Upon the threshold of the castle, as our travellers drew near, stood a
young woman, whose appearance betokened the Roman matron, but of greater
delicacy perhaps than the ancient type. She numbered some twenty years;
and, though a charming smile spread itself over her lovely features, and
her eyes and soft abundant hair were extremely beautiful, still it was
the majestic natural bearing of Irene which struck the beholder.
As if unconscious of the presence of strangers, she ran to Orazio,
and folded him in a warm embrace, whilst the blush which glad love
can excite suffused both their faces, as they regarded each other
with undisguised affection. Then, turning to the two ladies, she bowed
gracefully, and welcomed them with a cordial salute, as Orazio said-
"Irene, I present to you the wife and daughter of Manlio, our renowned
sculptor of Rome."
Honest Jack was perfectly astounded at seeing so much beauty and
grandeur where he expected to find nothing except solitude and savage
desert. But his astonishment was greater still when he was invited
along with the rest into the castle, and beheld a table covered with a
profusion of modest comforts in a handsome and spacious dining-hall.
"You expected me, then, carissima?" observed Orazio, as he entered it,
to Irene.
"Oh, yes; my heart told me you would not pass another night away,"
was the reply, and the lovers exchanged another look, which made the
thoughts of Clelia, as she beheld it, fly to Attilio, and we do not
overstep the bounds of truth if we say that Silvia also remembered her
absent Manlio with a sigh.
Jack, with the appetite of a boy of twelve after his very long walk,
felt nothing of the pangs of love, but much of those of hunger.
And now another scene amazed mother and daughter as well as the
sailor, who stood, indeed, with wide-open mouth staring at what seemed
enchantment, for as Orazio blew his horn again, fifteen new guests, one
after another, each fully armed and equipped like their leader, filed
into the room. The hour being late, there was little daylight in the
apartment, which gave to their entrance a more melodramatic air; but
when the room was lit up with a lamp, the open and manly countenances of
the new comers were seen, and inspired our party with admiration and
confidence. The strangers made obeisance to the ladies and their
hostess. Orazio, placing Silvia on his right hand, and Clelia on his
left, Irene being seated by her side, called out, "To table." When their
chief (to whom they showed great respect) was seated, the men took their
places, silently, and Jack found a vacant seat by the side of Syvia,
which he took with calm resignation to his good luck. The repast began
with a toast "to the liberty of Rome," which each drank in a glass of
"vermuth," and then eating commenced, the meal lasting some time. When
all had appeased their hunger, Irene rose, with a sweet grace, from the
table, and conducted her fair visitors to an upper chamber in the tower;
and while a servant prepared, according to her orders, some beds for her
guests, exchanged with them, after the universal manner of ladies, a few
words about their mutual histories.
Silvia's and Clelia's stories you already know, so it only remains for
us, who have the privilege of their confidence, to narrate what Irene
imparted to them.
"You will wonder to hear," said she, "that I am the daughter of Prince
T------, whom perhaps you know in Rome, as he is famous for his wealth.
My father gave me a liberal education, for I did not care about feminine
accomplishments, such as music and dancing, but was attracted by deeper
studies. I delighted in histories; and when I commenced that of our
Rome, I was thoroughly fascinated by the story of the republic, so full
of deeds of heroism and virtue, and my young imagination became exalted
and affected to such an extent that I feared I should lose my reason.
Comparing those heroic times with the shameful and selfish empire, and
more especially with the present state of Rome, under the humiliating
and miserable rule of the priest, I became inexpressibly sorry for the
loss of that ancient ideal, and conceived an intense hatred and disgust
for those who are the true instruments of the abasement and servility of
our people. With such a disposition, and such sentiments, you can
imagine how distasteful the princely amusements and occupations of my
father's house became to me. The effeminate homage of the Roman
aristocracy--creatures of the priest--and the presence of the foreigner
palled upon me. Balls, feasts, and other dissipations, gave me no
gratification; only in the pathetic ruins scattered over our metropolis
did I find delight. On horseback or on foot, I passed hours daily
examining these relics of Rome's ancient grandeur.
