finding that I was the subject of discussion, had walked rapidly toward
the group. When I heard Count Hector speak bluntly of an _intrigue_ with
Alezia, the dissatisfaction which I felt because the battle was being
fought without me changed to indignation, and I determined to make some
one of our adversaries pay for the falseness of my position. I could not
vent my spleen on Count Hector, who had already been insulted by Nasi;
so it was upon Signor de Monteverbasco that the storm fell. That worthy
squire, on learning my name had said simply, with an air of amazement:
"The deuce!"
I walked up to him, and looked him in the eye with a threatening
expression.
"What do you mean by that, signor?"
"Why, I said nothing, signor."
"I beg your pardon, signor, you said: 'That is still worse.'"
"No, signor, I did not say so."
"Yes, signor, you did say so."
"If you absolutely insist upon it, signor, let us agree that I did say
it."
"Ah! you admit it at last. Very good, signor; if you do not consider me
good enough for a second, I shall find a way to compel you to consider
me good enough for an adversary."
"Is this a challenge, signor?"
"Call it whatever you please, signor. But let me tell you that I don't
remember your name, and that I don't like your face."
"It is well, signor; if agreeable to you, we will meet at the same time
and place as these gentlemen."
"Agreed. Gentlemen, I have the honor to salute you."
Whereupon, Nasi and I returned to the house, after enjoining silence on
the servants.
Hector Grimani's conduct on that occasion introduced me to a type of the
men one meets in fashionable society, which I had not before observed.
If it had occurred to me to pass judgment on Hector the first time I had
seen him at Villa Grimani, when he retreated into his cravat and his
nullity in order not to be intolerable to his cousin, I should have said
that he was a weak, harmless, cold, but good-natured youth. Was it
possible that such an insignificant creature could cherish a feeling of
hostility? Could those mechanically refined manners conceal an
instinctive tendency to brutal domination and cowardly resentment? I
would not have believed it; I did not expect to hear him demand
satisfaction of Nasi for his harsh reception; for I thought that he was
more polished and less courageous, and I was astonished to find that,
after being foolish enough to invite such a castigation, he had
sufficient determination to resent it. The fact is that Hector was not
one of those insignificant men who never do good or evil. He was
ill-tempered and presumptuous; but, being conscious of his intellectual
mediocrity, he always allowed himself to be overborne in discussion;
then, spurred on by hatred and vindictiveness, he would insist on
fighting. He fought frequently and always on some insufficient ground,
so that his tardy and obstinate courage did him more harm than good.
Before I would allow Nasi to return to Alezia, I took him aside and told
him that everything that had happened had come about against my wish;
that I had never intended to seduce or elope with or marry Signora
Aldini, and that it was my firm determination to part from her instantly
and forever, unless honor made it obligatory upon me to marry her, in
order to repair the harm she had done herself on my account. I desired
Nasi to decide that question.
"But before I tell you the whole story," I said, "we must consider the
question that is most urgent at this moment, and take such measures that
our young guest may be compromised as little as possible. I must tell
you one thing that she doesn't know, that her mother will be here
to-morrow evening. I propose to send a man to the first relay station,
so that she may be told to come here directly and join her daughter,
instead of looking for her at Villa Grimani. As soon as I have placed
Signora Alezia in her mother's hands, I trust that everything will be
straightened out; but, until then, what explanation am I to give her of
the extreme reserve with which I propose to treat her?"
"The best way," said Nasi, "would be to persuade her to leave here and
go back to her aunt, or, failing that, to go into a convent for
twenty-four hours. I will try to make her understand that her position
here is not tenable."
He joined Alezia. But all his excellent arguments were thrown away.
Checca, faithful to her habit of boasting, had told the girl that she
was Nasi's mistress, that the count had left her after a quarrel, and
that it was then that he had proposed for Alezia's hand; but that, being
fully cured by her refusal, and drawn back by an unconquerable passion
to his mistress's feet, he was ready to marry her. So that Alezia
considered that it was perfectly proper for her to be in Nasi's house,
and she was overjoyed to learn that he, like herself, had made up his
mind to yield to the craving of his heart, and to break with public
opinion. She promised herself that she would find in that happy couple
congenial companionship for her whole life and friendship proof against
any trial. She was afraid of my scruples, if she left Nasi's house, and
of the efforts of her family to reconcile her with society. So she
obstinately persisted in ruining herself, and finally informed Nasi that
she would not leave his house unless she was compelled by force to do
so.
