honour done him, and who more exhausted by the revel and riot of the
feast, than by the tumult of a battle-field, had made a pretext of his
wound to slip away from the banquet, and alone and unrecognized, visit
the old haunts where he had played as a boy. But still stronger was his
impulse and longing to try whether he might not chance again to meet
those eyes the glance of which was still glowing in his heart. He had
by well-put questions elicited from a burgher that the blonde beauty
was the clever artist who had worked the banner presented to him, and
he had determined on the following day, under plea of thanking her, to
pay a visit to her house. And now, just as he was sadly reflecting on
all that had happened and was yet to happen, the half-veiled figure
advanced as though she were awaiting him. Both were rendered speechless
by this sudden meeting. But Attilio was the first to collect himself.
'I know you well, Madonna,' said he, with a chivalrous obeisance as he
stepped nearer to her. 'You are Gianna the Fair.' 'And I know you too,
Attilio,' replied the beauteous one. 'Who is there in Treviso that does
_not_ know you?' And thereupon both were silent, and both availed
themselves of the shade of the gloomy street, to gaze at each other
more closely than they had done yet, and to the young man it seemed
that her beauty shone in the twilight a thousand times more gloriously
than in the full day, and she for her part thought his eyes had quite
another lustre while speaking to her now, than in the morning, when
he only mutely contemplated her from afar. 'Forgive me, Madonna,'
resumed the youth, 'for roaming through this street by night like a
house-breaker. My purpose was to visit you in the morning to thank you
for the great pains and the wondrous skill you have expended on the
embroidery of my banner. If not disagreeable to you, suffer me, since
you are alone, to reconduct you to your house. Truly I would that it
were a greater service that I had occasion to render, that you might
see how devoted I am to you.' Whereupon the blonde beauty, though
generally well-skilled in the choice of words, found nothing better to
say than, 'My home is only six paces off, and too humble for me to
invite you to enter it.' 'Say not so,' replied Attilio. 'Rather were
you a princess, and I authorized to entreat a favour, I should esteem
it the very highest, if you would allow me to enter your dwelling and
rest there a quarter of an hour, for indeed I am weary of wandering
about, and a draught of water would refresh me.' To which the fair one
replied, though not without hesitation and blushes, 'Who is there in
this town he rescued who could refuse the hero of Bacchiloni the
draught of water he so courteously entreats. My poor house and all it
contains are at your service.' Then opening the small door she bade him
enter in, and after bolting it again--for on festivals many loose
characters prowled about, bent on spoil--she courteously led her guest
by the hand up the perfectly dark winding stairs, so that he was quite
dazzled when she threw open the door of her chamber into which the
bright white moonshine streamed. 'Be seated a moment,' said she, 'while
I bring you water; or would you put up with a glass of common wine such
as we drink?' But he with quick-beating heart that choked his
utterance, merely shook his head, and stepping to the window-seat on
which her embroidery lay, fell to gazing on it, as though he wanted to
draw it from memory. So she left him and went down into the kitchen
where her nurse was fast asleep on a rug which she had spread on the
flags for the sake of coolness. 'Oh nurse!' she whispered, 'if you only
knew who has entered in!' Then after filling a goblet from a great
stone pitcher that stood on the hearth, she stood still a moment,
pressed her two cold hands on her burning cheeks, and said in a low
tone, 'Holy Mother, of our Lord, guard my heart from vain wishes.'
Thereupon she grew stronger, and after placing a small loaf on a tin
plate she carried both it and the glass of water up to Signor Attilio,
who had meanwhile seated himself in the window, and was gazing out into
the open country. 'I am ashamed,' said she, 'to bring you such prison
fare as bread and water. But if you will only stretch your arm out of
the window, an old fig-tree stands between the two walls and the moat,
which, with its load of sweet fruit is easily reached from here.'
'Gianna,' said the young man, taking the glass from her hand, 'were I
to remain here your prisoner for ever, I should never wish for any
other drink.' And she endeavouring to smile, replied, 'You would grow
weary of such imprisonment, whereas in the world without, by the side
of your young spouse, a thousand pleasures, prosperities, and honours
of all kind await you.' 'Why do you remind me of it?' cried he, his
brow growing dark. 'Know that this betrothal which you hold out as a
Heaven on earth, is to me a Hell itself. When I was still weak from the
fever of my wound, and hardly indeed my own master, I allowed myself to
be decoyed into this detested net, in which I now writhe like a
captured fish on a burning strand! Alas for my youth! why have my eyes
been opened now that it is too late? Why have I learnt to know my own
heart just after, like a fool, pledging myself to an accursed duty!'