"When I attained my fifteenth year I was certainly better acquainted
with the edifices of the old architects, and our numerous ruins, than
with the needle, embroidery, and the fashions. I used to make very
distant excursions on horseback, accompanied by an old and trusty
servant of the family.
"One evening, when I was returning from an exploration, and crossing
Trastevere, some drunken foreign soldiers, who had picked a quarrel at
an inn, rushed out, pursuing one another with drawn swords. My horse
took fright, and galloped along the road, overleaping and overturning
every thing in his way, in spite of all my endeavors to check his
speed. I am a good rider, and kept a firm seat, to the admiration of the
beholders; but my steed continuing his headlong race, my strength began
to fail, and I was about to let myself fall--in which case I should
certainly have been dashed to pieces on the pavement had I done so--when
a brave youth sprang from the roadside, and, flinging himself before my
horse, seized the bridle with his left hand, and, as the animal reared
and stumbled, clasped me with the right. The powerful and sudden grasp
of my robust preserver caused the poor beast indeed to swerve sharply
round, and, striking one foot against the curb, he stumbled and fell,
splitting his skull open against the wall of a house. I was saved, but
had fainted; and when I returned to consciousness I found myself at
home, in my own bed, and surrounded by my servants.
"And who was my preserver? Of whom could I make inquiries? I sent for my
old groom, but he could tell me little, except that he had followed
me as quickly as he well could, and had arrived at the scene of the
castastrophe just as I was being carried into a house. All he knew was
that my deliverer seemed a young man, who had retired immediately after
placing me in the care of the woman of the house, who was very attentive
when she learned who I was.
"Still my ardent imagination, even in that dangerous moment, had traced
more faithfully than they the noble lineaments of the youth. His eyes
had but flashed an instantaneous look into mine, but it was indelibly
imprinted on my heart. I could never forget that face, which renewed at
last, as in my memory, the heroes of the past. I shall know him again,
I said to myself. He is certainly a Roman, and if a Roman, he belongs to
the race of the Quirites! my ideal people--the objects of my worship!
"You know the custom of visiting the Colosseum by moonlight, which then
displays its majestic beauty to perfection. Well, I went one night to
view it, guarded by the same old servant; and as I was coming back, and
had arrived at the turning of the road which leads from the Tarpeian to
Campidoglio, my servant was struck down by a blow from a cudgel, and
two men, who had concealed themselves in the shadow cast by an immense
building, sprang out upon me, and, seizing me by the arms, dragged me
in the direction of the Arch of Severus. I was terror-stricken and in
despair, when, as Heaven willed it, I heard a cry of anger, and we were
quickly overtaken by a man whom I recognized in the dim light as my late
preserver. He threw himself upon my assailants, and a fearful struggle
began between the three. My young athlete, however, managed to lay the
assassins in the dust, and returned to my side; but perceiving that
my servant had risen, and was approaching unhurt, he took my hand, and
kissing it respectfully, departed before I could recover from the sudden
shock of the unexpected attack, or could articulate a single word.
"I have no recollection of my mother, but my father, who loved me
tenderly, used to take me every year to bathe at Porto d'Anzo, for he
knew how much I delighted in the ocean, and how pleased I was to escape
from the aristocratic society of Rome, where, had he studied his own
inclinations, he would gladly have remained. My father possessed a
little villa not far from the sea, to the north of Porto d'Anzo, where
we resided during our visits to the Mediterranean, the sight of which I
dearly loved. Here I was happier than in Rome; but I felt a void in my
existence, a craving in my heart, which made me restless and melancholy.
In fact, I was in love with my unknown preserver. Often I passed hours
in scrutinizing every passer-by from the balcony of my window, hoping
vainly to obtain a glimpse of the man whose image was engraven upon
my heart. If I saw a boat or any small craft upon the sea, I searched
eagerly, by the aid of my telescope, among crew and passengers for the
form of my idol.
