla! What a pretty name! Charming! I suppose it is in your
+family?" asked the old lady.
+
+Miss Hamelyn blushed a little, for her niece's name was a sore point
+with her.
+
+"It's an awful name for any Christian woman," said a deep voice at the
+door. "And pray, who's called Goneril?"
+
+Miss Prunty came forward: a short, thick-set woman of fifty, with fine
+dark eyes, and, even in a Florentine summer, with something stiff and
+masculine in the fashion of her dress.
+
+"And have you brought your niece?" she said, as she turned to Miss
+Hamelyn.
+
+"Yes, she is in the garden."
+
+"Well, I hope she understands that she'll have to rough it here."
+
+"Goneril is a very simple girl," said Miss Hamelyn.
+
+"So it's she that's called Goneril?"
+
+"Yes," said the aunt, making an effort. "Of course I am aware of the
+strangeness of the name, but--but, in fact, my brother was devotedly
+attached to his wife, who died at Goneril's birth."
+
+"Whew!" whistled Miss Prunty. "The parson must have been a fool who
+christened her!"
+
+"He did, in fact, refuse; but my brother would have no baptism saving
+with that name, which, unfortunately, it is impossible to shorten."
+
+"I think it is a charming name!" said Madame Petrucci, coming to the
+rescue. "Gonerilla--it dies on one's lips like music! And if you do
+not like it, Brigida, what's in a name? as your charming Byron said."
+
+"I hope we shall make her happy," said Miss Prunty.
+
+"Of course we shall!" cried the elder lady.
+
+"Goneril is easily made happy," asserted Miss Hamelyn.
+
+"That's a good thing, snapped Miss Prunty, "for there's not much here
+to make her so!"
+
+"O Brigida! I am sure there are many attractions. The air, the view,
+the historic association! and, more than all, you know there is always
+a chance of the signorino!"
+
+"Of whom?" said Miss Hamelyn, rather anxiously.
+
+"Of him!" cried Madame Petrucci, pointing to the engraving opposite.
+"He lives, of course, in the capital; but he rents the villa behind
+our house,--the Medici Villa,--and when he is tired of Rome he runs
+down here for a week or so; and so your Gonerilla may have the benefit
+of /his/ society!"
+
+"Very nice, I'm sure," said Miss Hamelyn, greatly relieved; for she
+knew that Signor Graziano must be fifty.
+
+"We have known him," went on the old lady, "very nearly thirty years.
+He used to largely frequent the salon of our dear, our cherished
+Madame Lilli."
+
+The tears came into the old lady's eyes. No doubt those days seemed
+near and dear to her; she did not see the dust on those faded
+triumphs.
+
+"That's all stale news!" cried Miss Prunty, jumping up. "And Gon'ril
+(since I'll have to call her so) must be tired of waiting in the
+garden."
+
+They walked out on to the terrace. The girl was not there, but by the
+gate into the olive-yard, where there was a lean-to shed for tools,
+they found her sitting on a cask, whittling a piece of wood and
+talking to a curly-headed little contadino.
+
+Hearing steps, Goneril turned round. "He was asleep," she said.
+"Fancy, in such beautiful weather!"
+
+Then, remembering that two of the ladies were still strangers, she
+made an old-fashioned little courtesy.
+
+"I hope you won't find me a trouble, ladies," she said.
+
+"She is charming!" said Madame Petrucci, throwing up her hands.
+
+Goneril blushed; her hat had slipped back and showed her short brown
+curls of hair, strong regular features, and flexile scarlet mouth
+laughing upward like a faun's. She had sweet dark eyes, a little too
+small and narrow.
+
+"I mean to be very happy," she exclaimed.
+
+"Always mean that, my dear," said Miss Prunty.
+
+"And now, since Gonerilla is no longer a stranger," added Madame
+Petrucci, "we will leave her to the rustic society of Angiolino while
+we show Miss Hamelyn our orangery."
+
+"And conclude our business!" said Bridget Prunty.
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+THE SIGNORINO
+
+One day, when Goneril, much browner and rosier for a week among the
+mountains, came in to lunch at noon, she found no signs of that
+usually regular repast. The little maid was on her knees polishing the
+floor; Miss Prunty was scolding, dusting, ordering dinner, arranging
+vases, all at once; strangest of all, Madame Petrucci had taken the
+oil-cloth cover from her grand piano, and, seated before it, was
+practising her sweet and faded notes, unheedful of the surrounding din
+and business.
+
+"What's the matter?" cried Goneril.
+
+"We expect the signorino," said Miss Prunty.
+
+"And is he going to stay here?"
+
+"Don't be a fool!" snapped that lady; and then she added, "Go into the
+kitchen and get some of the pasty and some bread and cheese--there's a
+good girl."
+
+"All right!" said Goneril.
+
+Madame Petrucci stopped her vocalising. "You shall have all the better
+a dinner to compensate you, my Gonerilla!" She smiled sweetly, and
+then again became Zerlina.
+
+Goneril cut her lunch, and took it out of doors to share with her
+companion, Angiolino. He was harvesting the first corn under the
+olives, but at noon it was too hot to work. Sitting still there was,
+however, a cool breeze that gently stirred the sharp-edged olive-
+leaves.
+
+Angiolino lay down at full length and munched his bread and cheese in
+perfect happiness. Goneril kept shifting about to get herself into the
+narrow shadow cast by the split and writhen trunk.
+
+"How aggravating it is!" she cried. "In England, where there's no sun,
+there's plenty of shade; and here, where the sun is like a mustard-
+plaster on one's back, the leaves are all set edgewise on purpose that
+they sha'n't cast any shadow!"
+
+Angiolino made no answer to this intelligent remark.
+
+"He is going to sleep again!" cried Goneril, stopping her lunch in
+despair. "He is going to sleep, and there are no end of things I want
+to know. Angiolino!"
+
+"/Si/, signora," murmured the boy.
+
+"Tell me about Signor Graziano."
+
+"He is our padrone; he is never here."
+
+"But he is coming to-day. Wake up, wake up, Angiolino. I tell you, he
+is on the way!"
+
+"Between life and death there are so many combinations," drawled the
+boy, with Tuscan incredulity and sententiousness.
+
+"Ah!" cried the girl, with a little shiver of impatience. "Is he
+young?"
+
+"/Che!/"
+
+"Is he old then?"
+
+"/Neppure!/"
+
+"What is he like? He must be /something/."
+
+"He's our padrone," repeated Angiolino, in whose imagination Signor
+Graziano could occupy no other place.
+
+"How stupid you are!" exclaimed the young English girl.
+
+"Maybe," said Angiolino, stolidly.
+
+"Is he a good padrone? Do you like him?"
+
+"Rather!" The boy smiled and raised himself on one elbow; his eyes
+twinkled with good-humoured malice.
+
+"My /babbo/ had much better wine than /quel signore/," he said.
+
+"But that is wrong!" cried Goneril, quite shocked.
+
+"Who knows?"
+
+After this conversation flagged. Goneril tried to imagine what a great
+musician could be like: long hair, of course; her imagination did not
+get much beyond the hair. He would of course be much older now than
+his portrait. Then she watched Angiolino cutting the corn, and learned
+how to tie the swathes together. She was occupied in this useful
+employment when the noise of wheels made them both stop and look over
+the wall.
+
+"Here's the padrone!" cried the boy.
+
+"Oh, he is old!" said Goneril. "He is old and brown, like a coffee-
+bean."
+
+"To be old and good is better than youth with malice," suggested
+Angiolino, by way of consolation.
+
+"I suppose so," acquiesced Goneril.
+
+Nevertheless she went in to dinner a little disappointed.
+
+The signorino was not in the house; he had gone up to the villa; but
+he had sent a message that later in the evening he intended to pay his
+respects to his old friends. Madame Petrucci was beautifully dressed
+in soft black silk, old lace, and a white Indian shawl. Miss Prunty
+had on her starchiest collar and most formal tie. Goneril saw it was
+necessary that she, likewise should deck herself in her best. She was
+much too young and impressionable not to be influenced by the flutter
+of excitement and interest which filled the whole of the little
+cottage. Goneril, too, was excited and anxious, although Signor
+Graziano had seemed so old and like a coffee-bean. She made no
+progress in the piece of embroidery she was working as a present for
+the two old ladies, jumping up and down to look out of the window.
+When, about eight o'clock, the door-bell rang, Goneril blushed, Madame
+Petrucci gave a pretty little shriek, Miss Prunty jumped up and rang
+for coffee. A moment afterward the signorino entered. While he was
+greeting her hostesses Goneril cast a rapid glance at him. He was tall
+for an Italian, rather bent and rather gray; fifty at least--therefore
+very old. He certainly was brown, but his features were fine and good,
+and he had a distinguished and benevolent air that somehow made her
+think of an abbe, a French abbe of the last century. She could quite
+imagine him saying, "/Enfant de St. Louis, montez au ciel!/"
+
+Thus far had she got in her meditations when she felt herself
+addressed in clear, half-mocking tones:
+
+"And how, this evening, is Madamigella Ruth?"
+
+So he had seen her this evening binding his corn.
+
+"I am quite well, padrone," she said, smiling shyly.
+
+The two old ladies looked on amazed, for of course they were not in
+the secret.
+
+"Signor Graziano, Miss Goneril Hamelyn," said Miss Prunty, rather
+severely.
+
+Goneril felt that the time had come for silence and good manners. She
+sat quite quiet over her embroidery, listening to the talk of Sontag,
+of Clementi, of musicians and singers dead and gone. She noticed that
+the ladies treated Signore Graziano with the utmost reverence, even
+the positive Miss Prunty furling her opinions in deference to his
+gayest hint. They talked too of Madame Lilli, and always as if she
+were still young and fair, as if she had died yesterday, leaving the
+echo of her triumph loud behind her. And yet all this had happened
+years before Goneril had ever seen the light.
+
+"Mees Goneril is feeling very young!" said the signorino, suddenly
+turning his sharp, kind eyes upon her.
+
+"Yes," said Goneril, all confusion.
+
+Madame Petrucci looked almost annoyed--the gay, serene little lady
+that nothing ever annoyed.
+
+"It is she that is young!" she cried, in answer to an unspoken
+thought. "She is a baby!"
+
+"Oh, I am seventeen!" said Goneril.
+
+They all laughed, and seemed at ease again.
+
+"Yes, yes; she is very young," said the signorino.
+
+But a little shadow had fallen across their placid entertainment: the
+spirit had left their memories; they seemed to have grown shapeless,
+dusty, as the fresh and comely faces of dead Etruscan kings crumble
+into mould at the touch of the pitiless sunshine.
+
+"Signorino," said Madame Petrucci, presently, "if you will accompany
+me we will perform one of your charming melodies."
+
+Signor Graziano rose a little stiffly and led the pretty, withered
+little diva to the piano.
+
+Goneril looked on, wondering, admiring. The signorino's thin white
+hands made a delicate, fluent melody, reminding her of running water
+under the rippled shade of trees, and, like a high, sweet bird, the
+thin, penetrating notes of the singer rose, swelled, and died away,
+admirably true and just even in this latter weakness. At the end
+Signor Graziano stopped his playing to give time for an elaborate
+cadenza. Suddenly Madame Petrucci gasped; a sharp discordant sound
+cracked the delicate finish of her singing. She put her handkerchief
+to her mouth.
+
+"Bah!" she said, "this evening I am abominably husky."
+
+The tears rose to Goneril's eyes. Was it so hard to grow old? This
+doubt made her voice loudest of all in the chorus of mutual praise and
+thanks which covered the song's abrupt finale.
+
+And then there came a terrible ordeal. Miss Prunty, anxious to divert
+the current of her friend's ideas, had suggested that the girl should
+sing. Signor Graziano and madame insisted; they would take no refusal.
+
+"Sing, sing, little bird!" cried the old lady.
+
+"But, madame, how can one--after you?"
+
+The homage in the young girl's voice made the little diva more good-
+humouredly insistent than before, and Goneril was too well-bred to
+make a fuss. She stood by the piano wondering which to choose, the
+Handels that she always drawled or the Pinsuti that she always
+galloped. Suddenly she came by an inspiration.
+
+"Madame," she pleaded, "may I sing one of Angiolino's songs?"
+
+"Whatever you like, /cara mia/."
+
+And, standing by the piano, her arms hanging loose, she began a chant
+such as the peasants use working under the olives. Her voice was small
+and deep, with a peculiar thick sweetness that suited the song, half
+humourous, half pathetic. These were the words she sang:
+
+ "Vorrei morir di morte piccinina,
+  Morta la sera e viva la mattina.
+  Vorrei morire, e non vorrei morire,
+  Vorrei veder chi mi piange e chi ride;
+  Vorrei morir, e star sulle finestre,
+  Vorrei veder chi mi cuce la veste;
+  Vorrei morir, e stare sulla scala,
+  Vorrei veder chi mi porta la bara:
+  Vorrei morir, e vorre' alzar la voce,
+  Vorrei veder chi mi porta la croce."
+
+"Very well chosen, my dear," said Miss Prunty, when the song was
+finished.
+
+"And very well sung, my Gonerilla!" cried the old lady.
+
+But the signorino went up to the piano and shook hands with her.
+
+"Little Mees Goneril," he said, "you have the makings of an artist."
+
+The two old ladies stared, for, after all, Goneril's performance had
+been very simple. You see, they were better versed in music than in
+human nature.
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+SI VIEILLESSE POUVAIT!
+
+Signor Graziano's usual week of holiday passed and lengthened into
+almost two months, and still he stayed on at the villa. The two old
+ladies were highly delighted.
+
+"At last he has taken my advice!" cried Miss Prunty. "I always told
+him those premature gray hairs came from late hours and Roman air."
+
+Madame Petrucci shook her head and gave a meaning smile. Her
+friendship with the signorino had begun when he was a lad and she a
+charming married woman; like many another friendship, it had begun
+with a flirtation, and perhaps (who knows?) she thought the flirtation
+had revived.
