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CONTENTS.
Book II
iaum»
XXI. FtOBMCK EXPBOTII A OuMT 't?!
XXII. TH«Pai.omi,i .... *'*
XXIII. ArT«i|.THoiioHT» ***
XXIV. IKIIOB TH« DUOMO ...'... '''''
:tXV. OUTSIOK TH« DUOHO . . . .' ***
XXVI. Tm OASHEiiT OP Tmmm **°
XXVII. Thk Youi.0 Wira . *"
XXVIII. Th. PAIIIT.D Recobo ..'.'.■.■ ^
XXIX. A ItouKUT or Tbiuhpb .
XXX. Thi AvEHOBB'a Skcbbt . ff
XXXI. Fbott is Sbcd *^*
XXXII. A Rbvelatiok . ***
XXXIV ^'•°*'""»' «*«" Ai; AcQrA^TA,,;," ; : ; ^
XXXIV No PtAoB FOB Rbpektasce .... ZL
TV^vT, ;ifl^"'" °'"'»<>'"" HEBgELF .... ^
XXXVm" ^ T^''"»*«"' UNLOCKED . . . ^ ■ ^
i-L. Ah Abbesting Voice '
XU. Coiuso Back "^
878
Book III
XWI. Rokola iw heb Place .
XUII. The Unseen Madonna *"
XUV. The Visible Madonna . ^
XLV. At the Babbeb's Shop ^
XLVI. Bt A Stbeet Lahp ^
• • . 400
ft
CONTENTS.
OHAPTKB
XLVH. CmtcK . ""
XLVIII. CorirrEB-CHECK . . . .' ..".'.'." f^f
XLJX. Thk Ptbaiod of Vabities . . . . . ' .' ' ' 433
L. Tessa Abboad and at Hoke ■...!!! 434
LI. MosifA BbIOIDA'S CoNVKBSlOIf .... . . . 448
LII. A Pbophbtess
UH- On San Miniato. •■.......'"''' 450
LIV. The Eveniko and the Mobniho . ^«o
LV. Waitino ''''4m
LVI. The Otheb Wife .fj
LVII. Why Tito was Safe ■■...'.'.'.'.'.'' -^
hVIII. A Final Undeestandino Aaa
LIX. Plbadino .... *f
LX. The Scaffold •.."..' sm
LXI. Dbifting Away ! ' ' ' bio
LXII. The Benediction
LXIII. RiPENiNa Schemes \
LXIV. The Pbophet in his Oeli. . .^
LXV. The Tp.iai, by Fibe .'.".'.'."! sS
LXVI. A Masque of the Fdbies ....!! 661
LXVII. Waiting by the Kiveb ... rk-
LXVIII. RoMOLA's WAKiNa ... ^
LXIX. HOMEWABD '".!!!'"' KTO
LXX. Meeting Again
LXXL The Confession .... ' ' * fasi
LXXII. The Last Silence •■.....'.'.''' ^
Epilogue bos
I^ M L A.
BOOK II.
CHAPTER XXI.
WOBENCE EXPECTS A GUEST.
joyous Easter time, and™had a r! >!°^"^ "°''^<J ^" tt«
comfits thrown ove^ them^ter l! ^^«bo^-«Dted shower of
, token tj.,^ ,,^ heavensTould shower?""! ^'^'^ ^^^'^i""' '"
all their double life "^^ ^'^^^'s o° them through
I blossoms, eaeh single bud with tsfLf'* ^" ^ ""y"^ of
pnmary circulation of the ap o t^e V% '^'"*'"* °° '^«
Eomo a were dependent on oer?;in ' '/°'*?."*« °^ Tito and
conditions which made an ej^Mn t?«^ T''""*^ ''"'^ «°«ial
In this very November CI ''''*'"7 "^ Italy,
spirit of the 'old cenSs '^ LeTTo t" ' ''^^^ ^«°' '»■«
breasts of Florentines. The greaTl^ll in ^h- f •""**'«'» '^^^
'Mg out the hammer sound of altr' ! J'^'*''^ to'^S' had
■nustered with their rusty arm' thl Vn"^ ^l ^°P'« ^^^
cudgels, to drive out the Med™. ' The *T. /S'' '"'P«'"'Ptu
been fairly shut on the arrogant e^.!^! ^,®^" <^^'° J^ad
a^ay toward Bologna with Ws hiredT '"^ ^'"°' ^^"°Pi°g
h.nd him, and shut on h keener l f"'" «ghtened be
I escaping in the disguise oxapL^^ ^'°'^''' '^« "^'dinal,
been set on both fhe r he^s ^r\r"'' •• ^ P"«« bad
some sacking of houses, aSngt old te''?"' '"" "^'^
-.ous .mages painted on the ^SS:-^'^
214
ROMOLA.
who had conspired against the Medici in days gone by, were
effaced ; the exiled enemies of the Medici were invited home.
The half-fledged tyrants were fairly out of their splendid nest
in the Via Larga, and the Bepublio had recovered the use of
its will again.
But now, a week later, the great palace in the Via Larga
had been prepared for the reception of another tenant ; and if
drapery roofing the streets with unwonted color, if banners
and hangings pouring out of the windows, if carpets and tap-
estry stretched over all steps and pavement on which excep-
tional feet might tread, were an unq lestionable proof of joy,
Florence was very joyful in the expectation of its new guest.
The stream of color flowed from the palace in the Via Larga
round by the Cathedral, then by the great Piazza della Sig-
noria, and across tlie Ponte Vecchio to the Porta San Frediano
— the gate that looks toward Pisa. There, near the gate, a
platform and canopy had been erected for the Signoria ; and
Messer Laca Corsini, doctor of Law, felt his heart palpitating
a little with the sense that he had a Latin oration to read ;
and every chief elder in Florence had to make himself ready,
with smooth chin and well-lined silk Incco, to walk in pro-
cession; and the well-born youths were looking at their rich
new tunics after the French mode which was to impress the
stranger as having a peculiar grace when worn by Florentines ;
and a large body of the clergy, from the archbishop in his
effulgence to the train of monks, black, white, and gray, were
consulting betimes in the morning how they should marshal
themselves, with their burden of relics and sacred banners
and consecrated "jewels, that their movements might be ad-
justed to the expected arrival of the illustrious visitor, at
three o'clock in the afternoon.
An unexampled visitor ! For he had come through the
passes of the Alps with such an army as Italy had not seen
before : with thousands of terrible Swiss, well used to fight
for love and hatred as well as for hire ; with a host of gallant
cavaliers proud of a name ; with an unprecedented infantry,
in which every man in a hundred carried an arquebus ; nay,
with cannon of bronze, shooting not stones but iron balls,
drawn not by bullocks but by horses, and capable of firing a
raOBEKCE EXPECTS A GUEST. 215
reputedrebuilderofFloWse weLT °"" *° Charlemagne.
fangs, regulator and benXrSrScT""'''*^^^^^
the comparison to Cyrus, liberator nffi.v' ''°'°* P'^^erred
storerof the Temple. For he h<S?ll^* *=^°»«» P«ople, re-
the most glorious projects .he wasT '^'"f ^^' ^P" ''"^
amidst the jubilees of a grateful Tn^ ,^ "*"''' ""°"8h Italy
to satisfy all coamctingCipli '^^'"°8P«ople; ^^^^
possession, by virtue of hwedS ril?"^« = ?•' '"^ *° t^e
of the kingdom of Nacles. »ni f ^?* ^^ » ^'*«e fightine
point he was to setTt * tt "'*''"* ''°''^«°"°* '^^rtin!
we™ partly to be cut to pUs 2"^^°' ^''^ ^"'^^' -h"
faith of Christ. It WM <f .^! «"d Partly converted to the
Most Christian ffingTeaS of X*^** T'^^'^ *° l>«fi' ^e
devices of a subtle louU the Elev«n.r T""^' *^''» *» the
f"ght as to his person^ XpS ton' ^. ^'^ '" """"^
co-.ne the strongest of Christiri?^.' v^'"" **^°^' ^^^ ho-
of Cyrus and Charlemagne Z no „^^'?'*°'1*W» antitype
subtle Louis _ the you^fSes th„ t' ^^ ^^' """ "^ ^
S-^ly, on a gene^ steteS h^,^'«''*^l.^°° °' ^'ance.
more grandiose, or fitter to ^v';, ^^ LT*^'"* """^"^ "«««
n-pmory of great dispensatio^ by Vhii ' ^'"""'^ °* '"^ the
aid in the history of mankind An^ fe^'" '*""'" ^^ ^«"
spread conviction that the advent of th^TTI "^ ' "'^ ^i-J^lj
a«ny into Italy was one of rtL ^""^ ^'-^^ and his
stetues might well Z l^ ieved to '7"*" "t "''■"^ "-^^L
warriors to fight in tbV^TLT 0^2""'/^'^'^'^ ^^'J
monstrous births- that irl'^.. 2 ,^'"P*''^ ^^ bring forth
Providence, but wasTn a 1?^°' !!'°^*° *^« »«»-l order of
was a conviction that IsZuZ^Z *' ''°''' °^ <^d- It
character of a powerful fordj in^a^L " ^7""^ "°"'«°'°"»
emotions to which the aspect of ZT ° °" '=^'**'° ""oral
presentiments; emotion^S 1,^%*"°!? «"^^ '^' f°™ of
utterance in the voice of altaj mn ""' " "'"^ ""'^''^''"e
minioan^ol::: o^SafSTo fn^X"'^ ^T °' '"> ^
her morning, when men's e^swl""^- ^° » Septem-
216
BOMOLA.
the Cathedral of Florence from the text, "Behold I, even L
do bring a flood of waters upon the earth." He believed it
wag by supreme guidance he had reached just so far in his ex-
position of GenesU the previous Lent; and he believed the
"flood of water" — emblem at once of avenging wrath and
purifying mercy — to be the divinely indicated symbol of the
French army. His audience, some of whom were held to be
among the choicest spirits of the age — the most cultivated men
in the most cultivated of Italian cities — believed it too, and
listened with shuddering awe. For this man had a power
rarely paralleled, of impressing his beliefs on others, and of
swaying very various minds. And as long as four years aeo
he had proclaimed from the chief pulpit in Florence that a
scourge was about to descend on Italy, and that by this
scourge the Church was to be purified. Savonarola appeared
to believe, and his hearers more or less waveringly believed
that he had a mission like that of the Hebrew prophets, ard
that the Florentines amongst whom his message was delivered
were in some sense a second chosen people. The idea of
prophetic gifts was not a remote one in that age : seers of
visions, circumstantial heralds of things to be, were far from
uncommon either outside or inside the cloister; but this very
fact made Savonarola stand out the more oonspicnously as a
grand exception. While in others the gift of prophecy was
very much like a farthing candle illuminating small comers of
human destiny with prophetic gossip, in Savonarola it was
like a mighty beacon shining far out for the warning and guid-
ance of men. And to some of the soberest minds the super-
natural character of his insight into the future gathered a
strong attestation from the peculiar conditions of the age.
At the close of 1492, the year in which Lorenzo de' Medici
died and Tito Melema came as a wanderer to Florence, Italy
was enjoying a peace and prosperity uuthreatened by any near
and definite danger. There was no fear of famine, for the
seasons had been plenteous in corn, and wine, and oil ; new
palaces had been rising in all fair cities, new villas on pleasant
slopes and summits ; and the men who had more than their
share of these good things were in no fear of the larger num-
ber who had less. For the citizens' armor was getting rusty
FLORENCE EXPECTS A GUEST.
" " vrujior. 217
«J>d populations seemed tn h<.„. i„
hands of masters who ^d L a 'dv T!, '""'' ""''"'8 *'"'
wanted it, as they paid for eoolnf^s """^ *''«" ^^^^y
of the Turk had^J^led to TSti ' anH." ^'"^ *^« ^^"^
more immediately profitable fo^n'/u*^ ^^^ ^°P« f°«°d it
little prospectivey^^sontg'than to Ll'"^ ''°'" •""■ ^^ »
qnenng or for converting him P'*°^ "'^«'" ^°^ 0°"-
-^?fi:rchr?.r>Lr"r''/"'p^~ -^ ^'»
mentforthe fe,. who wer^Tuokv or ^ """*"""« ^"'•'""ish-
advantages of human fol?^ a woHH ■ 'u- ?°"8^ '^ '«''P the
>ty, lying and treaoheryropp^s^n l^j'""'' !."'* ^""^ °^»««''-
ant, useful, and when prCrTv „« ■»""!". were pleas-
And as a sort of frin™ or ^1 ^ ""anaged, not dangerous
lights of tyranny, avXralT.?"' *° '''' »"'''*^««1 dt
patronage of polite Wing 'nd h„T°"'"'''' *''«™ ^^»« the
could always be had in the oho.W T f' '^'' '° *'>'>t flattery
that time, and sublime artists we ! «. !.° *^ '^ commanded at
and the unclean with irTpartirii ''^"^ to paint the holy
«aid, had never been so duCed in L \ ^^A^^''"'''' '* ^^
80 few signs of renovating ^f Zu'^""^: ^^ "«'« shown
nevertheless it was much mo™ .^ '" "" '"'^^^ members,
days. The heavens were fair an7?T' *''"° '" '"-"^ Pas
scourge was at hand" the wL. ^^ P^^^'^S that a
for the lasting convenience of T ""^ "^"^^^^ °°t framed
pressors. From thlmXt of thr""','' "^^*°«»' ^""l op-
seen a sword hanging-tl L J r'''"^ ^^''^^■'s he had
was speedily to d^so^end t th nu'rif"' ^""'^ J-tice- which
Church and the world. In tX„/^^^^^^ punishment on the
before, the contradiction between 1!" T' '^^^°**^'' ?««'«
fessional beliefs had pressed nnli! '?^'' *"'' ^^'^^ P'o-
been enough to destroy htapner^ f"" T^ " ^"<=« ">^t had
age of twenty-three h[d driven h' i 7 f.' '"''^^' ^"^ ^t the
218
ROMOLA.
hide the lamp As the years went on, aoandaU increased and
multiplied and hypocrisy seemed to have given place to im-
pudence. Had the world, then, ceased to have a righteous
Ruler? Wao the Church finally forsaken? No, assuredly ■
in the oacred Book there was a record of the past in i -ich
might be seen as in a glass what viould be in the days to
come, and the book showed that when the wickedness of the
chosen people, type of the Christian Church, had become
crying, the judgments of God had descended on them Nay
reason itself declared that vengeance was imminent, for what
else would suffice to turn men from their obstinacy in evil?
And unless the Church were reclaimed, how could the prom-
ises be fulfilled, that the heathens should be converted and
the whole world become subject to the one true law ? He had
neen his belief reflected in visions -a mode of seeing which had
been frequent with him from his youth up.
But the real force of demonstration for Girolamo Savona-
rola lay m his own burning indignation at the sight of wronir-
in his fervent belief in an Unseen Justice that would put an
end to the wrong, and in an Unseen Purity to which Ivine
and uncleanness were an abomination. To his ardent, powe^
loving soul believing in great ends, and longing to achieve
those ends by the exertion of its own strong will, the faith in
a supreme and righteous Euler became one with the faith in a
speedy divine interposition that would punish and reclaim
Mea; irhile, under that splendid masquerade of dignities
sacred and secular which seemed to make the life of Incky
Churchmen and princely families so luxurious and amusing
there were certain conditions at work which slowly tended ^^
disturb the general festivity. Ludovico Sforza - copious in
gallantry splendid patron of an incomparable Leonardo da
Vinci— holding the ducal crown of Milan in his grasp, and
wanting to put it on his own head rather than let it rest on
that of a feeble nephew who would take very little to poison
hira, was much afraid of the Spanish-born old King Ferdi-
nand and the Crown Prince Alfonso of Naples, who, not lik-
ing cruelty and treachery which were useless to themselves,
objected to the poisoning of a near relative for the advantage
of a Lombard usurper; the royalties of Naples again were
FLOSENCE EXPECTS A GUEST. 219
tory it should determine h7 .^.i L "\'^°"''''»y t^'ri"
andall four, with every smSlTte ^J ,^''f'>'^''^ backing;
Venioe-Venioetheoa^tious the 11 '^'.r"' "^"^^ "^
wanted to stretch its a^ms not o„lv ^ ' ""^ v" '"~°8' *»'
Adriatic but across to thf^rts of th« f ^^^ '''^"' °^ ""^
Lorenzo de' Medici, itwM ttol^f /f **"l''°'"*-
fatal outbreak of suih ^0^°"/^^ '^'? """"1' *° P^^ent the
tine alliance with Naples a^dZ p*'""* "P *•"* °^^ ^^°™°-
Milan that the alliance was fnr^j °P*' ^""^ y"* Pe^uading
young Piero de' MedTciW 1';^^"^' "^•''^*"^- ^u?
the effect of his fatWs Cj S ."^ t^"^""^ """'fi^l
roused tosuspicionof a 1.,™^ ^■^', *°^ ^udovico Sforza,
which wouldSk.1: Sra^vTsres' "he'^:^ °^* --
Tite the French kiug to march 31 t!i' ^^'^'•""'■ed to in-
Jouse of Anjou, tak'e'^poSo tf Sr\m.i"'/ '""^
"orators," as thev were r.=ii<.^ • ""^.^'P'f'- Ambassadors —
went and cameTa TecLant ' Jh° ^°'! ''"«"8°i°» times -
knowlcdgeaPo^e elS by brib^^^V.^^^^^^^ ""' *° '^
enemy), went and camB ,i.„ "^'^^ (and his own particular
hot rhetoric ^d thTvoal t? ""'""^'^ *" *»"*^«°» wit"
ear. So that ?n iStte n,^°^ '''"I'^ '^ ''""^ * '""°8
and louder thatVhtl't^E^^he^^fl^l'^'^'^^ '-^^^
cross the Abs with <• ™;»i,4. ^'8""! ot France was about to
tions, accXlfsince l£ h«7' ""^ *^« '*^"« W"'^
the Eoman empire to ^IIT ^ "^^^^ to be the heart of
vaguely to ShTs 'olij ^^ rmSnTo/"" '""''' ^«*»
I.isXhe;^^3tin?r^ x;r '^^ r ™ *^^'
ears of the prophets of old W ,Y ^- 7J^ " *"* ^''^-^ the
armies, coming to do th« w I , !''"*°* *~'«1 °f foreign
looked vaguel^ I the ton/o? ffr re""' ''' "° ^°°««
pointed to the rising cloud Th„? ^ '^'""'8 =*°™= ^e
deluge which was to purffv ^h ""lu "i^y "^ t''^' °ew
French king, Charles^ll^t%he1 """ '"''l"'*^' *»■«
God. as Cyrus had been nV^J the instrument elected by
rather thL evif w^V'^oCb'^r "'° ''""^'' «°°^
"joice in his coming. For the
"•"' BOMOLA.
scourge would fall destruotirely on the imoeniteDt «l™.
f**?°y °% of It«Jy, let Florence above iT-Tol^T'
Joved of God, aince to it. ear the warning voice hadTe^sS-"
oS^Ldth" .""*"', '".' *""! '""" •*" ""y- »"« Nineveh^
Cvn,^ h^"'r°? "v!"* T PO'^orf-li yet now that the new
Cyrus had already been three months in Italy, and wm not
far from the ^,^s of Florence, his presence 'w« edited
there with mixed feelings, in which fear and distruft certeS
predominated. At present it was not understood that he had
redressed any grievances; and the Florentines clearly h^
nothing to thank him for. He held their strong Wkr
fortresses, which ^iero de' Medici had given up to him w Ih
out secunug any honorable terms in ^turn^e h^ lonj
nothing to quell the alarming revolt of Pisa, ;hich h^ teen
encouraged by his presence to throw off th7Florentin7yoke
and "orators," even with a prophet at their head, could wta
thinrwTt """ ^^' '''^^' ^^''^ ''« ''°"W B ttle ever^!
thing when he was once within the walls of Florence. Stm
there was the satisfaction of knowing that the ox^wratin^
Piero de' Medici had been fairly pelted out for theXm nf
ous surrender of the fortresses.'a^ in that act of ener^ he
spmt of the Republic had recovered some of its oldZ^
thn^ nr^'?^""' ■'" ^^ 'l"*^'^ K"™t ''"e not entirely
those of a city resigned to submission. Behind the St
drapery and banners symbolical of joy, there were nre^™!
bons of another sort made with common accorf by ^vernS
"ersTthe j,7«»,''''"«".:">'in walls there we're'^rdTl!
dLtriot th ^"'' ^^''-^ "^^"^ '° *"'"■ ""« surrounding
dwtriotsi there were old arms duly furbished, and sharp tools
on shor7nTK '''M"' "^"'""^ "*' ^*'"'' *° "« Bnatc h'ed up
form ^,H ?"'' '*""" ^^'^ '"^''«"«"* ^"^^ "-"l stakes to
form barricades upon occasion, and a good supply of stones to
make a surprising hail from the upper windows. Above alt
r^Z^"'" T^ ■ 1^1 "''""S'y '" *••« •'""O' f°r fighting any
personage who might be supposed to have designs of hectoring
over them, they having lattV tasted that new pleasure^th
muohrehah. This humor was not diminished by the sighToi
FLORENCE EXPECTS A GUEST 221
metaphorioally speaking, a pC of ^h.^v ^"lu "•" '"•'> ""d-
to mark ItalUn doors^^tW «, j'^*^ "■*•■«'' right hand
torian. imply th,t :Ly .oi of^" ^^ " """^''^W'' Ws-
charaoterized by soi^fni. ^'""* "*"* »' '''a' time
moat have whetVdThe ^^^Zra '"'1^' ? ""*«"• "''■'"'
throwing. 'Jorenline appetite for a iitUe stone-
17ro;t;em,L''r! S' °' ^'°'^- - "'^ --« cf the
Si9
KOMOLA.
CHAPa-EE XXII.
THX PBUOVKIU,
i>' !7t!"' ^^' ^"' *** '"»^« ''"!« difference in the
Piazza del Duomo, which wm covered with its holiday skv of
blue drapery and ite constellations of yellow lilies and coats
It T°'^ :■? ^ r** °* '*°°*" ''*™ unfurled at the angles
of the Baptistery, but there was no carpet yet on the steps of
the Duomo, for the marble was being trodden by numerous
feet that were not at all exceptional. It was the hour of the
Advent sermons, and the very same reasons which had flushed
the streets with holiday color were reasons why the preaohinir
in the Duomo could least of all be dispensed with.
But not all the feet in the Piazza were hastening toward the
steps. People of high and low degree were moving T-ml
fro with the brisk pace of men who had errands before them •
groups of talkers were thickly scattered, some willing to bo'
late for the sermon, and others content not to hear it at all
The expression on the faces of these apparent loungers was
not that of men who are enjoying the pleasant laziness of an
opening holiday. Some were in close and eager discussion;
others were listening with keen interest to a single spokesman
and yet from time to time turned around with a scannine
glance at any new passer-by. At the corner, looking toward
f J'*« C«"«*»°i-j»»t where the artificial rainbow light
of the Piazza ceased, and the gray morning fell on the som-
bre stone houses - there was a remarkable cluster of the work-
ing people, most of them bearing on their dress or persons the
lignf of their daily l»bor, and klmoit all „t .1.
««a w-pon. or J«. toil wLh ^U 'j^. ^."^ '
upon oooaaion. Standing in '-.e btit li»hf^r»l . "P*""
jurt pauaed on his w«t to fk. Z—'' »•' yioni, wlio bad
oould^et only a IViou. /eoSriw ""• *•'"". '""^'
Wor. in the Meroato, but not X^e tTthT' ""* ' '^^
plaoent humor of a tU whZ^J^i, ^ """• '«"°-
i.^con.iou. of .on.e inUr^Ke'S™"*- "^ "-"
"n.rtLiS ^Tk.^tiM:f> \' '^'--^'
^try: they might a. WlbTt .^ " ^"^'' French in-
mountains «i in f ui eteeTt! .^H * i"^" P^** »' ""•
finest armie, of Z ^Toi^:^^^^:',^^^^:^ .^J
once got them betwmn .*••„ „ • • ^ ^ "'^ '"^y h»<l
Ognieeanti, when I mw mv^;. i ^^?°» "^ "'°'^ i"
«yBl, ' stick out your Stem Jhe-IVe go^Xlt "' ^''"'''
belt that will go inside vo,. .11 ii, ■ , ""^''-^e "» my
the old cow Wed -Td 1 1. T'" ' '''"" ?'«'«'%
matter what T't !^ kn*"' something had happened-no
andtookhokof mytrr^'f" *" " *^« first doorway?
toward thrVi^'aX"? Tn^. m .'^''' ""^ "'"' '"'''^■«"
I, '^hentecaTeurwramf < A^-ft >.\''r''''' """"^
in« bacV said oLit '^J;^,] ^rt.^^^^ S^trZ
IN
ROMOLA.
we raued a burimde, and tha Frenohnen looked behind and
Mw theniielvee in a trap ; and <ip oomee a good iwann of oar
Ciompi,' and one of them with a big loythe he had in hii hand
mowed off one of the fine oaTalier'e feathen :— it'i true I And
the laaies peppered a few ttonei down to frighten them.
However, Pien> de' Medici wasn't oome after all ; and it wa*
a pity; for we'd have left him neither lege nor wings to go
away with again."
"Well, spoken, Oddo," said a young butcher, with his
knife at his belt; "and it's my belief Piero will be a good
while before he wants to come back, for he looked as fright-
ened as a hunted chicken, when we hustled and pelted him in
the piazza. He's a coward, else he might have made a ' etter
scand when he'd got his horsemen. But we'll swallow no
Medici any more, whatever else the French king wants to
make us swallow."
" But I like not those French cannon they talk of," said
Goro, none the less fat for two years' additional grievances.
"San Qiovanni defend us I If Messer Domeneddio means
so well by us as your Frate says he does, Ser Cioni, why
shouldn't he have sent the French another way to Naples? "
"Ay, Ooro," said the dyer; "that's a question worth put-
ting. Thou art not such a pumpkin-head as I took thee for.
Why, they might have gone to Kaples by Bologna, eh, Ser
Cionl? or if they'd gon<> to Arezzo— we wouldn't have minded
their going to Arezzo."
" Fools 1 It will be for the good and glory of Florenoe,"
Ser Cioni began. But he was interrupted by Uie exclamation,
" Look there 1 " which burst from several voices at once, while
the faces were all turned to a party who were advancing along
the Via de' i. srretani.
" It's Lorenzo Tornabuoni, and one of the French noblemen
who are in his house, " said cier Gioui, in some contempt at this
interruption. " He pretends to look well satisfied — that deep
Tornabuoni — but he's a Medicean in his heart: mind that."
The advancing party was rather a brilliant one, for there
was not only the distinguished presence of Lorenzo Toma-
■ The poorer artiRans connected with the weal trade— wool-beaten,
cuden, wssiien, etc.
TBI PRISOlfEIU.
9M
tmoni, and tli* tplandid oottnms of the Pr»nolim«n with hit
•Ubormtely diipUyed white lioeu and gorgeous embroidery:
there were two other Florentinei of high birth in handsome
dreeees, donned for the coming prooeMion, and on the left
hand of the Frenchman waa a figure that wae not to be
eolipeed by any amount of intention or brocade— a figure we
have often seen before. He wore nothing but black, for he
wu in mourning! but the black was presently to be covered
by a red mantle, for he too was to walk in procession aa Latin
Secretary to the Ten. Tito Melema had become conspicu-
ously serviceable in the intercourse with the French guests,
from his familiarity wit»: Southern Italy, and his readiness in
the French tongue, which he had spoken in his early youth ■
and he had paid more than one visit to the French camp at
Signa. The lustre of good fortune was upon himj he was
smiling, listening, and explaining, with his usual graceful un-
pretentious ease, and only a very keen eye bent on studying
him could have marked a certain amoun , of change in him
which was not to be accoucted for by she lapse of eighteen
months. It was that change which comes from the final de-
parture of moral youthfulness— from tl.e distinct self-conscious
adoption of a part in life. The lines of the face were as soft
aa ever, the eyes as pellucid ; but something was gone— some-
thing OS indefinable as the changes in the morning twilight.
-he Frenchman was gathering instructions concerning cere-
monial before riding back to Signa, and now he was going to
have a final survey of the Piazza del Duomo, where the royal
procession WIS to pause for religious purposes. The distin-
guished party attracted the notice of all eyes aa it entered the
piazza, but the gaze was not entirely cordial and admiring-
there were remarks not altogether allusive and mysterious t^
the PVenchman's hoof-shaped shoes-delicate flattery of royal
superfluity in toes; and there was no care that certain snarl-
mgs at "Medieeans" should be strictly inaudible. But Lo-
renzo Tomabuoni possessed that powe- -^f dissembling annoy-
Moe which is demanded in a man who courts popularity, and
Jito, besides his natural disposition to overcome il' will by
good humor, had the ntiimpassioned feeling of the auen toward
names and details that move the deepest passions of the native.
10
329
ROUOLA.
oyer the oentoKrTavexo^lT ""* ^'^'^ P'"""^
beckoned to P^ro^f CoaimT^ * '*''°""' """^ Tomabuoni
this hour. wa^ZntrrrSKXp "Se'™ '*
soon an animated discnssion an/itT! ?P" '^^'" ^«»
f«.in thePVench^antrarettlSoV'^'i^ •^"""«
of statement, which Tito tCS £,1° ' ^.i^'""*?'^
onlookers became curious anH Tkli * 7" ^^«n snarling
half-smiling, ha^-huSte^t^l '°'%'^«'" *° ''^^ *^«
within helping of the fc^f expression of people who are not
Wht^r. It-laTl Sa tint ri^^f °"'
£:sr^rw^tCiXitr.r°7^^^^^^
fell ai>utit:XToTAri ''^r'^'"' '^«''*
aU disappeared within the w^^ nJTZ "''"ff K**™ l»d
had been d^orated for Ire^llU^Uda^ '^ *^« P'«-
Meanwhile in the grav liipht nf ti,^7 "" °"y-
were oncomers who mal no show^l wiadomed streets there
whose humor was f^ i„™ * ^T" '^^ •'''*'«'«. and
dress and hoofedV^.^eZ*'^- ^T' *°°' ^'^ ^""^
pressed upon by a WrTd U ''"'"°"\''"' ^^^^ '"« »*i"8
Florentine^ In tt'l'^of ttfn ""^^' °' non-admiring
scanty clothing- e^h C ht f 7^'* 7"'« ^'^ ""en in
and a^ope ^iX^ro^.'Z'l^r^X''' '^ " <»."^
way that he who held the extremity ^f T ^' '" """'' »
check any rebellious Z™™fi,^ . ^^ ^^ "••«'»* easUy
Themenlh" held thrZ^T ^' f" '^"^' °* ^''""li^S
broken ItaU^ph Jt Z^lT™ f *»"'' «°1'1^«''. and by
the rope, theTf^oTt^rto « '^ *T *''*' '^°**«'i «"<» "f
beg. T;o of them were olr T^'^f^ '^'" P"^*"'^" to
they had encountered rdheMrl''"''j^ "^''^ ^l"'"^"^
in piteous tones,- ^ °"' ^^'^ '~'«"1 ^^o and said
th;:g'i^:r;r^«iT^t sSnT^ -^ —
prisoners in Lunigiana » Tuscans: we were made
But the third man remained obstinately silent under aU the
THE PRIBONBRS. 337
strokes from the knotted cord Ho »...
aspect from his t^ofeU^-prilerf Tw"""^ ^'^'""'' ^
hardy, and in the scant clottiT which ^h J T"'- ^""^^ ^^
captors had left them Inntl^Tt , ^ *''""'« °* ^^'^
But he had ptsed tte i^d^ oVli*"' '"""^^ "indicants.
be less thau^fonr or five :^Sc4 HrrV°"l' ^""^
grown long in neriect. Td rt» t" • ^".'^"'J' '^I'ioh had
s^ghtrolnd his^il we e'n^^'ir Sth^".'
set figure was stiU firm and UDrii^hwv,^. u ■ ^^"'^^
seemed to express energy^nspfte of a™ ^ emaciated, and
was partly c^ried outlJSeKy « ii^rsZ"";"^ *'^'
rmr^.?;uoraf ^-f ^-S^of^So:^^-
lank gray hai« ^AnT' i^'*""' '*««P-'^°k]ed face with its
eyesfhi^htntradtte/lrasralTr/ '""^ ^ *^«
looking round with mil fi!^ ^^ °* *°*'^f57= after
of insolence. But T Uif^^ I / "'"°'*5' in their acts
the heart of the ci^ ^Lf^ ^'"* proceeded farther into
Peared, and^h^souLr nffires'^frS'f ^ ''Z
enng troop of men and boys, who keot ut,l^>, V »*""
posZn, for, Sr:XtrrnSeThrf '''^
tHe ho^ of fin'diLTsKinrCt:;;"'''' ''"''^"« ^-« -
P-ners. They'll run as fast as'^^i^.^^-si^^J^
SM
ROUOLA.
fools do nothing but hoot. Come along I" he X«d t^llv
behind hi. had a stimuttin^g ettt l':;Sd "Ttt::
was ready to burst out Ls Irnietht ,' as ra"liT alS
sTlalLoKo'""!,' " •"''^ ■" ■«=*' ^ th'eXw^ Tp-
ganuous ooys that made the majority of the crowd Lollo
of an°:x'cXtTn5e"° V°H *'^ ^r°'"' ""' "^^^ -S:
^adse:mS:\SrmreJ^^^
rope and leap back again before the soldier who hddh r™M
mrschL"T:i "°"'' "t ^" ^"^^« and dixLou'; r^
5^ re^Sof^ S:5th^a^t SL*;rm-
he^was^close-to the eldest prisoner: in an instant 1^^^':^,
thrfr,"S' °^*^ °°*' " ^^ P*P"^ *° *''« prisoner's ear, as soon as
* if he w?™ h° ,'"°V r' ''™=«" "«* '^^ example'ofTnin
The oZL;'''''^ "^^ ^^*^ ^'°8S, like a scared fowl. '
the oln^ !! T'?*"""" ^"'^ "°* *°° sl°^ for him to seize
!nt S- ^^ '■.fV^''' °^ '""^^ ^'"^ be«" continu^ly pr^
of the cro^d' ^''^^^:'';<if *e-d f-Bh hope from the ^^r
have sufficed for hl^"aUe";ie'f ^^'^'P^ -"^ harlly
o«sly rushed ^^^Zil'lf^^-'%:ZZ1T^:
THB PM80NBR8. 2»
were stn.gglin/a^ngll^i;!^',^^'^-^^^^^^^
tardigrade fashion as their hoof. Xl. J? *^*'°' "" ^n^^i
peded, but not very reso utowVH»^''j*r' ''°"''* «"ow-im-
of the two younge7p"f^l^l^t.f *f «^ "f *^« P^ople. One
renzo, and ttus mlde a^^ll ^ ""^ • ^ "'•' ^^8° ^ ^an Lo-
the^Sainstruggl^wrstKwatdTw:' *'\'"''""'^ ""*
were turned on it with alarn-T o Jf^r' ThT '" "^^ *^'"'
not be precisely guessed, fo,. h^=T ^'^ ^® "*""« «ould
by the impeding fold ^™°"'' "^"'^ ""^ ""^ened
andlTaXtS'::^-"--- Tornabuoni, as he
are not content with Z^gTm^t^b^T 7^' ^"^^^
day. If there is no other ZhnSL • • ! ®"«^"'' *^« °<^«
the sbirri and seouTfreZt ^ .v "«''* ^^'^ '"'"' ^"^1 °"
F^nch soldier: tha^Ts S.trrio^^s.^"^"- ^'' *^- ^ «
direction. That Th^ect was ie^r""; ^"^ *^^" *^« °*^«'
wheeled round the Baptiste^ ^nH '* P™°°«'' '''° ^'''d
Duomo, determined to t^r?eftZ .'''«,/""'^8 toward the
than trust to his s~ed But i^™ '°*-'^* '^"^^'^ '«*ter
""oeivedashock: Cwas 11>T.*"'« *'"' «*«P'^ l"" foot
"ignori, whose bkch Jere C^Tv ^"^'"^ *^« 8-°"P of
to recover his balanced heS^""'/""^ ""^ °"^y»We
^ It was Tito MeCa who felt tw T°i '""'^ ^y 'l-^ '^""■
head, and saw the fa^rof h ! !^ «"*''^- H" *»™ed his
Cairo, close to his ow^ ^'' '"^"P''"^ *»*«'• Baldassarre
-^wHrdLVSnraLVa'^tS.r^' ''' ^-*''= «^'^-
worn hands on the velvet^l ^ ^^ ^'P "* '''« s^^ed
lips all bloodless, t^^^^tZLrV"^ "''^'^ -^
whale to them-it was but amoment '' ''^'"^'^ * '°"8
CoX ^hrstdl-se rhiran? ''l^ '""«'' °^ ^^^ ^^
could see his face. ^ *"'* "*" *^« ""iy Pewon that
" Ha, hal I tnow what a ghost should be now."
w i
S80
BOUOLA.
h«l^«^"^ T"^ priwner," said Lorenzo Tomn-
(MOM. "Who M he, I wonder?"
