THE MARQUIS OF ORSINI.
Upon quitting the Arestino palace, the Marquis of Orsini suddenly lost
that bold, insolent, self-sufficient air with which he had endeavored to
deceive the venerable count, whose wife he had dishonored.
For dishonor now menaced _him_!
Where could he raise the sum necessary to liquidate the debt which he
had contracted with the stranger at the Casino, or gaming-house? And as
the person to whom he found himself thus indebted _was_ a stranger--a
total stranger to him, he had no apology to offer for a delay in the
payment of the money due.
"Perdition!" he exclaimed aloud, as he issued rapidly from the grounds
attached to the Arestino mansion; "is there no alternative save flight?
Giulia cannot assist me--her jewels are gone, they are pledged to the
Jew Isaachar--she was telling me so when the count broke in upon us.
What course can I adopt? what plan pursue? Shall the name of Orsini be
dishonored--that proud name which for three centuries has been
maintained spotless? No, no--this must not be!"
And in a state of most painful excitement--so painful, indeed, that it
amounted almost to a physical agony--the marquis hastened rapidly
through the mazes of the sleeping city, reckless whither he was going,
but experiencing no inclination to repair to his own abode.
The fact of the diamonds of his mistress having been pledged to Isaachar
ben Solomon was uppermost in his mind: for the reader must remember that
he was unaware of the circumstance of their restoration to Giulia--as it
was at the moment when she was about to give him this explanation that
the old Lord of Arestino had interrupted their discourse.
The diamonds, then, constituted the pivot on which his thoughts now
revolved. They seemed to shine like stars amidst the deep haze which
hung upon his mind. Could he not possess himself of them? The name of
Orsini would be dishonored if the gambling debt were not paid; and one
bold--one desperate step might supply him with the means to save himself
from the impending ruin--the imminent disgrace.
But as the thoughts encouraged by those simple words--"the
diamonds"--assumed a more palpable shape in his imagination, he shrank
back dismayed from the deed which they suggested: for gamester,
debauchee, spendthrift as he was, he had never yet perpetrated an act
that could be termed a crime. The seduction of the Countess of Arestino
was not a crime in his estimation--oh! no, because man may seduce, and
yet may not be dishonored in the eyes of the world. It is his victim, or
the partner of his guilty pleasure, only, who is dishonored. Such is the
law written in society's conventional code. Vile, detestable, unjust
law!
To weigh and balance the reasons for or against the perpetration of a
crime, to pause only for an instant to reflect whether the deed shall or
shall not be done--this is to yield at once to the temptation. The
desperate man who hovers hesitatingly between right and wrong,
invariably adopts the latter course.
And Manuel of Orsini was not an exception to the general rule.
Silence, and calmness, and moonlight were still spread over the City of
Flowers, while the marquis pursued the path leading to the suburb of
Alla Droce. And the silver-faced stars shone on--shone on, brightly and
sweetly, as the young nobleman knocked at the well-protected door of
Isaachar ben Solomon.
For a long time his summons remained unanswered; and he repeated it
several times ere it received the slightest attention.
At last a casement was opened slowly on the upper story; and the Jew
demanded who sought admittance at that hour.
"'Tis I, the Marquis of Orsini!" exclaimed the nobleman.
"A thousand pardons, my lord; I come directly," answered the Jew, not
daring to offend a scion of the omnipotent aristocracy of Florence, yet
filled with some misgivings, the more painful because they were so vague
and undefined.
In a few moments Manuel was admitted into the abode of Isaachar ben
Solomon, who carefully barred and bolted the door again, ere he even
thought of alleviating his acute suspense by inquiring the nobleman's
business.
"Deign to enter this humble apartment, my lord," said the Jew, at
length, as he conducted the marquis into the same room where he had a
few hours previously received the bandit-captain.
"Isaachar," exclaimed Manuel, flinging himself upon a seat, "you behold
a desperate man before you!"
"Alas! my lord, what can a poor, aged, and obscure individual like
myself do to assist so great and powerful a noble as your lordship?"
said the Jew in a trembling tone.
"What can you do?" repeated the marquis: "much--everything, old man! But
listen patiently, for a few moments only. A noble lady's fame, honor,
reputation are at stake; and I am the guilty, unhappy cause of the
danger that threatens her. To minister to my necessities she has pledged
her jewels----"
"Yes, yes, my lord--I understand," said Isaachar, trembling from head to
foot, "'tis a plan by no means unusual nowadays in Florence."
"Her husband suspects the fact, and has commanded her to produce her
diamonds to-morrow----"
"Her diamonds!" articulated the Jew in a stifling tone.
"Yes, _her diamonds_," exclaimed Manuel emphatically; "and they are in
your possession. Now do you understand me?"
"I--I--my lord----"
"Let us not waste time in idle words, Isaachar," cried the marquis.
"Will you permit this scandal to be discovered, and involve the Countess
of Arestino--myself--ay, and _yourself_, old man, in danger, and perhaps
ruin? Perhaps, did I say? Nay, that ruin is certain to fall upon
_her_--certain also to overwhelm _you_--for the Count of Arestino is a
councilor of state, and," added Manuel, with slow, measured emphasis,
"_the dungeons of the inquisition open at his commands_ to receive the
heretic or the Jew!"
