Latest / The Charterhouse of Parma / Chapter 26

Transcript

Chapter 26 · The Charterhouse of Parma

0:00
Section thirty two of the Charterhouse of Palmer by Stendahl, translated by Si K.
0:06
Scott Montcrief. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Read by
0:11
Peter Dan, Chapter twenty six. The only moments in which Fabrizio had any
0:17
chance of escaping from his profound melancholy were those which he spent hidden behind a
0:22
pane, the glass of which he had had replaced by a sheet of oiled
0:26
paper, in the window of his apartment opposite the Palazzo Contarini, in which,
0:31
as we know, Slelia had taken refuge. On the few occasions on
0:35
which he had seen her since his leaving the citadel, he had been profoundly
0:39
distressed by a striking change, and one that seemed to him of the most
0:43
evil augury. Since her fall, Slelia's face had assumed a character of nobility
0:49
and seriousness that was truly remarkable. One would have called her a woman of
0:53
thirty. In this extraordinary change, Fabrizio caught the reflection of some firm resolution.
1:00
At every moment of the day, he said to himself, she is
1:03
swearing to herself to be faithful to the vow she made to the Madonna,
1:07
and never to see me again. Fabrizio guessed a part only of Slelia's miseries.
1:14
She knew that her father, having fallen into deep disgrace, could not
1:17
return to Palmer and reappear at court, without which life for him was impossible.
1:22
Until the day of her marriage to the marches A Cresenzi, she wrote
1:26
to her father that she desired this marriage. The general had then retired to
1:32
Twuren, where he was ill with grief. Truly, the counter effect of
1:36
that desperate remedy had been to add ten years to her age the Palazzo Contarini.
1:45
She had soon discovered that Fabrizio had a window opposite the Palazzo Contini,
1:49
But only once had she had the misfortune to behold him. As soon as
1:53
she saw the poison her head, or a man's figure that in any way
1:57
resembled his, she at once shut her eyes. Her profound piety and her
2:01
confidence in the help of the Madonna were from then onwards her sole resources.
2:07
She had the grief of feeling no respect for her father. The character of
2:12
her future husband seemed to her perfectly lifeless and on a par with the emotional
2:15
manners of high society. Finally, she adored a man whom she must never
2:22
see again, and who at the same time had certain rights over her.
2:25
She would need after her marriage to go and live two hundred leagues from Palmer.
2:31
Fabricia was aware of Slelia's intense modesty. He knew how greatly any extraordinary
2:38
enterprise that might form a subject for gossip, were it discovered, was bound
2:42
to displease her. And yet, driven to extremes by the excess of his
2:46
melancholy and by Slylia's constantly turning away her eyes from him, he made bold
2:52
to try to purchase two of the servants of Signora Contarini her aunt. One
2:58
day, at nightfall, Fabrici, dressed as a prosperous countryman, presented himself
3:02
at the door of the palazzo, where one of the servants whom he had
3:06
bribed, was waiting for him. He announced himself as coming from Turin and
3:10
bearing letters for Slelia from her father. The servant went to deliver the message
3:16
and took him up to an immense ante room on the first floor of the
3:20
palazzo. It was here that Fabriccio passed what was perhaps the most anxious quarter
3:25
of an hour in his life. If Slelia rejected him. There was no
3:30
more hope of peace for his mind. To put an end to the incessant
3:34
worries which minwe dignity heaps upon me, I shall remove from the church an
3:38
unworthy priest, and under an assumed name, seek refuge in some charterhouse.
3:45
At length, the servant came to inform him that Signorina Slelia Conti was willing
3:50
to receive him. Our hero's courage failed him completely. He almost collapsed with
3:54
fear as he climbed the stair to the second floor. Slelia was sitting at
4:00
a little table on which stood a single candle. No sooner had she recognized
4:04
Fabrizio under his disguise, than she rose and fled, hiding at the far
4:09
end of the room. This is how you care for my salvation, she
4:14
cried to him, hiding her face in her hands. You know very well,
4:17
when my father was at the point of death after taking poison, I
4:20
made a vow to the Madonna that I would never see you. I have
4:25
never failed to keep that vow, save on that day, the most wretched
4:29
of my life, when I felt myself bound by conscience to snatch you from
4:31
death. It is already far more than you deserve if by a strained and
4:36
no doubt criminal interpretation of my vow, I consent to listen to you.
