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Chapter 24 · The Charterhouse of Parma

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Section thirty of the Charterhouse of Palmer by Stendahl, translated by C. 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 four, the Duchess our arranged a series of charming
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evenings at the palace, which had never seen such a gaiety. Never had
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she been more delightful than during this winter. And yet she was living in
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the midst of the greatest dangers. But at the same time, during this
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critical period, it so happened that she did not think twice with any appreciable
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regret of the strange alteration. In Fabrizio, the young Prince used to appear
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very early at his mother's parties, where she always said to him, away
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with you and govern. I wager there are at least a score of reports
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on your desk awaiting a definite answer. And I do not wish to have
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the rest of Europe accuse me of making you a mere figurehead in order to
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reign in your place. These councils had the disadvantage of being offered always at
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the most inopportune moments, that is to say, when his Highness, having
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overcome his timidity, was taking part in some acted charade which amused him greatly.
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Twice a week there were parties in the country, to which, on
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the pretext of winning for the new sovereign the affection of his people, the
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Princess admitted the prettiest women of the middle classes. The Duchess, who was
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the life and soul of this joyous court, hoped that these handsome women,
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all of whom looked with a mortal envy on the great prosperity of the Burgess
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Rasi, would inform the Prince of some of the countless rascalities of that minister,
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for, among other childish ideas, the Prince claimed to have a moral
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ministry the court. Rasi had too much sense not to feel how dangerous these
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brilliant evenings at the Princess's court, with his enemy and command of them were
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to himself. He had not chosen to return to Conte Moscow. The perfectly
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legal sentence passed on Fabrizio. It was inevitable, therefore, that either the
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duchessa or he must vanish from the court. On the day of that popular
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movement, the existence of which it was now in good taste to deny.
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Someone had distributed money among the populace. Rassi started from that point worse stressed
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even than was his habit. He climbed to the most wretched attics in the
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town and spent whole hours in serious conversation with their needy inhabitants. He was
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well rewarded for all his trouble. After a fortnight of this kind of life,
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he had acquired the certainty that Farante Palla had been the secret head of
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the insurrection, and furthermore that this creature, a pauper all his life as
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a great poet would be, had sent nine or ten diamonds to be sold
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at Genoa. Among others were mentioned five valuable stones, which were really worth
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more than forty thousand francs, and which ten days before the death the Prince
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had been sacrificed for thirty five thousand francs, because the vendor said he was
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in need of money. What words can describe the rapture of the Minister of
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Justice on making this discovery. He had learned that every day he was being
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made a laughing stock at the court of the Princess Dowager, and on several
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occasions the Prince, when discussing business with him, laughed in his face with
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all the frankness of his youth. It must be admitted that Rassi had some
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singularly plebeian habits. For instance, as soon as the discussion began to interest
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him, he would cross his legs and take his foot in his hand.
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If the interest increased, he would spread his red cotton handkerchief over his knee,
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and so forth. The Prince had laughed heartily at the wit of one
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of the prettiest women in the middle class, who, being aware incidentally that
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she had a very shapely leg, had begun to imitate this elegant gesture of
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the Minister of Justice. Rassi requested to an extraordinary audience and said to the
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Prince, would your Highness be willing to give a hundred thousand francs to know
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definitely in what manner his august father met his death. With that sum,
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the authorities would be in a position to arrest the guilty parties if such exist.
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The Prince's reply left no room for doubt. A little while later,
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Checchina informed the Duchessa that she had been offered a large sum to allow her
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mistress's diamonds to be examined by a jeweler she had indignantly refused. The duchess
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Es scolded her for having refused, and a week later Checchina had the diamonds
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to show. On the day appointed for this exhibition of the diamonds, the
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Comte posted a couple of trustworthy men at every jeweler's in Palmer, and towards
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midnight he came to tell the Duchessa that the inquisitive jeweler was none other than
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Rassi's brother, the Duchessa, who was very gay. That evening they were
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playing at the palace a commadier de latte, that is to se say,
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one in which each character invents the dialogue as he goes on, only the
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plot of the play being posted up in the green room. The Duchess who
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was playing a part and as her lover in the piece, Comte Baldy,
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the former friend of the Marchesa Reversi, who was present. The Prince,
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the shyest man in his states, but an extremely good looking youth and one
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endowed with the tenderest of hearts, was studying Conte Baldy's part, which he
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intended to take at the second performance. I have very little time the Duchess
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had told the Comte, I am appearing in the first scene of the second
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act. Let us go into the guard room. There, surrounded by a
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score of the body guard, all wide awake and closely attentive to the conversation
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between the Prime Minister and the Grand Mistress. The duchesses said with a laugh
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to her friend, you always scold me when I tell you unnecessary secrets.
