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Chapter 25 · The Charterhouse of Parma

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Section thirty one of the Charterhouse of Palmer by Stendahl, translated by Si K.
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Scott Montcrief. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Read by
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Peter Dan, Chapter twenty five, The arrival of our hero threw Slelia into
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despair. The poor girl, pious and sincere with herself, could not avoid
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the reflection that there would never be any happiness for her apart from Fabrizio.
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But she had made a vow to the Madonna at the time when her father
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was nearly poisoned, that she would offer him the sacrifice of marrying the marches
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of Creshenzi. She had made the vow that she would never see Fabrizio,
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and already she was a prey to the most fearful remorse over the admission she
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had been led to make in the letter she had written Fabrizio on the eve
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of his escape. I was one to depict what occurred in that sorrowful heart,
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when occupied in a melancholy way, with watching her birds flit to and
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fro, and raising her eyes from habit and with affection towards the window from
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which formerly Fabrizio used to look at her, she saw him there once again
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greeting her with tender respect. She imagined it to be a vision which Heaven
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had allowed for her punishment. Then the atrocious reality became apparent to her.
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Reason. They have caught him again, she said to herself, and he
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is lost. She remembered the things that had been said in the fortress after
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the escape, The humblest of the jailers regarded themselves as mortally insulted. Slelia
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looked at Fabrizio, and, in spite of herself, that look portrayed in
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full the passion that had thrown her into despair. Do you suppose she seemed
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to be saying to Fabrizio that I shall find happiness in that sumptuous palace which
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they are making ready for me. My father repeats to me, till I
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am weary that you are as poor as ourselves. But Great God, with
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what joy would I share that poverty? But alas we must never see one
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another again. Slelia had not the strength to make use of the alphabets.
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As she looked at Fabrizio, she felt faint and sank upon a chair that
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stood beside the window. Her head rested upon the ledge of this window,
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and as she had been anxious to see him until the last moment her face
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was turned towards Fabrizio, who had a perfect view of it. When after
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a few moments she opened her eyes again, her first glance was of Fabrizio.
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She saw tears in his eyes, but those tears were the effect of
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extreme happiness. She saw that absence had, by no means made him forgotten.
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The two poor young things remained for some time, as though spell bound
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by the sight of each other. Fabrizio ventured to sing, as if he
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were accompanying himself on the guitar, a few improvised lines which said, it
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is to see you again that I have returned to prison. They are going
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to try me. These words seemed to awaken all Slellia's doormens virtue. She
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rose swiftly and hid her eyes, and by the most vivid gestures, sought
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to express to him that she must never see him again. She had promised
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this to the madonna, and had looked at him just now in a moment
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of forgetfulness. Fabrizio venturing once more to express his love, Slelia fled from
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the room, indignant and swearing to herself that never would she see him again.
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For such were the precise words of her vow to the Madonna, my
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eyes shall never see him again. She had written them on a little slip
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of paper which her uncle don Cesare had allowed her to burn upon the altar
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at the moment of the oblation, while he was saying Mass honor, but
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oaths or no oaths. Fabrizio's presence in the tire Fanaso had restored to Slelia
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all her old habits and activities. Normally, she passed all her days in
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solitude in her room. No sooner had she recovered from the unforeseen disturbance in
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which the sight of Fabrizio had bled un Then she began to wander through the
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palazzo and so to speak, to renew her acquaintance with all her humble friends.
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A very loquacious old woman employed in the kitchen said to her, with
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an air of mystery, this time Signor Fabrizio will not leave the citadel.
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He will not make the mistake of going over the walls again, said Slelia.
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But he will leave by the door. If he is acquitted, I
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say, and I can assure your excellency that he will go out of the
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citadel fete first, Slelia turned extremely pale, a change which was remarked by
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the old woman and stopped the flow of her eloquence. She said to herself
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that she had been guilty of an imprudence in speaking thus before the governor's daughter,
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whose duty it would be to tell everybody that Fabrizio had died a natural
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death. As she went up to her room, Slelia met the prison doctor,
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an honest sort of man, but timid, who told her with a
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terrified air that Fabrizio was seriously ill. Slelia could hardly keep on her feet.
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She sought everywhere for her uncle, the good don Cesare, and at
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length found him in the chapel, where he was praying fervently. From his
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face he appeared upset. The dinner bell rang at table. Not a word
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was exchanged between the brothers. Only towards the end of the meal the General
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addressed a few very harsh words to his brother. The latter looked at the
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servants who left the room. General said, don Cesire, to the governor,
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I have the honor to inform you that I am leaving the citadel.
