The dinner passed off quietly and pleasantly enough until towards the
end, when the conversation turned upon the coming season, and all began
to speculate as to whether it would be gay or dull, as people always do
when they meet after the long separation in the summer.
"There will be all the usual pleasant things," observed Francesco
Savelli, who loved society as much as his wife did. "Let me see. There
will be the evenings in Casa Frangipani, and they will give their two
balls as usual at the end. The Marchesa di San Giacinto will do as she
did last year--a dance and a ball alternately after the fifteenth of
January. Of course Casa Montevarchi does not exist any more since the
crash, but that is the only one. Then there are your evenings," he
continued, turning to the mistress of the house, "and there are ours, of
course, and I suppose Gouache and Donna Faustina will give something at
the studio. Have you seen her this year, Adele?"
He looked across the table at his wife, and saw that she was beginning
to suffer from an unexpected attack. He knew the symptoms well, and was
aware that there was nothing to be done but to leave her alone and take
no notice of her. She merely nodded in answer to his question, and he
went on speaking.
"Gouache always does something original," he said. "Do you remember that
supper on Shrove Tuesday years ago? It was the most successful thing of
that season. By the bye, I saw Ghisleri yesterday. He has come back."
It was rather tactless of him to drag Ghisleri's name into the
conversation in the presence of Campodonico. But the Princess of Gerano
was even more tactless than he.
"That wild Ghisleri!" she immediately exclaimed, as she always did when
Pietro was mentioned.
"Ghisleri is no worse than the rest of us, I am sure," said Campodonico,
anxious to show that he was not in the least annoyed. "He has as many
good qualities as most men, and perhaps a few more."
"It is generous of you to say that," observed Donna Christina, looking
at her husband with loving admiration.
"I do not see that there is much generosity about it, my dear," he
answered warmly. "It would be very spiteful of me not to give him his
due, that is all. He is brave and honourable, and that is something to
say of any man. Besides, look at his friends--look at the people who
like him, beginning with most of you here. That is a very good test of
what a man is."
He looked straight at Adele Savelli as he spoke, for no special reason
except that he always looked straight at somebody when he was speaking.
He was hot-tempered, passionate, generous, and truthful, and there was a
great directness about everything he did and said. But at that moment
Adele was in great pain and was doing her best to hide it. She fancied
that Campodonico had noticed what was the matter.
"Why do you look at me in that way?" she asked irritably, but with a
nervous attempt at a laugh.
"I do not know," answered Gianforte. "I suppose I expected you to agree
with me. I know Ghisleri is a friend of yours."
"How do you know that?" Adele's irritation increased rapidly. "Have you
any reason to suppose that I am particularly fond of him? Have I ever
done anything to show it?"
"Why are you so much annoyed?" asked Savelli, who generally felt
uncomfortable when his wife was in such moods, and feared that she would
say something to make herself and him ridiculous. "You always liked
him."
Adele's hand twitched and moved on the table against her will, and she
upset some salt. The little incident sufficed to make her lose her head
completely.
"If people knew what Pietro Ghisleri really is, there is not a house in
Rome where he would be received," she said angrily.
The dead silence which followed this categorical statement brought her
to her senses too late. Campodonico was the first to speak.
"I should find it very hard to believe that Ghisleri ever committed a
dishonourable action," he said gravely. "That is a very serious
statement, Donna Adele."
"Yes, indeed," put in the Prince, turning to his daughter. "You should
consider what you are saying, my dear, before going so far as that. I
think you ought to explain yourself. We may not all like Ghisleri, and
if we please we are at liberty to say so here, in the family; but it is
quite another matter to say that he is not a fit person to associate
with us. To say that, you must be quite sure that he has done something
disgraceful, of which we are all in ignorance."
"I quite agree with you," said Francesco Savelli. "You only make
yourself ridiculous by saying such things," he added, looking coldly at
his wife, for he was anxious that none of the ridicule should reflect
upon himself, especially in Campodonico's presence.
"I am sure, when I call Ghisleri wild," said the Princess, "I mean
nothing more than that he is fast. But I am very sorry to have brought
about such a discussion. Adele, my dear, what do you mean? Are you in
earnest?"
"One does not say such things for nothing," answered Adele, angrily.
"Then I wonder that you receive him," said the Prince, coldly. "I hope
you will explain to me by and by what you refer to."
"I will, some day," said Adele, in a low voice. She felt that she had
cast the die, and she hardly saw how she could draw back.