&«» nuu^man, surely," said Tito.
He hardly knew how the word, had oome to his Ups : there
are moments when onr passions speak and decide forns. and
we seem to stand by and wonder. They carry in them m in-
spiration of crime, that in one instant does the work of long
premeditation. ^^
The two men had not taken their eyes off each other and it
STdl^^i.*"' "^T. '* ^-d spoken, 'thatso^SS.^
had darted from Baldassarre's eyes, and that he f^H it rosh-
mg ttough his veins But the next instant the gr..^ on hi,
armUd reUxed, and Baldassarre had disappeared ^iSiin the
CHAPTER XXIII.
AFTBB-THOUQHTS.
"ToiT are easily frightened, though," said Kero, with an-
other scornful laugh. "My portrait is not as go^d as the
original. But the old fellow had a tiger look, I Ct go into
.the Duomo and see him again."
n.." \^ ^\?^Tt *° ^ ^^ ^°^^ 0* ^y » '"'dman, if mad-
S he be," said I-orenzo Tomabuoni, in poUte excuse of
Tit<^ "but perhaps he is only a rufSan. We shaU hear I
thmfc we must see if we have authority enough to stop 'this
h!, J^°f •'*^'*° "" P*°P^* '^ y"" countrymei^" he
added, addressing the Frenchman.
They advanced toward the crowd with their swords drawn,
all the quiet spectators making an escort for them. Tito
went top: It was necessary that he should know what others
knew about Baldassarre, and the Hrst palsy of terror was
bemg succeeded by the rapid devices to which mortal danger
will stimulate the timid. """Bor
The rabble of men and boys, more inclined to hoot at the
soldier and torment him than to receive or inflict any serious
womids, gave way at the approach of aignori wiUi drawn
AJTKB-THOtJGHTS. mj
oitjr that they might beg money for f,^ ^"~°"'' ^*» «>«
pria<MieP. were Tuscan soSt^en*^!'""?''-"'' ""* °' *>"»
an eldoriy man, was wt^Tvl^^Z ^""'«^»i a^e other,
French forager; hadoometoE;*,?;"^*'' '''*^ ^'""" '^^
bemad, but he was harmlesT tC Ji^^°- ^"""'Sht
being unable to underSTword^f'lr ^"^ °° "«'«'.
heard so far, but he was derf to «™ .v ** "f" '^^^ Tito
specially addressed. Twa^ To™»r^'^'°v'^ "^ *"^ ^>'' ^<«
" Will „™, u , ^ iomabuoni who sooke
Will you go back with us, Melema? o, • «
w going off to Signa now x^l^tT, Pf,' '""* *^«^w
of the times andV to h^aTSie ftlT ^k'°"°T; "^^ '»«"<»
torrent at its height this m"mS?I^; it^^ ** "^« «"•
you know, if we are to save onf w I ^* ''*' """* *" do.
go if I had the leis" e » ^"^"^ '^^- ^ "hould
-^i^rt Xt' XgTytt? "^" ""''• -^^ '^^ '^^ '^^
be"^LrsSg^,'r°"« i*^"- Of the inspired orator,
with the SegretlL'till'ir^^r^J^^it^ """^'"^
again'TSr ''" ^"^ ^ '-"^ -^- -^ old man
inay find oat whether Wanrl^rr^- ^''» """k"
and piazza held memorfesrTn™^.- "'■"^/Paoes of street
that might have made tte ^s^ZTZ:T^ '°^'"^8 '^
a serpent had begun to ool3,°i T f\ ^^ *«^' « "
living, and in Flofe^oe w^ I S '™'''- »^dassarre
more rest than a windW f 5 ™'''°«*' ''"«'' ^onld no
crushed its p^y.' Tt wa7notTtt T'' "^' ""'^^ " J"-^
an injury pass InJngTtTltl °''n°' ?«* "^ *» let
that passionate fervor which sub W ^f ^"'™^ ^'"o'
^ing. and make. amanSrSll^Lr ^^if^^t
233
ROMOLA.
'f !
were a deity to be worshipped with self -deBtruotion. Baldas-
sarre had relaxed his hold, and had disappeared. Tito knew
well how to interpret that: it meant that the vengeance waa
to be studied that it might be sure. If he had not uttered
those decisive words— "He is a madman "-if he could have
summoned up the state of mind, the courage, necessary for
avowing his recognition of Baldasaarre, would not the risk
have been ess? He might have declared himself to have had
what he believed to be positive evidence of Baldassarre's death :
and the only persons who could ever have had positive knowl-
edge to contradict him were Fra Luc^ who was dead, ind the
crew of the companion gaUey, who had brought him the news
of the encounter with the pirates. The chances were infinite
against B^dassarre's having met again with any one of that
crew, and Tito thought with bitterness that a timely, well-
devised falsehood might have saved him from any fatal conse-
quences. But to have told that falsehood would have required
perfect self-command in the moment of a convulsive 7hook-
^.ITT*^, ^71 'P"^*° ^''*°"' "»? Pwoonoeption: the
words had leaped forth like a sudden birth that h^ been be-
gotten and nourished in the darkness.
Tito was experiencing that inexorable law of human souls
that we prepare ourselves for sudden deeds by the reiterated
choice of good or evil which graduaUy determines character.
There was but one chance for him now; the chance of Bal-
dassarre's failure in finding his revenge. And-Tito grasped
at a thongut more actively cruel than any he had ever en-
couraged before: might not his own unpremeditated words
hr„T\ ™? ^. *^r^ ^""S"" *™*^' »* '«'«*. to bear
hin^outmhis denial of any declaration Baldassarre might
make about him? The old man looked strange and wild-
with his e.ger heart and brain, suffering was likely enough to
We produced madness. If it were so, the vengeance that
strove to inflict disg oe might be baffled.
But there was another form of vengeance not to be baffled
tte'Sfrr? rf ^'^<^«^™ belonged to a race to whom
the thmst of the dagger seems almost as natural an impulse
as the outleap of the tiger's talons. Tito shrank with shud-
denag dread from disgrace; but he had also that physical
AITER.TH0UGHT8. 38S
dread which is inseparable from a Boft t,ioo«,~> i •
and which prevents a man SZ mTdZ^^°^l'"'^'"^
a welcome relief from dia^race O* ^<>«"d «nd death a.
some hidden defensive3rti.at m It a?vt h^T* °°""' *°
geance which no subtlety could p^T ^ *""" " ^*°-
seSit''tt:?rfrhidtp*"'°°''*« *- *^* p--
ing disease thtTad suddenly t^red't^" ''*^ " "'«•■*■
young life into pain. ^ """* *^^ '"y^"" "«""« «'
There was still one resource onen fn T)t„ ti ■ ^ ,
of few, waa mH oLt hn h™j . ? *^ tnutotous sjbiu
san-e ever oconrrBH tn >,;-, i n », * '"™™" oi iJaldas-
through his Slve^to^-- ^" *f«' possibilities passed
s^ulJdSre-com'^ ^"^'"•'" ""' - not'^h^hrt
ing feit:n^nrwrzraif fr^^ '■"• ^-^ '"^«-
would save him'fromtoingeifbv^^^^^^^^ °' '^'"^
that habitual choice. ^ *^^ consequences of
334
ROHOLA.
CHAPTER XXIV.
IKBIDS THI DUOr<o.
Wmw BaldaraarrB, with his hands bound together, and the
rope round his neck and body, pushed his way behind the
curtain, and saw the interior of the Duomo before him, he
gave a start of astonishment, and stood still against the door-
way. He had expected to see a vast nave empty of every-
thing but lifeless emblems— side altars with candles unlitj
dim pictures, pale and rigid statues— with perhaps a few wor-
^ippers in the dist.ant choir following a monotonous chant
That was the ordinary aspect of churches to a man who never
went into them with any religious purpose.
And he saw, instead, a vast multitude of warm, living faces
upturned in breathless silence toward the pulpit, at the angle
between the nave and the choir. The multitude was of all
ranks, from magistrates and dames of gentle nurture t»
coarsely clad artisans and country people. In the pulpit was
a Dominican friar, with strong features and dark hair, preach-
ing with the crucifix in his hand.
For the first few minutes Baldassarre noted nothing of his
preaching. Silent as his entrance had been, some eyes near the
doorway had been turned on him with surprise and suspicion.
The rope indicated plainly enough that he was an escaped
prisoner, but in that case the church was a sanctuary which
he had a right to claim; his advanced years and look of wild
misery wtre fitted to excite pity rather than alarm; and as he
stood motionless, with eyes that soon wandered absently from
the wide scene before him to the pavement at his feet, those
who had observed his entrance presently ceased to regard him,
and becamo absorbed again in the stronger interest of listening
to the sermon.
Among the eyes that had been turned toward him were
Eomola's : she had entered late through one of the side doors
and was so placed that she had a full view of the main en-
trance. She had looked long and attentively at Baldassarre,
IKBIDS TSI DUOKO. 33S
for gtty hain made • pwuliar spptal to her, and the itamp of
•ome unwonted •uflering in the face, oonflnned by the cord
round his neck, gtirred in her those sensibilities toward the
SOTTows of age, which her whole life had tended to develop
She fancied that his eyes had met hers in their first wandering
gaze: but Bald«H»rre had not, in reality, noted her: he had
only bad a startled consciousness of the general scene, and the
oonsoiousness was a mere flash that made no perceptible break
in the fierce tumult of emotion which the encounter with Tito
had created Images from the past kept urging themselves
upon him like delirious visions, strangely blended with thirst
and anguish. No distinct thought for the future could shape
Itself m Uie midst of that fiery passion : the nearest approach
to such thought was the bitter sense of enfeebled powers, and
a vague determination to universal distrust and suspicion.
Suddenly he felt himself vibrating to loud tones which seemed
hkette thundering echo of his own passion. A voice that
pmetrated his very marrow with its accent of triumphant cer-
titude was saying,-" The day of vengeance is at hand."
Baldassarre quivered and looked up. He was too distant to
see more than the general aspect of the preacher standing,
w^thhu. right arm outstretched, lifting up the crucifix: but
^^r^J^K,*^" threatening voice again a. if it had bU a
promise of blus. There was a pause before the preacher
spoke agam. He gradually lowered his arm. He deposited
tte crucifix on the edge of the pulpit, and crossed hifarms
over his breast, looking round at the multitude as if he would
meet the glance of every individual face.
«„lf" ^V^ Florence are my witnesses,' for I spoke not in a
w.» U "' ""^ witnesses, that four years ago, when there
7.TJ^ "^ "^' °* '" ""^ tribulation, I preached the com-
mg of the scourge. I lifted up my voice as a trumpet to the
prelates and pnnces and people of Italy and said. The cup
of your iniquity is fuU. Behold, the thunder of the Lord is
gaUiermg and it shall fall and break the cup, and your in-
iquity, which seems to you as pleasant wine, shall be poured
out upon you, and shaU be as molten lead. And /ou, O
tuaiy_the Shechmah is naught-the Mercy-seat is bare: we
•^ ROMOLA.
I s.id, the presence of God .haU be reveUed in hi. templeM
. oonsuming 8™, wd your ««,red garment, .hall h^m,^
2d for th. r°fK "°,^ '" "'* '*"'=''" *^«"»'>»" be thorn.,
?n«t If »»•»»»',<>' wanton, .hall oome the pe.tUenoe.
Tn,.t not m your gold and silver, trust not in yourhigh for
tresses; for, though the walls were of iron, and the fo rtresse.
If^'' ^^ ^'"* '''«'' '^'^' P"* *•"» ^^ your h^'
foundedandfleehke women. HeshaU break in pieces mighty
men without number, and put others in their stead. T^qZ
W.U no longer endure the pollution of hi. .anctuaryj he wm
I thoroughly purge h!a Church. »«7, newiu
^ I but ^i'Tr°A"v^* '• '"**** *bat God Will do nothing
me hi. !!? '* *" •"'' ""'*"*• """ P^Pbets, hehas chosef
^ul iu tl!^7 ''^ ""r) ^-^ '"*'^'' ^'^ P^P""' P'««»t to^
soul in the hnng word of the Scriptures, and in the deeds of
It' to r'""""' """ Y ^^^ "■^""'^ "' ^H'^ J"* ha. «veale1
burjtV°J""T- , ^^^" '"'■^ P""""* "« 80 that 1 1^
tralTif r^.°^ "' ""? *""** '^ *be wind of heaven pen^
mT^^ T •'• "■ °°'.^ "" *° ""^P """"^ "^ea though I
maybeadensiontothescomer. And for four year. I have
preached in ob^iience to the Divine will : in the t^Lmll
me t.^^*"^f "^"^ *'^««' '"^'^ «'• ^^ ha. delivH tf
ttat fe/ore Mo regeneration must come the .courg, over M
Italy and that theee thing, will eome quickly
shnw nf f yP°t"'«« ^^° 0'°'^ their hatred of the truth with a
show of love ha^ e said to me, ' Come now, Frate, leave your
prophe.ymgs= it is enough to teach virtue • To the^I ^
swer: 'Yes, you .ay in your hearts, God Uve. afar ^ rd
his word IS as a parchment written by dead men, and he e^s
Is of eT BuW ''"'*''**^.* unholy priestsas he Lote thf
nota?«rnff .^"*^«'y»8'^« your ears: God is near and
not afar off; his judgments change not He is the God of
armies; the strong men who go up to battle are his minister,
even «, the s*orm, and fire, and pestUence. He driveTttS
IKBIDl THl DUOHO. 337
Und which hM fc-.iJt.n the covenant. And thou. O lulv
«rt tl,. ohojjen Iwdi ha. not God pUced hi. Jc^^^aU w,u£
U..e, >md thou hMt pollut«l it? Behold, the mini.to.'i hta
w™th .-e upon thee-they are at thy ve;y door."' »
w> mi. point, when he became .uddenlv .ilent !«<: hi. !,._/
faUaodolanped them quietly before him "^i'^iSee,^
.t^d of being the .ignal for'.maU movementeaWi W.
Through the ya.t area of the cathedral men and women «t
wt^ISntTeKS""^-^*""' "" ----
might flee from it. There i. a .tillness before the storm ■ la
InS *' V '^~' "•"'sen oity in the chcen landl Eeuent
and forsake evU: do juatice: love mercy: put away K-
oleannes. from among you, that the .pirit <,f tru^Sd hdl
IsworH 1,T '"'*''*" *^« P«stUenceshaU notTte'ra^d
the sword shaU pas. over you and leave yon unh-urt. '
For the sword is hanginB from tha abv . in. „ •
Is there not a king with his army at your gites? C, w
the earth shake with the tread of hoLs af^ tte wh^Is of
^tZZL'^-^'^'r' " ^'"^ ""Ititude t^ar'^'Vy
oare the land as with a sharp razor? I tell vou the Vr^^ol
k;ng witi his army is the minister of God God shall ^uMa
wick d haU meU before him, and they shall be mown down
as sti. Je: he that fleeth of them shall not flee away' and le
that escapeth of them shall not be delivered. C tte LLto
"uiBiuae, and the unbelieving priests who traffic in the souls
a
^ ROMOLA.
Of mm ud flU the rmy Muctiuury with fmniMtlon, thaU bt
hurled fronr their toft oouohee into bnniing heUj end the
pagaoi end thejr who linned under the old ooveoknt fh«U
itand aloof and lay : ' Lo, theM> men have brought the itaiMh
of a new wiokedneia into the everlaxting fire.'
" But thou, O Ploienoe, take the o&ered mercy. Seel the
Oroee ia held out to you : come and be healed. Which among
the naboui of Italy haa had a token like unto yours? The
^rant ie driven out from amoug you: the men who held a
bribe in their left hand and a rod in the right are gone forth
and no blood haa been spilled. And now put away erer^
other abomination from among you, and you shall be strong
m the stiength of the living God. Wash yourselves from the
black pitch of your vices, which have made you even as the
heathens : put away the envy and hatred that have made your
city as a nest of wolves. And there shall no harm happen
to you: and the passage of armies shall be to you as a flight
of birds, uid rebeUions Pisa 8>.aU U. gi. a to you again, and
famine and pestUence shall be far from your gates, and you
shaU be as a beacon among the nations. But, mark! while
you suffer the aoourse-? 'hing to lie in the camp you shaU be
afflicted and tormented even though a remnant among von
may be saved." -^ j »
These admonitions and promises had been spoken in an in-
cisive tone of authority; butintheneitsentenc *he preacher's
voice melted into a strain of entreaty.
"Listen, people, over whom my heart yearns, as the
hewtof a mother over the children she has travailed fori
Ood IS my witness that but for your sakes I would wiUinriv
hve as a turtle in the depths of the forest, singing low to my
Beloved, who is mine and I am his. For you I toil, for you
I languish, for you my nights are spent in watching, and my
soul melteth away for very heaviness. O Lord, thou knowest
I am willmg-I am ready. Take me, stretch me on thy cross :
let the wicked who delight in blood, and rob the poor, and
defile the temple of their bodies, and harden them^lves
against thy mercy-let them wag their heads and shoot out
tne .ip at me: let the thorns press upon my brow, and let my
sweat be anguish-I desire to be made like thee in thy gre«t
miDI TBI DtrOHO. 339
lore. Bnt let me ••• the fmlt of mv tn»(l w .ki. •
God, that the earth .hall be oonverted unto thy law ■ it U th,
W.U that wiokedae™ ahall caae and love ,X^gn. iolZ
ble.»d promiwi and behold, I am wiUing-lafme onZ
iw bf L*""1i^ '"'^ *^' «" con,„n.e^i7but let 1
anSri WtJ."' "J?.^' S'"""*"*'* had stretched out hU
arm. and lifted up h.8 eyes to heaven; hi. .troni, voice had
alternately trembled with emotion and riwn ami^ in rl„.w^
menu loved h.m httle; neverthele... they too were cLT^
along by the great wave of feeling which gathered it. fo™
from .ympathie. that lay deeper than aU th^^ 1 toud
Sf:*r.\T "' °°''"' '"- ""> wdemuTSudefie
rnZ^!"^ -^l* '° *^** """"*"* *''« «Pt"™ and glory of
aiartyrdom without its agony. ^
Kle5 '5lo^r!ri°V'"' '""'"'"'^* Baldassarre'. had min-
gled. Among all the human being, present, there was . ,
hap. not one whose frame vibrated m'ore st^ngTy ra^ , «
iTkfahar^Twvt'^.f ^P™^"''"'' •>"' '* had wta^d
except on? TW^.'^*^r*''°«^^''<*''«^^ '^""J'^d away
a futorei; ^''l*''n''* ' ^""^ inexorable vengeanoe-of
hedb^af J^'"^ '•'"' •""""^ """"^ ■"'8''* ^ pursued and
Jield by the avenger m an eternal grapple, had .Sme to him
MO
ROMOLA.
n m
II f
priestly avipeTsZo^ZTfi '^"' ^^ "'"^ «*"''»"'?' fo'
an8leroouw'Xyi.ave\iven?.r """'"'b'^^d them, what
given by this roLcfJ I ' ^*** "*"* "''^ tJ-^ ""s^'er
den;^ciati» fInTfis nT ° «°°^'f "»? The thunder of
CHAPTER XXV.
OUTSIDE THB DnOMO.
having come solely to l<^k atX IIT ■ ^^^^^g,
and touched Baldassar:1ra?m' Se'^ZTr "'^'"'^
the tears sUU slowly roUing dolT histi^^^ J^i^^
/iTJTSlDB THE DUOMO.
241
ith that outburst. The painter
I have heard how you
CUB sigh, as i; he had done
spoke to him i ;, low toae,
" Shall I out J .-uc '^^7rdf, for you?
were made prisoner."
ciourif^tthe„ffi'^-"°' "P^y^-^^diately; he glanced suspi-
nouriy at the officious stranger. At last he said, "If you
" Better come outside," said Piero
Baldassarre again looked at him suspiciously; and Piero
partly guessjng his thought, smiled, took out a knif^ and cui
the cords. He began to think that the idea of the pri^ner^^s
madness was not improbable, there was something so pecuL
m the expression of his face. « Well," he though "Ifh"
^rr^^Tr^'"^' ^*'" «°°° 8«" ti^d up again.^ The poor
devil shall have a chance, at least " ^ <^ ■ -^"^ Poor
"You are afraid of me," he said again, in an imdertone-
"you aon't want to tell me anything about yourself^ '
Baldassarre was foldmg his arms in enjoyment of the lone-
absent muscular sensation. He answeredPiero with a lefs
suspicious look and a tone which had some quiet decidon in 1
JMo, I have nothmg to tell."
J' "^7°" P'^^'V' ^^^ ^'^'">> " b°t perhaps you want shel-
ter and may not know how hospitable we Plorent^rare to
visitors with torn doublets and empty stomachs. Ws^^
h^pital for poor travellers outside all our gates, and, f y^
liked, I could put you in the way to one. There's no rt»n^^!
from your French soldier. He L been sent o^" *°'''
ajdassarre nodded, and turned in silent acceptance of the
offer and he and Piero left the church together
on tL Jf /I ' *''*y "'*"* *^°°8 the Via dell' Oriuolo
on the way to the gate of Santa Crooe. " I am a painter T
would give you money to get your portrait." ^ ' ^
Inl ! ^^^Pi-'ion returned into Baldassarre's glance as he
^^!t"* T' ^"l «^d decidedly, "Ko.»
Ah!" said the painter, curtly. "Well m -f^oi™!.*
16
MS
HOMOLA.
K If
I: 11
•nd tt. W,„ M go., o,„Z 1,,« A^n^ tt. plo|«h
OTrTBIDE THE DUOMO. 243
Medioi and made room fop Dublin «ni^f a* 4.1. • 1.
abundant sprinkling of n,en with more conteSa fve IT^e^
sitive faces: scholars inheriting such high namelL^T-
£ ^--ioli. who were aJready' mindedt tT Ww ^d
jom the community of San Marco, artists, wrought t^ a nTw
and higher ambition by the teaching of Savonarola li^e thaT
young pamter who had lately surpassed himseUtoWs fr^S
of the divine chUd on the wall of the Frate's bare ^U uT
Tn^i^ ^'f»°'*°'»' Who was never to see the lightof another
morning. There were well-bom women attir^ w X^uch
scrupul^ous plainness that their more refined^ce was the
IL • -T.,^ predominant proportion of the genuine
^^fan, or middle class, belonging both to the Mafor Td
Minor Arts, conscious of purses threatened by war-taJes I^d
rSe Fr .te?s^' -7"""^ ^''^^•^ ^ ^ *^« otter clats
of tte Fr.te s disciples, there was the long stream of poorer
badesmcL and artisans, whose faith and hope in^i^ Ee
message varied from the rude and undiscriminatog tmst^
h^ as the friend of the poor and the enemy of the wfou^
oppressive rich, to that eager tasting of all the subtS o?
hbhcal interpretation which takes a ?ec„liarl7strlg hold on
iSriightriJ^eSce''^*^ " ^"^ "^« ^' -- ^
U^^^^i^'"'^'^°^'.^°'^^'"' °* *'>« IVate were scat-
tered many who were not in the least his disciples. Some
3M
ROHOIA.
.1 /:
11;
i ll
^Z^^ y^°^^ ''^'^^^' '""^ "oti'*" "t fear and
Tfif^ ^5"? *° *•"' ^^^ P^^-JiagBPiritof the popular p^
a feigned deference. Others were sincere adyocZ of a "e^
govemnjen^ but regarded Savonarola simply as an .^bitious
monk-half sagacious, half fanatical-whoYad mTde hi^e"
a powerful instrument with the people, and must be aoceTted
as an important social fact. There were even some of hS
the W»^r"f ^^'Z'^^ ««' tl'e "ins once more tightly
men, who detested him as the kiU-joy of Florence Fn^hf
sermons in the Duomo had already beUeSrcI'iJde^t
The men'of T" ^l""™"*^ "^^ "'^"-' - wel? L ofthh!
The men of ideas, like young Niccold Macchiavelli went to
observe and write reports to friends away in Z.t' vUlas
tte rr "'^'^tr' '^' ''°"° «P^'' •*"* <» hunting S
the Frate, as a public nuisance who made game scarcl w3
Sat Whir' "' "t^ '"* ^"^ ,^^rofZ2ZT.
«nJ« th^ « °,° P™""''*' "^"^ ^"^ " "">" -nassive influ-
ence than Savonarola, no preacher ever had more hete«,wne-
ous matenals to work upon. And one secret of the Sve
mfluence lay m the highly mixed character of his prSnl
Baldas^ure, wrought into an ecstasy of self-marty"in™nB!'
rv°°'^J^."*™'"^ •""« -^""S '^0 partial and n^ow svm-
paaies of that audience. In Savo/arola's preacWnTS
were strains that appealed to the very finest susceptibiWi^
elZ JTr '^.<i.*^«™''«'e elements that S^lZ
sSitiof TT^"'"'^'^* r"^'""' "^^ ^'"''^ated timorZ
rtS »!?■ ?", ^^ °* P*'^*' predominance, his laby!
rinthine aUegorical interpretations of the Scriptures his enig-
matic visions, and his false certitude about the d7v ne i^^f
fceTvirnTer^.H'?"°""'"«««°"^' *° ^ -""iX
that fervid piety, that passionate sense of the infinite that
of iTfi^^f *^^1 *^''* clear-sighted demand for the subT£
mon with the greatest of mankind. But for the mass of W
audience all the pregnancy of his preaching ay iXs sLne-
Msertion of supernatural claims, in his denunlto^ vS^
in the false certitude which gave his sermons the intoi.rof a
^HV^^Hi^^^^P*il^Hli^n^HHHPnHr^liHBMliV wm ^^m '*^ ^^Mf
THE GARMENT OP FEAR. M(
political bulletini and haying onoe held that audience in hi.
mastery, it was necessary to his nature— it was neo«.«^ *!.
their weUar^that he should keep the masZ T^^^ffS
wasmevxtable. No man ever sb^ggled to retain powert^
^«^ r-'";."'*'^ '"'^ ""^ "» °™ best insight
The mysteries of human character have seldom been ore-
janted in a way more fitted to check the judgmentsTf^Ue
knowingness than in Girolamo Savonai 'i, but we cL ri™
him a reverence that needs no shutting o. le eye! to Tacf «
modifications accompanying the outward changes. And uTto
aus period, when his more direct action on politicaT a&i™
had only just begun, it is probable that his im^rious n^ rf
^TiTrS^sT^n^r^--^^'^^ ^ ^' »--«--
false show of unblemished whiteness. Let us fling awwthe
chalk and boldly say, -the victim is spot^d, but iUs n^
CHAPTEB XXVI.
THB OABMltm' OP FBAB.
AtsU O'clock that evening most people in Florence wen
gM^e entrance of the new CharC^e was to J ov^
Etoubtless when the roll of drums, the bl^t of truZ,ta, Ti
the tramp of horses along the Pisan road began to mi^te w^
So's^hTw"' ";r'^'' '^'^' '' ''^ " g^and momtt £
long-winding terrible pomp on the backgromid of the green
^1 r J"^"^" '^""^ ""^ "" ^""''Wne to UghTupX
S^b^tl '"""'"' ""^P^*"' "^^ P"^""' a-d'silkensur!
the picked troops advanced into close view, they could be seeo
Iff:
m
'i\
\ it
u
II
346
ROHOLA.
»U the more diitinotly for the absence of dancing glitter TaU
and tough Scotch archers, Swiss halberdiers Befcf aT^pondS
ous, nimble Gascons ready to wheel and climb, cavSry "
which each man looked like a knight-errant with'hr^Zn^
table spear and charger-it was satisfactory to bo assured that
they wo,Jd injure nobody but the enemies of Godl Wi^
that confidence at heart it was a less dubious pleas^e to kok
at the array of strength and splendor in nobles and knights,
and youthftil pages of choice lineage-at the bossed andtw-
svl,7°f f ""' "* ^' """" "^^ embroidered with s^e
symbolic^ deyices of pious or gallant meaning, at the wfd
chains and jewelled aigrettes, at the gorgeous hLe-trappC
and brocaded mantles, and at the transcendent canopy cSd
]^ select youths above the head of the Most Christian Ki^g
To sum up with an old diarist, whose spelling and diction
halted a htUe behind the wonders of this royll yisit,-'^"
ButfortheSignoria, who had been waiting on their plat-
form against the gates, and had to march out at the right mo-
rnen^ with their orator m front of them, to meet the mighty
gue ^ the grandeur of the scene had been somewhat screened
by unplea«»nt sensations. If Messer Luca Corsini could have
had a brief Latin welcome depending from his mouth in legi-
Ue characters, it would have been less confusing when le
tZhtr°°i.T^T**'^ -^ ^P**^^"''^ '° ""«» ""i horses
that broke ofE the delivery of his well-studied periods, and re-
du^d the representatives of the scholarly city to offer amake-
shift welcome m impromptu French. But that sudden con-
fusion had created a great opportunity for Tito. As one of
behad the Signoria, and with whom these highest dignities
were promiscuously thrown when pressed upon by the horses.
..-/fl^*^^ '^P *°'^""* »"^ "^y " *«^ ^°'^o ^ I^nch,"
Zj^fT- « *v°° °°' °* ^'«^ importsace chose to risk a
second failure. "You, Francesco Gaddi-you can speak."
But Gaddi, distrusting 1.18 own promptness, hung backV and.
pushuigTito, said, "You, Melema." 8 at.", ana,
Tito stepped forward in an instant, and, with the air of pro-
found deference that came as naturaUy to him as walking, said
THE GABMBNT OF PBAB. 247
the few needful words in the name of the Signoria: then gave
way graceiaUy. and let the king pass on. His presenc^I?
mg, had been a ready instrument this time. It was an excel-
lent hmy servant that never forsook him when danger waa
no^ visible. But when he was complimented on l^^opZ
Tthr"'? ^i""8hed it off as a thing of no momen?^d
to those who had not witnessed it, let Gaddi have the cre^^
of the improvised welcome. No wonder Tito was popX
the^touchstone by which men try us is most often theifown
Other things besides the oratorical welcome had turned out
rather worse than had been expected. If eveiythingid W
pened according to ingenious preconceptions; the Florence
procession of cl»gy and laity would not have found the^^y
llso^ t^« V ' '° "^ *° T" '^^ ^^« "* "»« Cathedral only
Also, If the young monarch under the canoDv seated on hi!
charger with his lance upon his thigh, h^?4eTmo,e ,"ke ,
Char emagne and less like a hastil/modelled grote^aue th«
nes'S " Cha^° ""Af T ^'^ """«« "' Itali-" ^TcS"
™?.t ^1 f ^™P'°'' °f **« honor of women » had had a less
In^K .'^""^ °"'5^ '^^ "°™^ "^ of toesilhat hs
mouth had been of a less reptilian width of slit, his' nTse a^d
elotS ^i ,7 '^"»"'«" ""t^e- But the thin leg rested^n
doth of gold and pearls, and the face was only ai intTrrup"
ton of a few square inches in the midst of black veCt^^d
gold, and the blaze of rubies, and the briUianTtilts of ^-
And the people had cried FrancU, Francia! wi^ an en-
tosiasm proportioned to the splendor of the canopy whch
fflonal custom; royal lips had duly kissed the altar; JtSL
f^^TZ %" 7" ^r° "^^ ™*""« -«- lodge"! S
werHisnL?^ ViaLarga, the rest of the nobles iTd gentry
t«^h?»^ M '™°°« ^^^ 8'^' ''°"««'' of Florence, and S
Sis ' fc ""' """Tt^^ ^ '^^ ^^'o «"d other °p»
quarters. The business of the day was ended.
348
ROMOLA.
by a stream of redder Ucht frnm .!? ^ * comers, or
Umps suspended at the windows of ''.2?^°°"''^' """""««
could walk alone no less ^,,^T / ^°'"*''' •" ""* "«"
day.-"/. ,™7."4ira"^'^ "^^ conunodiously than by
atSetro'triTthe"'' ■^''° "«'-" '" -"^-g
unnoticed from the midst ofuf*!,! ' ^'^ *""P«
leisure thoroughly to fa^e »n^ afte'-supper gayety. Onoe at
hoped that hetuldsotLrtha^»:i?r his circumstances, he
bmties as to get ri J Tf SST 1^° ""iTrhad onir*":
been wanting in the nresenpn nf „,; a °^'^ °°'
Kc- si'-s >^i « srs? ""Ts
gave a slight start and quickened hTspLfoftheT. 7^
tines Who cJed for ^L^^ tf= ~ - aU More^^
bug.^to-^,HtinstrdX"mori;mi^;^. Httle bit of
-de doorway, standing at the truncated angW ^t bS
■'^mt-i^wm'M'w^
THE GAHMBNT OF PEAR 349
oarred capital*. >*R^n8t th« ,J ?• I. x '""^' "'"> ""ghly
line of the J-uted tCild co,?.J'«''^r'^ '" ^^ t^' o"'^
gr«.d figure of ii J 6 S hthu " °°' '? '"f' """^ ^^e
and fall, first hiding andXdLwT '" '^''^"'''' "»«
n>outh and powerful brow Two iZ? ^"^"^^^ "^ ^" «'»
at the anvil, the other at the lellowf tU^? ^^™''' °»«
superior massiveness. ' °"^*^ *° »«' "ff hi*
Tito darkened the doorwar wii-h .
standing in silence, since Has ^i" 7"^ "■^"""t °"tline,
should deign to paise and noZ h m ThT''' "''*" ^"^"'^
»n..th had beaten the head of ^ ^^'to Th 7"" T ""''''''«
edge and dismissed it fron> hiraTvU R . .''"« ^''"Pness of
Tito had satisfied himself La „W ro^n^H 1? "^l "'*''° *^«
he turnedTm"thTrrrd\iir-\^°'^ """^ «
hip. " ""^ ^sted his hammer on his
;; What is it, Messer Tito? Business? »
interrpTfo/iSjel't'""'' "°* ''^^ -"^-'-i *»
that^as^ajgn thaT/o^^ :o^^?^,« -»! ^o-- -- I take
sj^ar-reaS" l^^rfooUhatlSaf ''^""f ^"^ "^ -^
put his pumpkin-head i^toTay^inntr '^''P ""^
and see the King of France anH h^^i ' „ ' **"" °°' """ns
swered, 'No: 1 donWnf f v°'^'*"'^ ^^ I'^e an-
their bieks."' "^' *° "** *^«' f""*"-! want to see
in case of an uproar?" *^*° """^ ^"y"'*'' and spits
walt'^t^em!"' The J^t^ZeT. '°°^' ?1 ^'°"°<'« " "''^'y *«
them,
But he doesn't see birds caught
as some of our people try to make
that I
with w iking at
out. He sees sense.
}
I ,'
800
BOMOLA.
Md not noniwue. But you're a bit of a Medlowtn, UeMW
Tito Melem.. Ebbwjel k I've been mytell in my time, be-
fore the oaak began to run eour. What's your businese? »
Simply to know the price of that fine coat of mail I law
hMgmg up here the other day. I want to buy it for a certain
personage who needs a protection of that sort under his
doublet.
"Let him come and buy it himself, then," said Niccol6,
blunUy I'm rather nice about what I seU, and whom I .eU
to. I like to know who's my customer.'-
"I know your scruples, Nioool6. But that is only defen-
sive armor: it can hurt nobody."
ii'^™®' ]"" .- ""y "''k* «*• "«> who wears it feel himseU
all Ui) .afer if he should want to hurt somebody. No, no-
It « nc. my own work; but it's fine work of Maso of Brescia!
I should be loath for it to cover the heart of a scoundrel. I
must know who is to wear it."
" T*}?' ^V^' *° ^ P'a>° ''** yo", Nicool6 mio, I want it
-T^h f^ T *"- ,^T^8 '* '"" ""«'''» *° ^ persuasion.
The fact IS, I am likely to have a journey to take-and you
know what journeying is in these times. You don't suspect
me of treason against the Republic? "
"No, I know no harm of you," said Niccol6, in his blunt
way again. "But have you the money to pay for the coat?
For you've passed my shop often enough to know my sign-
you ve seen the burning account-books. I trust nobody The
price is twenty florins, and that's because it's second-hand
You re not likely to have so much money with you. Let it
be till to-morrow." ■««<."
"I happen to have the money," said Tito, who had been
wmnmg at play the day before, and had not emptied his purse.
1 U carry the armor home with me."
Nioool6 reached down the finely wrought coat, which fell
together into little more than two handfuls.
"There, then," he said, when the florins had been told
down on his palm. "Take the coat. It's made to cheat
sword, or poniard or arrow. But, for my part, I would
never put such a thing on. It's like carrying fear about with
OuO*
■f
i«vr
THI YODKO WIFl.
301
STdfoT ""^ *^' """ " y"" "•"•"-wilding doi
CHAPTER XXVII.
