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6 files changed, 7 insertions, 7393 deletions

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index c9721ac..f92f079 100644
--- a/40570-8.txt
+++ b/40570-0.txt
@@ -1,39 +1,4 @@
-The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Chronicles of Count Antonio, by Anthony
-Hope
-
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
-almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
-re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
-with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
-
-
-
-
-
-Title: The Chronicles of Count Antonio
-
-
-Author: Anthony Hope
-
-
-
-Release Date: August 23, 2012  [eBook #40570]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
-
-
-***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CHRONICLES OF COUNT ANTONIO***
-
-
-E-text prepared by Suzanne Shell, Mary Meehan, and the Online Distributed
-Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made
-available by Internet Archive/American Libraries
-(http://archive.org/details/americana)
-
-
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40570 ***
 
 Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
       file which includes the original illustrations.
@@ -2779,7 +2744,7 @@ his knees quite close to the Duke, and looked up in his face with a
 foolish empty smile. And the Duke, laughing, buffeted him again. Then,
 with a sudden spring, like the spring of that Indian tiger which the
 Mogul of Delhi sent lately as a gift to the Most Christian King, and the
-king, for his diversion, made to slay deer before him at the _château_
+king, for his diversion, made to slay deer before him at the _ch√¢teau_
 of Blois (which I myself saw, being there on a certain mission, and
 wonderful was the sight), Count Antonio, leaping, was upon the Duke; and
 he snatched the philtre from the Duke's hand and seized the Duke's head
@@ -6262,362 +6227,4 @@ since strife must needs come until God's pleasure bring peace to reign
 on earth, able, when occasion calls, to give and take good blows. Aye,
 never laugh. I have said it. A Churchman is a man.
 
-
-
-***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CHRONICLES OF COUNT ANTONIO***
-
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-******* This file should be named 40570-8.txt or 40570-8.zip *******
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+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40570 ***
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+<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />
 <title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Chronicles of Count Antonio, by Anthony Hope</title>
     <style type="text/css">
 
@@ -179,26 +179,10 @@ table {
     </style>
 </head>
 <body>
+<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40570 ***</div>
 <h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Chronicles of Count Antonio, by Anthony
 Hope</h1>
-<p>This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
-almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
-re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
-with this eBook or online at <a
-href="http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></p>
-<p>Title: The Chronicles of Count Antonio</p>
-<p>Author: Anthony Hope</p>
-<p>Release Date: August 23, 2012  [eBook #40570]</p>
-<p>Language: English</p>
-<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p>
-<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CHRONICLES OF COUNT ANTONIO***</p>
 <p>&nbsp;</p>
-<h4>E-text prepared by Suzanne Shell, Mary Meehan,<br />
-    and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br />
-    (<a href="http://www.pgdp.net">http://www.pgdp.net</a>)<br />
-    from page images generously made available by<br />
-    Internet Archive/American Libraries<br />
-    (<a href="http://archive.org/details/americana">http://archive.org/details/americana</a>)</h4>
 <p>&nbsp;</p>
 <table border="0" style="background-color: #ccccff;margin: 0 auto;" cellpadding="10">
   <tr>
@@ -2952,7 +2936,7 @@ his knees quite close to the Duke, and looked up in his face with a
 foolish empty smile. And the Duke, laughing, buffeted him again. Then,
 with a sudden spring, like the spring of that Indian tiger which the
 Mogul of Delhi sent lately as a gift to the Most Christian King, and the
-king, for his diversion, made to slay deer before him at the <i>château</i>
+king, for his diversion, made to slay deer before him at the <i>château</i>
 of Blois (which I myself saw, being there on a certain mission, and
 wonderful was the sight), Count Antonio, leaping, was upon the Duke; and
 he snatched the philtre from the Duke's hand and seized the Duke's head
@@ -6437,360 +6421,6 @@ never laugh. I have said it. A Churchman is a man.</p>
 
 <p>&nbsp;</p>
 <p>&nbsp;</p>
-<hr class="full" />
-<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CHRONICLES OF COUNT ANTONIO***</p>
-<p>******* This file should be named 40570-h.txt or 40570-h.zip *******</p>
-<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br />
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-one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
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+<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40570 ***</div>
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-The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Chronicles of Count Antonio, by Anthony
-Hope
-
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
-almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
-re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
-with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
-
-
-
-
-
-Title: The Chronicles of Count Antonio
-
-
-Author: Anthony Hope
-
-
-
-Release Date: August 23, 2012  [eBook #40570]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
-
-
-***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CHRONICLES OF COUNT ANTONIO***
-
-
-E-text prepared by Suzanne Shell, Mary Meehan, and the Online Distributed
-Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made
-available by Internet Archive/American Libraries
-(http://archive.org/details/americana)
-
-
-
-Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
-      file which includes the original illustrations.
-      See 40570-h.htm or 40570-h.zip:
-      (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/40570/40570-h/40570-h.htm)
-      or
-      (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/40570/40570-h.zip)
-
-
-      Images of the original pages are available through
-      Internet Archive/American Libraries. See
-      http://archive.org/details/chroniclesofcoun00hope
-
-
-
-
-
-THE CHRONICLES OF COUNT ANTONIO
-
-by
-
-ANTHONY HOPE
-
-Author of The Prisoner of Zenda, etc.
-
-With Photogravure Frontispiece by S. W. Van Schaick
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-New York
-D. Appleton and Company
-1895
-
-Copyright, 1895,
-By Anthony Hope.
-
-Copyright, 1895,
-By D. Appleton and Company.
-
-
-
-
-    _TO THE HONOURABLE SIR HENRY HAWKINS._
-
-
-    _MY DEAR SIR HENRY_:
-
-    _It gives me very great pleasure to be allowed to dedicate this book
-    to you. I hope you will accept it as a token of thanks for much
-    kindness, of your former Marshal's pleasant memory of his service,
-    and of sincere respect for a clear-sighted, firm, and compassionate
-    Judge._
-
-    _Your affectionate cousin,_
-
-    _A. H. H._
-
-_London, August, 1895._
-
-
-
-
-[Illustration: _Behold! She is free._ (Chapter V.)]
-
-
-
-
-CONTENTS.
-
-
-
-    CHAPTER                                                       PAGE
-
-        I.--HOW COUNT ANTONIO TOOK TO THE HILLS                      1
-
-       II.--COUNT ANTONIO AND THE TRAITOR PRINCE                    39
-
-      III.--COUNT ANTONIO AND THE PRINCE OF MANTIVOGLIA             71
-
-       IV.--COUNT ANTONIO AND THE WIZARD'S DRUG                    116
-
-        V.--COUNT ANTONIO AND THE SACRED BONES                     158
-
-       VI.--COUNT ANTONIO AND THE HERMIT OF THE VAULT              202
-
-      VII.--COUNT ANTONIO AND THE LADY OF RILANO                   245
-
-     VIII.--THE MANNER OF COUNT ANTONIO'S RETURN                   290
-
-
-
-
-THE CHRONICLES OF COUNT ANTONIO.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER I.
-
-HOW COUNT ANTONIO TOOK TO THE HILLS.
-
-
-Countless are the stories told of the sayings that Count Antonio spoke
-and of the deeds that he did when he dwelt an outlaw in the hills. For
-tales and legends gather round his name thick as the berries hang on a
-bush, and with the passage of every succeeding year it grows harder to
-discern where truth lies and where the love of wonder, working together
-with the sway of a great man's memory, has wrought the embroidery of its
-fancy on the plain robe of fact. Yet, amid all that is of uncertain
-knowledge and so must rest, this much at least should be known and
-remembered for the honour of a noble family, how it fell out that Count
-Antonio, a man of high lineage, forsook the service of his Prince,
-disdained the obligation of his rank, set law at naught, and did what
-seemed indeed in his own eyes to be good but was held by many to be
-nothing other than the work of a rebel and a brigand. Yet, although it
-is by these names that men often speak of him, they love his memory; and
-I also, Ambrose the Franciscan, having gathered diligently all that I
-could come by in the archives of the city or from the lips of aged folk,
-have learned to love it in some sort. Thus I am minded to write, before
-the time that I must carry what I know with me to the grave, the full
-and whole truth concerning Antonio's flight from the city and the Court,
-seeking in my heart, as I write, excuse for him, and finding in the
-record, if little else, yet a tale that lovers must read in pride and
-sorrow, and, if this be not too high a hope, that princes may study for
-profit and for warning.
-
-Now it was in the tenth year of the reign of Duke Valentine over the
-city of Firmola, its territories and dependent towns, that Count Antonio
-of Monte Velluto--having with him a youthful cousin of his, whom he
-loved greatly, and whom, by reason of his small stature and of a boyish
-gaiety he had, men called Tommasino--came from his own house on the hill
-that fronts the great gate of the city, to the palace of the Duke, with
-intent to ask His Highness's sanction for his marriage with the Lady
-Lucia. This lady, being then seventeen years of age, loved Antonio, and
-he her, and troth had been privily plighted between them for many
-months; and such was the strength and power of the love they bore the
-one to the other, that even to this day the old mock at young lovers who
-show themselves overfond, crying, "'Tis Lucia and Antonio!"
-
-But since the Lady Lucia was an orphan, Antonio came now to the Duke,
-who enjoyed ward-ship over her, and setting out his passion and how that
-his estate was sufficient and his family such as the Duke knew, prayed
-leave of His Highness to wed her. But the Duke, a crafty and subtle
-prince, knowing Antonio's temper and the favour in which he was held by
-the people, counted not to augment his state and revenues by the gift of
-a bride so richly dowered, but chose rather to give her to a favourite
-of his, a man in whose devotion he could surely trust and whose
-disposition was to serve his master in all things fair and foul, open or
-secret. Such an one the Duke found in the Lord Robert de Beauregard, a
-gentleman of Provence, who had quitted his own country, having been
-drawn into some tumult there, and, having taken service with the Duke,
-had risen to a great place in his esteem and confidence. Therefore, when
-Antonio preferred his request, the Duke, with many a courteous regretful
-phrase, made him aware that the lady stood promised to Robert by the
-irrevocable sanctity of his princely pledge.
-
-"So forget, I pray you, my good cousin Antonio," said he, "forget, as
-young men lightly can, this desire of yours, and it shall be my charge
-to find you a bride full as fair as the Lady Lucia."
-
-But Antonio's face went red from brow to chin, as he answered: "My
-gracious lord, I love the lady, and she me, and neither can wed another.
-As for my Lord Robert, your Highness knows well that she loves him not."
-
-"A girl's love!" smiled the Duke. "A girl's love! It rains and shines,
-and shines and rains, Antonio."
-
-"It has shone on me since she knew a man when she looked on him," said
-Antonio.
-
-And Tommasino, who stood by, recking as little of the Duke as of the
-Duke's deerhound which he was patting the while, broke in, saying
-carelessly, "And this Robert, my lord, is not the man for a pretty girl
-to love. He is a sour fellow."
-
-"I thank you for your counsel, my lord Tommasino," smiled the Duke. "Yet
-I love him." Whereat Tommasino lifted his brows and patted the hound
-again. "It is enough," added the Duke. "I have promised, Antonio. It is
-enough."
-
-"Yes, it is enough," said Antonio; and he and Tommasino, having bowed
-low, withdrew from the presence of the Duke. But when he got clear
-outside of the Duke's cabinet, Antonio laid his hand on Tommasino's
-shoulder, saying, "It is not well that Robert have her."
-
-"It is mighty ill," said Tommasino.
-
-And then they walked in silence to the city gate, and, in silence
-still, climbed the rugged hill where Antonio's house stood.
-
-But the Duke sent for Robert de Beauregard into his cabinet and said to
-him: "If you be wise, friend Robert, little grass shall grow under your
-feet this side your marriage. This Antonio says not much; but I have
-known him outrun his tongue with deeds."
-
-"If the lady were as eager as I, the matter would not halt," said Robert
-with a laugh. "But she weeps and spits fire at me, and cries for
-Antonio."
-
-"She will be cured after the wedding," said the Duke. "But see that she
-be well guarded, Robert; let a company of your men watch her. I have
-known the bride to be missing on a marriage day ere now."
-
-"If he can touch her, he may wed her," cried Robert. "The pikemen are
-close about her house, and she can neither go in nor come forth without
-their knowledge."
-
-"It is well," said the Duke. "Yet delay not. They are stubborn men,
-these Counts of Monte Velluto."
-
-Now had the Lady Lucia been of a spirit as haughty as her lover's, it
-may be that she would have refused to wed Robert de Beauregard. But she
-was afraid. When Antonio was with her, she had clung to him, and he
-loved her the more for her timidity. With him gone and forbidden to come
-near her, she dared not resist the Duke's will nor brave his
-displeasure; so that a week before the day which the Duke had appointed
-for the wedding, she sent to Antonio, bidding him abandon a hope that
-was vain and set himself to forget a most unhappy lady.
-
-"Robert shall not have her," said Antonio, putting the letter in his
-belt.
-
-"Then the time is short," said Tommasino.
-
-They were walking together on the terrace before Antonio's house, whence
-they looked on the city across the river. Antonio cast his eye on the
-river and on the wall of the Duke's garden that ran along it; fair
-trees, shrubs, and flowers lined the top of the wall, and the water
-gleamed in the sunshine.
-
-"It is strange," said Antonio, musing, "that one maiden can darken for a
-man all the world that God lights with his sun. Yet since so it is,
-Tommasino, a man can be but a man; and being a man, he is a poor man, if
-he stand by while another takes his love."
-
-"And that other a stranger, and, as I swear, a cut-throat," added
-Tommasino.
-
-When they had dined and evening began to come on, Antonio made his
-servants saddle the best horses in his stable--though, indeed, the
-choice was small, for Antonio was not rich as a man of his rank counts
-riches--and the two rode down the hill towards the city. But, as they
-went, Antonio turned once and again in his saddle and gazed long at the
-old gray house, the round tower, and the narrow gate.
-
-"Why look behind, and not forward?" asked Tommasino.
-
-"Because there is a foreboding in me," answered Antonio, "that it will
-be long before that gate again I pass through. Were there a hope of
-persuading you, Tommasino, I would bid you turn back, and leave me to go
-alone on this errand."
-
-"Keep your breath against when you have to run," laughed Tommasino,
-pricking his horse and tossing his hair, dark as Antonio's was fair,
-back from his neck.
-
-Across the bridge they rode and through the gates, and having traversed
-the great square, came to the door of Lucia's house, where it rose
-fronting the Duke's palace. Here Antonio dismounted, giving his bridle
-into Tommasino's hand, and bade the servants carry his name to the Lady
-Lucia. A stir arose among them and much whispering, till an old man,
-head of the servingmen, came forward, saying: "Pardon, my lord, but we
-are commanded not to admit you to the Lady Lucia;" and he waved his hand
-towards the inner part of the porch, where Antonio saw a dozen or more
-pikemen of the Duke's Guard drawn across the passage to the house; and
-their pikes flashed in the rays of the setting sun as they levelled them
-in front of their rank.
-
-Some of the townsmen and apprentice lads, stout fellows, each with a
-staff, had gathered now around Antonio, whom they loved for his feats of
-strength and his liberal gifts to the poor, and, understanding what was
-afoot, one came to him, saying: "There are some, my lord, who would
-enter with you if you are set on entering," and the fellow's eyes
-sparkled; for there was a great enmity in the town against the pikemen,
-and a lusty youth with a stick in his hand is never loth to find a use
-for it.
-
-For a moment Count Antonio hesitated; for they flocked closer to him,
-and Tommasino threw him a glance of appeal and touched the hilt of his
-sword. But he would not that the blood of men who were themselves loved
-by mothers, wives, and maids, should be shed in his quarrel, and he
-raised his hand, bidding them be still.
-
-"I have no quarrel with the pikeman," said he, "and we must not fight
-against His Highness's servants."
-
-The faces of the townsmen grew long in disappointment. Tommasino alone
-laughed low, recognising in Antonio's gentleness the lull that heralds a
-storm. The Count was never more dangerous than when he praised
-submission.
-
-"But," continued Antonio, "I would fain see the Lady Lucia." And with
-this he stepped inside the porch, signing to Tommasino to stay where he
-was; but the lad would not, and, leaping down, ran to his kinsman and
-stood shoulder to shoulder with him.
-
-Thus they stood facing the line of pikemen, when suddenly the opposing
-rank opened and Robert de Beauregard himself came through. Starting
-slightly on sight of Antonio, he yet bowed courteously, baring his head,
-and Antonio, with Tommasino, did the like.
-
-"What is your desire, my lord?" asked Robert.
-
-"I have naught to ask of you," answered Antonio, and he took a step
-forward. Robert's hand flew to his sword, and in a moment they would
-have fought. But now another figure came forward with uplifted hand. It
-was the Duke himself, and he looked on Antonio with his dark smile, and
-Antonio flushed red.
-
-"You seek me, Antonio?" asked the Duke.
-
-"I seek not your Highness, but my plighted wife," said Antonio.
-
-Duke Valentine smiled still. Coming to Antonio, he passed his arm
-through his, and said in most friendly fashion: "Come with me to my
-house, and we will talk of this;" and Antonio, caught fast in the choice
-between obedience and open revolt, went frowning across the square, the
-Duke's arm through his, Robert on the Duke's other side, and, behind,
-Tommasino with the horses. But as they went, a sudden cry came from the
-house they left, and a girl's face showed for an instant, tear-stained
-and pallid, at an open window. A shiver ran through Antonio; but the
-Duke pressing his arm, he went still in silence.
-
-At the door of the palace, a lackey took the horses from Tommasino, and
-the four passed through the great hall and through the Duke's cabinet
-beyond and into the garden; there the Duke sat down under the wall of
-the garden, near by the fish-pond, and turning suddenly on Antonio,
-spoke to him fiercely; "Men have died at my hands for less," said he.
-
-"Then for each of such shall you answer to God," retorted Antonio, not
-less hotly.
-
-"You scout my commands in the face of all the city," said the Duke in
-low stern tones. "Now, by Heaven, if you seek to see the girl again, I
-will hang you from the tower of the gate. So be warned--now--once: there
-shall be no second warning."
-
-He ceased, and sat with angry eyes on Antonio; and Robert, who stood by
-his master, glared as fierce. But Antonio was silent for a while, and
-rested his arm on Tommasino's shoulder.
-
-"My fathers have served and fought for your fathers," said he at last.
-"What has this gentleman done for the Duchy?"
-
-Then Robert spoke suddenly and scornfully: "This he is ready to do, to
-punish an insolent knave that braves His Highness's will."
-
-Antonio seemed not to hear him, for he did not move but stood with eyes
-bent on the Duke's face, looking whether his appeal should reach its
-mark. But Tommasino heard; yet never a word spoke Tommasino either, but
-he drew off the heavy riding-glove from his left hand, and it hung
-dangling in the fingers of his right, and he looked at the glove and at
-Robert and at the glove again.
-
-"I would his Highness were not here," said Tommasino to Robert with a
-smile.
-
-"Hold your peace, boy," said Robert, "or the Duke will have you
-whipped."
-
-Youth loves not to be taunted with its blessed state. "I have no more to
-say," cried Tommasino; and without more, caring naught now for the
-presence of the Duke, he flung his heavy glove full in Robert's face,
-and, starting back a pace, drew his sword. Then Antonio knew that the
-die was cast, for Tommasino would gain no mercy, having insulted the
-Duke's favourite and drawn his sword in the Duke's palace; and he also
-drew out his sword, and the pair stood facing the Duke and Robert de
-Beauregard. It was but for an instant that they stood thus; then Robert,
-who did not lack courage to resent a blow, unsheathed and rushed at the
-boy. Antonio left his cousin to defend himself, and, bowing low to the
-Duke, set his sword at the Duke's breast, before the Duke could so much
-as rise from his seat.
-
-"I would not touch your Highness," said he, "but these gentlemen must
-not be interrupted."
-
-"You take me at a disadvantage," cried the Duke.
-
-"If you will swear not to summon your guard, I will sheath my sword, my
-lord; or, if you will honour me by crossing yours on mine, you shall
-draw yours."
-
-The place where they sat was hidden from the palace windows, yet the
-Duke trusted that the sound of the clashing steel would bring aid;
-therefore, not desiring to fight with Antonio (for Duke Valentine loved
-to scheme rather than to strike), he sat still, answering nothing. And
-now Tommasino and Robert were engaged, Robert attacking furiously and
-Tommasino parrying him as coolly as though they fenced for pastime in
-the school. It was Tommasino's fault to think of naught but the moment
-and he did not remember that every second might bring the guard upon
-them. And Antonio would not call it to his mind, but he said to the
-Duke: "The boy will kill him, sir. He is a finer swordsman than I, and
-marvellously active."
-
-Then the Duke, having been pondering on his course, and knowing
-Antonio--sitting there with the Count's sword against his breast--did
-by calculation what many a man braver in fight had not dared to do.
-There was in truth a courage in it, for all that it was born of
-shrewdness. For, thus with the sword on his heart, fixing a calm glance
-on Antonio, he cried as loudly as he could, "Help, help, treason!"
-
-Antonio drew back his arm for the stroke; and the Duke sat still; then,
-swift as thought, Antonio laughed, bowed to Duke Valentine and, turning,
-rushed between the fighters, striking up their swords. In amazement they
-stood for a moment: Antonio drove his sword into its sheath, and, while
-Robert was yet astounded, he rushed on him, caught him by the waist,
-and, putting forth his strength, flung him clear and far into the
-fish-pond. Then seizing Tommasino by the arm he started with him at a
-run for the great hall. The Duke rose, crying loudly, "Treason,
-treason!" But Antonio cried "Treason, treason," yet louder than the
-Duke; and presently Tommasino, who had frowned at his pastime being
-interrupted, fell a-laughing, and between the laughs cried "Treason,
-treason!" with Antonio. And at the entrance of the hall they met a
-dozen pikemen running; and Antonio, pointing over his shoulder, called
-in tones of horror, "Treason, treason!" And Tommasino cried, "The Duke!
-Help the Duke!" So that they passed untouched through the pikemen, who
-hesitated an instant in bewilderment but then swept on; for they heard
-the Duke's own voice crying still "Treason, treason!" And through the
-hall and out to the portico passed the cousins, echoing their cries of
-"Treason!" And every man they met went whither they pointed; and when
-they leapt on their horses, the very lackey that had held them dropped
-the bridles with hasty speed and ran into the palace, crying "Treason!"
-Then Antonio, Tommasino ever following, and both yet crying "Treason!"
-dashed across the square; and on the way they met the pikemen who
-guarded the Lady Lucia, and the townsmen who were mocking and snarling
-at the pikemen; and to pikemen and townsmen alike they cried (though
-Tommasino hardly could speak now for laughter and lack of breath),
-"Treason, treason!" And all to whom they cried flocked to the palace,
-crying in their turn, "Treason, treason!" so that people ran out of
-every house in the neighbourhood and hurried to the palace, crying
-"Treason!" and every one asking his neighbour what the treason was. And
-thus, by the time in which a man might count a hundred, a crowd was
-pushing and pressing and striving round the gate of the palace, and the
-cousins were alone on the other side of the great square.
-
-"Now thanks be to God for that idea!" gasped Tommasino.
-
-But Antonio gave not thanks till his meal was ended. Raising his voice
-as he halted his horse before the Lady Lucia's house, he called loudly,
-no longer "Treason!" but "Lucia!" And she, knowing his voice, looked out
-again from the window; but some hand plucked her away as soon as she had
-but looked. Then Antonio leapt from his horse with an oath and ran to
-the door, and finding it unguarded, he rushed in, leaving Tommasino
-seated on one horse and holding the other, with one eye on Lucia's house
-and the other on the palace, praying that, by the favour of Heaven,
-Antonio might come out again before the crowd round the Duke's gates
-discovered why it was, to a man, crying "Treason!"
-
-But in the palace of the Duke there was great confusion. For the
-pikemen, finding Robert de Beauregard scrambling out of the fish-pond
-with a drawn sword in his hand, and His Highness crying "Treason!" with
-the best of them, must have it that the traitor was none other than
-Robert himself, and in their dutiful zeal they came nigh to making an
-end of him then and there, before the Duke could gain silence enough to
-render his account of the affair audible. And when the first pikemen
-were informed, there came others; and these others, finding the first
-thronging round the Duke and Robert, cried out on them for the traitors,
-and were on the point of engaging them; and when they also had been with
-difficulty convinced, and the two parties, with His Highness and Robert,
-turned to the pursuit of the cousins, they found the whole of the great
-hall utterly blocked by a concourse of the townsmen, delighted beyond
-measure at the chance of an affray with the hated pikemen, who, they
-conceived, must beyond doubt be the wicked traitors that had risen in
-arms against the Duke's life and throne. Narrowly indeed was a great
-battle in the hall averted by the Duke himself, who leapt upon a high
-seat and spoke long and earnestly to the people, persuading them that
-not the pikemen, but Antonio and Tommasino, were the traitors; which the
-townsmen found hard to believe, in part because they wished not to
-believe ill of Antonio, and more inasmuch as every man there knew--and
-the women and children also--that Antonio and Tommasino, and none else
-of all the city had raised the alarm. But some hearkened at last; and
-with these and a solid wedge of the pikemen, the Duke and Robert, with
-much ado, thrust their way through the crowd and won access to the door
-of the palace.
-
-In what time a thousand men may be convinced, you may hope to turn one
-woman's mind, and at the instant that the Duke gained the square with
-his friends and his guards, Count Antonio had prevailed on the Lady
-Lucia to brave His Highness's wrath. It is true that he had met with
-some resistance from the steward, who was in Robert's pay, and had
-tarried to buffet the fellow into obedience; and with more from an old
-governess, who, since she could not be buffeted, had perforce to be
-locked in a cupboard; yet the better part of the time had to be spent in
-imploring Lucia herself. At last, with many fears and some tears, she
-had yielded, and it was with glad eyes that Tommasino saw the Count come
-forth from the door carrying Lucia on his arm; and others saw him also;
-for a great shout came from the Duke's party across the square, and the
-pikemen set out at a run with Robert himself at their head. Yet so soon
-as they were started, Antonio also, bearing Lucia in his arms, had
-reached where Tommasino was with the horses, and an instant later he was
-mounted and cried, "To the gate!" and he struck in his spurs, and his
-horse bounded forward, Tommasino following. No more than a hundred yards
-lay between them and the gate of the city, and before the pikemen could
-bar their path they had reached the gate. The gate-wardens were in the
-act of shutting it, having perceived the tumult; but Tommasino struck
-at them with the flat of his sword, and they gave way before the
-rushing horses; and before the great gate was shut, Antonio and he were
-on their way through, and the hoofs of their horses clattered over the
-bridge. Thus Antonio was clear of the city with his lady in his arms and
-Tommasino his cousin safe by his side.
-
-Yet they were not safe; for neither Duke Valentine nor Robert de
-Beauregard was a man who sat down under defeat. But few moments had
-passed before there issued from the gate a company of ten mounted and
-armed men, and Robert, riding in their front, saw, hard on a mile away,
-the cousins heading across the plain towards the spot where the spurs of
-Mount Agnino run down; for there was the way of safety. But it was yet
-ten miles away. And Robert and his company galloped furiously in
-pursuit, while Duke Valentine watched from the wall of the garden above
-the river.
-
-Now Count Antonio was a big man and heavy, so that his horse was weighed
-down by the twofold burden on its back; and looking behind him, he
-perceived that Robert's company drew nearer and yet nearer. And
-Tommasino, looking also, said, "I doubt they are too many for us, for
-you have the lady in your arms. We shall not get clear of the hills."
-
-Then Antonio drew in his horse a little and, letting the bridle fall,
-took the Lady Lucia in both his arms and kissed her, and having thus
-done, lifted her and set her on Tommasino's horse. "Thank God," said he,
-"that you are no heavier than a feather."
-
-"Yet two feathers may be too much," said Tommasino.
-
-"Ride on," said Antonio. "I will check them for a time, so that you
-shall come safe to the outset of the hill."
-
-Tommasino obeyed him; and Antonio, riding more softly now, placed
-himself between Tommasino and the pursuers. Tommasino rode on with the
-swooning lady in his arms; but his face was grave and troubled, for, as
-he said, two feathers may be overmuch, and Robert's company rode well
-and swiftly.
-
-"If Antonio can stop them, it is well," said he; "but if not, I shall
-not reach the hills;" and he looked with no great love on the unhappy
-lady, for it seemed like enough that Antonio would be slain for her
-sake, and Tommasino prized him above a thousand damsels. Yet he rode on,
-obedient.
-
-But Antonio's scheme had not passed undetected by Robert de Beauregard;
-and Robert, being a man of guile and cunning, swore aloud an oath that,
-though he died himself, yet Tommasino should not carry off Lucia.
-Therefore he charged his men one and all to ride after Tommasino and
-bring back Lucia, leaving him alone to contend with Antonio; and they
-were not loth to obey, for it was little to their taste or wish to
-surround Antonio and kill him. Thus, when the company came within fifty
-yards of Antonio, the ranks suddenly parted; five diverged to the right,
-and four to the left, passing Antonio in sweeping curves, so far off
-that he could not reach them, while Robert alone rode straight at him.
-Antonio, perceiving the stratagem, would fain have ridden again after
-Tommasino; but Robert was hard upon him, and he was in peril of being
-thrust through the back as he fled. So he turned and faced his enemy.
-But although Robert had sworn so boldly before his men, his mind was not
-what he had declared to them, and he desired to meet Antonio alone, not
-that he might fight a fair fight with him, but in order treacherously to
-deceive him--a thing he was ashamed to do before his comrades. Coming up
-then to Antonio, he reined in his horse, crying, "My lord, I bring peace
-from His Highness."
-
-Antonio wondered to hear him; yet, when Robert, his sword lying
-untouched in its sheath, sprang from his horse and approached him, he
-dismounted also; and Robert said to him: "I have charged them to injure
-neither the Lady Lucia nor your cousin by so much as a hair; for the
-Duke bids me say that he will not constrain the lady."
-
-"Is she then given to me?" cried Antonio, his face lighting up with a
-marvellous eagerness.
-
-"Nay, not so fast," answered Robert with subtle cunning. "The Duke will
-not give her to you now. But he will exact from you and from me alike
-an oath not to molest, no, not to see her, for three months, and then
-she shall choose as she will between us."
-
-While he spoke this fair speech, he had been drawing nearer to Antonio;
-and Antonio, not yet convinced of his honesty, drew back a pace. Then
-Robert let go hold of his horse, unbuckled his sword, flung it on the
-ground, and came to Antonio with outstretched hands. "Behold!" said he;
-"I am in your mercy, my lord. If you do not believe me, slay me."
-
-Antonio looked at him with searching wistful eyes; he hated to war
-against the Duke, and his heart was aflame with the hope that dwelt for
-him in Robert's words; for he did not doubt but that neither three
-months, nor three years, nor three hundred years, could change his
-lady's love.
-
-"You speak fair, sir," said he; "but what warrant have I?"
-
-"And, save your honour, what warrant have I, who stand here unarmed
-before you?" asked Robert.
-
-For a while Antonio pondered; then he said, "My lord, I must crave your
-pardon for my doubt; but the matter is so great that to your word I dare
-not trust; but if you will ride back with your men and pray the Duke to
-send me a promise under his own hand, to that I will trust. And
-meanwhile Tommasino, with the Lady Lucia, shall abide in a safe place,
-and I will stay here, awaiting your return; and, if you will, let two of
-your men stay with me."
-
-"Many a man, my lord," returned Robert, "would take your caution in bad
-part. But let it be so. Come, we will ride after my company." And he
-rose and caught Antonio's horse by the bridle and brought it to him;
-"Mount, my lord," said he, standing by.
-
-Antonio, believing either that the man was true or that his
-treachery--if treachery there were in him--was foiled, and seeing him to
-all seeming unarmed, save for a little dagger in his belt which would
-hardly suffice to kill a man and was more a thing of ornament than use,
-set his foot in the stirrup and prepared to mount. And in so doing he
-turned his back on Robert de Beauregard. The moment for which that
-wicked man had schemed and lied was come. Still holding Antonio's
-stirrup with one hand, he drew, swift as lightning, from under his
-cloak, a dagger different far from the toy in his belt--short, strong,
-broad, and keen. And that moment had been Antonio's last, had it not
-chanced that, on the instant Robert drew the dagger, the horse started a
-pace aside, and Antonio, taken unawares, stumbled forward and came near
-falling on the ground. His salvation lay in that stumble, for Robert,
-having put all his strength into the blow, and then striking not Antonio
-but empty air, in his turn staggered forward, and could not recover
-himself before Antonio turned round, a smile at his own unwariness on
-his lips.
-
-Then he saw the broad keen knife in the hand of Robert. Robert breathed
-quickly, and glared at him, but did not rush on him. He stood glaring,
-the knife in his hands, his parted lips displaying grinning teeth. Not a
-word spoke Antonio, but he drew his sword, and pointed where Robert's
-sword lay on the grass. The traitor, recognising the grace that allowed
-him to take his sword, shamed, it may be, by such return for his own
-treachery, in silence lifted and drew it; and, withdrawing to a distance
-from the horses, which quietly cropped the grass, the two faced one
-another.
-
-Calm and easy were the bearing and the air of Count Antonio, if the
-pictures of him that live drawn in the words of those who knew him be
-truthful; calm and easy ever was he, save when he fought; but then it
-seemed as though there came upon him a sort of fury akin to madness, or
-(as the ancients would have fabled) to some inspiration from the God of
-War, which transformed him utterly, imbuing him with a rage and rushing
-impetuosity. Here lay his danger when matched with such a swordsman as
-was little Tommasino; but for all that, few cared to meet him, some
-saying that, though they called themselves as brave as others, yet they
-seemed half appalled when Count Antonio set upon them; for he fought as
-though he must surely win and as though God were with him. Thus now he
-darted upon Robert de Beauregard, in seeming recklessness of receiving
-thrusts himself, yet ever escaping them by his sudden resource and
-dexterity and ever himself attacking, leaving no space to take breath,
-and bewildering the other's practised skill by the dash and brilliance
-of his assault. And it may be also that the darkness, which was now
-falling fast, hindered Robert the more, for Antonio was famed for the
-keenness of his eyes by night. Be these things as they may, in the very
-moment when Robert pricked Antonio in the left arm and cried out in
-triumph on his stroke, Antonio leapt on him and drove his sword through
-his heart; and Robert, with the sword yet in him, fell to the ground,
-groaning. And when Antonio drew forth the sword, the man at his feet
-died. Thus, if it be God's will, may all traitors perish.
-
-Antonio looked round the plain; but it grew darker still, and even his
-sight did not avail for more than some threescore yards. Yet he saw a
-dark mass on his right, distant, as he judged, that space or more.
-Rapidly it moved: surely it was a group of men galloping, and Antonio
-stood motionless regarding them. But they swept on, not turning whither
-he stood; and he, unable to tell what they did, whether they sought him
-or whither they went, watched them till they faded away in the darkness;
-and then, leaving Robert where he lay, he mounted his horse and made
-speed towards the hills, praying that there he should find his cousin
-and the Lady Lucia, escaped from the pursuit of the Duke's men. Yet had
-he known what those dimly discerned riders bore with them, he would have
-been greatly moved at all costs and at every hazard to follow after them
-and seek to overtake them before they came to the city.
-
-On he rode towards the hills, quickly, yet not so hastily but that he
-scanned the ground as he went so well as the night allowed him. The moon
-was risen now and to see was easier. When he had covered a distance of
-some two miles, he perceived something lying across his path. Bending to
-look, he found it to be the corpse of a horse: he leapt down and bent
-over it. It was the horse Tommasino had ridden; it was hamstrung, and
-its throat had been cut. Antonio, seeing it, in sudden apprehension of
-calamity, cried aloud; and to his wonder his cry was answered by a
-voice which came from a clump of bushes fifty yards on the right. He ran
-hastily to the spot, thinking nothing of his own safety nor of anything
-else than what had befallen his friends; and under the shelter of the
-bushes two men of the Duke's Guard, their horses tethered near them,
-squatted on the ground, and, between, Tommasino lay full length on the
-ground. His face was white, his eyes closed, and a bloody bandage was
-about his head. One of the two by him had forced his lips open and was
-giving him to drink from a bottle. The other sprang up on sight of
-Antonio and laid a hand to his sword-hilt.
-
-"Peace, peace!" said Antonio. "Is the lad dead?"
-
-"He is not dead, my lord, but he is sore hurt."
-
-"And what do you here with him? And how did you take him?"
-
-"We came up with him here, and surrounded him; and while some of us held
-him in front, one cut the hamstrings of his horse from behind; and the
-horse fell, and with the horse the lady and the young lord. He was up in
-an instant; but as he rose, the lieutenant struck him on the head and
-dealt him the wound you see. Then he could fight no more; and the
-lieutenant took the lady, and with the rest rode back towards the city,
-leaving us charged with the duty of bringing the young lord in so soon
-as he was in a state to come with us."
-
-"They took the lady?"
-
-"Even so, my lord."
-
-"And why did they not seek for me?"
-
-The fellow--Martolo was his name--smiled grimly; and his comrade,
-looking up, answered: "Maybe they did not wish to find you, my lord.
-They had been eight to one, and could not have failed to take you in the
-end."
-
-"Aye, in the end," said Martolo, laughing now. "Nor," added he, "had the
-lieutenant such great love for Robert de Beauregard that he would
-rejoice to deliver you to death for his sake, seeing that you are a
-Monte Velluto and he a rascally----"
-
-"Peace! He is dead," said Count Antonio.
-
-"You have killed him?" they cried with one voice.
-
-"He attacked me in treachery, and I have killed him," answered Antonio.
-
-For a while there was silence. Then Antonio asked, "The lady--did she go
-willingly?"
-
-"She was frightened and dazed by her fall, my lord; she knew not what
-she did nor what they did to her. And the lieutenant took her in front
-of him, and, holding her with all gentleness, so rode towards the city."
-
-"God keep her," said Antonio.
-
-"Amen, poor lady!" said Martolo, doffing his cap.
-
-Then Antonio whistled to his horse, which came to his side; with a
-gesture he bade the men stand aside, and they obeyed him; and he
-gathered Tommasino in his arms. "Hold my stirrup, that I may mount,"
-said he; and still they obeyed. But when they saw him mounted, with
-Tommasino seated in front of him, Martolo cried, "But, my lord, we are
-charged to take him back and deliver him to the Duke."
-
-"And if you do?" asked Antonio.
-
-Martolo made a movement as of one tying a noose.
-
-"And if you do not?" asked Antonio.
-
-"Then we had best not show ourselves alive to the Duke."
-
-Antonio looked down on them. "To whom bear you allegiance?" said he.