"I did not dream in vain. Sitting alone in my balcony one evening,
wrapped in gloomy thoughts, and contemplating, almost involuntarily, the
moon as she rose slowly above the Pontine marshes, I was startled from
my reverie by the noise of something dropping to the ground from the
wall surrounding the villa. My heart began to beat violently, but not
from fear. I fancied I saw by the dim light a figure emerging from the
shrubbery towards me. A friendly ray from the moon illumined the face
of the intruder as he approached, and when I beheld the features I had
sought for so many days in vain I could not repress a cry of surprise
and joy, and it required all my womanly modesty to restrain a violent
desire to run down the steps leading to my balcony and embrace him.
"My love of solitude and disdain for the pleasures of the capital had
kept me in comparative ignorance of worldly things, and, with good
principles, I had remained an ingenuous, simple daughter of nature.
"'Irene,' said a voice which penetrated to the inmost recesses of my
soul; 'Irene, may I dare ask for the good fortune to say two words to
you either there or here?'
"To descend appeared to me to be more convenient than to permit him to
enter the rooms; I therefore went down immediately, and, forgetting, for
the moment, his fine speeches, in joy, he covered my hands with burning
kisses. Conducting me towards some trees, we sat down upon a wooden
bench under their shady branches side by side. He might have led me to
the end of the world at that strange and sweet moment had he pleased.
"For a while we remained silent; but presently my deliverer said, 'May
I ask pardon for this boldness--will you not grant it, my loved one?' I
made no reply, but allowed him to take possession of my hand, which he
kissed fervently. Presently he went on: 'I am only a plebeian, Irene--an
orphan. Both my parents perished in the defense of Rome against the
foreigner. I possess nothing on this earth but my hands and arms, and my
love for you, which has made me follow your footsteps.'
"Predisposed to love him even before I had heard his voice, now that his
manly yet gentle and impassioned tones fell upon my ear, I felt he might
do what he would with me--I was in an Eden. Yes, he belonged to me, and
I to him; but I could not find the voice to say so as yet.
"'Irene,' he continued, 'I am not only a portionless orphan, but an
outlaw, condemned to death, and pursued like a wild beast of the forest
by the bloodhounds of the Government. Yet I have presumed to hope
that you might be gentle to me for my love, with the strength of your
generous nature; and more so, alas! when I saw that you were unhappy,
for I have watched you unseen, and noted with sorrow and hope the
melancholy expression of your face. I am come, though your sweet
kindness flatters roe, Irene, to tell you these things which make it
impossible, of course, that you can ever be mine. I have no claim or
right; but my ardent love, the small services I have rendered you, have
blessed me, and made me proud and happy; therefore you owe me nought of
gratitude. If I should ever have the delight of laying down my life
for yours, my happiness will then, indeed, be complete. Adieu, Irene,
farewell!' he continued, rising and pressing my hand to his heart, while
he turned to leave me.
"I had remained in an ecstasy of silent joy, forgetful of the world,
of myself, of all save him. At the word 'farewell,' I started as if
electrified; I ran to him, crying 'Stay, oh, stay!' and, clasping him by
the arm, drew him back to the bench, and quite forgetting all reserve
myself, exclaimed, 'Thou art mine, and I am thine for life! thine, yes
thine forever, my beloved!'
"He told me all his story--he pictured to me the hope and aim of his
life. His burning words of love for Italy and hatred of her tyrants
added to my strength of resolve. I replied that I would share his
fortunes forthwith as his wife, and with no regrets, except upon
my father's account. It was then arranged that we should live here
together. A few days of preparation, and we were privately married. I
followed my Orazio to the forest where ever since I have dwelt with
him. I will not say I am perfectly happy--no; but my only grief is the
remembrance that my disappearance accelerated, I fear, in a measure the
death of my aged and affectionate parent."
Tired as our poor Silvia was, she could not but listen with interest to
the narrative of Irene, down whose beautiful cheeks the tears coursed
at the mention of her father's name. Clelia, too, had not lost a single
word, and more than one sigh from her fair bosom seemed to say, during
her hostess's recital, "Ah, my Attilio! is he not also handsome,
valorous, and worthy of love, yes, of my love!"
But now, wishing repose to her guests, Irene bade them good-night.