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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/5847.txt b/5847.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..88a887e --- /dev/null +++ b/5847.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11870 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Heart of Rome, by Francis Marion Crawford + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most +other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of +the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have +to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. + +Title: The Heart of Rome + A Tale of the "Lost Water" + +Author: Francis Marion Crawford + +Posting Date: October 18, 2014 [EBook #5847] +Release Date: June, 2004 +First Posted: October 23, 2002 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HEART OF ROME *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + + + + +THE HEART OF ROME + +A Tale of the "Lost water" + +BY FRANCIS MARION CRAWFORD Author of "Cecilia," "Saracinesca," "In the +Palace of the King," Etc. + + + + + +THE HEART OF ROME + + + + + + +CHAPTER I + + + + +The Baroness Volterra drove to the Palazzo Conti in the heart of Rome +at nine o'clock in the morning, to be sure of finding Donna Clementina +at home. She had tried twice to telephone, on the previous afternoon, +but the central office had answered that "the communication was +interrupted." She was very anxious to see Clementina at once, in order +to get her support for a new and complicated charity. She only wanted +the name, and expected nothing else, for the Conti had very little +ready money, though they still lived as if they were rich. This did not +matter to their friends, but was a source of constant anxiety to their +creditors, and to the good Pompeo Sassi, the steward of the ruined +estate. He alone knew what the Conti owed, for none of them knew much +about it themselves, though he had done his best to make the state of +things clear to them. + +The big porter of the palace was sweeping the pavement of the great +entrance, as the cab drove in. He wore his working clothes of grey +linen with silver buttons bearing the ancient arms of his masters, and +his third best gold-laced cap. There was nothing surprising in this, at +such an early hour, and as he was a grave man with a long grey beard +that made him look very important, the lady who drove up in the open +cab did not notice that he was even more solemn than usual. When she +appeared, he gave one more glance at the spot he had been sweeping, and +then grounded his broom like a musket, folded his hands on the end of +the broomstick and looked at her as if he wondered what on earth had +brought her to the palace at that moment, and wished that she would +take herself off again as soon as possible. + +He did not even lift his cap to her, yet there was nothing rude in his +manner. He behaved like a man upon whom some one intrudes when he is in +great trouble. + +The Baroness was rather more exigent in requiring respect from servants +than most princesses of the Holy Roman Empire, for her position in the +aristocratic scale was not very well defined. + +She was not pleased, and spoke with excessive coldness when she asked +if Donna Clementina was at home. The porter stood motionless beside the +cab, leaning on his broom. After a pause he said in a rather strange +voice that Donna Clementina was certainly in, but that he could not +tell whether she were awake or not. + +"Please find out," answered the Baroness, with impatience. "I am +waiting," she added with an indescribable accent of annoyance and +surprise, as if she had never been kept waiting before, in all the +fifty years of her more or less fashionable life. + +There were speaking-tubes in the porter's lodge, communicating with +each floor of the great Conti palace, but the porter did not move. + +"I cannot go upstairs and leave the door," he said. + +"You can speak to the servant through the tube, I suppose!" + +The porter slowly shook his massive head, and his long grey beard +wagged from side to side. + +"There are no servants upstairs," he said. "There is only the family." + +"No servants? Are you crazy?" + +"Oh, no!" answered the man meditatively. "I do not think I am mad. The +servants all went away last night after dinner, with their belongings. +There were only sixteen left, men and women, for I counted them." + +"Do you mean to say--" The Baroness stopped in the middle of her +question, staring in amazement. + +The porter now nodded, as solemnly as he had before shaken his head. + +"Yes. This is the end of the house of Conti." + +Then he looked at her as if he wished to be questioned, for he knew +that she was not really a great lady, and guessed that in spite of her +magnificent superiority and coldness she was not above talking to a +servant about her friends. + +"But they must have somebody," she said. "They must eat, I suppose! +Somebody must cook for them. They cannot starve!" + +"Who knows? Who knows? Perhaps they will starve." + +The porter evidently took a gloomy view of the case. + +"But why did the servants go away in a body?" asked the Baroness, +descending from her social perch by the inviting ladder of curiosity. + +"They never were paid. None of us ever got our wages. For some time the +family has paid nobody. The day before yesterday, the telephone company +sent a man to take away the instrument. Then the electric light was cut +off. When that happens, it is all over." + +The man had heard of the phenomenon from a colleague. + +"And there is nobody? They have nobody at all?" + +The Baroness had always been rich, and was really trying to guess what +would happen to people who had no servants. + +"There is my wife," said the porter. "But she is old," he added +apologetically, "and the palace is big. Can she sweep out three hundred +rooms, cook for two families of masters and dress the Princess's hair? +She cannot do it." + +This was stated with gloomy gravity. The Baroness also shook her head +in sympathy. + +"There were sixteen servants in the house yesterday," continued the +porter. "I remember when there were thirty, in the times of the old +Prince." + +"There would be still, if the family had been wise," said the Baroness +severely. "Is your wife upstairs?" + +"Who knows where she is?" enquired the porter by way of answer, and +with the air of a man who fears that he may never see his wife again. +"There are three hundred rooms. Who knows where she is?" + +The Baroness was a practical woman by nature and by force of +circumstances; she made up her mind to go upstairs and see for herself +how matters stood. The name of Donna Clementina might not just now +carry much weight beside those of the patronesses of a complicated +charitable organization; in fact the poor lady must be in a position to +need charity herself rather than to dispense it to others. But the +Baroness had a deep-rooted prejudice in favour of the old aristocracy, +and guessed that it would afterwards be counted to her for +righteousness if she could be the first to offer boundless sympathy and +limited help to the distressed family. + +It would be thought distinctly smart, for instance, if she should take +the Princess, or even one of the unmarried daughters, to her own house +for a few days, as a refuge from the sordid atmosphere of debt and +ruin, and beyond the reach of vulgar creditors, one of whom, by the +way, she knew to be her own excellent husband. The Princess was +probably not aware of that fact, for she had always lived in sublime +ignorance of everything connected with money, even since her husband's +death; and when good Pompeo Sassi tried to explain things, telling her +that she was quite ruined, she never listened to what he said. If the +family had debts, why did he not borrow money and pay them? That was +what he was paid for doing, after all. It was true that he had not been +paid for a year or two, but that was a wretched detail. Economy? Had +not the Princess given up her second maid, as an extravagance? What +more did the man expect? + +The Baroness knew all this and reflected upon what she knew, as she +deliberately got out of her cab at the foot of the grand staircase. + +"I will go upstairs myself," she said. + +"Padrona," observed the porter, standing aside with his broom. + +He explained in a single word that she was at liberty to go upstairs if +she chose, that it was not of the least use to go, and that he would +not be responsible for any disappointment if she were afterwards not +pleased. There is no language in the world which can say more in one +word than the Italian, or less in ten thousand, according to the humour +of the speaker. + +The Baroness took no notice as she went up the stairs. She was not very +tall, and was growing slowly and surely stout, but she carried her +rather large head high and had cultivated importance, as a fine art, +with some success. She moved steadily, with a muffled sound as of +voluminous invisible silk bellows that opened and shut at each step; +her outer dress was sombre, but fashionable, and she wore a long gold +chain of curious and fine workmanship to carry her hand-glass, for she +was near-sighted. Her thick hair was iron-grey, her small round eyes +were vaguely dark with greenish lights, her complexion was like weak +coffee and milk, sallow, but smooth, even and healthy. She was a strong +woman of fifty years, well used to the world and its ways; acquisitive, +inquisitive and socially progressive; not knowing how to wish back +anything from the past, so long as there was anything in the future to +wish for; a good wife for an ambitious man. + +The magnificent marble staircase already looked neglected; there were +deep shadows of dust in corners that should have been polished, there +was a coat of grey dust on the head and shoulders of the colossal +marble statue of Commodus in the niche on the first landing; in the +great window over the next, the armorial crowned eagle of the Conti, +cheeky, argent and sable, had a dejected look, as if he were moulting. + +It was in March, and though the sun was shining brightly outside, and +the old porter wore his linen jacket, as if it were already spring, +there was a cold draught down the staircase, and the Baroness +instinctively made haste up the steps, and was glad when she reached +the big swinging door covered with red baize and studded with smart +brass nails, which gave access to the grand apartment. + +By force of habit, she opened it and went in. There used to be always +two men in the outer hall, all day long, and sometimes four, ready to +announce visitors or to answer questions, as the case might be. It was +deserted now, a great, dismal, paved hall, already dingy with dust. One +of the box-benches was open, and the tail of a footman's livery +greatcoat which had been thrown in carelessly, hung over the edge and +dragged on the marble floor. + +The Baroness realized that the porter had spoken the truth and that all +the servants had left the house, as the rats leave a sinking ship. One +must really have seen an old ship sink in harbour to know how the rats +look, black and grey, fat and thin, old and young, their tiny beads of +eyes glittering with fright as they scurry up the hatches and make for +every deck port and scupper, scrambling and tumbling over each other +till they flop into the water and swim away, racing for safety, each +making a long forked wake on the smooth surface, with a steady quick +ripple like the tearing of thin paper into strips. + +The strong middle-aged woman who stood alone in the empty hall knew +nothing of sinking vessels or the ways of rats, but she had known +incidentally of more than one catastrophe like this, in the course of +her husband's ascendant career, and somehow he had always been +mysteriously connected with each one. An evil-speaking old diplomatist +had once said that he remembered Baron Volterra as a pawn-broking +dealer in antiquities, in Florence, thirty years earlier; there was +probably no truth in the story, but after Volterra was elected a +Senator of the Kingdom, a member of the opposition had alluded to it +with piquant irony and the result had been the exchange of several +bullets at forty paces, whereby honour was satisfied without bloodshed. +The seconds, who were well disposed to both parties, alone knew how +much or how little powder there was in the pistols, and they were +discreet men, who kept the secret. + +The door leading to the antechamber was wide open, and the Baroness +went on deliberately, looking about through her hand-glass, in the half +light, for the shutters were not all open. Dust everywhere, the dust +that falls silently at night from the ancient wooden ceilings and +painted beams of Roman palaces, the dust of centuries accumulated above +and sifting for ever to the floors below. It was on the yellow marble +pier tables, on the dim mirrors in their eighteenth century frames, on +the high canopy draped with silver and black beneath which the effigy +of another big cheeky eagle seemed to be silently moulting under his +antique crown, the emblem of a race that had lived almost on the same +spot for eight hundred years, through good and bad repute, but in +nearly uninterrupted prosperity. The Baroness, who hankered after +greatness, felt that the gloom was a twilight of gods. She stood still +before the canopy, the symbol of princely rank and privilege, the +invisible silk bellows were silent for a few seconds, and she wondered +whether there were any procurable sum which she and her husband would +grudge in exchange for the acknowledged right to display a crowned +eagle, cheeky, argent and sable, in their hall, under a canopy draped +with their own colours. She sighed, since no one could hear her, and +she went on. The sigh was not only for the hopelessness of ever +reaching such social greatness; it was in part the outward show of a +real regret that it should have come to an untimely end. Her admiration +of princes was as sincere as her longing to be one of them; she had at +least the melancholy satisfaction of sympathizing with them in their +downfall. It brought her a little nearer to them in imagination if not +in fact. + +The evolution of the snob has been going on quickly of late, and +quicker than ever since vast wealth has given so many of the species +the balance of at least one sort of power in society. His thoughts are +still the same, but his outward shape approaches strangely near to that +of the human being. There are snobs now, who behave almost as nicely in +the privacy of their homes as in the presence of a duchess. They are +much more particular as to the way in which others shall behave to +them. That is a test, by the bye. The snob thinks most of the treatment +he receives from the world; the gentleman thinks first how he shall act +courteously to others. + +The Baroness went on and entered the outer reception room, and looking +before her she could see through the open doors of the succeeding +drawing-rooms, where the windows had been opened or perhaps not closed +on the previous evening. It was all vast, stately and deserted. Only +ten days earlier she had been in the same place at a great reception, +brilliant with beautiful women and handsome men, alive with the +flashing of jewels and decorations in the vivid light, full of the +discreet noise of society in good-humour, full of faces she knew, and +voices familiar, and of the moonlight of priceless pearls and the +sunlight of historic diamonds; all of which manifestations she dearly +loved. + +Her husband had perhaps known what was coming, and how soon, but she +had not. There was something awful in the contrast. As she went through +one of the rooms a mouse ran from under the fringe of a velvet curtain +and took refuge under an armchair. She had sat in that very chair ten +days ago and the Russian ambassador had talked to her; she remembered +how he had tried to extract information from her about the new issue of +three and a half per cent national bonds, because her husband was one +of the financiers who were expected to "manipulate" the loan. + +A portrait of a Conti in black velvet, by Velasquez, looked down, +coldly supercilious, at the empty armchair under which the mouse was +hiding. It could make no difference, great or small, to him, whether +the Baroness Volterra ever sat there again to talk with an ambassador; +he had sat where he pleased, undisturbed in his own house, to the end +of his days, and no one can take the past from the dead, except a +modern German historian. + +Not a sound broke the stillness, except the steady plash of the water +falling into the fountain in the wide court, heard distinctly through +the closed windows. The Baroness wondered if any one were awake except +the old porter downstairs. She knew the house tolerably well. Only the +Princess and her two unmarried daughters slept in the apartment she had +entered, far off, at the very end, in rooms at the corner overlooking +the small square and the narrow street. The rest of the old palace was +surrounded by dark and narrow streets, but the court was wide and full +of sunshine. The only son of the house, though he was now the Prince, +lived on the floor above, with his young wife and their only child, in +what had been a separate establishment, after the old Roman custom. + +The Baroness went to one of the embrasures of the great drawing-room +and looked through the panes at the windows of the upper story. All +that she could see were shut; there was not a sign of life in the huge +building. Ruin had closed in upon it and all it held, softly, without +noise and without pity. + +It was their own fault, of course, but the Baroness was sorry for them, +for she was not quite heartless, in spite of her hard face. The +gloomiest landscape must have a ray of light in it, somewhere. It was +all their own fault; they should have known better; they should have +counted what they had instead of spending what they had not. But their +fall was great, as everything had been in their prosperity, and it was +interesting to be connected with it. She faintly hoped Volterra would +keep the palace now that they could certainly never pay any more +interest on the mortgage, and it was barely possible that she might +some day live in it herself, though she understood that it would be in +very bad taste to occupy it at once. But this was unlikely, for her +husband had a predilection for a new house, in the new part of the +city, full of new furniture and modern French pictures. He had a +pronounced dislike for old things, including old pictures and old +jewellery, though he knew much about both. Possibly they reminded him +of that absurd story, and of his duel at forty paces. + +Volterra would sell the palace to the Vatican, with everything in it, +and would look about for another lucrative investment. The Vatican +bought all the palaces in the market for religious institutions, and +when there were not enough "it" built the finest buildings in Rome for +its own purposes. Volterra was mildly anti-clerical in politics, but he +was particularly fond of dealing with the Vatican for real estate. The +Vatican was a most admirable house of business, in his estimation, +keen, punctual and always solvent; it was good for a financier to be +associated with such an institution. It drove a hard bargain, but there +was never any hesitation about fulfilling its obligations to the last +farthing. Dreaming over one of his enormous Havanas after a perfect +dinner, Baron Volterra, Senator of the Kingdom of Italy, often wondered +whether the prosperity of the whole world would not be vastly increased +if the Vatican would consent to be the general financial agent for the +European nations. Such stability as there would be, such order! Above +all, such guarantees of good faith! Besides all that, there were its +cordial relations with the United States, that is to say, with the +chief source of the world's future wealth! The Senator's +strongly-marked face grew sweetly thoughtful as he followed his own +visions in the air, and when his wife spoke of living in an antiquated +Roman palace and buying an estate with an old title attached to it, +which the King might graciously be pleased to ratify, he playfully +tapped his wife's sallow cheek with two fat fingers and smiled in a way +that showed how superior he was to such weakness. It was not even worth +while to say anything. + +Once more the Baroness sighed as she turned from the window. She meant +to have her own way in the end, but it was hard to wait so long. She +turned from the window, glanced at a beautiful holy family by Bonifazio +which hung on the opposite wall above an alabaster table, estimated its +value instinctively and went on into the next drawing-room. + +As she passed through the door, a low cry of pain made her start and +hesitate, and she stood still. The degree of her acquaintance with the +members of the family was just such that she would not quite dare to +intrude upon them if they had given way to an expression of pardonable +weakness under their final misfortune, whereas if they were bearing it +with reasonable fortitude she could allow herself to offer her sympathy +and even some judicious help. + +She stood still and the sound was repeated, the pitiful little tearless +complaint of a young thing suffering alone. It was somewhere in the big +room, hidden amongst the furniture; which was less stiffly arranged +here than in the outer apartments. There were books and newspapers on +the table, the fireplace was half-full of the ashes of a burnt-out +fire, there were faded flowers in a tall vase near the window, there +was the undefinable presence of life in the heavier and warmer air. At +first the Baroness had thought that the cry came from some small +animal, hurt and forgotten there in the great catastrophe; a moment +later she was sure that there was some one in the room. + +She moved cautiously forward in the direction whence the sound had +come. Then she saw the edge of a fawn-coloured cloth skirt on the red +carpet by an armchair. She went on, hesitating no longer. She had seen +the frock only a day or two ago, and it belonged to Sabina Conti. + +A very fair young girl was kneeling in the shadow, crouching over +something on the floor. Her hair was like the pale mist in the morning, +tinged with gold. She was very slight, and as she bent down, her +slender neck was dazzling white above the collar of her frock. She was +trembling a little. + +"My dear Sabina, what has happened?" asked the Baroness Volterra, +leaning over her with an audible crack in the region of the waist. + +At the words the girl turned up her pale face, without the least start +of surprise. + +"It is dead," she said, in a very low voice. + +The Baroness looked down, and saw a small bunch of yellow feathers +lying on the floor at the girl's knees; the poor little head with its +colourless beak lay quite still on the red carpet, turned upon one +side, as if it were resting. + +"A canary," observed the Baroness, who had never had a pet in her life, +and had always wondered how any one could care for such stupid things. + +But the violet eyes gazed up to hers reproachfully and wonderingly. + +"It is dead." + +That should explain everything; surely the woman must understand. Yet +there was no response. The Baroness stood upright again, grasping her +parasol and looking down with a sort of respectful indifference. Sabina +said nothing, but took up the dead bird very tenderly, as if it could +still feel that she loved it, and she pressed it softly to her breast, +bending her head to it, and then kissing the yellow feathers. When it +was alive it used to nestle there, almost as it lay now. It had been +very tame. + +"I suppose a cat killed it," said the Baroness, wishing to say +something. + +Sabina shook her head. She had found it lying there, not wounded, its +feathers not torn--just dead. It was of no use to answer. She rose to +her feet, still holding the tiny body against her bosom, and she looked +at the Baroness, mutely asking what had brought her there, and wishing +that she would go away. + +"I came to see your sister," said the elder woman, with something like +apology in the tone. + +Sabina was still very pale, and her delicate lips were pressed +together, but there were no tears in her eyes, as she waited for the +Baroness to say more. + +"Then I heard the bad news," the latter continued. "I heard it from the +porter." + +Sabina looked at her quietly. If she had heard the bad news, why had +she not gone away? The Baroness began to feel uncomfortable. She almost +quailed before the pale girl of seventeen, slender as a birch sapling +in her light frock. + +"It occurred to me," she continued nervously, "that I might be of use." + +"You are very kind," Sabina answered, with the faintest air of +surprise, "but I really do not see that you could do anything." + +"Perhaps your mother would allow you to spend a few days with me--until +things are more settled," suggested the Baroness. + +"Thank you very much. I do not think she would like that. She would not +wish me to be away from her just now, I am sure. Why should I leave +her?" + +The Baroness Volterra did not like to point out that the Princess Conti +might soon be literally homeless. + +"May I ask your mother?" she enquired. "Should you like to come to me +for a few days?" + +"If my mother wishes it." + +"But should you like to come?" persisted the elder woman. + +"If my mother thinks it is best," answered Sabina, avoiding the +Baroness's eyes, as she resolutely avoided answering the direct +question. + +But the Baroness was determined if possible to take in one of the +family, and it had occurred to her that Sabina would really be less +trouble than her mother or elder sister. Clementina was the eldest and +was already looked upon as an old maid. She was intensely devout, and +that was always troublesome, for it meant that she would insist upon +going to church at impossibly early hours, and must have fish-dinners +on Fridays. But it would certainly be conferring a favour on the +Princess to take Sabina off her hands at such a time. The devout +Clementina could take care of herself. With her face, the Baroness +reflected, she would be safe among Cossacks; besides, she could go into +a retreat, and stay there, if necessary. Sabina was quite different. + +The Princess thought so too, as it turned out. Sabina took the visitor +to her mother's door, knocked, opened and then went away, still +pressing her dead canary to her bosom, and infinitely glad to be alone +with it at last. + +There was confusion in the Princess Conti's bedroom, the amazing +confusion which boils up about an utterly careless woman of the great +world, if she be accidentally left without a maid for twenty-four +hours. It seemed as if everything the Princess possessed in the way of +clothes, necessary and unnecessary, had been torn from wardrobes and +chests of drawers by a cyclone and scattered in every direction, till +there was not space to move or sit down in a room which was thirty feet +square. + +Princess Conti was a very stout woman of about the same age as her +visitor, but not resembling her in the least. She had been beautiful, +and still kept the dazzling complexion and magnificent eyes for which +she had been famous. It was her boast that she slept eight hours every +night, without waking, whatever happened, and she always advised +everybody to do the same, with an airy indifference to possibilities +which would have done credit to a doctor. + +She was dressed, or rather wrapped, in a magnificent purple velvet +dressing-gown, trimmed with sable, and tied round her ample waist with +a silver cord; her rather scanty grey hair stood out about her head +like a cloud in a high wind; and her plump hands were encased in a pair +of old white gloves, which looked oddly out of place. She was standing +in the middle of the room, and she smiled calmly as the Baroness +entered. On a beautiful inlaid table beside her stood a battered brass +tray with an almost shapeless little brass coffee-pot, a common +earthenware cup, chipped at the edges, and three pieces of +doubtful-looking sugar in a tiny saucer, also of brass. The whole had +evidently been brought from a small cafe near by, which had long been +frequented by the servants from the palace. + +Judging from her smile, the Princess seemed to think total ruin rather +an amusing incident. She had always complained that the Romans were +very dull; for she was not a Roman herself, but came of a very great +old Polish family, the members of which had been distinguished for +divers forms of amiable eccentricity during a couple of centuries. + +She looked at the Baroness, and smiled pleasantly, showing her still +perfect teeth. + +"I always said that this would happen," she observed. "I always told my +poor husband so." + +As the Prince had been dead ten years, the Baroness thought that he +might not be wholly responsible for the ruin of his estate, but she +discreetly avoided the suggestion. She began to make a little apology +for her visit. + +"But I am delighted to see you!" cried the Princess. "You can help me +to pack. You know I have not a single maid, not a woman in the house, +nor a man either. Those ridiculous servants fled last night as if we +had the plague!" + +"So you are going out of town?" enquired the Baroness, laying down her +parasol. + +"Of course. Clementina has decided to be a nun, and is going to the +convent this morning. So sensible of her, poor dear! It is true that +she has made up her mind to do it three or four times before now, but +the circumstances were different, and I hope this will be final. She +will be much happier." + +The Princess stirred the muddy coffee in the chipped earthenware cup, +and then sipped it thoughtfully, sipped it again, and made a face. + +"You see my breakfast," she said, and then laughed, as if the shabby +brass tray were a part of the train of amusing circumstances. "The +porter's wife went and got it at some dirty little cafe," she added. + +"How dreadful!" exclaimed the Baroness, with more real sympathy in her +voice than she had yet shown. + +"I assure you," the Princess answered serenely, "that I am glad to have +any coffee at all. I always told poor dear Paolo that it would come to +this." + +She swallowed the rest of the coffee with a grimace, and set down the +cup. Then, with the most natural gesture in the world, she pushed the +tray a little way across the inlaid table, towards the Baroness, as she +would have pushed it towards her maid, and as if she wished the thing +taken away. She did it merely from force of habit, no doubt. + +Baroness Volterra understood well enough, and for a moment she affected +not to see. The Princess had the blood of Polish kings in her veins, +mingled with that of several mediatized princes, but that was no reason +why she should treat a friend like a servant; especially as the +friend's husband practically owned the palace and its contents, and had +lent the money with which the high and mighty lady and her son had +finally ruined themselves. Yet so overpowering is the moral domination +of the born aristocrat over the born snob, that the Baroness changed +her mind, and humbly took the obnoxious tray away and set it down on +another table near the door. + +"Thank you so much," said the Princess graciously. "It smells, you +know." + +"Of course," answered the Baroness. "It is not coffee at all! It is +made of chicory and acorns." + +"I do not know what it is made of," said the Princess, without +interest, "but it has an atrociously bad smell, and it has made a green +stain on my handkerchief." + +She looked at the bit of transparently fine linen with which she had +touched her lips, and threw it under the table. + +"And Sabina?" began the Baroness. "What shall you do with her?" + +"I wish I knew! You see, my daughter-in-law has a little place +somewhere in the Maremma. It is an awful hole, I believe, and very +unhealthy, but we shall have to stay there for a few days. Then I shall +go to Poland and see my brother. I am sure he can arrange everything at +once, and we shall come back to Rome in the autumn, of course, just as +usual. Sassi told me only last week that two or three millions would be +enough. And what is that? My brother is so rich!" + +The stout Princess shrugged her shoulders carelessly, as if a few +millions of francs more or less could really not be such a great +matter. Somebody had always found money for her to spend, and there was +no reason why obliging persons should not continue to do the same. The +Baroness showed no surprise, but wondered whether the Princess might +not have to lunch, and dine too, on some nauseous little mess brought +to her on a battered brass tray. It was quite possible that she might +not find five francs in her purse; it was equally possible that she +might find five thousand; the only thing quite sure was that she had +not taken the trouble to look, and did not care a straw. + +"Can I be of any immediate use?" asked the Baroness with unnecessary +timidity. "Do you need ready money?" + +"Ready money?" echoed the Princess with alacrity. "Of course I do! I +told you, Sassi says that two or three millions would be enough to go +on with." + +"I did not mean that. I am afraid--" + +"Oh!" ejaculated the Princess with a little disappointment. "Nothing +else would be of any use. Of course I have money for any little thing I +need. There is my purse. Do you mind looking? I know I had two or three +thousand francs the other day. There must be something left. Please +count it. I never can count right, you know." + +The Baroness took up the mauve morocco pocket-book to which the +Princess pointed. It had a clasp in which a pretty sapphire was set; +she opened it and took out a few notes and silver coins, which she +counted. + +"There are fifty-seven francs," she said. + +"Is that all?" asked the Princess with supreme indifference. "How very +odd!" + +"You can hardly leave Rome with so little," observed the Baroness. +"Will you not allow me to lend you five hundred? I happen to have a +five hundred franc note in my purse, for I was going to pay a bill on +my way home." + +"Thanks," said the Princess. "That will save me the trouble of sending +for Sassi. He always bores me dreadfully with his figures. Thank you +very much." + +"Not at all, dear friend," the Baroness answered. "It is a pleasure, I +assure you. But I had thought of asking if you would let Sabina come +and stay with me for a little while, until your affairs are more +settled." + +"Oh, would you do that?" asked the Princess with something like +enthusiasm. "I really do not know what to do with the girl. Of course, +I could take her to Poland and marry her there, but she is so peculiar, +such a strange child, not at all like me. It really would be immensely +kind of you to take her, if your husband does not object." + +"He will be delighted." + +"Yes," acquiesced the Princess calmly. "You see," she continued in a +meditative tone, "if I sent her to stay with any of our cousins here, I +am sure they would ask her all sorts of questions about our affairs, +and she is so silly that she would blurt out everything she fancied she +knew, whether it were true or not--about my son and his wife, you know, +and then, the money questions. Poor Sabina! she has not a particle of +tact! It really would be good of you to take her. I shall be so +grateful." + +"I will bring my maid to pack her things," suggested the Baroness. + +"Yes. If she could only help me to pack mine too! Do you think she +would?" + +"Of course!" + +"You are really the kindest person in the world," said the Princess. "I +was quite in despair, when you came. Just look at those things!" + +She pointed to the chairs and sofas, covered with clothes and dresses. + +"But your boxes, where are they?" asked the Baroness. + +"I have not the least idea! I sent the porter's wife to try and find +them, but she has never come back. She is so stupid, poor old thing!" + +"I think I had better bring a couple of men-servants," said the +Baroness. "They may be of use. Should you like my carriage to take you +to the station? Anything I can do--" + +The Princess stared, as if quite puzzled. + +"Thanks, but we have plenty of horses," she said. + +"Yes, but you said that all your servants had left last night. I +supposed the coachman and grooms were gone too." + +"I daresay they are!" The Princess laughed. "Then we will go in cabs. +It will be very amusing. By the bye, I wonder whether those brutes of +men thought of leaving the poor horses anything to eat, and water! I +must really go and see. Poor beasts! They will be starving. Will you +come with me?" + +She moved towards the door, really very much concerned, for she loved +horses. + +"Will you go down like that?" asked the Baroness aghast, glancing at +the purple velvet dressing-gown, and noticing, as the Princess moved, +that her feet, on which she wore small kid slippers, were stockingless. + +"Why not? I shall not catch cold. I never do." + +The Baroness would have given anything to be above caring whether any +one should ever see her, or not, on the stairs of her house in a purple +dressing-gown, without stockings and with her hair standing on end; and +she pondered on the ways of the aristocracy she adored, especially as +represented by her Excellency Marie-Sophie-Hedwige-Zenaide-Honorine-Pia +Rubomirska, Dowager Princess Conti. Ever afterwards she associated +purple velvet and bare feet with the idea of financial catastrophe, +knowing in her heart that even ruin would seem bearable if it could +bring her such magnificent indifference to the details of commonplace +existence. + +At that moment, however, she felt that she was in the position of a +heaven-sent protectress to the Princess. + +"No," she said firmly. "I will go myself to the stables, and the porter +shall feed the horses if there is no groom. You really must not go +downstairs looking like that!" + +"Why not?" asked the Princess, surprised. "But of course, if you will +be so kind as to see whether the horses need anything, it is quite +useless for me to go myself. You will promise? I am sure they are +starving by this time." + +The Baroness promised solemnly, and said that she would come back +within an hour, with her servants, to take away Sabina and to help the +Princess's preparations. In consideration of all she was doing the +Princess kissed her on both her sallow cheeks as she took her leave. +The Princess attached no importance at all to this mark of affectionate +esteem, but it pleased the Baroness very much. + +Just as the latter was going away, the door opened suddenly, and a +weak-looking young man put in his head. + +"Mamma! Mamma!" he cried, in a thin tone of distress, almost as if he +were going to cry. + +He was nearly thirty years old, though he looked younger. He was thin, +and pale, with a muddy and spotted complexion, and his scanty black +hair grew far back on his poorly developed forehead. His eyes had a +look that was half startled, half false. Though he was carefully +dressed he had not shaved, because he could not shave himself and his +valet had departed with the rest of the servants. He was the Princess's +only son, himself the present Prince, and the heir of all the Conti +since the year eleven hundred. + +"Mamma!" + +"What is the matter, sweetheart?" asked the Princess, with ready +sympathy. "Your hands are quite cold! Are you ill?" + +"The child! Something has happened to it--we do not know--it looks so +strange--its eyes are turned in and it is such a dreadful colour--do +come--" + +But the Princess was already on her way, and he spoke the last words as +he ran after her. She turned her head as she went on. + +"For heaven's sake send a doctor!" she cried to the Baroness, and in a +moment she was gone, with the weak young man close at her side. + +The Baroness nodded quickly, and when all three reached the door she +left the two to go upstairs and ran down, with a tremendous puffing of +the invisible silk bellows. + +"The Prince's little girl is very ill," she said, as she passed the +porter, who was now polishing the panes of glass in the door of his +lodge, because he had done the same thing every morning for twenty +years. + +He almost dropped the dingy leather he was using, but before he could +answer, the cab passed out, bearing the Baroness on her errand. + + + + + +CHAPTER II + + + + +Signor Pompeo Sassi sat in his dingy office and tore his hair, in the +good old literal Italian sense. His elbows rested on the shabby black +oilcloth glued to the table, and his long knotted fingers twisted his +few remaining locks, on each side of his head, in a way that was +painful to see. From time to time he desisted for an instant, and held +up his open hands, the fingers quivering with emotion, and his watery +eyes were turned upwards, too, as if directing an unspoken prayer to +the dusty rafters of the ceiling. The furrows had deepened of late in +his respectable, trust-inspiring face, and he was as thin as a skeleton +in leather. + +His heart was broken. On the big sheet of thick hand-made paper, that +lay on the desk, scribbled over with rough calculations in violet ink, +there were a number of trial impressions of the old stamp he had once +been so proud to use. It bore a rough representation of the Conti +eagle, encircled by the legend: "Eccellentissima Casa Conti." When his +eyes fell upon it, they filled with tears. The Most Excellent House of +Conti had come to a pitiful end, and it had been Pompeo Sassi's unhappy +fate to see its fall. Judging from his looks, he was not to survive the +catastrophe very long. + +He loved the family, and yet he disliked every member of it personally +except Sabina. He loved the "Eccellentissima Casa," the checky eagle, +the Velasquez portraits and his dingy office, but he never had spoken +with the Princess, her son, his wife, or his sister Clementina, without +a distinct feeling of disapproving aversion. The old Prince had been +different. In him Sassi had still been able to respect those +traditional Ciceronian virtues which were inculcated with terrific +severity in the Roman youth of fifty years ago. But the Prince had died +prematurely at the age of fifty, and with him the Ciceronian traditions +had ended in Casa Conti, and their place had been taken by the caprices +of the big, healthy, indolent, extravagant Polish woman, by the +miserable weaknesses of a degenerate heir, and the fanatic religious +practices of Donna Clementina. + +Sassi was sure that they all three hated him or despised him, or both; +yet they could not spare him. For different reasons, they all needed +money, and they had long been used to believing that no one but Sassi +could get it for them, since no one else knew how deeply the family was +involved. He always made difficulties, he protested, he wrung his +hands, he warned, he implored; but caprice, vice and devotion always +overcame his objections, and year after year the exhausted estate was +squeezed and pressed and mortgaged and sold, till it had yielded the +uttermost farthing. + +Then, one day, the whole organization of Casa Conti stood still; the +unpaid servants fled, the unpaid tradesmen refused to trust any longer, +the unpaid holders of mortgages foreclosed, the Princess departed to +Poland, the Prince slunk away to live on what was left of his wife's +small estate, Donna Clementina buried herself in a convent to which she +had given immense sums, the Conti palace was for sale, and Pompeo Sassi +sat alone in his office, tearing his hair, while the old porter sat in +his lodge downstairs peeling potatoes. + +It was not for himself that the old steward of the estate was in danger +of being totally bald. He had done for himself what others would not +allow him to do for them, a proceeding which affords some virtuous +people boundless satisfaction, though it procured him none at all. He +was provided for in his old age. During more than thirty years he had +saved and scraped and invested and added to the little sum of money +left him by his father, an honest old notary of the old school, until +he possessed what was a very comfortable competence for a childless old +man. He had a small house of his own near the Pantheon, in which he +occupied two rooms, letting the rest, and he had a hundred thousand +francs in government bonds, besides a few acres of vineyard on the +slope of Monte Mario. + +More than once, in the sincerity of his devotion to the family he +served, he had thought of sacrificing all he possessed in an attempt to +stave off final ruin; but a very little reflection had convinced him +that all he had would be a mere drop in the flood of extravagance, and +would forthwith disappear with the rest into the bottomless pit of debt. + +Even that generous temptation was gone now. The house having collapsed, +its members appeared to him only in their true natures, a +good-for-nothing young man, tainted with a mortal disease, a foolish +mother, a devout spinster threatened with religious mania, and the last +descendant of the great old race, one little girl-child not likely to +live, and perhaps better dead. In their several ways they had treated +him as the contemptible instrument of their inclinations; they were +gone from his life and he was glad of it, when he thought of each one +separately. Yet, collectively, he wished them all in the palace again, +even a month ago, even on the day before the exodus; good, bad, +indifferent, no matter what, they had been Casa Conti still, to the +end, the family he had served faithfully, honestly and hopelessly for +upwards of a third of a century. That might seem to be inconsistent, +but it was the only consistency he had ever known, and it was loyalty, +of a kind. + +But there was one whom he wished back for her own sake; there was Donna +Sabina. When he thought of her, his hands fell from his head at last, +and folded themselves over the scrawled figures on the big sheet of +paper, and he looked long and steadily at them, without seeing them at +all. + +He wondered what would become of her. He had seen her on the last day +and he should never forget it. Before going away with the Baroness +Volterra she had found her way to his dark office, and had stood a few +moments before the shabby old table, with a small package in her hand. +He could see the slight figure still, when he closed his eyes, and her +misty hair against the cold light of the window. She had come to ask +him if he would bury her dead canary, somewhere under the sky where +there was grass and it would not be disturbed. Where could she bury it, +down in the heart of Rome? She had wrapped it in a bit of pink satin +and had laid it in a little brown cardboard box which had been full of +chocolates from Ronzi and Singer's in Piazza Colonna. She pushed back +the lid a finger's breadth and he saw the pink satin for a second. She +laid the box before him. Would he please do what she asked? Very +timidly she slipped a simple little ring off her finger, one of those +gold ones with the sacred monogram which foreigners insist upon calling +"Pax." She said she had bought it with her own money, and could give it +away. She wished to give it to him. He protested, refused, but the +fathomless violet eyes gazed into his very reproachfully. He had always +been so kind to her, she said; would he not keep the little ring to +remember her by? + +So he had taken it, and that same day he had gone all the way to his +lonely vineyard on Monte Mario carrying the chocolate box in his hands, +and he had buried it under the chestnut-tree at the upper end, where +there was some grass; and the breeze always blew there on summer +afternoons. Then he had sat on the roots of the tree for a while, +looking towards Rome. + +He would have plenty of time to go to the vineyard now, for in a little +while he should have nothing to do, as the palace was going to be sold. +When he got home, he wrote a formal letter to Donna Sabina, informing +her that he had fulfilled the commands she had deigned to give him, and +ventured to subscribe himself her Excellency's most devoted, humble and +grateful servant, as indeed he was, from the bottom of his heart. In +twenty-four hours he received a note from her, written in a delicate +tall hand, not without character, on paper bearing the address of Baron +Volterra's house in Via Ludovisi. She thanked him in few words, warmly +and simply. He read the note several times and then put it away in an +old-fashioned brass-bound secretary, of which he always kept the key in +his pocket. It was the only word of thanks he had received from any +living member of the Conti family. + +A month had passed since then, but as he sat at his desk it was all as +vivid as if it had happened yesterday. + +He was in his office to-day because he had received notice that some +one was coming to look at the palace with a view to buying it, and he +considered it his duty to show it to possible purchasers. Baron +Volterra had sent him word in the morning, and he had come early. Then, +as he sat in his old place, the ruin of the great house had enacted +itself again before his eyes, so vividly that the pain had been almost +physical. And then, he had fallen to thinking of Sabina, and wondering +what was to become of her. That was the history of one half-hour in his +life, on a May afternoon; but the whole man was in it, what he had been +thirty years earlier, and a month ago, what he was to-day and what he +would be to the end of his life. + + + + + +CHAPTER III + + + + +If Sabina had known what was before her when she got into the Baroness +Volterra's carriage and was driven up to the Via Ludovisi, followed by +a cab with her luggage, she would probably have begged leave to go with +her elder sister to the convent. Her mother would most likely have +refused the permission, and she would have been obliged to accept the +Volterras' hospitality after all, but she would have had the +satisfaction of having made an effort to keep her freedom before +entering into what she soon looked upon as slavery. + +Her mother would have considered this another evidence of the folly +inherent in all the Conti family. Sabina lived in a luxurious house, +she was treated with consideration, she saw her friends, and desirable +young men saw her. What more could she wish? + +All this was true. The Baroness was at great pains to make much of her, +and the Baron's manner to her was at once flattering, respectful and +paternal. During the first few days she had discovered that if she +accidentally expressed the smallest wish it was instantly fulfilled, +and this was so embarrassing that she had since taken endless pains +never to express any wish at all. Moreover not the slightest allusion +to the misfortunes of her family was ever made before her, and if she +was in total ignorance of the state of affairs, she was at least spared +the humiliation of hearing that the palace was for sale, and might be +sold any day, to any one who would pay the price asked. + +From time to time the Baroness said she hoped that Sabina had good news +of her mother, but showed no curiosity in the matter, and the girl +always answered that she believed her mother to be quite well. Indeed +she did believe it, for she supposed that if the Princess were ill some +one would let her know. She wrote stiff little letters herself, every +Sunday morning, and addressed them to her uncle's place in Poland; but +no one ever took the least notice of these conscientious +communications, and she wondered why she sent them, after all. It was a +remnant of the sense of duty to her parents instilled into her in the +convent, and she could not help clinging to it still, from habit. + +She had a few friends of her own age, and they came to see her now and +then. They were mostly companions of her recent convent days, and they +asked her many questions, to most of which she had no answer. She +noticed that they looked surprised, but they were well brought up +girls, and kept their reflections to themselves, until they were at +home. + +The Conti had fewer near relations than most Roman families, for of +late they had not been numerous. The Prince's only sister had died +childless, the dowager Princess was a Pole, and her daughter-in-law was +a Tuscan. Sabina and her generation had therefore no first cousins; and +those who were one degree or more removed were glad that they had not +been asked to take charge of the girl after the catastrophe. It would +have been all very well merely to give her a room and a place at table, +but the older ones shook their heads, and said that before long the +Baroness Volterra would have to dress her too, and give her +pocket-money. Her good-for-nothing brother would not do anything for +her, if he could, and the Princess, who was amusing herself in Poland, +if not in Paris, was capable of forgetting her existence for a year at +a time. + +All these things greatly enhanced the outward and visible merit of the +Volterra couple, but made Sabina's position daily less endurable. So +the Baroness laid up treasures in heaven while Sabina unwillingly +stored trouble on earth. + +She was proud, to begin with. It was bad enough to have been ordered by +her mother to accept the hospitality of people she did not like, but it +was almost unbearable to realize by degrees that she was living on +their effusive charity. If she had been as vain as she was proud, she +would probably have left their house to take refuge in her sister's +convent, for her vanity could not have borne the certainty that all +society knew what her position was. The foundation of pride is the wish +to respect oneself, whatever others may think; the mainspring of vanity +is the craving for the admiration of others, no matter at what cost to +one's self-respect. In the Conti family these qualities and defects +were unevenly distributed, for while pride seemed to have been left out +in the character of Sabina's brother, who was vain and arrogant, she +herself was as unspoilt by vanity as she was plentifully supplied with +the characteristic which is said to have caused Lucifer's fall, but +which has been the mainstay of many a greatly-tempted man and woman. +Perhaps what is a fault in angels may seem to be almost a virtue in +humanity, compared with the meanness of worse failings. + +Sabina was not suspicious, yet she could not help wondering why the +Baroness had been so very anxious to take her in, and sometimes she +thought that the object might be to marry her to one of Volterra's two +sons. One was in a cavalry regiment stationed in Turin, the other was +in the diplomacy and was now in Washington. They were both doing very +well in their careers and their father and mother often talked of them. + +The Baron was inclined to be playful now and then. + +"Ah, my dear young lady," he would cry, shaking one fat finger at +Sabina across the dinner table, "take care, take care! You will lose +your heart to both my boys and sow discord in my family!" + +At this he never failed to laugh, and his wife responded with a smile +of motherly pride, followed by a discreet side glance at Sabina's +delicate face. Then the finely-pencilled eyebrows were just the least +bit more arched for a second, and the slender neck grew slightly +straighter, but that was all, and the Baron did not even see the +change. Sometimes Sabina said nothing, but sometimes she asked if the +sons were coming home on leave. No, they were not coming at present. In +the spring Volterra and his wife generally spent a few weeks in Turin, +to see the elder son, on their way to Aix and Paris, but his brother +could hardly expect to come home for another year. Then the couple +would talk about both the young men, until Sabina's attention wandered, +and she no longer heard what they were saying. + +She did not believe that they really thought of trying to marry her to +one of the sons. In her own opinion they could gain nothing by it; she +had no dowry now, and her mother had always talked of marriage as a +business transaction. It did not occur to her that they could care to +be allied with a ruined family, and that her mere name could be worth +anything in their scale of values. They were millionaires, of course, +and even the dowry which she might formerly have expected would have +been nothing compared with their fortune; but her mother had always +said that rich people were the very people who cared the most for +money. That was the reason why they were rich. This explanation was so +logical that Sabina had accepted it as the true one. + +Her knowledge of the world was really limited to what she had learned +from her mother, after she had come back from the convent six months +before the crash, and it was an odd mixture of limitations and +exaggerations. When the Princess was in a good humour she believed in +everybody; when she was not, which was when she had no money to throw +away, she attributed the basest motives to all mankind. According to +her moods, she had encouraged Sabina to look forward to a life of +perpetual pleasure, or had assured her with energy that all men were +liars, and that the world was a wretched place after all. It was true +that the Princess entertained the cheerful view more often than not, +which was perhaps fortunate for her daughter; but in her heart the +young girl felt that she would have to rely on her own common sense to +form any opinion of life, and as her position became more difficult, +while the future did not grow more defined, she tried to think +connectedly about it all, and to reach some useful conclusion. + +It was not easy. In her native city, living under the roof of people +who held a strong position in the society to which she belonged, though +they had not been born to it, she was as completely isolated as if she +had been suddenly taken away and set down amongst strangers in +Australia. She was as lonely as she could have been on a desert island. + +The Volterra couple were radically, constitutionally, congenitally +different from the men and women she had seen in her mother's house. +She could not have told exactly where the difference lay, for she was +too young, and perhaps too simple. She did not instinctively like them, +but she had never really felt any affection for her mother either, and +her own brother and sister had always repelled her. Her mother had +sometimes treated her like a toy, but more often as a nuisance and a +hindrance in life, to be kept out of the way as much, as possible, and +married off on the first opportunity. Yet Sabina knew that far down in +her nature there was a mysterious tie of some sort, an intuition that +often told her what her mother would say or do, though she herself +would have spoken and acted otherwise. She had felt it even with her +brother and sister, but she could not feel it at all with the Baron or +his wife. She never could guess what they might do or say under the +most ordinary circumstances, nor what things they would like and +dislike, nor how they would regard anything she said or did; least of +all could she understand why they were so anxious to keep her with them. + +It was all a mystery, but life itself was mysterious, and she was +little more than a child in years though she had never had what one +calls a real childhood. + +She often used to sit by her window, the sliding blinds partly drawn +together, but leaving a space through which she could look down at the +city, with a glimpse of Saint Peter's in the distance against the warm +haze of the low Campagna. Rome seemed as far from her then as if she +saw it in a vision a thousand miles away, and the very faint sounds +from the distance were like voices in a dream. Then, if she closed her +eyes a moment, she could see the dark streets about the Palazzo Conti, +and the one open corner of the palace, high up in the sunlight; she +could smell the acrid air that used to come up to her in the early +morning when the panes were opened, damp and laden with odours not +sweet but familiar in the heart of Rome; odours compounded of cabbages, +stables, cheese and mud, and occasionally varied by the fumes of +roasting coffee, or the sour vapours from a wine cart that was +unloading stained casks, all wet with red juice, at the door of the +wine shop far below, a dark little wine shop with a dry bush stuck out +through a smoky little grated window, and a humble sign displaying the +prices of drink in roughly painted blue and red figures. For her room +had looked upon the narrowest and darkest of the streets, though it had +been stately enough within, and luxuriously furnished, besides +containing some objects of value and beauty over which there would be +much bidding and squabbling of amateurs and experts when the great sale +took place. + +It had been gloomy and silent and loveless, the life down there; and +yet she would have gone back to it if she could, from the sunshine of +the Via Ludovisi, and from the overpowering freshness of the Volterra +house, where everything was modern, and polished, and varnished, and in +perfect condition, suggesting that things had been just paid for. She +had not liked the old life, but she liked her present surroundings even +less, and at times she felt a furious longing to leave them suddenly, +without warning; to go out when no one would notice her, and never to +come back; to go she knew not where, out into the world, risking she +knew not what, a high-born, penniless, fair-haired girl not yet +eighteen. + +What would happen, if she did? She rarely laughed, but she would laugh +at that, when she thought of the consternation her flight would +produce. How puzzled the fat Baron would look, how the Baroness's thin +mouth would be drawn down at the corners! How the invisible silk +bellows would puff as she ran up and down stairs, searching the house +for Sabina! + +There was more than one strain of wild blood in the delicate girl's +veins, and the spring had come suddenly, with a bursting out of blossom +and life and colour, and a twittering of nesting birds in the old +gardens, and a rush of strange longings in her heart. + +Then Sabina told herself that there was nothing to keep her where she +was, but her own will, and that no one would really care what became of +her in the wide world; certainly not her mother, who had never written +her so much as a line, nor sent her a message, since they had parted on +the day of the catastrophe; certainly not her brother; probably not +even her sister, whose whole being was absorbed in the tyrannical +government of what she called her soul. Sabina, in her thoughts, +irreverently compared Clementina's soul to a race-horse, and her sister +to a jockey, riding it cruelly with whip and spur to the goal of +salvation, whether it liked it or not. + +Sabina rose from her seat by the window, when she thought of liberty, +and she walked up and down her room, driven by something she could not +understand, and yet withheld by something she understood even less. For +it was not fear, nor reflection, nor even common sense nor the thought +of giving pain to any one that hindered her from leaving the house at +such moments. It was not even the memory of the one human being who had +hitherto loved her, and for whom she had felt affection and +gratitude,--one of the nuns at the convent school, a brave, quiet +little lady who made her believe in good. She meant to do no harm if +she were free, and the nun would not really blame her, if she knew the +truth. + +It was not that. It was the secret conviction that there was harm in +the world from which mere courage could not protect her; it was the +sort of instinct that warns young animals not to eat plants that are +poisonous; it was the maiden intuition of a strange and unknown danger. + +She sat down again disconsolately. It was absurd, of course, and she +could not run away. Where could she go? She had no money, and she would +have to starve or beg before one day was out. She would be homeless, +she would be driven to some house of charity, for a meal and a place to +sleep, or else to sleep out under the sky. That would be delightful for +once. She had always longed to sleep out of doors, to feel the breeze +playing with her feathery hair in the dark, to watch the constellations +turning slowly westwards, to listen to the night sounds, to the low +rhythmical piping of the tree toad, the sorrowful cry of the little +southern owl and the tolling of the hour in a far-off belfry. + +But it might rain. At the idea, Sabina laughed again. It would be very +unpleasant to be caught in a shower while napping on a bench in a +public garden. Besides, if the policemen found her there, an extremely +young lady, extremely well dressed but apparently belonging to no one, +they would in all likelihood ask her name, and she would have to tell +them who she was; and then she would be brought back to Baron +Volterra's house, unless they thought it more prudent to take her to a +lunatic asylum. + +At that stage in her imaginings it was generally time to go out with +the Baroness for the daily drive, which began with the leaving of cards +and notes, then led to the country or one of the villas, and generally +ended in a turn or two through the Corso before coming home. The worst +part of the daily round was dinner when the Baron was at home. It was +then that she felt most strongly the temptation to slip out of the +house and never to come back. Often, however, he and his wife dined +out, and then Sabina was served alone by two solemn men-servants, so +extremely correct that they reminded her a little of her old home. +These were the pleasantest evenings she spent during that spring, for +when dinner was over she was free to go to her own room and curl +herself up in a big armchair with a book, and read or dream till +bedtime, as she pleased. + +When she was alone, her life seemed less objectless, less inexplicably +empty, less stupidly incomprehensible, less lonely than in the company +of those excellent people with whom she had nothing in common, but to +whom she felt that she was under a great obligation. In their company, +it was as if her life had stopped suddenly at the beginning and was +never to go on again, as if she had stuck fast like a fly in a drop of +amber, as if nothing of interest could ever happen to her though she +might live a hundred years. + +She could hardly remember anything which had given her great pleasure. +She did not remember to have been ever radiantly happy, though she +could not recall much unhappiness since she had left the convent +school. The last thing that had really hurt her had been the death of +her pet canary, and she had kept her feelings to herself as well as she +could, with the old aristocratic instinct of hiding pain. + +It was all idle and strangely empty, and yet hard to understand. She +would have been much surprised if she could have guessed how much its +emptiness interested other people in Rome; how the dowagers chattered +about her over their tea, abusing her mother and all her relations for +abandoning her like a waif; how the men reasoned about Baron Volterra's +deep-laid schemes, trying to make out that his semi-adoption of Sabina, +as they called it, must certainly bode ruin to some one, since he had +never in his life done anything without a financial object; how the +young girls unanimously declared that the Baroness wanted Sabina for +one of her sons, because she was such a dreadful snob; how Cardinal +Della Crusca shook his wise old head knowingly, as he, who knew so +much, always did on the rare occasions when he knew nothing about the +matter in hand; how a romantic young English secretary of Embassy +christened her the Princess in the Tower; and how old Pompeo Sassi went +up to his vineyard on Monte Mario every Sunday and Thursday and sat +almost all the afternoon under the chestnut-tree thinking about her and +making unpractical plans of his own. + + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + + + +If Baron Volterra did not choose to sell the Palazzo Conti to the first +comer, he doubtless knew his own business best, and he was not +answerable to every one for his opinion that the fine old building was +worth a good deal more than the highest offer he had yet received. +Everybody knew that the palace was for sale, and some of the attempts +made to buy it were openly discussed. A speculator had offered four +hundred thousand francs for it, a rich South American had offered half +a million; it was rumoured that the Vatican would give five hundred and +fifty thousand, provided that the timbers of the carved ceilings were +in good condition, but Volterra steadily refused to allow any of the +carvings to be disturbed in order to examine the beams. During several +days a snuffy little man with a clever face poked about with a light in +dark places between floors, trying to find out whether the wood were +sound or rotten, and asking all sorts of questions of the old porter, +and of two workmen who went with him, and who had been employed in +repairs in the palace, as their fathers had been before them, perhaps +for generations. But their answers were never quite satisfactory, and +the snuffy man disappeared to the mysterious regions beyond the Tiber, +and did not come back. + +Some people, knowing the ways of the Romans, might have inferred that +the two workmen, a mason and a carpenter, had not been treated by Baron +Volterra in such a way as to make them give a favourable report; and as +he seemed perfectly indifferent about the result this is quite +possible. At all events the carpenter made out that he could not get at +the beams in question, without moving the decorations which covered +them, and the mason affirmed that it was quite impossible to get a view +of the foundations of the north-west corner of the palace, which were +said to be weak, without knocking a hole through a wall upon which +depended such solidity as there was. It was useless, he said. The +snuffy gentleman could ask the Baron, if he pleased, and the Baron +could do what he liked since the property now belonged to him: but he, +the mason, would not lay hand to pick or crowbar without the Baron's +express authorization. The Baron was a Senator of the Kingdom, said the +mason, and could therefore of course send him to penal servitude in the +galleys for life, if he pleased. That is the average Roman workman's +idea of justice. The snuffy expert, who looked very much like a poor +priest in plain clothes, though he evidently knew his business, made no +reply, nor any attempt to help the mason's conscience with money. + +But he stood a little while by the wall, with his lantern in his hands, +and presently put his ear to the damp stones, and listened. + +"There is running water somewhere not far off," he said, looking keenly +at the workman. + +"It is certainly not wine," answered the man, with a rough laugh, for +he thought it a very good joke. + +"Are there any 'lost waters' under the palace?" asked the expert. + +"I do not know," replied the mason, looking away from the lantern +towards the gloom of the cellars. + +"I believe," said the snuffy gentleman, setting down his lantern, and +taking a large pinch from a battered silver snuff-box, on which the +arms of Pius Ninth were still distinguishable, "I believe that the +nearest 'lost water' to this place is somewhere under the Vicolo del +Soldati." + +"I do not know." + +The expert skilfully inserted the brown dust into his nostrils with his +right thumb, scarcely wasting a grain in the operation. + +"You do not seem to know much," he observed thoughtfully, and took up +his lantern again. + +"I know what I have been taught," replied the mason without resentment. + +The expert glanced at him quickly, but said nothing more. His +inspection was finished, and he led the way out of the intricate +cellars as if he knew them by heart, though he had only passed through +them once, and he left the palace on foot when he had brushed some of +the dust from his shabby clothes. + +The porter looked enquiringly at the two men, as they filled little +clay pipes that had cane stems, standing under the deep entrance. + +"Not even the price of half a litre of wine," said the mason in answer +to the mute question. + +"Church stuff," observed the carpenter discontentedly. + +The porter nodded gravely, and the men nodded to him as they went out +into the street. They had nothing more to do that day, and they turned +into the dark little wine shop, where the withered bush stuck out of +the blackened grating. They sat down opposite each other, with the end +of the grimy board of the table between them, and the carpenter made a +sign. The host brought a litre measure of thin red wine and set it down +between them with two tumblers. He was ghastly pale, flabby and sullen, +with a quarter of an inch of stubbly black beard on his unhealthy face. + +The carpenter poured a few drops of wine into one of the tumblers, +shook it about, turned it into the other, shook it again, and finally +poured it on the unctuous stone floor beside him. Then he filled both +glasses to the brim, and both men drank in silence. + +They repeated the operation, and after the second glass there was not +much left in the measure. The flabby host had retired to the gloomy +vaults within, where he played cards with a crony by the light of a +small smoking lamp with a cracked chimney. + +"That was the very place, was it not?" asked the carpenter at last, in +a low tone, and almost without moving his lips. + +The mason said nothing, but shrugged his shoulders, in a sort of +enigmatic assent. Both drank again, and after a long time the carpenter +smiled faintly. + +"He was looking for the 'lost water,'" he said, in a tone of contempt. + +The faint smile slowly reflected itself in the mason's face. The two +finished their wine, lit their pipes again, left the price of their +drink on the table without disturbing the host and went away. + +So far as any outsider could have judged, the expert's curiosity and +the few words exchanged by the workmen referred to the so-called "lost +water," which might be somewhere under the north-west corner of the +Palazzo Conti, and no one unacquainted with subterranean Rome could +possibly have understood what any of the three meant. + +The "lost waters" of Rome are very mysterious. Here and there, under +old streets and far down amongst the foundations of ancient palaces, +there are channels of running water which have no apparent connection +with any of the aqueducts now restored and in use. It is a water that +comes no one knows whence and finds its way to the Tiber, no one knows +how. It is generally clear and very cold, and in the days when the +aqueducts were all broken and most people drank of the river, the "lost +water" was highly prized. It appears in the most unexpected places, +sometimes in great quantities and seriously interfering with any +attempt to lay the foundations of a new building, sometimes black and +silent, under a huge flagstone in an old courtyard, sometimes running +with an audible rush through hidden passages deeper than the deepest +cellars. It has puzzled archaeologists, hydraulic engineers and +architects for generations, its presence has never been satisfactorily +explained, there seems not to be any plan of the city which shows its +whereabouts, and the modern improvements of the Tiber's banks do not +appear to have affected its occult courses. By tradition handed down +from father to son, certain workmen, chiefly masons and always genuine +Romans, claim to know more about it than other people; but that is as +much as can be said. It is known as the "lost water," and it rises and +falls, and seeks different levels in unaccountable ways, as water will +when it is confined under the earth but is here and there confronted by +the pressure of the air. + +But though the old-fashioned Roman workman still looks upon all +traditional information about his trade as secret and never to be +revealed, that fact alone might seem insufficient to account for the +behaviour of Gigi the carpenter and of Toto the mason under the +particular circumstances here narrated, still less for the contempt +they showed for the snuffy expert who was apparently looking for the +"lost water." An invisible witness would have gathered that they had +something of more importance to conceal. To the expert, their conduct +and answers must have been thoroughly unsatisfactory, for the Vatican +was even said to have refused to pay the additional fifty thousand +francs, On the ground that the state of the foundations was doubtful +and that the timbers of the upper story were not sound. + +Baron Volterra's equanimity was not in the least disturbed by this. On +the contrary, instead of setting the price lower, he frankly told all +applicants, through his agent, that he was in no hurry to sell, as he +had reason to believe that the land about the Palazzo Conti would soon +rise in value. He had settled with the representatives of the Conti +family, and it was said that he had behaved generously. The family had +nothing left after the crash, which might partially account for such an +exhibition of generosity; but it was hinted that Baron Volterra had +given them the option of buying back the palace and some other property +upon which he had foreclosed, if they should be able to pay for it in +ten years. + +Soon after the visit of the snuffy expert, Volterra's agent informed +the porter that a gentleman had taken the small apartment on the +intermediate story, which had formerly been occupied by a chaplain but +had been disused for years. It had been part of the Conti's folly that +they had steadily refused to let any part of the vast building since +the old Prince's death. + + +On the following day, the new-comer moved in, with his belongings, +consisting of a small quantity of new furniture, barely sufficient for +himself and his one servant, and a number of very heavy cases, which +turned out to be full of books. Gigi, the carpenter, was at once sent +for to put up plain shelves for these, and he took stock of the lodger +while the latter was explaining what he wanted. + +"He is a gentleman," said Gigi to Toto, that very evening, as they +stood filling their pipes at the corner of the Vicolo del Soldati. "His +name is Malipieri. He is as black as the horses at a funeral of the +first-class, and he is not a Roman." + +"Who knows what race of animal this may be?" Toto was not in a good +humour. + +"He is of the race of gentlemen," asserted Gigi confidently. + +"Then he will end badly," observed Toto. "Let us go and drink. It is +better." + +"Let us go and drink," repeated Gigi. "You have a sensible thought +sometimes. I think this man is an engineer, or an architect. He wants a +draughtsman's table." + +"Evil befall his little dead ones, whatever he is," returned the other, +by way of welcome to the young man who had moved into the palace. + +"He advanced me ten francs to buy wood for the shelves," said Gigi, who +was by far the more cheerful of the two. + +"Come and drink," returned Toto, relevantly or irrelevantly. "That is +much better." + +So they turned into the wine shop. + + + + + +CHAPTER V + + + + +Baron Volterra introduced Marino Malipieri to the two ladies. The guest +had come punctually, for the Baron had looked at his watch a moment +before he was announced, and it was precisely eight o'clock. + +Malipieri bowed to the Baroness, who held out her hand cordially, and +then to Sabina. + +"Donna Sabina Conti," said the Baron with extreme distinctness, in +order that his guest should be quite sure of the young girl's identity. + +Sabina looked down modestly, as the nuns had told her to do when a +young man was introduced to her. At the same moment Malipieri's eyes +turned quietly and quickly to the Baron, and a look of intelligence +passed between the two men. Malipieri understood that Sabina was one of +the family in whose former palace he was living. Then he glanced again +at the young girl for one moment, before making a commonplace remark to +the Baroness, and after that Sabina felt that she was at liberty to +look at him. + +She saw a very dark man of average height, with short black hair that +grew rather far back from his very white forehead, and wearing a +closely clipped black beard and moustache which did not by any means +hide the firm lines of the mouth and chin. From the strongly marked +eyebrows downward his face was almost of the colour of newly cast +bronze, and the dusky hue contrasted oddly with the clear whiteness of +his forehead. He was evidently a man who had lately been living much +out of doors under a burning sun. Sabina thought that his very bright +black eyes and boldly curved features suggested a young hawk, and he +had a look of compact strength and a way of moving which betrayed both +great energy and extreme quickness. + +But there was something more, which Sabina recognized at the first +glance. She felt instantly that he was not like the Baron and his wife; +that he belonged in some way to the same variety of humanity as +herself; that she would understand him when he spoke, that she would +often feel intuitively what he was going to say next, and that he would +understand her. + +She listened while he talked to the Baroness. He had a slight Venetian +accent, but his voice had not the soft Venetian ring. It was a little +veiled, and though not at all loud it was somewhat harsh. Sabina did +not dislike the manly tone, though it was not musical, nor the Venetian +pronunciation, although that was unfamiliar. In countries like Italy +and Germany, which have had many centres and many historical capital +cities, almost all educated people speak with the accents of their +several origins, and are rather tenacious of the habit than anxious to +get rid of it, generally maintaining that their own pronunciation is +the right one. + +"Signor Malipieri," said the Baron to Sabina, as they went in to +dinner, "is the celebrated archaeologist." + +"Yes," Sabina answered, as if she knew all about him, though she had +never heard him mentioned. + +Malipieri probably overheard the Baron's speech, but he took no notice +of it. At dinner, he seemed inclined to be silent. The Baron asked him +questions about his discoveries, to which he gave rather short answers, +but Sabina gathered that he had found something extraordinary in +Carthage. She did not know where Carthage was, and did not like to ask, +but she remembered that Marius had sat there among some ruins. Perhaps +Malipieri had found his bones, for no one had ever told her that Marius +did not continue to sit among the ruins to his dying day. She connected +him vaguely with AEneas and another person called Regulus. It was all +rather uncertain. + +What she saw clearly was that the Baron wished to make Malipieri feel +at his ease, but that Malipieri's idea of being at his ease was +certainly not founded on a wish to talk about himself. So the +conversation languished for some time. + +The Baroness, who knew about as much about Carthage as Sabina, made a +few disconnected remarks, interspersed with laudatory allusions to the +young man's immense learning, for she wished to please her husband, +though she had not the slightest idea why Malipieri was asked to +dinner. Finding that he was not perceptibly flattered by what she said, +she began to talk about the Venetian aristocracy, for she knew that his +name was historical, and she recognized in him at once the +characteristics of the nobility she worshipped. Malipieri smiled +politely, and in answer to a direct question admitted that his mother +had been a Gradenigo. + +The Baroness was delighted at this information. + +"To think," she said, "that by a mere accident you and Donna Sabina +should meet here, the descendants of two of the oldest families of the +Italian aristocracy!" + +"I am a republican," observed Malipieri quietly. + +"You!" cried the Baroness in amazement. "You, the offspring of such +races as the Malipieri and the Gradenigo a republican, a socialist, an +anarchist!" + +"There is a difference," said Malipieri with a smile. "A republican is +not an anarchist!" + +"I can never believe it," answered the Baroness solemnly. + +She ate a few green peas and shook her head. + +"I went to Carthage because I was condemned to three years' confinement +in prison," replied Malipieri with calm. + +"Prison!" exclaimed the Baroness in horror, and she looked at her +husband, mutely asking why in the world he had brought a convict to +their table. + +The Baron smiled benignly, as he disposed of an ample mouthful of green +peas, before he spoke. + +"Signor Malipieri," he said, when he had swallowed the last one, +"founded and edited a republican newspaper in the north of Italy." + +"And you were sent to prison for that?" asked Sabina with indignation. + +"It is one thing to send a man to prison," said Malipieri. "It is +another to make him go there. I escaped to Switzerland, and I came back +to Italy quite lately, after the amnesty." + +"I am amazed!" The Baroness looked at the servants timidly, as if she +expected the butler and the footman to express their disapprobation of +the guest. + +"I have left politics for the present," Malipieri replied, looking at +Sabina and smiling. + +"Of course!" cried the Baroness. "But--" she stopped short. + +"My wife," said the financier with a grin, "is afraid you have dynamite +about you." + +"How absurd!" The Baroness felt that she was ridiculous. "But I do not +understand how you can be friends," she added, glancing from her +husband to Malipieri. + +"We are at least on good terms of acquaintance," said the younger man a +little markedly. + +Sabina liked the speech and the way in which it was spoken. + +"We have a common ground for it in our interest in antiquities. Is it +not true, Signer Malipieri?" + +The Baron looked at him and smiled again, as if there were a secret +between them, and Malipieri glanced at Sabina. + +"It is quite true," he said gravely. "The Baron has read all I have +written about Carthage." + +Volterra possessed a sort of rough social tact, together with the +native astuteness and great knowledge of men which had made him rich +and a Senator. He suddenly became voluble and led the conversation in a +new direction, which it followed till the end of dinner. + +Several people came in afterwards, as often happened, before the coffee +was taken away. They were chiefly men in politics, and two of them +brought their wives with them. They were not the sort of guests whom +the Baroness preferred, for they were not by any means all noble +Romans, but they were of importance to her husband and she took great +pains to make them welcome. To one she offered his favourite liqueur, +which happened to be a Sicilian ratafia; for another she made the Baron +send for some of those horribly coarse black cigars known as Tuscans, +which some Italians prefer to anything else; for a third, she ordered +fresh coffee to be especially made. She took endless trouble. + +Malipieri seemed to know none of the guests, and he took advantage of +the Baroness's preoccupation for their comforts to sit down by Sabina. +He did not look at her, and she thought he looked bored, as he sat a +moment in silence. Then a thin deputy with a magnificent forehead and +thick grey hair began to hold forth on the subject of a projected +divorce law and the guests gathered round him. Sabina had never heard +of Sydney Smith, but she had a suspicion that nobody could be as great +as the speaker looked. While she was thinking of this, Malipieri spoke +to her in a low voice. + +"I suppose that you are stopping in the house," he said. + +"Yes." + +Sabina turned her eyes a little, but did not look straight at him. She +saw, however, that he was still watching the people in the room, and +still looked bored, and she was quite unprepared for what followed. + +"Are the affairs of your family finally settled?" he enquired, without +changing his tone. + +Sabina was so much surprised that she waited a moment before answering. +Her first instinct was to ask him stiffly why he put such a question, +and she would have replied to it in that way if it had come from any +other guest in the room; but she changed her mind almost instantly. + +"No one has told me anything," she said simply, in a low voice. +Malipieri turned his head a little with a quick movement, and clasped +his brown hands over one knee. + +"You know nothing?" he asked. "Nothing whatever about the matter?" + +"Nothing." + +He bit his lip as if he were indignant, and were repressing an +exclamation. + +"No one has written to me--for a long time," Sabina said, after a +moment. + +She had been on the point of saying that she had never received a line +from any member of her family since the crash, but that seemed to sound +like a confidence, and what she really said was quite true. + +"Has not the Senator told you anything either?" Malipieri asked. + +"No. I suppose he does not like to speak about our misfortunes before +me." + +"Have you, I mean you yourself, any interest in the Palazzo Conti now? +Can you tell me that?" + +"I know nothing--nothing!" Sabina repeated the word with a slight +tremor, for just then she felt her position more keenly than ever +before. "Why do you ask?" + +She could not help putting the question which rose to her lips the +second time, but there was no coldness in her voice. She was very +lonely, and she felt that Malipieri was speaking from some honourable +motive. + +"I am living in the palace," Malipieri answered. + +Sabina looked up quickly, with an expression of interest in her pale +young face. The thought that the man beside her was living in her old +home was like a bond of acquaintance. + +"Really?" she cried. "In which part of the house?" + +"Do not seem interested, please," said Malipieri, suddenly looking very +bored again. "If you do, we shall not be allowed to talk. I am living +in the little apartment on the intermediate story. They tell me that a +chaplain once lived there." + +"I know where it is," answered Sabina, "but I was never in the rooms. +They used to be shut up, I think." + +The deputy who was haranguing on the subject of divorce seemed to be +approaching his peroration. His great voice filled the large room with +incessant noise, and everybody seemed anxiously waiting for a chance to +contradict him. Malipieri was in no danger of being overheard. + +"If it happens," he said, "that I wish to communicate with you on a +matter of importance, how can I reach you best?" + +He asked the question quite naturally, as if he had known Sabina all +his life. At first she was so much surprised that she could hardly +speak. + +"I--I do not know," she stammered. + +She had never received letters from any one but her own family or her +school friends, and a very faint colour rose in her pale cheek. +Malipieri looked more bored and weary than ever. + +"It may be absolutely necessary for me to write to you before long," he +said. "Shall I write by post?" + +Sabina hesitated. + +"Is there no one in all Rome whom you can trust to bring a note and +give it to you when you are alone?" + +"There is Signor Sassi," Sabina answered almost instinctively. "But +really, why should you--" + +"How can I find Sassi?" asked Malipieri, interrupting the question. +"Who is he?" + +"He was our agent. Is he gone? The old porter will know where to find +him. I think he lived near the palace. But perhaps the porter has been +sent away too." + +"He is still there. Have you been made to sign any papers since you +have been here?" + +"No." + +"Will you promise me something?" + +Sabina could not understand how it was that a man who had been a +stranger two hours earlier was speaking to her almost as if he were an +intimate friend, still less why she no longer felt that she ought to +check him and assert her dignity. + +"If it is right, I will promise it," she answered quietly, and looking +down. + +"It is right," he said. "If the Senator, or any one else asks you to +sign a paper, will you promise to consult me before doing so?" + +"But I hardly know you!" she laughed, a little shyly. + +"It is of no use to waste time and trouble on social conventions," said +Malipieri. "If you do not trust me, can you trust this Sassi?" + +"Oh yes!" + +"Then consult him. I will make him consult me, and it will be the +same--and ten times more conventional and proper." + +He smiled. + +"Will you promise that?" he asked. + +"Yes. I promise. But I wish you would tell me more." + +"I wish I could. But I hardly know you!" He smiled again, as he +repeated her own words. + +"Never mind that! Tell me!" + +"No. I cannot. If there is trouble I will tell you everything--through +Sassi, of course." + +Sabina laughed, and all at once she felt as if she had known him for +years. + +At that moment the deputy finished his speech, and all who had anything +to say in answer said it at once, in order to lose no time, while the +speaker relighted his villainous black cigar, puffing tremendously. + +The Baroness suddenly remembered Sabina and Malipieri in the corner, +and after screaming out several incoherent phrases, which might have +been taken for applause or dissent and were almost lost in the general +din, she moved across the room. + +"It is atrocious!" she cried, as she reached Sabina. "I hope you have +not heard a word he said!" + +"When a man has such a voice as that, it is impossible not to hear +him," said Malipieri, rising and answering before Sabina had time to +speak. + +Sabina rose, too, rather reluctantly. + +"And of course you agreed with everything he said," the Baroness +replied. "All anarchists do!" + +"I beg your pardon. I do not agree with him at all, and I am really not +an anarchist." + +He smiled politely, and Sabina noticed with an unaccountable little +thrill of satisfaction that the smile was quite different from the one +she had seen in his face more than once while they had been talking +together. As for the deputy's discourse, she had not heard a word of it. + +The Baroness sat down on the sofa, and Sabina slipped away. She was not +supposed to be in society yet, as she was not quite eighteen, and there +was certainly no reason why she should stay in the drawing-room that +evening, while there were many reasons why she should go away. The +Baroness breathed an audible sigh of relief when she was gone, for it +was never possible to predict what some excited politician might say +before her in the heat of argument. + +In the silence of her own room she sat down to think over the +unexpected events of the evening. Very young girls love to look forward +to the moment when they shall be able to "think" of what has happened, +after they have met men they are inclined to like, and who interest +them. But when the time really comes they hardly ever think at all. +They see pictures, they hear voices, they feel again what they have +felt, they laugh, they shed tears all alone, and they believe they are +thinking, or even reasoning. Their little joys come back to them, the +little triumphs of their vanity, and also all the little hurts their +sensitiveness has suffered, and which men do not often guess and still +more rarely understand. + +There must be some original reason why all boys call girls silly, and +all girls think boys stupid. It must be part of the first manifestation +of that enormous difference which exists between the point of view of +men and women in after life. + +Women are, in a sense, the embodiment of practice, while men are the +representatives of theory. In practice, in a race for life, the runner +who jumps everything in his way is always right, unless he breaks his +neck. In theory, he is as likely to break his neck at the first jump as +at the second, and the chances of his coming to grief increase quickly, +always in theory, as he grows tired. So theory says that it is safer +never to jump at all, but to go round through the gates, or wade +ignominiously through the water. Women jump; men go round. The +difference is everything. Women believe in what often succeeds in +practice, and they take all risks and sometimes come down with a crash. +Men theorize about danger, make elaborate calculations to avoid it and +occasionally stick in the mud. When women fall at a stone wall they +scream, when men are stuck in a bog they swear. The difference is +fundamental. In nine cases out of ten it is the woman who enjoys the +ecstatic delight of saying "I told you so," and there are plenty of +women who would ask no greater joy in paradise than to say so to their +husbands for ever and ever. Indeed, eternal reward and punishment could +thus be at once combined and distributed in a simple manner. + +Sabina took her first fence that evening, for when she put out her +candle she was sure that Malipieri was already her friend, and that she +could trust him in any emergency. Moreover, though she would not have +acknowledged it, she inwardly hoped that some emergency might not be +far in the future. + +But Malipieri walked all the way from the Via Ludovisi to the Palazzo +Conti, which is more than a mile, without noticing that he had +forgotten to light the cigar he had taken out on leaving Volterra's +house. + + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + + + +Malipieri had the Palazzo Conti to himself. The main entrance was +always shut now, and only a small postern, cut in one side of the great +door, was left ajar. The porter loafed about in the great court with +his broom and his pipe; in the morning his wife went upstairs and +opened a few windows, merely as a formality, and late in the afternoon +she shut them again. Malipieri's man generally went out twice every +day, carrying a military dinner-pail, made in three sections, which he +brought back half an hour later. Malipieri sometimes was not seen for +several days, but frequently he went out in the morning and did not +come back till dark. Now and then, things were delivered for him at the +door,--a tin of oil for his lamps, a large box of candles, packages of +odd shapes, sometimes very heavy, and which the porter was told to +handle with care. + +The old man tried to make acquaintance with Malipieri's man, but found +it less easy than he had expected. In the first place, Masin came from +some outlandish part of Italy where an abominable dialect was spoken, +and though he could speak school Italian when he pleased, he chose to +talk to the porter in his native jargon, when he talked at all. He +might just as well have spoken Greek. Secondly, he refused the porter's +repeated offers of a litre at the wine shop, always saying something +which sounded like a reference to his delicate health. As he was +evidently as strong as an ox, and as healthy as a savage or a street +dog, the excuse carried no conviction. He was a big, quiet fellow, with +china-blue eyes and a reddish moustache. The porter was not used to +such people, nor to servants who wore moustaches, and was inclined to +distrust the man. On the other hand, though Masin would not drink, he +often gave the porter a cigar, with a friendly smile. + +One day, in the morning, Baron Volterra came to see Malipieri, and +stayed over an hour, a part of which time the two men spent in the +courtyard, walking up and down in the north-west corner, and then +taking some measurements with a long tape which Malipieri produced from +his pocket. When the Baron went away he stopped and spoke with the +porter. First he gave him five francs; then he informed him that his +wages would be raised in future by that amount; and finally he told him +that Signor Malipieri was an architect and would superintend the +repairs necessary to the foundations at the north-west corner, that +while the work was going on even the little postern door was to be kept +shut all day, and no one was to be admitted on any condition without +Signor Malipieri's express permission. The fat Baron fixed his eyes on +the porter's with an oddly hard look, and said that he himself might +come at any moment to see how the work was going on, and that if he +found anybody inside the gate without Signor Malipieri's authority, it +would be bad for the porter. During this conversation, Malipieri stood +listening, and when it ended he nodded, as if he were satisfied, and +after shaking hands with the Baron he went up the grand staircase +without a word. + +It was all very mysterious, and the porter shook his head as he turned +into his lodge after fastening the postern; but he said nothing to his +wife about what had passed. + +From what he had been told, he now naturally expected that a number of +masons would come in a day or two in order to begin the work of +strengthening the foundations; but no one came, and everything went on +as usual, except that the postern was kept shut. He supposed that +Malipieri was not ready, but he wisely abstained from asking questions. +Then Malipieri asked him for the address of Pompeo Sassi, and wrote it +down in his pocket-book, and went out. That was on the morning after he +had dined at the Baron's house, for it was not his habit to waste time +when he wanted information. + +Sassi received Malipieri in a little sitting-room furnished with a +heterogeneous collection of utterly useless objects, all of which the +old agent treasured with jealous affection, and daily recommended to +the care of the elderly woman who was his only servant. The sofa and +chairs had been new forty years ago, and though the hideous +red-and-green stuffs with which they were covered were still tolerably +vivid in colours the legs did not look safe, and Malipieri kept his +feet well under him and sat down cautiously. Two rickety but +well-dusted tables were loaded with ancient nicknacks, dating from the +early part of the second French Empire, with impossibly ugly little +figures carved out of cheap alabaster, small decayed photograph albums, +and ingeniously bad wax flowers under glass shades. On the walls hung +bad lithographs of Pius Ninth, Napoleon Third and Metternich, with a +large faded photograph of old Prince Conti as a young man. Malipieri +looked at it curiously, for he guessed that it represented Sabina's +father. The face was clean-shaven, thin and sad, with deep eyes and +fair hair that looked almost white now, as if the photograph had grown +old with the man, while he had lived. + +Sassi sat down opposite his visitor. He wore a black cloth cap with a +green tassel, and rubbed his hands slowly while he waited for Malipieri +to speak. The latter hesitated a moment and then went to the point at +once. + +"You were the agent of the Conti estate for many years," he said. "I +know the Senator Volterra and have met Donna Sabina. I understand that +her mother has left her under the charge of the Senator's wife, and +seems to have forgotten her existence. The young lady is apparently +without resources of her own, and it is not clear what would become of +her if the Volterra couple should not find it convenient to keep her +with them. Is that the state of affairs?" + +Sassi nodded gravely. Then he looked keenly at the young man, and asked +him a question. + +"May I enquire why you take an interest in Donna Sabina Conti?" + +Malipieri returned the other's gaze quietly. + +"I am an architect, called in by the Senator to superintend some work +on the palace. The Senator, as you know, took over the building when he +foreclosed the mortgage, and he has not yet sold it, though he has +refused several good offers. I have an idea that he believes it to be +very valuable property. If this should turn out to be true, and if he +should have made a very profitable transaction, he ought in honour, if +not in law, to make over a part of the profits to Donna Sabina, who has +practically been cheated of her share in her father's estate. Her +mother, and her brother and sister, spent everything they could lay +hands on, whereas she never had anything. Is that true?" + +"Quite true, quite true," repeated Sassi sadly. + +"And if Donna Sabina were to call them to account, I fancy the law +would take a rather unpleasant view of what they did. I have heard that +sort of thing called stealing when the persons who did it were not +princes and princesses, but plain people like you and me. Do you happen +to think of any better word?" + +Sassi was silent. He had eaten the bread of the Conti all his life. He +glanced at the faded photograph of the Prince, as if to explain, and +Malipieri understood. + +"You are an honorable man," he said. "I can no more tell you why I wish +to help Donna Sabina to her rights, if she has any, than I can explain +a great many things I have done in my life. When I see a dog kicked, I +always kick the man, if I can, and I do not remember to have regretted +any momentary unpleasantness that has followed in such cases. I have +only seen Donna Sabina once, but I mean to help her if possible. Now +tell me this. Has she any legal claim in the value of the palace or +not?" + +"I am afraid not," Sassi answered. + +"Do you know whether she was ever induced to sign any release of her +guardians?" + +"She never did." + +"That might be bad for them. That is all I wished to know. Thank you." + +Malipieri rose to take his leave. + +"If anything of importance happens, can you communicate with Donna +Sabina?" he asked. + +"I can write to her," Sassi answered. "I suppose she would receive me +if I went to the house." + +"That would be better." + +"Excuse me," said the old man, before opening the door to let his +visitor out, "am I right in supposing that the work the Baron wishes +done is connected with the foundations?" + +"Yes." + +"At the north-west corner within the courtyard?" + +"Yes," answered Malipieri, looking at him attentively. "Do you happen +to know anything about the condition of that part of the palace?" + +"Most people," Sassi replied, "have now forgotten that a good deal of +work was done there long ago, under Pope Gregory Sixteenth." + +"Indeed? I did not know that. What was the result?" + +"The workmen came across the 'lost water.' It rose suddenly one day and +one of them was drowned. I believe his body was never recovered. +Everything was filled in again after that. For my own part I do not +think the building is in any danger." + +"Perhaps not," said Malipieri, suddenly looking bored. "I only carry +out the Senator's wishes," he added, as if with an afterthought. "It is +my business to find out whether there is danger or not." + +He took his leave and went away, convinced that the old agent knew +about other things besides Sabina's friendless condition, but unwilling +to question him just then. The information Sassi had volunteered was +interesting but not useful. Malipieri thought he himself knew well +enough where the "lost water" was, under the Palazzo Conti. + +It was not far from Sassi's house to the palace, but he walked very +slowly through the narrow streets, and stopped more than once, +deliberately looking back, as if he were trying to keep the exact +direction of some point in his mind, and he seemed interested in the +gutters, and in the walls, at their base, just above the pavement. At +the corner of the Vicolo dei Soldati he saw a little marble tablet let +into the masonry and yellow with age. He stopped a moment and read the +inscription. Then he turned away with a look of annoyance, for it set +forth that "by order of the most Eminent Vicar all persons were warned +not to empty garbage there, on pain of a fine." It was a forgotten +document of the old papal administration, as he could have told without +reading it if he had known Rome better. From the corner he counted his +paces and then stopped again and examined the wall and the pavement +minutely. + +There was nothing to be seen at all different from the pavement and the +wall for many yards further on and further back, and Malipieri +apparently abandoned the search, for he now walked on quickly till he +reached the entrance of the palace, on the other side, and went in. + +From the low door of the wine shop, Toto, the mason, had seen him, and +stood watching him till he was out of sight. + +"He does not know where it is," Toto said, sitting down again opposite +Gigi. + +"Engineers know everything," retorted the carpenter. + +"If this one knew anything, he would not have stood there looking at +the stones. I do not suppose the municipality is going to put up a +monument to my grandfather, whom may the Lord preserve in glory!" + +At this Gigi laughed, for he knew that Toto's grandfather had been +drowned in the "lost water" somewhere deep down under that spot, and +had never been found. The two men drank in silence. After a long time +Toto spoke again. + +"A woman," he said, with a shrug of the shoulders. + +"A woman drowned him?" asked Gigi. "How could a woman do it?" + +"A man did it. But it was for jealousy of a woman." + +"The man was a mason, I suppose," suggested Gigi. + +"Of course. He was working with the others in the morning, and he knew +where they would be after dinner. He did not come back with them, and +half an hour after they had gone down the water came. How many times +have I told you that?" + +"It is always a new tale," answered Gigi. "It gives me pleasure to hear +it. Your father was a young man then, was he not?" + +"Eighteen." Toto lighted his pipe. + +"And the man who did it died soon afterwards?" Gigi said. + +"Of course," said Toto. "What else could my father do? He killed him. +It was the least he could have done. My father is also in Paradise." + +"Requiescat!" ejaculated the carpenter devoutly. + +"Amen," answered Toto. "He killed him with a mattock." + +"It was well done," observed Gigi with satisfaction. "I suppose," he +continued after a pause, "that if anybody went down there now, you +could let in the water." + +"Why should I? I do not care what they do. If they send for me, I may +serve them. If they think they can do without me, let them try. I do +not care a cabbage!" + +"Perhaps not," Gigi answered thoughtfully. "But it must be a fine +satisfaction to know that you can drown them all, like rats in a hole." + +"Yes," said Toto, "it is a fine satisfaction." + +"And even to know that you can make the water come before they begin, +so that they can never do anything without you." + +"That too," assented the mason. + +"They would pay you a great deal to help them, if they could not pump +the water out. There is no one else in Rome who knows how to turn it +off." + +Gigi made the remark tentatively, but Toto did not answer. + +"You will need some one to help you," suggested the carpenter in an +insinuating tone. + +"I can do it alone." + +"It is somewhere in the cellars of number thirteen, is it not?" asked +Gigi. + +He would have given all he had to know what Toto knew, and the bargain +would have been a very profitable one, no doubt. But though the mason +was his closest friend there were secrets of the trade which Toto would +not reveal to him. + +"The numbers in the street were all changed ten years ago," Toto +answered. + +He rose from his seat by the grimy table, and Gigi followed his example +with a sigh of disappointment. They were moderate men, and hardly ever +drank more than their litre of their wine. Toto smelt of mortar and his +fustian clothes and hairy arms were generally splashed with it. Gigi +smelt of glue and sawdust, and there were plentiful marks of his +calling on his shiny old cloth trousers and his coarse linen shirt. +Toto's face was square, stony and impenetrable; Gigi's was sharp as a +bill and alive with curiosity. Gigi wore a square paper cap; Toto wore +a battered felt hat of no shape at all. On Sundays and holidays they +both shaved and turned out in immaculate white shirts, well brushed +broadcloth and decent hats, recognizable to each other but not to their +employers. + +Malipieri was accosted by a stranger at the gate of the palace. The +porter, faithfully obedient to his orders, was standing inside the open +postern, completely blocking it with his bulk, and when Malipieri came +up the visitor was still parleying with him. + +"This gentleman is asking for you, sir," said the old man. + +The individual bowed politely and stepped back a little. He had a +singularly worthy appearance, Malipieri thought, and he would have +inspired confidence if employed in a bank; his thick grey hair was +parted in the middle, and at first sight Malipieri felt perfectly sure +that it was parted down the back. His brown eyes were very wide open, +and steady, his slightly grizzled moustache was neither twisted +straight up at the ends in the imperial German manner, nor straight out +like a cat's whiskers, nor waxed to fine points in the old French +fashion. It grew naturally and was rather short, but it hid his mouth +almost completely. The man was extremely well dressed in half-mourning, +wore dark grey gloves and carried a plain black stick. He spoke quietly +and Malipieri thought he recognized the Genoese accent. + +"Signor Marino Malipieri?" + +"Yes," answered the architect, in a tone that asked the visitor's name +in return. + +"My name is Vittorio Bruni. May I have a few words with you?" + +"Certainly," Malipieri answered, with considerable coolness. + +"Thank you. I have been much interested by your discoveries in +Carthage, and if you would allow me to ask you one or two questions--" + +"Pray come in." + +"Thanks. After you." + +"After you," insisted Malipieri, standing aside. + +They went in. Before shutting the postern, the porter looked out into +the street. It was almost deserted. Two men were standing together near +the corner, apparently arguing some question, and stopping in their +walk in order to talk more at their ease, as Romans often do. The +porter shut the little door with a clang, and went back to his lodge. +Malipieri and his visitor were already on the stairs. + +Malipieri let himself in with a small latch-key, for he had ordered a +modern patent lock to be put on his door as soon as he moved into the +house. Masin appeared almost at once, however, and stood waiting for +his master at the door of the sitting-room, like a large, placid +mastiff. Malipieri nodded to him, and went in with Signor Bruni. + +They sat down by the open window and Signor Bruni began to talk. In a +few minutes it became evident that whether the man knew anything of the +subject or not he had read everything that Malipieri had written, and +remembered most of it by heart. He spoke fluently and asked intelligent +questions. He had never been to Carthage, he said, but he thought of +making the trip to Tunis during the following winter. Yes, he was a man +of leisure, though he had formerly been in business; he had a taste for +archaeology, and did not think it was too late to cultivate it, in a +modest way, for his own pleasure. Of course, he could never hope to +accomplish anything of importance, still less to become famous like +Malipieri. It was merely a taste, and was better than nothing as an +interest in life. + +Malipieri protested that he was not famous, but agreed with Signor +Bruni about other matters. It was better to follow a serious pursuit +than to do nothing with one's life. + +"Or to dash into politics," suggested Bruni carelessly, as if he had +thought of trying that. + +Perhaps he had heard of Malipieri's republican newspaper, but if he had +thought of drawing the young man into conversation about it, he was +disappointed. Malipieri continued to agree with him, listening +attentively to all he said without once looking bored. + +"And now," continued Bruni presently, "if it is not indiscreet, may I +ask whether you have any new field of discovery in view?" + +The phrases ran along as if they had been all prepared beforehand. The +accent was now decidedly Genoese, and Malipieri, who was a Venetian, +disliked it. + +"Not at present," he said. "I have undertaken a little professional +work in Rome, and I am trying to learn more about the Phoenician +language." + +"That is beyond me!" Bruni smiled pleasantly. + +Malipieri looked at him a moment. + +"If you are going to look into Carthaginian antiquities," he said, with +much gravity, "I strongly advise you to study Phoenician." + +"Dear me!" exclaimed Bruni with a sigh of regret, "I had hoped it might +not be necessary." + +He rose to take his leave, but as if seeing the bookshelves for the +first time, asked permission to look at their contents. Malipieri saw +that his glance ran sharply along the titles of the volumes, and that +he was reading them as quickly as he could. + +"I suppose you live here quite alone," he said. + +"Yes. I have a servant." + +"Of course. They tell me that Baron Volterra has not decided what he +will do with the palace, and will not give a lease of it to any one." + +"I do not know what he means to do," answered Malipieri, looking at the +straight part down the back of his worthy visitor's hair, as the latter +bent to look at the books. + +"I suppose he lends you this apartment, as a friend," said Bruni. + +"No. I pay rent for it." + +Signor Bruni was becoming distinctly inquisitive, thought Malipieri, +who answered coldly. Possibly the visitor perceived the hint, for he +now finally took his leave. In spite of his protestations Malipieri +went all the way downstairs with him, and let him out himself, just as +the porter came out of his lodge at the sound of their footsteps. + +Signor Bruni bowed a last time, and then walked briskly away. By force +of habit, the porter looked up and down the street before shutting the +door after him, and he was somewhat surprised to see that the two men +whom he had noticed half an hour earlier had only just finished their +argument and turned to go on as Signor Bruni passed them. Then the +porter watched them all three till they disappeared round the corner. +At the same moment, from the opposite direction, Toto reached the door +of the palace, and greeted the porter with a rough good-evening. + +"I have forgotten the name of this palace," he added, by way of a joke, +meaning that he had not been called to do any work for a long time. +"Perhaps you can tell me what it is called." + +"It used to be a madhouse," returned the porter in the same strain. +"Now that the madmen are gone, a mole lives here. I kept the door open +for the lunatics, and they all got out. I keep it shut for the mole, +when he does not shut it himself." + +"I will come in and smoke a pipe with you," said Toto. "We will talk of +old times." + +The porter shook his head, and blocked the way. + +"Not if you were the blessed soul of my father come back from the +dead," he said. "The Baron's instructions are to let no one in without +the mole's orders." + +"But I am an old friend," objected Toto. + +"Not if you were my mother, and the Holy Father, and Saint Peter, and +all the souls of Purgatory at once," answered the porter. + +"May an apoplexy seize you!" observed Toto pleasantly, and he went off, +his pipe in his mouth. + +The porter shrugged his shoulders at the imprecation, shut the door +reluctantly, and went in to supper. Upstairs, Malipieri stood at his +open window, smoking and watching the old fountain in the court. It was +evening, and a deep violet light filled the air and was reflected in +the young man's bronzed face. He was very thoughtful now, and was not +aware that he heard the irregular splash of the water in the dark basin +at the feet of the statue of Hercules, and the eager little scream of +the swallows as they shot past him, upward to the high old eaves, where +their young were, and downwards almost to the gravel of the court, and +in wide circles and madly sudden curves. The violet light faded softly, +and the dusk drank the last drop of it, and the last swallow +disappeared under the eaves; but still Malipieri leaned upon the stone +window-sill, looking down. + +For a long time he thought of Signor Bruni. He wondered whether he had +ever seen the man before, or whether the face only seemed familiar +because it was the type of a class of faces all more or less alike, all +intensely respectable and not without refinement, expressing a grave +reticence that did not agree with the fluent speech, and a polite +reserve at odds with the inquisitive nature that revealed itself. + +Malipieri was inclined to think he had never met Bruni, but somehow the +latter recalled the hot times in Milan, and his short political career, +and the association was not to the man's advantage. He could not recall +the name at all. It was like any other, and rather especially +unobtrusive. Anybody might be called Vittorio Bruni, and Vittorio Bruni +might be anybody, from a senator to a shoemaker; but if he had been a +senator, or any political personage, Malipieri would have heard of him. + +There was something very odd, too, about his knowledge of Carthaginian +antiquities, which was entirely limited to the contents of Malipieri's +own pamphlets. He knew nothing of the Egyptians and very little about +the Greeks, beyond what Malipieri had necessarily written about both. +He had talked much as a man does who has read up an unfamiliar subject +in order to make a speech about it, and though the speech is skilful, +an expert can easily detect the shallowness of attainment behind it. + +There could be only one reason why any one should take so much trouble; +the object was evidently to make Malipieri's acquaintance, in the +absence of an ordinary introduction. And yet Signor Bruni had quite +forgotten to give his card with his address, as almost any Italian +would have done under the circumstances, whether he expected the +meeting to be followed by another or not. Malipieri spent most of his +time in his rooms, but he knew very well that he might go about Rome +for weeks and not come across the man again. + +He recalled the whole conversation. He had in the first place expected +that Bruni would be inquisitive about the palace, and perhaps ask to be +shown over it, but it was only at the last that he had put one or two +questions which suggested an interest in the building, and then he had +at once taken the hint given him by Malipieri's cold tone, and had not +persisted. On the other hand he had looked carefully at the titles of +the books on the shelves, as if in search of something. + +Then Malipieri was conscious again of the association, in his own mind, +between the man's personality and his own political experiences, and he +suddenly laughed aloud. + +"What a precious fool I am!" he thought. "The man is nothing but a +detective!" + +The echo of his laugh came back to him from across the dusky court in +rather a ghostly way. + +The evening air was all at once chilly, and he shut his window and +called for Masin, who instantly appeared with a lamp. Masin was always +ready, and, indeed, possessed many qualities excellent in a faithful +servant, among which gratitude to Malipieri held a high place. + +He had something to be grateful for, which is not, however, always a +cause of gratitude in the receiver of favours and mercies. He had been +a convict, and had served a term of several years in penal servitude. +The sentence had been passed upon him for having stabbed a man in the +back, in a drunken brawl, but Masin had steadily denied the charge, and +the evidence against him had been merely circumstantial. It had +happened in Rome, where Masin had worked as a mason during the +construction of the new Courts of Justice. He was from the far north of +Italy, and was, of course, hated by his companions, as only Italians of +different parts of the country can hate one another. To shield one of +themselves, they unanimously gave evidence against Masin; the jury was +chiefly composed of Romans, the judge was a Sicilian, and Masin had no +chance. Fortunately for him, the man lived, though much injured; if he +had died, Masin would have got a life sentence. It was an old story; +false witnesses, a prejudiced jury, and a judge who, though willing to +put his prejudices aside, had little choice but to convict. + +Masin had been sent to Elba to the penitentiary, had been a +"good-behaviour man" from first to last, and his term had been slightly +abridged in consequence. When he was discharged, he went back to the +north. Malipieri had found him working as a mason when some repairs +were being made in the cathedral of Milan, and had taken a fancy to +him. Masin had told his story simply and frankly, explaining that he +found it hard to get a living at all since he had been a convict, and +that he was trying to save enough money to emigrate to New York. +Malipieri had thought over the matter for a week, speaking to him now +and then, and watching him, and had at last proposed to take him into +his own service. Later, Masin had helped Malipieri to escape, had +followed him into exile, and had been of the greatest use to him during +the excavations in Carthage, where he had acted as body-servant, +foreman, and often as a trusted friend. + +He was certainly not an accomplished valet, but Malipieri did not care +for that. He was sober, he was honest, he was trustworthy, he was cool +in danger, and he was very strong. Moreover, he was an excellent and +experienced mason, a fact of little or no use in the scientific +treatment of shoes, trousers, silk hats, hair-brushes and coffee, but +which had more than once been valuable to Malipieri during the last few +years. Finally, his gratitude to the man who had believed in his +innocence was deep and lasting. Masin would really have given his life +to save Malipieri's, and would have been glad to give it. + +He set the lamp down on the table, and waited for orders, his blue eyes +quietly fixed on his master. + +"I never saw that gentleman before," said Malipieri, setting some +papers in order, under the bright light, but still standing. "Did you +look at his face?" + +"Yes, sir," answered Masin, and waited. + +"What sort of man should you take him to be?" + +"A spy, sir," replied Masin promptly. + +"I think you are right," Malipieri answered. "We will begin work +to-morrow morning." + +"Yes, sir." + +Malipieri ate his supper without noticing what Masin brought him, and +then installed himself with his shaded lamp at his work-table. He took +from the drawer a number of sketches of plans and studied them +attentively, by a rather odd process. + +He had drawn only one plan on heavy paper, in strong black lines. An +architect would have seen at once that it represented a part of the +foundations of a very large building; and two or three persons then +living in Rome might have recognized the plan of the cellars under the +north-west corner of the Palazzo Conti--certainly not more than two or +three, one of whom was the snuffy expert who had come from beyond the +Tiber, and another was Baron Volterra. Toto, the mason, could have +threaded the intricate ways in the dark, but could assuredly have made +nothing of the drawings. On the other hand, the persons who were +acquainted with them did not know what Toto knew, and he was not at all +inclined to impart his knowledge to any one, for reasons best known to +himself. + +Furthermore, an architect would have understood at a glance that the +plan was incomplete, and that there was some reason why it could not be +completed. A part of it was quite blank, but in one place the probable +continuation of a main wall not explored, or altogether inaccessible, +was indicated by dotted lines. + +Besides this main drawing, Malipieri had several others made on tracing +paper to the same scale, which he laid over the first, and moved about, +trying to make the one fit the other, and in each of these the part +which was blank in the one underneath was filled in according to +different imaginary plans. Lastly, he had a large transparent sheet on +which were accurately laid out the walls and doors of the ground floor +of the palace at the north-west corner, and in this there was marked a +square piece of masonry, shaded as if to represent a solid pilaster, +and which came over the unexplored part of the cellars. Sometimes +Malipieri placed this drawing over the first, and then one of the +others on both, trying to make the three agree. It was like an odd +puzzle, and there was not a word written on any of the plans to explain +what they meant. On most of the thin ones there were blue lines, +indicating water, or at least its possible course. + +The imaginary architect, if he could have watched the real one, would +have understood before long that the latter was theorizing about the +probable construction of what was hitherto inaccessible, and about the +probable position of certain channels through which water flowed, or +might be expected to flow. He would also have gathered that Malipieri +could reach no definite conclusion unless he could break through one of +two walls in the cellar, or descend through an opening in the floor +above, which would be by far the easiest way. He might even have +wondered why Malipieri did not at once adopt the latter expedient. It +is not a serious matter to make an aperture through a vault, large +enough to allow the passage of a man's body, and it could not be +attended with any danger to the building. It would be much less safe +and far more difficult to cut a hole through one of the main foundation +walls, which might be many feet thick and yet not wholly secure. +Nevertheless the movements made by the point of Malipieri's pencil +showed that he was contemplating that method of gaining an entrance. + + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + + + +Sabina had been more than two months in Baron Volterra's house, when +she at last received a line from her mother. The short letter was +characteristic and was, after all, what the girl had expected, neither +more nor less. The Princess told her that for the present she must stay +with the "kind friends" who had offered her a home; that everything +would be right before long; that if she needed any advice she had +better send for Sassi, who had always served the family faithfully; +that gowns were going to be short next year, which would be becoming to +Sabina when she "came out," because she had small feet and admirable +ankles; and that the weather was heavenly. The Princess added that she +would send her some pocket-money before long, and that she was trying +to find the best way of sending it. + +In spite of her position Sabina smiled at the last sentence. It was so +like her mother to promise what she would never perform, that it amused +her. She sat still for some time with the letter in her hand and then +took it to the Baroness, for she felt that it was time to speak out and +that the interview could not be put off any longer. The Baroness was +writing in her boudoir. She wrote her letters on large sheets of an +especial paper, stamped with her initials, over which appeared a very +minute Italian baron's coronet, with seven points; it was so small that +one might easily have thought that it had nine, like a count's, but it +was undeniably smart and suggested an assured position in the +aristocracy. No one quite remembered why the late King had made +Volterra a baron, but he undoubtedly had done so, and no one disputed +Volterra's right to use the title. + +Sabina read her letter aloud, and the Baroness listened attentively, +with a grave expression. + +"Your dear mother--" she began in a soothing tone. + +"She is not my 'dear mother' at all," said Sabina, interrupting her. +"She is not any more 'dear' to me than I am to her." + +"Oh!" exclaimed the Baroness, affecting to be shocked by the girl's +heartlessness. + +"If it were not for my 'dear mother,' I should not be a beggar," said +Sabina. + +"A beggar! What a word!" + +"There is no other, that I know of. I am living on your charity." + +"For heaven's sake, do not say such things!" cried the Baroness. + +"There is nothing else to say. If you had not taken me in and lodged me +and fed me, I should like to know where I should be now. I am quite +sure that my 'dear mother' would not care, but I cannot help wondering +what is to become of me. Are you surprised?" + +"Are you not provided for here?" The question was put in a tone almost +of deprecation. + +"Provided for! I am surrounded with every sort of luxury, when I ought +to be working for my living." + +"Working!" The Baroness was filled with horror. "You, my dear, the +daughter of a Roman Prince! You, working for your living! You, a Conti!" + +Sabina smiled and looked down at her delicate hands. + +"I cannot see what my name has to do with it," she said. "It is not +much to be proud of, considering how my relatives behave." + +"It is a great name," said the Baroness solemnly and emphatically. + +"It was once," Sabina answered, leaning back in the low chair she had +taken, and looking at the ceiling. "My mother and my brother have not +added lustre to it, and I would much rather be called Signorina Emilia +Moscetti and be a governess, than be Sabina Conti and live on charity. +I have no right to what I do not possess and cannot earn." + +"My dear child! This is rank socialism! I am afraid you talked too long +with Malipieri the other night." + +"There is a man who works, though he has what you call a great name," +observed Sabina. "I admire that. He was poor, I suppose--perhaps not so +poor as I am--and he made up his mind to earn his living and a +reputation." + +"You are quite mistaken," said the Baroness drily. + +Sabina looked at her in surprise. + +"I thought he was a distinguished architect and engineer," she answered. + +"Yes. But he was never poor, and he will be very rich some day." + +"Indeed!" Sabina seemed rather disappointed at the information. + +There was a little pause, and the Baroness looted at her unfinished +letter as if she wished that Sabina would go away. She had foreseen +that before long the girl would make some protest against her position +as a perpetual guest in the house, but had no clear idea of how to meet +it. Sabina seemed so very decided. + +"We have done our best to make you feel at home, like one of the +family," the Baroness said presently, in a rather injured tone. + +Sabina did not wish to be one of the family at all, but she knew that +she was under great obligations to her hosts, and she did not wish to +be thought ungrateful. + +"You have been more than kind," she answered gently, "and I shall never +forget it. You have taken more trouble with me in two or three months +than my mother in all my life. Please do not imagine that I am not +thankful for all you have done." + +The words were spoken sincerely, and when Sabina was very much in +earnest there was something at once convincing and touching in her +voice. The Baroness's sallow cheek actually flushed with pleasure, and +she was impelled to leave her seat and kiss Sabina affectionately. She +was restrained by a reasonable doubt as to the consequences of such +demonstrative familiarity, though she would not have hesitated to kiss +the girl's mother under like circumstances. + +"It was the least we could do," she said, knowing very well that the +phrase meant nothing. + +"Excuse me," Sabina objected, "but there was no reason in the world why +you should do anything at all for me! In the natural course of things I +should either have been sent to the country with my sister-in-law, or +to the convent with Clementina." + +"You would have been very unhappy, my dear child." + +"I do not know which would have been worse," said Sabina frankly. "They +both hate me, and I hate them." + +"Dear me!" exclaimed the Baroness, shocked again, or pretending to be. + +"In our family," Sabina answered calmly, "we all hate each other." + +"I am sure your sister Clementina is far too religious to feel hatred +for any one." + +"You do not know her!" Sabina laughed, and looked at the ceiling. "She +hates 'the wicked' with a mortal hatred!" + +"Perhaps you mean that she hates wickedness, my dear," suggested the +Baroness in a moralizing tone. + +"Not at all!" laughed the young girl. "She would like to destroy +everybody who is not like her, and she would begin with her own family. +She used to tell me that I was doomed to eternal flames because I loved +my canary better than I loved her. I did. It was quite true. As for my +brother, she said he was wicked, too. I quite believe he is, but she +had a friendly understanding with him, because they used to make Signor +Sassi get money for them both. In the end they got so much that there +was nothing left. Her share all went to convents and extraordinary +charities, and his went heaven knows where!" + +"And yours?" asked the Baroness, to see what she would say. + +"I suppose it went to them too, like everything else, and to my mother, +who spent a great deal of money. At all events, none of us have +anything now. That is why I want to work." + +"It is an honourable impulse, no doubt," the Baroness said, in a tone +of meditative disapproval. + +Sabina leaned forward, her chin on her hand. + +"You think I am too young," she said. "And I really know nothing, +except bad French and dancing. I cannot even sew, at least, not very +well, and I cannot cook." She laughed. "I once made some very good +toast," she added thoughtfully. + +"You must marry," said the Baroness. "You must make a good marriage." + +"No one will marry me, because I have no dowry," answered Sabina with +perfect simplicity. + +"Some men marry girls who have none. You are very pretty, you know." + +"So my mother used to tell me when she was in a good humour. But +Clementina always said I was hideous, that my eyes were like a little +pig's, quite inside my head, and that my hair was grey, like an old +woman's, and that I was as thin as a grasshopper." + +"You are very pretty," the Baroness repeated with conviction; "and I am +sure you would make a good wife." + +"I am afraid not!" Sabina laughed. "We are none of us good, you know. +Why should I be?" + +The Baroness disapproved. + +"That is a flippant speech," she