CHAPTER III.
TROUBLES.
The death of Tom Percival naturally made a great difference to hisbrother's position. He was now a large land-owner, with a fine place inthe country and a house in town. The next nine years of his life wereunmarked by any particular incident. Signor Forli and his wife werepermanently established in Cadogan Place. The professor had never beenaccustomed to a country life, and in London he was able to indulge inall his former pursuits. He had always laid by a certain amount of hisincome, and could have lived in some comfort in London, as until thetroubles began he had received, in addition to his modest salary as aprofessor, the rents of a property he possessed near Naples, of whichplace he was a native. But neither Captain Percival nor his wife wouldhear of his setting up an establishment of his own.
"We shall not be up in town above three months of the year at theoutside," the former said; "and of course Muriel will always want tohave you with us for that time, for I know very well that you willseldom tear yourself from your work and come down and stay with us inthe country. It will be far better for us that the house shall be alwaysused, instead of being left for nine months in the year to caretakers.You can fit up the library with cases for your coins and manuscripts.You have already made the acquaintance of many of the scientific andlearned men you formerly corresponded with, and will soon get a verypleasant society of your own. It will be better in all respects. You canshut up the rooms you don't use, while the servants whom I keep to lookafter the house must in any case be told to consider you as theirmaster; and you can, if you choose, get a couple of Italian servants asyour own special domestics." And so, after much argument, it wassettled, and for some years things went on to the satisfaction of all.
When ten years old Frank was sent to a preparatory school for Harrow,and three years later to the great school itself. Just at this time theprofessor determined to pay a visit to Italy. Since the fall of Romeeverything had gone on quietly there; and although persons suspected ofliberal ideas had been seized and thrown into prison without any publicinquiry, he considered that now that he had been settled in England foryears, and had become a naturalised British subject, he could withoutany risk go over to make an effort to obtain a reversal of theconfiscation of his property in the Neapolitan territory. Beforestarting he had called upon the official representative of theNeapolitan government, and had been assured by him that his passport asa British subject would be respected, and that if he refrained fromtaking any part in politics he could travel in King Ferdinand'sterritories without any fear of his movements being in any wayinterfered with.
Up to this time Captain Percival and his wife had been strongly againstthe proposed visit, but after the professor had received this officialassurance they believed with him that he could in perfect safetyundertake the journey. He wrote on his arrival at Naples, stating thathe had, as soon as he landed, called upon one of the ministers, andreported to him the assurance that the envoy in London had given him,and had been told that, while expressing no opinion upon the probabilityof his obtaining a reversal of the confiscation of his estate, therecould be no objection whatever to his endeavouring to do so, but that hedid not think the government would authorise his establishing himselfpermanently in the kingdom, as his well-known political opinions wouldnaturally render him obnoxious. He had given his assurance that he hadno intention whatever of remaining beyond the time necessary for thepurpose for which he had come; that he had now permanently settled inEngland, and had only come over for the purpose that he had specified;and that on no account would he hold any political discussions with suchpersonal friends as he had in Italy, or give any expression whatever ofhis own views. He wrote that, as he had said before starting, he did notintend to call upon any of his former acquaintances, as, if he did so,it might bring them into discredit with the government.
No other letter was received from him. After waiting for three weeks,Captain Percival wrote to the proprietor of the hotel from which theprevious letter was dated, asking if he was still there, and if not, ifhe was aware of his present address. The answer was received in duetime, saying that Professor Forli had gone out one morning, a week afterhis arrival, with the intention, he believed, of visiting his formerestate, but that he had not returned. Two days later a person hadarrived bearing a letter from him, saying that he had changed his plansand should not return to Naples, and requesting that his luggage andall personal effects should be handed over to the bearer, who woulddischarge the amount owing for his bill. He had complied with therequest, and had since received no communication from Professor Forli.Captain Percival went at once to call upon the minister for foreignaffairs, stated the whole circumstances to him, and the assurance thatthe professor had received from the Neapolitan envoy before starting,and said that he felt sure that, in spite of his assurance and theprotection of his passport as a British subject, his father-in-law hadbeen seized and thrown into prison.