-
-"To His Highness the Duke," they answered, uncovering as they spoke.
-
-"And to whom besides?" asked Antonio.
-
-"To none besides," they answered, wondering.
-
-"Aye, but you do," said he. "To One who wills not that you should
-deliver to death a lad who has done but what his honour bade him."
-
-"God's counsel God knows," said Martolo. "We are dead men if we return
-alone to the city. You had best slay us yourself, my lord, if we may not
-carry the young lord with us."
-
-"You are honest lads, are you not?" he asked. "By your faces, you are
-men of the city."
-
-"So are we, my lord; but we serve the Duke in his Guard for reward."
-
-"I love the men of the city as they love me," said Antonio. "And a few
-pence a day should not buy a man's soul as well as his body."
-
-The two men looked at one another in perplexity. The fear and deference
-in which they held Antonio forbade them to fall on him; yet they dared
-not let him take Tommasino. Then, as they stood doubting, he spoke low
-and softly to them: "When he that should give law and uphold right deals
-wrong, and makes white black and black white, it is for gentlemen and
-honest men to be a law unto themselves. Mount your horses, then, and
-follow me. And so long as I am safe, you shall be safe; and so long as I
-live, you shall live; and while I eat and drink, you shall have to drink
-and eat; and you shall be my servants. And when the time of God's
-will--whereof God forbid that I should doubt--is come, I will go back to
-her I love, and you shall go back to them that love you; and men shall
-say that you have proved yourselves true men and good."
-
-Thus it was that two men of the Duke's Guard--Martolo and he whom they
-called Bena (for of his true name there is no record)--went together
-with Count Antonio and his cousin Tommasino to a secret fastness in the
-hills; and there in the course of many days Tommasino was healed of the
-wound which the Lieutenant of the Guard had given him, and rode his
-horse again, and held next place to Antonio himself in the band that
-gathered round them. For there came to them every man that was
-wrongfully oppressed; and some came for love of adventure and because
-they hoped to strike good blows; and some came whom Antonio would not
-receive, inasmuch as they were greater rogues than were those whose
-wrath they fled from.
-
-Such is the tale of how Count Antonio was outlawed from the Duke's peace
-and took to the hills. Faithfully have I set it down, and whoso will may
-blame the Count, and whoso will may praise him. For myself, I thank
-Heaven that I am well rid of this same troublesome passion of love that
-likens one man to a lion and another to a fox.
-
-But the Lady Lucia, being brought back to the city by the Lieutenant of
-the Guard, was lodged in her own house, and the charge of her was
-commended by the Duke into the hands of a discreet lady; and for a while
-His Highness, for very shame, forbore to trouble her with suitors. For
-he said, in his bitter humour, as he looked down on the dead body of
-Robert de Beauregard: "I have lost two good servants and four strong
-arms through her; and mayhap, if I find her another suitor, she will rob
-me of yet another stalwart gentleman."
-
-So she abode, in peace indeed, but in sore desolation and sorrow,
-longing for the day when Count Antonio should come back to seek her. And
-again was she closely guarded by the Duke.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER II.
-
-COUNT ANTONIO AND THE TRAITOR PRINCE.
-
-
-Of all the deeds that Count Antonio of Monte Velluto did during the time
-that he was an outlaw in the hills (for a price had been set on his head
-by Duke Valentine), there was none that made greater stir or struck more
-home to the hearts of men, howsoever they chose to look upon it, than
-that which he performed on the high hill that faces the wicket gate on
-the west side of the city and is called now the Hill of Duke Paul.
-Indeed it was the act of a man whose own conscience was his sole guide,
-and who made the law which his own hand was to carry out. That it had
-been a crime in most men, who can doubt? That it was a crime in him, all
-governments must hold; and the same, I take it, must be the teaching of
-the Church. Yet not all men held it a crime, although they had not
-ventured it themselves, both from the greatness of the person whom the
-deed concerned, and also for the burden that it put on the conscience of
-him that did it. Here, then, is the story of it, as it is still told
-both in the houses of the noble and in peasants' cottages.
-
-While Count Antonio still dwelt at the Court, and had not yet fled from
-the wrath aroused in the Duke by the Count's attempt to carry off the
-Lady Lucia, the Duke's ward, the nuptials of His Highness had been
-celebrated with great magnificence and universal rejoicing; and the
-feasting and exultation had been most happily renewed on the birth of an
-infant Prince, a year later. Yet heavy was the price paid for this gift
-of Heaven, for Her Highness the Duchess, a lady of rare grace and
-kindliness, survived the birth of her son only three months, and then
-died, amidst the passionate mourning of the people, leaving the Duke a
-prey to bitter sorrow. Many say that she had turned his heart to good
-had she but lived, and that it was the loss of her that soured him and
-twisted his nature. If it be so, I pray that he has received pardon for
-all his sins; for his grief was great, and hardly to be assuaged even by
-the love he had for the little Prince, from whom he would never be
-parted for an hour, if he could contrive to have the boy with him, and
-in whom he saw, with pride, the heir of his throne.
-
-Both in the joy of the wedding and the grief at the Duchess's death,
-none had made more ostentatious sign of sharing than His Highness's
-brother, Duke Paul. Yet hollow alike were his joy and his grief, save
-that he found true cause for sorrow in that the Duchess left to her
-husband a dear memorial of their brief union. Paul rivalled the Duke in
-his caresses and his affected love for the boy, but he had lived long in
-the hope that His Highness would not marry, and that he himself should
-succeed him in his place, and this hope he could not put out of his
-heart. Nay, as time passed and the baby grew to a healthy boy, Paul's
-thoughts took a still deeper hue of guilt. It was no longer enough for
-him to hope for his nephew's death, or even to meditate how he should
-bring it about. One wicked imagining led on, as it is wont in our sinful
-nature, to another, and Satan whispered in Paul's ear that the Duke
-himself was short of forty by a year, that to wait for power till youth
-were gone was not a bold man's part, and that to contrive the child's
-death, leaving his father alive, was but to double the risk without
-halving the guilt. Thus was Paul induced to dwell on the death of both
-father and son, and to say to himself that if the father went first the
-son would easily follow, and that with one cunning and courageous stroke
-the path to the throne might be cleared.
-
-While Paul pondered on these designs, there came about the events which
-drove Count Antonio from the Court; and no sooner was he gone and
-declared in open disobedience and contumacy against the Duke, than Paul,
-seeking a handle for his plans, seemed to find one in Antonio. Here was
-a man driven from his house (which the Duke had burnt), despoiled of his
-revenues, bereft of his love, proclaimed a free mark for whosoever would
-serve the Duke by slaying him. Where could be a better man for the
-purposes of a malcontent prince? And the more was Paul inclined to use
-Antonio from the fact that he had shown favour to Antonio, and been wont
-to seek his society; so that Antonio, failing to pierce the dark depths
-of his heart, was loyally devoted to him, and had returned an answer
-full of gratitude and friendship to the secret messages in which Paul
-had sent him condolence on the mishap that had befallen him.
-
-Now in the beginning of the second year of Count Antonio's outlawry, His
-Highness was most mightily incensed against him, not merely because he
-had so won the affection of the country-folk that none would betray his
-hiding-place either for threats or for reward, but most chiefly by
-reason of a certain act which was in truth more of Tommasino's doing
-than of Antonio's. For Tommasino, meeting one of the Duke's farmers of
-taxes, had lightened him of his fat bag of money, saying that he would
-himself assume the honour of delivering what was fairly due to His
-Highness, and had upon that scattered three-fourths of the spoil among
-the poor, and sent the beggarly remnant privily by night to the gate of
-the city, with a writing, "There is honour among thieves; who, then, may
-call Princes thieves?" And this writing had been read by many, and the
-report of it, spreading through the city, had made men laugh. Therefore
-the Duke had sworn that by no means should Antonio gain pardon save by
-delivering that insolent young robber to the hands of justice. Thus he
-was highly pleased when his brother sought him in the garden (for he sat
-in his wonted place under the wall by the fish-pond) and bade him listen
-to a plan whereby the outlaws should be brought to punishment. The Duke
-took his little son upon his knees and prayed his brother to tell his
-device.
-
-"You could not bring me a sweeter gift than the head of Tommasino," said
-he, stroking the child's curls; and the child shrank closer into his
-arms, for the child did not love Paul but feared him.
-
-"Antonio knows that I love Your Highness," said Paul, seating himself
-on the seat by the Duke, "but he knows also that I am his friend, and a
-friend to the Lady Lucia, and a man of tender heart. Would it seem to
-him deep treachery if I should go privately to him and tell him how that
-on a certain day you would go forth with your guard to camp in the spurs
-of Mount Agnino, leaving the city desolate, and that on the night of
-that day I could contrive that Lucia should come secretly to the gate,
-and that it should be opened for her, so that by a sudden descent she
-might be seized and carried safe to his hiding-place before aid could
-come from Your Highness?"
-
-"But what should the truth be?" asked Valentine.
-
-"The truth should be that while part of the Guard went to the spurs of
-the Mount, the rest should lie in ambush close inside the city gates and
-dash out on Antonio and his company."
-
-"It is well, if he will believe."
-
-Then Paul laid his finger on his brother's arm. "As the clock in the
-tower of the cathedral strikes three on the morning of the 15th of the
-month, do you, dear brother, be in your summer-house at the corner of
-the garden yonder; and I will come thither and tell you if he has
-believed and if he has come. For by then I shall have learnt from him
-his mind: and we two will straightway go rouse the guards and lead the
-men to their appointed station, and when he approaches the gate we can
-lay hands on him."
-
-"How can you come to him? For we do not know where he is hid."
-
-"Alas, there is not a rogue of a peasant that cannot take a letter to
-him!"
-
-"Yet when I question them, aye, though I beat them, they know nothing!"
-cried Valentine in chagrin. "Truly, the sooner we lay him by the heels,
-the better for our security."
-
-"Shall it be, then, as I say, my lord?"
-
-"So let it be," said the Duke. "I will await you in the summer-house."
-
-Paul, perceiving that his brother had no suspicions of him, and would
-await him in the summer-house, held his task to be already half done.
-For his plan was that he and Antonio should come together to the
-summer-house, but that Antonio should lie hid till Paul had spoken to
-the Duke; then Paul should go out on pretext of bidding the guard make
-ready the ambush, and leave the Duke alone with Antonio. Antonio then,
-suddenly springing forth, should slay the Duke; while Paul--and when he
-thought on this, he smiled to himself--would so contrive that a body of
-men should bar Antonio's escape, and straightway kill him. Thus should
-he be quit both of his brother and of Antonio, and no man would live who
-knew how the deed was contrived. "And then," said he, "I doubt whether
-the poor child, bereft of all parental care, will long escape the
-manifold perils of infancy."
-
-Thus he schemed; and when he had made all sure, and noised about the
-Duke's intentions touching his going to the spurs of Mount Agnino, he
-himself set forth alone on his horse to seek Antonio. He rode till he
-reached the entrance of the pass leading to the recesses of the hills.
-There he dismounted, and sat down on the ground; and this was at noon on
-the 13th day of the month. He had not long been sitting, when a face
-peered from behind a wall of moss-covered rock that fronted him, and
-Paul cried, "Is it a friend?"
-
-"A friend of whom mean you, my lord?" came from the rock.
-
-"Of whom else than of Count Antonio?" cried Paul.
-
-A silence followed and a delay; then two men stole cautiously from
-behind the rock, and in one of them Paul knew the man they called Bena,
-who had been of the Duke's Guard. The men, knowing Paul, bowed low to
-him, and asked him his pleasure, and he commanded them to bring him to
-Antonio. They wondered, knowing not whether he came from the Duke or
-despite the Duke; but he was urgent in his commands, and at length they
-tied a scarf over his eyes, and set him on his horse, and led the horse.
-Thus they went for an hour. Then they prayed him to dismount, saying
-that the horse could go no farther; and though Paul's eyes saw nothing,
-he heard the whinnying and smelt the smell of horses.
-
-"Here are your stables then," said he, and dismounted with a laugh.
-
-Then Bena took him by the hand, and the other guided his feet, and
-climbing up steep paths, over boulders and through little water-courses,
-they went, till at length Bena cried, "We are at home, my lord;" and
-Paul, tearing off his bandage, found himself on a small level spot,
-ringed round with stunted wind-beaten firs; and three huts stood in the
-middle of the space, and before one of the huts sat Tommasino, composing
-a sonnet to a pretty peasant girl whom he had chanced to meet that day;
-for Tommasino had ever a hospitable heart. But seeing Paul, Tommasino
-left his sonnet, and with a cry of wonder sprang to meet him; and Paul
-took him by both hands and saluted him. That night and the morning that
-followed, Paul abode with Antonio, eating the good cheer and drinking
-the good wine that Tommasino, who had charged himself with the care of
-such matters, put before him. Whence they came from, Paul asked not; nor
-did Tommasino say more than that they were offerings to Count
-Antonio--but whether offerings of free-will or necessity, he said not.
-And during this time Paul spoke much with Antonio privily and apart,
-persuading him of his friendship, and telling most pitiful things of the
-harshness shown by Valentine his brother to the Lady Lucia, and how the
-lady grew pale, and peaked and pined, so that the physicians knit their
-brows over her and the women said no drugs would patch a broken heart.
-Thus he inflamed Antonio's mind with a great rage against the Duke, so
-that he fell to counting the men he had and wondering whether there were
-force to go openly against the city. But in sorrow Paul answered that
-the pikemen were too many.
-
-"But there is a way, and a better," said Paul, leaning his head near to
-Antonio's ear. "A way whereby you may come to your own again, and
-rebuild your house that the Duke has burnt, and enjoy the love of Lucia,
-and hold foremost place in the Duchy."
-
-"What way is that?" asked Antonio in wondering eagerness. "Indeed I am
-willing to serve His Highness in any honourable service, if by that I
-may win his pardon and come to that I long for."
-
-"His pardon! When did he pardon?" sneered Paul.
-
-To know honest men and leave them to their honesty is the last great
-gift of villainy. But Paul had it not; and now he unfolded to Antonio
-the plan that he had made, saving (as needs not to be said) that part of
-it whereby Antonio himself was to meet his death. For a pretext he
-alleged that the Duke oppressed the city, and that he, Paul, was put out
-of favour because he had sought to protect the people, and was fallen
-into great suspicion. Yet, judging Antonio's heart by his own, he dwelt
-again and longer on the charms of Lucia, and on the great things he
-would give Antonio when he ruled the Duchy for his nephew; for of the
-last crime he meditated, the death of the child, he said naught then,
-professing to love the child. When the tale began, a sudden start ran
-through Antonio, and his face flushed; but he sat still and listened
-with unmoved face, his eyes gravely regarding Paul the while. No anger
-did he show, nor wonder, nor scorn, nor now any eagerness; but he gazed
-at the Prince with calm musing glance, as though he considered of some
-great question put before him. And when Paul ended his tale, Antonio sat
-yet silent and musing. But Paul was trembling now, and he stretched out
-his hand and laid it on Antonio's knee, and asked, with a feigned laugh
-that choked in the utterance, "Well, friend Antonio, is it a clever
-plan, and will you ride with me?"
-
-Minute followed minute before Antonio answered. At length the frown
-vanished from his brow, and his face grew calm and set, and he answered
-Duke Paul, saying, "It is such a plan as you, my lord, alone of all men
-in the Duchy could make; and I will ride with you."
-
-Then Paul, in triumph, caught him by the hands and pressed his hands,
-calling him a man of fine spirit and a true friend, who should not lack
-reward. And all this Antonio suffered silently; and in silence still he
-listened while Paul told him how that a path led privately from the bank
-of the river, through a secret gate in the wall, to the summer-house
-where the Duke was to be; of this gate he alone, saving the Duke had the
-key; they had but to swim the river and enter by this gate. Having
-hidden Antonio, Paul would talk with the Duke; then he would go and
-carry off what remained of the guard over and above those that were gone
-to the hills; and Antonio, having done his deed, could return by the
-same secret path, cross the river again, and rejoin his friends. And in
-a short space of time Paul would recall him with honour to the city and
-give him Lucia to wife.
-
-"And if there be a question as to the hand that dealt the blow, there is
-a rascal whom the Duke flogged but a few days since, a steward in the
-palace. He deserves hanging, Antonio, for a thousand things of which he
-is guilty, and it will trouble me little to hang him for one whereof he
-chances to be innocent." And Duke Paul laughed heartily.
-
-"I will ride with you," said Antonio again.
-
-Then, it being full mid-day, they sat down to dinner, Paul bandying many
-merry sayings with Tommasino, Antonio being calm but not uncheerful. And
-when the meal was done, Paul drank to the good fortune of their
-expedition; and Antonio having drained his glass, said, "May God
-approve the issue," and straightway bade Tommasino and Martolo prepare
-to ride with him. Then, Paul being again blindfolded, they climbed down
-the mountain paths till they came where the horses were, and thus, as
-the sun began to decline, set forward, at a fair pace, Duke Paul and
-Antonio leading by some few yards; while Tommasino and Martolo, having
-drunk well, and sniffing sport in front of them, sang, jested, and
-played pranks on one another as they passed along. But when night fell
-they became silent; even Tommasino turned grave and checked his horse,
-and the space between them and the pair who led grew greater, so that it
-seemed to Duke Paul that he and Antonio rode alone through the night,
-under the shadows of the great hills. Once and again he spoke to
-Antonio, first of the scheme, then on some light matter; but Antonio did
-no more than move his head in assent. And Antonio's face was very white,
-and his lips were close shut.
-
-It was midnight when Duke Paul and Antonio reached the plain: the moon,
-till now hidden by the mountains, shone on them, and, seeing Antonio's
-face more plainly, Paul cried, half in jest, half in uneasiness, "Come,
-man, look not so glum about it! 'Tis but the life of a rogue."
-
-"Indeed it is no more," said Antonio, and he turned his eyes on Duke
-Paul.
-
-Paul laughed, but with poor merriment. Whence it came he knew not, but a
-strange sudden sense of peril and of doom had fallen on him. The massive
-quiet figure of Antonio, riding ever close to him, silent, stern, and
-watchful, oppressed his spirit.
-
-Suddenly Antonio halted and called to Martolo to bring him a lantern:
-one hung from Martolo's saddle, and he brought it, and went back. Then
-Antonio lit the lantern and gave an ivory tablet to Paul and said to
-him, "Write me your promise."
-
-"You distrust me, then?" cried Paul in a great show of indignation.
-
-"I will not go till you have written the promise."
-
-Now Paul was somewhat loth to write the promise, fearing that it should
-be found on Antonio's body before he could contrive to remove it; but
-without it Antonio declared he would not go. So Paul wrote, bethinking
-himself that he held safe in his house at home permission from the Duke
-to seek Antonio and beguile him to the city, and that with the witness
-of this commission he could come off safe, even though the tablet were
-found on Antonio. Taking the peril then, rather than fail, he wrote,
-setting out the promises he made to Antonio in case (thus he phrased it)
-of the death of his brother. And he delivered the tablet to Antonio; and
-Antonio, restoring the lantern to Martolo, stowed the tablet about him,
-and they set forth again.
-
-As the clock in the tower of the cathedral, distantly booming in their
-ears, sounded the hour of two, they came to where the road parted. In
-one direction it ran level across the plain to the river and the city,
-and by this way they must go, if they would come to the secret gate and
-thence to the Duke's summer-house. But the second road left the plain,
-and mounted the hill that faces the wicket-gate, which is now called the
-Hill of Duke Paul. And at the parting of the road, Antonio reined in his
-horse and sat silent for a great while. Again Paul, scanning his face,
-was troubled, so that Martolo, who had drawn near, saw him wipe a drop
-from his brow. And Paul said, "For what wait we, Antonio? Time presses,
-for it has gone two o'clock."
-
-Then Antonio drew him apart, and fixing his eyes on him, said, "What of
-the child? What mean you by the child? How does it profit you that the
-father die, if the child live?"
-
-Paul, deeming that Antonio doubted him and saw a snare, and holding it
-better to seem the greatest of villains than to stir suspicion in a man
-who held him in his hands, smiled cunningly, and answered, "The child
-will grow sickly and pine when his father is not alive to care for him."
-
-"It is enough," said Antonio; and again a flush mounted on his face, and
-died down again, and left him pale. For some think he would have turned
-from his purpose, had Paul meant honestly by the child. I know not. At
-least, the foul murder plotted against the child made him utterly
-relentless.
-
-"Let us go on and end the matter," urged Paul, full of eagerness, and,
-again, of that strange uneasiness born of Antonio's air.
-
-"Ay, we will go on and finish it," said Antonio, and with that he leapt
-down from his horse. Paul did the like, for it had been agreed that the
-others, with the horses, were to await Antonio's return, while the Count
-and Paul went forward on foot: and Tommasino and Martolo, dismounting
-also, tied the horses to trees and stood waiting Antonio's orders.
-
-"Forward!" cried Paul.
-
-"Come, then," said Antonio, and he turned to the road that mounted the
-hill.
-
-"It is by the other road we go," said Paul.
-
-"It is by this road," said Antonio, and he raised his hand and made a
-certain sign, whereat the swords of his friends leapt from their
-scabbards, and they barred the way, so that Duke Paul could turn nowhere
-save to the road that mounted the hill. Then Paul's face grew long,
-drawn, and sallow with sudden fear. "What means this?" he cried. "What
-means this, Antonio?"
-
-"It means, my lord, that you must mount the hill with me," answered
-Antonio, "even to the top of it, whence a man can see the city."
-
-"But for what?"
-
-"That this matter may be finished," said Antonio; and, coming to Paul,
-he laid a hand on his shoulder and turned him to the path up the hill.
-But Paul, seeing his face and the swords of Tommasino and Martolo that
-barred all escape, seized his hand, saying, "Before God, I mean you
-true, Antonio! As Christ died for us, I mean you true, Antonio!"
-
-"Of that I know not, and care not; yet do not swear it now by Christ's
-name if it be not true. How meant you, my lord, by your brother and your
-brother's son?"
-
-Paul licked his lips, for they had gone dry, and he breathed as a man
-pants who has run far and fast. "You are three to one," he hissed.
-
-"We shall be but man to man on the top of the hill," said Antonio.
-
-Then suddenly Tommasino spoke unbidden. "There is a priest in the
-village a mile away," said he, and there was pity in his voice.
-
-"Peace, Tommasino! What priest has he provided for his brother?"
-
-And Tommasino said no more, but he turned his eyes away from the face of
-Duke Paul: yet when he was an old man, one being in his company heard
-him say he dreamed yet of it. As for Martolo, he bent his head and
-crossed himself.
-
-Then Paul threw himself on his knees before Antonio and prayed him to
-let him go; but Antonio seemed not to hear him, and stood silent with
-folded arms. Yet presently he said, "Take your sword then, my lord. If I
-fall, these shall not touch you. This much I give, though it is more
-than I have right to give."
-
-But Paul would not take his sword, but knelt, still beseeching Antonio
-with tears, and mingling prayers and curses in a flow of agonised words.
-
-At last Antonio plucked him from the ground and sternly bade him mount
-the hill; and finding no help, he set out, his knees shaking beneath
-him, while Antonio followed close upon him. And thus Tommasino and
-Martolo watched them go till the winding of the path hid them from view,
-when Martolo fell on his knees, and Tommasino drew a breath as though a
-load had rested on his chest.
-
-It was but a short way to the summit, but the path was steep, and the
-two went slowly, so that, as they came forth on the top, the first gleam
-of dawn caught them in its pale light. The city lay grey and drab below
-them, and the lonely tree, that stands to this day upon the hill, swayed
-in the wind with mournful murmurings. Paul stumbled and sank in a heap
-on the ground. And Antonio said to him, "If you will, pray," and went
-and leant against the bare trunk of the tree, a little way apart. But
-Paul, thinking on man's mercy, not on God's, crawled on his knees across
-the space between and laid hold of Antonio's legs. And he said nothing,
-but gazed up at Antonio. And at the silent appeal Antonio shivered for
-an instant, but he did not fly the gaze of Paul's eyes, but looked down
-on him and answered, "You must die. Yet there is your sword, and there a
-free road to the city."
-
-Then Paul let go Antonio's legs and rose, and drew his sword. But his
-hand was trembling, and he could scarce stand. Then Antonio gave to him
-a flask that he carried, holding strong waters; and the wretch, drinking
-greedily, found some courage, and came suddenly at Antonio before
-Antonio looked for his attack. But the Count eluded him, and drawing his
-blade awaited the attack; and Paul seized again the flask that he had
-flung on the ground, and drained it, and mad now with the fumes rushed
-at Antonio, shrieking curses and blasphemies. The sun rose on the moment
-that their blades crossed; and before its rays had shone a minute,
-Antonio had driven his sword through the howling wretch's lung, and Duke
-Paul lay dying on the grassy hill.
-
-Then Count Antonio stripped off his doublet and made a pillow of it for
-Paul's head, and sat down by him, and wiped his brow, and disposed his
-body with such ease as seemed possible. Yet he took no pains to stanch
-the blood or to minister to the wound, for his intent was that Paul
-should die and not live. And Paul lay some moments on his back, then
-twisted on his side; once he flung his legs wide and gathered them again
-under his body, and shivered, turning on his back again: and his jaw
-fell, and he died there on the top of the hill. And the Count closed his
-eyes, and sat by him in silence for many minutes; and once he buried his
-face in his hands, and a single sob shook him.
-
-But now it was growing to day, and he rose, and took from the Duke's
-waist the broad silken band that he wore, wrought with golden embroidery
-on a ground of royal blue. Then he took Paul in his arms and set him
-upright against the trunk of the tree, and, encircling tree and body
-with the rich scarf, he bound the corpse there; and he took the ivory
-tablet from his belt and tied the riband that hung through a hole in it
-to the riband of the Order of St. Prisian, that was round Paul's neck,
-and he wrote on the tablet, "Witness my hand--ANTONIO of Monte Velluto."
-And he wiped the blade of his sword long and carefully on the grass till
-it shone pure, clean, and bright again. Then he gazed awhile at the
-city, that grew now warm and rich in the increasing light of the sun,
-and turned on his heel and went down the hill by the way that he had
-come.
-
-At the foot, Tommasino and Martolo awaited him; and when he came down
-alone, Martolo again signed the cross; but Tommasino glanced one
-question, and, finding answer in Antonio's nod, struck his open palm on
-the quarters of Duke Paul's horse and set it free to go where it would;
-and the horse, being free, started at a canter along the road to the
-city. And Antonio mounted and set his face again towards the hills. For
-awhile he rode alone in front; but when an hour was gone, he called to
-Tommasino, and, on the lad joining him, talked with him, not gaily
-indeed (that could not be), yet with calmness and cheerfulness on the
-matters that concerned the band. But Paul's name did not cross his lips;
-and the manner in which he had dealt with Paul on the hill rested
-unknown till a later time, when Count Antonio formally declared it, and
-wrote with his own hand how Duke Paul had died. Thus, then, Count
-Antonio rode back to the hills, having executed on the body of Paul that
-which seemed to him right and just.
-
-Long had Duke Valentine waited for his brother in the summer-house and
-greatly wondered that he came not. And as the morning grew and yet Paul
-came not, the Duke feared that in some manner Antonio had detected the
-snare, and that he held Paul a prisoner; for it did not enter the Duke's
-mind that Antonio would dare to kill his brother. And when it was five
-o'clock, the Duke, heavy-eyed for want of sleep, left the summer-house,
-and having traversed the garden, entered his cabinet and flung himself
-on a couch there; and notwithstanding his uneasiness for his brother,
-being now very drowsy, he fell asleep. But before he had slept long, he
-was roused by two of his pages, who ran in crying that Duke Paul's horse
-had come riderless to the gate of the city. And the Duke sprang up,
-smiting his thigh, and crying, "If harm has come to him, I will not rest
-till I have Antonio's head." So he mustered a party of his guards, some
-on horseback and some on foot, and passed with all speed out of the
-city, seeking his brother, and vowing vengeance on the insolence of
-Count Antonio.
-
-But the Duke was not first out of the city; for he found a stream of
-townsmen flocking across the bridge; and at the end of the bridge was a
-gathering of men, huddled close round a peasant who stood in the centre.
-The pikemen made a way for His Highness; and when the peasant saw him,
-he ran to him, and resting his hand on the neck of the Duke's horse, as
-though he could scarce stand alone, he cried, pointing with his hand to
-the hill that rose to the west, "The Duke Paul, the Duke Paul!" And no
-more could he say.
-
-"Give him a horse, one of you, and let another lead it," cried the Duke.
-"And forward, gentlemen, whither he points!"
-
-Thus they set forth, and as they went, the concourse grew, some
-overtaking them from the city, some who were going on their business or
-for pleasure into the city turning and following after the Duke and his
-company. So that a multitude went after Valentine and the peasant, and
-they rode together at the head. And the Duke said thrice to the peasant,
-"What of my brother?" But the peasant, who was an old man, did but point
-again to the hill.
-
-At the foot of the hill, all that had horses left them in charge of the
-boys who were of the party, for the Duke, presaging some fearful thing,
-would suffer none but grown men to mount with him; and thus they went
-forward afoot till they reached the grassy summit of the hill. And then
-the peasant sprang in front, crying, "There, there!" and all of them
-beheld the body of Duke Paul, bound to the tree by the embroidered
-scarf, his head fallen on his breast, and the ivory tablet hanging from
-the riband of the Order of St. Prisian. And a great silence fell on them
-all, and they stood gazing at the dead prince.
-
-But presently Duke Valentine went forward alone; and he knelt on one
-knee and bowed his head, and kissed his brother's right hand. And a
-shout of indignation and wrath went up from all the crowd, and they
-cried, "Whose deed is this?" The Duke minded them not, but rose to his
-feet and laid his hand on the ivory tablet; and he perceived that it was
-written by Duke Paul; and he read what Paul had written to Antonio; how
-that he, the Duke, being dead, Antonio should come to his own again,
-and wed Lucia, and hold foremost place in the Duchy. And, this read, the
-Duke read also the subscription of Count Antonio--"Witness my
-hand--ANTONIO of Monte Velluto." Then he was very amazed, for he had
-trusted his brother. Yet he did not refuse the testimony of the ivory
-tablet nor suspect any guile or deceit in Antonio. And he stood
-dry-eyed, looking on the dead face of Duke Paul. Then, turning round, he
-cried in a loud voice, so that every man on the hill heard him, "Behold
-the body of a traitor!" And men looked on him, and from him to the faces
-of one another, asking what he meant. But he spoke no other word, and
-went straightway down the hill, and mounted his horse again, and rode
-back to the city; and, having come to his palace, he sent for his little
-son, and went with him into the cabinet behind the great hall, where the
-two stayed alone together for many hours. And when the child came forth,
-he asked none concerning his uncle the Duke Paul.
-
-Now all the company had followed down from the hill after the Duke, and
-no man dared to touch the body unbidden. Two days passed, and a great
-storm came, so that the rain beat on Paul's face and the lightning
-blackened it. But on the third day, when the storm had ceased, the Duke
-bade the Lieutenant of the Guard to go by night and bring the body of
-Paul: and the Lieutenant and his men flung a cloak over the face, and,
-having thus done, brought the body into the city at the break of day:
-yet the great square was full of folk watching in awe and silence. And
-they took the body to the Cathedral, and buried it under the wall on the
-north side in the shade of a cypress tree, laying a plain flat stone
-over it. And Duke Valentine gave great sums for masses to be said for
-the repose of his brother's soul. Yet there are few men who will go by
-night to the Hill of Duke Paul; and even now when I write, there is a
-man in the city who has lost his senses and is an idiot: he, they say,
-went to the hill on the night of the 15th of the month wherein Paul
-died, and came back mumbling things terrible to hear. But whether he
-went because he lacked his senses, or lost his senses by reason of the
-thing he saw when he went, I know not.
-
-Thus died Duke Paul the traitor. Yet, though the Duke his brother knew
-that what was done upon him was nothing else than he had deserved and
-should have suffered had he been brought alive to justice, he was very
-wroth with Count Antonio, holding it insolence that any man should lay
-hands on one of his blood, and, of his own will, execute sentence upon a
-criminal of a degree so exalted. Therefore he sent word to Antonio, that
-if he caught him, he would hang him on the hill from the branches of the
-tree to which Antonio had bound Paul, and would leave his body there for
-three times three days. And, this message coming to Antonio, he sent one
-privily by night to the gate of the city, who laid outside the gate a
-letter for the Duke; and in the letter was written, "God chooses the
-hand. All is well."
-
-And Count Antonio abode still an outlaw in the mountains, and the Lady
-Lucia mourned in the city.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER III.
-
-COUNT ANTONIO AND THE PRINCE OF MANTIVOGLIA.
-
-
-I know of naught by which a man may better be judged than by his bearing
-in matters of love. What know I of love, say you--I, whose head is grey,
-and shaven to boot? True, it is grey, and it is shaven. But once it was
-brown, and the tonsure came not there till I had lived thirty years and
-borne arms for twelve. Then came death to one I loved, and the tonsure
-to me. Therefore, O ye proud young men and laughing girls, old Ambrose
-knows of love, though his knowledge be only like the memory that a man
-has of a glorious red-gold sunset which his eyes saw a year ago: cold
-are the tints, gone the richness, sober and faint the picture. Yet it is
-something; he sees no more, but he has seen; and sometimes still I seem
-to see a face that last I saw smiling in death. They tell me such
-thoughts are not fitting in me, but I doubt their doing a man much harm;
-for they make him take joy when others reap the happiness that he,
-forestalled by fate's sickle, could not garner. But enough! It is of
-Count Antonio I would write, and not of my poor self. And the story may
-be worth the reading--or would be, had I more skill to pen it.
-
-Now in the summer of the second year of Count Antonio's banishment, when
-the fierce anger of Duke Valentine was yet hot for the presumption shown
-by the Count in the matter of Duke Paul's death, a messenger came
-privily to where the band lay hidden in the hills, bringing greeting to
-Antonio from the Prince of Mantivoglia, between whom and the Duke there
-was great enmity. For in days gone by Firmola had paid tribute to
-Mantivoglia, and this burden had been broken off only some thirty years;
-and the Prince, learning that Antonio was at variance with Duke
-Valentine, perceived an opportunity, and sent to Antonio, praying him
-very courteously to visit Mantivoglia and be his guest. Antonio, who
-knew the Prince well, sent him thanks, and, having made dispositions for
-the safety of his company and set Tommasino in charge of it, himself
-rode with the man they called Bena, and, having crossed the frontier,
-came on the second day to Mantivoglia. Here he was received with great
-state, and all in the city were eager to see him, having heard how he
-had dealt with Duke Paul and how he now renounced the authority of
-Valentine. And the Prince lodged him in his palace, and prepared a
-banquet for him, and set him on the right hand of the Princess, who was
-a very fair lady, learned, and of excellent wit; indeed, I have by me
-certain stories which she composed, and would read on summer evenings in
-the garden; and it may be that, if I live, I will make known certain of
-them. Others there are that only the discreet should read; for what to
-one age is but mirth turns in the mind of the next to unseemliness and
-ribaldry. This Princess, then, was very gracious to the Count, and
-spared no effort to give him pleasure; and she asked him very many
-things concerning the Lady Lucia, saying at last, "Is she fairer than
-I, my lord?" But Antonio answered, with a laugh, "The moon is not fairer
-than the sun, nor the sun than the moon: yet they are different." And
-the Princess laughed also, saying merrily, "Well parried, my lord!" And
-she rose and went with the Prince and Antonio into the garden. Then the
-Prince opened to Antonio what was in his mind, saying, "Take what
-command you will in my service, and come with me against Firmola; and
-when we have brought Valentine to his knees, I will take what was my
-father's, and should be mine: and you shall wring from him your pardon
-and the hand of your lady." And the Princess also entreated him. But
-Antonio answered, "I cannot do it. If Your Highness rides to Firmola, it
-is likely enough that I also may ride thither; but I shall ride to put
-my sword at the service of the Duke. For, although he is not my friend,
-yet his enemies are mine." And from this they could not turn him. Then
-the Prince praised him, saying, "I love you more for denying me,
-Antonio; and when I send word of my coming to Valentine, I will tell
-him also of what you have done. And if we meet by the walls of Firmola,
-we will fight like men; and, after that, you shall come again to
-Mantivoglia;" and he drank wine with Antonio, and so bade him God-speed.
-And the Princess, when her husband was gone, looked at the Count and
-said, "Valentine will not give her to you. Why will not you take her?"
-
-But Antonio answered: "The price is too high."
-
-"I would not have a man who thought any price too high," cried the
-Princess.
-
-"Then your Highness would mate with a rogue?" asked Count Antonio,
-smiling.
-
-"If he were one for my sake only," said she, fixing her eyes on his face
-and sighing lightly, as ladies sigh when they would tell something, and
-yet not too much nor in words that can be repeated. But Antonio kissed
-her hand, and took leave of her; and with another sigh she watched him
-go.
-
-But when the middle of the next month came, the Prince of Mantivoglia
-gathered an army of three thousand men, of whom seventeen hundred were
-mounted, and crossed the frontier, directing his march towards Firmola
-by way of the base of Mount Agnino and the road to the village of
-Rilano. The Duke, hearing of his approach, mustered his Guards to the
-number of eight hundred and fifty men, and armed besides hard upon two
-thousand of the townsmen and apprentices, taking an oath of them that
-they would serve him loyally; for he feared and distrusted them; and of
-the whole force, eleven hundred had horses. But Count Antonio lay still
-in the mountains, and did not offer to come to the Duke's aid.
-
-"Will you not pray his leave to come and fight for him?" asked
-Tommasino.
-
-"He will love to beat the Prince without my aid, if he can," said
-Antonio. "Heaven forbid that I should seem to snatch at glory, and make
-a chance for myself from his necessity."
-
-So he abode two days where he was; and then there came a shepherd, who
-said, "My lord, the Duke has marched out of the city and lay last night
-at Rilano, and is to-day stretched across the road that leads from the
-spurs of Agnino to Rilano, his right wing resting on the river. There
-he waits the approach of the Prince; and they say that at daybreak
-to-morrow the Prince will attack."
-
-Then Antonio rose, saying, "What of the night?"
-
-Now the night was very dark, and the fog hung like a grey cloak over the
-plain. And Antonio collected all his men to the number of threescore and
-five, all well-armed and well-horsed; and he bade them march very
-silently and with great caution, and led them down into the plain. And
-all the night they rode softly, husbanding their strength and sparing
-their horses; and an hour before the break of day they passed through
-the outskirts of Rilano and halted a mile beyond the village, seeing the
-fires of the Duke's bivouacs stretched across the road in front of them;
-and beyond there were other fires where the Prince of Mantivoglia lay
-encamped. And Bena said, "The Prince will be too strong for the Duke, my
-lord."