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I give you my resignation, bravo bravissima, so that I shall be suspect
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and you'll reason. If you please my conscience, go on. You are
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only a frock. You know nothing about honor. Fabrizio is dead, thought
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Slelia. They have poisoned him at dinner, or it is arranged for to
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morrow. She ran to the avery, resolved to sing, accompanying herself on
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the piano. I shall go to confession, she said to herself, and
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I shall be forgiven for having broken my vow to save a man's life.
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What was her consternation when, on reaching the avery she saw that the screens
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had been replaced by planks fastened to the iron bars. In desperation, she
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tried to give the prisoner a warning, and a few words shouted rather than
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sung. There was no response of any sort. A deathly silence already reigned
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in the Torrifanesa. It is all over, she said to herself. Beside
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herself, she went downstairs, then returned to equip herself with the little money
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she had and some small diamond ear rings. She took also on her way
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out, the bread that remained from dinner, which had been placed in a
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sideboard. If he still lives, my duty is to save him. She
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advanced with a haughty air to the little door of the tower. This stood
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open, and eight soldiers had just been posted in the pillared room on the
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ground floor. She faced these soldiers boldly, slearly accounted on speaking to the
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sergeant who had been in charge of them, this man was at Slelia rushed
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on to the little iron staircase, which wound in a spy all round one
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of the pillars. The soldiers looked at her with great stupefaction, but evidently
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on account of her lace, shawl and her hat, dared not say anything
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to her. On the first landing there was no one. But when she
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reached the second, at the entrance to the corridor, which, as the
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reader may remember, was closed by three barred gates and led to Fabrizzio's cell,
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she found a turnkey who was a stranger to her and said to her,
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with a terrified air, the Dorefernesa. He has not dined yet.
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I know that, said Sleelia haughtily. The man dared not stop her.
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Twenty paces father. Slelia found sitting upon the first of the six wooden steps
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which led to Fabrizio's cell, another turnkey, elderly and very cross, who
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said to her firmly, Senora, have you an order from the governor.
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Do you mean to say that you do not know me? Slelia, at
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that moment, was animated by a suit supernatural force. She was beside herself.
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I am going to safe my husband, she said to herself, while
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the old turnkey was exclaiming, but my duty does not allow me. Slelia
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hastened up the six steps. She hurled herself against the door. An enormous
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key was in the lock. She required all her strength to make it turn.
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At that moment, the old turnkey, who was half intoxicated, seized
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the hem of her gown. She went quickly into the room, shut the
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door behind her, tearing her gown, and as the turnkey was pushing the
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door to follow her, closed it with a bolt which lay to her hand.
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She looked into the cell and saw Fabrizio seated at a small table upon
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which his dinner was laid. She dashed at the table, overturned it,
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and, seizing Fabrizio by the arm, said to him, I mangiatto.
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The use of the singular form delighted Fabrizio. In her confusion, Slelia forgot
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for the first time her feminine reserve and let her love appear. Fabrizio had
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been going to begin the fatal meal. He took her in his arms and
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covered her with kisses. This dinner was poisoned, was his thought. If
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I tell her that I have not touched it, religion regains its hold and
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Sleier flies. If, on the other hand, she regards me as a
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dying man, I shall obtain for her a promise not to leave me.
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She wishes to find some way of breaking off her abominable marriage, and here
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chance offers me one the jailers will collect, they will break down the door,
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and then there will be such a scandal that perhaps the marchesa Grasghenzi will
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fight shy and the marriage be broken off. During the moment of silence,
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occupied by these reflections, Frabricio felt that already Slely was seeking to free herself
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from his embrace. I feel no pain as yet, he said to him,
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But presently it will prostrate me at your feet. Help me to die,
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Oh, my only friend, was her answer. I will die with
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thee. She clasped him in her arms with a convulsive movement. She was
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so beautiful, half unclad, and in this state of intense passion that Fabricio
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could not resist an almost unconscious impulse. No resistance was offered him in the
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enthusiasm of passion and generous instincts which follows an extreme happiness, He said to
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her fatuously, I must not allow an unworthy falsehood to soil the first moment
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of our happiness. But for your courage, I should now be only a
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corpse or writhing in atrocious pain. But I was going to begin my dinner
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when you came in, and I have not touched these dishes at all.
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Fabricio dealt upon these appalling images to conjure away the indignation which he could already
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read in Slelia's eyes. She looked at him for some moments while two violent
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and conflicting sentiments fought within her, then flung herself into his arms. They
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heard a great noise in the corridor. The three iron doors were violently opened
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and shut. Voices shouted, Ah, if I had arms, cried Fabricio.
