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diff --git a/40922-0.txt b/40922-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3142cf8 --- /dev/null +++ b/40922-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,15909 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40922 *** + +PIETRO GHISLERI + + + + +[Illustration: Publisher's logo] + + + + + PIETRO GHISLERI + + BY + F. MARION CRAWFORD + + AUTHOR OF "SARACINESCA," "THE THREE FATES," ETC. + + + New York + MACMILLAN & CO. + AND LONDON + + 1893 + + _All rights reserved_ + + + + + COPYRIGHT, 1892, + BY MACMILLAN & CO. + + Norwood Press: + J.S. Cushing & Co.--Berwick & Smith. + Boston, Mass., U.S.A. + + + + +PIETRO GHISLERI. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +The relation of two step-sisters is unusual. When the Honourable Mrs. +Carlyon came to Rome twenty years ago, a young widow and the mother of a +little girl named Laura, she did not foresee the complications which her +second marriage was to produce. She was a good woman in her way, and if +she had guessed what it would mean to be the step-mother of Adele +Braccio she might have hesitated before marrying Camillo of that name, +commonly known as the Prince of Gerano. For the Prince had also been +married before, and his first wife had left him this one child, Adele, +who was only a year and a half older than little Laura Carlyon. No +children were born to the Gerano couple, and the two girls were brought +up together as though they were sisters. The Prince and Princess were +deeply attached to each other and to them both, so that for many years +Casa Gerano was justly looked upon as a model household. + +Mrs. Carlyon was very poor when she came to Rome. Her husband had been a +careless, good-humoured, and rather reckless younger son, and when he +broke his neck in coming down the Gross Glockner he left his widow about +as much as men of his stamp generally leave to their families; to wit, a +fearful and wonderful confusion of unpaid debts and a considerable +number of promises to pay money, signed by persons whose promises were +not of much consequence, even when clearly set down on paper. It seems +to be a peculiarity of poor and good-natured men that they will lend +whatever money they have to impecunious friends in distress rather than +use it for the paying of the just debts they owe their tailors. + +Gerano was rich. It does not by any means follow that Mrs. Carlyon +married him for his money, though she could not have married him without +it. She fell in love with him. He, on his part, having made a marriage +of interest when he took his first wife, and having led by no means a +very peaceful existence with the deceased Princess, considered that he +had earned the right to please himself, and accordingly did so. +Moreover, Mrs. Carlyon was a Catholic, which singularly facilitated +matters in the eyes of Gerano's numerous relations. Jack Carlyon had +been of the Church of England; and though anything but a practising +believer, if he believed in anything at all, he had nevertheless +absolutely insisted that his daughter should be brought up in his own +creed. On this one point he had displayed all the tenacity he possessed, +and the supply then seemed to be exhausted so far as other matters were +concerned. His wife was a very conscientious woman, altogether superior +to him in character, and she continued to respect his wishes, even after +his death. Laura, she said, should choose for herself when she was old +enough. In the meantime she should go to the English Church. The +consequence was that the little girl had an English nurse and afterwards +an English governess, while Adele was taken care of and taught by +Catholics. Under these circumstances, and as the step-sisters were not +related by blood or even by race, it is not strange that they should +have grown up to be as different as possible, while living under the +same roof and calling the same persons father and mother. + +The question of religion alone could certainly not have brought about +the events here to be chronicled, and it may be as well to say at once +that this history is not in the least concerned with matters of faith, +creed, or dogma, which are better left to those good men whose business +it is to understand them. The main and striking points of contrast were +these. Adele was barely more than pretty. Laura was all but beautiful. +Adele was a great heiress, and Laura had nothing or next to nothing to +expect at her mother's death. Adele was quick-witted, lively, given to +exaggeration in her talk, and not very scrupulous as to questions of +fact. Laura was slow to decide, but tenacious of her decisions, and, on +the whole, very truthful. + +In appearance, so far as generalities were concerned, the contrast +between the two girls was less marked. Both were of the dark type, but +Laura's complexion was paler than Adele's and her hair was blacker, as +well as thicker and more glossy. Laura's eyes were large, very deep set, +and dark. There was something strange in their look, something quite +unusual, and which might almost be called holy, if that were not too +strong a word to use in connexion with a woman of the world. Spicca, the +melancholy duellist, who was still alive at that time, used to say that +no one could possibly be as good as Laura Carlyon looked; a remark which +showed that he was acquainted with the sayings of a great English wit, +and was not above making use of them. Probably some part of the effect +produced by Laura's eyes was due to the evenly perfect whiteness of her +skin and the straight black brows which divided them from the broad low +forehead. For her hair grew low, and she wore it in a simple fashion +without that abundance of little curls which even then were considered +almost essential to woman's beauty. Her pallor, too, was quite natural, +for she had a good constitution and had rarely even had a headache. In +figure she was well proportioned, of average height and rather strongly +made, with large, firm, well-shaped hands. On the whole, a graceful +girl, but not in that way remarkable among others of her own age. In her +face, and altogether in her presence, the chief attraction lay in the +look of her eyes, which made one forget to notice the well-chiselled +nose,--a little short perhaps,--the really beautiful mouth, and the +perfect teeth. The chin, too, was broad and firm--too firm, some might +have said, for one so young. Considering all these facts together, most +people agreed that Laura was not far from being a great beauty. + +Adele was somewhat shorter than her step-sister, and more inclined to be +stout. Her black eyes were set nearer together, and her eyebrows almost +met, while her lustreless hair curled naturally in a profusion of tiny +ringlets upon her forehead. The small fine nose reminded one of a +ferret, and the white teeth looked sharp and pointed when the somewhat +thin lips parted and showed them; but she was undoubtedly pretty, and +something more than pretty. Her face had colour and animation, she +carried her small head well, and her gestures were graceful and easy. +She was fluent, too, in conversation and ready at all times with a quick +answer. Any one could see, in spite of her plump figure, that she was of +a very nervous constitution, restless, unsettled, and easily moved, +capable of considerable determination when really affected. She never +understood Laura, nor did Laura really understand her. + +In the natural course of events, social and domestic, it became +necessary to choose a husband for Adele so soon as she made her first +appearance in society. At that time Laura was not yet seventeen. Gerano +had already looked about him and had made up his mind. He was a little +dark-eyed man, grey, thin and nervous, but gifted with an unusually +agreeable manner, a pleasant tone of voice, a frank glance, and an +extremely upright character--a man much liked in the world and a good +deal respected. + +He had determined that if possible his daughter should marry Don +Francesco Savelli, a worthy young person, his father's eldest son, heir +to a good estate and a still better name, and altogether a most +desirable husband from all points of view. Gerano met with no serious +difficulty in bringing about what he wished, and in due time Don +Francesco was affianced to Donna Adele, and was privileged to visit at +the Palazzo Braccio almost as often as he pleased. He thus saw Laura +Carlyon often, and he very naturally fell in love with her. He had no +particular inclination to marry Donna Adele, but obeyed his father +blindly, as a matter of course, just as Adele obeyed Gerano. That was a +part of the old Roman system. Laura, however, did not fall in love with +Francesco. She was perhaps too young yet, or it is quite possible that +Francesco was too dull and uninteresting a personage in her eyes. But +Adele saw these things, and was very angry when she was quite sure that +her future husband would have greatly preferred to marry her +step-sister. She may be pardoned for having been jealous, for the +situation was hardly bearable. + +Francesco did not, indeed, make love to Laura. Even had he been rash +enough for that, he was in reality too much a gentleman at heart to have +done such a thing. He knew very well that he was to marry Adele, whether +he cared for her or not, and he behaved with great propriety and with +not a little philosophy. The virtue of resignation had been carefully +developed in him from his childhood, and Francesco's parents now reaped +their reward: he would not have thought of opposing them by word or +deed. + +But he could not hide what he felt. Like many good young men, he was +sensitive, and if he alternately blushed and turned pale when Laura +spoke to him, it was not his fault. His father and mother could +assuredly not expect him to control the circulation of his blood when it +chose to rise above the line of his collar, or seemed to sink to the +level of his boots. Adele was, however, at first very angry, and then +very jealous, and at last hated her step-sister with all her heart, as +young women can hate under circumstances of great provocation. + +Meanwhile, Laura remained calmly unconscious of all that was happening. +Francesco Savelli's outward and worldly advantages did not appeal to her +in the least. The fact that he was fair had no interest for her any +more than the fact that the old Prince of Gerano was dark. She talked to +the young man a little, when the conversation was general, just as she +talked to every one else, when she had anything to say, because she was +not naturally shy. But she never attempted to manufacture remarks when +nothing came to her lips, because she was not yet called upon to do so. +Nor was her silence by any means golden, so far as Savelli was +concerned. When she was not speaking to him, she took no notice of him. +His hair might be as yellow as mustard and his eyes as blue as +periwinkles, as his admirers said; she did not care. If possible, Adele +hated her even more for caring so little. + +In due time Francesco Savelli married Adele Braccio and took her to live +under his father's roof. After the great event peace descended once more +upon the household for a time, and Laura Carlyon saw much less of her +adorer. Not, indeed, that there had been any open conflict between the +step-sisters, nor even a declaration of war. Laura had attributed +Adele's coldness to her excitement about the marriage, natural enough +under the circumstances, and had not been hurt by it, while Adele had +carefully kept her jealousy to herself; but when the two met afterwards, +Laura felt that she was immeasurably far removed from anything like +intimacy or real friendship with the bride, and she was surprised that +Francesco should pay so much attention to herself. + +The young couple came to the Palazzo Braccio at regular intervals, and +at all these family gatherings Savelli spent his time in making +conversation for Laura. He was a very worthy young man, as has been +said, and his talents were not of the highest order, but he did his +best, and succeeded at least in making Laura think him passably +agreeable. She was willing to hear him talk, and Adele noted the fact. +When she drove home from her father's house with her husband, he was +generally abstracted and gave random answers to her questions or +observations. At the end of a year it was clear that he still loved +Laura in a hopeless, helpless, sentimental fashion of his own, and Adele +hated her more than ever. A second year and a third went by, and Laura +had been some time in society; still the situation remained unchanged. +The world said that the young Savelli were a very happy couple, but it +always looked at Laura Carlyon with an odd expression, as though it knew +something strange about her; something not quite right, which it was +willing to tolerate for the sake of the amusement to be got by watching +her. The world is the generic appellation of all those who go down to +the sea of society in long gowns or white ties, and live and move and +have their being therein. Other people do not count, even when they are +quite bad, although they may have very big names and a great deal of +money. The world, therefore, wagged its head and said that Laura Carlyon +was in love with her brother-in-law, or, to be quite accurate, with her +step-brother-in-law, because she was dark and his hair was so +exceedingly yellow. The world also went on to say that Donna Adele +behaved very kindly about it, and that it was so good of Francesco +Savelli to talk to Laura just as if there were nothing wrong; for, it +added, if he were to avoid her, there would certainly be gossip before +long. No one who does not live in society need attempt to follow this +sequence of ideas. As usual, too, nobody took the least trouble to find +out the origin of the story, but everybody was quite sure of having +heard it at first hand from the one person who knew. + +The Princess of Gerano took her daughter everywhere. She had +conscientiously done her duty towards Adele, and was sincerely fond of +her besides; but she loved Laura almost as much as the good mother in +the story-book loves her only child when the latter has done something +particularly disgraceful. She was at first annoyed and then made +seriously anxious by the young girl's total failure in society, from the +social point of view. Laura was beautiful, good, and accomplished. Ugly, +spiteful, and stupid girls succeeded better than she, though some of +them had no better prospect of a dowry. The good lady sought in vain the +cause of the trouble, but failed to find it out. Had she been born in +Rome, she would doubtless have had many kind friends to help her in the +solution of the difficulty. But though she bore a Roman name, and had +adopted Roman customs and had led a Roman life for nearly twenty years, +she was tacitly looked upon as a foreigner, and her daughter was treated +in the same way, though she, at least, spoke the language as her own. +Moreover, the girl was not a Catholic, and that was an additional +disadvantage where matrimony was concerned. It became evident to the +Princess that she was not likely to find a husband for her +daughter--certainly not such a husband as she had dreamed that Laura +might love, and who was to love her and make her happy. + +It must not be supposed that Gerano himself would have been indifferent +if he had known the real facts of the case. But he did not. Like many +elderly Romans, he hardly ever went into society and took very little +interest in its doings. He was very much concerned with the +administration of his fortune, and for his own daughter's welfare in her +new surroundings. He spent a good deal of time at his club, and was +often in the country, even in the height of the season. He supposed that +no one asked for Laura's hand because she was dowerless, and he was +sincerely sorry for it; but it did not enter his mind to provide her +with a suitable portion out of his abundance. He was too conscientious +for that. What he had inherited from his father must go down intact to +his child and to her children,--a son had already been born to the young +Savelli,--and to divide the property, or to take from it anything like a +fortune for Laura, would be little short of actual robbery in the eyes +of a Braccio. + +Laura herself was perhaps less disturbed by the coldness she encountered +than her mother was for her sake. She had a certain contempt for young +girls of her age and younger, whose sole idea was to be married as soon +as possible and with the greatest advantage to themselves. She was not +very vain and did not expect great admiration on the one hand, nor any +particular dislike on the other. Her character, too, was one that must +develop slowly, if it were ever to attain its mature growth. She +doubtless had moments of annoyance and even of depression; for few young +girls, and certainly no women, are wholly unconscious of neglect in +society. But although she was naturally inclined to melancholy, as her +eyes clearly showed, she was not by nature morbid, and assuredly not +more than usually imaginative. + +The result of all this was, that she bore herself with considerable +dignity in the world, was generally believed to be older than she was, +and was to be seen more often dancing or talking with the foreigners at +parties than with the Romans. + +"Who is that, Ghisleri?" asked Lord Herbert Arden of his old friend, one +evening early in the season, as he caught sight of Laura for the first +time. + +"An English Roman girl," answered the Italian. "The daughter of the +Princess of Gerano by her first marriage--Miss Carlyon." + +Lord Herbert had not been in Rome for three or four years, and was, +moreover, by no means acquainted with all Roman society. + +"Will you introduce me?" he asked, looking up at Ghisleri. + +Ghisleri led him across the room, introduced him and left the two +together, he being at that time very particularly engaged in another +quarter. + +The contrast between the two men was very strong. Lord Herbert Arden was +almost, if not quite, a cripple, the victim in his infancy of a +serving-woman's carelessness. The nurse had let him fall, had concealed +the accident as long as she could, and the boy had grown up misshapen +and feeble. In despite of this, however, he was eminently a man at whom +every one looked twice. No one who had seen him could ever forget the +extreme nobility and delicacy of his pale face. Each feature completed +and gave dignity to the next--the broad, highly modelled forehead, the +prominent brow, the hollows at the temples, the clear, steady brown +eyes, the aquiline nose and sensitive nostrils, the calm, straight +mouth, and the firm, clearly cut chin--all were in harmony. And yet in +all the crowd that thronged the great drawing-rooms there was hardly a +man with whom the young Englishman would not have exchanged face and +figure, if only he might stand at the height of other men, straight and +square, and be free forever from the halting gait which made life in the +world so hard for him. He was very human, and made no great pretence of +resignation, nor indeed of any other virtue. + +Pietro Ghisleri was a very different personage except, perhaps, in point +of humanity. He had seen and enjoyed much, if he had suffered much also, +and his face bore the traces of past pleasure and of past pain, though +he was not more than two-and-thirty years of age. It was a strong face, +too, and not without signs of superior intelligence and resolution. The +keen blue eyes had that trick of fixing themselves in conversation, +which belongs to combative temperaments. At other times they were sad in +expression, and often wore a weary look. Ghisleri's complexion might +almost have been called weather-beaten; for frequent and long exposure +to sun and weather had permanently changed its original colouring, which +had been decidedly fair. To adopt the simple style of his passport, he +might be described as six feet high, eyes blue, hair and moustache +brown, nose large, mouth normal, chin prominent, face somewhat +bony,--particular sign, a scar on the left temple. Like his old friend +Lord Herbert, he was one of the dozen men who always attract attention +in a crowded room. But of all those who looked at him, having known him +long, very few understood his character in the least, and all would have +been very much surprised if they could have guessed his thoughts, +especially on that particular evening when he introduced Arden to Miss +Carlyon. As for the rest, he was alone in the world, his own master, the +last of a Tuscan family that had refused to bear a title when titles +meant something and had not seen any reason for changing its mind in the +course of three or four centuries. He had a small fortune, sufficient +for his wants, and a castle somewhere, considerably the worse for war +and wear. + +"I cannot dance, you see," said Arden, seating himself beside Laura, +"and I am afraid that I am not very brilliant in conversation. Are you a +very good-natured person?" + +Laura turned her sad eyes upon her new acquaintance, and immediately +felt a thrill of sympathy for him, and of interest in his remarkable +face. + +"No one ever told me," she answered. "Do you think you could find out? I +should like to know." + +"What form of sin do you most affect?" asked Arden, with a smile. "Do +you more often do the things you ought not to do, or do you leave undone +the things which you ought to do?" + +"Oh, I leave the good things undone, of course!" answered Laura. "I +suppose everybody does, as a rule." + +"You are decidedly good-natured, particularly so in making that last +remark. I am less afraid of you than I was when I sat down." + +The young girl looked at him again. His conversation was so far not like +that of the Englishmen she had known hitherto. + +"Were you afraid of me?" she asked, beginning to smile. + +"A little, I confess." + +"Why? And if you were, why did you make Signor Ghisleri introduce you to +me?" + +"Because nobody likes to own to being afraid. Besides, Ghisleri is a +very old friend of mine, and I can trust him not to lead me into +danger." + +"Have you known him long?" asked Laura. "I have often wondered what he +is really like. I mean his character, you know, and what he thinks +about." + +"He thinks a great deal. He is one of the most complicated characters I +ever knew, and I am not at all sure that I understand him yet, though we +have known each other ten years. He is a good friend and a rather +indifferent enemy, I should say. His chief apparent peculiarity is that +he hates gossip. You will not find it easy to get from him a +disagreeable remark about any one. Yet he is not good-natured." + +"Perhaps he is afraid to say what he thinks," suggested the young girl. + +"I doubt that," answered Arden, with a smile. "He has not a particularly +angelic reputation, I believe, but I never heard any one say that he was +timid." + +"As you pretend to be," added Laura. "Do you know? You have not answered +my question. Why were you afraid of me, if you really were?" + +Lord Herbert answered one question by another, and the conversation +continued pleasantly enough. It was a relief to him to find a young and +beautiful girl of his own nationality in surroundings with which neither +he nor she were really in sympathy. In the course of half an hour they +both felt as though they had known one another a long time. The +admiration Arden had felt for Laura at first sight had considerably +increased, and she on her side had half forgotten that he was a cripple. +Indeed, when he was seated, his deformities were far less noticeable +than when he stood or painfully moved about from place to place. + +The two talked of a variety of subjects, but, with the exception of the +few words spoken about Ghisleri, there was no more reference to +personalities for a long time. + +"I am keeping you away from the dancing," Arden said at last, as he +realised that the room was almost empty and that he had been absorbing +the beautiful Miss Carlyon's attention longer than might be pleasant to +her. + +"Not at all," answered Laura. "I do not dance much." + +"Why not? Do you not like dancing?" He asked the question in a tone of +surprise. + +"On the contrary. But I am not taken out very often--perhaps because +they think me a foreigner. It is natural enough." + +"Very unnatural, it seems to me. Besides, I believe you are +exaggerating, so as not to make me feel uncomfortable. It is of no use, +you know; I am not at all sensitive. Shall we go into the ball-room?" + +"No; I would rather not, just yet." + +"Shall I go and get Ghisleri to take you back?" inquired Arden, with a +little smile. + +"Why?" + +"Because I might make you look ridiculous," answered the cripple, +quietly. + +He watched her, and saw a quick, pained look pass over her face. It was +at that particular moment that he began to love her, as he afterwards +remembered. She turned her eyes upon him as she answered after a +moment's hesitation. + +"Lord Herbert, will you please never say anything like that to me +again?" + +"Certainly not, if it offends you." + +"It does not offend me. I do not mean that." + +"What, then? Please tell me. I am not at all sensitive." + +"It pains me. I do not like to fancy that any one can think such things +of me, much less...." she stopped short and looked down, slowly opening +and shutting her fan. + +"Much less?" + +Laura hesitated for some seconds, as though choosing her words with more +than ordinary care. + +"Much less one whom it might pain to think them," she said at last. + +The smile that had been on Arden's face faded away in the silence that +followed, and his lips moved a little as though he felt some kind of +emotion, while his large thin hands closed tightly upon his withered +knee. + +"Have I said too much?" she asked, suddenly breaking the long pause. + +"Or not quite enough, perhaps," he answered in a low voice. + +Again they were both silent, and they both wondered inwardly that in +less than an hour's acquaintance they should have reached something like +a crisis. At last Laura rose slowly and deliberately, intending to give +her companion time to get to his feet. + +"Will you give me your arm?" she said when he stood beside her. "I want +to introduce you to my mother." + +Arden bent his head and held up his right arm for her hand. He was +considerably shorter than she. Then they walked away together, she erect +and easy in her girlish gait, he weak-kneed and awkward, seeming to +unjoint half his body at every painful step, helping himself along at +her side with the stick he held in his free hand--a strangely assorted +couple, the world said, as they went by. + +"My mother's name is Gerano, Princess of Gerano," said Laura, by way of +explanation, as they came within sight of her. + +"And is your father--I mean, is Prince Gerano--living?" asked Arden. He +had almost forgotten her name and her nationality in the interest he +felt in herself. + +"Yes; but he rarely goes into society. I am very fond of him," she +added, scarcely knowing why. "Mother," she said, as they came up to the +Princess, "Lord Herbert Arden." + +The Princess smiled and held out her hand. At that moment Pietro +Ghisleri came up. He had not been seen since he had left Laura and Arden +together. By a coincidence, doubtless, the Contessa dell' Armi had +disappeared at about the same time: she had probably gone home, as she +was not seen again in the ball-room that evening. But the world in its +omniscience knew that there was a certain boudoir beyond the +supper-room, where couples who did not care to dance were left in +comparative peace for a long time. The world could have told with +precision the position of the small sofa on which Ghisleri and the +lovely Contessa invariably spent an hour when they met in that +particular house. + +"Will you give me a turn, Miss Carlyon?" asked Ghisleri, as Arden began +to talk with the Princess. + +"Yes." Laura was really fond of a certain amount of dancing when a good +partner presented himself. + +"What do you think of my friend?" inquired Pietro, as they moved away +together. + +"I like him very much. He interests me." + +"Then you ought to be grateful to me for bringing him to you." + +"Do you expect gratitude in a ball-room?" Laura laughed a little, more +in pleasant anticipation of the waltz than at what she said. + +"A little more than in the average asylum for the aged and infirm, which +most people call home," returned Ghisleri, carelessly. + +"You have no home. How can you talk about it in that way?" + +"For the sake of talking; shall we dance instead?" + +A moment later they were in the thick of the crowd. + +"There are too many people; please take me back," said Laura, after one +turn. + +"Will you come and talk in the conservatory?" asked Ghisleri as they +reached the door. + +"No; I would rather not." + +"You were talking a long time with Arden. I saw you come out of the +drawing-room together. Why will you not sit five minutes with me?" + +"Lord Herbert is different," said Laura, quietly. "He is an Englishman, +and I am English." + +"Oh! is that the reason?" + +He led her back and left her with her mother. Arden was still there. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +In spite of his own declarations to the contrary, Lord Herbert Arden was +a very sensitive man. When he said he was not, he was perhaps trying to +deceive himself, but the attempt was at best only partially successful. +Few men in his circumstances can escape the daily sting that lies in +comparing their unfortunate outward personality with the average +symmetry of the human race. Women seem to feel deformity less than men, +or perhaps one only thinks so because they bear it more bravely; it is +hard to say. If Darwin is right, men are far more vain of their +appearance than women; and there are many who believe that a woman's +passive courage is greater than a man's. Be that as it may, the +particular sufferer who made Laura Carlyon's acquaintance at the ball +was in reality as sensitive a man in almost all respects as could be met +with anywhere in ordinary life. When he discovered that he was seriously +in love with Laura Carlyon, his existence changed suddenly, and for the +worse, so far as his comfort was concerned. + +He reviewed the situation as calmly as he could, when a fortnight or +more had passed and he had seen her a dozen times at her step-father's +house and in the world. One main fact was now quite clear to him. She +was not what is called popular in society; she had not even any intimate +friends. As for his own chances, he did not like to think of them. +Though only the younger brother of a peer of high rank, he was entitled +to expect a large fortune from an uncle on his mother's side, who had +never made any secret of his intentions in regard to his property, and +who, being over eighty years of age, could not be expected to live much +longer in the ordinary course of nature. At present his modest portion +was quite sufficient for himself, but he doubted whether it would +suffice for his needs if he married. That, however, was of minor +importance. The great fortune was safe and he was an exceedingly good +match from a financial point of view. Miss Carlyon was poor, as he knew +from Ghisleri, and Ghisleri had very probably told her that Arden was +rich, or would be before long. He refused to believe that Laura, of her +own free will, might marry him for his money; but it was intolerable to +think that her mother and step-father might try to force her into the +match from considerations of interest. He was not just to the Princess +of Gerano, but he knew her very slightly as yet and had no means of +forming a positive opinion. + +In the meantime he had been introduced to Donna Adele Savelli, who had +received him with the greatest warmth, protesting her love for the +English people and everything English, and especially for her +step-mother and step-sister. He had also renewed his acquaintance with +young Savelli, whom he had known slightly during a former visit to Rome, +and who now, he thought, met him rather coldly. He attributed Adele's +gushing manner to a desire to bring about a marriage, and he did not +attempt to account for Don Francesco's stiffness; but he liked neither +the one manifestation nor the other, for both wounded him in different +degrees. + +Above all other difficulties, the one which was most natural to his +delicately organised nature was of a purely disinterested kind. He +feared lest Laura, who evidently felt both pity and sympathy for him, +should take the two together for genuine love and sacrifice herself in a +life which would by and by become unbearable to her. He could not but +see that at every meeting she grew more interested in his conversation, +until when he was present, she scarcely paid any attention to any one +else. Such a friendship, if it could have been a real friendship, might +have made Arden happy so long as it lasted; but on his side, at least, +nothing of the kind was possible. He knew that he was hopelessly in +love, and to pretend the contrary to himself was real pain. He guessed +with wonderful keenness the direction Laura's heart was taking, and he +was appalled by the vision of the misery which must spread over her +young life if, after she had married him, she should be roused to the +great truth that pity and love are not the same, though they be so near +akin as to be sometimes mistaken one for the other. + +His weak health suffered and he grew more and more restless. It would +have been a satisfaction to speak out a hundredth part of what he felt +to Ghisleri. But he was little given to making confidences, and Ghisleri +was, or seemed to be, the last man to invite them. They met constantly, +however, and talked upon all sorts of topics. + +One day Ghisleri came to breakfast with Arden in his rooms at the hotel, +looking more weather-beaten than usual, for he was losing the tan from +his last expedition in the south, and there were deep black shadows +under his eyes. Moreover, he was in an abominably bad humour with +everything and with everybody except his friend. Arden knew that he +never gambled, and he also knew the man well enough to guess at the true +cause of the disturbance. There was something serious the matter. + +They sat down to breakfast and began to talk of politics and the +weather, as old friends do when they are aware that there is something +wrong. Ghisleri spoke English perfectly, with an almost imperceptible +accent, as many Italians do nowadays. + +"Come along with me, Arden," he said at last, as though losing patience +with everything all at once. "Let us go to Paris or Timbuctoo. This +place is not fit to live in." + +"What is the matter with it?" asked Arden, in a tone of amusement. + +"The matter with it? It is dull, to begin with. Secondly, it is a +perfect witches' caldron of scandal. Thirdly, we are all as bad as we +can be. There are three points at least." + +"My dear fellow, I do not see them in the same light. Take some more +hock." + +"Oh, you--you are amusing yourself! Thank you--I will--half a glass. Of +course you like Rome--you always did--you foreigners always will. You +amuse yourselves--that is it." + +"I see you dancing every night as though you liked it," observed Arden. + +"No doubt!" + +Ghisleri suddenly grew thoughtful and a distant look came into his eyes, +while the shadows seemed to deepen under them, till they were almost +black. He had eaten hardly anything, and now, regardless of the fact +that the meal was not half over, he lit a cigarette and leaned back in +his chair as though he had finished. + +"You are not looking well, Arden," he said at last. "You must take care +of yourself. Take my advice. We will go somewhere together for a couple +of months." + +"There is nothing I should like better, but not just at present. I will +stay in Rome until the weather is a little warmer." + +Arden was not in the least conscious that his expression changed as he +thought of the reason which kept him in the city and which might keep +him long. But Ghisleri, who had been watching for that particular +hesitation of manner and for that almost imperceptible darkening of the +eyes, knew exactly what both meant. + +"Oh, very well," he answered indifferently. "We can go later. People +always invent absurd stories if one goes away in the middle of the +season without any apparent object." + +The remark was a little less than general, and Arden was at once +confirmed in his suspicion that something unpleasant had happened in +Ghisleri's life, most probably in connection with the Contessa dell' +Armi. His friend was in such a savage humour that he might almost become +communicative. Arden was a very keen-sighted man, and not without tact, +and he thought the opportunity a good one for approaching a subject +which had long been in his mind. But he had been in earnest when he had +told Laura that he knew Ghisleri's character to be what he called +complicated, and he was aware that Pietro's intelligence was even more +penetrating than his own. He was therefore very cautious. + +"You say that Rome is such a great place for gossip," he began, in +answer to Ghisleri's last observation. "I suppose you know it by +experience, but I cannot say that we strangers hear much of it." + +"Perhaps not," admitted Ghisleri, rather absently. + +"No, we do not hear much scandal. For instance, I go rather often to the +Gerano's. I do not remember to have heard there a single spiteful story, +except, perhaps,"--Arden stopped cautiously. + +"Precisely," said Pietro, "the exceptions are rare in that house. But +then, the Prince is generally away, and both the Princess and her +daughter are English, and especially nice people." + +Arden helped himself to something that chanced to be near him, and +glanced at his companion's rather impenetrable face. He knew that at the +present moment the latter was perfectly sincere in what he said, but he +knew also that Ghisleri spoke of most people in very much the same tone. +It was something which Arden could never quite understand. + +"Do you think," he began presently, "that the fact of their being +English has anything to do with Miss Carlyon's unpopularity here?" + +"My dear fellow, how should I know?" asked Ghisleri, with something +almost like a laugh. + +"You do know, of course. I wish you would tell me. As an Englishman, the +mother interests me." + +"From the point of view of our international relations, I see, +collecting information for an article in the Nineteenth Century, or else +your brother is going to speak on the subject in the Lords. What do you +think about the matter yourself? If I can put you right, I will." + +"What an extraordinary man you are!" exclaimed Arden. "You always insist +upon answering one question by another." + +"It gives one time to think," retorted Ghisleri. "These cigarettes are +distinctly bad; give me one of yours, please. I never can understand why +the government monopoly here should exist, and if it does why they +should not give us Russian--" + +"My dear Ghisleri," said Arden, interrupting him, "we were talking about +the Princess Gerano." + +"Were we? Oh, yes, and Miss Carlyon, too, I remember. Do you like them?" + +"Very much; and I think every one should. That is the reason why I am +surprised that Miss Carlyon should not receive much more attention than +she does. I fancy it is because she is English. Do you think I am +right?" + +"No," said Ghisleri, slowly, at last answering the direct question, "I +do not think you are." + +"Then what in the world is the reason? The fact is clear enough. She +knows it herself." + +"Probably some absurd bit of gossip. Who cares? I am sorry for her, +though." + +"How can there be any scandal about a young girl of her age?" asked +Arden, incredulously. + +"In this place you can start a story about a baby a year old," answered +Ghisleri. "It will be remembered, repeated, and properly adorned, and +will ultimately ruin the innocent woman when she is grown up. Nobody +seems to care for chronology here--anachronism is so much more +convenient." + +"Why are you so absurdly reticent with me, Ghisleri?" asked Arden, with +some impatience. "You talk as though we had not known each other ten +years." + +"On the contrary," answered Pietro, "if we were acquaintances of +yesterday, I would not talk at all. That is just the difference. As it +is, and because we are rather good friends, I tell you what I believe to +be the truth. I believe--well, I will allow that I know, that there is a +story about Miss Carlyon, which is commonly credited, and which is a +down-right lie. I will not tell you what it is. It does not, strictly +speaking, affect her reputation, but it has made her unpopular--since +you have used that word. Ask any of the gossips, if you care enough--I +am not going to repeat such nonsense. It never does any good to repeat +other peoples' lies." + +Arden was silent, and his long white fingers played uneasily upon the +edge of the table. It had been a hard matter to extract the information, +but such as it was he knew that it was absolutely reliable. When +Ghisleri spoke at all about such things, he spoke the truth, and when he +said that he would positively say no more, his decision was always +final. Arden had discovered that in the early days of their +acquaintance. Perhaps Pietro went to absurd lengths in this direction, +and there were people who called it affectation and made him out to be +an even worse man than he was, but his friend knew that it was genuine +in its way. He was all the more disturbed by what he had heard, and it +was a long time before he spoke again. + +Ghisleri smoked in silence and drank three cups of coffee while Arden +was drinking one. He looked at that time like a man who was living upon +his nerves, so to say, instead of upon proper nourishment. + +An hour later the two men went out together, Arden taking Pietro with +him in his carriage. The air was bright and keen and the afternoon +sunlight was already turning yellow with the gold of the coming evening. +The carriage was momentarily blocked at the corner of the Pincio near +the entrance, by one that was turning out of the enclosure opposite the +band stand. It chanced to be the Princess of Gerano's landau, and she +and her daughter were seated in it, closely wrapped in their furs. It +was Arden's victoria that had to pull up to let the Princess drive +across, and by a coincidence the Savelli couple were in the one which +hers would have to follow in the descending line after crossing the +road. + +Francesco Savelli bowed, smiled, and waved his hat, evidently to Laura +rather than to her mother. With a rather forced smile Adele slowly bent +her head. Arden bowed at the same moment, and looked from one carriage +to the other. Ghisleri followed his example, and there was the very +faintest expression of amusement on his face, which Arden of course +could not see. A number of men on foot lined the side of the road close +to the carriage. + +"People always come back to their first loves!" said a low voice at +Arden's elbow. + +He turned quickly and saw several men watching the Savelli across his +victoria. He knew none of them, and it was impossible to guess which had +spoken. Ghisleri, being on the right side, as Arden's guest, could not +have heard the words. Having just noticed the rather striking contrast +between Francesco Savelli's demonstrative greeting and his wife's almost +indifferent nod, it naturally struck the Englishman that the remark he +had overheard might refer to the person he was himself watching at that +moment. Donna Adele Savelli's expression might very well be taken for +one of jealousy, but her husband's behaviour was assuredly too marked +for anything more than friendship. Arden coupled the words with the +facts and concluded that he had discovered the story of which Ghisleri +had spoken. Francesco Savelli was said to be in love with Laura Carlyon. +That was evidently the gossip; but he had seen Laura's face, too, and it +was quite plain that she was wholly indifferent. On the whole, though +the tale reflected little credit on Savelli, it was not at all clear why +it should make Laura unpopular, unless people said that she encouraged +the man, which they probably did, thought Lord Herbert Arden, who was a +man of the world. + +The more he considered the matter the more convinced he became that he +was right, and the conviction was on the whole a relief. He had been +uneasy for some time, and Ghisleri's guarded words had not satisfied +him; chance, however, had done what Ghisleri would not do, and the +mystery was solved. The Princess of Gerano was at home that evening, and +Arden of course went to the palace early, and was the last to leave. + +Three times between half-past ten and half-past two o'clock Laura and he +installed themselves side by side at some distance from the +drawing-room, and each time their conversation lasted over half an hour. +It was not a set ball, but one of the regular weekly informal dances of +which there are so many in Rome during the season. The first +interruption of Arden's talk appeared in the shape of Don Francesco +Savelli, who asked Laura for a turn. Oddly enough she glanced at Lord +Herbert's face before accepting, and the action sent a strange thrill to +his heart. He struggled to his feet as she rose to go away with Savelli, +and then sank back again and remained some time where he was, absently +watching the people who passed. His face was very pale and weary now +that the excitement of conversation had subsided, and he felt that if he +was not positively ill, he was losing the little strength he had with +every day that passed. Late hours, heated rooms, and strong emotions +were not the best tonics for his feeble physical organisation, and he +knew it. At last he made an effort, got up, and moved about in the +crowd, exchanging a few words now and then with a passing acquaintance, +but too preoccupied and perhaps too tired to talk long with indifferent +people. He nodded as Ghisleri passed him with the Contessa dell' Armi on +his arm, and he thought there was a bad light in his friend's eyes, +though Pietro was looking better than in the afternoon. The two had +evidently been dancing together, for the Contessa's white neck heaved a +little, as though she were still out of breath. She was a short, slight +woman of exquisite figure, very fair, with deep violet eyes and small +classic features, almost hard in their regularity; evidently wilful and +dominant in character. Arden watched the pair as they went on in search +of a vacant sofa just big enough for two. + +They had scarcely sat down and he could see that Ghisleri was beginning +to talk, when Anastase Gouache appeared and stood still before them. To +Arden's surprise the Contessa welcomed him with a bright smile and +pointed to a chair at her side of the sofa. Anastase Gouache was a +celebrated painter who had married a Roman lady of high birth, and was a +very agreeable man, but Arden had not expected that he would be invited +so readily to interrupt so promising a conversation. Ghisleri's face +expressed nothing. He appeared to join in the talk for a few minutes and +then rose and left the Contessa with Gouache. She looked after him, and +Arden thought she grew a shade paler and frowned. A faint smile appeared +on the Englishman's face and was gone again in an instant as Ghisleri +came near him, returning again to the ball-room. Ghisleri had glanced at +him as he passed and had seen that he was not talking to a lady. + +"May I have the next dance, Miss Carlyon?" asked Pietro, when he found +Laura in a corner with Francesco Savelli. "Thanks," he said, as she +nodded graciously, and he passed on. + +"Will you give me the dance after the next?" he inquired a few minutes +later, coming up with Donna Adele, who was moving away on young +Frangipani's arm. + +"Certainly, caro Ghisleri," she answered, with alacrity, "as many as you +please." + +"You are very good," he said, with a slight bow, and withdrew to a +window near Laura to wait until the waltz began. He could see Arden +through the open door from the place where he stood. + +When the dance was over he led Laura out and took one turn through the +rooms, making a few commonplace remarks on the way. Coming back, he +stopped as though by accident close to Lord Herbert. + +"I am afraid you will think me very rude if I ask you to let me leave +you," he said. "I am engaged for the next dance--it is a quadrille--and +I must find a vis-à -vis." + +Arden of course heard and presented himself immediately in Ghisleri's +place. Laura was quite ready to go back with him to the sofa in the +corner, and they resumed their conversation almost at the point at which +it had been interrupted by Francesco Savelli. Neither of them ever knew +that Ghisleri had brought them together again by a little social skill, +just beyond what most people possess. Arden looked after him, half +believing that he had only given Laura an excuse for leaving her in +order to return to the Contessa dell' Armi, who was now surrounded by +half a dozen men, beginning with old Spicca, who, as has been said, was +still alive in those days, and ending with the little Vicomte de +Bompierre, a young French attaché with a pleasant voice, a bright smile, +and an incipient black moustache. But to Arden's surprise Ghisleri took +quite a different direction, and began to speak to one man after +another, evidently trying to secure a vis-à -vis for the square dance. + +"You must not let me bore you, or rather you must not bore yourself with +me," said Arden to Laura, after a short pause in the conversation. "You +are altogether much too good to me." + +"You never bore me," answered the young girl. "You are one of the few +people who do not." + +Arden smiled a little sadly. + +"I am glad to be one of the 'few people,'" he said, "even if I am the +last." + +"You are too modest." She tried to laugh, but the effort was not very +successful. + +"No, I am not. I have much more vanity than you would suppose, or think +possible, considering how little I have to be vain of." + +"Opinions may differ about that," answered Laura, looking into his eyes. +"You have much that many men might envy, and probably do." + +"What, for instance?" + +Laura hesitated, and then smiled, without effort this time. + +"You are very good looking," she said after a moment. + +"No one has ever told me that before," he answered. A very slight flush +rose in his pale face. + +"It is not of much importance, either. Would you like me to enumerate +your good qualities?" + +"Of all things!" + +"You are honest and kind, and you are very clever, I think, though I am +not clever enough to be sure. You have no right to be unhappy, and you +would not be if you were not so sensitive about--about not being so +strong and big as some men are. What difference does it make?" + +"You will almost tempt me to think that it makes none, if you talk in +that way," said Arden. + +"Do you mean to say that you would really and truly change places with +any one? With Signor Ghisleri, for instance?" + +"Indeed I would, with him, and very gladly. I would rather be Ghisleri +than any man I know." + +"I cannot understand that," answered Laura, thoughtfully. "If I were a +man, I would much rather be like you. Besides, they say Signor Ghisleri +has been dreadfully wild, and is anything but angelic now. You used that +very word about him the first evening we met; do you remember?" + +"Of course I do; but what has that to do with it? Must I necessarily +choose a saint for my friend, and pick out one to exchange places with +me if it were possible? A woman saint may be lovable, too lovable +perhaps, but a man saint about town is like a fish out of water. But you +are right about Ghisleri, up to a certain point, only you do not +understand him. He is an exceedingly righteous sinner, but a sinner he +is." + +"What do you mean by a righteous sinner?" asked Laura, gravely. + +"Do not bring me down to definitions. I have not at all a logical mind. +I mean Ghisleri--that is all I can say. I would much rather talk about +you." + +"No, I object to that. Tell me, since you wish so much to be Signor +Ghisleri, what do you think you would feel if you were?" + +"What he feels--everything that a man can feel!" answered Arden, with a +sudden change of tone. "To be straight and strong and a match for other +men. Half the happiness of life lies there." + +His voice shook a little, and Laura felt that the tears were almost in +her eyes as she looked earnestly into his. + +"You see what I am," he continued, more and more bitterly, "I am a +cripple. There is no denying it--why should I even try to hide it a +little? Nature, or Heaven, or what you please to call it, has been good +enough to make concealment impossible. If I am not quite a hunchback, I +am very near it, and I can hardly walk even with a stick. And look at +yourself, straight and graceful and beautiful--well, you pity me, at +least. Why should I make a fool of myself? It is the first time I ever +spoke like this to any one." + +"You are quite wrong," answered Laura, in a tone of conviction. "I do +not pity you--indeed I do not think you are the least to be pitied. I +see it quite differently. It hardly ever strikes me that you are not +just the same as other people, and when it does--I do not know--I mean +to say that when it does, it makes no painful impression upon me. You +see I am quite frank." + +While she was speaking the colour rose in two bright spots on Arden's +pale cheeks, and his bright eyes softened with a look of wonderful +happiness. + +"Are you quite in earnest, Miss Carlyon?" he asked, in a low voice. + +"Quite, quite in earnest. Please believe me when I say that it would +hurt me dreadfully if I thought you doubted it." + +"Hurt you? Why?" + +She turned her deep, sad eyes to him, and looked at him without +speaking. He was on the point of telling her that he loved her--then he +saw how beautiful she was, and he felt his withered knee under his hand, +and he was ashamed to speak. It was a cruel moment, and his nerves were +already overstrained by perpetual emotion, as well as tired from late +hours and lack of sleep. He hesitated a moment. Then bent his head and +covered his eyes with his hand. Laura said nothing for several moments, +but seeing that he did not move, she touched his sleeve. + +"Dear Lord Herbert, do not be so unhappy," she said softly. "You really +have no right to be, you know." + +"No right?" He looked up suddenly. "If you knew, you would not say +that." + +"I should always say it. As long as you have friends--friends who love +you, and would do anything for you, why should you make yourself so +miserable?" + +"I want more than a friend--even than friendship." + +"What?" + +"I want love." + +Again she gazed into his eyes and paused. Her face was very +white--whiter than his. Then she spoke. + +"Are you so sure you have not got that love?" she asked. Her own voice +trembled now. + +Arden started and a look of something almost like fear came into his +face. He could hardly speak. + +"Love?" he repeated, and he felt he could say nothing more. + +"Yes, I mean it." So she chose her fate. + +She thought there was a touch of the divine in poor Arden's expression +as he heard the words. Then his face grew pale, the light faded from his +eyes, and his head sank on his breast. Laura did not at first realise +what had happened. She felt so strongly herself, that nothing in his +manner would have surprised her. She heard nothing of the hum of the +voices in the room, or if she did, she heard the harmony of a happy +hymn, and the great branches of candles were the tapers upon an altar in +some sacred place. + +Still Arden did not move. Laura bent down and looked at his face. + +"Lord Herbert!" She called him softly. "Herbert, what is the matter?" + +No answer came. She looked round wildly for help. At that moment the +dance was just over and Ghisleri passed near her with Donna Adele on his +arm. Laura rose and overtook him swiftly, touching his arm in her +excitement. + +"Lord Herbert has fainted--for heaven's sake, help him!" she cried, in a +low voice. + +Pietro Ghisleri glanced at the sofa. + +"Excuse me," he said hastily to Donna Adele, and left her standing in +the middle of the room. He bent down and felt Arden's forehead and +hands. + +"Yes, he has fainted," he said to Laura. "Show me the way to a quiet +place." + +Thereupon he took his unconscious friend in his arms and followed Laura +quickly through the surging crowd that already filled the room, escaping +in haste from the heat as soon as the dance was over in the ball-room +beyond. + +For a few seconds one of those total silences fell upon the party which +always follow an accident. Then, as Ghisleri disappeared with his +burden, every one began to talk at once, speculating upon the nature of +Lord Herbert Arden's indisposition. Heart disease--epilepsy--nervous +prostration--most things were suggested. + +"Probably too much champagne," laughed Donna Adele in the ear of the +lady nearest to her. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +It is perhaps useless to attempt to trace and recapitulate the causes +which had led Laura Carlyon to the state of mind in which she had found +courage to tell Arden that she loved him. There might be harder moments +in store for her, but this had been the hardest she had known hitherto. +Nothing short of a real and great love, she believed, could have carried +her through it, and she had been conscious for some days that if the +opportunity came she meant to do what she had done. In other words, she +had been quite sure that Arden loved her and that she loved him. This +being granted, it was in accordance with her character to take the +initiative. With far less sympathy than she felt in all her thoughts, +she would have understood that a man of his instincts would never speak +of his love to her unless almost directly bidden to do so. Laura was +slow to make up her mind, sure of her decision when reached, and +determined to act upon it without consulting any one. Many people said +later that she had sacrificed herself for Lord Herbert's expected +fortune, or for his position. A few said that she was a very good woman +and that, finding herself neglected, she had decided to devote her life +to the happiness of a very unhappy man for whom she felt a sincere +friendship. That was at least the more charitable view. But neither was +at all the right one. She honestly and really believed that she loved +the man: she saw beyond a doubt that he loved her, and she took the +shortest and most direct way of ending all doubts on the subject. On +that same night when Arden had quite recovered and had gone home with +Ghisleri, she spoke to her mother and told her exactly what had +happened. + +The Princess of Gerano opened her quiet brown eyes very wide when she +heard the news. She was handsome still at five and forty, a little +stout, perhaps, but well proportioned. Her light brown hair was turning +grey at the temples, but there were few lines in her smooth, calm face, +and her complexion was still almost youthful, though with little +colouring. She looked what she was, a woman of the world, very far from +worldly, not conscious of half the evil that went on around her, and +much given to inward contemplation of a religious kind when not actively +engaged in social duty. She had seen Laura's growing appreciation of +Arden and had noticed the frequency of the latter's visits to the house. +But she had herself learned to like him very much during the last month, +and it never suggested itself to her that he could wish to marry Laura +nor that Laura could care for him, considering that he was undeniably a +cripple. It was no wonder that she was surprised. + +"Dear child," she said, "I do not know what to say. Of course I have +found out what a really good man he is, though he is so fond of that +wild Ghisleri--they are always together. I have a great admiration for +Lord Herbert. As far as position goes, there is nothing better, and I +suppose he is rich enough to support you, though I do not know. You see, +darling, you have nothing but the little I can give you. But never mind +that--there is only that one other thing--I wish he were not--" + +She checked herself, far too delicate to hurt her daughter by too direct +a reference to Arden's physical shortcomings. But Laura, strange to say, +was not sensitive on that point. + +"I know, mother," she said, "he is deformed. It is of no use denying it, +as he says himself. But if I do not mind that--if I do not think of it +at all when I am with him, why should any one else care? After all, if I +marry him, it is to please myself, and not the people who will ask us to +dinner." + +The young girl laughed happily as she thought of the new life before +her, and of how she would make everything easy for poor Arden, and make +him quite forget that he could hardly walk. Her mother looked at her +with quiet wonder. + +"Think well before you act, dear," she said. "Marriage is a very serious +thing. There is no drawing back afterwards, and if you were to be at all +unkind after you are married--" + +"O mother, how can you think that of me?" + +"No--at least, you would never mean it. You are too good for that. But +it would break the poor man's heart. He is very sensitive, it is not +every man who faints when he finds out that a young girl loves +him--fortunately, not every man," she added with a smile. + +"If every one loved as we do, the world would be much happier," said +Laura, kissing her mother. "Do not be afraid, I will not break his +heart." + +"God grant you may not break your own, dear!" The Princess spoke in a +lower voice, and turned away her face to hide the tears that stood in +her eyes. + +"Mine, mother!" Laura bent over her as she sat in her dressing-chair. +"What is it?" she asked anxiously, as she saw that her mother's cheek +was wet. + +"You are very dear to me, child," murmured the Princess, drawing the +young head down to her breast, and kissing the thick black hair. + +So the matter was settled, and Laura had her way. It is not easy to say +how most mothers would have behaved under the circumstances. There are +worldly ones enough who would have received the news far more gladly +than the Princess of Gerano did; and there are doubtless many who would +refuse a cripple for a son-in-law on any condition whatever. Laura's +mother did what she thought right, which is more than most of us can say +of our actions. + +The Prince was almost as much surprised as his wife when he learned the +news, but he was convinced that he had nothing to say in the matter. +Laura was quite free to do as she pleased, and, moreover, it was a good +thing that she should marry a man of her own faith, and ultimately live +among her own people, since nothing could make either a Catholic or a +Roman of her. But he was not altogether pleased with her choice. He had +an Italian's exaggerated horror of deformity, and though he liked Lord +Herbert, he could never quite overcome his repulsion for his outward +defects. There was nothing to be done, however, and on the whole the +marriage had much in its favour in his eyes. + +The engagement was accordingly announced with due formality, and the +wedding day was fixed for the Saturday after Easter, which fell early in +that year. Not until the day before the Princess told the news to every +one did Arden communicate it to Ghisleri. He had perfect confidence in +his friend's discretion, but having said that he would not speak of the +engagement to any one until the Princess wished it, he kept his word to +the letter. He asked Pietro to drive with him, far out upon the +campagna. When they had passed the last houses and were in the open +country he spoke. + +"I am going to marry Miss Carlyon," he said simply, but he glanced at +Ghisleri's face to see the look of surprise he expected. + +"Since you announce it, my dear friend, I congratulate you with all my +heart," answered Pietro. "Of course I knew it some time ago." + +"You knew it?" Arden was very much astonished. + +"It was not very hard to guess. You loved each other, you went +constantly to the house and you spent your evenings with her in other +people's houses, there was no reason why you should not +marry--accordingly, I took it for granted that you would be married. You +see that I was right. I am delighted. Ask me to the wedding." + +Arden laughed. + +"I thought you would never enter one of our churches!" he exclaimed. + +"I did not know that I had such a reputation for devout obedience to +general rules," answered Ghisleri. + +"As for your reputation, my dear fellow, it is not that of a saint. But +I once saw you saying your prayers." + +"I dare say," replied Pietro, indifferently. "I sometimes do, but not +generally in the Corso, nor on the Pincio. How long ago was that? Do you +happen to remember?" + +"Six or seven years, I fancy--oh, yes! It was in that little church in +Dieppe, just before you went off on that long cruise--you remember it, +too, I fancy." + +"I suppose I thought I was going to be drowned, and was seized with a +passing ague of premature repentance," said Ghisleri, lighting a +cigarette. + +"What a queer fellow you are!" observed Arden, striking a light in his +turn. "I was talking with Miss Carlyon about you some time ago, and I +told her you were a sinner, but a righteous one." + +"A shade worse than others, perhaps, because I know a little better what +I am doing," answered Ghisleri, with a sneer, evidently intended for +himself. + +He was looking at the tomb of Cecilia Metella, as it rose in sight above +the horses' heads at the turn of the road, and he thought of what had +happened to him there years ago, and of the consequences. Arden knew +nothing of the associations the ruin had for his friend, and laughed +again. He was in a very happy humour on that day, as he was for many +days afterwards. + +"I can never quite make you out," he said. "Are you good, bad, or a +humbug? You cannot be both good and bad at once, you know." + +"No. But one may be often bad, and sometimes do decently good deeds," +observed Ghisleri, with a dry laugh. "Let us talk of your marriage +instead of speculating on my salvation, or more probable perdition, if +there really is such a thing. When is the wedding day?" + +Arden was full of plans for the future, and they drove far out, talking +of all that was before the young couple. + +On the following day the news was announced to the city and the world. +The world held up its hands in wonder, and its tongue wagged for a whole +week and a few days more. Laura Carlyon was to marry a penniless cripple +of the most dissipated habits. How shocking! Of course every one knew +that Lord Herbert had not fainted at all on that night at the Palazzo +Braccio, but had succumbed, in the natural course of events, to the +effects of the champagne he had taken at dinner. That was now quite +certain. And the whole world was well aware that his father had cut him +off with a pittance on account of his evil ways, and that his brother +had twice paid his gambling debts to save the family name from disgrace. +Englishmen as a race, and English cripples in particular, were given to +drink and high play. The man had actually been the worse for wine when +talking to Laura Carlyon in her mother's house, and Ghisleri had been +obliged to carry him out for decency's sake before anything worse +happened. Scandalous! It was a wonder that Ghisleri, who, after all, was +a gentleman, could associate with such a fellow. After all, nobody ever +liked Laura Carlyon since she had first appeared in society, soon after +dear Donna Adele's marriage. It was as well that she should go to +England and live with her tipsy cripple. She was good-looking, as some +people admitted. She might win the heart of her brother-in-law and +induce him to pay her husband's debts a third time. They were said to be +enormous. + +The men were, on the whole, more charitable. Conscious of their own +shortcomings, they did not blame Lord Herbert very severely for taking a +little too much "extra dry." They did, however, abuse him somewhat +roundly at the club, for having gone to the Gerano party at all when he +should have known that he was not steady. Of the facts themselves they +had not the slightest doubt. Unfortunately for one of them who happened +to be declaiming on the subject, but who was really by no means a bad +fellow, he did not notice that Ghisleri had entered the room before he +had finished his speech. When he had quite done, Ghisleri came forward. + +"Arden is my old friend," he said quietly. "He never drinks. He has a +disease of the heart and he fainted from the heat. The doctor and I took +him home together. I hope that none of you will take up this disgusting +story, which was started by the women. And I hope Pietrasanta, there, +will do me the honour to believe what I say, and to tell you that he was +mistaken." + +Ghisleri was not a pleasant person to quarrel with, and moreover had the +reputation of being truthful. His story, too, was quite as probable as +the other, to say the least of it. Don Gianbattista Pietrasanta glanced +quickly from one to the other of the men who were seated around him as +though to ask their advice in the matter. Several of them nodded almost +imperceptibly, as though counselling him to do as Ghisleri requested. +There was nothing at all aggressive in the latter's manner, either, as +he quietly lit a cigarette while waiting for the other's answer. +Suddenly a deep voice was heard from another corner of the room. The +Marchese di San Giacinto, giant in body and fortune, had been reading +the paper with the utmost indifference during all the previous +conversation. All at once he spoke, deliberately and to the point. + +"It is no business of mine," he said, "as I do not know Lord Herbert +Arden except by sight. But I was at the dance the other night, and half +an hour before the occurrence you are discussing, Lord Herbert was +standing beside me, talking of the Egyptian difficulty with the French +ambassador. I have often seen men drunk. Lord Herbert Arden was, in my +opinion, perfectly sober." + +Having delivered himself of this statement, San Giacinto put his very +black cigar between his teeth again and took up the evening paper he had +been reading. + +In the face of such men as Ghisleri and the Marchese, it would have been +the merest folly to continue any opposition. Moreover, Pietrasanta was +neither stupid nor bad, and he was not a coward. + +"I do not know Lord Herbert Arden myself," he said without affectation. +"What I said I got on hearsay, and the whole story is evidently a +fabrication which we ought to deny. For the rest, Ghisleri, if you are +not quite satisfied--" He stopped and looked at Pietro. + +"My dear fellow," said the latter, "what more could I have to say about +the affair? You all seemed to be in the dark, and I wanted to clear the +matter up for the sake of my old friend. That is all. I am very much +obliged to you." + +After this incident there was less talk at the clubs, and in a few days +the subject dropped. But the world said, as usual, that all the men were +afraid of Ghisleri, who was a duellist, and of San Giacinto, who was a +giant, and who had taken the trouble to learn to fence when he first +came to Rome, and that they had basely eaten their words. Men were such +cowards, said the world. + +Lord Herbert and Laura lived in blissful ignorance of what was said +about them. The preparations for the wedding were already begun, and +Laura's modest trousseau was almost all ordered. She and Arden had +discussed their future, and having realised that they must live in a +very economical fashion for the present and so long as it pleased Heaven +to preserve Arden's maternal uncle among the living, they decided that +the wedding should be as quiet and unostentatious as possible. The old +Prince, however, though far too conscientious to have settled a penny of +his inherited fortune upon Laura, even if she had chosen to marry a +pauper, was not ungenerous in other ways, and considered himself at +liberty to offer the pair some very magnificent silver, which he was +able to pay for out of his private economies. As for Donna Adele, she +presented them with a couple of handsome wine-coolers--doubtless in +delicate allusion to the fictitious story about the champagne Lord +Herbert was supposed to have taken. The implied insult, if there was +any, was not at all noticed by those who had never heard the tale, +however, and Adele had to bide her time for the present. + +Meanwhile the season tore along at a break-neck pace, and Lent was fast +approaching. Everybody saw and danced with almost everybody else every +night, and some of them supped afterwards and gambled till midday, and +were surprised to find that their nerves were shaky, and their livers +slightly eccentric, and their eyes anything but limpid. But they all +knew that the quiet time was coming, the Lent wherein no man can dance, +nor woman either, and they amused themselves with a contempt for human +life which would have amounted to heroism if displayed in a good cause. +"They" of course means the gay set of that particular year. As the +Princess of Gerano gave regular informal dances, and two balls at the +end of Carnival, she and her daughter were considered to belong more or +less to the company of the chief merry-makers. The Savelli couple were +in it, also, as a matter of course. Gouache was in it when he pleased, a +dozen or fifteen young members of the diplomatic corps, old Spicca, who +always went everywhere, the Contessa dell' Armi, whose husband was in +parliament and rarely went into society, Ghisleri and twenty or thirty +others, men and women who were young or thought themselves so. + +About three weeks before Ash Wednesday, Anastase Gouache, the +perennially young, had a brilliant inspiration. His studio was in an +historical palace, and consisted of three halls which might have passed +for churches in any other country, so far as their size was concerned. +He determined to give a Shrove Tuesday supper to the gay set, with a +tableau, and a long final waltz afterwards, by way of interring the +mangled remains of the season, as he expressed it. The supper should be +at the usual dinner hour instead of at one o'clock, because the gay set +was not altogether as scarlet as it was painted, and did not, as a +whole, care to dance into the morning of Ash Wednesday. The tableau +should represent Carnival meeting Lent. The Contessa dell' Armi should +be in it, and Ghisleri, and Donna Adele, and possibly San Giacinto might +be induced to appear as a mask. His enormous stature would be very +imposing. The Contessa, with her classic features and violet eyes, would +make an admirable nun, and there would be no difficulty in getting +together a train of revellers. Ghisleri, lean, straight, and tall, would +do for a Satanic being of some kind, and could head the Carnival +procession. The whole thing would not last five minutes and the dancing +should begin at once. + +"Could you not say something, my friend?" asked Gouache, as he talked +the matter over with Ghisleri. + +"I could, if you could find something for me to say," answered the +latter. "But of what use would it be?" + +"The density of the public," replied the great painter, "is, to use the +jargon of science, as cotton wool multiplied into cast iron. You either +sink into it and make no noise at all, or you knock your head against +and cannot get through it. You have never sent a picture to the Salon +without naming it, or you would understand exactly what I mean. They +took a picture I once painted, as an altar piece, for a scene from the +Decameron, I believe--but that was when I was young and had illusions. +On the whole, you had better find something to say, and say it--verse, +if possible. They say you have a knack at verses." + +"Carnival meeting Lent," said Ghisleri, thoughtfully. Then he laughed. +"I will try--though I am no poet. I will trust a little to my acting to +help my lame feet." + +Ghisleri laughed again, as though an amusing idea had struck him. That +night he went home early, and as very often happened, in a bad humour +with himself and with most things. He was a very unhappy man, who felt +himself to be always the centre of a conflict between opposing passions, +and he had long been in the habit of throwing into a rough, impersonal +shape, the thoughts that crossed his mind about himself and others, when +he was alone at night. Being, as he very truly said, no poet, he quickly +tore up such odds and ends of halting rhyme or stumbling prose, either +as soon as they were written, or the next morning. Whatever the form of +these productions might be, the ideas they expressed were rarely feeble +and were indeed sometimes so strong that they might have even shocked +some unusually sensitive person in the gay set. + +Being, as has been said, in a bad humour on that particular evening, he +naturally had something to say to himself on paper, and as he took his +pencil he thought of Gouache's suggestion. In a couple of hours he had +got what he wanted and went to sleep. The great artist liked the verses +when Ghisleri read them to him on the following day, the Contessa +consented to act the part of the nun, and the affair was settled. + +It was a great success. Gouache's wife, Donna Faustina, had entered into +her husband's plans with all her heart. She was of the Montevarchi +family, sister to the Marchesa di San Giacinto, the latter's husband +being a Saracinesca, as every Italian knows. Gouache did things in a +princely fashion, and sixty people, including all the gay set and a few +others, sat down to the dinner which Anastase was pleased to call a +supper. Every one was very gay. Almost every one was in some fancy dress +or mask, there was no order of precedence, and all were placed where +they would have the best chance of amusing themselves. The halls of the +studio, with their magnificent tapestries and almost priceless objects +of art, were wonderful to see in the bright light. Many of the costumes +were really superb and all were brilliant. No one knew what was to take +place after supper, but every one was sure there was to be dancing, and +all were aware that it was the last dance before Easter, and that the +best dancers in Rome were all present. + +One of the halls had been hastily fitted up as a theatre, with a little +stage, a row of footlights, and a background representing a dark wall, +with a deep archway in the middle, like the door of a church. When every +one was seated, a deep, clear voice spoke out a little prologue from +behind the scenes, and the figures, as they were described, moved out +from opposite sides of the stage to meet and group themselves before the +painted doorway. Let prologue and verse speak for themselves. + +"It was nearly midnight--the midnight that ends Shrove Tuesday and +begins Ash Wednesday, dividing Carnival from Lent. I left the tables, +where all the world of Rome was feasting, and pretending that the feast +was the last of the year. The brilliant light flashed upon silver and +gold, dyed itself in amber and purple wine, ran riot amongst jewels, and +blazed upon many a fair face and snowy neck. The clocks were all +stopped, lest some tinkling bell should warn men and women that the day +of laughter was over, and that the hour of tears had struck. But I, +broken-hearted, sick in soul and weary of the two months' struggle with +evil fate, turned away from them and left them to all they loved, and to +all that I could never love again. + +"I passed through the deserted ball-room, and my heart sank as I thought +of what was over and done. The polished floor was strewn with withered +blossoms, with torn and crumpled favours from the dance, with shreds of +gauze and lace; many chairs were overturned; the light streamed down +like day upon a great desolation; the heated air was faint with the sad +odour of dead flowers. There was the corner where we sat, she and I, +to-night, last week, a week before that--where we shall never sit again, +for neither of us would. I shivered as I went out into the night. + +"Through the dark streets I went, not knowing and not caring whither, +nor hearing the tinkling mandolines and changing songs of the revellers +who passed me on their homeward way." + +At this point a mandoline was really heard in the very faintest tones +from behind the scenes, playing scarcely above a whisper, as it were, +the famous "Tout pour l'amour" waltz of Waldteuffel. + +"Suddenly," the voice resumed, above the delicate notes of the +instrument, "the bells rang out and I knew that my last Carnival was +dead." Here deep-toned bells struck twelve, while the mandoline still +continued. "Then, all at once, I was aware of two figures in the gloom, +advancing towards the door of a church in front of me. The one was a +woman, a nun in white robe and black hood, whose saintly violet eyes +seemed to shine in the darkness. The other was a monk." + +The Contessa dell' Armi came slowly forward, her pale, clear face lifted +and thrown into strong relief by the black head-dress, grasping a heavy +rosary in her folded hands. Behind her came San Giacinto, recognisable +only by his colossal stature, his face hidden in the shadow of a black +cowl. Both were admirable, and a murmur of satisfaction ran through the +room. + +"As they reached the door," continued the reader, "a wild train of +maskers broke into the street." + +Ghisleri entered from the opposite side, arrayed somewhat in the manner +of Mephistopheles, a mandoline slung over his shoulder, on which he was +playing. Donna Adele and a dozen others followed him closely, in every +variety of brilliant Carnival dress, dancing forward with tambourines +and castanets, their eyes bright, their steps cadenced to the rhythm of +the waltz tune which now broke out loud and clear--fair young women with +flushed cheeks, all life, and motion, and laughter; and young men +following them closely, laughing, and talking, and singing, all dancing +in and out with changing steps. Then all at once the music died away to +a whisper; the nun and the monk stood back as though in horror against +the church door, while the revellers grouped themselves together in +varied poses around them, Ghisleri the central figure in the midst, +bowing with a diabolical smile before the white-robed nun. + +"In front of all," said the voice again, "stood one whose face I shall +never forget, for it was like my own. The features were mine, but upon +them were reflected all the sins of my life, and all the evil I have +done. I thought the other revellers did not see him." + +Again the music swelled and rose, and the train of dancers passed on +with song and laughter, and disappeared on the opposite side of the +stage. Ghisleri alone stood still before the saint-like figure of the +Contessa dell' Armi, bowing low and holding out to her a tall red glass. + +"He who was like me stayed behind," continued the reader, "and the light +from his glass seemed to shine upon the saintly woman's face, and she +drew back as though from contamination, to the monk's side for +protection. I knew her face when I saw it--the face I have known too +long, too well. Then he who was like me spoke to her, and the voice was +my own, but as I would have had it when I have been worst." + +As the reader ceased Ghisleri began to speak. His voice was strong, but +capable of considerable softness and passionate expression, and he did +his best to render his own irregular verses both intelligible and moving +to his hearers, in which effort he was much helped by the dress he wore +and by the gestures he made use of. + + "So we meet at the last! You the saint, I the time-proved sinner; + You the young, I the old; I the world-worn, you the beginner; + At the end of the season here, with a glass of wine + To discuss the salvation and--well--the mine and thine + Of all the souls we have met this year, and dealt with, + Of those you have tried to make feel, and those I've felt with: + Though, after all, dear Saint, had we met in heaven + Before you got saintship, or I the infernal leaven + That works so hot to kill the old angel in me-- + If you had seen the world then, as I was able to see + Before Sergeant-Major Michael gave me that fall,-- + Not a right fall, mind you, taking the facts in all,-- + We might have been on the same side both. But now + It is yours to cry over lost souls, as it's mine to show them how + They may stumble and tumble into the infernal slough. + So here we are. Now tell me--your honour true-- + What do you think of our season? Which wins? I? You? + Ha, ha, ha! Sweet friend, you can hardly doubt + The result of this two months' hard-fought wrestling bout. + I have won. You have lost the game. I drive a trade + Which I invented--perhaps--but you have made. + Without your heaven, friend Saint, what would be my hell? + Without your goodness, could I hope to do well + With the poor little peddler's pack of original sin + They handed me down, when they turned me out to begin + My devil's trade with souls. But now I ask + Why for eternal penance they gave me so light a task? + You have not condescended from heaven to taste our carnival feast, + But if you had tasted it, you would admit at least + That the meats were passably sweet, and might allure + The nicest of angels, whose tastes are wholly pure. + Old friend--I hate you! I hate your saintly face, + Your holy eyes, your vague celestial grace! + You are too cold for me, whose soul must smelt + In fires whose fury you have never felt. + But come, unbend a little. Let us chatter + Of what we like best, of what our pride may flatter,-- + Salvation and damnation--there's the theme-- + Your trade and mine--what I am, and what you seem. + Come, count the souls we have played for, you and I, + The broken hearts you have lost on a careless jog of the die, + Hearts that were broken in ire, by one short, sharp fault of the head, + Souls lifted on pinions of fire, to sink on wings of lead. + We have gambled, and I have won, while you have steadily lost, + I laughing, you weeping your senseless saintly tears each time you + tossed. + So now--give it up! Dry your eyes; your heaven's a dream! + Sell your saintship for what it is worth, and come over--the Devil's + supreme! + Make Judas Iscariot envy the sweets of our sin-- + Poor Judas, who ended himself where I could have wished to begin! + A chosen complexion--hell's fruit would not have been wasted + Had he lived to eat his fill at the feast he barely tasted. + Ah, my friend, you are horribly good! Oh! I know you of old; + I know all your virtues, your graces, your beauties; I know they are + cold! + But I know that far down in the depths of your crystalline soul + There's a spot the archangel physician might not pronounce whole. + There's a hell in your heaven; there's a heaven in my hell. There we + meet. + What's perdition to you is salvation to me. Ah, the delicate sweet + Of mad meetings, of broken confessions, of nights unblest! + Oh, the shadowy horror of hate that haunts love's steps without rest, + The desire to be dead--to see dead both the beings one hates, + One's self and the other, twin victims of opposite fates! + How I hate you! You thing beyond Satan's supremest temptation, + You creature of light for whom God has ordained no damnation, + You escape me, the being whose searing hand lovingly lingers + On the neck of each sinner to brand him with five red-hot fingers! + You escape me--you dare scoff at me--and I, poor old pretender, + Must sue for your beautiful soul with temptation more tender + Than a man can find for a woman, when night in her moonlit glory + Silvers a word to a poem, makes a poem of a commonplace story! + So I sue here at your feet for your soul and the gold of your heart, + To break my own if I lose you--Lose you? No--do not start. + You angel--you bitter-sweet creature of heaven, I love you and hate + you! + For I know what you are, and I know that my sin cannot mate you. + I know you are better than I--by the blessing of God!-- + And I hate what is better than I by the blessing of God! + What right has the Being Magnificent, reigning supreme, + To wield the huge might that is his, in a measure extreme? + What right has God got of his strength to make you all good, + And me bad from the first and weighed down in my sin's leaden hood? + What right have you to be pure, my angel, when I am foul? + What right have you to the light, while I, like an owl, + Must blink in hell's darkness and count my sins by the bead-- + While you can get all you pray for, the wine and the mead + Of a heavenly blessing, showered upon you straight-- + Because you chance to stand on the consecrate side of the gate? + Ah! Give me a little nature, give me a human truth! + Give me a heart that feels--and falls, as a heart should--without + ruth! + Give me a woman who loves and a man who loves again, + Give me the instant's joy that ends in an age of pain, + Give me the one dear touch that I love--and that you fear-- + And I will give my empire for the Kingdom you hold dear! + I will cease from tempting and torturing, I will let the poor sinner + go, + I will turn my blind eyes heavenward and forget this world below, + I will change from lying to truth, and be forever true-- + If you will only love me--and give the Devil his due!" + +It had been previously arranged that at the last words the nun should +thrust back his Satanic majesty and take refuge in the church. But it +turned out otherwise. As he drew near the conclusion, Ghisleri crept +stealthily up to the Contessa's side, and threw all the persuasion he +possessed into his voice. But it was most probably the Contessa's love +of surprising the world which led her to do the contrary of what was +expected. At the last line of his speech, she made one wild gesture of +despair, and threw herself backward upon Ghisleri's ready arm. For one +moment he looked down into her white upturned face, and his own grew +pale as his gleaming eyes met hers. With characteristic presence of +mind, San Giacinto, the monk, bent his head, and stalked away in holy +horror as the curtain fell. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +As the curtain went down, a burst of applause rang through the room. The +poetry, if it could be called poetry, had assuredly not been of a high +order, and as for the sentiments it expressed, a good number of the +audience were more than usually shocked. But the whole thing had been +effective, unexpected, and striking, especially the ending, over which +the world smacked its lips. + +"I do not like it at all," said Laura Carlyon to Arden, as they left the +seats where they had sat together through the little performance. + +"They looked very well," he answered thoughtfully. "As for what he said, +it was Ghisleri. That is the man's character. He will talk in that way +while he does not believe a word he says, or only one out of ten." + +"Then I do not like his character, nor him," returned the young lady, +frankly. "But I should not say it to you, dear, because he is your best +friend. He shows you all the good there is in him, I suppose, and he +shows us all the bad." + +"No one ever said a truer thing of him," said Arden, limping along by +her side. "But I admire the man's careless strength in what he does." + +"It is easy to use strong language," replied Laura, quietly. "It is +quite another thing to be strong. I believe he is weak, morally +speaking. But then, how should I know? One only guesses at such things, +after all." + +"Yes, it is all guess-work. But I think I understand him better to-night +than before." + +A moment later the sound of dance music came from the most distant and +the largest of the rooms. Ghisleri and the Contessa dell' Armi were +already there. She was so slight of figure, that she draped her nun's +dress over her gown, and had only to drop it to be herself again. They +took a first turn together, and Ghisleri talked softly all the time as +he danced. + +"Shockingly delightful--the whole thing!" exclaimed Donna Adele, +watching them. "How well they acted it! They must have rehearsed very +often." + +"Quite often enough, I have no doubt," said the Marchesa di San +Giacinto, with a laugh. + +An hour or two passed away and Laura Carlyon found herself walking about +with Ghisleri after dancing with him. He was a very magnificent +personage in his scarlet, black and gold costume, and Laura herself +looked far more saintly in her evening gown than the Contessa dell' Armi +had looked in the dress of a nun. The two made a fine contrast, and some +one said so, unfortunately within hearing of both Adele Savelli and +Maddalena dell' Armi. The latter turned her cold face quickly and looked +at Laura and Ghisleri, but her expression did not change. + +"What a very uncertain person that dear Ghisleri is!" observed Donna +Adele to Pietrasanta, as she noticed the Contessa's movement. She spoke +just so loud that the latter could hear her, then turned away with her +companion and walked in the opposite direction. + +Meanwhile Ghisleri and Laura were together. The young girl felt an odd +sensation as her hand lay on his arm, as though she were doing something +wrong. She did not understand his life, nor him, being far too young and +innocent of life's darker thoughts and deeds. She had said that she +disliked him, because that seemed best to express what she felt--a +certain vague wish not to be too near him, a certain timidity when he +was within hearing which she did not feel at other times. + +"You did not mean any of those things you said, did you, Signor +Ghisleri?" she asked, scarcely knowing why she put the question. + +"I meant them all, and much more of the same kind," answered Pietro, +with a hard laugh. + +"I am sorry--I would rather not believe it." + +"Why?" + +"Because it is not right to think such things, nor even to say them in a +play." + +Ghisleri looked at her in some surprise. Laura felt a sort of impulse of +conscience to say what she thought. + +"Ah! you are horribly good!" laughed Ghisleri, quoting his own verse. + +Laura felt uncomfortable as she met his glance. He really looked very +Satanic just then, as his eyebrows went up and the deep lines deepened +between his eyes and on his forehead. + +"Either one believes or one does not," she said. "If one does--" She +hesitated. + +"If one does, does it follow that because God is good to you, He has +been good to me also, Miss Carlyon?" + +His expression changed, and his voice was grave and almost sad. Laura +sighed almost inaudibly, but said nothing. + +"Will you have anything?" he asked indifferently, after the short pause. +"A cup of tea?" + +"Thanks, no. I think I will go to my mother." + +Ghisleri took her to the Princess's side and left her. + +"You seemed to be having a very interesting conversation with Miss +Carlyon just now," said the Contessa dell' Armi as he sat down beside +her a quarter of an hour later. "What were you talking about?" + +"Sin," answered Ghisleri, laconically. + +"With a young girl!" exclaimed the Contessa. "But then--English--" + +"You need not raise your eyebrows, nor talk in that tone, my dear lady," +replied Ghisleri. "Miss Carlyon is quite beyond sarcasms of that sort. +Since you are curious, she was telling me that it was sinful to say the +things you were good enough to listen to in the tableau, even in a +play." + +"Ah? And you will be persuaded, I dare say. What beautiful eyes she has. +It is a pity she is so clumsy and heavily made. Really, has she got you +to promise that you will never say any of those things again--after the +way I ended the piece for you?" + +"No. I have not promised to be good yet. As for your ending of the +performance, I confess I was surprised." + +"You did not show it." + +"It would hardly have been in keeping with my part, would it? But I can +show you that I am grateful at least." + +"For what?" asked the Contessa, raising her eyebrows again. "Do you +think I meant anything by it?" + +"Certainly not," replied Ghisleri, with the utmost calmness. "I suppose +your instinct told you that it would be more novel and effective if the +Saint yielded than if she played the old-fashioned scene of crushing the +devil under her foot." + +"Would you have let yourself be crushed?" + +"By you--yes." Ghisleri spoke slowly and looked steadily into her eyes. + +The Contessa's face softened a little, and she paused before she +answered him. + +"I wish I knew--I wish I were sure whether I really have any influence +over you," she said softly, and then sighed and looked away. + +It was very late when the party broke up, though all had professed the +most positive intention of going home when the clock struck twelve. The +Princess of Gerano offered Arden a seat in her carriage, and Pietro +Ghisleri went away alone. As he passed through the deserted dining-room, +and through the hall where he had sat so long with the Contessa, he +could not help glancing at the corner where they had talked, and he +thought involuntarily of the prologue to the tableau. His face was set +rather sternly, but he smiled, too, as he went by. + +"It is not my last Carnival yet," he said to himself, as he drew on a +great driving-coat which covered his costume completely. Then he went +out. + +It is very hard to say whether he was a sentimental man or not. Men who +write second-rate verses when they are alone, generally are; but, on the +other hand, those who knew him would not have allowed that he possessed +a grain of what is commonly called sentimentality. The word probably +means a sort of vague desire to experience rather fictitious emotions, +with the intention of believing oneself to be passionate by nature, and +in that sense the weakness could not justly be attributed to Ghisleri. +But on this particular night he did a thing which many people would +undoubtedly have called sentimental. He turned aside from the highway +when he left the great palace in which Gouache lived, and he allowed +himself to wander aimlessly on through the older part of the city, until +he stopped opposite to the door of a church which stood in a broad +street near the end of the last by-way he had traversed. The night was +dark and gloomy and the stillness was only broken now and then by a +distant snatch of song, a burst of laughter, or the careless twang of a +guitar, just as Ghisleri had described it. Indeed it was by no means the +first time that he had walked home in the small hours of Ash Wednesday +morning, after a night of gaiety and emotion. + +It chanced that the church upon which he had accidentally come was the +one known as the Church of Prayer and Death. It stands in the Via +Giulia, behind the Palazzo Farnese. He realised the fact at once, and it +seemed like a bad omen. He stood still a long time, looking at the +gloomy door with steady eyes. + +"Just such a place as this," he said, in a low tone. "Just such a church +as that, just such a man as I am. Is this the comedy and was this +evening the reality? Or is it the other way?" + +He called up before his eyes the scene in which he had acted, and his +imagination obeyed him readily enough. He could fancy how the monk and +the nun would look, and the train of revellers, and their movements and +gestures. But the nun's face was not that of the Contessa. Another shone +out vividly in its place. + +"Just God!" ejaculated the lonely man. "Am I so bad as that? Not to care +after so much?" + +He turned upon his heel as though to escape the vision, and walked +quickly away, hating himself. But he was mistaken. He cared--as he +expressed it--far more than he dreamed of, more deeply, perhaps, in his +own self-contradictory, irregular fashion than the woman of whom he was +thinking. + +People talked for some time of the Shrove Tuesday feast at Gouache's +studio. Then they fell to talking about other things. Lent passed in the +usual way, and there was not much change in the lives of the persons +most concerned in this history. Ghisleri saw much less of Arden than +formerly, of course, as the latter was wholly absorbed by his passion +for his future wife. As for the world, it was as much occupied with +dinner parties, musical evenings, and private theatricals as it had +formerly been with dancing. The time sped quickly. The past season had +left behind it an enormous Corpus Scandalorum Romanorum which made +conversation both easy and delightful. How many of the unpleasant +stories concerning Lord Herbert Arden, Laura Carlyon, Pietro Ghisleri, +and Maddalena dell' Armi could have been distinctly traced to Adele +Savelli, it is not easy to say. As a matter of fact, very few persons +excepting Ghisleri himself took any trouble to trace them at all. To the +average worldly taste it is as unpleasant to follow up the origin of a +delightfully savoury lie, as it is to think, while eating, of the true +history of a beefsteak, from the meadow to the table by way of the +slaughter-house and the cook's fingers. + +Holy week came, and the muffled bells and the silence in houses at other +times full and noisy, and the general air of depression which results, +most probably, from a certain amount of genuine repentance and devotion +which is felt in a place where by no means all are bad at heart, and +many are sincerely good. The gay set felt uncomfortable, and a certain +number experienced for the first time the most distinct aversion to +confessing their misdeeds, as they ought to do at least once a year. As +far as they were concerned, Ghisleri's verses expressed more truth than +they had expected to find in them. Ghisleri himself was rarely troubled +by any return of the qualm which had seized him before the door of the +Church of Prayer and Death, and never again in the same degree. If he +did not go on his way rejoicing, he at all events proceeded without +remorse, and was wicked enough and selfish enough to congratulate +himself upon the fact. + +Arden and Laura were perfectly happy. They, at least, had little cause +to reproach themselves with any evil done in the world since they had +met, and Arden had assuredly better reason for congratulating himself. +It would indeed have been hard to find a happier man than he, and his +happiness was perfectly legitimate and well founded. Whether it would +prove durable was another matter, not so easy of decision. But the facts +of the present were strong enough to crush all apprehension for the +future. It was not strange that it should be so. + +He could not be said to have led a lonely life. His family were deeply +attached to him, and from earliest boyhood everything had been done to +alleviate the moral suffering inevitable in his case, and to make his +material existence as bearable as possible, in spite of his terrible +infirmities. But for the unvarying sympathy of many loving hearts, and +the unrelaxing care of those who were sincerely devoted to him, Arden +could hardly have hoped to attain to manhood at all, much less to the +healthy moral growth which made him very unlike most men in his +condition, or the comparative health of body whereby he was able to +enjoy without danger much of what came in his way. He was in reality a +much more social and sociable man than his friend Ghisleri, though he +did not possess the same elements of success in society. He was, indeed, +sensitive, as has been said, in spite of his denial of the fact, but he +was not bitter about his great misfortune. Hitherto only one very +painful thought had been connected with his deformity, beyond the +constant sense of physical inferiority to other men. He had felt, and +not without reason, that he must renounce the love of woman and the hope +of wedded happiness, as being utterly beyond the bounds of all human +possibility. And now, as though Heaven meant to compensate him to the +full for the suffering inflicted and patiently borne, he had won, almost +without an effort, the devoted love of the first woman for whom he had +seriously cared. It was almost too good. + +Love had taken him, and had clothed him in a new humanity, as it seemed +to him, straightening the feeble limbs, strengthening the poor +ill-matched shoulders, broadening and deepening the sunken chest that +never held breath enough before wherewith to speak out full words of +passionate happiness. Love had dawned upon the dusk of his dark morning +as the dawn of day upon a leaden sea, scattering unearthly blossoms in +the path of the royal sun, breathing the sweet breeze of living joy upon +the flat waters of unprofitable discontent. + +To those who watch the changing world with its manifold scenes and its +innumerable actors, whose merest farce is ever and only the prologue to +the tragedy which awaits all, there is nothing more wonderful, nothing +more beautiful, nothing more touching--perhaps few things more +sacred--than the awakening of a noble heart at love's first magic touch. +The greater miracle of spring is done before our eyes each year, the sun +shines and the grass grows, it rains and all things are refreshed, and +the dead seed's heart breaks with the joy of coming life, bursts and +shoots up to meet the warmth of the sunshine and be kissed by the west +wind. But we do not see, or seeing, care for none of these things in the +same measure in which we care for ourselves--and perhaps for others. We +turn from the budding flower wearily enough at last, and we own that +though it speak to us and touch us, its language is all but strange and +its meaning wholly a mystery. Nature tells us little except by +association with hearts that have beaten for ours, and then sometimes +she tells us all. But the heart itself is the thing, the reality, the +seat of all our thoughts and the stay of all our being. Selfishly we see +what it does in ourselves, and in others we may see it and watch it +without thought of self. It is asleep to-day, lethargic, heavy, dull, +scarce moving in the breast that holds it. To-morrow it is awake, +leaping, breaking, splendidly alive, the very source of action, the +leader in life's fight, the conqueror of the whole opposing world, +bursting to-day the chains of which only yesterday it could not lift a +link, overthrowing now, with a touch, the barriers which once seemed so +impenetrable and so strong, scorning the deathlike inaction of the past, +tossing the mountains of impossibility before it as a child tosses +pebbles by the sea. The miracle is done, and love has done it, as only +love really can. + +But it must be the right sort of love and the heart it touches must be +neither common nor unclean in the broad, true sense--such a heart, say, +as Herbert Arden's, and such love as he felt for Laura, then and +afterwards. + +"My life began on the evening when I first met you, dear," he said, as +they sat by the open window on Easter Day, looking down at the flowers +on the terrace behind the Palazzo Braccio. + +"You cannot make me believe that you loved me at first sight!" Laura +laughed happily. + +"Why not?" he asked gravely. "No woman ever spoke to me as you did then, +and I felt it. Is it strange? But it hurt me, too, at first, and I used +to suffer during that first month." + +"Let that be the first and the last pain you ever have by me," answered +the young girl. "I know you suffered, though I cannot even now tell why. +Can you?" + +"Easily enough," said Arden, resting his chin upon his folded hands as +they lay upon the white marble sill of the window, scarcely less white +than they. The attitude was habitual to him when he was in that place. +He could not rest his elbow on the slab as Laura could, for he was too +short as he sat in his chair. + +"Easily?" she asked. "Then tell me." + +"Very easily. You can understand it too. When I knew that I loved you, I +knew--I believed, at least, that another suffering had been found for +me, as though I had not enough already. Of course, I was hopeless. How +could I tell, how could any one guess that you--you of all women--with +your beauty, your youth, your splendid woman's heart--could ever care +for me? Oh, my darling--dear, dearest--is there no other word? If I +could only tell you half!" + +"If you could tell me all, you would only have told half, love," said +Laura. "There is mine to tell, too--and it is not a little." She bent +down to him and softly kissed the beautiful pale forehead. + +The bright flush came to Arden's cheek and died away again in the happy +silence that followed. But he raised his head, and his two hands took +one of hers and gently covered it. + +"You must always be the same to me," he said, almost under his breath. +"You have given me this new life--do not take it from me again--the old +would be impossible now, not to be lived." + +"It need never be lived, it never shall be, if I live myself," answered +Laura. "If only I could make you sure of that, I should be really happy. +But you do not really doubt it, Herbert, do you?" + +"No, dear, to doubt you would be to doubt everything--though it is hard +to believe that it can all be so good, and last." + +"It does not seem hard to me. Perhaps a woman believes everything more +easily than a man does. She needs to believe more, I suppose, and so she +finds it easy." + +"No woman ever needed to believe as much as I," answered Arden, +thoughtfully. He still held her hand, and passed one of his own lightly +over it, just pressing it now and then, as though to make sure that it +was real. "Except yourself, dear one," he added a moment later, with a +sharp, short breath, as though something hurt him. + +Laura was quick to understand him, and to feel all that he felt. She +heard the little sigh and looked into his face and saw the expression of +something like pain there. She laid her free hand upon his shoulder and +gazed into his soft brown eyes. + +"Herbert dear," she said, "I know what you are thinking about. I was put +into the world to make you forget those things, and, God willing, I +will. You shall forget them as completely as I do, or if you remember +them they shall be dear to you, in a way, as they are to me." + +A wonderful look of loving gratitude was in his face, and he pressed her +fingers closely in his. + +"Tell me one thing, Laura--only this once and I will not speak of it +again. When you touch me--when you lay your hand on my shoulder--when +you kiss my forehead--tell me quite truly, dear, do you not feel +anything like--like a sort of horror, a kind of repulsion, as if you +were touching something--well--unpleasant to touch?" + +Poor Arden really did not know how much he was loved. Laura's deep eyes +opened wide for an instant, as he spoke, then almost closed again, and +her lips quivered. Then suddenly without warning the bright tears welled +up and overflowed. She hid her face in her hands and sobbed bitterly. + +"Oh, Herbert," she cried, "that you should think it of me, when I love +you as though my heart would break!" + +With a movement that would have cost him a painful effort at any other +time, Arden rose and clasped her to him and tried to soothe her, +caressing her thick black hair, and kissing her forehead tenderly, with +a sort of passionate reverence that was his own, and speaking such words +as came to his lips in the deep emotion of the moment. + +"Forgive me, darling, how could I hurt you? Laura--sweetheart +Laura--beloved--do not cry--I know it now--I shall never think of it +again. No, dear, no--there, say you have forgiven me!" + +"Forgiven you, dear--what is there to forgive?" She looked up with +streaming eyes. + +"Everything, love--those tears of yours, first of all--" + +She dried her eyes and made him sit down again before she spoke, looking +out of the window at the flowers. + +"It is not your fault," she said at last. "I have not shown you how I +love yet--that is all. But I will, soon." + +"You have shown it already, dear--far more than you know." + +The world might have been surprised could it have seen the two +together--the tipsy cripple, as it called Arden, and the girl who loved +Francesco Savelli, as it unhesitatingly denominated Laura. It would have +been a little surprised at first, and then, on mature reflection, it +would have said that it was all a comedy, and that both acted it very +well. Was it not natural that Arden should want a pretty wife and that +Laura should take any husband that presented himself, since she could +get no better? And in that case why should not each act a comedy to gain +the other's hand? The world did that sort of thing every day, and what +the world did Arden and Laura could very well afford to do; and after +all, it was not of the slightest importance, since they were both going +away, so why should one talk about them? The answer to that last +question is so very hard to find that it may be left to those who put +it. Donna Adele seemed satisfied, and that was the principal +consideration for the present. + +"My poor sister!" she exclaimed to Ghisleri one day. + +"Step-sister," observed Pietro, correcting her. + +"Oh, we were always quite like real sisters," answered Adele. "Of +course, my dear Ghisleri, I know what a splendid man Lord Herbert is, in +everything but his unfortunate deformity. Any one can see that in his +face, and besides, you would not have chosen him for your friend if he +were not immensely superior to other men." + +Ghisleri puffed at his cigarette, looked at her, laughed, and puffed +again. + +"But that one thing," continued Adele, "I cannot understand how she can +overlook it, can you? I assure you if my father had told me to marry +Lord Herbert, I should have done something quite desperate. I think I +should almost have refused. I would almost rather have had to marry +you." + +"Really?" Pietro showed some amusement. "Do you think you could have +loved me in the end?" he inquired as though he were asking for +information of the most commonplace kind. + +"Loved you?" Adele laughed rather unnaturally. "It would have been +something definite, at all events," she added. "Either love or hate." + +"And you do not believe that your step-sister can ever love or hate +Arden? There is more in him than you imagine." + +"I dare say, but not of the kind I should like. Besides, they say that +though he never drinks quite too much, he is sometimes very excited and +behaves and talks very strangely." + +"They say that, do they? Who are 'they'?" Ghisleri's eyes suddenly grew +hard, and his jaw seemed to become extremely square. + +"They? Oh, many people, of course. The world says so. Do not be so +dreadfully angry. What difference can it make to you? I never said that +he drank too much." + +"If you should hear people talking about him in that way," said +Ghisleri, quietly, "you might say that the story is not true, since +there is really no truth in it at all. Arden is almost like an invalid. +He drinks a glass of hock at breakfast and a glass or two of claret at +dinner. I rarely see him touch champagne, and he never takes liqueurs. +As for his being excited and behaving strangely, that is a pure +fabrication. He is the quietest man I know." + +"It is really of no use to be so impressive," answered Adele. "It makes +me uncomfortable." + +"That is almost as disagreeable a thing as to meet a looking-glass when +one comes home at seven in the morning," observed Pietro. "Let us not +talk about it." + +Donna Adele had gone as near as she dared to saying something +unpleasant about Lord Herbert Arden, and Ghisleri had checked her with a +wholesome shock. In his experience he had generally found that his words +carried weight with them, for some reason which he did not even attempt +to explain. If the truth were known, it would appear that Adele was at +that time much inclined to like Ghisleri, and was willing to sacrifice +even the pleasure of saying a sharp thing rather than offend him. The +short conversation here reported took place in her boudoir late in the +afternoon, and when Ghisleri went away his place was soon taken by the +Marchesa di San Giacinto--a lady of sufficiently good heart, but of too +ready tongue, with coal-black, sparkling eyes, and a dark complexion +relieved by a bright and healthy colour--rather a contrast to the rest +of the Montevarchi tribe. + +"Pietro Ghisleri has been here," observed Adele, in the course of +conversation. + +"To meet Maddalena, I suppose," laughed the Marchesa, not meaning any +harm. + +"No. They did it once, and I told Pietro that I would not have that sort +of thing in my house," said Adele, with dignity. + +As a matter of fact, she had not dared to say a word to Ghisleri on the +subject, but he and the Contessa had decided that Adele's drawing-room +was not a safe place for meeting, and it was quite true that they had +carefully avoided finding themselves there together ever since. But +Adele was well aware that Flavia San Giacinto and Ghisleri were by no +means intimate, and were not likely to exchange confidences; and though +the Marchesa was ready enough at repeating harmless tales in the world, +she was reticent with her husband, whom she really loved, and whose good +opinion she valued. + +"Was he amusing?" asked Flavia. "He sometimes is." + +"He was not to-day, but the conversation was. You know how intimate he +is with Laura's little lord?" + +"Of course! What did he say?" + +"And you remember the story about the champagne at the Gerano ball, when +he carried Arden out of the room and put him to bed?" + +"Perfectly," answered the Marchesa, with a smile. + +"Yes. Well, I pressed him very hard to-day, to find out what the little +man's habits really are. You see he is to be of the family, and we must +really find out. My dear, it is quite dreadful! He says positively that +Arden never touches liqueurs, but when I drove him to it, he had to +admit that he drinks all sorts of wines--Rhine wine, claret, burgundy, +champagne--everything! It is no wonder that it goes to his head, poor +little fellow. But I am sorry for Laura." + +"After all," said Flavia, "one cannot blame him much, if he tries to be +a little gay. He must suffer terribly." + +"Oh, no, one cannot blame him," assented Adele. + +Flavia San Giacinto was somewhat amused, knowing, as she did, that Adele +had herself originated the tale about Lord Herbert. And late that +evening the temptation to repeat what she had heard became too strong +for her. She told it all in the strictest confidence to her dearest +friend, Donna Maria Boccapaduli. But Donna Maria was a little +absent-minded at the moment, her eldest boy having got a cold which +threatened to turn into whooping cough, and her husband having written +to her from the country, asking her to come down the next day and give +her advice about some necessary repairs in the castle. + +On the following afternoon--it was still during Lent--she met the +Contessa dell' Armi on the steps of a church after hearing a sermon. The +Contessa was very pale and looked as though she had been crying. + +"Only think, my dear," began Donna Maria. "It is quite true that Lord +Herbert drinks. Adele knows all about it." + +"Does she?" asked the Contessa, indifferently enough. "How did she find +it out?" + +"Ghisleri told her ever so many stories about it yesterday afternoon--in +the strictest confidence, you know." + +"Indeed! I did not think that Signor Ghisleri was the sort of man who +gossiped about his friends. Good-bye, dear. I shall see more of you when +Lent is over." + +Thereupon the Contessa got into the carriage with rather an odd +expression on her face. As she drove away alone, she bit her lip, and +looked as though she were trying to keep back certain tears that rose in +her eyes. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +On the Saturday succeeding Easter, Lord Herbert Arden and Laura Carlyon +were married. The ceremony was conducted, as they both desired, very +quietly and unostentatiously, as was becoming for a young couple who +must live economically. Few persons were asked to be present at the +wedding service, and among them was Pietro Ghisleri. He had seen English +weddings before, but he looked on with some curiosity and with rather +mixed feelings of satisfaction and regret. He thought of his own life as +he stood there, and for one moment he sincerely wished that he were only +awaiting his turn to be dealt with as Arden was, to be taken by the +hand, joined to the woman he loved, and turned out upon the world a +well-behaved, proper, married man. The next moment he smiled faintly and +rather bitterly. Marriage had not been instituted for men like him, +thought Ghisleri. If it had been, it would hardly have been so +successful an institution as it has proved itself. As for the young +couple, he wished them well. Arden was almost the only man for whom he +felt any attachment, and he had the most sincere admiration for Laura. + +Without feeling anything in the least resembling affection for the +lovely English girl, he was conscious that he thought of her very often. +Her eyes, which he called holy, and saintly, and sweet, and dark in his +rough rhymed impressions of the day, haunted him by night, like the +eyes of a sad angel following him in his unblest wanderings through +life. Of love for her, he felt not the slightest thrill. His pulse never +quickened when she came, nor was he at all depressed by her departure. +If he had cared for her in the very least, it must have caused him some +little pain to see her married to another before his eyes. Instead, the +only passing regret he felt, was that he could not himself stand in some +such position as Arden, but by another woman's side. To that other he +gave all, as he honestly believed, which he had to give. It was long, +too, since the very possibility of loving a young girl had crossed his +mind, and since his early youth there had not been anything approaching +to the reality of such a love in his life. And yet he knew that he was +in some degree under Laura's influence, and in a way in which he was +assuredly not under that of the Contessa dell' Armi. The consciousness +of this fact annoyed him. There was a good deal of a certain sort of +loyalty in his nature, bad as he believed himself to be, and bad as many +honest and good people who read this history will undoubtedly say that +he was. If such badness could be justified or even excused, it would not +be hard to find some reasonable excuses for him, and after all he was +probably not worse than a hundred others to be found in the society of +every great city. He thought he was worse, sometimes, as he had told +Arden, because he himself also thought that he was more fully aware than +most men of what he was doing and of the consequences of his deeds. It +is most likely, considering his character, that at that time Laura +Carlyon represented to him a species of ideal such as he could admire +with all his heart at a distance, and so nearly coinciding with his own +as to be very often in his thoughts in the place of the one he had so +long ago contracted for himself. All this sounds very complicated, while +the facts in the case were broadly plain. He appreciated Laura in the +highest degree, and did not love her at all. He was sincerely glad that +his best if not his only intimate friend should marry her, and when he +bid them good-bye he did not feel the smallest twinge of regret except +as at a temporary parting from two persons whom he liked. + +"You must come and stop with us this summer," said Arden, looking up at +him with flushed and happy face. "You know how glad my brother always is +to see you. Besides, you are an old friend of my wife's, if any further +reasons are necessary. She wants you to come too." + +"Of course I do," said Laura, promptly, as she held out her hand. + +Strange to say, she had felt far less of that unpleasant, half-timid, +half-pained dislike for Ghisleri, since she had grown used to the idea +of being Herbert Arden's wife. + +And now that her name was really changed, and she was forever bound to +her husband, she felt it not at all. It was strange, considering the +circumstances, that she should have the certainty that Arden could and +would protect her, come what might. The poor little shrunken frame +certainly did not suggest the manly strength to shield a woman in +danger, which every woman loves to feel. The thin, white hand would have +been but a bundle of threads in Ghisleri's strong grip. And yet Laura +Arden, as she now was to be called, knew that she would trust her +husband to take her part and win against a stronger and a worse man than +Ghisleri, should she ever be in need; and, what is more, Ghisleri saw +that she did, and his admiration rose still higher. There must be +something magnificent in a woman who could so wholly forget such outward +frailness and deformity in the man she loved, as to forget also that +sometimes in life a man's hand may need that same common brute strength, +just to match it against another's, for a woman's dear sake. Such love +as that, thought Pietro, must be supremely noble, unselfish, and +lasting. Being founded upon no outward illusion, there was no reason why +anything should undermine it, nor why the foundation itself should ever +crumble away. + +That was his view, and, on the whole, it was not an unjust one. For the +facts were true. If, when they drove away to the station, Herbert Arden +had suddenly, by magic, been clothed in the colossal frame and iron +strength of San Giacinto himself, Laura would have felt no safer nor +more perfectly shielded and guarded from earthly harm than she really +did while she was pulling up the window lest her husband should catch +cold even in the mild April air, and lovingly arranging the heavy silk +scarf about his neck. + +They went southward by common consent, as indeed they did everything. +They would go to England later in the year, in June perhaps, when it was +warmer. In the meanwhile Arden's brother had offered them his yacht, and +they could cruise for a month in the Mediterranean, almost choosing +their own climate day by day, and wholly independent of all the manifold +annoyances, inconveniences, and positive sufferings which beset the path +of young married couples who have not yachts at their disposal. What +both most desired was to be alone together, to have enough of each other +at last, free from the tiresome daily little crowd of social spectators, +and this they could nowhere accomplish so pleasantly and completely as +in the luxuriously fitted vessel lent them by Arden's brother. The +latter had not seen fit to come to the wedding, but Arden had in no way +taken it amiss, though the world had found plenty to say on the subject, +and not by any means to Arden's credit. The said brother was a decidedly +eccentric person of enormous wealth, who hated anything at all +resembling publicity or public ceremony, and was, moreover, a very bad +correspondent. + +"I am very glad to hear of your engagement, my dear old brother," he +wrote. "They say Miss Carlyon is good and beautiful. I have no doubt she +is, though I do not at this moment recollect knowing any woman who was +both. I have sent the yacht to Naples for you, if you care for a cruise. +Keep her as long as you like, and telegraph if you want her sent +anywhere else--Nice, for instance, or Venice. Ask your wife to wear the +pearls by way of making acquaintance at second hand. They are what I +could find. I send a man with them, as they might get lost. Now +good-bye, dear boy, enjoy yourself and come to us as soon as you can. +Yours ever, HARRY. + +"P.S. As it is often such a bore to draw money in those funny Italian +towns, I enclose a few circular notes which may be useful. Bess and the +children are all well and send love and lots of congratulations. I +suppose you have written to Uncle Herbert." + +The few circular notes thus casually alluded to amounted to two thousand +pounds, and it would be unsafe to speculate on the value of the pearls +which the messenger brought on his person and delivered safely into +Arden's hands. "Harry" was not over-lavish, except where his brother was +concerned, and always inwardly regretted that Herbert needed so little +and insisted upon living within his modest income. To "give things to +Herbert" was one of the few real pleasures he extracted from his great +fortune. On the present occasion Arden was glad to accept the money, for +he had the very most vague notions of the expense of married life, and +had anticipated real economy during his honeymoon, which, of course, +could not be quite as pleasant to Laura as having plenty of money to +spend. That last little difficulty being removed, he felt that he could +give himself up light-hearted to the idyl of perfect love which Laura +had brought into his existence. + +And forthwith the idyl began, delicate, gentle, lovely as love's life +can be where soul and heart are in harmony, heart to soul, while purity +teaches innocence what it is to be man and wife. + +The harmony was real. Laura and her husband had much in common, +intellectually and morally. Not, indeed, that she made any pretence to +superior intelligence or extended culture. Even had she possessed very +remarkable capabilities, the surroundings in which she had been brought +up had not been of a nature to develop them beyond the average. But she +was not especially gifted, except perhaps in having a good memory and a +somewhat unusually sound judgment in most matters. Yet she was not +without taste, and such as she had was not only both healthy and +refined, but coincided to an extraordinary degree with Arden's own. Both +liked the same authors, the same general kind of art, the same things in +nature, and very generally the same people. Both were perhaps at that +time somewhat morbidly inclined to a sort of semi-transcendentalism, +Arden by nature and circumstances, and Laura by attraction. It must not +be supposed that they went to any lengths in that direction. They did +not speculate on spiritual marriage, nor did they agree with that famous +philosopher who at the last was sure that the earth was turning into a +bun and the sea into lemonade in order that man might eat, drink, and be +happy without effort. They did not pursue improbable theories nor offer +subtle perfumes before the altar of impossibility. But they felt a +certain almost unnatural indifference to the concrete world, and lived +in a world of ideas, thoughts, and affections which were quite their +own. It was impossible to predict whether such an existence would last, +or whether it would ultimately change into one more evidently stable, if +also less removed from earth. For the present, at least, both were +indescribably happy. + +The question how far it is possible for one of two loving beings to +forget and grow unconscious of very great physical defect in the other +is in itself interesting as showing how far, in a well-organised nature, +the immaterial can get the better of grosser things. To explain what +Laura felt would be to explain the deepest impulses of humanity, and +those may attempt it who feel themselves equal to the task and are +attracted by it. The fact, as such, is undeniable. On the whole, too, it +may be said that there is no great reason why a very refined +intelligence should not overlook material considerations as completely +as in the majority of cases the more coarsely planned consciousness +forgets the existence of intellectual and moral deformity. + +Such extreme refinement may not be durable. There is a refinement of +nature, inborn, delicate, and sensitive, and there is a refinement which +depends for its existence upon youth and innocence. Laura possessed all +the latter, and something of the former as well. She would have been +shocked and deeply wounded had she been told that she had married +Herbert Arden out of pity, and yet pity had undeniably given the first +impulse to her love. + +The circumstances, too, were favourable for its growth. Neither had felt +much regret in leaving Rome. Apart from her affection for her mother, +Laura had never found much that was congenial in the city in which she +had been brought up as though it had been her birthplace. As for Arden +himself, he was too much accustomed to travelling from place to place to +prefer one city to another in any great degree. So the two were alone +together and desired nothing beyond what they had, which, perhaps, is +the ideal condition for lovers. To most people, however, the honeymoon +is a terrible trial--probably because most young couples are not very +desperately in love with each other. They wander aimlessly about in all +directions, a sort of joint sacrifice, perpetually tortured and daily +offered up on the altar of the diabolical courier, crushed beneath the +ubiquitous Juggernaut hotel-keeper, bound continually in new and arid +places to be torn by the vulture guide, and ultimately sent home more or +less penniless, quite temperless, and perhaps permanently disgusted with +one another and with married life. And yet the absurd farce is kept up, +in ninety and nine cases out of a hundred, because custom sanctions +it--as though the sanction of custom were necessary when two people wish +to be harmlessly happy in their own way. + +But with the Ardens it was quite different. They were quite beyond the +regions of the guide, the courier, and the hotel-keeper, and they loved +each other so much that neither ever irritated the other, a condition of +existence probably closely resembling that of the saints in paradise. + +Nothing could exceed Laura's watchfulness and care where Arden's health +was concerned, and, fortunately for her, he was not one of those men who +resent being constantly taken care of. Indeed, poor man, he needed all +she gave him in that way, for the winter season with its unusual gaiety +and the necessary exposure to a certain amount of night air in all +weathers, had severely tried his constitution. But now the sea and the +southern sun strengthened him, and sometimes there was even something +like healthy colour in his face. Happiness, too, is said to be a good +medicine, better perhaps than any in the world, and Arden had his share +of it, and a most abundant share. Never, he said to himself, had a man +been so blessed as he, nor at a time when he so little expected +blessings, having made up his mind that all he could hope for had +already been given him in this world. He almost forgot that he was a +cripple, as he sat in his deep cane chair by Laura's side, looking from +her to the dancing light on the water, and from the blue water to her +dark eyes again. He seemed to go every day through a round of beauty, +from one delicious vision to another, returning between each to that one +of all others which he loved best, and knew to be all his own. And those +same eyes of Laura's grew less sad than they had been in the beginning. +The sunlight got into them, as into dark jewels, and made stars of light +about their central depths. The soft wind blew on her clear white cheek +and lent her natural, healthy pallor a warmth it had not before. Her +very step grew more elastic, and the firm, well-shaped hands seemed more +than ever strong. Almost beautiful before, there were moments when she +was quite beautiful indeed, as innocent girlhood changed to pure +womanhood in the sweet southern air. + +Laura read aloud a great deal in the intervals of conversation, and the +days passed almost too quickly. The vessel was a large steam-yacht, of +the modern type, comfortable in the extreme, and capable of +accommodating a large party--for two persons it was almost palatial. +Whatever the weather, cool or hot, rainy or dry, rough or fair, there +was always a place where they could install themselves in the morning or +the afternoon, and talk and read to their hearts' content. They had no +fixed plan either in their wanderings, but went where their fancy took +them, to Palermo, to Messina, to Syracuse. They sat together in the vast +ruined theatre above magic Taormina, and gazed on the sunlit sea and +Etna's snowy crest. They went to Malta, they drove, side by side, +through the lovely gardens of Corfu. They ran in fair weather up to the +lagoons of Venice, and wandered in a gondola through the wide canals and +narrow water lanes of the most beautiful city in the world. Then down +the long Adriatic again, past Zara and Xanthe, round Matapan to the +Piræus--then, when they had had their fill of Athens, away by one long +run to Sicily again, to Algiers next, and then to Barcelona and the +Spanish coast, homeward bound at last, towards England. For the weather +was growing warm now, and Laura noticed that she saw less often in +Arden's face the colour she had watched with such pleasure during the +first weeks. There was no cause for anxiety, she thought, but it was +possible that he needed always an even temperature, neither cold nor +hot, and it was time to reach England, before the July sun had scorched +the southern land. + +And throughout all this quiet time the song of happiness was ever in +their ears. The world they cared so little for, and which had taken the +trouble to say such disagreeable things about them, was left infinitely +far behind in their new life. From time to time letters reached Laura +from Rome, and Arden had one from Ghisleri, containing little detailed +news, but full of angry threats at a kind of general undefined enemy, +which might be humanity taken all together, or might be some one +particular person whom the writer had in his mind. Pietro generally +wrote in that way. Rarely, indeed, did he mention people by name, and +then only when he had something to say to their credit. It was a part +of what Arden called his absurd reticence, and which, absurd or not, was +certainly exaggerated. Possibly Ghisleri had, at some time in his youth, +experienced the extremely unpleasant consequences of being indiscreet, +and had promised himself not to succumb to that form of weakness again. +At all events, he found that though Arden sometimes laughed at him, he +never got into trouble through being discreet, and other people were not +disposed to be merry at his expense. It was a long time since he had +quarrelled with any one, and, having turned peaceable, the world +promptly accused him of cynicism and indifference, an accusation which +did not annoy him at all. Indeed, it was rather convenient than +otherwise, that people should think of him as they did, since the result +was that less was expected of him than of most people. + +Laura's mother wrote loving letters, full of simple household news, and +of solicitude for her daughter and Arden, asking many questions as to +their plans for the future, and continually expressing the hope that +they would spend the coming winter in Rome. + +"What do you think of it?" Laura asked one day, as they sat together on +deck in the sunshine. + +"That is one of those things which you must decide, dear," answered +Arden. "Of course I suppose I ought to spend the winter in the south as +usual. I do not believe I could stand England in December and January. +There are lots of delightful southern places where we could stay a few +months, besides Rome--but then, in Rome you will have your mother. That +makes a great difference." + +"You are first now, love," said Laura. "You come before my mother--much +as I love her." + +"Darling--how good you are!" He took her hand and kissed it softly. + +"Not half as good as I ought to be. But there are two things to be +considered, dear. There is the climate, as you say, and then there is a +social question we have never talked about--it seems so far away now. In +the first place, does Rome really suit you? Are you always well there, +as you were last winter?" + +"Oh, yes. I have always been perfectly well in Rome, and I like the +place immensely, besides." + +"And you have your friend, Signor Ghisleri, too. That is another point. +On the other hand, I do not think either of us would ever wish to stay a +whole winter with my mother and step-father. We must live somewhere by +ourselves, and we shall have to live very quietly." + +"The more quietly the better. Is that the social question, darling?" + +"No," answered Laura, "but it is connected with it. There is something I +never spoke of. Did it ever strike you, when you first knew me, that +somehow I was not so much liked as other girls in society? Do not think +I ask the question out of any sort of vanity. I want to know what your +impression was. Tell me quite frankly, will you?" + +"Of course I will. It did strike me--I never knew whether you were aware +of it. I even tried to find out the reason of it, and to some extent I +believe I did." + +"Did you?" asked Laura, with sudden interest. "I wish I knew--I have so +often thought about it all." + +Arden laughed, leaning back in his chair and looking at her face. + +"It is the most absurd story I ever heard," he said. "I ought not even +to say I heard it, for I guessed it from little things that happened. +People think that your step-sister's husband, Savelli, is in love with +you, and I suppose they imagine that you have something to do with +it--encouraged him, and that sort of thing. I am quite sure that Donna +Adele--am I to call her Adele now?--is jealous, for I have witnessed the +manifestation with my own eyes. It is all too utterly ridiculous, but as +you are quite English you were at a disadvantage, and were not as +popular as you ought to have been." + +He laughed again, and this time Laura joined in his laughter. + +"Is that it?" she cried. "Poor Francesco! To think of any one suspecting +that he could be in love with me, when he is so perfectly happy with his +wife! And he is always so nice, and talks to me more than any one. +Whenever I am stranded at a party, he comes and takes care of me." + +"That is probably the origin of the gossip," observed Arden, still +smiling. "But I do not think we shall have any nonsense of that sort +now. Do you think your mother understood it all?" + +"No--and I believe she was far less conscious that there was anything +wrong, than I was. Poor Francesco! I cannot help laughing." + +Laura was sincerely amused by the tale, as she well might be, and as +Pietro Ghisleri would have been, had he heard it. The story Arden had +put together out of the evidence he had was, as a matter of fact, the +very converse of the one actually circulated. + +"I do not see," said he, "why this bit of fantastic gossip need be taken +into consideration, when we are talking of our winter in Rome. What +difference can it possibly make?" + +"For you, dear--and a little for me, too. Neither of us would care to go +back to a society where there was anything to make us disliked. As you +say, there are plenty of other places, and as for my mother, she could +come and see us, and stop a little while, and I am sure she would if we +asked her." + +"Do you mean to say, Laura, that you seriously believe our position +would not be everything it ought to be?" asked Arden, in some surprise. + +"Oh, no; it would be all right, of course. Only we might not be exactly +the centre of the gay set." + +"Which neither of us care to be in the least." + +"Not in the least. We are our own set, you and I--are we not?" + +Laura thought of what Arden had told her for a long time afterwards, and +tried to explain to herself by his theory all the infinitesimal details +which had formerly shown her that she was not a universal favourite. But +the story did not cover all the ground. Of one thing, however, she +became almost certain--Adele was her enemy, for some reason or other, +and was a person to beware of, should Laura and her husband return to +Rome. It had taken her long to form this conviction, but being once +formed it promised to be durable, as her convictions generally were. + +It was with sincere regret that the couple left the yacht at last. They +had grown to look upon it almost as a permanent home, and to wish that +it might be so altogether. Nevertheless Laura could not but see that +Arden's health improved again as they reached a cooler climate and +travelled northward towards his brother's home. The season was not yet +over in London, but "Harry" did not like London much, and did not like +the season there at all. What the Marchioness thought about it no one +knows to this day, but she appeared to resign herself with a good grace +to the life her husband chose to lead. The latter welcomed his brother +and Laura in his own fashion, with an odd mixture of cordiality and +stiffness, the latter only superficial, the former thoroughly genuine +and heartfelt, as Arden explained to his wife without delay. + +Existence in an English country house was quite new to her, and but for +the abominable weather for which that year remained famous, she would at +first have enjoyed it very much. The rain, however, seemed +inexhaustible. Day after day it poured, night after night the heavy +mists rose from park, and woodland, and meadow, and moor. It seemed as +though the sun would never shine again. Arden never grew weary of those +long days spent with Laura, nor indeed was she ever tired of being with +the man she loved. But being young and strong, she would gladly have +breathed the bright air again, while he, on his part, lost appetite, +caught cold continually, and grew daily paler and more languid. Little +by little Laura became anxious about him and her care redoubled. He had +never looked as he looked now, even when most worn and wearied out with +the life of society he had led in Rome before his marriage. His face was +growing thin, almost to emaciation, and his hands were transparent. +Laura made up her mind that something must be done at once. It was clear +that he longed for the south again, and it was probable that nothing +else could restore him to comparative strength. + +"Let us go away, Herbert," she said one day. "You are not looking well, +and I believe we shall never see the sun again unless we go to the +south." + +"No," answered Arden, "I am not well. I shall be all right again as soon +as we get to Rome." + +He seemed to take it for granted that Rome should be their destination, +and on the whole Laura was glad of it. She would be glad to see her +mother, too, after so many months of separation. So it was decided, and +before long they were once more on their way. + +It was not an easy journey for either of them. Arden was now decidedly +out of health, and needed much care at all times, while Laura herself +was so nervous and anxious about him that she often felt her hand +tremble violently when she smoothed his cushion in the railway carriage, +or poured him out something to drink. She would not hear of being +helped, when her husband's man, who had been with him since his boyhood, +privately entreated her to take a nurse, and to give herself rest from +time to time, especially during the journey. + +"We must not let his lordship know how ill he is, Donald," she answered +gently. "You must be very careful about that, too, when you are alone +with him. He will be quite well again in Rome," she added hopefully. + +Donald shook his head wisely, and refrained from further expostulation. +He had discovered that his new mistress did not easily change her mind +upon any subject, and never changed it at all when she thought she was +right in regard to Lord Herbert's health. + +And in due time they reached the end of their journey, and took up +their quarters in the old house known as the Tempietto, which stands +just where the Via Gregoriana and the Via Sistina end together in the +open square of the Trinità de' Monti--a quarter and a house dear to +English people since the first invasion of foreigners, but by no means +liked or considered especially healthy by the Romans. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +Meanwhile, the lives of some of the other persons concerned in this +history were less idyllic, and very probably more satisfactory to +themselves. Having survived the season, and having borne the severe +Lenten mortification implied in not capering nightly to the tune of two +or three fiddles and a piano, the world arose after Easter like a giant +refreshed with wine, and enjoyed a final fling before breaking up for +the summer. Having danced with the windows shut, it now danced with the +windows open, and found the change delightful, as indeed it is. Instead +of sitting in corners together, the couples who had anything to say to +one another now stood or sat in the deep embrasures, glancing up at the +starlit sky to see whether the dawn were yet breaking. As for the rest, +there was little change at all. The little Vicomte de Bompierre had +transferred his attentions from the Marchesa di San Giacinto to Donna +Maria Boccapaduli, and the Marchesa, who was in love with her husband, +did not seem to care at all, but remained on the best of terms with +Donna Maria, to the latter's infinite satisfaction. The Contessa dell' +Armi attracted more attention because some one had started the report +that dell' Armi himself was in a state of jealousy bordering upon +delirium, that he had repeatedly struck her, and that he spent the few +hours he could spare from this unwholesome exercise and from his +parliamentary duties in tearing out his hair by the handful. The +picture of dell' Armi evoked by these stories was striking, dramatic, +and somewhat novel, so that every one was delighted. As a matter of +fact, the Count did not care a straw for his wife, rarely saw her at +all, and then only to discuss the weather. He had married her in order +that her fortune might help him in his political career, he had got what +he wanted, and he was supremely indifferent to the rest. The sad part of +the matter was--if any one had known the truth--that poor Maddalena +dell' Armi had been married out of a convent, and had then and there +fallen madly in love with him, her own husband. He had resented her +excessive affection, as it interfered with his occupations and +amusements, and after an interval of five years, during which the +unhappy young wife shed endless tears and suffered intensely, he had the +satisfaction of seeing that she no longer loved him in the least, and +rather avoided him than otherwise. In taking a fancy to Pietro Ghisleri +he thought she had shown considerable discrimination, since every one +knew that Ghisleri was a very discreet man. The amazing cynicism of his +view altogether escaped him. He was occupied in politics. If he had +observed it, he would have undoubtedly laughed as heartily as he did +when a lady on the outskirts of society told him that he was supposed to +be a jealous husband. + +But the rest of the world watched Maddalena and Pietro with great +interest. They had quarrelled--or they had made it up--they had not +danced together during one whole evening--they had danced a waltz and +then a quadrille, the one after the other--Maddalena had been crying--by +a coincidence, Ghisleri looked unusually strong and well--Pietro, again, +was looking somewhat haggard and weary, and the Contessa met the world +that evening with a stony stare. There was endless matter for +speculation, and accordingly the world speculated without end, and, as +usual, to no purpose. Ghisleri was absolutely reticent, and Maddalena +was a very proud woman, who, in spite of her past sufferings, did her +best not to let any one suspect that she and her husband were on bad +terms. She was also unhappy in the present about a very different +matter, concerning which she was not inclined to speak with any one. +Donna Adele's last decided attempt to defame Lord Herbert Arden had, to +a certain extent, been successful, but it had also produced another +result of which Adele did not know, but which would have given her even +greater satisfaction. It had almost caused a quarrel between Ghisleri +and the Contessa. + +It will be remembered that the latter heard the story from Donna Maria +Boccapaduli on the steps of a church in Holy Week. She was at the time +more unhappy than usual. Something had touched the finer chords of her +nature, and she felt a sort of horror of herself and of the life she was +leading--very genuine in its way, and intensely painful. Donna Maria's +story was revolting to her, for just then everything and everybody +seemed to be false--even Ghisleri. She did not even stop, as she would +have done at any other time, to weigh the value of the story, and to ask +herself whether it were likely that he could thus deliberately betray +his friend, and especially to Adele Savelli whom she believed he +disliked. Even with her he was reticent, and she had never quite assured +herself of his opinion concerning Adele, but she had watched him +narrowly and had drawn her own conclusions. And now, if he had betrayed +the man whom he called his friend, he must be capable of betraying the +woman he loved. + +"Is it true that you have been talking to Donna Adele Savelli about your +friend Arden?" she asked, when they met later on the same afternoon. + +"Quite true," answered Ghisleri, indifferently. "We were talking about +him yesterday afternoon." + +"Do you mind telling me what you said?" asked the Contessa, her eyes +hardening and her whole face growing scornful. + +"I have not the least objection," said Ghisleri, coldly. He at once +gave her all the details of the conversation as far as he could remember +them; his memory was accurate in such matters and he scarcely omitted a +word. + +"Am I to believe you or her?" asked the Contessa when she had listened +to the end. + +"As I am speaking the truth, it might be as well to believe me." + +"And how am I to know that you are speaking the truth, now or at any +other time? You would not change colour, nor look at me less frankly, if +you were telling me the greatest falsehood imaginable. Why should I +believe you?" + +"I am sure I do not know," answered Ghisleri. "I would only like to be +sure whether, as a general rule, you mean to believe me in future, or +not. If you do not, I need not say anything, I suppose. Conversation +would be singularly simplified." + +"You would not be so angry with me now, if your story were true," said +the Contessa, with a forced laugh. + +"A man may reasonably be annoyed at being called a liar even by a lady," +retorted Ghisleri. + +"And you do not take the least trouble to defend yourself--" + +"Not the least. Why should you believe my defence any more than my plain +statement? You have rather a logical mind--you ought to see that." + +"Are you trying to quarrel with me? You will succeed if you go on in +this way." + +"No. I am doing my best to answer your questions. I should be very sorry +to quarrel with you. You know it. Or are you going to doubt that too?" + +"From the tone in which you say it, and from the way you act, I am +inclined to." + +"You are in a very unbelieving humour to-day." + +"I have reason to be." + +"Am I the cause?" + +"Yes." The Contessa was not quite sure why she said it, but for the +moment she felt that it was true, as perhaps it was in an indirect way. + +"Do you know that although you have asked me a great many questions +which I have answered as well as I could, you have not told me what it +is I am accused of saying?" + +"You are accused of saying," answered the Contessa, looking straight +into his eyes, "that your friend Lord Herbert Arden is in the habit of +taking too much wine. Is that so nice a thing to have said?" + +Ghisleri's face darkened, and the blood throbbed in his temples. + +"As I have told you precisely what I really said," he replied, "I shall +say nothing more. Only this--if you have any sense of justice left, +which I begin to doubt, you will ask San Giacinto whether he thinks it +probable that I would say such a thing. That is all. I suppose you will +believe him." + +"I do not think I believe any one. Besides, as you say, he can only +testify to your character, and say that the thing is improbable. Of +course he would do that. Men always defend each other against women." + +"He can tell you something more if he chooses," answered Ghisleri. + +"If he chooses!" The Contessa's scornful expression returned. "If he +tells me nothing you will remind me of that word, and say that he did +not choose. How you always arrange everything beforehand to leave +yourself a way of escape." + +"I am sorry you should think so," said Ghisleri, gravely. + +"I am sorry that I have to think so. It does not increase my +self-respect, nor my vanity in my judgment." + +They parted on very bad terms that day, and two or three days more +passed before they saw each other again. The Contessa had almost made up +her mind that she would not speak to San Giacinto at all, and Ghisleri +began to think that she wished to break with him permanently. Far more +sensitive than any one supposed, he had been deeply wounded by her words +and tone, so deeply indeed that he scarcely wished to meet her for the +present. The world did not fail to see the coldness that had come +between them, and laughed heartily over it. The Contessa, said the +world, thought that the way to keep Ghisleri was to be cold to him and +encourage Pietrasanta, but she did not know dear Ghisleri, who did not +care in the very least, who had not a particle of sensitiveness in him, +and had never really loved any one but the beautiful Princess Corleone +who died of fever in Naples five years ago, and of whom he never spoke. + +But as chance would have it, the Contessa found herself talking to San +Giacinto one evening, when she was feeling very lonely and unhappy, and +her half-formed resolution broke down as suddenly as it had presented +itself. The giant looked at her keenly for a moment, bent his heavy +black brows, and then told her the story of what had taken place at the +club. He, who saw most things, and talked little of them, noted the +gradual change in her face, and how the light came back to it while he +was speaking. She understood that the man whom she had accused of +betraying his friend had faced a roomful of men in his defence, and on +the very ground now under discussion, and she repented of what she had +done. Then she swore vengeance on Adele Savelli. + +The world saw that a reconciliation had taken place, and concluded that +Maddalena dell' Armi had abandoned her foolish plan of trying to attract +Ghisleri by being cold to him. Ghisleri, indeed! As though he cared! + +"But I have no particular wish to be revenged on Donna Adele," objected +Ghisleri, when the Contessa spoke to him on the subject. "That sort of +thing is a disease of the brain. There are people who cannot see things +as they are. She is one of them." + +"How indifferent you are!" sighed Maddalena. "I wonder whether you were +always so." + +"Not always," answered Pietro, thoughtfully. + +In due time the short Easter season was over, the foreigners departed, +and many of the Romans followed their example, especially those whose +country places were within easy reach of the city, by carriage or by +rail. The Contessa went to pay her regular annual visit at her +father's, near Florence,--her mother had long been dead,--and Ghisleri +remained in Rome, unable to make up his mind what to do. Something +seemed to bind him to the town this year, and though he went away for a +day or two from time to time, he always came back very soon. Even his +damaged old castle did not attract him as it usually did, though he had +begun to restore it a little during the last few years, a little at a +time, as his modest fortune allowed. There was an odd sort of foresight +in his character. He laughed at the idea of being married, and yet he +had a presentiment that he would some day change his mind and take a +wife. In case that should ever happen, Torre de' Ghisleri would be at +once a beautiful and an economical retreat for the summer months. Though +he had a reputation for extravagance and for living always a little +beyond his income, he was in reality increasing his property. He was +constantly buying small bits of land in the neighbourhood of his castle, +with a vague idea that he might ultimately get the old estate together +again. He generally bought on mortgage, binding himself to pay at a +certain date, and as he was a very honourable man in all financial +transactions, he invariably paid, though sometimes at considerable +sacrifice. He said to himself that unless he were bound he would +inevitably throw away the little money he had to spare. It was a +curiously practical trait in such an unruly and almost lawless +character, but he did such things when he could, and then thought no +more about them until a fresh opportunity presented itself. He was a man +whose life and whole power of interest in life were almost constantly +absorbed by the two or three persons to whom he was sincerely attached, +a fact never realised by those who knew him--a passionate man at heart, +and one who despised himself for many reasons--a man who would have +wished to be a Launcelot in fidelity, a Galahad in cleanness of heart, +an Arthur for justice and frankness, but who was indeed terribly far +from resembling any of the three. A man liable to most human weaknesses, +but having just enough of something better to make him hate weakness in +himself and understand it in others without condemning it too harshly in +them. He had the wish to overcome it in his own character and life, but +when the victory looked too easy it did not tempt him, for his vanity +was of the kind which is only satisfied with winning hard fights, and +rarely roused except by the prospect of them, while quite indifferent to +small success of any kind--either for good or evil. + +And this year, for some reason which he did not attempt to explain to +himself, he lingered on in Rome, living a lonely life, avoiding the club +where many of his acquaintances still congregated, taking his meals +irregularly at garden restaurants, and spending most of his evenings in +wandering about Rome by himself. The old places attracted him strongly. +Many associations clung to the shady streets, the huge old palaces, and +the dusky churches. Ten years of such a life as he had led had left many +traces behind them, many sensitive spots in his complicated nature which +inanimate things had power to touch keenly and thrill again with pain or +pleasure. There was much that was sad, indeed, in these recollections, +but there were also many memories dear and tender and almost free from +the sting of self-reproach. He was not one to crave excitement for its +own sake, nor to miss it when it was past. It often chanced, indeed, +that he could find the few things that pleased him, the few people he +liked, in the midst of the world's noisiest fair, but he would always +have preferred to be alone with them, to meet with them when he was +quite sure of being altogether himself and not the overwrought, nervous +being which he came to be during the rush of the season, in spite of his +undeniable physical strength. Those who need excitement most are either +those who have never lived in it, or those unhappily morbid beings who +cannot live without it, because by force of habit it has become the only +atmosphere which their lungs can breathe and in which they can act more +or less normally. + +Ghisleri followed the Ardens in imagination as they pursued their +wedding trip. He rarely knew exactly where they were, but he was +familiar with all the places they were visiting, and he liked to fancy +them enjoying together all there was to be seen and done. Had he not +himself still been young, he would almost have fancied that he felt a +fatherly interest in their doings. Then he heard that they were in +England, and at last, when he had made up his mind to go away for a +month or two, he learned that Arden was in bad health. He was distressed +by the news, and wished he could see his old friend, if only for a day, +to judge for himself of his condition. But that was impossible at +present. He was not always free to dispose of his time as he pleased, +and as he had been during the past months. Moreover, the world was not +quite just when it said that Ghisleri did not "care," as it expressed +the state of mind it attributed to him. Between going to England, and +going to Vallombrosa, near Florence, he did not hesitate a moment. + +So the autumn came round again, and when he returned to his lodging in +Rome, he found that the Ardens were already installed in the Tempietto. +The Savelli couple were still out of town at the family castle in the +Sabines, but the Prince and Princess of Gerano had come back. + +Ghisleri found both Laura and Arden greatly changed. The latter's +appearance shocked him especially, and he felt almost from the first +that his friend was doomed. The man who was not supposed to care spent +at least one sleepless night, turning over in his mind the various +possibilities of life and death. On the following morning at twelve +o'clock, he climbed the steps to the Trinità de' Monti, and asked to see +Lady Herbert Arden alone, a request which was easily granted, as her +husband now rarely rose until one, and then only for a few hours. + +Laura's eyes looked preternaturally large and deep--almost sunken, +Ghisleri thought--and she had grown thin, and even paler than she +usually was when in good health. He took the seat she pointed to, by the +open fire, and stared into the flames absently for some seconds. It was +a rather dreary morning early in November, and the air in the streets +was raw and damp. At last he looked up. + +"You are anxious about your husband, Lady Herbert?" he said. + +Laura sighed, and opened her white hands to the warmth, as she sat on +the other side of the fireplace. But she said nothing. She could not +deny what he had told her, for she was in mortal anxiety by day and +night. + +"It is very natural," said Ghisleri, trying to speak more cheerfully. +"But I do not think there is any very serious reason for anticipating +danger. I have known Arden many years, and I have often known him to be +ill before now." + +Laura glanced nervously at Pietro, and looked away again almost +instantly. There was a frightened look in her face as though she feared +something unexpected. Perhaps she was afraid of believing too readily in +Ghisleri's comforting view. + +"All the same," he continued, "there is no denying that he is in very +bad health. Forgive me if I seem officious. I do not love him as you do, +of course, but we have been more or less good friends these many +years--since very long before you knew him." + +"More or less good friends!" repeated Laura, in a disappointed tone. +"Herbert calls you his best friend." + +"I dare say he has many better than I am," answered Ghisleri, quietly. +"But I have certainly never liked any man as much as I like him. That is +why I come to you to-day. Do you not think that he should be taken care +of, or, at least thoroughly examined by the best specialist to be +found?" + +"I have thought of it," said Laura, after a short pause. "Of course the +doctor comes regularly, but I do not think he is a really great +authority. I am afraid that anything like a consultation might alarm +Herbert. I see how determined he is to be cheerful, but I cannot help +seeing also that he is despondent about himself." + +"There need be nothing like a consultation. Will you trust me in this +matter?" + +Laura looked at him. She felt, on a sudden, the old, almost +inexplicable, timid dislike of him with which she had long been +familiar, and she hesitated before she answered. + +"Could I not manage it myself?" she asked abruptly. "It would seem more +natural." + +Ghisleri's face grew slowly cold, and his eyes fixed themselves on the +fire. + +"I thought I might be able to help you," he said. "Have you any +particular reason for distrusting me as you do, Lady Herbert?" + +Laura's face contracted. She was not angry, but she was sorry that she +had shown him what she thought, and it was hard to answer the question +truthfully, for she was not really sure whether she had any excuse for +doubting his frankness or not. In the present instance she assuredly had +none. + +"I should certainly never distrust you where Herbert is concerned," she +said, after a short pause. "It is only that it seems more natural, as I +said, that I should be the one to speak to him and to arrange about the +specialist's visit." + +"Very well. Forgive me, as I begged you to at first, if I have seemed +officious. I will come and see your husband this afternoon." + +The consequence of this conversation was that Laura, being even more +seriously alarmed than before, since she realised that Ghisleri himself +was anxious, spoke to Arden about the necessity for seeing a better +doctor, breaking it to him with all the loving gentleness she knew how +to use with him, and Arden consented without much apparent reluctance to +being examined by a man who had a great reputation. The latter took a +long time before he gave an opinion, and ultimately declared to Laura +that her husband was consumptive and would probably not live a year. +Laura suffered in that moment as she would not have believed it possible +to suffer, and it was long before she could compose herself enough to +go to Arden. It was of course impossible to tell him all the doctor had +said. She told him that his lungs were delicate, and that he must be +very careful. + +"It seems to me I am always very careful," said Lord Herbert, patiently. + +She looked at him and saw for the hundredth time how ill he seemed. She +tried to turn quickly and leave the room, but she could not. Suddenly +the passionate tears broke out, and she fell on her knees beside his +chair and clasped the poor little body in her arms. + +"Oh, Herbert, my love,--my love!" she sobbed. + +Then he felt that he was doomed. Had she loved him less, she could have +kept the secret better. But he was brave still. + +"Hush, darling, hush!" he said, gently stroking her coal-black hair with +his transparent hand. "You must not believe these foolish doctors. I +have been just as ill before." + +But the mischief was done, and she felt that she had done it, and her +remorse knew no bounds. In spite of his courage, Arden lost heart. The +next time Ghisleri saw him he was much worse. Laura went out and left +the two together. + +"Has anything worried you?" asked Ghisleri. "You look tired." + +Arden was silent for a long time, and his friend knew that he was +carefully weighing his answer. + +"Yes," he said at last, "something has worried me very much. I can trust +you not to speak--never to speak, even to my wife, of what I am going to +say--especially if anything should happen," he added, as though with a +painful afterthought. + +"I will never speak of it," replied Pietro, gravely. + +"I know you will not. We had a consultation the other day. Of course +they were very careful not to tell me what they thought, but I could not +help guessing it. You know how truthful my wife is--she could not deny +it when I put the question directly. It is all up with me, my dear +fellow, and I know it. I am consumptive. It will last a year at the +most." + +"I do not believe a word of it!" exclaimed Ghisleri, with unusual heat. +"You are not in the least like a consumptive man!" + +"The doctor is a good specialist," said Arden, quietly. "But that is not +all. I have been so happy--I am so happy in many ways still--that I am +weak enough to cling to my life, such as it is. But there is something +else, Ghisleri. I knew I was ill, and I knew there was danger--but this +is different. I had hoped to see my child, even if I were to die. I do +not hope to see it now--you understand? Those things are always +inherited." + +A deadly paleness came over Arden's face, and his clear brown eyes +seemed unsteady for a moment. His face twitched nervously, and his hands +were strained as they grasped the arms of his chair. Ghisleri looked +very grave. + +"I repeat that I believe the doctor to be wholly mistaken. It would +hardly be the first time that doctors have made such mistakes. +Consumptive people do not behave as you do. They always feel that they +are getting well, until the very last, and they have a regular cough, +not to be mistaken, and they eat a great deal. You are quite different." + +"But he examined, me so carefully," objected Arden, though he could not +help seeing a ray of hope. + +"I cannot help that. He was mistaken." + +That afternoon Ghisleri telegraphed to a great European celebrity whom +he knew in Paris, to come if possible at once, no matter at what +sacrifice of money. Forty-eight hours later the man of genius was +breakfasting with Pietro in his rooms. + +"I will ask leave to bring you as a friend," said the latter. "I have +begged you to come on my own responsibility." + +He wrote a note to Laura, explaining that an old acquaintance, a man of +world-wide fame, was spending a couple of days with him, and begged +permission to introduce him. He might amuse Arden, he said. He did not +mention the doctor's profession. It was just possible that neither Arden +nor Laura had ever heard of the man who was so great in a world not +theirs. Laura asked them both to tea by way of answer. + +As it turned out, the Ardens had a very vague idea that the Frenchman +was a man of science. In the course of conversation he admitted that he +had studied medicine, and then went on to talk about the latest news +from Paris, social, artistic, and literary. Arden was charmed with him, +and Laura was really grateful to Ghisleri for helping to amuse her +husband. + +Would they both come to luncheon the next day? They would, with +pleasure, and they went away together. + +"Well?" asked Ghisleri, as they walked towards the Pincio in the early +dusk, just to breathe the air. + +"I think he may live," answered the great man. "I believe it is a +trouble of the heart with an almost exhausted vitality." + +Laura was left alone with her husband. Whether it was the doctor's +personal influence, or whether Arden was really momentarily better, she +could not tell, but he looked as he had not looked for two months. + +"That man delights me," he said dreamily. "I do not know what there is +about him, and it is very foolish--but I fancy that if he were a doctor, +he might cure me--or keep me alive longer," he added, with a sort of +reluctant sadness. + +Laura looked at him in surprise. + +"He said he had studied medicine," she answered. "Shall I ask Signor +Ghisleri, if, as a friend, he would come and give his opinion?" + +"It is too much to ask of a stranger." + +"Nothing is too much to ask," she said quietly. In her own room she +wrote a note to Pietro. + +With many apologies, she explained to him that her husband was so +delighted with Ghisleri's friend, that she believed it might make a +difference if, as a doctor--since he was one--the latter would be +willing to see him once and give his opinion. + +Pietro smiled when he read the note. On the following day the great man +went again to the Tempietto, and with many protestations of incompetence +did as he was requested, assuring Lady Herbert that it was only in +deference to her wishes that he did so. + +"You are not consumptive--in the least, and you may even become strong," +he said, after a very long and thorough examination. "That, at least," +he added, "is my humble opinion." + +Arden's face brightened suddenly. But Laura and Ghisleri remained alone +together for a moment afterwards, while the doctor was already putting +on his coat. + +"After all," said Laura, despondently, "it was to please Herbert. The +man says that his opinion is not worth very much." + +"He is the greatest living authority on the subject," answered Ghisleri. +"You may safely take his opinion." + +Laura's face expressed her surprise, and at the same time, an +unspeakable relief. + +"Are you sure?" she asked, in trembling tones. + +"Ask your doctor. He will tell you. Will you forgive me my little trick, +Lady Herbert? As he was here, I thought you might like to see him." +Ghisleri put out his hand to take his leave, and Laura pressed it +warmly. + +"If I had ever had anything to forgive, I would forgive you--for your +great kindness to me," she said, and the tears were almost in her eyes. +"It is you who should forgive me for not trusting you when you first +spoke. How wrong I was!" + +"Nonsense!" exclaimed Ghisleri. "It was very natural." + +And so it seemed to him, perhaps. But such little tricks, as he called +what he had done, cost money, and that year Ghisleri did not buy the bit +of land which stood next on the list in his scheme for reacquiring the +old estate. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +Arden's health improved, at first very rapidly, and then more slowly, as +he seemed to approach what, for him, was a normal condition of strength. +The month of December was fine, and he was able to drive out constantly, +to be up most of the day, and to talk with acquaintances without any +great fatigue. As a natural consequence, too, Laura regained in a very +short time all that she had lost, and her eyes no longer looked sunken +and haggard nor her face unnaturally pale. + +Her gratitude to Ghisleri was boundless, and as the days went on and +Arden had no relapse, she began to wonder how she could ever have felt +anything approaching to dislike for the man to whom she almost owed her +husband's life. Pietro, on his part, came often to the house and saw the +change that had taken place in her manner towards him. He was pleased, +though he had not thought of producing any impression upon her by what +he had done solely for Arden's sake, for he had long admired her, and +felt that she was very like a certain ideal of woman of which he never +talked. But his pleasure was not very genuine, after all. He hardly +believed that Laura's mood would last, because he had hitherto had +little experience of lasting moods in women. For the present, at least, +she believed in him and was grateful. + +About this time Donna Adele, her husband, and his father and mother all +came back from the country, and at or near the same period the great +majority of the old society stagers appeared again as forerunners of the +coming season. The gay set was not yet all assembled, and it was even +reported that some of them would not come at all, for there was +financial trouble in the air, and many people had lost money, or found +their incomes diminished by the general depression. Nevertheless, when +Christmas came, few of the familiar faces of the previous year were +missing, and those few have not been seen in this history. + +"This is the beginning," said Gouache to Ghisleri. "You may remember +that charming description of chaos in the sacred writings: 'in the +beginning darkness was over all the earth'--very like Rome before the +season begins. The resemblance ends there, my dear friend. The sentence +which follows would hardly be applicable. Are we to have another Shrove +Tuesday feast this year for the sake of giving sin a last chance? Have +you another diabolical production ready?" + +"I am afraid not," answered Ghisleri. "Besides, one should never repeat +a good thing." + +"That is what my wife says," observed Anastase, thoughtfully. "That dear +woman! But for her, I should do nothing but repeat my successful +pictures--if possible by a chemical process. It would be so easy! That +is the way the modern galleries of old masters are formed. There is a +little man in the Via da' Falegnami who turns out the article at a fixed +price, including the cost of the green wood for smoking the Rembrandts, +and the genuine old panels for doing the Botticellis. I often go to see +him. He knows more about grinding colours, and about vehicles and +varnishes, and the price of lamp-black than any artist I ever knew. He +painted that portrait of Raphael by himself--by Raphael, I mean, for +Prince Durakoff last year, and found the documents to prove its +existence among his papers. It took him six months, but it was well +done, especially the parchments. There was even the receipt for the +money paid to Raphael for the picture by the Most Excellent House of +Frangipani, signed by the painter himself--I mean by Raphael. Cheap, at +ten thousand francs. Durakoff paid the dealer eighty thousand without +bargaining. He did not reflect that if it had been genuine it would have +been worth five hundred thousand, and, if not, that it was not worth +fifty centimes." + +"Rather like a friend," observed Ghisleri. + +"Friendship is a matter of fortune," said Gouache, "as love is a +question of climate." + +"You are not usually so cynical. What has happened?" + +"My wife has been amusing me, this morning, with an account of society's +opinions on various subjects. One-half of her friends assure her that +black is white, and the other half tell her it is a vivid yellow. That +is called conversation. They give it you with tea, milk, and sugar, +between five and seven in the afternoon." + +Gouache seemed to be in a somewhat communicative frame of mind. As a +matter of fact he often was with Ghisleri, whom he trusted more than +most men. + +"What was it all about?" inquired the latter. + +"People, people, and then people again. What does everybody talk about? +Silly stories about Lady Herbert Arden and Savelli, and about Lord +Herbert himself, and his dissipated life. The Ardens do not seem to be +liked. He is a great friend of yours, is he not?" + +"Yes, we have known each other almost ten years." Ghisleri began to +smoke, rather gloomily, for he perceived that there was trouble in store +for Laura. + +"It is Donna Adele who does all the mischief," continued Gouache, +putting a dash of bright blue into the face of the portrait he was +painting, a proceeding which, as Ghisleri noticed with some surprise, +improved the likeness. "It is Donna Adele. You know the old story. +Savelli loved Miss Carlyon but could not marry her. Donna Adele never +forgave her, and she will end by doing her a great deal of harm. She +pretends that Savelli has told her that Lady Herbert is already talking +to him and to everybody of her own wretched married life--rather hinting +that if Savelli would care to depart this life of respectability she +would go with him, a proposition which, of course, Savelli scorns in the +most virtuous and approved fashion, rolling his fine paternal language +as in the fourth act of a tragedy at the Comedie Française. I suppose +you cannot stop this sort of thing, can you?" + +"I will try," said Ghisleri, in a tone that made Gouache look round from +his painting. He had not often witnessed even such a slight +manifestation of real anger on Pietro's part, as was apparent in the +enunciation of the three words. + +"You might, perhaps, better than any one else," observed Gouache. "From +other things she has said, it is quite apparent that she would like to +see you at her feet." + +Ghisleri looked at Anastase rather sharply, but said nothing. It was not +the fact that Donna Adele wished him to pay her more attention that +struck him; he was wondering what the other remarks might have been, to +which Gouache alluded. They might have been directed against the +Contessa--or they might have been such as to show that Adele suspected +Ghisleri of an attachment for Laura Arden since he now went so often to +the house. As Gouache did not volunteer any further information, +however, Ghisleri thought it wiser to ask no questions, and he was +inclined to infer that the aforesaid observations had been directed +against Maddalena dell' Armi. + +Ghisleri went away in a very bad humour. So long as the gossip came from +the men, he had a very simple and definite course open to him, and he +knew that his personal influence was considerable. But when the worst +things said were said by women, there seemed to be no remedy possible. +It would not be an easy matter to go to Adele and tax her with lying, +slandering, and evil speaking. She would very properly be angry, and +would of course deny that she had ever spoken on the matter, her friends +would support her in her denial, and he would be no further advanced +than before. He could not possibly go to Francesco Savelli and demand of +the latter an explanation of Donna Adele's conduct. That was out of the +question. To let Donna Adele know that both Laura and Arden were quite +unconscious of her attacks and, in their present life of almost enforced +retirement, were likely to remain in ignorance of them, might annoy +Donna Adele, but could do no good. It would be positively unkind to +speak to the Princess of Gerano and ask her to use her influence with +her step-daughter, but Ghisleri thought he had struck a possibility at +last--he could go to old Gerano himself and explain matters. After all, +Gerano was Adele's father and had some authority over her still. +Ghisleri came rather hastily to the conclusion that this would be the +wisest course to follow, and acted almost immediately upon his decision, +for it chanced that he found the Prince at the club, and had the +opportunity he needed within half an hour after forming his plan of +action. + +He approached the subject coolly and diplomatically, while Gerano +blandly listened and puffed at a cigarette. Donna Adele, he said, had of +course no intention of injuring her step-sister, but she was too young +to know the weight a careless tale often carried with it in the world, +and had no idea of the harm she was doing. No one, not even the Prince +himself, was ignorant of the fact that Don Francesco Savelli's first +inclination had been rather for Miss Carlyon than for Donna Adele, but +that it had been a mere young man's fancy, without any importance, and +that having yielded to parental authority, Don Francesco was now a +perfectly happy man. Perhaps Donna Adele had not been able to forget +this apparent slight upon her beauty and charm, as far as her +step-sister was concerned, though well aware that her husband thought no +more about Lady Herbert. It was natural and womanly in her to resent it. +But that was not a good reason why she should say--as she seemed to be +saying constantly--that Lady Herbert was very much in love with Don +Francesco. + +Here Ghisleri paused, and the Prince opened his eyes very wide at first, +and then almost shut them as he scrutinised his companion's face. He +knew the man well, however, and guessed that the matter must be serious +indeed, since he took the trouble to treat it in such earnest. + +"I suppose," said Gerano, "that you are quite prepared to support your +words if any question arises. This is a strange tale." + +"Yes," answered Ghisleri. "I am always ready." He spoke with such +gravity that the Prince was impressed. + +Pietro went on to say that Donna Adele, doubtless out of pure +carelessness, had certainly, by a foolish jest, suggested the story that +Lord Herbert was very intemperate, a story which Ghisleri had last year +been obliged to deny in the most formal manner in the very room in which +they were now talking, to a number of men. The tale had of late been +revived in a form even more virulent than before, and such untruths, +even when they have originated in a harmless bit of fun, could damage a +man's reputation for life. + +"Of course they can, and they do," asserted the Prince, who was becoming +rather anxious. + +"As, for instance," continued Ghisleri, "it is now said that Lady +Herbert Arden, your step-daughter, now talks to Don Francesco and to +everybody--which probably means the few persons who circulate the +myth--about her wretched married life, and other suggestions which I +will not repeat are added, which are very insulting to her. For my part, +my business is to defend Arden, who is my friend, and who is +unfortunately too ill to defend himself should all this come to his +ears. I do not say that this last addition concerning Lady Herbert's +confidences comes from Donna Adele Savelli. But it is undoubtedly +current, and proceeds directly from the former gossip, as its natural +consequence." + +"Evidently," said the Prince, who kept his temper admirably, in +consideration of the gravity of the case. "And now what do you expect me +to do?" + +"You are Donna Adele's father," answered Ghisleri. "She is assuredly +ignorant of the harm she has caused. It would seem quite natural if you +suggested to her that it is in her power to undo what she has +unintentionally done." + +"How, may I ask? By an apology?" Gerano did not like the idea, but +Ghisleri smiled. + +"That would make matters worse," he said. "She could put everything +right merely by saying a few pleasant things about the Ardens to half a +dozen people of her acquaintance--at random. Donna Maria Boccapaduli, +the Marchesa di San Giacinto, the Contessa dell' Armi--even Donna +Faustina Gouache. She might ask the Ardens to dinner--" + +"I observe that you do not name any men," observed the Prince. + +"It is not the men who have been talking, so far as I know--nor if they +did, would their gossip do so much damage." + +"That may be. As for the rest, I will say this. You have said some +exceedingly unpleasant things to me this afternoon, but I know you well +enough to be sure that you are not only in earnest, but wish to avert +trouble rather than cause it. Otherwise I should not have listened to +you as I have. I am very deeply attached to my only child, though I am +also very fond of my step-daughter. However, I will take this question +in hand and find out the truth, and do what I can to mend matters. If I +find you have been misinformed, I will ask the favour of another +interview." + +"I shall always be at your service." + +They parted rather stiffly, but without any nearer approach to hostility +than was implied in the last formal words they exchanged. Gerano walked +slowly homeward, revolving the situation in his mind, and wondering how +he should act in order to get at the truth in the case. Being very fond +of his wife, his first impulse was to tell her the whole story, and to +take counsel with her before doing anything definite. It would have been +better had he gone directly to Donna Adele, though he might not have +accomplished anything at all, and might have believed her, and might +also have quarrelled with Ghisleri afterwards. But he did not foresee +the consequences. + +The Princess was very much overcome by the account he gave her of his +interview with Ghisleri, of whom she had a high opinion as a man of +truthful character, bad as he seemed to be in other respects. She knew +instinctively and at once that every one of his statements must have +been perfectly well founded, and that if he had erred it had assuredly +not been in the direction of exaggerating the facts. She was in much the +same position as her husband, except that her own daughter was the +victim, while his was the aggressor. It was strange that in so many +years neither should have understood Adele's character well enough to +suspect that she could be capable of any treachery, and yet both were +now convinced that the case against her was not by any means a fiction. +The Princess was now in the gravest distress, and she could not keep +back her tears as she tried to find arguments in Adele's favour, wishing +to the last to defend her husband's child, while never for a moment +losing sight of her own. + +She was an eminently good woman, but very far from worldly-wise. Indeed, +as events proceeded that day, there seemed to be a diminution of wisdom +in the action of each in turn as compared with that of the last person +concerned. Ghisleri had not really allowed himself time to consider the +situation in all its bearings before speaking to Gerano, or he might not +have spoken at all. Gerano, next, had scarcely hesitated in confiding +the whole affair to his wife, and she, in despair, turned to the one +person of all others with whom she was really most in sympathy, to Laura +Arden herself, regardless of the consequences to every one concerned. +Lord Herbert was resting before dinner, and she found her daughter +alone. + +Her heart was almost bursting, and she poured out the story in all its +details, accurately, as she had heard it, though hardly knowing what she +said. At first Laura was tempted to laugh. She had been so much happier +of late that laughing had grown easy, but she very soon saw the real +meaning of the situation, and she grew pale as she silently listened to +the end. Then her mother broke down again. + +"And I have loved her so!" cried the poor lady. "Almost as I have loved +you, my child! To think of it all--oh, it is not to be believed!" + +Laura was not at that moment inclined to shed tears. It was almost the +first time in her life when she was really angry, for her temper was not +easily roused. It was not destined to be the last. Dry-eyed and pale, +she sat beside the Princess, holding her hands, then drying her fast +flowing tears, then caressing her, and saying all she could to soothe +and calm her, while almost choking herself to keep down the rage she +felt. Her eyes had been opened at last, and she saw what the story +really was at which Arden had made such a poor guess. As the Princess +grew more calm, she began to look at her daughter in surprise. + +"What is the matter, darling?" she asked anxiously. "Are you ill, dear, +you look so changed!" + +"I am angry, mother," answered Laura, quietly enough. "I shall get over +it soon, I dare say." + +Even her voice did not sound like her own. It was hollow and strange. +Her mother was frightened. + +"I have done very wrong to tell you, Laura," she said, realising too +late that the revelation must have been startling in the extreme. + +"I do not know," answered Lady Herbert, still speaking in the same +peculiar tone, and with an effort. "Adele and I meet constantly. Of +course we have been brought up like real sisters, and though we were +never intensely fond of one another we talk about everything as if we +were. I will be careful in future. This may not be all true, but there +is truth in it, if you have remembered exactly what Signor Ghisleri +said--or rather, if the Prince has." + +The Princess started slightly. Laura had always called Gerano father, as +though she had really been his daughter, but the shock had been very +sudden, and she found it hard to call by that name the man whose +daughter was Adele Savelli. + +"I hope it will turn out to be all a mistake!" exclaimed the Princess, +weakly, and on the point of bursting into tears again. + +"Until we are sure of it, I shall try and behave as usual to Adele, if +we have to meet," said Laura. "After that, if it is all true--I do not +know--" + +When the Princess went home, she was a little frightened at what she had +done, and repented bitterly of having yielded to her own unreasoning +longing to talk the matter over with Laura--natural enough indeed, when +it is remembered that the two loved one another so dearly. It had been a +mistake, she was sure, and she would have given anything to undo it. She +only hoped that she should not be obliged to explain to her husband. + +Laura sat alone by the fireside. Herbert was lying down and would not +appear until dinner time, so that she had almost an hour in which to +think over the situation. She determined to master her anger and to look +the matter in the face calmly. After all, it was only gossip, town-talk, +insignificant chatter, which must all be forgotten in the light of the +true facts. So she tried to persuade herself, at least, but she found it +a very hard matter to believe her own statement of it all. The more she +thought it over, the more despicable it all seemed in her eyes, the more +savagely she hated Adele. She could have borne the story about herself +better, if it had come alone, but she could neither forgive nor find an +excuse for what had been said against her husband. To know that people +openly called him intemperate--a drunkard, that would be the word! Him, +of all living men! The assertion was so monstrous that all Laura's +resolution to control herself gave way suddenly, and she, in her turn, +burst into a flood of tears, hot, angry, almost agonising, impossible to +check. + +She might have been proud to shed them, for they showed how much more +she loved her husband than she cared for herself, but she was conscious +only of the intense desire to face Adele, and do her some grievous +bodily hurt and be revenged for the foul slander cast on Herbert Arden. +She opened and shut her hands convulsively, as though she were clutching +some one and strangling the breath in a living throat. Every drop of +blood in her young body was fire, every tear that rolled down her pale +cheek was molten lead, every beat of her angry pulse brought an angry +thought to her brain. How long she remained in this state she did not +know. + +She did not hear her husband's laboured, halting step on the soft +carpet, and before she was aware of his presence he was standing before +her, with a look of pain and almost of horror in his delicate face. That +was the most terrible moment in his life. + +Highly sensitive as he was, loving her almost to distraction as he did, +he had always found it hard to understand her love for him. To suspect +that all of it was pity, or that a part of it had grown weak of late, +was almost impossible to him, and yet the possibility of doubt was +there. He had entered the room as usual, without any precaution, but she +had not heard him; he had seen her apparently struggling with herself +and with some unseen enemy, in a paroxysm of grief and rage. Instantly +the doubt rose supreme and struck him, like a sudden blow in the face. + +"She has found out her mistake too late--she does not love me, and she +longs to be free." That was what Herbert Arden said to himself as he +stood before her, and the horror of it was almost greater than he could +bear. Yet there was a great and manly courage in his narrow breast. He +felt that he must die, but she should not suffer any more than was +necessary until then. He drew the best breath he could, as though it +were his last. She started, wild-eyed, as he spoke. + +"Laura darling--it has been a terrible mistake--and it is all my fault. +Will you forgive me, dear one? I thought that you would love me--I see +how it is when you are alone. No woman could have borne this bondage of +yours as you have borne it since you have found out--" + +"Herbert! Herbert!" cried Laura, in sudden agony. She thought he was +going mad before her eyes. + +"No, dear," he said, with an immense effort, and making a gesture with +his hand as though to keep her in her place. "It is better to say it +now, and it need never be said again. Perhaps I should not have the +strength. I see it all. You are so kind and good that you will never +show it to me--but when you are alone--then you let yourself go--is it +any wonder? Are you to blame? You see that you have made the great +mistake--that it was all pity and not love--and you long to be free from +me as you should be, as you shall be, dear." + +A wild cry broke from Laura's very heart when she realised what he +meant. + +"Love! Darling--Herbert! I never loved you as I love you now!" + +She did not know that she spoke articulate words as she sprang to her +feet and clasped him in her arms, half mad with grief at the thought of +what he must have suffered, and loving him as she said she did, far +beyond the love of earlier days. But he hardly understood yet that it +was really love, and he tried to look up into her face, almost fainting +with the terrible strain he had borne so bravely, and still struggling +to be calm. + +"Laura darling," he said, in a low voice, "it was all too natural. +Unless you tell me what it was that made you act as I saw you just now, +how can I understand?" + +She turned her deep eyes straight to his. + +"Do you doubt me still, Herbert?" she asked. And she saw that he could +not help doubting. + +"But if I tell you that what I was thinking of would pain you very much, +and that it would be of no use--" + +"It cannot be like the pain I feel now," he answered simply. + +She realised that what he said was true. Then she told him the whole +story, as she knew it. And so, in a few hours, the conversation Ghisleri +had held with Gouache began to bear fruit in a direction where neither +of them had suspected it possible that their words could penetrate. + +Arden had allowed himself to sink into a chair at Laura's side, and he +listened with half-closed eyes and folded hands while she spoke. Under +ordinary circumstances he would probably have betrayed some emotion, and +might have interrupted her with a question or two, but the terrible +excitement of the last few minutes was followed by a reaction, and he +felt himself growing colder and calmer every moment, while his heart, +which had been beating furiously when he had first spoken to her, seemed +now about to stand still. As she proceeded, however, he was aware of the +most conflicting feelings of happiness and anger--the latter of the +quiet and dangerous sort. He saw at once that he had been utterly +mistaken in doubting Laura's love, and from that direction peace +descended upon his heart; but when he heard what the world was saying of +her, he felt that weak as he was, he had the sudden strength to dare and +do anything to avenge the insult. He was human enough, too, to resent +bitterly the story about himself, though that, after all, was but a +secondary affair in comparison with the gossip about Laura. + +When she had finished, he rose slowly, and sat upon the arm of her +easy-chair, drawing her head to his shoulder. He kissed her hair +tenderly. + +"My beloved--can you forgive me?" he asked, in a very gentle voice. "My +darling--that I should have doubted you!" + +"I am glad you did, dear--this once," she answered. "You see how it is. +You are all the world to me--the mere thought that any one can hurt you +by word or deed--oh, it drives me mad!" + +And she, who was usually so very calm and collected, again made that +desperate gesture with her hands, as though she had them on a woman's +throat and would strangle out the life of her in the grip of her firm +fingers. + +"As for me, it matters little enough," said Arden, taking her hands and +stroking them as though to soothe her anger. "Of course it is an absurd +and disgusting story, and I suppose some people believe it. But what +they say of you is a very different matter." + +"I do not think so," broke in Laura, indignantly. "Of course every one +knows that we love each other, and that it is all a lie--but when such a +tale is started about a man--that he drinks--oh, it is too utterly +vile!" + +"Dear--shall we try and forget it? At least for this evening. Let us do +our best. You have made me so happy in another way--I suffered in that +moment very much." + +She looked up into his face as he sat on the arm of the chair, and she +saw that he looked very ill. The scene had been almost too much for him, +and she realised that when he spoke of forgetting it was because he +could bear no more. + +"Yes, love," she said, "we will put it all away for this evening and be +happy together as we always are." + +Each was conscious, no doubt, that the other was making a great effort, +but neither of them referred to the matter again that night. They talked +of all manner of subjects, rather nervously and resolutely at first, +then naturally and easily as ever, when the deep sympathy which existed +between them had asserted itself. During two hours, at least, they +nearly forgot what had so violently moved them both. + +When Arden laid his head upon his pillow, his anger had not subsided, +but he knew that his love had taken greater strength and depth than ever +before. He spent a sleepless night indeed, but when he rose in the +morning he did not feel tired. Something within him which was quite new +seemed to sustain him and nourish him. He could not tell whether it was +love for Laura, or anger against the woman who slandered her, or both +acting at once, and he did not waste much time in speculating upon his +mental condition. He had formed a resolution upon which he meant to act +without delay. + +It was a rainy morning, chilly and raw again, as the weather had been +earlier in the year. + +"Give me warm clothes, Donald," he said to his man. "I am going out." + +"Going out, my lord! In this weather!" Donald's face expressed the +greatest anxiety. + +"Never mind the weather," said Arden. "Give me warm clothes, and send +for a closed carriage." + +Donald obeyed, shaking his head, and muttering in detached expressions +of disapproval. He was a privileged person. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +Arden, for the first time in his life, paid no attention to Laura's +remonstrances when she tried to prevent him from going out in the rain, +and he would not hear of her accompanying him on any condition. He +assured her that with his fur coat, and in a closed carriage with a +foot-warmer, he was as safe as at home in the drawing-room, and he gave +her to understand that he had a small surprise in store for her, of +which all the effect would be spoiled if she went with him. Very +reluctantly she let him go. Even after he was gone, when she heard the +brougham rattling down the Via Gregoriana, she was tempted to open the +window and call the driver back. Then she reflected that she was +probably foolish in being so anxious, since he now seemed almost as well +as ever. + +When he left the house, Arden drove to a certain studio, and then and +there bought a small picture which Laura had admired very much, and had +been two or three times to see. To the artist's surprise, he insisted +upon carrying it away with him at once, just as it was. Then he told the +coachman to drive to the Palazzo Savelli. He sent up his card and asked +to see Don Francesco, and at once received an answer, begging him to go +up stairs. + +Francesco was very much surprised by the visit, and could not conceive +what had brought Lord Herbert Arden to him at eleven o'clock in the +morning. He awaited him in a vast and gloomy drawing-room in which there +was no fire. The walls were hung with old portraits of the Savelli in +armour, the carpet was of a sombre hue, and the furniture consisted of +three superb marble tables with carved and gilt feet, and sixteen chairs +of the style of Louis the Fourteenth's reign, all precisely alike, and +standing side by side against the walls. Francesco Savelli stood facing +the door, his yellow hair, blue eyes, and fresh complexion contrasting +strongly with the dark background. He was a fine-looking fellow, with a +mild face, a quiet manner, and a good deal of old-fashioned formality, +which latter, however, seemed to wear off every evening in society, +coming back as soon as he returned to the dim and shadowy halls of his +home. + +The connexion between him and Arden was in reality so distant, that they +had never assumed even the outward forms of intimacy, though their wives +called each other sister. Savelli disliked Lord Herbert because he was a +cripple, and chiefly because he had married Laura Carlyon. Arden, on his +side, was more or less indifferent to Francesco, but treated him always +with a shade more warmth than an ordinary acquaintance, as being, in a +sense, a member of his wife's family. + +Savelli came forward as Arden entered. The servant allowed the heavy +curtain to drop, closed the door, and went out, and the two men were +left alone. + +"Good morning, my dear Arden," said Savelli, taking his hand. "I hope +you are quite well. Pray be seated." + +"Good morning. Thanks." Both spoke in French. + +They sat down, side by side, on the stiff, high-backed gilt chairs, and +each looked at the other. + +"I have something especial to say to you," began Arden, in his calm and +even voice--a man quicker-witted than Savelli would have noticed the +look of determination about the smooth-shaven lips and the prominent +chin--the look of a man who will not be trifled with, and will say what +he means in spite of all difficulties and all opposition. + +"I am entirely at your service," answered Don Francesco, politely. + +"Thanks. I have thought it best to come to you directly, because my +business concerns your wife and mine, and it is better that we should +settle such matters between us without the intervention of others." + +Savelli opened his eyes in surprise, but said nothing, only making a +slight inclination of the head in answer. Arden continued in the cool +and collected manner with which he had begun. + +"A number of outrageous lies," he said slowly, "are in circulation +concerning my wife, and some of them concern myself. May I inquire +whether you have heard them?" + +"It would facilitate matters, if you would tell me something of their +nature," observed Savelli, more and more astonished. + +"There is no difficulty about that. I can even repeat them to you, word +for word, or nearly so. It is said, in the first place, that my wife is +very much in love with you--" + +"With me?" cried Savelli, startled out of his formality for once. + +"Yes--with you--and that she has loved you long. Secondly, it is said +that I am a confirmed drunkard, and that my wife leads a most unhappy +existence with me in consequence. It is further stated that she makes no +secret of this supposed fact, but complains loudly to her friends, and +especially selects you for her confidence in the matter." + +"That is totally untrue," said Don Francesco, gravely. "She has never +spoken of you to me except in terms of the highest praise." + +"I am aware that it is not true, but I am much obliged to you for your +very plain statement. I will go on. It is asserted that my wife has +given you to understand that she loves you, and that, if you would +consent, she would be ready to leave me and Rome in your company. These +things, it appears, are current gossip, and are confidently stated as +positive truths." + +"I have not heard any of them, except some vague reports about yourself, +to the effect that you once took too much wine at the Gerano's house. +But Ghisleri made a scene about it at the club, and I have heard no more +of the absurd story." + +"I did not know that Ghisleri had actively taken my part," answered +Arden. "But the story has now reached the form in which I repeated it. +For myself, I care very little. It is on account of its connexion with +the tales about my wife that I have told it to you." + +"May I ask who your informant is?" + +"My wife." + +"And hers?" + +"A reliable and truthful person, whom I shall not name at present. The +affair concerns you and me. I have not come to the most important point, +which will explain why I came to you." + +"I supposed that you came, as to a connexion of the family, to ask +advice or assistance." + +"No. That is not it. I do not need either, thank you. I come to you +because all these stories are distinctly traceable to Donna Adele +Savelli." + +Francesco started violently, and almost rose from his seat, his face +flushing suddenly. + +"Lord Herbert--take care!" he cried in a loud and angry voice, and with +a passionate gesture. + +"Be calm," said Arden, in an unnaturally quiet tone. "If you strike me, +you will be disgraced for life, because I am a cripple. But I assure you +that I am not in the least afraid of you." + +"You are wrong!" exclaimed Savelli, still furious, and turning upon him +savagely. + +"Not at all," returned the Englishman, unmoved. "I came here to settle +this business, and I have not the smallest intention of going away until +I have said all I meant to say. After that, if you are inclined to +demand satisfaction of me, as is the custom here, you can do so. I will +consider the matter. I shall probably not exchange shots with you, +because I believe that duelling is wrong. But let me say that I do not +in the least mean to insult you, nor, as I think, have I been lacking in +civility to-day. I have given you a number of facts which I have every +reason for believing to be true. You will in all likelihood have no +difficulty in finding out whether they are true or not. If we, jointly, +are convinced that the statements are false, I shall be happy to offer +you my best apologies; if not, and if you are convinced that Donna Adele +has been slandering my wife, I shall expect you to act upon your +conviction, as a man of honour should, and take measures to have these +reports instantly and fully denied everywhere by Donna Adele herself. I +think I have stated the case plainly, and what I have said ought not to +offend you, in my opinion." + +"It is certainly impossible to be more plain," answered Savelli, +regaining something of his outward calm. "As to what may or may not give +offence, opinions may differ in England and in Italy." + +"They probably do," returned Arden, coolly. "It is not my intention to +offend you." + +Francesco Savelli looked at the shrunken figure and the thin hands with +an odd sensation of repulsion and respect. He had been very far from +supposing that Herbert Arden possessed such undeniable courage and +imperturbable coolness, and not being by any means a coward himself, he +could not help admiring bravery in others. He was none the less angry, +however, though he made a great effort to keep his temper. He did not +love his wife, but he had all the Roman traditions concerning the +sacredness of the family honour, which he now felt was really at stake, +and he had all a Roman's dread of a public scandal. + +"I must beg you once more to tell me by whom these stories were told to +Lady Herbert," he said, after a pause. + +"I cannot do so, without consulting that person," answered Arden. "I do +not wish to drag other people into the affair. You will be able to find +out for yourself, and probably through members of your own family, how +much truth there is in it all." + +"You positively refuse to tell me?" + +"I have said so. If you wish to be confronted with the person in +question, I will consult that person, as I said before." + +"And if I then, on my side, positively refuse to do anything without +having previously spoken to that person--to him or to her--what then?" + +"In my opinion, you will be allowing a state of things to continue which +will not ultimately reflect credit upon you or yours. Moreover, you will +oblige me to take some still more active measures." + +"What measures?" + +"I do not know. I will think about it. And now I will wish you good +morning." + +He got upon his feet, and stood before Savelli. + +"Good morning," said the latter, very stiffly. "Allow me to accompany +you to the hall." + +"Thanks," said Arden, as he began to move towards the door in his +ungainly, dislocated fashion, while Savelli walked slowly beside him, +towering above him by a third of his own height. + +Arden shivered as he slipped on his fur coat in the hall, for it had +been very cold in the drawing-room though he had scarcely noticed the +fact in his preoccupied state of mind. While driving homeward, he looked +at the little picture as it stood opposite to him on the seat of the +carriage. It was one of those exquisite views of the Campagna, looking +across the Tiber, which Sartorio does so wonderfully in pastel. + +"She will be glad to have it," said Arden to himself, "and she will +understand why I went out alone." + +He was tolerably well satisfied with the morning's work. It had seemed +to him that there was nothing else to be done under the circumstances, +and he certainly did not choose the least wise course, in going directly +to Savelli. He did not regret a word of what he had said, nor did he +feel that he had said too little. As he anticipated, Laura suspected +nothing, and was delighted with the picture. She scolded him a little +for having insisted upon going out on such a morning, especially for her +sake, but as the clouds just then were breaking and the sunshine was +streaming into the room, she felt as though it could not have been a +great risk after all. Before they had finished luncheon, a note was +brought in. Laura laughed oddly as she read it. + +"It is an invitation to dinner from Adele," she said. "It is for the day +after to-morrow, shall we accept?" + +Arden's face grew thoughtful. He could not be sure whether the +invitation had been sent before his interview with Savelli, or since. It +was therefore not easy to decide upon the wisest course. + +"Better to accept it, is it not?" asked Laura. "It is of no use to make +an open breach." + +"No. It is of no use. Accept, dear. It is more sensible." + +Neither of them liked the thought of dining at the Palazzo Savelli just +then, and Laura, at least, knew that she would find it hard to behave as +though nothing had happened. Both would have been very much surprised, +could they have known why they were asked, and that the idea had +originated with Pietro Ghisleri. + +On the previous evening, Gerano had taken pains to see his daughter +alone at her own house, on pretence of talking to her about business. +With considerable skill he had led the conversation up to the required +point, and had laid a trap for her. + +"Do you see much of the Ardens just now?" he asked. + +"No. We do not meet often," answered Adele, with a little movement of +the shoulders. + +"I wish you did. I wish you saw them every day," observed the Prince, +more gravely. + +"Do you, papa? Why?" + +"You might find out something that I wish very much to know. It would +not be hard at all. We are rather anxious about it." + +"What is the matter?" asked Adele, with sudden interest. + +"That is it. There is a disagreeable story afloat. More than one, in +fact. It has reached my ears on good authority that Arden drinks far too +much. You know what a brave girl Laura is. She hides it as well as she +can, but she is terribly unhappy. Have you any idea whether there is any +truth in all this?" + +Adele hesitated a moment, and looked earnestly into her teacup, as +though seeking advice. The moment was important. Her father had brought +her own story back to her for confirmation, as it were. It might be +dangerous to take the other side now. Suddenly she looked up with a +well-feigned little smile of embarrassment. + +"I would rather not say what I think, papa," she said, with the evident +intention of not denying the tale. + +"But, my dear," protested her father, "you must see how anxious we are +on Laura's account. Really, my child, have a little confidence in +me--tell me what you know." + +"If you insist--well, I suppose I must. I am afraid there is no doubt +about it. Laura's husband is very intemperate." + +"Ah me! I feared so, from what I had heard," said the Prince, looking +down, and shaking his head very sadly. + +"You see, the people first began to talk about it last year, when he was +in such a disgraceful condition in your house, and Pietro Ghisleri had +to take him home." + +"Yes, yes!" Gerano still shook his head sorrowfully. "I ought to have +known, but they told me it was a fainting fit. And the worst of it is, +my dear Adele, that there are other stories, and worse ones, too, about +Laura. I hear that she is seriously in love with Francesco. Poor thing! +it is no wonder--she is so unhappy at home, and Francesco is such a fine +fellow, and always so kind to her everywhere." + +"No, it is no wonder," assented Adele, who felt that she was launched, +and must go to the end, though she had no time to consider the +consequences. + +"I suppose there is really some evidence about Arden's habits," resumed +the Prince. "Of course he will deny it all, and I would like to have +something to fall back upon--to convince myself more thoroughly, you +understand." + +Adele paused a moment. + +"Arden has a Scotch servant," she said presently. "It appears that he is +very intimate with our butler, who has often seen him going into the +Tempietto with bottles of brandy hidden in an overcoat he carries on his +arm." + +"Dear me! How shocking!" exclaimed the Prince. "So old Giuseppe has +actually seen that!" + +"Often," replied Adele, with conviction. "But then, after all--so many +men drink. If it were not for Laura--poor Laura!" + +"Poor Laura,--yes, as I said, it is no wonder if she has fallen in love +with Francesco--such a handsome fellow, too! She has shown good taste, +at least." The Prince laughed gently. "At all events, you are not +jealous, Adele; I can see that." + +"I?" exclaimed Adele, with indignant scorn. "No, indeed!" + +Gerano began to feel his pockets, as though searching for something he +could not find. Then he rang the bell at his elbow. + +"I have forgotten my cigarettes, my dear, I must have left them in my +coat," he said. + +The old butler answered his summons in person, for Gerano knew the usage +of the house and had pressed the button three times, unnoticed by Adele, +which meant that Giuseppe was wanted. + +"I have left my cigarettes in my coat, Giuseppe," said the Prince. Then +as the man turned to go, he called him back. "Giuseppe!" + +"Excellency!" + +"I want you to do a little commission for me. I have a little surprise +for Donna Laura, and I do not want her to know where it comes from. It +must be placed on her table, do you see? Now Donna Adele tells me that +you are very intimate with Lord Herbert's Scotch servant--" + +"I, Excellency?" Giuseppe was very much astonished. + +"Yes--the man with sandy grey hair, and a big nose, and a red face--a +most excellent servant, who has been with Lord Herbert since he was a +child. Donna Adele says you know him very well--" + +"Her Excellency must be mistaken. It must have been some other servant +who told her. I never saw the man." + +"You said Giuseppe, did you not?" asked the Prince very blandly, and +turning to Adele. She bit her lip in silence. "Never mind," he +continued. "It is a misunderstanding, and I will manage the surprise in +quite another way. My cigarettes, Giuseppe." + +The man went out, and Adele and the Prince sat without exchanging a +word, until he returned with the case, Gerano all the time looking very +gentle. When the servant was gone a second time, the Prince's expression +changed suddenly, and he spoke in a stern voice. + +"Now that you have sufficiently disgraced yourself, my daughter, you +will begin to make reparation at once," he said. + +Adele started as though she had been struck, and stared at him. + +"I am in earnest," he added. + +"What do you mean, papa?" she asked, frightened by his manner. +"Disgraced myself? You must be mad!" + +"You know perfectly well what I mean," answered her father. "I have been +playing a little comedy with you, and I have found out the truth. You +know as well as I that everything you have repeated to me this evening +is absolutely untrue, and there is some reason to believe that you have +invented these tales and set them going in the world out of jealousy, +and for no other reason, with deliberate intention to do harm. Even if +it were not you who began, it would still be disgraceful enough on your +part to say such things even to me, and you have said them to others. +That last vile little invention about the bottles was produced on the +spur of the moment--I saw you hesitate. You are responsible for all +this, and no one else. I will go into the world more in future than I +have done hitherto, and will watch you. You are to make full reparation +for what you have done. I insist upon it." + +"And if I deny that I originated this gossip, and refuse to obey you, +what will you do?" asked Adele, defiantly. + +"You are aware that under the present laws I can dispose of half my +property as I please," observed the Prince. "Laura has nothing--" He +stopped significantly. + +Adele turned pale. She was terrified, not so much at the thought of +losing the millions in question, but at the idea of the consequence to +herself in her father-in-law's house. Casa Savelli counted upon the +whole fortune as confidently as though it were already theirs. She knew +very well how she should be treated during the rest of her life, if +one-half of the great property were lost to her husband's family through +her fault. + +"You are forcing me to acknowledge myself guilty of what I never did," +she said, still trying to make a stand. "What do you wish me to do?" + +"You will everywhere say nice things about Laura and her husband. You +will say that you are now positively sure that Arden does not drink. You +will say that there is no truth whatever in the report that Laura is in +love with Francesco, and that you are absolutely certain that the Ardens +are very happy together. Those are the principal points, I believe. You +will also at once ask them to dinner, and you will repeat your +invitation often, and behave to both in a proper way." + +Adele laughed scornfully, though her mirth had something of affectation +in it. + +"Say pretty things, and invite them to dinner!" she exclaimed. "That is +not very hard. I have not the slightest objection to doing that, because +I should do it in any case, even if you had not made me this absurd +scene." + +"In future, my child, before you call anything I do or say absurd, I +recommend you to think of the law regarding wills, to which I called +your attention." + +Adele was silent, for she saw that she was completely in her father's +power. Being really guilty of the social misdeeds with which she was +charged, she was not now surprised by his manner. What really amazed her +was the display of diplomatic talent he had made, while entrapping her +into what amounted to a confession. She had never supposed him capable +of anything of the kind. But he was a quiet man, much more occupied in +dealing with humanity in the management of his property than most people +realised. No genius--certainly,--for if he had been, he would not have +told the whole story to his wife, as he had done on the previous +evening, but possessing the talent to choose the wise course at least as +often as not, which is more than can be said for most people. There was +something of the old-fashioned father about him, too, and he showed it +in the little speech he made before leaving Adele that evening. + +"And now, my dear daughter," he said, rising and standing before her as +he spoke, "I have one word more to say before I go. You are my only +child, and, in spite of all that has happened, I love you very much. I +do not believe that you have ever done anything of the kind until now, +and I do not think you will fall into the same fault in the future. If +you do all that I have told you to do, I shall never refer to the matter +after this, and we will try and forget it. But you have learned a lesson +which you will remember all your life. Jealousy is a great sin, and +slander is not only vile and degrading, but is also the greatest +mistake possible from a worldly point of view. Remember that. If you +wish to be successful in society, never speak an unkind word about any +one. And now good night, my dear. Do what I have bidden you, and let us +think no more about it." + +Having concluded his sermon, Gerano kissed Adele on the forehead, as he +was accustomed to do. She bent her head in silence, for she was so angry +that she could not trust herself to speak, and he left her at the door +and went home. All things considered, she knew that she had reason to be +grateful for his forbearance. She was quite sure that her father-in-law +would have behaved differently, and the stories she had heard of old +Prince Saracinesca's temper showed clearly that the race of violent +fathers was by no means yet extinct. She was not even called upon to +make a formal apology to Laura in her father's presence, which was what +she had at first expected and feared. Nothing, in fact, was required of +her except to avoid gossip and treat the Ardens with a decent show of +sisterly affection. She could scarcely have got better terms of peace, +had she dictated them herself. + +But she was far too angry to look at the affair in this light and far +too deeply humiliated to forgive her father or the Ardens. If anything +were necessary to complete her shame, it was the knowledge that she was +utterly unable to cope with Gerano, who could disinherit her and her +children of an enormous sum by a stroke of the pen, if he pleased; and +he would please, if she did not obey him to the letter. + +With a trembling hand she wrote the invitation required of her and gave +it to be taken in the morning. Then she sat down and tried to read, +taking up a great French review and opening it hap-hazard. The article +chanced to be one on a medical subject, written by a very eminent +practitioner, but not at all likely to interest Adele Savelli. But she +felt the necessity of composing herself before meeting her husband when +he should come home from the club, and she followed the lines with a +sort of resolute determination which belonged to her character at +certain moments. It was very hard to understand a word of what she was +reading, but she at last became absorbed in the effort, and ultimately +reached the end of the paper. + +In the meantime, Francesco Savelli had spent his day in deliberately +thinking over the situation, and he had determined, very wisely, that it +would be a great mistake to speak to his wife on the subject. He went +over in his mind all the men of his acquaintance whom he might consult +with safety and with some prospect of obtaining a truthful answer to his +question, and he saw that they were by no means many. Wisdom and +frankness are rare enough separately, but rarer still in combination in +the same person, though a few are aware that the truest wisdom is the +most consistent frankness. Most of those of whom Savelli thought were +men considerably older than himself, and not men with whom he had any +great intimacy. The Prince of Sant' Ilario and his cousin, the Marchese +di San Giacinto, Spicca, the melancholy and sarcastic, and perhaps +Pietro Ghisleri--there were not many more, and the last named, who was +the nearest to him in point of age, was not, as Savelli thought, very +friendly to him. On the whole, he determined to wait and bide his time, +watching Adele carefully, and collecting such evidence as he could while +studiously keeping his own counsel. He saw very little of his wife on +that day, and when he next spoke to her about the Ardens, her manner was +so cordial and apparently sincere, that he at once formed an opinion in +her favour, as indeed he desired to do, though it was more for the sake +of his family as a whole, than for her own. + +"I have asked them to dinner," she said, "because we never see anything +of them, any more than if they were not in Rome. Shall we have my father +and the Princess, too? It will make a family party." + +"By all means," answered Savelli, who did not enjoy the prospect of +having the Ardens as the only guests, after what had recently passed +between himself and Lord Herbert. "By all means--a family party--a sort +of rejoicing over Arden's recovery." + +"Dear Arden!" exclaimed Adele. "I like him now. I used to have the +greatest antipathy for him because he is a cripple, poor fellow! I +suppose that is natural, but I have quite got over it." + +"I am very glad," observed Francesco. "You and Laura were brought up +like sisters--there ought never to be any coldness between you." + +"Oh, as for Laura, there never has been the least difference since we +were children. We are sisters still, just as we used to be when you +first came to the house. Do you remember, Francesco--four years ago? I +used to think you liked Laura better than me. Indeed I did! It was so +foolish, and now you are always so good to me that I see how silly I +was. It never was true, carissimo, was it?" + +"No, indeed!" answered Savelli, with an awkward laugh, and turning away +his face to hide the colour that rose in his cheeks. + +"Of course not. And as for Laura, she is so much in love with her +husband that I believe she was dreaming of him even then, before she had +ever seen him, and long before she was old enough to think of marrying +any one. How she loves him! Is it not wonderful?" + +Francesco glanced at his wife, and he believed that he was not mistaken +in her. There was a look of genuine admiration almost amounting to +enthusiasm in her face. He suppressed a slight sigh, for he still loved +Laura in his helpless and hopeless way. + +"Yes," he said, "it is wonderful, all things considered." + +"But then," concluded Adele, "with Arden's beautiful character--well, I +am not surprised." + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +Adele Savelli was a very good actress, and she deceived her husband +without much trouble, making him believe that she had never felt +ill-disposed towards Laura, and that the repulsion she had felt for +Arden had depended upon his deformity, to which she had now grown +accustomed, as was quite natural. She had aways been careful not to +speak out her mind upon the subject to Francesco, and had been more than +cautious in other respects. She was far too clever a woman to let him +hear the gossip she had originated except through outsiders, in the way +of general conversation, and now she found it easy to change her tactics +completely without doing anything to rouse his suspicion. She seemed +very much preoccupied, however, in spite of her efforts to seem cheerful +and agreeable during the two days which preceded the dinner party her +father had obliged her to give. There were domestic details, too, which +gave her trouble, and she had more than enough to occupy her. Her maid +had been very ill, too, and was barely beginning to recover. Every woman +of the world knows what it means to be suddenly deprived of a thoroughly +good maid's services just at the opening of the season. That was one +more annoyance among the many she encountered, and, in her opinion, not +the smallest. + +There was, of course, no open humiliation in what she was now forced to +do, but she felt the shame of defeat very keenly whenever she thought of +her interview with her father. It was not surprising that her hatred of +the Ardens should suddenly take greater proportions under circumstances +so favourable to its growth. And she hated them both with all her heart, +while preparing herself to receive them with open arms and protestations +of affection. But she did everything in her power to make the meeting +effective. She even went so far as to buy pretty little gifts for the +Prince and Princess of Gerano, and for Laura and Arden, which she took +the trouble to conceal with her own hands in the folds of each one's +napkin just before dinner; pretty little chiselled silver sweetmeat +boxes for the two ladies, and tiny matchboxes for the men. Both the +elder Savelli being away at the time, she arranged everything according +to her own taste, which was excellent, thus taking advantage of her +position as temporary mistress of the house. There were flowers +scattered on the table, a form of decoration of which the old butler +disapproved, shaking his head mournfully as he carried out Adele's +directions. + +She did not over-act her part when the evening came, for she knew how to +be very charming when she pleased, and she meant on the present occasion +to produce a very strong impression upon every one present at dinner. +She succeeded well. The Ardens themselves were surprised at the pleasant +feeling which seemed to pervade everything. Gerano looked at his +daughter approvingly, repeatedly smiled, nodded to her, and at last +drank her health. Don Francesco was delighted, for he saw in his wife's +manner the strongest refutation of all that Arden had told him two days +earlier. Moreover, he had Laura Arden on his left and was at liberty to +talk to her as much as he pleased, which was in itself a great +satisfaction, especially as she herself was more than usually cordial, +being determined not to betray herself. Francesco looked across the +table at Arden more than once, with a significant glance, and inwardly +congratulated himself upon having said nothing to his wife about the +difficulty. + +Arden looked ill. He had caught cold during that interview with Savelli +in the icy drawing-room, and even an ordinary cold told quickly upon his +appearance in his weak state of health. But he did all in his power to +seem cheerful and talked more than usually well, so that his wife alone +knew that he was making an effort. + +So the dinner passed off admirably--so well, indeed, that when all were +going home, Laura and her mother looked at one another as though they +could hardly believe what they had seen and heard. The Princess of +Gerano began to doubt the truth of the accusations against Adele, and +even Laura fancied that they must have been very much exaggerated. The +Prince, himself, the only one of the party who had heard the slander +from Adele's own lips, sentence by sentence, and almost word for word as +Ghisleri had repeated it to him, wisely held his peace, while by no +means so wisely believing that his daughter had repented and was +carrying out his instructions in all sincerity. He kissed her +affectionately on the forehead when he went away, and she felt that she +had won a victory. + +"You look a little pale, my child," he said. "I have noticed it all the +evening. Be very careful of your health, my dear." + +"Yes, papa--but I am quite well, thank you," answered Adele. + +Yet she did not look well. There was an odd, half-frightened look in her +eyes when they were all gone and she was left alone with her husband. +But he did not notice it, and made it easy for her, bestowing infinite +praise upon her tact and talent as a hostess. Though she did not hear +all he said, she was vaguely pleased, that, after spending the whole +evening at Laura's side, he should stay at home instead of going to the +club, and find so many pleasant things to say. In spite of her success, +however, she spent a restless night. + +Laura looked anxiously at Arden's face when they got home. He looked +worse, and coughed two or three times in a way she did not like. + +"You are very tired, dear," she said. "You had better not get up +to-morrow. The rest will do you good." + +"I think you are right," he answered. "I need rest." + +The next morning his cold was worse, and he did not rise. He seemed +restless and nervous, too, perhaps from the fatigue of the previous +evening. The doctor came and said there was no danger, as the cold was +not on the lungs, and that the best thing to be done was to stay in bed +two or three days. Later in the afternoon Pietro Ghisleri called, and +Laura, at Arden's express desire, received him alone, promising to bring +him into the bedroom afterwards. Several days had passed since they had +met. Ghisleri was looking fresher and less nervous than the last time +Laura had seen him. He, on his part, saw that she was anxious again, for +there were dark shadows under her eyes as there had been when she had +first returned from England. + +"Is there anything wrong?" he asked, as soon as they met. + +"Herbert has a bad cold," she answered. "The doctor says it is nothing +serious, but he coughs, and I am worried about him." + +Ghisleri reminded her that there was nothing the matter with Arden's +lungs, and that a cough might be a very insignificant affair, after all. +Then she told him of the dinner party on the previous evening, dwelling +at length on the tact and amiability Adele had displayed. Pietro was +inclined to smile, when he understood that what he had said to Gerano +had borne fruit so soon. He was quite sure that before night he should +hear of some even more amiable doings on Adele's part, for he guessed at +once that the Prince had forced her to change her behaviour. But he kept +his reflections to himself. There was no reason why any one but Gerano +should ever know that he had been concerned in the matter. He had no +idea that everything had been repeated through the family, till it had +reached Laura herself. + +"Donna Adele has great social talent," he remarked, finding, as usual, +the one thing to be said in her favour. + +"Indeed she has!" assented Laura, with a constrained little laugh, and +looking into his blue eyes. + +Ghisleri made no sign, however, and presently began to talk of other +matters. He always felt a singular satisfaction in being with Laura, and +this year he noticed that it was growing upon him. The impression he +had first formed of her, when she had appeared in society, was confirmed +year by year, and appealed to a side of his nature of which few people +suspected the existence. It depended largely on Laura's looks, no doubt, +which strongly suggested the high predominance of all that was good over +the ordinary instincts of average human nature. He felt a sort of +reverence for her which he had never felt for any one; he knew that she +was good, he imagined that she was almost saintly in her life, and he +believed that she might, under certain circumstances become, in the best +religious sense, a holy woman. Had he seen her on that evening when +Arden had found her strangling an imaginary enemy in a fit of +exceedingly human anger, he could hardly have accepted the evidence of +his senses. All that was good in her appealed directly through all that +was bad in him to the small remnant of the better nature which had +survived through his misspent life. It did not, indeed, rouse in him the +slightest active desire to imitate her virtues. The very idea that he +could ever be virtuous in any sense, brought a smile to his face. But he +could not help admiring what he knew to be so very far beyond his +sphere--what he believed, perhaps, to be even further from his reach +than it actually was. He had reached that almost morbid stage of +self-contempt in which a man, while still admiring goodness in others, +checks even the aspiration towards it in his own heart, because he is +convinced that it cannot be really genuine, and looks upon it as one of +the affectations most to be despised in himself. He had got so far +sometimes as to refuse a very wretched beggar a penny, merely because he +doubted the sincerity of the charitable impulse which impelled his hand +towards his pocket--laughing bitterly at himself afterwards when he +thought of the poor wretch's disappointed face, and going back to find +him again, perhaps, and to bestow a silver coin, simply because he could +not resist the temptation to be kind. + +Such unhealthy conditions of mind may seem inconceivable and +incomprehensible to men of other nature, all whose thoughts are natural, +logical, and sound. They exist, none the less, and not by any means +necessarily in persons otherwise weak or morbid. The very absurdity of +them, which cannot escape the man himself, makes him seem still more +despicable in his own eyes, increases his distrust of himself and gives +rise, completing the vicious circle, to conditions each time more +senselessly self-torturing than the last. It is hard to bring such men +to see how untenable their own position is. They will not even believe +that a good instinct underlies the superstructure of morbid fancy, and +that the latter could not exist without it. + +Ghisleri looked long at Laura and admired her more than ever, realising +at the same time how deeply her personality was impressed in his +thoughts, and how vividly he was able at all times to evoke her outward +image, and the conception he had formed of her character. He almost +hated old Spicca for having said that no one could possibly be as good +as she looked. In her own self she was the most overwhelming refutation +of that remark; but then, he reflected, Spicca did not know her well +enough, and habitually believed in nothing and in nobody. At least every +one supposed that was Spicca's view of the world. + +Before long Laura took Pietro to see Arden, and left the two together. + +"There is something seriously wrong with me, Ghisleri," said his friend. +"I am going to be very ill. I feel it." + +It was not like him to speak in that way, for he was brave and generally +did his best to hide his sufferings from every one. Ghisleri looked at +him anxiously. His face was drawn and pinched, and there were spots of +colour on his cheeks which had not been there a few hours earlier. + +"Perhaps you have a little fever with the cold," suggested Pietro, in a +reassuring tone. "It often happens in this country." + +"I dare say," replied Arden. "It may be so. At all events, your +specialist was right about the main thing, and I am no more consumptive +than you are. But I feel--I cannot tell why--that I am going to be very +ill indeed. It may be an impression, and even if I am, I shall probably +weather it." + +"Of course you will." But Ghisleri was in reality alarmed. + +"I am so glad you came to-day," continued Arden, speaking more rapidly. +"If I should get worse to-morrow, really ill, you know--you must write +to my brother. I would not ask my wife to do it for worlds. Do you +understand?" + +"Perfectly--but I do not believe there will be any reason--" + +"Never mind that!" exclaimed Arden, interrupting him almost impatiently. +"If there is any reason, you will write. I cannot tell you all about it. +Of course I may not be delirious, you know, but again, I may be--one is +never sure, and then it would be too late. Uncle Herbert is alive still, +thank God, and quite well, and if anything should happen to me, his will +would be worth nothing. Laura would not get a penny and would be +dreadfully poor. Henry must do something for her. Do you understand me? +He must. You must see to it, too, or he will never think of it--kind as +he is. Those things do not strike him. You see I have only my small +portion--which is little enough, as you know, because there are so many +sisters--and they are not all rich, either. We could not go on living in +this way long--but Henry was very generous. He sent me two thousand +pounds when we were married, and the yacht too, so that we spent very +little--" + +"You are exhausting yourself, my dear fellow," said Ghisleri, growing +more anxious as he listened to the sick man's excited talk. "You have +told me all this before, and your brother knows it too; he will not +allow Lady Herbert--" + +"One never can tell what he will do," broke in Arden, raising himself a +little on his elbow, and facing his friend. His eyes were unnaturally +brilliant. "He is so eccentric. And Laura must have money--she must have +plenty--not that she is extravagant, but you know how she was brought up +in the Gerano's house, and I should never have thought of marrying her, +but for Uncle Herbert's money." + +"You would both have been perfectly happy on a hundred a year," observed +Pietro. "People are when they love each other as you do." + +Arden's face softened at once, and Ghisleri saw that he was thinking of +his wife. He was silent for a few moments. + +"That is all very well," he said, suddenly rousing himself again. "That +might do so long as I should be there to make life smooth for her. But +when she is left alone--especially here--Ghisleri, I do not like to +think that she must live here after I am gone--" + +"For Heaven's sake do not begin to talk in that way, Arden! It is +perfectly absurd. You only have a cold, after all!" + +"Perhaps so. I believe I have something worse. Never mind! I was saying +that I could not bear to think of her living here without me. It is +quite true. No--it is not sentiment--something much more reasonable and +real. There are people here who hate us both, who positively hate us, +and who will make her life unbearable when there is no one to protect +her--the more so, if she is poor. And besides, you know what will happen +before long--oh, I cannot think of it!" + +Ghisleri did not answer at once, for it was not clear to him how Arden +had discovered that he had enemies. But the latter waited for no answer, +and went on after a few seconds, still speaking excitedly. + +"You see," he said, "how necessary it is that Harry should come--that +you should write to him--that he should be made to understand--he must +do something for Laura, Ghisleri--he really must." + +There was something painful in the persistent repetition of the thought, +and then, oddly enough, Pietro started as he heard his own name +pronounced almost without an interval, immediately after that of Laura. +It sounded very strangely--Laura Ghisleri--he had never thought of it +before. A moment later he scorned himself for thinking of it at all. + +"My dear Arden," he said, "you are really making yourself ill about +nothing. Put it all out of your mind for the present, and remember that +I am always ready if you need anything. You have only to send for me, +and besides, I shall come every day until you are quite well." + +"Thank you, my dear fellow, you are a good friend. Perhaps you are +right. But as I lie here, thinking of all the possibilities--" + +"You are beginning again," interrupted Ghisleri. "I must go away or you +will talk yourself into a fever." + +At that moment Laura re-entered the room. She started a little when she +saw her husband's face. + +"How do you find him?" she asked quickly of Ghisleri. + +"He has a cold," answered the latter, cheerfully, "and perhaps there is +a little fever with it. I am going to leave him, for he ought to keep +quiet and not tire himself with too much talking." + +He shook hands with Arden. Laura followed him out into the passage +beyond. + +"He is very ill!" she exclaimed, in a low voice, touching his sleeve in +her excitement. "I can see it. He never looked like that." + +"It may not be anything serious," answered Ghisleri. "But he ought to +see the doctor at once. I have a cab down stairs, and I will go and find +him and bring him here. Keep him quiet; do not let him talk." + +"Yes. You are so kind." + +She left him and went back to Arden's bedside. He was tossing uneasily +as though he could not find rest in any position, and the great round +spots on his cheeks had deepened almost to a purple colour. He scarcely +seemed to notice her entrance, but as she turned to move something on +the table, after smoothing his pillow, he caught her suddenly by the +skirt of her frock. + +"Laura! Laura! do not go away!" he cried. "Do not leave me alone." + +"No, love, I am not going," she answered gently, and sat down by his +side. + +Ghisleri was not gone long. By a mere chance he found the doctor at +home, and brought him back. Then he waited in the drawing-room to hear +the result of the visit. The physician's face was graver when he +returned, and Laura was not with him. + +"Is it anything serious?" asked Ghisleri. + +"I am afraid so. I shall be better able to tell in a couple of hours. +The fever is very high, the other symptoms will develop before long, and +we shall know what it is." + +"What do you think it might be?" + +"It might be scarlet fever," answered the doctor. "I am afraid it is. +But say nothing at present. You should get a nurse at once, for some one +must sit up with him all night. I will send him something to take +immediately, and I will come back myself in about two hours." + +They went away together, but when the doctor returned, he found Ghisleri +waiting for him in the street. It was now five o'clock and quite dark. +Pietro remained down stairs while the visit lasted. + +"Well?" he asked, when the physician came down again. + +"It is scarlet fever, as I was afraid--one of the most sudden cases I +ever knew. They have not got a nurse yet, the idea seems to frighten +Lady Herbert." + +"I will see to it," said Ghisleri. "By the bye, it is contagious, is it +not? I have a visit to pay before dinner; ought I to change my +clothes?" + +The doctor smiled. He did not know Ghisleri, and fancied that he might +be timid. + +"It is not contagious yet," he answered, "or hardly at all. I do not +think there is any danger." + +"There might be a little--even a very little, you think?" asked Pietro, +insisting. + +"Of course it can do no harm to change one's clothes," replied the +other, somewhat surprised. + +"You have told Lady Herbert exactly what must be done, I suppose. In +that case I shall not go up." + +The doctor was confirmed in his suspicion that Ghisleri was afraid of +catching the fever, and got into his carriage, musing on the deceptive +nature of appearances. Pietro wrote a few words on his card, telling +Laura that he would be back before dinner time with the best nurse to be +found, and sent it up by the porter. Then he drove home as quickly as +possible, dressed himself entirely afresh, and went to see the Contessa +dell' Armi. + +"I have come," he said, after the first greeting, "to tell you that you +will not see me for several days. Arden has got the scarlet fever, and I +shall be there taking care of him, more or less, until he is out of +danger." + +"Can they not have a nurse for him?" asked Maddalena, raising her +eyebrows. + +"There will be a nurse, too. I am going to get one now and take her +there." + +"You do not seem anxious to consult me in the least," said the Contessa. +"You never do nowadays." + +"What do you mean? Do you think this is a case of consulting any one? I +do not understand." + +"Do you think you have any right to risk your life in this way? Do you +think you contribute to my happiness by doing it? And yet I have heard +you say that my happiness is first in your thoughts. Not that I ever +believed it." + +"You are wrong," answered Ghisleri, gently. "I would do almost anything +for you." + +"What a clever reservation--'almost' anything. You know that if you did +not put it in that way, I should tell you not to go near the Ardens +until there is no danger of catching the fever." + +"Of course," assented Pietro. + +"You ought not to be so diplomatic. You used to talk very differently. +Do you remember that evening by the waterfall at Vallombrosa? You have +changed since then." + +Her classic face began to harden in the way he knew so well. + +"There is no question of diplomacy," he said quietly. "Arden has been my +friend these ten years, and he is in very great danger. I mean to take +care of him as long as I am needed because I do not trust nurses, and +because Lady Herbert is anything but strong herself at the present time, +and may break down or lose her head. As for risking my life, there is no +risk at all in the matter. I have very little belief in contagion, +though the doctors talk about it." + +"I suppose you have just seen him," observed the Contessa, who was +determined to find fault. "You do not seem to ask yourself whether I +share your disbelief." + +"Since you ask," said Ghisleri, with a smile, "I admit that I changed my +clothes before coming to see you, for that very reason. Some people do +believe in danger of that kind." + +"I am glad you admit it. So I am not to see you until Lord Herbert is +quite well again. I will not answer for the consequences. I have +something to say to you to-day. Are you in a hurry?" + +"Not in the least." + +"It will not take long. I have discovered another proof of your +desertion. You know what pleasant things Adele Savelli says about +me--and you, too. I have told you more than once exactly what was +repeated to me. Did you ever take any steps to prevent her talking about +me?" + +"No, I never did. I do not even see how I could. Can I quarrel with +Francesco Savelli, because his wife spreads scandalous reports about +you? It would look singularly like fighting your battles." + +"And yet," retorted the Contessa, speaking slowly, and fixing her eyes +on his, "there is no sooner something said against Lady Herbert Arden, +than you show your teeth and fight in earnest. Can you deny it?" + +"No, I do not lie," answered Ghisleri. "But I did not know that you were +aware of the fact. Some one has been indiscreet, as usual." + +"Of course. That sort of thing cannot be a secret long. All Rome knows +that there was a dinner of reconciliation at the Palazzo Savelli last +night, that every one embraced every one else, that Adele looks like +death to-day, and is going about everywhere saying the most delightful +things about the Ardens, in the most horribly nervous way. You see what +power you have when you choose to use it." + +She spoke bitterly, though she was conscious that the right was not all +on her side, and that Ghisleri, as he said, could defend the Ardens +without fear of adverse criticism, whereas it would be a very different +matter if he entered the lists in her defence. + +"You are not quite just to me, my dear lady," he said, after a moment's +reflection. "You are not the wife of my old friend, and an otherwise +indifferent person--" + +"Quite indifferent?" She looked keenly at him. + +"Quite," he answered, with perfect sincerity. "A person is indifferent +whom one neither loves nor calls an intimate friend. Yet Lady Herbert is +beautiful and good, and is admirable in many ways. But the world knows +that I am no more in love with her than with Donna Adele, and I am quite +free, therefore, to defend her." + +"Of course you are. The only thing that surprises me is your alacrity in +doing so. You do not generally like to give yourself trouble for +indifferent people. But then, as Arden really is your friend--" She +stopped, with a little impatient movement of the shoulders. + +"I wish you could bring yourself for once to believe that I am not +altogether insincere and calculating in everything I do," said +Ghisleri, weary of her perpetual suspicion. + +"I wish I could," she answered coldly. "But how can I? There are such +extraordinary inconsistencies in your character, such contradictions--it +is very hard to believe in you. And yet," she added sadly, "God knows I +must--for my own sake." + +"Then do!" exclaimed Pietro, with energy. "Make an end of all this +doubting. Have I ever lied to you? Have I ever made a promise to you and +not kept it? How have I deceived you? And yet you never trust me +altogether, and I know it." + +"It is not that--it is not that!" repeated Maddalena. "What you say is +all true, in its way. It is--how shall I say it--you did not deceive me, +but I was deceived in you. You are not what I thought you were. You used +to say that you would stand at nothing--that my word was your law--all +those fine phrases you used to make to me, and they all seem to come to +nothing when reality begins." + +"If you would tell me what you expect me to do, you would not find me +slow in doing it." + +"That is the thing. If you loved me as you say you do, would you need +any direction? Your heart would tell you." + +"You are angry with me now, because you do not wish me to take care of +Arden--" + +"Can I wish that you should be willing to cut yourself off from me for a +week--or two weeks? I suppose that is your idea of love. It is not +mine." + +"Then be frank in your turn. You have the right to ask what you please +of me. Say plainly that you wish me to give up the idea, to leave Arden +to the doctors and the nurses, and I will obey you unhesitatingly." + +"I would not have the sacrifice now--not as a gift," murmured Maddalena, +passionately. "If you could think of doing it, you shall do it. I will +force you to it now. I will not see you until Arden does not need you +any more--not even if you never go near him. If you do not think of me +naturally, I would rather that you should never think of me again." + +Ghisleri rose and went to the fireplace, and looked at the objects on +the mantelpiece for a long time, without seeing them. There was a +strange conflict in his heart at that moment. He could not tell whether +he loved her or not--that he had loved her a very short time since, he +was sure. At the present juncture it would be very easy to tell her the +truth, if his love were no longer real, and to break with her once and +for ever. Did she love him? Cruelly and coldly he compared her love with +that of another whom he had sacrificed long ago--a memory that haunted +him still at times. That had been love indeed. Was this also love, but +of another kind? Then, suddenly, he despised himself for his fickleness, +and he thought of what Maddalena had done and risked for him, and for +him alone. + +"Maddalena," he said, and his voice shook as he came to her side, and +took her small white hand. "Forgive me, forgive me all there is to +forgive. I am a brute sometimes. I cannot help it." + +Her lip trembled a little, but her face did not relax. + +"There is nothing to forgive," she said. "It is I who have been +mistaken." + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +Ghisleri left the Contessa's house anything but calm. To hate himself +and the whole world in general, with one or two unvarying exceptions, +was by no means a new sensation. He was quite familiar with it and +looked upon it as a necessary condition of mind, through which he must +pass from time to time, and from which he was never very far removed. +But he had rarely, in his ever-changing life, been in such strange +perturbation of spirit as on this particular evening. He was almost +beyond reasoning, and he seemed to be staring at the facts that faced +him in a day-dream horribly like reality. He knew that if he really +loved Maddalena, he would sacrifice his friend, even after what the +Contessa had said, and that, after a day or two, she would probably +relent. Nor did the sacrifice seem a very great one. People were ill all +the year round, were taken care of by the members of their own family +and by nurses, and recovered or died as the case might be. He had no +especial knowledge to help him in watching over Herbert Arden, though he +believed himself quiet and skilful in a sick-room, and had more than +once done what he could in such cases. He felt, indeed, that he was more +deeply attached to the man than he had supposed himself to be, but he +had not imagined that, at the critical moment, that attachment would +outweigh all consideration for Maddalena Delmar. And yet, he not only +clung to the belief that he loved her, but was conscious that there was +a broad foundation of truth for that belief to rest upon. He asked +himself in vain why he was at that moment going from her house to +Arden's, and he found no answer. That Laura herself contributed in any +way to strengthen his resolve was too monstrous to be believed, even by +himself, against himself. He was not so bad as that yet. He laughed +bitterly at his inability to comprehend his own motives and impulses, as +he drove to the little convent of the French Sisters of the "Bon +Secours," to ask for the best nurse they could give him. It was strange, +too, that he should be coming directly from Maddalena's side to the +habitation of a community of almost saintly women--stranger still, that +he should be on his way to a house where, during the next few days, he +expected to spend his time in the society of a woman who ranked even +higher than they in his exalted estimate of her character. + +He got the nurse, and she was despatched in the company of another +sister in a separate cab, while Ghisleri followed in his own. When they +reached the house, they found that Arden was much worse. His mind was +wandering, and, though he constantly called for Laura, he did not know +her when she came to his side, trying to keep back the scalding tears, +lest they should fall on him as she bent down to catch his words. The +doctor had been sent for a third time in great haste. Meanwhile, the +sister went about her duties silently and systematically, making herself +thoroughly familiar with the arrangements of the room, and preparing all +that could be needed during the night, so far as she could foresee the +doctor's possible instructions. She smoothed Arden's pillows with a hand +the practised perfection of whose touch told a wonderful tale of +life-long labour among the sick. + +"Madame should not be here," she said to Ghisleri, in a quiet, even +voice. "It may soon be contagious." + +Laura heard the words as she stood on the other side of the bed, +watching every passing expression on Arden's flushed face. + +"I will not leave him," she said simply. + +The sister did not answer. She had done her duty in giving the warning, +and she could do no more. When she had finished all her arrangements, +she sat down, accustomed to husband her strength always, against the +strain that must inevitably fall upon it day by day. She took out her +small black book and began to read, glancing at Arden at regular +intervals of about a minute. + +Ghisleri entreated Laura to take some rest, or at least to follow the +sister's example and sit down, since nothing could be done. She did not +seem to understand. He was glad he had come, for he fancied she was +losing her head already. He stood beside her watching his friend and +waiting for the doctor, who appeared before long. + +"It is one of the most extraordinarily virulent cases I ever knew," he +said to Ghisleri, when the two were alone together in the drawing-room, +for Laura would not leave her husband's side for a moment. "I hardly +know what to make of it, though of course there can be no doubt as to +what it is. It is better that you should know how serious the case is. I +presume you are an intimate friend of Lord Herbert Arden's?" + +"Yes, an old friend." + +"And you are not afraid of catching the fever?" asked the doctor. + +"Not in the least." + +"Oh, I thought from a question you asked--" He hesitated. + +"I was going to see a friend, and I wanted to be on the safe side," said +Ghisleri. + +"I am glad of that; it is just as well that there should be a man at +hand. Shall you spend the night here?" + +"Yes," replied Ghisleri. + +"Very good. I have told the sister to send for me if the temperature +rises more than two-tenths of a degree centigrade higher than it is now. +It ought to go down. If I am called anywhere I will leave the address at +my lodgings, where one of my servants will sit up all night. I confess +that I am surprised by the case. In Rome the scarlet fever is rarely so +dangerous." + +Thereupon the doctor took his leave and Ghisleri remained alone in the +drawing-room. He sat down and took up a book. For the present it seemed +best not to go back to Arden's room. His constant presence might be +disagreeable to Laura, since she could not be induced to leave her +husband as yet. Ghisleri's turn would come when she was exhausted, or +when he had an opportunity of persuading her to take some rest. Until +then there was nothing to be done but to wait. A servant came in and put +wood on the fire and turned down a lamp that was smoking a little. He +inquired of Ghisleri whether her ladyship would wish any dinner served, +and Pietro told him to keep something in readiness in case she should be +hungry. He himself rarely had much appetite, and to-night he had none at +all. He tried to read, without much success, for his own thoughts +crowded upon each other so quickly and tumultuously that he found it +impossible to concentrate his attention. + +The clocks struck half-past eight, nine, ten, and half-past ten, and +still he sat motionless in his place. Again the Italian servant came in, +put wood on the fire and looked to the lamps. Did the Signore know what +orders were to be given for the night? The Signore did not know, as her +ladyship was still with his lordship, and was not to be disturbed, but +some food must be kept ready in case she needed it. Eleven, half-past, +twelve. Again the door opened. There was something awful in the monotony +of it all, Ghisleri thought, but this time Donald appeared instead of +the Italian, who had been sent to bed. After making very much the same +inquiries as the latter, Donald paused. + +"His lordship is very ill, sir, as I understand," he said. He had known +Ghisleri as his master's friend for years. + +"Yes, Donald, he is very ill," answered Ghisleri, gravely. "It is +scarlet fever, the doctor says. We must all help to take care of him." + +"Yes, sir." + +The few insignificant words exchanged with the servant seemed to rouse +Ghisleri from the reverie in which he had sat so many hours. When Donald +was gone he rose from the chair and began to walk up and down the +drawing-room. The inaction was irksome, and he longed to be of use. He +would have gone to Arden's room, but he fancied it would be better to +let Laura stay there without him, until she was very tired, and then to +take her place. She would be more likely to rest if she had a long watch +at first, he thought. As a matter of fact, an odd sort of delicacy +influenced him, too, almost without his knowing it,--an undefined +instinct which made him leave her with the man she so dearly loved in +the presence only of a stranger and a woman, rather than intrude himself +as the third person and the witness of her anxiety. + +As he turned for the fiftieth time in his short, monotonous walk, he saw +Laura entering at the opposite end of the room. She was dressed all in +white, in a loose robe of some soft and warm material, gathered about +the waist and hanging in straight folds. Her heavy black hair was +fastened in a great knot, low at the back of her head. The light fell +full upon her pale face and deep, dark eyes as she caught sight of +Ghisleri, and stood still at the door, her hand upon the curtain as she +thrust it aside from before her. She was so really beautiful at that +moment that Pietro started and stared at her. + +"I did not know you were here," she said softly. He came forward to meet +her. + +"I will take my turn when you are willing to go and rest," he answered. +"I have waited for that reason. How is he now?" + +"Much more quiet," answered Laura. "The sister persuaded me that my +being there perhaps prevented his going to sleep, and so I came away. +She will call me if there is any change. Oh! if he could only sleep!" + +Ghisleri knew how very improbable such a fortunate circumstance was at +the outset of such a severe illness, but he said nothing about it. Any +idea which could give Laura hope was good in itself. She sank into a +deep chair by the fire and watched the flames, her chin resting on her +hand. She seemed almost unconscious of Ghisleri's presence as he stood +leaning against the mantelpiece and looking down at her. + +"I will go and see how he is," he said at last, and went towards the +door. Just as he touched the handle she called him in an odd tone as +though she were startled by something. + +"Signor Ghisleri! Please come back." + +He obeyed, and resumed his former attitude. + +"I am very nervous," she said, with a little shiver. "Please do not +leave me--I--I am afraid to be alone. If you wish to go, we will go +together." + +Ghisleri concealed his surprise, which was considerable. The wish she +expressed was very foreign to her usually quiet and collected nature. He +saw that her nerves were rudely shaken. + +"It is very weak of me," she said presently, in an apologetic tone. "But +I see his face all the time, and I hear that dreadful wandering talk--I +cannot bear it." + +"I do not wonder," answered Pietro, quietly. "You must be very tired, +too. Will you not lie down on the sofa, while I sit here and wait? It +would be so much better. You will need your strength to-morrow." + +"That is true," she said, as though struck by the truth of the last +words. + +She crossed the room and lay down upon a large sofa at a little distance +from the fire, arranged the folds of her dress with that modest, womanly +dignity some women have in their smallest actions, clasped her hands, +and closed her eyes. Pietro sat down and looked at her, musing over the +strange combination of circumstances which formed themselves in his +life. It seemed odd that he should be where he was, towards the small +hours of the morning, watching over one of the women he admired most in +the world, keeping his place at her especial request, when he had in +reality come to help in taking care of her husband. How the world would +wag its head and talk, he thought, if it could guess where he was! + +For a long time Laura did not move, and he was sure that she was still +awake. Then, all at once, he saw her hands relax and loosen from each +other, her head turned a little on the dark velvet cushion, and she +sighed as she sank to sleep. She was less quiet after that. Her lips +moved, and she stirred uneasily from time to time, evidently dreaming +over again the painful scenes of the evening. Ghisleri rang the bell, +crossed the room swiftly, and opened the door without noise. Donald +appeared in the hall outside. + +"Her ladyship has fallen asleep on the sofa," said Pietro. "She does not +wish to be left alone. Is there any woman servant awake in the house?" + +"No, sir. Her ladyship sent her maid to bed." + +"Never mind. Go and sit quietly in the drawing-room, in case she should +need anything, while I go and see how Lord Herbert is." + +"Very good, sir." + +The world would have been even more surprised now than before, +especially if it could have understood the meaning of what Ghisleri did, +and the refined reverence implied in his unwillingness to remain in the +drawing-room longer than necessary. It would not have believed in his +motive, and it would have added that he was very foolish not to enjoy +the artistic pleasure of watching over the beautiful woman in her sleep +as long as he could, more especially as she had gone to the length of +asking him to do so. But Ghisleri thought very differently. + +He entered the sick-room, and sat down by the bedside. Arden was in a +restless state between waking and unconsciousness, moaning aloud without +articulating any words, his face flushed to a deep purple hue, his eyes +half open and turned up under the lids, so that only the white was +visible. The sister was seated by the table, on which stood a small +lamp, the light being screened from Arden by a makeshift consisting of +the cover of a bandbox supported by a few heavy books. When Ghisleri had +entered she had glanced at him, and explained by a sign that there was +no change. Neither he nor she thought of speaking during the hour that +followed. The sister had a watch before her on the table, and at regular +intervals she rose, poured a spoonful of something into Arden's mouth, +smoothed his pillow, saw that he was as comfortable as he could be, and +went back to her seat. At the end of the hour she took Arden's +temperature with the fever thermometer, and wrote down the result on a +sheet of paper. It had fallen one-tenth of a degree since midnight. + +"It generally does towards morning," said the sister, in a low voice, in +answer to Ghisleri's inquiry as to whether this was a really favourable +symptom of a change for the better. + +The night passed wearily. Pietro felt that he was of little use, unless +his presence in the house afforded Laura some sort of moral support. So +far as the nursing was concerned, the sister neither needed nor expected +any assistance. Towards five o'clock, Laura entered the room. On waking +from her sleep, she had seen Donald seated in Ghisleri's place, and had +wondered why the latter had gone away. + +"He seems better," she whispered, bending over her husband, and softly +smoothing the thick brown hair from his forehead. + +"The temperature has fallen," answered Ghisleri, giving her the only +encouragement he could. + +"Thank God!" Laura sat down by the opposite side of the bed. Presently, +by a sign, she asked Ghisleri whether he would not go home. + +"I will wait in the drawing-room until the doctor comes, and the other +sister has arrived for the day," he said, coming to her side. + +She merely nodded, and he quietly went out. Before long, Donald brought +him some coffee, and he sat where he had sat in the early part of the +night, anxiously awaiting the doctor's coming. + +There was little enough to be learned, when the latter actually came. A +very bad case, he said, so bad that he would not be averse to asking the +opinion of a colleague,--and later, the same colleague came, saw Arden, +shook his head, and said that it was the worst case he had ever seen, +but that the treatment so far was perfectly correct. + +There was nothing to be done, but to take the best care possible of the +patient. Ghisleri had no hope whatever, and Laura became almost totally +silent. She could not be paler than she was, but Pietro almost fancied +that she was growing hourly thinner, while the sad eyes seemed to sink +deeper and deeper beneath the marble brow. He went home for a few hours +to dress, and returned at midday. The loss of one night's rest had not +even told upon his face, but his expression was grave and reserved in +the extreme, and his manner even more than usually quiet. Laura had not +slept since her nap in the drawing-room, and looked exhausted, though +she was not yet really tired out. Ghisleri thought it was time to speak +seriously to her. + +"My dear Lady Herbert," he said, "forgive me for being quite frank. This +is not a time for turning phrases. You must positively rest, or you will +break down and you may be dangerously ill yourself." + +"I do not feel tired," she said. + +"Your nerves keep you up. I entreat you to think of what I say, and I +must say it. You may risk your own life, if you please; it is natural +that you should run at least the risk of contagion, but you have no +right to risk another life than your own by uselessly wearing out your +strength. Besides, Arden is unconscious now; when he begins to recover +he will need you far more, and will not need me at all." + +A very slight blush rose in Laura's pale cheeks, and she turned away her +face. A short pause followed. + +"I think you are right," she said at last. Then, without looking at him, +she left the room. + +Ghisleri watched her until she disappeared, and there was a strange +expression in his usually hard blue eyes. It seemed as though the woman +could do nothing without touching some sensitive, sympathetic chord in +his inner nature, though her presence left him apparently perfectly cold +and indifferent. Yet he had known himself so long, that he dreaded the +sensation, and his ever-ready self-contempt rose at the idea that he +could possibly find himself capable of loving his friend's wife, even in +the most distant future. Besides, there was nothing at all really +resembling love in what he felt, so far as he could judge. If it ever +developed into love, it would turn out to be a love so far nobler than +anything there had been in his life, as to be at present beyond his +comprehension. + +He did not see Laura again for several hours. He spent the day in +Arden's room, and for the first time felt that he was of use when his +strength was needed to lift the frail body from one bed to the other. +Arden grew rapidly worse, Ghisleri thought, and the doctor confirmed his +opinion when he came for the third time that day. + +"To be quite frank," he said gravely, as he took leave of Pietro in the +hall, "I have no hope of his recovery, and I doubt whether he will last +until to-morrow night." + +This was no surprise to Ghisleri, who knew how little strength of +resistance lay in the crippled frame. He bent his head in silence as the +physician went out, and he almost shivered as he thought of what was +before him. He knew now that he must stand by Laura's side at the near +last moment of great suffering, when she was to see the one being she +loved pass away before her eyes. He was more than ever glad that he had +induced her to rest. Arden's mind was still wandering, and she could be +of no immediate use. + +So the day ended at last and the night began and wore on, much like the +previous one, saving that the anxiety of all was trebled. The other +sister had returned, and Ghisleri saw by her face that she had no hope. +With the same faultless regularity she performed her duties through the +long hours. + +Towards midnight Laura and Ghisleri met in the drawing-room. For several +minutes she stood in silence before the fire. Pietro could see that her +lips were trembling as though she were on the point of bursting into +tears. He knew how proud she must be, and he moved away towards the +door. She heard his step behind her, and without turning round she +beckoned to him with her hand to stay. He came back and stood at a +little distance from her. Still she was silent for a moment; then she +spoke. + +"It is coming," she said unsteadily. "You must help me to bear it." + +"I will do my best," answered Ghisleri, earnestly. + +Another pause followed. Then again she made a gesture, hurried and +almost violent, bidding him leave her. Before he could reach the door he +heard her first sob, and as he closed it behind him the storm of her +passionate grief broke upon the silence of the night. He was not a man +easily moved to any outward demonstration of feeling, but the tears +stood in his eyes as he went back to Arden's bedside, and they were not +for the friend he was so soon to lose. + +The sick man was unconscious and lay quite still on his back with closed +lids. The sister was on her feet, watching him intently. She shook her +head sadly when Ghisleri looked at her. The end was not far off, as she +in her great experience well knew. In hot haste Pietro sent for the +doctor, with a message saying that Lord Herbert was dying. But when he +came he admitted reluctantly that he could do nothing; there was no hope +even of prolonging life until morning. + +"Lady Herbert should be told the truth," he said. "If you wish it I will +wait in another room until the end." + +"I think it would be better. Lady Herbert knows that there is no hope, +but she will feel less nervous if you are at hand. How long do you +expect--?" + +"He will not live many minutes after he comes to himself, I should say. +The little strength there was is all gone. There will be a lucid +interval of a few moments, and then the heart will stop. It was always +defective." + +"Then Lady Herbert ought to be with him now, in case it comes," said +Ghisleri. + +He left the doctor in the little room which Arden had used as a study, +and went back to the drawing-room, feeling that one of the hardest +moments of his life had come. Laura was seated in a deep chair, leaning +back, her eyes half-closed and her cheeks still wet with tears. She +started as Ghisleri entered. + +"The doctor has seen him again," he said. "If you are able, it would be +better--" He stopped, for he saw that she understood. + +They went back together. As they entered the room they heard Arden's +weak voice. + +"Laura, darling, where are you?" he was asking. Ghisleri saw that he was +quite in possession of his faculties and went quietly out, leaving him +with his wife and the sister. + +"I am here, love," Laura answered, coming swiftly up to his side and +supporting him as he tried to sit up. + +"It was so long," he said faintly. "I am so glad you have come, dear." + +"You must not try to talk. You must not tire yourself." + +"It can make no difference now," he answered, letting his head rest upon +her shoulder. "I must speak, dear one--this once before I die. Yes, I +know I am dying. It is better so. I have had in you all that God has to +give, all the happiness of a long life, in these short months." + +He paused and drew a painful breath. Laura's face was like alabaster, +but she did not break down again now until all was over. + +"I owe it all to you--my life's love. You have given me so much, and I +have given you so little. But God will give it all back to you, dear, +some day. There is one thing I must say--oh, my breath!" + +He gasped in an agonised way, and almost choked. Laura thought it was +the end, but he rallied again presently. + +"One thing, darling--you must remember, if you have loved me--ah, and +you have, dear--that no promise binds you. You must try and think that +if you forego any happiness for the memory of me, you will be taking +that same happiness from me as well as from yourself. It will be right +and just that you should marry if you wish to." + +"Oh, Herbert! Herbert!" cried Laura, pressing him to her, "do not talk +so!" + +"Promise me that you will never think yourself bound," he said +earnestly, speaking with more and more effort. "I shall not die happily +unless you do." + +Laura bowed her head. + +"I promise it, dear, because you wish it." + +"Thank you, love." + +He was silent for some time. He seemed to be thinking, or at least +trying to collect his last thoughts. + +"If it is a little girl, call her Laura," he said, in a breaking voice. +"Then I shall know her in heaven, if she comes to me before you." + +"Or else Herbert," said Laura, softly. + +He moved his head a little in assent. + +"Darling," he said presently, "always remember that my last breath is a +blessing for you." + +Very tenderly she pressed him to her heart and kissed him. Not till long +afterwards did she realise the perfect unselfishness of the man's end, +nor how every word so painfully spoken was meant to forestall and soothe +her coming sorrow. + +"Say a prayer for me, darling--it is not far off. Say something in your +own words--they will be better heard." + +Still supporting him against her breast, Laura raised her eyes +heavenwards. The sister, little used to seeing men die without comfort +of Holy Church, knelt down by the table. Then Laura's soft voice was +heard in the quiet chamber. + +"Almighty God, I beseech Thee to receive the soul of this pure and +true-hearted man amongst the spotless ones that are with Thee, to +forgive all his sins, if any are yet unforgiven, and to render to him in +heavenly joy all the happiness he has brought her who loves him on +earth, through our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen." + +She ceased, forcing back the tears. He moved his head a little and +kissed the hand that supported him. A long silence followed. + +"I thought Ghisleri came to the door with you and went out again," he +said very feebly. + +"Would you like to see him, darling?" + +"Yes. He is a dear friend--better in every way than any one knows." + +At a word from Laura the sister rose and called Pietro. He was waiting +in the passage. He came to the bedside and stood opposite to Laura, +bending down and pressing Arden's wasted hand; he was very pale. + +"Ghisleri--dear old friend--good-bye--I am going. Take care of her--you +and Harry--" He gasped for breath. + +"So help me God, I will do my best," answered Pietro, solemnly. + +Arden gave him one grateful look. Then with a last effort he drew +Laura's face to his and kissed her once more. + +"Love--love--love--" + +The light went out in his eyes and Herbert Arden was dead, dying as he +had lived of late, and perhaps all his life, unselfish in every thought +and deed. + +With a cry that seemed to break her heart, Laura fell forward upon the +shadowy form that seemed so unnaturally small as it lay there under the +white coverlet. Ghisleri knelt in silence a few minutes beside his dead +friend, and then rose to his feet. + +"She has fainted," said the sister softly. "If you could lift her with +me--" + +But Ghisleri needed no help as he lifted the unconscious woman in his +arms and carried her swiftly from the room. He laid her upon the very +sofa on which he had seen her fall asleep on the previous night, and +rang for Donald as he had then done. + +"His lordship is dead," he said in a low voice, as the Scotchman +entered. "Her ladyship has fainted. Please send me her maid." + +Donald turned very white and left the room without a word. When Laura +came to herself the women were with her and Ghisleri was gone. With an +experienced man's coolness he gave all necessary orders, and foresaw +details which no one else would have remembered. Then he went back to +the chamber of death. No strange, unloving hands should touch the frail +body of the man he had known so well. Pietro Ghisleri, who, as the world +said, "never cared," was oddly sensitive at times. On that memorable +night he would let no one help him in performing the last offices for +Herbert Arden. When Laura next saw her husband, the calm and beautiful +face lay on its snowy pillow surrounded with masses of white flowers. +That was at daybreak. + +Late on the following night Ghisleri followed the men who bore the heavy +burden down the stairs. A quiet-looking woman of middle age met them and +crossed herself as she waited for them to pass her on the landing. She +came to take care of Herbert Arden's son. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +The season had begun, but Pietro Ghisleri had little heart for going +into the world. Apart from the very sad scenes of which he had been a +witness so recently, he really mourned the loss of his friend with a +sincerity for which few would have given him credit. It would, of +course, have been an exaggeration to act as though Arden had been his +brother and to cast himself off from society for several months; but +during a fortnight after he had laid Lord Herbert in the Protestant +Cemetery at Monte Testaccio, he was seen nowhere. He went, indeed, to +the house of the Contessa dell' Armi, but he made his visits at hours +when no one else was received, as everybody knew, and he consequently +saw none of his acquaintances except in the street. Twice daily at +first, and then once, he went to the door of the Tempietto and sent up +for news of Laura and the child. Strange to say, after the first three +or four days the news became uniformly good. Ghisleri learned that the +little boy had come into the world sound and strong at all points, +without the slightest apparent tendency to inherit his father's physical +defects which, indeed, had been wholly the result of accident. The +Princess of Gerano who, by Laura's express wish, had been kept in +ignorance of Arden's illness on the first day and had not learned that +he was seriously ill until he was actually dead, had now established +herself permanently at the Tempietto, and her presence doubtless did +much towards hastening her daughter's recovery. It was wonderful that +Laura should have escaped the fever, still more so that she should rally +so rapidly from a series of shocks which might have ruined an ordinary +constitution; but Laura was very strong. + +The Princess told Ghisleri that the child seemed to have taken Herbert's +place. He was to be called Herbert too, and the other dearly loved one +who had borne the name was never spoken of. No one would ever know what +Laura felt, but those who knew her well guessed at the depth of a sorrow +beyond words or outward signs of grief. In the meanwhile life revived in +her and she began to live for her child, as she had lived for her +husband, loving the baby boy with a twofold love, for himself and for +his father's sake. + +Ghisleri had written to the Marquess of Lulworth, Arden's brother, but a +letter from him to Arden himself arrived on the day after the latter's +death, telling him that Lord and Lady Lulworth were just starting to go +round the world in their yacht. The Lulworths were people whose +movements it was impossible to foretell, and after sending a number of +telegrams to ports they were likely to touch at, Ghisleri abandoned all +hope of hearing from them for a long time. + +Meanwhile, he ascertained that Laura was likely to be hampered for ready +money. Her mother's private resources were very slender, and Laura was +far too proud to accept any assistance from Adele Savelli's father. She +could not dispose, as a matter of fact, of anything which her husband +had left her except the actual ready money which happened to be in the +house; for she could not even draw upon his letters of credit until the +will was proved and the legal formalities all carried out. It was +natural, too, that at such a time she should neither be aware of her +position nor give a thought to such a trivial matter as household +expenses. + +One morning Donald came to Ghisleri's rooms in considerable distress, to +ask advice of his master's old friend. He would not disturb Lady +Herbert, he said, and he was ashamed to tell the Princess that there was +no money in the house. Ghisleri's first impulse was to give him all the +cash he had; but he reflected that in the first place the sum might not +be sufficient, for Donald, in a rather broken voice, had referred to +"the necessary expenses when his lordship died," and which must now be +met: and secondly, Pietro felt that when Laura came to know the truth +she would not like to find herself under a serious obligation to him. + +"Donald," he said, after a few moments' reflection, "it is none of my +business, but you have been a long time with Lord Herbert, and you are a +Scotchman, and the Scotch are said to be careful; have you saved a +little money?" + +"Well, yes sir," answered Donald; "since you ask me, I may say that I +have saved a trifle. And I am sure, sir, it would be most heartily at +her ladyship's disposal if I could go home and get it." + +"You need not go for it, Donald. I will lend you the equivalent, in our +money, of a couple of hundred pounds. You can then pay everything, and +when the law business is finished and you come to settle with her +ladyship, you can say that you advanced the sum yourself. That will be +quite true, because I lend it to you, personally, as money for your use, +and when you get it back you will pay it to me. Do you see?" + +"Yes, sir; it is a good way, too. But if you will excuse me, sir, you +might very well lend the money to her ladyship's self without pretending +anything." + +"No, Donald, I would rather not. Do you understand? Lady Herbert would +much rather borrow from you than from a stranger." + +"A stranger, sir! Well, well, if his poor lordship could hear you call +yourself a stranger, sir!" + +"One who is no relation. She might feel uncomfortable about it, just as +you would rather come to me than go to the Princess of Gerano." + +"Yes, sir. When you put it in that way. I see it." + +So Ghisleri took Donald with him to a banker's and drew upon his slender +resources for five thousand francs, which he gave to the Scotchman in +notes. It had seemed to him the simplest way of providing for Laura's +immediate necessities, while keeping her in ignorance of the fact that +any necessity at all really existed. The sensation of helping her with +money was an odd one, he confessed to himself, as he sent Donald home +and walked idly away in the opposite direction through the crowded +streets. + +As he strolled down the Corso thinking of Laura's position, he came +suddenly upon Donna Adele Savelli, alone and on foot. Even through the +veil she wore he could see that she was very much changed. She had grown +thin and pale, and her manner was unaccountably nervous when she stopped +and spoke to him. + +"Have you been ill?" he inquired, scrutinising her face. + +"No, not ill," she answered, looking restlessly to the right and left of +him and avoiding his eyes. "I cannot tell what is the matter with me. I +cannot sleep of late--perhaps it is that. My husband says it is nothing, +of course. I would give anything to go away for a month or two." + +"You, who are so fond of society! Just at the beginning of the season, +too! How odd. But you should be careful of yourself if you are losing +your sleep. Insomnia is a dangerous disease. Take sulphonal in small +doses. It does real good, and it never becomes a habit, as chloral +does." + +"Sulphonal? I never heard of it. Is it really good? Will you write it +down for me?" + +Ghisleri took one of his cards and wrote the word in pencil. + +"Any good chemist will tell you how much to take. Even in great +quantities it is not dangerous." + +"Thanks." + +Donna Adele left him rather abruptly, taking the card with her and +holding it in her hand, evidently intending to make use of it at once. +Ghisleri had good cause for not liking her and wondered inwardly why he +had suggested a means of alleviating her sufferings. It would have been +much better to let her bear them, he thought. Then he laughed at +himself--any doctor would have told her what to take and would probably +have given her a store of good advice besides. + +Nearly a month had passed when Ghisleri was at last admitted to see +Laura. He found her lying upon the same sofa on which she had slept a +few hours during the memorable night before her husband died. She was +even thinner now, he thought, and her eyes seemed to be set deeper than +ever, while her face was almost transparent in its pallor. But the look +was different--it was that of a person growing stronger rather than of +one breaking down under a heavy strain. She held out her hand to him and +looked up with a faint smile as he came to her side. The greeting was +not a very cordial one, and Ghisleri felt a slight shock as he realised +the fact. + +She could not help it. As Herbert Arden breathed his last, the old sense +of vague, uneasy dislike for Pietro returned almost with the cry she +uttered when she lost consciousness. It was quite beyond her control, +although it had been wholly forgotten during those hours of suffering +and joint nursing which preceded her husband's death. Ghisleri was quite +conscious of it, and was inwardly hurt. It was hard, too, to talk of +indifferent subjects, as he felt that he must, carefully avoiding any +allusion to the time when they had last been together. + +"How do you pass the time?" he asked, after a few words of commonplace +greeting and inquiry. "It must be very tiresome for you, I should +think." + +"I never was so busy in my life," Laura answered. "You have no idea what +it is to take care of a baby!" + +"No," said Ghisleri, with a smile, "I have no idea. But your mother +tells me he is a splendid child." + +"Of course I think so, and my mother does. You shall see him one of +these days--he is asleep now. Would you like to know how my day is +passed?" + +And she went on to give him an account of the baby life that so wholly +absorbed her thoughts. Ghisleri listened quietly as though he understood +it all. He wished, indeed, that it were possible to talk of something +else, and he felt something like a sensation of pain as Laura constantly +called the child "Herbert," just as she had formerly been used to speak +of her husband. Nevertheless, he was conscious also of a certain sense +of satisfaction. During the month which had elapsed she had learned to +hide her great trouble under the joy of early motherhood. There was +something very beautiful in her devotion to the child of her sorrow, and +hurt though Ghisleri was by her manner to him, she seemed more lovely +and more admirable than ever in his eyes. He said so when he went to see +Maddalena dell' Armi late in the afternoon. + +"I have seen Lady Herbert to-day," he began. "It is the first time since +poor Arden died." + +"Is she very unhappy?" asked the Contessa. + +"She must be, for she never speaks of him. She talks of nothing but the +child." + +"I understand that," said Maddalena, thoughtfully. "And then, it is such +a compensation." + +"Yes." Ghisleri sighed. He was thinking of what her life might have been +if children had been born to her, and he guessed that the same thoughts +were in her mind at the time. + +"Did you ever think," she asked after a short pause, "what would become +of me if you left me? I should be quite alone; do you realise that?" + +Ghisleri remembered how nearly he had broken with her more than once and +his conscience smote him. + +"I would rather not think of it," he said simply. + +"You should," she answered. "It will come some day. I know it. When it +does I shall turn into a very bad woman, much worse than I am now." + +"Please do not speak so; it hurts me." + +"That is a phrase, my dear friend," said Maddalena. "I always tell you +that you are too fond of making phrases. You ought not to do it with me. +You are not really at all sensitive. I do not even believe that you have +much heart, though you used to make me believe that you had." + +"Have I shown you that I am heartless?" + +"That is always your way of answering. You are a very strange compound +of contradictions." + +"Do you know, my dear lady, that you are falling into the habit of never +believing a word I say?" + +"I am afraid it is true," assented Maddalena, sadly. "And yet I would +not be unjust to you for the world. You have given me almost the only +happiness I ever knew, and yet, from having believed too much, I know +that I am coming to believe too little." + +"And you even think it is a mere phrase when I tell you that your +distrust hurts me." + +"Sometimes. You are not easily hurt, and I do not believe either--" She +stopped suddenly in the midst of her speech. + +"What?" asked Ghisleri. + +"I will not say it. I say things to you occasionally which I regret +later. I told you that I would not be unjust, and I will try not to be. +Be faithful, if you can, but be honest with me. Do not pretend that you +care for me one hour longer than you really do. It would be dreadful to +know the truth, but it is much worse to doubt. Will you promise?" + +"Yes," answered Pietro, gravely. "I have promised it before now." + +"Then remember it. Be sure of what you mean and of yourself, if you +can,--be quite, quite sure. You know what it would mean to me to break. +I have not even a little child to love me, as Laura Arden has. I shall +have nothing when you are gone--nothing but the memory of all the wrong +I have done, all that can never be undone in this world or the next." + +Ghisleri was moved and his strong face grew very pale while she was +speaking. He had often realised it all of late, and he knew how greatly +he had wronged her. It was not the first time in his life that he had +been so placed, and that remorse, real while it lasted, had taken hold +of him even before love was extinct. But he had never felt so strongly +as he felt to-day, and he did his best to comfort himself with the +shadowy medicine of good resolutions. He had honestly hoped that he +might never love woman again besides Maddalena dell' Armi, and as that +hope grew fainter he felt as though the very last poor fragments of +self-respect he had left were being torn from him piecemeal. She, on her +part, was very far from guessing what he suffered, for she was unjust to +him, in spite of her real desire not to be so, and it was in a measure +this same injustice which was undermining what had been once a very +sincere love--good in that one way, if sinful and guilty in all other +respects. Unbelief is, perhaps, what a man's love can bear the least; as +a woman's may break and die at the very smallest unfaithfulness in him +she loves, and as average human nature is largely compounded of +faithlessness and unbelief, it is not surprising that true love should +so rarely prove lasting. + +Ghisleri saw no one after he left Maddalena on that day. He went home +and shut himself up alone in his room, as he had done many times before +that in his life, despairingly attempting to see clearly into his own +heart, and to distinguish, if possible, the right course from the wrong +in the dim light of the only morality left to him then, which was his +sense of honour. And the position was a very hard one. He knew too well +that his love for Maddalena was waning, and he even doubted whether it +had ever been love at all. Most bitterly he reproached himself for the +evil he had already brought into her existence, and for the suffering +that awaited her in the future. Again and again he went over in his mind +the hours of the past, recalling vividly each word and gesture out of +the time when the truest sympathy had seemed to exist between them, and +asking himself why it might not take a new life again and be all that it +once had been. The answer that suggested itself was too despicable in +his eyes for him to accept it, for it told him that Maddalena herself +had changed and was no longer the same woman whom he had once loved, and +whom he could love still, he fancied, if she were still with him. It +seemed so utterly disloyal to cast any of the blame on her that the +lonely man put the thought from him with an angry oath. Of that baseness +at least he would not have to accuse himself. He would never, by the +merest suggestion, suffer himself to think one unkind thought of +Maddalena dell' Armi. + +But the great question remained unsolved. Was what was now left really +love in any sense, or not, and if not must he keep his promise and tell +her the truth, or would it be more honourable to live for her sake by a +rule of devotion and faithfulness which his strong will could make real +in itself and in the letter, if not in the spirit? He knew that she was +in earnest in what she had said. If she knew that he had ceased to love +her, she would feel utterly alone in the world, and might well be driven +to almost any lengths in the desperate search for distraction. She had +not said it, but he knew that in her heart she would lay all the sins of +her life at his door and that in this at least she would not be wholly +unjust. + +With such a character as Ghisleri's it is not easy to foresee what +direction impulse will take when it comes at last. He was quite capable +of giving up the attempt to understand himself and of leaving the whole +matter to chance, with a coolness which would have seemed cruel and +cynical if it had not been the result of something like despair. He was +capable, if he failed to reach a conclusion by logical means, of tossing +up a coin to decide whether he should tell poor Maddalena dell' Armi +that he did not love her, or else stand by her in spite of every +obstacle and devote his whole life to the elaborate fiction of an unreal +attachment. Strangely enough Laura Arden played a part, and an important +one, in bringing about his ultimate decision. He assuredly had no +thought of loving her, nor of the possibility of loving her at that +time. He would even have thought it an exaggeration to say that he was +devotedly attached to her in the way of friendship. And yet he felt that +she exercised a dominating influence over his mind. He found himself +laying the matter before her in imagination, as he should never be +likely to do in fact, and submitting it to her judgment as to that of a +person supremely capable of distinguishing right from wrong and false +from true. It was singular, too, that he should make no comparison +between her and Maddalena, though possibly no such comparison could have +been made. But he compared himself with her--the depth of his moral +degradation in his own eyes with the lofty purity of thought and purpose +which he attributed to her. The consequence could hardly fail to be a +certain aspiration, vague and almost sentimental, to become such a man +as might not seem to her wholly unworthy of trust. This did not help him +much, however, and when at last he went to bed, having forgotten to go +out and dine, and weary of the hard problem, he was not much further +advanced than when he had sat down to think of it last in the afternoon. + +In the morning everything seemed simpler, and the necessity for +immediate decision disappeared. He had not yet by any means reached the +point of not loving Maddalena at all, and until he did there was no +reason why he should form any plan of action. It would in any case, be +very hard to act upon such a plan, for the dreaded moment would in all +likelihood be a stormy one, and he could not foresee in the least what +Maddalena herself would do. + +After that he felt for a long time much more of the old sympathy with +her than he had known of late, and he tormented himself less often with +the direction of his own motives and thoughts. He saw much of Laura, +too, in those days, and spent long hours beside her as she lay upon her +sofa. He always left her with a sensation of having been soothed and +rested, though he could not say of her that she was much inclined to +talk, or showed any great satisfaction at his coming. Probably, he +thought, she was willing to see him so often because he had been Arden's +friend. He did not understand that she did not quite like him and that +his presence was often irksome to her, for she was far too kind by +nature to let him suspect it. He only thought that he was in her eyes a +perfectly indifferent person, and he saw no reason for depriving himself +of her society so long as she consented to receive him. They rarely +talked of subjects at all relating to themselves, either, and their +conversation turned chiefly upon books and general topics. Ghisleri read +a good deal in a desultory way, and his memory was good. It interested +him, too, to propound problems for her judgment and to see how nearly +she would solve them in the way he expected her to choose. He was rarely +mistaken in his expectations. + +Little by little, though Laura's principal feeling in regard to him did +not change perceptibly, she became interested in his nature, beginning +to perceive that there were depths in it which she had not suspected. + +"Are you a happy man?" she once asked him rather abruptly, and watching +the expression of his face. + +"Certainly not at present," he answered, looking away from her as though +to hinder her from reading his thoughts. "Why do you ask that?" + +"Forgive me. I should not put such a question, I suppose. But you +interest me." + +"Do I?" He glanced quickly at her as he spoke, and she saw that he was +pleased. "I am very glad that you should take any interest in me,--of +any kind whatever. Would you like to know why I am unhappy?" + +"Yes." + +"I can only tell you in a general way. I make no pretence to any sort of +goodness or moral rectitude, beyond what we men commonly include in what +we call the code of honour. But I am perpetually tormented about my own +motives. Knowing myself to be what I am, I distrust every good impulse I +have, merely because it is not a bad one, because my natural impulses +are bad, and because I will not allow myself to act any sort of comedy, +even in my own feelings. That sort of honesty, or desire for honesty, is +all I have left--on it hangs the last shred of my tattered +self-respect." + +"How dreadful!" Laura's deep eyes rested on him for the first time with +a new expression. There was both pity and wonder in their look--pity for +the man and wonder at a state of mind of which she had never dreamed. + +"Does it seem dreadful to you?" he asked. + +"If you really feel as you say you do," answered Laura, "I can +understand that you should be very unhappy." + +"Why do you doubt that I feel what I have told you?" Ghisleri wondered, +as he asked the question, whether he was ever to be believed again by +any woman. "Do you think I am untruthful?" + +"No," said Laura, quickly. "Indeed I do not. On the contrary, I think +you very scrupulously exact when you speak of things you know about. But +any one may be mistaken in judging of himself." + +"That is precisely the point. I am afraid of finding myself mistaken, +and so I do not trust my own motives." + +"Yes--I see. But then, if you do what is right, you need not let your +motives trouble you. That seems so simple." + +"To you. Do you remember? I once told you that you were horribly good." + +"I am not," said Laura, "but if I were, I should not see anything +horrible in it." + +"I should, and I do. When I see how good you are I am horrified at +myself. That is what I mean." + +"Why do you so often talk about being bad? You will end by making me +believe that you are--if I do not believe it already." + +"As you do, I fancy. What difference can it make to you?" + +"Everything makes a difference which lowers one's estimate of human +nature," Laura answered, with a wisdom beyond her age or experience. +"After all, to go back to the point, the choice lies with you. You know +what is right; do it, and give up wasting time on useless +self-examination." + +"Useless self-examination!" repeated Ghisleri, with rather a sour smile. +"I suppose that is what it really is, after all. How you saints bowl +over our wretched attempts at artificial morality!" + +"No; do not say that, please, and do not be so bitter. I do not like it. +Tell me instead why you cannot do as I suggest. If a thing is right, do +it; if it is wrong, leave it undone." + +"If I could tell you that, I should understand the meaning of this life +and the next, instead of being quite in the dark about the one and the +other." + +Laura was silent. She was surprised by the result of the question she +had at first put to him, and was at the same time conscious that she did +not feel towards him as she had hitherto felt. Not that she liked him +any better. She was perhaps further than ever from that, though her +likes and dislikes did not depend at all upon the moral estimate she +formed of people's characters. But she understood what he meant far +better than he guessed, and she pitied him and wished that she could say +something to make him take a simpler and more sensible view of himself +and the world. He interested her much more than half an hour earlier. + +They did not return to the subject the next time they met, and Ghisleri +fancied she had forgotten what he had said, whereas, in reality, she +often thought of it and of him. Before long she was able to go out, and +they met less frequently. She began to lead the life which she supposed +was in store for her during the remainder of her existence. The only +difference in the future would be that by and by she would not wear +black any longer, that next year she would move into a more modest +apartment, and that as time went on little Herbert would grow up to be a +man and Laura would be an elderly woman. + +Matters had been settled at last in England, and the momentary +embarrassment which so much distressed Donald had ceased. The good man +had felt somewhat guilty when Laura had thanked him for using what she +supposed to be his savings in order to save her trouble. But he +remembered what Ghisleri had told him and held his tongue, afterwards +going early in the morning to Pietro's lodgings to repay the loan. + +Laura had heard from the Lulworths, too. Ghisleri's letter and one of +his telegrams had reached them at the same time somewhere in South +America. Lulworth wrote himself to Laura and there was a deep, strong +feeling in his few words which made her like him better than ever. He +did not speak of coming back, and she thought it quite natural that he +should stay away. He only said in a postscript that if she chose to go +to England his house was at her disposal, but that he himself might be +in Rome during the following winter. + +But she would not have gone to England for anything. Her mother's +presence was a quite sufficient reason for staying where she was, and +she knew also that her modest income would seem less restricted in +Italy. The Princess of Gerano had proposed to her to come and live in +the palace, but Laura would not do that--she would never put herself +under any obligation to Adele's father, much as she herself was attached +to him. Her mother represented to her that she was too young to live +quite alone, but Laura remained unshaken in her determination. + +"Herbert protects me," she said quietly, but the Princess did not feel +sure what she meant by the words, nor whether the Herbert in question +was poor Arden, or the baby boy asleep in his cradle in the next room. + +There was in either case a certain amount of truth in what she said. +Great sorrow is undeniably a protection to a woman, and so is her child, +under most circumstances. + +"And as for my living alone," added Laura, "Signor Ghisleri is the only +man I receive, and people would be ingenious to couple his name with +mine." + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +Adele Savelli followed Ghisleri's advice, and took the new medicine he +had so carelessly recommended. At first it did her good and she regained +something of her natural manner. But her nerves seemed to be +mysteriously affected and terribly unstrung. Her husband, watching her +with the cool judgment of a person neither prejudiced by dislike nor +over-anxious through great affection, came to the conclusion that she +was turning into one of those nervous, hysterical women whom he +especially disliked, and whom she herself professed to despise. The +world, for a wonder, was at a loss to find a reason for her state, and +contented itself with suggesting that the family skeleton in Casa +Savelli had probably grown restless of late, and was rattling his bones +in his closet in a way which disturbed poor dear Adele, who was such a +delicately organised being. To what particular tribe the Savellis' +skeleton belonged, the world was not sure. Some said that he was called +Insanity, some whispered that his name was Epilepsy, and not a few +surmised that his nature was financial. As a matter of fact, no one knew +anything about him, though every one was sure that he was just now in a +state of abnormal activity, and that his antics accounted for Adele's +pale face and startled eyes. + +There was no doubt of the fact that she was ill, though she would +scarcely admit it, and went through the season with a sort of feverish, +unnatural gaiety. Being in reality no relation at all to Laura, she +merely wore black for three weeks as a token of respect, but did not +especially restrict herself in the matter of amusements even during that +time, and when it was over, she threw herself into the very central +whirl of the gay set with a sort of desperate recklessness which people +noticed and commented upon. They were careful, however, not to speak too +loud. Adele Savelli was very popular in society, and a very important +person altogether, so that the world did not dare to