As we trudged along, I had an opportunity to study to some extent the
characteristics of the individuals forming my escort, and I may say
without reserve that a more unprepossessing set of men it has seldom
been my lot to encounter. With the solitary exception of the sergeant,
who seemed a gay, careless, good-natured fellow enough, they appeared to
be a thoroughly "bad lot:" low, ruffianly-looking men in their outward
semblance, and--judging from their conversation, much of which, however,
I failed to understand from their liberal use of what is now termed
"slang"--utterly given over to the indulgence of the lowest and most
degrading forms of vice, scoffing at all things pure and holy, and
luxuriating in the recital of deeds of all manner of cruelty and
debauchery.
I had heard something of the terribly-brutalising effects of the Reign
of Terror, but the conversation of these wretches gave me such a vivid
insight of the incredible depths of depravity of which the human mind is
sometimes capable as I could certainly not otherwise have gained, unless
indeed by associating with the ruffians who gathered daily round the
guillotine to insult and exult over the death-agonies of their victims.
It was not to be expected that I should altogether escape the attentions
of wretches such as these, and accordingly my ears were soon assailed
with ribald jests and ruffianly speculations touching the mode and time
of my execution, the manner in which I should bear myself, and so on;
but I turned a deaf ear to it all, devoting my entire energies to the
devising of some practicable method of escape, and, as it appeared to
them that I understood nothing of what was said, my tormentors after a
time turned their conversation to other matters.
"I expect we shall very soon make another excursion in this direction,"
said one.
"Indeed, and for what purpose?" asked another.
"Nay, then, has it not been told thee, Adolphe, that our colonel
suspects one of these Corsican aristocrats of being concerned in the
present rising of his countrymen, and of plotting with the accursed
English for assistance?" remarked the first speaker.
"_Mille bombes_! that it might be so. It would be rare sport to hunt
the old rat out of his hole, or, better still, burn him in it. It would
be a pleasant change from the dullness of mounting eternal guard,
marching and countermarching every day, and all to what purpose? For my
part I am tired of it, and long for a little more of the sport we had in
dear Paris. Ah! it was worth living for, to see fifty or sixty of the
proud aristocrats carted away to the guillotine every day. I doubt if
there is such a thing as a guillotine in the whole island."
"_Soyez tranquille, mon cher Adolphe_! The machine is not difficult to
construct. But for real amusement give me such as we had at Ostend,
when Davoust shot down with grape 500 men, women, and children under the
ramparts, to say nothing of those which we sent afloat in the harbour in
old and leaky boats which sank with all on board. And, ah, the sport
that it was to chase the people through the streets until they could fly
no longer, and then bayonet them! You were there, Antoine, _mon
camarade_! you have not forgotten the day?"
"And never shall," responded Antoine, the most ruffianly-looking of the
whole party. "A day or two like that would bring these vile Corsicans
to their senses. `Give them plenty of bayonet,' say I. And if you want
real sport, do as I did: chase the mothers until they drop, then bayonet
their children first, and themselves afterwards. But do not bayonet the
mothers _too_ soon, or you rob yourself of half your amusement."
"Good! ah, ah! _very_ good indeed!" laughed the wretches.
"But say, Baptiste, _mon cher_, who is this Corsican of whom you were
speaking?"
"He is called Count Lorenzo Paoli," responded Baptiste. "He has a fine
place away yonder among the hills, which, it is said, would make those
rich who could have the plundering of it. And, moreover, he has a
daughter--ah! but she is simply divine," and the brute smacked his lips
in a way which made me long to spring at his throat. "_Le cher
Guiseppe_--is he not delightful?--says that this boy Englishman has
papers which are thought to be for this rascally Count, and if it be so,
_ma foi_! but there will be rare doings at the chateau before long."
It may be imagined what were my feelings on hearing this.
How fervently I blessed the lucky inspiration which prompted me to
conceal my bag, and how much more imperative now became the necessity
that I should effect my escape without delay, not only for my own sake,
but in order also that I might recover possession of those compromising
papers, and warn the Count of the fearful danger which threatened him.
