CHAPTER TWENTY ONE.
Ada Garden sat in the chamber of the tower which had been awarded to heras her prison. Her Maltese attendant had accompanied young Mila to ashort distance from the castle--but she was not alone. A figure kneltat her feet in the attitude of the deepest devotion; his head was boweddown to the ground, and sobs burst from his bosom:--it was the youngItalian, whom we have known under the name of Paolo.
"Oh, hear me, lady!" he exclaimed passionately,--"oh, hear me, beforeyou dismiss me for ever from your presence. I cannot unsay what I havesaid--I have dared to tell you that I love you with the fondest, thedeepest devotion--I have done so from the first moment I saw you; buthear my excuses. I felt myself alone and desolate in the world; Ibeheld you, bright, innocent, and beautiful, exposed, I knew, to themost dreadful danger, and I determined to save you at all risks. I knewnot then that it was love--I thought it was compassion for one so fair.I saw you brought on board the pirate vessel, the accursed _Sea Hawk_,unconscious of your state. My medical knowledge would, I knew, be ofservice: I suggested that your life hung on a thread, that the slightestagitation might destroy you, and I so worked on the fears of themiscreant chief, that I persuaded him to confide you entirely into mycharge. I ventured even to administer a narcotic, to render youinsensible when Zappa wished to see you, and to frighten him still moreinto the belief that you were on the point of death. Day after day Isaw you, I felt that your safety depended on me, that I might even yetbe the means of rescuing you from the thraldom under which you areplaced, and day after day my love increased--I have fed upon it till ithas become a part of my very existence, and can end but with my life.Then tell me, lady--tell me, how could you expect me to do otherwisethan confess the love which is consuming me? I do not ask yet for areturn of my devotion--I do not expect it till I have accomplished farmore than I yet have done to deserve it; but yet, I do say, when my taskis fulfilled--when I have placed you in safety, and can surround youwith the luxuries to which you are accustomed--when I can restore you toyour proper station in life, that must be my reward, or I will place adagger in your hand, and bid you strike home to my heart; for that wouldbe the only other boon I would ask of you--the only other happiness Icould enjoy."
Ada looked at the unhappy young man with compassion, and her bosomheaved with emotion; for she saw the sincerity of his passion, and itgrieved her heart to wound his feelings; but yet, she could not deceivehim.
"Signor, I cannot blame you. I do not complain of your addressing me inwords of love, however much I am grieved to hear them. I am gratefulfor all you have done for me--I would endeavour to prove to you, had Ithe power, how grateful I am, and for all you purpose doing for me. Ifeel that to you I owe my preservation from dangers too dreadful tocontemplate. I venture to entreat you still to exert your generousefforts to aid me, and to enable me to return to my friends; and yet Itell you that I cannot give you more than my deep, my everlastinggratitude. My love, signor, were it a worthy recompense for yourexertions, I have not to give--my heart as well as my troth belongs toanother."
The fierce passions which rest in the bosoms of the inhabitants of thosesouthern climes, have far more powerful effects than any similaremotions on the less sensitively constituted frames of the northernnations. Scarcely had Ada uttered these words, than, casting a glanceat her features, as if to ascertain that he heard aright, and was not insome frightful dream, the young Italian fell prostrate on his facebefore her. Horrified and trembling, she gazed at him without moving,for she thought he was dead; but at length as she stepped over him, hisheavy breathing assured her that he still lived, and she exerted all herstrength to raise him, as she was afraid, for his sake, to call any oneto her assistance. A jar of water was in the room, and she dashed someof its contents over his face, and placed him so that the air from thewindow might come in and revive him. It was now her turn to act thepart of guardian angel; and Captain Fleetwood would have pardoned her,as she bent over him, had she felt as a sister for the pale and unhappyyouth before her. At last her efforts were crowned with success. Heopened his eyes and gazed at her with a look to which intelligence soonreturned. As he did so, he endeavoured to rise; but the agitation ofhis feelings had been too violent to allow him so quickly to recover,and he again sank down on the ground, where he remained for someminutes, endeavouring to regain his scattered thoughts.
