In the Catholic church of St. Moritz Bad the first Mass on a Sunday is
said at six. The bell of the rather lofty tower sounded the call to
the faithful once only, and feebly, as if a discreet hand measured the
sound at that early morning hour. The valley was full of a fleeting
white mist that concealed the mountains far and near, that billowed
over the large, deserted meadows near the church, rendering their grass
soft with water and glistening with flowers; it billowed amidst the
large hotels, closed and silent, and in the deserted and silent streets
of the Bad. The sun, which much later would cause the white morning
mist of the Engadine to vanish, had not yet emerged from behind the
quaint Piz Languard. The cold was keen and the atmosphere of an equal
shade, greyish white and very soft.
Slowly, but continuously, the church filled from top to bottom, in
its great central nave and two side aisles, which are really two long
and straight corridors, with a taciturn, cautious, and respectful
congregation of the faithful. They were the Engadine villagers and
woodmen, men and women in their Sunday clothes, all of which were dark,
in heavy grey cloth, maroon, and deep blue: the women with head hidden
in a dark kerchief, faces with an opaque colouring, warmed with red,
crowned with chestnut hair with streaks of lightish red, eyes of a
milky blue, very pale and without gleam. There were labourers from all
the railway, street, and house works which they were constructing in
the neighbourhood, in the near and far distance. There were people of
other districts and climes, who every Sunday, even in winter, over snow
and ice, walked mile upon mile to come and hear Mass, and who even now,
in summer, had put up with great inconvenience to reach St. Moritz Bad
at six in the morning, afterwards to depart again immediately. There
were Lombards, Venetians, Romagnians, and Calabrians; workmen in their
clean clothes and large boots who bowed to the altar with the usual act
of homage of their own districts and far-off villages, and who went to
seat themselves by the villagers in profound silence, neither greeting
nor speaking, and like the countrymen and woodmen on the benches in
front, bending their heads at once to pray.
There were men and women of the _bourgeoisie_, assistants at the
bazaars, who had not yet opened their shops, saleswomen at the
curiosity shops, chambermaids from the hotels, little players in the
orchestra, washerwomen, starchers, seamstresses, domestic servants of
employers who would still sleep deeply for two or three hours; all
workers, in fact, who had risen so early to be able to assist at the
Mass, since later, at the second Mass at eight, the work would already
have begun in its briskness and intensity; while at eleven, the hour of
High Mass, none of them would have an instant more of liberty. Even all
these toilers of the luxury, pleasure, and intoxication of life, these
humble, unknown workers were there in cast-off clothes, with faces
still pale from interrupted sleep, with the tired air of those who
are deprived of rest; but each of them stood at his place in church,
without troubling about his neighbour, seized by the intimate need of
that moment of recollection and liberty of spirit.
The Mass of the country people, workers, and servants proceeded in
perfect simplicity and great rapidity. It was said by one of the three
priests who compose the summer Mission of St. Moritz Bad, which comes
from Coire, sent by the Bishop every year in the month of May to remain
there till the end of September. He was the least known of the three
priests, since the chief one reserved for himself the eleven o'clock
Mass, in which he could speak to the varied cosmopolitan society.
Before the Gospel the organ played ponderously, but only for a brief
space, and there was no singing. Interrupting the Mass as usual, the
celebrant climbed the pulpit very hurriedly, and after an instant of
silent prayer, he explained that Sunday's Gospel, in which he spoke of
the parable of the good servant, that is of time that one must place to
good use for the welfare of the Christian soul, and of which the Lord
later would demand strict account.
In truth, villagers, workmen, servants, and workers of every class
listened with immense attention, without almost moving an eyebrow, to
the severe words, too severely commented upon, about the _use of time_;
and here and there on many faces there were traces of old and daily
fatigues, traces of old and daily privations, there seemed to be an
anxiety and a fear of not having worked enough, of not having suffered
enough. Here and there some faces appeared to be inundated with
sadness, so that when the priest finished the commentary on the day's
Gospel with a hasty benediction, they were bowed full of compunction
on the benches. Lower down some women, in the shade, hid their faces
in their hands to pray, and showed only their bent shoulders in
their modest black wove dresses. When the first tinkling of the bell
announced that the moving mystery of the Host was beginning, there
was a great movement in the church. The seats and benches were moved,
for there was not a single one of these villagers, work people, and
servants who did not bow the knee before the mystic majesty of that
which was about to happen. And when the triple tinkling of the bell
and the sound of the organ announced that the mystery was at its
culmination of beatitude, there were nothing but prostrate bodies and
prone heads in the Catholic church of St. Moritz Bad.