"In that case, we will say no more about the matter at present," said
the master of the house, in a tone of authority. "I had meant to ask you
for news of your brother," he said, turning to Campodonico. "I was very
sorry to hear that he had been ill. Is he better?"
Gianforte answered, and every one made an effort to restore the outward
calm which had been so disturbed by Adele's speech. Soon after dinner
she went home, and instead of going to his club as usual Francesco got
into the carriage with her.
"I insist upon knowing what you meant by your accusation against
Ghisleri," he said, as soon as they were driving away.
"I will not tell you," Adele answered firmly. "You will find it out in
time--quite soon enough, I daresay."
"I have the right to know. In the world in which we live one makes
oneself ridiculous by saying such things. Everybody will laugh at you,
and then you will expect me to take your part."
"I shall not expect anything of the sort, for I am not so foolish. You
never had the slightest affection for me, and you have lost such little
decent regard for me as you once felt, because I am always ill and it
gives you trouble to be considerate. You would not raise a finger to
help me or protect me unless you were afraid of the world's opinion. I
have known that a long time, and now that I am in trouble I will not
come to you. Why should I? You are only waiting for me to die, in order
to ask Laura to marry you. It would annoy you extremely if I lived long
enough to give her time to marry Ghisleri."
"I think remarks of that sort are in the worst possible taste," answered
Savelli, "besides being without the least foundation in truth. I will
beg you not to make any more of them. As for what you say about
Ghisleri, if you refuse to tell me what you know I shall ask advice of
my father, as that is the only proper course I could follow under the
circumstances."
"For once we agree!" exclaimed Adele, with a scornful laugh. "That is
precisely what I mean to do myself, and I will go to him to-morrow
morning and tell him the whole story. But I will not tell it to you. He
may, if he pleases, and thinks it best."
"In that case I have nothing more to say," answered Francesco. "You
could not select a more fit person than my father."
"I am perfectly well aware of the fact." Adele, womanlike, was
determined to have the last word, no matter how insignificant.
Both were silent during the remainder of the drive home. At the foot of
the grand staircase Francesco left his wife and got into the carriage to
be driven to his club. He reflected on the truth of Adele's observation,
when she had said that she might live until Laura and Ghisleri were
married, and he was by no means pleased as he realised how probable that
contingency was. Since she had become a slave to morphia he had, of
course, been at some pains to ascertain the limits of the disease, and
the possible duration of it, and he was aware that some persons lived
for many years in spite of a constant and increasing abuse of the
poison.
Adele once more went over the whole story in her mind, preparing the
details of it and polishing all the parts into a harmonious whole. In
spite of what she had suffered that evening she would not increase her
dose, though she knew that she must very probably spend a sleepless
night. She profited by the hours to review the story she intended to
tell her father-in-law. At eleven o'clock on the following morning she
sent up to inquire whether he would see her, and he at once appeared in
person at the door of her boudoir,--a tall, bearded man of fifty years
or more, slightly stooping, not over-carefully dressed, wearing
spectacles, and chiefly remarkable for his very beautifully shaped
hands, with which he made energetic gestures at almost every minute,
when speaking.
Adele began in some trepidation to explain how, on the previous evening,
she had lost her temper and had been betrayed into making a remark about
Ghisleri of which her husband had demanded an explanation. She felt, she
said, that the matter was so serious as to justify her in referring it
at once to the head of the family, who might then act as he thought best
with regard to keeping it a secret or informing his son of what had
happened. She did not fail to add that one of her motives in refusing to
tell what she knew to Francesco, was her anxiety for his safety, since
the affair concerned herself and he would undoubtedly take it up as a
personal matter and quarrel with the dangerous man who had so long been
her enemy. The Prince approved this course with a grave nod, and waited
for more.
Then she told her story from beginning to end. She of course took
advantage of the fact that her father-in-law was but slightly acquainted
with Ghisleri to paint his character with the colours best suited to her
purpose, while asserting nothing about him which could be in direct
contradiction to the testimony of others. She spoke very lucidly and
connectedly, for she knew the lesson well and she was conscious that her
whole existence was at stake. One fault, one little error sufficient to
cast suspicion on her veracity, might be enough to ruin her in the end.
She concluded by a well-turned and pathetic allusion to her state of
health, which indeed was pitiable enough. She knew that she was dying,
but it would make death doubly painful to think that such an enemy as
Ghisleri was left behind to blacken her memory and perhaps hereafter to
poison the thought of her in her children's hearts. She also read
extracts from Ghisleri's letters and showed Laura's card, before
mentioned.