+
+As for Goneril, she considered him the most charming old man she had
+ever known, and liked nothing so much as to go out a walk with him.
+That, indeed, was one of the signorino's pleasures; he loved to take
+the young girl all over his gardens and vineyards, talking to her in
+the amiable, half-petting, half-mocking manner that he had adopted
+from the first; and twice a week he gave her a music lesson.
+
+"She has a splendid organ!" he would say.
+
+"/Vous croyez/?" fluted Madame Petrucci, with the vilest accent and
+the most aggravating smile imaginable.
+
+It was the one hobby of the signorino's that she regarded with
+disrespect.
+
+Goneril too was a little bored by the music lesson, but, on the other
+hand, the walks delighted her.
+
+One day Goneril was out with her friend.
+
+"Are the peasants very much afraid of you, signore?" she asked.
+
+"Am I such a tyrant?" counter-questioned the signorino.
+
+"No; but they are always begging me to ask you things. Angiolino wants
+to know if he may go for three days to see his uncle at Fiesole."
+
+"Of course."
+
+"But why, then, don't they ask you themselves? Is it they think me so
+cheeky?"
+
+"Perhaps they think I can refuse you nothing."
+
+"/Che!/ In that case they would ask Madame Petrucci."
+
+Goneril ran on to pick some China roses. The signorino stopped
+confounded.
+
+"It is impossible!" he cried. "She cannot think I am in love with
+Giulia! She cannot think I am so old as that!"
+
+The idea seemed horrible to him. He walked on very quickly till he
+came up to Goneril, who was busy plucking roses in a hedge.
+
+"For whom are those flowers?" he asked.
+
+"Some are for you and some are for Madame Petrucci."
+
+"She is a charming woman, Madame Petrucci."
+
+"A dear old lady," murmured Goneril, much more interested in her posy.
+
+"Old, do you call her?" said the signorino, rather anxiously. "I
+should scarcely call her that, though of course she is a good deal
+older than either of us."
+
+"Either of us!" Goneril looked up astounded. Could the signorino have
+suddenly gone mad?
+
+He blushed a little under his brown skin that had reminded her of a
+coffee-bean.
+
+"She is a good ten years older than I am," he explained.
+
+"Ah, well, ten years isn't much."
+
+"You don't think so?" he cried, delighted. Who knows? she might not
+think even thirty too much.
+
+"Not at that age," said Goneril, blandly.
+
+Signor Graziano could think of no reply.
+
+But from that day one might have dated a certain assumption of
+youthfulness in his manners. At cards it was always the signorino and
+Goneril against the two elder ladies; in his conversation, too, it was
+to the young girl that he constantly appealed, as if she were his
+natural companion--she, and not his friends of thirty years. Madame
+Petrucci, always serene and kind, took no notice of these little
+changes, but they were particularly irritating to Miss Prunty, who
+was, after all, only four years older than the signorino.
+
+That lady had, indeed, become more than usually sharp and foreboding.
+She received the signorino's gay effusions in ominous silence, and
+would frown darkly while Madame Petrucci petted her "little bird," as
+she called Goneril. Once, indeed, Miss Prunty was heard to remark that
+it was tempting Providence to have dealings with a creature whose very
+name was a synonym for ingratitude. But the elder lady only smiled and
+declared that her Gonerilla was charming, delicious, a real sunshine
+in the house.
+
+"Now I call on you to support me, signorino," she cried one evening,
+when the three elders sat together in the room, while Goneril watered
+the roses on the terrace. "Is not my Gonerilla a charming little
+/bebe/?"
+
+Signor Graziano withdrew his eyes from the window.
+
+"Most charming, certainly, but scarcely such a child. She is
+seventeen, you know, my dear signora."
+
+"Seventeen! /Santo Dio!/ And what is one at seventeen but an innocent,
+playful, charming little kitten?"
+
+"You are always right, madame," agreed the signorino, but he looked as
+if he thought she were very wrong.
+
+"Of course I am right," laughed the little lady. "Come here, my
+Gonerilla, and hold my skein for me. Signor Graziano is going to charm
+us with one of his delightful airs."
+
+"I hoped she would sing," faltered the signorino.
+
+"Who? Gonerilla? Nonsense, my friend. She winds silk much better than
+she sings."
+
+Goneril laughed; she was not at all offended. But Signor Graziano made
+several mistakes in his playing. At last he left the piano. "I cannot
+play to-night," he cried. "I am not in the humour. Goneril, will you
+come and walk with me on the terrace?"
+
+Before the girl could reply Miss Prunty had darted an angry glance at
+Signor Graziano.
+
+"Good Lord, what fools men are!" she ejaculated. "And do you think,
+now, I'm going to let that girl, who's just getting rid of her
+malaria, go star-gazing with any old idiot while all the mists are
+curling out of the valleys?"
+
+"Brigida, my love, you forget yourself," said Madame Petrucci.
+
+"Bah!" cried the signorino. He was evidently out of temper.
+
+The little lady hastened to smooth the troubled waters. "Talking of
+malaria," she began, in her serenest manner, "I always remember what
+my dearest Madame Lilli told me. It was at one of Prince Teano's
+concerts. You remember, signorino?"
+
+"/Che!/ How should I remember?" he exclaimed. "It was a lifetime ago,
+dead and forgotten."
+
+The old lady shrank, as if a glass of water had been rudely thrown in
+her face. She said nothing, staring blindly.
+
+"Go to bed, Goneril!" cried Miss Prunty, in a voice of thunder.
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+BIRDS OF A FEATHER
+
+A few mornings after these events the postman brought a letter for
+Goneril. This was such a rare occurrence that she blushed rose red at
+the very sight of it and had to walk up and down the terrace several
+times before she felt calm enough to read it. Then she went upstairs
+and knocked at the door of Madame Petrucci's room."
+
+"Come in, little bird."
+
+The old lady, in pink merino and curl-papers, opened the door. Goneril
+held up her letter.
+
+"My cousin Jack is coming to Florence, and he is going to walk over to
+see me this afternoon. And may he stay to dinner, /cara/ signora?"
+
+"Why, of course, Gonerilla. I am charmed!"
+
+Goneril kissed the old lady, and danced downstairs brimming over with
+delight.
+
+Later in the morning Signor Graziano called.
+
+"Will you come out with me, Mees Goneril?" he said. "On my land the
+earliest vintage begins to-day."
+
+"Oh, how nice!" she cried.
+
+"Come, then," said the signorino, smiling.
+
+"Oh, I can't come to-day, because of Jack."
+
+"Jack?"
+
+"My cousin; he may come at any time."
+
+"Your cousin!" The signorino frowned a little. "Ah, you English," he
+said, "you consider all your cousins brothers and sisters!"
+
+Goneril laughed.
+
+"Is it not so?" he asked, a little anxiously.
+
+"Jack is much nicer than my brothers," said the young girl.
+
+"And who is he, this Jack?"
+
+"He's a dear boy," said Goneril, "and very clever; he is going home
+for the Indian civil-service exam; he has been out to Calcutta to see
+my father."
+
+The signorino did not pay any attention to the latter part of this
+description, but he appeared to find the beginning very satisfactory.
+
+"So he is only a boy," he muttered to himself, and went away
+comparatively satisfied.
+
+Goneril spent most of the day watching the road from Florence. She
+might not walk on the highway, but a steep short cut that joined the
+main road at the bottom of the hill was quite at her disposal. She
+walked up and down for more than an hour. At last she saw some one on
+the Florence road. She walked on quickly. It was the telegraph-boy.
+
+She tore open the envelope and read: "Venice.--Exam. on Wednesday.
+Start at once. /Arivederci/."
+
+It was with very red eyes that Goneril went in to dinner.
+
+"So the cousin hasn't come?" said Miss Prunty, kindly.
+
+"No; he had to go home at once for his examination."
+
+"I dare say he'll come over again soon, my dear," said that
+discriminating lady. She had quite taken Goneril back into her good
+graces.
+
+They all sat together in the little parlor after dinner. At eight
+o'clock the door-bell rang. It was now seven weeks since Goneril had
+blushed with excitement when first she heard that ring, and now she
+did not blush.
+
+The signorino entered. He walked very straight and his lips were set.
+He came in with the air of one prepared to encounter opposition.
+
+"Mees Goneril," he said, "will you come out on the terrace?--before it
+is too late," he added, with a savage glance at Miss Prunty.
+
+"Yes," said Goneril; and they went out together.
+
+"So the cousin did not come?" said the signorino.
+
+"No."
+
+They went on a little way in silence together. The night was moon-lit
+and clear; not a wind stirred the leaves; the sky was like a sapphire,
+containing but not shedding light. The late oleanders smelled very
+sweet; the moon was so full that one could distinguish the peculiar
+grayish-pink of the blossoms.
+
+"It is a lovely night!" said Goneril.
+
+"And a lovely place."
+
+"Yes."
+
+Then a bird sang.
+
+"You have been here just eight weeks," said the signorino.
+
+"I have been very happy."
+
+He did not speak for a minute or two, and then he said:
+
+"Would you like to live here always?"
+
+"Ah, yes! but that is impossible."
+
+He took her hand and turned her gently, so that her face was in the
+light.
+
+"Dear Mees Goneril, why is it impossible?"
+
+For a moment the young girl did not answer. She blushed very red, and
+looked brave.
+
+"Because of Jack!" she said.
+
+"Ah!"
+
+"Nothing is settled," added the young girl, "but it is no use
+pretending not to know."
+
+"It is no use," he repeated, very sadly.
+
+And then for a little while they listened to the bird.
+
+"Mees Goneril," said the signorino at last, "do you know why I brought
+you out here?"
+
+"Not at all," she answered.
+
+It was a minute before he spoke again.
+
+"I am going to Rome to-morrow," he said, "and I wanted to bid you
+good-bye. You will sing to me to-night, as it will be the last time?"
+
+"Oh, I hope not the last time!"
+
+"Yes, yes," he said, a little testily; "unless--and I pray it may not
+be so--unless you ever need the help of an old friend."
+
+"Dear Signor Graziano!"
+
+"And now you will sing me my 'Nobil Amore'?"
+
+"I will do anything you like."
+
+The signorino sighed and looked at her for a minute. Then he led her
+into the little parlour, where Madame Petrucci was singing shrilly in
+the twilight.
+
+
+
+THE BRIGAND'S BRIDE:
+A TALE OF SOUTHERN ITALY
+
+BY
+
+LAURENCE OLIPHANT
+
+The Italian peninsula during the years 1859, 1860, and 1861 offered a
+particularly tempting field for adventure to ardent spirits in search
+of excitement; and, attracted partly by my sympathy with the popular
+movement, and partly by that simple desire, which gives so much zest
+to the life of youth, of risking it on all possible occasions, I had
+taken an active part, chiefly as an officious spectator, in all the
+principal events of those stirring years. It was in the spring of 1862
+that I found matters beginning to settle down to a degree that
+threatened monotony; and with the termination of the winter gaieties
+at Naples and the close of the San Carlo, I seriously bethought me of
+accepting the offer of a naval friend who was about to engage in
+blockade-running, and offered to land me in the Confederate States,
+when a recrudescence of activity on the part of the brigand bands in
+Calabria induced me to turn my attention in that direction. The first
+question I had to consider was, whether I should enjoy myself most by
+joining the brigands, or the troops which were engaged in suppressing
+them. As the former aspired to a political character, and called
+themselves patriotic bands fighting for their church, their country,
+and their king,--the refugee monarch of Naples,--one could espouse
+their cause without exactly laying one's self open to the charge of
+being a bandit; but it was notorious in point of fact that the bands
+cared for neither the pope nor the exiled king nor their annexed
+country, but committed the most abominable atrocities in the names of
+all the three, for the simple purpose of filling their pockets. I
+foresaw not only extreme difficulty in being accepted as a member of
+the fraternity, more especially as I had hitherto been identified with
+the Garibaldians, but also the probability of finding myself
+compromised by acts from which my conscience would revolt, and for
+which my life would in all likelihood pay the forfeit. On the other
+hand, I could think of no friend among the officers of the bersaglieri
+and cavalry regiments then engaged in brigand-hunting in the
+Capitanata and Basilicata to whom I could apply for an invitation to
+join them.
+
+Under these circumstances I determined to trust to the chapter of
+accidents; and, armed with a knapsack, a sketch-book, and an air-gun,
+took my seat one morning in the Foggia diligence, with the vague idea
+of getting as near the scene of operations as possible, and seeing
+what would turn up. The air-gun was not so much a weapon of offence or
+defence as a means of introduction to the inhabitants. It had the
+innocent appearance of rather a thick walking-cane, with a little
+brass trigger projecting; and in the afternoon I would join the group
+sitting in front of the chemist's, which, for some reason or other, is
+generally a sort of open-air club in a small Neapolitan town, or
+stroll into the single modest cafe of which it might possibly boast,
+and toy abstractedly with the trigger. This, together with my personal
+appearance,--for do what I would I could never make myself look like a
+Neapolitan,--would be certain to attract attention, and some one
+bolder than the rest would make himself the spokesman, and politely
+ask me whether the cane in my hand was an umbrella or a fishing-rod;
+on which I would amiably reply that it was a gun, and that I should
+have much pleasure in exhibiting my skill and the method of its
+operation to the assembled company. Then the whole party would follow
+me to an open space, and I would call for a pack of cards, and
+possibly--for I was a good shot in those days--pink the ace of hearts
+at fifteen paces. At any rate, my performances usually called forth
+plaudits, and this involved a further interchange of compliments and
+explanations, and the production of my sketch-book, which soon
+procured me the acquaintance of some ladies, and an invitation as an
+English artist to the house of some respectable citizen.