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They made me give them up before they would let me. In no
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doubt, they are coming to kill me. Farewell, my Slllia, I
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bless my death, since it has been the cause of my happiness. Slellia
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embraced him and gave him a little dagger with an ivory handle, the blade
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of which was scarcely longer than that of a pen knife. Do not let
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yourself be killed, she said to him, and defend yourself to the last
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moment. If my uncle, the prior, he is the noise, he
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is a man of courage and virtue, he will save you, so saying,
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she rushed to the door. If you are not killed, she said,
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with exultation, holding the bolt of the door in her hand and turning
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her head towards him, let yourself die of hunger rather than touch anything.
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Carry this bread always on you. The noise came nearer, Fabrizio seized a
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round the body, stepped into her place by the door, and opening it
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with fury, dashed down the six steps of the wooden staircase. He had
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in his hand the little dagger with the ivory handle, and was on the
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point of piercing with it the waistcoat of General Fontana ade de Comte to the
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prince, who recoiled with great alacrity, crying in a panic. But I
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am coming to save you, Senor d'ldonno. Fabrizio went up the six steps,
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called into the cell, Fantana has come to save me. Then returning
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to the General on the wooden steps, discussed matters coldly with him. He
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begged him at great length to pardon him a movement of anger. They wished
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to poison me. The dinner that is there on my table is poisoned.
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I had the sense not to touch it. But I may admit to you
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that this procedure has given me a shock. When I heard you on the
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stair, I thought that they were coming to finish me off with their dirks.
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Senor General, I request you to order that no one shall enter my
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cell. They would remove the poison, and our good Prince must know all.
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The General, very pale and completely taken aback, passed on the orders
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suggested by Fabrizio to the picked body of jailers who were following him. These
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men, greatly dismayed at finding the poison discovered, hastened downstairs. They went,
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first ostensibly so as not to delay the Prince's aide de camp, on
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the narrow staircase, actually in order to escape themselves and vanish. To the
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great surprise of General Fontana, Fabrizio kept him for fully a quarter of an
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hour on the little iron staircase, which ran round the pillar of the ground
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floor. He wished to give Slelia time to hide on the floor above.
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It was the DUCHESSA, who, after various wild attempts, had managed to
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get General Fontana sent to the citadel. It was only by chance that she
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succeeded. On leaving Comte Mosca. As alarmed as she was herself, she
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had hastened to the palace. The Princess, who had a marked repugnance for
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energy which seemed to her vulgar, thought her mad and did not appear at
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all disposed to attempt any unusual measures on her behalf. The DUCHESSA, out
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of her senses, was weeping hot tears. She could do nothing but repeat
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every moment, But ma'am, in a quarter of an hour, Fabrizio will
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be dead poisoned. Seeing the Princess remain perfectly composed, the Duchess have became
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mad with grief. She completely overlooked the moral reflection, which would not have
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escaped a woman brought up in one of those northern religions which allow self examination.
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I was the first to use poison, and I am perishing by poison.
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In Italy. Reflections of that sort, in moments of passion appear in
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the poorest of taste, as a pun would seem in Paris, in similar
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circumstances the cavalieri Donerre. The Duchessa, in desperation, risked going into the
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drawing room, where she found the marches A Crescenzi, who was in waiting
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that day. On her return to Palmer. He had thanked her refusively for
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the place of Cavalier Doneri, to which but for her he would never have
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had any claim. Protestations of unbounded devotion had not been lacking on his part.
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The Duchessa appealed to him in these words, Rassi is going to have
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Fabrizio, who is in the sea poisoned. Take in your pocket some chocolate
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and a bottle of water, which I shall give you. Go up to
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the citadel and save my life by saying to General Fabio Conti that you will
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break off your marriage with his daughter if he does not allow you to give
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the water and the chocolate to Fabrizio with your own hands. The Marchesa turned
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pale, and his features, so far from showing any animation at these words,
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presented a picture of the dullest embarrassment. He could not believe in the
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possibility of so shocking a crime in a town as moral as Palmer, and
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one over which so great a prince reigned, and so forth these platitudes.
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Moreover, he uttered, slowly, in a word, the duchess have found
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an honest man, but the weakest imaginable, and one who could not make
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up his mind to act. After a score of similar phrases, interrupted by
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cries of impatience from Senora san Severina, he hit upon an excellent idea.
