No sooner had Lady Lansmere found herself alone with Riccabocca and
Harley than she laid her hand on the exile's arm, and, addressing him by
a title she had not before given him, and from which he appeared to
shrink nervously, said--"Harley, in bringing me to visit you, was forced
to reveal to me your incognito, for I should have discovered it. You may
not remember me, in spite of your gallantry. But I mixed more in the
world than I do now, during your first visit to England, and once sat
next to you at dinner at Carlton House. Nay, no compliments, but listen
to me. Harley tells me you have cause for some alarm respecting the
designs of an audacious and unprincipled--adventurer, I may call him;
for adventurers are of all ranks. Suffer your daughter to come to me, on
a visit, as long as you please. With me, at least, she will be safe; and
if you, too, and the--"
"Stop, my dear madam," interrupted Riccabocca, with great vivacity,
"your kindness overpowers me. I thank you most gratefully for your
invitation to my child; but--"
"Nay," in his turn interrupted Harley, "no buts. I was not aware of my
mother's intention when she entered this room. But since she whispered
it to me, I have reflected on it, and am convinced that it is but a
prudent precaution. Your retreat is known to Mr. Leslie--he is known to
Peschiera. Grant that no indiscretion of Mr. Leslie's betray the secret;
still I have reason to believe that the Count guesses Randal's
acquaintance with you. Audley Egerton this morning told me he had
gathered that, not from the young man himself, but from questions put to
himself by Madame di Negra; and Peschiera might, and would, set spies,
to track Leslie to every house that he visits--might and would, still
more naturally, set spies to track myself. Were this man an Englishman,
I should laugh at his machinations; but he is an Italian, and has been a
conspirator. What he could do, I know not; but an assassin can penetrate
into a camp, and a traitor can creep through closed walls to one's
hearth. With my mother, Violante must be safe; that you cannot oppose.
And why not come yourself?"
Riccabocca had no reply to these arguments, so far as they affected
Violante; indeed, they awakened the almost superstitious terror with
which he regarded his enemy, and he consented at once that Violante
should accept the invitation proffered. But he refused it for himself
and Jemima.
"To say truth," said he simply, "I made a secret vow, on re-entering
England, that I would associate with none who knew the rank I had
formerly held in my own land. I felt that all my philosophy was needed,
to reconcile and habituate myself to my altered circumstances. In order
to find in my present existence, however humble, those blessings which
make all life noble--dignity and peace--it was necessary for poor, weak
human nature, wholly to dismiss the past. It would unsettle me sadly,
could I come to your house, renew a while, in your kindness and
respect--nay, in the very atmosphere of your society--the sense of what
I have been; and then (should the more than doubtful chance of recall
from my exile fail me) to awake, and find myself for the rest of
life--what I am. And though, were I alone, I might trust myself perhaps
to the danger--yet my wife: she is happy and contented now; would she be
so, if you had once spoiled her for the simple position of Dr.
Riccabocca's wife? Should I not have to listen to regrets, and hopes,
and fears that would prick sharp through my thin cloak of philosophy?
Even as it is, since in a moment of weakness I confided my secret to
her, I have had 'my rank' thrown at me--with a careless hand, it is
true--but it hits hard, nevertheless. No stone hurts like one taken from
the ruins of one's own home; and the grander the home, why, the heavier
the stone! Protect, dear madam--protect my daughter, since her father
doubts his own power to do so. But--ask no more."
Riccabocca was immovable here. And the matter was settled as he decided,
it being agreed that Violante should be still styled the daughter of Dr.
Riccabocca.
"And now, one word more," said Harley. "Do not confide to Mr. Leslie
these arrangements; do not let him know where Violante is placed--at
least, until I authorize such confidence in him. It is sufficient
excuse, that it is no use to know unless he called to see her, and his
movements, as I said before, may be watched. You can give the same
reason to suspend his visits to yourself. Suffer me, meanwhile, to
mature my judgment on this young man. In the mean while also, I think
that I shall have means of ascertaining the real nature of Peschiera's
schemes. His sister has sought to know me; I will give her the occasion.
I have heard some things of her in my last residence abroad, which make
me believe that she cannot be wholly the Count's tool in any schemes
nakedly villanous; that she has some finer qualities in her than I once
supposed; and that she can be won from his influence. It is a state of
war; we will carry it into the enemy's camp. You will promise me, then,
to refrain from all further confidence to Mr. Leslie."
"For the present, yes," said Riccabocca, reluctantly.
"Do not even say that you have seen me, unless he first tell you that I
am in England, and wish to learn your residence. I will give him full
occasion to do so. Pish! don't hesitate; you know your own proverb--
'Boccha chiusa, ed occhio aperto
Non fece mai nissun deserto.'
'The closed mouth and the open eye,' &c."
"That's very true," said the Doctor, much struck. "Very true. '_In
bocchac hiusa non c'entrano mosche_.' One can't swallow flies if one
keeps one's mouth shut. _Corpo di Bacco!_ that's very true!"
Harley took aside the Italian.
"You see if our hope of discovering the lost packet, or if our belief in
the nature of its contents, be too sanguine, still, in a few months it
is possible that Peschiera can have no further designs on your
daughter--possible that a son may be born to you, and Violante would
cease to be in danger, because she would cease to be an heiress. Indeed,
it may be well to let Peschiera know this chance; it would, at least,
make him delay all his plans while we are tracking the document that may
defeat them for ever."
"No, no! for heaven's sake, no!" exclaimed Riccabocca, pale as ashes.
"Not a word to him. I don't mean to impute to him crimes of which he may
be innocent. But he meant to take my life when I escaped the pursuit of
his hirelings in Italy. He did not hesitate, in his avarice, to denounce
a kinsman; expose hundreds to the sword, if resisting--to the dungeon,
if passive. Did he know that my wife might bear me a son, how can I tell
that his designs might not change into others still darker, and more
monstrous, than those he now openly parades, though, after all, not more
infamous and vile? Would my wife's life be safe? Not more difficult to
convey poison into my house, than to steal my child from my hearth.
Don't despise me; but when I think of my wife, my daughter, and that
man, my mind forsakes me: I am one fear."
"Nay, this apprehension is too exaggerated. We do not live in the age of
the Borgias. Could Peschiera resort to the risks of a murder, it is for
yourself that you should fear."
"For myself!--I! I!" cried the exile, raising his tall stature to its
full height. "Is it not enough degradation to a man who has borne the
name of such ancestors, to fear for those he loves! Fear for myself! Is
it you who ask if I am a coward?"
He recovered himself as he felt Harley's penitential and admiring grasp
of the hand.
"See," said he, turning to the Countess with a melancholy smile, "how
even one hour of your society destroys the habits of years. Dr.
Riccabocca is talking of his ancestors!"