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It was I who summoned Ernesto the Fifth to the throne. It was a
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question of avenging Fabrizio, whom I loved then far more than I do to
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day, although always quite innocently. I know very well that you have little
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belief in my innocence, but that does not matter, since you love me
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in spite of my crimes very well. Here is a real crime. I
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gave all my diamonds to a sort of lunatic, a most interesting man named
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Ferrante Paula. I even kissed him so that he should destroy the man who
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wished to have Fabrizio poisoned. Where is the harm in that? Ah?
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So that is where Ferrantei has found money for his rising, said the count,
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slightly taken aback, And you tell me all this in the guard room.
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It is because I am in a hurry, and now Rassi is on
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the track of the crime. It is quite true that I never mentioned an
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insurrection, for I abhor Jacobins. Think it over and let me have your
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advice. After the play, I will tell you at once that you must
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make the prince fall in love with you, but perfectly honorably please. The
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Duchessa was called to return to the she fled. Some days later, the
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DUCHESSA received by post a long and ridiculous letter signed with the name of a
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former maid of her own. The woman asked to be employed at the court,
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but the DUCHESSA had seen from the first glance that the letter was neither
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in her handwriting nor in her style. On opening the sheet to read the
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second page, she saw fall at her feet a little miraculous image of the
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Madonna folded in a printed leaf from an old book. After glancing at the
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image, the duchess had read a few lines of the printed page, her
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eyes shone. She found on it these words The tribune has taken one hundred
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francs monthly, not more. With the rest, it was decided to rekindle
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the sacred fire in souls which had become frozen by selfishness. The fox is
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upon my track. That is why I have not sought to see for the
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last time the adored being. I said to myself, she does not love
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the republic, she who is superior to me in mine and as well as
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by her graces and her beauty. Besides, I is one to create a
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republic without republicans. Can I be mistaken? In six months I shall visit,
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microscope in hand and on foot, the small towns of America. I
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shall see whether I ought still to love the sole rival that you have in
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my heart. If you received this letter, Sigora Baronessa, and no profane
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eye has read it before yours, tell them to break one of the young
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ash trees planted twenty paces from the spot where I dared to speak to you
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for the first time. I shall then have buried under the great box tree
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in the garden to which you called attention once in my happy days, a
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box in which will be found some of those things which lead to the slandering
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of people of my way of thinking. You may be sure that I should
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have taken care not to write. If the fox were not on my track,
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and there were not a risk of his reaching that heavenly being examine the
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box tree in a fortnight's time. Since he has a printing press at his
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command, the Duchess has said to herself, we shall soon have a volume
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of sonnets. Heaven knows what name he will give me. The Duchess's coquetry
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led her to make a venture. For a week, she was indisposed,
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and the court had no more pleasant evenings. The Princess, greatly shocked by
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all that her fear of her son was obliging her to do in the first
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moments of her widowhood, went to spend this week in a convent attached to
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the church in which the late prince was buried. This interruption of the evening
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parties threw upon the Prince an enormous burden of leisure, and brought a noteworthy
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check to the credit of the Minister of Justice. Ernesto the Fifth realized all
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the boredom that threatened him off the Duchess had left his court or merely ceased
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to diffuse joy in it. The evenings began again, and the Prince showed
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himself more and more interested in the Commadia d' larte. He had the intention
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of taking a part, but dared not confess this ambition. One day,
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blushing deeply, he said to the Duchess, why should not I act?
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Also, we are all at your Highness's orders here. If he deigns to
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give me the order, I will arrange the plot of a comedy. All
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the chief scenes in your Highness's part will be with me. And as on
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the first evenings, every one falters a little. If your Highness will please
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to watch me closely, I will tell him the answers that he ought to
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make. Everything was arranged, and with infinite skill. The very shy Prince
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was ashamed of being shy. The pains that the Duchess ha took not to
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let this innate shyness suffer, made a deep impression on the young Sovereign.
