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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/5755.txt b/5755.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a3157bc --- /dev/null +++ b/5755.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11103 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Fool Errant, by Maurice Hewlett + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Fool Errant + +Author: Maurice Hewlett + +Release Date: May, 2004 [EBook #5755] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on August 28, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FOOL ERRANT *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + +THE FOOL ERRANT + +BEING THE MEMOIRS OF + +FRANCIS-ANTONY STRELLEY, ESQ. + +CITIZEN OF LUCCA + +EDITED BY +MAURICE HEWLETT + +AUTHOR OF "THE QUEEN'S QUAIR," "NEW CANTERBURY +TALES," "RICHARD YEA-AND-NAY," "LITTLE +NOVELS OF ITALY," ETC., ETC. + + +Published July, 1905. + + +To + +J. M. BARRIE + +AFFECTIONATELY + + + + +CONTENTS + +INTRODUCTION + +I. MY EXORDIUM: A JUSTIFICATORY PIECE +II. AURELIA AND THE DOCTOR +III. MY DANGEROUS PROGRESS +IV. FATAL AVOWAL +V. DISASTER +VI. I COMMENCE PILGRIM +VII. I AM MISCONCEIVED AT THE HOSPITAL +VIII. THE PEDLAR OF CRUCIFIXES +IX. I AM HUMILIATED, LIFTED UP, AND LEFT CURIOUS +X. I FALL IN AGAIN WITH FRA PALAMONE +XI. I EXERCISE COMMON SENSE, IMAGINATION AND CHARITY +XII. I SEEK--AND FIND +XIII. HAVING EMPTIED MY POCKET, I OFFER MY HAND, BUT RESERVE MY HEART +XIV. MY HAPPY DAYS; THEIR UNHAPPY END +XV. I AM IN BONDAGE +XVI. VIRGINIA AND I FALL OUT, BUT ARE RECONCILED +XVII. ERCOLE AT THE FAIR +XVIII. FRA PALAMONE BREAKS THE LAW, AND I MY CHAIN +XIX. I AM AGAIN MISCONCEIVED +XX. SURPRISING CHANGE IN MY FORTUNES +XXI. MY DIVERSIONS: COUNT GIRALDI +XXII. I WORK FOR AURELIA, AND HEAR OF HER +XXIII. AURELIA FORGIVES +XXIV. VIRGINIA VEXES +XXV. I PREPARE FOR BLISS +XXVI. I DISAPPOINT MY FRIENDS +XXVII. I SLAY A MAN +XXVIII. VIRGINIA ON HER METTLE +XXIX. I TAKE SANCTUARY +XXX. I MARRY AND GO TO LUCCA +XXXI. MY ADVENTURES AT THE INN +XXXII. WE LIVE HAPPILY IN LUCCA +XXXIII. TREACHERY WORKS AGAINST US +XXXIV. I FALL IN WITH THE PLAYERS +XXXV. TEMPTED IN SIENA, BELVISO SAVES ME +XXXVI. MY UNREHEARSED EFFECT AND ITS MIDNIGHT SEQUEL +XXXVII. I COMMIT A DOUBLE MURDER +XXXVIII. AN UNEXPECTED MESSENGER LIFTS ME UP +XXXIX. VIRGINIA DECLINES THE HEIGHTS +XL. I GET RID OF MY ENEMY AND PART FROM MY FRIEND +XLI. I RETURN TO FLORENCE AND THE WORLD OF FASHION +XLII. I STAND AT A CROSS-ROAD +XLIII. AGITATIONS AT THE VILLA SAN GIORGIO +XLIV. I CONFRONT MY ENEMIES +XLV. THE MEETING +XLVI. THE DISCOVERY +XLVII. THE FINAL PROOF +XLVIII. THE LAST + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +The top-heavy, four-horsed, yellow old coach from Vicenza, which arrived +at Padua every night of the year, brought with it in particular on the +night of October 13, 1721, a tall, personable young man, an Englishman, +in a dark blue cloak, who swang briskly down from the coupe and asked in +stilted Italian for "La sapienza del Signer Dottor' Lanfranchi." From +out of a cloud of steam--for the weather was wet and the speaker +violently hot--a husky voice replied, "Eccomi--eccomi, a servirla." The +young man took off his hat and bowed. + +"Have I the honour to salute so much learning?" he asked courteously. +"Let me present myself to my preceptor as Mr. Francis Strelley of +Upcote." + +"His servant," said the voice from the cloud, "and servant of his +illustrious father. Don Francis, be accommodated; let your mind be at +ease. Your baggage? These fellows are here for it. Your valise? I carry +it. Your hand? I take it. Follow me." + +These words were accompanied by action of the most swift and singular +kind. Mr. Strelley saw two porters scramble after his portmanteaux, had +his valise reft from his hand, and that hand firmly grasped before he +could frame his reply. The vehemence of this large perspiring sage +caused the struggle between pride and civility to be short; such faint +protests as he had at command passed unheeded in the bustle and could +not be seen in the dark. + +Vehement, indeed, in all that he did was Dr. Porfirio Lanfranchi, +Professor of Civil Law: it was astonishing that a bulk so large and +loosely packed could be propelled by the human will at so headlong a +speed. Yet, spurred by that impetus alone, he pounded and splashed +through the puddled, half-lit street of Padua at such a rate that Mr. +Strelley, though longer in the leg, fully of his height, and one quarter +his weight, found himself trotting beside his conductor like any +schoolboy. The position was humiliating, but it did not seem possible to +escape it. The doctor took everything for granted; and besides, he so +groaned and grunted at his labours, his goaded flesh protested so +loudly, the pitfalls were so many, and the pace so severe, that nothing +in the world seemed of moment beyond preserving foothold. Along the +winding way--between the half-discerned arcades, palace gateways, black +entries, church portals--down the very middle of the street flew master +and pupil without word spoken. They reached the Pra, skirted its right- +hand boundary for some hundreds of yards, and came to the door of a +tall, narrow, white house. Upon this door the doctor kicked furiously +until it was opened; then, with a malediction upon the oaf who snored +behind it, up he blundered, three stairs at a time, Strelley after him +whether or no; and stayed not in his rush towards the stars until he had +reached the fourth-floor landing, where again he kicked at a door; and +then, releasing his victim's hand, took off hat and wig together and +mopped his dripping pate, as he murmured, "Chaste Madonna, what a +ramble! What a stroll for the evening, powerful Mother of us all!" Such +a stroll had never yet been taken by Mr. Francis Strelley of Upcote in +his one-and-twenty years' experience of legs; nor did he ever forget +this manner of being haled into Italy, nor lose his feeling of extremely +helpless youth in the presence of the doctor, his tutor and guardian. +But to suppose the business done by calculation of that remarkable man +is to misapprehend him altogether. Dr. Lanfranchi's head worked, as his +body did, by flashes. He calculated nothing, but hit at everything; hit +or miss, it might be--but "Let's to it and have done" was his battle- +cry. + +The lamp over the door of his apartment revealed him for the disorderly +genius he was--a huge, blotch-faced, tumble-bellied man, bullet-headed, +bull-necked, and with flashing eyes. Inordinate alike in appetite, mind +and action, he was always suffering for his furies, and always making a +fine recovery. Just now he was at the last gasp for a breath, or so you +would have said to look at him. But not so; his exertions were really +his stimulant. Presently he would eat and drink consumedly, drench +himself with snuff, and then spend half the night with his books, +preparing for to-morrow's lecture. Of this sort was Dr. Porfirio +Lanfranchi, who had more authority over the wild students of Padua than +the Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor and Senate put together. + +The same lamp played upon the comely and ingenuous face, upon the +striking presence of Mr. Strelley, and showed him a good-looking, good- +tempered, sanguine young man of an appearance something less than his +age. He was tall and supple, wore his own fair hair tied with a ribbon, +was blue-eyed and bright-lipped, and had a notable chin--firm, square at +the jaw, and coming sharply to a point. He looked you straight in the +face--such was his habit--but by no means arrogantly or with defiance; +seriously rather, gravely and courteously, as if to ask, "Do I take your +precise meaning to be--?" Such a look was too earnest for mere good +manners; he was serious; there was no laughter in him, though he was not +of a melancholy sort. He pondered the world and its vagaries and +examined them, as they presented themselves in each case, UPON THE +MERITS. This, which was, I think, his strongest characteristic, should +show that he lacked the humorous sense; and he did. He had no time to +laugh; wondering engaged him. The life of the world on its round showed +him miracles daily; he looked for them very often, but more frequently +they thrust themselves upon him. Sunrise now--what an extraordinary +thing! He never ceased to be amazed at that. The economy of the moon, +too, so exquisitely adapted to the needs of mankind! Nations, tongues +(hardly to be explained by the sublime folly of a Babel), the reverence +paid to elders, to women; the sense of law and justice in our kind: in +the leafy shades of Upcote in Oxfordshire, he had pondered these things +during his lonely years of youth and adolescence--had pondered, and in +some cases already decided them UPON THE MERITS. This was remarkably so +in the matter of Betty Coy, as he will tell you for himself before long. +Meantime, lest I keep Dr. Lanfranchi too long upon the threshold of his +own house, all I shall add to my picture of his pupil now is that he was +the eldest son and third child of Squire Antony Strelley of Upcote, a +Catholic, non-juring, recusant, stout old gentleman of Oxfordshire, and +of Dame Mary, born Arundell, his wife; and that he was come to study the +moral and civil law at this famous University of Padua, like many an +Englishman of his condition before him. He was twenty-one years of age, +had as much money as was good for him and much more poetry than enough +in his valise--to say nothing of the germ of those notes from which he +afterwards (long afterwards) compiled the ensuing memoirs. + +Dr. Lanfranchi had not said "Accidente!" more than twice, nor kicked his +door more than half a dozen times, before it was opened by a young and +pretty lady, who held a lamp above her head. She was, apparently, a very +young and very pretty, rather little, lady, and was dressed with some +care--but not more than her person deserved--in black and white. Her +dark hair, which was high upon her head, was crowned with a large +tortoiseshell comb. She held the lamp, as I say, above her as she +curtseyed, smiling, in the way. "Be very welcome, sir," she said, "and +be pleased to enter our house." It was charming to see how deftly she +dipped without spilling the lamp-oil, charming to see her little white +teeth as she smiled, her lustrous eyes shining in the light like large +stars. It was charming to see her there at all, for she was charming +altogether--in figure, in face and poise, in expression, which was that +of a graceful child playing housewife; lastly, in the benevolence, +curiosity and discretion which sat enthroned upon her smooth brow, like +a bench of Lords Justices, or of Bishops, if you prefer it. This was +none other than Dr. Porfirio's wife, as he then and there declared by +grunts. "Mia moglie--a servirla," he was understood to say; and pushed +his way into his house without ceremony, while Mr. Strelley, with much, +kissed the hand of his hostess. The salute, received with composure, was +rendered with a blush; for this, to be truthful, was the very first hand +ever saluted by the young gentleman. The fact says much for his +inexperience and right instinct at once. + +Quite at her ease, as if she were the mistress of a well-kissed hand, +was Signora Aurelia Lanfranchi, for that was her name, and had been so +for rather more than two years--quite at her ease and most anxious to +put Strelley there. Relieving him of his cloak and hat, of his sword, +pistols and other travelling gear, in spite of all protestations on his +part, she talked freely and on end about anything and nothing in a soft +voice which rose and died down like a summer wind, and betrayed in its +muffled tones--as if it came to him through silk--that she was not of +the north, but of some mellower, more sun-ripened land. She was in fact +of Siena, a Gualandi by birth, and extremely proud of it. Strelley was +so informed before he had been four-and-twenty hours in her company. But +now, having spoiled him of his defences, she invited him into the +salone, wooed him thither, indeed, with that sidelong head and sort of +sleek smile with which you coax a cat to come to your knee. Mr. Francis +would have followed her singing to the bonfire on such terms. + +At the table, which was liberal, was the learned doctor seated already, +napkin to chin. Mr. Strelley was shown his place, and expected to take +it while the fair housewife waited upon the two; and when he seemed +timid, she raised a wail of pretty protest and dragged him by the arm +towards the chair. It was absurd, it was preposterous, he was robbing +her of her pride. She had eaten long ago--besides, it was the woman's +place, and Nonna was in the kitchen, ashamed to appear in the state she +was in. Signor Francesco must please her in this--she would be vexed-- +and surely he would not vex his hostess. To this wilful chant the doctor +contributed his burden of "Che! che! S'accommodi!" and rapped with his +knife-handle upon the table. Old Nonna, toothless, bearded and scared, +popped her head beyond the kitchen door; to be short, insistence went to +a point where good manners could not follow. Mr. Francis sat himself +down, and Donna Aurelia, clapping her little hands, cried aloud that +victory was hers. "Quick, quick, Nonna, these signori are at table!" She +stormed into the kitchen, and speedily returned with a steaming and +savoury dish. She dispensed the messes, she poured the wine, she hovered +here and there--salt? pepper? cheese? yet a little bread? Madonna +purissima, she had forgotten the mustard! No! it was here--it was here! +There must have been more rejoicings over the recovery of the mustard +than were made for the victory of Lepanto. Betweenwhiles she talked +gaily or pathetically or intimately of things of which the guest had +known nothing, but immediately felt that he now knew all; the moral +lapses of this professor or that, the unparalleled slight offered to +Signora Pappagallo by Donna Susanna Tron, the storm of rain and thunder +on Tuesday week--no, it must have been Monday week; a scandal in the +Senate, a duel in the Pra, how the Avvocato Minghini was picked up dead +in Pedrocchi's--a meat-fly in his chocolate! Sparkling eyes, a delicate +flush, quick breath, a shape at once pliant and audacious, flashing +hands with which half her spells were woven--all these, and that +wailing, dragging, comico-tragic voice, that fatal appeal of the child, +trained by the wisdom of the wife, completed the rout of our youth. +Before supper was over he was her loyal slave. + +She insisted upon showing him his quarters. They were not, it seemed, +upon this floor, nor the next below--no, but on the next below that. +Signor Francesco must follow her as, lamp in hand, she went downstairs, +her high heels clattering like Spanish castanets. She opened his door +with a key which she then handed over to him: she showed him his +bedroom, his saloon. "Your citadel, Don Francis," she said, "your refuge +from my heedless tongue. Your chocolate shall be brought to you here, +but we hope you will give yourself the trouble to dine with us. +Generally my husband sups too late for your convenience. He is always at +the cafe till nine o'clock. He sits there with his friends and hears the +news, which he knows beforehand as well as they do. And when they have +done, he tells it all over again to them. This is the way with men; and +I sit at home and make my clothes. This also is the way with women, it +seems. There is no other." She stayed a few more minutes, chattering, +laughing and blushing; then with a sudden access of shyness wished him +"felicissima notte," and held him out her hand. Mr. Francis stooped over +it, and saluted it once more with profound respect. + +He was long in going to bed. He wrote furiously in his diary after a +space of restless contemplation, when he roamed across and across the +room. But now I must leave his raptures and himself to his own pen, +having got him inmate of a household where by ordinary he might have +lived a blameless three years. If, however, he had done that, I don't +suppose the singular memoirs which follow would ever have been written. + + + + +CHAPTER I + +MY EXORDIUM: A JUSTIFICATORY PIECE + + +If we soberly reflect upon the part which the trappings and mantlings of +men have played in their affairs, we shall not hesitate, I believe, to +put into that category many things which have hitherto been considered +far less occasional. What is honour but a garment? What money but a +walking-stick? What are fine manners but a wig? If I professed, instead +of abhorring, the Cynic school of philosophy, I might go on to ask what +were love but an ointment, or religion but a tinted glass. I can thank +my Redeemer, as I sit here in my green haven, with the stormy sea of my +troubles afar off, beating in vain against the walls of contentment, +that through all my vicissitudes I was never tempted to stray into such +blasphemous imaginations. Fool as I have been, and fool as I have +declared myself upon the forefront of this very book, I have never said +in my heart, THERE IS NO GOD; but much and loudly have maintained the +affirmative. And although I have been sadly, wickedly, detestably errant +from His way, there is one divine precept which I have never failed to +keep, and that is, LOVE ONE ANOTHER. All other affections, additions, +accidents, accessories of men, however, from the lowest, which is Money, +to the highest, which is Polite Education, I have been able to discard +without concern or loss of self-respect. This fact alone should furnish +good reason for my Memoirs, and commend them to the philosopher, the +poet, the divine, and the man of feeling. For true it is that I have +been bare to the shirt and yet proved my manhood, beaten like a thief +and yet maintained myself honest, scorned by men and women and yet been +ready to serve my fellows, held atheist by the godly and yet clung to my +Saviour's cross. In situations calculated to excite the contemptuous +ridicule of the meanest upon earth I have been satisfied that I was +neither contemptible nor reasonably ridiculous, and that while I might +herd with ruffians, and find in their society my most comfortable +conversation, I was the richer, partly for that I had lost in choosing +to consort with them, and partly for what I had gained. As having +nothing, yet possessing all things; as poor, yet making many rich--the +boast of St. Paul, the hope of St. Francis of Assisi! in those pithy +antitheses is the summa of my experience. + +Eldest son, but third child, of my parents, I was born upon the 4th of +October, in the year 1700; and for that reason and another (to which I +shall shortly allude) was named Francis, after the great Champion of our +faith commemorated upon my birthday. The other reason was that, oddly +enough, my mother, before my birth, had dreamed of him so persistently +and with particulars so unvaried that she gave my father no option but +to change the settled habits of our family and bestow upon me the name, +which he despised, of a patriarch whom he underrated. Her dream, +repeated, she told me, with exact fidelity and at regularly recurring +periods, was that she could see St. Francis standing on a wide sea-shore +between sand-dunes and the flood of waters--standing alone there with an +apple in his hand, which he held lightly, as if weighing it. By and by, +said my mother, she saw three women come slowly over the sandhills from +different points, one from the south, one from the north, and one from +the west; but they converged as they drew near to St. Francis, joined +hands, and came directly to him. The midmost of the three was like a +young queen; she on the side nearest the sea was bold and meagre; the +third was lovely, but disfigured by a scar. When they were come before +St. Francis, after reverences, they knelt down on his right hand and his +left, and the queenly woman in front of him. To her, courteously, he +first offered the apple, but she laughingly refused it. She of the scar, +when it was held before her, covered her face with her hands and shrank +away; but the hardy woman craned her head forward and bit into the apple +while it was yet in the saint's hand. Then the young queen would have +had it if she might, but was prevented by the biter, and the two +clamoured for it, silently, by gestures of the hands and eyes, but with +haste and passion. At this point, said my mother, her dream always +ended, and she never knew who had the apple. She fretted greatly because +of it, and was hardly recovered after I was born. + +My father, who disliked all women except my mother, and, Catholic as he +was, had scant respect for the mendicant orders, hated this dream, hated +to be reminded of it, hated the name which he had been persuaded into +giving me, and, as a consequence, I believe, never loved me. For +unnumbered generations of our family we had been Antonys, Gerards, +Ralphs, Martins; the name of Francis was unknown to the tree; he never +ceased to inveigh against it, and foretold the time when it would stand +out like a parasite upon its topmost shoot. "Your Italian ecstatic," he +told my mother, "began life by running away from his father and only +came back for the purpose of robbing him. He taught more people to live +by singing hymns than ever were taught before, and preached the virtues +of poverty, by which he intended the comfort it was for the blessed poor +to be kept snugly idle by the accursed rich. It never occurred to him to +reflect that, if everybody had been of his opinion, everybody would have +starved, the world would have stood still, and neither St. Ferdinand of +Spain, nor St. Edward the Confessor, nor Don John of Austria could have +become famous. As for your women and apples, the conjunction is +detestable. Cain was the result of one woman's desire for an apple, and +the siege of Troy that of another's. I don't wish this boy to grow up +either murderer or pretty Paris." + +The like of this speech, often repeated--indeed, never omitted when so I +happened to fall into some childish disgrace--may be imagined. It made +an outcast of me, an exile from my nursery days. I grew up lonely, +sullen, moody. I could not meet my father with any comfort to either of +us; and though I loved my mother, and she me, that cold shadow of his +prejudice seemed to be over my intercourse with her, to chill and check +those emotions which should glow naturally when a son stands in the +presence of his mother. To be brief, I was an unhappy, solitary lad, +with sisters much older and brothers much younger than himself; cut off, +too, by reason of religion, from the society of neighbours, from school +and college. Such companions as I could have were far below me in +station, and either so servile as to foster pride, or so insolent as to +inflame it. There was Father Danvers, it's true, that excellent Jesuit +and our chaplain; and there were books. I was by nature a strong, +healthy, active boy, but was driven by sheer solitariness to be +studious. If it had not turned out so, I know not what might have become +of me, at what untimely age I might have been driven to violence, crime, +God knows what. That there was danger of some such disaster Father +Danvers was well aware. My faults, as he did not fail to remind me week +by week, were obstinacy and pride of intellect; my weaknesses, lack of +proportion and what he was pleased to call perversity, by which I +suppose he meant a disposition to accept the consequences of my own +acts. I freely admit a personal trait which will be obvious as I +proceed. Trivial as it may seem, and does, at this time of writing, I +must record an instance of it, the last I was to exhibit in England. +Never vicious, I may sincerely say convinced, rather, that women are as +far above our spiritual as they are fatally within our material reach, +it was by my conduct to a woman that I fell into a way of life which +nobody could have anticipated. In my twentieth year, in a moment of +youthful ardour, I kissed Betty Coy, our dairymaid, over the cheese- +press, and was as immediately and as utterly confounded as she was. I +remember the moment, I remember her, a buxom, fresh-coloured young +woman, rosy red, her sleeves above her elbows, her "La, Mr. Francis, +what next?"--I remember all, even to my want of breath, suddenly cooled +passion, perplexity and flight. It is a moot point whether that last was +the act of a coward, but I can never allow it to be said that in what +followed I showed a want of courage. I devoted a day and night to +solitary meditation; no knight errant of old, watching his arms under +the moon, prayed more earnestly than I; and when I had fully made up my +mind to embrace what honour demanded of me, I sought out the girl, who +was again in the dairy, and in solemn form, upon my knees, offered her +my hand. Father Danvers, walking the terrace, was an accidental witness +of my declaration, and very properly told my father. Betty Coy, +unfortunate girl, was dismissed that evening; next day my father sent +for me. [Footnote: I need only say further of Betty that she, shortly +afterwards, married James Bunce, our second coachman at Upcote, and bore +him a numerous progeny, of whose progress and settlement in the world I +was able to assure the worthy parents.] + +It would be idle to rehearse the interview between an angry father and +an obdurate son. The more I said the angrier he got: the discrepancy +between us made a reasonable conclusion hopeless from the first. When he +cried, Did I mean to disgrace my name? and I replied, No, but on the +contrary I had been wishful to redeem it--"How, you fool," said he, "by +marrying a dairymaid?" "Sir," I answered, "by showing to the world that +when a gentleman salutes a virtuous female it is not his intention to +insult her." I was too old for the rod or I should have had it. As it +was, I received all the disgrace he could put me to--dismissed from his +presence, confined to my room, forbidden any society but that of Father +Danvers and my own thoughts. My infatuation, however, persisted, and +threatened to take the dangerous form of FRAUD. I could not for the life +of me see what else I could do to recover the girl's fair fame, +hopelessly compromised by me, than exhibit to the world at large the +only conceivable motive of my salute. I knew, immediately I had done it, +that I could not love Betty Coy, but I believed that I could prove the +tender husband. + +Correspondence to this effect--all on my side--with her parents decided +mine to hasten my removal abroad. It had always been intended that I +should study in Padua, rather than in Paris or Salamanca, if for no +better reason than that that had been Father Danvers' University, and +that he knew many of the professors there--among others, Dr. Porfirio +Lanfranchi, who became my host and guardian, and had been class-mate and +room-mate of our chaplain's. These things matter very little: I was not +consulted in them, and had no objections, as I had no inclinations, for +any particular residence in the world. Before my twenty-first birthday-- +I forget the exact date--the hour arrived when I received on my knees my +mother's tearful blessing, embraced my brothers and sisters, kissed my +father's hand, and departed for Oxford, where I caught the London mail; +and, after a short sojourn in the capital, left England for ever. + +I conceive that few further prolegomena are necessary to the +understanding of the pages which follow. Before I touched the Italian +soil I was, in the eyes of our law, a grown man, sufficiently robust and +moderately well-read. I was able to converse adequately in French, +tolerably in Italian, had a fair acquaintance with the literatures of +those countries, some Latin, a poor stock of Greek. I believe that I +looked younger than my age, stronger than my forces, better than my +virtues warranted. Women have praised me for good looks, which never did +me any good that I know of; I may say without vanity that I had the +carriage and person of a gentleman. I was then, as I have ever been, +truly religious, though I have sometimes found myself at variance with +the professional exponents of it. In later years I became, I believe, +something of a mystic, apt to find the face of God under veils whose +quality did not always commend itself to persons of less curious +research. On the other hand, I do not pretend to have kept the Decalogue +of Moses in its integrity, but admit that I have varied it as my +occasions seemed to demand. I have slain my fellow-man more than once, +but never without deliberate intention so to do. If I have trespassed +with King David of Israel, I feel sure that the circumstances of my +particular offence are not discreditable to me; and it is possible that +he had the same conviction. For the rest, I have purposely discarded +many things which the world is agreed to think highly necessary to a +gentleman, but which I have proved to be of no value at all. I will only +add this one observation more. For my unparalleled misfortunes in every +kind of character and dangerous circumstance I am willing to admit that +I have nobody to thank but myself. And yet--but the reader must be +judge--I do not see how, in any single case, I could have acted +otherwise than as I did. What, then! we carry our fates with us from the +cradle to the grave, even as the Spinning Women themselves wind that +which was appointed them to wind, and ply the shears and make fruitless +their toil when they must; and all that we acquire upon our journey does +but make that burden more certainly ours. What was I but a predestined +wanderer--and fool if you will--burdened with my inheritance of +honourable blood, of religion, of candour, and of unprejudiced enquiry? +How under the sun could I---? But let the reader be judge. + +I left England early in September, made a good passage to Genoa, and +from thence proceeded by easy stages to Padua. Arriving there by the +coach on the night of October 13, I was met by my host and tutor, Dr. +Porfirio Lanfranchi, and by him taken to his lodgings on the Pra della +Valle and introduced to the charitable ministrations of his young and +beautiful wife--the fair, the too-fair Donna Aurelia, with whom, I shall +not disguise from the reader, I fell romantically and ardently in love. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +AURELIA AND THE DOCTOR + + +It was, I know very well, the aim and desire of this beautiful lady to +approve herself mother to the exile thus cast upon her hands, and it was +so as much by reason of her innate charity as of her pride in her +husband's credit. To blame an ambition so laudable would be impossible, +nor is blame intended to lie in recording the fact that she was a year +my junior, though two years a wife. Such was the case, however, and it +did not fit her for the position she wished to occupy. Nor indeed did +her beauties of person and mind, unless a childish air and sprightly +manner, cloudy-dark hair, a lovely mouth and bosom of snow, a caressing +voice, and candour most surprising because most innocent, can be said to +adapt a young lady to be mother to a young man. Be these things as they +may--inflaming arrows full of danger, shafts of charity, pious +artillery, as you will--they were turned full play upon me. From the +first moment of my seeing her she set herself to put me at ease, to make +me an intimate of her house, to make herself, I may say in no wrong +sense, an inmate of my heart--and God knoweth, God knoweth how she +succeeded. + +Aurelia! Impossibly fair, inexpressibly tender and wise, with that +untaught wisdom of the child; daughter of pure religion, as I saw thee +at first and can see thee still, can that my first vision of thee ever +be effaced? Nay, but it is scored too deeply in my heart, is too surely +my glory and my shame. Still I can see that sweet stoop of thy humility, +still thy hands crossed upon thy lovely bosom, still fall under the +spell of thy shyly welcoming eyes, and be refreshed, while I am stung, +by the gracious greeting of thy lips. "Sia il ben venuto, Signer +Francesco," saidst thou? Alas, what did I prove to thee, unhappy one, +but il mal venuto, the herald of an evil hour? What did I offer thee in +exchange for thy bounty but shame and salt tears? What could be my +portion but fruitless reproach and footsore pilgrimage from woe to woe? +But I forget myself. I am not yet to disinter these unhappy days. + +It is not to be supposed from this apostrophe that when I fell at once +to love my master's wife I saw in her more than my lamp and my saint, +the gracious presence which should "imparadise," in Dante's phrase, my +mind. I was an honest lad, very serious and very simple. Perhaps I was a +fool, but I was a pure fool: and he had been a very monster of depravity +who could have cast unwholesome regard upon a welcome so generous and +modest as hers. I declare that she was never anything to me but a holy +emanation, not to be approached but on the knees, not to be looked upon +but through a veil. So from this page until near the end of my long +history she will appear to the reader. I never had an unworthy thought +of her, never an unworthy desire. I never credited her with more than +charity towards myself; and if I gloried in the fact that I was +privileged to love so wondrous a being, the thought humiliated me at the +same time. I was conscious of my nothingness before her worthiness, and +desperate to fit myself for her high society. A noble rage for +excellence possessed me; like any champion or knight of old I strove to +approve my manhood, only that I might lay the spoils of it at her sacred +feet. + +By origin Aurelia was a Sienese, the daughter of the ancient, noble but +reduced family of Gualandi, and had, without knowing it, caught the +fancy of Dr. Lanfranchi when he was in her native city upon some +political question or another. At the age of eighteen she had been made +the subject of a marriage treaty between her mother and this learned man +of fifty--a treaty conducted by correspondence and without any by-or- +with-your-leave of hers. It may be doubted whether she had done much +more than see and quiz her husband until she was brought to his house, +to be mistress of that and slave of its master. Doing violence to the +imaginations of a lover, I can look back upon her now with calmness, and +yet see no flaw upon her extraordinary perfections. I can still see her +lovely in every part, a bright, glancing, various creature, equally +compounded of simplicity and common sense. Her greatest charm was +precisely what we call charm--a sweetly willing, pliant disposition, an +air of gay seriousness, such as a child has, and a mood which could run +swiftly, at the touch on some secret spring, from the ripple of laughter +to the urgency of tears. She was very devout, but not at all in our way, +who must set our God very far off if we are to consider His awful +nature; she carried her gaiety with her into church, and would laugh in +the face of the Blessed Virgin or our Saviour just as freely as in that +of the greatest sinner of us all. Her carriage and conversation with +Heaven were, indeed, exactly those which she held towards the world, and +were such that it was impossible not to love her, and yet, for an honest +man who desired to remain one, equally impossible to do it. For although +she was made in shape, line and feature to be a man's torment and +delight, she carried her beauties so easily, valued them so staidly, and +considered them so unaffectedly her husband's property, that he would +have been a highway thief who had dared anything against her. + +Here, indeed, was to be reckoned with that quality of strong common +sense, without which she had been no Tuscan girl. She had it in a +remarkable degree, as you may judge when I say that it reconciled her to +her position of wife to a vast, disorderly, tyrannical man nearly old +enough to be her grandfather. It enabled her to weigh the dignity, ease +and comfort of the Casa Lanfranchi against any romantic picture which a +more youthful lover could paint before her eyes. I am convinced--the +conviction was, it will be seen, forced upon me--that not only was she a +loyal, obedient and cheerful, but also a loving wife to this huge and +blusterous person, of whom nevertheless she was a good deal afraid. For +if he fondled her more than was becoming, he stormed at her also in a +way not tolerable. + +When Dr. Lanfranchi met me on my arrival, I remember that he took my +hand in his own and never let go of it until he had me in his house. +This made me feel like a schoolboy, and I never lost the feeling of +extreme youth in his eyes. I believe now that his terrific silence, his +explosive rages, mock ceremoniousness, and startling alternations were +all parts of his method towards his pupils, for my experiences of them +were not peculiar. I have seen him cow a whole class by a lift of his +great square head, and most certainly, whatever scandalous acts may have +disgraced the university in my time, they never occurred where Dr. +Lanfranchi was engaged. Burly, bulky, blotched as he was, dirty in his +person, and in his dress careless to the point of scandal, he had the +respect of every student of the Bo. He was prodigiously learned and a +great eater. The amount of liquid he could absorb would pass belief: it +used to be said among us that he drank most comfortably, like a horse, +out of a bucket. His lectures were extraordinary, crammed with +erudition, which proceeded from him by gasps, jerks, and throttled cries +for mercy on his failing breath, and illustrated by personalities of the +most shocking description--he spared no deformity or defect of any one +of us if it happened to engage his eye. Sometimes a whole hour's lecture +would be consumed in a scandalous tale of Rome or Naples, sometimes +indeed it would be a reminiscence of his own youthful days, which +policy, if not propriety, should have counselled him to omit. Yet, as I +say, he never lost the respect of the class, but was feared, served, and +punctually obeyed. + +It was much the same at home--that is, his methods and their efficacy +were the same. In private life he was an easy, rough, facetious +companion, excessively free in his talk, excessively candid in the +expression of his desires, and with a reserve of stinging repartee which +must have been more blessed to give than to receive. Terrible storms of +rage possessed him at times, under which the house seemed to rock and +roll, which sent his sweet wife cowering into a corner. But, though she +feared him, she respected and loved the man--and I was to find that out +to my cost before my first year was out. + +Meantime that year of new experience, uplifting love and growth by +inches must ever remain wonderful to me--with Aurelia's music in my ears +and Love's wild music in my heart. Happy, happy days of my youth! + +"Dichosa edad y siglos dichosos aquellos, a quien los antiguos pusieron +nombre de dorados!" cried the knight of La Mancha; and I may call that +Paduan year my age of song. It ran its course to the sound of flutes, +harps, and all sweet music. I never knew, until I knew Aurelia, that +such exulting tides of melody could pour from human throat. + +When Aurelia rose in the morning and threw open her green shutters, if +the sunlight was broad upon the Pra, flecked upon the trees, striking +the domes and pinnacles of the Santo with fire, she sang full diapason +with that careless fling of the voice, that happy rapture, that bravura +which makes the listener's heart go near to burst with her joy. If rain +made the leaves to droop, or scudded in sheets along the causeways, she +sang plaintively, the wounded, aggrieved, hurt notes of the nightingale. +Her song then would be some old-remembered sorrow of her land--of +Ginevra degli Almieri, the wandering wife; of the Donna Lombarda, who +poisoned her lover; or of the Countess Costanza's violated vow. So she +shared confidences with the weather, and so unbosomed herself to nature +and to God. Meantime she was as busy as a nesting-bird. She made her +doctor's chocolate, and took it in to him with the gazette or the news- +sheet; she would darn a hole in my stocking, on my leg, without pricking +me at all, look me over, brush me, re-tie my hair, pat me into order +with a critical eye, and send me off to my classes or study with a sage +counsel to mind my books, and a friendly nod over her shoulder as we +each went our ways. She would go to mass at the Santo, to market in the +Piazza; she would cheapen a dress-length, chat with a priest, admonish +old Nonna, the woman of the house--all before seven o'clock in the +morning; and not before then would she so much as sip a glass of coffee +or nibble a crust of bread. On Sundays and Festas she took her husband's +arm and went to church as befitted, wearing her glazed gown of silver +grey, her black lace zendado. She took a fan as well as a service-book-- +and happy was I to carry them for her; she had lace mittens on her hands +and a fine three-cornered hat on her head. She looked then what she +truly was, the thrifty young housewife, who, if she was as lovely as the +summer's dawn, was so only by the way. And thrifty she proved herself. +For when she had kneeled and crossed herself twice towards the altar, +she pulled up the shining silk gown all about her middle and sat down +upon her petticoat. + +Exquisite, fragrant, piteous Aurelia! Is it wonderful that I loved her? +And who was I--O heaven! What sort of lover was I to disturb her sweetly +ordered life? To that I must next address myself, cost me what it may. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +MY DANGEROUS PROGRESS + + +I was fairly diligent during my year of study at Padua, fairly punctual +in attendance at my classes and lectures, fairly regular in my letter- +writing home. I acquired no vices, though there were plenty to be got, +was not a wine-bibber, a spendthrift, nor a rake. I was too snug in the +Casa Lanfranchi to be tempted astray, and any truantry of mine from the +round of my tasks led me back to Aurelia and love. To beat up the low +quarters of the town, to ruffle in the taverns and chocolate houses with +sham gentlemen, half frocked abbes and rips; to brawl and haggle with +vile persons and their bullies, set cocks a-fighting or rattle the dice- +box in the small hours--what were these pleasures to me, who had Aurelia +to be with? From the first she had taken her duties to heart, to mother +me, to keep me out of harm's way, to maintain her husband's credit by +making sure of mine. These things she set herself to do with a generous +zest which proved her undoing. Slowly, and from the purest of motives, +her influence upon me, her intercourse with me grew and spread. Slowly +the hours I spent with her extended--unperceived by her, exquisitely +perceived by me--until, at the date to which I am now come, near a year +after my entering the university, I may say there was not a spare moment +of the day, from my rising to my going to bed, which was not passed with +Aurelia. + +To make the full import of this plain to the reader I must particularise +to some extent. My own rooms, I have explained, were in the same house, +two storeys below the Lanfranchi apartment. In them I was served with my +chocolate by old Nonna the servant, and was understood to leave them at +seven o'clock in the morning and not to return until midday, when I +dined with my hosts. The afternoons were my own. I was at liberty to +take horse exercise--and I kept two saddle-horses for the purpose--or to +make parties of pleasure with such of my fellow-students as were +agreeable to me. At six I supped with Aurelia alone, and at seven I was +supposed to retire--either to my own room for study and bed, or into the +town upon my private pleasures. These, I say, were the rules laid down +by Aurelia and her husband at the beginning of my residence in Padua. By +almost imperceptible degrees they were relaxed, by other degrees equally +hard to measure they were almost wholly altered. + +The first to go was the practice of taking my chocolate abed. One +morning Nonna was late, and I rose without it. The same thing happened +more than twice, so then I went upstairs to find out what had hindered +her. There I found my Aurelia fresh from Mass and market, drinking her +morning coffee. Explanations, apologies, what-not, ensued; she invited +me to share her repast. From that time onwards I never broke my fast +otherwise than with her. So was it with other rules of intercourse. The +doctor was a machine in the ordering of his life. His chocolate at six, +his clothes at eight; he left the house at nine and returned at noon. He +left it again at two in the afternoon and returned at nine in the +evening; he supped; he went to bed on the stroke of ten. Except on +Sundays, high festivals, the first, the middle, and the last day of +carnival, through all the time of my acquaintance with him, I never knew +him break these habits but once, and that was when his mother died at +Mestre and he had to attend the funeral. On that occasion he must rise +at six, and miss his dinner at noon. He was furious, I never saw a man +so angry. + +I cannot tell how or when it was that I first spent the whole of my +afternoons in Aurelia's society, nor how or when it was that, instead of +leaving her house at seven in the evening, I stayed on with her till the +stroke of nine, within a few minutes of the doctor's homecoming. It is a +thing as remarkable as true that nothing is easier to form than a habit, +and nothing more difficult to break. Formed and unbroken these habits +were, unheeded by ourselves, but not altogether unperceived. There was +one member of the household who perceived them, and never approved. I +remember that old Nonna used to shake her finger at us as we sat +reading, and how she used to call out the progress of the quarters from +the kitchen, where she was busy with her master's supper. But my beloved +mistress could not, and I would not, take any warning. It became a sort +of joke between Aurelia and me to see whether Nonna would miss one of +the quarters. She never did; and as often as not, when nine struck and I +not gone, she would bundle me out of doors by the shoulders and scold +her young mistress in shrill Venetian, loud enough for me to hear at my +own chamber door. Aurelia used to tell me all she had said next morning. +She had an excellent gift of mimicry; could do Nonna and (I grieve to +say) the doctor to the life. + +The end of this may be guessed. Privilege after privilege was carelessly +accorded by Aurelia, and greedily possessed by me. At the end of six +months' residence those three still evening hours existed, not for the +blessedness of such intercourse alone, but to be crowned by the +salutation of an adorable hand; and when I retired at last, it was not +to my bed, but to my window; to the velvet spaces of the night, to the +rustling trees, the eloquent congress of the stars; to sigh my secret +abroad to those sympathetic witnesses, to whisper her name, to link it +with my own; to tell, in a word, to the deep-bosomed dark all the daring +fancies of a young man intoxicated with first love. And from privilege +to privilege I strode, a fine conqueror. A very few months more, and not +only was I for ever with Aurelia, but there was no doubt nor affectation +of concealment on my part of how I stood or wished to stand before her. +I postulated myself, in fine, as her servant in amours--cavalier I will +not say, for that has an odious meaning in Italy, than which to describe +my position nothing could be wider of the truth. I did but ask liberty +to adore, sought nothing further, and got nothing else. This, upon my +honour, was ever the sum of my offence--up to my last day of bliss. + +You would have supposed that she could hardly have misunderstood the +state of my affairs, had I said or done nothing. So quick-witted was +she, it is inconceivable. But as time went on, and success with it, I +quite got out of the way of concealment, and spoke of myself openly as +her slave. She used to laugh at me, pretend to think me an absurd boy; +and now and then threatened (and that half in jest) to tell her husband. +I know very well that she never did. The padron, we used to call him to +each other, having taken the name from old Nonna. It was one of our +little foolish jokes to pretend the house an inn, he the landlord, and +ourselves travellers met there by hazard. We had a many familiar, +private sayings and nicknames of the sort, secret cues to look across +the table when he was there, and smile at each other--as when he railed +(as he was fond of doing) at Tuscan ways and speech, at the usage of +Siena, her own country, or when (after his meal) he made a noise, +sucking his teeth. Sweetly pleasant, dangerous days--were they as lovely +to her as to me? How can I tell? There was no doubt but she knew me +thoroughly. The little pleasant encroachments of mine, stolen upon her +unawares, were now never checked--I am speaking of the end of my first +year, when I could hold her hand unreproved, and kiss it as often as I +pleased. I took and kept, and exhibited to her without embarrassment, +little trifles of hers--a hair-ribbon, a garter, a little trodden Venice +slipper; if she asked for them back, it only provoked me to keep them +closer to my heart. She saw no harm in these foolish, sweet things: she +felt herself to be my senior; by comparison with her position, mine was +that of a child. To the very end she maintained the fiction that she was +my foster-mother, responsible to my parents for my advancement in +education and morals. Assuredly she taught me her tongue and kept me out +of gross iniquity; but equally certain is it that I learned more than +Italian. + +I learned, however, to be very fluent in that, for, inspired by love of +Aurelia, I attacked it with extraordinary passion. All Italy, and above +all Tuscany, took sacred air from her; there grew to be an aureole about +everything which owned kinship with her. I was a severe ritualist, as +every lover is: it became a blasphemy in me to think of Aurelia in any +form of words but those of her own honey tongue. And that was of the +purest in the land. She had very little Venetian at any time, and kept +what she had for her husband and household management. To me she +employed her native speech, not the harsh staccato of Florence, a +stringent compound of the throat and the teeth, but the silken caressing +liquids of Siena, the speech of women to their lovers, of St. Catherine +to her Spouse. So I became expert in Tuscan, and after the same fashion +in Tuscany also. She was deeply and burningly proud of that land of art +and letters; she knew something of its history, something (if not much) +of its monuments. Such as it was it sufficed me. Inspired by her, I +began the study of literature, and if at first I read disingenuously, I +went on to read with profit. The "Vita Nova" of Dante enabled me, +perhaps, to touch upon topics with her which I could not have dared to +do without its moving text; but it won me to the heart of the great +poet. I walked the dire circles of Hell, I scaled the Mount of +Purgatory, I flew from ring to ring of the Heaven of pure light. Aurelia +was my Beatrice; but the great Florentine and his lady were necessarily +of the party. And then I began, as men will, to take the lead. Aurelia +had exhausted her little store when she had named Giotto and Dante: I +took her further afield. We read the Commentaries of Villani, +Malavolti's History of Siena, the Triumphs of Petrarch, his Sonnets +(fatal pap for young lovers), the Prince of Machiavelli, the Epics of +Pulci and Bojardo, and Ariosto's dangerously honeyed pages. Here Aurelia +was content to follow me, and I found teaching her to be as sweet in the +mouth as learning of her had been. I took enormous pains and consumed +half the night in preparation for the morrow's work. I abridged +Guicciardini's intolerable History, I hacked sense out of Michael +Angelo's granite verses, weeded Lorenzo of disgustfulness, Politian of +pedantry. The last thing we read together was the Aminta of Tasso; the +last thing I had of her was the "Little Flowers of St. Francis," a +favourite book of her devotion. My Saint, she called St. Francis of +Assisi--as in one sense no doubt he was; but, "Aurelia," I had replied, +kissing both her hands, "you know very well who is my saint. I should +have been named Aurelius." She had said, "It is a good name, Aurelio. +There are many who have it in my country." "You shall call me nothing +else, "said I then; but she shook her head, and hung it down as she +whispered softly, "I like best Francesco," and then, so low as to be +hardly audible, "Checho," the Sienese diminutive for my name of Francis. +Old Nonna came in to hound me from the room. That night--it was my last +but one--Aurelia came to the door with me, and let me kiss her two hands +again. + +I have come to the hour of my destruction--the 16th of June, 1722. The +smouldering fires which had laboured in my breast for nine months burst +into a flame which overwhelmed both Aurelia and me. I committed an +unpardonable sin, I endeavoured to repair it with an act of well-nigh +incredible temerity. What occurred on that night is, in fact, the origin +of these Memoirs and their sole justification. The dawn of that +momentous day found her a loving and honoured wife; and its close left +her, innocent as she was, under the worst suspicion which can fall upon +a good woman. It found me a hopeful gentleman of means and prospects; +and I went out of it into the dark, a houseless wanderer, to consort +with profligates, thieves and murderers. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +FATAL AVOWAL + + +I shall not deny that the overnight's tenderness may have wrought in me +the dangerous ecstasy which was to prove so cruel a requital of it; for +it is of the nature of love to be inflamed by the least hint of a +neighbouring, answering fire. I believe that I could have been for ever +Aurelia's mute, adoring, unasking slave, but for the fact that she had +sighed, and whispered me "Checho," and twice suffered me to kiss her +hands. Fatal benevolence that lifted suddenly the meek! Fatal wealth +bestowed that made the pauper purse-proud! I had passed the night in a +transport of triumphant joy; throughout the day succeeding it I felt my +wings. "Nunc," I could exclaim with Propertius. + +"Nunc mihi summa licet sidera contingere plantis." And that exalted +strain, which was my perdition, alas, was hers also! + +That which followed was a very hot still night, with thunder in the +Euganean hills; and Aurelia may have been lax or languid, or in my +miserable person some of the summer's fire may have throbbed. It was +late, near nine o'clock; already old Nonna had given three warnings of +the hour, and was only delaying the last while she stirred the +ingredients of the doctor's minestrone over the fire. The knowledge that +she must come in, and I go out, shortly, at any moment, fretted my quick +senses to fever. I looked for ever at Aurelia with a wildly beating +heart; she, on her side, was aware of my agitation, and breathed the +shorter for the knowledge. She sat by the open window mending a pair of +stays; at her side was her work table, upon that her three-wicked lamp. +I leaned over a chair exactly in front of her, watching every slight +tremor or movement, just as a dog watches a morsel which he longs for +but is forbidden to touch. Thrice a dog that I was! I felt like a dog +that night. + +We had read little and spoken less; the airless night forbade it; for +the last half hour no words had passed between us but a faint, "Ah, go +now, go now, Checho," from her, and from me my prayer of "Not yet, not +yet--let me stay with you." Aurelia was tired, and now and again put +down her work with a sigh, to gaze out of the window into the soft deeps +of the night, gemmed as it was with fireflies and wavering moths. How +prone is youth to fatuous conceits! I imagined that she suffered with +me; I identified her pains with mine; I thought that she loved me and +had not the heart to bid me begone. That new wicked feeling of triumph, +that new exultation in manly strength, that delirium, that poisonous +frenzy, came flooding over me. Some gesture of hers more than commonly +eloquent may have set me on fire; I may have seen her tremble, I may +have guessed a tear. More insensate folly than mine can be lent by youth +on less security than this. For there sat I quivering with love, and +there before me, unlaced, in loose attire, in all the luxury of +lassitude, breathed and sighed the loveliest of women. I cannot explain +what I dare not extenuate: dowering her with my own madness, I forgot +her honour, my own, the world, and God. I leaned forward towards her, +took her languid hand, and, holding it in my own, said quietly--very +quietly, "I love you--you are my soul." + +She laughed gently, then sighed. "You must not say so to me, even if it +is true," she said. I repeated the words, "I love you--you are my soul," +and she was silent. + +I said, after a pause, during which I could hear the furious beating of +my heart, "I am at my prayers, in my church, before my altar. Your eyes +are the candles, your heart is the altar stone. I kneel--" and I did +kneel. Then she grew alarmed, and was for stopping me. + +"Checho," she said, "this is foolish, and I must not listen. I beg you +to get up; I know it is late. Please to ask Nonna what's o'clock. I am +serious." + +"And I," I said, "am serious. The time is full--the time is now. Oh, +Aurelia," I said urgently, "my saint and my lamp--" + +"Hush, hush," she said, and tried to regain her hand. "No, but you must +be quiet. Listen!" But I could not now be stopped. + +"Oh," I cried out, "I have been silent too long, and now I must speak. +For six months I have been silent; but now there is death in silence. I +shall die of love, and it will be you that will have killed me." I knelt +again, and again said, "I love you." + +"Oh, no, no," she said, but her protest was fainter. I repeated it, and +now she made no protest. God help me, I thought her won. I flung myself +violently near, and in my agitation knocked over my chair. As that fell +backwards, so fell I forwards to her knees. I clasped them closely, +studded kisses on her hands, I raised my face to hers, and saw her the +lovelier for her pale terror. She was speechless. + +"Listen to me, Aurelia, youngest of the angels," I began, and just then +old Nonna burst in upon me crying "Ruin!" I sprang to my feet, and +Aurelia away, her work table went down, the lamp with it; we were all +three in darkness. + +"Ruin!" said Nonna, "I tell you, ruin! That wretched boy--the padron is +on the stair." + +Aurelia shrieked that she was undone; Nonna, who had flown back into the +kitchen, returned with a lamp. I saw my beautiful mistress distraught +and ran forward to comfort her. She shrank from me with horror, as well +she might. "Farewell, lady," I said, "I will go to meet what I deserve." + +I took my cloak, hat and sword, and went to the door, but Nonna caught +me by the skirt, and, "Is he mad then?" she cried; and, "What are you +about, Don Francis? Will you meet the padron on the stair and let him up +to see this wreckage? Madonna purissima, what is one to do with a boy of +this sort?" + +"Let me go," said I, "to my proper fate. I know very well what I have +done." It may be that I did, and I hope that I did; but very certainly I +did not know what to do next; nor did Aurelia. Sobbing and trembling she +lay upon Nonna's breast, imploring her to save us both. I heard the +professor clear his throat upon the floor below, and knew that I was too +late. Nonna took the command. + +She flung open the door of the clothes-press, and, "In with you," says +she to me. "Little fool! a pretty state of things!" She turned to her +mistress, "Mistress, go you down and meet him. Keep him at the door-- +hold him in talk--hug, kiss, throttle, what you will or what you can, +while I set this to rights." Aurelia, drying her eyes, flew to the door; +and Nonna then, taking me by the shoulders, fairly stuffed me into the +clothes-press, among Aurelia's gowns, which hung there demurely in bags. +"Keep you quiet in there, foolish, wicked young man," said she, "and +when they've gone to bed maybe I'll let you out. If I do, let me tell +you, it will be because you have done so much folly and wickedness as no +one in his senses could have dared. That shows me that you are mad, and +one must pity, not blame, the afflicted." + +All this time she was working like a woolcarder at the disordered room, +but could not refrain her tongue from caustic comments upon my +behaviour. "Wicked, wicked Don Francis! Nay, complete and perfect fool +rather, who, because a lady is kind to you, believes her to be dying for +your love. Your love indeed! What is your precious love worth beside the +doctor's? Have you a position the greatest in the university? Have you +years, gravity, authority, money in the funds? Why, are you breeched +yet? Have you tired of sugar-sticks? What next?" So she went on +grumbling and scolding until the doctor came grunting to the open door +with Aurelia upon his arm. + +He was, as usual, out of breath and angry. He was also, I judged, +embarrassed and fretted by the ministrations of Aurelia. + +"My curse," I heard him say, "my undying curse upon the man who built +this house. Twice a day am I to scale a mountain? Wife, wife, you +strangle me!" + +"Oh, dear friend! Oh, dear friend!" 'Twas the voice of Aurelia. "Are you +come back to your poor girl?" + +"Hey," cried he testily, "do I seem to be absent? I wish you would talk +sense. These infernal stairs rob us all of our wits, it seems." + +"I am very foolish," said Aurelia, and I heard her trouble in her tones. +"I have been waiting so long--so very long." + +"There, my child, there," said he, and kissed her. "Now be pleased to +let me into my house." With a sigh, which I heard, she released him, and +he came stamping into the room. I trembled in my shameful retreat. + +The reflections of a young man of sensibility, ear-witness against his +will of the chaste and sanctioned familiarities of a man and wife, must +always be mingled of sweet and bitter; but when to the natural force of +these is added horror of a crime and the shame arising from discovery of +utter delusion, the reader may imagine the stormy sea of torment in +which I laboured. In a word, I was to discover a new Aurelia--Aurelia +the affectionate wife, the careful minister; not the adored mistress of +a feverish boy, the heroine of a Vita Nuova, the Beatrice of a, I fear +me, profane comedy, the beloved of Aminta and the Pastor Fido. I own +that I was dismayed, wounded in my tenderest part, at the discovery. +Aurelia had suddenly become a stranger to my heart. I was nothing, less +than nothing, to her now that she was alone with her husband. Beside the +care of his appetite for food, my labours upon Guicciardini--the toil of +a month of nights--was as the work of an ant in the dust. Beside her +interest in his gossip of the schools, the coffee-house, the street +corner, my exposition of the Sonnets of Petrarca was as the babble of +school children at play in the Pra; beside her attentions to his clumsy +caresses, her tenderness to me hour after hour was but the benevolence +of a kindly woman to a lad left on her hands. Oh, bitter tonic +discovery! How bitter it was I leave my reader to determine. I do not +feel equal to the task of relating all that I overheard; if I could have +stopped my ears, I would have done it. She tempted him, beguiled him to +eat, to praise her, to be at ease, to love her. With that liquid tongue +of hers, which would have melted a flinty core, she talked of his and +her affairs; she was interested in his commentary upon the Pandects, she +was indignant at the jealousy of Dr. This, she made light of the malice +of Professor That. With flying feet from table to kitchen and back, with +dexterous hands at bottle, platter or napkin, she ministered to his +slightest whims. She refused to allow Nonna to wait upon him; she must +do everything for him for this once. + +And when, amid his flung ejaculations and bolted mouthfuls, between his +"Non c'e male," his "Buono, buono!" his "Ancora un po'," or "Dammi da +here," he could find time to ask her what this new alacrity of hers +meant on such a hot night of summer, with a touching falter of the voice +I heard her reply, "It is because--it is because--I have not always been +good to you, Porfirio. It is because--of late--this evening--I have much +wished for you to be here. It is because---" + +"Cospetto!" I heard the doctor cry, "what is the meaning of this? Come +here, my dear." And then, when she went to him and sat upon his knee, I +heard him murmur his endearments--ah, and I heard her soft and broken +replies! And I knew very well that in her heart she was reproaching +herself for what I alone had done, and by her humble appeal for kindness +was craving his forgiveness for offences for which I could never hope to +be forgiven. + +These terrible discoveries, far from making me cease to love Aurelia, +increased incalculably while they changed and purged my love. Pity and +terror, says Aristotle in his Poetics, are the soul's cathartics. Both +of these I felt, and emerged the cleaner. By the tune Aurelia had coaxed +her husband to come to bed, and had gone thither, with a kiss, herself, +I was half way to a great resolve, which, though it resulted in untold +misery of body, was actually, as I verily believe, the means of my +soul's salvation. Without ceasing for a moment to love Aurelia, I now +loved her honestly again. I could see her a wife, I could know her a +loving wife, without one unworthy thought; I could gain glory from what +was her glory, I could be enthusiastic upon those virtues in her which +to a selfish lover would have been the destruction of his hopes. In a +word, I loved her now because she loved another. + +There is nothing remarkable in my possession of feelings which no +honourable man should be without; nor can I see that what I was moved to +do, in consequence of having those feelings, was any way out of the +common. If the sweet subservience and careful ministry of Aurelia had +moved her husband's admiration, how much the more must they have moved +mine! And what is more natural to the ardent explorer than to announce +his discoveries? I had learned that I had loved an angelic being; what +wonder that I desired to inform the one person in the world who had a +right to know it, that such was my extreme privilege? Of this I am +content, reader, to be judged by thee. If my enthusiasm was extravagant, +surely it was pardonable. Judge me then as thou wilt, and as thou canst, +for the end of this chapter of my history is cardinal. + +But there were these moving considerations also. If Aurelia had tacitly +reproached herself to her husband with what were my crimes, and only +mine--was it not my bounden duty to save her before it were too late? +Must I not avow what, as it seemed, she was on the point of avowing? If +she--pure innocent--believed herself guilty and needing forgiveness-- +whereas I and I only was that monster--in a few moments' time, when she +should be with her husband in the innermost shrine of the Temple of +Hymen, I might be sure she would take upon herself the guilt, and alone +receive my punishment. Could I endure the thought of this, miserable +that I was? Could I suffer such a sacrifice and wear the livery of man? +I knew that I could not. "Out, therefore, of thy hiding-place, sinner," +I bade myself, "and get the vice scourged out of thee." + +These were a part of my reflections, this was my plain resolution. +Generous, honourable, they seemed to me then--honourable alike to +Aurelia and to her husband. The doctor had replenished his glass, and +was leaning back in his chair. He had released some of the buttons of +his vest, and they had flown to their repose. He was looking down at the +table, where he twisted the glass about; he was thinking of his wife, of +her sweet humour, innocence and purity--of everything which I so adored +and had dared to tarnish. He was frowning and smiling at once at his +thoughts. I heard him say to himself, "That's a good girl--that's a good +girl of mine"--when I walked out of the cupboard and stood, pale but +composed, before him at the opposite side of the table. Even then, so +absorbed he was in his mellow humours he did not hear me. "Eh, la +Madonna!" he mused--"as good as gold!" He stretched his legs out to the +full and glanced with lazy luxury round about his room. Then he saw me. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +DISASTER + + +"Light of Light!" he said in a horrible whisper--and again, "Very God--" + +"Doctor Lanfranchi," said I seriously, for my passion lifted me up, +"Doctor Lanfranchi, she is better than refined gold." + +He did what I suppose he had not done for many years; he crossed himself +over the face. "Bless my soul!" he said. + +"Sir, sir," I admonished him, "you little know of what excellent +substance that saint is compact. Sir--" + +I might have continued I know not how long upon a theme so noble, but +for his astonishment, which, though it kept him stupid, must have a +vent. "Who the devil--" stammers he, "What the devil--" It amazed me, +and vexed me greatly, that I could not make him understand whom I +praised. I went close to him, I touched him on the shoulder. + +"Hearken to me, doctor," said I, "Donna Aurelia, your lady, is as it +were an angel of Heaven--and I"--I said it with sorrowful grimness--"and +I have better reason to know it than you." + +He felt my touch, and recoiled from it: he looked at me half askance, +from under knitted brows and between blinking lids, as if he thought me +a spirit. "Paradise of God," says he then, "who is this?" His glance +lighted upon the cupboard doors set open; he frowned and said, with +difference: "And who are you that speak of angels?" + +"Sir," I replied, and my convictions were never more firmly in my words, +"my name is Wretch, and I am unworthy to live. I am that vile thing once +called Francis Strelley, now brought to confusion and conscious of his +horrible offence. Sir! Sir!" I said wildly, "Donna Aurelia is the +handmaid of high Heaven.--While I, while I--O God!" emotion poured its +hot flood over me. I fell to my knees. + +In the painful silence which ensued, and no doubt seemed longer than it +actually was, I suppose that he collected some half of the truth, and in +the manner of him who sees but half, distorted it to be greater than the +whole. His manner towards me altered very materially; he resumed his +authority. + +"Get up," he said, croaking like a raven; and at first I thought that I +dared not, and immediately after knew that I dared. I sprang to my feet, +and faced him, livid as he was. "Doctor Lanfranchi," said I, "I have +overheard you-by accident--as you praised her. I have heard you call her +good. Ah, and in agreeing with you I can testify that you spoke more +truth than you dreamed of. No saint in Heaven is so good as she, but it +has been required of me that I should grope in Hell before I could see +Heaven in her soul." + +He held himself from me by doing violence to his own person--caught at +his cravat and gripped it with both hands. + +"What are you saying? Say that again. Of what do you accuse yourself?" + +"Of sin," I said. He looked at the cupboard, then with chilly rage at +me. + +"What were you doing in there?" he asked; and that was a terrible +question, since there I never ought to have been. + +I asked him would he hear me? He nodded his head and sat grimly down by +the table, at which of late he had so happily reclined. He covered his +mouth and nose with his hand, but kept his piercing eyes upon me. +Disconcerting! but even so, had he listened in silence I might have made +him see the truth. + +"Sir," I began, "it is true that I love, and have always loved, your +wife; and it is true that I have been wicked enough to declare my +passion. But it is also true that by her, and by her alone, I have been +convinced of my presumption." Here he held up his hand. + +"Stop there. You say you have been convinced. How were you convinced? +Where were you convinced? Let me understand you. Was it in there?" He +jerked his hand towards the fatal cupboard. + +"Yes," I replied, "it was in there. I was forced to overhear your +conversation with Donna Aurelia, which proved to me that I am less than +nothing to her, and that you are all the world." + +He snorted, scoffing at the thought. "We shall see soon enough," he said +bitterly, "who and what I am." + +I continued: "If you think that I have injured YOU--I say nothing of my +lady or of myself--you are horribly deceived. On the contrary, I have +done you a service. You have the proof to your hand that you are the +husband of a pattern among ladies." Here, once more, he looked at the +cupboard, and "Ma!" he said, and shrugged. After this, so long as I +could speak to him, he tapped his foot. + +"Punish me," I advised him; "use me as you will; kill me--I shall not +defend myself. I have never yet refused to take the consequences of my +acts. But over my dead body, if you are a true man, you will give thanks +to God for the gift of such a wife as you have." + +I was indignant, honestly, and, as I think, rightly so; but again he +misunderstood me. + +He got up and threatened me with his great forefinger. "Enough of your +sermons, sir," he said. "Have I lived and taught sucklings all these +years to be told my duty to God Almighty? Will you teach me, forsooth, +for what I am to give thanks, and whom I am to correct or chastise? Wait +you there, young gentleman--wait you there until I know more about you +and my pattern lady." He turned his back upon me, and, wrenching open +the chamber door, called harshly upon Aurelia. Immediately--and no doubt +she had been quaking for the summons--my adored mistress came trembling +out, her hair tumbled about her shoulders, her hands at her neck. Her +feet were bare upon the flags, her great and mournful eyes loomed hollow +in her face. They were my instant reproof, for now, and now to the full, +I saw a fatal consequence of my enthusiastic action. Unhappy Francis, +what hadst thou done? Thou hadst intended to abase thyself in her +service--and betrayed her. Thou hadst intended to honour, and condemned +her to dishonour! Alas, thou hadst gone near to ruining the purest and +loveliest of women by revealing those very things which proved her so. + +The doctor, at his pitch of most savage and relentless calm, pointed to +me and the cupboard--to the criminal and his lurking den together. "Look +at those, woman," he said ominously, deliberately, but she could not or +would not; and, before she could collect her wits, what must need old +Nonna do but make bad worse, and, running, thrust herself in between, +and wag her hand under the doctor's nose. + +"Eh, eh, eh, what a bother about nothing!" says this amiable old fool. +"Let us pray all together to the Madonna that you be not sorry for this. +She has done nothing, padron--nothing at all. He alone is wicked--by +Diana the Mighty I swear it--and it was I who put him in the cupboard, +and therefore know what I am saying. She--a lamb of our Saviour's flock! +Madness! Are you jealous of a boy without a beard? Do you conceive that +your lady could listen to a voice that sang among milk-teeth? Ah, do you +listen, rather, padron, to me and the truth, for we are at one together, +the truth and I." She stayed for breath. + +"Hag," said the doctor, "you are lying. This fine young man has +confessed to me the agreeable truth. Madam," he turned to Donna Aurelia, +"here is a confessed lover of yours. Pray have you anything to say?" + +"He is very foolish, he is very wicked; I have often told him so, often +and often," says Aurelia, twisting her hands about. "To-night he has +said what he should not--and I believe he knows that very well. I had +intended to tell you, if you had come sooner, as I wished--ah, and as I +asked you, Porfirio--you would have heard it all from me. That is all. I +was frightened--Nonna popped him in the cupboard--how he got out, how +you found him there, I know not. But he has done me no harm--nor you +neither, Porfirio. That I swear before the saints in Heaven." The doctor +glared at her--then took her by the wrist. + +"Lies, lies, woman!" he said furiously. "He convicts you himself. He +came out of the cupboard of his own act." + +She stared in amazement, and forgot the pain he was giving her. "He-- +came--out? But----Is he mad?" + +"No, madam," said I; and, "No, by Heaven!" cried the doctor, "for I have +no doubt at all but that he intended to provoke me to anger and then to +run me through the body with that sword of his." + +I threw up my arms at such a monstrous suspicion. Aurelia, who had been +gazing at me as if she feared for my reason, now looked down. + +"Please to let go of my wrist," she said, "you are hurting me, Porfirio. +I know no more than you do why he came out of the cupboard; but of +course you do him a wrong. He did not mean anything of the sort--he is +of a good heart--incapable of murder. And now, please, Porfirio, let go +of my wrist." + +But he did not; his rage, gathering in volume, bade fair to convulse +him. + +"I intend to have the truth from one of the three of you before I let +you go," said he. "From you I require to know why you put him into the +cupboard." + +"It was very silly," said Aurelia, "since he had done no harm. Nonna, +why did you put him into the cupboard?" + +"Diana!" cried the old woman, "where else was I to put the boy?" The +doctor's laughter was terrible to me. I took a step forward. + +"I will tell you, sir, the reason of both your puzzlements," I said. "I +was put into the cupboard because Donna Aurelia was rightly ashamed of +me, and I came out because I was honestly ashamed of myself." + +"Ha!" said he, "so now we have it." + +"You shall have it now," I replied. "I was honestly ashamed of myself, +and honestly glorious that I had been rebuked by so noble a lady. Sir, +it is true that I love this lady." Aurelia gave a shocked little cry, +but I went on. "It is true that I kiss her feet. Sir, I worship the +ground she presses with them--it is holy ground." + +He scoffed at me. I said, "My feelings overcame me--I sinned--I am +utterly unworthy. Punish me for my sin as you will, I shall not defend +myself. But do not, and do not you, madam, I entreat, punish me for the +one thing I have done this night of which I may be rightly proud." + +"Bah," said he, "you are a fool, I see. And now, madam---" + +"Yes, Porfirio," said she, poor soul. + +"You, and that she-wolf over there--what have you to say?" + +"I say," said Nonna, "that the young gentleman is out of his wits." + +Aurelia said, "I am wretched. He was very foolish." + +"You have deceived me," he thundered at her, "made a fool of me at your +ease. You spoke your wheedling words, and he was in there to listen, and +to laugh, by my soul! You coaxed, you stroked, you sidled, you +whispered, and he was in there laughing, laughing, laughing! Oh, madam, +you talk of his young foolishness, but you make your profit of my old +foolishness." + +"It is false," said Aurelia. "I never did it." + +"By my soul," says he, "I'll not be contradicted. I say that you do. O +Heaven, is this your duty, your gratitude, your thanks due to me? Why-- +why--why--what did I take you from? What did I make of you? Your +wretched mother---" + +She looked up with flashing eyes. There was danger to be seen on its +way. "She is not wretched." + +"Then she should be, madam," he said. "She is parent of a wicked, false--" + +Aurelia, crying, shook to get free. "No, no! Be silent. You shall not +say such things." She stamped her foot. "It is absurd, I won't have it," +she said. He gave a strangling cry of rage and despair, released her and +rushed towards the cupboard. Dramatically, he flung his arms towards it +as if he would shake off his two hands and leave them there. "Explain +that, woman," he screamed. "Explain it if you dare---" + +She was now equally angry, with patches of fire in her cheeks. "I shall +explain nothing more. You will not believe me when I do. My mother will +understand me." + +"Then she shall--if she can," says the doctor, "and as soon as you +please." Aurelia peered at him. "What do you mean, sir?" + +"Why, madam, that you shall go where you are best understood." + +"What!" she cried, "you mean--? You cannot mean--Oh, preposterous!" + +The doctor was looking at the cupboard. "Ay, and it is preposterous, and +I do mean it." + +She stared at him for a moment, perplexed, then flew into a towering and +ungovernable rage. "Ah," she cried, and she shook in every member. "Ah, +now you may mean what you please, for I have done. Do you dare to +suspect me? Do you dare to treat me as an infamous woman? Oh, oh, do you +dare? You shall have no need to repeat it. I will go to my mother's +house--I will go now--now--now. Nonna, my cloak and shoes--at once. I +have been good--I have always tried to be good--and do you faithful +duty. I have known what I ought to do--I have been proud to be Dr. +Lanfranchi's wife. I thought I would show to my people that a girl of +Siena could be proud, even of a Venetian pig, if he were her husband. +Ah, but no more, no more. No, I will work elsewhere, for better wages-- +you have seen the last of Aurelia." She was superbly beautiful as she +turned, pointing to me. "This youth--this mad, incomprehensible youth-- +what harm has he done YOU compared to what he has now done to me? He +loves me, he says--I don't understand his love--but why should he not? +Am I to fall in love with everybody who says that? Do you think you are +the only one? And--and--why!