4:43
This last sentence so astonished Fabrizio that it took him some moments to grasp its
4:47
joyful meaning. He had expected the most fiery anger and to see sleely a
4:53
fly from the room. At length, his presence of mind returned, and
4:57
he extinguished the one candle. Although he believed that he had understood Sleia's orders,
5:01
he was trembling all over as he advanced towards the end of the room,
5:05
where she had taken refuge behind a sofa. He did not know whether
5:10
it would offend her if he kissed her hand. She was all tremulous with
5:14
love and threw herself into his arms. Dear Fabrizio, she said to him,
5:19
how long you have been in coming? I can only speak to you
5:23
for a moment, for I am sure it is a great sin. And
5:26
when I promised never to see you, I am sure I meant also to
5:29
promise not to hear you speak. But how could you pursue with such barbarity
5:33
the idea of vengeance that my poor father had? For after all, it
5:38
was he who was first nearly poisoned to assist your escape, ought you not
5:43
to do something for me, who have exposed my reputation to such risks in
5:46
order to save you. And besides, you are now bound absolutely in holy
5:51
orders. You could not marry me any longer, even though I should find
5:55
a way of getting rid of that odious marches. And then how did you
6:00
dare on the afternoon of the procession, have you effrontery to look at me
6:03
in broad daylight and so violate in the most flagrant fashion the holy promise that
6:09
I had made to the Madonna. Fabrizio clasped her in his arms, carried
6:15
out of himself by his surprise and joy. A conversation which began with such
6:19
a quantity of things to be said, could not finish for a long time.
6:24
Fabrizio told her the exact truth as to her father's banishment. The DUCHESSA
6:30
had had no part in it whatsoever, for the simple reason that she had
6:32
never, for a single instant believed that the idea of poison had originated with
6:36
General Conti. She had always thought that it was a little game on the
6:40
part of the reversy faction, who wished to drive Comte Mosca from Palmer.
6:46
This historical truth, developed at great length, makes Lilia very happy. She
6:50
was wretched at having to hate anyone who belonged to Fabrizio. Now she no
6:55
longer regarded the Duchessa with a jealous eye. Happiness established by this evening lasted
7:01
only a few days. The worthy don Cesare arrived from Turin, and,
7:06
taking courage in the perfect honesty of his heart, ventured to send in his
7:11
name to the Duchessa, after asking her to give him her word that she
7:15
would not abuse the confidence he was about to repose in her. He admitted
7:19
that his brother led astray by a false point of honor, and, thinking
7:24
himself challenged and lowered in public opinion by Fabrizio's escape, had felt bound to
7:29
avenge himself. Don Cesare had not been speaking for two minutes before his course
7:34
was one. His perfect goodness had touched the Duchessa, who was by no
7:39
means accustomed to such a spectacle. He appealed to her as a novelty hasten
7:46
the marriage between the general's daughter and the marches A Crescenzi, And I give
7:48
you my word that I would do all that lies in my power to ensure
7:51
that the General is received as though he were returning home from a tour abroad.
7:57
I shall invite him to dinner as that sat you no doubt. There
8:01
will be some coolness at the beginning, and the General must, on no
8:05
account be in a hurry to ask for his place as governor of the citadel.
8:09
But you know that I have a friendly feeling for the Marchesa, and
8:11
I shall retain no rancor towards his father in law. Fortified by these words,
8:18
don Cesare came to tell his niece that she held in her hands the
8:22
life of her father, who was ill with despair. For many months past,
8:26
he had not appeared at any court. Slelia decided to go to visit
8:31
her father, who was hiding under an assumed name in a village near Turin,
8:35
for he had supposed that the court of Palmer would demand his extradition from
8:39
that of Turin to put him on his trial. She found him ill and
8:43
almost insane. That same evening she wrote Fabrizio a letter threatening an eternal rupture.