"Where am I? What dreadful event has occurred?" he at length muttered."Methought some demon came with lightning in his hand to blast thelovely prospect which an angel had opened to my view."
He was silent--the sound of his own voice had the effect of restoringhim to his senses. He rose, though with difficulty, and stood beforeher, supporting himself by a chair.
"Pardon me, lady," he said, his voice still faltering as he spoke; "Ihave been weak, and have acted wrongly, madly, I own it. The words Ihave uttered I should not have spoken till you were free, and had nolonger more to expect from me; but oh, forget them--learn to look uponme as before I committed that fatal error. I ask no recompense for whatI have done, I ask none for what I may do. All I entreat you is, toallow me to serve you faithfully--to obey your behests, whatever theymay be, even though to do so break my very heart-strings. Lady, foryour sake I would preserve my rival, even though the next instant I wereto see you clasped in his arms."
Ada was moved, and she held out her hand to the young man; for though toEnglish ears his language might appear overstrained, and his sentimentsexaggerated and unnatural, for an Italian she knew it was composed andrational, and it gave her confidence in the sincerity of hisprofessions.
"I trust you, signor," she answered, struggling to keep down her ownemotion. "Believe me, you have my sincerest regard, and I were, indeed,base not to feel the deepest gratitude. Remember, then, that I rely onyou to serve me whenever I may ask you, and place my safety and hope ofultimate escape in your hands."
"And it shall not be misplaced," answered Paolo. "But, lady, I havelonged to banish from your mind the prejudice you must naturallyentertain against me, at seeing me in this island, with such company;but believe me that it is sorely against my will. I am here bycompulsion, a prisoner like yourself, though with more apparent liberty.To comprehend it I must tell you my unhappy history, which I would longago have done, had I had the opportunity; but I feared to do so inpresence of your attendant, on whose discretion I knew not if I couldrely; and I have also, lately, been so closely watched by my oppressor,Zappa, that I have been unable to visit you when I thought you might bealone. If you will now, lady, listen to me, it will serve to calm myspirits, and will contribute towards placing me in the position I wouldenjoy in your estimation."
Ada assured him that even when her suspicions as to the character of the_Sea Hawk_ had been excited, she could not suppose that he was as guiltyas those with whom she found him associated, although she had notbelieved him altogether as blameless as she should be rejoiced to findthat he in reality was.
"Thanks, lady, thanks, you already relieve my heart of a great weight,by saying so," he exclaimed, checking the passionate expression whichwas stealing into his tone and manner. "To convince you further thatyou did me but justice, I will give you a brief outline of my history:--
"You see before you the last remnant of an old, and noble, and oncepowerful family. My fathers were lords of a broad domain in theneighbourhood of Brindisi, among the wild and rugged mountains whichform the eastern spur of the Appenines, and abut on the shores of theAdriatic. They first rose and flourished in the days when the sword ofthe strong hand could win lands and power, and when, whatever was lostby the extravagance or folly of one, was easily replaced by the braveryand daring of his successor. But in later years, although the formermeans of repairing their damaged property no longer existed, yet, stillwith rather frequent succession, a Lord of Montifalcone would assume thefamily honours, who failed not to squander away property which he had nomeans of replacing. Estate after estate was sold for severalgenerations, till, at last, my father
found himself the heir to ahalf-ruined castle on the borders of the ocean, and a few thousand acresof unproductive land in the same neighbourhood. My mother, who is now asaint in heaven, was as much so as a mortal can be when on earth; andalthough my noble father inherited much of the true pride of ancientancestry, he was free from the folly and vice of his predecessors, andhe resolved to exert all his energies in repairing his broken fortunes,and to hand down a fair estate to his progeny.
"By prudence and economy, he in a great manner, succeeded in doing so;and as he considered that idleness had been the cause of the ruin hisancestors had wrought on the family, he determined to give all his ownchildren professions, which should afford them employment, and the meansof support, despising the spirit which considered any employment besidesthat of arms beneath the dignity of a noble.