--you have never said that you loved me: no, +you have not. You just took to me, and made me work--your servant or +your doll--your plaything when you were done with the cafe--me, a +Gualandi of Siena--and you, a pig of Padua. Good Heaven, for what do you +take me, sir? Did you find me in the street? Is my family one of +wretches? Oh, what a man you are; ungrateful, cruel, hard as the grave. +Yes, yes, Nonna, fold me close in my cloak; it will keep me from such +cold as this." She stood, cloaked and ready: we all stood--the doctor +like a rock, I like a man dead at his prayers. + +She looked from one of us to the other, to me second. "You told me that +you loved me, Don Francis," she said. "I am going to my mother. Will you +take me?" + +I never loved her so well as at this moment when I said, "Madam, I dare +not do it." + +She blushed, I know she was mute with astonishment. I thought old Nonna +would have torn my eyes out. "Dog!" she called me, "son of a dog." + +"I dare not go with you, madam," I repeated. "I love you too well. I +have done you so much wrong, meaning to do right, that I dare not now +risk an act which I know to be wrong. Oh," I cried, as my distress grew, +"oh, unsay those words, Aurelia! You could not mean them, they were not +yours." + +She tossed her head, and shrugged. "I will be careful not to say them +again, at least," she said. "They evidently distressed you. Come, Nonna-- +we will leave these gentlemen." The doctor never moved--I followed her +with my eyes. One more look from hers would have drawn us both to our +destruction. I thank God at this hour that she never showed it me. She +went out and shut the door behind her. Neither of us moved until we +heard the street door bang. We had been waiting for that. + +"Now, Dr. Lanfranchi," said I, with a glance at my sword, "I am ready +for you how and when you please." + +With a howl like that of a miserable maniac he leapt upon me, tripped +and threw me flat upon the flags. I remember the stunning shock of my +fall, but remember no more. I learned afterwards that he had pitched me +out on to the stairs, and that I fell far. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +I COMMENCE PILGRIM + + +I arose from bed, some two or three days after the terrible occurrence +related--and how I had got into it, except for the charity of the +doorkeeper, there's no telling. I arose, I say, to a new heaven and a +new earth: a heaven impossibly remote, an earth of sickly horror, an +earth of serpents and worms, upon which I crawled and groped, the +loathliest of their spawn. I surveyed myself in the glass, faced myself +as I was--I the wrecker of homes, the betrayer of ladies, love's +atheist! Pale, hollow-cheeked, with eyes distraught, there was good +ground for believing that when Dr. Lanfranchi threw me upon my worthless +skull he had jogged out my wits. + +The facts were otherwise, however. Resolution came back upon the crest, +as it were, of the wave that brought me full knowledge; the more +disastrously showed the ruin I had made, the more stoutly I determined +to repair it. + +The surgeon who attended me was perfectly discreet and told me nothing +more than that Professor Lanfranchi had left Padua and was gone to +Venice. Not so the custode of the house: it was from him I had the rest. +Dr. Lanfranchi had taken his keys with him and had left no directions. +Donna Aurelia had been twice to the house since her first departure from +it, and had been unable to get access. The second time of failing, said +the custode, she had "lashed into the street like a serpent from a cage. +And nobody," he added, "nobody in this town, and nobody under heaven's +great eye, can say where she has gone. Perhaps she is dead, sir; but I +believe that she is not. Pretty and snug lady that she was, it's my +belief she will fret after her comforts, and that if she get them not +from one, she will have them from another." Old Nonna had also +disappeared, he said, which was better than things might have been; but +the strongest ray of comfort shed upon me from this worthy fellow's +store was this, that Donna Aurelia had returned to her house. Plainly, +if she had been thither twice, she could be induced thither a third +time. It must then be my business to induce her, and to see to it, if +possible, that she was properly received upon that occasion. + +Here was a duty plainly set before me--my first and greatest reparation, +which no other tie must hinder, to accomplish which I must shrink from +no hardship however severe, no humiliation however bitter. Another lay +closer to my heart, I'll allow, the words of pardon which I hoped to sue +forth from the dearest lips in all the world--for I could never hope to +be happy until the being whom, most loving, I had most offended could +consent to assure me of my peace. This, however, I resolutely put by as +a selfish pleasure which I must not expect to enjoy until I had earned +it. However natural might be the impulse which urged me to find Aurelia, +fall at her feet, anoint them with my tears, I must withstand it until I +could be sure of her honour saved. Now, was that surety to be gained +first from her or first from her wrathful husband? + +I turned to the custode, who stood smiling and rubbing his chin in my +doorway. I said, "Beppo, I am in great perplexity. It is idle to deny +that I am the immediate cause of all this misery, for you know it as +well as I do." + +He said that he had guessed something of what I was so good as to tell +him. "There was, as I understand, a little misadventure with a cupboard +door," he said; "but who can contend with Fate?" + +"It has been my fate," I said, "to bring ruin upon the lady whom I +adore. My sin is worse than that of Hophni and Phineas, and I would that +the requital might be as theirs was, save that I can make it more bitter +yet." + +"Why," says he, "what was done to those gentlemen?" I told him that they +were slain with the sword; to which he replied that, so far as he had +ever heard, the doctor was nothing of a swordsman, and that he knew I +had some proficiency in fence. "I hope then," he added, "that your +honour will succeed where those other gentlemen failed; but if you ask +my advice, I say, leave the doctor alone, and comfort the little lady." + +His gross misapprehension of every merit of the case nettled me: I saw +it was useless to talk with a person of his condition, and that instant +action was my only safety. I must go, on my knees if must be, to the +feet of Donna Aurelia, I must put myself entirely at her service. Should +that lie in spurning me with her heel I must endure it; should she bid +me go and receive public chastisement from her dangerous husband, I +would assuredly go. Tears, stripes, hunger, thirst, cold, heat, +loneliness, nakedness, unjust accusation, ridicule, malicious +persecution--all these I would cheerfully undergo; and if one or any of +them could repair her misfortunes, then they would be repaired. The +custode said that he believed they could not, but I bade him be silent +and begone. "Wretched Venetian," I cried at him, "thou art incapable of +comprehending anything but victuals. If I tell thee that I have +lacerated an angel and deserve the sword, thou speakest of my skill in +fence! I waste my breath upon thee. Comfort the lady, dost thou dare to +say? What comfort can she have but in my repentance? What have I to +offer but devotion?" + +"It is just that which I advise your honour-" he began, but I was now +embarked upon the waters of adventure, cheered with the prospect of +action, impatient to begin my voyage. Astonishment cropped his period +midway; he gaped as he saw what I did. I threw upon the floor my sword +and finely laced coat; I threw my vest, ruffles, cravat, watch, rings, +after them. I kicked into a corner with my foot my buckled shoes, my +silk stockings, my fine gilt garters. Upon the top of the heap I cast my +Paris hat, my gloves and brooch. "There lies," I said, "the sinful husk +of Francis Strelley. Let the swine nozzle and rout in it for what they +can find to their liking. And here," I cried, standing before him in +shirt and breeches, barefooted, bareheaded, without a coat to my back, +"here, good man, stands the naked soul of that same Francis, which shall +go shivering forth to declare his shame, to meet his penance, to stand +begging at the door of the Holy Place for the mercy which he has shown +himself unworthy of." + +About my disordered hair I tied Aurelia's ribbon, round my upper arm I +placed her garter, to my neck, upon a silken cord, I hung her Venice +slipper. In the bosom of my shirt I placed the little book of devotion +which she had given me, and the "Aminta" of Tasso in which we had last +read together. "Farewell, Beppo," said I; "you may not see Francis +again." + +"Where are you going, sir?" he asked me, wondering. + +"To Siena--to Aurelia--to Heaven!" and he held up his hands. + +"You are never going to Siena as you are," he cried; and I asked him how +else he would have me go. + +"Your honour will take cold in the chest," says he, "that's very plain; +but long before that can declare itself your honour will be lodged in +the madhouse. And what is Madam Aurelia to say, by your leave, to an +undressed young gentleman which she declined to say to a dressed one? +Let me tell you, young sir," he added with a sneer, "Siena's not the +only city in Italy where there are madmen." + +"Man," I said, "what is it to me, do you suppose, whether I am in a +madhouse or a prison this night? I intend for Siena, and shall certainly +get there in good time. Now I will ask you to leave me." + +"Tis your honour is for leaving, not I," said he, "and though I shall be +taking a liberty, it's in a case of bad-is-the-best I do believe." He +took off his jacket and put it on the bed. + +"What are you proposing, Beppo?" said I. + +"A strait-waistcoat," said he, and came at me with determination. + +I was his master in a very few minutes, for I was much stronger than he +reckoned for. When I had him at my discretion, I let him get up and thus +addressed him: + +"I have every reason to be extremely offended with you," I said, "but I +believe that you have acted honestly. Let me, however, recommend you not +to interfere in the private and personal affairs of gentlemen until you +have fitted yourself to understand them. I am going upon a journey in a +manner which appears becoming to one who is responsible for these +lamentable troubles. I shall leave my property here in your charge, but +will ask you to accept such of those articles as are on the floor as may +be of use to you. When you see me again it will be as your indulgent +master; but he who now bids you farewell is unworthy to shake your +hand." + +He nevertheless took my hand and kissed it devotedly immediately +afterwards he had fallen upon my discarded trifles. + +"Excellency! Excellency!" he cried, gasping, "what bounty! what +splendour of soul!" He fingered my watch, listened to it. "It goes yet-- +it is a famous watch!" He babbled like a happy child. "Mechlin stuff, +every thread of it!" He smoothed out the lace ends of my cravat. So he +ran through the silly things one after another--shoes which he could not +wear, a sword which he could not use, a coat which must exhibit him a +monkey--he grovelled before me and would have kissed my foot, but that I +shrank from him in disgust. "Horrible, venal Venetian," I said, "thou +hast shown me one more degraded than I." He was out of sight with his +bundle of treasures before I could finish my reproof, and I busied +myself with my last preparations. + +I wrote two letters: the first was to Dr. Lanfranchi, the second to my +father. To the doctor I said what was, I think, becoming, namely, that +his wife was as spotless as the snow, and that the very blackness of my +guilt did but show her whiteness more dazzling. I added an expression of +my undying sorrow for having brought misfortune upon her whom I must +always love, and him whom I had once respected, and assured him that I +did not intend to rest until I had repaired it. This I addressed to the +university. + +I explained briefly to my father the reason of my temporary absence from +Padua; and upon reconsideration of my plans, desiring to avoid any +affectation of extravagance, added a cloak, a small bundle of clean +linen, a staff and a few gold pieces to my thin equipment. At four +o'clock in the afternoon I went out into the street and directed my +steps towards the gate of San Zuan. + +Leaving Padua, I turned and looked for the last time upon her domes and +towers. "Farewell, once proud city, now brought low by my deed," I said. +"Keep, if thou must, the accursed memory and name of Francis Antony +Strelley, gentleman--Poisoner of Homes, Stabber-in-secret, Traitor in +Love. I leave him behind me for the worst thou canst do. He that quits +thee now is another than he: Francesco Ignoto, Pilgrim, in need of +Grace." + +Then I addressed myself stoutly to the hills; and it is a circumstance +worthy of remark that the further I pushed the more certainly I +recovered my spirits. I suppose there never was yet in this world a +young man to whom the future did not appeal more urgently than the +present, or who would not rather undertake an adventure without a +shilling to his name than in his post-chaise and four. It is, I take it, +of the essence of romance that the lady's castle-prison of enchantment +lies beyond the forest, across the hills or over sea; and most assuredly +that damsel who is to be won by means of a courier leading a spare horse +is as little worth your pains as she whose price is half a guinea. I, in +that commencement of my pilgrimage, then, was happy because I was doing +something, and hopeful because I could not see my way! + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +I AM MISCONCEIVED AT THE HOSPITAL + + +I am conscious that the reader may find much to condemn in my last +chapter. He may think my schemes chimerical, my methods undisciplined; +he may say that I am perverse. I shall only urge in defence of what I +did that I deeply loved, and had deeply injured, the lovely Aurelia. She +had departed from me in misunderstanding and anger; she did not believe +in my devotion, she could not understand my behaviour. Was it +surprising, then, if I felt that I must find her at all costs? Was it +wonderful that I wished her to know of my repentance, or that I wished +to repair my wrong-doings? For eight months I had enjoyed daily and +hourly communion with her--and I don't pretend to say that the horrible +loss of that had a good deal to do with my precipitate departure, any +more than that the hope of finding her was what gave the spring to my +feet and brought back the young blood to my heart. No pilgrim to Loretto +or Compostella more longingly set his eyes to where he believed his +hopes to lie than did I watch for the first sign of the Apennines, which +barred my way to Siena. Having thus briefly defended myself against +misconception, I shall say no more on that head. + +After my first night under the stars--wondrous night of wakefulness and +hopeful music, throughout which I lay entranced at the foot of a wooded +hill and was never for a moment uncompanioned by nightingale, cicala and +firefly--I began to suffer from footsoreness, a bodily affliction +against which romance, that certain salve for the maladies of the soul, +is no remedy, or very little. Crossing the hills, over burning roads, +through thorny brakes or by slopes of harsh grass, my heels and the +balls of my toes became alarmingly inflamed; and an acacia-spine, +lodging in the sole of one foot, made matters no better. That second day +of mine I could barely hobble twelve miles, and nothing but resolution +could do that much for me. The night came and found me ill; I slept not; +though I had provided myself with food, I could not touch it. Luckily, I +was discovered by some shepherd boys early in the morning and directed +to the town of Rovigo at some half a league's distance, where they said +there was a hospital. + +Seeing that my foot was now so bad that the touch of a hand upon it was +torment, I think it had gone hard with me if Rovigo had stood another +half-league away. I shall not readily forget the noble charity of one of +those boys, who, seeing the inflammation set up by the thorn in my foot, +ripped off the sleeve of his shirt and bound it round the instep--my +first experience of the magnanimity of the poor, but by no means my +last. + +I limped into Rovigo and learned the direction of the hospital, at whose +gate I was kept with a sorry crew of wretches for a mortal hour while +the brother-in-charge finished his siesta. + +Two friars, a soldier disguised in drink, a young Jew, and myself +completed the company, which was allowed to make itself free of a +flagged and whitewashed hall, absolutely devoid of furniture, and +smelling at once sour and stale. I am sorry and ashamed to remember that +the Jew was the only person of my four fellows in misfortune who kept up +any semblance of manners or proper reserve. He differed, indeed, +markedly from the others, not only in his behaviour, which was at least +conformable, but in his appearance of alacrity and cheerful health. +Seeing that I suffered as much from the ribaldry of my fellow-guests as +from my bodily pains, he came and sat by my side, and encouraged me with +the assurance that it was far better to wait for the brother-in-charge +to awake in the course of nature than to disturb him out of his sleep. +"Mighty little chance for me, for example," he said, "if Brother +Hyacinth don't have his nap to the full. He'll be as savage as a starved +wolf, understand, and will send a man to hell sooner than to admit him +if he have a good foot left to take him there." + +"Why, then," said I, "he will never send me for sure, for I have no +feet." + +"Be not so sure, dear sir," returned the Jew. "You don't know Brother +Hyacinth as well as I do. There was a fellow came here on a day all +spent and bleeding. He had lost a toe under a coach-wheel. If you will +believe it, this dear host of ours bade him go walk on his hands, and +offered him the cloister to get perfect in. Now, with me, I know it will +go hard, unless those fools cease their din." The two friars had been +dicing with the soldier, and had won his boots. Each had taken one from +him, and were now wrangling who should have both. I was struck by the +sinister expression of one of them, a Capuchin of great strength, with a +long white beard. More than enough of him in due course. I told the Jew +that my case was so bad I cared not greatly whether I was received or +no. A man, I said, could die anywhere. "Why, yes," he said, "so he can-- +and live anywhere also. One is as easy as the other, if you but give +your mind to it. But one thing I will tell you," he added, "it is not so +easy as you might think to live cheaply when you have the means of +living dear. I shall be lucky if I spend this night as I desire--but you +will see. Hush! here is our man." I had been about to ask him what was +his malady, for he appeared to me the picture of health, and shining +with it; but just then a square-headed religious, with small angry eyes +and prominent bones, came into the hall, attended by a clerk, a sleek +young fellow, who called out "Silence," and was instantly obeyed. The +two friars were on their knees in a trice, and chattering their Hail +Marys; the soldier, after some efforts to rise, had managed to lift +himself by the wall, and, being propped up against it, was saluting all +and sundry with great impartiality. The Jew only was good enough to help +me with the support of his arm. + +His was the first case. "Your name?" said Brother Hyacinth, and was +answered "Giovanni-Battista-Maria-Bentivoglio." + +"Write," said Brother Hyacinth to his clerk, "Jew, name unknown, active +liar." This done, he continued his questions. + +"Your means?" + +"Alas, none," replied the Jew. + +"Search him," said Brother Hyacinth. + +The clerk thereupon turned out his pockets, which were empty of +everything but holes. Not content with that, however, he felt all over +his body, and when he had, as I may say, drawn all the coverts blank, +knelt down and pulled off the man's shoes. The Jew was unable to repress +an exclamation, which I naturally set down to his disgust at the +indignity. But I found that this was not so. The clerk very neatly +picked out a small key from between his toes and held it up to his +master. + +"I thought as much," said Brother Hyacinth. "Go." The young Jew sighed, +shrugged, and stood back without a word; and while I was considering +what his imposture could have been it was my turn. + +Brother Hyacinth examined me with keen displeasure. "Who are you?" he +asked me. I told him "Francesco-Antonio Strelli"--and he bade the clerk +write these names down. "Nationality?" he asked next. I told him +"Inglese." One of the friars, that evil, bearded fellow, I noticed, had +drawn near and was listening with all his might. Now it was to be +noticed of him that he breathed very short and fast, and that his breath +struck like fire upon my skin. The interrogatory was renewed. + +"Your place of immediate origin?" I was asked. + +I said, "Padua." + +"Your present occupation?" + +"Repentance," I said, and spoke the truth. + +"Your means of support?" + +"Grace," said I, and he stamped on the ground. + +"You are trifling with me--I advise you to take care. Answer me +truthfully of what you repent." + +This angered me. I told him shortly that, like everybody else in the +world of my way of thinking, I repented of sin. + +He turned to his amanuensis. "Write down that the young man refuses to +give an account of himself," he said harshly; and then asked me what I +wanted of the hospital. + +I said with heat, "My brother, I had required of it what I now see I am +not to expect, charity, namely, both of judgment and act. I am +afflicted, as you ought to have seen at once; I need your wisdom--but +need most your sympathy--" To my amazement he cut me short, as he had +done with the Jew, by the brief command, "Search him." I recoiled as +well as I could in my fainting and helpless condition. + +"Do you dare insult a sick man?" I cried; and to the clerk, who was +about to put me to this indignity, I said, "Touch me at your peril, sir; +for though I die for it, you will pay for your temerity." + +The Jew, who had been looking on at my examination (quite unabashed at +the mortification of his own), here interposed by telling me that the +thing was a common form and must be gone through with. I was about to +shake him off for his impertinence when a chance phrase of his, "free +lodging," enlightened me. This, then, was not what I understood by a +hospital--using the applied sense of the word--but one of those original +institutions, so-called, which were, of course, guest-houses for the +poor. The moment I understood that, I saw that I and Brother Hyacinth +had been at cross-purposes. I pulled out my handful of money and spilled +some pieces upon the floor. Instantly the great friar behind me clapped +his foot upon them. The Jew hunted down the rest. + +Brother Hyacinth now recoiled. "What does this mean?" he asked. "Are you +a fool, or a thief, or an impudent rascal?" + +"You are mistaken," I replied, "I am none; but it is clear that I have +deceived you. Had I understood the real objects of your hospital--which, +I am compelled to add, you have most successfully concealed--I should +not have been before you. I am ill and in great pain. I supposed that +you could give me assistance. And even now, should that be possible, I +would accept it, and pay for it." Brother Hyacinth, with keen +displeasure, said that mine was a case for the police, and that, while +he should decline my money, he was minded to detain my person for their +consideration; but the Jew thereupon broke in with more assurance than I +should have thought him capable of. "Your pardon, very reverend," he +said, "but this is a case for the best physician in Rovigo, and the best +bed in the best inn. This gentleman, as I knew very well from the first, +is acting for a wager. Only your astuteness has prevented him from +winning it. He has failed, but not by much; it is an honourable defeat. +He very willingly bestows upon you two ducats for the beneficent +purposes of the hospital--those very two, in fact, which the reverend +frate behind him has covered with his foot. With the others he will +return to his noble parents, being furnished with a certificate from +your reverence to the effect that he has failed in his endeavour." + +The clerk, who had by this time extracted the two pieces from beneath +the foot of the Capuchin (who loudly denied that they were there), was +now whispering with Brother Hyacinth. After a short time he drew me +apart and told me that but for him I should certainly be sent to prison. +The brother-in-charge, he said, believed me to be a highway thief--or +professed that he did--against all reason; for said the clerk, "As I +told his reverence, if your honour had been a thief it is very unlikely +that we should have had the pleasure of your company at the hospital. +His reverence has made difficulties--it has been hard to convince him, +though your honour's generosity to the hospital has not been without +effect. I flatter myself that my arguments have been useful. Any further +service I can do your honour, I shall very thankfully undertake." + +I expressed myself obliged to him, and added that though it might be +very true that I deserved prison, I had other acts of penitence in view +which could only be properly performed in Tuscany. I said, "You would be +justified--if you knew the whole of my history--in declining what I +nevertheless urge upon your benevolence--this crown-piece namely---" He +assured me that no crime of mine, however unnatural, could cause him a +momentary scruple, took the coin, spat upon it, pocketed it, and said +that he was my servant and orator to the end of time. At this moment the +great Capuchin--he of the covering foot--took me by the arm and begged +the favour of a word in my ear. He was a hideous villain, broad- +shouldered, scarred, hugely bearded, and had a prominent tooth in his +lower jaw, rather loose, which stuck out like a tusk. I have spoken of +his breath, which was as the blast of a furnace. + +"I see," he said with an odious leer, "that you are a game-cock. I knew +you by your ruffle. It was gallantly tried, and nearly successful. I +like your spirit much. Come with me, and you shall not fail again. You +and I will take the road together, live at our ease, and live for +nothing, and brave it with the best notwithstanding. What do you say? +Shall we shake hands upon it?" Monster that he was, as he hovered over +me there, grinning, moving his tooth, he inspired me with loathing. I +felt the blood tingle in my cheek. + +"Better a Jew than a thieving renegade," says I. "That is my answer to +you. Go in peace." + +He said, "As you will," and turned to his affairs. I left the hospital +with the benevolent Jew, whose name was Issachar. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE PEDLAR OF CRUCIFIXES + + +Issacher, as well as being a cheerful, loquacious fellow and of ready +wits, was so exceedingly kind as to support my weight upon his sparer +frame. My arm was heavy, I am sure, upon his neck, as his was certainly +tight about my middle; but he uttered no complaints, indeed there was no +room for them in the voluble series of his comments, confessions, +promises and inquiries. He said, as we made our painful way down the +single street of Rovigo, "My dear friend, you and I have both failed in +our enterprise, and for much the same reason; but really you must be a +novice at the trade if you expect to get a free lodging with a pocketful +of gold about you. Confess that my invention of your wager was as happy +as it was apt. Done in a flash--on the wings of the moment as they +spread for a flight--but that is my way--I am like that. The lodging of +my key, however, was a folly of a sort I am never likely to commit +again. Another time I will swallow it. It was indolence on my part--my +besetting weakness--a child of a whim! Having bestowed my goods, what +but that hindered me from likewise bestowing the key? I am vexed with +myself, but I expected more company. Who was to know there would be time +for so much examination? But now, sir, let me see how I can serve you. +An inn? A meal? A decent bed? Medicaments? All these you can have for a +turn of your pretty golden key." + +I thanked him for his services, but he would not hear a word of them. +Helping me through the town, he took me to a small inn outside the gate, +saw me put to bed, brought me a good broth, some wine and bread, and +left me to my meditations while he went for a doctor. The thorn was +extracted, poultices applied; I was given a soothing medicine, fell +asleep and slept heavily. + +In the morning I found him by my side. After asking how I did, and +satisfying himself, by examination, that my feet were recovering, he +said that he wished to serve me without being indiscreet. "What your +private purposes may be," he said, "I neither know nor seek to inquire. +It is plain that you are a gentleman of some simplicity, or of a +subtlety far too fine for my eyes of every day. Whichever you may be, I +admire. If you are candid in calling yourself a pilgrim I appreciate +your candour. If you are not, I appreciate even more your discretion. +But you will still let me observe that for a young gentleman of personal +attractions to walk half naked through an inquisitive nation, and to +give oracular replies to questions put him by officials (to say the +least of it) is to excite remark. I have some recommendations to make, +which I hope you'll pardon--as first, stockings; second, a pair of stout +walking-shoes; third, a hat; fourthly, some apparent calling beside that +of penitent. Penitence is a trade open to many objections; but for +those, I am sure I should have tried it myself. Of what, for instance, +do you repent? Is it murder? Is it coin-clipping? Is it--but I spare +your blushes. Besides, it can always be objected that, as there is +nothing to hinder your penitent fishmonger from trading in fish and +being truly contrite at the same time, so also your honour has the same +privilege before you. To be short, I recommend you to choose some +calling more plainly commercial." + +I replied that he was very right, and that I would gladly embrace any +calling which would not hinder my design. To this he answered that I had +not done him the honour of explaining my design, but that he conceived +it to be that of walking about the country with as much discomfort as +possible. To this superficial judgment I, very naturally, demurred. + +"You are dry, my dear sir," I said, "nor do I wonder. Allow me to tell +you my story, and I shall make you sweat with indignation." Omitting +names of persons and places, I thereupon detailed the whole of my case, +and concluded thus solemnly: "I hope that you now understand how I am +placed. I am a gentleman who has behaved himself like a ruffian, a +Christian who has stultified his religion. I love a certain lady and +have insulted her; I was placed in a sacred relationship and betrayed +it. Still a lover, still a postulant for service, I have three objects +in life: (a) to bite and burn the vice out of myself; (b) to find my +mistress; (c) to make her amends. Whatever occupation you propose for my +consideration must subserve these three great ends." + +Issachar listened with attention, and remained for some time after I had +finished speaking lost in thought. Then he said, "I see that yours is no +common case. Honour, Religion, and Love make a strong partnership and +hard taskmasters to a young journeyman. Perhaps I am too little of a +casuist to maintain that the lady will not be gratified by your efforts +to gain her esteem. My experiences have been few, and I am no lady's +man, but I own I should have thought that she would have preferred a +more dashing return to her feet--something on horseback, say, with a +hand on your thigh and a kiss of the finger-tips. Ha! you might say, ha! +fair enchantress, do we meet again? A nonchalant mien! I believe few +ladies can resist it. But it is not for me to say. I am, however, +convinced of one thing, which is that if you stray about the country at +random, proclaiming in a resolute voice that you are a criminal, in a +very short time you will be taken at your word and clapped into gaol-- +there or in a madhouse. Either will be uncomfortable--but in neither +will you meet your lady. Of that I am positive." He grew warm, he grew +declamatory. "Why, this is extraordinary!" he cried. "Why, sir, how will +you get out of this State and into another without a passport? How will +you live when you have spent your money? How can you approach your lady, +or anybody's lady, without a coat on your back or a quattrino in your +pocket? I am ashamed to put you questions so elementary, but if you can +answer one of them I shall have done with them." + +As I had no answer ready, Issachar proceeded--briskly, confidentially, +and with alacrity. "It is indeed lucky for you," he said, "that you have +fallen into my hands; Fra Palamone--that old tusker with the useful +foot--would have flayed you alive and sold the skin. Now, I have +everything here that a man of honour can want--a neat jacket"--he +produced it--"shoes, stockings, garters?"--he put them on the bed. "A +hat?" He held up a broad-brimmed felt, with a draggled feather which +conferred no benefit upon it. "And now," he continued, "for your trade. +Short of chivalry, which involves horse exercise and is to be condemned +on the score of expense, peddling is the very thing for you. I +understand your requirements perfectly: put shortly they are: (a) piety, +(b) travel, (c) gallantry; beyond those you need health, reasonable +protection from law or lawlessness, honest profit. Well, take peddling. +It is safe, it is easy; you have company, you may make money; you see +all the sights and hear all the news, and you may repent as diligently +as you please through all. But my assistance will be better than you can +dream of. I am myself a pedlar, with a small stock left, which (as I am +going home to Venice) I shall make over to you at cost price. In +addition to that, I will hand my passport over to you, just as I have +given you my coat and hat. Read it, and you will see how exactly your +wheels fall into my ruts." He produced his passport and put it in my +hands. I found myself about to be described as "Issacaro, Ebreo, vendor +of pious objects," licensed by the Sacred College and vouched for by the +Grand Inquisitor. My features were said to be fleshy, my nose pendulous, +my hair black and curly, my shoulders narrow, my manner assured. I +objected that the description would never pass me over the frontier; but +Issachar replied, "Have no concern on that score. Observe my shoulders, +they are as level as your own. Can it be said of my manner that it fails +of delicacy? That passport was no more mine than it is now. The fact is +that a passport is needed to distinguish one man from another; and if +the traveller have no particular features, these must be found for him. +These crucifixes will save you." + +"That," I said, "as a Christian, I am not allowed to deny." + +"I have a round score of them left," says he. "Let us figure up the +whole. The passport I could not let go for less than two ducats; upon my +soul and honour it cost me near three. The hat, the coat, shoes and +stockings--well, can we say less than a ducat and a half? Surely not. +The workmanship alone is worth the money. For the crucifixes, which are +very fine, and in the rococo manner now so much esteemed, I cannot say a +quattrino less than four ducats, nor can a Christian, I suppose, set any +bounds to the value he places upon that symbol. My price, therefore, is +nominal--an act of charity on my part, which my sympathy with your sad +story moves me to do. I believe you had in your breeches pocket some ten +ducats and a few broad pieces. Supposing I take seven ducats and +conclude the bargain--what do you say? Will you shake hands upon it?" He +looked pleasantly at me, holding out his hand. + +The crucifixes were large--the image of plaster, the cross of white +wood. The price was exorbitant; but I felt the force of his argument, +that no Christian could set bounds to the value of such a symbol. +Moreover, the trade attracted me. To walk the world as a pedlar of +crucifixes--could one conceive a nobler employment? I, at least, could +not. The merchandise so noble that it could not be degraded by the +merchant, the merchant so ignoble that he must needs be dignified by the +merchandise--the cross, emblem of sacrifice, emblem of divine +compassion, divine providence and humility! I must be excused if I saw +here something more than happy coincidence, if I fell into a mood of +dangerous exaltation. I embraced my new career with fervour, I embraced +my stock-in-trade. "Oh, thou unique and venerable wood," I cried, "often +as thou hast been carried into men's affairs, in the forefront of red +battle, to preside over the consecrations of pontiffs and emperors, to +abase kings, to lend criminals a final hope, never yet hast thou +submitted thyself to a sinner in sorer need, but never also found +sincerer champion than Francis Strelley! Under this sign did Constantius +Caesar subdue Chosroes; under it shall riotous Francis tread down +himself!" I bade Issachar take his purchase-money; I thanked him warmly +for his friendly thoughts of me; and having put on the coat, hat, and +other garments he had sold me, set out once more, after a day's and +night's repose, which were complete enough to make further inactivity +impossible. + +I found my passport an easy key into the States of the Church, which all +that rich alluvial country of Ferrara had now become. I sold no +crucifixes, but meditated profoundly upon them as I penetrated further +into the great Lombard plain, and drew nearer to the cloudy mountains +which seemed to me the guardians of my Land of Promise. I hung one of +them round my neck by a cord, and got much comfort and spiritual +assistance from it. My faith grew livelier as my needs increased; the +sacred figure received my confidences and seemed to impart ghostly +counsels. I had a superstitious care to keep it always towards Tuscany, +twisting the cord round so that the cross was on my back whenever I had +occasion to face north instead of south. Before going to sleep I was +careful to stand it up so that the image pointed its bowed head in the +right direction. I felt sure that all would go well with me whilst I +bore upon me this infallible mark of honest profession. I was like +Dante, it seemed to me, approaching the Mount of Purgation--for which, +in my own case, I put the Apennines. Like Dante, it was necessary that +all my stains should be done off, and that I should be marked by the +Guardian of the Gate. Well, here I bore my Sign--the only sign tolerable +for a Christian--and before I had reached the last ridge of the +mountains, before I could hope to look up to the shining eyes of my +Beatrice, my brands of sin must one by one be wiped out. Ah, that was +very true; and was proved to be so before I had done my journeyings; but +I knew not then in what manner. + +A misfortune for me was that, playing a character, I could not refuse to +sell my wares. At Malalbergo, a small town between Ferrara and Bologna, +I came into a region where famine and pestilence between them had been +rife, stalking (dreadful reapers!) side by side, mowing as they went. +The people stormed the churches, and hung with wild cries for mercy +about the shrines on the wayside. They fell ravenously upon me--and as I +could not set a price upon my crucifixes, and it was soon known that I +had them to give away, it follows that within half an hour after +entering Malalbergo I was able to leave it with nothing to show for my +declared profession but the cross about my neck. So fearful was I of +losing that one, I concealed my passport, and travelled henceforward +under my own name and profession. I had very little money left--some +three or four ducats, I think. I determined to be careful of these, and +to endeavour after some employment in Bologna, at once congenial and +lucrative, which should not, however, deflect my designs from the speedy +accomplishment of my pilgrimage. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +I AM HUMILIATED, LIFTED UP, AND LEFT CURIOUS + + +It had been my hope to be able to buy, exercising great economy, a new +store of crucifixes in Bologna, and to find a country beyond it where I +might, without scruple, sell them for the means of bare subsistence--for +I asked no more than that. But even that much was not to be: the city of +St. Dominick's last rest would not allow long resting-place to me. + +I was delighted with the first view of it, as, following the brown +street of entry, it revealed itself to me. Its towers and arcades, +squares and fountains and spacious churches made a strong impression +upon my excited senses. Having found a modest lodging, I wandered from +shrine to shrine enraptured, and, believing myself fondly in a city of +believers as ardent as myself, I took no trouble either to conceal my +crucifix, a most conspicuous ornament, I must allow, or my sentiments of +hopeful devotion. I suppose that by degrees I excited remark. I was a +stranger in a thinly populated, very idle, curious city. I think that I +meditated aloud--I may certainly have done so, since I had no desire to +conceal my ambitions. If I struck my breast, the action was sincere, +becoming to a contrite sinner; if I was inspired--and I was--I believe +that I was about to prove a cause of inspiration in others. It is +indubitable that I spoke to the crowd which gathered about me and +followed me from church to church, and that, under the stimulus of their +plaudits, I was moved to what may be called eloquence. I spoke of +charity, I remember, upon the steps of San Petronio--charity of +interpretation in matters of faith and morals and private conscience; +and I ended by declaring, what was perfectly true, that Christian as I +was, a Jew had put me in my present way of salvation. + +At this singularly inopportune moment I was rudely interrupted. The +crowd parted and fell this way and that without my perception, and a +hand clapped upon my shoulder brought me to earth from those middle +regions of the aether, where I had seemed to be afloat. It was as if, +looking up at the stars, I had stumbled on a knotty root. + +An officer of the Inquisition stood beside me, a tall, keen-eyed man, +cloaked in black. + +"I have been watching you, young man, for two hours," he said. "You +perform your devotions somewhat publicly, and seem to have a great deal +to say about your spiritual state. The Church has appointed ways and +means for the consolation of the faithful, some of which are no doubt +open to you. Only scandal can ensue these kind of practices." + +I was highly indignant, as who would not have been? "Upon my word, sir," +I exclaimed, "if a sinner may not proclaim, his repentance so near the +throne of pardon, nor a faithful believer record his sincerity within +this shadow of the truth---" + +"Such excesses as you use," he stopped me, "savour of private conscience +following its own bent. The Church is distrustful of such excursions. +That crucifix which you carry, for instance---" + +I clasped it with fervour. "Ah, it is my passport!" + +"Sovereigns and rulers of States," said the officer, "will require more +particulars, and so, for that matter, will the police of Bologna. This +is useless for any such purpose, and your pretence only adds urgency to +my desire of you. I don't wish to be severe with you. I ask you in a +friendly and reasonable way to give me the crucifix." + +"Never," said I. "Without it I am lost to Tuscany." + +"With it," replied the officer, "you are lost to the world for some +time. This indecent profession of opinion--What! a wooden cross as big +as a dagger! Give it to me at once, and follow me to the tribunal of the +police." + +I confess that I grew cold before such irrational tyranny. "You are +going the way to work, sir," I said, "to make me an atheist. I shall +yield only to force." + +Vain protest! "Have it as you will," said the officer, and signed to the +sbirri, who came forward at once, cleaving the crowd with their drawn +swords. "This young man is illuminated," said the officer; "take him to +the tribunal, and look into his papers." I saw that submission was my +only course, and took it. The police led me away. + +A much more severe scrutiny of my miserable passport than had taken +place at Ferrara followed upon this. Nothing but the "assured manner" of +Issachar was allowed to stand up for me. My nose was fatally straight, +my hair fatally out of curl. I was asked was I a Jew? and had I dared to +pretend it, I know not to what extremes they might not have proceeded. +But I had never learned to lie; I admitted at once that I had bought the +passport. Instant action was taken upon this. My crucifix was burnt, the +passport confiscated. I was given six hours in which to leave Bologna, +and did not take three. I departed in a towering rage, which perhaps did +me good, and devoured the leagues between the city and the mountains at +a pace which I am sure did me credit. The lengthening shadows of these +engulfed and sobered me. Late at night I reached a village at the foot +of the mountains, whose name I don't know, and sought out the only inn +the place boasted--if any place could have been assured enough to boast +of so miserable a shelter. By this time I had walked off my fury and a +great part of my piety. I shall only add of Bologna, which I have never +revisited, that, if it is the duty of a city of the Church to freeze the +faith out of the heart of a son of the Church, then that haughty seat +may boast of having fulfilled it. + +My inn was full of French and Savoyard soldiers, recruiting, it was +evident, for their cause or their pockets. War was said to be +threatening between the Holy See and the Grand Duchy: these were the +Pope's allies, roaring, drinking, carding, wenching, and impressing all +travellers who could not pay their way out. Saturnian revels! The +landlord was playing Bacchus, much against his will; the landlady and a +tattered maid were Venus and Hebe by turns; for my own part, shunning to +be Ganymede, I slunk into an outhouse and shared its privacy with some +scared fowls and a drover of the Garfagnana, who, taking me at first for +a crimp, ran at me gibbering with a knife. I pacified him, luckily, +before it was too late, and crouched with him until daylight, expecting +discovery at every outcry. Not until then did the house seem asleep. But +about cockcrow there was a silence as of the dead, and that time was +judged favourable by my companion-in-hiding to get clear away. Knife in +mouth he crept out of cover and went tiptoe by the house. The poor +fellow was crimped at the corner by some wakeful sentry and tied up to +fight the Grand Duke. So I stayed with the fowls until the maid came in +for a victim, which was to supply the lieutenant's breakfast. + +Here was my chance. "Madam," says I, and the girl gave a little shriek. +Being desperate, I put an arm round her waist and covered her mouth with +my hand. + +"Madam," I said courteously, "I deplore the necessity of laying violence +upon you, but pray you to believe, if you can, in my sincere respect for +you. I am travelling to Florence, but alone. Help me to avoid these +guests of yours, and I shall be eternally grateful." When I was sure +that she had understood me I released her; she sighed. + +"Forgive me, sir," she said, "but I thought you were going to make love +to me." + +"God forbid it," said I, perhaps a little too devoutly, for she seemed +to be piqued. + +She said, "It's as you please, sir, of course. He never forbids what you +gentlemen have a mind to." + +"You are wrong, my dear," I replied. "He does forbid it--but we don't +know it until too late." + +"Sir," said she, "it's not too late yet." It was now for me to sigh. + +"If you knew, or could read, one page of my story," I told her, "you +would understand how late I am, and how pressed for time. Will you not +help me? I am in your hands." She looked kindly. + +"Stay here, sir," said she. "I'll do my best for you." + +What means she took cannot be told; but after a short absence she +returned with bread and a jug of wine under her apron, and beckoning me +to follow her, took me by a back way behind the houses, up a stair cut +into the rock, and so to the upper street of the little town. Towering +above me then, I saw the broad green side of the mountain, whose summit +was wreathed in white mist. + +"You are free to go now, sir," said she. "There lies your honour's way." +I thanked her warmly, offering her my hand. But she put hers behind her. + +"Is that all you are going to give me?" she asked me, and made me blush +for my poverty. + +"I would give you something very handsome if I had it," I said, "for you +have done me a real service. It would have been impossible for me to +fight the Grand Duke, feeling as I do towards one of his subjects. You +have saved me from a painful dilemma and deserve more than I can offer +you." Such as they were, however, I held out to her in one hand my last +gold ducat, in the other my "Aminta." The maid looked all about her, +shaking her head at the choice. Nobody was near--the narrow street was +asleep. "I would much rather take a kiss from your honour," said she. +"No girl likes to be disappointed--and you have a smooth chin." + +I could not but tell her that in accepting a salute of the kind she +little knew what risk she was running; to which she at once replied that +a girl in her situation, with a houseful of French soldiers, was +indifferent to common dangers. I told her I was sorry to hear it, and +felt obliged to add that I was peculiarly accursed. + +"Why," says she, mighty curious, "whatever have you done, a pretty +gentleman like you?" + +"My dear," said I, "I have injured a spotless lady." Her reply was to +throw her arms about my neck and give me some three or four resounding +kisses. "Bless your innocence," she cried warmly, "I wish I had been +your lady. Injuries indeed!" + +I was moved. "You are a kind and charitable soul," I said, "and put the +religious of Bologna to shame. Except from you and a Venetian Jew I +promise you that I have met with no humanity upon my travels." At this +moment she heard herself called from below, and bade me kindly adieu. "I +suppose you are after your lady?" she asked as she turned to leave me. +"Yes," says I, "that is my pilgrimage--to make her amends." "Well," says +the maid, "be bolder with her than you were with me, or you'll never do +it. Adieu, sir!" I saw her no more. + +I felt myself touched in a lively part--so quickly is our nature +responsive to kindness. "The embrace of that warm-hearted girl," I +thought as I went on my way, "has put heart into me. A generous +forgiving soul! And, by a figure, she may stand for that compassionate +Aurelia for whom I shall seek until I fall. Is there no offence which +women will not forgive? Yes, there is one--the great offence of all: +Pride. Ah, Beppo, Beppo!" I cried, "my venal Paduan, I was happily +inspired when I left thee my purple and linen!" I laughed aloud, and +footed the long hill bravely. It may seem trifling to establish one's +uplifting by the kiss of a poor wench--but who can explain the ways of +the soul? The wind bloweth where it listeth! And if that of hers were +the kiss of peace? At any rate, it was kindly meant, and so I kindly +received it. Unknown, lowly benefactress, I salute thee again from afar, +after many years. + +Breasting the last green steep of the hill, picking my way amid black +rocks and dripping fern, I soon came upon the high road whose entry had +been barred to me by the soldiers. I ate my bread, finished my jug of +wine, and pushed on so vigorously that by noon I was in the heart of the +mountains. To cut the narrative short, after one cold night in the open +and one more day's march, having surmounted the watershed of Lombardy +and Tuscany, I found myself within view of the frontier, saw the guard- +house with the red and white posts of the Grand Duchy, and two sentries +with muskets walking up and down--a sharp reminder of difficulties +ahead. Beyond the frontier the road curved about a great bluff of rock +and skirted the edge of an abyss. I could see dimly a far-stretching +blue plain with rivers and white villages showing faintly upon it; my +heart leaped at the thought that there below me, within a day's travel, +was the land that held Aurelia and Redemption; but even in that same +moment there surged up that bitter something which chilled the generous +feelings and staled the fluttering hopes. Cruel and vexatious thought! +There was not a rill of water on these mossy stones which did not race +unimpeded, or, if impeded, gathering force and direction from the very +obstacle, towards Aurelia; yet here was I, sentient, adoring, longing, +who had travelled so far and endured so much, unable to move one step +beyond a painted post. Such thoughts make rebels of us. Is man, then, +the slave of all creation? Is his the one existence framed by the +Almighty that cannot follow his nature? Better then to be a beast of +chase, darting mouse or blundering mole, than a man, if the more erect +posture is to be the badge of a greater degradation. If the sole merit +of two legs be that they take less hobbling, better far to go upon four. +Needless to say that these were the mutinous reflections of the young +Francis who suffered--not of him who now writes them down, who pays +taxes, wears a good coat and bows to the police with the best citizens +in the country. But that Francis of nascent rebellion--miserably +irresolute, truly indignant, not daring to go forward, not able to +retire--asked himself such burning questions in vain as he paced the +brown length of a beechen glade, within sight but out of hope of his +promise. + +I must have wandered further than I reckoned; for so it was that I +presently became aware of a companion in my solitudes. This was a +Capuchin of great girth and capacity, who sat under a chestnut tree, +secluded from observation, and was at that time engaged in dyeing his +beard. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +I FALL IN AGAIN WITH FRA PALAMONE + + +The Capuchin's employment was precisely what I have stated, though all +probability is against it. I was curious enough to watch him and could +make no mistake. He had a copious beard descending to his stomach, the +half snowy white, the half a lustrous black. Upon a depending twig he +had fixed a tin-edged mirror, in his hand was a small tooth-comb. With +this he raked his beard over and over again, occasionally dipping it in +a tin cup at his side. He looked in the glass, picked up a strand of +beard, examined it minutely underneath, dipped his comb and raked, +dipped and raked again. My gradual advance, due, as I have said, to +curiosity, not presumption, did not disconcert him at all; he began to +speak without so much as looking at me, whereby I was able to hope that +I was not recognised. On my side it had not taken long to ascertain that +I knew the Capuchin very well--if not by his white half-beard, then by +that jutting tusk of his--at once so loose and so menacing. It was that +very same who at the hospital of Rovigo had looked at me so hard, had +burnt my cheek with his hot breath and urged the value of his friendship +so clamantly against that of the Jew's; Fra Palamone, as I remembered +his name. Nor could I forget why I had decided against him, nor in what +terms. It had been because, when I had brought my handful of money +flooding out of my pocket, two ducats had been covered by this man's +foot and had been buried deep in his toes. + +"Buon di," said he in cheerful Tuscan speech. "Are you come upon a like +errand of accommodation, by chance? You are welcome to a corner of my +dressing-room. We'll strike a bargain. If you dip my beard, I'll dip +yours." + +I said that would be bad commerce on my part, since I had no beard. +"You, sir," I added, "have a remarkable one, which I confess I regret to +see coloured." + +"A fig for your regrets, little man," said the other. "Politics is the +cry. If your passport described you as a middling-sized man with a black +beard and a running at the nose, you'd be doing as I am. But you'll +never have such a passport as that." + +"My passport," I told him, "is destroyed. It described me as a young Jew +with an assured manner and a pendulous nose." + +This caused the Capuchin to look upon his visitor. Whether he knew me or +not, then or before, he made no sign. "There's no flattery in that," he +said, "but you could have done it. A manner's a manner, and there's an +end; but I could swell any man's nose for him and say thank you. And +what does your present passport bear?" + +I said, "I have none. The Holy Office having confiscated it, ejected me +from Bologna because I wore a crucifix and prayed to the Madonna." + +"Ah," says he, "I've known a man hanged in that city for less. But what +you say convinces me of one thing: you will be all the better for +company." + +"How so?" said I. + +"Why," says the Capuchin, "you tell me you were talking to the Madonna." + +"It is true that I was addressing her in her image." + +"Very well; that's a proof positive to me that you had nobody else to +address--a most unwholesome state of affairs. How does my beard strike +you? Black as blackness, I fancy." + +He was right. I assured him that it was now as black as Erebus and +pleased him extremely. I told him, however, that I thought he would have +more difficulty with the rest of his description, which gave him a +middle size and a cold in the head. He was, in person, gigantic, and in +health appeared to be as sound as a bell. + +"I shall get through," said the friar, "on my beard, and where that goes +I can follow as easily as a tomcat his head. But I have a trick of +bending the knees which will serve me for some hundreds of yards--and if +you suppose that I can't snivel you are very much mistaken. Listen to +this." He hung his head, looked earnestly at the ground: then he +sniffed. Sniffed, do I say? It was as if all the secret rills of the +broad earth had been summoned from their founts. No noise more miserably +watery could have proceeded from a nose. He beamed upon me. "Am I a wet +blanket?" he cried. "Now, friend, shall we go?" He had packed up his +tools in his begging-bag and stood ready to depart. I reminded him that +I had no papers. + +"That need not disturb you at all," he said. "You pass in as my convert. +All you have to do is to do nothing and keep your mouth shut. If you +cannot speak you cannot answer; that is good logic, I hope. We will +discuss our several affairs presently in the reasonable air of Tuscany. +I stifle in the Pope's dominions. You might say that there was not room +enough for two such men." He blew out his shining cheeks till his eyes +disappeared; he looked like a swollen tree-bole with a mossy growth +dependent; then he deflated them with a bang, and shouted with laughter +--a single expression of delight, sharply reverberant--and suddenly +stopped. "Poh! what a rattle you'll think me," he said. "Come--and +remember that you are a deaf-mute." + +To get a thing granted it is no bad way to take it for granted. This is +what the Capuchin did. I was young and he was old, I undecided and he +perfectly clear in his intention. There was little more--even to my too +charitable eyes--in his favour, certainly not his looks. He was a huge, +straddling, positive kind of a fellow with an air of specious, bluff +benevolence about him which gave way to examination. He had a very ugly +mouth under his beard, cut up sideways by the pressure of his long tooth +to emerge; his eyes were small, greedy and near together; they looked +different ways. His nose was huge and glowing, broad-rooted as a tree +and pitted with the smallpox. On his left brow he had a savage scar. His +strength and determination were very extraordinary; I was to learn +within a few weeks how strong he was, how ferocious and dangerous. His +age might be guessed at near sixty for all his vivacity, for at close +quarters I could see unmistakably the senile arc in either eye, and, as +the reader knows, his hair and beard were very white. Debauchery may +have left these marks upon him, but had not worn out his force. That, at +any rate, was still enough to resolve the irresolute Francis, an +incurable believer in the native goodness of mankind, to obey him in +this instance. I am by nature pliant and easily led, and I have never +been one for half measures. Therefore I received upon my staff the +Capuchin's bundle in addition to my own, and followed my leader towards +the guard-house, within sight of which, crooking his knees together +under his frock, drawing in his shoulders, poking his head, the sturdy +rogue reduced his apparent size and expression more materially than +could be believed. His calculating eyes grew weak and watery, he +snivelled at the nose, drew his breath sharply as if it hurt him--almost +visibly shrank into himself. I looked at him with amazement, but the +officers seemed to know him very well. + +"Ho, Fra Clemente," says one, "on the round again, it appears!" The +Capuchin quavered his admission, his hand shook as he proffered his +passport. Yes, yes, poor Brother Clement must live, find consolation if +he could. A festival at Prato called him, a great affair; but he was +getting very sadly, as his friends might see, could not keep the road +much longer. The Customs officers gave him back his papers with scarcely +a glance to spare for them, and had no ears for his maundering, so +occupied were they with me, his companion. "Whom have we here, Fra +Clemente?" said one presently, and sent my heart into my throat. But the +Capuchin sniggered and touched his nose with his finger; there was an +air of low cunning about him very unpleasant to observe. "This, Sor +Giacomo," says he with a cackle, "is a little surprise for the Grand +Duke--a specimen, a rarity, a pretty thing. This is a Scythian youth, +deaf and dumb from his birth, but very taking, as you can see. 'Tis the +best thing I've picked up on my travels for many a year, and a fortune +to me. Why, if I can present this handsome lad to his Highness, you may +have me back upon you in my bishop's coach and six! And there will still +be men of my religion who will have got more for doing less, let me tell +you. You're never going to spoil an old friend's industry for the sake +of a dumb heathen!" + +"Heathen!" cries the fellow. "Is he a heathen? Do you suppose you may +offer the Grand Duke a heathen? You'll have the Inquisition upon you, my +man, for certain sure, and the Cardinal Archbishop for once on their +side. Into the water with him before you touch Florence, or out with +your knife. Make a Christian or a Jew of him." + +"Ay," says his colleague, handling me as if I had been an Odalisque, +"Ay, and the prince, between you and me, is near his time. His menagerie +may go to the dogs for all he cares, Jews and infidels, blacks and +whites and all. He sees little but the doctors and the priests in these +days." + +"What! Has it come to that?" says the Capuchin, peering through what +seemed to be rheumy eyes. "If it have indeed, then may Heaven be his +friend, for he'll need one. Tut! so I've spent my ducats for nothing, it +seems." He shook his pretended convoy roughly by the shoulder. "Accursed +Scythian, that ever I set eyes upon thee! Forty ducats, signori, of hard +money to a Venice ship's-chandler who had him, I know, from a Tripoli +merchant for half the sum. And a hardy, healthy, tall, propagating rogue +he is, by the looks of him. Well, well, you may keep him for me. I am +just a broken old man!" He spat upon the ground and appeared to ruminate +upon his hard fortune. + +I was greatly disgusted by now at the false position in which I had been +put, and should assuredly have found my tongue had I not perceived that +the trick was succeeding. One of the officers said that he would go to +perdition rather than have a mute heathen on his hands, the other +encouraged the Capuchin to hope for the best. The Grand Duke might +rally; he had the strength of a cow and the obstinacy of an old woman. +In fact, I was pushed over the frontier after my supposed owner without +further ceremony, and soon joined him. The old scoundrel moved painfully +off, dragging one leg after the other; but no sooner had the winding of +the road concealed him than, erect and replete once more, he clapped me +heartily on the back and began to crow and caper his delight in the +mountain airs. I watched him with mingled feelings, half gratitude, half +disgust. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +I EXERCISE COMMON SENSE, IMAGINATION AND CHARITY + + +"Was not that fine comedy in an old grey-bearded Capuchin dog?" cried +the frate, leaping about and cracking his fingers. "Could you have +bettered it? Could any man living have bettered it? Confess me an old +rogue-in-grain, or I break every bone in your body." + +"It is not for me to confess you one thing or another, Fra Clemente--to +call you so"--I replied; "except that you have made me party to some +abominable falsehoods. However, I have benefited by them, and am willing +to believe that you acted for the best, which is more than I can say for +your endeavours upon our last meeting at Rovigo. May I remind you of +that?" + +If I had hoped to startle him I was very much mistaken. The Capuchin at +once sobered down, and became confidential and affectionate. He put his +arm round my neck and spoke with feeling. "You have as good a memory as +I have, I see," he said, laughing pleasantly. "I had not intended to +recall to your mind a time when I confess to having been the victim of +prejudice. And without going so far as to say that I followed you solely +to remove your suspicions--that would not be the truth--I shall own that +I had you much in my thoughts, and hoped more than once that we might +cross paths. My prayer is answered. I shall set to work to convince you +of my good intentions towards you. Perfect confidence of man to man-- +shall it not be so? If I cannot help you it will be surprising: you have +seen how I can help myself." + +I did not again remind him that I had seen that very clearly when, at +Rovigo, his foot had been clapped upon my coins; but Fra Clemente, if +that were his name, saw that it was remembered. + +"Your money, let me say, would have been safer with me than with that +oily thief Issachar," he said calmly, "but let that pass. You saw fit to +trust him, and now you can judge how far I am to be trusted. I have +nothing to complain of and nothing to hide. I hope you can say the +same." I was silent. + +"Let me tell you," he went on, "that my name in religion is Palamone-- +Fra Palamone"--here his tones became lighter, as he soared from the +injured benefactor's into a jauntier suit. "Yes, I am that Fra Palamone, +known all over Tuscany for the most wheedling, good-natured, cunning, +light-fingered and light-hearted old devil of a Capuchin that ever hid +in St. Francis' wound. Hey! but I'm snug in my snuff-coloured suit. My +poor old father--God have him after all his pains!