"If that is the case, a serious wrong has been committed," the ministersaid. "But we cannot assume that without some proof. He may have beenseized by some brigands, who by a ruse have obtained possession of hiseffects; possibly the person now in possession of the estate, fearingthat he might be ousted from it, has taken these means for suppressing aclaimant who might be dangerous. However, what you have told me issufficient for me to commence action, by making a complaint to theNeapolitan government that a British subject, duly furnished with apassport, is missing, and requesting that measures shall at once betaken to ascertain what has become of him."
Correspondence went on for three or four months, the Neapolitangovernment protesting that they had made inquiries in every direction,but had obtained no clue whatever as to Professor Forli's movements fromthe time when he left his hotel, and disclaiming any knowledge whateverof him. It was now January 1858, and Lord Palmerston, who was then primeminister, took the case up warmly, and Captain Percival had severalinterviews with him.
"I quite agree with you, sir," the minister said, "that he is probablyin a Neapolitan dungeon; but at present we have no absolute proof of it;if we had I should summon Ferdinand to release him under a threat ofwar."
"I am quite ready to go out, sir, to make personal inquiries; and if youcould obtain for me an order to visit the various jails and fortressesin the Neapolitan territories, I may succeed in finding him."
"I will obtain for you such an order," Lord Palmerston said decidedly."If they refuse my request, I shall be forced to the conclusion thatthey are afraid of your finding him there--not that I think it is likelyyou will do so. Indeed I regard it as certain that he would be removedfrom any prison before you arrived there, or if still there, that hisdungeon would not be shown to you. At the same time, you would be doinggood work. Already there have been some terrible disclosures as to thestate of the Neapolitan prisons. These, however, have chiefly been madeby men who have been confined there, and have been denounced ascalumnies by the Neapolitan government; but coming from you, armed withthe authority of our foreign office, they could not but make a profoundimpression. They might force the authorities to ameliorate the presentstate of things, and would certainly enlist the sympathy of the Britishpublic with the cause with which Professor Forli was associated, and forwhich I am aware you yourself fought."
A fortnight later Captain Percival was again sent for by the foreignminister.
"Here," the latter said, "is a royal order from the King of Naples foryou to view any or all the prisons in his dominions without let orhindrance, in order to assure yourself that Professor Forli is not aninmate of any of them."
Two days later Captain Percival started. On arriving at Naples, he firstcalled upon the Neapolitan minister, who expressed himself with someindignation on the fact that the assurance of the government that theyknew nothing of Professor Forli's disappearance had been doubted; butstated that they were ready to offer him any facility in his search.Before commencing this, Captain Percival went out to the professor'sestate, near Capua, and saw the proprietor, who assured hi
m that he hadneither seen nor heard anything of its late owner; and although hisassertions would have weighed but little if unsupported, CaptainPercival's investigations in the town and of several persons upon theestate all tended to show that the professor had not been seen there.His appearance was familiar to many, and he could hardly have visitedthe place without being recognised. Captain Percival went to see severalof Signor Forli's old friends, upon whom he would almost certainly havecalled before going to the estate, and from whom, indeed, he would havereceived far more information as to its condition than he would haveobtained by direct application to a man who could not but have regardedhim with hostility; none of them, however, had heard of his return toItaly.
After stopping two or three days there, he returned to Naples and beganhis inspection of the prisons. The Royal order being presented, he waseverywhere received courteously, allowed to inspect them from the lowestdungeons to the attics under the roofs, and also to hold conversationswith the prisoners. He had no idea that he would actually find theprofessor; his great hope was that he should learn from prisoners thathe had been confined there, as this would enable the British governmentto demand his instant release. Terrible as had been the descriptions hehad heard of the treatment of the prisoners and the state of the jails,they fell far short of the reality; and he not only sent detailedreports to the government, but also to _The Times_, which published themin full. They were copied into every paper in the kingdom, and created ageneral feeling of indignation and disgust.