8:50
On receiving this letter, Fabrizio, who was developing a character closely resembling
8:54
that of his mistress, went into retreat in the convent of Vala, situated
9:00
in the mountains ten leagues from Palma, Slelia wrote him a letter of ten
9:05
pages. She had sworn to him before that she would never marry the marches
9:09
without his consent. Now she asked this of him, and Fabrizio granted it
9:13
from his retreat at Valeja in a letter full of the purest friendship. On
9:20
receiving this letter, the friendliness of which it must be admitted, irritated her.
9:24
Slellia herself fixed the day of her wedding, the festivities surrounding which enhanced
9:28
still further the brilliance with which the court of Parma that winter shone. The
9:35
court Ranuccio Esto the fifth was a miser at heart, but he was desperately
9:41
in love, and he hoped to establish the duchess a permanently at his court.
9:46
He begged his mother to accept a very considerable sum of money and to
9:50
give entertainments. The Grand Mistress contrived to make an admirable use of this increase
9:56
of wealth. The entertainments at Parma that winter recalled the great days of the
10:01
court of Milan and of that charming Prince Eugene, Viceroy of Italy, whose
10:05
virtues have left so lasting a memory. His duties as coadjutor had summoned Fabrizio
10:11
back to Palma, but he announced that for spiritual reasons, he would continue
10:16
his retreat in the small apartment which his protector, Monsigneur and Andriani, had
10:22
forced him to take in the Archbishop's palace, and he went to shut himself
10:26
up there, accompanied by a single servant. Thus he was present at none
10:31
of the brilliant festivities of the court, an abstention which won for him at
10:35
Palma and throughout his future diocese an immense reputation for sanctity. An unforeseen consequence
10:41
of this retreat, inspired in Fabrizio solely by his profound and hopeless sorrow,
10:46
was that the good Archbishop and Andriani, who had always loved him, began
10:52
to be slightly jealous of him. The archbishop felt it his duty and rightly
10:56
to attend all the festivities at court, as is the custom in Italy.
11:01
On these occasions, he wore a ceremonial costume which was more or less the
11:05
same as that in which he was to be seen in the choir of his
11:09
cathedral. The hundreds of servants gathered in the colonnaded Ante chamber of the palace,
11:15
never failed to rise and ask for a blessing from Monseignori, who was
11:18
kind enough to stop and give it to them. It was in one of
11:22
these moments of solemn silence that Monseigneur Andriani heard a voice say, our bishop
11:28
goes out to bowls, and Monseigneur Deldgno never leaves his room. From that
11:33
moment, the immense favor that Fabrizio had enjoyed in the Archbishop's palace was at
11:39
an end, but he could now fly with his own wings. All this
11:43
conduct, which had been inspired only by the despair in which Lilia's marriage plunged
11:48
him, was regarded as due to a simple and sublime piety, and the
11:52
faithful read as a work of edification. The translation of the genealogy of his
11:58
family, which wreaked of the most inane vanity. The booksellers prepared a lithographed
12:03
edition of his portrait, which was brought up in a few days and mainly
12:07
by the humbler classes. The engraver, in his ignorance, had reproduced round
12:11
Fabrizio's portrait a number of the ornaments, which ought only to be found on
12:16
the portraits of bishops unto which a coadjutor could have no claim. The Archbishop
12:22
saw one of these portraits, and his rage knew no bounds. He sent
12:26
for Fabrizio and addressed him in the harshest words and in terms which his passion
12:31
rendered at times extremely coarse. Fabrizio required no effort, as may well be
12:35
imagined, to conduct himself, as Fenelon would have done in similar circumstances.
12:41
He listened to the archbishop with all the humility and respect possible, and when
12:46
the prelate had ceased speaking, told him the whole story of the translation of
12:50
the Genealogy, made by Comte Mosca's orders at the time of his first imprisonment.