--put me there, to lie +quiet and nurse my talent, and so I do when times are hard. But the +waxing moon sees me skipping, and you will no more keep me long off the +road than your cur upon it. I must be out and about--in the kitchen to +tease the wenches, into the taverns for my jug of wine, off to the +fairs, where the ducats blow like thistle-down; under the gallows to see +my friends dance, at the gaol doors against delivery; the round of the +pillories, a glance at the galleys--with a nose for every naughty savour +and an ear for every salted tale. I have prospered, I was made to +prosper. This good belly of mine, this broad, easy gullet, these hands, +this portly beard, which may now get as white as it can, since I have +done with gossip Fra Clemente--a wrist of steel, fingers as hard as +whipcord, and legs like anchor-cables; all these were fostered and made +able by brown St. Francis' merry sons. Fra Palamone, dear unknown, Fra +Palamone, ever your servant! And now--"here, with another revolting +change, he turned his lips back to show his tooth--"And now," said he, +"you fish-eyed, jelly-gutted, staring, misbegotten bottle of bile, who +in the deuce's name lent you the impudence to listen to my confidential +histories without so much as letting me know your fool's name--hey?" + +The ferocious invective of this peroration accorded so ill with his +prattling exordium that I was left with nothing but a gaze. This I gave +him liberally; but he went on, lashing himself into fury, to use every +vernacular oath he could lay tongue to. He swore in Venetian, in +Piedmontese, in Tuscan. He swore Corsican, Ligurian, Calabrian, Spanish, +Hebrew, Arabian and Portuguese. He shook his fists in my face, +dangerously near my astonished eyes; he leaped at me, gnashing his teeth +like a fiend; he bellowed injuries, shocking allegations impossible to +be proved, horrible guesses at my ancestry, he barked like a dog, bayed +at me on all fours; finally whirling his staff over his head, he rushed +at me as if to dash my brains out--then, cooling as suddenly as he had +boiled over, stopped short, looked quizzically at me, blew out his +cheeks and let his breath escape in a volley. "Poh!" says he, "Poh! what +an old Palamone we have here," threw down his staff and came towards me +all smiles, his arms extended. + +"Admirable youth!" he cried heartily, "give me your hands. I love you +dearly; we shall be fast friends, I can see. Kiss me, boy, kiss me." + +I should have resented this comedy of thunderstorms more hotly than I +did if I had not believed the friar to be mad. But I was very much +offended by the titles of dishonour most improperly bestowed upon me, +and was determined to have done with their inventor. "Sir," I said, "you +have done me a service, I allow, and I am much obliged to you; but I am +constrained to point out that I have carried your baggage on my shoulder +for some five or six miles. You gave me your confidences unasked and +undesired. It matters, no thing to me whether your name be Palamone or +Graffiacane, nor how far you choose to disgrace your habit or molest the +charitable. Now you have acted like a maniac, and if I did my duty I +should give proper information in the proper quarter. Instead of that, I +restore you your bundle, and wish you a good evening." + +Fra Palamone had been watching me, studying my face intently as I spoke, +his arms folded over his labouring chest. He had, before the close of a +dignified, if somewhat sententious, address, recovered his breath, and +completely his gravity. "My dear young gentleman," he said, "I admire +your spirit as much as your person and manner. All three puzzle me, I +must say. So young and so rhetorical! So simple and so polished--an egg! +an egg! Are you English, Dutch, Irish? What the devil are you? You won't +tell me, and I don't know. But with all you say of my whirligig self I +entirely and heartily agree. That at least is to the good. I propose +that we sit down here and now, and discuss your affairs--for what better +can we do? A grassy bank! the scent of leaves! a fading sun--the solemn +evening air! Nature invites! Come, what do you say? We will eat and +drink of the best, for I and my sack are no mean caterers. We'll make +all snug for the night, and rise up betimes better friends than ever for +our late little difference of opinion." + +Nothing could have been less to my taste; the man inspired me with +extreme disgust. "Fra Palamone," I said firmly, "our ways separate here. +I go to Pistoja, you where you please; or, do you go to Pistoja, I shall +take the other road. I commend you to God, I salute you, I thank you, +and hope I shall never see you again." + +"English!" cried Fra Palamone, slapping his forehead. "Now I know with +whom I am dealing. Who else commends his enemy to God and hopes that the +devil will step in?" He looked me up and down triumphantly, grating his +upper lip with that fierce tusk of his. "If I were in the humour, boy," +he said, "which you may thank Madonna I am not, I could have you on your +back in two ticks, and your hands tied behind you. I could take every +paul off you--ah, and every stitch down to your shirt. But no! you are a +gentleman. I prefer to take your hand, being confident that we shall +meet again in a few days' time from now. Hold your way to Pistoja, since +so you will have it. I am never deceived in my man. I know you and all +your concerns as well as if you were my own son--and better, a deal. You +have your troubles before you, brought upon you by your own headiness-- +your own insufferable piety and crass conceit. And I, young sir, and I +am one of them. That you will find out." + +"I bid you farewell, sir," says I very stiff. + +"But I say, To our next meeting!" he cried, and plunged down the +hillside. I heard him for a long time shouting songs at the top of his +voice. + +Resting no more on the road, I pressed my way southward, descending +through chestnut woods to the olives, the garlanded vines, the wonderful +husbandry of a generous land, amazed and enchanted by the profusion I +beheld. The earth seemed to well forth rich blood at the mere tread of a +foot. Boys and girls, young men and women, half naked but glowing with +beauty and vigour, watched their beasts on the woody slopes or drove the +plough through the deep soil, following after great oxen, singing as +they toiled. The ground sent up heat intoxicating to the blood of a +northern wanderer. It was the Land of Promise indeed, flowing with milk +and honey, a pastoral land of easy love and laughter, where man clove to +woman and she yielded to him at the flutter of desire, yet all was +sanctioned by the Providence which fashioned the elements and taught the +very ivy how to cling. Was there not deep-seated truth, methought, in +those old fables which told of the Loves of the Nymphs, the Loves of the +Fauns? Was there not some vital well-spring within our natures, some +conduit of the heart which throbbed yet at the call of such instincts? I +was more sure of it than I had ever been before. The Loves of the +Nymphs--the clinging ivy, the yielding reed! The Loves of the Fauns-- +buffeting wind and kissing rain! These shy brown girls who peered at me +from between the trees; these musing shepherd lads calling them upon +oaten pipes--"Panaque, Silvanumque senem, nymphasque sorores." I saw +them, I saw them! I walked fast! my feet raced with my thoughts. My +heart was beating, my blood was hot, my inclinations were pastoral, but +enthusiastic. I was disposed to admire, and prepared to prove that I +admired. I could have embraced a sapling and swooned as I called upon +Dryas or Syrinx. Then, by-and-by, in the fulness of the time I saw a +slim solitary girl ahead of me in a glade, walking bolt upright with a +huge faggot of sticks upon her head. It was growing dusk. I could see +little of her save that she was tall and walked superbly well from the +hips, that her skirts were thin and close about her person, that she was +alone, young and over-burdened. I quickened my steps. + +She stopped, she turned to face me; I saw her black hair close- +curtaining her whiteness; I saw her steady eyes under dark and level +brows; I saw she was very thin and as wild as a hawk. I was foolishly +agitated, she not at all. + +"Buona sera," said she. She stood easily, upright, her burden on her +head. Her hands were on her hips, she was perfectly simple, as simple as +a nymph, and as handsome in her proud, calm, savage way. + +I returned her greeting, and more for the sake of getting countenance +than for the answer, asked her to direct me to some lodging not too far +off. She took some time in replying, but her eyes never left mine. She +gave me a steady scrutiny, in which were neither vulgar curiosity nor +equally vulgar stupidity to be discerned. It seemed that she was busy +with her thoughts how she was to answer me, for when she had looked her +full she shrugged and turned her head stiffly, saying, "There is none, +for your excellency." + +"God knows," said I, "how excellent I am, and that where there is +lodging for the meanest upon earth there is lodging for me." + +"What God knows," she said, "He mostly keeps to Himself. I speak of what +I see. Your excellency is on a frolic." + +"My excellency died three weeks ago," I told her. "Oblige me by not +referring to it again; and if you will not give me direction, let me +carry your faggot for you." + +"Why, how will that help your excellency?" says she. + +"By satisfying you that I have some title left to the name," I replied. +"Believe me, I need the good opinion of my fellow-creatures. Will you +not humour me?" + +"I cannot, sir," she said. "I can cease to carry my faggot, but that +won't help you very much." + +I insisted--I don't know why; she stared at me with raised brows, then +jerked the faggot to the ground. + +"Try," she said, and folded her arms across her chest, waiting. + +It is a fact that I tussled, laboured and wrought at the accursed thing, +an ineffectual Hercules. Its weight was really enormous; how her slim +neck could have borne it without cracking puzzles me still, though I +know how like a Caryatid she was formed. She did not laugh at me, or +smile, she merely watched me--and so goaded me to put out all my +strength, which was considerable. Knack, of course, was a-wanting. I got +it upon end, put my head against it, lifted it--and it fell behind my +back. Twice I did this, and grew dank with humiliation. Then I rushed at +it, lifted it bodily on high, and crammed it down on my head. Clumsy +malapert that I was! It slipped to my shoulder, thence upon the girl's +bare foot. "Hey!" she cried sharply, "now I hope you are satisfied." I +saw that her cheek was bleeding as well as her foot. I would have struck +off my fumbling hands at the wrists for this vexatious affair. + +"Forgive me," I said, "forgive me, pray," and went to her. I implored +her pity, execrated my clumsiness; I was born, I said, to be fatal to +ladies. Hereupon she looked at me with some interest. + +"You?" she said. I bore the brunt of her extraordinarily intent eyes +with great modesty. "Yes," she continued, "that may be true, for I see +that you are a signore. It is the prerogative of signori to ruin +ladies." + +I was stabbed more deeply than she knew, and said at once, "It is true +that I was born a gentleman, it is true that I have ruined a lady, but I +repudiate your conclusion with horror. I beg of you to allow me to +stanch your wound." + +She smiled. "Perhaps it may not need it. Perhaps I may not desire it. +But try--try." She offered me her cheek, down which a thin stream of +blood had wandered as it would. A ridiculous difficulty presented +itself; I hovered, undecided. "Suck the wound, suck the wound," said the +girl, "we shall not poison each other." I obeyed: the flow of blood +ceased. I knelt down and treated her foot in the same simple fashion. +When I stood up again she thanked me with what seemed shining eyes and +emotion in the voice. + +"I don't know what sort of ladies you have ruined," said she, "but you +have a pleasant manner of reparation. The scratch on my cheek smarts, +but not unduly--my foot is as sound as ever it was." She helped me perch +the faggot on my head, and we walked on together. This last generosity +had touched me. + +Her name, she told me, was Virginia Strozzi, and her people were very +poor folk of Condoglia. Condoglia was a village on a spur of the +mountains, the property, with the bodies and souls of its inhabitants, +of a great lord, a marchese. She was sixteen years old and had never +tasted meat. Condoglia was but a mile away; it was getting dark. Would I +spend the night there? "Your honour must not look for decency," she said +with a sad patience which was very touching to me; "you can judge of +what you will find by what you see of me. Rags cover my leanness and +wattles cover my rags. As I am, so are my father and mother, sisters and +brothers--and so I suspect were theirs. You will sleep on litter, you +will eat black bread, and drink foul water. It is what we do year in and +year out, except that sometimes we go without the bread. What do you +say?" + +"I say," I replied, "that I am thankful for your kindness to one who has +used you ill. My maladroitness was horrible." + +"Your amendment was, however, handsomely done," she said--and added +fiercely, "Let me tell you that nobody has ever touched my foot with his +lips before. I owe you for that." + +"You are generous indeed, Virginia," I said; "I shall be proud to be in +your debt for a lodging." We were not long in reaching Condoglia, which, +so far as I could see, was no more than a row of hovels on the summit of +a crag; and then we entered the meanest dwelling I have ever seen. + +It was like a gipsy's tent, made of mud, thatched with furze, and +consisted of a single room, on whose floor of beaten dung huddled a +family of starving wretches--hollow-eyed, pale, gaunt, and almost naked; +a round dozen of them. There were a man, bright and peaked with hunger; +a poor drudge of a woman, worn to a rag before her time, with a dying +child upon her empty breast; a grown son and seven children--all +crouched there close together like pigs in a yard to keep life in their +bodies. I saw no signs of food, and I reflected that outside this misery +and want the rich Tuscan earth was a-steam with fecund heat, and bore a +thousandfold for every germinating seed. To them, faint and desperate as +they were, the entrance of Virginia, herself as thin as a rod, and of +myself, a stranger, caused no surprise. They looked to the door as we +came in, but neither stirred nor spoke; indeed, it was Virginia who did +what was necessary. She brought from her bosom a loaf of rye-bread; she +fetched a flask of oil; she broke up the one and soaked it in the other +and distributed the victual--first to the guest, then to the children +and her parents, last to herself. The bread was musty, the oil rank; but +the children tore at it as if they had been young wolves--all but one, +who was too weak to hold its own, and might have died that night had I +not taken it upon my knee and put some food between its grey lips. No +one spoke; it grew dark; there was no candle or other light. I sat +awhile in the absolute silence, then fell fast asleep with the child on +my knees, wrapped in my cloak. In the morning, when I awoke, Virginia +was gone. + +Deeply touched by what I had seen, and still more by the desperate +patience with which afflictions so bitter were borne, before I went away +I gave the husbandman all the silver money I had left, some few liras, +and reserved for my future needs one single ducat, the last gold piece I +had. The man thanked me exorbitantly in a voice broken with gratitude, +yet almost in the same breath admitted the insufficiency of the gift. + +"We shall send Virginia into Pistoja to-morrow," he said. "It has come +to this, that her brothers and sisters are dying, and she must do what +she can." + +I asked, "Will you send her to beg?" + +The question was evaded. "She'll do well enough when she's been fed and +cleaned, for she's a well-made, handsome girl. There is a great man +there--we shall keep the wolf from the door by what she sends us-and +maybe have something over. Misery teaches all trades to a man, you see." + +I trembled and turned pale. "I entreat you," I said, "to do no such +dreadful thing. I have serious reasons for asking--very serious. There +is one thing which we cannot afford to lose, even if we lose life itself +in keeping it. And it is a thing for which we pay so dear now and again +that we cannot value it too highly. I mean our self-respect." + +The peasant looked round upon his hovel and sleeping brood with those +famine-bright eyes of his. "Must I keep my self-respect sooner than some +of them? Must I not throw one to the wolves sooner than a half-dozen?" +He gave over his unhappy survey with a shrug. "It seems I have nothing +to get rid of here," he said quietly, "except that valuable thing." + +I pulled out my gold piece. "Will that keep it safe for you?" I asked. +The gleam of the man's eyes upon it was terrible to see. "Will you +engage the word of a man that, in exchange for this, you will never do +what you have proposed?" + +"St. Mary help me, I will, sir," he said. The coin changed hands. + +"Where is Virginia?" I asked him, and he told me that she and Gino her +brother had been up before the light and were spreading dung. "Now," +said I, "it is proper that I should tell you that I am without a +farthing in the world. I say that, not because I grudge you the money, +but that you may see how entirely I trust you." + +"You may trust me indeed, sir," said Virginia's father with tears, and I +took my departure. + +The peasant escorted me some half-mile of the road to Pistoja. He +explained that Condoglia and all the country for ten miles square about +it belonged to the Marchese Semifonte, who had a palace in Pistoja, +another in Florence, several villas upon the neighbouring heights, and a +fine eye for a handsome girl. It would have been at his door first of +all, as to the proper and appointed connoisseur, that the young Virginia +would have knocked, with her sixteen years for sale. For, in every sense +of the word, said her father, she was his property--a chattel of his. I +thanked God heartily that I had found a use for my gold piece, and a +salve for his conscience into the bargain. I felt, and told myself more +than once, that any tragic fortune to that nymph of the wild wood, not +averted by me, would bring the guilt of it to my door. + +I may as well confess, too, that her haggard beautiful face and thinly +gowned shape were seldom out of my thoughts upon my two days' further +journeying to Pistoja. On the other hand, with curious levity of fancy, +I was convinced that before I had been many hours in that my first +Tuscan city, I should be bedewing the feet of Aurelia with my tears. And +so the sweet rainbow vision of my adored mistress also danced before my +eyes as I fared, and disputed with that queen of rustic misery for the +mastery of me. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +I SEEK--AND FIND + + +The hopes of a young man upon his travels may be lighter than feathers +whirled about by the wind, but they soar as high and are as little to be +reasoned with. Going to Pistoja that fine summer's morning, my +convictions of triumph were sealed to me. And why, indeed! Because I had +confronted and discomfited my redoubtable adversary of the mountain, and +rescued a poor family from hateful sacrifice, I was, forsooth! to find +Aurelia in Pistoja, to fall with tears at her feet, to be pardoned and +absolved, to rise to the life of honour and respect once more. She was +to rejoin her husband, I my classes and all my former bliss: all was to +be as it had been. Most unreasonable hope! Yet I declare that these were +my convictions upon approaching Pistoja, and that, far from diminishing, +as I drew nearer and nearer to the city, so did they increase and take +root in my mind. It was therefore as a man prepared and dedicated that I +entered the gates, as a man under orders that I took my way through the +crowded street, as a man guided by an inner light, requiring not the +functions of his senses, that I paced steadfastly forward, neither +asking the way nor looking about for it, and only paused when I was +before the worn portal of a great red-brick church whose facade, never +finished, presented to the world the ragged ends of bricks and mortar. +Here, I say, I paused, but not for uncertainty's sake, rather that I +might take full breath for my high adventure: as a man may hold his +energies curbed on the entry into battle, or, with his hand at the +chamber door, upon his marriage night; or even at his last hour, when +the sands are nearly run and the priest has done his best, and before +him lies all that dark unexplored plain he must travel alone. I breathed +no articulated prayer, all my being prayed, every pulse and current in +my body, every urgency of my soul tended upwards to my advocate and +guardian in heaven. I bowed my head, I made the sign of the Cross, I +pushed the curtains and went in. Before me stretched a vast and empty +church, desolate exceedingly, at the far end of which, in the gloomy +fog, before a lamp-lit altar I saw a woman kneeling stiffly, with +uplifted head, as if she watched, not prayed--watched there and waited, +knowing full well the hour was come and the man. + +Her head was hooded in a dark handkerchief; I could see her thin hands +clasped together--on the altar-rail; even as I realised these things +about her (which, besides her rigid, unprayerful pose, were all there +were to see) I must admit to myself that she bore no resemblance to my +lady. That one matter of devotion, and the devotional attitude were +enough to condemn her. For Aurelia was no bargainer in church, but lent +herself unreservedly to the holy commerce--her generous body, her ardent +soul--and asked no interest for the usufruct. Have I not seen her rain +kisses upon the tomb of St. Antony more passionately than I could have +dared upon her hand? Had she ever risen from the outpouring of prayer +without the dew of happy tears to bear witness in her eyes to her riven +heart? Her piety was, indeed, her great indulgence, so eager, so +luxurious, pursued with such appetite as I have never seen in England or +France, nor (assuredly) in Padua, where there is no zest, but much +decorum, in the practice of religion. To see her in church was, as it +were, to see a child in her mother's lap--able to laugh, to play, to +sulk and pout, ah, and to tell a fib, being so sure of forgiveness! No +secret too childish to be kept back, no trouble too light; the mustiness +of the season's oil, the shocking price of potherbs, the delinquency of +the milliner's apprentice who had spoiled a breadth of silk. She could +grumble at her husband, or impart and expect heaven to share her delight +at some little kindness he had done her. Since I have heard her speak +calmly to the Madonna about some young gentleman who had followed her +three days running to Mass, I am very sure that she and Our Lady were in +full agreement on my account. Thus it was that she, who had been early +parted from her earthly parents, nestled into the arms of her heavenly +parents. Upon what warm waves of feeling would Aurelia float into the +bosom of the Mother of Sorrows! With what endearments use her, with what +long kisses coax her for little mercies, with what fine confidence +promise her little rewards! And to compare this passionate flooding of +heart and mind, of corporeal and spiritual faculty with any incense +which that rigid watcher of mysteries had to offer up, were an absurdity +and a profanation impossible even to my deluded vision. + +While I watched and compared, however, I did not turn away. I cannot +understand my interest or curiosity, which were very real; I knew that +Aurelia was not in this church, but for all that I stood rooted by a +pillar at the door and kept my gaze fixed upon the woman in the distant +chapel. She may have continued kneeling there, motionless, for some +quarter-hour more; in itself the act of suspense is an absorbing one. So +much was I possessed by it that I forgot all beside it--that I was a +lover, not of this shrouded unknown, that I was penniless and outcast, +that I was hungry, ignorant, uncertain, unforgiven. I think that, in +some indefinable way, the spirit of Aurelia may have been about me, +pervading this cold church, linking me and that other; I think that +Aurelia's soul may have whispered to mine, "Behold thy duty there." I +cannot tell. But this I may say with truth, that when the thin hands at +the rail unclasped and one made the cross over the form that knelt so +lonely there; when the woman lifted her head, and slowly rising, turned +and came up the church; when our looks met, and I found my eyes +searching the grave face and sombre eyes of Virginia, that unhappy child +for whom I had spent my last gold piece--I was neither startled nor +disappointed, but felt rather that I had known all along that it was +she. + +I assume that I was in that exalted frame of mind which I have +endeavoured to describe. This young girl's eyes, fixed upon me, appeared +like beacons in that dark place, sullen fires lit at night to warn me +that I was still upon sentry duty about her person. "Money! Can a soul +be saved by money? The enemy is hungry about the wall," said the eyes of +Virginia, "be steadfast, on the watch." Neither of us gave recognition +of the other, neither of us spoke; but when she was level with me, I +turned and walked by her side to the door. I held the curtain back for +her to pass out; she bowed her head and accepted the service as +seriously as a princess. Together we went down the steps, side by side +we crossed the piazza, took the main street, turned to the right under +an archway and went down a steep and narrow lane--all this in perfect +silence. We reached a little piazza, a bay in the lane, raised upon a +parapet from the road level. Here, breaking our long and nervous +abstinence, Virginia stopped, saying, "I am tired; let us sit down." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +HAVING EMPTIED MY POCKET, I OFFER MY HAND, BUT RESERVE MY HEART + + +We sat down upon the steps of a church--San Pietro was its name, a very +old church. For a while we were silent; Virginia, it was to be seen, was +now timid--timid to the verge of defiance; I was curious, and curiously +excited. + +Mastering myself, I asked her in as redoubtable a voice as I could +summon, what she did here, in Pistoja. She then looked at me with her +tragic eyes--grey eyes they were, tinged with black; and looking +steadily always, without a trace of fear, she answered, "You know very +well why I am here." + +"Indeed," I exclaimed, "I know nothing of the sort. I don't in the least +understand you." Her calmness, her unflinching regard were dreadful to +me. "Do you mean me to suppose that your father--?" I could not finish +with the horrid thought. She saved me that pain. + +"My father has your money," said she, "and would have kept me at home if +he could. But there he reckoned without his daughter. I left home some +three hours after you, and got here before you, as you see." + +I could not be indignant with her; there was that underlying her hardy +speech which forbade precipitate judgment. + +"My child," I said, "what do you mean to do?" + +She shrugged her thin shoulders. "It is misery at home. Here, in +Pistoja, there is not apparent misery, nor need there be any. Signer +Francesco," she said, "look at me. I am sixteen years old, a +marriageable girl, not ill-looking, not ill-made, starving, without a +lover or the portion to buy one. What is to be done with me? What is to +be the end of me? It seems that the world has to answer me that +question. Am I to stop at Condoglia, and gnaw my knuckles, and work to +the bone for another's benefit, and kennel with dogs and chicken? Why, +my going will benefit them. The chicken will have more to eat. Or say +that I do stop there--what then? Having nothing, needing much, I marry a +man of my own nation, who has even less than nothing, and needs more +than I do. In fact, he needs me only that I may fend for him. And then? +And then, Don Francesco? More knuckles to be gnawed, more starving +mouths to gnaw them, more dogs, more chicken to jostle for the pease- +straw which I and my man and the children we choose to beget shall +huddle on. Life in Condoglia! Ah, thank you for nothing, Don Francesco, +if this is what you have bought for me with your fine gold piece." + +I was dismayed. I was dumb at such a callous summing-up of my honest +action. All I could stammer out was some feeble, trite protest against a +disordered life, which sounded insincere, but certainly was not that. +When I urged her in the name of religion to go home, she opened her eyes +with an expression of scornful incredulity. She was fully six years +younger than me, and yet strangely my senior. Without being told so, I +had the intuition that to appeal to her on the part of religion was to +invite failure. + +"Do you ask me to agree with you?" she said slowly, "when I know what I +know, and you so evidently know nothing? Who, pray, are you to judge +whether it be unwholesome to the soul for the body to sleep in a good +bed--you, who have rarely had a bad one? And can you tell me that it is +a sin to wash the body, and feed and clothe it delicately, when all your +life long you have had ministers to yours, as of right? What do you know +of the inconvenience of the course I meditate when you have nothing with +which to compare it? You! to whom hunger and nakedness are an adventure-- +yes, an adventure; undertaken for a whim or a frolic, I know not which. +For fifteen days of your life you have gone fasting, unwashen to bed-- +but I for fifteen years of mine; consider me that, sir. Your +experiences, again, may be ended whensoever you choose; you have but to +write a letter, I suppose. But for me"--she touched herself on the +breast--"they have no end at all, save one--and I have never learned to +write. My good Don Francesco," said she lightly, "you don't know what +you are talking about." + +This gave me the courage, if not the opportunity, to assure her that I +did. I entreated, reproached, exhorted her--to no purpose. Driven to it +at last, I alluded again to my unlucky expenditure, when she drew +herself up fiercely, and striking at me venomously, had me at her +discretion. + +"I am perhaps in your debt for that magnificent outlay of yours, Don +Francesco," she said. "I am willing to admit it, if only to spare you +the trouble of reminding me of it any more; and if you ask me to +liquidate it, I cannot refuse you. I am at your disposition as soon as +you please, and in any manner that you think proper. But if you think I +am to be bought of my father and put in a cupboard like so much cheese, +and locked up with a golden key kept in some man's pocket, you are very +much mistaken." + +Here, the reader may think, it would have been proper for me to have +told her that she was a worthless girl, who might go to the deuce for +all I cared; but if such is his opinion, it is not, and was not, mine. I +shall not set down all the talk between us; it was beating the air on my +side, and a steady trampling of solid earth on hers. My final argument, +and that only, produced a certain effect upon this remarkably clear- +headed girl. I told her that part of my story which dealt with Aurelia's +perfections and my own disastrous imperfections; I made her understand +that I was not the inexperienced man she had thought me; rather, I was +one with two examples ever before him--one shining with the pure +effulgence of Heaven, the other harsh, staring, horrible, like some +baleful fire at sea. "Ah, Virginia," I concluded, "you must not misjudge +me. It is a sinner who speaks to you, not a saint removed too far to +help you. A sinner indeed am I, yet not utterly lost. I have a guide, a +hope, a haven; I have a light whereby I may steer my poor barque. +Aurelia Lanfranchi--no! let me call her by her own name--Aurelia +Gualandi will save my soul alive. Oh, let her example be yours--and her +excellence your means of excellence!" + +Virginia, I say, was struck by these moving words of mine. She hung her +head and seemed sunk in thought. + +"I know nothing of this lady, nor of her nation," she said, more gently +than before, "but what you say of her pleases me very much. Evidently +you love her, and she you. But you must allow me to tell you now, what I +was timid to say before, that she showed much good sense in putting you +in the cupboard, and you remarkably little in jumping out of it. Half an +hour more cupboard and your learned doctor had been asleep. Next day you +could have made your plans with your lady. She would have rewarded you: +but so she would if, when she invited you to accompany her, you had +offered her your arm and put on your hat. What possessed you, then--what +inscrutable reasons had you? But there would be no end to my questions +and no satisfaction in your replies. Why, Heaven! the world was before +you two! You had happiness, adventure, all the rest of it. And if you +must needs wander this world, need I assure you that two are better +company than one?" Fra Palamone, I remembered, had been of that opinion +too. "As it is," she continued, "you may be years before you find +Aurelia, and you must be prepared for any step she may have been driven +to take in her extremity. I don't wish to wound you--but there can +hardly be any doubt about her plans." She rose to her feet and looked +kindly at me, saying, "I thank you for telling me your story. If I +understand it, I think you are rather mad; if I don't, then I must be. +But I admire you; I think I love you. I foretell happiness for you in +times to come, but not of the sort you seem to hope for at present." She +held out her hand to me. "Adieu, Don Francesco," she said, "we will part +here. Do you go to find Aurelia Gualandi, I to search for a lover like +you." + +Deeply touched by this gentle conclusion of our argument, I held her +hand and made her sit down again. She resisted--faintly, not seriously. +I then told her that I did not intend her to leave me in this manner, or +in any manner which did not assure me of her honourable wellbeing; and +now it was she who pleaded feebly, now it was I who was convinced, +fiery, unanswerable. I said that I was resolved to protect her honour, +to work for her, to establish her firmly and comfortably in the world +which had used her so ill. I told her that, being devoted entirely to +the love of Aurelia, my company could do her no harm; that, on the +contrary, the world, putting the worst construction upon our alliance, +would actually respect her more and do her less injury than if she went +into it alone. "I charge myself with your future, Virginia," I said, "as +if you were my sister. I am young and able; I shall provide for you, +never fear, until you are honourably and happily married. And you shall +accept this service from me--the only one I can do you--upon my own +terms; and respect the bargain that you make with me more than you have +your father's." + +She would not look at me, and said nothing; but she gave me both her +hands, and bending her head until she reached them, kissed mine +fervently and with humble gratitude. Thus began the most extraordinary +partnership between a young man and woman which the world can ever have +known. + +For the plighting of it, Virginia took all the order and direction. I +remember that she left me for a short time sitting there on the church +steps, and returned with bread and salt, got I know not how or whence. +She broke the bread, sprinkled it with the salt, and initiated me into a +mystical meal of her own devising. + +"This old church under which we partake our sacrament," she told me, "is +called San Pietro's. It is here that, in times gone by, the Bishop of +Pistoja went through the ceremony of a mystical marriage with the Abbess +of the Benedictines, which has now been stopped by the Jesuits, because, +more than once, it was not so mystical a business as it might have been. +But I think the place very suitable for what you and I have to do." + +With certain rites, then, of her own contriving--certain sprinklings of +salt in a ring upon the ground about us, upon our heads and knees, with +certain balancing of flakes of bread, and many signs of the Cross, +Virginia and I celebrated a union which, I say with my hand on my heart, +was intended by both of us to be as mystical as possible, and was so +until, long afterwards, it was deliberately ended. At the end of her +observances she took my hands in each of hers, crosswise, and looking +earnestly at me, said, "We are now indissolubly bound together--by the +communion of bread and salt--my pure intention to your pure desire. +Together we will live until we find Aurelia--you as master, I as +servant--you vowed to preserve my soul, I to succour your body. Let +nothing henceforward separate us--but one thing." + +"Amen to that, Virginia," I said, "and that one thing shall be a +prosperous marriage for you." + +So the bargain was struck; and now again I looked at the girl. The hard +and bitter fires had burned themselves out of her eyes; nothing remained +there but a clear radiancy. She was like a new creature, earnest, frosty +cold, like a spirit set free. I have said she was handsome in a thin, +fine way. She was very pale, black-browed, with firm, pure lips, a sharp +chin, grey, judging eyes. She was lithe and spare like a boy, and very +strong. Her hair, which was abundant and loosely coiled upon the nape of +her neck, was nearly black; not of that soft, cloudy dark which made +Aurelia's so glorious, but as if burnt, with a hot, rusty tinge here and +there about it. Though not now in the rags in which I saw her first, she +was still poorly dressed, in the habit of the peasantry of that country, +in a green petticoat and red bodice, which, like that of all unmarried +girls here, was cut to display the bosom. Her feet were bare, and her +arms also to the arm-pits. + +Such was Virginia Strozzi, for whom I had not then any symptom of what +the world calls love. I do not deny that she interested me extremely, +and was of great comfort and assistance, nor that, as the reader will +soon see, I gave her, and with good reason, respect, gratitude, a strong +affection--as much of these as a man can give to any woman born. Of her +feelings towards me at this time I shall not attempt any relation. She +herself had said that she loved me. Whether she meant by that more than +a sympathetic affection, a common cause, an adventure shared, a +comradeship, I know not--or at least I did not know then. All I have to +add is, that she never betrayed it. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +MY HAPPY DAYS; THEIR UNHAPPY END + + +I lived in Pistoja for a month or more, very happily, without money in +my pocket or a house to my name, to the benefit of my health and spirits +and with no injury to my heart's treasure. I mean by that expression +that I by no means, in the interests of my new surroundings, forgot +Donna Aurelia; on the contrary, I assured Virginia every day that +expiation was extremely necessary for me, and Aurelia's restoration to +her husband a vital part of it. Virginia, without professing to +understand me, fell in with my convictions; but she replied to them that +my Aurelia must either have gone to Siena, or be about to go. If the +latter, we should be in the way to meet her by staying in Pistoja; if +she was already at home with her mother, the more time we left for the +soreness to subside the better it would be for all of us. I fell in with +this line of argument, which seemed to me unanswerable, because I was +not then aware that the shorter way to Siena from Padua was by Arezzo. + +I was now to learn that it was very possible, in a country where all +classes save one were poor, to do away with the standard which obtains +all over the civilised world, and to measure men, not by what they have, +but by what they are. For a man to be without money where others have +much is to be without foothold--the goal for any fribble's shot of +contempt. It is as if he stood naked in a well-dressed assembly. But +where all are naked alike, no man need to be ashamed; and where all +pockets are empty, it is not singular to be without them; your wit +becomes your stock in the funds, and your right hand your ready money. +So, I say, I found it to be; but I believe that wit and ready hand were +alike Virginia's. I may have caught at the theory--hers was the +practice. Virginia's opinion was that work for hire was either done by +habit or on compulsion. An ox, said she, draws the plough, because his +race have always drawn it; a peasant works afield, because he is part of +the soil's economy. He comes from it, he manures it, tills it, feeds off +it, returns to it again. It is his cradle, his meat, his shroud, his +grave. But in cities the case is altered. Here man is predatory, +solitary, prowling, not gregarious. Here, for a man of wits, his fellows +are the field which he tills. He is the best husbandman who can tickle +the soil to his easiest profit, who can grow the finest crop at the +least pains, and get for little what is worth much. What, she would say, +do we need which the city will not give us for the reaching out of a +hand? Shelter? A hundred houses stand empty week by week. Take any one +of them; they are there to be chosen. Clothing? "Do you know, Don +Francesco, how small a part of the person the laws of morality compel +you to cover? There is not a dust-box in Pistoja but will give you a new +suit to that measure every day." Food? "Have you ever asked yourself," +she would exclaim, "how many pounds of bread we throw to the dogs in the +week? Enough to feed fifty packs of hounds." Drink? "It streams at every +street corner." "Thus," she would conclude, "are our necessities +supplied. For luxuries we have the sun in sheltered cloisters, the rain +to cleanse the ways in which we walk, the splendours of the church to +feast our eyes, the chances and changes of the streets and taverns to +keep our minds alert. No, no, Don Francis," quoth she, "let them sweat +and grow thin who must. We are free." + +I could not admit all the conclusions of this philosophy, though I was +not concerned to dispute them. But Virginia's theories of life +interested me extremely and her ability to apply them was extraordinary. +Perhaps I was by predestination a vagabond, and no doubt she was. All I +can say is that if I myself became strong and healthy on those terms, +Virginia bloomed like a wild rose and seemed to grow in grace under my +eyes. She devoted herself to me and kept me in excellent order; washed +my shirt and stockings at the fountain, kept my clothes neatly mended, +buttons on my vest; brushed my cloak, clouted my shoes. She was not +inattentive to her own person either. She put her hair up into a coil +and pinned it with a silver comb, kept herself clean, and wore shoes and +stockings. A pair of stays became her well, and a loose white kerchief +for her bare neck. She showed to be a beautiful girl. Her eyes lost +their sombre regard, her colour cleared, her cheeks took rounder curves. +Where she got her clothes, where the food which made her sleek, where +the happy light in her eyes, were mysteries to me. She seldom left me, +she showed no signs of having been at work; so far as I knew she had no +friends in Pistoja and asked no extraordinary charities. I believed that +she shared in the distribution of alms at the gates of certain +monasteries; I fancied once or twice that a look of recognition passed +between her and various persons as they met in the streets, but as she +said nothing to me on the subject I made no inquiries. There was no +doubt of her devotion to myself; she never left me or met me again +without kissing my hand; she always spoke of me by a title of respect-- +as Don Francis, or your honour, or sir--and yet was entirely +unceremonious in what else she said to me, criticised my actions, and +quarrelled with me hotly upon many subjects. She took a plain view of my +feelings towards Aurelia, as the reader will have seen, and a very plain +view of Aurelia's towards me. But when she found that to have expressed +them would really have hurt me, she withheld the expression, but did not +change her view. One thing she never did: she betrayed not the slightest +symptom of love for me. I might have been her sister, or she my brother, +for any false shame she had--or for any sign of passion towards me. She +concealed nothing, she spared nothing, but she asked nothing that I was +not ready to give her--and this, as I then thought, was not because she +was determined to fulfil her bargain towards me, but because there was +nothing more that she wanted. She liked me, I suppose, very much; she +respected me--perhaps she might have been a little afraid of me. She +knew that I was a signore who could end my absurdities--so she freely +considered my conduct--whenever I chose; she thought me a little mad. +Meantime, as I was uniformly kind to her, she had never been so happy in +her life. On my part, I spent my time in the writing of great quantities +of poetry--which I read to Virginia in the evenings and which she +thought very fine--and in teaching her to read and write. She proved an +apt and willing pupil, quick to learn and with a retentive memory; but +she could never spell. I think it may be said that, on the whole, I gave +her as much as I got, for not only did she become happier and healthier, +but I was able to soften the harsh angles of her mind, to humanise, +reclaim her from savagery. I could not, however, make her religious +after my own fashion. She went to Mass with me, and once, when I +insisted upon it, confessed and took the communion. But she hated the +priests, though she would never tell me the reason, and could hardly +ever be drawn to confession again. + +After trying various shelters from the weather and being driven from +each by unforeseen circumstances--a cloister or two, a church (where the +sacristan surprised us asleep one morning and turned us out into the +rain), an old family sepulchre, an empty palace, and a baker's oven +which had fallen to be let (and had been occupied by cockroaches)--we +finally discovered and took possession of a ruined tower near the church +of Sant' Andrea, which suited us excellently well. It had been the +fortress of a great old family in the Middle Ages, that of the +Vergiolesi, from whom sprang the beautiful Selvaggia, beloved by Cino of +Pistoja. The lower floor being choked with rubbish and fallen masonry, +the only access to our retreat was by a broken beam projecting from the +original doorway. You jumped for this, caught it if you were expert +enough, and must swing yourself up to straddle it. You could then gain +the string-course of brick which encircled the tower, and, edging along +that, reach the lower sill of a window. That window was our front door. +The interior was perfectly dry, rainproof and (from all quarters but +one) windproof. Enchanting occupancy to me! fit household for a poet +without pence; and to Virginia, who had never known a dry lodging, a +very palace. Here by the light of candle ends, got for the asking from +the churches, I made her acquainted with letters; I held her fingers at +the charcoal until they could move alone. I pointed my own along the +page until her eye could run true. The greater part of the walls of our +chamber was covered with her sprawled lettering: and, for all I know to +the contrary, may reveal to this day the names of Francis Strelley, of +Aurelia Gualandi and of Virginia Strozzi. It is a fine proof of her +loyalty to our bargain that the first name which Virginia essayed to +write was mine, but the second, Aurelia's. She took her own in hand +last. The verb chosen for these easy essays was as usual amare: but its +application to the walls was again the pupil's device. I allowed her +willingly to write "Don Francesco ama Donna Aurelia," but forbade her to +reverse the names. One day when I was out she put "Virginia Strozzi ama +Don Francesco." I did not know it till long afterwards. + +I gave her the rudiments of literature also: I grounded her in letters +as well as in lettering. Amongst my few possessions were still my +"Aminta" and my "Fioretti": and I knew much of Dante's comedy by heart. +Virginia had a retentive memory and great aptitude for learning. +Whenever she did well I called her a good child, and she was so +dreadfully afraid lest I might withhold the praise that she toiled at +her ciphering and pothooks long after I was asleep. There is no doubt +that this was a happy time for both adventurers--full of interest for +me, and of extreme comfort for the girl whom I was able to befriend. + +It is not to be pretended that we kept good company. We were outcasts, +and were thrown of necessity amongst those who had been cast out. But +the standards of life vary with those who live, and I never could see +that a man was less of a thief because he thieved from a throne, or less +a profligate because he debauched a princess. I was, no doubt, in +advance of my time; these are the ideas of Monsieur Voltaire. I believe +that I saw a great deal of iniquity, for the taverns and gaming-dens to +which I sometimes resorted for shelter or entertainment were filled with +desperadoes of all sorts--deserters from the army, thieves, coin- +clippers in hiding, assassins elect, women of the town, and even worse. +But while I expect my reader to believe that I never sinned with them, I +shall find him harder to convince that I was never invited to sin. Such, +however, is the fact, and of course it is open to the retort that you do +not invite a drunkard to be drunk. Be that as it may, I met these +unfortunates upon the common ground of civility, conversed with them as +equals, and was not only respected by them for what I was, but came +myself to respect them in spite of what they were. Virginia taught me +much here. With her it never was, "Such-and-such is a woman of infamous +life," but rather, "Such-and-such has a fine ear for music, or can make +a complicated risotto." I learned, with astonishment, that with the most +deplorable degradation of life there could consist an ability to share +the interests of the most refined persons. These associates of ours made +no secret of their avocations (except to the police), nor were they +abashed or confounded if I happened to meet them in the exercise of +them; but, business done, they were to be treated like Mr. Councillor or +My Lady. Nor was this an arbitrary exaction or a curious foppery on +their part; not at all, but as they expected to be taken, so they +behaved themselves. There was not, I am bound to say, one of those women +who did not hear Mass three times a week, recite the daily rosary, +confess herself, take the sacrament. Nor do I remember a single man of +those whom I met in various houses of call or thieves-kitchens in the +town who was without his mental activity of some honest kind, who had +not a shrewd interest in politics, a passion for this or that science-- +as botany, mineralogy, or optics, or an appreciation keenly critical of +the fine arts. Philosophers, too, some of them were, acute reasoners, +sophists, casuists. We had no doubts, fears or suspicions of them, and +they thought no evil of us. Some of them we invited to a reading in our +tower; and once we enacted the "Aminta" with great applause: Beltramo, a +very engaging boy (afterwards hanged for highway robbery and prison- +breaking), Violante, an unfrocked priest called Il Corvo, Virginia and I +took parts. Beltramo I never saw again but once, and that against my +will. I saw him hanged at Genoa in 1742. A curious life indeed, which, +to one so addicted to research into the ways of men as I always was, +would have needed violence for its termination. Violence, indeed, did +end it, and with humiliating detail. + +One day I sold my cloak to buy a book. That was a vellum-bound copy of +the Sonnets of Cino of Pistoja, which, with my autograph, "Fr. +Strelleius--Pistoriae--IV Kal. Aug. MDCCXXII," I still possess in my +present retreat at Lucca. Cino had been a famous poet in his day, the +lover of the beautifully named Selvaggia Vergiolesi, who had, in fact, +lived in our romantic tower. I thought that the opportunity of becoming +acquainted, on the very spot, with the mind of a man who must so often +have sighed and sung upon it was well worth an unnecessary garment. The +volume mine, and a few pence besides, I purchased bread, wine and +sausage, and made Virginia a feast. We banqueted first on sausage, next +on poetry, and revelled so late in the latter that we exhausted our +stock of candle, and had none left for the exigencies or possibilities +of the night. Tired out and in the dark we sought our proper ends of the +long room. I, who lay below the window, immediately fell into a deep +sleep. + +I was awakened by a dream of suffocation, imprisonment and loss, to find +that of such pains I was literally a sufferer. A thick woollen was over +my mouth and nose, the knees of some monstrous heavy man were on my +chest, cords were being circled and knotted about my hands and arms. My +feet were already bound so fast that the slightest movement of them was +an agony. Dumb, blind, bound, what could I do but lie where I was? The +work was done swiftly, in the pitchy dark, and in silence so profound +that I could hear Virginia's even breathing, separated as she was from +me by the length of a long floor. There was but one effort I could make +with my tied ankles, and that was to raise both legs together and bring +the heels down with a thud upon the boards. The cords cut me to the +bone--the effect upon Virginia was precisely nothing. + +When I was reduced to a mere chrysalis, having cords wound all over my +body which glued my arms to my flanks, I was lifted like a bundle and +lowered by a rope through the window to the ground. The descent--for I +spun round and round with horrible velocity--made me extremely giddy; +probably I lost my senses for a time. My next discovery was of being +carried swiftly over the ground by one who ran rather than walked; of my +captor mounting what I supposed to be the city wall, with me on his +back, dropping lightly on the other side and running again, on and on. +The river was crossed, for I heard the pounding and splashing, the bank +was mounted; I was now crossing furrowed ground, Heaven knew whither! I +was a long time; the thief climbed a hill; I heard him labouring his +breath, and felt the heat come up from his body like the sun in the dog- +days from a paved courtyard. I was too uncomfortable, too perturbed, too +much enraged over the fact to spend much thought on what the fact might +mean. Was I taken for a soldier? Then why such a mystery about it? I had +seen men crimped in the open piazza, out of wine-shops, from the steps +of churches. What then was my fate? I was soon to learn. + +After what I think to have been an hour and a half's journey, my captor, +puffing for breath, stopped and put me down on grass. + +"Porca Madonna!" cried a strident voice, "I'm not so young as I was, or +you have grown fat in Pistoja. The fatter the better for me." + +Then I knew that I had been kidnapped by Fra Palamone. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +I AM IN BONDAGE + + +The woolly gag removed, I said, in the dark, "Fra Palamone, so sure as +God lives and reigns, you shall pay me for this." + +He replied, "My dear lad, I am paid already, and twice paid. It is the +certain conviction that I am hereafter to be much blessed in your +society that has forced me to take this liberty. May I now have the +pleasure of setting you free? It wounds me in my tenderest part to know +how these cords must bruise you. Your aching wounds--my aching heart. +Come, a fair exchange! Be free, and set me free." A great shadow of him +settled down over my eyes, the impending bulk of his huge body; heat and +garlic came in waves about me, his furnace breath. + +"Not yet, Fra Palamone," I said firmly. "You will do well to leave me as +I am until I know more of your intentions. You used the word 'freedom' +just now: how am I to understand it? I warn you that, so far as I know, +the first use I shall make of my freedom will be to kill you." I meant +it at the time, for I was beside myself with rage. + +He began to swear gently to himself, walking to and fro before my feet, +coupling (as his manner was) the names of his Maker, Redeemer and Divine +Advocate with those of dishonourable animals. Having thus eased himself, +as a pump gets rid of foul water in the pipes before its uses can begin, +he began to answer my objections. "If to have the play of young limbs, +the prerogative of two-footed creation, be not liberty," said he, "then +there is no liberty in the world. And if to be loosed from sin and +shame, by means however abrupt, be not liberty of the most exalted, +spiritual kind, then, young man, you are a bondslave indeed, to your own +ignoble desires." + +I said, "I have told you on what terms I will take my liberty. I will +die here as I am sooner than make bargains with you." + +"I am an old man," he replied, "a-weary of my labours. I will not +wrangle--I abhor disputations. I am able to offer you, Don Francis, a +service which is perfect freedom. Will you take it or leave it?" I was +silent, and I believe the old villain went to sleep, as certainly I did. +Youth will have its rest, whether there be gall in the mouth or a teat. + +When I awoke it was broad day. The sun was up and deepening the pale +tints of the sky; a bird in the oak-tree overhead was singing his +orison, and Fra Palamone cooking a pork chop upon a little fire of +twigs. Never did I see such delicate art put into such a piece of work; +he had not boasted when he said that he was a cook. Not only did he cook +it to the exquisite point of perfection, but he ate it, bone and all-- +combining the zest of a cannibal with the epicure's finer relish--and +poured near a litre of wine down his tunnel of a throat, before he +deigned to regard whether I lived or was dead. His next act was to +recite the rosary aloud, on his knees, with intense fervour; and his +next--after three prostrations in honour of the Trinity--to untie the +cord about his middle and add a knot or two to the multitude already +there. With this formidable scourge circling about in his hand, he came +to where I lay helpless. + +"Ser Francesco," he said, showing his long tooth and purring his words +like a cat, "I find that bonds, imprisonment and hunger have not +quickened your resolution. I admire you for it, but meantime I suffer +the rage of the devil. I must assuage my pains at all costs, and regret +that my balm must be your bane. But since you elect to be a prisoner it +seems reasonable that you should taste prison discipline--and I, O +Heaven! inflict it." I marked his infernal purpose in his eyes--no need +that he should bare his iron arm!--and determined to endure, even unto +death, sooner than give way to him. He came towards me, his arm bare to +the shoulder; I clenched my teeth, shut my eyes and waited, not for +long. The cords writhed about me like snakes of fire, biting so deeply +that my very heart seemed torn and raw. The blood surged into my head, +beat at my ears and nose, and (as it seemed) gushed out in a flood, +drowning me in wet heat. So, presently, I lost my senses, neither knew +nor felt any more. "Blessed art thou, Death! Aurelia hath surely sent +thee!" were my last thoughts as I swooned. Waking once more, I was +alone, lying bound on the edge of a little oak wood. Before me were +brown fields and stretches of flickering heat, and far below, in the +valley, I could see Pistoja, pale red and white in the full sun. It was +near noon; the sun was directly overhead in a cloudless sky, and his +rays burned me up. My head throbbed desperately, my body felt one free +wound; I was sick with hunger, clogged with drouth. I made sure that I +had been left there to die, and waited momently for the summoning angel, +commending my simple soul to the advocacy of the Blessed Virgin and the +merits of my patron St. Francis of Assisi. I thought, with a pang, of my +mother, who might be praying for me now; beside her hallowed image even +Aurelia's was dim. Then all visions faded out. Out of the midst of that +glaring sky there beamed, as it appeared to me, a ray of intense light, +which grew steadily to an intolerable radiancy. I believed it to be the +sword of God in St. Michael Archangel's hand, held out to give me the +accolade, and make me Cavalier of Paradise. "God and our Lady!" my +soul's voice cried. An unearthly note of trumpet-music responded to my +call, beginning very far away, and swelling in volume of sound until all +the air seemed vibrant with it. Then said my soul, "In manus tuas, +Domine Jesu!" and I knew nothing more. + +And yet again I awoke, in the level light of early evening, unspeakably +refreshed, free from bonds, and little more than stiff in the limbs. Fra +Palamone was by my side, a cup of broth in his hands. "Drink this, poor +suffering Francis," he said, as gently as a woman. "Henceforth all shall +be harmony betwixt me and thee." He put the basin to my lips and lifted +my head on his knee that I might drink more at ease. It was a strong, +invigorating stuff, with a cordial in it, I know not of what kind. Had +it been vitriol I had been too weak to refuse it. It brought my vigour +back in a tide; I sat up. Fra Palamone began to talk, with more candour +and fair reason than his late exploits warranted. + +He said that a great danger, greater than my ignorance of this country +would allow me to guess, had threatened me of late, had come to his +knowledge in Florence, and had been forestalled by himself, under the +merciful guiding of Heaven, at the last moment. The Government of +Tuscany, owing to the dotage of the Grand Duke and the wicked influence +of Donna Violante over her brother-in-law, the Grand Prince Gastone, was +impotent; there was no police, but indeed a flagrant anarchy abroad, +where private malice stalked in the cloak of justice, and the passions +of evil men had scope for the utmost indulgence. Great men did as they +chose--which was to do evil; the most unnatural debauchery obtained; the +Grand Prince Gastone ran spoiling about the country, a satyr heading a +troop of satyrs. No honest person was safe from ruin. He told me that I +had been remarked in Pistoja, and my name and origin guessed at. They +knew me as consorting with profligates and criminals, and accused me of +having stolen a young girl from the Marchese Semifonte, upon whose +estate she had been born and bred. It was said that I had brought her to +dishonour; the laws were to be put in operation against me, or what +masqueraded as laws; worse than death would have been my portion had he +not intervened and saved me. He had been ill-advised perhaps in the +manner of doing; but I was to reflect--was not secrecy essential? He +owned that my obstinate refusal of his company had angered him, +stretched as he was by anxiety, to the point of laying violent hands +upon me with his girdle. "These cords," he said, "which were meant to +remind us of our humility, are too convenient ministers of our lust. But +the remedy for my great offence is easy." He again took off the girdle +and put it in my hands. He took off his habit and knelt before me in a +woollen shirt. "Smite, Don Francis," said he, "and fear nothing. Smite +in token of forgiveness. As you are generous, smite." + +I hope he found me generous enough, for I did smite him with all my +force; whether he felt forgiven or no, this did me a power of good. I +had the satisfaction of cutting his shirt to ribbons and of drawing +blood from him, a satisfaction which now seems to me wholly unlike my +nature, and quite unworthy of my position. He bore it with exemplary +cheerfulness, singing sacred songs softly to himself, only pausing in +these pious exercises to encourage me to hit him harder. "Hey, but that +was a shrewd one; that went home! Nerve yourself, Don Francis, courage +and resolve! A little lower, my son, nearer to the buttock. There! a +proud patch there--ho ho! but you're into it!" and so on. At the end, +when I sank back exhausted, bathed in sweat, he sprang towards me, put +his arms about me and kissed me. "Dear Francis, beloved friend," he said +warmly, "how can old Palamone thank you enough for your noble work? By +devoted service? It is yours. By more than brotherly love? You have it. +One thing at least is clear: we can never be separated after this." + +Nothing could be clearer to me than that we must be separated +immediately, but I did not think it wise to dash his hopes until I found +out how far he had lied. I wished to learn also what he wanted of my +company. I told him, therefore, that supposing his tale about me to be +true in general, in particular it was most false. So far from having +injured Virginia, I said, I had saved her from destruction, and if the +marchese did indeed claim her as his property, the very first thing I +had to do was to defeat his purpose, since that was the root of my +partnership with her. I explained my position and hers to him as well as +I could, and condescended, for her sake, to bargain with the old wretch. +"Since you, Palamone," I said, "desire my company, though Heaven alone +knows why you do desire it, I will agree to share my journey with you so +far as Florence, whither I shall go immediately, but not on any account +without Virginia. I have charged my conscience with her honour, and am +inflexible on that point. If you won't agree to this, you must follow +your own devices, and may attempt whatever atrocity occurs to you. That +is my firm decision which no suffering can relax." + +Fra Palamone, all smiles, made no difficulties. He would fetch Virginia +that very night, and we would set off the next morning for Prato, where +there was a great church ceremony which he must by all means attend. +Then we would go to Florence, full of friends of his (he assured me), +who would make the weeks fly for my amusement. "Trust me, my dear +brother," he said, "you will never repent having made the acquaintance +of your old Palamone." + +I expressed with the utmost plainness my astonishment at the pains he +was at to get my society. "My dear Francis," he said, raising his +eyebrows, as if in despair of making me understand his whim, "what +greater proofs of my affection can I give you? I have flayed your back +and allowed you to flay mine. I have filled your mouth with wool and +carried you like a bale for three leagues in the middle of the night. +And you ask me why? I can only say that I have a liking for you. You are +spirited, pious, ingenuous, and well-read. As a man of many trades and +accomplishments, I shall find you useful in a hundred ways. You will +understand that before we have been in Prato half an hour. Honestly, my +friend, I have twice tried to serve you in difficulties, and each time +you have obstinately refused to acknowledge it. Now, for a third time, I +am going to oblige you. Consider whether I am altogether undeserving; +consider it when I am gone for your Virginia." + +I had nothing else half so interesting to do. I pondered his acts +towards me over and over again, but could not for the life of me fit +them into any reasonable relation to himself. That he meant to make +profit out of me was certain; he lived for profit. But how? By selling +me into slavery? Had his explanations to the Customs-house men at the +frontier been pure falsehood? I knew that the Grand Duke Cosimo was +surrounded by miserable young men of all colours, tongues and sizes, +gathered from every quarter of the globe. That was a humour of his which +all his toadies and sycophants tried to indulge. Probably his collection +lacked an Englishman--but even as I hotly determined that it should for +ever lack one sooner than possess me, I remembered that this mad prince +lay dying. Palamone must needs know that; and then, what sort of a price +did he hope for from a man with the death-rattle rising in his throat? +Did the heir-apparent, the Grand Prince Gastone, intend to maintain the +collection? It was possible. Of some monstrous villainy of the sort I +vehemently suspected Fra Palamone, and am the more glad, therefore, to +record that in this particular case I did him a wrong. He came back in +good time with Virginia, who, her eyes alight, sprang towards me and +snatched at my hands. I let her kiss them, and was sincerely glad to see +my friend again. We devoured each other with questions. Had she been in +danger of the marchese? She blushed at the supposition, and asked me +what I was thinking her. Had she been alarmed on my account? No, not at +first; but later she had been making inquiries. Had I been uneasy? I +confessed that I had. Fra Palamone, with some magnanimity, left us alone +for the best part of an hour; he sat, I remember, on the edge of the +hill looking towards Pistoja, reading his breviary, well removed from +earshot. This gave Virginia opportunity to exhibit her view of his +behaviour. "We had better travel with him for a while," she said. "He is +known all over the country for a desperate rascal, but is privy to too +many secrets to be apprehended. Nobody dares lay him by the heels for +fear of what he will divulge; and the more you thwart him the more risk +you run. He might easily kill you in a rage; he thinks no more of +stabbing a man than of skewering a sausage. I grant you that your +suspicions do him no wrong. He would sell you in a moment to any one who +would buy you. But they are groundless; it is quite plain what he wants. +He sees that you are a foreigner of good birth and position; he knows +you for a truant on an escapade. Being certain that there will be hue +and cry after you, a large reward offered, he means to keep you under +his eye until the price is high enough to tempt him, then he will +produce you and get the bounty. Call him brigand, say he holds you to +ransom, you will be right. Meantime he will make you useful, as you will +see when we are in Prato. Me, too, he will use; but not as you might +suppose. His one passion is money, his besetting sins are gluttony and +rage; he has no other appetites, I believe. For myself, I shall serve +him as well as I can, and I advise you to do the same. Ways of escape +will occur to us by-and-by." + +I could see that she was right. Here was his plan--infinitely creditable +to him compared to the other. I promised Virginia that I would humour +him for the present; and just then the man himself came to us with two +chickens, some cheese, a flat loaf, and a bottle of excellent red wine, +grown (as he told me) upon the Grand Duke's podere at Poggio a Cajano. +We had a cheerful meal, and separated for the night in high good humour. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +VIRGINIA AND I FALL OUT, BUT ARE RECONCILED + + +I confess that I have never been able to feel the force of that argument +which says, for example, that because a man is a sheep-stealer he must +needs be a bad husband. As well might one set out to prove that a +parricide must inevitably prove an indifferent cook. In the person of +Fra Palamone, of whose scoundrelly proclivities I had had more than an +inkling already, it is undoubtedly true that many agreeable qualities +were to be found. He was, to use my illustration again, an admirable +cook; he was a good talker, a companionable man, a kindly host. Having +got my measure, as it were, and won of me by persuasion, what he had +failed to win by force, he was sensible enough to see that, if he wished +to keep me, he must curb his vile passion of rage. And so, for a while, +he did. + +Trudging our road to Prato early in the morning, he was very gay. +Virginia stepped along by my side, a free-moving young creature who +never seemed to tire; but he struck out in front of us, most of the time +singing at the top of his voice very discreditable songs, or with a +joke, salutation, sarcasm or criticism for everybody we passed on the +way. Wearying of this, because, as he said, it was poor work fencing +with bunglers, he kept us closer company for the rest of the journey, +and was most entertaining. He talked, he joked, he told tales, he told +lies. He was shrewd, caustic, tender, witty, extravagant, uproarious, +turn and turn about, but he never lost sight of his aim. Probably there +never was a man of looser conversation who kept a tighter hold upon the +direction of his discourse. The end of all his oratory came when he made +us, his pupils as he called us, acquainted with his plans. + +"This festa," he said, "whither we go, will bring all the world to +Prato, if it have not done so already; and as this same world is the +orange which I and you, my apprentices, propose to suck, let us lose no +time in getting our teeth well into the rind. In this way, namely: there +are three days' junketing before us, to which we will minister exactly +what the revellers need. Tomorrow, when they translate the blessed +remains of Santa Caterina de' Ricci, we shall sell objects of devotion +to the faithful." As we were now sitting by the roadside for our midday +meal, he produced a variety of objects from a bag at his feet. + +"Observe," he continued, "these images--lilies, bambini, nourishing +matrons, curly-headed deacons; these flaming hearts, these hearts stuck +upon swords: a holy traffic indeed! Here, too," and he extricated a +budget tied in blue tape-ribbon, "are the lives of all the frati worthy +of record, and of a good few, between you and me and this damsel, not to +be found recorded. Here, in this napkin, is everything requisite to make +Santa Caterina de' Ricci the happiest of dead ladies--as, portraits of +her mother, of her mother's sisters, of her father and all his +relatives, of the young man who drowned himself at Pontassieve for her +love, and of that other young man who, on the contrary, did not, but +made himself a priest and became her spiritual director. Here are the +palace in which she was born, the escutcheon of the De' Ricci which she +despised, her governess's house, the convent where she made her vows, +and the cell where, if she did not die, she might very easily have died. +Here you have the great doctors and captains of the Dominican Order, +here is Albert the Great, here seraphic Thomas, here murdered Peter, +here Catherine, here Rose--admirable engravings, as you see, mostly +after the admired John. Here then is our day's work cut out for us--a +happy toil! On the next, having done our humble service to the souls of +all these persons, we must be careful not to forget their bodily needs. +I shall exercise my skill in dentistry for trifling rewards, and you, my +young Aesculapius, will prove to others, as you have already proved to +me, that the strong wrist and willing arm are not lacking among your +personal endowments. I am persuaded that these duties will occupy the +whole of the second day, for Prato will be full to suffocation by that +time, and there will hardly be a head whose recesses we may not have to +explore. By these means, having secured (as I hope) the public +confidence, the time will be ripe for my great design. After worship, +relaxation, the release from pain; after pain, pleasure comes. On that +third day, my children, we will set up a faro-bank, the profits of +which, if skill be employed, will more than counterbalance what we have +cheerfully lost in our efforts to do good. The reward, I say, is +certain, and who shall call it undeserved? Not I, for one. Now, +children, to the road once more! Happy fortunes attend us! Pray for old +Palamone, who loves you dearly and thinks about you night and day." + +He got up as he was finishing this speech of his and took to the road +before I could object--as I did object--to some of his propositions. But +I told Virginia that I intended to leave him at Prato and push on to +Florence, as I had no intention of helping him cheat his neighbours. +"What!" I cried, "a Strelley of Upcote, a gentleman and an old Catholic, +to clown it in a fair! Never in the world!" + +Virginia, walking staidly beside me, considered this outburst in silence +before she delivered herself. '"You speak," she then said, "as I would +have you speak, but not at all as you have decided to speak. You cannot +at one and the same moment be Francesco of Upcote and Francesco Ignoto; +you cannot exalt yourself and degrade yourself. If you choose to be a +gentleman, why did you discard your coat?" + +I laughed at her. "My child," said I, "on your showing a man cannot be a +gentleman in his bed--or in his bath." But she held to her opinion. + +"I think you understand me very well. You choose to go a pilgrimage, to +encounter dangers and humiliations, and yet the moment a fine one is +proposed to you, you jump back after your gentleman's estate. You tell +me that you have peddled crucifixes: what more does Palamone expect of +you? Be what you choose, Don Francis; kiss me or kiss your Aurelia; go +afoot or in a coach; beg or give, sink or swim. You have two hands, you +will say. It is true; but you have only one person. If, with a fistful +of gold in your right hand, you go about begging with your left, you +will be contemptible as well as ridiculous." + +"I agree with that," I said, "but--" + +"Here again," said she, breaking in upon me, "you have a choice; and it +is obvious. I am not able to speak for Donna Aurelia, or so you will +tell me; but I will give a great golden heart to the Girdle of Prato +that while she may love a ridiculous Don Francis, she will turn her back +on the other." + +"Love!" I said, echoing her. "Love, my good girl! Of what are you +speaking? Donna Aurelia love me? You must be mad." + +"It is certain that I must be," she replied, "unless it is your honour +who is mad. Pray let me understand what it is that you want of the lady +when you find her." + +"Her pardon," I said, and made her furious. She glared, bit her lip, +stamped. With arms tight folded to restrain her heaving chest, she +stopped short and nodded her words into me one by one, as if she were +directing artillery at a siege. "Well, very well, Don Francis," she +said; "then I tell you plainly that you will find misery and her +together, if you propose to pray at her feet instead of taking her in +your arms--she of Siena! She of Siena, my word!