+
+So it happened that, getting out of the diligence before it reached
+Foggia, I struck south, and wandered for some days from one little
+town to another, being always hospitably entertained, whether there
+happened to be an /albergo/ or not, at private houses, seeing in this
+way more of the manners and customs of the inhabitants than would have
+been otherwise possible, gaining much information as to the haunts of
+the brigands, the whereabouts of the troops, and hearing much local
+gossip generally. The ignorance of the most respectable classes at
+this period was astounding; it has doubtless all changed since. I have
+been at a town of two thousand inhabitants, not one of whom took in a
+newspaper; the whole population, therefore, was in as profound
+ignorance of what was transpiring in the rest of the world as if they
+had been in Novaia Zemlia. I have stayed with a mayor who did not know
+that England was an island; I have been the guest of a citizen who had
+never heard of Scotland, and to whom, therefore, my nationality was an
+enigma; but I never met any one--I mean of this same class--who had
+not heard of Palmerston. He was a mysterious personage, execrated by
+the "blacks" and adored by the "reds." And I shone with a reflected
+lustre as the citizen of a country of which he was the Prime Minister.
+As a consequence, we had political discussions, which were protracted
+far into the night; for the principal meal of the twenty-four hours
+was a 10-o'clock-P.M. supper, at which, after the inevitable macaroni,
+were many unwholesome dishes, such as salads made of thistles, cows'
+udders, and other delicacies, which deprived one of all desire for
+sleep. Notwithstanding which, we rose early, my hostess and the ladies
+of the establishment appearing in the early part of the day in the
+most extreme deshabille. Indeed, on one occasion when I was first
+introduced into the family of a respectable citizen and shown into my
+bedroom, I mistook one of the two females who were making the bed for
+the servant, and was surprised to see her hand a little douceur I gave
+her as an earnest of attention on her part to the other, with a smile.
+She soon afterward went to bed: we all did, from 11 A.M. till about 3
+P.M., at which hour I was horrified to meet her arrayed in silks and
+satins, and to find that she was the wife of my host. She kindly took
+me a drive with her in a carriage and pair, and with a coachman in
+livery.
+
+It was by this simple means, and by thus imposing myself upon the
+hospitality of these unsophisticated people, that I worked my way, by
+slow degrees, chiefly on foot, into the part of the country I desired
+to visit; and I trust that I in a measure repaid them for it by the
+stores of information which I imparted to them, and of which they
+stood much in need, and by little sketches of their homes and the
+surrounding scenery, with which I presented them. I was, indeed,
+dependent in some measure for hospitality of this description, as I
+had taken no money with me, partly because, to tell the truth, I had
+scarcely got any, and partly because I was afraid of being robbed by
+brigands of the little I had. I therefore eschewed the character of a
+/milordo Inglese/; but I never succeeded in dispelling all suspicion
+that I might not be a nephew of the Queen, or at least a very near
+relative of Palmerston in disguise. It was so natural, seeing what a
+deep interest both her Majesty and the Prime Minister took in Italy,
+that they should send some one incognito whom they could trust to tell
+them all about it.
+
+Meantime, I was not surprised, when I came to know the disposition of
+the inhabitants, at the success of brigandage. It has never been my
+fortune before or since to live among such a timid population. One day
+at a large town a leading landed proprietor received notice that if he
+did not pay a certain sum in blackmail,--I forget at this distance of
+time the exact amount,--his farm or /masseria/ would be robbed. This
+farm, which was in fact a handsome country house, was distant about
+ten miles from the town. He therefore made an appeal to the citizens
+that they should arm themselves and help him to defend his property,
+as he had determined not to pay, and had taken steps to be informed as
+to the exact date when the attack was to be made in default of
+payment. More than three hundred citizens enrolled themselves as
+willing to turn out in arms. On the day preceding the attack by the
+brigands, a rendezvous was given to these three hundred on the great
+square for five in the morning, and thither I accordingly repaired,
+unable, however, to induce my host to accompany me, although he had
+signed as a volunteer. On reaching the rendezvous, I found the landed
+proprietor and a friend who was living with him, and about ten minutes
+afterward two other volunteers strolled up. Five was all we could
+muster out of three hundred. It was manifestly useless to attempt
+anything with so small a force, and no arguments could induce any of
+the others to turn out; so the unhappy gentleman had the satisfaction
+of knowing that the brigands had punctually pillaged his place,
+carrying off all his live stock on the very day and at the very hour
+they said they would. As for the inhabitants venturing any distance
+from town, except under military escort, such a thing was unknown, and
+all communication with Naples was for some time virtually intercepted.
+I was regarded as a sort of monomaniac of recklessness because I
+ventured on a solitary walk of a mile or two in search of a sketch--an
+act of no great audacity on my part, for I had walked through various
+parts of the country without seeing a brigand, and found it difficult
+to realise that there was any actual danger in strolling a mile from a
+moderately large town.
+
+Emboldened by impunity, I was tempted one day to follow up a most
+romantic glen in search of a sketch, when I came upon a remarkably
+handsome peasant girl, driving a donkey before her loaded with wood.
+My sudden appearance on the narrow path made the animal shy against a
+projecting piece of rock, off which he rebounded to the edge of the
+path, which, giving way, precipitated him and his load down the
+ravine. He was brought up unhurt against a bush some twenty feet
+below, the fagots of wood being scattered in his descent in all
+directions. For a moment the girl's large, fierce eyes flashed upon me
+with anger; but the impetuosity with which I went headlong after the
+donkey, with a view of repairing my error, and the absurd attempts I
+made to reverse the position of his feet, which were in the air,
+converted her indignation into a hearty fit of laughter, as, seeing
+that the animal was apparently uninjured, she scrambled down to my
+assistance. By our united efforts we at last succeeded in hoisting the
+donkey up to the path, and then I collected the wood and helped her to
+load it again--an operation which involved a frequent meeting of hands
+and of the eyes, which had now lost the ferocity that had startled me
+at first, and seemed getting more soft and beaming every time I
+glanced at them, till at last, producing my sketch-book, I ventured to
+remark, "Ah, signorina, what a picture you would make! Now that the
+ass is loaded, let me draw you before we part, that I may carry away
+the recollection of the loveliest woman I have seen."
+
+"First draw the donkey," she replied, "that I may carry away a
+recollection of the /galantuomo/ who first upset him over the bank,
+and then helped me to load him."
+
+Smiling at this ambiguous compliment, I gave her the sketch she
+desired, and was about to claim my reward, when she abruptly remarked:
+
+"There is not time now; it is getting late, and I must not linger, as
+I have still an hour to go before reaching home. How is it that you
+are not afraid to be wandering in this solitary glen by yourself? Do
+you not know the risks?"
+
+"I have heard of them, but I do not believe in them," I said;
+"besides, I should be poor plunder for robbers."
+
+"But you have friends, who would pay to ransom you, I suppose, if you
+were captured?"
+
+"My life is not worth a hundred scudi to any of them," I replied,
+laughing; "but I am willing to forego the please of drawing you now,
+/bellissima/, if you will tell me where you live, and let me come and
+paint you there at my leisure."
+
+"You're a brave one," she said, with a little laugh; "there is not
+another man in all Ascoli who would dare to pay me a visit without an
+escort of twenty soldiers. But I am too grateful for your amiability
+to let you run such a risk. /Addio/, Signor Inglese. There are many
+reasons why I can't let you draw my picture, but I am not ungrateful,
+see!"--and she offered me her cheek, on which I instantly imprinted a
+chaste and fraternal salute.
+
+"Don't think that you've seen the last of me, /carrissima/," I called
+out, as she turned away. "I shall live on the memory of that kiss till
+I have an opportunity of repeating it."
+
+And as I watched her retreating figure with an artist's eye, I was
+struck with its grace and suppleness, combined, as I had observed
+while she was helping me to lead the donkey, with an unusual degree of
+muscular strength for a woman.
+
+The spot at which this episode had taken place was so romantic that I
+determined to make a sketch of it, and the shades of evening were
+closing in so fast that they warned me to hurry if I would reach the
+town before dark. I had just finished it and was stooping to pick up
+by air-gun, when I heard a sudden rush, and before I had time to look
+up I was thrown violently forward on my face, and found myself
+struggling in the embrace of a powerful grasp, from which I had nearly
+succeeded in freeing myself, when the arms which were clasping me were
+reinforced by several more pairs, and I felt a rope being passed round
+my body.
+
+"All right, signors!" I exclaimed. "I yield to superior numbers. You
+need not pull so hard; let me get up, and I promise to go with you
+quietly." And by this time I had turned sufficiently on my back to see
+that four men were engaged in tying me up.
+
+"Tie his elbows together and let him get up," said one; "he is not
+armed. Here, Giuseppe, carry his stick and paint-box while I feel his
+pockets. /Corpo di Baccho!/ twelve bajocchi," he exclaimed, producing
+those copper coins with an air of profound disgust. "It is to be hoped
+he is worth more to his friends. Now, young man, trudge, and remember
+that the first sign you make of attempting to run away means four
+bullets through you."
+
+As I did not anticipate any real danger, and as a prolonged detention
+was a matter of no consequence to a man without an occupation, I
+stepped forward with a light heart, rather pleased than otherwise with
+anticipations of the brigand's cave, and turning over in my mind
+whether or not I should propose to join the band.
+
+We had walked an hour and it had become dark, when we turned off the
+road, up a narrow path that led between rocky sides to a glade, at the
+extremity of which, under an overhanging ledge, was a small cottage,
+with what seemed to be a patch of garden in front.
+
+"Ho! Anita!" called out the man who appeared to be the leader of the
+band; "open! We have brought a friend to supper, who will require a
+night's lodgings."
+
+An old woman with a light appeared, and over her shoulder, to my
+delight, I saw the face I had asked to be allowed to paint so shortly
+before. I was about to recognise her with an exclamation, when I saw a
+hurried motion of her finger to her lip, which looked a natural
+gesture to the casual observer, but which I construed into a sign of
+prudence.
+
+"Where did you pick him up, Croppo?" she asked, carelessly. "He ought
+to be worth something."
+
+"Just twelve bajocchi," he answered, with a sneering laugh. "Come,
+/amico mio/, you will have to give us the names of some of your
+friends."
+
+"I am tolerably intimate with his Holiness the Pope, and I have a
+bowing acquaintance with the King of Naples, whom may God speedily
+restore to his own," I replied, in a light and airy fashion, which
+seemed exceedingly to exasperate the man called Croppo.
+
+"Oh, yes, we know all about that; we never catch a man who does not
+profess to be a Nero of the deepest dye in order to conciliate our
+sympathies. It is just as well that you should understand, my friend,
+that all are fish who come into our net. The money of the pope's
+friends is quite as good as the money of Garibaldi's. You need not
+hope to put us off with your Italian friends of any colour; what we
+want is English gold--good, solid English gold, and plenty of it."
+
+"Ah," said I, with a laugh, "if you did but know, my friend, how long
+I have wanted it too! If you could only suggest an Englishman who
+would pay you for my life, I would write to him immediately, and we
+would go halves in the ransom. Hold!" I said, a bright idea suddenly
+striking me. "Suppose I were to write to my government--how would that
+do?"
+
+Croppo was evidently puzzled; my cheerful and unembarrassed manner
+apparently perplexed him. He had a suspicion that I was even capable
+of the audacity of making a fool of him, and yet that proposition
+about the government rather staggered him; there might be something in
+it.
+
+"Don't you think," he remarked, grimly, "it would add to the effect of
+your communication if you were to enclose your own ears in your
+letter? I can easily supply them; and if you are not a little more
+guarded in your speech you may possibly have to add your tongue."
+
+"It would not have the slightest effect," I replied, paying no heed to
+his threat; "you don't know Palmerston as I do. If you wish to get
+anything out of him you must be excessively civil. What does he care
+about my ears?" And I laughed with such scornful contempt that Croppo
+this time felt that he had made a fool of himself, and I observed the
+lovely girl behind, while the corners of her mouth twitched with
+suppressed laughter, make a sign of caution.
+
+"/Per Dio!/" he exclaimed, jumping up with fury. "Understand, Signor
+Inglese, that Croppo is not to be trifled with. I have a summary way
+of treating disrespect," and he drew a long and exceedingly sharp-
+looking two-edged knife.
+
+"So you would kill the goose" ("and I certainly am a goose," I
+reflected) "that may lay a golden egg." But my allusion was lost upon
+him, and I saw my charmer touch her forehead significantly, as though
+to imply to Croppo that I was weak in the upper story.
+
+"An imbecile without friends and twelve bajocchi in his pocket," he
+muttered, savagely. "Perhaps the night without food will restore his
+senses. Come, fool!" and he roughly pushed me into a dark little
+chamber adjoining. "Here, Valeria, hold the light."
+
+So Valeria was the name of the heroine of the donkey episode. As she
+held a small oil-lamp aloft I perceived that the room in which I was
+to spend the night had more the appearance of a cellar than a chamber;
+it had been excavated on two sides from the bank; on the third there
+was a small hole about six inches square, apparently communicating
+with another room, and on the fourth was the door by which I had
+entered, and which opened into the kitchen and general living-room of
+the inhabitants. There was a heap of onions running to seed, the
+fagots of fire-wood which Valeria had brought that afternoon, and an
+old cask or two.
+
+"Won't you give him some kind of a bed?" she asked Croppo.
+
+"Bah! he can sleep on the onions," responded that worthy. "If he had
+been more civil and intelligent he should have had something to eat.
+You three," he went on, turning to the other men, "sleep in the
+kitchen, and watch that the prisoner does not escape. The door has a
+strong bolt besides. Come, Valeria."
+
+And the pair disappeared, leaving me in a dense gloom, strongly
+pervaded by an ordour of fungus and decaying onions. Groping into one
+of the casks, I found some straw, and spreading it on a piece of
+plank, I prepared to pass the night sitting with my back to the driest
+piece of wall I could find, which happened to be immediately under the
+air-hole--a fortunate circumstance, as the closeness was often
+stifling. I had probably been dozing for some time in a sitting
+position, when I felt something tickle the top of my head. The idea
+that it might be a large spider caused me to start, when, stretching
+up my hand, it came in contact with what seemed to be a rag, which I
+had not observed. Getting carefully up, I perceived a faint light
+gleaming through the aperture, and then saw that a hand was protruded
+through it, apparently waving the rag. As I felt instinctively that
+the hand was Valeria's, I seized the finger-tips, which was all I
+could get hold of, and pressed them to my lips. They were quickly
+drawn away, and then the whisper reached my ears:
+
+"Are you hungry?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then eat this," and she passed me a tin pannikin full of cold
+macaroni, which would just go through the opening.