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The oath which he had given as cavalier Donori forbade him to take part in
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any action again the government who can conceive the anxiety and despair of the duchessa
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who felt that time was flying, But at least see the governor tell him
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that I shall pursue Fabrizio's murderers to hell itself. Despair increased the Duchess's natural
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eloquence, but all this fire and he made the marches more alarmed and doubled
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his irresolution. At the end of an hour, he was less disposed to
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act than at the first moment. This unhappy woman, who had reached the
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utmost limits of despair and knew well that the governor would refuse nothing to so
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rich a son in law, when so far as to fling herself at his
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feet. At this, the Marchesa's pusillanimity seemed to increase still further. He
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himself, at the sight of this strange spectacle, was afraid of being compromised
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unawares. But a singular thing happened. The Marchesa, a good man at
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heart, was touched by the tears and by the posture at his feet of
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so beautiful and above all so influential a woman I myself, noble and rich
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as I am, he said to himself, will perhaps one day be at
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the feet of some republican. The Marchesa burst into tears, and finally it
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was agreed that the Duchessa, in her capacity as Grand Mistress, should present
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him to the Princess, who would give him permission to convey to Fabrizio a
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little hamper of the contents of which he would declare himself to know nothing.
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The previous evening, before the Duchess knew of Fabrizio's active folly in going to
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the citadel, they had played at court a Commadio de' latte and the Prince,
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who always reserved for himself the lover's part to be played with The DUCHESSA
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had been so passionate in speaking to her of his affection that he would have
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been absurd if in Italy an impassioned man or a prince could ever be thought
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so. The Prince, extremely shy but always intensely serious in matters of love,
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met in one of the corridors of the castle the DUCHESSA, who was
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carrying off the marchesa cresenzi in great distress to the princess. He was so
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surprised and dazzled by the beauty full of emotion which are a spare, gave
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the Grand Mistress that for the first time in his life he showed character.
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With a more than imperious gesture, he dismissed the marchos and began to make
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a declaration of love according to all the rules to the Duchess. The Prince
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had doubtless prepared this speech long beforehand, for there were things in it that
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were quite reasonable. Ernesto the Fifth, since the conventions of my rank forbid
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me to give myself the supreme happiness of marrying you, I will swear to
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you upon the blessed sacrament never to marry without your permission. In writing,
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I am well aware, he added, that I am making you forfeit the
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hand of a prime minister, a clever and extremely amiable man. But after
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all, he is fifty six and I am not yet two and twenty.
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I should consider myself to be insulting you, and to deserve your refusal if
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I spoke to you of the advantages that there are apart from love, that
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every one who takes an interest in money at my court speaks with admiration of
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the proof of his love, which the Conte gives you in leaving you the
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custodian of all that he possesses. I shall be only too happy to copy
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him in that respect. You will make a better use of my fortune than
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I, and you shall have the entire disposal of the annual sum which my
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ministers hand over to the Intendant General of my crown, so that it will
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be you, senor a duchessa who will decide upon the sums which I may
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spend each month. The duchessor found all these details very long. Fabrizio's dangers
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pierced her heart. Then you do not know, Prince. She cried that
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at this moment, thou poisoning Fabrizio in your citadel, save him. I
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accept everything. The arrangement of this speech was perfect in its clumsiness. At
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the mere mention of poison, all the ease, all the good faith which
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this poor moral prince was putting into the conversation vanished in the twinkling of an
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eye. Duchessa did not notice her tactlessness until it was too late to remedy
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it, and her despair was intensified, a thing she had believed to be
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impossible. If I had not spoken of poison, she said to herself,
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he would grant me Fabrizio's freedom. Oh, my dear Fabrizio, she added,
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So it is fated that his I who must pierce your heart by my
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foolishness. It took the Duchessa all her time and all her coquetry to get
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the Prince back to his talk of passionate love. But even then he remained
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deeply offended. It was his mind alone that spoke. His heart had been
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frozen by the idea, first of all, of poison, and then by
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the other idea, as displeasing as the first was terrible. They administer poison
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in my states and without telling me, Sir RACI wishes to dishonor me in
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the eyes of Europe, and God knows what I shall read next month in
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the Paris newspapers. Suddenly the heart of this shy young man was silent.
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His mind arrived at an idea. Dear Duchessa, you know whether I am
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attached to you. Your terrible ideas about poison are unfounded. I prefer to
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think. Still, they give me food for thought. They make me almost
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forget for an instant the passion that I feel for you, which is the
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only passion that I have ever felt in all my life. I know that
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I am not attractive, I am only a boy hopelessly in love. Still
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put me to the test. The Prince grew quite animated in using this language.