-
-"If he be, we also shall fight to-morrow, Bena," answered Antonio.
-
-"I trust, then, that they prove at least well matched," said Bena; for
-he loved to fight, and yet was ashamed to wish that the Duke should be
-defeated.
-
-Then Count Antonio took counsel with Tommasino; and they led the band
-very secretly across the rear of the Duke's camp till they came to the
-river. There was a mill on the river, and by the mill a great covered
-barn where the sacks of grain stood; and Antonio, having roused the
-miller, told him that he came to aid the Duke, and not to fight against
-him, and posted his men in this great barn; so that they were behind the
-right wing of the Duke's army, and were hidden from sight. Day was
-dawning now: the campfires paled in the growing light, and the sounds of
-preparation were heard from the camp. And from the Prince's quarters
-also came the noise of trumpets calling the men to arms.
-
-At four in the morning the battle was joined, Antonio standing with
-Tommasino and watching from the mill. Now Duke Valentine had placed his
-own guards on either wing, and the townsmen in the centre; but the
-Prince had posted the flower of his troops in the centre; and he rode
-there himself, surrounded by many lords and gentlemen; and with great
-valour and impetuosity he flung himself against the townsmen, recking
-little of how he fared on either wing. This careless haste did not pass
-unnoticed by the Duke, who was a cool man and wore a good head; and he
-said to Lorenzo, one of his lords who was with him, "If we win on right
-and left, it will not hurt us to lose in the middle;" and he would not
-strengthen the townsmen against the Prince, but rather drew off more of
-them, and chiefly the stoutest and best equipped, whom he divided
-between the right wing where he himself commanded, and the left which
-Lorenzo led. Nay, men declare that he was not ill pleased to see the
-brunt of the strife and the heaviest loss fall on the apprentices and
-townsmen. For a while indeed these stood bravely; but the Prince's
-chivalry came at them in fierce pride and gallant scorn, and bore them
-down with the weight of armour and horses, the Prince himself leading on
-a white charger and with his own hand slaying Glinka, who was head of
-the city-bands and a great champion among them. But Duke Valentine and
-Lorenzo upheld the battle on the wings, and pressed back the enemy
-there; and the Duke would not send aid to the townsmen in the centre,
-saying "I shall be ready for the Prince as soon as the Prince is ready
-for me, and I can spare some of those turbulent apprentices." And he
-smiled his crafty smile, adding, "From enemies also a wise man may suck
-good;" and he pressed forward on the right fighting more fiercely than
-was his custom. But when Antonio beheld the townsmen hard pressed and
-being ridden down by the Prince of Mantivoglia's knights and saw that
-the Duke would not aid them, he grew very hot and angry, and said to
-Tommasino, "These men have loved my house, Tommasino. It may be that I
-spoil His Highness's plan, but are we to stand here while they perish?"
-
-"A fig for His Highness's plan!" said Tommasino; and Bena gave a cry of
-joy and sprang, unbidden, on his horse.
-
-"Since you are up, Bena," said the Count, "stay up, and let the others
-mount. The Duke's plan, if I read it aright, is craftier than I love,
-and I do not choose to understand it."
-
-Then, when the townsmen's line was giving way before the Prince, and the
-apprentices, conceiving themselves to be shamefully deserted, were more
-of a mind to run away than to fight any more, suddenly Antonio rode
-forth from the mill. He and his company came at full gallop; but he
-himself was ten yards ahead of Bena and Tommasino, for all that they
-raced after him. And he cried aloud, "To me, men of Firmola, to me,
-Antonio of Monte Velluto!" and they beheld him with utter astonishment
-and great joy. For his helmet was fallen from his head, and his fair
-hair gleamed in the sun, and the light of battle played on his face. And
-the band followed him, and, though they had for the most part no armour,
-yet such was the fury of their rush, and such the mettle and strength of
-their horses, that they made light of meeting the Prince's knights in
-full tilt. And the townsmen cried, "It is the Count! To death after the
-Count!" And Antonio raised the great sword that he carried, and rode at
-the Marshal of the Prince's palace, who was in the van of the fight,
-and he split helmet and head with a blow. Then he came to where the
-Prince himself was, and the great sword was raised again, and the Prince
-rode to meet him, saying, "If I do not die now, I shall not die to-day."
-But when Antonio saw the Prince, he brought his sword to his side and
-bowed and turned aside, and engaged the most skilful of the Mantivoglian
-knights. And he fought that day like a man mad; but he would not strike
-the Prince of Mantivoglia. And after a while the Prince ceased to seek
-him; and a flatterer said to the Prince, "He is bold against us, but he
-fears you, my lord." But the Prince said, "Peace, fool. Go and fight."
-For he knew that not fear, but friendship, forbade Antonio to assail
-him.
-
-Yet by now the rout of the townsmen was stayed and they were holding
-their own again in good heart and courage, while both on the right and
-on the left the Duke pressed on and held the advantage. Then the Prince
-of Mantivoglia perceived that he was in a dangerous plight, for he was
-in peril of being worsted along his whole line; for his knights did no
-more than hold a doubtful balance against the townsmen and Antonio's
-company, while the Duke and Lorenzo were victorious on either wing; and
-he knew that if the Duke got in rear of him and lay between him and
-Mount Agnino, he would be sore put to it to find a means of retreat.
-Therefore he left the centre and rode to the left of his line and
-himself faced Duke Valentine. Yet slowly was he driven back, and he gave
-way sullenly, obstinately, and in good order, himself performing many
-gallant deeds, and seeking to come to a conflict with the Duke. But the
-Duke, seeing that the day was likely to be his, would not meet him and
-chose to expose his person to no more danger: "For," he said, "a soldier
-who is killed is a good soldier; but a chief who is killed save for some
-great object is a bad chief." And he bided his time and slowly pressed
-the Prince back, seeking rather to win the battle than the praise of
-bravery. But when Count Antonio saw that all went well, and that the
-enemy were in retreat, he halted his band; and at this they murmured,
-Bena daring to say, "My lord, we have had dinner, and may we not have
-supper also?" Antonio smiled at Bena, but would not listen.
-
-"No," said he. "His Highness has won the victory by his skill and
-cunning. I did but move to save my friends. It is enough. Shall I seek
-to rob him of his glory? For the ignorant folk, counting the arm more
-honourable than the head, will give me more glory than him if I continue
-in the fight." And thus, not being willing to force his aid on a man who
-hated to receive it, he drew off his band. Awhile he waited; but when he
-saw that the Prince was surely beaten, and that the Duke held victory in
-his hand, he gave the word that they should return by the way they had
-come.
-
-"Indeed," said Tommasino, laughing, "it may be wisdom as well as good
-manners, cousin. For I would not trust myself to Valentine if he be
-victorious, for all the service which we have done him in saving the
-apprentices he loves so well."
-
-So Antonio's band turned and rode off from the field, and they passed
-through Rilano. But they found the village desolate; for report had
-come from the field that the Duke's line was broken, and that in a short
-space the Prince of Mantivoglia would advance in triumph, and having
-sacked Rilano, would go against Firmola, where there were but a few old
-men and boys left to guard the walls against him. And one peasant, whom
-they found hiding in the wood by the road, said there was panic in the
-city, and that many were escaping from it before the enemy should
-appear.
-
-"It is months since I saw Firmola," said Antonio with a smile. "Let us
-ride there and reassure these timid folk. For my lord the Duke has
-surely by now won the victory, and he will pursue the Prince till he
-yields peace and abandons the tribute."
-
-Now a great excitement rose in the band at these words; for although
-they had lost ten men in the battle and five more were disabled, yet
-they were fifty stout and ready; and it was not likely that there was
-any force in Firmola that could oppose them. And Martolo, who rode with
-Tommasino, whispered to him, "My lord, my lord, shall we carry off the
-Lady Lucia before His Highness can return?"
-
-Tommasino glanced at Antonio. "Nay, I know not what my cousin purposes,"
-said he.
-
-Then Antonio bade Bena and Martolo ride on ahead, taking the best
-horses, and tell the people at Firmola that victory was with the Duke,
-and that His Highness's servant, Antonio of Monte Velluto, was at hand
-to protect the city till His Highness should return in triumph. And the
-two, going ahead while the rest of the band took their mid-day meal, met
-many ladies and certain rich merchants and old men escaping from the
-city, and turned them back, saying that all was well; and the ladies
-would fain have gone on and met Antonio; but the merchants, hearing that
-he was there, made haste to get within the walls again, fearing that he
-would levy a toll on them for the poor, as his custom was. At this Bena
-laughed mightily, and drew rein, saying, "These rabbits will run quicker
-back to their burrow than we could ride, Martolo. Let us rest awhile
-under a tree; I have a flask of wine in my saddle-bag." So they rested;
-and while they rested, they saw what amazed them; for a lady rode alone
-towards them on a palfrey, and though the merchants met her and spoke
-with her, yet she rode on. And when she came to the tree where Bena and
-Martolo were, they sprang up and bared their heads; for she was the Lady
-Lucia; and her face was full of fear and eagerness as she said, "No
-guard is kept to-day, even on helpless ladies. Is it true that my lord
-is near?"
-
-"Yes, he is near," said Bena, kissing her hand. "See, there is the dust
-of his company on the road."
-
-"Go, one of you, and say that I wait for him," she commanded; so Martolo
-rode on to carry the news farther, and Bena went to Antonio and said,
-"Heaven, my lord, sends fortune. The Lady Lucia has escaped from the
-city, and awaits you under yonder tree."
-
-And when Tommasino heard this, he put out his hand suddenly and caught
-Antonio's hand and pressed it, saying, "Go alone, and bring her here: we
-will wait: the Duke will not be here for many hours yet."
-
-Then Antonio rode alone to the tree where Lucia was; and because he had
-not seen her for many months, he leapt down from his horse and came
-running to her, and, kneeling, kissed her hand; but she, who stood now
-by her palfrey's side, flung her arms about his neck and fell with tears
-and laughter into his arms, saying, "Antonio, Antonio! Heaven is with
-us, Antonio."
-
-"Yes," said he. "For His Highness has won the day."
-
-"Have not we won the day also?" said she, reaching up and laying her
-hands on his shoulders.
-
-"Heart of my heart," said he softly, as he looked in her eyes.
-
-"The cage is opened, and, Antonio, the bird is free," she whispered, and
-her eyes danced and her cheek went red. "Lift me to my saddle, Antonio."
-
-The Count obeyed her, and himself mounted; and she said, "We can reach
-the frontier in three hours, and there--there, Antonio, none fears the
-Duke's wrath." And Antonio knew what she would say, save that she would
-not speak it bluntly--that there they could find a priest to marry
-them. And his face was pale as he smiled at her. Then he laid his hand
-on her bridle and turned her palfrey's head towards Firmola. Her eyes
-darted a swift question at him, and she cried low, "Thither, Antonio?"
-
-Then he answered her, bending still his look on her, "Alas, I am no
-learned man, nor a doctor skilled in matters of casuistry and nice
-distinctions. I can but do what the blood that is in me tells me a
-gentleman should do. To-day, sweetheart--ah, will you not hide your face
-from me, sweetheart, that my words may not die in my mouth?--to-day our
-lord the Duke fights against the enemies of our city, holding for us in
-hard battle the liberty that we have won, and bearing the banner of
-Firmola high to heaven in victory."
-
-She listened with strained frightened face; and the horses moved at a
-walk towards Firmola. And she laid her hand on his arm, saying again,
-"Antonio!"
-
-"And I have fought with my lord to-day, and I would be at his side now,
-except that I do his pleasure better by leaving him to triumph alone.
-But my hand has been with him to-day, and my heart is with him to-day.
-Tell me, sweetheart, if I rode forth to war and left you alone, would
-you do aught against me till I returned?"
-
-She did not answer him.
-
-"A Prince's city," said he, "should be as his faithful wife; and when he
-goes to meet the enemy, none at home should raise a hand against him;
-above all may not one who has fought by his side. For to stand side by
-side in battle is a promise and a compact between man and man, even as
-though man swore to man on a holy relic."
-
-Then she understood what he would say, and she looked away from him
-across the plain; and a tear rolled down her cheek as she said, "Indeed,
-my lord, the error lies in my thoughts; for I fancied that your love was
-mine."
-
-Antonio leant from his saddle and lightly touched her hair. "Was that
-indeed your fancy?" said he. "And I prove it untrue?"
-
-"You carry me back to my prison," she said. "And you will ride away."
-
-"And so I love you not?" he asked.
-
-"No, you love me not," said she; and her voice caught in a sob.
-
-"See," said he; "we draw near to Firmola, and the city gates are open;
-and, look, they raise a flag on the Duke's palace; and there is joy for
-the victory that Martolo has told them of. And in all the Duchy there
-are but two black hearts that burn with treacherous thoughts against His
-Highness, setting their own infinite joy above the honour and faith they
-owe him."
-
-"Nay, but are there two?" she asked, turning her face from him.
-
-"In truth I would love to think there was but one," said he. "And that
-one beats in me, sweetheart, and so mightily, that I think it will burst
-the walls of my body, and I shall die."
-
-"Yet we ride to Firmola," said she.
-
-"Yet, by Christ's grace," said Count Antonio, "we ride to Firmola."
-
-Then the Lady Lucia suddenly dropped her bridle on the neck of her
-palfrey and caught Antonio's right hand in her two hands and said to
-him, "When I pray to-night, I will pray for the cleansing of the black
-heart, Antonio. And I will make a wreath and carry it to the Duke and
-kiss his hand for his victory. And I will set lights in my window and
-flags on my house; and I will give my people a feast; and I will sing
-and laugh for the triumph of the city and for the freedom this day has
-won for us: and when I have done all this, what may I do then, Antonio?"
-
-"I am so cruel," said he, "that then I would have you weep a little: yet
-spoil not the loveliest eyes in all the world; for if you dim them, it
-may be that they will not shine like stars across the plain and even
-into the hut where I live among the hills."
-
-"Do they shine bright, Antonio?"
-
-"As the gems on the Gates of Heaven," he answered; and he reined in his
-horse and gave her bridle into her hands. And then for many minutes
-neither spoke; and Count Antonio kissed her lips, and she his; and they
-promised with the eyes what they needed not to promise with the tongue.
-And the Lady Lucia went alone on her way to Firmola. But the Count sat
-still like a statue of marble on his horse, and watched her as she rode.
-And there he stayed till the gates of the city received her and the
-walls hid her from his sight; and the old men on the walls saw him and
-knew him, and asked, "Does he come against us? But it was against the
-Prince of Mantivoglia that we swore to fight." And they watched him till
-he turned and rode at a foot's pace away from the city. And now as he
-rode his brow was smooth and calm and there was a smile on his lips.
-
-But when Antonio had ridden two or three miles and came where he had
-left the band, he could see none of them. And a peasant came running to
-him in great fright and said, "My lord, your men are gone again to aid
-the Duke; for the Prince has done great deeds, and turned the fight, and
-it is again very doubtful: and my lord Tommasino bade me say that he
-knew your mind, and was gone to fight for Firmola."
-
-Then Antonio, wondering greatly at the news, set his horse to a gallop
-and passed through Rilano at furious speed, and rode on towards Agnino;
-and it was now afternoon. Presently he saw the armies, but they seemed
-to lie idle, over against one another. And, riding on, he met Bena, who
-was come to seek him. And Bena said, "The Prince and his knights have
-fought like devils, my lord, and the townsmen grew fearful again when
-you were gone; and we, coming back, have fought again. But now a truce
-has sounded, and the Prince and the Duke are meeting in conference
-between the armies. Yet they say that no peace will be made; for the
-Prince, taking heart from his sudden success, though he is willing to
-abandon the tribute, asks something in return which the Duke will not
-grant. Yet perhaps he has granted it by now, for his men are weary."
-
-"He should grant nothing," cried Antonio, and galloped on again. But
-Bena said to himself with an oath, "He has sent back the lady! The
-saints save us!" and followed Antonio with a laugh on his face.
-
-But Antonio, thinking nothing of his own safety, rode full into the
-ranks of the Duke's Guard, saying, "Where does my lord talk with the
-Prince?" And they showed him where the place was; for the Prince and
-the Duke sat alone under a tree between the two arrays. And the Duke
-looked harsh and resolute, while the Prince was very courteously
-entreating him.
-
-"Indeed," said he, "so doubtful has the day been, my lord, that I might
-well refuse to abandon the tribute, and try again to-morrow the issue of
-the fight. But, since so many brave men have fallen on both sides, I am
-willing to abandon it, asking of you only such favour as would be
-conceded to a simple gentleman asking of his friend. And yet you will
-not grant it me, and thus bring peace between us and our peoples."
-
-Duke Valentine frowned and bit his lip; and the Prince rose from where
-he had been seated, and lifted his hand to the sky, and said, "So be it,
-my lord; on your head lies the blame. For to-morrow I will attack again;
-and, as God lives, I will not rest till the neck of the city of Firmola
-is under my foot, or my head rolls from my shoulders by your sword."
-
-Then Duke Valentine paced up and down, pondering deeply. For he was a
-man that hated to yield aught, and beyond all else hated what the
-Prince of Mantivoglia asked of him. Yet he feared greatly to refuse; for
-the townsmen had no stomach for another fight and had threatened to
-march home if he would not make peace with the Prince. Therefore he
-turned to the Prince, and, frowning heavily, was about to say, "Since it
-must be so, so let it be," when suddenly the Count Antonio rode up and
-leapt from his horse, crying, "Yield nothing, my lord, yield nothing!
-For if you will tell me what to do, and suffer me to be your hand, we
-will drive the enemy over our borders with great loss."
-
-Then the Prince of Mantivoglia fell to laughing, and he came to Antonio
-and put his arm about his neck, saying, "Peace, peace, thou foolish
-man!"
-
-Antonio saluted him with all deference, but he answered, "I must give
-good counsel to my lord the Duke." And he turned to the Duke again,
-saying, "Yield nothing to the Prince, my lord."
-
-Duke Valentine's lips curved in his slow smile as he looked at Antonio.
-"Is that indeed your counsel? And will you swear, Antonio, to give me
-your aid against the Prince so long as the war lasts, if I follow it?"
-
-"Truly, I swear it," cried Antonio. "Yet what need is there of an oath?
-Am I not Your Highness's servant, bound to obey without an oath?"
-
-"Nay, but you do not tell him----" began the Prince angrily.
-
-Duke Valentine smiled again; he was ever desirous to make a show of
-fairness where he risked nothing by it; and he gazed a moment on
-Antonio's face; then he answered to the Prince of Mantivoglia, "I know
-the man, my lord. I know him in his strength and in his folly. Do not we
-know one another, Antonio?"
-
-"Indeed, I know not all your Highness's mind," answered Antonio.
-
-"Well, I will tell him," said Duke Valentine. "This Prince, Antonio, has
-consented to a peace, and to abandon all claim to tribute from our city,
-on one condition; which is, that I, the Duke, shall do at his demand
-what of my own free and sovereign will I would not do."
-
-"His demand is not fitting nor warranted by his power," said Antonio;
-but in spite of his words the Prince of Mantivoglia passed his arm
-through his, and laughed ruefully, whispering, "Peace, man, peace."
-
-"And thus I, the Duke, having bowed my will to his, shall return to
-Firmola, not beaten indeed, yet half-beaten and cowed by the power of
-Mantivoglia."
-
-"It shall not be, my lord," cried Count Antonio.
-
-"Yet, my lord Duke, you do not tell him what the condition is," said the
-Prince.
-
-"Why, it is nothing else than that I should pardon you, and suffer you
-to wed the Lady Lucia," said Duke Valentine.
-
-Then Count Antonio loosed himself from the arm of the Prince and bent
-and kissed the Prince's hand; but he said, "Is this thing to come twice
-on a man in one day? For it is but an hour or less that I parted from
-the lady of whom you speak; and if her eyes could not move me, what else
-shall move me?" And he told them briefly of his meeting with the Lady
-Lucia. But Duke Valentine was wroth with the shame that a generous act
-rouses in a heart that knows no generosity; and the Prince was yet more
-wroth, and he said to Duke Valentine, "Were there any honour in you, my
-lord, you would not need my prayers to pardon him."
-
-At this the Duke's face grew very dark; and he cried angrily, "Get back
-to your own line, my lord, or the truce shall not save you." And he
-turned to Antonio and said, "Three hours do I give you to get hence,
-before I pursue."
-
-Antonio bowed low to him and to the Prince; and they three parted, the
-two princes in bitter wrath, and set again on fighting to the end, the
-one because he was ashamed and yet obstinate, the other for scorn of a
-rancour that found no place in himself. But Count Antonio went back to
-his company and drew it some little way off from both armies; and he
-said to Tommasino, "The truce is ended, and they will fight again so
-soon as the men have had some rest;" and he told Tommasino what had
-passed. Then he sat silent again; but presently he laid hold of his
-cousin's arm, saying, "Look you, Tommasino, princes are sometimes fools;
-and hence come trouble and death to honest humble folk. It is a sore
-business that they fight again to-morrow, and not now for any great
-matter, but because they are bitter against one another on my account.
-Cannot I stop them, Tommasino?"
-
-"Aye, if you have five thousand men and not thirty-five--for that is the
-sum of us now, counting Martolo, who is back from Firmola."
-
-Antonio looked thoughtfully through the dusk of evening which now fell.
-"They will not fight to-night," he said. "I am weary of this
-blood-letting." And Tommasino saw that there was something in his mind.
-
-Now the night fell dark again and foggy, even as the night before; and
-none in either army dared to move, and even the sentries could see no
-more than a few yards before them. But Antonio's men being accustomed to
-ride in the dark, and to find their way through mists both in plain and
-hill, could see more clearly; and Antonio divided them into two parties,
-himself leading one, and giving the other into Tommasino's charge.
-Having very securely tethered their horses, they set forth, crawling on
-their bellies through the grass. Antonio with his party made for the
-camp of the Prince, while Tommasino and his party directed their way
-towards the Duke's bivouacs. And they saw the fires very dimly through
-the mist, and both parties passed the sentries unobserved, and made
-their way to the centre of the camps. Then, on the stroke of midnight, a
-strange stir arose in both the camps. Nothing could be seen by reason of
-the darkness and the mist; but suddenly cries arose, and men ran to and
-fro; and a cry went up from the Duke's camp, "They are behind us! They
-are behind us! We are surrounded!" And in the Prince's camp also was
-great fear; for from behind them, towards where the spurs of Mount
-Agnino began, there came shouts of "At them, at them! Charge!" And the
-Prince's officers, perceiving the cries to be from men of Firmola (and
-this they knew by reason of certain differences in the phrasing of
-words), conceived that the Duke had got behind them, and was lying
-across their way of retreat.
-
-Then the Duke, hearing the shouts in his own camp, ran out from his
-tent; and he was met by hundreds of the townsmen, who cried, "My lord,
-we are surrounded!" For Antonio's men had gone to the townsmen and shewn
-them how they might escape more fighting; and the townsmen were nothing
-loth; and they insisted with the Duke that a body of men on horseback
-had passed behind them. So the Duke sent out scouts, who could see
-nothing of the horsemen. But then the townsmen cried, some being in the
-secret, others not, "Then they have ridden past us, and are making for
-Firmola. And they will do Heaven knows what there. Lead us after them,
-my lord!" And the Duke was very angry; but he was also greatly afraid,
-for he perceived that there was a stir in the Prince's camp also, and
-heard shouts from there, but could not distinguish what was said. And
-while he considered what to do, the townsmen formed their ranks and sent
-him word that they were for Firmola; and when he threatened them with
-his Guard, they rejoined that one death was as good as another; and the
-Duke gnawed his nails and went pale with rage. But Count Antonio's men,
-seeing how well the plan had sped, crept again out from the camp, and
-returned to where they had tethered their horses, and mounted, each
-taking a spare horse. And before they had been there long, they heard
-trumpets sound in the Duke's camp, and the camp was struck, and the Duke
-and all his force began to retreat on Rilano, throwing out many scouts,
-and moving very cautiously in the darkness and mist. Yet when they came
-on nobody, they marched more quickly, even the Duke himself now
-believing that the Prince of Mantivoglia had of a purpose allowed the
-stir in his camp to be seen and heard, in order that he might detach a
-column to Firmola unobserved, and attack the city before the Duke came
-up. Therefore he now pressed on, saying, "I doubt not that the Prince
-himself is with the troop that has gone to Firmola." And all night long
-they marched across the plain, covering a space of eighteen miles; and
-just before the break of day they came to the city.
-
-Thus did it fall out with the army of Duke Valentine. But the Prince of
-Mantivoglia had been no less bewildered; for when he sent out men to see
-what the cries behind the camp meant, he found no man; but he still
-heard scattered cries among the rising ground, where the hills began.
-And he in his turn saw a stir in the camp opposite to him. And, being an
-impetuous Prince, as he had shown both in evil and in good that day, he
-snatched up his sword, swearing that he would find the truth of the
-matter, and bidding his officers wait his return and not be drawn from
-their position before he came again to them; and taking some of his
-younger knights and a few more, he passed out of his camp, and paused
-for a moment, bidding those with him spread themselves out in a thin
-line, in order the better to reconnoitre, and that, if some fell into an
-ambuscade, others might survive to carry the news back to the camp. And
-he, having given his order, himself stood resting on his sword. But in
-an instant, before he could so much as lift the point of his sword from
-the ground, silent blurred shapes came from the mist, and were in front
-and behind and round him; and they looked so strange that he raised his
-hand to cross himself; but then a scarf was thrown over his mouth, and
-he was seized by eight strong hands and held so that he could not
-struggle; and neither could he cry out by reason of the scarf across his
-mouth. And they that held him began to run rapidly; and he was carried
-out of the camp without the knowledge of any of those who were with him,
-and they, missing their leader, fell presently into a great
-consternation, and ran to and from in the gloom crying, "The Prince?
-Have you seen the Prince? Is His Highness with you? In God's name, has
-the Prince been this way?" But they did not find him, and they grew more
-confounded, stumbling against one another and being much afraid. And
-when the Prince was nowhere to be found, they lost heart, and began to
-fall back towards their own borders, skirting the base of Agnino. And
-their retreat grew quicker; and at last, when morning came, they were
-near the border; but the fog still wrapped all the plain in obscurity,
-and, robbed of their leader, they dared attempt nothing.
-
-Now the Prince of Mantivoglia, whom his army sought thus in fear and
-bewilderment, was carried very quickly up to the high ground, where the
-rocks grew steep and close and the way led to the peak of Agnino. And as
-he was borne along, some one bound his hands and his feet; and still he
-was carried up, till at last he found himself laid down gently on the
-ground. And though he knew no fear--for they of Mantivoglia have ever
-been most valiant Princes and strangers to all fear--yet he thought that
-his last hour was come, and, fearing God though he feared nothing else,
-he said a prayer and commended his soul to the Almighty, grieving that
-he should not receive the last services of the Church. And having done
-this, he lay still until the dawning day smote on his eyes and he could
-see; for the fog that lay dense on the plain was not in the hills, but
-hung between them and the plain. And he looked round, but saw no man. So
-he abode another hour, and then he heard a step behind him, and a man
-came, but whence he could not see; and the man stooped and loosed the
-scarf from his mouth and cut his bonds, and he sat up, uttering a cry of
-wonder. For Count Antonio stood before him, his sword sheathed by his
-side. And he said to the Prince of Mantivoglia, "Do to me what you will,
-my lord. If you will strike me as I stand, strike. Or if you will do me
-the honour to cross swords, my sword is ready. Or, my lord, if you will
-depart in peace and in my great love and reverence, I will give thanks
-to Heaven and to a noble Prince."
-
-"Antonio, what does this mean?" cried the Prince, divided between anger
-and wonder.
-
-Then Antonio told him all that he had done: how the Duke was gone back
-with his army to Firmola, and how the Prince's army had retreated
-towards the borders of Mantivoglia; for of all this his men had informed
-him; and he ended, saying, "For since it seemed that I was to be the
-most unworthy cause of more fighting between two great Princes, it came
-into my head that such a thing should not be. And I rejoice that now it
-will not; for the townsmen will not march out again this year at least,
-and Your Highness will scarce sit down before Firmola with the season
-now far gone."
-
-"So I am baulked?" cried the Prince, and he rose to his feet. "And this
-trick is played me by a friend!"
-
-"I am of Firmola," said Antonio, flushing red. "And while there was war,
-I might in all honour have played another trick, and carried you not
-hither, but to Firmola."
-
-"I care not," cried the Prince angrily. "It was a trick, and no fair
-fighting."
-
-"Be it as you will, my lord," said Antonio. "A man's own conscience is
-his only judge. Will you draw your sword, my lord?"
-
-But the Prince was very angry, and he answered roughly, "I will not
-fight with you, and I will not speak more with you. I will go."
-
-"I will lead Your Highness to your horse," said Antonio.
-
-Then he led him some hundreds of paces down the hill, and they came
-where a fine horse stood ready saddled.
-
-"It is not my horse," said the Prince.
-
-"Be not afraid, my lord. It is not mine either," said Antonio smiling.
-"A rogue who serves me, and is called Bena, forgot his manners so far as
-to steal it from the quarters of the Duke. I pray you use some
-opportunity of sending it back to him, or I shall be dubbed
-horse-stealer with the rest."
-
-"I am glad it is not yours," said the Prince, and he prepared to mount,
-Antonio holding the stirrup for him. And when he was mounted, Antonio
-told him how to ride, so that he should come safely to his own men, and
-avoid certain scouting parties of the Duke that he had thrown out behind
-him as he marched back to Firmola. And having done this, Antonio stood
-back and bared his head and bowed.
-
-"And where is your horse?" asked the Prince suddenly.
-
-"I have no horse, my lord," said Antonio. "My men with all my horses
-have ridden back to our hiding-place in the hills. I am alone here, for
-I thought that Your Highness would kill me, and I should need no horse."
-
-"How, then, will you escape the scouting parties?"
-
-"I fear I shall not escape them, my lord," said Antonio, smiling again.
-
-"And if they take you?"
-
-"Of a surety I shall be hanged," said Count Antonio.
-
-The Prince of Mantivoglia gathered his brow into a heavy frown, but the
-corners of his lips twitched, and he did not look at Antonio. And thus
-they rested a few moments, till suddenly the Prince, unable to hold
-himself longer, burst into a great and merry peal of laughter; and he
-raised his fist and shook it at Antonio, crying, "A scurvy trick,
-Antonio! By my faith, a scurvier trick by far than that other of yours!
-Art thou not ashamed, man? Ah, you cast down your eyes! You dare not
-look at me, Antonio."
-
-"Indeed I have naught to say for this last trick, my lord," said
-Antonio, laughing also.
-
-"Indeed I must carry this knave with me!" cried the Prince. "Faugh, the
-traitor! Get up behind me, traitor! Clasp me by the waist, knave!
-Closer, knave! Ah, Antonio, I know not in what mood Heaven was when you
-were made! I would I had the heart to leave you to your hanging! For
-what a story will my Princess make of this! I shall be the best-derided
-man in all Mantivoglia."
-
-"I think not, my dear lord," said Count Antonio, "unless a love that a
-man may reckon on as his lady-love's and a chivalry that does not fail,
-and a valour that has set two armies all agape in wonder, be your
-matters for mirth in Mantivoglia. And indeed, my lord, I would that I
-were riding to the lady I love best in the world, as Your Highness
-rides; for she might laugh till her sweet eyes ran tears so I were near
-to dry them."
-
-The Prince put back his hand towards Antonio and clasped Antonio's hand,
-and said, "What said she when you left her, Antonio? For with women love
-is often more than honour, and their tears rust the bright edge of a
-man's conscience."
-
-"Her heart is even as Our Lady's, and with tears and smiles she left
-me," said Antonio, and he grasped the Prince's hand. "Come, my lord, we
-must ride, or it is a prison for you and a halter for me."
-
-So they rode together in the morning on the horse that Bena had stolen
-from among the choicest of Duke Valentine's, and, keeping cunningly
-among the spurs of the hills, they were sighted once only from afar off
-by the Duke's scouts, and escaped at a canter, and came safe to the
-Prince's army, where they were received with great wonder and joy. But
-the Prince would not turn again to besiege Firmola, for he had had a
-fill of fighting, and the season grew late for the siege of a walled
-town. So he returned with all his force to Mantivoglia, having won by
-his expedition much praise of valour, and nothing else in the wide world
-besides; which thing indeed is so common in the wars of princes that
-even wise men have well-nigh ceased to wonder at it.
-
-But the Princess of Mantivoglia heard all that had passed with great
-mirth, and made many jests upon her husband; and again, lest the Prince
-should take her jesting in evil part, more upon Duke Valentine. But
-concerning Count Antonio and the Lady Lucia she did not jest. Yet one
-day, chancing to be alone with Count Antonio--for he stayed many days
-at the Court of Mantivoglia, and was treated with great honour--she said
-to him, with a smile and half-raised eyelids, "Had I been a man, my lord
-Antonio, I would not have returned alone from the gates of Firmola. In
-truth, your lady needs patience for her virtue, Count Antonio!"
-
-"I trust, then, that Heaven sends it to her, madame," said Antonio.
-
-"And to you also," she retorted with a laugh. "And to her trust in you
-also, I pray. For an absent lover is often an absent heart, Antonio, and
-I hear that many ladies would fain soften your exile. And what I hear,
-the Lady Lucia may hear also."
-
-"She would hear it as the idle babbling of water over stones," said
-Antonio. "But, madame, I am glad that I have some honesty in me. For if
-there were not honest men and true maids in this world, I think more
-than a half of the wits would starve for lack of food."
-
-"Mercy, mercy!" she cried. "Indeed your wit has a keen edge, my lord."
-
-"Yet it is not whetted on truth and honesty," said he.
-
-She answered nothing for a moment; then she drew near to him and stood
-before him, regarding his face; and she sighed "Heigh-ho!" and again
-"Heigh-ho!" and dropped her eyes, and raised them again to his face; and
-at last she said, "To some faithfulness is easy. I give no great praise
-to the Lady Lucia." And when she had said this she turned and left him,
-and was but little more in his company so long as he stayed at
-Mantivoglia. And she spoke no more of the Lady Lucia. But when he was
-mounting, after bidding her farewell, she gave him a white rose from her
-bosom, saying carelessly, "Your colour, my lord, and the best. Yet God
-made the other roses also."
-
-"All that He made He loves, and in all there is good," said Antonio, and
-he bowed very low, and, having kissed her hand, took the rose; and he
-looked into her eyes and smiled, saying, "Heaven give peace where it has
-given wit and beauty;" and so he rode away to join his company in the
-hills. And the Princess of Mantivoglia, having watched till he was out
-of sight, went into dinner, and was merrier than ever she had shown
-herself before; so that they said, "She feared Antonio and is glad that
-he is gone." Yet that night, while her husband slept, she wept.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER IV.
-
-COUNT ANTONIO AND THE WIZARD'S DRUG.
-
-
-The opinion of man is ever in flux save where it is founded on the rock
-of true religion. What our fathers believed, we disbelieve; but often
-our sons shall again receive it. In olden time men held much by magic
-and black arts; now such are less esteemed; yet hereafter it may well be
-that the world will find new incantations and fresh spells, the same
-impulse flowing in a different channel and never utterly to be checked
-or stemmed by the censures of the Church or the mocking of unbelievers.
-As for truth--in truth who knows truth? For the light of Revelation
-shines but in few places, and for the rest we are in natural darkness,
-groping along unseen paths towards unknown ends. May God keep our
-footsteps!
-
-Now towards the close of the third year of his outlawry the heart of
-Count Antonio of Monte Velluto had grown very sad. For it was above the
-space of a year since he had heard news of the Lady Lucia, and hard upon
-two since he had seen her face; so closely did Duke Valentine hold her
-prisoner in Firmola. And as he walked to and fro among his men in their
-hiding place in the hills, his face was sorrowful. Yet, coming where
-Tommasino and Bena sat together, he stopped and listened to their talk
-with a smile. For Bena cried to Tommasino, "By the saints, my lord, it
-is even so! My father himself had a philtre from him thirty years ago;
-and though, before, my mother had loathed to look on my father, yet now
-here am I, nine-and-twenty years of age and a child born in holy
-wedlock. Never tell me that it is foolishness, my lord!"
-
-"Of whom do you speak, Bena?" asked Antonio.
-
-"Of the Wizard of Baratesta, my lord. Aye, and he can do more than make
-a love-potion. He can show you all that shall come to you in a mirror,
-and make the girl you love rise before your eyes as though the shape
-were good flesh and blood."
-
-"All this is foolishness, Bena," said Count Antonio.
-
-"Well, God knows that," said Bena. "But he did it for my father; and as
-he is thirty years older, he will be wiser still by now;" and Bena
-strode off to tend his horse, somewhat angry that Antonio paid so little
-heed to his words.
-
-"It is all foolishness, Tommasino," said Antonio.
-
-"They say that of many a thing which gives a man pleasure," said
-Tommasino.
-
-"I have heard of this man before," continued the Count, "and marvellous
-stories are told of him. Now I leave what shall come to me in the hands
-of Heaven; for to know is not to alter, and knowledge without power is
-but fretting of the heart; but----" And Antonio broke off.
-
-"Ride then, if you can safely, and beg him to show you Lucia's face,"
-said Tommasino. "For to that I think you are making."
-
-"In truth I was, fool that I am," said Antonio.
-
-"But be wary; for Baratesta is but ten miles from the city, and His
-Highness sleeps with an open eye."
-
-So Antonio, albeit that he was in part ashamed, learnt from Bena where
-the wizard dwelt on the bridge that is outside the gate of
-Baratesta--for the Syndic would not suffer such folk to live inside the
-wall--and one evening he saddled his horse and rode alone to seek the
-wizard, leaving Tommasino in charge of the band. And as he went, he
-pondered, saying, "I am a fool, yet I would see her face;" and thus,
-still dubbing himself fool, yet still persisting, he came to the bridge
-of Baratesta; and the wizard, who was a very old man and tall and
-marvellously lean, met him at the door of the house, crying, "I looked
-for your coming, my lord." And he took Antonio's horse from him and
-stood it in a stable beside the house, and led Antonio in, saying again,
-"Your coming was known to me, my lord;" and he brought Antonio to a
-chamber at the back of the house, having one window, past which the
-river, being then in flood, rushed with noise and fury. There were many
-strange things in the chamber, skulls and the forms of animals from
-far-off countries, great jars, basins, and retorts, and in one corner a
-mirror half-draped in a black cloth.
-
-"You know who I am?" asked Antonio.
-
-"That needs no art," answered the wizard, "and I pretend to none in it.
-Your face, my lord, was known to me as to any other man, from seeing you
-ride with the Duke before your banishment."