THK YOlfNO WIFE.
hJIhf" ^'*° "'"f ^^""S <"»«• the bridge with the new-
bought armor under his mantle, Romola wm pacing up ITd
c^the old hbrary, thinking of him and iZ^IZ^t
It waa but a few fair faoea that had not looked forth fm™
h« nobles. One of the few waa Bomola's. She had bZ
suddenly m his chair, three months before. '
Is not Tito coming to write? » he had said, when the bell
had long ago sounded the usual hour in the even^g He h^
rwSirm"^^.''^"'-^"-*^- ---"*' ""'tnolitl
kniw k/***"' ?^''"* to go to a supper at the cardinal's : yon
!rof;":.rir '-""'' "^ "-'-^ -'^" -'' -— » ^ »
apparently pacified by this hope ^ ^ ^'^°'
^^Hej.as silent a little whUe; then, suddenly flushing, he
hai'Lr.'L^°°'^'^°"*'^^°'"°'«- Get the pen. He
Id nnfv ^„\*^ *^"' *^« ^^'^ I'latonists. I shall d',
and nothing will have been done. Make haste, my Bomoli'
2S3
ROMOla.
I
UW.whie,.oou.tomed to pauses in diototionf wd wheT «
"I »m quite ready, fttherl "
Romola looked Uok on that hou, with some indignation
^tJ.,.Tf ' ^:^ r° "*"" ""• fimoutburstofK"
row there had mingled the irrepressible thought "Perhaw
my We with Tito will be more perfect now " ^
For the dream of » triple life with an undinded sum «rf
happmesshadnot been quite fulfilled. The I^ntew-^tS
shower of sweete to have been perfectly typical, sho^d hale
fault ^ JiT? "^ .'^"P*"*' d thorns. It was not Tito's
fault, Romola had continually assured her«,lf. He was sttU
M gentlene«i to her, and to her father also. But it ™ to
Star: o7t°h"''Tw'"'"'' " clearly now-ftw^ Tth"
nature of things that no one but herself could go in-i
after month, a^dyear after year, fulfiUing patiefSy .«'?«
father's monotonous exacting demands. Even she. »W
.ymi«thy with her father had made all the paTs^^n^d^reuS
Tu^^Jh^ ^- ""• """ *""" *^* l^^o" tteir mar-
riage, and even for some time after, Tito had seemed mZ,
SLTdf,nr*^- J^--"'""''* load with confident re^
ness, and up to a certain point the growing irksomenemTf
pressure is tolerable; but at last the^esi^ te rTefZ no
longer be resisted. Komola said to herself that she haHeL
very foohsh and ignorant in her girlish time: she waTwi^
now, and would make no unfair demands on the man to wh^
she had given her best woman's love and worship. ^,
breatii of sadness that still cleaved to her lot while she «.
her father month after month sink from elaSon tto niv r
TH» YOUNO Win.
383
q>p>intaimt m Tito gare him Im* and Ism of bli time, and
mad. bland exouw. for not continuing hi. own .hare of the
jotat work-that Mdnn. wa. no fault of Tito's, ,he wid, but
Ill^W :^ ,^«:''«"« <l-ti"y- " h. .tayed l.„ and l.„
, ""' 7°^' *"■' "" because they oould hardly ever be
^on.. Hi. oaresse. were no lee. tender: if ghe pleaded tim-
dly on any one evening that he .hould .toy with her father
InstMd of going to another engagement which waa not per-
wnptory, he eiouwd himself with such charming gayetyi he
[»«ned to Imger about her with .uch fond playf.^nLJ Mo^
he oould qmt her, that .he could only feel a little heartache
inthe mid.t of her love, and then go to her father and try to
Mftra hi. vexation and disappointment. But all the while
1^,'^ imagination was busy trying to see how Tito
oould be a. good a. she had thought he was, and yet find it
impossible to sacrifice those pleasures of society which were
necessarily more vivid to a bright creati-re like him than to
the common run of men. She herself would have liked more
fof W fTif ,'"*°'i"''<'°= •' "" t^e "ho gave it up wUlingly
ttan^l. / »!;^''T'"'"''°"''* ^^^ 8iven up much mo™
th<m that for Uie Mke even of a .light wish on Tito's part.
It was clear that their natures differed widely; but perhaps it
WM no more than the inherent difference between man and
woman, that made her affections more absorbing. If there
were any other difference she tried to perpuade herwlf that
the mfenonty wa. on her aide. Tito was really kinder than
«ie wa., better tempered, less proud and reoentful: he had
no angry retorte, he met all complaint, with perfect sweetnew •
Spre^^ " '^""''^ •" ^'' '^^ *""" "''"8« *»«» '<«^
iJl^^T^ ^ '"'7 ^"^ '"*^' ■"^«" 't " "ot under the
unmediate power of some strong unquestioning emotion, to
.nspect Itself, and doubt the truth of its own impression^
oonsoiou. of possibilities beyond its own horizon. And Bom-
ola wa. urged to doubt herself the more by the necessity of
interpreting her disappointment in her life with Tito so as
TeT^ett?""" i" ^"^^r"^ ^'' P""^*- I>i«PPomtment?
^e.^ there was no otb ■ milder word that would t*!! the truth
Perhaps all womer , suffer the disappointment of igno^
n
364
ROUOLA.
H^il
(m
^ 1 1
1 1-
I :i:
^^■
i
1:
Mnt hopes, if she only knew their eiDerienoe <.«ii *•■ '
luid been somethine wwnliar in h., i!* v , ^'^' *"•
the solitary hours wift h«r f!^t fu .* "*'' heartache in
atonement she oouldinaifn^T .If '"u"""^ "»" ''^ «">
to joy at his lo^ T^fLw ' *^?«^ ^"^ «~«"«i "**"
seed-time without a harvest-™ ^^n.^ ^^'^'^ '""g
remained of it hesid^l^^^- I *"'* '""'' ""* »" that
fru^ity. Thettent o^er faS'sT.^T'" *°"..'"^
about thU library was a sacli'tugatiSlriCr"
del Nero, though wS <?f ^•''° "^"^^ Bernardo
Florentii^es, l^^v^^^^"" '*'"« "^""S *« ^"^thieBt
sand florin;-rw?^^ b thoTf^ """" °' "'""* » '^'^•
the coUeotioVt^rfl^ *°" days-aooepting a lien on
-ee. «« the cardinal findsTSCrhr^-^r;;-
i^lLSW^J^'Zh
THE TOtJNQ Wn^
35S
m1^ T ^*^- "^ T^ *'°°'"'* *° ^° t^' "»*• I have no
children, I can afford the risk."
But within the Iwt t«n days all hopes in the Medici had
«^metoanend: and the famous Medicean collections in the
l!L^.T/T ^"T^""^ '" '^'"8" "^ dispersion. French
agenU had already begun to see that such ^ry fine antique
nation in Europe; and the Florentine State, which had got
possession of the Medicean libraiy, was likely to be glad of a
3 r.i; '^ "■ .."^''^ ■* "'' *° '«">-' Pisa hangini over i^
S^ll^ ' ^^'^T*^ °* ^"^^8 *" P^y l"e« ^obsidfes to the
s^ri^te * ^*' '" ^"""'y *" P'«**" """-y *° ""»""•
„),,>? ?°°'°1» t^'sa grave political changes had gathered their
chief interest from their bearing on the fulfilment of he"
^^k^f r "? '.* "^^ '"^ "^"^ '''"^ ^^«» accustomed to
^ebc to the vulgar present, of the Pnyx and the Forum as
^methmg more worthy of attention than the councils of living
W ir . r .,'"" *^"' *^* """O**"" °* i«^ best hope about
her father's library. The times, she knew, were unpleasant
!««™?1f "l*^" ^'^' ^"^ ^'^ 8°''^''*ber and Tito! IZ-
nt^ri,^? ^^~l'""^ *^« '^"P*'* '"bble were full of su^-
cms, but her new keen interest in public events, in the out-
break of war, in the issue of the French king's visit, in the
Sfbv^h '"' '^t *° "^^^ ^ *^« StaV was kl^d^d
^1 L^ w '"T °f ^"^^ '^'^ •'"'7 *° ber father's memory.
AURomola's ardor had been concentrated in her affections.
UttLt!r™i^ "/"f'^'.^"™"^ P""""^** bid been for h';
httle more than a toU which was borne for his sake; and Tito's
m L«^- '^* T"^ ^^ "" ''"'»<'«°° *" ber that was no
merged m the deeper sympathies that belong to young love
and trust. Romola had had contact with no mind that could
fZ^^ ^^' possibilities of her nature; they lay folded and
cnished like embryonic wings, making no element in her con-
..lousnwis beyond an occasional vague uneasiness.
iJut this new personal interest of hers in public affairs had
Mmm
"s
BOMOLA.
n«de h«r care at last to underrtand preoiady whM tolh«»
F« Gm,lamo'8 preaching waa likely to havS on tbatoT?
Tshe co^^*^"" "", *"- '°™ "^ '^^ «*»*« '«" talked^. nd'
^LTki T}^}^^^'^ Tito, whose seoretaryahip and aer-
mXtr^^ th""'' '™ "*" *••- ^"^ ''^»''"° busing
made her only the more eager to fill out her lonely day by ^
hfSdZ'to'h^*'''"''; .'^'"'"°™^«'*-"'«fi"'S
and^f ^» V l""'"' "'"' '""'^ *"""«•* » """Iden resolution,
^nffJ^ u f *^^ 'P°* "^"^ J"" fel-e^ was buried ta
^ta Croce, had walked on to the Duomo. The memoS oi
that last scene with Dino was still yivid witiiin her wWer
questions which U h^ta":wak?n:iT hHtS^ ie^'
agam by that subjection to her husband's mind wWchT^^
ll^Z f ut :i°jr^" t '"^'""•^ -*^ passionate de "S
O^^w.. • .**• ^^* remembered the effect of Fra
Jn^w ^- ^°'"'' '"'^ P'^™"" »"» ^0^ «« a ground for eip^t
tag that his sermon might move her in spite of his S.
W^chlr nfT^ ,'«P'*"'""' ^P"'^'"". that this fanatical
preacher of tribulations was after all a man toward whom i?
might ..possible for her to feel personal regaTLTe^
mce The denunciations and exhortations simply arrested her
attention She Mt no terror, no pangs of colincefSiL
Z^tl:! Tf''^'^^^''^'''^'^'^^^ "ut could n^
Zm ^T /?"*^l|«°8Ji« heard Savonarola invoke martyr-
dom she gobbed witii the rest: she felt herself pen^d
apart trom aU the definable interests of her lifA Tf „.- _ I
a^ether unlike the thrill whic^hfd lompanLTrir
rare heroic touches in history and poetry; but fte re^
blance was as ti,at between the me^Try of musS aTdX
BuV2:r ^'^'"' '■^ '"*"'^ ^"-^^K harmonL
nnU^ . . i"^!!f "•' *'"°*'°°' "^^''S "" it was, seemed to lie
quite outside th« mner chamber and sanctulry of her life
She waa not thinking of Fra Girolamo now; she waa Cin^
THE TonNG WIFE.
2S7
anxionaly for the step of her husband. Durine these tJ.,««
TS 8^ Jf "'^"'^."'•'""r" "night begin to be more p^l
feet. She was conscious of being sometimes a little too Zd
or too urgent about what concerned her father's mem^!!;
that were said and done in the world he frequented_a little tS
hasty in suggesting that by living quite siiply as her fath^
h^ done^ they might become rich enough to pay BerLdo del
Kero, and reduce the difficulties about the UbC itZ
Tsh^'dS'^f f '° '°'^t"^' "" ^'"""^ly ""^ thiTlast poini
1 tL^t f It. "'"^^ " 8^«»* ^"'^ fr<"n hi°' to give
up luxuries for which he really labored. The next time Sto
came home she would be caref^ to suppress ,^1 those ZS
ings thatseemed to isolate her f,x,m hii Bomola ^as Sr-
W-,? ''ir"'8''°""« -""St, to subdue her nature to her hus-
band's. Thegreatneedof her heart compelled her to strLwrle
with desperate resolution, every rising Lpulse of suSn
bS T« r\ '/ ''""' ."^'''8 **» '°'«- TI"** would have
Z^W^.. f^.'""'^ "^^ """"^ ^«'' "^d l«a^« h" feet over-
such a future for herself; she was only beginning to t^Z
mTrp^e."^'"* " «>»* clinging WwmTKnSbet
hompir'l'^ '"'^ ^^^"^ '°°8' *°' "f **° »"«i n°t come straight
i . .w'J ^*™^''"'° ^« ""^ «""»i"g the Ponte Euu"
conte aiat Romola heard the great door of* the couTtuSg
on Its hmges and hastened to the head of the stone stTs
There was a lamp hanging over the stairs, and they could see
each other distinctly as he ascended. The eiE mouth!
in lltos; the expression was more subdued, less cold ai,a
morebes«chiug and, asthe pink flush oversprearht' f^e
now in her joy that the long waiting was at a^ end she ™
on that day, any onlooker would have said that Bomola's
M*§ .^mm
I'M
£
m
S58
ROUOLA.
n*ture was made to oommand, and Tito's to bend; yet now
Bomok^s mouth was quivering a little, and tliere Ju wane
tunidity in her glance. ^^
He made an effort to smile, as she said,—.
not £,?^ ^°" ""' '^^' '' ^" ^'^ » '""s-^ff ^V: U it
Maso was there, and no more -tos said untU they had
crossed the ante-chamber and closed the door of the library
behind them. The wood was burning brightly on the ^
dogs; that was one welcome for Tito, late a. he was,%™i
Jtomola'a gentle voice was another.
He just turned and kissed her when she took off his mantle-
f ?!"« T* *°Z"^ " Wgh-baoked chair placed for him nea^
the fire, threw himself into it, and flung away his cap, sav-
ing, not peevishly, but in a fatigued tone of remonstrance, as
he gave a slight shudder,—
"Bomola, I wish you would give up sitting in this library.
Surely our own rooms are pleasanter in this chill weather "
Bomola felt hurt. She had never seen Tito so indifferent
m his manner; he was usually full of lively soUoitous atten-
tion And she had thought so much of his return to her after
the long day's absence I He must be very weary.
I wonder you have forgotten, Tito," she answered, look-
mg at hun wixiously, as if she wanted to read an excuse for
hm. m the sigm. of bodily fatigue. " You know I am making
aie catalogue on the new plan that my father wished for; you
have not time to help me, so I must work at it closely "
Tito, mst^ of meeting Eomola's glance, closed his eyes
and rubbed his hands over his face and hair. He felt he was
behaving unlike himself, but he would make amends to-mor-
row. The terrible resurrection of secret fears, which, if
Bomola had known them, would have alienated her fromhim
forever, caused him to feel an alienation already begun be-
tween them-caused him to feel a certain repulsion toward a
woman from whose mind he was in danger. The feeling had
taken hold of him unawares, and he was vexed with himself
for behaving in this new cold way to her. He could not sud-
denly command any affectionate looks or words ; he could only
exert himself to say what might serve as an excuse.
'HK.^Misr A.Mcmi M'.ib .'T m'^m
THS TOtWa WIFE.
2B»
^JtM. not wdl, Bomola, you mnat not be Mppriwd if I .m
« Ah, you have liad so nrnoh to tire you to-day. » wid Eom-
it^h^^""^ close to hin. and laying h^i' a^ oSi
oieet whUe she put his hair back caressingly
of Kt?int:i^' '*' "" "^'^ '^"^ "'"^ "«> "^ «-
.s'S'^S.r*"*""''"^""'"^'^'*''? So-tl'ing
"It « iron-it is ohain-armor," he said at once. He wu
prepared for the surprise and the question, Z hflZke
quiedy^ of something that he was not hurried t^ex^
There was some unexpected danger to-day, then?" said
S^eT^ZlP""'""^'^*""- "^-^^"lentJyouToJ
Every one is threatened in these tm. who ia nnt » ™wj
en^nyof the Me<Uei. Don't look distressS"m7^m S^
this armor will make me safe against covert atiaoks."
loJ,!r .K? A"? °° ^" °*°'' "^^ """«^- This litUe dia-
lopie about the armor had broken through the new orZ
and made a channel for the sweet habit of kindness ^
R,t my godfether, then," said Romola; "is not he. toa
1^^'' .^^^' **^« "° precautions-ought he n^?
TJ* .'"."''* ""'^y ^ ^ '"»«' <1«"8" than yo^ who W
so little influence compared with him »
"It is just because I am less important that 1 am in more
d2ger^eaidTito,re«my. "I ^ suspected corta^tlyS
^?i^ T-^- ^* '°*° ^'^^ ^«'"" B«niardo are pro-
^^l^w^"- t"" ^'*'°° •"'^ ^^-^ extensive famUy^n?^
that nobody would avenge."
a Jl!l« .''"°' !?i' " ***' °* '"""^ particular person, or only
fo^ in T,^ ^- T """"^ *° "P"' ''^^ ''^«» Of » degrading
fear in Tito, which mingled itself with her anxiety.
M
I'l
(Hi
"^ ROUOLA.
"IhaveliadspMialthreato," aaid Tito, "bat 1 mnit bM
you to bo silent on the subject, my Bomola. I shaU ooosito
that you have broken my confideaoe, if you mention it to tout
godfather." '
„ ."■^"'"^dly I will not mention it," said Bomola, blushing,
U you wish It to be a secret. But, dearest Tito," she added,
after a moment's pause, in a tone of loving aniiety, "it wS
make you very wretched. "
" What wUl make me wretched? " he said, with a scarcely
perceptible movement across hU face, as from some dartins
sensation. '•
" Tliis fear— this heaity armor. I can't help shuddering aa
I feel It under my arm. I could fancy it a story of enohant-
ment^that some malignant fiend had changed your sensitive
human skin into a hard shell. It seems so unlike my bright
light-hearted Titol " ' *^
"Then you would rather have your husband exposed to
danger, when he leaves you?" said Tito, smUing. "If you
don t mind my being poniarded or shot, why need I mind? I
wUl give up the armor — shall I? "
"No, Tito, no. I am fanciful. Do not heed what I hav«
said. But such crimes are surely not common in Florence?
I have always heard my father and godfether say so. Have
they become frequent lately? "
"It is not unlikely they will become frequent, with the bit-
ter hatreds that sje being bred continually."
Bomola was silint a few moments. She "shrank from insist-
""f. nJ , " °° *** ''"^^*°* °* ^^ *™°'"- ^^^ *n«d to »l«ke it off
Tell me what has happened to-day," she said, in a cheer-
ful tone. " Has all gone off well? "
" Excellently well. Krst of all, the rain came and put an
end to Luoa Corsini's oration, which nobody wanted to hear
and a ready-touRued personag&-some say it was Gaddi, some
say It was Melema, but really it was done so quickly no one
faiows who It was— had the honor of giving the Cristiaaissimo
the briefest possible welcome in bad French."
" Tito, it was you, I know," said Bomola, smUing brightly
and kissmg him. " How is it you never care about olaimiM
anythmg? And after that? "
*n%
THE TOUNO WIFB.
sn
«hl after th»t, there was a shower of armor and jewels
and trappings, such as you saw at the last Florentine gictra.
only a great deal more of them. There was strutting, wd
pranomg, Mid confusion, and scrambling, and the people
shouted, and the Cnstianissimo smUed from ear to ear. And
after that there was a great deal of flattery, and eating, and
play. I was at Tomabnoni's. I wiU tell you about it to-
morrow." '
"Yejs dearest, never mind now. But is there any more
hope that limgs will end peaceably for Florence, that the
Bepubho wiU not get into fresh troubles? "
Tito gave a shnig. " Florence will have no peace but what
It pays well for; that is clear."
Ewiola's face saddened, but she checked herself, and said,
cheerfully, "You would not guess where I went to-day, Tito
I went to the Duomo, to hear Fra Girolamo."
Tito looked startled; he had immediately thought of Bal-
dassarre's entrance into the Duomo; but Eomola gave hU look
another meanmg,
" You are surprised, are you not? It was a sudden thought.
I want to know all about the pubUc affairs now, and I deter-
Tl .?• T ^°l ""y"*" ^^^ ^^ ^™*« promised the people
about this French invasion." i-^r"
^' Well, and what did you think of the prophet?"
"He certainly has a very mysterious power, that man. A
great deal of his sermon was what I expected; but once I was
strangely moved— I sobbed with the rest."
f J?f \T' ??°"''^" <^^ Tito, playfuUy, feeling relieved
that she had said nothing about Baldassarre; "you have a
touch of fanaticism in you. I shall have you seeing visions,
like your brother." 8 '""ons,
"No; it was the same with every one else. He carried
them all with him; unless it were that gross Dolfo Spini.
whom I saw there making grimaces. There was even a
wretched-looking man, with a rope round his neck-an es-
caped prisoner, I should think, who had run in for shelter-
a very wild-eyed old man: I saw him with great tears rolling
down his cheeks, as he looked and listened quite eagerly."
There was a slight pause before Tito spoke.
m -
;'i
I'M
363
ROHOLA.
I WW tlia m«n," he itid,— "the prifonn. I wm ontaide
the Duomo with Lorenzo Tomabuoni when he ran in. He
had escaped from a French loldier. Did you see him when
you OP ne out? "
"No, he went out with our good old Piero di Coiima I
saw Piero oome in and out off his rope, and take him out of
the ohnroh. But you want rest, Tito? You feel ill? "
" Yes," said Tito, rising. The horrible sense that he must
hve in oontmual dread of what Baldassarre had said or done
pressed upon him like a oold weight
n
CHAPTER XXVIII.
TBI PAINTKD BBOOBD.
Potm days later, Eomola was on her way to the house of
Piero di Cosimo, in the Via Gualfonda. Some of the streets
through which she had to pass were lined with Frenchmen
who were gazing at Florence, and with Florentines who were
gazing at the French, and the gaze was not on either side en-
tirely friendly and admiring. The first nation in Europe, of
necessity finding itself, when out of its own country, in the
presence of general inferiority, naturally assumed an air of
conscious pre-eminence; and the Florentines, who had taken
such pains to-play the host amiably, were getting into the
worst humor with their too superior guests.
For after the first smiling compliments and festivities were
over— after wondrous Mysteries with unrivalled machinery of
floating clouds and angels had been presented in churches-
after the royal guest had honored Florentine dames with much
of his Most Christian ogling at balls and suppers, and business
had begun to be talked of— it appeared that the new Charle-
magne regarded Florence as a conquered city, inasmuch as he
had entered it with his lance in rest, talked of leaving his
viceroy behind him, and had thoughts of bringing back the
MedioL Singular logic this appeared to be on the part of an
elect instrument of GodI since the policy of Piero de' Medici,
disowned by the people, had been the only offence of Florence
TBI PAINTED RXCORD.
368
■^•t the majesty of France. And Florence waa determined
not to iubmit. The determination waa being expressed very
strongly w consultations of citizens inside the Old Palace, and
It was begmning to show itself on the broad flags of thestoeeta
and piazza wherever there was an opportunity of flouting an
msolent Frenchman. Under these circumstances the streets
were not altogether a pleasant promenade for well-born women :
but RomoU, shrouded in her black veil and manUe, and with
old Maso by her side, felt secure enough from impertinent ob-
servation.
^d "he was impatient to visit Piero di Cosimo. A. copy of
her father's portrait as (Edipu., whi.h he had long ago un-
dertaken to make for her, was not yet finished; and Pieio
wa8 8onncert»aninhi8 work-sometimes, when the demand
was not peremptory, laying aside a picture for months: some-
time thrustmg it into a comer or coffer, where it was likely
to, be utterly forgotten-that she felt it necessary to watch
over his progress. She was a favorite with the painter, and
he was inclined to fulfil any wish of hers, but no general in-
olmation could be trusted as a safeguard against his sudden
whims. He had told her the week before that the picture
would perhaps be finished by this time, and Romola was ner-
vously anxious to have in her possession a copy of the only
portrait existing of her father in the days of hi. blindnesi
lesthis unage should grow dim in her mind. The sense of
defect in hep devotednesa to him made her cling with aU the
force of compunction as well as affection to the duties of mem-
^. Love does not aim simply at the conscious good of the
beloved object: it is not satisfied without perfect loyalty of
Heart; it aims at its own completeness.
Eomola, by special favor, was allowed to intrude upon the
paonter without previous notice. She lifted the iron slide and
called Piero in a flute-like tone, as the littie maiden with the
eggs had done m Tito's presence. Piero was quick in an-
swering, but when he opened the door he accounted for his
quickness in a manner that was not complimentary
' Ah, Madonna Eomola, is it you? I thought my eggs
were come; I wanted them." **^
"I have brought you something better than hard eggs,
'^l.lhp
M4
ROHOLA.
3
i
I :i'
Pieto. Mmo hu got a little baiket full of oakei and eenfitti
for you, " laid Bomola, smiling, as she put baok her veU. She
took the basket from Maso, and stepping into the honse, said, —
" I know you like these things when you can hare them
without trouble. Confess you do. "
" Yes, when they come to me as easily as the light does,"
said Piero, folding his arms and looking down at the sweet-
meats as Eomola nnoovered them and glanoed at him arafaly.
" And they are oome along with the light now," he added,
lifting his eyes to her face and hair with a painter's admira-
tion, as her hood, d^ged by the weight of her veil, fell
baok ward.
"But I know what the sweetmeats are for," he went on;
"theyaretostopmy mouth while you scold me. Well, go
on into the next room, and you wUl see I've done something
to the picture since you saw it, though it's not finished yet.
But I didn't promise, you know : I take care not to promise;—
'"Chi promette e non mantlene
L'antma sua non va mai bene. ' "
The door opening on the wild garden was closed now, and
the painter wag at work. Not at Bomola's picture, howerer.
That was standing on the floor, propped against the wall, and
Piero stooped to lift it, that he might carry it into the pnqwr
light But in. lifting away this picture, he had disclosed
another— the oil-sketch of Tito to which he had made an im-
portant addition within the last few days. It was so much
smaller than the other picture, that it stood far within it, and
Piero, apt to forget where he had placed anything, was not
aware of what he had revealed as, peering at some detail in
the painting which he held in his hands, he went to place it
on an easel. But Bomola exclaimed, flushing with astonish-
ment, —
"That is Tito I"
Piero looked round, and gave a silent shrug. He was
vexed at his own fbrgetfulness.
She was still looking at the sketch in astonishment; but
presently she turned toward the painter, and said with puz-
zled alarm, —
THE PAINTED RECORD.
When did you fiat it? What
"Wlutt a ttnuge piotuni
doM it mean? "
"A mere fancy of mine," said Piero, lUting off hU ikuU-
oap, Mratohing his head, and making the luual grimace by
which he avoided the betrayal of any feeling. " I wanted a
^^^dMme young face for it, and your hueband'e waa juat the
He went forward, atooped down to the picture, and lifting
It away with its back to Bomola, pretended to be irivinir it a
passing exMnination, before putting it aside as a thing not
good enough to show. *
But Bomola, who had the fact of the armor in her mind,
and was penetrated by this strange coincidence of things which
asMcwted Tito with the idea of fear, went to hi. elbow and
" Don't put it away ; let me look again. That man with the
rope round his neck-I saw him_I saw you come to him in
tte wirTito??"* '"" " ""' '^' ^°" '•"* ''^ -*» • P-
Piero saw no better resource than to teU part of the truth
It was a mere accident. The man was running away-
running up the steps, and caught hold of your husband- I
supp<»e he had stumbled. I happened to be there, and mw
It, and I ttought the savage-looking old feUow waa a good
•ubjeot. Birt It's worth nothing-it's only a freakish d^
rf mme Piero ended contemptuously, moving the sketch
Sr.^? r .l'*!tT°' •"'* P"«*"8 it on a high shelf.
Come and look at the CEdipus."
He had shown a litUe too much anxiety in putting the
sketch out of her sight, and had produced the very impres-
8U)n he had sought to prevent-that there was really some-
tlung unpleasant, something disadvantageous to Tito in the
circumstances out of which the picture arose. But this im-
pression sUenced her: her pride and delicacy shrank from
questioning further, where questions might seem to imply
hus^d. She merely said, in as quiet a tone as she could,—
• He waa a strange piteous-looking man, that prisoner. Do
you know anything more of him? "
ti
I I
SM
ROMOLA.
"Ko more: I tbowed him the way to the hotpital, thtt'i
all. 8««, now, tb* fact of (Sdipua ii pretty niwrW flnlihed:
tall m* wlutt you think of it."
BomoU now gave her whole attention to her father's por-
trait, itanding in long tilenoe before it
"Ah," she laid at laat, "you have done what I wanted.
Ton hare given it nn i-e of the listening look. My good Piero "
— she tnmed toward him with bright moist eye* " I am very
grateful to you."
"Now that's what I oan't bear in you women," said Piero^
turning impatiently, and kicking aside the objects that littered
the floor— "you are always pouring out feelings where there's
no oall for them. Why should you be grateful to me for a
picture you pay me for, especially when I make you wait for
it? And if I paint a picture, I suppose it's for my own pleas-
ure and credit to paint it well, eh? Are you to thank a man
for not being a rogue or a noodle? It's enough if he himself
thanks Messer Domeneddio, who has made him neither the one
nor the other. But women think walls are held together with
honey."
" Yon crusty Piero I I forgot how snappish you are. Here,
put this nice sweetmeat in your mouth," said Bomola, smil-
ing through her tears, and taking something very crisp and
sweet from the little basket.
Piero accepted it very much as that proverbial bear that
dreams of pears might accept an exceedingly mellow " swan-
egg "—really liking the gif^ but accustomed to have his pleas-
ores and pains concealed under a shaggy coat.
"It's good, Madonna Antigone," said Piero, putting his fin-
gers in the basket for another. He had eaten nothing but
hard eggs for a fortnight. Bomola stood opposite him, feel-
ing her new anxiety suspended for a little while by the sight
of this naive enjoyment,
"Qood-by, Piero," she said, presently, setting down the
basket. " I promise not to thank you if you finish the portrait
soon and well. I will tell you, you were bound to do it for
your own credit."
" Good," said Piero, curtly, helping her with much deftness
to fold her mantle and veil round her.
A MOMBKr or TRIUlfPB.
Mr
** I m gltd iha Mkad no more qTiMtiou aboat that iketeh,"
h* thought, whan he had oloMd the door behind her "I
•bouJd be eoriy for her to gueu that I thought her fine hoi-
buid « good model for a coward. But I made light of it:
the'll not think of it again."
Piero was too sanguine, as open-heaited men are apt to be
when they attempt a litUe clever simulation. The thought of
the picture pressed more and more on Bomola as she walked
homeward. She could not help putting together the two facta
of the chain-armor and the encounter mentioned by Piero be-
tween her husband and the prisoner, which had happened on
the morning of the day when the armor was adopted. That
look of terror which the painter had given Tito, had he seen
itr What could it all mean? » -f «»u
" It means nothing, " she tried to assure herself. " It was a
mere coincidence. Shall I ask Tito about it?" Her mind
said at last, "No: I will not question him about anything he
did not tell me spontaneously. It m an offence against the
trust I owe him." Her heart said, " I dare not agk him."
There was a terrible flaw in the trust : she was afraid of any
hasty movement, as men are who hold something precious and
want to believe that it is not broken.
CHAPTEB XXIX
A MOMBKr or TBtUMPa.
"Tm old fellow has vanished; went on toward Arezzo the
next morning i not liking the smeU of the French, I suppose,
after being their prisoner. I went to the h pital to inquire
after him ; I wanted to know if those broth-uiaking monks had
found out whether he was in his right mind or not. How-
ever, they said he showed no signs of madness— only took no
notice of questions, and seemed to be planting a vine twenty
miles off. He was a mysterious old tiger. I should have
liked to know something more about him."
It was in Nello's shop that Piero di Cosimo was speaking,
on the twenty-fourth of November, just a week after the en-
■jr ^'.i^: CMT
'r'
I
1
i
ijr
I
388
ROUOLA.
^Jf fX^^t^ '*'"' ''" » P^ty of Biz or seven u-
aembled at the rather unusual hour of three in the afternoon-
for .t was a day on which aU Florence was excited hf^^l
^f^ ard^""'\^L'**'^ "'•"'• ^^""y lounging-pS^e
W« f ' T "7 ?''P'«'«P«' ^^° had no wife or deputy to
while aie streets were constantly sprinkled with artisans paus-
ing or passing lazily like floating splinters, ready to rushfor-
ward impetuously if any object att^cted tLT
. ello had been thrumming the lute as he half sat on the
XiX° ""■ •^''P--^-. -d kept an outlook Z^l
„I^" }l ^'^ '*^'°« ^""^ <*« Inte, with emphasis, "I
d^y™ " fi^- ^"^ ^^'> ""^-^ *^^ sight of^ the
Fwuch soldiers waddling in their broad shoes after their run!
away prisoners! That comes of leaving my shop to sh^e
Wficent chins It is always so: if ever I ^ Jtht tvd
^y^' '"°'''^' *^" ""^ °PP"*^'*y of\appeni^t
ing lav "Tusw^* *° '^^ "T" *^'"^" ""-i ^^''«'. «Wsbit.
^ J /'*. ■• ^ ^* y"" ^*^°"'« ^^'eek look as frightened
as If Satonasso had laid hold of him. I like to ^TZ
ttnl 11 ^ V* "'■'P'*' °* themselves. What color dVyou
think a man's Lver is, who looks like a bleached deer as ,^n
as a chance stranger lays hold of him suddenly? "
e.^J'w'h^r^-?''- '^'«"°* ""^^ ■" ^'"^ to thine own
wh^ hSt a'tJ^^T' ""^ *^ «^»-*<.thathelooked startled
When he felt a pair of claws upon him and saw an unchained
sla f P " "^^"'^ ^°" ^^l'"'" " "ot like tho^bS
Swi s and Germans, whose heads are only fit for battS
^^ and who have such large appetites that they thi^HZ
mg of taking a cannon-ball before breakfast. We HorentL^
count some other qualities in a man besides thT^^^'t'^ff
oaUed bravery, which is to be got by hiring dunderheads at so
ZhS'^'T •'^"y''"' ""^ •« -"" ford out ttat
ftey had more brains than oxen, they set the oxen to draw for
^; ^ ir "" ^^"«"'i"«« found out that we had Io»
brams than other men, we set them to fight f or u. "
A MOMENT OP TRIUMPH. 269
tnli'^Tl: ?*""' " ' ™'<* '^^ o»t from the innep «»»„
tarn; "that is not the doctrine of the State Bw!f
v^hj^itKi^^n'^^ srA"oi^-fBr
bsto^ who was offemg him a piece of honeycomb."
*i.- u "7*5 ^""oesoo," said NeUo. "Florence hw » f«„
thicker skulls that may do to bombard Pisa wUh Zrl JZ
ZiJ^'^r'T'' n^* '"''"« ^ '°^^ Sing rdi'
8ai7Nru^^T'™'°f"''^°**^*"^'^<'~' a^"". my Piero?"
said NeUo, determmed to chase down the accuser "vL
ought to be able to understand whv one ml ;! t\ 7°"
S70
ROHOLA.
■u
HI
?il
M J^ll" rS- * f °?"^ ^"8k at Nello'8 defence, and it was
clear that Piero's dUindination toward Tito wa^not^S
at tLkZT- /^\P|^°*«'. ^"l" h« tindecipherablel^
Si!;.^ f ^'^ *""' ''" '"=^"» "^d stuffed his ears ^in-
digiiant contempt, while NeUo went on triumphantiy,-!
No, myPiero, Ican't afford to have my Jeierurfito decried •
8 light to Paradise, as the Frate has informer ,.■ and^e
inoomparable Poliziano, not two months since, gone Cwel
Sii^lge" " '' " ""' '"''' *° ""' •^"'"'* ^'"'"' - S
"By the way," said Francesco Cei, "have you heard th«t
of ii^r'ne h« H-^r r *""' ^"^ '"•"'■^ •^'^ - '^« «^e
lUies ' said t.. ""^ "" November. ' Not at all the time of
miesof France I meanti and it seems to me they are close
fulfiUed, I'U declare myself a Piagnone to-morrow."
You are something too flippant about the Frate. Fran-
cesco," said Pietro Cennini, the scholarly. " We .^ mZ
debted to him in these weeks for preaching peacV^ tZ
ofT™^'^'^/'' ""^"^ "'*''' °* P-^ quarri-.'^herLTl
of small disoemment who would be glad to see L peopte
shpping the Frate's leash just now. And if the Ct K
!^ ^^f-'V^'^'" '"^''* *^« '""'y to-day, and wUl ^^
s^ what IS fa>r and honorable to Florence, F« GiroCo U
the man we must trust in to bring him to reason."
You speak truth, Messer Pietro," said Nello: "the Frate
^oneof the firmest naih, Florence has to hang on-aU^t
aiat 18 the opmion of the most respectable chins I have tte
honor of shaving. But young MesserKiccoli was sajSg here
tte other moming-and doubtless Francesco means th^^sH^
mZr r- •' "" ^?''^'>^^ a power of strotohing in the
mM^ing of visions as in Dido's bull's hide. It seems to me a
dr^ may mean whatever comes after it. As our Franco
Saochetti says, a woman dreams over-night of a serpent biting
H" 4 ^^rmii
A UOUBNT OP TRIUMPH.
271
her, breaks a drinkiug-oup the next day, and cries out, ' Look
yon, I thought something would happen— it's plain now what
the serpent meant.'"
" But the Frate's risions are not of that sort, " said Cronaca.