+
+"Dear Valeria," I said, with my mouth full, "how good and thoughtful
+you are!"
+
+"Hush! he'll hear."
+
+"Who?"
+
+"Croppo."
+
+"Where is he?"
+
+"Asleep in the bed just behind me."
+
+"How do you come to be in his bedroom?"
+
+"Because I'm his wife."
+
+"Oh!" A long pause, during which I collapsed upon my straw seat, and
+swallowed macaroni thoughtfully. As the result of my meditations,
+"Valeria, /carissima/!"
+
+"Hush! Yes."
+
+"Can't you get me out of this infernal den?"
+
+"Perhaps, if they all three sleep in the kitchen; at present one is
+awake. Watch for my signal, and if they all three sleep I will manage
+to slip the bolt. Then you must give me time to get back into bed, and
+when you hear me snore you may make the attempt. They are all three
+sleeping on the floor, so be very careful where you tread; I will also
+leave the front door a little open, so that you can slip through
+without noise."
+
+"Dearest Valeria!"
+
+"Hush! Yes."
+
+"Hand me that cane--it is my fishing-rod, you know--through this hole;
+you can leave the sketch-book and paint-box under the tree that the
+donkey fell against; I will call for them some day soon. And, Valeria,
+don't you think we could make our lips meet through this beastly
+hole?"
+
+"Impossible. There's my hand; heavens! Croppo would murder me if he
+knew. Now keep quiet till I give the signal. Oh, do let go my hand!"
+
+"Remember, Valeria, /bellissima, carissima/, whatever happens, that I
+love you."
+
+But I don't think she heard this, and I went and sat on the onions,
+because I could see the hole better and the smell of them kept me
+awake.
+
+It was at least two hours after this that the faint light appeared at
+the hole in the wall and a hand was pushed through. I rushed at the
+finger-tips.
+
+"Here's your fishing-rod," she said, when I had released them and she
+had passed me my air-gun. "Now be very careful how you tread. There is
+one asleep across the door, but you can open it about two feet. Then
+step over him; then make for a gleam of moonlight that comes through
+the crack of the front door, open it very gently, and slip out.
+/Addio, caro Inglese/; mind you wait till you hear me snoring."
+
+Then she lingered, and I heard a sigh.
+
+"What is it, sweet Valeria?" and I covered her hand with kisses.
+
+"I wish Croppo had blue eyes like you."
+
+This was murmured so softly that I may have been mistaken, but I'm
+nearly sure that was what she said; then she drew softly away, and two
+minutes afterward I heard her snoring. As the first sound issued from
+her lovely nostrils I stealthily approached the door, gently pushed it
+open, stealthily stepped over a space which I trusted cleared the
+recumbent figure that I could not see, cleared him, stole gently on
+for the streak of moonlight, trod squarely on something that seemed
+like an outstretched hand, for it gave under my pressure and produced
+a yell, felt that I must now rush for my life, dashed the door open,
+and down the path with four yelling ruffians at my heels. I was a
+pretty good runner, but the moon was behind a cloud and the way was
+rocky; moreover, there must have been a short cut I did not know, for
+one of my pursuers gained upon me with unaccountable rapidity--he
+appeared suddenly within ten yards of my heels. The others were at
+least a hundred yards behind. I had nothing for it but to turn round,
+let him almost run against the muzzle of my air-gun, pull the trigger,
+and see him fall in his tracks. It was the work of a second, but it
+checked my pursuers. They had heard no noise, but they found something
+that they did not bargain for, and lingered a moment; then, they took
+up the chase with redoubled fury. But I had too good a start; and
+where the path joined the main road, instead of turning down toward
+the town as they expected I would, I dodged round in the opposite
+direction, the uncertain light this time favouring me, and I heard
+their footsteps and their curses dying away on the wrong track.
+Nevertheless I ran on at full speed, and it was not till the day was
+dawning that I began to feel safe and relax my efforts. The sun had
+been up an hour when I reached a small town, and the little /locanda/
+was just opening for the day when I entered it, thankful for a hot cup
+of coffee and a dirty little room, with a dirtier bed, where I could
+sleep off the fatigue and excitement of the night. I was strolling
+down almost the only street in the afternoon when I met a couple of
+carabineers riding into it, and shortly after encountered the whole
+troop, to my great delight in command of an intimate friend whom I had
+left a month before in Naples.
+
+"Ah, /caro mio/," he exclaimed, when he saw me, "well met! What on
+earth are you doing here? Looking for those brigands you were so
+anxious to find when you left Naples? Considering that you are in the
+heart of their country, you should not have much difficulty in
+gratifying your curiosity."
+
+"I have had an adventure or two," I replied, carelessly. "Indeed, that
+is partly the reason you find me here. I was just thinking how I could
+get safely back to Ascoli, when your welcome escort appeared; for I
+suppose you are going there and will let me take advantage of it."
+
+"Only too delighted; and you can tell me your adventures. Let us dine
+together to-night, and I will find you a horse to ride on with us in
+the morning."
+
+I am afraid my account of the episode with which I have acquainted the
+reader was not strictly accurate in all its details, as I did not wish
+to bring down my military friends on poor Valeria; so I skipped all
+allusion to her and my detention in her home, merely saying that I had
+had a scuffle with brigands and had been fortunate enough to escape
+under cover of the night. As we passed it next morning I recognised
+the path which led up to Valeria's cottage, and shortly after observed
+that young woman herself coming up the glen.
+
+"Holloa!" I said, with great presence of mind, as she drew near, "my
+lovely model, I declare! Just you ride on, old fellow, while I stop
+and ask her when she can come and sit to me again."
+
+"You artists are sad rogues; what chances your profession must give
+you!" remarked my companion, as he cast an admiring glance on Valeria
+and rode discreetly on.
+
+"There is nothing to be afraid of, lovely Valeria," I said, in a low
+tone, as I lingered behind; "be sure I will never betray either your
+or your rascally--hem! I mean your excellent Croppo. By the by, was
+that man much hurt that I was obliged to trip up?"
+
+"Hurt! Santa Maria! he is dead, with a bullet through his heart.
+Croppo says it must have been magic, for he had searched you and he
+knew you were not armed, and he was within a hundred yards of you when
+poor Pippo fell, and he heard no sound."
+
+"Croppo is not far wrong," I said, glad of the opportunity thus
+offered of imposing on the ignorance and credulity of the natives. "He
+seemed surprised that he could not frighten me the other night. Tell
+him he was much more in my power than I was in his, dear Valeria," I
+added, looking tenderly into his eyes. "I didn't want to alarm you;
+that was the reason I let him off so easily; but I may not be so
+merciful next time. Now, sweetest, that kiss you owe me, and which the
+wall prevented your giving me the other night." She held up her face
+with the innocence of a child as I stooped from my saddle.
+
+"I shall never see you again, Signor Inglese," she said, with a sigh;
+"for Croppo says it is not safe, after what happened the night before
+last, to stay another hour. Indeed, he went off yesterday, leaving me
+orders to follow to-day; but I went first to put your sketch-book
+under the bush where the donkey fell, and where you will find it."
+
+It took us another minute or two to part after this; and when I had
+ridden away I turned to look back, and there was Valeria gazing after
+me. "Positively," I reflected, "I am over head and ears in love with
+the girl, and I believe she is with me. I ought to have nipped my
+feelings in the bud when she told me she was his wife; but then he is
+a brigand, who threatened both my ears and my tongue, to say nothing
+of my life. To what extent is the domestic happiness of such a ruffian
+to be respected?" And I went on splitting the moral straws suggested
+by this train of thought until I had recovered my sketch-book and
+overtaken my escort, with whom I rode triumphantly back into Ascoli,
+where my absence had been the cause of much anxiety and my fate was
+even then being eagerly discussed. My friends with whom I usually sat
+round the chemist's door were much exercised by the reserve which I
+manifested in reply to the fire of cross-examination to which I was
+subjected for the next few days; and English eccentricity, which was
+proverbial even in this secluded town, received a fresh illustration
+in the light and airy manner with which I treated a capture and escape
+from brigands, which I regarded with such indifference that I could
+not be induced even to condescend to details. "It was a mere scuffle;
+there were only four; and, being an Englishman, I polished them all
+off with the 'box,' " and I closed my fist and struck a scientific
+attitude of self-defence, branching off into a learned disquisition on
+the pugilistic art, which filled my hearers with respect and
+amazement. From this time forward the sentiment with which I regarded
+my air-gun underwent a change. When a friend had made me a present of
+it a year before I regarded it in the light of a toy and rather
+resented the gift as too juvenile. "I wonder he did not give me a kite
+or a hoop," I mentally reflected. Then I had found it useful among
+Italians, who are a trifling people and like playthings; but now that
+it had saved my life and sent a bullet through a man's heart, I no
+longer entertained the same feeling of contempt for it. Not again
+would I make light of it--this potent engine of destruction which had
+procured me the character of being a magician. I would hide it from
+human gaze and cherish it as a sort of fetich. So I bought a walking-
+stick and an umbrella, and strapped it up with them, wrapped in my
+plaid; and when, shortly after, an unexpected remittance from an aunt
+supplied me with money enough to buy a horse from one of the officers
+of my friend's regiment, which soon after arrived, and I accepted
+their invitation to accompany them on their brigand-hunting
+expeditions, not one of them knew that I had such a weapon as an air-
+gun in my possession.
+
+Our /modus operandi/ on these occasions was as follows: On receiving
+information from some proprietor that the brigands were threatening
+his property,--it was impossible to get intelligence from the
+peasantry, for they were all in league with the brigands; indeed, they
+all took a holiday from regular work and joined a band for a few weeks
+from time to time,--we proceeded, with a force sufficiently strong to
+cope with the supposed strength of the band, to the farm in question.
+The bands were all mounted, and averaged from 200 to 400 men each. It
+was calculated that upward of 2000 men were thus engaged in harrying
+the country, and this enabled the Neri to talk of the king's forces
+engaged in legitimate warfare against those of Victor Emmanuel. Riding
+over the vast plains of Capitanata, we would discern against the sky
+outline the figure of a solitary horseman. This we knew to be a
+picket. Then there was no time to be lost, and away we would go for
+him helter-skelter across the plain; he would instantly gallop in on
+the main body, probably occupying a /masseria/. If they thought they
+were strong enough they would show fight. If not they would take to
+their heels in the direction of the mountains, with us in full cry
+after them. If they were hardly pressed they would scatter, and we
+were obliged to do the same, and the result would be that the swiftest
+horsemen might possibly effect a few captures. It was an exciting
+species of warfare, partaking a good deal more of the character of a
+hunting-field than of cavalry skirmishing. Sometimes, where the ground
+was hilly, we had bersaglieri with us, and as the brigands took to the
+mountains the warfare assumed a different character. Sometimes, in
+default of these active little troops, we took local volunteers, whom
+we found a very poor substitute. On more than one occasion when we
+came upon the brigands in a farm they thought themselves sufficiently
+strong to hold it against us, and once the cowardice of the volunteers
+was amusingly illustrated. The band was estimated at about 200, and we
+had 100 volunteers and a detachment of 50 cavalry. On coming under the
+fire of the brigands the cavalry captain, who was in command, ordered
+the volunteers to charge, intending when they had dislodged the enemy
+to ride him down on the open; but the volunteer officer did not repeat
+the word and stood stock-still, his men all imitating his example.
+
+"Charge! I say," shouted the cavalry captain, "why don't you charge? I
+believe you're afraid!"
+
+"/E vero/," said the captain of volunteers, shrugging his shoulders.
+
+"Here, take my horse--you're only fit to be a groom; and you, men,
+dismount and let these cowards hold your horses, while you follow me."
+And, jumping from his horse, the gallant fellow, followed by his men,
+charged the building, from which a hot fire was playing upon them,
+sword in hand. In less than a quarter of an hour the brigands were
+scampering, some on foot and some on horseback, out of the farm
+buildings, followed by a few stray and harmless shots from such of the
+volunteers as had their hands free. We lost three men killed and five
+wounded in this little skirmish, and killed six of the brigands,
+besides making a dozen prisoners. When I say "we" I mean my
+companions, for, having no weapon, I had discreetly remained with the
+volunteers. The scene of this gallant exploit was on the classic
+battle-field of Cannae. This captain, who was not the friend I had
+joined the day after my brigand adventure, was a most plucky and
+dashing cavalry officer, and was well seconded by his men, who were
+all Piedmontese and of a very different temperament from the
+Neapolitans. On one occasion a band of 250 brigands waited for us on
+the top of a small hill, never dreaming that we should charge up it
+with the odds five to one against us; but we did, and after firing a
+volley at us, which emptied a couple of saddles, they broke and fled
+when we were about twenty yards from them. Then began one of the most
+exciting scurries across country it was ever my fortune to be engaged
+in. The brigands scattered--so did we; and I found myself with two
+troopers in chase of a pair of bandits, one of whom seemed to be the
+chief of the band. A small stream wound through the plain, which we
+dashed across. Just beyond was a tributary ditch, which would have
+been considered a fair jump in the hunting-field: both brigands took
+it in splendid style. The hindmost was not ten yards ahead of the
+leading trooper, who came a cropper; on which the brigand reined up,
+fired a pistol-shot into the prostrate horse and man, and was off; but
+the delay cost him dear. The other trooper, who was a little ahead of
+me, got safely over. I followed suit. In another moment he had fired
+his carabine into the brigand's horse, and down they both came by the
+run. We instantly reined up, for I saw there was no chance of
+overtaking the remaining brigand, and the trooper was in the act of
+cutting down the man as he struggled to his feet, when to my horror I
+recognised the lovely features of--Valeria.