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On the day of his first appearance, the performance began half an hour earlier
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than usual, and there were in the drawing room when the party moved into
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the theater only nine or ten elderly women. This audience had but little effect
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on the Prince, and besides, having been brought up at Munich on sound
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monarchical principles, they always applauded using her authority as Grand Mistress, the duchessor
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turned the key in the door by which the common herd of courtiers were admitted
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to the performances. The Prince, who had a literary mind and a fine
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figure, came very well out of his opening scenes. He repeated with intelligence
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the lines which he read in the Duchess's eyes, or with which she prompted
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him in an undertone. At a moment when the few spectators were applauding with
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all their might, the Duchess gave a signal. The door of honor was
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thrown open, and the theater filled in a moment with all the pretty women
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of the court, who, finding that the prince cut a charming figure and
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seemed thoroughly happy, began to applaud The prince, flushed with joy he was
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playing the part of a lover to the duchessa so far from having to suggest
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his speeches to him, she was soon obliged to request him to curtail those
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speeches. He spoke of love with an enthusiasm which often embarrassed the actress.
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His replies lasted five minutes. The Duchess was no longer the dazzling beauty of
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the year before Fabrizio's imprisonment, and far more than that. Her stay by
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Lake Maggiore with a Fabrizio grown morose and silent, had added ten years to
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the fair Gena's age. Her features had become marked. They showed more intelligence
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unless youth. They had now only very rarely the playfulness of early youth.
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But on the stage, with the aid of rouge and all the expedients which
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art supplies to actresses, she was still the prettiest woman at court. The
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passionate addresses uttered by the Prince put the courtiers on the alert. They were
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all saying to themselves, this evening, there is the baldy of this new
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reign. The Comte felt himself inwardly revolted. The play ended. The Duchess
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has said to the Prince before all the court, your Highness acts too well.
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People will say that you are in love with a woman of eight and
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thirty, which will put a stop to my arrangement with the Comte. And
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so I will not act any more with your Highness unless the Prince swears to
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me to address me as he would a woman of a certain age. The
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Signora marchesa reverse, for example, the same play was three times repeated.
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The Prince was madly happy, but one evening he appeared very thoughtful. Either
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I am greatly mistaken, said the Grand Mistress to the Princess. Or Rassi
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is seeking to play some trick upon us. I should advise your Highness to
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choose a play for to morrow. The Prince will act badly, and in
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his despair will tell you something. The Prince did indeed act very badly.
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One could barely hear him, and he no longer knew how to end his
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sentences. At the end of the first act, he almost had tears in
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his eyes. The Duchess has stayed beside him, but was cold and unmoved.
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The Prince, finding himself alone with her for a moment in the actor's
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green room, went to shut the door. I shall never, he said,
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to be able to play in the second and third act. I absolutely
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declined to be applauded out of kindness. The applause they gave me this evening
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cut me to the heart. Give me your advice. What ought I to
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do? I shall appear on the stage, make a profound reverence to her
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Highness, another to the audience, like a real stage manager, and say
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that the actor who is playing the part of Lilio, having suddenly been taken
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ill. The performance will conclude with some pieces of music. Cond Rusca and
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little Josareffe will be delighted to be able to show off their harsh voices to
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so brilliant an assembly. The Prince took the Duchess's hand, which he kissed
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with rapture. Why are you not a man, he said to her,
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you would give me good advice. Rassi has just laid on my desk one
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hundred and eighty two depositions against the alleged assassins of my father. Apart from
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the depositions, there is a formal accusation of more than two hundred pages.
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I shall have to read all that. And besides I have given my word
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not to say anything to the All this is leading straight to executions. Already
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he wants me to fetch back from France, from near Antibe Farante Pala,
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that great poet whom I admire so much. He is there under the name
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of Poncet. The day on which you have a liberal hanged, Rassi will
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be bound to the ministry by chains of iron, and that is what he
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wishes. More than anything, but your Highness will no longer be able to
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speak of leaving the palace two hours in advance. I shall say nothing either
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to the Princess or to the count of the cry of grief which has just
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escaped you. But since I am bound on oath to keep nothing secret from
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the Princess, I should be glad if your Highness would say to his mother
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the same things that he has let fall with me. This idea provided a
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diversion to the misery of the hissed actor, which was crushing the sovereign.