He not only says what wiU happen-that the Church will be
soourged and renovated, and the heathens converted-he says
It shall happen quickly. He is no slippery pretender who
provides loopholes for himself, he is "
"What is this? what is this? » exclaimed Nello, jumping
off the board, and putting his head out of the door. "Here
aie people streaming into the piazza, and shouting. Some-
Uung must have happened in the Via Larga. Aha I" he
burst forth with delighted astonishment, stepping out laueh-
mg and waving his cap.
AH aie rest of the company hastened to the door. News
ftom the Via Larra was just what they had been waiting for.
But If the news had come into the piazza, they were not a
little surprued at the form of its advent. Carried above the
shoulders of the people, on a bench apparently snatched up in
the street, sat Tito Melema, in smUing amusemen*; at the
compulsion he was under. His cap had slipped off his head,
and himg by the becchetto which was wound loosely roimd
his neck; and as he caw the group at Nello's door he lifted up
his fingers in beckoning recognition. The next minute he had
leaped from the bench on to a r<art filled with bales, that stood
m the broad space between the Baptistery and the steps of the
l^uomo, while the people swarmed round him with the noisy
eagerness of poultry expecting to be fed. But there wm
silence when he began to speak in his clear meUow voioe,-
Citizens of Florence! I have no warrant to tell the news
except your will But the news is good, and will harm no
^J^u ^"'- T""*- ^^^ ^°" Christian King is signing a
treaty that is honorable to Florence. But you owe it to one
rf your citizens who spoke a word worthy of the ancient
Komans— you owe it to Piero Capponil "
Immediately there was a roar of voices.
"Capponil Capponil What said our Piero?" "Ah I he
wouldn't stand being sent from Herod to Pilate f " " We knew
Piero I " '■• Orti, ! TeU us, what did he say ? "
sra
U
ROHOLA.
I'H
pi ■!
I'll
I''"'
m
J^en the roi„ of ta,iate„„e had subsHed a little, Titobeg«
wa:obtSi'at^Tl«?.l''T;^J' "**'*' *~ -<*-
.peakag with the voice of « free city Zd 'Tv™, ^^^^
your trulnpe^ we will ring our Si' He LlZJT^^
copy of the dishonoriug conditions i^^itheJLdsonS J^"
re^. tore :t in piece., and turned to iJeT^^l'^^Z
for'^S*"""'"''"'''"''''""*^'"'^ "^^ -!-««* de-and.
the Most Christian King hin>self LlrZ from h *^p\ac^t^
over every Florentine galley in aim o' Li^f /
pn^^but above ^Td.ZTm^'ZXTir^:^
A MOMENT OF TRIUMPH. 373
« man who knew how to perBnade need never be in danger from
«^y party , he oojUd convince each that he was feiS w?a
t^o.^"T ^''» ««'*"'«•, "^d faces of we«ver8^d*dy«;
were certainly amusing when looked at from above in thU wav
Tito was begmning to get easier in his armor, and at thU
TnTn v"" ^""**' "T""'''""' "^ '*• H« """"d with one hand
itl^of l". "T^f '"^ """^ ''*^ *^' o""" »* Ws belt, the
hghtof acomphwent smile in his long lustrous eyes, m he
made a parting reverence t» his audience, before springing
down from the bales-when suddenly his glance met that of f
w»vr«°H "^ "°* f '^\*^' '^'"^« -"P"" °' tJ"" »S
weavers, dyer^ and wool-carders. The face of this man was
clean-shaven his hair close-clipped, and he wore a decent feU
1, f-^lf kV'"""^ '^""^^ ^'^^y ^""^ '"fficed to assure any
Itfr^l ^^ V* ^^ T *^" "'*?"• »"* *° Tito it came
not simply as fte face of the escaped prisoner, but as a face
with which he had been familiar long years before
It seemed aU compressed into a second— the sight of Baldas-
sarre lookmg at him, the sensation shooting through him like
a fiery arrow, and the act of leaping from the cart. He would
^ye leaped down in the same instant, whether he had seen
Ba^dassare or not, for he was in a huriy to be gone to the
Palazzo Vecohio: this time he had not betrayed himself by
look or movement, and he said inwardly that he should not te
taken by surprise again; he should be prepared to see this
face rise up continually like the intermittent blotch that comes
in diseased vision. But this reappearance of Baldassarre so
toad : the Idea of his madness lost its likelihood now he was
shaven and clad like a decent though poor citizen. Certainly
there was a great change in his face; but how could it be
of airj.'u L ^'> n u' T" P''*~*^y ^"'^-^ possession
of aU his powers and all his learning, why was he lingering in
ttis way before making known his identity? It must be for
« .1^-°- , "•* ^" ~^'""* "^ vengeance more complete.
But he didlinger: that at least gave an opporininity for flight.
But whil| he, with his back turned on the Piazza del Duomo,
..MM r »
274
ROHOLA.
had loit the reooUeotaon of the new part he had been playing,
and was no longer thinking of the many things which aS
bram and tongue made eaey, but of a few thin^ which 6^1
W TJt°7 ""!?' l'^ ^'^'"^^ **"" "ntlx^iaem which he
had fed oontemptuougly was creating a scene in that piazza
m grand contrast with the inward drama of self-centred fear
which he had earned away from it.
The crowd, on Tito's disappearance, had begun to turn
^eir faces toward the outlet, of the piazza in the dLc?ion^
the Via Larga, when the sight of maz^ieri, or maoe-beareiT
entering from the Via de- Martelli, announced the apS
1^ZJ^^-J^7 T" ^ """ "^''^"^ °' commissi^
charged with the eflecti-ig of the treaty; the treaty must be
a^ady signed and they had come away from thrroy^^r.^!
kn^^n f "° Capponi was coming-the brave heart Lt hTd
known how to speak for Florence. The effect on the crowd
was remarkable; they parted with softening, dropping vcri^
1 tlelS* T^ "U-ce.-and the sUence becLe so'KS
the tread of the syndics on the broad payement, andthe rustJe
rf their black silk garments, could be heard, like rainTtie
night. There were four of them; but it was not the Wo
W^ doctors of law, Messer Guidantonio Vespu'f aTd itt-
Mr Domenioo Bonsi, that the crowd waited for; it was n^
Pnmcesco Valori, popular as he had become in the^eSayf
The moment belonged to another man, of firm nre^n™ «
Uttle inclin.^ to humor the people as to humoTany oZ^'u"
reaeonable claimante-loving order, like one who by fo"e "f
fortune had been made a merchant^ and by force of natu^
had become a soldier. It was not tiU he was seerat the^
toance of tiie piazza that the silence was broken, Ld the^ o^e
rang through the piazza. ^>»piwiu.
Hilf!ir''' V ""'°'"'* T" '°"'""^ «•""«» ^^ '^i't grave joy.
His fellow-citizens gave him a great funeral two years liter
rt- ■ ^ ^'^ '" ^8^*5 *^«™ "^^ torches ca^e" by aS
the magistracy, and torches again, and trains of banne™ But
deW«H^r *'"^* ^^ '"'' ""^ i°y « t^« oration tut S
itSd"tha"^''r'''^"*""*"''''°^«''^*•-• ^
ia nfi glad that hu gut some ihanits and praise while he Uved.
THB ATBNOER'B BKCRBT.
376
CHAPTER XXX.
THK ATENOEb's SSOBKT.
Jlr^ "" ^''* *' V? ""'* BaldMsarre had been in the Piaz-
« del Duomo since his escape. He had a strong d^^e to
hwptheremarkabe monk preach again, but he had Xui^
from reappearing m the same spot where he had heT^
hatf naked, with neglected hair, with a rope round hlTneck
m tte same sp,t where he had been called a ^dm^ t^
ta«t hehad m the change he had made- in hU appearance Tor
iTi it wJntl'"'":"^'"""' -«^y,"hadfall»from T to~
lips, It was not their baseness and cruelly only that had made
tteir yiper sting-it was Baldassarre's instLta^eous bTtor
conscionsness that he might be unable to prove thlT^sfllTe
Along with the pj^sionate desire for vengeance whTposseted
hm had arisen the keen sense that his Uer of aSg tte
sZt.^Lrf""''**'^- "^-""if TUohad beenhJKy
some diabolical prompter, who had whispered BaldassWs
oddest secret m the traitor's ear. He wis not mT^]^
earned within him that piteous stamp of sanitv the «W „-»
r^wi;' tr^^-"^*'-' ^eLasSi?:rreer
MM. With the first movement of vindictive rage awoke a
-^r like that of an insect whose litUe fragment of earth has
pven way, and made it pause in a palsy of distrust Hw^
ftu distrust this determination to 4ke no stepTLih M
b^y anythmg concerning himself, that had made sSda.
sam, reject Piero di Cosimo's friendly advances.
He had been equally cautious at the hospital, only telline
S^ hS^e arr*' ^I *^' ^"^'"' °° '"'« W from GenoL
he w« rf !: r« '^^"'f «=**'»'« i" his speech and manner that
.uced the monks to offe^ .^^^^ ^S ^ZZ
%
f
1^
%}
i
srt
ROMOLA.
tanio to protect him from the cold, a pair of peatant'i ihoee,
and a few danari, smallest of Florentine coins, to help him on
his way. He had gone on the road to Arezzo early in the
morning; but he had pansed at the first little town, and had
used n couple of his danari to get himself shaved, and to have
his circle of hair clipped short, in his former fashion. The
barber there had a little hand-mirror of bright steel : it was a
long while, it was years, since Baldassarre had looked at him-
self, and now, as his eyes fell on that hand-mirror, a new
thought shot through his mind. " Was he so changed that
Tito really did not know him? " The thought was such a sud-
den arrest of impetuods currents, that it was a painful shock
to him ; his hand shook like a leaf, as he put away the bar-
ber's arm and asked for the mirror. He wished to see himself
before he was shaved. The barber, noticing his tremulous-
ness, held the mirror for him.
No, he was not so changed as that. He himself had known
the wrinkles as they had been three years ago : they were only
deeper now : there was the same rough, clumsy skin, making
little superficial bosses on the brow, like so many cipher-marks ;
the skin was only yellower, only looked more like a lifeless rind.
That shaggy white beard — it was no disguise to eyes that had
looked closely at him for sixteen years — to eyes that ought
to have searciied for him with ^he expectation of finding him
changed, as men search for the beloved among the bodies
cast up by the waters. There was something different in his
glance, but it was a difference that should only have made the
recognition of him the more startling; for is not a known
voice all ' ^e more thrilling when it is heard as a cry? But
the doubt was folly : he had felt that Tito knew him. He put
out his hand and pushed the mirror away. The strong cur-
rents were rushing on again, and the energies of hatred and
vengeance were active once more.
He went back on the way toward Florence again, but he did
not wish to enter the city till dusk; so he turned aside from
the high-road, and sat down by a little pool shadowed on one
side by alder-bushes still sprinkled with yellow leaves. It
was a calm November day, and he no sooner saw the pool than
he thought its still surface might be a mirror for him. He
THE AVBNOIER-S SEORXT.
277
-mted to oontemplato himMlf slowly, »a he l»d not dared to
. -) in the presenoe of the barber. He lat down on the edge of
the^l, and bent forward to look eameetly at the image of
Was there something wandering and imbeoUe in his face-
something like what he felt in his mind?
Not now; not when he was examining himself with a look
of eager inquiry : on the contrary, there was an intense pur-
pose in his eyes. But at other times? Yes, it must be so: in
the long hours when he had the vague aching of an unremem-
bered past within him-when he seemed to sit in dark loneli-
ness, visited by whispers which died out mockingly as he
strained his ear after them, and by forms that seemed to ap-
proach hun and float away as he thrust out his hand to grasp
them_in those hours, doubtless, there must be continual frus-
tration and amazement in his glance. And more horrible still
when the thick cloud parted for a moment, and, as he sprang
forward with hope, rolled together again, and left him help-
less as before; doubtless, there was then a blank confusion in
Jus face, as of a man suddenly smitten with blindness
Could he prove anything? Could he even begin to aUege
anything, with the confidence that the links of thought would
not broik away? Would any beUeve that he had ever had a
mmd filled with rare knowledge, busy with close thoughts,
ready with various speech? It had aU slipped away from
him-that laboriously gathered store. Was it utterly and
forever gone from him, like the waters from an urn lost in the
"i^l^^K^^' "^ " **"' "^^^^ Wm, imprisoned by some
obstruction that might one day break asunder?
It might be so; he tried to keep his grasp on that hope.
J'-or, since the day when he had first walked feebly from his
Much of straw, and had felt a new darkness within him under
the sunlight, his mind had undergone changes, partly gradual
and persistent, partly sudden and fleeting. As he had re-
covered his strength of body, he had recovered his self-com-
iMud and the energy of his wiU ; he had recovered the memory
of all that part of his life which was closely inwrought with
his •motions; and he had felt more and more constantly and
P»mfuUy the uneasy sense of lost knowledge. But more than
278
ROMOLA..
U»»fc-onee or twice, whan ha had be«i tttongly cxoitad, h*
Ud Memed momentarily to be in entire poeiaesion of hU put
self, as old men doze for an instant and get back the con-
soionsnees of their youth : he seemed again to see Greek pages
and understand them, again to feel bis mind moving unbe-
numbed among famUiar ideas. It had been but a flash, and
the darkness closing in again seemed the more horrible; but
might not the same thing happen again for longer periods?
If It would only come and stay long enough for him to achieve
a revenge— devise an exquisite suffering such as a mere right
arm could never inflict!
He raised himsett from his stooping attitude, and folding
his arms, attempted to concentrate all his mental force on the
plan he must immediately pursue. He had to wait for knowl-
edge and opportunity, and while he waited he must have the
means of living without beggary. What he dreaded of all
things now was, that any one should think him a fooUsh,
helpless old man. No one must know that half his memory
was ^ne: the lost strength might come again; and if it were
only for a little while, that might be enough.
He knew how to begin to get the information he wanted
about Tito. He had repeated the words " Bratti Ferraveochi "
so constantly after they had been uttered to him, that they
never slipped from him for long together. A man at Genoi
on whose finger he had seen Tito's ring, had told him that he
bought that ring at Florence, of a young Greek, well dressed,
■"n J'^ a. handsome dark face, in the shop of a rigoMiere
o^ed Bratti Ferravecchi, in the street also called Ferravecohi.
This discovery had caused a violent agitation in Baldassarre
Until then he had clung with all the tenacity of his fervent
nature to his faith in Tito, and had not for a moment believed
himself to be wilfully forsaken. At first he had said, "My
":' °\P*"^°'*"' ^»» never reached him; that is why I am
stall toilingat Antioch. But he issearching; he knows where
1 was lost : he wiU trace me out and find me at last." Then
when he was taken to Corinth, he induced his owners, by the
assurance that he should be sought out and ransomed, to pro-
vide securely against the failure of any inquiries that mW
be made about him at Antioch; and at Corinth be thought
^:i^im>
THK ATENOER'8 SEORXT.
879
^y. "Here, .t Uot, he mn.t find m.. H«a he i. ,ure to
touch whichever w.y he goe.." But befor. another year h^
yT^ f' "i°*" ^^ ~""" '""° »»'''''' ^' htd riL with
body and mmd .o shattered that he wae worse than worthl*.
to hu owner., except for the sake of the ranwm that did not
come. Then, s^ he sat helpless in the morning sunliKht he
b^ to think, "Tito has been d«.wn«i, or ufey have ide
Amapnsonertoo. I shall see him no more. He'set out af^r
™1^" ""fortune overtook him. I shall see his face no
T^: A !L?°' "'.'"• "'" f^W^'M and despair, supporting
cT^H '""^1°^.^'' ^^"""^ •" ■""'"' '"«' "^ hopelessly imbe-
»nH !n """J' *« * '"• "'""'" '"" <^°*«'"«^ t° bo rid of him,
and al owed a Genoe«, merchant, who had compassion on hii^
as an Italian, to take him on board his galley. In a voyaw
of ""any months in the Archipelago and along the sealiJd
of Asia Mmor, Baldassarre had recovered his lidily strength,
r^r ?>, tI ' '^°'°"* ""'"^ •"* ''»<> '^'•"1 °f «"" illness at
Corinth. There was just one possibility that hindered the
wish from being decided: it was that Tito might not be dead,
but living m a state of imprisonment or destitution; and if ho
1''^',. ^".T,'*'" * ^°^ for Baldassarre-faini, perhaps,
Za V in 't'""? ^"^""^ ''"' """ » J^OP*. tl'at he might
find his child, his cherished son again; might yet again clLp
hanii and meet face to face with the one being who emem-
bered him as he had been before his mind was broken
In this State of feeling he had chanced to meet the stranger
ril.w' k\°T ™«' '^^ '^°"8h Baldassarre wo-Tld
^J«J^°.r*> • *° ^T'^ '•"* '^« beforehand, the sight of
It starred the dormant fibres, and he recognized it. That Tito
Z-^kL^T "^^^-^^ *"*'''" ^''^ been parted from him should
thJ«^°v r,!'*"'vPP"*'" prosperity at Florence, selling
^L'^^ Aw r,"?^' °°' *° '"'™ ""^^ "11 *!"« l«t extremity,
r« , ?1 ^^"^^'^ "h^nk from trying to account for:
he was glad to be stunned and bewildered by it, rather than
to have M.y dishnct thought; he tried to feel nothing but joy
tw V '* !S^ ^^°^^ '^'^ ''«'^"- ^"1"'P« T>to had though
that his father was dead; somehow the mystery would be ex-
i
,1^
"~ ROMOU..
^ln,d. " But .t lM.t I .hall „.,» ,j„ th.t will „»«„b«
m«. 1 am not tlooe In tba world. » -""ow
^tin"* i°Z T"" ^'''•"*^ •^'J. "I am not alone in th«
worldi I shall never be alone, for my revenge it with me "
It WM M the instrument of that revenge, aa lomethinff
merely eatemal and .ub.ervl.nt to hi. true life, that hrS^t
^ZTZJ^ "«ni«ehlm«lf with hard ouri,;.ity_no(, he
though^ beoau.. he had any care for a withers!, for«Uten old
nun, whom nobody loved, whoM «,„1 wa. like a deaertod
home, where the Mhe. were cold upon the hearth, and the
higheat, that there i. a point where it oeaae. to be preneriv
^Uc and U like a fire kindled within our beinrrwwS
everything elM in u. i. mere fuel.
He look^ at the pale blaok-browed image in the water till
he^entified .t with that .elf from whiorT. revengle^meS
to be a thmg apart; and he felt a. if the image too h«irdlS
Mlent language of his thought
li«vLT * 'Ti°* ^°°^~^ worshipped a woman once, and be-
lieved .he «,uld oare for me; and then 1 took a helple„ ohUd
•nd fostered him, and I watched him as he grew, to see if he
♦T i^ *"' r ""'^ • «'"•-<*«' for ^ov;r anTaC^
the good he got from me. I would have torn open my b^J
towarm hm. with my life-blood if I could only have sLn^
oare a little for the pain of my wound. I have labored. I
have strained to orm,h out of this hard life one drop of^lf!
Mh love. Fooll men love their own delights; Lre i. no
delight to be had in me. And yet 1 watch.^ tiU I 4heted ?
saw what I watched for. When he was a child he wKfl
eye. toward me, and hcM my hand willingly. I thought, this
boy will surely love me u little : becau.e 1 irive mv life to hTm
and swve that he .hall know no sorrow, hS ^i^cl^: .*°,S
when I am th.rsty-the drop he lays on my parched hps wu!
he with those red lips white and dry as ashes, and when he
looks forp ty I wish he may «e my fwe rejoicing in hTs pait
Ste J^^r;*^" "^''' is a lie-there is L go^ness but ^
hate. Fool! notone drop of lovecame with all your stiivlug:
ii:^z rv!
Tint AVBNQER'8 SEOROT 381
in undvinB hate mill ,\ '' " ' "^= ""^ "J"™ •>•.
olid If h^ W f/^!?**' """" ^ """Wished and decently
.tnpped of aU else that men would give coin for ^
tat a^v il^n ' °°'u '^'"'"°8 *^»' ** contained anything
out a tiny goroll of parohment rolled no hard H« ™i„h*T,
•-d k»pt It It waa part of the piety ««ooUted with w^
'.<J j(
J'
f ■J'ift, :
I*"
282
ROMOLA.
ll
breui, that they should never be opened, and at any previous
moment in his life Baldassarre would have said that no sort
of thirst would prevail upon him to open this little bag for the
chance of finding that it contained, not parchment, but an
engraved amulet which would be worth money. But now a
thirst had come like that which makes men open their own
veins to satisfy it, and the thought of the possible amulet no
sooner crossed Baldassarre's mind than with nervous fingers
he snatched the breve from his neck. It all rushed through
his mind — the long years he had worn it, the far-off sunny
balcony at Naples looking toward the blue waters, where he
had leaned against his' mother's knee; but it made no moment
of hesitation : all piety now was transmuted into a just re-
venge. He bit and tore till the doubles of parchment were
laid open, and then — it was a sight that made him pant — there
was an amulet. It was very small, but it was as blue as those
far-off waters; it was an engraved sapphire, which must be
worth some gold ducats. Baldassarre no sooner saw those
possible ducats than he saw some of them exchanged for a
poniard. He did not want to use the poniard yet, but he
longed to possujs it. If he could grasp its handle and try its
edge, that blank in his mind — that past which fell away
continually — would not make him feel so cruelly helpless: the
sharp steel that despised talents and eluded strength would
be at his side, as the unfailing friend of feeble justice. There
was a sparkling triumph under Baldassarre's black eyebrows
as he replaced the little sapphire inside the bits of parchment
and wound the string tightly round them.
It was nearly dusk now, and he rose to walk back toward
Florence. With his danari to buy him some bread, he felt
rich : he could lie out in the open air, as he found plenty more
doing in all corners of Florence. And in the next few days
he had sold his sapphire, had added to his clothing, had bought
a bright dagger, and had still a pair of gold florins left. But
he meant to hoard that treasure carefully : his lodging was an
outhouse with a heap of straw in it, in a thinly inhabited part
of Oltramo, and he thought of looking about for work as a
porter.
He had bought his dagger at Bratti's. Paying his meditated
•»%. m:M^
THE AVENGER 8 SECRET.
283
rUit there one evening at dusk, he had fotmd that singular
rag-merchant just returned from one of hig rounds, emptying
out his basketful of broken glass and old iron amongst his
handsome show of misoellaneous second-hand goods. As Bal-
dassarre entered the shop, and looked toward the smart pieces
of apparel, the musical instruments, and weapons, which were
displayed in the broadest light of the window, his eye at once
singled out a dagger hanging up high against a red scarf. By
buying the dagger he could not only satisfy a strong desire,
he could open his original errand in a more mdirect manner
than by speaking of the onyx ring. In the course of bargain-
ing for the weapon, he let drop, with cautious carelessness,
that he came from Genoa, and had been directed to Bratti's
shop by an acquaintance in that city who had bought a very
valuable ring here. Had the respectable trader any more such
rings?
Whereupon Bratti had much to say as to the unlikelihood
of such rings being within reach of many people, with much
vaunting of his own rare connections, due to his known wisdom
and honesty. It might betrue that he was a pedler— be chose
to be a pedler i though he was rich enough to kick his heels
ia his shop all day. But those who thought they had said
all there was to be said about Bratti when they had called
him a pedler, were a good deal further oft the truth than the
other side of Hsa. How was it that he could put that ring in
a stranger's way? It was, because he had a very particular
knowledge of a handsome young signer, who did not look
quite so fine a feathered bird when Bratti first set eyes on him
as he did at the present time. And by a question or two
Baldassarre extracted, without any trouble, such a rough and
rambling account of Tito's life as the pedler could give, since
the time when he had found him sleeping under the Loggia
de' Cerchi. It never occurred to Bratti that the decent man
(who was rather deaf, apparently, asking him to say many
things twice over) had any curiosity about Tito; the curiosity
was doubtless about himself, as a truly remarkable pedler
And Baldassarre left Bratti's shop, not only with the dagger
at his side, but also with a general knowledge of Tito's con-
duct and position — of his early sals of the jewels, his imme-
984
ROUOLA.
iiUi
[hi
diate quiet settlement of himself at Morenoe, his marriage
and his great prosperity. '
"What story had he told about his previous life— about
his father?"
It would be difficult for Baldassarre to discover the answer
to that question. MeanwhUe, he wanted to learn all he could
about Florence. But he found, to his acute distress, that of
the new details he learned he could only retain a few, and
those only by continual repetition; and he began to be afraid
of listening to any new discourse, lest it should obliterate what
he was already striving to remember.
The day he was discerned by Tito in the Piazza del Duomo,
he had the fresh anguish of this consciousness iu his mind,
and Tito's ready speech fell upon him like the mockery of a
glib, defying demon.
As he went home to his heap of straw, and passed by the
booksellers' shops in the Via del Garbo, he paused to look at
the volumes spread open. Could he by long gazing at one of
those books lay hold of the slippery threads of memory ? Could
he, by striving, get a firm grasp somewhere, and lift himself
above these waters that flowed over him?
He was tempted, and bought the cheapest Greek book he
could see. He carried it home and sat on his heap of straw
lookmg at the characters by the light of the smaU window;
but no inward light arose on them. Soon the evening dark-
ness came; bpt it made Uttle difference to Baldassarre. His
strained eyes seemed still to see the white pages with the un-
intelligible black marks upon them.
iL-l.
CHAPTER XXXL
FBUIT 18 SEID.
"Mt Eomola," said Tito, the second morning after he had
made his speech in the Piazza del Duomo, "I am to receive
grand visitors to-day; the MUanese Count is coming again,
and the Seneschal de Beaucaire, the great favorite of th=
\4£:d
FRUIT IS 8EBD.
38ff
Cmtuuiusimo I know you don't care to go through smiling
oeremonies with these rustling magnates, whom we are not
litely to see agam; and as they will want to look at the an-
tiquities and the library, perhaps you had bettor give up your
work to-day, and go to see your cousin Brigida "
Komoladiscernedawish in this intimation, and immediately
.T o^f ■ « ni^ P™**"' y. "Oinii'g back in her hood and mantle,
she said, "Oh, what a long breath Florence wUl take when th^
gatM are flung open, and the last Frenchman is walking out
of them f Even you are getting tired, with all your patience,
myTito; oonf',sit. Ah, your head is hot "
}„^A "VT'^F "''" ^'' ^^^^' ""'^8. and she had laid her
«r . I ^^^^^^' '"«a°i'»g to give a parting caress. The at-
wt >.^u r u ^^"""^ °"*' "^^ T'to "« accustomed,
when he felt her ha.id there, to raise his head, throw himself
a htle backward, and look up at her. But he felt now as
unable to raise his head as if her hand had been a leaden
COWL He spoke wstead, in a light tone, as his pen still ran
" The French are as ready to go from Florence as the wasps
to leave a ripe pear when they have just fastened on it."
Bomola, keenly sensitive to the absence of the usual re-
sponse, took away her hand and said, " I am going, Tito"
Maso wtrj; J '""* °°" I must wait at home. Take
Still Tito did not look up, and Bomola went out without
»ying any mor«. Very slight things make epochs in married
Me, and this morning for the first time she admitted to her-
seU not only that Tito had changed, but that he had changed
^.1 V ;. °"u *' ""^^ "« '" ''•'"««? She might p^
haps have tibought so. if there had not been the facts of the
armor and the picture to suggest some external event which
was an entire mystery to her.
l,«!l"'i''°r,'Tf' ^"'"^'^ *''*' K""""!* ^^^ out of the
sturitv r ^°'"' ^" P"° "^^ I'^'^^'i "P' ^ 'J'lightfnl
security from seemg anything else than parchment and broken
r /kZ 5* "^ "'*'**' disgusted with himself that he had
not been able to look up at Eomola and behave to her i„«t as
usual. He would have chosen, if he could, to be even more
\m.
d.
386
ROMOLA.
I
•If fi
it m
m
if'
I
I J
than usually kind ; but he could not, on a sudden, master an
involuntary shrinking from her, which, by a subtle relation,
depended on those very characteristics in him that made him
desire not to fail in his marks of affection. He was about to
take a step which he knew would arouse her deep indignation ;
he would have to encounter much that was unpleasant before
he could win her forgiveness. And Tito could never find it
easy to face displeasure and anger; his nature was one of
those most remote from defiance or impudence, and all his
inclinations leaned toward preserving Bomola's tenderness.
He was not tormented by sentimental scruples which, as he
had demonstrated! to himself by a very rapid course of argu-
ment, had no relation to solid utility ; but his freedom from
scruples did not release him from the dread of what was
disagreeable. Unacrupulousness gets rid of much, but not
of toothache, or wounded vanity, or the sense of loneliness,
against which, as the world at present stands, there is no
security but a thoroughy healthy jaw, and a just, loving soul.
And Tito was feeling intensely at this moment that no devices
could save him from pain in the impending collision with
Bomola; no persuasive blandness could cushion him against
the shook toward which he was being driven like a timid
animal urged to a desperate leap by the terror of the tooth and
the claw that are dose behind it.
The secret feeling he had previously had that the tenacious
adherence to Bardo's wishes about the library had become
under existing difficulties a piece of sentimental folly, which
deprived himself and Bomola of substantial advantages, might
pehaps never have wrought itself into action but for the avents
of the past week, which had brought at once the pressure of
a new motive and the outlet of a rare opportunity. Nay, it
was not till his dread had been aggravated by tiie sight of
Baldassarre looking more like his sane self, not until he had
begun to feel that he might to compelled to flee from Florence,
that be bad brought himself t<j resoWe on using his legal right
to sell the library before the great opportunity offered by
French and Milanese bidders slipped through his fingers. For
if he h^d to leave Florence he did not want to leave it as a
iisotitute 'WAnaaivi, Ho uad iivtau used Uj tui agreeable exist-
FRtJlT IS SEED.
MT
enoe. and he wished to carry with him all the means at hand
fot retaining the same agreeable conditions. He wished
among other things to carry Komola with him, and not, if
possible, to carry any infamy. Success had given him a
growing appetite for all the pleasures that depend on an ad-
vantageous social position, and at no moment could it look like
a temptation to him, but only like a hideous alternative, to
decamp under dishonor, even with a bag of diamonds, and in-
cur the life of an adventurer. It was not possible for him to
make himself independent even of those Florentines who only
greeted him with regard; still less was it possible for him to
make himself independent of Romola. She was the wife of
his first love— he loved her still ; she belonged to that furniture
of life which he shrank from parting with. He winced under
her judgment, he felt uncertain how far the revulsion of her
feeling toward him might go; and all that sense of power
over a wife which makes a husband risk betrayals that a lover
never ventures on, would not suffice to counteract Tito's un-
easiness. This was the leaden weight which had been too
strong for his will, and kept him from raising his head to meet
her eyes. Their pure light brought too near him the prospect
of a coming struggle. But it was not to be helped; if they
had to leave Florence, they must have money ; indeed, Tito
could not arrange life at all to his mind without a considerable
sum of money. And that problem of arranging life to his
mind had been the source of all his misdoing. He would have
been equal to any sacrifice that was not unpleasant.
The rustling magnates came and went, the bargains had
been concluded, and Bomola returned home ; but nothing grave
was said that night. Tito was only gay and chatty, pouring
forth to her, as he had not done before, stories and descrip-
tions of what he had witnessed during the French visit.
Eomola thought she discerned an effort in his liveliness, and
attributing it to the consciousness in him that she had been
wounded in the morning, accepted the effort as an act of
penitence, inwardly aching a little at that sign of growing dis-
tance between them— that there was an offence about which
neither of them dared to speak.
The next day Tito remained away from liome until late at
388
SOMOIJL
111
night. It was a marked day to Eomola, for Piero di Cogimo,
stimulated to greater industry on bcr behalf by the fear that
he might have been the cause of pain to her in the past week,
had sent home her father's portrait She had propped it
against the back of his old chair, and had been lotting at it
for some time, when the door opened behind her, and Beioardo
del Kero came in.
"It is you, godfather 1 How I wish you had come sooner!
it is getting a little dusk," said Eomola, going toward him.
" I have just looked in to tell you the good news, for I know
Tito has not come yet," said Bernardo. "The French king
moves oft to-mo*row : not before it is high time. There has
been another tussle between our people and his soldiers this
morning. But there's a chance now of the city getting into
order once more and trade going on. "
"That is joyful," said Bomola. "But it is sudden, U it
not? Tito seemed to think yesterday that there was little
prospect of the king' s going soon. "
"He has been well barked at, that's the reason," said Ber-
nardo, smiling. "His own generals opened their throats
pretty well, and at last our Signoria sent the mastiff of the
city, Fra Girolamo. The Cristianissimo was frightened at
that thunder, and has given the order to move. I'm afraid
there'll be small agreement among us when he's gone, but, at
any rate, all parties are agreed in being glad not to have Flor-
ence stifled with soldiery any knger, and the Fratehaa harked
this time to some purpose. Ah, what is this? " he added, as
Eomola, elaaping him by the arm, led him in front of the
picture. "Let us sea."
He began to unwind his long scarf while ahe placed a aeat
for him.
" Don't you want your spectacles, godfather? " said Eomola,
in anxiety that he should see just what she saw.
"No, child, no," said Bernardo, uncovering his gray head,
as he seated himself with firm ereotuess. " For seeing at this
distance, my old eyes are perhaps better than your young
ones. Old men's eyes are like old men's memories; they are
strongest for things a long way off."
" It u 'oetter than having uo portraitj" said Eomola, apoio-
raUIT IS SEED.
289
getioaUy, aftw Bwnerdo had been silent a Uttle while "It
11 .w* ^"^ °°' *"' *•" ™*8e I have in my mind, but
th«, that might fade with the years." She rested her arm
oa the old man's ehouldw as she spoke, drawn toward him
strongly by their oommon interest in the dead.
"I don't know," said B«»nardo. "I almost think I see
Bardo as he was when he was young, better than this picture
shows him to me as he was when he was old. Your father
had a great deal of tire in his eyes when he was young. It
was what I could never understand, that he, with his fiery
spirit, which seemed much more impatient than mine, could
hang over the books and live with shadows aU his life How-
ever, he had put his heart into that."
Bernardo gave a slight shrug as he spoke the last words,
but Romola discerned in his voice a feeling that accorded with
ner own.
fJlt°'^B\''" "^P?'°*«d to the last," she said, involon-
tanly. But immediately fearing lest her words should be
taken to imply an accusation against Tito, she went on almost
hum«Uy, If w, could only see his longest, dearest wish ful-
mled: gust to his mindl "
"Well, so we «.ay," said Bernardo, kindly, rising and put-
ting on his cap. "The times are cloudy now, but fish are
caoght ^ waiting. Who knows? When the wheel has
turned often enough, I may be Gonfalouiere yet before I die-
and no creditor can touch these things. " He looked round a^
he spoke. Then, turning to her, and patting her cheeks, said,
And you need not be afraid of my dying; my ghost will
claim nothmg. I've taken care of that in my wUl "
Eomola seized the hand that was against her cheek, and
put It to her lips in silence.
"Haven't you been scolding your husband for keeping away
from home so much lately? I see him everywhere but here,"
said Bernardo, wUling to change the subject.
__ She felt the flush spread over her neck and face as she said.
He has been very much wanted; you know he speaks so
well I am glad to know that his value is understood."
You are contented then, Madonna Orgogliosa? " said Ber-
"aruo, smiiiiig, as be moved to the door.
19
i
li
M3^KBI
9M
B01fOI.A.
"Aimuadly."
Poor Bomola I There wm one thing that would have made
the pang of disappointment in her husband harder to bear; it
was, that any one should know he gave her oause for disap-
pointment. This might be a woman's weakness, but It is
oloeely allied to a woman's nobleness. She who wUlingly
lifts up the veil of her married life has profaned it from a
sanctuary into a vulgar place.
' CHAPTER YYYTT ,
A KKVELATION.
Thb next day Eomola, Uke every other Florentine, was ex-
cited about the departure of the French. Besides her other
reasons for gladness, she had a dim hope, which she was con-
scious wa« half superstitious, that those new anxieties about
Tito, having come with the burdensome guests, might perhaps
vanUh with them. The French had been in Florence hardly
eleven days, but in that space she had felt more acute nnhap-
piness than she had known in her life before. Tito had
adopted the hateful armor on the day of their arrival, and
though she could frame no distinct notion why their departure
should remove the cause of his fear— though, when she thought
of that cause, the image of the prisoner grasping him, as shi-
had seen it in Piero's sketch, urged itself before her and ex-
cluded every other-still, when the French were gone, she
would be rid of something that was strongly associated with
her pain.
Wrapped in her mantle she waited under the loggia at the
top of the house, and watched for the glimpses of the troops
and the royal retinue passing the bridges on their way to the
Porta San Piero, that looks toward Siena and Borne. She
even returned to her station when tie gates had been closed,
that she might feel herself vibrating with the great peal of the
bells. It »as dusk then, and when at last she descended
- '■ ^"'- --'- "*- iSiiip with %hQ resoluuoo caat tnns
A RBVBLATION.