And so saying, he sprang from his seat, and strode with echoing
footsteps through the moonlit room, just like a young panther trapped
in a pit, and confined in an iron cage. But the fair one, alarmed
though she was at the vehemence of this strange confession, was far
from imitating his demeanour, but gently said while stroking the
carnation blossom with her white finger, 'You astonish me, Signor
Attilio! Is not the bride young, fair, and virtuously nurtured, that
you should consider it a punishment to become her husband?' 'Were she
an angel from before the Throne of God,' cried he, suddenly standing
still and facing her, 'that flower that your hand has touched would be
a more precious gift to me, than her whole person with all her gifts
and virtues! Oh, why have you done this to me, Gianna! He who has never
seen the sun may live and even enjoy himself in twilight. But since my
eyes met yours for the first time this morning, I have known that there
is only one woman on earth for whose love and favour I would dare
anything, and cast body and soul away, and that woman art thou, Gianna
the Fair; and now I would rather that eternal night should swallow me
up, than that I should have to creep back into the twilight yonder,
frozen and wretched, to dream of my sun.'
"Thus saying he seized both her hands as though clinging to her to save
him from falling into an abyss, but seeing that her face remained
unmoved he let her go again, and returned to the open window. There he
stood awhile quite still and silent, and only the nightingale in the
bush below went on with her ceaseless trilling and warbling. Then as if
seized by some sudden resolve the youth turned round and cried, 'But
even though it should undo all that is done I will not consent, I will
not endure these bonds and chains! Tomorrow with the dawn I send
letters to Vicenza to take back my promise, and then I shall retire
from both towns and challenge with sword and lance all who dare to deny
that Gianna the Fair is the queen of womanhood.' 'This shalt thou not
do, Attilio,' returned the beautiful being looking beyond him to the
midnight sky with a calm and earnest gaze. 'That you should have been
so suddenly attracted towards me, and should endow me so unqualifiedly
with your affection, I acknowledge as an inexpressibly great gift, for
which, although unworthy of you, I shall thank you as long as I live.
But I cannot accept this gift without involving both in ruin. Reflect,
my friend, how the scarcely smothered enmity between the two towns
would burst forth again if you were thus to insult the house of Scarpa,
and with it all the city, by despising your betrothed bride who has
never offended against you by word or deed, merely because another face
has pleased you better. And this very face, even granting that it does
at this time deserve such excessive praise, and the passion it has
excited in you, who can say that even in one year all its charms might
not be faded, so that you would ask yourself wondering, how was it
possible you could have been thus possessed by it? Do we not often see
towards the close of summer, one single night of early frost avail to
turn the trees that were green but yesterday, suddenly sere and yellow?
I have overstept my one-and-thirtieth year; you my friend are in the
fulness of your youth, you are still climbing the hill, the summit of
which I have reached. Let me, therefore, being the elder, be the wiser
as well, and show prudence enough for both. And to this end I declare
to you my firm resolve, even were I to discover your love was more than
a sudden caprice, and were all opposing circumstances miraculously to
conform themselves to your wishes, I would _never_ consent to be your
wife, no, not though your parents came to me in person to lend their
support to your suit!'
"It was only when she had ended this speech that she ventured to look
towards him, and then seeing how pale he was, and how his fine eyes
wandered round, as in despair, she felt ready out of very love and pity
to contradict all that she had forced herself to utter with incredible
firmness.
"'Good-night, Madonna,' Attilio sorrowfully said, and seemed about to
leave, but then stood still and looked on the ground. 'You are angry
with me, Attilio,' said she. And he--'No, by God, Gianna, I am not;
only give me leave to depart, for truly I have tarried but too long,
and have spoken like a madman, without considering that what I offered
you might prove so worthless in your sight, that you could not even
stretch out your hand to take it, far less endure conflict and trouble
for its sake. And thus I depart with well-merited humiliation, and it
is no one's fault but my own that this my day of triumph, which began
so gladly, should have so lamentable an end. Farewell, Gianna. The
banner you worked, and which this morning seemed to me the most costly
of possessions, I will now bestow upon a chapel, in order that the
sight of it may not recall to me the hand which has so coldly rejected
and repulsed me.'
"With that he bent low and was nearing the door, when once more he
heard his name called. Gianna's heart, which had long been beating
wildly, now burst its bounds, and made itself heard in speech.
