BARON F------ TO COUNT O-------
September.
The prince has fallen out with his court, and all resources have
consequently been cut off from home.
The term of six weeks, at the end of which my master was to pay the
marquis, has already elapsed several days; but still no remittances
have been forwarded, either from his cousin, of whom he had earnestly
requested an additional allowance in advance, or from his sister. You
may readily suppose that Civitella has not reminded him of his debt; the
prince’s memory is, however, all the more faithful. Yesterday morning
at length brought an answer from the seat of government.
We had shortly before concluded a new arrangement with the master of our
hotel, and the prince had publicly announced his intention to remain
here sometime longer. Without uttering a word my master put the letter
into my hand. His eyes sparkled, and I could read the contents in his
face.
Can you believe it, dear O; all my master’s proceedings here are known
at and have been most calumniously misrepresented by an abominable
tissue of lies? “Information has been received,” says the letter,
amongst other things, “to the effect that the prince has for some time
past belied his former character, and adopted a node of conduct totally
at variance with his former exemplary manner of acting and thinking.”
“It is known,” the writer says, “that he has addicted himself with the
greatest excess to women and play; that he is overwhelmed with debts;
puts his confidence in visionaries and charlatans, who pretend to have
power over spirits; maintains suspicious relations with Roman Catholic
prelates, and keeps up a degree of state which exceeds both his rank and
his means. Nay, it is even said, that he is about to bring this highly
offensive conduct to a climax by apostacy to the Church of Rome! and in
order to clear himself from this last charge he is required to return
immediately. A banker at Venice, to whom he must make known the true
amount of his debts, has received instructions to satisfy his creditors
immediately after his departure; for, under existing circumstances, it
does not appear expedient to remit the money directly into his hands.”
What accusations, and what a mode of preferring them. I read the letter
again and again, in the hope of discovering some expression that
admitted of a milder construction, but in vain; it was wholly
incomprehensible.
Z------- now reminded me of the secret inquiries which had been made
some time before of Biondello. The true nature of the inquiries and
circumstances all coincided. He had falsely ascribed them to the
Armenian; but now the source from whence the came was very evident.
Apostacy! But who can have any interest in calumniating my master so
scandalously? I should fear it was some machination of the Prince of
---d-----, who is determined on driving him from Venice.
In the meantime the prince remained absorbed in thought, with his eyes
fixed on the ground. His continued silence alarmed me. I threw myself
at his feet. “For God’s sake, your highness,” I cried, “moderate your
feelings--you will--nay, you shall have satisfaction. Leave the whole
affair to me. Let me be your emissary. It is beneath your dignity to
reply to such accusations; but you will not, I know, refuse me the
privilege of doing so for you. The name of your calumniator must be
given up, and -------‘s eyes must be opened.”
At this moment we were interrupted by the entrance of Civitella, who
inquired with surprise into the cause of our agitation. Z------- and
I did not answer; but the prince, who had long ceased to make any
distinction between him and us, and who, besides, was too much excited
to listen to the dictates of prudence, desired me to communicate the
contents of the letter to him. On my hesitating to obey him, he
snatched the letter from my hand and gave it to the marquis.
“I am in your debt, marquis,” said he, as Civitella gave him back the
letter, after perusing it, with evident astonishment, “but do not let
that circumstance occasion you any uneasiness; grant me but a respite of
twenty days, and you shall be fully satisfied.”
“Do I deserve this at your hands, gracious prince?” exclaimed
Civitella, with extreme emotion.
“You have refrained from pressing me, and I gratefully appreciate your
delicacy. In twenty days, as I before said, you shall be fully
satisfied.”
“But how is this?” asked Civitella, with agitation and surprise. “What
means all this? I cannot comprehend it.”
We explained to him all that we knew, and his indignation was unbounded.
The prince, he asserted, must insist upon full satisfaction; the insult
was unparalleled.
In the meanwhile he implored him to make unlimited use of his fortune
and his credit.
When the marquis left us the prince still continued silent. He paced
the apartment with quick and determined steps, as if some strange and
unusual emotion were agitating his frame. At length he paused,
muttering between his teeth, “Congratulate yourself; he died at ten
o’clock.”
We looked at him in terror.
“Congratulate yourself,” he repeated. “Did he not say that I should
congratulate myself? What could he have meant?”
“What has reminded you of those words?” I asked; “and what have they to
do with the present business?”
“I did not then understand what the man meant, but now I do. Oh, it is
intolerable to be subject to a master.”
“Gracious prince!”
“Who can make us feel our dependence. Ha! it must be sweet, indeed.”
He again paused. His looks alarmed me, for I had never before seen him
thus agitated.
“Whether a man be poorest of the poor,” he continued, “or the next heir
to the throne, it is all one and the same thing. There is but one
difference between men--to obey or to command.”
He again glanced over the letter.
“You know the man,” he continued, “who has dared to write these words to
me. Would you salute him in the street if fate had not made him your
master? By Heaven, there is something great in a crown.”
He went on in this strain, giving expression to many things which I dare
not trust to paper. On this occasion the prince confided a circumstance
to me which alike surprised and terrified me, and which may be followed
by the most alarming consequences. We have hitherto been entirely
deceived regarding the family relations of the court of --------.
He answered the letter on the spot, notwithstanding my earnest entreaty
that he should postpone doing so; and the strain in which he wrote
leaves no ground to hope for a favorable settlement of those
differences.
You are no doubt impatient, dear O------, to hear something definite
with respect to the Greek; but in truth I have very little to tell you.
From the prince I can learn nothing, as he has been admitted into her
confidence, and is, I believe, bound to secrecy. The fact has, however,
transpired that she is not a Greek, as we supposed, but a German of the
highest descent. From a certain report that has reached me, it would
appear that her mother is of the most exalted rank, and that she is the
fruit of an unfortunate amour which was once talked of all over Europe.
A course of secret persecution to which she had been exposed, in
consequence of her origin, compelled her to seek protection in Venice,
and to adopt that concealment which had rendered it impossible for the
prince to discover her retreat. The respect with which the prince
speaks of her, and a certain deferential deportment which he maintains
towards her, appear to corroborate the truth of this report.
He is devoted to her with a fearful intensity of passion which increases
day by day. In the earliest stage of their acquaintance but few
interviews were granted; but after the first week the separations were
of shorter duration, and now there is scarce a day on which the prince
is not with her. Whole evenings pass without our even seeing him, and
when he is not with her she appears to form the sole object of his
thoughts. His whole being seems metamorphosed. He goes about as if
wrapped in a dream, and nothing that formerly interested him has now
power to arrest his attention even for a moment.
How will this end, my dear friend? I tremble for the future. The
rupture with his court has placed my master in a state of humiliating
dependence on one sole person--the Marquis Civitella. This man is now
master of our secrets--of our whole fate. Will he always conduct
himself as nobly as he does now? Are his good intentions to be relied
upon; and is it expedient to confide so much weight and power to one
person--even were he the best of men? The prince’s sister has again
been written to--the result of this fresh appeal you shall learn in my
next letter.