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Very well, go and tell my mother, I shall be in her big
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cabinet. The Prince left the stage, found his way to the drawing room
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from which one entered the theater, harshly dismissed the Great Chamberlain and the aide
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de camp on duty, who were following him. The Princess meanwhile hurriedly left
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the play. Entering the big cabinet, the Grand Mistress made a profound reverence
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to mother and son, and left them alone. One may imagine the agitation
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of the court. These are the things that make it so amusing. At
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the end of an hour, the Prince himself appeared at the door of the
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cabinet and summoned the Duchessa. The princess was in tears. Her son's expression
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had entirely altered. These are weak creatures who are out of temper, the
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Grand Mistress said to herself, and are seeking some good excuse to be angry
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with somebody. At first, the mother and son began both to speak at
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once, to tell the details to the duchessa, who, in her answers,
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took great care not to put forward any idea. For two mortal hours,
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the three actors in this tedious scene did not step out of the parts
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which we have indicated. The prince in person to fetch the two enormous portfolios
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which Rassie had deposited on his desk. On leaving his mother's cabinet, he
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found the whole court awaiting him. Go away, Leave me alone, he
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cried, in the most impolite tone, which was quite without precedent in him.
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The Prince did not wish to be seen carrying the two portfolios himself.
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A prince ought not to carry anything. The courtiers vanished in the twinkling of
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an eye. On his return, the prince encountered no one but the footmen
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who were blowing out the candles. He dismissed them with fury. Also poor
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Fantana, the aide de camp on duty, who had been so tactless as
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to remaine in his zeal. Everyone is doing his utmost to try my patience
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this evening, he said crossly to the Duchess or as he entered the cabinet.
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He credited her with great intelligence and was furious at her evident refusal to
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offer him any advice. She, for her part, was determined to say
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nothing so long as she was not asked for her advice quite expressly. Another
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long half hour elapsed before the Prince, who had a sense of his own
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dignity, could make up his mind to say to her. By Senora,
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you say nothing. I am here to serve the Princess and to forget very
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quickly what is said before me. Very well, Senora, said the Prince,
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blushing deeply. I order you to give me your opinion. One punishes
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crimes to prevent their recurrence. Was the late Prince poisoned? That is a
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very doubtful question. Was he poisoned by the Jacobins. That is what Rassi
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would dearly like to prove. For then he becomes for your Highness a permanently
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necessary instrument. In that case, your Highness, whose reign is just beginning,
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can promise himself many evenings like this. Your subjects say on the whole,
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what is quite true that your Highness has a strain of goodness in his
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nature. So long as he has not had any liberal hanged, he will
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enjoy that reputation, and most certainly no one will ever dream of planning to
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poison him. Your conclusion is evident, cried the princess angrily. You do
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not wish us to punish my husband's assassins, apparently, ma'am, because I
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am bound to them by ties of tender affection. The duchessa could see in
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the Prince's eyes that he believed her to be perfectly in accordance with his mother
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as to dictating a plan of action to him. There followed between the two
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women a fairly rapid succession of bitter repartees, at the end of which the
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Duchess protested that she would not utter a single word more, and adhered to
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her resolution. But the Prince, after a long discussion with his mother,
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ordered her once more to express her opinion, that is what I swear to
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your Highness that I will not do. But this is really childish, she
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exclaimed the Prince. I beg you to speak signor a duchess, said the
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princess, with an air of dignity. That is what I implore you to
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excuse me from doing, ma'am. But you are highness. The duchess a
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went on addressing the Prince reads French perfectly. To calm our agitated minds,
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would he read us a fable by la Fontaine. The Princess thought this us
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extremely insolent, but assumed an air at once of surprise and of amusement.
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When the Grand Mistress, who had gone with the utmost coolness to open the
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bookcase, returned with the volume of La Fontaine's fables, she turned the pages
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for some moments, then said to the Prince, handing him the book,
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I beg your highness to read the whole of the fable. The gardener and
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the lord of the manor a devty of gardening there was between the peasant and
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the yeoman class, who on the outskirts of a certain village owned a neat
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garden with a bit of tellige. He made a quick set hedge to fence
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it in, and there grew letters pink and Jessamine, such as win prizes
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at the local show, or make a birthday bouquet for Margo. One day
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he called upon the neighboring squire to ask his help with the marauding hair.
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The brute says, he comes guzzling everywhere and simply laughs at all my traps
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and wire. No stick or stone will hit him. I declare he's a
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magician rubbish. I don't care if he's the deuce himself, replied the other.