+
+"Stay, man!" I shouted, throwing myself from my horse. "It's a woman!
+touch her if you dare!" And then, seeing the man's eye gleam with
+indignation, I added, "Brave soldiers, such as you have proved
+yourself to be, do not kill women; though your traducers say you do,
+do not give them cause to speak truth. I will be responsible for this
+woman's safety. Here, to make it sure you had better strap us
+together." I piqued myself exceedingly on this happy inspiration,
+whereby I secured an arm-in-arm walk, of a peculiar kind, it is true,
+with Valeria; and indeed my readiness to sacrifice myself seemed
+rather to astonish the soldier, who hesitated. However, his comrade,
+whose horse had been shot in the ditch, now came up, and seconded my
+proposal as I offered him a mount on mine.
+
+"How on earth am I to let you escape, dear Valeria?" I whispered,
+giving her a sort of affectionate nudge; the position of our arms
+prevented my squeezing hers as I could have wished, and the two
+troopers kept behind us, watching us, I thought, suspiciously.
+
+"It is quite impossible now--don't attempt it," she answered; "perhaps
+there may be an opportunity later."
+
+"Was that Croppo who got away?" I asked.
+
+"Yes. He could not get his cowardly men to stand on that hill."
+
+"What a bother those men are behind, dearest! Let me pretend to
+scratch my nose with this hand that is tied to yours, which I can thus
+bring to my lips."
+
+I accomplished this manoeuvre rather neatly, but parties now came
+straggling in from other directions, and I was obliged to give up
+whispering and become circumspect. They all seemed rather astonished
+at our group, and the captain laughed heartily as he rode up and
+called out, "Who have you got tied to you there, /caro mio/?"
+
+"Croppo's wife. I had her tied to me for fear she should escape;
+besides, she is not bad-looking."
+
+"What a prize!" he exclaimed. "We have made a tolerable haul this time
+--twenty prisoners in all, among them the priest of the band. Our
+colonel has just arrived, so I am in luck; he will be delighted. See
+the prisoners are being brought up to him now; but you had better
+remount and present yours in a less singular fashion."
+
+When we reached the colonel we found him examining the priest. His
+breviary contained various interesting notes written on some of the
+fly-leaves.
+
+For instance:
+
+"Administered extreme unction to A----, shot by Croppo's order; my
+share ten scudi.
+
+"Ditto, ditto, to R----, hung by Croppo's order, my share two scudi.
+
+"Ditto, ditto, to S----, roasted by Croppo's order to make him name an
+agent to bring his ransom; overdone by mistake, and died, so got
+nothing.
+
+"Ditto, ditto, to P----, executed by the knife by Croppo's order for
+disobedience.
+
+"M---- and F---- and D----, three new members, joined to-day;
+confessed them, and received the usual fees."
+
+He was a dark, beetle-browed-looking ruffian, this holy man; and the
+colonel, when he had finished examining his book of prayer and crime,
+tossed it to me, saying, "There! that will show your friends in
+England the kind of politicians we make war against. Ha! what have we
+here? This is more serious." And he unfolded a piece of paper which
+had been concealed in the breast of the priest. "This contains a
+little valuable information," he added, with a grim smile. "Nobody
+like priests and women for carrying about political secrets, so you
+may have made a valuable capture," and he turned to where I stood with
+Valeria; "let her be carefully searched."
+
+Now the colonel was a very pompous man, and the document he had just
+discovered on the priest added to his sense of self-importance. When,
+therefore, a large, carefully folded paper was produced from the
+neighbourhood of Valeria's lovely bosom his eyes sparkled with
+admiration. "Ho, ho!" he exclaimed, as he clutched it eagerly, "the
+plot is thickening!" And he spread out triumphantly, before he had
+himself seen what it was, the exquisitely drawn portrait of a donkey.
+There was a suppressed titter, which exploded into a shout when the
+bystanders looked into the colonel's indignant face. I only was
+affected differently as my gaze fell upon this touching evidence of
+dear Valeria's love for me, and I glanced at her tenderly. "This has a
+deeper significance than you think for," said the colonel, looking
+round angrily. "Croppo's wife does not carefully secrete a drawing
+like that on her person for nothing. See, it is done by no common
+artist. It means something, and must be preserved."
+
+"It may have a biblical reference to the state of Italy. You remember
+Issachar was likened to an ass between two burdens. In that case it
+probably emanated from Rome," I remarked; but nobody seemed to see the
+point of the allusion, and the observation fell flat.
+
+That night I dined with the colonel, and after dinner I persuaded him
+to let me visit Valeria in prison, as I wished to take the portrait of
+the wife of the celebrated brigand chief. I thanked my stars that my
+friend who had seen her when we met in the glen was away on duty with
+his detachment and could not testify to our former acquaintance.
+
+My meeting with Valeria on this occasion was too touching and full of
+tender passages to be of any general interest. Valeria told me that
+she was still a bride, that she had only been married a few months,
+and that she had been compelled to become Croppo's wife against her
+choice, as the brigand's will was too powerful to be resisted; but
+that, though he was jealous and attached to her, he was stern and
+cruel, and, so far from winning her love since her marriage, he had
+rather estranged it by his fits of passion and ferocity. As may be
+imagined, the portrait, which was really very successful, took some
+time in execution, the more especially as we had to discuss the
+possibilities of Valeria's escape.
+
+"We are going to be transferred to-morrow to the prison at Foggia,"
+she said. "If while we were passing through the market-place a
+disturbance of some sort could be created, as it is market-day and all
+the country people know me and are my friends, a rescue might be
+attempted. I know how to arrange for that, only they must see some
+chance of success."
+
+A bright thought suddenly struck me; it was suggested by a trick I had
+played shortly after my arrival in Italy.
+
+"You know I am something of a magician, Valeria; you have had proof of
+that. If I create a disturbance by magic to-morrow when you are
+passing through the market-place, you won't stay to wonder what is the
+cause of the confusion, but instantly take advantage of it to escape."
+
+"Trust me for that, /caro mio/."
+
+"And if you escape when shall we meet again?"
+
+"I am known too well now to risk another meeting. I shall be in hiding
+with Croppo, where it will be impossible for you to find me, nor while
+he lives could I ever dare to think of leaving him; but I shall never
+forget you,"--and she pressed my hands to her lips,--"though I shall
+no longer have the picture of the donkey to remember you by."
+
+"See, here's my photograph; that will be better," said I, feeling a
+little annoyed--foolishly, I admit. Then we strained each other to our
+respective hearts and parted. Now it so happened that my room in the
+/lacanda/ in which I was lodging overlooked the market-place. Here at
+ten o'clock in the morning I posted myself; for that was the hour, as
+I had been careful to ascertain, when the prisoners were to start for
+Foggia. I opened the window about three inches and fixed it there; I
+took out my gun, put eight balls in it, and looked down upon the
+square. It was crowded with the country people in their bright-
+coloured costumes chaffering over their produce. I looked above them
+to the tall campanile of the church which filled one side of the
+square. I receded a step and adjusted my gun on the ledge of the
+window to my satisfaction. I then looked down the street in which the
+prison was situated, and which debouched on the square, and awaited
+events. At ten minutes past ten I saw the soldiers at the door of the
+prison form up, and then I knew that the twenty prisoners of whom they
+formed the escort were starting; but the moment they began to move I
+fired at the big bell in the campanile, which responded with a loud
+clang. All the people in the square looked up. As the prisoners
+entered the square, which they had begun to cross in its whole
+breadth, I fired again and again. The bell banged twice, and the
+people began to buzz about. "Now," I thought, "I must let the old bell
+have it." By the time five more balls had struck the bell with a
+resounding din the whole square was in commotion. A miracle was
+evidently in progress or the campanile was bewitched. People began to
+run hither and thither; all the soldiers forming the escort gaped
+open-mouthed at the steeple as the clangour continued. As soon as the
+last shot had been fired I looked down into the square and saw all
+this, and I saw that the prisoners were attempting to escape, and in
+more than one instance had succeeded, for the soldiers began to
+scatter in pursuit, and the country people to form themselves into
+impeding crowds as though by accident; but nowhere could I see
+Valeria. When I was quite sure she had escaped I went down and joined
+the crowd. I saw three prisoners captured and brought back, and when I
+asked the officer in command how many had escaped he said three--
+Croppo's wife, the priest, and another.
+
+When I met my cavalry friends at dinner that evening it was amusing to
+hear them speculate upon the remarkable occurrence which had, in fact,
+upset the wits of the whole town. Priests and vergers and sacristans
+had visited the campanile, and one of them had brought away a
+flattened piece of lead, which looked as if it might have been a
+bullet; but the suggestion that eight bullets could have hit the bell
+in succession without anybody hearing a sound was treated with
+ridicule. I believe the bell was subsequently exorcised with holy
+water. I was afraid to remain with the regiment with my air-gun after
+this, lest some one should discover it and unravel the mystery;
+besides, I felt a sort of traitor to the brave friends who had so
+generously offered me their hospitality; so I invented urgent private
+affairs which demanded my immediate return to Naples, and on the
+morning of my departure found myself embraced by all the officers of
+the regiment from the colonel downward, who in the fervour of their
+kisses thrust sixteen waxed moustache-points against my cheeks.
+
+About eighteen months after this I heard of the capture and execution
+of Croppo, and I knew that Valeria was free; but I had unexpectedly
+inherited a property and was engaged to be married. I am now a country
+gentleman with a large family. My sanctum is stocked with various
+mementos of my youthful adventures, but none awakens in me such
+thrilling memories as are excited by the breviary of the brigand
+priest and the portrait of the brigand's bride.
+
+
+
+MRS. GENERAL TALBOYS
+
+BY
+
+ANTHONY TROLLOPE
+
+Why Mrs. General Talboys first made up her mind to pass the winter of
+1859 at Rome I never clearly understood. To myself she explained her
+purposes soon after her arrival at the Eternal City, by declaring, in
+her own enthusiastic manner, that she was inspired by a burning desire
+to drink fresh at the still living fountains of classical poetry and
+sentiment. But I always thought that there was something more than
+this in it. Classical poetry and sentiment were doubtless very dear to
+her, but so also, I imagine, were the substantial comforts of Hardover
+Lodge, the general's house in Berkshire; and I do not think that she
+would have emigrated for the winter had there not been some slight
+domestic misunderstanding. Let this, however, be fully made clear--
+that such misunderstanding, if it existed, must have been simply an
+affair of temper. No impropriety of conduct has, I am very sure, ever
+been imputed to the lady. The general, as all the world knows, is hot;
+and Mrs. Talboys, when the sweet rivers of her enthusiasm are unfed by
+congenial waters, can, I believe, make herself disagreeable.
+
+But be this as it may, in November, 1859, Mrs. Talboys came among us
+English at Rome, and soon succeeded in obtaining for herself a
+comfortable footing in our society. We all thought her more remarkable
+for her mental attributes than for physical perfection, but
+nevertheless she was in her own way a sightly woman. She had no
+special brilliance, either of eye or complexion, such as would produce
+sudden flames in susceptible hearts, nor did she seem to demand
+instant homage by the form and step of a goddess; but we found her to
+be a good-looking woman of some thirty or thirty-three years of age,
+with soft, peach-like cheeks,--rather too like those of a cherub,--
+with sparkling eyes which were hardly large enough, with good teeth, a
+white forehead, a dimpled chin, and a full bust. Such outwardly was
+Mrs. General Talboys. The description of the inward woman is the
+purport to which these few pages will be devoted.
+
+There are two qualities to which the best of mankind are much subject,
+which are nearly related to each other, and as to which the world has
+not yet decided whether they are to be classed among the good or evil
+attributes of our nature. Men and women are under the influence of
+them both, but men oftenest undergo the former, and women the latter.
+They are ambition and enthusiasm. Now Mrs. Talboys was an enthusiastic
+woman.
+
+As to ambition, generally as the world agrees with Mark Antony in
+stigmatising it as a grievous fault, I am myself clear that it is a
+virtue; but with ambition at present we have no concern. Enthusiasm
+also, as I think, leans to virtue's side, or, at least, if it be a
+fault, of all faults it is the prettiest. But then, to partake at all
+of virtue or even to be in any degree pretty, the enthusiasm must be
+true.
+
+Bad coin is known from good by the ring of it, and so is bad
+enthusiasm. Let the coiner be ever so clever at his art, in the
+coining of enthusiasm the sound of true gold can never be imparted to
+the false metal; and I doubt whether the cleverest she in the world
+can make false enthusiasm palatable to the taste of man; to the taste
+of any woman the enthusiasm of another woman is never very palatable.
+
+We understood at Rome that Mrs. Talboys had a considerable family,--
+four or five children, we were told,--but she brought with her only
+one daughter, a little girl about twelve years of age. She had torn
+herself asunder, as she told me, from the younger nurslings of her
+heart, and had left them to the care of a devoted female attendant,
+whose love was all but maternal. And then she said a word or two about
+the general in terms which made me almost think that this quasi-
+maternal love extended itself beyond the children. The idea, however,
+was a mistaken one, arising from the strength of her language, to
+which I was then unaccustomed. I have since become aware that nothing
+can be more decorous than old Mrs. Upton, the excellent head nurse at
+Hardover Lodge; and no gentleman more discreet in his conduct than
+General Talboys.
