Withered Leaves Volume Iii Part 3

"There is something like a wild beast about you! Fasten it in a cage--and the dagger shall return to its sheath."

"Well, I will control myself, although it is difficult for me at this moment. The misfortunes which persecute me, transport me into ever new rage. Could the cursed ball not roll differently? _Sono alla disperazione_."

He had seized a chair, and threw it to the ground with such force that the back broke.

"Has your rage nearly exhausted itself?" asked Beate.

"It was a relapse--I will be calm. Sit down. What have you to tell me?"

They sat down upon the sofa; Beate watched his every movement with a keen glance.

"Let us talk quietly! This cannot go on much longer!"

"My business with Russia shall set me up again! '_E una fatalita!_'

This _maledetto polacco_! If only they had ma.s.sacred him at Ostrolenka, or beaten him to death with the knout in Siberia. He is a gambler by profession, and believes to be in possession of the only luck-bringing theory; but his theory is folly, while the misfortune is that he is fortunate. It is the second time already that he has broken my bank--without him I should be the luckiest player! He exercises an evil eye upon me--I curse him!"

"Leave that alone! The misfortune is the gambling--give it up, Baluzzi!

You will ruin yourself, and us with you."

"She still sings splendidly; while the gold of her voice resounds, gold will resound in her money box."

"But her voice is deteriorating."

"Bad fellows say so, and I punished one of them lately. Her voice is still first-rate capital, will bring interest for long yet; there is no want of it."

"We shall come to want! You are a leech, an outrageous leech! She can hardly pay for her own dress! And, to-day, bad luck again! No sooner are your debts paid than a new demand menaces us. You are a bankrupt every eight days."

"I will give up gambling now; I have no luck. But business is hazard, too; the Russian frontier Guards are no joke."

"Can you pursue no respectable business?"

"Fill a paper bag with _quattrini_, every day another farthing, and lie down to sleep happily when one paper bag is full, and a fresh one can be twisted up--that is not my style! I do business on a large scale, I would live grandly, I must, therefore, risk much! All or nothing--_va banque_! What else can I do with your little honorariums? You have no right to interfere with me; you deceive me, and you especially, little Satan; you rouse her against me, and spin tissues of lies, and persuade her to plead poverty. But I will sweep away the spider's web you have woven, malicious spider that you are, and trample you under foot."

The Italian a.s.sumed a menacing aspect; Beate kept her hand upon the dagger.

"Afraid again? Those little watchful eyes, how well they become you, but I tell you I want money, much money, and she must give it me once more! Could she not save during that couple of years when I lost all traces of her, because I was stationed far away in the interior of Russia, and could not escape from vile ill-luck? Why did she not save?

Why does she live like a princess? Probably she is collecting a dowry for you; you are, doubtlessly, a pretty little betrothed; some unhappy being has gone into your net, beguiled by that pretty visage! There is still time to warn him!"

"Calumny, vile calumny!"

"But I shall hold her fast! Do she not fulfil her duties, I shall appear again, and lay my hand upon her before all the world."

"It is on this point that I would speak to you, Baluzzi. There is only one means by which she can still provide for you, even if her talent has failed her."

"And that means?"

"You must set her free."

"How your eyes sparkle, little viper," cried Baluzzi, springing up.

"That is a fine plan, probably conceived in this charming little head.

Do not give yourselves any trouble, things will remain as they were."

"Your own interest--"

"Is thus best ensured. Will always be. I have certainty."

"There are sufficient grounds for you, according to the laws of this country, if you only will--"

"Grounds abundant as flowers in May, as mushrooms after rain; but I stand by the decree of the Church. I am not a subject of this country, and will not become one."

"But if we had reasons, proofs--"

"Aha, I repeat it, it is in vain--we stand under the laws of Italy and of the Church, and what will you prove? That which was done was done with her consent, according to her own desire, yet at first in opposition to mine; and who tells you that I do not love her, love her fervently, that I will always remain far from her? If she cease to be the queen of the stage, then she will belong to me once again. No more beautiful angel of d.a.m.nation ever dwelled with Lucifer in the depths of h.e.l.l! Ha! how my bonds will rise; she shall preside at the green board, it will be like a gaming h.e.l.l in heaven! For me, at least, because she shall be my slave, whom I love and chastise at the same time."

"The dreams of a madman."

"If they are only beautiful, those dreams, enchantingly beautiful, then it is a foretaste, and the day will come on which this madness will seek and find its victim."

"Baluzzi, be reasonable," said Beate, insinuatingly, as she drew the Italian down beside her, "you are not so foolish as you pretend to be; you consented formerly, because you saw that it was for your mutual good. Be reasonable now, too!"

"How the little cat can caress with its velvet paws."

"There is something in the air that can do you good also!"

"I curse that something and him, for I hate him also."

"Jealousy still, senseless jealousy--_sareble vero!_ She does not love you; you cannot force her to do so! Is she the only woman in the world?

You give yourself freedom again. Take a large profit with you, and then trouble yourself no more about her! We others may not be so beautiful, to be sure, yet we are not made of marble either, but of flesh and blood, and, if our eyes have not such depth, they flash all the more merrily."

Beate looked at the gambler with seductive glances. He put his arms round her supple form, which only resisted feebly, pressed a kiss upon her lips, but then wrenched himself away, pushed her from him, and cried, as he sprang up--

"_Corpo di bacco_, I know you, _diavola_! That is a worn-out game, and I know, too, how the cards are shuffled! You are not indisposed to be the victim of friends.h.i.+p. Aha, that is the cause of this sudden, pretended, fervent love. But where are the witnesses--the dumb walls, the lamps burning down? And, if there were witnesses, they would only be of use so far as separate maintenance is concerned, with which the Signora is not supplied. You have miscalculated, my child! To-day is buried from the world, and to-morrow I shall not know you again."

Beate stood drawn up erectly, the open dagger in her hand.

"You misunderstand me, Signor Baluzzi! Our business is at an end!"

At that moment Ktchen's head appeared in the half-open doorway.

"You called me, Signor?"

"Listener," cried Baluzzi, enraged, "this eavesdropping in my own house! Do not let me catch you a second time. Open the garden gate for the Signora; wait below with the key!"

Ktchen disappeared.

"I require money; I do not yet know how much. I will first learn the result of my business. You are a cunning mediatrix, little Beate, but neither your paws nor your claws have power over me; but if anything be in the air warn her not to venture upon too much, else she may have a narrow escape."

Below Ktchen was whistling upon the key of the gate. She soon conducted Beate, who had drawn the hood over her head, through the garden walks.