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Say Fabrizio, and I accept everything, no doubt. I am carried
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away by the foolish fears of a mother's heart. But send this moment to
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fetch Fabricio from the citadel, that I may see him if he is still
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alive. Send him from the palace to the town prison, where he can
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remain for months on end, if your Highness requires, until his trial.
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The Duchessa saw with despair that the Prince, instead of granting with a word
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so simple a request, had turned somber. He was very red. He
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looked at the Duchess, then lowered his eyes, and his chef grew pale.
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The idea of poison, put forward at the wrong moment, had suggested
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to him an idea worthy of his father or a Philip the second, but
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he dared not express it in words. Listen, Senora, he said at
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length, as though forcing himself to speak in in a tone that was by
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no means gracious. You look down on me as a child, and,
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what is more, a creature without graces. Very well, I am going
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to say something which is horrible, but which has just been suggested to me
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by the deep and true passion that I feel for you. If I believed
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for one moment in this poison, I should have taken action already, as
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in duty bound. But I see in your request only a passionate fancy,
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and one of which I beg leave to state. I do not see all
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the consequences you desire that I should act without consulting my ministers, I,
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who have been reigning for barely three months. You ask of me a great
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exception to my ordinary mode of action, which I regard as highly reasonable as
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you, Senora, who are here and now the absolute sovereign. You give
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me recent a hope in a matter which is everything to me. But in
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an hour's time, when this imaginary poison, when this nightmare has vanished,
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my presence will become an annoyance to you, I shall forfeit your favor,
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Senora very well. I require an oath swear to me, Senora, that
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if Fabricio is restored to you, safe and sound, I shall obtain from
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you in three months from now all that my love can desire. You will
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assure the happiness of my entire life by placing at my disposal an hour of
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your own, and you will be wholly mine. At that moment, the
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castle clock struck two. Ah. It is too late, perhaps, thought
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the Duchess. I swear it, she cried, with a wild look in
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her eyes. At once the Prince became another man. He ran to the
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far end of the gallery, where the Eid de Compe's room was. General
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Fontana dash off to the citadel this instant go up as quickly as possible to
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the room in which they have put signor del doonno, and bring him to
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me. I must speak to him within twenty minutes, fifteen if possible,
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ah General, cried the Duchess, who had followed the prince. One minute
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may decide my life. A report which is doubtless false makes me fear poison
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for Fabrizio. Shout to him as soon as you are within ear shot.
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Not to eat. If he has touched his dinner. Make him swallow an
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emetic. Tell him that it is I who wish it. Employ force if
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necessary. Tell him that I am following close behind you, and shall be
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obliged to you all my life. Senor Duartessa, my horse is saddled.
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I am generally considered a pretty good horseman, and I shall ride hell for
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leather. I shall be at the citadel eight minutes before you and I,
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Senor Duchessor, cried the Prince. I ask of you four of those eight
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minutes the aide de Campe had vanished. He was a man who had no
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other merit than that of his horsemanship. No sooner had he shut the door
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than the young Prince, who seemed to have acquired some character, seized the
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Duchess's hand. Condescend Senora. He said to her with passion, to come
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with me to the chapel. The duchessa at a loss for the first time
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in her life, followed him without uttering a word. The Prince and she
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passed rapidly down the whole length of the great gallery of the palace, the
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chapel being at the other end. On entering the chapel, the Prince fell
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on his knees, almost as much before the duchessaur as before the altar.
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Repeat the oath. He said, with passion, if you had been fair,
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if the wretched fact of my being a prince had not been against me,
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you would have granted me, out of pity for my love, what
25:41
you now owe me, because you have sworn it. If I see Fabrizio
25:45
again not poisoned, if he is alive in a week from now, if
25:49
his Highness will appoint him coadjutor with a ventul succession to Archbishop Landriani, my
25:55
honor, my womanly dignity, everything shall be trampled under foot, and I
26:00
will give myself to his Highness. But, dear friend, said the Prince,
26:06
with a blend of timid anxiety and affection, which was quite pleasing,
26:10
I am afraid of some ambush which I do not understand, and which might
26:12
destroy my happiness. That would kill me. If the Archbishop opposes me with
26:18
one of those ecclesiastical reasons which keep things dragging on for year after year,
26:22
what will become of me? You see that I am behaving towards you with
26:26
entire good faith. Are you going to be a little Jesuit with me?
26:32
No? In good faith. If Fabrizio is saved, if so far as
26:36
lies in your power, you make him coadjutor and a future archbishop. I
26:40
dishonor myself, and I am yours. Your Highness undertakes to rite approved on
26:45
the margin of a request which his grace the Archbishop will present to you.