--you will be miserable, +and make her miserable." + +I told her to be quiet, but she would not; she grew wild, staring about +and straining out her arms. "I will be no party to this folly--I will +not--I will not," she said half to herself, but Palamone was listening +with a comical, wry face, rubbing his beard. + +She took no notice. "I know better than you what a girl needs, and what +her rights are. One woman to humour your whims is enough, I should hope +--Look at me, look at me, Don Francis!" I had never seen her in this +state before--a beautiful starving creature, like some wild thing +baulked of her desire. Her eyes were gaunt, she held out her hands to +me; I was much concerned--it was really Palamone who got her to be +quiet. + +He came and touched her on the shoulder. "Have patience, my daughter," +he said, and added some quick words under his breath, whose sense was +lost to me. Meantime a little company of passers-by had collected about +us, and watched for the event. "We will not discuss our affairs before +these citizens," said the frate, "more especially as the lady, whose +name you toss to and fro, is not here to applaud or condemn. No doubt +but you will find her in Prato, if, as you say, she is of the Sienese +nation. Why, to the translation of the blessed remains are to come Donna +Violante, wife of the Grand Prince, and Donna Camilla Pallavicini, his +mistress. Next to a saint, a Grand Duke's mistress would draw every +woman in Siena--and we are to have both. The thing is not worth +discussion. She will be there. Hey, then, children, AVANTI!" + +We went on without any more words; Virginia, all her spirit gone out of +her, presented the most woebegone appearance. It would have been evident +to me that she was deeply ashamed of herself had I not been too incensed +to think anything about her. We entered the town of Prato about five +o'clock in the evening, and found it crammed to the walls with +sightseers and those who expected to offer them sights. The Piazza was +like the camp about a fair, the inns were like anthills, the very +churches were full. On the morrow was to be the great procession of +religious to enact the translation of the remains. No lodgings were to +be had better than a stall in the stable of the Sparrow-hawk. There it +was that we established our camp; and that done, I left my companions +and wandered alone about the town, hardly hoping, and not able, to find +my beloved, remote and much injured Aurelia. + +Late at night I returned and threw myself upon the straw which was to be +my bed. I was tired, and fell asleep at once, but not comfortably. +Restlessness possessed me, I turned and tossed about, was distressed by +dreams of incredible and fruitless labours and of mental anguish, whose +cause I could not define. Presently after I was awakened by a sense of +something touching my feet, and lay for a time awake, wondering what it +might be. Some person or another was touching me there--softly, very +softly, and in kindness. I heard gentle whispering--I felt the touch as +of velvet on my feet; and then a drop fell, warm and wet. I said, "Who +are you who kiss my feet?" and was answered, "It is I--Virginia--my +lord." + +"What do you there, Virginia?" I asked her. "What do you need of me?" + +"Your pardon," she said; and I heard her crying softly to herself in the +dark. + +"My child," I said, and held out my hand to her, "you know that I am no +man to have pardons worth a woman's accepting, but I can assure you of +Aurelia's pity and pardon for what you have said against her. Draw near +and you shall have it from my hands." + +The straw rustled as she crept on hands and knees towards me. Her face +encountered my hands and rested between them. It was burning hot, and so +were her lips, which kissed my palms alternately and thirstily as if she +were lapping water. "Forgive me, my lord, forgive me," she urged me. +"Oh, I am dreadfully ashamed! Forgive me this once, I am wretched." + +"Child," I said, "think no more of it. I have no grudge against you--all +my thoughts are kindly. Lie down, Virginia, and sleep. Our friendship is +too strong for a tiff to break it." She kissed my palms again and again +and crept off the straw. I heard her shut the door of the stable after +her. Where she passed the night I know not; but I remarked that in our +subsequent wanderings she never let me know how or where she did sleep. +She met me next morning, her usual cool, nonchalant, reasonable self. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +ERCOLE AT THE FAIR + + +If needs must have it that I was to accommodate crime by falling into it +myself, it would appear that I was to do it with a certain air. When I +awoke I found a very decent suit of black prepared for me against the +proceedings of the day: a ribbon for my hair, shoes, shoebuckles, silk +stockings, ruffles, a neat cravat edged with lace. Thus attired, I was +to be Fra Palamone's secretary and lieutenant, to hold his devotional +objects, pass them about for inspection, praise them discreetly, and +take the money. Virginia was to play the country girl, who, by simple +ardour and appropriate questioning, was to excite general interest and +stimulate the sale. She, too, had a new gown and stomacher, and looked +so well that, the frate said, it was quite on the cards that half his +stock would be bought for her by enamoured contadini, and thus brought +into circulation over and over again. It was noticeable that far less +time was spent upon her instructions than upon mine. Fra Palamone was +not at all sure how far I should prove amenable. + +Crime, however, by which I mean an unfailing fount of ready lying, was a +more difficult accomplishment than I had reckoned it. I had no notion +when I began what hard work it could be. It was not for want of an +exemplar, for although Fra Palamone sweated as he lied, it would be +impossible to relate the quantity, the quality or quiddity of his lies. +Their variety was indeed admirable, but apart from that they shocked me +not a little, for I could not but see that as ready a way as any of +discrediting true religion is to overcredit it; and that, where people +believe in a miracle, to give them a glib hundred is to tempt them to +infidelity. Because it might be true, as I undoubtedly believe it to be, +that St. Francis of Assisi floated between pavement and rafters, that +were no reason for pronouncing that Santa Caterina de' Ricci could +stroke the chimney-pots; or if one thought it possible that St. Antony +of Padua preached to the fishes of the sea, I contend that one would not +be supported, but rather discouraged, in the opinion by hearing that +Santa Caterina de' Ricci argued with eels in the stew-pan. But the +melancholy fact remains to be told that, haranguing all day long, the +wilder grew the anecdotes of Palamone, the brisker was his trade. +Virginia also, I freely own, acted her part superbly, with a lisp and a +trick of sucking her fingers for one batch, an "O la!" for another, +which brought in showers of purchasers. She presently took a fit of +bargaining--by mere caprice, I believe--in which she was so keen that +she beat down Fra Palamone to half his prices and set an example which +made him desperately angry. As for me, I fell into entire disgrace +almost at the outset, for when an old countryman asked me whether it was +true that Roses of Sharon were good for the stone, unthinkingly I +replied that prayer was better. "Cospetto!" cried my man, "and cheaper +too! Many thanks to you for an honest young gentleman." Fra Palamone +ordered me to resume my old part of deaf-mute. + +The procession of the day, which, of course, put an end to all marketing +for the time, began at half after ten, with High Mass set for eleven +o'clock. It was a pompous business--the nuns of San Vincenzio, two and +two, with lighted tapers; their friends of the world, ladies in hoops +and feathers, attendant cavaliers; Donna Violante, widow of the Grand +Prince Ferdinand, deceased--a stout black-eyed woman of middle age, +under-dressed and over-painted. She had a court about her of half a +dozen gentlemen, twice that number of ladies, and three black boys to +hold her train. Donna Camilla Pallavicini may have been there, but I did +not see her. The clergy followed, then the bishop with his chaplains, +train-bearer and acolytes; torch-bearers next; and then the casket +containing the body of the saint under a heavy crimson canopy. Friars of +St. Dominic's religion closed a very fine procession. + +Having myself a fair musical ear, I thought that the nuns sang badly, +without harmony or spirit. They looked about them too with what I +considered regretable freedom: they talked to their friends; one of them +had a damerino on either side of her, and one also, I was constrained to +notice, looked fixedly in my direction, with fine eyes, full of +knowledge--but presently turned her head and passed on. There was +nothing flagrant, nothing to be compared with what was allowed to +religious in Padua and Venice; but I was a little discontented at this +nun's inspection. I had observed that she was handsome and of fine +person, pale, serious, and with a high-bred air. + +While all these devotees were winding their way round about the Piazza, +Virginia and I had been sitting on a patch of grass by the roadway in +the company of a country lad, who became extremely friendly. He was a +goatherd from San Benedetto in Alpi, he told us, and had played truant +for the day, walking over the stony hills for some sixteen or twenty +miles and intending to return the same road at night. His name was +Ercole; and that, as I told him, was as it should be. But I added, +"Hercules served Eurystheus for twelve years for one clear purpose, +which was that he might achieve immortality; and some of us labour for +the same end, and others of us for ends which seem to us equally good. +Will you tell me, Ercole, why you have undertaken these prodigious +exertions of yours?" + +Ercole shrugged. "There is no life upon our mountains," he said. +"Moreover, Santa Caterina was a great saint, as I have heard your master +say just now. Nor can you deny it." + +I said, "I do not deny it. But the saints never fail us. Wheresoever one +may dwell, there are they; and by the merits of holy baptism and the +benefits of the Mass we may be in communion with them whether we live on +mountain or plain." + +"That is true," said Ercole. "Yet that was a good procession. I would +not have missed it for two gold florins. I expect that in your country +you have no finer processions of priests and noble ladies of religion. I +am myself impassioned for religion." + +"I too," was my answer. "But in my poor country the true faith is +enmeshed in cold shrouds of unbelief. We dare not have processions, but +cry unto God in secret; and no profession is more discredited with us +than that of virgin." + +"That is a terrible thing you tell me there," says he. "What else is a +girl to do if she cannot marry the man of her heart?" + +"We have our compensations," I replied; "we worship in the dark, hoping +to be rewarded in the full light of heaven. Persecution has braced us; +the Church had grown lax. With us, for instance, you would never see +religious behave as here they do. Did you observe that nun that looked +me full in the face as the procession went by?" + +Ercole's eyes flashed; but he said nothing. I went on, "That would be +impossible in my country, I can assure you." + +"Pardon me," says Ercole; "you misunderstood the lady. It was not at you +that she looked." + +"Certainly it was not," said Virginia with decision. + +"She looked at me," the boy said, "and I looked at her. She knew that I +should be here." + +"Ho!" said I, and Virginia said, "Gia!" + +Ercole then explained. "That lady is Donna Domenica degli Onesti, who +was daughter of my master, the Marchese Onesti, when I was dog-keeper to +him at Bogazzano. She was always there, being in delicate health, and we +loved each other from the first. There was no doubt at all about the +matter." + +"How could there be any doubt?" said Virginia; but Ercole took no notice +of her. + +"There was no doubt. She jumped whenever I came round the corner, and +used to stand behind trees watching me. Also she used to come to see the +dogs fed. Now, when I knew beyond all question the state of her +feelings, I borrowed Guido's guitar, and struck one chord upon it at +night under her window, and sang but one word--Vieni! In three minutes +she came on to the balcony, and we looked at each other. There was a +moon, and we could see quite well. We stood looking like that for five +minutes without a syllable spoken, and then I went away. I went away +before she did; so the thing was clear. After that I called my Vieni +every night, and every night she came. Sir, you saw how fine she was, +with a face of dawn, and great eyes, and the mournful air of a saint in +the sky. There never was such a good love as ours in the world, since +the days of Antonio and Cleopatra of blessed memory. It lasted all one +summer, but she was turned of sixteen by then, and her father, the +marchese, wished her to marry. Naturally I forbade that." + +"You!" I cried, and again Virginia nodded and said, "Gia!" + +"You may say so," said Ercole. "What else could I do? And naturally also +she preferred the convent. I bade her farewell in the garden. She +allowed me then to touch her hand. I said, 'Addio, Madonna,' and she, +'Addio, Ercole,' and then I left her standing there. That was five years +ago. Since then I have seen her once a year. This is the fifth time." + +"And when will the sixth time be?" I asked him. + +"Immediately," he said. "When the procession returns." + +"But, Ercole, is this tolerable?" I objected. "Is it humane to Donna +Domenica?" + +Virginia turned upon me here. "To her?" she cried fiercely. "To her? +Why, what else could she do? What else should I--should any woman do?" +Immediately she had said this, I could see that she wished she had not. +She blushed and hung her head. + +"It is not too easy," said Ercole, "but it was best under the +circumstances. Imagine her in the arms of a man! It is not conceivable. +On the other hand, one is not jealous of the Cross; and she knows that I +should not come to see her if I had not been faithful." + +"And you have spoken--" + +"For what do you take me? I have never spoken to her more than once in +the garden, or at a less distance than ten braccia--except when I +touched her hand. Also I used to say Vieni! and she came; but no more." + +"But when she was asked in marriage, and you forbade it?" + +"Then she told me herself that she supposed I wished her to take the +veil, and I nodded my head." + +I was forced to admit his strength of purpose. "You are a great lover, +"I said, "that is certain. I am a lover also--but not at all in your +way." + +Ercole said, "I have only done what any man would do who loved a lady." + +"Don Francis would never say Vieni!" said Virginia with a snap, looking +up quickly. + +"Then the lady would never come," said Ercole. + +I was silent, condemning in my heart what my wits could not gainsay. + +Ercole saw his Donna Domenica again. She passed with the returning +procession, and again looked full and mournful knowledge on her lover. +He neither blushed nor saluted her, but met her eyes steadily and did +not follow her retreating figure in the hope that she would turn her +head. Nor did she turn it. He seemed perfectly cheerful afterwards, and +disposed to sleep. He said that he should take another day in Prato, so +as to get a little fun of the fair. They had no fairs at San Benedetto +in Alpi. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +FRA PALAMONE BREAKS THE LAW, AND I MY CHAIN + + +For his second day's campaign, when he set up as a dentist (in +spectacles and a fine black beard), Fra Palamone chose me to be arrayed +in a loose punchinello suit of red cotton, covered with the signs of the +zodiac in tinsel; for, said he, "Mystery is half our battle won +beforehand. Hermes Trismegistus himself had not been the philosopher he +was if he had been understood, and to this day Aristotle is undervalued, +not for saying what he meant, but for saying it all." He gave me a +peaked felt hat for my head, and exhorted me to have no fears. "Tooth- +drawing," he said, "is as easy as kissing any day. Reflect, Francis, +upon this, and let it be your comfort throughout the coming conflict, +that there is no jaw-bone in the head of mortal man so strong as his +wrist. With your wrist and elbow you can knock a man down; but show me +the jaw that will do so much. I will say nothing of Samson, who is not +in debate; moreover his weapon was borrowed and his enemies were God's +enemies. Now, here is another fact, full of encouragement for you. The +stronger a man is in the jaw, the harder he will pull against your +forceps. Pray, what chance has a tooth the most rooted against your pull +and the patient's? Not the faintest! Out it comes, and there is one poor +sufferer the less in Prato. Courage then; pull and pull again." I +promised him that I would pull my stoutest, but curtly declined his +suggestion that I should try my hand upon Virginia's mouth, although she +made no demur. Sooner should Prato swim in blood, I said, than I lay +violent hands upon my friend. + +And in blood swam Prato that day, and Fra Palamone bathed in it +eloquently. He called himself Conqueror of Pain, and piled up his +captures like the trophies of a Roman triumph. I can still hear the +soul-congealing yell with which he hailed every new token of his +prowess, and still see the packed Piazza surge, as it was swept by it +like corn in a breeze. "Woe unto you, heathen masticator," he would cry, +holding high the forceps and its victim, "Woe unto you when you meet +Palamone, Tyrant of Pain! Blessed be the pincers and the fork, which +have gained the celestial paradise for Sant' Agnese, and the terrestrial +for this worthy man! I tell you, signori," he would say, looking round +upon the gaping company, "I would rather be in this man's shoes than in +the Grand Duke's, or in those of my blood-brother in God, the Patriarch +of Venice. Ha! he will break up larks' bones this night! and where are +the sheep's trotters to deny him entry? Where are the walnuts or the +peach stones whose kernels are removed from him? Ahi, signori! do you +think, if Signor Dives had had so wholesome a mouth he would have left +to Lazarus the bones? Not he--but the pith of every one of them had gone +to make him sleeker. Avanti, signori, avanti! Let the next in torment +come up." He had abundant custom, and seemed never to tire; but my turn +came at last, introduced by a string of panegyric which spoke of me as +the Nerve-Acrobat, the Lodestone of Ivory, the Electrical Indian Boy, at +whose touch teeth flew from their sockets and tartar dissolved in smoke. +Pale, but with resolution, I grasped the weapon which he handed me. + +To my consternation and half-undoing, I saw in the chair the sinewy form +and honest brown face of Ercole, the heroic lover. He saluted me with a +smile and wave of the hand. He was here to encourage me, he said. Every +man must make a beginning, and there was nothing like a friendly face. +Very much unnerved, I asked him which tooth he proposed to lose. +"Whichever you prefer," he said. "I am here ready. Take this one for +instance." He tapped a fine grinder in his lower jaw. I asked him did it +pain him? + +"Why no," he said, "it doesn't in a manner ache; but it will give you +some trouble, I believe, and I'm quite ready to oblige a friend with +whom I have shared confidences. Take your pleasure of my mouth by all +means. I recommend this one as a twister." Displaying here two rows of +pearls, he tapped the biggest of them and awaited my attack. + +"I would sooner starve than touch such beauty as this," I said. + +"Please yourself," he replied, "but observe, by your refusal I lose +three pauls. There's a matter of a wager between me and a friend which +shall let the most blood." + +"Moreover, my young apprentice," said Fra Palamone with severity, "you +shall understand that breaking your covenant with me involves the +breaking of my stick upon your back." + +"Via!" says Ercole, "where is your nerve, master? Do you think I haven't +time enough at San Benedetto to grow a fresh crop!" + +A terrible struggle ensued, but Ercole won his wager with ease. + +Public confidence being now thoroughly established in Fra Palamone's +view, he opened his faro-bank on the last day of the fair, with Virginia +and me for decoys--to all appearance a young married couple from the +sea-board, who were to play and win ten florins. I was dressed, more or +less, as a gentleman of the provinces--and looked, I doubt not, like a +clown--in a white, flowered silk vest, white breeches and stockings, and +a coat of full green velvet. I carried a sword, my hair in a bag, my hat +under my arm. Virginia, on the other hand, looked very handsome in her +high-necked damask dress; her hair done upon the top of her head, with a +little powder, and a patch at the corner of her mouth. We were given a +page in attendance, who was the son of an apothecary in the town, and +made our ten florins with ease. That being all the bargain, we spent the +rest of the day as we chose--which was not punting against Fra Palamone. +He must have made sixty times that amount. + +Towards evening the Piazza, grew very gay. An opera was given at the +theatre, after which the ladies of the place took the air, walking up +and down with their gentlemen. Drolls, marionettes, quack-doctors, a +strolling company of comedians from Venice, tumblers and jugglers were +holding their performances before great assemblies of the meaner sort; +but the gentry kept the middle of the square, and there too Virginia and +I, in our finery, braved it with the best. It was remarkable to me to +see how easily and simply she carried herself in a dress and a company +entirely strange to her. She had no mauvaise honte, for she made no +pretence; she was not self-conscious, for she deceived nobody; she did +not smirk nor make herself in any way ridiculous. She was still herself, +put in a position where--as she had the wit to see--staidness was the +natural thing; therefore staid she was. I would have defied any fine +gentleman of London to have known her for the little half-naked peasant +she had been but one day ago. Of course, in Prato the truth was to be +known at a glance. There was nobody there, I suppose, who could not have +picked out her village; nor did she attempt to conceal it. "You dress me +like a lady for your purposes," she would say, "you may depend upon me +to do my best." + +Clear-minded, brave, honest, noble-hearted Virginia, how well I remember +thee at this hour! And have I not cause? Should I not be grateful? Am I +not? Ah, but God knoweth that I am! + +Now, as we were promenading in that company, I chanced to see Fra +Palamone talking under a lamp to a tall spare gentleman splendidly +dressed in tawny velvet and gold lace. I observed in particular that he +had a long, pale, harassed face, a hooked nose, and eyes so light in +colour that they seemed almost white. His hands were exceedingly +restless, always fidgeting with something; and he himself, for ever on +the start to go, seemed not so much listening to, as enduring, the tale +told him. Some person of consequence he evidently was, for two lacqueys +stood near him--one holding his cloak, another his sword and gloves. +Twice we had passed up and down at no great distance from him before I +asked carelessly of Virginia, "Who is the frate's noble friend?" She did +not answer me at once, but pressed my arm and walked rather faster. When +we were beyond the company of promenaders she said: "I have seen those +two for a long time, and know that gentleman very well. It is the +Marchese Semifonte, to whom my village, and my family, and I myself +belong, body and soul." + +The poor girl was trembling, though she spoke steadily enough and looked +at me with unfaltering eyes. But she was grave and I horrified. + +"But what,"--I began--"what do you mean, child? The marchese--your--oh, +horrible thought! Is this the blackest treachery?" + +"Fra Palamone finds me in his way," said Virginia, "and wishes to have +you to himself in Florence. He thinks that I know too much about him, +and has told the marchese that I am here. He wishes to get rid of me by +some simple means. Nor could he have hit upon a better. Well," she said, +looking gently at me, "I am in your hands. Shall I go?" + +I hurried her off at once to our inn, the Sparrow-hawk, where I was +lucky enough to find the padrona, Monna Bianca by name. She was a buxom +woman of forty summers, good-tempered, an excellent manager of house and +husband, and not unreasonably proud of her discernment. She had found me +out, she had told me, in the twinkling of an eye. I was a gentleman, +either English or Irish, and (as she put it) had my leg in the wrong +bed. Supposing my affair to be one very common to her experience, she +had begun by deploring my weakness for Virginia, whom she had called +Robaccia, Cosa di Niente, and the like; but I had cut her short by +telling her the whole of my own story and part of the girl's. She had at +once admitted her mistake, begged my pardon, taken a fancy to me, and +now proved a good friend in this urgent need. + +I told her the shameful turn of affairs, and begged her to take care of +Virginia while I was employed in challenging the marchese to fight, and, +if possible, in running him through the body. I said that if she had had +the eyes to see my masquerade, it was not to be supposed that Semifonte +would misunderstand me; but she stopped me at once. "Do no such thing, +Don Francis," said she. "You will be attacking the wrong man. The +marchese is no better than he should be, but he is perfectly galant' +uomo, and would throw no sort of difficulty in your way. But you are +crediting him with too much zeal. He has many irons in the fire, as we +say; and, after all, Miss Virginia is not the only wench in the world." + +"Per Bacco," said Virginia, "that's true." + +"Your aim," Monna Bianca continued, "should be that old sack of +iniquity, Fra Palamone, the most wily, audacious rogue of a friar in all +a friar-ridden land. Now, I'll help you there--I and your Virginia +together. Leave us, Don Francis, leave us alone for a while. Take the +air, avoid the marchese, and by the morning you shall hear some news." + +Such indeed proved to be the case. The Grand Duke Cosimo, it seems, on +the pressure of his friends the Jesuits, had published an edict, which +was then in full force, that any man entering a house where a +marriageable woman might be living could be arrested and imprisoned +without trial. [Footnote: Mr. Strelley is perfectly right. One of the +first acts of Gian Gastone, Cosimo's successor, was to repeal this +preposterous decree. The first and only good thing that I ever heard of +him.--M. H.] By means of this Monna Bianca and Virginia laid Fra +Palamone by the heels. The girl was sent to spend the night with Monna +Bianca's sister-in-law, who lived with her husband (a notary public) and +own sister in the suburbs of Prato, just outside the Porta Fiorentina. +Thither Fra Palamone went in pursuit of his infamous plans, and there he +was found by the sbirri of the Holy Office. The case was clear enough +against him, for I need not say that there was no love lost between the +frate and the Jesuits. Much as may be urged against that learned body of +politicians, no one has ever laid a pandering to profligacy or chicane +to their account. The sister of Monna Bianca's sister-in-law was a +marriageable woman, Fra Palamone was in the house with her, and was +there caught by the Inquisition and haled off to their house of +correction. Virginia and I set out at liberty to Florence, decently +clad, decently shod, with the remains of our ten florins in my breeches +pocket. I remember Monna Bianca's parting advice very well. "Farewell, +Don Francis," it was, "good luck to you and this honest girl. Pursue +your Aurelia as ardently as you will, you are only doing after your age +and degree in the world. Let me advise you to write to Padua for your +portmanteau and effects. You will love your mistress none the less for a +good coat to your back, nor she you, I promise you. Besides, I believe +in a gentleman living as a gentleman. Marry off your Miss Virginia, who +has her wits about her, to your valet, or to anybody else's valet who +will take her. Your position with regard to her does you infinite credit +with me; but I cannot answer for Madam Aurelia. Or rather, I can answer +for her that it will do you precisely the reverse. And--I have a son of +my own, remember--inform your father of your whereabouts in Florence. To +meet again, Don Francis--addio!" + +That was a reasonable friendly soul; but it was not to be supposed that +she could understand the reverential attitude of a young man to his +mistress. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +I AM AGAIN MISCONCEIVED + + +The aspect of Florence, surveyed from the crags of Fiesole, or from that +gentler eyrie of Bellosguardo, is one of the most enchanting visions +open to the eye of man, so cunningly have art and nature joined their +webbing; but that which can be harvested upon the road from Prato is not +at all extraordinary. Suburb there succeeds to dirty suburb, the roads +are quags or deep in dust, the company as disagreeable as it is mean. +Approaching the city from that side, you neither know that within a +short mile of you are the dome of Brunelleschi, the Tower of Giotto, the +David of Michael Angelo--nor do you greatly care. At least I did not, +being sadly out of spirits, upon that day of rain, steam and weariness, +when, with the young Virginia springing by my side, I limped within the +Porta al Prato and stood upon the sacred soil of the Second Athens. +Quick to feel impressions, too quick to read in them signs and portents, +I felt fatality press upon my brows. + +A little way beyond that Porta al Prato, within the walls, there was, +and still is, I believe, a broad neglected field--ragged grass and +broken potsherds--surrounded on three sides out of four by shabby +houses, taverns and garden walls. It was called the Prato, and by the +shocking discrepancy between its name and appearance added to my +dejection, for the one recalled and the other mocked memories of that +green and sunlit plain in Padua, that dear Pra della Valle, upon whose +grassy dimples looked the house of Aurelia, and to whose wandering winds +I had so often sighed her name. Here, however, the Marchese Corsini had +a casino and loggia, here stood in rows the country coaches from the +north and west, awaiting their times of departure; here the Florentines +used to hold their horse-races of St. John's day, and here, finally, you +could be robbed, strangled or stabbed any night of the year. Yet it +boasted at least two convents of nuns among its border of untidy +buildings, and was destined, before long, to become of supreme interest +to myself. Virginia the shrewd knew that, although I did not. + +As we passed for the first time in our lives over the littered, +disconsolate spot where, in the heavy rain, a pack of ruffians and drabs +were sprawling, she took care to point out one of those two convents--a +plain yellow house, closely shuttered, and by its side the red roof and +rickety cross of the church appurtenant. "That," she said, "is the +Convent of SS. Maria and Giuseppe sul Prato. Mark the house. You should +look there for your Donna Aurelia." + +My dejection held me fast; the rain, the heavy air and fog of Florence, +this vile Prato and its company of tumbling, scuffling wretches loaded +me with an apathy impossible to shake off. "Why there?" I asked her +languidly. "Why anywhere within these fatal walls?" + +"If, as you suppose and I do not suppose, she has taken shelter in a +convent," Virginia replied, "it will be in that convent. That society is +wholly of Siena. All the Sienese, arriving in Florence (and in need of +such shelter) go thither. I am sure there is not a woman behind those +walls who cannot tell you what 'l' andare a Provenzano' means--and most +of them by more than hearsay. Yes, yes. Either she is there, or she will +be there before long--always supposing that she is miserable. For my +part, I have never disguised from your honour my belief that she is not +so miserable as you flatter yourself." + +"Aurelia can have no place here," said I heavily. "This is a fatal +place. I shall find her in Siena, and am minded to go there this very +day." + +Better for me to have done so; but "Florence lies dead in her road," +Virginia persisted, "and by the time she had reached it she would be +very ready for one of the two things Florence affords." + +"And what are they, Virginia?" Her oracular moods always interested me, +consorting so oddly with her youth. + +"Pleasure or religion," said she, and would explain herself no further. + +Pleasure or religion! It would have needed a greater than the Pythian +Priestess to have given me hopes of either in Florence. And yet, as we +pursued our way, by the Borg' Ognissanti towards the river, I could not +but be struck by the subdued aspect of the citizens, who, far from being +the lively impertinents they had been reputed, went gravely and silently +about their business, cloaked in sombre black. They did not stand, as +Italians love to do, grouped in the piazzas, chattering, gesticulating +and acting as much for their own amusement as for their hearers'; nor +did they crowd the chocolate-houses, where, as a rule, the very flies +are buzzing the news. It seemed to me that church doors alone stood +open. + +There were few ladies abroad, and such as we saw were on the steps of +the churches, going in or coming out, and hardly one of them but had a +frate--sometimes two, once four--in her company. The number of religious +was exorbitant, and even more remarkable was it to observe the respect +in which they were held. Every woman, meeting one, dropped him a +curtsey, every man saluted him. My gentleman, if you please, hardly gave +himself the trouble of acknowledging the grace. I saw a couple of +Theatines scolding a poor lady to tears; I saw another shake off a fine +gentleman, who ran after him to kiss his hand. I saw beggars, cripples, +sick men in litters, hold out their prayers in vain. I grew justly +indignant. "Florence is the place for Fra Palamone," I said to Virginia +with bitter foreboding, "rather than for you and me. It is horrible to +think of Aurelia, with her dutiful regard for the saintly calling, +bending her knees to these arrogant rascals." + + "'Bacchetoni e colli torti, + Tutti il diavol se li porti!'" + +said Virginia with scornful nostrils. "Here you see the end of a nation +which shares your pietistical aptitudes. You think you have God by the +foot when you have the devil by the tail." + +"It is true," I agreed, sighing, "that the more I seek after God and His +fairest creature, the more I am encumbered by these distorted botches of +His design. This town swarms with frati." + +"What will you find on a carrion but flies?" cried she. "The Grand Duke +is rotting on his bed, and these are the vermin about him. Before long +he will be dust, and then it will be the turn of Don Gastone, and frati +will give place to cicisbei. Maybe that you won't find them any more to +your liking." + +"I shall leave Florence," I told her, "so soon as I am assured of +Aurelia's escape from it." I heard her sniff of scorn, but did not care +to reprove her. + +It was not so easy to leave it as to reach it, I found out. I had not +been two hours in my chosen lodging--a decent place enough--before I had +a visit from the Holy Office. The terrified landlord ushered three +clerics into my room: two of them Dominicans with forms as big as flags +to be filled up from my papers! The reader knows that I had no papers. +The only passport I had ever had was destroyed; I had no calling but +that of pilgrim, with which, as I could not but see, Virginia's presence +consorted oddly; and the objects of my pilgrimage, as I had learned by +painful experience, were not such as would commend themselves to the +Inquisition. But while I hesitated, Virginia jumped headlong into the +breach. + +A flush of seraphic mildness suffused her cheeks, her eyes sparkled like +diamonds upon a Madonna's crown, she crossed her arms over her bosom and +bowed her head. "Most reverend sirs," she said, "you see before you two +innocents whose only faults are youth and ardent imagination. Attracted +by the splendour of these shrines--pilgrims to the holy places-- +travellers hopeful of Heaven's gate---" + +The elder of the two Dominicans, a pock-marked, long-faced, bitter man, +at once said that he saw before him nothing of the kind. "We see," he +continued, "a young man of foreign aspect, obviously confused, and you, +my girl, who are too glib by half. If you can prove your innocence to +our satisfaction we shall be agreeably surprised." + +Virginia, thus rudely checked in what would no doubt have proved a +generous career of falsehood, shuddered and bit her lip. Her crossed +arms relaxed, but her fists clenched themselves. She frowned and looked +dangerous. My temper none of the best, I took a step forward and +addressed the company. + +"Sirs," I said plainly, "my passport is lost, and as it was a false one +it would have availed me nothing. I shall tell you the truth--that I am +by birth an Englishman of your own religion, and was until lately a +student of Padua. While there I had the fortunate misfortune to be +subjugated by the charms of my tutor's lovely wife--fortunate in that +she raised my soul to the heights, horribly unfortunate in that I +(presumptuous wretch!) dared to draw her down into peril. You may spare +your reproaches, for I assure you they cannot sharpen mine. She suffered +undeservedly, and I am vowed to her satisfaction. I have entered your +master's dominions, without objection, in pursuit of a pious intention, +that, namely, of making amends to a virtuous and innocent lady. I have +brought this young woman with me--a Tuscan, who needs no passport, I +believe--under the influence of another pious intention. She has been in +danger of ruin, and I believe I have saved her from it. I do not +disguise from you, as you see, that I have sinned very grievously; but I +ask you to accept my assurance that I am on the road to repentance. If +you choose to apply to the accredited Minister of my country you will no +doubt receive satisfactory evidence of my standing in the world. +Whatsoever I may deserve from her against whom I have trespassed, I have +done no harm to you or your master. I am not accustomed to have my word +doubted, and shall take no steps at all to support it from outside. I +wish you very well, and beg you to excuse me. I am but newly come to +Florence, and confess to fatigue." + +I ended here, because I saw that further discussion would be fruitless. +The officers, it is true, had listened to me gravely, without any kind +of expression; their eyes had been fixed upon the floor, or the wall; +they might have been statues. But at the close of my periods, one of +them, a stout, breathless and foolish-looking priest, asked me, as if I +had said nothing at all, "But where are your papers?" + +Virginia gave a sharp cry, and I was certainly taken aback. "Reverend +sir," I said, as calmly as I was able, "I had hoped to have explained--- +" + +The pock-marked Dominican took up the tale. "It is true, you have +explained; but you have not produced your papers. Explanations apart +from papers are of little or no value." + +"Explanations," said I, "of the absence of papers are surely more +valuable than the absence of papers and explanations alike. I repeat +that my own passport is lost, and that my companion needs none." + +"I have now listened to your companion and to you," replied the +Dominican. "The reasons which, on your showing, have prompted you to +visit Florence are connected with sin. These are not creditable reasons, +and explain nothing. I must again ask you, where are your papers?" + +Virginia, exasperated, threw up her arms and called on the Madonna. "Our +papers! Just Heaven, how often is he to tell you that he has none?" + +"This is idle questioning," said I. "I cannot give you more than +explanations, because I have nothing more. You will make me regret even +so much complaisance." + +"But," said the breathless priest, with a comical look awry, "But this +is very serious. How are we to fill up these forms if we have no +papers?" + +"I cannot help you," I said. + +Here it was the turn of the third officer, and second Dominican. He was +a fat-faced man with a perpetual smile. "You have done very wrongly, +both of you," he said, looking as if he loved the thought. + +I said, "I have admitted it." + +"Silence," said he. "The Holy Office cannot excuse a breach of the laws +of which it is the guardian." + +"I break no laws, sir," cried I. "At least none that are under your +care." + +"Silence," said the Dominican. "I cannot believe a word that you say. +Speak you, young woman, and speak the truth. Of what nation are you?" + +Virginia looked him squarely in the face. "I am a subject of the Grand +Duke's, father. I am of Siena." + +She had her reasons for the fib, but, not knowing what they were at the +moment, I started violently, and the inquisitor turned upon me. + +"Do you, young man, wish to make any remark?" + +"I wish to say---" I began. + +The Dominican turned to his colleagues. "He denies that she is of Siena; +therefore, probably she has spoken the truth. We will inscribe her so. +Will you now tell us," he asked Virginia, "of what nation is this young +man?" + +She replied, "He also has spoken the truth. He comes from Padua." + +"From Padua!" cried the pock-marked officer; and the breathless priest +tossed up his hands, echoing, "A Venetian subject!" + +"You are wrong," I said, "I am an English subject." + +"Silence," said the stern Dominican, "you are now inscribed as a +Venetian subject. A Venetian subject! From a country of profligacies and +indescribable laxity of manners! A Venetian! A comedian!" + +"I am neither," said I; "but I must observe that it is open to a +Venetian (if such I were), in a time of profound peace, to enter this +State." + +"A comedian!" said the smiling Dominican in a whisper. I grew red with +vexation. + +"Sir, sir," I reproved him, "you are making me a comedian against my +will." + +These things, however, being duly inscribed against me, the more severe +officer took up his parable. "The Grand Duke," he said, "is clement, the +Holy Office very patient, but there are bounds. The laws must in all +cases be observed. In this case I suspect the worst. Pray, are you two +living in sin?" + +Virginia cried, "Oh, father!" and the fact was immediately inscribed; +but now I was furious. + +"You break all bounds--you who talk of bounds. You are an abominable +man." + +The priest interposed his person and held up his fat hand. "These +prevarications, this violence will not help you. It is idle to deny the +evidence of our eyes, ears, understanding. You--a Venetian, a comedian! +I assure you that you are in a very serious position.." + +The landlord raised his hands and let them down with a clatter against +his thighs. I was silent, Virginia alarmed, while the officers consulted +together in low murmurs, and the priest filled up the rest of his forms +out of his own head. Presently the tall Dominican addressed us over his +spectacles as follows: "You have shown us no reasons whatsoever for +believing a word that you say. Your denial of the relationship in which +you obviously stand to one another is extremely flagrant. Nothing but +your youth and the comparative candour of the female stand as your +advocates. Thanks to them, and to them alone, we have decided to be more +patient with you than your contumacy deserves. Pending further +inquiries, which, I promise you, shall be made in Venice, you, young +man, will be lodged with the Jesuit Fathers; and you, girl, who report +yourself as of Siena, will be placed in charge of the nuns of SS. Maria +e Giuseppe sul Prato until you can be safely returned to your nation. +That, let me tell you, will not be until you have shown signs of a less +hardened disposition. You will accompany us at once. The seal of the +Inquisition shall be placed upon your effects, which seem trifling. The +landlord is warned that he stands in danger of legal process." + +Thus were my unhappy prognostications speedily fulfilled! I was helpless +and knew it. For a second time those whose dignified office it was to +personify the charity of our Redeemer showed themselves the least +charitable of mankind. I was chewing the sour cud of these reflections +when I heard Virginia thanking the officers for their paternal resolves +in her regard. Strange girl! She thanked Heaven, on her knees, for their +pious mission, promised them remembrance in her prayers, asked to be +allowed to kiss their hands. This being permitted, was performed to my +great disgust, who saw myself disbelieved because I had spoken the +truth, and her believed because she had lied. But when she was allowed, +as a grace, to bid me goodbye, and came to me and put her arms round my +neck and kissed my cheeks, crying aloud, "Farewell, thou dear companion +of my shame! Do well, fulfil the pious purposes of these fathers; be +sure of me, sure of thyself!" and when I was about to reprove her +smartly for her hypocrisy, she quickly whispered in my ear, "Did you +read my falsehood? I am to be put where Aurelia will surely come. +Courage--I will find her--trust your Virginia"--and filled me with +confusion. I pressed her hands--the true friend that she was; for a +moment she clung to me with passion. "Forget me not, my lord--pray for +me--let me see you again!" Such were her sobbed and broken prayers--cut +short by her unjust judges. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +SURPRISING CHANGE IN MY FORTUNES + + +Father Carnesecchi, of the Society of Jesus, who had charge of the +penitents in the college of his Order, and to whom I was formally handed +over by my indurate captor, was a member of an old family of Fiesole +long settled in Florence, a thin, threadbare, humble old man, who kept +his eyes fixed to the earth--sharply piercing, intelligent eyes as they +could be--and did his best to keep his lips from speaking. He had a +trick of pinching the lower of them, in the hope, I suppose, that the +difficulty of using the upper one alone would hold him silent. But it +did not. He talked to himself continually, the habit was inveterate, and +as he never let go of his lower lip it was very difficult to catch what +he said. He was a tall man, but stooped at the shoulders, threw his head +forward like a long-necked bird, and nodded as he walked. Beside my +Dominican monolith he looked, what he was far from being, abject and +poor-witted. I thought that he bent his head, as if it weighed down to +the earth under the pitiless blows rained upon it by the inquisitor, as +without gesture or modulation of the voice, this monstrous man unwound +his tale of my iniquities, which he had taken the trouble to spin, like +a cocoon, all about my poor person. If he had twisted a halter of it to +hang me with, I suspect that he had done what he truly desired. + +Father Carnesecchi listened to it all in the dejected, musing pose which +I have described, words of pity incessantly escaping from his partly +imprisoned mouth: "Dio mio!" "Dio buono!" "Che peccato!" and the like, +with fine shades of difference in expression according to the dark, the +denser dark, the lurid flashes of the Dominican's chiaroscuro. This +hireling shepherd piled up a hideous indictment, made up, as the reader +will perceive, out of his own wicked imagination. I was a runaway from +the Venetian galleys, an actor of execrable life. I had seduced a +Sienese nun in Padua, and brought her with me into Tuscany to sow +contempt of the sacraments, and rebellion against the reigning house. I +had openly advocated the worship of Priapus, had spurned the marriage +vow, had called one of the reigning house a tyrant, and was an apologist +of the Paterini. He concluded by saying that the Holy Office was +deliberating upon my case, and that he could not invite the Jesuits to +hope for my conversion, since I openly boasted of being a comedian, and +of my preference for that deplorable way of life. The Holy Office asked +that I might be kept apart from any whom my conversation might +contaminate, and that my punishment should be exemplary as well as +remedial. To all of which Father Carnesecchi replied, "Altto, altro, +caro fratello," and got rid of his monitor as soon as he could. I was +not conscious that he had given me a single glance of the eye, did not +suppose that he knew or cared whether I stood ashamed, sullen, +indifferent or indignant under my accuser's blows. Anger possessed me +altogether, and if I thought of my new gaoler at all it was to suppose +him seeing in me a subject, common in his experience, whose degrading +punishment of stocks, whip or pillory was to be stuccoed over with a +mockery of religion. Judge, therefore, of my surprise when, having bowed +the inquisitor out of the door, Father Carnesecchi returned to the room, +and putting his hand upon my shoulder, said in excellent English, and +the tone of a loving parent, "And now, my poor boy, let me have the +truth." The unexpected kindness, the charity, the unexpected, beloved +speech unnerved me. I flushed, stammered some foolish protest, burst +into tears. The good Jesuit let my emotion have its fling. + +Kneeling then at his knees, with my hands folded in his, I told him the +whole of my story, hiding nothing at all, not even Virginia's ruse for +obtaining sight and speech with Aurelia, supposing her to be in the +Sienese convent. Having laid bare every recess of my recent life, and +not spared myself either in the recital, I went on to say that whatever +might come of it, I must never abandon my search for the lovely, +hapless, innocent Aurelia; for, as I assured him in conclusion, and +undoubtedly believed, unless I found Aurelia and received her pardon, I +should die; and there was no justice under Heaven if a man, sincerely +repentant, were suffered to expire unredeemed. + +"My son," said Father Carnesecchi, who had nodded his way through an +harangue which I had (I can assure the reader) treated very summarily +indeed, "it was in a good hour that you were led to me; for I am in a +position to be of service to you. I am no stranger to your country, nor +indeed to your ancient house. Many times have I said Mass in that of +your mother's family--the noble house of Arundell. I shall be able, +therefore, to make a good case for you with your resident at this Court; +I can recommend you to a banker, I can extenuate (so far as truth will +allow) your follies to your parents, and I can give you absolution when +you have done a proper penance. All these things I will do, but on +conditions. My first is that you write respectfully and penitently to +your father; my next that you do the same duty to the outraged Professor +Lanfranchi, and my third that you leave your Donna Aurelia to me. Am I +clear?" "Father," I said, "you are as clear as the light of Heaven. I +agree to all your conditions, but shall beg of you one thing--and that +is, that you do not prevent my seeing her once more." + +"I prevent nothing reasonable," replied the Jesuit; "but I will ask you +this question. Has it ever occurred to you that as this lady never +desired your ill-considered advances in the first place, so she may +prefer to be without a renewal of them? It is possible that she is not +greatly obliged to you for having turned her away from house and man." + +I was surprised, I confess, at his lack of discernment. I had hoped, I +said, that I had made clear the one thing, above all, which I ardently +desired, namely, Aurelia's reconciliation with the doctor. + +"And do you imagine," said he, "that your seeing her will hasten that +consummation?" + +I said, "I cannot suppose that it will retard it. If a gentleman has +offended a lady, should he not beg her pardon?" + +"You are pitching your pipe in a more reasonable key, my son," said the +Jesuit. "I am glad you have left your sophistries, for to tell you the +truth I have heard them so often that I have ceased to give them all the +attention which their utterers expect. The less you see of your pretty +lady the better, in my opinion. Have you given any consideration to what +may be Dr. Lanfranchi's opinions? He is likely to have strong ones, from +what you tell me of him." + +I said that he had been monstrous unjust, to doubt Aurelia in the face +of my action. + +"I think your Aurelia lost her little head," said he, "but no worse, I +hope. Now, my child, let us have no more talking of inspiration, and +wings, and healing fingers of ladies, and anointings. The Church is +chary of deputing these powers, which she undoubtedly possesses; and few +ladies are likely to receive them. At any rate, we may leave Donna +Aurelia's claims to them to the Sacred College, and turn to what is our +own immediate concern. Now, come to me and make your confiteor as you +ought." + +I have always been more quickly moved to good or evil by kindness than +by severity, for by nature I am diffident to excess. Father Carnesecchi +had found out that trait in my character, and proved me plastic under +his delicate fingers. He did not refuse me the sacrament; he absolved me +and comforted me greatly. It did not become me to be obstinate to one +who gave me so much. + +He undertook to accord the differences between Aurelia and her husband, +if I on my part would give my word that no act of mine should endanger +their future happiness. If I would bind myself here, he thought, there +would be no harm in my seeing her, but he insisted that this should not +be done without his express sanction. He said, "You are one of those +young men of your nation--one of many, I conceive--who come into this +country with your minds already made up as to what you will see. Because +you are romantic, you see us so; because you are mystically inclined, +you believe us to be a race of seers; because you are complex natures, +you complicate ours. Because our beauty is strange to you, you think us +strangely beautiful. Alas! my dear young friend, you have yet to learn +your Italians. There is no such Italy, least of all Tuscany, as you +profess to have read of in Donna Aurelia's simple soul. I don't know the +young lady, but I know her kind. She is undoubtedly a good-hearted, +shrewd little housewife, careful of her reputation and honestly proud of +it. She will make, I expect, a first-rate, if too fond, mother. You, of +course, try to make a Beatrice of her, quite regardless of the +possibility that you are not a Dante, or even a Diotima (which, thank +Heaven, she is not yet), not remembering how far you are from being a +Socrates. My dear young man, I shall not forbid you her society-- +subject, of course, to her own and her husband's judgment, which, I +promise you, I shall obtain beforehand. Seek it then by all means, but +seek it with circumspection. Remember that she will not thrive upon the +fine poetry you will make of her--nor will you, indeed; but that is your +own affair. Seek her, therefore, with reasonable care for her future. In +two words, write to her husband, and for once deprive yourself of your +luxurious mysteries, and go to work in the light of day. As for your +Virginia--you have a fondness for female society, I fancy--don't trouble +your head further with that little parasite." + +His injunctions were obeyed, though I could not agree with all his +conclusions. I wrote respectfully to my father, candidly to Dr. +Lanfranchi; I wrote on my knees to Aurelia--though, as I now know, Padre +Carnesecchi put the letter into his pocket. Expiatory rites of a +religious sort, wisely recommended and cheerfully performed, I omit from +this narrative. At their end I was set entirely at liberty; and there +seemed no limit to the benevolence of the Society of Jesus in my regard. +Money, clothes, a servant were found for me, a lodging in the Piazza +Santa Maria, introductions into the fashionable world. I took my own +rank once more, I had tutors, books, leisure, the respect of my equals. +I went to Court, was made a visiting member of the famous Delia Cruscan +Academy; I was offered a box at the opera, a villa in the hills, a +mistress. I made the acquaintance of Count Giraldi, a gentleman not only +in the immediate service of the sovereign but high in the confidence of +the heir-apparent, a man of the world, a traveller, affable, an abundant +linguist, no mean philosopher, possessor of a cabinet of antiquities, a +fine library, a band of musicians second to none in Florence. If ever a +young man was placed square upon his feet again after a damaging fall it +was I. For this much, at least, I render a solemn act of remembrance to +the Society of Jesus, who must not be held responsible for the series of +events which befell me next, and by which it came to pass that the cup +of my fortunes went again and again to the bitter fountain of shame. + +I passed, I suppose, some six weeks without news, but not without hope, +of Donna Aurelia; and I am ashamed to add that the pleasures and +interests of the world obliterated in me those obligations of gratitude +and honour which I owed to the friend of my misfortunes. But so I have +always found it, that the more respect a man has from the world, the +less he has to give it in return. It is as if, knowing his own worth too +well, he was able to put a just estimate upon his tributary. I will only +say in my defence that I knew Virginia to be safe from positive danger. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +MY DIVERSIONS: COUNT GIRALDI + + +My new friend, as I must call him, since so he professed himself a dozen +times a week, was Count Amadeo Giraldi, one of the three members of the +Secret Cabinet of the Grand Duke, and the most influential and +respectable of the three. He was a gentleman of some forty years, +distinguished in presence and address, of suave manners and a cynicism +past praying for. This tainted philosophic habit had permeated him to +the soul, so that, not only was he naturally a sceptic in matters of +received opinion, but found a perverse relish in his own misfortune, +until he was become, indeed, sceptical of scepticism, and found himself, +at times, in real danger of proving a sincere Christian. + +So strange a result of philosophy, reacting upon itself, however, did +not disturb his serenity, but, on the contrary, added to his diversions; +for he confessed that his highest pleasure in this life was to discover +fresh follies of which he could be capable. He considered himself as an +inexhaustible quarry of humours, vanities, jealousies, whims, absurd +enthusiasms, absurd mortifications. He was able, as he said, to sit at +his ease in the side-scene and see himself jigging on the stage in +motley or the tragic sock--see himself as a lover, and cry aloud in +delight at the mad persistence of the fool he appeared; see himself +directing the affairs of the nation, and be ready to die of laughing at +himself for pretending to be serious, and at his countrymen for thinking +him so. He loved art and spent large sums upon his collection; yet, said +he, "I should grudge the money for other occasions did it not furnish me +with the entrancing spectacle of a middle-aged statesman panting after +masterpieces, fingering this or that painted board, and staking his +position in this world and the next upon the momentous question, Is this +ear in the manner of Fra Angelico? or, Could Mantegna have so +foreshortened a leg? I tell you, Don Francis, there is no more +outrageous comedy, no more fantastic extravaganza playing in Venice at +this hour than every moment of my own life can furnish me with. What! I +hold in my hand the destinies of a million of souls, and the iron enters +into mine--not because those others are in danger, not because those +others are enslaved--no! but because at Donna Violante's card-table the +Marchesa Serafina disregards my call for trumps! I rise up from my +escritoire, where lie papers of State--a threat from the King of Spain, +declaration of war from the Emperor, a petition of right from some poor +devil who has been shamefully used by one of my Ministers; I rise, I +say, and leave them lying--and for what? To dangle at some faded opera, +which I have heard a thousand times, behind the chair of some fine lady +whose person I could possess (if I wanted it) for the writing of a +billet. Is it not incredible? But there is more to come. My future +master, the Grand Prince, is more of a fool than I am, because he +doesn't know it. Yet I read more consequence out of some petulant freak +of his than from all the despair of a nation starving to death; and I +know very well which would disturb my department the more effectually-- +whether it would be a revolution or his being late for Mass. Is not this +a humorous state of affairs? Does not this tickle your sense of the +ridiculous? I assure you I have never regretted for a moment my having +been involved in the business of the State. I can laugh at myself day in +and day out." + +The whimsicality of this kind of talk robbed it of its sting; but what +is really curious about the count was that he was perfectly serious. + +He gave the princes--both him who reigned and him who hoped to reign-- +very bad characters, but said that for purposes of government he +preferred a vicious to a bigoted fool. The first, he said, will be ruled +by minions, who can be paid. This makes administration a simple matter +of finance. The second sort of princes are ruled by the frati, who pay +themselves. The distinction is material. "The Grand Duke Cosimo," he +said on another occasion, "is living of fright." "Do you not mean dying +of it?" I asked him. "No," said he, "he is living of it. The frati have +been at him for years; and now he is so terrified lest he may make a bad +death that he has forgotten to die at all. But, of course, his fears +will wear out in time, and then he will perish like any ordinary man of +sense. As for my future master, Don Gastone, he will live just so long +as his zest for iniquity endures. When, like some Alexander of the +stews, he has no more vices to conquer, he will die of ennui. It is +surprising how few are the changes you can ring upon the human appetite. +Gluttony, drunkenness--" + +"Spare me the catalogue, count," I begged him. + +"I was enumerating for my own convenience," he said, "as I frequently +do, to see if I cannot discover one new variety. Don Gastone has not yet +exhausted acquisition. He has become a numismatist, and ploughed up a +populous village the other day in the search for a penny of +Charlemagne's, supposed to have been dropped there in passing. Then +there is horticulture--which is one of my own vices; and, of course, I +do not forget piety; but things are not so bad as that just yet. It is +important that he should survive his father, because he is the last of +the line of Medici, and I foresee troubles ahead. We shall have an +Austrian prince who will make soldiers of us, or a revolution, when our +throats will be cut. An unpleasant alternative--to kill or be killed!" +With these and similar reflections he now dazzled and now depressed, but +always interested me. + +Count Giraldi had three palaces in or near Florence, or rather, he had +four. He himself occupied the great house of his race, the Palazzo +Giraldi, a magnificent pile, built by Muchelozzo, on the Lung' Arno. The +Villa Felice, also, on the hillside below Fiesole was reserved for +himself and his friends. His wife, a frigid, devout, elderly lady, had +her own establishment, the splendid Palazzo Manfredi, in Oltr' Arno, and +received him with great ceremony once a week for an hour in the +afternoon. Never, so long as I had any familiarity with the count, did +she set foot in either of his houses; but he always spoke of her with +great respect as the only person of his acquaintance who had never +provided him with matter for amusement. The fourth, of which I have +spoken, was smaller than any, but the most elegant of all. That, too, +was over Arno, in a retired street near the Porta San Giorgio, but +within a garden of its own which withdrew it yet more from observation +or annoyance. I call it his, since he assured me of it at a later day; +but at this time I knew it as in the occupation of the Contessa Giulia +Galluzzo, a charming lady, charming hostess, centre and inspiration of a +charming circle. The count took me with him, very soon after we had +become intimate, to wait upon her; she received me with all possible +favour. I never failed of attending her assemblies, never found her +otherwise than amiable, nor her circle than varied and entertaining. +Without suspecting in the least how Count Giraldi really stood with +regard to her, I could see that he was free of the house. She called him +"Caro amico," and paid great deference to his opinions. He, on his side, +addressed her as "Madonna," was tender without being impresse, alert +without seeming to be so, and whether he intended to take her advice or +not, never failed to pay her the compliment of asking it. I am thus +particular in speaking of these things for reasons which will shortly +appear. + +In the Villa San Giorgio, most of all in the society of its graceful +chatelaine, I had my fill of poetry and the other ornamental arts. Wit, +love, philosophy, literature, bric-a-brac, religion--each had its petit- +maitre, and each its sparkling Muse. It was before the day of Arcadia +and shepherdesses, those flowers of our more jaded years; women were +still called divine, but it was very possible, or we used to think it +so, to discuss matters which you did not understand, and express +sentiments which you did not feel without the prop of a crook, or +garters of blue ribbon. At my impressionable age, with my impressionable +habit, I took kindly to all this; I discussed love with Donna Giulia, +and puzzled her sadly; I expressed my feelings upon religion to the Abbe +Loisic, the count's bookbinder, and bored him to extinction. One day I +was presented to a tall cadaverous gentleman with red eyelashes and eyes +so pale as to seem almost white. I had a suspicion that I had seen him +in some former existence, and so soon as the name of the Marchese +Semifonte was mentioned, remembered Prato with horror. The marchese may +well have thought me reserved, for it is true that I could barely be +civil to him. He argued from that, as I learned afterwards from Donna +Giulia, that I was of a ducal family, and in proportion as I froze, so +did he thaw. As I receded, so did he advance. He pressed invitations +upon me, all of which I could not decline; it was proper that I should +offer him some hospitality in return--and I did. He supped with me once +or twice in my lodgings, lost money to me at cards and so had some +grounds for believing himself "my friend." Presuming upon this, he was +not long in discovering himself to me for the monomaniac he was, one of +those miserable men devoured by a passion which may lift us to the stars +or souse us in the deepest slime of the pit. He made proposals to me, +tentatively at first, then with increasing fervency, at last with +importunity which would have wearied me inexpressibly if it had not +disgusted me beyond endurance--proposals, I mean, to share his depraved +excursions. Outraged as I was, loathing the man (as I had good reason) +from the bottom of my heart, I was driven to confide in Count Giraldi +something of my knowledge of him. I had the good sense, it is true, to +withhold the fact that Virginia, his intended victim, was in Florence; +but that is the extent of my prudence. It might have served me, but for +the accident which I must relate in the next chapter. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +I WORK FOR AURELIA, AND HEAR OF HER + + +It was to the sympathetic ears of Donna Giulia, first of all, that I +imparted the state of my feelings, my hopes, fears and prayers with +regard to Aurelia. There was that about Count Giraldi, a diamantine +brilliancy, a something hard and crystalline, a positiveness, an +incisiveness of view and reflection, which on first acquaintance decided +me not to take him into my confidence. When I came to know him better, +or to think that I did, I followed my natural bent and talked to him +unreservedly; but in the lady, from the beginning, I found a very +interested listener. She led me on from stage to stage of my story until +she had it all, and gave me the sum of her thoughts freely and with +candour. "I agree with you, Don Francis," she said, "that your lady will +be in Florence before long. A wounded bird makes straight for the nest, +and only puts into a thicket on the way to recover itself for the longer +flight. You will have to make the most of your time here, for I do not +believe that even your eloquence--and you are most eloquent--will hold +her from her mother's arms, as things are now. You will be sure to +follow her to Siena, and can there make your arrangements at ease." + +"My arrangements, dear madam, are very simple," said I. "Pardon is all I +ask, and leave to serve her. She may give me these in Florence as well +as in Siena." + +"Pardon you may be certain of," said Donna Giulia. + +"What has she to pardon you but the fact that you admired her, and told +her so? I assure you we don't think that an irremediable sin in Italy. +Permission to serve her, in other words, permission to prove your +admiration by deeds (not words), is another affair. She will certainly +wish to consult her mother about that." + +"Her husband too, madam," said I; "this is the real difficulty of the +case." She gave me a queer look. + +"It is unusual to consult the husband," she said. "It puts him in a +difficult position." + +"It is my fault," said I ruefully, "that he has been put there already." + +"Undoubtedly it is," returned Donna Giulia. "You should have remained in +the cupboard. Why, the fact that she put you there is proof of that. She +has given you all possible encouragement." + +I said no more on the subject just then, but a few days afterwards, +being out with the count on horseback, he himself spoke to me about my +business, frankly owning that it was none of his. "Donna Giulia +mentioned it to me in secrecy," he said, "in the charitable hope that I +might be of use to you. Need I say that all my abilities are at your +service in an affair of the sort? I have had a good deal of experience: +are you inclined to make use of me? Let me add, that if you are not, I +am discretion itself. I shall understand your reticence, and even take +it as a compliment; for if you think I am not the kind of man whom you +would care to interest in your mistress, it will be a gratifying proof +that I am younger than I venture to think myself." + +My reply to this frankly stated case was to put before him the tale of +the fair Aurelia, the cupboard and the pilgrimage of penitence. Count +Giraldi, greatly to his credit, listened without the alteration of a +muscle, and expressed at the close of my blushing narrative his +convictions that Aurelia must be a charming lady, and that I should +prove an equally charming damerino when I had learned the rules of the +game, "One of which," he added with mock severity, "One of which is that +while the husband must know everything, he is to be told nothing. To +break that rule is to outrage society." It may be that something of +bewilderment and pain upon my face told him that he had overstepped his +path. He changed the conversation rapidly, encouraged me to talk of +Aurelia's perfections and of my own shortcomings as I would, reserving, +no doubt, his private view of each; and ended the conversation by +promising me to put all his interest at my service. "I will do what I +can, and welcome," he said. "I will make friends with the doctor, and +perhaps find a place for him under this Government; I will introduce the +doctor's wife to Donna Giulia, and listen to your reading of your poetry +at least as readily as she will. More, I will make you acquainted with +my personal bookbinder, the Abbe Loisic, a truly great virtuoso. If +Donna Aurelia won't accept your sonnets in the dress of his providing, +you may give up the case as hopeless. In a word, my dear Francis," he +said laughing, "there shall be only one thing wanting to complete your +felicity, and even that I may be able to afford you. You will have your +mistress at hand, her husband accommodated, and will only need a rival, +it seems to me, to stimulate you to a pleasant exertion of your powers. +There ought not to be much difficulty in finding one in Florence." He +was silent awhile, then said, as if musing on the absurdity, "Semifonte, +for example!" I begged him not to mention that man. + +The weeks passed thus pleasantly for me, and I was wafted from winter +into the fragrant chambers of spring before I was aware. On the morning +of April 23, as I was sitting in my lodging, drinking my chocolate, I +received a letter from Father Carnesecchi, saying that Aurelia was in +Florence; and while I was still standing in ferment with his note +shaking in my hand, Virginia burst into my room, fell at my feet, +clasped me by the knees. "Master, news, news!" she cried, and kissed my +hands with passion. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +AURELIA FORGIVES + + +The mingling of emotions, like that of two waters, may produce a volume +whose direction cannot be calculated by any previous knowledge of the +separate streams. In my case, just described, the reader has seen that +while my heart was still palpitating at the news of the recovery of a +mistress, it was to be shaken anew by the sight of a dear friend. Two +sorts of joy met and blended their forces within me; their issue in one +turbulent flood, which I should have thought to see heading to Aurelia +at the convent, instead of that poured themselves upon the bosom of +Virginia. I raised her from my knees where, upon her own, she was +clinging, and clasped her in my arms. I was, indeed, happy to see her +again, and so much so that I forgot entirely that I had only myself to +blame for our long separation. For the first time in our lives our lips +met. + +But if I was moved, what is to be said of her? I can hardly express the +painful scene which followed. She lost all control of her senses; she +clung to me as if I had been a spar in some stormy sea wherein she +drowned; she uttered incoherent cries, she gasped, sobbed, was clean +distraught. When I held her, when I kissed her, she struggled like a +caught bird, fought furiously, used her teeth, her nails. And yet all +the time she was caressing me with every diminutive, every sweet term of +love which the most passionate people in the world can find as +expression of their love-thoughts. She stroked my cheeks, hair and +shoulders, crooned over me like a brooding dove, held me so straitly +that I was near choking; or with tragic mouth and eyes of sombre fire +she adjured me to kill her there and then, lest any subsequent moment of +her life might be less full of bliss than the present. I know that my +fancy was inflamed, and suspect that my senses--from whose occasional +dominion I was no more free than most men--must have sprung into flame +from this dangerous contact, had it not been that her excessive joy +induced an attack of hysterics. For a time she was like a madwoman, +beyond all human power; and she ended by fainting in my arms, and had to +be carried by myself and Scipione, my servant, to a bed. There she lay +moaning and muttering to herself for an hour or more. It may be imagined +whether all this tended to calm my own agitation or to turn my thoughts +towards that road whereby alone honour and salvation could be reached. I +could not go out to see Aurelia; I could hardly even think of Aurelia +while Virginia lay in my house with closed eyes, clenched hands and +shuddering breath. I left Scipione in charge of her, and returned to my +saloon, to pace the floor until he brought me word that she could be +spoken with. This he did not do for some hours. + +He came in at last, shaking his head. "That is a bad case, sir--porca +miseria!" says he. + +I hoped that she was better. + +"She's ashamed of herself, sir," he said, "as well she may be. What a +scandal, my word! But these baggages have no modesty." + +The term offended me. I told him he was talking nonsense. "She is a true +friend," I said, "whose sympathy may be excessive; but to take joy in my +joy is the act of a friend." + +Scipione saluted me. "Sir, if her joy is your honour's, I have no more +to say. A gentleman is entitled to his pleasures, I hope. And she is a +handsome girl, though she is thin." + +"That will do, my man," said I. "You say that she is better." + +"She is as well, sir, as she deserves," replied this assured fellow, +"but she is mad." + +"Mad!" I cried. + +"Why, yes, sir," says he. "Judge for yourself. Here is a girl frying in +love, wanting to tell your honour that another is yours for the asking." +He angered me by this freedom--which I can assure the reader is not +uncommon in this country--and I dismissed him with a few directions. I +said that I must go out at once and was uncertain when I should return. +Meantime Virginia was to have every care, and was to be provided with-- +among other things--suitable clothes for one in the position of a house- +servant. Those in which she had made her sudden appearance before me +were obviously peculiar to the convent in which she worked, and to her +standing there. I left some money with Scipione and went out. + +Perhaps it had been better to have interrogated Virginia before taking +the step I now took, and so I should have done had I not been rather +disturbed in my mind, first, by my own pleasure at seeing her again-- +which I now considered to have been disloyal to Aurelia--and next, by +Scipione's account of her state of heart. Virginia in love with me! This +was not the first time I had suspected it; but, reflecting upon our +meeting, I was not able to deny that she had been very much moved. Now, +should it be true, I thought to myself, what on earth was I to do? What, +indeed, were the MERITS of the case? Was the fault mine--and how could I +best repair it? These questions were beyond my then powers of resolution +while I was uncertain of Aurelia's fate and prospects, and I +deliberately put them aside. I turned all my powers of mind and heart to +consider her injuries, probable sufferings and monstrous humiliations, +and by the time I was near the Convent of SS. Maria e Giuseppe I was +trembling in every limb, and in the state of apprehension and desire +which becomes the devout lover of a lady incredibly lovely and wise. + +I approached the shabby gate, and with uncovered head saluted the posts +which held it up. I rang the bell, the portress appeared; I asked her +for my mistress by name; she said that she would take up mine to the +Lady Superior if my lordship would be pleased to wait. Then she +disappeared, and my lordship stood fainting there. + +Father Carnesecchi, I perceived, was with Aurelia; for the note brought +back by the portress was all in his handwriting but the signature. The +initials A. L. were in her own. She said, or the respectable Jesuit said +for her, that she was highly sensible of my courtesy in waiting upon +her, and deplored that, as she was somewhat fatigued and about to return +to Padua, it was impossible for her to receive me at the moment. She +hoped on a future occasion to find suitable expression of her feelings, +and begged in the meantime to assure me of her entire respect. + +At any other time I might have been chilled by the studious repression +of this note; but at that moment I had but one aim. Begging the portress +to wait, I tore a leaf from my pocket-book, wrote upon it, "Madam, +forgive the wicked F. S.," and gave it over to the good nun. "I beg of +you, my sister, to give this note into the hands of Donna Aurelia," I +said. "It touches on a matter of the utmost consequence to me." She +agreed, with an indulgent and somewhat intelligent smile, and retired +once more. In half the time she came back with a little twisted note. "I +hope that I can please you this time, sir," she said. "At any rate you +may be sure of your correspondent, for Donna Aurelia wrote every word of +it." There were but three words, "Si, si, si--Aurelia," I read, and +turning my face to the Heavens, thanked God that I was absolved by the +dear subject of my crimes. + +Transformed, indeed, I trod upon air between the Prato and the Palazzo +Giraldi. I was told that his Excellency was visiting the Contessa +Galluzzo. I sailed, I soared, I flashed over Arno and into the house at +the Porta San Giorgio. "Absolved! Absolved!" I cried, and kissed Donna +Giulia's hand. The count pressed mine very warmly. + +"Either the Church," said he, "has gained in you a remarkable champion, +or the world lost a promising scoundrel. I had not suspected you of such +a load of sin." I showed my precious paper and commented upon it with +rapture. + +"Count," I said in conclusion, "a truce to your sallies. Confess my +Aurelia a pattern among ladies. What modesty! What clemency! What divine +compassion! It is too much grace; it is dangerous; it tempts one to sin +again." At the time of utterance I undoubtedly believed what I said. + +"I am of your opinion," said the count. "I fancy that the lady is very +ready to forgive you. I speak for myself when I say that I shall do +everything in my power to assist her." + +"Speak also for me, caro mio," said Donna Giulia. "I will wait upon +Donna Aurelia as soon as may be. She will be better here than in the +tiresome convent. I shall invite her to pay me a visit, which I hope," +she added with a smile, "will not deprive us of the society of Don +Francis." I warmly thanked my friends and took my leave. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +VIRGINIA VEXES + + +On returning to my house I ended a day of agitation by an interview with +Virginia. I found her in an abject way, scarcely able to speak, and very +unwilling to raise her eyes. She was dressed, and perfectly composed, +and said what she had to say in a tone deliberately dry. "I ask your +lordship's pardon," she began at once, "for the tempest I raised in your +house. I ask it on my knees. I forgot myself; I lost myself. I have not +seen your lordship for many months." + +I begged her to allude to it no more. I myself had been glad to see her, +I said. + +She looked up quickly--only for a moment--and showed a hint of her +former fire. "I think that you were--I did think so," she said; then +checked herself and was silent. + +"There is no doubt about it," said I, "therefore let nothing disturb +you. Take your time and tell me your news. You have seen--you have +heard---" + +"Yes, yes," she said, "I have seen your Aurelia. She came to our convent +a week ago in a chaise and pair." + +This startled me--a week ago! + +"I should have told you before if I could," she continued, "but they +keep us close, us penitents. I have run away; I could not bear that you +should remain ignorant. If they find me they will beat me to death." + +I assured her of my protection and returned to the subject of Aurelia. +How, I asked, had she come? Had she been ill--in distress? + +"Not at all," said Virginia. "She was elegantly dressed. She was +protected by an old woman. She wore a mask and a travelling hood, and +went into the nuns' parlour. She asked for a cup of chocolate, which was +brought her. I saw her in the chapel at the office." + +How often had I seen her so--my saint on her knees! + +"She was on her knees--yes," said Virginia, "but she yawned very much. +She did not rise till noon on the next morning." + +I clasped my friend's hand. "Oh, Virginia, you have seen her!" I cried. +"You help me to see her. Is she not perfection?" + +Virginia was rather cool. "Who knows?" she said, shrugging, "she is like +all Sienese women. She is fatter than I am. I allow her shape. But she +is not near so tall. She is a little thing. She wears her clothes well. +And she is merry enough when she has her tongue." I could afford to +smile at this grudging admiration. "My dear girl," I said, "you little +know her--but how should you? Tell me more. Did you speak to her?" She +nodded her head and told her story. "I waited my time. I was washing the +canon's linen in the little cloister. That was my job, week in and week +out. She came through. She was scolding her old woman. I followed her +round the cloister, and when the coast was clear, said, 'Hist, Madonna.' +She turned and looked at me with her eyes wide open. They are handsome +eyes for a Sienese woman. That I allow. She said, 'Do you call me?' Says +I, 'I do.' She says, 'Well?' I reply, 'He is well if you are.' 'Who, +then?' says she. I say, 'Your lover.' This makes her jump like a flea on +the bed. But she brazens it out finely, turning to her old crone with a +'What does the girl mean?' Bless you, THEY knew well enough. I folded my +arms--so; I said, 'He has walked the stony hills barefoot to find you. +He will be out of his skin, standing on his head, to know you are here.' +She stamped her foot and flew into a passion. 'How dare you?' she cries +out. 'Tell me of whom you are talking this rubbish.' I nodded my head +many times--so--and said, 'You are lucky to have him so fast.' She went +away. After that she never passed me without tossing her head; and +presently I ran away." I was greatly perturbed by this tale of hers, and +not unreasonably angry. I said, "Unhappy girl! you little know the harm +you have done. Have I instructed you so badly in myself that you can +think to serve me by your servant-girl mysteries and your nods and +winks? I enjoin you to leave my affairs absolutely alone. You are to +tell me no more, speak of me no more, see Donna Aurelia no more. Since +you have left the convent and are in danger of punishment, you must, of +course, stay here. You must be properly clothed and looked after. I will +see to that. Now recover yourself, and remember what I have said." I was +almost immediately sorry for my plain speaking; she was in extreme +misery, I could see. Tears streamed through her fingers, her body was +convulsed with grief. More than once she seemed upon the point of +lashing out at me with some furious blast of indignation; but she always +checked it, as it seemed, when it was at the edge of her lips. +Unthinking fool that I was! I little knew or guessed what she had +endured at the convent for my sake; how, treated as a sinful woman, she +had been the object of hard judgment and undeserved reproach--preached +at, prayed over, lectured, scolded, made a slave of; how she had loved +me and believed in me through all; and how, unable to bear her lot, +coming to me at last, I had proved the most cruel of her oppressors--and +precisely the most cruel because, from me, she deserved the least +reproach. However, I must not extenuate myself, nor forestall my +history. I begged her pardon for my severity and obtained her ready +forgiveness. From that hour forward she kept herself apart from me as my +servant, having arranged for her share of his duties with Scipione; and +she never by word or look recalled the time when a much closer intimacy +had existed between us. + +One disturbing incident in my affairs with her must be mentioned in this +place, although it did not occur until I had twice waited upon Donna +Aurelia. It was indeed upon my return from the second of those visits +that Scipione came into the room after me with some secret or another +which he itched, evidently, to impart to me. After some hesitation, he +asked leave to exhibit Virginia to me, dressed, said he, according to +the best of his ability as such a fine girl should be dressed. I nodded +my head--having little attention to give him just then--and he presently +returned, leading Virginia by the hand. + +"There, sir," said the jaunty rogue. "Now perhaps your honour will say +that she is worth looking at." I stared at Virginia, who coloured +finely, and hung her head. + +I must say that, preoccupied as I was, I was astonished at what I saw. +He had transformed her by some means out of a sulky and dejected +penitent into a young woman of noble appearance and refined beauty. I +had seen that transformation once before--at Prato; but here was a more +mature and assured fine lady. She wore her hair over a cushion, a +handsome dress of yellow and white brocade upon a quilted petticoat, +silk stockings, and high-heeled shoes. Not only were the clothes fine of +their kind and well fitted to her person, but she wore them surprisingly +well; their colour set off her clear, chiselled and dark beauty; and +that, as if stung by the rivalry, came fiercely out to meet them. The +joy and pride of battle tingled in her cheeks and shone in her eyes. She +was of that aquiline, keen type of feature which we are accustomed to +call patrician. She looked at once superb and secure, at once eager to +contend and sure of the prize. It may have been that, as her name of +Strozzi implied, she was a scion of that noble house, sunk by no faults +of her own in servitude and obscurity; suffice it to say that she was +strikingly handsome and perfectly aware of it. I was too much astonished +to be angry with Scipione, as I might reasonably have been. Nor could I +have had the heart, I acknowledge, to have dashed her natural pleasure +at her success by any abrupt expression of annoyance. I said, "Why, +Virginia, you are become a fine lady!" She stepped quickly forward, +knelt, and kissed my hand--an act of humility which touched me. + +"Sir," said Scipione, "I told you that she had the makings. Your honour +can do as you please now, and nobody have a word to say. I can assure +you that the count lost his breath and his heart at once when he saw +her." + +"The count!" I cried; and he told me that Count Giraldi had called for +me that afternoon and had entertained himself greatly with Virginia. + +I sent Scipione away. It was necessary to know more of this. The moment +he was out of the room I asked her what had brought about this +masquerade of hers. She said timidly that Scipione had a sister who was +woman to a great lady. This person had several times been in to see her +brother, and this dress was of her providing. She said that they had +teased her about her appearance at Prato, where Scipione's sister had +seen her, it appears, and had dared to prove to them that she was indeed +that handsome lady with whom I had been observed. She hoped I should not +take it amiss, or be angry with "my servant," by which she meant +herself. I assured her that I was not at all angry--which was true, and +then begged her to tell me what the count had wanted. She said he had +called to leave me a message--an invitation to dine, I think--and that +Scipione, maliciously or ingenuously, had shown him into the room where +she was queening it in her borrowed finery. + +I guessed there was more. "What had his Excellency to say on your +account, my child?" I asked her. + +"He thought at first that I was what I seemed, and was most gallant," +she replied, to my consternation. "I told him, however, that he was very +much mistaken, that I was a poor girl and your servant, playing as I +should not. This tickled his Excellency--or so it appeared." + +"And he said--what, Virginia?" I was careful to hide from her my +discomfort over this foolish business. + +Virginia, with what I am sure was perfect innocence of any evil, said, +"He was most kind. He praised my looks, and vowed that you were happily +served." + +"And so I am," I said rather ruefully. "He was right. What next?" + +"Next, sir," said this strange girl, "he praised my figure, which he +thought was mightily becoming this gown." + +"Well, well, and he was right," I admitted. "But did he say nothing +more?" + +Virginia would not look at me, but I caught the words, "He said that he +envied you the arrangements of your household." + +"Well?" I asked her. + +"And he said that he was sure I was as good as I was good-looking, and +gave your honour every satisfaction. And then he gave me a gold piece +and a salutation and was going away, when---" + +"Well, well? Let me have the whole story." + +"I shall vex you--but not more than I was vexed, I assure you. No harm +had been done--for you don't suppose that I wanted his money, serving +your honour. But just as he was going out what must that daughter of +mischief--Scipione's sister--do but blurt out that she had seen me with +your honour not near so well dressed at the fair at Prato. The count +started and looked very much intrigued. He asked me a score of +questions--artfully, you may be sure, as if to idle away the time. But I +told him nothing at all, and he presently was tired of working a dry +pump. He took his leave, and that Sataness went with him. God knows what +she knows! If I come within distance of her I shall drag her tongue out +of her throat, I promise you." + +I told her not to trouble herself with what could not be helped. I did +not see how she could be blamed, and after all the count was my friend +and a man of honour. But I relieved my feelings by bestowing upon Master +Scipione one of the handsomest drubbings his oily skin had ever +received. I little knew then how richly he deserved it; but I found out +before long, and then if I could have killed him I am sure I would have +done it. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +I PREPARE FOR BLISS + + +I must return to the natural order of my history, and relate my first +interview with Aurelia in order that I may prepare the reader for the +last. It was brought about by Father Carnesecchi, to whom I applied for +it after my visit to the convent and reception of the note of +forgiveness. I had a great respect for the good man, and owed him much +for his kindness to me in my hour of need, but, as I never had the knack +of concealing my feelings, I could not help showing him, I suppose, that +I was aware that my mistress had been a week in Florence without my +suspecting it. If I had thought to confuse him by any such reproach-- +which I had not--I should have been quickly undeceived. + +Father Carnesecchi at once admitted that he had withheld, for what +seemed very proper reasons, the fact of Aurelia's arrival. "The poor +little lady," he said, "when she had recovered from fatigues which +(without being harsh), I must say, were not brought upon her entirely +unassisted, developed a very becoming and dutiful state of the soul. I +have seldom been more hopeful of a case of conscience. But it is a +sensitive plant, the soul of a young and naturally amiable girl; rough +blasts may bruise it; even excessive nurture may cause an exuberance of +growth and weaken the roots. I do not doubt your real repentance, my +Francis--Heaven forbid it me, but I confess I do gravely doubt the +expediency of your assuring Donna Aurelia of it otherwise than by a +letter which I shall willingly convey to her. May I ask you now--since I +stand to you in loco parentis; yes, yes, in loco parentis--how it was +that you became acquainted with the fact of her having been a week in +the Sienese convent?" + +I told him the truth; and if the father was vexed he was not surprised. + +"Beware," he said, "of that little parasite. You have a dangerous liking +for female society, as I have told you before. Of your two intimacies, I +much prefer that of Donna Aurelia for you. There, now, is a girl +naturaliter Christiana--but that is characteristic of her nation: the +elect city of Mary, indeed, as the pious Gigli has observed in a large +volume. Come," he said suddenly, "come, Francis, I will take you to see +Donna Aurelia this moment. There shall be no drawbacks to our mutual +affection. What do you say?" + +I stammered my thanks, shed tears and kissed my director's hands. The +acts of the next half-hour were done to a wild and piercing music. I +could scarcely breathe, let alone think or speak. I was swept along the +streets, I achieved the portal, I achieved the parlour. Pictures of +saints, wholly Sienese, reeled from the walls: a great white crucifix +dipped and dazzled. Father Carnesecchi, after a time of shrill suspense, +came in to fetch me, took me tottering up the stairs. My heart stood +still; but the door was open. I blundered in, I saw her again--her +lovely childish head, her innocent smile, her melting eyes, her colour +of pale rose, her bounty, her fragrance, her exquisite, mysterious +charm! Blushes made her divine; she curtseyed deeply to me; I fell upon +my knee; and Count Giraldi rose from his seat and performed a graceful +salute. + +She told me that she freely forgave me an indiscretion natural to my +youth and position, whose consequences, moreover, could not have been +foreseen by either of us. She said that she was about to return to her +husband, who would probably come to Florence to meet her--and she added +that she hoped I should resume my studies at the university, and in +serious preparation for the future obliterate all traces of the past. At +these words, which I am inclined to fancy had been got by rote, she +sighed and looked down. I promised her entire obedience in every +particular, and growing bolder by her timidity, said that, with the +doctor's permission, I should wait upon her at her convenience. Aurelia +pressed me to come; and then told me that, thanks to the benevolence of +Donna Giulia conveyed to her by the excellency of Count Giraldi, my +visit might be made at the Villa San Giorgio at her ladyship's next +reception. "I believe, Don Francis, that you know the way thither," she +said. Very much affected, I kissed her hand again, and Father +Carnesecchi, suggesting that she might be fatigued, took me away. My +next visit to her was paid at the Villa San Giorgio, and on that +occasion I saw her alone. Count Giraldi was, in fact, at that very hour, +engaged with Virginia in my lodgings. + +This time I was neither ridiculous nor thought to be so. My lady came +into the saloon where I was and ran towards me, begging me not to kneel +to her. She resumed for that happy moment at least her old part of +guardian angel, sat on the couch by my side, and looking kindly at me +from her beautiful eyes, said in the easiest way, "I see very well that +you have not been cared for so well in Florence as in Padua. Now you are +to be your good and obedient self again and do everything I tell you." + +I murmured my long-meditated prayer for forgiveness, making a sad botch +of its periods. She put her hand over my mouth. + +"Not a word of that hateful affair," she said firmly. "You were absurd, +of course, and I was to blame for allowing it; but I could not be angry +with such a perfect little poet, and that monster should have known with +whom he had to deal. He knows it now, I believe. He knows that a +Gualandi of Siena is not at the beck and call of a pig of Padua. When he +comes here, he will come in his right senses, you will see." + +I begged her to tell me her story; but she said there was little to +tell. She had not left Padua, as I had supposed, but had stayed with +friends of hers in the hope that what she called the pazzeria of the +doctor would be blown away. Finding that he was obstinate, she had gone +to Modena, where she lived for a while as companion to an ancient lady, +who became very fond of her. It needed, indeed, a convenient bronchitis +to give her her liberty again. When this occurred she found herself +provided with a pretty legacy--enough to make her independent of the +doctor, but at the same time more necessary to his happiness. She had +intended, she said, for Siena; but the hospitality of Donna Giulia was +pressed upon her, and the good services of the count were freely hers. +There was talk of a judgeship for her husband; she would see how events +turned about before she made any plans. "And you, Francis," she +continued, "are not to be ridiculous any more, nor wander about without +shoes, nor consort with rubbish any more. You are to go back to your +studies and your books, and take your degree. You are to say good-bye to +Aurelia as soon as you are well enough, and forget that you ever knew +her, if you can." + +"If I forget you, Aurelia, I shall forget Heaven," I said. + +"We will talk about Heaven another time," said Aurelia. "Who was that +saucy girl I met at the convent, who seemed to know all about you?" + +I told her Virginia's story exactly. She said, "The piece is madly in +love with you." I assured her that she was mistaken, but she shook her +head, then nodded it many times. "Certainly, certainly she is in love +with you," and after a pause--"and I don't wonder. You have greatly +improved, Francis." + +To this I said that nothing was further from my thoughts than to do +Virginia any harm. I promised to marry her to my man Scipione as soon as +possible, since protection of some sort was necessary to a bondswoman +who had run away from the land to which she belonged. Aurelia heard me +thoughtfully, tapping her little foot on the floor in that quick, +impatient way I loved so well in her. "Marry her--yes," she said, "that +will be only prudent on your part. Well! it is not for me to quarrel +with you--but--" she shrugged and went on quickly--"Oh, I don't deny +that the wench is well enough in her broomstick way!" she cried out. + +I said, No, she looked very well when she was dressed. This was an +unlucky speech. + +"So I have understood, sir," cried Aurelia, breathing fast. "I hear that +you were seen with her at Prato; that she was dressed in silk and a +hoop, and had her hair on a cushion, and I dare say a fan, of the +afternoons. And you think her very well? So--so--so!" My beloved Aurelia +had tears in her eyes--one dropped and lay upon her bosom. I fell on my +knees before her and would have kissed her foot, but she sprang from me, +and went quickly out of the room. + +I was left alone in the greatest agitation. It was the recollection of +this scene which troubled me when, returning to my lodging, I found +Virginia again in masquerade. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +I DISAPPOINT MY FRIENDS + + +My forebodings were more than fulfilled. The next time, which was at a +week's interval, that I presented myself at the Villa San Giorgio, Donna +Aurelia, in full reception, turned her back upon me and left the room in +company of the Marchese Semifonte. I suffered the indignity as best I +might--I did not quit the company; nobody, I flatter myself, knew what +pangs of mortification I was feeling. I saw no more of Aurelia that +evening, and a conversation which I had with Donna Giulia made matters +no better. She spoke to me very plainly and with some warmth. + +"Here you had, but a few days ago, your mistress in a most promising +humour," she said, "detesting her doctor, yet resolved to have him back +in order to give you a countenance. In Count Giraldi and myself you +have, I take leave to say, two of the most complaisant friends in +Europe; yet what are you doing? You maintain, for reasons best known to +yourself, a pretty girl in your lodgings, pranked out in silks and +furbelows--a runaway from a house of discipline--and (if it is all true +that they tell me) one who, if she belongs to anybody, dare not belong, +certainly, to you. Really, Don Francis, you are exorbitant. Pray, do you +propose to us to keep Aurelia here in order that she may listen to your +poetry, and then to return from your intellectual feast to the arms of +your little peasant? And Aurelia is to know it and acquiesce? Good +heavens! do you know that she is young, fresh, and charming, and of +Siena? I ask your pardon, Don Francis--but oh, my perverse young friend, +why on earth don't you take her?" + +"Dearest lady!" I cried out, "what under Heaven am I to take? I adore +Aurelia; I ask nothing better than leave to serve her, to kneel at her +feet. If she is cruel to me, that is my pride. If she is kind, that is +my humiliation. If she were to kill me, that would be my topmost +reward." + +"Very true indeed," she said. "And what if she were to do, as I should +certainly do, ignore you altogether?" + +"I should not cease to love her. I should have nothing to complain of," +I said. + +She tossed her hands up in despair. "If this is what conies of reading +your Dante, I advise the 'Song of Solomon,'" she said. "I have never +opened the 'Divine Comedy'--still less the 'Vita Nova'; but I consider +the author a donkey, and am sure that was the opinion of his Donna +Beatrice." + +Count Giraldi, for some reason which I could not then comprehend, did +not care to talk of my affair. He said nothing of Aurelia to me--and, so +far as I could see, avoided the lady herself as much as the discussion +of her position. He told me that he had been able to offer a judgeship +of the Court of Cassation to Dr. Lanfranchi, and that he was in great +hopes that he would take it. In that case he would, of course, reside in +Florence; and "The rest," said he, "I shall leave to you." + +I told him that, if Donna Aurelia was reconciled to her husband through +his means, I should be eternally in his debt--and not less so though I +should be in Padua and with the mountains between us. + +He frowned, he was puzzled. "You leave us?" he said; "you abandon Donna +Aurelia?" I told him that I could never cease to love her, but that love +for a lady seemed to me an extremely bad reason for bringing about her +ruin. I had gone so near to that already that nothing in the world would +induce me to risk it again. + +He affected to misunderstand me, in his scoffing way. "Admirable! +Admirable!" he cried. "I see that you have recovered your spirits." + +"I hope my spirit has never failed me yet when I have had need of it," I +said. "I shall thank God on my knees this night that my lady has been +saved alive. No lover in the world has ever begged for his mistress's +surrender so heartily as I shall pray for the return of mine to her +husband's arms." + +He clapped me on the back. "You are a master of paradox indeed," he +said. + +I assured him that I was serious. "Then," said he, "I admire while I do +not follow you. I ask you once more, do you wish me to understand that +you abandon Donna Aurelia? I have my reasons, mind you, and have no wish +to take you unawares." + +"I cannot abandon what I do not pursue," I replied. "I can only repeat +that it would be a very curious proof of my love for a lady to urge her +to perdition on my account." + +He looked at me oddly, fixedly, for a long time. Then he said, "It is +true that you are an Englishman. I had forgotten it." Suddenly he threw +up his hands. "What a nation! What a lover!" His hand came down and +rested upon my shoulders. "My friend," he said, "I am not so young as I +was, but I do believe that I can teach you something." With that he left +me. + +Upon returning to my house, sadly out of countenance by the coldness of +Aurelia, I was met by Virginia, who reminded me that Scipione had +obtained leave of absence for the night in order to visit his wife. She +seemed excited and unlike herself, very careful to lock and bolt the +front door, and was continually at the window, looking over the Piazza. +Occupied as I was with my own troubles, I took no notice of her, and +she, with the intelligence peculiar to her, saw how the land lay. She +was not accustomed to pick her words with me--no Tuscan servants are-- +and after a time of silence on my part and pretended business about the +room on hers, she asked leave to speak to me, and without getting it, +said, "Excuse me, Don Francis, for the liberty I take, but I see you +very miserable, and guess the reason. You have had words with your +mistress--and no wonder. Let me tell you that you have not the rudiments +of love in you." + +"Enough of that, Virginia," I said; but she would not oblige me. + +"Let me tell your honour," said she, "that your sex has had the monopoly +of mine since this world was first put in order. If you want your +Aurelia, as I told you before, you must take her. Your proposals towards +her are very Christian, but I have noticed that it is not the Christians +who have the prettiest women at their disposition, but the Turks, of +whom there are more in the world than you think for. Your doctor, for +example, was a Turk of the Turks; and what did your Aurelia do but +grovel for his rod until you came along, and she said, 'Hey, here is one +who is Turchissimo, the grandest of grand Turks, with a longer and +sharper rod'? You had a great chance then, Don Francis--what under +Heaven possessed you to break the rod in her presence, or rather to put +it into her hands, saying, 'Behold, madam, the rod. It is yours, not +mine; use it. I kneel to receive it'? Why, Lord of Mercies, is this +madness? Let me remind you of what I told you at Prato not so long ago, +that to pray at a lady's feet when you ought to have her in your arms is +to prepare misery for the pair of you. The whole trouble about that +precious fault of yours was--not that you committed it, Dio mio, but +that you did not commit it again. There, sir, that is my opinion--make +what you will of it." + +I was too profoundly dejected to be angry as I ought to have been; I +believe I made no reply. Emboldened, or piqued, by that, she came nearer +and spoke with great passion. "I'll tell you another thing," she said. +"I am in your way, and am quite aware of it. Donna Aurelia and all your +fine friends believe that I am with you--as--as I am not. Well, now, Don +Francis, you may be rid of me whenever you please. Fra Palamone is here, +and the Marchese Semifonte also. I have seen them both--in this very +Piazza--this afternoon. Once they were together, and once Palamone was +here alone. That means something. Now, if you choose to hand me over to +those two you will do a fine stroke of business. Your Count Giraldi has +a fancy for Donna Aurelia, I can see that plainly. It suits him very +well that I should be here. Get rid of me, and where is the count? Do +you not see?" + +I turned upon her then and reproved her. "You hurt yourself more than +me, Virginia," I said, "by talking in this strain. Your word 'fancy' is +a word of the market. Grooms FANCY a horse at the fair, housewives fancy +a leg of lamb, leering ploughboys in a tavern FANCY the wench who cleans +the pots. Gentlemen do not so use to beautiful and wise ladies. You use +horrible words, my poor child, but non omnia possumus omnes." + +She listened at first with lowering brows, and eyes which watched me +guardedly. But as I went on, more scornfully than perhaps I thought, a +change came over her. She let fall her arms, she drooped, became +distressed. I saw a tear fall, but I believed that I did well to be +angry. + +"Be sure of this," I said sharply, "that I will suffer no word in +disparagement of Donna Aurelia to be said in my presence. Your word +'fancy,' as applied to her, is horrible to me. You will take care not to +repeat it. If you choose to whisper to your friends that I have a +'fancy' for you, or that the marchese has purchased Fra Palamone to +indulge a similar 'fancy' on his account, I have nothing to say. No term +of the sort is by this time too hard for me to bear; and the marchese, +no doubt, can take care of himself. But Donna Aurelia, once and for all, +is to be left out of your dictionary if you can only couple her name +with a degrading qualification. Enough of that. I am about to return to +Padua, and shall take you with me as far as Condoglia." This was indeed +my intention, for I was hurt more than I cared to own by Donna Aurelia's +reception of me, and yet knew all the time that I deserved nothing more. + +Virginia listened with head hung down and clenched hands; when I had +done she would have rushed headlong into speech--but she checked herself +by biting her lip forcibly. She curtseyed to me, and went quickly out of +the room. I spent a great part of the night in the destruction of +papers, collection of objects which I wished to take with me, and in +committing to the flame certain others which I now knew I must do +without. Treasured memories of Aurelia went with them. She was still in +my heart, and must ever remain there, patroness of my honest intention. +Daylight was creeping over the Piazza and putting my candles to shame +before I discovered how tired I was. I blew them out, opened windows and +shutters, and leaned into the sweet air. St. Mary's church stared hard, +an unearthly black and white; the Piazza, perfectly empty, looked of +enormous size. In it the dawn-wind blew up little spirals of dust; and +it was so quiet, that when a scrap of paper was whirled into the air, I +heard the littering noise it made before it started on its flight. The +sky was of exquisite purity, pale as milk, with a very faint flush of +rose behind the church. In a few minutes the sun would be up from behind +Vallombrosa, and all the glory of the Italian day would roll over +Florence in a flood. I felt mortally and suddenly tired, too languid to +face the richness of life to come, poor and famished as I must now be. + +As I was turning from the window I saw the figures of two men come out +of the sharp angle of St. Mary's and walk towards the town. Both were +tall, both in cloaks; but one wore his hat and the other carried it. By +this, as well as his drooping, deferential shoulders, I knew this latter +to be the servant, the former his patron. Midway towards the Via de' +Benci they stopped, while he of the bare head explained at length, +pointing this way and that with his hat, then counting on his fingers. I +was now expert enough to be able to read an Italian conversation more +quickly than I could gather it in talk. There was no doubt what was +meant. "I shall go to such and such place, come back to such and such +place; the carriage will stay here; in eight hours from now your +lordship shall be satisfied." The man of position nodded his agreement, +acknowledged with another nod a low bow from his inferior, and walked +into Florence. As he entered the Via de' Benci I saw him plainly. It was +the Marchese Semifonte. I saw his pale, wandering eyes, his moth-white +face. So then I knew who was the other, standing out in the Piazza by +himself, looking up towards my room. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +I SLAY A MAN + + +A sudden desire, whose origin I could not have defined, unless it sprang +directly from alarm on her account, moved me away from the window +towards the door of Virginia's room. I listened at it, but could hear +nothing, so presently (fearing some wild intention of sacrifice on her +part) I lifted the latch and looked in. No--she was there and asleep. I +could see the dark masses of her hair, hear her quick breathing, as +impatient as a child's, and as innocent. Poor, faithful, ignorant, +passionate creature--had I wronged her? Did not her vehemence spring +from loyalty? If she was mistaken, was it her fault? For what could she-- +that unkempt companion of pigs and chicken, offspring of parents little +higher in degree--what could she know of exalted love? What, indeed? + +I lit a candle and went to look at her. I considered her carefully, +lying there prone, her face turned sideways to the pillow, one bare arm +flung over her eyes. She looked beautiful asleep, for her mouth had +relaxed its look of proud reserve, and all her lines were softened. She +looked very tired, very pure, very young. + +"God of Nature!" thought I. "Assuredly Thou didst not shape this fine, +true creature for some villain's idle appetite. Assuredly also Thou +didst put her in my way for her salvation--and, may be, for mine. I +accept the sign. Do Thou, therefore, stand my friend." I shut the door +softly and returned to my parlour. Very cautiously I drew near the +window and peered out. + +It was well that I took care. Fra Palamone was immediately underneath +the window, grinning up, showing his long tooth, and picking at his +beard. I do not think I ever saw such a glut of animal enjoyment in a +man's face before. There was not the glimmer of a doubt what he +intended. Semifonte had been told of his bondslave, and Palamone's hour +of triumph was at hand. He would bring a warrant; no doubt he had it by +him; he waited only for the police. I was laid by the heels. + +A gust of anger, like a puff of hot wind, blew upon me and made my skin +prick me. All that I had endured at this rascal's hands swelled within; +and now I remembered also that I, a gentleman by birth and training, had +been the galled slave of a low ruffian, who now intended to sell into +vice and infamy an honest girl whom I was pledged to protect. Well- +being, rehabilitation, the respect of my own world had done their work. +He had to do with a man now, I told myself, not with a boy. I went to my +bureau, took out, primed and cocked my pistols, returned to the window +and showed myself full to the frate. + +"I wish you good morning, Fra Palamone," I said. His grinning face +grinned awry, I promise you; but he recovered himself and made a brave +show. + +"Buon di, Ser Francesco, buon di. You are betimes, I see. Or is it that +you are belated like my injured friend Semifonte? The smarting of his +honour has kept him from his bed, let me tell you. But he has gone +thither now, I hope, appeased." + +"You intend to appease him, I believe, in eight hours from now," said I. +"The commissary will be at his chocolate at eight o'clock, at his office +by eleven. It is now three." + +"You are getting proficient in our tongue," he said, somewhat put out by +my exactitude. + +"Oh, I am proficient in more ways than one," I told him. "You taught me +at Prato how to draw teeth, and I showed you, in the same town, how +claws could be cut. What did you think of the carcere? Well, now I will +show you another accomplishment I have. Draw teeth, cut claws! I can +drill holes also, Palamone." + +"What the devil are you talking about, poet?" says he, always quick to +be amused. + +"Why, this," I said. "I will come down to you in the Piazza. We have it +to ourselves." I held up my pistol by the nozzle. He saw the butt. He +said, "Oho! that's your work, is it? You are growing in grace, Don +Francis; and I am not the little man to disoblige you. Many a score is +on my slate to your name, and short scores make the longest friendships. +Come down, my son, and play a better game than faro." + +By the time I got down he had taken off his cloak and came smiling +towards me with both his hands held out. He was going to embrace me--I +knew that very well. He would have kissed me on both cheeks, warmly and +with sincerity; and then, before his arms were loosed from my neck, by a +sudden surging of his lust, he would have throttled me. All that was as +clear in his looks as are the marks on this paper; but I could read my +gentleman by now and was in no mood for his freakish humours. "Take +warning," I said, "that if you move one step nearer to me I shoot you +like a rabbit." I crooked my arm and levelled at him as I spoke. I +suppose he saw truth in the mouth of the barrel, for he stopped, and +looked at me, breathing hard. + +"I admire you, Francis," he said. "I admire you more than ever before. +If I had kissed you as I intended, you would have known it." + +"I do know it, damn you!" I replied. "But you would have strangled me +afterwards." + +"Why, so I should," he confessed, "even as surely as I mean to shoot you +now. But that is neither here nor there. I'm a wild, hungry old devil of +a frate, but no man denies that I love a high spirit. I should have +kissed you for that, and wrung the breath out of you afterwards for a +starved, misbegotten spawn of an English apothecary--as you are, my son. +Now hand me one of those pistols of yours, and say your paternoster +while you are in the mind." + +I handed him the weapon, telling him that I had loaded it myself +overnight, but that if he wished to satisfy himself, I had both powder +and ball at his service. + +He looked somewhat offended. "Do you think, my lad, that I doubt you?" +he said. "I tell you that I love you. I would as soon doubt my mother, +who is in Heaven, or believe my father, who is not." + +"You shall join one or the other of them," said I, "in a few moments. +Have no doubt of that, and let me alone. One condition. I will drop my +arm and walk into the house, placing my back at your disposal, if you, +in the article of death, as you now stand, will pledge your word to save +Virginia from Semifonte. What do you say?" + +He gazed at me, open-mouthed, eyes aglow, as I stood waiting. I could +see that he was torn; I could see the fiend working and gouging within +him, and (I believe) a good angel contending against him. Some time this +lasted. Then Palamone gave a bitter laugh--like the barking of a leopard +in the night. + +"Say?" he mocked me. "Why, I say that you are an exquisite, adorable +fool--the very pink of fools. For two ticks I would have taken you at +your word. For two ticks." + +"It was the third that prevented you," says I. "You are not such a +villain as you think yourself." + +"I believe that I am not, indeed," he says ruefully. "I have lost a +chance. Well, I am ready. But here the shadow is bad. Let us go to the +obelisks and stand each back to one. There is a passable light there." + +"As you will." I went directly out into the middle of the Piazza, and he +followed--with my life between his wild hands. + +I know not to this hour whether that act of mine was one of sublime +courage or of the crassest folly; I remember that I strode blithely +forward, and that he followed; that some chance thing or another caused +me to turn my head--the sun burning in a casement, a pigeon, a cat, some +speck of accident. That motion saved my life, for immediately afterwards +I heard the report, and felt the ball flicker through my hair. The fiend +had gouged him again, and he had tried to murder me. At that certainty, +in all the fury of disgust that came with it, my stomach turned, and I +was possessed by blind rage. I rounded full upon him, and he must have +seen cold death in my eyes, for round went he too and ran for his life. +I pelted after him. + +He made for the angle of the church whence he had come. There were +railings there about a loggia, much broken down, by which, I suppose, he +hoped to get some sort of a screen, but I intended him to fight me in +the Piazza, so increased my speed, and cut him off that retreat. He +doubled, and scoured past the steps of the church, round by the +hospital, making for the Via del Fosso; I cut a segment of his circle +and stopped him there. Round he span, slavering at the lips, and went +dead over the Piazza, to the obelisks, I so close on his traces that I +could not have missed him if I had chosen for murder. It was like +coursing a hare, for hare-like in his pains, he began to scream--not +very loudly; a wretched, wrung and wiry appeal, like some bad woman's, +was all he could muster. Between the obelisks he fell on his knees, and +when I reached him was praying, "Sancta Mater! Diva Mater! Ab hostium +incidiis libera me!" I saw a head at a window, a head in a night-cap--a +man's. Over it peeped another--a woman's. But I knew my Florence: there +would be no interference in a duel. I said, "Get up, Palamone, and fight +with me." + +He was wild with terror--cried, "No, no, no--spare me! I give you my +word, my sacred word--" + +"You have none to give; you have broken it," I told him. "I will have no +word in pieces. Get up, liar, and fight." + +I got him to his feet, set him by his obelisk to face me. I loaded his +piece for him, put it into his hands, then stepped back, facing him +always, till I was fifteen yards away. "Drop your glove when you are +ready," I told him, "and fire first." + +He took as good aim as he could, I am sure; but I could see his shaking +arm quite well. He missed me by a full yard at least. Then he waited for +me, having got his courage back. I shot him in the breast, and he fell +at once, and lay still. The faces at the window had disappeared; looking +round the Piazza, I could see nothing but blank green shutters. + +When I went up to Palamone he opened his eyes. He was not bleeding +freely, and seemed more weak than in pain. "I am a dead man," he said in +a whisper--I had to kneel down to hear him--"a dead man who has got his +deserts. Semifonte intended to have your Virginia--but it was not +Giraldi--it was not Gir--" Strength failed him; I could not catch any +more than the name of Aurelia. + +"Where are you hurt? Shall I fetch a surgeon?" He was hardly bleeding at +all now--a bad sign. He shook his head and lay quiet. I made a pillow of +my coat. + +When he opened his eyes again they were very dim. "I'm off," he said, in +that same dry whisper. "You have served me right--I love you for it. I +have always loved you--but--yes, always loved you. Kiss me, Francis, if +you can." + +I could not refuse. I did kiss him, and he me. "God receive you, +Palamone, and forgive me. I shall go and fetch you a priest." My face +being very near him, suddenly he lifted his head and caught my cheek in +his teeth. They met there--the dying act of a savage. I wrenched myself +free, and heard his head knock with a thud on the pavement. Then I felt +the blood stream down my neck. Stopping it as best I could, I went for a +surgeon and a priest. + +When I came back with them--I may have been half an hour finding the +couple--Fra Palamone was gone, and my pistol too, which had my name on +the butt. "Gentlemen," I said, "I am very sorry, but I assure you that I +left a dying man on this spot. I can only ask you to excuse me for +breaking your repose." + +The priest said, "He has been found and taken away--no doubt of it." + +"He has walked off, most like," said the surgeon. I shook my head. I was +sure I had killed him. + +"If you are sure of it," said the surgeon, "there is little I could have +done for him, and as it is far more to the purpose to dress a living man +than a dead one, permit me to attack that ugly flesh wound in your +cheek. God of mercy!" he cried, as he looked into it, "your man must +have shot you with a currycomb." + +When he had done his best for me I went to bed, and immediately fell +asleep. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +VIRGINIA ON HER METTLE + + +I slept like a log until the hour of noon--perfectly dreamless sleep. It +was Virginia who awoke me then by shaking my shoulder, not (as usually) +by opening the shutter. I heard the bells of the hour ringing and +guessed the time; I remembered that Scipione was away; I remembered +everything. + +"I have your chocolate, Don Francis," she said. "Drink it and rise as +soon as possible. You must be out of this." + +I replied, "I see no reason for haste. I will write a letter--Ser +Bartolo shall take it for me--the answer will be satisfactory." + +Virginia kept herself calm by main force. "The house is surrounded," she +said. "You will be taken in your bed if you don't leave it soon." I sat +up. + +"Virginia, I ask your pardon." She shivered and turned away. + +"Speak no more of that." + +"But I must. You were right, and I--" She threw up her head with a +little cry, fell upon her knees. She took my hand and covered it with +kisses. + +"No more. I cannot bear it. Who am I? What am I? Say what you please to +me, but never plead with me." I could see her shoulders shaking. + +"I must say what I have to say--" I would have continued. She gave +another sharp cry--shivered again miserably. In the half light of the +room I could see her lift her pale face towards the ceiling. It seemed +to me that she prayed. After a while she looked down again and said +quietly, "Speak now--and have done with it." + +I told her what had occurred in the small hours; I did not spare myself. +When I said that I had shot Fra Palamone she shook her head. + +"You might as well hope to shoot the devil. All you have done is to give +yourself into the hands of them who hire him. You are to be sent to +Volterra or the galleys for this. The men outside are sbirri." + +I told her that I should write to Count Giraldi. She laughed. "Your +Count Giraldi will be out of Florence. Do you think him a child? His one +desire is to get rid of you. No, no. You must disguise yourself. This is +a trap." + +"I refused to take your word last night, my dear," I said, "and should +be sorry to do it again. If the sbirri want me they can take me on a +warrant." + +"They have no warrant. They will get that afterwards. Do you think them +so stupid? While they were getting their warrant you might get clear +away. Or suppose you appeared? The whole story might come out, and a +number of fine people implicated. And what of your English resident? And +what of your Donna Aurelia, if you are not careful of yourself? Do you +wish to get her name abroad? No, no. In Tuscany we imprison a man first +and get the warrant afterwards, if necessary. That is how they will +work, quietly, with decency--no conversations. They have been here since +eight o'clock this morning, and the Piazza is quite empty. They have +seen to that, of course. If you look through the shutter you can see +them. They are in no sort of hurry." + +I did look, and saw that she was right. There were no people in the +Piazza--at midday--but four men, who stood at intervals in attitudes of +detachment and irresponsibility far too pronounced to be real. The +church was closed, most of the houses were shuttered; all this was too +remarkable not to have been arranged. Virginia and I looked at one +another; but she watched me like a cat, keeping guard over every +movement of mine. One hand pressed her bosom, the other was stretched +downwards--a straight, tense line from shoulder to finger-tips. + +"Virginia, listen to me," I began; a heedless invocation. Every fibre of +her listened and watched. "If this is a trap, as I agree it is, then you +are the mouse. Nobody in Florence would care whether I have shot Fra +Palamone, or he me. The count--taking him as you take him--knows that I +have no intentions but honest ones towards Donna Aurelia; taking him as +I take him he will defend me. No, my child, this is the marchese's +affair. I can see that he has been after you from the time he saw you +playing the handsome lady at Prato. He thinks he has you, but I will +show him that he is wrong. Let me once get you away, be assured of your +safety, and I shall open the door to the pleasure of these gentlemen. +Father Carnesecchi--the count--oh, I have no fear of Palamone's +posthumous acts, I can assure you." + +I spoke cheerfully, confidently, but Virginia was put into great +agitation. She began to flit about the room like a moth, wringing her +hands and whimpering to herself. + +"O Dio!" she fretted, "O Dio caro! What shall I do? Madonna, Madonna, +Madonna, what will become of me?" She was quite inarticulate, could only +repeat her names, and wail, and beat herself into a fever. I went to +comfort her, and then, as if some tie were cut by the act, she turned +upon me in a white tempest of fury, no longer a girl but a devil. "Do +you dare?" she raved, "Do you dare? Oh, but I could kill you now with my +hands!" She took me by the shoulders and stared into my face, panting +her fierce breath upon me--blasts of breath as hot as fire. "Look at me, +Francis, look at me, I say. You see the one person in the world who +loves you. You fool, you fool, with your Giraldis and Aurelias and +Jesuit dogs--with your head in the air, and your heart in your hand--to +be thrown like soldi to these routing swine! Misery, ah, misery!" She +flung her head sideways that she should not look at me, and with her +hands gripped my shoulders till I winced. She tossed her hair from her +face and leapt into the battle again, scolding, rating, praying like a +mad thing. Her words came so fast that I cannot attempt their semblance +here, and her voice rose and fell in a kind of querulous chant to which +sometimes she nodded her head, as if she was beating the time. "Yes, I +know, yes, I know--I will tell you the truth for once, and you shall +kill Virginia with your own hands, and lay her on your bed and go away +and be a fool. Your Jesuit wants your money, and your count your +mistress, and Palamone will take you stripped of all and sell you to the +Grand Duke. So you will kill your Virginia because she loves you, and +love your Aurelia because she does not, and all those others will trick +you, and play with you, and suck you dry, and throw you away like the +rind of an orange. Ah, now you have the truth, and now you will kill me. +Kill, kill, Francis!" + +She had a fit of shivering which made her teeth chatter together and her +breath draw in with a moaning most piteous to hear. She showed the +whites of her eyes, swayed about, was on the point of falling, when all +of a sudden she came to herself again, caught me in her arms, pressed +her bosom against me, kissed me on the lips--kissed until I felt her +teeth--then sprang from me, and before I could stop her was out of the +room, and half way downstairs. Half divining her purpose, I flew to get +her back, but was too late. I heard the street door open and shut. She +was in the Piazza. + +My landlord--he was a notary by trade, and by name Ser Torpe--was +dismayed to see me in bedgown and slippers. "Never go as you are, sir!" +he cried. "Go like an eccellenza, bid them fetch a chair. Light of +Light, what a costume for Volterra!" I ran upstairs past him, took down +my birding-piece, primed it and went to the window. Virginia was talking +to two of the sbrri, putting up her hair as she did so, with complete +unconcern of what she displayed. She was in her usual negligent undress-- +all her class are the same in the mornings--of a loose shift and stuff +petticoat. Her bosom was bare, her bare feet were in slippers; for her +hair she had but a single pin. It was to be seen that the men viewed her +with admiration, as some wanton newly from her bed. They used an easy +familiarity not at all pleasant; one of them, who could not take his +eyes off her, said nothing, the other put his hand on her waist. I was +angry with her, I confess without reason. She disengaged herself. I +heard her impatient "No, no! ma senta--"; she continued in rapid +undertones. + +One of the men looked up at my window, and saw me, gun in hand. He +shifted his glance a little higher and affected to be searching the roof +of the house. A third man joined his companions; there was much laughing +and jesting--no doubt some rough compliments passed. Virginia, however, +steered her way to her main purpose through the tangle of confessions, +excuses and refusals which they forced upon her; but I suppose she had +to give some ground, for presently two of their heads came very close to +hers. I saw their eager faces and Virginia's considering look. It was a +courtship. She was playing her part, and they believed her to be what +she appeared. That applied only to two of the three; the third, he who +watched her so closely and said nothing, held apart. He had an ugly +look. The others, absorbed in the pursuit, took no notice of him; but I +kept my eyes upon him, and was not at all surprised at what followed. + +Virginia, after long debate, pretended to yield. Something was proposed +to her; she considered it. It was pressed upon her by two ardent voices; +she looked awry and laughed. The chase quickened--one of the men took +her hand, the other brought a coin from his pocket, spat on it, and +pressed it on her. As she hesitated with the money on her palm, the +silent watcher of all this whipped out a long knife and drove it into +his comrade's back between the shoulders. He groaned deeply, flung his +arms out and fell. The fourth man came running over the Piazza from his +point, Virginia shrieked and ran back to the house. I saw--as if +invisible barriers had been removed--men, women and boys come running in +from all side streets. It was like a performance in a theatre. + +Virginia, white and shaking, stood in my presence. "It is you they want, +Francis, I have heard all. You must go at once--at once." + +"What were you doing with the sbirri?" I asked her. + +"They made love to me, all three of them; but that dark man meant it, +and the others not. It is very fortunate--it will give us time, which we +need. Your Count Giraldi is in the country, as I told you he would be. +There is no warrant. Come, we will be off. It will be perfectly safe +while this confusion lasts. Dress yourself, put on your cloak, take your +sword and pistol and come." + +"You, too, must be dressed, child." + +"I?" said she. "No, I am better as I am. I can be of more use." But she +had a wiser thought, it appears; for by the time I was ready, she looked +modestly enough. + +The plot, if plot it had been, had failed. I got out of the house +unnoticed and unfollowed, Virginia with me in a hood. There were +soldiers now in the Piazza, keeping back the crowd. The dead man lay +there still, and his assailant wore shackles. Boys were racing in and +out among the people singing the news which everybody knew. "Martirio +d'un pio frate! Assassino per amore! Ohe! Ohe!" + +We went down the Via Belle Donne and crossed a small Piazza, taking our +way, said Virginia, to the Ghetto, where she thought we might be +perfectly safe for the rest of the day. There were so many hunted men +there, said she, that in the confusion some must needs get away. The +curtains were drawn over the barbers' shops, all doors were shut--it was +the hour of repose. A few beggars sat in converse on the steps of San +Michele, many were asleep in the shade, there were no passengers, no +sbirri to be seen until we reached the Via Campidoglio. Here Virginia +drew me back into the shadow of a great house. "That way is stopped. +They are watching the market. Come, we will try something else." I +admired her resourceful audacity, and followed whither she chose to +lead. + +We ran up the Via Vecchietta without disturbance or alarm, and reached +the church of San Lorenzo. We entered the cloister, which breathed the +full summer, late as it was in the year. Bees hummed about the tree; the +glossy leaves of the great magnolia seemed to radiate heat and glitter; +above us the sky was of almost midsummer whiteness, and I could see the +heat-waves flicker above the dome. "You shall hide in the Sagrestia to- +night, if you will be ruled by me," Virginia said. "To-morrow morning +before first Mass we will gain the Ghetto. I know a woman there who will +keep us. My word, Don Francis, you little guess how near the Bargello +you have been!" + +I think she was eager for my praises, poor soul, by the shy light in her +eyes--a kind of preparation for the blushes with which she always met +any warmth in my tone. If I gave her none it was because she had +displeased me by cheapening herself to the sbirri. But I was soon +ashamed of myself. + +I asked her, "When did you find out that the sbirri were waiting for +me?" + +"The second hour of the day, it was," she replied, "when I went out to +buy milk for your chocolate. There were but two of them then. They asked +me if you were in the house. I said no. They said that you had killed a +frate, and I, that I was sure he had deserved it. One of them laughed +and said that had nothing to do with it; he had been sent there to be +killed. The other one, that black-browed fellow who stabbed his comrade, +said nothing at all, but just looked at me hard. He never took his eyes +away once, so I guessed how his barque was steering, and you saw what +wind I blew." + +"I saw it, Virginia." + +"And disapproved! Per esempio, you disapproved!" Tears filled her eyes. +She shrugged her shoulders, pitying herself. "Povera Virginia!" she +said. + +This made me ashamed enough to say, "Dear Virginia, I know that you +acted for my safety." + +"Yes, I did! Yes, I did! But I would do worse. Ah, you little know how +bad I would make myself. And you reproach me--" She was on the edge of a +frenzy, but checked herself. "What does it matter now that you are safe? +We will stop in the Sagrestia all night. They will never look for you +there." + +"But, my dear," said I, "we have three hours to wait before the +Sagrestia is opened. Do you ask me to stay here, in this cloister, for +that time?" + +She looked embarrassed, for the truth is that she would have asked me if +I had not spoken of it. She had forgotten that I was not of her nation. +"No, no," she said hastily, "that is ridiculous. How could I ask you to +do such a thing as that? The question!" + +"I am glad of it," I returned, "because there I can't oblige you. I must +break my fast, so must you. By the time we have done, the Sagrestia may +be ready for us. Observe also that in spending the night in that place I +am obliging you, for I don't at all see why we should do it." + +She searched my face with those grey eyes of hers, hunting my raillery +out. The thing above all which she dreaded was to be laughed at. She +never laughed herself, except bitterly, in anger, and hated the +indulgence. Suspecting still what she failed to find, she fell in with +my desire to eat, though she must have thought it preposterous, and me a +madman to have it. She could never understand my attachment to custom, +and never think of more than one thing at a time. Just now she was +engaged in hiding me from justice--to succeed in which task she would +have sat still for an eternity and gone without a thousand meals. What +an outcry she must have had ready for me--and how she must have loved +her hard taskmaster! She did violence to all her feelings, fell in with +my desire at once. + +"Naturally, Don Francis, you must eat. Naturally, I must eat. Naturally, +by the time we have finished, the Sagrestia will be open. Very good, Don +Francis. But as to spending the night in the Sagrestia, shall I be +impertinent if I tell you that by this time there is not a locanda in +Florence that has not got a full and exact description of you and me, +and not a landlord among them that would not hand you over for two +baiocchi?" + +"How do you know that, my dear?" I asked. + +She stretched out her arms. "How do I know? Hear him! How do I know that +my mother is a woman and my father a man? Dio buono! Have I lived in my +sty with my eyes shut? And herded with thieves, and taken them for +marchesi? But you shall be fed, Don Francis. Leave that to me. Do you +stay here quietly, I will get you some food." + +I said that I must come with her, whereupon she began to cry bitterly, +to call me heartless and cruel, to pity herself in the most deplorable +terms. She nursed and fondled herself by name. "Povera Virginia! Poor +little Virginia, that works so hard for her tyrant and gives herself no +rest. But he is cruel--more cruel than if he beat her--stabs her heart +with cold words, rends it with sharp fingers. Poor little Virginia, poor +little outcast from the Madonna!" + +I have not a heart of stone: I confess that her distress made me +dreadfully ashamed. This good soul, whose only happiness lay in mine, +who had trusted her all in all to me without flinching, whose life was +now at my disposal as her honour had been for so long. Unworthy of the +name of man had I been if I could wound her so lightly. I put my arm +round her waist and drew her towards me with tenderness. I took her +hands from her face and implored her forgiveness. I promised to offend +her no more, to stay in the cloister until she came, to sleep in the +Sagrestia, to do all her behests. In answer, the sun came out in her +face. She listened to me with soft rapture, beautiful to see, and before +I had done, the dear, generous creature snatched at my hand, and, +kneeling, kissed it with a frenzy of devotion which brought the tears to +my eyes. Immediately afterwards she was gone on her errand of mercy, +leaving me in a glow of truly honest gratitude, which was to have its +speedy fruit in an act which, though it fell short of my intention, was +to prove for my ultimate content. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +I TAKE SANCTUARY + + +Past fatigues and present danger did not disturb my happy meditations. I +paced the cloister of San Lorenzo without regard for them, absorbed in +considering my future conduct, and the relationship in which I stood to +my little world of circumstance. It was necessary that I should make +plans for myself and for Virginia, and I made and rejected many without +modifying them one and all, as well I might have done, by allowing for +the part which the gallows, the gaol or the hulks might play in them. As +my habit has always been, I endeavoured to judge the case upon its +merits, and to adjust myself to it, not so much according to my desires +as to my duties towards it. Here--to remind the reader--are the three +factors of my problem. + +1. I had, of my own act, withdrawn myself from Aurelia's society, having +done her all the reparation I could, and obtained her forgiveness. + +2. I had constituted myself Virginia's champion against the Marchese +Semifonte. + +3. I had killed Fra Palamone. + +Now, to take these in order, it was plainly my duty to quit the side of +the fair Aurelia. Even though she were and were to remain for me the +shining orb of my firmament, in whose beam I must for ever walk--I must +not see her again. I had obtained from her all that I could hope for, +and given her quite as much as, if not more than, she desired. To stay +by her now would be to compromise her; I could not be blind to the +conviction of all my acquaintance, which saw in me that horrible +spectacle, the lover of a married woman, accepted as such by her lawful +master. Robbery! of which I could never be capable. No more of Aurelia, +then, no more. She must depart like a dream before the stern face of the +morrow--or I must depart. Happy, perhaps, for her, whatever it may have +been for me, that she herself had taken the first step when she turned +her back upon me in pique. + +I disregarded Palamone's bloody end. I had executed a criminal, a +procurer for hire, a vile thing unworthy to live; but what was I to do +with Virginia? There was a young woman of capacity, merit and beauty, +whose honour I had taken in charge. So far I had maintained it, and +there were two ways in which I could continue so to do. In return, she +had given me devotion of the most singular kind--for it is extreme +devotion that a girl should bear obloquy and humiliation for the sake of +a man who has defended her. There was no doubt also but that I was +master of her heart; no doubt at all but that she would give herself to +me without thought if I lifted a finger. The conviction of such a truth +is a dangerous possession for a man, and I don't pretend that I was +insensible to it, any more than I was to her definite and personal +charm. He is divine, not human, who remains cold and unbiased with the +knowledge that here, at his disposal, is a lovely and ardent female, +longing to be in his arms. Now, I had withdrawn her from her home, +defied a claimant to her, and killed a man who sought her ruin, and what +was I going to do? I saw that there were two courses open; but that +unless it were possible to do as the rest of her acquaintance had tried +to do, there was but one. Was I to kill Palamone in order that I might +ruin her myself? Good Heavens! my name was Strelley of Upcote. There was +one course, and I must take that. + +I did not love Virginia; I admit it. I knew that she was beautiful, and +knew that she was mine for the asking, but a truce to casuistry! In her +safety was involved my own honour, to her defence must go my own life. I +admired, I respected, I was grateful, I wished her well. I determined to +marry her, and the sooner the better. Having come to this conclusion, I +knew myself well enough to believe that no power in the world could +shake me from it. + +When, therefore, the good girl returned to me, white and out of breath, +with sausages, bread, and a flask of wine under her apron, I welcomed +her as befitted one in the position in which I now designed her to +stand. I took off my hat to her and relieved her of her burden. She +noticed the courtesy; the colour flew back to her cheeks, but I observed +that her breath was not thereby restored. + +She became very voluble--to hide her confusion; for by ordinary she was +sparing of speech (or did she guess the lover in the master? Who can +tell?). The wine, she told me, was easy got, and the bread. "The +sausage," she went on--"ah, it would have been as easy to give you one +of my legs for sausages. I went first to Il Torto's in the Borgo; it was +shut for mezzodi. I begin tapping--the wife opens. 'Chi e?' says she; +and I see a sbirro in the shop, eating polenta. 