CHAPTER XVIII
THE CAPTIVE
In the early part of the seventeenth century a certain noble duchess,taking a journey through the kingdom of San Pietro, paid a visit to herold and valued friend the Countess Ribero, and the guest-chamber inwhich the august lady spent two nights has since been called theDuchess Room, and it was upon the faded glories of this distinguishedapartment that the bewildered eyes of poor Galva Baxendale looked whenshe came out of her insensibility.
The moon shining obliquely in at the long windows flooded parts of theroom in a white light, mercilessly picking out the threadbare patchesin the ragged tapestries and in the faded embroideries of thechair-backs. A fire burning brightly in the grate somewhat relievedthe cold splendour of the moonbeams.
Galva was, for a few moments, oblivious to her surroundings. Her headthrobbed and ached distractingly, and she gazed with unseeing eyes atthe carved oaken pillars of the four-post bed on which she was lying,and on the heavy curtains and fringes which hemmed her in. Her firstdistinct impression was one of suffocation. She had that horror, socommon to those who have lived in and love the open air, of allenclosed spaces and smothering draperies.
She raised herself slowly, and leaning her head on her hand, took asurvey of the surrounding objects. The room was a large one, and waslighted by two windows, reaching nearly to the ground, and composed ofmany small square panes. On the walls the tarnished frames ofpictures, mostly portraits, caught the firelight. Facing her was alarge tapestry on which were depicted the figures of three huntsmen,with very thin legs, who, accompanied by prancing dogs, were presumablychasing a stag, which was conveniently silhouetted on the top of asymmetrical mountain.
As Galva put her foot to the ground the ludicrous figures seemed totake life and accompany the furniture and the bed in a whirling,fantastic dance, and the girl felt her senses again leaving her. Butshe must have tottered somehow to the window, for the next sheremembered was the cool night breezes of the forest, pine-scented andinvigorating, playing upon her forehead. With each inhalation Galvafelt her strength coming back to her, and the memory of all that hadhappened returned to her in every detail.
She remembered Mozara and the car, and how, much against her will, hehad insisted on running her out to see the Falls on the Ardentella.She had known that it was a very different thing the journey inland,without a chaperone, to the quiet gliding up and down the promenade atCorbo. She knew also that her guardian did not altogether approve ofeven this latter, and as the powerful car had bounded on past thepalace, she had implored the lieutenant to take her back.
But the young man would not believe she was serious and had laughed ather fears. They would be back in an hour, he had told her, and so,helpless, she had made the best of it, promising herself a sharpretaliation on her escort when she was safely home again.
Galva remembered stopping at a lonely spot where two gate-posts stoodsentinel by the side of the road. There was a wood, too, comprised, asfar as she could recollect, of pine-trees. Mozara had here alighted toattend to his engine, and after propping open the bonnet had gone backto the tonneau, saying he wanted to get a spanner from the tool-bag hekept there. There was a confused memory after that of a cloth beingswathed about her head and the sickly sweet smell of chloroform. Thennothing more--until she had come to herself in this old-world room.
She raised her head in the act of listening and tiptoed to the door.She could detect stealthy movements on the landing outside, and througha little crack in the oaken panel came the gleam of a light.
Galva was no coward. She had the heart of the Estratos and a line ofancestors whose deeds of bravery were chronicled back to the dim ages.But there was something uncanny in this weird room, with the flickeringfirelight the cold moon and the unknown silent watchers on the landing.Then she heard the footsteps creep away, and, unable to bear thesuspense longer, the girl seized the handle of the door and shook itfuriously. She tried to call out, to ask who was there, but her tongueseemed a useless lump in her dry mouth, and sound would not come.
The footsteps outside stopped at the first sound of the rattled door,and Galva heard whispered voices. Then a key grated in the lock, andthe girl retreated to the farther end of the room. At the first soundshe had taken from her pocket a tiny revolver, hardly more than a toy,which Edward, not knowing what was in store for them in San Pietro, hadbought for her in Paris. She saw the door slowly opened and an old manenter. Behind him Teresa carried a tray on which were a flask of wineand some covered dishes.
"You are ready for supper, senorita?"
Galva gazed wonderingly at them. All fear had left her now, and shefingered her revolver confidently. The firelight glinted on the littleplated barrel and threw gigantic shadows of the old couple on theyellow ceiling. She was speaking in a low voice which she would hardlyhave recognized as her own.
"Put the tray down," every word came distinctly, "and then stand overthere--where I can see you both. Then tell me what this all means."
Pieto looked at his wife hesitatingly, and pointed to the tray. Teresaset it down.
"Now," went on the girl, "I want a full explanation--where isLieutenant Mozara? I don't think I know either of you--do I?"
"The lieutenant has left the castle."
"It seems that the lieutenant has played a trick on me--a trick thatwill cost him dear--and," meaningly, "those who are with him in it."
The old people stood with bowed heads and the man mumbled somethingbelow his breath.
"Speak up, man."
Pieto raised palsied finger-tips to his mouth. "We are not theservants of Lieutenant Mozara," he said.
Galva stamped her little shoe.