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I warrant he shan't give you much more bother moreau in spite of all
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his cunning, won't take much time to get him running. But when to
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morrow, sure, as here I stand. Next morning he rides up with
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all his band. Now then we'll lunch. Those chickens don't look bad.
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The luncheon over allways preparation bustle and buzz, and animation, horns, blowing
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hounds barking such a hulla balloo. The good man feared the worst. His
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fear came true. The kitchen garden was a total wreck under the trampling.
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Not to speck of pot or frame survived. Good Bye to onion, Li
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and Chicory. Good Bye to marrows and their bravery, good Bye to all
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that makes soup savory. The wretched Onner saw no sense in this grand style
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of doing things, but no one marked his mutterings. The hounds and riders
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in a single trice had wrought more havoc in this paradise than all the hairs
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in the vicinity could have achieved throughout infinity. So far the story. Now
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the moral. Each petty prince should settle his own quarrel. If once he
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gets a king for an ally, he's certain to regret it. By and
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by. This reading was followed by a long silence. The prince paced up
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and down the cabinet, after going himself to put the volume back in its
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place. Well, Senora said the Princess, will you deign to speak?
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Oh, indeed, ma'am, until such a time as His Highness shall appoint
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me his minister. By speaking here, I should run the risk of losing
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my place as Grand mistress. A fresh silence lasting a full quarter of an
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hour. Finally, the princess remembered the part that had been played in the
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past by Marie de Medici, the mother of Louis the thirteenth. For the
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last few days the Grand Mistress had made the latrise read aloud the Excellent History
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of Louis the thirteenth by Monsieur Bazin. The Princess, although greatly annoyed,
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thought that the duchessa might easily leave the country, and then Rasi, who
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filled her with mortal terror, might well imitate Richelieu and have her banished by
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her son. At this moment, the Princess would have given everything in the
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world to humiliate her Grand mistress, but she could not. She rose and
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came, with a smile that was slightly exaggerated, to take the Duchess's hand
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and say to her, come, Senora, give me a proof of your
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friendship by speaking very well. Two words and no more. Burn in the
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great there all the papers collected by that viper Rasey, and never revealed to
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him that they have been burned. She added, in a whisper, and
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in a familiar tone in the Princess's ear, Rassi may become rishia Yu,
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But damn it, those papers accosting me more than eighty thousand francs, the
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prince exclaimed angrily. Prince replied the Duchess with emphasis, that is what it
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costs to employ scoundrels of low birth. Would to God you could lose a
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million and never put your trust in the base rascals who kept your father from
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sleeping during the last six years of his reign. The words low birth had
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greatly delighted the princess, who felt that the Comte and his friend had too
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exclusive a regard for brains, always slightly again to Jacobinism. During the short
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interval of profound silence filled by the princess's reflections, the castle clock struck three.
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The princess rose, made a profound reverence to her son and said to
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him, my health does not allow me to prolong the discussion further. Never
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have a minister of low birth. You will not disabuse me of the idea
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that your rassie has stolen half the money is made you spend on spies.
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The princess took two candles from the brackets and put them in the fireplace in
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such a way that they should not blow out. Then, going up to
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her son, she added, La Fontaine's fable prevails in my mind over the
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lawful desire to avenge her husband. Will your highness permit me to burn these
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writings. The Prince remained motionless. His face is really stupid, the Duchess
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has said to herself. The Conte is right. The late Prince would not
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have kept us out of our beds until three o'clock in the morning before making
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up his mind. The Princess, still standing, went on that little Attorney
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would be very proud if he knew that his papers, stuffed with lies and
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arranged so as to secure his own advancement, had occupied the two greatest personages
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in the state for a whole night. The Prince dashed at one of the
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portfolios like a madman, and emptied its content into the fireplace. The mass
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of papers nearly extinguished the two candles. The room filled with smoke. The
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princess saw in her son's eyes that he was tempted to seize a jug of
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water and save these papers, which were costing him eighty thousand francs. Open
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the window, she cried angrily to the Duchess. The duchessa made haste to
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obey. At once all the papers took light together. There was a great
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roar in the chimney, and it soon became evident that it was on fire.
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The Prince had a petty nature in all matters of money. He thought
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he saw his palace in flames and all the treasures that it contained destroyed.
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He ran to the window and called the guard in a voice completely altered.
