CHAPTER XXIX
THE NIGHT-RIDE
The villa of the Princess Paulina was one of those soft, idyllicparadises which lie like so many fairy-lands around the dreamysolitudes of Rome. They are so fair, so wild, so still, these villas!Nature in them seems to run in such gentle sympathy with Art, thatone feels as if they had not been so much the product of human skillas some indigenous growth of Arcadian ages. There are quaint terracesshadowed by clipped ilex-trees, whose branches make twilight even inthe sultriest noon; there are long-drawn paths, through wildernesseswhere cyclamens blossom in crimson clouds among crushed fragmentsof sculptured marble green with the moss of ages, and glossy-leavedmyrtles put forth their pale blue stars in constellations under theleafy shadows. Everywhere is the voice of water, ever lulling, everbabbling, and taught by Art to run in many a quaint caprice,--hereto rush down marble steps slippery with sedgy green, there to spoutup in silvery spray, and anon to spread into a cool, waveless lake,whose mirror reflects trees and flowers far down in some visionaryunderworld. Then there are wide lawns, where the grass in spring is aperfect rainbow of anemones, white, rose, crimson, purple, mottled,streaked, and dappled with ever varying shade of sunset clouds. Thereare soft, moist banks where purple and white violets grow largeand fair, and trees all interlaced with ivy, which runs and twineseverywhere, intermingling its dark, graceful leaves and vivid youngshoots with the bloom and leafage of all shadowy places.
In our day, these lovely places have their dark shadow ever hauntingtheir loveliness: the malaria, like an unseen demon, lies hid in theirsweetness. And in the time we are speaking of, a curse not less deadlypoisoned the beauties of the Princess's villa,--the malaria of fear.
The graveled terrace in front of the villa commanded, through theclipped arches of the ilex-trees, the Campagna with its soft,undulating bands of many-colored green, and the distant city of Rome,whose bells were always filling the air between with a tremulousvibration. Here, during the long sunny afternoon while Elsie and Monicawere crooning together on the steps of the church, the Princess Paulinawalked restlessly up and down, looking forth on the way towards thecity for the travelers whom she expected.
Father Francesco had been there that morning and communicated to herthe dying message of the aged Capuchin, from which it appeared thatthe child who had so much interested her was her near kinswoman.Perhaps, had her house remained at the height of its power andsplendor, she might have rejected with scorn the idea of a kinswomanwhose existence had been owing to a _mesalliance_; but a member ofan exiled and disinherited family, deriving her only comfort fromunworldly sources, she regarded this event as an opportunity affordedher to make expiation for one of the sins of her house. The beauty andwinning graces of her young kinswoman were not without their influencein attracting a lonely heart deprived of the support of naturalties. The Princess longed for something to love, and the discoveryof a legitimate object of family affection was an event in the wearymonotony of her life; and therefore it was that the hours of theafternoon seemed long while she looked forth towards Rome, listening tothe ceaseless chiming of its bells, and wondering why no one appearedalong the road.
The sun went down, and all the wide plain seemed like the sea attwilight, lying in rosy and lilac and purple shadowy bands, out ofwhich rose the old city, solemn and lonely as some enchanted island ofdreamland, with a flush of radiance behind it and a tolling of weirdmusic filling all the air around. Now they are chanting the Ave Mariain hundreds of churches, and the Princess worships in distant accord,and tries to still the anxieties of her heart with many a prayer.Twilight fades and fades, the Campagna becomes a black sea, and thedistant city looms up like a dark rock against the glimmering sky,and the Princess goes within and walks restlessly through the widehalls, stopping first at one open window and then at another to listen.Beneath her feet she treads a cool mosaic pavement where laughingCupids are dancing. Above, from the ceiling, Aurora and the Hours lookdown in many-colored clouds of brightness. The sound of the fountainswithout is so clear in the intense stillness that the peculiar voiceof each one can be told. That is the swaying noise of the great jetthat rises from marble shells and falls into a wide basin, wheresilvery swans swim round and round in enchanted circles; and the otherslenderer sound is the smaller jet that rains down its spray into theviolet-borders deep in the shrubbery; and that other, the shallowbabble of the waters that go down the marble steps to the lake. Howdreamlike and plaintive they all sound in the night stillness! Thenightingale sings from the dark shadows of the wilderness; and themusky odors of the cyclamen come floating ever and anon through thecasement, in that strange, cloudy way in which flower scents seem tocome and go in the air in the night season.