said severely. + +"I do not feel flippant at all. I am very serious. I wish to earn my +living." + +"But you cannot--" + +"But I wish to," answered Sabina, as if that settled the question. + +"Have you always done what you wished?" asked the Baroness wisely. + +"No, never. That is why I mean to begin at once. I am sure I can learn +to be a maid, or to make hats, or feed babies with bottles. Many girls +of eighteen can." + +The Baroness shrugged her shoulders in a decidedly plebeian way. +Sabina's talk seemed very silly to her, no doubt, but she felt slightly +foolish herself just then. At close quarters and in the relative +intimacy that had grown up between them, the descendant of all the +Conti had turned out to be very different from what the financier's +wife had expected, and it was not easy to understand her. Sometimes the +girl talked like a woman of the world, and sometimes like a child. Her +character seemed to be a compound of cynicism and simplicity, +indifference and daring, gentleness, hardness and pride, all +wonderfully amalgamated under a perfectly self-possessed manner, and +pervaded by the most undeniable charm. It was no wonder that the poor +Baroness was as puzzled as a hen that has hatched a swan. + +Sabina had behaved perfectly, so far; the Baroness admitted this, and +it had added considerably to her growing social importance to be +regarded as the girl's temporary guardian. Even royalty had expressed +its approval of her conduct and its appreciation of her generosity, and +it was one of the Baroness's chief ambitions to be noticed by royalty. +She had shown a good deal of tact, too, for she was woman enough to +guess what the girl must feel, and how hard it must be to accept so +much without any prospect of being able to make a return. So far, +however, matters had gone very well, and she had really begun to look +forward to the glory of presenting Sabina in society during the +following winter, and of steering her to a rich marriage, penniless +though she was. + +But this morning she had received a new impression which disturbed her. +It was not that she attached much importance to Sabina's wild talk +about working for a living, for that was absurd, on the face of it; but +there was something daring in the tone, something in the little +careless laugh which made her feel that the delicate girl might be +capable of doing very unexpected and dangerous things. The sudden +conviction came upon her that Sabina was of the kind that run away and +make love matches, and otherwise break through social conventions in a +manner quite irreparable. And if Sabina did anything of that sort, the +Baroness would not only lose all the glory she had gained, but would of +course be severely blamed by Roman society, which would be an awful +calamity if it did not amount to a social fall. She alone knew how hard +she had worked to build up her position, and she guessed how easily an +accident might destroy it. Her husband had his politics and his finance +to interest him, but what would be left to his wife if she once lost +her hold upon the aristocracy? Even the smile of royalty would not make +up for that, and royalty would certainly not smile if Sabina, being in +her charge, did anything very startlingly unconventional. + +Sabina was quite conscious that the Baroness did not understand; +indeed, she had not really expected to be understood, and when she saw +the shrug of the shoulders that answered her last speech she rose +quietly and went to the window. The blinds were drawn together, for it +was now late in May, but she could see down to the street, and as she +looked she started a little. + +"There is Signor Malipieri!" she cried, and it was clear that she was +glad. + +The Baroness uttered an exclamation of surprise. + +"Are you sure?" she asked. + +Yes, Sabina was quite sure. He had just driven up to the door in a cab. +Now he was paying the cabman, too, instead of making him wait. The +Baroness glanced at the showy little clock set in turquoises, which +stood on her writing-table, and she put away her unfinished letter. + +"We will ask him to stay to luncheon," she said, in a decided tone. + +After sending up to ask if he would be received, Malipieri entered the +room with an apology. He said that he had hoped to find the Baron in, +and had been told that he might come at any moment. The Baroness +thereupon asked the visitor to stay to luncheon, and Malipieri +accepted, and sat down. + +It had always amused Sabina to watch how the Baroness's manner changed +when any one appeared whom she did not know very well. Her mouth +assumed a stereotyped smile, she held her head a little forward and on +one side, and she spoke in quite another tone. But just now Sabina did +not notice these things. She was renewing her impression of Malipieri, +whom she had only seen once and in evening dress. She liked him even +better now, she thought, and it would have pleased her to look at him +longer. + +Their eyes met in a glance as he told the Baroness that he had come to +see Volterra on a matter of business. He did not explain what the +business was, and at once began to talk of other things, as if to +escape possible questions. Sabina thought he was paler than before, or +less sunburnt, perhaps; at all events, the contrast between his very +white forehead and his bronzed face was less strong. She could see his +eyes more distinctly, too, than she had seen them in the evening, and +she liked their expression better, for he did not look at all bored +now. She liked his voice, too, for the slight harshness that seemed +always ready to command. She liked the man altogether, and was +conscious of the fact, and wished she could talk with him again, as she +had talked that evening on the sofa in the corner, without fear of +interruption. + +That was impossible, and she listened to what he said. It was merely +the small talk of a man of the world who knows that he is expected to +say something not altogether dull, and takes pains to be agreeable, but +Sabina felt all through it a sort of sympathy which she missed very +much in the Volterra household, the certainty of fellowship which +people who have been brought up in similar surroundings feel when they +meet in an atmosphere not their own. + +A few minutes after he had come, a servant opened the door and said +that the Baron wished to speak to the Baroness at the telephone. She +rose, hesitated a moment and went out, leaving the two young people +together. + +"I have seen Sassi," said Malipieri in a low voice, as soon as the door +was shut. + +"Yes," answered Sabina, with a little interrogation. + +She was very much surprised to hear a slight tremor in her own voice as +she uttered the one word. + +"I like him very much," Malipieri continued. "He is a good friend to +you. He said that if anything of importance happened he would come and +see you." + +"I shall be glad," Sabina said. + +"Something is happening, which may bring him. Be sure to see him alone, +when he comes." + +"Yes, but what is it? What can possibly happen that can make a +difference?" + +Malipieri glanced at the door, fearing that the Baroness might enter +suddenly. + +"Can you keep a secret?" he asked quickly. + +"Of course! Tell me!" She leaned forward with eager interest, expecting +his next words. + +"Did you ever hear that something very valuable is said to be hidden +somewhere under the palace?" + +Sabina's face fell and the eagerness faded from her eyes instantly. She +had often heard the story from her nurses when she had been a little +girl, and she did not believe a word of it, any more than she believed +that the marble statue of Cardinal Conti in the library really came +down from its pedestal on the eve of All Souls' and walked through the +state apartments, or the myth about the armour of Francesco Conti, of +which the nurses used to tell her that on the anniversary of the night +of his murder his eyes could be seen through the bars of the helmet, +glowing with the infernal fire. As for any hidden treasure, she was +quite positive that if it existed her brother and sister would have got +at it long ago. Malipieri sank in her estimation as soon as he +mentioned it. He was only a Venetian, of course, and could not be +expected to know much about Rome, but he must be very weak-minded if he +could be imposed upon by such nonsense. Her delicate lip curled with a +little contempt. + +"Is that the great secret?" she asked. "I thought you were in earnest." + +"The Senator is," observed Malipieri drily. + +"If the old gentleman has made you believe that he is, he must have +some very deep scheme. He does not like to seem foolish." + +Malipieri did not answer at once, but he betrayed no annoyance. In the +short silence, he could hear the Baroness's powerful voice yelling at +the telephone. It ceased suddenly, and he guessed that she was coming +back. + +"If I find anything, I wish you to see it before any one else does," he +said quickly. + +"That would be very amusing!" Sabina laughed incredulously, just as the +door opened. + +The Baroness heard the light laughter, and stood still with her hand on +the latch, as if she had forgotten something. She was not a woman of +sudden intuitions nor much given to acting on impulses, and when a new +idea crossed her mind she almost always paused to think it over, no +matter what she chanced to be doing. It was as if she had accidentally +run against something which stunned her a little. + +"What is it?" asked Sabina, very naturally. + +The Baroness beckoned silently to her, and she rose. + +"Only one moment, Signor Malipieri," said the Baroness, apologizing for +leaving him alone. + +When she and Sabina were out of the room, she shut the door and went on +a few paces before speaking. + +"My husband has telephoned that he cannot leave the Senate," she said. + +"Well?" Sabina did not understand. + +"But Malipieri has come expressly to see him." + +"He can see him at the Senate," suggested Sabina. + +"But I have asked Malipieri to stay to luncheon. If I tell him that my +husband is not coming, perhaps he will not stay after all." + +"Perhaps not," echoed Sabina with great calmness. + +"You do not seem to care," said the Baroness. + +"Why should I?" + +"I thought you liked him. I thought it would amuse you if he lunched +with us." + +Sabina looked at her with some curiosity. + +"Did you tell the Baron that Signor Malipieri is here?" she asked +carelessly. + +"No," answered the Baroness, looking away. "As my husband said he could +not come to luncheon, it seemed useless." + +Sabina understood now, and smiled. This was the direct consequence of +the talk which had preceded Malipieri's coming; the Baroness had at +once conceived the idea of marrying her to Malipieri. + +"What shall we do?" asked the Baroness. + +"Whatever you think best," answered Sabina, with sudden meekness. "I +think you ought at least to tell Signor Malipieri that the Baron is not +coming. He may be in a hurry, you know. He may be wasting time." + +The Baroness smiled incredulously. + +"My dear," she said, "if he had been so very anxious to see my husband, +he would have gone to the Senate first. It is near the palace." + +She said no more, but led the way back to the morning room, while +Sabina reflected upon the possible truth of the last suggestion, and +wondered whether Malipieri had really made his visit for the sake of +exchanging a few words with her rather than in order to see Volterra. +The Baroness spoke to him as she opened the door. + +"My husband has not come yet," she said. "We will not wait for him." + +She rang the bell to order luncheon, and Malipieri glanced at Sabina's +face, wondering what the Baroness had said to her, for it was not +reasonable to suppose that the two had left the room in order to +consult in secret upon the question of waiting for Volterra. But Sabina +did not meet his look, and her pale young face was impenetrably calm, +for she was thinking about what she had just discovered. She was as +certain that she knew what had passed in the Baroness's thoughts, as if +the latter had spoken aloud. The knowledge, for it amounted to that, +momentarily chased away the recollection of what Malipieri had said. + +It was rather amusing to be looked upon as marriageable, and to a man +she already knew. Her mother had often talked to her with cynical +frankness, telling her that she was to make the best match that could +be obtained for her, naming numbers of young men she had never seen and +assuring her that likes and dislikes had nothing to do with matrimony. +They came afterwards, the Princess said, and it generally pleased +Providence to send a mild form of aversion as the permanent condition +of the bond. But Sabina had never believed her mother, who had cheated +her when she was a child, as many foolish and heartless women do, +promising rewards which were never given, and excursions which were +always put off and little joys which always turned to sorrows less +little by far. + +Moreover, her sister Clementina had told her that there was only one +way to treat the world, and that was to leave it with the contempt it +deserved; and she had heard her brother tell his wife in one of his +miserable fits of weakly brutal anger that marriage was hell, and +nothing else; to which the young princess had coldly replied that he +was only where he deserved to be. Sabina had not been brought up with +the traditional pious and proper views about matrimony, and if she did +not think even worse of it, the merit was due to her own nature, in +which there was much good and hardly any real evil. + +But she could not escape from a little inherited and acquired cynicism +either, and while Malipieri chatted quietly during luncheon, an +explanation of the whole matter occurred to her which was not pleasant +to contemplate. The story about the treasure might or might not be +true, but he believed in it, and so did Volterra. The Baron was +therefore employing him to discover the prize. But Malipieri showed +plainly that he wished her to possess it, if it were ever found, and +perhaps he meant it to be her dowry, in which case it would come into +his own hands if he could marry her. This was ingenious, if it was +nothing else, and though Sabina felt that there was something mean +about it, she resented the idea that he should expect her to think him +a model of generosity when she hardly knew him. + +She was therefore very quiet, and looked at him rather coldly when he +spoke to her, but the Baroness put this down to her admirably correct +manners, and was already beginning to consider how she could approach +Malipieri on the subject of his marrying Sabina. She was quite in +ignorance of the business which had brought him and her husband +together, as Sabina now knew from many remarks she remembered. Volterra +was accustomed to tell his wife what he had been doing when the matter +was settled, and she had long ago given up trying to make him talk of +his affairs when he chose to be silent. + +On the whole, so far as Sabina was concerned, the circumstances were +not at first very favourable to the Baroness's newly formed plan on +this occasion, though she did not know it. On the other hand, Malipieri +discovered before luncheon was over, that Sabina interested him very +much, that she was much prettier than he had realized at his first +meeting with her, and that he had unconsciously thought about her a +good deal in the interval. + + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + + + +Malipieri was convinced before long that his doings interested some one +who was able to employ men to watch him, and he connected the fact with +Bruni's visit. He was not much disturbed by it, however, and was +careful not to show that he noticed it at all. Naturally enough, he +supposed that his short career as a promoter of republican ideas had +caused him to be remembered as a dangerous person, and that a careful +ministry was anxious to know why he lived alone in a vast palace, in +the heart of Rome, knowing very few people and seeing hardly any one +except Volterra. The Baron himself was apparently quite indifferent to +any risk in the matter, and yet, as a staunch monarchist and supporter +of the ministry then in office, it might have been expected that he +would not openly associate with the monarchy's professed enemies. That +was his affair, as Malipieri had frankly told him at the beginning. For +the rest, the young architect smiled as he thought of the time and +money the government was wasting on the supposition that he was +plotting against it, but it annoyed him to find that certain faces of +men in the streets were becoming familiar to him, quiet, blank faces of +respectable middle-aged men, who always avoided meeting his eyes, and +were very polite in standing aside to let him pass them on the +pavement. There were now three whom he knew by sight, and he saw one of +them every time he went out of the house. He knew what that meant. He +had not the smallest doubt but that all three reported what they saw of +his movements to Signor Vittorio Bruni, every day, in some particularly +quiet little office in one of the government buildings connected with +the Ministry of the Interior. It troubled him very little, since he was +quite innocent of any political machinations for the present. + +He had determined from the first not to employ any workmen to help him +unless it should be absolutely necessary. He was strong and his +practical experience in Carthage had taught him the use of pick and +crowbar. Masin was equal to two ordinary men for such work, and could +be trusted to hold his tongue. + +Malipieri told the porter that he was exploring the foundations before +attempting to strengthen them, and from time to time he gave him a +little money. At first the old man offered to call Toto, who had always +served the house, he said; but Malipieri answered that no help was +needed in a mere preliminary exploration, and that another man would +only be in the way. He made no secret of the fact that he was working +with his own hands, however. Every morning, he and his servant went +down into the north-west cellars by a winding staircase that was +entered from a passage between the disused stables and the empty +coach-house. Like every large Roman palace, the Palazzo Conti had two +arched entrances, one of which had never been opened except on +important occasions, when the carriages that drove in on the one side +drove out at the other after their owner had alighted. This second gate +was at the west end of the court, not far from the coach-house. To +reach their work Malipieri and Masin had to go down the grand staircase +and pass the porter's lodge. Masin wore the rough clothes of a working +mason and Malipieri appeared in overalls and a heavy canvas jacket. +Very soon the garments of both were so effectually stained with mud, +green mould and water that the two men could hardly have been +distinguished from ordinary day labourers, even in broad daylight. + +They began work on the very spot at which the snuffy little expert had +stopped to listen to the water. It was evidently out of the question to +break through the wall at the level of the cellar floor, for the water +could be heard running steadily through its hidden channel, and if this +were opened the cellars might be completely flooded. Besides, Malipieri +knew that the water might rise unexpectedly to a considerable height. + +It was therefore best to make the opening as high as possible, under +the vault, which at that point was not more than ten feet from the +ground. The simplest plan would have been to put up a small scaffolding +on which to work, but there was no timber suitable for the purpose in +the cellar, and Malipieri did not wish to endanger the secrecy of his +operations by having any brought down. He therefore set to work to +excavate an inclined aperture, like a tunnel, which began at a height +of about five feet and was intended to slope upwards so as to reach the +interior chamber at the highest point practicable. + +It was very hard work at first, and it was not unattended by danger. +Masin declared at the outset that it was impracticable without +blasting. The wall appeared to be built of solid blocks of travertine +stone, rough hewn on the face but neatly fitted together. It would take +two men several days to loosen a single one of these blocks, and if +they finally succeeded in moving it, it must fall to the ground at +once, for their united strength would not have sufficed to lower it +gently. + +"The facing is stone," said Malipieri, "but we shall find bricks behind +it. If we do not, we must try to get in by some other way." + +In order to get any leverage at all, it was necessary to chisel out a +space between the first block to be moved and those that touched it, an +operation which occupied two whole days. Masin worked doggedly and +systematically, and Malipieri imitated him as well as he could, but +more than once nearly blinded himself with the flying chips of stone, +and though he was strong his hands ached and trembled at the end of the +day, so that he could hardly hold a pen. To Masin it was easy enough, +and was merely a question of time and patience. He begged Malipieri to +let him do it alone, but the architect would not hear of that, since +there was room for two to use their tools at the same time, at opposite +ends of the block. He was in haste to get over the first obstacle, +which he believed to be by far the most difficult, and he was not the +kind of man to sit idly watching another at work without trying to help +him. + +On the third day they made an attempt to use a crowbar. They had two +very heavy ones, but they did not try to use both, and united their +strength upon one only. They might as well have tried to move the whole +palace, and it looked as if they would be obliged to cut the block +itself away with hammer and chisel, a labour of a fortnight, perhaps, +considering the awkward position in which they had to work. + +"One dynamite cartridge would do it!" laughed Malipieri, as he looked +at the huge stone. + +"Thank you, sir," answered Masin, taking the suggestion seriously. "I +have been in the galleys seven years, and that is enough for a +lifetime. We must try and split it with wedges." + +"There is no other way." + +They had all the tools necessary for the old-fashioned operation; three +drilling irons, of different sizes, and a small sledge-hammer, and they +went to work without delay. Malipieri held the iron horizontally +against the stone with both hands, turning it a little after Masin had +struck it with the sledge. It was very exhausting after a time, as the +whole weight of the tool was at first carried by Malipieri's uplifted +hands. Moreover, if he forgot to grasp it very firmly, the vibration of +the blow made the palms of his hands sting till they were numb. At +regular intervals the men changed places, Masin held the drill and +Malipieri took the hammer. Every now and then they raked out the dust +from the deepening hole with a little round scoop made for the purpose +and riveted to the end of a light iron rod a yard long. + +Hour after hour they toiled thus together, far down under the palace, +in the damp, close air, that was cold and yet stifling to breathe. The +hole was now over two feet deep. + +Suddenly, as Masin delivered a heavy blow, the drill ran in an inch +instead of recoiling in Malipieri's tight hold. + +"Bricks," said Masin, resting on the haft of the long hammer. + +Malipieri removed the drill, took the scoop and drew out the dust and +minute chips. Hitherto the stuff had been grey, but now, as he held his +hand under the round hole to catch what came, a little bit of dark red +brick fell into his palm. He picked it out carefully and held it close +to the bright unshaded lamp. + +"Roman brick," he said, after a moment. + +"We are not in Milan," observed Masin, by way of telling his master +that he did not understand. + +"Ancient Roman brick," said Malipieri. "It is just what I expected. +This is part of the wall of an old Roman building, built of bricks and +faced with travertine. If we can get this block out, the worst will be +over." + +"It is easier to drill holes in stone than in water," said Masin, who +had put his ear to the hole. "I can hear it much louder now." + +"Of course you can," answered Malipieri. "We are wasting time," he +added, picking up the drill and holding it against the block at a point +six inches higher than before. + +Masin took his sledge again and hammered away with dogged regularity. +So the work went on all that day, and all the next. And after that they +took another tool and widened the holes, and then a third till they +were two inches in diameter. + +Masin suggested that they might drive an iron on through the brickwork, +and find out how much of it there was beyond the stone, but Malipieri +pointed out that if the "lost water" should rise it would pour out +through the hole and stop their operations effectually. The entrance +must incline upwards, he said. + +They made long round plugs of soft pine to fit the holes exactly, each +one scored with a channel a quarter of an inch deep, which was on the +upper side when they had driven the plugs into their places, and was +intended to lead the water along the wood, so as to wet it more +thoroughly. To do this Malipieri poked long cotton wicks into each +channel with a wire, as far as possible. He made Masin buy half-a-dozen +coarse sponges and tied one upon the upper end of each projecting plug. +Finally he wet all the sponges thoroughly and wound coarse cloths +loosely round them to keep in as much of the water as possible. By +pouring on water from time to time the soft wood was to be ultimately +wet through, the wicks leading the moisture constantly inward, and in +the end the great block must inevitably be split into halves. It is the +prehistoric method, and there never was any other way of cleaving very +hard stone until gunpowder first brought in blasting. It is slow, but +it is quite sure. + +The place where the two men had been working was many feet below the +level of the courtyard, but the porter could now and then hear the +sound of blows echoing underground through the vast empty cellars, even +when he stood near the great entrance. + +Toto heard the noise too, one day, as he was standing still to light +his pipe in the Vicolo dei Soldati. When it struck his ear he let the +match burn out till it singed his horny fingers. His expression became +even more blank than usual, but he looked up and down the street, to +see if he were alone, and upward at the windows of the house opposite. +Nobody was in sight, but in order to place his ear close to the wall +and listen, he made a pretence of fastening his shoe-string. The sound +came to him from very far beneath, regular as the panting of an engine. +He knew his trade, and recognized the steady hammering on the end of a +stone drill, very unlike the irregular blows of a pickaxe or a crowbar. +The "moles" were at work, and knew their business; sooner or later they +would break through. But Toto could not guess that the work was being +actually done by Malipieri and his servant, without help. One man alone +could not do it, and the profound contempt of the artisan for any +outsider who attempts his trade, made Toto feel quite sure that one or +more masons had been called in to make a breach in the foundation wall. +As he stood up and lighted his pipe at last, he grinned all alone, and +then slouched on, his heart full of very evil designs. Had he not +always been the mason of the Palazzo Conti? And his father before him? +And his grandfather, who had lost his life down there, where the moles +were working? And now that he was turned out, and others were called in +to do a particularly confidential job, should he not be revenged? He +bit his pipe and thrust his rough hands deep into the pockets of his +fustian trousers, and instead of turning into the wine shop to meet +Gigi, he went off for a walk by himself through all the narrow and +winding streets that lie between the Palazzo Conti and Monte Giordano. + +He came to no immediate conclusion, and moreover there was no great +hurry. He knew well enough that it would take time to pierce the wall, +after the drilling was over, and he could easily tell when that point +was reached by listening every day in the Vicolo dei Soldati. It would +still be soon enough to play tricks with the water, if he chose that +form of vengeance, and he grinned again as he thought of the vast +expense he could force upon Volterra in order to save the palace. But +he might do something else. Instead of flooding the cellars and +possibly drowning the masons who had ousted him, he could turn informer +and defeat the schemes of Volterra and Malipieri, for he never doubted +but that if they found anything of value they meant to keep the whole +profit of it to themselves. + +He had the most vague notions of what the treasure might be. When the +fatal accident had happened his grandfather had been the only man who +had actually penetrated into the innermost hiding-place; the rest had +fled when the water rose and had left him to drown. They had seen +nothing, and their story had been handed down as a mere record of the +catastrophe. Toto knew at least that the vaults had then been entered +from above, which was by far the easier way, but a new pavement had +long ago covered all traces of the aperture. + +There was probably gold down there, gold of the ancients, in earthen +jars. That was Toto's belief, and he also believed that when it was +found it would belong to the government, because the government took +everything, but that somehow, in real justice, it should belong to the +Pope. For Toto was not only a genuine Roman of the people, but had +always regarded himself as a sort of hereditary retainer of an ancient +house. + +His mind worked slowly. A day passed, and he heard the steady hammering +still, and after a second night he reached a final conclusion. The Pope +must have the treasure, whatever it might be. + +That, he decided, was the only truly moral view, and the only one which +satisfied his conscience. It would doubtless be very amusing to be +revenged on the masons by drowning them in a cellar, with the absolute +certainty of never being suspected of the deed. The plan had great +attractions. The masons themselves should have known better than to +accept a job which belonged by right to him, and they undoubtedly +deserved to be drowned. Yet Toto somehow felt that as there was no +woman in the case he might some day, in his far old age, be sorry for +having killed several men in cold blood. It was really not strictly +moral, after all, especially as his grandfather's death had been +properly avenged by the death of the murderer. + +As for allowing the government to have a share in the profits of the +discovery, that was not to be thought of. He was a Roman, and the +Italian government was his natural enemy. If he could have turned all +the "lost water" in the city upon the whole government collectively, in +the cellars of the Palazzo Conti, he would have felt that it was +strictly moral to do so. The government had stolen more than two years +of his life by making him serve in the army, and he was not going to +return good for evil. With beautiful simplicity of reasoning he cursed +the souls of the government's dead daily, as if it had been a family of +his acquaintance. + +But the Pope was quite another personage. There had always been popes, +and there always would be till the last judgment, and everything +connected with the Vatican would last as long as the world itself. Toto +was a conservative. His work had always kept him among lasting things +of brick and stone, and he was proud of never having taken a day's +wages for helping to put up the modern new-fangled buildings he +despised. The most lasting of all buildings in the world was the +Vatican, and the most permanent institution conceivable was the Pope. +Gigi, who made wretched, perishable objects of wood and nails and glue, +such as doors and windows, sometimes launched into modern ideas. Toto +would have liked to know how many times the doors and windows of the +Palazzo Conti had been renewed since the walls had been built! He +pitied Gigi always, and sometimes he despised him, though they were +good friends enough in the ordinary sense. + +The Pope should have the treasure. That was settled, and the only +question remaining concerned the means of transferring it to him when +it was discovered. + + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + + + +One evening it chanced that the Volterra couple were dining out, and +that Sabina, having gone up to her room to spend the evening, had +forgotten the book she was reading and came downstairs half-an-hour +later to get it. She opened the drawing-room door and went straight to +the table on which she had left the volume. As she turned to go back +she started and uttered a little cry, almost of terror. + +Malipieri was standing before the mantelpiece, looking at her. + +"I am afraid I frightened you," he said quietly. "Pray forgive me." + +"Not at all," Sabina answered, resting the book she held in her hand +upon the edge of the table. "I did not know any one was here." + +"I said I would wait till the Senator came home," Malipieri said. + +"Yes." Sabina hesitated a moment and then sat down. + +She smiled, perhaps at herself. In her mother's house it would have +been thought extremely improper for her to be left alone with a young +man during ten minutes, but she knew that the Baroness held much more +modern views, and would probably be delighted that she and Malipieri +should spend an hour together. He had been asked to luncheon again, but +had declined on the ground of being too busy, much to the Baroness's +annoyance. + +Malipieri seated himself on a small chair at a discreet distance. + +"I happened to know that they were going out," he said, "so I came." + +Sabina looked at him in surprise. It was an odd way to begin a +conversation. + +"I wanted to see you alone," he explained. "I thought perhaps you would +come down." + +"It was an accident," Sabina answered. "I had left my book here. No one +told me that you had come." + +"Of course not. I took the chance that a lucky accident might happen. +It has, but I hope you are not displeased. If you are, you can turn me +out." + +"I could go back to my room." Sabina laughed. "Why should I be +displeased?" + +"I have not the least idea whether you like me or not," answered +Malipieri. + +Sabina wondered whether all men talked like this, or whether it were +not more usual to begin with a few generalities. She was really quite +sure that she liked Malipieri, but it was a little embarrassing to be +called upon to tell him so at once. + +"If I wanted you to go away, I should not sit down," she said, still +smiling. + +"I hate conventions," answered Malipieri, "and I fancy that you do, +too. We were both brought up in them, and I suppose we think alike +about them." + +"Perhaps." + +Sabina turned over the book she still held, and looked at the back of +it. + +"Exactly," continued Malipieri. "But I do not mean that what we are +doing now is so dreadfully unconventional after all. Thank heaven, +manners have changed since I was a boy, and even in Italy we may be +allowed to talk together a few minutes without being suspected of +planning a runaway marriage. I wanted to see you alone because I wish +you to do something very much more 'improper,' as society calls it." + +Sabina looked up with innocent and inquiring eyes, but said nothing in +answer. + +"I have found something," he said. "I should like you to see it." + +"There is nothing so very terrible in that," replied Sabina, looking at +him steadily. + +"The world would think differently. But if you will trust me the world +need never know anything about it. You will have to come alone. That is +the difficulty." + +"Alone?" Sabina repeated the word, and instinctively drew herself up a +little. + +"Yes." + +A short silence followed, and Malipieri waited for her to speak, but +she hesitated. In years, she was but lately out of childhood, but the +evil of the world had long been near her in her mother's house, and she +knew well enough that if she did what he asked, and if it were known, +her reputation would be gone. She was a little indignant at first, and +was on the point of showing it, but as she met his eyes once more she +felt certain that he meant no offence to her. + +"You must have a very good reason for asking me to do such a dangerous +thing," she said at last. + +"The reasons are complicated," answered Malipieri. + +"Perhaps I could understand, if you explained them." + +"Yes, I am sure you can. I will try. In the first place, you know of +the story about a treasure being concealed in the palace. I spoke of it +the other day, and you laughed at it. When I began, I was not inclined +to believe it myself, for it seems never to have been anything more +than a tradition. One or two old chronicles speak of it. A Venetian +ambassador wrote about it in the sixteenth century in one of his +reports to his government, suggesting that the Republic should buy the +palace if it were ever sold. I daresay you have heard that." + +"No. It does not matter. You say you have found something--that is the +important point." + +"Yes; and the next thing is to keep the secret for the present, because +so many people would like to know it. The third point of importance is +that you should see the treasure before it is moved, before I can move +it myself, or even see all of it." + +"What is this treasure?" asked Sabina, with a little impatience, for +she was really interested. + +"All I have seen of it is the hand of what must be a colossal statue, +of gilt bronze. On one of the fingers there is a ring with a stone +which I believe to be a ruby. If it is, it is worth a great deal, +perhaps as much as the statue itself." + +Sabina's eyes had opened very wide in her surprise, for she had never +really believed the tale, and even when he had told her that he had +found something she had not thought it could be anything very valuable. + +"Are you quite sure you have seen it?" she asked with childlike wonder. + +"Yes. I lowered a light into the place, but I did not go down. There +may be other things. They belong to you." + +"To me? Why?" asked Sabina in surprise. + +"For a good many reasons which may or may not be good in law but which +are good enough for me. You were robbed of your dowry--forgive the +expression. I cannot think of another word. The Senator got possession +of the palace for much less than its market value, let alone what I +have found. He sent for me because I have been fortunate in finding +things, and he believed it just possible that there might be something +hidden in the foundations. Your family spent long ago what he lent them +on the mortgage, and Sassi assures me that you never had a penny of it. +I mean you to have your share now. That is all." + +Sabina listened quietly enough to the end. + +"Thank you, very much," she said gravely, when he had finished. + +Then there was another pause. To her imagination the possibilities of +wealth seemed fabulous, and even Malipieri thought them large; but +Sabina was not thinking of a fortune for its own sake. Of late none of +her family had cared for money except to spend it without counting. +What struck her first was that she would be free to leave the +Volterras' house, that she would be independent, and that there would +be an end of the almost unbearable situation in which she had lived +since the crash. + +"If the Senator can keep it all for himself, he will," Malipieri +observed, "and his wife will help him." + +"Do you think this had anything to do with their anxiety to have me +stay with them?" asked Sabina, and as the thought occurred to her the +expression of her eyes changed. + +"The Baroness knows nothing at all about the matter," answered +Malipieri. "I fancy she only wanted the social glory of taking charge +of you when your people came to grief. But her husband will take +advantage of the obligation you are under. I suspect that he will ask +you to sign a paper of some sort, very vaguely drawn up, but legally +binding, by which you will make over to him all claim whatever on your +father's estate." + +"But I have none, have I?" + +"If the facts were known to-morrow, your brother might at once begin an +action to recover, on the equitable ground that by an extraordinary +chain of circumstances the property has turned out to be worth much +more than any one could have expected. Do you understand?" + +"Yes. Go on." + +"Very well. The Senator knows that in all probability the court would +decide against your brother, who has the reputation of a spendthrift, +unless your claim is pushed; but that any honest judge, if it were +legally possible, would do his best to award you something. If you had +made over your claim to Volterra, that would be impossible, and would +only strengthen his case." + +"I see," said Sabina. "It is very complicated." + +"Of course it is. And there are many other sides to it. The Senator, on +his part, is as anxious to keep the whole matter a secret as I am, for +your sake. He has no idea that there is a colossal statue in the +vaults. He probably hopes to find gold and jewels which could be taken +away quietly and disposed of without the knowledge of the government." + +"What has the government to do with it?" + +"It has all sorts of claims on such discoveries, and especially on +works of art. It reserves the right to buy them from the owners at a +valuation, if they are sold at all." + +"Then the government will buy this statue, I suppose." + +"In the end, unless it allows the Vatican to buy it." + +"I do not see what is going to happen," said Sabina, growing bewildered. + +"The Senator must make everything over to you before it is sold," +answered Malipieri calmly. + +"How can he be made to do that?" + +"I do not know, but he shall." + +"Do you mean that the law can force him to?" + +"The law might, perhaps, but I shall find some much shorter way." + +Sabina was silent for a moment. + +"But he employs you on this work," she said suddenly. + +"Not exactly." Malipieri smiled. "I would not let Volterra pay me to +grub underground for his benefit, any more than I would live in his +house without paying him rent." + +Sabina bit her lip and turned her face away suddenly, for the +thoughtless words had hurt her. + +"I agreed to make the search merely because I am interested in +archaeology," he continued. "Until I met you I did not care what might +become of anything we found in the palace." + +"Why should you care now?" + +The question rose to her lips before she knew what she was saying, for +what had gone before had disturbed her a little. It had been a very +cruel speech, though he had not meant it. He looked at her thoughtfully. + +"I am not quite sure why I care," he answered, "but I do." + +Neither spoke for some time. + +"I suppose you pity me," Sabina observed at last, rather resentfully. + +He said nothing. + +"You probably felt sorry for me as soon as you saw me," she continued, +leaning back in her chair and speaking almost coldly. "I am an object +of pity, of course!" + +Malipieri laughed a little at the very girlish speech. + +"No," he answered. "I had not thought of you in that light. I liked +you, the first time I saw you. That is much simpler than pitying." + +He laughed again, but it was at himself. + +"You treat me like a child," Sabina said with a little petulance. "You +have no right to!" + +"Shall I treat you like a woman, Donna Sabina?" he said, suddenly +serious. + +"Yes. I am sure I am old enough." + +"If you were not, I should certainly not feel as I do towards you." + +"What do you mean?" + +"If you are a woman, you probably guess." + +"No." + +"You may be offended," suggested Malipieri. + +"Not unless you are rude--or pity me." She smiled now. + +"Is it very rude to like a person?" he asked. "If you think it is, I +will not go on." + +"I am not sure," said Sabina demurely, and she looked down. + +"In that case it is wiser not to run the risk of offending you past +forgiveness!" + +It was very amusing to hear him talk, for no man had ever talked to her +in this way before. She knew that he was thought immensely clever, but +he did not seem at all superior now, and she was glad of it. She should +have felt very foolish if he had discoursed to her learnedly about +Carthage and antiquities. Instead, he was simple and natural, and she +liked him very much; and the little devil that enters into every woman +about the age of sixteen and is not often cast out before fifty, even +by prayer and fasting, suddenly possessed her. + +"Rudeness is not always past forgiveness," she said, with a sweet smile. + +Malipieri looked at her gravely and wondered whether he had any right +to take up the challenge. He had never been in love with a young girl +in his life, and somehow it did not seem fair to speak as he had been +speaking. It was very odd that his sense of honour should assert itself +just then. It might have been due to the artificial traditions of +generations without end, before him. At the same time, he knew +something of women, and in her last speech he recognized the womanly +cooing, the call of the mate, that has drawn men to happiness or +destruction ever since the world began. She was a mere girl, of course, +but since he had said so much, she could not help tempting him to go to +the end and tell her he loved her. + +Though Malipieri did not pretend to be a model of all the virtues, he +was thoroughly fair in all his dealings, according to his lights, and +just then he would have thought it the contrary of fair to say what she +seemed to expect. He knew instinctively that no one had ever said it to +her before, which was a good reason for not saying it lightly; and he +was sure that he could not say it quite seriously, and almost certain +also that she had not even begun to be really in love herself, though +he felt that she liked him. On the other hand--for in the flash of a +second he argued the case--he did not feel that she was the +hypothetical defenceless maiden, helpless to resist the wiles of an +equally hypothetical wicked young man. She had been brought up by a +worldly mother since she had left the convent where she had associated +with other girls, most of whom also had worldly mothers; and some of +the wildest blood in Europe ran in her veins. + +On the whole, he thought it would be justifiable to tell her exactly +what he felt, and she might do as she pleased about answering him. + +"I think I shall fall in love with you before long," he said, with +almost unnecessary calmness. + +Sabina had not expected that the first declaration she received in her +life would take this mild form, but it affected her much more strongly +than she could understand. Her hand tightened suddenly on the book she +held, and she noticed a little fluttering at her heart and in her +throat, and at the same time she was conscious of a tremendous +determination not to show that she felt anything at all, but to act as +if she had heard just such things before, and more also. + +"Indeed!" she said, with admirable indifference. + +Malipieri looked at her in surprise. An experienced flirt of thirty +could not have uttered the single word more effectively. + +"I wonder whether you will ever like me better than you do now," he +said, by way of answer. + +She was wondering, too, but it was not likely that she would admit it. + +"I am very fickle," she replied, with a perfectly self-possessed little +laugh. + +"So am I," Malipieri answered, following her lead. "My most desperate +love affairs have never lasted more than a month or two." + +"You have had a great many, I daresay," Sabina observed, with no show +of interest. She was amazed and delighted to find how easy it was to +act her new part. + +"And you," he asked, laughing, "how often have you been in love +already?" + +"Let me see!" + +She turned her eyes to his, without turning her head, and letting the +book lie in her lap she pretended to count on her fingers. He watched +her gravely, and nodded as she touched each finger, as if he were +counting with her. Suddenly she dropped both hands and laughed gaily. + +"How childish you are!" she exclaimed. + +"How deliciously frank you are!" he retorted, laughing with her. + +It was mere banter, and not witty at that, but they were growing +intimate in it, much faster than either of them realized, for it was +the first time they had been able to talk together quite without +constraint, and it was the very first time Sabina had ever had a chance +of talking as she pleased to a man whom she really thought young. + +Moreover they were quite modern young people, and therefore entirely +devoid of all the sentimentality and "world-sorrow" which made youth so +delightfully gloomy and desperately cynical, without the least real +cynicism, in the middle of the nineteenth century. In those days no +young man who showed a ray of belief in anything had a chance with a +woman, and no woman had a chance with men unless she had a hidden +sorrow. Women used to construct themselves a secret and romantic grief +in those times, with as much skill as they bestowed on their figure and +face, and there were men who spent hours in reading Schopenhauer in +order to pick out and treasure up a few terribly telling phrases; and +love-making turned upon the myth that life was not worth living. + +We have changed all that now; whether for better or worse, the social +historians of the future will decide for us after we are dead, so we +need not trouble our heads about the decision unless we set up to be +moralists ourselves. The enormous tidal wave of hypocrisy is retiring, +and if the shore discovered by the receding waves is here and there +horribly devastated and hopelessly bare, it is at least dry land. + +The wave covered everything for a long time, from religion to manners, +from science to furniture, and we who are old enough to remember, and +not old enough to regret, are rubbing our eyes and looking about us, as +on a new world, amazed at having submitted so long to what we so +heartily despised, glad to be able to speak our minds at last about +many things, and astounded that people should at last be allowed to be +good and suffered to be bad, without the affectation of seeming one or +the other, in a certain accepted manner governed by fashion, and +imposed by a civilized and perfectly intolerant society. + +While progress advances, it really looks as if humanity were reverting +to its types, with an honest effort at simplicity. There is a revival +of the moral individuality of the middle ages. The despot proudly says, +like Alexander, or Montrose in love, that he will reign, and he will +reign alone; and he does. The financier plunders mankind and does not +pretend that he is a long-lost type of philanthropist. The anarchist +proclaims that it is virtuous to kill kings, and he kills them. The +wicked do not even make a pretence of going to church on Sundays. If +this goes on, we shall have saints before long. + +Hypocrisy has disappeared even from literature, since no one who now +writes books fit to read can be supposed to do so out of respect for +public opinion, still less from any such base motive as a desire for +gain. + +Malipieri and Sabina both felt that they had been drawn much nearer +together by what had sounded like idle chatter, and yet neither of them +was inclined to continue talking in the same way. Moreover time was +passing quickly, and there was a matter to be decided before they +parted. Malipieri returned to the subject of his discovery, and his +desire that Sabina should see it. + +"But I cannot possibly come to the palace alone," she objected. "It is +quite out of the question. Even if--" she stopped. + +"What?" he asked. + +"Even if I were willing to do it--" she hesitated again. + +"You are not afraid, are you?" There was a slight intonation of irony +in his question. + +"No, I am not afraid." She paused a moment. "I suppose that if I saw a +way of coming, I would come," she said, then. "But I see no way. I +cannot go out alone. Every one would know it. There would be a terrible +fuss about it!" + +The idea evidently amused her. + +"Could you come with Sassi?" asked Malipieri presently. "He is +respectable enough for anything." + +"Even that would be thought very strange," answered Sabina. "I have no +good reason to give for going out alone with him." + +"You would not give any reason till afterwards, and when it is over +there cannot really be anything to be said about it. The Baroness goes +out every afternoon. You can make an excuse for staying at home +to-morrow, and then you will be alone in the house. Sassi will call for +you in a closed cab and bring you to the palace, and I will be at the +door to receive you. The chances are that you will be at home again +before the Baroness comes in, and she will never know that you have +been out. Does that look very hard?" + +"No, it looks easy." + +"What time shall Sassi call for you to-morrow?" asked Malipieri, who +wished to settle the matter at once. + +"At five o'clock," answered Sabina, after a moment's thought. + +"At five to-morrow, then. You had better not wear anything very new. +The place where the statue lies is not a drawing-room, you know, and +your frock may be spoilt." + +"Very well." + +She glanced at the clock, looked at Malipieri as if hesitating, and +then rose. + +"I shall go back to my room now," she said. + +"Yes. It is better. They may come in at any moment." He had risen also. + +Their eyes met again, and they smiled at each other, as they realized +what they were doing, that they had been nearly an hour together, +unknown to any one, and had arranged something very like a clandestine +meeting for the next day. Sabina put out her hand. + +"At five o'clock," she said again. "Good-night." + +He felt her touch for the first time since they had met. It was light +and elastic as the pressure of a very delicate spring, perfectly +balanced and controlled. But she, on her side, looked down suddenly and +uttered an exclamation of surprise. + +"Oh! How rough your hand is!" + +He laughed, and held out his palm, which was callous as a +day-labourer's. + +"My man and I have done all the work ourselves," he said, "and it has +not been play." + +"It must be delightful!" answered Sabina with admiration. "I wish I +were a man! We could have done it together." + +She went to the door, and she turned to smile at him again as she laid +her hand on the knob. He remembered her afterwards as she stood there a +single moment with the light on her misty hair and white cheeks, and +the little shadow round her small bare throat. He remembered that he +would have given anything to bring her back to the place where she had +sat. There was much less doubt in his mind as to what he felt then than +there had been a few minutes earlier. + +Half an hour after Sabina had disappeared Malipieri and Volterra were +seated in deep armchairs in the smoking-room, the Baron having sent his +wife to bed a few minutes after they had come in. She obeyed meekly as +she always did, for she had early discovered that although she was a +very energetic woman, Volterra was her master and that it was hopeless +to oppose his slightest wish. It is true that in return for the most +absolute obedience the fat financier gave her the strictest fidelity +and all the affection of which he was capable. Like more than one of +the great modern freebooters, the Baron's private life was very +exemplary, yet his wife would have been willing to forgive him +something if she might occasionally have had her own way. + +This evening he was not in good-humour, as Malipieri found out as soon +as they were alone together. He chewed the end of the enormous Havana +he had lighted, he stuck his feet out straight in front of him, resting +his heels on the floor and turning his shining patent leather toes +straight up, he folded his hands upon the magnificent curve of his +white waistcoat, and leaning his head well back he looked steadily at +the ceiling. All these were very bad signs, as his wife could have told +Malipieri if she had stayed in the room. + +Malipieri smoked in silence for some time, entirely forgetting him and +thinking of Sabina. + +"Well, Mr. Archaeologist," the Baron said at last, allowing his big +cigar to settle well into one corner of his mouth, "there is the devil +to pay." + +He spoke as if the trouble were Malipieri's fault. The younger man eyed +him coldly. + +"What is the matter?" he enquired, without the least show of interest. + +"You are being watched," answered Volterra, still looking at the +ceiling. "You are now one of those interesting people whose movements +are recorded like the weather, every twelve hours." + +"Yes," said Malipieri. "I have known that for some time." + +"The next time you know anything so interesting I wish you would inform +me," replied Volterra. + +His voice and his way of speaking irritated Malipieri. The Baroness had +been better educated than her husband from the first; she was more +adaptable and she had really learned the ways of the society she loved, +but the Baron was never far from the verge of vulgarity, and he often +overstepped it. + +"When you asked me to help you," Malipieri said, "you knew perfectly +well what my political career had been. I believe you voted for the +bill which drove me out of the country." + +"Did I?" The Baron watched the smoke of his cigar curling upwards. + +"I think you did. Not that I bear you the least malice. I only mean +that you might very naturally expect that I should be thought a +suspicious person, and that detectives would follow me about." + +"Nobody cares a straw for your politics," retorted Volterra rudely. + +"Then I shall be the more free to think as I please," Malipieri +answered with calm. + +"Perfectly so. In the meantime it is not the Ministry of the Interior +that is watching you. The present Ministry does not waste time and +money on such nonsense. You are being watched because you are suspected +of trying to get some statues or pictures out of Italy, in defiance of +the Pacca law." + +"Oh!" Malipieri blew a whiff of smoke out with the ejaculation, for he +was surprised. + +"I have it from one of the cabinet," Volterra continued. "He told me +the facts confidentially after dinner. You see, as you are living in my +house, the suspicion is reflected on me." + +"In your house?" + +"The Palazzo Conti is my house," answered the Baron, taking his cigar +from his mouth for the first time since he had lighted it, and holding +it out at arm's length with a possessive sweep while he leaned back and +looked at the ceiling again. "It all belongs to me," he said. "I took +it for the mortgage, with everything in it." + +"By the bye," said Malipieri, "what became of that Velasquez, and those +other pictures?" + +"Was there a Velasquez?" enquired the Baron carelessly, without +changing his attitude. + +"Yes. It was famous all over Europe. It was a family portrait." + +"I remember! It turned out to be a copy after all." + +"A copy!" repeated Malipieri incredulously. + +"Yes, the original is in Madrid," answered the Baron with imperturbable +self-possession. + +"And all those other pictures turned out to be copies, too, I daresay," +suggested Malipieri. + +"Every one of them. It was a worthless collection." + +"In that case it was hardly worth while to take so much trouble in +getting them out of the country secretly." Malipieri smiled. + +"That was the dealer's affair," answered Volterra without the least +hesitation. "Dealers are such fools! They always make a mystery of +everything." + +Malipieri could not help admiring the proportions and qualities of the +Baron's lies. The financier was well aware that Malipieri knew the +pictures to be genuine beyond all doubt. The disposal of them had been +well managed, for when Malipieri moved into the palace there was not a +painting of value left on the walls, yet there had been no mention of +them in the newspapers, nor any gossip about them, and the public at +large believed them to be still in their places. As a matter of fact +most of them were already in France and England, and the Velasquez was +in Saint Petersburg. + +"I understand why you are anxious that the Palazzo Conti should not be +watched just now," Malipieri said. "For my part, as I do not believe in +your government, I cannot be expected to believe in its laws. It is not +my business whether you respect them yourselves or not." + +"Who is breaking the law?" asked the Baron roughly. "It is absurd to +talk in that way. But as the government has taken it into its head to +suspect that you do, it is not advisable for me, who am a staunch +supporter of the government, to see too much of you. I am sure you must +understand that--it is so simple." + +"In other words?" Malipieri looked at him coldly, waiting for an +explanation. + +"I cannot afford to have it said that you are living in the palace for +the purpose of helping dealers to smuggle objects of art out of the +country. That is what I mean." + +"I see. But what objects of art do you mean, since you have already +sent away everything there was?" + +"It is believed that you had something to do with that ridiculous +affair of the copies," said Volterra, his voice suddenly becoming oily. + +"They were gone when I moved in." + +"I daresay they were. But it would be hard to prove, and of course the +people who bought the pictures from the dealer insist that they are +genuine, so that there may be trouble some day, and you may be annoyed +about the things if you stay here any longer." + +"You mean that you advise me to leave Rome. Is that it?" Malipieri now +spoke with the utmost indifference, and glanced carelessly at the end +of his cigar as he knocked the ash into the gold cup at his side. + +"You certainly cannot stay any longer in the palace," Volterra said, in +an advisory and deprecatory tone. + +"You seem to be badly frightened," observed Malipieri. "I really cannot +see why I should change my quarters until we have finished what we are +doing." + +"I am afraid you will have to go. You are looked upon as very +'suspicious.' It would not be so bad, if your servant had not been a +convict." + +"How do you know that?" Malipieri asked with sudden sternness. + +"Everything of that sort is known to the police," answered Volterra, +whose manner had become very mild. "Of course you have your own reasons +for employing such a person." + +"He is an innocent man, who was unjustly convicted." + +"Oh, indeed! Poor fellow! Those things happen sometimes, I know. It is +more than kind of you to employ him. Nevertheless, you cannot help +seeing that the association of ideas is unfortunate and gives a bad +impression. The man was never proved to be innocent, and when he had +served his term, he was involved as your servant in your political +escapade. You do not mind my speaking of that matter lightly? It is the +safest way to look at it, is it not? Yes. The trouble is that you and +your man are both on the black book, and since the affair has come to +the notice of the government my colleagues are naturally surprised that +you should both be living in a house that belongs to me." + +"You can explain to your colleagues that you have let the apartment in +the palace to me, and that as I pay my rent regularly you cannot turn +me out without notice." Malipieri smiled indifferently. + +"Surely," said the Baron, affecting some surprise, "if I ask you, as a +favour, to move somewhere else, you will do so!" + +To tell the truth, he was not prepared for Malipieri's extreme +forbearance, for he had expected an outbreak of temper, at the least, +and he still feared a positive refusal. Instead, the young man did not +seem to care a straw. + +"Of course," he said, "if you ask it as a favour, I cannot refuse. When +should you like me to go?" + +"You are really too kind!" The Baron was genuinely delighted and almost +grateful--as near to feeling gratitude, perhaps, as he had ever been in +his life. "I should hate to hurry you," he continued. "But really, +since you are so very good, I think the sooner you can make it +convenient to move, the better it will be for every one." + +"I could not manage to pack my books and drawings so soon as +to-morrow," said Malipieri. + +"Oh, no! certainly not! By all means take a couple of days about it. I +could not think of putting you to any inconvenience." + +"Thanks." Malipieri smiled pleasantly. "If I cannot get off by the day +after to-morrow, I shall certainly move the day after that." + +"I am infinitely obliged. And now that this unpleasant matter is +settled, owing to your wonderful amiability, do tell me how the work is +proceeding." + +"Fairly well," Malipieri answered. "You had better come and see for +yourself before I go. Let me see. To-morrow I shall have to look about +for a lodging. Could you come the day after to-morrow? Then we can go +down together." + +"How far have you got?" asked Volterra, with a little less interest +than might have been expected. + +"I am positively sure that there is an inner chamber, where I expected +to find it," Malipieri answered, with perfect truth. "Perhaps we can +get into it when you come." + +"I hope so," said the Baron, watching the other's face from the corner +of his eye. + +"I have made a curious discovery in the course of the excavation," +Malipieri continued. "The pillar of masonry which you showed me is +hollow after all. It was the shaft of an oubliette which must have +opened somewhere in the upper part of the house. There is a well under +it." + +"Full of water?" + +"No. It is dry. We shall have to pass through it to get to the inner +chamber. You shall see for yourself--a very singular construction." + +"Was there nothing in it?" + +"Several skeletons," answered Malipieri indifferently. "One of the +skulls has a rusty knife driven through it." + +"Dear me!" exclaimed the Baron, shaking his fat head. "Those Conti were +terrible people! We must not tell the Baroness these dreadful stories. +They would upset her nerves." + +Malipieri had not supposed Volterra's wife to be intensely sensitive. +He moved, as if he meant to take his leave presently. + +"By the bye," he said, "whereabouts should you recommend me to look for +a lodging?" + +The Baron reflected a moment. + +"If I were you," he said, "I would go to a hotel. In fact, I think you +would be wiser to leave Rome for a time, until all these absurd stories +are forgotten. The least I can do is to warn you that you may be +exposed to a good deal of annoyance if you stay here. The minister with +whom I was talking this evening told me as much in a friendly way." + +"Really? That was very kind of him. But what do you mean by the word +'annoyance'? It is rather vague. It is one thing to suspect a man of +trying to evade the Pacca law; it is quite another matter to issue a +warrant of arrest against him." + +"Oh, quite," answered Volterra readily. "I did not mean that, of +course, though when one has once been arrested for anything, innocent +or not, our police always like to repeat the operation as soon as +possible, just as a matter of principle." + +"In other words, if a man has once been suspected, even unjustly, he +had better leave his country for ever." + +The Baron shrugged his big round shoulders, and drew a final puff from +his cigar before throwing the end away. + +"Injustice is only what the majority thinks of the minority," he +observed. "If you do not happen to be a man of genius, the first step +towards success in life is to join the majority." + +Malipieri laughed as he rose to his feet, reflecting that in delivering +himself of this piece of worldly wisdom the Baron had probably spoken +the truth for the first time since they had been talking. + +"Shall we say day after to-morrow, about five o'clock?" asked Malipieri +before going. + +"By all means. And let me thank you again for meeting my views so very +obligingly." + +"Not at all." + +So Malipieri went home to think matters over, and the Baron sat a long +time in his chair, looking much pleased with himself and apparently +admiring a magnificent diamond which he wore on one of his thick +fingers. + + + + + +CHAPTER X + + + + +Malipieri was convinced that Volterra not only knew exactly how far the +work under the palace had proceeded, but was also acquainted with the +general nature of the objects found in the inner chamber, beyond the +well shaft. The apparent impossibility of such a thing was of no +importance. The Baron would never have been so anxious to get rid of +Malipieri unless he had been sure that the difficult part of the work +was finished and that the things discovered were of such dimensions as +to make it impossible to remove them secretly. Malipieri knew the man +and guessed that if he could not pocket the value of everything found +in the excavations by disposing of the discoveries secretly, he would +take the government into his confidence at once, as the surest means of +preventing any one else from getting a share. + +What was hard to understand was that Volterra should know how far the +work had gone before Malipieri had told him anything about it. That he +did know, could hardly be doubted. He had practically betrayed the fact +by the mistake he had made in assuring himself that Malipieri was +willing to leave the house, before even questioning him as to the +progress made since they had last met. He had been a little too eager +to get rid of the helper he no longer needed. It did not even occur to +Malipieri that Masin could have betrayed him, yet so far as it was +possible to judge, Masin was the only living man who had looked into +the underground chamber. As he walked home, he recalled the +conversation from beginning to end, and his conviction was confirmed. +Volterra had been in a bad temper, nervous, a little afraid of the +result and therefore inclined to talk in a rough and bullying tone. As +soon as he had ascertained that Malipieri was not going to oppose him, +he had become oily to obsequiousness. + +On his part Malipieri had accepted everything Volterra proposed, for +two reasons. In the first place he would not for the world have had the +financier think that he wanted a share of the treasure, or any +remuneration for what he had done. Secondly, he knew that possession is +nine points of the law, and that if anything could ever be obtained for +Sabina it would not be got by making a show of violent opposition to +the Baron's wishes. If Malipieri had refused to leave his lodging in +the palace, Volterra could have answered by filling the house with +people in his own employ, or by calling in government architects, +archaeologists and engineers, and taking the whole matter out of +Malipieri's hands. + +The first thing to be ascertained was, who had entered the vaults and +reported the state of the work to Volterra. Malipieri might have +suspected the porter himself, for it was possible that there might be +another key to the outer entrance of the cellar; but there was a second +door further in, to which Masin had put a patent padlock, and even +Masin had not the key to that. The little flat bit of steel, with its +irregular indentations, was always in Malipieri's pocket. As he walked, +he felt for it, and it was in its place, with his silver pencil-case +and the small penknife he always carried for sharpening pencils. + +The porter could not possibly have picked that lock; indeed, scarcely +any one could have done so without injuring it, and Malipieri had +locked it himself at about seven o'clock that evening. Even if the +porter could have got in by any means, Malipieri doubted whether he +could have reached the inner chamber of the vaults. There was some +climbing to be done, and the man was old and stiff in the joints. The +place was not so easy to find as might have been supposed, either, +after the first breach in the Roman wall was past. Malipieri intended +to improve the passage the next morning, in order to make it more +practicable for Sabina. + +He racked his brains for an explanation of the mystery, and when he +reached the door of the palace, after eleven o'clock, he had come to +the conclusion that in spite of appearances there must be some entrance +to the vaults of which he knew nothing, and it was all-important to +find it. He regretted the quixotic impulse which had restrained him +from exploring everything at once. It would have been far better to go +to the end of his discovery, and he wondered why he had not done go. He +would not have insulted himself by supposing that Sabina could believe +him capable of taking the gem from the ring of the statue, in other +words, of stealing, since whoever the rightful owner might be, nothing +in the vault could possibly belong to him, and he regarded it all as +her property, though he doubted whether he could ever obtain for her a +tenth part of the value it represented. He had acted on an impulse, +which was strengthened until it looked plausible by the thought of the +intense pleasure he would take in showing her the wonderful discovery, +and in leading her safely through the mysterious intricacies of the +strange place. It had been a very selfish impulse after all, and if he +really let her come the next day, there might even be a little danger +to her. + +He let himself in and locked the postern door behind him. The porter +and his wife were asleep and the glass window of the lodge door was +quite dark. Malipieri lighted a wax taper and went upstairs. + +Masin was waiting, and opened when he heard his master's footsteps on +the landing. As a rule, he went to bed, if Malipieri went out in the +evening; both men were usually tired out by their day's work. + +"What is the matter?" Malipieri asked. + +"There is somebody in the vaults," Masin answered. "I had left my pipe +on a stone close to the padlocked door and when you were gone I took a +lantern and went down to get it. When I came near the door I was sure I +heard some one trying it gently from the other side. I stopped to +listen and I distinctly heard footsteps going away. I ran forward and +tried to find a crack, to see if there were a light, but the door is +swollen with the dampness and fits tightly. Besides, by the time I had +reached it the person inside must have got well away." + +"What time was it?" asked Malipieri, slipping off his light overcoat. + +"You went out at nine o'clock, sir. It could not have been more than +half an hour later." + +"Light both lanterns. We must go down at once. See that there is plenty +of oil in them." + +In five minutes both men were ready. + +"You had better take your revolver, sir," suggested Masin. + +Malipieri laughed. + +"I have had that revolver since I was eighteen," he said, "and I have +never needed it yet. Our tools are there, and they are better than +firearms." + +They went down the staircase quietly, fearing to wake the porter, and +kept close to the north wall till they reached the further end of the +courtyard. When they had passed the outer door at the head of the +winding staircase, Malipieri told Masin to lock it after them. + +"We cannot padlock the other door from the inside," he explained, "for +there are no hasps. If the man managed to pass us he might get out this +way." + +He led the way down, making as little noise as possible. Masin held up +his lantern, peering into the gloom over Malipieri's shoulder. + +"No one could pass the other door without breaking it down," Malipieri +said. + +They reached the floor of the cellars, which extended in both +directions from the foot of the staircase, far to the left by low, dark +vaults like railway tunnels, and a short distance to the right, where +they ended at the north-west corner. The two men turned that way, but +after walking a dozen yards, they turned to the left and entered a damp +passage barely wide enough for them both abreast. It ended at the +padlocked door, and before unlocking the latter Malipieri laid his ear +to the rough panel and listened attentively. Not a sound broke the +stillness. He turned the key, and took off the padlock and slipped it +into his pocket before going on. Without it the door could not be +fastened. + +The passage widened suddenly beyond, in another short tunnel ending at +the outer foundation wall of the palace. In this tunnel, on the +right-hand side, was the breach the two men had first made in order to +gain access to the unexplored region. Now that there was an aperture, +the running water on the other side could be heard very distinctly, +like a little brook in a rocky channel, but more steady. Both men +examined the damp floor carefully with their lanterns, in the hope of +finding some trace of footsteps; but the surface was hard and almost +black, and where there had been a little slime their own feet had +rubbed it off, as they came and went during many days. The stones and +rubbish they had taken from the wall had been piled up and hardened to +form an inclined causeway by which to reach the irregular hole. This +was now just big enough to allow a man to walk through it, bending +almost double. Masin lighted one of the lamps, which they generally +left at that place, and set it on a stone. + +Malipieri began to go up, his stick in his right hand, the lantern in +his left. + +"Let me go first, sir," said Masin, trying to pass him. + +"Nonsense!" Malipieri answered sharply, and went on. + +Masin kept as close to him as possible. He had picked up the lightest +of the drilling irons for a weapon. It must have weighed at least ten +pounds and it was a yard long. In such a hand as Masin's a blow from it +would have broken a man's bones like pipe stems. + +The wall was about eight feet thick, and when Malipieri got to the +other end of the hole he stopped and looked down, holding out his +lantern at arm's length. He could see nothing unusual, and he heard no +sound, except the gurgle of the little black stream that ran ten feet +below him. He began to descend. The masonry was very irregular, and +sloped outwards towards the ground, so that some of the irregularities +made rough steps here and there, which he knew by heart. Below, several +large fragments of Roman brick and cement lay here and there, where +they had fallen in the destruction of the original building. It was not +hard to get down, and the space was not large. It was bounded by the +old wall on one side, and most of the other was taken up by a part of a +rectangular mass of masonry, of rough mediaeval construction, which +projected inward. + +The place was familiar, but Malipieri looked about him carefully, while +Masin was climbing down. Along the base of the straight wall there was +a channel about two feet wide, through which the dark water flowed +rapidly. It entered from the right-hand corner, by a low, arched +aperture, through which it seemed out of the question that a man could +crawl, or even an ordinary boy of twelve. When they had first come to +this place Masin had succeeded in poking in a long stick with a bit of +lighted wax taper fastened to it, and both men had seen that the +channel ran on as far as it could be seen, with no widening. At the +other end of the chamber it ran out again by a similar conduit. What +had at first surprised Malipieri had been that the water did not enter +from the side of the foundations near the Vicolo dei Soldati, but ran +out that way. He had also been astonished at the quantity and speed of +the current. A channel a foot deep and two feet wide carries a large +quantity of water if the velocity be great, and Malipieri had made a +calculation which had convinced him that if the outflow were suddenly +closed, the small space in which he now stood would in a few minutes be +full up to within three or four feet of the vault. He would have given +much to know whence the water came and whither it went, and what +devilry had made it rise suddenly and drown a man when the excavations +had been made under Gregory Sixteenth. + +From below, the place where an entrance had then been opened was +clearly visible. The vault had been broken into and had afterwards been +rebuilt from above. The bits of timber which had been used for the +frame during the operation were still there, a rotting and mouldy nest +for hideous spiders and noisome creatures that haunt the dark. + +The air was very cold, and was laden with the indescribable smell of +dried slime which belongs to deep wells which have long been almost +quite dry. It was clearly a long time since the little stream had +overflowed its channel, but at the first examination he had made +Malipieri had understood that in former times the water had risen to +within three feet of the vault. Up to that height there was a thin +coating of the dry mud, which peeled off in irregular scales if lightly +touched. The large fragments of masonry that half covered the floor +were all coated in the same way with what had once been a film of slime. + +The air, though cold, could be breathed easily, and the lights did not +grow dim in it as they do in subterranean places where the atmosphere +is foul. The stream of water, flowing swiftly in its deep channel from +under the little arch, brought plentiful ventilation into it. Above, +there was no aperture in the vaulting, but there was one in the +mediaeval masonry that projected into the chamber. There, on the side +towards the right, where the water flowed in, Malipieri had found a +narrow slit, barely wide enough to admit a man's open hand and wrist, +but nearly five feet high, evidently a passage intended for letting the +water flow into the interior of the construction when it overflowed its +channel and rose above the floor of the chamber. + +At first Malipieri had supposed that this aperture communicated with +some ancient and long-forgotten drain by which the water could escape +to the Tiber; it was not until he had gained an entrance to the hollow +mass of masonry that he understood the hideous use to which it had been +applied. + +It had not been hard to enlarge it. Any one who has worked among ruins +in Italy could tell, even blindfold, the difference between the work +done in ancient times and that of the middle ages. Roman brickwork is +quite as compact as solid sandstone, but mediaeval masonry was almost +invariably built in a hurry by bad workmen, of all sorts of fragments +embedded in poorly mingled cement, and it breaks up with tolerable ease +under a heavy pickaxe. + +In half a day Malipieri and Masin had widened the slit to a convenient +passage, but as soon as it had been possible to squeeze through, the +architect had gone in. He never forgot what he felt when he first +looked about him. Masin could not follow him until many blows of the +pick had widened the way for his bulkier frame. + +Malipieri stopped at the entrance now, holding his lantern close to the +ground, and looking for traces of footsteps. He found none, but as he +was about to move forward he uttered an exclamation of surprise, and +picked up a tiny object which he held close to the light. It was only a +wax match, of which the head had been broken off when it had been +struck, so that it had not been lighted. That was all, but neither he +nor Masin carried wax matches in the vaults, because the dampness soon +made them useless. They took common sulphur matches in tin match-boxes. +Besides, this was an English wax light, as any one could tell at a +glance, for it was thicker, and stiffer, and longer than the cheaper +Italian ones. + +Malipieri drew back and showed it to his man, who examined it, +understood, and put it into his pocket without a word. Then they both +went in through the aperture in the wall. + +The masonry outside was rectangular, as far as it could be seen. +Inside, it was built like a small circular cistern, smoothly cemented, +and contracting above in a dome, that opened by a square hole to the +well-shaft above. Like the stones in the outer chamber, the cement was +coated with scales of dried mud. The shaft was now certainly closed at +the top, for in the daytime not a ray of light penetrated into its +blackness. + +The lanterns illuminated the place completely, and the two men looked +about, searching for some new trace of a living being. The yellow light +fell only on the remains of men dead long ago. Some of the bones lay as +they had lain since then, when the drowned bodies had gently reached +the floor as the "lost water" subsided. Malipieri had not touched them, +nor Masin either. Two skeletons lay at full length, face downwards, as +a drowned body always sinks at last, when decay has done its loathsome +work. A third lay on its side, in a frightfully natural attitude, the +skull a little raised up and resting against the cemented wall, the +arms stretched out together, the hands still clutching a rusty crowbar. +This one was near the entrance, and if, in breaking their way in, +Malipieri and Masin had not necessarily destroyed the cement on each +side of the slit, they would have found the marks where the dead man's +crowbar had worked desperately for a few minutes before he had been +drowned. Malipieri had immediately reflected that the unfortunate +wretch, who was evidently the mason of whom Sassi had told him, had +certainly not entered through the aperture formerly made from above in +the outer chamber, since the narrow slit afforded no possible passage +to the well. That doubtless belonged to some other attempt to find the +treasure, and the fact that the mason's skeleton lay inside would alone +have shown that he had got in from above, most likely through a low +opening just where the dome began to curve inward. A further search had +discovered some bits of wood, almost rotted to powder, which had +apparently once been a ladder. + +A much less practised eye than the architect's would have understood at +a glance that if a living man were let down through the shaft in the +centre of the dome, and left on the floor, he could not possibly get up +even as far as the other hole, since the smooth cement offered not the +slightest hold; and that if the outflow of the stream from the first +chamber were arrested, the water would immediately fill it and rise +simultaneously in the well, to drown the victim, or to strip his bones +by its action, if he had been allowed to die of hunger or thirst. It +was clear, too, that if the latter form of death were chosen, he must +have suffered to the last minute of his life the agony of hearing the +stream flowing outside, not three paces from him, beyond the slit. +Human imagination could hardly invent a more hideously cruel +death-trap, nor one more ingeniously secret from the world without. + +The unhappy mason's ladder had perhaps broken with his weight, or his +light had gone out, and he had then been unable to find the horizontal +aperture, but he had probably entered through the latter, when he had +met his fate. The fact was, as Malipieri afterwards guessed, that the +hole through the vault outside had been made hastily after the +accident, in the hope of recovering the man's body, but that it had +been at once closed again because it appeared to open over a deep pit +full of still water. + +A stout rope ladder now dangled from the lateral aperture in the dome, +which Malipieri had immediately understood to have been made to allow +the water to overflow when the well was full. He had also felt +tolerably sure that the well itself had not been originally constructed +for the deadly use to which it had evidently been put in later times, +but for the purpose of confining the water in a reservoir that could be +easily cleaned, since it could be easily emptied, and in which the +supply could be kept at a permanent level, convenient for drawing it +from above. In the days when all the ancient aqueducts of Rome were +broken, a well of the "lost water" was a valuable possession in houses +that were turned into fortresses at a moment's notice and were +sometimes exposed to long and desperate sieges. + +In order to reach the horizontal opening, Malipieri had climbed upon +Masin's sturdy shoulders, steadying himself as well as he might till he +had laid his hands on the edge of the orifice. As he hung there, Masin +had held up the handle of a pickaxe as high as he could reach against +the smooth wall, as a crossbar on which Malipieri had succeeded in +getting a slight foothold, enough for a man who was not heavy and was +extraordinarily active. A moment later he had drawn himself up and +inward. At the imminent risk of his life, as he afterwards found, he +had crawled on in total darkness till the way widened enough for him to +turn round and get back. He had then lowered a string he had with him, +and had drawn up a lantern first, then the end of a coil of rope, then +the tools for carrying on the exploration. The rest had been easy. +Masin had climbed up by the rope, after making knots in it and when +Malipieri had called out, from the inner place to which he had retired +with the end, that it was made fast. But the light showed the architect +that in turning round, he had narrowly escaped falling into an open +shaft, of which he could not see the bottom, but which was evidently +meant for the final escape of the overflowing water. + +There was room to pass this danger, however, and they had since laid a +couple of stout boards over it, weighted with stones to keep them in +place. Beyond, the passage rose till it was high enough for a man to +walk upright. Judging from the elevation now reached this passage was +hollowed in the thickness of one of the main walls of the palace, and +it was clear that the water could not reach it. A few yards from the +chasm, it inclined quickly downwards, and at the end there were half a +dozen steps, which evidently descended to a greater depth than the +floor of the first outer chamber. + +So far as it had hitherto been possible to judge, there was no way of +getting to these last steps, except that opened by the two men, and +leading through the dry well. In former times, there might have been an +entrance through the wall at the highest level, but if it had ever +existed it had been so carefully closed that no trace of it could now +be found. + +This tedious explanation of a rather complicated construction has been +necessary to explain what afterwards happened. Reducing it to its +simplest terms, it becomes clear that if the water rose, a person in +the passage, or anywhere beyond the overflow shaft, could not possibly +get back through the well, though he would apparently be safe from +drowning if he stayed where he was; and to the best of Malipieri's +knowledge there was no other way out. Any one caught there would have +to wait till the water subsided, and if that did not happen he would +starve to death. + +The two men stood still and listened. They could still distinguish the +faint gurgling of the water, very far off, but that was all. + +"I believe you heard a rat," said Malipieri, discontentedly, after a +long pause. + +"Rats do not carry English wax matches," observed Masin. + +"They eat them when they can find them," answered Malipieri. "They +carry them off, and hide them, and drop them, too. And a big rat +running away makes a noise very like a man's footsteps." + +"That is true," assented Masin. "There were many of them in the prison, +and I sometimes thought they were the keepers when I heard them at +night." "At all events, we will go to the end," said Malipieri, +beginning to walk down the inclined way, and carrying his lantern low, +so as not to be dazzled by the light. + +Masin followed closely, grasping his drilling-iron, and still expecting +to use it. The end of the passage had once been walled up, but they had +found the fragments of brick and mortar lying much as they had fallen +when knocked away. It was impossible to tell from which side the +obstacle had been destroyed. + +Going further, they stepped upon the curve of a tunnel vault, and were +obliged to stoop low to avoid striking against another overhead. The +two vaults had been carefully constructed, one outside the other, +leaving a space of about five feet between them. The one under their +feet covered the inner chamber in which Malipieri had seen the bronze +statue. He and Masin had made a hole a little on one side of the +middle, in order not to disturb the keystones, working very carefully +lest any heavy fragments should fall through; for they had at once been +sure that if any thing was to be found, it must be concealed in that +place. Before making the opening, they had thoroughly explored the dark +curved space from end to end and from side to side, but could discover +no aperture. The inner vault had never been opened since it had been +built. + +Malipieri, reconstructing the circumstances of the accident in the last +century, came to the conclusion that the mason who had been drowned had +been already between the vaults, when some of the men behind had +discovered that the water was rising in the well, and that they had +somehow got out in time, but that their unfortunate companion had come +back too late, or had perished while trying to break his way out by the +slit, through which the water must have been rushing in. How they had +originally entered the place was a mystery. Possibly they had been +lowered from above, down the well-shaft, but it was all very hard to +explain. The only thing that seemed certain was that the treasure had +never been seen by any one since it had been closed in under the vault, +ages ago. Malipieri had not yet found time to make a careful plan of +all the places through which he had passed. There were so many turns +and changes of level, that it would be impossible to get an accurate +drawing without using a theodolite or some similar instrument of +precision. From the measurements he had taken, however, and the rough +sketches he had made, he believed that the double vault was not under +the palace itself, but under the open courtyard, at the depth of about +forty feet, and therefore below the level of the Tiber at average high +water. + +Both men now knelt by the hole, and Masin thrust his lantern down to +the full length of his arm. The light shone upon the vast hand of the +statue, and made a deep reflection in the great ruby of the ring, as if +the gem was not a stone, but a little gold cup filled with rich wine. +The hand itself, the wrist and the great muscles of the chest on which +it lay, seemed of pure gold. But Malipieri's eyes fixed themselves on +something else. There were marks on the bright surface of the metal +which had not been there when he had looked at it in the afternoon; +there were patches of dust, and there were several small scratches, +which might have been made by the nails of heavy shoes. + +"You were right after all," said Malipieri, withdrawing the lantern and +setting it down beside him. "The man is here." + +Masin's china-blue eyes brightened at the thought of a possible fight, +and his hold tightened again on his drill. + +"What shall we do with him?" he asked, looking down into the hole. + +Cunning, as the Italian peasant is by nature, Masin made a sign to his +master that the man, if he were really below, could hear all that was +said. + +"Shall I go down and kill him, sir?" Masin enquired with a quiet grin +and raising his voice a little. + +"I am not sure," Malipieri answered, at once entering into his man's +scheme. "He is caught in his own trap. It is not midnight yet, and +there is plenty of time to consider the matter. Let us sit here and +talk about it." + +He now turned himself and sat beside the hole, placing his lantern near +the edge. He took out a cigar and lit it carefully. Masin sat on the +other side, his drill in his hand. + +"If he tries to get out while we are talking," he said, "I can break +his skull with a touch of this." + +"Yes," Malipieri answered, puffing at his cigar. "There is no hurry. +Keep your iron ready." + +"Yes, sir." Masin made the heavy drill ring on the stones of the vault. + +A pause followed. + +"Have you got your pipe with you?" asked Malipieri presently. "We must +talk over this quietly." + +"Yes, sir. Will you hold the iron while I get a light? He might try to +jump out, and he may have firearms. Thank you, sir." + +Masin produced a short black pipe, filled it and lighted it. + +"I was thinking, sir," he said, as he threw away the wooden match, +"that if we kill him here we may have trouble in disposing of his body. +Thank you, sir," he added as he took over the drill again and made it +clang on the stones. + +"There will be no trouble about that," Malipieri answered, speaking +over the hole. "We can drop him down the overflow shaft in the passage." + +"Where do you think the shaft leads, sir?" asked Masin, grinning with +delight. + +"To some old drain and then to the Tiber, of course. The body will be +found in a week or two, jammed against the pier of some bridge, +probably at the island of Saint Bartholomew." + +"Yes, sir. But the drain is dry now. The body will lie at the bottom of +the shaft, where we drop it, and in a few days the cellars will be +perfumed." + +He laughed roughly at his horrible joke, which was certainly calculated +to affect the nerves of the intruder who was meant to hear it. +Malipieri began to wonder when the man would give a sign of life. + +"We can fill the well by plugging the arch in the outer chamber," he +suggested. "Then the water will pour down the shaft and wash the body +away." + +"Yes, sir," assented Masin. "That is a good idea. Shall I go down and +kill him now, sir?" + +"Not yet," Malipieri answered, knocking the ash from his cigar. "We +have not finished smoking, and there is no hurry. Besides, it occurs to +me that if we drive anything into the hole when the water runs out, we +shall not be able to get the plug away afterwards. Then we ourselves +could never get here again." + +A long silence followed. From time to time Masin made a little noise +with the drill. + +"Perhaps the fellow is asleep," he observed pleasantly at last. "So +much the better, he will wake in Paradise!" + +"It is of no use to run any risks," said Malipieri. "If we go down to +kill him he may kill one of us first, especially if he has a revolver. +There is no hurry, I tell you. Do you happen to know how long it takes +to starve a man to death?" + +"Without water, a man cannot live a week, sir. That is the best idea +you have had yet." + +"Yes. We will wall him up in the vault. That is easy enough. Those +boards that are over the shaft will do to make a little frame, and the +stones are all here, just as we got them out. We can fasten up the +frame with ends of rope." + +"We have no mortar, sir." + +"Mud will do as well for such a small job," answered Malipieri. "We can +easily make enough. Give me your iron, in case he tries to get out, and +go and get the boards and the rope." + +Masin began to rise. + +"In a week we can come and take him out," he remarked in a +matter-of-fact way. "By that time he will be dead, and we can have his +grave ready." + +He laughed again, as he thought of the sensations his cheerful talk +must produce in the mind of the man below. + +"Yes," said Malipieri. "We may as well do it at once and go to bed. It +is of no use to sit up all night talking about the fellow's body. Go +and get the rope and the boards." + +Masin was now on his feet and his heavy shoes made a grinding noise on +the stones. At that moment a sound was heard from below, and Malipieri +held up a finger and listened. Somebody was moving in the vault. + +"You had better stay where you are," said Malipieri, speaking down. "If +you show yourself I will drop a stone on your head." + +A hollow voice answered him from the depths. + +"Are you Christians," it asked, "to wall a man up alive?" + +"That is what we are going to do," Malipieri answered coolly. "Have you +anything to say? It will not take us long to do the job, so you had +better speak at once. How did you get in?" + +"If I am to die without getting out, why should I tell you?" enquired +the voice. + +Malipieri looked at Masin. + +"There is a certain sense in what the man says, sir," Masin said +thoughtfully. + +"My good man," said Malipieri, speaking down, "we do not want anybody +to know the way to this place for a few days, and as you evidently know +it better than we do, we intend to keep you quiet." + +"If you will let me out, I can serve you," answered the man below. +"There is nobody in Rome who can serve you as I can." + +"Who are you?" asked Malipieri. + +"Are you going to let me out, Signor Malipieri?" enquired the man. "If +you are, I will tell you." + +"Oh, you know my name, do you?" + +"Perfectly. You are the engineer engaged by the Senator Volterra to +find the treasure." + +"Yes. Quite right. What of that?" + +"You have found it," answered the other. "Of what use will it be to +kill me? I cannot take that statue away in my waistcoat pocket, if you +let me out, can I?" + +"You had better not make too many jokes, my man, or we will put the +boards over this hole in five minutes. If you can really be of use to +me, I will let you out. What is your name?" + +"Toto," answered the voice sullenly. + +"Yes. That means Theodore, I suppose. Now make haste, for I am tired of +waiting. What are you, and how did you get in?" + +"I was the mason of the palace, until the devil flew away with the +people who lived in it. I know all the secrets of the house. I can be +very useful to you." + +"That changes matters, my friend. I have no doubt you can be useful if +you like, though we have managed to find one of the secrets without +you. It happens to be the only one we wanted to know." + +"No," answered Toto. "There are two others. You do not know how I got +in, and you do not know how to manage the 'lost water.'" + +"That is true," said Malipieri. "But if I let you out you may do me +harm, by talking before it is time. The government is not to know of +this discovery until I am ready." + +"The government!" exclaimed Toto contemptuously, from his hiding-place. +"May an apoplexy seize it! Do you take me for a spy? I am a Christian." + +"I begin to think he is, sir," put in Masin, knocking the ash from his +pipe. + +"I think so, too," said Malipieri. "Throw away that iron, Masin. He +shall show himself, at all events, and if we like his face we can talk +to him here." + +Masin dropped the drill with a clang. Toto's hairy hand appeared, +grasping the golden wrist of the statue, as he raised himself to +approach the hole. + +"He is a mason, as he says," said Masin, catching sight of the rough +fingers. + +"Did you take me for a coachman?" enquired Toto, thrusting his shaggy +head forward cautiously, and looking up through the aperture. + +"Before you come up here," Malipieri answered, "tell me how you got in." + +"You seem to know so much about the overflow shaft that I should think +you might have guessed. If you do not believe that I came that way, +look at my clothes!" + +He now crawled upon the body of the statue, and Malipieri saw that he +was covered with half-dried mud and ooze. + +"You got through some old drain, I suppose, and found your way up." + +"It seems so," answered Toto, shaking his shoulders, as if he were +stiff. + +"Are you going to let him go free, sir?" asked Masin, standing ready. +"If you do, he will be down the shaft, before you can catch him. These +men know their way underground like moles." + +"Moles, yourselves!" answered Toto in a growl, putting his head up +above the level of the vault. + +Masin measured him with his eye, and saw that he was a strong man, +probably much more active than he looked in his heavy, mud-plastered +clothes. + +"Get up here," said Malipieri. + +Toto obeyed, and in a moment he sat on the edge of the hole, his legs +dangling down into it. + +"Not so bad," he said, settling himself with a grunt of satisfaction. + +"I like you, Master Toto," said Malipieri. "You might have thought that +we really meant to kill you, but you did not seem much frightened." + +"There is no woman in the affair," answered Toto. "Why should you kill +me? And I can help you." + +"How am I to know that you will?" asked Malipieri. + +"I am a man of honour," Toto replied, turning his stony face to the +light of the lanterns. + +"I have not a doubt of it, my friend," returned Malipieri, without +conviction. "Just now, the only help I need of you, is that you should +hold your tongue. How can I be sure that you will do that? Does any one +else know the way in through the drain?" + +"No. I only found it to-night. If there is a day's rain in the +mountains, and the Tiber rises even a little, nobody can pass through +it. The lower part is barely above the level of the river now." + +"How did you guess that you could get here by that way?" + +"We know many secrets in our trade, from father to son," answered Toto +gruffly. + +"You must have lifted the boards, with the stones on them, to get out +of the shaft. Why did you put them back in their place?" + +"You seem to think I am a fool! I did not mean to let you know that I +had been here, so I put them back, of course. I supposed that I could +get out through the cellars, but you have put a padlock on the inner +door." + +"Is there any way of turning water into that shaft?" + +"Only by filling the well, I think. If the Tiber rises, the water will +back up the shaft through the drain. That is why the ancients who built +the well made another way for the water to run off. When the river is +swollen in a flood it must be much higher in the shaft than the bottom +of the well, and if the 'lost water' were running in all the time, the +air would probably make it back, so that the shaft would be useless and +the well would be soiled with the river water." + +"You evidently know your trade, Master Toto," said Masin, with some +admiration for his fellow-craftsman's clear understanding. + +"You know yours," retorted Toto, who was seldom at a loss, "for just +now you talked of killing like a professional assassin." + +This pleasing banter delighted Masin, who laughed heartily, and patted +Toto on the back. + +"We shall be good friends," he said. + +"In this world one never knows," Toto answered philosophically. "What +are you going to do?" + +"You must come back with as to my apartment," said Malipieri, who had +been considering the matter, "You must stay there a couple of days, +without going out. I will pay you for your time, and give you a +handsome present, and plenty to eat and drink. After that you will be +free to go where you please and say what you like, for the secret will +be out." + +"Thank you," answered Toto without enthusiasm. "Are you going to tell +the government about the treasure?" + +"The Senator will certainly inform the government, which has a right to +buy it." + +To this Toto said nothing, but he lifted his legs out of the hole and +stood up, ready to go. Malipieri and Masin took up their lanterns. + + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + + + +Masin led the way back, Toto followed and Malipieri went last, so that +the mason was between his two captors. They did not quite trust him, +and Masin was careful not to walk too fast where the way was so +familiar to him, while Malipieri was equally careful not to lag behind. +In this order they reached the mouth of the overflow shaft, covered +with the loaded boards. Masin bent down and examined them, for he +wished to convince himself that the stones had been moved since he had +himself placed them there. A glance showed that this was the case, and +he was about to go on, when he bent down again suddenly and listened, +holding up his hand. + +"There is water," he said, and began to lift off the stones, one by one. + +Toto helped him quickly. There were only three or four, and they were +not heavy. When the mouth of the shaft was uncovered all three knelt +down and listened, instinctively lowering their lanterns into the +blackness below. The shaft was not wider than a good-sized +old-fashioned chimney, like those in Roman palaces, up and down which +sweeps can just manage to climb. + +The three men listened, and distinctly heard the steady falling of a +small stream of water upon the stones at the bottom. + +"It is raining," Toto said confidently, but he was evidently as much +surprised by the sound as the others. "There must be some communication +with the gutters in the courtyard," he added. + +"There is probably a thunderstorm," answered Malipieri. "We can hear +nothing down here." + +"If I had gone down again, I should have been drowned," Toto said, +shaking his head. "Do you hear? Half the water from the courtyard must +be running down there!" + + +The sound of the falling stream increased to a hollow roar. + +"Do you think the water can rise in the shaft?" asked Malipieri. + +"Not unless the river rises and backs into it," replied Toto. "The +drain is large below." + +"That cannot be 'lost water,' can it?" + +"No. That is impossible." + +"Put the boards in their place again," Malipieri said. "It is growing +late." + +It was done in a few moments, but now the dismal roar of the water came +up very distinctly through the covering. Malipieri had been in many +excavations, and in mines, too, but did not remember that he had ever +felt so strongly the vague sense of apprehension that filled him now. +There is something especially gloomy and mysterious about the noise of +unexplained water heard at a great depth under the earth and coming out +of darkness. Even the rough men with him felt that. + +"It is bad to hear," observed Masin, putting one more stone upon the +boards, as if the weight could keep the sound down. + +"You may say that!" answered Toto. "And in this tomb, too!" + +They went on, in the same order as before. The passage to the dry well +had been so much enlarged that by bending down they could walk to the +top of the rope ladder. Malipieri went down first, with his lantern. +Toto followed, and while Masin was descending, stood looking at the +bones of the dead mason, and at the skull that grinned horribly in the +uncertain yellow glare. + +He took a half-burnt candle from his pocket, and some sulphur matches, +and made a light for himself, with which he carefully examined the +bones. Malipieri watched him. + +"The man who was drowned over sixty years ago," said the architect. + +"This," answered Toto, with more feeling than accuracy, "is the blessed +soul of my grandfather." + +"He shall have Christian burial in a few days," Malipieri said gravely. + +Toto shrugged his shoulders, not irreverently, but as if to say that +when a dead man has been without Christian burial sixty years, it +cannot make any difference whether he gets it after all or not. "The +crowbar is still good," Toto said, stooping down to disengage it from +the skeleton's grasp. But Malipieri laid a hand on his shoulder, for it +occurred to him that the mason, armed with an iron bar, might be a +dangerous adversary if he tried to escape. + +"You do not need that just now," said the architect. + +Toto glanced at Malipieri furtively and saw that he was understood. He +stood upright, affecting indifference. They went on, through the breach +to which the slit had been widened. Toto moved slowly, and held his +candle down to the running water in the channel. + +"There is plenty of it," he observed. + +"Where does it come from?" asked Malipieri, suddenly, in the hope of an +unguarded answer. + +"From heaven," answered Toto without hesitation; "and everything that +falls from heaven is good," he added, quoting an ancient proverb. + +"What would happen if we closed the entrance, so that it could not get +in at all?" + +"The book of wisdom," Toto replied, "is buried under Pasquino. How +should I know what would happen?" + +"You know a good many things, my friend." + +Malipieri understood that the man would not say more, and led the way +out. + +"Good-bye, grandpapa," growled Toto, waving his hairy hand towards the +well. "Who knows whether we shall meet again?" + +They went on, and in due time emerged into the upper air. It was +raining heavily, as Toto had guessed, and before they had reached the +other end of the courtyard they were drenched. But it was a relief to +be out of doors, and Malipieri breathed the fresh air with keen +delight, as a thirsty man drinks. The rain poured down steadily and ran +in rivers along the paved gutters, and roared into the openings that +carried it off. Malipieri could not help thinking how it must be +roaring now, far down at the bottom of the old shaft, led thither +through deep-buried and long-forgotten channels. + +Upstairs, Masin was inclined to be friendly with his fellow-craftsman, +and gave him dry clothes to sleep in, and bread and cheese and wine in +his own room. In spite of his experiences, Masin had never known how to +be suspicious. But as Malipieri looked once more at the man's stony +face and indistinguishable eyes, he thought differently of his +prisoner. He locked the outer door and took the key of the patent lock +with him when he went to bed at last. + +It does not often rain heavily in Rome, late in the spring, for any +long time, but when Malipieri looked out the next morning, it was still +pouring steadily, and the sky over the courtyard was uniformly grey. It +is apparently a law of nature that exceptions should come when least +wanted. + +In spite of the weather Malipieri went out, however, and did not even +send for a cab. The porter was in a particularly bad humour and eyed +him distrustfully, for he had been put to the trouble of cleaning the +stairs where the three men had left plentiful mud in their track during +the night. Malipieri nodded to the old man as usual, and was about to +go out, but turned back and gave him five francs. Thus mollified the +porter at once made a remark about the atrocious weather and proceeded +to ask how the work was progressing. + +"I have explored a good deal," answered Malipieri. "The Senator is +coming to-morrow, and you had better sweep carefully. He looks at +everything, you know." + +He went out into the pouring rain, keeping a sharp lookout from under +the edge of the umbrella he held low over his head. He had grown +cautious of late. As he expected, he came upon one of the respectable +men he now met so often, before he had turned into the Piazza Agonale. +The respectable man was also carrying his umbrella low, and looking +about him as he walked along at a leisurely pace. Malipieri hailed a +cab. + +Even in wet weather there are no closed cabs in that part of Rome. One +is protected from the wet, more or less, by the hood and by a high +leathern apron which is hooked to it inside. The cabman, seated under a +huge standing umbrella, bends over and unhooks it on one side for you +to get in and out. + + +Malipieri employed the usual means of eluding pursuit. He gave an +address and told the man to drive fast, got out quickly on reaching the +house, enquired for an imaginary person with a foreign name, who, he +was of course told, did not live there, got in again and had himself +driven to Sassi's door, sure of losing his pursuer, if the detective +followed him in another cab. Then he paid the man two fares, to save +time, and went in. He had never taken the trouble to do such a thing +since his political adventures, but he was now very anxious not to let +it be known that he had any dealings with the former agent of the Conti +family. + +The matter was settled easily enough and to his satisfaction. Old Sassi +worshipped Sabina, and was already fully persuaded that whatever could +be found under the palace should belong to her, as also that she had a +right to see what was discovered before Volterra did, and before +anything was moved. He was at least as quixotic in his crabbed fashion +as Malipieri himself; and besides, he really could not see that there +was the least harm or danger in the scheme. It certainly would have +been improper for Malipieri to go and fetch the young lady himself, but +it was absurd to suppose that a man over sixty could be blamed for +accompanying a girl of eighteen on a visit to her old home, in her own +interest, especially when the man had been all his life employed by her +family in a position of trust and confidence. Finally, Sassi hated +Volterra with all his heart, as the faithful adherents of ruined +gentlefolks often hate those who have profited by their ruin. + +Sassi, as an old Roman, predicted that the weather would improve in the +afternoon. Malipieri advised him nevertheless to keep the hood of his +cab raised when he brought Sabina to the palace. To this Sassi answered +that he should of course get a closed carriage from a livery stable, +and an argument followed which took some time. In the opinion of the +excellent old agent, it would be almost an affront to fetch the very +noble Donna Sabina in a vehicle so plebeian as a cab, and it was with +the greatest difficulty that Malipieri made him understand that a cab +was much safer on such an occasion. + +What was important was that the weather should be fine, for otherwise +the Baroness might not go out, and the whole scheme would fail. In that +case, it must be arranged for the following day, and Malipieri would +find an excuse for putting off Volterra's visit. + +He left the house on foot. So far, he had not allowed himself to think +too much of the future, and had found little time for such reflection. +He was a man who put all his energy into what he was doing, and was +inclined to let consequences take care of themselves rather than waste +thought in providing for them. He believed he was doing what was just +and honourable, and if there was a spice of adventure and romance in +it, that only made it the more easy to do. The only danger he could +think of was that Sabina might slip in one of the difficult passages +and hurt her foot a little, or might catch cold in the damp vaults. +Nothing else could happen. + +He congratulated himself on having got Toto in his power, since Toto +was the only man who understood the ways of the "lost water." If he had +before suspected that there was any one at large in Rome who knew as +much he would have hesitated. But he had made the discovery of the man +and had taken him prisoner at the same moment, and all danger in that +quarter seemed to be removed. + +As for the material difficulty, he and Masin could smooth the way very +much in two or three hours, and could substitute a solid wooden ladder +for the one of rope in the well. Sabina was young, slight, and probably +active, and with a little help she would have no difficulty in reaching +the inner chamber. It might be well to cover the skeletons. Young girls +were supposed to be sensitive about such things, and Malipieri had no +experience of their ways. Nevertheless he had an inward conviction that +Sabina would not go into hysterics at the sight. + +Old Sassi might not be able to get up the ladder, but once beyond the +reach of social observation, he would trust Sabina to Malipieri and +Masin for a quarter of an hour, and he could wait in the outer cellar. +Malipieri had prepared him for this, and he had made no objection, only +saying that he should like to see the treasure himself if it could +possibly be managed. In his heart, Malipieri hoped that it would prove +too much for the old man and that he might have the pleasure of showing +Sabina what he had found without having the old agent at his elbow. +Toto would be locked in, upstairs, for the day. He could not get out by +the door, and he would not risk breaking his legs by jumping from the +window. The intermediate story of the Palazzo Conti was far too high +for that. + +Malipieri calculated that if Sassi were punctual, Sabina would be at +the door of the palace at a quarter-past five. At five minutes past, he +came down, and sent the porter on an errand which would occupy at least +half an hour even if executed with despatch. Masin would keep the door, +he said. The old man was delighted to have an excuse for going out, and +promised himself to spend a comfortable hour in a wine shop if he could +find a friend. His wife, as there was so little to do, had found some +employment in a laundry, to which she went in the morning and which +kept her out all day. No one would see Sabina and Sassi enter, and if +it seemed advisable they could be got out in the same way. No one but +Masin and Malipieri himself need ever know that they had been in the +palace that afternoon. + +It was all very well prepared, by a man well accustomed to emergencies, +and it was not easy to see how anything could go wrong. Even allowing +more time than was necessary, Sabina's visit to the vaults could not +possibly occupy much more than an hour. + + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + + + +Malipieri was beginning to realize that his work in the vaults had been +watched with much more interest than he had supposed possible, and that +in some way or other news of his progress had reached various quarters. +In the first place, his reputation was much wider than he knew, and +many scholars and archaeologists throughout Europe had been profoundly +impressed both by what he had discovered and by the learning he had +shown in discussing his discoveries. It followed that many were curious +to see what he would do next, and there were paragraphs about him in +grave reviews, and flattering references to him in speeches made at +learned conventions. He had friends whose names he had never heard, and +enemies, too, ready to attack him on the one side and to defend him on +the other. Some praised his modesty, and others called it affectation. +His experience of the wider world was short, so far, and he did not +understand that it had taken people a year to appreciate his success. +He had hoped for immediate recognition of his great services to +archaeology, and had been somewhat disappointed because that +recognition had not been instantaneous. Like most men of superior +talent, in the same situation, when praise came in due time and +abundantly, he did not care for it because he was already interested in +new work. To the man of genius the past is always insignificant as +compared with the future. When Goethe, dying, asked for "more light," +he may or may not have merely meant that he wished the window opened +because the room seemed dark to his failing eyes; the higher +interpretation which has been put upon his last words remains the true +one, in the spirit, if not in the letter. He died, as he had lived, the +man of genius looking forward, not backward, to the last, crying for +light, more light, thinking not of dying and ending, but of living, +hoping, doing, winning. + +Besides the general body of students and archaeologists, the Italian +government was exceedingly interested in Malipieri's explorations. The +government is rightly jealous in such matters, and does its very best +to keep all artistic objects of real value in the country. It is right +that this should be so. The law relating to the matter was framed by +Cardinal Pacca, under the papal administration many years ago, and the +modern rulers have had the intelligence to maintain it and enforce it. +Like other laws it is frequently broken. In this it resembles the Ten +Commandments and most other rules framed by divine or human +intelligence for the good of mankind and the advancement of +civilization. The most sanguine lovers of their fellow-men have always +admitted the existence of a certain number of flagitious persons who +obstinately object to being good. David, who was hasty, included a +large proportion of humanity amongst "the wicked"; Monsieur Drumont +limited the number to David's descendants; and Professor Lombroso, +whatever he may really mean, conveys the impression that men of genius, +criminals and lunatics are different manifestations of the same thing; +as diamonds, charcoal and ham fat are all carbon and nothing else. We +should be thankful for the small favours of providence in excepting us +from the gifted minority of madmen, murderers and poets and making us +just plain human beings, like other people. + +There is no international law forbidding a man from making digressions +when he is telling a story. + +Malipieri was watched by the government, as Volterra had told him, +because it was feared in high quarters that if he found anything of +value under the palace, he would try to get it out of the country. He +had always hated the government and had got himself into trouble by +attacking the monarchy. Besides, it was known in high quarters that +Senator Baron Volterra held singular views about the authenticity of +works of art. It would be inconvenient to have a scandal in the Senate +about the Velasquez and the other pictures; on the other hand, if +anything more of the same sort should happen, it would be very +convenient indeed to catch a pair of culprits in the shape of +Malipieri, a pardoned political offender, and his ex-convict servant. + +Then, too, in quite another direction, the Vatican was very anxious to +buy any really good work of art which might be discovered, and would +pay quite as much for it as the government itself. Therefore the +Vatican was profoundly interested in Malipieri on its own account. + +As if this were not enough, Sabina's brother, the ruined Prince Conti, +had got wind of the excavations and scented some possible advantage to +himself, with the vague chance of more money to throw away on +automobiles, at Monte Carlo, and in the company of a cosmopolitan young +person of semi-Oriental extraction whose varied accomplishments had +made her the talk of Europe. + +Lastly, the Russian embassy was on the alert, for the dowager Princess +had heard from her maid, who had heard it from her sister in Rome, who +had learned it from the washerwoman, who had been told the secret by +the porter's wife, that the celebrated Malipieri was exploring the +north-west foundations of the palace. The Princess had repeated the +story, and the legend which accounted for it, to her brother Prince +Rubomirsky, who was a very great personage in his own country. And the +Prince, though good-natured, foresaw that he might in time grow tired +of giving his sister unlimited money; and it occurred to him that +something might turn up under the palace, after all, to which she might +have some claim. So he had used his influence in Saint Petersburg with +the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the latter had instructed the +Russian Ambassador in Rome to find out what he could about the +excavations, without attracting attention; and Russian diplomatists +have ways of finding out things without attracting attention, which are +extremely great and wonderful. Also, if Russia puts her paw upon +anything and declares that it is the property of a Russian subject, it +often happens that smaller people take their paws away hastily. + +It follows that there must have been a good deal of quiet talk, in +Rome, not overheard in society, about what Malipieri was doing in the +Palazzo Conti, and as the people who occupied themselves with his +affairs were particularly anxious that he should not know what they +said, he was in ignorance of it. But Volterra was not. He had valuable +friends, because his influence was of value, and he was informed of +much that was going on. If he was anxious to get rid of the architect, +it was not so much because he wanted for himself the whole price which +the statue or statues might bring, as because he feared lest the +government should suddenly descend upon Malipieri and make an enquiry +which would involve also the question of the pictures. So far, Volterra +had created the impression that the young man had been concerned with a +dealer in smuggling them out of the country; but in case of an +investigation it could easily be proved that they were gone before +Malipieri had arrived in Rome in answer to Volterra's invitation. +Besides, the Senator had discovered that the young archaeologist was +much more celebrated than was convenient. In private affairs there is +nothing so tiresome and inconvenient as the presence of a celebrity. +Burglars, when exercising their professional functions, are not +accompanied by a brass band. + +Toto was very docile and quiet all that day. Masin thought him +philosophical, and continued to like him, after his fashion, providing +him with a plentiful supply of tobacco, a good meal at noon, and a +bottle of wine. The man's stony face was almost placid. At rare +intervals he made a remark. After eating he looked out of the window +and said rather regretfully that he thought the rain was over for the +day. + +Masin took this to mean that he wished he might go out, and offered him +more wine by way of consolation. But Toto refused. He was a moderate +man. Then he asked Masin how many rooms Malipieri occupied, and learned +that the whole of the little apartment was rented by the architect. The +information did not seem to interest him much. + +In the morning, when Malipieri had come back from his visit to Sassi, +he had given Masin the keys of the vaults, and had told him to buy a +stout ladder and take it into the dry well. But Toto said that this was +a useless expense. + +"There is a strong ladder about the right length, lying along the wall +at the other end of the west cellar," he said. "You had better take +that." + +Malipieri looked at him and smiled. + +"For a prisoner, you are very obliging," he said, and he gave him a +five-franc note, which Toto took with a grunt of thanks. + +Masin was gone an hour, during which time Malipieri busied himself in +the next room, leaving the door open. He went out when Masin came back. +When the two men were together Toto produced the five francs. + +"Can you change?" he enquired. + +"Why?" asked Masin with some surprise. + +"Half is two francs fifty," answered Toto. "That is your share." + +Masin laughed and shook his head. + +"No," he said. "What is given to you is not given to me. Why should I +share with you?" + +"It is our custom," Toto replied. "Take your half." + +Masin refused stoutly, but Toto insisted and grew angry at last. So +Masin changed the note and kept two francs and fifty centimes for +himself, reflecting that he could give the money back to Malipieri, +since he had no sort of right to it. Toto was at once pacified. + +When Malipieri returned, Masin went out and got dinner for all three, +bringing it as usual in the three tin cases strapped one above the +other. + +Toto supposed that he was not to be left alone in the apartment that +day; but at half-past four Malipieri entered the room, with a padlock +and a couple of screw-eyes in his hand. + +"You would not think it worth while to risk jumping out," he said in a +good-humoured tone. "But you might take it into your head to open the +window, and the porter might be there, and you might talk to him. Masin +and I shall be out together for a little while." + +Masin shut the tall window, screwed the stout little eye-bolts into the +frame and ran the bolt of the padlock through both. He gave the key to +Malipieri. Toto watched the operation indifferently. + +"If you please," he said, "I am accustomed to have a little wine about +half-past five every day. I will pay for it." + +He held out half a franc to Masin and nodded. + +"Nonsense!" interposed Malipieri, laughing. "You are my guest, Master +Toto." Masin brought a bottle and a glass, and a couple of cigars. + +"Thank you, sir," said Toto politely. "I shall be very comfortable till +you come back." + +"You will find the time quite as profitable as if you were working," +said Malipieri. + +He nodded and went out followed by Masin, and Toto heard the key turned +twice in the solid old lock. The door was strong, and they would +probably lock the front door of the apartment too. Toto listened +quietly till he heard it shut after them in the distance. Then he rose +and flattened his face against the window pane. + +He waited some time. He could see one half of the great arched +entrance, but the projecting stone jamb of the window hindered him from +seeing more. It was very quiet, and he could hear footsteps below, on +the gravel of the courtyard, if any one passed. + +At the end of ten minutes he heard a man's heavy tread, and knew that +it was Masin's. Masin must have come out of the great archway on the +side of it which Toto could not see. The steps went on steadily along +the gravel. Masin was going to the vaults. + +Toto waited ten minutes, and began to think that no one else was +coming, and that Malipieri had left the palace, though he had been +convinced that the architect and his man meant to go down to the vaults +together. Just as he was beginning to give up the idea, he saw Sassi +under the archway, in a tall hat, a black coat and gloves, and +Malipieri was just visible for a moment as he came out too. He was +unmistakably speaking to some one on his right, who was hidden from +Toto's view by the projecting stonework. His manner was also distinctly +deferential. The third person was probably Baron Volterra. + +The footsteps took a longer time to reach the other end of the court +than Masin had occupied. After all was silent, Toto listened +breathlessly for five minutes more. There was not a sound. + +He looked about him, then took up a chair, thrust one of the legs +between the bolt and the body of the padlock and quietly applied his +strength. The wood of the frames was old, and the heavy strain drew the +screw-eyes straight out. + +Toto opened the window noiselessly and looked out with caution. No one +was in sight. By this time the three were in the vaults, with Masin. + +Toto knew every inch of the palace by heart, inside and out, and he +knew that one of the cast-iron leaders that carried the rain from the +roof to the ground was within reach of that particular window, on the +left side. He looked out once more, up and down the courtyard, and +then, in an instant, he was kneeling on the stone sill, he had grasped +the iron leader with one hand, then with the other, swinging himself to +it and clutching it below with his rough boots. A few moments later he +was on the ground, running for the great entrance. No one was there, no +one saw him. + +He let himself out quietly, shut the postern door after him, and +slouched away towards the Vicolo dei Soldati. + + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + + + +Sabina had the delightful sensation of doing something she ought not to +do, but which was perfectly innocent; she had moreover the rarer +pleasure, quite new to her, of committing the little social misdeed in +the company of the first man she had ever liked in her life. She knew +very well that old Sassi would not be able to reach the inner chamber +of the excavation, and she inwardly hoped that Malipieri's servant +would discreetly wait outside of it, so that she might be alone with +Malipieri when she first set eyes on the wonderful statue. It was +amusing to think how the nuns would have scolded her for the mere wish, +and how her pious sister would have condemned her to eternal flames for +entertaining the temptation. + +Malipieri had told her to put on an old frock, as she might spoil her +clothes in spite of the efforts he had made to enlarge and smooth the +way for her to pass. Her mother had a way of calling everything old +which she had possessed three months, and for once Sabina was of her +mother's opinion. She had a very smart cloth costume, with a rather +short skirt, which had come home in February, and which she had worn +only four times because the spring had been warm. It was undoubtedly +"old" for she could not wear it in summer, and next winter the fashion +would change; and it had rained all the morning, so that the air was +damp and cold. Besides, the costume fitted her slender figure to +perfection--it was such a pity that it was old already, for she might +never have another as smart. The least she could do was to try and wear +it out when she had the chance. It was of a delicate fawn colour; it +had no pocket and it was fastened in a mysterious way. The skirt was +particularly successful, and, as has been said, it was short, which was +a great advantage in scrambling about a damp cellar. In order to show +that she was in earnest, she put on russet leather shoes. Her hat was +large, because that was the fashion, but nothing could have been +simpler; it matched the frock in colour, and no colour was so becoming +to her clear girlish pallor and misty hair as light fawn. + +Malipieri had carried out his intention of getting rid of the porter, +and was waiting inside the open postern when the cab drove up. Hitherto +he had only seen Sabina indoors, at luncheon and in the evening, and +when he saw her now he received an altogether new impression. Somehow, +in her walking dress, she seemed more womanly, more "grown up" as she +herself would have called it. As she got out of the wretched little +cab, and came forward to greet him, her grace stirred his blood. It was +final; he was in love. + +Her intuition told her the truth, of course. There was something in his +look and voice which had not quite been in either on the previous +evening. He had been glad, last night, because she had come to the +drawing-room, as he had hoped that she would; but to-day he was more +than glad, he was happy, merely because he saw her. There never was a +woman yet that could not tell that difference at a glance. + +She was proud of being loved by him, and as he walked by her side, she +looked up at the blue sky above the courtyard, and was glad that the +clouds had passed away, for it must be sweeter to be loved when there +was sunshine overhead than when it rained; but all the time, she saw +his face, without looking at it, and it was after her own heart, and +much to her liking. Besides, he was not only a manly man, and strong, +and, of