26:40
The soldiers in a tumult rushed into the courtyard at the sound of the prince's
26:44
voice. He returned to the fireplace, which was sucking in the air from
26:47
the open window with a really alarming sound. He grew impatient, swore,
26:52
took two or three turns up and down the room like a man out of
26:55
his mind, and finally ran out the Princess and the Grand Mistress from standing
27:00
face to face and preserving a profound silence. As the storm going to begin
27:06
again, the Duchess arasked herself, upon my word, my cause is one,
27:11
and she was preparing to be highly impertinent in her replies when a sudden
27:15
thought came to her. She saw the second portfolio intact. No, my
27:21
cause is only half one, she said to the Princess in a distinctly cold
27:25
tone, Does ma'am order me to burn the rest of these papers? And
27:30
where will you burn? The masked the princess angrily in the drawing room,
27:33
fire. If I throw them in one after another, there is no danger.
27:37
The Duchess had put under her arm the portfolio bursting with papers, took
27:41
a candle and went into the next room. She looked first to see that
27:45
the portfolio was that which contained the depositions. Put in her shawl five or
27:49
six bundles of papers, burned the rest with great care, then disappeared without
27:55
taking leave of the princess. There is a fine piece of imper pertenant,
28:00
she said to herself with a laugh. But her affectations of inconsolable widowhood came
28:04
very near to making me lose my head on a scaffold. On hearing the
28:10
sound of the Duchess's carriage, the Princess was beside herself with rage at her
28:15
grand mistress. In spite of the lateness of the hour, the Duchess has
28:18
sent for the Conte. He was at the fire at the castle, but
28:22
soon appeared with the news that it was all over. That little prince has
28:26
ready shown great courage, and I have complimented him on it effusively. Examine
28:30
these depositions quickly, and let us burn them as soon as possible. The
28:36
Conte read them and turned pale upon my soul. They have come very near
28:40
the truth. Their procedure has been very cleverly managed. They are positively on
28:45
the track of ferrante parlor. And if he speaks, we have a difficult
28:48
part to play. But he will not speak, cried the Duchess. He
28:52
is a man of honor. Burn them, Burn them not yet allow me
28:57
to take down the names of a dozen of dee dangerous witnesses, whom I
29:00
shall take the liberty of removing. If RASI ever thinks of beginning again,
29:07
I may remind your excellency that the Prince has given his word to say nothing
29:10
to his Minister of Justice of our midnight escapade from cowardice and fear of a
29:15
scene. He will keep it. Now, My friend, this is a
29:19
knight that has greatly hastened our marriage. I should not have wished to bring
29:23
you as my portion a criminal trial, still less for a sin which I
29:27
was led to commit by my interest in another man. The Count was in
29:32
love. He took her hand with an exclamation. Tears stood in his eyes.
29:37
Before you go, give me some advice as to the way I ought
29:40
to behave with the Princess. I am utterly worn out. I have been
29:44
play acting for an hour on the stage and for five in her cabinet.
29:48
You have avenged yourself quite sufficiently for the princess's sour speeches, which were due
29:52
only to weakness, by the impertinence with which you left her. Address her
29:57
to morrow in the tone you used this morning, Rassi is not yet in
30:02
prison or in exile, and we have not yet torn up Fabrizio's sentence.
30:07
You are asking the princess to come to a decision, which is a thing
30:10
that always annoys princes and even prime ministers. Also, you are her grand
30:15
mistress, that is to say, her little servant. By a reversion which
30:18
is inevitable in weak people. In three days, Rasi will be more in
30:22
favor than ever. He will try to have some unhanged. So long as
30:26
he has not compromised the Prince, he is sure of nothing. There has
30:32
been a man injured into night's fire. He is a tailor, who,
30:34
upon my word, showed an extraordinary intrepidity. To morrow, I am going
30:40
to ask the Prince to take my arm and come with me to pay the
30:42
tailor a visit. I shall be armed to the teeth and shall keep a
30:45
sharp look out But anyhow, this young prince is not hated at all.
30:49
As yet I wish to make him accustomed to walking in the streets. It
30:55
is a trick I am playing on Rassi, who are certainly going to succeed
30:57
me and will not be able to allow such imprudences. On our way back
31:03
from the tailors, I shall take the Prince past his father's statue. He
31:07
will notice the marks of the stones which have broken the Roman toga in which
31:11
the idiot of a sculptor dressed it up. And in short, he will
31:14
have to be a great fool if he does not, on his own initiative,
31:17
make the comment this is what one gains by having Jacobins hanged, to
31:22
which I shall reply, you must hang either ten thousand or none at all
31:27
the Saint Bartholem you destroyed the Protestants in France. To morrow, dear friend,
31:33
before this excursion, send your name into the Prince and say to him,
31:37
yesterday evening I performed the duties of a minister to you, and by
31:41
your orders have incurred the Prince's displeasure. You will have to pay me.