As she proceeded she watched the Prince's face, and she saw that she had
produced the right impression from the first. The plausibility of the
tale, as she told it, was undeniable, and might have shaken the belief
in Ghisleri's integrity in the minds of men who knew him far better than
the elder Savelli. As she had anticipated, the latter took up the
question as one deeply affecting the honour of his name. He was very
angry in his calm way, and his blue eyes flashed through his great
gold-rimmed spectacles, while his slender, energetic white hand clenched
itself and opened frequently upon his knee.
"You have done right in coming to me directly," he said, when she had
finished and was wiping away the tears which, in her nervous state, she
had found easy to bring to her eyes. "Francesco would not have known how
to act. He would probably have done the villain the honour of fighting
with him. But I will bring him to justice. The law provides very amply
for crimes of this sort. I confess I am strongly tempted to go and speak
to the man myself. Francesco could not resist the temptation, but he is
almost a boy. The cowardly scoundrel of a Tuscan!"
He thrust back his long, greyish-brown hair from his forehead with one
hand, and shook the other in the air as though at a real adversary. When
he did that he was always roused to real anger, as Adele knew. She
feared lest he should do something more or less rash which would not
ultimately be of any advantage to her.
"Would it not be wise to speak to my father?" she asked. "He knows a
great deal about the law, I believe."
"Yes, perhaps so. Gerano is a very sensible man. As this affects you,
besides Francesco and all of us, it might be as well to consult him, or
at all events to put him in possession of all the facts. In the
meanwhile, you know I am a methodical man. I must have proper notes to
go upon from the first. If it does not pain you too much to go over the
main points once more, I will write down what I need."
"And I will hand you these papers to keep," said Adele, giving him the
correspondence, which comprised the greater number of Ghisleri's
letters, the two of her own which she had not sent to Laura, the two she
had received from the lawyer Ubaldini, and Laura Arden's card in its
envelope to "Maria B." With regard to Ubaldini, she told exactly what
had happened, and what she had written, for that incident at least was
still a mystery to her, and she thought it unwise to conceal what might
subsequently come to light through other persons.
"I have heard of this fellow," said the Prince, thoughtfully. "He is a
very clever criminal lawyer. I should not wonder if Ghisleri had already
consulted him. One may expect anything after what you have told me."
Adele recapitulated the story with extraordinary exactness, stopping and
repeating those portions of it which her father-in-law desired to note.
"I have never seen a more complete chain of evidence," exclaimed the
latter, when he had finished and was folding up the sheets neatly to
match the size of the letters Adele had given him. "There is no court of
justice in the world that would not convict a man of extortion on such
testimony, and if there is one, I hope it is not in Rome."
"I hope not," said Adele, who would have smiled had she been alone. "But
you may find it harder to convince my father than a Roman jury. He is
prejudiced in Ghisleri's favour--like most people who do not know him as
I do."
"He shall change his prejudices before long," answered Savelli, in a
tone of certainty. "I will send word to him to expect me after
breakfast, and I will explain the whole matter to him and show him the
letters. If he does not at once understand, it would be better that we
should both come to you together. You would make it clearer than I
could, perhaps. But it seems clear enough to me. What an infamous
affair--and how you must have suffered!"
"It is killing me!" said Adele, in a low voice.
Savelli left her with many expressions of kindly sympathy. He was not a
good judge of human nature, for he lived too much in his studies and in
the world of mathematics to understand or appreciate the motives of men
and women. But he was kind of heart and affectionate by disposition. So
far as he knew, Adele had been a good wife to his eldest son, and was
the mother of strong, well-grown children who bore the ancient name in
which he took such pride. Moreover, Adele had the honour of lending
still greater lustre to the race by means of the great Braccio
inheritance, which was all to come to the Savelli through her. She was,
therefore, a very important personage, as well as a dutiful
daughter-in-law and a good mother, in the eyes of the head of the house,
and it would no more have crossed his mind that the story she had just
told him was a fabrication, from first to last, than that the Greenwich
Almanack for the year could be a fraud and a malicious misstatement of
the movements of the heavenly bodies. Moreover, the evidence was, on
the whole, such as would have staggered the faith of most of Ghisleri's
acquaintances. The Prince lost no time in going to see Gerano, prepared
at all points and armed with the papers Adele had given him.
The interview lasted fully two hours, and when it was over, Adele's
father was almost as thoroughly persuaded of Ghisleri's guilt as Savelli
himself. His face was very grave and thoughtful as he leaned back in his
easy-chair and looked into his old friend's clear blue eyes.