course, brave; he was already famous, and might be great some +day; and she knew that he loved her, which was much to his advantage. +As for being madly, wildly, desperately in love with him herself, she +was not that yet; it was simply a very delicious sensation of being +adored by somebody very sympathetic. Some women never get nearer to +love than that, in all their lives, and are quite satisfied, and as +they grow older they realize how much more convenient it is to be +adored than to adore, and are careful to keep their likings within very +manageable limits, while encouraging the men who love them to behave +like lunatics. + +Sabina was not of that kind; she was only very young, which, as Pitt +pointed out, is a disadvantage but not a real crime. + +They walked side by side, almost touching as they moved; they were +drawn one to another, as all nature draws together those pairs of +helpless atoms that are destined to one end. + +Old Sassi went gravely with them. To him, it was a sad thing to see +Sabina come to the palace in a way almost clandestine, as if she had no +right there, and he shook his head again and again, silently grieving +over the departed glory of the Conti, and wishing that he could express +his sympathy to the young girl in dignified yet tender language. But +Sabina was not in need of sympathy just then. Life in the Volterra +establishment had been distinctly more bearable since Malipieri's +appearance on the scene, and her old existence in the palace had been +almost as really gloomy as it now seemed to her to have been. Moreover, +she was intensely interested in what Malipieri was going to shew her. + +Masin was waiting at the head of the winding stair with lanterns +already lighted. When they had all entered, he turned the key. Sassi +asked why he did this, and as they began to go down Malipieri explained +that it was a measure of safety against the old porter's curiosity. + +Sabina stepped carefully on the damp steps, while Malipieri held his +lantern very low so that she could see them. + +"I am sure-footed," she said, with a little laugh. + +"This is the easiest part," he answered. "There are places where you +will have to be careful." + +"Then you will help me." + +She thought it would, be pleasant to rest her hand on his arm, where +the way was not easy, and she knew instinctively that he hoped she +would do so. They reached the floor of the cellar, and Masin walked in +front, lighting the way. Sassi looked about him; he had been in the +cellars two or three times before. + +"They did not get in by this way when the first attempt was made," he +said. + +"No," answered Malipieri. "I cannot find out how they made an entrance." + +"There used to be a story of an oubliette that was supposed to be +somewhere in the house," said Sabina. + +"I have found it. You will see it in a moment, for we have to pass +through the bottom of it." + +"How amusing! I never saw one." + +They came to the first breach in the cellar wall. A small lamp had been +placed on a stone in a position to illuminate the entrance, and was +burning brightly. Masin had lighted two others, further on, and had +covered the bones in the dry well with pieces of sacking. Malipieri +went up the causeway first. At first he held out his hand to Sabina, +but she shook her head and smiled. There would be no satisfaction in +being helped over an easy place; she should like him to help her where +it would need some strength and skill to do so. She drew her skirt +round her and walked up unaided, and followed by Sassi, leaning on his +stick with one hand and on Masin with the other. + +The descent into the first chamber was less easy. Standing at the top, +Sabina looked down at Malipieri, who held his lantern to her feet. She +felt a delicious little uneasiness now, and listened to the ghostly +gurgle from the channel in the dark. + +"What is that?" she asked, and her voice was a little awed by the +darkness and strangeness of the place. + +"The 'lost water.' It runs through here." + +She listened a moment longer, and began to descend, placing her feet on +the stones upon which Malipieri laid his hand, one after another, to +show her the way. + +"Perhaps you might help me a little here," she said. + +"If you will let me put your feet on the right step, it will be +easier," he answered. + +"Yes. Do that, please. Show me the place first." + +"There. Do you see? Now!" + +He laid his hand firmly upon her small russet shoe, guided the little +foot to a safe position and steadied it there a moment. + +"So," he said. "Now the next. There are only four or five more." + +She was rather sorry that there were so few, for they seemed +delightfully safe, or just dangerous enough to be amusing; she was not +quite sure which. Women never analyze the present, unless it is utterly +dull. + +At the bottom of the descent, both looked up, and saw at a glance that +poor old Sassi could never get down, even with assistance. He seemed +unable to put his foot down without slipping, in spite of Masin's help. + +"I think you had better not try it," said Malipieri quietly. "In a few +days I am sure that the Senator will have a way broken through from +above, and then it will be easy enough." + +"Yes," answered the old man regretfully. "I will go back again to the +other side and wait for you." + +"I am so sorry," said Sabina untruthfully, but looking up with sympathy. + +"Take Signor Sassi back to the cellar," said Malipieri to Masin. "Then +you can follow us." + +Sassi and Masin disappeared through the breach. Malipieri led the way +into the dry well, where there was another light. In her haste to reach +the end, Sabina did not even glance at the sacking that covered the +skeletons. + +"Can you climb a ladder?" asked Malipieri. + +"Of course!" Such a question was almost a slight. + +Malipieri went up nimbly with his lantern, and knelt on the masonry to +hold the top of the ladder. Sabina mounted almost as quickly as he had +done, till she reached the last few steps and could no longer hold by +the uprights. Then she put out her hands; he grasped then both and slid +backwards on his knees as she landed safely on the edge. She had not +felt that she could possibly fall, even if her feet slipped, and she +now knew that he was strong, and that it was good to lean on him. + +"You will have to stoop very low for a few steps," he said, taking up +his lantern, and he kept his hold on one of her hands as he led her on. +"It is not far, now," he added encouragingly, "and the rest is easy." + +He guided her past the boards and stones that covered the overflow +shaft, and down the inclined passage and the steps to the space between +the vaults. A third lamp was burning here, close to the hole beneath +which the statue lay. Malipieri lowered his lantern for her to see it. + +She uttered an exclamation of surprise and delight. The pure gold that +covered the bronze was as bright as if it had not lain in the vault for +many centuries, twelve, fourteen, fifteen, no one could tell yet. The +light fell into the huge ruby as into a tiny cup of wine. + +"Can one get down?" asked Sabina breathlessly, after a moment's silence. + +"Certainly. I have not gone down myself yet, but it is easy. I wanted +you to be the first to see it all. You will have to sit on the edge and +step upon the wrist of the statue." + +Sabina gathered her skirt neatly round her, and with a little help she +seated herself as he directed. + +"Are you sure it will not hurt it, to step on it?" she asked, looking +up. + +"Quite sure." Malipieri smiled, as he thought of Toto's hobnailed +shoes. "When you are standing firmly, I will get down too, if there is +room." + +"It is not a very big hole," observed Sabina, letting herself down till +her feet rested on the smooth surface. She did not quite wish to be as +near him as that; at least, not yet. + +"I will creep down over the arm," she said, "and then you can follow +me. I hope there are no beasts," she added. "I hate spiders." + +Malipieri lowered his lantern beside her, and she crept along towards +the statue's head. In a few moments he was beside her, bringing both +the lantern and the lamp with him. They had both forgotten Masin's +existence, as he had not yet appeared. Sabina looked about for spiders, +but there were none in sight. The vault was perfectly dry, and there +was hardly any dust clinging to the rough mortar that covered the +stones. It was clear that the framework must have been carefully +removed, and the place thoroughly cleaned, before the statue had been +drawn into the vault from one end. + +"He is perfectly hideous," said Sabina, as they reached the huge face. +"But it is magnificent," she added, passing her gloved hand over the +great golden features. "I wonder who it is meant for." + +"A Roman emperor as Hercules, I think," Malipieri answered. "It may be +Commodus. We are so near that it is hard to know how the head would +look if the statue were set up." + +He was thinking very little of the statue just then, as he knelt on its +colossal chest beside Sabina, and watched the play of the yellow light +on her delicate face. There was just room for them to kneel there, side +by side. + +It was magnificent, as Sabina had said, the great glittering thing, +lying all alone in the depths of the earth, an enormous golden demigod +in his tomb. + +"You are wonderful!" exclaimed Sabina, suddenly turning her face to +Malipieri. + +"Why?" + +"To have found it," she explained. + +"I wish I had found something more practical," he answered. "In my +opinion this thing belongs to you, and I suppose it represents a small +fortune. But the only way for you to get even a share of it will be by +bringing a suit against Volterra. Half a dozen rubies like the one in +the ring would have been enough for you, and you could have taken them +home with you in your pocket." + +"I am afraid I have none!" Sabina laughed. + +"This one will be safe in mine," Malipieri answered. + +"You are not going to take it?" cried Sabina, a little frightened. + +"Yes. I am going to take it for you. I daresay it is worth a good deal +of money." + +"But--is it yours?" + +"No. It is yours." + +"I wonder whether I have any right to it." Sabina was perhaps justly +doubtful about the proceeding. + +"I do not care a straw for the government, or the laws, or Volterra, +where you are concerned. You shall have what is yours. Shall we get +down to the ground and see if there is anything else in the vault?" + +He let himself slide over the left shoulder, and the lion's skin that +was modelled over it, and Sabina followed him cautiously. By bending +their heads they could now stand and walk, and there was a space fully +five feet wide, between the statue and the perpendicular masonry from +which the vault sprang. + +Malipieri stopped short, with both lights in his hand, and uttered an +exclamation. + +"What is it?" asked Sabina. "Oh!" she cried, as she saw what he had +come upon. + +For some moments neither spoke, and they stood side by side, pressed +against each other in the narrow way and gazing down, for before them +lay the most beautiful marble statue Sabina had ever seen. In the +yellow light it was like a living woman asleep rather than a marble +goddess, hewn and chipped, smoothed and polished into shape ages ago, +by men's hands. + +She lay a little turned to one side and away; the arm that was +undermost was raised, so that the head seemed to be resting against it, +though it was not; the other lying along and across the body, its +perfect hand just gathering up a delicately futile drapery. The figure +was whole and unbroken, of cream-like marble, that made soft living +shadows in each dimple and hollow and seemed to quiver along the lines +of beauty, the shoulder just edging forwards, the bent arm, the +marvellous sweep of the limbs from hip to heel. + +"It is a Venus, is it not?" asked Sabina with an odd little timidity. + +"Aphrodite," answered Malipieri, almost unconsciously. + +It was not the plump, thick-ankled, doubtfully decent Venus which the +late Greeks made for their Roman masters; it was not that at all. It +was their own Aphrodite, delicate, tender and deadly as the foam of the +sea whence she came to them. + +Sabina would scarcely have wondered if she had turned and smiled, there +on the ground, to brush the shadows of ages from her opening eyes, and +to say "I must have slept," like a woman waked by her lover from a +dream of kisses. That would have seemed natural. + +Malipieri felt that he was holding his breath. Sabina was so close to +him that it was as if he could feel her heart beating near his own, and +as fast; and for a moment he felt one of those strong impulses which +strong men know when to resist, but to resist which is like wrestling +against iron hands. He longed, as he had never longed for anything in +his life, to draw her yet closer to him and to press his lips hard upon +hers, without a word. + +Instead, he edged away from her, and held the lights low beside the +wonderful statue so that she might see it better; and Aphrodite's +longing mouth, that had kissed gods, was curved with a little scorn for +men. + +The air was still and dry, and Sabina felt a strange little thrill in +her hair and just at the back of her neck. Perhaps, in the unknown ways +of fruitful nature, the girl was dimly aware of the tremendous manly +impulse of possession, so near her in that narrow and silent place. +Something sent a faint blush to her cheek, and she was glad there was +not much light, and she did not wish to speak for a little while. + +"I hate to think that she has lain so long beside that gilded Roman +monster," said Malipieri presently. + +The vast brutality of the herculean emperor had not disgusted him at +first; it had merely displeased his taste. Now, it became suddenly an +atrocious contrast to the secret loveliness of unveiled beauty. That +was a manly instinct in him, too, and Sabina felt it. + +"Yes," she said softly. "And she seems almost alive." + +"The gods and goddesses live for ever," Malipieri answered, smiling and +looking at her, in spite of himself. + +Her eyes met his at once, and did not turn away. He fancied that they +grew darker in the shadow, and in the short silence. + +"I suppose we ought to be going," she said, still looking at him. "Poor +old Sassi is waiting in the cellar." + +"We have not been all round the vault yet," he answered. "There may be +something more." + +"No, she has been alone with the monster, all these centuries. I am +sure of it. There cannot be anything else." + +"We had better look, nevertheless," said Malipieri. "I want you to see +everything there is, and you cannot come here again--not in this way." + +"Well, let us go round." Sabina moved. + +"Besides," continued Malipieri, going slowly forward and lighting the +way, "I am going to leave the palace the day after to-morrow." + +"Why?" asked Sabina, in surprise. + +"Because Volterra has requested me to go. I may have to leave Rome +altogether." + +"Leave Rome?" + +Her own voice sounded harsh to her as she spoke the words. She had been +so sure that he was in love with her, she had begun to know that she +would soon love him; and he was going away already. + +"Perhaps," he answered, going on. "I am not sure." + +"But--" Sabina checked herself and bit her lip. + +"What?" + +"Nothing. Go on, please. It must be getting late." + +There was nothing more in the vault. They went all round the gilt +statue without speaking, came back to the feet of the Aphrodite from +the further side and stopped to look again. Still neither spoke for a +long time. Malipieri held the lights in several positions, trying to +find the best. + +"Why must you leave Rome?" Sabina asked, at last, without turning her +face to him. + +"I am not sure that I must. I said I might, that was all." + +Sabina tapped the ground impatiently with her foot. + +"Why 'may' you have to go, then?" she asked a little sharply. + +"Volterra may be able to drive me away. He will try, because he is +afraid I may wish to get a share in the discovery." + +"Oh! Then you will not leave Rome, unless you are driven away?" + +Malipieri tried to see her eyes, but she looked steadily down at the +statue. + +"No," he said. "Certainly not." + +Sabina said nothing, but her expression changed and softened at once. +He could see that, even in the play of the shadows. She raised her +head, glanced at him, and moved to go on. After making a few steps in +the direction of the aperture she stopped suddenly as if listening. +Malipieri held his breath, and then he heard, too. + +It was the unmistakable sound of water trickling faster and faster over +stones. For an instant his blood stood still. Then he set the lamp +down, grasped Sabina's wrist and hurried her along, carrying only the +lantern. + +"Come as fast as you can," he said, controlling his voice. + +She understood that there was danger and obeyed without losing her +head. As he helped her up through the hole in the vault, she felt +herself very light in his hands. In a moment he was beside her, and +they were hurrying towards the inclined passage, bending low. + + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + + + +A broad stream of water was pouring down, and spreading on each side in +the space between the vaults. In a flash, Malipieri understood. The dry +well had filled, but the overflow shaft was covered with the weighted +boards, and only a little water could get down through the cracks. The +rest was pouring down the passage, and would soon fill the vault, which +was at a much lower level. + +"Stay here! Do not move!" + +Sabina stood still, but she trembled a little, as he dashed up through +the swift, shallow stream, not ankle deep, but steady as fate. In a +moment he had disappeared from her sight, and she was all alone in the +dismal place, in darkness, save for a little light that forced its way +up from below through the hole. It seemed five minutes before his +plashing footsteps stopped, up there in the passage; then came +instantly the noise of stones thrown aside into the water, and of heavy +pieces of board grating and bumping, as they floated for a moment. +Almost instantly a loud roar came from the same direction, as the +inflowing stream from the well thundered down the shaft. Sabina heard +Malipieri's voice calling to her, and his approaching footsteps. + +"The water cannot reach you now!" he cried. + +It had already stopped running down the passage, when Malipieri +emerged, dripping and holding out the lantern in front of him, as his +feet slipped on the wet stones. Sabina was very pale, but quite quiet. + +"What has happened?" she asked mechanically. + +"The water has risen suddenly," he said, paler than she, for he knew +the whole danger. "We cannot get out till it goes down." + +"How soon will that be?" Sabina asked steadily. + +"I do not know." + +They looked at each other, and neither spoke for a moment. + +"Do you think it may be several hours?" asked Sabina. + +"Yes, perhaps several hours." + +Something in his tone told her that matters might be worse than that. + +"Tell me the truth," she said. "It may be days before the water goes +down. We may die here. Is that what you mean?" + +"Unless I can make another way out, that is what may happen. We may +starve here." + +"You will find the other way out," Sabina said quietly. "I know you +will." + +She would rather have died that moment than have let him think her a +coward; and she was really brave, and was vaguely conscious that she +was, and that she could trust her nerves, as long as her bodily +strength lasted. But it would be very horrible to die of hunger, and in +such a place. It was better not to think of it. He stood before her, +with his lantern, a pale, courageous, strong man, whom she could not +help trusting; he would find that other way. + +"You had better get down again," he said, after a little reflection. +"It is dry below, and the lamp is there." + +"I can help you." + +Malipieri looked at the slight figure and the little gloved hands and +smiled. + +"I am very strong," Sabina said, "much stronger than you think. +Besides, I could not sit all alone down there while you are groping +about. The water might come down and drown me, you know." + +"It cannot run down, now. If it could, I should be drowned first." + +"That would not exactly be a consolation," answered Sabina. "What are +you going to do? I suppose we cannot break through the roof where we +are, can we?" + +"There must be ten or fifteen feet of earth above it. We are under the +courtyard here." + +Sabina's slight shoulders shuddered a little, for the first time, as +she realized that she was perhaps buried alive, far beyond the +possibility of being heard by any human being. + +"The water must have risen very soon after we came down," Malipieri +said thoughtfully. "That is why my man could not get to us. He could +not get into the well." + +"At all events he is not here," Sabina answered, "so it makes no +difference where he is." + +"He will try to help us from without. That is what I am thinking of. +The first thing to be done is to put out that lamp, for we must not +waste light. I had forgotten that." + +Sabina had not thought of it either, and she waited while he went down +again and brought the lamp up. He extinguished it at once and set it +down. + +"Only three ways are possible," he said, "and two are out of the +question. We cannot get up the old shaft above the well. It is of no +use to think of that. We cannot get down the overflow and out by the +drains because the water is pouring down there, and besides, the Tiber +must have risen with the rain." + +"Which is the third way?" + +"To break an opening through the wall in the highest part of the +passage. It may take a long time, for I have no idea how thick the wall +may be, and the passage is narrow. But we must try it, and perhaps +Masin will go to work nearly at the same spot, for he knows as much +about this place as I do, and we have often talked about it. I have +some tools down here. Will you come? We must not waste time." + +"I can hold the lantern," said Sabina. "That may be of some use." + +Malipieri gave her the lantern and took up the crowbar and pickaxe +which lay near the hole in the vault. + +"You will wet your feet, I am afraid," he said, as they went up the +passage, and he was obliged to speak in a louder tone to be heard above +the steady roar of the water. + +He had marked the spot where he had expected that a breach would have +to be made to admit visitors conveniently, and he had no trouble in +finding it. He set the stones he had taken off the boards in a proper +position, laid one of the wet boards upon them, and then took off his +coat and folded it for a cushion, more or less dry. He made Sabina sit +down with the lantern, though she protested. + +"I cannot work with my coat on," he answered, "so you may as well sit +on it." + +He set to work, and said no more. The first thing to be done was to +sound the thickness of the wall, if possible, by making a small hole +through the bricks. If this could be done, and if Masin was on the +other side, a communication could be established. He knew well enough +that even with help from without, many hours might be necessary in +order to make a way big enough for Sabina to get out; it was most +important to make an opening through which food could be passed in for +her. He had to begin by using his pick-axe because the passage was so +narrow that he could not get his crowbar across it, much less use it +with any effect. It was very slow work at first, but he did it +systematically and with steady energy. + +Sabina watched him in silence for a long time, vaguely wondering when +he would be tired and would be obliged to stop and rest. Somehow, it +was impossible to feel that the situation was really horrible, while +such a man was toiling before her eyes to set her free. From the first, +she was perfectly sure that he would succeed, but she had not at all +understood what the actual labour must be. + +He had used his pickaxe for more than half an hour, and had made a +hollow about a foot and a half deep, when he rested on the shaft of the +tool, and listened attentively. If the wall were not enormously thick, +and if any one were working on the other side, he was sure that he +could hear the blows, even above the roar of the water. But he could +distinguish no sound. + +The water came in steadily from the full well, a stream filling the +passage beyond the dark chasm into which it was falling, and at least +six inches deep. It sent back the light of the lantern in broken +reflections and shivered gleams. Sabina did not like to look that way. + +She was cold, now, and she felt that her clothes were damp, and a +strange drowsiness came over her, brought on by the monotonous tone of +the water. Malipieri had taken up his crowbar. + +"I wonder what time it is," Sabina said, before he struck the wall +again. + +He looked at his watch. + +"It is six o'clock," he answered, trying to speak cheerfully. "It is +not at all late yet. Are you hungry?" + +"Oh, no! We never dine till eight." + +"But you are cold?" + +"A little. It is no matter." + +"If you will get up I will put my waistcoat on the board for you to sit +upon, and then you can put my coat over your shoulders. I am too hot." + +"Thank you." + +She obeyed, and he made her as comfortable as he could, a forlorn +little figure in her fawn-coloured hat, wrapped in his grey tweed coat, +that looked utterly shapeless on her. + +"Courage," he said, as he picked up his crowbar. + +"I am not afraid," she answered. + +"Most women would be." + +He went to work again, with the end of the heavy bar, striking +regularly at the deepest part of the hollow, and working the iron round +and round, to loosen the brick wherever that was possible. But he made +slow progress, horribly slow, as Sabina realized when nearly half an +hour had passed again, and he paused to listen. He was much more +alarmed than he would allow her to guess, for he was now quite +convinced that Masin was not working on the other side; he knew that +his strength would never be equal to breaking through, unless the +crowbar ran suddenly into an open space beyond, within the next +half-hour. The wall might be of any thickness, perhaps as much as six +or seven feet, and the bricks were very hard and were well cemented. +Perhaps, too, he had made a mistake in his rough calculations and was +not working at the right spot after all. He was possibly hammering away +at the end of a cross wall, following it in its length. That risk had +to be taken, however, for there was at least as good a chance of +breaking through at this point as at any other. He believed that by +resting now and then for a short time, he could use his tools for +sixteen or eighteen hours, after which, if he were without food, his +strength would begin to give way. There was nothing to be done but to +go on patiently, doing his best not to waste time, and yet not +overtaxing his energy so as to break down before he had done the utmost +possible. + +He would not think of what must come after that, if he failed, and if +the water did not subside. + +Sabina understood very imperfectly what had happened, and there had +been no time to explain. He could not work and yet talk to her so as to +be heard above the roaring of the water and the noise of the iron bar +striking against the bricks. She knew that, and she expected nothing of +him beyond what he was doing, which was all a man could do. + +She drew his coat closely round her and leaned back against the damp +wall; and with half-closed eyes she watched the moving shadows of his +arms cast on the wall opposite by the lantern. He worked as steadily as +a machine, except when he withdrew the bar for a moment, in order to +clear out the broken brick and mortar with his hand; then again the bar +struck the solid stuff, and recoiled in his grasp and struck again, +regularly as the swinging of a pendulum. + +But no echo came back from an emptiness beyond. Ignorant as Sabina was +of all such things, her instinct told her that the masonry was +enormously thick; and yet her faith in him made him sure that he had +chosen the only spot where there was a chance at all. + +Sometimes she almost forgot the danger for a little while. It pleased +her to watch him, and to follow the rhythmic movements of his strong +and graceful body. It is a good sight to see an athletic man exerting +every nerve and muscle wisely and skilfully in a very long-continued +effort; and the woman who has seen a man do that to save her own life +is not likely to forget it. + +And then, again, the drowsiness came over her, and she was almost +asleep, and woke with a shiver, feeling cold. He had given her his +watch to hold, when he had made her sit on his waistcoat, and she had +squeezed it under her glove into the palm of her hand. It was a plain +silver watch with no chain. She got it out and looked at it. + +Eight o'clock, now. The time had passed quickly, and she must have +really been asleep. The Baron and his wife were just going to sit down +to dinner, unless her disappearance had produced confusion in the +house. But they would not be frightened, though they might be angry. +The servants would have told them that Signor Sassi, whose card was +there to prove his coming, had asked for Donna Sabina, and that she had +gone out with him in a cab, dressed for walking. Signor Sassi was a +highly respectable person, and though it might be a little eccentric, +according to the Baroness's view, for Sabina to go out with him in a +cab, especially in the afternoon, there could really be no great harm +in it. The Baroness would be angry because she had stayed out so late. +The Baroness would be much angrier by and by, when she knew what had +really happened, and it must all be known, of course. When Sassi was +sure that Masin could not get the two out of the vault himself, or with +such ordinary help as he could procure, he would have to go to the +Baron, who would instantly inform the authorities, and bring an +engineer and a crowd of masons to break a way. There was some comfort +in that, after all. It was quite impossible that she and Malipieri +should be left to starve to death. + +Besides, she was not at all hungry, though it was dinner time. She was +only cold and sleepy. She wished she could take the crowbar from +Malipieri's hands and use it for a few minutes, just to warm herself. +He had said that he was too hot, and by the uncertain light she fancied +she could see a little moisture on his white forehead. + +She was right in that, for he was growing tired and knew that before +long he must rest for at least a quarter of an hour. The hole was now +three feet deep or more, yet no hollow sound came back from, the blows +he dealt. His arms were beginning to ache, and he began to count the +strokes. He would strike a hundred more, and then he would rest. He +kept up the effort steadily to the end, and then laid down the bar and +passed his handkerchief over his forehead. Sabina watched him and +looked up into his face when he turned to her. + +"You are tired," she said, rising and standing beside him, so as to +speak more easily. + +"I shall be quite rested in a few minutes," he answered, "and then I +will go on." + +"You must be very strong," said Sabina. + +Then she told him what she had been thinking of, and how it was certain +that the Baron would bring a large force of men to set them free. +Malipieri listened to the end, and nodded thoughtfully. She was right, +supposing that nothing had happened to Sassi and Masin; but he knew his +own man, and judged that he must have made some desperate attempt to +stop the inflowing water in the outer chamber, and it was not +impossible that poor old Sassi, in his devotion to Sabina, had made a +mad effort to help Masin, and that they had both lost their lives +together. If that had happened, there was no one to tell Volterra where +Sabina was. Enquiries at Sassi's house would be useless; all that could +be known would be that he had gone out between four and five o'clock, +that he had called at the house in the Via Ludovisi, and that he and +Sabina had driven away together. No doubt, in time, the police could +find the cab they had taken, and the cabman would remember that they +had paid him at the Palazzo Conti. But all that would take a long time. +The porter knew nothing of their coming, and being used to Malipieri's +ways would not think of ringing at his door. In time Toto would +doubtless break out, but he had not seen Sabina, for Malipieri had been +very careful to make her walk close to the wall. He did not tell Sabina +these things, as it was better that she should look forward to being +set free in a few hours, but he had very grave doubts about the +likelihood of any such good fortune. + +"You must sit down," said Sabina. "You cannot rest unless you sit down. +I will stand for a while." + +"There is room for us both," Malipieri answered. + +They sat down side by side on the board with the lantern at their feet, +and they were very close together. + +"But you will catch cold, now that you have stopped, working," Sabina +said suddenly. "How stupid of me!" + +As she spoke she pulled his coat off her shoulders, and tried to throw +it over his, but he resisted, saying that he could not possibly have +time to catch cold, if he went back to work in a few minutes. Yet he +already felt the horrible dampness that came up out of the overflow +shaft and settled on everything in glistening beads. It only made him +understand how cold she must be, after sitting idle for two hours. + +"Do you think we shall get out to-night?" Sabina asked suddenly, with +the coat in her hand. + +"I hope so," he answered. + +She stood up, and looked at the cavity he had made in the wall. + +"Where will that lead to?" she enquired. + +He had risen, too. + +"It ought to lead into the coach-house, so far as I can judge." + +Instinctively, he went forward to examine the hole, and at that moment +Sabina cleverly threw the coat over his shoulders and held it round his +neck with both her hands. + +"There!" she cried. "You are caught now!" And she laughed as lightly as +if there were no such thing as danger. + +Malipieri wondered whether she realized the gravity of the situation, +or whether she were only pretending to be gay in order to make it +easier for him. In either case she was perfectly brave. + +"You must not!" he answered, gently trying to free himself. "You need +it more than I." + +"I wonder if it is big enough to cover us both," Sabina said, as the +idea struck her. "Come! Sit down beside me and we will try." + +He smiled and sat down beside her, and they managed to hold the coat so +that it just covered their shoulders. + +"Paul and Virginia," said Malipieri, and they both laughed a little. + +But as their laughter died away, Sabina's teeth chattered, and she drew +in her breath. At the slight sound Malipieri looked anxiously into her +face, and saw that her lips were blue. + +"This is folly," he said. "You will fall ill if you stay here any +longer. It is quite dry in the vault, and warm by comparison with this +place. You must go down there, while I stay here and work." + +He got up, and in spite of a little resistance he made her put her arms +into the sleeves of the coat, and turned the cuffs back, and fastened +the buttons. She was shivering from head to foot. + +"What a miserable little thing I am!" she cried impatiently. + +"You are not a miserable little thing, and you are much braver than +most men," said Malipieri. "But it will be of very little use to get +you out of the vault alive if you are to die of a fever in a day or +two." + +She said nothing and he led her carefully down the inclined passage and +the steps, away from the gloomy overflow, and the roaring water and the +fearful dampness. He helped her down into the vault very gently, over +the glittering chest of the great imperial statue. The air felt warm +and dry, now that she was so badly chilled, and her lips looked a +little less blue. + +"I will light the lamp, and turn it very low," said Malipieri. + +"I am not afraid of the dark," Sabina answered. "You said that we must +not waste our light." + +"Shall you really not be nervous?" Malipieri supposed that all women +were afraid to be in the dark alone. + +"Of course not. Why should I? There are no spiders, and I do not +believe in ghosts. Besides, I shall hear you hammering at the wall." + +"You had better sit on the body of the Venus. I think the marble is +warmer than the bronze. But there is the board--I forgot. Wait a +minute." + +He was not gone long, and came back bringing the board and his +waistcoat. To his surprise, he found her sitting on the ground, +propping herself with one hand. + +"I felt a little dizzy in the dark," she explained, "so I sat down, for +fear of falling." + +He glanced at her face, and his own was grave, as he placed the board +on the ground, and laid the waistcoat over the curving waist of the +Aphrodite, so that she could lean against it. She got up quickly when +it was ready and seated herself, drawing up her knees and pulling her +skirt closely round her damp shoes to keep her feet warm, if possible. +He set the lamp beside her and gave her a little silver box of matches, +so that she could get a light if she felt nervous. He looked at her +face thoughtfully as he stood with his lantern in his hand, ready to go. + +"But you have nothing to put on, if you have to rest again!" she said, +rather feebly. + +"I will come and rest here, about once an hour," he answered. + +Her face brightened a little, and she nodded, looking up into his eyes. + +"Yes. Come and rest beside me," she said. + +He went away, climbing over the statue and out through the hole in the +vault. Just before he disappeared, he held up his lantern and looked +towards her. She was watching him. + +"Good-night," he said. "Try to sleep a little." + +"Come back soon," she answered faintly, and smiled. + +Presently he was at work again, steadily driving the bar against the +hard bricks, steadily chipping away a little at a time, steadily making +progress against the enormous obstacle. The only question was whether +his strength would last, for if he had been able to get food, it would +have been merely a matter of time. A crowbar does not wear down much on +bricks. + +At first, perfectly mechanical work helps a man to think, as walking +generally does; but little by little it dulls the faculties and makes +thought almost impossible. Senseless words begin to repeat themselves +with the movement, fragments of tunes fit themselves to the words, and +play a monotonous and exasperating music in the brain, till a man has +the sensation of having a hurdy-gurdy in his head, though he may be +working for his life, as Malipieri was. Yet the unchanging repetition +makes the work easier, as a sailor's chanty helps at the topsail +halliards. + +"We must get out before we starve, we must get out before we starve," +sang the regular blows of the bar to a queer little tune which +Malipieri had never heard. + +When he stopped to clear out the chips, the song stopped too, and he +thought of Sabina sitting alone in the vault, propped against the +Aphrodite; and he hoped that she might be asleep. But when he swung the +bar back into position and heard it strike the bricks, the tune and the +words came back with the pendulum rhythm; and went on and on, till they +were almost maddening, though there no longer seemed to be any sense in +them. They made the time pass. + +Sabina heard the dull blows, too, though not very loud. It was a +comfort to hear anything in the total darkness, and she tried to amuse +herself by counting the strokes up to a hundred and then checking the +hundreds by turning in one finger after another. It would be something +to tell him when he came back. She wondered whether there would be a +thousand, and then, as she was wondering, she lost the count, and by +way of a change she tried to reckon how many seconds there were in an +hour. But she got into trouble with the ciphers when she tried to +multiply sixty by sixty in her head, and she began counting the strokes +again. They always stopped for a few seconds somewhere between thirty +and forty. + +She wished he would come back soon, for she was beginning to feel very +cold again, so cold that presently she got upon her feet and walked a +dozen steps, feeling her way along the great bronze statue. It was +better than sitting still. She had heard of prisoners who had kept +themselves sane in a dark dungeon by throwing away a few pins they had, +and finding them again. It was a famous prisoner who did that. It was +the prisoner of Quillon--no, "quillon" had something to do with a +sword--no, it was Chillon. Then she felt dizzy again, and steadied +herself against the statue, and presently groped her way back to her +seat. She almost fell, when she sat down, but saved herself and at last +succeeded in getting to her original position. It was not that she was +faint from hunger yet; her dizziness was probably the result of cold +and weariness and discomfort, and most of all, of the unaccustomed +darkness. + +She was ashamed of being so weak, when she listened to the steady +strokes, far off, and thought of the strength and endurance it must +need to do what Malipieri seemed to be doing so easily. But she was +very cold indeed, chilled to the bone and shivering, and she could not +think of any way of getting warm. She rose again, and struck one of the +matches he had given her, and by its feeble light she walked a few +seconds without feeling dizzy, and then sat down just as the little +taper was going to burn her fingers. + +A few minutes later she heard footsteps overhead, and saw a faint light +through the hole. He was coming at last, and she smiled happily before +she saw him. + +He came down and asked how she was, and he sat on the Aphrodite beside +her. + +"If I could only get warm!" she answered. + +"Perhaps you can warm your hands a little on the sides of the lantern," +he said. + +She tried that and felt a momentary sensation of comfort, and asked him +what progress he was making. + +"Very slow," he replied. "I cannot hear the least sound from the other +side yet. Masin is not there." + +She did not expect any other answer, and said nothing, as she sat +shivering beside him. + +"You are very brave," he said presently. + +A long pause followed. She had bent her head low, so that her face +almost touched her knees. + +"Signor Malipieri--" she began, at last, in rather a trembling tone. + +"Yes? What is it?" He bent down to her, but she did not look up. + +"I--I--hardly know how to say it," she faltered. "Shall you think very, +very badly of me if I ask you to do something--something that--" She +stopped. + +"There is nothing in heaven or earth I will not do for you," he +answered. "And I shall certainly not think anything very dreadful." He +tried to speak cheerfully. + +"I think I shall die of the cold," she said. "There might be a way--" + +"Yes? Anything!" + +Then she spoke very low. + +"Do you think you could just put your arms round me for a minute or +two?" she asked. + +Piteously cold though she was, the blood rushed to her face as she +uttered the words; but Malipieri felt it in his throat and eyes. + +"Certainly," he answered, as if she had asked the most natural thing in +the world. "Sit upon my knees, and I will hold my arms round you, till +you are warm." + +He settled himself on the marble limbs of the Aphrodite, and the frail +young girl seated herself on his knees, and nestled to him for warmth, +while he held her close to him, covering her with his arms as much as +he could. They went quite round her, one above the other, and she hid +her face against his shoulder. He could feel her trembling with the +cold like a leaf, under the coat he had made her put on. + +Suddenly she started a little, but not as if she wished to go; it was +more like a sob than anything else. + +"What is the matter?" he asked, steadying his voice with difficulty. + +"I am so ashamed of myself!" she answered, and she buried her face +against his shoulder again. + +"There is nothing to be ashamed of," he said gently. "Are you a little +warmer now?" + +"Oh, much, much! Let me stay just a little longer." + +"As long as you will," he answered, pressing her to him quietly. + +He wondered if she could hear his heart, which was beating like a +hammer, and whether she noticed anything strange in his voice. If she +did, she would not understand. She was only a child after all. He told +himself that he was old enough to be her father, though he was not; he +tried not to think of her at all. But that was of no use. He would have +given his body, his freedom, his soul and the life to come, to kiss her +as she lay helpless in his arms; he would have given anything the world +held, or heaven, if it had been his; anything, except his honour. But +that he would not give. His heart might beat itself to pieces, his +brain might whirl, the little fires might flash furiously in his closed +eyes, his throat might be as parched as the rich man's in hell--she had +trusted herself to him like a child, in sheer despair and misery, and +safe as a child she should lie on his breast. She should die there, if +they were to die. + +"I am warm now," she said at last, "really quite warm again, if you +want to go back." + +He did not wonder. He felt as if he were on fire from his head to his +feet. At her words he relaxed his arms at once, and she stood up. + +"You are so good to me," she said, with an impulse of gratitude for +safety which she herself did not understand. "What makes you so good to +me?" + +He shook his head, as if he could not answer then, and smiled a little +sadly. + +"Now that you are warm, I must not lose time," he said, a moment later, +taking up his lantern. + +She sat down in her old place, and gathered her skirt to her feet and +watched him as he climbed out and the last rays of light disappeared. +Then the pounding at the wall began again, far off, and she tried to +count the strokes, as she had done before; but she wished him back, and +whether she felt cold or not, she wished herself again quietly folded +in his arms, and though she was alone and it was quite dark she blushed +at the thought. It seemed to her that the blows were struck in quicker +succession now than before. Was he willing to tire himself out a little +sooner, so as to earn the right to come back to her? + +That was not it. He was growing desperate, and could not control the +speed of his hands so perfectly as before. The night was advancing, he +knew, though he had not looked at the watch, which was still in +Sabina's glove. It was growing late, and he could distinguish no sound +but that of the blows he struck at the bricks and the steady roar of +the water. The conviction grew on him that Masin was drowned, and +perhaps old Sassi too, and that their bodies lay at the bottom of the +outer chamber, between the well and the wall of the cellar. If Masin +had been able to get into the well, before the water was too high, he +would have risen with it, for he was a good swimmer. + +So was Malipieri, and more than once he thought of making an attempt to +reach the widened slit in the wall by diving. That he could find the +opening he was sure, but he was almost equally sure that he could never +get through it alive and up to the surface on the other side. If he +were drowned too, Sabina would be left to die alone, or perhaps to go +mad with horror before she was found. He had heard of such things. + +It was no wonder that he unconsciously struck faster as he worked, and +at first he felt himself stronger than before, as men do when they are +almost despairing. The sweat stood out on his forehead, and his hands +tingled, when he drew back the iron to clear away the chips. He worked +harder and harder. + +The queer little tune did not ring in his head now, for he could think +of nothing but Sabina and of what was to become of her, even if he +succeeded in saving her life. It was almost impossible that such a +strange adventure should remain a secret, and, being once known, the +injury to the girl might be irreparable. He hated himself for having +brought her to the place. Yet, as he thought it over, he knew that he +would have done it again. + +It had seemed perfectly safe. Any one could have seen that the water +had not risen in the well for many years. Day after day, for a long +time, he and Masin had worked in the vaults in perfect safety. The way +to the statues had been made so easy that only a timid old man like +Sassi could have found it impassable. There had been absolutely no +cause to fear that after fifty or sixty years the course of the water +should be affected, and the chances against such an accident happening +during that single hour of Sabina's visit were as many millions to one. +His motive in bringing her had been quixotic, no doubt, but good and +just, and so far as Sabina's reputation was concerned, Sassi's presence +had constituted a sufficient social protection. + +He hammered away at the bricks furiously, and the cavity grew deeper +and wider. Surely he had made a mistake at first in wishing to husband +his strength too carefully. If he had worked from the beginning as he +was working now, he would have made the breach by this time. + +Unless that were impossible; unless, after all, he had struck the end +of a cross wall and was working through the length of it instead of +through its thickness. The fear of such a misfortune took possession of +him, and he laid down his crowbar to examine the wall carefully. There +was one way of finding out the truth, if he could only get light +enough; no mason that ever lived would lay his bricks in any way except +lengthwise along each course. If he had struck into a cross wall, he +must be demolishing the bricks from their ends instead of across them, +and he could find out which way they lay at the end of the cavity, if +he could make the light of the lantern shine in as far as that. The +depth was more than five feet now, and his experience told him that +even in the construction of a mediaeval palace the walls above the +level of the ground were very rarely as thick as that, when built of +good brick and cement like this one. + +When he took up his lantern, he was amazed at what he had done in less +than four hours; if he had been told that an ordinary man had +accomplished anything approaching to it in that time, he would have +been incredulous. He had hardly realized that he had made a hole big +enough for him to work in, kneeling on one knee, and bracing himself +with the other foot. + +But the end was narrow, of course, and when he held the light before +it, he could not see past the body of the lantern. He opened the +latter, took out the little oil lamp carefully and thrust it into the +hole. He could see now, as he carefully examined the bricks; and he was +easily convinced that he had not entered a cross wall. Nevertheless, +when he had been working with the bar, he had not detected any change +in the sound, as he thought he must have done, if he had been near the +further side. Was the wall ten feet thick? He looked again. It was not +a vaulting, that was clear; and it could not be anything but a wall. +There was some comfort in that. He drew back a little, put the lamp +into the lantern again and got out backwards. The passage was bright; +he looked up quickly and started. + +Sabina was standing beside him, holding the large lamp. Her big hat had +fallen back and her hair made a fair cloud between it and her white +face. + +"I thought something had happened to you," she said, "so I brought the +lamp. You stopped working for such a long time," she explained, "I +thought you must have hurt yourself, or fainted." + +"No," answered Malipieri. "There is nothing the matter with me. I was +looking at the bricks." + +"You must need rest, for it is past ten o'clock. I looked at the watch." + +"I will rest when I get through the wall. There is no time to be lost. +Are you very hungry?" + +"No. I am a little thirsty." She looked at the black water, pouring +down the overflow shaft. + +"That water is not good to drink," said Malipieri, thinking of what was +at the bottom of the well. "We had better not drink it unless we are +absolutely forced to. I hope to get you out in two hours." + +He stood leaning on his crowbar, his dark hair covered with dust, his +white shirt damp and clinging to him, and all stained from rubbing +against the broken masonry. + +"It would be better to rest for a few minutes," she said, not moving. + +He knew she was right, but he went with her reluctantly, and presently +he was sitting beside her on the marble limbs of the Aphrodite. She +turned her face to him a little shyly, and then looked away again. + +"Were ever two human beings in such a situation before!" + +"Everything has happened before," Malipieri answered. "There is nothing +new." + +"Does it hurt very much to die of starvation?" Sabina asked after a +little pause. + +"Not if one has plenty of water. It is thirst that drives people mad. +Hunger makes one weak, that is all." + +"And cold, I am sure." + +"Very cold." + +They were both silent. She looked steadily at the gleaming bronze +statue before her, and Malipieri looked down at his hands. + +"How long does it take to starve to death?" she asked at last. + +"Strong men may live two or three weeks if they have water." + +"I should not live many days," Sabina said thoughtfully. "It would be +awful for you to be living on here, with me lying dead." + +"Horrible. Do not think about it. We shall get out before morning." + +"I am afraid not," she said quietly. "I am afraid we are going to die +here." + +"Not if I can help it," answered Malipieri. + +"No. Of course not. I know you will do everything possible, and I am +sure that if you could save me by losing your life, you would. Yes. But +if you cannot break through the wall, there is nothing to be done." + +"The water may go down to-morrow. It is almost sure to go down before +long. Then we can get out by the way we came in." + +"It will not go down. I am sure it will not." + +"It is too soon to lose courage," Malipieri said. + +"I am not frightened. It will not be hard to die, if it does not hurt. +It will be much harder for you, because you are so strong. You will +live a long time." + +"Not unless I can save you," he answered, rising. "I am going back to +work. It will be time enough to talk about death when my strength is +all gone." + +He spoke almost roughly, partly because for one moment she had made him +feel a sort of sudden dread that she might be right, partly to make her +think that he thought the supposition sheer nonsense. + +"Are you angry?" she asked, like a child. + +"No!" He made an effort and laughed almost cheerfully. "But you had +better think about what you should like for supper in two or three +hours! It is hardly worth while to put out that lamp," he added. "It +will burn nearly twelve hours, for it is big, and it was quite full. +There is a great deal of heat in it, too." + +He went away again. But when he was gone, she drew the lamp over to her +without leaving her seat, and put it out. She was very tired and a +little faint, and by and by the distant sound of the crowbar brought +back the drowsiness she had felt before, and leaning her head against +the Aphrodite's curving waist, she lost consciousness. + +He worked a good hour or more without result, came down to her, and +found her in a deep sleep. As he noiselessly left her, he wondered how +many men could have slept peacefully in such a case as hers. + +Once more he took the heavy bar, and toiled on, but he felt that his +strength was failing fast for want of food. He had eaten nothing since +midday, and had not even drunk water, and in six hours he had done as +much hard work as two ordinary workmen could have accomplished in a +day. With a certain amount of rest, he could still go on, but a quarter +of an hour would no longer be enough. He was very thirsty, too, but +though he might have drunk his fill from the hollow of his hand, he +could not yet bring himself to taste the water. He was afraid that he +might be driven to it before long, but he would resist as long as he +could. + +Every stroke was an effort now, as he struggled on blindly, not only +against the material obstacle, but against the growing terror that was +taking possession of him, the hideous probability of having worked in +vain after all, and the still worse certainty of what the end must be +if he really failed. + +Effort after effort, stroke after stroke, though each seemed impossible +after the last. He could not fail, and let that poor girl die, unless +he could die first, of sheer exhaustion. + +If he were to stop now, it might be hours before he could go on again, +and then he would be already weakened by hunger. There was nothing to +be done but to keep at it, to strike and strike, with such half-frantic +energy as was left in him. Every bone and sinew ached, and his breath +came short, while the sweat ran down into his short beard, and fell in +rain on his dusty hands. + +But do what he would, the blows followed each other in slower +succession. He could not strike twenty more, not ten, not five perhaps; +he would not count them; he would cheat himself into doing what could +not be done; he would count backwards and forwards, one, two, three, +three, two, one, one, two-- + +And then, all at once, the tired sinews were braced like steel, and his +back straightened, and his breath came full and clear. The blow had +rung hollow. + +He could have yelled as he sent the great bar flying against the bricks +again and again, far in the shadow, and the echo rang back, louder and +louder, every time. + +The bar ran through and the end he held shot from his hands, as the +resistance failed at last, and half the iron went out on the other +side. He drew it back quickly and looked to see if there were any +light, but there was none. He did not care, for the rest would be +child's play compared with what he had done, and easier than play now +that he had the certainty of safety. + +The first thing to be done was to tell Sabina that the danger was past. +He crept back with his light and stood upright. It hurt him to +straighten himself, and he now knew how tremendous the labour had been; +the last furious minutes had been like the delirium of a fever. But he +was tough and used to every sort of fatigue, and hope had come back; he +forgot how thirsty he had been, and did not even glance behind him at +the water. + +Sabina was still asleep. He stood before her, and hesitated, for it +seemed cruel to wake her, even to tell her the good news. He would go +back and widen the breach, and when there was room to get out, he could +come and fetch her. She had put out the lamp. He lighted it again +quietly, and was going to place it where it could not shine in her eyes +and perhaps wake her, when he paused to look at her face. + +It was very still, and deadly pale, and her lips were blue. He could +not see that she was breathing, for his coat hung loosely over her +slender figure. She looked almost dead. Her gloved hands lay with the +palms upwards, the one in her lap, the other on the ground beside her. +He touched that one gently with the back of his own, and it seemed to +him that it was very cold, through the glove. + +He touched her cheek in the same way, and it felt like ice. It would +surely be better to wake her, and make her move about a little. He +spoke to her, at first softly, and then quite loud, but she made no +sign. Perhaps she was not asleep, but had fainted from weariness and +cold; he knelt beside her, and took her hand in both his own, chafing +it between them, but still she gave no sign. It was certainly a +fainting fit, and he knew that if a woman was pale when she fainted, +she should be laid down at full length, to make the blood return to her +head. Kneeling beside her, he lifted her carefully and placed her on +her back beside the Aphrodite, smoothing out his waistcoat under her +head, not for a pillow but for a little protection from the cold ground. + +Then he hesitated, and remained some time kneeling beside her. She +needed warmth more than anything else; he knew that, and he knew that +the best way to warm her a little was to hold her in his arms. Yet he +would try something else first. + +He bent over her and undoing one of the buttons of the coat, he +breathed into it again and again, long, warm breaths. He did this for a +long time, and then looked at her face, but it had not changed. He felt +the ground with his hand, and it was cold; as long as she lay there, +she could never get warm. + +He lifted her again, still quite unconscious, and sat with her in his +arms, as he had done before, laying her head against the hollow of his +shoulder, and pressing her gently, trying to instil into her some of +his own strong life. + +At last she gave a little sigh and moved her head, nestling herself to +him, but it was long before she spoke. He felt the consciousness coming +back in her, and the inclination to move, rather than any real motion +in her delicate frame; the more perceptible breathing, and then the +little sigh came again, and at last the words. + +"I thought we were dead," she said, so low that he could barely hear. + +"No, you fainted," he answered. "We are safe. I have got the bar +through the wall." + +She turned up her face feebly, without lifting her head. + +"Really? Have you done it?" + +"Yes. In another hour, or a little more, the hole will be wide enough +for us to get through it." + +She hid her face again, and breathed quietly. + +"You do not seem glad," he said. + +"It seemed so easy to die like this," she answered. + +But presently she moved in his arms, and looked up again, and smiled, +though she did not try to speak again. He himself, almost worn out by +what he had done, was glad to sit still for a while. His blood was not +racing through him now, his head was not on fire. It seemed quite +natural that he should be sitting there, holding her close to him and +warming her back to life with his own warmth. + +It was a strange sensation, he thought afterwards, when many other +things had happened which were not long in following upon the events of +that night. He could not quite believe that he was almost stupid with +extreme fatigue, and yet he remembered that it had been more like a +calm dream than anything else, a dream of peace and rest. At the time, +it all seemed natural, as the strangest things do when one has been +face to face with death for a few hours, and when one is so tired that +one can hardly think at all. + + + + + +CHAPTER XV + + + + +There was less consternation in the Volterra household than might have +been expected when Sabina did not return before bedtime. The servants +knew that she had gone out with an old gentleman, a certain Signor +Sassi, at about five o'clock, but until Volterra came in, the Baroness +could not find out who Sassi was, and she insisted on searching every +corner of the house, as if she were in quest of his biography, for the +servants assured her that Sabina was still out, and they certainly +knew. She carefully examined Sabina's room too, looking for a note, a +line of writing, anything to explain the girl's unexpected absence. + +She could find nothing except the short letter from Sabina's mother to +which reference has been made, and she read it over several times. +Sabina received no letters, and had been living in something like total +isolation. The Baroness had reached a certain degree of intimacy with +her beloved aristocracy; but though she occasionally dropped in upon +it, and was fairly well received, it rarely, if ever, dropped in upon +her. It showed itself quite willing, however, to accept a formal +invitation to a good dinner at her house. + +She telephoned to the Senate and to a club, but Volterra could not be +found. Then she went to dress, giving orders that Sabina was to be sent +to her the moment she came in. She was very angry, and her sallow face +was drawn into severe angles; she scolded her maid for everything, and +rustled whenever she moved. + +At last the Baron came home, and she learned who Sassi was. Volterra +was very much surprised, but said that Sassi must have come for Sabina +in connection with some urgent family matter. Perhaps some one of her +family had died suddenly, or was dying. It was very thoughtless of +Sabina not to leave a word of explanation, but Sassi was an eminently +respectable person, and she was quite safe with him. + +The Baron ate his dinner, and repeated the substance of this to his +wife before the servants, whose good opinion they valued. Probably +Donna Clementina, the nun, was very ill, and Sabina was at the convent. +No, Sabina did not love her sister, of course; but one always went to +see one's relations when they were dying, in order to forgive them +their disagreeable conduct; all Romans did that, said the Baroness, and +it was very proper. By and by a note could be sent to the convent, or +the carriage could go there to bring Sabina back. But the Baron did not +order the carriage, and became very thoughtful over his coffee and his +Havana. Sabina had been gone more than four hours, and that was +certainly a longer time than could be necessary for visiting a dying +relative. He said so. + +"Perhaps," suggested his wife, "it is the Prince who is ill, and Signor +Sassi has taken Sabina to the country to see her brother." + +"No," answered the Baron after a moment's thought. "That family is +eccentric, but the girl would not have gone to the country without a +bag." + +"There is something in that," answered the Baroness, and they relapsed +into silence. + +Yet she was not satisfied, for, as her husband said, the Conti were all +eccentric. Nevertheless, Sabina would at least have telegraphed, or +sent a line from the station, or Sassi would have done it for her, for +he was a man of business. + +After a long time, the Baroness suggested that if her husband knew +Sassi's address, some one should be sent to his house to find out if he +had gone out of town. + +"I have not the least idea where he lives," the Baron said. "As long as +I had any business with him, I addressed him at the palace." + +"The porter may know," observed the Baroness. + +"The porter is an idiot," retorted the Baron, puffing at his cigar. + +His wife knew what that meant, and did not enquire why an idiot was +left in charge of the palace. Volterra did not intend to take that way +of making enquiries about Sabina, if he made any at all, and the +Baroness knew that when he did not mean to do a thing, the obstinacy of +a Calabrian mule was docility compared with his dogged opposition. +Moreover, she would not have dared to do it unknown to him. There was +some good reason why he did not intend to look for Sassi. + +"Besides," he condescended to say after a long time, "she is quite safe +with that old man, wherever they are." + +"Society might not think so, my dear," answered the Baroness in mild +protest. + +"Society had better mind its business, and let us take care of ours." + +"Yes, my dear, yes, of course!" + +She did not agree with him at all. Her ideal of a happy life was quite +different, for she was very much pleased when society took a lively +interest in her doings, and nothing interested her more than the doings +of society. She presently ventured to argue the case. + +"Yes, of course," she repeated, by way of preliminary conciliation. "I +was only wondering what people will think, if anything happens to the +girl while she is under our charge." + +"What can happen to her?" + +"There might be some talk about her going out in this way. The servants +know it, you see, and she is evidently not coming home this evening. +They know that she went out without leaving any message, and they must +think it strange." + +"I agree with you." + +"Well, then, there will be some story about her. Do you see what I +mean?" + +"Perfectly. But that will not affect us in the least. Every one knows +what strange people the Conti are, and everybody knows that we are +perfectly respectable. If there is a word said about the girl's +character, you will put her into the carriage, my dear, and deposit her +at the convent under the charge of her sister. Everybody will say that +you have done right, and the matter will be settled." + +"You would not really send her to the convent!" + +"I will certainly not let her live under my roof, if she stays out all +night without giving a satisfactory account of herself." + +"But her mother--" + +"Her mother is no better than she should be," observed the Baron +virtuously, by way of answer. + +The Baroness was very much disturbed. She had been delighted to be +looked upon as a sort of providence to the distressed great, and had +looked forward to the social importance of being regarded as a second +mother to Donna Sabina Conti. She had hoped to make a good match for +her, and to shine at the wedding; she had dreamed of marrying the girl +to Malipieri, who was such a fine fellow, and would be so rich some day +that he might be trapped into taking a wife without a dowry. + +These castles in the air were all knocked to pieces by the Baron's +evident determination to get rid of Sabina. + +"I thought you liked the girl," said the Baroness in a tone of +disappointment. + +Volterra stuck out both his feet and crossed his hands on his stomach, +after his manner, smoking vigorously. Then, with his cigar in one +corner of his mouth, he laughed out of the other, and assumed a playful +expression. + +"I do not like anybody but you, my darling," he said, looking at the +ceiling. "Nobody in the whole wide world! You are the deposited +security. All the other people are the floating circulation." + +He seemed pleased with this extraordinary view of mankind, and the +Baroness smiled at her faithful husband. She rarely understood what he +was doing, and hardly ever guessed what he meant to do, but she was +absolutely certain of his conjugal fidelity, and he gave her everything +she wanted. + +"The other people," he said, "are just notes, and nothing else. When a +note is damaged or worn out, you can always get a new one at the bank, +in exchange for it. Do you understand?" + +"Yes, my dear. That is very clever." + +"It is very true," said the Baron. "The Conti family consists chiefly +of damaged notes." + +He had not moved his cigar from the corner of his mouth to speak. + +"Yes, my dear," answered the Baroness meekly, and when she thought of +her last interview with the dowager Princess, she was obliged to admit +the fitness of the simile. + +"The only one of them at all fit to remain in circulation," he +continued, "was this girl. If she stays out all night she will be +distinctly damaged, too. Then you will have to pass her off to some one +else, as one does, you know, when a note is doubtful." + +"The cook can generally change them," observed the Baroness +irrelevantly. + +"I do not think she is coming home," said the Baron, much more to the +point. "I hope she will! After all, if she does not, you yourself say +that she is quite safe with this Signor Sassi--" + +"I did not say that she would be safe from gossip afterwards, did I?" + +It was perfectly clear by this time that he wished Sabina to leave the +house as soon as possible, and that he would take the first opportunity +of obliging her to do so. Even if his wife had dared to interfere, it +would have been quite useless, for she knew him to be capable of +hinting to the girl herself that she was no longer welcome. Sabina was +very proud, and she would not stay under the roof an hour after that. + +"I did not suggest that you should bring her here," Volterra continued +presently. "Please remember that. I simply did not object to her +coming. That was all the share I had in it. In any case I should have +wished her to leave us before we go away for the summer." + +"I had not understood that," answered the Baroness resignedly. "I had +hoped that she might come with us." + +"She has settled the matter for herself, my dear. After this +extraordinary performance, I must really decline to be responsible for +her any longer." + +It was characteristic of his methods that when he had begun to talk +over the matter before dinner, she had not been able to guess at all +how he would ultimately look at it, and that he only let her know his +real intention by degrees. Possibly, he had only wished to gain time to +think it over. She did not know that he had asked Malipieri to leave +the Palazzo Conti, and if she had, it might not have occurred to her +that there was any connection between that and his desire to get rid of +Sabina. His ways were complicated, when they were not unpleasantly +direct, not to say brutal. + +But the Baroness was much more human, and had grown fond of the girl, +largely because she had no daughter of her own, and had always longed +to have one. Ambitious women, if they have the motherly instinct, +prefer daughters to sons. One cannot easily tell what a boy may do when +he grows up, but a girl can be made to do almost anything by her own +mother, or to marry almost any one. The Baroness's regret for losing +Sabina took the form of confiding to her husband what she had hoped to +do for the girl. + +"I am very sorry," she said, "but if you wish her to go, she must leave +us. Of late, I had been thinking that we might perhaps marry her to +that clever Malipieri." + +The Baron smiled thoughtfully, took his cigar from his lips at last, +and looked at his wife. + +"To Malipieri?" he asked, as if not quite understanding the suggestion. + +"Yes, I am sure he would make her a very good husband. He evidently +admires her, too." + +"Possibly. I never thought of it. But she has no dowry. That is an +objection." + +"He will be rich some day. Is he poor now?" + +"No. Not at all." + +"And she certainly likes him very much. It would be a very good match +for her." + +"Admirable. But I do not think we need trouble ourselves with such +speculations, since she is going to leave us so soon." + +"I shall always take a friendly interest in her," said the Baroness, +"wherever she may be." + +"Very well, my dear," Volterra answered, dropping the end of his cigar +and preparing to rise. "That will be very charitable of you. But your +friendly interest can never marry her to Malipieri." + +"Perhaps not. But it might have been done, if she had not been so +foolish." + +"No," said the Baron, getting to his feet, "it never could have been +done." + +"Why not?" asked his wife, surprised by the decision of his tone. + +"Because there is a very good reason why Malipieri cannot marry her, my +dear." + +"A good reason?" + +"A very good reason. My dear, I am sleepy. I am going to bed." + +Volterra rang the bell by the fireplace, and a man appeared almost +instantly. + +"You may put out the lights," he said. "We are going to bed." + +"Shall any one sit up, in case Donna Sabina should come in, +Excellency?" asked the servant. + +"No." + +He went towards the door, and his wife followed him meekly. + + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + + + + +Sabina's strength revived in the warm night air, out in the courtyard, +under the stars, and the awful danger from which Malipieri had saved +her and himself looked unreal, after the first few moments of liberty. +She got his watch out of her glove where it had been so many hours, and +by the clear starlight they could see that it was nearly twenty minutes +past two o'clock. Malipieri had put out the lamp, and the lantern had +gone out for lack of oil, at the last moment. It was important that +Sabina should not be seen by the porter, in the very unlikely event of +his being up at that hour. + +They had not thought that it could be so late, for it was long since +Sabina had looked at the watch. The first thing that became clear to +Malipieri was that it would be out of the question for him to take her +home that night. The question was where else to take her. She was +exhausted, too, and needed food at once, and her clothes were wet from +the dampness. It would be almost a miracle if she did not fall ill, +even if she were well taken care of at once. + +There was only one thing to be done: she must go up to his apartment, +and have something to eat, and then she must rest. In the meantime they +would make some plan in order to explain her absence. + +The porter's wife might have been of some use, if she could have been +trusted with what must for ever remain a dead secret, namely, that +Sabina had spent the night in Malipieri's rooms; for that would be the +plain fact to-morrow morning. What had happened to Sassi and Masin was +a mystery, but it was inconceivable that either of them should have +been free to act during the past eight or nine hours and should have +made no effort to save the two persons to whom they were respectively +devoted as to no one else in the world. + +Exhausted though he was, Malipieri would have gone down into the +cellars at once to try and find some trace of them, if he had not felt +that Sabina must be cared for first; and moreover he was sure that if +he found them at all, he should find them both dead. + +All this had been clear to him before he had at last succeeded in +bringing her out into the open air. + +"There is no help for it," he whispered, "you must come upstairs. Do +you think you can walk so far?" + +"Of course I can!" she answered, straightening herself bravely. "I am +not at all tired." + +Nevertheless she gladly laid her hand on his aching arm, and they both +walked cautiously along the paved gutter that separated the wall from +the gravel, for their steps would have made much more noise on the +latter. All was quiet, and they reached Malipieri's door, by the help +of a wax light. He led her in, still carrying the match, and he shut +the door softly after him. + +"At least," Sabina said, "no one can hear us here." + +"Hush!" + +He suspected that Toto must have got out, but was not sure. After +lighting a candle, he led the way into his study, and made Sabina sit +down, while he went back. He returned in a few moments, having assured +himself that Toto had escaped by the window, and that Masin was not in, +and asleep. + +"Masin has disappeared," he said. "We can talk as much as we please, +while you have your supper." + +He had brought bread and wine and water, which he set before her, and +he went off again to find something else. She ate hungrily after +drinking a glass at a draught. He reappeared with the remains of some +cold meat and ham. + +"It is all I have," he explained, "but there is plenty of bread." + +"Nothing ever tasted so good," answered Sabina gravely. + +He sat down opposite to her and drank, and began to eat the bread. His +hands were grimy, and had bled here and there at the knuckles where +they had grazed the broken masonry. His face was streaked with dried +perspiration and dust, his collar was no longer a collar at all. + +As for Sabina, she had tried to take off the fawn-coloured hat, but it +had in some way become entangled with her unruly hair, and it was +hanging down her back. Otherwise, as she sat there her dress was not +visibly much the worse for the terrible adventure. Her skirt was torn +and soiled, indeed, but the table hid it, and the coat had kept the +body of her frock quite clean. She did not look much more dishevelled +than if she had been at a romping picnic in the country. + +Nor did she look at all ill, after the wine and the first mouthfuls of +food had brought all the warmth back to her. If anything, she was less +pale than usual now, her lips were red again, and there was light in +her eyes. There are little women who look as if they had no strength at +all, and seem often on the point of breaking down, but who could go +through a battle or a shipwreck almost without turning a hair, and +without much thought of their appearance either; nor are they by any +means generally the mildest and least reckless of their sex. + +The two ate in silence for several minutes, but they looked at each +other and smiled now and then, while they swallowed mouthful after +mouthful. + +"I wish I had counted the slices of bread I have eaten," said Sabina at +last. + +Malipieri laughed gaily. It did not seem possible that an hour or two +earlier they had been looking death in the face. But his laughter died +away suddenly, and he was very grave in a moment. + +"I do not know what to do now," he said. "We shall have to make the +Baroness believe that you have spent the night at Sassi's house. That +is the only place where you can possibly be supposed to have been. I am +not good at lying, I believe. Can you help me at all?" + +Sabina laughed. + +"That is a flattering way of putting it!" she answered. "It is true +that I was brought up to lie about everything, but I never liked it. +The others used to ask me why I would not, and whether I thought myself +better than they." + +"What are we to do?" + +"Suppose that we tell the truth," said Sabina, nibbling thoughtfully at +a last slice of bread. "It is much easier, you know." + +"Yes." + +Malipieri set his elbows on the table, leaned his bearded chin upon his +scarred knuckles and looked at her. He wondered whether in her +innocence she even faintly guessed what people would think of her, if +they knew that she had spent a night in his rooms. He had no experience +at all of young girls, and he wondered whether there were many like +Sabina. He thought it unlikely. + +"I believe in telling the truth, too," he said at last. "But when you +do, you must trust the person to whom it is told. Now the person in +this case will be the Baroness Volterra. I shall have to go and see her +in the morning, and tell her what has happened. Then, if she believes +me, she must come here in a cab and take you back. That will be +absolutely necessary. You need say nothing that I have not said, and I +shall say nothing that is not true." + +"That is the best way," said Sabina, who liked the simplicity of the +plan. + +Her voice sounded sleepy, and she suppressed a little yawn. + +"But suppose that she refuses to believe me," Malipieri continued, +without noticing her weariness, "what then?" + +"What else can she believe?" asked Sabina indifferently. + +Malipieri did not answer for a long time, and looked away, while he +thought over the very difficult situation. When he turned to her again, +he saw that she was resting her head in her hand and that her eyes were +closed. + +"You are sleepy," he said. + +She looked up, and smiled, hardly able to keep her eyes open. + +"So sleepy!" she answered slowly. "I cannot keep awake a moment longer." + +"You must go to bed," he said, rising. + +"Yes--anywhere! Only let me sleep." + +"You will have to sleep in my room. Do you mind very much?" + +"Anywhere!" She hardly knew what she said, she hardly saw his face any +longer. + +He led the way with one of the lights, and she followed him with her +eyes half shut. + +"It seems to be in tolerably good order," he said, glancing round, and +setting down the candle. "The key is in the inside. Turn it, please, +when I am gone." + +The room was scrupulously neat. Malipieri shut the window carefully. +When he turned, he saw that she was sitting on the edge of the bed, +nodding with sleep. + +"Good-night," he said, in a low voice that was nevertheless harsh. +"Lock your door." + +"Good-night," she answered, with an effort. + +He did not look at her again as he went out and shut the door, and he +went quickly through the small room which divided the bedroom from the +study, and in which he kept most of his clothes. He was very wide awake +now, in spite of being tired, and he sat down in his armchair and +smoked for some time. Suddenly he noticed the state of his hands, and +he realized what his appearance must be. + +Without making any noise, though he was sure that Sabina was in a deep +sleep by this time, he went back through the first door and quietly got +a supply of clothes, and took them with him to Masin's room, and washed +there, and dressed himself as carefully as if he were going out. Then +he went back to his study and sat down wearily in his armchair. Worn +out at last, he was asleep in a few minutes, asleep as men are after a +battle, whether the fight has ended in victory or defeat. Even the +thought of Sabina did not keep him awake, and he would not have thought +of her at all as he sat down, if he could have helped it. + +After such a night as they had passed it was not likely that they +should wake before ten o'clock on the following morning. + +But the porter was up early, as usual, with his broom, to sweep the +stairs and the paved entrance under the arch. When he had come back +from the errand on which Malipieri had sent him, it had been already +dusk. He had gone up and had rung the bell several times, but as no one +opened he had returned to his lodge. It was not unusual for Malipieri +and Masin to be both out at the same time, and he thought it likely +that they were in the vaults. He cursed them both quietly for the +trouble they had given him of mounting the stairs for nothing, and went +to his supper, and in due time to bed. + +He must go up again at eight o'clock, by which time Malipieri was +always dressed, and as it was now only seven o'clock he had plenty of +time to sweep. So he lit his pipe deliberately and took his broom, and +went out of his lodge. + +The first thing that met his eye was a dark stain on the stones, close +to the postern. He passed his broom over it, and saw that it was dry; +and it was red, but not like wine. Wine makes a purple stain on stones. +He stooped and scratched it with his thick thumbnail. It was +undoubtedly blood, and nothing else. Some one had been badly hurt +there, or being wounded had stood some moments on the spot to open the +door and get out. + +The old man leaned on his broom awhile, considering the matter, and +debating whether he should call his wife. His natural impulse was not +to do so, but to get a bucket of water and wash the place before she +could see it. The idea of going out and calling a policeman never +occurred to him, for he was a real Roman, and his first instinct was to +remove every trace of blood from the house in which he lived, whether +it had been shed by accident or in quarrel. On the other hand, his wife +might come out at any moment, to go to her work, and find him washing +the pavement, and she would of course suppose that he had killed +somebody or had helped to kill somebody during the night, and would +begin to scream, and call him an assassin, and there would be a great +noise, and much trouble afterwards. According to his view, any woman +would naturally behave in this way, and as his views were founded on +his own experience, he was probably right, so far as his wife was +concerned. He therefore determined to call her. + +She came, she saw, she threw up her hands and moaned a little about the +curse that was on the house, and she helped him to scrub the stones as +quickly as possible. When that was done, and when they had flooded the +whole pavement under the arch, in order to conceal the fact that it had +been washed in one place, it occurred to them that they should look on +the stairs, to see if there were any blood there, and in the courtyard, +too, near the entrance; but they could not find anything, and it was +time for the woman to go to the place where she worked all day at +ironing fine linen, which had been her occupation before she had been +married. So she went away, leaving her husband alone. + +He smoked thoughtfully and swept the stone gutter, towards the other +end of the courtyard. He noticed nothing unusual, until he reached the +door of the coach-house, and saw that it was ajar, whereas it was +always locked, and he had the key in his lodge. He opened it, and +looked in. The flood of morning light fell upon a little heap of broken +brick and mortar, and he saw at a glance that a small breach had been +made in the wall. This did not surprise him, for he knew that Malipieri +and Masin had made holes in more than one place, and the architect had +more than once taken the key of the coach-house. + +What frightened him was the steady, roaring sound that came from the +breach. He would as soon have thought of trusting himself to enter the +place, as of facing the powers of darkness, even if his big body could +have squeezed itself through the aperture. But he guessed that the +sound came from the "lost water," which he had more than once heard in +the cellar below, in its own channel, and he was instinctively sure +that something had happened which might endanger the palace. The +cellars were probably flooded. + +On the mere chance that the door of the winding staircase might not be +locked, he went out and turned into the passage where it was. He found +it wide open. He had in his pocket one of those long wax tapers rolled +into a little ball, which Roman porters generally have about them; he +lit it and went down. There was water at the foot of the steps, water +several feet deep. He retreated, and with more haste than he usually +showed to do anything, he crossed the courtyard and went up to call +Malipieri. + +But Malipieri was asleep in his armchair in the inner room, and the +bell only rang in the outer hall. The old man rang it again and again, +but no one came. Then he stood still on the landing, took off his cap +and deliberately scratched his head. In former times, it would have +been his duty to inform Sassi, in whom centred every responsibility +connected with the palace. But the porter did not know whether Sassi +were dead or alive now, and was quite sure that the Baron would not +approve of sending for him. + +There was nothing to be done but to inform the Baron himself, without +delay, since Malipieri was apparently already gone out. The Baron would +take the responsibility, since the house was his. + +The porter went down to his lodge, took off his old linen jacket and +put on his best coat and cap, put some change into his pocket, went out +and turned the key of the lock in the postern, and then stumped off +towards the Piazza Sant' Apollinare to get a cab, for there was no time +to be lost. + +It was eight o'clock when he rang at the smart new house in the Via +Ludovisi. Sabina and Malipieri had slept barely five hours. + +A footman in an apron opened the door, and without waiting to know his +business, asked him why he did not go to the servants' entrance. + +"I live in a palace where there is a porter," answered the old man, +assuming the overpowering manner that belongs to the retainers of +really great old Roman houses. "Please inform the Baron that the 'lost +water' has broken out and flooded the cellars of the Palazzo Conti, and +that I am waiting for instructions." + + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + + + + +Volterra went to bed early, but he did not rise late, for he was always +busy, and had many interests that needed constant attention; and he had +preserved the habits of a man who had enriched himself and succeeded in +life by being wide awake and at work when other people were napping or +amusing themselves. At eight o'clock in the morning, he was already in +his study, reading his letters, and waiting for his secretary. + +He sent for the porter, listened to his story attentively, and without +expressing any opinion about what had happened, went directly to the +palace in the cab which had brought the old man. He made the latter sit +beside him, because it would be an excellent opportunity of showing the +world that he was truly democratic. Half of Rome knew him by sight at +least, though not one in twenty thousand could have defined his +political opinions. + +At the palace he paid the cabman instead of keeping him by the hour, +for he expected to stay some time, and it was against his principles to +spend a farthing for what he did not want. As he entered through the +postern, he glanced approvingly at the damp pavement. He did not in the +least believe that the porter washed it every morning, of course, but +he appreciated the fact that the man evidently wished him to think so, +and was afraid of him. + +"You say that you rang several times at Signor Malipieri's door," he +said. "Has he not told you that he is going to live somewhere else?" + +"No, sir." + +"Does he never leave his key with you when he goes out?" + +"No, sir." + +"Did you see him come in last night? Was he at home?" + +"No, sir. I rang several times, about dusk, but no one opened. I did +not hear him come in after that. Shall I go up and ring again?" + +"No." Volterra reflected for a moment. "He has left, and has taken his +key by mistake," he said. "But I should think that you must have seen +him go. He would have had some luggage with him." + +The porter explained that Malipieri had sent him on an errand on the +previous afternoon, and had been gone when he returned. This seemed +suspicious to Volterra, as indeed it must have looked to any one. +Considering his views of mankind generally, it was not surprising if he +thought that Malipieri might have absconded with something valuable +which he had found in the vaults. He remembered, too, that Malipieri +had been unwilling to let him visit the treasure on the previous day, +and had named the coming afternoon instead. + +"Can you get a man to open the door?" he asked. + +"There is Gigi, the carpenter of the palace," answered the porter. "He +is better than a locksmith and his shop is close by--but there is the +water in the cellars--" + +"Go and get him," said the Baron. "I will wait here." + +The porter went out, and Volterra began to walk slowly up and down +under the archway, breathing the morning air with satisfaction, and +jingling a little bunch of keys in his pocket. + +There was a knock at the postern. He listened and stood still. He knew +that the porter had the key, for he had just seen him return it to his +pocket after they had both come in; he did not wish to be disturbed by +any one else just then, so he neither answered nor moved. The knock was +repeated, louder than before. It had an authoritative sound, and no one +but Malipieri himself would have a right to knock in that way. Volterra +went to the door at once, but did not open it. + +"Who is there?" he asked, through the heavy panel. + +"The police," came the answer, short and sharp. "Open at once." + +Volterra opened, and was confronted by a man in plain clothes, who was +accompanied by two soldiers in grey uniforms, and another man, who +looked like a cabman. On seeing a gentleman, the detective, who had +been about to enter unceremoniously, checked himself and raised his +hat, with an apology. Volterra stepped back. + +"Come in," he said, "and tell me what your business is. I am the owner +of this palace, at present. I am Baron Volterra, and a Senator." + +The men all became very polite at once, and entered rather sheepishly. +The cabman came in last, and Volterra shut the door. + +"Who is this individual?" he asked, looking at the cabman. + +"Tell your story," said the man in plain clothes, addressing the latter. + +"I am a coachman, Excellency," the man answered in a servile tone. "I +have a cab, number eight hundred and seventy-six, at the service of +your Excellency, and it was I who drove the gentleman to the hospital +yesterday afternoon." + +"What gentleman?" + +"The gentleman who was hurt in the house of your Excellency." + +Volterra stared from the cabman to the man in plain clothes, not +understanding. Then it occurred to him that the man in uniform might be +wearing it as a disguise, and that he had to do with a party of clever +thieves, and he felt for a little revolver which he always carried +about with him. + +"I know nothing about the matter," he said. + +"Excellency," continued the cabman, "the poor gentleman was lying here, +close to the door, bleeding from his head. You see the porter has +washed the stones this morning." + +"Go on." Volterra listened attentively. + +"A big man who looked more like a workman than a servant came to call +me in the square. When we got here, he unlocked the door himself, and +made me help him to put the gentleman into the cab. It was about +half-past five or a quarter to six, Excellency, and I waited at the +hospital door till eight o'clock, but could not get any money." + +"What became of the big man who called you?" asked Volterra. "Why did +he not pay you?" + +"He was arrested, Excellency." + +"Arrested? Why? For taking a wounded man to the hospital?" + +"Yes. You can imagine that I did not wish to be concerned in other +people's troubles, Excellency, nor to be asked questions. So when I had +seen the man and the doorkeepers take the gentleman in, I drove on +about twenty paces, and waited for the man to come out. But soon two +policemen came and went in, and came out again a few minutes later with +the big man walking quietly between them, and they went off in the +other direction, so that he did not even notice me." + +"What did you do then?" + +"May it please your Excellency, I went back to the door and asked the +doorkeeper why the man had been arrested, and told him I had not been +paid. But he laughed in my face, and advised me to go to the police for +my fare, since the police had taken the man away. And I asked him many +questions but he drove me away with several evil words." + +"Is that all that happened?" asked Volterra. "Do you know nothing more?" + +"Nothing, your Excellency," whined the man, "and I am a poor father of +a family with eight children, and my wife is ill--" + +"Yes," interrupted Volterra, "I suppose so. And what do you know about +it all?" he enquired, turning to the man in plain clothes. + +"This, sir. The gentleman was still unconscious this morning, but turns +out to be a certain Signor Pompeo Sassi. His cards were in his +pocket-book. The man who took him to the hospital was arrested because +he entirely declined to give his name, or to explain what had happened, +or where he had found the wounded gentleman. Of course all the police +stations were informed during the night, as the affair seemed +mysterious, and when this cabman came this morning and lodged a +complaint of not having been paid for a fare from this palace to the +hospital, it looked as if whatever had happened, must have happened +here, or near here, and I was sent to make enquiries." + +"That is perfectly clear," the Baron said, taking out his pocket-book. +"You have no complaint to make, except that you were not paid," he +continued, speaking to the cabman. "There are ten francs, which is much +more than is owing to you. Give me your number." + +The man knew that it was useless to ask for more, and as he produced +his printed number and gave it, he implored the most complicated +benedictions, even to miracles, including a thousand years of life and +everlasting salvation afterwards, all for the Baron, his family, and +his descendants. + +"I suppose he may go now," Volterra said to the police officer. + +The cabman would have liked to stay, but one of the soldiers opened the +postern and stood waiting by it till he had gone out, and closed it +upon his parting volley of blessings. The Senator reflected that they +might mean a vote, some day, and did not regret his ten francs. + +"I know Signor Sassi," he said to the detective. "He was the agent of +Prince Conti's estate, and of this palace. But I did not know that he +had been here yesterday afternoon. I live in the Via Ludovisi and had +just come here on business, when you knocked." + +He was very affable now, and explained the porter's absence, and the +fact that a gentleman who had lived in the house, but had left it, had +accidentally taken his key with him, so that it was necessary to get a +workman to open the door. + +"And it is as well that you should be here," he added, "for the big man +of whom the cabman spoke may be the servant of that gentleman. I +remember seeing him once, and I noticed that he was unusually big. He +may have been here yesterday after his master left, and we may find +some clue in the apartment." + +"Excellent!" said the detective, rubbing his hands. + +He was particularly fond of cases in which doors had to be opened by +force, and understood that part of his business thoroughly. + +The key turned in the lock of the postern, and the porter entered, +bringing Gigi with him. They both started and turned pale when they saw +the policeman and the detective. + +"At what time did Signor Malipieri send you out on that errand +yesterday afternoon?" asked Volterra, looking hard at the porter. + +The old man drew himself up, wiped his forehead with a blue cotton +handkerchief, and looked from the Baron to the detective, trying to +make out whether his employer wished him to speak the truth. A moment's +reflection told him that he had better do so, as the visit of the +police must be connected with the stain of blood he had washed from the +pavement, and he could prove that he had nothing to do with it. + +"It was about five o'clock," he answered quietly. + +"And when did you come back?" enquired the detective. + +"It was dusk. It was after Ave Maria, for I heard the bells ringing +before I got here." + +"And you did not notice the blood on the stones when you came in, +because it was dusk, I suppose," said the detective, assuming a knowing +smile, as if he had caught the man. + +"I saw it this morning," answered the porter without hesitation, "and I +washed it away." + +"You should have called the police," said the other severely. + +"Should I, sir?" The porter affected great politeness all at once. "You +will excuse my ignorance." + +"We are wasting time," Volterra said to the detective. "The porter +knows nothing about it. Let us go upstairs." + +He led the way, and the others followed, including Gigi, who carried a +leathern bag containing a few tools. + +"It is of no use to ring again," observed Volterra. "There cannot be +anybody in the apartment, and this is my own house. Open that door for +us, my man, and do as little damage as you can." + +Gigi looked at the patent lock. + +"I cannot pick that, sir," he said. "The gentleman made me put it on +for him, and it is one of those American patent locks." + +"Break it, then," Volterra answered. + +Gigi selected a strong chisel, and inserted the blade in the crack of +the door, on a level with the brass disk. He found the steel bolt +easily. + +"Take care," he said to the Baron, who was nearest to him and drew back +to give him room to swing his hammer. + +He struck three heavy blows, and the door flew open at the third. The +detective had looked at his watch, for it was his business to note the +hour at which any forcible entrance was made. It was twenty minutes to +nine. Malipieri and Sabina had slept a little more than five hours and +a half. + +Malipieri, still sleeping heavily in his armchair, heard the noise in a +dream. He fancied he was in the vaults again, driving his crowbar into +the bricks, and that he suddenly heard Masin working from the other +side. But Masin was not alone, for there were voices, and he had +several people with him. + +Malipieri awoke with a violent start. Volterra, the detective, the two +police soldiers, Gigi and the porter were all in the study, looking at +him as he sat there in his armchair, in the broad light, carefully +dressed as if he had been about to go out when he had sat down. + +"You sleep soundly, Signer Malipieri," said the fat Baron, with a +caressing smile. + +Malipieri had good nerves, but for a moment he was dazed, and then, +perhaps for the first time in his life, he was thoroughly frightened, +for he knew that Sabina must be still asleep in his room, and in spite +of his urgent request when he had left her, he did not believe that she +had locked the door after all. The first thought that flashed upon him +was that Volterra had somehow discovered that she was there, and had +come to find her. There were six men in the room; he guessed that the +Baron was one of those people who carry revolvers about with them, and +two of the others were police soldiers, also armed with revolvers. He +was evidently at their mercy. Short of throwing at least three of the +party out of the window, nothing could avail. Such things are done +without an effort on the stage by the merest wisp of a man, but in real +life one must be a Hercules or a gladiator even to attempt them. +Malipieri thought of what Sabina had said in the vault. Had any two +people ever been in such a situation before? + +For one instant, his heart stood still, and he passed his hand over his +eyes. + +"Excuse me," he said then, quite naturally. "I had dressed to go to +your house this morning, and I fell asleep in my chair while waiting +till it should be time. How did you get in? And why have you brought +these people with you?" + +He was perfectly cool now, and the Baron regretted that he had made a +forcible entrance. + +"I must really apologize," he answered. "The porter rang yesterday +evening, several times, and again this morning, but could get no +answer, and as you had told me that you were going to change your +quarters, we supposed that you had left and had accidentally taken the +key with you." + +Malipieri did not believe a word of what he said, but the tone was very +apologetic. + +"The cellars are flooded," said the porter, speaking over Volterra's +shoulder. + +"I know it," Malipieri answered. "I was going to inform you of that +this morning," he continued, speaking to the Baron. "I do not think +that the police are necessary to our conversation," he added, smiling +at the detective. + +"I beg your pardon, sir," answered the latter, "but we are here to ask +if you know anything of a grave accident to a certain Signor Sassi, who +was taken from this palace unconscious, yesterday afternoon, at about a +quarter to six, by a very large man, who would not give any name, nor +any explanation, and who was consequently arrested." + +Malipieri did not hesitate. + +"Only this much," he replied. "With the authority of the Senator here, +who is the owner of the palace, I have been making some archaeological +excavations in the cellars. Signor Sassi was the agent--" + +"I have explained that," interrupted the Baron, turning to the +detective. "I will assume the whole responsibility of this affair. +Signor Sassi shall be well cared for. I shall be much obliged if you +will leave us." + +He spoke rather hurriedly. + +"It is my duty to make a search in order to discover the motive of the +crime," said the detective with importance. + +"What crime?" asked Malipieri with sudden sternness. + +"Signor Sassi was very badly injured in this palace," answered the +other. "The man who took him to the hospital would give no account of +himself, and the circumstances are suspicious. The Baron thinks that +the man may be your servant." + +"Yes, he is my servant," Malipieri said. "Signor Sassi was trying to +follow me into the excavations--" + +"Yes, yes--that is of no importance," interrupted Volterra. + +"I think it is," retorted Malipieri. "I will not let any man remain in +prison suspected of having tried to murder poor old Sassi! I went on," +he continued, explaining to the detective, "leaving the two together. +The old gentleman must have fallen and hurt himself so badly that my +man thought it necessary to carry him out at once. When I tried to get +back, I found that the water had risen in the excavations and that the +passage was entirely closed, and I had to work all night with a crowbar +and pickaxe to break another way for myself. As for my man, if he +refused to give any explanations, it was because he had express orders +to preserve the utmost secrecy about the excavations. He is a faithful +fellow, and he obeyed. That is all." + +"A very connected account, sir, from your point of view," said the +detective. "If you will allow me, I will write it down. You see, the +service requires us to note everything." + +"Write it down by all means," Malipieri answered quietly. "You will +find what you need at that table." + +The detective sat down, pulled back the cuff of his coat, took up the +pen and began his report with a magnificent flourish. + +"You two may go," said Malipieri to the porter and Gigi. "We shall not +want you any more." + +"As witnesses, perhaps," said the detective, overhearing. "Pray let +them stay." + +He went on writing, and the Baron settled himself in Malipieri's +armchair, and lit a cigar. Malipieri walked slowly up and down the +room, determined to keep perfectly cool. + +"I hope the Baroness is quite well," he said after a time. + +"Quite well, thank you," answered Volterra, nodding and smiling. + +Malipieri continued to pace the floor, trying to see some way out of +the situation in which he was caught, and praying to heaven that Sabina +might still be sound asleep. If she were up, she would certainly come +to the study in search of him before long, as the doors opened in no +other direction. All his nerves and faculties were strung to the utmost +tension, and if the worst came he was prepared to attempt anything. + +"It is a very fine day after the rain," observed the Baron presently. + +"It never rains long in Rome, in the spring," answered Malipieri. + +The detective wrote steadily, and neither spoke again till he had +finished. + +"Of course," he said to Malipieri, "you are quite sure of your +statements." + +"Provided that you have written down exactly what I said," Malipieri +answered. + +The detective rose and handed him the sheets, at which he glanced +rapidly. + +"Yes. That is what I said." + +"Let me see," Volterra put in, rising and holding out his hand. + +He took the paper and read every word carefully, before he returned the +manuscript. + +"You might add," he said, "that I have been most anxious to keep the +excavations a secret because I do not wish to be pestered by reporters +before I have handed over to the government any discoveries which may +be made." + +"Certainly," answered the man, taking his pen again, and writing +rapidly. + +Volterra was almost as anxious to get rid of him as Malipieri himself. +What the latter had said had informed him that in spite of the water +the vaults could be reached, and he was in haste to go down. He had, +indeed, noted the fact that whereas Sabina had left his house with +Sassi at five o'clock, the latter had been taken to the hospital only +three quarters of an hour later, and he wondered where she could be; +but it did not even occur to him as possible that she should be in +Malipieri's apartment. The idea would have seemed preposterous. + +The detective rose, folded the sheets of paper and placed them in a +large pocket-book which he produced. + +"And now, gentlemen," he said, "we have only one more formality to +fulfil, before I have the honour of taking my leave." + +"What is that?" asked the Baron, beginning to show his impatience at +last. + +"Signor Malipieri--is that your name, sir? Yes. Signer Malipieri will +be kind enough to let me and my men walk through the rooms of the +apartment." + +"I think that is quite unnecessary," Malipieri answered. "By this time +Signor Sassi has probably recovered consciousness, and has told his own +story, which will explain the accident." + +"In the performance of my duty," objected the detective, "I must go +through the house, to see whether there are any traces of blood. I am +sure that you will make no opposition." + +Fate was closing in upon Malipieri, but he kept his head as well as he +could. He opened the door that led back to the hall. + +"Will you come?" he said, showing the way. + +The detective glanced at the other door, but said nothing and prepared +to follow. + +"I will stay here," said the Baron, settling himself in the armchair +again. + +"Oh, no! Pray come," Malipieri said. "I should like you to see for +yourself that Sassi was not hurt here." + +Volterra rose reluctantly and went with the rest. His chief +preoccupation was to get rid of the detective and his men as quickly as +possible. Malipieri opened the doors as he went along, and showed +several empty rooms, before he came to Masin's. + +"This is where my man sleeps," he said carelessly. + +The detective went in, looked about and suddenly pounced upon a towel +on which there were stains of blood. + +"What is this?" he asked sharply. "What is the meaning of this?" + +Malipieri showed his scarred hands. + +"After I got out of the vault, I washed here," he said. "I had cut my +hands a good deal, as you see. Of course the blood came off on the +towels." + +The detective assumed his smile of professional cunning. + +"I understand," he said. "But do you generally wash in your servant's +room?" + +"No. It happened to be convenient when I got in. There was water here, +and there were towels." + +"It is strange," said the detective. + +Even Volterra looked curiously at Malipieri, for he was much puzzled. +But he was impatient, too, and came to the rescue. + +"Do you not see," he asked of the detective, "that Signor Malipieri was +covered with dust and that his clothes were very wet? There they are, +lying on the floor. He did not wish to go to his bedroom as he was, +taking all that dirt and dampness with him, so he came here." + +"That is a sufficient explanation, I am sure," said Malipieri. + +"Perfectly, perfectly," answered the detective, smiling. "Wrap up those +towels in a newspaper," he said to the two soldiers. "We will take them +with us. You see," he continued in an apologetic tone, "we are obliged +to be very careful in the execution of our duties. If Signor Sassi +should unfortunately die in the hospital, and especially if he should +die unconscious, the matter would become very serious, and I should be +blamed if I had not made a thorough examination." + +"I hope he is not so seriously injured," said Malipieri. + +"The report we received was that his skull was fractured," answered the +detective calmly. "The hospitals report all suspicious cases to the +police stations by telephone during the night, and of course, as your +man refused to speak, special enquiries were made about the wounded +gentleman." + +"I understand," said Malipieri. "And now, I suppose, you have made a +sufficient search." + +"We have not seen your own room. If you will show me that, as a mere +formality, I think I need not trouble you any further." + +It had come at last. Malipieri felt himself growing cold, and said +nothing for a moment. Volterra again began to watch him curiously. + +"I fancy," the detective said, "that your room opens from the study in +which we have already been. I only wish to look in." + +"There is a small room before it, where I keep my clothes." + +"I suppose we can go through the small room?" + +"You may see that," said Malipieri, "but I shall not allow you to go +into my bedroom." + +"How very strange!" cried Volterra, staring at him. + +Then the fat Baron broke into a laugh, that, made his watch-chain dance +on his smooth and rotund speckled waistcoat. + +"I see! I see!" he tried to say. + +The detective understood, and smiled in a subdued way. Malipieri knit +his brows angrily, as he felt himself becoming more and more utterly +powerless to stave off the frightful catastrophe that threatened +Sabina. But the detective was anxious to make matters pleasant by +diplomatic means. + +"I had not been told that Signor Malipieri was a married man," he said. +"Of course, if the Signora Malipieri is not yet visible, I shall be +delighted to give her time to dress." + +Malipieri bit his lip and made a few steps up and down. + +"I did not know that your wife was in Rome," Volterra said, glancing at +him, and apparently confirming the detective in his mistake. + +"For that matter," said the detective, "I am a married man myself, and +if the lady is in bed, she might allow me merely to stand at the door, +and glance in." + +"I think she is still asleep," Malipieri answered. "I do not like to +disturb her, and the room is quite dark." + +"My time is at your disposal," said the detective. "Shall we go back +and wait in the study? You would perhaps be so kind as to see whether +the Signora is awake or not, but I am quite ready to wait till she +comes out of her room. I would not put her to any inconvenience for the +world, I assure you." + +"Really," the Baron said to Malipieri, "I think you might wake her." + +The soldiers looked on stolidly, the porter kept his eyes and ears +open, and Gigi, full of curiosity, wore the expression of a smiling +weasel. To the porter's knowledge, so far as it went, no woman but his +own wife had entered the palace since Malipieri had been living in it. + +Malipieri made no answer to Volterra's last speech, and walked up and +down, seeking a solution. The least possible one seemed to be that +suggested by the Baron himself. The latter, though now very curious, +was more than ever in a hurry to bring the long enquiry to a close. It +occurred to him that it would simplify matters if he and Malipieri and +the detective were left alone together, and he said so, urging that as +there was unexpectedly a lady in the case, the presence of so many +witnesses should be avoided. Even now he never thought of the +possibility that the lady in question might be Sabina. + +The detective now yielded the point willingly enough, and the soldiers +were sent off with Gigi and the porter to wait in the latter's lodge. +It was a slight relief to Malipieri to see them go. He and his two +companions went back to the study together. + +The Baron resumed his seat in the armchair; he always sat down when he +had time, and he had not yet finished his big cigar. The detective went +to the window and looked out through the panes, as if to give Malipieri +time to make up his mind what to do; and Malipieri paced the floor with +bent head, his hands in his pockets, in utter desperation. At any +moment Sabina might appear, yet he dared not even go to her door, lest +the two men should follow him. + +But at least he could prevent her from coming in, for he could lock the +entrance to the small room. As he reached the end of his walk he turned +the key and put it into his pocket. The detective turned round sharply +and Volterra moved his head at the sound. + +"Why do you do that?" he asked, in a tone of annoyance. + +"Because no one shall go in, while I have the key," Malipieri answered. + +"I must go in, sooner or later," said the detective, "I can wait all +day, and all night, if you please, for I shall not use force where a +lady is concerned. But I must see that room." + +Like all such men, he was obstinate, when he believed that he was doing +his duty. Malipieri looked from him to Volterra, and back again, and +suddenly made up his mind. He preferred the detective, of the two, if +he must trust any one, the more so as the latter probably did not know +Sabina by sight. + +"If you will be so kind as to stay there, in that armchair," he said to +Volterra, "I will see what I can do to hasten matters. Will you?" + +"Certainly. I am very comfortable here." The Baron laughed a little. + +"Then," said Malipieri, turning to the detective, "kindly come with me, +and I will explain as far as I can." + +He took the key from his pocket again, and opened the door of the small +room, let in the detective and shut it after him without locking it. He +had hardly made up his mind what to say, but he knew what he wished. + +"This is a very delicate affair," he began in a whisper. "I will see +whether the lady is awake." + +He went to the door of the bedroom on tiptoe and listened. Not a sound +reached him. The room was quite out of hearing of the rest of the +apartment, and Sabina, accustomed as she was to sleep eight hours +without waking, was still resting peacefully. Malipieri came back +noiselessly. + +"She is asleep," he whispered. "Will you not take my word for it that +there is nothing to be found in the room which can have the least +connection with Sassi's accident?" + +The detective shook his head gravely, and raised his eyebrows, while he +shut his eyes, as some men do when they mean that nothing can convince +them. + +"I advise you to go in and wake your wife," he whispered, still very +politely. "She can wrap herself up and sit in a chair while I look in." + +"That is impossible. I cannot go in and wake her." + +The detective looked surprised, and was silent for a moment. + +"This is a very strange situation," he muttered. "A man who dares not +go into his wife's room when she is asleep--I do not understand." + +"I cannot explain," answered Malipieri, "but it is altogether +impossible. I ask you to believe me, on my oath, that you will find +nothing in the room." + +"I have already told you, sir, that I must fulfil the formalities, +whatever I may wish to believe. And it is my firm belief that Signor +Sassi came by the injuries of which he may possibly die, somewhere in +this apartment, yesterday afternoon. My reputation is at stake, and I +am a government servant. To oblige you, I will wait an hour, but if the +lady is not awake then, I shall go and knock at that door and call +until she answers. It would be simpler if you would do it yourself. +That is all, and you must take your choice." + +Malipieri saw that he must wake Sabina, and explain to her through the +door that she must dress. He reflected a moment, and was about to ask +the detective to go back to the study, when a sound of voices came from +that direction, and one was a woman's. + +"It seems that there is another lady in the house," said the detective. +"Perhaps she can help us. Surely you will allow a lady to enter your +wife's room and wake her." + +But Malipieri was speechless at that moment and was leaning stupidly +against the jamb of the study door. He had recognized the voice of the +Baroness talking excitedly with her husband. Fate had caught him now, +and there was no escape. Instinctively, he was sure that the Baroness +had come in search of Sabina, and would not leave the house till she +had found her, do what he might. + + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + + + + +The Baroness had been called to the telephone five minutes after +Volterra had gone out with the porter, leaving word that he was going +to the Palazzo Conti and would be back within two hours. The message +she received was from the Russian Embassy, and informed her that the +dowager Princess Conti had arrived at midnight, was the guest of the +Ambassador, and wished her daughter Sabina to come and see her between +eleven and twelve o'clock. In trembling tones the Baroness had +succeeded in saying that Sabina should obey, and had rung off the +connection at once. Then, for the first time in her life, she had felt +for a moment as if she were going to faint. + +The facts, which were unknown to her, were simple enough. The +Ambassador had been informed that a treasure had been discovered, and +had telegraphed the fact in cipher to the Minister of Foreign Affairs +in St. Petersburg, who had telegraphed the news to Prince Rubomirska, +who had telegraphed to the Ambassador, who was his intimate friend, +requesting him to receive the Princess for a few days. As the Prince +and his sister were already in the country, in Poland, not far from the +Austrian frontier, it had not taken her long to reach Rome. Of all +this, the poor Baroness was in ignorance. The one fact stared her in +the face, that the Princess had come to claim Sabina, and Sabina had +disappeared. + +She had learned that the porter had come to say that the cellars of the +Palazzo Conti were flooded, and she knew that her husband would be +there some time. She found Sassi's card, on which his address was +printed, and she drove there in a cab, climbed the stairs and rang the +bell. The old woman who opened was in terrible trouble, and was just +going out. She showed the Baroness the news of Sassi's mysterious +accident shortly given in a paragraph of the _Messaggero_, the little +morning paper which is universally read greedily by the lower classes. +She was just going to the accident hospital, the "Consolazione," to see +her poor master. He had gone out at half past four on the previous +afternoon, and she had sat up all night, hoping that he would come in. +She was quite sure that he had not returned at all after he had gone +out. She was quite sure, too, that he had been knocked down and robbed, +for he had a gold watch and chain, and always carried money in his +pocket. + +The Baroness looked at her, and saw that she was speaking the truth and +was in real distress. It would be quite useless to search the rooms for +Sabina. The old woman-servant had no idea who the Baroness was, and in +her sudden trouble would certainly have confided to her that there was +a young lady in the house, who had not been able to get home. + +"For the love of heaven, Signora," she cried, "come with me to the +hospital, if you know him, for he may be dying." + +The Baroness promised to go later, and really intended to do so. She +drove to the convent in which Donna Clementina was now a cloistered +nun, and asked the portress whether Donna Sabina Conti had been to see +her sister on the previous day. The portress answered that she had not, +and was quite positive of the fact. The Baroness looked at her watch +and hastened to the Palazzo Conti. When she got there, the porter had +already returned to his lodge, and he led her upstairs and to the door +of the study. + +Finding her husband alone, she explained what was the matter, in a few +words and in a low voice. The Princess had come back, and wished to see +Sabina that very morning, and Sabina could not be found. She sank into +a chair, and her sallow face expressed the utmost fright and perplexity. + +"Sassi left our house at five o'clock with Sabina," said the Baron, +"and at a quarter to six he was taken from the door of this palace to +the hospital by Malipieri's man. Either Malipieri or his man must have +seen her." + +"She is here!" cried the Baroness in a loud tone, something of the +truth flashing upon her. "I know she is here!" + +Volterra's mind worked rapidly at the possibility, as at a problem. If +his wife were not mistaken it was easy to explain Malipieri's flat +refusal to let any one enter the bedroom. + +"You may be right," he said, rising. "If she is in the palace she is in +the room beyond that one." He pointed to the door. "You must go in," he +said. "Never mind Malipieri. I will manage him." + +At that moment the door opened. Malipieri had recovered his senses +enough to attempt a final resistance, and stood there, very pale, ready +for anything. + +But the fat Baron knew what he was about, and as he came forward with +his wife he suddenly thrust out his hand at Malipieri's head, and the +latter saw down the barrel of Volterra's revolver. + +"You must let my wife pass," cried Volterra coolly, "or I will shoot +you." + +Malipieri was as active as a sailor. In an instant he had hurled +himself, bending low, at the Baron's knees, and the fat man fell over +him, while the revolver flew from his hand, half across the room, +fortunately not going off as it fell on its side. While Malipieri was +struggling to get the upper hand, the detective ran forward and helped +Volterra. The two threw themselves upon the younger man, and between +the detective's wiry strength and the Baron's tremendous weight, he lay +panting and powerless on his back for an instant. + +The Baroness had possibly assisted at some scenes of violence in the +course of her husband's checkered career. At all events, she did not +stop to see what happened after the way was clear, but ran to the door +of the bedroom, and threw it wide open, for it was not locked. The +light that entered showed her where the window was; she opened it in an +instant, and looked round. + +Sabina was sitting up in bed, staring at her with a dazed expression, +her hair in wild confusion round her pale face and falling over her +bare neck. Her clothes lay in a heap on the floor, beside the bed, +Never was any woman more fairly caught in a situation impossible to +explain. Even in that first moment she felt it, when she looked at the +Baroness's face. + +The latter did not speak, for she was utterly incapable of finding +words. The sound of a scuffle could be heard from the study in the +distance; she quietly shut the door and turned the key. Then she came +and stood by the bed, facing the window. Sabina had sunk back upon the +pillows, but her eyes looked up bravely and steadily. Of the two she +was certainly the one less disturbed, even then, for she remembered +that Malipieri had meant to go and tell the Baroness the whole truth, +early in the morning. He had done so, of course, and the Baroness had +come to take her back, very angry of course, but that was all. This was +what Sabina told herself, but she guessed that matters would turn out +much worse. + +"Did he tell you how it happened that I could not get home?" she asked, +almost calmly. + +"No one has told me anything. Your mother arrived in Rome last night. +She is at the Russian Embassy and wishes to see you at eleven o'clock." + +"My mother?" Sabina raised herself on one hand in surprise. + +"Yes. And I find you here." + +The Baroness folded her arms like a man, her brows contracted, and her +face was almost livid. + +"Have you the face to meet your mother, after this?" she asked sternly. + +"Yes--of course," answered Sabina. "But I must go home and dress. My +frock is ruined." + +"You are a brazen creature," said the Baroness in disgust and anger. +"You do not seem to know what shame means." + +Sabina's deep young eyes flashed; it was not safe to say such things to +her. + +"I have done nothing to be ashamed of," she answered proudly, "and you +shall not speak to me like that. Do you understand?" + +"Nothing to be ashamed of!" The Baroness stared at her in genuine +amazement. "Nothing to be ashamed of!" she repeated, and her voice +shook with emotion. "You leave my house by stealth, you let no one know +where you are going, and the next morning I find you here, in your +lover's house, in your lover's room, the door not even locked, your +head upon your lover's pillow! Nothing to be ashamed of! Merciful +heavens! And you have not only ruined yourself, but you have done an +irreparable injury to honest people who took you in when you were +starving!" + +The poor woman paused for breath, and in her horror, she hid her face +in her hands. She had her faults, no doubt, and she knew that the world +was bad, but she had never dreamt of such barefaced and utterly +monstrous cynicism as Sabina's. If the girl had been overcome with +shame and repentance, and had broken down entirely, imploring help and +forgiveness, as would have seemed natural, the Baroness, for her own +social sake, might have been at last moved to help her out of her +trouble. Instead, being a person of rigid virtue and judging the +situation in the only way really possible for her to see it, she was +both disgusted and horrified. It was no wonder. But she was not +prepared for Sabina's answer. + +"If I were strong enough, I would kill you," said the young girl, +quietly laying her head on the pillow again. + +The Baroness laughed hysterically. She felt as if she were in the +presence of the devil himself. She was not at all a hysterical woman +nor often given to dramatic exhibitions of feeling, but she had never +dreamt that a human being could behave with such horribly brazen +shamelessness. + +For some moments there was silence. Then Sabina spoke, in a quietly +scornful tone, while the Baroness turned her back on her and stood +quite still, looking out of the window. + +"I suppose you have a right to be surprised," Sabina said, "but you +have no right to insult me and say things that are not true. Perhaps +Signor Malipieri likes me very much. I do not know. He has never told +me he loved me." + +The Baroness's large figure shook with fury, but she did not turn +round. What more was the girl going to say? That she did not even care +a little for the man with whom she had ruined herself? Yes. That was +what she was going on to explain. It was beyond belief. + +"I have only seen him a few times," Sabina said. "I daresay I shall be +very fond of him if I see him often. I think he is very like my ideal +of what a man should be." + +The Baroness turned her face half round with an expression that was +positively savage. But she said nothing, and again looked through the +panes. She remembered afterwards that the room smelt slightly of stale +cigar smoke, soap and leather. + +"He wished me to see the things he has found before any one else +should," Sabina continued. "So he got Sassi to bring me here. While we +were in the vaults, the water came, and we could not get out. He worked +for hours to break a hole, and it was two o'clock in the morning when +we were free. I had not had any dinner, and of course I could not go +with him to your house at that hour, even if I had not been worn out. +So he brought me here and gave me something to eat, and his room to +sleep in. As for the door not being locked, he told me twice to lock +it, and I was so sleepy that I forgot to. That is what happened." After +an ominous silence, the Baroness turned round. Her face was almost +yellow now. + +"I do not believe a word you have told me," she said, half choking. + +"Then go!" cried Sabina, sitting up with flashing eyes. "I do not care +a straw whether you believe the truth or not! Go! Go!" + +She stretched out one straight white arm and pointed to the door, in +wrath. The Baroness looked at her, and stood still a moment. Then she +shrugged her shoulders in a manner anything but aristocratic, and left +the room without deigning to turn her head. The instant she was gone +Sabina sprang out of bed and locked the door after her. + +Meanwhile, the struggle between Malipieri and his two adversaries had +come to an end very soon. Malipieri had not really expected to prevent +the Baroness from going to Sabina, but he had wished to try and explain +matters to her before she went. He had upset Volterra, because the +latter had pointed a revolver at his head, which will seem a sufficient +reason to most hot-tempered men. The detective had suggested putting +handcuffs on him, while they held him down, but Volterra was anxious to +settle matters amicably. + +"It was my fault," he said, drawing back. "I thought that you were +going to resist, and I pulled out my pistol too soon. I offer you all +my apologies." + +He had got to his feet with more alacrity than might have been expected +of such a fat man, and was adjusting his collar and tie, and smoothing +his waistcoat over his rotundity. Malipieri had risen the moment he was +free. The detective looked as if nothing had happened out of the common +way, and the neatness of his appearance was not in the least disturbed. + +"I offer you my apologies, Signor Malipieri," repeated the Baron +cordially and smiling in a friendly way. "I should not have drawn my +pistol on you. I presume you will accept the excuses I make?" + +"Do not mention the matter," answered Malipieri with coolness, but +civilly enough, seeing that there was nothing else to be done. "I trust +you are none the worse for your fall." + +"Not at all, not at all," replied Volterra. "I hope," he said, turning +to the detective, "that you will say nothing about this incident, since +no harm has been done. It concerns a private matter,--I may almost say, +a family matter. I have some little influence, and if I can be of any +use to you, I shall always be most happy." + +The gratitude of so important a personage was not to be despised, as +the detective knew. He produced a card bearing his name, and handed it +to the Senator with a bow. + +"Always at your service, sir," he said. "It is very fortunate that the +revolver did not go off and hurt one of us," he added, picking up the +weapon and handing it to Volterra. "I have noticed that these things +almost invariably kill the wrong person, when they kill anybody at all, +which is rare." + +Volterra smiled, thanked him and returned the revolver to his pocket. +Malipieri had watched the two in silence. Fate had taken matters out of +his hands, and there was absolutely nothing to be done. In due time, +Sabina would come out with the Baroness, but he could not guess what +would happen then. Volterra would probably not speak out before the +detective, who would not recognize Sabina, even if he knew her by +sight. The Baroness would take care that he should not see the girl's +face, as both Volterra and Malipieri knew. + +The three men sat down and waited in silence after the detective had +last spoken. Volterra lit a fresh cigar, and offered one to the +detective a few moments later. The latter took it with a bow and put it +into his pocket for a future occasion. + +The door opened at last, and the Baroness entered, her face discoloured +to a blotchy yellowness by her suppressed anger. She stood still a +moment after she had come in, and glared at Malipieri. He and the +detective rose, but Volterra kept his seat. + +"Were you right, my dear?" the latter enquired, looking at her. + +"Yes," she answered in a thick voice, turning to him for an instant, +and then glaring at Malipieri again, as if she could hardly keep her +hands from him in her righteous anger. + +He saw clearly enough that she had not believed the strange story which +Sabina must have told her, and he wondered whether any earthly power +could possibly make her believe it in spite of herself. During the +moments of silence that followed, the whole situation rose before him, +in the only light under which it could at first appear to any ordinary +person. It was frightful to think that what had been a bit of romantic +quixotism on his part, in wishing Sabina to see the statues which +should have been hers, should end in her social disgrace, perhaps in +her utter ruin if the Baroness and her husband could not be mollified. +He did not know that there was one point in Sabina's favour, in the +shape of the Princess's sudden return to Rome, though he guessed the +Baroness's character well enough to have foreseen, had he known of the +new complication, that she would swallow her pride and even overlook +Sabina's supposed misdeeds, rather than allow the Princess to accuse +her of betraying her trust and letting the young girl ruin herself. + +"I must consult with you," the Baroness said to her husband, +controlling herself as she came forward into the room and passed +Malipieri. "We cannot talk here," she added, glancing at the detective. + +"This gentleman," said Volterra, waving his hand towards the latter, +"is here officially, to make an enquiry about Sassi's accident." + +"I shall be happy to wait outside if you have private matters to +discuss," said the detective, who wished to show himself worthy of the +Baron's favour, if he could do so without neglecting his duties. + +"You are extremely obliging," Volterra said, in a friendly tone. + +The detective smiled, bowed and left the room by the door leading +towards the hall. + +"It seems to me," the Baroness said, still suppressing her anger, as +she turned her face a little towards Malipieri and spoke at him over +her shoulder, "it seems to me that you might go too." + +It was not for Malipieri to resent her tone or words just then, and he +knew it, though he hated her for believing the evidence of her senses +rather than Sabina's story. He made a step towards the door. + +"No," Volterra said, without rising, "I think he had better stay, and +hear what we have to say about this. After all, the responsibility for +what has happened falls upon him." + +"I should think it did!" cried the Baroness, breaking out at last, in +harsh tones. "You abominable villain, you monster of iniquity, you +snake, you viper--" + +"Hush, hush, my dear!" interposed the Baron, realizing vaguely that his +wife's justifiable excitement was showing itself in unjustifiably +vulgar vituperation. + +"You toad!" yelled the Baroness, shaking her fist in Malipieri's face. +"You reptile, you accursed ruffian, you false, black-hearted, lying son +of Satan!" + +She gasped for breath, and her whole frame quivered with fury, while +her livid lips twisted themselves to hiss out the epithets of abuse. +Volterra feared lest she should fall down in an apoplexy, and he rose +from his seat quickly. He gathered her to his corpulent side with one +arm and made her turn away towards the window, which he opened with his +free hand. + +"I should be all that, and worse, if a tenth of what you believe were +true," Malipieri said, coming nearer and then standing still. + +He was very pale, and he was conscious of a cowardly wish that +Volterra's revolver might have killed him ten minutes earlier. But he +was ashamed of the mere thought when he remembered what Sabina would +have to face. Volterra, while holding his wife firmly against the +window sill, to force her to breathe the outer air, turned his head +towards Malipieri. + +"She is quite beside herself, you see," he said apologetically. + +The Baroness was a strong woman, and after the first explosion of her +fury she regained enough self-control to speak connectedly. She turned +round, in spite of the pressure of her husband's arm. + +"He is not even ashamed of what he has done!" she said. "He stands +there--" + +The Baron interrupted her, fearing another outburst. + +"Let me speak," he said in the tone she could not help obeying. "What +explanation have you to offer of Donna Sabina's presence here?" he +asked. + +As he put the question, he nodded significantly to Malipieri, over his +wife's shoulder, evidently to make the latter understand that he must +at least invent some excuse if he had none ready. The Baron did not +care a straw what became of him, or of Sabina, and wished them both out +of his way for ever, but he had always avoided scandal, and was +especially anxious to avoid it now. + +Malipieri resented the hint much more than the Baroness's anger, but he +was far too much in the wrong, innocent though he was, to show his +resentment. + +He told his story firmly and coolly, and it agreed exactly with +Sabina's. + +"That is exactly what happened last night," he concluded. "If you will +go down, you will find the breach I made, and the first vaults full of +water. I have nothing more to say." + +"You taught her the lesson admirably," said the Baroness with withering +scorn. "She told me the same story almost word for word!" + +"Madam," Malipieri answered, "I give you my word of honour that it is +true." + +"My dear," Volterra said, speaking to his wife, "when a gentleman gives +his word of honour, you are bound to accept it." + +"I hope so," said Malipieri. + +"Any man would perjure himself for a woman," retorted the Baroness with +contempt. + +"No, my dear," the Baron objected, trying to mollify her. "Perjury is a +crime, you know." + +"And what he has done is a much worse crime!" she cried. + +"I have not committed any crime," Malipieri answered. "I would give all +I possess, and my life, to undo what has happened, but I have neither +said nor done anything to be ashamed of. For Donna Sabina's sake, you +must accept my explanation. In time you will believe it." + +"Yes, yes," urged Volterra, "I am sure you will, my dear. In any case +you must accept it as the only one. I will go downstairs with Signor +Malipieri and we will take the porter to the cellars. Then you can go +out with Sabina, and if you are careful no one will ever know that she +has been here." + +"And do you mean to let her live under your roof after this?" asked the +Baroness indignantly. + +"Her mother is now in Rome," answered Volterra readily. "When she is +dressed, you will take her to the Princess, and you will say that as we +are going away, we are reluctantly obliged to decline the +responsibility of keeping the young girl with us any longer. That is +what you will do." + +"I am glad you admit at least that she cannot live with us any longer," +the Baroness answered. "I am sure I have no wish to ruin the poor girl, +who has been this man's unhappy victim--" + +"Hush, hush!" interposed Volterra. "You must really accept the +explanation he has given." + +"For decency's sake, you may, and I shall have to pretend that I do. At +least," she continued, turning coldly to Malipieri, "you will make such +reparation as is in your power." + +"I will do anything I can," answered Malipieri gravely. + +"You will marry her as soon as possible," the Baroness said with frigid +severity. "It is the only thing you can do." + +Malipieri was silent. The Baron looked at him, and a disagreeable smile +passed over his fat features. But at that moment the door opened, and +Sabina entered. Without the least hesitation she came forward to +Malipieri, frankly holding out her hand. + +"Good morning," she said. "Before I go, I wish to thank you again for +saving my life, and for taking care of me here." + +He held her hand a moment. + +"I ask your pardon, with all my heart, for having brought you into +danger and trouble," he answered. + +"It was not your fault," she said. "It was nobody's fault, and I am +glad I saw the statues before any one else. You told me last night that +you were probably going away. If we never meet again, I wish you to +remember that you are not to reproach yourself for anything that may +happen to me. You might, you know. Will you remember?" + +She spoke quite naturally and without the least fear of Volterra and +his wife, who looked on and listened in dumb surprise at her +self-possession. She meant every word she said, and more too, but she +had thought out the little speech while she was dressing, for she had +guessed what must be happening in the study. Malipieri fixed his eyes +on hers gratefully, but did not find an answer at once. + +"Will you remember?" she repeated. + +"I shall never forget," he answered, not quite steadily, + +By one of those miracles which are the birthright of certain women, she +had made her dress look almost fresh again. The fawn-coloured hat was +restored to its shape, or nearly. The mud that had soiled her skirt had +dried and she had brushed it away, though it had left faint spots on +the cloth, here and there; pins hid the little rents so cleverly that +only a woman's eye could have detected anything wrong, and the russet +shoes were tolerably presentable. The Baroness saw traces of the +adventure to which the costume had been exposed, but Volterra smiled +and was less inclined than ever to believe the story which both had +told, though he did not say so. + +"My wife and I," he said cordially, "quite understand what has +happened, and no one shall ever know about it, unless you speak of it +yourself. She will go home with you now, and will then take you to the +Russian Embassy to see your mother." + +Sabina looked at him in surprise, for she had expected a disagreeable +scene. Then she glanced at the Baroness's sallow and angry face, and +she partly understood the position. + +"Thank you," she said proudly, "but if you do not mind, I will go to my +mother directly. You will perhaps be so kind as to have my things sent +to the Embassy, or my mother's maid will come and get them." + +"You cannot go looking like that," said the Baroness severely. + +"On the contrary," Volterra interposed, "I think that considering your +dangerous adventure, you look perfectly presentable. Of course, we +quite understand that as the Princess has returned, you should wish to +go back to her at once, though we are very sorry to let you go." + +Sabina paused a moment before answering. Then she spoke to the +Baroness, only glancing at Volterra. + +"Until to-day, you have been very kind to me," she said with an effort. +"I thank you for your kindness, and I am sorry that you think so badly +of me." + +"My dear young lady," cried the Baron, lying with hearty cordiality, +"you are much mistaken! I assure you, it was only a momentary +misapprehension on the part of my wife, who had not even spoken with +Signor Malipieri. His explanation has been more than satisfactory. Is +it not so, my dear?" he asked, turning to the Baroness for confirmation +of his fluent assurances. + +"Of course," she answered, half choking, and with a face like thunder; +but she dared not disobey. + +"If my mother says anything about my frock, I shall tell her the whole +story," said Sabina, glancing at her skirt. + +"If you do," said the Baroness, "I shall deny it from beginning to end." + +"I think that it would perhaps be wiser to explain that in some other +way," the Baron suggested. "Signor Malipieri, will you be so very kind +as to go down first, and take the porter with a light to the entrance +of the cellars? He knows Donna Sabina, you see. I will come down +presently, for I shall stay behind and ask the detective to look out of +the window in the next room, while my wife and Donna Sabina pass +through. In that way we shall be quite sure that she will not be +recognized. Will you do that, Signor Malipieri? Unless you have a +better plan to suggest, of course." + +Malipieri saw that the plan was simple and apparently safe. He looked +once more at Sabina, and she smiled, and just bent her head, but said +nothing. He left the room. The detective was sitting in a corner of the +room beyond, and the two men exchanged a silent nod as Malipieri passed. + +Everything was arranged as the Baron had planned, and ten minutes later +the Baroness and Sabina descended the stairs together in silence and +reached the great entrance. The two soldiers were standing by the open +door of the lodge, and saluted in military fashion. Gigi, the +carpenter, sprang forward and opened the postern door, touching his +paper cap to the ladies. + +They did not exchange a word as they walked to the Piazza Sant' +Apollinare to find a cab. Sabina held her head high and looked straight +before her, and the Baroness's invisible silk bellows were distinctly +audible in the quiet street. + +"By the hour," said the Baroness, as they got into the first cab they +reached on the stand. "Go to the Russian Embassy, in the Corso." + + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + + + + +"So you spent last night in the rooms of a man you have not seen half a +dozen times," said the Princess, speaking with a cigarette in her +mouth. "And what is worse, those dreadful Volterra people found you +there. No Conti ever had any common sense!" + +What Sabina had foreseen had happened. Her mother had looked her over, +from head to foot, to see what sort of condition she was in, as a +horse-dealer looks over a promising colt he has not seen for some time; +and the Princess had instantly detected the signs of an accident. In +answer to her question Sabina told the truth. Her mother had watched +her face and her innocent eyes while she was telling the story, and +needed no other confirmation. + +"You are a good girl," she continued, as Sabina did not reply to the +last speech. "But you are a little fool. I wonder why my children are +all idiots! I am not so stupid after all. I suppose it must have been +your poor father." + +The white lids closed thoughtfully over her magnificent eyes, and +opened again after a moment, as if she had called up a vision of her +departed husband and had sent it away again. + +"I suppose it was silly of me to go at all," Sabina admitted, leaning +back in her chair. "But I wanted so much to see the statues!" + +She felt at home. Her mother had brought her up badly and foolishly, +and of late had neglected her shamefully. Sabina knew that and neither +loved her nor respected her, and it was not because she was her mother +that the girl felt suddenly at ease in her presence, as she never could +feel with the Baroness. She did not wish to be at all like her mother +in character, or even in manner, and yet she felt that they belonged to +the same kind, spoke the same language, and had an instinctive +understanding of each other, though these things implied neither mutual +respect nor affection. + +"That horrible old Volterra!" said the Princess, with emphasis. "He +means to keep everything he has found, for himself, if he can. I have +come only just in time." + +Sabina did not answer. She knew nothing of the law, and though she +fancied that she might have some morally just claim to a share in the +treasure, she had never believed that it could be proved. + +"Of course," the Princess continued, smoking thoughtfully, "there is +only one thing to be done. You must marry this Malipieri at once, +whether you like him or not. What sort of man is he?" + +The faint colour rose in Sabina's cheeks and not altogether at the mere +thought of marrying Malipieri; she was hurt by the way her mother spoke +of him. + +"What kind of man is he?" the Princess repeated, "I suppose he is a +Venetian, a son of the man who married the Gradenigo heiress, about the +time when I was married myself. Is he the man who discovered Troy?" + +"Carthage, I think," said Sabina. + +"Troy, Carthage, America, it is all the same. He discovered something, +and I fancy he will be rich. But what is he like? Dark, fair, good, +bad, snuffy or smart? As he is an archaeologist, he must be snuffy, a +bore, probably, and what the English call a male frump. It cannot be +helped, my dear! You will have to marry him. Describe him to me." + +"He is dark," said Sabina. + +"I am glad of that. I always liked dark men--your father was fair, like +you. Besides, as you are a blonde, you will always look better beside a +dark husband. But of course he is dreadfully careless, with long hair +and doubtful nails. All those people are." + +"No," said Sabina. "He is very nice-looking and neat, and wears good +clothes." + +The Princess's brow cleared. + +"All the better," she said. "Well, my dear, it is not so bad after all. +We have found a husband for you, rich, of good family--quite as good as +yours, my child! Good-looking, smart--what more do you expect? Besides, +he cannot possibly refuse to marry you after what has happened. On the +whole, I think your adventure has turned out rather well. You can be +married in a month. Every one will think it quite natural that it +should have been kept quiet until I came, you see." + +"But even if I wanted to marry him, he will never ask for me," objected +Sabina, who was less surprised than might be expected, for she knew her +mother thoroughly. + +The Princess laughed, and blew a cloud of smoke from her lips, and then +showed her handsome teeth. + +"I have only to say the word," she answered. "When a young girl of our +world has spent the night in a man's rooms, he marries her, if her +family wishes it. No man of honour can possibly refuse. I suppose that +this Malipieri is a gentleman?" + +"Indeed he is!" Sabina spoke with considerable indignation. + +"Precisely. Then he will come to me this afternoon and tell his story +frankly, just as you have done--it was very sensible of you, my +dear--and he will offer to marry you. Of course I shall accept." + +"But, mother," cried Sabina, aghast at the suddenness of the +conclusion, "I am not at all sure--" + +She stopped, feeling that she was much more sure of being in love with +Malipieri than she had been when she had driven to the palace with +Sassi on the previous afternoon. + +"Is there any one you like better?" asked the Princess sharply. "Are +you in love with any one else?" + +"No! But--" + +"I had never seen your father when our marriage was arranged," the +Princess observed. + +"And you were very unhappy together," Sabina answered promptly. "You +always say so." + +"Oh, unhappy? I am not so sure, now. Certainly Hot nearly so miserable +as half the people I know. After all, what is happiness, child? Doing +what you please, is it not?" + +Sabina had not thought of this definition, and she laughed, without +accepting it. In one way, everything looked suddenly bright and +cheerful, since her mother had believed her story, and she knew that +she was not to go back to the Baroness, who had not believed her at +all, and had called her bad names. + +"And I almost always did as I pleased," the Princess continued, after a +moment's reflection. "The only trouble was that your dear father did +not always like what I did. He was a very religious man. That was what +ruined us. He gave half his income to charities and then scolded me +because I could not live on the other half. Besides, he turned the Ten +Commandments into a hundred. It was a perfect multiplication, table of +things one was not to do." + +Poor Sabina's recollections of her father had nothing of affection in +them, and she did not feel called upon to defend his memory. Like many +weak but devout men, he had been severe to his children, even to +cruelty, while perfectly incapable of controlling his wife's caprices. + +"I remember, though I was only a little girl when he died," Sabina said. + +"Is Malipieri very religious?" the Princess asked "I mean, does he make +a fuss about having fish on Fridays?" She spoke quite gravely. + +"I fancy not," Sabina answered, seeing nothing odd in her mother's +implied definition of righteousness. "He never talked to me about +religion, I am sure." + +"Thank God!" exclaimed the Princess devoutly. + +"He always says he is a republican," Sabina remarked, glad to talk +about him. + +"Really?" The Princess was interested. "I adore revolutionaries," she +said thoughtfully. "They always have something to say. I have always +longed to meet a real anarchist." + +"Signor Malipieri is not an anarchist," said Sabina. + +"Of course not, child! I never said he was. All anarchists are +shoemakers or miners, or something like that. I only said that I always +longed to meet one. People who do not value their lives are generally +amusing. When I was a girl, I was desperately in love with a cousin of +mine who drove a four-in-hand down a flight of steps, and won a bet by +jumping on a wild bear's back. He was always doing those things. I +loved him dearly." The Princess laughed. + +"What became of him?" Sabina asked. + +"He shot himself one day in Geneva, poor boy, because he was bored. I +was always sorry, though they would not have let me marry him, because +he had lost all his money at cards." The Princess sighed. "Of course +you want a lot of new clothes, my dear," she said, changing the subject +rather suddenly. "Have you nothing but that to wear?" + +Sabina's things had not yet come from the Via Ludovisi. She explained +that she had plenty of clothes. + +"I fancy they are nothing but rags," her mother answered incredulously. +"We shall have to go to Paris in any case for your trousseau. You +cannot get anything here." + +"But we have no money," objected Sabina. + +"As if that made any difference! We can always get money, somehow. What +a child you are!" + +Sabina said nothing, for she knew that her mother always managed to +have what she wanted, even when it looked quite impossible. The girl +had been brought up in the atmosphere of perpetual debt and borrowing +which seemed natural to the Princess, and nothing of that sort +surprised her, though it was all contrary to her own instinctively +conscientious and honourable nature. + +Her mother had always been a mystery to her, and now, as Sabina sat +near her, she crossed her feet, which were encased in a pair of the +Princess's slippers, and looked at her as she had often looked before, +wondering how such a reckless, scatter-brained, almost penniless woman +could have remained the great personage which the world always +considered her to be, and that, too, without the slightest effort on +her part to maintain her position. + +Then Sabina reflected upon the Baroness's existence, which was one long +struggle to reach a social elevation not even remotely rivalling that +of the Princess Conti; a struggle in which she was armed with a large +fortune, with her husband's political power, with the most strictly +virtuous views of life, and an iron will; a struggle which could never +raise her much beyond the point she had already reached. + +Sabina's meditations were soon interrupted by the arrival of her +belongings, in charge of her mother's maid, and the immediate necessity +of dressing more carefully than had been possible when she had been so +rudely roused by the Baroness. She was surprised to find herself so +little tired by the desperate adventure, and without even a cold as the +result of the never-to-be-forgotten chill she had felt in the vaults. + +In the afternoon, the Princess declared that she would not go out. She +was sure that Malipieri would present himself, and she would receive +him in her boudoir. The ambassador had given her a very pretty set of +rooms. He was a bachelor, and was of course delighted to have her stay +with him, and still more pleased that her pretty daughter should join +her. It was late in the season, he was detained in Rome by an +international complication, and he looked upon the arrival of the two +guests as a godsend, more especially as the Princess was an old +acquaintance of his and the wife of an intimate friend. Nothing could +have been more delightful, and everything was for the best. The +Princess herself felt that fortune was shining upon her, for she never +doubted that she could lay hands on some of the money which the statues +would bring, and she was sure, at least, of marrying Sabina extremely +well in a few weeks, which was an advantage not to be despised. + +During the hours that followed her first conversation with her mother, +Sabina found time to reflect upon her own future, and the more she +thought of it, the more rosy it seemed. She was sure that Malipieri +loved her, though he had certainly not told her so yet, and she was +sure that she had never met a man whom she liked half so much. It was +true that she had not met many, and none at all in even such intimacy +as had established itself between him and her at their very first +meeting; but that mattered little, and last night she had seen him as +few women ever see a man, fighting for her life and his own for hours +together, and winning in the end. Indeed, had she known it, their +situation had been really desperate, for while Masin was in prison and +in ignorance of what had happened, and Sassi lying unconscious at the +hospital after a fall that had nearly killed him outright, it was +doubtful whether any one else could have guessed that they were in the +vaults or would have been able to get them out alive, had it been known. + +She had always expected to be married against her will by her mother, +or at all events without any inclination on her own part. She had been +taught that it was the way of the world, which it was better to accept. +If the proposed husband had been a cripple, or an old man, she would +have been capable of rebellion, of choosing the convent, of running +away alone into the world, of almost anything. But if he had turned out +to be an average individual, neither uglier, nor older, nor more +repulsive than many others, she would probably have accepted her fate +with indifference, or at least with the necessary resignation, +especially if she had never met Malipieri. Instead of that, it was +probably Malipieri whom she was to marry, the one of all others whom +she had chosen for herself, and in place of a dreary existence, +stretching out through endless blank years in the future, she saw a +valley of light, carpeted with roses, opening suddenly in the +wilderness to receive her and the man she loved. + +It was no wonder that she smiled in her sleep as she lay resting in the +warm afternoon, in her own room. Her mother had made her lie down, +partly because she was still tired, and partly because it would be +convenient that she should be out of the way if Malipieri came. + +He came, as the Princess had expected, and between two and three +o'clock, an hour at which he was almost sure to find her at home. From +what Sabina had said to the Baroness in his presence, and from his +judgment of the girl's character, he felt certain that she would tell +her mother the whole story at once. As they had acknowledged to each +other in the vaults, they were neither of them good at inventing +falsehoods, and Sabina would surely tell the truth. In the extremely +improbable case that she had not been obliged to say anything about the +events of the night, his visit would not seem at all out of place. He +had seen a good deal of Sabina during her mother's absence, and it was +proper that he should present himself in order to make the Princess's +acquaintance. + +He studied her face quickly as he came forward, and made up his mind +that she expected him, though she looked up with an air of languid +surprise as he entered. She leaned forward a little in her comfortable +seat, and held out her plump hand. + +"I think I knew your mother, and my daughter has told me about you," +she said. "I am glad to see you." + +"You are very kind," Malipieri answered, raising her hand to his lips, +which encountered a large, cool sapphire. "I have had the pleasure of +meeting Donna Sabina several times." + +"Yes, I know." The Princess laughed. "Sit down here beside me, and tell +me all about your strange adventure. You are really the man I mean, are +you not?" she asked, still smiling. "Your mother was a Gradenigo?" + +"Yes. My father is alive. You may have met him, though he rarely leaves +Venice." + +"I think I have, years ago, but I am not sure. Does he never come to +Rome?" + +"He is an invalid now," Malipieri explained gravely. "He cannot leave +the house." + +"Indeed? I am very sorry. It must be dreadful to be an invalid. I was +never ill in my life. But now that we have made acquaintance, do tell +me all about last night I Were you really in danger, as Sabina thinks, +or is she exaggerating?" + +"There was certainly no exaggeration in saying that we were in great +danger, as matters have turned out," Malipieri answered. "Of the two +men who knew that we were in the vault, one is lying insensible, with a +fractured skull, in the hospital of the Consolazione, and the other has +been arrested by a mistake and is in prison. Besides, both of them +would have had every reason to suppose that we had got out." + +"Sabina did not tell me that. How awful! I must know all the details, +please!" + +Malipieri told the whole story, from the time when Volterra had first +invited him to come and make a search. The Princess nodded her +energetic approval of his view that Sabina had a right to a large share +in anything that was found. The poor girl's dowry, she said, had been +eaten up by her father's absurd charities and by the bad administration +of the estates which had ruined the whole family. Malipieri paid no +attention to this statement, for he knew the truth, and he went on to +the end, telling everything, up to the moment when Volterra had at last +quitted the palace that morning and had left him free. + +"Poor Sassi!" exclaimed the Princess, when he had finished. "He was a +foolish old man, but he always seemed very willing. Is that all?" + +"Yes. That is all. I think I have forgotten nothing." + +The Princess looked at him and smiled encouragingly, expecting him to +say something more, but he was grave and silent. Gradually, the smile +faded from her face, till she looked away, and took a cigarette from +the table at her elbow. Still he said nothing. She lit the cigarette +and puffed at it two or three times, slowly and thoughtfully. + +"I hope that Donna Sabina is none the worse for the fatigue," Malipieri +said at last. "She seemed quite well this morning. I wondered that she +had not caught cold." + +"She never caught cold easily, even as a child," answered the Princess +indifferently. "This affair may have much more serious consequences +than a cold in the head," she added, after a long pause. + +"I think the Volterra couple will be discreet, for their own sakes," +Malipieri answered. + +"Their servants must know that Sabina was out all night." + +"They do not know that poor Sassi did not bring her to you here, and +the Baroness will be careful to let them understand that she is here +now, and with you. Those people dread nothing like a scandal. The +secret is between them and us. I do not see how any one else can +possibly know it, or guess it." + +"The fact remains," said the Princess, speaking out, "that my daughter +spent last night in your rooms, and slept there, as if she had been in +her own home. If it is ever known she will be ruined." + +"It will never be known, I am quite sure." + +"I am not, and it is a possibility I cannot really afford to +contemplate." She looked fixedly at him. + +Malipieri was silent, and his face showed that he was trying to find +some way out of the imaginary difficulty, or at least some argument +which might quiet the Princess's fears. + +She did not understand his silence. If he was a man of honour, it was +manifestly his duty at least to offer the reparation that lay in his +power; but he showed no inclination to do so. It was incomprehensible. + +"I cannot see what is to be done," he said at last. + +"Is it possible that I must tell you, Signer Malipieri?" asked the +Princess, and her splendid eyes flashed angrily. + +Malipieri's met them without flinching. + +"You mean, of course, that I should offer to marry Donna Sabina," he +said. + +"What else could an honourable man do, in your position?" + +"I wish I knew." Malipieri passed his hand over his eyes in evident +distress. + +"Do you mean to say that you refuse?" the Princess asked, between scorn +and anger. "Are you so little one of us that you suppose this to be a +question of inclination?" + +Malipieri looked up again. + +"I wish it were. I love your daughter with all my heart and soul. I +did, before I saved her life last night." + +The Princess's anger gave way to stupefaction. + +"Well--but then? I do not understand. There is something else?" + +"Yes, there is something else. I have kept the secret a long time, and +it is not all my own." + +"I have a right to know it," the Princess answered firmly, and bending +her brows. + +"I never expected to tell it to any one," Malipieri said, in a low +voice, and evidently struggling with himself. "I see that I shall have +to trust you." + +"You must," insisted the Princess. "My daughter has a right to know, as +well as I; and you say that you love her." + +"I am married." + +"Good heavens!" + +She sank back in her chair, overwhelmed with surprise at the simple +statement, which, after all, need not have astonished her so much, as +she reflected a moment later. She had never heard of Malipieri until +that day, and since he had never told any one of his marriage, it was +impossible that her daughter should have known of it. She was tolerably +sure that the latter's adventure would not be known, but she had formed +the determination to take advantage of it in order to secure Malipieri +for Sabina, and had been so perfectly sure of the result that she fell +from the clouds on learning that he had a wife already. + +On his part, he was not thinking of what was passing in her mind, but +of what he should have thought of himself, had he, with his character, +been in her position. The bald statement that he was married and his +confession of his love for Sabina looked badly side by side, in the +clear light of his own honour; all the more, because he knew that, +without positively or directly speaking out his heart to the girl, he +had let her guess that he was falling in love with her. He had said so, +though in jest, on that night when he had been alone with her in +Volterra's house; his going there, on the mere chance of seeing her +alone, and the interest he had shown in her from their first meeting, +must have made her think that he was in love. Moreover, he really was, +and like most people who are consciously in love where they ought not +to be, he felt as if everybody knew it; and yet he was a married man. + +"I am legally married under Italian law," he said, after a pause. "But +that is all. My wife bears my name, and lives honourably under it, but +that is all there has ever been of marriage in my life. I can honestly +say that not even a word of affection ever passed between us." + +"How strange!" The Princess listened with interest, wondering what was +coming next. + +"I never saw her but once," Malipieri continued. "We met in the +morning, we were married at noon, at the municipality, we parted at the +railway station twenty minutes later, and have never met again." + +"But you are not married at all!" cried the Princess. "The Church would +annul such a marriage without making the least trouble." + +"We were not even married in church," said Malipieri. "We were married +at the municipality only." + +"It is not a marriage at all, then." + +"Excuse me. It is perfectly valid in law, and my wife has a certified +copy of the register to prove that she has a right to my name." + +"Were you mad? What made you do it? It is utterly incomprehensible--to +bind yourself for life to a woman you had never seen! What possible +motive--" + +"I will tell you," said Malipieri. "It all happened long ago, when I +was little more than twenty-one. It is not a very long story, but I beg +you not to tell it. You do not suppose me capable of keeping it a +secret in order to make another marriage, not really legal do you?" + +"Certainly not," answered the Princess. "I believe you to be an +honourable man. I will not tell your story to any one." + +"You may tell Donna Sabina as much of it as you think she need hear. +This is what happened. I served my time in a cavalry regiment--no +matter where, and I had an intimate friend, nearly of my own age, and a +Venetian. He was very much in love with a young girl of a respectable +family, but not of his own station. Of course his family would not hear +of a marriage, but she loved him, and he promised that he would marry +her as soon as he had finished his military service, in spite of his +own people. He would have been of age by that time, for he was only a +few months younger than I, and he was willing to sacrifice most of his +inheritance for love of the girl. Do you understand?" + +"Yes. Go on." + +"He and I were devotedly attached to each other, said I sympathized +with him, of course, and promised to help him if he made a runaway +match. He used to get leave for a couple of days, to go and see her, +for she lived with her parents in a small city within two hours of our +garrison town. You guess what happened.--They were young, they were +foolish, and they were madly in love." + +The Princess nodded, and Malipieri continued. + +"Not long afterwards, my friend was killed by a fall. His horse crushed +him. It was a horrible accident, and he lived twelve hours after it, in +great pain. He would not let the doctors give him morphia. He said he +would die like a man, and he did, with all his senses about him. While +he lay dying, I was with him, and then he told me all the truth. The +girl would not be able to conceal it much longer. There was no time to +bring her to his bedside and marry her while he still breathed. He +could not even leave her money, for he was a minor. He could do nothing +for her and her parents would turn her into the street; in any case she +was ruined. He was in frightful agony of mind for her sake, he was +dying before my eyes, powerless to help her and taking his suffering +and his fault with him to the next world, and he was my friend. I did +what I could. I gave him my word of honour that I would marry her +legally, give her and her child my name, and provide for them as well +as I could. He thanked me--I shall never forget how he looked--and he +died quietly, half an hour afterwards. You know now. I kept my word. +That is all." + +The Princess looked at his quiet face a moment in silence, and all that +was best in her rose up through all that was artificial and worldly, +and untruthful and vain. + +"I did not know that there were such men," she said simply. + + + + + +CHAPTER XX + + + + +"So he got out," said Gigi to Toto, filling the latter's glass to the +brim. + +"May he die assassinated!" answered Toto. "I will burn a candle to the +Madonna every day, in order that an apoplexy may seize him. He is the +devil in person, this cursed engineer. Even the earth and the water +will not have him. They spit him out, like that." + +Toto illustrated the simile with force and noise before drinking. +Gigi's cunning face was wreathed in smiles. + +"You know nothing," he observed. + +"What is it?" asked Toto, with his glass in his hand and between two +sips. + +"There was old Sassi, who was hurt, and the engineer's gaol-bird +mason-servant. They were with him. It was all in the _Messaggero_ this +morning." + +"I know that without the newspaper, you imbecile. It was I that told +you, for I saw all three pass under the window while I was locked in. +Is there anything else you know?" + +"Oh, yes! There was another person with them." + +"I daresay," Toto answered, pretending blank indifference. "He must +have been close to the wall as they went by. What difference does it +make since that pig of an engineer got out?" + +"The other person was caught with him when the water rose," said Gigi, +who meant to give his information by inches. + +"Curse him, whoever he was! He helped the engineer and that is why they +got out. No man alone could have broken through that wall in a night, +except one of us." + +"The other person was only a woman, after all," answered Gigi. "But you +do not care, I suppose." + +"Speak, animal of a Jesuit that you are!" cried Toto. "Do not make me +lose my soul!" + +Gigi smiled and drank some of his wine. + +"There are people who would pay to know," he said, "and you would never +tell me whether the sluice gate of the 'lost water' is under number +thirteen or not." + +"It is under number thirteen, Master Judas. Speak!" + +"It was the little fair girl of Casa Conti who was caught with the +engineer in the vaults." + +Even Toto was surprised, and opened his eyes and his mouth at the same +time. + +"The little Princess Sabina?" he asked in a low voice. + +Gigi shrugged his shoulders with a pitying air and grinned. + +"I told you that you knew nothing," he observed in triumph. "They were +together all night, and she slept in his room, and the Senator's wife +came to get her in the morning. The engineer took the porter off to the +cellars before they came down, so that he should not see her pass; but +he forgot me, the old carpenter of the house, and I opened the postern +for the two ladies to go out. The little Princess's skirt had been +torn. I saw the pins with these eyes. It was also spotted with mud +which had been brushed off. But thanks be to heaven I have still my +sight. I see, and am not blind." + +"Are you sure it was she?" asked Toto, forgetting to curse anybody. + +"I saw her as I see you. Have I not seen her grow up, since she used to +be wheeled about in a baby carriage in Piazza Navona, like a flower in +a basket? Her nurse made love with the 'woodpecker' who was always on +duty there." + +The Romans call the municipal watchmen "woodpeckers," because they wear +little pointed cocked hats with a bunch of feathers. They have nothing +to do with police soldiers, nor with the carabineers. + +Toto made Gigi tell him everything he knew. At the porter's suggestion +Volterra had sent for the mason, as the only man who knew anything +about the "lost water," and Toto had agreed, with apparent reluctance, +to do what he could at once, as soon as he had satisfied himself that +Malipieri had really made another opening by which the statues could be +reached. Toto laid down conditions, however. He pretended that he must +expose himself to great danger, and insisted upon being paid fifty +francs for the job. Furthermore, he obtained from Volterra, in the +presence of the porter as witness, a formal promise that his +grandfather's bones should have Christian burial, with a fine hearse +and feathers, and a permanent grave in the cemetery of Saint Lawrence, +which latter is rather an expensive luxury, beyond the means of the +working people. But the Baron made no objection. The story would look +very well in a newspaper paragraph, as a fine illustration of the +Senator's liberality as well as of his desire to maintain the forms of +religion. It would please everybody, and what will do that is cheap at +any price, in politics. + +The result of these negotiations had of course been that the water had +subsided in the vaults within a few hours, and Toto even found a way of +draining the outer cellars, which had been flooded to the depth of a +couple of feet, because the first breach made by Malipieri had turned +out to be an inch or two lower than the level of the overflow shaft. + +When the two workmen had exchanged confidences, they ordered another +half litre of wine, and sat in silence till the grimy host had set it +down between them on the blackened table, and had retired to his den. +Then they looked at each other. + +"There is an affair here," observed Gigi presently. + +"I suppose you mean the newspapers," said Toto nodding gravely. "They +pay for such stories." + +"Newspapers!" Gigi made a face. "All journalists are pigs who are dying +of hunger." + +Toto seemed inclined to agree with this somewhat extreme statement, on +the whole, but he distinguished. There were papers, he said, which +would pay as much as a hundred francs for a scandalous story about the +Roman princes. A hundred francs was not a gold mine, it was not Peru. +But it was a hundred francs. What did Gigi expect? The treasure of +Saint Peter's? A story was a story, after all, and anybody could deny +it. + +"It is worth more than a hundred francs," Gigi answered, with his +weasel smile, "but not to the newspapers. The honour of a Roman +princess is worth a hundred thousand." + +Toto whistled, and then looked incredulous, but it began to dawn upon +him that the "affair" was of more importance than he had supposed. Gigi +was much cleverer than he; that was why he always called Gigi an +imbecile. + +The carpenter unfolded his plan. He knew as well as any one that the +Conti were ruined and could not raise any such sum as he proposed to +demand, even to save Sabina's good name. It would apparently be +necessary to extract the blackmail from Volterra by some means to be +discovered. On the other hand, Volterra was not only rich, he also +possessed much power, and it would be somewhat dangerous to incur his +displeasure. + +Toto, though dull, had a certain rough common sense and pointed this +out. He said that the Princess must have jewels which she could sell to +save her daughter from disgrace. She and Donna Sabina were at the +Russian Embassy, for the _Messaggero_ said so. Gigi, who could write, +might send her a letter there. + +"No doubt," assented the carpenter with a superior air. "I have some +instruction, and can write a letter. But the jewels are paste. Half the +Roman princesses wear sham jewellery nowadays. Do you suppose the Conti +have not sold everything long ago? They had to live." + +"I do not see why," observed Toto. "Princes without money might as well +be dead, an apoplexy on them all! Well, what do you propose to do? That +old franc-eater of a Senator will not pay you for the girl's +reputation, since she is not his daughter." + +"We must think," said Gigi. "Perhaps it would do no harm to write a +letter to the Princess. The engineer is poor, of course. It is of no +use to go to him." + +"All engineers are starving to death," Toto answered cheerfully. "I +have seen them eat bread and onions and drink water, like us. Would +they eat onions and dry bread if they could have meat? It is when they +become contractors that they get money, by cheating the rich and +strangling the poor. I know them. They are all evil people." + +"This is true," assented Gigi, "I have seen several, before this one." + +"This one is the eternal father of all assassins," growled Toto. "He +talked of walling me up alive." + +"That was only a joke, to frighten you into holding your tongue," said +Gigi. "And you did." + +"A fine joke! I wish you had been down there, hiding beside the gold +statue instead of me, while two murderers sat by the little hole above +and talked of walling it up for a week or ten days! A fine joke. The +joke the cat makes to the mouse before eating it!" + +"I can tell the Princess that the money must be sent In thousand-franc +notes," said Gigi, who was not listening. "It cannot go to the +post-office registered, because it must be addressed to a false name. +Somebody must bring it to us." + +"And bring the police to catch us at the same time," suggested Toto +contemptuously. "That will not do." + +"She must bring it herself, to a safe place." + +"How?" + +"For instance, I can write that she must take a cab and drive out of +the city on the Via Appia, and drive, and drive, until she meets two +men--they will be you and me--one with a red handkerchief hanging out +of his coat pocket, and the other with an old green riband for a band +to his hat. I have an old green riband that will do. She must come +alone in the cab. If we see any one with her, she shall not see us. She +will not know how far out we shall be, so she cannot send the police to +the place. It may be one mile from the gate, or five. I will write that +if she does not come alone, the story will be printed in all the papers +the next morning." + +Toto now looked at his friend with something almost like admiration. + +"I did not know that you had been a brigand," he remarked pleasantly. +"That is well thought. Only the Princess may not be able to get the +money, and if she does, she had better bring it in gold. We will then +go to America." + +Neither of the men had the least idea that a hundred thousand francs in +gold would be an uncommonly awkward and heavy load to carry. They +supposed it would go into their pockets. + +"If she does not come, we will try the Senator before we publish the +story," said Gigi. "By that time we shall have been able to think of +some way of putting him under the oil-press to squeeze the gold out of +him." + +"In any case, this is a good affair," Toto concluded, filling his pipe. +"Nothing is bad which ends well, and we may both be gentlemen in +America before long." + +So the two ruffians disposed of poor little Sabina's reputation in the +reeking wine shop, very much to their own imaginary advantage; and the +small yellow-and-blue clouds from their stinking pipes circled up +slowly through the gloom into the darkness above their heads, as the +light failed in the narrow street outside. + +Then Gigi, the carpenter, bought two sheets of paper and an envelope, +and a pen and a wretched little bottle of ink, and a stamp, all at the +small tobacconist's at the corner of Via della Scrofa, and went to +Toto's lodging to compose his letter, because Toto lived alone, and +there were no women in the house. + +Just at the same time, Volterra was leaving the Palazzo Madama, where +the Senate sits, not a couple of hundred yards away. And the two +workmen would have been very much surprised if they could have guessed +what was beginning to grow in the fertile but tortuous furrows of his +financial and political intelligence, and that in the end their schemes +might possibly fall in with his. + + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + + + + +As it had become manifestly impossible to keep the secret of the +discovery in the Palazzo Conti any longer, Volterra had behaved with +his accustomed magnanimity. He had not only communicated all the +circumstances to the authorities at once, offering the government the +refusal of the statues, which the law could not oblige him to sell if +he chose to keep them in the palace, but also publicly giving full +credit to the "learned archaeologist and intrepid engineer, Signer +Marino Malipieri, already famous throughout Europe for his recent +discoveries in Carthage." In two or three days the papers were full of +Malipieri's praises. Those that were inclined to differ with the +existing state of things called him a hero, and even a martyr of +liberty, besides a very great man; and those which were staunch to the +monarchy poked mild fun at his early political flights and +congratulated him upon having descended from the skies, after burning +his wings, not only to earth, but to the waters that are under the +earth, returning to the upper air laden with treasures of art which +reflected new glory upon Italy. + +All this was very fine, and much of it was undoubtedly true, but it did +not in the least help Malipieri to solve the problem which had +presented itself so suddenly in his life. The roads to happiness and to +reputation rarely lead to the same point of the compass when he who +hopes to attain both has more heart than ambition. It is not given to +many, as it was to Baron Volterra, to lead an admiring, submissive and +highly efficient wife up the broad steps of political power, financial +success and social glory. Neither Caesar nor Bonaparte reached the top +with the wife of his heart, yet Volterra, more moderately endowed, +though with almost equal ambition, bade fair to climb high with the +virtuous helpmeet of his choice on his arm. + +Malipieri slept badly and grew thinner during those days. His devotion +to his dying friend had been absurdly quixotic, according to ordinary +standards, but it had never seemed foolish to him, and he had never +regretted it. He had always believed that a man of action and thought +is freer to think and act if he remains unmarried, and it had never +occurred to him that he might fall in love with a young girl, without +whom life would seem empty. He was quixotic, generous and impulsive, +but like many men who do extremely romantic things, he thought himself +quite above sentimentality and entirely master of his heart. Hitherto +the theory had worked very well, because he had never really tried to +practise it. Nothing had seemed easier than not to fall in love with +marriageable young women, and he had grown used to believing that he +never could. + +With that brutality to his own feelings of which only a thoroughly +sentimental man is capable, he left the Palazzo Conti on the day +following the adventure, and took rooms in a hotel in the upper part of +the city. Nothing would have induced him to spend a night in his room +since Sabina's head had lain upon his pillow. With Volterra's powerful +help, Masin had been released, though poor Sassi had not returned to +consciousness, and Malipieri learned that the old man had changed his +mind at the last minute, had insisted upon trying to follow Sabina +after all, and had fallen heavily upon his head in trying to get down +into the first chamber; while Masin, behind him, implored him to come +back, or at least to wait for help where he was. The rest needs no +explanation. + +Malipieri took a few things with him to the hotel, and left Masin to +collect his papers and books on the following day, instructing him to +send the scanty furniture, linen and household belongings to the +nearest auction rooms, to be sold at once. Masin, none the worse for a +night and day in prison, came back to his functions as if nothing had +happened. He and his master had been in more than one adventure +together. This one was over and he was quite ready for the next. + +There was probably not another man in Italy, and there are not many +alive anywhere, who would have done what Malipieri did, out of pure +sentiment and nothing else. To him, it seemed like a natural sacrifice +to his inward honour, to refuse which would have been cowardly. He had +weakly allowed himself to fall in love with a girl whom he could not +possibly marry, and whom he respected as much as he loved. He guessed, +though he tried to deny it, that she was more than half in love with +him, since love sometimes comes by halves. To lie where she had lain, +dreaming of her with his aching eyes open and his blood on fire, would +be a violation of her maiden privacy, morally not much less cowardly in +the spirit than it could have been in the letter, since he could not +marry her. + +The world laughs at such refinements of delicate feeling in a man, but +cannot help inwardly respecting them a little, as it respects many +things at which it jeers and rails. Moreover, Malipieri did not care a +fig for the world's opinion, and if he had needed to take a motto he +would have chosen "Si omnes, ego non"; for if there was a circumstance +which always inclined him to do anything especially quixotic, it was +the conviction that other people would probably do the exact opposite. +So Masin took the furniture to an auction room on a cart, and Malipieri +never saw it again. + +While the press was ringing his praises, and he himself was preparing a +carefully written paper on the two statues, while the public was +pouring into the gate of the Palazzo Conti to see them, and Volterra +was driving a hard bargain with the government for their sale, he lived +in a state of anxiety and nervousness impossible to describe. He was +haunted by the fear that some one might find out where Sabina had been +on the night after she had left Volterra's house, and the mere thought +of such a possibility was real torment, worse than the knowledge that +he could never marry her, and that without her his life did not seem +worth living. Whatever happened to Sabina would be the result of his +folly in taking her to the vaults. He might recover from any wound he +had himself received, but to see the good name of the innocent girl he +loved utterly ruined and dragged through the mud of newspaper scandal +would be a good deal worse than being flayed alive. It was horrible to +think of it, and yet he could not keep it out of his thoughts. There +had been too many people about the palace on the morning when Sabina +had left it with the Baroness. Especially, there had been that +carpenter, of whom no one had thought till it was too late. If Gigi had +recognized Sabina, that would be Malipieri's fault too, for Volterra +had not known that the man had been employed about the house for years. +A week passed, and nothing happened. He had neither seen Sabina nor +heard of her from any one. He was besieged by journalists, artists, men +of letters and men of learning, and the municipal authorities had +declared their intention of giving a banquet in his honour and +Volterra's, to celebrate the safe removal of the two statues from the +vault in which they had lain so long. He, who hated noisy feasting and +speech-making above all things, could not refuse the public invitation. +All sorts of people came to see him, in connection with the whole +affair, and he was at last obliged to shut himself in during several +hours of the day, in order to work at his dissertation. Masin alone was +free to reach him in case of any urgent necessity. + +One morning, while he was writing, surrounded by books, drawings and +papers, Masin came and stood silently at his elbow, waiting till it +should please him to look up. Malipieri carefully finished the sentence +he had begun, and laid down his pen. Then Masin spoke. + +"There is a lady downstairs, sir, who says that you will certainly +receive her upon very important business. She would not give her name, +but told the porter to try and get me to hand you this note." + +Malipieri sighed wearily and opened the note without even glancing at +the address. He knew that Sabina would not write to him, and no one +else interested him in the least. But he looked at the signature before +reading the lines, and his expression changed. The dowager Princess +Conti wrote a few words to say that she must see him at once and was +waiting. That was all, but his heart sank. He sent Masin to show her +the way, and sat resting his forehead in his hand until she appeared. + +She entered and stood before him, softly magnificent as a sunset in +spring; looking as even a very stout woman of fifty can, if she has a +matchless complexion, perfect teeth, splendid eyes, faultless taste, a +wonderful dressmaker and a maid who does not hate her. + +Malipieri vaguely wondered how Sabina could be her daughter, drew an +armchair into place for her, and sat down again by his writing-table. +The windows were open and the blinds were drawn together to keep out +the glare, for it was a hot day. A vague and delicious suggestion of +Florentine orris-root spread through the warm air as the Princess sat +down. Malipieri watched her face, but her expression showed no signs of +any inward disturbance. + +"Are you sure that nobody will interrupt us?" she asked, as Masin went +out and shut the door. + +"Quite sure. What can I do to serve you?" + +"I have had this disgusting letter." + +She produced a small, coarse envelope from the pale mauve pocket-book +she carried in her hand, and held it out to Malipieri, who took it and +read it carefully. It was not quite easy for him to understand, as Gigi +wrote in the Roman dialect without any particular punctuation, and +using capitals whenever it occurred to him, except at the beginning of +a sentence. To Malipieri, as a Venetian, it was at first sight about as +easy as a chorus of Aeschylus looks to an average pass-man. + +As the sense became clear to him, his eyelids contracted and his face +was drawn as if he were in bodily pain. + +"When did you get this?" he asked, folding the letter and putting it +back into the envelope. + +"Five or six days ago, I think. I am not sure of the date, but it does +not matter. It says the money must be paid in ten days, does it not? +Yes--something like that. I know there is some time left. I have come +to you because I have tried everything else." + +"Everything else?" cried Malipieri, in sudden anxiety. "What in the +world have you tried?" + +"I sent for Volterra the day after I got this." + +"Oh!" Malipieri was somewhat relieved. "What did he advise you to do? +To employ a detective?" + +"O dear, no! Nothing so simple and natural. That man is an utter brute, +and I am sorry I left Sabina so long with his wife. She would have been +much better in the convent with her sister. I am afraid that is where +she will end, poor child, and it will be all your fault, though you +never meant any harm. You do not think you could divorce and marry her, +do you?" + +Malipieri stared at her a moment, and then bit his lip to check the +answer. He had no right to resent whatever she chose to say to him, for +he was responsible for all the trouble and for Sabina's good name. + +"There is no divorce law in Italy," he answered, controlling himself. +"Why do you say that Volterra is an utter brute? What did he advise you +to do?" + +"He offered to silence the creature who wrote this letter if I would +make a bargain with him. He said he would pay the money, if I would +give Sabina to his second son, who is a cavalry officer in Turin, and +whom none of us has ever seen." + +Malipieri's lips moved, but he said nothing that could be heard. A vein +that ran down the middle of his forehead was swollen, and there was a +bad look in his eyes. + +"I would rather see the child dead than married to one of those +disgusting people," the Princess said. "Did you ever hear of such +impertinence?" + +"You let her live with them for more than two months," observed +Malipieri. + +"I know I did. It was simply impossible to think of anything better in +the confusion, and as they offered to take charge of her, I consented. +Yes, it was foolish, but I did not suppose that they would let her go +off in a cab with that old dotard and stay out all night." + +Malipieri felt as if she were driving a blunt nail into his head. + +"Poor Sassil" he said. "He was buried yesterday." + +"Was he? I am not in the least sorry for him. He always made trouble, +and this was the worst of all Sabina almost cried because I would not +let her go and see him at the hospital. You know, he never spoke after +he was taken there--he did not feel anything." + +Malipieri wondered whether the Princess, in another sense, had ever +felt anything, a touch of real pity, or real love, for any human being. +He did not remember to have ever met a woman who had struck him as so +utterly heartless; and yet he could not forget the look that had come +into her face, and the simple word she had spoken, when he had told her +his story. + +"I understand that you refused Volterra's proposal," he said, returning +to the present trouble. "Do you mean to say that he declined to help +you unless you would accept it?" + +"Oh, no! He only said that as I was not disposed to accept what would +make it so much easier, he would have to think it over. I have not seen +him since." + +"But you understand what he had planned, do you not?" Malipieri asked. +"It is very simple." + +"It is not so clear to me. I am not at all clever, you know." The +Princess laughed carelessly. "He must have a very good reason for +offering to pay a hundred thousand francs in order that his son may +marry Sabina, who has not a penny. I confess, if it were not an +impertinence, it would look like a foolish caprice. I suppose he thinks +it would be socially advantageous." + +Her lip curled and showed her even white teeth. + +"His wife is a snob," Malipieri answered, "but Volterra does not care +for anything but power and money, except perhaps for the sort of +reputation he has, which helps him to get both." "Then of what possible +use could it be to him to marry his son to Sabina, and to throw all +that money away for the sake of getting her?" + +Malipieri hesitated, not sure whether it would be wise to tell her all +he thought. + +"In the first place," he said slowly, "I do not believe he would really +pay the blackmail, or if he did, he would catch the man, get the money +back, and have him sent to penal servitude. He is very clever, and in +his position he can have whatever help he asks from the government, +especially in a just cause, as that would be. Perhaps he thinks that he +has guessed who the man is." + +"Have you any idea?" asked the Princess, glancing down at the dirty +little letter she still held. + +"In the second place," Malipieri continued, without heeding the +question, "I am almost sure that when you were in difficulties, two or +three months ago, he got the better of you, as he gets the better of +every one. With the value of these statues, he has probably pocketed a +couple of million francs by the transaction." + +"The wretch!" exclaimed the Princess. "I wish you were my lawyer! You +have such a clear way of putting things." + +Even then Malipieri smiled. + +"I have always believed what I have just told you," he answered. "That +was the reason why I hoped that Donna Sabina might yet recover what she +should have had from the estate. Volterra is sure that if you can take +proper steps, you will recover a large sum, and that is why he is so +anxious to marry his son to your daughter. He thinks the match would +settle the whole affair." + +"The idiot! As if I did not need the money myself!" + +Again Malipieri smiled. + +"But you will not get it," he answered. "You will certainly not get it +if Volterra is interested in the matter, for it will all go to your +daughter. Your other two children have had their share of their +father's estate, and that of the daughters should have amounted to at +least two millions each. But Donna Sabina has never had a penny. +Whatever is recovered from Volterra will go to her, not to you." + +"It would be the same thing," observed the Princess carelessly. + +"Not exactly," Malipieri said, "for the court will appoint legal +guardians, and the money will be paid to her intact when she comes of +age. In other words, if she marries Volterra's son, the little fortune +will return to Volterra's family. But of course, if you consented to +the marriage, he would compromise for the money, before the suit was +brought, by settling the two millions upon his daughter-in-law, and if +he offered to do that, as he would, no respectable lawyer in the world +would undertake to carry on the suit, because Volterra would have acted +in strict justice. Do you see?" + +"Yes. It is very disappointing, but I suppose you are right." + +"I know I am, except about the exact sum involved. I am an architect by +profession, I know something of Volterra's affairs and I do not think I +am very far wrong. Very good. But Volterra has accidentally got hold of +a terrible weapon against you, in the shape of this blackmailer's +letter." + +"Then you advise me to accept his offer after all?" + +"He knows that you must, unless you can find something better. You are +in his power." + +"But why should I, if I am to get nothing by it?" asked the Princess +absent-mindedly. + +"There is Donna Sabina's good name at stake," Malipieri answered, with +a little sternness. + +"I had forgotten. Of course! How stupid of me!" For a moment Malipieri +knew that he should like to box her ears, woman though she was; then he +felt a sort of pity for her, such as one feels for half-witted +creatures that cannot help themselves nor control their instincts. + +"Then I must accept, and let Sabina marry that man," she said, after a +moment's silence. "Tell me frankly, is that what you think I ought to +do?" + +"If Donna Sabina wishes to marry him, it will be a safe solution," +Malipieri answered steadily. + +"My dear man, she is in love with you!" cried the Princess in one of +her sudden fits of frankness. "She told me so the other day in so many +words, when she was so angry because I would not let her go to see poor +old Sassi die. She said that you and he and her schoolmistress were the +only human beings who had ever been good to her, or for whom she had +ever cared, You may just as well know it, since you cannot marry her!" + +In a calmer moment, Malipieri might have doubted the logic of the last +statement; but at the present moment he was not very calm, and he +turned a pencil nervously in his fingers, standing it alternately on +its point and its blunt end, upon the blotting-paper beside him, and +looking at the marks it made. + +"How can she possibly wish to marry that Volterra creature?" asked the +Princess, by way of conclusion. "She will have to, that is all, whether +she likes it or not. After all, nobody seems to care much, nowadays," +she added in a tone of reflection. "It is only the idea I always heard +that Volterra kept a pawnshop in Florence, and then became a dealer in +bric-a-brac, and afterwards a banker, and all sorts of things. But it +may not be true, and after all, it is only prejudice. A banker may be a +very respectable person, you know." + +"Certainly," assented Malipieri, wishing that he could feel able to +smile at her absurd talk, as a sick man wishes that he could feel +hungry when he sees a dish he likes very much, and only feels the worse +for the mere thought of touching food. + +"Nothing but prejudice," the Princess repeated. "I daresay he was never +really a pawnbroker and is quite respectable. By the bye, do you think +he wrote this letter himself? It would be just like him." + +"No," Malipieri answered. "I am sure he did not. Volterra never did +anything in his life which could not at least be defended in law. The +letter is genuine." + +"Then there is some one who knows, besides ourselves and Volterra and +his wife?" + +"Yes. I am sure of it." + +"You are so clever. You must be able to find out who it is." + +"I will try. But I am sure of one thing. Even if the money is not paid +on the day, the story will not be published at once. The man will try +again and again to get money from you. There is plenty of time." + +"Unless it is a piece of servants' vengeance," the Princess said. "Our +servants were always making trouble before we left the palace, I could +never understand why. If it is that, we shall never be safe. Will you +come and see me, if you think of any plan?" + +She rose to go. + +"I will go to the Embassy to-morrow afternoon, between three and four." + +"Thanks. Do you know? I really cannot help liking you, though I think +you are behaving abominably. I am sure you could get a divorce in +Switzerland." + +"We will not talk about that," Malipieri answered, a little harshly. + +When she was gone, he called Masin, and then, instead of explaining +what he wanted, he threw himself into an armchair and sat in silence +for nearly half an hour. Masin was used to his master's ways and did +not speak, but occupied himself in noiselessly dusting the mantelpiece +at least a hundred times over. + + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + + + + +Volterra had not explained to the Princess the reason why her +acceptance of his offer would make it so much easier for him to help +her out of her difficulty. He had only said that it would, for he never +explained anything to a woman if an explanation could be avoided, and +he had found that there are certain general ways of stating things to +which women will assent rather than seem not to understand. If the +Princess had asked questions, he would have found plausible answers, +but she did not. She refused his offer, saying that she had other views +for her daughter. She promptly invented a rich cousin in Poland, who +had fallen in love with Sabina's photograph and was only waiting for +her to be eighteen years old in order to marry her. + +She had gone to Malipieri as a last resource, not thinking it probable +that he could help her, or that he would change his mind and try to +free himself in order to marry Sabina. She came back with the certainty +that he would not do the latter and could not give any real assistance. +So far, she had not spoken to Sabina of her interview with the Baron, +but she felt that the time had come to sound her on the subject of the +marriage, since there might not be any other way. She had not lost time +since her arrival, for she had at once seen one of the best lawyers in +Rome, who looked after such legal business as the Russian Embassy +occasionally had; and he had immediately applied for a revision of the +settlement of the Conti affairs, on the ground of large errors in the +estimates of the property, supporting his application with the plea +that many of the proceedings in the matter had been technically faulty +because certain documents should have been signed by Sabina, as a minor +interested in the estate, and whose consent was necessary. He was of +opinion that the revision would certainly be granted, but he would say +nothing as to the amount which might be recovered by the Conti family. +As a matter of fact, the settlement had been made hastily, between +Volterra, old Sassi and a notary who was not a lawyer; and Volterra, +who knew what he was about, and profited largely by it, had run the +risk of a revision being required. For the rest, Malipieri's +explanation of his motives was the true one. + +At the first suggestion of a marriage with Volterra's son Sabina flatly +refused to entertain the thought. She made no outcry, she did not even +raise her voice, nor change colour; but she planted her little feet +firmly together on the footstool before her chair, folded her hands in +her lap and looked straight at her mother. + +"I will not marry him," she said. "It is of no use to try to make me. I +will not." + +Her mother began to draw a flattering though imaginary portrait of the +young cavalry officer, and enlarged upon his fortune and future +position. Volterra was immensely rich, and though he was not quite one +of themselves, society had accepted him, his sons had been admirably +brought up, and would be as good as any one. There was not a prince in +Rome who would not be glad to make such a match for his daughter. + +"It is quite useless, mother," said Sabina. "I would not marry him if +he were Prince Colonna and had the Rothschilds' money." + +"That is absurd," answered the Princess. "Just because you have taken a +fancy to that Malipieri, who cannot marry you because he has done the +most insane thing any one ever heard of." + +"It was splendid," Sabina retorted. + +"Besides," her mother said, "you do not know that it is true." + +Sabina's eyes flashed. + +"Whatever he says, is true," she answered, "and you know it is. He +never lied in his life!" + +"No," said the Princess, "I really think he never did." + +"Then why did you suggest such a thing, when you know that I love him?" + +"One says things, sometimes," replied the Princess vaguely. "I did not +really mean it, and I cannot help liking the man. I told him so this +morning. Now listen. Volterra is a perfect beast, and if you refuse, he +is quite capable of letting that story get about, and you will be +ruined." + +"I will go into a convent." + +"You know that you hate Clementina," observed the Princess. + +"Of course I do. She used to beat me when I was small, because she said +I was wicked. Of course I hate her. I shall join the Little Sisters of +the Poor, or be a Sister of Charity. Even Clementina could not object +to that, I should think." + +"You are a little fool!" + +To this observation Sabina made no reply, for it was not new to her, +and she paid no attention to it. She supposed that all mothers called +their children fools when they were angry. It was one of the privileges +of motherhood. + +The discussion ended there, for Sabina presently went away and shut +herself up in her room, leaving her mother to meditate in solitude on +the incredible difficulties that surrounded her. + +Sabina was thinking, too, but her thoughts ran in quite another +direction, as she sat bolt upright on a straight-backed chair, staring +at the wall opposite. She was wondering how Malipieri looked at that +moment, and how it was possible that she should not even have seen him +since she had left his rooms with the Baroness a week ago, and more; +and why, when every hour had dragged like an age, it seemed as if they +had parted only yesterday, sure to meet again. + +She sat still a long time, trying to think out a future for herself, a +future life without Malipieri and yet bearable. It would have been easy +before the night in the vaults; it would have seemed possible a week +ago, though very hard; now, it was beyond her imagination. She had +talked of entering a sisterhood, but she knew that she did not mean to +do it, even if her reputation were ruined. + +She guessed that in that event her mother would try to force her into a +convent. The Princess was not the sort of woman who would devote the +rest of her life to consoling her disgraced daughter, no matter how +spotlessly blameless the girl might be. She would look upon her as a +burden and a nuisance, would shut her up if she could, and would +certainly go off to Russia or to Paris, to amuse herself as far as +possible from the scene of Sabina's unfortunate adventure. + +"Poor child!" she would say to her intimate friends, "She was perfectly +innocent, of course, but there was nothing else to be done. No decent +man would have married her, you know!" + +And she would tell Malipieri's story to everybody, too, to explain why +he had not married Sabina. She had no heart at all, for her children or +for any one else. She had always despised her son for his weaknesses +and miserable life, and she had always laughed at her elder daughter; +if she had been relatively kind to Sabina, it was because the girl had +never given any trouble nor asked for anything extravagantly +inconvenient. She had never felt the least sympathy with the Roman life +into which she had been brought by force, and after her husband had +died she had plainly shown his quiet Roman relatives what she thought +of them. + +She would cast Sabina off without even a careless kind word, if Sabina +became a drag on her and hindered her from doing what she pleased in +the world. And this would happen, if the story about the night in the +Palazzo Conti were made public. Just so long, and no longer, would the +Princess acknowledge her daughter's existence; and that meant so long +as Volterra chose that the secret should be kept. + +At least, Sabina thought so. But matters turned out differently and +were hurried to an issue in a terribly unexpected way. + +Both Volterra and Malipieri had guessed that the anonymous letter had +been written by Gigi, the carpenter, but Volterra had seen it several +days before the Princess had shown it to Malipieri. Not unnaturally, +the Baron thought that it would be a good move to get the man into his +power. Italy is probably not the only country where men powerful in +politics and finance can induce the law to act with something more than +normal promptitude, and Volterra, as usual, was not going to do +anything illegal. The Minister of Justice, too, was one of those men +who had been fighting against the Sicilian "mafia" and the Neapolitan +"camorra" for many years, and he hated all blackmailers with a just and +deadly hatred. He was also glad to oblige the strong Senator, who was +just now supporting the government with his influence and his millions. +Volterra was sure of the culprit's identity and explained that the +detective who had been sent to investigate the palace after Sassi's +accident had seen the carpenter and would recognize him. Nothing would +be easier than to send for Gigi to do a job at the palace, towards +evening, to arrest him as soon as he came, and to take him away quietly. + +This was done, and in twenty-four hours Gigi was safely lodged in a +cell by himself, with orders that he was on no account to be allowed +any communication with other prisoners. + +Then Volterra went to see him, and instead of threatening him, offered +him his help if he would only tell the exact truth. Gigi was frightened +out of his wits and grasped at the straw, though he did not trust the +Baron much. He told what he had done; but with the loyalty to friends, +stimulated by the fear of vengeance, which belongs to the Roman working +man, he flatly denied that he had an accomplice. Yes, he had spoken in +the letter of two men who would be walking on the Via Appia, and he had +intended to take his brother-in-law with him, but he said that he had +not meant to explain why he took him until the last minute. It was a +matter for the galleys! Did his Excellency the Senator suppose that he +would trust anybody with that, until it was necessary? + +The consequence was that Gigi was kept quietly in prison for a few days +before any further steps were taken, having been arrested at the +instance of the Ministry of Justice for trying to extract blackmail +from the Conti family, and being undoubtedly guilty of the misdeed. +Volterra's name did not even appear in the statement. + +Malipieri had not Volterra's influence, and intended to try more +personal methods with the carpenter; but when he appeared at the palace +in the afternoon, and asked the porter to go and call Gigi, the old man +shook his head and said that Gigi had been in prison three days, and +that nobody knew why he had been arrested. The matter had not even been +mentioned by the _Messaggero_. + +Malipieri had never connected Toto with Gigi, and did not even know +that the two men were acquainted with each other. He had not the +slightest doubt but that it was Toto who had caused the water to rise +in the well, out of revenge, but he knew that it would now be +impossible to prove it. Strange to say, Malipieri bore him no grudge, +for he knew the people well, and after all, he himself had acted in a +high-handed way. Nevertheless, he asked the porter if the man were +anywhere in the neighbourhood. + +But Toto had not been seen for some time. He had not even been to the +wine shop, and was probably at work in some distant part of Rome. +Perhaps he was celebrating his grandfather's funeral with his friends. +Nobody could tell where he might be. + +Malipieri went back to his hotel disconsolately. That evening he read +in the _Italie_ that after poor Sassi had been buried, the authorities +had at once proceeded to take charge of his property and effects, +because the old woman-servant had declared that he had no near +relations in the world; and the notary who had served the Conti family +had at once produced Sassi's will. + +He had left all his little property, valued roughly at over a hundred +thousand francs, to Donna Sabina Conti. Had any one known it, the date +of the will was that of the day on which he had received her little +note thanking him for burying her canary, out on Monte Mario. + +The notary's brother and son, notaries themselves, were named as +guardians. The income was to be paid to Sabina at once, the capital on +her marriage. The newspaper paragraph recalled the ruin of the great +family, and spoke of the will as a rare instance of devotion in an old +and trusted servant. + +Sabina and the Princess learned the news at dinner that evening from a +young attache of the Embassy who always read the _Italie_ because it is +published in French, and he had not yet learned Italian. He laughingly +congratulated Sabina on her accession to a vast fortune. To every one's +amazement, Sabina's eyes filled with tears, though even her own mother +had scarcely ever seen her cry. She tried hard to control herself, +pressed her lids hastily with her fingers, bit her lips till they +almost bled, and then, as the drops rolled down her cheeks in spite of +all she could do, she left the table with a broken word of excuse. + +"She is nothing but a child, still," the Princess explained in a tone +of rather condescending pity. + +The young attache was sorry for having laughed when he told the story. +He had not supposed that Donna Sabina knew much about the old agent, +and after dinner he apologized to his ambassador for his lack of tact. + +"That little girl has a heart of gold," answered the wise old man of +the world. + +The Princess had a profoundly superstitious belief in luck, and was +convinced that Sabina's and her own had turned with this first piece of +good fortune, and that on the following day Malipieri would appear and +tell her that he had caught the writer of the letter and was ready to +divorce his wife in order to marry Sabina. Secure in these hopes she +slept eight hours without waking, as she always did. + +But she was destined to the most complete disappointment of her life, +and to spend one of the most horribly unpleasant days she could +remember. + +Long before she was awake boys and men, with sheaves of damp papers, +were yelling the news in the Corso and throughout Rome. + +"The _Messaggero!_ The great scandal in Casa Conti! The _Messaggero!_ +One sou!" + + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + + + + +Toto had done it. In his heart, the thick-headed, practical fellow had +never quite believed in Gigi's ingenious scheme, and the idea of +getting a hundred thousand francs had seemed very visionary. Since Gigi +had got himself locked up it would be more sensible to realize a little +cash for the story from the _Messaggero_, saying nothing about the +carpenter. The only lie he needed to invent was to the effect that he +had been standing near the door of the palace when Sabina had come out. +The porter, being relieved from the order to keep the postern shut +against everybody had been quite willing to gossip with Toto about the +detective's visit, the closed room and Malipieri's refusal to let any +one enter it. As for what had happened in the vaults, Toto could +reconstruct the exact truth much more accurately than Gigi could have +done, even with his help. It was a thrilling story; the newspaper paid +him well for it and printed it with reservations. + +There was not a suggestion of offence to Sabina, such as might have +afforded ground for an action against the paper, or against those that +copied the story from it. The writer was careful to extol Malipieri's +heroic courage and strength, and to point out that Sabina had been +half-dead of fatigue and cold, as Toto knew must have been the case. It +was all a justification, and not in the least an accusation. But the +plain, bald fact was proved, that Donna Sabina Conti had spent the +night in the rooms of the now famous Signor Malipieri, no one else +being in the apartment during the whole time. He had saved her life +like a hero, and had acted like a Bayard in all he had done for the +unfortunate young lady. It was an adventure worthy of the middle ages. +It was magnificent. Her family, informed at once by Malipieri, had come +to get her on the following morning. Toto had told the people at the +office of the _Messaggero_, who it was that had represented the +"family," but the little newspaper was far too worldly-wise to mention +Volterra in such a connection. Donna Sabina, the article concluded, was +now with her mother at the Russian Embassy. + +The evening papers simply enlarged upon this first story, and in the +same strain. Malipieri was held up to the admiration of the public. +Sabina's name was treated with profound respect, there was not a word +which could be denied with truth, or resented with a show of justice. +And yet, in Italy, and most of all in Rome, it meant ruin to Sabina, +and the reprobation of all decent people upon Malipieri if he did not +immediately marry her. + +It was the ambassador himself who informed the Princess of what had +happened, coming himself to the sitting-room as soon as he learned that +she was visible. He stayed with her a long time, and they sent for +Sabina, who was by far the least disturbed of the three. It was all +true, she said, and there was nothing against her in the article. + +Masin brought the news to Malipieri with his coffee, and the paper +itself. Malipieri scarcely ever read it, but Masin never failed to, and +his big, healthy face was very grave. + +Malipieri felt as if he were going to have brain fever, as his eye ran +along the lines. + +"Masin," he said, when he had finished, "did you ever kill a man?" + +"No, sir," answered Masin. "You have always believed that I was +innocent, though I had to serve my seven years." + +"I did not mean that," said Malipieri. + +Then he sat a long time with his untasted coffee at his elbow and the +crumpled little sheet in his hand. + +"Of course, sir," Masin said at last, "I owe you everything, and if you +ordered me--" + +He paused significantly, but his master did not understand. + +"What?" he asked, starting nervously. + +"Well, sir, if it were necessary for your safety, that somebody should +be killed, I would risk the galleys for life, sir. What am I, without +you?" + +Malipieri laughed a little wildly, and dropped the paper. + +"No, my friend," he said presently, "we would risk our lives for each +other, but we are not murderers. Besides, there is nobody to be killed, +unless you will have the goodness to put a bullet through my head." + +And he laughed again, in a way that frightened the quiet man beside +him. What drove him almost mad was that he was powerless. He longed to +lay his hands on the editor of the paper, yet there was not a word, not +a suggestion, not an implied allusion for which any man in his senses +could have demanded an apology. It was the plain truth, and nothing +else; except that it was adorned by fragmentary panegyrics of himself, +which made it even more exasperating if that were possible. He had not +only wrecked Sabina's reputation by his quixotic folly; he was to be +praised to the skies for doing it. + +His feverish anger turned into a dull pain that was much worse. The +situation looked utterly hopeless. Masin stood still beside him +watching him with profound concern, and presently took the cup of +coffee and held it to his lips. He drank a little, like a sick man, +only half consciously, and drew back, and shook his head. Masin did not +know what to do and waited in mute distress, as a big dog, knowing that +his master is in trouble, looks up into his face and feebly wags his +sympathetic tail, just a little, at long intervals, and then keeps +quite still. + +Malipieri gradually recovered his senses enough to think connectedly, +and he tried to remember whether he had ever heard of a situation like +his own. As he was neither a novelist nor a critic, he failed, and +frankly asked himself whether suicide might not be a way out of the +difficulty for Sabina. He was not an unbeliever, and he had always +abhorred and despised the idea of suicide, as most thoroughly healthy +men do when it occurs to them; but if at that time he could have +persuaded himself that his death could undo the harm he had brought +upon Sabina he would not have hesitated a moment. Neither his body nor +his soul could matter much in comparison with her good name. Hell was +full of people who had got there because they had done bad things for +their own advantage; if he went there, it would at least not be for +that. He did not think of hell at all, just then, nor of heaven or of +anything else that was very far off. He only thought of Sabina, and if +he once wished himself dead for his own sake, he drove the cowardly +thought away. As long as he was alive, he could still do something for +her--surely, there must be something that he could do. There must be a +way out, if he could only use his wits and his strength, as he had made +a way out of the vaults, for her to pass through, ten days ago. + +There was nothing, or at least he could think of nothing, that could +help her. To try and free himself from the bond he had put upon himself +would be to break a solemn promise given to a dying man whom he had +dearly loved. The woman he had seen that once, to marry her and leave +her, had been worthy of the sacrifice, too, as far as lay in her. He +had given her a small income, enough for her and her little girl to +live on comfortably. She had not only kept within it, but had learned +to support herself, little by little, till she had refused to take the +money that was sent to her. At regular times, she wrote to him, as to a +benefactor, touching and truthful letters, with news of the growing +child. He knew that it was all without affectation of any sort, and +that she had turned out a thoroughly good and honest woman. The little +girl knew that her father was dead, and that her own name was really +and legally Malipieri, beyond a doubt. Her mother kept the copy of her +certificate of birth together with the certificate of marriage. The +Signora Malipieri lived as a widow in Florence and gave lessons in +music and Italian. She had never asked but one thing of Malipieri, +which was that he would never try to see her, nor let her daughter know +that he was alive. It was easy to promise that. He knew that she had +been most faithful to her lover's memory, cherishing the conviction +that in the justice of heaven he was her true husband, as he would have +been indeed had he lived but a few months longer. She was bringing up +her child to be like herself, save for her one fault. Malipieri had +settled a sufficient dowry on the girl, lest anything should happen to +him before she was old enough to marry. + +The mere suggestion of divorcing a woman who had acted as she had done +since his friend's death, was horrible to him. It was like receiving a +blow in the face, it was mud upon his honour, it was an insult to his +conscience, it was far worse than merely taking back a gift once given +in a generous impulse. If he had felt himself capable of such baseness +he could never again have looked honest men fairly in the eyes. It +would mean that he must turn upon her, to insult her by accusing her of +something she had never done; he knew nothing of the divorce laws in +foreign countries, except that Italians could obtain divorce by a short +residence and could then come back and marry again under Italian law. +That was all he knew. The Princess had not asked of him a legal +impossibility, but he had felt, when she spoke, that it would be easier +to explain the dogma of papal infallibility to a Chinese pirate than to +make her understand how he felt towards the good woman who had a right +to live under his name and had borne it so honourably for many years. + +Sabina would understand. He wished now, with all his heart, that in the +hours they had spent together he had told her the secret which he had +been obliged to confide to her mother. He wondered whether she knew it, +and hoped that she did. She would at least understand his silence now, +she would know why he was not at the Embassy that morning as soon as he +could be received by her mother. She might not forgive him, because she +knew that he loved her, but she would see why he could not divorce in +order to marry her. + +An hour passed, and two hours, and still he sat in his chair, while +Masin came and went softly, as if his master were ill. Then reporters +sent up cards, with urgently polite requests to be received, and he had +to give orders that he was not to be disturbed on any account. He would +see no one, he would answer no questions, until he had made up his mind +what to do. + +At last he rose, shook himself, walked twice up and down the room and +then spoke to Masin. + +"I am going out," he said. "I shall be back in an hour." + +He had seen that there was at least one thing which he must do at once, +and after stopping short, stunned to stupor by what had happened, his +life began to move on again. It was manifestly his duty to see the +Princess again, and he knew that she would receive him, for she would +think that he had changed his mind after all, and meant to free +himself. He must see her and say something, he knew not what, to +convince her that he was acting honourably. + +He was shown to her sitting-room, as if he were expected. It was not +long since the ambassador had left her and her daughter had gone back +to her room, and she was in a humour in which he had not seen her +before, as he guessed when he saw her face. Her wonderful complexion +was paler than usual, her brows were drawn together, her eyes were +angry, there was nothing languid or careless in her attitude, and she +held her head high. + +"I expected you," she said. "I sent word that you were to come up at +once." + +She did not even put out her hand, but there was a chair opposite her +and she nodded towards it. He sat down, feeling that a struggle was +before him. + +"The ambassador has just been here," she said. "He brought the +newspaper with him, and I have read the article. I suppose you have +seen it." + +Malipieri bent his head, but kept his eyes upon her. + +"I have told the ambassador that Sabina is engaged to marry you," she +said calmly. + +Malipieri started and sat upright in his chair. If he had known her +better, he might have guessed that what she said was untrue, as yet; +but she had made the statement with magnificent assurance. + +"Your engagement will be announced in the papers this evening," she +continued. "Shall you deny it?" + +She looked at him steadily, and he returned her gaze, but for a long +time he could not answer. She had him at a terrible advantage. + +"I shall not deny it publicly," he said at last. "That would be an +injury to your daughter." + +"Shall you deny it at all?" She was conscious of her strong position, +and meant to hold it. + +"I shall write to the lady who is living under my name, and I shall +tell her the circumstances, and that I am obliged to allow the +announcement to be made by you." + +"Give me your word that you will not deny your engagement to any one +else. You know that I have a right to require that. My daughter knows +that you are married." + +Malipieri hesitated only a moment. + +"I give you my word," he said. + +She rose at once and went towards one of the doors, without looking at +him. He wondered whether she meant to dismiss him rudely, and stood +looking after her. She stopped a moment, with her hand on the knob of +the lock, and glanced back. + +"I will call Sabina," she said, and she was gone. + +He stood still and waited, and two or three minutes passed before +Sabina entered. She glanced at him, smiled rather gravely, and looked +round the room as she came forward, as if expecting to see some one +else. + +"Where is my mother?" she asked, holding out her hand. + +"She said she was going to call you," Malipieri answered. + +"So she did, and she told me she was coming back to you, because I was +not quite ready." + +"She did not come back." + +"She means us to be alone," Sabina said, and suddenly she took both his +hands and pressed them a little, shaking them up and down, almost +childishly. "I am so glad!" she cried. "I was longing to see you!" + +Even then, Malipieri could not help smiling, and for a moment he forgot +all his troubles. When they sat down, side by side, upon a little sofa, +the Princess was already telling the ambassador that Malipieri had come +and that they were engaged to be married. She had carried the situation +by a master stroke. + +"She has told you all about me," Malipieri said, turning his face to +Sabina. "You know what my life is. Has she told you everything?" + +"Yes," Sabina answered softly, but not meeting his look, "everything. +But I want to hear it from you. Will you tell me? Will it hurt you to +tell me about what you did for your friend? You know my mother is not +always very accurate in telling a story. I shall understand why you did +it." + +He had known that she would, and he told her the story, a little less +baldly than he had told her mother, yet leaving out such details as she +need not hear. He hesitated a little, once or twice. + +"I understand," she repeated, watching him with innocent eyes. "She +felt just as if they were really married, and he could not bear to die, +feeling that she would be without protection, and that other men would +all want to marry her, because she was beautiful. And her father and +mother were angry because she loved him so much." + +"Yes," Malipieri answered, smiling, "that was it. They loved each other +dearly." + +"It was splendid of you," she said. "I never dreamt that any man would +do such a thing." + +"It cannot be undone." He was at least free to say that much, sadly. + +There was a pause, and they looked away from each other. At last Sabina +laid her hand lightly upon his for a moment, though she did not turn +her face to him. + +"I should not like you so much, if you wished to undo it," she said. + +"Thank you," he answered, withdrawing the hand she released when she +had finished speaking, and folding it upon his other. "I should love +you less, if you did not understand me so well." + +"It is more than understanding. It is much more." + +He remembered how he had taken her slender body in his arms to warm her +when she had been almost dead of the cold and dampness, and a mad +impulse was in him to press her to him now, as he had done then, and to +feel her small fair head lay itself upon his shoulder peacefully, as it +surely would. He sat upright and pressed one hand upon the other rather +harder than before. + +"You believe it, do you not?" she asked. "Why is your face so hard?" + +"Because I am bound hand and foot, like a man who is carried to +execution." + +"But we can always love each other just the same," Sabina said, and her +voice was warm and soft. + +"Yes, always, and that will not make it easier to live without you," he +answered rather harshly. + +"You need not," she said, after an instant's pause. + +He turned suddenly, startled, not understanding, wondering what she +could mean. She met his eyes quite quietly, and he saw how deep and +steady hers were, and the light in them. + +"You need not live without me unless you please," she said. + +"But I must, since I cannot marry you, and you understand that I could +not be divorced--" + +"My mother has just told me that no decent man will marry me, because +all the world knows that I stayed at the palace that night. She must be +right, for she could have no object in saying it if it were not true, +could she? Then what does it matter how any one talks about me now? I +will go with you. We cannot marry, but we shall always be together." + +Malipieri's face expressed his amazement. + +"But it is impossible!" he cried. "You cannot do that! You do not know +what you are saying!" + +"Oh, yes, I do! That poor, kind old Sassi has left me all he had, and I +can go where I please. I will go with you. Would you rather have me +shut up in a convent to die? That is what my mother will try to do with +me, and she will tell people that I was 'mad, poor girl'! Do you think +I do not know her? She wants this little sum of money that I am to +have, too, as if she and the others had not spent all I should have +had. Do you think I am bound to obey my mother, if she takes me to the +convent door, and tells me that I am to stay there for the rest of my +life?" + +The gentle voice was clear and strong and indignant now. Malipieri +twisted his fingers one upon another, and sat with his head bent low. +He knew that she had no clear idea of what she was saying when she +proposed to join her existence with his. Her maiden thoughts could find +no harm in it. + +"You do not know what your mother said to me, before you came in," he +answered. "She told me that she would announce our engagement at once, +and made me give my word that I would not deny it to any one but my +legal wife." + +"You gave your word?" Sabina asked quickly, not at all displeased. + +"What could I do?" + +"Nothing else! I am glad you did, for we can see each other as much as +we like now. But how shall we manage it in the end, since we cannot +marry?" + +"Break the imaginary engagement, I suppose," Malipieri answered +gloomily. "I see nothing else to be done." + +"But then my mother says that no decent man will marry me. It will be +just the same, all over again. It was very clever of her; she is trying +to force you to do what she wants. In the meantime you can come and see +me every day--that is the best part of it. Besides, she will leave us +alone together here, for hours, because she thinks that the more you +fall in love with me the more you will wish to get a divorce. Oh, she +is a very clever woman! You do not know her as I do!" + +Malipieri marvelled at the amazing combination of girlish innocence and +keen insight into her mother's worldly and cynical character, which +Sabina had shown during the last few minutes. There never yet was a man +in love with girl or woman who did not find in her something he had +never dreamt of before. + +"She is clever," he assented gravely, "but she cannot make me break +that promise, even for your sake. I cannot help looking forward and +thinking what the end must be." + +"It is much better to enjoy the present," Sabina answered. "We can be +together every day. You will write to your--no, she is not your wife, +and I will not call her so! She would not be really your wife if she +could, for she made you promise never to go and see her. That was nice +of her, for of course she knew that if she saw you often, she must end +by falling in love with you. Any woman would; you know it perfectly +well. You need not shake your head at me, like that. You will write to +her, and explain, and she will understand, and then we will let things +go on as long as they can till something else happens." + +"What can possibly happen?" + +"Something always happens. Things never go on very long without a +change, do they? I am sure, everything in my life has changed half a +dozen times in the last fortnight." + +"In mine, too," Malipieri answered. + +"And if things get worse, and if worse comes to worst," Sabina +answered, "I have told you what I mean to do. I shall come to you, +wherever you are, and you will have to let me stay, no matter what +people choose to say. That is, if you still care for me!" + +She laughed softly and happily, and not in the least recklessly, though +she was talking of throwing the world and all connection with it to the +winds. The immediate future looked bright to her, since they were to +meet every day, and after that, "something" would happen. If nothing +did, and they had to face trouble again, they would meet it bravely. +That was all any one could do in life. She had found happiness too +suddenly after an unhappy childhood, to dream of letting it go, cost +what it might to keep it. + +But she saw how grave he looked and the hopeless expression in his +loving eyes, as he turned them to her. + +"Why are you sad?" she asked, smiling, and laying her hand on his. "We +can be happy in the present. We love each other, and can meet often. +You have made a great discovery and are much more famous than you were +a few days ago. A newspaper has told our story, it is true, but there +was not a word against either of us in it, for I made them let me read +it myself. And now people will say that we are engaged to be married, +and that we got into a foolish scrape and were nearly killed together, +and that we are a very romantic couple, like lovers in a book! Every +girl I know wishes she were in my place, I am sure, and half the men in +Rome wish that they could have saved some girl's life as you did mine. +What is there so very dreadful in all that? What is there to cry +about--dear?" + +Half in banter, half in earnest, she spoke to him as if he were a child +compared with her, and leaned affectionately towards him; and the last +word, the word neither of them had spoken yet, came so softly and +sweetly to him on her breath, that he caught his own, and turned a +little pale; and the barriers broke all at once, and he kissed her. +Then he got hold upon himself again, and gently pushed her a little +further from him, while he put his other hand to his throat and closed +his eyes. + +"Forgive me," he said, in a thick voice. "I could not help it." + +"What is there to forgive? We are not betraying any one. You are not +breaking a promise to any other woman. What harm is there? You did not +give your friend your word that you would never love any one, did you? +How could you? How could you know?" + +"I could not know," he answered in a low voice. "But I should not have +kissed you." + +He knew that she could not understand the point of honour that was so +clear to him. + +"Let me think for you, sometimes," she said. + +Her voice was as low as his, but dreamily passionate, and the strange +young magic vibrated in it, which perfect innocence wields with a +destroying strength not even guessed at by itself. + +The door opened and the Princess entered the room in a leisurely +fashion, wreathed in smiles. She had successfully done what it would be +very hard for Malipieri to undo. He rose. + +"Have you told Sabina what I said?" she enquired. + +"Yes." + +She turned to the girl, who was leaning back in the corner of the sofa. + +"Of course you agree, my child?" she said, with a question in her +voice, though with no intonation of doubt as to the answer. + +"Certainly," Sabina answered, with perfect self-possession. "I think it +was by far the most sensible we could do. Signor Malipieri will come to +see us, as if he and I were really engaged." + +"Yes," assented the Princess. "You cannot go on calling him Signor +Malipieri when we are together in the family, my dear. What is your +Christian name?" she asked, turning to him. + +"Marino." + +"I did not know," Sabina said, with truth, and looking at him, as if +she had found something new to like in him. "Is he to call me Sabina, +mother?" + +"Naturally. Well, my dear Marino--" + +Malipieri started visibly. The Princess explained. + +"I shall call you so, too. It looks better before people, you know. You +must leave a card for the ambassador, at the porter's, when you go +downstairs, He is going to ask you to dinner, with a lot of our +relations, to announce the engagement. I have arranged it all +beautifully--he is so kind!" + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + + + + +Masin was very much relieved when his master came home, looking much +calmer than when he had gone out and evidently having all his senses +about him. Malipieri sent to ask at what time the mails left Rome for +Florence, and he sat down to his table without remembering that he had +eaten nothing that day. + +It was not easy to write out in a concise form the story of all that +has here been told in detail. Besides, he had not the habit of writing +to the Signora Malipieri, except such brief acknowledgments of her +regular letters to him as were necessary and kind. For years she had +been to him little more than a recollection of his youth, a figure that +had crossed his life like a shadow in a dream, taking with it a promise +which he had never found it hard to keep. He remembered her as she had +been then, and it had not even occurred to him to consider how she +looked now. She sometimes sent him photographs of the pretty little +girl, and Malipieri kept them, and occasionally looked at them, because +they reminded him of his friend, of whom he had no portrait. + +He found it very hard to tell this half-mythical woman and wholly +mythical wife of all that had happened, while scrupulously avoiding the +main fact, which was that he and Sabina loved each other. To have told +that, too, would have seemed like a reproach, or still worse, like a +request to be set at liberty. + +He wrote carefully, reading over his sentences, now and then correcting +one, and even entertaining a vague idea of copying the whole when he +had finished it. The important point was that she should fully +understand the necessity of announcing his engagement to marry Donna +Sabina Conti, together with his firm intention of breaking it off as +soon as the story should be so far forgotten as to make it safe to do +so, having due regard for Donna Sabina's reputation and good name. + +He laid so much stress on these points, and expressed so strongly his +repentance for having led the girl into a dangerous scrape, that many a +woman would have guessed at something more. But of this he was quite +unaware when he read the letter over, believing that he could judge it +without prejudice, as if it had been written by some one else. The +explanation was thorough and logical, but there was a little too much +protest in the expressions of regret. Besides, there were several +references to Sabina's unhappy position as the daughter of an +abominably worldly and heartless woman, who would lock her up in a +convent for life rather than have the least trouble about her. He could +not help showing his anxious interest in her future, much more clearly +than he supposed. + +The consequence was that when the Signora Malipieri read the letter on +the following morning, she guessed the truth, as almost any woman +would, without being positively sure of it; and she was absent-minded +with her pupils all that day, and looked at her watch uneasily, and was +very glad when she was able to go home at last and think matters over. + +It was not easy to decide what to do. She could not write to Malipieri +and ask him directly if he was in love with Sabina Conti and wished to +marry her. She answered him at once, however, telling him that she +fully understood his position, and thanking him for having written to +her before she could have heard the story from any other source. + +He showed the letter to Sabina, and it pleased her by its frank +simplicity, and perfect readiness to accept Malipieri's statement +without question, and without the smallest resentment. Somehow the girl +had felt that this shadowy woman, who stood between her and Malipieri, +would make some claim upon him, and assert herself in some disagreeable +way, or criticise his action. It was hateful to think she really had a +right to call herself his wife, and was therefore legally privileged to +tell him unpleasant truths. Sabina always connected that with +matrimony, remembering how her father and mother used to quarrel when +he was alive, and how her brother and sister-in-law continued the +tradition. If the Volterra couple were always peaceful, that was +because the Baroness was in mortal awe of her fat husband, a state of +life to which Sabina did not wish to be called. It was true that +Malipieri's position with regard to his so-called wife had nothing to +do with a real marriage, but Sabina had felt the disapproving presence +of the woman she had never seen, and whom she imagined to be +perpetually shaking a warning finger at Malipieri and reminding him +sourly that he could not call his soul his own. The letter had +destroyed the impression. + +Meanwhile Malipieri was appalled by the publicity of a betrothal which +was never to lead to marriage. The Princess took care that as much +light as possible should be cast upon the whole affair, and to the +Baroness Volterra's stupefaction and delight, told every one that the +match had been made under her auspices, and that the Conti family owed +her eternal gratitude for it and for her care of Sabina during nearly +three months. The Princess told the story of the night in the vaults +again and again, to her friends and relations, extolling everything +that Malipieri had done, and especially his romantic determination to +show the girl he was going to marry the treasures which should have +belonged to her, before any one else should see them. + +The Princess told Volterra, laughingly and quite frankly, that her +lawyer would do everything possible to get for her a share in the value +of the statues discovered, and Volterra, following her clever cue, +laughed with her, and said it should be a friendly suit, and that the +lawyers should decide among themselves how it should be settled, +without going into court. Volterra was probably the only man in Rome +who entertained a profound respect for the Princess's intelligence; yet +he was reckoned a good judge in such matters. He himself was far too +wise to waste regrets upon the failure of his tactics, and the stake +had not been large, after all, compared with his great fortune. +Magnanimity was a form of commodity which could be exchanged for +popularity, and popularity was ready money. A thousand votes were as +good as two million francs, any day, when one was not a senator for +life, and wished to be re-elected; and a reputation for spotless +integrity would cover a multitude of financial sins. Since it had been +impossible to keep what did not belong to him, the next best thing was +to restore it to the accompaniment of a brass band and a chorus of +public approval. The Princess, clever woman, knew exactly how he felt +and helped him to do the inevitable in a showy way; and it all helped +her to carry her daughter and herself out of a difficult position in a +blaze of triumph. + +"My dear," she said to the girl, "you may do anything you please, if +you will only do it in public. Lock your door to say your prayers, and +the world will shriek out that you have a scandal to conceal." + +It dawned upon Sabina that her cynical, careless, spendthrift, +scatter-brained mother had perhaps after all a share of the cunning and +the force which rule the world to-day, and which were so thoroughly +combined in Volterra's character. That would account for the way in +which she sailed through storms that would have wrecked the Baroness +and drowned poor little Sabina herself. + +Meanwhile a hundred workmen had dug down to the vault under the +courtyard of the Palazzo Conti, the statues had been lifted out intact, +with cranes, and had been set upon temporary pedestals, under a +spacious wooden shed; and the world, the flesh and the devil, including +royalty, went to see them and talked of nothing else. All Europe heard +the story of Malipieri's discovery, and of his adventure with his +betrothed wife, and praised him and called him and her an "ideal +couple." + +Sabina's brother came up from the country to be present at the Embassy +dinner, and of course stopped at the Grand Hotel, and made up his mind +to have an automobile at once. His wife stayed in the country with the +delicate little child, but sent Sabina a note of congratulation. + +Clementina, writing from her convent, said she hoped that Sabina might +redeem the follies of her youth in a respectable married life, but the +hope was not expressed with much conviction. Sabina need not disturb +the peace of a religious house by coming to see her. + +The Princess boldly gave out that the marriage would take place in the +autumn, and confided to two or three gossips that she really meant to +have a quiet wedding in the summer, because it would be so much more +economical, and the young couple did not like the idea of waiting so +long. As for a dowry, everybody knew that Sassi, dear, kind-hearted old +man, had left Sabina what he had; and there were the statues. + +Prince Conti came to the Embassy as soon as he arrived, and met +Malipieri, to whom he was overpoweringly cordial in his weak way. On +the whole, at their first interview, he judged that it would not be +easy to borrow money of him, and went away disappointed. + +Society asked where Malipieri's father was, and learned that he was +nearly seventy and was paralysed, and never left his house in Venice, +but that he highly approved of his son's marriage and wished to see his +future daughter-in-law as soon as possible. The Princess said that +Sabina and Malipieri would live with him, but would come to Rome for +the winter. + +Prince Rubomirsky, Sabina's uncle, sent her a very handsome diamond +necklace, which the Princess showed to all her friends, and some of +them began to send wedding presents likewise, because they had been +privately informed that the marriage was to take place very soon. + +Sabina lived joyously in the moment, apparently convinced that fate +would bring everything right, and doing her best to drive away the +melancholy that had settled upon Malipieri. Something would happen, she +said. It was impossible that heaven could be so cruel as to part them +and ruin both their lives for the sake of a promise given to a man dead +long ago. Malipieri wished that he could believe it. + +He grew almost desperate as time went on and he saw how the Princess +was doing everything to make the engagement irrevocable. He grew thin, +and nervous, and his eyes were restless. The deep tan of the African +sun was disappearing, too, and sometimes he looked almost ill. People +said he was too much in love, and laughed. Little by little Sabina +understood that she could not persuade him to trust to the future, and +she grew anxious about him. He wondered how she could still deceive +herself as to the inevitable end. + +"We can go on being engaged as long as we please," she said hopefully. +"There are plenty of possible excuses." + +"You and I are not good at lying," he answered, with a weary smile. "We +told each other so, that night." + +"But it is perfectly true that I am almost too young to be married," +said she; "and really, you know, it might be more sensible to wait till +I am nineteen." + +"We should not think it sensible to wait a week, if there were no +hindrance. You know that." + +"Of course! But when there is a hindrance, as you call it, it is very +sensible indeed to wait," retorted Sabina, with a truly feminine sense +of the value of logic. "I shall think so, and I shall say so, if I +must. Then you will have to wait, too, and what will it matter, so long +as we can see each other every day? Have people never waited a year to +be married?" + +"You know that we may wait all our lives." + +"No. I will not do that," Sabina said with sudden energy. "If nothing +happens, I will make something happen. You know what I told you. Have +you forgotten? And I am sure your father will understand." + +"I doubt it," Malipieri answered, smiling in spite of himself. + +To tell the truth, since her mother had cleared away so many dangers, +and showed no intention of shutting her up in a convent, Sabina had +begun to see that it would be quite another matter to run away and +follow Malipieri to the ideal desert island, especially after they had +been openly engaged to be married and the engagement had been broken. +The world would have to know the story of his marriage then, and it +would call him dishonourable for having allowed himself to be engaged +to her when he was not free. It would say that she had found out the +truth, and that he was a villain, or something unpleasant of that sort. +But she meant to keep up the illusion bravely, as long as there was any +life in it at all, and then "something must happen." + +"It seems so strange that I should be braver than you," she said. + +He did not wonder at that as much as she did. Her reputation was saved +now, but his honour was in the balance, and at the mercy of a worldly +and unscrupulous woman. When he broke the engagement, the Princess +would tell the story of his marriage and publish it on the housetops. +He told Sabina so. + +"You are safe," he added; "but when I lose you, I shall lose my place +among honourable men." + +"Then I shall tell the truth, and the whole truth, to every one I +know," Sabina answered, in the full conviction that truth, like faith, +could perform miracles, and that a grain of it could remove mountains +of evil. "I shall tell the whole world!" she cried. "I do not care what +my mother says." + +He was silent, for it was better, after all, that she should believe in +her happiness as long as she could. She said nothing more for some time +and they sat quite still, thinking widely opposite thoughts. At last +she laid her hand on his; the loving little way had become familiar to +her since it had come instinctively the first time. + +"Marino!" + +"Yes?" + +"You know that I love you?" + +"Indeed I know it." + +"And you love me? Just as much? In the same way?" + +"Perhaps more. Who knows?" + +"No, that is impossible," she answered. "Now listen to me. It is out of +the question that we should ever be parted, loving each other as we do, +is it not?" + +The door opened and a servant entered, with a card. + +"The lady told me to inform your Excellency that she is a connection of +Signor Malipieri," said the man. "She hopes that she may be received, +as she is in Rome for only a few hours." + +Sabina looked at the card and handed it silently to Malipieri, and her +fingers trembled. + +"Angelica Malipieri." + +That was the name and there was the address in Florence, in Via del +Mandorlo. + +"Ask the lady to come here," said Sabina, quietly; but her face was +suddenly very white. + + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + + + + +Sabina and Malipieri sat in silence during the minutes that followed. +From time to time, they looked at each other. His self-possession and +courage had returned, now that something decisive was to take place, +but Sabina's heart was almost standing still. She felt that the woman +had come to make a scene, to threaten a scandal and utterly to destroy +the illusion of happiness. If not, and if she had merely had something +of importance to communicate, why had she not gone to Malipieri first, +or written to ask for this interview with Sabina? She had come +suddenly, in order to take advantage of the surprise her appearance +must cause. For once, Sabina wished that her mother were with her, her +high and mighty, insolent, terrible mother, who was afraid of nobody in +the world. + +The door opened, and the footman admitted a quiet little woman, about +thirty years old, already inclined to be stout. She was very simply but +very well dressed, she had beautiful brown hair, and when she came +forward Sabina looked into a pair of luminous and trustful hazel eyes. + +"Donna Sabina Conti?" asked the Signora Malipieri in a gentle voice. + +"Yes," Sabina answered. + +She and Malipieri had both risen. The Signora made a timid movement +with her hand, as if she expected that Sabina would offer hers, which +Sabina did, rather late, when she saw that it was expected. The lady +glanced at Malipieri and then at Sabina with a look of enquiry, as he +held out his hand to her and she took it. He saw that she did not +recognize him. + +"I am Marino Malipieri," he said. + +"You?" she cried in surprise. + +Then a faint flush rose in her smooth cheeks, and Sabina, who was +watching her, saw that her lip trembled a little, and that tears rose +in her eyes. + +"Forgive me," she said, in an unsteady voice. "I should have known you, +after all you have done for me." + +"I think it is nearly thirteen years since we met," Malipieri answered. +"I had no beard then." + +She looked at him long, evidently in strong emotion, but the tears did +not overflow, and the clear light came back gradually in her gaze. Then +the three sat down. + +"I thought I had better come," she said. "It seemed easier than to +write." + +"Yes," Sabina answered, not knowing what to say. + +"You see," said the Signora, "I could not easily write to you frankly, +as I had never seen you, and I did not like to write to Signor +Malipieri about what I wanted to know." + +"Yes," said Sabina, once more, but this time she looked at Malipieri. + +"What is it that you wish to know, Signora?" he asked kindly, "Whether +it is all exactly as my letter told you? Is that it?" + +She turned to him with a look of reproach. + +"Does a woman doubt a man who has done what you have done for me?" she +asked. "I wanted to know something more--a little more than what you +wrote to me. It would make a difference, perhaps." + +"To you, Signora?" asked Sabina quickly. + +"No. To you. Perhaps it would make a great difference in the way I +should act." She paused an instant. "It is rather hard to ask, I know," +she added shyly. + +She seemed to be a timid little woman. + +"Please tell us what it is that you wish to know, Signora," said +Malipieri, in the same kind tone, trying to encourage her. + +"I should like to ask--I hardly know just how to say it--if you would +tell me whether you are fond of each other--" + +"What difference can that make to you, Signora?" Malipieri asked with +sudden hardness. "You know that I shall not break my word." + +She was hurt by the tone, and looked down meekly, as if she had +deserved the words. + +"We love each other with all our hearts," said Sabina, before either of +the others could say more. "Nothing shall ever part us, in this world +or the next." + +There was a ring of clear defiance to fate in the girl's voice, and +Signora Malipieri turned to her quickly, with a look of sympathy. She +knew the cry that comes from the heart. + +"But you think that you can never be married," she said, almost to +herself. + +"How can we? You know that we cannot!" It was Malipieri who answered. + +Then the timid little woman raised her head and looked him full in the +face, and spoke without any more hesitation. + +"Do you think that I have never thought of this possibility, during all +these years?" she asked. "Do you really believe that I would let you +suffer for me, let your life be broken, let you give up the best thing +that any life holds, after you have done for me what perhaps no man +ever did for a woman before?" + +"I know you are grateful," Malipieri answered very gently. "Do not +speak of what I have done. It has not been at any sacrifice, till now." + +But Sabina leaned forward and grasped the Signora Malipieri's hands. +Her own were trembling. + +"You have come to help us!" she cried. "It is so easy, now that I know +that you love each other." + +"How?" asked Sabina, breathless. "By a divorce?" + +"Yes." + +"I shall never ask for that," Malipieri said, shaking his head. + +"You are the best and truest gentleman that ever protected a woman in +trouble, Signor Malipieri," said the little woman quietly. "I know that +you will never divorce me. I know you would not even think of it." + +"Well, but then--" Malipieri stopped and looked at her. + +"I shall get a divorce from you," she said, and then she looked happily +from one to the other. + +Malipieri covered his eyes with his hand. He had not even thought of +such a solution, and the thought came upon him in his despair like a +flood of dazzling light. Sabina was on her knees, and had thrown her +arms wildly round the Signora Malipieri's neck, and was kissing her +again and again. + +"But it is nothing," protested the Signora, beaming with delight. "It +is so simple, so easy, and I know exactly what to do." + +"You?" cried Sabina between laughing and crying. + +"Yes. I once gave lessons in the house of a famous lawyer, and +sometimes I was asked to stay to luncheon, and I heard a great case +discussed, and I asked questions, until I thoroughly understood it all. +You see, it was what I always meant to do. There is a little fiction +about the way it is managed, but it is perfectly legal. Though Italians +may naturalize themselves in a foreign country, they can regain their +own nationality by a simple declaration. Now, Signor Malipieri and I +must be naturalized in Switzerland. I know a place where it can be done +easily. Then we can be divorced by mutual consent at once. We come back +to Italy, declare our nationality wherever we please, and we are free +to be married to any one else, under Italian law. The fiction is only +that by paying some money, it can all be done in three months, instead +of in three years." + +Malipieri had listened attentively. + +"Are you positively sure of that?" he asked. + +"I have the authority of one of the first lawyers in Italy." + +"But the Church?" asked Sabina anxiously. "I should not think it a +marriage at all, if I were not married in church." + +"I have asked a good priest about that," answered the Signora. "I go to +confession to him, and he is a good man, and wise too. He told me that +the Church could make no objection at all, since there has really been +no marriage at all, and since Signor Malipieri will present himself +after being properly and legally married to you at the municipality. He +told me, on the contrary, that it is my duty to do everything in my +power to help you." + +"God bless you!" Sabina cried. "You are the best woman in the world!" + +Malipieri took the Signora's hand and pressed it to his lips fervently, +for he could not find any words. + +"I shall only ask one thing," she said, speaking timidly again. + +"Ask all I have," he answered, her hand still in his. + +"But you may not like it. I should like to keep the name, if you do not +mind very much, on account of my little girl. She need never know. I +can leave her with a friend while we are in Switzerland." + +"It is yours," he said. "Few of my own people have borne it as worthily +as you have, since I gave it to you." + + * * * * * * + +Here, therefore, ends the story of Sabina Conti and Marino Malipieri, +whose marriage took place quietly during the autumn, as the Princess +had confidently said that it should. It is a tale without a "purpose" +and without any particular "moral," in the present appalling +acceptation, of those simple words. If it has interested or pleased +those who have read it, the writer is glad; if it has not, he can find +some consolation in having made two young people unutterably blissful +in his own imagination, whereas he manifestly had it in his power to +bring them to awful grief; and when one cannot make living men and +women happy in real life, it is a harmless satisfaction to do it in a +novel. If this one shows anything worth learning about the world, it is +that a gifted man of strong character and honourable life may do a +foolish and generous thing whereby he may become in a few days the +helpless toy of fate. He who has never repented of a good impulse which +has brought great trouble to other people, must be indeed a selfish +soul. + +As for the strange circumstances I have described, I do not think any +of them impossible, and many of them are founded upon well-known facts. +I have myself seen, within not many years, a construction like the dry +well in the Palazzo Conti, which was discovered in the foundations of a +Roman palace, and had been used as an oubliette. There were skeletons +in it and fragments of weapons of the sixteenth century and even of the +seventeenth. There was also a communication between the cellars of the +palace and the Tiber. + +I read George Sand's fantastic novel _Consuelo_ many years ago, and I +am aware that she introduced a well, in an ancient castle, in which the +water could be made to rise and fall at will, in order to establish or +interrupt communication with a secret chamber. I do not know whether +she imagined the construction or had seen a similar one, for such wells +are said to be found in more than one old fortress in Europe. The "lost +water" really exists at many points under Rome; its rising and falling +are sometimes unaccountable; and I know at least one old palace in +which it has been used and found pure, within the memory of man. So +far, the explanations suggested by engineers have neither satisfied +those who have propounded them, nor those who have had practical +experience of the "lost water." The subject is extremely interesting +but is one of very great difficulty, as it is generally quite +impossible to make explorations in the places where the water is near +the surface. The older part of modern Rome was built haphazard, and +often upon the enormous substructures of ancient buildings, of which +the positions can be conjectured only, and of which the plans and +dimensions are very vaguely guessed by archaeologists. All that can be +said with approximate certainty of the "lost water" is that it must run +through long-forgotten conduits, that it rises here and there in wells, +and that it is mostly uncontaminated by the river. + +Those familiar with the Vatican museum will have at once recognized the +colossal statue of gilt bronze which now stands in the circular hall +known as the "Rotonda." It was accidentally found, when I was a boy, in +the courtyard of the Palazzo Righetti in the Campo dei Fiori, carefully +and securely concealed by a well-built vault, evidently constructed for +the purpose, in the foundations of the Theatre of Pompey. I went to see +it, when only a portion of the vault had been removed, and I shall +never forget the vivid impression it made upon me. So far as I know, +there has not been any explanation of its having been hidden there, but +among the lower classes in Rome there are traditions of great treasure +supposed to be buried in other parts of the city. I have taken the +liberty of making the discovery over again at a point some distance +from the Palazzo Righetti, and in the present time. The statue was +really found in 1864, and the gem in the ring was stolen. The marble +Venus which Malipieri saw with it is imaginary, but I was also taken to +see the beautiful statue of Augustus, now in the Braccio Nuovo of the +Vatican, on the spot where it came to light in the Villa of Livia, in +1863. + +The great mediaeval family of Conti became extinct long ago. The palace +to which I have given their name would stand on the site of one now the +property of the Vatican, but would be of a somewhat different +construction. + +Finally, I wish to protest that there are no so-called "portraits" in +this story of the heart of old Rome. Many Romans were ruined by the +financial crisis of 1888 and its consequences, either at the time or +later. The family to which Sabina belonged is wholly imaginary, and its +fall was due to other causes. I trust that no ingenious reader will try +to trace a parallel where none exists. I would not even have a certain +young and famous architect and engineer, for whom I entertain the +highest admiration and esteem, recognize a "portrait" of himself in +Marino Malipieri, if these pages should ever come to his notice, and I +have purposely made my imaginary hero as unlike him as possible, in +appearance, manner and speech. + +Those who have noticed the increasing tendency of modern readers to +bring accusations of plagiarism against novels that deal partly with +facts will understand why I have said this much about my own work. To +others, the few details I have given may be of some interest. + + + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Heart of Rome, by Francis Marion Crawford + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HEART OF ROME *** + +***** This file should be named 5847.txt or 5847.