There was much more conversation of the kind recorded above, but I will
not revolt the reader's feelings by repeating it; what I have already
given is intended merely to convey an idea of the unparalleled
ruffianism and brutality which characterised the soldiery of the
Republic at that period.
The way, which was being enlivened with such delectable converse, led
back through the forest which I had already traversed, only we were now
passing along the road, such as it was. It consisted simply of a path
of varying width, but nowhere very wide, cleared through the trees, the
undergrowth of the forest forming a sort of hedge on either side of the
way. The branches met overhead, veiling the path in semi-obscurity, and
so completely intercepting all but an occasional ray of the sun that the
ground appeared to be in a perpetual state of dampness, the clayey soil
being in consequence so much cut up, notwithstanding the small amount of
traffic which seemed to pass over it, that it had become almost
impracticable for foot-passengers. Here and there an old tree-stump
projected out of the ground, while in other places the stumps had been
removed without filling in the corresponding hole. These holes were now
full of water, and as they sometimes occurred in places where there was
a general depression of the ground, flooded by the heavy rain of the
previous night, their presence only became known when one of the party
floundered in and found himself, if lucky enough to avoid going head
over heels, and so securing entire immersion, up to the waist in muddy
water of about the consistency of pea-soup. To add still farther to the
discomfort of the journey, the ground was excessively slippery, so that,
what with one difficulty and another, we made but very slow progress.
We had reached and become involved in an exceptionally bad spot--a
spring apparently rendering the clay so soft that the entire road for
about thirty yards had been worked into a perfect quagmire, into which
we sank above our knees at every step, the tenacious clay holding our
feet almost as though they had been in a vice--when, without the
slightest warning of any kind, a withering volley of musketry was poured
in upon the devoted band from the bushes on both sides of the road, and
while the smoke still enveloped us out dashed some thirty or forty
Corsicans, armed, some only with their clubbed muskets, others
flourishing in addition long double-edged knives of a most bloodthirsty
appearance.
Every man of us went down before that deadly discharge; some being
killed outright, while a few, myself among the number, were only
wounded. But the tragedy was soon completed; hampered as we were with
the difficulties of the road, and disabled by our wounds, resistance was
impossible, and before the smoke of the musketry discharge had cleared
away every Frenchman had received the _coup-de-grace_. I also should
undoubtedly have received my quietus, had I not had the presence of mind
to exclaim in French, just as a stalwart mountaineer was bending over me
with his long glittering blade upraised, that I was an Englishman. The
man hesitated for an instant, and that slight pause saved me. I rapidly
explained who and what I was, and another individual, apparently the
leader of the band, approaching at the moment, I was reprieved until an
opportunity could be found for verifying my statement. In the meantime,
however, my captors were kind enough to take charge of my watch, my
money, and one or two other valuables which they found in my pockets.
The bodies of the Frenchmen were rifled with a thoroughness and celerity
which I could not but admire, their pockets being turned inside-out, and
every article of the slightest value, including their weapons and
ammunition, appropriated. One individual especially, who was working
away with his back turned towards me, appeared to possess all the
coolness and dexterity of a London pick-pocket.
He was certainly not much troubled with squeamishness either; for while
operating upon the body of the sergeant, he discovered upon one of the
fingers a ring, which, being unable to remove, he without hesitation
drew his keen blade across the member, severing it from the body at a
single stroke; he then removed the ring, dropped it coolly into his
pouch, and jauntily jerked the dismembered finger in among the shrubs by
the roadside. Then, animated apparently by a sudden frenzy, he plunged
his blade again and again into the lifeless body, his fury increasing
with every stroke, until the uniform was slashed almost to rags,
finishing off by drawing his weapon across and across the face, until it
was mutilated beyond all possibility of recognition. He then rose to
his feet with a sigh of satisfaction, while the admiring laughter and
jocular remarks of his comrades evinced their high appreciation of the
performance.
Turning round, he faced me just in good time to catch on my features the
expression of sickening disgust with which I had viewed his actions. A
threatening scowl instantly overspread his repulsive features, and,
raising his knife, he advanced with such an evident intention of using
it upon me, that three or four of his companions interposed, and with
considerable difficulty at length succeeded in dissuading him from his
purpose.