But at the end of the Gospel, explained from the pulpit, the celebrant
had added a few words that they should give alms to the church. The
faithful were reminded that many years ago there was not a shadow of
a Catholic church in the valley, and that to get a Mass they had been
forced to make an even more fatiguing and severe walk in winter and
summer; that the Catholic church had been built, that it had so many
debts that the good children ought to give something to alleviate
these obligations. During the second Gospel, a workman rose from his
place, crossed himself before approaching the altar, and taking a
bronze plate, began to make the collection, person by person. Before
offering the plate he searched in his pocket and gave his offering,
an Italian coin of twenty centesimi--a nickel. With lowered eyes he
quietly offered the plate to the other workers, peasants, servants,
chambermaids, and domestics. Each gave with lowered eyes five or ten
centimes in Italian, French, or Swiss money. Each gave not more than
a soldo or two, but soon the plate was full of this heavy money, come
from all those poor pockets of poor men and women who felt the benefit
of having a church every Sunday, to pray and tell God how great was
their sorrow; so they wished to give their obol to their church.
The workman who was collecting, a Calabrian with a huge silver
watch-chain, and a waistcoat of maroon velvet, explored even the two
side corridors, in the most obscure corners, and tenaciously asked of
each. Then after a profound genuflexion to the altar he went to the
sacristy to deposit the collection of all the poor people. The Mass
ended without other music than the two pieces which had accompanied
the first Gospel and the Elevation. After a moment of hesitation,
crossing themselves broadly towards the altar, the people began to
leave the church, still in silence, and some before leaving genuflected
again. They formed no groups and clusters to chatter in front of the
church, by the swift river which gaily runs to precipitate itself
into the lake. Everybody left by the central path along the Inn, the
peasants and work people with slow, equal, heavy step; the servants,
chambermaids, toilers of the hotels, _cafés_, and restaurants with
a lighter and more rapid step. The white, dense Engadine mist had
in the meantime become less dense and was brightened by a light of
interior gold. The sun gradually appeared behind Piz Languard, and all
the atmosphere grew lighter and still more soft. The air was keenly
cold, the soft meadows covered with flowers which led to the Bad were
deserted, the shops and the windows and balconies of the hotels were
closed; and once more the roads were deserted when the peasants and
workers and servants from every part had vanished.
* * * * *
The bell for High Mass, the eleven o'clock Mass, in the Catholic
church at St. Moritz Bad rings three times to warn the faithful, at
half-past ten, at a quarter to eleven, and at eleven. It is a proud and
resounding peal that fills the fine Engadine air with its harmonies,
now heavy, now sharp. The sonorous summons spreads itself afar in
every part, to the highest villas, and to the most remote and solitary
houses where anyone may be, so that he may turn his steps and hurry to
church. At the first peal as yet no one appears along the level white
paths amidst the vast green meadows, where the church rises which,
all rude with its unpainted walls, still has a deserted and empty
appearance, and which is situated in such a way that its foundations
seem to be immersed in the still waters of the lake, where the swift
and blue little Inn beats on one side as it rushes to precipitate
itself into the lake. The belfry, so imposing that it almost overwhelms
the church, trembles in vain from a peal that invokes the presence of
the faithful. But at the second call slowly from every part, beneath a
sun that makes the whole countryside irresistibly bright and gay, pass
men, women, and children who are descending towards the church which,
through an optical illusion, almost appears to be suspended above the
clear waters of the lake. Continually from every part people arrive,
now following the noisy course of the merry little Inn, now crossing
it by the bridge, now arriving by the broad white ribbon, the road
from the station and from St. Moritz Dorf to St. Moritz Bad. Now from
the narrow white byways which descend abruptly amidst the verdure from
the Dorf to the Bad, people keep arriving and group themselves in the
small square before the church, and beneath the narrow portico with its
slender little pillars, which seem to have been squashed out of the
roof, waiting, chatting, and laughing--men, women, and children. All
the women's dresses are for the most part brightly coloured or white,
in cambric or fine cloth; also the children are dressed in white, and
beneath their large hats their long hair appears on their shoulders in
ringlets or waves. Some of the men are dressed fashionably, others with
great simplicity. The crowd that is gradually formed outside and within
the church, exquisitely dressed and adorned as if for the smartest
society gathering, meets and greets, chatters and smiles, while but
a single word circulates above the conversation, sometimes softly,
sometimes aloud--respectfully, discreetly, curiously.