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/5/8/4/5847/ + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. 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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 Heart of Rome + +Author: Francis Marion Crawford + +Release Date: June, 2004 [EBook #5847] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on October 23, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE HEART OF ROME *** + + + + +Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading +Team. + + + +THE HEART OF ROME + +A Tale of the "Lost water" + +BY FRANCIS MARION CRAWFORD +Author of "Cecilia," "Saracinesca," "In the Palace of the King," Etc. + + + + + +THE HEART OF ROME + + + + + + +CHAPTER I + + + + +The Baroness Volterra drove to the Palazzo Conti in the heart of Rome +at nine o'clock in the morning, to be sure of finding Donna Clementina +at home. She had tried twice to telephone, on the previous afternoon, +but the central office had answered that "the communication was +interrupted." She was very anxious to see Clementina at once, in order +to get her support for a new and complicated charity. She only wanted +the name, and expected nothing else, for the Conti had very little +ready money, though they still lived as if they were rich. This did +not matter to their friends, but was a source of constant anxiety to +their creditors, and to the good Pompeo Sassi, the steward of the +ruined estate. He alone knew what the Conti owed, for none of them +knew much about it themselves, though he had done his best to make the +state of things clear to them. + +The big porter of the palace was sweeping the pavement of the great +entrance, as the cab drove in. He wore his working clothes of grey +linen with silver buttons bearing the ancient arms of his masters, and +his third best gold-laced cap. There was nothing surprising in this, +at such an early hour, and as he was a grave man with a long grey +beard that made him look very important, the lady who drove up in the +open cab did not notice that he was even more solemn than usual. When +she appeared, he gave one more glance at the spot he had been +sweeping, and then grounded his broom like a musket, folded his hands +on the end of the broomstick and looked at her as if he wondered what +on earth had brought her to the palace at that moment, and wished that +she would take herself off again as soon as possible. + +He did not even lift his cap to her, yet there was nothing rude in his +manner. He behaved like a man upon whom some one intrudes when he is +in great trouble. + +The Baroness was rather more exigent in requiring respect from +servants than most princesses of the Holy Roman Empire, for her +position in the aristocratic scale was not very well defined. + +She was not pleased, and spoke with excessive coldness when she asked +if Donna Clementina was at home. The porter stood motionless beside +the cab, leaning on his broom. After a pause he said in a rather +strange voice that Donna Clementina was certainly in, but that he +could not tell whether she were awake or not. + +"Please find out," answered the Baroness, with impatience. "I am +waiting," she added with an indescribable accent of annoyance and +surprise, as if she had never been kept waiting before, in all the +fifty years of her more or less fashionable life. + +There were speaking-tubes in the porter's lodge, communicating with +each floor of the great Conti palace, but the porter did not move. + +"I cannot go upstairs and leave the door," he said. + +"You can speak to the servant through the tube, I suppose!" + +The porter slowly shook his massive head, and his long grey beard +wagged from side to side. + +"There are no servants upstairs," he said. "There is only the family." + +"No servants? Are you crazy?" + +"Oh, no!" answered the man meditatively. "I do not think I am mad. The +servants all went away last night after dinner, with their belongings. +There were only sixteen left, men and women, for I counted them." + +"Do you mean to say--" The Baroness stopped in the middle of her +question, staring in amazement. + +The porter now nodded, as solemnly as he had before shaken his head. + +"Yes. This is the end of the house of Conti." + +Then he looked at her as if he wished to be questioned, for he knew +that she was not really a great lady, and guessed that in spite of her +magnificent superiority and coldness she was not above talking to a +servant about her friends. + +"But they must have somebody," she said. "They must eat, I suppose! +Somebody must cook for them. They cannot starve!" + +"Who knows? Who knows? Perhaps they will starve." + +The porter evidently took a gloomy view of the case. + +"But why did the servants go away in a body?" asked the Baroness, +descending from her social perch by the inviting ladder of curiosity. + +"They never were paid. None of us ever got our wages. For some time +the family has paid nobody. The day before yesterday, the telephone +company sent a man to take away the instrument. Then the electric +light was cut off. When that happens, it is all over." + +The man had heard of the phenomenon from a colleague. + +"And there is nobody? They have nobody at all?" + +The Baroness had always been rich, and was really trying to guess what +would happen to people who had no servants. + +"There is my wife," said the porter. "But she is old," he added +apologetically, "and the palace is big. Can she sweep out three +hundred rooms, cook for two families of masters and dress the +Princess's hair? She cannot do it." + +This was stated with gloomy gravity. The Baroness also shook her head +in sympathy. + +"There were sixteen servants in the house yesterday," continued the +porter. "I remember when there were thirty, in the times of the old +Prince." + +"There would be still, if the family had been wise," said the Baroness +severely. "Is your wife upstairs?" + +"Who knows where she is?" enquired the porter by way of answer, and +with the air of a man who fears that he may never see his wife again. +"There are three hundred rooms. Who knows where she is?" + +The Baroness was a practical woman by nature and by force of +circumstances; she made up her mind to go upstairs and see for herself +how matters stood. The name of Donna Clementina might not just now +carry much weight beside those of the patronesses of a complicated +charitable organization; in fact the poor lady must be in a position +to need charity herself rather than to dispense it to others. But the +Baroness had a deep-rooted prejudice in favour of the old aristocracy, +and guessed that it would afterwards be counted to her for +righteousness if she could be the first to offer boundless sympathy +and limited help to the distressed family. + +It would be thought distinctly smart, for instance, if she should take +the Princess, or even one of the unmarried daughters, to her own house +for a few days, as a refuge from the sordid atmosphere of debt and +ruin, and beyond the reach of vulgar creditors, one of whom, by the +way, she knew to be her own excellent husband. The Princess was +probably not aware of that fact, for she had always lived in sublime +ignorance of everything connected with money, even since her husband's +death; and when good Pompeo Sassi tried to explain things, telling her +that she was quite ruined, she never listened to what he said. If the +family had debts, why did he not borrow money and pay them? That was +what he was paid for doing, after all. It was true that he had not +been paid for a year or two, but that was a wretched detail. Economy? +Had not the Princess given up her second maid, as an extravagance? +What more did the man expect? + +The Baroness knew all this and reflected upon what she knew, as she +deliberately got out of her cab at the foot of the grand staircase. + +"I will go upstairs myself," she said. + +"Padrona," observed the porter, standing aside with his broom. + +He explained in a single word that she was at liberty to go upstairs +if she chose, that it was not of the least use to go, and that he +would not be responsible for any disappointment if she were afterwards +not pleased. There is no language in the world which can say more in +one word than the Italian, or less in ten thousand, according to the +humour of the speaker. + +The Baroness took no notice as she went up the stairs. She was not +very tall, and was growing slowly and surely stout, but she carried +her rather large head high and had cultivated importance, as a fine +art, with some success. She moved steadily, with a muffled sound as of +voluminous invisible silk bellows that opened and shut at each step; +her outer dress was sombre, but fashionable, and she wore a long gold +chain of curious and fine workmanship to carry her hand-glass, for she +was near-sighted. Her thick hair was iron-grey, her small round eyes +were vaguely dark with greenish lights, her complexion was like weak +coffee and milk, sallow, but smooth, even and healthy. She was a +strong woman of fifty years, well used to the world and its ways; +acquisitive, inquisitive and socially progressive; not knowing how to +wish back anything from the past, so long as there was anything in the +future to wish for; a good wife for an ambitious man. + +The magnificent marble staircase already looked neglected; there were +deep shadows of dust in corners that should have been polished, there +was a coat of grey dust on the head and shoulders of the colossal +marble statue of Commodus in the niche on the first landing; in the +great window over the next, the armorial crowned eagle of the Conti, +cheeky, argent and sable, had a dejected look, as if he were moulting. + +It was in March, and though the sun was shining brightly outside, and +the old porter wore his linen jacket, as if it were already spring, +there was a cold draught down the staircase, and the Baroness +instinctively made haste up the steps, and was glad when she reached +the big swinging door covered with red baize and studded with smart +brass nails, which gave access to the grand apartment. + +By force of habit, she opened it and went in. There used to be always +two men in the outer hall, all day long, and sometimes four, ready to +announce visitors or to answer questions, as the case might be. It was +deserted now, a great, dismal, paved hall, already dingy with dust. +One of the box-benches was open, and the tail of a footman's livery +greatcoat which had been thrown in carelessly, hung over the edge and +dragged on the marble floor. + +The Baroness realized that the porter had spoken the truth and that +all the servants had left the house, as the rats leave a sinking ship. +One must really have seen an old ship sink in harbour to know how the +rats look, black and grey, fat and thin, old and young, their tiny +beads of eyes glittering with fright as they scurry up the hatches and +make for every deck port and scupper, scrambling and tumbling over +each other till they flop into the water and swim away, racing for +safety, each making a long forked wake on the smooth surface, with a +steady quick ripple like the tearing of thin paper into strips. + +The strong middle-aged woman who stood alone in the empty hall knew +nothing of sinking vessels or the ways of rats, but she had known +incidentally of more than one catastrophe like this, in the course of +her husband's ascendant career, and somehow he had always been +mysteriously connected with each one. An evil-speaking old diplomatist +had once said that he remembered Baron Volterra as a pawn-broking +dealer in antiquities, in Florence, thirty years earlier; there was +probably no truth in the story, but after Volterra was elected a +Senator of the Kingdom, a member of the opposition had alluded to it +with piquant irony and the result had been the exchange of several +bullets at forty paces, whereby honour was satisfied without +bloodshed. The seconds, who were well disposed to both parties, alone +knew how much or how little powder there was in the pistols, and they +were discreet men, who kept the secret. + +The door leading to the antechamber was wide open, and the Baroness +went on deliberately, looking about through her hand-glass, in the +half light, for the shutters were not all open. Dust everywhere, the +dust that falls silently at night from the ancient wooden ceilings and +painted beams of Roman palaces, the dust of centuries accumulated +above and sifting for ever to the floors below. It was on the yellow +marble pier tables, on the dim mirrors in their eighteenth century +frames, on the high canopy draped with silver and black beneath which +the effigy of another big cheeky eagle seemed to be silently moulting +under his antique crown, the emblem of a race that had lived almost on +the same spot for eight hundred years, through good and bad repute, +but in nearly uninterrupted prosperity. The Baroness, who hankered +after greatness, felt that the gloom was a twilight of gods. She stood +still before the canopy, the symbol of princely rank and privilege, +the invisible silk bellows were silent for a few seconds, and she +wondered whether there were any procurable sum which she and her +husband would grudge in exchange for the acknowledged right to display +a crowned eagle, cheeky, argent and sable, in their hall, under a +canopy draped with their own colours. She sighed, since no one could +hear her, and she went on. The sigh was not only for the hopelessness +of ever reaching such social greatness; it was in part the outward +show of a real regret that it should have come to an untimely end. Her +admiration of princes was as sincere as her longing to be one of them; +she had at least the melancholy satisfaction of sympathizing with them +in their downfall. It brought her a little nearer to them in +imagination if not in fact. + +The evolution of the snob has been going on quickly of late, and +quicker than ever since vast wealth has given so many of the species +the balance of at least one sort of power in society. His thoughts are +still the same, but his outward shape approaches strangely near to +that of the human being. There are snobs now, who behave almost as +nicely in the privacy of their homes as in the presence of a duchess. +They are much more particular as to the way in which others shall +behave to them. That is a test, by the bye. The snob thinks most of +the treatment he receives from the world; the gentleman thinks first +how he shall act courteously to others. + +The Baroness went on and entered the outer reception room, and looking +before her she could see through the open doors of the succeeding +drawing-rooms, where the windows had been opened or perhaps not closed +on the previous evening. It was all vast, stately and deserted. Only +ten days earlier she had been in the same place at a great reception, +brilliant with beautiful women and handsome men, alive with the +flashing of jewels and decorations in the vivid light, full of the +discreet noise of society in good-humour, full of faces she knew, and +voices familiar, and of the moonlight of priceless pearls and the +sunlight of historic diamonds; all of which manifestations she dearly +loved. + +Her husband had perhaps known what was coming, and how soon, but she +had not. There was something awful in the contrast. As she went +through one of the rooms a mouse ran from under the fringe of a velvet +curtain and took refuge under an armchair. She had sat in that very +chair ten days ago and the Russian ambassador had talked to her; she +remembered how he had tried to extract information from her about the +new issue of three and a half per cent national bonds, because her +husband was one of the financiers who were expected to "manipulate" +the loan. + +A portrait of a Conti in black velvet, by Velasquez, looked down, +coldly supercilious, at the empty armchair under which the mouse was +hiding. It could make no difference, great or small, to him, whether +the Baroness Volterra ever sat there again to talk with an ambassador; +he had sat where he pleased, undisturbed in his own house, to the end +of his days, and no one can take the past from the dead, except a +modern German historian. + +Not a sound broke the stillness, except the steady plash of the water +falling into the fountain in the wide court, heard distinctly through +the closed windows. The Baroness wondered if any one were awake except +the old porter downstairs. She knew the house tolerably well. Only the +Princess and her two unmarried daughters slept in the apartment she +had entered, far off, at the very end, in rooms at the corner +overlooking the small square and the narrow street. The rest of the +old palace was surrounded by dark and narrow streets, but the court +was wide and full of sunshine. The only son of the house, though he +was now the Prince, lived on the floor above, with his young wife and +their only child, in what had been a separate establishment, after the +old Roman custom. + +The Baroness went to one of the embrasures of the great drawing-room +and looked through the panes at the windows of the upper story. All +that she could see were shut; there was not a sign of life in the huge +building. Ruin had closed in upon it and all it held, softly, without +noise and without pity. + +It was their own fault, of course, but the Baroness was sorry for +them, for she was not quite heartless, in spite of her hard face. The +gloomiest landscape must have a ray of light in it, somewhere. It was +all their own fault; they should have known better; they should have +counted what they had instead of spending what they had not. But their +fall was great, as everything had been in their prosperity, and it was +interesting to be connected with it. She faintly hoped Volterra would +keep the palace now that they could certainly never pay any more +interest on the mortgage, and it was barely possible that she might +some day live in it herself, though she understood that it would be in +very bad taste to occupy it at once. But this was unlikely, for her +husband had a predilection for a new house, in the new part of the +city, full of new furniture and modern French pictures. He had a +pronounced dislike for old things, including old pictures and old +jewellery, though he knew much about both. Possibly they reminded him +of that absurd story, and of his duel at forty paces. + +Volterra would sell the palace to the Vatican, with everything in it, +and would look about for another lucrative investment. The Vatican +bought all the palaces in the market for religious institutions, and +when there were not enough "it" built the finest buildings in Rome for +its own purposes. Volterra was mildly anti-clerical in politics, but +he was particularly fond of dealing with the Vatican for real estate. +The Vatican was a most admirable house of business, in his estimation, +keen, punctual and always solvent; it was good for a financier to be +associated with such an institution. It drove a hard bargain, but +there was never any hesitation about fulfilling its obligations to the +last farthing. Dreaming over one of his enormous Havanas after a +perfect dinner, Baron Volterra, Senator of the Kingdom of Italy, often +wondered whether the prosperity of the whole world would not be vastly +increased if the Vatican would consent to be the general financial +agent for the European nations. Such stability as there would be, such +order! Above all, such guarantees of good faith! Besides all that, +there were its cordial relations with the United States, that is to +say, with the chief source of the world's future wealth! The Senator's +strongly-marked face grew sweetly thoughtful as he followed his own +visions in the air, and when his wife spoke of living in an antiquated +Roman palace and buying an estate with an old title attached to it, +which the King might graciously be pleased to ratify, he playfully +tapped his wife's sallow cheek with two fat fingers and smiled in a +way that showed how superior he was to such weakness. It was not even +worth while to say anything. + +Once more the Baroness sighed as she turned from the window. She meant +to have her own way in the end, but it was hard to wait so long. She +turned from the window, glanced at a beautiful holy family by +Bonifazio which hung on the opposite wall above an alabaster table, +estimated its value instinctively and went on into the next drawing- +room. + +As she passed through the door, a low cry of pain made her start and +hesitate, and she stood still. The degree of her acquaintance with the +members of the family was just such that she would not quite dare to +intrude upon them if they had given way to an expression of pardonable +weakness under their final misfortune, whereas if they were bearing it +with reasonable fortitude she could allow herself to offer her +sympathy and even some judicious help. + +She stood still and the sound was repeated, the pitiful little +tearless complaint of a young thing suffering alone. It was somewhere +in the big room, hidden amongst the furniture; which was less stiffly +arranged here than in the outer apartments. There were books and +newspapers on the table, the fireplace was half-full of the ashes of a +burnt-out fire, there were faded flowers in a tall vase near the +window, there was the undefinable presence of life in the heavier and +warmer air. At first the Baroness had thought that the cry came from +some small animal, hurt and forgotten there in the great catastrophe; +a moment later she was sure that there was some one in the room. + +She moved cautiously forward in the direction whence the sound had +come. Then she saw the edge of a fawn-coloured cloth skirt on the red +carpet by an armchair. She went on, hesitating no longer. She had seen +the frock only a day or two ago, and it belonged to Sabina Conti. + +A very fair young girl was kneeling in the shadow, crouching over +something on the floor. Her hair was like the pale mist in the +morning, tinged with gold. She was very slight, and as she bent down, +her slender neck was dazzling white above the collar of her frock. She +was trembling a little. + +"My dear Sabina, what has happened?" asked the Baroness Volterra, +leaning over her with an audible crack in the region of the waist. + +At the words the girl turned up her pale face, without the least start +of surprise. + +"It is dead," she said, in a very low voice. + +The Baroness looked down, and saw a small bunch of yellow feathers +lying on the floor at the girl's knees; the poor little head with its +colourless beak lay quite still on the red carpet, turned upon one +side, as if it were resting. + +"A canary," observed the Baroness, who had never had a pet in her +life, and had always wondered how any one could care for such stupid +things. + +But the violet eyes gazed up to hers reproachfully and wonderingly. + +"It is dead." + +That should explain everything; surely the woman must understand. Yet +there was no response. The Baroness stood upright again, grasping her +parasol and looking down with a sort of respectful indifference. +Sabina said nothing, but took up the dead bird very tenderly, as if it +could still feel that she loved it, and she pressed it softly to her +breast, bending her head to it, and then kissing the yellow feathers. +When it was alive it used to nestle there, almost as it lay now. It +had been very tame. + +"I suppose a cat killed it," said the Baroness, wishing to say +something. + +Sabina shook her head. She had found it lying there, not wounded, its +feathers not torn--just dead. It was of no use to answer. She rose to +her feet, still holding the tiny body against her bosom, and she +looked at the Baroness, mutely asking what had brought her there, and +wishing that she would go away. + +"I came to see your sister," said the elder woman, with something like +apology in the tone. + +Sabina was still very pale, and her delicate lips were pressed +together, but there were no tears in her eyes, as she waited for the +Baroness to say more. + +"Then I heard the bad news," the latter continued. "I heard it from +the porter." + +Sabina looked at her quietly. If she had heard the bad news, why had +she not gone away? The Baroness began to feel uncomfortable. She +almost quailed before the pale girl of seventeen, slender as a birch +sapling in her light frock. + +"It occurred to me," she continued nervously, "that I might be of +use." + +"You are very kind," Sabina answered, with the faintest air of +surprise, "but I really do not see that you could do anything." + +"Perhaps your mother would allow you to spend a few days with me-- +until things are more settled," suggested the Baroness. + +"Thank you very much. I do not think she would like that. She would +not wish me to be away from her just now, I am sure. Why should I +leave her?" + +The Baroness Volterra did not like to point out that the Princess +Conti might soon be literally homeless. + +"May I ask your mother?" she enquired. "Should you like to come to me +for a few days?" + +"If my mother wishes it." + +"But should you like to come?" persisted the elder woman. + +"If my mother thinks it is best," answered Sabina, avoiding the +Baroness's eyes, as she resolutely avoided answering the direct +question. + +But the Baroness was determined if possible to take in one of the +family, and it had occurred to her that Sabina would really be less +trouble than her mother or elder sister. Clementina was the eldest and +was already looked upon as an old maid. She was intensely devout, and +that was always troublesome, for it meant that she would insist upon +going to church at impossibly early hours, and must have fish-dinners +on Fridays. But it would certainly be conferring a favour on the +Princess to take Sabina off her hands at such a time. The devout +Clementina could take care of herself. With her face, the Baroness +reflected, she would be safe among Cossacks; besides, she could go +into a retreat, and stay there, if necessary. Sabina was quite +different. + +The Princess thought so too, as it turned out. Sabina took the visitor +to her mother's door, knocked, opened and then went away, still +pressing her dead canary to her bosom, and infinitely glad to be alone +with it at last. + +There was confusion in the Princess Conti's bedroom, the amazing +confusion which boils up about an utterly careless woman of the great +world, if she be accidentally left without a maid for twenty-four +hours. It seemed as if everything the Princess possessed in the way of +clothes, necessary and unnecessary, had been torn from wardrobes and +chests of drawers by a cyclone and scattered in every direction, till +there was not space to move or sit down in a room which was thirty +feet square. + +Princess Conti was a very stout woman of about the same age as her +visitor, but not resembling her in the least. She had been beautiful, +and still kept the dazzling complexion and magnificent eyes for which +she had been famous. It was her boast that she slept eight hours every +night, without waking, whatever happened, and she always advised +everybody to do the same, with an airy indifference to possibilities +which would have done credit to a doctor. + +She was dressed, or rather wrapped, in a magnificent purple velvet +dressing-gown, trimmed with sable, and tied round her ample waist with +a silver cord; her rather scanty grey hair stood out about her head +like a cloud in a high wind; and her plump hands were encased in a +pair of old white gloves, which looked oddly out of place. She was +standing in the middle of the room, and she smiled calmly as the +Baroness entered. On a beautiful inlaid table beside her stood a +battered brass tray with an almost shapeless little brass coffee-pot, +a common earthenware cup, chipped at the edges, and three pieces of +doubtful-looking sugar in a tiny saucer, also of brass. The whole had +evidently been brought from a small cafe near by, which had long been +frequented by the servants from the palace. + +Judging from her smile, the Princess seemed to think total ruin rather +an amusing incident. She had always complained that the Romans were +very dull; for she was not a Roman herself, but came of a very great +old Polish family, the members of which had been distinguished for +divers forms of amiable eccentricity during a couple of centuries. + +She looked at the Baroness, and smiled pleasantly, showing her still +perfect teeth. + +"I always said that this would happen," she observed. "I always told +my poor husband so." + +As the Prince had been dead ten years, the Baroness thought that he +might not be wholly responsible for the ruin of his estate, but she +discreetly avoided the suggestion. She began to make a little apology +for her visit. + +"But I am delighted to see you!" cried the Princess. "You can help me +to pack. You know I have not a single maid, not a woman in the house, +nor a man either. Those ridiculous servants fled last night as if we +had the plague!" + +"So you are going out of town?" enquired the Baroness, laying down her +parasol. + +"Of course. Clementina has decided to be a nun, and is going to the +convent this morning. So sensible of her, poor dear! It is true that +she has made up her mind to do it three or four times before now, but +the circumstances were different, and I hope this will be final. She +will be much happier." + +The Princess stirred the muddy coffee in the chipped earthenware cup, +and then sipped it thoughtfully, sipped it again, and made a face. + +"You see my breakfast," she said, and then laughed, as if the shabby +brass tray were a part of the train of amusing circumstances. "The +porter's wife went and got it at some dirty little cafe," she added. + +"How dreadful!" exclaimed the Baroness, with more real sympathy in her +voice than she had yet shown. + +"I assure you," the Princess answered serenely, "that I am glad to +have any coffee at all. I always told poor dear Paolo that it would +come to this." + +She swallowed the rest of the coffee with a grimace. and set down the +cup. Then, with the most natural gesture in the world, she pushed the +tray a little way across the inlaid table, towards the Baroness, as +she would have pushed it towards her maid, and as if she wished the +thing taken away. She did it merely from force of habit, no doubt. + +Baroness Volterra understood well enough, and for a moment she +affected not to see. The Princess had the blood of Polish kings in her +veins, mingled with that of several mediatized princes, but that was +no reason why she should treat a friend like a servant; especially as +the friend's husband practically owned the palace and its contents, +and had lent the money with which the high and mighty lady and her son +had finally ruined themselves. Yet so overpowering is the moral +domination of the born aristocrat over the born snob, that the +Baroness changed her mind, and humbly took the obnoxious tray away and +set it down on another table near the door. + +"Thank you so much," said the Princess graciously. "It smells, you +know." + +"Of course," answered the Baroness. "It is not coffee at all! It is +made of chicory and acorns." + +"I do not know what it is made of," said the Princess, without +interest, "but it has an atrociously bad smell, and it has made a +green stain on my handkerchief." + +She looked at the bit of transparently fine linen with which she had +touched her lips, and threw it under the table. + +"And Sabina?" began the Baroness. "What shall you do with her?" + +"I wish I knew! You see, my daughter-in-law has a little place +somewhere in the Maremma. It is an awful hole, I believe, and very +unhealthy, but we shall have to stay there for a few days. Then I +shall go to Poland and see my brother. I am sure he can arrange +everything at once, and we shall come back to Rome in the autumn, of +course, just as usual. Sassi told me only last week that two or three +millions would be enough. And what is that? My brother is so rich!" + +The stout Princess shrugged her shoulders carelessly, as if a few +millions of francs more or less could really not be such a great +matter. Somebody had always found money for her to spend, and there +was no reason why obliging persons should not continue to do the same. +The Baroness showed no surprise, but wondered whether the Princess +might not have to lunch, and dine too, on some nauseous little mess +brought to her on a battered brass tray. It was quite possible that +she might not find five francs in her purse; it was equally possible +that she might find five thousand; the only thing quite sure was that +she had not taken the trouble to look, and did not care a straw. + +"Can I be of any immediate use?" asked the Baroness with unnecessary +timidity. "Do you need ready money?" + +"Ready money?" echoed the Princess with alacrity. "Of course I do! I +told you, Sassi says that two or three millions would be enough to go +on with." + +"I did not mean that. I am afraid--" + +"Oh!" ejaculated the Princess with a little disappointment. "Nothing +else would be of any use. Of course I have money for any little thing +I need. There is my purse. Do you mind looking? I know I had two or +three thousand francs the other day. There must be something left. +Please count it. I never can count right, you know." + +The Baroness took up the mauve morocco pocket-book to which the +Princess pointed. It had a clasp in which a pretty sapphire was set; +she opened it and took out a few notes and silver coins, which she +counted. + +"There are fifty-seven francs," she said. + +"Is that all?" asked the Princess with supreme indifference. "How very +odd!" + +"You can hardly leave Rome with so little," observed the Baroness. +"Will you not allow me to lend you five hundred? I happen to have a +five hundred franc note in my purse, for I was going to pay a bill on +my way home." + +"Thanks," said the Princess. "That will save me the trouble of sending +for Sassi. He always bores me dreadfully with his figures. Thank you +very much." + +"Not at all, dear friend," the Baroness answered. "It is a pleasure, I +assure you. But I had thought of asking if you would let Sabina come +and stay with me for a little while, until your affairs are more +settled." + +"Oh, would you do that?" asked the Princess with something like +enthusiasm. "I really do not know what to do with the girl. Of course, +I could take her to Poland and marry her there, but she is so +peculiar, such a strange child, not at all like me. It really would be +immensely kind of you to take her, if your husband does not object." + +"He will be delighted." + +"Yes," acquiesced the Princess calmly. "You see," she continued in a +meditative tone, "if I sent her to stay with any of our cousins here, +I am sure they would ask her all sorts of questions about our affairs, +and she is so silly that she would blurt out everything she fancied +she knew, whether it were true or not--about my son and his wife, you +know, and then, the money questions. Poor Sabina! she has not a +particle of tact! It really would be good of you to take her. I shall +be so grateful." + +"I will bring my maid to pack her things," suggested the Baroness. + +"Yes. If she could only help me to pack mine too! Do you think she +would?" + +"Of course!" + +"You are really the kindest person in the world," said the Princess. +"I was quite in despair, when you came. Just look at those things!" + +She pointed to the chairs and sofas, covered with clothes and dresses. + +"But your boxes, where are they?" asked the Baroness. + +"I have not the least idea! I sent the porter's wife to try and find +them, but she has never come back. She is so stupid, poor old thing!" + +"I think I had better bring a couple of men-servants," said the +Baroness. "They may be of use. Should you like my carriage to take you +to the station? Anything I can do--" + +The Princess stared, as if quite puzzled. + +"Thanks, but we have plenty of horses," she said. + +"Yes, but you said that all your servants had left last night. I +supposed the coachman and grooms were gone too." + +"I daresay they are!" The Princess laughed. "Then we will go in cabs. +It will be very amusing. By the bye, I wonder whether those brutes of +men thought of leaving the poor horses anything to eat, and water! I +must really go and see. Poor beasts! They will be starving. Will you +come with me?" + +She moved towards the door, really very much concerned, for she loved +horses. + +"Will you go down like that?" asked the Baroness aghast, glancing at +the purple velvet dressing-gown, and noticing, as the Princess moved, +that her feet, on which she wore small kid slippers, were +stockingless. + +"Why not? I shall not catch cold. I never do." + +The Baroness would have given anything to be above caring whether any +one should ever see her, or not, on the stairs of her house in a +purple dressing-gown, without stockings and with her hair standing on +end; and she pondered on the ways of the aristocracy she adored, +especially as represented by her Excellency Marie-Sophie-Hedwige- +Zenaide-Honorine-Pia Rubomirska, Dowager Princess Conti. Ever +afterwards she associated purple velvet and bare feet with the idea of +financial catastrophe, knowing in her heart that even ruin would seem +bearable if it could bring her such magnificent indifference to the +details of commonplace existence. + +At that moment, however, she felt that she was in the position of a +heaven-sent protectress to the Princess. + +"No," she said firmly. "I will go myself to the stables, and the +porter shall feed the horses if there is no groom. You really must not +go downstairs looking like that!" + +"Why not?" asked the Princess, surprised. "But of course, if you will +be so kind as to see whether the horses need anything, it is quite +useless for me to go myself. You will promise? I am sure they are +starving by this time." + +The Baroness promised solemnly, and said that she would come back +within an hour, with her servants, to take away Sabina and to help the +Princess's preparations. In consideration of all she was doing the +Princess kissed her on both her sallow cheeks as she took her leave. +The Princess attached no importance at all to this mark of +affectionate esteem, but it pleased the Baroness very much. + +Just as the latter was going away, the door opened suddenly, and a +weak-looking young man put in his head. + +"Mamma! Mamma!" he cried, in a thin tone of distress, almost as if he +were going to cry. + +He was nearly thirty years old, though he looked younger. He was thin, +and pale, with a muddy and spotted complexion, and his scanty black +hair grew far back on his poorly developed forehead. His eyes had a +look that was half startled, half false. Though he was carefully +dressed he had not shaved, because he could not shave himself and his +valet had departed with the rest of the servants. He was the +Princess's only son, himself the present Prince, and the heir of all +the Conti since the year eleven hundred. + +"Mamma!" + +"What is the matter, sweetheart?" asked the Princess, with ready +sympathy. "Your hands are quite cold! Are you ill?" + +"The child! Something has happened to it--we do not know--it looks so +strange--its eyes are turned in and it is such a dreadful colour--do +come--" + +But the Princess was already on her way, and he spoke the last words +as he ran after her. She turned her head as she went on. + +"For heaven's sake send a doctor!" she cried to the Baroness, and in a +moment she was gone, with the weak young man close at her side. + +The Baroness nodded quickly, and when all three reached the door she +left the two to go upstairs and ran down, with a tremendous puffing of +the invisible silk bellows. + +"The Prince's little girl is very ill," she said, as she passed the +porter, who was now polishing the panes of glass in the door of his +lodge, because he had done the same thing every morning for twenty +years. + +He almost dropped the dingy leather he was using, but before he could +answer, the cab passed out, bearing the Baroness on her errand. + + + + + +CHAPTER II + + + + +Signor Pompeo Sassi sat in his dingy office and tore his hair, in the +good old literal Italian sense. His elbows rested on the shabby black +oilcloth glued to the table, and his long knotted fingers twisted his +few remaining locks, on each side of his head, in a way that was +painful to see. From time to time he desisted for an instant, and held +up his open hands, the fingers quivering with emotion, and his watery +eyes were turned upwards, too, as if directing an unspoken prayer to +the dusty rafters of the ceiling. The furrows had deepened of late in +his respectable, trust-inspiring face, and he was as thin as a +skeleton in leather. + +His heart was broken. On the big sheet of thick hand-made paper, that +lay on the desk, scribbled over with rough calculations in violet ink, +there were a number of trial impressions of the old stamp he had once +been so proud to use. It bore a rough representation of the Conti +eagle, encircled by the legend: "Eccellentissima Casa Conti." When his +eyes fell upon it, they filled with tears. The Most Excellent House of +Conti had come to a pitiful end, and it had been Pompeo Sassi's +unhappy fate to see its fall. Judging from his looks, he was not to +survive the catastrophe very long. + +He loved the family, and yet he disliked every member of it personally +except Sabina. He loved the "Eccellentissima Casa," the checky eagle, +the Velasquez portraits and his dingy office, but he never had spoken +with the Princess, her son, his wife, or his sister Clementina, +without a distinct feeling of disapproving aversion. The old Prince +had been different. In him Sassi had still been able to respect those +traditional Ciceronian virtues which were inculcated with terrific +severity in the Roman youth of fifty years ago. But the Prince had +died prematurely at the age of fifty, and with him the Ciceronian +traditions had ended in Casa Conti, and their place had been taken by +the caprices of the big, healthy, indolent, extravagant Polish woman, +by the miserable weaknesses of a degenerate heir, and the fanatic +religious practices of Donna Clementina. + +Sassi was sure that they all three hated him or despised him, or both; +yet they could not spare him. For different reasons, they all needed +money, and they had long been used to believing that no one but Sassi +could get it for them, since no one else knew how deeply the family +was involved. He always made difficulties, he protested, he wrung his +hands, he warned, he implored; but caprice, vice and devotion always +overcame his objections, and year after year the exhausted estate was +squeezed and pressed and mortgaged and sold, till it had yielded the +uttermost farthing. + +Then, one day, the whole organization of Casa Conti stood still; the +unpaid servants fled, the unpaid tradesmen refused to trust any +longer, the unpaid holders of mortgages foreclosed, the Princess +departed to Poland, the Prince slunk away to live on what was left of +his wife's small estate, Donna Clementina buried herself in a convent +to which she had given immense sums, the Conti palace was for sale, +and Pompeo Sassi sat alone in his office, tearing his hair, while the +old porter sat in his lodge downstairs peeling potatoes. + +It was not for himself that the old steward of the estate was in +danger of being totally bald. He had done for himself what others +would not allow him to do for them, a proceeding which affords some +virtuous people boundless satisfaction, though it procured him none at +all. He was provided for in his old age. During more than thirty years +he had saved and scraped and invested and added to the little sum of +money left him by his father, an honest old notary of the old school, +until he possessed what was a very comfortable competence for a +childless old man. He had a small house of his own near the Pantheon, +in which he occupied two rooms, letting the rest, and he had a hundred +thousand francs in government bonds, besides a few acres of vineyard +on the slope of Monte Mario. + +More than once, in the sincerity of his devotion to the family he +served, he had thought of sacrificing all he possessed in an attempt +to stave off final ruin; but a very little reflection had convinced +him that all he had would be a mere drop in the flood of extravagance, +and would forthwith disappear with the rest into the bottomless pit of +debt. + +Even that generous temptation was gone now. The house having +collapsed, its members appeared to him only in their true natures, a +good-for-nothing young man, tainted with a mortal disease, a foolish +mother, a devout spinster threatened with religious mania, and the +last descendant of the great old race, one little girl-child not +likely to live, and perhaps better dead. In their several ways they +had treated him as the contemptible instrument of their inclinations; +they were gone from his life and he was glad of it, when he thought of +each one separately. Yet, collectively, he wished them all in the +palace again, even a month ago, even on the day before the exodus; +good, bad, indifferent, no matter what, they had been Casa Conti +still, to the end, the family he had served faithfully, honestly and +hopelessly for upwards of a third of a century. That might seem to be +inconsistent, but it was the only consistency he had ever known, and +it was loyalty, of a kind. + +But there was one whom he wished back for her own sake; there was +Donna Sabina. When he thought of her, his hands fell from his head at +last, and folded themselves over the scrawled figures on the big sheet +of paper, and he looked long and steadily at them, without seeing them +at all. + +He wondered what would become of her. He had seen her on the last day +and he should never forget it. Before going away with the Baroness +Volterra she had found her way to his dark office, and had stood a few +moments before the shabby old table, with a small package in her hand. +He could see the slight figure still, when he closed his eyes, and her +misty hair against the cold light of the window. She had come to ask +him if he would bury her dead canary, somewhere under the sky where +there was grass and it would not be disturbed. Where could she bury +it, down in the heart of Rome? She had wrapped it in a bit of pink +satin and had laid it in a little brown cardboard box which had been +full of chocolates from Ronzi and Singer's in Piazza Colonna. She +pushed back the lid a finger's breadth and he saw the pink satin for a +second. She laid the box before him. Would he please do what she +asked? Very timidly she slipped a simple little ring off her finger, +one of those gold ones with the sacred monogram which foreigners +insist upon calling "Pax." She said she had bought it with her own +money, and could give it away. She wished to give it to him. He +protested, refused, but the fathomless violet eyes gazed into his very +reproachfully. He had always been so kind to her, she said; would he +not keep the little ring to remember her by? + +So he had taken it, and that same day he had gone all the way to his +lonely vineyard on Monte Mario carrying the chocolate box in his +hands, and he had buried it under the chestnut-tree at the upper end, +where there was some grass; and the breeze always blew there on summer +afternoons. Then he had sat on the roots of the tree for a while, +looking towards Rome. + +He would have plenty of time to go to the vineyard now, for in a +little while he should have nothing to do, as the palace was going to +be sold. When he got home, he wrote a formal letter to Donna Sabina, +informing her that he had fulfilled the commands she had deigned to +give him, and ventured to subscribe himself her Excellency's most +devoted, humble and grateful servant, as indeed he was, from the +bottom of his heart. In twenty-four hours he received a note from her, +written in a delicate tall hand, not without character, on paper +bearing the address of Baron Volterra's house in Via Ludovisi. She +thanked him in few words, warmly and simply. He read the note several +times and then put it away in an old-fashioned brass-bound secretary, +of which he always kept the key in his pocket. It was the only word of +thanks he had received from any living member of the Conti family. + +A month had passed since then, but as he sat at his desk it was all as +vivid as if it had happened yesterday. + +He was in his office to-day because he had received notice that some +one was coming to look at the palace with a view to buying it, and he +considered it his duty to show it to possible purchasers. Baron +Volterra had sent him word in the morning, and he had come early. +Then, as he sat in his old place, the ruin of the great house had +enacted itself again before his eyes, so vividly that the pain had +been almost physical. And then, he had fallen to thinking of Sabina, +and wondering what was to become of her. That was the history of one +half-hour in his life, on a May afternoon; but the whole man was in +it, what he had been thirty years earlier, and a month ago, what he +was to-day and what he would be to the end of his life. + + + + + +CHAPTER III + + + + +If Sabina had known what was before her when she got into the Baroness +Volterra's carriage and was driven up to the Via Ludovisi, followed by +a cab with her luggage, she would probably have begged leave to go +with her elder sister to the convent. Her mother would most likely +have refused the permission, and she would have been obliged to accept +the Volterras' hospitality after all, but she would have had the +satisfaction of having made an effort to keep her freedom before +entering into what she soon looked upon as slavery. + +Her mother would have considered this another evidence of the folly +inherent in all the Conti family. Sabina lived in a luxurious house, +she was treated with consideration, she saw her friends, and desirable +young men saw her. What more could she wish? + +All this was true. The Baroness was at great pains to make much of +her, and the Baron's manner to her was at once flattering, respectful +and paternal. During the first few days she had discovered that if she +accidentally expressed the smallest wish it was instantly fulfilled, +and this was so embarrassing that she had since taken endless pains +never to express any wish at all. Moreover not the slightest allusion +to the misfortunes of her family was ever made before her, and if she +was in total ignorance of the state of affairs, she was at least +spared the humiliation of hearing that the palace was for sale, and +might be sold any day, to any one who would pay the price asked. + +From time to time the Baroness said she hoped that Sabina had good +news of her mother, but showed no curiosity in the matter, and the +girl always answered that she believed her mother to be quite well. +Indeed she did believe it, for she supposed that if the Princess were +ill some one would let her know. She wrote stiff little letters +herself, every Sunday morning, and addressed them to her uncle's place +in Poland; but no one ever took the least notice of these +conscientious communications, and she wondered why she sent them, +after all. It was a remnant of the sense of duty to her parents +instilled into her in the convent, and she could not help clinging to +it still, from habit. + +She had a few friends of her own age, and they came to see her now and +then. They were mostly companions of her recent convent days, and they +asked her many questions, to most of which she had no answer. She +noticed that they looked surprised, but they were well brought up +girls, and kept their reflections to themselves, until they were at +home. + +The Conti had fewer near relations than most Roman families, for of +late they had not been numerous. The Prince's only sister had died +childless, the dowager Princess was a Pole, and her daughter-in-law +was a Tuscan. Sabina and her generation had therefore no first +cousins; and those who were one degree or more removed were glad that +they had not been asked to take charge of the girl after the +catastrophe. It would have been all very well merely to give her a +room and a place at table, but the older ones shook their heads, and +said that before long the Baroness Volterra would have to dress her +too, and give her pocket-money. Her good-for-nothing brother would not +do anything for her, if he could, and the Princess, who was amusing +herself in Poland, if not in Paris, was capable of forgetting her +existence for a year at a time. + +All these things greatly enhanced the outward and visible merit of the +Volterra couple, but made Sabina's position daily less endurable. So +the Baroness laid up treasures in heaven while Sabina unwillingly +stored trouble on earth. + +She was proud, to begin with. It was bad enough to have been ordered +by her mother to accept the hospitality of people she did not like, +but it was almost unbearable to realize by degrees that she was living +on their effusive charity. If she had been as vain as she was proud, +she would probably have left their house to take refuge in her +sister's convent, for her vanity could not have borne the certainty +that all society knew what her position was. The foundation of pride +is the wish to respect oneself, whatever others may think; the +mainspring of vanity is the craving for the admiration of others, no +matter at what cost to one's self-respect. In the Conti family these +qualities and defects were unevenly distributed, for while pride +seemed to have been left out in the character of Sabina's brother, who +was vain and arrogant, she herself was as unspoilt by vanity as she +was plentifully supplied with the characteristic which is said to have +caused Lucifer's fall, but which has been the mainstay of many a +greatly-tempted man and woman. Perhaps what is a fault in angels may +seem to be almost a virtue in humanity, compared with the meanness of +worse failings. + +Sabina was not suspicious, yet she could not help wondering why the +Baroness had been so very anxious to take her in, and sometimes she +thought that the object might be to marry her to one of Volterra's two +sons. One was in a cavalry regiment stationed in Turin, the other was +in the diplomacy and was now in Washington. They were both doing very +well in their careers and their father and mother often talked of +them. + +The Baron was inclined to be playful now and then. + +"Ah, my dear young lady," he would cry, shaking one fat finger at +Sabina across the dinner table, "take care, take care! You will lose +your heart to both my boys and sow discord in my family!" + +At this he never failed to laugh, and his wife responded with a smile +of motherly pride, followed by a discreet side glance at Sabina's +delicate face. Then the finely-pencilled eyebrows were just the least +bit more arched for a second, and the slender neck grew slightly +straighter, but that was all, and the Baron did not even see the +change. Sometimes Sabina said nothing, but sometimes she asked if the +sons were coming home on leave. No, they were not coming at present. +In the spring Volterra and his wife generally spent a few weeks in +Turin, to see the elder son, on their way to Aix and Paris, but his +brother could hardly expect to come home for another year. Then the +couple would talk about both the young men, until Sabina's attention +wandered, and she no longer heard what they were saying. + +She did not believe that they really thought of trying to marry her to +one of the sons. In her own opinion they could gain nothing by it; she +had no dowry now, and her mother had always talked of marriage as a +business transaction. It did not occur to her that they could care to +be allied with a ruined family, and that her mere name could be worth +anything in their scale of values. They were millionaires, of course, +and even the dowry which she might formerly have expected would have +been nothing compared with their fortune; but her mother had always +said that rich people were the very people who cared the most for +money. That was the reason why they were rich. This explanation was so +logical that Sabina had accepted it as the true one. + +Her knowledge of the world was really limited to what she had learned +from her mother, after she had come back from the convent six months +before the crash, and it was an odd mixture of limitations and +exaggerations. When the Princess was in a good humour she believed in +everybody; when she was not, which was when she had no money to throw +away, she attributed the basest motives to all mankind. According to +her moods, she had encouraged Sabina to look forward to a life of +perpetual pleasure, or had assured her with energy that all men were +liars, and that the world was a wretched place after all. It was true +that the Princess entertained the cheerful view more often than not, +which was perhaps fortunate for her daughter; but in her heart the +young girl felt that she would have to rely on her own common sense to +form any opinion of life, and as her position became more difficult, +while the future did not grow more defined, she tried to think +connectedly about it all, and to reach some useful conclusion. + +It was not easy. In her native city, living under the roof of people +who held a strong position in the society to which she belonged, +though they had not been born to it, she was as completely isolated as +if she had been suddenly taken away and set down amongst strangers in +Australia. She was as lonely as she could have been on a desert +island. + +The Volterra couple were radically, constitutionally, congenitally +different from the men and women she had seen in her mother's house. +She could not have told exactly where the difference lay, for she was +too young, and perhaps too simple. She did not instinctively like +them, but she had never really felt any affection for her mother +either, and her own brother and sister had always repelled her. Her +mother had sometimes treated her like a toy, but more often as a +nuisance and a hindrance in life, to be kept out of the way as much, +as possible, and married off on the first opportunity. Yet Sabina knew +that far down in her nature there was a mysterious tie of some sort, +an intuition that often told her what her mother would say or do, +though she herself would have spoken and acted otherwise. She had felt +it even with her brother and sister, but she could not feel it at all +with the Baron or his wife. She never could guess what they might do +or say under the most ordinary circumstances, nor what things they +would like and dislike, nor how they would regard anything she said or +did; least of all could she understand why they were so anxious to +keep her with them. + +It was all a mystery, but life itself was mysterious, and she was +little more than a child in years though she had never had what one +calls a real childhood. + +She often used to sit by her window, the sliding blinds partly drawn +together, but leaving a space through which she could look down at the +city, with a glimpse of Saint Peter's in the distance against the warm +haze of the low Campagna. Rome seemed as far from her then as if she +saw it in a vision a thousand miles away, and the very faint sounds +from the distance were like voices in a dream. Then, if she closed her +eyes a moment, she could see the dark streets about the Palazzo Conti, +and the one open corner of the palace, high up in the sunlight; she +could smell the acrid air that used to come up to her in the early +morning when the panes were opened, damp and laden with odours not +sweet but familiar in the heart of Rome; odours compounded of +cabbages, stables, cheese and mud, and occasionally varied by the +fumes of roasting coffee, or the sour vapours from a wine cart that +was unloading stained casks, all wet with red juice, at the door of +the wine shop far below, a dark little wine shop with a dry bush stuck +out through a smoky little grated window, and a humble sign displaying +the prices of drink in roughly painted blue and red figures. For her +room had looked upon the narrowest and darkest of the streets, though +it had been stately enough within, and luxuriously furnished, besides +containing some objects of value and beauty over which there would be +much bidding and squabbling of amateurs and experts when the great +sale took place. + +It had been gloomy and silent and loveless, the life down there; and +yet she would have gone back to it if she could, from the sunshine of +the Via Ludovisi, and from the overpowering freshness of the Volterra +house, where everything was modern, and polished, and varnished, and +in perfect condition, suggesting that things had been just paid for. +She had not liked the old life, but she liked her present surroundings +even less, and at times she felt a furious longing to leave them +suddenly, without warning; to go out when no one would notice her, and +never to come back; to go she knew not where, out into the world, +risking she knew not what, a high-born, penniless, fair-haired girl +not yet eighteen. + +What would happen, if she did? She rarely laughed, but she would laugh +at that, when she thought of the consternation her flight would +produce. How puzzled the fat Baron would look, how the Baroness's thin +mouth would be drawn down at the corners! How the invisible silk +bellows would puff as she ran up and down stairs, searching the house +for Sabina! + +There was more than one strain of wild blood in the delicate girl's +veins, and the spring had come suddenly, with a bursting out of +blossom and life and colour, and a twittering of nesting birds in the +old gardens, and a rush of strange longings in her heart. + +Then Sabina told herself that there was nothing to keep her where she +was, but her own will, and that no one would really care what became +of her in the wide world; certainly not her mother, who had never +written her so much as a line, nor sent her a message, since they had +parted on the day of the catastrophe; certainly not her brother; +probably not even her sister, whose whole being was absorbed in the +tyrannical government of what she called her soul. Sabina, in her +thoughts, irreverently compared Clementina's soul to a race-horse, and +her sister to a jockey, riding it cruelly with whip and spur to the +goal of salvation, whether it liked it or not. + +Sabina rose from her seat by the window, when she thought of liberty, +and she walked up and down her room, driven by something she could not +understand, and yet withheld by something she understood even less. +For it was not fear, nor reflection, nor even common sense nor the +thought of giving pain to any one that hindered her from leaving the +house at such moments. It was not even the memory of the one human +being who had hitherto loved her, and for whom she had felt affection +and gratitude,--one of the nuns at the convent school, a brave, quiet +little lady who made her believe in good. She meant to do no harm if +she were free, and the nun would not really blame her, if she knew the +truth. + +It was not that. It was the secret conviction that there was harm in +the world from which mere courage could not protect her; it was the +sort of instinct that warns young animals not to eat plants that are +poisonous; it was the maiden intuition of a strange and unknown +danger. + +She sat down again disconsolately. It was absurd, of course, and she +could not run away. Where could she go? She had no money, and she +would have to starve or beg before one day was out. She would be +homeless, she would be driven to some house of charity, for a meal and +a place to sleep, or else to sleep out under the sky. That would be +delightful for once. She had always longed to sleep out of doors, to +feel the breeze playing with her feathery hair in the dark, to watch +the constellations turning slowly westwards, to listen to the night +sounds, to the low rhythmical piping of the tree toad, the sorrowful +cry of the little southern owl and the tolling of the hour in a far- +off belfry. + +But it might rain. At the idea, Sabina laughed again. It would be very +unpleasant to be caught in a shower while napping on a bench in a +public garden. Besides, if the policemen found her there, an extremely +young lady, extremely well dressed but apparently belonging to no one, +they would in all likelihood ask her name, and she would have to tell +them who she was; and then she would be brought back to Baron +Volterra's house, unless they thought it more prudent to take her to a +lunatic asylum. + +At that stage in her imaginings it was generally time to go out with +the Baroness for the daily drive, which began with the leaving of +cards and notes, then led to the country or one of the villas, and +generally ended in a turn or two through the Corso before coming home. +The worst part of the daily round was dinner when the Baron was at +home. It was then that she felt most strongly the temptation to slip +out of the house and never to come back. Often, however, he and his +wife dined out, and then Sabina was served alone by two solemn men- +servants, so extremely correct that they reminded her a little of her +old home. These were the pleasantest evenings she spent during that +spring, for when dinner was over she was free to go to her own room +and curl herself up in a big armchair with a book, and read or dream +till bedtime, as she pleased. + +When she was alone, her life seemed less objectless, less inexplicably +empty, less stupidly incomprehensible, less lonely than in the company +of those excellent people with whom she had nothing in common, but to +whom she felt that she was under a great obligation. In their company, +it was as if her life had stopped suddenly at the beginning and was +never to go on again, as if she had stuck fast like a fly in a drop of +amber, as if nothing of interest could ever happen to her though she +might live a hundred years. + +She could hardly remember anything which had given her great pleasure. +She did not remember to have been ever radiantly happy, though she +could not recall much unhappiness since she had left the convent +school. The last thing that had really hurt her had been the death of +her pet canary, and she had kept her feelings to herself as well as +she could, with the old aristocratic instinct of hiding pain. + +It was all idle and strangely empty, and yet hard to understand. She +would have been much surprised if she could have guessed how much its +emptiness interested other people in Rome; how the dowagers chattered +about her over their tea, abusing her mother and all her relations for +abandoning her like a waif; how the men reasoned about Baron +Volterra's deep-laid schemes, trying to make out that his semi- +adoption of Sabina, as they called it, must certainly bode ruin to +some one, since he had never in his life done anything without a +financial object; how the young girls unanimously declared that the +Baroness wanted Sabina for one of her sons, because she was such a +dreadful snob; how Cardinal Della Crusca shook his wise old head +knowingly, as he, who knew so much, always did on the rare occasions +when he knew nothing about the matter in hand; how a romantic young +English secretary of Embassy christened her the Princess in the Tower; +and how old Pompeo Sassi went up to his vineyard on Monte Mario every +Sunday and Thursday and sat almost all the afternoon under the +chestnut-tree thinking about her and making unpractical plans of his +own. + + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + + + +If Baron Volterra did not choose to sell the Palazzo Conti to the +first comer, he doubtless knew his own business best, and he was not +answerable to every one for his opinion that the fine old building was +worth a good deal more than the highest offer he had yet received. +Everybody knew that the palace was for sale, and some of the attempts +made to buy it were openly discussed. A speculator had offered four +hundred thousand francs for it, a rich South American had offered half +a million; it was rumoured that the Vatican would give five hundred +and fifty thousand, provided that the timbers of the carved ceilings +were in good condition, but Volterra steadily refused to allow any of +the carvings to be disturbed in order to examine the beams. During +several days a snuffy little man with a clever face poked about with a +light in dark places between floors, trying to find out whether the +wood were sound or rotten, and asking all sorts of questions of the +old porter, and of two workmen who went with him, and who had been +employed in repairs in the palace, as their fathers had been before +them, perhaps for generations. But their answers were never quite +satisfactory, and the snuffy man disappeared to the mysterious regions +beyond the Tiber, and did not come back. + +Some people, knowing the ways of the Romans, might have inferred that +the two workmen, a mason and a carpenter, had not been treated by +Baron Volterra in such a way as to make them give a favourable report; +and as he seemed perfectly indifferent about the result this is quite +possible. At all events the carpenter made out that he could not get +at the beams in question, without moving the decorations which covered +them, and the mason affirmed that it was quite impossible to get a +view of the foundations of the north-west corner of the palace, which +were said to be weak, without knocking a hole through a wall upon +which depended such solidity as there was. It was useless, he said. +The snuffy gentleman could ask the Baron, if he pleased, and the Baron +could do what he liked since the property now belonged to him: but he, +the mason, would not lay hand to pick or crowbar without the Baron's +express authorization. The Baron was a Senator of the Kingdom, said +the mason, and could therefore of course send him to penal servitude +in the galleys for life, if he pleased. That is the average Roman +workman's idea of justice. The snuffy expert, who looked very much +like a poor priest in plain clothes, though he evidently knew his +business, made no reply, nor any attempt to help the mason's +conscience with money. + +But he stood a little while by the wall, with his lantern in his +hands, and presently put his ear to the damp stones, and listened. + +"There is running water somewhere not far off," he said, looking +keenly at the workman. + +"It is certainly not wine," answered the man, with a rough laugh, for +he thought it a very good joke. + +"Are there any 'lost waters' under the palace?" asked the expert. + +"I do not know," replied the mason, looking away from the lantern +towards the gloom of the cellars. + +"I believe," said the snuffy gentleman, setting down his lantern, and +taking a large pinch from a battered silver snuff-box, on which the +arms of Pius Ninth were still distinguishable, "I believe that the +nearest 'lost water' to this place is somewhere under the Vicolo del +Soldati." + +"I do not know." + +The expert skilfully inserted the brown dust into his nostrils with +his right thumb, scarcely wasting a grain in the operation. + +"You do not seem to know much," he observed thoughtfully, and took up +his lantern again. + +"I know what I have been taught," replied the mason without +resentment. + +The expert glanced at him quickly, but said nothing more. His +inspection was finished, and he led the way out of the intricate +cellars as if he knew them by heart, though he had only passed through +them once, and he left the palace on foot when he had brushed some of +the dust from his shabby clothes. + +The porter looked enquiringly at the two men, as they filled little +clay pipes that had cane stems, standing under the deep entrance. + +"Not even the price of half a litre of wine," said the mason in answer +to the mute question. + +"Church stuff," observed the carpenter discontentedly. + +The porter nodded gravely, and the men nodded to him as they went out +into the street. They had nothing more to do that day, and they turned +into the dark little wine shop, where the withered bush stuck out of +the blackened grating. They sat down opposite each other, with the end +of the grimy board of the table between them, and the carpenter made a +sign. The host brought a litre measure of thin red wine and set it +down between them with two tumblers. He was ghastly pale, flabby and +sullen, with a quarter of an inch of stubbly black beard on his +unhealthy face. + +The carpenter poured a few drops of wine into one of the tumblers, +shook it about, turned it into the other, shook it again, and finally +poured it on the unctuous stone floor beside him. Then he filled both +glasses to the brim, and both men drank in silence. + +They repeated the operation, and after the second glass there was not +much left in the measure. The flabby host had retired to the gloomy +vaults within, where he played cards with a crony by the light of a +small smoking lamp with a cracked chimney. + +"That was the very place, was it not?" asked the carpenter at last, in +a low tone, and almost without moving his lips. + +The mason said nothing, but shrugged his shoulders, in a sort of +enigmatic assent. Both drank again, and after a long time the +carpenter smiled faintly. + +"He was looking for the 'lost water,'" he said, in a tone of contempt. + +The faint smile slowly reflected itself in the mason's face. The two +finished their wine, lit their pipes again, left the price of their +drink on the table without disturbing the host and went away. + +So far as any outsider could have judged, the expert's curiosity and +the few words exchanged by the workmen referred to the so-called "lost +water," which might be somewhere under the north-west corner of the +Palazzo Conti, and no one unacquainted with subterranean Rome could +possibly have understood what any of the three meant. + +The "lost waters" of Rome are very mysterious. Here and there, under +old streets and far down amongst the foundations of ancient palaces, +there are channels of running water which have no apparent connection +with any of the aqueducts now restored and in use. It is a water that +comes no one knows whence and finds its way to the Tiber, no one knows +how. It is generally clear and very cold, and in the days when the +aqueducts were all broken and most people drank of the river, the +"lost water" was highly prized. It appears in the most unexpected +places, sometimes in great quantities and seriously interfering with +any attempt to lay the foundations of a new building, sometimes black +and silent, under a huge flagstone in an old courtyard, sometimes +running with an audible rush through hidden passages deeper than the +deepest cellars. It has puzzled archaeologists, hydraulic engineers +and architects for generations, its presence has never been +satisfactorily explained, there seems not to be any plan of the city +which shows its whereabouts, and the modern improvements of the +Tiber's banks do not appear to have affected its occult courses. By +tradition handed down from father to son, certain workmen, chiefly +masons and always genuine Romans, claim to know more about it than +other people; but that is as much as can be said. It is known as the +"lost water," and it rises and falls, and seeks different levels in +unaccountable ways, as water will when it is confined under the earth +but is here and there confronted by the pressure of the air. + +But though the old-fashioned Roman workman still looks upon all +traditional information about his trade as secret and never to be +revealed, that fact alone might seem insufficient to account for the +behaviour of Gigi the carpenter and of Toto the mason under the +particular circumstances here narrated, still less for the contempt +they showed for the snuffy expert who was apparently looking for the +"lost water." An invisible witness would have gathered that they had +something of more importance to conceal. To the expert, their conduct +and answers must have been thoroughly unsatisfactory, for the Vatican +was even said to have refused to pay the additional fifty thousand +francs, On the ground that the state of the foundations was doubtful +and that the timbers of the upper story were not sound. + +Baron Volterra's equanimity was not in the least disturbed by this. On +the contrary, instead of setting the price lower, he frankly told all +applicants, through his agent, that he was in no hurry to sell, as he +had reason to believe that the land about the Palazzo Conti would soon +rise in value. He had settled with the representatives of the Conti +family, and it was said that he had behaved generously. The family had +nothing left after the crash, which might partially account for such +an exhibition of generosity; but it was hinted that Baron Volterra had +given them the option of buying back the palace and some other +property upon which he had foreclosed, if they should be able to pay +for it in ten years. + +Soon after the visit of the snuffy expert, Volterra's agent informed +the porter that a gentleman had taken the small apartment on the +intermediate story, which had formerly been occupied by a chaplain but +had been disused for years. It had been part of the Conti's folly that +they had steadily refused to let any part of the vast building since +the old Prince's death. + + +On the following day, the new-comer moved in, with his belongings, +consisting of a small quantity of new furniture, barely sufficient for +himself and his one servant, and a number of very heavy cases, which +turned out to be full of books. Gigi, the carpenter, was at once sent +for to put up plain shelves for these, and he took stock of the lodger +while the latter was explaining what he wanted. + +"He is a gentleman," said Gigi to Toto, that very evening, as they +stood filling their pipes at the corner of the Vicolo del Soldati. +"His name is Malipieri. He is as black as the horses at a funeral of +the first-class, and he is not a Roman." + +"Who knows what race of animal this may be?" Toto was not in a good +humour. + +"He is of the race of gentlemen," asserted Gigi confidently. + +"Then he will end badly," observed Toto. "Let us go and drink. It is +better." + +"Let us go and drink," repeated Gigi. "You have a sensible thought +sometimes. I think this man is an engineer, or an architect. He wants +a draughtsman's table." + +"Evil befall his little dead ones, whatever he is," returned the +other, by way of welcome to the young man who had moved into the +palace. + +"He advanced me ten francs to buy wood for the shelves," said Gigi, +who was by far the more cheerful of the two. + +"Come and drink," returned Toto, relevantly or irrelevantly. "That is +much better." + +So they turned into the wine shop. + + + + + +CHAPTER V + + + + +Baron Volterra introduced Marino Malipieri to the two ladies. The +guest had come punctually, for the Baron had looked at his watch a +moment before he was announced, and it was precisely eight o'clock. + +Malipieri bowed to the Baroness, who held out her hand cordially, and +then to Sabina. + +"Donna Sabina Conti," said the Baron with extreme distinctness, in +order that his guest should be quite sure of the young girl's +identity. + +Sabina looked down modestly, as the nuns had told her to do when a +young man was introduced to her. At the same moment Malipieri's eyes +turned quietly and quickly to the Baron, and a look of intelligence +passed between the two men. Malipieri understood that Sabina was one +of the family in whose former palace he was living. Then he glanced +again at the young girl for one moment, before making a commonplace +remark to the Baroness, and after that Sabina felt that she was at +liberty to look at him. + +She saw a very dark man of average height, with short black hair that +grew rather far back from his very white forehead, and wearing a +closely clipped black beard and moustache which did not by any means +hide the firm lines of the mouth and chin. From the strongly marked +eyebrows downward his face was almost of the colour of newly cast +bronze, and the dusky hue contrasted oddly with the clear whiteness of +his forehead. He was evidently a man who had lately been living much +out of doors under a burning sun. Sabina thought that his very bright +black eyes and boldly curved features suggested a young hawk, and he +had a look of compact strength and a way of moving which betrayed both +great energy and extreme quickness. + +But there was something more, which Sabina recognized at the first +glance. She felt instantly that he was not like the Baron and his +wife; that he belonged in some way to the same variety of humanity as +herself; that she would understand him when he spoke, that she would +often feel intuitively what he was going to say next, and that he +would understand her. + +She listened while he talked to the Baroness. He had a slight Venetian +accent, but his voice had not the soft Venetian ring. It was a little +veiled, and though not at all loud it was somewhat harsh. Sabina did +not dislike the manly tone, though it was not musical, nor the +Venetian pronunciation, although that was unfamiliar. In countries +like Italy and Germany, which have had many centres and many +historical capital cities, almost all educated people speak with the +accents of their several origins, and are rather tenacious of the +habit than anxious to get rid of it, generally maintaining that their +own pronunciation is the right one. + +"Signor Malipieri," said the Baron to Sabina, as they went in to +dinner, "is the celebrated archaeologist." + +"Yes," Sabina answered, as if she knew all about him, though she had +never heard him mentioned. + +Malipieri probably overheard the Baron's speech, but he took no notice +of it. At dinner, he seemed inclined to be silent. The Baron asked him +questions about his discoveries, to which he gave rather short +answers, but Sabina gathered that he had found something extraordinary +in Carthage. She did not know where Carthage was, and did not like to +ask, but she remembered that Marius had sat there among some ruins. +Perhaps Malipieri had found his bones, for no one had ever told her +that Marius did not continue to sit among the ruins to his dying day. +She connected him vaguely with AEneas and another person called +Regulus. It was all rather uncertain. + +What she saw clearly was that the Baron wished to make Malipieri feel +at his ease, but that Malipieri's idea of being at his ease was +certainly not founded on a wish to talk about himself. So the +conversation languished for some time. + +The Baroness, who knew about as much about Carthage as Sabina, made a +few disconnected remarks, interspersed with laudatory allusions to the +young man's immense learning, for she wished to please her husband, +though she had not the slightest idea why Malipieri was asked to +dinner. Finding that he was not perceptibly flattered by what she +said, she began to talk about the Venetian aristocracy, for she knew +that his name was historical, and she recognized in him at once the +characteristics of the nobility she worshipped. Malipieri smiled +politely, and in answer to a direct question admitted that his mother +had been a Gradenigo. + +The Baroness was delighted at this information. + +"To think," she said, "that by a mere accident you and Donna Sabina +should meet here, the descendants of two of the oldest families of the +Italian aristocracy!" + +"I am a republican," observed Malipieri quietly. + +"You!" cried the Baroness in amazement. "You, the offspring of such +races as the Malipieri and the Gradenigo a republican, a socialist, an +anarchist!" + +"There is a difference," said Malipieri with a smile. "A republican is +not an anarchist!" + +"I can never believe it," answered the Baroness solemnly. + +She ate a few green peas and shook her head. + +"I went to Carthage because I was condemned to three years' +confinement in prison," replied Malipieri with calm. + +"Prison!" exclaimed the Baroness in horror, and she looked at her +husband, mutely asking why in the world he had brought a convict to +their table. + +The Baron smiled benignly, as he disposed of an ample mouthful of +green peas, before he spoke. + +"Signor Malipieri," he said, when he had swallowed the last one, +"founded and edited a republican newspaper in the north of Italy." + +"And you were sent to prison for that?" asked Sabina with indignation. + +"It is one thing to send a man to prison," said Malipieri. "It is +another to make him go there. I escaped to Switzerland, and I came +back to Italy quite lately, after the amnesty." + +"I am amazed!" The Baroness looked at the servants timidly, as if she +expected the butler and the footman to express their disapprobation of +the guest. + +"I have left politics for the present," Malipieri replied, looking at +Sabina and smiling. + +"Of course!" cried the Baroness. "But--" she stopped short. + +"My wife," said the financier with a grin, "is afraid you have +dynamite about you." + +"How absurd!" The Baroness felt that she was ridiculous. "But I do not +understand how you can be friends," she added, glancing from her +husband to Malipieri. + +"We are at least on good terms of acquaintance," said the younger man +a little markedly. + +Sabina liked the speech and the way in which it was spoken. + +"We have a common ground for it in our interest in antiquities. Is it +not true, Signer Malipieri?" + +The Baron looked at him and smiled again, as if there were a secret +between them, and Malipieri glanced at Sabina. + +"It is quite true," he said gravely. "The Baron has read all I have +written about Carthage." + +Volterra possessed a sort of rough social tact, together with the +native astuteness and great knowledge of men which had made him rich +and a Senator. He suddenly became voluble and led the conversation in +a new direction, which it followed till the end of dinner. + +Several people came in afterwards, as often happened, before the +coffee was taken away. They were chiefly men in politics, and two of +them brought their wives with them. They were not the sort of guests +whom the Baroness preferred, for they were not by any means all noble +Romans, but they were of importance to her husband and she took great +pains to make them welcome. To one she offered his favourite liqueur, +which happened to be a Sicilian ratafia; for another she made the +Baron send for some of those horribly coarse black cigars known as +Tuscans, which some Italians prefer to anything else; for a third, she +ordered fresh coffee to be especially made. She took endless trouble. + +Malipieri seemed to know none of the guests, and he took advantage of +the Baroness's preoccupation for their comforts to sit down by Sabina. +He did not look at her, and she thought he looked bored, as he sat a +moment in silence. Then a thin deputy with a magnificent forehead and +thick grey hair began to hold forth on the subject of a projected +divorce law and the guests gathered round him. Sabina had never heard +of Sydney Smith, but she had a suspicion that nobody could be as great +as the speaker looked. While she was thinking of this, Malipieri spoke +to her in a low voice. + +"I suppose that you are stopping in the house," he said. + +"Yes." + +Sabina turned her eyes a little, but did not look straight at him. She +saw, however, that he was still watching the people in the room, and +still looked bored, and she was quite unprepared for what followed. + +"Are the affairs of your family finally settled?" he enquired, without +changing his tone. + +Sabina was so much surprised that she waited a moment before +answering. Her first instinct was to ask him stiffly why he put such a +question, and she would have replied to it in that way if it had come +from any other guest in the room; but she changed her mind almost +instantly. + +"No one has told me anything," she said simply, in a low voice. +Malipieri turned his head a little with a quick movement, and clasped +his brown hands over one knee. + +"You know nothing?" he asked. "Nothing whatever about the matter?" + +"Nothing." + +He bit his lip as if he were indignant, and were repressing an +exclamation. + +"No one has written to me--for a long time," Sabina said, after a +moment. + +She had been on the point of saying that she had never received a line +from any member of her family since the crash, but that seemed to +sound like a confidence, and what she really said was quite true. + +"Has not the Senator told you anything either?" Malipieri asked. + +"No. I suppose he does not like to speak about our misfortunes before +me." + +"Have you, I mean you yourself, any interest in the Palazzo Conti now? +Can you tell me that?" + +"I know nothing--nothing!" Sabina repeated the word with a slight +tremor, for just then she felt her position more keenly than ever +before. "Why do you ask?" + +She could not help putting the question which rose to her lips the +second time, but there was no coldness in her voice. She was very +lonely, and she felt that Malipieri was speaking from some honourable +motive. + +"I am living in the palace," Malipieri answered. + +Sabina looked up quickly, with an expression of interest in her pale +young face. The thought that the man beside her was living in her old +home was like a bond of acquaintance. + +"Really?" she cried. "In which part of the house?" + +"Do not seem interested, please," said Malipieri, suddenly looking +very bored again. "If you do, we shall not be allowed to talk. I am +living in the little apartment on the intermediate story. They tell me +that a chaplain once lived there." + +"I know where it is," answered Sabina, "but I was never in the rooms. +They used to be shut up, I think." + +The deputy who was haranguing on the subject of divorce seemed to be +approaching his peroration. His great voice filled the large room with +incessant noise, and everybody seemed anxiously waiting for a chance +to contradict him. Malipieri was in no danger of being overheard. + +"If it happens," he said, "that I wish to communicate with you on a +matter of importance, how can I reach you best?" + +He asked the question quite naturally, as if he had known Sabina all +his life. At first she was so much surprised that she could hardly +speak. + +"I--I do not know," she stammered. + +She had never received letters from any one but her own family or her +school friends, and a very faint colour rose in her pale cheek. +Malipieri looked more bored and weary than ever. + +"It may be absolutely necessary for me to write to you before long," +he said. "Shall I write by post?" + +Sabina hesitated. + +"Is there no one in all Rome whom you can trust to bring a note and +give it to you when you are alone?" + +"There is Signor Sassi," Sabina answered almost instinctively. "But +really, why should you--" + +"How can I find Sassi?" asked Malipieri, interrupting the question. +"Who is he?" + +"He was our agent. Is he gone? The old porter will know where to find +him. I think he lived near the palace. But perhaps the porter has been +sent away too." + +"He is still there. Have you been made to sign any papers since you +have been here?" + +"No." + +"Will you promise me something?" + +Sabina could not understand how it was that a man who had been a +stranger two hours earlier was speaking to her almost as if he were an +intimate friend, still less why she no longer felt that she ought to +check him and assert her dignity. + +"If it is right, I will promise it," she answered quietly, and looking +down. + +"It is right," he said. "If the Senator, or any one else asks you to +sign a paper, will you promise to consult me before doing so?" + +"But I hardly know you!" she laughed, a little shyly. + +"It is of no use to waste time and trouble on social conventions," +said Malipieri. "If you do not trust me, can you trust this Sassi?" + +"Oh yes!" + +"Then consult him. I will make him consult me, and it will be the +same--and ten times more conventional and proper." + +He smiled. + +"Will you promise that?" he asked. + +"Yes. I promise. But I wish you would tell me more." + +"I wish I could. But I hardly know you!" He smiled again, as he +repeated her own words. + +"Never mind that! Tell me!" + +"No. I cannot. If there is trouble I will tell you everything--through +Sassi, of course." + +Sabina laughed, and all at once she felt as if she had known him for +years. + +At that moment the deputy finished his speech, and all who had +anything to say in answer said it at once, in order to lose no time, +while the speaker relighted his villainous black cigar, puffing +tremendously. + +The Baroness suddenly remembered Sabina and Malipieri in the corner, +and after screaming out several incoherent phrases, which might have +been taken for applause or dissent and were almost lost in the general +din, she moved across the room. + +"It is atrocious!" she cried, as she reached Sabina. "I hope you have +not heard a word he said!" + +"When a man has such a voice as that, it is impossible not to hear +him," said Malipieri, rising and answering before Sabina had time to +speak. + +Sabina rose, too, rather reluctantly. + +"And of course you agreed with everything he said," the Baroness +replied. "All anarchists do!" + +"I beg your pardon. I do not agree with him at all, and I am really +not an anarchist." + +He smiled politely, and Sabina noticed with an unaccountable little +thrill of satisfaction that the smile was quite different from the one +she had seen in his face more than once while they had been talking +together. As for the deputy's discourse, she had not heard a word of +it. + +The Baroness sat down on the sofa, and Sabina slipped away. She was +not supposed to be in society yet, as she was not quite eighteen, and +there was certainly no reason why she should stay in the drawing-room +that evening, while there were many reasons why she should go away. +The Baroness breathed an audible sigh of relief when she was gone, for +it was never possible to predict what some excited politician might +say before her in the heat of argument. + +In the silence of her own room she sat down to think over the +unexpected events of the evening. Very young girls love to look +forward to the moment when they shall be able to "think" of what has +happened, after they have met men they are inclined to like, and who +interest them. But when the time really comes they hardly ever think +at all. They see pictures, they hear voices, they feel again what they +have felt, they laugh, they shed tears all alone, and they believe +they are thinking, or even reasoning. Their little joys come back to +them, the little triumphs of their vanity, and also all the little +hurts their sensitiveness has suffered, and which men do not often +guess and still more rarely understand. + +There must be some original reason why all boys call girls silly, and +all girls think boys stupid. It must be part of the first +manifestation of that enormous difference which exists between the +point of view of men and women in after life. + +Women are, in a sense, the embodiment of practice, while men are the +representatives of theory. In practice, in a race for life, the runner +who jumps everything in his way is always right, unless he breaks his +neck. In theory, he is as likely to break his neck at the first jump +as at the second, and the chances of his coming to grief increase +quickly, always in theory, as he grows tired. So theory says that it +is safer never to jump at all, but to go round through the gates, or +wade ignominiously through the water. Women jump; men go round. The +difference is everything. Women believe in what often succeeds in +practice, and they take all risks and sometimes come down with a +crash. Men theorize about danger, make elaborate calculations to avoid +it and occasionally stick in the mud. When women fall at a stone wall +they scream, when men are stuck in a bog they swear. The difference is +fundamental. In nine cases out of ten it is the woman who enjoys the +ecstatic delight of saying "I told you so," and there are plenty of +women who would ask no greater joy in paradise than to say so to their +husbands for ever and ever. Indeed, eternal reward and punishment +could thus be at once combined and distributed in a simple manner. + +Sabina took her first fence that evening, for when she put out her +candle she was sure that Malipieri was already her friend, and that +she could trust him in any emergency. Moreover, though she would not +have acknowledged it, she inwardly hoped that some emergency might not +be far in the future. + +But Malipieri walked all the way from the Via Ludovisi to the Palazzo +Conti, which is more than a mile, without noticing that he had +forgotten to light the cigar he had taken out on leaving Volterra's +house. + + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + + + +Malipieri had the Palazzo Conti to himself. The main entrance was +always shut now, and only a small postern, cut in one side of the +great door, was left ajar. The porter loafed about in the great court +with his broom and his pipe; in the morning his wife went upstairs and +opened a few windows, merely as a formality, and late in the afternoon +she shut them again. Malipieri's man generally went out twice every +day, carrying a military dinner-pail, made in three sections, which he +brought back half an hour later. Malipieri sometimes was not seen for +several days, but frequently he went out in the morning and did not +come back till dark. Now and then, things were delivered for him at +the door,--a tin of oil for his lamps, a large box of candles, +packages of odd shapes, sometimes very heavy, and which the porter was +told to handle with care. + +The old man tried to make acquaintance with Malipieri's man, but found +it less easy than he had expected. In the first place, Masin came from +some outlandish part of Italy where an abominable dialect was spoken, +and though he could speak school Italian when he pleased, he chose to +talk to the porter in his native jargon, when he talked at all. He +might just as well have spoken Greek. Secondly, he refused the +porter's repeated offers of a litre at the wine shop, always saying +something which sounded like a reference to his delicate health. As he +was evidently as strong as an ox, and as healthy as a savage or a +street dog, the excuse carried no conviction. He was a big, quiet +fellow, with china-blue eyes and a reddish moustache. The porter was +not used to such people, nor to servants who wore moustaches, and was +inclined to distrust the man. On the other hand, though Masin would +not drink, he often gave the porter a cigar, with a friendly smile. + +One day, in the morning, Baron Volterra came to see Malipieri, and +stayed over an hour, a part of which time the two men spent in the +courtyard, walking up and down in the north-west corner, and then +taking some measurements with a long tape which Malipieri produced +from his pocket. When the Baron went away he stopped and spoke with +the porter. First he gave him five francs; then he informed him that +his wages would be raised in future by that amount; and finally he +told him that Signor Malipieri was an architect and would superintend +the repairs necessary to the foundations at the north-west corner, +that while the work was going on even the little postern door was to +be kept shut all day, and no one was to be admitted on any condition +without Signor Malipieri's express permission. The fat Baron fixed his +eyes on the porter's with an oddly hard look, and said that he himself +might come at any moment to see how the work was going on, and that if +he found anybody inside the gate without Signor Malipieri's authority, +it would be bad for the porter. During this conversation, Malipieri +stood listening, and when it ended he nodded, as if he were satisfied, +and after shaking hands with the Baron he went up the grand staircase +without a word. + +It was all very mysterious, and the porter shook his head as he turned +into his lodge after fastening the postern; but he said nothing to his +wife about what had passed. + +From what he had been told, he now naturally expected that a number of +masons would come in a day or two in order to begin the work of +strengthening the foundations; but no one came, and everything went on +as usual, except that the postern was kept shut. He supposed that +Malipieri was not ready, but he wisely abstained from asking +questions. Then Malipieri asked him for the address of Pompeo Sassi, +and wrote it down in his pocket-book, and went out. That was on the +morning after he had dined at the Baron's house, for it was not his +habit to waste time when he wanted information. + +Sassi received Malipieri in a little sitting-room furnished with a +heterogeneous collection of utterly useless objects, all of which the +old agent treasured with jealous affection, and daily recommended to +the care of the elderly woman who was his only servant. The sofa and +chairs had been new forty years ago, and though the hideous red-and- +green stuffs with which they were covered were still tolerably vivid +in colours the legs did not look safe, and Malipieri kept his feet +well under him and sat down cautiously. Two rickety but well-dusted +tables were loaded with ancient nicknacks, dating from the early part +of the second French Empire, with impossibly ugly little figures +carved out of cheap alabaster, small decayed photograph albums, and +ingeniously bad wax flowers under glass shades. On the walls hung bad +lithographs of Pius Ninth, Napoleon Third and Metternich, with a large +faded photograph of old Prince Conti as a young man. Malipieri looked +at it curiously, for he guessed that it represented Sabina's father. +The face was clean-shaven, thin and sad, with deep eyes and fair hair +that looked almost white now, as if the photograph had grown old with +the man, while he had lived. + +Sassi sat down opposite his visitor. He wore a black cloth cap with a +green tassel, and rubbed his hands slowly while he waited for +Malipieri to speak. The latter hesitated a moment and then went to the +point at once. + +"You were the agent of the Conti estate for many years," he said. "I +know the Senator Volterra and have met Donna Sabina. I understand that +her mother has left her under the charge of the Senator's wife, and +seems to have forgotten her existence. The young lady is apparently +without resources of her own, and it is not clear what would become of +her if the Volterra couple should not find it convenient to keep her +with them. Is that the state of affairs?" + +Sassi nodded gravely. Then he looked keenly at the young man, and +asked him a question. + +"May I enquire why you take an interest in Donna Sabina Conti?" + +Malipieri returned the other's gaze quietly. + +"I am an architect, called in by the Senator to superintend some work +on the palace. The Senator, as you know, took over the building when +he foreclosed the mortgage, and he has not yet sold it, though he has +refused several good offers. I have an idea that he believes it to be +very valuable property. If this should turn out to be true, and if he +should have made a very profitable transaction, he ought in honour, if +not in law, to make over a part of the profits to Donna Sabina, who +has practically been cheated of her share in her father's estate. Her +mother, and her brother and sister, spent everything they could lay +hands on, whereas she never had anything. Is that true?" + +"Quite true, quite true," repeated Sassi sadly. + +"And if Donna Sabina were to call them to account, I fancy the law +would take a rather unpleasant view of what they did. I have heard +that sort of thing called stealing when the persons who did it were +not princes and princesses, but plain people like you and me. Do you +happen to think of any better word?" + +Sassi was silent. He had eaten the bread of the Conti all his life. He +glanced at the faded photograph of the Prince, as if to explain, and +Malipieri understood. + +"You are an honorable man," he said. "I can no more tell you why I +wish to help Donna Sabina to her rights, if she has any, than I can +explain a great many things I have done in my life. When I see a dog +kicked, I always kick the man, if I can, and I do not remember to have +regretted any momentary unpleasantness that has followed in such +cases. I have only seen Donna Sabina once, but I mean to help her if +possible. Now tell me this. Has she any legal claim in the value of +the palace or not?" + +"I am afraid not," Sassi answered. + +"Do you know whether she was ever induced to sign any release of her +guardians?" + +"She never did." + +"That might be bad for them. That is all I wished to know. Thank you." + +Malipieri rose to take his leave. + +"If anything of importance happens, can you communicate with Donna +Sabina?" he asked. + +"I can write to her," Sassi answered. "I suppose she would receive me +if I went to the house." + +"That would be better." + +"Excuse me," said the old man, before opening the door to let his +visitor out, "am I right in supposing that the work the Baron wishes +done is connected with the foundations?" + +"Yes." + +"At the north-west corner within the courtyard?" + +"Yes," answered Malipieri, looking at him attentively. "Do you happen +to know anything about the condition of that part of the palace?" + +"Most people," Sassi replied, "have now forgotten that a good deal of +work was done there long ago, under Pope Gregory Sixteenth." + +"Indeed? I did not know that. What was the result?" + +"The workmen came across the 'lost water.' It rose suddenly one day +and one of them was drowned. I believe his body was never recovered. +Everything was filled in again after that. For my own part I do not +think the building is in any danger." + +"Perhaps not," said Malipieri, suddenly looking bored. "I only carry +out the Senator's wishes," he added, as if with an afterthought. "It +is my business to find out whether there is danger or not." + +He took his leave and went away, convinced that the old agent knew +about other things besides Sabina's friendless condition, but +unwilling to question him just then. The information Sassi had +volunteered was interesting but not useful. Malipieri thought he +himself knew well enough where the "lost water" was, under the Palazzo +Conti. + +It was not far from Sassi's house to the palace, but he walked very +slowly through the narrow streets, and stopped more than once, +deliberately looking back, as if he were trying to keep the exact +direction of some point in his mind, and he seemed interested in the +gutters, and in the walls, at their base, just above the pavement. At +the corner of the Vicolo dei Soldati he saw a little marble tablet let +into the masonry and yellow with age. He stopped a moment and read the +inscription. Then he turned away with a look of annoyance, for it set +forth that "by order of the most Eminent Vicar all persons were warned +not to empty garbage there, on pain of a fine." It was a forgotten +document of the old papal administration, as he could have told +without reading it if he had known Rome better. From the corner he +counted his paces and then stopped again and examined the wall and the +pavement minutely. + +There was nothing to be seen at all different from the pavement and +the wall for many yards further on and further back, and Malipieri +apparently abandoned the search, for he now walked on quickly till he +reached the entrance of the palace, on the other side, and went in. + +From the low door of the wine shop, Toto, the mason, had seen him, and +stood watching him till he was out of sight. + +"He does not know where it is," Toto said, sitting down again opposite +Gigi. + +"Engineers know everything," retorted the carpenter. + +"If this one knew anything, he would not have stood there looking at +the stones. I do not suppose the municipality is going to put up a +monument to my grandfather, whom may the Lord preserve in glory!" + +At this Gigi laughed, for he knew that Toto's grandfather had been +drowned in the "lost water" somewhere deep down under that spot, and +had never been found. The two men drank in silence. After a long time +Toto spoke again. + +"A woman," he said, with a shrug of the shoulders. + +"A woman drowned him?" asked Gigi. "How could a woman do it?" + +"A man did it. But it was for jealousy of a woman." + +"The man was a mason, I suppose," suggested Gigi. + +"Of course. He was working with the others in the morning, and he knew +where they would be after dinner. He did not come back with them, and +half an hour after they had gone down the water came. How many times +have I told you that?" + +"It is always a new tale," answered Gigi. "It gives me pleasure to +hear it. Your father was a young man then, was he not?" + +"Eighteen." Toto lighted his pipe. + +"And the man who did it died soon afterwards?" Gigi said. + +"Of course," said Toto. "What else could my father do? He killed him. +It was the least he could have done. My father is also in Paradise." + +"Requiescat!" ejaculated the carpenter devoutly. + +"Amen," answered Toto. "He killed him with a mattock." + +"It was well done," observed Gigi with satisfaction. "I suppose," he +continued after a pause, "that if anybody went down there now, you +could let in the water." + +"Why should I? I do not care what they do. If they send for me, I may +serve them. If they think they can do without me, let them try. I do +not care a cabbage!" + +"Perhaps not," Gigi answered thoughtfully. "But it must be a fine +satisfaction to know that you can drown them all, like rats in a +hole." + +"Yes," said Toto, "it is a fine satisfaction." + +"And even to know that you can make the water come before they begin, +so that they can never do anything without you." + +"That too," assented the mason. + +"They would pay you a great deal to help them, if they could not pump +the water out. There is no one else in Rome who knows how to turn it +off." + +Gigi made the remark tentatively, but Toto did not answer. + +"You will need some one to help you," suggested the carpenter in an +insinuating tone. + +"I can do it alone." + +"It is somewhere in the cellars of number thirteen, is it not?" asked +Gigi. + +He would have given all he had to know what Toto knew, and the bargain +would have been a very profitable one, no doubt. But though the mason +was his closest friend there were secrets of the trade which Toto +would not reveal to him. + +"The numbers in the street were all changed ten years ago," Toto +answered. + +He rose from his seat by the grimy table, and Gigi followed his +example with a sigh of disappointment. They were moderate men, and +hardly ever drank more than their litre of their wine. Toto smelt of +mortar and his fustian clothes and hairy arms were generally splashed +with it. Gigi smelt of glue and sawdust, and there were plentiful +marks of his calling on his shiny old cloth trousers and his coarse +linen shirt. Toto's face was square, stony and impenetrable; Gigi's +was sharp as a bill and alive with curiosity. Gigi wore a square paper +cap; Toto wore a battered felt hat of no shape at all. On Sundays and +holidays they both shaved and turned out in immaculate white shirts, +well brushed broadcloth and decent hats, recognizable to each other +but not to their employers. + +Malipieri was accosted by a stranger at the gate of the palace. The +porter, faithfully obedient to his orders, was standing inside the +open postern, completely blocking it with his bulk, and when Malipieri +came up the visitor was still parleying with him. + +"This gentleman is asking for you, sir," said the old man. + +The individual bowed politely and stepped back a little. He had a +singularly worthy appearance, Malipieri thought, and he would have +inspired confidence if employed in a bank; his thick grey hair was +parted in the middle, and at first sight Malipieri felt perfectly sure +that it was parted down the back. His brown eyes were very wide open, +and steady, his slightly grizzled moustache was neither twisted +straight up at the ends in the imperial German manner, nor straight +out like a cat's whiskers, nor waxed to fine points in the old French +fashion. It grew naturally and was rather short, but it hid his mouth +almost completely. The man was extremely well dressed in half- +mourning, wore dark grey gloves and carried a plain black stick. He +spoke quietly and Malipieri thought he recognized the Genoese accent. + +"Signor Marino Malipieri?" + +"Yes," answered the architect, in a tone that asked the visitor's name +in return. + +"My name is Vittorio Bruni. May I have a few words with you?" + +"Certainly," Malipieri answered, with considerable coolness. + +"Thank you. I have been much interested by your discoveries in +Carthage, and if you would allow me to ask you one or two questions--" + +"Pray come in." + +"Thanks. After you." + +"After you," insisted Malipieri, standing aside. + +They went in. Before shutting the postern, the porter looked out into +the street. It was almost deserted. Two men were standing together +near the corner, apparently arguing some question, and stopping in +their walk in order to talk more at their ease, as Romans often do. +The porter shut the little door with a clang, and went back to his +lodge. Malipieri and his visitor were already on the stairs. + +Malipieri let himself in with a small latch-key, for he had ordered a +modern patent lock to be put on his door as soon as he moved into the +house. Masin appeared almost at once, however, and stood waiting for +his master at the door of the sitting-room, like a large, placid +mastiff. Malipieri nodded to him, and went in with Signor Bruni. + +They sat down by the open window and Signor Bruni began to talk. In a +few minutes it became evident that whether the man knew anything of +the subject or not he had read everything that Malipieri had written, +and remembered most of it by heart. He spoke fluently and asked +intelligent questions. He had never been to Carthage, he said, but he +thought of making the trip to Tunis during the following winter. Yes, +he was a man of leisure, though he had formerly been in business; he +had a taste for archaeology, and did not think it was too late to +cultivate it, in a modest way, for his own pleasure. Of course, he +could never hope to accomplish anything of importance, still less to +become famous like Malipieri. It was merely a taste, and was better +than nothing as an interest in life. + +Malipieri protested that he was not famous, but agreed with Signor +Bruni about other matters. It was better to follow a serious pursuit +than to do nothing with one's life. + +"Or to dash into politics," suggested Bruni carelessly, as if he had +thought of trying that. + +Perhaps he had heard of Malipieri's republican newspaper, but if he +had thought of drawing the young man into conversation about it, he +was disappointed. Malipieri continued to agree with him, listening +attentively to all he said without once looking bored. + +"And now," continued Bruni presently, "if it is not indiscreet, may I +ask whether you have any new field of discovery in view?" + +The phrases ran along as if they had been all prepared beforehand. The +accent was now decidedly Genoese, and Malipieri, who was a Venetian, +disliked it. + +"Not at present," he said. "I have undertaken a little professional +work in Rome, and I am trying to learn more about the Phoenician +language." + +"That is beyond me!" Bruni smiled pleasantly. + +Malipieri looked at him a moment. + +"If you are going to look into Carthaginian antiquities," he said, +with much gravity, "I strongly advise you to study Phoenician." + +"Dear me!" exclaimed Bruni with a sigh of regret, "I had hoped it +might not be necessary." + +He rose to take his leave, but as if seeing the bookshelves for the +first time, asked permission to look at their contents. Malipieri saw +that his glance ran sharply along the titles of the volumes, and that +he was reading them as quickly as he could. + +"I suppose you live here quite alone," he said. + +"Yes. I have a servant." + +"Of course. They tell me that Baron Volterra has not decided what he +will do with the palace, and will not give a lease of it to any one." + +"I do not know what he means to do," answered Malipieri, looking at +the straight part down the back of his worthy visitor's hair, as the +latter bent to look at the books. + +"I suppose he lends you this apartment, as a friend," said Bruni. + +"No. I pay rent for it." + +Signor Bruni was becoming distinctly inquisitive, thought Malipieri, +who answered coldly. Possibly the visitor perceived the hint, for he +now finally took his leave. In spite of his protestations Malipieri +went all the way downstairs with him, and let him out himself, just as +the porter came out of his lodge at the sound of their footsteps. + +Signor Bruni bowed a last time, and then walked briskly away. By force +of habit, the porter looked up and down the street before shutting the +door after him, and he was somewhat surprised to see that the two men +whom he had noticed half an hour earlier had only just finished their +argument and turned to go on as Signor Bruni passed them. Then the +porter watched them all three till they disappeared round the corner. +At the same moment, from the opposite direction, Toto reached the door +of the palace, and greeted the porter with a rough good-evening. + +"I have forgotten the name of this palace," he added, by way of a +joke, meaning that he had not been called to do any work for a long +time. "Perhaps you can tell me what it is called." + +"It used to be a madhouse," returned the porter in the same strain. +"Now that the madmen are gone, a mole lives here. I kept the door open +for the lunatics, and they all got out. I keep it shut for the mole, +when he does not shut it himself." + +"I will come in and smoke a pipe with you," said Toto. "We will talk +of old times." + +The porter shook his head, and blocked the way. + +"Not if you were the blessed soul of my father come back from the +dead," he said. "The Baron's instructions are to let no one in without +the mole's orders." + +"But I am an old friend," objected Toto. + +"Not if you were my mother, and the Holy Father, and Saint Peter, and +all the souls of Purgatory at once," answered the porter. + +"May an apoplexy seize you!" observed Toto pleasantly, and he went +off, his pipe in his mouth. + +The porter shrugged his shoulders at the imprecation, shut the door +reluctantly, and went in to supper. Upstairs, Malipieri stood at his +open window, smoking and watching the old fountain in the court. It +was evening, and a deep violet light filled the air and was reflected +in the young man's bronzed face. He was very thoughtful now, and was +not aware that he heard the irregular splash of the water in the dark +basin at the feet of the statue of Hercules, and the eager little +scream of the swallows as they shot past him, upward to the high old +eaves, where their young were, and downwards almost to the gravel of +the court, and in wide circles and madly sudden curves. The violet +light faded softly, and the dusk drank the last drop of it, and the +last swallow disappeared under the eaves; but still Malipieri leaned +upon the stone window-sill, looking down. + +For a long time he thought of Signor Bruni. He wondered whether he had +ever seen the man before, or whether the face only seemed familiar +because it was the type of a class of faces all more or less alike, +all intensely respectable and not without refinement, expressing a +grave reticence that did not agree with the fluent speech, and a +polite reserve at odds with the inquisitive nature that revealed +itself. + +Malipieri was inclined to think he had never met Bruni, but somehow +the latter recalled the hot times in Milan, and his short political +career, and the association was not to the man's advantage. He could +not recall the name at all. It was like any other, and rather +especially unobtrusive. Anybody might be called Vittorio Bruni, and +Vittorio Bruni might be anybody, from a senator to a shoemaker; but if +he had been a senator, or any political personage, Malipieri would +have heard of him. + +There was something very odd, too, about his knowledge of Carthaginian +antiquities, which was entirely limited to the contents of Malipieri's +own pamphlets. He knew nothing of the Egyptians and very little about +the Greeks, beyond what Malipieri had necessarily written about both. +He had talked much as a man does who has read up an unfamiliar subject +in order to make a speech about it, and though the speech is skilful, +an expert can easily detect the shallowness of attainment behind it. + +There could be only one reason why any one should take so much +trouble; the object was evidently to make Malipieri's acquaintance, in +the absence of an ordinary introduction. And yet Signor Bruni had +quite forgotten to give his card with his address, as almost any +Italian would have done under the circumstances, whether he expected +the meeting to be followed by another or not. Malipieri spent most of +his time in his rooms, but he knew very well that he might go about +Rome for weeks and not come across the man again. + +He recalled the whole conversation. He had in the first place expected +that Bruni would be inquisitive about the palace, and perhaps ask to +be shown over it, but it was only at the last that he had put one or +two questions which suggested an interest in the building, and then he +had at once taken the hint given him by Malipieri's cold tone, and had +not persisted. On the other hand he had looked carefully at the titles +of the books on the shelves, as if in search of something. + +Then Malipieri was conscious again of the association, in his own +mind, between the man's personality and his own political experiences, +and he suddenly laughed aloud. + +"What a precious fool I am!" he thought. "The man is nothing but a +detective!" + +The echo of his laugh came back to him from across the dusky court in +rather a ghostly way. + +The evening air was all at once chilly, and he shut his window and +called for Masin, who instantly appeared with a lamp. Masin was always +ready, and, indeed, possessed many qualities excellent in a faithful +servant, among which gratitude to Malipieri held a high place. + +He had something to be grateful for, which is not, however, always a +cause of gratitude in the receiver of favours and mercies. He had been +a convict, and had served a term of several years in penal servitude. +The sentence had been passed upon him for having stabbed a man in the +back, in a drunken brawl, but Masin had steadily denied the charge, +and the evidence against him had been merely circumstantial. It had +happened in Rome, where Masin had worked as a mason during the +construction of the new Courts of Justice. He was from the far north +of Italy, and was, of course, hated by his companions, as only +Italians of different parts of the country can hate one another. To +shield one of themselves, they unanimously gave evidence against +Masin; the jury was chiefly composed of Romans, the judge was a +Sicilian, and Masin had no chance. Fortunately for him, the man lived, +though much injured; if he had died, Masin would have got a life +sentence. It was an old story; false witnesses, a prejudiced jury, and +a judge who, though willing to put his prejudices aside, had little +choice but to convict. + +Masin had been sent to Elba to the penitentiary, had been a "good- +behaviour man" from first to last, and his term had been slightly +abridged in consequence. When he was discharged, he went back to the +north. Malipieri had found him working as a mason when some repairs +were being made in the cathedral of Milan, and had taken a fancy to +him. Masin had told his story simply and frankly, explaining that he +found it hard to get a living at all since he had been a convict, and +that he was trying to save enough money to emigrate to New York. +Malipieri had thought over the matter for a week, speaking to him now +and then, and watching him, and had at last proposed to take him into +his own service. Later, Masin had helped Malipieri to escape, had +followed him into exile, and had been of the greatest use to him +during the excavations in Carthage, where he had acted as body- +servant, foreman, and often as a trusted friend. + +He was certainly not an accomplished valet, but Malipieri did not care +for that. He was sober, he was honest, he was trustworthy, he was cool +in danger, and he was very strong. Moreover, he was an excellent and +experienced mason, a fact of little or no use in the scientific +treatment of shoes, trousers, silk hats, hair-brushes and coffee, but +which had more than once been valuable to Malipieri during the last +few years. Finally, his gratitude to the man who had believed in his +innocence was deep and lasting. Masin would really have given his life +to save Malipieri's, and would have been glad to give it. + +He set the lamp down on the table, and waited for orders, his blue +eyes quietly fixed on his master. + +"I never saw that gentleman before," said Malipieri, setting some +papers in order, under the bright light, but still standing. "Did you +look at his face?" + +"Yes, sir," answered Masin, and waited. + +"What sort of man should you take him to be?" + +"A spy, sir," replied Masin promptly. + +"I think you are right," Malipieri answered. "We will begin work to- +morrow morning." + +"Yes, sir." + +Malipieri ate his supper without noticing what Masin brought him, and +then installed himself with his shaded lamp at his work-table. He took +from the drawer a number of sketches of plans and studied them +attentively, by a rather odd process. + +He had drawn only one plan on heavy paper, in strong black lines. An +architect would have seen at once that it represented a part of the +foundations of a very large building; and two or three persons then +living in Rome might have recognized the plan of the cellars under the +north-west corner of the Palazzo Conti--certainly not more than two or +three, one of whom was the snuffy expert who had come from beyond the +Tiber, and another was Baron Volterra. Toto, the mason, could have +threaded the intricate ways in the dark, but could assuredly have made +nothing of the drawings. On the other hand, the persons who were +acquainted with them did not know what Toto knew, and he was not at +all inclined to impart his knowledge to any one, for reasons best +known to himself. + +Furthermore, an architect would have understood at a glance that the +plan was incomplete, and that there was some reason why it could not +be completed. A part of it was quite blank, but in one place the +probable continuation of a main wall not explored, or altogether +inaccessible, was indicated by dotted lines. + +Besides this main drawing, Malipieri had several others made on +tracing paper to the same scale, which he laid over the first, and +moved about, trying to make the one fit the other, and in each of +these the part which was blank in the one underneath was filled in +according to different imaginary plans. Lastly, he had a large +transparent sheet on which were accurately laid out the walls and +doors of the ground floor of the palace at the north-west corner, and +in this there was marked a square piece of masonry, shaded as if to +represent a solid pilaster, and which came over the unexplored part of +the cellars. Sometimes Malipieri placed this drawing over the first, +and then one of the others on both, trying to make the three agree. It +was like an odd puzzle, and there was not a word written on any of the +plans to explain what they meant. On most of the thin ones there were +blue lines, indicating water, or at least its possible course. + +The imaginary architect, if he could have watched the real one, would +have understood before long that the latter was theorizing about the +probable construction of what was hitherto inaccessible, and about the +probable position of certain channels through which water flowed, or +might be expected to flow. He would also have gathered that Malipieri +could reach no definite conclusion unless he could break through one +of two walls in the cellar, or descend through an opening in the floor +above, which would be by far the easiest way. He might even have +wondered why Malipieri did not at once adopt the latter expedient. It +is not a serious matter to make an aperture through a vault, large +enough to allow the passage of a man's body, and it could not be +attended with any danger to the building. It would be much less safe +and far more difficult to cut a hole through one of the main +foundation walls, which might be many feet thick and yet not wholly +secure. Nevertheless the movements made by the point of Malipieri's +pencil showed that he was contemplating that method of gaining an +entrance. + + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + + + +Sabina had been more than two months in Baron Volterra's house, when +she at last received a line from her mother. The short letter was +characteristic and was, after all, what the girl had expected, neither +more nor less. The Princess told her that for the present she must +stay with the "kind friends" who had offered her a home; that +everything would be right before long; that if she needed any advice +she had better send for Sassi, who had always served the family +faithfully; that gowns were going to be short next year, which would +be becoming to Sabina when she "came out," because she had small feet +and admirable ankles; and that the weather was heavenly. The Princess +added that she would send her some pocket-money before long, and that +she was trying to find the best way of sending it. + +In spite of her position Sabina smiled at the last sentence. It was so +like her mother to promise what she would never perform, that it +amused her. She sat still for some time with the letter in her hand +and then took it to the Baroness, for she felt that it was time to +speak out and that the interview could not be put off any longer. The +Baroness was writing in her boudoir. She wrote her letters on large +sheets of an especial paper, stamped with her initials, over which +appeared a very minute Italian baron's coronet, with seven points; it +was so small that one might easily have thought that it had nine, like +a count's, but it was undeniably smart and suggested an assured +position in the aristocracy. No one quite remembered why the late King +had made Volterra a baron, but he undoubtedly had done so, and no one +disputed Volterra's right to use the title. + +Sabina read her letter aloud, and the Baroness listened attentively, +with a grave expression. + +"Your dear mother--" she began in a soothing tone. + +"She is not my 'dear mother' at all," said Sabina, interrupting her. +"She is not any more 'dear' to me than I am to her." + +"Oh!" exclaimed the Baroness, affecting to be shocked by the girl's +heartlessness. + +"If it were not for my 'dear mother,' I should not be a beggar," said +Sabina. + +"A beggar! What a word!" + +"There is no other, that I know of. I am living on your charity." + +"For heaven's sake, do not say such things!" cried the Baroness. + +"There is nothing else to say. If you had not taken me in and lodged +me and fed me, I should like to know where I should be now. I am quite +sure that my 'dear mother' would not care, but I cannot help wondering +what is to become of me. Are you surprised?" + +"Are you not provided for here?" The question was put in a tone almost +of deprecation. + +"Provided for! I am surrounded with every sort of luxury, when I ought +to be working for my living." + +"Working!" The Baroness was filled with horror. "You, my dear, the +daughter of a Roman Prince! You, working for your living! You, a +Conti!" + +Sabina smiled and looked down at her delicate hands. + +"I cannot see what my name has to do with it," she said. "It is not +much to be proud of, considering how my relatives behave." + +"It is a great name," said the Baroness solemnly and emphatically. + +"It was once," Sabina answered, leaning back in the low chair she had +taken, and looking at the ceiling. "My mother and my brother have not +added lustre to it, and I would much rather be called Signorina Emilia +Moscetti and be a governess, than be Sabina Conti and live on charity. +I have no right to what I do not possess and cannot earn." + +"My dear child! This is rank socialism! I am afraid you talked too +long with Malipieri the other night." + +"There is a man who works, though he has what you call a great name," +observed Sabina. "I admire that. He was poor, I suppose--perhaps not +so poor as I am--and he made up his mind to earn his living and a +reputation." + +"You are quite mistaken," said the Baroness drily. + +Sabina looked at her in surprise. + +"I thought he was a distinguished architect and engineer," she +answered. + +"Yes. But he was never poor, and he will be very rich some day." + +"Indeed!" Sabina seemed rather disappointed at the information. + +There was a little pause, and the Baroness looted at her unfinished +letter as if she wished that Sabina would go away. She had foreseen +that before long the girl would make some protest against her position +as a perpetual guest in the house, but had no clear idea of how to +meet it. Sabina seemed so very decided. + +"We have done our best to make you feel at home, like one of the +family," the Baroness said presently, in a rather injured tone. + +Sabina did not wish to be one of the family at all, but she knew that +she was under great obligations to her hosts, and she did not wish to +be thought ungrateful. + +"You have been more than kind," she answered gently, "and I shall +never forget it. You have taken more trouble with me in two or three +months than my mother in all my life. Please do not imagine that I am +not thankful for all you have done." + +The words were spoken sincerely, and when Sabina was very much in +earnest there was something at once convincing and touching in her +voice. The Baroness's sallow cheek actually flushed with pleasure, and +she was impelled to leave her seat and kiss Sabina affectionately. She +was restrained by a reasonable doubt as to the consequences of such +demonstrative familiarity, though she would not have hesitated to kiss +the girl's mother under like circumstances. + +"It was the least we could do," she said, knowing very well that the +phrase meant nothing. + +"Excuse me," Sabina objected, "but there was no reason in the world +why you should do anything at all for me! In the natural course of +things I should either have been sent to the country with my sister- +in-law, or to the convent with Clementina." + +"You would have been very unhappy, my dear child." + +"I do not know which would have been worse," said Sabina frankly. +"They both hate me, and I hate them." + +"Dear me!" exclaimed the Baroness, shocked again, or pretending to be. + +"In our family," Sabina answered calmly, "we all hate each other." + +"I am sure your sister Clementina is far too religious to feel hatred +for any one." + +"You do not know her!" Sabina laughed, and looked at the ceiling. "She +hates 'the wicked' with a mortal hatred!" + +"Perhaps you mean that she hates wickedness, my dear," suggested the +Baroness in a moralizing tone. + +"Not at all!" laughed the young girl. "She would like to destroy +everybody who is not like her, and she would begin with her own +family. She used to tell me that I was doomed to eternal flames +because I loved my canary better than I loved her. I did. It was quite +true. As for my brother, she said he was wicked, too. I quite believe +he is, but she had a friendly understanding with him, because they +used to make Signor Sassi get money for them both. In the end they got +so much that there was nothing left. Her share all went to convents +and extraordinary charities, and his went heaven knows where!" + +"And yours?" asked the Baroness, to see what she would say. + +"I suppose it went to them too, like everything else, and to my +mother, who spent a great deal of money. At all events, none of us +have anything now. That is why I want to work." + +"It is an honourable impulse, no doubt," the Baroness said, in a tone +of meditative disapproval. + +Sabina leaned forward, her chin on her hand. + +"You think I am too young," she said. "And I really know nothing, +except bad French and dancing. I cannot even sew, at least, not very +well, and I cannot cook." She laughed. "I once made some very good +toast," she added thoughtfully. + +"You must marry," said the Baroness. "You must make a good marriage." + +"No one will marry me, because I have no dowry," answered Sabina with +perfect simplicity. + +"Some men marry girls who have none. You are very pretty, you know." + +"So my mother used to tell me when she was in a good humour. But +Clementina always said I was hideous, that my eyes were like a little +pig's, quite inside my head, and that my hair was grey, like an old +woman's, and that I was as thin as a grasshopper." + +"You are very pretty," the Baroness repeated with conviction; "and I +am sure you would make a good wife." + +"I am afraid not!" Sabina laughed. "We are none of us good, you know. +Why should I be?" + +The Baroness disapproved. + +"That is a flippant speech," she said severely. + +"I do not feel flippant at all. I am very serious. I wish to earn my +living." + +"But you cannot--" + +"But I wish to," answered Sabina, as if that settled the question. + +"Have you always done what you wished?" asked the Baroness wisely. + +"No, never. That is why I mean to