Failing to obtain the smallest information as to the professor atNaples, Captain Percival then went down to Salerno, and left there withthe intention of visiting the prisons in Calabria and at Reggio, andafterwards of crossing into Sicily and trying the gaols there. Four daysafter he left Salerno, the servant he had engaged in Naples returned tothe town with the news that the carriage had been attacked by brigands,and that his master, who always carried a brace of pistols, had offereda desperate resistance, but had been killed. The horses had been takenout of the carriage, and they and Captain Percival's luggage had beencarried off to the hills. He himself had been allowed to return. TheGovernor of Salerno at once sent the man to Naples; the news wasofficially communicated to the British envoy, who telegraphed at once toLondon. A message was returned, saying that an official communicationwould be addressed to the government, and in the meantime he was to senddown one of the officers of the embassy to inquire into the wholematter. He was to request the Neapolitan government to furnish an escortfrom Salerno, and was also to demand that steps should be taken topursue and bring the brigands to justice.
The secretary of the legation had no difficulty in obtaining the orderfor an escort; and taking with him the servant who had brought the news,proceeded to the place where the affair had occurred. The carriage wasfound overthrown by the roadside. There were two or three bullet-holesin it; there was a dark patch evidently caused by blood in the roadclose by; and a few yards away was a bloodstained cap, which the servantrecognised as being that of Captain Percival. Following up a track whichled off the main road from here, they came upon some fragments ofletters, among them one on which were the words, "Your loving wife,Muriel." For two or three days the hills on each side of the track weresearched, but no sign whatever was found of Captain Percival's body. Inthe meantime, a strong force of carabinieri searched the mountains, andthree weeks after the return to Naples of the search party from thelegation, came the news that they had surprised and killed a notoriousbrigand leader with three of his followers, and had taken prisoner afourth. This man was sent to Naples, and there questioned by a judicialofficial in the presence of the secretary of the legation.
He acknowledged that he had been one of the party, consisting of theirleader and seven followers, who had attacked the Englishman's carriage.They had not intended to kill him, but to carry him off for ransom; he,however, resisted so desperately that he was shot. Although veryseriously wounded, they had carried him up to the mountains, believingthat he would recover, and that they might still make money out of him.The man himself had been sent down to Salerno to ascertain whether theauthorities were taking any steps to hunt down his capturers. As soon ashe learned that a strong force of carabinieri had been ordered out inpursuit, he had returned to the hut occupied by his chief. He found thatduring his absence the prisoner had died. He had never asked where hehad been buried, for it was a matter that did not concern him. Thecontents of the portmanteau had been divided among the party; he washimself now wearing the boots and one of the shirts of the dead man.That was all he knew.
The captain of the carabinieri testified that he had found an Englishportmanteau and many articles, some of which bore the initials "L. P."upon them; there was a brace of handsome pistols of English make, whichwere used by the chief of the brigands in the fight; and in a cupboardamong other things was the royal order for Captain Percival to visit hismajesty's prisons. A diligent search had been made in the neighbourhoodof the hut, but the grave of the English gentleman had not beendiscovered. In due time the brigand was placed on trial, and wassentenced to imprisonment for life; and so the matter ended, save forthe two widowed women and Frank.
It had been a heavy blow indeed for the lad, who was passionatelyattached to his father, and had also loved the professor, who had alwaysbeen extremely fond of him. He was at home for Easter when the terriblenews arrived. Neither his mother nor grandmother expressed a doubt thathis father had been murdered; and when the news of the confession of oneof the band and the discovery of Captain Percival's belongings in thehut of the brigands arrived, they gave up all hope of ever seeing himagain.
