THE LETTERS
It was suddenly lively in the garden. Cecil, Paulo's old servant,approached from the house, with a lantern in his hand.
He comes down the alley with hasty steps, and with an anxiouscountenance approaches his master.
"What is it, Cecil?"
"Two letters, sir, that have just arrived. One comes from the hotelof the Russian legation, and the other from that of the Lord-CardinalBernis."
Paulo shuddered slightly, and his hand involuntarily grasped after thefirst letter, but he suddenly constrained himself, and his glance fellupon Natalie, whose eyes were fixed with curiosity upon the two letters.
"We will first see what the good Cardinal Bernis writes us!" saidCount Paulo, placing the Russian letter in his pocket with apparentindifference.
"Bernis?" asked Natalie. "Is not that the French Cardinal, who is atthe same time a poet, and whom the pope, the great Ganganelli, so dearlyloves?"
"The same," said Paulo, "and besides, the same Cardinal Bernis whomI had months ago promised to allow the pleasure of making youracquaintance! He already knows you, Natalie, although he has never yetseen your fair face; he knows you from what I have told him."
"Oh, let us quickly see what the good cardinal writes!" exclaimedNatalie, clapping her hands with the impatience of a child.
Count Paulo smilingly broke the seal and read the letter.
"You are in truth a witch," said he; "you must have some genius in yourservice, who listens to every wish you express, in order to fulfil itwithout delay! This letter contains an invitation from the cardinal. Hegives a great entertainment to-morrow, and begs of me that I will bringyou to it. The improvisatrice Corilla will also be there!"
"Oh, then I shall see her!" exclaimed the delighted young maiden. "Atlength I shall see a poetess! For we shall go to this entertainment,shall we not, Paulo?"
The count thoughtfully cast down his eyes, and his hand involuntarilysought the letter in his pocket. An expression of deep care and anxietywas visible on his features, and Cecil seemed to divine the thoughts ofhis master, for he also looked anxious, and a deep sigh escaped from hisbreast.--Natalie perceived nothing of all this! She was wholly occupiedby the thought of seeing Corilla, the great improvisatrice, of whomCarlo, Natalie's music-teacher, had told her so much, and whose fame wassounded by children and adults in all the streets of Rome.
"We go to this festival, do we not, Paulo?" repeated she, as the countstill continued silent.
Recovering from his abstraction, he said: "Yes, we will go! It is timethat my Natalie was introduced into this circle of influential Romans,that she may gain friends among people of importance, who may watch overand protect her when I no longer can!"
"You will, then, leave me?" cried the young maiden, turning pale andanxiously grasping the count's arm. "No, Paulo, you cannot do that!Would you leave me because I, a foolish child, desired to go to thisfestival, and was no longer contented with our dear and beautifulsolitude? That was wrong in me, Paulo, as I now plainly see, and Idesire it no longer! Oh, we will prepare other pleasures for ourselveshere in our delightful paradise. You have often called me a poetess,and I will now believe I am, and no longer wish to see another. I willsuffice for myself! Come, I will immediately sing you a song, a festivalsong, my friend!"
And taking her guitar, Natalie struck some joyous accords; but CountPaulo lightly laid his hands upon the strings so as to silence them, anddrawing the tips of her fingers to his lips, with a slight shaking ofhis head, he said: "Not now, my charming poetess, I am not worthy ofhearing you."
"And it is late," added Cecil, coming as it were to the aid of hismaster.
The count rose. "Yes, you are right--it is late," said he, "and I mustnot longer keep Natalie from her slumber. Come, my sweet child, you mustretire; you must sleep, that your brow may beam with blooming freshnessto-morrow!"
Natalie made no answer; with a light sigh she mechanically took thecount's offered arm.
Cecil preceded them with the lantern in his hand. Thus they proceeded upthe alley leading to the villa, all three silent and thoughtful. The skyhad become obscured, a black cloud intercepted the light of the moon,and Natalie's charmed garden was suddenly wrapped in gloom.
A cold shudder ran through her delicate frame.
"A feeling of anxiety has come over me!" she whispered, clinging closeto the count's side.
"Poor child!" said the count. "Are you already oppressed with fear?"
"What if the wall should give way, and bad people should intrude intoour garden! Ah, Marianne says that misfortune lurks everywhere in theworld, lying in ambush for those who think themselves safe, destroyingtheir happiness, and making them wholly miserable; and people only laughand rejoice that another man's hopes have been wrecked! Ah, and Ihave felt so secure in my happiness! If misfortune should now actuallycome--if these walls should prove not high enough to keep it off! Ah,Paulo, protect me from lurking misfortune!"
They had now arrived at the door of the villa. Paulo pressed thetrembling young maiden with paternal tenderness to his breast, and,lightly touching her forehead with his lips, he said: "Good-night, mylove! Sleep gently, and be not anxious! So long as I live, misfortuneshall never approach you! Rest assured of that!"
Thus speaking, he led her into the house, where Marianne was waiting toaccompany her to her chamber.
Natalie silently followed her, but before entering her room she oncemore turned, and, pressing her fingers to her lips, wafted kisses in theair toward her friend.
"Good-night, Paulo!"
"Good-night, Natalie!"
The door closed behind her, and the smile instantly vanished fromPaulo's lips. With impetuous haste, beckoning Cecil to follow him, hestrode through the corridor leading to his own apartments.
When he had arrived there, and Cecil had closed the door behind him, thecount with a deep sigh threw himself upon a chair, whilst Cecil silentlybusied himself in lighting the wax-candles and placing them upon thetable beside his master.
"Will not your grace now read the other letter?" he timidly asked, asCount Paulo still remained buried in his silent reflections.