'Niente, niente,' I say, +and run. That told me that the babbo was away, and that his wife had a +lover in the constabulary. Remember it, Don Francis, we may have need of +her--who knows? Shall I confess to you that I stole your sausage?" + +"Confess what you please, my dear," said I, "I shall shrive you." Her +eyes were dewy, but she lowered them too soon. + +"It was a sin," she said, "but I do not intend to eat any sausage, so I +shall be forgiven. But you see that the spies are all abroad. Now, I +have just thought of something, Don Francis. We cannot remain in this +cloister--at least, I cannot. If a canon awoke before his time--and it +needs but a fly to settle on a nose to cause it--and if he poke his head +out of his door, the first thing he will do will be to look at me--" + +"Naturally, Virginia," I said. "It is what I am doing." + +"I am well aware of it," said Virginia, and showed that she spoke the +truth; "but the second thing he will do will be to look at you. I don't +think we can afford ourselves this honour, so let us go. There is a way +from here into the library, thence into the church, and from there to +the Sagrestia Nuova, if we could only find it, whither nobody goes but a +grand duke--and he only when he is dead. Let us go by that--will you not +come? It is true that I am rather frightened by now." + +I got up at once. "Come, then, child, let us hunt out our way." We went +upstairs. + +The long library was quite empty. We went to the further end on tiptoe. +There were three doors at the bottom in three bays, surmounted by busts. +We chose for the right hand and turned the handle. It gave into a narrow +passage, lined with bookcases and dimly lighted. "I think this will be +the way," Virginia said, and took the key out of the door and locked it +on the inside. We followed the passage to a flight of stone steps, +descended these in their curving course round a pillar, and came upon a +little arched doorway. Virginia opened it. It led directly into the +church of San Lorenzo. We saw the hanging lamps before the altars, and a +boy in a short surplice asleep in a confessional. + +"Wait here, wait here," says Virginia. "I will make him lead us into the +Sagrestia." + +I saw her go, lightly as a hare in the grass, towards the boy, and +wondered. She stooped over him where he was huddled anyhow, as children +are when they are asleep, and whispered in his ear. "Carino, carino, do +you sleep? I am talking to you, carino, do you hear me? Say yes." + +"Si, si," the boy murmured, and sighed and struggled. + +"I am speaking to you, carino. I am tired; I want to sleep also. Tell me +how to reach the Sagrestia, where the monsters lie sleeping and waking; +whisper it, whisper it, and I will kiss you for it." I heard her +soothing "Hush! Hush!" as he stirred. She went on whispering in his ear. +It seemed to me that she was insinuating herself into his dreams. He +stirred more than once, turned his head about; every moment I expected +to see him open his eyes; but no. As Virginia continued to whisper, he +began to murmur in his sleep, she directing him. He answered, laughed +softly, turned about, slept always. I saw Virginia kiss his forehead. +Then she came winging back to me; she seemed hardly to touch the +pavement. "Come, come. I know the way. The door is open." She flitted +away towards the high altar, I following. We gained the ambulatory +behind. A door from this stood ajar; Virginia pushed in, I after her. We +followed a flagged corridor for some distance and found ourselves in the +Sagrestia Nuova with Michael Angelo's monsters sprawling and brooding in +the half light. Virginia clasped me in her arms. "Francesco mio, I have +saved thee. Sanctuary with thee! Oh, love thy poor Virginia!" + +She pressed closely to me, and began to touch and stroke my cheeks; she +put her hand at the back of my head, as it were to force my face down to +look at her. Touched, excited, amorous in my turn, I encircled her with +my arms and kissed her fondly. + +"Dearest, best, kindest Virginia," I said, "you have proved my friend +indeed. I have much to thank you for, much to say to you. Let us choose +a place in which to eat our breakfast; I am as hungry as the devil." + +Cruel, abominable speech of mine! I wounded her dreadfully; scalding +tears testified to a bruised heart; but to her relief came pride. + +"Stop," said she, "you shall not eat yet. I am hungrier than you, whom +bread will satisfy. I am famished." I would have made amends, but she +drew away from me, and folded her arms. "Let me understand. You kissed +me just now. Were you false to Aurelia? Did you intend to insult that +girl whom you taught to fear insult?" + +I said, No, that had never been my intention, but it had been quite +otherwise. "Donna Aurelia," I said, "has been restored to her proper +place. She will find salvation where her happiness is, and I have been +considering mine, whether I can find it in my happiness also." + +"One thing at a time," said she, breathing very fast. "Has Donna +Aurelia's husband returned?" I told her that he had not, but that there +were good hopes of him shortly. + +"And you have said farewell? You are free--free as the air?" + +"It is my duty," I told her, "never to see Donna Aurelia again, and I +will not if I can help it." + +She frowned, then threw up her hands. "I don't understand anything about +you! Is this love or madness? You love a lady, who loves you--you find +her here--alone--you meet--you speak--you look at each other--you take +her by the hand and lead her back to her husband--and tell her that she +will never see you again. And she allows it!" + +"Not only so," said I, "but it was she who turned her back upon me. And +she did rightly." + +"Why did she so?" she asked me. I had to tell her that it was on her +account. + +It made her peer with her eyes, in which, however, a keen light burned. +She took a step towards me; I thought she would be in my arms; but +instead she stopped short, breathing fast through her nostrils. + +'"Tell me this, tell me this," she said, "was she the fool, or were +you?" + +I laughed. "My girl," I told her, "if I am a fool it is not for you to +say so. But I believe, for all that, that you are paying me a +compliment." She did not comprehend me, so took refuge in a quip-- +tossing her head at me. + +She said, "I wish your worship joy of my compliment." + +I took her. "I intend that you shall do more than wish me joy, child. I +intend that you shall give it me, and be my joy." + +This altered her tune. She quickly released herself and pointed to the +victuals she had risked herself to get. "Let us eat," she said, "and +talk afterwards. Forgive me if I troubled you just now. I have suffered +and am a little over-wrought. Forgive me." + +I kissed her again, she not forbidding me; we put our cloaks below that +enormous figure of the Thinker, and sat down to our breakfast; we ate +our sausages and drank our wine. Colour came back into Virginia's grave +face, light danced in her eyes; she became more herself, but with an +excitement latent within her which betrayed itself in little hasty acts +of affection, quick movements, half caressing, half petulant--as if she +would soothe me, and, half way, change her mood and be minded to +scratch. I became interested, I wondered how long she would leave our +affairs in doubt; rather unkindly, I held my tongue, just for the +pleasure of seeing her make the next advance. And then--in spite of my +curiosity--fatigue began to creep over me. I had been thirty-six hours +awake, had bid an everlasting farewell to a mistress, restored, or done +my best to restore, a banished wife to her husband's arms, shot a man, +saved a virgin's honour, made matrimonial advances, run for my life. +Here was a good day and a half's work. After a profusion of yawns, +which, try as I would, I could not stifle, I said, "Forgive me, my dear, +if I go to sleep. I find myself mortally tired--and you must be in the +same case. Let us lie down here and rest ourselves." + +"Sleep, my lord, sleep," said she, with beautiful, tender seriousness, +and spread my cloak on a bench for me. She took off my sword and knelt, +as her custom of old had been, to kiss my hand. I felt then that I must +needs love this loving child. I lifted her up, and, "Kneel no more to +me, my girl," I said. "You and I are ruined together. I cannot obey my +father, who will disinherit me. You are no better off. Hunted animals +don't kneel to each other, but league themselves to face their +persecutors. Virginia, be mine!" + +She said nothing, and would not meet my eyes. I drew her to me, embraced +her with my arm, kissed her cold lips. + +"Do you know what I am doing, Virginia?" I said. "Do you know what I +need of you, my only friend?" + +"Yes, Don Francis," she said. "You are making love to me, and it is your +right. I have never refused you, and never shall. But you must not ask +me to marry you." + +If I were nettled, it was because a man, having made up his mind, is not +willingly thwarted--for no other reason. But I do not know that I can +accuse myself even of so much. I did not let her go, nor did I cease to +kiss her. I told her, I believe, with as much calmness as is possible +under the circumstances, that I was perfectly determined; I said that +she need have no fear of the future, even though in taking me she would +take no such fortune as I ought to offer to my wife. She flamed up at +this and cried out that she wanted no fortune and had never led me to +believe it. "Well and good, child," I replied, "in that case you need +have no fears at all, for I, on my side, can ask you to admit that I +have given you no reason to suppose me a villain. If I take you and all +that you have, believe me I shall give you in return my mind and +affection as well as the respect and gratitude which you have already. +Believe me, Virginia--" + +She moaned and rocked herself about. "Oh, I love you so! Oh, do not +tempt me--oh, my lord, my lord, what shall I do? Oh, Madonna purissima, +help me now!" I caught her to my heart. + +"Virginia! as beautiful as you are true, you are worthy of a better love +than mine," I cried. "But a more tender love you will never have. +Friend, saviour, dear and faithful, beloved companion, I need you-- +come!" + +She struggled faintly to put me away. She withheld her lips by averting +her head; but I caught at her wrists and held her arms to her sides. By- +and-by she let me have my will, and gave me kiss for kiss. I had won +her; she was mine utterly from that hour. + +"My lord and my love," she said, "you have conquered me. I will be yours +in the manner you desire. You may be humbling yourself, but you are +exalting me. Have no fear--I will make you happy. Ah, but how I will +work for you! You have never seen me work yet! I am your servant still-- +your faithful servant." + +"We shall serve each other, I hope, my child," I said. "There will be +work for me to do also. But what is immediately before us is to escape +from Florence." + +Virginia got up. "Sleep you here, my soul, I will go out and see how the +land lies. Before morning I will see you again." She clasped me to her +bosom and kissed me fondly, then went quickly out, as swift and salient +in her joy as a keen wind of spring that carries health in its forceful +pride. I slept profoundly until daylight, little knowing what her +immediate errand was. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +I MARRY AND GO TO LUCCA + + +Virginia was pleased to be very mysterious on the subject of our +marriage, keeping me in the Sagrestia for three or four days, visiting +me only to give me food and such news as she cared to impart. She told +me, for instance, that Professor Lanfranchi had undoubtedly arrived in +Florence, and that he was staying with Aurelia at the Villa San Giorgio. +As to our own affair, she said that everything was in good train. She +had found a church and a priest in the Ghetto; she would need a little +money--not very much--and promised, directly the coast was clear, to get +me over to that safe quarter. To be done with this part of my history, +so she did, and was made mine in the church of Sant' Andrea on October +24, 1724, three years, almost to a day, since my arrival in Padua in +1721. I took her back to a mean lodging in that meanest part of +Florence, and spent three days with her there alone. I then wrote to my +father, as I felt bound in duty to do--fully, unreservedly, with candour +and, I hope, modesty. I wrote to Father Carnesecchi, to Professor +Lanfranchi. Such money as I could consider mine by right I converted +into cash; the rest, which I thought to be my father's--being that share +of my monthly allowance which I had received after I had decided to +disobey him--I returned by bills of exchange to his London bankers. I +believe that, on the day of my departure from Florence, I stood up +possessed of some fifty guineas--no great capital upon which a man and +his young wife could begin the world. Nor had I any great idea how I +should increase or husband my little store. But I was young, zealous, +proud. I believed in myself, I loved Virginia. In a word, as always +happened to me, I looked studiously forward, and was happy. As for her, +she hardly touched the ground with her feet when she walked. You never +saw so radiant a creature. + +We left the Ghetto at a good hour of the morning, intending for Lucca; +but at the gate of San Frediano a difficulty about post-horses bade fair +to detain us for a day in very unfortunate publicity. The man of whom we +had bespoken them met us there with despair upon his face. He was vexed, +he was harrowed, his nicest feelings of honour were wounded--at least he +said that they were. The horses had been fed and watered; he was about +to put them to, when an order which he dared not disobey had supervened. +No less was this than a precept from the Pratica Segreta that the horses +were to be put at the disposition of the Cavaliere Aquamorta, of whom +the State was most anxious to be rid. Had it been anything under a +Government order, said he, he would have laughed in the bearer's face. +Not even the Grand Duke could make an honest man break his word, &c. +&c.; but I could see he was helpless. I saw nothing so clearly as that I +was. I expostulated, offered more money than I could afford. Virginia +stormed. All to no purpose. I was for walking, and was about to command +Virginia to accompany me, when who should appear but my gentleman +himself, the Cavaliere Aquamorta, inquiring the cause of the uproar. He +presented a truly magnificent appearance in that squalid place. + +No sooner was he informed that he was the cause of our distress than he +addressed himself to me with elaborate politeness--all the more singular +as that my appearance and equipage contrasted most unfavourably with +his. My clothes had not been improved by the adventures I had undergone; +my linen was soiled; I had no baggage. Virginia was respectably dressed +and looked beautiful, but had no pretensions to a rank which she did not +possess of herself and which I did not propose to give her. For I had +thought it only honourable in me, as I was dispensing with my father's +injunctions, to dispense also with his money. I had renounced the world +in which I had gained nothing but misery and crime. In this fine +gentleman's eyes, therefore, I must have seemed a simple young artisan, +and Virginia a pretty country girl. However, he begged to be of service +to us. He was himself going to Lucca, he said. If he took our horses it +was only fair we should take seats in his chariot. In fine, we should +hurt him deeply if we did not. All this was put before me with so much +frankness and good humour that I could not well refuse it. I saw, +moreover, that in addition to my horses he had two of his own. I +accepted his offer, therefore, with many thanks. He handed Virginia in +with a bow; he begged me to precede him, which I did, but to the back +seat. He took the place next my wife, and we left Florence. + +"If," said this remarkable man, "I lay it down as an indispensable +preliminary to our acquaintance, which I hope may be long and warm, that +you accept me for a gentleman, it is because, as I do not happen to be +one, I have devoted all my energies to demonstrating the exact contrary. +No man can help the accident of his birth. My mother was an actress of +Venice: God knows who was my father, but I tell myself that he was +peculiarly mine. I was educated in the slips of the theatre of San +Moise; at ten I ran away from home, and from the age of twelve made my +fortune my own care. It was then that I found out the advantages of +being what I was not, for I observed that while nobody scrupled to cheat +a gentleman if he could safely do it, nobody (on the other hand) +resented the fact that a gentleman cheated him. At the age of fifteen, +when I served in Zante in the company of the noble Mocenigo, and +received a decoration for gallantry and a commission of lieutenant, I +killed my captain for permitting himself to doubt my gentility. I should +be sorry to have to reckon how many more have gone his way, or for how +many years I have been obliged to shed blood in every new State I have +chosen to inhabit. Those days are past and over; my reputation is made; +this order which I wear was presented to me by the Holy Father, and is +at once my patent and my passport. If I need another, it is here." He +pointed to his sword, which reposed upon a narrow ledge of the chariot, +behind my back. + +I then told him a difficulty of my own, which was that, although I was a +gentleman by birth who had waived his rank for reasons unnecessary to be +named, I had no passport into the Republic of Lucca. "I think it right +to inform you, cavaliere," I added, "that I also found it necessary to +shed blood in Florence, and that consequently I have left that city +somewhat abruptly and without a passport. I should be sorry to put you +to any inconvenience on my account, and assure you that you have only to +express a doubt--a hint will be enough--to be relieved of me and my wife +at our first baiting-place." + +He clasped my hand, saying, "I like your frankness--it pleases me +vastly. And I see that I can help you. I have a very commodious passport +which will pass your charming lady, yourself and half a dozen children-- +if you had been so precocious as to have them. Let us talk of more +pleasant things than my magnanimity, if you please; the subject is +naturally familiar to me." + +This Cavaliere Aquamorta--he had the Order of the Golden Spur from his +Holiness--was a tall spare man of a striking, if truculent, presence, +with a high forehead, prominent eyebrows, densely black, cheekbones like +razors, a complexion of walnut, and burning dark eyes. He carried his +head high, and punctuated his vivacious utterances with snorts and free +expectoration. He was, as I had seen at once, very much overdressed; his +jabot was too full, he had three watches, ring-laden fingers, not unduly +clean, and no less than five snuff-boxes, which he used in turn. He had +certain delicate perceptions, however, which I must do him the justice +to record; for if he was overdressed, I (God knows) was not, and yet not +one glance of his penetrating eyes was turned in my direction which was +not of deference and amiability. He treated me in every respect as if I +had been his equal in appearance, address and fortune. His gallantry to +Virginia would have been, I thought, excessive if displayed to any woman +in the world. Before we had gone a league he had hold of her hand, to +illustrate a story he was telling us of an intrigue he had had with the +Princess of Schaffhausen. "I took her Highness' hand--thus," says he, +and took my wife's. "'Madame,' I said, 'upon the honour of Aquamorta, +the affair, having gone so far, must go all lengths. Logic and love +alike demand it.'" The story was long; by the end of it, it was to be +seen that he still held Virginia's hand. Indeed, he held it more or less +until we stopped at Empoli to dine; and when we returned to the +carriage, if I may be believed, this knight of the Spur resumed +possession, and (as if it had been a plaything) nursed, flourished, +flirted, made raps with my wife's hand until we were near the end of the +day and within a few miles of the frontier of Lucca. Then at last he +released it, kissing it first--popped his head out of the window, looked +about and started, gave a prodigious Ha! cleared his throat, spat twice, +and sat down again. + +He looked at me pleasantly but with penetration. "We have arrived at the +dreadful field of Altopascio, where Castruccio Castracane cut up the +Florentine legions," says he, "and now, friend, your trials begin. My +dear Signor Francis, believe me that I shall never forget the honour you +and your charming lady have done to the equipage and solitary splendour +of Aquamorta, nor the many marks of confidence and esteem you have both +shown me throughout our delightful journey. Unhappily, so far as you are +concerned, dear sir, it is over for a while. It will be necessary for +you to leave us. My passport"--he produced it--"is made out for the +Cavaliere Aquamorta, his lady, and servants. Your plan, therefore, will +be to mount the box. I would take your place and give you mine, but that +I am too well known to be supposed my own lacquey; nor could my +sensitive honour brook it if I were. I would offer you my cloak, again, +but that I fear it would betray you. It is perhaps a little out of key +with the rest of your apparel. Better, after all, take one of those +rascals'. For the next few hours you are Fritz, remember--Fritz from +Buda Pesth; and I," he cried with a sprightly air, "am the happy, the +indulged possessor of the most lovely of women." Again he kissed +Virginia's hand. Deeply annoyed as I was, there was nothing for it but +to obey; and it was under these by no means dignified circumstances that +I entered the Republic of Lucca for the first time. + +Worse was to follow--much worse. The man was without conscience in +exacting from me the uttermost farthing of the bargain. Arrived at the +inn, where, it seemed, he had already bespoken the whole of the first +floor, he led Virginia upstairs with the greatest deference, hat in +hand, past the bowing landlord and all his array of scullions, +maidservants, lacqueys, porters and cooks; and took no more notice of me +than he had done of the horde of beggars at the door. Full of +indignation, I started to follow him, but his body-servant, an assured +rogue if ever there was one, stopped me with a firm grip of my elbow. +"Softly, comrade, softly," says he. "They won't need you yet awhile. +When hot metal is on the anvil my master is accustomed to strike." + +"What do you mean, you rascal?" I cried; and he, still holding my arm, +"Why, my fine man," says he, "since you won't take a hint, I must deal +plainly with you." As we were then at the foot of the stairs, he +suddenly wheeled me to the right about, and plunged me into the crowd of +inn-servants. "Landlord," cried he, "take this fellow in and give him +his hire on my master's account. 'Tis a runaway gaolbird by the look of +him for whom we have no sort of use here. A few pauls will be handsome." + +He carried out his part with such bounce that he was completely +successful; between him and the landlord and his crew I was hustled into +the kitchens where I found the preparations for the cavaliere's supper +in full blast. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +MY ADVENTURES AT THE INN + + +I hope I may say that, in the painful position in which I found myself, +I did what was becoming to a man of honour more jealous of his wife's +than of his own. I reasoned with myself that a scandal, an uproar, an +exhibition of my resentment would not only be no protection to Virginia, +but would be, on the other hand, the clearest evidence that I doubted +her. It could only end in my being turned out of the inn and in her +being held by every man and woman of the place for what she was not. I +remembered here with admiration the conduct of Father Carnesecchi, who, +having on one occasion conducted two ladies and their cavaliers about +the church of San Giovannino, and pointed out what beauties it +possessed--and many which it did not--was mistaken by them for the +sacristan and offered a small gratuity at the door. He thanked them and +humbly accepted it, and (as I think), did well; for, as he said +afterwards, it would have hurt their esteem much more to have been +refused than it could possibly hurt his to have been offered the gift. +It was in the spirit of this that I acted in the present state of my +affairs. Virginia was undoubtedly my wife, and therefore of my own rank. +To doubt a gentleman in any situation, however delicate, were to be +offensive; it could not therefore be less offensive, but must needs be +more, to doubt a gentlewoman. Not only did I not doubt her in truth, but +I would not let it be supposed by any one that I did. There then, in +that steaming kitchen, among sweating cooks and greasy cook-aids did I +stand, with what countenance I had. + +They were too busy just then for any notice to be thrown my way. I sat +in a corner out of sight and watched their preparations for a superb +banquet. It might have seemed that the cavaliere was going to entertain +all the Ancients of the Republic, to judge by the capons and turkeys, +the strings of ortolans, the quails, the partridges, roasting, basting +or getting trussed. There was a cygnet, I remember; there were large +fish stuffed with savoury herbs, crawfish, lampreys, eels in wine; there +were pastry, shapes of cream, jellies, custards: you never saw such a +feast--and I am sure there were a score of persons of both sexes busy +about it. The maids flew from saucepan to stewpan, the boys staggered +under piles of plates; the dressers and servers were always in and out, +carrying dishes to the lacqueys of the table or coming back for more. +The head-cook, a mountain of brawn and lard, seemed fresh from the bath-- +so he dripped and shone. The hubbub, bustle, heat and worry are not to +be described by me. + +When the dinner was at last completed and sent to table, the master-cook +straightened himself and gave a short order, which was immediately +obeyed. I saw him go into the scullery near by and souse his head and +neck in a bucket of cold water. In a trice the tables of his late +business were cleared, and the scullions laid out the materials for +supper. These were, as may be supposed, distinguished by abundance +rather than refinement: a dish of tripe, a chine of beef, spaghetti in +wash-hand basins, onion salad with garlic, sausages, blood-puddings, +pigs' feet in vinegar. High wicker flasks of wine stood in iron cages, +to be swung down by the finger; there was one bottle of water: all was +ready. But nobody sat down until the master-cook appeared. The men stood +on one side of the table, the maids on the other, like soldiers on +parade. He entered, the huge fellow, red from his cold douche, his hair +all rumpled from the rude embraces of the jack-towel, and walked over to +the men's side, wiping the wet from his ears as he went. He stood--this +captain of the kitchen--in front of his company, and with a sweeping and +appraising eye surveyed the ordered nymphs. He selected the partner of +his choice, a modest-mannered creature who answered to the name of +Gentucca; she came forward and stood by his side. With no more waiting +he took his seat at the head of the board, and, plunging his fingers +into a steaming bowl of spaghetti, began to gobble at it in the +unedifying way which his nation have--and which, indeed, the dish +demands. Gentucca sat at his right hand, but took nothing until she had +helped him to drink. Meantime the others had made their arrangements-- +from the second in command down to the merest pot-boy selections had +been made from among the maids. I heard, "Lisabetta, come here," or, +"No, no, Liperata, I have chosen you"--or it was Caterina, or Giocosa, +or Bettina, as the case may have been. To be brief, down sat everybody +in the kitchen, Jack by his Gill, save my unhappy self. + +It was the highly favoured Gentucca who pointed me out to the Grand +Master of the Cooks. As I still wore the cape and long coat of +Aquamorta's servant I was naturally accepted as such. The master-cook, +who saw directly that I was a foreigner, courteously invited me to the +right hand of Gentucca, ordering a bouncing girl of the name of Maria- +Maddelena to make room for me. She very pleasantly did so; my plate was +heaped, my cup was filled; all the company stood up and drank my health. +Nothing could have been kinder than this humble society. My eyes clouded +more than once to recognise it. + +My host exerted himself to entertain me, though he tried (and I cannot +blame him) to entertain the company at the same time. Perhaps his +curiosity got the better of his good nature; certainly he pumped me as +dry as I could be induced to go, and it was not until he had learned +everything I cared to tell him that he remembered that he could impart +as well as receive. He discussed my master (as he supposed him to be), +the cavaliere, and by what he told me gave me some entertainment not +unmixed with anxiety. That obliging and imperturbable person was, I +found out, a gentleman of fortune--a term which implies that he was not +a gentleman at all and had no kind of fortune but what he could secure +of his neighbours. He travelled like a prince, and spent his money +freely, but all was, as my host said, a case of casting nets. "Not but +what my gentleman loves his belly as much as you or I," said the master- +cook; "and small blame to him if he do. A man's head has no more stout +ally than his paunch, while it is well lined, and no more arrant +deserter if he cut short the supplies. But if you suppose, sir, that the +banquet which I have sent upstairs is all for Aquamorta and his lady to +consume en tete-a-tete, you know very little about him. Why, I'll wager +that demirep of a valet of his has collected half our young blades to +the board. Good food, good wine, good talk there will be, never fear. +And afterwards--what follows? So soon as the tables are cleared out come +the cards and the fishes. His Excellency, to oblige the company, will +make a faro-bank; the company--well fed and well drunken--to oblige his +Excellency, will punt. The signora will do the same for the ladies, the +ladies for the signora. Now do you see the drift of his net? Should any +little dispute arise--as will be on occasion--the cavaliere's sword is +at the disposition of the gentleman offended. He is something of a +marksman, too, as you cannot fail to have heard if you are a traveller. +He has killed a man and undone a couple of ladies in every Court of +Europe. He has been under the leads at Venice, and out again, deuce +knows how. He has been expelled from half the cities of Italy, and has +turned the story into capital in the other half. A most exorbitant, +irresistible droll of a master you have there, sir; but who his decoy- +duck of the moment may be, I dare say you can tell better than I. A fine +young woman, and a cool hand, I could see for myself. I thought she +looked waspish and gave herself more graces than were hers by nature. He +has a taste for a bitter with his food, it appears; something tart and +sharp to give an edge to his palate, perhaps. Do you happen to know her +name?" + +I said she was known to me as Donna Virginia, whereat he laughed gaily, +and taking Gentucca round the waist, kissed her heartily, saying that +she was the virgin for him. + +Shortly after this, with a few words of polite excuse, he broke up the +table and retired with his partner. The rest of the company gave itself +up to pleasures which were as zestful as they were free. It may be +imagined that I had little taste for such simple sports as these worthy +persons could devise. I sat, an unhappy spectator of their gambols--but +a diversion of a vigorous kind was at hand. In the midst of the +scuffling and babel of voices in the kitchen I heard the strident tones +of the cavaliere, evidently in a great rage. + +"Where is that dastardly dog? Where is that villain of a cook?" I heard +him roar on the stairs. "Bring me that scoundrel that I may slit his +ears!" At this moment he burst through the doors, a terrific spectacle +of fury, his eyes burning like fires, his face inflamed, his drawn sword +in his hand. The company scattered to the walls or dived beneath the +tables, chairs were overturned, the maids began to scream. + +He glared about him at the desert he had made. "Produce me the cook, you +knaves," cried he, "or I mow you down like thistles." The master-cook's +face peeped through the gently opened door, and the cavaliere, across +the room in two strides, seized his victim by the ear and pulled him +headlong into the kitchen. "Hound!" he roared, "and son of a hound! Take +the punishment you have earned." + +"Sir, sir!" says the unhappy cook, "what have I done?" + +"Done!" cries the cavaliere, screwing him unmercifully by the ear, "you +have compassed my death by your infernal arts. I am poisoned--a dying +man, but my last ounce of strength shall be enough to avenge me." So +said, he began to belabour the wretch with the flat of his sword, and at +each stroke the cook gave a howl of terror. His poor little mistress ran +out of her concealment and clung to his helpless person, seeking to +receive upon hers the blows as they fell. It was then that I interposed. + +"Cavaliere," I said, "you are acting, with I know not what justice, +against a man who has just proved more hospitable to me than yourself +has thought fit to do. I must now tell you that any further indignity +offered to him must be considered as done to me." + +He paused in his furious attack, and "Ha!" says he, "here's the +husband." He began to laugh; he laughed with such gusto and abandoned +himself to such uproarious mirth that very soon all the company except +myself was laughing with him. All of a sudden he stopped, with a mighty +serious face. "Harkee, my friend," says he to me, "upon reflection I do +believe that I have been hasty. The spasm passes. It may well be that it +was the excellence of this honest man's catering which betrayed me, and +not any infernal design. A passing cholic, after all!" He smiled +benevolently upon his recent prisoner. "Rise, my worthy friend," said +he, "and receive a pardon from the right hand of fellowship, sugared, as +I hope, to your liking." His hand was full of gold pieces. "Nobody shall +say," he added proudly, "that Aquamorta cannot requite good service, +because he knows so well how to reprimand bad service." The cook humbly +thanking his Excellency, the storm was over. + +But I had another brewing, or thought that I should have. As the +cavaliere was about to retire, I stopped him and said that I wished to +accompany him. He scratched his head. + +"Why, my dear sir," says he, "that will be plaguily inconvenient at this +moment. My rooms are full of guests, d'ye see? Your charming lady is +entertaining all the Senators' mistresses, and I am in the midst of a +carouse with their Serenities. I am not one for hard-and-fast +categories, as you know. Your dirty shirt and ragged elbows are nothing +to me--but zounds! I can't answer for the most Serene Ancients." + +I said then that I would retire to my room and wait for my wife--but to +that he objected that, in strict truth, and to keep up the fiction upon +which my safety depended, I had no room, at all. My wife was considered +to be his wife, while I was supposed to be what I had professed myself, +his servant. Would I, he asked me, for the sake of a night's +gratification, imperil the many happy years which, he hoped and would +take care, should be in store for me? + +I was somewhat slow in meeting this preposterous question as it +deserved, and when I opened my lips to speak he stopped me with, "Say no +more. I don't ask your thanks. Your safety is as dear to me as my own." +He beckoned to one of the scullions, and "Hi, you," says he, "show this +fellow of mine where he can sleep, and see to it that his company be +honest." With that he ruffled upstairs with the airs of a grand duke, +and left me once more stranded with the cooks. To come to an end of this +humiliating page, rejecting all offers of company, I was accommodated +with a wretched cupboard below the stairs, which smelt vilely of sour +wine and mildewed cheese, and ruefully prepared to spend what sort of +night I could, with my thoughts for bedfellows. + +I know not what hour of the night it was when I was roused out of a +dream-tortured sleep by the creaking of my cupboard door. Looking up, +the light of a candle which she held showed me Virginia. + +"Behold Virginia," she said. "Did you doubt whether I should come?" + +"I never doubted but you would come if you could," I replied, "but I did +not see how it was possible." She blew out the candle and crept to my +side. "The cavaliere, by diverting his friends with your plight," she +said, "revealed to me where he had left you. I excused myself to the +company and retired. I think he will be disagreeably surprised before +morning." + +I was much touched by her devotion and wifely duty, and assured her of +it by every means in my power. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +WE LIVE HAPPILY IN LUCCA + + +Whatever trick Virginia may have designed for the humiliation of the +cavaliere--and I never inquired of her what it was--it failed of any +apparent effect. He presented himself before us in the morning with +undisturbed serenity, and the same elaborate professions of good-will. +He was going, he said, to spend the day in my rehabilitation. "Be of +good cheer, my dear Don Francis," were his comfortable words, "for I +never yet failed a friend. It would, indeed--to put it at its lowest--be +a deplorable want of policy on my part, for since I wish to be thought a +gentleman, every act of my life must be more gentlemanlike than that of +the greatest gentleman in Europe. As you have found me hitherto, so you +shall find me now. Make me your banker at the tailor's, the +perruquier's, the barber's, the shirtmaker's, the hosier's, and the +hatter's. Add the shoemaker to your list, to oblige me. I go out to beat +at every influential door in Lucca in your favour. Before nightfall, you +shall have papers of identity and safe-conduct which will take you all +over our peninsula." + +I thanked him, but declined any assistance whatsoever. I had money +enough for my needs; my wife was prepared to share the fortunes of her +husband. I said that I intended to take a small lodging, to settle +myself there, and by honest industry to make my way in the world. Both +of us could work; we had no desire for fine society; and as for +credentials, the excellency of our handiwork and our obedience to the +laws would be the best in the world. + +He was vexed, and showed that he was. "As for your handiwork, my dear +sir," says he, "all that I have seen of it is that it has left you with +scarce a shirt to your back. Your respect for the law has induced you to +shoot a Capuchin in broad daylight, and forced you to leave Florence +disguised as a manservant. However, these things are no concern of mine. +Go your own way, young gentleman, consider me your friend, and permit me +to kiss your lady's hand, vowing myself her grateful and obliged servant +for more favours than perhaps you would care to hear recounted." + +Scorning such insinuations as they deserved, Virginia held him out her +hand, which he kissed as if he would have bitten it. I ought to have +been warned by the glitter in his hard black eyes, but being conscious +of my moral altitude above the base wretch, I took no further notice of +him. + +I had still in my possession my fifty guineas, with which, judiciously +laid out, I had no doubt but that we could make our way good in Lucca. +Full of hope, and fortified by all the privileges which the Church can +bestow upon a Christian, or a complaisant wife upon her husband, I set +about my business, which was to secure honourable employment for both of +us. After much discussion with Virginia and the exhibition of reasons on +my part with which I shall be less particular to trouble the reader, +since I have dwelt upon them more than once already, I decided to begin +in one of the humblest positions a man can take up. I would do +journeyman's work of any sort or kind until I had won what in the finer +walks of life we call the spurs. Not to be behind me in effort, Virginia +would work also. I hesitated for some time between the carpenter's and +the gardener's profession, for both of which I had always had an +aptitude; but the former had my choice. Virginia ultimately chose for +laundry-work, because that took her more into the open air, which she +dearly loved. + +I remember that we came to these decisions, after a day or two of talk +about them, upon the grassy ramparts which overlooked the beautiful city +on one side and the green meads of the Serchio, with their background of +purple hills, on the other. It was there that Virginia, holding my hand +in hers, spoke in this manner. "Francis," said she, "my lord and master, +I have never yet asked you why you paid me the extreme honour of making +me your wife, when, as you know very well, I was yours to dispose of in +any other way you pleased; and I shall never ask you. It is enough for +me that you have raised a poor girl out of the mire and made her a proud +woman. But proud as I am--or because I am proud--I shall not forget to +be humble. Don't suppose that I think myself raised to your degree +because you have taken me in your arms; no, indeed, I am a little +peasant and shall always be a little peasant. If I was found good in +your eyes--as I am bound to believe I was--it was for that reason. Such +as I am, for such as you have taken me, I shall never fail you. I will +work the flesh off my bones for you, I will lie, cheat, steal, commit +any sin under the sky if you bid me. I am utterly yours to take or put +away, to live or die, for Heaven or Hell--you have only to require of +me. It is in my power to sink for your pleasure, for we can always go +lower than our best; but I cannot rise without you. If you ask me to set +up for a lady, I tell you plainly I cannot. Have patience with me, +Francis; do not condemn me to fail you. If I cannot rise, you must +stoop. If I cannot be a fine lady, you must be content to do without +your gentlehood. If I am a peasant, you must be a peasant. As such I +shall please you--I am certain of it. In any other way you will stab me +at every turn of your head. I shall break my back for you--and do well +in my own way; but in yours I shall break my heart--and not advantage +you one inch. Remember this too, that you may abandon me whenever you +please, and get no reproaches from me." + +She spoke modestly, courageously, and well. I kissed her, saying, "You +are a good wife to me, Virginia. I agree with everything you say. Come, +my dear, kiss me. I think we shall be happy." + +She dashed her hand across her eyes as if to fend off a sudden storm of +tears; then threw her arms round my neck and pressed me close to her +bosom. She kissed me a thousand times, eagerly and warmly. "I love you, +my lord, I love you, my saviour and king. If you are kind to me, I shall +die. Beat me, misuse me, neglect me, be unfaithful--it is your right-- +and I shall serve you the better for it. But if you love me I cannot +bear it. I shall suffocate with joy--my heart will crack. O Francis, +Francis, wilt thou never understand thy poor girl?" All this time she +was straining me to her with frenzy, kissing me, almost blind with +tears. She was frantic, panting and struggling for breath. I had seen +her before in possession of this dangerous ecstasy of love, and though I +could not but love her for it in my turn, it was not the kind of +happiness I wished her to enjoy. Her scene ended in a very passion of +weeping, distressing to witness, but no doubt soothing; after which, +moaning like one sore beaten, she lay lax and languid in my arms. Deeply +touched, I laid her down upon the grass and watched her fade off into a +quieter sleep. In this state she lay for an hour of more, and awoke +refreshed, her usual shrewd and reticent self. + +Therefore, loving, and being passionately loved in return, working +diligently at a clean trade, living in the sweat of my brow, owing no +man anything, the next few months of my life--few as they were, not more +than six all told--were some of the happiest I have ever spent. They +recalled those weeks at Pistoja, but only to excel them; for then I was +idle and Virginia not satisfied. Then I had none of the sweet uses of +domestic life--the hearth in common, and the heart too; the nuptial +sacraments of kiss and embrace, the united outlook, the rational hope of +increase. We forgot the world, which had forgotten us; our appetites +were simple and easily satisfied; we fed each other and knew deep +content. Happy, happy days at Lucca, too soon ended! We shared the uses +of a single room with a couple as young and newly wedded as ourselves, +rose at five in the morning, and worked at our employment until late in +the evening. We ate frugally, drank a little wine and water, loved +temperately, and slept profoundly. On Sundays and festivals we went to +Mass together, and spent our leisure in excursions in the fields and +pleasant groves with which Lucca is engirdled. We never ventured outside +the territory of the Republic, but felt secure within it, trusting to +our honest intentions, our simplicity and complete insignificance. Ah, +blessed content! Blessed, thrice blessed obscurity! Would to God that +you had been assured to us for ever! On rare occasions one or other of +us had sight of the Cavaliere Aquamorta, who maintained the same +magnificence at the Albergo del Sole, and was reputed to be making large +sums with his faro-bank. A new scheme of his for a State lottery upon a +scale never before conceived by this thrifty little State was said to be +under the consideration of the Senators. Working in my master's yard, I +used to see him now and again being carried in his chair to this great +house or that, half a dozen link-boys before him, and his valet behind +carrying his sword and gloves. Virginia often met him in the course of +her errands, but, as she said, was never recognised by him. We nattered +ourselves that he had forgotten our co-existence with him upon this +planet. Hope never stooped to falser cozenage; we were to be rudely +undeceived. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +TREACHERY WORKS AGAINST US + + +One evening--I believe, as I said, that it was after nearly six months' +calm and temperate life that our troubles began--upon returning from my +day's work, I found Virginia in a pensive mood. She accepted, but hardly +returned, my salute, was very silent throughout the preparation and +eating of our supper; now and then, glancing at her, I caught her gaze +fixed upon me, and fancied that there was a hard light in her eyes. Our +companions, Gioiachino and his wife Teresa, rallied us on what they +thought to be one of those domestic differences common to the most +affectionate couples. "A tiff, a tiff!" said they, nudging each other. +"Virginia has caught him with the gardener's wife. We shall get no sleep +to-night." This gardener's wife was an obese and asthmatic matron of +some two-score years; who occupied a room in our little house, and was +kinder to me than I cared for. It was not until Gioiachino and his +Teresa were asleep that I could hope to discover what had affected +Virginia. She then told me that, as she had been at work that afternoon, +kneeling on the boards by the river with the other women, the Cavaliere +Aquamorta with a party of gentlemen had come by the meadows and stopped +to jest and bandy familiarities with the laundresses. Although he had +pretended not to recognise her, Virginia was not deceived. Finding his +opportunity, he drew near to her side, and whispered in her ear, "Can I +believe my senses? You, my charming consort of a few weeks ago, in such +a plight, in such a company!" Virginia had replied that the company had +been of her own choosing up to this hour, and that what he complained of +now could be remedied very easily, and by himself only. He said, "No, my +honour will not allow it. I must needs remember what I might have made +you, and what you have become. Count upon Aquamorta, who has never yet +failed his friends. Count upon his memory and passionate aspirations." + +"I told him," said Virginia, "that I should do nothing of the kind. I +said that I was wife to a gentleman born, who also happened to be an +honest man. 'If,' I said finally, 'you wish to do Virginia a real +service, you will be pleased to forget that you ever saw her.' He +laughed, and said that that was impossible to a man of his tumultuous +passions, and went away with a profound salutation. This," said my poor +Virginia, "has troubled me more than I care to own. I think we should be +wise to leave Lucca until--evil wind that he is--he blows over." + +Though I comforted her pretty well and bade her think no more about the +man, I very soon had reason to be of her opinion. Two or three days +later, as I was sawing planks in the yard, to make a trellis, that +saturnine person came in, resplendently dressed, and filled the +wholesome place with the reek of his essences. He saluted me with +extravagant politeness, telling me that he had words for my private ear +which he was sure would interest me. When I took little or no notice of +him he came to closer quarters. "Hearken, Signor Manifold," says he, "my +news concerns Donna Aurelia." + +How he knew that sacred name I cannot conceive. It had never passed from +my lips into his wicked ears. But I was unprepared for it, and started +violently the moment I heard it. "Ha!" cried he, "now I have passed your +guard, Don Francis, have I? Now perhaps you will do me the honour of +conversing?" I blush to record that I led him within the workshop and +begged him to be quick with his news. + +There is no need for any reader of mine to tell me my duty. I ought not +to have allowed her name to rest upon his mouth; I ought not to have +allowed it to touch mine. I ought not to have remembered Aurelia, I +ought not to have adored her. Was I not wedded? Was I not beloved? O God +of Heaven and earth, if regrets did not avail me then, how can they +avail me now? But I will no more look back than I will anticipate in +this narrative. I will repeat with what face I can that I led this hardy +ruffian into the workshop, cleared a bench for him to sit upon, and bade +him tell his story. + +Then said he, "My news would at any other time than this give you great +pain, Don Francis, for it is not altogether to the credit of one to whom +you have paid the most tender of your vows. But seeking, as I have +always done, your honour and advantage, I feel that I shall really +increase both of them by what I have to say. For if I remind you that +you are a fortunate husband, it ought to enhance your consciousness of +that fact when I go on to tell you that Donna Aurelia was unworthy of +your attentions, since she took no pains to deserve them." + +I said here that I knew beforehand his malice and the reasons for it. I +said, "You have proved yourself already so unworthy of belief that I +tell you now I shall not credit one word you say. How dare you speak of +the unworthiness of any lady, being yourself the most worthless of men?" + +He smiled, and continued, "What will you do, but thank God, my dear Don +Francis, when I tell you that it was she herself who put Fra Palamone in +your way? What will you say when you know that you were not intended to +kill the Capuchin so that you might be chased out of Florence, as you +have supposed, but instead, it was hoped that he would carry off Miss +Virginia to her marchese? What will you now say to Donna Aurelia's share +in that plot, when I tell you that she----" + +He paused here, grinning his triumph. + +"I will tell you what I have to say," I answered him, standing up with +folded arms. "I say that you lie. You have never done anything but lie +and cheat since the moment I saw you. You live by cheating, and will die +lying. That is what I have to say. I salute you and beg you to be gone." + +"The fair and cruel-kind Aurelia----" he began unconcernedly, but I +struck the bench on which he sat. + +"Cavaliere," I said, "if you speak one word more of that lady I shall +kill you here in this place." + +I had an adze in my hand, and I suppose he believed me, for he shrugged +his shoulders, got up and walked out of the carpenter's shop. He had +accomplished one part of his infamous design, at least. With every +symptom of the most exquisite torture of mind I recalled throughout that +day and night the lovely, fleeting, unattainable image of Aurelia +Gualandi. She was fatally present, every bend and turn of her head, +every motion of her bosom, the weaving of her hands, every flutter of +her breath, every sigh, every flash of her eyes danced before me, +mocking, deluding, beckoning, beguiling, enchanting me. My poor Virginia +had reason to complain of my dejection, coldness, inattention, God +knows! But He knows too, and will reward her for it, that the brave girl +never once did complain. My torment endured atrociously all night, and +all the next day; then subsided somewhat, and by the Sunday following +was almost gone. On the Monday, moreover, I had something else to think +of: this, namely---- + +On Monday evening, just as I was about to leave the yard, Virginia, with +a hood over her head, came into it. This was extraordinary, and so did +she appear--vividly coloured, with the eyes of one in a fever, but not +alarmed; elated rather, and full of strong resolve. Before I could speak +she put her finger to her lip, and said, "Hush! Come with me to the +ramparts instead of going home. I have something to tell you." I +followed her at once. The ramparts were very empty, as it was nearly +dark. She took my arm and began to walk slowly under the trees, speaking +calmly, mastering the excitement which she evidently suffered. + +She said, "At noon to-day, after the dinner-hour, the padrona gave me +three baskets of linen, and told me to carry them to their owners, with +the bills which were pinned upon them. I put all three on my head and +went away. The first errand was to the apartment of that old colonel of +artillery, where I have often been before. I delivered the basket, +unpacked it in his presence, received the money and my buona mano, and +departed. The second took me to Don Filiberto, the parroco of Santa +Lucia. As usual, he inquired after you, asked me that certain question +which you know, gave me two whites, patted my cheek, and hoped for +better news next week. When I came to look at my third basket, judge my +dismay to find that it was addressed to the Cavaliere Aquamorta, at the +Albergo del Sole. It was the largest by far--and that was why I had put +it at the bottom--and had a substantial bill upon it, including the +arrears of three weeks. I suppose he had planned it with the padrona, +for I had never been to him before, and did not even know that we washed +for him. However, there was no help for it. I must go. + +"He received me with a grin, expressing surprise, which I knew he had +not, and pleasure, which I fear he had. I was as unconcerned as I knew +how to be, and began unpacking the linen; but he came behind me at once, +and, kneeling beside me on one knee, began to be unpleasantly attentive, +praising my beauty extravagantly, talking, joking, whispering--and +worse--doing all he could, in fact, to make me as bad as he was. He +owned that he had laid this 'little stratagem of love,' as he called it, +and that the bill, far from being in arrear, had been paid, and twice +paid. There, then, was the price of my betrayal. Then he spoke of you, +Francis, asking whether I had discovered the cause of your recent +distemperature. 'I have given him some news of his Aurelia of late,' he +said, 'which may have inclined him to neglect a far more charming +nymph.' I replied to that, that if he had put himself to the trouble of +telling you lies of Donna Aurelia, there was no wonder that you were +unhappy; for, says I, 'To have her name, which you held sacred, tripped +off lips which you knew to be profane was a horrible thing.' He laughed +at me, and called me his incorrigible charmer, his dearest tease, +delight and provocation. He grew very attentive, and would have embraced +me; whereupon, biding my time, I gave him such a slap in the left eye as +he won't soon recover from. Then, while he was cursing me and calling +for his servant, I made my escape." + +I praised her warmly, as she deserved. She had done what became her with +the only weapon she possessed. "The rest," I said, "is mine. I shall +know how to maintain your honour and my own. This very night I shall +send a friend to the cavaliere, and leave him the choice of weapons." + +She stopped our walk, and faced me with agitation. "Dio mio, my lord, +what are you saying?" I repeated my words, and she became dry, as she +always did when she disapproved. + +"Good, my lord," she said; "and may your handmaid know the name of the +friend whom you propose to send with your cartel to the Cavaliere +Aquamorta?" + +I said that I should ask Gioiachino, our fellow-lodger, to oblige me. + +"Excellent," said Virginia with irony, "excellent indeed! Gioiachino, a +cat's-meat man, waits upon the Cavaliere Aquamorta on behalf of his +friend Francesco, a journeyman carpenter!" + +This made me more angry than I had any business to be, for she was +perfectly right from the cavaliere's view of the thing. I said, +"Virginia, my condition in this world has never been hidden from you. +Apart from my birthright, which is an advantage not of my own making, I +hope I have never been to you other than an honourable man. Gioiachino, +who has been a good friend to you and me, certainly deserves no less +credit. If a gentleman, as I claim to be, is condescending enough to +send a person perfectly honest to a vulgar, libidinous, lying bully and +cheat, who happens to have robbed to better purpose than I have worked-- +then, I say, you should agree with me that I am paying more honour to a +thief than he can hope to deserve. I am sorry to have to speak so +plainly to you, but it is not for you, any more than for me, to reproach +Gioiachino with being an honest man." + +She was silent for a few minutes, then knelt down and kissed my hand. +When I raised her up and embraced her, I found tears on her cheeks. We +walked home in the dark without another word said, and I prevailed upon +Gioiachino to convey my challenge, though he did what he could to +dissuade me. "This," he said, "is madness. Do you not know that the less +your man is assured of his gentility the more exacting he will be in the +profession of it? Do you know what will occur? He will call for some +lacquey or another to kick me downstairs." + +My answer to that was that such conduct to the bearer of a gentleman's +cartel was unheard of. I added that if the cavaliere prided himself, +against all evidence, upon being a gentleman, he was not at all likely +to convict himself of being a ruffian. Very ruefully, in the end, the +good-natured Gioiachino went out to oblige me. + +It happens that I was right, or had good grounds for thinking so. The +cavaliere received the poor fellow with perfect affability, and after a +short colloquy with some of his companions, introduced a certain Prince +Gandolfo Dolfini, with whom Gioiachino was to arrange a meeting in the +fields for seven o'clock on the Wednesday morning. The cavaliere having +the choice of weapons, his friend the prince decided for WHIPS. + +If this was to make me feel ridiculous it failed. I was much too angry. +"Whips he shall have," said I, and went to bed. + +On the morning appointed I rose at my usual hour and went to the +workshop, intending to go on with my duties until the time appointed. I +left Virginia in tears, and Teresa, no less wretched, clinging to her in +her bed. At a quarter before seven, Gioiachino with me, armed with a +stout cart-whip, I left the Porta del Vescovo and walked briskly over +one or two water-meadows towards a retired grove of trees not far from +the Pisa road. I flattered myself that we were first in the field; but +there I was mistaken. I found a numerous company assembled--tall persons +in cocked hats, coats and badges, a posse of police, and the villainous +cavaliere smirking in the midst. So soon as we entered the grove he +pointed to me with his cane and said in a loud voice: "There, Signor +Sindaco, there is the fugitive assassin, the betrayer of an innocent +girl. Speed him back to Tuscany with the added wages he has richly +earned in Lucca." The police advanced, seized me, bound my wrists. An +old gentleman without teeth read a long legal instrument without stops, +at the end of which I was stripped to the shirt, horsed upon +Gioiachino's back and vigorously whipped. I was then haled by my harsh +executioners some league or more over the marshes to the confines of the +Republic of Lucca and told to take myself out of sight unless I wished +for more taste of the whip. Without prayers, without words, without a +coat, without money, rich in nothing but innocence and despair, I +reached the hillside and flung myself face downwards upon the sward. +There I lay far into the night. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + +I FALL IN WITH THE PLAYERS + + +My present situation was of that shocking description which defies +thought and paralyses the will. I was utterly alone, deprived of the +means of joining the only person in Italy who loved me, utterly +destitute of means, placed in a country from which I had been banished +as a criminal. I shall be understood, then, when I say that for a week +or more I wandered over the face of the land, not regarding whither I +went (so only that I avoided my kind), nor what became of me. How I +subsisted I am at a loss to tell; I have no clear recollections--nothing +but a confused sense of abiding despair, hunger, haste and desolation. I +know not through what regions I passed, the names of what villages I +avoided, the names of what farm-houses I pillaged of eggs and milk in +order that I might keep a soul in my body. It is true that I became a +common thief; it is very true that during this most dreadful period I +spoke not to one living person--for whenever I saw man, woman or child I +crouched in whatsoever shelter I could find, and lay there trembling +like a beast of chase until the enemy (as I deemed him) had passed and I +could venture out again to seek for food. Providentially for me, my +banishment from Lucca had taken place in the summer; I suffered nothing +from exposure, and had no real lack of sustenance. I used to rummage the +streets of villages at night to get broken meat; as I have said, I did +not scruple to rob henroosts, or to suck the teats of cows and goats in +the byres. During this time I neither prayed to God nor thought of +Virginia in her horrid peril. All my efforts of mind and sense were +directed to hiding and finding food. I was very near losing my wits. + +Gradually, however, I recovered my self-possession, and with that, one +by one, my proper faculties returned. I was surprised at myself when one +day, seeing a man hoeing in a field, I felt the desire to speak to him +and ask my whereabouts. I was in a dreadful fright when it came to the +point that I had gone too far towards him to recede; but I mastered +myself by an effort and brought myself to accost him. Without any +surprise at my appearance, which was, indeed, no worse than his own, he +told me that I was in the Vale of Chianti, between Certaldo and +Poggibonsi, and that if I persevered upon the road I saw before me I +should reach the latter place by nightfall. "But, brother," said he, +"you look to have seen better days, and I advise you to push on to +Siena. May be you'll find employment there--for that is a rich city. +Here I tell you there is nothing. It is little use my offering you a +crust, for I have not got one." I thanked him, and having broken cover, +stoutly took the road and limped along as best I could. + +Perhaps I had gone a league and a half when I came to a village full of +people. Half a dozen miserable houses placed streetwise, one of them a +disreputable inn, formed a background to a motley assembly of tattered +vagrants, of which peasants of the countryside of both sexes, children, +pigs and turkeys formed a small part. The others were men and women of +the most extravagant attire and behaviour it is possible to imagine. I +saw a punchinello on stilts wading among the rest; there were women +flaunting feathers on their tousled heads, and moustachioed bullies who +might have come from the ruck of some army on the march; pages, minions, +magicians, astrologers, women's ruffians, castrati--it was as if one of +the wildest hours of the Piazzetta of Venice had been transported by +witchcraft to this quiet place. As I approached, wondering at what I +saw, a creature, I knew not then whether man or woman, came and stood in +my path, and with a great gesture of the arm greeted me in this +remarkable apostrophe: "Hail, all hail, Bombaces, King of the +Halicarnassians!" He, or she, repeated this shrilly three or four times, +but nobody took any notice. + +This hermaphrodite had a face of the most vivid and regular beauty I +ever saw--a face of perfect oval, freshly and rarely coloured, a pair of +dark and lustrous eyes, a straight, fine nose and a mouth exquisitely +shaped, provokingly red. Its hair, which was dark brown, fell in a tide +of wealth far over its shoulders. It wore a woman's bodice cut square in +the neck, after the fashion of unmarried women in Venice, and short in +the sleeves; but at the waist that sex stopped and the male began, for +it had on a pair of man's breeches, worsted stockings and Venice +slippers, and its shape as revealed by these garments was not that of a +woman. The creature, as a fact, declared itself to be a male; and when +he began to declaim against me again, I addressed him for what he was. +"My good young man," I said, "I am too weary, too desperate and too +hungry to be entertained by your antics, and too poor to reward you for +them--being, as you see me, an exile and a stranger. If you can find me +something to eat, I shall be grateful; if you cannot, go in peace, and +leave me to do the same." + +The droll beauty changed his tone in an instant. "Follow me, sir," said +he, "and you shall have everything you want. I entreat your pardon for +inflicting my impertinences upon you at such an ill-judged moment." He +took me by the hand and addressed himself to the crowd about the inn +doors; by pushing, punching, jostling, cursing, praying and coaxing in +turns, he made a way into the house. But that was full to suffocation of +the actors and their belongings, and of the peasantry who had come to +gape at them. Everybody was engaged in getting drunk who was not drunk +already. Some were fighting, some lovemaking, some filching. I saw a +curious sight. A man dressed like a harlequin was picking a countryman's +pocket, and having his own picked, while he was in the act, by some +sharp-featured imp of a castrato. In fine, the whole house from floor to +rafters was full; the bedchambers, to call them so which had no beds in +them, were worse than the kitchen. I could not see that I had gained +anything by following my questionable guide; but he, who had more +resources than I knew of, having snatched a half-loaf and bottle of wine +from the lower quarters, trampled and fought his way upstairs with them, +showed me a ladder which gave on to the roof, and went up it like a +bird, without using his hands. I followed him, and saw a proud light in +his eyes as he invited me to survey my private room. We were in the +valley formed by the two pitches of the roof, nothing between our heads +and the evening sky. The revellings and blasphemies of the house were +not to be heard; pigeons clustered on the chimney-pots or strutted the +ridges of the house; a cat, huddled up, watched them from a corner. +Stars showed faintly here and there; we were sheltered from the wind; I +heard far off the angelus bell ringing. + +"Here, at any rate, you won't be disturbed," said my protector. "Eat, +sir, drink, and repose yourself. When you feel inclined you shall tell +me how I can serve you further." + +The evening bell, and this kindness of the lad's, had reminded me of +what I was. I said, "My friend, I shall first thank God for having made +your nation the boldest, the most ingenious, the gentlest, the most +modest, most open-hearted in the world. You see before you a man of all +men most unfortunate; but yet I say to you in the presence of God and of +his household, whose lights are kindling even now, that, but for the +like of you, many and many a time I should have died unannealed." + +He was confused and, boylike, tried to laugh off my praises. "You give +me too high a character, sir," said he. "I am a graceless devil of the +Veneto, without prospect or retrospect to be proud of, a poor creature +who has to go to market with what wares he has. If I can look forward it +is because I dare not look back. What I am doing for you now, for which +you are so kind as to praise me, is not virtue. I wish to Heaven virtue +were so easy got. Eat, however, drink and rest. If I am no better than I +should be, I suppose I am not worse than I could be. And I cannot allow +you to praise me for that." + +"You are of the race of the Samaritans," said I, "whether you hail from +Venice or Tuscany. I am an Englishman, my name is Francis. How are you +called?" + +He said, "I believe my name is Daniele; but they call me here, in the +company, Belviso." + +"And they do well," I returned, "for that you certainly are, and, as far +as I am concerned, you prove as good as you are good-looking." + +He shrugged his shoulders. "No one is better than he can help, I fancy, +sir," he said. "There is every inducement to be wicked in this world. +But I will say this of myself--and I dare say everybody else can say the +same--that when I am good I am as good as gold, for I realise perfectly +well my unusual estate and become a very usurer of virtue. But this is +of rare occurrence, seeing that I am an actor. By ordinary, for the +fifteen years that I have been in the world, I am remarkably vicious." + +"I cannot hear you say that, Belviso," I told him, "without giving you +warning that, so long as I am in your company, and to the utmost of my +powers, I shall restrain you from being anything of the sort." + +He started, looked at me for a moment, then kissed my hand. "I believe +our Saviour sent you here to be his vicar in my regard," he said. "I +don't know how long you may be in my company, for it depends mostly upon +yourself. But I promise you in my turn that I shall never take ill +whatsoever your honour may please to say to me; and I say that if I have +the misfortune to lose sight of you this very night, I shall be the +better for having known you, and shall go to sleep with more prospect of +a decent to-morrow than I have ever done in the whole of my life." + +I judged that the best thing for this youth was to think more about my +misfortunes than his own. I therefore told him how it was that I came +before him in this plight, barefoot, bareheaded, bleeding and in rags. I +told him of my concern for Virginia, of the deadly perils that beset +her, and concluded by assuring him that the one service of any moment +which he could do me was to devise me some means of communicating with +Gioiachino, the vendor of cat's-meat in Lucca. Belviso had put his head +between his knees, and so remained for some time after I had done +speaking, in earnest meditation. + +After a while he lifted up his face, and said, "I shall go to Lucca for +you, Don Francis. It is certain that you must not cross the frontier, +and equally certain that there is no other person here who could strive +more heartily to help you. But I dare not myself go alone. I shall get +Il Nanno to go with me--a very good old fellow and as shrewd as a winter +wind. We shall disguise ourselves, of course, and be off before dawn to- +morrow. He shall go as my wife." + +"Your wife, my dear!" I exclaimed. "I should like to know what old +fellow could play the woman beside you." "Seeing that I get my living by +so doing, I don't mind owning that there is no one," he agreed. "The +trouble is that I should do it too well. When you see Il Nanno you will +admit that my proposals are as prudent as they seem the reverse. I'll go +and fetch him, and you shall judge. Remember always that his name is +Aristarcho; it would be a mortal affront to use that nickname of ours, +for he is sensitive to a degree, like all these hunchbacks, and as +fierce as a wild cat. Stay here--I will bring him up to you." He +disappeared into the house, and presently returned, followed by his +proposed wife. + +Signor Aristarcho was a dwarf of the most repulsive and uncompromising +type. He cannot have been much more than four feet in height; he had a +head nearly as large as his body, the strong-jawed, big-nosed, slit- +mouthed head of some Condottiere of old, some Fortebraccio or Colleone +of history and equestrian statuary. His eyes were small, staring, but +extremely intelligent, his flesh spare and strained under the skin; he +was beardless and as warty as a toad's back; he never smiled, spoke +little and seemed to be afraid lest the air should get within him and +never get out again, for he only opened the corner of his mouth to emit +a word or two, and screwed it down immediately he had done. His poor +deformed body was like that of Punchinello, a part for which he was +famous in the theatres--protuberant before, hunched up between his +shoulders behind, and set upon little writhen fleshless legs like wooden +spigots. In manner he was excessively punctilious, grave, collected, +oracularly sententious. I know that he was exquisitely sensitive to +ridicule and remorseless in punishing it. It was not hard to understand-- +the moment I set eyes upon this poor monster--that, with the young and +beautiful Belviso masquerading as a woman by his side, trouble must +succeed trouble without end. On the other hand, I could not for the life +of me see how the parts were to be reversed with any reasonable +assurance. But the good youth himself had no misgivings. + +After an exchange of careful courtesies I addressed myself to the dwarf. +"Signor Aristarcho," I said, "this charitable young man has assured me +of your active sympathy with my anxieties. You see before you a victim +of fortune's extremest spite, who can sue for your favours with nothing +but his tears----" + +"Don't shed them," says he at the side of his mouth, "they are +precious." + +"--and offer you nothing in return but his thanks. But I am speaking to +a gentleman----" + +"You are not," he said gruffly. "You are speaking to a man." + +"--of honour," I pursued, "and sensibility. In a word, I am speaking to +a Christian. If then you, a Christian, can save the soul of my young and +newly wedded wife--ah, Jesu! my darling from the lions----" + +He put up his hand. "No more," he said; "I will do what I can." + +I said, "Sir, my boundless gratitude----" + +"No more," he stayed me; "I am paid already." + +"Alas, sir----" I felt that I must go on; but he would not have it. + +"You have called me a Christian," he said. "No one has ever called me +that before. I thank you. I would die for you." + +"Live for me!" I cried. "Sir, sir, sir, I do find that the lower my +bodily fortunes descend, the nearer I get to the kingdom of Heaven." + +Aristarcho bowed gravely and said, "I thank you. Count upon me." + +He bowed again profoundly, and I returned the salute. When he had +retired I told Belviso that I saw nothing in his state to deserve our +pity, but that, on the contrary, I envied him the possession of a +constant and discerning mind. + +My friend replied, "Yes, yes, he is a good fellow and will serve you +well. You have earned his gratitude; but let me warn you again never to +hurt his feelings. You will be sorry for it for many a day." + +When we went down, long after dark, to the inn kitchen, I found the +actors seated at supper and was kindly received. Belviso presented me to +the principals--to a pleasant, plump old gentleman, who looked like the +canon of a cathedral foundation, and was, in fact, the famous Arlecchino +'Gritti; to the prima donna, a black-browed lady, who, because she came +from Sicily, was called La Panormita, her own name being Brigida, and +her husband's Minghelli; to the cheerfulest drunkard I ever met, who +played the lovers' parts, and was that same Minghelli; to the sustainers +of Pantaleone, Scaramuccia, Matamorte, Don Basilio, Brighella and the +rest of them--a crew all told of some twenty hands, all males with the +exception of La Panormita. The reason of that was that the company was +very poor, and that fine women did not get sufficiently lucrative side- +issues, as I may term them, to be tempted to join it. And again there +were several restrictions placed by some States--such as those of the +Church--upon female performers, only to be overcome by heavy fees to the +officials. If it was inconvenient to them to drop Signora Minghelli in +one place and pick her up at another, to have had more women in the same +case might well have ruined them. They therefore had with them half a +dozen boys and lads, of whom Belviso was by far their best--Pamfilo, +Narcisso, Adone, Deifobo and the like, wicked, graceless little wretches +as they were. Belviso took the leading woman's part in La Panormita's +absence, and when she was present he came second. Notably he was +Columbine in the comedy, and, as they said, one of the most excellent. I +found all these people, as I have never failed to find Italians of their +sort, simple, good-hearted and careless, sometimes happy, sometimes +acutely miserable; but always patient and reasonable, and always +expressing themselves unaffectedly, in very strong language. Of their +kindness I cannot say too much; of their moral behaviour I must not. +Their profession, no doubt, which forced them to exhibit themselves in +indelicate or monstrous situations for the pleasure of people who were +mainly both, had made them callous to much which is offensive to a man +of breeding. Il Nanno was a great exception to their rule. I never knew +him, but once, behave otherwise than as a gentleman. I never heard him +hold unseemly conversation. Belviso, too, was, as far as I was +concerned, honest, decent and self-respecting. I am inclined to hope, +and have some grounds for believing, that he had given himself a worse +character than he deserved. All I shall say about him here is that, had +he been my son, I could not have been troubled by anything which he said +or did so long as I was in his company. + +Sufficient of my story had been made common property by Il Nanno to save +me the trouble of trying to enlist their sympathies. They were mine from +the moment of my appearance in their midst. They were entirely willing +to let my two champions go to Lucca on my account, and I was glad to +hear that the company would not stand to lose much by so generous an +act. They were on their way to Siena, and except for an open-air +performance or two in mean villages would not need either Belviso or the +dwarf until they reached that city, where the pair would rejoin them. +They offered me their protection and hospitality in the frankest manner-- +in such terms, indeed, that I could not but have accepted them had my +necessities been lighter than they were. I took them thankfully, and +asked leave further to propose that, as I had a good memory and a person +not otherwise unsuitable, I might place myself and my abilities at their +whole disposal. "Use me, gentlemen," said I, "if I suit you; make me of +service elsewhere than on your scene if I do not. By so doing you will +lighten my load of debt, and make me feel less of a stranger and a +burden. I have won two friends already by the recital of my sorrows"-- +here I placed a hand on Belviso's shoulder and gave the other to Il +Nanno--"let me hope that I can gain yet more by some exhibition of my +talents." + +This was loudly applauded. "Stand up, Don Francis," said Belviso to me, +"and spout us out whatever bombast you can remember." + +I gave them, first, the opening speech of the Orfeo of Politian, where +the sad shepherd accounts his plight, his pursuit of the nymph Euridice, +her abhorrence of him, and the like. All eyes were fixed upon me; I saw +those of La Panormita glisten. The smooth-flowing verses moved her. They +were silent when I had done, which a little disconcerted me; but +presently the dwarf snapped out, "More." Emboldened, I began upon the +Aminta of Tasso, reciting the opening speech of Daphne in the fourth +act. To my delight the part of Silvia, which Virginia in our old days at +Pistoja had been wont to take, was caught up and continued by Belviso. +We fired each other, capped each other, and ended the great scene. The +last six lines of it, to be spoken by the Choragus, were croaked by Il +Nanno in his bull-frog's voice. We stopped amid a storm of bravas, and +La Panormita, with a great gesture, crowned us with flowers. I was made +free of the company by acclamation. + +Belviso set off early in the morning with his monstrous old wife of the +occasion. He embraced me warmly before he left me. "Keep a good heart, +Don Francis," he said, "and trust in your friends. All that is possible +shall be done, you may be sure. I shan't dare to look you in the face if +I come back without your Virginia." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV + +TEMPTED IN SIENA, BELVISO SAVES ME + + +The company, of which I was now enrolled a member, moved on towards +Siena, that city for which--as Aurelia's cradle--I had a feeling of +profound reverence; towards which now, in spite of all that had +occurred, I could not approach without a quickening of the pulse, an +aching heart, and a longing mind. We travelled with a large caravan of +donkeys and mules to carry the baggage and women--La Panormita, her +gross old mother, and two hags, who called themselves the mothers, and +were really the owners, of the boys. The rest of us, the men and the +boys themselves, trudged afoot. We begged, jigged, or bullied for food +as we went, having scarcely any money among us; for just now, after a +disastrous week in Florence, the company was by way of starving until it +could earn some pence-halfpence in Siena. The first night we slept in a +rick-yard--a bitter wet night it was; the next, we reached Certaldo, and +cajoled the landlord of the Ghirlanda out of house-room. This he only +consented to upon the condition of our giving free entertainment then +and there to his customers. We had been all day on the road; but what +choice is open to the needy traveller? Footsore, muddy to the eyes, +hungry, thirsty as we were--our clothes of the stage sodden with rain, +our finery like wet weeds, our face-powder like mud and our paints like +soup--we must perforce open our packs, don our chill motley, daub our +weary faces, and caper through some piece of tomfoolery which, if it had +not been so insipid, would have been grotesquely indecent. All I +remember about it now is that it was called La Nuova Lucrezia ossia La +Gatteria del Spropositi, a monstrous travesty of the story of Lucrece. +One of the castrati--Pamfilo by name--played the part of Lisetta, "una +putta di undici anni," and exhibited the most remarkable turn of +satirical observation and humour I have ever seen before or since. +Horrible in a manner as it was, it would have redeemed any performance. +This demon of ingenuity and wit was little more than fourteen years old, +and sang like an angel of Paradise. Another of them was the Lucrezia, +the Roman matron--put into the short skirts, spangles, and mischievous +peering glances of Colombina. Belviso would have sustained it had he +been present. Adone, his understudy, took his place. My own share in the +mummery was humble and confusing. In toga and cothurnus I had to read a +pompous prologue, and did it amid shouts of "Basta! basta!" from the +audience. I don't believe that I was more thankful than they were when I +had done. The less I say about the rest of the evening and night the +better. The people of Certaldo more than maintain the popular reputation +of their great townsman, Boccaccio. They are as light-hearted, as +impertinent, as amorous as he; and they diverted themselves with our +company in a manner which did credit to his example. Such things, I hope +I may say, were very little to my taste; but it was necessary for me not +to seem singular, and I fancy that I did not. + +After a similar night's entertainment at Poggibonsi we set out, +intending to be at Siena that same night. I need hardly say that the so +near prospect filled me with various and contending emotions. I might +hope, in the first place, to find Belviso there, returned with Virginia, +my faithful and tender wife. To know her safe, to have her by my side, +to be conscious, as I could not fail to be, of her deep and ardent love +for me testified in every glance of her eyes--such could not fail to be +a satisfaction to any honest, any sensible man. Such, too, I hope they +were. But I must needs confess that not this confident expectation (for +confident I was of Belviso's success) alone moved me and elated me at +the moment. No, it is the truth that, the nearer I came to Siena, the +more I realised the abiding influence of Aurelia upon my heart and +conscience. I could not but tremble at the thought that in so few hours +I should be treading the actual earth which her feet had lightly pressed +during the years when she must have been at her happiest, and if not +also at her loveliest--since when was she not at that?--assuredly at her +purest and most radiant hour; before she had been sullied by the +doctor's possessory rights, before she had been hurt by my dastardly +advances. This, then, this it was which really affected me, to feel like +some pilgrim of old, to Loreto, may be, or Compostella, to Walsingham, +to Rome--nay, to the very bourne and goal of every Christian's desire, +Jerusalem, the Holy City, itself--to feel, I say, singularly uplifted, +singularly set apart and dedicated to the privilege which was now at +last to be mine. From the moment of departure from Poggibonsi to that +moment when I saw, upon a background of pure green sky, the spear-like +shafts, the rose-coloured walls and churches of Siena, I kept my eyes +steadily towards my Mecca, speaking very little, taking no heed of the +manner of our progress. I had other sights than those to occupy me. I +saw hedge-flowers which Aurelia might have plucked, shade where she +might have rested, orchards where she might have tasted fruit, wells +which might have cooled her feet. Some miles before I was in actual +sight of my desired haven I was in a thrill and tension of expectancy, +wrought upon me by these hopeful auguries, which I cannot describe. I +was in a perpetual tremble, my lips were dry. We passed Castiglioncello; +we rested for noonday at Monteriggione; at Castello del Diavolo, in full +sight of all men, I kissed the stony road. In my own country, I know +very well, I should have been hooted as a madman, but here, where a man +does what nature, or something higher, prompts him without shame or +circumspection, I was never molested. My companions were undoubtedly +curious. Pamfilo said that I was going to meet my amica at Siena; La +Panormita supposed that I regretted some bouncing girl of Certaldo. But +I was soaring now to such a height that I cared nothing. We entered the +Porta Camollia at half-past five o'clock in the evening, and trailed up +the steep Via di Citta, between houses like solemn cliffs, and in the +midst of a throng which, in the dusk of that narrow pass, seemed like +dense clouds, lit up by innumerable moons, to our lodging at an inn +called Le Tre Donzelle. These moons I found out were the wide straw hats +of the lovely daughters of Siena, sisters of Aurelia, companions of her +maiden hours! It made my heart jump into my throat to see in the doorway +of the inn a girl of her own tender and buoyant shape, to hear her very +tones, with that caressing fall which never failed to move me, and to +see the quick turn of a crowned head exactly in her own manner. Before +many hours were over I found myself stabbed more or less vividly by +every young woman I met. There was no escaping from Aurelia in Aurelia's +own city. + +Indifferent alike to the orgies of my companions or to their reproaches +of me for not sharing them, I spent a solitary, wakeful night in great +exaltation of mind; with the first ray of dawn I was out and about, +gaining in entire loneliness my first view of the sacred city. I stood, +awestruck and breathless, under the star-strewn roof of the great +church; I knelt where Aurelia's knees must have kissed the storied +pavement. I walked in the vast Campo, which has been called, and justly +called, the finest piazza in Europe; wondered over the towered palace of +the ancient Commune; prayed at the altar of St. Catherine. Prepared then +by prayer and meditation, I made solemn and punctilious visits to what I +must call the holy places of Aurelia's nation: the Madonna del Bordone, +the Madonna delle Grazie, and the Madonna called of Provenzano. Before +each of these ladies--mournful, helpful, heaven-conversing deities--I +prayed devoutly, on my knees. I anointed the feet of each with my tears, +I offered up to each the incense of a sigh from my overcharged heart. +From the last and most gracious of the three ladies I received what +seems to have been a remarkable counsel. + +I fell into conversation with the sacristan of her church--Santa Maria +di Provenzano is its name--who told me the tale of this wonder-working +image, a mutilated bust of the Holy Virgin, veiled and crowned. He said +that his Madonna was kind to all the unfortunate world, and famous all +over it, but that to the most unfortunate of all she was mother and +friend. "And whom do you call the most unfortunate of all?" I asked him. + +He looked at me as he uttered these curious words. "The most unfortunate +of all, sir," he said, "are they that have to pretend to love when they +do not feel it. And theirs is the class of which our Madonna is the +patroness." + +Padrona degli Sventurati, Helper and Friend of those who must serve Love +without loving! What a Goddess was this! I drew apart from my informant +and communed alone with the mysterious Emblem. "O most tender Advocate +of them that need Thee," said I, "O loving Mother of Sinners! Clean +Champion of the unclean, Stem, Leaf, Blossom and Fruit of the abounding +promise of Heaven that a seed of hope may fructify in our ineffable +corruption! cast down Thy compassionate eyes upon me too, that in their +light I may strive again." + +This was my prayer, a general one for grace rather than a particular for +some specific grace. Now for what I consider to have been a direct +answer to it. On the steps of the church, on going out, I saw Belviso +waiting for me. I saw that he was alone--and that at once brought before +my mind the picture of Virginia, the brave and passionate dark-browed +girl, my stormy lover and my wife; whom I, alas, was hired by gratitude +and the sacrament to love, though love her as I ought I did not. I stood +speechless and thunderstruck. Here now, sinner, is the answer to thy +prayer! Art not thou, poor Francis, one of Love's hirelings? Dost not +thou need the Padrona degli Sventurati? I asked myself these questions; +Belviso would answer them for me. + +He told me how he had sped. He had been to Lucca and seen Teresa, +Gioiachino's wife. Gioiachino, poor fellow, was in prison, but not for +long, it was thought. Virginia was gone, but Aquamorta remained in the +city. My poor girl had left a note for me with Teresa, which Teresa +handed on to Belviso and he to me--to this effect. I read it with tears: + +"MASTER, LORD, AND EXCELLENT HUSBAND," it began--("Padrone, Signor, ed +egregio marito mio")--"Thy child is unhappy, but having learned from +thee how necessary it is to regard her own honour, is resolved to fly +danger rather than brave it. I have gone to Arezzo with all thy money +safe in my bosom, to put the breadth of Tuscany between me and my +persecutor. Make thy affairs as thou wilt, thou art free of Virginia, +who will never blame thee. If thou need her or what she hath of thine, +thou wilt find her at Arezzo, an honest woman, + +"Who kisses thy hands, + +"VIRGINIA." + +Without a word of explanation I returned to the church and held up my +letter before the veiled image of the Madonna of Provenzano. "Here, +lady, is my duty," I said, "here is my hire. The lowliest of thy +clients, I will never shirk the yoke put upon me. Yet do Thou, +Patroness, make it sweet!" I kissed the letter and put it in my bosom; +then I went back to Belviso, embraced him, thanked him for his +extraordinary pains on my behalf, and said that as soon as possible +after the forthcoming performances of the company I should go to Arezzo. +He sighed and looked unhappy. "I knew that you would leave us," he said; +"it was only to be expected." + +"Yes, yes, Belviso," said I, "I must indeed rejoin Virginia. I see very +well that she is my only means of redemption." + +"And what is to become of me, Don Francis?" says he suddenly, catching +hold of my hand and staying me in the street. "What is to become of me +without you, who are in turn MY only means of redemption?" + +I said, "My poor youth, you are putting upon me more than I can bear--or +rather you are putting a fresh weight upon Virginia. If by her I can be +redeemed, and by me only you can be redeemed, then that untried girl is +charged with the redemption of both of us--a singular tax for one whose +redemption was originally my own care." + +He agreed with me that the position was unusual, but affirmed with +energy that he had truly stated it so far as he was concerned. "I owe +you, sir," he said, "the dearest thing a lad can possess, which is his +self-respect restored, his courage reborn. In the light of your +approbation I can face even my miserable trade and hope to grow up as I +should. If you cast me off I am undone----"after which, as I made no +immediate reply, with a pretty gesture, as of a girl wheedling for a +favour, he touched my cheek with his hand and begged me to take him with +me to Arezzo. I told him I would consider of it; but made no promise. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI + +MY UNREHEARSED EFFECT AND ITS MIDNIGHT SEQUEL + + +I do not know whether any other man in the world has been so unfortunate +as I in making resolutions and finding opportunities to break them, but +I am persuaded none can have made more abundant use of his occasions. My +only consolation is that my performances have been exemplary, since +punishment has ever followed hot-foot upon the offence. + +Let it be observed that on the eve of my public appearance upon the +scene in Siena with the rest of the company, I was resolved, and had +fortified myself with a solemn vow to the Madonna of Provenzano, to +return to Virginia's side and act, if I did not feel, the part of her +faithful and assiduous husband. Never mind whether I believed this to be +due to Aurelia, and that it was the strongest testimony I could give her +of my love--this did not, in my opinion, make me disloyal to my wife, +because the very act of pleasing her involved the putting out of mind +that dear mistress of my heart. My resolution was indeed my final +offering at the shrine of mystical love; it was to be an act comparable +with Dante's--who, loving Beatrice, married Germma Donati, and proved +the reality of his tie by making her the mother of many children. It +will readily be believed, I suppose, that so fine a proposition made me +enthusiastic, that I was impatient for the moment when I could put it +into practice, recover Virginia, press her to my bosom and cherish her +as so beautiful and loving a girl deserved to be cherished; but it must +be almost incredible to every reader of my book that in one moment I +could not only quench my own fire, but make it impossible to light it +again. This, however, is the plain state of the case. + +In honour of the Grand Duke's birthday a great many festivities were +preparing in Siena. The city was full of visitors, for a Palio was to be +run in the Campo, the Cardinal Archbishop of Florence was to celebrate +pontifically in the cathedral, and our company of actors--not because it +was the best, but as being the only one available--was commanded to +perform in the theatre before the Podesta, the Gonfalonier and Senate, +and all the representatives of Government, of the university, and of the +garrison. The whole of the boxes was bespoken, and our manager was given +to understand that his expenses for this night were guaranteed. As we +had so far had very indifferent houses, it may be gathered that he +looked upon this as the occasion of his lifetime. We were put into +vigorous rehearsal, and worked most of the day, besides playing at +night. We were to give the Artaserse, a tragedy of extreme length and +magniloquence, and conclude with the Donne Furlane. + +The night arrived; the theatre was full from parterre to gallery; the +boxes presented a truly brilliant spectacle. The curtain went up, and +the play began. + +I shall only say of Artaserse that La Panormita was the Aspasia of the +piece, and Belviso the Berenice, her foster-sister and companion. My +role was that of the Messenger, and only gave me one long speech, +recounting the miraculous preservation of Artaspe and Spiridate, sons of +King Artaserse and lovers of the two ladies; the treachery, discovery, +and violent end of Dario--in fact, the untying of the knot firmly +twisted in the third act. The audience paid visits, talked, laughed, +played faro, so far as I could learn, throughout the play. Nor do I +wonder at it, for not the finest acting in the world could have +galvanised into life any one link of its dreary chain. When the curtain +was raised; however, upon the second piece, there was a perceptible +settling down to listen, behold, and be amused. Tragedy was the fashion, +and must be endured, but all the Italians loved the masks. + +The Donne Furlane was the piece, a comedy of art as they call it here-- +or, as we say, a comedy of masks--wherein the stock characters of +Harlequin, Columbine, Brighella and Pantalone are given a rag of a plot, +and are expected to embroider that with follies, drolleries and +obscenities according as their humour of the moment may dictate. The +persons who give the title to this particular farce--the Donne Furlane-- +are the lowest class of Venetian women, and their ceremonious name +implies what we in England imply when we speak of the nymphs of Drury +Lane or the sirens of Radcliffe Highway, calling them, in fact, exactly +what they are not. According to the plot of the play, Pantalone is an +old merchant of Rimini who arrives in Venice with his family. Colombina +is his daughter, and was played, of course, by Belviso; Arlecchino and +Brighella are his simpleton sons--they were the manager and myself. Il +Nanno was Punchinello, his Neapolitan servant, Il Dottore his travelling +physician. They come ashore in the quarter of the Furlani, and all the +zest of the play lies in the equivoque which contrasts the knavery of +the inhabitants with the naivete of the visitors. Pantalone's family is +fair game. A bully called Truffaldino poses as a marchese and wins the +affections of Colombina; Brighella is entrapped by a Donna Furlana into +a promise of marriage; the Dottore finds himself engaged to cure half a +dozen of the same sort of ladies of the maladies incident to their +career; finally, Pantalone is claimed as their long-lost uncle, who was +supposed to have abandoned them in their days of infant orphanage. Such +promise of diversion as this imbroglio had, it was rendered still more +to the taste of the audience by the license which the actors allowed +themselves. Belviso was perfection as the simple country girl; one could +hardly credit a lad of his age with such niceness of observation, such +humorous yet whimsical representation of an honest, foolish young woman +flattered by the attention of a villain. His "La la," his "Sissioria," +and "'Lustrissimo, si!" which marked so well the growth of self-esteem; +his finger in the mouth, his twisting apron-corner, which betrayed +embarrassment when the siege was too vigorous; his "Io non so gniente," +when sheepishness was the only defence--here was the highest art of the +stage. I, as Brighella his brother, aped him as well as I could. I was a +clown, tickled by, yet pondering, the hardy advances of a baggage, who, +in the expert person of Pamfilo, was only too well performed. If it was +my business to look a fool, God knows I played better than any. The +audience stormed us with delight, and I do believe I was having my share +of the triumph, and might have been emboldened by success to have +deserved it, had not all my sham tremors been shent--in one moment--by a +shaft most real and memorable, whose fatal delivery I must now relate. + +We had reached a point in our absurdity where, by the direction of Il +Nanno, who had a sure dramatic sense, a little touch of tragic meaning +was to be brought into the action. The play was suddenly to deepen into +seriousness; the masqueraders were to be discovered--momentarily--for +men and women, with hearts to be broke and souls to be tortured. I +believe it was I who gave him the hint; for he had said to me one day at +rehearsal, "Don Francis, you have tragedy in your face, a mouth of pure +sorrow. That is a valuable asset for our business." May be that he had +thought to use me at my best when he suffered this little shiver of +serious surmise to be blown across the painted scene. The worthy little +monster was pardonably proud of his conception, and explained it to me +point by point. Touchy as his infirmities had left him, his vanity of +author made him as tender as a green wound. He set all his hopes upon +his invention; rightly rendered, he said, the whole theatre would be +moved by it. It should be received with a moment of absolute silence, a +sixty-seconds' silence; then, with one consent, the audience would rise +en masse and cheer the actor--myself--and the poet--himself. Admiring +the thought, feeling the force of it, I promised him that he might +depend upon me. + +His point was this. At a certain stage in the play, Brighella, the +country clown, observes his pretended inamorata, the sham contessa, in +the embrace of the pretended marchese, Truffaldino, who by his lies and +flatteries has ensnared the heart of Colombina. Now Colombina is the +beloved sister of Brighella; and the doubt is to dawn upon him that +possibly his wonderful contessa and his sister's imposing marchese are +no better than they should be. Why is she in the arms of the marchese? +Are these perhaps the customs of the world of fashion? Punchinello, the +family servant, suggests that the marchese and contessa may be brother +and sister. "O Dio, no!" cries poor Brighella. "I know what brothers and +sisters do. I love Colombina and she me, but we don't kiss and hug in a +corner. That is what the contessa taught me to do--I thought it very +beautiful. It was our secret, do you see? But she seems to have taught +the marchese--and it is a secret no more, and not beautiful at all." He +begins to wonder to himself, and grows suddenly homesick under +disenchantment. He has many artless, touching things to say concerning +his happiness with his sister in his own country, there far away on the +lonely Adriatic shore. + +I was doing my best with the part; Il Nanno, as Punchinello, was at my +side watching and moving every turn of the dialogue; in the back of the +scene were Truffaldino and the Furlana at their kissing. The audience, +quick to feel the pathos, was very quiet, and gave me courage. + +"Go to your mistress, Brighella," says Punchinello; "reproach her, pull +her away." + +"No, no," say I, "that would not be honourable. That would show that I +doubted her. That would be an insult to her ladyship, and no comfort to +me." + +There was a murmur of applause, low but audible, and that stir which I +know is more enheartening to the player than all the bravas in the +world; but just then, as if directed by some inward motion, my eyes +wandered about the auditorium, and (as happens but rarely), I saw faces +there. In a box on the grand tier I saw Aurelia herself in a yellow silk +gown and a hood of the same, half fallen from her dark hair. There she +sat, as if absorbing the light--Aurelia, and no other, in a gallant +company. She was smiling, interested, eager. Her lips were parted; I saw +her little teeth; I saw the rise and fall of her white breast. Starting +violently, a sharp intense pain pierced my heart. I shut my eyes and +tried to recall myself, while the theatre was hushed, like death. I felt +myself swaying about, and to save myself from falling, stretched out my +hand for some support. Unfortunately I found it; for I caught and held +the bony ridge of the nose of Il Nanno, which was just on the level of +my elbow, and drove my fingers into it until he yelled with pain. Risu +solvuntur! The audience rose at us in wild delight--but I, in my horror +and concern, knew nothing but that here was I, a poor fool in motley, +and there, at some few paces from me, radiant as a star in the +firmament, was the adorable being under whose maddening rays I had +fallen, as struck by the sun. I gave one short cry, and fell on my +knees. "Pardon, pardon, queen of my soul!" I began, when Il Nanno, +beside himself with mortification, sprang at me like a wild beast and +gripped my throat. Had not the contessa and Truffaldino pulled him off +me, I should have been strangled. The audience hushed, the curtain fell. +I knew no more until I found myself lying on my strand paillasse at the +inn and saw Belviso, yet in his skirt and spangles, leaning over me with +vinegar in a sponge. + +Refusing me leave to talk, he told me that he had done his best to +pacify the dwarf, and hoped he had succeeded. The audience had been +entirely misled. They had believed this ending to have been devised for +their entertainment, and had completely approved of it. Our manager had +been sent for by the Syndic, congratulated and rewarded by a handsome +present. The piece was to be repeated next evening, and, for the sake of +that, it was even promised that the public would sit through the +Artaserse again. Higher testimony, said Belviso, could not have been +given to Aristarcho as author, or to me as his exponent. Far from being +in disgrace, I was the hero of Siena. The Piazza, the cafes were alive +with my performance, my stage name of Francesco de' Pazzi was in +everybody's mouth. I murmured the name of Aurelia, but Belviso had no +notion of that part of my story, and begged me to sleep. So, after a +time, I think I did--and he also. + +At some later hour of the night, which must have been near the edge of +dawn, Belviso woke me by springing off his bed and going to the door. +Presently I heard voices downstairs, stern, short, official voices, and +the hasty whispers of two or three answering at once. What was this? +Steps resounded on the stair, a chink in the door revealed a light +growing in brightness. We were broken in upon where we crouched in +alarm; and I saw a Corporal of the Guard, two or three troopers, the +scared faces of some of our companions. + +The corporal held up his candle to look at me. Our colloquy was very +brief. + +"You are Francis Strelley, an Englishman?" + +"I am." + +"You killed a Capuchin in Florence and fled to Lucca?" + +"I did." + +"You were chastised, and expelled the Republic?" + +"I was." + +"You are my prisoner, in the Grand Duke's name. Get up, dress yourself +and follow me." + +Il Nanno had betrayed me, or some other more inveterate enemy. I rose, +put on my shoes and a cloak, and told the officer I was ready. As I was +tying my shoe, Belviso whispered in my ear, "Courage, I follow." He bade +me a mock farewell, with tears and embraces, and I went out a prisoner. + +I understood that I was to be taken at once to the Fortress of Volterra. +Now, indeed, this famous, infamous prison was to have me and bury me +alive. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII + +I COMMIT A DOUBLE MURDER + + +Francis Antony Strelley, Tennis-ball of Fate, should be inscribed upon +my tomb, unless like the wandering Jew I were not destined to have any +other than that restless globe upon whose shelving surfaces I was for +ever to slip and slide. Here was I once more buffeted on to the road; +and yet I could not fairly pretend that there was no fault of mine +concerned in the stroke. O, fatal dower of beauty that was thine, +Aurelia! Could I say that, had I maintained my firm resolve of a few +days' date, and fixed my heart and inclination where they were due-- +towards the loving bosom and welcoming arms of my Virginia--this new +shame had come upon me? Alas, what malign influence drew thee, lady, to +Siena, to rekindle my flame, to melt my conjugal desires, to betray me +into the old passion, to draw me into the old despair? Thus I bitterly +questioned myself as, guarded on either hand by mounted men, I descended +the silent street on the way to what I must needs consider perpetual +imprisonment. + +Going out of the Porta Romana, where we were obliged to wait in the cold +drizzle of a cheerless dawn for the porter to open the gate, a deeply +veiled, respectably dressed young woman asked the favour of our escort +from the corporal, and received it, probably on account of her good +looks, which should be extraordinary. She was going, she said, to join +her husband at Volterra, and feared the brigands who were notoriously +rife in that country. The corporal offered to take her pillion behind +him. "Willingly, sir," she said, and was lifted up by the troopers. As +we went out of the gate she raised her veil to use her handkerchief and +to look at me. In a moment I saw that it was my brave and affectionate +Belviso, and was no little comforted by the thought that here, at any +rate, was one heart in Siena generously inclined to mine. + +We baited at Colle, and rested there two or three hours; from thence we +mounted a very steep hill and reached a country of abounding desolation +and misery, where bare grey hills alternated with dense thickets, and +were told that there was not a human habitation for the rest of the +journey to Volterra. Our guards saw to the priming of their muskets +before they started from Colle, and kept a sharp lookout on all sides of +the way. We met nothing, however, threatening or otherwise, for nearly +half our journey, but somewhere about four o'clock of the afternoon, +when we were traversing a barren moor, the corporal gave a sharp cry and +reined up his horse. Before I knew what he was about a pistol had been +placed in my hands, and he said, "Every man for himself now. You are +free, sir." + +"How--free?" I asked him. + +His reply was to point ahead of us. "Brigands," he said, "and the +Kingdom of Heaven in view." + +The troopers got off their horses, lashed them by the bridles, head to +head, and stood behind them with their muskets pointed the way the enemy +was coming. They were upon us almost before I had seen anything but a +cloud of whirling dust. They came on at a furious pace, yelling and +discharging their arms, and made short work of our defenses. The three +soldiers were killed and rifled. I and Belviso had our hands tied, were +strapped on to horses, put in the midst of the band, who were all +masked, and carried off at a terrible rate across the open country. We +went down a mountain side, crossed a torrent and crashed into a thick +belt of woodland which lay beyond it. In the midst of this a ruined +chapel or hermitage seemed to serve our captors for a camp; for here +they drew rein and disposed of us, their booty. My feet were bound, as +my hands already had been, and I was thrown thus helpless on my face on +one side; the miserable Belviso, whose disguise and beauty made him +appear what he had so unhappily pretended to be, had his hands tied +behind him, but his ankles left free. Him they placed on the other side +of the ruin at some distance from me. They had made no effort to search +me, my wretched rags of a clown of the theatre being my protection, and +by that means only I was able to keep the pistol given me by the +corporal. Mercifully I had not used it yet, for when the attack was made +I saw that I had better make no defence if I wished to save my life; and +I could not see that I had any good reason for risking it on behalf of +the soldiers. I suppose it must have been evident that I was a prisoner, +and that it would be better worth their while to keep and sell me as a +slave than to blow my brains out. It was only too clear what they +intended to do with my poor friend. + +The brigands, so soon as they were rid of us, set to work preparing a +meal for themselves. They lit a fire in the chapel, filled a cauldron, +fed and watered their horses. Very soon they were all about the pot, +eating and drinking like wild beasts; and when the meat was done they +went on with the wine and brandy which they had in abundance, played +cards and dice, quarrelled or caroused far into the night. It was +densely dark, save for the chance flames of the fire, when I heard them +all wrangling together and had some hopes of a fight which might turn to +our advantage. But whatever was the subject of their disputations, their +fury died down into grumbling. They had decided on drawing lots for +possession of us, as I now understand--but some were too drunk to take a +part, and some too indifferent. It came down to three who went on with +the contest, while three fell asleep and snored through all the noise. + +I saw the whole affair: how three billets were put into an empty crock +and one was drawn out. The man who drew it had won me, I could tell, +because when he had shown his paper to the others, he came over to where +I was and touched me with his foot to learn whether I was safe. I +shammed sleep, and never moved; so presently he lay down by the side of +me and himself slept. Meantime another, of the remaining two, had drawn +Belviso and had gone towards his victim. I saw the loser creep after +him, and lost sight of both in the dark; but then, after a horrible +pause, I heard my wretched friend begin to cry for mercy, to confess the +truth, to pray to God, to shriek in a way I shuddered to hear. The +ruffian at my side, like his companions by the fire, slept through all, +and this dared me to what sounds like an act of madness. With a temerity +born of my anguish on Belviso's account, I rolled over and over until I +was close to the fire. There, I thrust my ankles into the flames, +regardless of the excruciating pain, and burnt away the cord that tied +me. I served my hands in the same way, and springing up, crept swiftly +to where I heard the crying lad and the scuffling. By what light the +fire afforded I saw that the two men were fighting for possession. One +was full length on the ground, the other crouched over him and upon him +with a knife in his teeth, but so intent upon his murderous design that +he had no eyes for me. I came quite close, made a sudden snap at the +knife, and plunged it with all my force into the neck of the topmost. It +drove right through him and pierced his victim; I think they must have +died at once, for except for one horrible gasping snort I heard nothing. +At the moment I felt myself caught by the ankle and heard, "Francis, +Francis, it is I." I pulled Belviso to his feet, cut the cord at the +wrist and plunged forward into the black of the wood, running downhill, +as near as I could judge, towards where I knew the brook was. We were +pursued, but in a darkness so impenetrable the chances were in our +favour, and we were never within a quarter-mile of being caught. We +gained the river side. "Jump!" I cried, and dragged Belviso in after me. +We could just bottom it. There we stayed, under a shelving bank, up to +our necks in cold water until the day began to break--not daring to move +lest we should happen upon our enemies, our teeth chattering together, +in a state of semi-death. How we endured it I don't know; but life is +sweet to young men. + +Looking about with great caution, I could see nothing nor hear anything +of the brigands. We crossed the river and ran as fast as we could-- +Belviso in dripping weeds and myself in my wet rags of the comedy. By +very good luck he had had some four lire in the pocket of his gown. + +When we had recovered something of blood and heart by our running, I +told Belviso to keep himself snug in some bushes while I went marketing +with his four lire. I had seen some herdboys on the hill and was +determined to supply him with clothes proper to his sex. I went up to +the boys and offered a lire for a pair of breeches. Half a dozen pairs +were off and under my nose before I had done speaking. I chose two pair, +begged a hunch of bread into the bargain, and made them happy as kings +with three lire. I asked them my whereabouts and learned that I was four +leagues from Volterra and seven from Pomarance. I was south of Volterra, +south-west of Siena, but Pomarance was on my road to Arezzo. To +Pomarance, therefore, so soon as we were clothed in the one +indispensable garment of manhood, we determined to go. + +To reach our haven it was necessary to cross one of the main lines of +communication with Siena, that from Florence, namely, by the Val d'Elsa, +or that from Rome by San Quirico and the Val d'Orcia. We agreed that the +latter was the safer for us as being further from the seat of +Government, though much the more difficult. The country was mountainous +and thinly populated. If we ran in no danger of robbery--as how should +we, who had nothing but rags and empty stomachs about us?--we might +easily starve, or keep the beasts from starvation. There were wolves in +these hills, and dogs, turned rogue, which were as bad or worse. All +this, however, we were ready to face so soon as we had eaten bread, +washed ourselves at a well by the roadside, and commended ourselves to +God. "Come, brother," I said, "our fortunes must needs mend since they +can never be more broken. In this world there is no stay, but a thing +gets better or worse. I believe we may be happy yet." + +"Brother," replied Belviso, "I am sure of it, and I promise you I have +never looked forward to happiness before. This well in which I have +washed myself is lustral water. I have fouled it with the vile thing I +was once. In return it has made a new creature of me, thanks to God and +you." + +"Bravo," said I, "and now, Avanti!" + +"Pronti," says Belviso, and we struck east along a fine grassy valley +where the trees were in the full glory of early summer. I was full of +hope, which I could neither explain nor justify, and though I did not +know it then I had some grounds to be so. I shall not inflict upon the +reader the vicissitudes of our wearisome journey of three weeks over the +sharp-ridged valleys of lower Tuscany. We sometimes begged, sometimes +worked for the bread we ate and the sheds in which we slept. We were +tanned to the colour of walnuts, healthy as young cattle, merry as larks +in the sky. We gave each other our full confidence, or so I believed. At +any rate I kept nothing from my friend. He was more reticent. "The past +is past," he used to say. "My safety is only in the future; let me talk +to you of that." And so he did. A friendship was sealed between us which +no difference of race, degree or age could ever break in upon; we loved +each other tenderly, we were as brothers. Belviso was at one and the +same time the most affectionate, the shrewdest, and the most candid boy +that ever was conceived in sin and nurtured in vice. No shameful dealing +had left a mark upon him, he was fine gold throughout. But so I have +found it always in this dear country of my adoption, that it takes +prosperity, never misery, to corrupt its native simplicity. The lower +you descend in the scale of human attainment the greater the hopes you +may conceive of what humanity may be permitted to attain. The poor drab, +the world's hire for the price of a rush-light, the lurking thief, the +beggar at the church door, the naked urchin of the gutter--these, though +they live with swine and are of them, have the souls of children new and +clean from God. Neither malice nor forethought of evil, nor craft, nor +hatred, nor clamour, nor the great and crowning sin is in their hearts. +A kind word, a touch, a kiss redeems them. Thus they, whom the tyrants +of Italy have enslaved, are in truth the very marrow of Italy, without +whom she would never have done anything in this world. And the sorrowful +verity is that slaves they must remain if Italy is to live on. For +prosperity, which fattens their bodies, chokes and poisons their souls. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII + +AN UNEXPECTED MESSENGER LIFTS ME UP + + +Destitute as we were of anything but the sinews of our backs and arms, +we were forced, if we would live, to work our way to Arezzo; and it +often fell out that the piece-work we engaged to do kept us long in one +place. Near Sinalunga, in particular, in a green pastoral country, we +hired ourselves out to a peasant to hoe his vines, and were busy there +for nearly three weeks. I cannot say that I was discontented; indeed, I +have always found that the harder my labour is and the straiter my lot, +the less room I have for discontent. With this peasant, his family, his +pigs, hens and goats, Belviso and I lived, in a hovel which, had it not +been roofed over, might have been a cote or a pigsty. The man's name was +Masuccio, his wife's Gioconda; between them they had a brood of nine +children--a grown daughter of fourteen, three stout lads, four brats, +and a child not breeched; and in addition to all these, and to Belviso +and myself, to a sow in farrow, four goats, and hens innumerable, the +good man's father was posed as veritable master of the whole--an old man +afflicted with palsy, who did nothing but shake and suck at his pipe, +but who, nevertheless, had, by virtue of his years and situation, the +only semblance of a bed, the first of everything, and the best and the +most of that. The rest of us, higgledy-piggledy, lay by night on the +mud-floor, with a little pease-straw for litter, and scrambled all +together for the remnants of the old tyrant's food. Yet nobody +questioned his absolute right, and nobody seemed unhappy, nor looked out +at any prospect but unremitting, barely remunerative labour from year's +end to year's end. This is, I am now convinced, the true philosophy of +life--that labour is a man's only riches, and food, shelter, rest, and +the satisfaction of appetite his means whereby to grow rich. In other +walks of life the practice is reversed, and labour is looked upon as the +means, appetite and comfort as the end. Inconceivable folly! since +labour alone brings health, and health content. But I must relate how I +was cozened out of my own healthy contentment. + +One day, when I was afield in the vines not far from the high road which +ran from Sinalunga to still distant Arezzo, as I was resting on my hoe +in the furrow, I saw a man come by walking a pretty good horse. He was +an elderly, bearded man, very portly, and wore the brown garb of the +Capuchins, which I certainly had no reason to love. His bald head, +gleaming in the sun, was of the steep and flat-topped shape of our +English quartern-loaves; and it came upon me with a shock that here was +that Fra Palamone, whom I had last seen extended, shot by my hand, in +the Piazza Santa Maria at Florence. This alarming discovery was verified +by his nearer approach. I recognised his twinkling, tireless eyes, his +one long tooth, like a tusk, and even the scar on his right brow. It was +Fra Palamone in the flesh--and in great and prosperous flesh. + +Although this apparition made me vaguely uneasy, I was relieved to find +that I had not his death upon my conscience. On the other hand, I felt +no yearning of the bowels towards him, and did not propose to go one +inch over the newly turned clods to bid him good-day. Supported by my +hoe, chin on hands, I watched him, tolerably sure that he would never +mark me down. I was as brown as the earth in which I delved, scarce +distinguishable from it. I had on my head an old felt hat of no shape at +all; I had a cotton shirt open to the navel, and a pair of blue cotton +drawers which failed me at the knees. I was bleached and tanned again, +stained and polished by the constant rub of weather and hard work--a +perfect contrast to my last appearance before him. Then it had been my +heart that was rent, not my garments; then my spirit was fretted and +seamed, not my skin. Then I had had a fine cloth coat and lace ruffles; +but my soul was soiled and my honour in tatters. The hand which shot him +down had been covered in a scented glove; but pride had flaunted it upon +me, naked and unashamed. The contrast assured me, while it gave me +confidence enough to watch my wily enemy. + +He saw me, however--he saw me and reined up his horse. He beckoned me +towards him in the way of free command which a mounted man assumes with +peasants. As it would have been more singular to stand than to obey, I +went slowly over the furrows and saluted him, responding to his bluff +"Buon di" with a "Servo suo." The shadow of my hat was now my only hope; +but I felt his sharp eyes burn their way through that, and now I am sure +that he recognised me at the first moment. He pretended, however, that +he had not, saving up, as I suppose, his acclamations to be the climax +of the little drama he had schemed. Addressing me as his "honest lad," +he asked his way to Fojano, with particulars of fords, bridle-tracks and +such like. This was a game of which I, at least, was soon weary; I never +could play pretences. I said, "I have told you what you want to know, +Fra Palamone. It is three good leagues to Fojano. I hope you are +sufficiently recovered of your wound to attempt it." At the same time I +pushed up the brim of my hat, and looked him in the face. + +He maintained his silly comedy for a little while longer, the old knave, +staring at me as if I had been a ghost, muttering names, as if to recall +mine. Then with a glad shout of, "It is, it is my Francis of old!" he +threw up his arms to Heaven and broke into doggerel-- + + "'Si, benedetta tu, + O Maria, Madre di Gesu, + Regina Coeli intemerata, + Atque hominum Advocata! + +"O what perils by land and sea," he continued, "what racking of entrails! +What contumely, what anguish of hunger and thirst, have I not undergone +for this--for this--for this! Now I can say, Domine, nunc dimittis, with +a full heart. Now, indeed, is the crown of lilies set upon the life-work +of wayworn, sad-browed Palamone!" + +Sad-browed Palamone! He threw a leg over his horse's ears, and slid to +the ground with a thud which made earth shake. He stretched out his arms +to beckon me home; and when I would not budge, he scrambled through the +briery hedge and took me, whether I would or no, into his strenuous +embrace. He wept over me as a long-lost child of his, slobbered me, +patted my head, back, breast. He held me at arm's-length to look at me +better, hugged me again as if at last he was sure. "This is verily and +indeed," he cried, "my friend and companion for many years, ardently +loved, ardently served, lost for a season, searched for with blood- +shedding, and found with tears of thankfulness. O dearest brother, let +us kneel down and thank the Giver of all good, the only True Fount, for +this last and most signal instance of His provident bounty!" He did +kneel, and had the hardihood to drag me with him; I believe he would +have prayed over me like a bishop at a confirmation--but this +blasphemous farce was too much for me. I jumped up and away in a rage. + +"Fra Palamone," I said, "I don't know whither this pretence of yours is +designed to lead you, but I know well whither it will lead myself-- +namely, with this hoe of mine, to complete the work which I bungled in +Florence. And to the achievement of that I shall instantly proceed, +unless you get up from your polluted knees and tell me your real and +present business with me here." + +He got up at once--one of those lightning alterations of his from the +discursive to the precise. + +"Va bene," says he, "you shall be satisfied in a moment." He fumbled for +his pocket-book, and from that selected three papers, which he handed to +me in silence and in due order. They were: + +1. A power of attorney to Fra Palamone by name from Sir John Macartney, +his Britannic Majesty's representative at the Grand Ducal Court, +authorising him to use all diligence and spare no expense in finding +Francis-Antony Strelley of Upcote Esquire, wherever he might be in +Italy; and with further authority to secure honour for his drafts upon +the banking-house of Peruzzi in Florence to the extent of five hundred +pounds sterling. + +2. A letter to the said Sir John Macartney from Mr. Simcoe of Gray's Inn +Square, announcing the death of my father, Antony Strelley Esquire. + +3. A letter addressed to me by my honoured, dear and now widowed mother. + +Over these documents--especially the last two of them--and my mournful +reflections upon them, I draw that veil, which no one who has been a bad +but repentant son to a saintly parent, will ever ask me to lift up. + +My first desire was to be rid of Palamone, my next to think. I turned +shortly on the frate. + +"I am obliged to you for your diligence in my affairs," I said to him, +"though I don't understand how you procured the means of using it. +However, as you seem willing to serve me, you will have the goodness to +ride on to Sinalunga and buy me three horses, two suits of clothes, with +riding-boots and cloaks for each; body linen sufficient for two persons, +valises and whatever else may be necessary--all being duplicates, +remember. The whole of these necessaries you will bring back to that +house which you see in the valley, together with a proper supply of +ready money, within three hours of this. Now be off." + +It was his turn to salute me now, and for him to say, "Servo suo." + +I found Belviso helping Filippa, the daughter of the house, to milk the +goats, and when he had done, drew him apart and told him my news. He +received it gravely, without surprise. "Don Francis," he said, "what do +you expect of me, except 'Of course!' It did not need much penetration +on my part to see that you were a signorino. The whole of our company +knew it. As far as I am concerned, it only makes your goodness to me the +more inexplicable, while it perfectly explains my willingness to serve +you; and since you have added condescension to charity I am the more +sincerely grateful. As you will now wish to be rid of me, I can assure +you that I am strong enough to stand alone. I believe that I shall make +my way in the world by honest courses in the future; but I shall never +cease to bless your name." + +"Belviso," I said, "as to leaving me, that is your affair, for I tell +you that the separation will never spring from me. We have been brothers +in misery, and may be no less so in good fortune. At any rate, I shall +not leave you to this life of a beast. Come with me to Arezzo, and after +that to Florence. Then we will talk of all our businesses, and hear what +Virginia has to say." + +He looked serious. "Ah," he said, "I know beforehand what your Virginia +will say. She will say as I do. I will follow you to the gates of Heaven +or Hell, Don Francis, but only in one capacity!" + +I said, "There is only one possible capacity." + +"I know that very well," replied the boy. "We agree to that point, but +differ beyond it." + +"What do you mean?" I asked him, puzzled. + +He was very serious, and said, "Don Francis, if I go with you from this +place, I go as your servant, and in no other fashion." To that I said, +"Never," and invoked the aid of Heaven. Shrugging, he turned away, +saying, "As you will. Then it is farewell, padrone." + +"You will make me angry," I said; and he answered, "It is your right." + +"My right, is it?" said I. "If so, then, I command you." + +"What!" he exclaimed. "You command me to be your brother? Dear sir!" + +At this I became angry in good earnest, and showed it very plainly. He +was extremely patient under it, but equally firm. He said, "Don Francis, +your generosity has gone near to be your ruin, because, though it would +be good logic in Heaven, we are not there yet. You say that you and I +are equal. I say that we are nothing of the sort; and the proof would be +that if we started level from this door, and as we stand, in six months' +time you would remain a gentleman, and I the son of a shoemaker of +Cadorre. A gentleman you are, because you were born so. If you took me +up to your right hand, whether in this hovel or in the palace which is +yours by reason, still you would be the gentleman and I the cobbler's +son. And though I might prosper in business and become rich, and finding +you in want, might take you up to my right hand, call you my brother, +make you my heir--still you would be the gentleman condescending, and I +the cobbler's son making myself ridiculous. Your misfortunes--every one +of them--have arisen from the fact that you persist in treating your +inferiors as your equals. I should be sorry to tell you--it would be a +great impertinence--how far back into your career in Italy I can trace +this foible of yours." + +He was no doubt in the right. A little more generosity on my part would +have told him so. I said that I could not convince him, and that I +should leave Virginia to do that. + +"Oh, sir, it is she that has convinced me already," says he. + +The return of Fra Palamone with the gear put an end to our talk. I said, +"Come with me, Belviso, as you will--but come"; and his reply was, +"Servo suo." + +I left the honest family at Sinalunga calling blessings on my name, and +rode forward on a good horse to Arezzo. By my orders Fra Palamone kept +behind me. By his own determination, Belviso held him company, and led +the sumpter-horse. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX + +VIRGINIA DECLINES THE HEIGHTS + + +I took up my lodgings at the Bear, in Arezzo, and made all such +preparations to receive my wife as were becoming. I engaged a woman to +wait upon her, had a withdrawing-room--as the French say, a boudoir-- +fitted up, and caused her bedchamber to be hung with the best curtain +and wall furniture the place could afford, I then proceeded to dine, but +told the landlord that he must be prepared at any moment to place a +fresh cover on the table, with a bottle of his most excellent wine. To +Belviso, who persisted in playing valet, and who told me that he had +been in Arezzo before more than once, I entrusted the privilege--though +I grudged it him--of seeking far and wide through the town for +Virginia's lodging. I said, "Brother, you failed me once, in spite of +yourself, when you tried so bravely to find my wife. Don't fail me this +time, I beseech you." + +He looked troubled; he fingered the tablecloth before he spoke. I +encouraged him to open me his mind. "Well, Don Francis," said he, most +uncomfortably, "the task you put upon me then was very easy but for the +one little circumstance that Virginia was not there. But this present is +of enormous difficulty." + +"Why so, my dear?" I asked him. + +"For the one little circumstance that Virginia IS here," said he; and +then, seeing my bewilderment, he added, "You don't know the Tuscans of +her class as well as I do, that's certain. You know them as children, as +warm-hearted, passionate simpletons; but you have yet to learn how +tender they are of their reputation, and how quick to feel a touch. I +have never seen your Virginia, but I'll warrant her as proud as fire. I +believe that she would rather die than occupy that damask-hung bed, even +with your honour for mate. And supposing she consented to that, do you +not guess what would be the first thing she would do? It would be to +scratch the eyes out of that Donna di Camera you have given her. And she +would do that, mind you, in self-defence, for the Donna di Camera (who +is probably a little above her in degree) would certainly do the same +for Virginia." + +I own to having been somewhat put about. "My dear Belviso," I said, +"Virginia is liable to impulse, it may be admitted; but she is never +likely to forget what wifely duty involves. I was not a cruel husband to +her, and left her through no fault of my own. I will answer for her that +she will be a good wife." + +"A good wife--for Francesco the carpenter," said Belviso. "Yes, it may +be so, though I own that her marriage puzzles me. But wife to Don +Francesco--nobile Inglese--never in the world!" + +I said, "Belviso, I never asked you to be my servant, as you very well +know. The proposal came from you against my will. But if my servant you +are, I will make free to remind you that I have given you an order, and +shall be obliged if you will set about performing it." The good lad +dropped on one knee, took my hand and kissed it, and turned to obey me +without a word. Ashamed of myself, I patted him on the shoulder in token +of forgiveness, and saw the tears spring into his eyes. Before he could +reach the door, Fra Palamone had filled up the entry, panting, holding +out a note. + +"For the Excellency of Don Francesco," says he, "just delivered at the +door by a young female." I took it from him; it was in the hand of +Virginia, the hand I myself had guided, the good and docile hand which +had formed itself on mine. + +I read--O Heaven, can I say so? The words, like knives at work, cut +themselves deep into the fibres of my heart. + +Virginia wrote: + +"MOST EXCELLENT DON FRANCIS,-- + +"That cavalcade of his lordship's, of four horses and two servants, +entering this city of Arezzo at three o'clock in the afternoon of to- +day, was witnessed by a concourse of people, always eager to see a great +gentleman, and to secure some part of his bounty. Had his lordship +lifted his eyes to the windows of the shops and houses of the poor as he +passed by, he would have seen Virginia Strozzi at her needlework--that +poor creature whose virtue his lordship was so benevolent as to protect; +for which truly gracious act his same poor Virginia must always be +grateful. It would have been a great kindness in his lordship to have +allowed one, who ever tried to be faithful and obedient, to kiss his +noble hand; and his Virginia cannot doubt but that she might have done +so. His lordship's nobility of mind and generosity of heart are so well +known, that for the very reason of them she has not dared to present +herself. I know what my duty is; I cannot come to you. I beg him not to +seek me; I am going away so soon as I have delivered this letter. Do not +ask me to come, Francis, I cannot, I cannot, I cannot. + +"Your VIRGINIA, who tries to be good." + +This letter stunned me. I sank under it, as under a violent blow. With +me also fell, dashed to the ground, all my honourable resolutions, all +my hopes of gaining self-respect. I will not deny also that I was +savagely stung by mortification; for a man is so made that he does not +relish a refusal any the more for being aware that he has not too +anxiously sought acceptance; but, on the contrary, his self-reproach for +that tardiness of his is made more bitter by the rebuff. He feels that +he has deserved it, and is the more deeply wounded. + +And had I not deserved it? Why had I not crept back into Lucca--in any +disguise, by any subterfuge--when I was driven out? Why had I not braved +a second disgrace--nay, imprisonment, stripes, even death, on Virginia's +account? Alas, it was because Virginia's account was not heavy enough in +my books. Pass that, and have at me again. Why, when I knew her +whereabouts, did I not strike off across the hills to find her? Was it +that she would not have welcomed me naked, have cherished me dying, have +died herself to save me? Alas, no! It was because I had been drawn on to +Siena by that lovely, haunting, beckoning, beguiling vision of Aurelia, +my torture and stem of shame. Why, finally, were my eyes not lifted up +to her wistful eyes, as she sat--poor sempstress--in that upper room? It +was because of my accursed prosperity. It was because my eyes were cased +and swollen in pride; because my fine horse held them; because I thought +I had but to nod and be obeyed by--my wife! Thy wife, sayest thou, +Francis? Nay, wretched fool, but thy SLAVE! Out upon thee--out! + +White and suffering, not knowing what to do, I sat by my untasted board +and gave the letter into Belviso's hand to read. He read it carefully, +and Fra Palamone peeped over his shoulder. He was the first to speak. + +He clacked his tongue to his palate--that gross and forcible rogue; he +looked all about him with his arms spread abroad, as if he were scouring +the air to find Virginia. "She's off," he said, "she's off, that's +plain. Bolted like a coney to the hills. Now, who's our man?" + +I struck my breast. "It is I, Fra Palamone. I am her man." + +He inspected me for half a moment, as if to judge of the possibility; +but took no further notice of me. He walked to the window and looked +out--up and down the street. "Clean heels," says he, "and she was within +reach of my hand." + +"What!" I cried. "It was she who----" I did not finish but rushed at the +door. Belviso, divining my insane purpose, caught me by the coat. + +"Stay, Don Francis--let any one go but you." Seeing that I paused +irresolute, he went on to urge me by all that I held dear to do nothing +so foolish. "Do you suppose," he said, "that YOU will find her--knowing +nothing of Arezzo--and she knowing all? Do you think her so light, that, +having borne the first sight of you already without faltering, she will +fall to you at the second? You have taught me wiselier about her out of +your own mouth. Let us question the friar." He turned to Palamone, who +had his mouth open and was scratching in his beard. + +The frate said that Virginia herself had delivered the letter into his +hands as he stood taking the air at the inn door. He scoffed at the +notion that he could be mistaken; had he not nearly lost his life for +her already? He described her in terms too luscious to be palatable--a +fine and full wench, he called her, bare-headed, bare-necked, with the +breasts of Hebe. "And," says he, "Don Francis, you may call her your +wife or by what other pleasant phrase you please, but though I'd allow +you, to do you pleasure, that that were what she ought to be--wife, at +least, to somebody--saving your respect, she's no wife at all. There's +not a wedded woman in all Italy would go abroad with a bare bosom--you +may take the word of an expert for that. She's tricked you, sir,--or you +have tricked her. She has had what she has had without responsibility-- +and now she's away; and if I may be allowed the remark, I should say you +were well rid of her. An excellent dinner awaits you here--more than +enough for one, a bare pittance for two; a courteous banker awaits you +in Florence. Old Palamone will scratch his eyes out to save you. After +dinner, sir, half of Arezzo--" + +I said, "Palamone, I lay this command upon you, since you profess +yourself my friend. Find me Virginia, wheresoever she may be. I will +give you a thousand guineas. Without her you have not one farthing of +mine." + +He seized my hands. "A thousand devils would not send me faster-- +consider her in your arms." He went gaily out of my presence with a song +on his lips. I heard him singing it lustily down the street of the town, +and saw no more of him for some days. + +Belviso was of great comfort to me during my time of anxiety; without +the faithful creature I should have run my feet off my legs and my wit +out of my head in futile search. He was much too tactful to remind me of +his warnings, but did not cease to show me all sorts of reasonable +grounds for Virginia's conduct, which had the effect of keeping his +first prognostication always before me. "The girl," he said--I repeat +the sum of his many discourses--"is evidently a good girl, and of strong +character. She is perfectly reasonable. She married you--I take that for +granted--when you were broken, beyond all prospect of repair. She now +finds you restored to your proper station in the world, and will be no +party to pulling you off your throne. She sees very well how that must +end--unhappily. How can she hope to be a companion of your companions, a +friend of your friends, a sharer in your amusements? Mistress she might +be, your toy; wife she can never be. That parade of her neck and bosom-- +a desperate measure I assure you--shows to my mind that you will never +possess her again, but as you would not care to do. You assure me that +you married her, you name the church, describe the rites. All seems to +be in order; but the more I understand your Virginia in these late +proceedings, the less I understand that wedding in the Ghetto. +Everything I learn of her from her own acts convinces me of her good +sense; but of her acts as reported by you, Don Francis, I reserve my +judgment." + +My heart and whole mind being now set upon finding her, my chagrin may +be imagined when Fra Palamone returned without her. He demanded money to +prosecute his researches beyond the confines of Arezzo. "She's a deep +one," he said, "she's as deep as the sea. Who can tell where she is by +now? May be in Venice, may be in Rome, may be in the attics of this +inn." I gave him twenty guineas, and he disappeared again for ten days. +At the end of that time he returned once more, horribly dishevelled, +dirty and extended. He looked to be just out and about again after a +ruinous debauch. He talked in hollow whispers, he trembled in the limbs, +he started and turned pale at a shadow, or the sound of a mouse in the +wainscot. He said he had been to Ancona, Gubbio, Rimini, Ravenna, +Chioggia, Venice, Udine, Trieste. He demanded money--fifty guineas; but +this time I gave him nothing. I was preparing to go to Florence, and had +other agents than him in view. I dismissed him from my service, and told +him to go to the devil. He left me for the moment, vowing as he did it +that he should never, never quit my service, and I found that it was no +easier to get rid of him now than it had ever been. I saw him on the +morrow; I saw him every day. The more I saw of him the more I abhorred +him; and the more I made this plain the more devoted he professed +himself. Wherever I went he shadowed me. He lurked in the dark corners +of churches where I made my devotions, or studied the monuments until I +rose from my knees. If I rode in the country I knew that he was not far +away, if I frequented public assemblies I saw his keen eyes upon me, and +his wide mouth fixed at a patient grin. He was oppressively, sickeningly +affectionate, his role being that of the old friend of my family, who +had rocked my cradle and held me by my leading-strings. At meals he came +skipping about me with little offerings: "A rose-bud for my bosom's +king!" he would say; "Fresh-pulled radishes for my heart's blood!"; and +once, while I was at dinner, he danced up to the table with a large and +bleeding rabbit, saying, "A coney for my dear, of old Palamone's +wiring!" This was too much for my patience; I swung the beast about his +ears, drove him from the room and flung his catch after him. He brought +me no more presents, but did not cease to be my shadow. + + + + +CHAPTER XL + +I GET RID OF MY ENEMY AND PART FROM MY FRIEND + + +When the day drew near upon which I had appointed to depart from +Florence, I saw that I must come to terms with the fellow. I sent +Belviso out to look for him--and to find him at no greater distance than +the other side of the door, with his eye at the keyhole. He came in, +blinking like an owl, still weak with his recent excesses, and very +nervous. I felt my gorge rise at the sight of him, but did my best to be +cool. + +"Palamone," I began, "it appears that you have recently done me a +service----" + +He leered at me. "My Francis! When--and at what hour of day or night +have I not been ready to serve you?" + +"Why, that's as may be," said I. "I think I could remind you of a night +attack at Pistoja----" + +"Oh, cruel," he said, "oh, cruel!" + +"Of a ravishment--of the strappado applied to a man bound hand and foot--" + +He pretended to weep. "Cruel, cruel Francis!" + +"Of detestable treachery in Florence when you set to work to entrap a +good girl who had done you no harm in the world--and, Fra Palamone, I +think I may remind you of the payment of those services of yours IN +KIND, in the Piazza of Santa Maria." + +With clasped hands, streaming eyes, he beamed upon me. "Generous hand! +Oh, healing, life-giving blood!" + +"I am glad," I said, "that you consider yourself healed by bleeding. But +now, it appears, you have appointed yourself messenger from my friends, +and have succeeded in benefiting me without extraordinary robbery. I +cannot suppose that you did this for love." + +"Believe it," says he, "believe it, Francis." + +"You must forgive me if I cannot," said I. "On the contrary, I believe +that you have acted for what profit you can make out of it. I never +asked you to interfere in my affairs, and owe you less than nothing, but +to make an end of you, since you do, perhaps, believe that you have +served me with this late news of what you, no doubt, would call my 'good +fortune,' I will give you more than you deserve." I counted out ten +guineas, or their equivalent, and held them out to him. + +His eyes gleamed, as if a fire had suddenly been kindled in them by the +sight of money. He pounced at my hand and emptied it, as a dog scrapes +in the ground. Holding his coins close to his breast, he snarled at me +of his astuteness, and took obscene pride in his guile. "Is Palamone an +old fool then? Eh, mercy and truth, was there ever such a wise old fox +born into this world? Did I not, when I saw you at Rovigo, lay this +finger to this nose, and say, 'La, la, Palamone, fratello, here is a +pigeon for your plucking hand'? Did I not know you for an Englishman, +for a nobleman born? For what do you take me? I knew that you had run +away out of a scrape, I knew that the money-bags would be emptied to +find you. Wise old Palamone! Deep-browed old night-bird! Darkly +thinking, quickly acting old Fox-Palamone! And now, take heed to this, I +have never lost you, but have been hard on your heels though Jesuits and +Ministers and woman after woman have beset you on all sides. And what +have I gained by all this? A wound in the breast, my conscience! A slug +through the lung, on the word of a Christian--and my Francis, the child +of my sorrow, fed upon my tears, talks to me of profit--O Dio! O Dio!" +He wrung his hands and howled; then, grinning like a wolf, he came +creeping to me, his fingers gripping the air like claws. "Give me more +money, Francis, you who have so much--give me the guineas of England, +fifty, a hundred, a thousand--what are they to you? To me they are meat +and drink, Paradise and the Mercy Seat." He was now hovering close to +me, terribly possessed by greed. "If you do not give me money, Francis, +I shall kill you with these hands." So he threatened me, raving. + +My anger got the better of my judgment. "You black-souled thief," I +said, "you shall have just what you deserve." + +He still grinned and glared. I think he still hoped for more money. I +had my malacca cane in my hand, caught him with the other by the neck- +gear and beat him till the stick was in splinters. It was like thrashing +a sack of flour, for he lay like that under his punishment, and the dust +that flew out of him filled the room. When I had done I threw him from +me, went to the door and opened it. Belviso was outside, pale and +trembling. I sent him for a corporal's guard, at the sound of which +order, before the lad could obey it, the frate rose, howling like a lost +dog, ran swiftly to the window and leapt out into the street. He was not +hurt, apparently, for I heard his howls far down the Via di Citta; and +he must have run like the wind, for when they searched the country half +an hour later there was no sign of him to be seen. + +Belviso, who had witnessed this startling end, came trembling out of the +corner of the room with his hands stretched out. He knelt down before +me, his face hidden between his arms. + +"Terrible man!" he said, shuddering; "but oh, signore, he has awoken the +God in you. Have no fear, he will trouble you no more." + +"I believe not," said I. "On the other hand, he will not find me +Virginia. Get up, Belviso, let us take counsel together. What is your +opinion?" + +Belviso, thus adjured, rose to his feet and stood humbly before me. He +was agitated--if by fear, then curiously; but it did not seem to be fear +which put the slurred accents into his voice. + +"Senta, Don Francesco," he began, "what Virginia has done was all for +love. She has acted according to her nature--as many would act--as all +would act towards you, who knew your worth. O Dio!" cried the lad +suddenly, gripping his chest with both hands, "O Dio! I would prove my +love in the same sort if I were--if I were not--if you were--if you were +not----" He began to weep piteously. + +I stared. "What is the matter with you, Belviso?" I asked him. "What +would you do if you were, or were not, something which you are, or are +not? Riddles, riddles, my dear." I was sorry he had seen me in such a +rage, and laid a kindly arm upon his drooped shoulders. But Belviso +sprang away. + +"Don't touch me--do not touch me," he said, panting. "You little know-- +you cannot guess--and you never shall! What! shall I prove such an +ingrate? You have befriended me, lifted me out of the mud. I have a soul +now, it is worth saving. Virginia, that savage, fine girl, is not the +only servant in the world. No, Mother Diana, we have hearts too in the +Veneto----" He swept the storm from his eyes and calmed himself by the +gesture. "Don Francis," he said, "let me leave you at this moment. I +will find your Virginia--that fine girl. Trust me, leave all to me. I +know Tuscany and the Tuscans. I will give her to you, never fear. In six +weeks from now I will have her snug in Lucca. There you shall find her +if you still want her, and if you do not----" + +"If I do not," I said, "you may blot the name of Francis Strelley from +the Book of Life and Judgment. God bless you, Belviso, dear friend. Your +words convince me. Go in peace. Take money, take what you choose--my +love, my gratitude---" + +"I choose nothing but your confidence, and a kiss of your noble hand," +said Belviso. + +"You shall grasp, not kiss, my hand," I told him. "You are a man, or +will be one, as I am. Let us love, trust, meet, part, as men." + +I held out my hand, he took it, pressed it, seemed unable to let it go. +Suddenly he dropped down and kissed my knee--but with ardour, with +reverence, indescribable devotion; then sprang to his feet, and was +gone. + +I made all preparations for my journey to Florence. + + + + +CHAPTER XLI + +I RETURN TO FLORENCE AND THE WORLD OF FASHION + + +Upon my arrival in the capital, my first care, after securing a lodging +on the Lung' Arno, was to pay a visit to the Ghetto, where I had spent +those happy three days with my newly wedded wife--if wife indeed she had +been. I found the church, but not the priest; I found the old Jewess, +Miriam, in whose house we had lodged. She made short work of my doubts. +"You are no more married to your Virginia than you are to me," she +curtly said. "You are as little married as any young man of my +acquaintance. Married, indeed! Why, that church hadn't had a Mass said +in it to my knowledge for fifty years, except a black one now and again +to oblige the jaded vicious; and as for your priest, 'tis true he was a +priest once, but he had been degraded for a bad affair of robbery with +violence and inhibited from his business--and, now I come to think on +it, he was hanged outside the Bargello no earlier than last week." + +I was aghast at this news, which, as it was delivered, I could hardly +doubt. Virginia then had deceived me. I had trusted her in all things +and she had played me false. Designing to do her honour, I had done her +the greatest dishonour--but through her means. Blind fool that I was! +Playing the husband, complacently accepting her play of the wife as +serious. O Heaven, and she had let me ruin her, and now was gone! I own +that I was angry at being made the victim of a trick, indignant at +having been forced into a thing which I should never have dreamed of +doing. But when I turned severely to Miriam and accused her of being a +party to the fraud, she laughed in my face, and put the case before me +in a way which made me sing a tune in the minor. "Fiddlededee!" she +retorted, her arms stuck out akimbo, "what in the world had I to do with +your fooleries? 