12:56
It had been published with a worldly object which had always seemed to him
13:00
hardly befitting a man of his cloth. As for the portrait, he had
13:03
been entirely unconcerned with the second edition as with the first, and the bookseller
13:09
having sent to him at the Archbishop's palace during his retreat twenty four copies of
13:13
this second edition, he had sent his servant to buy a twenty fifth,
13:16
and, having learned in this way that the portrait was being sold for thirty
13:20
soldi he had sent a hundred francs in payment of the twenty four copies the
13:26
duchess. All these arguments, albeit set forth in the most reasonable terms by
13:33
a man who had many other sorrows in his heart, lashed the Archbishop's anger
13:37
to madness. He went so far as to accuse Fabrizio of hypocrisy. That
13:43
is what these common people are like, Fabrizio said to himself, even when
13:46
they have brains. He had at the time a more serious anxiety. This
13:52
was his aunt's letters, in which he absolutely insisted on his coming back to
13:56
occupy his apartment in the Palazzo San Severi, or at least coming to see
14:01
her sometimes there. Fabricio was certain of hearing talk of the splendid festivities given
14:07
by the marches A Crescenzi on the occasion of his marriage, and this was
14:11
what he was not sure of his ability to endure without creating a scene.
14:16
When the marriage ceremony was celebrated for eight whole days in succession, Fabrizio vowed
14:22
himself to the most complete silence, after ordering his servant and the members of
14:26
the archbishop's household with whom he had any dealings never to utter a word to
14:31
him. Monseigneur Andandriani, having learned of this new affectation, sent for Fabrizio
14:37
far more often than usual and tried to engage him in long conversations. He
14:41
even obliged him to attend conferences with certain cannons from the country who complained that
14:46
the archbishop had infringed their privileges. Fabrizio took all these things with the perfect
14:52
indifference of a man who has other thoughts on his mind. It would be
14:56
better for me, he thought, to become a CARTHUSI I should suffer less
15:01
among the rocks of the layer. He went to see his aunt and could
15:05
not restrain his tears as he embraced her. She found him so greatly altered,
15:11
his eyes still more enlarged by his extreme thinness, had so much the
15:15
air of starting from his head, and he himself presented so pinched and unhappy
15:20
an appearance that at this first encounter the Duchess or herself could not restrain her
15:24
tears either. But a moment later, when she had reminded herself that all
15:30
this change in the appearance of this handsome young man had been caused by Sleelia's
15:33
marriage, her feelings were almost equal in vehemence to those of the Archbishop,
15:39
although more skillfully controlled. She was so barbarous as to discourse at length of
15:45
certain picturesque details which had been a feature of the charming entertainments given by the
15:50
marches A Crescenzi. Fabrizio made no reply, but his eyes closed slightly with
15:56
a convulsive movement, and he became even paler than he illread he was,
16:00
which at first sight would have seemed impossible. In these moments of keen grief.
16:06
His pallor assumed a green ish hue. Conte Mosca joined them, and
16:11
what he then saw a thing which seemed to him incredible. Finally and completely
16:15
cured him of the jealousy which Fabrizio had never ceased to inspire in him.
16:19
This able man employed the most delicate and ingenious turns of speech in an attempt
16:25
too restort of Fabrizio some interest in the things of this world. The Comte
16:30
had always felt for him a great esteem and a certain degree of friendship.
16:33
This friendship, being no longer counterbalanced by jealousy, became at that moment almost
16:40
devotion. There's no denying it. He has paid dearly for his fine fortune,
16:45
he said to himself, going over the tale of Fabrizio's misadventures. On
16:51
the pretext of letting him see the picture by the Parma Gianino which the Prince
16:55
had sent to the Duchessa, the Comte drew Fabrizio aside, my friend,
17:00
let us speak as man to man. Can I help you in any way?
17:04
You need not be afraid of any questions on my part? Still,
17:08
can money be of use to you? Can power help you? Speak?
17:12
I am at your orders. If you prefer to write, write to me
17:18
ambition. Fabricio embraced him tenderly and spoke of the picture. Your conduct is
17:25
a masterpiece of the finest policy, the cont said to him, returning to
17:29
the light tone of their previous conversation. You are laying up for yourself a
17:33
very agreeable future. The Prince respect you, the people venerate you. Your
17:37
little worn black coat gives Monseigneur Landriani some bad nights. I have some experience
17:45
of life, and I can swear to you that I should not know what
17:47
advice to give you to improve upon what I see. Your first step in
17:52
the world, at the age of twenty five, has carried you to perfection.