begin at once. I am sure I can learn +to be a maid, or to make hats, or feed babies with bottles. Many girls +of eighteen can." + +The Baroness shrugged her shoulders in a decidedly plebeian way. +Sabina's talk seemed very silly to her, no doubt, but she felt +slightly foolish herself just then. At close quarters and in the +relative intimacy that had grown up between them, the descendant of +all the Conti had turned out to be very different from what the +financier's wife had expected, and it was not easy to understand her. +Sometimes the girl talked like a woman of the world, and sometimes +like a child. Her character seemed to be a compound of cynicism and +simplicity, indifference and daring, gentleness, hardness and pride, +all wonderfully amalgamated under a perfectly self-possessed manner, +and pervaded by the most undeniable charm. It was no wonder that the +poor Baroness was as puzzled as a hen that has hatched a swan. + +Sabina had behaved perfectly, so far; the Baroness admitted this, and +it had added considerably to her growing social importance to be +regarded as the girl's temporary guardian. Even royalty had expressed +its approval of her conduct and its appreciation of her generosity, +and it was one of the Baroness's chief ambitions to be noticed by +royalty. She had shown a good deal of tact, too, for she was woman +enough to guess what the girl must feel, and how hard it must be to +accept so much without any prospect of being able to make a return. So +far, however, matters had gone very well, and she had really begun to +look forward to the glory of presenting Sabina in society during the +following winter, and of steering her to a rich marriage, penniless +though she was. + +But this morning she had received a new impression which disturbed +her. It was not that she attached much importance to Sabina's wild +talk about working for a living, for that was absurd, on the face of +it; but there was something daring in the tone, something in the +little careless laugh which made her feel that the delicate girl might +be capable of doing very unexpected and dangerous things. The sudden +conviction came upon her that Sabina was of the kind that run away and +make love matches, and otherwise break through social conventions in a +manner quite irreparable. And if Sabina did anything of that sort, the +Baroness would not only lose all the glory she had gained, but would +of course be severely blamed by Roman society, which would be an awful +calamity if it did not amount to a social fall. She alone knew how +hard she had worked to build up her position, and she guessed how +easily an accident might destroy it. Her husband had his politics and +his finance to interest him, but what would be left to his wife if she +once lost her hold upon the aristocracy? Even the smile of royalty +would not make up for that, and royalty would certainly not smile if +Sabina, being in her charge, did anything very startlingly +unconventional. + +Sabina was quite conscious that the Baroness did not understand; +indeed, she had not really expected to be understood, and when she saw +the shrug of the shoulders that answered her last speech she rose +quietly and went to the window. The blinds were drawn together, for it +was now late in May, but she could see down to the street, and as she +looked she started a little. + +"There is Signor Malipieri!" she cried, and it was clear that she was +glad. + +The Baroness uttered an exclamation of surprise. + +"Are you sure?" she asked. + +Yes, Sabina was quite sure. He had just driven up to the door in a +cab. Now he was paying the cabman, too, instead of making him wait. +The Baroness glanced at the showy little clock set in turquoises, +which stood on her writing-table, and she put away her unfinished +letter. + +"We will ask him to stay to luncheon," she said, in a decided tone. + +After sending up to ask if he would be received, Malipieri entered the +room with an apology. He said that he had hoped to find the Baron in, +and had been told that he might come at any moment. The Baroness +thereupon asked the visitor to stay to luncheon, and Malipieri +accepted, and sat down. + +It had always amused Sabina to watch how the Baroness's manner changed +when any one appeared whom she did not know very well. Her mouth +assumed a stereotyped smile, she held her head a little forward and on +one side, and she spoke in quite another tone. But just now Sabina did +not notice these things. She was renewing her impression of Malipieri, +whom she had only seen once and in evening dress. She liked him even +better now, she thought, and it would have pleased her to look at him +longer. + +Their eyes met in a glance as he told the Baroness that he had come to +see Volterra on a matter of business. He did not explain what the +business was, and at once began to talk of other things, as if to +escape possible questions. Sabina thought he was paler than before, or +less sunburnt, perhaps; at all events, the contrast between his very +white forehead and his bronzed face was less strong. She could see his +eyes more distinctly, too, than she had seen them in the evening, and +she liked their expression better, for he did not look at all bored +now. She liked his voice, too, for the slight harshness that seemed +always ready to command. She liked the man altogether, and was +conscious of the fact, and wished she could talk with him again, as +she had talked that evening on the sofa in the corner, without fear of +interruption. + +That was impossible, and she listened to what he said. It was merely +the small talk of a man of the world who knows that he is expected to +say something not altogether dull, and takes pains to be agreeable, +but Sabina felt all through it a sort of sympathy which she missed +very much in the Volterra household, the certainty of fellowship which +people who have been brought up in similar surroundings feel when they +meet in an atmosphere not their own. + +A few minutes after he had come, a servant opened the door and said +that the Baron wished to speak to the Baroness at the telephone. She +rose, hesitated a moment and went out, leaving the two young people +together. + +"I have seen Sassi," said Malipieri in a low voice, as soon as the +door was shut. + +"Yes," answered Sabina, with a little interrogation. + +She was very much surprised to hear a slight tremor in her own voice +as she uttered the one word. + +"I like him very much," Malipieri continued. "He is a good friend to +you. He said that if anything of importance happened he would come and +see you." + +"I shall be glad," Sabina said. + +"Something is happening, which may bring him. Be sure to see him +alone, when he comes." + +"Yes, but what is it? What can possibly happen that can make a +difference?" + +Malipieri glanced at the door, fearing that the Baroness might enter +suddenly. + +"Can you keep a secret?" he asked quickly. + +"Of course! Tell me!" She leaned forward with eager interest, +expecting his next words. + +"Did you ever hear that something very valuable is said to be hidden +somewhere under the palace?" + +Sabina's face fell and the eagerness faded from her eyes instantly. +She had often heard the story from her nurses when she had been a +little girl, and she did not believe a word of it, any more than she +believed that the marble statue of Cardinal Conti in the library +really came down from its pedestal on the eve of All Souls' and walked +through the state apartments, or the myth about the armour of +Francesco Conti, of which the nurses used to tell her that on the +anniversary of the night of his murder his eyes could be seen through +the bars of the helmet, glowing with the infernal fire. As for any +hidden treasure, she was quite positive that if it existed her brother +and sister would have got at it long ago. Malipieri sank in her +estimation as soon as he mentioned it. He was only a Venetian, of +course, and could not be expected to know much about Rome, but he must +be very weak-minded if he could be imposed upon by such nonsense. Her +delicate lip curled with a little contempt. + +"Is that the great secret?" she asked. "I thought you were in +earnest." + +"The Senator is," observed Malipieri drily. + +"If the old gentleman has made you believe that he is, he must have +some very deep scheme. He does not like to seem foolish." + +Malipieri did not answer at once, but he betrayed no annoyance. In the +short silence, he could hear the Baroness's powerful voice yelling at +the telephone. It ceased suddenly, and he guessed that she was coming +back. + +"If I find anything, I wish you to see it before any one else does," +he said quickly. + +"That would be very amusing!" Sabina laughed incredulously, just as +the door opened. + +The Baroness heard the light laughter, and stood still with her hand +on the latch, as if she had forgotten something. She was not a woman +of sudden intuitions nor much given to acting on impulses, and when a +new idea crossed her mind she almost always paused to think it over, +no matter what she chanced to be doing. It was as if she had +accidentally run against something which stunned her a little. + +"What is it?" asked Sabina, very naturally. + +The Baroness beckoned silently to her, and she rose. + +"Only one moment, Signor Malipieri," said the Baroness, apologizing +for leaving him alone. + +When she and Sabina were out of the room, she shut the door and went +on a few paces before speaking. + +"My husband has telephoned that he cannot leave the Senate," she said. + +"Well?" Sabina did not understand. + +"But Malipieri has come expressly to see him." + +"He can see him at the Senate," suggested Sabina. + +"But I have asked Malipieri to stay to luncheon. If I tell him that my +husband is not coming, perhaps he will not stay after all." + +"Perhaps not," echoed Sabina with great calmness. + +"You do not seem to care," said the Baroness. + +"Why should I?" + +"I thought you liked him. I thought it would amuse you if he lunched +with us." + +Sabina looked at her with some curiosity. + +"Did you tell the Baron that Signor Malipieri is here?" she asked +carelessly. + +"No," answered the Baroness, looking away. "As my husband said he +could not come to luncheon, it seemed useless." + +Sabina understood now, and smiled. This was the direct consequence of +the talk which had preceded Malipieri's coming; the Baroness had at +once conceived the idea of marrying her to Malipieri. + +"What shall we do?" asked the Baroness. + +"Whatever you think best," answered Sabina, with sudden meekness. "I +think you ought at least to tell Signor Malipieri that the Baron is +not coming. He may be in a hurry, you know. He may be wasting time." + +The Baroness smiled incredulously. + +"My dear," she said, "if he had been so very anxious to see my +husband, he would have gone to the Senate first. It is near the +palace." + +She said no more, but led the way back to the morning room, while +Sabina reflected upon the possible truth of the last suggestion, and +wondered whether Malipieri had really made his visit for the sake of +exchanging a few words with her rather than in order to see Volterra. +The Baroness spoke to him as she opened the door. + +"My husband has not come yet," she said. "We will not wait for him." + +She rang the bell to order luncheon, and Malipieri glanced at Sabina's +face, wondering what the Baroness had said to her, for it was not +reasonable to suppose that the two had left the room in order to +consult in secret upon the question of waiting for Volterra. But +Sabina did not meet his look, and her pale young face was impenetrably +calm, for she was thinking about what she had just discovered. She was +as certain that she knew what had passed in the Baroness's thoughts, +as if the latter had spoken aloud. The knowledge, for it amounted to +that, momentarily chased away the recollection of what Malipieri had +said. + +It was rather amusing to be looked upon as marriageable, and to a man +she already knew. Her mother had often talked to her with cynical +frankness, telling her that she was to make the best match that could +be obtained for her, naming numbers of young men she had never seen +and assuring her that likes and dislikes had nothing to do with +matrimony. They came afterwards, the Princess said, and it generally +pleased Providence to send a mild form of aversion as the permanent +condition of the bond. But Sabina had never believed her mother, who +had cheated her when she was a child, as many foolish and heartless +women do, promising rewards which were never given, and excursions +which were always put off and little joys which always turned to +sorrows less little by far. + +Moreover, her sister Clementina had told her that there was only one +way to treat the world, and that was to leave it with the contempt it +deserved; and she had heard her brother tell his wife in one of his +miserable fits of weakly brutal anger that marriage was hell, and +nothing else; to which the young princess had coldly replied that he +was only where he deserved to be. Sabina had not been brought up with +the traditional pious and proper views about matrimony, and if she did +not think even worse of it, the merit was due to her own nature, in +which there was much good and hardly any real evil. + +But she could not escape from a little inherited and acquired cynicism +either, and while Malipieri chatted quietly during luncheon, an +explanation of the whole matter occurred to her which was not pleasant +to contemplate. The story about the treasure might or might not be +true, but he believed in it, and so did Volterra. The Baron was +therefore employing him to discover the prize. But Malipieri showed +plainly that he wished her to possess it, if it were ever found, and +perhaps he meant it to be her dowry, in which case it would come into +his own hands if he could marry her. This was ingenious, if it was +nothing else, and though Sabina felt that there was something mean +about it, she resented the idea that he should expect her to think him +a model of generosity when she hardly knew him. + +She was therefore very quiet, and looked at him rather coldly when he +spoke to her, but the Baroness put this down to her admirably correct +manners, and was already beginning to consider how she could approach +Malipieri on the subject of his marrying Sabina. She was quite in +ignorance of the business which had brought him and her husband +together, as Sabina now knew from many remarks she remembered. +Volterra was accustomed to tell his wife what he had been doing when +the matter was settled, and she had long ago given up trying to make +him talk of his affairs when he chose to be silent. + +On the whole, so far as Sabina was concerned, the circumstances were +not at first very favourable to the Baroness's newly formed plan on +this occasion, though she did not know it. On the other hand, +Malipieri discovered before luncheon was over, that Sabina interested +him very much, that she was much prettier than he had realized at his +first meeting with her, and that he had unconsciously thought about +her a good deal in the interval. + + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + + + +Malipieri was convinced before long that his doings interested some +one who was able to employ men to watch him, and he connected the fact +with Bruni's visit. He was not much disturbed by it, however, and was +careful not to show that he noticed it at all. Naturally enough, he +supposed that his short career as a promoter of republican ideas had +caused him to be remembered as a dangerous person, and that a careful +ministry was anxious to know why he lived alone in a vast palace, in +the heart of Rome, knowing very few people and seeing hardly any one +except Volterra. The Baron himself was apparently quite indifferent to +any risk in the matter, and yet, as a staunch monarchist and supporter +of the ministry then in office, it might have been expected that he +would not openly associate with the monarchy's professed enemies. That +was his affair, as Malipieri had frankly told him at the beginning. +For the rest, the young architect smiled as he thought of the time and +money the government was wasting on the supposition that he was +plotting against it, but it annoyed him to find that certain faces of +men in the streets were becoming familiar to him, quiet, blank faces +of respectable middle-aged men, who always avoided meeting his eyes, +and were very polite in standing aside to let him pass them on the +pavement. There were now three whom he knew by sight, and he saw one +of them every time he went out of the house. He knew what that meant. +He had not the smallest doubt but that all three reported what they +saw of his movements to Signor Vittorio Bruni, every day, in some +particularly quiet little office in one of the government buildings +connected with the Ministry of the Interior. It troubled him very +little, since he was quite innocent of any political machinations for +the present. + +He had determined from the first not to employ any workmen to help him +unless it should be absolutely necessary. He was strong and his +practical experience in Carthage had taught him the use of pick and +crowbar. Masin was equal to two ordinary men for such work, and could +be trusted to hold his tongue. + +Malipieri told the porter that he was exploring the foundations before +attempting to strengthen them, and from time to time he gave him a +little money. At first the old man offered to call Toto, who had +always served the house, he said; but Malipieri answered that no help +was needed in a mere preliminary exploration, and that another man +would only be in the way. He made no secret of the fact that he was +working with his own hands, however. Every morning, he and his servant +went down into the north-west cellars by a winding staircase that was +entered from a passage between the disused stables and the empty +coach-house. Like every large Roman palace, the Palazzo Conti had two +arched entrances, one of which had never been opened except on +important occasions, when the carriages that drove in on the one side +drove out at the other after their owner had alighted. This second +gate was at the west end of the court, not far from the coach-house. +To reach their work Malipieri and Masin had to go down the grand +staircase and pass the porter's lodge. Masin wore the rough clothes of +a working mason and Malipieri appeared in overalls and a heavy canvas +jacket. Very soon the garments of both were so effectually stained +with mud, green mould and water that the two men could hardly have +been distinguished from ordinary day labourers, even in broad +daylight. + +They began work on the very spot at which the snuffy little expert had +stopped to listen to the water. It was evidently out of the question +to break through the wall at the level of the cellar floor, for the +water could be heard running steadily through its hidden channel, and +if this were opened the cellars might be completely flooded. Besides, +Malipieri knew that the water might rise unexpectedly to a +considerable height. + +It was therefore best to make the opening as high as possible, under +the vault, which at that point was not more than ten feet from the +ground. The simplest plan would have been to put up a small +scaffolding on which to work, but there was no timber suitable for the +purpose in the cellar, and Malipieri did not wish to endanger the +secrecy of his operations by having any brought down. He therefore set +to work to excavate an inclined aperture, like a tunnel, which began +at a height of about five feet and was intended to slope upwards so as +to reach the interior chamber at the highest point practicable. + +It was very hard work at first, and it was not unattended by danger. +Masin declared at the outset that it was impracticable without +blasting. The wall appeared to be built of solid blocks of travertine +stone, rough hewn on the face but neatly fitted together. It would +take two men several days to loosen a single one of these blocks, and +if they finally succeeded in moving it, it must fall to the ground at +once, for their united strength would not have sufficed to lower it +gently. + +"The facing is stone," said Malipieri, "but we shall find bricks +behind it. If we do not, we must try to get in by some other way." + +In order to get any leverage at all, it was necessary to chisel out a +space between the first block to be moved and those that touched it, +an operation which occupied two whole days. Masin worked doggedly and +systematically, and Malipieri imitated him as well as he could, but +more than once nearly blinded himself with the flying chips of stone, +and though he was strong his hands ached and trembled at the end of +the day, so that he could hardly hold a pen. To Masin it was easy +enough, and was merely a question of time and patience. He begged +Malipieri to let him do it alone, but the architect would not hear of +that, since there was room for two to use their tools at the same +time, at opposite ends of the block. He was in haste to get over the +first obstacle, which he believed to be by far the most difficult, and +he was not the kind of man to sit idly watching another at work +without trying to help him. + +On the third day they made an attempt to use a crowbar. They had two +very heavy ones, but they did not try to use both, and united their +strength upon one only. They might as well have tried to move the +whole palace, and it looked as if they would be obliged to cut the +block itself away with hammer and chisel, a labour of a fortnight, +perhaps, considering the awkward position in which they had to work. + +"One dynamite cartridge would do it!" laughed Malipieri, as he looked +at the huge stone. + +"Thank you, sir," answered Masin, taking the suggestion seriously. "I +have been in the galleys seven years, and that is enough for a +lifetime. We must try and split it with wedges." + +"There is no other way." + +They had all the tools necessary for the old-fashioned operation; +three drilling irons, of different sizes, and a small sledge-hammer, +and they went to work without delay. Malipieri held the iron +horizontally against the stone with both hands, turning it a little +after Masin had struck it with the sledge. It was very exhausting +after a time, as the whole weight of the tool was at first carried by +Malipieri's uplifted hands. Moreover, if he forgot to grasp it very +firmly, the vibration of the blow made the palms of his hands sting +till they were numb. At regular intervals the men changed places, +Masin held the drill and Malipieri took the hammer. Every now and then +they raked out the dust from the deepening hole with a little round +scoop made for the purpose and riveted to the end of a light iron rod +a yard long. + +Hour after hour they toiled thus together, far down under the palace, +in the damp, close air, that was cold and yet stifling to breathe. The +hole was now over two feet deep. + +Suddenly, as Masin delivered a heavy blow, the drill ran in an inch +instead of recoiling in Malipieri's tight hold. + +"Bricks," said Masin, resting on the haft of the long hammer. + +Malipieri removed the drill, took the scoop and drew out the dust and +minute chips. Hitherto the stuff had been grey, but now, as he held +his hand under the round hole to catch what came, a little bit of dark +red brick fell into his palm. He picked it out carefully and held it +close to the bright unshaded lamp. + +"Roman brick," he said, after a moment. + +"We are not in Milan," observed Masin, by way of telling his master +that he did not understand. + +"Ancient Roman brick," said Malipieri. "It is just what I expected. +This is part of the wall of an old Roman building, built of bricks and +faced with travertine. If we can get this block out, the worst will be +over." + +"It is easier to drill holes in stone than in water," said Masin, who +had put his ear to the hole. "I can hear it much louder now." + +"Of course you can," answered Malipieri. "We are wasting time," he +added, picking up the drill and holding it against the block at a +point six inches higher than before. + +Masin took his sledge again and hammered away with dogged regularity. +So the work went on all that day, and all the next. And after that +they took another tool and widened the holes, and then a third till +they were two inches in diameter. + +Masin suggested that they might drive an iron on through the +brickwork, and find out how much of it there was beyond the stone, but +Malipieri pointed out that if the "lost water" should rise it would +pour out through the hole and stop their operations effectually. The +entrance must incline upwards, he said. + +They made long round plugs of soft pine to fit the holes exactly, each +one scored with a channel a quarter of an inch deep, which was on the +upper side when they had driven the plugs into their places, and was +intended to lead the water along the wood, so as to wet it more +thoroughly. To do this Malipieri poked long cotton wicks into each +channel with a wire, as far as possible. He made Masin buy half-a- +dozen coarse sponges and tied one upon the upper end of each +projecting plug. Finally he wet all the sponges thoroughly and wound +coarse cloths loosely round them to keep in as much of the water as +possible. By pouring on water from time to time the soft wood was to +be ultimately wet through, the wicks leading the moisture constantly +inward, and in the end the great block must inevitably be split into +halves. It is the prehistoric method, and there never was any other +way of cleaving very hard stone until gunpowder first brought in +blasting. It is slow, but it is quite sure. + +The place where the two men had been working was many feet below the +level of the courtyard, but the porter could now and then hear the +sound of blows echoing underground through the vast empty cellars, +even when he stood near the great entrance. + +Toto heard the noise too, one day, as he was standing still to light +his pipe in the Vicolo dei Soldati. When it struck his ear he let the +match burn out till it singed his horny fingers. His expression became +even more blank than usual, but he looked up and down the street, to +see if he were alone, and upward at the windows of the house opposite. +Nobody was in sight, but in order to place his ear close to the wall +and listen, he made a pretence of fastening his shoe-string. The sound +came to him from very far beneath, regular as the panting of an +engine. He knew his trade, and recognized the steady hammering on the +end of a stone drill, very unlike the irregular blows of a pickaxe or +a crowbar. The "moles" were at work, and knew their business; sooner +or later they would break through. But Toto could not guess that the +work was being actually done by Malipieri and his servant, without +help. One man alone could not do it, and the profound contempt of the +artisan for any outsider who attempts his trade, made Toto feel quite +sure that one or more masons had been called in to make a breach in +the foundation wall. As he stood up and lighted his pipe at last, he +grinned all alone, and then slouched on, his heart full of very evil +designs. Had he not always been the mason of the Palazzo Conti? And +his father before him? And his grandfather, who had lost his life down +there, where the moles were working? And now that he was turned out, +and others were called in to do a particularly confidential job, +should he not be revenged? He bit his pipe and thrust his rough hands +deep into the pockets of his fustian trousers, and instead of turning +into the wine shop to meet Gigi, he went off for a walk by himself +through all the narrow and winding streets that lie between the +Palazzo Conti and Monte Giordano. + +He came to no immediate conclusion, and moreover there was no great +hurry. He knew well enough that it would take time to pierce the wall, +after the drilling was over, and he could easily tell when that point +was reached by listening every day in the Vicolo dei Soldati. It would +still be soon enough to play tricks with the water, if he chose that +form of vengeance, and he grinned again as he thought of the vast +expense he could force upon Volterra in order to save the palace. But +he might do something else. Instead of flooding the cellars and +possibly drowning the masons who had ousted him, he could turn +informer and defeat the schemes of Volterra and Malipieri, for he +never doubted but that if they found anything of value they meant to +keep the whole profit of it to themselves. + +He had the most vague notions of what the treasure might be. When the +fatal accident had happened his grandfather had been the only man who +had actually penetrated into the innermost hiding-place; the rest had +fled when the water rose and had left him to drown. They had seen +nothing, and their story had been handed down as a mere record of the +catastrophe. Toto knew at least that the vaults had then been entered +from above, which was by far the easier way, but a new pavement had +long ago covered all traces of the aperture. + +There was probably gold down there, gold of the ancients, in earthen +jars. That was Toto's belief, and he also believed that when it was +found it would belong to the government, because the government took +everything, but that somehow, in real justice, it should belong to the +Pope. For Toto was not only a genuine Roman of the people, but had +always regarded himself as a sort of hereditary retainer of an ancient +house. + +His mind worked slowly. A day passed, and he heard the steady +hammering still, and after a second night he reached a final +conclusion. The Pope must have the treasure, whatever it might be. + +That, he decided, was the only truly moral view, and the only one +which satisfied his conscience. It would doubtless be very amusing to +be revenged on the masons by drowning them in a cellar, with the +absolute certainty of never being suspected of the deed. The plan had +great attractions. The masons themselves should have known better than +to accept a job which belonged by right to him, and they undoubtedly +deserved to be drowned. Yet Toto somehow felt that as there was no +woman in the case he might some day, in his far old age, be sorry for +having killed several men in cold blood. It was really not strictly +moral, after all, especially as his grandfather's death had been +properly avenged by the death of the murderer. + +As for allowing the government to have a share in the profits of the +discovery, that was not to be thought of. He was a Roman, and the +Italian government was his natural enemy. If he could have turned all +the "lost water" in the city upon the whole government collectively, +in the cellars of the Palazzo Conti, he would have felt that it was +strictly moral to do so. The government had stolen more than two years +of his life by making him serve in the army, and he was not going to +return good for evil. With beautiful simplicity of reasoning he cursed +the souls of the government's dead daily, as if it had been a family +of his acquaintance. + +But the Pope was quite another personage. There had always been popes, +and there always would be till the last judgment, and everything +connected with the Vatican would last as long as the world itself. +Toto was a conservative. His work had always kept him among lasting +things of brick and stone, and he was proud of never having taken a +day's wages for helping to put up the modern new-fangled buildings he +despised. The most lasting of all buildings in the world was the +Vatican, and the most permanent institution conceivable was the Pope. +Gigi, who made wretched, perishable objects of wood and nails and +glue, such as doors and windows, sometimes launched into modern ideas. +Toto would have liked to know how many times the doors and windows of +the Palazzo Conti had been renewed since the walls had been built! He +pitied Gigi always, and sometimes he despised him, though they were +good friends enough in the ordinary sense. + +The Pope should have the treasure. That was settled, and the only +question remaining concerned the means of transferring it to him when +it was discovered. + + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + + + +One evening it chanced that the Volterra couple were dining out, and +that Sabina, having gone up to her room to spend the evening, had +forgotten the book she was reading and came downstairs half-an-hour +later to get it. She opened the drawing-room door and went straight to +the table on which she had left the volume. As she turned to go back +she started and uttered a little cry, almost of terror. + +Malipieri was standing before the mantelpiece, looking at her. + +"I am afraid I frightened you," he said quietly. "Pray forgive me." + +"Not at all," Sabina answered, resting the book she held in her hand +upon the edge of the table. "I did not know any one was here." + +"I said I would wait till the Senator came home," Malipieri said. + +"Yes." Sabina hesitated a moment and then sat down. + +She smiled, perhaps at herself. In her mother's house it would have +been thought extremely improper for her to be left alone with a young +man during ten minutes, but she knew that the Baroness held much more +modern views, and would probably be delighted that she and Malipieri +should spend an hour together. He had been asked to luncheon again, +but had declined on the ground of being too busy, much to the +Baroness's annoyance. + +Malipieri seated himself on a small chair at a discreet distance. + +"I happened to know that they were going out," he said, "so I came." + +Sabina looked at him in surprise. It was an odd way to begin a +conversation. + +"I wanted to see you alone," he explained. "I thought perhaps you +would come down." + +"It was an accident," Sabina answered. "I had left my book here. No +one told me that you had come." + +"Of course not. I took the chance that a lucky accident might happen. +It has, but I hope you are not displeased. If you are, you can turn me +out." + +"I could go back to my room." Sabina laughed. "Why should I be +displeased?" + +"I have not the least idea whether you like me or not," answered +Malipieri. + +Sabina wondered whether all men talked like this, or whether it were +not more usual to begin with a few generalities. She was really quite +sure that she liked Malipieri, but it was a little embarrassing to be +called upon to tell him so at once. + +"If I wanted you to go away, I should not sit down," she said, still +smiling. + +"I hate conventions," answered Malipieri, "and I fancy that you do, +too. We were both brought up in them, and I suppose we think alike +about them." + +"Perhaps." + +Sabina turned over the book she still held, and looked at the back of +it. + +"Exactly," continued Malipieri. "But I do not mean that what we are +doing now is so dreadfully unconventional after all. Thank heaven, +manners have changed since I was a boy, and even in Italy we may be +allowed to talk together a few minutes without being suspected of +planning a runaway marriage. I wanted to see you alone because I wish +you to do something very much more 'improper,' as society calls it." + +Sabina looked up with innocent and inquiring eyes, but said nothing in +answer. + +"I have found something," he said. "I should like you to see it." + +"There is nothing so very terrible in that," replied Sabina, looking +at him steadily. + +"The world would think differently. But if you will trust me the world +need never know anything about it. You will have to come alone. That +is the difficulty." + +"Alone?" Sabina repeated the word, and instinctively drew herself up a +little. + +"Yes." + +A short silence followed, and Malipieri waited for her to speak, but +she hesitated. In years, she was but lately out of childhood, but the +evil of the world had long been near her in her mother's house, and +she knew well enough that if she did what he asked, and if it were +known, her reputation would be gone. She was a little indignant at +first, and was on the point of showing it, but as she met his eyes +once more she felt certain that he meant no offence to her. + +"You must have a very good reason for asking me to do such a dangerous +thing," she said at last. + +"The reasons are complicated," answered Malipieri. + +"Perhaps I could understand, if you explained them." + +"Yes, I am sure you can. I will try. In the first place, you know of +the story about a treasure being concealed in the palace. I spoke of +it the other day, and you laughed at it. When I began, I was not +inclined to believe it myself, for it seems never to have been +anything more than a tradition. One or two old chronicles speak of it. +A Venetian ambassador wrote about it in the sixteenth century in one +of his reports to his government, suggesting that the Republic should +buy the palace if it were ever sold. I daresay you have heard that." + +"No. It does not matter. You say you have found something--that is the +important point." + +"Yes; and the next thing is to keep the secret for the present, +because so many people would like to know it. The third point of +importance is that you should see the treasure before it is moved, +before I can move it myself, or even see all of it." + +"What is this treasure?" asked Sabina, with a little impatience, for +she was really interested. + +"All I have seen of it is the hand of what must be a colossal statue, +of gilt bronze. On one of the fingers there is a ring with a stone +which I believe to be a ruby. If it is, it is worth a great deal, +perhaps as much as the statue itself." + +Sabina's eyes had opened very wide in her surprise, for she had never +really believed the tale, and even when he had told her that he had +found something she had not thought it could be anything very +valuable. + +"Are you quite sure you have seen it?" she asked with childlike +wonder. + +"Yes. I lowered a light into the place, but I did not go down. There +may be other things. They belong to you." + +"To me? Why?" asked Sabina in surprise. + +"For a good many reasons which may or may not be good in law but which +are good enough for me. You were robbed of your dowry--forgive the +expression. I cannot think of another word. The Senator got possession +of the palace for much less than its market value, let alone what I +have found. He sent for me because I have been fortunate in finding +things, and he believed it just possible that there might be something +hidden in the foundations. Your family spent long ago what he lent +them on the mortgage, and Sassi assures me that you never had a penny +of it. I mean you to have your share now. That is all." + +Sabina listened quietly enough to the end. + +"Thank you, very much," she said gravely, when he had finished. + +Then there was another pause. To her imagination the possibilities of +wealth seemed fabulous, and even Malipieri thought them large; but +Sabina was not thinking of a fortune for its own sake. Of late none of +her family had cared for money except to spend it without counting. +What struck her first was that she would be free to leave the +Volterras' house, that she would be independent, and that there would +be an end of the almost unbearable situation in which she had lived +since the crash. + +"If the Senator can keep it all for himself, he will," Malipieri +observed, "and his wife will help him." + +"Do you think this had anything to do with their anxiety to have me +stay with them?" asked Sabina, and as the thought occurred to her the +expression of her eyes changed. + +"The Baroness knows nothing at all about the matter," answered +Malipieri. "I fancy she only wanted the social glory of taking charge +of you when your people came to grief. But her husband will take +advantage of the obligation you are under. I suspect that he will ask +you to sign a paper of some sort, very vaguely drawn up, but legally +binding, by which you will make over to him all claim whatever on your +father's estate." + +"But I have none, have I?" + +"If the facts were known to-morrow, your brother might at once begin +an action to recover, on the equitable ground that by an extraordinary +chain of circumstances the property has turned out to be worth much +more than any one could have expected. Do you understand?" + +"Yes. Go on." + +"Very well. The Senator knows that in all probability the court would +decide against your brother, who has the reputation of a spendthrift, +unless your claim is pushed; but that any honest judge, if it were +legally possible, would do his best to award you something. If you had +made over your claim to Volterra, that would be impossible, and would +only strengthen his case." + +"I see," said Sabina. "It is very complicated." + +"Of course it is. And there are many other sides to it. The Senator, +on his part, is as anxious to keep the whole matter a secret as I am, +for your sake. He has no idea that there is a colossal statue in the +vaults. He probably hopes to find gold and jewels which could be taken +away quietly and disposed of without the knowledge of the government." + +"What has the government to do with it?" + +"It has all sorts of claims on such discoveries, and especially on +works of art. It reserves the right to buy them from the owners at a +valuation, if they are sold at all." + +"Then the government will buy this statue, I suppose." + +"In the end, unless it allows the Vatican to buy it." + +"I do not see what is going to happen," said Sabina, growing +bewildered. + +"The Senator must make everything over to you before it is sold," +answered Malipieri calmly. + +"How can he be made to do that?" + +"I do not know, but he shall." + +"Do you mean that the law can force him to?" + +"The law might, perhaps, but I shall find some much shorter way." + +Sabina was silent for a moment. + +"But he employs you on this work," she said suddenly. + +"Not exactly." Malipieri smiled. "I would not let Volterra pay me to +grub underground for his benefit, any more than I would live in his +house without paying him rent." + +Sabina bit her lip and turned her face away suddenly, for the +thoughtless words had hurt her. + +"I agreed to make the search merely because I am interested in +archaeology," he continued. "Until I met you I did not care what might +become of anything we found in the palace." + +"Why should you care now?" + +The question rose to her lips before she knew what she was saying, for +what had gone before had disturbed her a little. It had been a very +cruel speech, though he had not meant it. He looked at her +thoughtfully. + +"I am not quite sure why I care," he answered, "but I do." + +Neither spoke for some time. + +"I suppose you pity me," Sabina observed at last, rather resentfully. + +He said nothing. + +"You probably felt sorry for me as soon as you saw me," she continued, +leaning back in her chair and speaking almost coldly. "I am an object +of pity, of course!" + +Malipieri laughed a little at the very girlish speech. + +"No," he answered. "I had not thought of you in that light. I liked +you, the first time I saw you. That is much simpler than pitying." + +He laughed again, but it was at himself. + +"You treat me like a child," Sabina said with a little petulance. "You +have no right to!" + +"Shall I treat you like a woman, Donna Sabina?" he said, suddenly +serious. + +"Yes. I am sure I am old enough." + +"If you were not, I should certainly not feel as I do towards you." + +"What do you mean?" + +"If you are a woman, you probably guess." + +"No." + +"You may be offended," suggested Malipieri. + +"Not unless you are rude--or pity me." She smiled now. + +"Is it very rude to like a person?" he asked. "If you think it is, I +will not go on." + +"I am not sure," said Sabina demurely, and she looked down. + +"In that case it is wiser not to run the risk of offending you past +forgiveness!" + +It was very amusing to hear him talk, for no man had ever talked to +her in this way before. She knew that he was thought immensely clever, +but he did not seem at all superior now, and she was glad of it. She +should have felt very foolish if he had discoursed to her learnedly +about Carthage and antiquities. Instead, he was simple and natural, +and she liked him very much; and the little devil that enters into +every woman about the age of sixteen and is not often cast out before +fifty, even by prayer and fasting, suddenly possessed her. + +"Rudeness is not always past forgiveness," she said, with a sweet +smile. + +Malipieri looked at her gravely and wondered whether he had any right +to take up the challenge. He had never been in love with a young girl +in his life, and somehow it did not seem fair to speak as he had been +speaking. It was very odd that his sense of honour should assert +itself just then. It might have been due to the artificial traditions +of generations without end, before him. At the same time, he knew +something of women, and in her last speech he recognized the womanly +cooing, the call of the mate, that has drawn men to happiness or +destruction ever since the world began. She was a mere girl, of +course, but since he had said so much, she could not help tempting him +to go to the end and tell her he loved her. + +Though Malipieri did not pretend to be a model of all the virtues, he +was thoroughly fair in all his dealings, according to his lights, and +just then he would have thought it the contrary of fair to say what +she seemed to expect. He knew instinctively that no one had ever said +it to her before, which was a good reason for not saying it lightly; +and he was sure that he could not say it quite seriously, and almost +certain also that she had not even begun to be really in love herself, +though he felt that she liked him. On the other hand--for in the flash +of a second he argued the case--he did not feel that she was the +hypothetical defenceless maiden, helpless to resist the wiles of an +equally hypothetical wicked young man. She had been brought up by a +worldly mother since she had left the convent where she had associated +with other girls, most of whom also had worldly mothers; and some of +the wildest blood in Europe ran in her veins. + +On the whole, he thought it would be justifiable to tell her exactly +what he felt, and she might do as she pleased about answering him. + +"I think I shall fall in love with you before long," he said, with +almost unnecessary calmness. + +Sabina had not expected that the first declaration she received in her +life would take this mild form, but it affected her much more strongly +than she could understand. Her hand tightened suddenly on the book she +held, and she noticed a little fluttering at her heart and in her +throat, and at the same time she was conscious of a tremendous +determination not to show that she felt anything at all, but to act as +if she had heard just such things before, and more also. + +"Indeed!" she said, with admirable indifference. + +Malipieri looked at her in surprise. An experienced flirt of thirty +could not have uttered the single word more effectively. + +"I wonder whether you will ever like me better than you do now," he +said, by way of answer. + +She was wondering, too, but it was not likely that she would admit it. + +"I am very fickle," she replied, with a perfectly self-possessed +little laugh. + +"So am I," Malipieri answered, following her lead. "My most desperate +love affairs have never lasted more than a month or two." + +"You have had a great many, I daresay," Sabina observed, with no show +of interest. She was amazed and delighted to find how easy it was to +act her new part. + +"And you," he asked, laughing, "how often have you been in love +already?" + +"Let me see!" + +She turned her eyes to his, without turning her head, and letting the +book lie in her lap she pretended to count on her fingers. He watched +her gravely, and nodded as she touched each finger, as if he were +counting with her. Suddenly she dropped both hands and laughed gaily. + +"How childish you are!" she exclaimed. + +"How deliciously frank you are!" he retorted, laughing with her. + +It was mere banter, and not witty at that, but they were growing +intimate in it, much faster than either of them realized, for it was +the first time they had been able to talk together quite without +constraint, and it was the very first time Sabina had ever had a +chance of talking as she pleased to a man whom she really thought +young. + +Moreover they were quite modern young people, and therefore entirely +devoid of all the sentimentality and "world-sorrow" which made youth +so delightfully gloomy and desperately cynical, without the least real +cynicism, in the middle of the nineteenth century. In those days no +young man who showed a ray of belief in anything had a chance with a +woman, and no woman had a chance with men unless she had a hidden +sorrow. Women used to construct themselves a secret and romantic grief +in those times, with as much skill as they bestowed on their figure +and face, and there were men who spent hours in reading Schopenhauer +in order to pick out and treasure up a few terribly telling phrases; +and love-making turned upon the myth that life was not worth living. + +We have changed all that now; whether for better or worse, the social +historians of the future will decide for us after we are dead, so we +need not trouble our heads about the decision unless we set up to be +moralists ourselves. The enormous tidal wave of hypocrisy is retiring, +and if the shore discovered by the receding waves is here and there +horribly devastated and hopelessly bare, it is at least dry land. + +The wave covered everything for a long time, from religion to manners, +from science to furniture, and we who are old enough to remember, and +not old enough to regret, are rubbing our eyes and looking about us, +as on a new world, amazed at having submitted so long to what we so +heartily despised, glad to be able to speak our minds at last about +many things, and astounded that people should at last be allowed to be +good and suffered to be bad, without the affectation of seeming one or +the other, in a certain accepted manner governed by fashion, and +imposed by a civilized and perfectly intolerant society. + +While progress advances, it really looks as if humanity were reverting +to its types, with an honest effort at simplicity. There is a revival +of the moral individuality of the middle ages. The despot proudly +says, like Alexander, or Montrose in love, that he will reign, and he +will reign alone; and he does. The financier plunders mankind and does +not pretend that he is a long-lost type of philanthropist. The +anarchist proclaims that it is virtuous to kill kings, and he kills +them. The wicked do not even make a pretence of going to church on +Sundays. If this goes on, we shall have saints before long. + +Hypocrisy has disappeared even from literature, since no one who now +writes books fit to read can be supposed to do so out of respect for +public opinion, still less from any such base motive as a desire for +gain. + +Malipieri and Sabina both felt that they had been drawn much nearer +together by what had sounded like idle chatter, and yet neither of +them was inclined to continue talking in the same way. Moreover time +was passing quickly, and there was a matter to be decided before they +parted. Malipieri returned to the subject of his discovery, and his +desire that Sabina should see it. + +"But I cannot possibly come to the palace alone," she objected. "It is +quite out of the question. Even if--" she stopped. + +"What?" he asked. + +"Even if I were willing to do it--" she hesitated again. + +"You are not afraid, are you?" There was a slight intonation of irony +in his question. + +"No, I am not afraid." She paused a moment. "I suppose that if I saw a +way of coming, I would come," she said, then. "But I see no way. I +cannot go out alone. Every one would know it. There would be a +terrible fuss about it!" + +The idea evidently amused her. + +"Could you come with Sassi?" asked Malipieri presently. "He is +respectable enough for anything." + +"Even that would be thought very strange," answered Sabina. "I have no +good reason to give for going out alone with him." + +"You would not give any reason till afterwards, and when it is over +there cannot really be anything to be said about it. The Baroness goes +out every afternoon. You can make an excuse for staying at home to- +morrow, and then you will be alone in the house. Sassi will call for +you in a closed cab and bring you to the palace, and I will be at the +door to receive you. The chances are that you will be at home again +before the Baroness comes in, and she will never know that you have +been out. Does that look very hard?" + +"No, it looks easy." + +"What time shall Sassi call for you to-morrow?" asked Malipieri, who +wished to settle the matter at once. + +"At five o'clock," answered Sabina, after a moment's thought. + +"At five to-morrow, then. You had better not wear anything very new. +The place where the statue lies is not a drawing-room, you know, and +your frock may be spoilt." + +"Very well." + +She glanced at the clock, looked at Malipieri as if hesitating, and +then rose. + +"I shall go back to my room now," she said. + +"Yes. It is better. They may come in at any moment." He had risen +also. + +Their eyes met again, and they smiled at each other, as they realized +what they were doing, that they had been nearly an hour together, +unknown to any one, and had arranged something very like a clandestine +meeting for the next day. Sabina put out her hand. + +"At five o'clock," she said again. "Good-night." + +He felt her touch for the first time since they had met. It was light +and elastic as the pressure of a very delicate spring, perfectly +balanced and controlled. But she, on her side, looked down suddenly +and uttered an exclamation of surprise. + +"Oh! How rough your hand is!" + +He laughed, and held out his palm, which was callous as a day- +labourer's. + +"My man and I have done all the work ourselves," he said, "and it has +not been play." + +"It must be delightful!" answered Sabina with admiration. "I wish I +were a man! We could have done it together." + +She went to the door, and she turned to smile at him again as she laid +her hand on the knob. He remembered her afterwards as she stood there +a single moment with the light on her misty hair and white cheeks, and +the little shadow round her small bare throat. He remembered that he +would have given anything to bring her back to the place where she had +sat. There was much less doubt in his mind as to what he felt then +than there had been a few minutes earlier. + +Half an hour after Sabina had disappeared Malipieri and Volterra were +seated in deep armchairs in the smoking-room, the Baron having sent +his wife to bed a few minutes after they had come in. She obeyed +meekly as she always did, for she had early discovered that although +she was a very energetic woman, Volterra was her master and that it +was hopeless to oppose his slightest wish. It is true that in return +for the most absolute obedience the fat financier gave her the +strictest fidelity and all the affection of which he was capable. Like +more than one of the great modern freebooters, the Baron's private +life was very exemplary, yet his wife would have been willing to +forgive him something if she might occasionally have had her own way. + +This evening he was not in good-humour, as Malipieri found out as soon +as they were alone together. He chewed the end of the enormous Havana +he had lighted, he stuck his feet out straight in front of him, +resting his heels on the floor and turning his shining patent leather +toes straight up, he folded his hands upon the magnificent curve of +his white waistcoat, and leaning his head well back he looked steadily +at the ceiling. All these were very bad signs, as his wife could have +told Malipieri if she had stayed in the room. + +Malipieri smoked in silence for some time, entirely forgetting him and +thinking of Sabina. + +"Well, Mr. Archaeologist," the Baron said at last, allowing his big +cigar to settle well into one corner of his mouth, "there is the devil +to pay." + +He spoke as if the trouble were Malipieri's fault. The younger man +eyed him coldly. + +"What is the matter?" he enquired, without the least show of interest. + +"You are being watched," answered Volterra, still looking at the +ceiling. "You are now one of those interesting people whose movements +are recorded like the weather, every twelve hours." + +"Yes," said Malipieri. "I have known that for some time." + +"The next time you know anything so interesting I wish you would +inform me," replied Volterra. + +His voice and his way of speaking irritated Malipieri. The Baroness +had been better educated than her husband from the first; she was more +adaptable and she had really learned the ways of the society she +loved, but the Baron was never far from the verge of vulgarity, and he +often overstepped it. + +"When you asked me to help you," Malipieri said, "you knew perfectly +well what my political career had been. I believe you voted for the +bill which drove me out of the country." + +"Did I?" The Baron watched the smoke of his cigar curling upwards. + +"I think you did. Not that I bear you the least malice. I only mean +that you might very naturally expect that I should be thought a +suspicious person, and that detectives would follow me about." + +"Nobody cares a straw for your politics," retorted Volterra rudely. + +"Then I shall be the more free to think as I please," Malipieri +answered with calm. + +"Perfectly so. In the meantime it is not the Ministry of the Interior +that is watching you. The present Ministry does not waste time and +money on such nonsense. You are being watched because you are +suspected of trying to get some statues or pictures out of Italy, in +defiance of the Pacca law." + +"Oh!" Malipieri blew a whiff of smoke out with the ejaculation, for he +was surprised. + +"I have it from one of the cabinet," Volterra continued. "He told me +the facts confidentially after dinner. You see, as you are living in +my house, the suspicion is reflected on me." + +"In your house?" + +"The Palazzo Conti is my house," answered the Baron, taking his cigar +from his mouth for the first time since he had lighted it, and holding +it out at arm's length with a possessive sweep while he leaned back +and looked at the ceiling again. "It all belongs to me," he said. "I +took it for the mortgage, with everything in it." + +"By the bye," said Malipieri, "what became of that Velasquez, and +those other pictures?" + +"Was there a Velasquez?" enquired the Baron carelessly, without +changing his attitude. + +"Yes. It was famous all over Europe. It was a family portrait." + +"I remember! It turned out to be a copy after all." + +"A copy!" repeated Malipieri incredulously. + +"Yes, the original is in Madrid," answered the Baron with +imperturbable self-possession. + +"And all those other pictures turned out to be copies, too, I +daresay," suggested Malipieri. + +"Every one of them. It was a worthless collection." + +"In that case it was hardly worth while to take so much trouble in +getting them out of the country secretly." Malipieri smiled. + +"That was the dealer's affair," answered Volterra without the least +hesitation. "Dealers are such fools! They always make a mystery of +everything." + +Malipieri could not help admiring the proportions and qualities of the +Baron's lies. The financier was well aware that Malipieri knew the +pictures to be genuine beyond all doubt. The disposal of them had been +well managed, for when Malipieri moved into the palace there was not a +painting of value left on the walls, yet there had been no mention of +them in the newspapers, nor any gossip about them, and the public at +large believed them to be still in their places. As a matter of fact +most of them were already in France and England, and the Velasquez was +in Saint Petersburg. + +"I understand why you are anxious that the Palazzo Conti should not be +watched just now," Malipieri said. "For my part, as I do not believe +in your government, I cannot be expected to believe in its laws. It is +not my business whether you respect them yourselves or not." + +"Who is breaking the law?" asked the Baron roughly. "It is absurd to +talk in that way. But as the government has taken it into its head to +suspect that you do, it is not advisable for me, who am a staunch +supporter of the government, to see too much of you. I am sure you +must understand that--it is so simple." + +"In other words?" Malipieri looked at him coldly, waiting for an +explanation. + +"I cannot afford to have it said that you are living in the palace for +the purpose of helping dealers to smuggle objects of art out of the +country. That is what I mean." + +"I see. But what objects of art do you mean, since you have already +sent away everything there was?" + +"It is believed that you had something to do with that ridiculous +affair of the copies," said Volterra, his voice suddenly becoming +oily. + +"They were gone when I moved in." + +"I daresay they were. But it would be hard to prove, and of course the +people who bought the pictures from the dealer insist that they are +genuine, so that there may be trouble some day, and you may be annoyed +about the things if you stay here any longer." + +"You mean that you advise me to leave Rome. Is that it?" Malipieri now +spoke with the utmost indifference, and glanced carelessly at the end +of his cigar as he knocked the ash into the gold cup at his side. + +"You certainly cannot stay any longer in the palace," Volterra said, +in an advisory and deprecatory tone. + +"You seem to be badly frightened," observed Malipieri. "I really +cannot see why I should change my quarters until we have finished what +we are doing." + +"I am afraid you will have to go. You are looked upon as very +'suspicious.' It would not be so bad, if your servant had not been a +convict." + +"How do you know that?" Malipieri asked with sudden sternness. + +"Everything of that sort is known to the police," answered Volterra, +whose manner had become very mild. "Of course you have your own +reasons for employing such a person." + +"He is an innocent man, who was unjustly convicted." + +"Oh, indeed! Poor fellow! Those things happen sometimes, I know. It is +more than kind of you to employ him. Nevertheless, you cannot help +seeing that the association of ideas is unfortunate and gives a bad +impression. The man was never proved to be innocent, and when he had +served his term, he was involved as your servant in your political +escapade. You do not mind my speaking of that matter lightly? It is +the safest way to look at it, is it not? Yes. The trouble is that you +and your man are both on the black book, and since the affair has come +to the notice of the government my colleagues are naturally surprised +that you should both be living in a house that belongs to me." + +"You can explain to your colleagues that you have let the apartment in +the palace to me, and that as I pay my rent regularly you cannot turn +me out without notice." Malipieri smiled indifferently. + +"Surely," said the Baron, affecting some surprise, "if I ask you, as a +favour, to move somewhere else, you will do so!" + +To tell the truth, he was not prepared for Malipieri's extreme +forbearance, for he had expected an outbreak of temper, at the least, +and he still feared a positive refusal. Instead, the young man did not +seem to care a straw. + +"Of course," he said, "if you ask it as a favour, I cannot refuse. +When should you like me to go?" + +"You are really too kind!" The Baron was genuinely delighted and +almost grateful--as near to feeling gratitude, perhaps, as he had ever +been in his life. "I should hate to hurry you," he continued. "But +really, since you are so very good, I think the sooner you can make it +convenient to move, the better it will be for every one." + +"I could not manage to pack my books and drawings so soon as to- +morrow," said Malipieri. + +"Oh, no! certainly not! By all means take a couple of days about it. I +could not think of putting you to any inconvenience." + +"Thanks." Malipieri smiled pleasantly. "If I cannot get off by the day +after to-morrow, I shall certainly move the day after that." + +"I am infinitely obliged. And now that this unpleasant matter is +settled, owing to your wonderful amiability, do tell me how the work +is proceeding." + +"Fairly well," Malipieri answered. "You had better come and see for +yourself before I go. Let me see. To-morrow I shall have to look about +for a lodging. Could you come the day after to-morrow? Then we can go +down together." + +"How far have you got?" asked Volterra, with a little less interest +than might have been expected. + +"I am positively sure that there is an inner chamber, where I expected +to find it," Malipieri answered, with perfect truth. "Perhaps we can +get into it when you come." + +"I hope so," said the Baron, watching the other's face from the corner +of his eye. + +"I have made a curious discovery in the course of the excavation," +Malipieri continued. "The pillar of masonry which you showed me is +hollow after all. It was the shaft of an oubliette which must have +opened somewhere in the upper part of the house. There is a well under +it." + +"Full of water?" + +"No. It is dry. We shall have to pass through it to get to the inner +chamber. You shall see for yourself--a very singular construction." + +"Was there nothing in it?" + +"Several skeletons," answered Malipieri indifferently. "One of the +skulls has a rusty knife driven through it." + +"Dear me!" exclaimed the Baron, shaking his fat head. "Those Conti +were terrible people! We must not tell the Baroness these dreadful +stories. They would upset her nerves." + +Malipieri had not supposed Volterra's wife to be intensely sensitive. +He moved, as if he meant to take his leave presently. + +"By the bye," he said, "whereabouts should you recommend me to look +for a lodging?" + +The Baron reflected a moment. + +"If I were you," he said, "I would go to a hotel. In fact, I think you +would be wiser to leave Rome for a time, until all these absurd +stories are forgotten. The least I can do is to warn you that you may +be exposed to a good deal of annoyance if you stay here. The minister +with whom I was talking this evening told me as much in a friendly +way." + +"Really? That was very kind of him. But what do you mean by the word +'annoyance'? It is rather vague. It is one thing to suspect a man of +trying to evade the Pacca law; it is quite another matter to issue a +warrant of arrest against him." + +"Oh, quite," answered Volterra readily. "I did not mean that, of +course, though when one has once been arrested for anything, innocent +or not, our police always like to repeat the operation as soon as +possible, just as a matter of principle." + +"In other words, if a man has once been suspected, even unjustly, he +had better leave his country for ever." + +The Baron shrugged his big round shoulders, and drew a final puff from +his cigar before throwing the end away. + +"Injustice is only what the majority thinks of the minority," he +observed. "If you do not happen to be a man of genius, the first step +towards success in life is to join the majority." + +Malipieri laughed as he rose to his feet, reflecting that in +delivering himself of this piece of worldly wisdom the Baron had +probably spoken the truth for the first time since they had been +talking. + +"Shall we say day after to-morrow, about five o'clock?" asked +Malipieri before going. + +"By all means. And let me thank you again for meeting my views so very +obligingly." + +"Not at all." + +So Malipieri went home to think matters over, and the Baron sat a long +time in his chair, looking much pleased with himself and apparently +admiring a magnificent diamond which he wore on one of his thick +fingers. + + + + + +CHAPTER X + + + + +Malipieri was convinced that Volterra not only knew exactly how far +the work under the palace had proceeded, but was also acquainted with +the general nature of the objects found in the inner chamber, beyond +the well shaft. The apparent impossibility of such a thing was of no +importance. The Baron would never have been so anxious to get rid of +Malipieri unless he had been sure that the difficult part of the work +was finished and that the things discovered were of such dimensions as +to make it impossible to remove them secretly. Malipieri knew the man +and guessed that if he could not pocket the value of everything found +in the excavations by disposing of the discoveries secretly, he would +take the government into his confidence at once, as the surest means +of preventing any one else from getting a share. + +What was hard to understand was that Volterra should know how far the +work had gone before Malipieri had told him anything about it. That he +did know, could hardly be doubted. He had practically betrayed the +fact by the mistake he had made in assuring himself that Malipieri was +willing to leave the house, before even questioning him as to the +progress made since they had last met. He had been a little too eager +to get rid of the helper he no longer needed. It did not even occur to +Malipieri that Masin could have betrayed him, yet so far as it was +possible to judge, Masin was the only living man who had looked into +the underground chamber. As he walked home, he recalled the +conversation from beginning to end, and his conviction was confirmed. +Volterra had been in a bad temper, nervous, a little afraid of the +result and therefore inclined to talk in a rough and bullying tone. As +soon as he had ascertained that Malipieri was not going to oppose him, +he had become oily to obsequiousness. + +On his part Malipieri had accepted everything Volterra proposed, for +two reasons. In the first place he would not for the world have had +the financier think that he wanted a share of the treasure, or any +remuneration for what he had done. Secondly, he knew that possession +is nine points of the law, and that if anything could ever be obtained +for Sabina it would not be got by making a show of violent opposition +to the Baron's wishes. If Malipieri had refused to leave his lodging +in the palace, Volterra could have answered by filling the house with +people in his own employ, or by calling in government architects, +archaeologists and engineers, and taking the whole matter out of +Malipieri's hands. + +The first thing to be ascertained was, who had entered the vaults and +reported the state of the work to Volterra. Malipieri might have +suspected the porter himself, for it was possible that there might be +another key to the outer entrance of the cellar; but there was a +second door further in, to which Masin had put a patent padlock, and +even Masin had not the key to that. The little flat bit of steel, with +its irregular indentations, was always in Malipieri's pocket. As he +walked, he felt for it, and it was in its place, with his silver +pencil-case and the small penknife he always carried for sharpening +pencils. + +The porter could not possibly have picked that lock; indeed, scarcely +any one could have done so without injuring it, and Malipieri had +locked it himself at about seven o'clock that evening. Even if the +porter could have got in by any means, Malipieri doubted whether he +could have reached the inner chamber of the vaults. There was some +climbing to be done, and the man was old and stiff in the joints. The +place was not so easy to find as might have been supposed, either, +after the first breach in the Roman wall was past. Malipieri intended +to improve the passage the next morning, in order to make it more +practicable for Sabina. + +He racked his brains for an explanation of the mystery, and when he +reached the door of the palace, after eleven o'clock, he had come to +the conclusion that in spite of appearances there must be some +entrance to the vaults of which he knew nothing, and it was all- +important to find it. He regretted the quixotic impulse which had +restrained him from exploring everything at once. It would have been +far better to go to the end of his discovery, and he wondered why he +had not done go. He would not have insulted himself by supposing that +Sabina could believe him capable of taking the gem from the ring of +the statue, in other words, of stealing, since whoever the rightful +owner might be, nothing in the vault could possibly belong to him, and +he regarded it all as her property, though he doubted whether he could +ever obtain for her a tenth part of the value it represented. He had +acted on an impulse, which was strengthened until it looked plausible +by the thought of the intense pleasure he would take in showing her +the wonderful discovery, and in leading her safely through the +mysterious intricacies of the strange place. It had been a very +selfish impulse after all, and if he really let her come the next day, +there might even be a little danger to her. + +He let himself in and locked the postern door behind him. The porter +and his wife were asleep and the glass window of the lodge door was +quite dark. Malipieri lighted a wax taper and went upstairs. + +Masin was waiting, and opened when he heard his master's footsteps on +the landing. As a rule, he went to bed, if Malipieri went out in the +evening; both men were usually tired out by their day's work. + +"What is the matter?" Malipieri asked. + +"There is somebody in the vaults," Masin answered. "I had left my pipe +on a stone close to the padlocked door and when you were gone I took a +lantern and went down to get it. When I came near the door I was sure +I heard some one trying it gently from the other side. I stopped to +listen and I distinctly heard footsteps going away. I ran forward and +tried to find a crack, to see if there were a light, but the door is +swollen with the dampness and fits tightly. Besides, by the time I had +reached it the person inside must have got well away." + +"What time was it?" asked Malipieri, slipping off his light overcoat. + +"You went out at nine o'clock, sir. It could not have been more than +half an hour later." + +"Light both lanterns. We must go down at once. See that there is +plenty of oil in them." + +In five minutes both men were ready. + +"You had better take your revolver, sir," suggested Masin. + +Malipieri laughed. + +"I have had that revolver since I was eighteen," he said, "and I have +never needed it yet. Our tools are there, and they are better than +firearms." + +They went down the staircase quietly, fearing to wake the porter, and +kept close to the north wall till they reached the further end of the +courtyard. When they had passed the outer door at the head of the +winding staircase, Malipieri told Masin to lock it after them. + +"We cannot padlock the other door from the inside," he explained, "for +there are no hasps. If the man managed to pass us he might get out +this way." + +He led the way down, making as little noise as possible. Masin held up +his lantern, peering into the gloom over Malipieri's shoulder. + +"No one could pass the other door without breaking it down," Malipieri +said. + +They reached the floor of the cellars, which extended in both +directions from the foot of the staircase, far to the left by low, +dark vaults like railway tunnels, and a short distance to the right, +where they ended at the north-west corner. The two men turned that +way, but after walking a dozen yards, they turned to the left and +entered a damp passage barely wide enough for them both abreast. It +ended at the padlocked door, and before unlocking the latter Malipieri +laid his ear to the rough panel and listened attentively. Not a sound +broke the stillness. He turned the key, and took off the padlock and +slipped it into his pocket before going on. Without it the door could +not be fastened. + +The passage widened suddenly beyond, in another short tunnel ending at +the outer foundation wall of the palace. In this tunnel, on the right- +hand side, was the breach the two men had first made in order to gain +access to the unexplored region. Now that there was an aperture, the +running water on the other side could be heard very distinctly, like a +little brook in a rocky channel, but more steady. Both men examined +the damp floor carefully with their lanterns, in the hope of finding +some trace of footsteps; but the surface was hard and almost black, +and where there had been a little slime their own feet had rubbed it +off, as they came and went during many days. The stones and rubbish +they had taken from the wall had been piled up and hardened to form an +inclined causeway by which to reach the irregular hole. This was now +just big enough to allow a man to walk through it, bending almost +double. Masin lighted one of the lamps, which they generally left at +that place, and set it on a stone. + +Malipieri began to go up, his stick in his right hand, the lantern in +his left. + +"Let me go first, sir," said Masin, trying to pass him. + +"Nonsense!" Malipieri answered sharply, and went on. + +Masin kept as close to him as possible. He had picked up the lightest +of the drilling irons for a weapon. It must have weighed at least ten +pounds and it was a yard long. In such a hand as Masin's a blow from +it would have broken a man's bones like pipe stems. + +The wall was about eight feet thick, and when Malipieri got to the +other end of the hole he stopped and looked down, holding out his +lantern at arm's length. He could see nothing unusual, and he heard no +sound, except the gurgle of the little black stream that ran ten feet +below him. He began to descend. The masonry was very irregular, and +sloped outwards towards the ground, so that some of the irregularities +made rough steps here and there, which he knew by heart. Below, +several large fragments of Roman brick and cement lay here and there, +where they had fallen in the destruction of the original building. It +was not hard to get down, and the space was not large. It was bounded +by the old wall on one side, and most of the other was taken up by a +part of a rectangular mass of masonry, of rough mediaeval +construction, which projected inward. + +The place was familiar, but Malipieri looked about him carefully, +while Masin was climbing down. Along the base of the straight wall +there was a channel about two feet wide, through which the dark water +flowed rapidly. It entered from the right-hand corner, by a low, +arched aperture, through which it seemed out of the question that a +man could crawl, or even an ordinary boy of twelve. When they had +first come to this place Masin had succeeded in poking in a long stick +with a bit of lighted wax taper fastened to it, and both men had seen +that the channel ran on as far as it could be seen, with no widening. +At the other end of the chamber it ran out again by a similar conduit. +What had at first surprised Malipieri had been that the water did not +enter from the side of the foundations near the Vicolo dei Soldati, +but ran out that way. He had also been astonished at the quantity and +speed of the current. A channel a foot deep and two feet wide carries +a large quantity of water if the velocity be great, and Malipieri had +made a calculation which had convinced him that if the outflow were +suddenly closed, the small space in which he now stood would in a few +minutes be full up to within three or four feet of the vault. He would +have given much to know whence the water came and whither it went, and +what devilry had made it rise suddenly and drown a man when the +excavations had been made under Gregory Sixteenth. + +From below, the place where an entrance had then been opened was +clearly visible. The vault had been broken into and had afterwards +been rebuilt from above. The bits of timber which had been used for +the frame during the operation were still there, a rotting and mouldy +nest for hideous spiders and noisome creatures that haunt the dark. + +The air was very cold, and was laden with the indescribable smell of +dried slime which belongs to deep wells which have long been almost +quite dry. It was clearly a long time since the little stream had +overflowed its channel, but at the first examination he had made +Malipieri had understood that in former times the water had risen to +within three feet of the vault. Up to that height there was a thin +coating of the dry mud, which peeled off in irregular scales if +lightly touched. The large fragments of masonry that half covered the +floor were all coated in the same way with what had once been a film +of slime. + +The air, though cold, could be breathed easily, and the lights did not +grow dim in it as they do in subterranean places where the atmosphere +is foul. The stream of water, flowing swiftly in its deep channel from +under the little arch, brought plentiful ventilation into it. Above, +there was no aperture in the vaulting, but there was one in the +mediaeval masonry that projected into the chamber. There, on the side +towards the right, where the water flowed in, Malipieri had found a +narrow slit, barely wide enough to admit a man's open hand and wrist, +but nearly five feet high, evidently a passage intended for letting +the water flow into the interior of the construction when it +overflowed its channel and rose above the floor of the chamber. + +At first Malipieri had supposed that this aperture communicated with +some ancient and long-forgotten drain by which the water could escape +to the Tiber; it was not until he had gained an entrance to the hollow +mass of masonry that he understood the hideous use to which it had +been applied. + +It had not been hard to enlarge it. Any one who has worked among ruins +in Italy could tell, even blindfold, the difference between the work +done in ancient times and that of the middle ages. Roman brickwork is +quite as compact as solid sandstone, but mediaeval masonry was almost +invariably built in a hurry by bad workmen, of all sorts of fragments +embedded in poorly mingled cement, and it breaks up with tolerable +ease under a heavy pickaxe. + +In half a day Malipieri and Masin had widened the slit to a convenient +passage, but as soon as it had been possible to squeeze through, the +architect had gone in. He never forgot what he felt when he first +looked about him. Masin could not follow him until many blows of the +pick had widened the way for his bulkier frame. + +Malipieri stopped at the entrance now, holding his lantern close to +the ground, and looking for traces of footsteps. He found none, but as +he was about to move forward he uttered an exclamation of surprise, +and picked up a tiny object which he held close to the light. It was +only a wax match, of which the head had been broken off when it had +been struck, so that it had not been lighted. That was all, but +neither he nor Masin carried wax matches in the vaults, because the +dampness soon made them useless. They took common sulphur matches in +tin match-boxes. Besides, this was an English wax light, as any one +could tell at a glance, for it was thicker, and stiffer, and longer +than the cheaper Italian ones. + +Malipieri drew back and showed it to his man, who examined it, +understood, and put it into his pocket without a word. Then they both +went in through the aperture in the wall. + +The masonry outside was rectangular, as far as it could be seen. +Inside, it was built like a small circular cistern, smoothly cemented, +and contracting above in a dome, that opened by a square hole to the +well-shaft above. Like the stones in the outer chamber, the cement was +coated with scales of dried mud. The shaft was now certainly closed at +the top, for in the daytime not a ray of light penetrated into its +blackness. + +The lanterns illuminated the place completely, and the two men looked +about, searching for some new trace of a living being. The yellow +light fell only on the remains of men dead long ago. Some of the bones +lay as they had lain since then, when the drowned bodies had gently +reached the floor as the "lost water" subsided. Malipieri had not +touched them, nor Masin either. Two skeletons lay at full length, face +downwards, as a drowned body always sinks at last, when decay has done +its loathsome work. A third lay on its side, in a frightfully natural +attitude, the skull a little raised up and resting against the +cemented wall, the arms stretched out together, the hands still +clutching a rusty crowbar. This one was near the entrance, and if, in +breaking their way in, Malipieri and Masin had not necessarily +destroyed the cement on each side of the slit, they would have found +the marks where the dead man's crowbar had worked desperately for a +few minutes before he had been drowned. Malipieri had immediately +reflected that the unfortunate wretch, who was evidently the mason of +whom Sassi had told him, had certainly not entered through the +aperture formerly made from above in the outer chamber, since the +narrow slit afforded no possible passage to the well. That doubtless +belonged to some other attempt to find the treasure, and the fact that +the mason's skeleton lay inside would alone have shown that he had got +in from above, most likely through a low opening just where the dome +began to curve inward. A further search had discovered some bits of +wood, almost rotted to powder, which had apparently once been a +ladder. + +A much less practised eye than the architect's would have understood +at a glance that if a living man were let down through the shaft in +the centre of the dome, and left on the floor, he could not possibly +get up even as far as the other hole, since the smooth cement offered +not the slightest hold; and that if the outflow of the stream from the +first chamber were arrested, the water would immediately fill it and +rise simultaneously in the well, to drown the victim, or to strip his +bones by its action, if he had been allowed to die of hunger or +thirst. It was clear, too, that if the latter form of death were +chosen, he must have suffered to the last minute of his life the agony +of hearing the stream flowing outside, not three paces from him, +beyond the slit. Human imagination could hardly invent a more +hideously cruel death-trap, nor one more ingeniously secret from the +world without. + +The unhappy mason's ladder had perhaps broken with his weight, or his +light had gone out, and he had then been unable to find the horizontal +aperture, but he had probably entered through the latter, when he had +met his fate. The fact was, as Malipieri afterwards guessed, that the +hole through the vault outside had been made hastily after the +accident, in the hope of recovering the man's body, but that it had +been at once closed again because it appeared to open over a deep pit +full of still water. + +A stout rope ladder now dangled from the lateral aperture in the dome, +which Malipieri had immediately understood to have been made to allow +the water to overflow when the well was full. He had also felt +tolerably sure that the well itself had not been originally +constructed for the deadly use to which it had evidently been put in +later times, but for the purpose of confining the water in a reservoir +that could be easily cleaned, since it could be easily emptied, and in +which the supply could be kept at a permanent level, convenient for +drawing it from above. In the days when all the ancient aqueducts of +Rome were broken, a well of the "lost water" was a valuable possession +in houses that were turned into fortresses at a moment's notice and +were sometimes exposed to long and desperate sieges. + +In order to reach the horizontal opening, Malipieri had climbed upon +Masin's sturdy shoulders, steadying himself as well as he might till +he had laid his hands on the edge of the orifice. As he hung there, +Masin had held up the handle of a pickaxe as high as he could reach +against the smooth wall, as a crossbar on which Malipieri had +succeeded in getting a slight foothold, enough for a man who was not +heavy and was extraordinarily active. A moment later he had drawn +himself up and inward. At the imminent risk of his life, as he +afterwards found, he had crawled on in total darkness till the way +widened enough for him to turn round and get back. He had then lowered +a string he had with him, and had drawn up a lantern first, then the +end of a coil of rope, then the tools for carrying on the exploration. +The rest had been easy. Masin had climbed up by the rope, after making +knots in it and when Malipieri had called out, from the inner place to +which he had retired with the end, that it was made fast. But the +light showed the architect that in turning round, he had narrowly +escaped falling into an open shaft, of which he could not see the +bottom, but which was evidently meant for the final escape of the +overflowing water. + +There was room to pass this danger, however, and they had since laid a +couple of stout boards over it, weighted with stones to keep them in +place. Beyond, the passage rose till it was high enough for a man to +walk upright. Judging from the elevation now reached this passage was +hollowed in the thickness of one of the main walls of the palace, and +it was clear that the water could not reach it. A few yards from the +chasm, it inclined quickly downwards, and at the end there were half a +dozen steps, which evidently descended to a greater depth than the +floor of the first outer chamber. + +So far as it had hitherto been possible to judge, there was no way of +getting to these last steps, except that opened by the two men, and +leading through the dry well. In former times, there might have been +an entrance through the wall at the highest level, but if it had ever +existed it had been so carefully closed that no trace of it could now +be found. + +This tedious explanation of a rather complicated construction has been +necessary to explain what afterwards happened. Reducing it to its +simplest terms, it becomes clear that if the water rose, a person in +the passage, or anywhere beyond the overflow shaft, could not possibly +get back through the well, though he would apparently be safe from +drowning if he stayed where he was; and to the best of Malipieri's +knowledge there was no other way out. Any one caught there would have +to wait till the water subsided, and if that did not happen he would +starve to death. + +The two men stood still and listened. They could still distinguish the +faint gurgling of the water, very far off, but that was all. + +"I believe you heard a rat," said Malipieri, discontentedly, after a +long pause. + +"Rats do not carry English wax matches," observed Masin. + +"They eat them when they can find them," answered Malipieri. "They +carry them off, and hide them, and drop them, too. And a big rat +running away makes a noise very like a man's footsteps." + +"That is true," assented Masin. "There were many of them in the +prison, and I sometimes thought they were the keepers when I heard +them at night." "At all events, we will go to the end," said +Malipieri, beginning to walk down the inclined way, and carrying his +lantern low, so as not to be dazzled by the light. + +Masin followed closely, grasping his drilling-iron, and still +expecting to use it. The end of the passage had once been walled up, +but they had found the fragments of brick and mortar lying much as +they had fallen when knocked away. It was impossible to tell from +which side the obstacle had been destroyed. + +Going further, they stepped upon the curve of a tunnel vault, and were +obliged to stoop low to avoid striking against another overhead. The +two vaults had been carefully constructed, one outside the other, +leaving a space of about five feet between them. The one under their +feet covered the inner chamber in which Malipieri had seen the bronze +statue. He and Masin had made a hole a little on one side of the +middle, in order not to disturb the keystones, working very carefully +lest any heavy fragments should fall through; for they had at once +been sure that if any thing was to be found, it must be concealed in +that place. Before making the opening, they had thoroughly explored +the dark curved space from end to end and from side to side, but could +discover no aperture. The inner vault had never been opened since it +had been built. + +Malipieri, reconstructing the circumstances of the accident in the +last century, came to the conclusion that the mason who had been +drowned had been already between the vaults, when some of the men +behind had discovered that the water was rising in the well, and that +they had somehow got out in time, but that their unfortunate companion +had come back too late, or had perished while trying to break his way +out by the slit, through which the water must have been rushing in. +How they had originally entered the place was a mystery. Possibly they +had been lowered from above, down the well-shaft, but it was all very +hard to explain. The only thing that seemed certain was that the +treasure had never been seen by any one since it had been closed in +under the vault, ages ago. Malipieri had not yet found time to make a +careful plan of all the places through which he had passed. There were +so many turns and changes of level, that it would be impossible to get +an accurate drawing without using a theodolite or some similar +instrument of precision. From the measurements he had taken, however, +and the rough sketches he had made, he believed that the double vault +was not under the palace itself, but under the open courtyard, at the +depth of about forty feet, and therefore below the level of the Tiber +at average high water. + +Both men now knelt by the hole, and Masin thrust his lantern down to +the full length of his arm. The light shone upon the vast hand of the +statue, and made a deep reflection in the great ruby of the ring, as +if the gem was not a stone, but a little gold cup filled with rich +wine. The hand itself, the wrist and the great muscles of the chest on +which it lay, seemed of pure gold. But Malipieri's eyes fixed +themselves on something else. There were marks on the bright surface +of the metal which had not been there when he had looked at it in the +afternoon; there were patches of dust, and there were several small +scratches, which might have been made by the nails of heavy shoes. + +"You were right after all," said Malipieri, withdrawing the lantern +and setting it down beside him. "The man is here." + +Masin's china-blue eyes brightened at the thought of a possible fight, +and his hold tightened again on his drill. + +"What shall we do with him?" he asked, looking down into the hole. + +Cunning, as the Italian peasant is by nature, Masin made a sign to his +master that the man, if he were really below, could hear all that was +said. + +"Shall I go down and kill him, sir?" Masin enquired with a quiet grin +and raising his voice a little. + +"I am not sure," Malipieri answered, at once entering into his man's +scheme. "He is caught in his own trap. It is not midnight yet, and +there is plenty of time to consider the matter. Let us sit here and +talk about it." + +He now turned himself and sat beside the hole, placing his lantern +near the edge. He took out a cigar and lit it carefully. Masin sat on +the other side, his drill in his hand. + +"If he tries to get out while we are talking," he said, "I can break +his skull with a touch of this." + +"Yes," Malipieri answered, puffing at his cigar. "There is no hurry. +Keep your iron ready." + +"Yes, sir." Masin made the heavy drill ring on the stones of the +vault. + +A pause followed. + +"Have you got your pipe with you?" asked Malipieri presently. "We must +talk over this quietly." + +"Yes, sir. Will you hold the iron while I get a light? He might try to +jump out, and he may have firearms. Thank you, sir." + +Masin produced a short black pipe, filled it and lighted it. + +"I was thinking, sir," he said, as he threw away the wooden match, +"that if we kill him here we may have trouble in disposing of his +body. Thank you, sir," he added as he took over the drill again and +made it clang on the stones. + +"There will be no trouble about that," Malipieri answered, speaking +over the hole. "We can drop him down the overflow shaft in the +passage." + +"Where do you think the shaft leads, sir?" asked Masin, grinning with +delight. + +"To some old drain and then to the Tiber, of course. The body will be +found in a week or two, jammed against the pier of some bridge, +probably at the island of Saint Bartholomew." + +"Yes, sir. But the drain is dry now. The body will lie at the bottom +of the shaft, where we drop it, and in a few days the cellars will be +perfumed." + +He laughed roughly at his horrible joke, which was certainly +calculated to affect the nerves of the intruder who was meant to hear +it. Malipieri began to wonder when the man would give a sign of life. + +"We can fill the well by plugging the arch in the outer chamber," he +suggested. "Then the water will pour down the shaft and wash the body +away." + +"Yes, sir," assented Masin. "That is a good idea. Shall I go down and +kill him now, sir?" + +"Not yet," Malipieri answered, knocking the ash from his cigar. "We +have not finished smoking, and there is no hurry. Besides, it occurs +to me that if we drive anything into the hole when the water runs out, +we shall not be able to get the plug away afterwards. Then we +ourselves could never get here again." + +A long silence followed. From time to time Masin made a little noise +with the drill. + +"Perhaps the fellow is asleep," he observed pleasantly at last. "So +much the better, he will wake in Paradise!" + +"It is of no use to run any risks," said Malipieri. "If we go down to +kill him he may kill one of us first, especially if he has a revolver. +There is no hurry, I tell you. Do you happen to know how long it takes +to starve a man to death?" + +"Without water, a man cannot live a week, sir. That is the best idea +you have had yet." + +"Yes. We will wall him up in the vault. That is easy enough. Those +boards that are over the shaft will do to make a little frame, and the +stones are all here, just as we got them out. We can fasten up the +frame with ends of rope." + +"We have no mortar, sir." + +"Mud will do as well for such a small job," answered Malipieri. "We +can easily make enough. Give me your iron, in case he tries to get +out, and go and get the boards and the rope." + +Masin began to rise. + +"In a week we can come and take him out," he remarked in a matter-of- +fact way. "By that time he will be dead, and we can have his grave +ready." + +He laughed again, as he thought of the sensations his cheerful talk +must produce in the mind of the man below. + +"Yes," said Malipieri. "We may as well do it at once and go to bed. It +is of no use to sit up all night talking about the fellow's body. Go +and get the rope and the boards." + +Masin was now on his feet and his heavy shoes made a grinding noise on +the stones. At that moment a sound was heard from below, and Malipieri +held up a finger and listened. Somebody was moving in the vault. + +"You had better stay where you are," said Malipieri, speaking down. +"If you show yourself I will drop a stone on your head." + +A hollow voice answered him from the depths. + +"Are you Christians," it asked, "to wall a man up alive?" + +"That is what we are going to do," Malipieri answered coolly. "Have +you anything to say? It will not take us long to do the job, so you +had better speak at once. How did you get in?" + +"If I am to die without getting out, why should I tell you?" enquired +the voice. + +Malipieri looked at Masin. + +"There is a certain sense in what the man says, sir," Masin said +thoughtfully. + +"My good man," said Malipieri, speaking down, "we do not want anybody +to know the way to this place for a few days, and as you evidently +know it better than we do, we intend to keep you quiet." + +"If you will let me out, I can serve you," answered the man below. +"There is nobody in Rome who can serve you as I can." + +"Who are you?" asked Malipieri. + +"Are you going to let me out, Signor Malipieri?" enquired the man. "If +you are, I will tell you." + +"Oh, you know my name, do you?" + +"Perfectly. You are the engineer engaged by the Senator Volterra to +find the treasure." + +"Yes. Quite right. What of that?" + +"You have found it," answered the other. "Of what use will it be to +kill me? I cannot take that statue away in my waistcoat pocket, if you +let me out, can I?" + +"You had better not make too many jokes, my man, or we will put the +boards over this hole in five minutes. If you can really be of use to +me, I will let you out. What is your name?" + +"Toto," answered the voice sullenly. + +"Yes. That means Theodore, I suppose. Now make haste, for I am tired +of waiting. What are you, and how did you get in?" + +"I was the mason of the palace, until the devil flew away with the +people who lived in it. I know all the secrets of the house. I can be +very useful to you." + +"That changes matters, my friend. I have no doubt you can be useful if +you like, though we have managed to find one of the secrets without +you. It happens to be the only one we wanted to know." + +"No," answered Toto. "There are two others. You do not know how I got +in, and you do not know how to manage the 'lost water.'" + +"That is true," said Malipieri. "But if I let you out you may do me +harm, by talking before it is time. The government is not to know of +this discovery until I am ready." + +"The government!" exclaimed Toto contemptuously, from his hiding- +place. "May an apoplexy seize it! Do you take me for a spy? I am a +Christian." + +"I begin to think he is, sir," put in Masin, knocking the ash from his +pipe. + +"I think so, too," said Malipieri. "Throw away that iron, Masin. He +shall show himself, at all events, and if we like his face we can talk +to him here." + +Masin dropped the drill with a clang. Toto's hairy hand appeared, +grasping the golden wrist of the statue, as he raised himself to +approach the hole. + +"He is a mason, as he says," said Masin, catching sight of the rough +fingers. + +"Did you take me for a coachman?" enquired Toto, thrusting his shaggy +head forward cautiously, and looking up through the aperture. + +"Before you come up here," Malipieri answered, "tell me how you got +in." + +"You seem to know so much about the overflow shaft that I should think +you might have guessed. If you do not believe that I came that way, +look at my clothes!" + +He now crawled upon the body of the statue, and Malipieri saw that he +was covered with half-dried mud and ooze. + +"You got through some old drain, I suppose, and found your way up." + +"It seems so," answered Toto, shaking his shoulders, as if he were +stiff. + +"Are you going to let him go free, sir?" asked Masin, standing ready. +"If you do, he will be down the shaft, before you can catch him. These +men know their way underground like moles." + +"Moles, yourselves!" answered Toto in a growl, putting his head up +above the level of the vault. + +Masin measured him with his eye, and saw that he was a strong man, +probably much more active than he looked in his heavy, mud-plastered +clothes. + +"Get up here," said Malipieri. + +Toto obeyed, and in a moment he sat on the edge of the hole, his legs +dangling down into it. + +"Not so bad," he said, settling himself with a grunt of satisfaction. + +"I like you, Master Toto," said Malipieri. "You might have thought +that we really meant to kill you, but you did not seem much +frightened." + +"There is no woman in the affair," answered Toto. "Why should you kill +me? And I can help you." + +"How am I to know that you will?" asked Malipieri. + +"I am a man of honour," Toto replied, turning his stony face to the +light of the lanterns. + +"I have not a doubt of it, my friend," returned Malipieri, without +conviction. "Just now, the only help I need of you, is that you should +hold your tongue. How can I be sure that you will do that? Does any +one else know the way in through the drain?" + +"No. I only found it to-night. If there is a day's rain in the +mountains, and the Tiber rises even a little, nobody can pass through +it. The lower part is barely above the level of the river now." + +"How did you guess that you could get here by that way?" + +"We know many secrets in our trade, from father to son," answered Toto +gruffly. + +"You must have lifted the boards, with the stones on them, to get out +of the shaft. Why did you put them back in their place?" + +"You seem to think I am a fool! I did not mean to let you know that I +had been here, so I put them back, of course. I supposed that I could +get out through the cellars, but you have put a padlock on the inner +door." + +"Is there any way of turning water into that shaft?" + +"Only by filling the well, I think. If the Tiber rises, the water will +back up the shaft through the drain. That is why the ancients who +built the well made another way for the water to run off. When the +river is swollen in a flood it must be much higher in the shaft than +the bottom of the well, and if the 'lost water' were running in all +the time, the air would probably make it back, so that the shaft would +be useless and the well would be soiled with the river water." + +"You evidently know your trade, Master Toto," said Masin, with some +admiration for his fellow-craftsman's clear understanding. + +"You know yours," retorted Toto, who was seldom at a loss, "for just +now you talked of killing like a professional assassin." + +This pleasing banter delighted Masin, who laughed heartily, and patted +Toto on the back. + +"We shall be good friends," he said. + +"In this world one never knows," Toto answered philosophically. "What +are you going to do?" + +"You must come back with as to my apartment," said Malipieri, who had +been considering the matter, "You must stay there a couple of days, +without going out. I will pay you for your time, and give you a +handsome present, and plenty to eat and drink. After that you will be +free to go where you please and say what you like, for the secret will +be out." + +"Thank you," answered Toto without enthusiasm. "Are you going to tell +the government about the treasure?" + +"The Senator will certainly inform the government, which has a right +to buy it." + +To this Toto said nothing, but he lifted his legs out of the hole and +stood up, ready to go. Malipieri and Masin took up their lanterns. + + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + + + +Masin led the way back, Toto followed and Malipieri went last, so that +the mason was between his two captors. They did not quite trust him, +and Masin was careful not to walk too fast where the way was so +familiar to him, while Malipieri was equally careful not to lag +behind. In this order they reached the mouth of the overflow shaft, +covered with the loaded boards. Masin bent down and examined them, for +he wished to convince himself that the stones had been moved since he +had himself placed them there. A glance showed that this was the case, +and he was about to go on, when he bent down again suddenly and +listened, holding up his hand. + +"There is water," he said, and began to lift off the stones, one by +one. + +Toto helped him quickly. There were only three or four, and they were +not heavy. When the mouth of the shaft was uncovered all three knelt +down and listened, instinctively lowering their lanterns into the +blackness below. The shaft was not wider than a good-sized old- +fashioned chimney, like those in Roman palaces, up and down which +sweeps can just manage to climb. + +The three men listened, and distinctly heard the steady falling of a +small stream of water upon the stones at the bottom. + +"It is raining," Toto said confidently, but he was evidently as much +surprised by the sound as the others. "There must be some +communication with the gutters in the courtyard," he added. + +"There is probably a thunderstorm," answered Malipieri. "We can hear +nothing down here." + +"If I had gone down again, I should have been drowned," Toto said, +shaking his head. "Do you hear? Half the water from the courtyard must +be running down there!" + + +The sound of the falling stream increased to a hollow roar. + +"Do you think the water can rise in the shaft?" asked Malipieri. + +"Not unless the river rises and backs into it," replied Toto. "The +drain is large below." + +"That cannot be 'lost water,' can it?" + +"No. That is impossible." + +"Put the boards in their place again," Malipieri said. "It is growing +late." + +It was done in a few moments, but now the dismal roar of the water +came up very distinctly through the covering. Malipieri had been in +many excavations, and in mines, too, but did not remember that he had +ever felt so strongly the vague sense of apprehension that filled him +now. There is something especially gloomy and mysterious about the +noise of unexplained water heard at a great depth under the earth and +coming out of darkness. Even the rough men with him felt that. + +"It is bad to hear," observed Masin, putting one more stone upon the +boards, as if the weight could keep the sound down. + +"You may say that!" answered Toto. "And in this tomb, too!" + +They went on, in the same order as before. The passage to the dry well +had been so much enlarged that by bending down they could walk to the +top of the rope ladder. Malipieri went down first, with his lantern. +Toto followed, and while Masin was descending, stood looking at the +bones of the dead mason, and at the skull that grinned horribly in the +uncertain yellow glare. + +He took a half-burnt candle from his pocket, and some sulphur matches, +and made a light for himself, with which he carefully examined the +bones. Malipieri watched him. + +"The man who was drowned over sixty years ago," said the architect. + +"This," answered Toto, with more feeling than accuracy, "is the +blessed soul of my grandfather." + +"He shall have Christian burial in a few days," Malipieri said +gravely. + +Toto shrugged his shoulders, not irreverently, but as if to say that +when a dead man has been without Christian burial sixty years, it +cannot make any difference whether he gets it after all or not. "The +crowbar is still good," Toto said, stooping down to disengage it from +the skeleton's grasp. But Malipieri laid a hand on his shoulder, for +it occurred to him that the mason, armed with an iron bar, might be a +dangerous adversary if he tried to escape. + +"You do not need that just now," said the architect. + +Toto glanced at Malipieri furtively and saw that he was understood. He +stood upright, affecting indifference. They went on, through the +breach to which the slit had been widened. Toto moved slowly, and held +his candle down to the running water in the channel. + +"There is plenty of it," he observed. + +"Where does it come from?" asked Malipieri, suddenly, in the hope of +an unguarded answer. + +"From heaven," answered Toto without hesitation; "and everything that +falls from heaven is good," he added, quoting an ancient proverb. + +"What would happen if we closed the entrance, so that it could not get +in at all?" + +"The book of wisdom," Toto replied, "is buried under Pasquino. How +should I know what would happen?" + +"You know a good many things, my friend." + +Malipieri understood that the man would not say more, and led the way +out. + +"Good-bye, grandpapa," growled Toto, waving his hairy hand towards the +well. "Who knows whether we shall meet again?" + +They went on, and in due time emerged into the upper air. It was +raining heavily, as Toto had guessed, and before they had reached the +other end of the courtyard they were drenched. But it was a relief to +be out of doors, and Malipieri breathed the fresh air with keen +delight, as a thirsty man drinks. The rain poured down steadily and +ran in rivers along the paved gutters, and roared into the openings +that carried it off. Malipieri could not help thinking how it must be +roaring now, far down at the bottom of the old shaft, led thither +through deep-buried and long-forgotten channels. + +Upstairs, Masin was inclined to be friendly with his fellow-craftsman, +and gave him dry clothes to sleep in, and bread and cheese and wine in +his own room. In spite of his experiences, Masin had never known how +to be suspicious. But as Malipieri looked once more at the man's stony +face and indistinguishable eyes, he thought differently of his +prisoner. He locked the outer door and took the key of the patent lock +with him when he went to bed at last. + +It does not often rain heavily in Rome, late in the spring, for any +long time, but when Malipieri looked out the next morning, it was +still pouring steadily, and the sky over the courtyard was uniformly +grey. It is apparently a law of nature that exceptions should come +when least wanted. + +In spite of the weather Malipieri went out, however, and did not even +send for a cab. The porter was in a particularly bad humour and eyed +him distrustfully, for he had been put to the trouble of cleaning the +stairs where the three men had left plentiful mud in their track +during the night. Malipieri nodded to the old man as usual, and was +about to go out, but turned back and gave him five francs. Thus +mollified the porter at once made a remark about the atrocious weather +and proceeded to ask how the work was progressing. + +"I have explored a good deal," answered Malipieri. "The Senator is +coming to-morrow, and you had better sweep carefully. He looks at +everything, you know." + +He went out into the pouring rain, keeping a sharp lookout from under +the edge of the umbrella he held low over his head. He had grown +cautious of late. As he expected, he came upon one of the respectable +men he now met so often, before he had turned into the Piazza Agonale. +The respectable man was also carrying his umbrella low, and looking +about him as he walked along at a leisurely pace. Malipieri hailed a +cab. + +Even in wet weather there are no closed cabs in that part of Rome. One +is protected from the wet, more or less, by the hood and by a high +leathern apron which is hooked to it inside. The cabman, seated under +a huge standing umbrella, bends over and unhooks it on one side for +you to get in and out. + + +Malipieri employed the usual means of eluding pursuit. He gave an +address and told the man to drive fast, got out quickly on reaching +the house, enquired for an imaginary person with a foreign name, who, +he was of course told, did not live there, got in again and had +himself driven to Sassi's door, sure of losing his pursuer, if the +detective followed him in another cab. Then he paid the man two fares, +to save time, and went in. He had never taken the trouble to do such a +thing since his political adventures, but he was now very anxious not +to let it be known that he had any dealings with the former agent of +the Conti family. + +The matter was settled easily enough and to his satisfaction. Old +Sassi worshipped Sabina, and was already fully persuaded that whatever +could be found under the palace should belong to her, as also that she +had a right to see what was discovered before Volterra did, and before +anything was moved. He was at least as quixotic in his crabbed fashion +as Malipieri himself; and besides, he really could not see that there +was the least harm or danger in the scheme. It certainly would have +been improper for Malipieri to go and fetch the young lady himself, +but it was absurd to suppose that a man over sixty could be blamed for +accompanying a girl of eighteen on a visit to her old home, in her own +interest, especially when the man had been all his life employed by +her family in a position of trust and confidence. Finally, Sassi hated +Volterra with all his heart, as the faithful adherents of ruined +gentlefolks often hate those who have profited by their ruin. + +Sassi, as an old Roman, predicted that the weather would improve in +the afternoon. Malipieri advised him nevertheless to keep the hood of +his cab raised when he brought Sabina to the palace. To this Sassi +answered that he should of course get a closed carriage from a livery +stable, and an argument followed which took some time. In the opinion +of the excellent old agent, it would be almost an affront to fetch the +very noble Donna Sabina in a vehicle so plebeian as a cab, and it was +with the greatest difficulty that Malipieri made him understand that a +cab was much safer on such an occasion. + +What was important was that the weather should be fine, for otherwise +the Baroness might not go out, and the whole scheme would fail. In +that case, it must be arranged for the following day, and Malipieri +would find an excuse for putting off Volterra's visit. + +He left the house on foot. So far, he had not allowed himself to think +too much of the future, and had found little time for such reflection. +He was a man who put all his energy into what he was doing, and was +inclined to let consequences take care of themselves rather than waste +thought in providing for them. He believed he was doing what was just +and honourable, and if there was a spice of adventure and romance in +it, that only made it the more easy to do. The only danger he could +think of was that Sabina might slip in one of the difficult passages +and hurt her foot a little, or might catch cold in the damp vaults. +Nothing else could happen. + +He congratulated himself on having got Toto in his power, since Toto +was the only man who understood the ways of the "lost water." If he +had before suspected that there was any one at large in Rome who knew +as much he would have hesitated. But he had made the discovery of the +man and had taken him prisoner at the same moment, and all danger in +that quarter seemed to be removed. + +As for the material difficulty, he and Masin could smooth the way very +much in two or three hours, and could substitute a solid wooden ladder +for the one of rope in the well. Sabina was young, slight, and +probably active, and with a little help she would have no difficulty +in reaching the inner chamber. It might be well to cover the +skeletons. Young girls were supposed to be sensitive about such +things, and Malipieri had no experience of their ways. Nevertheless he +had an inward conviction that Sabina would not go into hysterics at +the sight. + +Old Sassi might not be able to get up the ladder, but once beyond the +reach of social observation, he would trust Sabina to Malipieri and +Masin for a quarter of an hour, and he could wait in the outer cellar. +Malipieri had prepared him for this, and he had made no objection, +only saying that he should like to see the treasure himself if it +could possibly be managed. In his heart, Malipieri hoped that it would +prove too much for the old man and that he might have the pleasure of +showing Sabina what he had found without having the old agent at his +elbow. Toto would be locked in, upstairs, for the day. He could not +get out by the door, and he would not risk breaking his legs by +jumping from the window. The intermediate story of the Palazzo Conti +was far too high for that. + +Malipieri calculated that if Sassi were punctual, Sabina would be at +the door of the palace at a quarter-past five. At five minutes past, +he came down, and sent the porter on an errand which would occupy at +least half an hour even if executed with despatch. Masin would keep +the door, he said. The old man was delighted to have an excuse for +going out, and promised himself to spend a comfortable hour in a wine +shop if he could find a friend. His wife, as there was so little to +do, had found some employment in a laundry, to which she went in the +morning and which kept her out all day. No one would see Sabina and +Sassi enter, and if it seemed advisable they could be got out in the +same way. No one but Masin and Malipieri himself need ever know that +they had been in the palace that afternoon. + +It was all very well prepared, by a man well accustomed to +emergencies, and it was not easy to see how anything could go wrong. +Even allowing more time than was necessary, Sabina's visit to the +vaults could not possibly occupy much more than an hour. + + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + + + +Malipieri was beginning to realize that his work in the vaults had +been watched with much more interest than he had supposed possible, +and that in some way or other news of his progress had reached various +quarters. In the first place, his reputation was much wider than he +knew, and many scholars and archaeologists throughout Europe had been +profoundly impressed both by what he had discovered and by the +learning he had shown in discussing his discoveries. It followed that +many were curious to see what he would do next, and there were +paragraphs about him in grave reviews, and flattering references to +him in speeches made at learned conventions. He had friends whose +names he had never heard, and enemies, too, ready to attack him on the +one side and to defend him on the other. Some praised his modesty, and +others called it affectation. His experience of the wider world was +short, so far, and he did not understand that it had taken people a +year to appreciate his success. He had hoped for immediate recognition +of his great services to archaeology, and had been somewhat +disappointed because that recognition had not been instantaneous. Like +most men of superior talent, in the same situation, when praise came +in due time and abundantly, he did not care for it because he was +already interested in new work. To the man of genius the past is +always insignificant as compared with the future. When Goethe, dying, +asked for "more light," he may or may not have merely meant that he +wished the window opened because the room seemed dark to his failing +eyes; the higher interpretation which has been put upon his last words +remains the true one, in the spirit, if not in the letter. He died, as +he had lived, the man of genius looking forward, not backward, to the +last, crying for light, more light, thinking not of dying and ending, +but of living, hoping, doing, winning. + +Besides the general body of students and archaeologists, the Italian +government was exceedingly interested in Malipieri's explorations. The +government is rightly jealous in such matters, and does its very best +to keep all artistic objects of real value in the country. It is right +that this should be so. The law relating to the matter was framed by +Cardinal Pacca, under the papal administration many years ago, and the +modern rulers have had the intelligence to maintain it and enforce it. +Like other laws it is frequently broken. In this it resembles the Ten +Commandments and most other rules framed by divine or human +intelligence for the good of mankind and the advancement of +civilization. The most sanguine lovers of their fellow-men have always +admitted the existence of a certain number of flagitious persons who +obstinately object to being good. David, who was hasty, included a +large proportion of humanity amongst "the wicked"; Monsieur Drumont +limited the number to David's descendants; and Professor Lombroso, +whatever he may really mean, conveys the impression that men of +genius, criminals and lunatics are different manifestations of the +same thing; as diamonds, charcoal and ham fat are all carbon and +nothing else. We should be thankful for the small favours of +providence in excepting us from the gifted minority of madmen, +murderers and poets and making us just plain human beings, like other +people. + +There is no international law forbidding a man from making digressions +when he is telling a story. + +Malipieri was watched by the government, as Volterra had told him, +because it was feared in high quarters that if he found anything of +value under the palace, he would try to get it out of the country. He +had always hated the government and had got himself into trouble by +attacking the monarchy. Besides, it was known in high quarters that +Senator Baron Volterra held singular views about the authenticity of +works of art. It would be inconvenient to have a scandal in the Senate +about the Velasquez and the other pictures; on the other hand, if +anything more of the same sort should happen, it would be very +convenient indeed to catch a pair of culprits in the shape of +Malipieri, a pardoned political offender, and his ex-convict servant. + +Then, too, in quite another direction, the Vatican was very anxious to +buy any really good work of art which might be discovered, and would +pay quite as much for it as the government itself. Therefore the +Vatican was profoundly interested in Malipieri on its own account. + +As if this were not enough, Sabina's brother, the ruined Prince Conti, +had got wind of the excavations and scented some possible advantage to +himself, with the vague chance of more money to throw away on +automobiles, at Monte Carlo, and in the company of a cosmopolitan +young person of semi-Oriental extraction whose varied accomplishments +had made her the talk of Europe. + +Lastly, the Russian embassy was on the alert, for the dowager Princess +had heard from her maid, who had heard it from her sister in Rome, who +had learned it from the washerwoman, who had been told the secret by +the porter's wife, that the celebrated Malipieri was exploring the +north-west foundations of the palace. The Princess had repeated the +story, and the legend which accounted for it, to her brother Prince +Rubomirsky, who was a very great personage in his own country. And the +Prince, though good-natured, foresaw that he might in time grow tired +of giving his sister unlimited money; and it occurred to him that +something might turn up under the palace, after all, to which she +might have some claim. So he had used his influence in Saint +Petersburg with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the latter had +instructed the Russian Ambassador in Rome to find out what he could +about the excavations, without attracting attention; and Russian +diplomatists have ways of finding out things without attracting +attention, which are extremely great and wonderful. Also, if Russia +puts her paw upon anything and declares that it is the property of a +Russian subject, it often happens that smaller people take their paws +away hastily. + +It follows that there must have been a good deal of quiet talk, in +Rome, not overheard in society, about what Malipieri was doing in the +Palazzo Conti, and as the people who occupied themselves with his +affairs were particularly anxious that he should not know what they +said, he was in ignorance of it. But Volterra was not. He had valuable +friends, because his influence was of value, and he was informed of +much that was going on. If he was anxious to get rid of the architect, +it was not so much because he wanted for himself the whole price which +the statue or statues might bring, as because he feared lest the +government should suddenly descend upon Malipieri and make an enquiry +which would involve also the question of the pictures. So far, +Volterra had created the impression that the young man had been +concerned with a dealer in smuggling them out of the country; but in +case of an investigation it could easily be proved that they were gone +before Malipieri had arrived in Rome in answer to Volterra's +invitation. Besides, the Senator had discovered that the young +archaeologist was much more celebrated than was convenient. In private +affairs there is nothing so tiresome and inconvenient as the presence +of a celebrity. Burglars, when exercising their professional +functions, are not accompanied by a brass band. + +Toto was very docile and quiet all that day. Masin thought him +philosophical, and continued to like him, after his fashion, providing +him with a plentiful supply of tobacco, a good meal at noon, and a +bottle of wine. The man's stony face was almost placid. At rare +intervals he made a remark. After eating he looked out of the window +and said rather regretfully that he thought the rain was over for the +day. + +Masin took this to mean that he wished he might go out, and offered +him more wine by way of consolation. But Toto refused. He was a +moderate man. Then he asked Masin how many rooms Malipieri occupied, +and learned that the whole of the little apartment was rented by the +architect. The information did not seem to interest him much. + +In the morning, when Malipieri had come back from his visit to Sassi, +he had given Masin the keys of the vaults, and had told him to buy a +stout ladder and take it into the dry well. But Toto said that this +was a useless expense. + +"There is a strong ladder about the right length, lying along the wall +at the other end of the west cellar," he said. "You had better take +that." + +Malipieri looked at him and smiled. + +"For a prisoner, you are very obliging," he said, and he gave him a +five-franc note, which Toto took with a grunt of thanks. + +Masin was gone an hour, during which time Malipieri busied himself in +the next room, leaving the door open. He went out when Masin came +back. When the two men were together Toto produced the five francs. + +"Can you change?" he enquired. + +"Why?" asked Masin with some surprise. + +"Half is two francs fifty," answered Toto. "That is your share." + +Masin laughed and shook his head. + +"No," he said. "What is given to you is not given to me. Why should I +share with you?" + +"It is our custom," Toto replied. "Take your half." + +Masin refused stoutly, but Toto insisted and grew angry at last. So +Masin changed the note and kept two francs and fifty centimes for +himself, reflecting that he could give the money back to Malipieri, +since he had no sort of right to it. Toto was at once pacified. + +When Malipieri returned, Masin went out and got dinner for all three, +bringing it as usual in the three tin cases strapped one above the +other. + +Toto supposed that he was not to be left alone in the apartment that +day; but at half-past four Malipieri entered the room, with a padlock +and a couple of screw-eyes in his hand. + +"You would not think it worth while to risk jumping out," he said in a +good-humoured tone. "But you might take it into your head to open the +window, and the porter might be there, and you might talk to him. +Masin and I shall be out together for a little while." + +Masin shut the tall window, screwed the stout little eye-bolts into +the frame and ran the bolt of the padlock through both. He gave the +key to Malipieri. Toto watched the operation indifferently. + +"If you please," he said, "I am accustomed to have a little wine about +half-past five every day. I will pay for it." + +He held out half a franc to Masin and nodded. + +"Nonsense!" interposed Malipieri, laughing. "You are my guest, Master +Toto." Masin brought a bottle and a glass, and a couple of cigars. + +"Thank you, sir," said Toto politely. "I shall be very comfortable +till you come back." + +"You will find the time quite as profitable as if you were working," +said Malipieri. + +He nodded and went out followed by Masin, and Toto heard the key +turned twice in the solid old lock. The door was strong, and they +would probably lock the front door of the apartment too. Toto listened +quietly till he heard it shut after them in the distance. Then he rose +and flattened his face against the window pane. + +He waited some time. He could see one half of the great arched +entrance, but the projecting stone jamb of the window hindered him +from seeing more. It was very quiet, and he could hear footsteps +below, on the gravel of the courtyard, if any one passed. + +At the end of ten minutes he heard a man's heavy tread, and knew that +it was Masin's. Masin must have come out of the great archway on the +side of it which Toto could not see. The steps went on steadily along +the gravel. Masin was going to the vaults. + +Toto waited ten minutes, and began to think that no one else was +coming, and that Malipieri had left the palace, though he had been +convinced that the architect and his man meant to go down to the +vaults together. Just as he was beginning to give up the idea, he saw +Sassi under the archway, in a tall hat, a black coat and gloves, and +Malipieri was just visible for a moment as he came out too. He was +unmistakably speaking to some one on his right, who was hidden from +Toto's view by the projecting stonework. His manner was also +distinctly deferential. The third person was probably Baron Volterra. + +The footsteps took a longer time to reach the other end of the court +than Masin had occupied. After all was silent, Toto listened +breathlessly for five minutes more. There was not a sound. + +He looked about him, then took up a chair, thrust one of the legs +between the bolt and the body of the padlock and quietly applied his +strength. The wood of the frames was old, and the heavy strain drew +the screw-eyes straight out. + +Toto opened the window noiselessly and looked out with caution. No one +was in sight. By this time the three were in the vaults, with Masin. + +Toto knew every inch of the palace by heart, inside and out, and he +knew that one of the cast-iron leaders that carried the rain from the +roof to the ground was within reach of that particular window, on the +left side. He looked out once more, up and down the courtyard, and +then, in an instant, he was kneeling on the stone sill, he had grasped +the iron leader with one hand, then with the other, swinging himself +to it and clutching it below with his rough boots. A few moments later +he was on the ground, running for the great entrance. No one was +there, no one saw him. + +He let himself out quietly, shut the postern door after him, and +slouched away towards the Vicolo dei Soldati. + + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + + + +Sabina had the delightful sensation of doing something she ought not +to do, but which was perfectly innocent; she had moreover the rarer +pleasure, quite new to her, of committing the little social misdeed in +the company of the first man she had ever liked in her life. She knew +very well that old Sassi would not be able to reach the inner chamber +of the excavation, and she inwardly hoped that Malipieri's servant +would discreetly wait outside of it, so that she might be alone with +Malipieri when she first set eyes on the wonderful statue. It was +amusing to think how the nuns would have scolded her for the mere +wish, and how her pious sister would have condemned her to eternal +flames for entertaining the temptation. + +Malipieri had told her to put on an old frock, as she might spoil her +clothes in spite of the efforts he had made to enlarge and smooth the +way for her to pass. Her mother had a way of calling everything old +which she had possessed three months, and for once Sabina was of her +mother's opinion. She had a very smart cloth costume, with a rather +short skirt, which had come home in February, and which she had worn +only four times because the spring had been warm. It was undoubtedly +"old" for she could not wear it in summer, and next winter the fashion +would change; and it had rained all the morning, so that the air was +damp and cold. Besides, the costume fitted her slender figure to +perfection--it was such a pity that it was old already, for she might +never have another as smart. The least she could do was to try and +wear it out when she had the chance. It was of a delicate fawn colour; +it had no pocket and it was fastened in a mysterious way. The skirt +was particularly successful, and, as has been said, it was short, +which was a great advantage in scrambling about a damp cellar. In +order to show that she was in earnest, she put on russet leather +shoes. Her hat was large, because that was the fashion, but nothing +could have been simpler; it matched the frock in colour, and no colour +was so becoming to her clear girlish pallor and misty hair as light +fawn. + +Malipieri had carried out his intention of getting rid of the porter, +and was waiting inside the open postern when the cab drove up. +Hitherto he had only seen Sabina indoors, at luncheon and in the +evening, and when he saw her now he received an altogether new +impression. Somehow, in her walking dress, she seemed more womanly, +more "grown up" as she herself would have called it. As she got out of +the wretched little cab, and came forward to greet him, her grace +stirred his blood. It was final; he was in love. + +Her intuition told her the truth, of course. There was something in +his look and voice which had not quite been in either on the previous +evening. He had been glad, last night, because she had come to the +drawing-room, as he had hoped that she would; but to-day he was more +than glad, he was happy, merely because he saw her. There never was a +woman yet that could not tell that difference at a glance. + +She was proud of being loved by him, and as he walked by her side, she +looked up at the blue sky above the courtyard, and was glad that the +clouds had passed away, for it must be sweeter to be loved when there +was sunshine overhead than when it rained; but all the time, she saw +his face, without looking at it, and it was after her own heart, and +much to her liking. Besides, he was not only a manly man, and strong, +and, of course, brave; he was already famous, and might be great some +day; and she knew that he loved her, which was much to his advantage. +As for being madly, wildly, desperately in love with him herself, she +was not that yet; it was simply a very delicious