It was the traitor Guiseppe.
The booty, such as it was, being secured, the party marched off the
ground, taking a contrary direction to that pursued by the Frenchmen. I
was placed in the centre of the band, the leader of which was kind
enough to warn me that any attempt at escape would be promptly met by an
effectual application of the knife. It thus appeared that I had only
escaped from one danger to fall into a second, almost, if not equally,
as great. Had my captors been merely insurgents, I should not have felt
any very great anxiety; but, though I was not directly addressed, I
gathered within the first few minutes of our march that I had fallen
into the hands of a party of brigands, and from all that I had heard of
the unscrupulous character of these gentry, I believed that they would
not have the slightest hesitation about murdering me, if the whim seized
them, merely by way of "divarshin."
My left arm had been broken above the elbow by a musket-shot in the
fusillade which had destroyed the Frenchmen, and, dangling helplessly at
my side, gave me exquisite pain, as I stumbled along over the uneven and
slippery road. The injury was plainly perceptible, yet no one offered
to bind up the bleeding limb, and of course it was quite impossible for
me to do so myself. I might have requested one of my captors to perform
the service for me, but a scrutiny of their countenances afforded me so
little encouragement that I decided to suffer on, rather than place
myself in their rough and merciless hands.
On emerging from the wood, we turned off to the left, and, forsaking the
road altogether, made across the moor in the direction of another wood,
which entirely clothed the sides to the very summit of a high hill about
five miles distant. We were a couple of hours performing the journey
across the open moor, and another hour was occupied in threading our way
through the wood, the ground being very rugged and rising steeply all
the while. At length, however, we reached a wide open space along one
side of which a mountain-stream was noisily rushing "in spate," as they
say in Scotland; the surroundings of the place being very similar to
those of the spot where I had quenched my thirst, and bathed on the
previous evening--the principal difference being that here there was no
waterfall. Instead, however, of this being a picturesque solitude, it
had all the bustle and animation of a camp upon a small scale.
As we drew near the place, although there had been no visible sign of
the proximity of other human beings, signal-whistles had been given and
answered, and I was consequently in a measure prepared for the scene
which suddenly burst upon us on emerging into the open.
Some twenty or more bell-shaped tents were disposed in a circle on the
greensward, the little tri-coloured bannerets, which in some cases still
fluttered at their apex, seeming to indicate that they had at no very
distant period been French property. In the centre of the circle a
large wood fire was blazing and crackling, with an immense cauldron
hanging suspended over it, gipsy fashion, from a tripod.
A man in white cap and apron--he turned out to be a French prisoner--was
standing over this pot, armed with a long iron ladle with which he kept
diligently stirring up its contents, the savoury steam from which was
greeted with ejaculations of approval from my hungry captors. Outside
the doors of some of the tents the muskets of its occupants were piled,
the owners of the weapons, for the most part, being scattered about the
sward in picturesque groups; some laughing, talking, and smoking
together, while others were deeply interested in games of cards--played
with packs so greasy, worn, and thumb-marked, that those who had used
them a few times would as readily recognise a particular card on seeing
its back as they would by looking at its face--while a few, more
industriously disposed, were diligently cleaning and polishing their
weapons. There must have been quite a hundred men in the camp
altogether, counting the detachment which had brought me in, all wearing
the garb of Corsican mountaineers; and a fine, stalwart set of men they
were, almost without exception. Their countenances, however, wore an
expression of reckless, relentless ferocity, which augured ill for any
unfortunate against whom they might fancy they had a grievance, should
he chance to fall into their clutches.
My captors were dismissed immediately on our arrival in camp, with the
exception of two who mounted guard over me, while their leader entered a
tent somewhat larger than the rest. We were quickly surrounded by a
group of curious and eager questioners, anxious apparently to learn the
result of the expedition, and to "take stock" of the prisoner--my
unlucky self.