17:56
People talk of you a great deal at court, and do you know
18:00
to what you owe that distinction unique at your age, to the little worn
18:04
black coat the duchessor and I have at our disposal, as you know,
18:08
Petrarch's old house on that fine slope in the middle of the forest near the
18:12
Poe. If ever, you are weary of the little mischief makings of envy,
18:18
it has occurred to me that you might be the successor of Petrarch,
18:21
whose fame will enhance your own. The Count was racking his brains to make
18:26
a smile appear on that anchorite face, but failed. What made the change
18:32
more striking was that, before this latest phase, if Fabricio's features had a
18:36
defect, it was that of presenting, sometimes at the wrong moment, an
18:40
expression of gaiety and pleasure. The Count did not let him go without telling
18:45
him that, notwithstanding his retreat, it would be perhaps an affectation if he
18:49
did not appear at court the following Saturday, which was the Princess's birthday.
18:56
These words were a dagger thrust to Fabrizio. Great God, he thought,
19:00
what have I let myself in for? Here? He could not think without
19:03
shuddering of the meeting that might occur at court. This idea absorbed every other.
19:10
He thought that the only thing left to him was to arrive at the
19:11
palace at the precise moment at which the doors of the rooms would be opened.
19:18
And so it happened that the name of Monseignor Deldgno was one of the
19:21
first to be announced on the evening of the gala reception, and the Princess
19:26
greeted him with the greatest possible distinction. Fabrizio's eyes were fastened on the clock,
19:30
and at the instant at which it marked the twentieth minute of his presence
19:34
in the room, he was rising to take his leave when the Prince joined
19:38
his mother. After paying his respects to him for some moments, Fabrizio was
19:44
again, by a skillful stratagem, making his way to the door. When
19:48
there befell at his expense, one of those little trifling points of court etiquette
19:52
which the Grand Mistress knew so well how to handle. The Chamberlain in waiting
19:56
ran after him to tell him that he had been put down to make up
20:00
the Prince's table at whist at Palma. This was a signal honor, and
20:04
far above the rank which the coadjutor held in society. To play whist with
20:10
the prince was a marked honor, even for the Archbishop. At the Chamberlain's
20:15
words, Fabrizio felt his heart pierced, and, although a lifelong enemy of
20:18
anything like a scene in public, he was on the point of going to
20:22
tell him that he had been seized with a sudden fit of giddiness. But
20:26
he reflected that he would be exposed to questions and polite expressions of sympathy,
20:30
more intolerable even than the game that day. He had a horror of speaking.
20:37
Fortunately, the general of the Friars miner happened to be one of the
20:41
prominent personages who had come to pay their respects to the princess. This Friar,
20:47
a most learned man, a worthy rival of the Fontanas and the Duvoisaint,
20:52
had taken his place in the far corner of the room. Fabrizio took
20:56
up a position facing him so that he could not see the door, began
21:00
to talk theology, but he could not prevent his ear from hearing a servant
21:04
announced the Signor Marches and Signora marchesa Crescenzi. Fabrizio, to his surprise,
21:11
felt a violent impulse of anger whist if I were Bosso Valsera, he said
21:18
to himself, this being one of the generals at the first Falza, I
21:22
should go and stab the lout of a Marchesa and with that very same dagger,
21:26
with the ivory handle which Slei gave to me on that happy day,
21:30
And I should teach him to have the insolence to present himself with his marchesa
21:34
in a room in which I am. His expression altered so greatly that the
21:40
General of the Friar's mine I said to him, does your excellency feel unwell?
21:45
I have a raging headache. These lights are hurting me, and I
21:48
am staying here only because I have been put down for the Prince's wist table.
