Part 16 (1/2)
At the end of a week Marcantonio telegraphed that he and his sister would leave Rome by the night train and arrive in the morning. Leonora in the innocence of her heart was glad, antic.i.p.ating all manner of new pleasure in her husband's society, the result of her own cure from morbid ennui. But Batis...o...b.. felt his heart sink within him.
CHAPTER XI.
The sun beat down fiercely as Marcantonio and Madame de Charleroi drove up to the house at half-past ten o'clock. They had travelled all night, but the beautiful Diana was not the less fair for being a little tired, and as she descended from the carriage and went up the short steps to the door, Leonora could not help admiring the perfect smoothness and completeness of her appearance. Donna Diana did things in a stately fas.h.i.+on, and it would have been a hard journey indeed that could ruffle her lace or disturb the smooth coiling of her hair. Leonora herself was apt to arrive a little dusty from a night in a train, and not altogether serene, and she knew it; so that the absolutely finished completeness of Madame de Charleroi struck her as enviable and much to be admired.
The two women kissed each other affectionately on either cheek, and then Marcantonio came running up and bent over his wife's hand, and, when Donna Diana was not looking, he just brushed Leonora's cheek in a rather guilty fas.h.i.+on. Presently Leonora led Diana away to show her the rooms destined for her, and to fuss a little over all the arrangements, as women love to do when another woman is come to stay with them.
Marcantonio was busy for a few minutes, asking questions of the coachman and the men-servants concerning the health of every individual in the establishment, and then he also retired to his room, and the perspiring grooms and servants raged furiously together with the luggage and bundles for a while; and then the front door was closed again, and all was cool and quiet.
Leonora left her husband and her sister-in-law to their toilet, and came down stairs through the darkened halls to the drawing-room. She was wondering whether Batis...o...b.. would appear at his usual hour. Strange to say they had not spoken of it on the previous evening,--probably because they feared lest the mention of the subject should lead to some discussion about the singular intimacy into which they had fallen, and which neither wished to endanger. It would be just like Batis...o...b.. to come, she thought; it would be just like him to show himself at once as her friend, and to establish the custom of coming every day.
She was not mistaken; at eleven o'clock the bell rang, and he was shown in.
”I was quite sure you would come,” she said, holding out her hand.
”Of course,” said he. ”I hope they have arrived safely?”
”Quite, thanks. They are making themselves beautiful at this moment, though I think they must have done it on the way,--they arrived looking as fresh as possible, all smiles and lavender and suns.h.i.+ne. I am so glad they are come, you cannot think!”
”Yes, I should think you must be,” a.s.sented Julius with less enthusiasm.
At that moment Marcantonio was shaving himself in the cool seclusion of his dressing-room. He was going over in his mind the past and the future, reflecting upon the absurd things he had said to Diana about Batis...o...b.. in the train, and wondering what he could do to make her stay pleasant. Batis...o...b.. must certainly be asked to the house, he thought, if only to show his sister that he, Marcantonio, had no objection to her meeting the man. It had been so thoroughly absurd to take up her speech about the possibility of her having married him, and to build on it the supposition that she had ever loved him. Bah! the fancy of a girl for the romantic! Batis...o...b.. was now a perfectly serious man--decidedly so.
Besides, Marcantonio began to dread very much the eternal trio between his wife, his sister, and himself, from morning till night. If only he had thought in time to ask some other man, it would have been such a charming square party. His wife was always more brilliant and good-tempered when there were outsiders present,--probably a peculiarity of all women, he thought, excepting Diana. Supposing that Leonora took it into her head to be dull or bored while Diana was there, how dreadful it would be! It was clearly necessary that Diana should have a favourable idea of the Carantoni household; that had been the whole object in bringing her down. And if Leonora did not seem in good spirits, Diana was sure to think he was not making his wife happy. The idea grew in his mind; he was terribly afraid of what his sister might think, seeing how she had opposed the match from the first. Really it was absolutely necessary to ask some one to the house while she stayed.
But whom could he ask at such short notice? There was n.o.body but Batis...o...b.. within reach.
Marcantonio had finished shaving one side of his face, and took a fresh razor for the other. There was a pause in his thoughts while he tested the edge and applied more soap to his cheek. As he went to work again, the original train of ideas continued.
Well! Batis...o...b... Why not? He was a very amiable man, and Leonora liked him. She would certainly not object. As for Diana, it was probable that he would keep away from her most of the time. He would scarcely press his company on her. Monsieur Batis...o...b.. had tact, although he was a crazy foreigner who went round the world in boats and wrote books. Bah!
it was so convenient! Just the very person--he knew everything, had seen most things, and could talk like a mill-wheel. All those ridiculous prejudices about Diana were absurd, and were an insult to her.
Batis...o...b.. should be asked to stay a week.
Having successfully finished his shaving operations, Marcantonio sat down to write a note to Julius while the thing was in his mind.
Otherwise, he reflected, he might forget to do it, and Batis...o...b.. could not be obtained until to-morrow. He wrote an invitation and signed it.
Then he reflected that it would be as well to speak to Leonora before sending it. She did not know anything about that old story that had happened when she was a little girl, and perhaps not even in Rome. It was a mere formality, but it would be more courteous to ask her, before sending the invitation. He would not ask Diana, however. She had herself said, the night before, that she had no objection to meeting the man.
Very well, she should meet him very soon. He hurriedly finished dressing and went down-stairs to find Leonora. Entering the drawing-room he found her talking quietly with the very man he was thinking about.
”Mon Dieu! what a chance!” he exclaimed, cordially shaking Julius by the hand. ”Imagine! I was just writing you a note, when you were in the house yourself!”
”Really?” e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Batis...o...b.., in some astonishment. ”How can I serve you--since I am here in the flesh?”
”By remaining!” answered Marcantonio cheerfully. ”I was in the act of writing a very pressing invitation to you to stay a week with us, and thus to make up the most agreeable party of four in the world. Madame unites herself with me in the request, I am sure,” added Carantoni, turning to his wife, who looked rather pale.
”Mais certainement--we shall be charmed,” said Leonora, utterly astonished and confused by the suddenness of the situation.
She had herself thought how delightful such an arrangement would be--more than once. But coming so suddenly, from her husband, without her suggestion, it frightened her and did not seem quite natural. Her voice did not sound very cordial as she spoke, but it was sufficient, and her husband, being full of his idea, noticed nothing.
”You are very kind. It will really give me very great pleasure,” said Julius, controlling his voice wonderfully.