'Attilio,' said the blushing fair, who had lost all self-control, 'I
cannot let you go away thus, and continue to live. What I have said
stands firm, nor will you ever change one iota of it, for it behoves
your own good which is dearer to me than my own. But I have not yet
told you all. Know then that since my betrothed died--it is now twelve
years ago--I have never had the thought nor the wish of belonging to
any man, and if I have kept the jewel of my honour thus pure, in good
sooth it has cost me neither effort nor regret so to do. For I do not
lightly esteem myself, not so much because of this poor and transient
beauty, as because I know well that mine is a free and strong spirit,
which I could never render subservient to the sway of one weaker or
lower than myself, as in marriage a wife is often bound to do. And many
as my wooers have been, I have never yet found one whom to serve would
not have appeared to me a bondage and degradation. It was only to-day
that I saw you ride into the town to which you have given back freedom
and honour. When I saw how modestly you bent your head beneath so great
a triumph, achieved in such early youth--showing neither vanity nor
scorn, but receiving like a messenger from God, the gratitude of those
whom you had delivered--I could not but say to myself, 'Why art thou no
longer young to deserve the love of this youth?' And when I saw the
crimson scar on your throat, I felt that I would go barefoot on a
pilgrimage to the Holy Sepulchre, if mine might be the bliss of only
once daring to press my lips to that sacred wound. And then when I came
home, knowing well what had befallen me, I picked up a flower from the
street--this one, see--just because it had been trodden under your
horse's hoof; and I meant to have it laid under my pillow when I should
be borne out hence to my last sleep. And now that I have told you this,
Attilio, repeat, if you have the heart, that this hand has coldly drawn
itself away from your grasp.'
"Then she held out her arms to her lover, who stood before her in
speechless ecstasy, like one doomed to death who had been reprieved at
the very edge of the scaffold. She drew down his head on her breast,
and kissed the wound for which her lips had yearned. Then freeing
herself once more from his embrace, she said, 'What I do, my friend, is
done with perfect deliberation and consciousness, and I shall never
repent it, although many might censure and condemn my conduct if they
knew of it. I give you the only jewel I possess, and which hitherto I
have held dearer than my very life. For look you, on the very spot on
which you stand, your future brother-in-law, Signor Lorenzaccio, stood
and vehemently besought me to be his, and he would lead me to Vicenza
as his wife. But what I denied to him, the enemy and oppressor of my
city--and I was fain to threaten him with my dagger (the mark of which
he bears on his right hand) before he desisted from his wild wooing--I
give to you as the saviour of my city, give it in token of your
triumph; and require from you in return no reward whatever, but that
you forget me when you stand at the altar to plight your faith to
another. And do not concern yourself as to what may betide me then. My
lot will be blessed through all renunciation, and enviable in all
sorrow, since I shall have endowed the noblest man on whom my eyes have
ever rested with the free gift of my honour; and before the winter of
years has covered this blond head with snows, I shall have enjoyed a
late spring, beauteous beyond all I could have dreamed. These eyes and
lips are thine, Attilio, and this untouched form is thine, and thine is
this heart which, when thou shalt part from me, will never more desire
any of the sweetnesses of this world, but like the heart of a widow,
will still feed upon its past joys till it beat no longer.'
"Thus saying she led him to the seat in the window, and knelt before
him, and he took her head in his two hands, and was never satiated with
gazing at her, and kissing her brow, cheeks, and mouth; and long after
the moon had set they were still together and immeasurably blest But
when the first cock-crow was heard over the plains, Gianna herself
constrained him to leave her arms, lest he should be missed in his
parent's house. They agreed, however, that he should return the next
night and all the following ones, and fixed on the signal at which she
should open the door; and so he took his leave; as one intoxicated
reels from a banquet: and in the arrogance of his bliss he scorned to
descend the winding stairs, although the streets were empty, but swung
himself out of the window, and profiting by the foot-hold afforded by
the fig-tree, scrambled down to the walls below, often delaying to call
out all manner of loving names and to throw the flowers growing on the
edge of the moat up to the beloved one in the window, till she, fearing
observation, withdrew from it. Then he tore himself away, and crept so
carefully along the walls, that he reached the gate unnoticed by any.
The sleepy watchman did not recognize him, and no one had missed him at
home, so that he entered exultingly into his own room, and throwing
himself on his couch, snatched a brief interval of needed sleep.
"With equal skill and secrecy, the lovers contrived their meetings for
the nights following, so that no one in the whole town had the least
idea of the relations between them; except the nurse Catalina, who was
as silent about it as the fig-tree under the window. For the happiness
and honour of her mistress were the first thought of her heart; and the
sharpest tortures of the rack would never have extorted the youth's
name from lips of hers. But one thing did grieve her much, and that was
her dear lady's firm resolve that all must be over for ever, so soon as
Attilio had exchanged rings with his bride Emilia Scarpa. 'What can you
be thinking of?' said the old woman. 'Do you suppose you will be able
quietly to endure that another should adorn herself with the flower
that you have worn on your breast? As sure as I love you, lady, more
than the fruit of my own body, you will die of it, your heart will
break in twain like an apple when you run a knife into its midst.'