"In that case, signora," said the count, "you will permit me to take the
course which honor enjoins upon me. I am your brother, as that is your
wish. I accept that rôle with gratitude and resignation, and I have
already acted the part by standing between you and Count Hector's
insolent demands. I shall continue to act in accordance with the
counsels of my respect and devotion; but if a brother's rights do not go
to the extent of ordering his sister to do this thing or that, they
certainly authorize him to put away from her anything that can injure
her reputation. You will allow me therefore to exclude Lelio from this
house until your mother is here, and I have just sent a messenger to
her, so that you will be able to embrace her to-morrow evening."
"To-morrow evening?" cried Alezia; "that is too soon. No, I don't want
her to come yet. Happy as I shall be to see my darling mother, I am
determined to have time enough to be compromised in the eyes of society,
and irrevocably ruined in its opinion. I insist upon starting off with
Lelio to meet my mother. When it is known that I have actually travelled
with him, no one will find excuse for me, no one will be able to forgive
me, except my mother."
"Lelio will not comply with your desire, my dear sister," replied Nasi;
"he will do just what I advise; for his heart is all delicacy and honor,
and he has made me the final judge."
"Very well!" said Alezia, with a laugh; "go and order him, in my name,
to come here."
"I will go to him," replied Nasi, "for I see that you are not disposed
to listen to any prudent counsel. And I will go with him and take rooms
for him and myself in the village inn, which you see at the end of the
avenue. If you should be exposed to any fresh outrage on the part of
Signor Ettore Grimani, you have only to signal from your window and ring
the garden bell, and we shall be under arms instantly. But you need have
no fear, he will not return. You can take possession of Lelio's room,
which is much more suitable for you than this one. Your maid will remain
here to wait upon you and bring me your orders, if it is your pleasure
to give me any."
Nasi having joined me, and given me an account of this interview, I
opened my heart to him and told him almost everything, but without
mentioning Bianca. I explained to him how I had thoughtlessly become
involved in an adventure, the heroine of which had at first seemed to me
coquettish even to the point of impudence, and how, as I discovered from
day to day the purity of her heart and the moral elevation of her
character, I had been led on in spite of myself to play the part of a
man ready to attempt anything.
"Then you do not love Signora Aldini?" said the count, in a tone of
amazement in which I fancied that I could detect a slight touch of
contempt for me. I was not hurt, for I knew that I did not deserve that
contempt; and his esteem for me was restored when he learned how hard I
had fought to remain virtuous, although consumed by love and desire. But
when it became necessary to explain to the count how it happened that I
was so positively determined not to marry Alezia, however indulgent her
mother's heart might prove to be, I was embarrassed. I asked him this
question: whether Alezia's reputation would be so seriously compromised
by what she had done, that it would be my duty to marry her in order to
make her honor whole. The count smiled and replied, taking my hand
affectionately:
"My dear Lelio, you do not yet know how much rank idiocy there is in the
social circle in which Alezia was born, nor how much corruption its
stern censorship conceals. Let me tell you, so that you may laugh at
such ideas and despise them as I do, that Alezia, after being seduced by
you in her aunt's house and being your mistress for a year--provided
there had been no noise or scandal about it,--could still make what is
called a good match, and that no great family would close its doors to
her. She would hear more or less whispering about her, and some rigidly
virtuous women would forbid their newly married daughters to become
intimate with her; but she would be all the more popular for that, and
receive all the more attention from the men. But if you should marry
Alezia, even though it should be proved that she had remained pure to
the day of her marriage, she would never be forgiven for being the wife
of an actor. You are one of those men upon whom calumny can gain no
hold. Many sensible persons might think Alezia had made a noble choice,
and done a praiseworthy thing in marrying you; very few would dare say
so aloud, and even if she should become a widow, the doors that had been
closed to her would never be reopened; for she would never find a man in
society who would care to marry her after you; her family would look
upon her as dead, and not even her mother would be allowed to mention
her name. Such is the fate that awaits Alezia if you marry her. Reflect,
and if you are not sure that you still love her, beware of an unhappy
marriage; for it will be impossible for you to give her back to her
family and friends after she has once borne your name. If, on the other
hand, you feel confident that you will always love her, marry her; for
her devotion to you is something sublime, and no man on earth is more
deserving of it than you."