"My eldest brother was, accordingly, educated to the profession of thelaw, while I studied that of medicine. I had three sisters, all equallylovely, and endued, apparently, with the same amiable qualities. Theeldest married young, and went to live in the neighbourhood of Naples;the second died; and the history of the third is closely interwoven withmine. By husbanding his resources, and carefully attending to thenature of the soil, my father had so improved the farms on his estate,that their produce was increased threefold; and as he spent the greaterpart of the income arising from it in still further improving it,devoting only what was absolutely necessary for the education of hissons, the produce went on increasing, to the surprise of all hisneighbours.
"The castle had been put in sufficient repair, to make a suitableresidence for the family, and thither, during the time my brother and Icould escape from our professional studies, we eagerly hastened to spendit in the society of those to whom we were ardently attached. Ourgreatest favourite, if we loved one more than the other, was our sisterNina, for she was the youngest. She was the most fascinating andlovely, though we confessed that if she had a fault, her disposition wastoo yielding and confiding--guileless herself, she could not credit thatguile existed in others. Hers was one of those characters which, fromits very innocence, would be held more sacred in the eyes of an upright,honourable man, though it exposes its possessor to be made the dupe ofthe designing villain. One might have supposed that our remote andquiet home would have been free from the accursed presence of such aone. Never was a family more united or more happy. Our father was inthe enjoyment of vigorous health, and proud of his family, and thesuccess of his laudable projects. Our sainted mother rejoiced when hedid, and their children had a contented present, and could look forwardwith confidence to the future. I have not described the castle in whichwe lived. It was one of great antiquity, though, as it had been addedto, in subsequent years, the walls were mostly sound, and in goodrepair. It stood on the summit of a rocky cliff, overlooking the sea,though of no great height, so that the waves, during a wintry storm,could dash up to the very base, and send showers of the sparkling sprayover the walls. There was a deep moat surrounding it, with a drawbridgeover it; and, besides the main part, which was of great extent, therewere walls with passages through them, and strong towers at each anglewith which they communicated. So numerous and intricate were thepassages, and so dark and dangerous, from their ruined condition, thateven I, a son of the house, had never entirely explored them.
"Inland of the castle was an extensive and now highly-cultivated plain,the property of my father, who could thus from the summit of his towersurvey the greater portion of his estates. Beyond the plain rose rangeabove range of lofty and almost inaccessible mountains which gave acharacter of peculiar wildness to the scenery. Indeed, during thewinter, I have never seen a spot partaking more of savage grandeur thanmy paternal castle; with the stormy ocean roaring on one side, and thecloud-capped Appenines towering to the skies on the other.
"It was my delight as a boy, with my gun in my hand, to hunt the wildchamois among the remote recesses and rugged precipices of the one, orto bound in my light boat over the dancing waves of the other.
"Among such scenes was I born, and I believe they gave a tone to mymind, which subsequent intercourse with the world did not altogetherwear out; and such as may be supposed had a still more powerful effecton the mind of my sisters, who enjoyed less means of having their effectcounteracted.
"One night during the middle of winter, when all the members of thefamily were assembled in the great hall, sitting round the large dish ofburning embers, to keep ourselves warm, chilled as we should otherwisehave been from the effects of a furious gale, which blew across theAdriatic from the snowy mountains of Albania, a report was brought in byone of the farm servants, that a vessel was driving towards a dangerousreef of rocks, which ran out to sea, at a short distance from thesouthward of the castle. My brother and I seized our hats and cloaks,and bidding the rest of the family not to be alarmed for our safety, werushed out to see what assistance we might render to the hapless crew ofthe vessel, should any of them escape alive. She was still at somelittle distance, and apparently not aware of the imminence of herdanger, for she was firing guns of distress to call those on the shoreto her assistance, as if, in the situation she was placed, any human aidcould be afforded her. The sea was running to a prodigious height, anddashing with the wildest fury on the rocky shore, and not a boat we hadever seen could have lived in it an instant. The wind too blew in awfulgusts, so that we frequently could scarcely stand, and it sent the foamflying over us in showers, till we were drenched with it to the skin, aswe passed along to the edge of the cliff; on our way to the spot nearwhich we judged the hapless vessel would strike the rocks. We hadcollected as many of our people as we could find, and were supplied withropes and spars to enable us to save the lives of any, should they bewashed on shore from the wreck.
