Part 10 (1/2)
”For a while we remained silent; but presently my deliverer said, 'May I ask pardon for this boldness--will you not grant it, my loved one?' I made no reply, but allowed him to take possession of my hand, which he kissed fervently. Presently he went on: 'I am only a plebeian, Irene--an orphan. Both my parents perished in the defense of Rome against the foreigner. I possess nothing on this earth but my hands and arms, and my love for you, which has made me follow your footsteps.'
”Predisposed to love him even before I had heard his voice, now that his manly yet gentle and impa.s.sioned tones fell upon my ear, I felt he might do what he would with me--I was in an Eden. Yes, he belonged to me, and I to him; but I could not find the voice to say so as yet.
”'Irene,' he continued, 'I am not only a portionless orphan, but an outlaw, condemned to death, and pursued like a wild beast of the forest by the bloodhounds of the Government. Yet I have presumed to hope that you might be gentle to me for my love, with the strength of your generous nature; and more so, alas! when I saw that you were unhappy, for I have watched you unseen, and noted with sorrow and hope the melancholy expression of your face. I am come, though your sweet kindness flatters roe, Irene, to tell you these things which make it impossible, of course, that you can ever be mine. I have no claim or right; but my ardent love, the small services I have rendered you, have blessed me, and made me proud and happy; therefore you owe me nought of grat.i.tude. If I should ever have the delight of laying down my life for yours, my happiness will then, indeed, be complete. Adieu, Irene, farewell!' he continued, rising and pressing my hand to his heart, while he turned to leave me.
”I had remained in an ecstasy of silent joy, forgetful of the world, of myself, of all save him. At the word 'farewell,' I started as if electrified; I ran to him, crying 'Stay, oh, stay!' and, clasping him by the arm, drew him back to the bench, and quite forgetting all reserve myself, exclaimed, 'Thou art mine, and I am thine for life! thine, yes thine forever, my beloved!'
”He told me all his story--he pictured to me the hope and aim of his life. His burning words of love for Italy and hatred of her tyrants added to my strength of resolve. I replied that I would share his fortunes forthwith as his wife, and with no regrets, except upon my father's account. It was then arranged that we should live here together. A few days of preparation, and we were privately married. I followed my Orazio to the forest where ever since I have dwelt with him. I will not say I am perfectly happy--no; but my only grief is the remembrance that my disappearance accelerated, I fear, in a measure the death of my aged and affectionate parent.”
Tired as our poor Silvia was, she could not but listen with interest to the narrative of Irene, down whose beautiful cheeks the tears coursed at the mention of her father's name. Clelia, too, had not lost a single word, and more than one sigh from her fair bosom seemed to say, during her hostess's recital, ”Ah, my Attilio! is he not also handsome, valorous, and worthy of love, yes, of my love!”
But now, wis.h.i.+ng repose to her guests, Irene bade them good-night.
CHAPTER x.x.xI. GASPARO
The history of the Papacy is a history of brigands. From the mediaeval period robbers have been paid by that weak and demoralizing Government to keep Italy in a state of ferment and internal war; and at this very day it makes use of thieves to hold her in thraldom and hinder her regeneration. I repeat, then, that the history of, the Papacy is a history of brigands.
Whoever visited Civita Vecchia in 1849 must have heard of Gasparo, the famous leader of a band of brigands, a relative of the Cardinal A------.
Indeed, many persons paid a visit to that city simply for the purpose of beholding so extraordinary a man.
Gasparo, at the head of his band, had long defied the Pontifical Government, and sustained many encounters with the gendarmes and regular troops, whom he almost invariably defeated and put to flight.
Failing to capture the brigand by force of arms, the Government had recourse to stratagem. As I have already stated, Gasparo was related to a cardinal, one of the most powerful at Court; and as they were both natives of S------, where many of their mutual relations resided, these relations were made use of by the Government to act as mediators between it and the brigand, to whom it made several splendid offers.
Gasparo, putting faith in the promises made by his kinspeople at the instance of the Government, disbanded his men, but was then shamefully betrayed, arrested, and taken in chains to the prison in Civita Vecchia, where he was found during the Republican period in 1849.
Prince T------, the brother of Irene, having obtained some clue through the shepherds, whose description of a beautiful dweller in the forest left little doubt upon his mind as to her ident.i.ty, consulted with the Cardinal A------, and determined at any cost to recover his sister.
Although backed by the Government, and authorized to make use of the regiment which he commanded, the Prince, from his ignorance of the many hidden recesses in the forest, did not feel at all certain of success, and in his dilemma applied to the Cardinal to secure for him the services of the prisoner Gasparo, his relative, as a guide.
”It is a good thought,” said the Cardinal. ”Gasparo is better acquainted with every inch of the forest than we are with the streets of Rome.
Besides, they say that such are his olfactory powers, that by taking a handful of gra.s.s, and smelling at it, even at midnight, he could tell you what portion of the forest you were in. He is old now, it is true; but he has courage enough still to face even the devil himself.”
When Gasparo heard he was to be conducted to Rome he gave himself up for lost, and said to himself, ”Better were it to die at once, for I am tired of this miserable existence, only then I should go to my grave unrevenged for the treachery and injury I have suffered at the hands of these villainous priests.”
Two squads of gendarmes, one on foot and the other mounted, conducted this formidable brigand from Civita Vecchia to Rome. The Government would have preferred moving him at night, but darkness would have facilitated his rescue, which it feared some of his old companions might attempt if they heard of his journey. It was therefore decided Gasparo should travel by day, and the road was thronged by so dense a mult.i.tude, who pressed forward to gaze at the celebrated chieftain, that the progress of the Pope could scarcely have attracted greater numbers.
Arrived in Rome, Gasparo was afterwards introduced into the presence of his relative, Cardinal A------, and the Prince T------, who, with many words and promises of a large reward in gold, to all appearance prevailed upon him to a.s.sist them to destroy the bands of ”libertines”
by which the forest was infested.
Rejoicing in such a chance of escape and opportunity for revenge upon his persecutors, Gasparo affected to be delighted at the proposition, and consented to it with much apparent pleasure.
CHAPTER x.x.xII. THE SURPRISE