The Archduchess! The Archduchess! The Archduchess!
The Archduchess Maria Annunziata of Austria entered the church at the
first stroke of the second summons, and crossed it completely with
her rather rigid step. She was very tall and thin in her black dress,
beneath a black hat which rested upon the thick white frame of her
beautiful hair, while a very fine black veil scarcely threw a shadow on
the face pale as ivory, on the black eyes, of a black as dense as coal,
and the mouth pale as the pink of a withered rose. Maria Annunziata,
Archduchess of Austria, quickly finds her place, because near the
High Altar, more advanced than any other seat, are two arm-chairs of
carved wood and two dark praying-stools, also of worked wood. The pious
Austrian of the House of Hapsburg at once knelt down and began to pray.
Her niece, a young girl of fifteen, the Archduchess Maria Vittoria,
followed her into church step for step: already tall and slim, the
young girl had the serene and proud face of the ladies of the Royal
House. Maria Vittoria is very pale of countenance, and a large tress
of very black hair descends upon her shoulders, which is tied with
a bow of white ribbon. Her eyes are very black, without gleam, and
proud; her eyelids are often lowered, and with her long eyelashes they
throw a shadow on her neck; her fresh mouth has a prominent lower lip
that augments the pride of the face. The handsome, faded aunt and the
beautiful, quiet, and proud niece are very like each other.
Maria Vittoria is the only child by the first marriage of the Archduke
Ludwig Salvator and the Archduchess Maria Immacolata, who had died
tragically six years previously, from a fall from her horse, leaving
the child of nine and a husband who did not weep for her, seeing that
he had been separated from her and was already living with a friend
of hers, the Countess Margaret von Wollemberg, who, for that matter,
he had at once married morganatically, renouncing every eventual right
to the Austrian throne, renouncing the Court, and even renouncing the
right to see his daughter, Maria Vittoria.
Aunt and niece resemble each other. No one knows or remembers the old
drama that saddened the youth of Maria Annunziata, and vowed her to
celibacy and placed on her breast, on her black dress, the cross of an
honorary abbess of a convent of Hungarian ladies. In spite of her deep
religious piety, perhaps she still suffers; but on her face there is
no trace of sorrow; there rests there composure and almost serenity.
However, all know the atrocious doubt that fluctuates over the life of
Maria Vittoria, to wit, that her mother did not die from an accident,
but was killed, and all know of the father's desertion, that left her
under the protection of her uncles and her aunt, like the most wretched
among orphans of the people. But in Maria Vittoria's silence there is
an immense pride, even when she kneels, as she bows her head beneath
its rich black tresses.
Behind them the Catholic church is almost full, and by eleven o'clock
it is fuller than it has ever been. For the past week among the
Catholic ladies of Italy, France, and Austria a rumour has said that
the Archduchess Maria Annunziata would attend High Mass at the Catholic
church of St. Moritz Bad instead of hearing Mass by her chaplain at
her Villa Silvana, as usual on Sundays, because she was interested
in the church and wished people to come and make a large collection
in aid of its necessities; that she had permitted her niece, the
Archduchess Maria Vittoria, to make the collection, and that even she
had condescended to beg Miss Mabel Clarke, the beautiful and rich
American girl--the girl of twenty, thirty, fifty millions dowry, the
girl at whom all pointed, whom all wished to know, to whom each one
was anxious to be presented, and whom a hundred dowry-hunters sought in
vain to conquer--to make the collection on that day with her niece--a
Royal Princess, the niece and cousin of a King. Maria Vittoria of
Austria and Mabel Clarke, the daughter of one of the many millionaires
of Fifth Avenue, were to collect together! The church was fuller than
ever it had been. At the offertory Lidia Smolenska, a Pole with a
magnificent voice, was to sing, who never sang in public, and who had
consented to do so in church through generosity of mind, although she
was of a schismatic religion. Afterwards Comte André de Beauregard
was to sing, a Frenchman of a great family, absolutely poor, with a
treasure in his throat, who, however, dared not go on the stage, out of
regard for his ancestors.