26:48
In a week from now, I will sign you a blank sheet rein over
26:55
me and over my states, cried the Prince, coloring with happiness, and
26:59
really beside him, he demanded a second oath. He was so deeply moved
27:03
that he forgot the shyness that came so naturally to him. And in this
27:07
palace chapel in which they were alone, murmured in an undertone to the DUCHESSA
27:11
things which uttered three days earlier would have altered the opinion that she held of
27:17
him. But in her the despair which Fabricio's danger had caused her had given
27:22
place to horror at the promise which had been wrung from her. The duchessa
27:26
was completely upset by what she had just done. If she did not yet
27:30
feel all the fearful bitterness of the word she had given, it was because
27:34
her attention was occupied in wondering whether General Fontana would be able to reach the
27:38
citadel in time. To free herself from the madly amorous speeches of this boy,
27:45
and to change the topic of conversation, she praised a famous picture by
27:48
the Parma Gianino, which hung over the high altar of the chapel. Be
27:53
so good as to permit me to send it to you, said the Prince.
27:57
I accept replied the Duchess. But allow me to go and meet Fabrizio.
28:03
With a distracted air, she told her coachman to put his horses into
28:07
a gallop. On the bridge over the moat of the citadel, she met
28:10
General Fontana and Fabrizio, who were coming out on foot. Have you eaten
28:15
no by a miracle? The duchessor flung her arms round Fabrizio's neck and fell
28:21
in a faint, which lasted for an hour, and gave fears, first
28:25
for her life and afterwards for her reason. The Governor Fabio Conti, had
28:30
turned white with rage at the sight of General Fontana. He had been so
28:33
slow in obeying the prince's orders that the aide de camp, who supposed that
28:37
the duchessa was going to occupy the position of reigning mistress, had ended by
28:41
losing his temper. The governor reckoned upon making Fabrizio's illness last two or three
28:48
days, and now he said to himself, the General, a man from
28:52
the court will find that insolent fellow writhing in the agony, which is my
28:56
revenge for his escape. Fabio Conti, lost in thought, stopped in the
29:02
guard room on the ground floor of the Torrifaneser, from which he hastily dismissed
29:06
the soldiers. He did not wish to have any witnesses of the scene which
29:10
was about to be played five minutes later. He was petrified with astonishment on
29:15
hearing Fabrizio's voice. On seeing him alive and alert, giving General Fontana an
29:19
account of his imprisonment, he vanished. Fabrizio showed himself a perfect gentleman in
29:26
his interview with the Prince. For one thing, he did not wish to
29:30
assume the air of a boy who takes fright at nothing. The Prince asked
29:34
him kindly, how he felt like a man serene highness who was dying of
29:38
hunger, Having fortunately neither broken my fast nor dined. After having had the
29:45
honor to thank the Prince, he requested permission to visit the Archbishop before surrendering
29:49
himself at the town prison. The Prince had turned prodigiously pale when his boyish
29:56
head had been penetrated by the idea that this poison was not all to diar
30:00
gather a chimira of the Duchess's imagination. Absorbed in this cruel thought, he
30:06
did not at first reply to the request to see the Archbishop, which Fabrizio
30:10
addressed to him. Then he felt himself obliged to atone for his distraction by
30:14
a profusion of graciousness. Go out alone, Senora, walk through the streets
30:19
of my capital, unguarded. About ten or eleven o'clock. You will return
30:23
to prison, where I hope that you will not long remain. On the
30:29
morrow of this great day, the most remarkable of his life, the Prince
30:32
fancied himself a little napoleon. He had read that great man had been kindly
30:37
treated by several of the beauties of his court. Once established as a napoleon
30:42
in love, he remembered that he had been one or so under fire.
30:47
His heart was still quite enraptured by the firmness of his conduct with the duchessa.
30:52
The consciousness of having done something difficult made him another man altogether. For
30:56
a fortnight he became susceptible to generous considerations. He had some character. He
31:04
began this day by burning the patent of Kant made out in favor of Rassi,
31:08
which had been lying on his desk for a month. He degraded General
31:12
Fabio Conti, and called upon Colonel Longe, his successor, for the truth
31:17
as to the poison. Longe, a gallant Polish officer, intimidated the jailers,
31:22
and reported that there had been a design to poison Signor Deldonno's breakfast,
31:27
but too many people would have had to be taken into confidence. Arrangements to
31:33
deal with his dinner were more successful, and but for the arrival of General
31:37
Fontana, Signor Deldonno was a dead man. The Prince was dismayed, but
31:42
as he was really in love, it was a consolation for him to be
31:45
able to say to himself, it appears that I really did save Signor Deldonno's
31:51
life, and the Duchess will never dare fail to keep the words she has
31:53
given me. Another idea struck him. My business is a great deal more
32:00
difficult than I thought. Everyone has agreed that the Duchess or is a woman
32:04
of infinite cleverness. Here, my policy and my heart go together. It
32:07
would be divine for me if she would consent to be my prime minister.