The information supplied by my custodians evidently afforded them great
gratification, and though they spoke a patois which was quite
unintelligible to me, the gesticulations which accompanied the closing
portion of the narrative, and the shouts of laughter and applause with
which it was received, showed me that the exploit of the amiable
Guiseppe was duly receiving honourable mention.
After an absence of about twenty minutes, the individual whom I have
designated as the leader of the party which brought me in, issued from
the tent, and, coming up to where I stood, said, with much greater
courtesy than I had hitherto received,--
"Be good enough to step this way, Signor Englishman, if you please."
I followed him into the tent from which he had just emerged, and found
myself in the presence of an individual whose appearance differed so
entirely from that of the rest of the band, that I could not help
wondering what could possibly have induced her to associate herself with
them.
Start not, reader, at the word _her_--it is no misprint; I actually
found myself in the presence of a _woman_. Not such an one, either, as
might be expected to be found--if indeed one would expect to find a
woman at all--amid such surroundings; not an old, withered, vindictive-
looking hag, repulsive alike in appearance and manner, but a woman,
youthful, handsome, and to all appearance gentle, though her demeanour
was somewhat cold and distant.
I set her down at about three or four and twenty years of age. She was
reclining on a pile of rugs when I entered the tent, so I could not just
then judge of her stature, but before the interview terminated she had
risen to her feet, and I then saw that she was rather above medium
height. Her skin was dazzling fair, hair and eyes black as night; the
beauty of the latter being rather marred, according to my taste, by a
curious glitter, which, but for the calmness of their owner's demeanour,
I should have regarded as slightly suggestive of incipient insanity.
Her figure, clothed in a picturesque, if somewhat theatrical, adaptation
of the costume of her comrades, was somewhat slight, but eminently
graceful, while her hands and feet would have delighted a sculptor with
their symmetry. Her voice was especially beautiful, being a full, rich,
and powerful contralto.
The midshipmen of the British navy have not as yet rendered themselves
especially remarkable by their bashfulness, and I was neither much
better nor much worse than my neighbours in that respect; but I was so
taken aback when I entered the tent and my eyes met those of its
occupant, that I could only bow somewhat awkwardly, blushing like a
simpleton the while.
"This, signora, is the prisoner of whom I told you," said my conductor
by way of introduction.
"Why, he is a mere boy, Benedetto; and wounded, too! What is the nature
of your wound, child?"
"A broken arm, signora," I replied unsteadily; the unexpected accents of
pity in her voice, or the excruciating pain I had been suffering for the
previous four hours, suddenly unnerving me.
"Poor fellow!" she exclaimed. "And it has not been attended to. How
did it happen?"
"A stray ball struck me this morning, when the party under this
gentleman surprised and shot down the French detachment," I answered.
A gleam of almost fiendish ferocity passed like a lightning-flash across
the beautiful face of my fair interrogator at the mention of the French;
but it disappeared again in an instant, and, turning to Benedetto, she
asked with just the slightest ring of harshness in her voice,--
"Is the Padre in camp?"
"He is not," was the reply. "He left us yesterday to go into Ajaccio,
telling us not to expect him back here until late to-night."
"Then I will turn leech myself," said she. "It will not be for the
first time. Fetch me a bowl of water from the stream, Benedetto, and
bid them bring some wine to the tent."
Benedetto departed upon his mission with alacrity, and my hostess, or
whatever she was, rising to her feet, bared her beautiful, round, white
arms to the elbow, drew from a large chest a supply of lint and old
linen, and, arming herself from the same depository with a pair of
scissors, proceeded deftly to slit up from wrist to shoulder the left
sleeve of my jacket and shirt. By the time that this was done,
Benedetto had returned with a bowl of water in one hand, and a jar of
wine in the other. A small quantity of the latter revived my strength
and steadied my nerves, and then this curious pair went to work to dress
my wound, and set the shattered limb, displaying during the operation an
amount of skill on the part of the woman, and of gentleness on that of
the man, for which I was wholly unprepared.
A set of splints, which had evidently seen previous service, was finally
produced and applied, and the arm carefully adjusted in a sling, after
which food was placed before me; and though I was suffering too much
pain and in too feverish a condition to take much, I soon found myself
in a condition of ease which was comfort itself compared with my state
during the earlier part of the day.