So the Catholic church of St. Moritz Bad, where every Sunday the ranks
of the faithful are very thin at High Mass, when the two or three
English Protestant churches are at the same time full to overflowing
for Divine Service, when the Lutheran and Calvinist churches are
crowded with Germans and Swiss psalmodising, when in the hotels,
villas, and houses every Sunday at the same hour there remains the
great Engadine crowd, to wit the great mass of Jews, this poor little
Catholic church of St. Moritz Bad, which is always half empty--so few
were the Catholics in the valley and so few the observing Catholics--on
this Sunday is most full.
French women of the old style have descended from the Dorf and come
from the Bad, drawn by the summons of the Archduchess of Austria: the
septuagenarian Duchesse d'Armaillé, whose coquetry it is to affect old
age, while her ancient fascination renews itself, as in a pleasant
twilight of grace; the Duchesse di Langeais, who is a perfect prodigy
of preservation as to beauty and figure at her uncertain age between
forty and forty-five, laced in a dress that models her like a statue,
and moreover is still flexible; la Comtesse de la Ferté Guyon, very
pale, blond, bloodless, as if discreet shadows had spread over her
person and attenuated her voice; but she was still shut up in her
incurable melancholy as in a tower of ivory; the Marquise di Fleury,
septuagenarian, implacably septuagenarian, beneath her yellow hair-dye,
beneath the bistre of her expressionless eyes, beneath the rouge of
her feeble cheeks and her stained lips, dressed outrageously in white,
with a hat of flowers and no veil; and _la grande bourgeoise_, Madame
Lesnay, whose talent, knowledge of life, and fortune had settled her
sons and daughter in marriage with the noblest houses of France,
and the other _grande bourgeoise_, Madame Soffre, who had given two
millions to her daughter so that she could marry the most eminent young
French politician, to make of this daughter a future President's wife
of the Republic. Many French girls had come there through a deep sense
of curiosity and sadness to assist at the triumph of the American girl,
one of those many girls who nowadays take away the lovers and husbands
from the daughters of French aristocratic society.
From Dorf and Bad the Italian women had come to church, those who
most frequent every Sunday the two Catholic churches; also those have
come who have heard the Mass at eight, as they wish to please the
Archduchess: Lombard Marchionesses, tall, thin, with long necks, long
and expressive faces, of a type a little equine, but with inborn lordly
air, with toilettes rather severe, or absolutely eccentric; magnificent
Roman Duchesses, with delicate faces like finely cut medals, large,
proud eyes, flowing tresses, and of noble bearing; Princesses of
the Two Sicilies, Naples and Palermo, some of rare and penetrating
oriental beauty, with languishing and rather ardent eyes. All these
Italian ladies are accompanied by their husbands, especially preceded
or followed by sons and daughters, young men or maidens, or children,
boys and girls, three, four, or five, some as beautiful as the sun,
forming admirable groups of freshness, laughter, and grace. These
Italian women among their children have a protecting, maternal air
which if it does not wholly destroy their womanly fascination, at least
attenuates or straitens and transforms it: while the French women also
in church, even when praying or bowing their white foreheads on their
hands, preserve all their womanly fascination. There is an enchanting
smile on the mouths of the French women, young, middle-aged, and old,
that mingles even with the light movement of the lips as they pray, as
if they wish to conquer _le bon Dieu_--as they always succeed in doing!