32:14
That evening, the Prince was so infuriated by the horrors that he had discovered
32:17
that he would not take part in the play. I should be more than
32:22
happy, he said to the Duchess, if you would reign over my states
32:24
as you reign over my heart. To begin with, I am going to
32:29
tell you how I have spent my day. He then told her everything very
32:32
exactly, the burning of Count Rassi's patent, the appointment of Lange, his
32:37
report on the poisoning, and so forth. I find that I have very
32:42
little experience for ruling. The Comte humiliates me by his jokes. He makes
32:46
jokes even at the council and in society. He says things the truth of
32:51
which you are going to disprove. He says that I am a boy whom
32:54
he leads wherever he chooses. Though one is a prince, Senora, one
32:59
is none the less a man. And these things annoy one. In order
33:02
to give an air of improbability to the stories which Senor Moscer may repeat,
33:07
they have made me summon to the ministry that dangerous scoundrel Rassi. And now
33:12
there is that General Conti, who believes him to be still so powerful that
33:15
he dare not admit that it was he or the Reversi, who ordered him
33:19
to destroy your nephew. I have a good mind simply to send General Fabio
33:23
Conti before the court. The judges will see whether he is guilty of attempted
33:28
poisoning. But Prince, have you judges, what said the Prince in astonishment.
33:35
You have certain learned counsel who walk the streets with a solemn heir.
33:38
Apart from that, they always give the judgment that will please the dominant party
33:43
at your court. While the young Prince, now scandalized, uttered expressions which
33:49
showed his candor far more than his sagacity. The Duchessa was saying, to
33:52
herself, does it really suit me to let Conti be disgraced? No,
33:58
certainly not, for then his daughter's marriage to that honest simpleton, the Marchesa
34:02
Gresenzi, becomes impossible. On this topic there was an endless discussion between the
34:08
Duchessa and the Prince. The Prince was dazed with admiration in consideration of the
34:15
marriage of Sleelia Conti to the Marchesa Cresenzi, but on that express condition,
34:20
which he laid down in an angry scene with the ex governor, the Prince
34:22
pardoned his attempt to poison, but on the Duchess's advice, banished him until
34:28
the date of his daughter's marriage. The Duchessa imagined that it was no longer
34:32
love that she felt for Fabrizio, but she was still passionately anxious for the
34:37
marriage of Sleelio Conti to the Marchesa. There lay in that the vague hope
34:43
that gradually she might see Fabrizio's preoccupation disappear. The Prince, rapturously happy,
34:50
wished that same evening publicly to disgrace the Minister Rasi. The Duchessa said to
34:55
him with a laugh, do you know a saying of Napoleon? A man
35:00
then placed in an exalted position, with the eyes of the whole world on
35:02
him, ought never to allow himself to make violent movements. But this evening
35:07
it is too late. Let us leave business till to morrow. She wished
35:13
to give herself time to consult the Conte, to whom she repeated very accurately
35:16
the whole of the evening's conversation, Suppressing, however, the frequent allusions to
35:21
a promise which was poisoning her life. The Duchessa hoped to make herself so
35:27
indispensable that she would be able to obtain an indefinite adjournal by saying to the
35:30
Prince, if you have the barbarity to insist upon subjecting me to that humiliation
35:37
which I will never forgive you, I leave your states. The day after,
35:42
consulted by the Duchessa as to the fate of Russi, the Comte showed
35:45
himself most philosophic General Fabio Conti, and he went for a tour of Piedmont.
35:52
A singular difficulty arose in the trial of Fabrizio. The judges wished to
35:57
acquit him by acclamation, and at the first say of the court, the
36:00
count was obliged to use threats to enforce that the trial should last for at
36:05
least a week, and the judges take the trouble to hear all the witnesses.