'Nurse,' said the Blonde, 'you may be right. But what of that? Better
that I should be destroyed, than the one I love, and this dear city
which is the mother of us both.' 'What folly you utter!' replied the
old woman. 'If he love you as he says, and I believe, he will not be
able to survive it; and so your obstinacy will bring about the death of
two. And as for the city, now that it is defended by such a hero, it
may safely challenge the enmity of three cities, each of them mightier
than Vicenza.' Such arguments and others did Attilio too urge, and ever
more and more pressingly as the time drew near when he must bid an
eternal farewell to the eyes he adored.
"He still hoped, as he had hoped from the first day, to conquer her
opposition, and was resolved to sacrifice everything for her. Gianna,
on the other hand, to whom the bare idea of her lover's heart ever
growing cold, and regretting that he had linked his young life with her
faded one, was far more bitter than parting or death, tried, whenever
he assailed her with fresh entreaties, to turn away his impetuosity by
some jest about her age, and the inconstancy of men, and to make the
Present so sweet to him, that in it he should forget the bitterness of
the Future.
"Meanwhile in both houses, that of the Buonfigli as of the Scarpa,
preparations for the marriage were eagerly carried on, and in nine
weeks from the triumphal entry of the bridegroom, a no less brilliant
reception was accorded by the inhabitants of Treviso to the bride. If,
however, amongst the spectators there was even greater general joy than
before, because of the now sealed and ratified treaty between the two
cities, and also owing to the presence of the young and richly adorned
bride with her escort of sixteen bridesmaids, all mounted on white
jennets, and wearing costly apparel,--there were two in the festal
procession who found it hard to conceal their anger and annoyance,
one being the bridegroom himself, who would rather have touched a
snake than his bride, and the other, Signor Lorenzaccio, his future
brother-in-law, who secretly gnashed his teeth when he reflected that
he had to play a quite secondary part to his young rival's, and would
have gladly strangled, rather than embraced, him and his kindred. And
yet a third heart there was, firmly closed against the rejoicings of
the day, and that heart beat in the bosom of the fair Gianna, for she
knew that the night that followed would be the last of her bliss.
Accordingly she had not as on the former occasion exerted herself to
procure a seat in the tribune in front of the town hall, but had kept
at home while Attilio rode by the stranger's side through the streets,
and a very rain of flowers rustled down about the pair. Even in the
afternoon, while all the people were flocking out to the meadow before
the town, where within splendidly decorated lists a tournament was to
be held, she sat still at home lost in gloomy thoughts, and her tears
falling so fast she saw nothing of the brightness of the day. 'O my
poor heart!' she sighed, 'Now is the time to prove thyself strong
enough to renounce thy own happiness; and thou art so weak, thou
meltest away in tears. Thou hast undertaken more than thou art able to
perform. True thou knewest not that love is a wine of which every
draught but increases the thirst of those who drink. Now the cup of thy
bliss is turned to poison that will slowly consume thee, and no leech
on earth, nor help of all the Saints in heaven, will avail to heal
thee!' At this moment in came Catalina, and persuaded her to go out
with her, that at least if she really were resolved to part from her
beloved, she might behold him once more in the full splendour of his
knightly prowess and beauty, and as conqueror of all assembled. For the
kind soul secretly hoped that a miracle would yet take place, and her
mistress's mind change. Accordingly she dressed out the mourner (who
was passive as a child) with the utmost case, and led her to the
tilting-field, which was already swarming with people, and resonant
with the neighing of horses and blare of trumpets. There then Gianna,
standing amongst the crowd, saw the bride sitting on a raised dais
between the father and uncle of her bridegroom, and heard what people
thought of her, some admiring her to the utmost, and others finding
this or that to censure as well as to praise. The fair Gianna spoke not
a word, and what she thought was never known. Only on two occasions she
blushed deeply, when of some young men who passed before her, one
exclaimed loud enough to be heard, 'I would give ten Emilias for one
Gianna the Fair!' and the other, 'Treviso carries away the palm in
women as in arms!' and this led to many eyes being bent on the fair
embroideress, whose colour suddenly changed into deadly pallor; for at
that moment Signor Attilio rode into the lists armed cap-a-pie, except
that his throat instead of being defended by a brass haubergeon, which
the French call _barbier_, was only protected by a slight leathern
curtain fastened to the helmet. His visor was up, so that all noticed