-
-"And you knew that I rode hither to-night?"
-
-"Aye," said the wizard. "For the stars told of the coming of some great
-man; and I turned from my toil and watched for you."
-
-"What toil?" asked Antonio. "See, here is money, and I have a quiet
-tongue. What toil?"
-
-The wizard pointed to a heap of broken and bent pieces of base metal. "I
-was turning dross to gold," said he, in a fearful whisper.
-
-"Can you do that?" asked Antonio, smiling.
-
-"I can, my lord, though but slowly."
-
-"And hate to love?" asked Count Antonio.
-
-The wizard laughed harshly. "Let them that prize love, seek that," said
-he. "It is not for me."
-
-"I would it had been; then had my errand here been a better one. For I
-am come to see the semblance of a maiden's face."
-
-The wizard frowned as he said, "I had looked for a greater matter. For
-you have a mighty enemy, my lord, and I have means of power for freeing
-men of their enemies."
-
-But Count Antonio, knowing that he spoke of some dark device of spell or
-poison, answered, "Enough! enough! For I am a man of quick temper, and
-it is not well to tell me of wicked things, lest I be tempted to
-anticipate Heaven's punishment."
-
-"I shall not die at your hands, my lord," said the wizard. "Come, will
-you see what shall befall you?"
-
-"Nay, I would but see my lady's face; a great yearning for that has come
-over me, and, although I take shame in it, yet it has brought me here."
-
-"You shall see it then; and if you see more, it is not by my will,"
-said the wizard; and he quenched the lamp that burned on the table, and
-flung a handful of some powder on the charcoal in the stove; and the
-room was filled with a thick sweet-smelling vapour. And the wizard tore
-the black cloth off the face of the mirror and bade Antonio look
-steadily in the mirror. Antonio looked till the vapour that enveloped
-all the room cleared off from the face of the mirror, and the wizard,
-laying his hand on Antonio's shoulder, said, "Cry her name thrice." And
-Antonio thrice cried "Lucia!" and again waited. Then something came on
-the polished surface of the mirror; but the wizard muttered low and
-angrily, for it was not the form of Lucia nor of any maiden; yet
-presently he cried low, "Look, my lord, look!" and Antonio, looking, saw
-a dim, and shadowy face in the mirror; and the wizard began to fling his
-body to and fro, uttering strange whispered words; and the sweat stood
-in beads on his forehead. "Now, now!" he cried; and Antonio, with
-beating heart, fastened his gaze on the mirror. And as the story goes (I
-vouch not for it) he saw, though very dimly, the face of Lucia; but
-more he saw also; for beside the face was his own face, and there was a
-rope about his neck, and the half-shaped arm of a gibbet seemed to hover
-above him. And he shrank back for an instant.
-
-"What more you see is not by my will," said the wizard.
-
-"What shall come is only by God's will," said Antonio. "I have seen her
-face. It is enough."
-
-But the wizard clutched him by the arm, whispering in terror, "It is a
-gibbet; and the rope is about your neck."
-
-"Indeed, I seem to have worn it there these three years, and it is not
-drawn tight yet; nor is it drawn in the mirror."
-
-"You have a good courage," said the wizard with a grim smile. "I will
-show you more;" and he flung another powder on the charcoal; and the
-shapes passed from the mirror. But another came; and the wizard, with a
-great cry, fell suddenly on his knees, exclaiming, "They mock me, they
-mock me! They show what they will, not what I will. Ah, my lord, whose
-is the face in the mirror?" And he seized Antonio again by the arm.
-
-"It is your face," said Antonio; "and it is the face of a dead man, for
-his jaw has dropped, and his features are drawn and wrung."
-
-The wizard buried his face in his hands; and so they rested awhile till
-the glass of the mirror cleared; and Antonio felt the body of the wizard
-shaking against his knee.
-
-"You are old," said Antonio, "and death must come to all. Maybe it is a
-lie of the devil; but if not, face it as a man should."
-
-But the wizard trembled still; and Antonio, casting a pitiful glance on
-him, rose to depart. But on the instant as he moved, there came a sudden
-loud knocking at the door of the house, and he stood still. The wizard
-lifted his head to listen.
-
-"Have you had warning of more visitors to-night?" asked Antonio.
-
-"I know not what happens to-night," muttered the wizard. "My power is
-gone to-night."
-
-The knocking at the door came again, loud and impatient.
-
-"They will beat the door down if you do not open," said Antonio. "I will
-hide myself here behind the mirror; for I cannot pass them without being
-seen; and if I am seen here, it is like enough that the mirror will be
-proved right both for you and me."
-
-So Antonio hid himself, crouching down behind the mirror; and the
-wizard, having lit a small dim lamp, went on trembling feet to the door.
-And presently he came back, followed by two men whose faces were hid in
-their cloaks. One of them sat down, but the other stood and flung his
-cloak back over his shoulders; and Antonio, observing him from behind
-the mirror, saw that he was Lorenzo, the Duke's favourite.
-
-Then Lorenzo spoke to the wizard saying, "Why did you not come sooner to
-open the door?"
-
-"There was one here with me," said the wizard, whose air had become
-again composed.
-
-"And is he gone? For we would be alone."
-
-"He is not to be seen," answered the wizard. "Utterly alone here you
-cannot be."
-
-When he heard this, Lorenzo turned pale, for he did not love this
-midnight errand to the wizard's chamber.
-
-"But no man is here," said the wizard.
-
-A low hoarse laugh came from the man who sat. "Tricks of the trade,
-tricks of the trade!" said he; and Antonio started to hear his voice.
-"Be sure that where a prince, a courtier, and a cheat are together, the
-devil makes a fourth. But there is no need to turn pale over it,
-Lorenzo."
-
-When the wizard heard, he fell on his knees; for he knew that it was
-Duke Valentine who spoke.
-
-"Look you, fellow," pursued His Highness, "you owe me much thanks that
-you are not hanged already; for by putting an end to you I should please
-my clergy much and the Syndic of Baratesta not a little. But if you do
-not obey me to-night, you shall be dead before morning."
-
-"I shall not die unless it be written in the stars," said the wizard,
-but his voice trembled.
-
-"I know nothing of the stars," said the Duke, "but I know the mind of
-the Duke of Firmola, and that is enough for my purpose." And he rose
-and began to walk about the chamber, examining the strange objects that
-were there; and thus he came in front of the mirror, and stood within
-half a yard of Antonio. But Lorenzo stood where he was, and once he
-crossed himself secretly and unobserved.
-
-"What would my lord the Duke?" asked the wizard.
-
-"There is a certain drug," said the Duke, turning round towards the
-wizard, "which if a man drink--or a woman, Lorenzo--he can walk on his
-legs and use his arms, and seem to be waking and in his right mind; yet
-is his mind a nothing, for he knows not what he does, but does
-everything that one, being with him, may command, and without seeming
-reluctance; and again, when bidden, he will seem to lose all power of
-movement, and to lack his senses. I saw the thing once when I sojourned
-with the Lord of Florence; for a wizard there, having given the drug to
-a certain man, put him through strange antics, and he performed them all
-willingly."
-
-"Aye, there is such a drug," said the wizard.
-
-"Then give it me," said the Duke; "and I give you your life and fifty
-pieces of gold. For I have great need of it."
-
-Now when Antonio heard the Duke's words, he was seized with great fear;
-for he surmised that it was against Lucia that the Duke meant to use
-this drug; and noiselessly he loosened his sword in its sheath and bent
-forward again to listen.
-
-"And though my purpose is nothing to you, yet it is a benevolent
-purpose. Is it not, Lorenzo?"
-
-"It is your will, not mine, my lord," said Lorenzo in a troubled voice.
-
-"Mine shall be the crime, then, and yours the reward," laughed the Duke.
-"For I will give her the drug, and she shall wed you."
-
-Then Antonio doubted no longer of what was afoot, nor that a plot was
-laid whereby Lucia should be entrapped into marriage with Lorenzo, since
-she could not be openly forced. And anger burned hotly in him. And he
-swore that, sooner than suffer the thing to be done, he would kill the
-Duke there with his own hand or himself be slain.
-
-"And you alone know of this drug now, they say," the Duke went on. "For
-the wizard of Florence is dead. Therefore give it me quickly."
-
-But the wizard answered, "It will not serve, my lord, that I give you
-the drug. With my own hand I must give it to the persons whom you would
-thus affect, and I must tell them what they should do."
-
-"More tricks!" said the Duke scornfully. "I know your ways. Give me the
-drug." And he would not believe what the wizard said.
-
-"It is even as I say," said the wizard. "And if Your Highness will carry
-the drug yourself, I will not vouch its operation."
-
-"Give it me; for I know the appearance of it," said the Duke.
-
-Then the wizard, having again protested, went to a certain shelf and
-from some hidden recess took a small phial, and came with it to the
-Duke, saying, "Blame me not, if its operation fail."
-
-The Duke examined the phial closely, and also smelt its smell. "It is
-the same," said he. "It will do its work."
-
-Then Count Antonio, who believed no more than the Duke what the wizard
-had said concerning the need of his own presence for the working of the
-drug, was very sorely put to it to stay quietly where he was; for if the
-Duke rode away now with the phial, he might well find means to give it
-to the Lady Lucia before any warning could be conveyed to her. And,
-although the danger was great, yet his love for Lucia and his fear for
-her overcame his prudence, and suddenly he sprang from behind the
-mirror, drawing his sword and crying, "Give me that drug, my lord, or
-your life must answer for it."
-
-But fortune served him ill; for as the Duke and Lorenzo shrank back at
-his sudden appearance, and he was about to spring on them, behold, his
-foot caught in the folds of the black cloth that had been over the
-mirror and now lay on the ground, and, falling forward, he struck his
-head on the marble rim that ran round the charcoal stove, and, having
-fallen with great force, lay there like a man dead. With loud cries of
-triumph, the Duke and Lorenzo, having drawn their swords, ran upon him;
-and the Duke planted his foot upon his neck, crying, "Heaven sends a
-greater prize! At last, at last I have him! Bind his hands, Lorenzo."
-
-Lorenzo bound Antonio's hands as he lay there, a log for stillness. The
-Duke turned to the wizard and a smile bent his lips. "O faithful subject
-and servant!" said he. "Well do you requite my mercy and forbearance, by
-harbouring my bitterest enemies and suffering them to hear my secret
-counsels. Had not Antonio chanced to trip, it is like enough he would
-have slain Lorenzo and me also. What shall be your reward, O faithful
-servant?"
-
-When the Wizard of Baratesta beheld the look that was on Duke
-Valentine's face, he suddenly cried aloud, "The mirror, the mirror!" and
-sank in a heap on the floor, trembling in every limb; for he remembered
-the aspect of his own face in the mirror and knew that the hour of his
-death had come. And he feared mightily to die; therefore he besought the
-Duke very piteously, and told him again that from his hand alone could
-the drug receive its potency. And so earnest was he in this, that at
-last he half-won upon the Duke, so that the Duke wavered. And as he
-doubted, his eye fell on Antonio; and he perceived that Antonio was
-recovering from his swoon.
-
-"There is enough for two," said he, "in the phial; and we will put this
-thing to the test. But if you speak or move or make any sign, forthwith
-in that moment you shall die." Then the Duke poured half the contents of
-the phial into a glass and came to Lorenzo and whispered to him, "If the
-drug works on him, and the wizard is proved to lie, the wizard shall
-die; but we will carry Antonio with us; and when I have mustered my
-Guard, I will hang him in the square as I have sworn. But if the drug
-does not work, then we must kill him here; for I fear to carry him
-against his will; for he is a wonderful man, full of resource, and the
-people also love him. Therefore, if the operation of the drug fail, run
-him through with your sword when I give the signal."
-
-Now Antonio was recovering from his swoon, and he overheard part of
-what the Duke said, but not all. As to the death of the wizard he did
-not hear, but he understood that the Duke was about to test the effect
-of the drug on him, and that if it had no effect, he was to die;
-whereas, if its operation proved sufficient, he should go alive; and he
-saw here a chance for his life in case what the wizard had said should
-prove true.
-
-"Drink, Antonio," said the Duke softly. "No harm comes to you. Drink: it
-is a refreshing draught."
-
-And Antonio drank the draught, the wizard looking on with parted lips
-and with great drops of sweat running from his forehead and thence down
-his cheeks to his mouth, so that his lips were salt when he licked them.
-And the Duke, having seen that Lorenzo had his sword ready for Antonio,
-took his stand by the wizard with the dagger from his belt in his hand.
-And he cried to Antonio, "Rise." And Antonio rose up. The wizard started
-a step towards him; but the Duke showed his dagger, and said to Antonio,
-"Will you go with me to Firmola, Antonio?"
-
-And Antonio answered, "I will go."
-
-"Do you love me, Antonio?" asked the Duke.
-
-"Aye, my lord," answered Antonio.
-
-"Yet you have done many wicked things against me."
-
-"True, my lord," said Antonio.
-
-"Is your mind then changed?"
-
-"It is, my lord," said Antonio.
-
-"Then leap two paces into the air," said the Duke; and Antonio
-straightway obeyed.
-
-"Go down on your knees and crawl;" and Antonio crawled, smiling secretly
-to himself.
-
-Then the Duke bade Lorenzo mount Antonio on his horse; and he commanded
-the wizard to follow him; and they all went out where the horses were;
-and the three mounted, and the wizard followed; and they came to the end
-of the bridge. There the Duke turned sharp round and rode by the side of
-the rushing river. And, suddenly pausing, he said to Antonio, "Commend
-thy soul to God and leap in."
-
-And Antonio commended his soul to God, and would have leapt in; but the
-Duke caught him by the arm even as he set spurs to his horse, saying,
-"Do not leap." And Antonio stayed his leap. Then the Duke turned his
-face on the wizard, saying, "The potion works, wizard. Why did you lie?"
-
-Then the wizard fell on his knees, cursing hell and heaven; for he could
-not see how he should escape. For the potion worked. And Antonio
-wondered what should fall out next. But Duke Valentine leapt down from
-his horse and approached the wizard, while Lorenzo set his sword against
-Antonio's breast. And the Duke, desirous to make a final trial, cried
-again to Antonio, "Fling yourself from your horse." And Antonio, having
-his arms bound, yet flung himself from his horse, and fell prone on the
-ground, and lay there sorely bruised.
-
-"It is enough," said the Duke. "You lied, wizard."
-
-But the wizard cried, "I lied not, I lied not, my lord. Slay me not, my
-lord! For I dare not die."
-
-But the Duke caught him by the throat and drove his dagger into his
-breast till the fingers that held the dagger were buried in the folds
-of the wizard's doublet; and the Duke pulled out the dagger, and, when
-the wizard fell, he pushed him with his foot over the brink, and the
-body fell with a loud splash into the river below.
-
-Thus died the Wizard of Baratesta, who was famed above all of his day
-for the hidden knowledge that he had; yet he served not God, but Satan,
-and his end was the end of a sinner. And, many days after, his body was
-found a hundred miles from that place; and certain charitable men,
-brethren of my own order, gave it burial. So that he died that same
-night in which the mirror had shown him his face as the face of a dead
-man; but whence came the vision I know not.
-
-Then the Duke set Antonio again on his horse, and the three rode
-together towards Firmola, and as they went, again and again the Duke
-tested the operation of the drug, setting Antonio many strange,
-ludicrous, and unseemly things to do and to say; and Antonio did and
-said them all. But he wondered greatly that the drug had no power over
-him, and that his brain was clear and his senses all his own; nor did
-he then believe that the Duke had, in truth, slain the wizard for any
-reason save that the wizard had harboured him, an outlaw, and suffered
-him to hear the Duke's counsels: and he was grieved at the wizard's
-death.
-
-Thus they rode through the night; and it was the hour of dawn when they
-came to the gates of Firmola. Now Antonio was puzzled what he should do;
-for having been in a swoon, he knew not whether the Duke had more of the
-potion; nor could he tell with certainty whether the potion would be
-powerless against the senses of a weak girl as it had proved against his
-own. Therefore he said to the Duke, "I pray you, my lord, give me more
-of that sweet drink. For it has refreshed me and set my mind at rest
-from all trouble."
-
-"Nay, Antonio, you have had enough," said the Duke, bantering him. "I
-have another use for the rest." And they were now nearing the gates of
-Firmola. Then Antonio began to moan pitifully, saying, "These bonds hurt
-my hands;" and he whined and did as a child would do, feigning to cry.
-The Duke laughed in bitter triumph, saying to Lorenzo, "Indeed it is a
-princely drug that makes Antonio of Monte Velluto like a peevish child!"
-And being now very secure of the power of the drug, he bade Lorenzo
-loosen the bonds, saying to Antonio, "Take the reins, Antonio, and ride
-with us into the city."
-
-And Antonio answered, "I will, my good lord."
-
-"It is even as I saw when I was with the Lord of Florence," whispered
-the Duke in exultation.
-
-"Yet I will still have my sword ready," said Lorenzo.
-
-"There is no need; he is like a tame dog," said the Duke carelessly.
-
-But the Duke was not minded to produce Antonio to the people till all
-his Guards were collected and under arms, and the people thus restrained
-by a great show of force. Therefore he bade Antonio cover his face with
-his cloak; and Antonio, Lorenzo's sword being still at his breast,
-obeyed; and thus they three rode through the gates of Firmola and came
-to the Duke's palace; and Antonio did all that the Duke ordered, and
-babbled foolishly like a bewildered child when the Duke asked him
-questions, so that His Highness laughed mightily, and, coming into the
-garden, sat down in his favourite place by the fish-pond, causing
-Antonio to stand over against him.
-
-"Indeed, Antonio," said he, "I can do no other than hang you."
-
-"If it be your pleasure, my lord."
-
-"And then Lucia shall drink of this wonderful drug also, and she will be
-content and obedient, and will gladly wed Lorenzo. Let us have her here
-now, and give it to her without delay. You do not fret at that, Antonio?
-You love not the obstinate girl?"
-
-"In truth, no," laughed Antonio. "She is naught to me!" And he put his
-hand to his head, saying perplexedly, "Lucia? Yes, I remember that name.
-Who was she? Was she aught to me, my lord?"
-
-Then Lorenzo wondered greatly, and the doubts that he had held
-concerning the power of the wizard's drug melted away; yet he did not
-laugh like the Duke, but looked on Antonio and said sadly to the Duke,
-sinking his voice, "Not thus should Antonio of Monte Velluto have died."
-
-"So he dies, I care not how," answered the Duke. "Indeed, I love to see
-him a witless fool even while his body is yet alive. O rare wizard, I go
-near to repenting having done justice on you! Go, Lorenzo, to the
-officer of the Guard and bid him fetch hither the Lady Lucia, and we
-will play the pretty comedy to the end."
-
-"Will you be alone with him?" asked Lorenzo.
-
-"Aye; why not? See! he is tame enough," and he buffeted Antonio in the
-face with his riding-glove. And Antonio whimpered and whined.
-
-Now the officer of the Guard was in his lodge at the entrance of the
-palace, on the other side of the great hall; and Lorenzo turned and
-went, and presently the sound of his feet on the marble floor of the
-hall grew faint and distant. The Duke sat with the phial in his hand,
-smiling at Antonio who crouched at his feet. And Antonio drew himself on
-his knees quite close to the Duke, and looked up in his face with a
-foolish empty smile. And the Duke, laughing, buffeted him again. Then,
-with a sudden spring, like the spring of that Indian tiger which the
-Mogul of Delhi sent lately as a gift to the Most Christian King, and the
-king, for his diversion, made to slay deer before him at the _chateau_
-of Blois (which I myself saw, being there on a certain mission, and
-wonderful was the sight), Count Antonio, leaping, was upon the Duke; and
-he snatched the philtre from the Duke's hand and seized the Duke's head
-in his hands and wrenched his jaw open, and he poured the contents of
-the phial down the Duke's throat, and the Duke swallowed the potion.
-Then Antonio fixed a stern and imperious glance on the Duke, nailing his
-eyes to the Duke's and the Duke's to his, and he said in a voice of
-command, "Obey! You have drunk the potion!" And still he kept his eyes
-on the Duke's. And the Duke, amazed, suddenly began to tremble, and
-sought to rise; and Antonio took his hands off him, but said, "Sit
-there, and move not." Then, although Antonio's hands were no longer upon
-him, yet His Highness did not rise, but after a short struggle with
-himself sank back in his seat, and stared at Antonio like a bird
-fascinated by a snake. And he moaned, "Take away your eyes; they burn my
-brain. Take them away." But Antonio gazed all the more intently at him,
-saying, "Be still, be still!" and holding up his arm in enforcement of
-his command. And Antonio took from the Duke the sword that he wore and
-the dagger wherewith the Duke had killed the Wizard of Baratesta, he
-making no resistance, but sitting motionless with bewildered stare. Then
-Antonio looked round, for he knew that Lorenzo would soon come. And for
-the last time he bent his eyes again on the Duke's eyes in a very long
-gaze and the Duke cowered and shivered, moaning, "You hurt me, you hurt
-me."
-
-Then Antonio said, "Be still and speak not till I return and bid you;"
-and he suddenly left the Duke and ran at the top of his speed along
-under the wall of the garden, and came where the wall ended; and there
-was a flight of steps leading up on to the top of the wall. Running up
-it, Antonio stood for a moment on the wall; and the river ran fifty
-feet below. But he heard a cry from the garden, and beheld Lorenzo
-rushing up to the Duke, and behind Lorenzo, the Captain of the Guard
-and, two men who led a maiden in white. Then Count Antonio, having
-commended himself to the keeping of God, leapt head foremost from the
-top of the wall into the river, and his body clove the water as an arrow
-cleaves the wand.
-
-Now Lorenzo marvelled greatly at what he saw, and came to the Duke
-crying, "My lord, what does this mean? Antonio flies!" But the Duke
-answered nothing, sitting with empty eyes and lips set in a rigid smile;
-nor did he move. "My lord, what ails you?" cried Lorenzo. Yet the Duke
-did not answer. Then Lorenzo's eye fell on the fragments of the phial
-which lay broken on the rim of the fish-pond where Antonio had flung it;
-and he cried out in great alarm, "The potion! Where is the potion?" But
-the Duke did not answer. And Lorenzo was much bewildered and in sore
-fear; for it seemed as though His Highness's senses were gone; and
-Lorenzo said, "By some means he has drunk the potion!" And he ran up to
-the Duke, and caught him by the arm and shook him violently, seeking to
-rouse him from his stupor, and calling his name with entreaties, and
-crying, "He escapes, my lord; Antonio escapes! Rouse yourself, my
-lord--he escapes!" But the Duke did no more than lift heavy dull eyes to
-Lorenzo's face in puzzled inquiry.
-
-And, seeing the strange thing, the Captain of the Guard hurried up, and
-with him the Lady Lucia, and she said, "Alas, my lord is ill!" and
-coming to His Highness she set her cool soft hand on his hot throbbing
-brow, and took perfume from a silver flask that hung at her girdle, and
-wetted her handkerchief with it and bathed his brow, whispering soft
-soothing words to him, as though he had been a sick woman. For let a
-woman have what grudge she may against a man, yet he gains pardon for
-all so soon as he becomes sick enough to let her nurse and comfort him;
-and Lucia was as tender to the Duke as to the Count Antonio himself,
-and forgot all save the need of giving him ease and rousing him from
-his stupor.
-
-But Lorenzo cried angrily, "I at least have my senses!" And he said to
-the Captain of the Guard, "I must needs stay with His Highness; but
-Antonio of Monte Velluto has leapt from the wall into the river. Go and
-bring him here, dead or alive, and I will be your warrant to the Duke.
-But if he be as when I saw him last, he will give you small trouble. For
-he was like a child for weakness and folly." And having said this, he
-turned to the Duke again, and gave his aid to Lucia's ministrations.
-
-Now the gentleman who commanded the Duke's Guard at this time was a
-Spaniard, by name Corogna, and he was young, of high courage, and
-burning to do some great deed. Therefore he said, "I pray he be as he is
-wont to be: yet I will bring him to the feet of my lord the Duke." And
-he ran swiftly through the hall and called for his horse, and drawing
-his sword, rode alone out of the city and across the bridge, seeking
-Antonio, and saying to himself, "What a thing if I take him! And if he
-slay me, why, I will show that a gentleman of Andalusia can die;" yet
-he thought for an instant of the house where his mother lived. Then he
-scanned the plain, and he beheld a man running some half-mile away; and
-the man seemed to be making for the hill on which stood the ruins of
-Antonio's house that the Duke had burnt. Then Corogna set spurs to his
-horse; but the man, whom by his stature and gait Corogna knew to be
-Antonio, ran very swiftly, and was not overtaken before he came to the
-hill; and he began to mount by a very steep rugged path, and he was out
-of sight in the trees when Corogna came to the foot. And Corogna's horse
-stumbled among the stones, and could not mount the path; so Corogna
-sprang off his back and ran on foot up the path, sword in hand. And he
-came in sight of Antonio round a curve of the path three parts of the
-way up the hill. Antonio was leaning against the trunk of a tree and
-wringing the water out of his cloak. Corogna drew near, sword in hand,
-and with a prayer to the Holy Virgin on his lips. And he trembled, not
-with fear, but because fate offered a great prize, and his name would
-be famed throughout Italy if he slew or took Antonio of Monte Velluto;
-and for fame, even as for a woman's smile, a young man will tremble as a
-coward quakes with fear.
-
-The Count Antonio stood as though sunk in a reverie; yet, presently,
-hearing Corogna's tread, he raised his eyes, and smiling kindly on the
-young man, he said, "Very strange are the ways of Heaven, sir. I think
-that the Wizard of Baratesta spoke truth, and did not lie to the Duke.
-Yet I had that same power which the wizard claimed, although the Duke
-had none over me. We are children, sir, and our game is blind-man's
-buff; but all are blinded, and it is but the narrowest glimpse that we
-obtain now and again by some clever shifting of the handkerchief. Yet
-there are some things clear enough; as that a man should do his work,
-and be clean and true. What would you with me, sir? For I do not think I
-know you."
-
-"I am of Andalusia, and my name is Corogna. I am Captain of His
-Highness's Guard, and I come to bring you, alive or dead, to his
-presence."
-
-"And are you come alone on that errand, sir?" asked Antonio with a smile
-that he strove to smother, lest it should wound the young man's honour.
-
-"David slew Goliath, my lord," said the Spaniard with a bow.
-
-Then Count Antonio held out his hand to the young man and said
-courteously, "Sir, your valour needs no proof and fears no reproach. I
-pray you suffer me to go in peace. I would not fight with you, if I may
-avoid it honourably. For what has happened has left me more in the mood
-for thinking than for fighting. Besides, sir, you are young, and, far
-off in Andalusia, loving eyes, and maybe sparkling eyes, are strained to
-the horizon, seeking your face as you return."
-
-"What is all that, my lord?" asked Corogna. "I am a man, though a young
-one; and I am here to carry you to the Duke." And he touched Antonio's
-sword with his, saying, "Guard yourself."
-
-"It is with great pain and reluctance that I take my sword, and I call
-you to witness of it; but if I must, I must;" and the Count took up his
-position and they crossed swords.
-
-Now Corogna was well-taught and skilful, but he did not know the cunning
-which Antonio had learned in the school of Giacomo in Padua, nor had he
-the strength and endurance of the Count. Antonio would fain have wearied
-him out, and then, giving him some slight wound to cover his honour,
-have left him and escaped; but the young man came at him impetuously,
-and neglected to guard himself while he thrust at his enemy: once and
-again the Count spared him; but he did not know that he had received the
-courtesy, and taking heart from his immunity came at Antonio more
-fiercely again; until at last Antonio, breathing a sigh, stiffened his
-arm, and, waiting warily for the young man again to uncover himself,
-thrust at his breast, and the sword's point entered hard by the young
-man's heart; and the young man staggered, and would have fallen,
-dropping his sword; but Antonio cast away his own sword and supported
-him, stanching the blood from the wound and crying, "God send I have not
-killed him!"
-
-And on his speech came the voice of Tommasino, saying carelessly, "Here,
-in truth, cousin, is a good prayer wasted on a Spaniard!"
-
-Antonio, looking up, saw Tommasino and Bena. And Tommasino said, "When
-you did not come back, we set out to seek you, fearing that you were
-fallen into some snare and danger. And behold, we find you nursing this
-young spark; and how you missed his heart, Antonio, I know not, nor what
-Giacomo of Padua would say to such bungling."
-
-But Antonio cared not for his cousin's words, which were spoken in a
-banter that a man uses to hide his true feelings; and they three set
-themselves to save the young man's life; for Tommasino and Bena had seen
-the better part of the fight and perceived that he was a gallant youth.
-But as they tended him, there came shouts and the sound of horses' hoofs
-mounting the hill by the winding road that led past Antonio's house. And
-Tommasino touched Antonio on the shoulder, saying, "We can do no more
-for him; and if we linger, we must fight again."
-
-Then they laid the young man down, Antonio stripping off his cloak and
-making a pillow of it; and Bena brought the horses, for they had led one
-with them for Antonio, in case there should be need of it; and they were
-but just mounted when twenty of the Duke's Guard appeared three hundred
-yards away, ascending the crest of the hill.
-
-"Thank Heaven there are so many," said Antonio, "for now we can flee
-without shame;" and they set spurs to their horses and fled. And certain
-of the Duke's Guard pursued, but only two or three were so well mounted
-as to be able to come near them; and these two or three, finding that
-they would be man to man, had no liking for the business, and each
-called out that his horse was foundered; and thus it was that none of
-them came up with Count Antonio, but all, after a while, returned
-together to the city, carrying the young Spaniard Corogna, their
-captain. But as they drew near to the gates, Corogna opened his eyes and
-murmured some soft-syllabled name that they could not hear, and, having
-with failing fingers signed the cross, turned on his side and died. And
-they brought his body to the great hall of the Duke's palace.
-
-There in the great hall sat Duke Valentine: his face was pale and his
-frown heavy, and he gazed on the dead body of the young man and spoke no
-word. Yet he had loved Corogna, and out of love for him had made him
-Captain of his Guard. And he passed his hand wearily across his brow,
-murmuring, "I cannot think, I cannot think." And the Lady Lucia stood by
-him, her hand resting on his shoulder and her eyes full of tears. But at
-last the strange spell which lay on the senses of the Duke passed away:
-his eyes again had the light of reason in them, and he listened while
-they told him how Antonio had himself escaped, and had afterwards slain
-Corogna on the top of the hill where Antonio's house had stood. And the
-Duke was very sorry for Corogna's death: and he looked round on them
-all, saying, "He made of me a log of wood, and not a man. For when I had
-drunk and looked in his eyes, it seemed to me that my eyes were bound to
-his, and that I looked to him for command, and to know what I should
-do, and that he was my God, and without his will I could not move. Yes,
-I was then to him even as he had seemed to be to me as we rode from
-Baratesta. And even now I am not free from this strange affection; for
-he seems still to be by me, and if his voice came now bidding me to do
-anything, by St. Prisian, I should arise and do it! Send my physician to
-me. And let this young man lie in the Chapel of the Blessed Virgin in
-the Cathedral, and to-morrow he shall be buried. But when I am well, and
-this strange affection is passed from me, and hangs no more like a fog
-over my brain, then I will exact the price of his death from Antonio,
-together with the reckoning of all else in respect of which he stands in
-my debt."
-
-But the Lady Lucia, hearing this, said boldly, "My lord, it is by your
-deed and through your devices that this gentleman has met his death, and
-the blame of it is yours, and not my lord Antonio's."
-
-At her bold and angry words Duke Valentine was roused, and the last of
-his languor left him; and he glared at her in wrath, crying "Go to your
-house;" and he rose up suddenly from where he sat and went into his
-cabinet, Lorenzo attending him. And on the day after he walked first
-behind the bier of Corogna, and his face was very pale, but his air
-composed and his manner as it was wont to be. For the spell had passed
-and he was his own man again.
-
-But Count Antonio heard with great grief of the death of the young man,
-and was very sorry that he had been constrained to kill him, and took
-great blame to himself for seeking counsel of the Wizard of Baratesta,
-whence had come death to the young man no less than to the wizard
-himself.
-
-Such is the story of the drug which the Wizard of Baratesta gave to Duke
-Valentine of Firmola. To me it seems a strange tale, but yet it is well
-attested and stands on as strong a rock of testimony as anything which
-is told concerning the Count. The truth of it I do not understand, and
-often I ponder of it, wondering whether the Wizard of Baratesta spoke
-truth, and why the drug which had no power over Count Antonio bound the
-senses and limbs of the Duke in utter torpor and helplessness. And once,
-when I was thus musing over the story, there came to my cell a monk of
-the Abbey of St. Prisian, who was an old man and very learned; and I
-went to walk with him in the garden, and coming to the fountain we sat
-down by the basin; and knowing that his lore was wide and deep, I set
-before him all the story, asking him if he knew of this strange drug;
-but he smiled at me, and taking the cup that lay by the basin of the
-fountain, he filled it with the clear sparkling water and drank a
-little, and held the cup to me, saying, "I think the Wizard of Baratesta
-would have wrought the spell as well with no other drug than this."
-
-"You say a strange thing," said I.
-
-"And I do not marvel," said he, "that the Duke had no power over Count
-Antonio, for he knew not how to wield such power. But neither do I
-wonder that power lay in Count Antonio to bend the mind of the Duke to
-his will. I warrant you, Ambrose, that the wonderful drug was not
-difficult to compound."
-
-Then I understood what he meant; for he would have it that the drug was
-but a screen and a pretence, and that the power lay not in it, but in
-the man that gave it. Yet surely this is to explain what is obscure by a
-thing more obscure, and falls thus into a fault hated of the logicians.
-For Heaven may well have made a drug that binds the senses and limbs of
-men. Has not the poppy some such effect? And the ancients fabled the
-like of the lotus plant. But can we conceive that one man should by the
-mere glance of his eye have such power over another as to become to him,
-by these means and no other, a lord and master? In truth I find that
-hard to believe, and I doubt whether a man may lawfully believe it. Yet
-I know not. Knowledge spreads, and men grow wiser in hidden things; and
-although I who write may not live till the time when the thing shall be
-made clear, yet it may be God's will to send such light to the men of
-later days that, reading this story, they may find in it nothing that is
-strange or unknown to their science and skill. I pray that they may use
-the knowledge God sends in His holy service, and not in the work of the
-devil, as did the Wizard of Baratesta.
-
-But Count Antonio being, by his guile and adroitness, and by that
-strange power which he had from the drug or whence I know not, delivered
-out of the hands of Duke Valentine, abode with his company on the hills
-throughout the cold of winter, expecting the day when he might win the
-hand of the Lady Lucia; and she returned to her house, and said nothing
-of what had befallen the Duke. Yet the Duke showed her no tenderness,
-but rather used more severity with her. It is an evil service to a proud
-man to aid him in his day of humiliation.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER V.
-
-COUNT ANTONIO AND THE SACRED BONES.
-
-
-There is one tale concerning Count Antonio of Monte Velluto, when he
-dwelt an outlaw in the hills, which men tell with fear and doubt,
-marvelling at the audacity of his act, and sometimes asking themselves
-whether he would in very truth have performed what he swore on the faith
-of his honour he would do, in case the Duke did not accede to his
-demands. For the thing he threatened was such as no man of Firmola dares
-think on without a shudder; for we of Firmola prize and reverence the
-bones of our saint, the holy martyr Prisian, above and far beyond every
-other relic, and they are to us as it were the sign and testimony of
-God's enduring favour to our country. But much will a man do for love of
-a woman, and Antonio's temper brooked no obstacle: so that I, who know
-all the truth of the matter, may not doubt that he would have done even
-as he said, braving the wrath of Heaven and making naught of the terror
-and consternation that had fallen on the city and the parts round about
-it. Whether that thought of his heart was such as would gain pardon, I
-know not: had the thing been done, I could scarce hope even in Heaven's
-infinite mercy. Yet this story also I must tell, lest I be charged with
-covering up what shames Antonio; for with the opinions of careless and
-faithless men (who are too many in this later age) I have no communion,
-and I tell the tale not to move laughter or loose jests, but rather that
-I may show to what extremity a man in nature good may be driven by
-harshness and the unmerited disfavour of his Prince.
-
-In the third year, then, of Count Antonio's outlawry, His Highness the
-Duke looked on the Lady Lucia and found that she was of full age for
-marriage. Therefore he resolved that she should be wed, and, since
-Robert de Beauregard, to whom he had purposed to give her, was dead, he
-chose from among his lords a certain gentleman of great estate and a
-favourite of his, by name Lorenzo, and sent word to Lucia that she had
-spent too much of her youth pining for what could not be hers, and must
-forthwith receive Lorenzo for her husband. But Lucia, being by now a
-woman and no more a timid girl, returned to His Highness a message that
-she would look on no other man than Antonio. On this the Duke, greatly
-incensed, sent and took her, and set her in a convent within the city
-walls, and made her know that there she should abide till her life's
-end, or until she should obey his command; and he charged the Abbess to
-treat her harshly and to break down her pride: and he swore that she
-should wed Lorenzo; or, if she were obstinate, then she should take the
-vows of a nun in the convent. Many weeks the Lady Lucia abode in the
-convent, resisting all that was urged upon her. But at last, finding no
-help from Antonio, being sore beset and allowed no rest, she broke one
-day into passionate and pitiful weeping, and bade the Abbess tell His
-Highness that, since happiness was not for her in this world, she would
-seek to find it in Heaven, and would take the vows, rendering all her
-estate into the Duke's hand, that he might have it, and give it to
-Lorenzo or to whom he would. Which message being told to Duke Valentine,
-weary of contending with her, and perchance secretly fearing that
-Antonio would slay Lorenzo as he had slain Robert, he cursed her for an
-obstinate wench, and bade her take the vows, and set a day for her to
-take them: but her estate he assumed into his own hand, and made from
-out of it a gift of great value to Lorenzo. And Lorenzo, they say, was
-well content thus to be quit of the matter. "For," said he, "while that
-devil is loose in the hills, no peace would there have been for the
-lady's husband."
-
-But when it came to the ears of Count Antonio that the Lady Lucia was to
-take the veil on the morrow of the feast of St. Prisian, his rage and
-affliction knew no bounds. "If need be," he cried, "I will attack the
-city with all my men, before I will suffer it."
-
-"Your men would be all killed, and she would take the veil none the
-less," said Tommasino. For Antonio had but fifty men, and although they
-were stout fellows and impossible to subdue so long as they stayed in
-the hills, yet their strength would have been nothing against a fortress
-and the Duke's array.
-
-"Then," said Antonio, "I will go alone and die alone."
