Volume II Part 70 (1/2)
Overwhellanced at the fellohoue I was about to speak to hiot hiain him over, I invited him to take his meals with me He kissed my hand, and asked me if he would still be able to claim the ten sous which the Court had allowed hi in the affir an enoraze all round the cell
”What do you want?”
”You will pardon in, for I am a Christian; if there were even a s, for I have never been in so much need of the protection of St Francis d'assisi, whose nah all unworthy”
I could scarcely help laughing, not at his Christian piety, since faith and conscience are beyond control, but at the curious turn he gave his remonstrance I concluded he took me for a Jew; and to disabuse hiive hiin,”
whose picture he kissed, and then gavealley officer--had neglected to have hiht to read ”I am,” said he, ”a devotee of the Holy Rosary,” and he told me a host of el When he had come to an end I asked hi of hunger I gave hi I had, which he devoured rather than ate; drinking all an to weep, and finally to talk without rhyot into trouble, and he toldstory:
”My ailory of God, and of the holy Republic of Venice, and that its lawsan attentive ear to the plots of the wicked, whose end is to deceive, to deprive their prince of his just dues, and to conspire secretly, I have over and again unveiled their secret plans, and have not failed to report to Messer-Grande all I know It is true that I aiven ht that I have been able to serve the blessed St Mark I have always despised those who think there is so dishonourable in the business of a spy The word sounds ill only to the ill-affected; for a spy is a lover of the state, the scourge of the guilty, and faithful subject of his prince When I have been put to the test, the feeling of friendshi+p, whichwith other htest influence over ratitude I have often, in order to worrave, and have never failed to reveal it
Indeed, I am able to do so with full confidence, as ood Jesuit has told me that I may lawfully reveal such secrets, not only because my intention was to do so, but because, when the safety of the state is at stake, there is no such thing as a binding oath I must confess that in my zeal I have betrayed s of our weak nature have been quite o I observed that there was a kind of cabal between four or five notables of the town of Isola, where I live I knew them to be disaffected to the Government on account of certain contraband articles which had been confiscated The first chaplain--a subject of Austria by birth--was in the plot They gathered together of evenings in an inn, in a room where there was a bed; there they drank and talked, and afterwards went their ways As I was deterh to hide under the bed on a day on which I was sure I would not be seen Towards the evening s, they said that the town of Isola was not within the jurisdiction of St Mark, but rather in the principality of Trieste, as it could not possibly be considered to form part of the Venetian territory The chaplain said to the chief of the plot, a n a docuo to the imperial ambassador, and that the Empress would not only take possession of the island, but would reward them for what they had done They all professed the the document the next day, and afterwards to take it to the ambassadors
”I deterh one of the conspirators was reater claim on me than if he had been one, I ca-place and did not think it necessary to expose ain as I had found out sufficient for ht in a boat, and reached here the next day before noon I had the names of the six rebels written down, and I took the paper to the secretary of the Tribunal, telling hi, at the palace, and an agent of the Governht point the chaplain out to hione to the Austrian ambassador's 'That done,' said the lord secretary, 'you will no longershewn the chaplain to the agent, I was at leisure for ossip called me in to shave him (for I aave es, and we ate together in all good fellowshi+p My love for him had still possession ofsome heartfelt tears, I advised him to have no n the document he knew of He protested that he was no particular friend of the chaplain's, and swore he did not knohat docu hi yielded to a sentirievous a fault The next day I saw neither thepaid a visit to the palace, I was promptly imprisoned, and here I a given ood Christian, who is here for reasons of which I desire to know nothing, for I arenzi, daughter of a secretary to the Council of Ten, who, in spite of all prejudice to the contrary, deter what has become of me, but I hope to be here only for a few days, since the only reason of my imprisonment is that the secretary wishes to be able to examine me more conveniently”
I shuddered to think of thethat the situation was a risky one, And that I should have to make use of him, I compassionated him, praised his patriotism, and predicted that he would be set at liberty in a few days A few moments after he fell asleep, and I took the opportunity of telling the whole story to Father Balbi, shewing hied to put off our work to a more convenient season Next day I told Lawrence to buy me a wooden crucifix, a statue of Our Lady, a portrait of St Francis, and two bottles of holy water Soradaci asked for his ten sous, and Lawrence, with an air of conteave him twenty I asked Lawrence to buy arlic, wine, and salt--a diet in which one I deftly drew out the letter Balbi had written me, and in which he drew a vivid picture of his alarain thanked Heaven that Lawrence had put Soradaci in my cell, ”for,” said he, ”if he had come into mine, he would not have found me there, and we should possibly have shared a cell in The Wells as a reward for our endeavours”
Soradaci's tale had satisfied me that he was only imprisoned to be examined, as it seemed plain that the secretary had arrested hi false witness I thereupon resolved to entrust hiood nor harm if they were delivered at their addresses, but which would be beneficial to ave them to the secretary as a proof of his loyalty, as I had not the slightest doubt he would do
I spent two hours in writing these two letters in pencil Next day Lawrence brought me the crucifix, the two pictures, and the holy water, and having worked the rascal well up to the point, I said, ”I reckon upon your friendshi+p and your courage Here are two letters I want you to deliver when you recover your liberty My happiness depends on your loyality, but you must hide the letters, as they were found upon you we should both of us be undone You must swear by the crucifix and these holy pictures not to betrayyou like, and I owe you too much to betray you”
This speech was followed byand la suspected of treason towards a iven his life I knew iven him a shi+rt and a cap, I stood up bare-headed, and then having sprinkled the cell with holy water, and plentifully bedewed him with the same liquid, I made him swear a dreadful oath, stuffed with senseless imprecations, which for that very reason were the better fitted to strike terror to his soul After his having sworn the oath to deliver ave him them, and he himself proposed to sew them up at the back of his waistcoat, between the stuff and the lining, to which proceedings I assented
I was morally sure that he would deliver my letters to the secretary in the first opportunity, so I took the ut should not discover the trick They could only gain me the esteem of the Court, and possibly its adin and the other to the Abbe Griood hopes of soon being set at liberty, that they would find when I caood than harm, as there was no one in Venice who stood in need of reforh to send h enough for ht and to walk up and down
I took care that Soradaci should not suspect the innocent nature of these letters, as he ht then have been seized with the te forat You will see, dear reader, in the following chapter, the power of oaths over the vile soul of my odious co 'In vino veritas', for in the story he told me the wretch had shewn himself in his true colours
CHAPTER XXIX
Treason of Soradaci--How I Get the Best of Him--Father Balbi Ends His Work--I Escape from My Cell--Unseasonable Observations of Count Asquin The Critical Moment
Soradaci had had my letters for two or three days when Lawrence came one afternoon to take him to the secretary As he was several hours away, I hoped to see his face no ht back in the evening As soon as Lawrence had gone, he toldwarned the chaplain, since that individual had never been near the ambassador's and no document of any kind was found upon hi examination he had been confined in a very sain before the secretary, anted him to confess that he told someone at Isola that the priest would never return, but that he had not done so as he had said no such thing At last the secretary got tired, called the guards, and had hiht back to my cell
I was distressed to hear his account, as I saw that the wretch would probably re to inform Father Balbi of this fatal ed to do so h in the dark
On the next day, to assure myself that ive adin as I wanted to add so to it ”You can sew it up afterwards,” said I
”It would be dangerous,” he replied, ”as the gaoler ht come in in the mean time, and then we should be both ruined”