At the conclusion of my meal I was advised, or I might say _ordered_, to
lie down upon the pile of rugs which my strange hostess had vacated; an
order which I obeyed gladly, for fatigue and pain together had produced
a feeling of almost utter exhaustion, and, in spite of the anguish of my
wound, I soon dropped off into a doze which was a something between
sleeping and waking, in which, while my consciousness never entirely
left me, my fancy, breaking away from the control of reason, rambled off
and indulged in the most extraordinary vagaries. I heard the rush of
the stream, the murmur of the wind through the branches of the trees
with which the camp was surrounded, the hum of many voices outside the
tent, the frequent snatch of song, or peal of laughter, the occasional
angry altercation, and--once or twice--voices speaking in low tones
within the tent; but all seemed to strike upon my ear as though the
sounds reached me from an incredible distance, and then the absurd idea
took possession of me that I was increasing in bulk to such an
extraordinary extent, that my recumbent body covered miles of ground.
Then my sight seemed to undergo an equally extraordinary alteration, for
it appeared that I was able to see away over the tree-tops down into the
town of Ajaccio; the lines of the streets, the architecture of the
houses, and the very features of the inhabitants being distinguishable.
Then I thought I was rising gradually in the air, my powers of vision
steadily increasing at the same time. First I saw the wide stretch of
blue foam-flecked ocean glittering in the sun; then the coast of France
rose above the horizon, Toulon harbour, as might be expected, coming
prominently forward in the picture; then the vine-clad hills and fertile
plains, the populous cities and picturesque villages of the interior
spread themselves out like a panorama; and finally the northern sea-
board, the English Channel dotted here and there with white gleaming
sails, the chalk cliffs of old England, the Hampshire downs, and my dear
old home with all the loved familiar faces appeared, and I heard them
speaking lovingly of poor absent me.
Then with a suddenness that was absolutely painful all these pleasant
fancies passed away, and I imagined myself to be a disembodied spirit
floating helplessly in the midst of immeasurable space, enveloped in
murky clouds and thick darkness, and whirled hither and thither at the
mercy of a furious wind.
Of course I had no idea of the actual passage of time during this period
of delirium, but it seemed that I had thus been the sport of the
elements for countless ages, when the sensation gradually passed away,
and I sank into a condition of complete unconsciousness.
When I awoke daylight was just making itself visible through the canvas
sides of the tent, and overpowering the feeble glimmer of a small lamp
which hung suspended from the pole. I remained motionless for some
little time after I had opened my eyes, trying to remember where I was,
and what had happened, and then wondering in a vague speculative sort of
way who and what was the strange being who appeared to govern the
reckless band of outlaws into whose hands I had fallen. I thought at
first that I was alone in the tent, but a restless movement on my part
undeceived me.
A cool soft hand was laid upon my forehead, and the voice of my hostess
inquired in gentle tones whether I felt better.
I replied that I did, but complained of thirst, upon which there was a
faint rustle, followed by a gurgling sound, and then the beautiful
unknown, kneeling beside me, raised my head and presented to my lips a
brimming goblet containing a draught of very peculiar taste, but cold as
ice, and, oh! _so_ refreshing. I drained it to the last drop, and asked
for more, which was given me. I was then advised to lie down, and sleep
once more.
It was evening when I next awoke, and on opening my eyes I felt more
bewildered than ever.
I was stretched upon a luxurious bed, the four slender posts of which
were elaborately carved into the semblance of palm-trees, the graceful
foliage forming the canopy; the stems and leaves of the trees being
richly gilt. The bed was draped with heavy silken hangings overlaid
with magnificent lace, and the linen was pure, white, and fresh as new
fallen snow. This bed occupied one end of a lofty room of moderate
size.
A massive cornice ran round the room, and was supported by decorated
pilasters, which divided the walls into compartments. A coved ceiling
sprang from the cornice, and both ceiling and walls were decorated with
paintings, in distemper, of mythological subjects; the lower portion of
the wall, however, having what is, I believe, termed a dado, ornamented
with a diaper pattern, each square of which contained a conventional
representation of a different flower.