'Twas the girl arranged it all--and for reasons which do +her more credit than YOU seem able to do her. I think she's a very good +girl--a thousand times too good for you. If you find her again I shall +be sorry for her--and I'll tell you this much, that I shan't help you." + +She had me pleading after this; but it took two or three visits and very +liberal treatment before she would condescend to tell me anything. +Finally, however, she gave it as her opinion that Fra Palamone, whom I +had been so short-sighted as to dismiss, was more likely to know of her +whereabouts than any one; and that I had better beware of the Marchese +Semifonte, a man well known to her. She plainly told me that she thought +next to nothing of my chances, and that the best thing I could do was to +go back to England. "You don't understand our women, nor will you ever-- +you and the likes of you," she said. "They have more sound sense in +their little fingers than your nation in its collected Parliament. Do +you imagine a girl like Virginia wants to be your lady? What on earth +should she do in such a place? Lie on a couch and order menservants +about? Oh, preposterous! What pleasures does Virginia know but those of +bed and board and hoard? She'll be merry in the first, and hearty at the +second, and passionate for filling the crock with gold pieces. But your +manners would freeze the heart out of her; and if you have more guineas +than you can spend, where's the joy of sweating to get 'em, or of hiding +'em under the flag-stones against a lean year? No, no, she knew better +than you, and did better. A gentleman may play the beggar for a while, +but sooner or later his own will have him--and what's Virginia to do +then? Do you dare," she said sternly, "do you dare to blame her for what +she has done? She has done incredibly well; and if you in all the rest +of your life can prove a tithe of her nobility, you will be a greater +man than I have reason to believe you." + +"I cannot blame her, Miriam," I said, "I love her too much. I shall +never rest until I find her." The tears stood in my eyes--I was indeed +humiliated; but my shame, though bitter, was not without fruit. + +Shortly afterwards, in order to clear up the affairs of my inheritance, +I presented myself before Sir John Macartney, the English Minister, at +his weekly levee in the Palazzo C----. A bluff, soldierly man, of Irish +birth and English opinions, he received me with particular civility, in +which curiosity may perhaps have played its part. He deplored my loss of +an excellent father, rejoiced in my gain of an excellent estate, hoped I +should return to England, cry for King George, hunt the country, and +keep a good head of game. He alluded, as delicately as he could, to +religious differences. "I know very well that you're no turncoat, Mr. +Strelley," he said; "no, dammy, your house is inveterate for the Pope. +But your father was never a Stuart's man, and I hope you'll follow him +there. You'll stand apart--'tis only natural--but, curse me, let us have +no Jesuit rogues in our women's quarters--hey? No, no--you must uphold +the Protestant succession, Mr. Strelley, like your father before you." + +My reply, I fancy, somewhat sobered the heart of Sir John. I said that I +preferred the Republican form of government as I had seen it in Venice +and Lucca, and that I should certainly have nothing to question in the +authority of King George, seeing that that authority had been conferred +upon him by Parliament. I added that my plans were very uncertain, and +did not at present include hunting the county of Oxford. "I have done +much hunting since I have been in Italy," I said ruefully, "I have been +as often quarry as huntsman. At present I am hunting for my----." But +there I stopped. Wife I could not say--mistress I would not. + +Sir John saved me the trouble. He was a man of the world. + +"Young blood!" he cried. "I envy you that. At your age, my dear sir, +that too was my game." He took snuff, then said in an undertone, "I am +not too old but I can feel for you, and not so young neither that I +shall pretend more ignorance of your troubles than you could believe me +to have. For reasons of your own, you chose not to seek my good offices +when you were last in Florence, and it was not for me to thrust myself +upon you. There was a lady, I believe--pooh, man, never blush for that; +there is always a lady at your happy age. Well, I can give you news. +That lady is still here in Florence--a charming creature, Mr. Strelley! +Upon my soul, if I were younger by a decade--tut, tut! what am I +saying?" + +What was he saying, indeed! He was reminding me of one I desired +extremely to forget; he was diverting my mind from another whom I must +by all means remember. Honestly, I did not wish to see Donna Aurelia-- +but Sir John must have out his news. + +He told me that Donna Aurelia and her husband were established in +Florence. Count Giraldi, said Sir John, had used his great authority +with the Sovereign to obtain a fine position for the professor. Dr. +Lanfranchi had been made a Judge of the Court of Cassation, and had been +in residence some six months or more. Fine as this position was, +however, it was nothing, said Sir John, to the position of the judge's +lady. "She's a leader of the mode, I can assure you," said he, "and any +little difficulty you may have had in that quarter, you may be sure, +will be none now. Count Giraldi will, no doubt, be enchanted to present +you there. I recommend you to keep in with the count." + +I felt that I could not love Count Giraldi any more. I told Sir John +that my duties towards Donna Aurelia and her husband were of a peculiar +kind, not to be assisted or made more difficult by Count Giraldi. "There +was a moment," I added, "when his Excellency could have served me--when, +having played the part of an honest man, I called for the help of one +who had pretended himself my friend. He failed me then, I know not why; +and he might fail me now. If you will pardon me for saying so, what I +now have to do in the case of this lady--if there is anything for me to +do--is by no means the business of his Excellency." + +"I hope not, I hope not," said Sir John. "Go your own way--and count +upon me, at least, in the pinch--if pinch there is to be. But remember +this. Count Giraldi is the Chief Minister of this Government, and this +Government is your host. Count Giraldi is therefore major-domo. Keep in +with him, my dear sir, by all means, unless you desire (a) your conge, +or (b) an extortionate bill for breakages and arrears. I need only +mention the name of the Marchese Semifonte--no more on that head." + +"No more indeed," says I, very short. "But as to Count Giraldi, I can +assure you that I have no quarrel with his Excellency, who (idle rumours +apart) has never, to my knowledge, impugned my honour." + +"Why no," said Sir John, with a queer frown, "nor need he ever--so long +as you clearly perceive wherein your honour lies." + +"I do perceive it most clearly," I replied, "and believe that I have +always perceived it since that fatal night when I forgot that I had any. +I am so sure of it now that I shall not hesitate for a moment. With your +permission, sir, I shall set about it this very hour." + +"What the devil are you going to do, my dear sir?" cried the Minister. + +"I am going to leave Florence," I said, "so soon as ever I have done my +present business." + +Sir John puffed out his cheeks and let his relief escape in a volley. +"Poh! How you put me about," said he. "I thought you were for the +count's throat. I thought--body of me, I know not what I thought. As for +the doctor, you'll find him easy handling. The good man knows where his +comforts are, and whence they come. Why, supposing that you had never +gone into his wife's cupboard and stalked out of it again, would he at +this day have been snug upon the bench, with house-room at the Villa San +Giorgio?" Here was something strange. + +"At the Villa San Giorgio?" I echoed with astonishment. "Is Donna Giulia +then----?" + +Sir John looked sly. "Donna Giulia," he said, "was a sensible woman. She +knew very well the length of her shoe. Donna Giulia has joined her +husband at Naples--a Court appointment and a good house. Dr. Lanfranchi +occupies the Villa San Giorgio. Now do you see how the land lies?" I +frowned and squared my chin. I think that I was disturbed because I did +not then see how the land lay. I suspected, however, that Sir John knew +more than he chose to tell me. I rose to take leave of him. There was +something about me which he noticed. + +"You are going to the doctor?" he said. "You will find him in court." + +"I am going," I said, "to the Villa San Giorgio." + +He showed his alarm by saying, "You may regret it; you may regret it all +your life long." + +"I shall regret that I ever lived if I do not go," said I. As I went out +Sir John threw up his hands. + + + + +CHAPTER XLII + +I STAND AT A CROSS-ROAD + + +I did not go immediately to the Villa San Giorgio; it was necessary that +I should be clear why I was to go there at all. How did I stand with +regard to Donna Aurelia--did I love her still, or was I cured of my +wound? If I loved her, to go to her now were to play the criminal; if I +did not, it might be to play the fool. + +Because--if I did not love her, why was I going? That is easily +answered. I was going because I suspected that all was not well with +her. Why was Donna Giulia in retirement? Why was the villa at the +disposition of the learned judge? Why was Sir John Macartney so guarded +in his admissions, and why so desirous that I should not see Count +Giraldi? Apart from my private grievance against that person, which, +after all, was only based on surmise and the convictions of Virginia, I +could see no possible reason why I should not meet him, but one. That +was, that he was fallen a victim to Aurelia's charms. And to a certain +extent I felt that I should be responsible for that misfortune, for if I +had never loved her she had never been in Florence; and if she had never +been in Florence, she had never seen this accomplished, scoffing, +cynical Tuscan. + +I was not ashamed to confess that I still thought Aurelia the most +beautiful woman in the world, the most heavenly in conversation as in +person the most superb. All the old glamour was upon me still. I knew +that I should be a child at her knees the moment I set eyes upon her +again; I knew that I should be imparadised, longing after impossible +goodness, filled with impossible joys. But I knew also that I did not +desire her. She was sacred, she was so little of the earth that as well +might one hope to wed a seraph, all compact of fire, as she. I set by +her, in my mind's eye, that passionate Virginia--that faithful, +clinging, serving mate of what I knew were my happiest days. Ah, my +sweet, lovely, loving wife! Virginia's long kisses, Virginia's close +arms, her beating bosom, her fury of love, the meekness, obedience, +steadfastness into which it could all be changed at a mere lift of my +brows--ah, nuptial love, wedded bliss, the joys of home and the hearth, +English joys! Virginia meant all this and more to me. I swore to myself +that without her I could not live, that to deserve her I would renounce +the world, my patrimony, my country, and that not even a changed +Aurelia--changed from Seraph to calling Siren--could keep me from her +side. + +But Aurelia--Aurelia Gualandi, that delicate flower of Siena, that +youngest of the angels, that fount of poesy--what of her? What had she +to say to such a certainty as this of mine? In my mind's eye I saw them +stand together, she and Virginia, those two beautiful girls, Virginia a +head the taller, proudly erect, with arms folded over her chest, and her +dark brows forming a bar across her forehead. I saw her in white bodice +and green petticoat, her arms and neck bare, her feet in old slippers, +her black hair loosely coiled and stuck with a silver pin. I saw her +hold herself aloof and dubious, proud and coldly chaste. "Call me and I +come," she seemed to say to me between her shut lips, "Call me and I +follow you over the world like a dog at your heels. Send me into infamy +and I go; expect me to woo you there and I will die sooner. Yours, if +you will have me; nobody's, anybody's, if you will not!" In my fancy I +could hear her very words, see her steady eyes, her pure and moving +lips. + +And Aurelia--how did she stand there? I saw her too in my mind's eye; +dazzlingly, provokingly, like a creature of pure light, with thrown-back +head and parted lips, with jewels about her neck, as I had seen her in +the theatre at Siena; and jewels also in her hair. Like a queen of +beauty at a love-court, conscious of her power, loving it, proving it; +she smiled, she shook her cloudy tresses, she demanded my worship as of +right. "If I choose I shall call thee," she seemed to say, "and thee-- +and thee--and thee again, to stand behind my chair, to kneel at my feet, +to be my slave. And wilt thou deny me, Francis--or thou--or thou?" + +Her soft eyes, how they peered and sparkled! Her soft lips, how they +faltered between laugh and pout! "If I need him I can have him here," I +heard her say. "I have but to thrill his name--to call Checho--Checho-- +and he comes. Is it not so, Checho? Is it not so?" + +Call you me, Virginia; call you me in turn, my girl! What said she now +but, "Povera Virginia, che fara? Don Francesco non ti ama piu. Ebbene-- +pazienza!" Virginia shrugged her proud shoulders and turned her grey +eyes away. Virginia refused to plead, and was too proud to command. + +So stood I, In my fancy, irresolute between these two, their +battleground, the prize, it would seem, of one who now refused to fight +for it, and of one already sure of victory. But this was very odd about +the affair, that the stiffer Virginia grew, as I saw her there, the more +indurate, the more ruggedly of the soil, declining battle, the more +Aurelia shrank in my eyes, the less confident her call to me, the more +frail her hold of my heart. Virginia stood apart like a rock and turned +away her eyes from me. "Thou shalt seek me out of thine own will, +Francis, for I will never come to thee again of mine!" But Aurelia's +halo had slipped; her wings drooped lifeless, her glitter was dimmed. +Her appeal was now urgent; her arms called me as well as her voice; but +I seemed to shrink from them, as if there were danger in her. + +This very singular hallucination of mine decided me to go, for now I was +curious. The strife, in which I had had so little to do, had been most +vivid, the parties to it so real, that there were moments when I caught +myself speaking aloud to one of my phantoms. That one was always +Virginia; therefore I dared to go, knowing full well that she would now +go with me. + +And it was so. At six o'clock of an evening I went out of doors and +turned my face towards the east. It was a mild evening as that on which +I had seen Virginia for the first time in the wood, her faggot on her +head. I seemed to see her now going bravely before me. So clearly did +she show, I quickened my steps to overtake her; and again my heart beat, +and again I thought of the nymphs and all the soft riot of the woodland +scents and sounds. Strange! how the slim figure of the peasant-girl +possessed me. I thought of her as I entered the grove of cypresses which +led to the villa, and if my heart was in high trouble as I asked for +Donna Aurelia, it was the surmise that I should again see Virginia +fluttering among the trees that set my blood a-tingling. + +But she left me there, as I waited in the saloon open to the shadowed +garden; and I knew not whether I felt her the more certainly for her +absence than for her former persistent company. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIII + +AGITATIONS AT THE VILLA SAN GIORGIO + + +The servant, an old one of Donna Giulia's, who knew me well by sight, +had grimaced pleasantly as he saluted. "Buon di, signoria," he had said, +and "Servitore del 'lustrissimo." The padrona, he felt sure, was in the +house, and the Excellency of the count was paying a visit. Let the +'lustrissimo accommodate himself, take repose, walk in the garden, do +his perfect pleasure. In two little moments the padrona should be +informed. With that he had gone away, leaving a volley of nods, winks +and exclamations behind him. The windows stood open, the hour, the +season invited. I saw the long, velvety vista of the cypress avenue, the +slender feathers of trees in young leaf, the pleasantness of the grass, +heard the invitation of a calling thrush, thought poignantly of +Virginia, and went out, hoping to see her spirit there. + +I paced the well-remembered long avenue to where it opened into a circle +to meet two others. A sun-dial stood here in the midst and marked a +point from which you could look three ways--behind you to the house, to +the right and to the left. I chose for the right, and sauntered slowly +towards the statue of the Dancing Faun, which closed that particular +alley. + +Strange, indeed, it was to be within the personal circle of Donna +Aurelia, and undisturbed! But I did not realise then how near her I was. + +The sound of voices in debate broke in upon my meditations--a woman's +clear "No, no. At this hour, no!" and a man's, which urged, "Signora, if +my devotion--" I knew both voices--the woman's was not to be mistaken. +Aurelia was there--the divine Aurelia--close at hand. Without thinking +what I did, I took a strong breath and stepped forward to my task. I +reached the statue of the faun, which leered and writhed its leathery +tongue at me; and in the bay which opened out beyond it I found Aurelia +and the count together. + +The fair Aurelia was flushed and disarrayed. Her hair was half uncoiled, +her bodice undone. She lay, or rather reclined, upon a garden seat; one +hand was clapped to her side, one hand guarded her bosom. The count, who +had his back to me, was upon one knee before her. He was, or had been, +eloquent. At the moment of my appearance he had finished his period, and +still trembled with the passion of it. For the cynic philosopher he +professed to be, he was, at the moment, singularly without relish of the +humours of his position. + +Coming upon all this, I stopped suddenly short. Aurelia saw me, and +uttered a cry. At the same instant her hands were busy with her dress. +The count, on his feet in a moment, turned his head, started violently, +then controlled himself, and advanced to meet me, whom he had once +called his friend. + +"My dear Don Francis," he said briskly, "let me be one of the first to +welcome you. I had heard of your arrival only to-day--indeed, I came +here to prepare Donna Aurelia for a pleasant surprise. I believe I was +being eloquent on your account at this moment. You may have overheard +me--if I was too partial, blame my esteem." + +I scarcely heard him, and was perhaps barely civil. I went past him, hat +in hand, towards the lady. I saluted her profoundly. + +"Madam," I said, "my intrusion is pure accident. I was told that your +ladyship was in the house. Ten thousand pardons that I come unannounced +before you--unwelcome I must needs be, unworthy of your clemency--since +we parted unhappily. Forgive me, I beseech you." I then offered the +count my hand. + +"Oh, Signor Francesco," says Aurelia in a twitter, "I am glad to see you +again." She was tremulous, beautiful; she had her old wayward, ardent +ways, her childish bloom and roundness had not left her, nor her +sumptuousness, nor her allure--and yet I could look calmly into her face +and know that she had no charm left for me. + +"Madam," I said, "since you showed me so plainly that my company was not +to your taste, I have no right to be here. My fault--my old fault--is so +clearly before me that I should not have dared commit another. If I may +once more ask your pardon----" + +"Oh, my pardon!" cried she, faltering. "Why, what harm have you done me +now, pray?" + +"Madam," says the count, "my young friend's fault is a very natural one. +If he is a sinner, what must your ladyship be? For if it is sinful to +love, is it not worse to inspire it?" The lady made no reply at this +gallant diversion. + +The position was very awkward. I could not speak as I felt, or as I +ought to feel; the count would not, and Donna Aurelia was on the verge +of tears. Obviously I must retire. + +"Madam," I said, "I intruded upon you by misfortune, and may not +trespass. I beg my service to the learned judge, my profoundest respect +to your ladyship. The young man who once showed himself unworthy to be +at your feet may now stand upon his own. Don Francis has offended Donna +Aurelia----" + +"Oh, no, no, no!" said Aurelia in distress. "Oh, Checho, don't leave +me." + +I came off my stilts, for I saw that she was unhappy. + +"Can I serve you?" I asked her. "Can I be so honoured?" + +"Yes, yes," she said brokenly, "stay with me. I need you--stay." Count +Giraldi took a step forward. + +"Madam," he said, "I salute your ladyship's hand, and shall do myself +the honour to wait upon you upon a less urgent occasion. Don Francis, +your humble servant--to meet again, no doubt." + +He bowed himself away, and left me alone with Aurelia. + +For some time neither of us spoke. She sat pensive, with signs of +distress--storm signals--still displayed; she was very nervous, looking +at her fingers at play in her lap. I stood up beside her, not knowing, +in truth, what in the world she wanted with me. The silence, as it +became oppressive, made Aurelia angry. She bit her lip. + +"Well," she said at last. "Well! have you nothing to say to me, now that +you have found me?" + +"Madam," said I, "my fault----" + +"Oh," cried she in a rage. "Your fault! Do you not see how hateful your +'fault' makes me appear? Do you think the best way of amending this +wonderful fault of yours is to be for ever bewailing it? Has a gentleman +never loved a lady before, or am I a lady whom no man should love? Do +you suppose I am flattered to learn that you have hunted me all over +Italy only for the pleasure of telling me that you are ashamed of ever +having loved me?" + +I said, "I loved you unworthily--I played a knave's part. I distorted +your lovely image, I presumed upon your gracious kindness. I was +accursed--accursed. I did sacrilege--I profaned the temple." I strode +about before her declaiming against myself, not looking at her. + +She laughed her vexation away. "My poor Checho," she said, "if you knew, +if you could understand! Those days and nights of ours were very sweet. +Come, let us walk a little. It is chilly here. Come, we will go into the +house and you shall tell me of your travels." She took my arm; I led her +back to the house. + +I sat by her side in the little saloon which had been Donna Giulia's +boudoir, and served Aurelia now for the same purpose; and judging +honesty the kindest, and only, course, I told her everything of my +defence of Virginia, hinting at the same time at my suspicions of Count +Giraldi. I said that the poor child had certainly been betrayed to the +marchese, that the count and Father Carnesecchi alone had known her +story, that I could not suspect the Jesuit, and therefore----At this +point Aurelia stopped me, not by any words, but by her appearance of +being upon the point of words. She was very much excited, but she +controlled her speech; and I went on to tell her that, in consequence of +that betrayal, I had felt bound to make Virginia my wife. At this I +thought that she was ill. She stared at me as if I had suddenly stabbed +her; she went perfectly white. "Your wife!" she whispered--"you have---- +" + +"Madam," I said, "that is the truth. I have never shrunk from my duty, I +believe, and never saw duty plainlier than then. I married Virginia, or +thought that I did; but it now appears that my marriage was none at all-- +not by my fault, but by that noble girl's mistaken generosity. And now +that I have lost her I must by all means find her. She must be mine for +ever." + +Aurelia had recovered her colour and self-possession. She was now also +very angry, tapping her foot and breathing fast. She looked disdainfully +at me, and reproachfully. "But," she said, with scorn, "But what I am to +think of you, Don Francis? Do you purpose to spend your life seeking +ladies whom you have compromised? No sooner have you lost me than you +look for another! And when you find your wife--as you choose to call +her--if you are so fortunate, shall you treat her as you have treated +me?" + +"I hope so," said I. "My first duty will be to ask her forgiveness; my +second to convince her of my repentance; my third----" + +"Oh, spare me your THIRDLY," said Aurelia drily. "I have no doubt what +your third duty will be, and I am sure you will perform it admirably." +She grew red, tears gathered in her eyes--she stamped her foot. +"Vexatious boy!" she cried out, "I wish to Heaven I had never seen you! +You loved me once--but I was not ready. Now that I am--what I am--you +are not ready." "I did you a wrong--I was a villain." A great terror +struck me. "God have mercy upon me," I cried. "Aurelia! is it possible-- +is it possible--that you----?" + +She came very near me--so near that her quick breath fanned my face--so +near that I could distinguish her heart-beats. She took my hands, tried +to draw me to her. + +"Yes, yes--it is possible--it is possible--it is certain--it is true! I +love you--I need you--I will follow you across the world. Do you think +me bold? Judge then of my need. Do you suppose such a confession easy to +a woman--or lightly made----? Do you think me a bad woman? I shall not +deny it--but I shall add to your judgment that I am a loving one. Ah, +there was a time," she said bitterly--for she saw my dismay--"there was +a time when you prayed me to love you, and I refused. If then I had +agreed, would you have gone white and red by turns--would you have +averted your eyes--would you have looked on the ground?" She took me in +her eager arms, she clung to me, she strove, panted for a kiss. "To me, +to me, Francis--you loved me first--you taught me--I am yours by right +of conquest. Here I am--on your breast, the forgiving, the longing +Aurelia!" + +I cannot express what I felt during this scene. Painful as it was to me +to know myself unaffected by it, it was exquisite grief to me to have +her unqueen herself before my eyes. O Aurelia, to stoop from thy +celestial commerce to barter for a kiss! I know not what I said, nor can +remember exactly what it was that I did. I was, I trust, gentle with +her. I disengaged myself without abruptness and led her to a seat. I +said nothing--but when she was more at ease within herself, I knelt +before her, kissed her hand respectfully, and left her. It was, I am +sure, a case where fewest words were best. I believe that she was +weeping; I know that I was. + +Going out of the villa gates into the street, I was aware of a cloaked +figure standing at the first corner towards Florence, evidently upon the +watch for me. The moment I was clear of the gate he came to meet me, and +I saw that he was followed by another muffled man, and that both carried +swords. I kept my course, however, as if they were no concern of mine, +and made room for them to pass me on the side of the wall. But the first +of them stopped in front of me. + +"A fine night, Don Francis," he said. It was Count Giraldi. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIV + +I CONFRONT MY ENEMIES + + +I could not see his face, for besides that it was now very dark, he kept +his cloak up, and had pulled his hat downwards over his brow; but his +voice was perfectly familiar. His companion was similarly muffled; I did +not then recognise him. + +I saluted the count and admitted the fineness of the night. It seemed to +me that he had more to say--and he had. + +"I have wished a little conversation with you, Don Francis," he said. +"Shall we walk together? You are returning to your lodging--after an +interview which, to judge from its duration, must have been pleasant." + +"My dear count," said I, "Donna Aurelia, as you know, is an old friend +of mine. We had much to say. I will walk with you by all means. But your +friend here----" + +He laughed. "My friend will not disturb us. Let me make two gentlemen +acquainted, who should know each other, at least, by name. Marchese, let +me present you to my friend Mr. Francis Strelley. Don Francis, be +pleased to salute the illustrious Marchese Semifonte." + +I began to smell mischief--indeed I had smelt it already. I knew that +the count was no longer my friend; and as for Semifonte, no doubt he +would murder me if he durst. Here, then, were these two worthies in +league, and waiting for me in a lonely place. Lucky that I had my sword. + +In the meantime Semifonte raised his hat and bowed; I returned the +salutation and said that I had had the advantage of meeting his lordship +already. To that he made no reply. We then walked on together--I on the +inside, next to me the count, the marchese on the outside. + +The count began by congratulating me upon my escape from Florence, and +from what might have been a most awkward affair. "Luckily for me," he +added, "I was out of the city at the time, or, between my duty and my +inclination, I should have found myself in a dilemma." + +To that I replied that it was sufficient for me to be sure that he had +been absent. "If I had known that Donna Aurelia was still in the Villa +San Giorgio," I went on, "at the time when I was hiding from your +excellency's servants, I believe I should have pushed my importunities +so far as her door." + +"You would have asked Donna Aurelia to interest herself in the cause of +your charming--your too charming----" I could not see his face, but +could have sworn that he was showing his teeth. + +"Not at all, count," I said, "not at all. But I should have asked the +Grand Duke's principal Minister to remember that he had betrayed an +innocent girl's whereabouts to those who sought her ruin, and to give +fair play to him who had risked his life to protect her." + +"You wrong me, sir," he said warmly; "you accuse me of treachery. Of +that I am incapable. As for my distinguished friend here----" + +"Let your distinguished friend deny that he purchased Virginia Strozzi +from her parents," I retorted; "that he has sought her ever since--that +he sent Palamone to murder me--that he still intends some mischief. Let +him deny these things, and I speak no more of them." + +The marchese said not a word. The count took up the tale. + +"Let me, in my turn, trouble you with a few denials. I do not deny that +Donna Aurelia was in Florence earlier than you supposed, nor that I kept +you in ignorance of it. It was judged better on all accounts. Father +Carnesecchi was of that opinion. I believe that the lady had no desire +to see you. Perhaps you will pardon my franchise when I say that it +would have been singular if she had. She desired to be accommodated with +her husband--and that was done. My part in that affair, which I am very +ready to defend, need not concern you, though (if I remember rightly) +you professed yourself anxious on that account. Now for my denials. I +deny flatly that I did any service to my distinguished friend at your +expense. I deny it point-blank. And I deny that, when--not for the first +time--you took the law into your own hands, I purposely removed myself +from the city. That suspicion of yours is not worth so many words. What +should my purpose be? What object could I have? Why should I become your +enemy?" + +"That, sir," I said, "is what I intend to find out. Be so good as to add +these to your denials if you can. Will you deny that you witnessed the +performance of the Donne Furlane in Siena on the occasion of the Grand +Duke's birthday last year?" + +He said, "I remember it, and a remarkable performance it was." + +"And did you see it in company of Donna Aurelia?" + +"I did." + +"And did you give yourself the pain to send officers to arrest an actor +called De' Pazzi?" + +He was silent. I said then: + +"And did you not know that I was that actor? Now, Count Giraldi, since +you cannot deny these facts, I will ask you why you are my enemy? For +you are not a man who acts without reason." + +We were upon the river bank a little short of the Rubiconte Bridge. The +water rippled languidly over the muddy reaches, but the rush of the weir +was audible. Not another sound was to be heard, not a soul was in sight. +We three stopped--I was facing the two men, my back to the low river +wall. I heard Giraldi's breath come short and whistling through his fine +nose; I heard Semifonte breathing through his mouth--shorter breaths--he +was panting. + +Count Giraldi spoke, using great command of himself, measuring his +words. + +"I think I will tell you the facts," he said, "I think that will be +best. You can then judge my actions, and, as a reasonable man, govern +your own by them. + +"Man of the world as I am," he continued, "I must confess that you +surprised me upon our first acquaintance. I could not tell whether I was +consorting with a very refined profligate or (forgive me) a very +singular fool. You came into the city in search (as you told me) of a +lady with whom you had had an abortive affair--but you came in company +with an attractive person, in a relationship with her which could only +bear one interpretation--No, no, you must hear me out, if you please," +he said peremptorily, stopping my protest before it could be framed in +words. "Upon your representations I interested myself in Donna Aurelia. +I judged her attractive by your report; I found that your discernment +was even better than I had expected. She came to the convent in some +distress, I saw her, she was charming, she charmed me. She was in a +chastened mood, subdued, softly melancholy. I believe--indeed, I know-- +that she had a tenderness for you. Well, I was prepared to be loyal, no +one is to say in my presence that I am a false friend. I WAS loyal +until--Pest!" cried he, "what did I find? I found that, while you +professed the most extravagant regard for the lady, you asked nothing +better for yourself than that she should return to the arms of her +horrible old spouse! I found also that you had recovered possession of +your straight young Contadina by means which were more ingenious than +lawful--that she was in your lodgings--your friend--your----" + +Semifonte here gave a harsh guttural cry. Giraldi spoke to him in an +undertone, then resumed: + +"You may remember my interest in that young woman's appearance and +manner, when I chanced to find her in your lodgings in the dress of a +fine lady. You remember that you then told me her history? Believe me +when I say that I did not tell my illustrious friend here of the +adventure. He was told, it is true, but not by me. If it will satisfy +you, I will take my oath to that. I had no intention of depriving you of +your mistress; far from it, that would have destroyed my particular +object, which, I will now confess, was to take your place in Donna +Aurelia's regard, for which you would not ask. I own also that I did not +care to have you in her neighbourhood, and that I very much desired to +get rid of you. Why? Because I could see that Donna Aurelia was in love +with you." + +He paused while I admired his affectation of candour. Presently he went +on: "When my friend here proposed to secure your mistress by means of +the Capuchin I gave him a free hand; that is to say, I gave you no +warning, I admit that. Why again? Because I knew you, Don Francis, and +was certain that you would never allow a hand to be laid upon her. I was +right, you did not. You did precisely what I desired. You as good as +killed the Capuchin and you went into hiding. I wished to keep you +there, and so I did. If I had not sent Carabineers into the Piazza--if I +had been accessible to your messengers--you would have been fatally in +my way. You were never in danger of arrest or imprisonment--but you +believed that you were, and that served my purpose. + +"You left our State. All was well until you entered it again. I admit +that when I saw you in Siena I was in Donna Aurelia's company, and +feared the effect of your apparition upon her. She did not recognise +you, but I did. I confess that I had you arrested, and assure you that +you would never have gone to Volterra, but to Leghorn. You would have +been placed upon an English ship and sent to your own country, where +your peculiar qualities would have had freer play. Lastly, I admit that +I was vexed at your reappearance here in circumstances of prosperity +which forbade my touching you. I admit that I have resented this late +visit of yours to Donna Aurelia and am still smarting at the length of +it. Ridiculous, but so it is! I know that she has a feeling for you--I +am not secure--I wish you to go. You are really unconscionable, you must +let me say. You have deprived the marchese of a possible mistress, and +now you seem inclined to deprive me of an actual mistress. You are +exorbitant, my young sir----" + +"Stop there, Count Giraldi," I said in a voice which I myself hardly +knew for my own. "Stop there. Repeat your last words. You say that I am +for robbing you--of what?" + +"Donna Aurelia," said he deliberately, "has done me great honour. I am +her accepted cavalier. She has accorded me the highest favour. She +occupies my villa--the doctor is my humble servant. You will not wish me +to enlarge upon this?" + +"You are a liar," I said, "you are a liar," and struck him full in the +face with my open hand. His white face was nearly all I could see of +him. + +He recoiled--he had not expected it, I am sure. At that moment, before +he could recover his self-possession, Semifonte gave another hoarse cry +and leapt at me with a dagger. I caught him under the arm-pit, closed +with him and threw him easily. His back gave at the first jerk--there +was no strength in him--and when he was on the ground I disarmed him +with ease and bade him lie still. I put my foot upon his neck, and drew +my sword. "If you stir, assassin, I shall run you through," I said. +"Now, Count Giraldi, I am at your service." + +"You are bolder than I thought, and readier," the count said; "but you +have gone too far, and I shall meet you as soon as you please. I don't +know whether you believe that this has been part of my plan, or whether +you care to hear me deny it. If you believe me a liar, you can easily +believe me assassin also. I will bid you good-night, Don Francis. We +know where to find each other." + +I told him that my friend, Mr. Robert Malcolm, of the English Legation, +would receive any friend of his, at any hour--the sooner the better. He +went away. + +I removed my foot from the marchese's neck and told him to get up. + +"You see, my lord, what your friend thinks of you by the way he has +disavowed your performance and left you in the mud," I said. "Give +yourself the trouble to go to your own house." I gave him the road and +waited while he walked swiftly away. I incline to believe that he was +mad, this miserable man. He said nothing--not one word--but did exactly +as he was told. I could barely make out the outline of him in the +darkness, and could not see his eyes. I know that they were white and +scared. + + + + +CHAPTER XLV + +THE MEETING + + +Bob Malcolm came to see me early in the morning with news that the +count's cartel had been delivered in form. He told me that I might as +well fight the Grand Duke--"For if you kill, Frank, if you kill," says +he, "you'll be in a fortress for life; and if you don't kill, why, then +you're a dead man. Body of a dog, as they say here, you're a dead man +either way." Good Bob was much put about. + +I did my best to hearten him. I said that I would take the risk of +Volterra, as I had taken it before, and should do my best to kill the +count. He was, I said, a lying blasphemer whose death would be an act of +justice. Malcolm whistled. + +"This is a devilish sharp-set affair," says he; "for that is just how +the marchese put his man's frame of mind. He stipulates, it seems, that +you fight to the death. Look out for him too, Frank," he added. "He is +dangerous. I never liked him; and to-day he looked like a sick wolf." + +"Who is your marchese?" I asked without interest. + +"Semifonte," says Bob, "and as mad as a March hare." I got up at once. I +said, "I shall kill Count Giraldi." + +We met in the Cascine at six o'clock of a foggy morning; the light bad, +the ground heavy from a night's rain. The marchese wore black, I +remember, and looked horrible; a wan, doomed face, a mouth drawn down at +one corner, a slavered, untidy red beard; and those wide fish-eyes of +his which seemed to see nothing. Count Giraldi bore himself gallantly, +as he always did. I was extremely cool. + +We stripped and faced each other, the swords were produced and measured; +we saluted, and the count at once began a furious attack. I think that +on any ordinary occasion he would have proved the better man; he was +fully as strong as myself, and as good in the wind--for he lived +temperately; and he had had more experience. But to-day, as I soon +discovered, he was flurried and made mistakes; twice in the first five +minutes I could have disarmed him, and once I very nearly had his life. +He was foolhardy to an extraordinary degree; his eyes were unsteady; it +seemed to me that he was thinking of something else; and before we had +been long engaged I discovered that he was thinking of two things, the +first, his own certain death, the second, the state of mind of the +Marchese Semifonte. My finding out of the second of these made me +resolute to bring about the first of them; otherwise, so wildly was he +at work I don't believe I could have brought myself to kill such a tyro +as he was proving. + +The fact which determined me to kill him was this. I had pushed him +vigorously, after parrying with ease half a dozen of his frenzied +attacks--I had pushed him, and he had given ground as usual; but, +although I did not perceive it at the time, in giving way he had worked +back towards his second, who had not budged; so that, as I advanced, I +got to be actually within wounding distance of the marchese. Bob Malcolm +ought to have knocked our swords up, no doubt; but he did not. In the +full tide of my attack, then, when I had my man almost at my mercy, I +felt a sudden and sharp pain in the side, and at the same moment heard +Malcolm's cry, "Ah, bloody villain, none of that!" Almost immediately I +heard the clash of swords, and turning my head for a moment, saw our +seconds engaged. In that same instant of forgetfulness Giraldi was upon +me, lunged furiously and ran his blade through my sword arm. There was +an assassination, planned and nearly achieved! + +Red rage now possessed me; I do not believe an angelic messenger could +have stopped me now. Changing my sword hand, I attacked my man, who ran +lightly back to avoid me. I pursued him, I closed with him, we had a +desperate rally for perhaps a minute and a half. I know that I pinked +him twice, for I saw the blood on his shirt; in another few seconds I +had his sword flying out of his hand and himself his full length on the +sward. + +There then lay this shameful enemy, traducer of ladies, treacherous +friend, hirer of murderers--why should I spare him? I did not intend it. +I went up to him fully prepared to deal death upon him, fallen though he +were. At that moment I thought that no power of earth or Heaven could +have saved his life. And yet there was one power which could and did: +the power of Aurelia's name. + +His pocket-handkerchief was stuck in his waistband; and as I stood above +him full of meditated and most reasonable murder, I happened to see upon +it, in red letters, his cipher; a coronet, and under that the initials +of his name, Amadeo Giraldi. They struck me like the writing on the +wall, as if they had been letters of fire. A. G., I read there--the +letters of Aurelia's virgin name! A. G.--Aurelia Gualandi, untried +maiden of Siena once, innocent of all the evil that men could devise +against her, unsullied rose dropped from the lap of Mary the mother of +us all! Could I dare--could I indeed dare to slay one who bore, though +shamefully, those letters of hers whose perfection I was here to +maintain? I knew that I could not; I lowered my sword. + +I looked at him where he lay, perfectly still, calm now, with his black +eyes fixed upon mine. I said, "I hope that you are prepared for justice, +Count Giraldi, at my hands." + +He replied with a smile, "I am prepared for anything, my dear sir. Least +of all, perhaps, for justice at this moment." + +"It is what you least deserve," I said, "since it is what you practise +least; but there are circumstances at work in your favour. You must, +however, confess yourself a liar. That is indispensable. Come now, what +do you say?" At this moment Malcolm came back with a red sword. + +"I have paid him in his own coin," he said, "but I think we had best be +off." + +"Go, my dear Malcolm," I told him. "Do not delay a moment. I shall not +leave Florence in any case." + +"Are you mad, my dear?" he cried. I said that I had no notion whether I +was mad or not; but that I had work to do in Florence, and intended to +finish it. I persuaded him at last to get away to Lucca at once, where I +hoped to join him. The doctor came up to report Semifonte quite dead. + +I returned to the count, who said to me, "Every man over forty is, and +must be, a liar, since, in a sense, his very existence is a lie. If it +will satisfy you, I will assure you that I am over forty." + +I accepted that periphrasis. "And now," I said, "I will tell you to whom +you owe your life. It is to that lady whom you have dared to traduce--to +her and no other. I gather that you will not repeat your slander." + +"I promise you that, sir," said he. "But I am curious to learn how Donna +Aurelia can have interceded." + +"Her name in maidenhood," I said, "was Aurelia Gualandi. There upon your +handkerchief I read her initials, 'A. G.'" + +"The handkerchief is my own, I swear it!" he cried with passion. "Will +you make the merest coincidence accuse her again? Shame upon you, sir." + +"Never in the world," said I. "I never doubted but it was your own. The +cipher saved you, not the handkerchief." + +I suppose that he was too faint by now to understand me, for he only put +his hand up and shook it to and fro. "Exquisite fool!" I heard him say, +and then with a groan, "Gesu, I die!" he fainted in earnest. I helped +the surgeon carry him to his coach, then walked to my lodging, leaving +the marchese astare at the trees. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVI + +THE DISCOVERY + + +I was to dine that night with the Prior of Saint Mark's, a former +acquaintance of mine, and I kept my engagement, though I left the party +early. My wound, which was painful but not dangerous, was not the cause +of that. The fact is that I was arrested while we were sitting over our +fruit and wine, at a moment when I was enunciating a favourite theory of +mine that this world is a garden for every man alive of us who happens +to be a gardener, and for no other; and that he only is a gardener who +lives for the joy of his labour and not for the material profit he can +make out of his toil. The Grand Inquisitor--that pock-marked Dominican +who had treated me with uncharitable harshness upon my first visit to +Florence--was present at table, and was upon the point of denouncing my +argument as perverse, unchristian and I know not what else; he had said, +"It is my deliberate opinion that detestable beliefs as are Atheism, +Calvinism, Mahometanism and the tenets of the Quietists, it were better +for a man to embrace all of them in one vast, comprehensive blasphemy, +than depend for their refutation upon any argument which Mr. Strelley +can advance----" when a friar opened the door and ushered in a +lieutenant of police and his guard. The officer saluted the company in +general and myself in particular. "Sir," he said politely to me, "I have +the honour to arrest you, in the Grand Duke's name, for the barbarous +murder of the most illustrious Marchese Deifobo Semifonte, for the +attempted murder of his Excellency Count Amadeo Giraldi, and for +contravention of the law of duelling. By express command of the Syndic I +am to put your honour in irons. Corporal, do your duty." + +I said nothing in reply, but took leave of my host with all the proper +form of society, assuring him that I should take with me whithersover I +went a grateful memory of his beautiful and peaceful retirement; I bowed +to my fellow-guest, and then suffered the corporal to chain my hands +behind me. A coach was awaiting me at the gate; I entered it with the +lieutenant and was driven to the Bargello. + +I was not ill-treated by any means. I had a small but decent chamber +assigned to me, and I was alone. When I demanded that my accusation +should be read over, in order that I might engage a lawyer for my +defence, I was assured that this would not be at all necessary, as there +would be no trial. In that case, I begged them to leave me to repose and +meditation, which they were so good as to do. I had an excellent night's +rest, and was very ready for my chocolate at eight o'clock in the +morning. + +Whilst I was sipping this, expecting every moment the arrival of my +servant with my clothes, clean linen, letters, and a barber, I heard the +key turn in the lock, and made sure that it was Federigo. But the warder +introduced a muffled figure of a woman, who, when he had retired, came +quickly towards me, as if she was about to stab me. "Miserable young +man!" she said fiercely. It was Aurelia! + +I sprang up, took, saluted her hand, "Madam," I said, "this is a +condescension which I am far from deserving. I have done nothing but my +duty." + +Her eyes were very bright, and she was distressed for breath; but there +was an intensity in her manner--a fire, a flame--which made her +vehement. + +"Your duty, indeed!" she cried. "When may I expect you to find your duty +elsewhere than in my affairs? Am I never to have paid off my original +debt to your lordship? It is not enough, it appears, that you make love +to me--but you must tell my husband all about it! It is not enough that +he drives me out of doors and that you refuse to come with me--no, but +you must wander about by yourself, telling all the world what you have +done. It is not enough that you make me love you, but you must needs +intrigue with a low-born girl, a thing of naught! And now, finally, you +come galloping into Florence again, and you--you----Oh, Heavens, I have +no patience left to speak of such things! How did you dare"--she stamped +her foot furiously, her cheeks were flame-red--"How did you dare do such +deeds? You have killed the marchese--dead; you have given Count Amadeo +three dangerous wounds and a fever; you are in every mouth, and not you +only, you wicked boy, but myself and my husband--and--and----" She wrung +her hands, she shook with anger, but at last she was silent. I ventured +to say that she did me wrong, though any wrong she did me would be +benevolence compared to my trespasses against her. I said that I had not +killed the marchese, who, on the contrary, had done his best to murder +me twice; and that as for the count, who had slandered her vilely and +deserved a felon's death, I had spared his life upon his retractation of +his calumny. "I hope," I said in conclusion, "that he told you to whom +he actually owed his life." + +"He did, sir," said she haughtily; "he told me that you had been very +absurd, and had made him feel a fool--which he did not at all relish. +Oh, oh, oh!" she broke out with a little burst of laughter, "how could +you be so mad as to spare him for his pocket-handkerchief!" + +"For a reason, madam," I said, "which does not amuse me at all." + +"Nor should it," she agreed. "That was a serious thing that you did, +Checho. It was more serious than you seem to suppose. The wounds in his +person are nothing compared to what you did beside. He is a proud man, +and you have wounded his vanity. I doubt if he will ever be healed of +that stroke. Do you know what he said to me just now?" + +She was perfectly friendly now, by my side, almost touching me with her +quick beautiful hands. With what seemed to me a levity no longer +becoming the woman she was grown to be, she talked of serious things +with sparkling eyes, and would give me confidences which she had +received from an impudent liar. In reply to her question I shook my +head. I could not speak to her just then, nor could I look at her. + +She told me her story. "Count Amadeo said to me this morning, 'My +friend, the fact that I owe you this preposterous debt of initials makes +it more than doubtful whether I can ever endure to pay it off. I could +have had no objection to stand indebted to Don Francis for my life, but +I am a man of honour, with a name which I have some reason to value, and +I assure you that it is not tolerable to me that I should owe its +continuance in my person to the fact that my mistress's maiden name +began with the same letters.' He said also----" + +But I had caught her by the arm. "No more," I cried, "No more, O God!" + +She was alarmed. "You are ill, you are ill, Checho?" + +I said, "I stand at a death-bed. Love lies dying down there. Hush. We +should be on our knees." + +She was now weeping bitterly. "O lasso! O lasso! What have I done to +you?" + +"I fought in your honour, madam," I said, commanding myself, "I dared a +murder in your defence. I would have stormed Hell's ramparts and put the +baleful city to the sword in the same cause. From that accursed day on +which I first saw you until now I have held you high before my face as +the glory of womanhood. And now you repeat the slander for which that +monster lay at my mercy. You repeat it--you allowed him to say it in +your ear!" + +She was pale, her eyes were wide; but she did not retreat. "But," she +said, "but it is true, Checho. It is true. What he said to you was true-- +and now--" she frowned as she pondered out what was to come; clouds +gathered over her beautiful, soulless face; she folded her arms, +clenched her teeth and stormed at me. + +"You fool, you fool, you fool!" she said fiercely, panting for breath +with which to end me. "Oh, you dream-child, you moonraker, what are you +doing in a world where men work for their pleasures and women have to +cringe for the scraps? What was I to do when Porfirio shut me out of +doors, and you--you, who had caused it, refused to come with me? Was I +to spread my wings and fly straight into the lap of the Madonna? You +would say so, I suppose! Your flights were very fine, but one cannot +live on the wind. Any man but a poet would have picked me up at the door +and taken care of me with a 'Come, my beloved, we will fly together.' +But no! You were making eyes at the stars, and protesting that two of +them were my eyes, and the moon my forehead. And then--O Dio! and then, +when you found me again in Florence, what did you do? I was at my wit's +ends, and you kissed my hands! There! That was all--all--all--on the +word of a Christian! Did I not try to get more from you? Any one but a +poet would know that I did. I heard your long poems, I touched you, I +ran to meet you, I was kind, I was cross, I called you to me and then +turned my back upon you. And then I found out, sir, what your baciar-di- +mani, and bowings and reverences were worth. They were worth--myself. +You had your Virginia snug at home, in a brocaded gown, and a fan, my +word! Do you think I could not guess the truth of your story about her? +Her honour indeed! What have such rubbish to do with honour? A Virginia, +a baggage for your arms--and I, to have my hand kissed, and to yawn over +dreary verses! By the Madonna, but I did my best to stop that play. Let +me tell you, Don Francis, that it was I--I--I"--she struck her bosom +with each naming of herself--"who told Semifonte where he could lay +hands upon his chattel. You believed it was the count--it was I!" +Quivering, breathing fire and anger, beautiful as a goddess and wicked +as a fiend--what was I to say to this terrible witness? She had stayed +for lack of breath, panting, tapping her foot, her bosom heaving like +the sea under her close arms--and I was face to face with her, alone, +with ruin between us. So with a stamp of her little foot, so with a +flick of the fingers, it seems, she had broken her own image and killed +love outright. There and then love died, and his funeral knell was the +horrid barking laughter with which I greeted this end of her story. + +"Madam," I said, when I had laughed hatefully and long, "I have robbed +you of a lover, and you, in return, have robbed me of my love. You ought +to be as much obliged to me as I am to you." + +She scowled at me darkly. I think she would have stabbed me gladly, but +just then the warder entered with my servant, and an official from the +palace. This latter, with a profound salutation, handed me a letter from +the count. Asking leave, I opened it and read as follows: + +MY DEAR DON FRANCIS,--I have just learned, with concern, that you are in +prison upon two charges--one false, and another which is trumpery. I +hasten to assure you that orders have been given which will satisfy your +sense of justice, and, I hope, improve your opinion of myself. I believe +that by this time you will have been assured that it was not I who +betrayed your confidences to Semifonte--who, between you and me, has got +his deserts, or (according to the orthodox) must now be getting them. As +for my more recent offence--the real ground of our little encounter--I +can assure you of this, that if I ever make any such assertion again, +and you again call me a liar, I shall not resent it; for a liar I shall +be. I kiss your hands and am, with the most perfect esteem, + +"My dear Don Francis, + +"Your most obedient, faithful, humble servant, + +"COUNT AMADEO GIRALDI. + +"P. S.--It may be discreet in you to repair to Lucca for the summer +heats. Pray command me in any occasion you may have." + +My doors were set open. The first use I made of my freedom was to escort +Donna Aurelia to her chair. Without a word spoken between us, I handed +her in and shut to the door. The chairman asked me for a direction. + +"To the house of Dr. Lanfranchi the learned judge," I said. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVII + +THE FINAL PROOF + + +Free in every sense of the term--free, of prison, free of debt (for if +Aurelia had paid me, I had now paid her husband), free of every +obligation but guilt, I was all on fire for Lucca and that service which +is perfect freedom, voluntary bondage to Virginia, whom I could now love +whole-heartedly as she deserved. Artemis! Artemis! Chaster than a fire-- +what wonder is it that she had prevailed in that dream-strife which I +had witnessed in the villa garden, what wonder when she had to contend +with the soiled wife of a vile man--with Aurelia, the lovely, caressing, +silken woman, bought by a place, bought by a house, who, possessed by +two men, sought yet another. Ah, thou glowing, honey-tongued, unhappy +one, in what a horrible web of affairs was I enmeshed along with thee! +What a world was that into which I went ruffling with my money, and rank +and fine prospects! Never more, never more would I enter that world of +bargain and sale. + +So I swore, and so purposed; but in pursuance of a plan which I had +formed in my most private mind, I travelled to Lucca in a coach and four +horses, with postillions before and my body-servant behind. On this +occasion I was furnished with a passport and abundance of money. All my +property in Florence, all my household gear had been transferred to the +city of my choice. I left behind me in Florence not one vestige of +myself, and (so far as I know) not one true friend. I intended to be two +days upon the road, and lay the night at Empoli; early on the following +morning, a fine day in early autumn, I departed from the inn for my +final stage, and fared without incident as far as Ponte a Cappiano. + +Before the hill of Altopascio is reached, the traveller must accomplish +a lonely stretch of road, which runs for some three miles through a +ragged wood. This place bears a bad name; it is debatable land, as we +say, between the Republic of Lucca and the Grand Duchy, and a well-known +haunt for footpads, highwaymen, outlaws, and other kinds of cut-throat. +So, at least, my servant said when, stopping the carriage, I got out and +proposed to walk through the wood by a direct path and meet my +conveyance at the top of the pass. He begged me very earnestly to do +nothing of the kind. "The road is the only tolerable way for your +lordship," he assured me; and then, with a start, he added, "Hark, sir, +hark! As I live by bread, we are pursued even now." I listened, and +could hear a long way off the regular pounding of a horse. + +However, I paid no more attention to that than to see to the priming of +my pistols. I had been near death too often of late to stand on any +ceremony with it; and there are times in life when one can see beyond +it. I had a certainty that I should not die until I had found Virginia. +Therefore I dismissed the carriage and walked on. Now and again, as I +entered more deeply into the thicket, I caught the sound of hoofs; but I +soon grew to disregard them and presently forgot their menace +altogether. + +This wood, of holm-oak, holly and beech for the most part, rises and +dips twice before it climbs the final ascent to the crown above +Altopascio. A cart-track runs through it, deeply rutted and always miry, +on either hand of which glades are revealed of great beauty. Here, if +the trees are remote, the grass grows lush and green. Hereabouts are the +flowers, tall and plenty--foxgloves and mullein, such as we have at +home, and loosestrife (lysimachia), both the yellow and the purple. The +sun shone brilliantly between the leaves, the air was sweetly tempered, +the wood was empty. I felt exalted, as I always do when I am alone. I +was hopeful; I was still young. God, methought, was about to bless me +abundantly, after making stern trial of me. My secret thought ran +rhythmically in my head. I walked briskly up the first slope, surmounted +it, and stood looking down upon a scene more charming than that which I +was about to leave--a deeper, greener glade, with a clearing in the +midst, and a rude gipsy tent and a little fire, and two persons beside +it. As I stood looking I heard the crackling of the brushwood and dead +twigs behind me. The horseman, whoever he was, had entered the wood and +was following the track. + +But the encampment below me engrossed all my eyes. In that windless +hollow a thin spire of smoke rose blue towards the blue. An iron pot was +suspended on three poles; the smoke hugged it closely, united above it, +and rose in a column. The couple, a young man and woman, sat still, +watching it. Their meal was ended, I judged, and they were summoning +resolution for the road. The woman, with a pretty, weary gesture, put +her head upon the man's shoulder. He embraced her with his arm, bent his +head and kissed her. Stooping yet lower, he kissed her lap. I saw that +she had a child asleep there. Just then both of them heard, as I did, +the horse's hoof strike on a stone. They both started, and looked up +towards me. My heart stood still, my tongue clove to the roof of my +mouth. Those two were Belviso and Virginia--and the child! the child! In +a flash of instantaneous reflection I remembered that a year ago Belviso +had gone to Lucca to find Virginia, had reported her to me as not there, +and at Arezzo had asked leave to seek her again. + +Oh, monstrous thought! Oh, monstrous thinker, Francis! But I was +incapable of justice or reason. I thought here to see the mockery of +God; and I, who imagined so wickedly, went on to deal wickedness. + +I strode down the hill upon them without a word, my eyes blazing like +coals. Both recognised me at the same moment. Virginia stood up, holding +her child close to her, but never budged; Belviso cried, "Master!" and +started towards me. When he saw with what countenance I was coming, he +faltered and stood ill at ease. In my blind fury I put this down to his +guilt; good God, what more did I meditate? Oh, horrible! I stopped and +cocked my pistol. + +"Ah, false wife once," I said terribly, "and now false mistress! +Traitress, with this traitor whom I believed my friend----" + +Belviso here gave a cry and held up his hand. He was looking, not at me, +but behind me to the slope down which I had come. "Master, beware, +beware," he called out in his ringing young voice. "Palamone is behind +you. Treachery indeed!" + +I turned, and saw that he spoke the truth. Fra Palamone, booted and +spurred, with a huge black cloak flagging about him, was close upon me, +walking his horse tenderly down the hill. His face was distorted with a +grin, there was a light, scared look in one of his eyes, whose brow was +lifted more than the other. If ever appearance foretold mischief, that +did his. + +He saw that I was armed, no doubt, for he reined up out of shooting +distance, bowed to me, and spoke my name. I asked him what he wanted. + +"A little talk, if you please, Don Francis," he said in his blandest +tone, "a little friendly talk." + +"You rascal," said I, "a cudgelling was the upshot of your last. Do you +want another? Have you earned it yet?" + +"God do so unto me if I meditate any harm to your Excellency," said the +old villain. "Upon Christ's life and death I can do you a service at +last, and so I will. Know first of all that the most charitable deed you +ever did in your life was to break your cane over my wicked body. Yes, +yes, I tell you truly, you saved a soul that day, and I care not who +knows it. Sir, sir!" said he earnestly, "I am here not only to thank you +for having restored me my soul, but to give you a letter which will +restore you your wife, and tell you the whole truth about her into the +bargain." + +"Who wrote your letter?" I asked him, and he told me, "One who knows. +Miriam the Jewess." + +I am to confess that he deceived me again. I was fool enough to believe +that he could explain to me the guilty history of these two persons +behind me--these two and their child. We believe what we desire to +believe, whether it be of good or evil report. I bade him give me his +letter; he dismounted and came towards me, fumbling in his cloak. "'Tis +here," he was muttering to himself. "No, no, that is my pardon from his +Holiness. Ah, what have we here? Nay, 'tis my certificate of communion. +How, how? Have I lost it?" Grumbling and mumbling, grating his loose +tooth, he was close upon me, his hand deep in his cloak. "Ha, ha!" he +suddenly cried, "now I have it!" and whipped out his hand. Belviso +shrieked my name aloud, "Francis, my lord and king!" and flung himself +upon my breast. There was a shocking report of a pistol, discharged +close at hand. Belviso shuddered and fell limp--a dead weight. I raised +my arm, levelled, and shot Palamone through the head. + +We picked up the lifeless form of that lad whom I had once loved for his +love of me and laid him by the fire. Virginia knelt beside him, pale and +tearless; pale, stern and tearless also I stood above him, my weapon +still reeking in my hand. "Woman," said I hoarsely, "would that I had +fired that shot. Do you dare to say that he has not got his deserts?" + +She did not answer me; she was busy with the dead. She opened his jacket +and vest and put her hand below his shirt to feel if his heart yet +fluttered. Then she lifted to me a stern pure face. "His deserts, my +lord, say you? Come, kneel you by me, and see whether he have them or +no." + +Some impulse, I know not what, made me obey. I kneeled down by Virginia. +She opened reverently the clothing of Belviso, laid back the vest, laid +back the cotton shirt. Wonder, terror, a flood of shame came scalding +into my eyes. I had looked upon, but now could not see, the young +breasts of a girl. My proof had turned to my reproof. I was humbled to +the dust. "Poor child," said Virginia very softly, "poor sinner, who +died to save him that had once saved thee, I pray to God that thou +knowest now how innocently he did thee this wrong." She stooped and +kissed the cold lips, but I fell upon the cold bosom and wept bitterly. + +She let me sob my full. Not until I was calmer did the noble girl touch +me upon the shoulder and call me by my name. "Francis," she said, "do +not reproach yourself any more. This poor soul has done what she must in +any case have done. Her heart was yours, and yours, she knew, could +never have been given her. She was loyal to you through all and deceived +you through loyalty. She is repaid in the only coin she could have +asked. God have her soul." [Footnote: Belviso's tragic masquerade was +not at all uncommon in Italy at the time of which I write. If a girl +were desirous of becoming a comedian she must, unless her talents were +extraordinary, appear to be a male. The salaries of women, to begin +with, were high and out of the reach of poor companies of players; and +secondly, as I have said in the text, some States, such as the Roman, +forbade the appearance of women upon the scene. Women's parts, +therefore, would be taken by castrati, or boys, whose sex it was +necessary for a woman to assume. There was another reason which, I +fondly believe, induced Belviso to adopt that name and appearance. A +woman appearing as such must be morally ruined. I never heard of an +exception to the rule. Belviso's real name was Geronima Sastre, and she +was a native of the Trentino.--F. A. S.] I looked up at my beloved--now +at last my entirely beloved--wife. Bare as she was, her neck bare of +covering, her finger of the ring, she was my wife before God and the +angels. I rose and faced her, she met my looks without flinching, in her +eyes was no shame. The child lay sleeping in her shawl. + +My heart beat high. I lifted up my face to the sky and laughed aloud. "O +God, O God, Thou hast redeemed me!" I cried. Then to Virginia I said, +"This child of thine----" + +"It is thine," said Virginia. + +My arms embraced both mother and babe, but with a hand I took her by the +chin. She turned her face to me, and with her clear eyes searched my +face. "It is ours," she said, and blushed. + +"And I am yours, my Virginia," I said, and stooped to her. Our lips met +and stayed together. We kissed long, drinking the joy of one another. +The Fool would err no more. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVIII + +THE LAST + + + HERE + BELVISO + LIES + WHO DIED TO SAVE HIS FRIEND + +Under this superscription we consigned to the dust the dust of our dear +benefactor; and that reverently done, we settled ourselves in Lucca, +where we have remained ever since, where I have written these pages, +where I intend to live and die. Of my true marriage with my beloved, +expect no raptures in this place, seek no further, ask no more. This is +holy ground. In all these years wherein she has been spared to be my +well of bliss, my fountain of nourishment, my stem of solace, I declare +with my hand on my heart, never for one moment did she cease to be my +loving, willing, chaste and discerning wife. We have been poor, for I +renounced my inheritance in favour of my next brother, retaining nothing +of it, and began the world again where I left it when I was driven from +Lucca by misfortunes; and by industry and thrift we have risen to a +competence enough to educate our children according to the degree marked +out by their birth. I did this deliberately, having found out by hard +experience that money was the bondslave of lust, and rank the +breastplate of inanity. Had I taken my wife to England I must have +retained my wretched panoply; but England also I renounced, and that +also deliberately. I shall take leave to close my relation with a few +words upon my choice of life. + +It has been said, with truth and reason, that our vices are but the +excrescences of our virtuous essence. If I am justly to be called a Fool +then, and my folly a vice, it is because it has ever been a ruling need +of my nature to be naked, and to desire to deal nakedly with my +neighbours, who, to serve my ends, must themselves be unclad. Let the +light scoffer understand me. I speak of the soul, and of spiritual and +moral matters. All my good fortune, and I have had much, was due to my +ability to indulge that spiritual urgency of mine, and to my having been +dealt with as I desired to deal; all my troubles, and they were not few, +were bruises inflicted upon my simple soul by others, who opposed their +mail-clad might to my tenderness. Not once, but many times, in the +course of this narration, I have had occasion to show how the poor, the +outcast, the forsaken and the very young entreated me, as one must +suppose the Saviour of us all, His Divine Mother, and the guardian +angels would entreat each other or us. The proud, the greatly +circumstanced, the rich, the enclosed, the sitters in chief seats, +wounded me, shocked, rebuffed, cast me down. But in this land the Genius +of the place delights only to dwell in the hearts of the poor. They are +the true Tuscan nations, and in spite of governments they remain the +salt of the earth and the heirs of all that is good in it. In England it +is not so. There the poor are serfs; there feudalism forbids +intercourse; there the weak suspect (and rightly) the benevolence of the +strong; and the strong can only be benevolent in proportion as they are +weak. Consider for a moment what flows from these axiomata; it will +result, I think, that Honour, Religion, and Love, the three fortresses +of the human soul, will be found deeply involved with them. + +Honour, as I understand it, consists in the nice adjustment of what is +due to me from my neighbours, and to them from me. Here, among the poor, +where a native reserve has not grown, as a fungus upon it, a native +cant, where there is no desire to seem better than one is, and no belief +that one is so by seeming--here, I say, among the Tuscan poor, there is +never any difficulty, for here there is no excrescence to the +substantial quality of the soul, but precisely to the contrary, there +is, if anything, a denudation. The fault of the Tuscans is, perhaps, a +carelessness of opinion, and an ignorance of it, and, springing from +that, a lack of reserve which occasionally approaches the shocking. Be +this as it may, here it is possible for man to envisage man, each as he +really is and can be discerned to be. + +In England it is not so. Honour is an artificial, manufactured thing, +depending upon accepted, volunteered relationships. What is due from me +to my lord differs from that which his lordship owes to me: so in any +traffic between me and my valet, or my valet and the kitchen-boy. So +also it is with Religion. The Englishman dare not even strip before his +God, but will bear his garter or his worsted-braid, his cocked or +cockaded hat, his sword or his dung-fork up to the very sanctuary rails-- +lest, forsooth, by leaving them at home he should either seem so poor +as to be without them, or so rich as to be able to discard them. But +here, what a difference! Not only is man naked before God, but God +stands naked before man. The church is their common ground; the church +is their inn, and the blessed table their market ordinary. At this +board, God and man, man and the saints, meet as friends. The sweetest +intercourse possible on earth is not denied them. They may be gossips, +God and man; they may be lovers, bosom friends. Is this not a hopeful +estate for the tried and erring, naturally affectionate soul? I trow +that it is. + +And as with Honour, as with Religion, so with that child of the pair, so +with Love. Boy and maid, man and woman, in this country stand as +children hand in hand before their parent, who is God. Hand in hand, in +seemly innocence, naked, without shame, or underthought or afterthought, +they stray about the flowery meads. Their hearts are by chance +enkindled, each burns, fire seeks the embrace of fire; they touch, they +mingle, they soar together. Wedded love, which neither soars nor leaps +like a furnace, but glows steadily with equable and radiant heat--wedded +love ensues this passionate commingling. But the pair remain what they +were at first, simple, naked, unashamed, unshameful, with all things +displayed, even to the very aspirations of the secret soul, in blessed +sympathy, in union blessed and to be blessed. + +Such, I say, may be, and indeed is, the case with many honoured, wedded +pairs observed by me. Such, I thank God, has been my own lot, since that +day when, after long tribulation, I took Virginia into my arms and held +her to my breast. But of that, and of her, I dare write no more. Judge +me favourably, reader, for her sake; and so farewell. + +LUCCA, October 20, 1741. + +[Mr. Strelley lived, I believe, until the spring of 1759, and was buried +behind the altar of San Romano. His house, now a hospital, is still +intact, and may be visited by the curious, as it was by me.--M. H.] + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Fool Errant, by Maurice Hewlett + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FOOL ERRANT *** + +This file should be named 5755.txt or 5755.zip + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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