how pale he was and what sad and searching glances he cast around, and
many marvelled at his aspect, seeing that he was such a triumphant
young hero and a bridegroom to boot. However he rode up to the dais on
which his betrothed sat, bent before her, and allowed her to wind about
his helmet the scarf she had been wearing, in token that he was her
knight. Then the trumpeters blew, and from the other side came Signor
Lorenzaccio riding into the lists, with visor closed, it is true, but
all knew him from his armour and device, and hoped with all their
hearts to see him stretched on the sand by the strong arm of his future
brother-in-law. It was, however, otherwise decreed in the councils
above. For scarcely had the heralds given the signal with their staffs,
and the trumpets sounded, than both knights charged with lances in
rest, and their horses hoofs raised such a cloud of dust, that for a
moment after the shock, they were lost to the view of the spectators,
who only heard the sound of lances on shield and coat of mail, followed
by sudden silence. But when the cloud dispersed they beheld with horror
Attilio, his feet still in the stirrups, thrown backwards on the saddle
of his good steed (who stood there motionless), a stream of blood
flowing from his throat, the undefended whiteness of which afforded a
welcome mark to the cruel weapon of his foe. The conqueror faced him
with his visor open, as though desirous to ascertain that his revenge
was thoroughly accomplished, and after casting one last look of
devilish hatred at his opponent, closed his helmet and rode, no one
applauding him, slowly away out of the lists and through the petrified
and horror-stricken crowds that could scarcely believe their eyes.
"Meanwhile Attilio's squire and the other attendants hurried into the
lists, lifted the groaning man out of the saddle, and spreading a
carpet on the sand laid him thereon. And then a loud wailing arose, all
order was over, the people rushed wildly over the barriers; those who
occupied the tribunes hurried from their seats; and scarcely could the
heralds succeed by remonstrance and blows to clear so much space about
the dying man, as that his parents, relations, and bride might be able
to reach him. He, however, lay still with eyes closed, and while some
lamented, and others cursed the fiendish malice of Lorenzaccio, some
called aloud for a leech, and others for a priest to afford the last
consolations to the soul of the parting hero, no sound of pain came
from his lips, nor of regret at having so early to join the heavenly
hosts above. Rather did this hard fate appear to him a rescue from
hated bonds; and when he heard his name called and recognized the voice
of his bride, he endeavoured to shake his head, as though to tell her
that he would not breathe away his last breath in a falsehood. Then all
at once the crowd that pressed round this spectacle of woe parted
asunder with a murmur of amazement, for they saw the fair Giovanna,
pale as a spectre, yet crowned by the thorn-crown of woe, queen over
all other women, advance and enter the circle. 'Go hence,' said she,
stretching out her hand towards the bride, 'this dying man belongs to
me, and as during life I was his, body and soul, so in death, too, I
will be with him, and no stranger shall rob me of one sigh of his!'
"Then she knelt down by her beloved, and gently lifted his powerless
head on to her knee, his blood streaming over her festal attire.
'Attilio,' said she, 'do you know me?' Instantly he opened his eyes and
sighed, 'O my Gianna, it is over! Death has not willed that I should
pledge to another the faith and truth that only belonged to thee. I
die; my wife, kiss me with the last kiss and receive my soul in thy
arms!'
"Then she bent down to his lips, and as her mouth rested on his, his
eyes closed and his head sank back on her lap. And so mighty was the
compassion felt by all for the noble pair, that no one, not even any of
the Scarpas, ventured to trouble the parting of the lovers. Nay, when
preparations began for carrying the lifeless form of the young hero
back into the city, the people divided into two processions, one of
which followed the dead, and the other the litter that bore his beloved
to her house, for she had swooned away by the side of her lost friend.
That same night the young Emilia returned with her mother to Vicenza.
Her father, however, Signor Tullio Scarpa, remained in the house of the
Buonfigli, in order to be present at Attilio's funeral, himself doubly
a mourner, for his daughter's sorrow and his son's disgrace.
"But when on the third day the beloved dead was borne to his grave in
the chapel of the Madonna degli Angeli, there was seen next to the
bier, and taking precedence of all blood relations, the tall form of
Giovanna, dressed in deepest black, and wearing a widow's veil. And
when she threw back the veil to kiss the brow of the departed, all the
people beheld with astonishment the marvel that had taken place, for
the gold of her hair which used to shine out from afar, had in a few
nights changed to dull silver, and her fair face was pale and faded
like that of an aged woman.