Madame Forli, however, while not doubting that Captain Percival had beenkilled, believed that the Neapolitan government were at the bottom ofthe matter. "I know what the methods of the Neapolitans are," she said;"and the sensation caused by Leonard's letters to the papers here mayhave decided them to put an end by any method to further revelations,and they may very well have employed these brigands to carry out theirpurpose. Every one knows that in many cases these men are in alliancewith the officers of the police; and the latter are well paid to wink attheir doings, and even to furnish them with information of the personsworth robbing, and to put them on their guard when, as occasionallyhappens, a raid is made by the carabinieri in the mountains. A captureis hardly ever effected; and while there is little chance of a politicalprisoner once shut up in their dungeons making his escape, notoriousbrigands frequently succeed in doing so. Nobody dares to speak of theirsuspicions; but there can be little doubt that the prison officials arebribed to connive at their escape, knowing well enough that thegovernment will not trouble over the matter, while on the other hand theescape of a political prisoner brings disgrace and punishment upon allthe prison officials."
"I cannot think--I will not think so, mother," Muriel exclaimed; "forwere it so, the same treatment might be given to him that has, we haveno doubt, befallen my father. A thousand times better that Leonardshould have been killed, than that he should drag out his existence insuch utter misery as that which he has described as being the lot ofprisoners in the dungeons of Bomba. The brigands may have been set on bytheir government. That is possible--I can believe that iniquitousgovernment to be guilty of anything--but whether Leonard was attackedmerely for plunder, or for ransom, or by the connivance of thegovernment, I cannot and will not doubt that he is dead; the story ofone of the band can leave no doubt of this, and it is confirmed by hisservant, who saw him fall. Never try to shake my confidence in that,mother. It was almost more than I could bear to think of my father asconfined in one of those dungeons; if I thought for a moment thatLeonard could be there too, I believe that I should lose my reason."
Frank returned to school after the short holidays. His mother thoughtthat it would be better so, as the routine of work and play would givehim little time for moping over his loss. He worked harder than he hadever done at school before; but obtained leave off cricket, and spenthis time out of school in long walks with one or other
of his chums.After the summer holiday he was himself again. He was quieter than hehad been, and held aloof from fun and mischief, but joined in the sportsvigorously, and regained the ground he had lost, and came to be regardedas likely some day to be one of the representatives of the school.
When it seemed that the search for the body of Captain Percival hadfailed, Mrs. Percival wrote to the secretary of the legation in Naples,saying that she would be glad if her husband's courier would come overto see her.
"I naturally wish to know," she said, "as much as I can of the lastmovements of my husband from the only person who was with him; and Iwould willingly bear the expenses of his journey both ways, and pay himfifty pounds. I did not receive any letter from my husband during thefortnight preceding his death, and want to learn as much as possibleabout him."
The secretary, on receiving the letter, sent the note to the chief ofthe police, in whose charge the man had been while the investigationswere proceeding; an answer was returned saying that the man BeppoParacini was not now in his charge, but that perhaps he could find himin the course of a few hours, and would, on doing so, send him to thelegation at once.
Instead of seeing the man himself, however, the officer went to thedirector of the secret police. "As this affair has been in yourdepartment rather than in mine, signor, I thought it best to bring youthis note I have just received from the British legation before takingany steps in the matter."
The official read the note through. "You have done quite right," hesaid. "The affair has been a very troublesome one, and now that it haspractically come to an end, it would not do to take any false step inthe matter. You shall hear from me in the course of the day."
He sat thinking deeply for some minutes after the other had left him,then he touched a bell.
"Luigi," he said, when a man entered, "go and fetch Beppo Paracini; ifhe is not in, find where he has gone and follow him."
Half an hour later the courier entered. When before the court he hadbeen dressed in the fashion affected by his class; now he was in dark,quiet clothes, and might have been taken for an advocate or notary.
"Beppo," he said, "I thought that we had finished with that troublesomeaffair of the Englishman; but there is again occasion for your servicesin the same direction. Here is a letter from the secretary of theBritish legation saying that he wishes to see you, for that the SignoraPercival has written to him to say that she is anxious to learn more ofthe last days of her husband, and is willing to pay your expenses toEngland and to give you fifty pounds for your services, if you would bewilling to go to her for a few days. I regard this as a fortunatecircumstance. The woman's husband and her father have been constantenemies of the kingdom. Percival was a bosom friend of Garibaldi; herfather was also his friend, though not to the same degree. Ever sincethey established themselves in England his family, who are unfortunatelyrich, have befriended Italian exiles.