The end of the room facing the bed was almost entirely occupied by a
large bay-window draped with heavy curtains of silk and lace, matching
the hangings of the bed. There was not much furniture in the room; an
elegantly-appointed toilet-table, a couch, and one or two chairs being
all that it contained, as far as I could see. One of the casements of
the window was open, and through it there stole into the room a cool
gentle breeze laden with sweet odours which evidently had their origin
in some contiguous garden. A hilly and heavily-wooded landscape was
visible through the window and beyond all was a sky glowing with the
thousand evanescent beauties of a gorgeous sunset.
I lay for some time enjoying the magnificent spectacle before me, and
wondering in a feeble sort of way how much of my present and recent
experiences was real, and how much was due to the delirium through which
I was conscious of having passed. Were my present surroundings, for
instance, real, or was I simply dreaming a vivid dream? And had I
really been present in the body at that bandit camp, or was it only
fancy? The present appeared to be a waking reality, and so had the
other, yet both experiences seemed so strange that I knew not what to
think.
Upon one point, however, I did not long remain in doubt; whatever else
might be fancy, the sensation of hunger soon forced itself upon my
notice as a most prosaic and undeniable fact, and I very speedily
decided that I ought to make somebody acquainted with it.
I glanced round the room in quest of a hand-bell or some other means of
attracting that somebody's attention, and, seeing nothing of the kind,
made a move with the intention of getting out of bed to reconnoitre, but
fell back, weak and helpless as an infant. My movement, however, was
not without result, for there was a sudden stir behind the curtains; a
black-eyed, dark-skinned damsel emerged from her place of concealment,
looked in upon me, uttered an ejaculation in what I imagined to be
Italian, and forthwith beat a hasty retreat, notwithstanding my feeble
hail for her to remain.
She returned, however, in two or three minutes, accompanied by, without
exception, the most lovely being it has ever been my happy lot to
behold. It was a young girl in her thirteenth year, as I subsequently
learned, though I should have supposed her to be quite sixteen.
She was of about medium height, and her exquisite figure was already
assuming the rounded graces of budding womanhood. Her skin was a clear
pale olive with just the faintest and most delicate tinge of colour in
the velvety cheek; her face was a perfect oval, and her small
exquisitely poised head was covered with a wealth of soft, silky,
chestnut hair, so dark as to appear black in the shade, but when a ray
of light fell upon it, the rippling ringlets revealed the full beauty of
their deep rich colour. The eyebrows and long drooping lashes were of
the same colour as her hair, and her eyes--well, they were deep hazel;
but it was impossible to ascertain this until after repeated
observations--they glowed and sparkled to such a bewildering extent.
Add to this a mouth "shaped like Cupid's bow" with full rich scarlet
lips, just parted sufficiently to permit a glimpse of the small regular
pearly teeth within, a small round deeply-dimpled chin, an ivory-white
neck and shoulders, upon which the delicate head was set with fairy-like
grace, and you have as accurate a portrait of this dainty beauty as it
is within my poor power to paint.
She approached the side of the bed, and, looking inquiringly in my face
for a moment, said in excellent English,--
"I congratulate you, sir, on your recovery from that terrible fever. I
am glad--oh! so very much, and so will be the count, my father, when he
returns. He has been obliged to go away on important business, and will
not perhaps be back for a day or two. But you are in excellent hands;
old Maria, my nurse, is a skilful leech, and Angela here and I have been
able to watch beside you, if we could do nothing more. Now, tell me,
are you hungry? You should be, for you have taken nothing except
Maria's horrid medicine for two whole days, and how long before that I
know not. Now, however, nurse has something more palatable for you; she
said you would awake soon and be better, and she has made you some
excellent broth. Shall she bring it up?"
"By all means," I replied. "I am so weak with hunger, or something,
that I seem scarcely able to speak. But before we do anything else,
allow me to ask where I am, and to whom I am indebted for so much
kindness. The last thing I remember was that I was in camp with--"
"Bell' Demonio," she interrupted. "Yes, she brought you to us two days
ago. You were then very ill indeed, and Bell' thought you ought to have
better nursing than she could give you. It is all quite right; you are
in the Chateau Paoli belonging to my father, Count Lorenzo di Paoli; I
am his only daughter Francesca, and this is my foster-sister Angela.