"Now, mark me, lady, we believed that we were performing a trulyChristian and virtuous act, and yet it was the cause of all thesubsequent misery! and those I loved far better than myself endured. Wewere hastening to preserve from destruction the accursed viper who wasto sting us to death. Thus, Heaven ordained it should be, and its waysare dark and intricate, beyond my comprehension, for surely it isagainst all the rules one can conceive of justice that a virtuous actionshould be thus rewarded. Perhaps you will say that His ways areinscrutable, and, that as we have neither the power, nor have we theright to attempt to read them, so we should not venture to cavil at Hisordinances, but humbly believe that the ultimate result will be for ourbenefit. I believe it is so, lady; or it may be for a punishment; butit is bitter, very bitter, oftentimes to bear. But I am wandering frommy story. We could watch the progress of the fated vessel by theoccasional flashes of her guns, and the still more vivid ones of thelightning which darted from the dark clouds, and we could see that shestill had some sail set, with which she was endeavouring to haul off theshore. On she flew, plunging madly into the foaming waves, when, justas we reached the beach, she was lifted on the summit of a sea, andcrashed downward on the reef. We fancied that we could hear thedespairing shriek of the hapless mariners above the loud roar of thewaters as the wild waves dashed over them, and their barque partedbeneath their feet. A second flash revealed to us the masts falling bythe board, and every timber and plank upheaving amid the foam--anothercame, and not a vestige of the vessel remained. We were about to leavethe spot, from feeling how hopeless was the prospect of saving the livesof any of those who had the misfortune to be on board, for we believedthat not one could have survived an instant after the vessel had struck,when the men who were with us asserted that they saw some of the wreckdrifting towards us; and directly afterwards a chest and some plankswere cast within their reach, and hauled on shore.
"This encouraged us to remain; and some other chests and boxes, bales ofsilk, and parts of the wreck, quickly followed. My brother and I hadbeen endeavouring to pierce the darkness with our eyes, to discover ifany of our fellow-creatures were floating among the remnants of theirlate home, when we perceived a spar driving along the shore, to which itgradually drew near;
and as a more vivid flash of lightning than usualdarted through the air, we were convinced that we saw the figure of aman clinging to it. Calling the men to our assistance, we hurried on tothe spot where we judged he would come on shore. The spar, with itsoccupant, approached us, again to be carried off. We saw that the manwas unable to help himself. My brother and I, fastening ropes round ourwaists, rushed into the water, and striking out against the waves,almost overpowered with their force, we seized the now nearly insensiblebody, just as his grasp had loosened from the spar, and dragged himashore. So completely exhausted was he that, at first, we believed ourexertions had been in vain, and that he was dead; but, on feeling hisheart, we found that he still breathed; and, after looking in vain forthe appearance of any of his late shipmates--though we left some men towatch, should any come on shore--we bore him to the castle. My brotherand I were almost chilled to death with the cold wind, which blewthrough our wet clothes--for we had wrapped up the stranger in ourcloaks--yet, on our reaching home, before we would attend to ourselves,we saw him stripped of his wet garments, and placed him between blanketsin my bed.
"We then hurried off to change our own dripping clothes, leaving him incharge of our mother, who was engaged in pouring some warm liquid downhis throat. When we returned we found that he had much revived, and wasable to speak a little,--though with pain--for he confessed that he hadreceived some severe blows from the pieces of the wreck, and was muchbruised, and otherwise injured.
"I ought to have stated that, on entering the castle, we found that hewas habited in the Greek costume; and that his dress was rich andcostly, as were the ornaments on a dagger and brace of pistols whichstill were fixed in his sash. We were not, therefore, a littleastonished to hear him speak Italian with a pure accent, the reason ofwhich he soon explained, by stating that he had been educated in ourcountry, which he had, indeed, only lately left. At first it had struckme that he seemed restless and uneasy when he heard that our men werestill out for the purpose of assisting those who might come on shore.
"He made minute and constant inquiries whether any of his shipmates hadbeen saved; and when he was informed that the men had returned, andreported their belief that he was the only survivor of the whole ship'scompany, though he at first gave way to expressions of great grief, hevery soon recovered his composure, nor did he show further that he feltany regret at their loss.