Isaachar ben Solomon vainly endeavored to reply; fear choked his
utterance; and he sank trembling and faint upon a low ottoman, where he
sat, the picture of dumb despair.
"Ruin, then, awaits the countess, ruin, and the inquisition yawn to
ingulf you; and dishonor in having involved that noble lady in such a
labyrinth of perils attends upon me," continued Orsini, perceiving that
his dark threats had produced the effect which he desired.
"My lord--my lord," gasped the unfortunate Israelite, who could not
close his eyes against the truth, the terrible truth of the prospect
submitted to his contemplation.
"It is for you to decide against the ruin of one, two, three persons,
yourself being he who will, if possible, suffer most," resumed the
marquis, impressively--"it is, I say, for you to decide between exposure
and the inquisition on one hand, and the surrender of those paltry
diamonds on the other!"
"The diamonds, the diamonds, they are gone!" exclaimed the Jew, his
voice becoming almost frantic with the wild hope that suddenly struck
him of being able to shift the danger from his own head to that of
another. "The captain of banditti, Stephano Verrina, was here a few
hours ago, here, in this very room, and he sat where your lordship now
sits!"
"Well, well?" cried the marquis, impatiently; for his heart began to
grow sick with the fear of disappointment in respect to his plan of
obtaining the diamonds of his mistress.
"And Stephano Verrina took them from me--basely, vilely, wrenched them
as it were from my grasp!" continued the Jew.
"'Tis false! a miserable subterfuge on your part!" ejaculated the
marquis, starting from his seat and striding in a menacing manner toward
Isaachar ben Solomon.
"'Tis true!--I will give your lordship the proof!" cried the Jew: and
Manuel fell back a few paces. "Stephano came and told me all. He said
that the countess had pledged her jewels for the sake of her lover--of
you, my lord--you, the Marquis of Orsini. 'Twas to pay a gambling debt
which your lordship had contracted; and that debt was paid within an
hour or two from the moment when the sum was advanced on the diamonds.
Moreover," continued Isaachar, still speaking in a rapid, excited
tone--"moreover, Stephano was hired by the countess to regain them from
me!"
"Liar!" thundered the marquis, again rushing toward the defenseless old
man.
"Patience, my lord--patience for an instant--and you will see that I am
no utterer of base falsehoods. The robber-captain examined the diamonds
carefully--yes, most carefully--and, while occupied in the scrutiny, he
let drop expressions which convinced me that he was hired by the
countess. 'The inventory is complete,' he said, 'just as it was
described to me by her ladyship. You are a worthy man, Isaachar,' he
added; 'you will have restored tranquillity to the mind of this
beautiful countess; and she will be enabled to appear at court to-morrow
with her husband.' Now does your lordship believe me?"
The marquis was staggered; for several minutes he made no answer. Was it
possible that the Countess of Arestino could have employed the dreaded
chieftain of the Florentine banditti to wrest her diamonds from the
possession of Isaachar? or had the Jew invented the tale for an obvious
purpose? The latter alternative scarcely seemed feasible. How could
Isaachar have learned that the sum raised was for the payment of a
gambling debt? Giulia would not have told him so. Again, how had he
learned that this debt had been paid within an hour or two after the
money was procured? and how had he ascertained that the countess had
actually required her diamonds to accompany her husband the count?
"Perdition!" ejaculated Orsini, bewildered by conflicting ideas,
suspicions, and alarms: and he paced the room with agitated steps.
Nearly a quarter of a hour elapsed--the silence being occasionally
broken by some question which the marquis put to the Jew, and to which
the latter had his reply ready. And each question thus put, and every
answer thus given, only served to corroborate Isaachar's tale, and
banish hope still further from the breast of the ruined nobleman.
At length the latter stopped short--hesitated for a few moments, as if
wrestling with some idea or scheme that had taken possession of his
mind;--then turning abruptly toward the Jew, he said in a deep, hollow
tone--"Isaachar, I need gold!"
"Gold--gold, my lord!" ejaculated the Jew, all his fears returning;
"surely--surely, my lord, her ladyship will supply you with----"
"Fool--dolt!" cried the marquis, terribly excited; "do you not see that
she herself is menaced with ruin--that the villain Stephano must have
kept the diamonds for himself? that is, granting your tale to be
true----"
At this moment there was an authoritative knock at the house-door.
"This is Stephano Verrina himself!" exclaimed the Jew. "I know his
manner of knocking with the rude handle of his sword. What can he want?
What will become of me?"
"Stephano Verrina, say you?" cried the marquis, hastily. "Then admit him
by all means; and the possession of the diamonds of the countess shall
be disputed between him and me at the sword's point."
Manuel d'Orsini was naturally brave, and the desperate position in which
he was placed, rendered his tone and bearing so resolute--so determined,
that Isaachar feared lest blood should be shed in his dwelling.
"My lord--my lord," he said in an imploring tone, "depart, or conceal
yourself----"
"Silence, signor!" ejaculated the marquis; "and hasten to admit the
captain of banditti. I have heard much of Stephano Verrina, and would
fain behold this formidable chieftain."
The Jew proceeded, with trembling limbs and ghastly countenance, to obey
the orders of the marquis; and in a few moments he returned to the room,
accompanied by Stephano Verrina.