31:47
You will expect a demand for money, and will knit his brows. You
31:49
will leave him plunged in this unhappy thought for as long as you can.
31:53
Then you will say, I beg your Highness to order that Fabrizio be tried
31:59
in contradittoi jolo, which means in his presence by the twelve most respected judges
32:04
in your states, and without losing any time. You will present for his
32:08
signature a little Lord, are written out by your own fair hand, which
32:12
I am going to dictate to you. I shall of course include the clause
32:15
that the former sentence is squashed. To this there is only one objection.
32:21
But if you press the matter warmly, it will not occur to the Prince's
32:23
mind. He may say to you, Fabrizio must first make himself a prisoner
32:29
in the citadel, to which you will reply, he will make himself a
32:32
prisoner in the town prison. You know that I am the master there.
32:37
Every evening your nephew will come to see us. If the Prince answers no,
32:40
his escape has tarnished the honor of my citadel, and I desire for
32:45
form's sake that he returned to the cell in which he was. You,
32:49
in turn, will reply no, for there he would be at the disposal
32:52
of my enemy Rassi and in one of those feminine sentences which you utter so
32:58
effectively, you will give him to un to stand that. To make Rassi
33:01
yield, you have only to tell him of to night's auto d'afay. If
33:06
he insists, you will announce that you are going to spend a fortnight at
33:08
your place at Sacca. You will send for Fabrizio and consult him as to
33:14
this step, which may land him in prison. If to anticipate everything while
33:19
he is under lock and key, RUSSI should grow too impatient and have me
33:22
poisoned. Fabrizio may run a certain risk, but that is hardly probable.
33:28
You know that I have imported a French cook who is the merriest of men
33:31
and makes puns. Well, punning is incompatible with poison. I have already
33:37
told our friend Fabrizio that I have managed to find all the witnesses of his
33:40
fine and courageous action. It was evidently that fellow Giletti who tried to murder
33:45
him. I have not spoken to you of these witnesses because I wish to
33:50
give you a surprise. But the plan has failed. The Prince refused to
33:53
sign. I have told our friend Fabrizio that certainly I should procure him a
33:59
high ecclesiastical dignity, but I shall have great difficulty if his enemies can raise
34:04
the objection in the Roman curier of a charge of murder. Do you realize,
34:08
Senora, that if he has not tried and judged in the most solemn
34:13
fashion all his life long, the name of Gilletti will be a reproach to
34:15
him. It would be a great act of cowardice not to have oneself tried
34:21
when one is sure of one's innocence. Besides, even if he were guilty,
34:24
I should make them acquit him. When I spoke to him, the
34:28
fiery youngster would not allow me to finish. He picked up the official almanac,
34:32
and we went through it together, choosing the twelve most upright and learned
34:36
judges. When we had made the list, we canceled six names, for
34:39
which we substituted those of six counsel my personal enemies. And as we could
34:45
find only two enemies, we filled up the gaps with four rascals. I
34:49
were devoted to Rasi. This proposal filled the Duchessa with a mortal anxiety,
34:54
and not without cause. At length she yielded to reason, and at the
34:59
minute mister's dictation, wrote out the order appointing the judges. The Conte did
35:05
not leave her until six o'clock in the morning. She endeavored to sleep,
35:08
but in vain. At nine o'clock she took breakfast with Fabrizio, whom she
35:14
found burning with a desire to be tried. At ten she waited on the
35:17
Princess, who was not visible. At eleven she saw the Prince, who
35:22
was holding his levee, and signed the order without the slightest objection. The
35:27
Duchess has sent the order to the Comte and retired to bed. It would
35:31
be pleasant, perhaps to relate Russ's fury when the Count obliged him to counter
35:36
sign in the prince's presence the order signed that morning by the Prince himself.
35:39
But we must go on with our story. The Comte discussed the merits of
35:45
each judge and offered to change the names. But the reader is perhaps a
35:50
little tired of all these details of procedure, no less than of all these
35:53
court intrigues. From the whole business, one can derive this moral that the
35:59
man who mingles with a court compromises his happiness if he is happy, and
36:04
in any event makes his future depend on the intrigues of a chamber made.