21:52
On hearing this, the General of the Friar's Miner, who was of
21:56
Plebeian origin, was so disconcerted that, noting what to do, he began
22:00
to bow to Fabrizio, who, for his part, far more seriously disturbed
22:04
than the general, started to talk with a strange volubility. He noticed that
22:10
there was a great silence in the room behind him, but would not turn
22:12
round to look. Suddenly, a baton tapped a desk aritonello was played,
22:18
and the famous segor Apea sang that air of Chimarosa, at one time so
22:22
popular gelpupille tenere. Fabrizio stood firm throughout the opening bars, but presently his
22:30
anger melted away, and he felt a compelling need to shed tears. Great
22:36
God, he said to himself, what a ridiculous scene, and with my
22:40
cloth too. He felt it wiser to talk about himself these violent headaches when
22:45
I do anything to thwart them, as I am doing this evening, he
22:48
said to the General of the Minorities, and in floods of tears, which
22:52
provide food for scandal in a man of our calling, and so I request
22:56
your illustrious reverence to allow me to look at him while I cry, and
23:00
not to pay any attention. Our father Provincial at Catanzaro suffers from the same
23:07
disabilities, said the General of the Minorities, and he began, in an
23:11
undertone, a long narrative. The absurdity of this story, which included the
23:17
details of the Father Provincial's evening meals, made Fabrizio smile, a thing which
23:22
had not happened to him for a long time. But presently he ceased to
23:26
listen to the General of the Minorities, Senor pe was singing with divine talent
23:32
and air of Burgolaise. The duchessa had a fondness for old music. She
23:37
was interrupted by a slight sound a few feet away from Fabrizio for the first
23:41
time in the evening. He turned his head to look. The chair that
23:45
had been the cause of this faint creek in the woodwork of the floor was
23:48
occupied by the Marchesa Crescenzi, whose eyes filled with tears, met the direct
23:53
gaze of Fabrizio's, which were in much the same state. The march bent
24:00
her head. Fabrizio continued to gaze at her for some moments. He made
24:04
a thorough study of that head loaded with diamonds, but his gaze expressed anger
24:10
and disdain. Then, saying to himself and my eyes shall never look upon
24:15
you, he turned back to his father General and said to him there now,
24:21
my weakness is taking me worse than ever. And indeed Fabrizio wept hot
24:26
tears for more than half an hour. Fortunately, a symphony of Mozart,
24:32
horribly mutilated as is the way in Italy, came to his rescue and helped
24:37
him to dry his tears. Slelia. He stood firm and did not turn
24:44
his eyes towards the marches at Cressnzi. But Senor Apea sang again, and
24:48
Fabrizio's soul, soothed by his tears, arrived at a state of perfect repose.
24:55
Then life appeared to him in a new light. Am I pretending?
24:59
He He asked himself to be able to forget her? In the first few
25:02
moments? Would such a thing be possible? The idea came to him.
25:07
Can I be more unhappy than I have been for the last two months?
25:11
Then, if nothing can add to my anguish, why resist the pleasure of
25:15
seeing her? She has forgotten of ours? She is fickle? Why not
25:19
all women so? But who could deny her a heavenly beauty? She has
25:25
a look in her eyes that sends me into ecstasies. Whereas I have to
25:27
make an effort to force myself to look at the women who are considered the
25:32
greatest beauties, very well, why not let myself be enraptured. It will
25:37
be at least a moment of respite. Fabrizio had some knowledge of men,
25:42
but no experience of the passions. Otherwise he would have told himself that this
25:48
momentary pleasure to which he was about to yield would render futile all the efforts
25:52
that he had been making for the last two months to forget Clelia. That
25:57
poor woman would not have come to this party, save under compulsion from her
26:02
husband. Even then, she wished to slip away for half an hour on
26:04
the excuse of her health, But the Marches assured her that to send for
26:08
her carriage to go away when many carriages were still arriving would be a thing
26:14
absolutely without precedent, which might even be interpreted as an indirect criticism of the
26:18
party given by the Princess. In my capacity as cavalieri donorre, the Marches
26:26
added, I have to remain in the drawing room at the Princess's orders until
26:30
every one has gone. There may be, and no doubt will be orders
26:33
to be given to the servants. They are so careless. And would you
26:37
have a mere gentleman usher usurped that Honor Slellia resigned herself. She had not
26:45
seen Fabriziou. She still hoped that he might not have come to this party.