"The man should be tried, convicted, and sent to the galleys," said
Gerano. "There can be no doubt of the justice of that, if all this can
be established in court. Remember I do not doubt my daughter's word, and
it would be monstrous to suppose that she has invented this story.
Whatever the truth about it may be, it must be thoroughly investigated.
But there may be a good deal of exaggeration about it, for I have known
Adele to over-state a case. There is a great difference between shutting
one's door on a man, or turning him out of his club, and bringing an
accusation against him which, if proved, will entail a term of penal
servitude. You see that, I am sure. Do you not think that we ought to go
and see Ghisleri together, tell him what we have learned, and ask him to
justify himself if he can?"
"I think it would be wiser to consult the lawyers first," answered
Savelli. "If they are of opinion that he is a criminal, there is no
reason why we should give him warning that he may defend himself, as
though he were an honest man. If they believe that this is not a case
for the law, there will always be time for us to go and see him, since
no open steps will have been taken."
Gerano was obliged to admit that there was truth in this, though his
instinct told him that Ghisleri should be heard before being accused. He
was one of those men whose faith being once shaken is not easily
re-established, and he could not forget that his daughter had once
deceived him, a fact with which Savelli was now also acquainted, since
Adele had told him the whole truth about that part of the story, but to
which he attached relatively little importance as compared with
Ghisleri's villanous conduct in attempting to extort money from a member
of the Savelli family.
The two agreed upon the lawyer whom they would consult, and on the next
day the first meeting took place at the Palazzo Braccio. The man they
employed was elderly, steady, and experienced, and rather inclined to be
over-cautious. He refused to give any decisive opinion on the case until
he had studied it in all its bearings, thoroughly examined the letters,
and ascertained the authenticity of the card on which Lady Herbert had
written her thanks in pencil. This, of course, was the only one of the
documents in evidence of which he could doubt the genuineness, since it
was the only one which had not come direct from the hand of the writer.
Oddly enough, the lawyer attached very great weight to it, for he said
that it proved conclusively that Lady Herbert Arden had considered the
matter as serious and had really paid money--whether a small or a large
amount mattered little--in order to get possession of some of the
letters which proved Ghisleri's guilt. It would be very useful if the
woman "Maria B." could be traced and called as a witness, but even if
she could not be found, Lady Herbert could not refuse her evidence and
would not, upon her oath, deny having sent the money or having received
Adele's letters in return for it. Considering the terms of intimacy on
which she stood with Ghisleri, the point was a very strong one against
the latter's innocence. The two princes were of the same opinion. Gerano
was for asking Laura directly if she knew of the affair, but was
overruled by Savelli and the lawyer, who objected that she might give
Ghisleri warning. Gerano could not move in the matter without the
consent of the other two, and resigned himself, though he looked upon
the card as very doubtful evidence, and suggested that it might have
been found accidentally by the woman who had come to Donna Adele, and
used by her as an additional means of inducing the latter to give her
money. But neither Prince Savelli nor the lawyer was inclined to believe
in any accident which could weaken the chain of evidence they held.
There was no further meeting for several days, during which time the
lawyer was at work in examining every point which he considered
vulnerable. Being himself a perfectly honest man and having received the
information he was to make use of from the father and father-in-law of
the lady concerned, it would have been very strange if he had
entertained any doubts as to her veracity. Adele had thought of this
herself and was satisfied that throughout all the preliminaries her
position would be as strong as she could wish it to be. The struggle
would begin when Ghisleri was warned of what was now being prepared
against him, and began to defend himself. Of one thing she was
persuaded. If he had the confession in his hands, he would not produce
it. Nothing could prove her case so conclusively as his avowal that the
letter was in his hands. If he could demonstrate that he had never seen
it and was wholly ignorant of its contents, her own case would fall
through. The action, however, if brought, would be a criminal one, and
he would not be allowed to give his own evidence. It would be hard,
indeed, to find any one who could swear to what would be necessary to
clear him.
