The Betrothed Part 8

The father not replying to this, Don Roderick made an effort to change the subject.

"Apropos," said he, "I understand there is a report at Milan of an accommodation."

There was at this time a contest regarding the succession to the dukedom of Mantua, of which, at the death of Vincenzo Gonzaga, who died without male issue, the Duke de Nevers, his nearest relation, had obtained possession. Louis XIII., or rather the Cardinal de Richelieu, wished to sustain him there; Philip IV., or rather the Count d'Olivares, commonly called the Count Duke, opposed him. The dukedom was then a fief of the empire, and the two parties employed intrigue and importunity at the court of the Emperor Ferdinand II. The object of one was to obtain the invest.i.ture of the new duke; of the other, the denial of his claim, and also a.s.sistance to oblige him to relinquish it.

"I rather think," said the Count Attilio, "that the thing will be arranged satisfactorily. I have reasons----"

"Do not believe it, count, do not believe it," added the _podesta_; "I have an opportunity of knowing, because the Spanish keeper of the castle, who is my friend, and who is the son of a dependant of the Count Duke, is informed of every thing."

"I tell you I have discoursed on the subject daily at Milan; and I know from good authority that the pope, exceedingly interested as he is for peace, has made propositions----"

"That may be, the thing is in order; his Holiness does his duty; a pope should always endeavour to make peace between Christian princes; but the Count Duke has his own policy, and----"

"And, and, and, do you know, Signor _Podesta_, how much thought the emperor now gives to it? Do you believe there is no place but Mantua in the world! There are many things to provide for, signor, mind. Do you know, for instance, how far the emperor can trust this Prince of Valdistano, or di Vallistai, as they call him; and if----"

"His name, in the German language," interrupted the magistrate, "is Wallenstein, as I have heard it uttered many times by the Spanish keeper of the castle. But be of good courage----"

"Do you dare teach me," replied the count. Here Don Roderick whispered to him to cease contradiction, as there would be no end to it. He obeyed; and the _podesta_, like a vessel unimpeded by shoals, continued with full sails the course of his eloquence. "Wallenstein gives me but little anxiety; because the Count Duke has his eye every where; and if Wallenstein carries matters with a high hand, he will soon set him right. He has his eye every where, I say, and unlimited power; and if it is his policy that the Signor Duke of Nevers should not take root in Mantua, he will never flourish there, be a.s.sured. It makes me laugh to see the Signor Cardinal de Richelieu contend with an Olivares. The Count Duke, gentlemen," pursued he, with the wind still in his favour, and much wondering at not meeting with opposition, "the Count Duke is an old fox--speaking with due respect--who would make any one lose his track: when he appears to go to the right, it would be safest to follow him to the left: no one can boast of knowing his designs; they who are to execute them, they who write the despatches, know nothing of them. I speak from authority, for the keeper of the castle deigns to confide in me. The Count Duke knows well enough how the pot boils in all the courts in Europe; and these politicians have hardly laid a plan, but he begins to frustrate it. That poor man, the Cardinal Richelieu, attempts and dissembles, toils and strives; and what does it all produce? When he has dug the mine, he finds a countermine already prepared by the Count Duke----"

None can tell when the magistrate would have cast anchor, if Don Roderick had not interrupted him. "Signor _Podesta_," said he, "and you, gentlemen, a b.u.mper to the Count Duke, and you shall then judge if the wine is worthy of the personage." The _podesta_ bowed low in grat.i.tude for an honour he considered as paid to himself in part for his eloquent harangue.

"May Don Gaspero Guzman, Count de Olivares, Duke of St. Lucar, live a thousand years!" said he, raising his gla.s.s.

"May he live a thousand years!" exclaimed all the company.

"Help the father," said Don Roderick.

"Excuse me," replied he, "I could not----"

"How!" said Don Roderick; "will you not drink to the Count Duke? Would you have us believe that you hold to the Navarre party?"

This was the contemptuous term applied to the French interest at the time of Henry IV.

There was no reply to be made to this, and the father was obliged to taste the wine. All the guests were loud in its praise, except the doctor, who had kept silence. "Eh! doctor," asked Don Roderick, "what think _you_ of it?"

"I think," replied the doctor, withdrawing his ruddy and s.h.i.+ning nose from the gla.s.s, "that this is the Olivares of wines: there is not a liquor resembling it in all the twenty-two kingdoms of the king our master, whom G.o.d protect! I maintain that the dinners of the most ill.u.s.trious Signor Don Roderick exceed the suppers of Heliogabalus, and that scarcity is banished for ever from this palace, where reigns a perpetual and splendid abundance."

"Well said! bravo! bravo!" exclaimed with one voice the guests; but the word _scarcity_, which the doctor had accidentally uttered, suggested a new and painful subject. All spoke at once:--"There is no famine," said one, "it is the speculators who----"

"And the bakers, who conceal the grain. Hang them!"

"That is right; hang them, without mercy."

"Upon fair trial," cried the magistrate.

"What trial?" cried Attilio, more loudly; "summary justice, I say. Take a few of them who are known to be the richest and most avaricious, and hang them."

"Yes, hang them! hang them! and there will be grain scattered in abundance."

Thus the party continued absorbing the wine, whose praises, mixed with sentences of economical jurisprudence, formed the burthen of the conversation; so that the loudest and most frequent words were, _Nectar, and hang 'em_.