26:49
But at the moment when the concert was about to begin, the Princess,
26:52
having given the ladies leave to be seated. Slelia, who was not
26:56
at all alert in that sort of thing, let all the best places near
27:00
the princess be snatched from her, and was obliged to go and look for
27:03
a chair at the end of the room, in the very corner to which
27:06
Fabrizio had withdrawn. When she reached her chair, the costume, unusual in
27:11
such a place, of the general of the Friar's miner caught her eye,
27:15
and at first she did not observe the other man, slim and dressed in
27:18
a plain black coat, who was talking to him. Nevertheless, a certain
27:23
secret impulse brought her gaze to rest on this man. Everyone here is wearing
27:30
uniform or a richly embroidered coat. Who can that young man be in such
27:33
a plain black coat. She was looking at him profoundly attentive. When a
27:38
lady taking her seat beside her caused her chair to move, Fabrizio turned his
27:44
head. She did not recognize him, he had so altered. At first,
27:49
she said to herself, that is like him. It must be his
27:52
elder brother. But I thought there were only a few years between them,
27:56
and that is a man of forty. Suddenly she read recognized him by a
28:00
movement of his lips. Poor man, how he has suffered, she said
28:04
to herself, and she bent her head, bowed down by grief, and
28:10
not in fidelity to her vow. Her heart was convulsed with pity. After
28:15
nine months in prison, he did not look anything like that. She did
28:19
not look at him again, but without actually turning her eyes in his direction,
28:23
she could see all his movements. After the concert, she saw him
28:27
go up to the prince's card table, placed a few feet from the throne.
28:32
She breathed a sigh of relief when Fabrizio was thus removed to a certain
28:36
distance from her. But the marches Creshenzi had been greatly annoyed to see his
28:41
wife relegated to a place so far from the throne. All evening he had
28:45
been occupied in persuading a lady seated three chairs away from the princess, whose
28:49
husband was under a financial obligation to him, that she would do well to
28:53
change places with the marches the poor woman resisting, as was natural, He
29:00
went in search of the debtor husband, who let his better half hear the
29:03
sad voice of reason, and finally the Marchesa had the pleasure of effecting the
29:07
exchange, he went to find his wife. You are always too modest,
29:12
he said to her. Why walk like that with downcast eyes? Any one
29:17
would take you for one of those sits wives astonished at finding themselves here,
29:21
whom every one else is astonished too to see here. That fool of a
29:26
grand mistress does nothing else but collect them. And they talk of retarding the
29:30
advance of Jacobinism. Remember that your husband occupies the first position among the gentlemen
29:36
at the Princess's court, and that even should the Republicans succeed in suppressing the
29:41
court and even the nobility, your husband would still be the richest man in
29:45
this state. That is an idea which you do not keep sufficiently in your
29:49
head. The chair on which the Marchesa had the pleasure of installing his wife
29:55
was but six paces from the prince's card table. She saw Fabrizio only in
30:00
profile, but she found him grown so thin. He had above all the
30:04
air of being so far above everything that might happen in this world, He
30:08
who before would never let any incident pass without making his comment. That she
30:14
finally arrived at the terrible conclusion. Fabrizio had altogether changed. He had forgotten
30:18
her if he had grown so thin, that was the effect of the severe
30:22
fasts to which his piety subjected him. Slellia was confirmed in this sad thought
30:30
by the conversation of all her neighbors. The name of the coadjutor was on
30:33
every tongue. They sought a reason for the signal favor which they saw conferred
30:37
upon him, For him so young to be admitted to the Prince's table.
30:42
They marveled at the polite indifference and the air of pride with which he threw
30:47
down his cards, even when he had his Highness for a partner. But
30:52
this is incredible, cried certain old courtiers. His aunt's favor has quite turned
30:56
his head. But mercifully it won't last. Our Sovereign does not like people
31:02
to put on these little airs of superiority. The duchess approached the Prince.