36:09
These fellows are always the same, he said to himself. The day
36:14
after his acquittal, Fabrizio Deldonno at last took possession of the place of Grand
36:17
Vicar to the worthy Archbishop Landriani. On the same day, the Prince signed
36:23
the despatches necessary to obtain Fabrizio's nomination as coadjutor with eventual succession, and less
36:30
than two months afterwards he was installed in that office. The vow everyone complimented
36:37
the duchess or on her nephew's air of gravity, The fact was that he
36:42
was in despair. The day after his deliverance, followed by the dismissal and
36:46
banishment of General Fabio Conti and the Duchess's arrival in high favor, Slelia had
36:52
taken refuge with Comtessa Contarini. Her aunt, a woman of great wealth and
36:58
great age, occupied exclume usively in looking after her health. Slelia could,
37:02
had she wished, have seen Fabrizio but any one acquainted with her previous commitments
37:07
who had seen her behavior now might well have thought that with her lover's danger,
37:13
her love for him also had ceased. Not only did Fabrizio pass as
37:17
often as he decently could before the Palazzo Contini, he had also succeeded,
37:22
after endless trouble, in taking a little apartment opposite the windows of its first
37:27
floor. On one occasion, Sleelia, having gone to the window without thinking
37:31
to see a procession pass, drew back at once, as though terror stricken.
37:37
She had caught sight of Fabrizio, dressed in black but as a workman
37:40
in very humble circumstances, looking at her from one of the windows of this
37:45
rookery, which had pains of oiled paper. Like his cell and the Tory
37:47
Fanesa, Fabrizio would fain have been able to persuade himself that Slelia was shunning
37:53
him in consequence of her father's disgrace, which current report put down to the
37:58
duchessa. But he knew only too well another course for this aloofness, and
38:02
nothing could distract him from his melancholy. He had been left unmoved by his
38:08
acquittal, his installation in a fine office, the first that he had had
38:13
to fill in his life, by his fine position in society, and finally
38:16
by the assiduous court that was paid to him by all the ecclesiastics and all
38:21
the devout laity in the diocese. The charming apartment that he occupied in the
38:25
Palazzo San Severina was no longer adequate. Greatly to her delight, the DUCHESSA
38:31
was obliged to give up to him all the second floor of her palazzo and
38:36
two fine rooms on the first, which were always filled with people awaiting their
38:39
turn to pay their respects to the young coadjutor. The clause securing his eventual
38:45
succession had created a surprising effect in the country. People now ascribed to Fabrizio
38:51
as virtues, all those firm qualities in his character which before had so greatly
38:55
scandalized the poor, foolish courtiers. It was a great lesson in philosophy to
39:01
Fabrizio to find himself perfectly insensible of all these honors, and far more unhappy
39:07
in this magnificent apartment with ten flunkies wearing his livery than he had been in
39:12
his wooden cell in the Torrefanesa, surrounded by hideous jailers, and always in
39:16
fear of his life. His mother and sister, the Duchess of Vee,
39:22
who came to Palmer to see him in his glory, were struck by his
39:24
profound melancholy. The Marchesa Deldgno, now the least romantic of women, were
39:31
so greatly alarmed by it, that she imagined that they must, in the
39:35
Torrefaarnesa, have given him some slow poison. Despite her extreme discretion, she
39:40
felt it her duty to speak of so extraordinary a melancholy, and Fabrizio replied
39:45
only by tears. A swarm of advantages due to his brilliant position, produced
39:52
no other effect on him than to make him ill tempered. His brother,
39:57
that vain soul, gangrened by the vileist selfishness, wrote him what was almost
40:01
an official letter of congratulation, and in this letter was enclosed a draft for
40:07
fifty thousand francs, in order that he might, said the new marchesa purchase
40:10
horses and a carriage worthy of his name. Fabrizio sent this money to his
40:15
younger sister, who was poorly married. The genealogy. Count Mosca had ordered
40:23
a fine translation to be made in Italian. Of the genealogy of the family
40:28
Valsera del Dogno, originally published in Latin by Fabrizio, Archbishop of Palmer.
40:35
He had it splendidly printed with the Latin text on alternate pages. The engravings
40:40
had been reproduced by superb lithographs made in Paris. The duchessa had asked that
40:45
a fine portrait of Fabrizio should be placed opposite that of the old archbishop.
40:51
This translation was published as being the work of Fabrizio during his first imprisonment.
40:57
But all the spirit was crushed out of our hero, even the vanity so
41:00
natural to mankind. He did not deign to read a single page of this
41:06
work, which was attributed to himself. His social position made it incumbent upon
41:10
him to present a magnificently bound copy to the Prince, who felt that he
41:15
owed him some compensation for the cruel death to which he had come so near,
41:19
and accorded him the grand entry into his bed chamber, a favor which
41:23
confers the rank of excellency. End of section thirty one.