Don Roderick had, from time to time, during this confusion, looked at the father: perceiving him calmly, but firmly, awaiting his leisure for the interview which had been promised him, he relinquished the hope of wearying him by its postponement. To send away a capuchin, without giving him an audience, was not according to his policy; and since it could not be avoided, he resolved to meet it at once: he rose from the table, excused himself to his guests, and saying proudly, "At your service, father," led the way to another room.

CHAPTER VI.

"In what can I serve you?" said Don Roderick, as soon as they entered into the room. Such were his words, but his manner said plainly, "Remember before whom thou standest, weigh well thy words, and be expeditious."

There were no means more certain to impart courage to Father Christopher than arrogance or pride. He had stood for a moment in some embarra.s.sment, pa.s.sing through his fingers the beads of the rosary that hung suspended from his girdle; but he soon "resumed new courage, and revived," at the haughty air of Don Roderick. He had, however, sufficient command over himself to reply with caution and humility. "I come to supplicate you to perform an act of justice: some wicked persons have, in the name of your lords.h.i.+p, frightened a poor curate, and have endeavoured to prevent his fulfilling his duty towards an innocent and unoffending couple. You can by a word confound their machinations, and impart consolation to the afflicted. You can--and having it in your power--conscience, honour----"

"Speak to me of conscience, when I ask your advice on the subject; and as to my honour, know that I only am the guardian of it, and that whoever dares to meddle with it is a rash man."

Friar Christopher, warned by these words that the intention of Don Roderick was to turn the conversation into a dispute, so as to win him from his original purpose, determined to bear whatever insult might be offered him, and meekly replied, "It was certainly not my intention to say any thing to displease you: correct me, reprove me; but deign to listen to me. By the love of Heaven, by that G.o.d before whom we must all appear, I charge thee, do not obstinately refuse to do justice to the innocent and oppressed! Think that G.o.d watches over them, that their imprecations are heard above, and----"

"Stop," interrupted Don Roderick, rudely. "The respect I bear to your habit is great; but if any thing could make me forget it, it would be to see it worn by one coming as a spy into my house."

These words spread an indignant glow over the face of the father; but swallowing them as a bitter medicine, he resumed: "You do not believe that I am such; you feel in your heart that I am here on no vile or contemptible errand. Listen to me, Signor Don Roderick; and Heaven grant that the day may never arrive, when you shall repent of not having listened to me! Listen to me, and perform this deed of justice and benevolence. Men will esteem you! G.o.d will esteem you! you have much in your power, but----"

"Do you know," again interrupted Don Roderick with warmth, but with something like remorse, "that when the whim takes me to hear a sermon, I can go to church? But, perhaps," continued he, with a forced smile of mockery, "you are putting regal dignity on me, and giving me a preacher in my own palace."

"And to G.o.d princes are responsible for the reception of his messages; to G.o.d you are responsible; he now sends into your palace a message by one of his ministers, the most unworthy----"

"In short, father," said Don Roderick, preparing to go, "I do not comprehend you: I suppose you have some affair of your own on hand; make a confidant of whom you please; but use not the freedom of troubling a gentleman any farther."

"Don Roderick, do not say _No_ to me; do not keep in anguish the heart of an innocent child! a word from you would be sufficient."

"Well," said Don Roderick, "since you think I have so much in my power, and since you are so much interested----"

"Yes!" said Father Christopher, anxiously regarding him.

"Well, advise her to come, and place herself under my protection; she will want for nothing, and no one shall disturb her, as I am a gentleman."

At such a proposal, the indignation of the friar, which had hitherto been restrained with difficulty, loudly burst forth. All his prudence and patience forsook him: "Your protection!" exclaimed he, stepping back, and stretching forth both his hands towards Don Roderick, while he sternly fixed his eyes upon him, "your protection! You have filled the measure of your guilt by this wicked proposal, and I fear you no longer."

"Dare you speak thus to me?"

"I dare; I fear you no longer; G.o.d has abandoned you, and you are no longer an object of fear! Your protection! this innocent child is under the protection of G.o.d; you have, by your infamous offer, increased my a.s.surance of her safety. Lucy, I say; see with what boldness I p.r.o.nounce her name before you; Lucy----"

"How! in this house----"

"I compa.s.sionate this house; the wrath of G.o.d is upon it! You have acted in open defiance of the great G.o.d of heaven and earth; you have set at naught his counsel; you have oppressed the innocent; you have trampled on the rights of those whom you should have been the first to protect and defend. The wrath of G.o.d is upon you! A day will come!"

"Villain!" said Don Roderick, who at first was confounded between rage and astonishment; but when he heard the father thundering forth this prediction, a mysterious and unaccountable dread took possession of his soul. Hastily seizing his outstretched arm, and raising his voice in order to drown the maledictions of the monk, he cried aloud, "Depart from me, rash villain, cowled spy!"

These words instantly cooled the glowing enthusiasm of Father Christopher. The ideas of insult and injury in his mind had long been habitually a.s.sociated with those of suffering and silence. His usual habits resumed their sway, and he became calm; he awaited what farther might be said, as, after the strength of the whirlwind has pa.s.sed, an aged tree naturally recomposes its branches, and receives the hail as Heaven sends it.