391
wmild OTeroome the .gitatioii which had made her idle all day
jjnd art down to work at her oopying of the catalogue. Ti£
^ I •■ .u '"" '"' '"^' ••'• '°**«"l«d to leaye the libri^
fTrtl vw uT •".""y ''""^K since he had objected
to the library aa chill and gloomy.
ri?n^V !r* S^^'i""' •?" '""^ "°* '^■^ ** '«>^k lo-K before
f«l ,nf>, . r 1"* ""'"«'"* "■"' '><"' '">«"1«'«' he would
In 1«™ A '^'^™'. °* *■•'' f™"' '«"»' ''"> »■>« little
8h«r^ ."""".* ** the farther end, and the fire nearly out.
She almost ran toward him.
"Tito, deareat, I did not know you would come so soon,"
to^rji"'^ putting up her white arms to unwind hU
" I am not welcome then? » he «iid, with one of his bright-
est^mdes, clasping her, but playfully holding his head Lk
" Titol " She uttered the word in a tone of pretty, lovina
wproach, and then he kissed her fondly, stroked her hair^J
his manner was, and seemed not to mind about taking off his
Tf?.,// V 1^°'" '^""''"^ "'* '^''"Kh*- AH the emotions
th„ ~f.^ had been preparing in her a keener sensitiveness to
the return of this habitual manner. •' It will come back " she
was saymg to herself, "the old happiness will perhaps come
back. He IS hko himself again." i" wmo
Tito was taking great pains to be like himself; his heart
was palpitating with anxiety.
1. ?if / ^/t *'P~**;? y" »o 8«>n." said Eomola, as she at
last helped him to take off his wrappings, "1 would have had
a httle festival prepared to this joyful ringing of the bell..
home ■'" ""^ *° ^"^ '" *'"' "^™^ ''^'"' y" =«»»'»
.kT w?"" ."'""J' ^'^eet, " he said, carelessly. « Do not think
about the are. Come— come and sit down "
Wo!!!^^ TlL^r '"°°[ "S"""* Tito's chair, and that was
Eomola s habitual seat when they were talking together. She
rested iier anu on his knfl«. a^ ah<> nat^S to A'- -— >-,.#•' •
_ J , , , . - -T == -* — -i.--t. i~j a.„. .„.ji lief jjj^_Q_j,._
and looked up at him while he spoke. He had never yet
!
4
! f
^ BOMOLA.
Botioti the praMnoe of the portrait, and Om had not mtn-
tioned it —thinking of it all the more.
"I haTe been enjoying the olang of the belli for the first
tune, Tito," ihe began. " 1 liked being shaken aud deafened
by them : I fancied I woa gomethiug like a Bacchante possessed
by a diTine rage. Are not the people lookiug very joyful to-
night?" ' '
"Joyful after a sour and pious fashion," said Tito, with a
shrug. " But, in truth, those who are left behind in Florence
have litUe cause to be joyful : it seems to me, the most reason-
able ground of gladness would be to have got out of Florence. "
Tito had sounded the desired keynote without any trouble,
or appearance of premediution. He spoke with no emphasis,
but he looked grave enough to make Bomola ask rather anx-
iously,—
" Why, Tito? Are there fresh troubles? "
"No need of fresh ones, my Bomola. There are three
strong parties in the city, all ready to fly at each other's
throats. And if the Frate's party is strong enough to frighten
the other two into silence, as seems most likely, life will be
as pleasant and amusing as a funeral. They have the plan of
a Great Council simmering already; and if they get it^ the
man who sings sacred Lands the loudest will be the most
eligible for office. And besides that, the city will be so
drained by the payment of this great subsidy to the French
king, and by the war to get back Pisa, that the prospect
wcu'i be dismal enough without the rule of fanatics. On
the whole, Florence wiU be a delightful place for those
TrorWiies who entertain themselves in the evening by going
into crypts and lashing themselves; but for everything else,
the exiles have the best of it. For my own part, I have been
thinking seriously that we should be wise to quit Florence,
my Bomola."
She started. " Tito, how could we leave Florence? Surely
you do not think I could leave it— at least, not yet— not for a
long whUe. " She had turned cold and trembling, and did not
find it quite easy to speak. Tito muot know the reasons she
had in her mind.
" That is all a fabric of your own imagination, my swest
# .M-
A MVILATIOW. 3J3
""""•d, that I wi.J,«i ^, !1, "!~ *" J^' y°". '«fore w. wer.
■7"" know what I n>e.„ wTen ft^ ^t ^"".P^P^*- ^o"
in the Florentines that remiml. » ^ , A*'" ^' •"'"•thing
^■^ / '^•P~P'» -ho SeTejll*^; ""'*!f? -P-f
!>• good for my Bomola. toTt^ .l! ^''^ ' "'• i' »ould
to dip her . liitle ZT^ ,^ ^JT * "^ '"'• ^ •'"'"•'1 lik-
He leaned forw^d ,^^£1^ k'/ V™"*'*'^^- "
on her &i, hair .gain: but .hTw^K™''' ""* '"<» ^ h«,d
h. had ki«ed a^i^. Sh. J^','^ '»^« "» "ore than if
»«>•• of the diatanoe between Z^ ^ ^'"''' ^taUA by the
W. Up. touoh«i^J """' '"""*■ '^ »» oonwio Jtha?
pi^Ke wrd'rr^Srrr"- '• "-P'e-nte.t
I-beoau«e we have to see t??.! '".'''"*"• " ■" ^ocuse
^^^ i.oM, he uZnT^^r:^ -;„':|^i^^ %
n.i;j\Se^^'^4°:-^^^^«-^^^
««>n why I oouldlish we werf ^o ^ *^' f^" <»'«' »^'
l^renoe. I am obliged totile o^ J""*^ '""«"'"" f""*
your own will: if th^ose ^^IT^J?""^ "PP""""" to
f»l«ely, Imust see for them »nT' '""'^ * '•nder, see
h« life in di«.ppoin^„ h««U L"'" '°^.'"« ^"^ -«ting
Bomola sat sU^t ^d tl- ,^ "npraotioable dreams."
«>lf tothedirecSiTwhrhSr "^^ ""'^•^ "o* "ind her-
to persuade her that they mightl ?^^^'?^'"**'^ ^ ^^''^^
tome monastery, or take Lme oth« J ^'"^ ''*'P«'''«i «
aelve. of a task andof a tfe to Fl ^^ """"' '» "<J *hem-
mined never to submit her mind to hit""'j ""^ '"'« '""" <^'"-
tion of duty to her father Te »« ^ ff""* °° ""^ "l"""
"xwntor any «,rtof nak il'r^f .! """"""y V^V^ to en-
w«kept latent ta?he^e&st '^"''\ But the determination
3«nse that now at last re 2^™ .' ^ '^' heart-crushing
i- their wishes. HeTa! ri^ of h ,'*''°°'*""'""y "'^ided
had feared the str«nl of her f- ''"''°'"" '°'' '»"'='' "' he
"-. Shut up in thetrrowtesfZ^LTg:: Kt^^
MKaocon MSOumoN tbt oun
(ANSI and ISO TiST CHADT No. 3)
lit
u
|2^
IM
12.0
1=
^ I U_ 1 1.6
y^PPLIEg IN/UGE Inc
1U3 Egtt Woin Str««(
Rochnter. N«> York 14609 USA
(716) 482 - OWO - Phont
(716) 28B- M80 -Fax
294
ROHOLA.
olerei, unimpassioned men, not to oTerestimate the peTsuaaire-
ness of his own arguments. His conduct did not look ugly to
himself, and his imagination did not sufSce to show him ex-
actly how it would look to Bomola. He went on in the same
gentle, remonstrating tone.
"You know, dearest — your own clear judgment always
showed you — that the notion of isolating a collection of books
and antiquities, and attaching a single name to them forever,
was one that had no valid, substantial good for its object : and
yet more, one that was liable to be defeated in a thousand
ways. See what has become of the Medici collections! And,
for my part, I consider it even blameworthy to entertain those
petty views of appropriation : why should any one be reason-
ably glad that Florence should possess the benefits of learned
research and taste more than any other city? I understand
your feeling about the wishes of the dead; but wisdom puts
a limit to these sentiments, else lives might be continually
wasted in that sort of futile devotion — like praising deaf gods
forever. You gave your life to your father while he lived;
why should you demand more of yourself 7 "
" Because it was a trust, " said Bomola, in a low but distinct
voice. " He trusted me, he trusted you, Tito. I did not ex-
pect you to feel anything else about it — to feel as I do — but I
did expect yon to feel that."
" Yes, dearest, of course I should feel it on a point where
your father's real welfare or happiness was concerned; but
there is no question of that now. If we believed in purgatory,
I should be as anxious as you to have masses said; and if I
believed it could now pain your father to see his library pre-
served and used in a rather different way from what he had
set his mind on, I should share the strictness of your views.
But a little philosophy should teach us to rid ourselves of those
air-woven fetters that mortals hang round themselves, spend-
ing their lives in misery under the mere imagination of weight.
Your mind, which seizes ideas so readily, my Bomola, is able
to discriminate between substantial good and these brain-
wrought fantasies. Ask yourself, dearest, what possible good
can these books and antiquities do, stowed together under
your father's name m Florence, more than they would do if
A REVELATION. jj.
them one means of Sin. t^^ *''** ^"^ '"'^ *<> valu^
of Italian citiea is ve^Svln^'^.r^*''''^ This riv^
st^tinople was the gTJ^Kho '^'"'v "^^^ ^°» "^ <^
Bomola was still torTfh. '^^ '''°^« civilized world."
of the new reirTittSS^t '^'"'^ P—
sistance to find any strong v^nt a/, w ^""'""^ ^°' ^«' "■
her ears there was a riaim, n! . . *^** ^"«°' talk fell on
-ade her more oonsciZ „VhSL?^ '"' "''''='' -"
We for the Tito she had married and tr''^* ^°"«' ^^'
ture, possessed with the enS of ,t,""'"^ *"• ^er na-
fromthis hopelessly shallow «aLl'*'t°l*'°°"°"' '^^^
propriate the widest sympIthir^H T j I""*™^*^ toaP"
nearest. She stai spokXe ^ne wh ""^ °° P"^" ^°' the
showing all she felt. She hadon^v H ""^ ™'*™'"«"* f«»"
hw knee, and sat with her Ws 1 Tu''"*^ ^«' "^^ f™m
motionless as locked wate„ "^"^^ ^^°"> »"«'> cold and
"You talk of substantial Rood. Tito I * ..
love, and sweet grateful m!l • A™ faithfulness, and
ttat we should k!So^\^Z"oy "^' '' '* "° «^d
»^use they believL our W'Trt."? ''^'"' """"^ blSd
ajust life should be jusVh^rreAo .^^"-8°°<^ that
should harden our hearts St all .>. ' " '* »°°<1 *hat we
those who have depended on ^y "itt^ ""^^ ^^ hopes of
men who have such souls? -r^f lu^f ^°°^ "^ b«long to
^soft couches forSe,,! ^5 itl"'^' r '''^^' -^
ba^ selves as their best companfC" '^'^ '^'' '^'^ «»««
mr-^^ ---- °"Kir:d"h?irs:
-i'^rof ?ur^.5; tvri: '-r J ''"«- - *o be
Ita^ian cities and the whole civil; T '',°,' *''""'''"8 »* other
my father, and of my love and i T^i~^ ^» "''"king of
oiaims on us. I wouH gTve ' ^1'°' ^^' '"''' °* l>is f"st
leave F,o„nce,-whatelLdid'i7ef^r^w:' ''t'~' ''°"W
But I will not give up that Lty^^V'" "l"" ""^ y°"?
/■ vvnat have I to do with
296
ROHOLA.
I'
k
I
your arguments 7 It was a yeaming of hit heart, and there-
fore it is a yearning of mine."
Her voice, from having been tremulous, had become fuU and
firm. She felt that she had been urged on to say all that it
was needful for her to say. She thought, poor thing, there
was nothing harder to come than this struggle against Tito's
suggestions as against the meaner part of herself.
He had begun to see clearly that he could not persuade her
into assent: he must take another couise, and show her that
the time for resistance was past. That, at least, would put
an end to further struggle; and if the disclosure were not
made by himself to-night, to-morrow it must be made in an-
other way. This necessity nerved his courage; and his ex-
perience of her affeotionateness and unexpected submissiveness,
ever since their martiage until now, encouraged him to hope
that, at last, she would accommodate herself to what had been
his will.
" I am sorry to hear you speak in that spirit of blind per-
sistence, my Romola," he said, quietly, "because it obliges
me to give you pain. But I partly foresaw your opposition,
and as a prompt decision was necessary, I avoided that ob-
stacle, and decided without consulting you. The very care of
a husband for his wife's interest compels him to that separate
action sometimes — even when he has such a wife as you, my
Bomola. "
She turned her eyes on him in breathless inquiry.
"I mean," he said, answering her look, "that I have
arranged for the transfer, both of the books and of the antiq-
uities, where they will find the highest use and value. The
books have been bought for the Duke of Milan, the marbles
and bronzes and the rest are going to France : and both will
be protected by the stability of a great Power, instead of re-
maining in a city which is exposed to ruin."
Before he had finished speaking, Bomola had started from
her seat, and stood up looking down at him, with tightened
hands falling before her, and, for the first time in her life,
with a flash of fierceness in her scorn and anger.
" You have told them? " she asked, as if she distrusted her
ears.
A REVEL4TT0N. j^^
"You are a U„,cher!n77j;,^l'"^''^^ ^i^-
dominance that wa/latentl hit , T ""•"'" "^««^« P™"
7* angxy, he only feH LTt the Itr.'*'""- «"' '" -■"
pleasant, and that when ml^olT ""^ eminently on-
be glad to keep away from CI/'" 1' '^ «°d i« ^ouW
was .absolutely neces^^lj"^"'* ?/ " '"l" ''''"«• But it
Passiveness. ^ "' '''*' «be s'.ould be reduced to
the'Se:: n^j.TXi^Ai.^r'r '" '^"^ '-^-^ ^
of a grim old Bomr NotXTL ^"'""^ '""^*' «>« b«»t
heart palpitated with a m»al dread . T".^^ '^y ^iB
amor could be found. H^had iZL^T' '^'"^ "° "bain-
Bcorn but he had been owLed ^if V 'u^''*''" '^'^''^^
Mm'-rhStEi^rdir t-rh- "^ - ^-'^
eyes were flashing, and her Ih^/^ "* *"* scarsella. Her
by impetuous forf^ St wLtJto ^p ouT "^ " •" "^'^^^
the crushing pain of Ai..T ■. ^ °"* "" ««"e deed All
badmadetfernglt'StrclS '" '"^''-''' ^^^^
before, was annihilated iTthlt I °"""*^«*f«'' minutes
She could not care TtlilComert ZtT °' '" ^•*'«»''«°°
sp'smg as he leaned there rSrioa^t*^^'"'^ "^^ ^^ <!«■
not ca.e that he was her hu^lTd ,t ! u^'^'J'^-^'''' '^^
despised him. The pride anrfT ' "°"^^ ""'^ f«el that she
had been thoroughl^ir Se^T V^'l-^^'^ "«»^
-s^^^t^Se'SXTwl"^ ^-?-"^^^^^^^^^
"«e-.outogotoyo;tdSS."^--rn^J-o
398
ROMOLA.
reverse what T have done. Only 8it down. Ton irould hardly
wish, if you were <juite yourself, to make known to any third
person what passes between us in private."
Tito knew that he had touched the right fibre there. But
she did not sit down j she was too unconscious of her body
voluntarily to change her attitude.
" Why can it not be reversed? " she said after a pause.
"Nothing is moved yet."
" Simply because the sale has been concluded by written
agreement; the purchasers have left Florence and I hold the
bopds for the purchase-money."
" If my father had suspected you of being a faithless man,"
said Romola, in a tone of bitter scorn, which insisted on dart-
ing out before she could say anything else, " he would have
placed the library safely out of your power. But death over-
took him too soon, and when you were sure his ear was deaf,
and his hand stiff, you robbed him." She paused an instant,
and then said with gathered passion, " Have you robbed some-
body else vho is not dead? Is that the reasor you wear
armor? "
Bomola had beeu driven to utter the words as men are
driven to use tne lash of the horsewhip. At first, Tito felt
horribly cowed; it seemed to him that the disgrace he had
been dreading would be worse than he had imagined it. But
soon there was a reaction : such power of dislike and resist-
ance as there was within him was beginning to rise against a
wife whose voice seemed like the herald of a retributive fate.
Her, at least, his quick mind told him that he might master.
"It is useless," he said, coolly, "to answer the words of
madness, Bomola. Your peculiar feeling about your father
has made you mad at this moment. Any rational person look-
ing at the case from a due distance will see that I have taken
the wisest course. Apart from the influence of your exagger-
ated feelings on him, I am convinced that Messer Bernardo
would be of that opinion."
. " He would notl " said Eomola. " He lives in the hope of
seeing my father's wish exactly fulfilled. We spoke of it
together only yesterday. He will help me yet. Who are
these men to whom you have sold my father's property? "
A REVBLATION. 299
purchase." said KomoKgerTy h»^«' j! '?'"''. "P «>eir
■amounted by anxious Thought * '»8«miiig to be
„ J^^ttey znaynoV said Tito, with cool decisioa.
-f;;.2rB:rr'^ "^ '-""'•'^'— -«' ^ 7o„ «.•
aiiirtrSo'rtSr """^ ^-^'^ ^- -- of
terness thau of anxious p X Zh^ 7f '""^ "^ •>*'-
he «w that the first i..;ulse^f'fu,/:l':,3f ""^'' '"'
ask your godfather to bu^ SJee thol 7^^°*"" """"«"*>
towhathehasalreadypaSonZ^ir 1""" '" '^^'^'O^
"^^.•J^Jicacy would sh^rKL^^tf^fy- ^""^yo-Pride
n.efC^f'r^Ko^'^V""'^^"*^ -•«" ^-courage-
".tending. He welt on S'^,;:^ """"' -<« -i^ioH ahHTs
""huddered, as if it Cd been an^r^"""'', """**' ''^^^ "'"'
over a hot cheek. ""^'^ ""^"i »*«*">» coursing
wild one. And I C Tou to onn^M^ k'?" °''* *° ""«'^y
step or utter any woV/onTh! T '^'''' '"*°™ J-"" ^ke any
quences of yowS/volrl',? '""'' ^''^^ "'" »» *!■« ~
ing to exhibit yoShSn I" "S'-'^'*'"'' *° '"•'' «»d t.y.
own distempered feeUn^lrofet f°^ ^'* "^'"^ y°"
you serve by injuring T wTh T "S"' ^"^ °''J'"" will
is irrevocable, tie K 7/101^2' ^'"""'"^ ^''« «^«-'
Every word was snotX. I .u' 5 ^°" *™ ""7 wife."
for hislteiitt was Sd So tL"^ °' "^ '"''"^*«"1 ^^^^
P^ of the crisis. Kew thatC" ' ' "'"''^ ''^ '^^ ''^■
iu rapidly enough all the wV« 1?^ " f ?""* ^°"^'' take
waited and wat!hedLrL^tr^«°'"'"'J'««*- ««
11
I:
I
900
ROHOLA.
She had tutned her eyes fiom him, and waa looking on the
ground, and in that way she sat for several minutes. When
she spoke, her voice was quite altered,— it was quiet and eold.
"I have one thing to ask."
"Ask anything that I can do without injuring us both,
Bomola."
" That you will give me that portion of the money which
belongs to my godfather, and let me pay him."
" I must have some assurance from you, first, of the attitude
you intend to take toward me."
"Do you believe in assurances, Tito7" she said, with a
tinge of returning bitterness.
"From you, I do."
" I will do you no harm. I shall disclose nothing. I will
say nothing to pain him or you. Ton say truly, the event is
irrevocable."
"Then I will do what you desire to-morrow morning."
"To-night, if possible," said Bomola, "that we may not
speak of it again."
"It is possible," he said, moving toward the lamp, while
she sat still, looking away from him with absent eyes.
Presently he came and bent down over her, to put a piece
of paper into her hand. " You will receive something in re-
turn, you are aware, my Bomola? " he said, gently, not mind-
ing so much what had passed, now he was secure; and feeling
able to Uy and propitiate her.
" Tea," she said, taking the paper, without looking at him.
"I understand."
"And you will forgive me, my Bomola, when you have had
time to reflect." He just touched her brow with his lips, but
she took no notice, and seemed really unconscious of the act.
She was aware that he unlocked the door and went out.
She moved her head and listened. The great door of the
court opened and shut again. She started up as if some sud-
den freedom had come, and going to her father's chair where
his picture was propped, fell on her knees before it, and burst
into sobs.
BAiJ>Afl9ARHB JU1U8 AN ACQUAINTAMd:.
301
CHAPTER XXXni.
BALDAHSAKKE MAKEH AN ACgUA,«TAKo>.
Wh«» Baldas8arre was wanderinir ahonf Tn,>~ .
of a sparo outhouse where hrSf ^ Florence in search
sheltered beds, i^i' Bt^sZtenlul^' ''"' f'T'' °'
portion of ground wiUiin the wajJs oT^h ^"T^i^^*- ""l"
perfecUy level, and where the o.!^ . ,*-' "''^ "''"^ « °ot
of the houses, can sellTrn/fif^^'' Wted above the roofs
and far-stret^hrg valM'l'"^.*" ""* P^^^oting hills
-cept along the S::^^^nrg'"adtVl'"''" '" 7''"'
Arno. Part of that Bronnd W ?! 7 ""^ °°""« °' the
the hili of Bogolirat tEl. ^'° '^''^^ ""^ by us as
aide toward J^IX B J5:L^™ 7iS ^'"T""^; but the
that sloped down behinTZ vrdl^ ^H ^' 7" ""* "'">
oonunonly called the hill nf a VT . "' ""^ was most
that Tito's dweUiT^i^n l?v '^°;, B«tti had told C
veyingthatstreeCL turned uo!i«'r ^^'l ^^' "^^ ""•
had observed as he wm oZs^^„?k K°?f °' '^^ ''" '^ioh he
a sheltering outhousr^nSn/t "^^f; u" '"' """'-^ ^^l
now for some years be™ Z.7 * ' ^' "'""''^ ^e glad: he had
about him; JCmo^yeTt^""^ *° "'" ^'"' " "'"ad sky
with their' strip ""'tot Td^Th^ ? °' ""^ '•^-«»'
around them, seemed t^i^fensiv hi. "°'"°'™ '"^y^^tk
feeble memoiy. intensify his sense of loneliness and
den^^r inTn:^f ^a^JS^'o^ T' ^ "''^''^^ ^^ «"'
gr^t Stones, which harneveXncSC""' ''^''^ ^'"^
had ruined some houses thflJT ""^^ated swce a landslip
teenthcentu,^. Jurat^SZ X" „f tL'b 1 ""^ *"'
stood a queer little square builL^^Lt' *",b~ken ground
tower roofed in withflutedtnl. :,?'"« ''^« » truncated
house, apparently built up aSst^n"™ ^^ ^^ " """^J ""'■
Pnder a large Llf-dea^Zt?!'^*"* '"^'^ ''*»''« wall.
ingits last fluttering WerStX'' *"."* "" ""'^ ««"<!■
elled, hardy old wo^ w^unt^W °P*° ^°"'^^^'' ^ ^^"^-
was untymg a goat with two kids, and
,..L.
*•* ROMOLA.
BaldaMurre could lee that part of the outbuilding was ooon-
pied by live stock; but the door of the other part was open,
and it was empty of everything but some tools and straw. It
was just the sort of place he wanted. He spolie to the old
woman; but it was not till he got close to her and shouted
in her ear, that he succeeded in making her understand his
want of a lodging, and his readiness to pay for it. At first
he ould get no answer beyond shakes of the head and the
words, "No— no lodging," uttered in the muffled tone of the
deaf. But, by dint of persistence, he made clear to her that
he was a poor stranger from a long way over seas, and coul'\
not afford to go to hostelries; that he only wanted to lie on
the straw in the outhouse, and would pay her a quattrino or
two a week for that shelter. She still looked at him dubi-
ously, shaking her head and talking low to herself; but pres-
ently, as if a new thought occurred to her, she fetched a
hatchet from the house, and, showing him a chump that lay
half covered with litter in a comer, asked him if he would
chop that up for her : if he would, he might lie in the out-
house for one night. He agreed, and Monna Lisa stood with
her arms akimbo to watch him, with a smile of gratified cun-
ning, saying low to herself, —
" It's lain there ever since my old man died. What then?
I might as well have put a stone on the fire. He chops very
well, though he does speak with a foreign tongue, and loolu
odd. I couldn't have got it done cheaper. And if he only
wants a bit of straw to lie on, I might make him do an errand
or two up and down the hill. Who need know? And sin
that' 8 hidden's half forgiven. ' He's a stranger : he'll take no
notice of her. And I'll tell her to keep her tongue still."
The antecedent to these feminine pronouns had a pair of
blue eyes, which at that moment were applied to a large
round hole in the shutter of the upper window. The shutter
was closed, not for any penal reasons, but because only the
opposite window had the luxury of glass in it: the weather
was not warm, and a round hole four inches in diameter served
all the purposes of observation. The hole was, unfortunately,
a little too high, and obliged the small observer to stand on a
*"Peccato celato 6 mezzo perdonatQ."
BALDAflaARBK MAKM AN ACQr.mTANCK. 30.,
of a. .g . little' SyTh rWe"ThlrJ,'°^'°^^^ "^«
the . jenine at tha fi™i. i„ j ! ""^ "^n drawn to
tag to MZa LUa i^Vn *^'°'" °' """ ''"^g* voice .peak^
not and tTen t^e^Jt "t°e?h«^''"\""-' •■«" «»■» ^^r
there until the wood Lhk!!?*'' "''* ~n"»ued to ,taad
«rre enter 1 o^.!^ Sfth, dT "' ""' f ' •»" ^alda.
himself on the .tr«r ""^ ""^ gathering, and .eat
.otidTLffiSto^.^.t^p^'VL"'^'' "'^■"'' ^-^
to him a little. He waa n^T^f^u J' '"PP*"' ^■"i ^'^
.idea .he could »y a ."^tmJtV'.^l'"^ ^'"^ ■""» »>«•
u«e to .hout at Mor'a lITh^ t""*" *".''''" '^''* " ''w no
he wa. a .tranger'tran^Si c^efZ a ? '^''- ^^
went away aeain and li^I/T t * '°"» '*/ off and
. naughiy, "heTeV tr :2d.":',^rai" frr"" ^* "-
Tessa's idea of dut^- but iTw™,!^ i^ ^t '"»'«* P"* i"
the Padre next Sua; and tCi '"'°!^'"^« *° '"'■'^'"» to
exc.pt going to "^pti^^ZZTC'SZ'^ r""
!h?har. ;iidres?» .tr; ?« - -^^-rio:
frighteaeu into tell ng ^h^Vs Sh„1 °°^' '^'^ "'" ""'"
Bhutter with ratLer an MciL !t' "t** "'"^ '«»" !>"
which wa. as wld Sn'reir "h " "'f^'' '='''-'
that of a simple contadinrbut of^ Z.' ^- " ^^ "" «''"
festa: her gown of duk^" ° contadma prepared for a
very clean Imd neat "shfTad^r' 7-'^ ''I "^ «'"»'*• '""
«.und her neok: Td her b™l ,. • "°^ °J "'^ «'"» •«'«1«
was duly knottedT a^d W? ^"l J°'i«'' *""" «"''»«"«.
had but one neTom^ Td 1 ''"*'' ""* ""'*' P'°- ^h'
it was a fine gold rk7^ ^ "'"' '"' ^'"y proud of it, for
ori:rwthi:'Ht;rsfr!;o""j,''^'"" ^''««' *"-"--"'«
the edge of tCXi^f^Z^^^'''1':Z^^'\r'''>'^K'>^
ible. She had been commanded to t.J ''"'*^ '""'"*•
SM
ROMOI^
III
obedient that wh -a ihe had to go to church ihe had kept her
fac« ihaded bjr her hood and had pureed up her lipa quit*
tighUjr. It waa true her obedience had been a litUe helped
by her own dread leit the alarming atepfather Nofri ahould
tuni up even in thit quarter, «o far from the Por' del Prato,
and beat her at leaet, if he did not drag her back to work tm
hUD. But thia old man wu not an acquaintance; he waa a
poor stranger going to sleep in the outhouse, and he probably
knew nothing of stepfather Nofri j and, besides, if she took
him some supper, he would like her, and not want to tell any-
thing about her. Monna Lisa would say she must not go and
talk to him, therefore Monna Lisa must not be consulted
It did not signify what she found out after it had been done
Supper waa being prepared, she knew — a mounUin of
macaroni flayored with cheese, fragrant enough to tame any
stranger. So she tripped downstairs with a mind full of deep
designs, and first asking with an innocent look what that noise
of talking had been, without waiting for an answer, knit her
brow with a peremptory air, something like a kitten trying to
be formidable, and sent the old woman upstairs; saying, she
chose to eat her supper down below. la three minutes Tessa,
with her lantern in one hand and a wooden bowl of macaroni
in the other, was kicking gently at the door of the outhouse;
and Baldassarre, roused from sad reverie, doubted in the first
mom<mt whether he were awake as he opened the door and
saw this surprising little handmaid, with delight in her wide
eyw, breaking in on his dismal loneliness.
"I've brought you some supper, " she said, lifting her mouth
toward his ear and shouting, as if he had been deaf like Monna
Lisa. Sit down and eat it, while I stay with you."
Surprise and distrust surmounted every other feeling in Bal-
dassarre, but though he had no smile or word of gratitude
ready, there could not be any impulse to push away this visi-
tant, and he sank down passively on his straw again, while
Tessa placed herself close U, him, put the wooden bowl on his
lap, and set down the lantern in front of them, crossing her
hands before her, and nodding at the bowl with a significant
smUe, as much as to say, " Yes, you may really eat it. " Por,
in the excitement of carrying out her deed, she had forgotten
BAU,Afl8ARR, MAKES AK ACQCAINTANC. k
•touting. ""uiiuw alternative of dumb show and
for .he h.'ThouThfl^reye. J.X"'S'''^'"''7''''''"'«P<''^'»«f.
-tur«, to put h^er n.::^^^:^; S' ^-- ''e
I like my supper, don't you?" * ' ^ ""y'-
touoh,7b;klv.:'l^„'„.l^" '■•«,-«..«, look ofado,
" ft t^'e't W-' """.'r '"'"-^''- -t deaf."
clasping C "teon^:^^''""' '''*'"« "">' ''•"d. and
her. s\e'sakindoldwri^''rdr '"''f',^' ' "^« ^''^
And we live very well -« - ' , ^ °'" Whtened at her
"•ed to have to work, a^d I .in°M,lr ^^'''u'" ^°'^ "<"'■ I
the mules, and I shouW Hke to «1 "k^"' ^ Hked feeding
mule, again. ^e',eZytTZt'^L^''T^''^ ''"' «"'«
to talk to the goat a goodTal^ ""^ '"" ''"'"' ""* ^ ""ed
but Monna Lisa. Kw ? W„r' '^V- """^ '""»dy eke
guess what it is? " ' «°' "omething els»_oan you
"-tat^B^IdiL're'ls'StherV'"''''^ ^'^ "^ <='"^««^«r
to him. ' ■" "^ ''^'' ^»d proposed a difficult ridSe
some me. o^e back out^i^^rf/ou^"* thing were
.ou "zit:r:^::^i^/zs/.^''^' -- -*
sausage?" ^ *"""" ^ «'«'» you a bit of cold
90S
ROHOLA.
I
bom at the Nativiti, Monna Lisa says. I wag married one
Nativita, a long, long while ago, and nobody knew. Santa
Madonna I I didn't mean to tell you that! "
Tessa set up her shoulders and bit her lip, looking at Bal-
dassarre as if this betrayal of secrets must have an exciting
effect on him too. But he seemed not to care much; and per-
haps that was in the nature of strangers.
" Yes," she said, carrying on her thought aloud, "you are a
stranger; you don't live anywhere or know anybody, do you?"
"No," said Baldassarre, also thinking aloud, rather than
consciously answering, " I only know one man."
" His name is not Nofri, is it? " said Tessa anxiously.
"No," said Baldassarre, noticing her look of fear. "Is
that your husband's name? "
That mistaken supposition was vtry amusing to Tessa. She
laughed and clapped her hands as she said, —
" No, indeed! But I must not tell you anything about my
husband. You would never think what he is — not at all like
Nofri!"
She laughed again at the delighted incongruity between the
name of Nofri — which was not separable from the idea of the
cross-grained stepfather — and the idea of her husband.
"But I don't see him very often," she went on, more
gravely. " And sometimes I pray to the Holy Madonna to
send him oftener, and once she did. But I must go back to
my bimbo now. I'll bring it to show you to-morrow. You
would like to see it. Sometimes it cries and makes a face,
but only when it's hungry, Monna Lisa says. You wouldn't
think it, but Monna Lisa had babies once, and they are all
dead old men. My husband says she will never die now, be-
cause she's so well dried. I'm glad of that, for I'm fond of
her. You would like to stay here to-morrow, shouldn't you? "
" I should like to have this place to come and rest in, that's
all," said Baldassarre. "I would pay for it, and harm no-
body."
" No, indeed ; I think you are not a bad old man. But you
look sorry about something. Tell me, is there anything you
shall cry about when I leave you by yourself 7 / used to cry
once."
iidi:
BA1DA88ARRE MAKES AN ACQUAINTANCE.
;;No ohUdilthiDkLhall
307
"Thli->.^~\.r """*■ ^ ""*" <"y no more."
beSrhe!r\?e l^t^7' "^^ '■«'"". "^d doBed the door
man who is wxestUng i^7e ^^^^ - ^'h ':ir'"r *° "'''
W again tiU his drwmy wakin^^!' a ■ ''"^^ ""'"K^'t »'
images of disturhedXp*^"^ """ *^« aore vivid
te'dlh^Tul^-rZtd-'MS, ^''^ r - «-- -
and insisted that the staZerfhrid t'^.T^'/^ *"«* 'J°"«.
«8t in the outhouse w^en he fi*^ ^""t *° '"""•' "^"^
had had her notions of makW h^' V*^ ^°""^' ''l^"
a great show of reluct^ce swJT,\"'f "' *«'^*' ""al"
Messer Kaldo wonld be an^ySe let ^^ """ ""'"^ *^'''
the house. Tessa did not believe t^i nL°°k T" "•»"*
">g against strangers who lited n^ti ^aldo had said noth-
knew nobody except onrwrso^ wC^ "' '^^ *^ °^^ «an
"Well," conceded M„T.' '''"'"as not Nofri.
for a whUe Z^ 1°°"* L"^ at last, "if I ,et hi« stay
keep thy counseSteTnflK:^^ »'' '"' '»' """^ «»- --t
"Sd'tSn'^v"' "i;"»ly t^llthebinxbo."
"GoSay !1 S°r, enTu;htt°"^^ '^^"''"^ "■"^«'*<'-,
Kald^haTiofCLraTrgMr « ''»^-<'«. "I Wish
he comes back agdn." * '°°^ "^^ sometimes before
Ah, child I the world's n~ iv
808
BOHOLA.
If"
u
- ft'M
poor old stranger by showing him her baby. But before she
ooald get ready to take Baldassarre his breakfast, she found
that Monna Lisa had been employing him as a drawer of
water. She deferred her paternosters, and hurried down to
insist that Baldassarre should sit on his straw, so that she
might come and sit by him again while he ate his breakfast.
That attitude made the new companionship all the more de-
lightful to Tessa, for she had been used to sitting on straw in
old days along with her goats and mules.
" I will not let Monna Lisa give you too much work to do,"
she said, bringing him some steaming broth and soft bread.
"1 don't like much work, and I dare say you don't. I like
sitting in the sunshine and feeding things. Monna Lisa says,
work is good,, but she does it all herself, so I don't mind.
She's not a cross old woman; you needn't be afraid of her
being cross. And now, you eat that, and I'll go and fetch
my baby and show it you."
Presently she came back with the small mummy-oace in
her arms. The mummy looked very lively, having unusually
large dark eyes, though no more than the usual indication of
a future nose.
" This is my baby," said Tessa, seating herself close to Bal-
dassarre. " You didn't think it was so pretty, did you? It
is like the little Qesu, and I should think the Santa Madonna
would be kinder to me now, is it not true? But I have not
much to ask for, because I have everything now — only that I
should see my husband oftener. You may hold the bambino
a little if you like, but I think you must not kiss him, because
you might hurt him."
She spoke this prohibition in a tone of soothing excuse, and
Baldassarre could not refuse to hold the small package. " Poor
thing! poor thing! " he said, in a deep voice which had some-
thing strangely threatening in its apparent pity. It did not
seem to him as if this guileless, loving little woman could
reconcile him to the world at all, but rather that she was ith
him against the world, that she was a creature who would
need to be avenged.
"Oh, don't you be sorry for me," she said; "for though I
don't see him often, he is more beautiful and good than any-
wo PLACK FOB REPBaTTANCB. 309
"Yes I eordd," said Baldassare, rather bitterly.
