The Betrothed Part 12

"The devil! perhaps _you_ have converted the father!"

"Do not speak of him; but as to the wager, San Martin will decide." The curiosity of the count was aroused; he made many enquiries, which Don Roderick evaded, referring him to the day of decision.

The following morning, when he awoke, Don Roderick was "himself again."

The various emotions that had agitated him after his interview with the father, had now resolved themselves into the simple desire of revenge.

Hardly risen, he sent for Griso.--"Something serious," muttered the servant to whom the order was given; as this _Griso_ was nothing less than the leader of the _bravoes_ to whom was intrusted the most dangerous and daring enterprises, who was the most trusted by the master, and the most devoted to him, from grat.i.tude and interest. This man had been guilty of murder; he had fled from the pursuit of justice to the palace of Don Roderick, who took him under his protection, and thus sheltered him from the pursuit of the law. He, therefore, stood pledged to the performance of any deed of villany that should be imposed on him.

"Griso," said Don Roderick, "you must show your skill in this emergency. Before to-morrow, this Lucy must be in this palace."

"It shall never be said that Griso failed to execute a command from his ill.u.s.trious protector."

"Take as many men as are necessary, and dispose of them as appears to you best; only let the thing succeed. But be careful that no harm be done to her."

"Signor, a little fright--we cannot do less."

"Fright--may be unavoidable. But touch not a hair of her head; and, above all, treat her with the greatest respect. Do you hear?"

"Signor, I could not take a flower from the bush, and carry it to your Highness, without touching it; but I will do only what is absolutely necessary."

"Well; I trust thee. And--how wilt thou do it?"

"I was thinking, signor. It is fortunate that her cottage is at the extremity of the village; we have need of some place of concealment; and not far from her house there is that old uninhabited building in the middle of the fields, that one--but, your Highness knows nothing of these matters--which was burnt a few years ago, and, not having been repaired, is now deserted, except by the witches, who keep all cowardly rascals away from it; so that we may take safe possession."

"Well; what then?"

Here Griso went on to propose, and Don Roderick to approve, until they had agreed upon the manner of conducting the enterprise to the desired conclusion, without leaving a trace of the authors of it: and also upon the manner of imposing silence, not only upon poor Agnes, but also upon the more impatient and fiery Renzo.

"If this rash fellow fall in your way by chance," added Don Roderick, "you had best give him, on his shoulders, something he will remember; so that he will be more likely to obey the order to remain quiet, which he will receive to-morrow. Do you hear?"

"Yes, yes, leave it to me," said Griso, as, with an air of importance, he took his leave.

The morning was spent in reconnoitring,--the mendicant of whom we have spoken was Griso; the others were the villains whom he employed, to gain a more perfect knowledge of the scene of action. They returned to the palace to arrange and mature the enterprise;--all these mysterious movements were not effected without rousing the suspicions of the old domestic, who, partly by listening, and partly by conjecture, came to the knowledge of the concerted attempt of the evening. This knowledge came a little too late, for already a body of ruffians were laying in wait in the old house. However, the poor old man, although well aware of the dangerous game he played, did not fail to perform his promise; he left the palace on some slight pretence, and hurried to the convent.

Griso and his band left shortly after, and met at the old building,--the former had previously left orders at the palace, that, at the approach of night, there should be a litter brought thither,--he then despatched three of the bravoes to the village inn; one to remain at its entrance to observe the movements on the road, and to give notice when the inhabitants should have retired to rest; the other two to occupy themselves within as idlers, gaming and drinking. Griso, with the rest of the troop, continued in ambush, on the watch.

All this was going forward, and the sun was about to set, when Renzo entered the cottage, and said to Lucy and her mother, "Tony and Jervase are ready; I am going with them to sup at the inn; at the sound of the 'Ave Maria,' we will come for you; take courage, Lucy, all depends on a moment."

"Oh, yes," said Lucy, "courage;" with a voice that contradicted her words.

When Renzo and his companions arrived at the inn, they found the door blockaded by a sentinel, who, leaning on one side of it, with his arms folded on his breast, occupied half its width; at the same time rolling his eagle eyes first to the right and then to the left, displaying alternately their blacks and their whites. A flat cap of crimson velvet, placed sideways, covered the half of the _long lock_, which, parted on a dark forehead, was fastened behind with a comb. He held in his hand a club; his arms, properly speaking, were concealed beneath his garments.

When Renzo evinced a desire to enter, he looked at him fixedly without moving; of this, the young man, wis.h.i.+ng to decline all conversation, took no notice, but, beckoning to his companions to follow his example, slid between the figure and the door-post. Having gained an entrance, he beheld the other two bravoes with a large mug between them, seated at play; they stared at him with a look of enquiry, making signs to each other, and then to their comrade at the door. This was not un.o.bserved by Renzo, and his mind was filled with a vague sentiment of suspicion and alarm. The innkeeper came for his orders; which were, "a private room, and supper for three."

"Who are those strangers?" asked he of the landlord, when he came in to set the table.

"I do not know them," replied he.

"How! neither of them?"

"The first rule of our trade," said he, spreading the cloth, "is, not to meddle with the affairs of others; and, what is wonderful, even our women are not curious. It is enough for us that customers pay well; who they are, or who they are not, matters nothing. And now, I will bring you a dish of polpette, the like of which you have never eaten."

When he returned to the kitchen, and was employed in taking the polpette from the fire, one of the bravoes approached, and said, in an under tone, "Who are those men?"