Now you must talk no more for the present, but take the broth like a
good boy which I shall bring you."
So saying, she tripped away out of the room, returning again in about
ten minutes, accompanied by an ancient and inexpressibly ugly female,
who, I was duly informed, was the before-mentioned Maria.
This antique dame felt my pulse, laid her hand upon my brow, put a few
questions to me through the medium of her young mistress, and finally
pronounced that I was very much better, that the fever had left me, and
that all I should be likely henceforth to require would be careful
nursing and judicious nourishment. A sample of the latter, she
intimated, would be found in the substantial basin of broth which was
now placed before me, and which I was to be sure and consume to the last
drop.
I had not much difficulty in effecting a satisfactory disposal of the
meal, and when I had finished, my wounded arm was carefully dressed
afresh, and, to finish off with, I enjoyed as copious an ablution in
deliciously cold water as circumstances would permit; after which I was
left to myself with imperative orders to go to sleep again as soon as
possible. I passed a most comfortable night, sleeping pretty soundly
until broad daylight, when I awoke to find myself very much better in
every respect, and, not to weary my readers, I may say in a word that
from that time my improvement in health was both rapid and regular.
While partaking of a light breakfast on the morning following my return
to consciousness, my lovely young hostess informed me joyously that her
father had unexpectedly returned very late on the previous night, and
that he proposed paying me an early visit, if I felt strong enough to
see him.
I gladly assented to this proposal, for it suddenly flashed across my
mind that though by a series of accidents I had almost without an effort
of my own reached the place of my destination, my mission was still
unaccomplished; my bag, containing the all-important despatches, being
liable to discovery by the first visitor to the old hut, if indeed it
had not already been discovered; and the only chance which now remained
of its recovery was to describe as well as I could to the count, the
place of its concealment, and request him to despatch a trusty messenger
forthwith in quest of it.
Accordingly, as soon as breakfast was over, my wound dressed, and my
toilet attended to, the dark-eyed Angela was despatched with a message
to the count that I should be happy to see him as early as might be
consistent with his own convenience. A few minutes afterwards he
presented himself, and the ancient Maria, who had mounted guard _over_
me in the interval, was dismissed.
Count Lorenzo di Paoli was a fine, stalwart, soldierly-looking figure of
a man, dark-complexioned, and with a noble cast of countenance which
accorded well with his stately carriage and demeanour.
His features were stamped with an expression of stern gravity and
melancholy, which impressed me greatly at this, my first interview with
him, and which I could readily account for when I learned, later on, the
tragical fate of his lovely young wife many years before.
He greeted me with grave cordiality, expressing his deep regret "that I
had received so rough a welcome to the country which my presence had
been intended so signally to benefit, and hoping that he and his
household would prove able to efface the unfavourable impression which I
must have received."
Of course I replied in suitable terms to this polite speech, expressed
my gratitude for the extraordinary kindness which I was receiving under
his roof, and then begged him to favour me with particulars of the
circumstances under which I had become an inmate of his establishment.
"Certainly I will," said the count. "Your curiosity is quite natural,
and, apart from that, there are doubtless matters connected with your
visit to this island, which are at present causing you no small share of
anxiety. Before I say more, however, let me give you the assurance
that, excepting for the unfortunate adventure in which you received your
wound, everything has gone right; the despatches and other papers of
which you were the bearer have duly reached my hands; I have
accomplished the first and most difficult part of my mission, and the
papers are now accomplishing theirs. You may rest satisfied therefore
that your difficult and dangerous task has been successfully achieved,
and you have now nothing whatever to do but recover your health at your
leisure. I trust it is not necessary for me to say that the longer you
are able to remain with us, the greater will be our gratification."
He then proceeded to narrate the circumstances under which I had been
brought to the chateau; the details of which, however, I shall reserve
for the next chapter.