+
+And I may as well here declare also that there could be no more
+virtuous woman than the general's wife. Her marriage vow was to her
+paramount to all other vows and bonds whatever. The general's honour
+was quite safe when he sent her off to Rome by herself, and he no
+doubt knew that it was so. /Illi robur et oes triplex/, of which I
+believe no weapons of any assailant could get the better. But
+nevertheless we used to fancy that she had no repugnance to
+impropriety in other women--to what the world generally calls
+impropriety. Invincibly attached herself to the marriage tie, she
+would constantly speak of it as by no means necessarily binding on
+others; and virtuous herself as any griffin of propriety, she
+constantly patronised, at any rate, the theory of infidelity in her
+neighbours. She was very eager in denouncing the prejudices of the
+English world, declaring that she found existence among them to be no
+longer possible for herself. She was hot against the stern
+unforgiveness of British matrons, and equally eager in reprobating the
+stiff conventionalities of a religion in which she said that none of
+its votaries had faith, though they all allowed themselves to be
+enslaved.
+
+We had at that time a small set at Rome consisting chiefly of English
+and Americans, who habitually met at one another's rooms, and spent
+many of our evening hours in discussing Italian politics. We were,
+most of us, painters, poets, novelists, or sculptors--perhaps I should
+say would-be painters, poets, novelists, and sculptors, aspirants
+hoping to become some day recognised; and among us Mrs. Talboys took
+her place naturally enough on account of a very pretty taste she had
+for painting. I do not know that she ever originated anything that was
+grand, but she made some nice copies and was fond, at any rate, of art
+conversation. She wrote essays too, which she showed in confidence to
+various gentlemen, and had some idea of taking lessons in modelling.
+
+In all our circle Conrad Mackinnon, an American, was perhaps the
+person most qualified to be styled its leader. He was one who
+absolutely did gain his living, and an ample living too, by his pen,
+and was regarded on all sides as a literary lion, justified by success
+in roaring at any tone he might please. His usual roar was not exactly
+that of a sucking dove or a nightingale, but it was a good-humoured
+roar, not very offensive to any man and apparently acceptable enough
+to some ladies. He was a big, burly man, near to fifty, as I suppose,
+somewhat awkward in his gait, and somewhat loud in his laugh. But
+though nigh to fifty, and thus ungainly, he liked to be smiled on by
+pretty women, and liked, as some said, to be flattered by them also.
+If so he should have been happy, for the ladies at Rome at that time
+made much of Conrad Mackinnon.
+
+Of Mrs. Mackinnon no one did make very much, and yet she was one of
+the sweetest, dearest, quietest little creatures that ever made glad a
+man's fireside. She was exquisitely pretty, always in good humour,
+never stupid, self-denying to a fault, and yet she was generally in
+the background. She would seldom come forward of her own will, but was
+contented to sit behind her teapot and hear Mackinnon do his roaring.
+He was certainly much given to what the world at Rome called flirting,
+but this did not in the least annoy her. She was twenty years his
+junior, and yet she never flirted with any one. Women would tell her--
+good-natured friends--how Mackinnon went on, but she received such
+tidings as an excellent joke, observing that he had always done the
+same, and no doubt always would until he was ninety. I do believe that
+she was a happy woman, and yet I used to think that she should have
+been happier. There is, however, no knowing the inside of another
+man's house or reading the riddles of another man's joy and sorrow.
+
+We had also there another lion,--a lion cub,--entitled to roar a
+little, and of him also I must say something. Charles O'Brien was a
+young man about twenty-five years of age, who had sent out from his
+studio in the preceding year a certain bust supposed by his admirers
+to be unsurpassed by any effort of ancient or modern genius. I am no
+judge of sculpture, and will not therefore pronounce an opinion, but
+many who considered themselves to be judges declared that it was a
+"goodish head and shoulders" and nothing more. I merely mention the
+fact, as it was on the strength of that head and shoulders that
+O'Brien separated himself from a throng of others such as himself in
+Rome, walked solitary during the days, and threw himself at the feet
+of various ladies when the days were over. He had ridden on the
+shoulders of his bust into a prominent place in our circle, and there
+encountered much feminine admiration--from Mrs. General Talboys and
+others.
+
+Some eighteen or twenty of us used to meet every Sunday evening in
+Mrs. Mackinnon's drawing-room. Many of us, indeed, were in the habit
+of seeing one another daily and of visiting together the haunts in
+Rome which are best loved by art-loving strangers; but here in this
+drawing-room we were sure to come together, and here before the end of
+November Mrs. Talboys might always be found, not in any accustomed
+seat, but moving about the room as the different male mental
+attractions of our society might chance to move themselves. She was at
+first greatly taken by Mackinnon, who also was, I think, a little
+stirred by her admiration, though he stoutly denied the charge. She
+became, however, very dear to us all before she left us, and certainly
+we owed to her our love, for she added infinitely to the joys of our
+winter.
+
+"I have come here to refresh myself," she said to Mackinnon one
+evening--to Mackinnon and myself, for we were standing together.
+
+"Shall I get you tea?" said I.
+
+"And will you have something to eat?" Mackinnon asked.
+
+"No, no, no," she answered. "Tea, yes; but for heaven's sake let
+nothing solid dispel the associations of such a meeting as this!"
+
+"I thought you might have dined early," said Mackinnon. Now Mackinnon
+was a man whose own dinner was very dear to him. I have seen him
+become hasty and unpleasant, even under the pillars of the Forum, when
+he thought that the party were placing his fish in jeopardy by their
+desire to linger there too long.
+
+"Early! Yes--no; I know not when it was. One dines and sleeps in
+obedience to that dull clay which weighs down so generally the
+particle of our spirit; but the clay may sometimes be forgotten; here
+I can always forget it."
+
+"I thought you asked for refreshment," I said. She only looked at me,
+whose small attempts at prose composition had up to that time been
+altogether unsuccessful, and then addressed herself to reply to
+Mackinnon.
+
+"It is the air which we breathe that fills our lungs and gives us life
+and light; it is that which refreshes us if pure or sinks us into
+stagnation if it be foul. Let me for a while inhale the breath of an
+invigorating literature. Sit down, Mr. Mackinnon; I have a question
+that I must put to you." And then she succeeded in carrying him off
+into a corner. As far as I could see he went willingly enough at that
+time, though he soon became averse to any long retirement in company
+with Mrs. Talboys.
+
+We none of us quite understood what were her exact ideas on the
+subject of revealed religion. Somebody, I think, had told her that
+there were among us one or two whose opinions were not exactly
+orthodox according to the doctrines of the established English church.
+If so she was determined to show us that she also was advanced beyond
+the prejudices of an old and dry school of theology. "I have thrown
+down all the barriers of religion," she said to poor Mrs. Mackinnon,
+"and am looking for the sentiments of a pure Christianity."
+
+"Thrown down all the barriers of religion!" said Mrs. Mackinnon, in a
+tone of horror which was not appreciated.
+
+"Indeed, yes," said Mrs. Talboys, with an exulting voice. "Are not the
+days for such trammels gone by?"
+
+"But yet you hold by Christianity?"
+
+"A pure Christianity, unstained by blood and perjury, by hypocrisy and
+verbose genuflection. Can I not worship and say my prayers among the
+clouds?" And she pointed to the lofty ceiling and the handsome
+chandelier.
+
+"But Ida goes to church," said Mrs. Mackinnon. Ida Talboys was her
+daughter. Now it may be observed that many who throw down the barriers
+of religion, so far as those barriers may affect themselves, still
+maintain them on behalf of their children. "Yes," said Mrs. Talboys;
+"dear Ida! her soft spirit is not yet adapted to receive the perfect
+truth. We are obliged to govern children by the strength of their
+prejudices." And then she moved away, for it was seldom that Mrs.
+Talboys remained long in conversation with any lady.
+
+Mackinnon, I believe, soon became tired of her. He liked her flattery,
+and at first declared that she was clever and nice, but her niceness
+was too purely celestial to satisfy his mundane tastes. Mackinnon
+himself can revel among the clouds in his own writings, and can leave
+us sometimes in doubt whether he ever means to come back to earth, but
+when his foot is on terra firma he loves to feel the earthy substratum
+which supports his weight. With women he likes a hand that can remain
+an unnecessary moment within his own, an eye that can glisten with the
+sparkle of champagne, a heart weak enough to make its owner's arm
+tremble within his own beneath the moonlight gloom of the Colosseum
+arches. A dash of sentiment the while makes all these things the
+sweeter, but the sentiment alone will not suffice for him. Mrs.
+Talboys did, I believe, drink her glass of champagne, as do other
+ladies, but with her it had no such pleasing effect. It loosened only
+her tongue, but never her eyes. Her arm, I think, never trembled and
+her hand never lingered. The general was always safe, and happy
+perhaps in his solitary safety.
+
+It so happened that we had unfortunately among us two artists who had
+quarrelled with their wives. O'Brien, whom I have before mentioned,
+was one of them. In his case I believe him to have been almost as free
+from blame as a man can be whose marriage was in itself a fault.
+However, he had a wife in Ireland some ten years older than himself,
+and though he might sometimes almost forget the fact, his friends and
+neighbours were well aware of it. In the other case the whole fault
+probably was with the husband. He was an ill-tempered, bad-hearted
+man, clever enough, but without principle; and he was continually
+guilty of the great sin of speaking evil of the woman whose name he
+should have been anxious to protect. In both cases our friend, Mrs.
+Talboys, took a warm interest, and in each of them she sympathised
+with the present husband against the absent wife.
+
+Of the consolation which she offered in the latter instance we used to
+hear something from Mackinnon. He would repeat to his wife and to me
+and my wife the conversations which she had with him. "Poor Brown!"
+she would say; "I pity him with my very heart's blood."
+
+"You are aware that he has comforted himself in his desolation,"
+Mackinnon replied.
+
+"I know very well to what you allude. I think I may say that I am
+conversant with all the circumstances of this heart-blighting
+sacrifice." Mrs. Talboys was apt to boast of the thorough confidence
+reposed in her by all those in whom she took an interest. "Yes, he has
+sought such comfort in another love as the hard cruel world would
+allow him."
+
+"Or perhaps something more than that," said Mackinnon. "He has a
+family here in Rome, you know; two little babies."
+
+"I know it, I know it," she said; "cherub angels!" And as she spoke
+she looked up into the ugly face of Marcus Aurelius, for they were
+standing at the moment under the figure of the great horseman on the
+Campidoglio. "I have seen them, and they are children of innocence. If
+all the blood of all the Howards ran in their veins it could not make
+their birth more noble!"
+
+"Not if the father and mother of all the Howards had never been
+married," said Mackinnon.
+
+"What! that from you, Mr. Mackinnon!" said Mrs. Talboys, turning her
+back with energy upon the equestrian statue and looking up into the
+faces first of Pollux and then of Castor, as though from them she
+might gain some inspiration on the subject, which Marcus Aurelius in
+his coldness had denied to her. "From you, who have so nobly claimed
+for mankind the divine attributes of free action! From you, who have
+taught my mind to soar above the petty bonds which one man in his
+littleness contrives for the subjection of his brother. Mackinnon--you
+who are so great!" And she now looked up into his face. "Mackinnon,
+unsay those words."
+
+"They /are/ illegitimate," said he, "and if there was any landed
+property--"
+
+"Landed property! and that from an American!"
+
+"The children are English, you know."
+
+"Landed property! The time will shortly come--ay, and I see it coming
+--when that hateful word shall be expunged from the calendar, when
+landed property shall be no more. What! shall the free soul of a God-
+born man submit itself for ever to such trammels as that? Shall we
+never escape from the clay which so long has manacled the subtler
+particles of the divine spirit? Ay, yes, Mackinnon!" and then she took
+him by the arm, and led him to the top of the huge steps which lead
+down from the Campidoglio into the streets of modern Rome. "Look down
+upon that countless multitude." Mackinnon looked down, and saw three
+groups of French soldiers, with three or four little men in each
+group; he saw also a couple of dirty friars, and three priests very
+slowly beginning the side ascent to the church of the Ara Coeli. "Look
+down upon that countless multitude," said Mrs. Talboys, and she
+stretched her arms out over the half-deserted city. "They are escaping
+now from those trammels--now, now--now that I am speaking."
+
+"They have escaped long ago from all such trammels as that of landed
+property," said Mackinnon.
+
+"Ay, and from all terrestrial bonds," she continued, not exactly
+remarking the pith of his last observation; "from bonds quasi-
+terrestrial and quasi-celestial. The full-formed limbs of the present
+age, running with quick streams of generous blood, will no longer bear
+the ligatures which past time have woven for the decrepit. Look down
+upon that multitude, Mackinnon; they shall all be free." And then,
+still clutching him by the arm and still standing at the top of those
+stairs, she gave forth her prophecy with the fury of a sibyl.
+
+"They shall all be free. O Rome, thou eternal one! thou who hast bowed
+thy neck to imperial pride and priestly craft, thou who has suffered
+sorely even to this hour, from Nero down to Pio Nono, the days of
+thine oppression are over. Gone from thy enfranchised ways for ever is
+the clang of the praetorian cohorts and the more odious drone of
+meddling monks!" And yet, as Mackinnon observed, there still stood the
+dirty friars and the small French soldiers, and there still toiled the
+slow priests, wending their tedious way up to the church of the Ara
+Coeli. But that was the mundane view of the matter, a view not
+regarded by Mrs. Talboys in her ecstasy. "O Italia," she continued, "O
+Italia una, one and indivisible in thy rights, and indivisible also in
+thy wrongs! to us is it given to see the accomplishment of thy glory.
+A people shall arise around thine altars greater in the annals of the
+world than thy Scipios, thy Gracchi, or thy Caesars. Not in torrents
+of blood or with screams of bereaved mothers shall thy new triumphs be
+stained; but mind shall dominate over matter, and, doomed together
+with popes and Bourbons, with cardinals, diplomatists, and police
+spies, ignorance and prejudice shall be driven from thy smiling
+terraces. And then Rome shall again become the fair capital of the
+fairest region of Europe. Hither shall flock the artisans of the
+world, crowding into thy marts all that God and man can give. Wealth,
+beauty, and innocence shall meet in thy streets--"
+
+"There will be a considerable change before that takes place," said
+Mackinnon.