All the great Austrian ladies are here at the command of the
Archduchess: the vivacious Hungarian, the Countess of Durckheim,
celebrated for the extravagance of her life, but ever admired and
loved in spite of it all; the Prinzessin von Sudenhorst, the great
ambassadress, who had done so much for Austria and her husband, and who
afterwards destroyed his fortune by publishing his memoirs, full of
scandalous revelations and a spirit of cruelty against everyone; the
most beautiful woman in Vienna, Frau Lehman, who was very rich since
she was the wife of the most powerful brewer; the most beautiful girl
in Vienna, Fräulein Sophie Zeller. Both maid and matron were very fair
and rosy, with smiling eyes and large mouths, but slightly awkward in
features and in dress, pretentious under an air of simplicity, though
still quite pleasing. Beneath the shadow of the Archduchess was her
great conquest, the young Baroness de Sluka, kneeling and praying, who
a year ago was only a distinguished Jewess, Aline Kahn, but who by
means of the Archduchess had been converted with great _éclat_: she
had supported her at her baptism, and had also given her the title
of Baroness, while the neophyte had given a million to the Convent
of the Annunciation, where she was baptised. On her knees, at the
Archduchess's shoulder, the beautiful Baronin humbly bows her head and
prays with exaggerated ardour, reading from a rich missal, covered with
antique silver, with a book-marker of red ribbon and pious gold medals.
The American Catholic ladies are in a large group, almost all standing.
The _very Catholic_ are all more or less in short, tailor-made
dresses with hats garnished with straight feathers. Nearly all are
_misses_ captained by Mabel Clarke's two dearest friends, who have
come specially on horseback from Sils Maria to assist at the triumph
of _darling Mabel_. The two horses of the West girls are in a corner
of the church square, held by a groom who has tethered his horse to a
paling.
The Mass begins.
"Two hundred millions dowry!" exclaims in a low voice, sighing vainly,
the Vicomte de Lynen, a Belgian, after looking at the group, an
unfortunate, but withal obstinate hunter after a dowry.
Around him, at the back of the church, there are other seekers after
dowries, as if attracted together by a secret common desire. Come
from Brussels, Paris, Florence, and everywhere, some spurred by a
real need of readjusting their lives, others only to increase their
luxury and their pleasures. Lynen is, as it were, their leader, and
all of them, more or less young, some of them of grand name, all very
fashionable, assume a sceptical air, that covers well their hidden
interest. And in mountain clothes of great variety, from that of jacket
and knickerbockers to white tennis flannels, from dark and subdued
suits to the peculiar velvet of the _chasseur_, nearly all preserve the
ingenuous and disinterested attitude of him who thinks only of enjoying
life. Other men are scattered here and there, come at the order of a
lady whom they strive to obey, come to seek one who is escaping them,
or come through duty and curiosity; of every nation and condition,
come as to a curious spectacle, as to a worldly invitation, to see the
singular partnership of the Archduchess Maria Vittoria collecting with
Mabel Clarke, to hear the two singers who so seldom allow themselves
to be heard, the Smolenska, who is, in fact, a political exile, and
who was consenting, schismatic as she was, to sing for the Roman
Catholic church, and André de Beauregard--André whom the _impresarii_
of New York were offering fantastic sums to make of him a rival to
Caruso--while he was contemplating with melancholy the portrait of his
ancestor slain at Malplaquet, or of another ancestor who was covered
with glory at Fontenoy against the English. Nearly all the men are
standing: there are no more seats. The caretaker of seats had his plate
filled to overflowing with coins, such as he has never seen before.
Standing, the men look around and turn every now and then, striving to
discern who is entering and to distinguish which ladies are immersed
in the gloom of the two narrow side aisles, and the mystery of certain
veils which are too close.
"Ah, Madame Lawrence is not here! Then is it true that she is a Jewess,
though she won't confess it?"
"No, no, she hurt her foot playing golf yesterday."
"But is she a Jewess?"
The Mass begins.
Mabel Clarke had entered a minute previously, dressed completely in
white, her fresh, youthful face suffused with blushes beneath the
white frame of her hat trimmed with cambric, which the dense mass of
her hair raised and pressed back a little; she carried a soft bunch of
white lilies-of-the-valley in one hand. Her mother is not with her, nor
is the faithful shadow of Mrs. Broughton. She is accompanied by Don
Vittorio Lante della Scala, who follows her step for step. Dressed in a
dark blue suit, almost black, with the single bright and soft note of
a pale yellow tie, in his sober smartness the young Italian aristocrat
has a virile fascination together with delicacy and grace. As the two
advance silently, but calmly and easily, their passage forward raises a
murmur that creeps gradually through all the congregation.
Mabel Clarke, who is almost always used to hearing these whisperings
on her passage, does not turn and has the appearance of not noticing
them. Don Vittorio Lante seems to neither hear nor see, being intent on
every action of the American girl he is accompanying. Mabel greets her
American friends with a slight wave of the hand and a delightful smile,
and reaching the top of the church looks for a place behind the two
Archduchesses.