talk about her as +it discussed poor Laura Arden. And it found much good to say of Adele. +It was so nice of her, it remarked, to change completely in her way of +speaking of her step-sister, since the latter had lost that wretched +little husband of hers. He, of course, as every one knew, had fallen a +victim to his abominable habit of drinking brandy. It was all very well +to call it scarlet fever--the world was well aware what that meant. The +name of the thing was delirium tremens, and they said the last scene was +quite appalling. The cripple, in the violence of the crisis, had twice +sprung up and thrown down Ghisleri, who was a very strong man, +nevertheless, and who had behaved in the most admirable way. He had not +allowed any one to be present except the doctor, and it was impossible +to extract a word of the truth from him. That was how it happened and, +well--after all, it was a great mercy, and it was no wonder that Laura +should have recovered so easily from the shock, and should already be +beginning to amuse herself with Ghisleri. There was no doubt about that, +either, for he went there every day, as regularly as he went to see the +Contessa dell' Armi. And it was really angelic of Adele to stand up so +resolutely for her step-sister, considering how the latter had always +behaved. Adele took so much trouble to deny the stories that were +circulated, that some people learned them for the first time through her +denial. + +In this, as in many other things, Adele was consistent. She denied +everything. + +"It is not even true," she said to Donna Maria Boccapaduli, "that Laura +has the evil eye." + +But as she said it, she quickly folded her two middle fingers over her +bent thumb, making what Italians call "horns" with the forefinger and +little finger. Donna Maria saw the action, instinctively imitated it, +and fell into the habit of repeating it whenever Laura was mentioned. + +"Why do you do that?" asked the Marchesa di San Giacinto of her the next +day. + +"Eh--my dear! Poor Laura Arden is a terrible jettatrice, you know. Adele +says it is not true, but she makes horns behind her back all the same, +just as every one else does." + +Thereupon the Marchesa did the same thing, wondering that she should so +long have been ignorant that Laura had the evil eye. In a week's time +all Rome made horns when Laura was mentioned. At a dinner party a +servant broke a glass when she was being discussed, and at once every +one laughed and stuck up two fingers. San Giacinto, who, lean as he was, +weighed hard upon sixteen stone, sat down upon a light chair in Casa +Frangipani, just as he was saying that this new story about Laura was +all nonsense, and the chair collapsed into a little heap of straw and +varnished sticks under his weight. It was no wonder, people said, that +Arden should have fainted that night at the Palazzo Braccio, for Laura +had just accepted him. They seemed to have forgotten how they had +interpreted that very scene hitherto. The world was not at all surprised +that he should have died in the first year of his marriage, considering +that he had married a notorious jettatrice. Look at poor Adele herself! +She had never been well since that dinner at which the reconciliation +with Laura was sealed and ratified. Pietro Ghisleri should be careful. +It was very unwise of him to go and see her every day. Something awful +would happen to him. Indeed it had been noticed that he was not looking +at all well of late. That dreadful woman would kill him to a certainty. + +Ghisleri was furious when the tale reached him, as it did before long. +He knew very well how dangerous a thing it was to have the reputation of +possessing the evil eye. It is a strange fact that at the present day +such things should be believed, and well-nigh universally, by a cultured +society of men and women. And yet it is a fact, and an undeniable one. +Let it once get abroad that a man or a woman "projects"--to translate +the Italian "jetta"--the baneful influence which causes accidents of +every description, and he or she may as well bid farewell to society +forever. Such a person is shunned as one contaminated; at his approach, +every hand is hidden to make the sign of defence; no one will speak to +him who can help it, and then always with concealed fingers kept rigidly +bent in the orthodox fashion, or clasped upon a charm of proved +efficacy. Few, indeed, are those brave enough to ask such a man to +dinner, and they are esteemed almost miraculously fortunate if no +misfortune befalls them during the succeeding four and twenty hours, if +their houses do not burn, and their children do not develop the measles. +Incredible as it may appear to northern people, a man or woman may be +socially ruined by the imputation of "projecting," when it is sustained +by the coinciding of the very smallest accident with their presence, or +with the mention of their names, and quite enough of such coincidences +were actually noted in Laura's case to make the reputation of being a +jettatrice cling to her for life. Ghisleri knew this, and his wrath was +kindled, and smouldered, and grew hot, till it was ready to burst out at +a moment's notice and do considerable damage. + +"It is an abominable shame," he said to Maddalena dell' Armi. "It is all +Adele Savelli's doing. She has taken a new departure. Instead of +starting bad reports as true, she begins by denying things of which +nobody ever heard. I am quite sure she is at the bottom of it, but I do +not see how I can stop the story." + +"You seem to care a great deal," said Maddalena. + +"Yes. I do care. If it would do any good, I would call out Francesco +Savelli and fight about it." + +"For Laura Arden's sake?" It was the first time she had ever heard +Ghisleri even hint that he would do so much for any one, though she knew +that he would for herself. + +"No," he answered, with sudden gentleness. "Not for Lady Herbert's sake, +my dear lady. I would do it because, just when he was dying, Arden told +me that I must take care of her, and I mean to do my best, as I promised +him." + +"You are quite right," answered Maddalena, taking his hand and pressing +it a little. "I would not have you do otherwise, if I could--if I had +all the influence over you which I have not. But oh--if you can help +fighting--please--for my sake, if you care--" + +Maddalena's cold face and small classic features expressed a great deal +at that moment, and there were bright tears in her violet eyes. In her +own way she loved him more than ever. He was deeply touched as he +tenderly kissed the hand that held his. + +"For your sake, I will do all that a man can do to avoid a quarrel," he +said earnestly. + +"I know you will," she answered. + +During a few moments there was silence between them, and Maddalena +recovered control of herself. + +"That is the true reason why I ask you," she said. "There are plenty of +others which you may care for more than I. You would not care to have it +said that you were fighting her battles. Will you promise not to be +angry if I tell you something you will not like--something I know +positively?" + +"Yes. I promise. What is it?" + +"People are beginning to say already that you are making love to her, +and that you are always at the house." + +"The brutes!" exclaimed Ghisleri, fiercely. "Who says that?" + +"The women, of course. The men are much too sensible, and none of them +care to quarrel with you." + +"Oh!" Pietro contented himself with the exclamation, and controlled his +anger as best he could. + +"Was I wrong to tell you?" asked Maddalena. + +"No, indeed. I am very glad you have told me. I shall be more careful in +future." + +"It will make very little difference. You know the world as well as I +do, and better. People have begun to say that you go to see Lady Herbert +every day--they will still say it after you have not been to her house +for months." + +"Yes. That is the way the world talks. I hope this will not reach her +ears--though I suppose it ultimately will. Some dear kind friend will go +and tell her in confidence, and give her good advice." + +"Probably. That is generally the way. Only, as she is in deep mourning +and receives very few people, it may be a little longer than usual in +such cases before the affectionate friend gets at her. Then, too, the +idea that she is a jettatrice will keep many of her old acquaintances +away. You know how seriously they take those things here." + +It will be remembered that both Maddalena and Ghisleri were from the +north of Italy, where the superstition about the evil eye is much less +general amongst the upper classes than in Rome and the south. Pietro +himself had not the slightest belief in it, and he had so often laughed +at it in conversation with the Contessa that if she had ever had any +vague tendency to put faith in the jettatura, it had completely +disappeared. But both of them were thoroughly familiar with the society +in which they lived, and understood the position in which Laura was +placed. + +"I will help you as much as I can," said Maddalena, "though I cannot do +much. At all events, I can laugh at the whole thing and show that I do +not believe in it. But as for the rest,--placed as I am, I can hardly +make an intimate friend of Lady Herbert Arden, much as I like her." + +She spoke sadly and a little bitterly. Ghisleri made no reference to the +last remark when he answered her. + +"I shall be very sincerely grateful for anything you can do to help the +wife of my old friend," he said. "And I think you can do a good deal. +You have great influence in the gay set--and that means the people who +talk the most--Donna Adele, Donna Maria Boccapaduli, the Marchesa di San +Giacinto, and all the rest, who are, more or less, your intimates. It is +very good of you to help me--Lady Herbert needs all the help she can +get. Spicca is a useful man, too. If he can be prevailed upon to say +something particularly witty at the right moment, it will do good." + +"I rarely see him," said Maddalena. "He does not like me, I believe." + +"He admires you, at all events," answered Ghisleri. "I have heard him +talk about your beauty in the most enthusiastic way, and he is rarely +enthusiastic about anything." + +Maddalena was pleased, as was natural. She chanced to be in one of her +best humours on that day, and indeed of late she had been much more her +former self when she was with Ghisleri. A month earlier, the discussion +about Laura Arden could not have passed off so peaceably, for the +Contessa would then have resented anything approaching to the intimacy +which now appeared to exist between Lady Herbert and Pietro. The latter +wondered what change had taken place in her character, but accepted her +gentle behaviour towards him very gratefully as a relief from a former +phase of jealous fault-finding which had cost him many moments of +bitterness. As he saw, from time to time, how her cold face softened, he +almost believed that he loved her as dearly as ever, though the illusion +was not of long duration. He left her, on that afternoon, with a regret +which he had not felt for some time at the moment of parting, and he +would gladly have stayed with her longer. They agreed to meet in the +evening at one of the embassies, where there was to be a dance. In the +mean time, they were to dine out at different houses, and the Contessa +had a visit to make before going to the ball. + +Pietro was sorry that he had promised not to quarrel about the story of +the evil eye. The affair irritated him to an extraordinary degree, and +though he had grown calmer under Maddalena's influence, his anger +revived as he walked home and thought over it all. He dined that evening +in Casa San Giacinto, and found himself placed between Donna Maria +Boccapaduli and Donna Christina Campodonico. The latter was a slim, +dark, graceful woman of five and twenty, remarkably quiet, and reported +to be very learned, a fact which contributed less to her popularity than +her own beauty and her husband's rather exceptional reputation. +Gianforte Campodonico was a man whom Ghisleri would have liked if they +had not known each other some years previously in circumstances which +made liking an impossibility. He respected him more than most people, +for he had fought a rather serious duel with him in days gone by, and +had seen the man's courage and determination. Campodonico was the +brother of the beautiful Princess Corleone who had died in Naples +shortly after the above-mentioned duel, and who was said to have been +the love of Ghisleri's life. Gianforte, for his sister's sake, had made +up his mind to kill Ghisleri or to die in the attempt, with a desperate +energy of purpose that savoured of earlier ages. He was, moreover, a +first rate swordsman, and the encounter had remained memorable in the +annals of duelling. Ghisleri had done all in his power to avoid the +necessity of fighting at all, but Campodonico had forced him into it at +last, and the weapons had been foils. The world said that Ghisleri was +not to be killed so easily. He was as good a fencer as his adversary, +and was left-handed besides, which gave him a considerable advantage. +The result was that he defended himself successfully throughout one of +the longest duels on record, until at last he almost unintentionally ran +Gianforte through the sword arm and disabled him. The latter, humiliated +and furious at his defeat, had demanded pistols then and there, and +Ghisleri had professed himself ready, and had placed himself in the +hands of his seconds. But both his own friends and Gianforte's decided +that honour was satisfied, and refused to be parties to any further +fighting, so that Campodonico had been obliged to accept their verdict. +He sought an opportunity of quarrelling again, however, for he was a +determined man, and he would probably have succeeded in the end; but at +this juncture the Princess died after a short illness, and after +exacting a solemn promise from both men that they would never fight +again. That was the last act of her brief life of love and unhappiness, +and it was at least a good one. Loving her with all their hearts, in +their different ways, both Ghisleri and Campodonico respected the +obligation they had taken as something supremely sacred. Ghisleri went +and lived alone in a remote village of the south for more than a year +afterwards, and Gianforte spent an even longer period in almost total +seclusion from the world, and in the sole society of his widowed mother. +Three years before the time now reached in this chronicle, he had +married, as people said, for love, and for once people were right. His +elder brother bore the title, and as there was another sister besides +the Princess Corleone, Gianforte's portion had been small, for the +family was not rich, and he and his wife lived very modestly in a small +apartment in the upper part of the city, the Palazzo Campodonico having +long ago passed into the hands of the Savelli. + +And now, at the San Giacinto's dinner table, Ghisleri found himself +seated next to Donna Christina, and nearly opposite to her husband. It +had long been known and generally understood that Pietro and Gianforte +had buried their enmity with the beautiful woman about whom they had +fought, and that they had no objection to meeting in the world, and even +to conversing occasionally on general subjects, so that there was +nothing surprising in the fact that at a dinner of eighteen persons they +should be asked together. It chanced that, by the inevitable law of +precedence, Ghisleri sat where he did. Donna Christina of course knew +the story above related, and in her eyes it lent Ghisleri a somewhat +singular interest. + +Now it happened, towards the end of dinner, that some one mentioned Lady +Herbert Arden. Instantly Donna Maria, on Pietro's right, made the sign +of the horns with both hands, laughing in a foolish way at the same +time. Ghisleri saw it, and a glance round the table showed him that the +majority of the guests did the same thing. + +"How can you believe in such silly tales?" he asked, turning to Donna +Maria. + +"Everybody does," answered the sprightly lady. "Why should not I? And +besides, look at the facts--San Giacinto had the name of the lady we do +not mention on his lips when he broke that chair the other day--there, I +told you so!" she exclaimed suddenly. + +Young Pietrasanta, who, as it happened, had been the one to speak of +Laura Arden, had upset a glass, which, being very delicate and falling +against a piece of massive silver, was shivered instantly. The claret +ran out in a broad stain. + +"Allegria--joy!" laughed the lady of the house. Italians very often +utter this exclamation when wine is spilled. It is probably a survival +of some primeval superstition. + +"Joy!" repeated Pietrasanta, with quite a different intonation. "If ever +I mention that name again!" + +"You see," said Donna Maria triumphantly to Ghisleri. "There is no doubt +about it." + +"I beg your pardon for contradicting you," answered Ghisleri, coldly, +"but I think there is so much doubt that I do not believe in the +possibility of the evil eye at all, much less in the ridiculous story +that Lady Herbert Arden's name can upset a glass of wine or break a +chair." + +"I agree with you," said Donna Christina, in her quiet voice, on +Pietro's other side. "It is almost the only point on which my husband +and I differ--is it not true, Gianforte?" she asked, speaking across the +table to Campodonico. There had been a momentary lull in the +conversation after the little accident, so that he had heard what had +been said. + +"It is quite true," he answered. "I believe in the jettatura, just as +most people do, but my wife is a sceptic." + +"And do you really believe that Pietrasanta upset his glass because he +mentioned Lady Herbert?" asked Pietro. + +"Yes, I do." Their eyes met quietly as they looked at each other, but +the whole party became silent, and listened to the remarks exchanged by +the two men who had once fought such a memorable fight. + +Gianforte Campodonico was a very dark man, of medium height, strongly +built, and not yet of an age to be stout, with bold aquiline features, +keen black eyes, and a prominent chin. A somewhat too heavy moustache +almost quite concealed his mouth. At first sight, most people would have +taken him for a soldier. Of his type he was very handsome. + +"Can you give any good reason for believing in anything so improbable?" +asked Ghisleri. + +"There are plenty of facts," answered Campodonico, calmly. "Any one here +will give you fifty--a hundred instances, so many indeed, that you +cannot attribute them all to coincidence. Do you not agree with me, +Marchese?" he asked, appealing to the master of the house, whose opinion +was often asked by men, and generally accepted. + +"I suppose I do," said the giant, indifferently. "I never took the +trouble to think of it. Most of us believe in the evil eye. But as for +this story about Lady Herbert Arden, I think it is nonsense in the first +place, and a malicious lie in the second, invented by some person or +persons unknown--or perhaps very well known to some of you. Half of it +rests on that absurd story about the chair I broke in Casa Frangipani. +If any of you can grow to be of my size, you will know how easily chairs +are broken." + +There was a laugh at his remark, in which Campodonico joined. + +"But it is true that you were speaking of the lady one does not mention +at the moment when the chair gave way," he said. + +"Yes," said San Giacinto, "I admit that." + +"I agree with San Giacinto, though I do not believe in the evil eye at +all," said Ghisleri. "And I will go a little further, and say that I +think it malicious to encourage the story about Lady Herbert. She has +had trouble enough as it is, without adding to it gratuitously." + +"I do not see that we are doing her any harm," observed Campodonico. + +"The gossip may be perfectly indifferent to her now," said Ghisleri. +"She is most probably quite ignorant of what is said. But in the natural +course of events, two or three years hence she will go into the world +again, and you know what an injury it will be to her then." + +"You are looking very far ahead, it seems to me. As for wishing to do +her an injury, as you call it, why should I?" + +"Exactly. Why should you?" + +"I do not." + +"I beg your pardon. I think every one who contributes to the circulation +of this fable does harm to Lady Herbert, most distinctly." + +"In other words, we are not of the same opinion," said Campodonico, in a +tone of irritation. + +"And I express mine because poor Arden was my oldest friend," answered +Ghisleri, with the utmost calm. "If I cannot persuade you, let us agree +to differ." + +"By all means," replied Gianforte, and he turned and began to talk with +the lady on his right. + +Donna Christina leaned towards Ghisleri and spoke to him in a very low +voice, quite inaudible to other ears than his, as the hum of general +conversation rose again. + +"Is it true," she asked, "that you and my husband agreed, years ago, +that you would never quarrel again?" + +Ghisleri looked at her in cold surprise. He was amazed that she should +refer to that part of his past life, of which no one ever spoke to him. + +"It is true," he answered briefly. + +"I am very glad," said Donna Christina. "I thought you were near a +quarrel just now about this absurd affair. You hate each other, and +Gianforte is very hot-tempered." + +"There is no danger. But I am sorry you think that I hate your husband. +He is one of the few men whom I really respect. There are other reasons +why I should not hate him, and why I should not be surprised if he hates +me with all his heart, as I dare say he does, from what you say." + +He glanced at her, but she did not answer at once. She was still young +and truthful, and it did not occur to her to be tactful at the expense +of veracity. + +"I am glad you defended Lady Herbert as you did," she said, after a +short pause. "It was nice of you." Then she turned and talked with the +man on her other side. + +Donna Maria Boccapaduli had been waiting for her opportunity and +attacked Ghisleri as soon as he had ceased talking with his other +neighbour. + +"Tell me," she said, "you like Laura Arden very much, do you not?" Of +course she made the sign at Laura's name. + +"Yes. She is a very charming woman." + +"She ought to be grateful to you. She would be, if she knew how you +stood up for her just now." + +"I should be sorry if she ever came to know that she needed to be +defended," answered Ghisleri, almost indifferently. + +"She will, of course. It will be all over Rome to-night that you and +Campodonico almost quarrelled about her. She is sure to hear about it. +Why do you take so much interest in her?" + +"Because her husband was my friend," Pietro replied, rather wearily. "I +just said so." + +"You need not be so angry with me because I ask questions," said Donna +Maria with a laugh. "I always do--it is the way to find out what one +wants to know." + +"And what do you want to know?" + +"You will be angry if I ask you." + +"Then ask me something else." + +"But I want to know so much," objected Donna Maria, with an expression +that made Ghisleri smile. + +"Then you must take the risk," he said. "It is not very great." + +"Well, then, I will." She dropped her voice almost to a whisper. "Is the +lady in question--I mean--is she the sort of woman you can imagine +falling in love with?" + +"I do not think I should ever fall in love with her," answered Ghisleri, +without betraying emotion or surprise. + +"Why not? There must be some reason. So many men have said the same +thing about her." + +"She is too good a woman for any of us to love. We feel that she is too +far above us to be quite human as we are." + +"What a strange man you are, Ghisleri! I should never have dreamt that +you could say such a thing as that. It is not at all like your +reputation you know, and not in the least like those delightfully +dreadful verses you addressed to the saint last year on Shrove Tuesday +at Gouache's studio. I should think that Mephistopheles would delight in +making love to saints." + +"In real life Mephistopheles would get the worst of it, and be shown to +the door with very little ceremony." + +"I doubt that. Every woman likes a spice of devilry in the man she +loves--and as for being shown to the door, that is ridiculous. Is there +any reason in the world why you should not fall in love with a woman +exactly like the unmentionable lady and marry her, too, if you love her +enough--or little enough, according to your views of married life? You +are quite free, and so is she, and you said yourself that in the course +of time she would naturally come back to the world." + +"No," said Ghisleri, thoughtfully, "I suppose there is no reason why I +should not ask Lady Herbert Arden to marry me in four or five years, +except that I do not love her in the least, and that she would most +certainly refuse me. And those are two very good reasons." + +The dinner was over and the party returned to the drawing-room. Ghisleri +stood a little apart from the rest, examining a painting with which he +had long been familiar, and slowly inhaling the smoke of a cigarette. It +was a small copy of one of Zichy's famous pictures illustrating +Lermontoff's "Demon"--the one in which Tamara yields at last, in the +convent, and throws her arms round the Demon's neck. Prince Durakoff had +ordered the copy and had presented it to the Marchesa di San Giacinto. +Ghisleri had always liked it, and had a photograph of the original in +his rooms. He now stood looking at it and recalling the strange, half +allegorical romance of which the great Russian made such wonderful +poetry. + +Presently he was aware that some one was standing at his elbow. He +turned to see who it was, and found himself face to face with Gianforte +Campodonico, who was looking at him with an expression of indescribable +hatred in his black eyes. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +Pietro at once realised the situation and the meaning of the look he +saw. Something was passing in his old enemy's mind which had passed +through his own while he was looking at the picture, for Campodonico and +Ghisleri were both thinking of the extraordinary resemblance between +poor Bianca Corleone and the Tamara of Zichy's painting. That +resemblance, striking in a high degree, was the reason why Ghisleri +liked it, and had a photograph of it at his lodging. He regretted now +that he should have been so tactless as to stand long before it when +Campodonico was in the room. It was too late, however, and there was +nothing to be done but to meet the man's angry look quietly, and go +away. It was unfortunate that there should have been any discussion +between them at dinner, too, for Campodonico, as his wife said, was +hot-tempered in the extreme, and Ghisleri, though outwardly calm, had +always been liable to outbreaks of dangerous anger. There was, indeed, +in the present instance, a very solemn promise given to a dying woman +beloved by both, to keep them from quarrelling, and both really meant to +respect it as they had done in past years. But to see Ghisleri calmly +contemplating a picture which seemed intended to represent Bianca +Corleone falling into the arms of a demon lover, was almost too much for +the equanimity of Gianforte, which was by no means at any time very +stable. Moreover, he not only hated Ghisleri with his whole heart as +much as ever, but he despised him quite as much as Pietro despised +himself, and probably a little more. He would never have forgiven him, +at the best; but he might have respected him if Ghisleri had honoured +Bianca's memory by leading a different life. It made his blood sting to +think that a man who had been loved to the latest breath by such a woman +as Bianca should throw himself at the feet of Maddalena dell' Armi--not +to mention any of the others for whom Pietro had felt an ephemeral +passion during the last six years and more. And Pietro, on his side, +knew that Campodonico was right in judging him as he judged himself, +harshly and without mercy. Unfortunately, Pietro's judgments on himself +generally came too late, when the evil he hated had already been done, +and self-condemnation was of very little use. He had great temptations, +too--far greater than most men, and was fatally attracted by difficulty +in any shape. + +On the present occasion he really desired to avoid doing the least thing +which could irritate Campodonico, and if the latter had not done what he +did Pietro would certainly have gone quietly away. He could not help +being a little surprised at the persistent stare of his old adversary, +considering that for years they had met and acted with perfectly civil +indifference towards one another. Nevertheless, he relit his cigarette +which had gone out, and made a step towards the other side of the room. +To Campodonico, the calm expression of his face seemed like scorn, and +he became exasperated in a moment. He called the other back. They were +at some distance from the other guests, and out of hearing if they spoke +in low tones. + +"Ghisleri!" Campodonico pronounced the name he detested with an almost +contemptuous accent. Pietro knew that an exchange of unfriendly words +was inevitable. He turned instantly and came close to Gianforte, +standing before him and looking down into his fierce eyes, for he was by +far the taller man. + +"What is it?" he asked, controlling his voice wonderfully. + +"Do you not think there are circumstances under which one is justified +in breaking a solemn promise?" asked Campodonico. + +"No. I do not." + +"I do." + +"I am very sorry. I suppose you mean to say that you wish to quarrel +with me again. Is that it?" + +"Yes." + +"You will find it hard. I shall do my very best to be patient whatever +you do or say. In the first place, I begin by telling you that I +sincerely regret having irritated you twice, as I have done this +evening, the second time, as I know, very seriously." + +"I did not ask you for an apology," said Gianforte, with contempt. + +"But I have offered you one which you will find it hard not to accept." + +"You were not formerly so ready with excuses. I dare say you have grown +cautious with age, though you are not much older than I." + +"Perhaps I have." Ghisleri grew slowly pale, as he bore one insult after +the other for the dead woman's sake. + +"In other words, you are a coward," said Campodonico, lowering his voice +still more. + +Pietro opened his lips and shut them without speaking. He glanced at the +passionate white face of the woman in the picture before he answered. + +"I do not think so," he said. "But I make no pretence of bravery. Have +you done?" + +"No. You make a pretence of other things if not of courage. You pretend +that you will not quarrel now because of the promise you gave." + +"It is true." + +"I do not believe you." + +"I am sorry for it," answered Pietro. + +"And do you mean to tell me that the promise binds us? If you had acted +as a man should, if you had led a life that showed the slightest respect +for that memory, it might be binding on me still." + +"I think it is." Ghisleri was trembling with anger from head to foot, +but his voice was still steady. + +"I do not," answered Gianforte, scornfully. "If she were here to judge +us, if she could see that the man who was loved to the last by Bianca +Corleone--God give her rest!--would live down to such a level, would +live to throw himself at the feet of a Maddalena dell' Armi--ah, I have +touched you now!--she would--" + +Ghisleri's face was livid. + +"She whose name you are not more worthy to speak than I, never meant +that I should not defend a good and helpless woman because the liar who +accuses her chances to be called Gianforte Campodonico." + +"And the one who defends her, Pietro Ghisleri," retorted Gianforte. +"Where can my friends find yours?" + +"At my lodging, if that suits them." + +"Perfectly." + +Campodonico turned on his heel and slowly went towards the group at the +other end of the room. Ghisleri followed him at a distance, lighting a +fresh cigarette as he walked. He had recovered his composure the moment +he had felt himself freed from the obligation to bear the insults heaped +upon him by Bianca Corleone's brother. + +It must not be supposed that no one had watched the two as they stood +talking before the picture. More than one person had noticed the fierce +look in Campodonico's eyes, and the unnatural paleness of Ghisleri's +face. One of these was Donna Maria Boccapaduli. + +"I suppose you have been discussing that painting," she said carelessly +to Pietro. "People always do." + +"Yes," answered Ghisleri, as indifferently as he could. + +"And what was the result of the discussion?" + +"We agreed to differ." Pietro laughed a little harshly. + +As soon as possible he excused himself and got away, for he had only +just the time necessary to find a couple of friends and explain matters, +before going to the ball to meet the Contessa, as he had promised to do. +He had forgotten an important detail, however, and as he passed +Campodonico who was also going away, and without his wife, on pretence +of an engagement at the club, he stopped him. + +"By the by," he said, "I suppose we are ostensibly quarrelling about a +painter, or something of that sort." + +"Yes--anything. Zichy, for instance. Everybody saw us looking at the +picture. You like it and I do not." + +"Very well." + +So they parted, to meet, in all probability, at dawn on the following +morning, in a quiet place outside the city. Ghisleri found two friends +in whose hands he placed himself, telling them that he was quite +indifferent to the weapons, and only desired to meet his adversary's +wishes as far as possible, since the affair was very insignificant. He +remarked in an indifferent tone that, as he had once fought with +Campodonico, using foils, and as the latter had not seemed satisfied on +that occasion, he had no objection to pistols, if the opposite side +preferred them. He wished everything to be arranged as amicably as +possible, he said, and without any undue publicity. He left them at his +lodging and departed to keep his engagement at the embassy. As he drove +through the bitter air in an open cab, he meditated on his position, and +wondered what Maddalena would say when she learned that he had been out +with his old adversary. She should not know anything about the encounter +until it was over, if he could keep it from her. At all events, he +reflected, he had done all that a man could do to keep out of a quarrel, +as he had promised her he would, and he had been driven to break a +promise of a far more sacred nature than the one he had given her. If +she knew the truth, too, it was for her, and for her alone, that he was +to fight. He wondered whether people would say it was for Laura Arden's +sake, on account of the discussion about the evil eye which had taken +place at table. The suggestion annoyed him very much, but he reached his +destination before he had found time to reason out the whole case, or to +decide what to do. In any event it would be better if people thought +that he had taken the foils in defence of an unprotected widow like +Laura, than for the good name of the Contessa dell' Armi. + +She was there before him, looking very lovely in a gown of palest green, +half covered with old lace. The shade suited her fair hair and dazzling +skin, and she looked taller in faint colours, as short women do. He +found her seated in one of the smaller rooms through which he had to +pass on his way to the great ball-room, and she was surrounded by four +or five men of the gay set, all talking to her at once, all trying to be +extremely witty, and all wishing that the others would go away. But the +Contessa held her own with them, making no distinction, and keeping up +the lively, empty, rattling conversation without any apparent +difficulty. Pietro sat down in the circle, and made a remark from time +to time, to which she generally gave a direct answer, until, little by +little, she was talking with him alone, and the others began to drop +away as they always did in the course of half an hour when Ghisleri +appeared in Maddalena's neighbourhood. It was a thing perfectly +understood, as a matter not even worth mentioning. + +"Will you get me something to drink?" she said when only Spicca was left +by her side. + +Pietro went off towards the supper-room, which was rather distant, and +as a dance was just over and the place was crowded, it was some minutes +before he could get what he wanted, and go back to her with it. Spicca +looked at him with an odd expression of something between amusement and +sympathy as he rose and left the two together, and Ghisleri at once saw +that something unusual had occurred in his absence, for Maddalena was +very pale, and her hand shook violently as she took the glass he brought +her. + +"What is the matter?" he asked anxiously, as he sat down. + +"Something very disagreeable has happened," she answered, looking round +nervously. + +The sofa on which they sat stood out from one side of a marble pillar, +with its back to the side of the room the guests crossed who went +directly to the ball-room, and facing the side by which they went from +the ball-room to the rooms beyond, and to the supper-room, for there +were four doors, opposite each other, two of which opened into the +great hall where the dancing was going on. Maddalena was seated at the +end of the sofa which was against the pillar, so that a person passing +through behind her might easily not notice her presence. + +"Pray tell me what it is," said Ghisleri. + +"Just as you went to get me the lemonade, I heard two people talking in +a low voice behind me," said Maddalena. "They must have stopped first by +the door--I looked round afterwards and saw them, but I do not know +either of them--some new people from one of the other embassies, or +merely foreigners here on a visit. They spoke rather bad French. There +was a man and a lady. They saw you cross the room and the lady asked the +man who you were, and the man told her, saying that he only knew you by +sight. The lady uttered an exclamation, and said that you were the one +man in Rome whom she wished to see because you had been loved by--you +know whom I mean--I know it hurts you to speak of her, and I understand +it. The man laughed and said there had been others since, and that there +was especially a certain Marquise d' Armi, as he called me, who was +madly in love with you. The most amusing part of the whole thing, +concluded the man, was that you were perfectly indifferent to her, as +everybody knew. It was horrible, and I almost fainted. Dear old Spicca +went on talking, trying to prevent me from hearing them. It was just +like him." + +The Contessa's lip trembled, and her eyes glittered strangely as she +looked at Pietro. + +"It is horrible," he said, in a low voice. He had thought that he had +felt enough emotions during that day, but he was mistaken. Even now +there were more in store for him. He was deeply shocked, for he guessed +what she must have suffered. + +"Horrible--yes! But oh--can you not tell me it is not true? Do you not +see that my heart is breaking?" + +"No, dearest lady," he answered tenderly, trying to soothe her. "Not +one word of it is true. How can you make yourself unhappy by thinking +such a thing?" + +Maddalena drew a painful breath. He spoke very kindly, but there was no +ringing note of passion in his voice as there had once been. With a +sudden determination that surprised him, she rose to her feet. + +"Take me to the ball-room," she said hurriedly. "I shall cry if I stay +here." + +It was almost a relief to Ghisleri to see her accept the first man who +presented himself as a partner and whirl away with him into the great +hall. He stood leaning against the marble door-post, watching her as she +wound her way in and out among the many moving couples. He was conscious +that he might very possibly never see her again. Campodonico would of +course select pistols, and meant to kill him if he could. He might +succeed, though duels rarely ended fatally now-a-days. And if he did, +Maddalena dell' Armi would be left to her fate. He was horror-struck +when he thought of it. She might never know why he had fought, and she +would perhaps believe to her last day that he had sacrificed his life +for Laura Arden. He could leave a letter for her, but letters often fell +into the wrong hands through faithless servants when the people who had +written them were dead. Besides, would she believe his words? She had +very little faith in his love for her. He sighed bitterly as he thought +how right she was in that. He could see the pale, small, classic +features, and the half pitiful, half scornful look of the beautiful +mouth. "His last bit of comedy!" she would exclaim to herself, as she +tossed his last note into the fire. And again she would be right, in a +measure. In the case of risking sudden death, he said to himself that it +was indeed a strange bit of comedy. He knew that he did not love her as +he should. Why should he fight for her, then? + +But his manliness rose up at this and smote his cynicism out of the +field for a time. That little he owed Maddalena, at least--he could not +do less than defend her, at whatever cost, and he knew well enough that +he always would. As for his wish that she might know it, that was +nothing but his own detestable vanity. For his own part, he wished with +all his heart that the next morning might end his existence. He had +never valued his life very highly, and of late it had been so little to +his taste that he was more than ready to part with it, even violently. +The future did not appall him, although, strangely enough, he was very +far from being an unbeliever, and had been brought up to consider a +sudden end, in mortal sin, as the most horrible and irreparable of +misfortunes. To him, in his experience of himself, no imaginable +suffering could be worse than the self-doubt, the self-contempt, and the +self-hatred which had so often tormented him during the past years. If +he were to be punished for his misdeeds with the same torture, even +though it were to be never-ending, at least he should bear the pain of +it alone, such as it was, without the necessity for hiding it and for +going through the daily mummery of life with an indifferent face. And in +that state there would be no more temptation of the kind he feared. What +he had done up to the hour of death would close the chronicle of evil, +and in all ages there would be no more. He was used to such refinements +of cruelty as perdition could threaten him with, for he had practised +them upon his own heart. + +So the man "who did not care" stood watching the ball, and people envied +him his successes, and his past and present happiness, and all that he +had enjoyed in his three-and-thirty years of life, little dreaming of +what was even then passing in his thoughts, still less that he was +waiting for the message which should inform him of the place and hour +fixed for encountering the man who most hated him in the world, and who +had once before vainly attempted to take his life. + +At the other end of the great hall the Contessa dell' Armi had paused in +her waltz to take breath, and found herself next to Donna Maria +Boccapaduli. + +"You have not heard the news," said the latter in a low voice, bending +towards Maddalena, and holding up her fan before her face. "We have all +been dining at Casa San Giacinto, sixteen of us besides themselves--the +two Campodonico, ourselves, Pietrasanta--ever so many of us. Ghisleri +was there, next to me, and there was a discussion about the evil eye, +because Pietrasanta broke a glass just as he uttered the name of the +lady we do not mention--you know which--Ghisleri's friend. And then, I +do not know how it was, but Ghisleri and Campodonico contradicted each +other about it, because Campodonico said she was a jettatrice and +Ghisleri said she was not, you know. After dinner the two went and +talked in whispers at the other end of the big room, and Ghisleri looked +ghastly white, and Campodonico was so angry that his eyes were like +coals. A few minutes later, they both went away in a great +hurry--Campodonico left his wife there. It certainly looks as though +there were to be a duel to-morrow. You know how they hate each other, +and how they fought long ago about that wonderful Princess Corleone who +died. I can remember seeing her before I was married." + +The Contessa listened to the end. She could not have grown paler than +she was on that evening, but while Donna Maria was speaking the shadows +deepened almost to black under her eyes, and the veins in her throat +swelled and throbbed so that they hurt her. She succeeded in controlling +all other outward signs of emotion, however, and when she spoke her +voice was calm and quiet. + +"I hardly believe that those two will fight," she said. "But, of course, +they may. We shall probably know to-morrow." + +Making a little sign to her partner, she began to dance with him again, +and continued to waltz until the music ceased a few minutes later. She +stopped near the door where Ghisleri was standing, and looked at him. He +immediately came to her side, and she left the man she had been dancing +with and moved away with Pietro towards a distant room, not speaking on +the way. They sat down together in a quiet corner, and he saw that she +was very much moved and probably very angry with him. + +"Will you please to tell me the truth?" she said, in a hard voice. "I +have something to ask you." + +"Yes. I always do," he answered. + +"Is it true that there is a quarrel between you and Don Gianforte +Campodonico?" + +"Yes--it is true," replied Ghisleri, after hesitating a few seconds. + +"And that you had a discussion with him about Lady Herbert at the San +Giacinto's dinner table?" + +"Yes," admitted Ghisleri, who saw that his worst fears were about to be +realised. + +"Are you going to fight?" asked Maddalena, in a metallic tone. + +"Yes. We are going to fight." + +"So you have already forgotten what you promised me this afternoon. You +said you would do all a man could do to avoid a quarrel--for my sake. +Six hours had not passed before you had broken your word. That is the +sort of faith you keep with me." + +Pietro Ghisleri began to think that his misfortunes would never end. For +some time he sat in silence, staring before him. Should he tell her the +whole story? Should he go over the abominable scene with Campodonico, +and tell her all the atrocious insults he had patiently borne for Bianca +Corleone's sake, until Maddalena's own name had seemed to set him free +from his obligation to the dead woman? He reflected that it would sound +extremely theatrical and perhaps improbable in her ears, for she +distrusted him enough already. Besides, if she believed him, to tell her +would only be to afford his own vanity a base satisfaction. This last +view was perhaps a false one, but with his character it was not +unnatural. + +"I have kept my word," he said at last, "for I have borne all that a man +can bear to avoid this quarrel." + +"I am sorry you should be able to bear so little for me," answered +Maddalena, her voice as hard as ever. + +"I have done my best. I am only a man after all. If you had heard what +passed, you would probably now say that I am right." + +"You always take shelter behind assertions of that kind. I know it is of +no use to ask you to tell me the whole story, for if you were willing to +tell it, you would have told it to me already. No one can conceal fact +as you can and yet never be caught in a downright falsehood. Half an +hour ago, when we were sitting in that other room, you knew just as well +as you do now that you were to fight to-morrow, and you had not the +slightest intention of telling me." + +"Not the slightest. Men do not talk about such things. It is not in good +taste, and not particularly honourable, in my opinion." + +"Good taste and honour!" exclaimed the Contessa, scornfully. "You talk +as though we were strangers! Indeed, I think we are coming to that, as +fast as we can." + +"I trust not." + +"The phrase, again! What should you say, after all? You must say +something when I put the matter plainly. It would not be in good taste, +if you did not contradict me when I tell you that you do not love me. +All things considered, perhaps you do not even think it honourable. You +are very considerate, and I am immensely grateful. Perhaps you are +thinking, too, that it would be more decent, and in better taste on my +part, to let you go, now that I have discovered the truth. I am almost +inclined to think so. I have seen it long, and I have been foolish to +doubt my senses." + +"For Heaven's sake, do not be so bitter and unjust," said Ghisleri +earnestly. + +"I am neither. Do you know why I have clung to you? Shall I tell you? It +may hurt you, and I am bad enough to wish to hurt you to-night--to wish +that you might suffer something of what I feel." + +"I am ready," answered Pietro. + +"Do you know why I have clung to you, I ask? I will tell you the truth. +It was my last chance of respecting myself, my last hold on womanliness, +on everything that a woman cares to be. And you have succeeded in taking +that from me. You found me a good wife. You know what I am now--what you +have made me. Remember that to-morrow morning, when you are risking your +life for Lady Herbert Arden. Do you understand me? Have I hurt you?" + +"Yes." Ghisleri bowed his head, and passed his hand over his forehead. + +What she said was terribly, irrefutably true. The vision of true love, +revived within the last few days, and delusive still that very +afternoon, had vanished, and only the other, the vision of sin, +remained, clear, sharp, and cruelly well-defined. He made no attempt to +deny what she said, even in his own heart, for it would not be denied. + +"I cannot even ask you to forgive me that," he said at last in a low +tone. + +"No. You cannot even ask that, for you knew what you were doing--I +scarcely did. Not that I excuse myself. I was willing to risk +everything, and I did, blindly, for the sake of a real love. You see +what I have got. You cannot love me, but you shall not forget me. Heaven +is too just. And so, good-bye!" + +"I hope it may be good-bye, indeed," said Ghisleri. + +"Not that--no, not that!" exclaimed Maddalena. "I wish you no evil--no +harm. I had a right to say what I have said. I shall never say it +again--for there will be no need. Take me back, please." + +She rose to go, and her finely chiselled face was as hard as steel. In +silence they went back to the supper-room, and a few moments later +Ghisleri left her with Francesco Savelli and went home. On his table he +found a note from his seconds, as had been arranged, naming the place +and hour agreed upon for the duel, and stating that they would call for +him in good time. He tossed it into the fire which still smouldered on +the hearth, as he did with everything in the nature of notes and letters +which came to him. He never kept a scrap of writing of any sort, except +such as chanced to be connected with business matters and the +administration of his small estate. He hesitated long as to whether he +should write to Maddalena or not, sitting for nearly half an hour at his +writing-table with a pen in his fingers and a sheet of paper before him. + +After all, what could he write? A justification of himself in the +question of fighting with Campodonico? What difference could it make +now? All had been said, and the end had come, as he had of late known +that it must, though it had been abrupt and unexpected at the last +minute. It was all the same now whether he should afterwards be said to +have fought for Laura or for Maddalena. Besides, in real truth, if it +were known, he was fighting for neither. Gianforte's old hatred had +suddenly flamed up again, and if he had spoken Maddalena's name it was +only because he found that no other means could prevail upon the man he +hated to break his solemn vow, and because he knew that no man would +bear tamely an insult of that kind cast upon a woman he was bound in +honour to defend. But all that had been only the result of +circumstances. The quarrel was really the old one in which they had +fought so desperately, long ago. The dead Bianca's memory still lived, +and had power to bring two brave men face to face in a death struggle. + +Ghisleri rose from the table and stood before the photograph of the +picture which had brought matters to the present pass. For the +thousandth time he gazed at the wonderful likeness of her he had loved, +perfect in all points, as chance had made it under the hand of a man who +had never seen her. + +"I made a promise to you once," he said, in a low voice, "and I have +kept it as well as I could. I will make another, for your dear sake and +memory. I will not again bring unhappiness upon any woman." + +Sentimental and theatrical, the world would have said. But the man who +could bear to be unjustly called liar and coward rather than break his +oath was able to keep such a promise if he chose. And he did. + +So far as he was humanly able, too, in the world to which he belonged, +he kept the first one also; for, when they bent over him as he lay upon +the wet grass a few hours later, the pistol he held was loaded still. +The world said that he had been shot before he had time to fire, because +he was trying to aim too carefully. But Gianforte Campodonico bared his +head and bent it respectfully as they carried Pietro Ghisleri away. + +"There goes the bravest man I ever knew," he said to his second. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + +The report that Ghisleri had been killed by his old adversary in a +quarrel about Laura Arden spread like wildfire through society. It was +not until San Giacinto formally proclaimed that he had been to +Ghisleri's lodging, and that, although shot through the right lung, he +was alive and might recover, that the world knew the truth. + +It was of course perfectly evident that Laura was the cause of the +difference. Even San Giacinto had no other explanation to suggest, when +he was appealed to, and could only say that it seemed incredible that +two men should fight with pistols at a dangerously short distance, +because the one said that Lady Herbert was a jettatrice, and the other +denied it. If Campodonico had been less universally liked than he was, +he would have become very unpopular in consequence of the duel; for, +although few persons were intimate with Ghisleri, he also was a +favourite with the world. + +The Gerano faction was very angry with both men, though Adele was +secretly delighted. It was a scandalous thing, they said, that a duel +should be fought about a young widow, whose husband had not been buried +much more than two months. Both should have known better. And then, +Campodonico was a young married man, which made matters far worse. +Duelling was an abominable sin, of course; but Ghisleri, at least, was +alone in the world and could risk his soul and body without the danger +of bringing unhappiness on others. Gianforte's case was different and +far less pardonable. + +But Casa Gerano and Casa Savelli belonged rather to the old-fashioned +part of society, though Adele and her husband were undeniably in the gay +set, and there were many who judged the two men more leniently. The +world had certainly been saying for some time that Ghisleri went very +often to see Lady Herbert, and was neglecting Maddalena dell' Armi. The +cruel words the Contessa had overheard at the Embassy were but part of +the current gossip, for otherwise mere strangers, like those who had +spoken, could not have already learned to repeat them. If, then, +Ghisleri was in love with Laura Arden, it was natural enough that he +should resent the story about the evil eye. Meanwhile, poor man, no one +could tell whether he could ever recover from his dangerous wound. + +The Contessa dell' Armi was one of the very first to know the truth. She +had spent a miserable and sleepless night, and it was still very early +in the morning when she sent to Ghisleri's lodgings for news. She was +very anxious, for she knew more than most people about the old story, +and she guessed that Campodonico would do his best to hurt Pietro. But +she had no idea that pistols were to be the weapons, and Ghisleri's +reputation as a swordsman was very good. Short of an accident, she +thought, nothing would be really dangerous to him. But then, accidents +sometimes happened. + +The answer came back, short and decisive. He was shot through the very +middle of the right lung, he had not fired upon his adversary, and he +lay in great danger, between life and death, in the care of a surgeon +and a Sister of Charity, neither of whom left his side for a moment. + +Maddalena did not hesitate. She dressed herself in an old black frock +she found among her things, put on a thick veil, went out alone, and +drove to Pietro's lodgings. Such rash things may be done with impunity +in Paris or London, but they rarely remain long concealed in a small +city like Rome. He was still unconscious from weakness and loss of +blood. His eyes were half closed and his face was transparently white. +Maddalena stood still at the foot of the bed and looked at him, while +the doctor and the nurse gazed at her in surprise. During what seemed an +endless time to them she did not move. Then she beckoned to the surgeon, +and led him away to the window. + +"Will he live?" she asked, hardly able to pronounce the words. + +"He may. There is some hope, for he is very strong. I cannot say more +than that for the present." + +For a few moments Maddalena was silent. She had never seen the doctor, +and he evidently did not know her. + +"My place should be here," she said at last. "Would an emotion be bad +for him--if he were angry, perhaps?" + +"Probably fatal," answered the surgeon with decision. "If he is likely +to experience any emotion on seeing you, I beg you not to stay long. He +may soon be fully conscious." + +"He cannot know me now?" she asked anxiously. + +"No. Not yet." + +"Not if I went quite near to him--if I touched him?" + +The doctor glanced back at the white face on the pillow. + +"No," he answered. "But be quick." + +Maddalena went swiftly to the bedside, and, bending down, kissed +Ghisleri's forehead, gazed at him for a moment, and then turned away. +She slipped a little gold bracelet formed of simple links without +ornament or distinctive mark from her wrist, and put it into the +Sister's hand. + +"If you think he is dying, give him this, and say I came and kissed him. +If he is in no danger, sell it, and give the money to some poor person. +Can I trust you, my sister?" + +"Yes, madame," answered the French nun quietly as she dropped the +trinket into her capacious pocket. + +With one glance more at Ghisleri's face, the Contessa left the room. A +quarter of an hour later she was at home again. The servants supposed +that she had gone to an early mass, as she sometimes did, possibly to +pray for the soul of the Signor Ghisleri. The man who had gone for news +of him had not failed to inform the whole household of Pietro's +dangerous state, and as Pietro was a constant visitor, and was generous +with his five-franc notes, considerable anxiety was felt in the lower +regions for his welfare, and numerous prayers were offered for his +recovery. + +Maddalena sent to make inquiries several times in the course of the day, +and towards evening was informed that there was more hope, but that if +he got well at all it would be by a long convalescence. She herself saw +no one, and no one ever knew what she suffered in those endless hours of +solitude. + +Laura Arden heard of the duel through her mother, who was very angry +about it, as has been seen. Laura herself was greatly shocked, for at +first almost every one thought that Ghisleri must die of his wound. +Having been brought up in Rome, in the midst of Roman ideas, she had not +the English aversion to duelling, nor, being an Anglican, had she a +Catholic's horror of sudden death. She did not even yet really like +Ghisleri. But she was horror-struck, though she could hardly have told +why, at the thought that the strong man who had been with her when her +husband died, and whom she had talked with so often since, should be +taken away without warning, in the midst of his youth and strength, for +a word said in her defence. Of course the Princess told her all the +details of the story as she had heard them, laying particular stress +upon the fact that the duel had been fought for Laura. The seconds in +the affair had gravely alleged a dispute about the painter Zichy as the +true cause of the quarrel, but the world had found time to make up its +mind on the previous evening, and was not to be deceived by such absurd +tales. + +"It is not my fault, mother, if they fought about me," said Laura. "But +I am dreadfully distressed. I wish I could do anything." + +"The best thing is to do nothing," answered the Princess, "for nothing +can do any good. The harm is done, whether it has been in any way your +fault or not. To think it should all have begun in that insane +superstition about the evil eye!" + +"I never even knew that I was suspected of being a jettatrice. People +must be mad to believe in such things. You are right, of course. What +could any of us do except make inquiries? Poor man! I hope he will get +over it." + +"God grant he may live to be a better man," said the Princess, devoutly. +She had never had a very high opinion of Ghisleri's moral worth, and +late events had confirmed her in the estimate she had made. "One thing I +must say, my dear," she continued. "If he recovers, as I pray he may, +you must see less of him than hitherto. You cannot let people talk about +you as they will talk, especially after this dreadful affair." + +"I will be very careful," Laura answered. "Not that there is any danger. +The poor man will be ill for weeks, at the best, and the summer will be +almost here before he is out of the house. Then I shall be going away, +for I do not mean to keep Herbert here during the heat." + +The Princess was quite used to hearing Laura speak of the little child +in that way, and she had never once referred to her husband by name +since his death. She meant that the one Herbert should take the place of +the other, once and for always, to be cared for and loved, and thought +of at every hour of the day. She had silently planned out her life +during the weeks of her recovery, and she believed that nothing could +prevent her from living it as she intended. Everything should be for +little Herbert, from first to last. She looked at the baby face, in +which she saw so plainly the father's likeness where others could see +only a pair of big brown eyes, plump cheeks, and a mouth like a flower, +and she promised herself that all the happiness she would have made for +the one who had been taken should be the lot of the one given to her +almost on the same day. Her future seemed anything but dark to her, +though its greater light had gone out. The anguish, the agonising +anxiety, the first moment's joy, and at last the full pride of +motherhood, had come between her and the past, deadening the terrible +shock at first, and making the memory of it less keen and poignant +afterwards, while not in any way dimming the bright recollection of the +love that had united her to her husband. She could take pleasure now in +looking forward to her boy's coming years, to the time when he should be +at first a companion, then a friend, and then a protector of whom she +would be proud when he stood among other men. She could think of his +schooldays, and she could already feel the pain of parting from him and +the joy of meeting him again, taller and stronger and braver at every +return. And far away in the hazy distance before her she could see a +shadowy but lovely figure, yet unknown to-day--Herbert's wife that was +to be, a perfect woman, and worthy of him in all ways. It might be also +that somewhere there were great deeds for Herbert to do, fame for him to +achieve, glory for him to win. All this was possible, but she thought +little of it. Her ambition was to know him some day to be all that his +father had been in heart, and to see him all that his father should have +been in outward form and stature. More than that she neither hoped nor +asked for, and perhaps it was enough. And so she dreamed on, while no +one thought she was dreaming at all, for she was always active and busy +with something that concerned the child, and her attention never +wandered when it was needed. + +Her mother watched her and was glad of it all. To her, it seemed very +merciful that Arden should have died when he did, fond as she herself +had been of him. She had not believed that Laura could be permanently +happy with such a sufferer, and she had never desired the marriage, +though she had done nothing to oppose it when she saw how deeply her +daughter loved the man she had chosen. She was very much relieved when +she saw how Laura behaved in her sorrow, and realised that there was no +morbid tendency in her to dwell over-long on her grief. One thing, which +has already been mentioned, alone showed that Laura felt very +deeply,--she never spoke of Arden, even to her mother. On this point +there seemed to be a tacit understanding between her and Donald. The +faithful old servant seemed to know instinctively what she wished done. +When all was over, and while Laura was still far too ill to be +consulted, he had taken all Arden's clothes and other little effects, +even to his brushes and other dressing things, and had packed everything +in his dead master's own boxes as though for a long journey. The boxes +themselves he locked up in a small spare room, and laid the key in the +drawer of Laura's writing-table with a label on which were written the +words, "His lordship's effects." Laura found it the first time she came +to the drawing-room, and was grateful to the old Scotchman for what he +had done. But she could not bring herself to speak of it, even to +Donald, though he knew that she was pleased by the look she gave him. + +Of course, her manner was greatly changed from what it had been. She +never laughed now, and rarely ever smiled, except when she held the +child in her arms. But there was nothing morbid nor brooding in her +gravity. She had accepted her lot and was determined to make the best of +it according to her light. In time she would grow more cheerful, and by +and by she would be her old self again--more womanly, perhaps, and +certainly more mature, but not materially altered in character or +disposition. The short months which had sufficed for what had hitherto +been the chief acts of her life had not been filled with violent or +conflicting emotions, and it is emotion more than anything else which +changes the natures of men and women for better or for worse. The love +that had been born of mingled pity and sympathy of thought had risen +quickly in the peaceful, remote places of her heart, and had flowed +smoothly through the sweet garden of her maidenly soul, unruffled and +undeviating, until it had suddenly disappeared into the abyss of +eternity. It had left no wreck and no ruin behind, no devastation and no +poisonous, stagnant pools, as some loves do. The soil over which it had +passed had been refreshed and made fertile by it, and would bear flowers +and fruit hereafter as fragrant and as sweet as it could ever have +borne; and at the last, in that one great moment of pain when she had +stood at the brink and seen all she loved plunge out of sight for ever +in the darkness, she had heard in her ear the tender cry of a new young +life calling to her to turn back and tend it, and love it, and show it +the paths that lead to such happiness as the world holds for the pure in +heart. + +She was calm, therefore, and not, in the ordinary sense, broken by her +sorrow,--a fact which the world, in its omniscience, very soon +discovered. It did not fail to say that she was well rid of her husband, +and that she knew it, and was glad to be free, though she managed with +considerable effort to keep up a sufficient outward semblance of +mourning to satisfy the customs and fashions of polite society--just +that much, and not a jot more. + +But Adele Savelli said repeatedly that all this was not true, and that +only a positively angelic nature like Laura's could bear such an awful +bereavement so calmly. It was a strange thing, Adele added, that very +good people should always seem so much better able to resign themselves +to the decrees of Providence than their less perfect neighbours. Of +course it could not be that they were colder and felt less than others, +and consequently could not suffer so much. Besides, Laura must have +loved Arden sincerely to marry him at all, since it appeared to be +certain that the rich uncle who was to have left him so much money only +existed in the imagination of the gossips, and had evidently been +invented by them merely in order to make out that Laura had a secret +reason for marrying that uncle's favourite nephew. But then, people +would talk, of course, and all that the relations of the family could do +was to deny such calumnious reports consistently and at every turn. + +Adele was looking very ill when the season came to an end. She had grown +thin, and her eyes had a restless, hunted look in them which had never +been there before. Her husband noticed that she was very much overcome +when she heard the first report to the effect that Ghisleri was killed. +She seemed particularly horrified at the statement that the original +cause of the duel had been the reputation for possessing the evil eye +which Laura Arden had so suddenly acquired, and which, as she herself +had been the very first to say, was so utterly unfounded. It was +evidently a very great relief to her to hear, later in the day, that +Pietro was not yet dead, and might even have a chance of recovery. + +No one could tell what Gianforte Campodonico thought of the matter. He +shut himself up obstinately and awaited events. It is not probable that +he felt any remorse for what he had done, or that he would have felt any +if he had left Ghisleri dead on the field, instead of with a bare chance +of life. He had taken the vengeance he had longed for and he was glad of +it, but the impression he had of the man was not the same which he had +been accustomed to for so many years. He, who generally reflected +little, asked himself whether he could have found the courage to bear +what Ghisleri had borne for the sake of the promise they had made +together, and which he had been the first to break. He was a brave man, +too, in his way, and it would not have been safe to predict that he +would fail at any given point if put to the test. But he was conscious +that, in the present case, Ghisleri had played the nobler part, and he +was manly enough to acknowledge the fact to himself, and to respect his +adversary as he had not done before. If he stayed at home and refused to +be seen in the world or even at his club immediately after the duel, it +was because he would not be thought willing to glory in his victory. + +But, before many days were gone by, it became apparent, so far as the +world could judge, that Pietro Ghisleri would not die of the dangerous +wound he had received. It would have killed most men, the surgeon said, +but Ghisleri was not like other people. He, the doctor, had never seen a +stronger constitution, nor one so perfectly untainted by any hereditary +evil or weakness. Such blood was rare now, especially in the old +families, and such strength would have been rare in any age. He had no +longer any hesitation in saying that the patient had a very fair +prospect of recovery, and might possibly be as healthy as ever before +the end of the summer. + +The Sister of Charity went about with Maddalena's bracelet in her +pocket, feeling very uncomfortable about it, since she had been quite +sure from the first that there was something very sinful in the whole +affair. But she was quite ready to fulfil her promise if Ghisleri showed +signs of departing this life, which he did not, however, either when he +first regained consciousness or later. So she, on her part, said +nothing, and waited for the day when she might deliver up the trinket to +the Mother Superior, to be sold for the poor, as Maddalena had directed. +In that, at least, there could be no harm, and she was very thankful +that she was not called upon to deliver the message to Ghisleri himself, +for that, she felt sure, would have been sinful, or something very like +it. + +The surgeon was surprised by something else in the case. As a general +rule, when a man fights a desperate duel in the very middle of the +season, and especially such a man as he knew Ghisleri to be, and is +severely hurt, he finds himself cut off from society in the midst of +some chain of events in which the whole present interest of his life is +engaged. He is consequently disturbed in mind, impatient of confinement, +and feverishly anxious to get back to the world,--a state of temper by +no means conducive to convalescence. Ghisleri, on the contrary, seemed +to have forgotten to care for anything. No preoccupation appeared to +possess him; no desire to be back again in the throng made him restless. +He was perfectly calm and peaceful, always patient, and always resigned +to whatever treatment seemed necessary. The Sister wondered much that a +man of such marvellous gentleness and resignation could have found it in +him to commit mortal sin in fighting a duel, and, perhaps, far down in +her woman's heart, she did not wonder at all at what Maddalena had done +on that first morning. The surgeon said that Ghisleri's sweet temper had +much to do with his rapid recovery. + +It need not be supposed from this that his character had undergone any +radical change, nor that he was turning, all at once, into the saint he +was never intended to be. It was very simple. The events of the night +preceding the duel had brought his life to a crisis which, once past, +had left little behind it to disturb him. First in his mind was the +consciousness that his love for Maddalena dell' Armi was gone for ever, +and that she herself expected no return of it. That alone was enough to +change his whole existence in the present, and in the immediate future. +Then, too, he felt that he had at least settled old scores with +Campodonico and had in a measure expiated one, at least, of his past +misdeeds, almost at the cost of his life. Morally speaking, too, he had +kept his oath to Bianca Corleone, for under the utmost provocation he +had refused to fight in the old quarrel, and even when driven to bay and +forced upon new ground by Campodonico's implacable hatred, he had stood +up to be killed without so much as firing at Bianca's brother. There +was a deep and real satisfaction in that, and he was perhaps too ill as +yet to torture himself by stigmatising it as a bit of vanity. The world +might think what it pleased. Maddalena might misjudge his motives, and +Gianforte might triumph in his victory--it all made no difference to +him. He was conscious that to the best of his ability he had acted +according to the dictates of true honour, as he understood it; and at +night he closed his eyes and fell peacefully asleep, and in the morning +he opened them quietly again upon the little world of his invalid's +surroundings. + +He was not happy, however. What he felt, and what perhaps saved his +life, was a momentary absence of responsibility, an absolute certainty +that nothing more could be required of him, because, in the events in +which he had played a part, that part had been acted out to the very +end. He even went so far as to believe that, if he had died, it would +not have made any difference to any one, except that his death might +possibly have been an added satisfaction to Campodonico. He would have +left no sorrowing heart behind to mourn him, nor any gap in any circle +which another man could not fill up. Herbert Arden, the only friend who +would have really regretted him, was already dead, and there was no one +else who stood to him in any relation of acquaintance at all so close as +to be called friendship. All this contributed materially to his peace of +mind, though in one respect he was mistaken. There was one person who +loved him still, for himself, though she knew well enough that his love +for her was dead. + +And it was of her, though he was mistaken about her, that he thought the +most during the long hours when he lay there quietly watching the +sunbeams stealing across the room when it was fine, or listening to the +raindrops pattering against the windows when the weather was stormy. In +her was centred the great present regret of his life, and for her sake +he felt the most sincere remorse. He asked himself, as she had asked +him, what was to become of her, now that he had left her. The fact that +she had been really the one to speak the word and cause the first break +did not change the truth in the least. It had been his fault from the +first to the last. He had not broken her heart, perhaps, because hearts +are not now-a-days easily broken, if, indeed, they ever really were; but +he had ruined her existence wantonly, uselessly, on the plea of a love +neither pure nor lasting, and he fully realised what he had done. What +chance had she ever had against him--she, young, inexperienced, +trusting, wretchedly unhappy with a husband who had despised and trodden +out the simple, girlish love she had offered--what chance had she +against Pietro Ghisleri, the hardened, cool-headed man of the world, +whose only weakness was that he sometimes believed himself sincere, as +he had with her? He was not happy as he thought of it all. There had +been little manliness in what he had done, and not much of the honour +which he called his last shred of morality. And yet, in the world in +which he had his being, few men would blame him, and none, perhaps, +venture to condemn him. But that consideration did not cross his mind. +He was willing to bear both condemnation and blame, and he heaped both +upon himself in a plentiful measure. + +Nevertheless, he was conscious of being surprised at the calmness of his +own repentance, as he called it rather contemptuously, and he wished +himself, as usual, quite different from what he was. And yet he had not +forgotten the semi-theatrical resolution to change his life, which he +had made on the night before the duel, still less had he any intention +of breaking it. He had always laughed at men and women who made sudden +and important resolutions under the influence of emotion, and, on the +whole, he had never seen any reason for looking upon such gratuitous +promises as valid, unless there had been witnesses to them, and human +vanity afterwards came into play. But now, in his own case, he meant to +try the experiment. It made no difference whether he were vain about it +or not, if he succeeded, nor, if he failed, whether he scorned his own +weakness a little more than before. No one would ever know, and since by +Laura Arden's rigid standard of right and wrong the end to be gained +belonged distinctly to the right, he would be in a measure following her +advice in regard to life in general. Deeper down in his nature, too, +there lay another thought which he would not now evoke, lest he should +himself condemn it as sentimental. That secret promise had been honestly +intended, and had been addressed to the memory of one who, though long +dead, still had a stronger influence over him than any one now living. +He hardly dared to acknowledge the truth of this and the real meaning of +what he had done, lest, if he failed hereafter, he should have to accuse +himself of faithlessness towards the one woman to whom he had been +really true, and whom, if she had lived, he would have loved till the +end, in spite of obstacles, in spite of mankind, in spite, he added +defiantly, of Heaven itself. All this he tried to keep out of sight, +while firmly resolving, in his own cynical way, to try the experiment of +goodness for once, and to do no more harm in the world if he could help +it. + +He thought of Laura Arden, too, in his long convalescence, and her image +was always pleasant to his inner vision, as the impression she had +produced on him was soothing to recall. There were times when her holy +eyes seemed to gaze at him out of the darker corners of the room, and he +tried often to bring back her whole presence. The pleasure such useless +feats of imagination gave him was artistic if it was anything, because +he admired her beauty and had always delighted in it. He tried to fancy +what she was doing, on certain days when he thought more of her than +usual, and to follow her life a little, always trying in a vague way to +fathom the secret of the character that was so wonderful in his +estimation. And always, when he had been thinking of her, he came back +to the contemplation of his own immediate interests with a renewed calm +and with a peaceful sense that there might yet be better days in store +for him--possibly days in which he should himself be better than he had +been heretofore. + +How the world would have jeered, could it have suspected that Pietro +Ghisleri was thinking almost seriously of such a very commonplace +subject as moral goodness, as he lay on his back, day after day, in the +quiet of his room. How gladly would Adele Savelli have changed places +with the man who, as she thought, for the sake of a bit of gossip she +had invented out of spite, had nearly lost his life! + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + +When Ghisleri was at last able to go out of the house, his first visit +was to Maddalena dell' Armi. He had written a line to say that he was +coming, and she expected him. The meeting was a strange one, for both +felt at first the constraint of their mutual position. Ghisleri looked +at her face, which had been so hard when he had last seen it, and he saw +that it had softened. There were no signs of suffering, however, and her +expression was almost as placid as his own. He raised her hand to his +lips and sat down opposite to her. Then the light fell on his face and +she saw how changed he was. She remembered how he had looked when she +had seen him after he was wounded, and she saw that he was almost as +pale now as then, and that he was thin almost to emaciation. + +"Are you really growing strong again?" she asked in a tone of anxiety. + +"Yes, indeed," he answered with a smile. "I feel as though I were quite +well--a little gaunt and weak, perhaps, but that will soon pass. And +you--how have you spent your time in all these weeks since I last saw +you?" + +"Very much as usual," replied Maddalena, and suddenly a weary look came +into her eyes. "If you care to know--as long as you were really in +danger I did not go out. Then I went everywhere again, and tried to +amuse myself." + +"Did you succeed?" asked Ghisleri, trying hard to speak cheerfully. +There had been something hopeless in Maddalena's tone which shocked him +and pained him. + +"More or less. Why do you ask me that?" + +"Because I am interested." + +"Do you care for me in the least--in any way?" she asked abruptly. + +"You know that I do--" + +"How should I know it?" + +Ghisleri did not reply at once, for the question was not easily +answered. Maddalena waited in silence until he should speak. + +"Perhaps you are right," he said at last. "You have no means of knowing +it, and I have no means of proving it. Dearest lady, since we have both +changed so much, do you not think you could believe a little in my +friendship?" + +"We ought to be friends--you should be my best friend." + +"I mean to be, if you will let me." + +A long silence followed. Maddalena sat quite still, leaning back in a +corner of the sofa and looking at a picture on the opposite wall. +Ghisleri sat upright on a chair at a little distance from her. + +"You say that you will be my friend, if I will let you," she said +slowly, after several minutes. "Even if you could imagine that I could +not wish it, you ought to be my best friend just the same. If I made you +suffer every hour of the day as I did on that last night, you ought to +bear it, and never have one unkind thought of me. No; do not answer me +yet: I have much more to say. You know that I have always told you just +what I have felt, when I have told you anything about myself. I was +very unhappy when we met at that ball--or, rather, when we parted--so +unhappy that I hardly knew what I said. I ought to have waited and +thought before I spoke. If I could have guessed that you were to be +wounded--well, it is of no use now. I am very, very fond of you. In +spite of everything, if you felt the least love for me still, however +little, I would say, 'Let us be as we were, as long as it can last.' As +it is--" + +She paused and looked at him. He knew what she meant. If there were a +spark of love, she would forget everything and take him back on any +terms. For a moment the old struggle was violently resumed in his heart. +Ought he not, for her sake, to pretend love, and to live out his life as +best he could in the letter of devotion if not in the true spirit of +love? Or would not such an attempt necessarily be a failure, and bring +her more and more unhappiness with each month and year? He only +hesitated for an instant while she paused; then he determined to say +nothing. That was really the turning-point in Pietro Ghisleri's life. + +"As it is," continued Maddalena, a little unsteadily, but with a brave +effort, "nothing but friendship is possible. Let it at least be a true +and honest friendship which neither of us need be ashamed of. Let all +the world see it. Go your way, and I will go mine, so far as the rest is +concerned. If you love Lady Herbert, marry her, if she will have you, +when her mourning is over." + +"I do not love Lady Herbert at all," said Ghisleri with perfect truth. + +"Well--if you should, or any other woman. Let the world say what it +will, it cannot invent anything worse than it has said of me already. +You owe me nothing--nothing but that,--to be a true friend to me always, +as I will be to you as long as I live." + +She put out her hand, and he took it and pressed it. As she felt his, +the bright tears started to her eyes. + +"What is it?" he asked tenderly, bending towards her as he spoke. + +"Nothing," she answered hastily. "Your hand is so thin--how foolish of +me! I suppose you will grow to be as strong as ever?" + +He saw how she still loved him, in spite of all. It was not too late +even now to renew the comedy, but his resolution had grown strong and +unalterable in a few moments. + +"You are much too good to me," he said softly. "I have not deserved +it--but I will try to." + +"Do not let us speak of all this any more for the present," she replied. +"Since we are friends, let us talk of other things, as friends do." + +It was not easy, but Ghisleri did his best, feeling that the effort must +be made sooner or later and had therefore best be made at once. He kept +up the conversation for nearly half an hour, and then rose to go. + +"Are you not very tired?" asked Maddalena, anxiously. + +"Not at all. I am much stronger than I look." + +"Indeed I hope you are!" she answered, looking at him sadly. "Good-bye. +Come soon again." + +"Yes, I will come very soon." + +Ghisleri went out and had himself driven about the city for an hour in +the bright spring weather. It was all new to him now, and he looked at +people and things with a sort of interest he had long forgotten to feel. +A few of his acquaintances recognised him at once, and waved their hats +to him if they chanced to be men, or made pretty gestures with their +hands if they were women. But the greater number did not know him at +first, and stared after the death-like face and the gaunt figure wrapped +in a fur coat that had grown far too wide. + +He was very glad that the first meeting with Maddalena was over, for he +had looked forward to it with considerable anxiety. Something like what +had actually been said about friendship had been inevitable, as he now +saw, but he had not realised how much he was still loved, nor that +Maddalena could so far humiliate herself as to show that she cared for +him still, and to offer a renewal of their old relations. Even now, +could he have seen her pale and tear-stained face as she sat motionless +in the place where he had left her, he might possibly have been weak +enough to yield, strong as his determination was not to do so. But that +sight was spared him, and he was glad that he had held his peace when +she had paused to give him an opportunity of speaking. It was far better +so. To act a miserable play with her, no matter from what so-called +honourable motive of consideration, would be to make her life far more +unhappy than it would ultimately be if she knew the truth. He was +satisfied with what he had done, therefore, when he went back to his +rooms and lay down to rest after the fatigue of his first day out. But +the meeting had left a very sad and painful impression, and all that he +felt of remorse and regret for what he had done was doubled now. He +hated to think that by his fault she was cast upon the world, with +little left to save her, "trying to amuse herself," as she had said, and +he wondered at her gentleness and kindness to himself, so different from +her behaviour at their last meeting. That, at least, comforted him. In a +woman who could thus forgive there must be depths of goodness which +would ultimately come to the surface. He remembered how often he had +thought her hard, unjust, unkind, and, above all, unbelieving, in the +days that succeeded the first outbursts of unreasoning love, and how, +even while loving her, he had not always found it easy not to judge her +harshly. She was very different now. Possibly, since she felt that she +had lost her old power over him, she would be less impatient with him +when she did not understand him, and when he displeased her. Come what +might, treat him as she would, he owed her faithful allegiance and +service--and those at least he could give. He could never atone to her, +but in the changing scenes of the world he might, by devoting to her +interest all the skill and tact he possessed, make her life happier and +easier. + +Before night he received a note from Laura Arden. She wrote that she had +seen him driving, though he had not seen her pass, as he had been +looking in the opposite direction. If he was able to bear the fatigue of +making a call, she begged that he would come to her at any hour he chose +to name, as she wished to speak to him. He answered at once that he +would be at her house on the following day at three o'clock. + +He knew very well what she wanted, and why she did not wait until he +came of his own accord. She meant to speak to him of the duel, and her +questions would be hard to answer, since she was probably in ignorance +of many details of his former life, familiar enough to people of his own +age. He knew, of course, that the world said he had really fought on her +account, and that he could never prevail upon the world to think +otherwise. But he was very anxious that Laura herself should know the +truth. She might forgive him for having let people believe that she had +been concerned in the matter rather than Maddalena dell' Armi, out of +womanly consideration for the latter, but she would assuredly not pardon +him if she continued to suppose that he had made her the subject of +useless gossip. + +The situation was not an easy one. + +At the appointed hour he entered her drawing-room. He was almost +startled by her beauty when he first saw her standing opposite to him. +She had developed in every way during the many weeks since he had seen +her. The perfectly calm and regular life she led had produced its +inevitable good effect. She, on her part, was almost as much shocked by +his looks as Maddalena had been. + +"Have I not asked too much of you?" she inquired, pushing forward a +comfortable chair for him, and arranging a cushion in it. + +"Not at all. Thanks," he added, as he sat down, "you are very good, but +pray do not imagine that I am an invalid." + +"I only saw you in the street," she said, almost apologetically. "I did +not realise how desperately ill you still looked. Please forgive me." + +"But I should have come to-day or to-morrow in any case," protested +Ghisleri. "After what has happened--yes, I think I know why you sent for +me. You have heard what every one is saying. The men who came to see me +before I could go out told me all about it. I knew beforehand that it +would turn out as it has, though we gave our seconds another excuse, as +you have probably also heard, and which, if the truth were known, was +much nearer to betraying the cause of the quarrel than any one supposed. +Am I right? You wished to ask me why I had the impertinence to fight a +duel about you. Is that it?" + +"I would not put it in that way," said Laura. "But I did wish to ask you +why you took the matter up so violently. Please do not enter into the +question now--you are not strong enough. I am very sorry indeed that I +wrote to you." + +"You need not be, for I am quite able to tell you all about it. I have +thought the matter over, and I think you will forgive me if I tell you +the whole story from beginning to end. It is a confidence, and I have +not the least fear that you will betray it. If you are not willing to +hear it, you will always believe that I have wantonly made you the talk +of the town. It is entirely to justify myself in your eyes that I ask +you to listen to what I am going to say. Some points may shock you a +little. Have I your leave?" + +"Yes--if you really wish to tell me for your own sake. For mine, I do +not ask you to tell me anything." + +"It is for my own sake. I am quite selfish. When you have heard all, you +will know more or less the history of my life, of which many people know +certain details." + +He paused and leaned back in his deep chair, closing his eyes a moment +as though he were collecting his thoughts. Laura settled herself to +listen, turning in her seat so as not to face him, but so that she +could look at him while he was speaking. + +"I have never told any one this story," he began, "for I have never had +any good reason for doing so. When I was a very young man I loved the +Princess Corleone, who was, by her maiden name, Donna Bianca +Campodonico, the daughter of the old Duca di Norba who died of +paralysis, and own sister to Gianforte Campodonico, with whom I fought +this duel. I loved that lady with all my heart to the day of her death, +and being young and tactless, I showed it too much. Her brother, +Gianforte, hated me in consequence, because there was talk about his +sister and me--and our names were constantly coupled together. I did my +best to remain on civil terms with him, but at last he insulted me +openly and we fought. This first duel took place a little more than six +years ago, in Naples, where Donna Bianca lived after her marriage. +Campodonico did his best to kill me, and at last I ran him through the +arm. On the ground, without heeding the slight wound which disabled his +right arm, he demanded pistols, but the seconds on both sides refused, +and declared the affair terminated. As the original challenge had come +from me, his position was quite untenable. He sought occasion after that +to insult me again, but I avoided him. Then the Princess fell ill. Two +days before she died, she had herself carried into the drawing-room, and +sent for me. Her brother was already there. She made us both promise +that for her sake we would never quarrel again. We joined hands and +solemnly bound ourselves, for we knew she was dying. Then I took leave +of her. I never saw her again, and I shall not see her hereafter." + +He paused a moment, but not a muscle of his face betrayed emotion. Laura +had listened with breathless interest. + +"Do not say that," she said softly. + +"I lived alone for a long time," continued Ghisleri, without heeding her +remark. "Then at last I came back to the world, and did many things, +mostly bad, of which I need not speak. I fell a little in love, now and +then, and at last somewhat more seriously with a lady of whom we will +not speak, against whose good name no slander had ever been breathed. +Now I come to the events which caused the duel. People have been saying +that you have the evil eye and are a jettatrice. The absurd tale is +repeated from mouth to mouth, and will ultimately make society here +unbearable for you. You are enough of a Roman to understand that. There +was a big dinner at San Giacinto's one night, and Campodonico and I sat +opposite to each other. He believes in this nonsense and I do not. +Pietrasanta mentioned your name, and accidentally broke a glass at +almost the same moment. Then a discussion arose about the existence of +such a thing as the evil eye, and Campodonico and I talked about it +across the table, while everybody listened. We exchanged a few rather +incisive remarks, but nothing more. That was the end of the matter so +far as you were concerned, and it was owing to this discussion that +people said we fought on your account." + +"I see," said Laura. "It was all a mistake, then?" "Yes. But I suppose +Campodonico was irritated. In the drawing-room I lit a cigarette, and +stood some time looking at a copy of Zichy's picture of Tamara falling +into the Demon's arms. Tamara chances to be a very striking likeness of +the Princess Corleone, and if I had reflected that Campodonico might +have also noticed the fact, I would not have stood there looking at it +as I did. But I forgot. Before I knew it, he was at my elbow, evidently +very angry, for he perfectly understood why I liked the picture. He +asked me whether I did not think that a solemn promise such as we had +made might be broken under certain circumstances. I said I did not think +so. He lost his temper completely, and said I was a coward. I still +refused to quarrel with him, and he grew more and more insulting, until +at last he began a sentence which I would not let him end, to the effect +that, could Donna Bianca have been there to judge us both, she might +wish the promise broken--I suppose that would have been his +inference--if she could have seen that the man she had loved had fallen +so low as to love the lady to whom I referred a little while ago. He +named her. I answered that Donna Bianca never meant that our promise +should shield the liar who slandered a good and defenceless woman, +because his name chanced to be Campodonico. We told our seconds that we +had quarrelled about the talent of Zichy, the painter of the picture, +because no immediate and better excuse suggested itself. That is the +whole story." + +"It is a very strange one," said Laura, in a low voice, and looking up +at his pale face. "If people only knew the truth about what they see! +Tell me, Signor Ghisleri, is it a fact that you did not fire at him?" + +"Yes." + +"Why did you not?" + +"Because--if you really care to know--I still felt bound to my promise, +and I should never have forgiven myself if I had hurt him. Will you say +that you understand the rest of the story, and will you forgive me if I +let it be thought that the duel was about you?" + +"Indeed I forgive you," Laura answered without hesitation. "You acted +splendidly all through, and I would not--" + +"Please do not praise me," said Ghisleri, interrupting her with word and +gesture. "Whatever I did was only the consequence of former actions of +mine, most of which were bad in themselves. Besides, I have told you all +this by way of an apology, and I thank you very sincerely for accepting +it. Let the matter end there." + +"Very well. That need not prevent me from thinking what I please, need +it?" + +"I shall always be really grateful for any kind thought you give me." + +Laura was silent for a moment. She was surprised to find that her old +feeling of dislike for him had greatly diminished. She had not even +noticed it when he had entered the room, for she had been at once struck +by his appearance of ill-health, and her first instinct had been that of +sympathy for him. And now, whatever effect his personality produced on +her, she could hardly conceal her admiration of his conduct. He had told +the story very simply, and she felt that he had told it truthfully, and +that she was able to judge of the man from a new point of view. She +could not but appreciate the courage he had shown in bearing insult, and +at last, in not returning his adversary's fire, and he rose in her +estimation because he had done these things for the sake of a woman he +had really loved. + +"May I ask you one question?" she inquired after the pause. + +"Of course, and I will answer it if I can." + +"I dare say you remember something you told me about yourself a long +time ago--how you distrust yourself, and torment yourself about +everything you do. Will you tell me whether you have found any fault +with your own conduct in this affair, apart from everything which went +before the dinner party at which you met Don Gianforte? It would +interest me very much to know." + +Ghisleri thought over his answer for a few seconds before he gave it. + +"Except in so far as I involved your name in the affair," he said, "I do +not think I reproach myself with anything very definite." + +He had hardly finished speaking when the door opened, and Donald +announced Don Francesco and Donna Adele Savelli. A very slight shadow +passed over Laura's face, as she rose to meet her step-sister, but +Ghisleri remained cold and impassive. Adele started perceptibly, as +Laura had done, when she saw him, and Ghisleri was struck by the change +in her own appearance. Her expression was that of a woman who is in +almost constant pain, and who has grown restless under it, and fears its +return at any moment. Her eyes turned uneasily, glancing about the room +in all directions, and avoiding the faces of those present. She was +pale, too, and looked altogether ill. + +"I am so glad to see you, Ghisleri," she said, after she had kissed the +air somewhere in the neighbourhood of Laura's cheek. "I had no idea you +were out already, and as we are going away to-morrow, I was afraid I +might not meet you." + +"Are you going out of town so soon?" asked Ghisleri, in some surprise. + +"Yes, I am ill, and they say I must go to the country. Do you remember +when you met me in the street, and recommended sulphonal? I took it, and +it did me good for some time. But then, all at once, I found it did not +act so well, and I lost my sleep again. I want the doctors to give me +something, but they say all those things become a habit--chloral, you +know, and morphia, and a great many things. As if I cared! I would not +mind any habit if I could only sleep--and I see things all night--ugh! +it is horrible! Have you ever had insomnia? It is quite the most +dreadful thing in the world." + +She shuddered, and Ghisleri could see well enough that the suffering to +which she referred was not at all imaginary. + +"No," he answered. "I have never had anything of that kind. When I go to +bed at all I sleep five or six hours very soundly." + +"How I envy you that! Even five or six hours--I, who used to sleep nine, +and always ten after a ball. And now I very often do not close my eyes +all night. The sulphonal did me so much good. Can you not tell me of +something else?" + +"The best way to get over it would be to find out what causes it, and +cure that," observed Ghisleri. "Generally, too, a quiet and healthy +life, exercise, plain food, and a good conscience will do good." He +laughed a little as he spoke, and then he noticed that Adele was looking +at him rather strangely. He wondered idly whether her mind were +wandering in some other direction. + +"Of course," he continued, "you have no idea of what produces the +trouble. If you could find that out, it would be simpler." + +"Yes, indeed," assented Adele, with a forced smile. "If all that is +necessary were to have a good conscience and walk an hour or two every +day, I should soon get well." + +"I have no doubt you will in any case. Are you going to Gerano, or to +your own place?" + +"To Gerano. It is warmer. Castel Savello is too high for the spring. I +should freeze there. It would be a charity if you would drive out and +spend a day or two with us, when you are stronger. I wish you would come +out and see us, Laura," she said, turning to her step-sister, to whom +Francesco was talking in a low voice. "You used to like Gerano when we +were girls. Do you remember dear old Don Tebaldo, who used to shed tears +because you were a Protestant?" + +"Indeed I do. I hear he is alive still. It is two years since I was +there the last time. Francesco has been telling me all about your +illness. I am so sorry. I should think you would do better to consult +some good specialist. But, of course, the country can do you no harm." + +"I hope not," said Adele, with sudden despondency. "I have borne enough +already. I could not bear much more." + +"Nobody can understand what is the matter with her," observed Francesco, +and his tone showed that he did not care. + +"You have let her dance too much this winter," said Laura, addressing +him. "You ought to keep her from over-tiring herself." + +"It is not easy to prevent Adele from doing anything she wishes to do," +answered Savelli. "This winter she has insisted on going everywhere. I +have warned her a hundred times, but she would not listen to me, and of +course this is the result." + +"When did it begin?" asked Ghisleri, who seemed interested in Adele's +mysterious illness. "When did you first lose your sleep?" + +"You remember," she answered. "We were just talking of our meeting in +the street, and the sulphonal. It was about that time--a little before +that, of course, for I had been suffering several days when I met you." + +"Ah, yes--I remember when that was," said Ghisleri, in a tone of +reflection. + +He joined in the conversation during a few minutes longer, and then took +leave of the three. Formerly he would have gone to spend an hour or two +with Maddalena, but he had no inclination to do so now. He would gladly +have stayed with Laura if the Savelli couple had not come. He wished to +be alone, now, and to think over what he had done. It was the first time +that he had ever told the story of his love for Bianca Corleone to any +one, and calm as he had seemed while telling it, he had felt a very +strong emotion. He was glad to be at home again, alone with his own +thoughts, and with the picture that reminded him of the dead woman. He +knew that she would have forgiven him for speaking of her to-day as he +had spoken, and to such a woman as Laura Arden. For in his heart he +compared the two. There had been grand lines in Bianca Corleone's +character, as there were in that of her passionate brother, as Ghisleri +believed there must be in Laura Arden's also, and great generosities, +the readiness to go to any length for the sake of real passion, the +power to hate honestly, to love faithfully, and to forgive wholly--all +things which Pietro missed in himself. And Laura had to-day waked the +memory of that great love which had once filled his existence, and which +had not ended with the life that had gone out before its day, in all its +beauty and freshness. He was grateful to her for that, and he sat long +in his chair after his lonely meal, thinking of her and of the other, +and of poor Maddalena dell' Armi, whose very name, sounding in his +imagination, sent a throb of remorse through his heart. + +A pencil lay near him and he took a sheet of paper and began to write, +as he often did when he was alone, scribbling verses without rhyme, and +often with little meaning except in their connection with his thoughts. +He was no poet. + + "A sweet, dark woman, with sad, holy eyes, + Laid her cool hand upon my heart to-day, + And touched the dear dead thing that's buried there. + Her saintly magic cannot make it live, + Nor sting once more with passionate deep thrill + The bright torn flesh where my lost love breathed last. + + "She has no miracles for me--nor God + Forgiveness, nor earth healing--nor death fear. + I think I fear life more--and yet, to live + Were easy work, could I but learn to die; + As, if I learned to live, I should hate death. + But I cannot hate death--not even death-- + Since that is dead which made death hateful once; + Nor hate I anything; let all live on, + Just and unjust, bad, good, indifferent, + Sinner and saint, man, devil, angel, martyr-- + What are they all to me? Good night, sweet rest-- + I wish you most what I can find the least. + We meet again soon. Have you heard the talk + About the latest scandal of our town? + No? Nor have I. I care less than I did + About the men and women I have known. + Good night--and thanks for being kind to me." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + +Donna Adele Savelli was ill. There was no denying the fact, though her +husband had ignored it as long as possible, and was very much annoyed to +find that he could not continue to do so until the usual time for moving +to the country arrived. As has been said already, the world attributed +her ill-health to some unexpected awakening of the family skeleton, and +when the Savelli couple suddenly retired to Gerano, it was sure that +Francesco had lost money and that they had gone for economy. But there +was no lack of funds in Casa Savelli. That ancient and excellent house +had, as a family, a keen appreciation of values great and small, and +continued to put away more of its income in safe investments than any +one knew of. Nor was there any other trouble to account for Adele's +illness, so far as any member of the household could judge. Every one +else was well, including the children. Everybody was prosperous. It was +not conceivable that Adele should have taken Herbert Arden's death to +heart in a way to endanger her own health. She might, perhaps, feel some +remorse for having spoken of him as she had--for Savelli had discovered +that something, at least, of the gossip could be traced to her--but she +could not be supposed to care so much as to fall ill. What she suffered +from was evidently some one of those mysterious nervous diseases which, +in Francesco's opinion, modern medical science had invented expressly in +order that it might deal with them. Unfortunately, the particular man of +learning who could cure Adele was not forthcoming. The doctors who were +consulted said that something was preying on her mind, and when she +assured them that this was not the case, they shrugged their shoulders +and prescribed soothing medicines, country air, and exercise. She +particularly dreaded the night, and could not bear to be left alone for +a moment after dark. She said she saw things; when asked what things she +saw, she seemed to draw upon her imagination. Francesco began to fear +that she might go mad, though there was no insanity in the Braccio +family. The prospect was not pleasing, and he would have greatly +preferred that she should die and leave him at liberty to marry Laura +Arden. He never dreamed that the latter would refuse to wed the heir of +all the Savelli, if he were free to ask her hand, and in his cautious, +unenterprising fashion he loved her still, while remaining religiously +faithful to his wife--and not, on the whole, treating her unkindly. The +consequence of all this was that he made her try the simple cure +suggested by the doctors, and accompanied her to Gerano in the early +spring. + +The hereditary stronghold from which the head of the Braccio family took +his principal title was a vast and gloomy fortress in the lower range of +the Sabine mountains, situated in a beautiful country, and overlooking +the broad Campagna that lay between it and the distant sea. The great +dark walls were flanked by round towers, and were in some places ten and +twelve feet thick, so that the deep embrasures of the windows were in +themselves like little rooms opening off the great halls behind. The +furniture was almost all old, and was well in keeping with the vaulted +ceilings, the frescoed friezes, and the dark marble door-posts. Donna +Adele's sleeping-chamber was as large as most of the drawing-rooms in +the Palazzo Braccio, and her dressing-room was almost of the same size. +To reach the hall in which she and her husband dined, it was necessary +to traverse five other rooms and a vaulted passage fifty or sixty yards +long, in which the steps of any one who passed echoed and rang on the +stone pavement, and echoed again during some seconds afterwards in a +rather uncanny fashion. The sitting-room was next to the dining-hall, +and consequently also at a great distance from the bedrooms. There was +more of comfort in it than elsewhere, for the walls were hung with +tapestries, and there was a carpet on the floor, whereas in the other +apartments there were only rugs thrown down here and there, where they +were most needed; here, too, the doors had heavy curtains. But, on the +whole, a more ghostly and gloomy place than the castle of Gerano could +hardly be imagined, especially at dusk when the blackness deepened in +the remote corners and recesses of the huge chambers, and the sculptured +corbels of grey stone, high up at the spring of each arch, grew shadowy +and alive with hideous grimaces in the gathering dimness. + +Adele had never been subject to any fear of the supernatural, and the +old place was so familiar to her from childhood, that she had looked +forward with pleasure to seeing it again. She was attached to almost +everything connected with it, to the walls themselves, to her own rooms, +to the ugly corbels, to the lame old warder, Giacomo, and to his wife +who helped him to take care of the rooms. She was a woman quite capable +of that sort of feeling, and capable, indeed, of much more, had it +fallen in her path. She could not have hated as she did, if she had not +had some power to love also. Circumstances, however, had developed the +one far more than the other, for her first great passion had been +jealousy. + +She and Francesco reached the castle in the afternoon of the day +following their visit to Laura Arden. The weather was fine and the +westering sun streamed through the broad windows and lent everything a +passing air of life and almost of gaiety. During the first hours, Adele +felt that she must soon be better, and that she could find some rest at +last in the atmosphere which recalled her childish days and all her +peaceful girlhood. + +But when the sun was low and the golden light turned to purple and then +to fainter hues, and died away into twilight, she shivered as she sat in +the deep window-seat, and she called to her husband, telling him to +order the lamps. + +"You used to like the dusk," he observed, as he tugged at the +old-fashioned bell-rope. "I cannot imagine what makes you so afraid of +being in the dark." + +"Nor I," she said nervously. "It must be part of my illness. Please have +as much light as possible, and lamps in the passage and in our rooms as +well." + +"I suppose candles will do," answered Savelli. "I do not believe there +are more than half a dozen lamps out here. Your people always bring them +when they come." + +"Oh, candles, then--anything! Only let me have plenty of light. If there +were no night, I should get well." + +"Unfortunately, nature has not provided that form of cure for +invalids," said Savelli, with a laugh. "But we will do our best," he +added, always willing to humour his wife in anything reasonable. + +The servants' quarters were very far away, and several minutes elapsed +before a man appeared, and Francesco could give the necessary orders. +The gloom deepened, and Adele came from her place at the window, +evidently in some sort of distress. She sat down close to her +husband--almost cowering at his side. He could not see her face clearly, +but he understood that she was frightened. + +"I wish you would tell me what it is you see in the dark," he said, with +a sort of good-natured impatience. + +"Oh, please do not talk about it!" she cried. "Talk to me of something +else--talk, for Heaven's sake, talk, until they bring the lamps! I +sometimes think I shall go mad when there is no light." + +It is not a particularly easy affair to comply, at short notice, with +such a request for voluble conversation, especially when there is no +extraordinary sympathy between two people, nor any close community of +ideas. But it chanced that Savelli had been reading the papers he had +brought with him, and he began to tell Adele the news he had read, so +that he managed to keep up a fairly continuous series of sentences until +the first lamp was placed on the table. + +"Thank you, Carissimo," she said. "No shade!" she exclaimed quickly, as +the man was about to slip one over the light. + +"Do you feel better now?" inquired Francesco, with some amusement. + +"Yes--much better," she answered, drawing a long breath, and seating +herself by the table in the full glare of the unshaded lamp. "I only ask +one thing," she continued: "Do not leave me if you can help it, and go +with me when we go to our room. I am ashamed of it, but I am so nervous +that I am positively afraid to be alone." + +"Would it not be better to have a nurse out, to stay with you all the +time?" inquired Francesco, who had an eye to his own liberty and +comfort, and had no idea of spending several weeks in perpetual +attendance on his wife. "And there is your maid, too. She might help." + +"I have taken such a dislike to that woman that I hate the sight of +her." + +"I suppose that is a part of your illness," answered her husband +philosophically. + +On that first evening he scrupulously fulfilled her wishes, and followed +her closely when she went from room to room. He was in a certain degree +anxious, for her allusion to possible madness coincided with his own +preconceived opinion of her case, and he dreaded such a termination very +greatly. He saw that what she said was quite true, and that she was +unaffectedly frightened if he left her side for a moment. On the +following day he sent a messenger to the city to procure a nurse, for he +saw that he could not otherwise count on an hour's freedom. Being a +careful man, he wished that Adele might have been contented to be +followed about by her maid and a woman from the place, but she refused +altogether to agree to such an arrangement. In her nervous condition, +she could not bear the constant presence of a person for whom she felt +an unreasoning repulsion. Moreover, she had almost decided to send Lucia +away and to get some one more congenial in her place. + +Several days passed in this way, and if she was no better she was not +worse. She drove and walked in the spring sunshine, and felt refreshed +by the clear air of the country, but the nights were as unbearable as +ever,--endless, ghostly, full of imaginary horrors, although the lamps +burned brightly in her room till sunrise, and the patient nurse sat by +her bedside reading to herself, and sometimes reading aloud when Adele +desired it. Occasionally, and more often towards morning, snatches of +broken sleep interrupted the monotony of the long-drawn-out suffering. + +Adele had implored the doctor who had charge of her case to give her +opiates, or at least chloral; but he had felt great hope that the change +to a country life would produce an immediate good effect, and had +represented to her in terms almost exaggerated the danger of taking such +remedies. The habit once formed, he said, soon became a slavery, and in +nervous organisations like hers was very hard to break. People who took +chloral often ended by taking morphia, and Donna Adele had doubtless +heard enough about the consequences of employing this drug to dread it, +as all sensible persons did. Adele was very far from being persuaded, +but as she could not procure what she wanted without a doctor's order, +which she could not obtain, she was obliged to fall back on the +sulphonal which Ghisleri had recommended to her. She took it in large +quantities, but it had almost ceased to produce any effect, though she +attributed the little rest she got to its influence. The doctor was to +come out and see her at the end of a week, unless sent for especially. +Before the seven days were out, however, a crisis occurred, brought +about by a slight accident, which made his presence imperatively +necessary. + +One evening, immediately after dinner, Adele had seated herself in a low +chair by the table in the drawing-room, and had taken up a novel. For a +wonder, it had interested her when she had begun it in the afternoon, +and she returned to it with unwonted delight, looking forward to the +prospect of losing herself in the story during a few hours before going +to bed. Not far from her Savelli sat with that day's papers, gleaning +the news of the day in an idle fashion, and smoking a cigarette. He +rarely smoked anything else, but for some reason or other, he had, on +this particular night, discovered that only a cigar would satisfy him. +Many men are familiar with that craving, but the satisfaction of it +rarely leads to distinct and important results. Francesco rose from his +seat, laid down his paper, and went in search of what he wanted, well +knowing that he could get it much faster than by a servant, and +forgetting that he must leave his wife alone for a few minutes in order +to go to his dressing-room where he kept the box. As has been said, the +drawing-room was carpeted, and his step made very little noise. Adele, +intensely interested in what she was reading, paid less attention to his +movements than usual, and indeed supposed that he had only risen to get +something from another table. The heavily curtained door which opened +upon the great vaulted passage before mentioned was behind her as she +sat, and she did not realise that Francesco was gone until she heard his +echoing footsteps on the stone pavement outside. Then she started, and +almost dropped her book. She held her breath for a moment and then +called him. But he walked quickly, and was already out of hearing. Only +the booming echo reached her through the curtains, reverberated, and +died away. There was nothing to be done but to wait, for she had not the +courage to face the dim passage alone and run after him. She clutched +her book tightly and tried to read again, pronouncing almost aloud the +words she saw. A minute or two passed, and then she heard the echo +again. Francesco was returning. No, it was not his walk. She turned very +pale as she listened. It was the step of a very lame man, irregular and +painful. The novel fell to the ground, and she grasped the arms of her +chair. It was exactly like Arden's step; she had heard it before, in the +gallery at her father's palace, where the floor was of marble. Nearer +and nearer it came, in a sort of triple measure--two shorts and a long, +like an anapæst--and the sharp click of the stick between. She tried to +look behind her, but her blood froze in her veins, and she could not +move. Every instant increased her agony of fear. A moment more and +Herbert Arden would be upon her. Suddenly a second echo, that of +Francesco Savelli's firm, quick step reached her ears. Then she heard +voices, and as the curtain was lifted she recognised the tones of old +Giacomo, the lame warder, who had met her husband in the passage, and +was asking for the orders to be given to the carter who started for +Rome every other night and brought back such provisions as could not be +obtained in Gerano. + +Adele sank back in her chair, almost fainting, in her sudden relief from +her ghostly fears. Savelli talked some time with Giacomo. With a great +effort at self-command, Adele took up her novel again and held it before +her eyes, while her heart beat with terrible violence after having +almost stood still while the fright had lasted. Then Francesco came in, +with a lighted cigar between his teeth. + +"Do you wish to send anything to Rome--any message?" he asked. "Nothing +else, Giacomo," he said, as he saw that she shook her head. + +"Good rest, Excellency," she heard Giacomo say. Then the curtain +dropped, the door was closed from without, and she listened once more to +the lame man's retreating footsteps--terribly like Herbert Arden's walk, +though she was not frightened now. + +"I asked you not to leave me alone," she said, as Savelli resumed his +seat and took up the paper again. + +"It was only for a minute," he answered indifferently. "I wanted a +cigar. I hope you were not frightened this time." + +"No. But I might have been. Another time, please ring for what you +want." + +Savelli, who was already deep in the local news about Rome, made an +inarticulate reply intended for assent, and nothing more was said. Adele +took up her book again and did her best to read, but without +understanding a word as she followed the lines. + +That night, in despair, she swallowed a larger dose of sulphonal than +she had ever taken before. The consequence was that towards two o'clock +she fell asleep and seemed more quiet than usual, as the nurse watched +her. An hour passed without her waking, then another, and then the dawn +stole through the panes of the deep windows, and daylight came at last. +The room was quite light, and Adele was generally awake at that hour. +But this morning she slept on. The nurse was accustomed to take away +the lamps as soon as Adele needed them no longer, not extinguishing them +in the room on account of the disagreeable smell they made. It chanced +on this occasion--or fate had decreed it--that one of these gave signs +of going out. The nurse rose very softly and took it away, moving +noiselessly in her felt slippers, passing through the open door of the +dressing-room in order to reach the corridor in which the lamps were +left to be taken and cleaned at a later hour. She set the one she +carried upon a deal table which stood there, and tried to put it out, so +as to leave no part of the wick still smouldering, lest it should smoke. +She was a very careful and methodical woman, and took pains to be neat +in doing the smallest things. Just now, too, she was in no hurry, for it +was broad daylight, and Adele would not be nervous if she awoke and +found herself alone. + +And Adele was awake. She opened her eyes wearily, realised that there +was no one beside her, and sat up staring at the bright window. Being +nervous, restless, and never at any time languid, she got up, threw a +wrapper over her, and went to the door of the dressing-room, meaning to +look at the rising sun, which was visible from the window on the other +side, the dressing-room itself being at one of the angles of the castle, +with a door leading from the corner of it into the tower. + +Adele paused on the threshold, started, stared at something, turned, and +uttered a piercing scream of terror. A moment later she fell in a heap +upon the floor. She had distinctly seen Herbert Arden's figure standing +at one of the windows, his head and hands alone concealed by the inner +shutter which, by an accident, was not wide open, but was turned about +half-way towards the panes. He was dressed in dark blue serge, as she +had often seen him in life, with rather wide trousers almost concealing +the feet, and a round jacket. She had even seen how the cloth was +stretched at the place where his shoulder was most crooked, and how it +hung loosely about his thin figure below that point. He was standing +close to the window, with his back almost quite turned towards her, +apparently looking out, though the shutter hid his face. The whole +attitude was precisely as she had often noticed it when he was alive, +and chanced to be looking at something in the street--the misshapen, +protruding shoulder, the right leg bent in more than the other, not a +detail was missing as she came upon the vision suddenly in the cold +morning light. + +The nurse was at her side almost instantly, bending over her and raising +her as well as she could. A moment later the maid rushed in,--she slept +on the other side of the corridor where the nurse had left the +lamp,--and then Francesco Savelli himself, who temporarily occupied a +room next to Adele's and who appeared, robed in a wide dressing-gown of +dark brown velvet, and showing signs of considerable anxiety. He reached +the door before which his wife had fainted and lifted her in his arms. +As he regained his upright position, his eyes naturally fell upon the +figure standing at the window. His sight was not remarkably good, and +from the fact of the shutter being half closed the dressing-room was +darker than the sleeping-chamber. The impression he had was strong and +distinct. + +"Who is that man?" he asked, staring at what he saw, while he held +Adele's unconscious form in his arms. + +The nurse and the maid both started and looked round. The latter laughed +a little, involuntarily. + +"It is not a man, Excellency," she said. "It is Donna Adele's serge +driving cloak. I hung it there last night because there are not enough +hooks in the dressing-room for all her Excellency's things." + +She went to the window and took the mantle, which had been hung upon the +knob of the old-fashioned bolt by the two tapes sewn under the shoulders +for the purpose. The folds of the lower part had taken the precise shape +of a man's wide trousers, and the cape, falling half way only, hung +exactly like a jacket, the fulness caused by gathering the upper +portion together at one point, giving the appearance of a hump on a +man's back. + +"That was what frightened her," said Savelli, as he turned away with his +burden. "I do not wonder--the thing looked just as Lord Herbert did when +he used to stand at the window." + +Adele came to herself in a state of the utmost prostration. Her husband +explained to her carefully what had happened, and tried to persuade her +that she had been the victim of an optical illusion, but though she did +not deny this, he could see that the occurrence had produced a very deep +impression on her mind, and had perhaps had an even more serious effect +on her nerves. He despatched a messenger to Rome for the doctor, and +after doing all he could left her to the care of her nurse and maid and +went out for a walk in the hills, glad to be free for a while from the +irksome task imposed upon him when he remained at home. + +While making the most desperate attempts to control herself, Adele was +in a state of the wildest and most conflicting emotion. Her strength +returned, indeed, in a certain measure after a few hours, but her +distress seemed rather to increase than to diminish, when she was able +to walk about the room and submit to being dressed. Her maid irritated +her unaccountably, too, and at last, giving way to the impulse she had +felt so long, she told her that she must go at the end of the month. + +The maid, Lucia by name, had for some time expected that her days in +Casa Savelli were numbered, for Adele had shown her dislike very plainly +of late, so that the woman did not show much surprise, and accepted her +dismissal respectfully and quietly, promising herself to tell tales in +her next place concerning Adele's toilette which, though without the +slightest foundation, would be repeated and believed all over Rome. + +Later in the day Adele shut herself up in her room, at the time when the +sunshine was streaming in and making everything look bright and +cheerful. She stayed there a long time, and the thoughtful Lucia, +watching her through the keyhole, saw with surprise that her mistress +spent almost an hour upon her knees before the dark old crucifix which +hung above the prayer-stool opposite to the door of the dressing-room. +She noticed that Adele from time to time beat her breast, and then +buried her face in her hands for many minutes. The nurse was asleep far +away and Lucia was quite safe. At last Adele rose, and as though acting +under an irresistible impulse sat down at a table on which she kept her +own writing materials, and began to write rapidly. For a long time she +kept her seat, and her hand moved quickly over the paper. Then, when she +seemed to have finished, she took up the sheets as though she meant to +read them over, and did in fact read a few lines. She dropped the paper +suddenly, and Lucia saw the look of horror that was in her white face. +She seemed to hesitate, rose, turned, and made two steps towards the +crucifix, then returned, and hastily folded up the lengthy letter and +slipped it into a large envelope, on which she wrote an address before +she left the table a second time. When she opened the door of the +dressing-room to call Lucia, the maid was quietly seated by a window +with a piece of needle-work, and rose respectfully as her mistress +entered. + +"Send me Giacomo," said Adele, holding the letter in her hand, but as +Lucia went towards the door, she stopped her. "No," she said suddenly. +"Take this to him yourself; tell him to have it registered at once, and +to bring me back the receipt from the post-office. Tell him to be +careful, as it is very important. I am going to lie down. Come to me +some time before sunset." + +Lucia took the letter and went out into the corridor. Adele listened a +moment, then went back into her room, bolting the door behind her, as +well as turning the key in the lock. Since her fright in the morning, +she instinctively barricaded herself on that side. But at present the +sunshine was so bright and the place was so cheerful that her fears +seemed almost groundless. + +She lay down and closed her eyes. In spite of all the emotions of terror +she had suffered on the previous evening and to-day, and although the +writing of any letter so long as the one she had just finished must +necessarily be very tiring, she felt better than she had been for a long +time, and would perhaps have fallen asleep if the doctor had not arrived +from Rome soon afterwards. + +On learning all that had happened, he yielded at last to necessity, and +gave her chloral to take in small doses, showing her how to use it. It +was evident that unless she slept she must break down altogether before +long, and it was no longer safe to let nature have her own way. He had +brought the medicine with him, and gave it into Francesco's keeping, +cautioning him not to let her use it in larger quantities than he had +prescribed. After giving various pieces of good advice he returned to +the city. + +Lucia gave her mistress the receipt for the registered letter, and Adele +put it away in the small jewel-case she had brought with her to the +country. That night she took the chloral, and fell asleep peacefully +before half-past eleven o'clock, not to awake until nearly nine on the +following morning. She felt so much better for the one night's rest that +she went for a long walk with her husband, ate well for the first time +in many weeks, and went to bed again almost without having felt a +sensation of fear all day nor during the evening. Once more the chloral +had the desired effect, and on the second morning she began to imagine +that she was recovering. The world looked bright and cheerful, the +swallows wheeled and darted before her windows, and the thrushes and +blackbirds sang far down among the fruit-trees. Even Francesco was less +tiresome and unsympathetic than usual. She was in such a good humour +that she almost repented of having dismissed Lucia. + +Then the blow came. The post brought her a letter addressed in a small, +even handwriting, very plain and entirely without flourish or +ornament--such a hand as learned men and theologians often write. The +contents read as follows: + + "MOST EXCELLENT PRINCESS, I have to inform you that I have just + received, registered, and evidently addressed by your most excellent + hand, an envelope bearing the Gerano postmark, but containing only + four blank sheets of ordinary writing paper. As I cannot suppose + that your Excellency has designed to make me the object of a jest, + and as it is to be feared that the blank paper has been substituted + for a writing of importance, by some malicious person, I have + immediately informed your Excellency of what has occurred. Awaiting + any instruction or enlightenment with regard to this subject which + it may please you, most Excellent Princess, to communicate, I write + myself + + "Your Excellency's most humble, obedient servant, + + "BONAVENTURA, R.R. P.P.O. Min." + +Now Padre Bonaventura of the Minor Order of St. Francis was Adele's +confessor in Rome. After the long struggle which Lucia had watched +through the door, Adele's conscience had got the upper hand, aided by +the belief that in following its dictates she would be doing the best +she could towards recovering her peace of mind. Not being willing to go +to the parish priest of Gerano, who had known her and all her family +from her childhood, and who was by no means a man able to give very wise +advice in difficult cases, and being, moreover, afraid of rousing her +husband's suspicions if she insisted upon going to Rome merely to +confess, she had written out a most careful confession of those sins of +which she accused herself, and, as is allowable in extreme cases, had +sent it by post to Padre Bonaventura. + +The news that such a document had never reached its destination would +have been enough to disturb most people. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + +Laura Arden's plans for the summer were not by any means settled, but +she was anxious to leave Rome soon, both because travelling in the heat +would be bad for little Herbert, and because she wished to quit the +rather expensive apartment in which she had continued to live after her +husband's death. A far smaller and less pretentious dwelling would be +amply sufficient for her next winter, and in the meantime she intended +to go to some quiet town either in Switzerland or by the seaside, and to +keep as much alone as possible. Her mother might be willing to spend a +month or two with her, and Laura would be very glad of her company, but +there was no one else whose society she desired. She could, of course, +go to England and stay at her brother-in-law's house in solemn and +solitary state, but she feared the long journey for her child, and she +cared little for the sort of existence she must lead in the magnificent +country-seat, in the absence of the Lulworths themselves. It would be +pleasant to lead a very simple and quiet life somewhere out of the +world, and as far as possible from the scene of all her sufferings. If +Adele and Francesco had not appeared while Ghisleri was making his first +visit, she would probably have asked his advice. He had been almost +everywhere, and being himself fond of solitude, would in all likelihood +have told her of some beautiful and secluded spot where she could live +in the way she desired. But in the presence of her step-sister she had +not cared to speak on the subject. + +After they had left her she thought a long time of Ghisleri and his +story, and, for the first time in her life, she wished she might see him +again before long. He had shown her a side of himself which she had +neither seen nor guessed at before, and she began to understand, dimly +at first and then more clearly, the strong liking her husband had always +shown for him. He was capable of deep and earnest beliefs and of high +and generous impulses, in spite of his contempt for himself and of the +irregular life he led. His present existence, so far as she knew +anything of it, she condemned as unworthy. She was not, however, a woman +so easily shocked at the spectacle of evil in the lives of others as +might have been expected. There was a great deal of sound good sense in +the composition of her character, and she had seen enough of the world +to have learnt that perfection is a word used to define what is a little +better than the average. What she had disliked in Ghisleri from her +first acquaintance with him was not connected with his reputation, of +which, at that time, she had known very little. Besides, though people +called him fast and wild and more or less heartless, he was liked, on +the whole, as much as any unmarried man in society. He was known to be +honourable, courageous, and very discreet, and the latter quality almost +invariably brings its reward in the end. That he should have been +entangled in more than one love affair was only what was to be expected +of such a man, at two or three and thirty years of age, and no one +really considered him any the worse on that account, while the great +majority of women thought him vastly more interesting for that very +reason. Laura was not, perhaps, so entirely different from the rest of +her sex as Ghisleri was fond of believing. Her education had not been +that of young Roman girls, it is true, and the singular circumstances of +her short married life had not developed her character in the same +direction as theirs generally was by matrimony. But in real womanliness +she was as much a woman as any of them, liable to the same influences +and to the same class of enthusiasms. Because she had loved and married +Herbert Arden, it did not follow that she could not and did not admire +all that was brave and generous and strong, independently of moral +weakness and faults. + +Arden himself, indeed, though he had excited her pity by his physical +defects, had commanded her respect by the manly courage he showed under +all his sufferings. She had been able to forget his deformity in the +superior gifts of intelligence and heart which had unquestionably been +his, and, after all, she had loved him most because she had felt that +but for an accident he would have been pre-eminently a manly man. +Cripple as he was, she had always known that she could rely on him, and +her instinct had always told her that he could protect her. + +But she had never trusted Ghisleri. He had the misfortune to show his +worst side to most people, and he had shown it to her. She had seen more +than once that he was ready to undertake and carry out almost anything +for his friend's sake, and she had been honestly grateful to him for all +he had done. But she had not been able, until now, to shake off that +feeling of distrust and timid dislike she had always felt in his +presence. She had, indeed, succeeded tolerably well in hiding it from +him, but it had always made her cold in conversation and somewhat formal +in manner, and he, being outwardly a rather formal and cold man had, so +to say, put himself in harmony with her key. For the first time in their +acquaintance, and under pressure of what he considered necessity, he had +suddenly unbent, and had told her the principal story of his life with a +frankness and simplicity that had charmed her. From that hour she judged +him differently. After that first visit, he went often to see her, and +on each occasion he felt drawn more closely to her than before. + +"You are very much changed," he said to her one day. "Do you mind my +saying it?" + +"Not in the least," Laura answered, with a smile. "But in what way am I +different?" + +"In one great thing, I think. You used to be very imposingly calm with +me. You never seemed quite willing to speak freely about anything. Now, +it is almost always you who make me talk by making me feel that you will +talk yourself. That is not very clearly put, is it? I do not know +whether you ever disliked me--if you did, you never showed it. But I +really begin to think that you almost like me. Is there any truth in +that?" + +"Yes--a great deal." She smiled again. "More truth than you guess--for I +do not mind saying it since it is all over. I did not like you, and I +used to try and hide it. But I like you now, and I am quite willing that +you should know it." + +"That is good of you--good as everything you do is. But I would really +like to know why you have changed your mind. May I?" + +"Because I have found out that you are not what I took you for." + +"Most discoveries of that kind are disappointments," observed Ghisleri, +with a dry laugh. + +"That is just the sort of remark I used to dislike you for," said Laura. +"The world is not all bad, and you know it. Yet out of ten observations +you make, nine, at least, would lead one to believe that you think it +is." + +"Excepting yourself, we are all as bad as we can be. What is the use of +denying it?" + +"We are not all bad, and I do not choose to be made an exception of. I +am just like other people, or I should be if I were placed as they are. +I not only am sure that you are not a bad man, but I am quite convinced +that in some ways you are a very good one." + +"What an odd mistake!" + +"Why do you persistently try to make yourself out worse than you are, +and to show your worst side to the world?" + +"I suppose that is the side most apparent to myself," answered Ghisleri. +"I cannot help seeing it." + +"Because you are not Launcelot, you take yourself for Cæsar Borgia--" + +"That would be flattering myself too much. Borgia was by far the more +intelligent of the two. Say Thersites." + +"I know nothing about Thersites." + +"Then say Judas. There seems to be very little difference of opinion as +to that personage's moral obliquity," Ghisleri laughed. + +"Very well," said Laura, gravely. "I suppose you have no doubt, then, +that Judas would have acted as you did in your affair with Don +Gianforte. He would, of course, have submitted to insult rather than +break a promise, and would have allowed--" + +"Will you please stop, Lady Herbert?" Ghisleri fixed his blue eyes on +her. + +"No, I will not," answered Laura, with decision. "What I like about you +is precisely what you try the most to hide, and I mean to see it and to +make you see it, if possible. You would be much happier if you could. I +suppose that if the majority of people could hear us talking now, they +would think our conversation utterly absurd. They would say that you +were posing, in order to make yourself interesting, and that I was +enough attracted by you to be deceived by the comedy. Is not that the +way the world would look at it?" + +"Probably," assented Ghisleri. "Perhaps I am really posing. I do not +pretend to know." + +"I am willing to believe that you are not, if you will let me, and I +would much rather. In the first place, you are, at all events, not any +worse than most men one knows. That is evident enough from your actions. +Secondly,--you see I am arguing the case like a lawyer,--if you had not +a high ideal of what you wish to be, you would not have such a poor +opinion of what you are. Is that clear?" + +"If there were no right, there could not possibly be any wrong. But +black would be black, even if you could only compare it with blue, +green, and yellow, instead of with white." + +"I am not talking of chromolithographs," said Laura. "What I say is +simple enough. If you did not wish to be good, and know what good means, +and if you had not a certain amount of goodness in you, you would not +think yourself so bad. And you are unhappy, as you have told me before +now, because you think all your motives are insincere, or vain, or +defective in some way. I suppose you wish to be happy, and if you do, +you must learn to find some satisfaction in having done your best. I +have said precisely what I mean, and you must not pretend to +misunderstand me." + +"Think yourself good, and you will be happy," observed Ghisleri. "That +is the modern form of the proverb." + +"Of course it is, and the better reason you really have for thinking +yourself good, the more real and lasting your happiness will be." + +Ghisleri laughed to himself, and at himself, as he went away, for being +so much impressed as he was by what Laura said. But he could not deny +that the impression had been made and remained for some time after he +had left her. There was a healthy common-sense about her mind which was +beginning to act upon the tortuous and often morbid complications of his +own. She seemed to know the straight paths and the short cuts to simple +goodness, and never to have guessed at the labyrinthine ways by which he +seemed to himself to be always trying to escape from the bugbear sent to +pursue him by the demon of self-mistrust. He laughed at himself, for he +realised how utterly impossible it would always be for him to think as +she did, or to look upon the world as she saw it. There had been a time +when he had thought more plainly, when a woman had exerted a strong +influence over him, and when a few good things and a few bad ones had +made up the sum of his life. But she was dead, and he had changed. Worse +than that, he had fallen. As he sat in his room and glanced from time to +time at the only likeness he had of Bianca Corleone, he thought of +Beatrice's reproach to Dante in the thirty-first canto of the +"Purgatory": + + "And yet, because thou'rt shamed of me in all + Thy sin, and that in later days to come + Thou mayst be brave, hearing the Siren's voice + Sow deep the seed of tears and hear me speak. + So shalt thou know how thou should'st have been moved + By my dead body in ways opposite. + Nor art nor nature had the power to tempt thee + With such delight as that fair body could + In which I lived--which now is scattered earth-- + And if the highest joy was lost to thee + By my young death, what mortal living thing + Should have had strength to drag thee down with it?" + +As he repeated the last words he started for they reminded him with +painful force of Gianforte Campodonico's insulting speech, and he +detested himself for even allowing the thought to cross his mind--for +allowing himself to repeat Beatrice's words up to that point. It was he +who had dragged down Maddalena dell' Armi to his level, not she who had +made him sink to hers. And yet Campodonico had said almost the same +thing as Beatrice, and certainly without knowing it. In his heart he +knew that Bianca might have reproached him so, but then, deeper still, +he knew that the reproach, from her lips, would have fallen on himself +alone, and would never have been meant for Maddalena. + +Ghisleri fell to thinking over his own life and the lives of others, in +one of those black moods which sometimes seized him and in which he +believed in no one's motives, from his own upward. In the course of his +lonely and bitter meditations, he came across an idea which at first +seemed wild and improbable enough, but which, little by little, took +shape as he concentrated his attention upon it, and at last chased every +other memory away. He was not naturally an over-suspicious man, but when +his suspicions were once roused he was apt to go far in pursuit of the +truth, if the matter interested him. He rose and got a book from the +shelves which lined one side of the wall, and began to turn over the +pages rapidly, until he stopped at the place he was looking for. He read +three or four pages very carefully twice over and returned the volume to +its place. Then he sat down to think, and did not move for another +quarter of an hour. At the end of that time he called his servant, a +quiet, hard-working fellow from the Abbruzzi, who rejoiced in the name +of Bonifazio. + +"Do you happen to know," he asked, "if there was much scarlet fever in +the city last winter? I have always wondered how poor Lord Herbert +caught it." + +Bonifazio had known Lord Herbert for years, just as Donald had known +Ghisleri, for the two friends had often made short journeys together, +taking their servants with them. The Italian thought a long time before +he gave an answer. + +"No, Signore. I do not remember hearing that there were many cases. But +then, I am not in the way of knowing. It may have been." + +"You are a very discreet man, Bonifazio," said Ghisleri. "Lord Herbert +fell ill on the day after he had dined in Casa Savelli. Do you think you +could find out for me whether any one of the servants had the scarlet +fever at that time?" + +"Perhaps, signore. I will try. I know Giuseppe, the butler, who is a +very good person, but who is not fond of talking. When there is such an +illness they either send the servants to the hospital, in the Roman +houses, or else they put them in an attic and try not to let any one +know. For the rest, I will do what I can. You say well, Signore, for it +is possible that the blessed soul of the Milord caught the fever at the +dinner in Casa Savelli." + +"That is what I think," said Ghisleri. And he thought a good deal more +also, which he did not communicate to his man. + +Bonifazio, as his master said, was discreet. He was also very patient +and very uncommunicative, as the men of the Abbruzzi often are. They +make the best servants when they can be got, for, in addition to the +good qualities most of them possess in a greater or less degree, they +are almost always physically very strong men, though rarely above middle +height, and often extremely pale. Ghisleri knew that so soon as +Bonifazio had anything to tell, he would tell it without further +question or reminder. + +Several days passed, during which Ghisleri, who gained strength rapidly, +began to resume his former mode of life, went to the club, saw his +friends, and made a few visits. He went more than once to Maddalena's +house and stayed some time with her when he found her alone. Little by +little he fancied that her look was changing and growing more +indifferent. He was glad of it. He wished that he might be to her +exactly what she was to him. That, indeed, could never be, but he wished +it were possible. He knew that when she ceased to love him altogether, +she could never feel friendly devotion, gratitude, or respect for him, +and he felt all three for her in a far greater degree than she could +imagine. On the whole, during that time their relations were peaceable, +and altogether undisturbed by the frequent differences that had so often +nearly estranged them from one another in earlier days. There was, of +course, an air of constraint about their meetings, more evident in +Maddalena's manner than in Ghisleri's, and the latter hardly hoped that +this could ever quite wear off and leave at last a sincere and true +friendship behind it. That was, indeed, the best that could be hoped for +either of them, and he had no right to expect the best, nor anything +approaching to it. + +One evening as he was dressing for dinner, Bonifazio gave him the news +he desired. It had not been easy to extract any communication on the +subject from old Giuseppe, the Savelli's butler, but such as he had at +last given was clear, concise, and to the point. There had been a case +of scarlet fever in the house. Donna Adele's maid had taken it, and was +just convalescent at the time when the Ardens dined with Adele and her +husband. The woman's name was Lucia, and on falling ill she had been at +once removed to a distant room in the upper part of the palace. The case +had been rather a severe one, Giuseppe believed, and it was only within +the last few weeks that Lucia seemed to have regained her strength. She +was at present at Gerano with her mistress, but had written to the wife +of the Savelli's porter saying that she had been dismissed, and was to +leave at the end of the month, and asking for assistance in finding a +new place. Ghisleri was satisfied for the present. It was quite clear +that Arden must have caught the fever that killed him so suddenly in +Casa Savelli. Whether Donna Adele had in any way communicated the +contagion was another matter, and not easily decided. Her inexplicable +nervousness, beginning about the time that Arden died, might be +accounted for on the ground that she was aware of having been the +unintentional cause of his illness, and felt that by a little precaution +she might have averted the catastrophe. The idea was constantly present +in Ghisleri's mind, but it lacked detail and clearness, and constituted +at most a rather strong suspicion. Of course it was quite possible, and, +considering Adele's character, more than likely, that she had never been +near the maid during her illness. If she had never had the scarlet fever +herself, it was quite certain. But that was a point easily settled, and +was a very important one. + +On the following day, Ghisleri called at the Palazzo Braccio. The +Princess received him, as she always did, without any signs of +satisfaction, but without marked coldness. To her he was always "that +wild Ghisleri," and she thoroughly disapproved of him, wishing that he +would not visit her daughter so often. He was quite aware of the feeling +she entertained towards him, and was always especially careful in his +conversation with her. In spite of her long residence in Rome, as a +Roman, and among Romans, she had remained altogether English in nature. +Laura, English on both sides by her birth, had far less of prejudice +than her mother, and was altogether more of a cosmopolitan in every way. +On the present occasion, Ghisleri led the conversation so as to speak of +her. He began by asking the Princess where she herself meant to spend +the summer, and whether she intended to be with her daughter. + +"I hope to be with her a great part of the time," she answered. "I do +not like to think of her as travelling about the world alone. Indeed, I +do not at all approve of her living without a companion, as she insists +upon doing. She is far too young, and people are far too ready to talk +about her." + +"She has such wonderful dignity," answered Ghisleri, "that she could do +with impunity what most women could not do at all. Besides, her mourning +protects her for the present, and her child. She is looking wonderfully +well--do you not think so?" + +"Yes. When one thinks of all she has suffered, it is amazing. But she +was always strong." + +"I should suppose so. Any one else would have caught the scarlet fever." + +"As for that," said the Princess, unsuspiciously, "people rarely have it +twice." + +"She has had it, then." + +"Oh, yes. Both the girls had it at the same time, when they were little +things. Let me see--Laura must have been six years old then. They had it +rather badly, and I remember being terribly anxious about them." + +"I see," answered Ghisleri, carelessly. "That accounts for it. But to go +back to what we were speaking of, I wonder that Lady Herbert does not +spend the summer with you at Gerano, if you go there as usual." + +"I do not think she will consent to that," said the Princess, rather +coldly. "She says she prefers the north for the baby. It is quite true +that it is often very hot at Gerano." + +"Donna Adele was good enough to ask me to go out and spend a day or two +while she is there. It must be very pleasant just now, in the spring +weather." + +"Why do you not go?" asked the Princess, with more warmth, for she +preferred that Ghisleri should be where he could not see Laura every +day, as she believed he now did. "You would be doing them both a +kindness. Poor Adele was obliged to go to the country against her +will--she is in such a terribly nervous state. I really do not know what +to make of it." + +"What news have you of her?" inquired Ghisleri, in a tone of polite +solicitude. "Is she at all better?" + +"She was better after the first few days. Then it appears that she had a +fright--I do not quite understand how it was from what Francesco wrote +to my husband--but it seems to have been one of those odd +accidents--optical illusions, I suppose--which sometimes terrify +people." + +"How very unfortunate! What did she fancy she saw?" + +"It was absurd, of course!" answered the Princess, who had no special +reason for being reticent on the subject. "It seems that there was a +blue cloak of hers hanging somewhere in her dressing-room,--at a window, +I believe,--and she went in suddenly very early in the morning before it +was quite broad daylight, and took the cloak for a man. In fact she +thought it was poor dear Arden. You know he always used to wear blue +serge clothes. Francesco saw it himself afterwards and says that it was +extraordinarily like. But I cannot understand how any one in their +senses could be deceived in that way. Adele is dreadfully overwrought +and imaginative. She has danced too much this winter, I suppose." + +When Ghisleri went away he was almost quite persuaded that Adele was +conscious of having communicated the fever to Arden. Of course, it might +all be mere coincidence, but to him the evidence seemed strong. He wrote +a note to Adele, asking whether he might avail himself of her +invitation, and spend a day at Gerano. Her answer came by return of +post, begging him to come at once, and to stay as long as possible. The +handwriting was so illegible that he had some difficulty in reading it. +To judge from that, at least, Adele was no better. + +Before leaving Rome, he thought it best to inform Laura of his intended +visit. He had never spoken of her step-sister in a way to make her +suppose that he disliked her, but Laura knew very well what part he had +played at the time when Adele was spreading slanderous reports, for her +mother had repeated the story precisely as the Prince had told it to +her. Ghisleri, of course, was not aware of this, for Arden had not +mentioned the matter to him, unless his reference to the enemies he and +Laura had in Rome, during the last conversation he had with his friend, +could be taken as implying that Ghisleri knew as much as he himself. But +in any case, he was sure that Laura would be surprised at his going to +Gerano, even for a day, and it was better to warn her beforehand, and +if possible give her some reasonable explanation of his conduct. He +chose to refer his visit at once to motives of curiosity, together with +a natural desire to breathe the purer air of the country, now that he +was able to make the short journey without fatigue or danger. + +"I have never been to Gerano," he added. "It is said to be a wonderful +place--one of the finest mediæval castles in this part of the world. I +really wish to see it--they say the air is good--and since Donna Adele +is so kind as to ask me, I shall go." + +"You would see it better if you went when my mother and step-father are +there. He would show you everything and give you all sorts of historical +details which Adele has forgotten and which Francesco never knew." + +"No doubt, but there is one objection," answered Ghisleri. "They have +never asked me. I am not a favourite with the Princess. I am sure you +know that." + +"She thinks you are very wild," said Laura, with a smile. "She +disapproves of you on moral grounds--not at all in the way I used +to--and still do, sometimes," she added, incautiously. + +"Still?" + +"Oh, it is very foolish! Do not talk about it. When are you going out?" + +Laura had undeniably felt a sudden return of her old distrust in him, +when she had heard of the visit. It was natural enough that she should, +considering what she knew. She suspected some new and tortuous +development of his character, and would have instinctively drawn back +from the intimacy she felt was growing up between him and herself, had +she not by experience found out that she might be quite wrong about him +after all. She tried, at the present juncture, to shake off the +sensation which was now far more distasteful to her than it had formerly +been, in proportion as she had fancied that she understood him better. +But she could not altogether succeed. It was too strange, in her +opinion, that he should willingly be Adele's guest, and put himself +under even a slight obligation to her. It showed, she thought, how +individual views could differ in regard to friendship. She was even +rather surprised to find that she was asking herself whether, if +Gianforte and Christina Campodonico possessed a habitable castle and +invited her to stop with them, she would accept, considering that +Gianforte had almost killed her husband's best friend. She +unhesitatingly decided that she would not, and resented Ghisleri's +willingness to receive hospitality from one who, as he well knew, had +foully slandered both Arden and herself. Her doubts were certainly +justifiable to a certain extent. But there was no immediate probability +that they would be cleared away for the present. Ghisleri understood her +perfectly, and wondered whether he were not risking too much in +endangering a friendship so precious to him for the sake of following +out a suspicion which might, in the end, prove to have been altogether +without foundation. On the other hand, his natural obstinacy of purpose +when once called into play was such as not to leave the smallest +hesitation in his mind between doing what he had determined to do, or +not doing it, when he had once made up his mind, irrespective of +consequences. Having lost sight of the virtue of constancy, he clung to +a vicious obstinacy as a substitute. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + +When Adele had read Padre Bonaventura's letter twice over and had +realised its meaning, she behaved like a person stunned by an actual +blow. She sank into the nearest chair, utterly overcome. She had barely +the presence of mind to tear up the sheet of paper into minute shreds, +which she gathered all in one hand, until she could find strength to +scatter them out of the window. The position was a terrible one indeed, +and for a long time she was unable to think connectedly about it, or of +anything else. But for the two nights of sound sleep she had got by +taking the chloral, she must inevitably have broken down. As it was, her +strong constitution had asserted itself so soon as she had been able to +rest, and she was better able to meet this new and real trouble than she +had been to face the imaginary horror of Herbert Arden's presence in her +dressing-room. But even so, half an hour elapsed before she was able to +rise from her seat. She tossed the scraps of paper out of the window and +watched them as the wind chased them in all directions, upwards and +downwards, upon the castle wall. Then, all at once, she began to think, +and her brain seemed to act with an accuracy and directness it had never +had before. + +Either the letter had been opened in the house or at the post-office. It +could not have been opened in Rome, or at least, the probabilities were +enormously against such an hypothesis. It was scarcely more like that +the man at the Gerano post-office should have ventured to tamper with a +sealed envelope coming from the castle, and for which he had given a +receipt before taking charge of it. He could not have the smallest +interest in reading Donna Adele's correspondence, and he had everything +to lose if he were caught. He would certainly not have supposed that she +or her husband, having but lately left the city, were sending back a sum +of money in notes large enough to make it worth his while to incur such +a risk. In other words, the theft had been committed in the house, and +no one but Lucia could have been the thief. Lucia had been summarily +dismissed; Lucia was the only servant in the establishment who had +serious cause for discontent; Lucia had guessed from the address that +the letter contained something at least of the nature of a confession, +and had resolved to hold her mistress in her power. Moreover, it was +possible--barely possible--that Lucia knew something else. In any case, +she had read every word Adele had written with her own hand, and Adele +knew very well why the woman had not returned the sheets to the envelope +after mastering their contents. She was utterly, hopelessly, and +entirely in Lucia's power. The maid would go from her to a new +situation, and wherever she might be would always be able to control +Donna Adele's life by merely threatening to betray what she knew to the +person or persons concerned. + +Adele felt that her courage was almost failing her in this extremity, at +a time when she needed more than she had ever possessed. And yet it was +necessary to act promptly, for the maid might even now be engaging +herself with some one else. Come what might, she must never leave Casa +Savelli, if it cost Adele all the money she could beg of her husband or +borrow of her father to keep the woman with her. First of all, however, +she must regain some sort of composure, lest Lucia should suspect that +the post had brought her news of the loss of the document. She looked at +herself in the glass and scrutinised every feature attentively. She was +very pale, but otherwise was looking better than two days earlier. Any +kind of stimulant, as she knew, sent the blood to her face in a few +minutes, and she saw that what she needed was a little colour. A +teaspoonful of Benedictine cordial, of which she had a small flask in +her dressing-case, was enough to produce the desired effect. The doctor +had formerly recommended her to take it before going to sleep, but she +did not like such things, and the flask was almost full. She saw in the +mirror that the result was perfectly satisfactory, and when she at last +met her husband he remarked that her appearance was very much improved. + +"I feel so much better!" she exclaimed, knowing that she was speaking +the first words of a comedy which would in all probability have to be +played during the rest of her life. "I always said that if they would +only give me something to make me sleep I should get well at once." + +She walked again on that day, and by an almost superhuman effort kept +up appearances until bedtime, even succeeding in eating a moderately +abundant dinner. That night she told Lucia that, on the whole, she would +prefer to keep her, that she had always been more than satisfied with +her services, and that if she had suddenly felt an aversion to her, it +was the result of the extreme nervousness she had suffered of late. Now +that she could sleep, she realised how unkind she had been. Lucia humbly +thanked her, and said that she hoped to live and die in the service of +the most excellent Casa Savelli. Thereupon Adele thanked her too, said +very sweetly that she was a good girl and would some day be rewarded by +finding a good husband, and ended by giving her five francs. She +reflected that to give her more might look like the beginning of a +course of bribery, and that to give nothing might be construed as +proceeding from the fear of seeming to bribe. + +The second day could not be harder than the first, she said to herself, +as she swallowed her chloral and laid her head upon the pillow, to be +read to sleep by the nurse. She slept, indeed, that night, but not so +well as before, and she awoke twice, each time with a start, and with +the impression that Lucia was reciting the contents of the lost letter +to Laura Arden and a whole roomful of the latter's friends. + +Under the circumstances, she behaved with a courage and determination +admirable in themselves. Few women could have borne the constant strain +upon the faculties at all, still fewer after such illness as she had +suffered. But she was really very strong, though everything which +affected her feelings and thoughts reacted upon her physical nature as +such things never can in less nervously organised constitutions. She +bore the excruciating anxiety about the lost confession better than the +shadowy fear of the supernatural which still haunted her in the hours of +the night. On the third day she begged her husband to increase the dose +of chloral by a very small quantity, saying that if only she could sleep +well for a whole week she would then be so much better as to be able to +give it up altogether. Savelli hesitated, and at last consented. Since +she had seemed so much more quiet he dreaded a return of her former +state, for he was a man who loved his ease and hated everything which +disturbed it. + +The doctor had particularly cautioned him to keep the chloral put away +in a safe place, warning Francesco that the majority of persons who took +it soon began to feel a craving for it in larger quantities, which must +be checked to avoid the risk of considerable damage to the health in the +event of its becoming a habit. It was, after all, only a palliative, he +said, and could never be expected to work a cure on the nerves except as +an indirect means to a good result. Francesco kept the bottle in his +dressing-bag, which remained in his own room and was fitted with a +patent lock. He yielded to Adele's request on the first occasion, and +she went with him as he took the glass back to strengthen the dose. "Why +do you keep it locked up?" she said. "Do you suppose I would go and take +it without consulting you?" + +"The doctor told me to be careful of it," he answered. "The servants +might try a dose of it out of curiosity." He took what he considered +necessary and locked the bag again, returning the key to his pocket. + +Two or three days passed in this way. Adele began to feel that she +longed for the night and the soothing influence of the chloral, as she +had formerly longed for daylight to end the misery of the dark hours. +The days were now made almost intolerable for her by the certainty that +her maid knew her secret, and by the necessity for treating the woman +with consideration. Yet she could do nothing, and she knew that she +never could do anything to lessen her own anxiety, as long as she lived. +She was much alone, too, during the day. She walked or drove with her +husband during two or three hours in the afternoon, but the rest of the +time hung idly on her hands. It is true that his society was not very +congenial, and under ordinary conditions she would rather have been +left alone than have been obliged to talk with him. At present, however, +she thought less when she was with him, and that was a gain not to be +despised. She had quite forgotten that she had asked Ghisleri to come +out and spend a day or two, when his note came, reminding her of the +invitation, and asking if he still might accept it. Francesco liked him, +as most men did, and was glad that any one should appear to vary the +monotony of the dull country life with a little city talk. He bade her +write to Pietro to come and stay as long as he pleased, if she herself +cared to have him. She concealed her satisfaction well enough to make +Francesco suppose that she wished the guest to come for his sake rather +than her own. + +Ghisleri started early, taking his servant with him, and reached Gerano +in time for the midday breakfast. Francesco Savelli received him with +considerable enthusiasm, and Adele's habitually rather forced smile +became more natural. Both felt in different ways that the presence of a +third person was a relief, and would have been delighted to receive a +far less agreeable man than their present guest. They overwhelmed him +with questions about Rome and their friends. + +"Of course you have seen everybody and heard everything, now that you +are so much better," said Adele, as they sat down to breakfast in the +vaulted dining-room. "You must tell us everything you know. We are +buried alive out here, and only know a little of what happens through +the papers. How are they all? Have you seen Laura again, and how is the +baby? My step-mother writes that she is going to spend the summer with +them in some place or places unknown. I never thought of her as a +grandmother when my own children were born--of course she is not my +mother, but it used to seem just the same. What is Bompierre doing? And +Maria Boccapaduli? I am dying to hear all about it." + +Ghisleri laughed at the multitude of questions which followed each other +almost without a breathing-space between them. + +"Donna Maria would have sent you her love if she had known that I was +coming to Gerano," he answered. "As for Bompierre, he is an inscrutable +mixture of devotion and fickleness. He attaches himself to the new +without detaching himself from the old. He worships both the earthly and +the Olympian Venus. He is a good fellow, little Bompierre, and I like +him, but it is impossible for any man to adore women at the rate of six +at a time. I begin to think that he must be a very deep character." + +"That is the last thing I should say of him," observed Savelli, who was +deficient in the sense of humour. + +"How literal you are, Francesco," laughed his wife. "And yourself, +Ghisleri--tell us about yourself. Are you quite well again? You still +look dreadfully thin, but you look better than when I saw you last. What +does your doctor say?" + +"He says that if I do not happen to catch cold, or have a choking fit, +or a cough, or any of fifty things he names, and if I do not chance to +get shot in the same place again, in the course of a year or two I may +be as good a man as ever. It appears that I have a good constitution. I +always supposed so, because I never had anything the matter with me, so +far as I knew." + +"No one will ever forgive Gianforte!" exclaimed Adele. "If you had died, +he would have had to go away for ever. Everybody says he was utterly in +the wrong." + +"The matter is settled," said Ghisleri, "and I do not think either of us +need have anything to say about the other's conduct in the affair. I +suppose you have heard that the ministry has fallen," he continued, +turning to Savelli. "Yesterday afternoon--the old story, of +course--finance." + +"For Heaven's sake do not begin to talk politics at this hour," +protested Adele. "To-night, when I am asleep, you can smoke all the +cigars in the house, and reconstitute a dozen ministries if you like. I +want to hear all about my friends. You have not told me half enough +yet." + +"Where shall I begin? Ah, by the bye, there is an engagement, I hear. I +have not left cards because it is not official. Pietrasanta and Donna +Guendalina Frangipani--rather an odd match, is it not?" + +"Pietrasanta!" exclaimed Adele. "Who would have thought that! And +Guendalina, of all people! But they will starve, my dear Ghisleri; they +will positively not have twenty thousand francs a year between them." + +"No," said Savelli, "you are quite right, my +dear--twelve--seventeen--eighteen thousand five hundred, almost +exactly." + +Savelli was intimately acquainted with the affairs of his friends, and +both parties were related to him in the present case. He prided himself +upon his extreme exactness about all questions of money. + +So they talked and gossiped throughout the meal. Ghisleri knew just what +sort of news most amused his hostess, and as usual he succeeded in +telling her the truth about things and people without saying anything +spiteful of any one. He had resolved, too, that he would make himself +especially agreeable to the couple in their voluntary exile. He had come +with a set purpose, and he meant to execute it if possible. As he was +evidently not yet strong, Savelli proposed that they should drive +instead of walking. Ghisleri acceded readily, though he would have +preferred to stay at home after having travelled nearly thirty miles in +a jolting carriage during the morning. The sensation of physical fatigue +which he constantly experienced since he had been wounded was new to him +and not at all pleasant. + +Nothing of any importance occurred during the afternoon. The +conversation continued in much the same way as it had begun at +breakfast, interspersed with remarks about agriculture and the +probabilities of crops. Savelli understood the financial side of farming +better than Ghisleri, but the latter had a much more practical +acquaintance with the capabilities of different sorts of land. + +After they had returned to the castle, Francesco left Ghisleri with his +wife in the drawing-room, and went off to his own quarters to talk with +the steward of the estate. Tea was brought, but Pietro noticed that +Adele did not take any. + +"I suppose you are afraid that it would keep you awake at night," he +remarked. "How is your insomnia? Do you sleep at all?" + +"I am getting quite well again," Adele answered. "You know I always told +you that I needed something really strong to make me sleep. The doctor +has given me chloral, and I never wake up before eight or nine o'clock. +It is a wonderful medicine." + +"Insomnia is one of the most unaccountable things," said Ghisleri, in a +meditative tone. "I knew a man in Constantinople who told me that at one +time he never slept at all. For three months he literally could not lose +consciousness for a moment. I believe he suffered horribly. But then, he +had something on his mind at the time which accounted for it to a +certain extent." + +"I suppose he had lost money or something of that kind," conjectured +Adele, stirring two lumps of sugar in a glass of water. + +"No, it was much worse than that. He had accidentally killed his most +intimate friend on a shooting expedition in the Belgrad forest." + +Ghisleri heard the spoon rattle sharply against the glass, as Adele's +hand shook, and he saw that she bent down her head quickly, pretending +to watch the lumps of sugar as they slowly dissolved. + +"How terrible!" she exclaimed, in a low voice. + +"Yes," answered Ghisleri, in the same indifferent tone. "But if you will +believe it, he had the courage to refuse chloral, or any sort of +sleeping-draught, though he often sat up reading all night. He had been +told, you see, that the habit of such things was much more dangerous +than insomnia itself, and he was ultimately cured by taking a great deal +of exercise. He had an extraordinary force of will. I believe he has +never felt any bad effect from what he endured. You know one can get +used to anything. Look at the people who starve in public for forty days +and do not die." + +"We shall see Pietrasanta and his wife doing that for the next forty +years," said Adele, with a tolerably natural laugh. "They ought to go +into training as soon as possible if they mean to be happy. They say +nothing spoils the temper like hunger. Were you ever near being starved +to death on any of your travels, Ghisleri?" + +"No; I never got further than being obliged to live on nothing but beans +and bad water for nine days. That was quite far enough, though. I got +thin, and I have never eaten beans since." + +"I do not wonder. Fancy eating beans for nearly a fortnight. I should +have died. And where was it? Were you imprisoned for a spy in South +America? One never knows what may or may not have happened to you--you +are such an unaccountable man!" + +"That never happened to me. It was at sea. I took it into my head to go +to Sardinia in a small vessel that was sailing from Amalfi with a cargo +of beans to bring back Sardinian wine. We were becalmed, and got short +of provisions, so that we fell back on the beans. They kept us alive, +but I would rather not try it again." + +"What endless adventures you have had! How tame this society life of +ours must seem to you after what you have been accustomed to! How can +you endure it?" + +"It is never very hard to put up with what one likes," answered +Ghisleri, "nor even to endure what one dislikes for the sake of somebody +to whom one is attached." + +"If any one else said that, it would sound like a platitude. But with +you, it is quite different. One feels that you mean all you say." + +Adele was evidently determined to be complimentary, and even more than +complimentary, to-day. She was never cold or at all unfriendly with +Ghisleri, whom she liked and admired, and whom she always hoped to see +ultimately established as a permanent member of her own immediate +circle, but he did not remember that she had ever talked exactly as she +was talking now, and he attributed her manner to her nervousness. He +laughed carelessly at her last remark. + +"I am not used to such good treatment," he said, "though I never can +understand why people take the trouble to doubt one's word. It is so +much easier to believe everything--so much less trouble." + +"I should not have thought that you were a very credulous person," +answered Adele. "You have had too much experience for that." + +"Experience does not always mean disillusionment. One may find out that +there are honest people as well as dishonest in the world." + +If Laura Arden had been present she would have been more than ever +inclined to distrust Ghisleri just then. She would have wondered what +possessed him to make him say things so very different from those he +generally said to her. As a matter of fact, he wished Adele to trust +him, for especial reasons, and he knew her well enough to judge how his +speeches would affect her. She had betrayed herself to him a few minutes +earlier and he desired to efface the impression in her mind before +leading her into another trap. + +"Do you think the world is such a very good place?" she asked. "Have you +found it so?" + +"It is often very unjustly abused by those who live in it--as they are +themselves by their friends. Belief on the one side must mean disbelief +on the other." + +This time Adele gave no sign of being touched by the thrust. She was too +much accustomed to whatever sensations she experienced when accidental +or intentional reference was made to her astonishing talent for gossip. + +"As for that," she said quite naturally, "every one talks about every +one else, and some things are true just as some are not. If we did not +talk of people how should we make conversation? It would be quite +impossible, I am sure!" + +"Oh, of course. But if there is to be that sort of conversation, it can +always take the form of a discussion, and one can put oneself on the +right side from the beginning just as easily as not. It saves so much +trouble afterwards. The person who is always on the wrong side is +generally the one about whom the others are talking. If we could hear a +tenth of what is said about ourselves I fancy we should be very +uncomfortable." + +"Yes, indeed. Even our servants--think how they must abuse us!" + +"No doubt. But they have a practical advantage over us in that way. When +they really know anything particularly scandalous about us they can +convert it into ready money." + +Ghisleri had not the least intention of conveying any hidden meaning by +his words, for he was of course completely ignorant of the occurrence +which had disturbed Adele's whole life more than any other hitherto. But +he noticed that she again bent over her glass and looked into it, though +the sugar was by this time quite dissolved. Her hand shook a little as +she moved the spoon about in the sweetened water. Then she drank a +little, and drew a long breath. + +"That is always a most disagreeable position," she said boldly. "We were +talking about it the other day. I wish you had been there. Gouache was +telling a foreigner--Prince Durakoff, I think it was--the old story of +how Prince Montevarchi was murdered by his own librarian because he +would not pay the man a sum of money in the way of blackmail. You know +it, of course. The two families, the Montevarchi and the Saracinesca, +kept it very quiet and no one ever knew all the details. Some people say +that San Giacinto killed the librarian, and some say that the librarian +killed himself. That is no matter. What would you have done? That is the +question. Would you have paid the money in the hope of silencing the +man? Or would you have refused as the old Prince did? Gouache said that +it was always a mistake to yield, and that Montevarchi did quite +right." + +Ghisleri considered the matter a few moments before he gave an answer. +He was almost sure by this time that she actually found herself in some +such position as she described, and that she really needed advice. It +was characteristic of the man who had been trying to make her betray +herself and had succeeded beyond his expectation, that he was unwilling +to give her such counsel as might lead to her own destruction. In his +complicated code, that would have savoured of treachery. He suddenly +withdrew into himself as it were, and tried to look at the matter +objectively, as an outsider. + +"It is a most difficult question to answer," he said at last. "I have +often heard it discussed. If you care for my own personal opinion, I +will give it to you. It seems to me that in such cases one should be +guided by circumstances as they arise, but that one can follow very +safely a sort of general rule. If the blackmailer, as I call the person +in possession of the secret, has any positive proof, such as a written +document, or any other object of the kind, without which he or she could +not prove the accusation, and if the accusation is really of a serious +nature, then I think it would be wiser to buy the thing, whatever it is, +at any price, and destroy it at once. But if, as in most of such +affairs, the secret is merely one of words which the blackmailers may +speak or not at will, and at any time, I believe it is a mistake to +bribe him or her, because the demand for hush-money can be renewed +indefinitely so long as the person concerned lives, or has any money +left with which to pay." + +Adele had listened with the greatest attention throughout, and the +direct good sense of his answer disarmed any suspicion she might have +entertained in regard to the remark which had led to her asking his +advice. She reasoned naturally enough that if he knew anything of her +position, and had come to Gerano to gather information, he would have +suggested some course of action which would throw the advantage into his +own hands. But she did not know the man. Moreover, in her extreme fear +of discovery, she had for a moment been willing to admit that he might +know far more than was in any way possible, if he knew anything at all; +whereas in truth he was but making the most vague guesses at the actual +facts. It was startling to realise how nearly she had taken him for an +enemy, after inviting him as a friend, and in perfectly good faith, but +as she thought over the conversation she saw how naturally the remarks +which had frightened her had presented themselves. There was her own +insomnia--he had an instance of a man who had suffered in the same way. +A remark about unjust abuse of other people--that was quite natural, and +meant nothing. Blackmail extorted by servants--she had herself led +directly to it, by speculating upon what servants said of their masters. +It was all very natural. She made up her mind that she had been wrong in +mistrusting his sincerity. Besides, she liked him, and her judgment +instinctively inclined to favour him. + +"I think you are quite right," she said, after a few moments' thought. +"I never heard it put so directly before, and your view seems to be the +only sensible one. If the secret can be kept by buying an object and +destroying it, then buy it. If not, deny it boldly, and refuse to pay. +Yes, that is the wisest solution I have ever heard offered." + +Ghisleri saw that he had produced a good effect and was well-satisfied. +He turned back to a former point in order to change the subject of the +conversation. + +"That old story of the Montevarchi has interested me," he said. "I wish +I knew it all. Without being at all of an historical genius, I am fond +of all sorts of family histories. Lady Herbert was saying yesterday that +there are many strange legends and stories connected with this old +place, and that your father knows them all. You must know a great deal +about Gerano yourself, I should think." + +"Oh, of course I do," answered Adele, with alacrity. "I will show you +all over the castle to-morrow morning. It is an enormous building, and +bigger than you would ever suppose from the outside. I will show you +where they used to cut off heads--it is delightful! The head fell +through a hole in the floor into a heap of sawdust, they say. And then +there is another place, where they threw criminals out of the window, +with four seats in it, two for the executioners, one for the confessor, +and one in the middle for the condemned man. They did those things so +coolly and systematically in those good old days. You shall see it all; +there are the dungeons, and the trap-doors through which people were +made to tumble into them; there is every sort of appliance--belonging to +family life in the middle ages." + +"I shall be very glad to see it all if you will be my guide," said +Ghisleri. + +They continued to talk upon indifferent subjects. At dinner Pietro took +much pains to be agreeable, and succeeded admirably, for he was well +able to converse pleasantly when he chose. Though extremely tired, he +sat up till nearly midnight talking politics with Savelli, as Adele had +foreseen, and when he was at last shown to his distant room by +Bonifazio, who had spent most of his day in studying the topography of +the castle, he was very nearly exhausted. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + +Pietro Ghisleri slept soundly that night. Of late, indeed, he had become +less restless than he had formerly been, and he attributed the change to +the weakness which was the consequence of his wound. There were probably +other causes at work at that time of which he was hardly conscious +himself, but which ultimately produced a change in him, and in his way +of looking at the world. + +He stood at his open window early in the morning, and gazed out at the +fresh, bright country. The delicate hand of spring had already touched +the world with colour, and the breath of the coming warmth had waked the +life in all those things which die yearly, and are yearly raised again. +Ghisleri felt the morning sun upon his thin, pale face, and he realised +that he also had been very near to death during the dark months, and he +remembered how he had wished that he might be not near only to dying, +but dead altogether, never to take up again the play that had grown so +wearisome and empty in his eyes. + +But now a change had come. For the first time in years, he knew that if +the choice were suddenly offered him at the present moment he would +choose to live out all the days allotted to him, and would wish that +they might be many rather than few. There was, indeed, a dark spot on +the page last turned, of which he could never efface the memory, nor, in +his own estimation, outlive the shame. In his day-dreams Maddalena dell' +Armi's coldly perfect face was often before him with an expression upon +it which he feared to see, knowing too well why it was there--and out of +a deeper depth of memory dead Bianca Corleone's eyes looked at him with +reproach and sometimes with scorn. There was much pain in store for him +yet, of the kind at which the world never guessed, nor ever could. But +he would not try to escape from it. He would not again so act or think +as to call himself coward in his own heart's tribunal. + +He looked out at the distant hills, and down at the broad battlements +and massive outworks of the ancient fortress, and fell to thinking +rather idly about the people who had lived, and fought, and quarrelled, +and slain each other, within and around those enormous walls, and then +he thought all at once of Adele Savelli, and of his suspicions regarding +her. He was in a particularly charitable frame of mind on that morning, +and he suddenly felt that what he had almost believed on the previous +night was utterly beyond the bounds of probability. It seemed to him +that he had no manner of right to accuse any one of the crime he had +imputed to her, on the most shadowy grounds, and absolutely without +proof, unless the coincidence of her uneasy behaviour, with certain +vague remarks of his own, could be taken as evidence. He sat down to +think it all over, drinking his coffee by the open window, and enjoying +the sunshine and the sweet morning air. The whole world looked so good +and innocent and fresh as he gazed out upon it, that the possibilities +of evil seemed to shrink away into nothing. + +But as he systematically reviewed the events of the past months, his +suspicion returned almost with the force of conviction. The coincidences +were too numerous to be attributed to chance alone. Adele's distress of +mind was too evident to be denied. Altogether there was no escaping from +the conclusion that willingly or unwillingly she had been consciously +instrumental in bringing about Arden's illness and death. Her questions +about the wisest course to pursue in cases of blackmail, pointed to the +probability if not the certainty that some third person was acquainted +with what had happened, and this person was in all likelihood the maid +Lucia. So far his reasoning took him quickly and plausibly enough, but +no further. How the scarlet fever had been communicated from Lucia to +Herbert Arden was more than Ghisleri could guess, but if Adele was +really in the serving woman's power, it must have been done in such a +way as to make what had happened quite clear to the latter. After +thinking over all the possibilities, and vainly attempting to solve the +hard problem, Ghisleri found himself as much at sea as ever, and was +driven to acknowledge that he must trust to chance for obtaining any +further evidence in the matter. + +Meanwhile Adele had determined to follow his advice. Her anxiety was +becoming unbearable, and she felt that she could not endure such +suspense much longer. To accuse Lucia directly of having opened the +letter and committed the theft would be rash and dangerous. There was a +bare possibility that some one else might have done the deed. She must +in any case be cautious. + +"Lucia," she said that morning, while the woman was doing her hair, "do +you remember that some days ago I gave you a letter to be registered, +and that you brought back the receipt for it from the post-office?" + +"Yes, Excellency, I remember very well." Lucia had been expecting for a +long time that her mistress would question her and she was quite +prepared. She had good nerves, and the certainty that the great lady was +altogether in her power made her cool and collected. + +"A very extraordinary thing happened to that letter," said Adele, +looking up at her own face in the glass, to give herself courage. "It +was rather important. I had written to Padre Bonaventura, asking +spiritual guidance, and I particularly desired an answer. But he wrote +to me by return of post, saying that when he opened the envelope he +found only four sheets of blank paper without a word written on them. +You see somebody must have thought there was money in the letter." + +"They are such thieves at the post-office!" exclaimed Lucia. "But this +is a terrible affair, Excellency! What is to be done? The post-master +must be sent to the galleys immediately!" + +In Lucia's conception of the law such a summary course seemed quite +practicable. + +"I am afraid that would be very unjust, and could do no good at all," +said Adele. "I am quite sure that the post-master would not have dared +to open a letter already registered, and for which he had given a +receipt. As for any one in the house having done it, I cannot believe it +either. I gave it into your hands myself and you brought me back the +stamped bit of paper--it is there in my jewel case. I only wish you to +find out for me, very quietly and without exciting suspicion, who took +that letter to the post. If I could get it back I would give the person +who brought it to me a handsome reward. You understand, Lucia, how +disagreeable it is to feel that a letter concerning one's most sacred +feelings is lost, and has perhaps been read by more than one person." + +"I cannot imagine anything more dreadful! But be easy, Excellency. I +will do all I can, and none of the servants shall suspect that I am +questioning them." + +"I shall be very much obliged to you, Lucia," said Adele. "Very much +obliged," she repeated, with some emphasis. + +"It is only my duty to serve your Excellency, who has always been so +good to me," answered Lucia, humbly. + +Adele knew that there was nothing more to be said for the present, and +she congratulated herself on having been diplomatic in her way of +offering the bribe. Lucia would now in all likelihood take some time to +decide, but for the present she would certainly not part with the +precious document. Adele felt sure that it had neither been destroyed +nor sent out of the castle. Lucia probably kept it concealed in a safe +corner of her own room, under lock and key, and to attempt to get +possession of it by force would be out of the question. As in most +Italian houses, the servants all locked their own rooms and carried the +keys about with them. Lucia, of course, did like the rest. + +But Lucia, on her side, distrusted her mistress. Knowing what she now +knew of Adele, she believed her capable of almost anything, including +the picking of a lock and the skilful abstraction of the letter from its +secret hiding-place. As soon as she was at liberty she went and got the +paper and concealed it in her bosom, intending to keep it there until +she could select some safe spot in a remote part of the castle, where +she might put it away in greater safety. To carry it about with her +until Adele took her back to Rome would be rash, she thought. Adele +might suspect where it was at any moment, and force her to give it up. +Or it might be lost, which would be even worse. + +Adele herself felt singularly relieved. She had very little doubt but +that Lucia would come to terms. She might, indeed, ask a very large sum, +and it might be very inconvenient to be obliged to find it at short +notice. But the sole heiress to an enormous estate would certainly be +able to get money in some way or other. In the meantime Lucia would not +offer it to any one else, since of all people her mistress would be +willing to make the greatest sacrifice to obtain possession of it. On +the whole, therefore, Adele's anxiety diminished on that day, and she +seemed better when she met her husband and Ghisleri in the great +court-yard where they were sunning themselves and continuing their talk +about politics. + +"I promised that I would show you the castle," she said to Pietro. +"Would it amuse you to go with me now? Francesco does not care to come, +of course, and he always has his business with the steward to attend to +before breakfast." + +Pietro expressed his readiness to follow her from the deepest dungeon to +the topmost turret of the castle. + +"Have you slept well?" he asked, as they moved away together. "You are +looking much better this morning." + +"Yes. I feel better," she answered. "Do you know I think your coming has +had something to do with it. You have cheered us with your talk and your +news. We were fast falling into the vegetable stage, Francesco and I." + +Ghisleri smiled, partly out of politeness and partly at his own +thoughts. + +"I am glad to have been of any use," he said. "I will do my best to be +amusing as long as you will have me." + +"You need not take it as such an enormous compliment," Adele laughed. +"Of course, you are very agreeable,--at least, you can be when you +choose,--but the great thing is to have somebody, anybody one knows and +likes a little, in this dreary place. Shall we begin at the top or the +bottom? The prisons or the towers? Which shall it be?" + +"If there is a choice, let us begin in the lower regions," answered +Ghisleri. "Do you like me a little, Donna Adele?" he asked, as she led +the way along the curved and smoothly paved descent which led downwards +to the subterranean part of the fortress. + +She laughed lightly, and glanced at him. She had always wished to make a +conquest of Pietro Ghisleri, but she had found few opportunities of +being alone with him, for he had never been among the assiduous at her +shrine. She knew also how much he admired Laura Arden, and she suspected +him of being incipiently in love. It would be delightful to detach him +from that allegiance. + +"Yes," she said, "I like you a little. Did you expect me to like you +very much? You have never done anything to deserve it." + +"I wish I could," answered Ghisleri, with complete insincerity. "But I +am afraid I should never get so far as that." + +"Why not?" + +"When a woman loves her husband--" He did not finish the sentence, for +it seemed unnecessary. + +"I do not want you to make love to me," Adele answered, "though I +believe you know how to do it to perfection. It is often a very long way +from liking very much to loving a very little. This is the place where +old Gianluca kept his brother Paolo in prison for eighteen years. Then +Gianluca died suddenly one fine morning, and Paolo was let out by the +soldiers and immediately threw Gianluca's wife out of the window of the +east tower, and cut off the heads of his two sons on the same afternoon. +I will show you where that was done when we go up stairs. Paolo was an +extremely energetic person." + +"Decidedly so, I should say," assented Ghisleri. "You are all descended +from him, I suppose." + +"Yes, he took care that we should be, by killing all the other branches +of the family. Those hollows in the stone are supposed to have been made +by his footsteps. Think what a walk! It lasted eighteen years. But it is +an airy place and not damp. Those windows were there then, they say. Do +you see that deep channel in the wall? It leads straight up through the +castle to the floor of the little passage between the old guard-room +and one of the towers. There used to be a trap-door--it was still there +when I was a little girl, but my father has had a slab of stone put down +instead. They used to entice their dearest and most familiar enemies up +there, and just as the man set foot on the board a soldier in the tower +pulled a bolt in the wall and the trap-door fell. It is two hundred +feet, they say. It was so cleverly managed! They say that the last +person who came to grief there was a Monsignor Boccapaduli in the year +sixteen hundred and something, but no one ever knew what had become of +him until the next generation." + +Familiar from her childhood with every corner of the vast building, she +led Ghisleri through one portion after another, telling such of the +tales of horror as she remembered. Little by little they worked their +way to the upper regions. In the guard-room, a vast hall which would +have made a good-sized church, she showed him the great slab of stone +the Prince had substituted for the wooden trap-door of former days, and +which had merely been placed over the yawning chasm without plaster or +cement, its own weight being enough to keep it in position. They passed +over it and ascended the stairs in the tower, emerging at last into the +bright sunshine upon one of the highest battlements. They sat down side +by side on a stone bench. + +"It is pleasanter here," said Adele. "There is a sort of attraction +about those dreadful old places down below, because one never quite +realises all the things that happened there, and it is rather like an +old-fashioned novel, all full of murder and sudden death. But the +sunshine is much nicer, is it not? Shall we stay up here till it is time +for breakfast?" + +"By all means. It is a delightful place for a good talk." Ghisleri was +tired, and glad to sit down. + +"Then you must talk to me," continued his companion. "Between the stairs +and playing guide, I have no voice left. What will you talk about? Tell +me all about your own castle. They say it is very interesting. I wish I +could see it!" + +"After Gerano it would seem very tame to you. It is mostly in ruins, and +what there is left of it is very much the worse for wear. I would not +advise you to take the trouble to stop, even if you should ever pass +near it." + +"That is a way you have of depreciating everything connected with +yourself," said Adele. "Why do you do it?" + +"Do I?" asked Ghisleri, carelessly. "I suppose I have the idea that it +is better to let people be agreeably surprised, if there is to be any +surprise at all. When you have heard that a man is insufferable, if he +turns out barely tolerable you think him nice." + +"Then it is mere pose on your part, with the deliberate intention of +producing an effect?" + +"Probably--mere pose." Ghisleri laughed; he looked at the woman at his +side and wondered whether he could ever find out the truth about Arden's +death, and the connexion with it which, as he believed, she must have +had. + +She, on her part, did not even guess that he suspected her. The thought +had crossed her mind on the previous afternoon, but she had very soon +dismissed it. She found relief and change from the monotonous suffering +of the past days in talking to him, and she tried to enjoy what she +could without allowing her mind to wander back to its chief +preoccupation. Ghisleri was very careful not to rouse her suspicion by +any accidental reference to what filled his thoughts as much as it did +her own, and they spent more than half an hour in aimless and more or +less amusing conversation. + +Gerano did not offer any very great variety of amusement. After +breakfast, there was the usual interval for smoking and coffee, and +after that the usual drive of two or three hours in the hills. Then, tea +and small talk, the dressing hour, the arrival of the post with the +morning papers from Rome, dinner, more smoking, and more conversation, +and bed-time was reached. It was not gay, and when he retired for the +night Ghisleri was beginning to wonder how long he could endure the +ordeal with equanimity. He was not generally a man very easily bored, +and the reasons which had brought him to Gerano were strong enough in +themselves to make him ready to sacrifice a good deal, but he realised +that he was not making any advance in the direction of discovering the +secret. He had learned more in the first few hours of his stay than he +had learned since, and so far as he could see, he was not likely to find +out anything more. He had noticed, too, the improvement in Adele's +appearance on that day. It was possible that she had already acted upon +the general advice he had given her, and that she had insured the +silence of the person she dreaded, if any such person existed. But it +was equally possible that no one knew what she had done, and that she +had not meant anything by the question. + +The third day passed like the second, and the fourth began without +promising any change. Adele appeared as usual at eleven o'clock and +spent an hour with Ghisleri. They were becoming more intimate by this +time than they had ever been before during their long acquaintance, and +Adele flattered herself that she had made an impression. Ghisleri would +not forget the hospitality she had offered him, and next year would be +more often seen in the circle of her admirers. She even imagined that he +might fall into a sort of mild and harmless flirtation, if she knew how +to manage him. + +A little before the hour for breakfast she went to her room. Lucia was +there, as usual, waiting in case she should be needed. As she retouched +Adele's hair, and gave a final twist with the curling tongs to the +ringlets at the back of her mistress's neck, she began to speak in a low +voice and in a somewhat hurried manner. + +"I have found out who took the letter, Excellency," she said. "It is in +a safe place and no one else has seen it. The person will give it to me +at once if the reward is large enough." + +Adele's eyes sparkled, and a little colour rose in her cheeks. Lucia +watched the reflection of her face in the mirror. + +"How much does she ask?" she inquired, without hesitation, and with a +certain business-like sharpness in her tone. + +There was a moment's pause, as Lucia withdrew the tongs from the little +curl. + +"She asks five thousand francs," she said, in some trepidation, for she +had hardly ever in her life even spoken of so large a sum. + +"That is a great deal," answered Adele, pretending to be surprised, +while doing her best to conceal her satisfaction. "I have not so much +money out here; indeed, Don Francesco has not either. She must wait +until we go to Rome." + +"A year, if your Excellency pleases," said the maid, blowing scent upon +a transparent handkerchief from an atomizer. + +"In the meanwhile I should like to have the letter. I suppose she would +accept my promise--written, if she requires it?" + +"Of course she would, and she would give me the papers at once--or +instead of a promise, I have no doubt she would be perfectly satisfied +with a bit of jewelry as a pledge." + +"That would be simpler," said Adele, coldly. She could not but be +astonished at the woman's cool effrontery, though it was impossible to +refuse anything she asked. "I will give you a diamond for her to keep as +a pledge," she added, "but I want the letter this afternoon." + +"Yes, Excellency." + +During the midday meal Adele was by turns absent and then very gay. She +seemed restless and uneasy during the coffee and cigarette stage of the +afternoon. Ghisleri watched her with curiosity. Fully half an hour +earlier than usual she went to her room to get ready for the regulation +drive. + +Lucia was waiting for her, pale as death and evidently in a state of the +greatest agitation. Without a word Adele unlocked her jewel case, took +out a little morocco covered box, opened it, and glanced at a pair of +diamond ear-rings it contained, shut it again and held it out to Lucia. +To her surprise the woman drew back, clearly in great terror, and trying +to get behind the long toilet table as though in fear of bodily harm. + +"What is the matter?" asked Adele, in surprise. "Where is the letter? +Why do you not give it to me?" + +"A great misfortune has happened," gasped Lucia, hardly able to speak. +"I cannot get it from the person." + +"What!" Adele's voice rang through the room. "Do you want more money +now? What is this comedy?" + +"The letter is not there--I--she does not know where it is. It is +lost--Excellency--" + +"Lost? Where did you hide it?" + +Lucia was almost too frightened by this time to tell connectedly what +had happened, but Adele understood before long that the maid had looked +about for a safe place in which to hide the precious document, and had +at last decided to slip it under the great slab of stone which has been +already mentioned as covering the opening of the oubliette between the +guard-room and the tower. Lucia had found that on one side, owing to the +irregularity of the old pavement, there was room to lay the folded +papers, and that she could just slip her hand in so as to withdraw them +again. She was, of course, quite ignorant that the stone covered a well +of which the shaft penetrated to the lowest foundation of the castle, +and that one touch of her hand, or a gust of wind, was enough to send +the light sheets over the edge close to which she had unwittingly placed +them. Adele still pretended to be angry, but she drew a long breath of +relief. She knew the exact spot at which to look for what she wanted. +She locked up her diamonds again, scolding Lucia for her carelessness +all the time, and doing her best to be very severe. Lucia bore all that +was said to her very meekly, for she had expected far worse. In her +opinion some one had accidentally discovered the letter, and taken it, +and would make capital out of it as she had meant to do. Her +disappointment was as great, as the sum of five thousand francs had +seemed to her enormous, but her fear soon vanished when she saw that +Adele had no intention of doing her any bodily injury, nor, apparently, +of dismissing her again. That the papers were really gone from the place +of concealment she knew beyond a doubt. She had lit a taper in her +effort to find them, and had thrust it under the slab, bending low and +looking into the crevice. Nothing white of any sort had been visible. + +Adele dressed herself for going out and left the room. But instead of +joining her husband and Ghisleri at once, she turned out of the main +passage by the cross corridor which led to the court-yard, went out and +walked quickly down the inclined road by which she had led Ghisleri to +Paolo Braccio's dungeon. There, where the shaft of the oubliette came +down, she was quite sure of finding the little package of sheets which +meant so much to her and which had almost meant a fortune to Lucia. She +crossed the worn pavement rapidly. There was plenty of light from the +grated windows high up under the vault, and she could have seen the +paper almost as soon as she entered the place. She stopped short as she +reached the foot of the channel in the wall. There was nothing there. +She stared up into the blackness above in the hope of seeing a white +thing caught and sticking to the stones, but she could not distinguish +the faintest reflection of anything. Yet she was convinced that the +thing must have fallen all the way. The shaft, as she well knew, was +quite perpendicular and the masonry compact and well finished. The +object of those who had built it had been precisely to prevent the +possibility of the victim catching on a projection of any sort while +falling. + +Adele turned pale and leaned against the wall, breathing hard. If Lucia +had acted differently she might have been suspected of having told a +falsehood, and of keeping the letter back in order to extort a larger +sum for it at some future time. But Lucia had evidently been frightened. +Moreover, the woman was undoubtedly ignorant of the existence of the +well under the stone, or, she would never have been so foolish as to +choose such a place for hiding anything so valuable, and it was clear +that she had no idea of the manner in which the package had disappeared. +That it must have reached the bottom, Adele was quite sure. In that case +some one had been in the dungeon before her and had picked it up, but +who the some one might be she had no means of conjecturing. + +She hardly knew how she reached the court-yard again. It cost her a +superhuman effort to walk. In the passage she met her husband. + +"What is the matter?" he asked, as soon as he saw her face. + +"I feel very ill--I wanted to breathe the air." She seemed to be gasping +for breath. + +Francesco drew her arm through his and walked with her to her room. She +was clearly not in a state in which she could think of going out. + +Savelli went back and explained to Ghisleri, who, if anything, was glad +to escape from the monotonous drive. He got a book and shut himself up +in his room to read. That evening Savelli told him that Adele was worse, +and was in a state of indescribable nervous agitation. It was clearly +his duty to go away, if Adele were about to be seriously ill, and he +told Bonifazio to pack his things that night. If matters did not +improve, he would leave on the following morning. + +Though Francesco was not much affected by his wife's sufferings, the +dinner was anything but brilliant, for he anticipated a renewal of all +the annoyance of the first few days. Moreover, if Adele was liable to +sudden relapses of this kind at any moment, and without the smallest +reason or warning, his life would, before long, be made a burden to him. +As the husband of a permanent invalid he could hope for very little +liberty or amusement. A wife may go into the world without her husband, +because he is supposed to be occupied with more important affairs, but a +husband who frequents parties when his wife is constantly suffering, is +considered heartless in the extreme. That, at least, is society's view +of the mutual obligation, and if it is not the just one, it is at least +founded upon the theory of woman's convenience, as most of society's +views are. + +Francesco was easily prevailed upon to give Adele an increased dose of +chloral, in the hope that she might sleep, and consequently give him +less trouble on the next day. But in this conclusion he was mistaken. +She awoke in great pain, suffering, she said, from a violent headache, +and so nervous that her hand trembled violently and she was hardly able +to lift a cup to her lips when the nurse brought her tea. Savelli did +not attempt to keep Ghisleri when the latter announced his intention of +returning to town, though he pressed him to come out again, as soon as +Adele should be better. The man who drove Pietro back was instructed to +bring the doctor out to Gerano, with fresh horses, and especially not to +forget five hundred cigarettes which Francesco wanted for himself. + +Ghisleri left many messages for Adele, and departed with Bonifazio, very +little wiser than when he had arrived, but considerably more curious. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + +It was a relief to be with Laura Arden again for an hour on the day +after his return, as Ghisleri felt when he was installed beside her in +the chair which had come to be regarded as his. She received him just as +usual, and he saw at once that if she had at all resented his visit to +Adele, she was not by any means inclined to let him know it. There was a +freshness and purity in the atmosphere that surrounded her which +especially appealed to him after his visit to Gerano. Whatever she said +she meant, and if she meant anything she took no trouble to hide it. He +compared her face with her step-sister's, and the jaded, prematurely +world-worn look of the one threw the calm beauty of the other into +strong relief. He felt no pity for Adele. What she was, she had made +herself, and if she suffered, it was as the direct and inevitable +consequence of the life she had led and of the things she had done. So, +at least, it seemed to him, and if he could have known the whole truth +at that time, he would have seen how right he was. The ruthless logic of +cause and effect had got Adele into its will and was slowly grinding her +whole existence to dust. + +"It is strange," he said to Laura, "that you and your step-sister should +be so unlike in every way. It is true that you are not related, but you +were brought up in the same house, by the same people, and yet I do not +believe you have a single idea in common." + +"No," answered Laura, "we have not. We do not like the same persons, nor +the same things, nor the same thoughts. We were made to be enemies--and +I suppose we are." + +It was the first time she had ever said so much to him, and even now +there was no rancour in her tone. + +"If all enemies were like you, at least, this would be a very peaceful +world." + +"You do not know me," answered Laura, with a smile. "I have a bad +temper. I could tell you something about it. I once felt as though I +would like to strangle a certain person, and as though I could do it. Do +not imagine that I am all saint and no sinner." + +"I like to imagine all sorts of nice things about you," said Ghisleri. +"But I could never make them nice enough." + +"That is just it. It would need an enormous imagination." + +"But I am not sure that I should like to think of you as being on very +good terms with Donna Adele, and I am almost glad to hear you admit that +you are enemies. There is a satisfaction in knowing that you are human, +as well as in believing you to be good." + +"How is Adele?" Laura asked. + +"The last I heard was that she was much worse. She behaves in the most +unaccountable way. She has the look of a woman in some very great mental +distress--pursued and haunted by something very painful from which she +cannot escape." + +"I had the same feeling about her the last time I saw her. I know that +look very well. I have seen it in your face, sometimes, as well as in +hers." + +"In mine?" Ghisleri looked keenly at her, as though to ascertain whether +she meant more than she said, for the first time in his acquaintance +with her. "When did I ever show you that I was in trouble?" he asked. + +"That was some time ago. You have changed since your illness. You used +to look harassed sometimes, like a man who has a wound in the heart. +Perhaps it is only something which depends on the way your eyes are +made. The first time I ever noticed it was--yes, I remember very +well--it was more than a year ago, that night when you spoke your poem +in the Shrove Tuesday masquerade. It was not when you were talking to +me. You looked perfectly diabolical then. It was later. I saw you +standing alone in a doorway after a dance." + +"What a memory you have! I was probably in a bad humour. I generally am, +even now." + +"Why do you say even now?" asked Laura, watching his face. + +"Oh, I hardly know," he answered. "All sorts of things have happened to +me since then, to simplify my existence. At that time it was very +particularly complicated." + +"And how have you simplified it?" She put the question innocently +enough, and quite thoughtlessly, not even guessing at the truth. + +"It has been simplified for me. It came near being simplified into being +no existence at all. A few inches made the difference." + +"Yes," said Laura, thoughtfully, "the greatest of all differences to +you." + +"And none at all to any one else," added Ghisleri, with a dry laugh. + +She turned her great dark eyes upon him. The lids drooped a little as +she scrutinised his face somewhat coldly, but with an odd interest. + +"I suppose that might be quite true," she said at last. "Perhaps it is. +But I do not like you any the better for saying it in that way." + +Ghisleri was silent, but he met her gaze quietly and without flinching, +until she looked away. She sighed a little as she took up a bit of +embroidery she was doing for some garment of little Herbert's. + +"Why do you sigh?" he asked, not expecting that she would answer the +question. + +"For some one," she said simply, and she began to make a few stitches. + +He knew that she was thinking of Maddalena dell' Armi, and his heart +smote him. + +"I was wrong to say it," he answered, in a more gentle tone. "There was +perhaps one exception to the rule." + +Ghisleri grew even more careful of his speech after that. But he did not +see Laura often before she went away northward for the summer. The +spring was going fast, and the time was coming when Rome would be its +quiet old-fashioned self again for those few who loved it well enough to +face the heat of July and August. Almost every one was thinking of going +away. The Prince and Princess of Gerano were going out to the castle +earlier than usual, for the news of Adele grew steadily worse. Francesco +now had the doctor out regularly three times a week, and was forced to +lead an existence he detested. His wife was by this time quite unable to +get rest without taking very large quantities of chloral, and at times +her sufferings were such that it seemed almost advisable to give her +morphia. Every one, however, who brought intelligence from Gerano agreed +in saying that she did her best to keep up, and seemed to dread the idea +of an illness which might keep her permanently in her room. Whenever +she felt able she insisted on driving out and on going through the +regular round of monotonous country occupations. Her father and +step-mother therefore determined to go out and help Francesco to take +care of her, and make her existence as bearable as possible. Amongst all +her friends she was spoken of with the utmost compassion, and no one +ever suggested that her illness could proceed from any such cause as +Ghisleri believed to be at the root of it. + +A few days before Laura Arden was to go away Donald came to Pietro's +room in the morning, with a very grave face. Lady Herbert, he said, +thought that Ghisleri would understand why she did not write, but sent +Donald in person with a verbal message. She was going away, and was +about to give up the apartment in which she had spent the winter, +without any intention of taking it again in the following year. There +were certain things that had belonged to Lord Herbert--Lady Herbert had +no home and did not like to send them to Lord Lulworth--would Ghisleri +take charge of them in her absence? Pietro, of course, assented, and two +hours later Donald arrived with a large carriage load of boxes. Ghisleri +looked on with a very unpleasant sensation in his throat as his old +friend's effects were brought up stairs and deposited in a room where he +kept such things of his own. When they were all piled together in a +corner, he took an old green curtain and covered them with it, spreading +it carefully over them with his own hands. Then he locked the door and +went away. Some men and women when they die seem to leave something of +life behind them, which the mere sight of anything that has belonged to +them has power to recall most vividly to the perceptions of those who +have known them and loved them. Ghisleri understood Laura Arden's +feeling about her husband's belongings. He knew, or thought he knew, +that from the moment her child had been given to her, she had desired +that no material object should revive the sorrow she had felt so deeply. +The memory she cherished was wholly spiritual, and upon its remaining +so her peace of mind largely depended. The one Herbert was to live in +the other--and there must not be two. Not every one, perhaps, would have +understood her so readily. + +The day came for bidding her good-bye. It was with a somewhat heavy +heart that he went up the stairs of her house for the last time. Much of +the little happiness he had known during the past months was associated +with the place and with her, and not a little of the sorrow as well. The +drawing-room was bare, and had lost the comfortable, inhabited look +which even a furnished lodging takes from all the little objects a woman +brings to it, and which she alone knows how to dispose and arrange as +though they were in constant use, thereby at once producing the +impression that the habitation she has chosen has been lived in long. + +Once more Ghisleri sat in the familiar chair near the open window, and +once more Laura took her place in the corner of the great sofa. + +"I have come to say good-bye," he began. "You are still decided to go +to-morrow, I suppose." + +"Yes. I have not changed my plans. Please do not come to the station to +see me off, nor send flowers, nor do any of the things which are +generally done. I would rather not see any one I know after leaving this +house." + +"May I write to you?" asked Ghisleri. + +"Of course. Why not?" + +"I do not know, I am sure. I thought it better to ask you. Some women +hate correspondence except with their nearest and dearest. I will give +you the news of Rome during the wild gaiety of July and August." + +"Are you not going away at all?" asked Laura, in some surprise. "You +ought to; it will do you good." + +"I hardly know. I like to be alone in summer. It gives one time to +think. One has a chance of leading a sensible life when nobody is here +to see. The days pass pleasantly--plenty of reading, a diet of +watermelon and sherbet, and a little repentance--it is magnificent +treatment for the liver." + +Laura looked at him and then laughed very softly. + +"You seem amused," said Ghisleri, gravely. "What I say is quite +true--the result of long experience." + +"I was not laughing at what you said, but at the idea that you should +still think it worth while to make such speeches to me." + +"If I can make you laugh at all it is worth while." + +"At all events, it is good of you to say so. Which of the three subjects +do you mean to take for your letters to me--your reading, your food, or +your repentance?" + +"The food would be the simplest and safest topic. You can read for +yourself what you please. Repentance, when it is not a habit, is rarely +well done. But one can say the most charming things about strawberries, +peaches, and figs, without ever offending any one's taste." + +"I think you grow worse as you grow older," said Laura, still smiling. +"But if you would take your programme seriously, it would not be a bad +thing, I fancy. Seriously, however, you ought to get away from Rome." + +"I should be tempted to go and stay a week near you, if I went away at +all," said Ghisleri. + +Laura did not answer at once. She glanced at him with a vague suspicion +in her eyes which disappeared almost instantly, and then took two or +three stitches in her embroidery before she spoke. + +"I would rather you should not do that," she said at last. "I may as +well tell you what I think about it. To me, and to you, it seems +thoroughly absurd that you should not see me whenever we choose to meet. +There are many reasons why I should look upon you as a friend, and why +you should come more often than any other man I know. But the world +thinks differently. My mother has spoken to me about it more than once, +and in one way she is right. You know what a place this is, and how +every one talks about everybody. Unfortunately, I believe that you are +one of the men about whose private affairs society is most busy. I +cannot help it now. I have no right to say anything about your life, +past or present, but you have told me enough about yourself to make me +understand why there is always gossip about you, and why there always +will be. Then, too, you will never make people believe that you did not +fight that duel about me, for you cannot tell any one what you told me. +The consequence is, that you and I look at it all from one point of +view, and the world sees it from quite another. I think it is better to +say all this once, and to be done with it. As we shall not meet for +several months, people will forget to talk. Am I right to speak to you?" + +"Perfectly right," answered Ghisleri. An expression of pain had settled +on his lean face while she had been talking, and did not disappear at +once. Laura saw it and was silent for a moment. + +"I am sorry if I have hurt you," she said presently. "Perhaps I was +wrong." + +"No, you were quite right," Ghisleri replied. "You would have been very +wrong indeed not to tell me. If you did not, who would? But I had no +suspicion of all this. I believed that for once they might let me alone, +considering what you are--and what I am. The contrast might protect you +in the eyes of some persons. Lady Herbert Arden--and Pietro Ghisleri." + +He pronounced his own name with the utmost bitterness. + +"Please do not speak of yourself in that way," said Laura, with +something like entreaty in her voice. + +"It is true enough," he answered. "An intelligent being might understand +that I could be useful to you, but not that you--" He stopped short, and +his tone changed. "I am talking nonsense," he said briefly, by way of +explaining the truth. + +"I think you are, in a way," said Laura, quietly. "It is your old habit +of exaggeration. You make me an impossible creature between an archangel +and the good mamma in children's story books, and you refer to yourself +as to a satanic monster whom no honest woman could call her friend. You +are quite right. It is sheer nonsense. If you stay in Rome to repent, +as you suggest in fun, do it in earnest. I am not talking of your sins, +which are not half so bad as you pretend, but of this silly view you +insist upon taking of your own life. If you must think perpetually of +yourself, judge yourself by some reasonable standard. You live in the +world and you have no right to expect to find that you are a saint. If +that is what you wish, take vows, turn monk, and starve yourself up to +heaven if you can. And if you chance to think of me, do not set me on a +pedestal, and build a church over me, and pray at me. I do not like that +sort of thing--it is all unnatural and absurd. I am a woman and nothing +else, better than some by force of circumstances, and not so good as +some others, perhaps for the same reason. All the rest that you imagine +is sentimental trash, and not worth the time it takes you to think it. +You will not be wasting your summer if you can get rid of it all by the +time we meet in the autumn." + +For once in his life, Ghisleri was taken by surprise. He had not had any +idea that Laura could express herself so strongly on any point, still +less that she could talk so plainly about himself. He was far too manly, +however, not to be pleased, and his expression changed as he listened to +her. She smiled as she finished, and began to make stitches again. + +"No one ever gave me so much good advice in so short a time," he said, +with a laugh. "You have a wonderful power of condensing your meaning. Do +you often talk in that way?" + +"Not often. I think I never did before. Do you not think there is some +sense in what I say?" + +"Indeed, I begin to believe that there is a great deal," Ghisleri +answered. "At all events, I shall not forget it. Perhaps you will find +me partially reformed when you come back. You must promise to tell me." + +"It will take me some time to find out. But if I succeed I will tell +you." + +His mood had changed for the better, and he talked of Laura's plans +during nearly half an hour. At last he rose to go. + +"Good-bye," he said, rather abruptly. + +She looked up quietly as she took his hand, and pressed it without +affectation. + +"Good-bye. I wish you a very pleasant summer--and--since we are +parting--I thank you with all my heart for the many kind and friendly +things you have done for me." + +"I have done nothing. Good-bye, again." + +He turned and she stood looking at his retreating figure until he had +disappeared through the door. + +"I believe there is more good in that man than any one knows," she said +to herself. Then she also left the room and went to see whether little +Herbert were awake, and to busy herself with the last arrangements for +his comfort during the journey. + +Ghisleri knew that another parting was before him in the near future. As +usual, Maddalena dell' Armi was going to spend a considerable part of +the summer with her father in Tuscany. He went to see her tolerably +often, and their relations had of late been to all appearances friendly +and undisturbed. But he doubted whether the final interview before they +separated for several months could pass off without some painful +incident. He knew Maddalena's character well, and if he did not know his +own, it was not for want of study. He almost wished that he might, on +that day, choose to call at a time when some other person was present, +for then, of course, there could be no show of emotion on either side, +nor any words which could lead to such weakness. He went twice to the +house during the week which intervened between Laura Arden's departure +and the day fixed for Maddalena's, saying each time that he would come +again, a promise to which the Contessa seemed indifferent enough. She +would always be glad to see as much of him as possible, she said. The +last day came. She was to leave for Florence on the following morning. +Ghisleri rang, was admitted, and found her alone. + +"I knew you would come," she said, "though it is so late." + +"Of course. Did I not say so? I suppose you are still decided to go +to-morrow." + +He was conscious that he was saying the very same indifferent words +which he had said a few days earlier to Laura, and Maddalena answered +him almost as Laura had done. + +"Yes. Of course you must not come to the station. That is understood, is +it not?" + +"Since you wish it, I will certainly not come. So we are saying good-bye +until next season," he continued, breaking the ice as it were, since he +felt it must be broken. "I will try and not be emotional, and I ask you +to believe--this once--that I am in earnest. I have something to say to +you. May I? Will you listen to me? You and I cannot part with two words +and a nod of the head, like common acquaintances." + +"I will hear all you care to say," answered Maddalena, simply. "And I +will try to believe you." + +He looked at the pale face and the small, perfect features before he +spoke, to see if they were as hard as they often were. But for the +moment the expression was softened. The evening glow played softly upon +the bright hair, and threw a deep, warm light into the violet eyes, as +she turned towards him. + +"What is it?" she asked, as he seemed to hesitate. "Has anything +happened? Are you going to be married?" + +The question shocked him in a way he could not explain. + +"No. I am not thinking of marrying. We have been a great deal to each +other, for a long time. But for my fault--and it is, of course, my +fault--we might be as much in one another's lives as ever. We used to +meet in the summer, but that will not happen this year. When you come +back, we may both be changed more than we think it possible to change at +present." + +"In what way?" + +"I do not know. Perhaps, when we meet again, we shall feel that we are +really and truly devoted friends. Perhaps you may hate me altogether--" + +"And you me." + +"No, that is not possible. I am not very sure of myself as a rule. But +that, at least, I know." + +"I hope you are right. If you are not my friend, who should be? So you +think I hate you. You are very wrong. I am still very fond of you. I +told you so the other day. You should believe me. Remember, when it all +ended, it was you who had changed--not I. I am not reproaching you. I +might say that you should have known yourself better than to think that +you could be faithful; but you might tell me--and it would be quite as +just--that I, a woman, knew what I was doing and had been taught to look +upon my deeds as you never could. But it was you who changed. If you had +loved me, I should have loved you still. Little things showed me long +ago that your love was waning. It was never what it was in those first +days. And now I have changed, too. I love what was once, but if I could +have your love now as it was at its strongest and best, I would not ask +for it. Why should I? I could never trust it again, and anything is +better than that doubt. And I want no consolation." + +"Indeed, I should have very little to offer you, worth your accepting," +said Pietro, in a low voice. + +"If I needed any, the best you could give me would be what I ask,--not +as consolation at all, but as something I still believe worth having +from you,--and that is your honest friendship." + +Ghisleri was moved in spite of himself. His face grew paler and the +shadows showed beneath his eyes where Maddalena had so often seen them. + +"You are too kind--too good," he said, in an unsteady tone. + +The last time he had said almost the same words had been when he made +his first visit to her after his long illness. Then she had been +touched, far more than he. She looked at him for a few moments and saw +that he felt very strongly. + +"Do not distress yourself," she said gently. "Pray do not--it hurts me, +too. I mean what I say. I do not believe you can be faithful in love +now--to any one. You gave all you had to give long ago. But I have +watched you since we became what we are now, and I will do you justice. +I do not know any man who can be a more true and devoted friend. You +see, I meant what I said." + +"If it is true--if I can be a friend to any one, I will be one to you. +But that is not what I would have, if I could choose." + +"What would you have, then?" + +"What is impossible. That is what one would always like. Let us not talk +of it. It does no good to wish for what is beyond wishing. I thank you +for what you have said--dear. I shall not forget it. Few women could be +so good as you are to me. You would have the right to be very different +if you chose." + +"No, I should not. There are reasons--well, as you say, let us not talk +about it. We have made up our minds to meet and part as we +should--kindly always, lovingly as friends love, truthfully now, since +there is nothing left for us to distrust." + +She had never spoken to him in this way in all the meetings that had +followed his recovery. He wondered if there had been any real change in +her nature, or whether this were not at last the assertion of her +natural self. She spoke so seriously and quietly that he could not doubt +her. + +"I have seen that you can act in that way," she continued presently. +"You have done more for the sake of the mere memory of your friend than +many men would do for love itself." + +"Not so much as I would do for the memory of love," said Ghisleri, +turning his face away. + +"Was it so sweet as that?" she asked. + +"Yes." + +"And yet you have loved better and longer in other days." + +"As I was a better man," he said, finding no other answer, for he knew +it was true. + +Maddalena sighed. Perhaps she had hoped that this last time he would say +what he had never said--that he had loved her better than Bianca +Corleone. + +"You must have been different then." She spoke a little coldly, in spite +of herself. A moment later she smiled. "How foolish it is of me to think +of making comparisons, now that it is all over," she said. "So you are +not coming to Tuscany this summer, and I shall not see you till next +autumn. Why do you not come?" + +"I want to be alone a long time," answered Ghisleri. "It is much better. +I am bad company, and besides, I am not strong enough to wander about +the world yet. I need a long rest." + +"It seems so strange to think of you as not being strong." + +"Yes--I who used to be so proud of my strength. I believe that was my +greatest vanity when I was very young." + +"How full of contradictions you are!" Maddalena exclaimed, as she had +often done before. + +Ghisleri said nothing, for he knew it better than she could. It was +growing late, for the sun had gone down and the twilight deepened in the +room. He rose to go, and took her hand as she stood up beside him. + +"Good-bye," he said, almost in a whisper. "May God forgive me, and bless +you--always." + +"Good-bye--dear." + +He went out. It had been a strange meeting, and the parting was stranger +still. Very often, throughout the long summer months which followed, +Ghisleri thought of it, recalling every word and gesture of the woman +who had loved him so deeply, and for whom he had nothing left but the +poor friendship she was so ready to accept. But that at least he could +give her, kindly, lovingly, and truthfully, as she herself had said, +and he was grateful to her for asking it of him, though no kindness of +hers could heal the wound he had given himself in injuring her. He +thought less harshly of the world for half a year or so after that day, +and began to believe that it might not be so abominable a place as he +had sometimes been inclined to think it. + +He wrote to Maddalena from time to time, short letters, which said +little, but which she was glad to receive and which she often answered +in the same strain, with a small chronicle of small doings made to bear +the weight of a sweeping comment now and then. Little enough of interest +there was in any of those epistles, but there was a general tone in them +which assured each that the other had not forgotten that last meeting. + +Ghisleri did not write to Laura, though he could hardly have told why, +especially as he had spoken of doing so. Possibly he felt that she would +not understand him through a letter as she did when they were face to +face, and he feared to make a bad impression. + +Of Adele Savelli he had news often, through people who were in intimate +correspondence with her and with her step-mother, who spent the greater +part of the summer at Gerano. From all accounts she had begun to improve +with the warm weather, and though she still looked ill and greatly +changed from her former self, she was said to be very much better. It +was commonly reported that morphia had saved her, and it was whispered +that she was a slave to it in consequence. Ghisleri cared very little. +He had almost given up the idea that she had been concerned in bringing +on Arden's illness, and even if he sometimes still thought she had been, +he saw the impossibility of going any further than he had gone already +in the attempt to discover the truth. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + + +Before attempting to chronicle the events which were the ultimate +consequences of those already described, it will be necessary to explain +how it was that very little worth recording occurred during nearly three +years after the day on which Pietro Ghisleri said good-bye to the +Contessa dell' Armi, when she was going to make her customary visit to +her father. + +In the natural course of things, every one returned in the following +autumn, in more or less lively expectation of the season to come. Laura +Arden expected nothing of it, in the way of amusement, nor did she look +forward to anything of the sort in her life as possible for many seasons +to come. + +Maddalena dell' Armi, on the other hand, expected much, and was, on the +whole, disappointed. Ghisleri had grown indifferent to such a degree as +to be almost unrecognizable to his friends. He went out very little, and +was said to be busy with some speculation in which he was ruining +himself, but of which, as a matter of fact, he had never even heard. +Adele Savelli went everywhere, thin, nervous, and careworn, and +apparently driven to death by the necessity for excitement. There were +people who said she was going mad, and others who said she lived on +morphia and that it must ultimately kill her. The division of opinions +concerning the nature of her malady still existed, and the wildest +stories were sent adrift at a venture down the dangerous rapids of +conversation. Donna Adele had quarrelled about Laura with her father, +who had disinherited her as far as he was able, and she led a life of +daily torment in Casa Savelli in consequence. That was one of the tales. +Then it was stated that Francesco's passion for Laura Arden had suddenly +developed to heroic proportions, and that his wife was eating her heart +out. Thirdly, there was a party which asserted confidently that Adele +herself was in love with Pietro Ghisleri, who did not even take the +trouble to go and see her more than once or twice a month. The only +point upon which opinion was unanimous was Laura Arden's personal and +undivided responsibility for all the evil that happened to Adele +Savelli. In the first year, so long as Laura never went into the world, +the reputation society had given her harmed her very little, and but for +the extremely thoughtful kindness of one or two communicative friends, +she might have remained in ignorance of it altogether. As it was, she +was indifferent, except when she was amused by the still current +accusation of possessing the evil eye. + +That Laura was an undoubted and dangerous jettatrice was now commonly +accepted as a matter of fact. Since Ghisleri and Campodonico had fought, +the men had been circumspect in their remarks, but there were few who +did not make the sign when they saw her go by. If anything had been +needed to prove the fact, there was the issue of the duel. The man who +had taken Laura's side had nearly lost his life, though he had fought +several times previously without ever receiving any serious hurt. That +was proof positive. Adele's illness, too, dated almost from the day of +her reconciliation with Laura, and seemed likely to end fatally. Then, +almost at the same time, the Contessa had broken with Ghisleri in the +most heartless way, as the world said. For the world knew something +about that, too, and could have told the whole story most exactly as it +had never happened, and detailed several conversations accurately which +had never taken place. Poor Ghisleri! The world pitied him sincerely, +and hated Laura Arden for being the evil-eyed cause of all his +misfortunes. How could he still go to see her, knowing, as he must, how +dangerous it was? Had she not almost killed him and Adele, as well as +quite killing her husband? People who touched Laura Arden's hand would +do well to shut themselves up and lie safe at home for four and twenty +hours, until the power of the jettatura was past. Those black eyes of +hers meant no good to any one, in spite of her inspired, nun-like looks. + +All these things were said, repeated, affirmed, denied, discussed, and +said again in the perpetual vicious circle of gossip, while the persons +most concerned lived their own lives almost altogether undisturbed by +the reports affecting them. No one refused to bow to Laura Arden in the +street, although she was supposed to have the power of bringing murder, +pestilence, and sudden death on those who went too near her. Nobody +ventured to condole with Adele Savelli upon her husband's flighty +conduct, still less upon the supposed loss to her of half the Gerano +estate. Nor did any one express to Ghisleri anything like sympathy for +having been so abominably treated by the Contessa. Such frankness would +have been reprehensible and tactless in the extreme. + +Adele Savelli's existence was in reality far more wretched than any one +could have supposed at that time, and it was destined to be made yet +more miserable before a second year had elapsed. + +In the spring of the year following that described in the last chapter, +the Contessa Delmar surprised Ghisleri with a very startling piece of +news. They were talking together in the grand stand at one of the May +races. + +"You know I always tell you everything I hear that seems to be of any +importance," she said. "We generally know what to believe. I heard a +story last night which is so very odd that there may be some truth in +it. As it may be nothing but a bit of mischief, I will not name the +person who told me. It is said that more than a year ago, when Adele +Savelli thought she was dying out at Gerano, she did not wish to confess +to the parish priest, whom she had known all her life, and so she wrote +out a general confession and sent it to a priest here in Rome. Is that +possible, do you think?" + +"Such things have been done," answered Ghisleri. "I do not know what the +rule is about them, but the case is possible." + +"I was not sure. Now they say that this confession of Adele's never +reached its destination, and that a copy of it, if not the original, is +in circulation in society, passing quietly from hand to hand. That is a +strange story, is it not?" + +"A very strange story." Pietro's face was grave, for he remembered many +circumstances which this tale might explain. "And what is the confession +said to contain?" he asked, after a pause. + +"Some extraordinary revelations about Adele's social career; it is even +hinted that there is something which might bring very serious +consequences upon her if it were known, though what it is no one can +find out. That is what I heard, and I thought it worth while to tell +you. I think, so far as I am concerned, that I shall deny it. It looks +improbable enough, on the face of it. One need not say that its very +improbability makes one think it cannot be all an invention." + +"No. I think you are wise--and charitable as well. If there is any truth +in it, Donna Adele will have another illness when it reaches her ears. I +suppose people have not failed to say that it was Lady Herbert who had +the confession stolen through a servant." + +"Strange to say, no one has said that yet, but they will," added +Maddalena, with conviction. "Here comes Savelli--take care! Will you put +fifty francs for me on the next race? Here is the note." + +There was no exaggeration in the Contessa's account. The story was +actually in circulation, if the lost confession was not. Unlike the +majority of such tales, however, this one was not openly repeated or +commented upon where more than two people were present. It disappeared +and reappeared in unexpected places like the river Alpheus of old, but +its shape was not materially changed. It was told in whispers and under +terrible oaths of secrecy, and occasionally--very rarely, indeed--the +mere word "Confession," spoken in casual conversation, made people smile +and look at each other. There was not even a scandalous little +paragraph in any of the daily papers, referring to it. For there are +moments when society can keep its secrets, strangely communicative as it +is at other times. The houses of Savelli and Gerano were too important +and, in a way, too powerful still, to be carelessly attacked. Indeed, +society very much preferred that neither the one nor the other should be +attacked at all, and behaved so carefully in this one instance, that it +was very long before any one discovered that a few weeks before the +rumour had been set afloat Francesco Savelli had himself summarily +dismissed Adele's maid for the really serious offence of helping her +mistress to procure more morphia than the doctor's orders allowed. It +was longer still before any one knew that the maid's name was Lucia, and +that she had immediately found a situation with Donna Maria Boccapaduli. +What was never known to the public at all was that when Savelli sent her +out of the house, Lucia had threatened to make certain revelations +injurious to the family if he persisted, but that Francesco had not paid +the slightest attention to the menace, nor even spoken of it to his +wife. He was selfish, cold, and was very far from admirable as a man, +but he had been brought up in good traditions, and had the instincts of +a gentleman when his own comfort was not endangered by them. + +All Ghisleri's suspicions revived at the news Maddalena gave him. Again +he took down the medical work he had consulted on the evening when the +idea that Adele was in some way guilty of Arden's death had first +flashed across his mind, more than a year previously. Again he read the +chapter on scarlet fever carefully from beginning to end, and sat down +to think over the possibilities in such a case, and once more, after +several days of serious consideration, he grew sceptical, and abandoned +the attempt to fathom the mystery, if mystery there were. He knew that +even without that, Adele might have written many things to her confessor +in confidence which, if repeated openly in the world, would do her +terrible harm. He was quite sure that all the infamous slanders on +Laura and her husband could ultimately be traced to Adele alone, and it +was possible that the stolen document contained a full account of them, +though how any sane person could be rash enough to trust such a +statement to the post was beyond Ghisleri's comprehension. He did not +know that Adele had hardly been responsible for her actions on that day +and on many succeeding ones. He had seen, while at Gerano, that she was +far from well, but she had been apparently in full possession of her +senses. That she should have entrusted to paper the confession that she +had wilfully and successfully attempted to make Herbert Arden catch the +scarlet fever in her own house, he could not believe, though he thought +it possible that the crime might have actually been committed. + +He saw strong reasons for thinking that the confession had either been +destroyed, or had never really been shown, but that some third person +had known something of its contents and had perhaps betrayed the +knowledge in a fit of anger. The Contessa dell' Armi could never tell +him anything further than she had communicated at the races, and she, as +he knew, was intimate with many who would be acquainted with all the +current gossip. Strange to say, the story neither developed nor changed; +and contrary to his expectations and to Maddalena's own, no one ever +suggested that Lady Herbert Arden had been instrumental in causing the +confession to be stolen. The men did not talk about the story at all, +or, at least, no one ever hinted at it when Ghisleri was present. + +Laura saw him often during that winter, though not so regularly as in +the first months which had succeeded her husband's death. It was evident +to Pietro that the Princess was seriously disturbed by his frequent +visits to her daughter, and he willingly restricted them rather than +give offence to the elderly lady. As was to be expected, he gradually +became more intimate with Laura as time went on. There were strong bonds +of friendship between them, and the elements of a deep sympathy. On +more than one occasion each had spoken to the other the whole thoughts +of the moment, as people like themselves rarely speak to more than one +or two persons who come into their lives. Ghisleri felt that Laura was +taking the place of everything in his existence for which he had +formerly cared, and the thought of love for any woman had never been so +far from him as during that year and the following summer. He began to +take a pleasure in small things that concerned her, which he had rarely +found in the great emotions of his former life. Occasionally, when he +was in a bad temper, he sneered at himself and said that he was growing +old, and was only fit to be the guardian of distressed widows and +fatherless children. But in spite of such moments, he was sometimes +conscious of something not unlike happiness, and he was, on the whole, +far more cheerful and less discontented with himself than he had +formerly been. + +"It is the calm before the storm," he said to Laura one day, with a +laugh. "Something appalling is going to happen to me before long." + +"I do not believe it," she answered, confidently. "You have lived such +an existence of excitement for so many years, that you cannot understand +what peace means now that you have tried it. Of course if you go in +search of emotions again, you will find them. They grow on every bush, +and are as cheap as blackberries." + +Laura laughed a little, too, as she made the reply. She thought much of +Ghisleri now, and she could hardly realise what her life would be +without him. Little Herbert first, then her mother, then Pietro--so the +three stood in their respective order when she thought of her rather +lonely position in the world. For she was very lonely, even when Arden +had been dead eighteen months or more. Her old acquaintances rarely came +to see her, and when they did there was a constraint in their manner +which told of fear, or dislike, or both. The idle tale of the evil eye +which she had so heartily despised once upon a time had done its work. +In the following year, when, in the natural course of events, she would +have gone out occasionally in a very quiet way, she found herself almost +cut off from society. + +Even then she did not care so much as might have been expected. But her +mother was in despair. She and the Prince constantly had Laura to dine +with them, and always asked at the same time two or three friends with +whom she had formerly been more or less intimate. But when it became +known that "to dine quite informally" meant that the person invited was +to meet Laura Arden, it became very hard to find evenings when any one +chanced to be free to accept an invitation to the Palazzo Braccio. +Incredible as it may seem, Laura was almost ostracised. No one who has +not seen the social ruin which such a reputation as hers brings with it, +could believe how complete it can be. Ghisleri ground his teeth in +impotent anger against the stupid and cruel superstition which possessed +his fellow-citizens, and which in a year or two would inevitably drive +Laura to leave Rome, as it had driven others before then. He could do +nothing, for the thing was never mentioned before him, and moreover he +would be far more careful now than he had ever been not to be drawn into +a quarrel on Laura's account. + +For he was well aware that his position towards her was anomalous and +might very easily be misunderstood in a society where almost all were +prejudiced against her. He supposed that the world expected him to marry +her when a little more time had passed, and he knew that nothing was +further from his thoughts. It was at this time, just two years after +Herbert Arden's death, that he began to torment himself, perhaps with +better reason than in former days. Knowing as he did what might be said, +and what in all likelihood was said about his friendship for Laura, the +advisability of discontinuing his visits almost altogether presented +itself for consideration, and would not be summarily annihilated by any +specious argument. It had formerly seemed to him treacherous even to +think of loving Arden's wife, though the thought had rarely crossed his +mind even as the wildest hypothesis until some time after his friend had +been dead and buried. It now seemed as impossible as ever to love her, +but he was obliged by the commonest of common sense considerations to +admit that such an affection would not imply the smallest breach of +faith to Arden's memory. She was a widow, and any man who knew her had a +right to love her and to ask her hand if he so pleased. That right, +then, was his also, if ever he should need to avail himself of it. But +it was precisely because he did not love Laura Arden that the doubt as +to his own conduct arose. As he had no intention of asking her to marry +him, could he and should he put her in such a position as to favour +speculation in regard to her? Unquestionably he should not. But in that +case, what was he to do? The old, ignoble, worldly instinct told him to +create a diversion by causing gossip in other directions, where scandal +would be easily manufactured, and then to procure himself the liberty of +doing what he pleased behind the world's back, so to say. But to his +credit it must be admitted that he did not entertain the idea for a +moment. It disgusted him and he sought for a solution elsewhere, trying, +in his imagination, every conceivable expedient by which he fancied that +he might enjoy Laura's society without compromising her in any way. In +such cases, however, it is hard to find a stratagem which shall at once +satisfy the exigencies of the situation, and an honest man's conscience +and sense of honour. He had long given up the custom of going to see +Laura every other day, and when she was at her mother's house he was +rarely invited, on account of the Princess's prejudice against him, and +which no good conduct on his part seemed capable of destroying. To give +up seeing Laura altogether was a sacrifice so great that he did not feel +strong enough to make it; nor, perhaps, would Laura herself have +understood it. Yet, unless he kept away from her for a long time, he +knew that the all-wise world would continue to say that he saw her +every day. The more he thought about it, the harder he found it to come +to any decision. Considering the terms on which he now saw her, and that +in former times they had more than once spoken of the same matter, he at +last reluctantly resolved to lay the question before her, and to let her +decide what he should do. He hated to ask advice of any one, and he +detested even the appearance of shifting responsibility upon another. +But he could see no other way. + +Laura found it as hard to come to a determination as he had. During the +last six months he had become almost a necessary part of her life, and +she would have turned to him as naturally as he now turned to her for +counsel in any difficult situation. Her own character was too simple and +straightforward to demand the elaborate explanations of the nature of +friendship, which he required of himself; but when he put the difficulty +before her she saw it plainly enough. + +"For myself, I am perfectly indifferent," she said at last. "I do not +see why I should sacrifice anything because there are people bad enough +to imagine evil where there is none. You and I need no justification of +our friendship, and as I cannot see that I, at least, am much in debt to +the world, it is not clear to me why I should care what it says. But I +have to consider my mother." + +"And yourself, in spite of what you say," answered Ghisleri. "You +yourself are first--your mother next." + +"Of course you, as a man, look at it in that light. But if it were not +for my mother, do not imagine that I should take any notice of what +people choose to say. They have said such vile things of me already that +they can hardly invent anything worse. If it were perfectly indifferent +to you, I do not say but that I might prefer to be careful." + +"If what were indifferent?" asked Ghisleri, who did not understand the +rather enigmatic speech. + +"If you were quite an indifferent person to me--which you are not." + +Her eyes met his frankly, and she smiled as she spoke. There was not a +trace of timidity or shyness in the speech. She had no reason whatever +for concealing the fact that she liked him. But he, on his part, +experienced an odd sensation, the meaning of which was by no means clear +to him. He could not have told whether it partook more of satisfaction +or of disappointment, but it was a distinct emotion of a kind which he +had never expected to feel in her presence. + +"I am glad you like me," he said. "I should be very unhappy if you did +not. I value your friendship more than anything in the world." + +"You have earned it if ever a man did," she answered. + +"It is enough that I have it. I do not know how I have deserved anything +half so precious." + +"I know more of what you have done for me than you suppose," said Laura. +"Never mind that. The facts are simple enough. We are good friends; we +depend, for a certain amount of happiness, upon seeing one another +often; because the world does not understand, it expects us to sacrifice +our inclinations. For my part, I refuse. There is only one person to be +consulted--my mother, who is dearer to me than any friend can be. I will +speak to her and make her see the truth. In the mean time do nothing, +and forget all this absurd complication. It is only the unreal shadow of +an artificial morality which has no foundation nor true existence +whatever. You know that better than I." + +Ghisleri laughed. + +"When you choose to express yourself strongly, you do not lack force," +he said. "In the old days I used to fancy that if you spoke out plainly, +your sentiments would take the form of a prayer, or a hymn, or something +of that sort." + +"I am much more human than you think me," Laura answered. "I told you so +once, and you would not believe me." + +Laura therefore took the matter into her own hands, and spoke to her +mother about it. But the Princess was not easily persuaded, and when the +summer came the two were still at variance. A woman like Laura's mother +is hard to move when she has allowed a prejudice to take firm root in +her mind, and becomes altogether obstinate when that prejudice is +tolerably well founded. It was an unquestionable fact that Ghisleri had +always been considered a dangerous and rather fast man, whose +acquaintance did not improve a woman's reputation, and the Princess of +Gerano had no means of understanding his real character. It was a +constant wonder to her that Laura should like him. The excellent lady +never at all realised that the blood of poor Jack Carlyon was in his +daughter's veins, and that, sooner or later, it might make itself felt +and produce rather unexpected results. Carlyon's chief characteristic +had been his recklessness of consequences. If the Princess had +remembered that, she would have understood better why Laura had married +Herbert Arden in spite of his deformities, and why she made an intimate +friend of Pietro Ghisleri in spite of his reputation. But Laura had +never shown any subversive tendencies in childhood or early youth, and +her fearless truthfulness, her rather melancholy and meditative nature +when a young girl, and her really charitable heart had combined with her +pale beauty and saintly eyes to make her mother suppose her infinitely +more submissive, obedient, and nun-like than she actually was. After +long and patient discussion Laura turned rather suddenly. + +"I am not a child, mother," she said. "I know Signor Ghisleri very much +better than you, and better than most people can. I know enough of his +past life to understand that, although he has done many foolish things +and some cruel ones, he is not what I call a bad man, and he has changed +very much for the better during the last two years. I will not give up +his friendship for the sake of pleasing a set of people who do not even +pretend to like me." + +"Laura, Laura, take care! You are falling in love with that man, and he +is not fit to be your husband." + +"In love?" Laura's deep eyes flashed angrily, for the first time in her +mother's recollection of her. "You do not know what you are saying, +mother." + +The Princess sighed, and turned her face away. She attributed the +extraordinary change in her daughter to Ghisleri's bad influence, and +her prejudice against him increased accordingly. She could not see that +the girl had developed in the course of years into a fully grown woman +whose character had not turned out to be what she had expected. + +And Laura was very angry at the suggestion that she could possibly love +Ghisleri--quite unjustifiably so, her mother considered. But here, +again, the elder woman did the younger an injustice. Love was very far +from Laura's thoughts just then, though her friendship for Pietro was +assuming an importance it had not had before. + +She did not speak again for some minutes, and when she did, she spoke +quietly and without any show of anger. Her tone was not hard, nor was +anything she said either cutting or defiant, but the Princess felt that +there was to be no appeal from the verdict. + +"Dearest mother," she said, "I never did anything and I never will do +anything with the intention of displeasing or hurting you. But I have my +own life to lead, and my own responsibilities to bear, in my own way. +There are some things in which I must judge for myself, and one of them +is in the matter of choosing my friends." + +"If you had chosen any one but that wild Ghisleri!" sighed the Princess. + +"A man who knew him better than either you or I can, loved him dearly, +and when he was dying bade him take care of me. The promise then made +has been faithfully kept. I will not shut my door to my husband's old +friend, who has become mine, merely because the world is what it is--a +liar, an evil speaker, and a slanderer." + +Laura was a little pale, and the lids drooped over her eyes as though to +hide something she would not show. It was the first time she had ever +spoken of Herbert Arden since her child had been born. + +If the world had been aware that the matter of her intimacy with +Ghisleri had been under discussion, it would have been much delighted by +her decision. It would really have been too unkind of Laura to deprive +it of a subject of conversation full of never-flagging interest. For not +a day passed without a reference to Pietro's devotion to her, and the +reference was rarely made without a dash of spite and a little +flavouring of social venom. Laura was not to be forgiven for having made +Ghisleri prefer her company to that of a score of other women, all, in +their own estimation, as good-looking as she, and infinitely more +agreeable. + +Ghisleri himself accepted the situation, since Laura wished him to do +so, though he was constantly uneasy about his own position. It seemed to +him that if there were the slightest danger of giving colour to any +serious slander on her name it must be his duty to disobey her and +altogether discontinue his visits. And he knew also that he would +naturally be the last person to hear what was common gossip. The season, +however, passed on quietly enough until Lent began, bringing the period +of mortification and fasting during which society uses its legs less and +its tongues more. This, it may be here again said for the sake of +clearness, was the Lenten season of the second year after Arden's death, +and after the final break between Ghisleri and Maddalena dell' Armi. + +At that time several events occurred which it is necessary to chronicle +in greater detail, for the better understanding of this history, and for +the more complete refutation of the story which passed commonly current +for some time afterwards, and which very nearly brought about the most +irreparable consequences. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + + +During nearly a year a large number of persons had been acquainted with +the story of Adele's written confession, but, as has been shown, the +matter was considered so serious as to deserve secrecy--the highest +social honour which can be conferred on truth. It had never reached the +ears of any member of the Savelli or of the Gerano families, and but for +Maddalena dell' Armi, Ghisleri himself would never have heard it. + +Although Adele was suffering the dire results of her evil deeds in the +shape of almost incurable morphinism, the principal cause of her first +fears and consequent illness no longer troubled her as it had once done. +She now believed that the confession had, after all, caught upon some +projection or in some crevice of the masonry in the shaft of the +oubliette at Gerano, and that it would never be heard of again. It was +incredible, she thought, that if any person had found it and read it, he +or she should not attempt to extort a large sum of money for it. But no +one appeared to demand anything. That was sufficient proof that no one +possessed the document, and it must therefore have remained safely where +it had fallen. Her one and only fear was lest something should happen to +that part of the castle which might make repairs necessary, and possibly +lead to the discovery of the letter. But that was improbable in the +extreme. The massive walls had stood as they were during nearly four +centuries, and did not show any signs of weakness. As for Lucia, if she +ever betrayed the secret, or hinted to her present mistress that there +was a secret to betray, and if any story got afloat by her agency, Adele +could deny it, and her position was strong enough in the world to force +most people to accept her denial. She almost laughed at the idea. The +principal statement contained in the confession would seem almost +grotesque in its improbability. She knew very well that if she ever +heard such an action imputed to her worst enemy she would not believe +it; she would not even take the trouble to repeat it, because nothing +was more foolish than to get the reputation of telling incredible tales. +She was quite sure of this, for when she mentally tried the position she +found that she could not have given credence to such a legend even if +any one had accused Laura Arden of having done the deed. And as she +hated Laura with a whole-hearted hatred that did not hesitate at +trifles, she considered the argument to be conclusive. + +Her hatred grew as the fatal effects of the morphia began to unsettle +her brain and disturb the strong power of self-control which had borne +her through so many dangers. The necessity for keeping up an outward +show of good relations with her step-sister on pain of the severest +financial punishment if she angered her father, irritated her extremely. +She was well aware that, in spite of the reconciliation and of her own +behaviour, the world still chose to believe most of the things she had +formerly said of Laura, and that the latter's position was anything but +enviable. Nevertheless, Laura seemed to survive very well, and in +Adele's opinion had obtained far more than her share of good things. +That she had really suffered terribly, in her own way, by the death of +her husband, none knew better than Adele, and that, at least, was a +satisfaction. But in other ways she was singularly fortunate. Her little +boy was as sturdy and strong and sound as any mother could have wished; +for deformity which is the result of accident is not inherited. +Moreover, there seemed to be little doubt but that the uncle from whom +Arden had expected a large fortune would now leave his money to little +Herbert. Laura was, of course, decidedly poor at present, judging from +Adele's point of view, but in the life she led she needed very little +money, and what she had sufficed for her wants. She was evidently quite +contented. Then, as though the rest were not enough, she had what Adele +called a monopoly of Pietro Ghisleri, who acted as though he intended +to marry her, and whom she received as though she meant to accept him. +As Laura Arden, society could treat her as it pleased, but as Ghisleri's +wife, society would not only open its arms to her, but would in all +likelihood espouse her cause in any future difference or difficulty. +Ghisleri would know how to assure her position, and would have no +difficulty in making her respected, for he was a most particularly +unpleasant person to quarrel with and it was not every one who had +Campodonico's luck. Of course, there might yet be time to prevent the +marriage, and Adele rashly resolved that if that were possible she would +accomplish it. + +Of late she had begun to include Ghisleri in her hatred of Laura, having +finally given up the attempt to attract him into her immediate circle. +He was always the same with her, and never, in the course of years, had +seemed willing to advance beyond the limits of ordinary and friendly +acquaintance, though she had often tried to draw him further. The +ordinary methods failed with him. He could not be tempted into making +confidences, which step is one of the first and perhaps the most +important in the ordinary, business-like flirtation. He was apparently +indifferent to praise as he was to blame, except from one or two +persons. He never had an enemy, to ruin whom he needed a woman's help--a +short method of reaching intimacy which is not to be despised in dealing +with refined bad people. Least of all, was he a man who could be led to +compromise himself in a woman's eyes in such a way as to consider it his +duty to make love to her. Adele had tried all these approved ways of +beginning a serious flirtation with Pietro, but had failed each time, +and it enraged her to see that Laura could keep him without any +stratagem at all, by sheer force of attraction. For she had no belief at +all in their platonic friendship. One or the other, or both, must be in +love, for the very simple and well-known reason that a permanent close +friendship between man and woman within certain limits of age was an +utter impossibility. Laura was perhaps too foolish to realise the fact, +but Ghisleri was certainly not the man to forget it. She disliked him +because she had not been able to attract him herself, and she hated him +for being attracted by Laura. + +She now made up her mind that unless she could ruin him in Laura's +estimation, the marriage could not be prevented, and she began to +revolve the chances for accomplishing her purpose. Her intelligence was +not what it had been, for it was subject now to fits of abnormal +activity and to a subsequent reaction, in which she was not always +perfectly well aware of what was going on around her. In the one state +she was rash, over-excited, nervous; in the other she was dull and +apathetic, and lost herself in hazy dreams of a rather disconnected +character. The consequence was that she found it very hard to hit upon +any consecutive plan which presented even the faintest hope of success. +Several times she was on the point of doing something very foolish, when +she had almost lost control of herself, and she was only saved by the +long habit of worldly tact which would probably survive all her other +faculties if they were wrecked by the habit which was killing her. But +she grew distrustful of herself and of her powers, and a new suffering +was added to the many she already had to bear, as she gradually became +conscious of the terrible change in herself. She tried to find out all +she could about Pietro Ghisleri. At that time all Rome was going mad +about making money by speculation, and all sorts of dishonest +transactions necessarily went on under cover of greater ones honest in +themselves. Adele did her best to ascertain whether Ghisleri were +connected with any of them, or with any affair whatever of a nature +which could be criticised. But she failed altogether. He looked on at +the general rush for money with perfect indifference, and was quite +content with the little he already possessed. It struck Adele that a +card scandal would do him as much harm as anything, and she made +inquiries as to his fondness for play, but was informed that he rarely +played at all, and generally lost a little if he did. + +He was hard to catch. So far as she could learn, he had changed his mode +of life very considerably during the past two years. It was quite +certain that he had definitely broken with Maddalena dell' Armi, though +no one was really sure of the exact date at which the rupture had taken +place. They were both clever people who kept their secrets to themselves +on the simple plan that, if a thing is not to be known, it should not be +told. Laura was the only other woman whom he visited regularly, and his +doings were far too well known to make it possible to float a scandal +about him in connexion with some one else, which should reach Laura's +ears. Besides, Laura would not care. She was quite capable of not taking +the slightest notice, just as in former times she had not cared whether +he saw Maddalena every day or not. All she wanted, thought Adele, was +that Ghisleri should be at her feet--and there he was. + +At last she hit upon the rather wild plan of asking Ghisleri himself +what she had better do. There was something diabolical in the idea of +taking his own advice in order to ruin him, which appealed to her in the +present state of her brain and nerves. They often met in society, and +she caught sight of him that very night at a Lenten party in Casa +Montevarchi--one of the last ever given in that house, by the by, for +the family was ruined soon afterwards. She followed him in the crowd and +touched his shoulder with her fan. + +"Will you give me your arm?" she asked. "Thanks. I want to sit down +somewhere. There is a sofa over there." + +"You still come to these talking matches, I see," said Ghisleri, as they +sat down. "It must be for the sake of saying something interesting, for +it can certainly not be in the hope of hearing anything of the kind." + +"You can still make sharp speeches," laughed Adele. "I thought my +step-sister had converted you, and that you were turning into a sort of +Saint Propriety." + +"Oh, you thought so," said Pietro, coolly. "Well, you see you were +mistaken. There is as little of propriety about me as usual, or of +saintship either." + +He looked at the worn and dilapidated features of the woman beside him, +at her hollow cheeks and lustreless eyes, and he almost pitied her. He +wondered how she had the courage to keep up the comedy and to face the +world as she did, night after night, old before her youth was half over, +ugly when she had been pretty but two years earlier, weary always, and +haunted by the shadow of the poison to which she was a slave. + +"You need not be angry," she answered. "I did not mean anything +disagreeable. I wish you would say more sharp things, it is refreshing +to hear a man talk after listening to a pack of little boys." + +"Why do you listen to them?" + +"They amuse me for five minutes, and when I have tolerated them as long +as that I cannot get rid of them. Then I begin to long for a little +serious talk with a man like you--a man one can ask a question of with +the hope of getting a reasonable answer." + +"You are very good to put it in that way," said Ghisleri. "Have you any +particular question to ask me now? I will be as intensely reasonable as +I can in my reply, on condition that it is a thing of which I know +nothing whatever." + +"What an extraordinary restriction!" exclaimed Adele. + +"Not at all. If I should know anything about the matter in hand it would +be sure to be so little that it would confuse me and hamper the free +working of my imagination, which might otherwise produce interesting and +even startling effects. You may have heard that a little knowledge is +dangerous. That is the meaning of the proverb." + +"I knew I should get something original from you. You always say +something which no one else would." + +"And you always discover in me some new and beautiful quality which had +escaped my notice," answered Ghisleri. "Is it with a view to getting +some particular sort of answer to the question you meditate, that you +flatter me so nicely before asking it?" + +"Of course," laughed Adele. "What did you expect? But I do not think you +would answer the question at all. You would give me a dissertation on +something else and then go away and leave me to be torn to pieces by the +little boys again." + +"What an awful death!" laughed Ghisleri. "I will not leave you. I will +protect you against whole legions of little boys." + +"You look as if you could. You are quite as strong as ever now, are you +not? You never feel any pain from your wound?" + +"Never," answered Pietro, indifferently. "Was that the grave question to +which you wanted a serious and well-considered reply?" + +"Do not be absurd!" cried Adele, with a laugh. "One has to make civil +inquiries of that kind sometimes. It is a social duty. Even if I hated +you I should ask if you were well." + +"Of course. The old-fashioned poisoners in the middle ages did that. It +was of no use to waste expensive poison on a man who was ill and might +die without it. They practised economy." + +"What a horrible idea!" exclaimed Adele, shuddering. + +"Horrible ideas were the fashion then," pursued Ghisleri. "I have +thought a great deal about those times since you showed me those +interesting places at Gerano, nearly two years ago. The modern publisher +of primers would have made his fortune under the Borgia domination. +Fancy the titles: 'Every man his own executioner, a practical guide for +headsmen, torturers and poisoners, by a member of the profession +(diploma) with notes, diagrams, and a special table of measurements and +instructions for using the patent German rack, etc.' Does not that sound +wildly interesting? They would have had it on the drawing-room table in +every castle. It would have been a splendid book for hawkers. Gerano +made me think of it." + +Adele laughed in rather a forced way, and her eyes moved uneasily, +glancing quickly in one direction and another. + +"You would have been a dreadful person in those times, I am quite sure," +she said. "You would have been a monster of cruelty." + +"Of course I should. So should we all. But we manage those little things +so easily now, and so much more tastefully." + +"Exactly," said Adele, who saw her chance and an opportunity of turning +the conversation at the same time. "I would like your views upon modern +social warfare. If you wished to ruin your enemy, how would you go about +it?" + +"A man or a woman?" asked Ghisleri, calmly. + +"Oh, both. A man first. It is always harder to injure a man than a +woman, is it not?" + +"So they say. Do you wish to kill the man or to ruin him altogether, or +only to injure him in the eyes of the world?" + +"Take the three in the other order," suggested Adele. "A mere injury +first--and the rest afterwards." + +"Very well. I have something very neat in the killing line--to use the +shopkeeper style. I will keep it to the end. Let me see. You wish to do +a man a great injury--enough, say, to make a woman who loves him turn +upon him. Is that it?" + +"Yes, that would do very well," said Adele, as though she were +discussing the fashion of a new frock. + +"If you happen to be a good hand at forgery," answered Ghisleri, with +perfect equanimity, "write a number of letters purporting to be from him +to another woman. Put anything you like into them, take them to the +woman who loves him, and ask a large sum for them. She will probably pay +it and leave him. You will accomplish your object and earn money at the +same time. If you cannot forge his handwriting, forge that of an +imaginary woman--that is easy enough--and follow the same course as +before. It is almost sure to succeed." + +"What a surpassingly diabolical scheme!" exclaimed Adele, with a laugh. + +"Yes, I flatter myself it is not bad. Of course you can make the matter +public if only you are sure of the forgery being good, or of an +imaginary woman being forthcoming at the right moment. But, on the +whole, the finest way of ruining a man before the world is to steal his +money. No reputation can stand poverty and slander at the same time." + +"But it is not always easy to steal a man's money," objected Adele. + +"Oh, yes, unless a man is very rich. Bring a suit against his title, and +if he fights it, the lawyers will eat up all he has. Then you can play +the magnanimous part and say that you give up the suit out of pity for +him. That is very pretty, too. But the prettiest of all is the new way +of killing people, because nobody can possibly find you out." + +"What do you make them die of?" asked Adele nervously. + +"Cholera--typhus--fever, almost anything you please. It is a convenient +way because the epidemic of the day is generally the most ready to hand. +What did you say? I beg your pardon, I thought you spoke. Yes, it is +delightful, and in most cases I believe it is almost sure to succeed. I +dined with Gouache last night, and Professor Wüsterschinder, the great +German authority on cutting up live rabbits, you know, was there. A +charming man--speaks French like a human being, and understands Italian +well. I liked him very much. The conversation turned upon murder. You +know Gouache has a taste for horrors, being the gentlest and kindest of +men. The professor told a long story of a doctor who murdered the +father, mother, and aunt of a girl whom none of the three would let him +marry. He did it in the course of medical treatment, with three +different vegetable poisons--masterly, the professor said. There was an +inquiry and they dug everybody up again, and all that sort of thing, but +no one could positively prove anything and the doctor married the girl +after all." + +"You seem full of horrors this evening," said Adele, moving one shoulder +in a restless, jerking way which was becoming a habit. + +"I always am," answered Ghisleri, turning his cold blue eyes on her. "I +know the most horrible things and am always just on the point of saying +them." + +"Please do not!" exclaimed Adele, shrinking away from him into the +corner of the sofa, almost in physical fear of him now. + +"I was telling you about the cholera trick, or I was going to tell you. +The other story was only the prelude. After giving it to us with a +number of details I have forgotten, Professor Wüsterschinder launched +out about the wonders of science, as those men always do, and positively +made me uncomfortable with the numbers of unfortunate rabbits and +puppies he cut to shreds in his conversation. Then he came to the point +and began to explain how easy it is to murder people by natural means +like typhus. It is done by taking the--good Heavens, Donna Adele, what +is the matter!" + +Adele had uttered a short, low cry, and her face had turned very white. +Her lips were contorted in an expression of anguish such as Pietro had +never seen, and her fingers were twisting together as though they would +break. + +"Can I do anything?" he asked, anxiously. He feared she was going to be +seized by some kind of convulsion, but the woman's strong will helped +her even then. + +"Hold my fan before my arm," she managed to say, and she felt for +something in her pocket with her right hand. + +In a moment she produced a tiny syringe with a point like a needle, and +a little bottle. With incredible quickness and skill she filled the +syringe, pricked the skin on her left arm, and ran the point into it, +and then pressed the tiny piston slowly till it would go no further. In +little more than one minute she had put everything into her pocket +again, and taking her fan from Ghisleri's hand, leaned back in the +corner of the sofa, with a sigh of relief. + +"I am afraid I made you nervous," he said, in a tone of apology. + +"Not at all," she answered. "I had forgotten to take my morphia before +coming--that was all. I suffer terribly with pains in my head when I do +not take it." + +"And is the pain gone already?" asked Ghisleri, in some surprise, and +wondering how she would answer. + +"Oh, no! But it will be gone very soon. I am quieter when I know I have +taken the morphia. Of course," she said, with a forced laugh, "you must +not suppose that I take it often, not even every day. I believe it is +very bad in large quantities." + +"Of course." Ghisleri could hardly help smiling at the poor attempt to +disclaim any slavery to the fatal drug, contradicting, as it did, what +she had said but a moment before. + +For the third time since Arden's death the conviction came upon him that +Adele had been the responsible cause of it, and this time it was +destined to be permanent. The theory of coincidence was exhausted, and +he abandoned it. The stories he had told her about Professor +Wüsterschinder, the great German authority, were quite true, and +Ghisleri's eyes had been opened on the previous evening to the +possibilities of evil disclosed by modern science. He was not yet sure +of what Adele had done, but he was convinced that the general nature of +the process she had employed to communicate the fever to Arden was +similar to those which the professor had described, and that she must, +in all probability, have got the necessary information from a scientific +book or article on the subject, which she had either procured +expressly, or which had perhaps fallen under her eyes by chance. + +She, on her part, had been desperately frightened, as she had good cause +to be, for it was almost inconceivable to her that he could have +accidentally gone so near the mark as he was going when her cry had +stopped him. She felt that if he had pronounced the next half a dozen +words, she must have gone mad there and then in the drawing-room where +she sat, and she had instinctively prevented him proceeding any further. +Then in the convulsion of terror she felt, she had resorted to her sole +comforter, the morphia, and it had not played her false. In a short time +its influence was at work and indeed the mere act of taking it was in +itself soothing in the extreme. She felt herself growing calm again and +more able to face the new difficulties and terrors that had arisen in +her path. And they were many. She had no doubt now that Ghisleri had +either read the lost confession or had spoken with some one who had. It +was appalling to think that in that very room there might be a score of +persons who knew what that letter contained as well as he. The morphia +helped her wonderfully. But it was clear that Ghisleri had her in his +power. An idea flashed across her mind. It was so simple that she +wondered how she had not thought of it before. The letter had really +fallen to the bottom of the shaft. Ghisleri, interested perhaps in the +story of Paolo Braccio, had strolled down to the dungeon again by +himself and had seen the paper lying there. In that case he alone knew +of its existence or of its contents, besides herself and Lucia. The +thought was so agreeable, compared with the alternative of supposing +that all society knew the details of her evil deeds, that she clung to +it. Then she looked at the man who, as she supposed, had power to +dispose of her existence at his pleasure, and she wondered whether he +had a price. All men had, she had heard. But as it seemed to her now, +this particular man would not be like the generality, or else the price +he would set on her letter would be of the kind which she could not +possibly pay, because she would never be able to obtain for him what he +might want. The feeling she had known in the first months of her torment +returned upon her now, and very strongly--the awful feeling of +degradation compared even with the worst of the people she knew. In her +eyes, Ghisleri, with all his misdeeds, seemed a being of superior purity +and goodness. He had never done what she had done, nor anything +approaching to it in the most distant way. He had faced men in fair +fight, and hurt them, and been almost mortally hurt himself, but he had +never stabbed an enemy in the back nor dealt a blow in the dark. He had +loved more than one woman, and had been loved in return, but no one had +ever hinted that a woman's confidence had passed his lips, nor that he +had ever spoken lightly of any woman's good name. If he had done evil, +he had done it fairly, defiantly, above board, and in the light of day. +Adele envied him with all her heart as he sat there beside her, +confident in his own honourable reputation--as honour is reckoned in the +world--and free to go and to come and to do what seemed good in his own +eyes without a second thought of the consequences or the least fear of +betraying himself. There was not at that moment one person in the room +with whom she would not have been only too glad to exchange places, +station, fortune, name, reputation--everything. And she fancied Ghisleri +knew it, as indeed he almost did, and she feared to meet his eyes. + +The silence had lasted so long that it was fast becoming awkward. It was +rarely indeed that Ghisleri forgot the social duty of destroying silence +ruthlessly the moment it appears, with any weapon which comes to hand, +from a feather to a bombshell. But on the present occasion his thoughts +were so many and so complex as to fill his mind completely for a few +minutes, so that all outward considerations sank into insignificance. +The effort was made at last by Adele, the one of the two who had by far +the most at stake in playing her part. + +"Are you aware," she began, with an attempt at playfulness which was +almost weird, "that you have not spoken a single word during the last +quarter of an hour? Have you quite forgotten my existence? My dear +friend, you are growing almost rude in your old age!" + +"Good manners were never anything but an affectation with me," answered +Ghisleri. "But you are quite right. There are little conventions of that +sort which must be respected if society is to keep together and hold up +its head--though why it should not lay down that same head and let +itself go to pieces is beyond my comprehension. Present company is +always excepted, you know--so you and I would survive as glorious and +immortal relics of a by-gone civilisation." + +He hardly knew what he was saying, but he let the words run on with the +easy habit of talking and saying nothing which sometimes saves critical +situations for those who possess it and which can be acquired by almost +any one who is not shy. The first step in studying that useful +accomplishment is to talk when everybody else is talking, and not to pay +the slightest attention to the sounds which pass one's lips. Any noise +will do, bad or good--as the bearer of the good news to Aix put +it--only, if possible, from the first let the noise take the shape of +words. As every one else is talking, no one will hear you. Some of +Mother Goose's rhymes are excellent for such practice, but those who +prefer to recite the Eton grammar will obtain a result quite as +satisfactory in the end. No one listens, and it makes no difference. You +will then get a reputation for joining cheerfully in the talk of the +day. But if you sit looking at your plate because you have nothing to +say, the givers of dinner parties will curse you in their hearts, and +will rarely ask you to eat their food, which treatment, though it will +ultimately prolong your life, will not contribute to your social +success. Gradually, if you practise the system assiduously, you will be +able to walk alone, so to say. By attraction, your unconscious phrases +will become exactly like those of your neighbours. You will then only +need to open your mouth, stretch the vocal chords, and supply the +necessary breath, and admirably constructed inanities will roll out, +even when everybody is listening, and while you are gaining time to +select in your mind a sufficiently cutting epithet with which to adorn +your friend Smith Tompkins's name when it is mentioned, or while you are +nicely calculating the exact amount of money you can ask the said Smith +Tompkins to lend you the next time you have lost at baccarat. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + + +The state of certainty in regard to Adele's doings, at which Ghisleri +had now arrived, seemed to make any action in the matter useless if not +practically impossible. He ascertained without difficulty the law +concerning such attempts to do bodily injury as he was quite sure she +had made. The crime was homicide when the attempt led to fatal results. +There was no doubt of that. On the other hand, even if it should seem +advisable to bring Adele to justice, and to involve both the Savelli and +Gerano families in an affair which would socially ruin them for at least +one whole generation, in case Adele were convicted, yet the positive +proofs would be very hard to produce, and the ultimate good to be gained +would be infinitesimally small compared with the injury done to innocent +persons. The best course was to maintain the most absolute secrecy and +to discourage as far as possible any allusions others might make to the +mystery of the lost letter. Ghisleri, too, understood human nature far +too well to suppose that Adele had in the first instance desired or +expected to kill Herbert Arden. She had most probably only meant to +cause Laura the greatest possible anxiety and trouble by bringing a +dangerous illness upon her husband. Scarlet fever, as is well known, is +not often fatal to adults in Italy, and such cases as Arden's in which +death ensues within eight and forty hours, are so rare as to be +phenomenal in any part of the world. But Ghisleri had found them +described in the book he chanced to possess, under the head of +"rudimentary cases ending fatally"--and it was there stated that they +were the consequence of "a very violent infection." Adele, in practising +some one of the methods of fever-poisoning which the great professor had +described so vividly at Gouache's, had of course not known exactly what +result she was about to produce. She had assuredly not foreseen that +Arden would die, and had very probably not even believed that he would +really take the fever at all. As for the wish to do harm, Pietro +explained that naturally enough. He knew that the dinner of +reconciliation must have been brought about by the Prince of Gerano, and +he guessed that in the interview between the father and the daughter +Adele had been deeply humiliated by being forced to yield and by the +necessity of openly retracting what she had said of Arden and Laura. In +a woman whose impulses were naturally bad, and whose mind had never been +very well balanced, it was not very hard to explain how the idea had +presented itself, if chance had at that moment thrown the necessary +information into her way. The whole story was now sufficiently connected +from first to last, and Ghisleri, as he thought over it, saw how all the +details he remembered confirmed the theory. He recollected the doctor's +remarks about the case, and how surprised he had been by its +extraordinary violence. He recalled vividly all that he had heard of +Adele's behaviour immediately after the dinner party, and his own +impression of her appearance when he had met her in the street and had +recommended her a soporific, was extremely distinct, as well as her +behaviour whenever, in the course of the past two years, he had said +anything intentionally, or not, which she could construe as referring to +her crime. The chain was complete from the beginning to the end and her +present dangerous state was the direct consequence of the very first +slander she had cast on Laura Arden. + +What Ghisleri felt when he was fully persuaded that Adele Savelli had +brought about the death of his best friend, is not easily described. In +natures like his, the desire for vengeance is very strong--strongest +when most justified. The instinct which demands life for life is always +present somewhere in the natural human heart and, on the whole, the +great body of human opinion has in most ages approved it and given it +shape in law--or sanction, where laws have been or still are +rudimentary. Ghisleri was not therefore either unusually cruel or +bloodthirsty in wishing that Adele might expiate her crime to the full. +But in this case, even if capital punishment had not been abolished in +Italy, the law would not have applied it, and personal revenge without +the law's assistance being out of the question in the nineteenth +century, Pietro could hardly have invented a worse fate than actually +awaited his friend's murderess. There was a grand logic, as it seemed to +him, in the implacable retribution which was pursuing and must before +long overtake Adele Savelli. He could enjoy the whole satisfaction of +the most complete vengeance without so much as raising a finger to +hasten it. That was the first result of his cogitations, and he was very +well pleased with it. He bought books containing accounts of morphinism +and calmly tried to calculate how long Adele had to live, what precise +phenomena her end would exhibit, and to decide whether she would lose +her mind altogether before the physical consumption of the tissues +destroyed her body. + +But before long he became disgusted with himself, for he was not cruel +by nature, though capable of doing very cruel things under the influence +of passion. It was probably not from any inherent nobility of character, +but rather out of the commonest pity combined with a rather uncommon +though material refinement of taste, that he at last turned from his +study and contemplation of Adele's sufferings and resolutely put her and +them out of his mind. + +"Heaven can do with her what it pleases. I will think no more about it," +he said to himself one day, and the saying was profoundly characteristic +of the man. + +He had never been an unbeliever since the last years of his boyhood, +when, like many boys in our times, he had already fancied himself a man, +and had thought it manly to believe in nothing. But such a state of mind +was not really natural to him, nor even possible for any length of time. +Of his intimate convictions he never spoke, for they concerned no one, +and no one had a right to judge him. But that he really had certain +convictions no one who knew him well could doubt, and on certain +occasions they undeniably guided his actions. + +Laura Arden had not heard even the faintest hint about the lost letter, +and it became one of Ghisleri's principal occupations to keep the story +from her. She was, of course, not in the way of hearing it unless some +unusually indiscreet person should take pains to acquaint her with it; +but such people are unfortunately not uncommon, and Pietro knew that at +any moment Laura might hear something which would make her look at her +husband's death in a new light. The shock would be terrible, he knew, +and he did not like to think of it. He little suspected that when the +story reached her ears it would be so distorted as to convey a very +different meaning to her, nor did he guess the part he himself was to +play in what followed. + +A month and more passed away without any incident of importance. He saw +Laura constantly and met Adele occasionally in society. The latter +always greeted him with a great affectation of cordiality, but evidently +avoided conversing with him alone. Her expression when she looked at him +was invariably smiling, but the eyes which had grown so strange under +the daily influence of the poison had something in them on the rare +occasions when they met his that might have warned him had he suspected +danger. But he anticipated nothing of that sort for himself. He supposed +rather that she felt herself to be in his power and feared him, so that +she would carefully avoid doing anything which might provoke him. But in +this he was very much mistaken. He neither knew that she believed her +lost letter to be in a safe place, where no one could find it and where +it must ultimately turn to dust, nor realised how far her mind was +already unbalanced. Still less did he understand all the causes for +which she so sincerely hated him. Even had he felt that she was an +active adversary, he would have undervalued her power to do him harm. + +Adele meditated her last stroke a long time. Though Ghisleri had +frightened her terribly during the conversation she had herself asked +for on that memorable evening in Casa Montevarchi, he had also suggested +the very idea of which she had long been in search. She turned it over, +twisted it, so to say, into every possible shape, and at last reached a +definite plan. There was already something of madness in the scheme she +ultimately adopted, and which she carried out with an ingenuity and +secrecy almost beyond belief. + +Laura Arden was surprised one morning by receiving a letter addressed to +her in an unknown handwriting, which she at once judged to be that of a +woman, though it was small, cramped, and irregular. + +"Madam," the letter began, "I apply to your well-known charitable heart +in the greatest conceivable distress. My husband, who was for a long +time in the service of one of the noblest Roman families as a clerk in +the steward's office, lost his position in the ruin which has lately +overtaken that most excellent house. He walks the streets from sunrise +to sunset in search of employment, and returns at night to contemplate +the spectacle of misery afforded him by his starving family. Misery is +upon us, and there is no bread, nor even the commonest food, such as day +labourers eat, with which to quiet the piteous cries of our children." + +There followed much more to the same effect. The style was quite that of +a woman of the class to which the writer claimed to belong, and the +appeal for help, though couched in rather flowery language, had a ring +of truth in it which touched Laura's heart. It had, indeed, been copied, +with a few alterations, from a genuine letter which Adele Savelli had +chanced to receive. The concluding sentences stated that the applicant, +"who had never known poverty before was ashamed, for her husband's sake, +to give the name which had so long been respectable. If Lady Herbert +Arden was moved to pity and would give anything--the very smallest +charity--would she put it into an envelope and send it to 'Maria B.' +addressed to the general post-office?" + +Laura hesitated a moment, and then slipped a five franc note with her +card into an envelope and addressed it as requested in the letter. On +the next day but one she received a second, full of gratitude, and +expressing the most humble and sincere thanks for the money, but not +asking for anything more. This also was copied from a genuine +communication, and the style was unmistakably the same. Adele had +answered the first by sending a larger sum than Laura had given, in +order that the reply might be relatively effusive. + +A week passed, and Laura heard no more from Maria B., and had almost +forgotten the incident when a third letter came, imploring further +assistance. Laura was far from rich, and gave all she could in the way +of charity to such poor people as she considered to have an especial +claim upon her consideration. On this occasion, therefore, she made no +reply. This was exactly what Adele expected, and suited her plan +admirably. After a sufficient time had elapsed to make it quite plain +that Laura did not intend to answer the second appeal, another +communication came through the post. + +The tone this time, was, if possible, more humble and piteous than +before. After enumerating and discanting upon the horrible sufferings +the family underwent, and declaring that unless some charitable +Christian would give assistance in some shape, even were it but a loaf +of bread, the whole household must inevitably perish, and after adding +that father, mother, and all four children--the latter of tender +age--expected to be turned into the street by a hard-hearted landlord, +Maria B. made a distinct proposition. Contemptible as it must appear in +the eyes of a great and rich English lady to take advantage of having +discovered a secret in order to beg a charity, necessity knows no law. +The ex-clerk was in possession of certain letters written by a near +connexion of Lady Herbert's to a person with whom the latter was +intimately acquainted, and whom, it was commonly reported, she was about +to marry. These letters, five in number, referred to a transaction of a +very peculiar nature, which it would be advisable not to make public, +for the sake of the persons concerned. It was very far from Maria B.'s +thoughts to degrade herself by setting a price upon the documents. If +Lady Herbert cared to possess them they should be hers, and any small +reward she might be willing to give would be humbly and thankfully +accepted. In order that she might judge of the nature of the letters in +question, Maria B. enclosed a copy of the one last written before the +transaction alluded to had been concluded. Lady Herbert would be able to +understand the names from the initials used by the copyist. + +Laura, even then, did not suspect in the least what she was about to +find. She unfolded the separate sheet which had dropped from the letter +when she had opened it, and began to read with an expression of +curiosity and some amusement. + + "MY DEAR G.:--Of course I understand your position perfectly and I + have known you long enough to be sure that you will take every + advantage of it, short of doing me an open injury, which would + hardly be for your own good. I know perfectly well, also, where you + found the paper at Gerano, for I went to the spot myself to look for + it, and it was gone. You had been there before me--by chance, no + doubt, since you could not possibly guess that there was anything + there worth finding. It is quite clear that if you really circulate + that letter among our mutual friends, you will subject me to the + ridicule of all Rome and to an amount of humiliation which I am not + prepared to endure. You see I am quite willing to come to terms. But + I think your demand is really out of all proportion to the + circumstances. A hundred thousand francs for a miserable scrap of + paper! Absurd, my friend. You are not the accomplished scoundrel I + took you for if you suppose that I will pay that. Fifty thousand is + the most I can possibly offer you. If you are satisfied with that, + wear a gardenia in your coat to-night at the Frangipani dance. As + for my behaviour in public, you need not warn me. I can keep my + countenance almost as well as you. A.S." + +The letter dropped from Laura's hands before she had read to the end. An +instant later she took it up again and tore it to the smallest shreds. +She had heard of cases of blackmail, but never of anything so infamous +as this. She did not hesitate long, but wrote within the hour a few +lines to Maria B. in which she warned the latter not to dare to proceed +with her abominable fraud, and rather rashly threatened her with the law +if she attempted anything further of the same kind. As for speaking to +Ghisleri about it, the idea never crossed her thoughts. + +Again three days passed. Then, one morning, the post brought a large and +rather bulky letter, registered and addressed in a round, ornate, +clerk's hand. Adele had got the address written at the post-office on +pretence that her own handwriting was not legible enough. Laura supposed +that the missive contained a business communication from her banker, and +opened it without the least suspicion. It contained three greyish-blue +envelopes of the paper now very commonly used for daily correspondence. +All three were opened in a peculiar way, and precisely as Laura had more +than once seen Ghisleri open a letter in her presence. He had a habit of +tearing off a very thin strip along one edge, with so much neatness as +almost to give the paper the appearance of having been cut with a sharp +instrument. All three were addressed to him, moreover, in Adele +Savelli's handwriting, without any attempt at disguise. Laura held them +in her hand, turned them over, and saw the tiny prince's coronet over a +single initial which Adele had used for years. There was no mistaking +the authenticity of everything about the envelopes. Laura's heart stood +still. There was no word of explanation from her former correspondent, +but Laura recollected that the latter had said that the letters were +five in number, whereas these were only three. It was clear that the +remaining two had been kept back as a tacit threat in case the request +for money were not complied with. Laura's first impulse was to treat +them as she had treated the copy Maria B. had at first sent her, and to +tear them into minute shreds, without so much as glancing at the +contents. But a moment's reflection made her change her mind. She +slipped them all back into the large envelope and locked them up in the +drawer of her writing-table, putting the key into her pocket. Then she +wrote a note to Ghisleri, asking him to come and see her as soon as +possible, and despatched Donald with it immediately. + +She sat down to wait, strangely affected by what had happened. It is +hardly to be wondered at, if the whole thing seemed inexplicable. Even +at first she could not suspect Pietro Ghisleri. She would hardly have +believed him capable of such an action as he was accused of had she seen +him write the letters to which these of Adele were supposed to be +answers. And yet those answers were there in the drawer, within reach of +her hand. She had not the slightest doubt but that the original of which +she had already seen a copy was amongst them. She could take it out and +read it if she pleased. It was damning evidence--but she would not have +believed in Ghisleri's guilt for twice as much proof as that. The one +thing she was forced to admit was that Adele had really written the +letters, though when, or for what purpose, or in what connexion, she +could not guess. The whole thing might turn out to be some Carnival jest +carried on by correspondence, and of which she had never heard. That was +the only explanation she could find, as she waited for Pietro Ghisleri. +He came within the hour. + +"Has anything happened?" he asked, as he took her hand. "I thought there +was something anxious about your note." + +"Something very strange has happened," she answered, looking into his +bright blue eyes, and acknowledging for the hundredth time that she +would believe him in spite of any testimony to the contrary. "Sit down," +she said. "I have something to give you which seems to belong to you. I +will tell you the story afterwards." + +She opened the drawer again and handed him the envelope. He looked at it +in surprise. + +"Am I to read what is inside?" he asked. + +"See for yourself." + +He took out the letters and looked at them as he had first looked at the +outer address. Then, realising that they were addressed to himself, his +expression changed. He recollected Adele's handwriting though she had +rarely written to him anything more than an invitation, and he knew the +paper on which she wrote. But where or when he had received these +particular ones, or how they had got into Laura's hands, was a mystery. + +"What are they?" he asked. "Are they old invitations? Why have they been +sent to you?" + +"I believe them to be forgeries," said Laura, "or else that they refer +to some standing jest you and she once may have kept up for a time. I +have not read them, but I have read a copy of one of them which was sent +me, and I know what they are about. I will tell you the whole story +afterwards. See for yourself, as I said before." + +Ghisleri drew out the first sheet. + +"If they are forgeries, they are very cleverly done," he said, with a +laugh. "The person has even imitated my way of opening a letter." + +His face grew very grave, as Laura watched it while he was reading, and +his brow knit together angrily. He read the second and the third, and +she could see his anger rising visibly in his eyes as he silently looked +at her each time he had finished one of them. When he had reached the +end of the last he did not speak for some moments. + +"Did you say that you knew what these letters were about?" he asked at +length, in a steady, cold voice. + +"I think so. I read a copy of one of them almost without knowing what I +was doing. Adele pretends that you are trying to get money from her for +a letter of hers you found at Gerano." + +"Yes, that is what they are about. It is her doing, but it is my fault." + +"Your fault!" exclaimed Laura. "But surely there never even was such a +letter as she refers to. Do you understand at all?" + +"Yes, I understand much too well. She has done this for a distinct +purpose. Tell me in the first place one thing. Do you still trust me in +the face of such evidence as this?" + +"I trust you as much as ever," answered Laura. + +"Thank you," he said simply, and he looked into her deep eyes a moment +before he continued. "There are two stories to tell, yours and mine. +Tell yours first. Tell me how you came by the copy you speak of. Who +sent it to you, and when?" + +As briefly as she could, Laura gave him all the details she could +remember from the day she had received the first request for help from +Maria B. It was painful to her to repeat what she could of the substance +of the copy sent her, but she went through with it to the end. + +"That letter is not among these," said Ghisleri, thoughtfully. "It is +one of the two which have been kept back for future use. Now let me tell +you what I can remember. Do not be surprised that I should never have +told you the story before. Since you can trust me in such a matter as +this, you will believe me when I say that there was a good reason for +not telling you." + +He gave a concise account of the conversation which had taken place +between himself and Adele at the Montevarchi's party, omitting only what +referred to his own suspicions concerning the manner of Arden's death. +If possible, he meant always to conceal that side of the question from +Laura. But it was necessary to tell her something about the document +constantly mentioned in the letters. + +"There is a story in circulation," he said, "to the effect that when +Donna Adele was ill at Gerano nearly two years ago, she was unwilling to +confess to the parish priest, and wrote a confession to be sent to her +confessor in Rome. A servant stole it, says the story, and it is +supposed to be in existence, passing from hand to hand in society. It is +quite possible that she believes that I bought it of the thief. But I +doubt even that. She has most probably regained possession of it before +attempting this stroke. And this is almost what I suggested to her in a +general way, and laughing, as one way of ruining a man. I remember my +own words--an injury that would make a woman who loves a man turn upon +him. Substitute friendship for love, and the case is almost identical." + +"Yes," Laura answered thoughtfully. "Substitute friendship for love." +She hardly knew why she repeated the words, and a moment later a faint +colour rose in her cheeks. + +"She has done this thing, therefore, with the deliberate intention of +ruining me in your eyes," said Ghisleri. + +"And she has utterly failed to do so, or even to change my opinion of +you a little. But it is very well done. There are people who would have +been deceived. The idea of forging--it is not forging--of writing +imaginary letters to you herself is masterly." + +"I do not think she is quite sane. The morphia she takes is beginning to +affect her brain. She does not always know what she is doing." + +"You take far too merciful and charitable a view," answered Laura, with +some scorn. + +"No, on the contrary, if she were quite what she used to be, she would +be more dangerous--she would not make mistakes. Two or three years ago +she would not have gratuitously thrown herself into danger as she has +now. She would not have made such a failure as this." + +"And what a failure it is! Do you know? It was very puzzling at first. +To know positively that you never could have received those letters, and +yet to see that they are still in existence, addressed to you, and +opened in your peculiar way. I felt as though I were in a dream." + +"I wonder you did not feel inclined to believe me guilty. The evidence +was almost as strong as it could be. In your position I should have +hesitated." + +"Would you have believed such a thing of me, if it had been just as it +is, only if the letters had gone to you instead of to me?" asked Laura. + +"Certainly not!" exclaimed Ghisleri, with strong emphasis. "That would +be quite another matter." + +"I do not see that it would. You would have been exactly in my position, +as you hinted a moment ago." + +"I was not thinking of you. The day I do not believe in you I shall not +believe in God. You are the last thing I have left to believe in--and +the best, my dear friend." + +He was very much in earnest, as Laura knew from the tone of his voice. +But she would not look at him just then, because she felt that he was +looking at her, and she preferred that their eyes should not meet. + +"Will you do anything about this?" she asked, after a pause, and not +referring to what he had last said. "Will you destroy those vile +things?" + +"Since they are addressed to me, I suppose I have a right to do so," +answered Ghisleri, and he began slowly to tear up the sheets of the +first letter. + +"There can be no doubt about their being genuine?" asked Laura, with +sudden emotion. + +"Not at all, I should say. But you are the best judge of that. You +should know her handwriting better than I. If you like," he added, with +a short laugh, "I will go and show them to her and ask her if she wrote +them. Shall I?" + +"Oh, no! Do not do that!" exclaimed Laura, who knew that he was quite +capable of following such a course as he suggested. + +There was apparently nothing to be done. Laura believed that any attempt +to make use of the two remaining letters would be as abortive as the +first, and there could certainly be no use in keeping those which had +been sent. On the contrary, it was possible that if they were preserved, +chance might throw them into hands in which they might become far more +dangerous than they were. + +"Shall I write to Maria B., whoever she is?" asked Laura. + +"You might send her another five francs," answered Ghisleri, grimly. "It +would show her how much you value the documents she has for sale." + +"I will," said Laura, with a laugh. "How furious she will be! Of course +it is Adele who gets these things." + +"Of course. Five francs is quite enough." + +And Laura, little knowing or guessing how it would be used against her, +sent a five-franc note with her card in an envelope and addressed it. On +the card she had written in pencil, "For Maria B., with best thanks." + +"There is one other thing I would like to do," she said. "But I do not +know whether you would approve. It would give me such satisfaction--you +know I am only a woman, after all." + +"What is that?" asked Ghisleri, "and why should you need my approval?" + +"Only this. To-morrow, and perhaps the next day, when she is quite sure +I must have received those letters, I would like to drive with you in an +open carriage where we should be sure to meet Adele. I would give +anything to see her face." + +Ghisleri laughed. The womanly side of Laura's nature was becoming more +apparent of late, and its manifestations pleased and surprised him. He +thought Laura would hardly have seemed human if she had not wished to +let Adele see how completely the attempt had failed which she had so +ingeniously planned and carried out. + +"If anything would make the town talk, that would," he answered. "The +only way to manage it would be to get the Princess to go with you and +then take me as--" He stopped short, rather awkwardly. + +"I should rather go without her," said Laura, turning her face away to +hide her amusement at the slip of the tongue of which he had been +guilty. + +In Rome, for Ghisleri to be seen driving with the Princess of Gerano and +her daughter would have been almost equivalent to announcing his +engagement to Laura. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + + +Adele had not anticipated such complete failure in the first instance. +The five-franc note with Laura Arden's card told her plainly enough what +her step-sister thought of the matter, but she had no means of finding +out whether Ghisleri had been informed of what she had done or not, and +her efforts to extract information from him when she met him were not +successful. His tone and his manner towards her were precisely the same +as formerly, and he was as ready as ever to enter into desultory +conversation with her; but if she ventured to lead the talk in such a +direction as to find out what she wanted to know, he instantly met her +with a counter-allusion to her doings which frightened her and silenced +her effectually. So the months passed in a sort of petty skirmishing +which led to no positive result, and she secretly planned some further +step which should complete those she had already taken, reverse Laura's +judgment, and completely ruin Pietro Ghisleri with her and before the +world. The uneasy workings of her unsettled brain grew more and more +tortuous every day, until at last she felt unable to reason the question +out without the help of some experienced person. She felt quite sure +that there must be some way out of all her difficulties, by a short cut +to victory, and that a clever man, a good lawyer, for instance, if he +could be deceived into believing the story she had concocted, would know +how to make use of it against her enemies. The difficulty was two-fold. +In the first place she must put together such a body of evidence as no +experienced advocate could refuse as ground for an action at law, and, +secondly, she must find the said advocate and explain the whole matter +to him from her own point of view. The action would be brought in +self-defence against Pietro Ghisleri, who would be accused of having +systematically attempted to levy blackmail. That was the crude form in +which the idea suggested itself to Adele when she set to work. + +Her conviction now was that Pietro was only partially aware of the +substance of the lost confession, and that the letter containing it was +still at Gerano. This being the case, she could freely speak of it to +her lawyer and describe the contents in any way she pleased, so as to +turn the existence of the document to her own advantage. In the letters +she had sent Laura and in the other two which she kept by her for future +use, she had been careful never to say anything conclusive. Maria B. had +indeed spoken of the transaction as being ended, but that could be +interpreted as the unfounded supposition of a person not fully +acquainted with the facts, and desirous of making money out of them as +far as possible. The hardest thing would probably be to produce the +woman who was supposed to have written to Laura, in case she should be +needed. Money well bestowed, however, would do much towards stimulating +the memory of some indigent and unscrupulous person, and the part to be +played would, after all, be a small and insignificant one. On the other +hand, the weak point in the case would be that Adele, while able to +produce an unlimited number of her own letters to Ghisleri, would not +have a single line of his writing to show. She could, indeed, fall back +upon her own natural sense of caution, and declare that she had +destroyed all he had written, in the mistaken belief that it would be +safer to do so, and her lawyer could taunt his opponent with his folly +in not doing likewise; but that would, after all, be rather a poor +expedient. Or it might be pretended that Pietro had invariably written +to her in a feigned handwriting signing himself, perhaps, with a single +initial, as a precaution in case his letters should fall into the wrong +hands. In that case she could produce whatever she chose. The best +possible plan would be to extract one or two short notes from him upon +which an ambiguous construction might be put by the lawyers. All this, +Adele reflected, would need considerable time, and several months must +elapse before she could expect to be ready. Her mind, too, worked +spasmodically, and she was subject to long fits of apathy and extreme +depression in the intervals between her short hours of abnormal +activity. She knew that this was the result of the morphia she took in +such quantities, and she resolved to make a great effort to cure herself +of the fatal habit, if it were not already too late. + +As has been said more than once, Adele Savelli had possessed a very +determined will, and it had not yet been altogether destroyed. Having +once made up her mind to free herself if she could, she made the attempt +bravely and systematically. The result was that, in the course of +several months, she had reduced the amount of her daily doses very +considerably. The suffering was great, but the object to be gained was +great also, and she steeled herself to endure all that a woman could. +She was encouraged, also, by the fact that her mind began to act more +regularly and seemed more reliable. Physically, she was growing very +weak and was becoming almost emaciated. Francesco Savelli watched her +narrowly, and it was his opinion that she could not last long. The +Prince of Gerano was very anxious about her all through the spring which +followed the events last described, and his wife, though she was far +less fond of Adele than in former times, could not but feel a sorrowful +regret as she saw the young life that had begun so brightly wearing +itself away before her eyes. But the Princess had consolations in +another direction. Laura Arden seemed to grow daily more lovely in her +mature beauty, and Herbert was growing out of his babyhood into a sturdy +little boy of phenomenal strength and of imperturbably good temper. +Laura was headstrong where Ghisleri was concerned, but in all other +respects she was herself still. + +The first consequence of Adele's attempt to break the strong friendship +which united Laura and Pietro, was to draw them still more closely +together, and to make Laura, at least, more defiant of the world's +opinion than ever. As for Ghisleri, he almost forgot to ask himself +questions. The time to separate for the summer was drawing near, and he +knew, when he thought of it, what a different parting this one would be +from the one which had preceded it a year earlier. But he tried to think +of the present and not of the weary months of solitude he looked forward +to between June and November or December. He remembered, in spite of +himself, how he had more than once enjoyed the lonely life, even +refusing invitations to pleasant places rather than lose a single week +of an existence so full of charm. But another interest had been growing, +slowly, deep-sown, spreading its roots in silence, and fastening itself +about his heart while he had not even suspected that it was there at +all. Little by little, without visible manifestation, the strong thing +had drawn more strength from his own life, mysteriously absorbing into +itself the springs of thought and the sources of emotion, unifying them +and assimilating them all into something which was a part, and was soon +to be the chief part, of his being. And now, above the harrowed surface +of that inner ground on which such fierce battles had been fought +throughout his years of storm, a soft shoot raised its delicate head, +not timidly, but quietly and unobtrusively, to meet the warm sunshine of +the happier days to come. He saw it, and knew it, and held his peace, +dreading it and yet loving it, for it was love itself; but not knowing +truly what the little blade would come to, whether it was to bloom all +at once into a bright and poisonous flower of evil, bringing to him the +death of all possible love for ever; or whether it would grow up slowly, +calm and fair, from leaf to shrub, from shrub to sapling, from sapling +at last to tree, straight, tall, and strong, able to face tempest and +storm without bending its lofty head, rich to bear for him in the end +the stately blossom and the heavenly fruit of passionate true love. + +For before the day of parting came Pietro Ghisleri knew that he loved +Laura Arden. Ever since that moment when she had quietly given him +Adele's letter and had told him that she would believe no evil of him, +he had begun to suspect that she was no longer what she had been to him +once and what she had remained so long, a friend, kind, almost +affectionate, for whom he would give all he had, but only a friend after +all. It was different now. The thought of bidding Laura good-bye, even +for a few months, sent a thrill of pain through his heart which he had +not expected to feel--the small, sharp pain which tells a man the truth +about a woman and himself as nothing else can. The prospect of the +lonely summer was dreary. + +Ghisleri was surprised, and almost startled. During nearly two years and +a half he had honestly believed that he could never love again, and if a +sincere wish, formulated in the shape he unconsciously chose, could be +called a prayer, he earnestly prayed that so long as he lived he might +not feel what he had felt very strongly twice, at least, since he had +been a boy. But such a man could hardly expect that such a wish, or +prayer, could be granted or heard, so long as he was spending many hours +of each succeeding week in the company of Laura Arden. In the full +strength of manhood, passionate, sensitive beneath a cold exterior, +always attracted by women, and almost always repelled by men, Pietro +Ghisleri could hardly expect that in one moment the capacity for loving +should be wholly rooted out and destroyed by something like an act of +will, and as the consequence of his being disappointed and disgusted by +his own fickleness. The new passion might turn out to be greater or less +than the two which had hitherto disturbed his existence, but it could +hardly be greater than the first. It would necessarily be different from +either, in that it would be hopeless from the beginning, as he thought. +For where he was very sincere, he was rarely very confident in himself, +if the stake was woman's love, a fact more common with men who are at +once sensitive and strong than is generally known. + +But his first impulse was not to go away and escape from the temptation, +as it would have been some time earlier. There was no reason for doing +that, as he had reflected before, when he had considered the +advisability of breaking off all intercourse with Laura for the sake of +silencing the world's idle chatter. He was perfectly free to love her, +and to tell her so, if he chose. No one could blame him for wishing to +marry her; at most he might be thought foolish for desiring anything so +very improbable as that she should accept him. But he was quite +indifferent to what any one might think of him excepting Laura herself. +One resolution only he made and did his best to keep, and it was a good +one. He made up his mind that he would not make love to her, as he +understood the meaning of the term. Possibly, as he told himself with a +little scorn, this was no resolution at all, but only a way of +expressing his conviction that he was quite unable to do what he so +magnanimously refused to attempt. For his instinct told him that his +love for Laura had already taken a shape which differed wholly from all +former passions, one unfamiliar to him, one which would need a new +expression if it continued to be sincere. But that he doubted. He was +quite ready to admit that when Laura came back in the autumn, this early +beginning of love would have disappeared again, and that the old strong +friendship would be found in its place, solid, firmly based, and +unchanged, a permanent happiness and a constant satisfaction. He was no +longer a boy, to imagine that the first breath of love was the +forerunner of an all-destroying storm in which he must perish, or of a +clear, fair wind before which the ship of his life was to run her +straight course to the haven of death's peace. He had seen too much +fickleness in himself and in others to believe in any such thing; but if +he had anticipated either it would have been the tempest. On the whole, +he did the wisest thing he could. He changed nothing in his manner +towards Laura and he waited as calmly as he was able, to see what the +end would be. Once only before Laura went away the conversation turned +upon love, and oddly enough it was Laura who brought up the subject. + +She had been talking about little Herbert, as she often did, planning +out his future according to her own wishes and making it happy in her +own way, even to sketching the wife he was to win some five and twenty +years hence. + +"I should like her to be very fair," she said. "Herbert will be dark, as +I am, and they say that contrasts attract each other most permanently. +But of course, though she must be beautiful, she must have ever so many +other good points besides. In the first place, she must be capable of +loving him with all her heart and soul. I suppose that is really the +hardest thing of all to find." + +"The 'one-great-passion' sort of person, you mean, I fancy," observed +Ghisleri, with a smile. "A rare bird--I agree with you." + +"I doubt whether the individual exists," said Laura. "Except by +accident, or when the course of true love runs so very smoothly that it +would need superhuman ingenuity to fall off it." + +"You are a constant revelation to me!" Ghisleri laughed, and looked at +her. + +"What is there surprising about what I said? You are not a believer in +the universal stability of the human heart, are you?" + +"Hardly that! But women very often are--at first. And then, when they +see that change is possible, they are apt to say that there is no such +thing as true love at all, whereas we know that there is." + +"In other words, you think that I take the sensible view. After all, +what is the use of expecting humanity to be superhuman?" + +"I always like the way in which you put things," said Ghisleri, +thoughtfully. "That is exactly it. Homo sum. I am neither angel, nor +ape, but man, and at present, I believe, no near relation of the seraph +or the monkey." + +"And as a man, changeable. So am I, as a woman, I have no doubt. Every +one must be, and I do not think it is fair to respect people who do not +change at all because they never have the chance." + +"One cannot help it. Human nature instinctively places the man who has +only loved once above the man who has shown that he can love often. It +is connected with the idea of faith and loyalty." + +"Often--that is too much. There comes the question of the limit. How +often can a man love sincerely?" + +"Three times--not more," answered Ghisleri, with conviction. + +"Why not two, or four? How can you lay down the law in that way?" + +"It is very simple. I think that no love is worth the name which does +not influence a man strongly for at least ten years. Any really great +passion will do that. But human life is short. Let a man fall in love at +twenty, and three periods of ten years each will bring him to fifty. A +man who falls in love after he is fifty is a rarity, and generally an +object of ridicule. That seems to me a logical demonstration, and I do +not see why it should not apply to a woman as well as to a man." + +"Yes, I think there is truth in that," said Laura. "At all events, it +looks true. Besides, there is something quite reasonable in the idea +that a man naturally has three stages, when he is twenty years old, +thirty, and forty. I should imagine that the middle stage, while he is +still developing, might be the shortest." + +It was impossible for Ghisleri to imagine that Laura was referring to +his own life, but the remark was certainly very applicable to himself, +so far. Would the third stage be permanent, if he really reached it? He +was inclined to think that nothing about him had much stability, for +within the last two years he had come to accept the fact as something +which was part of his nature and from which there was no escape, despise +the weakness and hate it as he would. It was a singular coincidence that +since he had tormented himself less he had become really less +changeable. + +A month later he parted from Laura, to all outward appearances as +quietly and calmly as in the previous year. If there were any +difference, it was in her manner rather than in his. She said almost +sadly that she was sorry the time had come, and that she looked forward +to the meeting in the autumn as to one of the pleasantest things in the +future. The words she spoke were almost commonplace, though even if +taken literally they conveyed more than she had ever said before. But it +was quite clear that she meant more than she said. + +When she was gone Ghisleri felt more lonely than he had for years, and +every interest seemed to have died out of his existence. He tried to +laugh at himself for turning into a boy again, but even that diversion +failed him. He could not even find the bitter words it had once amused +him, in a grim way, to put together. Then he left Rome, weary of the +sights and sounds of the streets, of the solitude of his rooms, of the +effort to show some intelligence when he was obliged to talk with an +acquaintance. He went to his own place in Tuscany and passed his time in +trying to improve the condition of things. He knew something of +practical architecture, and he rebuilt a staircase, and restored the +vaulting in a part of the little castle to which he had never done +anything before, and which had gone to ruin during the last hundred +years or more, since it had last been inhabited. For he, his father, and +his grandfather had been only sons, and his mother having died when he +was a mere boy, his father had taken a dislike to Torre de' Ghisleri and +had lived the remainder of his short life in Florence. Hence the general +dilapidation of the old place which was not, however, without beauty. +The occupation did him good, and the sight of the old familiar faces of +his tenants and few retainers was pleasant, after facing the museum of +society masks during seven months and more. But he felt that even here +he could not stay any great length of time without a change, and as the +summer advanced his restlessness became extreme. + +He came down to Rome for a week in August. The first person he met in +the street was Francesco Savelli, who stopped to speak with him. +Ghisleri never voluntarily stopped any one. + +"How is Donna Adele?" he asked, after they had exchanged the first +greetings. + +"Very nervous," answered Savelli, shaking his head with the air of +concern he thought it proper to affect whenever he spoke of his wife's +illness. "The nerves are something which no one can understand. I can +tell you a story, for instance, about something which happened the other +day--to be accurate, in June, when we were at Gerano. Do you remember +the oubliette between the guard-room and the tower? Yes--my wife said +she showed it to you. We were all staying together--all the children, +her father, and the Princess and two or three friends. One morning she +said she was quite sure that if we took up that slab of stone and +lowered a man into the shaft, we should find a skeleton hanging +there--Heaven knows what she imagined! The Prince said he had looked +into the shaft scores of times when the trap-door still existed and +there was a bar across the passage to prevent any one from going near; +that he himself had ordered the stone to be put where it was and knew +all about the place. The only skeleton ever found in the castle had been +discovered walled up in the thickness of the north tower, with a little +window just opposite the face, so that the individual must have died +looking at the hills. Nobody knew anything about it. But my wife +insisted, and grew angry, and at last furious. It was of no use, of +course. You know the old gentleman--he can be perfectly rigid. He +answered that no one should touch the stone, that if she yielded to such +ideas once, she would soon wish to pull Gerano to pieces to count the +mice, and that if she could persuade my father to knock holes in the +walls at Castel Savello, that was the affair of the Savelli, but that so +long as he lived she should not make any experiments in excavation under +his roof. If you will believe me, she had a fit of anger which brought +on an attack of the nerves, and she never went out of her room for three +days in consequence. Do you wonder that I am anxious?" + +"Certainly not. It would be amazing if you were indifferent. The story +gives one the idea that she is subject to delusions. I am very sorry she +is no better. Pray remember me to her." + +Thereupon Ghisleri passed on, inwardly wondering how long it would be +before Adele became quite mad. Two days later he received a note from +her. She had heard from her husband that he was in Rome, she said, and +wrote to ask a great favour of him. He was doubtless aware of her +father's passion for manuscripts, which was well known in Rome. It was +reported that a certain dealer had bought Prince Montevarchi's library +after the crash, and she very much wished to buy a very interesting +manuscript of which she had often heard her father speak, and which +contained an account of the famous, or infamous, Isabella Montevarchi's +life, written with her own hand--a sort of confession, in fact. As she +did not know the exact title of the document, if it had any, she would +call it a confession, though, of course, in a strictly lay sense. Now, +she inquired, would Ghisleri, for old friendship's sake, try to obtain +it for her at a reasonable price? She knew, of course, that such an +original would be expensive, but she was prepared to discuss the terms +if not wholly beyond her means. She sent her note by the carrier, as +that was generally quicker than writing by the post, she said. Would +Ghisleri kindly answer by the same means? The man would call again on +the next day but one. That would perhaps give time to make preliminary +inquiries. With which observation, and with best thanks in anticipation +of the service he was about to render, Adele called herself most +sincerely his. + +Ghisleri was not an extremely suspicious man, but he would have given +evidence of almost infantine simplicity if he had not seen that there +was something wrong about Adele's note. It was certainly very well +planned, and if Laura had never shown him the letters Adele had sent +her, it might very possibly have succeeded. On ascertaining the price +set by the dealer on the manuscript, he would probably have written a +few words, stating in a business-like way the sum for which the +so-called confession could be bought. In all likelihood, too, he would +have only dated his note by the day of the week, omitting altogether the +month and the year. He saw at a glance how easily a communication of +that kind might have taken such a shape as to be very serviceable +against him, and how hard it might have been to show that he was writing +about a genuine transaction concerning a manuscript actually for sale. +He determined to be very careful. + +His first step was to find out the name of the dealer who had bought the +Montevarchi library. He next ascertained that what Adele wanted was +still unsold, and that he must therefore necessarily enter into +correspondence with her. After that he sought out a young lawyer whom he +had employed once or twice within the last few years when he had needed +legal advice in regard to some trifling point, and laid the whole matter +before him. This young man, Ubaldini by name, had rapidly acquired a +reputation as a criminal lawyer, and had successfully defended some +remarkable cases, but, as he justly observed, acquitted prisoners of the +classes in which crimes are common, pay very little, and condemned +criminals pay nothing at all. He was therefore under the necessity of +taking other kinds of business as a means of support. The last murderer +who had escaped the law by Ubaldini's eloquence had sent him a bag of +beans and a cream cheese, which was all the family could afford in the +way of a fee, but upon which a barrister who had a taste for variety +could not subsist any length of time. + +Ghisleri explained at considerable length the whole story, as far as it +has been told in these pages, and expressed the belief that Donna Adele +Savelli was intent upon ruining him for what, after all, seemed very +insufficient reasons. + +"When a woman lives on morphia and the fear of discovery, instead of +food and drink, I would not give much for the soundness of any of her +reasons," said Ubaldini, with a laugh. "What shall we do with the +Princess? Shall we convict her of homicide, or bring an action for +defamation, which we are sure to win? I like this case. We shall amuse +ourselves." + +"I do not wish to bring any accusation nor any action against Donna +Adele Savelli," answered Ghisleri. "All I wish to do is to protect +myself. Of course I should be curious to know what became of that +written confession of hers, if it ever existed. But at present I wish +you to have certified copies made of all my letters to her, and to keep +the originals of those she writes me. If she makes such another attack +on me as the last one, I will ask you, perhaps, to take the matter up. +In the mean time, I only desire to keep on the safe side." + +"In a case like this," said the lawyer, "it is far safer to attack than +to wait for the enemy. Be careful in what you write, at all events. It +would be wiser to show me the letters before you send them. One never +can tell at what point the error of omission or commission will be made, +upon which everything will depend. As a bit of general advice, I should +warn you always to date every sheet on which you write anything, always +to mention the name of the dealer when you speak of him, and invariably +to give in full the correct title by which the manuscript is known. If +you do that, and take good care that the dealer knows you perfectly each +time you see him, and remembers your visits, it will not be easy to +manage. But Donna Adele Savelli is evidently a clever person, whether +her reasons for hating you are good or bad. That little trick of sending +her own letters to the other lady was masterly--absolutely diabolical. +The reason she failed was that she struck too high. She over-reached +herself. She accused you of too much. That shows that although her +methods are clever her judgment is insufficient. The same is true of +this last attempt. By the bye, have you ever mentioned me to her, so far +as you can recollect?" + +"No, I believe not." + +"Then avoid doing so, if you please. It is always better to keep the +opposite party in ignorance of one's lawyer's name until the last +minute." + +"Very well." + +As soon as Ghisleri was gone Ubaldini wrote a draft of a letter to +Adele, as follows: + + "EXCELLENCY:--At the decease of a client of humble station a number + of papers have come under my notice and are now in my hands. One of + them, of some length, has evidently gone astray, for it is written + by your Excellency and apparently addressed to a member of the + clergy, besides containing, as one glance told me, matter of a + private nature. It is my wish to restore it immediately, and I + therefore write to inquire whether I may entrust it to the + post-office, or whether I shall hand it sealed to your Excellency's + legal representative. I need not add the assurance that so far as I + am concerned the matter is a strict secret, nor that I desire to + restore the document as a duty of honour, and could not consider for + a moment the question of any remuneration. + + "Deign, Excellency, to receive graciously the expression of + profoundest respect with which I write myself, + + "Your Excellency's most humble, obedient servant, + + "RINALDO UBALDINI, _Advocate_." + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + + +As Ghisleri had anticipated, Adele kept up a lively correspondence with +him for some time. All her letters were duly filed by Ubaldini, who took +certified copies of Pietro's replies, but did not mention what he +himself had done in the matter. Adele bargained sharply until Ghisleri +wrote to her as plainly as he well could that the manuscript was not to +be had for less than the sum he had repeatedly named, and that he could +do nothing more for her. Thereupon she answered that she would consider +the matter, and did not write again. Pietro, after waiting several days, +left Rome again, and returned to Torre de' Ghisleri, glad to be relieved +at last from the irksome and dangerous task of writing concise and +lawyer-like communications about a subject which did not interest him at +all. + +Meanwhile Adele had been through a series of emotions of which Pietro +knew nothing, and which very nearly drove her to increasing her daily +doses of morphia again. On receiving Ubaldini's very respectful and +straightforward letter, she had felt that she was saved at last, though +it definitely destroyed the illusion by which she had so long persuaded +herself that the confession was still in the oubliette at Gerano. +Without much hesitation she wrote to Ubaldini, and laid a bank-note for +five hundred francs in the folded sheet. She begged him to send a +special messenger with the sealed packet to Castel Savello, and +requested him, in spite of his protest, to accept the enclosed sum to +cover expenses. + +During forty-eight hours she enjoyed to the full the anticipation of at +last getting back the letter which had cost her such terrible anxiety at +various times during the past two years and a half. Then came Ubaldini's +answer, though when she opened it she had no idea that it was from him. +He had made his clerk both write and sign the fair copy of the first +letter, which had been written on paper not stamped with an address. He +now wrote with his own hand upon the paper he kept for business +correspondence upon which, of course, the address was printed. There was +consequently not the slightest resemblance between the two letters. But +Adele was not prepared for the contents. The first thing she noticed was +her bank-note, carefully pinned inside the sheet. Even the form of +addressing her was not the same, and the one now employed was the +correct one, the Savelli being one of the families in which the title of +Prince and Princess belongs indiscriminately to all the children, and +consequently to the wives of all the sons. The letter was as follows: + + "SIGNORA PRINCIPESSA:--I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt + of a communication from your Excellency, in which you request me to + send a certain sealed packet to Castel Savello by a special + messenger, and enclosing a bank note for five hundred francs (Banca + Romana S. 32/0945) which I return herewith. I take the occasion to + say that I know nothing whatever of the sealed packet referred to, + and I beg to suggest that your Excellency may have accidentally + addressed the letter to me instead of to some other person, perhaps + in using a directory. If, however, it was written in answer to one + supposed to have been indited to you by me, the letter must have + been composed and sent by some designing person in the hope of + intercepting the reply and gaining possession of the money, which I + am glad to be able to send back to its original owner. Believe me, + Signora Principessa, + + "Your Excellency's most obedient, + + "RINALDO UBALDINI." + +The shock was almost more than Adele could bear, and the room reeled +with her as she comprehended what had happened, so far as she was able +to understand it all. The truth did not strike her, however. What she +believed was what the lawyer suggested, that some person had played a +trick on her, and had made use of Ubaldini's name and address in the +hope of getting the money he or she naturally expected that she would +send as compensation for such an important service. The hardest to +endure was the disappointment of finding that she was not to have the +confession after all. The point proved was that, whether it were still +in the oubliette or had been found and carried off, there was in either +case at least one person at large who knew it existed, and who knew that +the contents would be greatly to her disadvantage if known. And if one +person knew it, she argued, all Rome might be acquainted with the story, +and probably was. But the comforting conviction that the letter was +still safe at Gerano did not return. There was a tone about the first +communication disclaimed by Ubaldini, which forced upon her the belief +that the writer knew everything, and could ruin her at a moment's +notice. + +What Ubaldini gained was the certainty that the story which Ghisleri +described as current gossip was a fact, and a very serious one. He had +played detective instead of lawyer, and he had been very successful. He +knew also, that, as he had acted altogether in the interests of his +client, Ghisleri, and had returned Adele's money, no objection could, +strictly speaking, be made to the stratagem, however it might be looked +upon by gentlemen and men of the world, like Ghisleri himself. But +Ubaldini was a lawyer, and it was not his business to consider what the +fine world would think of his doings. He filed Adele's letter with the +copies of his own. + +In the course of a few days, Adele, who was all the time carrying on her +correspondence with Pietro, gathered some hope from the latter's +answers. She had a suspicion that he might keep all the notes he +received from her, and after the first she was as careful never to +mention the manuscript except as "the confession," as he, on his part, +was always to write out its title in full. It struck her, however, that +a man playing such a part as she wished to have it thought that he was +playing, would naturally use some such means for making his letters seem +commonplace if they should fall into the wrong hands, and it would be +easy to persuade her friends that the autobiographic writings of +Isabella Montevarchi meant Adele Savelli's confession, by common +consent, though she herself had not taken the trouble to use such a long +title more than once. The thought elated her, and comforted her in a +measure for the disappointment she had suffered, and which had shaken +her nerves severely. + +She now spent much time in going over the correspondence, weighing each +word in the attempt to establish its exact value if regarded from the +point of view of a systematic attempt to extort money. With a relative +coolness which would not have disgraced a strong man, and which showed +how far she had recovered control of herself by diminishing the doses of +morphia, she set to work to put her case together on the supposition +that she meant to lay it before her husband, for instance, or any other +intelligent person, with a request for advice. And the case, as she put +it, was better than might have been expected, though it depended +ultimately, for its solidity, on the supposition that the confession +could never be found. + +In the first place, she intended to admit that she had been jealous of +Laura for years, and to own frankly that she had often said cruel and +spiteful things of her, and of Arden, just as everybody she knew said +spiteful things of somebody. She would even admit that she had first set +afloat the rumour that Lord Herbert was intemperate, and that Laura had +the evil eye. She could then point out that her conduct had suddenly +changed in deference to her father's wishes, that there had been an open +reconciliation, not very heartfelt on her part at first, but made +sincere by the remorse she felt after Arden's death. For she meant to go +even so far as to confess that Arden might have caught the scarlet fever +in her house, seeing that her maid was only just recovering from it at +the time. The woman's illness had been kept strictly secret, and she had +been, from the first, taken to a distant part of the palace, so that +Adele had not believed there could be any danger. Even her husband had +not known what the maid's illness was, and poor Lucia had pleaded so +hard not to be sent to the hospital that Adele had yielded. But to +prove, she would say, how little fear of contagion she had, her own +children had not been sent into the country. The Palazzo Savelli was big +enough to have had a whole infirmary in one part of it, completely +isolated from all the rest. Nevertheless, she had always felt that there +was a possibility of Arden's last illness having been taken at that +dinner-party, and her secret remorse had caused her the greatest +suffering. Between that and a nervous disorder from which she had little +hope of ever recovering, she had fallen very ill, and had gone to +Gerano. While there, her conscience had so pricked her in the matter of +her past unkindness to her step-sister and to Arden, that although she +had been to confession at Easter, she wrote a long letter to her +confessor in Rome, going again over the full details of the past winter. +From that point she could tell the truth, without even sparing Lucia, +until she came to the discovery that it was Ghisleri himself who had +picked up the letter, or confession, under the shaft of the oubliette. +And here she would lay great stress on Ghisleri's attachment to Laura, +and consequent dislike of herself. The well-known fact that Pietro had +fought a desperate duel merely because Campodonico said that Lady +Herbert Arden might have the evil eye, sufficiently showed to what +lengths he would go in her defence. Nothing more would really be needed. +But there was plenty more. All Rome knew that he had broken with +Maddalena dell' Armi for Laura's sake, and that he had exhibited the +most untiring devotion ever afterwards. Never, since the death of the +Princess Corleone, Adele would boldly assert, had he been faithful to +any one woman for such a length of time. That was a strong point. The +Princess of Gerano herself could testify to her own anxiety about Laura +since Ghisleri had been so much with her. Laura herself had behaved in +the most admirable manner ever since the reconciliation, but Ghisleri, +in constituting himself her champion, had become, so to say, more +royalist than the king, and more catholic than the pope. His dislike, if +not his positive hatred, for Adele was apparent at every step in the +story. He did not, it is true, speak of it to any one, but his reticence +was a well-known peculiarity of his character. It was when he was alone +in conversation with Adele that he showed what he felt. But his manner +was always courteous and rather formal. It was by sarcastic hints that +he conveyed his meaning. Nevertheless, Adele had maintained the outward +forms of friendly acquaintance, and once, some six months after Arden's +death, when matters had not been so bad as they now were, she had asked +him to stay a few days at Gerano. Lucia could testify that he was there +at the time when the confession disappeared, and Lucia, who had +attempted to extort money for it, and would have succeeded if the +document had been forthcoming, had naturally been as interested as any +one to find it. Not until some time later had Adele suspected that it +had been picked up by Ghisleri. The thing, of course, had not any very +great value, but what woman, Adele would ask, could bear to think that +the most private outpourings of her soul to her spiritual director were +in the hands of a man who hated her, and who could, if he pleased, +circulate them and make them the talk of the town? When Ghisleri, in the +following winter, had begun to torment her systematically by quoting +little phrases and expressions which she remembered to have written in +the letter, she had at last boldly taxed him with having it in his +possession, and he, with the unparalleled cynicism for which he was +famous, had laughed at her and owned the truth. Every one would allow +that this was very like him. She had threatened to complain to her +husband, and he had expressed the utmost indifference. He was a known +duelist and a dangerous adversary, and for her husband's sake she had +held her tongue, while Ghisleri continued to make her life miserable +with his witticisms. Then she had once asked him what he would consider +an equivalent for the letter. He had laughed again, and had said that he +would take a large sum of money in exchange for it, which, he added, he +would devote to building a small hospital in the village of Torre de' +Ghisleri, saying that it would be for the good of her soul to found a +charity of that kind. She would not undertake to say whether he would +have employed the money for that purpose or not, if she had given it to +him. Possibly he would. But she had not been able to dispose of any such +sum as he had then named. Under her marriage contract she controlled +only her pin-money, and her father allowed her nothing out of the great +fortune which would some day be hers. She and Ghisleri had corresponded +about the matter in town, by notes sent backwards and forwards. She, on +her part, had at that time thought she was doing wisely in burning his, +but he had been less careful. He had, in fact, been so grossly negligent +as to leave five of them at one time in the pocket of one of his coats. +It was through his tailor to whom the coat had been sent for some +alteration or repair that two of these notes had come back to Adele. A +woman, apparently a seamstress, had come to her with them one day, and +had offered them to her for sale, together with a card of Lady Herbert +Arden's enclosed in an envelope addressed to "Maria B." at the general +post-office. On the card were written the words: "For Maria B., with +best thanks." The woman confessed that she was in great distress, that +she had found the letters in a coat upon which she was working, had +easily ascertained who Ghisleri was, and what his relations towards Lady +Herbert were, and had appealed to the latter for help, offering the +letters in exchange for any charity, and actually sending three of them +when she had only received five francs. Lady Herbert had then sent her +fifty francs more with the card in question, but the poor woman thought +that very little. She bitterly repented not having brought them all at +once to Donna Adele. Of course they belonged to her, and Donna Adele +had a right to them all, without payment. But the woman was very poor. +Adele had unhesitatingly given her a hundred francs and had kept the two +notes and the card, which proved at least that even at that time she had +been corresponding with Ghisleri and protesting her inability to pay the +sum he demanded, and that Laura Arden was aware of the correspondence, +and had been willing for Ghisleri's sake to pay money to obtain it. For +a long time after this Adele had made no further attempt, but had +avoided finding herself alone in conversation with Pietro, as many +people had indeed noticed, because she could not bear to be perpetually +annoyed by his reference to his power over her. Yet, out of fear lest +some harm should befall her husband, she had still held her peace. Early +in the preceding summer, shortly before leaving for her annual visit to +Gerano, Ghisleri had managed to be alone with her, and had not lost the +opportunity of inflicting another wound, which had revived all her old +desire to obtain possession of the lost letter. He had, indeed, almost +admitted that unless she would reconsider the matter he would send it to +one of her friends to read. The Montevarchi library was then about to be +sold, and many persons were talking of the famous confession of Isabella +Montevarchi. By way of safety, Adele, in agreeing to think the whole +thing over once more, had told him that when writing she should speak of +her own letter as though it were this well-known manuscript. She had +already some experience of his carelessness in regard to notes. Against +his own statement, and against her own secret positive conviction, yet +to give him one chance, as it were, she had made one desperate effort to +have the oubliette opened and searched. Her father would remember how +angry she had been, and, indeed, she had lost her temper, being always +ill and nervous. He had positively refused. Then, in despair, she had +reopened negotiations with Ghisleri, whose demands, though not so high +as formerly, were still quite beyond her means. As a matter of fact, +the dealer had asked an exorbitant price for the manuscript, being well +aware of its historical importance, which was little less than that +attaching to the famous manuscript account of the Cenci trial. Adele was +in despair. She had no means of raising such a sum as Ghisleri required, +except by selling her jewels, which she could not possibly do without +exciting her husband's suspicions. She was powerless. Had any woman ever +been placed in such a situation? Ghisleri's last letter distinctly +stated that he could do nothing more for her if she refused to buy the +confession of Isabella Montevarchi at the price he had last named. Those +were his very words. They meant that unless she paid, he would make use +of the letter he had. He even added, that in that case the manuscript +would probably before long be disposed of elsewhere, as though to make +his meaning clearer. + +Her position was very strong, Adele thought, as she reached the end of +her statement as she first drew it up in her own mind. A clever lawyer +could doubtless make it even stronger, for he would know how to take +advantage of every point, and how to call attention to the strongest and +pass smoothly over the weaker links in the chain. The real danger, and +the only real danger, lay in the possibility that the confession itself +might be found and might be produced, with all which she said it +contained, and with the one central black statement of which she made no +mention in working up the case. But who could produce it? If any one had +it, that man was Ghisleri, who had more than once gone very near the +truth in the hints he had thrown out. Say that he had it--suppose the +hypothesis a fact. Its being in his possession would be the most ruining +evidence of all. He would not dare to show it, for though it might ruin +her, it would be far worse ruin to him, for it would of itself suffice +to prove the truth of every word of her story, and he would not only +incur the full penalty of the law for a most abominable attempt at +levying blackmail, but his very memory would be blasted for ever as +that of the most dastardly and cowardly villain ever sent to penal +servitude. As for herself, she felt that she had not long to live, and +if worse came to worst, a little over-dose of morphia would end it all. +She would have had her triumph, and she would have seen Laura's face by +that time. + +It did not occur to her to ask herself any question about the origin of +a hatred so implacable as to make the sacrifice of life itself seem easy +in the accomplishment of its end. She was not able to trace the history +of her jealousy backwards by a firm concentration of memory, as she was +able by the force of vivid imagination to construct the vengeance she +anticipated in the future. That the most dire revenge should be +contemplated, pursued, and ultimately executed for the sake of a wrong +wholly imaginary in the first instance is not altogether novel in the +history of humanity. There are minds which under certain conditions +cannot judge of the past as they can of events present and to come. +Adele's hatred of Laura Arden amounted almost to a fixed idea. It had +begun in very small things. Its origin lay, perhaps, in the simple fact +that Laura was beautiful whereas Adele had been barely pretty at her +best, and its first great development had been the consequence of +Francesco Savelli's undisguised preference for the step-sister of his +future wife. All the young girl's jealousy and vain nature had been +roused and wounded by the slight, and as years had gone by and Savelli +showed no signs of forgetting his early attachment to Laura, the wound +had grown more sore and more angry until it had poisoned Adele's +character and heart to the very core. The worst deed she ever did had +not perhaps been the worst in intention. She had not been at all sure +that Arden would take the fever, and she had assuredly not meant nor +ever expected that he should die. Chance had put the information into +her hands at a moment when, through Laura, as it seemed to her, she was +suffering the most cruel humiliation she had ever known. On that +memorable evening when her father had forced her to submit to his will, +and when she was looking forward with bitter loathing to what was very +like a public reconciliation, she had been left alone. In attempting to +control herself and to regain some outward calm, she had taken up a +review and had forced herself to read the first article upon which she +opened, and which happened to be a very dull one on the bacilli of +various diseases. But one passage had struck her forcibly--the plain +account of a case which had recently been observed, in which few medical +terms occurred, and which a child could have understood. The extreme +simplicity of the facts had startled her, and she had suddenly resolved +that Laura and Arden should have cause to remember the reconciliation +which would cost her vanity so dear. But she had no intention of doing +murder. In her heart she had hardly believed that any result would +follow, and remorse had taken hold of her almost at once, simultaneously +with the horrible fear of discovery which has more than once driven men +and women mad. But remorse is by no means repentance. With it comes +often what has been called the impossibility of pardoning the person one +has injured, and the insane desire to wreak vengeance upon that person +for the acute sufferings endured in one's own conscience. Given the +existence of this desire in a very violent degree, and admitting the +inevitable disturbance of the faculties ensuing upon the long and +vicious abuse of such a poison as morphia, Adele's ultimate state +becomes comprehensible. She was, indeed, as Ghisleri had said to Laura, +hardly sane, and her incipient madness having originally resulted from +jealousy, the latter naturally remained the ruling influence in her +unsettled brain, and attained proportions hardly credible to those who +have not followed the steps by which the human intelligence passes from +sanity to madness. + +And now that she had worked up her case against Ghisleri, as a lawyer +would express it, and had convinced herself that she could tell a long +and connected story in which almost every detail should give colour to +her principal assertion, she hesitated as to the course she should +pursue. It was not in her power to send for a lawyer and to bring an +action at law against Pietro, without her husband's consent, and she +knew how hard that would be to obtain. Francesco Savelli was by no means +a cowardly man, and would, if necessary, have exposed his life in a duel +with Ghisleri, not for his wife's sake, but for the sake of the family +honour. But he had the true Roman's abhorrence of publicity and scandal, +and would make great sacrifices to avoid anything of the kind. Her own +father might be willing to take the matter up, but it was extremely hard +to deceive him. She knew, however, that if he were once persuaded of the +justice of her cause, he would go to any length in her defence and would +prove an implacable enemy to the man who, as he would suppose, had +injured her. The great difficulty lay in persuading him at the outset. +But for the unfortunate fact that he had already once detected her in +falsehood, the matter would have been far easier. It was true that she +meant to admit all he had then forced her to own, and much more besides, +in order to show how high a value Ghisleri set upon the confession which +contained a concise account of her doings. But he would, in any case, be +prejudiced against her from the first. One thing was in her favour, she +thought. The Princess of Gerano did not like Ghisleri, and would in all +likelihood be ready to believe evil of him, and to influence her +husband, good and just woman though she was. There was one other person +to whom Adele could apply--Prince Savelli himself. She thought of him +last and wondered why she had not remembered him first. He was a man of +singular energy, courage, and coolness, whose chief fault was a tendency +to overestimate beyond all limits the importance of his family and the +glory of his ancient name. She knew that he was abnormally sensitive on +these points and that if she could rouse his ever ready pride, he would +hesitate at nothing in order to bring retribution upon any one rash +enough to insult or injure any member of his family. And he lived a life +of his own and cared little for the world. His passion, strangely +enough, was of a scientific kind. He was an astronomer, had built +himself an observatory on the top of the massive old palace, and spent +the greater part of his time there. Such existences, in the very heart +of society, are not unknown in Rome. Prince Savelli had remained what he +was by nature, a true student, and was perfectly happy in his own way, +caring very little for the world and hardly ever showing himself in it. +The Princess was a placid person, extremely devout, but also extremely +selfish. It was from her that Francesco inherited his disposition and +his yellow hair. + +It struck Adele that if she could win her father-in-law's sympathy and +rouse him to action in her behalf, it would be far easier to persuade +her own father that she was in the right. Gerano had a boundless respect +for the elder Savelli's opinion, though if he had known him better, he +would have discovered that his judgment was far too easily influenced +where his exaggerated family pride was concerned. + +A long time passed before Adele finally made up her mind to the great +attempt. Ghisleri had already returned to Rome and Laura Arden was +expected in two or three weeks, according to news received by her +mother. + +An incident, trivial in itself, at last decided her to act at once. She +and Francesco were dining with the Prince and Princess of Gerano as they +did regularly once a week. As a rule nobody was invited to these family +meetings, but on that particular evening Gianforte Campodonico and Donna +Christina had been asked. It was convenient to have them when Laura was +not there, and they were much liked in Casa Gerano where, as has been +said, Ghisleri was not a favourite. There was, moreover, a distant +relationship between the families of Braccio and Campodonico of which, +as they liked one another, both were fond of speaking. + +Adele looked very ill. By this time her complexion was of a pale +yellow, and she was thin to absolute emaciation. In spite of her +determined efforts to break the habit that was killing her, or perhaps +as a first consequence of them, she was liable to moments of nervousness +in which she could hardly control herself and in which she did not seem +to remember what had happened a few minutes earlier. Her sufferings at +such times were painful to see. She could hardly keep her hands from +moving about in a helpless fashion, and her face was often slightly +contorted. Very rarely, on fine days when she had been driving, a little +colour came into her ghastly cheeks. It was easy to see that only her +strong will supported her continually, and that women more weakly +organized would long ago have succumbed to the effects of the poison. + +When she felt that she was liable to a crisis of the nerves she was +careful to stay at home, but occasionally she was attacked unawares, +more or less violently, when she had believed herself well enough to go +out. When this happened she sat in silence while the suffering lasted, +and did her best to keep her unruly hands clasped together. By a strong +effort she sometimes succeeded in concealing from others what she felt, +but the exertion of her will made her irritable to the last degree, if +she was called upon to speak or forced to try and join in the +conversation. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + + +The dinner passed off quietly and pleasantly enough until towards the +end, when the conversation turned upon the coming season, and all began +to speculate as to whether it would be gay or dull, as people always do +when they meet after the long separation in the summer. + +"There will be all the usual pleasant things," observed Francesco +Savelli, who loved society as much as his wife did. "Let me see. There +will be the evenings in Casa Frangipani, and they will give their two +balls as usual at the end. The Marchesa di San Giacinto will do as she +did last year--a dance and a ball alternately after the fifteenth of +January. Of course Casa Montevarchi does not exist any more since the +crash, but that is the only one. Then there are your evenings," he +continued, turning to the mistress of the house, "and there are ours, of +course, and I suppose Gouache and Donna Faustina will give something at +the studio. Have you seen her this year, Adele?" + +He looked across the table at his wife, and saw that she was beginning +to suffer from an unexpected attack. He knew the symptoms well, and was +aware that there was nothing to be done but to leave her alone and take +no notice of her. She merely nodded in answer to his question, and he +went on speaking. + +"Gouache always does something original," he said. "Do you remember that +supper on Shrove Tuesday years ago? It was the most successful thing of +that season. By the bye, I saw Ghisleri yesterday. He has come back." + +It was rather tactless of him to drag Ghisleri's name into the +conversation in the presence of Campodonico. But the Princess of Gerano +was even more tactless than he. + +"That wild Ghisleri!" she immediately exclaimed, as she always did when +Pietro was mentioned. + +"Ghisleri is no worse than the rest of us, I am sure," said Campodonico, +anxious to show that he was not in the least annoyed. "He has as many +good qualities as most men, and perhaps a few more." + +"It is generous of you to say that," observed Donna Christina, looking +at her husband with loving admiration. + +"I do not see that there is much generosity about it, my dear," he +answered warmly. "It would be very spiteful of me not to give him his +due, that is all. He is brave and honourable, and that is something to +say of any man. Besides, look at his friends--look at the people who +like him, beginning with most of you here. That is a very good test of +what a man is." + +He looked straight at Adele Savelli as he spoke, for no special reason +except that he always looked straight at somebody when he was speaking. +He was hot-tempered, passionate, generous, and truthful, and there was a +great directness about everything he did and said. But at that moment +Adele was in great pain and was doing her best to hide it. She fancied +that Campodonico had noticed what was the matter. + +"Why do you look at me in that way?" she asked irritably, but with a +nervous attempt at a laugh. + +"I do not know," answered Gianforte. "I suppose I expected you to agree +with me. I know Ghisleri is a friend of yours." + +"How do you know that?" Adele's irritation increased rapidly. "Have you +any reason to suppose that I am particularly fond of him? Have I ever +done anything to show it?" + +"Why are you so much annoyed?" asked Savelli, who generally felt +uncomfortable when his wife was in such moods, and feared that she would +say something to make herself and him ridiculous. "You always liked +him." + +Adele's hand twitched and moved on the table against her will, and she +upset some salt. The little incident sufficed to make her lose her head +completely. + +"If people knew what Pietro Ghisleri really is, there is not a house in +Rome where he would be received," she said angrily. + +The dead silence which followed this categorical statement brought her +to her senses too late. Campodonico was the first to speak. + +"I should find it very hard to believe that Ghisleri ever committed a +dishonourable action," he said gravely. "That is a very serious +statement, Donna Adele." + +"Yes, indeed," put in the Prince, turning to his daughter. "You should +consider what you are saying, my dear, before going so far as that. I +think you ought to explain yourself. We may not all like Ghisleri, and +if we please we are at liberty to say so here, in the family; but it is +quite another matter to say that he is not a fit person to associate +with us. To say that, you must be quite sure that he has done something +disgraceful, of which we are all in ignorance." + +"I quite agree with you," said Francesco Savelli. "You only make +yourself ridiculous by saying such things," he added, looking coldly at +his wife, for he was anxious that none of the ridicule should reflect +upon himself, especially in Campodonico's presence. + +"I am sure, when I call Ghisleri wild," said the Princess, "I mean +nothing more than that he is fast. But I am very sorry to have brought +about such a discussion. Adele, my dear, what do you mean? Are you in +earnest?" + +"One does not say such things for nothing," answered Adele, angrily. + +"Then I wonder that you receive him," said the Prince, coldly. "I hope +you will explain to me by and by what you refer to." + +"I will, some day," said Adele, in a low voice. She felt that she had +cast the die, and she hardly saw how she could draw back. + +"In that case, we will say no more about the matter at present," said +the master of the house, in a tone of authority. "I had meant to ask you +for news of your brother," he said, turning to Campodonico. "I was very +sorry to hear that he had been ill. Is he better?" + +Gianforte answered, and every one made an effort to restore the outward +calm which had been so disturbed by Adele's speech. Soon after dinner +she went home, and instead of going to his club as usual Francesco got +into the carriage with her. + +"I insist upon knowing what you meant by your accusation against +Ghisleri," he said, as soon as they were driving away. + +"I will not tell you," Adele answered firmly. "You will find it out in +time--quite soon enough, I daresay." + +"I have the right to know. In the world in which we live one makes +oneself ridiculous by saying such things. Everybody will laugh at you, +and then you will expect me to take your part." + +"I shall not expect anything of the sort, for I am not so foolish. You +never had the slightest affection for me, and you have lost such little +decent regard for me as you once felt, because I am always ill and it +gives you trouble to be considerate. You would not raise a finger to +help me or protect me unless you were afraid of the world's opinion. I +have known that a long time, and now that I am in trouble I will not +come to you. Why should I? You are only waiting for me to die, in order +to ask Laura to marry you. It would annoy you extremely if I lived long +enough to give her time to marry Ghisleri." + +"I think remarks of that sort are in the worst possible taste," answered +Savelli, "besides being without the least foundation in truth. I will +beg you not to make any more of them. As for what you say about +Ghisleri, if you refuse to tell me what you know I shall ask advice of +my father, as that is the only proper course I could follow under the +circumstances." + +"For once we agree!" exclaimed Adele, with a scornful laugh. "That is +precisely what I mean to do myself, and I will go to him to-morrow +morning and tell him the whole story. But I will not tell it to you. He +may, if he pleases, and thinks it best." + +"In that case I have nothing more to say," answered Francesco. "You +could not select a more fit person than my father." + +"I am perfectly well aware of the fact." Adele, womanlike, was +determined to have the last word, no matter how insignificant. + +Both were silent during the remainder of the drive home. At the foot of +the grand staircase Francesco left his wife and got into the carriage to +be driven to his club. He reflected on the truth of Adele's observation, +when she had said that she might live until Laura and Ghisleri were +married, and he was by no means pleased as he realised how probable that +contingency was. Since she had become a slave to morphia he had, of +course, been at some pains to ascertain the limits of the disease, and +the possible duration of it, and he was aware that some persons lived +for many years in spite of a constant and increasing abuse of the +poison. + +Adele once more went over the whole story in her mind, preparing the +details of it and polishing all the parts into a harmonious whole. In +spite of what she had suffered that evening she would not increase her +dose, though she knew that she must very probably spend a sleepless +night. She profited by the hours to review the story she intended to +tell her father-in-law. At eleven o'clock on the following morning she +sent up to inquire whether he would see her, and he at once appeared in +person at the door of her boudoir,--a tall, bearded man of fifty years +or more, slightly stooping, not over-carefully dressed, wearing +spectacles, and chiefly remarkable for his very beautifully shaped +hands, with which he made energetic gestures at almost every minute, +when speaking. + +Adele began in some trepidation to explain how, on the previous evening, +she had lost her temper and had been betrayed into making a remark about +Ghisleri of which her husband had demanded an explanation. She felt, she +said, that the matter was so serious as to justify her in referring it +at once to the head of the family, who might then act as he thought best +with regard to keeping it a secret or informing his son of what had +happened. She did not fail to add that one of her motives in refusing to +tell what she knew to Francesco, was her anxiety for his safety, since +the affair concerned herself and he would undoubtedly take it up as a +personal matter and quarrel with the dangerous man who had so long been +her enemy. The Prince approved this course with a grave nod, and waited +for more. + +Then she told her story from beginning to end. She of course took +advantage of the fact that her father-in-law was but slightly acquainted +with Ghisleri to paint his character with the colours best suited to her +purpose, while asserting nothing about him which could be in direct +contradiction to the testimony of others. She spoke very lucidly and +connectedly, for she knew the lesson well and she was conscious that her +whole existence was at stake. One fault, one little error sufficient to +cast suspicion on her veracity, might be enough to ruin her in the end. +She concluded by a well-turned and pathetic allusion to her state of +health, which indeed was pitiable enough. She knew that she was dying, +but it would make death doubly painful to think that such an enemy as +Ghisleri was left behind to blacken her memory and perhaps hereafter to +poison the thought of her in her children's hearts. She also read +extracts from Ghisleri's letters and showed Laura's card, before +mentioned. + +As she proceeded she watched the Prince's face, and she saw that she had +produced the right impression from the first. The plausibility of the +tale, as she told it, was undeniable, and might have shaken the belief +in Ghisleri's integrity in the minds of men who knew him far better than +the elder Savelli. As she had anticipated, the latter took up the +question as one deeply affecting the honour of his name. He was very +angry in his calm way, and his blue eyes flashed through his great +gold-rimmed spectacles, while his slender, energetic white hand clenched +itself and opened frequently upon his knee. + +"You have done right in coming to me directly," he said, when she had +finished and was wiping away the tears which, in her nervous state, she +had found easy to bring to her eyes. "Francesco would not have known how +to act. He would probably have done the villain the honour of fighting +with him. But I will bring him to justice. The law provides very amply +for crimes of this sort. I confess I am strongly tempted to go and speak +to the man myself. Francesco could not resist the temptation, but he is +almost a boy. The cowardly scoundrel of a Tuscan!" + +He thrust back his long, greyish-brown hair from his forehead with one +hand, and shook the other in the air as though at a real adversary. When +he did that he was always roused to real anger, as Adele knew. She +feared lest he should do something more or less rash which would not +ultimately be of any advantage to her. + +"Would it not be wise to speak to my father?" she asked. "He knows a +great deal about the law, I believe." + +"Yes, perhaps so. Gerano is a very sensible man. As this affects you, +besides Francesco and all of us, it might be as well to consult him, or +at all events to put him in possession of all the facts. In the +meanwhile, you know I am a methodical man. I must have proper notes to +go upon from the first. If it does not pain you too much to go over the +main points once more, I will write down what I need." + +"And I will hand you these papers to keep," said Adele, giving him the +correspondence, which comprised the greater number of Ghisleri's +letters, the two of her own which she had not sent to Laura, the two she +had received from the lawyer Ubaldini, and Laura Arden's card in its +envelope to "Maria B." With regard to Ubaldini, she told exactly what +had happened, and what she had written, for that incident at least was +still a mystery to her, and she thought it unwise to conceal what might +subsequently come to light through other persons. + +"I have heard of this fellow," said the Prince, thoughtfully. "He is a +very clever criminal lawyer. I should not wonder if Ghisleri had already +consulted him. One may expect anything after what you have told me." + +Adele recapitulated the story with extraordinary exactness, stopping and +repeating those portions of it which her father-in-law desired to note. + +"I have never seen a more complete chain of evidence," exclaimed the +latter, when he had finished and was folding up the sheets neatly to +match the size of the letters Adele had given him. "There is no court of +justice in the world that would not convict a man of extortion on such +testimony, and if there is one, I hope it is not in Rome." + +"I hope not," said Adele, who would have smiled had she been alone. "But +you may find it harder to convince my father than a Roman jury. He is +prejudiced in Ghisleri's favour--like most people who do not know him as +I do." + +"He shall change his prejudices before long," answered Savelli, in a +tone of certainty. "I will send word to him to expect me after +breakfast, and I will explain the whole matter to him and show him the +letters. If he does not at once understand, it would be better that we +should both come to you together. You would make it clearer than I +could, perhaps. But it seems clear enough to me. What an infamous +affair--and how you must have suffered!" + +"It is killing me!" said Adele, in a low voice. + +Savelli left her with many expressions of kindly sympathy. He was not a +good judge of human nature, for he lived too much in his studies and in +the world of mathematics to understand or appreciate the motives of men +and women. But he was kind of heart and affectionate by disposition. So +far as he knew, Adele had been a good wife to his eldest son, and was +the mother of strong, well-grown children who bore the ancient name in +which he took such pride. Moreover, Adele had the honour of lending +still greater lustre to the race by means of the great Braccio +inheritance, which was all to come to the Savelli through her. She was, +therefore, a very important personage, as well as a dutiful +daughter-in-law and a good mother, in the eyes of the head of the house, +and it would no more have crossed his mind that the story she had just +told him was a fabrication, from first to last, than that the Greenwich +Almanack for the year could be a fraud and a malicious misstatement of +the movements of the heavenly bodies. Moreover, the evidence was, on +the whole, such as would have staggered the faith of most of Ghisleri's +acquaintances. The Prince lost no time in going to see Gerano, prepared +at all points and armed with the papers Adele had given him. + +The interview lasted fully two hours, and when it was over, Adele's +father was almost as thoroughly persuaded of Ghisleri's guilt as Savelli +himself. His face was very grave and thoughtful as he leaned back in his +easy-chair and looked into his old friend's clear blue eyes. + +"The man should be tried, convicted, and sent to the galleys," said +Gerano. "There can be no doubt of the justice of that, if all this can +be established in court. Remember I do not doubt my daughter's word, and +it would be monstrous to suppose that she has invented this story. +Whatever the truth about it may be, it must be thoroughly investigated. +But there may be a good deal of exaggeration about it, for I have known +Adele to over-state a case. There is a great difference between shutting +one's door on a man, or turning him out of his club, and bringing an +accusation against him which, if proved, will entail a term of penal +servitude. You see that, I am sure. Do you not think that we ought to go +and see Ghisleri together, tell him what we have learned, and ask him to +justify himself if he can?" + +"I think it would be wiser to consult the lawyers first," answered +Savelli. "If they are of opinion that he is a criminal, there is no +reason why we should give him warning that he may defend himself, as +though he were an honest man. If they believe that this is not a case +for the law, there will always be time for us to go and see him, since +no open steps will have been taken." + +Gerano was obliged to admit that there was truth in this, though his +instinct told him that Ghisleri should be heard before being accused. He +was one of those men whose faith being once shaken is not easily +re-established, and he could not forget that his daughter had once +deceived him, a fact with which Savelli was now also acquainted, since +Adele had told him the whole truth about that part of the story, but to +which he attached relatively little importance as compared with +Ghisleri's villanous conduct in attempting to extort money from a member +of the Savelli family. + +The two agreed upon the lawyer whom they would consult, and on the next +day the first meeting took place at the Palazzo Braccio. The man they +employed was elderly, steady, and experienced, and rather inclined to be +over-cautious. He refused to give any decisive opinion on the case until +he had studied it in all its bearings, thoroughly examined the letters, +and ascertained the authenticity of the card on which Lady Herbert had +written her thanks in pencil. This, of course, was the only one of the +documents in evidence of which he could doubt the genuineness, since it +was the only one which had not come direct from the hand of the writer. +Oddly enough, the lawyer attached very great weight to it, for he said +that it proved conclusively that Lady Herbert Arden had considered the +matter as serious and had really paid money--whether a small or a large +amount mattered little--in order to get possession of some of the +letters which proved Ghisleri's guilt. It would be very useful if the +woman "Maria B." could be traced and called as a witness, but even if +she could not be found, Lady Herbert could not refuse her evidence and +would not, upon her oath, deny having sent the money or having received +Adele's letters in return for it. Considering the terms of intimacy on +which she stood with Ghisleri, the point was a very strong one against +the latter's innocence. The two princes were of the same opinion. Gerano +was for asking Laura directly if she knew of the affair, but was +overruled by Savelli and the lawyer, who objected that she might give +Ghisleri warning. Gerano could not move in the matter without the +consent of the other two, and resigned himself, though he looked upon +the card as very doubtful evidence, and suggested that it might have +been found accidentally by the woman who had come to Donna Adele, and +used by her as an additional means of inducing the latter to give her +money. But neither Prince Savelli nor the lawyer was inclined to believe +in any accident which could weaken the chain of evidence they held. + +There was no further meeting for several days, during which time the +lawyer was at work in examining every point which he considered +vulnerable. Being himself a perfectly honest man and having received the +information he was to make use of from the father and father-in-law of +the lady concerned, it would have been very strange if he had +entertained any doubts as to her veracity. Adele had thought of this +herself and was satisfied that throughout all the preliminaries her +position would be as strong as she could wish it to be. The struggle +would begin when Ghisleri was warned of what was now being prepared +against him, and began to defend himself. Of one thing she was +persuaded. If he had the confession in his hands, he would not produce +it. Nothing could prove her case so conclusively as his avowal that the +letter was in his hands. If he could demonstrate that he had never seen +it and was wholly ignorant of its contents, her own case would fall +through. The action, however, if brought, would be a criminal one, and +he would not be allowed to give his own evidence. It would be hard, +indeed, to find any one who could swear to what would be necessary to +clear him. + +The lawyer came back to his clients at last, and informed them that it +was his opinion that there was sufficient evidence for obtaining a +warrant of arrest against Pietro Ghisleri, and that in all probability +the latter would be convicted, on his trial, of an infamous attempt to +extort money from the Princess Adele Savelli, as he called her in his +written notes. He warned them, however, that Ghisleri would almost +undoubtedly be admitted to bail, that he was a man who had numerous and +powerful friends in all parties, that he would doubtless be granted a +first and second appeal, and that the publicity and scandal of the whole +case would be enormous. On the whole, he advised his clients to settle +the matter privately. He would, if they desired it, accompany them to +Signor Ghisleri's lodgings, and state to him the legal point of view +with all the clearness he had at his command. It was not impossible, it +was even probable, that Ghisleri would quietly give up the document in +question, and sign a paper binding himself never to refer to its +existence again and acknowledging that he had made use of it to frighten +the Princess Adele Savelli. The said document could then be returned to +her and the affair might be considered as safely concluded. The lawyer +did not believe that Signor Ghisleri would expose himself to certain +arrest and probable conviction, when he had the means of escaping from +both in his hands. Socially the two gentlemen could afterwards do what +they pleased, and could of course force him to leave Rome with ignominy, +never to show himself there again. + +Prince Savelli, on the whole, concurred in this view. The Prince of +Gerano said that he had known Ghisleri long and well, and that the +latter would probably surprise them by throwing quite a new light on the +case, though he would not be able to clear himself altogether. He, +Gerano, was therefore of the same opinion as the others, and he quietly +reminded Savelli that he had been the first to propose visiting Ghisleri +and demanding a personal explanation. + +On the same evening Pietro received a note. Prince Savelli and the +Prince of Gerano presented their compliments to Signor Ghisleri, and +begged to ask whether it would be convenient to him to receive them and +their legal adviser on the following morning at half-past ten o'clock, +to confer upon a question of grave importance. Ghisleri answered that he +should be much honoured by the visit proposed, and he at once sent word +to Ubaldini to come to him at eight o'clock, two hours and a half before +he expected the others. He at once suspected mischief, though he had +hardly been prepared to see it arrive in such a very solemn and +dignified shape. He asked Ubaldini's opinion at once, when the latter +came as requested. + +"It is impossible to say what that good lady has done," said the young +lawyer after some moments of thoughtful consideration. "You may take it +for granted, however, that both Prince Savelli and the Prince of Gerano +believe that you are in possession of the lost letter, and that they +will make an attempt to force you to give it up. You would do well not +to speak of me, but you can say that you foresaw that Donna Adele +intended to make use of your letters when she wrote the first one, +asking you to purchase the manuscript for her, and that you have kept +copies of your answers, as well as the originals of her communications. +If we are quick about it, we can bring an action against her for +defamation before she can do anything definite." + +"I will never consent to that," answered Ghisleri, smiling at Ubaldini's +ideas of social honour. + +"Why not?" asked the lawyer, in some surprise. "You would very probably +win it and cast her for heavy damages." + +"I would certainly never do such a thing," replied Pietro. "I should not +think it honourable to bring any such action against a lady." + +Ubaldini shrugged his shoulders, being quite unable to comprehend his +client's point of view. + +"I cannot do anything to help you, until we know what these gentlemen +have to say," he observed. "If you wish it, I will be present at the +interview, but it is as well that they should not find out who your +lawyer is, until something definite is to be done." + +Ghisleri agreed, and Ubaldini went away, promising to hold himself at +his client's disposal at a moment's notice. Pietro sat down to think +over the situation. Danger of some sort was evidently imminent, but he +could only form a very vague idea of its nature, and Ubaldini had +certainly not helped him much, sharp-witted and keen as he was. +Ghisleri, who, of course, could not see the case as Adele had stated it +to her father-in-law, and as it was now to be stated to himself, could +not conceive it possible that he could be indicted for extortion on such +slender evidence as he supposed she had been able to fabricate. He +imagined that she desired his social ruin, and above all, to make him +for ever contemptible in the eyes of Laura Arden; and this he well knew, +or thought that he knew, she could never accomplish. + +Laura had not yet returned, and he was glad, on the whole, that she was +away. Matters were evidently coming to a crisis, and he believed that +whatever was to happen would have long been over by the time she was in +Rome again. If she had already arrived he would have found it hard not +to tell her of what occurred from day to day, and, indeed, he would have +felt almost obliged to do so for the sake of her opinion of him, seeing +how frankly and loyally she had acted in the case of the letters she had +received from the supposititious "Maria B." On the other hand, he longed +to see her for her own sake. The summer months had been desperately long +and lonely. He did not remember that he had ever found the time weigh so +heavily on his hands as this year, both at Torre de' Ghisleri and in +Rome. He forgot his present danger and the interview before him in +thinking of Laura Arden, when Bonifazio threw open the door and +announced Prince Savelli, the Prince of Gerano, and the Advocato +Geronimo Grondona. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + + +Ghisleri rose to meet his visitors, who greeted him gravely and sat down +opposite him so that they could all look at his face while speaking. +Prince Savelli naturally spoke first. + +"We have come to you," he said, "upon a very difficult and unpleasant +affair. In the first place, I must beg you to listen to what I have to +say as calmly as you can, remembering that we have not come here to +quarrel with you, but to act on behalf of a lady. This being the case, +we claim to be treated as ambassadors, to be heard and to be answered." + +"You speak as though you were about to make a very disagreeable +communication," answered Ghisleri. "The presence of Signor Grondona +either shows that you intend to make use of what I may say, or that your +business is of a legal nature. If the latter supposition is the true +one, it would be much better that we should leave the whole matter to +our respective lawyers rather than run the risk of useless discussion. +But if your lawyer is here to watch me and make notes, I would point out +that I have a right to resent such observation, and to request you to +find some other means of informing me of your meaning. As you tell me +that you are acting for a lady, however, and claim personal immunity, so +to say, for yourselves, I am willing to listen to you and to consider +what you say as proceeding from her and not from you. But in no case +have you any claim to be answered. That is the most I can do towards +helping you with your errand. Judge for yourselves whether you will +execute it or not." + +"I will certainly not go away without saying what I have come to say," +replied Savelli, fixing his bright, spectacled eyes upon Ghisleri's +face. "We are here to represent Donna Adele Savelli--let that be +understood, if you please. She wishes you to hand over to us a certain +letter, of the nature of a confession, which you found at Gerano about +two years and a half ago, and which you still hold." + +Ghisleri was less surprised than might have been expected. His face grew +slowly pale as he listened, steadily returning the speaker's gaze. + +"I promised you personal immunity from the consequences of what you were +about to say," he answered slowly. "It was a rash promise, I find, but +I will keep it. You may inform Donna Adele Savelli that although it is +commonly said in the world that she has actually lost such a letter as +you mention, I have never seen it, nor have I any knowledge of its +contents. Further, I demand, as a right, to be told upon what imaginary +evidence she ventures to bring such an outrageous accusation against +me." + +The Advocato Grondona smiled, but the two noblemen preserved an unmoved +manner. Of the two, Gerano was the more surprised by Ghisleri's answer. +He had believed that a letter really existed, and was in the latter's +hands, but that it would not prove to have the importance his daughter +attached to it. Prince Savelli produced a bundle of papers from his +pocket. + +"I am quite prepared," he said. "I will state my daughter-in-law's case +as accurately as I can, and as nearly as possible in her own words, a +great part of which I have here, in the form of notes." + +"It is understood that Donna Adele Savelli is speaking, gentlemen. On +that understanding you have my permission to proceed. I will not +interrupt you." + +Savelli began to speak, and, as he had promised, he stated the case as +he had heard it from Adele and, on the whole, very much as she had +summed it up in her own mind before going to him. Ghisleri sat with +folded arms and bent brows, listening to the wonderfully connected chain +of false testimony she brought against him, with all the courage and +calmness he could command. + +"Have you done?" he inquired in a voice shaking with anger, when Savelli +had finished. + +"Yes," answered the latter coolly. "I believe that is all." + +"Then I have to say that a more villanous calumny was never invented to +ruin any man. Good morning, gentlemen." He rose, and the three others +were obliged to rise also. + +"And so you positively refuse to give up the letter?" inquired Savelli; +there was an angry light in his eyes, too. + +"I have given you my answer already. Be good enough to convey it to +Donna Adele Savelli." + +"Are you aware, Signore," said the lawyer, stepping in front of his two +clients, "that upon such evidence as we possess you are liable to be +indicted for an attempt to extort money from the Princess Adele +Savelli?" + +"You are not privileged, like these gentlemen," said Ghisleri, white to +the lips. "If you venture to speak again, my servant will silence you. I +have already hinted that this interview is ended," he added to Savelli +and Gerano. + +The three went out in silence and left him alone. With characteristic +coolness he sat down to recover from the violent shock he had sustained, +and to reflect upon his future conduct, before sending for Ubaldini and +consulting with him. He had almost expected the demand to restore a +document he did not possess, but he was not prepared for the +well-constructed story by which Savelli, Gerano, and their lawyer had +been persuaded of his guilt. The lawyer's words had placed the whole +affair in a light which showed how thoroughly convinced the three men +were of the justice of their accusation, and Ghisleri understood well +enough that Savelli intended to take legal steps. What those steps might +be, Pietro had not the least idea. He rang for Bonifazio and sent him +out to buy the Penal Code. It was probably the wisest thing he could do +under the circumstances, as he did not even know whether, if he were +arrested, he should be admitted to bail or not. He saw well enough that +an order for his arrest might very possibly be issued. Grondona was far +too grave and learned a lawyer to have uttered such a threat in vain, +and was not the man to waste time or words when action was possible. If +he had spoken as he had, he had done so for his clients' advantage, in +the hope that Ghisleri might be frightened at the last minute into +giving up the letter. In that way all publicity and scandal could have +been avoided. + +But it was clear that the die was cast, and that war was declared. More +than ever, he was glad that Laura Arden was not in Rome. The thought +that if she were present she would necessarily have to follow the course +of events little by little, as he must himself, and the certainty that +she knew the truth and would feel the keenest sympathy for him, made him +rejoice at her absence. When she learned what had taken place, she would +know all the circumstances at once, including Ghisleri's proof of his +innocence, which, as he felt sure, would be triumphant. In the meantime, +she should be kept in ignorance of what was occurring. Having decided +this point, he began to think of choosing some person to whom, if he +were actually arrested, he might apply for assistance in the matter of +obtaining bail. There was no time to be lost, as he was well aware. +Since Savelli really believed him guilty of the abominable crime with +which he was charged, it was not likely that time would be given him to +leave the country, as his adversaries would naturally expect that he +would attempt to do. They had probably gone straight from his lodging to +the office of the chief of police,--the questore, as he is called in +Italy,--and if they succeeded, as in all likelihood they would, in +getting a warrant for his arrest, he might expect the warrant to be +executed at any moment during the day. It was extremely important that +he should be prepared for the worst. He thought of all the men he knew, +and after a little hesitation he decided that he would write to San +Giacinto. The latter had always been friendly to him, and Pietro +remembered how he had spoken at the club, years ago, when Pietrasanta +was gossiping about Arden's supposed intemperance. San Giacinto's very +great moral weight in the world, due in different degrees to his +character, his superior judgment, and his enormous wealth, made him the +most desirable of allies. While he was waiting for Bonifazio's return, +Ghisleri occupied himself in writing a note advising San Giacinto of the +circumstances, and inquiring whether he might ask him for help. + +The servant returned as he finished, and handed his master the little +yellow-covered volume with an expression of inquiry on his face. +Ghisleri looked at him and hesitated, debating whether it would be wise +to warn the man of what might take place at any moment. There was much +friendliness in the relations between the two. Bonifazio had been with +Pietro many years and perhaps understood the latter's character better +than any one. The servant was almost as unlike other people, in his own +way, as Ghisleri himself, and was in two respects a remarkable contrast +to him. He was imperturbably good-tempered in the first place, and, in +the second, he was extremely devout. But there were resemblances also, +and it was for these that Ghisleri liked him. He was honest to a fault. +He had more than once proved himself to be coolly courageous in some of +his master's dangerous expeditions. Finally, he was discretion itself, +and reticent in the highest degree. That such an otherwise perfect +creature should have defects was only to be expected. Bonifazio was as +obstinate as flint when he had made up his mind as to how any particular +thing was to be done. He was silently officious, in his anxiety to be +always ready to fulfil his master's wishes, and often annoyed him in +small ways by thrusting services upon him which he did not require. On +rare occasions he would insist upon giving very useless and uncalled-for +advice. + +Faithful and devoted in every way, he wholly disapproved, on religious +grounds, of Ghisleri's mode of life, even so far as he was acquainted +with it. He considered that Pietro lived and had lived for many years in +seven-fold deadly sin, and he daily offered up the most sincere prayers +for Pietro's repentance and reformation. Twice a year, also, he +privately presented the parish priest with a small charity out of his +savings, requesting him to say a mass for Ghisleri's benefit. Obstinate +in this as in everything else, he firmly believed that his master's soul +might ultimately be saved by sheer prayer-power, so to say. + +These last facts, of course, did not come within Ghisleri's knowledge, +for Bonifazio made no outward show of pious interest in Pietro's +spiritual welfare, well knowing that he could not keep his situation an +hour, if he were so unwise as to risk anything of the kind. But his +silent disapproval showed itself in his mournful expression when Pietro +had done anything which struck him as more than usually wicked and wild. +The question of informing him that the police might be expected at any +moment was not in itself a serious one. He would assuredly disbelieve +the whole story, and vigorously deny the accusation when acquainted with +both. Ghisleri determined to say nothing and immediately sent him out +again with the note for San Giacinto. He then took up the Penal Code, +and found the article referring to the misdeed of which he was accused. +It read as follows: + + ART 409. Whosoever, by in any way inspiring fear of severe injury to + the person, the honour, or the property of another, or by falsely + representing the order of an Authority, constrains that other to + send, deposit, or place at the disposal of the delinquent money, + objects, or documents having any legal import whatsoever, is + punished with imprisonment for a term of from two to ten years. + +The law was clear enough. With regard to bail, he discovered with some +difficulty that in such cases it could be obtained immediately, either +on depositing the sum of money considered requisite according to +circumstances, or by the surety of one or more well-known persons. + +San Giacinto answered the note by appearing in person. When he undertook +anything, he generally proceeded to the scene of action at once to +ascertain for himself the true state of the case. Ghisleri explained +matters as succinctly as possible. + +"You will hardly believe that such things can be done in our day," he +said as he concluded. + +"I have seen enough in my time, and amongst my own near connexions, to +know that almost anything conceivable may happen," answered the giant. +"Meanwhile I shall not leave you until the police come, or until we +know definitely that they are not coming. My carriage is below and has +orders to wait all day and all night." + +"You do not mean to say you really intend to stay with me?" asked +Ghisleri, who was not prepared for such a manifestation of friendship. + +"That is my intention," replied the other, calmly lighting a long black +cigar. "If it lasts long, I will sleep on your sofa. If, however, you +prefer that I should go to Savelli and make him tell me what he intends +to do, I am quite ready. I think I could make him tell me." + +"I think you could," said Ghisleri, with a smile, as he looked at his +friend. + +The huge, giant strength of the man was imposing in itself, apart from +the terribly determined look of the iron features and deep-set eyes. Few +men would have cared to find themselves opposed to San Giacinto even +when he was perfectly calm, hardly any, perhaps, if his anger was +roused. The last time he had been angry had been when he dragged the +forger, Arnoldo Meschini, from the library to the study in Palazzo +Montevarchi more than twenty years earlier. His hair was turning grey +now, but there were no outward signs of any diminution in his powers, +physical or mental. + +"In any case," he said, "some time must elapse. It will need the greater +part of the day to get a warrant of arrest." + +Ghisleri would have been glad to end his suspense by allowing his friend +to go directly to Savelli, as he had proposed to do. But considering +what he had already shown himself ready to do, Pietro did not wish to +involve him in the affair any further than necessary. + +"Is it of any use to send for my lawyer?" asked Ghisleri, well aware of +San Giacinto's superior experience in all legal matters. + +"There is not the least hurry," answered the latter. "If the affair is +brought to trial, there will be time enough and to spare. But if it +amuses you, let us have the man here and ask his opinion. It can do no +harm." + +Accordingly Ubaldini was sent for. He looked very grave when Ghisleri +had repeated all that Savelli had told him. + +"But the mere fact that I consulted you when I did," said Ghisleri, "and +had copies of my answers made, ought to prove at once that I knew even +then what Donna Adele wished to attempt." But Ubaldini only shrugged his +shoulders. + +"That will be against you," answered San Giacinto. "It will be said that +you were well aware of what you were doing, and that you were taking +precautions in case of exposure. Even if Lady Herbert were here to give +evidence, it would not help you much. After all, Donna Adele's story +about the seamstress is plausible, and Lady Herbert took your +explanation on faith." + +"Lady Herbert shall not be called as a witness, if I can help it," said +Ghisleri. "It is bad enough that her name should appear at all." + +"The difficulty," observed Ubaldini, "is that every point can be turned +against you from first to last. I am afraid that even my little +stratagem has done no good. I wished to find out whether the confession +really existed, and I thought it best that you should be in ignorance of +the steps I took and of the result I obtained, in case you should be +called upon to swear to anything in a possible action brought by you for +defamation. The less an innocent man knows of the facts of a case, when +he is on his oath, the better it generally turns out for him. The first +thing to be done is to find the dealer with whom you negotiated for the +purchase of the manuscript. His evidence will be the strongest we can +get. Of course, even to that they will answer that you would not be so +foolish as to write what looked like an account of a genuine transaction +without lending an air of truth to it, in case of necessity, by actually +making inquiries about it. If it is found that the prices named in your +letters agree with those asked by the dealer, they will say that you +cleverly chose a very valuable work, and determined to be guided by the +value of it, in appraising the letter you held. If the prices did not +agree, they would say that even if the transaction were genuine, you had +conducted it dishonestly; but then, as a matter of fact, the discovery +was a good proof that it was a mere sham. Of course, too, you will have +friends, like the Signor Marchese here present, who will swear to your +previous character; but you must not forget that in a case like this the +great body of educated public and social opinion is with the woman +rather than the man." + +"In other words," said Ghisleri, with a laugh, "I am to stand my trial +for extortion, and am very likely to be convicted. You are not very +encouraging, Signor Ubaldini, but I suppose you will find a word to say +in my defence before everything is over." + +"I will do my best," answered the young lawyer, thoughtfully. "I would +like to know where this confession is. One thing is quite certain: if it +had got into the hands of a dishonest person, Donna Adele would have +heard of it before now, and would have tried to buy it, as she did try +to get it from the maid Lucia, according to her own account, and from +me. In the meanwhile, I will go and examine the dealer. Will you kindly +give me his name and address." + +Ghisleri wrote both on a card and Ubaldini went away. Before Ghisleri +and San Giacinto had been alone together half an hour, he came back, +looking rather pale and excited. + +"It is most unfortunate," he exclaimed. "The devil is certainly in this +business. The man was buried yesterday. He died of apoplexy two days +ago." + +"Nothing surpasses the stupidity of that!" cried San Giacinto, angrily. +"Why could not the idiot have lived a fortnight longer?" + +Ghisleri said nothing, but he saw what importance both his friend and +the lawyer had attached to the dead man's testimony. There was little +hope that his clerk would be able to say anything in Ghisleri's favour. +He had of course only spoken with the dealer himself, generally in a +private room and without witnesses. He began to fear that his case was +even worse than he had at first supposed. + +"The best possible defence, in my opinion," said Ubaldini, "is to tell +your own story and compare it, inch by inch, with theirs. I believe +that, after all, yours will seem by far the more probable in the eyes of +any court of justice. Then we will question Donna Adele's sanity, and +bring a couple of celebrated authorities to prove that people who use +morphia often go mad and have fixed ideas. Donna Adele's delusion is +that you are the possessor of her confession. If we cannot prove that it +has been all this time in the hands of some one else, we may at least be +able to show that there is no particular reason why it should have been +in yours, that you are certainly not in need of fifty thousand francs, +and that, so far as any one knows, you are not the man to try and get it +in this way if you were. We will do the best we can. I got a man off +scot free the other day who had murdered his brother in the presence of +three witnesses. I proved that one was half-witted, that the second was +drunk, and that the third could not possibly have been present at all, +because he ought to have been somewhere else. That was a much harder +case than this. The jury shed tears of pity for my ill-used client." + +"I will do without the tears," said Ghisleri, with a smile, "provided +they will see the truth this time." + +San Giacinto kept his word, and refused to leave Ghisleri's lodging that +night, sending Bonifazio to his house for clothes and necessaries, and +ordering fresh horses and another coachman and footman to replace those +that had waited all day. He distinctly objected to cabs, he said, +because they were always too small for him; and if Ghisleri was to be +arrested, he intended to drive with him to the prison in order to give +bail for him immediately. And so he did. On the following day Rome was +surprised by a spectacle unique in the recollection of its inhabitants, +high or low. The largest of the large open carriages belonging to Casa +San Giacinto was seen rolling solemnly through the city, bearing Pietro +Ghisleri, the Marchese di San Giacinto himself, and two policemen, who +looked very uncomfortable as they sat, bolt upright, side by side, with +their backs to the horses. A few hours later, the same carriage appeared +again, Pietro and the giant being still in it, but without the officers +of the law. San Giacinto insisted upon driving his friend six times +round the Villa Borghese, six times round the Pincio, and four times the +length of the Corso, before taking him back at last to his lodgings. + +"It will produce a good effect," he said; "most people are fools or +cowards, or both, and imitation as a rule needs neither courage nor +wisdom. Come and dine with us to-morrow night, and I will have a party +ready for you who do not belong to the majority. I shall go to the club +now and give an account of the day's doings." + +"Why not wait and let people find out for themselves what has happened?" +asked Pietro. "Will it do any good to talk of it?" + +"Since people must talk or die," answered San Giacinto, "I am of opinion +that they had better tell the truth than invent lies." + +When he was gone Ghisleri wondered what had impelled him to take so much +trouble. It would have been quite enough if he had appeared at the right +moment to give security for him, and that alone would have been a very +valuable service. But San Giacinto had done much more, for his action +had shown the world from the first that he intended to take Ghisleri's +side. The latter, who was always surprised when any one showed anything +approaching to friendship for him, was exceedingly grateful, and +determined that he would not in future laugh at the idea of spontaneous +human kindness without motive, as he had often laughed in the past. + +Meanwhile San Giacinto went to his club. A score of men were lounging in +the rooms, and most of them had been talking of the new scandal, though +in a rather guarded way, for no one wished to quarrel either with +Ghisleri or his ally. On seeing the latter go to the smoking-room, +almost every one in the club followed him, out of curiosity, in the hope +that he would give some explanation of what had occurred. They were not +disappointed. San Giacinto stood with his back to the fireplace, looking +at each face that presented itself before him. + +"Gentlemen," he began: "I see that you expect me to say something. I +will. I do not wish to offend any one; but, with the exception of all of +ourselves here assembled, most people tell lies, consciously or +unconsciously, when they do not know the truth, and sometimes when they +do, which is worse. So I mean to tell you the truth about my driving +with Ghisleri and two policemen to-day, and the reason why I have been +driving with him all the afternoon. After that you may believe what you +like about the matter. The facts are these. Yesterday Ghisleri wrote me +a note telling me that he expected shortly to be arrested on a charge of +extortion and asking if I would be bail for him. That is what I have +done. The accusation comes from Casa Savelli, and declares that for two +years and a half Ghisleri has had possession of that letter belonging to +Donna Adele which she wrote to her confessor, which was lost on the way, +and of which we have all heard vague hints for some time. Casa Savelli +says that Ghisleri has been trying to make her pay money for it, and has +otherwise made her life unbearable to her by means of it. There are +letters of Ghisleri's referring to the manuscript of Isabella +Montevarchi's confession which was for sale this autumn, and Casa +Savelli says that this manuscript was spoken of in order to disguise the +real transaction contemplated. Ghisleri says it is a plot to ruin him, +and that he has been aware of it ever since last spring. Meanwhile he +has actually been arrested and I have given bail for him. That is the +story. I drove about with him this afternoon to show that I, for my +part, take his side, and believe him to be perfectly innocent. That is +what I had to say. I am obliged to you for having listened so +patiently." + +As he turned to go away, not caring for any further discussion at the +time, he was aware that a dark man of medium height, with very broad +shoulders and fierce, black eyes, was standing beside him, facing the +crowd. + +"I am entirely of San Giacinto's opinion," said Gianforte Campodonico, +in clear tones. "I believe Ghisleri utterly incapable of any such +baseness. Donna Adele Savelli is a relation of mine, but I will stand by +Ghisleri in this, come what may. I hope that no one will have the +audacity to propose any action of the club in the case, such as +requesting him to withdraw, until after the trial." + +"But when a man is indicted for crime, and has been arrested--" began +some one in the crowd. + +"I said," repeated Gianforte, interrupting the speaker in a hard and +menacing voice, "that I hoped no one would have the audacity to propose +that the club should take any action in the case. I hope I have made +myself clearly understood." + +Such was the character and reputation of Campodonico that the man who +had begun to speak did not attempt to proceed, not so much from +timidity, perhaps, as because he felt that in the end two men like +Gianforte and San Giacinto must carry public opinion with them. As they +stood side by side before the fireplace, they were as strong and +determined a pair of champions as any one could have wished to have. + +"You are quite right," said San Giacinto, in an approving tone. "Of +course I have neither the power nor the right to prevent discussion. +Every one will talk about this case and the trial, and as it is a public +affair every one has a right to do so, I suppose. I only wish it to be +known that I believe Ghisleri innocent, and I am glad to see that +Campodonico, who knows him very well, is of my opinion." + +After this there was nothing more to be said, and the crowd dispersed, +talking together in low tones. The two men who had undertaken Ghisleri's +defence remained together. San Giacinto looked down at his young +companion, and his stern face softened strangely. A certain kind of +manly courage and generosity was the only thing that ever really touched +him. + +"I am glad to see that there are still men in the world," he said. "Will +you have a game of billiards?" + +The first result of this was that there was relatively very little talk +about Ghisleri among the men when they were together. It is probable +that both San Giacinto and Campodonico would have spoken precisely as +they did, if all the assembled tribe of Savelli and Gerano had been +present to hear them; and when the two families heard what had been +said, they were very angry indeed. Unfortunately for them, nothing could +be done. As San Giacinto had rightly put it, the trial was to be a +public affair, and every one had a right to his own opinion. But there +were not wanting those who sided with the Savelli, for though Ghisleri +had few enemies, if any, besides Adele, yet there were many who were +jealous of him for his social successes, and who disliked his calm air +of superiority. The story became the constant topic of conversation in +most of the Roman families, and many who had for years received Ghisleri +immediately determined that they would be very cautious and cool until +he should prove his innocence to the world. + +He himself, during the days which followed, saw much of San Giacinto, +who told him what Campodonico had said at the club. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + + +When Laura Arden returned to Rome, she was met by her mother with a full +account of what had taken place. Under any ordinary circumstances the +Princess of Gerano would have been very merciful in her judgment and +would assuredly not have hastened to give her daughter every detail of +the last great scandal. But she had never liked Ghisleri, and she had +feared that Laura was falling in love with him, and he with Laura. +Moreover, neither her love for her own child nor Adele's shortcomings +had destroyed all her affection for the latter, and under her husband's +influence she had lately come to look upon Ghisleri as a monster of +iniquity and on Adele as little less than a martyr. She spared Laura +nothing as she told the story, and was unconsciously guilty of +considerable exaggeration in explaining the view the world in general +took of the case, though that was bad enough at best. Laura's dark eyes +flashed with indignation as she listened. + +"I do not believe a word of this story, mother," she said. "As for the +part I am supposed to have played in it, you had better know the truth +at once. When I got those letters, I sent for Signor Ghisleri, and gave +them to him. We knew at once that they came from Adele herself." + +She told her mother exactly what had occurred, and how she had believed +in him then, and should believe in him still. The Princess sighed and +shook her head. + +"There is very little left to believe in, my dear," she said, "trustful +though you are, to a fault. I hope you will at all events not receive +him until after the trial. Indeed, it will be quite impossible--I am +sure you would not think of it. If he has any sense of decency left, he +will not call." + +"I will not only receive him," answered Laura, without hesitation: +"whenever he chooses to come, but if he does not come of his own accord, +I will make him. What is the use of friendship, if it will not bear any +test?" + +"I suppose it is of no use to discuss the matter," said the Princess, +wearily. "You will do as you please. I do not recognise you any longer." + +As soon as her mother was gone, Laura wrote a note to Pietro, telling +him that she had heard all the story, that she believed in him as firmly +as ever, and begging him to come and see her on the following day at the +usual hour. The last words dropped from her pen naturally. It seemed but +yesterday that they had spoken of meeting "at the usual hour" on the +morrow of the day after that. Ghisleri's heart beat faster as he broke +the seal, and when he came to the words he was conscious that its +beating annoyed him. He knew, now, that he loved her well, as he had +loved but once before in his life. But he determined that he would not +go and see her. He blessed her for believing in his innocence, but there +were many strong reasons against his going to her house, or even seeing +her. Merely on general grounds he would have kept away, while under the +accusation which hung over him, as even the Princess of Gerano had +anticipated that he would, and feeling as he did that he loved her in +good earnest, it would have seemed absolutely dishonourable to renew +their former relations until he had cleared himself. He wrote her a +short note. + + "MY DEAR FRIEND:--I am deeply touched by your wishing to see me, and + I am more than ever grateful for your friendship and for the faith + you have in me. But I will not come to you at present. I am accused + of a crime worse than most crimes, in my opinion, and the world is + by no means altogether on my side. When I have cleared myself + publicly, I will come and thank you--if I can find words for the + thanks you deserve. + + "Most gratefully and faithfully, + + "PIETRO GHISLERI." + +He was not prepared for the answer which came within the hour in the +shape of a second note, short, vigorous, and decisive. It seemed hard +to realise that the sweet, dark woman with deep, holy eyes, as he had +once described her, could be the writer of such determined words. + + "MY DEAR SIGNOR GHISLERI:--I care for the world and its opinion much + less than you do for my sake, or than you suppose I do for myself. I + mean to see you, and to have it known that I see you, and I will. If + you are not here to-morrow at precisely one o'clock I will go to + your lodgings and wait for you if you are out. People may say what + they please. + + "Ever yours sincerely, + + "LAURA ARDEN." + +Ghisleri read the note over several times, to be quite sure that he had +not misunderstood it, and then burned it, as he had always burned +everything in the nature of writing until his last difficulties had +begun. He saw that Laura had forced the situation, and he knew her well +enough not to doubt that she would execute her threat to the letter, and +wait for him, watch in hand, on the morrow. He hated himself for being +glad, for he knew that the world she despised would give her little +credit for her generous act. Yet, in spite of his self-contempt, he was +happy. Five minutes before one o'clock on the next day he rang at her +door. She had returned as usual to the small apartment she had occupied +since leaving the Tempietto. + +He found her dressed for walking, all in black, and looking at the +clock. As he entered she turned and laughed happily. There was a faint +colour in her cheeks too. + +"I knew you would not let me ruin my reputation for the sake of your +obstinacy," she said, as she came forward to meet him. "In four minutes +I would have left the house." She grasped his hand warmly as she spoke. + +"No," he said, "I could not have done that. What ways you have of +forcing people to obey you! But you are very wrong; I still maintain +that." + +"Sit down," she said, "and let us talk of more interesting things. I +must hear the whole story from your own lips, though I am sure my mother +did her best to be quite truthful; but she does not understand you and +never will, as I begin to think." + +"Tell me first how you are, and about Herbert," said Ghisleri. "You will +hear quite enough of this miserable affair. It will keep a day or two." + +"It need not keep so long as that," answered Laura, "I can tell you the +news in a few words. I am perfectly well. Herbert is perfectly well too, +thank God, and has outgrown his clothes twice and his shoes four times +since we have been away. Since I last wrote great things have happened. +I have been in England again at last, and have stayed with the +Lulworths. You see I am in mourning. Uncle Herbert died a month ago. I +never saw the old gentleman but once, for he lived in the most +extraordinary way, in complete isolation. You know that--well, he is +dead, and he has left all the fortune to my Herbert, with a life +interest in one-quarter of it for me, besides an enormous allowance for +Herbert's education. That is all there is to tell." + +"It is good news indeed," said Ghisleri. "I am so glad. It will make an +immense difference to you, though of course you have known of it a long +time." + +"It will not make so much difference as you fancy. I shall go on living +much as I do, for I have had almost all I wanted in these years. But I +am glad for Herbert's sake, of course. And now begin, please, and do not +stop until you have told me everything." + +"Needs must, when you will anything," Ghisleri answered, with a faint +smile. + +So he told her the story, while she listened and watched him. She had +developed in strength and decision during the last year, more rapidly +than before, and he felt in speaking to her as though she had power to +help him and would use it. He was grateful, and more than grateful. +Within the last few weeks he had learned that the strongest and most +determined men may sometimes need a friend. He had long had one in her, +and he had found a new one in San Giacinto; but though the latter's +imposing personality had more influence in the world than that of any +man Ghisleri knew, there was that in Laura's sympathy which gave him a +new strength of his own, and fresh courage to face the many troubles he +expected to encounter before long. For man gets no such strength in life +to do great deeds or to bear torments sudden and sharp or mean, little +and harassing, as he gets from the woman he loves, even though he does +not yet know that she loves him again. + +"I hope I do not take my own side too much," he said, as he ended the +long tale, "though I suppose that when a man is perfectly innocent he +has a right to say hard things of people who accuse him. For my own +part, I believe that Donna Adele is mad. There is the ingenuity of +madness in everything she does in this affair. No sane person could +invent such a story almost out of nothing, and make half the world +believe it." + +"She may be mad," Laura answered, "but she is bad, too. It will all come +out at the trial, and she will get what she deserves." + +"I hope so. But do you know what I really expect? Unless it can be +proved that the confession has been all the time in the safe keeping of +some person who has not even read it, I shall be convicted and +imprisoned. I am quite prepared for that. I suppose that will come to me +by way of expiation for my sins." + +"Please do not talk like that," cried Laura. "It is absurd! There is no +court in the world that would convict you--a perfectly innocent man. +Besides I shall give my evidence about those letters. I shall insist +upon it. That alone would be enough to clear you." + +"I am afraid not. Even my lawyer thinks that your testimony would not +help me much. After all, you know what happened. I told you that I was +innocent, and you believed me. Or, if you please, you believed me +innocent before I said I was. There is only your belief or my word to +fall back upon, and neither would prove anything in court. Ubaldini says +so. I really expect to be convicted, and I will bear it as well as I +can. I will certainly not do anything to escape from it all." He had +hesitated as he reached the last words, but he saw that Laura +understood. + +"You should not even think of such things," she said gravely. "You are +far too brave a man to take your own life even if you were convicted, +and you shall not be. I tell you that you shall not be!" she repeated, +with sudden energy. + +"No one can tell. But I am inclined to think that if you were angry you +might terrify judge and jury into doing whatever you pleased." He +laughed a little. "You have grown so strong of late that I hardly +recognise you. What has made the change?" + +"Something--I cannot explain it to you. Besides--was I ever a weak +woman? Did I ever hesitate much?" + +"No, that is true. Perhaps I did not use the right word. You seem more +active, more alive, more determined to influence other people." + +"Do I? It may be true. I fancy I am less saint-like in your opinion than +I was. I am glad of it. You used to think me quite different from what I +was. But I know that I have changed during this summer. I feel it now." + +"So have I. The change began before you went away." Ghisleri glanced at +her, and then looked at the wall. + +A short silence followed. Both felt strangely conscious that their +former relation had not been renewed exactly where it had been +interrupted by their separation in the summer. But there was nothing +awkward about the present break in the conversation. + +"In what way have you changed?" asked Laura at last. She had evidently +been thinking of his words during the pause. + +"Indeed I should find it hard to tell you now," Ghisleri answered, with +a smile at the thought uppermost in his mind. "I would rather not try." + +"Is it for the worse, then?" Laura's eyes sought his. + +"No. It is for the better. Perhaps, some day, if all this turns out less +badly--" He stopped, angry with himself for having said even that much. + +"Shall you have more confidence in me when the trial is over?" asked +Laura, leaning back and looking down. "Have I shown that I believe in +you, or not, to-day?" Had she known what was so near his lips to say, +she might not have spoken. + +"You have done what few women would have done. You know that I know it. +If I will not say what I am thinking of, it is for that very reason." +His fingers clasped each other and unclasped again with a sharp, nervous +movement. + +"I am sorry you do not trust me altogether," said Laura. + +"Please do not say that. I do trust you altogether. But I respect you +too. Will you forgive me if I go away rather suddenly?" He rose as he +spoke and held out his hand. + +"You are not ill, are you?" Laura stood up, looking anxiously into his +face. Unconsciously she had taken his hand in both of her own. + +"No--I am not ill. Good-bye!" + +"Come to-morrow, please. I want to see you often. Promise to come +to-morrow." Her tone was imperative, and he knew that she had the power +to force him to compliance. + +He yielded out of necessity, and left her. When he was in the street he +stood still a few moments, leaning upon his stick as though he were +exhausted. His face was white. Oddly enough, what he felt recalled an +accident which had once happened to him. On a calm, hot day, several +years earlier, he had been slowly sailing along a southern shore. The +heat had been intense, and he had thrown himself into the water to get +a little coolness, holding by a rope, and allowing himself to be towed +along under the side of the boat. Then one of the men called to him +loudly to come aboard as quickly as he could. As he reached the deck, +the straight black fin of a big shark glided smoothly by. He could +remember the shadow it cast on the bright blue water, and the sensation +he experienced when he saw how near he had unconsciously been to a +hideous death. Like many brave but very sensitive men, he had turned +pale when the danger was quite past and had felt for one moment +something like physical exhaustion. The same feeling overtook him now as +he paused on the pavement before the house in which Laura Arden lived. +An instant later he was walking rapidly homeward. + +At the corner of a street he came suddenly upon Gianforte Campodonico. +Both men raised their hats almost at the same moment, for their +relations were necessarily maintained upon rather formal terms. Ghisleri +owed his old adversary a debt of gratitude for his conduct at the club, +but a rather exaggerated sense of delicacy hindered Pietro from stopping +and speaking with him in the street. Campodonico, however, would not let +him pass on and stood still as Ghisleri came up to him. + +"I wish to thank you with all my heart for the generous way in which you +have spoken of me," said Ghisleri, grasping the other's ready +outstretched hand. + +"You have nothing to thank me for," replied Gianforte. "Knowing you to +be a perfectly honourable and honest man, I should have been a coward if +I had held my tongue. You have a good friend in San Giacinto, and I +suppose I cannot be of much use to you. But if I can, send for me. I +shall never like you perhaps, but I will stand by you, because I respect +you as much as any man living." + +"I thank you sincerely," said Ghisleri, pressing his hand again. "You +are very generous." + +"No, but I try to be just." + +They parted, and Ghisleri pursued his way, meditating on the +contradictions of life, and wondering why at the most critical moment of +his existence the one man who had come forward unasked and of his own +free impulse to defend him publicly and to offer his help, should be his +oldest and most implacable enemy. He was profoundly conscious of the +man's generosity. The world, he said to himself, might not be such a bad +place after all. But he did not guess how soon he was to need the +assistance so freely proffered. + +He went home at once. Bonifazio closed the door behind him and followed +him respectfully into the sitting-room. + +"I beg pardon, signore," he began, standing still as he waited for +Ghisleri to turn and look at him. + +"Do you need money?" asked the latter carelessly. + +"No, signore. You have perhaps forgotten that you gave me money +yesterday. It is something which I have had upon my conscience a long +time, and now that you are falsely accused, signore, it is my duty to +speak, if you permit me." + +"Tell me what it is." Ghisleri sat down at his writing-table, and lit a +cigarette. + +"It is a very secret matter, signore. But if I keep it a secret any +longer, I shall be doing wrong, though I also did wrong in coming by the +information I have, though I did not know it. I have also been to a +lawyer who understands these matters, and takes an interest in the case, +and he has told me that unless some saint performs a miracle nothing can +save you at the trial. So that I must give my evidence. But if I do, the +Princess Adele will go to the galleys, and the house of Savelli will be +quite ruined. For the Princess murdered Lord Herbert Arden, and tried to +murder Donna Laura, as we call her. She invited them to dinner and gave +them napkins which she with her own hand had poisoned with infection of +the scarlet fever, her maid Lucia having had it at the time. And Lord +Herbert died within three days, but Donna Laura did not catch it. And I +have read how she did this, and many other wicked things, in a letter +written with her own hand. For it was I who found the confession they +speak of, when I went alone to look at the old prisons at Gerano, while +you and the signori were out driving. And now I do not know what to do, +but I had to speak in order to save you, and you must judge of the rest, +signore, and pardon me if I have done wrong." + +Ghisleri knew the truth at last, and his lean, weather-beaten face +expressed well enough the thirst for vengeance that burned him. He +waited a few moments and then spoke calmly enough. + +"Have you got the confession here?" he asked. "If it is found in my +house it will ruin me, though it may ruin Donna Adele too." + +"I understand, signore. Have no fear. I read it through, because I found +it open and the leaves scattered as it must have fallen, though how it +fell there I do not know. But it is still at Gerano. If you will allow +me, I will explain what I did. When I had read it, I put it into my +pocket, saying to myself that it was a difficult case for the +conscience. And I thought about it for more than an hour while I walked +about the castle. Then I went and got an envelope and I put the leaves +into it thinking that perhaps it would be wrong to burn it. So I wrote +on the outside: 'This was found in the prison of the castle of Gerano by +Bonifazio di Rienzo,' and I also wrote the date in full. Then at the +tobacconist's shop in the village I bought some wax, and took a seal I +have, which is this one, signore. It has 'B.R.' on it. And I sealed the +letter with much wax, so that the tobacconist laughed at me. But I did +not let him see what was written on the envelope. Then I took it to the +parish priest whose name is Don Tebaldo, and who seemed to me to be a +very respectable and good man. I told him in confidence that I had found +something which it was not possible for me to give to the rightful +owner, but which I thought it would be wrong to destroy, because the +rightful owner might some day make inquiry for it and wish to have it. +He asked many questions, but I would not answer them all, and he did not +know what the letter was about nor that it was a confession. So I begged +him to put it into another envelope and to seal it again with his own +seal, and I gave him what was left of the wax I had bought. Then he did +as I asked him, and wrote on the back: 'This was brought to me to be +kept, by one Bonifazio di Rienzo, until the owner claims it. But it is +to be burned when I die.' And there it is to this day, for I have made +inquiries and Don Tebaldo is alive and well, and God bless him! So I +come to tell you all this, in order that you may act as you see fit, +signore. For Don Tebaldo can swear that I gave him the letter on the day +I found it and I can swear that you never knew anything of it." + +Ghisleri looked at his faithful old servant, whose round brown eyes met +his so steadily and quietly. + +"I can never thank you enough, my dear Bonifazio," he said. "You have +saved me. I will not forget it." + +"As for that, signore, I will not accept any present, and I humbly beg +you not to offer me any, for it would be the price of blood, such as +Judas Iscariot received, seeing that the Princess Adele will go to the +galleys." + +"You need not be afraid of that, Bonifazio," answered Ghisleri. "Casa +Savelli will easily prove that she was mad, as I believe she is, and she +will end her life in a lunatic asylum. But you must not bring either Don +Tebaldo or the letter here. Go at once to the Marchese di San Giacinto +and tell him exactly what you have told me, and that I sent you. He will +know what to do. Take money with you and execute his orders exactly +without returning here, no matter what they are. I can do without you +for a week if necessary, and I wish to know nothing of the matter until +it is over." + +"Yes, signore," answered Bonifazio, and without more words he left the +room and went directly to San Giacinto's house. + +The latter received him in his study, and listened to his story with +calm attention. Then, without making any remark, he smoked nearly half a +cigar, while Bonifazio stood motionless, respectfully watching him. Then +he rang the bell, and gave the man who answered it instructions to order +out a sort of mail-cart he used for driving himself, and the strongest +horses in the stable. + +"You must come with me," he said to Bonifazio. "We can be back before +midnight." Then he began to write rapidly. + +He wrote a note to his cousin, the Prince of Sant' Ilario, another to +Gianforte Campodonico, and then a rather longer one to Savelli. In the +last mentioned, he informed the Prince that he would appear on the +morrow, with Campodonico and Sant' Ilario, and that he desired to be +received by Savelli himself in the presence of Francesco and Adele, as +he had a communication of the highest importance to make. In his usual +hard way he managed to convey the impression that it would be decidedly +the worse for the whole house of Savelli and for Adele in particular if +his request were not complied with to the letter. By the time he had +finished a servant announced that the carriage was waiting. San Giacinto +thrust a handful of black cigars and a box of matches into his outer +pocket. + +"Come," he said to Bonifazio, "I am ready. It is a long drive to +Gerano." + +It was nearly three o'clock in the afternoon when they started, and the +days were very short and the weather threatening. But the horses were +splendid animals, and there were few roads between Rome and the Abbruzzi +which San Giacinto did not know well. He was acting as he always did, +swiftly, surely, and in person, trusting to no one, and making himself +alone responsible for the result. Before one o'clock in the morning he +was back, bringing with him a mild and timid old priest, muffled in a +horse blanket against the bitter wind. But the sealed packet containing +Adele Savelli's confession was in his own pocket. + +On his table he found three notes, which satisfied him that everything +would take place as he had hastily planned it before his departure. +Campodonico expressed his readiness to serve Ghisleri in any way, Sant' +Ilario said that he was ready to support San Giacinto in anything he +undertook, though he had never been intimate with Ghisleri, who was much +younger than he. Savelli answered coldly that he would receive the three +men as requested, adding that he hoped the communication would prove to +be of such importance as to justify putting his daughter-in-law to the +inconvenience which any prolonged interview caused her in her present +state of ill-health. San Giacinto smiled rather grimly. He did not think +that his visit to Casa Savelli need be a very long one. Before he went +to bed, he debated whether he should send word to Gerano to be present +also, but he ultimately decided not to do so. It seemed useless to make +Adele's father witness his daughter's humiliation, though he meant not +to spare either Savelli or his son. Towards Adele he was absolutely +pitiless. It was his nature. If she had been dying, he would have found +means to make her listen to what he had to say. If she had been at the +very last gasp he would have forced his way to her bedside to say it. He +was by no means a man without faults. + +Meanwhile Ghisleri was pacing his room in solitude, reflecting on the +sudden change in all the prospects of the future, and wondering how +matters would be managed, but feeling himself perfectly safe in San +Giacinto's hands, and well understanding that he was not to be informed +of what had happened until all was over. That San Giacinto would face +all the assembled Savelli and force them then and there to withdraw all +charges against Ghisleri, the latter was sure, and, on the whole, he was +glad that he was not to witness their discomfiture. But it was not only +of his being in one moment cleared of every accusation that he thought. +The consequences to himself were enormous. He remembered the sickening +horror he had felt that afternoon when he realised how nearly he had +told Laura that he loved her. In four and twenty hours there would be +nothing to hinder him from speaking out what filled his heart. If he +chose to do so, he might even now write to her and tell her what he had +struggled so hard to hide when they had been face to face. But he was +not the man to write when there was a possibility of speaking, nor to +trust to the black and white of ink and paper to say for him what he +could say better for himself. + +Then the old doubt came back, and he spent a night of strange +self-questioning and much useless moral torment. Was this the last, the +very last of his loves? He remembered how a little less than three years +earlier he had bid good-bye to Maddalena dell' Armi, saying to himself +that he could never again feel his heart beat at a woman's voice, nor +his face turn pale with passion for a woman's kiss. And now he loved +again, perhaps with little hope of seeing his love returned, but with +the mad desire to stake his fate upon one cast, and win or lose all for +ever. He had never felt that irresistible longing before, not even when +he had first loved Bianca Corleone in his early days. Then, it was true, +he had been very young, and Bianca had not been like Laura. She had been +young herself as he was, and had loved him from the first, almost +without hiding it. There had been little need for words on either side, +for love told his own tale plainly. Yet it seemed to him now that if he +had then thought Bianca as cold as he had reason to believe that Laura +was, he might have resigned himself to his fate at the beginning--he +might not have found the strength he now had to risk such a defeat as +perhaps waited him, to run any danger, now that he was free, rather than +live in suspense another day. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + + +Sant' Ilario and Gianforte Campodonico rang at San Giacinto's door half +an hour before the time the latter had appointed for his descent upon +Casa Savelli. He had not explained the situation in the hurried notes he +had written them on the previous day, and they did not know what was to +take place. + +"It is very simple," said San Giacinto, coolly. "The whole story was a +lie from beginning to end, as I always believed. The confession was +found at Gerano and deposited with the parish priest under seal on the +same day. I went to Gerano and brought the priest and the letter back. +Here it is, if you wish to see the outside of it, and the priest is +waiting in the next room. This is the document which Donna Adele will +have signed an hour hence." + +He produced a sheet of stamped paper from the drawer of his +writing-table and read aloud what was written upon it, as follows: + + "I, the undersigned, being in full possession of my faculties, and + free of my will, hereby publicly withdraw each and every one of the + accusations I have made, publicly or privately, either in my own + person or through my father, the Prince of Gerano, or my + father-in-law, Prince Savelli, my husband, Francesco, Prince + Savelli, or through any other persons purporting to represent me, + against Pietro Nobile Ghisleri; and I declare upon my oath before + God that there is not and never was any truth whatsoever in any one + of the said accusations upon which the said Pietro Nobile Ghisleri + was unjustly arrested and accused of extortion under Article 409 of + the Penal Code. And I further declare that the letters of his which + I hold do and did refer directly to the purchase of the manuscript + writings of Donna Isabella Montevarchi which were at that time for + sale, and to no other manuscript or writing whatsoever; and further, + I declare that no such person as 'Maria B.' was ever known to me, + but that I wrote the letters received from 'Maria B.' by Lady + Herbert Arden, and that I withdrew her answers myself from the + general post-office. And if I have done anything else to strengthen + the false accusation against the said Pietro Nobile Ghisleri such + as may hereafter come to light, this present retraction and denial + shall be held to cover it by anticipation. And hereunto I set my + hand and seal in the presence of Don Giovanni Saracinesca, Prince of + Sant' Ilario, of Don Giovanni Saracinesca, Marchese di San Giacinto, + and of Don Gianforte Campodonico di Norba, who in my presence and in + the presence of each other are witnesses of this act." + +San Giacinto ceased reading, and looked at his two companions. +Campodonico was grave, but Sant' Ilario smiled. + +"If you can make her sign that, you are stronger than I supposed, +Giovanni," said the latter. + +"So it seems to me," said Gianforte. + +"I do not think she will offer much resistance," answered San Giacinto, +quietly pocketing the confession and the document he had just read. "I +suppose what I am going to do is unscrupulous, but I do not think that +Donna Adele has shown any uncommon delicacy of feeling in this little +affair. Let us go and see whether she has any objection to signing her +name." + +Don Tebaldo, the priest, and Bonifazio followed the three gentlemen in a +cab to the Palazzo Savelli, and all five went up the grand staircase +together. Neither Don Tebaldo nor the servant had received any +instructions beyond being told that if they were called into the room +when the reading took place, they were to answer truthfully any +questions which might be put to them. + +Prince Savelli met them all in an outer drawing-room, the same indeed in +which poor Herbert Arden had talked with Francesco a few days before his +death. He was coldly courteous to San Giacinto, but greeted the others +somewhat more warmly. + +"May I ask what the nature of your communication is?" he inquired of the +former. + +"I prefer to explain it in the presence of Donna Adele, as it concerns +her directly," answered San Giacinto: "It is useless to tell a story +twice." + +The extremely high and mighty head of all the Savelli stared up at the +giant through his big spectacles. He was not at all used to being +treated with so little consideration. But the other was a match for him, +and stood carelessly waiting for the master of the house to lead the +way. + +"Considering whom you represent," said the Prince, "your manner is +somewhat imperative." + +San Giacinto's heavy brows bent in an ominous frown, and Savelli found +it impossible to meet the gaze of the hard, deep-set eyes for more than +a few seconds. + +"I represent an innocent man, whom you and yours are trying to ruin. As +for my manners, they were learned in an inn and not in Casa Savelli. I +shall be obliged if you will lead the way." + +Sant' Ilario suppressed a smile. He had seen his strong cousin in more +than one such encounter, but he had never seen any one resist him long. +Savelli did not reply, but turned and went before them and opened the +door. They passed through another drawing-room and through a third, and +then found themselves in Adele's boudoir. She was seated in a deep chair +near the fire, warming her transparent hands at the flame. Her face was +exactly of the colour of the yellow ashes of certain kinds of wood. It +seemed impossible that any human being could be so thin as she seemed, +and live. But there was yet some strength left, and her strong will, +aided by the silent but insane satisfaction she felt in Ghisleri's ruin, +kept her still in a sort of animation which was sometimes almost like +her old activity. She had, of course, been warned of the impending +interview, but she thought that San Giacinto had come to propose some +compromise to the advantage of Ghisleri, and her father-in-law and +husband were inclined to share her opinion; she meant to refuse +everything, and to say that she would abide the judgment of the courts. +She did not rise when the party entered, but held out her hand to each +in succession. Francesco Savelli stood beside her, and also shook hands +with each, but made no remark. + +"Sit down," said Prince Savelli, moving forward a chair. + +"Thank you," answered San Giacinto, "but it is useless. We shall stay +only long enough for Donna Adele to sign a paper I have brought with me. +We do not wish to disturb you further than necessary. With your +permission I will read the document." + +And thereupon, standing before her, he read it slowly and distinctly. +Prince Savelli gradually turned pale, for he knew the man, and guessed +that he possessed some terribly sure means of enforcing his will. But +Adele laughed scornfully and her husband followed her example. + +"Is there any reason why I should sign that very singular and untrue +declaration?" she asked, with contempt. + +San Giacinto looked at her steadily for a moment, and without reasoning +she began to feel afraid. + +"I have a strong argument in my pocket," he said. "For I have your +confession here, and the priest with whom it has been deposited since +the day it was found is waiting in the hall, if you wish to see him." + +Adele shook from head to foot, and her hands moved spasmodically. She +made a great effort, however, and succeeded in speaking. + +"The fact that it has been in a place where Ghisleri knew how to find it +is the last proof of his guilt we required," she said, mechanically +repeating the words she had heard her father-in-law use more than once. + +"Ghisleri never saw it and never knew where it was until yesterday," +answered San Giacinto. "If you will oblige me by signing this paper, I +will not trouble you any further." + +"I will not sign it, nor anything of such a nature," said Adele, +desperately. + +"You are perfectly free to do as you please," answered San Giacinto. +"And so am I. Since you positively refuse, there is nothing left for me +to do but to go away. But I forgot to tell you that the humble person +who found it was able to read, and read it, before taking it to the +priest, and that he has informed me most minutely of the contents. I see +you are annoyed at that, and I am not surprised, for in half an hour it +will be in the hands of the attorney-general. Good morning, Princess." + +In the dead silence that followed one might have heard a pin fall, or a +feather. San Giacinto waited a few moments and then turned to go. +Instantly Adele uttered a sharp cry and sprang to her feet. With a +quickness of which no one present would have believed her capable, she +was at his side, and holding him back by the arm. He turned again and +looked calmly down at her. + +"You do not mean to do what you threaten?" she cried, in abject terror. + +"I mean to take this sealed document to the attorney-general without +losing a moment," he answered. "You know very well what will happen if I +do that." + +Both Savelli and his son came forward while he was speaking. + +"I will not allow you to hint in my house that anything in that +confession could have any consequences to my daughter-in-law," said the +Prince, in a loud voice. "You have no right to make any such +assertions." + +"If Donna Adele wishes it, I will break the seal and read her own +account," answered San Giacinto. He put his hand into the breast pocket +of his coat and drew out the packet. + +Altogether losing control of herself, Adele tried to snatch it from his +hand, but he held it high in air, and his vast figure towered above the +rest of the group, still more colossal by the gesture of the upstretched +arm. + +"You see for yourselves what importance Donna Adele attaches to this +trifle," he said, in deep tones. "You would do well to persuade her to +sign that paper. That is the only exchange I will take for what I hold. +She knows that every word written there is true--as true as every word +she has written here," he added, glancing up at the sealed letter. "I +will wait one minute more by that clock, and then I will go." + +The two Savelli gazed at Adele in undisguised astonishment and horror. +It was clear enough from her face and terrified manner that San Giacinto +spoke the truth, and that the confession he held contained some awful +secret of which they were wholly ignorant. + +"What is the meaning of all this, Adele?" asked the Prince, sternly. +"What does that confession contain?" + +But she did not answer, as she sank into a chair before the table, and +almost mechanically dipped a pen into the ink. San Giacinto laid the +formal denial before her, holding the confession behind him, for he +believed her capable of snatching it from him and tossing it into the +fire at any moment. She signed painfully in large, sloping characters +that decreased rapidly in size at the end of each of her two names. The +pen fell from her hand as she finished, and San Giacinto quietly laid +the sealed letter before her. If she had been on the point of fainting, +the sight recalled her to herself. She seized it eagerly and broke the +seals, one after the other. Then she went to the fire, assured herself +that the sheets were all there, and were genuine, and thrust the whole +into the flames, watching until the last shred was consumed. + +Meanwhile San Giacinto silently handed the pen to Sant' Ilario, who +signed and passed it to Gianforte. He in his turn gave it to San +Giacinto, and the transaction was concluded. The two cousins, as though +by common instinct, glanced at the page on which was written twice +"Giovanni Saracinesca," and each thought of all the pain and anxiety the +coincidence had caused in days long gone by. The last time they had +signed a document together had been in the study of the Palazzo +Montevarchi more than twenty years earlier, when they were still young +men. + +"You see for yourselves," said San Giacinto, turning to the two Savelli +as he neatly folded the paper, "that Donna Adele desires no further +explanation, and wishes the contents of the letter she has burned to +remain a secret. So far as I am concerned I pledge my word never to +divulge it, nor to hint at it, and I have reason to believe that those +who are acquainted with it will do the same. So far as one man can +answer for another, I will be responsible for them. With regard to the +finding of the letter and to the manner of its being kept so long, I +leave Don Tebaldo, the parish priest of Gerano, to explain that. You can +question him at your leisure. Our mission is accomplished, and Pietro +Ghisleri's innocence is established for ever. That is all I wished. Good +morning." + +After burning the confession Adele had let herself fall into the deep +chair in which she had been sitting when the three friends entered the +room. Her head had fallen back, and her jaw dropped in a ghastly +fashion. She looked as though she were dead; but her hands twitched +convulsively, rising suddenly and falling again upon her knees. It was +impossible to say whether she was conscious or not. + +The two Savelli, father and son, stood on the other side of the +fireplace and looked at her, still speechless at her conduct, which they +could only half understand, but which could mean nothing but disgrace to +her and dishonour to them. The elder man seemed to suffer the more, and +he leaned heavily against the chimney-piece, supporting his head with +his hand. Neither the one nor the other paid any attention to the three +men as they silently left the room. + +San Giacinto begged Don Tebaldo to wait a short time, and then to send a +messenger inquiring whether the Prince wished to see him, and if not, to +return at once to the palace in which San Giacinto lived. Then he took +Bonifazio with him as well as Campodonico and Sant' Ilario, and went at +once to Ghisleri's lodging. They found him breakfasting alone in a +rather sketchy fashion, for Bonifazio had not been allowed by San +Giacinto to return to his master until everything was accomplished. He +showed some surprise when he opened the door himself, and found the +three together on the landing. + +"Is anything the matter?" he inquired, as he ushered them into the +sitting-room, where he had been taking his meal. + +"On the contrary," said San Giacinto, "we have come to tell you that +nothing is the matter. This paper may amuse you; but it is worth +keeping, as Campodonico and my cousin can testify, for their names +appear in it as witnesses." + +Ghisleri read the contents carefully, and they could see how his brow +cleared at every word. + +"You have been the best friend to me that any man ever had," he said, +grasping San Giacinto's huge hand. + +"You could have done it quite as well yourself, only I knew you would +not do it at all," answered the latter. "I have no scruples in dealing +with such people, nor do I see why any one should have any. But you +would have gone delicately and presented Donna Adele with the +confession, and then when she had burned it before your eyes, you would +have told her that you trusted to her sense of justice to right you in +the opinion of the world." + +Ghisleri laughed. He was so happy that he would have laughed at +anything. After giving him a short account of what had taken place, all +three left him, going, as they said, to breakfast at the club, and +inform the world of what had happened. And so they did. And before the +clock struck eight that night, Bonifazio had received a hundred visiting +cards, each with two words, "to congratulate," written upon it in +pencil, and four invitations to dinner addressed to Pietro Ghisleri. For +the world is unconsciously wise in its generation, and on the rare +occasions when it has found out that it has made a mistake, its haste to +do the civil thing is almost indecent. In eight and forty hours the +whole Savelli family and the Prince and Princess of Gerano had left +Rome, and Ghisleri found it hard to keep one evening a week free for +himself. + +But in the afternoon of that day on which San Giacinto had so suddenly +turned the tables upon Pietro's adversaries, Pietro went to see Laura +Arden. She, of course, was in ignorance of what had occurred, and was +amazed by the change she saw in his face when he entered. + +"Something good has happened, I am sure!" she exclaimed, as she came +half-way across the room to meet him with outstretched hands. + +"Yes," he said, "something very unexpected has happened. The confession +has been found, Donna Adele has admitted that the whole story was a +fabrication, and she has signed a formal denial of every accusation, +past, present, and to come. I am altogether cleared." + +"Thank God! Thank God!" Laura cried, wringing his two hands, and gazing +into his eyes. + +"You are glad," he said. "I suppose I knew you would be, but I could not +realise that it would make so much difference to you." + +"In one way it makes no difference," she said more quietly, as she sat +down and pointed to his accustomed place. "I knew the truth from the +beginning. But it is for you. I saw how unhappy you were yesterday. Now +tell me all about it." + +He told her all that had taken place since he had left her on the +previous day, as it has been told in these pages, and his heart beat +fast as he saw in her eyes the constant and great interest she felt. + +"And so I am quite free of it all at last," he said, when he had +finished. + +"And you will be happy now," answered Laura, softly. "You have been +through almost everything, it seems to me. Do you realise how much I +know of all your life? It is strange, is it not? You are not fond of +making confidences, and you never made but one to me, when you could not +help yourself. Yes; it is very strange that I should know so much about +you." + +"And still be willing to call me your friend?" added Ghisleri. "I do not +know how you can--and yet--" He stopped. "The reason is," he said +suddenly, "that you have long been a part of my life--that is why you +know me so well. I think that even long ago we were much more intimate +than we knew or dreamed of. There were many reasons for that." + +"Yes," Laura answered. "And then, after all, I have known you ever since +I first went out as a young girl. I did not like you at first, I +remember, though I could never tell why. But as for your saying that you +cannot see why I should still be your friend, I do not understand how +you mean it. It seems to me that you have done much to get my friendship +and to strengthen it, and nothing to lose it. Besides, you yourself know +that you are not what you were. You have changed. You were saying so +only yesterday, and you said the change was for the better." + +"Yes, I have changed," said Ghisleri. "It is of no use to deny it. I do +not mean in everything, though I do not lead the life I did. Perhaps it +all goes together after all." + +"That is not very clear," observed Laura, with a low laugh. + +Ghisleri was silent for a moment. + +"I do not think of you as I did," he said. "That is the greatest change +of all." + +Laura did not answer. She leaned back in her seat, and looked across the +room. + +"I never thought it would come," he said. "For years I honourably +believed I could be your friend. I know, now, that I cannot. I love you +far too deeply--with far too little right." + +Still Laura did not speak. But she turned her face from him, laying her +cheek against the silken cushion behind her. + +"Perhaps I am doing very wrong in telling you this," said Ghisleri, +trying to steady his voice. "But I made up my mind that it was better, +and more honest. I do not believe that you love me, that you ever can +love me in the most distant future of our lives. I am prepared for that. +I will not trouble you with my love. I will never speak of it again--for +I can never hope to win you. But at least you know the truth." + +Slowly Laura turned her face again and her eyes met his. There was a +deep, warm light in them. She seemed to hesitate. Then the words came +sharply, in a loud, clear voice, unlike her own, as though the great +secret had burst every barrier and had broken out against her will by +its own strength, sudden, startling, new to herself and to the man who +heard it. + +"I love you now!" + +Ghisleri turned as deadly pale as when Gianforte's bullet had so nearly +gone through his heart. The words rang out in the quiet room with an +intensity and distinctness of tone not to be described. He had not even +guessed that she might love him. For one moment they looked at one +another, both white with passion, both trembling a little, the black +eyes and the blue both gleaming darkly. Then Ghisleri took the two hands +that were stretched out to meet his own, and each felt that the other's +were very cold. As though by a common instinct they both rose, and stood +a moment face to face. Then his arms went round her. He did not know +until long afterwards that when he kissed her he lifted her from the +ground. + +It had all been sudden, strange, and unlike anything in his whole life, +unexpected beyond anything that had ever happened to him. Perhaps it was +so with her, too. They remembered little of what they said in those +first moments, but by and by, as they sat side by side on the sofa, +words came again. + +"I knew it when you went away last summer," said Ghisleri. "And then I +thought I should never tell you." + +"And I found it out when I left you," answered Laura. "I found that I +could not live without you and be happy. Did you guess nothing when I +made you come to me yesterday? Yesterday--only yesterday! It seems like +last year. Did you think it was mere friendship?" + +"Yes, I thought it was that and nothing more--but such friendship as I +had never dreamed of." + +"Nor any one else, perhaps," said Laura, with a happy smile. "For I +would have come, you know, in spite of every one. What would you have +done then, I wonder?" + +"Then? Do not speak of yesterday. What could I have done? Could I have +told you that I loved you with such an accusation hanging over me? No, +you know that. It was only yesterday that I asked you to let me leave +you rather suddenly--did you not guess the reason?" + +"I thought you were ill--no--well, it crossed my mind that you might be +a little, just a little, in love with me." She laughed. + +"I felt ill afterwards. I was horrified when I thought how nearly I had +spoken." + +"And why should you not have spoken, if it was in your heart?" asked +Laura, taking his hand again. "Why should you have thought, even for a +moment, that I could care what people said. You are you, and I am I, +whether the world is with us or against us. And I think, dear, that we +shall need the world very little now. Perhaps it will change its mind +and pretend it needs us." + +"There is no doubt of that. It always happens so. Why should we care?" +He paused a moment, then, as his eyes met hers, the great dominating +passion broke out again: "Ah--darling--heart's heart--beloved! There are +not words to tell you how I love you and bless you, and worship you with +all my soul. What can I say, what can I do, to make you understand?" + +"Love me, dear," she said, "and be faithful, as I will be." And their +lips met again. + +They loved well and truly. Strange, some may say, that a love of that +good kind should have begun in friendship on the one side, and +indifference if not dislike on the other. But neither had understood +the other at all in the beginning. The world-tired and world-weary man +had not guessed at the real woman who lived so humanly, and could love +so passionately, and whom nature had clothed with such saint-like, holy +beauty as to make her seem a creature above all earthly feeling and all +mortal weakness. Her eyes had seemed fixed on far-distant, heavenly +sights, gazing upon the world only to wonder at its vanity and to loathe +its uncleanness. Her best and her greatest thoughts had been, he +fancied, of things altogether divine and supernatural, of love +celestial, of beatific vision, of the waters of paradise, of goodness +and of God. And something of all this there was in her, but there was +room for more both in heart and soul, and more was there--the deep, +human sympathy, the simple strength to love one man wholly, the +singleness of thought and judgment to see the good in him and love it, +and to understand and forgive the bad--and far down in the strong, quiet +nature was hidden the passion but newly awakened whose irresistible +force would have broken every barrier and despised every convention, +respecting only its own purity in taking what it loved and desired, and +would have at any cost, save the defilement of the soul it moved. Small +wonder that when it awoke at last unresisted and meeting its like, it +burst into sight with a sudden violence that startled the woman herself, +and amazed the man who had not suspected its existence. + +But she, on her side, had learned to know him more slowly, not ever +analysing him, nor trying to guess at his motives, but merely seeing +little by little how great and wide was the discrepancy between the +hard, sceptical, cynic thoughts he expressed so readily, and the +constant, unchangingly brave effort of his heart to do in all cases what +was honourable, just, and brave according to his light. She saw him ever +striving, often failing, sometimes succeeding in the doing of good +actions, and she saw the strange love of truth and simplicity which +pervaded and primarily moved the most complicated character she had +ever known. He who at first had seemed to her the most worldly of all +worldly men, was in reality one whose whole life was lived in his own +heart for the one, or two, or three beings who had known how to touch +it. To all else he was absolutely and coldly indifferent. She had, +indeed, as she said, guessed at last that he loved her a little and more +than a little, and she had known for months before he spoke that he was +really a part of her life and of all her thoughts and actions. But she +had not asked herself what she would do or say when the great moment +came, any more than she had accused herself of being unfaithful to the +memory of the man whose dying words had bidden her to be happy, if she +would have him rest in peace. And now that she loved again, so +differently, so passionately, so much more humanly, she realised all the +great unselfishness of him who was gone and who had not been willing to +leave in her heart the least seed of future self-accusation or the least +ground for refusing anything good which life might have in store for +her. She saw that she could take what was offered her, freely, without +one regret, without one prick of conscience, or one passing thought that +Herbert Arden would have suffered an instant's pain could he have known +what was passing in the existence of the woman who had loved him so +well. + +Late on that afternoon, Ghisleri went to see Maddalena dell' Armi. There +was a drop of bitterness in his cup yet, and something hard for him to +do, but he would not let the woman who had sacrificed everything for him +in days gone by learn the news from a stranger. + +"I have come to tell you that I am going to marry Lady Herbert Arden," +he said gently, as he took her hand. + +She looked up quickly, and for a moment he felt a strange anxiety. + +"I knew that you would, long ago," she answered. "I am glad of it. No, +do not think that is a phrase. I do not love you any more. Are you glad +to know it? I wish I did. But I am far too fond of you not to wish you +to be happy if you can. You are my dearest and best friend. It is +strange, is it not? Think of me kindly sometimes, in your new life. +And--and do not speak my name before her, if you can help it. She knows +what we were to each other once, and it might hurt her." + +"How changed you are!" exclaimed Ghisleri. But he pressed the hand that +lay near him. + +"I am trying to be a good woman," she answered simply. + +"If there were more like you, the world would be a better place," he +said. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + + +"Just fancy, my dear," exclaimed Donna Maria Boccapaduli to the Marchesa +di San Giacinto on the evening of the following day, "Pietro Ghisleri is +going to marry Laura Arden, after all! That horrid, spiteful, wicked +Adele will die of rage. And they say that the old uncle is dead and has +left Laura one of those enormous English fortunes one reads about, and +they are going to take the first floor of your brother's palace--your +husband says he will buy it some day--I hope he will--and Laura is going +to rebuild Ghisleri's queer little castle in Tuscany. What a delightful +series of surprises! And two days ago every one believed he was on the +point of being sent to prison for ever so many years. But I was always +sure he was innocent, though of course one did not like to have him +about while the thing was going on." + +"Giovanni said from the first that it was all an abominable lie," +answered the Marchesa. "And Giovanni is generally right. What a charming +house it will be! Of course they will give balls." + +"They say that in the confession there was a full account of the way in +which she started the story of the evil eye--what nonsense it was! You +have only to look into Laura Arden's eyes--do you think she is as +beautiful as Corona Saracinesca ever could have been?" + +"No, no," exclaimed the Marchesa, who had known the Princess of Sant' +Ilario more than twenty years earlier. "No one was ever so beautiful as +Corona. Laura is much shorter, too, and that makes a difference. Laura +reminds one of a saint, and Corona looked an empress--or what empresses +are supposed to be like. But Laura is a beautiful woman. There is no one +to compare with her now but Christina Campodonico, and she is too thin. +What a good looking couple Ghisleri and his wife will make. He has grown +younger during the last two years." + +"No wonder--when one thinks of the life he used to lead. Every time he +quarrelled with Maddalena he used to get at least five pounds thinner. I +wonder how she takes it." + +"She is far too clever a woman to show what she thinks. But I know she +has not cared for him for a long time. They have not quarrelled for two +years at least, so of course there cannot be any love left on either +side. They still sit in corners occasionally. I suppose they like each +other. It is very odd. But I shall never understand those things." + +The last remark was very true, for Flavia Saracinesca loved her giant +husband with all her heart and always had, and she knew also that Maria +Boccapaduli was the best of wives and mothers, if she was also the +greatest of gossips. + +What the two ladies said to each other represented very well the world's +opinion, hastily formed, on the spur of the moment, to meet the +exigencies of the altered situation, but immutable now. It shrugged its +shoulders as it referred to its past errors of judgment, and said that +it could not have been expected to know that Adele Savelli was raving +mad when she was allowed to go everywhere just like a sane being, +although her eyes had undeniably had a wild look for some time, and she +might have been taken for a galvanised corpse. For of course it was now +quite certain that she had been out of her mind from the very beginning, +seeing that she had concocted her dreadful plot without the slightest +reason. As for the old story that Laura Arden loved Francesco, that was +downright nonsense! It was another of Adele's scandalous falsehoods--or +insane delusions, if you chose to be so good-natured as to use that +expression. If anything, it was Francesco who loved Laura, and he ought +to be ashamed of himself, considering what a fortune his wife had +brought him. But human nature was very ungrateful, especially when it +bore the name of Savelli. They did not seem at all thankful for that +dear Ghisleri's forbearance. He could have brought an action against +them for any number of things--defamation, false imprisonment--almost +anything. But he had acted with his usual generosity, and told every one +that he had always believed Adele to be insane, and bore no one the +least ill-will, since he had been put to no inconvenience whatever, +thanks to San Giacinto's timely action. And, said the world, when a man +consistently behaved as Pietro Ghisleri had done, he was certain to get +his reward. What could any man desire more than to have that dear, +beautiful, good Laura Arden for his wife, especially since she was so +immensely rich? Doubt the justice of Heaven after that, if you could! As +for the world, it meant to tell them both how sorry it was that it had +misunderstood them. Of course it would be sinful not to hope that Adele +might some day get well, but she had her deserts, and if she ever came +back to society, people would not care to meet her. She might go mad +again at any moment and try to ruin some one else, and might succeed the +next time, too. + +That was the way in which most people talked during the season, and the +world acted up to its words as it generally does when there are balls +and dinners to be got by merely being consistent. It was much more +agreeable, too, to live on terms of pleasant intercourse with Laura and +her betrothed, and much easier, because it is always tiresome to keep up +a prejudice against really charming people. + +But Adele was not mad as people said, and as the two families gave out. +There had undoubtedly been a strain of insanity through all her conduct, +and that might, some day, develop into real madness. She was sane enough +still, however, to suffer, and no such merciful termination to her +sufferings as the loss of her reason would be seemed at all imminent. +The strong will and acute intelligence had survived, for the poisonous +drug she loved had attacked the body, which was the weaker portion of +her being. Adele was hopelessly paralysed. The last great effort had +been too much for the over-strung nerves. Her hands still moved +convulsively, but she could not direct them at all. Her jaw had dropped, +as it almost always does in advanced cases of morphinism, and her lower +limbs were useless. Day after day she sat or lay before the fire in her +room at Castel Savello, as she might remain for years, tended by paid +nurses, and helpless to do the slightest thing for herself--through the +short days and the long nights of winter, hardly cheered by the sunshine +when spring came at last, longing for the end. It was indeed a dreadful +existence. Nothing to do, nothing to think of but the terrible black +past, nothing to occupy her, save the monotonous tracing back of her +present state to her first misdeeds, step by step, inch by inch, in the +cold light of an inexorable logic. It was hard to believe what her +confessor told her, that she should be grateful for having time and +reason left to repent of what she had done, and to expiate, in a +measure, the evil of her life. As yet, that was the only comfort she got +from any one. She had disgraced the name of Savelli, she was told, and +no suffering could atone for that. She felt that she was hated and +despised, and that although everything which money could do was done to +prolong her wretched being, her death was anticipated as a relief from +her detested presence in the household upon which she had brought such +shame. It would be hard to conceive a more fearful punishment than she +was made to undergo, forcibly kept alive by the constant care and +forethought of the most experienced persons, and allowed only just so +much of the morphia as was positively necessary. She had no longer the +power to grasp the little instrument. If she had been able to do that, +she would have found rest for ever, as she told herself. And they +cruelly diminished the dose, though they would not tell her by how much. +She would live longer, they said, if the quantity could be greatly +reduced. She begged, implored, entreated them not to torture her. But +they could hardly understand what she said, for the paralysis had made +her speech indistinct, and even if they could have distinguished the +meaning of all her words they would have paid no attention to them. The +orders were strict and were rigidly obeyed in every particular. She was +to be made to live as long as possible, and life meant torment, +unceasing, passing words to describe. How long it might last she had no +idea. She could only hope against hope that it might end soon. The news +of Laura's engagement and approaching marriage had been kept from her +for some time, it being feared that it might agitate her, but she was +told at last, and the knowledge of her step-sister's happiness was an +added bitterness in what remained to her of life. Vividly she saw them +before her, Laura in her fresh beauty, Ghisleri in his strength, little +Herbert with his father's eyes--the eyes that haunted Adele Savelli by +night and gazed upon her by day out of the shadowy corners of her room. +The three were ever before her moving, as she fancied, through a garden +of exquisite flowers, in a clear, bright light. That was doubtless the +way in which her diseased brain represented their happiness, for she +had loved flowers in the old days, and had associated everything that +was pleasant with them in her thoughts. But she hated them now, as she +hated everything, even to her own children, whom she refused to see +because they reminded her of better times, and her step-mother, whom she +was obliged to receive because the good lady would take no denial. The +Princess was, indeed, one of her most regular and kindly visitors. A +very constant and good woman, she would not and could not turn upon +Adele as all the rest had done, even to her own father, who in the +bitterness of his heart, had said that he would never see his daughter +again, alive or dead. But Adele hated her none the less, and dreaded her +long homilies and exhortations to be penitent, and the little printed +prayers and books of devotion she generally brought with her. For the +Princess was deeply concerned for the welfare of Adele's soul, and being +very much in earnest in the matter of religion, she did what she could +to save it according to her own views. Possibly her sermons might +hereafter bear fruit, but for the present the wretched woman who was +forced to listen to them found them almost unbearable. And so her +unhappy days dragged on without prospect of relief or termination, no +longer in any real meaning of the word a life at all, but only a +consequence, the result of what she had made herself when she had been +really alive. + +The Princess of Gerano was the last person won over to a good opinion of +Ghisleri, but before the wedding day she had formally avowed to Laura +that she had been mistaken in him. She had been most of all impressed by +his dignity during the very great difficulties in which he had been +placed, and by his gentle forbearance when his innocence had been +established and when no one would have blamed him if he had cursed the +whole Savelli and Gerano tribe by every devil in Satan's calendar. +Instead, he had uniformly said that he had believed Donna Adele to be +mad, and that what had happened had therefore not come about by any +one's fault. She told Laura that there must be more good than any one +had dreamt of in a man who could act as Pietro did under the +circumstances, and perhaps she was right. At all events, she was +convinced and having once reached conviction she took him to her heart +and found that he was a man much more to her taste, and much more worthy +of Laura than she had supposed. For the rest, the match was an admirable +one. Ghisleri was certainly very far from rich, but he was by no means a +pauper, and what he possessed had been wisely administered. He was +neither a prince, nor the son of a princely house, but there was many a +prince of Europe, and more than one of the Holy Empire, too, whose +forefathers had been trudging behind the plough long after the Nobili +Ghisleri had built their tower and held their own in it for generations. +Then, too, whatever the Princess might think of his past and of his +reputation, he had rather a singular position in society, and was +respected as many were not, who possessed ten times as many virtues as +he. She admitted quite frankly that she had been wrong, and she made +ample amends for her former cold treatment of him by the liking she now +showed. + +"I shall never be able to think of you as a serious married man, my dear +friend," said Gouache one day when Ghisleri was lounging in the studio +with a cigarette, after they had breakfasted together. + +"I hope you will," was the laconic answer. + +"No, I never shall. I have always had a sort of artistic satisfaction in +your character--for there was much that was really artistic about you, +especially as regards your taste in sin, which was perfect and perhaps +is still. But marriage is not at all artistic, my dear Ghisleri, until +it becomes unhappy, and the husband goes about with a revolver in every +pocket, and the wife with a scent bottle full of morphia in hers, and +they treat each other with distant civility in private, and with +effusive affection when a third person is present, especially the third +person who has contributed the most to producing the artistic effect in +question. Then the matter becomes interesting." + +"Like your own marriage," suggested Ghisleri, with a laugh. Gouache and +Donna Faustina had not had an unkind thought for one another in nearly +twenty years of cloudless happiness. + +"Ah, my friend, you must not take my case as an instance. There is +something almost comic in being as happy as I am. We should never make a +subject for a play writer, my wife and I, nor for a novelist either. No +man would risk his reputation for truthfulness by describing our life as +it is. But then, is there anything artistic about me? Nothing, except +that I am an artist. If I had any money I should be called an amateur. +To be an artist it is essential to starve--at one time or another. The +public never believe that a man who has not been dangerously hungry can +paint a picture, or play the fiddle, or write a book. If I had money I +would still paint--subjects like Michael Angelo's Last Judgment with the +souls of Donna Tullia, Del Ferice, and Donna Adele Savelli frying +prominently on the left, and portraits of my wife and myself in the +foreground on the right with perfectly new crowns of glory and beatific +smiles from ear to ear. If you go on as you have been living since the +reformation set in, you will have to bore yourself on our side too, with +a little variation in your crown to show what a sinner you have been." + +"I am quite willing to be bored in your way," answered Ghisleri, +laughing again. + +The marriage took place late in February, to the immense delight of the +world, and with the unanimous applause of all society. The newspapers +gave minute accounts of all the gowns, and of all the people who wore +them, and surprised Ghisleri by informing him that his ancestors had +been Guelphs, whereas he had some reason to believe that they had been +Ghibellines, and by creating him a commander of the order of Saint +Maurice and Saint Lazarus, whereas he was an hereditary Knight of +Malta. + +The description of Laura was an extraordinary contribution to the +literature of beauty, and left nothing to be desired except a positive +or two to contrast with the endless string of superlatives. + +Ghisleri and Laura left Rome with a little caravan of servants. Neither +the faithful Donald nor the equally faithful Bonifazio could be left +behind, and there was Laura's maid, and little Herbert's nurse, both +indispensable. The boy was overjoyed by the arrangement which gave him +the advantage of Pietro's society "for every day," as he expressed it, +and especially at the prospect of living all the summer in a real +castle. He was three years old and talked fluently, when he talked at +all--a strong, brave-looking little fellow, with clear brown eyes and a +well-shaped head, set on a sturdy frame that promised well for his +coming manhood. Ghisleri delighted in him, though he was not generally +amused by very small children. But they always came to him of their own +accord, which some people say is a sign of a good disposition in a man, +for children and animals are rarely mistaken in their likes and +dislikes. + +San Giacinto and Gianforte Campodonico went to the station to see them +off after the wedding, and threw armfuls of roses and lilies of the +valley into the carriage before the door was finally shut by the guard +as the preliminary bell was sounded. + +"Without you two, we two should not be here," said Ghisleri, as he shook +hands with them both. + +"No," added Laura happily. "But we should have been together, if it had +been in prison. Good-bye, dear friends." + +The train moved away, and the two men were left on the platform, waving +their hats to the last. + +"That is a good thing well done," said San Giacinto, lighting a cigar. +"They will be happy together." + +"Yes," said Gianforte, thoughtfully. "I think they will. Women love that +man, and he knows how to love them." + +San Giacinto looked down at him and said nothing. He knew something of +Bianca Corleone's short, sad life, and of what had passed between her +brother and Ghisleri. He liked them both more than almost any of the +younger men he knew, and he honestly admired them for their behaviour +towards each other. He guessed what thoughts were passing through +Campodonico's mind as he looked after the train that was bearing away +Pietro Ghisleri, a married man at last. + +For Gianforte was saying to himself that though he could neither wholly +forget nor freely forgive the past, he could have loved him had fate +been different. If ten years ago Ghisleri could have married Bianca, and +if Bianca could have lived, the two would have been happy, for even +Gianforte admitted that both had loved truly and well until the end. But +that was a dream and reality had raised the impassable barrier between +men who might have been firm friends. Their hands might stretch across +it, and grasp one another from time to time, and their eyes might read +good faith and the will to be generous each in the other's soul, but +nearer than that they could never be, for the sake of the beautiful dead +woman who would not be forgotten by either. + +One more picture and one word more, and the curtain must fall at last. + +In the early summer Laura and her husband were at Torre de' Ghisleri in +the Tuscan hills. The small castle was very habitable as compared with +its former condition, and small as it was by comparison with such +fortresses as Gerano, was by no means the mere ruined tower which many +people supposed it to be. The square grey keep from which it took its +name was flanked by a mass of smaller buildings, irregular and of +different epochs, all more or less covered with ivy or with creepers now +in bloom. The wide castle yard, in the midst of which stood the ancient +well with its wonderfully wrought yoke of iron, its heavy chain, and its +two buckets, had been converted into a garden long ago for the bride of +some Ghisleri of those days, and the plants and trees had run almost +wild for a hundred years, irregularly, as some had survived and others +had perished in the winter storms. Here a cypress, there an oak, further +on again three laurels, of the Laura Regia kind, side by side in a row, +then two cypresses again, growing up straight and slim and dark out of a +plot of close-cut grass. And there were roses everywhere, and stiff +camelia trees and feathery azaleas and all manner of bright, growing +things without order or symmetry, beautiful in their wildness. But in +and out there were narrow paths, in which two might walk together, and +these were now swept and cared for as they had never been in Pietro's +bachelor days. Other things were changed too, but not much, and for the +better. A woman's hand had touched, had waked a sweet new life in the +old place. + +The afternoon sun, still above the low surrounding hills, cast the +shadow of the tower across the lawn and upon the flowers beyond. There +were chairs before the arched doorway, and a garden table. Laura sat +watching the swallows as they flew down from the keep to the garden and +upwards again in their short, circling flight. A book she had not even +thought of reading lay beside her. At her elbow sat Ghisleri in a white +jacket, with a straw hat tilted over his eyes which little Herbert was +trying to get at, as he rode on Pietro's knee. The man's face had +changed wonderfully during the last six months. All the hardness was +gone from it, and the contemptuous, discontented look that had once come +so readily was never seen now. + +"You never told me it was so beautiful," said Laura, still watching the +swallows and gazing at the flowers. "When we first came, and I looked +out of the window in the morning, I thought I had never seen any place +so lovely. You used to talk of it in such a careless way." + +"It is you who make it beautiful for me," answered Ghisleri. "A year ago +it seemed dull and ugly enough, when I used to sit here and think of +you." + +"I was not the first woman you had thought of, on this very spot, I +daresay," said Laura, with a happy laugh. + +"No, dear, you were not." He smiled as he admitted the fact. "But you +were the last, and unless you turn out to be as bad as you seem to be +good, you will have no successor." + +"What's successor mean?" lisped Herbert, desisting from his attempt to +get at the hat and listening. + +"Somebody who comes after another," answered Laura. "I will try to be +good, dear," she said to Ghisleri, laughing again. + +"So'll I," exclaimed Herbert promptly, doubtless supposing that it was +expected of him. + +"Yes," said Ghisleri, thoughtfully. "I have sat here many a time for +hours, dreaming about you, and wishing for you, and trying to see you +just as you are now, in a chair beside me. Yes, I have thought of other +women here, but it is very long since I wished to see one there--if I +ever did. I hardly ever came here when I was very young." + +There was a pause. His voice had a little sadness in it as he spoke the +last words--not the sadness of regret, but of reverence. He was thinking +of Bianca Corleone. Then Laura laid her hand upon his arm, and her eyes +met his, for he turned as he felt her touch. + +"Dear, you would have been happy with her," she said very gravely. "But +I will be all to you that woman can be to man, if I live to show you how +I love you." + +"No woman ever was what you are to me already," he answered. "No woman, +living or dead. You have done everything for me since I first knew you +well, and you did much more than you know before I knew what you really +were. There can be nothing in the world beyond what you have given, and +give me." + +"I wish I were quite, quite sure of that," said Laura, still looking +into his face. + +"You must be--you shall be!" he said, with sudden energy, and his +glance lightened with passion. "You must. Words are not much, I know, +nor oaths, nor anything of that sort. But I will tell you this--and by +the light and goodness of God, it is true. If I could doubt for one +moment that I love you beyond any love I have ever dreamed of, I would +tear out my heart with my hands!" + +"What's love?" asked little Herbert timidly, for he was afraid that it +must be something very dreadful as he watched Ghisleri's pale face and +blazing eyes. + +But the lips that might have answered could not; they were sealing the +truth they had spoken, upon others that had uttered a doubt for the last +time. + + +THE END. + + + + +LIST OF WORKS + +BY + +MR. F. MARION CRAWFORD. + + +IN THE PRESS. A NEW NOVEL. + +PIETRO GHISLERI. + +12mo, cloth, $1.00. In the uniform edition of Mr. Crawford's Novels. + + +THE NOVEL. WHAT IT IS. + + By F. MARION CRAWFORD, author of "Children of the King," + "Saracinesca," etc., etc. Uniform with the pocket edition of William + Winter's Works. With photogravure portrait. 18mo, cloth, 75 cents. + + *.* Also a large-paper limited edition. 12mo, $2.00. + +"Mr. Crawford in the course of this readable little essay touches upon +such topics as realism and romanticism, the use of dialect, the abuse of +scientific information, the defects of historical fiction. Mr. +Crawford's discussion of what does and what does not constitute the +novel will be read with eager interest by the large company of his +sincere admirers in this country."--_Beacon._ + + +CHILDREN OF THE KING. + +A Tale of Southern Italy. 12mo, cloth, $1.00. + +"A sympathetic reader cannot fail to be impressed with the dramatic +power of this story. The simplicity of nature, the uncorrupted truth of +a soul, have been portrayed by a master-hand. The suddenness of the +unforeseen tragedy at the last renders the incident of the story +powerful beyond description. One can only feel such sensations as the +last scene of the story incites. It may be added that if Mr. Crawford +has written some stories unevenly, he has made no mistakes in the +stories of Italian life. A reader of them cannot fail to gain a clearer, +fuller acquaintance with the Italians and the artistic spirit that +pervades the country."--M.L.B. in _Syracuse Journal_. + + +MACMILLAN & CO. take pleasure in announcing that they have added the +following volumes (with the author's latest revisions) to their uniform +edition of the Works of Mr. F. Marion Crawford, thereby enabling them to +issue a complete edition of all his novels: + +A ROMAN SINGER. New Edition, revised and corrected. + +TO LEEWARD. PAUL PATOFF. + +AN AMERICAN POLITICIAN. New Edition, revised and partly rewritten. + + +F. MARION CRAWFORD'S NOVELS + +NEW UNIFORM AND COMPLETE EDITION. + +12mo, cloth. Price $1.00 each. + +"Mr. F. Marion Crawford is," as Mr. Andrew Lang says, "the most +'versatile and various' of modern novelists. He has great adaptability +and subtleness of mind, and whether dealing with life in modern Rome or +at the court of Darius at Shushan, in the wilds of India or in the +fashionable quarter of New York, in the Black Forest or in a lonely +parish of rural England, he is equally facile and sure of his ground; a +master of narrative style, he throws a subtle charm over all he +touches." + + +_TO BE PUBLISHED IN JUNE_: + +PIETRO GHISLERI. + + + Children of the King. + + Don Orsino, + A sequel to "Saracinesca" and "Sant' Ilario." + + The Three Fates. + + The Witch of Prague. + + Khaled. + + A Cigarette-maker's Romance. + + Sant' Ilario, + A sequel to "Saracinesca." + + Greifenstein. + + With the Immortals. + + To Leeward. + + A Roman Singer. + + An American Politician. + + Paul Patoff. + + Marzio's Crucifix. + + Saracinesca. + + A Tale of a Lonely Parish. + + Zoroaster. + + Dr. Claudius. + + Mr. Isaacs. + + + + +WORKS BY HENRY JAMES. + + +A NEW VOLUME OF STORIES. + +THE LESSON OF THE MASTER, +AND OTHER STORIES. + +12mo, cloth extra, $1.00. + + +THE PRINCESS CASAMASSIMA. + +12mo, $1.25. + +We find no fault with Mr. Henry James's "Princess Casamassima." 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One is +thankful again that there is so brilliant an American author to give us +entertaining sketches of life.--_Boston Herald._ + + +THE ASPERN PAPERS, +AND OTHER STORIES. + +12mo, $1.00. + +The stories are told with that mastery of the art of story-telling which +their writer possesses in a conspicuous degree.--_Literary World._ + + +PARTIAL PORTRAITS. + +12mo, $1.75. + +Henry James has never appeared to better advantage as an author than in +this delightful volume of critical essays.--_Boston Saturday Evening +Gazette._ + + +THE BOSTONIANS. + +12mo, $1.25. + +Unquestionably "The Bostonians" is not only the most brilliant and +remarkable of Mr. James's novels, but it is one of the most important of +recent contributions to literature.--_Boston Courier._ + + +A LONDON LIFE, +AND OTHER STORIES. + +12mo, $1.00. + +His short stories, which are always bright and sparkling, are +delightful.... Will bear reading again and again.--_Mail and Express._ + + +FRENCH POETS AND NOVELISTS. + +12mo, $1.50. + + + + +WORKS BY MRS. HUMPHRY WARD. + + +Mrs. Humphry Ward's New Novel, + +THE HISTORY OF DAVID GRIEVE. + +12mo, cloth, extra, $1.00. + + +ROBERT ELSMERE. + +12mo, cloth, $1.00; Library Edition, 2 vols., $3.00. + +The book is a drama in which every page is palpitating with intense and +real life. It is a realistic novel in the highest sense of the +word.--_The Whitehall Review._ + +MR. 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Edited by F. T. PALGRAVE. + + IN MEMORIAM. + + TENNYSON'S LYRICAL POEMS. Edited by F.T. PALGRAVE. + + PLATO, PHÆDRUS, LYSIS, AND PROTAGORAS. Translated by Rev. J. WRIGHT. + + THEOCRITUS, BION, AND MOSCHUS. In English Prose. By ANDREW LANG, M.A. + + BALLADEN UND ROMANZEN. Edited by C.A. BUCHHEIM, Ph.D. + + LYRIC LOVE. Edited by WILLIAM WATSON. + + HYMNS AND OTHER POEMS. By F.T. PALGRAVE. + + THE ART OF WORLDLY WISDOM. BALTHASAR GRACIAN. + + + + +MACMILLAN & CO., + +112 FOURTH AVENUE, NEW YORK. + + + + +TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: + + +Obvious typographical and printer errors have been corrected without +comment. + +On page 324: There was no opening quote mark to match the closing quote +at the end of the first paragraph on this page. The text does not +clearly define where the opening quote mark should be, and so it has +been added before the phrase: "who had never known...." + +On the first page of the Ads section, an asterism is represented in this +plain-text version as *.* + +Other than the above, no effort has been made to standardize internal +inconsistencies in spelling, capitalization, punctuation, grammar, etc. +The author's usage is preserved as found in the original publication. + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Pietro Ghisleri, by F. (Francis) Marion Crawford + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40922 *** |