+
+"There shall be a considerable change," she answered. "Mackinnon, to
+thee it is given to read the signs of the time; and hast thou not
+read? Why have the fields of Magenta and Solferino been piled with the
+corpses of dying heroes? Why have the waters of the Mincio run red
+with the blood of martyrs? That Italy might be united and Rome
+immortal. Here, standing on the Capitolium of the ancient city, I say
+that it shall be so; and thou, Mackinnon, who hearest me knowest that
+my words are true."
+
+There was not then in Rome--I may almost say there was not in Italy--
+an Englishman or an American who did not wish well to the cause for
+which Italy was and is still contending, as also there is hardly one
+who does not now regard that cause as well-nigh triumphant; but
+nevertheless it was almost impossible to sympathise with Mrs. Talboys.
+As Mackinnon said, she flew so high that there was no comfort in
+flying with her.
+
+"Well," said he, "Brown and the rest of them are down below. Shall we
+go and join them?"
+
+"Poor Brown! How was it that in speaking of his troubles we were led
+on to this heart-stirring theme? Yes, I have seen them, the sweet
+angels; and I tell you also that I have seen their mother. I insisted
+on going to her when I heard her history from him."
+
+"And what was she like, Mrs. Talboys?"
+
+"Well, education has done more for some of us than for others, and
+there are those from whose morals and sentiments we might thankfully
+draw a lesson, whose manners and outward gestures are not such as
+custom has made agreeable to us. You, I know, can understand that. I
+have seen her, and feel sure that she is pure in heart and high in
+principle. Has she not sacrificed herself, and is not self-sacrifice
+the surest guarantee for true nobility of character? Would Mrs.
+Mackinnon object to my bringing them together?"
+
+Mackinnon was obliged to declare that he thought his wife would
+object, and from that time forth he and Mrs. Talboys ceased to be very
+close in their friendship. She still came to the house every Sunday
+evening, still refreshed herself at the fountains of his literary
+rills, but her special prophecies from henceforth were poured into
+other ears; and it so happened that O'Brien now became her chief ally.
+I do not remember that she troubled herself much further with the
+cherub angels or with their mother, and I am inclined to think that,
+taking up warmly as she did the story of O'Brien's matrimonial wrongs,
+she forgot the little history of the Browns. Be that as it may, Mrs.
+Talboys and O'Brien now became strictly confidential, and she would
+enlarge by the half-hour together on the miseries of her friend's
+position to any one whom she could get to hear her.
+
+"I'll tell you what, Fanny," Mackinnon said to his wife one day--to
+his wife and to mine, for we were all together--"we shall have a row
+in the house if we don't take care. O'Brien will be making love to
+Mrs. Talboys."
+
+"Nonsense," said Mrs. Mackinnon; "you are always thinking that
+somebody is going to make love to some one."
+
+"Somebody always is," said he.
+
+"She's old enough to be his mother," said Mrs. Mackinnon.
+
+"What does that matter to an Irishman?" said Mackinnon. "Besides, I
+doubt if there is more than five years' difference between them."
+
+"There must be more than that," said my wife. "Ida Talboys is twelve,
+I know, and I am not quite sure that Ida is the eldest."
+
+"If she had a son in the Guards it would make no difference," said
+Mackinnon. "There are men who consider themselves bound to make love
+to a woman under certain circumstances, let the age of the lady be
+what it may. O'Brien is such a one; and if she sympathises with him
+much oftener he will mistake the matter and go down on his knees. You
+ought to put him on his guard," he said, addressing himself to his
+wife.
+
+"Indeed, I shall do no such thing," said she; "if they are two fools
+they must, like other fools, pay the price of their folly." As a rule
+there could be no softer creature than Mrs. Mackinnon, but it seemed
+to me that her tenderness never extended itself in the direction of
+Mrs. Talboys.
+
+Just at this time, toward the end, that is, of November, we made a
+party to visit the tombs which lie along the Appian Way beyond that
+most beautiful of all sepulchres, the tomb of Cecilia Metella. It was
+a delicious day, and we had driven along this road for a couple of
+miles beyond the walls of the city, enjoying the most lovely view
+which the neighborhood of Rome affords, looking over the wondrous
+ruins of the old aqueducts up toward Tivoli and Palestrina. Of all the
+environs of Rome this is, on a fair day, the most enchanting; and here
+perhaps, among a world of tombs, thoughts and almost memories of the
+old, old days come upon one with the greatest force. The grandeur of
+Rome is best seen and understood from beneath the walls of the
+Colosseum, and its beauty among the pillars of the Forum and the
+arches of the Sacred Way; but its history and fall become more
+palpable to the mind and more clearly realised out here among the
+tombs, where the eyes rest upon the mountains, whose shades were cool
+to the old Romans as to us, than anywhere within the walls of the
+city. Here we look out at the same Tivoli and the same Praeneste
+glittering in the sunshine, embowered among the far-off valleys, which
+were dear to them; and the blue mountains have not crumbled away into
+ruins. Within Rome itself we can see nothing as they saw it.
+
+Our party consisted of some dozen or fifteen persons, and, as a hamper
+with luncheon in it had been left on the grassy slope at the base of
+the tomb of Cecilia Metella, the expedition had in it something of the
+nature of a picnic. Mrs. Talboys was of course with us, and Ida
+Talboys. O'Brien also was there. The hamper had been prepared in Mrs.
+Mackinnon's room under the immediate eye of Mackinnon himself, and
+they therefore were regarded as the dominant spirits of the party. My
+wife was leagued with Mrs. Mackinnon, as was usually the case; and
+there seemed to be a general opinion, among those who were closely in
+confidence together, that something would happen in the O'Brien-
+Talboys matter. The two had been inseparable on the previous evening,
+for Mrs. Talboys had been urging on the young Irishman her counsels
+respecting his domestic troubles. Sir Cresswell Cresswell, she had
+told him, was his refuge. "Why should his soul submit to bonds which
+the world had now declared to be intolerable? Divorce was not now the
+privilege of the dissolute rich. Spirits which were incompatible need
+no longer be compelled to fret beneath the same couples." In short,
+she had recommended him to go to England and get rid of his wife, as
+she would with a little encouragement have recommended any man to get
+rid of anything. I am sure that, had she been skilfully brought on to
+the subject, she might have been induced to pronounce a verdict
+against such ligatures for the body as coats, waistcoats, and
+trousers. Her aspirations for freedom ignored all bounds, and in
+theory there were no barriers which she was not willing to demolish.
+
+Poor O'Brien, as we all now began to see, had taken the matter amiss.
+He had offered to make a bust of Mrs. Talboys, and she had consented,
+expressing a wish that it might find a place among those who had
+devoted themselves to the enfranchisement of their fellow-creatures. I
+really think she had but little of a woman's customary personal
+vanity. I know she had an idea that her eye was lighted up in her
+warmer moments by some special fire, that sparks of liberty shone
+round her brow, and that her bosom heaved with glorious aspirations;
+but all these feelings had reference to her inner genius, not to any
+outward beauty. But O'Brien misunderstood the woman, and thought it
+necessary to gaze into her face and sigh as though his heart were
+breaking. Indeed, he declared to a young friend that Mrs. Talboys was
+perfect in her style of beauty, and began the bust with this idea. It
+was gradually becoming clear to us all that he would bring himself to
+grief; but in such a matter who can caution a man?
+
+Mrs. Mackinnon had contrived to separate them in making the carriage
+arrangements on this day, but this only added fuel to the fire which
+was now burning within O'Brien's bosom. I believe that he really did
+love her in his easy, eager, susceptible Irish way. That he would get
+over the little episode without any serious injury to his heart no one
+doubted; but then what would occur when the declaration was made? How
+would Mrs. Talboys bear it?"
+
+"She deserves it," said Mrs. Mackinnon.
+
+"And twice as much," my wife added. Why is it that women are so
+spiteful to one another?
+
+Early in the day Mrs. Talboys clambered up to the top of a tomb, and
+made a little speech, holding a parasol over her head. Beneath her
+feet, she said, reposed the ashes of some bloated senator, some
+glutton of the empire, who had swallowed into his maw the provision
+necessary for a tribe. Old Rome had fallen through such selfishness as
+that, but new Rome would not forget the lesson. All this was very
+well, and then O'Brien helped her down; but after this there was no
+separating them. For her own part, she would sooner have had Mackinnon
+at her elbow; but Mackinnon now had found some other elbow. "Enough of
+that was as good as a feast," he had said to his wife. And therefore
+Mrs. Talboys, quite unconscious of evil, allowed herself to be
+engrossed by O'Brien.
+
+And then, about three o'clock, we returned to the hamper. Luncheon
+under such circumstances always means dinner, and we arranged
+ourselves for a very comfortable meal. To those who know the tomb of
+Cecilia Metella no description of the scene is necessary, and to those
+who do not no description will convey a fair idea of its reality. It
+is itself a large low tower of great diameter, but of beautiful
+proportion, standing far outside the city, close on to the side of the
+old Roman way. It has been embattled on the top by some latter-day
+baron in order that it might be used for protection to the castle
+which has been built on and attached to it. If I remember rightly,
+this was done by one of the Frangipani, and a very lovely ruin he has
+made of it. I know no castellated old tumble-down residence in Italy
+more picturesque than this baronial adjunct to the old Roman tomb, or
+which better tallies with the ideas engendered within our minds by
+Mrs. Radcliffe and "The Mysteries of Udolpho." It lies along the road,
+protected on the side of the city by the proud sepulchre of the Roman
+matron, and up to the long ruined walls of the back of the building
+stretches a grassy slope, at the bottom of which are the remains of an
+old Roman circus. Beyond that is the long, thin, graceful line of the
+Claudian aqueduct, with Soracte in the distance to the left, and
+Tivoli, Palestrina, and Frascati lying among the hills which bound the
+view. That Frangipani baron was in the right of it, and I hope he got
+the value of his money out of the residence which he built for
+himself. I doubt, however, that he did but little good to those who
+lived in his close neighbourhood.
+
+We had a very comfortable little banquet seated on the broken lumps of
+stone which lie about under the walls of the tomb. I wonder whether
+the shade of Cecilia Metella was looking down upon us. We have heard
+much of her in these latter days, and yet we know nothing about her,
+nor can conceive why she was honoured with a bigger tomb than any
+other Roman matron. There were those then among our party who believed
+that she might still come back among us, and, with due assistance from
+some cognate susceptible spirit, explain to us the cause of her
+widowed husband's liberality. Alas, alas! if we may judge of the
+Romans by ourselves the true reason for such sepulchral grandeur would
+redound little to the credit of the lady Cecilia Metella herself or to
+that of Crassus, her bereaved and desolate lord.
+
+She did not come among us on the occasion of this banquet, possibly
+because we had no tables there to turn in preparation for her
+presence; but had she done so, she could not have been more eloquent
+of things of the other world than was Mrs. Talboys. I have said that
+Mrs. Talboys's eye never glanced more brightly after a glass of
+champagne, but I am inclined to think that on this occasion it may
+have done so. O'Brien enacted Ganymede, and was perhaps more liberal
+than other latter-day Ganymedes to whose services Mrs. Talboys had
+been accustomed. Let it not, however, be suspected by any one that she
+exceeded the limits of a discreet joyousness. By no means! The
+generous wine penetrated, perhaps, to some inner cells of her heart,
+and brought forth thoughts in sparkling words which otherwise might
+have remained concealed; but there was nothing in what she thought or
+spoke calculated to give umbrage either to an anchoret or to a vestal.
+A word or two she said or sung about the flowing bowl, and once she
+called for Falernian; but beyond this her converse was chiefly of the
+rights of man and the weakness of women, of the iron ages that were
+past, and of the golden time that was to come.
+
+She called a toast and drank to the hopes of the latter historians of
+the nineteenth century. Then it was that she bade O'Brien "fill high
+the bowl with Samian wine." The Irishman took her at her word, and she
+raised the bumper and waved it over her head before she put it to her
+lips. I am bound to declare that she did not spill a drop. "The true
+'Falernian grape,' " she said, as she deposited the empty beaker on
+the grass beneath her elbow. Viler champagne I do not think I ever
+swallowed; but it was the theory of the wine, not its palpable body
+present there, as it were in the flesh, which inspired her. There was
+really something grand about her on that occasion, and her enthusiasm
+almost amounted to reality.
+
+Mackinnon was amused, and encouraged her, as I must confess did I
+also. Mrs. Mackinnon made useless little signs to her husband, really
+fearing that the Falernian would do its good offices too thoroughly.
+My wife, getting me apart as I walked round the circle distributing
+viands, remarked that "the woman was a fool and would disgrace
+herself." But I observed that after the disposal of that bumper she
+worshipped the rosy god in theory only, and therefore saw no occasion
+to interfere. "Come, Bacchus," she said, "and come, Silenus, if thou
+wilt; I know that ye are hovering round the graves of your departed
+favourites. And ye, too, nymphs of Egeria," and she pointed to the
+classic grove which was all but close to us as we sat there. "In olden
+days ye did not always despise the abodes of men. But why should we
+invoke the presence of the gods--we who can become godlike ourselves!
+We ourselves are the deities of the present age. For us shall the
+tables be spread with ambrosia, for us shall the nectar flow."
+
+Upon the whole it was a very good fooling--for a while; and as soon as
+we were tired of it we arose from our seats and began to stroll about
+the place. It was beginning to be a little dusk and somewhat cool, but
+the evening air was pleasant, and the ladies, putting on their shawls,
+did not seem inclined at once to get into the carriages. At any rate,
+Mrs. Talboys was not so inclined, for she started down the hill toward
+the long low wall of the old Roman circus at the bottom, and O'Brien,
+close at her elbow, started with her.
+
+"Ida, my dear, you had better remain here," she said to her daughter;
+"you will be tired if you come as far as we are going."
+
+"Oh no, mamma, I shall not," said Ida; "you get tired much quicker
+than I do."
+
+"Oh yes, you will; besides, I do not wish you to come." There was an
+end of it for Ida, and Mrs. Talboys and O'Brien walked off together,
+while we all looked into one another's faces.