With difficulty she obtains a seat, and kneels for a moment. Vittorio
Lante places himself most faithfully beside her, and they are shoulder
to shoulder. While the priest at the altar makes the first genuflexion
and whispers the first prayers, Mabel and Vittorio, bowing their heads
to one another, carry on a conversation in a slight whisper.
All the crowd in the church is inattentive and distracted. Scarcely
anyone follows the movements and acts of the priest at the altar. Many
men and women raise themselves a little in their seats to watch the
erect, proud, silent heads of the two Archduchesses. Others, the men
especially, keep pointing at Mabel Clarke, who, smiling, distrait, and
detached, turns her large grey eyes to those of Vittorio Lante, while
he, with eyes fixed on her, distracted, seized, conquered, tells her
things very softly, without ceasing to look and smile at her.
From the sides of the church men and women stretch towards the organ,
which is at the back, to find out if Lidia Smolenska, the great singer,
is there. A pale and serious face is to be seen up above, a very light
coiffure beneath a feathered hat, which at once disappears, hidden by
the balustrade of the organ. Mechanically people rise to their feet
when the priest opens the Gospel. Some cross themselves through old
custom, others in imitation; very few make the three signs of the
cross, on the forehead, lips, and heart, as the rite directs; vice
versa, as they are standing people end by turning to look around them,
and almost to form groups.
But the priest has left the altar, and after a minute he reappears in
the pulpit to explain the day's Gospel. All sit down more comfortably:
they turn towards the pulpit and gradually become silent. In a gently
pronounced French, with a soft accent, stretching out in pleasant
circumlocutions, the parable of the day's Gospel is expounded, that
of the master who asks an account from his servants of the way in
which they have employed their time. With florid gestures the priest
questions the crowd and does not wait for a reply; he admonishes them,
but tenderly, on the use of time, of that which has been done well
and ill in ten years, in a year, in a day, in an hour. And he does it
all in his insinuating and caressing French, so as not to oppress or
frighten those who are listening to him, who have come from every part
of the world, all of whom are very rich, or at least seem rich, all of
whom are of high birth and origin, or at least bear great names, all
these ladies who, as he sees and knows, cling to life--to a true or
false youth, simple or artificial. Suddenly the priest heals with the
balm of hope, in soft and rolling French, a certain light spiritual
agitation that had risen in the souls of the crowd, at the doubt that
they had badly used their time in enjoyment, vice, corruption, and
cruelty. But what does it matter, for here is a priest to promise
them divine mercy in a French full of pardon and indulgence? So the
congregation, which perhaps has not been agitated at all, and has
never considered that it has sacrificed to the senses, to vice, and
perdition, hears the tenderest absolution falling on its shoulders
in the name of divine clemency; and it finds this unasked-for pardon
and clemency suddenly coming in plenitude in the name of God. But the
priest has not finished. In even more mellifluous French, full of
_hélas_ and sighs, he begs alms for the poor, very poor, church of St.
Moritz Bad, which for years has been crushed by its building debt. The
church has cost too much because of its campanile, which is a monument,
and through want of money its interior is undecorated and mean; so the
priest turns humbly, sighing and lamenting, _à ses très chers frères,
à ses chères sœurs_, that the collection may give a substantial sum to
the poor church of St. Moritz Bad. Then he disappears from the pulpit.
The great moment has arrived: everybody in church rises, turns, and
cranes to watch. The couple who are to collect are about to begin their
duties.
The Archduchess Maria Vittoria was the first to rise, followed by a
beardless youth of eighteen, the Comte de Roy, a Frenchman, the son of
an Austrian Princess, hence connected, if remotely, with the House of
Austria. Maria Vittoria kneels a moment before the High Altar, then she
takes from the hands of the Comte de Roy a silver plate. She advances
to her aunt, the Archduchess Maria Annunziata, and makes her a profound
curtsey, a Court curtsey, and stoops to kiss the long, skinny, white
hand which places in the plate a large gold coin, a hundred lire piece.