«You\LghtTis.trkr'^:ci^/r^«^^^^^^
4r^t^^sa^r•'I^:S5fwtt?-^^ '-^^ -
w ii ke wJd'L'f ot^-^rrLuTt'Tutr^r
question appealini? to his tn.m J v ? "* * sudden
an^..t.at-o.eu«,,:-ircrx:,^r,^^^^^^
looft^SherX:!!: ^'^ ^'*y««"<^-h» by his blank
yo7Cbga"nt.rb,d\''*""^L.'' " "" "">««" "bout
fast. You':Snie hTrt'^H'st^™^ ' '^ "^ •'-'^■
Lisa says you mar And I^t "'1"'^«'> y"" 'ike; Monna
good to you." '' '^°° ' ''°" ** "^"m. for we'U be
"Poor thingl » said Baldassarre again.
CHAPTEE XXXIV.
IfO PLACB FOB BEPEHTAWOB.
ea^orSifeveX'of th!t T" *'"^ "*« «P«<^d-- he
eleven da7s^Ste^f« !L ? *''«°*y-«8J^a "f Nove^r. only
Avitnessed as it took prTZl '. ^ ^'^"^ '''^"^ ^^ ^^«^e
« WOK place that evening in the Via de' EarOi
310
ROXOLA.
f 'I
may help to explain the impulse which turned his steps tow-
ard the hill of San Giorgio.
When Tito nad first found this home for Tessa, on his re-
turn from Borne, more than a year and a half ago, he had
acted, he persuaded himself, simply under the constraint im-
posed on him by his own kindliness after the unlucky incident
which had made foolish little Tessa imagine him to be her
husband. It was true that the kindness waE manifested tow-
ard a pretty trusting thing whom it was impassible to be
near without feeling inclined to caress and pet herj but it
was not less true that Tito had movements of kindness toward
her apart from any contemplated gain to himself. Otherwise,
charming as her prettiness and prattle were in a lazy moment,
he might have preferred to be free from her; for he was not
in love with Tessa— he was in love for the first time in his
life with an entirely ditFerent woman, whom he was not simply
inclined to shower caresses on, but whose presence possessed
him so that the simple sweep of her long tresses across his
cheek seemed to vibrate through the hours. All the young
ideal passion he had in him had been stirred by Eomola, and
his fibre was too fine, his intellect too bright, for him to be
tempted into the habits of a gross pleasure-seeker. But he
had spun a web about himself and Tessa, which he felt incapa-
ble of breaking: in the first moments after the mimic mar-
riage he had been prompted to leave her under an illusion by
a distinct calculation of his own possible need, but since that
critical moment it seemed to him that the web had gone on
spinning itself in spite of him like a growth over which he
had no power. The elements of kindness and self-indulgence
are hard to distinguish in a soft nature like Tito's; and the
annoyance he had felt under Tessa's pursuit of him on the day
of his betrothal, the thorough intention of revealing the truth
to her with which he set out to fulfil his promise of seeing her
again, were a sufficiently strong argument to him that in ulti-
mately leaving Tessa under her illusion and providing a home
for her he had been overcome by his own kindness. And in
these days of his first devotion to Bomola he needed a self-
jnsti^ing argument. He had learned to be glad that she was
deceived about some things. But every strong feeling makes
»0 PLACB FOR REPENTANCE.
311
«o itaelf a oonsoienoe of its own ),.. j*
much as the feeling of the Zt^™, ^ °'° Pi^i j"«rt a.
wmetimes survive JT^ wZ .*" ""'"'"• ''^^"^ ^^
and Tito could n<^ jTh. ^j ^^.''Z.iZ'" °' ^"P^'^'^^on;
•gainst his wedded love ""mmittrng a secret offence
But he was all the more careful in » u-
preserve the secrecy of the off3^ Wn ? P^eoaution. to
niany of her class, never Iflft^r; u""""* ^"^- "1"°. like
one or two particVar X? ^nd to c f " *'"^P' '» 8° *<>
knew nothing of his reTn^^ ^.""^^'Z °°** » y««'
knewthathepaidhersoast^.t^t ''''*""bo°t-- slie only
minded little about the^^t. savelh-^J"'^ comfortable, and
^dfound pleasure in Z' re^t "whifh* st' °' '^"''^
There was some mysterv beLinrt Z. i • ^® ''^ PaW.
contadina, and Messer KaJdo wi ^^' '"""" ^'"'»» '^ a
Monna Lisa knew, he might £ a rllVT'J '""^ '"' ""ght
thoroughly fright^ed Tessa into t^u""*^,^" ^"^ Tito had
stances of their marria.rebrfiS'^ ^ "t *'~"' *he ciroum-
sUence she would" evC' 1 tt"^ " *^'" '' ^''•' •''°'^« *hat
dea&ess, which made t^^uff '"' ^^ ^onna Lisa's
without some premeditatioCC tved ^7 T *^""« '" '"
bou. revelation to her, such a7had n!n J f "^ ""^ «=""-
mg with Baldassarre. For a W w^ t -^f *°°^« '" ^^-
jare that it seemed likerenou°h L ' I'*? ' ^'''•*» ^«'« «»
S'^r"^ '^'"•' P-pteTSyXl^e ir^^.^^t^ '^^Tr
7 thmgs were going on well with tIT *° ^*^ *hat
always found his visit pleaT^terLn T' ^^""^^ '"'
always felt anew the ch«m o^tw .. ^.' ^^'^^^ »* i*-
and trust-he had notTeT ^v f""^ '«°°""* lovingness
detemined, if possibl ,^t: p^Lve .hT'"';'-- ^"* ^« -<«
the charm depended; to keeTTesIL "'fP^'^'ty on which
"ot place the small field-flower Zn **'"'^'. '^''*^^ <^^
~b it of its grace. He wITd H 1.'"""^.*^°'"' «"«* ''""^
m the dress of'^any other rLkth^"? *" ''"^''''^ *° ««« hor
her talk would be all gone tf twf .!! "''"' *''" P'1"'^«y of
tions for her, if her w "rid ^n '^ ^^° '° ^"^^ "e^ rela-
childish; andthesquTr^Hi?;rovm ? .'" ^^^^^^^ '«'«
marked the standard of the iLuS ^ °f °"*' "t discretion
B. this mean, Tito s^J'T^^^'tT^^ fS;
S13
SOMOLA.
i
hi
•nd he alio, by a oanTMiient ooinoidenee, sared'Umaalf from
aggTavating ezpenies that were already rather importunate to
a mail whose money waa all required lor his avowed haUta
of life.
This, in brief, had been the history of Tito's relation to
Tessa up to a very recent date. It is true that once or twice
before Bardo's death the sense that there was Tessa up the
hill, with whom it was possible to pass an hour agreeably,
had been an inducement to him to escape from a little weari-
ness of the old man, when, for lack of any positive engage-
ment, he might otherwise have borne the weariness patiently
and shared Bomola's burden. But the moment when he had
first felt a real hunger for Tessa's ignorant lovingness and be-
lief in him had not come till quite lately, and it was distinctly
marked out by circumstances as little to be forgotten as the
oncoming of a malady that has permanently vitiated the sight
and hearing. It waa the day when he had first seen Baldas-
sarre, and had bought the armor. Betuming across the bridge
that night, with the coat of mail in his hands, he had felt an
unconquerable shrinking from an immediate encounter with
Bomola. She, too, knew little of the actual world; she, too,
trusted him ; but he had an uneasy consciousness that behind
her frank eyes there was a nature that could judge him, and
that any ill-founded trust of hers sprang not from pretty
brute-like incapacity, but from a nobleness which might prove
an alarming touchstone. He wanted a little ease, a little re-
pose from self-control, after the agitation and exertions of the
day ; -he wanted to be where he could adjuit his mind to the
morrow, without caring how he behaved at the present mo-
ment. And there was a sweet adoring creature within reach
whose presence was as safe and unoonstraining as that of her
own kids, — who would believe any fable, and remain quite
unimpressed by public opinion. And so on that evening,
/hen Bomola was waiting and listening for him, he turned his
steps np the hill.
No wonder, then, that the steps took the same course on
this evening, eleven days later, when he had had to recoil
un <er Bomola's first outburst of scorn. He could not wish
Tessa in his wife's place, or refrain from wishing that his
wo PLACE FOR RBPISNTANCE. 313
tie. muat neoessarUy lie But ^ ' ^^ ?** ''*^'"'''"' ^'^'^^
rtwdard disagreeably r^J"*„fVrh1? ' "'""^ ^""^ »
little wul waa that iavitiig refuge ^' ""^ ^"^*'''
heardhiaentLoeintot^rLuJr ra^T- ""."T"^ "'•
and her brown r^a^v ^hi^r 'l/'^^ '^'^'^ °° *^« P"''"'.
over the 7cVrf7' let^^' ^T\::^^\,^''h^
branches, lay in the loose gr47l^LuS^''%K'^:
gone fast asleep over her teada TJ^ .. i^? . ^"'* ''^'^
thelittieroom, andsatdow^Mn. . V ^^^ ''«^*'> '«'«»''
heard the openin^of 1 ^T' ^ t^of t . '^ ^'"'"'"^
not been lookingit l^erttTm^r^Z'^^^'Z' '" '.' ^k^'
eyes. She opened them without Mvs1al»n-f ^"f ^"
motionless looking at him, as tf t^^^s^^ ^' Z""*"*?."*"
smiling at her shut out any imnube ^^1 ,J^l ^^ *^"*
happy passiveness. BuTwHte l^t'^i:'* /"""'' *^'*
chin and stooped to kiss hlf she saidl''" '""' ""''" ^^
IawoS:^a1/tri;^?'^^^*-^-^«-and then
no;'ShS^rui;i^;j''°i^^'*-« ^^ •'''^' "^- ^-
at your baby f itT„X"' ^ ^°" ^ '"'* ^""^8
Tes™, did not like those words, even though Tito was smil
mg. She had some poutine diatnwq i„ >,. 7^ "
bending anxiously ov„ ^^baby^" "* ^"^ ^'^' "» "^^ ^^
prettier than wh^n vou '^.J v w °°^ "' ^- ^e is even
his hair -and it grows^^sn't !w ^^i"! ^ "^ ' ''^•"' y°»
grows— wn t that wonderful? Look at himi
814
BOMOLA.
It'i true hia face is raty much all alike yrhtfi Iia'i adecp,
there is not so much to see as when he's awake. If yon kiss
him very gently, he won't wake : you want to kiss him, is it
not true?"
He satisfied her by giring the small mnmmy a bntterfly
kiss, and then, putting his hand on her shoulder and turning
her face toward him, said, " You like looking at the baby bet-
ter than looking at your husband, yon false onet "
She was still kneeling, and now rested her hands on his
knee, looking up at him like one of Fra Lippo Lippi's round-
cheeked adoring angels.
" No, " she said, shaking her head ; " I lore you always best,
only I want you to look at the bambino and lore him ; I used
only to want you to love me."
" And did you expect me to come again so soon? " said Tito,
inclined to make her prattle. He still felt the effects of the
agitation he had undergone — stiU felt like a man who has been
violently jarred; and this was the easiest relief from silence
and solitude.
"Ah, no," said Tessa, "I have counted the days — to-day I
began at my right thumb again — since you put on the beauti-
ful chain-coat, that Messer San Michele gave you to take care
of you on your journey. And you have got it on now," she
said, peeping through the opening in the breast of his tonic.
" Perhaps it made you come back sooner."
"Perhaps it did, Tessa," he said. "But don't mind the
coat now. Tell me what has happened since I was here.
Did you see the tents in the Prato, and the soldiers and horse-
men when they passed the bridges — did you hoar the drums
and trumpets 7"
" Yes, and I was rather frightened, because I thought the
soldiers might come up here. And Monna Lisa was a little
afraid too, for she said they might carry our kids off ; she said
it was their business to do mischief. But the Holy Madonna
took care of us, for we never saw one of them up here. But
something has happened, only I hardly dare tell you, and that
is what I was saying more Aves for."
" What do you mean, Tessa? " said Tito, rather anxiously.
X Hake haste and tell me."
NO PLACE FOR RBPlNTAlfCE. 318
,™T *?°"8'" the old man would be gone awar before
;:: JTii" rnTtJrbSr^in'^'i irt; f'f, *"'*^^«
"Oh, you wUl be sorry for him • I'm >fn>{j i,. •
1 went to hun first; it was because I wanted to talk to h^
take him something to eat." "»«* ^ talk to hun, and
"Some beggar I suppose. It was naughty of you Tessa.
"rSwT *'°°°''''"*- I-^t^veiiimirta^P
Monnf'f , V" ''°* * ^«<^' '» J"" wanted to Ly
iThetl^r^u'r^'l '''" *° '*'> work for her i^tJ^
And he gete hunself shaved, and his clothes are tidy ■ M^
Lisa says he is a decent man. But sometimes I SLk he i^
^ndTi"flZ'a^.l^ am^tola. wasnotSlXnl
didn''tknow whe'ehe wis^' ''' ''"^° '"'""^''*' '"«»'•
to "h^^lT f ^"Z ^ ^"^ " "^^ '^''°' "8 heart beginning
to beat strangely. He was so haunted by the thought atBal-
d^sarre that it was already he whom he saw in ^^t^
s^g on aie straw not many yards from him. «Sy^
Htool, my Tessa, and sit on iL" ^
•te
BOMOLA.
M
m
IP
"BhtU you not /orgira mef" tho laid, tlinidlv, morina
from hia knea.
" Yes, I wUl not be tagrj—mlj lit down, ud :»U me what
•ort of old man thii U ."
"I can't think how to tell you: he U not like my itep-
father Kofri, or anybody. Hi» face ia yeUow, and he bat
deep mark* in itj and hii hair is white, but there is none on
the top of his head : and his eyebrows are black, and he looks
from under them at me, and says, ' Poor thing I ' to me, as if
he thought I was beaten as I used to be; and that seems as if
ho couldn't be in his right mind, doesn't it? And I asked
him his name once, but he couldn't tell it me: yet everybody
has a name— is it not true? And he has a book now, and
keeps looking at it ever so long, as if he were a Padre. But
I think he is not saying prayers, for his lips never move}—
ah, you are angry with me, or is it because you are sorrr for
the old man?" '
Tito's eyes were still fixed on Tessa; but he had ceased to
see her, and was only seeing the objects her words suggested.
It was this absent glance which frightened her, and she conld
not help going to kneel at his side again. But he did not
heed her, and she dared not touch him, or speak to him : the
knelt, trembling and wondering; and this state of mind sug-
gesting her beads to her, she took them from the floor, and
began to tell them again, her pretty lips moving silently, and
her blue eyes wide with anxiety and struggling tears.
Tito was quite nnconscious of her movements unconscious
of his own attitude : he was in that rapt state in which a man
will grasp painful roughness, and press and press it closer,
and never feel it. A new possibility had risen before him,
which might dissolve at once the wretched conditions of fear
and suppression that were marring his life. Destiny had
brought within his reach an opportunity of retrieving that
moment on the steps of the Duomo, when the Past had grasped
him with living quivering hands, and he had disowned it. A
few steps, and he might be face to face with his father, with
no witness by; he might seek forgiveness and reconciliation;
and there was money now, from the sale of the library, to en-
able them to leave Florence without disclosure, and go into
NO PLACB FOR lUtraMTAKOE.
know the whole truth, for .he^ou^ST '' ""^ "''""
of learning what had tak.n «i.- .i «IdaMarre, or
B.l<ia«arS,hi^,.Ur.^dif ht^ath"." V" """•' "''^P' '«-■»
oonwnt to bury that offence. ^'^"•' '"' '""'"^ •'•o
But with thia poeaibility of reUef Ht .„ ..
present evil, thereroae thenf),^!!^?? "^ 'P""8, from
hearted man might rrfr«.^i!^ POM'bility, that the fieroe-
Mthinrw3ont^*:.*tCC{::l- ^•"-"•li^h,
would be no ^oUne»Z ll^Jhi . ^° ^^°"'' '«' *''"•
.heet round it «,rtaL in C » /"P""'!""' "'"' • ''Wti
the eyes of men that Ti ^ . ' '*°'«""'K '<» hated «iu in
pentiice^aTwoSmrk^alTrK-P^PT* '"= '* *«" » "^
aUpaatunple^a^^^SUifTlTT' T."' ""•» ""P
hi. indiapoeition to feel h^mH^^i .^d Tito's soft-heartedaeea,
creature, VL in rtro„^ l^^ "" ''*"'' "'»"'""' 'i^ any
father ^a. Troigh^"^ ^ hta^ ^."^ ,51'«"'". "ow hij
a»t hi. nature o*ouwZ but deaire ifTJ' "^ ' "'"'f "' «"«
Balda8««e'8 glance could be reo W k '""•°°°"'' hatred in
affection and ^mpCncy ^ ''^ '°°""^'°« "' ^^ »«
Wwl^t.d"w'«r.i5irjir i:*:^" completely cu.h-
thowwho- hI?adL^d Ldoff'".^''"?'' PJ-^^Klyon
and .tapped towafd tt H bt 'tw^^ "' '^'^ "P'
W b«^ ron^d him frorhi^a' Jo^liL!^": tl^K
I m'Jot''::?^,??* ""■ " '"''^■' "-^ -^o"'* »y. ""le pigeon,
the'i:^d:rt^e'ir^^tti"i^3''^''' ^"^r^^ *° ''^-*
i^ad opened the door. Ja,'f^,:^Z:Z^T:^2 i^!
«»
ROMOLA.
torn : go upatain agaiD, and keep quiet, and lajr notiiing to
Honna Liaa."
In half a minnta he itood before the oloaed door of the ont-
luntie, where the moon waa ahining white on the old paintleaa
wood.
In this last decisive moment, Tito felt a tremor upon him —
a sudden inBtinotive shrinking from a possible tiger-glanoa^
a possible tiger-leap. Yet why should he, a young man, be
afraid of an old one? a young man with armor on, of an old
man without a weapon? It was but a moment's hesitation,
and Tito laid his hand on the door. Was his father asleep?
Was there nothing else but the door that screened him from
the Toice and the glance which no magic could turn into ease?
Baldassarre was not asleep. There as a square opening
high in the wall of the hovel, through which the moonbeams
sent in a stream of pale light: and if Tito could have looked
through the opening, he would have seen his father seated on
the straw, with something that shone like a white star in his
hand. Baldassarre was feeling the edge of his poniard, tak-
ing refuge in that sensation from a hopelesc blank of thought
that seemed to lie like a great gulf between his passion and
its aim.
He was in one of his most wretched moments of conscious
helplessness : he had been poring, while it was light, over the
book that lay open beside him ; then he had been trying to
recall the names of his jewels, and the symbols engraved on
them: and though at certain other timus he had recovered
8ome-of those names and symbols, to-night they were all gone
into darkness. And this effort at inward seeing had seemed
to end in utter paralysis of memory. He was reduced to a
sort of mad consciousness that he was a solitary pulse of just
rage in a t- )rld filled with defiant baseness. He had clutched
and unshei>thed his dagger, and for a long while had been
feeling its edge, his mind narrowed to one image, and the
dream of one sensation — the sensation of plunging that dagger
into a base heart, which he was unable to pierce in any other
way.
Tito had his hand on the door and was pulling it : it dragged
against the ground as such old doors often do, scd BaldassarTe,
iro PLACB rOR RtPBOTAKCl.
■♦•rtled out of hi* draAmlika .f.>.
t-in .^. amJ.'Ta'LtTnor/r. "l ""^«'«-
»»d not y«t tiMta to hii f-t .^ ^ .^f™ ''• *•*■ H«
k««k wh,a the door ^.ww/oL" ""J kneriingonon,
•«»iDrt th. moonlirfht.^tSS'T.r'* '" ""' ^^
«-.of o«rl..„doa.„^doirv.ohLk t^'"? °'' """ '»'*«•'»
«i»-not •hadowy-olo^Md H^ll^^ ' ' '°"»' »' ""^ "»•
the thirsty dmm oTlt iJ^S. ''• *;'«" « th, lip, .ft,,
•jeer thir.t. fo „„, mo^„ ^''X m"^ r,',"'"'-'* ««*
tt. old m„, with th, V^'t^r^t^l^to^ZZ^ 1^ *^^
Md »prun« forwai.il JLa .i. j "" ^ '■8» 'a h UlimbL
»«t -o,„.nt thl tg«^ 1^' „^««; ^"d fl-ted out. InTe
under the parrying foZotrTFJ^ '"v*'?' ""^ BiJ«l««m,
xiio naa felt one (treat hasrt.l..^ _» ^
Jfere.1 under the weight of thelhn^ 1 *!T* " ^" ^ **^
of deliverance «>d .tJety HU H!, t'^V'"' ^^^ *"'^
v«.ge«ce lay helple„ ^^^forThir^ BuJl 'T" ^"""^ "">
nudeniahimDuke- , fi." 1 *"* 'he triumph raised
clo«, tohin^Sabirtor^^Yf' "'^"«''' <" ^r ftW
onoiliation eaaier. n^l\,Ct^ ""ade the effort atreo-
the more nnmUed and d^f - f^V*"' ''"* J" had only
thathe w.ahatlj^itr.lrha?^,^ '""» *'»• -"^
little while, Bald*w,rrelvintL^'^,°°'?*^ •* *"•» "th" •
Tito «iid ta hi. 8oTSneZlu.r '^"" v^ deepairing rag.^
thej.s^partingon*thSri."f ^^^_^ ~«nd.d''bX
'«>,^'^etor',o2Zl\':LT^ '''•' «- » -«1% but
n.i^&eVrt:';^ tt'tle""^ ""^ •" ""^ -d«
in Baldassarre: he Cm he h«,,^T ""f "" "«° "* «l»nge
he wa. tren>bling/buTirw« f^'fr t^« °° »»« "^^
iim down. '"' *""" '^e ehook that had thrown
l-PPy. that yon^y fo^ thft ^^l "" "'** "' y«" «.
He paused aeain H?^ J / ° '''''^ suffered."
paused agam. He had used the clearest «.d ab^ngeat
890
ROMOIA.
h
I );i
words he conld think of. It was useless to say mora, until
he had some sign that Baldassarre understood him. Perhaps
his mind was too distempered or too imbecile even for that :
perhaps the shock of his fall and his disappointed rage might
have quite suspended the use of his faculties.
Presently Baldassarre began to move. He threw away the
broken dagger, and slowly and gradually, still trembling, be-
gan to raise himself from the ground. Tito put out his hand
to help him, and so strangely quick are men's souls that in
this moment, when he began to feel his atonement was ac-
cepted, he had a darting thought of the irksome efforts it
entailed. Baldassarre clutched the hand that was held out,
raised himself and clutched it still, going close up to Tito
till their faces wew not a foot ofF each other, i^udn he began
to speak, in a deep, trembling voice, —
" I saved you — I nurtured you — I loved you. You forsook
me — you robbed me — you denied me. What can you give
me? You have made the world bitterness to me; but there is
one draught of sweetness left — that you shall know agony."
He let fall Tito's hand, and going backward a little, first
rested his arm on a projecting stone in the wall, and then
sank again in a sitting posture on the straw. The outleap of
fury in the dagger-thrust had evidently exhausted him.
Tito stood silent. If it had been a deep yearning emotion
which had brought him to ask his father's forgiveness, the
denial of it might have caused him a pang which would have
excluded the rushing train of thought that followed those de-
cisive words. As it was, though the sentence of unchange-
able hatred grated on him and jarred him terribly, his mind
glanced round with a self-preserving instinct to see how far
those words could have the force of a substantial threat.
When he had come down to speak to Baldassarre, he had said
to himself that if his effort at reconciliation failed, things
would only be as they had been before. The first glance of
his mind was backward to that thought again, but the future
possibilities of danger that were conjured up along with it
brought the perception that things were twt as they had been be-
fore, and the perception came as a triumphant relief. There
was not only the broken dagger, there was the certainty,
NO PLACE FOB HKPBNTANCE. 321
imbeoUe old man- and fi« T. ^ Baldawarre as a mad,
aide that there^aTllrH, "? ''"" "^ "^""Kly <>" W.
fear of ha^^J^ ^"nnTasSt S"" ''°' J"'^* ^
himself from what wasvetm^™,^ ""** "* ""^^^ <» «aw
"No "°^i^r.*° "'"^ ^""^ " J"* '"'id-
"S; sorS^'f/i*'Xt;r '"'^^*-"--^''
yo;p:;^^\^---«^- out- « ^' *» your straw.
Then you mean to leave this dIscp? » ..i-i t-»
lous^abont this eertainty than ^^^L "r^"' ""'" """
T,L J ''^^'^' """^ Baldaasarre.
no3i!°,r?etent'„rrTra.l?;""H ."""^^ ^^ -
Bide of her baby. ^ '*'* ^""""^ ^«' "^7^8 by the
He lifted her^^ uS St^Th"' '"1^,'*° *° '-'^■"
-d^dr rhj^tsiot^rT'^- ««^-
or listen to him again » *• ^^'^^^ "P*"^ *» him
« yrs^T wm'""'^- ««""^'''»^ "tat I have said to you »
Tossl^il^e^r ;Sif *" " ''^^^^ -^ -"." Baid
rnc^^^^lYihtrn^dot^'^t'''''''"''^ "- "««« t-
severelyforlet^^n. *^'"'°'' ^'^ *o rebuke her
Tito felt tlS dangerous man come about the house.
tasteTSrSs b^ "thT ""T *">^' '^^^ "««• -O' evil-
MounaLi»fasSS7/'™Jrf."P°" '^"'- «« J»«"d
wi.outirr:::aSvro;.rdS?^^^^^^^^
323
BOHOLA.
Jill
secure that Baldassane would go, and he oould not wait to see
him go. Even Am young frame and elastic spirit were shat-
tered by the agit»<^ons that had been crowded into this sin-
gle evening.
Baldassarre wax still sitting on the straw when the shadow
of Tito passed by. Before him lay the fragments of the
broken dagger; beside him lay the open book, over which he
had pored in vain. They looked like mocking symbols of his
uttei helplessnefis; and his body was still too tremblini. '^or
him to rise and walk away.
But the next morning very early, when Tessa peeped anx-
iously through the hole in her shutter, the door of the hovel
was open, and the strange old man was gone.
•t;
CHAPTER XXXV.
WHAT FLOBENCB WAS THINKINO OP.
Fob several days Tito saw little of Bomola. He told her
gently, the next morning, that it would be better for her to
remove any small articles of her own from the library, as
there would be agents coming to pack up the antiquities.
Then, leaning to kiss her on the brow, he suggested that she
should keep in her own room where the little painted taber-
nacle was, and where she was then sitting, so that sho might
be away from the noise of strange footsteps, ilomola as-
sented quietly, making no sign of emotion ' the night had been
one long waking to her, and, in spite of her healthy frame,
sensation had become a dull continuous pain, as if she had
been stunned and bruised. Tito divined that she felt ill, but
he dared say no more; he only dared, perct,'.- '.jg that her
hand and brow were stone-cold, to fetch a furred mantle and
throw it lightly round her. And in every brief interval that
he returned to her, the scene was nearly the same : he tried to
propitiate her by some unobtrusive act or word of tenderness,
and she seemed to have lost the power of speaking to him, or
of looking at him. "Patience!" he said to himself. "She
will recover it, and forgive at last. The tie to me must still
WHAT FLORENCE WAS THDncmo OF. 823
wniain the strongest. » Whim fi,» *_• ^
recover and look Cu notUnrh^ k "'"^ P*"°° " »!<"' *»
glides u^to the Po.SS'^XSfrri^^'f 7''-"^
bruise himself, and is stron,,Iv^ J"*^' he feels no
behavior eiace he Lflictdft J W °'^ °' '''' "'"' "^i^We
orally disposed tofe':faS:.S:r;ed^rfr",l'"^^^
his mind was toward prooitiaHnn i jJ ^ ""Mtant bent of
ted to much for the saW fS' e„"^ T^^ ^"^^ ""bmit-
Jra^r:;' '^ - -cti\rcSr-."
was more and more ini^ZZg ^Z iT °"* f '"^^
which IS in strictness a slowly nreoar^' f' "^* °* ""''"^
tireoharaoter.isyetalmostlwrr u,"*^"^ °* *•"•«"-
8ion as its point of a^^ent^'-^*"^."".*" "* ""S^" ''"P™''-
in the Piazza del jAZo'ISL'"^ "T/'"* """»«"*
had tasted a keen pleasiT'lJ^e o! '• °"°**'^ °° *^"' •"»J«».
to tickle the ears ot ZTll^^T'°'"'T'' °* ^^ ''^^
bis imagination had riaT^ ^il?^^ "^t P'ea'ed then^
political activity which the tr^,?hT'^^{,.*°''"'i « ""rt 7f
was likely enoulh to fed occIr„ / ^ »"" '"" °* ^°™°«e
of Baldassarre, wak^d i. tl,« '' ^"* "'^ ^'"'^ dread
immovable roly ^st^tion '^r*'"' ^ ^^^ lite an
him into thr^^ of Kb^:::"^'' *^''' P"*''' •^^ tad urgS
sible necessity of livinV^,?^' "* " P^P^tion for the pos-
was beginning to ZlSV'C, "' *'' '"'^ *^« '^'"'" i«
That dread wL ne Jly remled now" T ''"''^"°° ^" ''i»-
stiU, he must prepare hSfor°-M'r'* '""^ ''*« '»^'"°'
ness .-.d i^genuit^ butTe dfd „Tfe'?^^^^^ °° ^'^ '""l-
oonvenient step of leaving FiL **«^ "•'■'8«d to take the in-
s^dfifs-r^^^^^
faded, life was taking more Id iZ r'?/^/''"''^ P^"'""
aspect of a game in whi^h fte™ JL ^^'^'^^^ ^^ ''■'" the
skill and chance """ "^ agreeable mingling of
S24
ROMOLA.
Ifi
And the game that might be played in Florence promised to
be rapid and exciting; it was a game of revolutionary and
party struggle, sure to include plenty of that unavowed action
in which brilliant ingenuity, able to get rid of allinnonvenieut
beliefs except that " ginger is hot in the mouth," is apt to see
the path of superior wisdom.
No sooner were the French guests gone than Florence was
as agitated as a colony of ants when an alarming shadow has
been removed, and the camp has to be repaired. " How are
we to raise the money for the French '-iicj? How are we to
manage the war with those obstinate I: ;;^n rebe' t Above
all, how are we to mend our plan of government, so as to hit
on the best way pf getting our magistrates chosen and our laws
voted? " Till those questions were well answered trade was
in danger of standing still, and that large body of the work-
ing men who were not counted as citizens and had not so much
as a vote to serve as an anodyne to their stomachs were likely
to get impatient. Something must be done.
And first the great bell was sounded, to call the citizens to
a parliament in the Piazza de' Signori; and when the crowd
was wedged close, and hemmed in by armed men at all the
outlets, the Signoria (or Gonfaloniere and eight Priors for the
time being) came out and stood by the stone lion on the plat-
form in front of the Old Palace, and proposed that twenty
chief men of the city should have dictatorial authority given
them, by force of which they should for one year choose all
magistrates, and set the frame of government in order. And
the people shouted their assent, and felt themselves the electors
of the Twenty. This kind of "parliament" was a very old
Florentine fashion, by which the will of the few was made to
seem the choice of the many.
The shouting in the Piazza was soon at an end, but not so
the debating incide the palace: was Florence to have a Great
Council after the Venetian mode, where all the officers of gov-
ernment might be elected, and all laws voted by a wide num-
ber of cit:iens of a certain age and of ascertained quaiifica-
tions, WitLuut question of rank or party? or, was it to be gov-
emed on a narrower and less popular scheme, in which the
hereditary influence of good families would be less adulterated
^^T TLOnmOE WAS THINKING OF 325
S«;derini alleged exoelle" re^oL^L ^T'/'^°^^^
exoeUent on the aide 0^1 * ° ""'^"^ '«««o°8 equallv
question of boiW of "rowt whirhrd*^ *" '°"^ '* -- »
palate, of the dispntante Idt,^ ^^ P^Judged bjr the
have been protracted a lonrthUe w^"?' "«"^8 ^'«^*
a>an that of deferring the c4w I, '■"'/ °'^" """J'
mside the palace, haWng p^wer J™ J • ".^i'^'^ °^ «>« '°«°
'^ith Vespucci, akd though rhLTi^'^tn'M*^."^ ^"^"^ ««™«<i
"najority outside the p^ace l^L- "l ^ """derate; the
""Z^r"'"' --'-^^^Torcr/e'"'^ ^'^^ -^
character of a deCmrwrn" 'ZlY' ''** '""^■""^^^
>ng of Savonarola. ImpTurd parUy bt ^^ ""^ *•"« P™'"'''-
that was laid upon him to Kuid^J ^ , " V^tual necessity
P~".pting of pSiio Ten XtuM ^.7'"' "^^ """^ ^^ *^«
without his aid, he was ZZjT^ ? °° ""^^sures carried
froni the general to ZsS' CT,,'" ^j.'. '^'^^ «""■»■«•
they n.ust postpone tteTprl^teT, •"'*''" '•*«^«" ""at
the public good, to tellinTthCpllfelvr. T^ ^"^"^ *°
ment they must have in orX Tr^ . *■"" °^«°^««-
' Choose whatever is besUor a^ «t, " ^r*" *^* »«>d-from
The o™rcr:^t:ro:j;-2^^ir r^^*^-
expression to the public will 1„J1 " 1"'^° *°^ P'^8 an
vitiating influence of pa^ Stetfte °r*'' *° counteract tte
make honest impartialTblL „!■ 7** * P'*» *hat would
the purer the goCmentS pi' "* ^*'"* Po^"'"*'- And
secure from the de^Z of 1!! T' ""^^^ bccome-the more
h> the moral debSnt ^f fh .° T '^'" '"'" «<i^autZ
the Florentine peopTliJ the :h°"r''^ ""^'^ -°«W
-UBity, worthy to^ leadTeVi tt^' °' " P"^« -«-
Church and the worid. And P™ n t renovation of the
'topped short of that sublimest eJd S'""r°'« '"•"'i never
he felt himself working ha^Xtv "th^ ^ ^"'''' *"""-• ^^'"l'
6 "ttu always the same moral magnifi-
326
BOHOLA.
U
cenoe. He had no private malice — he songht no petty gnU-
fioation. Bven in the last terrible days, when ignominy, tor-
ture, and the fear of torture had laid bare every hidden weak-
ness of his soul, he could say to his importunate judges : " Do
lot wonder if it seems to you that I have told but few things;
for my purposes were few and great." '
CHAPTEB XXXVT.
i
"4
^BIAONB DISOKOWNg HKBSELF.
It was more than three weeks before the contents of the
library were aU packed and carried away. And Bomola, in-
stead of shutting her eyes and ears, had watched the process.
The exhaustion consequent on violent emotion is apt to bring
a dreamy disbelief in the reality of its cause; and in the
evening, when the workmen were gone, Eomola took her
hand-lamp and walked slowly round amongst the confusion of
straw and wooden cases, pausing at every vacant pedestal,
every well-known object laid prostrate, with a sort of bitter
desire to assure herself that there was a sufScient reason why
her love was gone and the world was barren for her. And
still, as the evenings came, she went and went again; no
longer to assure herself, but because this vivifying of pain
and despair abont her father's memory was the strongest life
left to her affections. On the 23d of December, she knew
that the last packages were going. She ran to the loggia at
the top of the house that she might not lose the last pang of
seeing the slow wheels move across the bridge.
I^ was a cloudy day, and neaiing dusk. Amo ran dark and
shi ..ring; the hills were mournful; and Florence with its
girdling stone towers had that silent, tomb-like look which
unbroken shadow gives to a city seen from above. Santa
Croce, where her father lay, was dark amidst that darkness,
and slowly crawling over the bridge, and slowly vanishing up
the narrow street, was the white load, like a cruel, deliberate
'"Se vl pare che io abbia detto poche coae, non t« ne maravigliate,
percbo Id mie cose eninu puchu c j^rstudi."