sensation of being +adored by somebody very sympathetic. Some women never get nearer to +love than that, in all their lives, and are quite satisfied, and as +they grow older they realize how much more convenient it is to be +adored than to adore, and are careful to keep their likings within +very manageable limits, while encouraging the men who love them to +behave like lunatics. + +Sabina was not of that kind; she was only very young, which, as Pitt +pointed out, is a disadvantage but not a real crime. + +They walked side by side, almost touching as they moved; they were +drawn one to another, as all nature draws together those pairs of +helpless atoms that are destined to one end. + +Old Sassi went gravely with them. To him, it was a sad thing to see +Sabina come to the palace in a way almost clandestine, as if she had +no right there, and he shook his head again and again, silently +grieving over the departed glory of the Conti, and wishing that he +could express his sympathy to the young girl in dignified yet tender +language. But Sabina was not in need of sympathy just then. Life in +the Volterra establishment had been distinctly more bearable since +Malipieri's appearance on the scene, and her old existence in the +palace had been almost as really gloomy as it now seemed to her to +have been. Moreover, she was intensely interested in what Malipieri +was going to shew her. + +Masin was waiting at the head of the winding stair with lanterns +already lighted. When they had all entered, he turned the key. Sassi +asked why he did this, and as they began to go down Malipieri +explained that it was a measure of safety against the old porter's +curiosity. + +Sabina stepped carefully on the damp steps, while Malipieri held his +lantern very low so that she could see them. + +"I am sure-footed," she said, with a little laugh. + +"This is the easiest part," he answered. "There are places where you +will have to be careful." + +"Then you will help me." + +She thought it would, be pleasant to rest her hand on his arm, where +the way was not easy, and she knew instinctively that he hoped she +would do so. They reached the floor of the cellar, and Masin walked in +front, lighting the way. Sassi looked about him; he had been in the +cellars two or three times before. + +"They did not get in by this way when the first attempt was made," he +said. + +"No," answered Malipieri. "I cannot find out how they made an +entrance." + +"There used to be a story of an oubliette that was supposed to be +somewhere in the house," said Sabina. + +"I have found it. You will see it in a moment, for we have to pass +through the bottom of it." + +"How amusing! I never saw one." + +They came to the first breach in the cellar wall. A small lamp had +been placed on a stone in a position to illuminate the entrance, and +was burning brightly. Masin had lighted two others, further on, and +had covered the bones in the dry well with pieces of sacking. +Malipieri went up the causeway first. At first he held out his hand to +Sabina, but she shook her head and smiled. There would be no +satisfaction in being helped over an easy place; she should like him +to help her where it would need some strength and skill to do so. She +drew her skirt round her and walked up unaided, and followed by Sassi, +leaning on his stick with one hand and on Masin with the other. + +The descent into the first chamber was less easy. Standing at the top, +Sabina looked down at Malipieri, who held his lantern to her feet. She +felt a delicious little uneasiness now, and listened to the ghostly +gurgle from the channel in the dark. + +"What is that?" she asked, and her voice was a little awed by the +darkness and strangeness of the place. + +"The 'lost water.' It runs through here." + +She listened a moment longer, and began to descend, placing her feet +on the stones upon which Malipieri laid his hand, one after another, +to show her the way. + +"Perhaps you might help me a little here," she said. + +"If you will let me put your feet on the right step, it will be +easier," he answered. + +"Yes. Do that, please. Show me the place first." + +"There. Do you see? Now!" + +He laid his hand firmly upon her small russet shoe, guided the little +foot to a safe position and steadied it there a moment. + +"So," he said. "Now the next. There are only four or five more." + +She was rather sorry that there were so few, for they seemed +delightfully safe, or just dangerous enough to be amusing; she was not +quite sure which. Women never analyze the present, unless it is +utterly dull. + +At the bottom of the descent, both looked up, and saw at a glance that +poor old Sassi could never get down, even with assistance. He seemed +unable to put his foot down without slipping, in spite of Masin's +help. + +"I think you had better not try it," said Malipieri quietly. "In a few +days I am sure that the Senator will have a way broken through from +above, and then it will be easy enough." + +"Yes," answered the old man regretfully. "I will go back again to the +other side and wait for you." + +"I am so sorry," said Sabina untruthfully, but looking up with +sympathy. + +"Take Signor Sassi back to the cellar," said Malipieri to Masin. "Then +you can follow us." + +Sassi and Masin disappeared through the breach. Malipieri led the way +into the dry well, where there was another light. In her haste to +reach the end, Sabina did not even glance at the sacking that covered +the skeletons. + +"Can you climb a ladder?" asked Malipieri. + +"Of course!" Such a question was almost a slight. + +Malipieri went up nimbly with his lantern, and knelt on the masonry to +hold the top of the ladder. Sabina mounted almost as quickly as he had +done, till she reached the last few steps and could no longer hold by +the uprights. Then she put out her hands; he grasped then both and +slid backwards on his knees as she landed safely on the edge. She had +not felt that she could possibly fall, even if her feet slipped, and +she now knew that he was strong, and that it was good to lean on him. + +"You will have to stoop very low for a few steps," he said, taking up +his lantern, and he kept his hold on one of her hands as he led her +on. "It is not far, now," he added encouragingly, "and the rest is +easy." + +He guided her past the boards and stones that covered the overflow +shaft, and down the inclined passage and the steps to the space +between the vaults. A third lamp was burning here, close to the hole +beneath which the statue lay. Malipieri lowered his lantern for her to +see it. + +She uttered an exclamation of surprise and delight. The pure gold that +covered the bronze was as bright as if it had not lain in the vault +for many centuries, twelve, fourteen, fifteen, no one could tell yet. +The light fell into the huge ruby as into a tiny cup of wine. + +"Can one get down?" asked Sabina breathlessly, after a moment's +silence. + +"Certainly. I have not gone down myself yet, but it is easy. I wanted +you to be the first to see it all. You will have to sit on the edge +and step upon the wrist of the statue." + +Sabina gathered her skirt neatly round her, and with a little help she +seated herself as he directed. + +"Are you sure it will not hurt it, to step on it?" she asked, looking +up. + +"Quite sure." Malipieri smiled, as he thought of Toto's hobnailed +shoes. "When you are standing firmly, I will get down too, if there is +room." + +"It is not a very big hole," observed Sabina, letting herself down +till her feet rested on the smooth surface. She did not quite wish to +be as near him as that; at least, not yet. + +"I will creep down over the arm," she said, "and then you can follow +me. I hope there are no beasts," she added. "I hate spiders." + +Malipieri lowered his lantern beside her, and she crept along towards +the statue's head. In a few moments he was beside her, bringing both +the lantern and the lamp with him. They had both forgotten Masin's +existence, as he had not yet appeared. Sabina looked about for +spiders, but there were none in sight. The vault was perfectly dry, +and there was hardly any dust clinging to the rough mortar that +covered the stones. It was clear that the framework must have been +carefully removed, and the place thoroughly cleaned, before the statue +had been drawn into the vault from one end. + +"He is perfectly hideous," said Sabina, as they reached the huge face. +"But it is magnificent," she added, passing her gloved hand over the +great golden features. "I wonder who it is meant for." + +"A Roman emperor as Hercules, I think," Malipieri answered. "It may be +Commodus. We are so near that it is hard to know how the head would +look if the statue were set up." + +He was thinking very little of the statue just then, as he knelt on +its colossal chest beside Sabina, and watched the play of the yellow +light on her delicate face. There was just room for them to kneel +there, side by side. + +It was magnificent, as Sabina had said, the great glittering thing, +lying all alone in the depths of the earth, an enormous golden demigod +in his tomb. + +"You are wonderful!" exclaimed Sabina, suddenly turning her face to +Malipieri. + +"Why?" + +"To have found it," she explained. + +"I wish I had found something more practical," he answered. "In my +opinion this thing belongs to you, and I suppose it represents a small +fortune. But the only way for you to get even a share of it will be by +bringing a suit against Volterra. Half a dozen rubies like the one in +the ring would have been enough for you, and you could have taken them +home with you in your pocket." + +"I am afraid I have none!" Sabina laughed. + +"This one will be safe in mine," Malipieri answered. + +"You are not going to take it?" cried Sabina, a little frightened. + +"Yes. I am going to take it for you. I daresay it is worth a good deal +of money." + +"But--is it yours?" + +"No. It is yours." + +"I wonder whether I have any right to it." Sabina was perhaps justly +doubtful about the proceeding. + +"I do not care a straw for the government, or the laws, or Volterra, +where you are concerned. You shall have what is yours. Shall we get +down to the ground and see if there is anything else in the vault?" + +He let himself slide over the left shoulder, and the lion's skin that +was modelled over it, and Sabina followed him cautiously. By bending +their heads they could now stand and walk, and there was a space fully +five feet wide, between the statue and the perpendicular masonry from +which the vault sprang. + +Malipieri stopped short, with both lights in his hand, and uttered an +exclamation. + +"What is it?" asked Sabina. "Oh!" she cried, as she saw what he had +come upon. + +For some moments neither spoke, and they stood side by side, pressed +against each other in the narrow way and gazing down, for before them +lay the most beautiful marble statue Sabina had ever seen. In the +yellow light it was like a living woman asleep rather than a marble +goddess, hewn and chipped, smoothed and polished into shape ages ago, +by men's hands. + +She lay a little turned to one side and away; the arm that was +undermost was raised, so that the head seemed to be resting against +it, though it was not; the other lying along and across the body, its +perfect hand just gathering up a delicately futile drapery. The figure +was whole and unbroken, of cream-like marble, that made soft living +shadows in each dimple and hollow and seemed to quiver along the lines +of beauty, the shoulder just edging forwards, the bent arm, the +marvellous sweep of the limbs from hip to heel. + +"It is a Venus, is it not?" asked Sabina with an odd little timidity. + +"Aphrodite," answered Malipieri, almost unconsciously. + +It was not the plump, thick-ankled, doubtfully decent Venus which the +late Greeks made for their Roman masters; it was not that at all. It +was their own Aphrodite, delicate, tender and deadly as the foam of +the sea whence she came to them. + +Sabina would scarcely have wondered if she had turned and smiled, +there on the ground, to brush the shadows of ages from her opening +eyes, and to say "I must have slept," like a woman waked by her lover +from a dream of kisses. That would have seemed natural. + +Malipieri felt that he was holding his breath. Sabina was so close to +him that it was as if he could feel her heart beating near his own, +and as fast; and for a moment he felt one of those strong impulses +which strong men know when to resist, but to resist which is like +wrestling against iron hands. He longed, as he had never longed for +anything in his life, to draw her yet closer to him and to press his +lips hard upon hers, without a word. + +Instead, he edged away from her, and held the lights low beside the +wonderful statue so that she might see it better; and Aphrodite's +longing mouth, that had kissed gods, was curved with a little scorn +for men. + +The air was still and dry, and Sabina felt a strange little thrill in +her hair and just at the back of her neck. Perhaps, in the unknown +ways of fruitful nature, the girl was dimly aware of the tremendous +manly impulse of possession, so near her in that narrow and silent +place. Something sent a faint blush to her cheek, and she was glad +there was not much light, and she did not wish to speak for a little +while. + +"I hate to think that she has lain so long beside that gilded Roman +monster," said Malipieri presently. + +The vast brutality of the herculean emperor had not disgusted him at +first; it had merely displeased his taste. Now, it became suddenly an +atrocious contrast to the secret loveliness of unveiled beauty. That +was a manly instinct in him, too, and Sabina felt it. + +"Yes," she said softly. "And she seems almost alive." + +"The gods and goddesses live for ever," Malipieri answered, smiling +and looking at her, in spite of himself. + +Her eyes met his at once, and did not turn away. He fancied that they +grew darker in the shadow, and in the short silence. + +"I suppose we ought to be going," she said, still looking at him. +"Poor old Sassi is waiting in the cellar." + +"We have not been all round the vault yet," he answered. "There may be +something more." + +"No, she has been alone with the monster, all these centuries. I am +sure of it. There cannot be anything else." + +"We had better look, nevertheless," said Malipieri. "I want you to see +everything there is, and you cannot come here again--not in this way." + +"Well, let us go round." Sabina moved. + +"Besides," continued Malipieri, going slowly forward and lighting the +way, "I am going to leave the palace the day after to-morrow." + +"Why?" asked Sabina, in surprise. + +"Because Volterra has requested me to go. I may have to leave Rome +altogether." + +"Leave Rome?" + +Her own voice sounded harsh to her as she spoke the words. She had +been so sure that he was in love with her, she had begun to know that +she would soon love him; and he was going away already. + +"Perhaps," he answered, going on. "I am not sure." + +"But--" Sabina checked herself and bit her lip. + +"What?" + +"Nothing. Go on, please. It must be getting late." + +There was nothing more in the vault. They went all round the gilt +statue without speaking, came back to the feet of the Aphrodite from +the further side and stopped to look again. Still neither spoke for a +long time. Malipieri held the lights in several positions, trying to +find the best. + +"Why must you leave Rome?" Sabina asked, at last, without turning her +face to him. + +"I am not sure that I must. I said I might, that was all." + +Sabina tapped the ground impatiently with her foot. + +"Why 'may' you have to go, then?" she asked a little sharply. + +"Volterra may be able to drive me away. He will try, because he is +afraid I may wish to get a share in the discovery." + +"Oh! Then you will not leave Rome, unless you are driven away?" + +Malipieri tried to see her eyes, but she looked steadily down at the +statue. + +"No," he said. "Certainly not." + +Sabina said nothing, but her expression changed and softened at once. +He could see that, even in the play of the shadows. She raised her +head, glanced at him, and moved to go on. After making a few steps in +the direction of the aperture she stopped suddenly as if listening. +Malipieri held his breath, and then he heard, too. + +It was the unmistakable sound of water trickling faster and faster +over stones. For an instant his blood stood still. Then he set the +lamp down, grasped Sabina's wrist and hurried her along, carrying only +the lantern. + +"Come as fast as you can," he said, controlling his voice. + +She understood that there was danger and obeyed without losing her +head. As he helped her up through the hole in the vault, she felt +herself very light in his hands. In a moment he was beside her, and +they were hurrying towards the inclined passage, bending low. + + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + + + +A broad stream of water was pouring down, and spreading on each side +in the space between the vaults. In a flash, Malipieri understood. The +dry well had filled, but the overflow shaft was covered with the +weighted boards, and only a little water could get down through the +cracks. The rest was pouring down the passage, and would soon fill the +vault, which was at a much lower level. + +"Stay here! Do not move!" + +Sabina stood still, but she trembled a little, as he dashed up through +the swift, shallow stream, not ankle deep, but steady as fate. In a +moment he had disappeared from her sight, and she was all alone in the +dismal place, in darkness, save for a little light that forced its way +up from below through the hole. It seemed five minutes before his +plashing footsteps stopped, up there in the passage; then came +instantly the noise of stones thrown aside into the water, and of +heavy pieces of board grating and bumping, as they floated for a +moment. Almost instantly a loud roar came from the same direction, as +the inflowing stream from the well thundered down the shaft. Sabina +heard Malipieri's voice calling to her, and his approaching footsteps. + +"The water cannot reach you now!" he cried. + +It had already stopped running down the passage, when Malipieri +emerged, dripping and holding out the lantern in front of him, as his +feet slipped on the wet stones. Sabina was very pale, but quite quiet. + +"What has happened?" she asked mechanically. + +"The water has risen suddenly," he said, paler than she, for he knew +the whole danger. "We cannot get out till it goes down." + +"How soon will that be?" Sabina asked steadily. + +"I do not know." + +They looked at each other, and neither spoke for a moment. + +"Do you think it may be several hours?" asked Sabina. + +"Yes, perhaps several hours." + +Something in his tone told her that matters might be worse than that. + +"Tell me the truth," she said. "It may be days before the water goes +down. We may die here. Is that what you mean?" + +"Unless I can make another way out, that is what may happen. We may +starve here." + +"You will find the other way out," Sabina said quietly. "I know you +will." + +She would rather have died that moment than have let him think her a +coward; and she was really brave, and was vaguely conscious that she +was, and that she could trust her nerves, as long as her bodily +strength lasted. But it would be very horrible to die of hunger, and +in such a place. It was better not to think of it. He stood before +her, with his lantern, a pale, courageous, strong man, whom she could +not help trusting; he would find that other way. + +"You had better get down again," he said, after a little reflection. +"It is dry below, and the lamp is there." + +"I can help you." + +Malipieri looked at the slight figure and the little gloved hands and +smiled. + +"I am very strong," Sabina said, "much stronger than you think. +Besides, I could not sit all alone down there while you are groping +about. The water might come down and drown me, you know." + +"It cannot run down, now. If it could, I should be drowned first." + +"That would not exactly be a consolation," answered Sabina. "What are +you going to do? I suppose we cannot break through the roof where we +are, can we?" + +"There must be ten or fifteen feet of earth above it. We are under the +courtyard here." + +Sabina's slight shoulders shuddered a little, for the first time, as +she realized that she was perhaps buried alive, far beyond the +possibility of being heard by any human being. + +"The water must have risen very soon after we came down," Malipieri +said thoughtfully. "That is why my man could not get to us. He could +not get into the well." + +"At all events he is not here," Sabina answered, "so it makes no +difference where he is." + +"He will try to help us from without. That is what I am thinking of. +The first thing to be done is to put out that lamp, for we must not +waste light. I had forgotten that." + +Sabina had not thought of it either, and she waited while he went down +again and brought the lamp up. He extinguished it at once and set it +down. + +"Only three ways are possible," he said, "and two are out of the +question. We cannot get up the old shaft above the well. It is of no +use to think of that. We cannot get down the overflow and out by the +drains because the water is pouring down there, and besides, the Tiber +must have risen with the rain." + +"Which is the third way?" + +"To break an opening through the wall in the highest part of the +passage. It may take a long time, for I have no idea how thick the +wall may be, and the passage is narrow. But we must try it, and +perhaps Masin will go to work nearly at the same spot, for he knows as +much about this place as I do, and we have often talked about it. I +have some tools down here. Will you come? We must not waste time." + +"I can hold the lantern," said Sabina. "That may be of some use." + +Malipieri gave her the lantern and took up the crowbar and pickaxe +which lay near the hole in the vault. + +"You will wet your feet, I am afraid," he said, as they went up the +passage, and he was obliged to speak in a louder tone to be heard +above the steady roar of the water. + +He had marked the spot where he had expected that a breach would have +to be made to admit visitors conveniently, and he had no trouble in +finding it. He set the stones he had taken off the boards in a proper +position, laid one of the wet boards upon them, and then took off his +coat and folded it for a cushion, more or less dry. He made Sabina sit +down with the lantern, though she protested. + +"I cannot work with my coat on," he answered, "so you may as well sit +on it." + +He set to work, and said no more. The first thing to be done was to +sound the thickness of the wall, if possible, by making a small hole +through the bricks. If this could be done, and if Masin was on the +other side, a communication could be established. He knew well enough +that even with help from without, many hours might be necessary in +order to make a way big enough for Sabina to get out; it was most +important to make an opening through which food could be passed in for +her. He had to begin by using his pick-axe because the passage was so +narrow that he could not get his crowbar across it, much less use it +with any effect. It was very slow work at first, but he did it +systematically and with steady energy. + +Sabina watched him in silence for a long time, vaguely wondering when +he would be tired and would be obliged to stop and rest. Somehow, it +was impossible to feel that the situation was really horrible, while +such a man was toiling before her eyes to set her free. From the +first, she was perfectly sure that he would succeed, but she had not +at all understood what the actual labour must be. + +He had used his pickaxe for more than half an hour, and had made a +hollow about a foot and a half deep, when he rested on the shaft of +the tool, and listened attentively. If the wall were not enormously +thick, and if any one were working on the other side, he was sure that +he could hear the blows, even above the roar of the water. But he +could distinguish no sound. + +The water came in steadily from the full well, a stream filling the +passage beyond the dark chasm into which it was falling, and at least +six inches deep. It sent back the light of the lantern in broken +reflections and shivered gleams. Sabina did not like to look that way. + +She was cold, now, and she felt that her clothes were damp, and a +strange drowsiness came over her, brought on by the monotonous tone of +the water. Malipieri had taken up his crowbar. + +"I wonder what time it is," Sabina said, before he struck the wall +again. + +He looked at his watch. + +"It is six o'clock," he answered, trying to speak cheerfully. "It is +not at all late yet. Are you hungry?" + +"Oh, no! We never dine till eight." + +"But you are cold?" + +"A little. It is no matter." + +"If you will get up I will put my waistcoat on the board for you to +sit upon, and then you can put my coat over your shoulders. I am too +hot." + +"Thank you." + +She obeyed, and he made her as comfortable as he could, a forlorn +little figure in her fawn-coloured hat, wrapped in his grey tweed +coat, that looked utterly shapeless on her. + +"Courage," he said, as he picked up his crowbar. + +"I am not afraid," she answered. + +"Most women would be." + +He went to work again, with the end of the heavy bar, striking +regularly at the deepest part of the hollow, and working the iron +round and round, to loosen the brick wherever that was possible. But +he made slow progress, horribly slow, as Sabina realized when nearly +half an hour had passed again, and he paused to listen. He was much +more alarmed than he would allow her to guess, for he was now quite +convinced that Masin was not working on the other side; he knew that +his strength would never be equal to breaking through, unless the +crowbar ran suddenly into an open space beyond, within the next half- +hour. The wall might be of any thickness, perhaps as much as six or +seven feet, and the bricks were very hard and were well cemented. +Perhaps, too, he had made a mistake in his rough calculations and was +not working at the right spot after all. He was possibly hammering +away at the end of a cross wall, following it in its length. That risk +had to be taken, however, for there was at least as good a chance of +breaking through at this point as at any other. He believed that by +resting now and then for a short time, he could use his tools for +sixteen or eighteen hours, after which, if he were without food, his +strength would begin to give way. There was nothing to be done but to +go on patiently, doing his best not to waste time, and yet not +overtaxing his energy so as to break down before he had done the +utmost possible. + +He would not think of what must come after that, if he failed, and if +the water did not subside. + +Sabina understood very imperfectly what had happened, and there had +been no time to explain. He could not work and yet talk to her so as +to be heard above the roaring of the water and the noise of the iron +bar striking against the bricks. She knew that, and she expected +nothing of him beyond what he was doing, which was all a man could do. + +She drew his coat closely round her and leaned back against the damp +wall; and with half-closed eyes she watched the moving shadows of his +arms cast on the wall opposite by the lantern. He worked as steadily +as a machine, except when he withdrew the bar for a moment, in order +to clear out the broken brick and mortar with his hand; then again the +bar struck the solid stuff, and recoiled in his grasp and struck +again, regularly as the swinging of a pendulum. + +But no echo came back from an emptiness beyond. Ignorant as Sabina was +of all such things, her instinct told her that the masonry was +enormously thick; and yet her faith in him made him sure that he had +chosen the only spot where there was a chance at all. + +Sometimes she almost forgot the danger for a little while. It pleased +her to watch him, and to follow the rhythmic movements of his strong +and graceful body. It is a good sight to see an athletic man exerting +every nerve and muscle wisely and skilfully in a very long-continued +effort; and the woman who has seen a man do that to save her own life +is not likely to forget it. + +And then, again, the drowsiness came over her, and she was almost +asleep, and woke with a shiver, feeling cold. He had given her his +watch to hold, when he had made her sit on his waistcoat, and she had +squeezed it under her glove into the palm of her hand. It was a plain +silver watch with no chain. She got it out and looked at it. + +Eight o'clock, now. The time had passed quickly, and she must have +really been asleep. The Baron and his wife were just going to sit down +to dinner, unless her disappearance had produced confusion in the +house. But they would not be frightened, though they might be angry. +The servants would have told them that Signor Sassi, whose card was +there to prove his coming, had asked for Donna Sabina, and that she +had gone out with him in a cab, dressed for walking. Signor Sassi was +a highly respectable person, and though it might be a little +eccentric, according to the Baroness's view, for Sabina to go out with +him in a cab, especially in the afternoon, there could really be no +great harm in it. The Baroness would be angry because she had stayed +out so late. The Baroness would be much angrier by and by, when she +knew what had really happened, and it must all be known, of course. +When Sassi was sure that Masin could not get the two out of the vault +himself, or with such ordinary help as he could procure, he would have +to go to the Baron, who would instantly inform the authorities, and +bring an engineer and a crowd of masons to break a way. There was some +comfort in that, after all. It was quite impossible that she and +Malipieri should be left to starve to death. + +Besides, she was not at all hungry, though it was dinner time. She was +only cold and sleepy. She wished she could take the crowbar from +Malipieri's hands and use it for a few minutes, just to warm herself. +He had said that he was too hot, and by the uncertain light she +fancied she could see a little moisture on his white forehead. + +She was right in that, for he was growing tired and knew that before +long he must rest for at least a quarter of an hour. The hole was now +three feet deep or more, yet no hollow sound came back from, the blows +he dealt. His arms were beginning to ache, and he began to count the +strokes. He would strike a hundred more, and then he would rest. He +kept up the effort steadily to the end, and then laid down the bar and +passed his handkerchief over his forehead. Sabina watched him and +looked up into his face when he turned to her. + +"You are tired," she said, rising and standing beside him, so as to +speak more easily. + +"I shall be quite rested in a few minutes," he answered, "and then I +will go on." + +"You must be very strong," said Sabina. + +Then she told him what she had been thinking of, and how it was +certain that the Baron would bring a large force of men to set them +free. Malipieri listened to the end, and nodded thoughtfully. She was +right, supposing that nothing had happened to Sassi and Masin; but he +knew his own man, and judged that he must have made some desperate +attempt to stop the inflowing water in the outer chamber, and it was +not impossible that poor old Sassi, in his devotion to Sabina, had +made a mad effort to help Masin, and that they had both lost their +lives together. If that had happened, there was no one to tell +Volterra where Sabina was. Enquiries at Sassi's house would be +useless; all that could be known would be that he had gone out between +four and five o'clock, that he had called at the house in the Via +Ludovisi, and that he and Sabina had driven away together. No doubt, +in time, the police could find the cab they had taken, and the cabman +would remember that they had paid him at the Palazzo Conti. But all +that would take a long time. The porter knew nothing of their coming, +and being used to Malipieri's ways would not think of ringing at his +door. In time Toto would doubtless break out, but he had not seen +Sabina, for Malipieri had been very careful to make her walk close to +the wall. He did not tell Sabina these things, as it was better that +she should look forward to being set free in a few hours, but he had +very grave doubts about the likelihood of any such good fortune. + +"You must sit down," said Sabina. "You cannot rest unless you sit +down. I will stand for a while." + +"There is room for us both," Malipieri answered. + +They sat down side by side on the board with the lantern at their +feet, and they were very close together, + +"But you will catch cold, now that you have stopped, working," Sabina +said suddenly. "How stupid of me!" + +As she spoke she pulled his coat off her shoulders, and tried to throw +it over his, but he resisted, saying that he could not possibly have +time to catch cold, if he went back to work in a few minutes. Yet he +already felt the horrible dampness that came up out of the overflow +shaft and settled on everything in glistening beads. It only made him +understand how cold she must be, after sitting idle for two hours. + +"Do you think we shall get out to-night?" Sabina asked suddenly, with +the coat in her hand. + +"I hope so," he answered. + +She stood up, and looked at the cavity he had made in the wall. + +"Where will that lead to?" she enquired. + +He had risen, too. + +"It ought to lead into the coach-house, so far as I can judge." + +Instinctively, he went forward to examine the hole, and at that moment +Sabina cleverly threw the coat over his shoulders and held it round +his neck with both her hands. + +"There!" she cried. "You are caught now!" And she laughed as lightly +as if there were no such thing as danger. + +Malipieri wondered whether she realized the gravity of the situation, +or whether she were only pretending to be gay in order to make it +easier for him. In either case she was perfectly brave. + +"You must not!" he answered, gently trying to free himself. "You need +it more than I." + +"I wonder if it is big enough to cover us both," Sabina said, as the +idea struck her. "Come! Sit down beside me and we will try." + +He smiled and sat down beside her, and they managed to hold the coat +so that it just covered their shoulders. + +"Paul and Virginia," said Malipieri, and they both laughed a little. + +But as their laughter died away, Sabina's teeth chattered, and she +drew in her breath. At the slight sound Malipieri looked anxiously +into her face, and saw that her lips were blue. + +"This is folly," he said. "You will fall ill if you stay here any +longer. It is quite dry in the vault, and warm by comparison with this +place. You must go down there, while I stay here and work." + +He got up, and in spite of a little resistance he made her put her +arms into the sleeves of the coat, and turned the cuffs back, and +fastened the buttons. She was shivering from head to foot. + +"What a miserable little thing I am!" she cried impatiently. + +"You are not a miserable little thing, and you are much braver than +most men," said Malipieri. "But it will be of very little use to get +you out of the vault alive if you are to die of a fever in a day or +two." + +She said nothing and he led her carefully down the inclined passage +and the steps, away from the gloomy overflow, and the roaring water +and the fearful dampness. He helped her down into the vault very +gently, over the glittering chest of the great imperial statue. The +air felt warm and dry, now that she was so badly chilled, and her lips +looked a little less blue. + +"I will light the lamp, and turn it very low," said Malipieri. + +"I am not afraid of the dark," Sabina answered. "You said that we must +not waste our light." + +"Shall you really not be nervous?" Malipieri supposed that all women +were afraid to be in the dark alone. + +"Of course not. Why should I? There are no spiders, and I do not +believe in ghosts. Besides, I shall hear you hammering at the wall." + +"You had better sit on the body of the Venus. I think the marble is +warmer than the bronze. But there is the board--I forgot. Wait a +minute." + +He was not gone long, and came back bringing the board and his +waistcoat. To his surprise, he found her sitting on the ground, +propping herself with one hand. + +"I felt a little dizzy in the dark," she explained, "so I sat down, +for fear of falling." + +He glanced at her face, and his own was grave, as he placed the board +on the ground, and laid the waistcoat over the curving waist of the +Aphrodite, so that she could lean against it. She got up quickly when +it was ready and seated herself, drawing up her knees and pulling her +skirt closely round her damp shoes to keep her feet warm, if possible. +He set the lamp beside her and gave her a little silver box of +matches, so that she could get a light if she felt nervous. He looked +at her face thoughtfully as he stood with his lantern in his hand, +ready to go. + +"But you have nothing to put on, if you have to rest again!" she said, +rather feebly. + +"I will come and rest here, about once an hour," he answered. + +Her face brightened a little, and she nodded, looking up into his +eyes. + +"Yes. Come and rest beside me," she said. + +He went away, climbing over the statue and out through the hole in the +vault. Just before he disappeared, he held up his lantern and looked +towards her. She was watching him. + +"Good-night," he said. "Try to sleep a little." + +"Come back soon," she answered faintly, and smiled. + +Presently he was at work again, steadily driving the bar against the +hard bricks, steadily chipping away a little at a time, steadily +making progress against the enormous obstacle. The only question was +whether his strength would last, for if he had been able to get food, +it would have been merely a matter of time. A crowbar does not wear +down much on bricks. + +At first, perfectly mechanical work helps a man to think, as walking +generally does; but little by little it dulls the faculties and makes +thought almost impossible. Senseless words begin to repeat themselves +with the movement, fragments of tunes fit themselves to the words, and +play a monotonous and exasperating music in the brain, till a man has +the sensation of having a hurdy-gurdy in his head, though he may be +working for his life, as Malipieri was. Yet the unchanging repetition +makes the work easier, as a sailor's chanty helps at the topsail +halliards. + +"We must get out before we starve, we must get out before we starve," +sang the regular blows of the bar to a queer little tune which +Malipieri had never heard. + +When he stopped to clear out the chips, the song stopped too, and he +thought of Sabina sitting alone in the vault, propped against the +Aphrodite; and he hoped that she might be asleep. But when he swung +the bar back into position and heard it strike the bricks, the tune +and the words came back with the pendulum rhythm; and went on and on, +till they were almost maddening, though there no longer seemed to be +any sense in them. They made the time pass. + +Sabina heard the dull blows, too, though not very loud. It was a +comfort to hear anything in the total darkness, and she tried to amuse +herself by counting the strokes up to a hundred and then checking the +hundreds by turning in one finger after another. It would be something +to tell him when he came back. She wondered whether there would be a +thousand, and then, as she was wondering, she lost the count, and by +way of a change she tried to reckon how many seconds there were in an +hour. But she got into trouble with the ciphers when she tried to +multiply sixty by sixty in her head, and she began counting the +strokes again. They always stopped for a few seconds somewhere between +thirty and forty. + +She wished he would come back soon, for she was beginning to feel very +cold again, so cold that presently she got upon her feet and walked a +dozen steps, feeling her way along the great bronze statue. It was +better than sitting still. She had heard of prisoners who had kept +themselves sane in a dark dungeon by throwing away a few pins they +had, and finding them again. It was a famous prisoner who did that. It +was the prisoner of Quillon--no, "quillon" had something to do with a +sword--no, it was Chillon. Then she felt dizzy again, and steadied +herself against the statue, and presently groped her way back to her +seat. She almost fell, when she sat down, but saved herself and at +last succeeded in getting to her original position. It was not that +she was faint from hunger yet; her dizziness was probably the result +of cold and weariness and discomfort, and most of all, of the +unaccustomed darkness. + +She was ashamed of being so weak, when she listened to the steady +strokes, far off, and thought of the strength and endurance it must +need to do what Malipieri seemed to be doing so easily. But she was +very cold indeed, chilled to the bone and shivering, and she could not +think of any way of getting warm. She rose again, and struck one of +the matches he had given her, and by its feeble light she walked a few +seconds without feeling dizzy, and then sat down just as the little +taper was going to burn her fingers. + +A few minutes later she heard footsteps overhead, and saw a faint +light through the hole. He was coming at last, and she smiled happily +before she saw him. + +He came down and asked how she was, and he sat on the Aphrodite beside +her. + +"If I could only get warm!" she answered. + +"Perhaps you can warm your hands a little on the sides of the +lantern," he said. + +She tried that and felt a momentary sensation of comfort, and asked +him what progress he was making. + +"Very slow," he replied. "I cannot hear the least sound from the other +side yet. Masin is not there." + +She did not expect any other answer, and said nothing, as she sat +shivering beside him. + +"You are very brave," he said presently. + +A long pause followed. She had bent her head low, so that her face +almost touched her knees. + +"Signor Malipieri--" she began, at last, in rather a trembling tone. + +"Yes? What is it?" He bent down to her, but she did not look up. + +"I--I--hardly know how to say it," she faltered. "Shall you think +very, very badly of me if I ask you to do something--something that--" +She stopped. + +"There is nothing in heaven or earth I will not do for you," he +answered. "And I shall certainly not think anything very dreadful." He +tried to speak cheerfully. + +"I think I shall die of the cold," she said. "There might be a way--" + +"Yes? Anything!" + +Then she spoke very low. + +"Do you think you could just put your arms round me for a minute or +two?" she asked. + +Piteously cold though she was, the blood rushed to her face as she +uttered the words; but Malipieri felt it in his throat and eyes. + +"Certainly," he answered, as if she had asked the most natural thing +in the world. "Sit upon my knees, and I will hold my arms round you, +till you are warm." + +He settled himself on the marble limbs of the Aphrodite, and the frail +young girl seated herself on his knees, and nestled to him for warmth, +while he held her close to him, covering her with his arms as much as +he could. They went quite round her, one above the other, and she hid +her face against his shoulder. He could feel her trembling with the +cold like a leaf, under the coat he had made her put on. + +Suddenly she started a little, but not as if she wished to go; it was +more like a sob than anything else. + +"What is the matter?" he asked, steadying his voice with difficulty. + +"I am so ashamed of myself!" she answered, and she buried her face +against his shoulder again. + +"There is nothing to be ashamed of," he said gently. "Are you a little +warmer now?" + +"Oh, much, much! Let me stay just a little longer." + +"As long as you will," he answered, pressing her to him quietly. + +He wondered if she could hear his heart, which was beating like a +hammer, and whether she noticed anything strange in his voice. If she +did, she would not understand. She was only a child after all. He told +himself that he was old enough to be her father, though he was not; he +tried not to think of her at all. But that was of no use. He would +have given his body, his freedom, his soul and the life to come, to +kiss her as she lay helpless in his arms; he would have given anything +the world held, or heaven, if it had been his; anything, except his +honour. But that he would not give. His heart might beat itself to +pieces, his brain might whirl, the little fires might flash furiously +in his closed eyes, his throat might be as parched as the rich man's +in hell--she had trusted herself to him like a child, in sheer despair +and misery, and safe as a child she should lie on his breast. She +should die there, if they were to die. + +"I am warm now," she said at last, "really quite warm again, if you +want to go back." + +He did not wonder. He felt as if he were on fire from his head to his +feet. At her words he relaxed his arms at once, and she stood up. + +"You are so good to me," she said, with an impulse of gratitude for +safety which she herself did not understand. "What makes you so good +to me?" + +He shook his head, as if he could not answer then, and smiled a little +sadly. + +"Now that you are warm, I must not lose time," he said, a moment +later, taking up his lantern. + +She sat down in her old place, and gathered her skirt to her feet and +watched him as he climbed out and the last rays of light disappeared. +Then the pounding at the wall began again, far off, and she tried to +count the strokes, as she had done before; but she wished him back, +and whether she felt cold or not, she wished herself again quietly +folded in his arms, and though she was alone and it was quite dark she +blushed at the thought. It seemed to her that the blows were struck in +quicker succession now than before. Was he willing to tire himself out +a little sooner, so as to earn the right to come back to her? + +That was not it. He was growing desperate, and could not control the +speed of his hands so perfectly as before. The night was advancing, he +knew, though he had not looked at the watch, which was still in +Sabina's glove. It was growing late, and he could distinguish no sound +but that of the blows he struck at the bricks and the steady roar of +the water. The conviction grew on him that Masin was drowned, and +perhaps old Sassi too, and that their bodies lay at the bottom of the +outer chamber, between the well and the wall of the cellar. If Masin +had been able to get into the well, before the water was too high, he +would have risen with it, for he was a good swimmer. + +So was Malipieri, and more than once he thought of making an attempt +to reach the widened slit in the wall by diving. That he could find +the opening he was sure, but he was almost equally sure that he could +never get through it alive and up to the surface on the other side. If +he were drowned too, Sabina would be left to die alone, or perhaps to +go mad with horror before she was found. He had heard of such things. + +It was no wonder that he unconsciously struck faster as he worked, and +at first he felt himself stronger than before, as men do when they are +almost despairing. The sweat stood out on his forehead, and his hands +tingled, when he drew back the iron to clear away the chips. He worked +harder and harder. + +The queer little tune did not ring in his head now, for he could think +of nothing but Sabina and of what was to become of her, even if he +succeeded in saving her life. It was almost impossible that such a +strange adventure should remain a secret, and, being once known, the +injury to the girl might be irreparable. He hated himself for having +brought her to the place. Yet, as he thought it over, he knew that he +would have done it again. + +It had seemed perfectly safe. Any one could have seen that the water +had not risen in the well for many years. Day after day, for a long +time, he and Masin had worked in the vaults in perfect safety. The way +to the statues had been made so easy that only a timid old man like +Sassi could have found it impassable. There had been absolutely no +cause to fear that after fifty or sixty years the course of the water +should be affected, and the chances against such an accident happening +during that single hour of Sabina's visit were as many millions to +one. His motive in bringing her had been quixotic, no doubt, but good +and just, and so far as Sabina's reputation was concerned, Sassi's +presence had constituted a sufficient social protection. + +He hammered away at the bricks furiously, and the cavity grew deeper +and wider. Surely he had made a mistake at first in wishing to husband +his strength too carefully. If he had worked from the beginning as he +was working now, he would have made the breach by this time. + +Unless that were impossible; unless, after all, he had struck the end +of a cross wall and was working through the length of it instead of +through its thickness. The fear of such a misfortune took possession +of him, and he laid down his crowbar to examine the wall carefully. +There was one way of finding out the truth, if he could only get light +enough; no mason that ever lived would lay his bricks in any way +except lengthwise along each course. If he had struck into a cross +wall, he must be demolishing the bricks from their ends instead of +across them, and he could find out which way they lay at the end of +the cavity, if he could make the light of the lantern shine in as far +as that. The depth was more than five feet now, and his experience +told him that even in the construction of a mediaeval palace the walls +above the level of the ground were very rarely as thick as that, when +built of good brick and cement like this one. + +When he took up his lantern, he was amazed at what he had done in less +than four hours; if he had been told that an ordinary man had +accomplished anything approaching to it in that time, he would have +been incredulous. He had hardly realized that he had made a hole big +enough for him to work in, kneeling on one knee, and bracing himself +with the other foot. + +But the end was narrow, of course, and when he held the light before +it, he could not see past the body of the lantern. He opened the +latter, took out the little oil lamp carefully and thrust it into the +hole. He could see now, as he carefully examined the bricks; and he +was easily convinced that he had not entered a cross wall. +Nevertheless, when he had been working with the bar, he had not +detected any change in the sound, as he thought he must have done, if +he had been near the further side. Was the wall ten feet thick? He +looked again. It was not a vaulting, that was clear; and it could not +be anything but a wall. There was some comfort in that. He drew back a +little, put the lamp into the lantern again and got out backwards. The +passage was bright; he looked up quickly and started. + +Sabina was standing beside him, holding the large lamp. Her big hat +had fallen back and her hair made a fair cloud between it and her +white face. + +"I thought something had happened to you," she said, "so I brought the +lamp. You stopped working for such a long time," she explained, "I +thought you must have hurt yourself, or fainted." + +"No," answered Malipieri. "There is nothing the matter with me. I was +looking at the bricks." + +"You must need rest, for it is past ten o'clock. I looked at the +watch." + +"I will rest when I get through the wall. There is no time to be lost. +Are you very hungry?" + +"No. I am a little thirsty." She looked at the black water, pouring +down the overflow shaft. + +"That water is not good to drink," said Malipieri, thinking of what +was at the bottom of the well. "We had better not drink it unless we +are absolutely forced to. I hope to get you out in two hours." + +He stood leaning on his crowbar, his dark hair covered with dust, his +white shirt damp and clinging to him, and all stained from rubbing +against the broken masonry. + +"It would be better to rest for a few minutes," she said, not moving. + +He knew she was right, but he went with her reluctantly, and presently +he was sitting beside her on the marble limbs of the Aphrodite. She +turned her face to him a little shyly, and then looked away again. + +"Were ever two human beings in such a situation before!" + +"Everything has happened before," Malipieri answered. "There is +nothing new." + +"Does it hurt very much to die of starvation?" Sabina asked after a +little pause. + +"Not if one has plenty of water. It is thirst that drives people mad. +Hunger makes one weak, that is all." + +"And cold, I am sure." + +"Very cold." + +They were both silent. She looked steadily at the gleaming bronze +statue before her, and Malipieri looked down at his hands. + +"How long does it take to starve to death?" she asked at last. + +"Strong men may live two or three weeks if they have water." + +"I should not live many days," Sabina said thoughtfully. "It would be +awful for you to be living on here, with me lying dead." + +"Horrible. Do not think about it. We shall get out before morning." + +"I am afraid not," she said quietly. "I am afraid we are going to die +here." + +"Not if I can help it," answered Malipieri. + +"No. Of course not. I know you will do everything possible, and I am +sure that if you could save me by losing your life, you would. Yes. +But if you cannot break through the wall, there is nothing to be +done." + +"The water may go down to-morrow. It is almost sure to go down before +long. Then we can get out by the way we came in." + +"It will not go down. I am sure it will not." + +"It is too soon to lose courage," Malipieri said. + +"I am not frightened. It will not be hard to die, if it does not hurt. +It will be much harder for you, because you are so strong. You will +live a long time." + +"Not unless I can save you," he answered, rising. "I am going back to +work. It will be time enough to talk about death when my strength is +all gone." + +He spoke almost roughly, partly because for one moment she had made +him feel a sort of sudden dread that she might be right, partly to +make her think that he thought the supposition sheer nonsense. + +"Are you angry?" she asked, like a child. + +"No!" He made an effort and laughed almost cheerfully. "But you had +better think about what you should like for supper in two or three +hours! It is hardly worth while to put out that lamp," he added. "It +will burn nearly twelve hours, for it is big, and it was quite full. +There is a great deal of heat in it, too." + +He went away again. But when he was gone, she drew the lamp over to +her without leaving her seat, and put it out. She was very tired and a +little faint, and by and by the distant sound of the crowbar brought +back the drowsiness she had felt before, and leaning her head against +the Aphrodite's curving waist, she lost consciousness. + +He worked a good hour or more without result, came down to her, and +found her in a deep sleep. As he noiselessly left her, he wondered how +many men could have slept peacefully in such a case as hers. + +Once more he took the heavy bar, and toiled on, but he felt that his +strength was failing fast for want of food. He had eaten nothing since +midday, and had not even drunk water, and in six hours he had done as +much hard work as two ordinary workmen could have accomplished in a +day. With a certain amount of rest, he could still go on, but a +quarter of an hour would no longer be enough. He was very thirsty, +too, but though he might have drunk his fill from the hollow of his +hand, he could not yet bring himself to taste the water. He was afraid +that he might be driven to it before long, but he would resist as long +as he could. + +Every stroke was an effort now, as he struggled on blindly, not only +against the material obstacle, but against the growing terror that was +taking possession of him, the hideous probability of having worked in +vain after all, and the still worse certainty of what the end must be +if he really failed. + +Effort after effort, stroke after stroke, though each seemed +impossible after the last. He could not fail, and let that poor girl +die, unless he could die first, of sheer exhaustion. + +If he were to stop now, it might be hours before he could go on again, +and then he would be already weakened by hunger. There was nothing to +be done but to keep at it, to strike and strike, with such half- +frantic energy as was left in him. Every bone and sinew ached, and his +breath came short, while the sweat ran down into his short beard, and +fell in rain on his dusty hands. + +But do what he would, the blows followed each other in slower +succession. He could not strike twenty more, not ten, not five +perhaps; he would not count them; he would cheat himself into doing +what could not be done; he would count backwards and forwards, one, +two, three, three, two, one, one, two-- + +And then, all at once, the tired sinews were braced like steel, and +his back straightened, and his breath came full and clear. The blow +had rung hollow. + +He could have yelled as he sent the great bar flying against the +bricks again and again, far in the shadow, and the echo rang back, +louder and louder, every time. + +The bar ran through and the end he held shot from his hands, as the +resistance failed at last, and half the iron went out on the other +side. He drew it back quickly and looked to see if there were any +light, but there was none. He did not care, for the rest would be +child's play compared with what he had done, and easier than play now +that he had the certainty of safety. + +The first thing to be done was to tell Sabina that the danger was +past. He crept back with his light and stood upright. It hurt him to +straighten himself, and he now knew how tremendous the labour had +been; the last furious minutes had been like the delirium of a fever. +But he was tough and used to every sort of fatigue, and hope had come +back; he forgot how thirsty he had been, and did not even glance +behind him at the water. + +Sabina was still asleep. He stood before her, and hesitated, for it +seemed cruel to wake her, even to tell her the good news. He would go +back and widen the breach, and when there was room to get out, he +could come and fetch her. She had put out the lamp. He lighted it +again quietly, and was going to place it where it could not shine in +her eyes and perhaps wake her, when he paused to look at her face. + +It was very still, and deadly pale, and her lips were blue. He could +not see that she was breathing, for his coat hung loosely over her +slender figure. She looked almost dead. Her gloved hands lay with the +palms upwards, the one in her lap, the other on the ground beside her. +He touched that one gently with the back of his own, and it seemed to +him that it was very cold, through the glove. + +He touched her cheek in the same way, and it felt like ice. It would +surely be better to wake her, and make her move about a little. He +spoke to her, at first softly, and then quite loud, but she made no +sign. Perhaps she was not asleep, but had fainted from weariness and +cold; he knelt beside her, and took her hand in both his own, chafing +it between them, but still she gave no sign. It was certainly a +fainting fit, and he knew that if a woman was pale when she fainted, +she should be laid down at full length, to make the blood return to +her head. Kneeling beside her, he lifted her carefully and placed her +on her back beside the Aphrodite, smoothing out his waistcoat under +her head, not for a pillow but for a little protection from the cold +ground. + +Then he hesitated, and remained some time kneeling beside her. She +needed warmth more than anything else; he knew that, and he knew that +the best way to warm her a little was to hold her in his arms. Yet he +would try something else first. + +He bent over her and undoing one of the buttons of the coat, he +breathed into it again and again, long, warm breaths. He did this for +a long time, and then looked at her face, but it had not changed. He +felt the ground with his hand, and it was cold; as long as she lay +there, she could never get warm. + +He lifted her again, still quite unconscious, and sat with her in his +arms, as he had done before, laying her head against the hollow of his +shoulder, and pressing her gently, trying to instil into her some of +his own strong life. + +At last she gave a little sigh and moved her head, nestling herself to +him, but it was long before she spoke. He felt the consciousness +coming back in her, and the inclination to move, rather than any real +motion in her delicate frame; the more perceptible breathing, and then +the little sigh came again, and at last the words. + +"I thought we were dead," she said, so low that he could barely hear. + +"No, you fainted," he answered. "We are safe. I have got the bar +through the wall." + +She turned up her face feebly, without lifting her head. + +"Really? Have you done it?" + +"Yes. In another hour, or a little more, the hole will be wide enough +for us to get through it." + +She hid her face again, and breathed quietly. + +"You do not seem glad," he said. + +"It seemed so easy to die like this," she answered. + +But presently she moved in his arms, and looked up again, and smiled, +though she did not try to speak again. He himself, almost worn out by +what he had done, was glad to sit still for a while. His blood was not +racing through him now, his head was not on fire. It seemed quite +natural that he should be sitting there, holding her close to him and +warming her back to life with his own warmth. + +It was a strange sensation, he thought afterwards, when many other +things had happened which were not long in following upon the events +of that night. He could not quite believe that he was almost stupid +with extreme fatigue, and yet he remembered that it had been more like +a calm dream than anything else, a dream of peace and rest. At the +time, it all seemed natural, as the strangest things do when one has +been face to face with death for a few hours, and when one is so tired +that one can hardly think at all. + + + + + +CHAPTER XV + + + + +There was less consternation in the Volterra household than might have +been expected when Sabina did not return before bedtime. The servants +knew that she had gone out with an old gentleman, a certain Signor +Sassi, at about five o'clock, but until Volterra came in, the Baroness +could not find out who Sassi was, and she insisted on searching every +corner of the house, as if she were in quest of his biography, for the +servants assured her that Sabina was still out, and they certainly +knew. She carefully examined Sabina's room too, looking for a note, a +line of writing, anything to explain the girl's unexpected absence. + +She could find nothing except the short letter from Sabina's mother to +which reference has been made, and she read it over several times. +Sabina received no letters, and had been living in something like +total isolation. The Baroness had reached a certain degree of intimacy +with her beloved aristocracy; but though she occasionally dropped in +upon it, and was fairly well received, it rarely, if ever, dropped in +upon her. It showed itself quite willing, however, to accept a formal +invitation to a good dinner at her house. + +She telephoned to the Senate and to a club, but Volterra could not be +found. Then she went to dress, giving orders that Sabina was to be +sent to her the moment she came in. She was very angry, and her sallow +face was drawn into severe angles; she scolded her maid for +everything, and rustled whenever she moved. + +At last the Baron came home, and she learned who Sassi was. Volterra +was very much surprised, but said that Sassi must have come for Sabina +in connection with some urgent family matter. Perhaps some one of her +family had died suddenly, or was dying. It was very thoughtless of +Sabina not to leave a word of explanation, but Sassi was an eminently +respectable person, and she was quite safe with him. + +The Baron ate his dinner, and repeated the substance of this to his +wife before the servants, whose good opinion they valued. Probably +Donna Clementina, the nun, was very ill, and Sabina was at the +convent. No, Sabina did not love her sister, of course; but one always +went to see one's relations when they were dying, in order to forgive +them their disagreeable conduct; all Romans did that, said the +Baroness, and it was very proper. By and by a note could be sent to +the convent, or the carriage could go there to bring Sabina back. But +the Baron did not order the carriage, and became very thoughtful over +his coffee and his Havana. Sabina had been gone more than four hours, +and that was certainly a longer time than could be necessary for +visiting a dying relative. He said so. + +"Perhaps," suggested his wife, "it is the Prince who is ill, and +Signor Sassi has taken Sabina to the country to see her brother." + +"No," answered the Baron after a moment's thought. "That family is +eccentric, but the girl would not have gone to the country without a +bag." + +"There is something in that," answered the Baroness, and they relapsed +into silence. + +Yet she was not satisfied, for, as her husband said, the Conti were +all eccentric. Nevertheless, Sabina would at least have telegraphed, +or sent a line from the station, or Sassi would have done it for her, +for he was a man of business. + +After a long time, the Baroness suggested that if her husband knew +Sassi's address, some one should be sent to his house to find out if +he had gone out of town. + +"I have not the least idea where he lives," the Baron said. "As long +as I had any business with him, I addressed him at the palace." + +"The porter may know," observed the Baroness. + +"The porter is an idiot," retorted the Baron, puffing at his cigar. + +His wife knew what that meant, and did not enquire why an idiot was +left in charge of the palace. Volterra did not intend to take that way +of making enquiries about Sabina, if he made any at all, and the +Baroness knew that when he did not mean to do a thing, the obstinacy +of a Calabrian mule was docility compared with his dogged opposition. +Moreover, she would not have dared to do it unknown to him. There was +some good reason why he did not intend to look for Sassi. + +"Besides," he condescended to say after a long time, "she is quite +safe with that old man, wherever they are." + +"Society might not think so, my dear," answered the Baroness in mild +protest. + +"Society had better mind its business, and let us take care of ours." + +"Yes, my dear, yes, of course!" + +She did not agree with him at all. Her ideal of a happy life was quite +different, for she was very much pleased when society took a lively +interest in her doings, and nothing interested her more than the +doings of society. She presently ventured to argue the case. + +"Yes, of course," she repeated, by way of preliminary conciliation. "I +was only wondering what people will think, if anything happens to the +girl while she is under our charge." + +"What can happen to her?" + +"There might be some talk about her going out in this way. The +servants know it, you see, and she is evidently not coming home this +evening. They know that she went out without leaving any message, and +they must think it strange." + +"I agree with you." + +"Well, then, there will be some story about her. Do you see what I +mean?" + +"Perfectly. But that will not affect us in the least. Every one knows +what strange people the Conti are, and everybody knows that we are +perfectly respectable. If there is a word said about the girl's +character, you will put her into the carriage, my dear, and deposit +her at the convent under the charge of her sister. Everybody will say +that you have done right, and the matter will be settled." + +"You would not really send her to the convent!" + +"I will certainly not let her live under my roof, if she stays out all +night without giving a satisfactory account of herself." + +"But her mother--" + +"Her mother is no better than she should be," observed the Baron +virtuously, by way of answer. + +The Baroness was very much disturbed. She had been delighted to be +looked upon as a sort of providence to the distressed great, and had +looked forward to the social importance of being regarded as a second +mother to Donna Sabina Conti. She had hoped to make a good match for +her, and to shine at the wedding; she had dreamed of marrying the girl +to Malipieri, who was such a fine fellow, and would be so rich some +day that he might be trapped into taking a wife without a dowry. + +These castles in the air were all knocked to pieces by the Baron's +evident determination to get rid of Sabina. + +"I thought you liked the girl," said the Baroness in a tone of +disappointment. + +Volterra stuck out both his feet and crossed his hands on his stomach, +after his manner, smoking vigorously. Then, with his cigar in one +corner of his mouth, he laughed out of the other, and assumed a +playful expression. + +"I do not like anybody but you, my darling," he said, looking at the +ceiling. "Nobody in the whole wide world! You are the deposited +security. All the other people are the floating circulation." + +He seemed pleased with this extraordinary view of mankind, and the +Baroness smiled at her faithful husband. She rarely understood what he +was doing, and hardly ever guessed what he meant to do, but she was +absolutely certain of his conjugal fidelity, and he gave her +everything she wanted. + +"The other people," he said, "are just notes, and nothing else. When a +note is damaged or worn out, you can always get a new one at the bank, +in exchange for it. Do you understand?" + +"Yes, my dear. That is very clever." + +"It is very true," said the Baron. "The Conti family consists chiefly +of damaged notes." + +He had not moved his cigar from the corner of his mouth to speak. + +"Yes, my dear," answered the Baroness meekly, and when she thought of +her last interview with the dowager Princess, she was obliged to admit +the fitness of the simile. + +"The only one of them at all fit to remain in circulation," he +continued, "was this girl. If she stays out all night she will be +distinctly damaged, too. Then you will have to pass her off to some +one else, as one does, you know, when a note is doubtful." + +"The cook can generally change them," observed the Baroness +irrelevantly. + +"I do not think she is coming home," said the Baron, much more to the +point. "I hope she will! After all, if she does not, you yourself say +that she is quite safe with this Signor Sassi--" + +"I did not say that she would be safe from gossip afterwards, did I?" + +It was perfectly clear by this time that he wished Sabina to leave the +house as soon as possible, and that he would take the first +opportunity of obliging her to do so. Even if his wife had dared to +interfere, it would have been quite useless, for she knew him to be +capable of hinting to the girl herself that she was no longer welcome. +Sabina was very proud, and she would not stay under the roof an hour +after that. + +"I did not suggest that you should bring her here," Volterra continued +presently. "Please remember that. I simply did not object to her +coming. That was all the share I had in it. In any case I should have +wished her to leave us before we go away for the summer." + +"I had not understood that," answered the Baroness resignedly. "I had +hoped that she might come with us." + +"She has settled the matter for herself, my dear. After this +extraordinary performance, I must really decline to be responsible for +her any longer." + +It was characteristic of his methods that when he had begun to talk +over the matter before dinner, she had not been able to guess at all +how he would ultimately look at it, and that he only let her know his +real intention by degrees. Possibly, he had only wished to gain time +to think it over. She did not know that he had asked Malipieri to +leave the Palazzo Conti, and if she had, it might not have occurred to +her that there was any connection between that and his desire to get +rid of Sabina. His ways were complicated, when they were not +unpleasantly direct, not to say brutal. + +But the Baroness was much more human, and had grown fond of the girl, +largely because she had no daughter of her own, and had always longed +to have one. Ambitious women, if they have the motherly instinct, +prefer daughters to sons. One cannot easily tell what a boy may do +when he grows up, but a girl can be made to do almost anything by her +own mother, or to marry almost any one. The Baroness's regret for +losing Sabina took the form of confiding to her husband what she had +hoped to do for the girl. + +"I am very sorry," she said, "but if you wish her to go, she must +leave us. Of late, I had been thinking that we might perhaps marry her +to that clever Malipieri." + +The Baron smiled thoughtfully, took his cigar from his lips at last, +and looked at his wife. + +"To Malipieri?" he asked, as if not quite understanding the +suggestion. + +"Yes, I am sure he would make her a very good husband. He evidently +admires her, too." + +"Possibly. I never thought of it. But she has no dowry. That is an +objection." + +"He will be rich some day. Is he poor now?" + +"No. Not at all." + +"And she certainly likes him very much. It would be a very good match +for her." + +"Admirable. But I do not think we need trouble ourselves with such +speculations, since she is going to leave us so soon." + +"I shall always take a friendly interest in her," said the Baroness, +"wherever she may be." + +"Very well, my dear," Volterra answered, dropping the end of his cigar +and preparing to rise. "That will be very charitable of you. But your +friendly interest can never marry her to Malipieri." + +"Perhaps not. But it might have been done, if she had not been so +foolish." + +"No," said the Baron, getting to his feet, "it never could have been +done." + +"Why not?" asked his wife, surprised by the decision of his tone. + +"Because there is a very good reason why Malipieri cannot marry her, +my dear." + +"A good reason?" + +"A very good reason. My dear, I am sleepy. I am going to bed." + +Volterra rang the bell by the fireplace, and a man appeared almost +instantly. + +"You may put out the lights," he said. "We are going to bed." + +"Shall any one sit up, in case Donna Sabina should come in, +Excellency?" asked the servant. + +"No." + +He went towards the door, and his wife followed him meekly. + + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + + + + +Sabina's strength revived in the warm night air, out in the courtyard, +under the stars, and the awful danger from which Malipieri had saved +her and himself looked unreal, after the first few moments of liberty. +She got his watch out of her glove where it had been so many hours, +and by the clear starlight they could see that it was nearly twenty +minutes past two o'clock. Malipieri had put out the lamp, and the +lantern had gone out for lack of oil, at the last moment. It was +important that Sabina should not be seen by the porter, in the very +unlikely event of his being up at that hour. + +They had not thought that it could be so late, for it was long since +Sabina had looked at the watch. The first thing that became clear to +Malipieri was that it would be out of the question for him to take her +home that night. The question was where else to take her. She was +exhausted, too, and needed food at once, and her clothes were wet from +the dampness. It would be almost a miracle if she did not fall ill, +even if she were well taken care of at once. + +There was only one thing to be done: she must go up to his apartment, +and have something to eat, and then she must rest. In the meantime +they would make some plan in order to explain her absence. + +The porter's wife might have been of some use, if she could have been +trusted with what must for ever remain a dead secret, namely, that +Sabina had spent the night in Malipieri's rooms; for that would be the +plain fact to-morrow morning. What had happened to Sassi and Masin was +a mystery, but it was inconceivable that either of them should have +been free to act during the past eight or nine hours and should have +made no effort to save the two persons to whom they were respectively +devoted as to no one else in the world. + +Exhausted though he was, Malipieri would have gone down into the +cellars at once to try and find some trace of them, if he had not felt +that Sabina must be cared for first; and moreover he was sure that if +he found them at all, he should find them both dead. + +All this had been clear to him before he had at last succeeded in +bringing her out into the open air. + +"There is no help for it," he whispered, "you must come upstairs. Do +you think you can walk so far?" + +"Of course I can!" she answered, straightening herself bravely. "I am +not at all tired." + +Nevertheless she gladly laid her hand on his aching arm, and they both +walked cautiously along the paved gutter that separated the wall from +the gravel, for their steps would have made much more noise on the +latter. All was quiet, and they reached Malipieri's door, by the help +of a wax light. He led her in, still carrying the match, and he shut +the door softly after him. + +"At least," Sabina said, "no one can hear us here." + +"Hush!" + +He suspected that Toto must have got out, but was not sure. After +lighting a candle, he led the way into his study, and made Sabina sit +down, while he went back. He returned in a few moments, having assured +himself that Toto had escaped by the window, and that Masin was not +in, and asleep. + +"Masin has disappeared," he said. "We can talk as much as we please, +while you have your supper." + +He had brought bread and wine and water, which he set before her, and +he went off again to find something else. She ate hungrily after +drinking a glass at a draught. He reappeared with the remains of some +cold meat and ham. + +"It is all I have," he explained, "but there is plenty of bread." + +"Nothing ever tasted so good," answered Sabina gravely. + +He sat down opposite to her and drank, and began to eat the bread. His +hands were grimy, and had bled here and there at the knuckles where +they had grazed the broken masonry. His face was streaked with dried +perspiration and dust, his collar was no longer a collar at all. + +As for Sabina, she had tried to take off the fawn-coloured hat, but it +had in some way become entangled with her unruly hair, and it was +hanging down her back. Otherwise, as she sat there her dress was not +visibly much the worse for the terrible adventure. Her skirt was torn +and soiled, indeed, but the table hid it, and the coat had kept the +body of her frock quite clean. She did not look much more dishevelled +than if she had been at a romping picnic in the country. + +Nor did she look at all ill, after the wine and the first mouthfuls of +food had brought all the warmth back to her. If anything, she was less +pale than usual now, her lips were red again, and there was light in +her eyes. There are little women who look as if they had no strength +at all, and seem often on the point of breaking down, but who could go +through a battle or a shipwreck almost without turning a hair, and +without much thought of their appearance either; nor are they by any +means generally the mildest and least reckless of their sex. + +The two ate in silence for several minutes, but they looked at each +other and smiled now and then, while they swallowed mouthful after +mouthful. + +"I wish I had counted the slices of bread I have eaten," said Sabina +at last. + +Malipieri laughed gaily. It did not seem possible that an hour or two +earlier they had been looking death in the face. But his laughter died +away suddenly, and he was very grave in a moment. + +"I do not know what to do now," he said. "We shall have to make the +Baroness believe that you have spent the night at Sassi's house. That +is the only place where you can possibly be supposed to have been. I +am not good at lying, I believe. Can you help me at all?" + +Sabina laughed. + +"That is a flattering way of putting it!" she answered. "It is true +that I was brought up to lie about everything, but I never liked it. +The others used to ask me why I would not, and whether I thought +myself better than they." + +"What are we to do?" + +"Suppose that we tell the truth," said Sabina, nibbling thoughtfully +at a last slice of bread. "It is much easier, you know." + +"Yes." + +Malipieri set his elbows on the table, leaned his bearded chin upon +his scarred knuckles and looked at her. He wondered whether in her +innocence she even faintly guessed what people would think of her, if +they knew that she had spent a night in his rooms. He had no +experience at all of young girls, and he wondered whether there were +many like Sabina. He thought it unlikely. + +"I believe in telling the truth, too," he said at last. "But when you +do, you must trust the person to whom it is told. Now the person in +this case will be the Baroness Volterra. I shall have to go and see +her in the morning, and tell her what has happened. Then, if she +believes me, she must come here in a cab and take you back. That will +be absolutely necessary. You need say nothing that I have not said, +and I shall say nothing that is not true." + +"That is the best way," said Sabina, who liked the simplicity of the +plan. + +Her voice sounded sleepy, and she suppressed a little yawn. + +"But suppose that she refuses to believe me," Malipieri continued, +without noticing her weariness, "what then?" + +"What else can she believe?" asked Sabina indifferently. + +Malipieri did not answer for a long time, and looked away, while he +thought over the very difficult situation. When he turned to her +again, he saw that she was resting her head in her hand and that her +eyes were closed. + +"You are sleepy," he said. + +She looked up, and smiled, hardly able to keep her eyes open. + +"So sleepy!" she answered slowly. "I cannot keep awake a moment +longer." + +"You must go to bed," he said, rising. + +"Yes--anywhere! Only let me sleep." + +"You will have to sleep in my room. Do you mind very much?" + +"Anywhere!" She hardly knew what she said, she hardly saw his face any +longer. + +He led the way with one of the lights, and she followed him with her +eyes half shut. + +"It seems to be in tolerably good order," he said, glancing round, and +setting down the candle. "The key is in the inside. Turn it, please, +when I am gone." + +The room was scrupulously neat. Malipieri shut the window carefully. +When he turned, he saw that she was sitting on the edge of the bed, +nodding with sleep. + +"Good-night," he said, in a low voice that was nevertheless harsh. +"Lock your door." + +"Good-night," she answered, with an effort. + +He did not look at her again as he went out and shut the door, and he +went quickly through the small room which divided the bedroom from the +study, and in which he kept most of his clothes. He was very wide +awake now, in spite of being tired, and he sat down in his armchair +and smoked for some time. Suddenly he noticed the state of his hands, +and he realized what his appearance must be. + +Without making any noise, though he was sure that Sabina was in a deep +sleep by this time, he went back through the first door and quietly +got a supply of clothes, and took them with him to Masin's room, and +washed there, and dressed himself as carefully as if he were going +out. Then he went back to his study and sat down wearily in his +armchair. Worn out at last, he was asleep in a few minutes, asleep as +men are after a battle, whether the fight has ended in victory or +defeat. Even the thought of Sabina did not keep him awake, and he +would not have thought of her at all as he sat down, if he could have +helped it. + +After such a night as they had passed it was not likely that they +should wake before ten o'clock on the following morning. + +But the porter was up early, as usual, with his broom, to sweep the +stairs and the paved entrance under the arch. When he had come back +from the errand on which Malipieri had sent him, it had been already +dusk. He had gone up and had rung the bell several times, but as no +one opened he had returned to his lodge. It was not unusual for +Malipieri and Masin to be both out at the same time, and he thought it +likely that they were in the vaults. He cursed them both quietly for +the trouble they had given him of mounting the stairs for nothing, and +went to his supper, and in due time to bed. + +He must go up again at eight o'clock, by which time Malipieri was +always dressed, and as it was now only seven o'clock he had plenty of +time to sweep. So he lit his pipe deliberately and took his broom, and +went out of his lodge. + +The first thing that met his eye was a dark stain on the stones, close +to the postern. He passed his broom over it, and saw that it was dry; +and it was red, but not like wine. Wine makes a purple stain on +stones. He stooped and scratched it with his thick thumbnail. It was +undoubtedly blood, and nothing else. Some one had been badly hurt +there, or being wounded had stood some moments on the spot to open the +door and get out. + +The old man leaned on his broom awhile, considering the matter, and +debating whether he should call his wife. His natural impulse was not +to do so, but to get a bucket of water and wash the place before she +could see it. The idea of going out and calling a policeman never +occurred to him, for he was a real Roman, and his first instinct was +to remove every trace of blood from the house in which he lived, +whether it had been shed by accident or in quarrel. On the other hand, +his wife might come out at any moment, to go to her work, and find him +washing the pavement, and she would of course suppose that he had +killed somebody or had helped to kill somebody during the night, and +would begin to scream, and call him an assassin, and there would be a +great noise, and much trouble afterwards. According to his view, any +woman would naturally behave in this way, and as his views were +founded on his own experience, he was probably right, so far as his +wife was concerned. He therefore determined to call her. + +She came, she saw, she threw up her hands and moaned a little about +the curse that was on the house, and she helped him to scrub the +stones as quickly as possible. When that was done, and when they had +flooded the whole pavement under the arch, in order to conceal the +fact that it had been washed in one place, it occurred to them that +they should look on the stairs, to see if there were any blood there, +and in the courtyard, too, near the entrance; but they could not find +anything, and it was time for the woman to go to the place where she +worked all day at ironing fine linen, which had been her occupation +before she had been married. So she went away, leaving her husband +alone. + +He smoked thoughtfully and swept the stone gutter, towards the other +end of the courtyard. He noticed nothing unusual, until he reached the +door of the coach-house, and saw that it was ajar, whereas it was +always locked, and he had the key in his lodge. He opened it, and +looked in. The flood of morning light fell upon a little heap of +broken brick and mortar, and he saw at a glance that a small breach +had been made in the wall. This did not surprise him, for he knew that +Malipieri and Masin had made holes in more than one place, and the +architect had more than once taken the key of the coach-house. + +What frightened him was the steady, roaring sound that came from the +breach. He would as soon have thought of trusting himself to enter the +place, as of facing the powers of darkness, even if his big body could +have squeezed itself through the aperture. But he guessed that the +sound came from the "lost water," which he had more than once heard in +the cellar below, in its own channel, and he was instinctively sure +that something had happened which might endanger the palace. The +cellars were probably flooded. + +On the mere chance that the door of the winding staircase might not be +locked, he went out and turned into the passage where it was. He found +it wide open. He had in his pocket one of those long wax tapers rolled +into a little ball, which Roman porters generally have about them; he +lit it and went down. There was water at the foot of the steps, water +several feet deep. He retreated, and with more haste than he usually +showed to do anything, he crossed the courtyard and went up to call +Malipieri. + +But Malipieri was asleep in his armchair in the inner room, and the +bell only rang in the outer hall. The old man rang it again and again, +but no one came. Then he stood still on the landing, took off his cap +and deliberately scratched his head. In former times, it would have +been his duty to inform Sassi, in whom centred every responsibility +connected with the palace. But the porter did not know whether Sassi +were dead or alive now, and was quite sure that the Baron would not +approve of sending for him. + +There was nothing to be done but to inform the Baron himself, without +delay, since Malipieri was apparently already gone out. The Baron +would take the responsibility, since the house was his. + +The porter went down to his lodge, took off his old linen jacket and +put on his best coat and cap, put some change into his pocket, went +out and turned the key of the lock in the postern, and then stumped +off towards the Piazza Sant' Apollinare to get a cab, for there was no +time to be lost. + +It was eight o'clock when he rang at the smart new house in the Via +Ludovisi. Sabina and Malipieri had slept barely five hours. + +A footman in an apron opened the door, and without waiting to know his +business, asked him why he did not go to the servants' entrance. + +"I live in a palace where there is a porter," answered the old man, +assuming the overpowering manner that belongs to the retainers of +really great old Roman houses. "Please inform the Baron that the 'lost +water' has broken out and flooded the cellars of the Palazzo Conti, +and that I am waiting for instructions." + + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + + + + +Volterra went to bed early, but he did not rise late, for he was +always busy, and had many interests that needed constant attention; +and he had preserved the habits of a man who had enriched himself and +succeeded in life by being wide awake and at work when other people +were napping or amusing themselves. At eight o'clock in the morning, +he was already in his study, reading his letters, and waiting for his +secretary. + +He sent for the porter, listened to his story attentively, and without +expressing any opinion about what had happened, went directly to the +palace in the cab which had brought the old man. He made the latter +sit beside him, because it would be an excellent opportunity of +showing the world that he was truly democratic. Half of Rome knew him +by sight at least, though not one in twenty thousand could have +defined his political opinions. + +At the palace he paid the cabman instead of keeping him by the hour, +for he expected to stay some time, and it was against his principles +to spend a farthing for what he did not want. As he entered through +the postern, he glanced approvingly at the damp pavement. He did not +in the least believe that the porter washed it every morning, of +course, but he appreciated the fact that the man evidently wished him +to think so, and was afraid of him. + +"You say that you rang several times at Signor Malipieri's door," he +said. "Has he not told you that he is going to live somewhere else?" + +"No, sir." + +"Does he never leave his key with you when he goes out?" + +"No, sir." + +"Did you see him come in last night? Was he at home?" + +"No, sir. I rang several times, about dusk, but no one opened. I did +not hear him come in after that. Shall I go up and ring again?" + +"No." Volterra reflected for a moment. "He has left, and has taken his +key by mistake," he said. "But I should think that you must have seen +him go. He would have had some luggage with him." + +The porter explained that Malipieri had sent him on an errand on the +previous afternoon, and had been gone when he returned. This seemed +suspicious to Volterra, as indeed it must have looked to any one. +Considering his views of mankind generally, it was not surprising if +he thought that Malipieri might have absconded with something valuable +which he had found in the vaults. He remembered, too, that Malipieri +had been unwilling to let him visit the treasure on the previous day, +and had named the coming afternoon instead. + +"Can you get a man to open the door?" he asked. + +"There is Gigi, the carpenter of the palace," answered the porter. "He +is better than a locksmith and his shop is close by--but there is the +water in the cellars--" + +"Go and get him," said the Baron. "I will wait here." + +The porter went out, and Volterra began to walk slowly up and down +under the archway, breathing the morning air with satisfaction, and +jingling a little bunch of keys in his pocket. + +There was a knock at the postern. He listened and stood still. He knew +that the porter had the key, for he had just seen him return it to his +pocket after they had both come in; he did not wish to be disturbed by +any one else just then, so he neither answered nor moved. The knock +was repeated, louder than before. It had an authoritative sound, and +no one but Malipieri himself would have a right to knock in that way. +Volterra went to the door at once, but did not open it. + +"Who is there?" he asked, through the heavy panel. + +"The police," came the answer, short and sharp. "Open at once." + +Volterra opened, and was confronted by a man in plain clothes, who was +accompanied by two soldiers in grey uniforms, and another man, who +looked like a cabman. On seeing a gentleman, the detective, who had +been about to enter unceremoniously, checked himself and raised his +hat, with an apology. Volterra stepped back. + +"Come in," he said, "and tell me what your business is. I am the owner +of this palace, at present. I am Baron Volterra, and a Senator." + +The men all became very polite at once, and entered rather sheepishly. +The cabman came in last, and Volterra shut the door. + +"Who is this individual?" he asked, looking at the cabman. + +"Tell your story," said the man in plain clothes, addressing the +latter. + +"I am a coachman, Excellency," the man answered in a servile tone. "I +have a cab, number eight hundred and seventy-six, at the service of +your Excellency, and it was I who drove the gentleman to the hospital +yesterday afternoon." + +"What gentleman?" + +"The gentleman who was hurt in the house of your Excellency." + +Volterra stared from the cabman to the man in plain clothes, not +understanding. Then it occurred to him that the man in uniform might +be wearing it as a disguise, and that he had to do with a party of +clever thieves, and he felt for a little revolver which he always +carried about with him. + +"I know nothing about the matter," he said. + +"Excellency," continued the cabman, "the poor gentleman was lying +here, close to the door, bleeding from his head. You see the porter +has washed the stones this morning." + +"Go on." Volterra listened attentively. + +"A big man who looked more like a workman than a servant came to call +me in the square. When we got here, he unlocked the door himself, and +made me help him to put the gentleman into the cab. It was about half- +past five or a quarter to six, Excellency, and I waited at the +hospital door till eight o'clock, but could not get any money." + +"What became of the big man who called you?" asked Volterra. "Why did +he not pay you?" + +"He was arrested, Excellency." + +"Arrested? Why? For taking a wounded man to the hospital?" + +"Yes. You can imagine that I did not wish to be concerned in other +people's troubles, Excellency, nor to be asked questions. So when I +had seen the man and the doorkeepers take the gentleman in, I drove on +about twenty paces, and waited for the man to come out. But soon two +policemen came and went in, and came out again a few minutes later +with the big man walking quietly between them, and they went off in +the other direction, so that he did not even notice me." + +"What did you do then?" + +"May it please your Excellency, I went back to the door and asked the +doorkeeper why the man had been arrested, and told him I had not been +paid. But he laughed in my face, and advised me to go to the police +for my fare, since the police had taken the man away. And I asked him +many questions but he drove me away with several evil words." + +"Is that all that happened?" asked Volterra. "Do you know nothing +more?" + +"Nothing, your Excellency," whined the man, "and I am a poor father of +a family with eight children, and my wife is ill--" + +"Yes," interrupted Volterra, "I suppose so. And what do you know about +it all?" he enquired, turning to the man in plain clothes. + +"This, sir. The gentleman was still unconscious this morning, but +turns out to be a certain Signor Pompeo Sassi. His cards were in his +pocket-book. The man who took him to the hospital was arrested because +he entirely declined to give his name, or to explain what had +happened, or where he had found the wounded gentleman. Of course all +the police stations were informed during the night, as the affair +seemed mysterious, and when this cabman came this morning and lodged a +complaint of not having been paid for a fare from this palace to the +hospital, it looked as if whatever had happened, must have happened +here, or near here, and I was sent to make enquiries." + +"That is perfectly clear," the Baron said, taking out his pocket-book. +"You have no complaint to make, except that you were not paid," he +continued, speaking to the cabman. "There are ten francs, which is +much more than is owing to you. Give me your number." + +The man knew that it was useless to ask for more, and as he produced +his printed number and gave it, he implored the most complicated +benedictions, even to miracles, including a thousand years of life and +everlasting salvation afterwards, all for the Baron, his family, and +his descendants. + +"I suppose he may go now," Volterra said to the police officer. + +The cabman would have liked to stay, but one of the soldiers opened +the postern and stood waiting by it till he had gone out, and closed +it upon his parting volley of blessings. The Senator reflected that +they might mean a vote, some day, and did not regret his ten francs. + +"I know Signor Sassi," he said to the detective. "He was the agent of +Prince Conti's estate, and of this palace. But I did not know that he +had been here yesterday afternoon. I live in the Via Ludovisi and had +just come here on business, when you knocked." + +He was very affable now, and explained the porter's absence, and the +fact that a gentleman who had lived in the house, but had left it, had +accidentally taken his key with him, so that it was necessary to get a +workman to open the door. + +"And it is as well that you should be here," he added, "for the big +man of whom the cabman spoke may be the servant of that gentleman. I +remember seeing him once, and I noticed that he was unusually big. He +may have been here yesterday after his master left, and we may find +some clue in the apartment." + +"Excellent!" said the detective, rubbing his hands. + +He was particularly fond of cases in which doors had to be opened by +force, and understood that part of his business thoroughly. + +The key turned in the lock of the postern, and the porter entered, +bringing Gigi with him. They both started and turned pale when they +saw the policeman and the detective. + +"At what time did Signor Malipieri send you out on that errand +yesterday afternoon?" asked Volterra, looking hard at the porter. + +The old man drew himself up, wiped his forehead with a blue cotton +handkerchief, and looked from the Baron to the detective, trying to +make out whether his employer wished him to speak the truth. A +moment's reflection told him that he had better do so, as the visit of +the police must be connected with the stain of blood he had washed +from the pavement, and he could prove that he had nothing to do with +it. + +"It was about five o'clock," he answered quietly. + +"And when did you come back?" enquired the detective. + +"It was dusk. It was after Ave Maria, for I heard the bells ringing +before I got here." + +"And you did not notice the blood on the stones when you came in, +because it was dusk, I suppose," said the detective, assuming a +knowing smile, as if he had caught the man. + +"I saw it this morning," answered the porter without hesitation, "and +I washed it away." + +"You should have called the police," said the other severely. + +"Should I, sir?" The porter affected great politeness all at once. +"You will excuse my ignorance." + +"We are wasting time," Volterra said to the detective. "The porter +knows nothing about it. Let us go upstairs." + +He led the way, and the others followed, including Gigi, who carried a +leathern bag containing a few tools. + +"It is of no use to ring again," observed Volterra. "There cannot be +anybody in the apartment, and this is my own house. Open that door for +us, my man, and do as little damage as you can." + +Gigi looked at the patent lock. + +"I cannot pick that, sir," he said. "The gentleman made me put it on +for him, and it is one of those American patent locks." + +"Break it, then," Volterra answered. + +Gigi selected a strong chisel, and inserted the blade in the crack of +the door, on a level with the brass disk. He found the steel bolt +easily. + +"Take care," he said to the Baron, who was nearest to him and drew +back to give him room to swing his hammer. + +He struck three heavy blows, and the door flew open at the third. The +detective had looked at his watch, for it was his business to note the +hour at which any forcible entrance was made. It was twenty minutes to +nine. Malipieri and Sabina had slept a little more than five hours and +a half. + +Malipieri, still sleeping heavily in his armchair, heard the noise in +a dream. He fancied he was in the vaults again, driving his crowbar +into the bricks, and that he suddenly heard Masin working from the +other side. But Masin was not alone, for there were voices, and he had +several people with him. + +Malipieri awoke with a violent start. Volterra, the detective, the two +police soldiers, Gigi and the porter were all in the study, looking at +him as he sat there in his armchair, in the broad light, carefully +dressed as if he had been about to go out when he had sat down. + +"You sleep soundly, Signer Malipieri," said the fat Baron, with a +caressing smile. + +Malipieri had good nerves, but for a moment he was dazed, and then, +perhaps for the first time in his life, he was thoroughly frightened, +for he knew that Sabina must be still asleep in his room, and in spite +of his urgent request when he had left her, he did not believe that +she had locked the door after all. The first thought that flashed upon +him was that Volterra had somehow discovered that she was there, and +had come to find her. There were six men in the room; he guessed that +the Baron was one of those people who carry revolvers about with them, +and two of the others were police soldiers, also armed with revolvers. +He was evidently at their mercy. Short of throwing at least three of +the party out of the window, nothing could avail. Such things are done +without an effort on the stage by the merest wisp of a man, but in +real life one must be a Hercules or a gladiator even to attempt them. +Malipieri thought of what Sabina had said in the vault. Had any two +people ever been in such a situation before? + +For one instant, his heart stood still, and he passed his hand over +his eyes. + +"Excuse me," he said then, quite naturally. "I had dressed to go to +your house this morning, and I fell asleep in my chair while waiting +till it should be time. How did you get in? And why have you brought +these people with you?" + +He was perfectly cool now, and the Baron regretted that he had made a +forcible entrance. + +"I must really apologize," he answered. "The porter rang yesterday +evening, several times, and again this morning, but could get no +answer, and as you had told me that you were going to change your +quarters, we supposed that you had left and had accidentally taken the +key with you." + +Malipieri did not believe a word of what he said, but the tone was +very apologetic. + +"The cellars are flooded," said the porter, speaking over Volterra's +shoulder. + +"I know it," Malipieri answered. "I was going to inform you of that +this morning," he continued, speaking to the Baron. "I do not think +that the police are necessary to our conversation," he added, smiling +at the detective. + +"I beg your pardon, sir," answered the latter, "but we are here to ask +if you know anything of a grave accident to a certain Signor Sassi, +who was taken from this palace unconscious, yesterday afternoon, at +about a quarter to six, by a very large man, who would not give any +name, nor any explanation, and who was consequently arrested." + +Malipieri did not hesitate. + +"Only this much," he replied. "With the authority of the Senator here, +who is the owner of the palace, I have been making some archaeological +excavations in the cellars. Signor Sassi was the agent--" + +"I have explained that," interrupted the Baron, turning to the +detective. "I will assume the whole responsibility of this affair. +Signor Sassi shall be well cared for. I shall be much obliged if you +will leave us." + +He spoke rather hurriedly. + +"It is my duty to make a search in order to discover the motive of the +crime," said the detective with importance. + +"What crime?" asked Malipieri with sudden sternness. + +"Signor Sassi was very badly injured in this palace," answered the +other. "The man who took him to the hospital would give no account of +himself, and the circumstances are suspicious. The Baron thinks that +the man may be your servant." + +"Yes, he is my servant," Malipieri said. "Signor Sassi was trying to +follow me into the excavations--" + +"Yes, yes--that is of no importance," interrupted Volterra. + +"I think it is," retorted Malipieri. "I will not let any man remain in +prison suspected of having tried to murder poor old Sassi! I went on," +he continued, explaining to the detective, "leaving the two together. +The old gentleman must have fallen and hurt himself so badly that my +man thought it necessary to carry him out at once. When I tried to get +back, I found that the water had risen in the excavations and that the +passage was entirely closed, and I had to work all night with a +crowbar and pickaxe to break another way for myself. As for my man, if +he refused to give any explanations, it was because he had express +orders to preserve the utmost secrecy about the excavations. He is a +faithful fellow, and he obeyed. That is all." + +"A very connected account, sir, from your point of view," said the +detective. "If you will allow me, I will write it down. You see, the +service requires us to note everything." + +"Write it down by all means," Malipieri answered quietly. "You will +find what you need at that table." + +The detective sat down, pulled back the cuff of his coat, took up the +pen and began his report with a magnificent flourish. + +"You two may go," said Malipieri to the porter and Gigi. "We shall not +want you any more." + +"As witnesses, perhaps," said the detective, overhearing. "Pray let +them stay." + +He went on writing, and the Baron settled himself in Malipieri's +armchair, and lit a cigar. Malipieri walked slowly up and down the +room, determined to keep perfectly cool. + +"I hope the Baroness is quite well," he said after a time. + +"Quite well, thank you," answered Volterra, nodding and smiling. + +Malipieri continued to pace the floor, trying to see some way out of +the situation in which he was caught, and praying to heaven that +Sabina might still be sound asleep. If she were up, she would +certainly come to the study in search of him before long, as the doors +opened in no other direction. All his nerves and faculties were strung +to the utmost tension, and if the worst came he was prepared to +attempt anything. + +"It is a very fine day after the rain," observed the Baron presently. + +"It never rains long in Rome, in the spring," answered Malipieri. + +The detective wrote steadily, and neither spoke again till he had +finished. + +"Of course," he said to Malipieri, "you are quite sure of your +statements." + +"Provided that you have written down exactly what I said," Malipieri +answered. + +The detective rose and handed him the sheets, at which he glanced +rapidly. + +"Yes. That is what I said." + +"Let me see," Volterra put in, rising and holding out his hand. + +He took the paper and read every word carefully, before he returned +the manuscript. + +"You might add," he said, "that I have been most anxious to keep the +excavations a secret because I do not wish to be pestered by reporters +before I have handed over to the government any discoveries which may +be made." + +"Certainly," answered the man, taking his pen again, and writing +rapidly. + +Volterra was almost as anxious to get rid of him as Malipieri himself. +What the latter had said had informed him that in spite of the water +the vaults could be reached, and he was in haste to go down. He had, +indeed, noted the fact that whereas Sabina had left his house with +Sassi at five o'clock, the latter had been taken to the hospital only +three quarters of an hour later, and he wondered where she could be; +but it did not even occur to him as possible that she should be in +Malipieri's apartment. The idea would have seemed preposterous. + +The detective rose, folded the sheets of paper and placed them in a +large pocket-book which he produced. + +"And now, gentlemen," he said, "we have only one more formality to +fulfil, before I have the honour of taking my leave." + +"What is that?" asked the Baron, beginning to show his impatience at +last. + +"Signor Malipieri--is that your name, sir? Yes. Signer Malipieri will +be kind enough to let me and my men walk through the rooms of the +apartment." + +"I think that is quite unnecessary," Malipieri answered. "By this time +Signor Sassi has probably recovered consciousness, and has told his +own story, which will explain the accident." + +"In the performance of my duty," objected the detective, "I must go +through the house, to see whether there are any traces of blood. I am +sure that you will make no opposition." + +Fate was closing in upon Malipieri, but he kept his head as well as he +could. He opened the door that led back to the hall. + +"Will you come?" he said, showing the way. + +The detective glanced at the other door, but said nothing and prepared +to follow. + +"I will stay here," said the Baron, settling himself in the armchair +again. + +"Oh, no! Pray come," Malipieri said. "I should like you to see for +yourself that Sassi was not hurt here." + +Volterra rose reluctantly and went with the rest. His chief +preoccupation was to get rid of the detective and his men as quickly +as possible. Malipieri opened the doors as he went along, and showed +several empty rooms, before he came to Masin's. + +"This is where my man sleeps," he said carelessly. + +The detective went in, looked about and suddenly pounced upon a towel +on which there were stains of blood. + +"What is this?" he asked sharply. "What is the meaning of this?" + +Malipieri showed his scarred hands. + +"After I got out of the vault, I washed here," he said. "I had cut my +hands a good deal, as you see. Of course the blood came off on the +towels." + +The detective assumed his smile of professional cunning. + +"I understand," he said. "But do you generally wash in your servant's +room?" + +"No. It happened to be convenient when I got in. There was water here, +and there were towels." + +"It is strange," said the detective. + +Even Volterra looked curiously at Malipieri, for he was much puzzled. +But he was impatient, too, and came to the rescue. + +"Do you not see," he asked of the detective, "that Signor Malipieri +was covered with dust and that his clothes were very wet? There they +are, lying on the floor. He did not wish to go to his bedroom as he +was, taking all that dirt and dampness with him, so he came here." + +"That is a sufficient explanation, I am sure," said Malipieri. + +"Perfectly, perfectly," answered the detective, smiling. "Wrap up +those towels in a newspaper," he said to the two soldiers. "We will +take them with us. You see," he continued in an apologetic tone, "we +are obliged to be very careful in the execution of our duties. If +Signor Sassi should unfortunately die in the hospital, and especially +if he should die unconscious, the matter would become very serious, +and I should be blamed if I had not made a thorough examination." + +"I hope he is not so seriously injured," said Malipieri. + +"The report we received was that his skull was fractured," answered +the detective calmly. "The hospitals report all suspicious cases to +the police stations by telephone during the night, and of course, as +your man refused to speak, special enquiries were made about the +wounded gentleman." + +"I understand," said Malipieri. "And now, I suppose, you have made a +sufficient search." + +"We have not seen your own room. If you will show me that, as a mere +formality, I think I need not trouble you any further." + +It had come at last. Malipieri felt himself growing cold, and said +nothing for a moment. Volterra again began to watch him curiously. + +"I fancy," the detective said, "that your room opens from the study in +which we have already been. I only wish to look in." + +"There is a small room before it, where I keep my clothes." + +"I suppose we can go through the small room?" + +"You may see that," said Malipieri, "but I shall not allow you to go +into my bedroom." + +"How very strange!" cried Volterra, staring at him. + +Then the fat Baron broke into a laugh, that, made his watch-chain +dance on his smooth and rotund speckled waistcoat. + +"I see! I see!" he tried to say. + +The detective understood, and smiled in a subdued way. Malipieri knit +his brows angrily, as he felt himself becoming more and more utterly +powerless to stave off the frightful catastrophe that threatened +Sabina. But the detective was anxious to make matters pleasant by +diplomatic means. + +"I had not been told that Signor Malipieri was a married man," he +said. "Of course, if the Signora Malipieri is not yet visible, I shall +be delighted to give her time to dress." + +Malipieri bit his lip and made a few steps up and down. + +"I did not know that your wife was in Rome," Volterra said, glancing +at him, and apparently confirming the detective in his mistake. + +"For that matter," said the detective, "I am a married man myself, and +if the lady is in bed, she might allow me merely to stand at the door, +and glance in." + +"I think she is still asleep," Malipieri answered. "I do not like to +disturb her, and the room is quite dark." + +"My time is at your disposal," said the detective. "Shall we go back +and wait in the study? You would perhaps be so kind as to see whether +the Signora is awake or not, but I am quite ready to wait till she +comes out of her room. I would not put her to any inconvenience for +the world, I assure you." + +"Really," the Baron said to Malipieri, "I think you might wake her." + +The soldiers looked on stolidly, the porter kept his eyes and ears +open, and Gigi, full of curiosity, wore the expression of a smiling +weasel. To the porter's knowledge, so far as it went, no woman but his +own wife had entered the palace since Malipieri had been living in it. + +Malipieri made no answer to Volterra's last speech, and walked up and +down, seeking a solution. The least possible one seemed to be that +suggested by the Baron himself. The latter, though now very curious, +was more than ever in a hurry to bring the long enquiry to a close. It +occurred to him that it would simplify matters if he and Malipieri and +the detective were left alone together, and he said so, urging that as +there was unexpectedly a lady in the case, the presence of so many +witnesses should be avoided. Even now he never thought of the +possibility that the lady in question might be Sabina. + +The detective now yielded the point willingly enough, and the soldiers +were sent off with Gigi and the porter to wait in the latter's lodge. +It was a slight relief to Malipieri to see them go. He and his two +companions went back to the study together. + +The Baron resumed his seat in the armchair; he always sat down when he +had time, and he had not yet finished his big cigar. The detective +went to the window and looked out through the panes, as if to give +Malipieri time to make up his mind what to do; and Malipieri paced the +floor with bent head, his hands in his pockets, in utter desperation. +At any moment Sabina might appear, yet he dared not even go to her +door, lest the two men should follow him. + +But at least he could prevent her from coming in, for he could lock +the entrance to the small room. As he reached the end of his walk he +turned the key and put it into his pocket. The detective turned round +sharply and Volterra moved his head at the sound. + +"Why do you do that?" he asked, in a tone of annoyance. + +"Because no one shall go in, while I have the key," Malipieri +answered. + +"I must go in, sooner or later," said the detective, "I can wait all +day, and all night, if you please, for I shall not use force where a +lady is concerned. But I must see that room." + +Like all such men, he was obstinate, when he believed that he was +doing his duty. Malipieri looked from him to Volterra, and back again, +and suddenly made up his mind. He preferred the detective, of the two, +if he must trust any one, the more so as the latter probably did not +know Sabina by sight. + +"If you will be so kind as to stay there, in that armchair," he said +to Volterra, "I will see what I can do to hasten matters. Will you?" + +"Certainly. I am very comfortable here." The Baron laughed a little. + +"Then," said Malipieri, turning to the detective, "kindly come with +me, and I will explain as far as I can." + +He took the key from his pocket again, and opened the door of the +small room, let in the detective and shut it after him without locking +it. He had hardly made up his mind what to say, but he knew what he +wished. + +"This is a very delicate affair," he began in a whisper. "I will see +whether the lady is awake." + +He went to the door of the bedroom on tiptoe and listened. Not a sound +reached him. The room was quite out of hearing of the rest of the +apartment, and Sabina, accustomed as she was to sleep eight hours +without waking, was still resting peacefully. Malipieri came back +noiselessly. + +"She is asleep," he whispered. "Will you not take my word for it that +there is nothing to be found in the room which can have the least +connection with Sassi's accident?" + +The detective shook his head gravely, and raised his eyebrows, while +he shut his eyes, as some men do when they mean that nothing can +convince them. + +"I advise you to go in and wake your wife," he whispered, still very +politely. "She can wrap herself up and sit in a chair while I look +in." + +"That is impossible. I cannot go in and wake her." + +The detective looked surprised, and was silent for a moment. + +"This is a very strange situation," he muttered. "A man who dares not +go into his wife's room when she is asleep--I do not understand." + +"I cannot explain," answered Malipieri, "but it is altogether +impossible. I ask you to believe me, on my oath, that you will find +nothing in the room." + +"I have already told you, sir, that I must fulfil the formalities, +whatever I may wish to believe. And it is my firm belief that Signor +Sassi came by the injuries of which he may possibly die, somewhere in +this apartment, yesterday afternoon. My reputation is at stake, and I +am a government servant. To oblige you, I will wait an hour, but if +the lady is not awake then, I shall go and knock at that door and call +until she answers. It would be simpler if you would do it yourself. +That is all, and you must take your choice." + +Malipieri saw that he must wake Sabina, and explain to her through the +door that she must dress. He reflected a moment, and was about to ask +the detective to go back to the study, when a sound of voices came +from that direction, and one was a woman's. + +"It seems that there is another lady in the house," said the +detective. "Perhaps she can help us. Surely you will allow a lady to +enter your wife's room and wake her." + +But Malipieri was speechless at that moment and was leaning stupidly +against the jamb of the study door. He had recognized the voice of the +Baroness talking excitedly with her husband. Fate had caught him now, +and there was no escape. Instinctively, he was sure that the Baroness +had come in search of Sabina, and would not leave the house till she +had found her, do what he might. + + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + + + + +The Baroness had been called to the telephone five minutes after +Volterra had gone out with the porter, leaving word that he was going +to the Palazzo Conti and would be back within two hours. The message +she received was from the Russian Embassy, and informed her that the +dowager Princess Conti had arrived at midnight, was the guest of the +Ambassador, and wished her daughter Sabina to come and see her between +eleven and twelve o'clock. In trembling tones the Baroness had +succeeded in saying that Sabina should obey, and had rung off the +connection at once. Then, for the first time in her life, she had felt +for a moment as if she were going to faint. + +The facts, which were unknown to her, were simple enough. The +Ambassador had been informed that a treasure had been discovered, and +had telegraphed the fact in cipher to the Minister of Foreign Affairs +in St. Petersburg, who had telegraphed the news to Prince Rubomirska, +who had telegraphed to the Ambassador, who was his intimate friend, +requesting him to receive the Princess for a few days. As the Prince +and his sister were already in the country, in Poland, not far from +the Austrian frontier, it had not taken her long to reach Rome. Of all +this, the poor Baroness was in ignorance. The one fact stared her in +the face, that the Princess had come to claim Sabina, and Sabina had +disappeared. + +She had learned that the porter had come to say that the cellars of +the Palazzo Conti were flooded, and she knew that her husband would be +there some time. She found Sassi's card, on which his address was +printed, and she drove there in a cab, climbed the stairs and rang the +bell. The old woman who opened was in terrible trouble, and was just +going out. She showed the Baroness the news of Sassi's mysterious +accident shortly given in a paragraph of the _Messaggero_, the little +morning paper which is universally read greedily by the lower classes. +She was just going to the accident hospital, the "Consolazione," to +see her poor master. He had gone out at half past four on the previous +afternoon, and she had sat up all night, hoping that he would come in. +She was quite sure that he had not returned at all after he had gone +out. She was quite sure, too, that he had been knocked down and +robbed, for he had a gold watch and chain, and always carried money in +his pocket. + +The Baroness looked at her, and saw that she was speaking the truth +and was in real distress. It would be quite useless to search the +rooms for Sabina. The old woman-servant had no idea who the Baroness +was, and in her sudden trouble would certainly have confided to her +that there was a young lady in the house, who had not been able to get +home. + +"For the love of heaven, Signora," she cried, "come with me to the +hospital, if you know him, for he may be dying." + +The Baroness promised to go later, and really intended to do so. She +drove to the convent in which Donna Clementina was now a cloistered +nun, and asked the portress whether Donna Sabina Conti had been to see +her sister on the previous day. The portress answered that she had +not, and was quite positive of the fact. The Baroness looked at her +watch and hastened to the Palazzo Conti. When she got there, the +porter had already returned to his lodge, and he led her upstairs and +to the door of the study. + +Finding her husband alone, she explained what was the matter, in a few +words and in a low voice. The Princess had come back, and wished to +see Sabina that very morning, and Sabina could not be found. She sank +into a chair, and her sallow face expressed the utmost fright and +perplexity. + +"Sassi left our house at five o'clock with Sabina," said the Baron, +"and at a quarter to six he was taken from the door of this palace to +the hospital by Malipieri's man. Either Malipieri or his man must have +seen her." + +"She is here!" cried the Baroness in a loud tone, something of the +truth flashing upon her. "I know she is here!" + +Volterra's mind worked rapidly at the possibility, as at a problem. If +his wife were not mistaken it was easy to explain Malipieri's flat +refusal to let any one enter the bedroom. + +"You may be right," he said, rising. "If she is in the palace she is +in the room beyond that one." He pointed to the door. "You must go +in," he said. "Never mind Malipieri. I will manage him." + +At that moment the door opened. Malipieri had recovered his senses +enough to attempt a final resistance, and stood there, very pale, +ready for anything. + +But the fat Baron knew what he was about, and as he came forward with +his wife he suddenly thrust out his hand at Malipieri's head, and the +latter saw down the barrel of Volterra's revolver. + +"You must let my wife pass," cried Volterra coolly, "or I will shoot +you." + +Malipieri was as active as a sailor. In an instant he had hurled +himself, bending low, at the Baron's knees, and the fat man fell over +him, while the revolver flew from his hand, half across the room, +fortunately not going off as it fell on its side. While Malipieri was +struggling to get the upper hand, the detective ran forward and helped +Volterra. The two threw themselves upon the younger man, and between +the detective's wiry strength and the Baron's tremendous weight, he +lay panting and powerless on his back for an instant. + +The Baroness had possibly assisted at some scenes of violence in the +course of her husband's checkered career. At all events, she did not +stop to see what happened after the way was clear, but ran to the door +of the bedroom, and threw it wide open, for it was not locked. The +light that entered showed her where the window was; she opened it in +an instant, and looked round. + +Sabina was sitting up in bed, staring at her with a dazed expression, +her hair in wild confusion round her pale face and falling over her +bare neck. Her clothes lay in a heap on the floor, beside the bed, +Never was any woman more fairly caught in a situation impossible to +explain. Even in that first moment she felt it, when she looked at the +Baroness's face. + +The latter did not speak, for she was utterly incapable of finding +words. The sound of a scuffle could be heard from the study in the +distance; she quietly shut the door and turned the key. Then she came +and stood by the bed, facing the window. Sabina had sunk back upon the +pillows, but her eyes looked up bravely and steadily. Of the two she +was certainly the one less disturbed, even then, for she remembered +that Malipieri had meant to go and tell the Baroness the whole truth, +early in the morning. He had done so, of course, and the Baroness had +come to take her back, very angry of course, but that was all. This +was what Sabina told herself, but she guessed that matters would turn +out much worse. + +"Did he tell you how it happened that I could not get home?" she +asked, almost calmly. + +"No one has told me anything. Your mother arrived in Rome last night. +She is at the Russian Embassy and wishes to see you at eleven +o'clock." + +"My mother?" Sabina raised herself on one hand in surprise. + +"Yes. And I find you here." + +The Baroness folded her arms like a man, her brows contracted, and her +face was almost livid. + +"Have you the face to meet your mother, after this?" she asked +sternly. + +"Yes--of course," answered Sabina. "But I must go home and dress. My +frock is ruined." + +"You are a brazen creature," said the Baroness in disgust and anger. +"You do not seem to know what shame means." + +Sabina's deep young eyes flashed; it was not safe to say such things +to her. + +"I have done nothing to be ashamed of," she answered proudly, "and you +shall not speak to me like that. Do you understand?" + +"Nothing to be ashamed of!" The Baroness stared at her in genuine +amazement. "Nothing to be ashamed of!" she repeated, and her voice +shook with emotion. "You leave my house by stealth, you let no one +know where you are going, and the next morning I find you here, in +your lover's house, in your lover's room, the door not even locked, +your head upon your lover's pillow! Nothing to be ashamed of! Merciful +heavens! And you have not only ruined yourself, but you have done an +irreparable injury to honest people who took you in when you were +starving!" + +The poor woman paused for breath, and in her horror, she hid her face +in her hands. She had her faults, no doubt, and she knew that the +world was bad, but she had never dreamt of such barefaced and utterly +monstrous cynicism as Sabina's. If the girl had been overcome with +shame and repentance, and had broken down entirely, imploring help and +forgiveness, as would have seemed natural, the Baroness, for her own +social sake, might have been at last moved to help her out of her +trouble. Instead, being a person of rigid virtue and judging the +situation in the only way really possible for her to see it, she was +both disgusted and horrified. It was no wonder. But she was not +prepared for Sabina's answer. + +"If I were strong enough, I would kill you," said the young girl, +quietly laying her head on the pillow again. + +The Baroness laughed hysterically. She felt as if she were in the +presence of the devil himself. She was not at all a hysterical woman +nor often given to dramatic exhibitions of feeling, but she had never +dreamt that a human being could behave with such horribly brazen +shamelessness. + +For some moments there was silence. Then Sabina spoke, in a quietly +scornful tone, while the Baroness turned her back on her and stood +quite still, looking out of the window. + +"I suppose you have a right to be surprised," Sabina said, "but you +have no right to insult me and say things that are not true. Perhaps +Signor Malipieri likes me very much. I do not know. He has never told +me he loved me." + +The Baroness's large figure shook with fury, but she did not turn +round. What more was the girl going to say? That she did not even care +a little for the man with whom she had ruined herself? Yes. That was +what she was going on to explain. It was beyond belief. + +"I have only seen him a few times," Sabina said. "I daresay I shall be +very fond of him if I see him often. I think he is very like my ideal +of what a man should be." + +The Baroness turned her face half round with an expression that was +positively savage. But she said nothing, and again looked through the +panes. She remembered afterwards that the room smelt slightly of stale +cigar smoke, soap and leather. + +"He wished me to see the things he has found before any one else +should," Sabina continued. "So he got Sassi to bring me here. While we +were in the vaults, the water came, and we could not get out. He +worked for hours to break a hole, and it was two o'clock in the +morning when we were free. I had not had any dinner, and of course I +could not go with him to your house at that hour, even if I had not +been worn out. So he brought me here and gave me something to eat, and +his room to sleep in. As for the door not being locked, he told me +twice to lock it, and I was so sleepy that I forgot to. That is what +happened." After an ominous silence, the Baroness turned round. Her +face was almost yellow now. + +"I do not believe a word you have told me," she said, half choking. + +"Then go!" cried Sabina, sitting up with flashing eyes. "I do not care +a straw whether you believe the truth or not! Go! Go!" + +She stretched out one straight white arm and pointed to the door, in +wrath. The Baroness looked at her, and stood still a moment. Then she +shrugged her shoulders in a manner anything but aristocratic, and left +the room without deigning to turn her head. The instant she was gone +Sabina sprang out of bed and locked the door after her. + +Meanwhile, the struggle between Malipieri and his two adversaries had +come to an end very soon. Malipieri had not really expected to prevent +the Baroness from going to Sabina, but he had wished to try and +explain matters to her before she went. He had upset Volterra, because +the latter had pointed a revolver at his head, which will seem a +sufficient reason to most hot-tempered men. The detective had +suggested putting handcuffs on him, while they held him down, but +Volterra was anxious to settle matters amicably. + +"It was my fault," he said, drawing back. "I thought that you were +going to resist, and I pulled out my pistol too soon. I offer you all +my apologies." + +He had got to his feet with more alacrity than might have been +expected of such a fat man, and was adjusting his collar and tie, and +smoothing his waistcoat over his rotundity. Malipieri had risen the +moment he was free. The detective looked as if nothing had happened +out of the common way, and the neatness of his appearance was not in +the least disturbed. + +"I offer you my apologies, Signor Malipieri," repeated the Baron +cordially and smiling in a friendly way. "I should not have drawn my +pistol on you. I presume you will accept the excuses I make?" + +"Do not mention the matter," answered Malipieri with coolness, but +civilly enough, seeing that there was nothing else to be done. "I +trust you are none the worse for your fall." + +"Not at all, not at all," replied Volterra. "I hope," he said, turning +to the detective, "that you will say nothing about this incident, +since no harm has been done. It concerns a private matter,--I may +almost say, a family matter. I have some little influence, and if I +can be of any use to you, I shall always be most happy." + +The gratitude of so important a personage was not to be despised, as +the detective knew. He produced a card bearing his name, and handed it +to the Senator with a bow. + +"Always at your service, sir," he said. "It is very fortunate that the +revolver did not go off and hurt one of us," he added, picking up the +weapon and handing it to Volterra. "I have noticed that these things +almost invariably kill the wrong person, when they kill anybody at +all, which is rare." + +Volterra smiled, thanked him and returned the revolver to his pocket. +Malipieri had watched the two in silence. Fate had taken matters out +of his hands, and there was absolutely nothing to be done. In due +time, Sabina would come out with the Baroness, but he could not guess +what would happen then. Volterra would probably not speak out before +the detective, who would not recognize Sabina, even if he knew her by +sight. The Baroness would take care that he should not see the girl's +face, as both Volterra and Malipieri knew. + +The three men sat down and waited in silence after the detective had +last spoken. Volterra lit a fresh cigar, and offered one to the +detective a few moments later. The latter took it with a bow and put +it into his pocket for a future occasion. + +The door opened at last, and the Baroness entered, her face +discoloured to a blotchy yellowness by her suppressed anger. She stood +still a moment after she had come in, and glared at Malipieri. He and +the detective rose, but Volterra kept his seat. + +"Were you right, my dear?" the latter enquired, looking at her. + +"Yes," she answered in a thick voice, turning to him for an instant, +and then glaring at Malipieri again, as if she could hardly keep her +hands from him in her righteous anger. + +He saw clearly enough that she had not believed the strange story +which Sabina must have told her, and he wondered whether any earthly +power could possibly make her believe it in spite of herself. During +the moments of silence that followed, the whole situation rose before +him, in the only light under which it could at first appear to any +ordinary person. It was frightful to think that what had been a bit of +romantic quixotism on his part, in wishing Sabina to see the statues +which should have been hers, should end in her social disgrace, +perhaps in her utter ruin if the Baroness and her husband could not be +mollified. He did not know that there was one point in Sabina's +favour, in the shape of the Princess's sudden return to Rome, though +he guessed the Baroness's