-
-As he spoke, he perceived Martolo coming to him, and, calling him, he
-asked him what he would. Now Martolo was a devout man and had been much
-grieved when Antonio had fallen under a sentence of excommunication by
-reason of a certain quarrel that he had with the Abbot of the Abbey of
-St. Prisian in the hills, wherein the Count had incurred the
-condemnation of the Church, refusing, as his way was, to admit any rule
-save of his own conscience. Yet Martolo abode with Antonio from love of
-him. And now he bowed and answered, "My lord, in three days it is the
-feast of St. Prisian, and the sacred bones will then be carried from the
-shrine in the church of the saint at Rilano to the city." For it was at
-Rilano that Prisian had suffered, and a rich church had been built on
-the spot.
-
-"I remember that it is wont to be so, Martolo," answered the Count.
-
-"When I dwelt with my father," said Martolo, "I was accustomed to go
-forth with all the people of my village and meet the sacred bones, and
-kneeling, receive the benediction from the Lord Archbishop as he passed,
-bearing the bones in their golden casket. And the like I would do this
-year, my lord."
-
-"But are you not excommunicated in company with Count Antonio and me?"
-asked Tommasino, lightly smiling; for Tommasino also stood condemned.
-
-"I pray not. I was not named in the sentence," said Martolo, signing the
-cross.
-
-"Go in peace, Martolo; but see that you are not taken by the Duke's
-men," said Count Antonio.
-
-"But few of them go with the Archbishop, my lord. For who would lay
-hands on the sacred bones? The guard is small, and I shall easily elude
-them." So Martolo departed, and told the man they called Bena what had
-passed; but Bena was a graceless fellow and would not go with him.
-
-Now when Martolo was gone, Count Antonio sat down on a great stone and
-for a long while he said nothing to Tommasino. But certain words out of
-those which Martolo had spoken were echoing through his brain, and he
-could not put them aside; for they came again and again and again; and
-at last, looking up at Tommasino who stood by him, he said, "Tommasino,
-who would lay hands on the sacred bones?"
-
-Tommasino looked down into his eyes; then he laid a hand on his
-shoulder; and Antonio still looked up and repeated, "Who would lay hands
-on the sacred bones?"
-
-Tommasino's eyes grew round in wonder: he smiled, but his smile was
-uneasy, and he shifted his feet. "Is it that you think of, Antonio?" he
-asked in a low voice. "Beside it, it would be a light thing to kill the
-Duke in his own palace."
-
-Then Antonio cried, striking his fist on the palm of his hand, "Are dead
-bones more sacred than that living soul on which the Duke lays hands to
-force it to his will?"
-
-"The people reverence the bones as God Himself," said Tommasino,
-troubled.
-
-"I also reverence them," said Antonio, and fell again into thought. But
-presently he rose and took Tommasino's arm, and for a long while they
-walked to and fro. Then they went and sought out certain chosen men of
-the band; for the greater part they dared not trust in such a matter,
-but turned only to them that were boldest and recked least of sacred
-things. To ten of such Antonio opened his counsel; and by great rewards
-he prevailed on them to come into the plan, although they were, for all
-their boldness, very sore afraid lest they, laying hands on the bones,
-should be smitten as was he who touched the Ark of the Covenant.
-Therefore Antonio said, "I alone will lay hands on the golden casket;
-the rest of you shall but hold me harmless while I take it."
-
-"But if the Lord Archbishop will not let it go?"
-
-"The Lord Archbishop," said Tommasino, "will let it go." For Tommasino
-did not love the Archbishop, because he would not remove the sentence of
-excommunication which he had laid upon Antonio and Tommasino on the
-prayer of the Abbot of St. Prisian's.
-
-Now when the feast of St. Prisian was come, the Lord Archbishop, who had
-ridden from the city on the eve of the feast, and had lodged in the
-house of the priests that served the church, went with all his train
-into the church, and, the rest standing afar off and veiling their eyes,
-took from the wall of the church, near by the High Altar, the golden
-casket that held the bones of the blessed St. Prisian. And he wrapped
-the casket in a rich cloth and held it high before him in his two hands.
-And when the people had worshipped, the Archbishop left the church and
-entered his chair and passed through the village of Rilano, the priests
-and attendants going first, and twelve of the Duke's Guard, whom the
-Duke had sent, following after. Great was the throng of folk, come from
-all the country round to gaze on the casket and on the procession of the
-Lord Archbishop; and most devout of them all was Martolo, who rested on
-his knees from the moment the procession left the church till it was
-clear of the village. And Martolo was still on his knees when he beheld
-go by him a party of peasants, all, save one, tall and powerful men,
-wearing peasants' garb and having their faces overshadowed by large
-hats. These men also had knelt as the casket passed, but they had risen,
-and were marching shoulder to shoulder behind the men of the Duke's
-Guard, a peasant behind every pikeman. Martolo gazed long at them; then
-he moistened his lips and crossed himself, murmuring, "What does this
-thing mean? Now God forbid----!" And, breaking off thus, he also rose
-and went to the house of his father, sore vexed and troubled to know
-what the thing might mean. But he spoke of it to none, no, not to his
-father, observing the vow of secrecy in all matters which he had made to
-Count Antonio.
-
-At the bounds of the village the greater part of the people ceased to
-follow the procession of the sacred bones, and, having received the
-Archbishop's blessing, turned back to their own homes, where they
-feasted and made merry; but the twelve peasants whom Martolo had seen
-followed the procession when it set forth for the next village, distant
-three miles on the road to Firmola. Their air manifested great
-devotion, for they walked with heads bent on their breasts and downcast
-eyes, and they spoke not once on the way; but each kept close behind a
-pikeman. When the procession had gone something more than a mile from
-the village of Rilano, it came where a little stream crosses the
-highway; and the rains having been heavy for a week before, the stream
-was swollen and the ford deeper than it was wont to be. Therefore the
-officer of the Guard, thinking of no danger, bade six of his men lay
-down their pikes and go lift the Archbishop's chair over the ford, lest
-the Archbishop should be wetted by the water. And on hearing this order,
-the tallest among the peasants put his hand up to his hat and twisted
-the feather of it between his thumb and his forefinger: and the shortest
-of them whispered, "The sign! The sign!" while every man of them drew a
-great dagger from under his habit and held it behind his back. Now by
-this time the priests and attendants had passed the ford; and one-half
-of the Guard had laid down their pikes and were gone to raise the
-Archbishop's chair, the remainder standing at their ease, leaning on
-their pikes and talking to one another. Again the tallest peasant
-twisted the feather in his hat; and without speech or cry the peasants
-darted forward. Six of them seized the pikes that lay on the ground; the
-remaining six sprang like wild-cats on the backs of the pikemen,
-circling the necks of the pikemen with their arms, pulling them back and
-coming near to throttling them, so that the pikemen, utterly amazed and
-taken full at disadvantage, staggered and fell backward, while the
-peasants got on the top of them and knelt on their breasts and set the
-great daggers at their hearts. While this passed on the road, the
-remainder of Antonio's band--for such were the peasants--rushed into the
-stream and compelled the unarmed pikemen to set down the Archbishop's
-chair in the midst, so that the water came in at the windows of the
-chair; and the pikemen, held at bay with their own pikes, sought to draw
-their poniards, but Antonio cried, "Slay any that draw!" And he came to
-the chair and opened the door of it, and, using as little force as he
-might, he laid hands on the casket that held the sacred bones, and
-wrested it from the feeble hands of the Archbishop. Then he and his men,
-standing in line, stepped backwards with the pikes levelled in front of
-them till they came out of the water and on to the dry road again; and
-one pikeman rushed at Antonio, but Tommasino, sparing to kill him,
-caught him a buffet on the side of the head with a pike, and he fell
-like a log in the water, and had been drowned, but that two of his
-comrades lifted him. Then all twelve of the band being together--for the
-first six had risen now from off the six pikemen, having forced them, on
-pain of instant death, to deliver over their pikes to them--Antonio,
-with the casket in his hands, spoke in a loud voice, "I thank God that
-no man is dead over this business; but if you resist, you shall die one
-and all. Go to the city; tell the Duke that I, Antonio of Monte Velluto,
-have the bones of the blessed St. Prisian, and carry them with me to my
-hiding-place in the highest parts of the hills. But if he will swear by
-these bones that I hold, and by his princely word, that he will not
-suffer the Lady Lucia to take the vows, nor will constrain her to wed
-any man, but will restore her to her own house and to her estate, then
-let him send the Archbishop again, and I will deliver up the sacred
-bones. But if he will not swear, then, as God lives, to-morrow, at
-midnight, I will cause a great fire to be kindled on the top of the
-hills--a fire whose flame you shall see from the walls of the city--and
-in that fire will I consume the sacred bones, and I will scatter the
-ashes of them to the four winds. Go and bear the message that I give you
-to the Duke."
-
-And, having thus said, Antonio, with his men, turned and went back at a
-run along the road by which they had come; but to the village of Rilano
-they did not go, but turned aside before they came to it, and, coming to
-the farm of one who knew Antonio, they bought of him, paying him in good
-coin of the Duchy, three horses, which Antonio, Tommasino, and Bena
-mounted; and they three rode hard for the hills, the rest following as
-quickly as they might; so that by nightfall they were all safely
-assembled in their hiding-place, and with them the bones of the blessed
-St. Prisian. But they told not yet to the rest of the band what it was
-that Antonio carried under his cloak; nor did Martolo, when he returned
-from Rilano, ask what had befallen, but he crossed himself many times
-and wore a fearful look.
-
-But Tommasino came to Antonio and said to him, "Why did you not ask also
-pardon for all of us, and for yourself the hand of Lucia?"
-
-"A great thing, and a thing that troubles me, I have done already,"
-answered Antonio. "Therefore I will ask nothing for myself, and nothing
-may I ask for you or for my friends. But if I ask nothing save that
-right and justice be done, it may be that my sin in laying hands on the
-sacred bones will be the less."
-
-Now after Antonio and his men were gone, the Archbishop's train stayed
-long by the stream on the road, lamenting and fearing to go forward. Yet
-at last they went forward, and being come to the next village found all
-the people awaiting them at the bounds. And when the people saw the
-disorder of the procession, and that the pikemen had no pikes, they ran
-forward, eagerly asking what had befallen; and learning of the
-calamity, they were greatly afraid and cursed Antonio; and many of them
-accompanied the Archbishop on his way to the city, whence he came
-towards evening. A great concourse of people awaited his coming there,
-and the Duke himself sat on a lofty seat in the great square, prepared
-to receive the sacred bones, and go with them to the Cathedral, where
-they were to be exposed to the gaze of the people at High Mass. And they
-set the Archbishop's chair down before the Duke's seat, and the
-Archbishop came and stood before the Duke, and his priests and the
-pikemen with him. And the Duke started up from his seat, crying, "What
-ails you?" and sank back again, and sat waiting to hear what the
-Archbishop should say.
-
-Then the Archbishop, his robes still damp and greatly disordered, his
-limbs trembling in anger and in fear, raised his voice; and all the
-multitude in the square was silent while he declared to His Highness
-what things Count Antonio had done, and rehearsed the message that he
-had sent. But when the Archbishop told how Antonio had sworn that as
-God lived he would scatter the ashes of the sacred bones to the winds,
-the men caught their breath with a gasp, while the women murmured
-affrightedly, "Christ save us;" and Duke Valentine dug the nails of his
-hand, whereon his head rested, into the flesh of his cheek. For all the
-city held that, according to the words St. Prisian himself had uttered
-before he suffered, the power and prosperity of the Duchy and the favour
-of Heaven to it rested on the presence among them and the faithful
-preservation and veneration of those most holy relics. And the
-Archbishop, having ended the message, cried, "God pardon my lips that
-repeat such words," and fell on his knees before Duke Valentine, crying,
-"Justice on him, my lord, justice!" And many in the throng echoed his
-cry; but others, and among them a great part of the apprenticed lads who
-loved Antonio, muttered low one to another, "But the Duke has taken his
-sweetheart from him," and they looked on the Duke with no favourable
-eye.
-
-Then Duke Valentine rose from his seat and stood on the topmost step
-that led to it, and he called sundry of his lords and officers round
-him, and then he beckoned for silence, and he said, "Before the sun sets
-to-morrow, the Lady Lucia shall take the vows;" and he, with his train,
-took their way to the palace, the pikemen clearing a path for them. And
-now indeed was silence; for all marvelled and were struck dumb that the
-Duke said naught concerning the bones of St. Prisian, and they searched
-one another's faces for the meaning of his words. But the Archbishop
-arose, and, speaking to no man, went to the Cathedral, and knelt before
-the altar in the chapel of St. Prisian, and there abode on his knees.
-
-Surely never, from that day until this hour, has such a night passed in
-the city of Firmola. For the Duke sent orders that every man of his
-Guard should be ready to start at break of day in pursuit of Antonio,
-and through the hours of the evening they were busied in preparing their
-provisions and accoutrements. But their looks were heavy and their
-tongues tied, for they knew, every man of them, that though the Duke
-might at the end take Antonio, yet he could not come at him before the
-time that Antonio had said. And this the townsmen knew well also; and
-they gathered themselves in groups in the great square, saying, "Before
-the Duke comes at him, the sacred bones will be burnt, and what will
-then befall the Duchy?" And those who were friendly to Antonio, foremost
-among them being the apprenticed lads, spread themselves here and there
-among the people, asking cunningly whether it concerned the people of
-Firmola more that the blessing of St. Prisian should abide with them, or
-that a reluctant maiden should be forced to take the veil; and some grew
-bold to whisper under their breath that the business was a foul one, and
-that Heaven did not send beauty and love that priests should bury them
-in convent walls. And the girls of the city, ever most bold by reason of
-their helplessness, stirred up the young men who courted them, leading
-them on and saying, "He is a true lover who risks his soul for his
-love;" or, "I would I had one who would steal the bones of St. Prisian
-for my sake, but none such have I:" with other stirring and inflaming
-taunts, recklessly flung from pouting lips and from under eyes that
-challenged. And all the while Duke Valentine sat alone in his cabinet,
-listening to the tumult that sounded with muffled din through the walls
-of the palace.
-
-Now there was in the city a certain furrier named Peter, a turbulent
-fellow who had been put out of his craft-guild because he would not
-abide by the laws of the craft, and lived now as he best could, being
-maintained in large measure by those who listened to his empty and
-seditious conversation. This man, loving naught that there was worthy of
-love in Count Antonio, yet loved him because he defied the Duke; and
-about midnight, having drunk much wine, he came into the square and
-gathered together the apprentices, saying, "I have a matter to say to
-you--and to you--and to you," till there were many scores of them round
-him: then he harangued them, and more came round; and when at last Peter
-cried, "Give us back the sacred bones!" a thousand voices answered him,
-"Aye, give us back the bones!" And when the pikemen would have seized
-him, men, and women also, made a ring round him, so that he could not
-be taken. And sober men also, of age and substance, hearkened to him,
-saying, "He is a knave, but he speaks truth now." So that a very great
-throng assembled, every man having a staff, and many also knives; and to
-those that had not knives, the women and girls brought them, thrusting
-them into their hands; nay, sundry priests also were among the people,
-moaning and wringing their hands, and saying that the favour of St.
-Prisian would be lost for ever to the city. And the square was thronged,
-so that a man could not move unless all moved, nor raise his hand to his
-head save by the favour of his neighbour. Yet presently the whole mass
-began to move, like a great wave of water, towards the Palace of the
-Duke, where the pikemen stood in ranks, ready now to go against Antonio.
-Suddenly arose a cry, "The Archbishop comes!" and the venerable man was
-seen, led through the crowd by Peter and some more, who brought him and
-set him in the front ranks of the people; and Peter cried boldly, "Where
-is the Duke?" But the Captain of the Guard came forward, sword in hand,
-and bade Peter be still, cursing him for insolence, and shouted that
-the people should disperse on pain of His Highness's displeasure. "Where
-is the Duke? Let him come out to us!" cried Peter; and the captain,
-despising him, struck him lightly with the flat of his sword. But Peter
-with a cry of rage struck the captain a great blow with his staff, and
-the captain staggered back, blood flowing from his head. Such was the
-beginning of the fray; for in an instant the pikemen and the people had
-joined battle: men cried in anger and women in fright: blood flowed, and
-sundry on both sides fell and rose no more; and the Archbishop came near
-to being trodden under foot till his friends and the priests gathered
-round him; and when he saw that men were being slain, he wept.
-
-Then the lord Lorenzo hastened to the cabinet of the Duke, whom he found
-pacing up and down, gnawing his finger-nails, and told him of what was
-done outside.
-
-"I care not," said the Duke. "She shall take the vows! Let the pikemen
-scatter them."
-
-Lorenzo then besought him, telling him that all the city was in arms,
-and that the conflict would be great. But the Duke said still, "She
-shall take the vows!" Nevertheless he went with Lorenzo, and came forth
-on to the topmost step of the portico. And when the people saw him they
-ceased for a moment to assail the pikemen, and cried out, "Give us back
-the sacred bones!"
-
-"Scatter these fellows!" said the Duke to the Captain of the Guard.
-
-"My lord, they are too many. And if we scatter them now, yet when we
-have gone against Count Antonio, they may do what they will with the
-city."
-
-The Duke stood still, pale, and again gnawing his nails; and the
-pikemen, finding the fight hard, gave back before the people; and the
-people pressed on.
-
-Then Peter the furrier came forward, and the hottest with him, and
-mocked the pikemen; and one of the pikemen suddenly thrust Peter through
-with his pike, and the fellow fell dead; on which a great cry of rage
-rose from all the people, and they rushed on the pikemen again and slew
-and were slain; and the fight rolled up the steps even to the very feet
-of the Duke himself. And at last, able no longer to contend with all the
-city, he cried, "Hold! I will restore the sacred bones!" But the people
-would not trust him and one cried, "Bring out the lady here before us
-and set her free, or we will burn the palace." And the Archbishop came
-suddenly and threw himself on his knees before the Duke, beseeching him
-that no more blood might be shed, but that the Lady Lucia should be set
-free. And the Duke, now greatly afraid, sent hastily the Lieutenant of
-the Guard and ten men, who came to the convent where Lucia was, and,
-brooking no delay, carried her with them in her bedgown, and brought and
-set her beside the Duke in the portico of the palace. Then the Duke
-raised his hand to heaven, and before all the people he said, "Behold,
-she is free! Let her go to her own house, and her estate shall be hers
-again. And by my princely word and these same holy bones, I swear that
-she shall not take the vows, neither will I constrain her to wed any
-man." And when he had said this, he turned sharply round on his heel,
-and, looking neither to the right nor to the left, went through the
-great hall to his cabinet and shut the door. For his heart was very sore
-that he must yield to Antonio's demand, and for himself he had rather a
-thousand times that the bones of St. Prisian had been burnt.
-
-Now when the Duke was gone, the people brought the Lady Lucia to her own
-house, driving out the steward whom the Duke had set there, and, this
-done, they came to the Archbishop, and would not suffer him to rest or
-to delay one hour before he set forth to carry the Duke's promise to
-Antonio. This the Archbishop was ready to do, for all that he was weary.
-But first he sent Lorenzo to ask the Duke's pleasure; and Lorenzo,
-coming to the Duke, prayed him to send two hundred pikes with the
-Archbishop. "For," said he, "your Highness has sworn nothing concerning
-what shall befall Antonio; and so soon as he has delivered up the bones,
-I will set on him and bring him alive or dead to your Highness."
-
-But the Duke would not hearken. "The fellow's name is like stale lees
-of wine in my mouth," said he. "Ten of my pikemen lie dead in the
-square, and more of the citizens. I will lose no more men over it."
-
-"Yet how great a thing if we could take him!"
-
-"I will take him at my own time and in my own way," said the Duke. "In
-God's name, leave me now."
-
-Lorenzo therefore got from the Duke leave for but ten men to go with the
-Archbishop, and to go himself if he would. And thus they set out,
-exhorted by the people, who followed them beyond the bounds of the city,
-to make all speed. And when they were gone, the people came back and
-took up the bodies of the dead; while the pikemen also took up the
-bodies of such of their comrades as were slain.
-
-Yet had Duke Valentine known what passed on the hills while the city was
-in tumult, it may not be doubted, for all his vexation, that he would
-have sent the two hundred whom Lorenzo asked: never had he a fairer
-chance to take Antonio. For when the Count and those who had been with
-him to Rilano were asleep, Antonio's head resting on the golden casket,
-a shepherd came to the rest of the band and told them what had been done
-and how all the country was in an uproar. Then a debate arose amongst
-the band, for, though they were lawless men, yet they feared God, and
-thought with great dread on what Antonio had sworn; so that presently
-they came altogether, and aroused Antonio, and said to him, "My lord,
-you have done much for us, and it may be that we have done somewhat for
-you. But we will not suffer the sacred bones to be burnt and scattered
-to the winds."
-
-"Except the Duke yields, I have sworn it, as God lives," answered
-Antonio.
-
-"We care not. It shall not be, no, not though you and we die," said
-they.
-
-"It is well; I hear," said Antonio, bowing his head.
-
-"In an hour," said they, "we will take the bones, if you will not
-yourself, my lord, send them back."
-
-"Again I hear," said Antonio, bowing his head; and the band went back to
-the fire round which they had been sitting, all save Martolo, who came
-and put his hand in Antonio's hand.
-
-"How now, Martolo?" asked Antonio.
-
-"What you will, I will, my lord," said Martolo. For though he trembled
-when he thought of the bones of St. Prisian, yet he clung always to
-Antonio. As for Bena and the others of the ten who had gone to Rilano,
-they would now have burnt not the bones only, but the blessed saint
-himself, had Antonio bidden them. Hard men, in truth, were they, and the
-more reckless now, because no harm had come to them from the seizing of
-the bones; moreover Antonio had given them good wine for supper, and
-they drank well.
-
-Now the rest of the band being gone back to their fire and the night
-being very dark, in great silence and caution Antonio, Tommasino,
-Martolo, Bena, and their fellows--being thirteen in all--rose from their
-places, and taking naught with them but their swords (save that Antonio
-carried the golden casket), they stole forth from the camp, and set
-their faces to climb yet higher into the heights of the hills. None
-spoke; one following another, they climbed the steep path that led up
-the mountain side; and when they had been going for the space of an
-hour, they heard a shout from far below them.
-
-"Our flight is known," said Tommasino.
-
-"Shall we stand and meet them, my lord?" asked Bena.
-
-"Nay, not yet," said Antonio; and the thirteen went forward again at the
-best speed they could.
-
-Now they were in a deep gorge between lofty cliffs; and the gorge still
-tended upwards; and at length they came to the place which is now named
-"Antonio's Neck." There the rocks came nigh to meeting and utterly
-barring the path; yet there is a way that one man, or at most two, may
-pass through at one time. Along this narrow tongue they passed, and,
-coming to the other side, found a level space on the edge of a great
-precipice, and Antonio pointing over the precipice, they saw in the
-light of the day, which now was dawning, the towers and spires of
-Firmola very far away in the plain below.
-
-"It is a better place for the fire than the other," said Antonio; and
-Bena laughed, while Martolo shivered.
-
-"Yet we risk being hindered by these fellows behind," said Tommasino.
-
-"Nay, I think not," said Antonio.
-
-Then he charged Tommasino and all of them to busy themselves in
-collecting such dry sticks and brushwood as they could; and there was
-abundance near, for the fir-trees grew even so high. And one of the men
-also went and set a snare, and presently caught a wild goat, so that
-they had meat. But Antonio took Bena and set him on one side of the way
-where the neck opened out into the level space; and he stood on the
-other side of the way himself. And when they stretched out their arms,
-the point of Bena's sword reached the hilt of Antonio's. And Antonio
-smiled, saying to Bena, "He had need to be a thin man, Bena, that passes
-between you and me."
-
-And Bena nodded his head at Count Antonio, answering, "Indeed this is as
-strait as the way to heaven, my lord, and leads, as it seems to me, in
-much the same direction."
-
-Thus Antonio and Bena waited in the shelter of the rocks at the opening
-of the neck, while the rest built up a great pile of wood. Then, having
-roasted the meat, they made their breakfast, Martolo carrying portions
-to Antonio and to Bena. And, their pursuers not knowing the path so well
-and therefore moving less quickly, it was but three hours short of noon
-when they heard the voices of men from the other side of the neck. And
-Antonio cried straightway, "Come not through at your peril! Yet one may
-come and speak with me."
-
-Then a great fellow, whose name is variously given, though most of those
-whom I have questioned call him Sancho, came through the neck, and,
-reaching the end of it, found the crossed swords of Antonio and Bena
-like a fence against his breast. And he saw also the great pile of wood,
-and resting now on the top of it the golden casket that held the sacred
-bones. And he said to Antonio, "My lord, we love you; but sooner than
-that the bones should be burnt, we will kill you and all that are with
-you."
-
-But Antonio answered, "I also love you, Sancho; yet you and all your
-company shall die sooner than my oath shall be broken."
-
-"Your soul shall answer for it, my lord," said Sancho.
-
-"You speak truly," answered Antonio.
-
-Then Sancho went back through the neck and took counsel with his
-fellows; and they made him their chief, and promised to be obedient to
-all that he ordered. And he said, "Let two run at their highest speed
-through the neck: it may be they will die, but the bones must be saved.
-And after them, two more, and again two. And I will be of the first
-two."
-
-But they would not suffer him to be of the first two, although he
-prevailed that he should be of the last two. And the six, being chosen,
-drew their swords and with a cry rushed into the neck. Antonio, hearing
-their feet, said to Bena, "A quick blow is as good as a slow, Bena." And
-even as he spoke the first two came to the opening of the neck. But
-Antonio and Bena struck at them before they came out of the narrowest
-part or could wield their swords freely; and the second two coming on,
-Bena struck at one and wounded him in the breast, and he wounded Bena
-in the face over the right eye, and then Bena slew him; while Antonio
-slew his man at his first stroke. And the fifth man and Sancho, the
-sixth, coming on, Antonio cried loudly, "Are you mad, are you mad? We
-could hold the neck against a hundred."
-
-But they would not stop, and Antonio slew the fifth, and Bena was in the
-act to strike at Sancho, but Antonio suddenly dashed Sancho's sword from
-his hand, and caught him a mighty buffet, so that he fell sprawling on
-the bodies of the five that were dead.
-
-"Go back, fool, go back!" cried Antonio.
-
-And Sancho, answering nothing, gathered himself up and went back; for he
-perceived now that not with the loss of half of his men would he get by
-Antonio and Bena; and beyond them stood Tommasino with ten whom he knew
-to be of the stoutest of the band.
-
-"It is a sore day's work, Bena," cried Antonio, looking at the dead
-bodies.
-
-"If a man be too great a fool to keep himself alive, my lord, he must
-die," answered Bena; and he pushed the bodies a little further back
-into the neck with his foot.
-
-Then Sancho's company took counsel again; for, much as they reverenced
-the sacred bones, there was none of them eager to enter the neck. Thus
-they were at a loss, till the shepherd who had come along with them
-spoke to Sancho, saying, "At the cost of a long journey you may come at
-him; for there is a way round that I can lead you by. But you will not
-traverse it in less than twelve or thirteen hours, taking necessary rest
-by the way."
-
-But Sancho, counting the time, cried, "It will serve! For although a
-thousand came against him, yet the Count will not burn the bones before
-the time of his oath."
-
-Therefore he left fifteen men to hold the neck, in case Antonio should
-offer to return back through it, and with the rest he followed the
-shepherd in great stealth and quiet; by reason of which, and of the rock
-between them, Antonio knew not what was done, but thought that the whole
-company lay still on the other side of the neck.
-
-Thus the day wore to evening as the Archbishop with the Lord Lorenzo and
-the guards came to the spur of the hills; and here they found a man
-waiting, who cried to them, "Do you bring the Duke's promise to the
-Count Antonio?"
-
-"Yes, we bring it," said they.
-
-"I am charged," said he, "to lead the Archbishop and one other after the
-Count." But since the Archbishop could not climb the hills, being old
-and weary, Lorenzo constrained the man to take with him four of the
-Guards besides; and the four bore the Archbishop along. Thus they were
-led through the secret tracks in the hills, and these Lorenzo tried to
-engrave on his memory, that he might come again. But the way was long
-and devious, and it was hard to mark it. Thus going, they came to the
-huts, and passing the huts, still climbed wearily till they arrived near
-to the neck. It was then night, and, as they guessed, hard on the time
-when Antonio had sworn to burn the sacred bones; therefore they pressed
-on more and more, and came at last to the entrance of the neck. Here
-they found the fifteen, and Lorenzo, running up, cried aloud, "We bring
-the promise, we bring the promise!"
-
-But scarcely had he spoken these words, when a sudden great shout came
-from the other side of the neck; and Lorenzo, drawing his sword, rushed
-into the neck, the fifteen following, yet leaving a space between him
-and them, lest they should see him fall, pierced by Antonio and Bena.
-And Lorenzo stumbled and fell over the five dead bodies which lay in the
-way of the neck. Uttering a cry, "What are these?" he scrambled again to
-his feet, and passed unhurt through the mouth of the neck, and the
-fifteen followed after him, while the Guards supported the Archbishop in
-their hands, his chair being too wide to pass through the neck. And when
-thus they all came through, wild and strange was the sight they saw. For
-it chanced that at the same time Sancho's company had completed their
-circuit, and had burst from behind upon Antonio and the twelve. And when
-the twelve saw them, they retreated to the great pile and made a ring
-round it, and stood there ready to die rather than allow Sancho's men
-to reach the pile. It was then midnight and the time of Count Antonio's
-oath. Count Antonio stood on the top of the great pile; at his feet lay
-the golden casket containing the sacred bones, and in his hand was a
-torch. And he cried aloud, "Hold them, while I fire the pile!" and he
-leapt down and came to the side of the pile and laid his torch to the
-pile. And in an instant the flames shot up, for the pile was dry.
-
-Now when Sancho's men saw the pile alight, with shouts of horror and of
-terror they charged at the top of their speed against the twelve who
-guarded the pile. And Lorenzo and his men also rushed; but the cries of
-Sancho's company, together with the answering defiance of the twelve,
-drowned the cries of Lorenzo; and Antonio and the twelve knew not that
-Lorenzo was come. And the flames of the pile grew, and the highest
-tongue of flame licked the side of the golden casket. But Antonio's
-voice rose above all, as he stood, aye, almost within the ambit of the
-fire, and cried, "Hold them a moment, Tommasino--a moment, Bena--and
-the thing is done!" Then Lorenzo tore his casque from his head and flung
-down his sword, and rushed unarmed between Antonio's men and Sancho's
-men, shouting louder than he had thought ever to shout, "The promise!
-the promise!" And at the same moment (so it is told, I but tell it as it
-is told) there came from heaven a great flash of lightning, which,
-aiding the glare of the flames, fully revealed the features of Lorenzo.
-Back fell Sancho's men, and Antonio's arrested their swords. And then
-they all cried as men cry in great joy, "The promise! the promise!" And
-for a moment all stood still where they were. But the flames leapt
-higher; and, as Antonio had said, they were seen by the great throng
-that gazed from the city walls; and they were seen by Duke Valentine as
-he watched from the wall of his garden by the river; and he went pale,
-gnawing his nails.
-
-Then the Count Antonio sprang on the burning pile, though it seemed that
-no man could pass alive through it. Yet God was with him, and he gained
-the top of it, and, stooping, seized the golden casket and flung it
-down, clear of the pile, even at the Lord Lorenzo's feet; and when
-Lorenzo sought to lift it, the heat of it blistered his hands, and he
-cried out with pain. But Count Antonio, choked by the smoke, his hair
-and his eyebrows scorched by the fire, staggered half-way down the pile
-and there sank on his knees. And there he had died, but that Tommasino,
-Bena, and Sancho, each eager to outstrip the other, rushed in and drew
-him forth, and fetched water and gave it to him, so that he breathed
-again and lived. But the flames leapt higher and higher; and they said
-on the city walls, "God help us! God help us! The sacred bones are
-burnt!" And women, aye, and men too, fell to weeping, and there was
-great sorrow, fear, and desolation. And the Duke gnawed his nails even
-to the quick, and spat the blood from his mouth, cursing Antonio.
-
-But Lorenzo, having perceived that the greater number was against
-Antonio, cried out to Sancho's men, "Seize him and bring him here!" For
-the Duke's promise carried no safety to Antonio.
-
-But Sancho answered him, "Now that the sacred bones are safe, we have no
-quarrel with my lord Antonio;" and he and his men went and laid down
-their swords by the feet of Antonio, where he lay on the ground, his
-head on Tommasino's lap. So that the whole band were now round Antonio,
-and Lorenzo had but four with him.
-
-"He asks war!" growled Bena to Tommasino. "Shall he not have war, my
-lord?"
-
-And Tommasino laughed, answering, "Here is a drunkard of blood!"
-
-But Count Antonio, raising himself, said, "Is the Archbishop here?"
-
-Then Lorenzo went and brought the Archbishop, who, coming, stood before
-Antonio, and rehearsed to him the oath that Duke Valentine had taken,
-and told him how the Lady Lucia was already free and in her own house,
-and made him aware also of the great tumult that had happened in the
-city. And Antonio listened to his tale in silence.
-
-Then the Archbishop raised a hand towards heaven and spoke in a solemn
-and sad voice, "Behold, there are ten of the Duke's Guard dead in the
-city, and there are twelve of the townsmen dead; and here, in the
-opening of the neck, there lie dead five men of those who followed you,
-my lord. Twenty-and-seven men are there that have died over this
-business. I pray more have not died in the city since I set forth. And
-for what has this been done, my lord? And more than the death of all
-these is there. For these sacred bones have been foully and
-irreligiously stolen and carried away, used with vile irreverence and
-brought into imminent hazard of utter destruction: and had they been
-destroyed and their ashes scattered to the four winds, according to your
-blasphemous oath, I know not what would have befallen the country where
-such an act was done. And for what has this been done, my lord? It has
-been done that a proud and violent man may have his will, and that his
-passion may be satisfied. Heavy indeed is the burden on your soul my
-lord; yes, on your soul is the weight of sacrilege and of much blood."
-
-The Archbishop ceased, and his hand dropped to his side. The flames on
-the pile were burning low, and a stillness fell on all the company. But
-at last Count Antonio rose to his feet and stood with his elbow on
-Tommasino's shoulder, leaning on Tommasino. His face was weary and sad,
-and he was very pale, save where in one spot the flame had scorched his
-cheek to an angry red. And looking round on the Archbishop, and on the
-Lord Lorenzo, and on them all, he answered sadly, "In truth, my Lord
-Archbishop, my burden is heavy. For I am an outlaw, and excommunicated.
-Twenty-and-seven men have died through my act, and I have used the
-sacred bones foully, and brought them into imminent peril of total
-destruction, according to my oath. All this is true, my lord. And yet I
-know not. For Almighty God, whom all we, whether honest men or knaves,
-men of law or lawless, humbly worship--Almighty God has His own scales,
-my lord. And I know not which thing be in those scales the heavier; that
-twenty-and-seven men should die, and that the bones of the blessed St.
-Prisian should be brought in peril, aye, or should be utterly
-destroyed; or again that one weak girl, who has no protection save in
-the justice and pity of men, should be denied justice and bereft of
-pity, and that no man should hearken to her weeping. Say, my lord--for
-it is yours to teach and mine to learn--which of these things should God
-count the greater sin? And for myself I have asked nothing; and for my
-friends here, whom I love--yes, even those I have killed for my oath's
-sake, I loved--I have dared to ask nothing. But I asked only that
-justice should be done and mercy regarded. Where, my lord, is the
-greater sin?"
-
-But the Archbishop answered not a word to Count Antonio; but he and the
-Lord Lorenzo came and lifted the golden casket, and, no man of Antonio's
-company seeking to hinder them, they went back with it to the city and
-showed it to the people; and after that the people had rejoiced greatly
-that the sacred bones, which they had thought to be destroyed, were
-safe, the Archbishop carried the golden casket back to the shrine in the
-village of Rilano, where it rests till this day. But Count Antonio
-buried the five men of his band whom he and Bena had slain, and with
-the rest he abode still in the hills, while the Lady Lucia dwelt in her
-own house in the city; and the Duke, honouring the oath which he had
-sworn before all the people, did not seek to constrain her to wed any
-man, and restored to her the estate that he had taken from her. Yet the
-Duke hated Count Antonio the more for what he had done, and sought the
-more eagerly how he might take him and put him to death.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VI.
-
-COUNT ANTONIO AND THE HERMIT OF THE VAULT.
-
-
-Among the stories concerning the Count Antonio which were told to me in
-answer to my questioning (whereof I have rejected many as being no
-better than idle tales), there was one that met me often and yet seemed
-strange and impossible to believe; for it was said that he had during
-the time of his outlawry once spent several days in the vault of the
-Peschetti, and there suffered things that pass human understanding.
-
-This vault lies near to the church of St. John the Theologian, in the
-suburb of Baratesta, on the banks of the river; and the Peschetti had a
-palace hard by, and were a family of high nobility, and allied by blood
-to the house of Monte Velluto. But I could find no warrant for the
-story of Antonio's sojourn in the vault, and although many insisted that
-the tale was true, yet they could not tell how nor why the Count came to
-be in the vault; until at length I chanced on an aged woman who had
-heard the truth of the matter from her grandmother, and she made me
-acquainted with the story, pouring on me a flood of garrulous gossip,
-from which I have chosen as much as concerns the purpose. And here I set
-it down; for I believe it to be true, and I would omit nothing that
-touches the Count, so I can be sure that what I write is based on truth.
-
-When Count Antonio had dwelt in the hills for the space of three years
-and nine months, it chanced that Cesare, last of the Peschetti, died;
-and he made a will on his death-bed whereby he bequeathed to Count
-Antonio his lands and also a store of money, and many ornaments of gold,
-and jewels; for Antonio's mother had been of the house of the Peschetti,
-and Cesare loved Antonio, although he had not dared to give him
-countenance for fear of the Duke's anger; yet, knowing himself to be
-dying, he bequeathed everything to him, for the Duke's wrath could not
-hurt a dead man. And so soon as he was dead, his steward Giuseppe sent
-secretly and in haste to Antonio, saying, "My lord, you cannot take the
-lands or the house; but, if you will be wise, come quickly and take the
-money and the jewels; for I hear that His Highness the Duke, declaring
-that an outlaw has no right and can inherit nothing, will send and seize
-the treasure." Now Antonio, though grieved at the death of Cesare, was
-glad to hear of the treasure; for he was often hard put to it to
-maintain his company and those who depended on him for bread. So he
-pondered anxiously how he might reach the palace of the Peschetti and
-lay hands on the treasure and return safely; for at this time Duke
-Valentine had posted above a hundred of his Guard in the plain, and this
-troop watched all the approaches to the hills so that the band could not
-ride forth in a body unless it were prepared to do battle with the
-guards. Nor did Antonio desire to weaken the band, lest the guards,
-learning that the bravest were away, should venture an attack.