"As he was very much hurt, I was afraid of fever setting in, which mighthave proved fatal; and I therefore forbade him to engage inconversation, and gave him such remedies as I thought would proveeffectual in allaying it. It did not, however, do so entirely; and forsome days he suffered severely.
"I sat by his side, and watched over him with the greatest care--inwhich work I was aided by my sisters--who were in constant attendance onhim when I was called away. When he had slightly recovered, he told us,without our questioning him on the subject, that the vessel which hadbeen lost belonged to the Greek patriot navy, which was just thenforming, from those ports which had succeeded in throwing off theTurkish yoke, and that he was simply a junior officer on board, as hehad not, indeed, had any great length of experience on the sea--thoughthat, with regard to rank and family, he was equal to any in his nativeland.
"He then told us that he had been educated at the university of Pisa;and when he mentioned the name of Argiri Caramitzo, my elder brother,who had been there, recollected fully hearing much of him, though itstruck him that he bore the character of a wild and thoughtless youth.His ultimate recovery was slow, for the injuries he had received werevery severe. As, in our economical system of housekeeping, we had fewpersonal attendants, my mother and sisters were more constantly at theside of the sick stranger's couch than would otherwise, probably, havebeen the case; at the same time that it would have been contrary to ournotions of hospitality to leave him much to the care of menials.Indeed, his conversation was so sparkling and lively--so full ofanecdote of his varied intercourse with the world--and his manners wereso courteous--and his expressions were so full of gratitude, that theyfelt themselves amply recompensed for their attendance by thegratification they experienced in his society--especially my youngersister, to whom the great world he painted was new, and strange, andwonderful.
"My brother and I were not so much captivated by the attractions of thehandsome stranger as were the rest of the family; at the same time Iconfess that, by his cordiality and evident anxiety to win me over, andto show his sense of the obligation he was under to me for thepreservation of his life, he managed to gain my regard, if not myaffection--indeed, I could not place that perfect confidence in himwhich I should have desired; as I frequently, in his less guardedmoments, heard him express sentiments which were totally at variancewith those he led my family to suppose he possessed. I had, however, nodoubt of the account he gave of himself--as it was corroborated in onepoint by the numbers of bodies washed on shore habited in the Greekcostume. To return to the night of the wreck, or rather the morningsucceeding it. When he heard that none of his shipmates had escaped, heentreated us to exert ourselves in preserving from plunder such chestsand boxes as came on shore, as he said he trusted that, as Providencehad saved him, it had preserved his property also, and that he shouldhope to find his own chest among the rest; and he promised, after havingexamined them, to give the remainder up to those who had found them.This wish, of course, seemed very natural, and several boxes which werediscovered were conveyed to the castle. It was more difficult toaccount for a number of bales, and pieces of silk and cloth, which droveon shore entangled with the seaweed; but when he heard of it, he statedthat they had fallen in just before with a foundering merchantman, andthat this was probably some of her cargo.
"His first care on recovering was to examine the chests, which he tookan opportunity of doing without any witnesses. One he claimed as hisown, and he showed us that it contained several rich Greek dresses,which he begged might be cleaned and dried. The remainder of the boxeshad been thoroughly ransacked for the purpose, as I since have reason toknow, of destroying any papers which might betray the character of hisship; and also to remove some bags of treasure which he knew theycontained. He thus became possessed of considerable wealth, and thesurest means of accomplishing any object he might have in view. As hepartially recovered his strength, he would wander out with my mother orsisters to the sheltered garden within the walls of the castle, andafterwards to one which was situated on the outer side of the moat, andwhich contained orange and apple, and other productive trees. The timewas approaching when my brother would be compelled to return to hispractice, and I to my studies at the university. Before, however, wewent, our guest was able to accompany me on a short excursion into themountains. He seemed to enjoy it, though he was much too fatigued, hesaid, again to attempt so long an expedition. This observation led meto suppose that he had no present intention of quitting the castle. Heexpressed his regret at my intended departure, and assured me that hehoped to return again at some future period to thank me more than he hadhitherto done for the service I had rendered him. A day or twoafterwards, thinking the change would benefit him, I invited him toaccompany me on the water; the sea was calm, the sun shone bright, andthe air was almost as balmy as in summer. I mention the circumstancefor the purpose of introducing the conversation which ensued, as we satat the stern of the boat rowed by two sturdy fishermen.