I was lost in thought, and the count feared that he had wounded me by
his plain-speaking, despite the complimentary remarks with which he had
tried to soften its bitterness. I reassured him.
"That is not what I am thinking about," I said; "I am thinking of
Signora Bianca,--Princess Grimani, I mean,--and of the sorrow that would
make her life a burden if I should marry her daughter."
"It would be very bitter, in truth," replied the count; "and if you know
that amiable and charming young woman, you will think twice before
exposing her to the wrath of those arrogant and implacable Grimanis."
"I will not expose her to it," I exclaimed earnestly, as if speaking to
myself.
"I doubt if that resolution comes from a heart that is very deeply in
love," said the count; "but it comes from a noble and generous heart,
and that is much better. Whatever you may do, I am your friend, and I
will uphold your decision against the whole world."
I embraced him, and we passed the rest of the day together at the inn
near by. He made me tell him the whole story again, and the interest
with which he questioned me concerning the most trivial details, the
secret anxiety with which he listened to the narration of the perilous
episode when my virtue had been put to the test, showed me plainly
enough that that noble heart was deeply smitten with Alezia Aldini.
While it made him wince to hear what I had to tell, it was evident to me
that each new proof of courage and devotion which Alezia had given me
quickened his enthusiasm and rekindled his love in spite of him. He
constantly interrupted me to say: "That was fine, Lelio! that was fine!
that was noble of you! If I had been in your place, I should not have
had so much courage! I would commit a thousand follies for that
woman."--And yet, when I gave him my reasons--and I gave them all to
him, without, however, mentioning the love I had once felt for
Bianca--he approved my virtue and resolution; and when I became sad in
spite of myself, he said to me: "Courage, courage! Eighteen or twenty
hours more, and Alezia will be saved. I think that we will treat the
Grimanis to-morrow in such fashion as to take away any desire on their
part to talk about the affair. The princess will take her daughter away,
and some day Alezia will bless you because you were wiser than she; for
love lives but a day, and prejudices have ineradicable roots."
We passed several hours of the night putting our affairs in order. Nasi
bequeathed his villa to Checchina in case of emergency. The excellent
creature's behavior toward Alezia had filled the count's generous heart
with esteem and gratitude.
When we had finished, we snatched a few hours' sleep, and I awoke at
daybreak. Someone entered my room: it was Checca.
"You have made a mistake," I said; "the next room is Nasi's."
"I am not looking for him, but for you," she said. "Listen to me: you
mustn't marry this marchesina."
"Why not, my dear Francesca?"
"I will tell you. Obstacles and dangers kindle her love for you; but she
hasn't so much strength of mind, nor is she so free from prejudices, as
she pretends. She is a kind, charming, lovable creature. Seriously, I
love her with all my heart; but she has told me unconsciously, while
talking with me, more than a hundred things which prove that she thinks
that she is making an enormous sacrifice for you, and that she will
regret it some day unless you appreciate its extent as fully as she
does. And, tell me, can we actors, who are full of perfectly just
prejudices against society, and despise it as much as it despises us,
can we, I say, appreciate such sacrifices? No, no; the day would come,
Lelio, I tell you, when, even though she did not sigh for society, she
would accuse you of ingratitude at the first grievance she had against
you; and it is a pitiful thing for a man to be the bankrupt debtor of
his wife."
In three words I told Checca what my plans were with respect to Alezia.
When she saw that I fully agreed with her, she said:
"My dear Lelio, I have an idea. This is not the time to think for
ourselves alone, or at all events our thoughts even for ourselves should
be noble thoughts, and such as to assure us a clear conscience for the
future. Nasi loves Alezia. She has not been your mistress; there is no
reason why he should not marry her; he must marry her."