At last the Princess fancies she hears the distant tramp of horses'feet, and her heart beats so that she can scarcely listen: now shehears it,--and now a rising wind, sweeping across the Campagna, seemsto bear it moaning away. She goes to a door and looks out into thedarkness. Yes, she hears it now, quick and regular,--the beat ofmany horses' feet coming in hot haste along the road. Surely the fewservants whom she has sent cannot make all this noise! and she trembleswith vague affright. Perhaps it is a tyrannical message, bringingimprisonment and death. She calls a maid, and bids her bring lightsinto the reception-hall. A few moments more, and there is a confusedstamping of horses' feet approaching the house, and she hears thevoices of her servants. She runs into the piazza, and sees dismountinga knight who carries Agnes in his arms pale and fainting. Old Elsie andMonica, too, dismount, with the Princess's men-servants; but, wonderfulto tell, there seems besides them to be a train of some hundred armedhorsemen.
The timid Princess was so fluttered and bewildered that she lost allpresence of mind, and stood in uncomprehending wonder, while Monicapushed authoritatively into the house, and beckoned the knight to bringAgnes and lay her on a sofa, when she and old Elsie busied themselvesvigorously with restoratives.
The Lady Paulina, as soon as she could collect her scattered senses,recognized in Agostino the banished lord of the Sarelli family, a racewho had shared with her own the hatred and cruelty of the Borgia tribe;and he in turn had recognized a daughter of the Colonnas. He drew heraside into a small boudoir adjoining the apartment.
"Noble lady," he said, "we are companions in misfortune, and so, Itrust, you will pardon what seems a tumultuous intrusion on yourprivacy. I and my men came to Rome in disguise, that we might watchover and protect this poor innocent, who now finds asylum with you."
"My Lord," said the Princess, "I see in this event the wonderfulworking of the good God. I have but just learned that this youngperson is my near kinswoman; it was only this morning that the factwas certified to me on the dying confession of a holy Capuchin,who privately united my brother to her mother. The marriage was anindiscretion of his youth; but afterwards he fell into more grievoussin in denying the holy sacrament, and leaving his wife to die inmisery and dishonor, and perhaps for this fault such great judgmentsfell upon him. I wish to make atonement in such sort as is yet possibleby acting as a mother to this child."
"The times are so troublous and uncertain," said Agostino, "that shemust have stronger protection than that of any woman. She is of a mostholy and religious nature, but as ignorant of sin as an angel who neverhas seen anything out of heaven; and so the Borgias enticed her intotheir impure den, from which, God helping, I have saved her. I triedall I could to prevent her coming to Rome, and to convince her of thevileness that ruled here; but the poor little one could not believe me,and thought me a heretic only for saying what she now knows from herown senses."
The Lady Paulina shuddered with fear.
"Is it possible that you have come into collision with the dreadfulBorgias? What will become of us?"
"I brought a hundred men into Rome in different disguises," saidAgostino, "and we gained over a servant in their household, throughwhom I entered and carried her off. Their men pursued us, and we had afight in the streets, but for the moment we mustered more than they.Some of
them chased us a good distance. But it will not do for us toremain here. As soon as she is revived enough, we must retreat towardsone of our fastnesses in the mountains, whence, when rested, we shallgo northward to Florence, where I have powerful friends, and she hasalso an uncle, a holy man, by whose counsels she is much guided."
"You must take me with you," said the Princess, in a tremor of anxiety."Not for the world would I stay, if it be known you have taken refugehere. For a long time their spies have been watching about me; theyonly wait for some occasion to seize upon my villa, as they have onthe possessions of all my father's house. Let me flee with you. I havea brother-in-law in Florence who hath often urged me to escape to himtill times mend,--for, surely, God will not allow the wicked to bearrule forever."