36:08
On the other hand, in America, in the Republic, one has to
36:12
spend the whole weary day paying serious court to the shopkeepers in the street,
36:16
and must become as stupid as they are, And there one has no opera.
36:22
The Duchess, when she rose in the evening at a moment of keen
36:25
anxiety, Fabrizio was not to be found. Finally, towards midnight, during
36:31
the performance at court, she received a letter from him. Instead of making
36:36
himself a prisoner in the town prison where the Conte was in control, he
36:39
had gone back to occupy his old cell and the citadel, only too happy
36:44
to be living within a few feet of Slelia. This was an event of
36:47
vast consequences. In this place he was exposed to the risk of poison more
36:52
than ever. This act of folly filled the Duchess with despair. She forgave
36:58
the cause of it a mad lilfer for Slelia, because, unquestionably, in
37:01
a few days time, that young lady was going to marry the rich marches
37:05
A Crashenzi. This folly restored to Fabrizio all the influence he had originally enjoyed
37:12
over the Duchess's heart. It is that cursed paper which I went and made
37:16
the Prince sign that will be his death. What fools men are with their
37:21
ideas of honor, As if one needed to think of honor under absolute governments
37:24
in countries where a Rassi as minister of justice, he ought to have accepted
37:30
the pardon outright, which the Prince would have signed, just as readily as
37:32
the order convening this extraordinary tribunal. What does it matter, after all,
37:37
that a matter of Fabrizio's birth should be more or less accused of having himself
37:42
sword in hand killed an actor like Giletti. No sooner had she received Fabrizio's
37:49
note than the Duchess ran to the Conte, whom she found deadly pale.
37:52
Great God, dear friend, I am most unlucky in handling that boy,
37:57
and you will be vexed with me again. I can prove to you that
38:00
I made the jailer of the town prison come here yesterday evening. Every day
38:05
your nephew would have come to take tea with you. What is so terrible
38:08
as that it is impossible for you and me to say to the Prince that
38:12
there is fear of poison, and of poison administered by Rassi. The suspicion
38:16
would seem to him the height of immorality. However, if you insist,
38:21
I am ready to go up to the palace. But I am certain of
38:23
the answer. I am going to say more. I are for you a
38:27
stratagem which I would not employ for myself. Since I have been in power
38:31
in this country, I have not caused the death of a single man.
38:35
And you know that I am so sensitive in that respect that sometimes, at
38:37
the close of day, I still think of those two spies whom I had
38:42
shot rather too lightheartedly in Spain. Very well, do you wish me to
38:46
get rid of Rassi? The danger in which he is placing Fabrizio is unbounded.
38:52
He has there a sure way of sending me packing. This proposal pleased
38:58
the Duchess or extremely, but you did not adopted. I do not wish,
39:01
she said to the Count, that in our retirement, beneath the beautiful
39:05
sky of Naples, you should have dark thoughts in the evenings. But dear
39:09
friend, it seems to me that we have only the choice between one dark
39:14
thought and another. What will you do? What will I do? Myself
39:17
if Fabrizio is carried off by an illness. The discussion returned to dwell upon
39:22
this idea, and the Duchess ended it with this speech, Rascio is his
39:28
life to the fact that I love you more than Fabrizio. No, I
39:31
do not wish to poison all the evenings of the old age, which we
39:35
are going to spend together. The duchess hastened to the fortress. General Fabio
39:40
Conti was delighted at having to stop her. With the strict letter of the
39:44
military regulations, no one might enter a state prison without an order signed by
39:49
the Prince. But the Marchesa Crosenzi and his musicians come every day to the
39:53
citadel because I obtained an order for them from the Prince. The poor duggess
40:00
I did not know the full tale of her troubles. General Fabio Conti had
40:04
regarded himself as personally dishonored by Fabricio's escape. When he saw him arrive at
40:09
the citadel, he ought not to have admitted him, for he had no
40:13
order to that effect. But he said to himself, it is Heaven that
40:16
is sending him to me to restore my honor and to save me from the
40:20
ridicule which would assail my military career. This opportunity must not be missed.
40:25
Doubtless, they are going to acquit him, and I have only a few
40:29
days for my revenge. End of Section thirty