31:07
The courtiers, who kept at the most respectful distance from the card table,
31:11
so that they could hear only a few stray words of the prince's conversation,
31:15
noticed that Fabrizio blushed deeply. His aunt has been teaching him a lesson,
31:21
they said to himselves, about those grand airs of indifference. Fabrizio had just
31:26
caught the sound of Slydia's voice. She was replying to the princess, who,
31:30
in making her tour of the ball room, had addressed a few words
31:33
to the wife of her cavalier Donori. The moment arrived when Fabrizio had to
31:38
change his place at the whist table. He then found himself directly opposite Slelia,
31:44
and gave himself up repeatedly to the pleasure of contemplating her. The poor
31:49
marchesa, feeling his gaze rest upon her lost countenance. Altogether more than once,
31:56
she forgot what she owed to her vow. In her desire to read
31:59
what was going on in Fabrizio's heart, she fixed her eyes on him.
32:04
The prince's game ended, the ladies rose to go into the supper room.
32:08
There was some slight confusion. Fabricio found himself close to Slelia. His mind
32:14
was still quite made up, but he happened to recognize a faint perfume which
32:17
she used on her clothes. This sensation overthrew all the resolutions that he had
32:22
made. He approached her and repeated, in an undertone, and as though
32:27
he were speaking to himself, two lines from that sonnet of Petrarch which he
32:30
had sent her from leg Maggiore printed on a silk handkerchief, naisson vise giamee
32:37
pire di melietto, nisson vive pio tristoi gianni not de no, he has
32:45
not forgotten me. Sleia told herself, with the transport of joy, that
32:51
fine soul is not inconstant essepo imprimo and yi impoissible kosa caltric quemote or deli
32:59
sannikov come ore coswaybelli occhi ALcom im presse. Sleelia ventured to repeat to herself
33:07
these lines of petrarch absence. The princess withdrew immediately after supper. The prince
33:15
had gone with her to a room and did not appear again in the reception
33:20
rooms. As soon as this became known, everyone wished to leave at once.
33:23
There was complete confusion in the ante rooms. Sleelia found herself close to
33:29
Fabrizio. The profound misery depicted on his features moved her to pity. Let
33:35
us forget the past, she said to him, and keep this reminder of
33:37
friendship. As she said these words, she held out her fan so that
33:43
he might take it. Everything changed in Fabrizio's eyes in an instant. He
33:47
was another man. The following day, he announced that his retreat was at
33:52
an end, and returned to occupy his magnificent apartment in the Palazzo San Severina.
33:58
The archbishop said and believed that the favor which the Prince had shown him
34:01
in admitting him to his game had completely turned the head of this new saint.
34:07
The duchesses saw that he had come to terms with Slelia. This thought,
34:12
coming to intensify the misery that was caused her by the memory of a
34:15
fatal promise, finally decided her to absent herself for a while. People marveled
34:22
at her folly what leave the court At the moment when the favor that she
34:25
enjoyed appeared to have no bounds, the Comte perfectly happy since he had seen
34:31
that there was no love between Fabrizio and the DUCHESSA said to his friend,
34:37
this new prince is virtue incarnate, But I have caught him that boy.
34:40
Will he ever forgive me? I can see only one way of putting myself
34:45
back in his good books, That is absence. I am going to show
34:49
myself a perfect model of courtesy and respect, after which I shall be ill
34:53
and shall ask leave to retire you will allow me that now that Fabrizio's fortune
34:59
is a sure But will you make me the immense sacrifice, he added,
35:04
laughing of exchanging the sublime title of Duchessa for another greatly inferior for my own
35:09
amusement. I am leaving everything here in an inextricable confusion. I had four
35:15
or five workers in my various ministries. I placed them all on the pension
35:19
list two months ago because they read the French newspapers, and I have filled
35:23
their places with blockheads of the first Order. After our departure, the Prince
35:29
will find himself in such difficulties that, in spite of the horror that he
35:31
feels for Rassi's character, I have no doubt that he will obliged to recall
35:37
him. And I myself am only awaiting an order from the tyrant who disposes
35:40
of my fate, to write a letter of tender friendship to my friend Rassi
35:45
and tell him that I have every reason to hope that presently justice will be
35:50
done to his merits. End of Section thirty two