"Willingly, noble lady, will we give you our escort,--the more so thatthis poor child will then have a friend with her beseeming her father'srank. Believe me, lady, she will do no discredit to her lineage.She was trained in a convent, and her soul is a flower of marvelousbeauty. I must declare to you here that I have wooed her honorably tobe my wife, and she would willingly be so, had not some scruples of areligious vocation taken hold on her, to dispel which I look for theaid of the holy father, her uncle."
"It would be a most fit and proper thing," said the Princess, "thus toally our houses, in hope of some good time to come which shall restoretheir former standing and possessions. Of course some holy man mustjudge of the obstacle interposed by her vocation; but I doubt not theChurch will be an indulgent mother in a case where the issue seems sodesirable."
"If I be married to her," said Agostino, "I can take her out of allthese strifes and confusions which now agitate our Italy to the courtof France, where I have an uncle high in favor with the King, and whowill use all his influence to compose these troubles in Italy, andbring about a better day."
While this conversation was going on, bountiful refreshments had beenprovided for the whole party, and the attendants of the Princessreceived orders to pack all her jewels and valuable effects for asudden journey.
As soon as preparations could be made, the whole party left the villaof the Princess for a retreat in the Alban Mountains, where Agostinoand his band had one of their rendezvous. Only the immediate femaleattendants of the Princess, and one or two men-servants, left with her.The silver plate, and all objects of particular value, were buried inthe garden. This being done, the keys of the house were intrusted to agray-headed servant, who with his wife had grown old in the family.
It was midnight before everything was ready for starting. The moon castsilver gleams through the ilex-avenues, and caused the jet of the greatfountain to look like a wavering pillar of cloudy brightness, whenthe Princess led forth Agnes upon the wide veranda. Two gentle, yetspirited little animals from the Princess's stables were there awaitingthem, and they were lifted into their saddles by Agostino.
"Fear nothing, Madam," he said, observing how the hands of the Princesstrembled; "a few hours will put us in perfect safety, and I shall be atyour side constantly."
Then lifting Agnes to her seat, he placed the reins in her hand.
"Are you rested?" he asked.
It was the first time since her rescue that he had spoken to Agnes. Thewords were brief, but no expressions of endearment could convey morethan the manner in which they were spoken.
"Yes, my Lord," said Agnes firmly, "I am rested."
"You think you can bear the ride?"
"I can bear anything, so I escape," she said.
The company were now all mounted, and were marshaled in regular order.A body of armed men rode in front; then came Agnes and the Princess,with Agostino between them, while two or three troopers rode on eitherside; Elsie, Monica, and the servants of the Princess followed closebehind, and the rear was brought up in like manner by armed men.
The path wound first through the grounds of the villa, with its platsof light and shade, its solemn groves of stone-pines rising likepalm-trees high in air above the tops of all other trees, its terracesand statues and fountains,--all seeming so lovely in the midnightstillness.
"Perhaps I am leaving all this forever," said the Princess.
"Let us hope for the best," said Agostino. "It cannot be that Godwill suffer the seat of the Apostles to be subjected to such ignominyand disgrace much longer. I am amazed that no Christian kings haveinterfered before for the honor of Christendom. I have it from the bestauthority that the King of Naples burst into tears when he heard of theelection of this wretch to be Pope. He said that it was a scandal whichthreatened the very existence of Christianity. He has sent me secretmessages divers times expressive of sympathy, but he is not of himselfstrong enough. Our hope must lie either in the King of France or theEmperor of Germany: perhaps both will engage. There is now a most holymonk in Florence who has been stirring all hearts in a wonderful way.It is said that the very gifts of miracles and prophecy are revived inhim, as among the holy Apostles, and he has been bestirring himself tohave a General Council of the Church to look into these matters. When Ileft Florence, a short time ago, the faction opposed to him broke intothe convent and took him away. I myself was there."
"What!" said Agnes, "did they break into the convent of the San Marco?My uncle is there."
"Yes, and he and I fought side by side with the mob who were rushingin."
"Uncle Antonio fight!" said Agnes, in astonishment.
"Even women will fight, when what they love most is attacked," said theknight.
He turned to her, as he spoke, and saw in the moonlight a flash fromher eye, and an heroic expression on her face, such as he had neverremarked before; but she said nothing. The veil had been rudely tornfrom her eyes; she had seen with horror the defilement and impurityof what she had ignorantly adored in holy places, and the revelationseemed to have wrought a change in her whole nature.