I was not altogether sure that Checca was not impelled by a feeling of
jealous disquiet to talk to me in that way, in order to make me talk;
but she continued, giving me no time to reply:
"Be sure that what I tell you is true, Lelio; Nasi is wild over her. He
is as melancholy as death. He looks at her with eyes which seem to say:
'If only I were Lelio!' And when he gives me any token of affection, I
can see that he does it from gratitude for what I am doing for her."
"Do you really think so, my dear Checca?" I said, marvelling at her
penetration and the great good sense which she displayed on great
occasions, ridiculous as she was in trifles.
"I tell you I am sure of it. So they must be married. Let us leave them
together. Let us go away at once."
"Let us go to-night; I agree to that," said I; "until then it is
impossible. I will tell you the reason in two or three hours. Go back to
Alezia before she wakes."
"Oh! she is not asleep," replied Checca; "she has done nothing but pace
the floor in great agitation all night long. Her maid Lila, who insisted
on sleeping in her room, talks with her from time to time, and irritates
her exceedingly by her remonstrances; for, I warn you, she doesn't
approve of her mistress's love for you. But when she begins to sigh and
say: '_Povera Signora Bianca_! _povera principessa madre_!' the fair
Alezia bursts into tears and throws herself sobbing on her bed. At that
the soubrette implores her not to kill her mother with grief. I can hear
all this from my room. _Addio_; I am going back. If you are fully
decided to decline this marriage, think of my plan, and prepare to lend
a hand to the poor count's love."
At eight o'clock in the morning we repaired to the battle-field. Count
Hector handled his sword like Saint-Georges; and it was a good thing for
him that he had had much practice in that detestable kind of argument,
for it was the only kind that he had at his service. Nasi was slightly
wounded; luckily, Hector behaved reasonably well; without apologizing
for his conduct with respect to Nasi, he agreed that he had spoken ill
of his cousin in the first outburst of his anger, and he requested Nasi
to beg her pardon in his behalf. He concluded by asking his two friends
to give him their word of honor to keep the whole affair a profound
secret, and they gave it. As Nasi and I acted as seconds for each other,
he refused to leave the field until I had fought. His servant dressed
his wound on the spot, and the battle between Signor de Monteverbasco
and myself began. I wounded him quite severely, but not mortally, and
when his physician had taken him away in his carriage, Nasi and I
returned to the villa. As he did not wish it to be known at the inn that
he was wounded, he was taken to the summer-house in his garden.
Checchina, being secretly informed of what had taken place, joined us
there, and gave him such care as his condition demanded. When he was
able to show himself, he asked Checchina to tell Alezia that he had had
a fall from his horse; then he appeared and bade her good-morning. But
old Cattina, who had been released, and who, despite the lesson she had
received, could not refrain from prying into everything, in order to
gossip with all the neighbors, knew that we had fought, and had already
told Alezia, who threw herself into the count's arms as soon as he
entered the salon. When she had thanked him with the most effusive
warmth, she asked where I was. In vain did the count reply that I was
under arrest in the summer-house by his order; she persisted in
believing that I was dangerously wounded and that they were trying to
conceal the fact from her. She threatened to go down to the garden to
find out for herself. The count was exceedingly anxious that she should
do nothing imprudent before the servants. He preferred to come after me
and take me to her. Thereupon Alezia, undisturbed by the presence of
Nasi and Checca, reproached me warmly for what she called my exaggerated
scruples.
"You cannot love me very much," she said, "since you refuse to assist me
when I am absolutely determined to compromise myself for you."
She said the wildest and most loving words to me, but did not once lose
the exquisite instinct of modesty which belongs to all young girls not
absolutely devoid of mind. Checchina, who listened to this dialogue from
an artistic standpoint, was utterly amazed, so she told me afterward,
_della parte della marchesina_. As for Nasi, a score of times I
surprised his melancholy gaze fixed upon Alezia and myself with
indescribable emotion.
Alezia's vehemence became decidedly embarrassing. She called me cold,
constrained; she declared that there was no joy, that is to say, no
frankness in my glance. She took alarm at my conduct, she waxed
indignant at my lack of courage. She was intensely excited, she was as
lovely as Domenichino's sibyl. I was very miserable at that moment, for
my love reawoke, and I realized the full extent of the sacrifice I must
make.