character well enough to have foreseen, had +he known of the new complication, that she would swallow her pride and +even overlook Sabina's supposed misdeeds, rather than allow the +Princess to accuse her of betraying her trust and letting the young +girl ruin herself. + +"I must consult with you," the Baroness said to her husband, +controlling herself as she came forward into the room and passed +Malipieri. "We cannot talk here," she added, glancing at the +detective. + +"This gentleman," said Volterra, waving his hand towards the latter, +"is here officially, to make an enquiry about Sassi's accident." + +"I shall be happy to wait outside if you have private matters to +discuss," said the detective, who wished to show himself worthy of the +Baron's favour, if he could do so without neglecting his duties. + +"You are extremely obliging," Volterra said, in a friendly tone. + +The detective smiled, bowed and left the room by the door leading +towards the hall. + +"It seems to me," the Baroness said, still suppressing her anger, as +she turned her face a little towards Malipieri and spoke at him over +her shoulder, "it seems to me that you might go too." + +It was not for Malipieri to resent her tone or words just then, and he +knew it, though he hated her for believing the evidence of her senses +rather than Sabina's story. He made a step towards the door. + +"No," Volterra said, without rising, "I think he had better stay, and +hear what we have to say about this. After all, the responsibility for +what has happened falls upon him." + +"I should think it did!" cried the Baroness, breaking out at last, in +harsh tones. "You abominable villain, you monster of iniquity, you +snake, you viper--" + +"Hush, hush, my dear!" interposed the Baron, realizing vaguely that +his wife's justifiable excitement was showing itself in unjustifiably +vulgar vituperation. + +"You toad!" yelled the Baroness, shaking her fist in Malipieri's face. +"You reptile, you accursed ruffian, you false, black-hearted, lying +son of Satan!" + +She gasped for breath, and her whole frame quivered with fury, while +her livid lips twisted themselves to hiss out the epithets of abuse. +Volterra feared lest she should fall down in an apoplexy, and he rose +from his seat quickly. He gathered her to his corpulent side with one +arm and made her turn away towards the window, which he opened with +his free hand. + +"I should be all that, and worse, if a tenth of what you believe were +true," Malipieri said, coming nearer and then standing still. + +He was very pale, and he was conscious of a cowardly wish that +Volterra's revolver might have killed him ten minutes earlier. But he +was ashamed of the mere thought when he remembered what Sabina would +have to face. Volterra, while holding his wife firmly against the +window sill, to force her to breathe the outer air, turned his head +towards Malipieri. + +"She is quite beside herself, you see," he said apologetically. + +The Baroness was a strong woman, and after the first explosion of her +fury she regained enough self-control to speak connectedly. She turned +round, in spite of the pressure of her husband's arm. + +"He is not even ashamed of what he has done!" she said. "He stands +there--" + +The Baron interrupted her, fearing another outburst. + +"Let me speak," he said in the tone she could not help obeying. "What +explanation have you to offer of Donna Sabina's presence here?" he +asked. + +As he put the question, he nodded significantly to Malipieri, over his +wife's shoulder, evidently to make the latter understand that he must +at least invent some excuse if he had none ready. The Baron did not +care a straw what became of him, or of Sabina, and wished them both +out of his way for ever, but he had always avoided scandal, and was +especially anxious to avoid it now. + +Malipieri resented the hint much more than the Baroness's anger, but +he was far too much in the wrong, innocent though he was, to show his +resentment. + +He told his story firmly and coolly, and it agreed exactly with +Sabina's. + +"That is exactly what happened last night," he concluded. "If you will +go down, you will find the breach I made, and the first vaults full of +water. I have nothing more to say." + +"You taught her the lesson admirably," said the Baroness with +withering scorn. "She told me the same story almost word for word!" + +"Madam," Malipieri answered, "I give you my word of honour that it is +true." + +"My dear," Volterra said, speaking to his wife, "when a gentleman +gives his word of honour, you are bound to accept it." + +"I hope so," said Malipieri. + +"Any man would perjure himself for a woman," retorted the Baroness +with contempt. + +"No, my dear," the Baron objected, trying to mollify her. "Perjury is +a crime, you know." + +"And what he has done is a much worse crime!" she cried. + +"I have not committed any crime," Malipieri answered. "I would give +all I possess, and my life, to undo what has happened, but I have +neither said nor done anything to be ashamed of. For Donna Sabina's +sake, you must accept my explanation. In time you will believe it." + +"Yes, yes," urged Volterra, "I am sure you will, my dear. In any case +you must accept it as the only one. I will go downstairs with Signor +Malipieri and we will take the porter to the cellars. Then you can go +out with Sabina, and if you are careful no one will ever know that she +has been here." + +"And do you mean to let her live under your roof after this?" asked +the Baroness indignantly. + +"Her mother is now in Rome," answered Volterra readily. "When she is +dressed, you will take her to the Princess, and you will say that as +we are going away, we are reluctantly obliged to decline the +responsibility of keeping the young girl with us any longer. That is +what you will do." + +"I am glad you admit at least that she cannot live with us any +longer," the Baroness answered. "I am sure I have no wish to ruin the +poor girl, who has been this man's unhappy victim--" + +"Hush, hush!" interposed Volterra. "You must really accept the +explanation he has given." + +"For decency's sake, you may, and I shall have to pretend that I do. +At least," she continued, turning coldly to Malipieri, "you will make +such reparation as is in your power." + +"I will do anything I can," answered Malipieri gravely. + +"You will marry her as soon as possible," the Baroness said with +frigid severity. "It is the only thing you can do." + +Malipieri was silent. The Baron looked at him, and a disagreeable +smile passed over his fat features. But at that moment the door +opened, and Sabina entered. Without the least hesitation she came +forward to Malipieri, frankly holding out her hand. + +"Good morning," she said. "Before I go, I wish to thank you again for +saving my life, and for taking care of me here." + +He held her hand a moment. + +"I ask your pardon, with all my heart, for having brought you into +danger and trouble," he answered. + +"It was not your fault," she said. "It was nobody's fault, and I am +glad I saw the statues before any one else. You told me last night +that you were probably going away. If we never meet again, I wish you +to remember that you are not to reproach yourself for anything that +may happen to me. You might, you know. Will you remember?" + +She spoke quite naturally and without the least fear of Volterra and +his wife, who looked on and listened in dumb surprise at her self- +possession. She meant every word she said, and more too, but she had +thought out the little speech while she was dressing, for she had +guessed what must be happening in the study. Malipieri fixed his eyes +on hers gratefully, but did not find an answer at once. + +"Will you remember?" she repeated. + +"I shall never forget," he answered, not quite steadily, + +By one of those miracles which are the birthright of certain women, +she had made her dress look almost fresh again. The fawn-coloured hat +was restored to its shape, or nearly. The mud that had soiled her +skirt had dried and she had brushed it away, though it had left faint +spots on the cloth, here and there; pins hid the little rents so +cleverly that only a woman's eye could have detected anything wrong, +and the russet shoes were tolerably presentable. The Baroness saw +traces of the adventure to which the costume had been exposed, but +Volterra smiled and was less inclined than ever to believe the story +which both had told, though he did not say so. + +"My wife and I," he said cordially, "quite understand what has +happened, and no one shall ever know about it, unless you speak of it +yourself. She will go home with you now, and will then take you to the +Russian Embassy to see your mother." + +Sabina looked at him in surprise, for she had expected a disagreeable +scene. Then she glanced at the Baroness's sallow and angry face, and +she partly understood the position. + +"Thank you," she said proudly, "but if you do not mind, I will go to +my mother directly. You will perhaps be so kind as to have my things +sent to the Embassy, or my mother's maid will come and get them." + +"You cannot go looking like that," said the Baroness severely. + +"On the contrary," Volterra interposed, "I think that considering your +dangerous adventure, you look perfectly presentable. Of course, we +quite understand that as the Princess has returned, you should wish to +go back to her at once, though we are very sorry to let you go." + +Sabina paused a moment before answering. Then she spoke to the +Baroness, only glancing at Volterra. + +"Until to-day, you have been very kind to me," she said with an +effort. "I thank you for your kindness, and I am sorry that you think +so badly of me." + +"My dear young lady," cried the Baron, lying with hearty cordiality, +"you are much mistaken! I assure you, it was only a momentary +misapprehension on the part of my wife, who had not even spoken with +Signor Malipieri. His explanation has been more than satisfactory. Is +it not so, my dear?" he asked, turning to the Baroness for +confirmation of his fluent assurances. + +"Of course," she answered, half choking, and with a face like thunder; +but she dared not disobey. + +"If my mother says anything about my frock, I shall tell her the whole +story," said Sabina, glancing at her skirt. + +"If you do," said the Baroness, "I shall deny it from beginning to +end." + +"I think that it would perhaps be wiser to explain that in some other +way," the Baron suggested. "Signor Malipieri, will you be so very kind +as to go down first, and take the porter with a light to the entrance +of the cellars? He knows Donna Sabina, you see. I will come down +presently, for I shall stay behind and ask the detective to look out +of the window in the next room, while my wife and Donna Sabina pass +through. In that way we shall be quite sure that she will not be +recognized. Will you do that, Signor Malipieri? Unless you have a +better plan to suggest, of course." + +Malipieri saw that the plan was simple and apparently safe. He looked +once more at Sabina, and she smiled, and just bent her head, but said +nothing. He left the room. The detective was sitting in a corner of +the room beyond, and the two men exchanged a silent nod as Malipieri +passed. + +Everything was arranged as the Baron had planned, and ten minutes +later the Baroness and Sabina descended the stairs together in silence +and reached the great entrance. The two soldiers were standing by the +open door of the lodge, and saluted in military fashion. Gigi, the +carpenter, sprang forward and opened the postern door, touching his +paper cap to the ladies. + +They did not exchange a word as they walked to the Piazza Sant' +Apollinare to find a cab. Sabina held her head high and looked +straight before her, and the Baroness's invisible silk bellows were +distinctly audible in the quiet street. + +"By the hour," said the Baroness, as they got into the first cab they +reached on the stand. "Go to the Russian Embassy, in the Corso." + + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + + + + +"So you spent last night in the rooms of a man you have not seen half +a dozen times," said the Princess, speaking with a cigarette in her +mouth. "And what is worse, those dreadful Volterra people found you +there. No Conti ever had any common sense!" + +What Sabina had foreseen had happened. Her mother had looked her over, +from head to foot, to see what sort of condition she was in, as a +horse-dealer looks over a promising colt he has not seen for some +time; and the Princess had instantly detected the signs of an +accident. In answer to her question Sabina told the truth. Her mother +had watched her face and her innocent eyes while she was telling the +story, and needed no other confirmation. + +"You are a good girl," she continued, as Sabina did not reply to the +last speech. "But you are a little fool. I wonder why my children are +all idiots! I am not so stupid after all. I suppose it must have been +your poor father." + +The white lids closed thoughtfully over her magnificent eyes, and +opened again after a moment, as if she had called up a vision of her +departed husband and had sent it away again. + +"I suppose it was silly of me to go at all," Sabina admitted, leaning +back in her chair. "But I wanted so much to see the statues!" + +She felt at home. Her mother had brought her up badly and foolishly, +and of late had neglected her shamefully. Sabina knew that and neither +loved her nor respected her, and it was not because she was her mother +that the girl felt suddenly at ease in her presence, as she never +could feel with the Baroness. She did not wish to be at all like her +mother in character, or even in manner, and yet she felt that they +belonged to the same kind, spoke the same language, and had an +instinctive understanding of each other, though these things implied +neither mutual respect nor affection. + +"That horrible old Volterra!" said the Princess, with emphasis. "He +means to keep everything he has found, for himself, if he can. I have +come only just in time." + +Sabina did not answer. She knew nothing of the law, and though she +fancied that she might have some morally just claim to a share in the +treasure, she had never believed that it could be proved. + +"Of course," the Princess continued, smoking thoughtfully, "there is +only one thing to be done. You must marry this Malipieri at once, +whether you like him or not. What sort of man is he?" + +The faint colour rose in Sabina's cheeks and not altogether at the +mere thought of marrying Malipieri; she was hurt by the way her mother +spoke of him. + +"What kind of man is he?" the Princess repeated, "I suppose he is a +Venetian, a son of the man who married the Gradenigo heiress, about +the time when I was married myself. Is he the man who discovered +Troy?" + +"Carthage, I think," said Sabina. + +"Troy, Carthage, America, it is all the same. He discovered something, +and I fancy he will be rich. But what is he like? Dark, fair, good, +bad, snuffy or smart? As he is an archaeologist, he must be snuffy, a +bore, probably, and what the English call a male frump. It cannot be +helped, my dear! You will have to marry him. Describe him to me." + +"He is dark," said Sabina. + +"I am glad of that. I always liked dark men--your father was fair, +like you. Besides, as you are a blonde, you will always look better +beside a dark husband. But of course he is dreadfully careless, with +long hair and doubtful nails. All those people are." + +"No," said Sabina. "He is very nice-looking and neat, and wears good +clothes." + +The Princess's brow cleared. + +"All the better," she said. "Well, my dear, it is not so bad after +all. We have found a husband for you, rich, of good family--quite as +good as yours, my child! Good-looking, smart--what more do you expect? +Besides, he cannot possibly refuse to marry you after what has +happened. On the whole, I think your adventure has turned out rather +well. You can be married in a month. Every one will think it quite +natural that it should have been kept quiet until I came, you see." + +"But even if I wanted to marry him, he will never ask for me," +objected Sabina, who was less surprised than might be expected, for +she knew her mother thoroughly. + +The Princess laughed, and blew a cloud of smoke from her lips, and +then showed her handsome teeth. + +"I have only to say the word," she answered. "When a young girl of our +world has spent the night in a man's rooms, he marries her, if her +family wishes it. No man of honour can possibly refuse. I suppose that +this Malipieri is a gentleman?" + +"Indeed he is!" Sabina spoke with considerable indignation. + +"Precisely. Then he will come to me this afternoon and tell his story +frankly, just as you have done--it was very sensible of you, my dear-- +and he will offer to marry you. Of course I shall accept." + +"But, mother," cried Sabina, aghast at the suddenness of the +conclusion, "I am not at all sure--" + +She stopped, feeling that she was much more sure of being in love with +Malipieri than she had been when she had driven to the palace with +Sassi on the previous afternoon. + +"Is there any one you like better?" asked the Princess sharply. "Are +you in love with any one else?" + +"No! But--" + +"I had never seen your father when our marriage was arranged," the +Princess observed. + +"And you were very unhappy together," Sabina answered promptly. "You +always say so." + +"Oh, unhappy? I am not so sure, now. Certainly Hot nearly so miserable +as half the people I know. After all, what is happiness, child? Doing +what you please, is it not?" + +Sabina had not thought of this definition, and she laughed, without +accepting it. In one way, everything looked suddenly bright and +cheerful, since her mother had believed her story, and she knew that +she was not to go back to the Baroness, who had not believed her at +all, and had called her bad names. + +"And I almost always did as I pleased," the Princess continued, after +a moment's reflection. "The only trouble was that your dear father did +not always like what I did. He was a very religious man. That was what +ruined us. He gave half his income to charities and then scolded me +because I could not live on the other half. Besides, he turned the Ten +Commandments into a hundred. It was a perfect multiplication, table of +things one was not to do." + +Poor Sabina's recollections of her father had nothing of affection in +them, and she did not feel called upon to defend his memory. Like many +weak but devout men, he had been severe to his children, even to +cruelty, while perfectly incapable of controlling his wife's caprices. + +"I remember, though I was only a little girl when he died," Sabina +said. + +"Is Malipieri very religious?" the Princess asked "I mean, does he +make a fuss about having fish on Fridays?" She spoke quite gravely. + +"I fancy not," Sabina answered, seeing nothing odd in her mother's +implied definition of righteousness. "He never talked to me about +religion, I am sure." + +"Thank God!" exclaimed the Princess devoutly. + +"He always says he is a republican," Sabina remarked, glad to talk +about him. + +"Really?" The Princess was interested. "I adore revolutionaries," she +said thoughtfully. "They always have something to say. I have always +longed to meet a real anarchist." + +"Signor Malipieri is not an anarchist," said Sabina. + +"Of course not, child! I never said he was. All anarchists are +shoemakers or miners, or something like that. I only said that I +always longed to meet one. People who do not value their lives are +generally amusing. When I was a girl, I was desperately in love with a +cousin of mine who drove a four-in-hand down a flight of steps, and +won a bet by jumping on a wild bear's back. He was always doing those +things. I loved him dearly." The Princess laughed. + +"What became of him?" Sabina asked. + +"He shot himself one day in Geneva, poor boy, because he was bored. I +was always sorry, though they would not have let me marry him, because +he had lost all his money at cards." The Princess sighed. "Of course +you want a lot of new clothes, my dear," she said, changing the +subject rather suddenly. "Have you nothing but that to wear?" + +Sabina's things had not yet come from the Via Ludovisi. She explained +that she had plenty of clothes. + +"I fancy they are nothing but rags," her mother answered +incredulously. "We shall have to go to Paris in any case for your +trousseau. You cannot get anything here." + +"But we have no money," objected Sabina. + +"As if that made any difference! We can always get money, somehow. +What a child you are!" + +Sabina said nothing, for she knew that her mother always managed to +have what she wanted, even when it looked quite impossible. The girl +had been brought up in the atmosphere of perpetual debt and borrowing +which seemed natural to the Princess, and nothing of that sort +surprised her, though it was all contrary to her own instinctively +conscientious and honourable nature. + +Her mother had always been a mystery to her, and now, as Sabina sat +near her, she crossed her feet, which were encased in a pair of the +Princess's slippers, and looked at her as she had often looked before, +wondering how such a reckless, scatter-brained, almost penniless woman +could have remained the great personage which the world always +considered her to be, and that, too, without the slightest effort on +her part to maintain her position. + +Then Sabina reflected upon the Baroness's existence, which was one +long struggle to reach a social elevation not even remotely rivalling +that of the Princess Conti; a struggle in which she was armed with a +large fortune, with her husband's political power, with the most +strictly virtuous views of life, and an iron will; a struggle which +could never raise her much beyond the point she had already reached. + +Sabina's meditations were soon interrupted by the arrival of her +belongings, in charge of her mother's maid, and the immediate +necessity of dressing more carefully than had been possible when she +had been so rudely roused by the Baroness. She was surprised to find +herself so little tired by the desperate adventure, and without even a +cold as the result of the never-to-be-forgotten chill she had felt in +the vaults. + +In the afternoon, the Princess declared that she would not go out. She +was sure that Malipieri would present himself, and she would receive +him in her boudoir. The ambassador had given her a very pretty set of +rooms. He was a bachelor, and was of course delighted to have her stay +with him, and still more pleased that her pretty daughter should join +her. It was late in the season, he was detained in Rome by an +international complication, and he looked upon the arrival of the two +guests as a godsend, more especially as the Princess was an old +acquaintance of his and the wife of an intimate friend. Nothing could +have been more delightful, and everything was for the best. The +Princess herself felt that fortune was shining upon her, for she never +doubted that she could lay hands on some of the money which the +statues would bring, and she was sure, at least, of marrying Sabina +extremely well in a few weeks, which was an advantage not to be +despised. + +During the hours that followed her first conversation with her mother, +Sabina found time to reflect upon her own future, and the more she +thought of it, the more rosy it seemed. She was sure that Malipieri +loved her, though he had certainly not told her so yet, and she was +sure that she had never met a man whom she liked half so much. It was +true that she had not met many, and none at all in even such intimacy +as had established itself between him and her at their very first +meeting; but that mattered little, and last night she had seen him as +few women ever see a man, fighting for her life and his own for hours +together, and winning in the end. Indeed, had she known it, their +situation had been really desperate, for while Masin was in prison and +in ignorance of what had happened, and Sassi lying unconscious at the +hospital after a fall that had nearly killed him outright, it was +doubtful whether any one else could have guessed that they were in the +vaults or would have been able to get them out alive, had it been +known. + +She had always expected to be married against her will by her mother, +or at all events without any inclination on her own part. She had been +taught that it was the way of the world, which it was better to +accept. If the proposed husband had been a cripple, or an old man, she +would have been capable of rebellion, of choosing the convent, of +running away alone into the world, of almost anything. But if he had +turned out to be an average individual, neither uglier, nor older, nor +more repulsive than many others, she would probably have accepted her +fate with indifference, or at least with the necessary resignation, +especially if she had never met Malipieri. Instead of that, it was +probably Malipieri whom she was to marry, the one of all others whom +she had chosen for herself, and in place of a dreary existence, +stretching out through endless blank years in the future, she saw a +valley of light, carpeted with roses, opening suddenly in the +wilderness to receive her and the man she loved. + +It was no wonder that she smiled in her sleep as she lay resting in +the warm afternoon, in her own room. Her mother had made her lie down, +partly because she was still tired, and partly because it would be +convenient that she should be out of the way if Malipieri came. + +He came, as the Princess had expected, and between two and three +o'clock, an hour at which he was almost sure to find her at home. From +what Sabina had said to the Baroness in his presence, and from his +judgment of the girl's character, he felt certain that she would tell +her mother the whole story at once. As they had acknowledged to each +other in the vaults, they were neither of them good at inventing +falsehoods, and Sabina would surely tell the truth. In the extremely +improbable case that she had not been obliged to say anything about +the events of the night, his visit would not seem at all out of place. +He had seen a good deal of Sabina during her mother's absence, and it +was proper that he should present himself in order to make the +Princess's acquaintance. + +He studied her face quickly as he came forward, and made up his mind +that she expected him, though she looked up with an air of languid +surprise as he entered. She leaned forward a little in her comfortable +seat, and held out her plump hand. + +"I think I knew your mother, and my daughter has told me about you," +she said. "I am glad to see you." + +"You are very kind," Malipieri answered, raising her hand to his lips, +which encountered a large, cool sapphire. "I have had the pleasure of +meeting Donna Sabina several times." + +"Yes, I know." The Princess laughed. "Sit down here beside me, and +tell me all about your strange adventure. You are really the man I +mean, are you not?" she asked, still smiling. "Your mother was a +Gradenigo?" + +"Yes. My father is alive. You may have met him, though he rarely +leaves Venice." + +"I think I have, years ago, but I am not sure. Does he never come to +Rome?" + +"He is an invalid now," Malipieri explained gravely. He cannot leave +the house." + +"Indeed? I am very sorry. It must be dreadful to be an invalid. I was +never ill in my life. But now that we have made acquaintance, do tell +me all about last night I Were you really in danger, as Sabina thinks, +or is she exaggerating?" + +"There was certainly no exaggeration in saying that we were in great +danger, as matters have turned out," Malipieri answered. "Of the two +men who knew that we were in the vault, one is lying insensible, with +a fractured skull, in the hospital of the Consolazione, and the other +has been arrested by a mistake and is in prison. Besides, both of them +would have had every reason to suppose that we had got out." + +"Sabina did not tell me that. How awful! I must know all the details, +please!" + +Malipieri told the whole story, from the time when Volterra had first +invited him to come and make a search. The Princess nodded her +energetic approval of his view that Sabina had a right to a large +share in anything that was found. The poor girl's dowry, she said, +had been eaten up by her father's absurd charities and by the bad +administration of the estates which had ruined the whole family. +Malipieri paid no attention to this statement, for he knew the truth, +and he went on to the end, telling everything, up to the moment when +Volterra had at last quitted the palace that morning and had left him +free. + +"Poor Sassi!" exclaimed the Princess, when he had finished. "He was a +foolish old man, but he always seemed very willing. Is that all?" + +"Yes. That is all. I think I have forgotten nothing." + +The Princess looked at him and smiled encouragingly, expecting him to +say something more, but he was grave and silent. Gradually, the smile +faded from her face, till she looked away, and took a cigarette from +the table at her elbow. Still he said nothing. She lit the cigarette +and puffed at it two or three times, slowly and thoughtfully. + +"I hope that Donna Sabina is none the worse for the fatigue," +Malipieri said at last. "She seemed quite well this morning. I +wondered that she had not caught cold." + +"She never caught cold easily, even as a child," answered the Princess +indifferently. "This affair may have much more serious consequences +than a cold in the head," she added, after a long pause. + +"I think the Volterra couple will be discreet, for their own sakes," +Malipieri answered. + +"Their servants must know that Sabina was out all night." + +"They do not know that poor Sassi did not bring her to you here, and +the Baroness will be careful to let them understand that she is here +now, and with you. Those people dread nothing like a scandal. The +secret is between them and us. I do not see how any one else can +possibly know it, or guess it." + +"The fact remains," said the Princess, speaking out, "that my daughter +spent last night in your rooms, and slept there, as if she had been in +her own home. If it is ever known she will be ruined." + +"It will never be known, I am quite sure." + +"I am not, and it is a possibility I cannot really afford to +contemplate." She looked fixedly at him. + +Malipieri was silent, and his face showed that he was trying to find +some way out of the imaginary difficulty, or at least some argument +which might quiet the Princess's fears. + +She did not understand his silence. If he was a man of honour, it was +manifestly his duty at least to offer the reparation that lay in his +power; but he showed no inclination to do so. It was incomprehensible. + +"I cannot see what is to be done," he said at last. + +"Is it possible that I must tell you, Signer Malipieri?" asked the +Princess, and her splendid eyes flashed angrily. + +Malipieri's met them without flinching. + +"You mean, of course, that I should offer to marry Donna Sabina," he +said. + +"What else could an honourable man do, in your position?" + +"I wish I knew." Malipieri passed his hand over Ms eyes in evident +distress. + +"Do you mean to say that you refuse?" the Princess asked, between +scorn and anger. "Are you so little one of us that you suppose this to +be a question of inclination?" + +Malipieri looked up again. + +"I wish it were. I love your daughter with all my heart and soul. I +did, before I saved her life last night." + +The Princess's anger gave way to stupefaction. + +"Well--but then? I do not understand. There is something else?" + +"Yes, there is something else. I have kept the secret a long time, and +it is not all my own." + +"I have a right to know it," the Princess answered firmly, and bending +her brows. + +"I never expected to tell it to any one," Malipieri said, in a low +voice, and evidently struggling with himself. "I see that I shall have +to trust you." + +"You must," insisted the Princess. "My daughter has a right to know, +as well as I; and you say that you love her." + +"I am married." + +"Good heavens!" + +She sank back in her chair, overwhelmed with surprise at the simple +statement, which, after all, need not have astonished her so much, as +she reflected a moment later. She had never heard of Malipieri until +that day, and since he had never told any one of his marriage, it was +impossible that her daughter should have known of it. She was +tolerably sure that the latter's adventure would not be known, but she +had formed the determination to take advantage of it in order to +secure Malipieri for Sabina, and had been so perfectly sure of the +result that she fell from the clouds on learning that he had a wife +already. + +On his part, he was not thinking of what was passing in her mind, but +of what he should have thought of himself, had he, with his character, +been in her position. The bald statement that he was married and his +confession of his love for Sabina looked badly side by side, in the +clear light of his own honour; all the more, because he knew that, +without positively or directly speaking out his heart to the girl, he +had let her guess that he was falling in love with her. He had said +so, though in jest, on that night when he had been alone with her in +Volterra's house; his going there, on the mere chance of seeing her +alone, and the interest he had shown in her from their first meeting, +must have made her think that he was in love. Moreover, he really was, +and like most people who are consciously in love where they ought not +to be, he felt as if everybody knew it; and yet he was a married man. + +"I am legally married under Italian law," he said, after a pause. "But +that is all. My wife bears my name, and lives honourably under it, but +that is all there has ever been of marriage in my life. I can honestly +say that not even a word of affection ever passed between us." + +"How strange!" The Princess listened with interest, wondering what was +coming next. + +"I never saw her but once," Malipieri continued. "We met in the +morning, we were married at noon, at the municipality, we parted at +the railway station twenty minutes later, and have never met again." + +"But you are not married at all!" cried the Princess. "The Church +would annul such a marriage without making the least trouble." + +"We were not even married in church," said Malipieri. "We were married +at the municipality only." + +"It is not a marriage at all, then." + +"Excuse me. It is perfectly valid in law, and my wife has a certified +copy of the register to prove that she has a right to my name." + +"Were you mad? What made you do it? It is utterly incomprehensible--to +bind yourself for life to a woman you had never seen! What possible +motive--" + +"I will tell you," said Malipieri. "It all happened long ago, when I +was little more than twenty-one. It is not a very long story, but I +beg you not to tell it. You do not suppose me capable of keeping it a +secret in order to make another marriage, not really legal do you?" + +"Certainly not," answered the Princess. "I believe you to be an +honourable man. I will not tell your story to any one." + +"You may tell Donna Sabina as much of it as you think she need hear. +This is what happened. I served my time in a cavalry regiment--no +matter where, and I had an intimate friend, nearly of my own age, and +a Venetian. He was very much in love with a young girl of a +respectable family, but not of his own station. Of course his family +would not hear of a marriage, but she loved him, and he promised that +he would marry her as soon as he had finished his military service, in +spite of his own people. He would have been of age by that time, for +he was only a few months younger than I, and he was willing to +sacrifice most of his inheritance for love of the girl. Do you +understand?" + +"Yes. Go on." + +"He and I were devotedly attached to each other, said I sympathized +with him, of course, and promised to help him if he made a runaway +match. He used to get leave for a couple of days, to go and see her, +for she lived with her parents in a small city within two hours of our +garrison town. You guess what happened.--They were young, they were +foolish, and they were madly in love." + +The Princess nodded, and Malipieri continued. + +"Not long afterwards, my friend was killed by a fall. His horse +crushed him. It was a horrible accident, and he lived twelve hours +after it, in great pain. He would not let the doctors give him +morphia. He said he would die like a man, and he did, with all his +senses about him. While he lay dying, I was with him, and then he told +me all the truth. The girl would not be able to conceal it much +longer. There was no time to bring her to his bedside and marry her +while he still breathed. He could not even leave her money, for he was +a minor. He could do nothing for her and her parents would turn her +into the street; in any case she was ruined. He was in frightful agony +of mind for her sake, he was dying before my eyes, powerless to help +her and taking his suffering and his fault with him to the next world, +and he was my friend. I did what I could. I gave him my word of honour +that I would marry her legally, give her and her child my name, and +provide for them as well as I could. He thanked me--I shall never +forget how he looked--and he died quietly, half an hour afterwards. +You know now. I kept my word. That is all." + +The Princess looked at his quiet face a moment in silence, and all +that was best in her rose up through all that was artificial and +worldly, and untruthful and vain. + +"I did not know that there were such men," she said simply. + + + + + +CHAPTER XX + + + + +"So he got out," said Gigi to Toto, filling the latter's glass to the +brim. + +"May he die assassinated!" answered Toto. "I will burn a candle to the +Madonna every day, in order that an apoplexy may seize him. He is the +devil in person, this cursed engineer. Even the earth and the water +will not have him. They spit him out, like that." + +Toto illustrated the simile with force and noise before drinking. +Gigi's cunning face was wreathed in smiles. + +"You know nothing," he observed. + +"What is it?" asked Toto, with his glass in his hand and between two +sips. + +"There was old Sassi, who was hurt, and the engineer's gaol-bird +mason-servant. They were with him. It was all in the _Messaggero_ this +morning." + +"I know that without the newspaper, you imbecile. It was I that told +you, for I saw all three pass under the window while I was locked in. +Is there anything else you know?" + +"Oh, yes! There was another person with them." + +"I daresay," Toto answered, pretending blank indifference. "He must +have been close to the wall as they went by. What difference does it +make since that pig of an engineer got out?" + +"The other person was caught with him when the water rose," said Gigi, +who meant to give his information by inches. + +"Curse him, whoever he was! He helped the engineer and that is why +they got out. No man alone could have broken through that wall in a +night, except one of us." + +"The other person was only a woman, after all," answered Gigi. "But +you do not care, I suppose." + +"Speak, animal of a Jesuit that you are!" cried Toto. "Do not make me +lose my soul!" + +Gigi smiled and drank some of his wine. + +"There are people who would pay to know," he said, "and you would +never tell me whether the sluice gate of the 'lost water' is under +number thirteen or not." + +"It is under number thirteen, Master Judas. Speak!" + +"It was the little fair girl of Casa Conti who was caught with the +engineer in the vaults." + +Even Toto was surprised, and opened his eyes and his mouth at the same +time. + +"The little Princess Sabina?" he asked in a low voice. + +Gigi shrugged his shoulders with a pitying air and grinned. + +"I told you that you knew nothing," he observed in triumph. "They were +together all night, and she slept in his room, and the Senator's wife +came to get her in the morning. The engineer took the porter off to +the cellars before they came down, so that he should not see her pass; +but he forgot me, the old carpenter of the house, and I opened the +postern for the two ladies to go out. The little Princess's skirt had +been torn. I saw the pins with these eyes. It was also spotted with +mud which had been brushed off. But thanks be to heaven I have still +my sight. I see, and am not blind." + +"Are you sure it was she?" asked Toto, forgetting to curse anybody. + +"I saw her as I see you. Have I not seen her grow up, since she used +to be wheeled about in a baby carriage in Piazza Navona, like a flower +in a basket? Her nurse made love with the 'woodpecker' who was always +on duty there." + +The Romans call the municipal watchmen "woodpeckers," because they +wear little pointed cocked hats with a bunch of feathers. They have +nothing to do with police soldiers, nor with the carabineers. + +Toto made Gigi tell him everything he knew. At the porter's suggestion +Volterra had sent for the mason, as the only man who knew anything +about the "lost water," and Toto had agreed, with apparent reluctance, +to do what he could at once, as soon as he had satisfied himself that +Malipieri had really made another opening by which the statues could +be reached. Toto laid down conditions, however. He pretended that he +must expose himself to great danger, and insisted upon being paid +fifty francs for the job. Furthermore, he obtained from Volterra, in +the presence of the porter as witness, a formal promise that his +grandfather's bones should have Christian burial, with a fine hearse +and feathers, and a permanent grave in the cemetery of Saint Lawrence, +which latter is rather an expensive luxury, beyond the means of the +working people. But the Baron made no objection. The story would look +very well in a newspaper paragraph, as a fine illustration of the +Senator's liberality as well as of his desire to maintain the forms of +religion. It would please everybody, and what will do that is cheap at +any price, in politics. + +The result of these negotiations had of course been that the water had +subsided in the vaults within a few hours, and Toto even found a way +of draining the outer cellars, which had been flooded to the depth of +a couple of feet, because the first breach made by Malipieri had +turned out to be an inch or two lower than the level of the overflow +shaft. + +When the two workmen had exchanged confidences, they ordered another +half litre of wine, and sat in silence till the grimy host had set it +down between them on the blackened table, and had retired to his den. +Then they looked at each other. + +"There is an affair here," observed Gigi presently. + +"I suppose you mean the newspapers," said Toto nodding gravely. "They +pay for such stories." + +"Newspapers!" Gigi made a face. "All journalists are pigs who are +dying of hunger." + +Toto seemed inclined to agree with this somewhat extreme statement, on +the whole, but he distinguished. There were papers, he said, which +would pay as much as a hundred francs for a scandalous story about the +Roman princes. A hundred francs was not a gold mine, it was not Peru. +But it was a hundred francs. What did Gigi expect? The treasure of +Saint Peter's? A story was a story, after all, and anybody could deny +it. + +"It is worth more than a hundred francs," Gigi answered, with his +weasel smile, "but not to the newspapers. The honour of a Roman +princess is worth a hundred thousand." + +Toto whistled, and then looked incredulous, but it began to dawn upon +him that the "affair" was of more importance than he had supposed. +Gigi was much cleverer than he; that was why he always called Gigi an +imbecile. + +The carpenter unfolded his plan. He knew as well as any one that the +Conti were ruined and could not raise any such sum as he proposed to +demand, even to save Sabina's good name. It would apparently be +necessary to extract the blackmail from Volterra by some means to be +discovered. On the other hand, Volterra was not only rich, he also +possessed much power, and it would be somewhat dangerous to incur his +displeasure. + +Toto, though dull, had a certain rough common sense and pointed this +out. He said that the Princess must have jewels which she could sell +to save her daughter from disgrace. She and Donna Sabina were at the +Russian Embassy, for the _Messaggero_ said so. Gigi, who could write, +might send her a letter there. + +"No doubt," assented the carpenter with a superior air. "I have some +instruction, and can write a letter. But the jewels are paste. Half +the Roman princesses wear sham jewellery nowadays. Do you suppose the +Conti have not sold everything long ago? They had to live." + +"I do not see why," observed Toto. "Princes without money might as +well be dead, an apoplexy on them all! Well, what do you propose to +do? That old franc-eater of a Senator will not pay you for the girl's +reputation, since she is not his daughter." + +"We must think," said Gigi. "Perhaps it would do no harm to write a +letter to the Princess. The engineer is poor, of course. It is of no +use to go to him." + +"All engineers are starving to death," Toto answered cheerfully. "I +have seen them eat bread and onions and drink water, like us. Would +they eat onions and dry bread if they could have meat? It is when they +become contractors that they get money, by cheating the rich and +strangling the poor. I know them. They are all evil people." + +"This is true," assented Gigi, "I have seen several, before this one." + +"This one is the eternal father of all assassins," growled Toto. "He +talked of walling me up alive." + +"That was only a joke, to frighten you into holding your tongue," said +Gigi. "And you did." + +"A fine joke! I wish you had been down there, hiding beside the gold +statue instead of me, while two murderers sat by the little hole above +and talked of walling it up for a week or ten days! A fine joke. The +joke the cat makes to the mouse before eating it!" + +"I can tell the Princess that the money must be sent In thousand-franc +notes," said Gigi, who was not listening. "It cannot go to the post- +office registered, because it must be addressed to a false name. +Somebody must bring it to us." + +"And bring the police to catch us at the same time," suggested Toto +contemptuously. "That will not do." + +"She must bring it herself, to a safe place." + +"How?" + +"For instance, I can write that she must take a cab and drive out of +the city on the Via Appia, and drive, and drive, until she meets two +men--they will be you and me--one with a red handkerchief hanging out +of his coat pocket, and the other with an old green riband for a band +to his hat. I have an old green riband that will do. She must come +alone in the cab. If we see any one with her, she shall not see us. +She will not know how far out we shall be, so she cannot send the +police to the place. It may be one mile from the gate, or five. I will +write that if she does not come alone, the story will be printed in +all the papers the next morning." + +Toto now looked at his friend with something almost like admiration. + +"I did not know that you had been a brigand," he remarked pleasantly. +"That is well thought. Only the Princess may not be able to get the +money, and if she does, she had better bring it in gold. We will then +go to America." + +Neither of the men had the least idea that a hundred thousand francs +in gold would be an uncommonly awkward and heavy load to carry. They +supposed it would go into their pockets. + +"If she does not come, we will try the Senator before we publish the +story," said Gigi. "By that time we shall have been able to think of +some way of putting him under the oil-press to squeeze the gold out of +him." + +"In any case, this is a good affair," Toto concluded, filling his +pipe. "Nothing is bad which ends well, and we may both be gentlemen in +America before long." + +So the two ruffians disposed of poor little Sabina's reputation in the +reeking wine shop, very much to their own imaginary advantage; and the +small yellow-and-blue clouds from their stinking pipes circled up +slowly through the gloom into the darkness above their heads, as the +light failed in the narrow street outside. + +Then Gigi, the carpenter, bought two sheets of paper and an envelope, +and a pen and a wretched little bottle of ink, and a stamp, all at the +small tobacconist's at the corner of Via della Scrofa, and went to +Toto's lodging to compose his letter, because Toto lived alone, and +there were no women in the house. + +Just at the same time, Volterra was leaving the Palazzo Madama, where +the Senate sits, not a couple of hundred yards away. And the two +workmen would have been very much surprised if they could have guessed +what was beginning to grow in the fertile but tortuous furrows of his +financial and political intelligence, and that in the end their +schemes might possibly fall in with his. + + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + + + + +As it had become manifestly impossible to keep the secret of the +discovery in the Palazzo Conti any longer, Volterra had behaved with +his accustomed magnanimity. He had not only communicated all the +circumstances to the authorities at once, offering the government the +refusal of the statues, which the law could not oblige him to sell if +he chose to keep them in the palace, but also publicly giving full +credit to the "learned archaeologist and intrepid engineer, Signer +Marino Malipieri, already famous throughout Europe for his recent +discoveries in Carthage." In two or three days the papers were full of +Malipieri's praises. Those that were inclined to differ with the +existing state of things called him a hero, and even a martyr of +liberty, besides a very great man; and those which were staunch to the +monarchy poked mild fun at his early political flights and +congratulated him upon having descended from the skies, after burning +his wings, not only to earth, but to the waters that are under the +earth, returning to the upper air laden with treasures of art which +reflected new glory upon Italy. + +All this was very fine, and much of it was undoubtedly true, but it +did not in the least help Malipieri to solve the problem which had +presented itself so suddenly in his life. The roads to happiness and +to reputation rarely lead to the same point of the compass when he who +hopes to attain both has more heart than ambition. It is not given to +many, as it was to Baron Volterra, to lead an admiring, submissive and +highly efficient wife up the broad steps of political power, financial +success and social glory. Neither Caesar nor Bonaparte reached the top +with the wife of his heart, yet Volterra, more moderately endowed, +though with almost equal ambition, bade fair to climb high with the +virtuous helpmeet of his choice on his arm. + +Malipieri slept badly and grew thinner during those days. His devotion +to his dying friend had been absurdly quixotic, according to ordinary +standards, but it had never seemed foolish to him, and he had never +regretted it. He had always believed that a man of action and thought +is freer to think and act if he remains unmarried, and it had never +occurred to him that he might fall in love with a young girl, without +whom life would seem empty. He was quixotic, generous and impulsive, +but like many men who do extremely romantic things, he thought himself +quite above sentimentality and entirely master of his heart. Hitherto +the theory had worked very well, because he had never really tried to +practise it. Nothing had seemed easier than not to fall in love with +marriageable young women, and he had grown used to believing that he +never could. + +With that brutality to his own feelings of which only a thoroughly +sentimental man is capable, he left the Palazzo Conti on the day +following the adventure, and took rooms in a hotel in the upper part +of the city. Nothing would have induced him to spend a night in his +room since Sabina's head had lain upon his pillow. With Volterra's +powerful help, Masin had been released, though poor Sassi had not +returned to consciousness, and Malipieri learned that the old man had +changed his mind at the last minute, had insisted upon trying to +follow Sabina after all, and had fallen heavily upon his head in +trying to get down into the first chamber; while Masin, behind him, +implored him to come back, or at least to wait for help where he was. +The rest needs no explanation. + +Malipieri took a few things with him to the hotel, and left Masin to +collect his papers and books on the following day, instructing him to +send the scanty furniture, linen and household belongings to the +nearest auction rooms, to be sold at once. Masin, none the worse for a +night and day in prison, came back to his functions as if nothing had +happened. He and his master had been in more than one adventure +together. This one was over and he was quite ready for the next. + +There was probably not another man in Italy, and there are not many +alive anywhere, who would have done what Malipieri did, out of pure +sentiment and nothing else. To him, it seemed like a natural sacrifice +to his inward honour, to refuse which would have been cowardly. He had +weakly allowed himself to fall in love with a girl whom he could not +possibly marry, and whom he respected as much as he loved. He guessed, +though he tried to deny it, that she was more than half in love with +him, since love sometimes comes by halves. To lie where she had lain, +dreaming of her with his aching eyes open and his blood on fire, would +be a violation of her maiden privacy, morally not much less cowardly +in the spirit than it could have been in the letter, since he could +not marry her. + +The world laughs at such refinements of delicate feeling in a man, but +cannot help inwardly respecting them a little, as it respects many +things at which it jeers and rails. Moreover, Malipieri did not care a +fig for the world's opinion, and if he had needed to take a motto he +would have chosen "Si omnes, ego non"; for if there was a circumstance +which always inclined him to do anything especially quixotic, it was +the conviction that other people would probably do the exact opposite. +So Masin took the furniture to an auction room on a cart, and +Malipieri never saw it again. + +While the press was ringing his praises, and he himself was preparing +a carefully written paper on the two statues, while the public was +pouring into the gate of the Palazzo Conti to see them, and Volterra +was driving a hard bargain with the government for their sale, he +lived in a state of anxiety and nervousness impossible to describe. He +was haunted by the fear that some one might find out where Sabina had +been on the night after she had left Volterra's house, and the mere +thought of such a possibility was real torment, worse than the +knowledge that he could never marry her, and that without her his life +did not seem worth living. Whatever happened to Sabina would be the +result of his folly in taking her to the vaults. He might recover from +any wound he had himself received, but to see the good name of the +innocent girl he loved utterly ruined and dragged through the mud of +newspaper scandal would be a good deal worse than being flayed alive. +It was horrible to think of it, and yet he could not keep it out of +his thoughts. There had been too many people about the palace on the +morning when Sabina had left it with the Baroness. Especially, there +had been that carpenter, of whom no one had thought till it was too +late. If Gigi had recognized Sabina, that would be Malipieri's fault +too, for Volterra had not known that the man had been employed about +the house for years. A week passed, and nothing happened. He had +neither seen Sabina nor heard of her from any one. He was besieged by +journalists, artists, men of letters and men of learning, and the +municipal authorities had declared their intention of giving a banquet +in his honour and Volterra's, to celebrate the safe removal of the two +statues from the vault in which they had lain so long. He, who hated +noisy feasting and speech-making above all things, could not refuse +the public invitation. All sorts of people came to see him, in +connection with the whole affair, and he was at last obliged to shut +himself in during several hours of the day, in order to work at his +dissertation. Masin alone was free to reach him in case of any urgent +necessity. + +One morning, while he was writing, surrounded by books, drawings and +papers, Masin came and stood silently at his elbow, waiting till it +should please him to look up. Malipieri carefully finished the +sentence he had begun, and laid down his pen. Then Masin spoke. + +"There is a lady downstairs, sir, who says that you will certainly +receive her upon very important business. She would not give her name, +but told the porter to try and get me to hand you this note." + +Malipieri sighed wearily and opened the note without even glancing at +the address. He knew that Sabina would not write to him, and no one +else interested him in the least. But he looked at the signature +before reading the lines, and his expression changed. The dowager +Princess Conti wrote a few words to say that she must see him at once +and was waiting. That was all, but his heart sank. He sent Masin to +show her the way, and sat resting his forehead in his hand until she +appeared. + +She entered and stood before him, softly magnificent as a sunset in +spring; looking as even a very stout woman of fifty can, if she has a +matchless complexion, perfect teeth, splendid eyes, faultless taste, a +wonderful dressmaker and a maid who does not hate her. + +Malipieri vaguely wondered how Sabina could be her daughter, drew an +armchair into place for her, and sat down again by his writing-table. +The windows were open and the blinds were drawn together to keep out +the glare, for it was a hot day. A vague and delicious suggestion of +Florentine orris-root spread through the warm air as the Princess sat +down. Malipieri watched her face, but her expression showed no signs +of any inward disturbance. + +"Are you sure that nobody will interrupt us?" she asked, as Masin went +out and shut the door. + +"Quite sure. What can I do to serve you?" + +"I have had this disgusting letter." + +She produced a small, coarse envelope from the pale mauve pocket-book +she carried in her hand, and held it out to Malipieri, who took it and +read it carefully. It was not quite easy for him to understand, as +Gigi wrote in the Roman dialect without any particular punctuation, +and using capitals whenever it occurred to him, except at the +beginning of a sentence. To Malipieri, as a Venetian, it was at first +sight about as easy as a chorus of Aeschylus looks to an average pass- +man. + +As the sense became clear to him, his eyelids contracted and his face +was drawn as if he were in bodily pain. + +"When did you get this?" he asked, folding the letter and putting it +back into the envelope. + +"Five or six days ago, I think. I am not sure of the date, but it does +not matter. It says the money must be paid in ten days, does it not? +Yes--something like that. I know there is some time left. I have come +to you because I have tried everything else." + +"Everything else?" cried Malipieri, in sudden anxiety. "What in the +world have you tried?" + +"I sent for Volterra the day after I got this." + +"Oh!" Malipieri was somewhat relieved. "What did he advise you to do? +To employ a detective?" + +"O dear, no! Nothing so simple and natural. That man is an utter +brute, and I am sorry I left Sabina so long with his wife. She would +have been much better in the convent with her sister. I am afraid that +is where she will end, poor child, and it will be all your fault, +though you never meant any harm. You do not think you could divorce +and marry her, do you?" + +Malipieri stared at her a moment, and then bit his lip to check the +answer. He had no right to resent whatever she chose to say to him, +for he was responsible for all the trouble and for Sabina's good name. + +"There is no divorce law in Italy," he answered, controlling himself. +"Why do you say that Volterra is an utter brute? What did he advise +you to do?" + +"He offered to silence the creature who wrote this letter if I would +make a bargain with him. He said he would pay the money, if I would +give Sabina to his second son, who is a cavalry officer in Turin, and +whom none of us has ever seen." + +Malipieri's lips moved, but he said nothing that could be heard. A +vein that ran down the middle of his forehead was swollen, and there +was a bad look in his eyes. + +"I would rather see the child dead than married to one of those +disgusting people," the Princess said. "Did you ever hear of such +impertinence?" + +"You let her live with them for more than two months," observed +Malipieri. + +"I know I did. It was simply impossible to think of anything better in +the confusion, and as they offered to take charge of her, I consented. +Yes, it was foolish, but I did not suppose that they would let her go +off in a cab with that old dotard and stay out all night." + +Malipieri felt as if she were driving a blunt nail into his head. + +"Poor Sassil" he said. "He was buried yesterday." + +"Was he? I am not in the least sorry for him. He always made trouble, +and this was the worst of all Sabina almost cried because I would not +let her go and see him at the hospital. You know, he never spoke after +he was taken there--he did not feel anything." + +Malipieri wondered whether the Princess, in another sense, had ever +felt anything, a touch of real pity, or real love, for any human +being. He did not remember to have ever met a woman who had struck him +as so utterly heartless; and yet he could not forget the look that had +come into her face, and the simple word she had spoken, when he had +told her his story. + +"I understand that you refused Volterra's proposal," he said, +returning to the present trouble. "Do you mean to say that he declined +to help you unless you would accept it?" + +"Oh, no! He only said that as I was not disposed to accept what would +make it so much easier, he would have to think it over. I have not +seen him since." + +"But you understand what he had planned, do you not?" Malipieri asked. +"It is very simple." + +"It is not so clear to me. I am not at all clever, you know." The +Princess laughed carelessly. "He must have a very good reason for +offering to pay a hundred thousand francs in order that his son may +marry Sabina, who has not a penny. I confess, if it were not an +impertinence, it would look like a foolish caprice. I suppose he +thinks it would be socially advantageous." + +Her lip curled and showed her even white teeth. + +"His wife is a snob," Malipieri answered, "but Volterra does not care +for anything but power and money, except perhaps for the sort of +reputation he has, which helps him to get both." "Then of what +possible use could it be to him to marry his son to Sabina, and to +throw all that money away for the sake of getting her?" + +Malipieri hesitated, not sure whether it would be wise to tell her all +he thought. + +"In the first place," he said slowly, "I do not believe he would +really pay the blackmail, or if he did, he would catch the man, get +the money back, and have him sent to penal servitude. He is very +clever, and in his position he can have whatever help he asks from the +government, especially in a just cause, as that would be. Perhaps he +thinks that he has guessed who the man is." + +"Have you any idea?" asked the Princess, glancing down at the dirty +little letter she still held. + +"In the second place," Malipieri continued, without heeding the +question, "I am almost sure that when you were in difficulties, two or +three months ago, he got the better of you, as he gets the better of +every one. With the value of these statues, he has probably pocketed a +couple of million francs by the transaction." + +"The wretch!" exclaimed the Princess. "I wish you were my lawyer! You +have such a clear way of putting things." + +Even then Malipieri smiled. + +"I have always believed what I have just told you," he answered. "That +was the reason why I hoped that Donna Sabina might yet recover what +she should have had from the estate. Volterra is sure that if you can +take proper steps, you will recover a large sum, and that is why he is +so anxious to marry his son to your daughter. He thinks the match +would settle the whole affair." + +"The idiot! As if I did not need the money myself!" + +Again Malipieri smiled. + +"But you will not get it," he answered. "You will certainly not get it +if Volterra is interested in the matter, for it will all go to your +daughter. Your other two children have had their share of their +father's estate, and that of the daughters should have amounted to at +least two millions each. But Donna Sabina has never had a penny. +Whatever is recovered from Volterra will go to her, not to you." + +"It would be the same thing," observed the Princess carelessly. + +"Not exactly," Malipieri said, "for the court will appoint legal +guardians, and the money will be paid to her intact when she comes of +age. In other words, if she marries Volterra's son, the little fortune +will return to Volterra's family. But of course, if you consented to +the marriage, he would compromise for the money, before the suit was +brought, by settling the two millions upon his daughter-in-law, and if +he offered to do that, as he would, no respectable lawyer in the world +would undertake to carry on the suit, because Volterra would have +acted in strict justice. Do you see?" + +"Yes. It is very disappointing, but I suppose you are right." + +"I know I am, except about the exact sum involved. I am an architect +by profession, I know something of Volterra's affairs and I do not +think I am very far wrong. Very good. But Volterra has accidentally +got hold of a terrible weapon against you, in the shape of this +blackmailer's letter." + +"Then you advise me to accept his offer after all?" + +"He knows that you must, unless you can find something better. You are +in his power." + +"But why should I, if I am to get nothing by it?" asked the Princess +absent-mindedly. + +"There is Donna Sabina's good name at stake," Malipieri answered, with +a little sternness. + +"I had forgotten. Of course! How stupid of me!" For a moment Malipieri +knew that he should like to box her ears, woman though she was; then +he felt a sort of pity for her, such as one feels for half-witted +creatures that cannot help themselves nor control their instincts. + +"Then I must accept, and let Sabina marry that man," she said, after a +moment's silence. "Tell me frankly, is that what you think I ought to +do?" + +"If Donna Sabina wishes to marry him, it will be a safe solution," +Malipieri answered steadily. + +"My dear man, she is in love with you!" cried the Princess in one of +her sudden fits of frankness. "She told me so the other day in so many +words, when she was so angry because I would not let her go to see +poor old Sassi die. She said that you and he and her schoolmistress +were the only human beings who had ever been good to her, or for whom +she had ever cared, You may just as well know it, since you cannot +marry her!" + +In a calmer moment, Malipieri might have doubted the logic of the last +statement; but at the present moment he was not very calm, and he +turned a pencil nervously in his fingers, standing it alternately on +its point and its blunt end, upon the blotting-paper beside him, and +looking at the marks it made. + +"How can she possibly wish to marry that Volterra creature?" asked the +Princess, by way of conclusion. "She will have to, that is all, +whether she likes it or not. After all, nobody seems to care much, +nowadays," she added in a tone of reflection. "It is only the idea I +always heard that Volterra kept a pawnshop in Florence, and then +became a dealer in bric-a-brac, and afterwards a banker, and all sorts +of things. But it may not be true, and after all, it is only +prejudice. A banker may be a very respectable person, you know." + +"Certainly," assented Malipieri, wishing that he could feel able to +smile at her absurd talk, as a sick man wishes that he could feel +hungry when he sees a dish he likes very much, and only feels the +worse for the mere thought of touching food. + +"Nothing but prejudice," the Princess repeated. "I daresay he was +never really a pawnbroker and is quite respectable. By the bye, do you +think he wrote this letter himself? It would be just like him." + +"No," Malipieri answered. "I am sure he did not. Volterra never did +anything in his life which could not at least be defended in law. The +letter is genuine." + +"Then there is some one who knows, besides ourselves and Volterra and +his wife?" + +"Yes. I am sure of it." + +"You are so clever. You must be able to find out who it is." + +"I will try. But I am sure of one thing. Even if the money is not paid +on the day, the story will not be published at once. The man will try +again and again to get money from you. There is plenty of time." + +"Unless it is a piece of servants' vengeance," the Princess said. "Our +servants were always making trouble before we left the palace, I could +never understand why. If it is that, we shall never be safe. Will you +come and see me, if you think of any plan?" + +She rose to go. + +"I will go to the Embassy to-morrow afternoon, between three and +four." + +"Thanks. Do you know? I really cannot help liking you, though I think +you are behaving abominably. I am sure you could get a divorce in +Switzerland." + +"We will not talk about that," Malipieri answered, a little harshly. + +When she was gone, he called Masin, and then, instead of explaining +what he wanted, he threw himself into an armchair and sat in silence +for nearly half an hour. Masin was used to his master's ways and did +not speak, but occupied himself in noiselessly dusting the mantelpiece +at least a hundred times over. + + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + + + + +Volterra had not explained to the Princess the reason why her +acceptance of his offer would make it so much easier for him to help +her out of her difficulty. He had only said that it would, for he +never explained anything to a woman if an explanation could be +avoided, and he had found that there are certain general ways of +stating things to which women will assent rather than seem not to +understand. If the Princess had asked questions, he would have found +plausible answers, but she did not. She refused his offer, saying that +she had other views for her daughter. She promptly invented a rich +cousin in Poland, who had fallen in love with Sabina's photograph and +was only waiting for her to be eighteen years old in order to marry +her. + +She had gone to Malipieri as a last resource, not thinking it probable +that he could help her, or that he would change his mind and try to +free himself in order to marry Sabina. She came back with the +certainty that he would not do the latter and could not give any real +assistance. So far, she had not spoken to Sabina of her interview with +the Baron, but she felt that the time had come to sound her on the +subject of the marriage, since there might not be any other way. She +had not lost time since her arrival, for she had at once seen one of +the best lawyers in Rome, who looked after such legal business as the +Russian Embassy occasionally had; and he had immediately applied for a +revision of the settlement of the Conti affairs, on the ground of +large errors in the estimates of the property, supporting his +application with the plea that many of the proceedings in the matter +had been technically faulty because certain documents should have been +signed by Sabina, as a minor interested in the estate, and whose +consent was necessary. He was of opinion that the revision would +certainly be granted, but he would say nothing as to the amount which +might be recovered by the Conti family. As a matter of fact, the +settlement had been made hastily, between Volterra, old Sassi and a +notary who was not a lawyer; and Volterra, who knew what he was about, +and profited largely by it, had run the risk of a revision being +required. For the rest, Malipieri's explanation of his motives was the +true one. + +At the first suggestion of a marriage with Volterra's son Sabina +flatly refused to entertain the thought. She made no outcry, she did +not even raise her voice, nor change colour; but she planted her +little feet firmly together on the footstool before her chair, folded +her hands in her lap and looked straight at her mother. + +"I will not marry him," she said. "It is of no use to try to make me. +I will not." + +Her mother began to draw a flattering though imaginary portrait of the +young cavalry officer, and enlarged upon his fortune and future +position. Volterra was immensely rich, and though he was not quite one +of themselves, society had accepted him, his sons had been admirably +brought up, and would be as good as any one. There was not a prince in +Rome who would not be glad to make such a match for his daughter, + +"It is quite useless, mother," said Sabina. "I would not marry him if +he were Prince Colonna and had the Rothschilds' money." + +"That is absurd," answered the Princess. "Just because you have taken +a fancy to that Malipieri, who cannot marry you because he has done +the most insane thing any one ever heard of." + +"It was splendid," Sabina retorted. + +"Besides," her mother said, "you do not know that it is true." + +Sabina's eyes flashed. + +"Whatever he says, is true," she answered, "and you know it is. He +never lied in his life!" + +"No," said the Princess, "I really think he never did." + +"Then why did you suggest such a thing, when you know that I love +him?" + +"One says things, sometimes," replied the Princess vaguely. "I did not +really mean it, and I cannot help liking the man. I told him so this +morning. Now listen. Volterra is a perfect beast, and if you refuse, +he is quite capable of letting that story get about, and you will be +ruined." + +"I will go into a convent." + +"You know that you hate Clementina," observed the Princess. + +"Of course I do. She used to beat me when I was small, because she +said I was wicked. Of course I hate her. I shall join the Little +Sisters of the Poor, or be a Sister of Charity. Even Clementina could +not object to that, I should think." + +"You are a little fool!" + +To this observation Sabina made no reply, for it was not new to her, +and she paid no attention to it. She supposed that all mothers called +their children fools when they were angry. It was one of the +privileges of motherhood. + +The discussion ended there, for Sabina presently went away and shut +herself up in her room, leaving her mother to meditate in solitude on +the incredible difficulties that surrounded her. + +Sabina was thinking, too, but her thoughts ran in quite another +direction, as she sat bolt upright on a straight-backed chair, staring +at the wall opposite. She was wondering how Malipieri looked at that +moment, and how it was possible that she should not even have seen him +since she had left his rooms with the Baroness a week ago, and more; +and why, when every hour had dragged like an age, it seemed as if they +had parted only yesterday, sure to meet again. + +She sat still a long time, trying to think out a future for herself, a +future life without Malipieri and yet bearable. It would have been +easy before the night in the vaults; it would have seemed possible a +week ago, though very hard; now, it was beyond her imagination. She +had talked of entering a sisterhood, but she knew that she did not +mean to do it, even if her reputation were ruined. + +She guessed that in that event her mother would try to force her into +a convent. The Princess was not the sort of woman who would devote the +rest of her life to consoling her disgraced daughter, no matter how +spotlessly blameless the girl might be. She would look upon her as a +burden and a nuisance, would shut her up if she could, and would +certainly go off to Russia or to Paris, to amuse herself as far as +possible from the scene of Sabina's unfortunate adventure. + +"Poor child!" she would say to her intimate friends, "She was +perfectly innocent, of course, but there was nothing else to be done. +No decent man would have married her, you know!" + +And she would tell Malipieri's story to everybody, too, to explain why +he had not married Sabina. She had no heart at all, for her children +or for any one else. She had always despised her son for his +weaknesses and miserable life, and she had always laughed at her elder +daughter; if she had been relatively kind to Sabina, it was because +the girl had never given any trouble nor asked for anything +extravagantly inconvenient. She had never felt the least sympathy with +the Roman life into which she had been brought by force, and after her +husband had died she had plainly shown his quiet Roman relatives what +she thought of them. + +She would cast Sabina off without even a careless kind word, if Sabina +became a drag on her and hindered her from doing what she pleased in +the world. And this would happen, if the story about the night in the +Palazzo Conti were made public. Just so long, and no longer, would the +Princess acknowledge her daughter's existence; and that meant so long +as Volterra chose that the secret should be kept. + +At least, Sabina thought so. But matters turned out differently and +were hurried to an issue in a terribly unexpected way. + +Both Volterra and Malipieri had guessed that the anonymous letter had +been written by Gigi, the carpenter, but Volterra had seen it several +days before the Princess had shown it to Malipieri. Not unnaturally, +the Baron thought that it would be a good move to get the man into his +power. Italy is probably not the only country where men powerful in +politics and finance can induce the law to act with something more +than normal promptitude, and Volterra, as usual, was not going to do +anything illegal. The Minister of Justice, too, was one of those men +who had been fighting against the Sicilian "mafia" and the Neapolitan +"camorra" for many years, and he hated all blackmailers with a just +and deadly hatred. He was also glad to oblige the strong Senator, who +was just now supporting the government with his influence and his +millions. Volterra was sure of the culprit's identity and explained +that the detective who had been sent to investigate the palace after +Sassi's accident had seen the carpenter and would recognize him. +Nothing would be easier than to send for Gigi to do a job at the +palace, towards evening, to arrest him as soon as he came, and to take +him away quietly. + +This was done, and in twenty-four hours Gigi was safely lodged in a +cell by himself, with orders that he was on no account to be allowed +any communication with other prisoners. + +Then Volterra went to see him, and instead of threatening him, offered +him his help if he would only tell the exact truth. Gigi was +frightened out of his wits and grasped at the straw, though he did not +trust the Baron much. He told what he had done; but with the loyalty +to friends, stimulated by the fear of vengeance, which belongs to the +Roman working man, he flatly denied that he had an accomplice. Yes, he +had spoken in the letter of two men who would be walking on the Via +Appia, and he had intended to take his brother-in-law with him, but he +said that he had not meant to explain why he took him until the last +minute. It was a matter for the galleys! Did his Excellency the +Senator suppose that he would trust anybody with that, until it was +necessary? + +The consequence was that Gigi was kept quietly in prison for a few +days before any further steps were taken, having been arrested at the +instance of the Ministry of Justice for trying to extract blackmail +from the Conti family, and being undoubtedly guilty of the misdeed. +Volterra's name did not even appear in the statement. + +Malipieri had not Volterra's influence, and intended to try more +personal methods with the carpenter; but when he appeared at the +palace in the afternoon, and asked the porter to go and call Gigi, the +old man shook his head and said that Gigi had been in prison three +days, and that nobody knew why he had been arrested. The matter had +not even been mentioned by the _Messaggero_. + +Malipieri had never connected Toto with Gigi, and did not even know +that the two men were acquainted with each other. He had not the +slightest doubt but that it was Toto who had caused the water to rise +in the well, out of revenge, but he knew that it would now be +impossible to prove it. Strange to say, Malipieri bore him no grudge, +for he knew the people well, and after all, he himself had acted in a +high-handed way. Nevertheless, he asked the porter if the man were +anywhere in the neighbourhood. + +But Toto had not been seen for some time. He had not even been to the +wine shop, and was probably at work in some distant part of Rome. +Perhaps he was celebrating his grandfather's funeral with his friends. +Nobody could tell where he might be. + +Malipieri went back to his hotel disconsolately. That evening he read +in the _Italie_ that after poor Sassi had been buried, the authorities +had at once proceeded to take charge of his property and effects, +because the old woman-servant had declared that he had no near +relations in the world; and the notary who had served the Conti family +had at once produced Sassi's will. + +He had left all his little property, valued roughly at over a hundred +thousand francs, to Donna Sabina Conti. Had any one known it, the date +of the will was that of the day on which he had received her little +note thanking him for burying her canary, out on Monte Mario. + +The notary's brother and son, notaries themselves, were named as +guardians. The income was to be paid to Sabina at once, the capital on +her marriage. The newspaper paragraph recalled the ruin of the great +family, and spoke of the will as a rare instance of devotion in an old +and trusted servant. + +Sabina and the Princess learned the news at dinner that evening from a +young attache of the Embassy who always read the _Italie_ because it +is published in French, and he had not yet learned Italian. He +laughingly congratulated Sabina on her accession to a vast fortune. To +every one's amazement, Sabina's eyes filled with tears, though even +her own mother had scarcely ever seen her cry. She tried hard to +control herself, pressed her lids hastily with her fingers, bit her +lips till they almost bled, and then, as the drops rolled down her +cheeks in spite of all she could do, she left the table with a broken +word of excuse. + +"She is nothing but a child, still," the Princess explained in a tone +of rather condescending pity. + +The young attache was sorry for having laughed when he told the story. +He had not supposed that Donna Sabina knew much about the old agent, +and after dinner he apologized to his ambassador for his lack of tact. + +"That little girl has a heart of gold," answered the wise old man of +the world. + +The Princess had a profoundly superstitious belief in luck, and was +convinced that Sabina's and her own had turned with this first piece +of good fortune, and that on the following day Malipieri would appear +and tell her that he had caught the writer of the letter and was ready +to divorce his wife in order to marry Sabina. Secure in these hopes +she slept eight hours without waking, as she always did. + +But she was destined to the most complete disappointment of her life, +and to spend one of the most horribly unpleasant days she could +remember. + +Long before she was awake boys and men, with sheaves of damp papers, +were yelling the news in the Corso and throughout Rome. + +"The _Messaggero!_ The great scandal in Casa Conti! The _Messaggero!_ +One sou!" + + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + + + + +Toto had done it. In his heart, the thick-headed, practical fellow had +never quite believed in Gigi's ingenious scheme, and the idea of +getting a hundred thousand francs had seemed very visionary. Since +Gigi had got himself locked up it would be more sensible to realize a +little cash for the story from the _Messaggero_, saying nothing about +the carpenter. The only lie he needed to invent was to the effect that +he had been standing near the door of the palace when Sabina had come +out. The porter, being relieved from the order to keep the postern +shut against everybody had been quite willing to gossip with Toto +about the detective's visit, the closed room and Malipieri's refusal +to let any one enter it. As for what had happened in the vaults, Toto +could reconstruct the exact truth much more accurately than Gigi could +have done, even with his help. It was a thrilling story; the newspaper +paid him well for it and printed it with reservations. + +There was not a suggestion of offence to Sabina, such as might have +afforded ground for an action against the paper, or against those that +copied the story from it. The writer was careful to extol Malipieri's +heroic courage and strength, and to point out that Sabina had been +half-dead of fatigue and cold, as Toto knew must have been the case. +It was all a justification, and not in the least an accusation. But +the plain, bald fact was proved, that Donna Sabina Conti had spent the +night in the rooms of the now famous Signor Malipieri, no one else +being in the apartment during the whole time. He had saved her life +like a hero, and had acted like a Bayard in all he had done for the +unfortunate young lady. It was an adventure worthy of the middle ages. +It was magnificent. Her family, informed at once by Malipieri, had +come to get her on the following morning. Toto had told the people at +the office of the _Messaggero_, who it was that had represented the +"family," but the little newspaper was far too worldly-wise to mention +Volterra in such a connection. Donna Sabina, the article concluded, +was now with her mother at the Russian Embassy. + +The evening papers simply enlarged upon this first story, and in the +same strain. Malipieri was held up to the admiration of the public. +Sabina's name was treated with profound respect, there was not a word +which could be denied with truth, or resented with a show of justice. +And yet, in Italy, and most of all in Rome, it meant ruin to Sabina, +and the reprobation of all decent people upon Malipieri if he did not +immediately marry her. + +It was the ambassador himself who informed the Princess of what had +happened, coming himself to the sitting-room as soon as he learned +that she was visible. He stayed with her a long time, and they sent +for Sabina, who was by far the least disturbed of the three. It was +all true, she said, and there was nothing against her in the article. + +Masin brought the news to Malipieri with his coffee, and the paper +itself. Malipieri scarcely ever read it, but Masin never failed to, +and his big, healthy face was very grave. + +Malipieri felt as if he were going to have brain fever, as his eye ran +along the lines. + +"Masin," he said, when he had finished, "did you ever kill a man?" + +"No, sir," answered Masin. "You have always believed that I was +innocent, though I had to serve my seven years." + +"I did not mean that," said Malipieri. + +Then he sat a long time with his untasted coffee at his elbow and the +crumpled little sheet in his hand. + +"Of course, sir," Masin said at last, "I owe you everything, and if +you ordered me--" + +He paused significantly, but his master did not understand. + +"What?" he asked, starting nervously. + +"Well, sir, if it were necessary for your safety, that somebody should +be killed, I would risk the galleys for life, sir. What am I, without +you?" + +Malipieri laughed a little wildly, and dropped the paper. + +"No, my friend," he said presently, "we would risk our lives for each +other, but we are not murderers. Besides, there is nobody to be +killed, unless you will have the goodness to put a bullet through my +head." + +And he laughed again, in a way that frightened the quiet man beside +him. What drove him almost mad was that he was powerless. He longed to +lay his hands on the editor of the paper, yet there was not a word, +not a suggestion, not an implied allusion for which any man in his +senses could have demanded an apology. It was the plain truth, and +nothing else; except that it was adorned by fragmentary panegyrics of +himself, which made it even more exasperating if that were possible. +He had not only wrecked Sabina's reputation by his quixotic folly; he +was to be praised to the skies for doing it. + +His feverish anger turned into a dull pain that was much worse. The +situation looked utterly hopeless. Masin stood still beside him +watching him with profound concern, and presently took the cup of +coffee and held it to his lips. He drank a little, like a sick man, +only half consciously, and drew back, and shook his head. Masin did +not know what to do and waited in mute distress, as a big dog, knowing +that his master is in trouble, looks up into his face and feebly wags +his sympathetic tail, just a little, at long intervals, and then keeps +quite still. + +Malipieri gradually recovered his senses enough to think connectedly, +and he tried to remember whether he had ever heard of a situation like +his own. As he was neither a novelist nor a critic, he failed, and +frankly asked himself whether suicide might not be a way out of the +difficulty for Sabina. He was not an unbeliever, and he had always +abhorred and despised the idea of suicide, as most thoroughly healthy +men do when it occurs to them; but if at that time he could have +persuaded himself that his death could undo the harm he had brought +upon Sabina he would not have hesitated a moment. Neither his body nor +his soul could matter much in comparison with her good name. Hell was +full of people who had got there because they had done bad things for +their own advantage; if he went there, it would at least not be for +that. He did not think of hell at all, just then, nor of heaven or of +anything else that was very far off. He only thought of Sabina, and if +he once wished himself dead for his own sake, he drove the cowardly +thought away. As long as he was alive, he could still do something for +her--surely, there must be something that he could do. There must be a +way out, if he could only use his wits and his strength, as he had +made a way out of the vaults, for her to pass through, ten days ago. + +There was nothing, or at least he could think of nothing, that could +help her. To try and free himself from the bond he had put upon +himself would be to break a solemn promise given to a dying man whom +he had dearly loved. The woman he had seen that once, to marry her and +leave her, had been worthy of the sacrifice, too, as far as lay in +her. He had given her a small income, enough for her and her little +girl to live on comfortably. She had not only kept within it, but had +learned to support herself, little by little, till she had refused to +take the money that was sent to her. At regular times, she wrote to +him, as to a benefactor, touching and truthful letters, with news of +the growing child. He knew that it was all without affectation of any +sort, and that she had turned out a thoroughly good and honest woman. +The little girl knew that her father was dead, and that her own name +was really and legally Malipieri, beyond a doubt. Her mother kept the +copy of her certificate of birth together with the certificate of +marriage. The Signora Malipieri lived as a widow in Florence and gave +lessons in music and Italian. She had never asked but one thing of +Malipieri, which was that he would never try to see her, nor let her +daughter know that he was alive. It was easy to promise that. He knew +that she had been most faithful to her lover's memory, cherishing the +conviction that in the justice of heaven he was her true husband, as +he would have been indeed had he lived but a few months longer. She +was bringing up her child to be like herself, save for her one fault. +Malipieri had settled a sufficient dowry on the girl, lest anything +should happen to him before she was old enough to marry. + +The mere suggestion of divorcing a woman who had acted as she had done +since his friend's death, was horrible to him. It was like receiving a +blow in the face, it was mud upon his honour, it was an insult to his +conscience, it was far worse than merely taking back a gift once given +in a generous impulse. If he had felt himself capable of such baseness +he could never again have looked honest men fairly in the eyes. It +would mean that he must turn upon her, to insult her by accusing her +of something she had never done; he knew nothing of the divorce laws +in foreign countries, except that Italians could obtain divorce by a +short residence and could then come back and marry again under Italian +law. That was all he knew. The Princess had not asked of him a legal +impossibility, but he had felt, when she spoke, that it would be +easier to explain the dogma of papal infallibility to a Chinese pirate +than to make her understand how he felt towards the good woman who had +a right to live under his name and had borne it so honourably for many +years. + +Sabina would understand. He wished now, with all his heart, that in +the hours they had spent together he had told her the secret which he +had been obliged to confide to her mother. He wondered whether she +knew it, and hoped that she did. She would at least understand his +silence now, she would know why he was not at the Embassy that morning +as soon as he could be received by her mother. She might not forgive +him, because she knew that he loved her, but she would see why he +could not divorce in order to marry her. + +An hour passed, and two hours, and still he sat in his chair, while +Masin came and went softly, as if his master were ill. Then reporters +sent up cards, with urgently polite requests to be received, and he +had to give orders that he was not to be disturbed on any account. He +would see no one, he would answer no questions, until he had made up +his mind what to do. + +At last he rose, shook himself, walked twice up and down the room and +then spoke to Masin. + +"I am going out," he said. "I shall be back in an hour." + +He had seen that there was at least one thing which he must do at +once, and after stopping short, stunned to stupor by what had +happened, his life began to move on again. It was manifestly his duty +to see the Princess again, and he knew that she would receive him, for +she would think that he had changed his mind after all, and meant to +free himself. He must see her and say something, he knew not what, to +convince her that he was acting honourably. + +He was shown to her sitting-room, as if he were expected. It was not +long since the ambassador had left her and her daughter had gone back +to her room, and she was in a humour in which he had not seen her +before, as he guessed when he saw her face. Her wonderful complexion +was paler than usual, her brows were drawn together, her eyes were +angry, there was nothing languid or careless in her attitude, and she +held her head high. + +"I expected you," she said. "I sent word that you were to come up at +once." + +She did not even put out her hand, but there was a chair opposite her +and she nodded towards it. He sat down, feeling that a struggle was +before him. + +"The ambassador has just been here," she said. "He brought the +newspaper with him, and I have read the article. I suppose you have +seen it." + +Malipieri bent his head, but kept his eyes upon her. + +"I have told the ambassador that Sabina is engaged to marry you," she +said calmly. + +Malipieri started and sat upright in his chair. If he had known her +better, he might have guessed that what she said was untrue, as yet; +but she had made the statement with magnificent assurance. + +"Your engagement will be announced in the papers this evening," she +continued. "Shall you deny it?" + +She looked at him steadily, and he returned her gaze, but for a long +time he could not answer. She had him at a terrible advantage. + +"I shall not deny it publicly," he said at last. "That would be an +injury to your daughter." + +"Shall you deny it at all?" She was conscious of her strong position, +and meant to hold it. + +"I shall write to the lady who is living under my name, and I shall +tell her the circumstances, and that I am obliged to allow the +announcement to be made by you." + +"Give me your word that you will not deny your engagement to any one +else. You know that I have a right to require that. My daughter knows +that you are married." + +Malipieri hesitated only a moment. + +"I give you my word," he said. + +She rose at once and went towards one of the doors, without looking at +him. He wondered whether she meant to dismiss him rudely, and stood +looking after her. She stopped a moment, with her hand on the knob of +the lock, and glanced back. + +"I will call Sabina," she said, and she was gone. + +He stood still and waited, and two or three minutes passed before +Sabina entered. She glanced at him, smiled rather gravely, and looked +round the room as she came forward, as if expecting to see some one +else. + +"Where is my mother?" she asked, holding out her hand. + +"She said she was going to call you," Malipieri answered. + +"So she did, and she told me she was coming back to you, because I was +not quite ready." + +"She did not come back." + +"She means us to be alone," Sabina said, and suddenly she took both +his hands and pressed them a little, shaking them up and down, almost +childishly. "I am so glad!" she cried. "I was longing to see you!" + +Even then, Malipieri could not help smiling, and for a moment he +forgot all his troubles. When they sat down, side by side, upon a +little sofa, the Princess was already telling the ambassador that +Malipieri had come and that they were engaged to be married. She had +carried the situation by a master stroke. + +"She has told you all about me," Malipieri said, turning his face to +Sabina. "You know what my life is. Has she told you everything?" + +"Yes," Sabina answered softly, but not meeting his look, "everything. +But I want to hear it from you. Will you tell me? Will it hurt you to +tell me about what you did for your friend? You know my mother is not +always very accurate in telling a story. I shall understand why you +did it." + +He had known that she would, and he told her the story, a little less +baldly than he had told her mother, yet leaving out such details as +she need not hear. He hesitated a little, once or twice. + +"I understand," she repeated, watching him with innocent eyes. "She +felt just as if they were really married, and he could not bear to +die, feeling that she would be without protection, and that other men +would all want to marry her, because she was beautiful. And her father +and mother were angry because she loved him so much." + +"Yes," Malipieri answered, smiling, "that was it. They loved each +other dearly." + +"It was splendid of you," she said. "I never dreamt that any man would +do such a thing." + +"It cannot be undone." He was at least free to say that much, sadly. + +There was a pause, and they looked away from each other. At last +Sabina laid her hand lightly upon his for a moment, though she did not +turn her face to him. + +"I should not like you so much, if you wished to undo it," she said. + +"Thank you," he answered, withdrawing the hand she released when she +had finished speaking, and folding it upon his other. "I should love +you less, if you did not understand me so well." + +"It is more than understanding. It is much more." + +He remembered how he had taken her slender body in his arms to warm +her when she had been almost dead of the cold and dampness, and a mad +impulse was in him to press her to him now, as he had done then, and +to feel her small fair head lay itself upon his shoulder peacefully, +as it surely would. He sat upright and pressed one hand upon the other +rather harder than before. + +"You believe it, do you not?" she asked. "Why is your face so hard?" + +"Because I am bound hand and foot, like a man who is carried to +execution." + +"But we can always love each other just the same," Sabina said, and +her voice was warm and soft. + +"Yes, always, and that will not make it easier to live without you," +he answered rather harshly. + +"You need not," she said, after an instant's pause. + +He turned suddenly, startled, not understanding, wondering what she +could mean. She met his eyes quite quietly, and he saw how deep and +steady hers were, and the light in them. + +"You need not live without me unless you please," she said. + +"But I must, since I cannot marry you, and you understand that I could +not be divorced--" + +"My mother has just told me that no decent man will marry me, because +all the world knows that I stayed at the palace that night. She must +be right, for she could have no object in saying it if it were not +true, could she? Then what does it matter how any one talks about me +now? I will go with you. We cannot marry, but we shall always be +together." + +Malipieri's face expressed his amazement. + +"But it is impossible!" he cried. "You cannot do that! You do not know +what you are saying!" + +"Oh, yes, I do! That poor, kind old Sassi has left me all he had, and +I can go where I please. I will go with you. Would you rather have me +shut up in a convent to die? That is what my mother will try to do +with me, and she will tell people that I was 'mad, poor girl'! Do you +think I do not know her? She wants this little sum of money that I am +to have, too, as if she and the others had not spent all I should have +had. Do you think I am bound to obey my mother, if she takes me to the +convent door, and tells me that I am to stay there for the rest of my +life?" + +The gentle voice was clear and strong and indignant now. Malipieri +twisted his fingers one upon another, and sat with his head bent low. +He knew that she had no clear idea of what she was saying when she +proposed to join her existence with his. Her maiden thoughts could +find no harm in it. + +"You do not know what your mother said to me, before you came in," he +answered. "She told me that she would announce our engagement at once, +and made me give my word that I would not deny it to any one but my +legal wife." + +"You gave your word?" Sabina asked quickly, not at all displeased. + +"What could I do?" + +"Nothing else! I am glad you did, for we can see each other as much as +we like now. But how shall we manage it in the end, since we cannot +marry?" + +"Break the imaginary engagement, I suppose," Malipieri answered +gloomily. "I see nothing else to be done." + +"But then my mother says that no decent man will marry me. It will be +just the same, all over again. It was very clever of her; she is +trying to force you to do what she wants. In the meantime you can come +and see me every day--that is the best part of it. Besides, she will +leave us alone together here, for hours, because she thinks that the +more you fall in love with me the more you will wish to get a divorce. +Oh, she is a very clever woman! You do not know her as I do!" + +Malipieri marvelled at the amazing combination of girlish innocence +and keen insight into her mother's worldly and cynical character, +which Sabina had shown during the last few minutes. There never yet +was a man in love with girl or woman who did not find in her something +he had never dreamt of before. + +"She is clever," he assented gravely, "but she cannot make me break +that promise, even for your sake. I cannot help looking forward and +thinking what the end must be." + +"It is much better to enjoy the present," Sabina answered. "We can be +together every day. You will write to your--no, she is not your wife, +and I will not call her so! She would not be really your wife if she +could, for she made you promise never to go and see her. That was nice +of her, for of course she knew that if she saw you often, she must end +by falling in love with you. Any woman would; you know it perfectly +well. You need not shake your head at me, like that. You will write to +her, and explain, and she will understand, and then we will let things +go on as long as they can till something else happens." + +"What can possibly happen?" + +"Something always happens. Things never go on very long without a +change, do they? I am sure, everything in my life has changed half a +dozen times in the last fortnight." + +"In mine, too," Malipieri answered. + +"And if things get worse, and if worse comes to worst," Sabina +answered, "I have told you what I mean to do. I shall come to you, +wherever you are, and you will have to let me stay, no matter what +people choose to say. That is, if you still care for me!" + +She laughed softly and happily, and not in the least recklessly, +though she was talking of throwing the world and all connection with +it to the winds. The immediate future looked bright to her, since they +were to meet every day, and after that, "something" would happen. If +nothing did, and they had to face trouble again, they would meet it +bravely. That was all any one could do in life. She had found +happiness too suddenly after an unhappy childhood, to dream of letting +it go, cost what it might to keep it. + +But she saw how grave he looked and the hopeless expression in his +loving eyes, as he turned them to her. + +"Why are you sad?" she asked, smiling, and laying her hand on his. "We +can be happy in the present. We love each other, and can meet often. +You have made a great discovery and are much more famous than you were +a few days ago. A newspaper has told our story, it is true, but there +was not a word against either of us in it, for I made them let me read +it myself. And now people will say that we are engaged to be married, +and that we got into a foolish scrape and were nearly killed together, +and that we are a very romantic couple, like lovers in a book! Every +girl I know wishes she were in my place, I am sure, and half the men +in Rome wish that they could have saved some girl's life as you did +mine. What is there so very dreadful in all that? What is there to cry +about--dear?" + +Half in banter, half in earnest, she spoke to him as if he were a +child compared with her, and leaned affectionately towards him; and +the last word, the word neither of them had spoken yet, came so softly +and sweetly to him on her breath, that he caught his own, and turned a +little pale; and the barriers broke all at once, and he kissed her. +Then he got hold upon himself again, and gently pushed her a little +further from him, while he put his other hand to his throat and closed +his eyes. + +"Forgive me," he said, in a thick voice. "I could not help it." + +"What is there to forgive? We are not betraying any one. You are not +breaking a promise to any other woman. What harm is there? You did not +give your friend your word that you would never love any one, did you? +How could you? How could you know?" + +"I could not know," he answered in a low voice. "But I should not have +kissed you." + +He knew that she could not understand the point of honour that was so +clear to him. + +"Let me think for you, sometimes," she said. + +Her voice was as low as his, but dreamily passionate, and the strange +young magic vibrated in it, which perfect innocence wields with a +destroying strength not even guessed at by itself. + +The door opened and the Princess entered the room in a leisurely +fashion, wreathed in smiles. She had successfuly done what it would be +very hard for Malipieri to undo. He rose. + +"Have you told Sabina what I said?" she enquired. + +"Yes." + +She turned to the girl, who was leaning back in the corner of the +sofa. + +"Of course you agree, my child?" she said, with a question in her +voice, though with no intonation of doubt as to the answer. + +"Certainly," Sabina answered, with perfect self-possession. "I think +it was by far the most sensible we could do. Signor Malipieri will +come to see us, as if he and I were really engaged." + +"Yes," assented the Princess. "You cannot go on calling him Signor +Malipieri when we are together in the family, my dear. What is your +Christian name?" she asked, turning to him. + +"Marino." + +"I did not know," Sabina said, with truth, and looking at him, as if +she had found something new to like in him. "Is he to call me Sabina, +mother?" + +"Naturally. Well, my dear Marino--" + +Malipieri started visibly. The Princess explained. + +"I shall call you so, too. It looks better before people, you know. +You must leave a card for the ambassador, at the porter's, when you go +downstairs, He is going to ask you to dinner, with a lot of our +relations, to announce the engagement. I have arranged it all +beautifully--he is so kind!" + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + + + + +Masin was very much relieved when his master came home, looking much +calmer than when he had gone out and evidently having all his senses +about him. Malipieri sent to ask at what time the mails left Rome for +Florence, and he sat down to his table without remembering that he had +eaten nothing that day. + +It was not easy to write out in a concise form the story of all that +has here been told in detail. Besides, he had not the habit of writing +to the Signora Malipieri, except such brief acknowledgments of her +regular letters to him as were necessary and kind. For years she had +been to him little more than a recollection of his youth, a figure +that had crossed his life like a shadow in a dream, taking with it a +promise which he had never found it hard to keep. He remembered her as +she had been then, and it had not even occurred to him to consider how +she looked now. She sometimes sent him photographs of the pretty +little girl, and Malipieri kept them, and occasionally looked at them, +because they reminded him of his friend, of whom he had no portrait. + +He found it very hard to tell this half-mythical woman and wholly +mythical wife of all that had happened, while scrupulously avoiding +the main fact, which was that he and Sabina loved each other. To have +told that, too, would have seemed like a reproach, or still worse, +like a request to be set at liberty. + +He wrote carefully, reading over his sentences, now and then +correcting one, and even entertaining a vague idea of copying the +whole when he had finished it. The important point was that she should +fully understand the necessity of announcing his engagement to marry +Donna Sabina Conti, together with his firm intention of breaking it +off as soon as the story should be so far forgotten as to make it safe +to do so, having due regard for Donna Sabina's reputation and good +name. + +He laid so much stress on these points, and expressed so strongly his +repentance for having led the girl into a dangerous scrape, that many +a woman would have guessed at something more. But of this he was quite +unaware when he read the letter over, believing that he could judge it +without prejudice, as if it had been written by some one else. The +explanation was thorough and logical, but there was a little too much +protest in the expressions of regret. Besides, there were several +references to Sabina's unhappy position as the daughter of an +abominably worldly and heartless woman, who would lock her up in a +convent for life rather than have the least trouble about her. He +could not help showing his anxious interest in her future, much more +clearly than he supposed. + +The consequence was that when the Signora Malipieri read the letter on +the following morning, she guessed the truth, as almost any woman +would, without being positively sure of it; and she was absent-minded +with her pupils all that day, and looked at her watch uneasily, and +was very glad when she was able to go home at last and think matters +over. + +It was not easy to decide what to do. She could not write to Malipieri +and ask him directly if he was in love with Sabina Conti and wished to +marry her. She answered him at once, however, telling him that she +fully understood his position, and thanking him for having written to +her before she could have heard the story from any other source. + +He showed the letter to Sabina, and it pleased her by its frank +simplicity, and perfect readiness to accept Malipieri's statement +without question, and without the smallest resentment. Somehow the +girl had felt that this shadowy woman, who stood between her and +Malipieri, would make some claim upon him, and assert herself in some +disagreeable way, or criticise his action. It was hateful to think she +really had a right to call herself his wife, and was therefore legally +privileged to tell him unpleasant truths. Sabina always connected that +with matrimony, remembering how her father and mother used to quarrel +when he was alive, and how her brother and sister-in-law continued the +tradition. If the Volterra couple were always peaceful, that was +because the Baroness was in mortal awe of her fat husband, a state of +life to which Sabina did not wish to be called. It was true that +Malipieri's position with regard to his so-called wife had nothing to +do with a real marriage, but Sabina had felt the disapproving presence +of the woman she had never seen, and whom she imagined to be +perpetually shaking a warning finger at Malipieri and reminding him +sourly that he could not call his soul his own. The letter had +destroyed the impression. + +Meanwhile Malipieri was appalled by the publicity of a betrothal which +was never to lead to marriage. The Princess took care that as much +light as possible should be cast upon the whole affair, and to the +Baroness Volterra's stupefaction and delight, told every one that the +match had been made under her auspices, and that the Conti family owed +her eternal gratitude for it and for her care of Sabina during nearly +three months. The Princess told the story of the night in the vaults +again and again, to her friends and relations, extolling everything +that Malipieri had done, and especially his romantic determination to +show the girl he was going to marry the treasures which should have +belonged to her, before any one else should see them. + +The Princess told Volterra, laughingly and quite frankly, that her +lawyer would do everything possible to get for her a share in the +value of the statues discovered, and Volterra, following her clever +cue, laughed with her, and said it should be a friendly suit, and that +the lawyers should decide among themselves how it should be settled, +without going into court. Volterra was probably the only man in Rome +who entertained a profound respect for the Princess's intelligence; +yet he was reckoned a good judge in such matters. He himself was far +too wise to waste regrets upon the failure of his tactics, and the +stake had not been large, after all, compared with his great fortune. +Magnanimity was a form of commodity which could be exchanged for +popularity, and popularity was ready money. A thousand votes were as +good as two million francs, any day, when one was not a senator for +life, and wished to be re-elected; and a reputation for spotless +integrity would cover a multitude of financial sins. Since it had been +impossible to keep what did not belong to him, the next best thing was +to restore it to the accompaniment of a brass band and a chorus of +public approval. The Princess, clever woman, knew exactly how he felt +and helped him to do the inevitable in a showy way; and it all helped +her to carry her daughter and herself out of a difficult position in a +blaze of triumph. + +"My dear," she said to the girl, "you may do anything you please, if +you will only do it in public. Lock your door to say your prayers, and +the world will shriek out that you have a scandal to conceal." + +It dawned upon Sabina that her cynical, careless, spendthrift, +scatter-brained mother had perhaps after all a share of the cunning +and the force which rule the world to-day, and which were so +thoroughly combined in Volterra's character. That would account for +the way in which she sailed through storms that would have wrecked the +Baroness and drowned poor little Sabina herself. + +Meanwhile a hundred workmen had dug down to the vault under the +courtyard of the Palazzo Conti, the statues had been lifted out +intact, with cranes, and had been set upon temporary pedestals, under +a spacious wooden shed; and the world, the flesh and the devil, +including royalty, went to see them and talked of nothing else. All +Europe heard the story of Malipieri's discovery, and of his adventure +with his betrothed wife, and praised him and called him and her an +"ideal couple." + +Sabina's brother came up from the country to be present at the Embassy +dinner, and of course stopped at the Grand Hotel, and made up his mind +to have an automobile at once. His wife stayed in the country with the +delicate little child, but sent Sabina a note of congratulation. + +Clementina, writing from her convent, said she hoped that Sabina might +redeem the follies of her youth in a respectable married life, but the +hope was not expressed with much conviction. Sabina need not disturb +the peace of a religious house by coming to see her. + +The Princess boldly gave out that the marriage would take place in the +autumn, and confided to two or three gossips that she really meant to +have a quiet wedding in the summer, because it would be so much more +economical, and the young couple did not like the idea of waiting so +long. As for a dowry, everybody knew that Sassi, dear, kind-hearted +old man, had left Sabina what he had; and there were the statues. + +Prince Conti came to the Embassy as soon as he arrived, and met +Malipieri, to whom he was overpoweringly cordial in his weak way. On +the whole, at their first interview, he judged that it would not be +easy to borrow money of him, and went away disappointed. + +Society asked where Malipieri's father was, and learned that he was +nearly seventy and was paralysed, and never left his house in Venice, +but that he highly approved of his son's marriage and wished to see +his future daughter-in-law as soon as possible. The Princess said that +Sabina and Malipieri would live with him, but would come to Rome for +the winter. + +Prince Rubomirsky, Sabina's uncle, sent her a very handsome diamond +necklace, which the Princess showed to all her friends, and some of +them began to send wedding presents likewise, because they had been +privately informed that the marriage was to take place very soon. + +Sabina lived joyously in the moment, apparently convinced that fate +would bring everything right, and doing her best to drive away the +melancholy that had settled upon Malipieri. Something would happen, +she said. It was impossible that heaven could be so cruel as to part +them and ruin both their lives for the sake of a promise given to a +man dead long ago. Malipieri wished that he could believe it. + +He grew almost desperate as time went on and he saw how the Princess +was doing everything to make the engagement irrevocable. He grew thin, +and nervous, and his eyes were restless. The deep tan of the African +sun was disappearing, too, and sometimes he looked almost ill. People +said he was too much in love, and laughed. Little by little Sabina +understood that she could not persuade him to trust to the future, and +she grew anxious about him. He wondered how she could still deceive +herself as to the inevitable end. + +"We can go on being engaged as long as we please," she said hopefully. +"There are plenty of possible excuses." + +"You and I are not good at lying," he answered, with a weary smile. +"We told each other so, that night." + +"But it is perfectly true that I am almost too young to be married," +said she; "and really, you know, it might be more sensible to wait +till I am nineteen." + +"We should not think it sensible to wait a week, if there were no +hindrance. You know that." + +"Of course! But when there is a hindrance, as you call it, it is very +sensible indeed to wait," retorted Sabina, with a truly feminine sense +of the value of logic. "I shall think so, and I shall say so, if I +must. Then you will have to wait, too, and what will it matter, so +long as we can see each other every day? Have people never waited a +year to be married?" + +"You know that we may wait all our lives." + +"No. I will not do that," Sabina said with sudden energy. "If nothing +happens, I will make something happen. You know what I told you. Have +you forgotten? And I am sure your father will understand." + +"I doubt it," Malipieri answered, smiling in spite of himself. + +To tell the truth, since her mother had cleared away so many dangers, +and showed no intention of shutting her up in a convent, Sabina had +begun to see that it would be quite another matter to run away and +follow Malipieri to the ideal desert island, especially after they had +been openly engaged to be married and the engagement had been broken. +The world would have to know the story of his marriage then, and it +would call him dishonourable for having allowed himself to be engaged +to her when he was not free. It would say that she had found out the +truth, and that he was a villain, or something unpleasant of that +sort. But she meant to keep up the illusion bravely, as long as there +was any life in it at all, and then "something must happen." + +"It seems so strange that I should be braver than you," she said. + +He did not wonder at that as much as she did. Her reputation was saved +now, but his honour was in the balance, and at the mercy of a worldly +and unscrupulous woman. When he broke the engagement, the Princess +would tell the story of his marriage and publish it on the housetops. +He told Sabina so. + +"You are safe," he added; "but when I lose you, I shall lose my place +among honourable men." + +"Then I shall tell the truth, and the whole truth, to every one I +know," Sabina answered, in the full conviction that truth, like faith, +could perform miracles, and that a grain of it could remove mountains +of evil. "I shall tell the whole world!" she cried. "I do not care +what my mother says." + +He was silent, for it was better, after all, that she should believe +in her happiness as long as she could. She said nothing more for some +time and they sat quite still, thinking widely opposite thoughts. At +last she laid her hand on his; the loving little way had become +familiar to her since it had come instinctively the first time. + +"Marino!" + +"Yes?" + +"You know that I love you?" + +"Indeed I know it." + +"And you love me? Just as much? In the same way?" + +"Perhaps more. Who knows?" + +"No, that is impossible," she answered. "Now listen to me. It is out +of the question that we should ever be parted, loving each other as we +do, is it not?" + +The door opened and a servant entered, with a card. + +"The lady told me to inform your Excellency that she is a connection +of Signor Malipieri," said the man. "She hopes that she may be +received, as she is in Rome for only a few hours." + +Sabina looked at the card and handed it silently to Malipieri, and her +fingers trembled. + +"Angelica Malipieri." + +That was the name and there was the address in Florence, in Via del +Mandorlo. + +"Ask the lady to come here," said Sabina, quietly; but her face was +suddenly very white. + + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + + + + +Sabina and Malipieri sat in silence during the minutes that followed. +From time to time, they looked at each other. His self-possession and +courage had returned, now that something decisive was to take place, +but Sabina's heart was almost standing still. She felt that the woman +had come to make a scene, to threaten a scandal and utterly to destroy +the illusion of happiness. If not, and if she had merely had something +of importance to communicate, why had she not gone to Malipieri first, +or written to ask for this interview with Sabina? She had come +suddenly, in order to take advantage of the surprise her appearance +must cause. For once, Sabina wished that her mother were with her, her +high and mighty, insolent, terrible mother, who was afraid of nobody +in the world. + +The door opened, and the footman admitted a quiet little woman, about +thirty years old, already inclined to be stout. She was very simply +but very well dressed, she had beautiful brown hair, and when she came +forward Sabina looked into a pair of luminous and trustful hazel eyes. + +"Donna Sabina Conti?" asked the Signora Malipieri in a gentle voice. + +"Yes," Sabina answered. + +She and Malipieri had both risen. The Signora made a timid movement +with her hand, as if she expected that Sabina would offer hers, which +Sabina did, rather late, when she saw that it was expected. The lady +glanced at Malipieri and then at Sabina with a look of enquiry, as he +held out his hand to her and she took it. He saw that she did not +recognize him. + +"I am Marino Malipieri," he said. + +"You?" she cried in surprise. + +Then a faint flush rose in her smooth cheeks, and Sabina, who was +watching her, saw that her lip trembled a little, and that tears rose +in her eyes. + +"Forgive me," she said, in an unsteady voice. "I should have known +you, after all you have done for me." + +"I think it is nearly thirteen years since we met," Malipieri +answered. "I had no beard then." + +She looked at him long, evidently in strong emotion, but the tears did +not overflow, and the clear light came back gradually in her gaze. +Then the three sat down. + +"I thought I had better come," she said. "It seemed easier than to +write." + +"Yes," Sabina answered, not knowing what to say. + +"You see," said the Signora, "I could not easily write to you frankly, +as I had never seen you, and I did not like to write to Signor +Malipieri about what I wanted to know." + +"Yes," said Sabina, once more, but this time she looked at Malipieri. + +"What is it that you wish to know, Signora?" he asked kindly, "Whether +it is all exactly as my letter told you? Is that it?" + +She turned to him with a look of reproach. + +"Does a woman doubt a man who has done what you have done for me?" she +asked. "I wanted to know something more--a little more than what you +wrote to me. It would make a difference, perhaps." + +"To you, Signora?" asked Sabina quickly. + +"No. To you. Perhaps it would make a great difference in the way I +should act." She paused an instant. "It is rather hard to ask, I +know," she added shyly. + +She seemed to be a timid little woman. + +"Please tell us what it is that you wish to know, Signora," said +Malipieri, in the same kind tone, trying to encourage her. + +"I should like to ask--I hardly know just how to say it--if you would +tell me whether you are fond of each other--" + +"What difference can that make to you, Signora?" Malipieri asked with +sudden hardness. "You know that I shall not break my word." + +She was hurt by the tone, and looked down meekly, as if she had +deserved the words. + +"We love each other with all our hearts," said Sabina, before either +of the others could say more. "Nothing shall ever part us, in this +world or the next." + +There was a ring of clear defiance to fate in the girl's voice, and +Signora Malipieri turned to her quickly, with a look of sympathy. She +knew the cry that comes from the heart. + +"But you think that you can never be married," she said, almost to +herself. + +"How can we? You know that we cannot!" It was Malipieri who answered. + +Then the timid little woman raised her head and looked him full in the +face, and spoke without any more hesitation. + +"Do you think that I have never thought of this possibility, during +all these years?" she asked. "Do you really believe that I would let +you suffer for me, let your life be broken, let you give up the best +thing that any life holds, after you have done for me what perhaps no +man ever did for a woman before?" + +"I know you are grateful," Malipieri answered very gently. "Do not +speak of what I have done. It has not been at any sacrifice, till +now." + +But Sabina leaned forward and grasped the Signora Malipieri's hands. +Her own were trembling. + +"You have come to help us!" she cried. "It is so easy, now that I know +that you love each other." + +"How?" asked Sabina, breathless. "By a divorce?" + +"Yes." + +"I shall never ask for that," Malipieri said, shaking his head. + +"You are the best and truest gentleman that ever protected a woman in +trouble, Signor Malipieri," said the little woman quietly. "I know +that you will never divorce me. I know you would not even think of +it." + +"Well, but then--" Malipieri stopped and looked at her. + +"I shall get a divorce from you," she said, and then she looked +happily from one to the other. + +Malipieri covered his eyes with his hand. He had not even thought of +such a solution, and the thought came upon him in his despair like a +flood of dazzling light. Sabina was on her knees, and had thrown her +arms wildly round the Signora Malipieri's neck, and was kissing her +again and again. + +"But it is nothing," protested the Signora, beaming with delight. "It +is so simple, so easy, and I know exactly what to do." + +"You?" cried Sabina between laughing and crying. + +"Yes. I once gave lessons in the house of a famous lawyer, and +sometimes I was asked to stay to luncheon, and I heard a great case +discussed, and I asked questions, until I thoroughly understood it +all. You see, it was what I always meant to do. There is a little +fiction about the way it is managed, but it is perfectly legal. Though +Italians may naturalize themselves in a foreign country, they can +regain their own nationality by a simple declaration. Now, Signor +Malipieri and I must be naturalized in Switzerland. I know a place +where it can be done easily. Then we can be divorced by mutual consent +at once. We come back to Italy, declare our nationality wherever we +please, and we are free to be married to any one else, under Italian +law. The fiction is only that by paying some money, it can all be done +in three months, instead of in three years." + +Malipieri had listened attentively. + +"Are you positively sure of that?" he asked. + +"I have the authority of one of the first lawyers in Italy." + +"But the Church?" asked Sabina anxiously. "I should not think it a +marriage at all, if I were not married in church." + +"I have asked a good priest about that," answered the Signora. "I go +to confession to him, and he is a good man, and wise too. He told me +that the Church could make no objection at all, since there has really +been no marriage at all, and since Signor Malipieri will present +himself after being properly and legally married to you at the +municipality. He told me, on the contrary, that it is my duty to do +everything in my power to help you." + +"God bless you!" Sabina cried. "You are the best woman in the world!" + +Malipieri took the Signora's hand and pressed it to his lips +fervently, for he could not find any words. + +"I shall only ask one thing," she said, speaking timidly again. + +"Ask all I have," he answered, her hand still in his. + +"But you may not like it. I should like to keep the name, if you do +not mind very much, on account of my little girl. She need never know. +I can leave her with a friend while we are in Switzerland." + +"It is yours," he said. "Few of my own people have borne it as +worthily as you have, since I gave it to you." + + * * * * * * + +Here, therefore, ends the story of Sabina Conti and Marino Malipieri, +whose marriage took place quietly during the autumn, as the Princess +had confidently said that it should. It is a tale without a "purpose" +and without any particular "moral," in the present appalling +acceptation, of those simple words. If it has interested or pleased +those who have read it, the writer is glad; if it has not, he can find +some consolation in having made two young people unutterably blissful +in his own imagination, whereas he manifestly had it in his power to +bring them to awful grief; and when one cannot make living men and +women happy in real life, it is a harmless satisfaction to do it in a +novel. If this one shows anything worth learning about the world, it +is that a gifted man of strong character and honourable life may do a +foolish and generous thing whereby he may become in a few days the +helpless toy of fate. He who has never repented of a good impulse +which has brought great trouble to other people, must be indeed a +selfish soul. + +As for the strange circumstances I have described, I do not think any +of them impossible, and many of them are founded upon well-known +facts. I have myself seen, within not many years, a construction like +the dry well in the Palazzo Conti, which was discovered in the +foundations of a Roman palace, and had been used as an oubliette. +There were skeletons in it and fragments of weapons of the sixteenth +century and evec of the seventeenth. There was also a communication +between the cellars of the palace and the Tiber. + +I read George Sand's fantastic novel _Consuelo_ many years ago, and I +am aware that she introduced a well, in an ancient castle, in which +the water could be made to rise and fall at will, in order to +establish or interrupt communication with a secret chamber. I do not +know whether she imagined the construction or had seen a similar one, +for such wells are said to be found in more than one old fortress in +Europe. The "lost water" really exists at many points under Rome; its +rising and falling are sometimes unaccountable; and I know at least +one old palace in which it has been used and found pure, within the +memory of man. So far, the explanations suggested by engineers have +neither satisfied those who have propounded them, nor those who have +had practical experience of the "lost water." The subject is extremely +interesting but is one of very great difficulty, as it is generally +quite impossible to make explorations in the places where the water is +near the surface. The older part of modern Rome was built haphazard, +and often upon the enormous substructures of ancient buildings, of +which the positions can be conjectured only, and of which the plans +and dimensions are very vaguely guessed by archaeologists. All that +can be said with approximate certainty of the "lost water" is that it +must run through long-forgotten conduits, that it rises here and there +in wells, and that it is mostly uncontaminated by the river. + +Those familiar with the Vatican museum will have at once recognized +the colossal statue of gilt bronze which now stands in the circular +hall known as the "Rotonda." It was accidentally found, when I was a +boy, in the courtyard of the Palazzo Righetti in the Campo dei Fiori, +carefully and securely concealed by a well-built vault, evidently +constructed for the purpose, in the foundations of the Theatre of +Pompey. I went to see it, when only a portion of the vault had been +removed, and I shall never forget the vivid impression it made upon +me. So far as I know, there has not been any explanation of its having +been hidden there, but among the lower classes in Rome there are +traditions of great treasure supposed to be buried in other parts of +the city. I have taken the liberty of making the discovery over again +at a point some distance from the Palazzo Righetti, and in the present +time. The statue was really found in 1864, and the gem in the ring was +stolen. The marble Venus which Malipieri saw with it is imaginary, but +I was also taken to see the beautiful statue of Augustus, now in the +Braccio Nuovo of the Vatican, on the spot where it came to light in +the Villa of Livia, in 1863. + +The great mediaeval family of Conti became extinct long ago. The +palace to which I have given their name would stand on the site of one +now the property of the Vatican, but would be of a somewhat different +construction. + +Finally, I wish to protest that there are no so-called "portraits" in +this story of the heart of old Rome. Many Romans were ruined by the +financial crisis of 1888 and its consequences, either at the time or +later. The family to which Sabina belonged is wholly imaginary, and +its fall was due to other causes. I trust that no ingenious reader +will try to trace a parallel where none exists. I would not even have +a certain young and famous architect and engineer, for whom I +entertain the highest admiration and esteem, recognize a "portrait" of +himself in Marino Malipieri, if these pages should ever come to his +notice, and I have purposely made my imaginary hero as unlike him as +possible, in appearance, manner and speech. + +Those who have noticed the increasing tendency of modern readers to +bring accusations of plagiarism against novels that deal partly with +facts will understand why I have said this much about my own work. To +others, the few details I have given may be of some interest. + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE HEART OF ROME *** + +This file should be named thhrt10.txt or thhrt10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, thhrt11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, thhrt10a.txt + +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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