-Therefore he would not take Tommasino or Bena or any of the stoutest
-with him; but he took four young men who had come to him from Firmola,
-having fallen into the Duke's displeasure through brawling with his
-guards. These he mounted on good horses, and, having made a circuit to
-avoid the encampment in the plain, he came to Cesare's house on the day
-before that appointed for the funeral. Giuseppe came to meet him, and
-led him where the dead man lay, and, after the Count had gazed on his
-face and kissed his forehead, they two went to the treasury, and
-Giuseppe delivered the treasure to Antonio; and Antonio made him a
-present of value and confirmed him in his stewardship, although it was
-not likely that the Duke would suffer him to exercise any power,
-inasmuch as His Highness had declared his intention of forfeiting the
-estate into his own hand.
-
-Now it chanced that one of the young men, being regaled with wine, drank
-very freely, and began to talk loud and boastfully of his master's
-achievements as the servants sat under the trees in front of the house;
-and there was with them a certain tailor, a lame man, who had furnished
-mourning garments for the funeral. The tailor, learning that Antonio was
-come, said nothing, and seemed not to hear nor understand the drunken
-youth's talk; but at an early moment he took his departure and
-straightway hobbled as fast as his lame leg would let him to the Syndic
-of Baratesta, a very busy and ambitious fellow, who longed greatly to
-win the Duke's favour. And the tailor set the price of five pieces of
-gold and the ordering of a new gown on the news he brought; and the
-Syndic having agreed, the tailor cried, "Antonio of Monte Velluto is at
-the house of the Peschetti, and his band is not with him. If you hasten,
-you may catch him." At this the Syndic exulted very greatly; for the
-Duke's Commissaries would not arrive to assume possession of the house
-in his name till the morrow, by which time Antonio would be gone; and
-the Syndic rubbed his hands, saying, "If I can take him my glory will be
-great, and the gratitude of His Highness also." And he gathered together
-all his constables, and hard upon twenty discharged soldiers who dwelt
-in the town, and the fifteen men of the Duke's who were stationed at
-Baratesta to gather His Highness's dues; and thus, with a force of about
-fifty men, he set out in great haste for the house of the Peschetti, and
-was almost come there, before a little boy ran to Giuseppe crying that
-the Syndic and all the constables and many besides were coming to the
-house. And Giuseppe, who had but three men-servants of an age to fight,
-the other five being old (for Cesare had loved to keep those who served
-him well, even when their power grew less than their will), and moreover
-perceived that Antonio's four were young and untried, wrung his hands
-and hastened to the Count with the news, saying, "Yet weak as we are, we
-can die for you, my lord."
-
-"Heaven forbid!" said Antonio, looking out of the window. "Are they all
-townsmen that come with this Syndic?"
-
-"Alas, no, my lord. There are certain of the Duke's men, and I see among
-the rest men who have spent their days under arms, either in His
-Highness's service or in Free Companies."
-
-"Then," said Antonio, smiling, "unless I am to share Cesare's funeral, I
-had best be gone. For I have seen too much fighting to be ashamed to run
-away from it."
-
-"But, my lord, they are at the gates."
-
-"And is there no other gate?"
-
-"None, my lord, save the little gate in the wall there; and see, the
-Syndic has posted ten men there."
-
-"And he will search the house?"
-
-"I fear that he will, my lord. For he must have tidings of your coming."
-
-"Then where is my horse?" said Count Antonio; and Giuseppe showed him
-where the horse stood in the shadow of the portico. "Do not let the
-Syndic know," added Antonio, "that the young men are of my company, and
-send them away in safety."
-
-"But what do you, my lord?" cried Giuseppe.
-
-"What I have done before, Giuseppe. I ride for life," answered the
-Count.
-
-Then the Count, delaying no more, ran lightly down the stairs, leapt on
-his horse, and, drawing his sword, rode forth from the portico; and he
-was among the Syndic's company before they thought to see him; and he
-struck right and left with his sword; and they fell back before him in
-fear, yet striking at him as they shrank away; and he had come clean
-off, but for one grizzly-haired fellow who had served much in Free
-Companies and learnt cunning; for he stooped low, avoiding the sweep of
-Antonio's sword, and stabbed the horse in its belly, and stood wiping
-his knife and saying, "My legs are old. I have done my part. Do yours;
-the horse will not go far." In truth the horse was wounded to death, and
-its bowels protruded from the wound; and Antonio felt it falter and
-stumble. Yet the gallant beast carried him for half a mile, and then he
-sprang off, fearing it would fall under him as he sat and he be crushed
-by it; and he drew his sword across its throat that it might not linger
-in pain, and then ran on foot, hearing the cries of the Syndic's company
-as it pressed on behind him. And thus, running, he came to the church of
-St. John and to the vault of the Peschetti by it; two men were at work
-preparing for Cesare's funeral, and the door of the vault was open.
-Antonio hurled one man to the right and the other to the left, and
-rushed into the vault; for his breath failed, and there was no chance
-for his life were he overtaken in the open; and before the men regained
-their feet, he pulled the door of the vault close and sank on his knee
-inside, panting, and holding his sword in readiness to slay any who
-entered. Then the Syndic and his company came and called on him to
-surrender. And Antonio cried, "Come and take me." Then the Syndic bade
-the workmen pull open the door; but Antonio held it with one hand
-against them both. Yet at last they drew it a little open; and Antonio
-lunged with his sword through the aperture and wounded the Syndic in the
-leg, so that he stumbled backwards with an oath. And after that none was
-willing to enter first, until the grizzly-haired fellow came up; but he,
-seeing the aperture, rushed at it sword in hand, fearing no man, not
-even Count Antonio. But he could not touch Antonio, and he also fell
-back with a sore gash in his cheek; and Antonio laughed, saying, "Shall
-I surrender, Syndic?"
-
-Now the Syndic was very urgent in his desire to take Antonio, but his
-men shook their heads, and he himself could not stand because of the
-sword-thrust in his leg; and, instead of fighting, his company began to
-tell of the wonderful deeds Antonio had done, and they grew no bolder by
-this; and the grizzly-haired fellow mocked them, saying that he would go
-again at the aperture if two more would attempt it with him; but none
-offered. And the Syndic raged and rebuked them, but he could not hurt
-them, being unable to stand on his feet; so that one said boldly, "Why
-should we die? The Duke's Commissaries will be here to-morrow with a
-company of the Guard. Let the Count stay in the vault till then. He is
-in safe keeping; and when he sees the Guard he will surrender. It is
-likely enough that a great lord like the Count would rather die than
-give up his sword to the Syndic." Whereat the Syndic was very ill
-pleased, but all the rest mighty well pleased; and, having heard this
-counsel, they could by no means be persuaded to attack afresh, but they
-let Antonio draw the door close again, being in truth glad to see the
-last of his sword. Therefore the Syndic, having no choice, set twenty
-to guard the entrance of the vault and prepared to depart. But he cried
-to Antonio, again bidding him to surrender, for the Guard would come
-to-morrow, and then at least he could not hope to resist.
-
-"Aye, but to-morrow is to-morrow, Master Syndic," laughed Antonio. "Go,
-get your leg dressed, and leave to-morrow till it dawn."
-
-So the Syndic went home and the rest with him, leaving the twenty on
-guard. And to this day, if a man hath more love for fighting than skill
-in it, folk call him a Syndic of Baratesta.
-
-Count Antonio, being thus left in the vault, and perceiving that he
-would not be further molested that day, looked round; and though no
-daylight reached the vault, he could see, for the workmen had set a lamp
-there and it still burnt. Around him were the coffins of all the
-Peschetti who had died in five hundred years; and the air was heavy and
-stifling. Antonio took the lamp and walked round the vault, which was of
-circular form; and he perceived one coffin standing upright against the
-wall of the vault, as though there had been no room for it on the
-shelves. Then he sat down again, and, being weary, leant his head
-against the wall and soon slept; for a man whose conscience is easy and
-whose head has sense in it may sleep as well in a vault as in a
-bedchamber. Yet the air of the vault oppressed him, and he slept but
-lightly and uneasily. And, if a proof be needed how legends gather round
-the Count's name, I have heard many wonderful stories of what happened
-to him in the vault; how he held converse with dead Peschetti, how they
-told him things which it is not given to men to know, and how a certain
-beautiful lady, who had been dead two hundred years, having been slain
-by her lover in a jealous rage, came forth from the coffin, with her
-hair all dishevelled and a great wound yet bleeding in her bosom, and
-sang a low sweet wild love-song to him as he lay, and would not leave
-him though he bade her soul rest in the name of Christ and the Saints.
-But that any of these things happened I do not believe.
-
-It was late when the Count awoke, and the lamp had burnt out, so that
-the vault was utterly dark. And as the Count roused himself, a sound
-strange in the place fell on his ear; for a man talked, and his talk was
-not such as one uses who speaks aloud his own musings to himself when he
-is alone (a trick men come by who live solitary), but he seemed to
-question others and to answer them, saying, "Aye," and "No," and "Alas,
-sweet friend!" and so forth, all in a low even voice; and now and again
-he would sigh, and once he laughed bitterly. Then the Count raised his
-voice, "Who is there?" And the other voice answered, "Which of you
-speaks? The tones are not known to me. Yet I know all the Peschetti who
-are here." And Antonio answered, "I am not of the Peschetti save by my
-mother; my name is Antonio of Monte Velluto." On this a cry came from
-the darkness, as of a man greatly troubled and alarmed; and after that
-there was silence for a space. And Antonio said, "There is naught to
-fear; I seek to save myself, not to hurt another. But how do you, a
-living man, come to be in this vault, and with whom do you speak?" Then
-came the sound of steel striking on a flint, and presently a spark, and
-a torch was lighted; and Antonio beheld before him, in the glow of the
-torch, the figure of a man who crouched on the floor of the vault over
-against him; his hair was long and tangled, his beard grew to his waist,
-and he was naked save for a cloth about his loins; and his eyes gleamed
-dark and wild as he gazed on Antonio in seeming fright and bewilderment.
-Then the Count, knowing that a man collects his thoughts while another
-speaks, told the man who he was and how he came there, and (because the
-man's eyes still wondered) how that he was an outlaw these three years
-and more because he would not bow to the Duke's will: and when he had
-told all, he ceased. Then the man came crawling closer to him, and,
-holding the torch to his face, scanned his face, saying, "Surely he is
-alive!" And again he was silent, but after a while he spoke.
-
-"For twenty-and-three years," he said, "I have dwelt here among the
-dead; and to the dead I talk, and they are my friends and companions.
-For I hear their voices, and they come out of their coffins and greet
-me; yet now they are silent and still because you are here."
-
-"But how can you live here?" cried Antonio. "For you must starve for
-lack of food, and come near to suffocation in the air of this vault."
-
-The man set his hand to his brow and frowned, and said sadly, "Indeed I
-have forgotten much, yet I remember a certain night when the Devil came
-into me, and in black fury and jealousy I laid wait by the door of the
-room where my wife was; and we had been wedded but a few months. There
-was a man who was my friend, and he came to my wife secretly, seeking to
-warn her that I was suspected of treason to the Prince: yes, in all
-things he was my friend; for when I stabbed him as he came to the door,
-and, rushing in, stabbed her also, she did not die till she had told me
-all; and then she smiled sweetly at me, saying, "Our friend will
-forgive, dear husband, for you did not know; and I forgive the blow your
-love dealt me: kiss me and let me die here in your arms." And I kissed
-her, and she died. Then I laid her on her bed, and I went forth from my
-home; and I wandered many days. Then I sought to kill myself, but I
-could not, for a voice seemed to say, 'What penitence is there in
-death? Lo, it is sweet, Paolo!' So I did not kill myself; but I took an
-oath to live apart from men till God should in His mercy send me death.
-And coming in my wanderings to the river that runs by Baratesta, I found
-a little hollow in the bank of the river, and I lay down there; and none
-pursued me, for the Duke of Firmola cared not for a crime done in
-Mantivoglia. And for a year I dwelt in my little cave: then it was
-noised about that I dwelt there, and fools began to call me, who was the
-vilest sinner born, a holy hermit, and they came to me to ask prayers.
-So I begged from one a pick, and I worked on the face of the rock, and
-made a passage through it. And I swore to look no more on the light of
-the sun, but abode in the recesses that I had hollowed out. And I go no
-more to the mouth of the cave, save once a day at nightfall, when I
-drink of the water of the river and take the broken meats they leave for
-me."
-
-"But here--how came you here?" cried Antonio.
-
-"I broke through one day by chance, as I worked on the rock; and, seeing
-the vault, I made a passage with much labour; and having done this, I
-hid it with a coffin; and now I dwell here with the dead, expecting the
-time when in God's mercy I also shall be allowed to die. But to-day I
-fled back through the passage, for men came and opened the vault and let
-in the sunshine, which I might not see. Pray for me, sir; I have need of
-prayers."
-
-"Now God comfort you," said Count Antonio softly. "Of a truth, sir, a
-man who knows his sin and grieves for it in his heart hath in God's eyes
-no longer any sin. So is it sweetly taught in the most Holy Scriptures.
-Therefore take comfort; for your friend will forgive even as the gentle
-lady who loved you forgave; and Christ has no less forgiveness than
-they."
-
-"I know not," said the hermit, groaning heavily. "I question the dead
-who lie here concerning these things, but they may not tell me."
-
-"Indeed, poor man, they can tell nothing," said Antonio gently; for he
-perceived that the man was subject to a madness and deluded by fancied
-visions and voices.
-
-"Yet I love to talk to them of the time when I also shall be dead."
-
-"God comfort you," said Count Antonio again.
-
-Now while Antonio and the hermit talked, one of those who guarded the
-vault chanced to lay his ear against the door, listening whether Antonio
-moved, and he heard, to his great dread and consternation, the voice of
-another who talked with Antonio: most of what was said he did not hear,
-but he heard Antonio say, "God comfort you," and the hermit answer
-something and groan heavily. And the legs of the listener shook under
-him, and he cried to his comrades that the dead talked with Antonio, he
-himself being from fright more dead than alive. Then all came and
-listened; and still the voice of another talked with Antonio; so that
-the guards were struck with terror and looked in one another's faces,
-saying, "The dead speak! The Count speaks with the dead! Christ and the
-Blessed Mother of Christ and the Saints protect us!" And they looked
-neither to right nor left, but sat quaking on the ground about the door
-of the vault; and presently one ran and told the Syndic, and he caused
-himself to be carried thither in his chair; and he also heard, and was
-very greatly afraid, saying, "This Antonio of Monte Velluto is a fearful
-man." And the report spread throughout Baratesta that Count Antonio
-talked with the dead in the vault of the Peschetti; whence came, I doubt
-not, the foolish tales of which I have made mention. A seed is enough:
-men's tongues water it and it grows to a great plant. Nor did any man
-think that it was the hermit who talked; for although they knew of his
-cave, they did not know nor imagine of the passage he had made, and his
-voice was utterly strange, seeing that he had spoken no word to any
-living man for twenty years, till he spoke with the Count that night.
-Therefore the whole of Baratesta was in great fear; and they came to a
-certain learned priest, who was priest of the church of St. John, and
-told him. And he arose and came in great haste, and offered prayers
-outside the vault, and bade the unquiet spirits rest; but he did not
-offer to enter, nor did any one of them; but they all said, "We had
-determined even before to await the Duke's Guard, and that is still the
-wiser thing."
-
-For a great while the hermit could not understand what Antonio wanted of
-him; for his thoughts were on his own state and with the dead; but at
-length having understood that Antonio would be guided through the
-passage and brought to the mouth of the cave, in the hope of finding
-means to escape before the Duke's Commissaries came with the Guard, he
-murmured wonderingly, "Do you then desire to live?" and rose, and led
-Antonio where the coffin stood upright against the wall as Antonio had
-seen it; but it was now moved a little to one side, and there was a
-narrow opening, through which the Count had much ado to pass; and in his
-struggles he upset the coffin, and it fell with a great crash; whereat
-all who were outside the vault fled suddenly to a distance of a hundred
-yards or more in panic, expecting now to see the door of the vault open
-and the dead walk forth: nor could they be persuaded to come nearer
-again. But Antonio, with a great effort, made his way through the
-opening, and followed the hermit along a narrow rough-hewn way,
-Antonio's shoulders grazing the rock on either side as he went; and
-having pursued this way for fifteen or twenty paces, they turned to the
-right sharply, and went on another ten paces, and, having passed through
-another narrow opening, were in the cave; and the river glistened before
-their eyes, for it was now dawn. And the hermit, perceiving that it was
-dawn, and fearing to see the sun, turned to flee back to the vault; but
-Antonio, being full of pity for him, detained him, and besought him to
-abandon his manner of life, assuring him that certainly by now his sin
-was purged: and when the hermit would not listen, Antonio followed him
-back to the opening that led into the vault, and, forgetting his own
-peril, reasoned with him for the space of an hour or more, but could not
-prevail. So at last he bade him farewell very sorrowfully, telling him
-that God had made him that day the instrument of saving a man's life,
-which should be to him a sign of favour and forgiveness; but the hermit
-shook his head and passed into the vault, and Antonio heard him again
-talking to the dead Peschetti, and answering questions that his own
-disordered brain invented.
-
-Thus it was full morning when Antonio came again to the little cave by
-the river, and bethought him what he should do for his own safety. And
-suddenly, looking across the river, he beheld a gentleman whom he knew,
-one Lepardo, a Commissary of the Duke's, and with him thirty of the
-Duke's Guard; and they were riding very fast; for, having started at
-midnight to avoid the heat of the sun (it being high summer), so soon as
-they reached the outskirts of Baratesta, they had heard that Antonio was
-in the vault, and were now pressing on to cross the bridge and come upon
-him. And Antonio knew that Lepardo was a man of courage and hardihood,
-and would be prevented by nothing from entering the vault. But on a
-sudden Lepardo checked his horse, uttering a loud cry; for to his great
-amazement he had seen Antonio as Antonio looked forth from the cave,
-and he could not tell how he came to be there: and Antonio at once
-withdrew himself into the shadow of the cave. Now the banks of the
-stream on the side on which Lepardo rode were high and precipitous, and,
-although it was summer, yet the stream was too deep for him to wade, and
-flowed quickly; yet at Lepardo's bidding, six of his stoutest men
-prepared to leap down the bank and go in search of Antonio; and Antonio,
-discerning that they would do this, and blaming himself for his rashness
-in looking out so incautiously, was greatly at a loss what to do; for
-now he was hemmed in on either side; and he saw nothing but to sell his
-life dearly and do some deed that should ornament his death. So he
-retreated again along the passage and passed through the opening into
-the vault; and he summoned the hermit to aid him, and between them they
-set not one only, but a dozen of the coffins of the Peschetti against
-the opening, laying them lengthwise and piling one on the top of the
-other hoping that Lepardo's men would not discover the opening, or
-would at least be delayed some time before they could thrust away the
-coffins and come through. Then Antonio took his place by the gate of the
-vault again, sword in hand, saying grimly to the hermit, "If you seek
-Death, sir, he will be hereabouts before long."
-
-But the Count Antonio was not a man whom his friends would abandon to
-death unaided; and while the Syndic was watching Antonio, the four young
-men who were with the Count made their escape from Cesare's house; and,
-having separated from one another, rode by four different ways towards
-the hills, using much wariness. Yet three of them were caught by the
-Duke's company that watched in the plain, and, having been soundly
-flogged, were set to work as servants in the camp. But the fourth came
-safe to the hills, and found there Tommasino and Bena; and Tommasino,
-hearing of Antonio's state, started with Bena and eighteen more to
-rescue him or die with him. And they fell in with a scouting party of
-the Duke's, and slew every man of them to the number of five, losing two
-of their own number; but thus they escaped, there being none left to
-carry news to the camp; and they rode furiously, and, by the time they
-came near Baratesta, they were not more than a mile behind Lepardo's
-company. But Lepardo, when he had detached the six men to watch Antonio,
-rode on hastily to find the Syndic, and learn from him the meaning of
-what he had seen; and thus Tommasino, coming opposite to the mouth of
-the hermit's cave, saw no more than six horses tethered on the river
-bank, having the Duke's escutcheon wrought on their saddle-cloths. Then
-he leapt down, and, running to the edge of the bank, saw a man
-disappearing into the mouth of the cave, dripping wet; and this man was
-the last of the six who had swum the river, and were now groping their
-way with great caution along the narrow track that the hermit had made.
-Now Tommasino understood no more than Lepardo that there was any opening
-from the cave to the vault, but he thought that the Duke's men did not
-swim the river for their pleasure, and he bade Bena take five and watch
-what should happen, while he rode on with the rest.
-
-"If they come out again immediately," he said, "you will have them at a
-disadvantage; but if they do not come out, go in after them; for I know
-not what they are doing unless they are seeking my cousin or laying some
-trap for him."
-
-Then Tommasino rode after Lepardo; and Bena, having given the Duke's men
-but the briefest space in which to come out again from the cave,
-prepared to go after them. And the Duke's men were now much alarmed; for
-the last man told them of the armed men on the bank opposite, and that
-they did not wear the Duke's badge; so the six retreated up the passage
-very silently, but they could not find any opening, for it grew darker
-at every step, and they became much out of heart. Then Bena's men
-crossed the river and entered the mouth of the cave after them. Thus
-there was fair likelihood of good fighting both in the passage and by
-the gate of the vault.
-
-But the Count Antonio, not knowing that any of his band were near, had
-ceased to hope for his life, and he sat calm and ready, sword in hand,
-while the hermit withdrew to a corner of the vault, and crouched there
-muttering his mad answers and questions, and ever and again hailing some
-one of the dead Peschetti by name as though he saw him. Then suddenly a
-coffin fell with a loud crash from the top of the heap on to the floor;
-for the Duke's men had found the opening and were pushing at it with
-hand and shoulder. Antonio sprang to his feet and left the gate and went
-and stood ready by the pile of coffins. But again on a sudden came a
-tumult from beyond the opening; for Bena and his five also were now in
-the passage, and the foremost of them--who indeed was Bena himself--had
-come upon the hindmost of the Duke's men, and the six, finding an enemy
-behind them, pushed yet more fiercely and strenuously against the
-coffins. And no man in the passage saw any man, it being utterly dark;
-and they could not use their swords for lack of space, but drew their
-daggers and thrust fiercely when they felt a man's body near. So in the
-dark they pushed and wrestled and struggled and stabbed, and the sound
-of their tumult filled all the vault and spread beyond, being heard
-outside; and many outside crossed themselves for fear, saying, "Hell is
-broke loose! God save us!" But at that moment came Lepardo and his
-company; and he, having leapt from his horse and heard from the Syndic
-that Antonio was in very truth in the vault, drew his sword and came at
-the head of his men to the door; and hearing the tumult from within, he
-cried in scorn, "These are no ghosts!" and himself with his boldest
-rushed at the door, and they laid hold on the handles of it and wrenched
-it open. But Antonio, perceiving that the door was wrenched open, and
-not yet understanding that any of his friends were near, suddenly flung
-himself prone on the floor by the wall of the vault, behind two of the
-coffins which the efforts of the Duke's men had dislodged; and there he
-lay hidden; so that Lepardo, when he rushed in, saw no man, for the
-corner where the hermit crouched was dark; but the voice of the madman
-came, saying, "Welcome! Do you bring me another of the Peschetti? He is
-welcome!" Then the Duke's men, having pushed aside all the coffins save
-one, came tumbling and scrambling over into the vault, where they found
-Lepardo and his followers; and hot on their heels came Bena and his
-five, so that the vault was full of men. And now from outside also came
-the clatter of hoofs and hoarse cries and the clash of steel; for
-Tommasino had come, and had fallen with great fury on those of Lepardo's
-men who were outside and on the Syndic's levies that watched from afar
-off. And fierce was the battle outside; yet it was fiercer inside, where
-men fought in a half-light, scarcely knowing with whom they fought, and
-tripping hither and thither over the coffins of the Peschetti that were
-strewn about the floor.
-
-Then the Count Antonio arose from where he lay and he cried aloud, "To
-me, to me! To me, Antonio of Monte Velluto!" and he rushed to the
-entrance of the vault. Bena, hailing the Count's voice, and cutting down
-one who barred the way, ran to Antonio in great joy to find him alive
-and whole. And Antonio came at Lepardo, who stood his onset bravely,
-although greatly bewildered to find a party of Antonio's men where he
-had looked for Antonio alone. And he cried to his men to rally round
-him, and, keeping his face and his blade towards the Count, began to
-fall back towards the mouth of the vault, in order to rejoin his men
-outside; for there also he perceived that there was an enemy. Thus
-Lepardo fell back, and Antonio pressed on. But, unnoticed by any, the
-mad hermit now sprang forth from the corner where he had been; and, as
-Antonio was about to thrust at Lepardo, the hermit caught him by the
-arm, and with the strength of frenzy drew him back, and thrust himself
-forward, running even on the point of Lepardo's sword that was ready for
-Count Antonio; and the sword of Lepardo passed through the breast of the
-hermit of the vault, and protruded behind his back between his
-shoulders; and he fell prone on the floor of the vault, crying
-exultantly, "Death! Thanks be to God, death!" And then and there he died
-of the thrust that Lepardo gave him. But Antonio with Bena and three
-more--for two of Bena's five were slain--drove Lepardo and his men back
-before them, and thus won their way to the gate of the vault, where, to
-their joy, they found that Tommasino more than held his own; for he had
-scattered Lepardo's men, and the Syndic's were in full flight, save
-eight or ten of the old soldiers who had served in Free Companies; and
-these stood in a group, their swords in their right hands and daggers in
-the left, determined to die dearly; and the grizzly-haired fellow who
-had killed Antonio's horse had assumed command of them.
-
-"Here are some fellows worth fighting, my lord," said Bena to Tommasino
-joyfully. "Let us meet them, my lord, man for man, an equal number of
-us." For although Bena had killed one man and maimed another in the
-vault, he saw no reason for staying his hand.
-
-"Aye, Bena," laughed Tommasino. "These fellows deserve to die at the
-hands of men like us."
-
-But while they prepared to attack, Antonio cried suddenly, "Let them be!
-There are enough men dead over this matter of Cesare's treasure." And he
-compelled Tommasino and Bena to come with him, although they were very
-reluctant; and they seized horses that had belonged to Lepardo's men;
-and, one of Tommasino's men also being dead, Bena took his horse. Then
-Antonio said to the men of the Free Companies, "What is your quarrel
-with me? I do but take what is mine. Go in peace. This Syndic is no
-master of yours." But the men shook their heads and stood their ground.
-Then Antonio turned and rode to the entrance of the vault where his band
-was now besieging Lepardo, and he cried to Lepardo, "Confer with me,
-sir. You can come forth safely." And Lepardo came out from the vault,
-having lost there no fewer than five men, and having others wounded; and
-he was himself wounded in his right arm and could not hold his sword.
-Then the Count said to him, "Sir, it is no shame for a man to yield when
-fortune is against him. And I trust that I am one to whom a gentleman
-may yield without shame. See, the Syndic's men are fled, and yours are
-scattered, and these men, who stand bravely together, are not enough to
-resist me."
-
-And Lepardo answered sadly--for he was very sorry that he had failed to
-take Antonio--"Indeed, my lord, we are worsted. For we are not ten men
-against one, as I think they should be who seek to overcome my lord
-Antonio."
-
-To this Antonio bowed most courteously, saying, "Nay, it is rather
-fortune, sir."
-
-And Lepardo said, "Yet we can die, in case you put unseemly conditions
-on us, my lord."
-
-"There is no condition save that you fight no more against me to-day,"
-said Antonio.
-
-"So let it be, my lord," said Lepardo; and to this the men of the Free
-Companies also agreed, and they mingled with Antonio's band, and two of
-them joined themselves to Antonio that day, and were with him
-henceforward, one being afterwards slain on Mount Agnino, and the other
-preserving his life through all the perils that beset the Count's
-company.
-
-Then Antonio went back to the house of Cesare, and brought forth the
-body of Cesare, and, having come to the vault, he caused those who had
-been slain to be carried out, and set the coffins again in decent order,
-and laid Cesare, the last of the house, there. But when the corpse of
-the hermit was brought out, all marvelled very greatly, and had much
-compassion for him when they heard from the lips of Count Antonio his
-pitiful story; and Antonio bestowed out of the moneys that he had from
-Cesare a large sum that masses might be said for the soul of the hermit.
-"For of a surety," said the Count, "it was Heaven's will that through
-his misfortune and the strange madness that came upon him my life should
-be saved."
-
-These things done, Antonio gathered his band, and, having taken farewell
-of Lepardo and commended him for the valour of his struggle, prepared to
-ride back to the hills. And his face was grave, for he was considering
-earnestly how he should escape the hundred men who lay watching for him
-in the plain. But while he considered, Tommasino came to him and said,
-"All Baratesta is ours, cousin. Cannot we get a change of coat, and thus
-ride with less notice from the Duke's camp?" And Antonio laughed also,
-and they sent and caught twenty men of Baratesta, grave merchants and
-petty traders, and among them Bena laid hold of the Syndic, and brought
-him in his chair to Antonio; and the Count said to the Syndic, "It is
-ill meddling with the affairs of better men, Master Syndic. Off with
-that gown of yours!"
-
-And they stripped the Syndic of his gown, and Antonio put on the gown.
-Thus the Syndic had need very speedily of the new gown which he had
-contracted to purchase of the lame tailor as the price of the tailor's
-information. And all Antonio's men clothed themselves like merchants and
-traders, Antonio in the Syndic's gown taking his place at their head;
-and thus soberly attired, they rode out soberly from Baratesta, neither
-Lepardo nor any of his men being able to restrain themselves from
-laughter to see them go; and most strange of all was Bena, who wore an
-old man's gown of red cloth trimmed with fur.
-
-It was now noon, and the band rode slowly, for the sun was very hot, and
-several times they paused to take shelter under clumps of trees, so that
-the afternoon waned before they came in sight of the Duke's encampment.
-Soon then they were seen in their turn; and a young officer of the
-Guard with three men came pricking towards them to learn their business;
-and Antonio hunched the Syndic's gown about his neck and pulled his cap
-down over his eyes, and thus received the officer. And the officer was
-deluded and did not know him, but said, "Is there news, Syndic?"
-
-"Yes, there is news," said Antonio. "The hermit of the vault of the
-Peschetti is dead at Baratesta."
-
-"I know naught of him," said the officer.
-
-By this time Antonio's men had all crowded round the officer and his
-companions, hemming them in on every side; and those that watched from
-the Duke's camp saw the merchants and traders flocking round the
-officer, and said to themselves, "They are offering wares to him." But
-Antonio said, "How, sir? You have never heard of the hermit of the
-vault?"
-
-"I have not, Syndic," said the officer.
-
-"He was a man, sir," said Antonio, "who dwelt with the dead in a vault,
-and was so enamoured of death, that he greeted it as a man greets a dear
-friend who has tarried overlong in coming."
-
-"In truth, a strange mood!" cried the officer. "I think this hermit was
-mad."
-
-"I also think so," said Antonio.
-
-"I cannot doubt of it," cried the officer.
-
-"Then, sir, you are not of his mind?" asked Antonio, smiling. "You would
-not sleep this night with the dead, nor hold out your hands to death as
-to a dear friend?"
-
-"By St. Prisian, no," said the young officer with a laugh. "For this
-world is well enough, Syndic, and I have sundry trifling sins that I
-would be quit of, before I face another."
-
-"If that be so, sir," said Antonio, "return to him who sent you, and say
-that the Syndic of Baratesta rides here with a company of friends and
-that his business is lawful and open to no suspicion." And even as
-Antonio spoke, every man drew his dagger, and there were three daggers
-at the heart of the officer and three at the heart of each of the men
-with him. "For by saying this," continued the Count, fixing his eyes on
-the officer, "and by no other means can you escape immediate death."
-
-Then the officer looked to right and left, being very much bewildered;
-but Tommasino touched him on the arm and said, "You have fallen, sir,
-into the hands of the Count Antonio. Take an oath to do as he bids you,
-and save your life." And Antonio took off the Syndic's cap and showed
-his face; and Bena rolled up the sleeve of his old man's gown and showed
-the muscles of his arm.
-
-"The Count Antonio!" cried the officer and his men in great dismay.
-
-"Yes; and we are four to one," said Tommasino. "You have no choice, sir,
-between the oath and immediate death. And it seems to me that you are
-indeed not of the mind of the hermit of the vault."
-
-But the officer cried, "My honour will not suffer this oath, my lord."
-And, hearing this, Bena advanced his dagger.
-
-But Antonio smiled again and said, "Then I will not force it on you,
-sir. But this much I must force on you--to swear to abide here for
-half-an-hour, and during that time to send no word and make no sign to
-your camp."
-
-To this the officer, having no choice between it and death, agreed; and
-Antonio, leaving him, rode forward softly; and, riding softly, he passed
-within half-a-mile of the Duke's encampment. But at this moment the
-officer, seeing Antonio far away, broke his oath, and shouted loudly,
-"It is Antonio of Monte Velluto;" and set spurs to his horse. Then
-Antonio's brow grew dark and he said, "Ride on swiftly, all of you, to
-the hills, and leave me here."
-
-"My lord!" said Tommasino, beseeching him.
-
-"Ride on!" said Antonio sternly. "Ride at a gallop. You will draw them
-off from me."
-
-And they dared not disobey him, but all rode on. And now there was a
-stir in the Duke's camp, men running for their arms and their horses.
-But Antonio's band set themselves to a gallop, making straight for the
-hills; and the commander of the Duke's Guard did not know what to make
-of the matter; for he had heard the officer cry "Antonio," but did not
-understand what he meant; therefore there was a short delay before the
-pursuit after the band was afoot; and the band thus gained an advantage,
-and Antonio turned away, saying, "It is enough. They will come safe to
-the hills."
-
-But he himself drew his sword and set spurs to his horse, and he rode
-towards where the young officer was. And at first the officer came
-boldly to meet him; then he wavered, and his cheek went pale; and he
-said to the men who rode with him, "We are four to one."
-
-But one of them answered, "Four to two, sir."
-
-"What do you mean?" cried the officer. "I see none coming towards us but
-Count Antonio himself."
-
-"Is not God also against oath-breakers?" said the fellow, and he looked
-at his comrades. And they nodded their heads to him; for they were
-afraid to fight by the side of a man who had broken his oath. Moreover
-the figure of the Count was very terrible; and the three turned aside
-and left the young officer alone.
-
-Now by this time the whole of the Duke's encampment was astir; but they
-followed not after Antonio, but after Tommasino and the rest of the
-band; for they did not know Antonio in the Syndic's gown. Thus the
-young officer was left alone to meet Antonio; and when he saw this his
-heart failed him and his courage sank, and he dared not await Antonio,
-but he turned and set spurs to his horse, and fled away from Antonio
-across the plain. And Antonio pursued after him, and was now very near
-upon him; so that the officer saw that he would soon be overtaken, and
-the reins fell from his hand and he sat on his horse like a man smitten
-with a palsy, shaking and trembling: and his horse, being unguided,
-stumbled as it went, and the officer fell off from it; and he lay very
-still on the ground. Then Count Antonio came up where the officer was,
-and sat on his horse, holding his drawn sword in his hand; and in an
-instant the officer began to raise himself; and, when he stood up, he
-saw Antonio with his sword drawn. And Antonio said, "Shall men without
-honour live?"
-
-Then the officer gazed into the eyes of the Count Antonio; and the sweat
-burst forth on his forehead. A sudden strange choking cry came from him;
-he dropped his sword from his hand, and with both hands he suddenly
-clasped his heart, uttering now a great cry of pain and having his face
-wrung with agony. Thus he stood for an instant, clutching his heart with
-both his hands, his mouth twisted fearfully, and then he dropped on to
-the ground and lay still. And the Count Antonio sheathed his sword, and
-bared his head, saying, "It is not my sword, but God's."
-
-And he turned and put his horse to a gallop and rode away, not seeking
-to pass the Duke's encampment, but directing his way towards the village
-of Rilano; and there he found shelter in the house of a friend for some
-hours, and when night fell, made his way safely back to the hills, and
-found that the Duke's men had abandoned the pursuit of his company and
-that all of them were alive and safe.
-
-But when they came to take up the young officer who had been false to
-his oath, he was dead; whether from fright at the aspect of Count
-Antonio and the imminent doom with which he was threatened, or by some
-immediate judgment of Heaven, I know not. For very various are the
-dealings of God with man. For one crime He will slay and tarry not, and
-so, perchance, was it meted out to that officer; but with another man
-His way is different, and He suffers him to live long days, mindful of
-his sin, in self-hatred and self-scorn, and will not send him the relief
-of death, how much soever the wretch may pray for it. Thus it was that
-God dealt with the hermit of the vault of the Peschetti, who did not
-find death till he had sought it for twenty-and-three years. I doubt not
-that in all there is purpose; even as was shown in the manner wherein
-the hermit, being himself bound and tied to a miserable life, was an
-instrument in saving the life of Count Antonio.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VII.
-
-COUNT ANTONIO AND THE LADY OF RILANO.
-
-
-From the lips of Tommasino himself, who was cousin to Count Antonio,
-greatly loved by him, and partaker of all his enterprises during the
-time of his sojourn as an outlaw in the hills, this, the story of the
-Lady of Rilano, came to my venerable brother in Christ, Niccolo; and the
-same Niccolo, being a very old man, told it to me, so that I know that
-the story is true and every part of it, and tread here not on the
-doubtful ground of legend, but on the firm rock of the word of honest
-men. There is indeed one thing doubtful, Tommasino himself being unable
-to know the verity of it; yet that one thing is of small moment, for it
-is no more than whether the lady came first to Duke Valentine, offering
-her aid, or whether the Duke, who since the affair of the sacred bones
-had been ever active in laying schemes against Antonio, cast his eyes on
-the lady, and, perceiving that she was very fair and likely to serve his
-turn, sent for her, and persuaded her by gifts and by the promise of a
-great marriage to take the task in hand.
-
-Be that as it may, it is certain that in the fourth year of Count
-Antonio's outlawry, the Lady Venusta came from Rilano, where she dwelt,
-and talked alone with the Duke in his cabinet; so that men (and women
-with greater urgency) asked what His Highness did to take such a one
-into his counsels; for he had himself forbidden her to live in the city
-and constrained her to abide in her house at Rilano, by reason of
-reports touching her fair fame. Nor did she then stay in Firmola, but,
-having had audience of the Duke, returned straightway to Rilano, and for
-the space of three weeks rested there; and the Duke told nothing to his
-lords of what had passed between him and the lady, while the Count
-Antonio and his friends knew not so much as that the Duke had held
-conference with the lady; for great penalties had been decreed against
-any man who sent word to Antonio of what passed in Firmola, and the
-pikemen kept strict guard on all who left or entered the city, so that
-it was rather like a town besieged than the chief place of a peaceful
-realm.