Followed by the Comte de Roy, the fifteen-year-old girl, tall and slim,
rather too tall and thin perhaps, like her great-aunt, enters among
the congregation to the right of the High Altar. Maria Vittoria does
not smile, her proud mouth with the thick lower lip is closed tightly,
her very thick opaque eyes scarcely fix themselves for a moment upon
the person from whom she is asking alms. Coins of silver and gold fall
with a tinkle into the plate; she scarcely bows her head in thanks, and
passes on, without looking at or turning to her cavalier who follows
her. Curiosity about her is very soon exhausted; the congregation
examines her first with respect, then with indifference, and in some
she awakes antipathy by her stiffness and sovereign pride. Quietly she
crosses the church imprisoned in her thoughts and feelings. Her plate
is covered with gold and silver coins, covered but not overflowing. She
pays no heed to what is given her; in fact, she moves and mingles with
the congregation, without scarcely anyone bothering further about her.
Mabel Clarke also salutes the altar, but with a short, slight bow;
Don Vittorio Lante follows her and offers her another silver plate.
The American girl approaches the Archduchess Maria Annunziata, and
instead of the deep Court curtsey she makes her an elegant bow, the
bow of the _Lancers_, throwing her a lively glance and gracious smile.
The Archduchess moulds a pallid smile on her lips, and places another
big gold coin in the plate, the same alms that she had given to her
niece--one hundred francs in gold.
"_Merci, Altesse_," exclaims Mabel Clarke, with a strong American
accent.
She stops a moment, opens her white leather purse, spreads upon the
plate, close to the gold coin of her Imperial and Royal Highness, the
cheque for four hundred dollars--two thousand francs--which her mother,
Annie Clarke, gave her. The Archduchess glances for a moment, a rush of
blood flushes the pale, ivory-like face, then with an act of Christian
humility she bows her head and prays.
Mabel Clarke's action has been seen by the first row of people near the
altar, the action and the slip of white paper thrown into the plate
has been seen and commented on. Like a long shiver it is communicated
from row to row right to the back of the church. All murmur and
whisper that there is a Clarke cheque in the plate, "Three hundred,
five hundred lire, no, a thousand; scarcely a hundred and fifty, five
hundred." And the crowd sways backwards and forwards, forgetful that
already at the altar the first bell is ringing for the beginning of
the sacrifice of the Host. Mabel Clarke in her white dress penetrates
the congregation to the right of the High Altar, holding her plate a
little raised to show it better. Her large grey eyes sparkle beneath
the subtle arch of their chestnut eyebrows; the beautiful florid mouth
over the white teeth smiles. She looks the person well in the face of
whom she begs, as she smilingly repeats in French, "_pour notre chère
église, Madame ... pour notre chère église, Monsieur...._" Neither
woman nor man resists the curiosity of detaining near them for a moment
the daughter of the man six hundred times a millionaire, Mabel Clarke,
the bride to be with twenty, thirty, fifty millions; and immediately
after the curiosity an irresistible sympathy rises for the beautiful
creature, beautiful with a new beauty, a new florescence, a new blood,
of a new grace caused by new features, and of a charm caused by a new
fascination.
All, men and women, from curiosity, sympathy, or vanity, as they see
the Clarke cheque on which the coins are piling, give more than they
wish to give; and she, smiling and bowing the white forehead, where
the rebellious wave of hair is falling, thanks them with her marked
American accent: "_Oh, merci, Madame, mille fois ... merci, Monsieur,
bien merci._" She smiles and passes by, Don Vittorio Lante follows
almost close beside her. He is a little pale and disturbed; perhaps all
these contacts annoy him; but he does not say so. Then the altar bell
invites the faithful to kneel; a few who are attentive kneel. Mabel
Clarke has gradually reached her American friends and they surround her
with little subdued cries of joy and affection, while she smilingly
offers the plate among them. The Wests, Milners, Rodds open their
purses and smilingly draw out long white cheques and throw them in the
plate, exclaiming, "Dear Mabel," "Darling," "Mabel dear."
Overwhelmed, contented, and happy she piles up the cheques in the
middle, under the gold pieces. She smiles and smiles, showing her white
teeth.
"Thank you, dearest Ellen; thank you, dear, dear Norah."