A carriage drove into the garden, and we did not hear it, we were
talking so earnestly. Suddenly the door opened and Princess Grimani
appeared.
Alezia uttered a piercing shriek and rushed into her mother's arms, who
held her there a long time without speaking; then she fell gasping upon
a chair. Her daughter and Lila knelt at her feet and covered her with
caresses. I do not know what Nasi said to her, nor what she replied as
she pressed his hand. I was rooted to the spot where I stood; I saw
Bianca again after ten years. How changed she was! but how touchingly
beautiful she still seemed to me, despite the loss of her early bloom!
Her great blue eyes, sunken in their orbits which tears had deepened,
seemed even softer and sweeter than I remembered them. Her pallor moved
me deeply, and her figure, more slender and slightly bent, seemed to me
better suited to that loving, weary heart. She did not recognize me; and
when Nasi called me by name she seemed surprised; for the name Lelio
told her nothing. At last I decided to speak to her; but she had no
sooner heard the first word than she sprang to her feet, recognizing me
by my voice, and held out her arms to me, crying:
"O my dear Nello!"
"Nello!" cried Alezia, rising hastily; "Nello the gondolier?"
"Did you not know him?" said her mother; "haven't you recognized him
until this moment?"
"Ah! I understand," said Alezia in a stifled voice, "I understand why he
cannot love me!"
And she fell at full length on the floor in a swoon.
I passed the rest of the day in the salon with Nasi and Checca. Alezia
was in bed, wildly hysterical and delirious. Her mother alone was with
her. We were all very melancholy at supper. At last, about ten o'clock,
Bianca came and told us that her daughter was calmer, and that she would
soon return and talk with me. About midnight she returned, and we passed
two hours together, while Nasi and Checca sat with Alezia, who was much
better and had asked to see them. Bianca was as lovely as an angel with
me. Under any other circumstances she might, perhaps, have been
embarrassed by her title of princess and her new social position; but
motherly affection stifled all other feelings. She thought of nothing
but expressing her gratitude to me; she did so in the most flattering
terms and with the most affectionate manner imaginable. She did not seem
to have dreamed for a single instant that I could hesitate to give her
daughter back to her and put aside all thought of marrying her. I was
grateful to her for it. It was the only way in which she gave me to
understand that the past was still living in her memory. I had the
delicacy to refrain from alluding to it; however, I should have been
very happy if she had not feared to talk of it with perfect freedom; it
would have been a greater token of esteem than all the rest.
Doubtless Alezia had told her everything; doubtless she had made a
general confession of all the thoughts of her whole life, from the night
on which she had surprised her love-affair with the gondolier down to
that on which she had confided that secret to Lelio, the actor.
Doubtless the mutual suffering caused by such an outpouring of the heart
had been purified by the flame of maternal and filial love. Bianca told
me that her daughter was calm and resigned, and that she hoped to see me
some day and express her unchangeable affection, her great esteem, her
cordial gratitude ---- In a word, the sacrifice was consummated.
I did not leave the princess until I had told her of my earnest hope
that Alezia would some day accept Nasi's love, and I urged her to
cultivate the present inclinations of that honorable and excellent young
man.
I returned to my inn at four o'clock in the morning. I found Nasi there;
he had, in accordance with my instructions, made all necessary
preparations for my departure. When I appeared with Francesca, he
thought that she had come to see me off and bid me good-bye. Imagine his
surprise when she embraced him and said, in a truly imperial tone:
"Be free, Nasi! win Alezia's love; I give you back your promise and
remain your friend."
"Lelio," he cried, "so you are robbing me of her too?"
"Do you not trust my honor?" I said. "Haven't I given you proofs enough
of it since yesterday? And do you doubt Francesca's grandeur of soul?"
He threw himself into our arms, weeping. We entered our carriage just at
sunrise. As we passed Villa Nasi, a blind was cautiously opened and a
woman leaned out to look after us. She had one hand on her heart, the
other she waved to me by way of farewell, and raised her eyes to heaven
to express her thanks: it was Bianca.