-
-Now at this time, considering that his hiding-place was too well known
-to the Lord Lorenzo and certain of the Duke's Guard, Count Antonio
-descended from the hills by night, and, having crossed the plain,
-carrying all his equipment with him, mounted again into the heights of
-Mount Agnino and pitched his camp in and about a certain cave, which is
-protected on two sides by high rocks and on the third by the steep banks
-of a river, and can be approached by one path only. This cave was known
-to the Duke, but he could not force it without great loss, so that
-Antonio was well nigh as safe as when his hiding-place had been unknown;
-and yet he was nearer by half to the city, and but seven miles as a bird
-flies from the village of Rilano where the Lady Venusta dwelt; although
-to one who travelled by the only path that a man could go upright on
-his feet the distance was hard on eleven miles. But no other place was
-so near, and from Rilano Antonio drew the better part of the provisions
-and stores of which he had need, procuring them secretly from the
-people, who were very strictly enjoined by the Duke to furnish him with
-nothing under pain of forfeiture of all their goods.
-
-Yet one day, when the man they called Bena and a dozen more rode in the
-evening through Rilano, returning towards the cave, the maid-servant of
-Venusta met them, and, with her, men bearing a great cask of fine wine,
-and the maid-servant said to Bena, "My mistress bids you drink; for good
-men should not suffer thirst."
-
-But Bena answered her, asking, "Do you know who we are?"
-
-"Aye, I know, and my lady knows," said the girl. "But my lady says that
-if she must live at Rilano, then she will do what she pleases in
-Rilano."
-
-Bena and his men looked at one another, for they knew of His Highness's
-proclamation, but the day having been hot, they being weary, the wine
-seeming good, and a woman knowing her own business best, at last they
-drank heartily, and, rendering much thanks, rode on and told Tommasino
-what had been done. And Tommasino having told Antonio, the Count was
-angry with Bena, saying that his gluttony would bring trouble on the
-Lady Venusta.
-
-"She should not tempt a man," said Bena sullenly.
-
-All these things happened on the second day of the week; and on the
-fourth, towards evening, as Antonio and Tommasino sat in front of the
-cave, they saw coming towards them one of the band named Luigi, a big
-fellow who had done good service and was also a merry jovial man that
-took the lead in good-fellowship. And in his arms Luigi bore the Lady
-Venusta. Her gown was dishevelled and torn, and the velvet shoes on
-her feet were cut almost to shreds, and she lay back in Luigi's
-arms, pale and exhausted. Luigi came and set her down gently before
-Antonio, saying, "My lord, three miles from here, in the steepest and
-roughest part of the way, I found this lady sunk on the ground and
-half-swooning: when I raised her and asked how she came where she was,
-and in such a plight, she could answer nothing save, 'Count Antonio!
-Carry me to Count Antonio!' So I have brought her in obedience to her
-request."
-
-As Luigi ended, Venusta opened her eyes, and, rising to her knees, held
-out her hands in supplication, saying, "Protect me, my lord, protect me.
-For the Duke has sent me word that to-morrow night he will burn my house
-and all that it holds, and will take me and lodge me in prison, and so
-use me there that I may know what befalls those who give aid to
-traitors. And all this comes upon me, my lord, because I gave a draught
-of wine to your men when they were thirsty."
-
-"I feared this thing," said Antonio, "and deeply I grieve at it. But I
-am loth to go in open war against the Duke; moreover in the plain he
-would be too strong for me. What then can I do? For here is no place in
-which a lady, the more if she be alone and unattended, can be lodged
-with seemliness."
-
-"If the choice be between this and a prison----" said Venusta with a
-faint sorrowful smile.
-
-"Yet it might be that I could convey you beyond His Highness's power,"
-pursued Antonio. "But I fear you could not travel far to-night."
-
-"Indeed I am weary even to death," moaned Venusta.
-
-"There is nothing for it but that to-night at least she rest here," said
-Antonio to Tommasino.
-
-Tommasino frowned. "When woman comes in," said he behind the screen of
-his hand, "safety flies out."
-
-"Better fly safety than courtesy and kindness, cousin," said Count
-Antonio, and Tommasino ceased to dissuade him, although he was uneasy
-concerning the coming of Venusta.
-
-That night, therefore, all made their camp outside, and gave the cave to
-Venusta for her use, having made a curtain of green boughs across its
-mouth. But again the next day Venusta was too sick for travel; nay, she
-seemed very sick, and she prayed Luigi to go to Rilano and seek a
-physician; and Luigi, Antonio having granted him permission, went, and
-returned saying that no physician dared come in face of His Highness's
-proclamation; but the truth was that Luigi was in the pay of Venusta and
-of the Duke, and had sought by his journey not a physician, but means of
-informing the Duke how Venusta had sped, and of seeking counsel from him
-as to what should next be done. And that day and for four days more
-Venusta abode in the cave, protesting that she could not travel; and
-Antonio used her with great courtesy, above all when he heard that the
-Duke, having stayed to muster all his force for fear of Antonio, had at
-length appointed the next day for the burning of her house at Rilano and
-the carrying off of all her goods. These tidings he gave her, and though
-he spoke gently, she fell at once into great distress, declaring that
-she had not believed the Duke would carry out his purpose, and weeping
-for her jewels and prized possessions which were in the house.
-
-Now Count Antonio, though no true man could call him fool, had yet a
-simplicity nobler it may be than the suspicious wisdom of those who,
-reading other hearts by their own, count all men rogues and all women
-wanton: and when he saw the lady weeping for the trinkets and her loved
-toys and trifles, he said, "Nay, though I cannot meet the Duke face to
-face, yet I will ride now and come there before him, and bring what you
-value most from the house."
-
-"You will be taken," said she, and she gazed at him with timid admiring
-eyes. "I had rather a thousand times lose the jewels than that you
-should run into danger, my lord. For I owe to you liberty, and perhaps
-life."
-
-"I will leave Tommasino to guard you and ride at once," and Antonio rose
-to his feet, smiling at her for her foolish fears.
-
-Then a thing that seemed strange happened. For Antonio gave a sudden cry
-of pain. And behold, he had set his foot on the point of a dagger that
-was on the ground near to the Lady Venusta; and the dagger ran deep into
-his foot, for it was resting on a stone and the point sloped upwards, so
-that he trod full and with all his weight on the point; and he sank back
-on the ground with the dagger in his foot. How came the dagger there?
-How came it to rest against the stone? None could tell then, though it
-seems plain to him that considers now. None then thought that the lady
-who fled to Antonio as though he were her lover, and lavished tears and
-sighs on him, had placed it there. Nor that honest Luigi, who made such
-moan of his carelessness in dropping his poniard, had taken more pains
-over the losing of his weapon than most men over the preservation of
-theirs. Luigi cursed himself, and the lady cried out on fate; and Count
-Antonio consoled both of them, saying that the wound would soon be well,
-and that it was too light a matter for a lady to dim her bright eyes for
-the sake of it.
-
-Yet light as the matter was, it was enough for Venusta's purpose and for
-the scheme of Duke Valentine. For Count Antonio could neither mount his
-horse nor go afoot to Venusta's house in Rilano; and, if the jewels were
-to be saved and the lady's tears dried (mightily, she declared with
-pretty self-reproach, was she ashamed to think of the jewels beside
-Antonio's hurt, but yet they were dear to her), then Tommasino must go
-in his place to Rilano.
-
-"And take all save Bena and two more," said Antonio. "For the Duke will
-not come here if he goes to Rilano."
-
-"I," said Bena, "am neither nurse nor physician nor woman. Let Martolo
-stay; he says there is already too much blood on his conscience; and let
-me go, for there is not so much as I could bear on mine, and maybe we
-shall have a chance of an encounter with the foreguard of the Duke."
-
-But Venusta said to Antonio, "Let both of these men go, and let Luigi
-stay. For he is a clever fellow, and will aid me in tending your wound."
-
-"So be it," said Antonio. "Let Luigi and the two youngest stay; and do
-the rest of you go, and return as speedily as you may. And the Lady
-Venusta shall, of her great goodness, dress my wound, which pains me
-more than such a trifle should."
-
-Thus the whole band, saving Luigi and two youths, rode off early in the
-morning with Tommasino, their intent being to reach Rilano and get clear
-of it again before the Duke came thither from the city: and Venusta
-sent no message to the Duke, seeing that all had fallen out most
-prosperously and as had been arranged between them. For the Duke was not
-in truth minded to go at all to Rilano; but at earliest dawn, before
-Tommasino had set forth, the Lord Lorenzo left the city with a hundred
-pikemen; more he would not take, fearing to be delayed if his troop were
-too large; and he made a great circuit, avoiding Rilano and the country
-adjacent to it. So that by mid-day Tommasino was come with
-thirty-and-four men (the whole strength of the band except the three
-with Antonio) to Rilano, and, meeting with no resistance, entered
-Venusta's house, and took all that was precious in it, and loaded their
-horses with the rich tapestries and the choicest of the furnishings; and
-then, having regaled themselves with good cheer, started in the
-afternoon to ride back to the cave, Tommasino and Bena grumbling to one
-another because they had chanced on no fighting, but not daring to tarry
-by reason of Antonio's orders.
-
-But their lamentations were without need; for when they came to the pass
-of Mount Agnino, there at the entrance of the road which led up to the
-cave, by the side of the river, was encamped a force of eighty pikemen
-under the Lieutenant of the Guard. Thus skilfully had the Lord Lorenzo
-performed his duty, and cut off Tommasino and his company from all
-access to the cave; and now he himself was gone with twenty men up the
-mountain path, to take Antonio according to the scheme of the Duke and
-the Lady Venusta. But Bena and Tommasino were sore aghast, and said to
-one another, "There is treachery. What are we to do?" For the eighty of
-the Duke's men were posted strongly, and it was a great hazard to attack
-them. Yet this risk they would have run, for they were ready rather to
-die than to sit there idle while Antonio was taken; and in all
-likelihood they would have died, had the Lieutenant obeyed the orders
-which Lorenzo had given him and rested where he was, covered by the hill
-and the river. But the Lieutenant was a young man, of hot temper and
-impetuous, and to his mistaken pride it seemed as though it were
-cowardice for eighty men to shrink from attacking thirty-and-five, and
-for the Duke's Guards to play for advantage in a contest with a band of
-robbers. Moreover Tommasino's men taunted his men, crying to them to
-come down and fight like men in the open. Therefore, counting on a sure
-victory and the pardon it would gain, about three o'clock in the
-afternoon he cried, "Let us have at these rascals!" and to Tommasino's
-great joy, his troop remounted their horses and made ready to charge
-from their position. Then Tommasino said, "We are all ready to face the
-enemy for my lord and cousin's sake. But I have need now of those who
-will run away for his sake."
-
-Then he laid his plans that when the Lieutenant's troop charged, his men
-should not stand their ground. And five men he placed on one extremity
-of his line, Bena at their head; and four others with himself he posted
-at the other extremity; also he spread out his line very wide, so that
-it stretched on either side beyond the line of the Lieutenant. And he
-bade the twenty-and-five in the centre not abide the onset, but turn and
-flee at a gallop, trusting to the speed of their horses for escape. And
-he made them fling away all that they had brought from the Lady
-Venusta's house, that they might ride the lighter.
-
-"And I pray God," said he, "that you will escape alive; but if you do
-not, it is only what your oath to my lord constrains you to. But you and
-I, Bena, with our men, will ride, not back towards the plain, but on
-towards the hills, and it may be that we shall thus get ahead of the
-Lieutenant; and once we are ahead of him in the hilly ground, he will
-not catch us before we come to the cave."
-
-"Unless," began Bena, "there be another party----"
-
-"Hist!" said Tommasino, and he whispered to Bena, "They will fear if
-they hear all."
-
-Then the Duke's men came forth, and it fell out as Tommasino had
-planned; for the body of the Duke's men, when they saw Tommasino's rank
-broken and his band flying, set up a great shout of scorn and triumph,
-and dug spurs into their horses and pursued the runaways. And the
-runaways rode at their top speed, and, having come nearly to Rilano
-without being caught, they were three of them overtaken and captured by
-the well at the entrance to the village; but the rest, wheeling to the
-right, dashed across the plain, making for Antonio's old hiding-place;
-and, having lost two more of their number whose horses failed, and
-having slain four of the Guard who pursued incautiously ahead of the
-rest, they reached the spurs of the hills, and there scattered, every
-man by himself, and found refuge, some in the woods, some in shepherds'
-huts; so they came off with their lives. But the men with Tommasino and
-Bena had ridden straight for the hill-road, and had passed the
-Lieutenant before he apprehended Tommasino's scheme. Then he cried aloud
-to his men, and eight of them, hearing him, checked their horses, but
-could not understand what he desired of them till he cried aloud again,
-and pointed with his hand towards where the ten, Tommasino leading and
-Bena in the rear, had gained the hill-road and were riding up it as
-swiftly as their horses could mount. Then the Lieutenant, cursing his
-own folly, gathered them, and they rode after Tommasino and Bena.
-
-"Be of good heart," said the Lieutenant. "They are between us and the
-company of my Lord Lorenzo."
-
-Yet though he said this, his mind was not at ease; for the horses of his
-men, being unaccustomed to the hills, could not mount the road as did
-the sure-footed mountain-horses ridden by Tommasino's company, and the
-space widened between them; and at last Tommasino's company disappeared
-from sight, at the point where the track turned sharp to the left, round
-a great jutting rock that stood across the way and left room for but
-three men to ride abreast between river and rock. Then the Lieutenant
-drew rein and took counsel with his men, for he feared that Tommasino
-would wait for him behind the jutting rock and dash out on his flank as
-he rode round. Therefore for a while he considered, and a while longer
-he allowed for the breathing of the horses; and then with great caution
-rode on towards the jutting rock, which lay about the half of a mile
-from him. And when he came near it, he and his men heard a voice cry,
-"Quiet, quiet! They are close now!"
-
-"They will dash at us as we go round," said the Lieutenant.
-
-"And we can go no more than three together," said one of the guards.
-
-"Are you all ready?" said the voice behind the cliff, in accents that
-but just reached round the rock. "Not a sound, for your lives!" Yet a
-sound there was, as of a jingling bit, and then again an angry, "Curse
-you, you clumsy fool, be still." And then all was still.
-
-"They are ready for us now," whispered a guard, with an uneasy smile.
-
-"I will go," said the Lieutenant. "Which two of you will lead the way
-with me?"
-
-But the men grumbled, saying, "It is the way to death that you ask us to
-lead, sir."
-
-Then the Lieutenant drew his men back, and as they retreated they made a
-noise great hoping to make Tommasino think they were gone. And, having
-thus withdrawn some five hundred paces, they rested in utter quiet for
-half an hour. And it was then late afternoon. And the Lieutenant said,
-"I will go first alone, and in all likelihood I shall be slain; but do
-you follow immediately after me and avenge my death." And this they,
-being ashamed for their first refusal, promised to do. Then the
-Lieutenant rode softly forward till he came within twenty yards of the
-rock, and he clapped spurs to his horse and shouted, and, followed close
-by his men crying, "For God and our Duke!" charged round the jutting
-rock.
-
-And behold, on the other side of it was not a man! And of Tommasino and
-his company naught was to be seen--for they had used the last hour to
-put a great distance between them and their pursuers--save that away,
-far up the road, in the waning light of the sun, was to be dimly
-perceived the figure of a man on horseback, who waved his hat to them
-and, turning, was in an instant lost to view. And this man was Bena,
-who, by himself and without a blow, had held the passage of the jutting
-rock for hard on an hour, and thus given time to Tommasino to ride on
-and come upon the rear of Lorenzo's company before the Lieutenant and
-his men could hem them in on the other side.
-
-Thus had the day worn to evening, and long had the day seemed to
-Antonio, who sat before the mouth of the cave, with Venusta by his side.
-All day they had sat thus alone, for Luigi and the two youths had gone
-to set snares in the wood behind the cave--or such was the pretext Luigi
-made; and Antonio had let them go, charging them to keep in earshot. As
-the long day passed, Antonio, seeking to entertain the lady and find
-amusement for her through the hours, began to recount to her all that he
-had done, how he had seized the Sacred Bones, the manner of his
-difference with the Abbot of St. Prisian, and much else. But of the
-killing of Duke Paul he would not speak; nor did he speak of his love
-for Lucia till Venusta pressed him, making parade of great sympathy for
-him. But when he had set his tongue to the task, he grew eloquent, his
-eyes gleamed and his cheek flushed, and he spoke in the low reverent
-voice that a true lover uses when he speaks of his mistress, as though
-his wonted accents were too common and mean for her name. And Venusta
-sat listening, casting now and again a look at him out of her deep
-eyes, and finding his eyes never on hers but filled with the fancied
-vision of Lucia. And at last, growing impatient with him, she broke out
-petulantly, "Is this girl, then, different from all others, that you
-speak of her as though she were a goddess?"
-
-"I would not have spoken of her but that you pressed me," laughed
-Antonio. "Yet in my eyes she is a goddess, as every maid should be to
-her lover."
-
-Venusta caught a twig from the ground and broke it sharp across. "Boys'
-talk!" said she, and flung the broken twig away.
-
-Antonio laughed gently, and leant back, resting on the rock. "May be,"
-said he. "Yet is there none who talks boys' talk for you?"
-
-"I love men," said she, "not boys. And if I were a man I think I would
-love a woman, not a goddess."
-
-"It is Heaven's chance, I doubt not," said Antonio, laughing again. "Had
-you and I chanced to love, we should not have quarrelled with the boys'
-talk nor at the name of goddess."
-
-She flushed suddenly and bit her lip, but she answered in raillery,
-"Indeed had it been so, a marvel of a lover I should have had! For you
-have not seen your mistress for many, many months, and yet you are
-faithful to her. Are you not, my lord?"
-
-"Small credit not to wander where you love to rest," said Antonio.
-
-"And yet youth goes in waiting, and delights missed come not again,"
-said she, leaning towards him with a light in her eyes, and scanning his
-fair hair and bronzed cheek, his broad shoulders and the sinewy hands
-that nursed his knee.
-
-"It may well be that they will not come to me," he said. "For the Duke
-has a halter ready for my throat, if by force or guile he can take me."
-
-She started at these words, searching his face; but he was calm and
-innocent of any hidden meaning. She forced a laugh as she said, twisting
-a curl of her hair round her finger, "The more reason to waste no time,
-my Lord Antonio."
-
-Antonio shook his head and said lightly, "But I think he cannot take me
-by force, and I know of no man in all the Duchy that would betray me to
-a shameful death."
-
-"And of no woman?" she asked, glancing at him from under drooping
-lashes.
-
-"No, for I have wronged none; and women are not cruel."
-
-"Yet there may be some, my lord, who call you cruel and therefore would
-be cruel in vengeance. A lover faithful as you can have but one friend
-among women."
-
-"I know of none such," he laughed. "And surely the vengeance would be
-too great for the offence, if there were such."
-
-"Nay, I know not that," said Venusta, frowning.
-
-"I would trust myself to any woman, even though the Duke offered her
-great rewards, aye, as readily as I put faith in Lucia herself, or in
-you."
-
-"You couple me with her?"
-
-"In that matter most readily," said Antonio.
-
-"But in nothing else?" she asked, flushing again in anger, for still his
-eyes were distant, and he turned them never on her.
-
-"You must pardon me," he said. "My eyes are blinded."
-
-For a moment she sat silent; then she said in a low voice, "But blind
-eyes have learned to see before now, my lord."
-
-Then Antonio set his eyes on her; and now she could not meet them, but
-turned her burning face away. For her soul was in tumult, and she knew
-not now whether she loved or hated him, nor whether she would save or
-still betray him. And the trust he had in her gnawed her guilty heart.
-So that a sudden passion seized her, and she caught Antonio by the arm,
-crying, "But if a woman held your life in her hand and asked your love
-as its price, Antonio?"
-
-"Such a thing could not be," said he, wondering.
-
-"Nay, but it might. And if it were?"
-
-And Antonio, marvelling more and more at her vehemence, answered, "Love
-is dear, and honour is dear; but we of Monte Velluto hold life of no
-great price."
-
-"Yet it is a fearful and shameful thing to hang from the city wall."
-
-"There are worse things," said he. "But indeed I count not to do it;"
-and he laughed again.
-
-Venusta sprang to her feet and paced the space between the cave and the
-river bank with restless steps. Once she flung her hands above her head
-and clasped them; then, holding them clasped in front of her, she stood
-by Antonio and bent over him, till her hair, falling forward as she
-stooped, brushed his forehead and mingled with his fair locks; and she
-breathed softly his name, "Antonio, Antonio!" At this he looked up with
-a great start, stretching up his hand as though to check her; but he
-said nothing. And she, suddenly sobbing, fell on her knees by him; yet,
-as suddenly, she ceased to sob, and a smile came on her lips, and she
-leant towards him, saying again, "Antonio."
-
-"I pray you, I pray you," said he, seeking to stay her courteously.
-
-Then, careless of her secret, she flashed out in wrath, "Ah, you scorn
-me, my lord! You care nothing for me. I am dirt to you. Yet I hold your
-life in my hand!" And then in an instant she grew again softened,
-beseeching, "Am I so hideous, dear lord, that death is better than my
-love? For if you will love me, I will save you."
-
-"I know not how my life is in your hands," said he, glad to catch at
-that and leave the rest of what Venusta said.
-
-"Is there any path that leads higher up into the mountains?" she asked.
-
-"Yes, there is one," said he; "but if need came now, I could not climb
-it with this wounded foot of mine."
-
-"Luigi and the young men could carry you?"
-
-"Yes; but what need? Tommasino and the band will return soon."
-
-But she caught him by the hand, crying, "Rise, rise; call the men and
-let them carry you. Come, there is no time for lingering. And if I save
-you, my Lord Antonio----?" And a yearning question sounded in her voice.
-
-"If you save me a thousand times, I can do nothing else than pray you
-spare me what is more painful than death to me," said he, looking away
-from her and being himself in great confusion.
-
-"Come, come," she cried. "Call them! Perhaps some day----! Call them,
-Antonio."
-
-But as she spoke, before Antonio could call, there came a loud cry from
-the wood behind the cave, the cry of a man in some great strait.
-Antonio's hand flew to his sword, and he rose to his feet, and stood
-leaning on his sword. Then he cried aloud to Luigi. And in a moment
-Luigi and one of the youths came running; and Luigi, casting one glance
-at Venusta, said breathlessly, "My lord, Jacopo's foot slipped, and the
-poor fellow has fallen down a precipice thirty feet deep on to the rocks
-below, and we fear that he is sore hurt."
-
-Venusta sprang a step forward, for she suspected (what the truth was)
-that Luigi himself had aided the slipping of Jacopo's foot by a sudden
-lurch against him; but she said nothing, and Antonio bade Luigi go quick
-and look after Jacopo, and take the other youth with him.
-
-"But we shall leave you unguarded, my lord," said Luigi with a cunning
-show of solicitude.
-
-"I am in no present danger, and the youth may be dying. Go speedily,"
-said Antonio.
-
-Luigi turned, and with the other youth (Tommasino told Niccolo his name,
-but Niccolo had forgotten it) rushed off; and even as he went, Venusta
-cried, "It is a lie! You yourself brought it about!" But Luigi did not
-hear her, and Antonio, left again alone, asked her, "What mean you?"
-
-"Nay, I mean naught," said she, affrighted, and, when faced by his
-inquiring eyes, not daring to confess her treachery.
-
-"I hope the lad is not killed," said Antonio.
-
-"I care not for a thousand lads. Think of yourself, my lord!" And
-planning to rouse Antonio without betraying herself, she said, "I
-distrust this man Luigi. Is he faithful? The Duke can offer great
-rewards."
-
-"He has served me well. I have no reason to mistrust him," said Antonio.
-
-"Ah, you trust every one!" she cried in passion and in scorn of his
-simplicity. "You trust Luigi! You trust me!"
-
-"Why not?" said he. "But indeed now I have no choice. For they cannot
-carry both Jacopo and me up the path."
-
-"Jacopo! You would stay for Jacopo?" she flashed out fiercely.
-
-"If nothing else, yet my oath would bind me not to leave him while he
-lives. For we of the band are all bound to one another as brethren by an
-oath, and it would look ill if I, for whom they all have given much,
-were the first to break the oath. So here I am, and here I must stay,"
-and Antonio ended smiling, and, his foot hurting him while he stood, sat
-down again and rested against the rock.
-
-It was now late, and evening fell; and Venusta knew that the Duke's men
-should soon be upon them. And she sat down near Antonio and buried her
-face in her hands, and she wept. For Antonio had so won on her by his
-honour and his gentleness, and most of all by his loyal clinging to the
-poor boy Jacopo, that she could not think of her treachery without
-loathing and horror. Yet she dared not tell him; that now seemed worse
-to her than death. And while they sat thus, Luigi came and told Antonio
-that the youth was sore hurt and that they could not lift him.
-
-"Then stay by him," said Antonio. "I need nothing."
-
-And Luigi bowed, and, turning, went back to the other youth, and bade
-him stay by Jacopo, while he went by Antonio's orders to seek for some
-one to aid in carrying him. "I may chance," said he, "to find some
-shepherds." So he went, not to seek shepherds, but to seek the Duke's
-men, and tell them that they might safely come upon Antonio, for he had
-now none to guard him.
-
-Then Antonio said to Venusta, "Why do you sit and weep?"
-
-For he thought that she wept because he had scorned the love in which
-her words declared her to hold him, and he was sorry. But she made no
-answer.
-
-And he went on, "I pray you, do not weep. For think not that I am blind
-to your beauty or to the sweet kindness which you have bestowed upon me.
-And in all things that I may, I will truly and faithfully serve you to
-my death."
-
-Then she raised her head and she said, "That will not be long, Antonio."
-
-"I know not, but for so long as it may be," said he.
-
-"It will not be long," she said again, and burst into quick passionate
-sobs, that shook her and left her at last breathless and exhausted.
-
-Antonio looked at her for a while and said, "There is something that you
-do not tell me. Yet if it be anything that causes you pain or shame, you
-may tell me as readily as you would any man. For I am not a hard man,
-and I have many things on my own conscience that forbid me to judge
-harshly of another."
-
-She raised her head and she lifted her hand into the air. The stillness
-of evening had fallen, and a light wind blew up from the plain. There
-seemed no sound save from the flowing of the river and the gentle
-rustle of the trees.
-
-"Hark!" said she. "Hark! hark!" and with every repetition of the word
-her voice rose till it ended in a cry of terror.
-
-Antonio set his hand to his ear and listened intently. "It is the sound
-of men's feet on the rocky path," said he, smiling. "Tommasino returns,
-and I doubt not that he brings your jewels with him. Will you not give
-him a smiling welcome? Aye, and to me also your smiles would be welcome.
-For your weeping melts my heart, and the dimness of your eyes is like a
-cloud across the sun."
-
-Venusta's sobs had ceased, and she looked at Antonio with a face calm,
-white, and set. "It is not the Lord Tommasino," she said. "The men you
-hear are the Duke's men;" and then and there she told him the whole. Yet
-she spoke as though neither he nor any other were there, but as though
-she rehearsed for her own ear some lesson that she had learnt; so
-lifeless and monotonous was her voice as it related the shameful thing.
-And at last she ended saying, "Thus in an hour you will be dead, or
-captured and held for a worse death. It is I who have done it." And she
-bent her head again to meet her hands; yet she did not cover her face,
-but rested her chin on her hands, and her eyes were fixed immovably on
-Count Antonio.
-
-For the space of a minute or two he sat silent. Then he said, "I fear,
-then, that Tommasino and the rest have had a fight against great odds.
-But they are stout fellows, Tommasino, and old Bena, and the rest. I
-hope it is well with them." Then, after a pause, he went on, "Yes, the
-sound of the steps comes nearer. They will be here before long now. But
-I had not thought it of Luigi. The rogue! I trust they will not find the
-two lads."
-
-Venusta sat silent, waiting for him to reproach her. He read her thought
-on her face, and he smiled at her, and said to her, "Go and meet them;
-or go, if you will, away up the path. For you should not be here when
-the end comes."
-
-Then she flung herself at his feet, asking forgiveness, but finding no
-word for her prayer. "Aye, aye," said he gently. "But of God you must
-ask it in prayers and good deeds." And he dragged himself to the cave
-and set himself with his back against the rock and his face towards the
-path along which the Duke's men must come. And he called again to
-Venusta, saying, "I pray you, do not stay here." But she heeded him not,
-but sat again on the ground, her chin resting on her hands and her eyes
-on his.
-
-"Hark, they are near now!" said he. And he looked round at sky and
-trees, and at the rippling swift river, and at the long dark shadows of
-the hills; and he listened to the faint sounds of the birds and living
-creatures in the wood. And a great lust of life came over him, and for a
-moment his lip quivered and his head fell; he was very loth to die. Yet
-soon he smiled again and raised his head, and so leant easily against
-the rock.
-
-Now the Lord Lorenzo and his twenty men, conceiving that the Lieutenant
-of the Guard could without difficulty hold Tommasino, had come along
-leisurely, desiring to be in good order and not weary when they met
-Antonio; for they feared him. And thus it was evening when they came
-near the cave and halted a moment to make their plans; and here Luigi
-met them and told them how Antonio was alone and unguarded. But Lorenzo
-desired, if it were possible, to take Antonio alive and carry him alive
-to the Duke, knowing that thus he would win His Highness's greatest
-thanks. And while they talked of how this might best be effected, they
-in their turn heard the sound of men coming up the road, this sound
-being made by Tommasino, Bena, and their party, who had ridden as fast
-as the weariness of their horses let them. But because they had ridden
-fast, their horses were foundered, and they had dismounted, and were now
-coming on foot; and Lorenzo heard them coming just as he also had
-decided to go forward on foot, and had caused the horses to be led into
-the wood and tethered there. And he asked, "Who are these?"
-
-Then one of his men, a skilled woodsman and hunter, listening, answered,
-"They are short of a dozen, my lord. They must be come with tidings from
-the Lieutenant of the Guard. For they would be more if the Lieutenant
-came himself, or if by chance Tommasino's band had eluded him."
-
-"Come," said Lorenzo. "The capture of the Count must be ours, not
-theirs. Let us go forward without delay."
-
-Thus Lorenzo and his men pushed on; and but the half of a mile behind
-came Tommasino and his; and again, three or four miles behind them, came
-the Lieutenant and his; and all these companies were pressing on towards
-the cave where Antonio and Venusta were. But Tommasino's men still
-marched the quicker, and they gained on Lorenzo, while the Lieutenant
-did not gain on them; yet by reason of the unceasing windings of the
-way, as it twisted round rocks and skirted precipices, they did not come
-in sight of Lorenzo, nor did he see them; indeed he thought now of
-nothing but of coming first on Antonio, and of securing the glory of
-taking him before the Lieutenant came up. And Tommasino, drawing near
-the cave, gave his men orders to walk very silently; for he hoped to
-surprise Lorenzo unawares. Thus, as the sun sank out of sight, Lorenzo
-came to the cave and to the open space between it and the river, and
-beheld Antonio standing with his back against the rock and his drawn
-sword in his hand, and Venusta crouched on the ground some paces away.
-When Venusta saw Lorenzo, she gave a sharp stifled cry, but did not
-move: Antonio smiled, and drew himself to his full height.
-
-"Your tricks have served you well, my lord," he said. "Here I am alone
-and crippled."
-
-"Then yield yourself," said Lorenzo. "We are twenty to one."
-
-"I will not yield," said Antonio. "I can die here as well as at Firmola,
-and a thrust is better than a noose."
-
-Then Lorenzo, being a gentleman of high spirit and courage, waved his
-men back; and they stood still ten paces off, watching intently as
-Lorenzo advanced towards Antonio, for, though Antonio was lamed, yet
-they looked to see fine fighting. And Lorenzo advanced towards Antonio,
-and said again, "Yield yourself, my lord."
-
-"I will not yield," said Antonio again.
-
-At this instant the woodsman who was with Lorenzo raised his hand to his
-ear and listened for a moment; but Tommasino came softly, and the
-woodsman was deceived. "It is but leaves," he said, and turned again to
-watch Lorenzo. And that lord now sprang fiercely on Antonio and the
-swords crossed. And as they crossed, Venusta crawled on her knees
-nearer, and as the swords played, nearer still she came, none noticing
-her, till at length she was within three yards of Lorenzo. He now was
-pressing Antonio hard, for the Count was in great pain from his foot,
-and as often as he was compelled to rest his weight on it, it came near
-to failing him, nor could he follow up any advantage he might gain
-against Lorenzo. Thus passed three or four minutes in the encounter. And
-the woodsman cried, "Hark! Here comes the Lieutenant. Quick, my lord, or
-you lose half the glory!" Then Lorenzo sprang afresh on Antonio. Yet as
-he sprang, another sprang also; and as that other sprang there rose a
-shout from Lorenzo's men; yet they did not rush to aid in the capture of
-Antonio, but turned themselves round. For Bena, with Tommasino at his
-heels, had shot among them like a stone hurled from a catapult; and this
-man Bena was a great fighter; and now he was all aflame with love and
-fear for Count Antonio. And he crashed through their ranks, and split
-the head of the woodsman with the heavy sword he carried; and thus he
-came to Lorenzo. But there in amazement he stood still. For Antonio and
-Lorenzo had dropped their points and fought no more; but both stood with
-their eyes on the slim figure of a girl that lay on the ground between
-them; and blood was pouring from a wound in her breast, and she moaned
-softly. And while the rest fought fiercely, these three stood looking on
-the girl; and Lorenzo looked also on his sword, which was dyed three
-inches up the blade. For as he thrust most fiercely at Antonio, Venusta
-had sprung at him with the spring of a young tiger, a dagger flashing in
-her hand, and in the instinct that sudden danger brings he had turned
-his blade against her; and the point of it was deep in her breast before
-he drew it back with horror and a cry of "Heavens! I have killed her!"
-And she fell full on the ground at the feet of Count Antonio, who had
-stood motionless in astonishment, with his sword in rest.
-
-Now the stillness and secrecy of Tommasino's approach had served him
-well, for he had come upon Lorenzo's men when they had no thought of an
-enemy, but stood crowded together, shoulder to shoulder; and several of
-them were slain and more hurt before they could use their swords to any
-purpose; but Tommasino's men had fallen on them with great fury, and had
-broken through them even as Bena had, and, getting above them, were now,
-step by step, driving them down the path, and formed a rampart between
-them and the three who stood by the dying lady. And when Bena perceived
-this advantage, wasting little thought on Venusta (he was a hard man,
-this Bena), he cried to Antonio, "Leave him to me, my lord. We have him
-sure!" and in an instant he would have sprung at Lorenzo, who, finding
-himself between two enemies, knew that his state was perilous, but was
-yet minded to defend himself. But Antonio suddenly cried in a loud
-voice, "Stay!" and arrested by his voice, all stood still, Lorenzo
-where he was, Tommasino and his men at the top of the path, and the
-Guards just below them. And Antonio, leaning on his sword, stepped a
-pace forward and said to Lorenzo, "My lord, the dice have fallen against
-you. But I would not fight over this lady's body. The truth of all she
-did I know, yet she has at the last died that I might live. See, my men
-are between you and your men."
-
-"It is the hazard of war," said Lorenzo.
-
-"Aye," said Bena. "He had killed you, my Lord Antonio, had we not come."
-
-But Antonio pointed to the body of Venusta. And she, at the instant,
-moaned again, and turned on her back, and gasped, and died: yet just
-before she died, her eyes sought Antonio's eyes, and he dropped suddenly
-on his knees beside her, and took her hand and kissed her brow. And they
-saw that she smiled in dying.
-
-Then Lorenzo brushed a hand across his eyes and said to Antonio, "Suffer
-me to go back with my men, and for a week there shall be a truce between
-us."
-
-"Let it be so," said Antonio.
-
-And Bena smiled, for he knew that the Lieutenant of the Guard must now
-be near at hand. But this he did not tell Antonio, fearing that Antonio
-would tell Lorenzo. Then Lorenzo, with uncovered head, passed through
-the rank of Tommasino's men; and he took up his dead, and with them went
-down the path, leaving Venusta where she lay. And when he had gone two
-miles, he met the Lieutenant and his party, pressing on. Yet when the
-two companies had joined, they were no more than seventeen whole and
-sound men, so many of Lorenzo's had Tommasino's party slain or hurt.
-Therefore Lorenzo in his heart was not much grieved at the truce, for it
-had been hard with seventeen to force the path to the cave against ten,
-all unhurt and sound. And, having sorely chidden the Lieutenant of the
-Guard, he rode back, and rested that night in Venusta's house at Rilano,
-and the next day rode on to Firmola, and told Duke Valentine how the
-expedition had sped.
-
-Then said Duke Valentine, "Force I have tried, and guile I have tried,
-and yet this man is delivered from my hand. Fortune fights for him;"
-and in chagrin and displeasure he went into his cabinet, and spoke to no
-man, and showed himself nowhere in the city, for the space of three
-days. But the townsmen, though they dared make no display, rejoiced that
-Antonio was safe, and the more because the Duke had laid so cunning and
-treacherous a snare for him.
-
-Now Antonio, Tommasino, and the rest, when they were left alone, stood
-round the corpse of Venusta, and Antonio told them briefly all the story
-of her treachery as she herself had told it to him.
-
-And when he had finished the tale, Bena cried, "She has deserved her
-death."
-
-But Tommasino stooped down and composed her limbs and her raiment gently
-with his hand, and when he rose up his eyes were dim, and he said, "Yes;"
-but at the last she gave her life for Antonio. And though she deserved
-death, it grieves me that she is gone to her account thus, without
-confession, pardon, or the rites of Holy Church.
-
-Then Antonio said, "Behold, her death is her confession, and the same
-should be her pardon. And for the rites----"
-
-He bent over her, and he dipped the tip of his finger in the lady's
-blood that had flowed from her wounded breast; and lightly with his
-finger-tip he signed the Cross in her own blood on her brow. "That,"
-said he, "shall be her Unction; and I think, Tommasino, it will serve."
-
-Thus the Lady Venusta died, and they carried her body down to Rilano and
-buried it there. And in after-days a tomb was raised over her, which may
-still be seen. But Count Antonio, being rejoined by such of his company
-as had escaped by flight from the pursuit of the Duke's troop, abode
-still in the hills, and albeit that his force was less, yet by the dread
-of his name and of the deeds that he had done he still defied the power
-of the Duke, and was not brought to submission.