"Forli was acquainted with all his compatriots in London, who, likehimself, were men of education and position, and had escaped fromjustice. In that house any plot that was on foot, especially ifGaribaldi was a leading spirit in it, would certainly be known. No doubtthe loss of her husband will make this woman more inveterate against usthan ever. I have often wished that I could establish an agent in herhouse, to keep me informed of what was going on there, who visited it,whether any meetings and consultations were held there, from whom theyreceived letters, and the purport of them, but I have never before seenmy way to it. The woman Forli is herself English, and consequently sinceher husband's death no Italian servants have been kept in the house.This letter gives me the opportunity I have desired. I wish you to go tothe British legation, and to express your willingness to accept theoffer that is made, and if possible to obtain a situation in the house.
"You could represent that you were anxious to obtain a place of any kindin England, for that, owing to the part that you have taken in thesearch for Percival's body--a search which brought about the death ofthe brigand Rapini and the breaking up of his band--your life was nolonger safe there from the vengeance of his associates. You can say thatbefore you became a courier you were in the service of several noblefamilies--of course you will be provided with excellenttestimonials--and as it was your zeal in her late husband's behalf thathad brought you into this strait, it is quite possible that she mayoffer you a post in the household. You can declare that you do notdesire high wages, but simply a shelter. You will, of course, reportyourself on arriving in London to the head of our secret agents there,and will act generally under his directions. I need not say that youwill be well paid."
"I will gladly accept the mission, signor, for, to say the truth, I amnot without some apprehensions such as you suggest. I have changed myappearance a good deal; still, I cannot flatter myself that I could notbe detected by any one on the search for me, and I do think that some ofRapini's band, knowing that I was with the carabinieri, may have vowedvengeance on me; and, as you know, signor, a man so threatened cannotcalculate on a very long life."
"That is so, Beppo. Then we may consider the matter settled. If youcannot succeed in obtaining a position in the house of this family, Ishall instruct my agent in London to utilise your services there, at anyrate for the next six months. After that time you may return withoutmuch risk, for when it is found that you have disappeared from all yourformer haunts, the search for you is not likely to last long. At anyrate, you might as well mention to those who have known you as acourier, that you intend to establish yourself either in Paris orBerlin. For as you speak both French and German as well as English, thatwould in any case be the course that a prudent man would adopt, afterbeing mixed up in an affair that ended badly for the brigands. Well, inthe first place, you had better go at once to the legation and accepttheir terms. Come here at eleven o'clock to-morrow, and I will give youfurther instructions."
Thus it happened that when Frank came home next time from school, he wassurprised at having the door opened to him by a grave-looking servant inplain clothes, who said in English, with a very slight foreign accent:"The Signora Percival is in the drawing-room, sir. I will see to yourbaggage and settle with the cabman."
"Whom have you got hold of now, mother?" he said, after the firstgreeting--"an Italian? Isn't he a fearfully respectable-looking man?Looks like a clergyman got up as a valet."
"He was your dear father's courier, Frank. I sent for him to come overhere, as I wished to learn all about your father's last days. The poorfellow was in fear of his life, owing to the evidence that he had givenagainst the brigands. William had given me notice that he was going toleave only the day before; and as Beppo had served in several noblefamilies, who had given him splendid testimonials, and was afraid toreturn to Italy, I was very glad to take him in William's place,especially as he only asked the same wages I paid before. I congratulatemyself on the change, for he is quite the beau-ideal of a servant--veryquiet in the house, ready to do anything, gets on well with the otherservants, and is able to talk in their own language to any of hiscountrymen who come here, either as visitors or as exiles in need ofassistance. He has, indeed, saved me more than once from impostors; hehas listened to their stories, and having been a courier, and knowingevery town in Italy, on questioning them he found out that their wholestory was a lie."
"That is all right, mother; if you like him, that is everything. I ownthat I liked William; I am sorry that he has gone. I shall be some timegetting accustomed to this chap, for he certainly is fearfully grave andrespectable."