+
+"It would be a charity to go with them," said Mackinnon.
+
+"Do you be charitable then," said his wife.
+
+"It should be a lady," said he.
+
+"It is a pity that the mother of the spotless cherubim is not here for
+the occasion," said she. "I hardly think that any one less gifted will
+undertake such a self-sacrifice." Any attempt of the kind would,
+however, now have been too late, for they were already at the bottom
+of the hill. O'Brien had certainly drunk freely of the pernicious
+contents of those long-necked bottles, and, though no one could fairly
+accuse him of being tipsy, nevertheless that which might have made
+others drunk had made him bold, and he dared to do perhaps more than
+might become a man. If under any circumstances he could be fool enough
+to make an avowal of love to Mrs. Talboys he might be expected, as we
+all thought, to do it now.
+
+We watched them as they made for a gap in the wall which led through
+into the large enclosed space of the old circus. It had been an arena
+for chariot games, and they had gone down with the avowed purpose of
+searching where might have been the meta and ascertaining how the
+drivers could have turned when at their full speed. For a while we had
+heard their voices, or rather her voice especially. "The heart of a
+man, O'Brien, should suffice for all emergencies," we had heard her
+say. She had assumed a strange habit of calling men by their simple
+names, as men address one another. When she did this to Mackinnon, who
+was much older than herself, we had been all amused by it, and other
+ladies of our party had taken to call him "Mackinnon" when Mrs.
+Talboys was not by; but we had felt the comedy to be less safe with
+O'Brien, especially when on one occasion we heard him address her as
+Arabella. She did not seem to be in any way struck by his doing so,
+and we supposed therefore that it had become frequent between them.
+What reply he made at the moment about the heart of a man I do not
+know, and then in a few minutes they disappeared through the gap in
+the wall.
+
+None of us followed them, although it would have seemed the most
+natural thing in the world to do so had nothing out of the way been
+expected. As it was, we remained there round the tomb quizzing the
+little foibles of our dear friend and hoping that O'Brien would be
+quick in what he was doing. That he would undoubtedly get a slap in
+the face, metaphorically, we all felt certain, for none of us doubted
+the rigid propriety of the lady's intentions. Some of us strolled into
+the buildings and some of us got out on to the road, but we all of us
+were thinking that O'Brien was very slow a considerable time before we
+saw Mrs. Talboys reappear through the gap.
+
+At last, however, she was there, and we at once saw that she was
+alone. She came on, breasting the hill with quick steps, and when she
+drew near we could see that there was a frown as of injured majesty on
+her brow. Mackinnon and his wife went forward to meet her. If she were
+really in trouble it would be fitting in some way to assist her, and
+of all women Mrs. Mackinnon was the last to see another woman suffer
+from ill usage without attempting to aid her. "I certainly never liked
+her," Mrs. Mackinnon said afterward, "but I was bound to go and hear
+her tale when she really had a tale to tell."
+
+And Mrs. Talboys now had a tale to tell--if she chose to tell it. The
+ladies of our party declared afterward that she would have acted more
+wisely had she kept to herself both O'Brien's words to her and her
+answer. "She was well able to take care of herself," Mrs. Mackinnon
+said; "and after all the silly man had taken an answer when he got
+it." Not, however, that O'Brien had taken his answer quite
+immediately, as far as I could understand from what we heard of the
+matter afterward.
+
+At the present moment Mrs. Talboys came up the rising ground all alone
+and at a quick pace. "The man has insulted me," she said aloud, as
+well as her panting breath would allow her, and as soon as she was
+near enough to Mrs. Mackinnon to speak to her.
+
+"I am sorry for that," said Mrs. Mackinnon. "I suppose he has taken a
+little too much wine."
+
+"No; it was a premeditated insult. The base-hearted churl has failed
+to understand the meaning of true, honest sympathy."
+
+"He will forget all about it when he is sober," said Mackinnon,
+meaning to comfort her.
+
+"What care I what he remembers or what he forgets?" she said, turning
+upon poor Mackinnon indignantly. "You men grovel so in your ideas--"
+("And yet," as Mackinnon said afterward, "she had been telling me that
+I was a fool for the last three weeks.") "You men grovel so in your
+ideas that you cannot understand the feelings of a true-hearted woman.
+What can his forgetfulness or his remembrance be to me? Must not I
+remember this insult? Is it possible that I should forget it?"
+
+Mr. and Mrs. Mackinnon only had gone forward to meet her, but
+nevertheless she spoke so loud that all heard her who were still
+clustered round the spot on which we had dined.
+
+"What has become of Mr. O'Brien?" a lady whispered to me.
+
+I had a field-glass with me, and, looking round, I saw his hat as he
+was walking inside the walls of the circus in the direction toward the
+city. "And very foolish he must feel," said the lady.
+
+"No doubt he is used to it," said another.
+
+"But considering her age, you know," said the first, who might have
+been perhaps three years younger than Mrs. Talboys, and who was not
+herself averse to the excitement of a moderate flirtation. But then
+why should she have been averse, seeing that she had not as yet become
+subject to the will of any imperial lord?
+
+"He would have felt much more foolish," said the third, "if she had
+listened to what he said to her."
+
+"Well, I don't know," said the second; "nobody would have known
+anything about it then, and in a few weeks they would have gradually
+become tired of each other in the ordinary way."
+
+But in the meantime Mrs. Talboys was among us. There had been no
+attempt at secrecy, and she was still loudly inveighing against the
+grovelling propensities of men. "That's quite true, Mrs. Talboys,"
+said one of the elder ladies; "but then women are not always so
+careful as they should be. Of course I do not mean to say that there
+has been any fault on your part."
+
+"Fault on my part! Of course there has been fault on my part. No one
+can make any mistake without fault to some extent. I took him to be a
+man of sense, and he is a fool. Go to Naples indeed."
+
+"Did he want you to go to Naples?" asked Mrs. Mackinnon.
+
+"Yes; that was what he suggested. We were to leave by the train for
+Civita Vecchia at six to-morrow morning, and catch the steamer which
+leaves Leghorn to-night. Don't tell me of wine. He was prepared for
+it!" And she looked round about on us with an air of injured majesty
+in her face which was almost insupportable.
+
+"I wonder whether he took the tickets overnight," said Mackinnon.
+
+"Naples!" she said, as though now speaking exclusively to herself,
+"the only ground in Italy which has as yet made no struggle on behalf
+of freedom--a fitting residence for such a dastard!"
+
+"You would have found it very pleasant at this season," said the
+unmarried lady who was three years her junior.
+
+My wife had taken Ida out of the way when the first complaining note
+from Mrs. Talboys had been heard ascending the hill. But now, when
+matters began gradually to become quiescent, she brought her back,
+suggesting as she did so that they might begin to think of returning.
+
+"It is getting very cold, Ida dear, is it not?" said she.
+
+"But where is Mr. O'Brien?" said Ida.
+
+"He has fled--as poltroons always fly," said Mrs. Talboys. I believe
+in my heart that she would have been glad to have had him there in the
+middle of the circle, and to have triumphed over him publicly among us
+all. No feeling of shame would have kept her silent for a moment.
+
+"Fled!" said Ida, looking up into her mother's face.
+
+"Yes, fled, my child." And she seized her daughter in her arms, and
+pressed her closely to her bosom. "Cowards always fly."
+
+"Is Mr. O'Brien a coward?" Ida asked.
+
+"Yes, a coward, a very coward! And he has fled before the glance of an
+honest woman's eye. Come, Mrs. Mackinnon, shall we go back to the
+city? I am sorry that the amusement of the day should have received
+this check." And she walked forward to the carriage and took her place
+in it with an air that showed that she was proud of the way in which
+she had conducted herself.
+
+"She is a little conceited about it after all," said that unmarried
+lady. "If poor Mr. O'Brien had not shown so much premature anxiety
+with reference to that little journey to Naples, things might have
+gone quietly after all."
+
+But the unmarried lady was wrong in her judgment. Mrs. Talboys was
+proud and conceited in the matter, but not proud of having excited the
+admiration of her Irish lover. She was proud of her own subsequent
+conduct, and gave herself credit for coming out strongly as the
+noble-minded matron. "I believe she thinks," said Mrs. Mackinnon,
+"that her virtue is quite Spartan and unique; and if she remains in
+Rome she'll boast of it through the whole winter."
+
+"If she does, she may be certain that O'Brien will do the same," said
+Mackinnon. "And in spite of his having fled from the field, it is upon
+the cards that he may get the best of it. Mrs. Talboys is a very
+excellent woman. She has proved her excellence beyond a doubt. But
+nevertheless she is susceptible of ridicule."
+
+We all felt a little anxiety to hear O'Brien's account of the matter,
+and after having deposited the ladies at their homes Mackinnon and I
+went off to his lodgings. At first he was denied to us, but after a
+while we got his servant to acknowledge that he was at home, and then
+we made our way up to his studio. We found him seated behind a half-
+formed model, or rather a mere lump of clay punched into something
+resembling the shape of a head, with a pipe in his mouth and a bit of
+stick in his hand. He was pretending to work, though we both knew that
+it was out of the question that he should do anything in his present
+frame of mind.
+
+"I think I heard my servant tell you that I was not at home," said he.
+
+"Yes, he did," said Mackinnon, "and would have sworn it too if we
+would have let him. Come, don't pretend to be surly."
+
+"I am very busy, Mr. Mackinnon."
+
+"Completing your head of Mrs. Talboys, I suppose, before you start for
+Naples."
+
+"You don't mean to say that she has told you all about it?" And he
+turned away from his work, and looked up into our faces with a comical
+expression, half of fun and half of despair.
+
+"Every word of it," said I. "When you want a lady to travel with you
+never ask her to get up so early in winter."
+
+"But, O'Brien, how could you be such an ass?" said Mackinnon. "As it
+has turned out, there is no very great harm done. You have insulted a
+respectable middle-aged woman, the mother of a family and the wife of
+a general officer, and there is an end of it--unless, indeed, the
+general officer should come out from England to call you to account."
+
+"He is welcome," said O'Brien haughtily.
+
+"No doubt, my dear fellow," said Mackinnon; "that would be a dignified
+and pleasant ending to the affair. But what I want to know is this:
+what would you have done if she had agreed to go?"
+
+"He never calculated on the possibility of such a contingency," said
+I.
+
+"By heavens, then, I thought she would like it," said he.
+
+"And to oblige her you were content to sacrifice yourself," said
+Mackinnon.
+
+"Well, that was just it. What the deuce is a fellow to do when a woman
+goes on in that way? She told me down there, upon the old race-course,
+you know, that matrimonial bonds were made for fools and slaves. What
+was I to suppose that she meant by that? But, to make all sure, I
+asked her what sort of a fellow the general was. 'Dear old man,' she
+said, clasping her hands together. 'He might, you know, have been my
+father.' 'I wish he were,' said I, 'because then you'd be free.' 'I am
+free,' said she, stamping on the ground, and looking up at me so much
+as to say that she cared for no one. 'Then,' said I, 'accept all that
+is left of the heart of Wenceslaus O'Brien,' and I threw myself before
+her in her path. 'Hand,' said I, 'I have none to give, but the blood
+which runs red through my veins is descended from a double line of
+kings.' I said that because she is always fond of riding a high horse.
+I had gotten close under the wall so that none of you should see me
+from the tower."
+
+"And what answer did she make?" said Mackinnon.
+
+"Why, she was pleased as Punch--gave me both her hands and declared
+that we would be friends for ever. It is my belief, Mackinnon, that
+that woman never heard anything of the kind before. The general, no
+doubt, did it by letter."
+
+"And how was it that she changed her mind?"
+
+"Why, I got up, put my arm round her waist, and told her that we would
+be off to Naples. I'm blessed if she didn't give me a knock in the
+ribs that nearly sent me backward. She took my breath away, so that I
+couldn't speak to her."
+
+"And then----"
+
+"Oh, there was nothing more. Of course I saw how it was. So she walked
+off one way and I the other. On the whole, I consider that I am well
+out of it."
+
+"And so do I," said Mackinnon, very gravely. "But if you will allow me
+to give you my advice, I would suggest that it would be well to avoid
+such mistakes in future."
+
+"Upon my word," said O'Brien, excusing himself, "I don't know what a
+man is to do under such circumstances. I give you my honour that I did
+it all to oblige her."
+
+We then decided that Mackinnon should convey to the injured lady the
+humble apology of her late admirer. It was settled that no detailed
+excuses should be made. It should be left to her to consider whether
+the deed which had been done might have been occasioned by wine or by
+the folly of a moment, or by her own indiscreet enthusiasm. No one but
+the two were present when the message was given, and therefore we were
+obliged to trust to Mackinnon's accuracy for an account of it.
+
+She stood on very high ground indeed, he said, at first refusing to
+hear anything that he had to say on the matter. The foolish young man,
+she declared, was below her anger and below her contempt.
+
+"He is not the first Irishman that has been made indiscreet by
+beauty," said Mackinnon.
+
+"A truce to that," she replied, waving her hand with an air of assumed
+majesty. "The incident, contemptible as it is, has been unpleasant to
+me. It will necessitate my withdrawal from Rome."
+
+"Oh no, Mrs. Talboys; that will be making too much of him."
+
+"The greatest hero that lives," she answered, "may have his house made
+uninhabitable by a very small insect." Mackinnon swore that those were
+her own words. Consequently a sobriquet was attached to O'Brien of
+which he by no means approved, and from that day we always called Mrs.
+Talboys "the hero."
+
+Mackinnon prevailed at last with her, and she did not leave Rome. She
+was even induced to send a message to O'Brien conveying her
+forgiveness. They shook hands together with great eclat in Mrs.
+Mackinnon's drawing-room; but I do not suppose that she ever again
+offered to him sympathy on the score of his matrimonial troubles.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of The Project Gutenberg Etext Stories by English Authors in Italy
+
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