Part 22 (1/2)
”She is dead, then!” exclaimed Gasparo.
”She is dead,” repeated his companion; and a long silence followed.
Presently Marzio continued, ”One day my Nanna, who was not well, had remained to pa.s.s the day in Marcello's house, where lived that poor Camilla, who had been violated and driven mad by the Cardinal --------.
As I had to accompany my men on an important affair, the dwelling was attacked in the night, and my treasure carried off to Rome.
”I was maddened, but not a stone did I leave unturned till I had discovered the place in which they had hidden Nanna. At last I learnt, through friends in that city, that the poor child was in the convent of St. Francis there, and that they had condemned her to serve the nuns, and never to see the light again.
”My wife in the service of nuns, in the service of betrayed young women and of old foxes! 'I will give you a servant!' I said to myself; 'and by heaven, the devil shall have the convent and the wretches it holds.'
”The night following I entered Rome alone; it seemed to me a cowardly action to have companions in an undertaking which concerned none but myself.
”I bought a large bundle of dried branches in the Piazza Navona. I deposited them in a tavern, and waited till it grew late. Towards eleven, o'clock, just before the house closed, I took my burden and hurried off towards 'St. Francis.' Who can prevent a poor wretch from carrying a bundle of wood home? Besides, Rome has one good point, which is that at night no one goes about for fear of the thieves, who are permitted, by the liberality of the priestly government, to do just as they please, as long as they do not interfere in politics.
”Having deposited my bundle at the gate of St. Francis, I pressed it closely in, prepared a box of lights to strike, and gave a searching look up and down the road.
”As will be easily understood, after the door was burnt, there would still remain the gratings; which would leave me pulling a very long face, and with little done. I was, therefore, obliged to make a noise, to attract the attention of those within. I then crossed the little square, and hid myself in a doorway, awaiting the appearance of some one, or at least a patrol. I had not long to wait, for after a few minutes I heard the measured tread of the patrol. Then, with that swiftness of foot which you know me to possess--”
Here Gasparo put in: ”I should think I did! I remember that lord bishop who, having seen us at a distance on the road to Civita Vecchia, turned his horses, and set them in a gallop towards Rome, when you, in about the same time which I take to tell it, were already at the horses'
heads, and had stopped the carriage.”
”And what a take that was, captain!” said the lieutenant. ”How we did enjoy ourselves! how prodigal we were with our money for some time afterwards--I mean with the proceeds of the poverty of the descendant of the Apostles.” But let us return to our story.
”I flew to the bundle of wood, set it on fire, and returned to my hiding-place. In a few minutes a great blaze lit the convent gate, and soon afterwards we had a sight equal to that which the crater of a volcano shows. And the police? The sorriest rabble everywhere, but in no place have they reached such scoundrelism as in Rome. The police, naturally cowards and slow of movement, instead of running to the spot to extinguish the flames, began shouting and making a tremendous noise to arouse the neighborhood. Near the fire they never went until a goodly number of people appeared at the doors, and then hurried to the scene of action.
”'It is now my turn,' said I to myself, and I rushed into the _melee_.
The nuns should have been pleased with such a champion to deliver them, surrounded as they were by a company of roughs.
”Matters could not, however, have progressed better. At the clamor from without, the nuns were not slow to awake, and the gratings flew open. They flew to the rescue themselves, with tubs, pails, basins of water--in fact, with any utensil they could lay their hands on. After pretending to a.s.sist in extinguis.h.i.+ng the external flames, but with my eyes fixed on the interior, seeing all parties well occupied, I sprang in to the a.s.sistance of the nuns in their sanctuary. No sooner within, than I cast a searching glance npon the crowd of females a.s.sembled, and to the oldest, who appeared the Superior, I addressed myself. Grasping her arm, I exclaimed, 'Come with me!' I found more resistance in the old lady than I expected. At first she struggled, and would only walk by compulsion, collecting all her strength to oppose me: then she began to scream, and I was obliged to take her in my arms and to cover her face with a handkerchief.
”I was getting away from the crowd all the time, and arriving before the door of a cell which I found open, I entered with my burden. There was a light in the room, and the bed had been occupied. I laid the abbess npon it, and locked the door.
”She was astonished but not alarmed. I never saw a demon with such courage. 'Where is Nanna?' I began, in a way to startle her. No answer.
'Where is Nanna?' I repeated in a louder tone still. No answer. 'I will make you find your tongue, witch!' I cried; and drawing this bit of steel from my belt, I made it glitter before her eyes. Still no answer.”
”By the Virgin,” said Gasparo, ”these abbesses are all alike, real demoniacs. At the defense of Rome in 1849, when it was needful to pa.s.s through the convent of the Sacred Heart to occupy the walls, they kept me waiting with my company at the gate for hours without opening it.
When the abbess received the Government order for us to pa.s.s, she tore it in pieces. It was only when we began to knock down the doors with our axes that she allowed us to enter.”
”Such was this one,” recommenced Marzio. ”I was not in a humor to play; I wanted Nanna, and a hundred lives such as the one before me would certainly not have stopped me from carrying out my object. Seizing her with one hand, clenching my dagger with the other, I was just touching her throat--not with the point of my dagger, for fear it should slip, but with a hairpin from her cap--I could easily see that the lady had no intention to reach martyrdom, as she was already beginning with-
”'For G.o.d's sake--'
”'My Nanna,' I cried, 'or I will send you to keep Satan company.'
”'For G.o.d's sake let me go!'
”'I released her head. She breathed hard, and pa.s.sed her hand over her forehead.
”'You ask for a young girl of a good family, who came from Rome, and who has been a fortnight in the convent?'