The two couples have now reached the back of the church and meet, her
Imperial and Royal Highness, the Archduchess Maria Vittoria, and the
Comte de Roy, Mabel Clarke and Don Vittorio Lante della Scala. They
form a motionless group, for now at the altar the acolyte's bell rings
shrilly for the Elevation, and the congregation is on its knees with
bowed heads. But a pure voice is raised up above at the organ. Lidia
Smolenska sings an _Ave Maria_ in her deep, touching voice, accompanied
by the organ, which a German is playing, a tall German with a pointed,
iron-grey beard and the most beautiful blue eyes--Otto von Rabbe, the
friend of the mountains. The deep notes of the organ accompany the
voice of the Polish lady that penetrates right to the heart, a voice
full of ardour, languor, and melancholy. Some heads are gradually
raised to hear better, faces are turned, and other heads draw together
to speak a word or two in a very low whisper.
"... exiled?"
"... nihilist?"
"... schismatic?"
"... on the stage?"
The Elevation bell rings, and almost grudgingly heads are lowered
again, as they listen to the perfect voice filling the church with its
indescribable harmony, and to the organ touched with a master's touch
till it reaches the most intimate fibres of the soul. Again there is a
light whispering:
"... Von Raabe?"
"... the great banker?"
"... musician, nephew of the great master, Raabe?"
"... a Lutheran?"
"... a Lutheran playing in a Catholic church?"
There is a loud ringing: the great mystery of Tran-substantiation has
been softly accomplished once more, though the congregation perceives
nothing but the relief of rising and sitting down again, of being able
to turn towards the organ, as they get up to sit down, and look at the
white face of the Smolenska, where in its pallor is expressed a mortal
melancholy, and who knows what secret voluptuousness. The two couples
who have halted at the back of the church, with bowed heads, while
our Lord descended in the consecrated Host, bow to each other as they
return to their places.
"_Bonne quête, Altesse!_" exclaimed Mabel Clarke, with a familiar smile.
The Archduchess Maria Vittoria does not thank her or exchange the good
wishes. Bending her head with a slight bow she withdraws, followed
by the Comte de Roy, and disappears on her side in the lateral nave.
Mabel Clarke with her plate full of money, which she holds on high for
fear of losing any of it, turns to Don Vittorio Lante, encouraging
him to continue the walk, and both are lost on the other side. The
priest at the altar communicates with the species; but no one heeds
him. For now André de Beauregard is singing a motet from Handel. His
pure, crystalline voice resembles a clear spring of mountain water that
rises singing and trilling amidst the rocks of a very lofty ridge, and
proceeds therefrom, ever singing and trilling, amidst meadows and grass
and flowers. Just as the Smolenska's voice is ardent, so is André's
limpid and silvery, and Otto von Raabe with his large, brown, knotty
hands sounds the organ lightly, as if for a gay, childish game. In vain
the second Gospel invites the faithful to rise again; in vain the last
formalities of the Divine Sacrifice unfold themselves. From head to
head the murmuring begins afresh.
"... He could have millions."
"... If he liked to."
"... he doesn't like."
"... At New York."
"... _dommage, dommage_."
"... _dommage_."
The song dwindles and dies away. The Mass is not yet finished; but all
rise to leave, almost precipitately, while the priest is still kneeling
at the foot of the altar for the last ejaculatory prayers. The church
is at once deserted. Beneath the portico in the bright noontide the
Archduchess stopped for a moment, her niece silently beside her. Both
collectors have deposited their money in the sacristy. Already it is
known that Mabel Clarke has gathered eight thousand francs, made up for
the most part of American cheques. Mabel Clarke is among the respectful
circle of ladies that has been formed before the Archduchess. The
Princess turns to her with a brief smile, as if summoning her to her.
The American girl advances, blushing with complacency.
"You have done much for the church, Miss Clarke," said the Archduchess
slowly.
Then, after a moment, with perfect Christian humility, she added:
"Please thank Mrs. Clarke, too, for her generosity."
There is a large princely leave-taking round the Archduchess Maria
Annunziata. The ladies make deep curtseys, and for a moment the little
square resembles a royal _salon_. Before even the two Archduchesses
have got into their carriage, Mabel Clarke has taken leave of her
American friends, and she sets off with Don Vittorio Lante by the
longest way that climbs from the Dorf to the "Palace." At a certain
point Mabel Clarke opens her white cambric parasol, and the two young
heads disappear.