"Even you could fight, Agnes," said the knight, "to save your religionfrom disgrace."
"No," said she; "but," she added, with gathering firmness, "I coulddie. I should be glad to die with and for the holy men who would savethe honor of the true faith. I should like to go to Florence to myuncle. If he dies for his religion, I should like to die with him."
"Ah, live to teach it to me!" said the knight, bending towards her, asif to adjust her bridle-rein, and speaking in a voice scarcely audible.In a moment he was turned again towards the Princess, listening to her.
"So it seems," she said, "that we shall be running into the thick ofthe conflict in Florence."
"Yes, but my uncle hath promised that the King of France shallinterfere. I have hope something may even now have been done. I hope toeffect something myself."
Agostino spoke with the cheerful courage of youth. Agnes glancedtimidly up at him. How great the change in her ideas! No longer lookingon him as a wanderer from the fold, an enemy of the Church, he seemednow in the attitude of a champion of the faith, a defender of holymen and things against a base usurpation. What injustice had she donehim, and how patiently had he borne that injustice! Had he not soughtto warn her against the danger of venturing into that corrupt city?Those words which so much shocked her, against which she had shut herears, were all true; she had found them so; she could doubt no longer.And yet he had followed her, and saved her at the risk of his life.Could she help loving one who had loved her so much, one so noble andheroic? Would it be a sin to love him? She pondered the dark warningsof Father Francesco, and then thought of the cheerful, fervent pietyof her old uncle. How warm, how tender, how life-giving had been hispresence always! how full of faith and prayer, how fruitful of heavenlywords and thoughts had been all his ministrations!--and yet it was forhim and with him and his master that Agostino Sarelli was fighting,and against him the usurping head of the Christian Church. Then therewas another subject for pondering during this night-ride. The secretof her birth had been told her by the Princess, who claimed her askinswoman. It had seemed to her at first like the revelations of adream; but as she rode and reflected, gradually the idea shaped itse
lfin her mind. She was, in birth and blood, the equal of her lover, andhenceforth her life would no more be in that lowly plane where it hadalways moved. She thought of the little orange-garden at Sorrento, ofthe gorge with its old bridge, the Convent, the sisters, with a sort oftender, wondering pain. Perhaps she should see them no more. In thisnew situation she longed once more to see and talk with her old uncle,and to have him tell her what were her duties.
Their path soon began to be a wild clamber among the mountains, nowlost in the shadow of groves of gray, rustling olives, whose knotted,serpent roots coiled round the rocks, and whose leaves silvered inthe moonlight whenever the wind swayed them. Whatever might be theroughness and difficulties of the way, Agnes found her knight ever ather bridle-rein, guiding and upholding, steadying her in her saddlewhen the horse plunged down short and sudden descents, and wrappingher in his mantle to protect her from the chill mountain-air. Whenthe day was just reddening in the sky, the whole troop made a suddenhalt before a square stone tower which seemed to be a portion of aruined building, and here some of the men dismounting knocked at anarched door. It was soon swung open by a woman with a lamp in her hand,the light of which revealed very black hair and eyes, and heavy goldear-rings.
"Have my directions been attended to?" said Agostino, in a tone ofcommand. "Are there places made ready for these ladies to sleep?"
"There are, my Lord," said the woman, obsequiously, "the best we couldget ready on so short a notice."
Agostino came up to the Princess. "Noble Madam," he said, "you willvalue safety before all things; doubtless the best that can be donehere is but poor, but it will give you a few hours for repose where youmay be sure of being in perfect safety."
So saying, he assisted her and Agnes to dismount, and Elsie andMonica also alighting, they followed the woman into a dark stonepassage and up some rude stone steps. She opened at last the door of abrick-floored room, where beds appeared to have been hastily prepared.There was no furniture of any sort except the beds. The walls weredusty and hung with cobwebs. A smaller apartment opening into this hadbeds for Elsie and Monica.
The travelers, however, were too much exhausted with their night-rideto be critical; the services of disrobing and preparing for rest werequickly concluded, and in less than an hour all were asleep, whileAgostino was busy concerting the means for an immediate journey toFlorence.