"Good people of this village," replied the host, pouring the mince-meat into a dish.

"Well; but what are their names? Who are they?" insisted he, in a rough voice.

"One is called Renzo," replied the host; "esteemed a good youth, and an excellent weaver of silk. The other is a peasant, whose name is Tony; a jovial fellow,--it is a pity he has no more money, for he would spend it all here. The other is a simpleton, who eats when they feed him. By your leave----" So saying, he slipped past him, with the dish in his hand, and carried it to the place of its destination.

"How do you know?" said Renzo, continuing the conversation from the point at which it had been dropped, "how do you know that they are honest men, when you are not acquainted with them?"

"From their actions, my good fellow; men are known by their actions. He who drinks wine without criticising it; he who shows the face of the king on the counter without prattling; he who does not quarrel with other customers, and, if he has a blow or two to give, goes away from the inn, so that the poor host need not suffer from it; _he_ is an honest man. But what the devil makes you so inquisitive, when you are engaged to be married, and should have other things in your head? And with this mince-meat before you, which would make the dead revive?" So saying, he returned to the kitchen.

The supper was not very agreeable; the two guests would have lingered over the unusual luxury; but Renzo, preoccupied, and troubled and uneasy at the singular appearance of the strangers, longed for the hour of departure. He conversed in brief sentences, and in an under tone, so that he might not be overheard by them.

"What an odd thing it is," blundered Jervase, "that Renzo wishes to be married, and has needed----" Renzo looked sternly at him. "Keep silence, you beast!" said Tony to him, accompanying the epithet with a cuff.

Jervase obeyed, and the remainder of the repast was consumed in silence.

Renzo observed a strict sobriety, in order to keep his companions under some restraint. Supper being over, he paid the reckoning, and prepared to depart: they were obliged to pa.s.s the three men again, and encounter a repet.i.tion of their eager gaze. When a few steps distant from the inn, Renzo, looking back, perceived that he was followed by the two whom he had left seated in the kitchen. He stopped; observing this, they stopped also, and retraced their steps.

If he had been near enough, he would have heard a few words of strange import; "It would be a glorious thing," said one of the scoundrels, "without reckoning the cash, if we could tell at the palace how we had flattened their ribs,--without the direction, too, of Signor Griso."

"And spoil the whole work," added the other; "but see! he stops to look at us! Oh! if it were only later! But let us turn back, not to create suspicion. People are coming on all sides; let us wait till they go to their rests."

Then was heard in the village the busy hum of the evening, which precedes the solemn stillness of the night; then were seen women returning from their daily labour, with their infants on their backs, and leading by the hand the older children, to whom they were repeating the evening prayers; men with their spades, and other instruments of culture, thrown over their shoulders. At the opening of the cottage doors, was discerned the bright light of the fires, kindled in order to prepare their meagre suppers; in the street there were salutations given and returned, brief and mournful observations on the poverty of the harvest, and the scarcity of the year; and at intervals was heard the measured strokes of the bell which announced the departure of the day.

When Renzo saw that the two men no longer followed him, he continued his way, giving instructions, in a low voice, from time to time, to his two companions. It was dark night when they arrived at the cottage of Lucy.

"Between the acting of a dreadful thing And the first motion, all the interim is Like a phantasma, or a hideous dream."

Lucy endured many hours the anguish of such a dream; and Agnes, even Agnes, the author of the plot, was thoughtful and silent. But, in the moment of action, new and various emotions pa.s.s swiftly through the mind: at one instant, that which had appeared difficult becomes perfectly easy; at another, obstacles present themselves which were never before thought of, the imagination is filled with alarm, the limbs refuse their office, and the heart fails at the promise it had given with such security. At the gentle knock of Renzo, Lucy was seized with such terror, that, at the moment, she resolved to suffer any thing, to endure a separation from him for ever, rather than execute her resolution; but when, with an a.s.sured and encouraging air, he said, "All is ready; let us begone," she had neither heart nor time to suggest difficulties. Agnes and Renzo placed her between them, and the adventurous company set forward. Slowly and quietly they took the path that led around the village,--it would have been nearer to pa.s.s directly through it, to Don Abbondio's house, but their object was to avoid observation. Upon reaching the house, the lovers remained concealed on one side of it, Agnes a little in advance, so as to be prepared to speak to Perpetua as soon as she should make her appearance. Tony, with Jervase, who did nothing, but _without_ whom nothing could be done, courageously knocked at the door.

"Who is there, at this hour?" cried a voice from the window, which they recognised to be that of Perpetua. "No one is sick, that I know of. What is the matter?"

"It is I," replied Tony, "with my brother; we want to speak with the curate."

"Is this an hour for Christians?" replied Perpetua, briskly. "Come to-morrow."

"Hear me; I will come, or not, as I choose; I have received I can't tell how much money, and I have come to balance the small account that you know of. I have here twenty-five fine new pieces; but if he cannot see me,--well--I know how and where to spend them."

"Wait, wait. I will speak to you in a moment. But why come at this hour?"

"If you can change the hour, I am willing; as for me, I am here, and, if you don't want me to stay, I'll go away."

"No, no, wait a moment; I will give you an answer." So saying, she closed the window. As soon as she disappeared, Agnes separated herself from the lovers, saying to Lucy, in a low voice, "Courage, it is but a moment." She then entered into conversation with Tony at the door, that Perpetua, on opening it, might suppose she had been accidentally pa.s.sing by, and that Tony had detained her.

CHAPTER VIII.