"Oh, this unblessed letter!" exclaimed the count, with a shudder. "Itell you, Cecil, I feel that it contains misfortune. It has lain witha heavy weight like a nightmare upon my breast and I yet felt not thestrength in me to draw it forth and read it in Natalie's presence!"
"That was well!" said Cecil, "and it was for that reason that I told youin advance that the letter was from Russia, that you might be on yourguard. But now, Sir Count, we are alone, and now you can read it!"
"Yes, away with this childish fear!" cried the count, with resolution."I will be a man, Cecil, and whatever this letter may contain, I willbear it like a man!"
Drawing forth the letter, he broke the seal with a trembling hand, andthrew the cover across the room. Then unfolding the letter, heread. Behind him stood Cecil, involuntarily trembling with anxiousexpectation.
The letter fell from the count's hands, and a deadly paleness spreadover his face, which bore the expression of utter despair.
"Oh, my prophetic soul!" he sighed.
"Your presentiment is then fulfilled!" anxiously asked Cecil.
"Yes, it is fulfilled! My property is sequestrated; they refuse to sendme the money I required; they command my immediate return to Russia, asmy _conge_ has expired and my respite is at an end!"
"And you are lost, my lord, if you do not obey this command!" saidCecil.
"And Natalie?" reproachfully asked the count. "Can I, dare I leave her?"
"She is much safer without than with you! They may not yet suspect whoshe is! It is very possible that it in reality only is because yourleave of absence has expired, as the laws of Russia require that everyabsentee should return to his country once in every four years. Fulfil,therefore, this hard duty. Pretend to suppose that your recall is forno other reason than the renewal of your passport, and the giving youan opportunity to pay your homage to the empress. Appear innoce
nt andunconcerned, and all may yet go well!"
"No," gloomily replied the count, "nothing will go well any more! Thewhole future stands before me in clear and distinct traits--a futurefull of shame and horror! Oh, would it not be better to flee from thatfuture and seek in some remote and hidden valley a place where, perhaps,misfortune cannot reach, nor destruction overtake us!"
"How?" reproachfully asked Cecil. "Is it Count Paulo who speaks thus?Is it the pupil whom I taught to defy misfortune and rise superior todisaster with courageous self-confidence? Is it the son of my heartfor whom I have left all, sacrificed all, for whom I have offered up myfatherland, my freedom, and my independence; whom I shall love until mylast breath? Paulo, pluck up a good heart, my son! You have proposedto yourself a great end, which was only to be reached by thorny anddangerous paths; will you now stop at the first cross-road and returnupon your steps, instead of pressing forward sword in hand! No, no, Iknow you better, my son; this momentary hesitation will pass away, andyou will again be great and strong for the struggle and the victory!"
With a faint smile Count Paulo gave him his hand. "You know not, myfriend, how great is the sacrifice you demand of me!" said he, in asubdued tone. "I must leave Natalie. I must never see her more, nevermore draw consolation from her glance, nor hope from her charming smile!Oh, Cecil, you have not idea of what Natalie is to me; you know not thatI--"
"I know," interposed Cecil, solemnly, "I know that you have sworn uponthe holy book to protect her with your life from every injury; I knowthat you have sworn never to give rest to yourself until you havereinstated her in her inherited rights, and that, until then, she shallbe sacred to you, sacred as a sister, sacred as a daughter whose honoryou will protect and defend against every outrage, against even everysinful thought. That have you sworn, and I know you will hold your wordsacred and keep your oath!"
Count Paulo dropped his head upon his breast and sighed deeply.
"I must therefore leave her!" said he.
"Your own welfare demands it."
"But how is she to live during our absence? Our money will not sufficeto the end. Alas! we had so surely calculated on this remittance from myestates, and now it fails us!"
"We will sell that costly ornament of brilliants which you had destinedas a present for Natalie on her seventeenth birthday."
"Ah," sighed the count, "you have a means for the removal of everyobstacle. I must therefore go!"
"And I go with you," said Cecil. "I would, if it must be so, be able todie for you!"
"They will destroy all three of us!" said the count. "Believe me, theknife is already sharpened for our throats! Believe also, Cecil, thatI tremble not from fear of death. But I fear for Natalie! Ah, I alreadyseem to see the approach of her murderers, to see them seize her withtheir bloody hands, and I shall not be there to protect her!"
While Count Paulo thus spoke, with a sad, foreboding soul, those twomysterious men, who had so threateningly watched and listened to Natalieand her friend, still remained under the wall.
The one still held the dagger in his hand, and was unquietly walkingback and forth near his companion, who had calmly thrown himself uponthe ground.
"You did wrong to hinder me, Beppo," he angrily said. "It would havebeen best to have finished them at once. The occasion could not havebeen more favorable--the solitary garden, the nightly stillness andobscurity. Ah, one blow would have done the business!"
"Well, and what if the gentleman who sat near her had seized you beforethe blow was struck? How then?" asked the other. "You are yet but anovice and a bungler, friend Giuseppo. You yet lack discretion, thetranquil glance, the sure hand! You always suffer yourself to becomeexcited, which is unartistic and even dangerous. We went out today onlyto obtain information; we were only to discover and observe the signora,and perhaps to watch for an opportunity. But to fall upon her in thisgarden would have been the extreme of stupidity, for we had allthe servants and the hounds against us, and it is one of the firstprinciples of our profession to put others in danger, but never to incurit themselves."
"Wherefore, then, have we come here?" cried Giuseppo, with vehemence.
"To see her and know her, that we may surely recognize her again whenthe right hour comes. And that hour will come--I will answer for it.Did not the signora tell us that this lady would probably attend thefestival of Cardinal Bernis?"
"She said so."
"Well, and we have come here that we might see and know her in advance.She is very beautiful, and a truly respectable person, Giuseppo. I ampleased with the idea of this festival of the French cardinal. I thinkit will afford much business in our line."