"Then go to the man who is your master, whoever he is, and tell him tocome to me here. If either of you two enter this room again without myfull permission I will shoot you down like I would a couple ofdangerous dogs--now go."
Taking up the lantern which he had set down on the floor on enteringthe room, the old man made for the door, forcing himself in front ofhis wife in his anxiety to get clear of the little vixen who could holda revolver so straight and steady. Teresa gave Galva a long andsearching look, then she too followed her craven lord and master.
And Galva gave a little laugh as she found herself alone again. Shetook the cover from one of the dishes and bent her head over thecontents. Whatever could be said of the old dame downstairs Galvanoticed with satisfaction that she was no amateur in the art of thekitchen, and the dainty meal was soon eaten with the relish of ahealthy fourteen-hour hunger. For the captive told herself thateverything depended upon her having the strength to seize any advantagein her position that might occur.
She went again to the open window and looking out judged that she wassome twenty-five feet above the ground level, but that below that againran a moat-like trench, dug perhaps to allow light to the cellars. Shethought of the curtains, estimating their length with her eye; theymight perhaps reach the twenty-five feet, but there was no way ofcrossing the trench. True, the portico of the building was onlyperhaps fifteen feet below her, but it lay some distance to the leftand was quite inaccessible.
Galva glanced at the little strap watch on her wrist and saw that itwas past ten. From below stairs there came no sound, and she toldherself that her jailers had retired for the night, and, again with theview of husbanding her strength, the prisoner prepared to follow theirexample.
While at supper she had heard the stealthy footsteps again outside herdoor and the grating of bolts hastily shot into their sockets. It wasevident that escape was not to be thought of that night.
The glass of excellent Chianti that she had taken with her meal hadquite restored her courage and spirits, and she began to look upon theadventure as rather interesting. It seemed clear to her that whoeverwas responsible for the outrage meant her no immediate harm, and shehad no fear whatever of the old couple down below.
With some little difficulty she piled three of the heavy oak chairs bythe do
or as a precaution against a midnight surprise, and taking offonly her outer garments and her shoes, slipped in between the sheets.The fire, which she had replenished from the heap of logs in the grate,shone dully on the rich old furnishings of the room and gave a sense ofdrowsy comfort and well-being. Candles and matches she found on alittle table which she pushed up near the bed. The revolver lay handyunderneath her pillow. Miss Galva, in fact, was very comfortableindeed, and had it not been for the thought of her guardian and AnnaPaluda and the anxiety they must be feeling, she would have been reallyhappy.
It was broad day when she awoke and the birds in the forest were makingmerry music. The sun shone in at the windows and gave life to thesomewhat sombre apartment. Galva's watch told her it was nine o'clock.
She was feeling remarkably well, her headache had entirely left her,and she was ravenously hungry again. A sound outside the window causedher to slip on her garments and look out. Beneath her the little patchof poor soil that lay between the house and the trees had been, atparts, coaxed into a cultivation of sorts, and the old woman who thenight before had brought her supper was gathering some kind of greenstuff, putting it into the basket that she carried slung over her arm.From her window, too, the girl could see over the trees to the countrybeyond--an arid rock-strewn waste and here and there patches of forestland. Away in the distance the range of the Yeldo hills showed adelicate mauve against the morning sky.
Galva watched the old woman for a moment in silence, then--
"Good-morning, Teresa." The girl had heard the name the eveningbefore, and on the old woman looking up, she nodded brightly. "Isbreakfast ready, Teresa?" she went on.
The old woman dipped her head sourly.
"Pieto shall bring it up to you," she said.
"Thanks, so much--but, by the way, tell him to take great care how hedoes it. Listen. He is to bring it in on a tray which he will setdown on the little table here. Then he will hold up his hands, both ofthem, over his head and walk out backwards."
Teresa was making her way slowly towards the house, giving scantattention to the voice above her. Galva raised her voice.
"You understand, don't you, Teresa? Because if your husband doesn't doas he's told, I'll have to shoot him."
The woman in the garden stopped at this and looked up.
"You would shoot my Pieto?"
"Oh, don't be afraid, Teresa; I'd only shoot him in the leg. Thenyou'd have to nurse him, you know, and that would be a pity, wouldn'tit? Think of keeping an eye on a prisoner and an invalid at the sametime."
Galva never forgot the pantomime of the next few minutes. Covered bythe revolver, the old man shuffled unsteadily into the room with thetray, splashing the white cloth with the contents of the coffee pot.Then, after putting it down where Galva bid him, he began his retreat,backwards, hands held high over his head. Near the door he came togrief with a crash over one of the chairs his prisoner had used as abarricade the night before. The old man remembered to keep his handsup, and the species of contortions, reminiscent of Swedish exercises,with, which he tried to regain his feet brought tears of laughter intoGalva's eyes. He was successful at last, and the girl heard hislimping steps descend the stairs, where, with many curses, he seemed tobe, as Galva expressed it to herself, "taking it out of the missus!"
Left alone the prisoner poured herself out a cup of fragrant coffee.
"There seems to be a humorous side to even this adventure," she said asshe contentedly nibbled at a piece of buttered toast.