-
-And whether the poor youth whom Luigi pushed over the precipice lived or
-died, Niccolo knew not. But Luigi, having entered the service of the
-Duke, played false to him also, and, being convicted on sure evidence of
-taking to himself certain moneys that the Duke had charged him to
-distribute to the poor, was hanged in the great square a year to the
-very day after Venusta died; whereat let him grieve who will; I grieve
-not.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VIII.
-
-THE MANNER OF COUNT ANTONIO'S RETURN.
-
-
-In all that I have written concerning Count Antonio, I have striven to
-say that only which is surely based on truth and attested by credible
-witness, and have left on one side the more marvellous tales such as the
-credulity of ignorance and the fond licence of legend are wont to weave.
-But as to the manner of his return there is no room for uncertainty, for
-the whole account of it was recorded in the archives of the city by
-order of Duke Valentine the Good, son and successor to that Duke who
-outlawed Antonio; to which archives I, Ambrose, have had full access;
-and I have now free permission to make known so much of them as may
-serve for the proper understanding of the matter. And this same task is
-one to which I set my pen willingly, conceiving that the story is
-worthy of being known to every man in the Duchy; for while many may
-censure the things that Antonio did in the days of his sojourn in the
-hills, there can, I think, be none that will not look with approval on
-his bearing in this last hap of fortune. Indeed he was a gallant
-gentleman; and if, for that, I forgive him his sins too readily, in like
-manner may our good St. Prisian intercede that my sins be forgiven me.
-
-Five years had the Count dwelt in the hills; five years had the Lady
-Lucia mourned in the city; five years had Duke Valentine laid plans and
-schemes. Then it fell out that a sickness came upon the city and the
-country round it; many died, and more were sore stricken but by the
-mercy of God narrowly escaped. Among those that suffered were the Duke
-himself, and at the same time a certain gentleman, by name Count Philip
-of Garda, a friend of Antonio's, and yet an obedient servant to the
-Duke. Now when Antonio heard that Philip lay sick, he sent to him a rich
-gift of choice meats and fruits by the hand of Tommasino. And Tommasino
-came with six of the band and delivered the gift, and might have ridden
-back in all safety, as did the six who came with him. But Philip had a
-fair daughter, and Tommasino, caught by her charms, made bold to linger
-at Philip's house, trusting that his presence there would not be known
-to the Duke, and venturing his own neck for the smiles of red lips and
-the glances of bright eyes, as young men have since this old world
-began. But one of the Duke's spies, of whom he maintained many, brought
-word to him of Tommasino's rashness; and as Tommasino at last rode forth
-privily in the evening, singing a love-song and hugging in his bosom a
-glove that the lady had suffered him to carry off, he came suddenly into
-an ambush of the Duke's Guard, was pulled violently from his horse, and
-before he could so much as draw his sword, behold, his arms were seized,
-and the Lord Lorenzo stood before him, with doffed cap and mocking
-smile!
-
-"My glove is like to cost me dear," said Tommasino.
-
-"Indeed, my lord," answered Lorenzo, "I fear there will be a reckoning
-for it." Then he gave the word, and they set Tommasino bound on his
-horse, and rode without drawing rein to the city. And when the Duke
-heard the next morning of Tommasino's capture, he raised himself on his
-couch, where he lay in the shade by the fish-pond under the wall of his
-garden. "This is sweet medicine for my sickness," said he. "On the third
-day from now, at noon, he shall die. Bid them raise a great gibbet in
-front of my palace, so high that it shall be seen from every part of the
-city and from beyond the walls; and on that gibbet Tommasino shall hang,
-that all men may know that I, Valentine, am Duke and Lord of Firmola."
-And he lay back again, pale and faint.
-
-But when word came to Antonio that Tommasino was taken, he withdrew
-himself from the rest of the band who were lamenting the untoward
-chance, and walked by himself to and fro for a long while. And he gazed
-once on the picture of the Lady Lucia which was always round his neck.
-Then he sat down and wrote a letter to the Duke, saying, "My gracious
-lord, I am here with fifty men, stout and brave fellows; and if my
-cousin dies, there shall be no peace in the Duchy. But my heart is heavy
-already for those that have died in my quarrel, and I may not endure
-Tommasino's death. Therefore let Tommasino go, and grant full pardon and
-oblivion to him and to all who are here with me, and swear to do this
-with a binding oath; and then I will come and deliver myself to you, and
-suffer such doom as seems good to Your Highness. May Almighty God
-assuage Your Highness's sickness and keep you in all things.--ANTONIO of
-Monte Velluto." And this letter he sent to the Duke Valentine, who,
-having received it, pondered long, but at last said to Lorenzo, "I do
-not love to let Tommasino go, nor to pardon these lawless knaves; yet
-for five years I have pursued Antonio and have not taken him. And I am
-weary, and the country is racked and troubled by our strife."
-
-"With Antonio dead, all would be quiet, my lord," said Lorenzo.
-
-Then the Duke's eyes flashed and he said, "It shall be so. And bid them
-strengthen the gibbet, for Antonio is a large man; and he shall surely
-hang on it."
-
-Now Lorenzo was somewhat grieved, for he esteemed Antonio; yet he obeyed
-the Duke's commands, and took from the Duke a letter for Antonio,
-wherein His Highness swore to all that Antonio asked, and bade him come
-alone or with one companion only into the city on the day that had been
-before appointed for the hanging of Tommasino. And, further, the Lord
-Lorenzo gathered together all the pikemen and every man that served the
-Duke, and placed them all on guard, and proclaimed that any man besides
-found carrying arms in the city should be held as the Duke's enemy. For
-he feared that the townsmen who loved Antonio would attempt something on
-his behalf. But when the townsmen saw the great force that Lorenzo had
-gathered, they dared attempt nothing, although they were sore grieved
-and lamented bitterly. And the Lady Lucia, looking from the window of
-her house, beheld those who were erecting the gibbet, and wept for her
-lover. As for Tommasino, when he heard that he was not to be hanged,
-but to be set free, and Antonio to suffer death in his stead, he was
-like a man mad, and his rage and grief could not be restrained; for he
-declared that he would not live if Antonio died, and did not cease to
-reproach himself bitterly. Therefore the Lord Lorenzo held him confined
-in his own house, lest he should do himself some harm, or endeavour by
-some desperate device to prevent Antonio from fulfilling his purpose;
-but he treated him with all courtesy, for he was sorry for his plight.
-
-Now Count Antonio feared his companions and did not dare to tell them of
-what he had done, lest their obedience should fail under a strain so
-great, and they should by force prevent his going to the city. Therefore
-he told them to rest quiet in their camp, while he, with Bena, went
-about certain necessary business; and he bade them farewell, enjoining
-them most strictly to do nothing against the Duke.
-
-"For," said he, "although I may not tell you fully what the business is
-on which I go, yet I have good hope that His Highness is favourably
-inclined to you, and that in a short space you will receive from him
-pardon for all your offences. And that pardon I charge you to accept
-with gratitude, and, having accepted it, be thenceforward loyal servants
-to His Highness."
-
-"But will the Duke pardon you also, my lord, and the Lord Tommasino?"
-asked Martolo.
-
-"He will pardon Tommasino also," answered Antonio. "And be assured that
-I shall suffer nothing." And having said this, he shook every man by the
-hand, thanking them for the love and service they had shown him; and he
-and Bena were accompanied by all of them to the foot of Mount Agnino;
-and there, in the early morning of the appointed day, Antonio mounted
-his horse and rode with Bena into the plain. And as they rode, Bena said
-to him, "My lord, why does the Duke grant this pardon?"
-
-"Because I give him what he asks as the price of it, Bena," answered
-Antonio; and they rode on for a while. But when Bena saw that Antonio
-turned his horse not towards Rilano, but directly across the plain
-towards Firmola, he said, "My lord, whither are we riding?"
-
-"We are riding to the city, Bena," answered Antonio. "There is no cause
-for fear; we go by leave and on the invitation of His Highness."
-
-"But will he let us go again?" asked Bena.
-
-"You will be free to go when you will," answered Antonio, "and me the
-Duke will himself send forth from the city when I am ready to go." For
-Lorenzo had promised in the Duke's name that Antonio's body, after it
-had hung three days on the gibbet, should be carried from the city to
-the church of St. Prisian at Rilano, and there interred with fitting
-ceremony.
-
-"Yet I do not like this ride of ours," grumbled Bena.
-
-"Nay, I like it not myself," said Antonio, smiling. "But for the good of
-my cousin and of all our company, we must go forward." And he stopped
-for a moment and added, "Swear to me, Bena, by St. Prisian, to obey in
-all I bid you in the city to-day, and not to draw your sword unless I
-draw mine."
-
-"Do I not always obey you, my lord?" asked Bena.
-
-"But swear to me."
-
-"Well, then, I swear," said Bena, "though in truth, my lord, your word
-is full as strong to me as any oath, whether by Prisian or another." For
-this man whom they called Bena was a godless man, and one that held holy
-things in light esteem. But he was a fine fighter and a loyal servant,
-and God's mercy is infinite. It may be his heart was turned at last;
-though indeed I have found no record of it.
-
-"My lord, will you see my Lady Lucia in the city?" asked Bena.
-
-"I trust at the least to see her face at her window," answered Antonio.
-
-"Will you have speech with her, my lord?"
-
-"If His Highness will grant me that favour, Bena."
-
-"Ah, I know now why you smiled, my lord, as you rode, just now. It will
-be a bright day for you." And Bena laughed.
-
-"Indeed," said Antonio, "I trust that the day may be bright for me. Yes,
-bright as the light of heaven."
-
-"There is no light brighter than the eyes of the girl a man loves," said
-Bena.
-
-"Yes, there is one," said Antonio. But Bena did not understand his
-meaning.
-
-Thus they rode till it wanted only two hours of noon; and then they were
-within five miles of the city, and Bena, looking, beheld the great
-gibbet rising above the walls of the city and standing forth grim and
-black in front of the marble face of the Cathedral.
-
-"What is that, my lord," he cried, "which towers above the walls of the
-city?"
-
-"Is it not enough to know when we come there?" answered Antonio.
-
-Then Bena sighed, and said to Antonio, "I find it in my heart, my lord,
-to be half sorry that the Duke pardons us; for we lived a fine merry
-life in the hills. Yet it will be pleasant to live at ease: and we have
-adventures enough to tell our sweethearts, aye, and our children too,
-when we grow old, and they come round us and ask us for stories of our
-youth. I hope my boys will be good at a fight, my lord, and serve your
-sons as I have served you."
-
-"It may be God's will that I leave no sons to bear my name, Bena."
-
-"I do not think that," said Bena with a laugh.
-
-They were now passing the hill on which stood the blackened walls of
-Antonio's house, which Duke Valentine had burnt.
-
-Bena cried out at the sight. "You will need to spend much in rebuilding
-it," said he.
-
-"Perhaps His Highness has provided another dwelling for me," said
-Antonio.
-
-"To-night he will surely lodge you, my lord, in his own palace, or, may
-be, with my Lord Lorenzo."
-
-"Wherever it may be, I shall sleep soundly," said Antonio.
-
-Now they were come near to the city, and they saw a body of pikemen
-coming out to meet them, the Lieutenant of the Guard at the head. And
-when they met, the Lieutenant bowed to Antonio, who greeted him most
-courteously; and the pikemen spread themselves in front and behind and
-on both sides of Antonio and Bena, and thus they went on towards the
-bridge and the city gate. But Bena eyed the pikemen with no love, and
-moved restlessly in his saddle. "These fellows," said he to Antonio,
-"hem us in, my lord. Shall I make my horse threaten their toes a little,
-so that they may give us more room?"
-
-"Let them be," said Antonio. "It is not for long, Bena."
-
-At the entrance of the gate stood Lorenzo, awaiting the Count, and there
-they dismounted, and Antonio passed through the gate with Lorenzo, Bena
-being close to him on the other side. And when Bena saw the great force
-of pikemen, and, behind their ranks, a mighty throng of people, and when
-he saw the tall gibbet and understood what it was, suddenly his face
-went red and his hand flew to his sword.
-
-But Antonio caught his arm, saying, "My sword is not drawn, Bena."
-
-"My lord, what does it mean?" cried Bena in a loud voice, so that
-Lorenzo heard and stayed his steps and looked at Bena. "Does he not
-know?" he asked of Antonio.
-
-"He does not know yet," said Antonio. And to Bena he said, "I have need
-of your sword, Bena. Give it me."
-
-"My sword, my lord?"
-
-"Yes, your sword."
-
-Bena looked at him with wondering frightened eyes; but slowly he
-unbuckled his sword from his belt and gave it to Antonio. And Antonio
-unbuckled his own sword also and gave them both to the Lieutenant of the
-Guard, saying, "Sir, I pray you to restore Bena's to him in the evening,
-and mine to me when I go forth to Rilano."
-
-But Bena clutched at Antonio's arm, crying again, "What does it mean, my
-lord?"
-
-Then Antonio took him by the hand and said, "Are we to be afraid now of
-what we have often faced together with light hearts, Bena?"
-
-"Are we to die?" asked Bena.
-
-"You are to live and beget those brave boys, Bena. But it is otherwise
-with me," said Antonio.
-
-Then the Lord Lorenzo, who had looked in Bena's eyes, signed to four
-pikemen to come near, and they came and stood near Bena; for Lorenzo
-feared that he would not suffer Antonio to die without seeking to save
-him or to die with him.
-
-"Nay, let him alone," said Antonio. "You will obey me of your free-will,
-Bena?"
-
-"Yes, my lord," said Bena; and he looked up at the gibbet; and then he
-caught Antonio's hand and kissed it a score of times; and he began to
-sob as a child sobs. And the Guard, among whom were some that had felt
-his arm, marvelled to see him thus moved.
-
-"Let us go on," said Antonio. "It is hard on noon, and I must keep my
-tryst with His Highness."
-
-"His Highness awaits my lord by the fish-pond in the garden," said
-Lorenzo; and he led Antonio to the palace and brought him through the
-great hall and so to the fish-pond; and by it the Duke lay propped on
-pillows, yet very richly arrayed; and his little son sat by him. Now
-Lorenzo stood aloof, but Antonio came, and, kneeling, kissed the Duke's
-hand, and then rose and stood before the Duke. But the boy cried, "Why,
-it is my Lord Antonio! Have you come back to live in the city, my Lord
-Antonio? Ah, I am glad of it!"
-
-"Nay, I have not come to live in the city, my little lord," said
-Antonio.
-
-"Whither do you go then?" asked the boy.
-
-"His Highness sends me on a journey," said Antonio.
-
-"Is it far?"
-
-"Yes, it is far," said Antonio with a smile.
-
-"I wish he would send another and let you stay; then we could play at
-robbers again in the great hall," said the little Duke. "Father, can you
-find no other lord to go in Antonio's place?"
-
-The Duke turned his face, pale and wasted with sickness, and his eyes,
-that seemed larger and deeper than they had been before, upon his son.
-"I can send none but Antonio," said he. And calling to Lorenzo, he bade
-him take the boy. But the boy went reluctantly, telling Antonio that he
-must return speedily. "For you promised," said he, "to teach me how to
-use my sword." And the Duke signed with his hand to Lorenzo, who lifted
-the boy and carried him away, leaving Antonio alone with the Duke.
-
-"I have set my seal to the pardons as I swore," said the Duke; "and
-Tommasino shall be free this evening; and all that he and the rest have
-done against me shall be forgotten from this hour. Have you any cause of
-complaint against me?"
-
-"None, my lord," said Count Antonio.
-
-"Is there anything that you ask of me?"
-
-"Nothing, my lord. Yet if it be Your Highness's pleasure that I should
-have speech with the Lady Lucia and with my cousin, I should be well
-pleased."
-
-"You will see them yonder in the square," said the Duke. "But otherwise
-you shall not see them."
-
-Then Lorenzo returned, and he led Antonio to a chamber and gave him meat
-and wine; and while Antonio ate, the Lord Archbishop, having heard that
-he was come, came in great haste; and the venerable man was very urgent
-with Antonio that he should make his peace with Heaven, so that, having
-confessed his sins and sought absolution, he might be relieved of the
-sentence of excommunication under which he lay, and be comforted with
-the rites of the Church before he died.
-
-"For there are many wild and wicked deeds on your conscience," said the
-Archbishop, "and above all, the things that you did touching the Abbot
-of St. Prisian, and yet more impiously touching the Sacred Bones."
-
-"Indeed I have many sins to confess," said Antonio; "but, my Lord
-Archbishop, concerning the Abbot and concerning the Sacred Bones I have
-nothing to confess. For even now, when I stand on the threshold of
-death, I can perceive nothing that I did save what I could not leave
-undone."
-
-Then the Archbishop besought him very earnestly, and even with tears;
-but Antonio would own no sin in these matters, and therefore the
-Archbishop could not relieve him from his sentence nor give him the holy
-comforts, but left him and returned to his own house in great distress
-of spirit.
-
-The Lord Lorenzo now came again to Antonio and said to him, "My lord,
-it wants but a few moments of noon." Therefore Antonio rose and went
-with him; and they came through the great hall, and, a strong escort
-being about them, took their stand at the foot of the palace steps. Then
-the Duke was borne out on his couch, high on the shoulders of his
-lackeys, and was set down on the topmost step: and silence having been
-proclaimed, the Duke spoke to Antonio; but so weak was his voice that
-none heard save those who were very near. "Antonio of Monte Velluto,"
-said he, "it may be that in God's purposes I myself have not long to
-live. Yet it is long enough for me to uphold and vindicate that princely
-power which the same God has committed to my hands. That power you have
-outraged; many of my faithful friends you have slain; against both me
-and the Church you have lifted your hand. Go then to your death, that
-men may know the fate of traitors and of rebels."
-
-Antonio bowed low to His Highness; but, not being invited by the Duke to
-speak, he said naught, but suffered Lorenzo to lead him across the
-square; and as he went, he passed where four pikemen stood by Bena,
-ready to lay hold on him if he moved; and Bena fell on his knees and
-again kissed Antonio's hand. And Antonio, passing on, saw two young
-lords, followers of Lorenzo. And between them stood Tommasino; their
-arms were through Tommasino's arms and they held him, though lovingly,
-yet firmly; and he had no sword.
-
-"May I speak with Tommasino?" asked Antonio.
-
-"His Highness has forbidden it," said Lorenzo; but Antonio paused for a
-moment before Tommasino; and Tommasino, greatly moved, cried piteously
-to him that he might die with him. And Antonio kissed him, and, with a
-shake of his head, passed on. Thus then he came to the gibbet, and
-mounted with Lorenzo on to the scaffold that was underneath the gibbet.
-And when he was seen there, a great groan went up from the people, and
-the apprenticed lads, who were all gathered together on the left side of
-the gibbet, murmured so fiercely and stirred so restlessly that the
-pikemen faced round, turning their backs towards the scaffold, and laid
-their pikes in rest.
-
-Then the hour of noon struck from the clock in the tower of the
-Cathedral; and the Master of the Duke's Household, who stood by the
-couch of his master, turned his eyes to the Duke's face, seeking the
-signal for Antonio's death; which when he received, he would sign to the
-executioner to set the rope round the Count's neck; for the man stood by
-Antonio with the rope in his hand, and Antonio was already in his shirt.
-But when the Master of the Household looked at the Duke, the Duke made
-him no signal; yet the Duke had not fainted from his sickness, for he
-was propped on his elbow, his face was eager, and his gaze was set
-intently across the square; and his physician, who was near, spoke to
-him softly, saying, "My lord, they await the signal."
-
-But the Duke waved him aside impatiently, and gazed still across the
-square. And, seeing His Highness thus gazing intently, the Master of the
-Household and the physician and all the rest who were about the Duke's
-person looked also; and they saw the Lady Lucia coming forth from her
-house, clad all in white. Antonio also saw her from where he stood on
-the scaffold, for the people made a way for her, and the pikemen let her
-pass through their ranks; so that she walked alone across the middle of
-the great square; and the eyes of all, leaving Antonio, were fixed upon
-her. Her face was very pale, and her hair fell on her shoulders; but she
-walked firmly and swiftly, and she turned neither to right nor left, but
-made straight for the spot where the Duke lay. And he, seeing her
-coming, moaned once, and passed his hand thrice across his eyes, and
-raised himself yet higher on his arm, leaning towards her over the side
-of the couch. Again he passed his hand across his brow; and the
-physician regarded him very intently, yet dared not again seek to rouse
-his attention, and imposed silence on the Master of the Household, who
-had asked in low tones, "What ails His Highness?" Then the Lady Lucia,
-having reached the foot of the steps, stood still there, her eyes on the
-Duke. Very fair was she, and sad, and she seemed rather some beautiful
-unsubstantial vision than a living maiden; and though she strove to
-form words with her lips, yet no words came; therefore it was by her
-muteness that she besought pity for herself and pardon for her lover.
-But the Duke, leaning yet further towards her, had fallen, but that the
-physician, kneeling, passed his arm round his body and held him up; and
-he said in low hoarse tones and like a man that is amazed and full of
-awe, and yet moved with a gladness so great that he cannot believe in
-it, "Who is it? Who is it?"
-
-And the Lady Lucia still could not answer him. And he, craning towards
-her, spoke to her in entreaty, "Margherita, Margherita!"
-
-Then indeed all marvelled; for the name that the Duke spoke was the name
-by which that Princess who had been his wife and was dead had been
-called; and they perceived that His Highness, overcome by his sickness,
-had lost discernment, and conceived the Lady Lucia to be not herself but
-the spirit of his dead love come to him from heaven, to which delusion
-her white robes and her death-like pallor might well incline him. And
-now the wonder and fear left his face, and there came in place of them a
-great joy and rapture, so that his sunk eyes gleamed, his lips quivered,
-and he beckoned with his hand, murmuring, "I am ready, I am ready,
-Margherita!" And while this passed, all who were too distant to hear the
-Duke's words wondered that the signal came not, but supposed that the
-Lady Lucia had interceded for Count Antonio, and that His Highness was
-now answering her prayer: and they hoped that he would grant it. And
-Antonio stood on the scaffold between the Lord Lorenzo and the
-executioner; and his eyes were set on Lucia.
-
-Then the Duke spoke again to the Lady Lucia, saying, "I have been
-lonely, very lonely. How pale your face is, my sweet! Come to me. I
-cannot come to you, for I am very sick." And he held out his hand
-towards her again.
-
-But she was now sore bewildered, for she could not understand the words
-which His Highness used to her, and she looked round, seeking some one
-who might tell her what they meant, but none moved from his place or
-came near to her; and at last she found voice enough to say in soft
-tones, "Antonio, my lord, the Count Antonio!"
-
-"Aye, I know that you loved him," said the Duke. "But since then he has
-done great crimes, and he must die. Yet speak not of him now, but come
-here to me, Margherita."
-
-Then, with wavering tread, she came towards him, mounting the first of
-the steps, and she said, "I know not what you would, my lord, nor why
-you call me by the name of Margherita. I am Lucia, and I come to ask
-Antonio's life."
-
-"Lucia, Lucia?" said he, and his face grew doubtful. "Nay, but you are
-my Margherita," he said.
-
-"No, my lord," she answered, as with trembling uncertain feet she
-mounted, till she stood but one step below where his couch was placed;
-and then she fell on her knees on the highest step and clasped her
-hands, crying, "Have mercy, my lord, have mercy! Think, my dear lord,
-how I love him; for if he dies, I must die also, my lord. Ah, my lord,
-you have known love. You loved our sweet Lady Margherita; was not her
-name now on your lips? So I love Antonio, so he loves me. Ah, my lord,
-Christ Jesus teaches pity!" And she buried her face in her hands and
-sobbed.
-
-Then the Duke, his physician and now the Master of the Household also
-supporting him, stretched himself over the edge of his couch, and,
-putting out his hand with feverish strength, plucked the Lady Lucia's
-hands away from her face and gazed at her face. And when he had gazed a
-moment, he gave a great cry, "Ah, God!" and flung his arms up above his
-head and fell back into the arms of his physician, who laid him down on
-his couch, where he lay motionless, his eyes shut and his chin resting
-on his breast. And all looked at the physician, but he answered, "Nay,
-he is not dead yet."
-
-"Why tarries the signal?" asked Antonio of Lorenzo on the scaffold.
-
-"It must be that the Lady Lucia beseeches him for your life, my lord,"
-answered Lorenzo. "Indeed heartily do I wish the Duke would hearken to
-her prayer."
-
-"He will not turn for her," said Antonio.
-
-But presently the report of what had passed spread from those round the
-Duke to the pikemen, and they, loving a marvel as most men do, must
-needs tell it to the people, and a murmur of wonder arose, and the
-report reached the guards at the scaffold, who came and told Lorenzo, in
-the hearing of Antonio, of the strange delusion that had come upon the
-Duke.
-
-"He must be sick to death," said Lorenzo.
-
-"I pray not," said Count Antonio. "For though he is a stern man, yet he
-is an able and just prince, and this fancy of his is very pitiful."
-
-"Do you spare pity for him?" asked Lorenzo.
-
-"Shall I not pity all who have lost their loves?" answered Antonio with
-a smile, and his eye rested on the form of the Lady Lucia kneeling by
-the Duke's couch.
-
-For hard on half an hour the Duke lay as he had fallen, but at last, his
-physician having used all his skill to rouse him, he opened his eyes;
-and he clutched his physician's hand and pointed to Lucia, asking, "Who
-is she?"
-
-"It is the Lady Lucia, my lord," answered the physician.
-
-"And there was none else?" asked the Duke in a low tremulous whisper.
-
-"I saw no other, my lord."
-
-"But I saw her," said the Duke. "I saw her even as I saw her last, when
-she lay on her bed and they took the child out of her dead arms."
-
-"It was the weakness of your malady, my lord, that made the vision
-before your eyes."
-
-"Alas, was it no more?" moaned the Duke. "Indeed, I am very weak; there
-is a blur before my eyes. I cannot see who this lady is that kneels
-before me. Who is she, and what ails her?" And having said this in
-fretful weary tones, he lay back on his pillow gasping.
-
-Then the Master of the Household came forward and said to him, "My lord,
-this is the Lady Lucia, and she kneels before your Highness praying for
-the life of Count Antonio, because she loves him."
-
-Now the name of Count Antonio, when spoken to him, moved the Duke more
-than all the ministrations of his physician; he roused himself once
-again, crying, "Antonio! I had forgotten Antonio. Does he still live?"
-
-"Your Highness has not given the signal for his death."
-
-"Have I not? Then here----"
-
-He moved his hand, but with a great cry the Lady Lucia sprang forward
-and seized his hand before he could raise it, kneeling to him and
-crying, "No, no, my lord, no, no, no!" And the Duke had no strength to
-fling her off, but he gasped, "Free me from her!" And the Master of the
-Household, terrified lest in her passion she should do violence to His
-Highness, roughly tore her hands from the Duke's hand, and the Duke,
-released, sat up on his couch, and he said, in a strange hard voice that
-was heard of all, even to the scaffold, and yet seemed not the voice
-that they knew as his, "Let Antonio----" But then he stopped; he choked
-in his throat, and, catching at his shirt, tore it loose from him. "Let
-Antonio!"----he cried again. "Let Antonio!"----And he sat there for an
-instant; and his eyes grew dim, the intelligence departing from them;
-once again he opened his lips, but nothing came from them save a gasp;
-and with a thud he fell back on his pillows, and, having rolled once on
-his side, turned again on his back and lay still. And a great hush fell
-on every man in the square, and they looked in one another's faces, but
-found no answer.
-
-For Valentine, Duke and Lord of Firmola, was dead of his sickness at the
-moment when he had sought to send Antonio to death. Thus marvellously
-did Heaven in its high purposes deal with him.
-
-"His Highness is dead," said the physician. And the Master of the
-Household, as his duty was, came to the front of the Duke's couch, and,
-standing there before all the people, broke the wand of his office, and
-let the broken fragments fall upon the marble steps; and he cried aloud,
-"Hear all of you! It hath pleased Almighty God to take unto Himself the
-soul of the noble and illustrious Prince, Valentine, Duke and Lord of
-Firmola. May his soul find peace!"
-
-But there came from the people no answering cry of "Amen," as, according
-to the custom of the Duchy, should have come. For they were amazed at
-the manner of this death; and many crossed themselves in fear, and women
-sobbed. And Lorenzo, standing on the scaffold by Antonio, was struck
-with wonder and fear, and clutched Antonio's arm, crying, "Can it be
-that the Duke is dead?" And Antonio bowed his head, answering, "May
-Christ receive his soul!"
-
-Then the Master of the Household came forward again and cried, "Hear all
-of you! According to the high pleasure and appointment of Almighty God,
-the noble and illustrious Prince, Valentine, Second of that Name, is
-from this hour Duke and Lord of Firmola; whom obey, serve, and honour,
-all of you. May his rule be prosperous!"
-
-And this time there came a low murmur of "Amen" from the people. But
-before more could pass, there was a sudden commotion in the square
-before the scaffold. For Bena, seeing what was done, and knowing that
-the Duke was dead, had glanced at the pikemen who stood near; and when
-he saw that they looked not at him but towards where the Master of the
-Household stood, he sprang forward and ran like a deer to the scaffold;
-and he leapt up to the scaffold before any could hinder him, and he
-cried in a mighty loud voice, saying, "By what warrant do you hold my
-lord a prisoner?"
-
-Then the apprentices raised a great cheer and with one accord pressed
-upon the pikemen, who, amazed by all that had passed, gave way before
-them; and the apprentices broke their bounds and surged like a billow of
-the sea up to the foot of the scaffold, shouting Antonio's name; and the
-young lords who held Tommasino came with him and broke through and
-reached the scaffold; for they feared for Lorenzo, and yet would not let
-Tommasino go: and Lorenzo was sore at a loss, but he drew his sword and
-cried that he would slay any man that touched Antonio, until the right
-of the matter should be known.
-
-"Indeed, if you will give me a sword, I will slay him myself," said
-Antonio. "For I stand here by my own will, and according to the promise
-I gave to the Duke; and if there be lawful authority to hang me, hang
-me; but if not, dispose of me as the laws of the Duchy bid."
-
-"I have no authority," said Lorenzo, "save what the Duke gave; and now
-he is dead."
-
-Then the Count Antonio fastened his shirt again about his neck and put
-on his doublet; and he signed to Bena to stand on one side of him, and
-he bade the young lords loose Tommasino. And he said to Lorenzo, "Let us
-go together to the palace." And now he was smiling. Then they came down
-from the scaffold and passed across the square, a great multitude
-following them. And when they came to the steps of the palace, the
-Duke's body was covered with a rich brocaded cloth that some hand had
-brought from his cabinet; and the little Duke stood there with his hand
-in the Master of the Household's hand; and the child was weeping
-bitterly, for he was very frightened; and over against him stood the
-Lady Lucia, motionless as though she had been turned to stone; for the
-strange thing that had come about through her approaching of the Duke
-had bewildered her brain. But when the boy saw Antonio he let go the
-hand he held and ran to Antonio and leapt into his arms. Then Antonio
-lifted him and showed him to the people, who hailed him for Duke; and
-Antonio set him down and knelt before him and kissed his hand. And the
-child cried, "Now that my father is dead, Antonio, you must not go on
-your journey, but you must stay with me. For if I am Duke, I must learn
-to use my sword without delay, and no man but you shall teach me."
-
-"Shall I not go on my journey, my lord?" asked Antonio.
-
-"No, you shall not go," said the little Duke.
-
-Then Antonio turned to the lords who stood round and said, "Behold, my
-lords, His Highness pardons me."
-
-But the lords doubted; and they said to Antonio, "Nay, but he does not
-know what he does in pardoning you."
-
-"He understands as well, I think," said Antonio, "as his father
-understood when he sent me to death. Indeed, my lords, it is not
-children only who know not what they do." And at this speech Tommasino
-smiled and Bena laughed gruffly. But the lords, bidding Antonio rest
-where he was till they returned, retired with the little Duke into the
-palace, and sent word hastily to the Archbishop that he should join
-them there and deliberate with them as to what it might be best to do.
-And when they were thus gone in, Antonio said, "I may not move, but the
-Lady Lucia is free to move."
-
-Then Tommasino went to the lady and spoke to her softly, telling her
-that Antonio desired to speak with her; and she gave Tommasino her hand,
-and he led her to Antonio, who stood within the portico, screened from
-the sight of the people. And there they were left alone.
-
-But meanwhile the whole body of the townsmen and the apprentices had
-gathered before the palace, and their one cry was for Antonio. For the
-fear of the Duke being no longer upon them, and the pikemen not knowing
-whom to obey and being therefore disordered, the people became very
-bold, and they had stormed the palace, had not one come to Antonio and
-implored him so show himself, that the people might know that he was
-safe. Therefore he came forward with the Lady Lucia, who was now no more
-bewildered, nor petrified with fear or astonishment, but was weeping
-with her eyes and smiling with her lips and clinging to Antonio's arm.
-And when the people saw them thus, they set up a great shout, that was
-heard far beyond the city walls; and the apprenticed lads turned and ran
-in a body across the square, and swarmed on to the scaffold. And then
-and there they plucked down the gibbet and worked so fiercely that in
-the space of half an hour there was none of it left.
-
-And now the Archbishop with the lords came forth from the council
-chamber, and the little Duke with them. And they caused the servants to
-remove the body of the dead Duke, and they set his son on a high seat,
-and put a sceptre in his hand. And the Archbishop offered up a prayer
-before the people; and, having done this, he turned to Antonio and said,
-"My Lord Antonio, most anxiously have His Highness and we of his Council
-considered of this matter; and it has seemed to us all--my own in truth
-was the sole reluctant voice, and now I also am brought to the same
-mind--that whereas the virtuous purposes of princes are meet to be
-remembered and made perpetual by faithful fulfilment after their death,
-yet the errors of which they, being mortal, are guilty should not
-overlive them nor be suffered to endure when they have passed away. And
-though we are not blind to your offences, yet we judge that in the
-beginning the fault was not yours. Therefore His Highness decrees your
-pardon for all offences against his civil state and power. And I myself,
-who hold authority higher than any earthly might, seeing in what this
-day has witnessed the finger of God Himself, do not fight against it,
-but will pray you, so soon as you may fit yourself thereunto by prayer
-and meditation, to come in a humble mind and seek again the blessing of
-the Church. For in what you did right and in what you outstepped right,
-God Himself must one day judge, and I will seek to judge of it no more."
-
-"My lord," said Antonio, "I have done much wrong. Yet I will own no
-wrong in the matter of the Abbot nor in that of the Sacred Bones."
-
-But the lord Archbishop smiled at Antonio, and Antonio bent and kissed
-the ring that was on his finger; and the old man laid his hand for a
-moment on Antonio's head, saying, "It may be that God works sometimes in
-ways that I may not see."
-
-Thus then it was that the Count Antonio was restored to his place, and
-came again to Firmola; and, having been relieved of the sentence of
-excommunication that had been laid upon him, he was wedded in the
-Cathedral to the Lady Lucia as soon as the days of mourning for the Duke
-had passed. And great was the joy in the city at their wedding; for
-every maid and every man saw in the triumph of Antonio's love a sign of
-the favour of Heaven to those who love with a pure and abiding passion.
-So they made great feasts, and were marvellously merry; and Bena let not
-the day go by without plighting his troth to a comely damsel, saying
-with a twinkle in his eye that the Count Antonio would have need of his
-sons, whose services he had promised to him as they rode together across
-the plain on the morning when Antonio had supposed that he was to die.
-Nor would Bena give any other reason whatsoever for the marriage.
-Nevertheless it is likely that there were others. But whether Bena
-fulfilled his promise I know not; for, as I have said, so little is
-known concerning him that his true name does not survive, and it has
-proved an impossible thing to discover whether any of his descendants
-yet live in Firmola. If it chance that they do, I trust that they fight
-as well, and serve as loyally, and pray better than he. But Martolo has
-left those that bear his name, and a great-grandson of his is at this
-very time huntsman to the Monastery of St. Prisian, where I have seen
-and talked with him many times.
-
-The task which I laid upon myself thus finds its end. For there is no
-need for me to tell of the after-deeds of Count Antonio of Monte
-Velluto, nor how, in the space of a few months, he was chosen by all the
-lords to be Ruler and Protector of the State during the infancy of the
-Duke; in which high office he did many notable deeds, both of war and
-peace, and raised the Duchy to a great height of power, and conferred
-many favours on the townsmen of Firmola, whom he loved and cherished
-because they had not forsaken him nor ceased to love him during all the
-years that he dwelt an outlaw in the hills. And he built again his house
-on the hill which Duke Valentine had burnt, and dwelt there with Lucia,
-and with Tommasino also, until Tommasino took to wife that same lady for
-whose sake he had lingered and thus fallen into the hands of the lord
-Lorenzo, and went and dwelt at Rilano, where those of his house still
-dwell. But when the young Duke came of an age to reign, the Count
-Antonio delivered his charge into his hand, yet continued to counsel
-him, and was very high in authority. And neighbouring princes also
-sought his aid and his counsel, and he was greatly honoured of all men.
-Thus if there were aught in his youth that merits censure, it may be
-held that he blotted out the shame of it by his after-life, for his
-later days were filled with honourable service to his Prince and to his
-country.
-
-Yet the heart of man is a vain thing; for when I, who am known to have
-learnt all that can be recovered from the mists of past times concerning
-Count Antonio, am asked--and whether it be by men or women, by boys or
-girls, aye, or by toddling infants--to tell them a tale of the great
-Count Antonio, it is not of the prudent ruler, nor of the wise
-counsellor, nay, nor even of the leader of the Duke's army, that they
-would hear, but always of Antonio when he was an outlaw, banned by his
-Prince and by the Church, living by the light of his own heart and by
-the strength of his own hand, secured only by the love and duty of the
-lawless men who followed him, and risking his life every day and every
-hour for the sake of the bright eyes of that lady who waited for him in
-the city. And when I, thinking to check this perversity, bid them look
-rather on his more worthy and sober days, they answer with a laugh, "But
-why, father, do you not write the story of those more worthy and sober
-days?" Nor will they believe when I say that it is but because the deeds
-of those days are elsewhere recorded. In good truth, I believe that in
-our hearts we love a lawless man! Here, then, ye perverse children, are
-the stories; they are all that you shall have from me. Read them; may
-they teach you to be true comrades, faithful lovers of one maid, and,
-since strife must needs come until God's pleasure bring peace to reign
-on earth, able, when occasion calls, to give and take good blows. Aye,
-never laugh. I have said it. A Churchman is a man.
-
-
-
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