ABUDNE DISCROWNS HER8BLP.
her like a mouruinK eanneL .L* T^ ^"'' "^'^^^ *» ""'^er
When suddenly the |'^ tu i^ .."' °",* '^^ ''''«'°^'i "^ Joy-
eighty peal: Lt trhaii'",iP'^«:r'°-"ang oit a
tetedpealof triumph; and one S "n.lf ""' ''"' "" "P"
m every other tower s'eemed to cS Th^Vl''^ °'^'' '^^
the chorus. And as th« ^L "^toh the vibration and join
air seemed mate of so^d S T"*' ""f ""*"•"» «" «>«
the sound had oauelHtrK ."""'' ^'brating too, as if
the palace and'onTh^i^ifd^^r-' "etween the turrets of
.hJpt::l^:'"Ss wet^S'n*' r "- ^°-'» «•'«'
cess of herhusbandSw ^^the f ^^T' "' '^«»'"=-
LitUe more than three ^ek7'«!^ f desolation of her life,
with the sound of thosrvervTn ^f- *"""» ^^fxicated
Florence, she h,d he„d a nZh.^ j ^^ ^ ^'' S^"'^''*' ot
now the general joy s^elX^^ ?T ofjierown gladness. But
that common Uf^ttat So/en™ .'''l' '"'' '"^ '^-"™'"
loudexultationtostfuL ro;s»;ot"^,*'T"« °"* ''«
could never join hands with J^L ^i^^^'''^^'^- She
those whom it was ^1 Wd Sre 'nfT^ '"* ""'^ ^'"^
And in her bitterness she f^ttLt" 11 ? '^*'' *° *°^8«*-
Men shouts p«ans wTt^tieifsoS fXofV" "'°'^'*'^-
then looked in their neighbors' fan««t "^ l'«avineso, and
such a thing as joy ^Z?i"t,1, f .°*^ '^ '''"^ ^«8 roally
Piness she had ole tSted fof T ""'' "l!"' '" ^''^ ^"P^
aoft^anded thing, withr^l': -.e'^rhe^^^^^^"'' '"""^«'
JtlrJZl S^a^h^^, --> V-3 pressed
when she was stLtledIv un^ZTLf "" ""* antechamber,
who was coming to seekt^^^ ""^^8 ••" ^^^^
tio^Shr nt,*it„r " -^^ ^ ^^^-- "^ -'^-
338
80MOLA.
ir
I
I
" Whkt! the noise wai • little too muoh for you?" heudd;
for Bomola, M she started at the sight of him, had pressed
her hands all the closer against her ears. He took her gently
by the wrist, and drew her arm within his, leading her into
the saloon surrounded with the dancing nymphs and fauns,
and then went on speaking : " Florence is gone quite mad at
getting its Great Council, which is to put an end to all the
evils under the sun; especially to the vice of merriment. You
may W<>11 look stunned, my Bomola, and you are cold. Ton
must not stay so late under that windy loggia without wrap-
pings. I was coming to tell you that I am suddenly called to
Bome about some learned business for Bernardo Bucellai. I
am going away Immediately, for I am to join my party at San
Qaggio to-night, that we may start early in the morning. I
need give you no trouble ; I have had my packages made
already. It will not be very long before I am back again."
He knew he had nothing to expect from her but quiet en-
durance of what he said and did. He could not even venture
to kiss her brow this evening, but just pressed her hand to
his lips, and left her. Tito felt that Bomola was a more un-
forgiving woman than be had imagined; her love was not that
sweet clinging instinct, stronger than all judgments, which, he
began to see now, made the great charm of a wife. Still, this
petrified coldness was better than a passionate, futile opposi-
tion. Her pride and capability of seeing where resistance was
useless had theii convenience.
But when the door had closed on Tito, Bomola lost the
look of cold immobility which came over her like an inevitable
frost whenever he approached her. Inwardly she was very
far from being in a state of quiet endurance, and the days that
had passed since the scene which had divided her from Tito
had been days of active planning and preparation for the ful-
filment of a purpose.
The first thing she did now was to call old Maso to her.
"Maso," she said, in a decided tone, " we take our journey
to-morrow morning. We shall be able now to overtake that
first convoy of cloth, while they are waiting at San Piero. See
about the two mules to-night, and be ready to set ofE with
them at break of day, and wait for me at Trespiano."
ARIADNE DISCROWNS HERSELF 329
telling them that .he was b^. J^h ' '^'*^" ^^ Tito.
Shei^ planned her d'^CrthatTt^ T*"' *° """™'
i:!. "^ .""* ^'* broken love ^d We b1 ^T' '"'«''* **
scanned by vulgar evea ti«™ j j . , hidden away un-
at his Ja, wUUng to es,^T '^*\^'"° '"^ »»«° absent
hia the debt without aS^JuS^nt,^*^ "S* •^•' "^ P^'d
know that the library wm ^d J^'*'"7; «« <"<» ""t even
~me sudden piece of g^ S^ kT '*"l'° '*°J*»*"™ «>.t
this sum of money. C[!^'^A*i«°»"«d Tito to raise
only so far that he W he^i^nd^'" ""° ^" '^"^'^'"«»
and to do just what she told hi^ w^^i^^ V" " "^^
for in his withered wintry ^e ^* '"' """^ »''"'*
kad^SX^d^n.r^t^e'rl"'"' "^«''*- ^-'^o
painted chest whiX cont^td hL^.'^' ""'■ '^'"* -^^
white silk and gold lav thl™ !^ , ''•^•^'nifolothes. The
olet of pearls A J^^^ tbt^oi ^T T^'** ^"^ •"* the oir!
seemed tte nhroJ^'^^lZ.'^'.^'^^'^ '* *^«"'-- «>«/
loop of the circlet a suga^pW t hTh'!!?'- '° " ^^^ 8°^^
from the shower of sw^ • tL\' V^'^f^-" P^ ^"""""ne
said that it should Xrys«,mlt^ ^''*^ " ^"^ "'"ad
-and this was one of Te^ C^ ^* """**^ """"""t*
waveof memory, back 4^t toT"^ "^^ ""^ •* '""l'^«»
and felt again the prese^^of tt.^ k ""! "{ ^^^^ *""<»
the world as fresh a^d wonderful !,h'' "'^°"' '°^"' »«'<^»
that sits in stillness amrgtte sunn vfl" *" ^^ "'*^« "''"'1
tie tones and saw theTft .f -^v^ ^°''*"-" ^«"d the gen-
breathed again rhlXtr.LT:f:?r"'^^ *^-. and
from the faith that the K»in„ v ™ * ""^ """^ '^''^ch comes
than ourselves. Tad inSeln^f""*""* '° ''^ ^ «"'''«
rose: the woman XSlrfehl'^T"'' ^^^ **"» ''^^^y
bereaved mother feels wCthll ^''^''tl'Mg akin to what the
i i
: I
'If
SM
ROMOLA.
np in » olosa 'oundle. She turned away her ejrai from the
white and gold to the dark bundle, and a* her handa tooohed
the serge, her tears began to be checked. That ooatse rough-
ness recalled her fully to the present, from which lore and
delight were gone. She unfastened the thick white cord and
spread the bundle out on the table. It was the gray serge
dress of a sister belonging to the third order of St. Francis,
living in the world but especially devoted to deeds of piety —
a personage whom the Florentines were accustomed to call a
Finzoohera. Romola was going to put on this dress as a dis-
guise, and she determined to put it on at once, so that, if she
needed sleep before the morning, she might wake up in per-
fect readiness to be gone. She put oft her black garment, and
as she thrust her soft white arms into the harsh sleeve of the
serge mantle and felt the hard girdle of rope hurt her fingers
as she tied it, she courted those rude sensations : they were in
keeping with her new scorn of that thing called pleasure which
made men base — that dexterous contrivance for selfish ease,
that shrinking from endurance and strain, when others were
bowing beneath burdens too heavy for them, which now made
one image with her husband.
Then she gathered her long hair together, drew it away
tight from her face, bound it in a great hard knot at the back
of her head, and tiUiing a square piece of black silk, tied it in
the fashion of a kerchief close across her head and under her
chin; and over that she drew the cowl. She lifted the candle
to the mirror. Surely her disguise would be complete to any
oil e who had not lived very near to her. To herself she looked
strangely like her brother Dino : the full oval of the cheek
had only to be wasted; the eyes, already sad, had only to be-
come a little sunken. Was she getting more like him in any-
thing else? Only in this, that she understood now how men
could be prompted to rush away forever from earthly delights,
how they could be prompted to dwell on images of sorrow
rather than of beauty and joy.
But she did not linger at the mirror : she set about collect-
ing and packing all the relics of her father and mother that
were too large to be carried in her small travelling-wallet.
They were all to be put in the chest along with her wedding-
ARIADNE DISOROWNS HERSELF. ill
dothM, .nd the oh-t WM to b. oon,mitt«l to her godfather
2rZ, » ^.*^" -very little thing that had a ^^rj^l
She paiued. There waa .till «>mething else to be itriDt^l
to ta™T.",i ^^'f^gto'h.tpa.tonthirhl wa^S
t^r. V ^v!^ '°.""""- ^'» P"' •"" thumb and her W
&« it ci ^^""^ r"' ''"* """y "«*«<1 there, w (iout
drawing it off. Komola's miud had been ruehing wiUi an im-
Si.rthe.T;?'.'?"''^'' "'"' ^-^ di.appoint;dK;
trust, the act of breaking an outward tie that no lonirer«D.
.ymbol. by which our active life is knit together so a. to mSe
«ierZ " "'''''^ •''*'""y '" ""' not to be shaken by Sr
wayenng oonsoiouanese, gave a strange effect to this simnll
movemen toward takingoff her ringia movement ^^0"?^
«XL,I%""*7 ■"""" """ »'"' '"" «>mehowvioTenUy
^l^l^K K V°*''°= ' P^-ont^ont that the strong im-
pulse which had seemed t.. exclude doubt and make her iZ
c^ar nught after aU be blindness, and that Zre%Z\Zt
wirhMT ^'"r ^''^' "^'"^ "">"* P"-«"t them tei^g b^SL
with the breaking of illufions. *
he^fi^'*^"^'"'.^^'"''*"*^*'' P^-^ the betrothal ring on
her finger was not m any valid sense the same Tito whom sh^
had oeas«d to love, why should she return to him tTe sL of
trj^lT """* °°* ™1"" "***» it as amemorial? l^d^J
act, whiohcame as a palpable demonstration of her own a^d
Eomolt T; ""t" P°'"' "-"Plained to herself, of asking
"It cannot be! I cannot be subject to him. He is false.
I shrink from him. I despise him I "
She snatched the ring from her finger and laid it on the
table against the pen with which she meant to write. IgS
SS3
ROMOLl.
■lie felt that th re eould be no law for her but the Uw of her
affeetioiu. That tendemeM and keen feUow-feeling for the
nev and the loved which are the main outgrowth of the affeo-
tioni had made the religion of her life: thej had made her
patient in ipite of natural impetuoeity; they would have
•uiBoed to make her heroio. But now all that itrength wai
gone, or rather, it was oonrerted Into the itrength of repul-
•ion. She had reooUed from Tito in proportion to the energy
of that young belief and love which he had disappointed, of
that lifelong devotion m her father against which he had
committed an irredeemable offence. And it seemed as if all
motive had slipped away from her; except the indignaHon
and soom that made her tear herself asunder from him.
She was not acting after any precedent, or obeying any
adopted maxims. The grand severity of the stoical phUoso-
phy in which her father had taken care to instruct her wu
famUiar enough to her ears and lips, and its lofty spirit had
raised certain echoes within her; but she had never used it,
never needed it as a rule cl 11 ^ She ixaJ endured and for-
borne because she loved: maxims which told her to feel less,
and not to cling close lest the onward course of great Nature
should jar h?r, had been as powerless on her tenderness as they
had been on her father's yearning for just fame. She had ap-
propriated no theories: she had simply felt strong in the
strength of affection, and life without that energy came to her
as an entirely new problem.
She was going to solve the problem la a way that seemed to
her very simple. Her mind had never yet bowed to any obli-
gation apart from personal love and reverence; she had do
keen sense of any other human relations, and all she had < o
obey now was the instinct to sever herself from the man she
loved no longer.
Yet the unswerving resolution was accompanied with con-
tinually varying phases of anguish. And now that the active
preparation for her departure was almost finished, she lin-
gered: she deferred writing the irrevocable words of parting
from all her little world. The emotions of the past weeks
seemed to rush in again with cruel hurry, and take possession
eVenof herlimU. She was going to write, and her h. dfeU.
ARIADNE DISCROWNS HER8MJ. ggg
upptaM. with whioh7heSd":!ur.tr. "'."'"'•"''""'
«dth.pbkh.iUton,. A„d„rwl. ,.^' T'r •" ^'''
« th. word, of ip.omtoy .h. w oMt S Tit^^ h" •'""'
robbed «,m. one .1m who u not deaSV" Tn t~ ?'I" '""
word, wrung from her-to h.^utt^ thl . ? ''.'^ •»"''
wemed.degradationof her whole We ^'m to h.,hu.b,nd
thoee who have loved ii hideou. ?„ f^ "^ "'**°'' '«"'«•"
of g«.tne„ .„d ^ti;i^^^^^Z7Z "'^ "" "'''
wretched .eni^^?^'^ ' !!:" *'»"'^o™«d iteelf fnto
inwrd throbbing,, «.d L^ to f«? *? "^ to everything but
oontiot. She d^wW S I'w'.f" "ff** °' •°"" ^wd
oord that hung from her w«^t. 8h» .°°f i*"" ''"'*' '^"'^
.eired the rough lid of the"w th.""'"^ *° ^" '-' «"<>
go in? No. 8heolo«rtheiM T '"'"''°« "l" to
~ugh carving, and S ?t ^ ''"""°» *"' '"^'^ "P°° ""e
Then ihe remem' ered that ahe htA .mi *
«iwpment m a Pinzoohera Vh, ,i^e 1»L? T"'^^"' '""
»ell«, with small coin in it J,.h ♦ k i. *' P"'*" "' »oar-
wia.t (her florin. Md, mall t-,*^ *■»»« °° the oord at her
fatherland oouaia Brig^d" w riferr!" 'T '"* «°^-
•«gemantle)_andon^eotW.i^ ^ ^"t'"""* "">« ^er
It did not^K^our to nlolt " .h« ir"''i'^« *^'' "^■
.ide. that «,mething else Al^ tt^'"'^ *^t' """^ '"^ >"«
be nece^ary to enable ber t^ ^t a Pifi^r"'' "?'"'?•
her whole air and exDre.«irm „-. »,5'f«»l'era, and that
tboee of a .ist™ wKve^J"'' "* ^''^Z « Po«"ble like
wbc«e lip. were J^a^^^lt ZtT^raL"" ^"^ ""^
penence prevented her from ,,w,. ■ V °°' ^" ">"-
helped her proud courawT sK"* t"^' ' «'«"''' ""^ "
ger and insult She dK t - ""^ i -eboding dan-
had ever done eiy th't I'wL * "^^ ^'°™''*^« '"""^
wive, often took ref L wfl fu f .*""'« *" '^''•- ""happy
-he knew, bu?i,Se oour es' w "''• "' '" *"« "'""^'^
had invented a lot for heS toTT.?"'' *"''"' "*«
woman in the world, Ca^^^r^Lrat'vi:.:* 1:^1^
■
m
i
1 !
\ •'
■r
■ :
!!
i
■
' i
' ;i
1
i
334
ROHOLA.
how an instrooted woman could support herself in a lonely
life there.
She was not daunted by the practical difficulties in the way
or the dark uncertainty at the end. Her life could never be
happy any more, but it must not, could not^ be ignoble. And
by a pathetic mucture of childish romance with her woman's
trials, the philosophy which had nothing to do with this great
decisive deed of hers had its place in her imagination of the
future : so far as she conceived her solitary loveless life at all,
she saw it animated by a proud stoical heroism, and by an
indistinct but strong purpose of labor, that she might be wise
enough to write something which would rescue her father's
name from oblivion. After all she was only a young girl — this
poor Romola, wiio had found herself at the end of her joys.
There were other things yet to be done. There was a
small key in a casket on the table — but now Bomola perceived
that her taper was dying out, and she had forgotten to pro-
vide herself with any other light. In a few moments the room
was in total darkness. Feeling her way to the nearest chair,
she sat down to wait for the morning.
Her purpose in seeking the key had called up certain mem-
ories which had come back upon her during the past week
with the new vividness that remembered words always have
for us when we have learned to give them a new meaning.
Since the shock of the revelation which had seemed to divide
her forever from Tito, that last interview with Dino had never
been for many hours together out of her mind. And it solic-
ited her -all the more, because while its remembered images
pressed upon her almost with the imperious force of sensations,
they raised struggling thoughts which resisted their influence.
She could not prevent herself from hearing inwardly the dying
prophetic voice saying again and again, — " The man whose
face was a blank loosed '^hy hand and departed ; and as he
went, I could see his fa< j, and it was the face of the great
Tempter. ... And thou, R' ola, didst wring thy hands and
seek for water, and there was none . . . and the plain was
bare and stony again, and thou wast alone in the midst of it.
And then it seemed that the night full, and I saw no more."
She could not prevent herself from dwelling with a sort of
ARIADNE niSCROWNB HERSELF. 3d5
af cmzed fa <. .nation on the wasted face; on the strainme eaze
a. ihe craci ,xi on the awe which had compeUedher to Leel-
»nt' "/^''"'"'^^^•is'^d then the unbroken silence-on
all the details of the death-scene, which had seemed like a
WledT"""* ""to a world apart from that of her lifelong
But her mmd was roused to resUtance of impressions that,
from being obvious phantoms, seemed to be getting solid iu
the daylight As a strong body struggles against fumes with
the more violence when they begin to be stifling, a strong soul
struggles agamst fantasies with all the more alarmed energv
whim they threaten to govern in the place of thought
m^^r^.^l""'^! °* *^*' "''°° *° ^° "''^ ^^' "''I sor-
rows? That fitting of certain words was a mere chance; the
rest was all vague-nay, those words themselves were vwue-
they were determined by nothing but her brother's memories
and behets He believed there was something fatal in pagan
learning; he believed that celibacy was more holy than mar-
riage; he remembered their home, and all the objects in the
library; and of these threads the vision was woven What
reasonable warrant could she have had for believing in such a
vision and suiting on it? None. True as the voice of forebod-
ing had proved, Eomola saw with unshaken conviction that
to have renounced Tito in obedience to a warning Uke that
would have been meagre-hearted folly. Her trust had been
delusive but she would have chosen over again to have acted
on It rather than be a creature led by phantoms and disjointed
whispers in a world where there was the large music of rea-
sonable speech, and the warm grasp of living hands
But the persistent presence of these memories, linkinir
themselves m her imagination with her actual lot, gave her a
glimpse of understanding into the lives which had before lain
utterly aloof from her sympathy-the lives of the men and
women who were led by such inward images and voices.
If they were only a little stronger in me, " she said to her-
self, I should lose the sense of what that vision really was.
and teie It for a prophetic light. I might in time get to be a
seer of visions myself, like the Suora Maddalena, and Camill.
Suoellai, and the rest" ~uiii»
ft ■ f.'?M
■ ; ■idff .^
^4
!•'
m
;li
336
ROMOLA.
Bomola shuddered at the possibility. All the instniction,
all the main influences of her life had gone to fortify her soom
of that sickly superstition which led men and women, with eyes
too weak for the daylight, to sit in dark swamps and try to
read human destiny by the chance flame of wandering vapors.
And yet she was conscious of something deeper than that
coincidence of words which made the parting contact with her
dying brother live anew in her mind, and gave a new sister-
hood to the wasted face. If there were much more of such
experience as his in the world, she would like to understand
it — would even like to learn the thoughts of men who sank
in ecstasy before the pictured agonies of martyrdom. There
seemed to be spmething more than madness in that supreme
fellowship with suffering. The springs were all dried up
around her; she wondered what other waters there were at
which men drank and found strength in the desert. And
those moments in the Duomo when she had sobbed with a mys-
terious mingling of rapture and pain, while Fra Girolamo
offered himself a willing sacrifice for the people, came back to
her as if they had been a transient taste of some such far-off
fountain. But again she shrank from impressions that were
alluring her within the sphere of visions and narrow fears
which compelled men to outrage natural affections as Sino
had done.
This was the tangled web that Bomola had in her mind as
she sat weary in the darkness. No radiant angel came across
the gloom with a clear message for her. In those times, as
now, there were human beings who never saw angels or heard
perfectly clear messages. Such truth as came to them was
brought confusedly in the voices and deeds of men not at all
like the seraphs of unfailing wing and piercing vision — men
who believed falsities as well as truths, and did the wrong as
well as the right. The helping hands stretched out to them
were the hands of men who stumbled and often saw dimly, so
that these beings unvisited by angels had no other choice tian
to grasp that stumbling guidance along the path of reliance
and action which is the path of life, or else to pause in loneli-
ness and disbelief which is no path, but the arrest of inaction
and death.
THE TABERNACLE UNLOCKED. 337
And so Romola, seeing no ray across the darkness and
Wj^ with oonfliot that changed nothing, sank at Ust t^
CHAPTEB XXXVII.
THE TABEBKACLE UNLOCKED.
BoMOLA was waked by a tap at the door. The cold light
of early morning was in the room, and Maso was come fn!
the travelling-wallet. The old man' could n^ IZsZt
^n she opened the door, and showed him, ins ad of ttf
graceful outlme he had been used to, crowned with the wX!
nessofherhair, the thick folds of the gray m^tkand tte
p^e face shadowed by the dark cowl.
"It is well, Maso," said Eomola, trrine to sneat in fj,-.
calmest voice, and make the old man e^*" Her^J,^'
behmd yon When you get out of the gates you may go more
;& for I shall perhaps join you Jore y^ou getT W
the key which she had taken from the casket the last thine in
^Z:, I forgotten to drown it in the Amo, and it had
iTZt rriK^'^'"^ ^' """' ^^''' '""> P"'Ple *»°ie- O^e
hS'w?.^ *^t" ""'™*8"' ^°°«'1» hadfoiiditthere, and
St'rhekev"'''°"*.r"«'*^''"'^''^''««°-°f«'^^^^^^
that the key was withm reach. The cabinet on which the
tot^f the':' ';' "* V^f "^ '■'^ "<^« °^ therin X
h Ta^ S nTal^ r- ^^«? «•« P-'e "corning light fell upon
Rnmni ^ T *^^ P*"'*®^ *°™« discernible enough to
Eomoh, who knew them weU, -the triumphant Bacchus, with
iriaSe tLT ""'V''!'''^ "?««'. "l^Ping the crcJwned
Ariadne; the Loves showering roses, the wreathed vessel the
cunnmg-ey^ dolphins, and the rippled sea: all encSby !
flowery b^der, like a bower of paradise. Komola loofed at
338
ROMOLA.
1 /,
iBt
!J^-i ;
the familiar images with new bitterness and repnlsion : they
seemed a more pitiable mockery than ever on this chill morn-
ing, when she had waked up to wander in loneliness. They
had been no tomb of sorrow, but a lying screen. Foolish
Ariadne I with her gaze of love, as if that bright face, with
its hyacinthine curls like tendrils among the vines, held the
deep secret of her lifet
"Ariadne is wonderfully transformed," thought Bomola.
" She would look strange among the vines and the roses now."
She took up the mirror, and looked at herself once more.
But the sight was so startling in this morning light that she
laid it down again, with a sense of shrinking almost as strong
as that with wlpch she had turned from the joyous Ariadne.
The recognition of her own face, with the cowl about it,
brought back the dread lest she should be drawn at last into
fellowship with some wretched superstition — into the company
of the howling fanatics and weeping nuns who had been her
contempt from childhood till now. She thrust the key into
the tabernacle hurriedly : hurriedly she opened it, and took
cut the crucifix, without looking at it ; then, with trembling
fingers, she passed a cord through the little ring, hung the
crucifix round her neck, and hid it in the bosom of her mantle.
" For Dino's sake," she said to herself.
Still there were the letters to be written which Maso was to
carry back from Bologna. They were very brief. The first
said, —
"Tito, my love for you is dead ; and therefore, so far as I was yours,
I too am ^ead. Do not try to put in force any laws for the sake of
fetching me back : that would bring you no happiness. The Romola
you married can never return. 1 need explain nothing to you after the
words I uttered to you the last time we spoke long together. If you
supposed them to be words of transient anger, you will know now that
they were the sign of an irreversible change.
"I think you will fulfil my wish that my bridal chest should be sent
to my godfather, who gave it me. It contains my neddlng-clothes and
the portraits and other relics of my father and mother."
She folded the ring inside this letter, and wrote Tito's name
outside. The next letter was to Bernardo del Nero : —
Dearbst Godfather, — If I could have been any good to your life by
staying I would ikjL liavi; gutic aWAy Uj a ditttaiicu. But now I am gone.
71^^^%hl'^ -^
THE TABERNACLE PNLOCKED. S39
!^.°*^„"'' S' """"i '"d 1« you love my father, try to prevent any
be« to tell any one why. Help to cover my lot in silence I hav«
«ked that my bridal cheat should be sentto you : Jen you o^n t, yj^
will know the reason. Plea« to give all the thing, that were my
mother^, to my cousin Brigida, and ask her to forgive me for 0^^^
any words of parting to her. '^""'^
»^I^rJ'' "''' ""T^ ''"""■• "^ ^^ "''"8 1 ''»™ in life is still to
remember your goodness and be grateful to you. Romola.
Bomola put the letters, along with the crucifii, within the
bosom of her mantle, t 1 then felt that everything was done.
She was ready now to aei^art.
No one was stirring in the house, and she went almost as
qmetly as a gray phantom down the stairs and into the sileut
Btoeet. Her heart was palpitating violently, yet she enjoyed
the sense of her firm tread on the broad flags-of the swift
movement, which was like a ohained-up resolution set free at
last. The anxiety to carry out her act, and the dread of any
obstacle, averted sorrow; and as she reached the Ponte Kuba-
wnte, she felt less that Santa Croce was in her sight than that
Hie yellow streak of morning which parted the gray was getting
broader and broader, and that unless she hastened her step*
she should have to encounter faces.
Her simplest road was to go right on to the Borgo Pinti,
and then along by the walls to the Porta San Gallo, from
whirfi she must leave the city, and this road carried her by
the Piazza di Santa Croce. But she walked as steadily and
rapidly as over through the piazza, not trusting herself to look
toward the church. The thought that any eyes might be
turned on her with a look of curiosity and recognition, and
that indififerent minds might be set speculating on her private
sorrows, made Romola shrink physicaUy as from the imagina-
taon of torture. She felt degraded even by that act of her
husband from which she was helplessly suffering. 3ut there
was no sign that any eyes looked forth from windows to notice
this tall gray sister, with the firm step, and proud attitude of
the cowled head. Her road lay aloof from the stir of early
traffic, and when she reached the Porta San Gallo, it was easy
to pass while a dispute was going forward about the toll for
panniers of eggs and market produce which were just entering
840
ROHOLA.
m:
Out I Once past the houses of the Borgo, she wtnild be be-
yond the last fringe of Florence, the sky would be orood aboye
her, and she would have entered on her new life— a life of
loneliness and euduranoe, but of freedom. She had been
strong enough to snap asunder the bonds she had accepted in
blind faith : whatever befell her, she would no more feel the
breath of soft hated lips warm upon her cheek, no longer feel
the breath of an odious mind stifling her own. The bare
wintry morning, the chill air, were welcome in their severity :
the leafless trees, the sombre hills, were not haunted by the
gods of beauty and joy, whose worship she had forsaken for-
ever.
But presently the light burst forth with sudden strength, and
shadows were thrown across the road. It seemed that the
sun was going to chase away the grayness. The light is per-
haps never felt more strongly as a divine presence stirring all
those inarticulate sensibilities which are our deepest life than
in these moments when it instantaneously awakens the shadows.
A certain awe which inevitably accompanied this most mo-
mentous act of her life became a more conscious element in
Bomola'a feeling as she found herself in the sudden presence
of the impalpable golden glory and the long shadow of herself
that was not to be escaped. Hitherto she had met no one but
an occasional contadino with mules, and the many turnings of
the road on the level prevented her from seeing that Maso was
not very far ahead of her. But when she had passed Pietra
and was on rising ground, she lifted up the hanging roof of
her cowl tind looked eagerly before her.
The cowl was dropped again immediately. She had seen,
not Maso, but — two monks, who were approaching within a
few yards of her. The edge of her cowl making a pent-house
on her brow had shut out the objects above the level of her
eyes, and for the last few moments she had been looking at
nothing but the brightness on the path and at her own shadow,
tall and shrouded like a dread spectre.
She washed now that she had not looked up. Her dis-
guise made her especially dislike to encounter monks : they
might expect some pious passwords of which she knew noth-
ing, and she walked along with a careful appearance of un-
THI BLACK MABKB BBCOME MAGICAL. 341
gnise. a shame at this sturd^rjSLenL Z "^ ^^""^ **"■
rai'^Ss^-"-^'^-- - Ss^^n'e^irs:
and rest. * *^ ^^ f^^^ lier, to sit down
W cowl S^when she hl^ '"^^^ T "^ '"^'^S ""« •"^g" "^
Masoandtt^uWadi'**^ ^'"*"' ^« '"«»"'«d
forhertoorerXthem tS^""/^''" '' "" "°* I'OP'I''"'
in expectatiroThe? ' " '^'' "'"^ °^ '""^'^ P^-^^bly Sger
Me«.whUeshen.ightpausealittle. She was free and alone.
CHAPTBK XXXVIH.
TH« BIACK MABK8 BECOMI MAGICAI.
ta2.'thTrarwter^\no"Jf>^^^^^^
choice, the company dMliS-Lth«r^,'^'' "^'»
ment was the sZ or Orto^e' Ruoi^ ^'^ °^ •'°*«'*^-
the Kucellai Gardens; a^d the W^2 !f \' "^^^'^ '''y'
quite a typical Florentine Z.d^^ E™n K° ^''*^'' ^'"■
has a significance which is^Z^T' ^?° ^" ^^^^''^ "^^
Btood. it may bri^r^for^„r^*^^^,7rS°"' ' ^"'^'^^ ""'^«'-
It
342
BOHOLA.
stanoes, give it out again as a reddish pvirple dye, vety grate-
ful to the eyes of men. By bringing the excellent secret of
this dye, called oricello, from the Levant to Florence, a certain
merchant, who lived nearly a hundred years before our Ber-
nardo's time, won for himself and his descendants much
wealth, and the pleasantly suggestive surname of OrioeUari,
or Boooellari, which on Tuscan tongues speedily became
Bucellai.
And our Bemardoy who stands out more prominently than
the rest on this purple background, had added all sorts of dis-
tinction to the family name: he had married the sister of
Lorenzo de' Medici, and had had the most splendid wedding
in the memory of Florentine upholstery ; and for these and
other virtues h^ bad been sent on embassies to France and
Venice, and had been chosen Gonfaloniere ; he had not only
built himself a fine palace, but had finished putting the black
and white marble faqade to the church of Santa Maria No-
vella; he had planted a garden with rare trees, and had made
it classic ground by receiving within it the meetings of the
Platonic Academy, orphaned by the death of Lorenzo ; he had
written an excellent, learned book, of a new topographical sort,
about ancient Bome ; he had collected antiquities ; he had a
pure Latinity. The simplest account of him, one sees, reads
like a laudatory epitaph, at the end of which the Greek and
Ausonian Muses might be confidently requested to tear their
hair, and Nature to desist from any second attempt to com-
bine so many virtues with one set of viscera.
His invitation had been conveyed to Tito through Lorenzo
Tomabuoni, with an emphasis which would have suggested
that the object of the gathering was political, even if the pub-
lic questions of the time had been less absorbing. As it was,
Tito felt sure that some party purposes were to be furthered
by the excellent flavors of stewed fish and old Greek win3 j
for Bernardo Bucellai was not simply an influential personage,
he was one of the elect Twenty who for three weeks had held
the reins of Florence. This assurance put Tito in the best
spirits as he made his way to the Via della Scala, where the
classic garden was to be found : without it, he might have had
some uneasy speculation as tu whether tha idak cimpasy ho
TT-t
THK BLACK MARKS BECOMB MAGICAL. 343
« dlstiztdfr hi 3 w '"'•^'^ *» •- ^"" " -"
.uppers even in the EuoXi .^//^"T" °' ^"i-»" dull
dull philosophic sort, whe~L h^ rt '"'* ""P^^'ly of the
upon to accept an entire Sme of f^ ""' ""'^ '^'"' "'^'"d
have been ewy to hin^ but to I,/f ! ""'''"" ^"^'"^ """'d
.ame, from the origin oKht™ „?., "" "J^'""" °* «>«
thetr^tateome^phVi'Sf^r^^^^^^^^^ ripeness in
the ocTa^iSntl'lVhron' w'' "" ^'^ '^« T'*" -"•^l
the Virgin that' 1 out^ZTr« «' '""'" "° '"""^^ "^
enough for recognition ATsuchm ?'" '"^ '""'""'ible
watch hU passage Zm „n« ?*^ ?*°*' ""^ ""o """"g to
haveobserrdXZt^Ti Z^f*" *° '^°"'" -^S^'
manUe folded round him w^foHoT-H ^T"^* ^'"^ ''>«
different form, thick-set^nTfli! • """^^^^r by a very
hat. The con uSontSft hatte'tTuT *""" ^ '«''
"ince there were many pLsen^I™ »i 1 ""'*™'''>»°''«'
hour. But when ^^ ! . \'°°8 **« ^''^ets at this
gardens, the Sre 1 K. h'1' «''" "^ ""' Kucella
smaUerdoorof ttegat! wasK t' ?' '^^'"O' »
-rvant, who, in the C^X o^SnS ^'^ °""' "^ '"">
had not yet closed it since the I«f . ° , ^^ *° ""°* question,
rapidly, giving his „re S^S'se^ Z' ^'*°*"™*'^ '"
tween the evergreen bushes rt,«r.>.!,?°u' ^^ P"'"°8 on be-
light. The folWer ^Z Tt^°'"' "^^ """«^ ^ *^'> '""b-
; Your name?" said the servant.
Baldassarre Calvo," was the immediate answer
You are not a guest; the guests have all^^J^ »
I belong to Tito Melema, who has <.,»/„/? .
wait in the gardens." ^ 8°°« ""■ I am to
The servant hesitated " t t,o,i « j
Are you a servant o7 Messer tS " ''"'"''""'' ""'^ ^«»*«-
"No, friend, I am not a servant, I am a scholar »
fai?'r;:errus-et:s«°? -v"- ^ "-
L-dh-dth^rrii-r^^^Baii:^^^^^^^^^^
disappeared JoTg SSng > Xt '"""' ^. « ^« ^
M4
ROMOU.
ThoM nadjr and firm aniwcTS argued a great change in Bal-
daiaarre since the laat meeting face to face with Tito, when
the dagger biolce in two. The change had declared itaelf in a
startling way.
At the moment when the shadow of Tito passed in front of
the hovel aa he departed homeward, Baldassarre was sitting in
that state of after-tremor known to every one who is liable to
great outbursts of passion : a state in which physical power-
lessness is sometimes accompanied by an exceptional lucidity
of thought, as if that disen^igemeot of excited passion had
carried away a fire-mist and left clearness behind it. He felt
unable to rise and walk away just yet; his limbs seemed be-
numbed; he w^s cold, and his hands shook. But in that
bodily helplessness he sat surrounded, not by the habitual
dimness and vanishing shadows, bnt by the clear images of
the past; he was living again in an unbroken course through
that life which seemed a long preparation for the taste of bit-
terness.
For some minutes he was too thoroughly absorbed by the
images to reflect on the fact that he saw them, and note the
fact as a change. But when that sudden clearness had trav-
elled through the distance, and came at last to rest on the
scene just gone by, he felt fully where he was : he remem-
bered Monna Lisa and Tessa. Aht Ae then was the mysteri-
ous husband; he who had another wife in the Via de' Bardi.
It was tin.e to pick up the broken dagger and go — go and
leave no trace of himself ; for to hide his feebleness seemed
the thing' most like power that was left to him. He leaned to
take up the fragments of the dagger; then he tnmed toward
the book which lay open at his side. It was a fine large
manuscript, an odd volume of Fausanias. The moonlight was
upon it, and he could see the large letters at the head of the
page:—
MESSHNIKA. Kff.
In old days he had known Fausanias familiarly ; yet an
hour or two ago he had been looking hopelessly at that page,
and it had suggested no more meaning to him than if the let-
ters had been black weather-marks on a wall; but at this mo-
THE BLACK MARKS BBCOMIS MAOIOAI, 345
iBw«dly. H. L L "S; of 'trStor'r:' '• ""*
stoned by a whole i«m-.I« .i,„ I v • * ""'*"' Arwtocrates—
W Time had brought^hZ wTftoT"^°"''"^«
word, arose within hL and .ti^!?' f , '"'J""- ^ho
memory. He forgot^kt he wrold^r"'/.' "',''™**°"'' "^
ahouted. The li^ht ... 1 ■ ' ''* °°^^ ^'"oii have
he etarted np with his broke' S^J rTd S td "''":'^ =
under the broad moonlight ' ""^ "•"* °"*
chSTe^n^S't/r^Kf i^"^-" -'^'^ '-1 -
about and pauwd on Ll Z ol„^ l""'/":"" «» "^''•d
-Id looked down on the TmJ^ /f """ ^<^^ «""»<''
-a. 1 p^L-to- r^i^^Li/i-sif
W day, and^hta inTh "hTero^h f b^"e^ Sle'^m^
due to his purS^ow t'. T"^""^ *^»' ''•' """'d '"b-
cities, whose^ens^o^;^>^i:Z:::r ^f^ ''"°^«''
enoe, and who felt the kee° St 7^ u''* 'if ^ ^^P"""
thegraspof language N^eS I ° 1 ^^ "" '^^^^ ^
^^-^M^Z
M6
ROMOL&.
wu being prapwred. And when the firit triumph la the cer-
tainty of recovered power had had ita way, his thoughts cen-
tred themselves on Tito. That (air, slippery viper could not
escape him now; thanks to struggling justice, the heart that
never quivered with tenderness for another had its sensitive
selfish fibres that could be reached by the sharp point of an-
guish. The soul that bowed to no right, bowed to the great
lord of mortals, Pain.