"`So, Signor Paolo,' he said, `I understand that you are studying thescience of medicine--a very important one, though but little understoodin my country.'
"My answers are immaterial, so I will not repeat them.
"`A somewhat dull life, though, you are destined to lead, if you are tobe shut up in one of the smaller cities of Italy, and employed intending old dowagers and sick babies. I should have thought that suchan occupation were somewhat derogatory to one with the noble blood whichflows through your veins. Each man to his fancy, Signor Paolo. Now,were I to recommend, I should advise you to claim your patrimony fromyour father, and to wander forth and
see the world. Instead ofreturning to your college, accompany me to Greece, where I must soon go;and I will show you some of the glorious sport of war, and introduce youto the land where the arts and sciences flourished when Italy was but adesert. When you grow weary you can return to your studies; but Ipromise you that you will find by far too much excitement and interestin the life you will lead to make you wish to go back to the dullroutine from which I shall have emancipated you.'
"Such was the tenor of his conversation; and though I declined acceptinghis offer, it made an impression which I should not at the time havesupposed possible.
"I had for some time past observed that he seemed to pay more attentionto my youngest sister, Nina, than to the other members of the family,and she used to listen to his words, and to watch his looks with aneagerness which ought to have warned those about her of the too probableresult.
"I, at length, the day before I left home, informed my mother of myfears that the stranger was becoming attached to my sister, andentreated her to be on her guard. She assured me that my alarm wasgroundless; that she had not remarked anything particular in SignorCaramitzo's manner; and that at all events Nina was far too well broughtup to give her affections to one of whom she knew so little. We leftour beloved and happy home--my brother, alas! never to return. We werethe only two of the family the stranger feared; for he saw that we didnot thoroughly trust him.
"Our parents treated him with all the courtesy due to an honoured guest;and it was against all their notions of hospitality to hint to him thatas his strength was re-established, he should take his departure. Henow began his accursed employment of winning and enslaving the pureaffections of my young sister, in order to allure her from her father'shome. He found the task of making her love him, not very difficult, forshe knew nothing of the perfidy of man; but when he first proposed herflying with him, she was startled and horrified, and would have betrayedhim, had he not assured her that he had mentioned the subject merely totry her, and that it was far from his intention to make her do anythingof which she might repent.
"He still continued urging his suit in secret, and winding himselfdeeper and deeper into her affections, till she no longer lived orbreathed, except for his sake. He at last really and truly loved her asmuch as his nature was capable of; and I believe that if any compunctionever visited his mind, it was at what had been his intention with regardto that sweet girl.
"Two weeks after I left the castle a letter reached me, with theinformation that the stranger had taken his departure on board a vesselwhich put into the neighbouring port, and what seriously alarmed me was,that my sister Nina had been seized with a dangerous illness. I wouldhave flown home, but my father forbade me; and the next account spoke ofher recovery--though she remained in a low and melancholy state mostunusual for her. It was at this time my eldest sister married anobleman of high character, greatly to our parents' satisfaction; andsoon afterwards the first misfortune which had yet happened to ourhitherto prosperous family occurred. Our second sister was seized witha mortal malady, which terminated her existence.
"The shock was so great to our mother, worn out as she already was withwatching over Nina, that she could not rally; and she herself fell avictim to the same fatal disease.
"I returned home to find my father prostrate by the double blow. Formonths I anxiously watched over him, and at length, to my great joy, hepartially recovered his health and strength. Nina's spirits appeared tome to have been much restored, her eye brightened, and often her lipswore the same smile as of yore. I never ventured to mention the name ofArgiri Caramitzo to her, nor did she herself ever allude to thecircumstance of his shipwreck and stay at our castle; and I trusted thatshe had banished him from her mind. Such happiness as the world cangive was about, I hoped, to revisit the remnant of our family. Alas!how fallacious were my expectations."