The lawyer came back to his clients at last, and informed them that it
was his opinion that there was sufficient evidence for obtaining a
warrant of arrest against Pietro Ghisleri, and that in all probability
the latter would be convicted, on his trial, of an infamous attempt to
extort money from the Princess Adele Savelli, as he called her in his
written notes. He warned them, however, that Ghisleri would almost
undoubtedly be admitted to bail, that he was a man who had numerous and
powerful friends in all parties, that he would doubtless be granted a
first and second appeal, and that the publicity and scandal of the whole
case would be enormous. On the whole, he advised his clients to settle
the matter privately. He would, if they desired it, accompany them to
Signor Ghisleri's lodgings, and state to him the legal point of view
with all the clearness he had at his command. It was not impossible, it
was even probable, that Ghisleri would quietly give up the document in
question, and sign a paper binding himself never to refer to its
existence again and acknowledging that he had made use of it to frighten
the Princess Adele Savelli. The said document could then be returned to
her and the affair might be considered as safely concluded. The lawyer
did not believe that Signor Ghisleri would expose himself to certain
arrest and probable conviction, when he had the means of escaping from
both in his hands. Socially the two gentlemen could afterwards do what
they pleased, and could of course force him to leave Rome with ignominy,
never to show himself there again.
Prince Savelli, on the whole, concurred in this view. The Prince of
Gerano said that he had known Ghisleri long and well, and that the
latter would probably surprise them by throwing quite a new light on the
case, though he would not be able to clear himself altogether. He,
Gerano, was therefore of the same opinion as the others, and he quietly
reminded Savelli that he had been the first to propose visiting Ghisleri
and demanding a personal explanation.
On the same evening Pietro received a note. Prince Savelli and the
Prince of Gerano presented their compliments to Signor Ghisleri, and
begged to ask whether it would be convenient to him to receive them and
their legal adviser on the following morning at half-past ten o'clock,
to confer upon a question of grave importance. Ghisleri answered that he
should be much honoured by the visit proposed, and he at once sent word
to Ubaldini to come to him at eight o'clock, two hours and a half before
he expected the others. He at once suspected mischief, though he had
hardly been prepared to see it arrive in such a very solemn and
dignified shape. He asked Ubaldini's opinion at once, when the latter
came as requested.
"It is impossible to say what that good lady has done," said the young
lawyer after some moments of thoughtful consideration. "You may take it
for granted, however, that both Prince Savelli and the Prince of Gerano
believe that you are in possession of the lost letter, and that they
will make an attempt to force you to give it up. You would do well not
to speak of me, but you can say that you foresaw that Donna Adele
intended to make use of your letters when she wrote the first one,
asking you to purchase the manuscript for her, and that you have kept
copies of your answers, as well as the originals of her communications.
If we are quick about it, we can bring an action against her for
defamation before she can do anything definite."
"I will never consent to that," answered Ghisleri, smiling at Ubaldini's
ideas of social honour.
"Why not?" asked the lawyer, in some surprise. "You would very probably
win it and cast her for heavy damages."
"I would certainly never do such a thing," replied Pietro. "I should not
think it honourable to bring any such action against a lady."
Ubaldini shrugged his shoulders, being quite unable to comprehend his
client's point of view.
"I cannot do anything to help you, until we know what these gentlemen
have to say," he observed. "If you wish it, I will be present at the
interview, but it is as well that they should not find out who your
lawyer is, until something definite is to be done."
Ghisleri agreed, and Ubaldini went away, promising to hold himself at
his client's disposal at a moment's notice. Pietro sat down to think
over the situation. Danger of some sort was evidently imminent, but he
could only form a very vague idea of its nature, and Ubaldini had
certainly not helped him much, sharp-witted and keen as he was.
Ghisleri, who, of course, could not see the case as Adele had stated it
to her father-in-law, and as it was now to be stated to himself, could
not conceive it possible that he could be indicted for extortion on such
slender evidence as he supposed she had been able to fabricate. He
imagined that she desired his social ruin, and above all, to make him
for ever contemptible in the eyes of Laura Arden; and this he well knew,
or thought that he knew, she could never accomplish.
Laura had not yet returned, and he was glad, on the whole, that she was
away. Matters were evidently coming to a crisis, and he believed that
whatever was to happen would have long been over by the time she was in
Rome again. If she had already arrived he would have found it hard not
to tell her of what occurred from day to day, and, indeed, he would have
felt almost obliged to do so for the sake of her opinion of him, seeing
how frankly and loyally she had acted in the case of the letters she had
received from the supposititious "Maria B." On the other hand, he longed
to see her for her own sake. The summer months had been desperately long
and lonely. He did not remember that he had ever found the time weigh so
heavily on his hands as this year, both at Torre de' Ghisleri and in
Rome. He forgot his present danger and the interview before him in
thinking of Laura Arden, when Bonifazio threw open the door and
announced Prince Savelli, the Prince of Gerano, and the Advocato
Geronimo Grondona.