He could search into every secret of Tito's life now : he
knew some of the secrets already, and the failure of the
broken dagger, which seemed like fnutration, had been the
beginning of achievement. Doubtless that sudden rage had
shaken away the obstruction which stifled his soul. Twice
before, when his inemory had partially returned, it had been
in consequence of sudden excitation : once when he had had
to defend himself from an enraged dog : once when he had
been overtaken by the waves, and had to scramble up a rock
to save himself.
Yes, but if this time, as then, the light were to die out,
and the dreary conscious blank come back again I This time
the light was stronger and steadier; but what security was
there that before the morrow the dark fog would not be round
him again 7 Even the fear seemed lik. )K,;inning of feeble-
ness : he thought with alarm that he might aink the faster for
this excited vigil of his on the hill, which was expending his
force ; and after seeking anxiously for a sheltered comer where
he might lie down, he nestled at last against a heap of warm
garden straw, and so fell asleep.
When he opened his eyes again it was daylight. The first
moments were filled with strange bt^wilderment : he was a man
with a double identity; to which had he awaked? to the life
of dim-sighted sensibilities like the sad heirship of some fallen
greatness, or to the life of recovered power? Surely the
last, for the events of the night all came back to him : the
recognition of the page in Fausanias, the crowding resurgence
of facts and names, the sudden wide prospect which had
given him such a moment as that of the Meenad in the glori-
' ous amaze of her morning waking on the mountain-top.
He took np the book again, he read, ha remembered with-
rw^E ^
IR^wra"'
THB BLACK MARKS BECOME MAOICAI. i^;
llStVT"!!*' "\"'' • ""'*• -"d the Image, of deed. r«.
with It: he law the mention of a deed .n^T v i. Tl °""
H bMeness triumphed evervwh.™ i •. "^'* *'"°'^
itoelf all the Rood, of thlV T i'*' "' " "^"'^ !"«? *"
hen, it would n!::^ii;\%::;'i'^'»/7 ^^'t *"• ^^y- "^
awakened. It could d"T,e no tortlJ'?. t "^ f " '""^ ■'»•'"
than th, torture of .ub„;:ttrng*r Vi;://""'^'-'- «-'«'
the mdeetruotible, independent force '™'«- ^f'''^""""* felt
which knows no terror, and a^k.Zn„ \."'P'T^ '""'^n.
. -.ever-burningmotive c^tl^ rotCdX'" A^"''
m this mominir li^ht »,»,.., n, aeeire. And now
the «ne fibrea-^of'iiifrn w:rertr:;ira:d'rt*!;"
i^r/i'SLt^ - -^-^' »» Mrgiirwirt s
From that time till the evening on wkj-i, v
enter the Rucellai gardens he hy^r^'"^ "" ''V "'*'' ^^
his marrow the most sXn sh^^f drel '^'"''"^'^^"8''
to lie hard and live stintedly-reVad spet th!' "'» """t*"'
of his remaining money in buvint«nnfl^ *"*'*' P"*
«er and his thir!t wereX yoZr^xSlKt '" 'T
vengeance. He had avoi,).H „,"* ®*?"'*™ O"* an exquisite
whom he suspected of inttat wiS^ri^r'''",'" -"^ °"*'
in Tito's mind should urgrhTm^thlr A fl'T/ T "^"^
othp. counteracting measure which h»!^ * /'■ *° ''°°'<'
- .Vise. ^^o!..urZ.tvS;rz^x&
M8
ROHOLA.
shop, which he observed that Tito frequented, and he had
turned aside to avoid meeting Fiero di Cosimo.
The possibility of frustration gave added eagerness to his
desire that the great opportunity he sought should not be de-
ferred. The desire was eager in him on another ground; he
trembled lest his memory should go again. Whether from
the agitating presence of that fear, or from some other causes,
he had twice felt a sort of mental dizziness, in which the
inward sense or imagination seemed to be losing the distinct
forms of things. Once he had attempted to enter the Palazzo
Tecohio and make his way into a council-chamber where Tito
was, and had failed. But now, on this evening, he felt that
his occasion was come.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
X SUPPER IN THE KUCELLAI OABD3SN8.
On entering the handsome pavilion, Tito's quick glance
soon discerned in the selection of the guests the confirmation
of his conjecture that the object of the gathering was political,
though, perhaps, nothing more distinct than that strengthen-
ing of party which comes from good-fellowship. Good dishes
and good wine were at that time believed to heighten the oon-
scionsness of political preferences, and in the inspired ease of
after-supper talk it was supposed that people ascertained their
own opinions with a clearness quite inaccessible to uninvited
stomachs. The Florentines were a sober and frugal people ;
but wherever men have gathered wealth. Madonna deUa Goz-
zoviglia and San Buonvino have had their worshippers ; and
the Buoellai were among the few Florentine families who kept
a great table and lived splendidly. It was not probable that
on this evening there would be any attempt to apply high
philosophic theories ; and there could be no objection to the
bust of Plato looking on, or even to the modest presence of
the cardinal virtues in fresco on the walls.
That bust of Plato had been long used to look down on con-
viviality of a more transcendental sort, for it had been brourjht
m^lt ^^'fT'
A SUPPER m THE HUCBLLAI GABDENS 349
genius with io„g eurls, astonished at hTs own iw^s Jd^
forL t;! tJie prime of life, not more than foor-and-
en^' r " """r^"' ^""8'^*?' «''"«°«»Iy di^ified pTet
Of ...urse the talk wa. the Ughtest in the world while th.
►-^.,.
360
ROHOLA.
lill
brass bowl filled with scented water was passing round, that
the company might wash their hands, and rings flashed on
white fingers under the wax-lights, and there was the pleas-
ant fragrance of fresh white damask newly come from France.
The tone of remark was a very common one in those times.
Some one asked what Dante's pattern old Florentine would
think if the life could come into him again under his leathern
belt and bone clasp, and he could see silver forks on the table?
And it was agreed on all hands that the habits of posterity
would be very surprising to ancestors, if ancestors could only
know them.
And while the silver forks were just dallying with the ap-
petizing delicacies that introduced the more serious business
of the supper — such as morsels of liver, cooked to that exquis-
ite point that they would melt in the mouth — there was time
to admire the designs on the enamelled silver centres of the
brass service, and to say something, as usual, about the silver
dish for confetti, a masterpiece of Antonio PoUajuolo, whom
patronizing Popes had seduced from his native Florence to
more gorgeous Borne.
"Ah, I remember," said Niccol6 Bidolfi, a middle-aged
man, with that negligent ease of manner which, seeming to
claim nothing, is really based on the lifelong consciousness of
commanding rank — " I remember our Antonio getting bitter
about his chiselling and enamelling of these metal things, and
taking in a fury to painting, because, said he, ' the artist who
puts his work into gold and silver, puts his brains into the
melting-pot.' "
" And that is not unlikely to be a true foreboding of An-
tonio's," said Giannozzo Pucci. "If this pretty war with
Pisa goes on, and the revolt only spreads a little to our other
towns, it is not only our silver dishes that are likely to go;
I doubt whether Antonio's silver saints round the altar of
San Giovanni will not some day vanish from the eyes of the
faithful to be worshipped more devoutly in the form of
^loin."
"The Frate is preparing us for that already," said Toma-
baeni. " He is telling the people that God will not have sil-
ver crucifixes and starving stomachs; and that the church is
A BUFFER W THE RUOELLAI OARDBNS 381
J^^h'^r^ri^ *"" ^'"^ "' ''°'-- -«» '^•' fi- «oid of
tie. come on Xr he^n^^fti C^""' 'f^" "«"* P««-
wine enough to ,,a«htte,^ol%^"'°'°' '^*" ''^ «a° d^ink
with roaat and L"ed » ' 'W are too soUd to be taken
wo'Sav:2LreliSrboilSt°f "^ ^"^«^ ^'«^
was in his rattling VdnTew",^ I "* Careggi, when Luig
verted the palat^fikZ'in ' , T"'*'''',"^ that nothing pef.
the saliva-Ithat's why Ten t«,k .^'°'°"' "^^ ^'^ ' "="'"Pte
only philosonhv Z7^1^.^^*°P^P^'- Scepticism is L
0% pHio.ph;;hTdrnT i^a^^:;^t^:r^ - ~-
'Nay, 'says poor Loren7oH.' mT • < ^ "* *^^ mouth.'
Luigi. Hcre'^s th^rtaS Jtepti^M T'^ °"* *"«-'
wants hotter sauce than an^of us ' ' a5 t l''"'^' '^°
opinion of hinuelf, ' flashes out I ni»,- -^^T.""^ ''*' * «*"»n8
egg of all other opinion If^T' J T^'S ^ ^^ ""^^^
immortality of hisCn versf S ,^«^"«^«'' « the
preaching friar who ZcrS'the ™ \ "I"^'^ "« «"•»
pit.' Poor Luigil hrmtodw^ .r ?'"* °* '^^ bottomless
touch nothing wfthoutcu^g-''^''^'^'* "*««' «■»' «»»
pu;cr^?t\vrdrri^Twr'"'''';r'^ *^---
bubbles. What dithyr^L wTt in^r^°r» "* '^''P-
enl fo'^te'r^a^dt', T"" '«" -' '°°" «' «
ble capon Id gaLT ^i ^^''^.'"^"*t "^^ *^« indispens=^
tabi. Spcacockrk;dTctrgrthSei:L^r-^^^^^^^^
oookmg partridges, namely, wfth th« w7 P"""' ^°^
plucked afterward as Zt L^ *? *'^*" °°' but not
bis partridges- on ^ «^^^ authority ordered concemiDg
it might Ski much rSi ' rf "P"?'' °° *^« '''^^ *«*
i*8 unboiled re^sro^eafw^Lu',,'' "^' P«a<'ocb taking
dential servanVwio w^ tTe *i ^ '''^""«'' ^ tJ'"* <=°"fi
tn« the classical thouJin^Ld 1^ „°^"l respectfully to
-e Plucked breas. U.l wZK e t2 °^ '^^1; ^S
.. -5..
...J
8S3
ROHOLA.
slioe to each of the honorable company, unless tmj one should
be of so independent a mind as to decline that expensive
toughness and prefer the vulgar digestibility of capon.
Hardly any one was so bold. Titu quoted Horace and dis-
persed his slice in small particles over his plate; Bernardo
Bucellai made a learned observation about the ancient price of
peacocks' eggs, but did not pretend to eat his slice; and
Niocol6 Bidolfi held a mouthful on his fork while he told a
favorite story of Luigi Pulci's, about a man of Siena, who,
wanting to give a splendid entertainment at moderate expense,
bought a wild goose, out oft its beak and webbed feet, iir.J
boiled it in its feathers, to pass for a peahen.
In fact, very little peacock was eaten; but there was the
satisfaction of sitting at a table where peacock was served
up in a remarkable manner, and of knowing that such caprices
were not within reach of any but those who supped with the
very wealthiest men. And it would have been rashness to
speak slightingly of peacock's flesh, or any other venerable
institution, at a time when Fra Oirolamo was teaching the dis-
turbing doctrine that it was not the duty of the rich to oe
luxurious for the sake of the poor.
Meanwhile, in the chill obscurity that surrounded t cen-
tre of warmth, and light, and savory odors, the lonei/ dis-
owned man was walking in gradually narrowing circuits. He
paused among the trees, and looked in at the windows, which
made brilliant pictures against the gloom. He could hear the
laughter; he could see Tito gesticulating with careless grace,
and hear his voice, now alone, now mingled in the merry con-
fusion of interlacing speeches. Baldassarre' s mind was highly
strung. He was preparing himself for the moment when he
could win his entrance into this brilliant company; and he
had a savage satisfaction in the sight of Tito's easy gayety,
which seemed to be preparing the unconscious victim for more
effective torture.
But the men seated among the branching tapers and the
flashing cups could know nothing of the pale fierce face that
watched them from without. The light can be a curtain as
well as the darkness.
And the talk went on with more eagerness as it became less
....je.
f ii»».
A SUPPER m THI HUCBLLAI GARDENS 353
tioB, the talk a^„ CZS^MTrT,""^"^-
senrants remained present it wl.^ ^"'' ''^'^^ *•>«
been done in the Pa W on tlTfi .^"^ «r''P= "^^ l>»d
Great Council; howhoT-teZ«^ Awt day's voting for the
Valori was, as if hi wl to hav« .""^ domineering Francesco
right of hii auste™ vTZfi wTwa^^f, '' V"° """^ ''^
who heard Soderini's «i^2,hl -7 ^ «lear to everybody
and also heTd tte Zt" *" *"'" °^ *« O™"' CouncU
kneaded in tTe's^e^S' '"™''"' *""' """^ "~« ^"^
==^^:nh^r-^2-B
s«H:^dFH^--^-s
Untonio Soderfntwhrhi ?^ ?onV„ " "* "'''^^ '^''^ ^"S""
-J'^lleroftrrts^a^rnor' Tr"^' ''^^ *•">
~"nd, "whether ToZellCinriL not""' "^- ^'^
to the Frata for fh<. „ « ""aeoted or not, we are indebted
With the ^^el:of'k!cZlr'^T^'^^'''" r ■^--^
out the fear of (itui .„-! *i: ^" ^''* ^*^« done with-
a mjorirof bS W \ut r/' "r'" '''"^ P-^-i "y
oar liediTean heads sCd S a folZ '''"'^"'P''""''"' *^^*
on our shoulders and fW ! T *° """am comfortably
o^er our p^Sr"; t^n^ r ""^"^ ""^ '^ ""iged to hand
ur ^perty in hnes, has my warm approval, and it is
864
ROUOLA.
i I
my belief that nothing but the Frate's predominanoe eonld
hare prooured that for us. And you may rely on it that Fra
Girolamo is as firm as a rock on that point of promoting
peace. I have had an interview with him."
There was a murmur of surprise and curiosity at the farther
end of the table; but Bernardo Rncellai simply nodded, as if
he knew what Tomabuoni had to say, and wished him to go
on.
"Yes," proceeded Tomabuoni, "I have been favored with
an interview in the Frate's own cell, which, let me tell you,
is not a common favor; for I have reason to believe that even
Francesco Valori very seldom sees him in private. However,
I think he saw me the more willingly because I was not a
ready-made follower, but had to be converted. And, for my
part, I see clearly enough that the only safe and wise policy
for ns Mediceans to pursue is to throw our strength into the
scale of the Frate's party. We are not strong enough to make
head on our own behalf; and if the Frate and the popular
party were upset, every one who hears me knows perfectly
well what other party would be uppermost just now : Nerli,
Alberti, Pazzi, and the rest — Arraibiati, as somebody chris-
tened them the other day — who, instead of giving us an am-
nesty, would be inclined to fly at our throats like mad dogs,
and not be satisfied till they had banished half of us."
There were strong interjections of assent to this last sen-
tence of Tomabuoni' s, as he paused and looked round a mo-
ment.
"A wise dissimulation," he went on, "is the only course
for moderate rational men in times of violent party feeling.
I need hardly tell this company what are my real political at-
tachments : I am not the only man here who has strong per-
sonal ties to the banished family ; but, apart from any such
ties, I agree with my more experienced friends, who are allow-
ing ma to speak for them in their presence, that the only last-
ing and peaceful state of things for Florence is the predomi-
nance of some single family interest. This theory of the
Frate's, that we are to have a popular government, in which
every man is to strive only for the general good, and know no
party names, is a theory that may do for some isle of Cristo-
A SUPPER m THE RUCELLAI GARDENS 365
patienoeand cau«on wfwf! r"' T* '*'°" '"»«' «-<»-•'>>
change in our W M v-t"^ '''''^'"' °' determining the
will L z zx::^^z^xi ^: iti z '-'' '"
nt•aTe.^^"7• '' -""1 "erbLl flag fTn:*^" ""^
"wiit ;r'sar2srLSt^' tvr ^^"^^^- --
glory of God, a^dw^Kv^v''"*'' *°' "°*^^8 »>"' tl'e
«the^, andt^raa'i^Ti eeoSl'^srtruUV' ^^ ^""^
the Magnificent Eight, their day wilTnot LlT'*^ " ^"^^^^^
all the talk of scholars hZ» 'ill not be a long one. After
one where men XwLt fir ^."* 'T T" °* «''-«'»ment:
men show thel t^^g^e 'aldlk Te ;t%'f °"«"''«"
XheyMlgettheirGrea?^'L:^u£ly ttSll*'' '''"^^^^^^
certain enough-and they'll thin wi''^ .J to-morrow_that's
of government, b^^aa snre^'f.*^'^" ^v""*^""' »"'''' Pl^
every lucco in the 0001^:^^^;!^ tZZt. ""'^'
il/and fotwing w?o UvT^f:^'* "T'^'J ^ ""« "^ f"^-
stancyand on therstrcHnf toT- T"*^^* °" '^"^'^ ''°°-
with a fine net to catehtZs in ae » rt *^ «° ''■''""*^«
I say franklv that „ ft. T i ^ ^ *""' ''''^ '^°<=tor8 of law.
tom^owZnt^Idxin "^ ^^ '^' ^ "l^^ll be true
on political rStTteU me wh T-^!i'"'" ""^ "I'^k-mark
% friend Ber^Ldo ScXf We "is^' '^' "'"''" "*'^-
know, and I have r,n^hfZ^- f * "'*'» °^ '«asons, I
-pun'reasons t me so SThe rT^^^''' ^^''^^ «"-
actions as a man offli^ f { "f * "'*''^''™ ^'"^ my
connections.^' "'^ ''^^ ^"^ *"*'' *» ''eep with h^
^^"'^I'llSliilr'''''^'':" ^^'^ Bernardo Eu-
a tormai dagmty, m amusing contrast with Ei-
S56
ROMOLA.
dolfi's curt and pithy eaae, " I may take this opportunity of
saying, that while my wishes are partly determined by long-
standing personal relations, I oannot enter into any positiTe
sohemus with persons over whose actions I have no control.
I myself might be content with a restoration of the old order
of things; but with modifications — with important modifica-
tions. And the one point on which I wish to declare my con-
currence with Lorenzo Tomabuoni is, that the best policy to
be pursued by our friends is, to throw the weight of their in-
terest into tiie scale of the popular party. For myself, T
condescend to no dissimulation ; nor do I at present see the
party or the scheme that commands my full assent. In all
alike there is crudity and confusion of ideas, and of all the
twenty men wh9 are my colleagues in the present crisis, there
is not one with whom I do not find myself in wide disagree-
ment."
Kiccol6 Sidolfi shrugged his shoulders, and left it to some
one else to take up the ball. As the wine went round the
talk became more and more frank and lively, and the desire
of several at ouce to be the chief speaker, as usual, caused the
company to break up into small knots of two and three.
It was a result which had been foreseen by Lorenzo Toma-
buoni and Giannozzo Pucci, and they were among the first to
turn aside from the highroad of general talk and enter into a
special conversation with Tito, who sat between them ; gradu-
ally pushing away their seats, and turning their backs on the
table and wine.
"In truth, Melema," Tomabuoni was saying at this stage,
laying o'he hose-clad leg across the knee of the other, and
caressing his ankle, " I know of no man in Florence who can
serve our party better than you. You see what most of our
friends are : men who can no more hide their prejudices than
a dog can hide the natural tone of his bark, or else men whose
political ties are so notorious that they must always be objects
of suspicion. Giannozzo, here, and I, I flatter myself, are able
to overcome that suspicion ; we have that power of conceal-
ment and finesse without which a rational cultivated man,
instead of having any prerogative, is really at a disadvantage
compared with a wild bull or a savage. But, except yourself.
A SUPPER a TBI BCOELLAI OARDBKB. »7
to h.yo . .harp miod inT^'S Bhl^ft ?*.T "°" '^^*
«oul in norenoe who could undrriTt??; ^"^ ""*» " »»* •
ney to Rome, for exaZTe w"a»^« ! '""'r™ "^- ''^ J"""
There ia you; .eholaSi'' Jhth m '^« ""^"^ thatyou'o«..
fooh journeys; and wW i, be£,T.«'^'^'' ^ * P™*~' '<»
it would be harder to matohZ^ ', 'v ^°" *»^*°'' '^""i
Maeohiavelli -ight havrdont^or^r^te '\::^t ^"^^
Bide, but hardly so well H« i. ZL t ..* '^ '*«° »■> <»'
and ha. not /our Xer rf JL T^ ""*° ''"> """on.,
W«. Heha.^lostaCrt^J™ ",r ^ «>« 'ors. for
"Te.,'' BaidTorn%Cf'reZ.S™'^'^'''"««°'"-"
manner, "yon have only to nllv 1 "^ '° ' "«°^"»"t
and the future belong^ to^ ^^l^^T ^T- '""' ^^"^"""^
upon i,, will keep a foot £ i,mf L^ltu :J W -'^ «"y
the tame may not ba f«i. «» - 1, ^v "* '" Horence^ and
finer career for thTJ^rff !" ""'^ ''^^ ^ ""e to make a
day.. ^yluSt^ouXor.*"" f'' •"•* - »''
•fdinal'. hat at the end of S ^ . T' '^'^' ^'"'™''' *
i.d:ss"r:i':^rut':„:hi[s„^:' ^"^v^** ^ <-•* »«
income of an abbey" o h«M - *" """*• ^ ^''^'^ «>•
the trouble of gettiL Jy he^i 1,''°"'°''°'^'' ''**<'»'
present." * ^ ''"^ "'^^•^ ^onld satisfy me at
orders. But we'll talk of fW !u •*"" "* *" taking
iectstobefirsrb^Lt^J.S,^^''"^ ,y°'^'o^
fidence of the men y.hT ^ ^i^\T^'^^^ T ^^ '^•
«ia.noz.and X -all do.Tut^ m'^^J .^i" S!
m*^^W
858
ROHOLA.
111
we oan, beoanM you are leu obeerred. In that w%j joa can
get a thorough knowledge of their doingi, and yoi) wilt make
a broader icreen for your agency on our tide. Nothing, of
course, oan be done before yon start for Borne, because this
bit of business between Piero de' Medici and the French
nobles must be effected at once. I mean when you come back,
of course; I need say no more. I believe you could make
yourself the pet votary of San Marco, if you liked; but you
are wise enough to know that effective dissimulation is never
immoderate."
" If it were not that an adhesion to the popular side is
necessary to your safety as an agent of our party, Tito mio,"
said Oiannozzo Puoci, who was more fraternal and less pat-
ronizing in his manner than Tornabuoni, " I could have wished
your skill to halve been employed in another way, for which it
is still better fitted. But now we must look out for some
other man among us who will manage to get into the confi-
dence of our sworn enemies, the Arrabbiati ; we need to know
their movements more than those of the Frate's party, who
are strong enough to play above-board. Still, it would have
been a difficult thing for you, from your known relations with
the Medici a little while back, and that sort of kinship your
wife has with Bernardo del Nero. We must find a man who
has no distinguished connections, and who has not yet taken
any side."
Tito was pushing his hair backward automatically, as his
manner was, and looking straight at Puoci with a scarcely per-
ceptible smile on his lip.
"No qeed to look out for any one else," he said promptly.
" I oan manage the whole business with perfect ease. I will
engage to make myself the special confidant of that thick-
headed Dolfo Spini, and know his projects before he knows
them himself."
Tito seldom spoke so confidently of his own powers, but he
was in a state of exaltation at the sudden opening of a new
path before him, where fortune seemed to have hung higher
prizes than any he had thought of hitherto. Hitherto he bad
seen success only in the form of favor; it now flashed on him
in the shape of power— of such power as is possible to talent
A StTPPKR w THB RtrOEtl^i ^^^^^ ^
Hi. pcition ., aniuten hi.^!S-ff '*°°""' '••P"«'«" on him
tauuiformed into .dv^SL h"w '°°''"'' "*'• ""ddenly
hi. own .droitnew in ttfJic^oT! ""'"^ "OMoiou. of
died on to play. And all a^ 1 . ' «*"' '^^t he w««
■n«d.Tito,h,^nk'frcaltiptdSha:'""' ^'«'" ^-
M « tempting game had beenllT \! ,**"' '*'o" him
.uooessive falsitie, of hi. S^ ^^^ '*""8'«' ^ '■*"' by the
" t ii;TmtkXfc?r' °" ^i"^'^'"^ -'-.
th. race; «.d tohave once TteTth. ' ""^ *"^''^°'" ^°'
we .hould always be noble ^t T?^^ "?",■" "'"''° ^^
of an opposite tradition : he had wo^^ '"" ^'^'^S ""> "ff-''
■r orfX"-* -'^--- wi^nritra
inSsVarfrth-^a 'art'' '^'^ ^* -
oa^e from the listeners in the p^t^" w^o ^ ^ '^""'^''""'"*
talkers should tire themselves aT'.h T !***'' ^'"" ""e
that there had been enough of ^vt^ 'IT '' ''•* «8'««d
ordered new flasks of uTtet^^o"' '^' ''"'^"^ ""^ J«*
ther,''^r^a"^Satrro""°;r^'' '''^^'- -^'-
I think you are thToh er fc'^lf,'' *^» *»"«■ "Melema.
, 'Ah,yest» «udGiLS!'^u:o?!';^''""'«l"te.» "•
from Poliziano's • Orfeo ' th^^Z^^' i^" **' ^"»* ohorus
'»t measure for, Z^^e ^'^mZfT' '""' "^ «-^-
"'Cla«anMgua,oBacco, te-
Bsoco, Bacco, evo«, evoAl'"
questioning and answJrtgw^nt on^ t ""'" '"^ued
touched the lutein a proTudr<rlv..r'^ *''°'' ''•'*'« Tito
»ud aiere was a oonfuZ o^fplllt "'"^ °* «"« «horu«,
round the table. Bemwdo Rn^ii ?\ ^"""^ humming all
ment,MeIema," buT^^tofrhad f"' ""u" "^«''amo-
"""" had been unheard by Tito,
ify-^mem.m
m
ROMOU.
|i
who WM iMtning toward Pnooi, ud linging low to hia tb*
phniet of th« Maoad-ohorui. He notioed nothing until the
ban round the table raddtnlj otwad, and the notei of hla
own Toioc, with ite toft low-toned triumph, " Eto^ eroil " fell
in ttartling iiolation.
It wai a ftrange moment Baldanarre had moved round
the table till he wat oppoiite Tito, and aa the hum oeaaed
there might be aeen for an initant Baldaiiarre'i fierce dark
eyes bent on Tito's bright smiling unoonsciouaneaa, while the
\o\. notot of triumph dropped from his lips into the silence.
Tito looked up with a slight start, and his lips turned pale,
but he seemed hardly more moved than Oiannozzo Pucoi, who
had looked up at the same moment — or even than several
others round tiie table; for that sallow deep-lined face with
the hatred in its eyes seemed a terrible apparition across the
wax-lit ease and gayety. And Tito quickly recovered some
self -command. "A mad old man — he looks like it — he u
mad I " was the instantaneous thought that brought some cour-
age with it ; for he could conjecture no inward change in Bal-
dassarre since they had met before. He just let his eyes fall
and laid the lute on the table with apparent ease; but his fin-
gers pinched the neck of the lute hard while he governed his
head and his glance sufRciently to look with an air of quiet
appeal toward Bernardo Bucellai, who said at once,
" Good man, what is your business? What is the important
declaration that you have to make? "
" Messer Bernardo Bucellai, I wish you and your honorable
friends to know in what sort of company you are sitting.
There is a traitor among you."
There was a general movement oi alarm. Every one pres-
ent, except Tito, thought of politioai danger and not of pri-
vate injury,
Baldassarre began to speak as if he were thoroughly assured
of what he had to say; but, in spite of his long preparation
for this moment, there was the tremor of overmastering ex-
citement in his voice. His passion shook him. He went on,
but he did not say what he had meant to say. As he fixed
his eyes on Tito again the passionate words were like blows —
they defied premeditation.
tjmm:.^-%zm
th.t hi. .night t,,, pUIow J^d v^T .^-^ ''« >»i« hud
nied me." ^ "■" ^"•n I <i«me «g,in, he Je-
uS! «d riiJX^ur^.:^ '^-"- --'--^ •«'■
It w., . moment of de,l;«Ton^f « k^"" " »'"'1'«*'".
W«. .xo.pt the determ?„:Cto^;k«"'^!«'e<l all feeling i„
of e«o.p«. And he gathered conflH •°j"'"'8 f°' 'he chance
which Baldasaarre w!S ,vZuv1h.T '"S ''" '«'*»«°» by
pmoh the neck of tie luj "Vt J^""; ^\^ "^--ed ti
hi. belt, while hi. lip. had b^Z to^, '^•' ?" "'"■"'>. into
had never yet done L act of^„!^ '"""' ' '"s'^' ""d- He
.maUeet animal that^?d uL?.^ "I' "'""""y "'"» t° the
would have been capaW^ of <^J^' "'{i *'?' " ««' moment he
^■SaVr rr^-l^^- -SeS" '""' '^^ • •'^•
in .S:'ofruSrs5rTi"'^'*,,^"'-^° «-"»i.
"oapany, felt relievedXr'the 1« !f .." "*' "'* °' 'J''
not political. * """^ o' the aoonwtion waa
norenoe, but I knowTow tha^he ^h «"'°""t«'«d me in
accompanied me and my aTlv- *^k ""''"' ''*'° y«ar. ago
dismissed on accouneoKreLoSau """^^ ""^ ^
Nola. Even at that time I S.Ze h«^"T'"''^'"»P°''i
'or, without any reason he h!i ''? """"^ ''as unhinged,
Wdme, and^'ri°i^„:°X;t ' T^'' ^'''™^
a »uu»a which causes him to m°^^hV'"~"°«'""l"
almdy attempted my lif, nee he^''?^''>'l''»«ty- He has
C ^, "--tant danjer from hL ^iTw ^'°''°''«' '^"
P% rather than of indignation it TJ" ".*" °''J'«* «'
«**-
<■'■
363
ROHOLA.
oomeTS for l^ie last month with the purpose of assassinating
me; or how far it is probable that, if this man were my sec-
ond father, I could have any motive for denying him. That
story about my being rescued from beggary is the vision of a
diseased brain. But it will be a satisfaction to me at least if
yon will demand from him proofs of his identity, lest any
malignant person should choose to make this mad impeach-
ment a reproach to me."
Tito had felt more and more confidence as he went on ; the
lie was not so difficult when it was once begun ; and as the
words fell easily from his lips, they gave him a sense of power
such as men feel when they have begun a muscular feat suc-
cessfully. In this way he acquired boldness enough to end
with a challenge for proofs.
Baldassarre, while he had been walking in the gardens and
afterward awaiting in an outer room of the pavilion with the
servants, had been making anew the digest of the evidence he
would bring to prove his identity and Tito's baseness, recalling
the description and history of his gems, and assuring himself
by rapid mental glances that he could attest his learning and
his travels. It might be partly owing to this nervous strain
that the new shock of rage he felt as Tito's lie fell on his ears
brought a strange bodily effect with it: a cold stream seemed
to rush over him, and tiie last words of the speech seemed to
be drowned by ringing chimes. Thought gave way to a dizzy
horror, as if the earth were slipping away from under him.
Every one in the room was looking at him as Tito ended, and
saw that the eyes which had had such fierce intensity only a
few minutes before had now a vague fear in them. He
clutched the back of a seat, and was silent.
Hardly any evidence could have been more in favor of Tito's
assertion.
"Surely I have seen this man before, somewhere," said
Tornabuoni.
" Certainly you have," said Tito, readily, in a low tone.
"He is the escaped prisoner who clutched me on the steps of
the Duomo. I did not recognize him then ; he looks now more
as he used to do, except that he has a more unmistakable air
of mad imbecility."
hm.
A SUPPER m THE RtTCKLLAI GARDEKS 363
BuiaTU ltur/a:^T,t^:'-V' said Be.ardo
•ome positive teat of the faoi^' tZ, ^ "' "«''* *° '^''''^^
hesaid/afyouarethepe^tyouSLrj."/*" '^''™'
less give some description of t^! t^ "*•' y"" <»° "Jonbt-
Messer Tito-the chief rC, T ,1,; """'V-^a" one gem from
of them is a fine sard, eSved J r* "" u" '"'"*''*'°°- 0°«
H, as you allege, you a^eTL^ 7 *i"''J'"'* ^™"' Homer,
of that ring, you crd^btU turn t'l*'^ "«''*^'^ °-°«
Homer from which that subW^«?.v ^'t.'^'^ P'^^'ge in
tost^ Melema? or have yorinythif^^^^^^ „ °° '"'' '"'<"'?' t^"*"
lidity? The Jacopo you snr/of £ \""*8^ ^8"^'' *'» ^a-
It was a fearful^oriS tL ' SL'"' ".^t°^"^"
mmd told Wmthathewonldshaketleo^K- !''■''« '"•''"^
J he .id "No," he risked evT^tt ""^'bility of his story:
of Baldassarre's ilhtaL %TiT ""^ ""'=*^'» «'*«°*
Florentine Homer^ his Z'^ bT" '""^ ^**^ *« fi°e
addressed, had turned hTs h»H . ^*^^«««'«. "hen he was
ceUai beliivod thaHe i" 2r,^:i°;"l^' '^'^''' """i ««■
repeat what he had saif th^ th« ■ ^.""u ^"* ^^ "^ose to
the test. ' *^** *''«^« ""igit be no mistake as to
wiih'asuSt'fr^mS'e,'"' f^'"'" » «"« -ard, engraved
aembling it in Messer S coition"" w^,"*'"' "* "" ^■
Horror p^XcedXlfeLZrof T '""^ ^"' -^««<^
i»g din in the earsCrtetartlv " °^i'°''^''''' """^ ""m-
hin. : he was aware 4aTsomethW 'I °^ '^"* '"^ »«'<> to
Wm to prove his ideftfty bTSfoTreH^"'*.'^'"'^''*'' ^-"
the details. The si<rht of T. Ciu "* "" '**«'Mct idea of
ing and faint hope £ he^ ^^ T^^"^ *^« ^«Mtual long-
-ved toward r<£^£St:;' "«* "»<»-*-«•. -d h^
s^'m^^m.^
:,.
i
1:
1' ;
SM
ROHOLA..
The book was open before him, and ha bent his head a litQe
toward it, while everybody watched him eagerly. ^ He turned
no leaf. His eyes wandered over the pages that lay before
him, and then fixed on them a straining gaze. This lasted
for two or three minutes in dead silenoe. Then he lifted his
hands to each side of his head, and said, in a low tone of de-
spair, "Lost, lostl"
There was something so piteous in the wandering look and
the low 017 that while they confirmed the belief in his mad-
ness they raised oompassion . Kay, so distinct sometimes is
the working of a double ■ iousuess within us, that Tito
himself, while he triumpheu la the apparent verification of
his lie, wished that he had never made the lie necessary to
himself — wished he h^d recognized his father on the steps
wished he had feone to seek him — wished everything had been
different. But he had borrowed from the terrible usurer
Falsehood, and the loan had mounted and mounted with the
years, till he belonged to the usurer, body and soul.
The compassion excited in all the witnesses was not with-
out its danger to Tito ; for conjecture is constantly guided
by feeling, and more than one person suddenly conceived that
this man might have been a scholar and have lost his faculties.
On the other hand, they had not present to their minds the
motives which could have led Tito to the denial of his bene-
factor, and having no iU-will toward him it would have been
difficult to them to believe that he had been uttering the basest
of lies. And the originally common t^pe of Baldassarre's
person, coarsened by years of hardship, told as a confirmation
of Tito's.lie. If Baldassarre, to begin with, could have uttered
precisely the words he had premeditated, there might have
been something in the form of his accusation which would
have given it the stamp not only of true experience but of
mental refinement. But there had been no ouch testimony in
his impulsive agitated words; and there seemed the very op-
posite testimony in the rugged face and the coarse hands that
trembled beside it, standing out in strong contrast in the midst
of that velret-olad, fair-handed company.
His next movement, while he was being watched in silence,
tdd against him too. He took his hands from his head, and
■^' €€ :.
A BrPPER IN THE RUCELLAl GAHDJflfS. 366
"de. Glances were inteS-d L^"^ ""'/ "^P"" "» ^8
Baldaasarre was Btiu SaT S1V"h " P."""*' ""'"■"
was susceptible to 2 impt^?„^'"' "*•*« *" 'l^oh ^e
Beet that foms no oonceS nf^^'w f^" '"™* '"^ ""■ "^ '°-
He rose from his seata^d fnii ^l*** Prompting leads to.
In two or ZTtZt^tMZ''^--\oiti,er^.
said,— "^ures Kucellai came back again, and
of 'IS'Ma^f^Sit^at'Z- ^T^'"'' ^- - 0-
Matteo to the palac^ fo, T „* ^° you think of our sending
l^m to the Sti^cW . If the "t °' "'1^ "^° """y ^"^
think there is, he will be safSrf- H ^""^' '° ''''^ « I
lum to-niorro4.» ™' *°'^''« <»" Jnqui™ about
mi assented, and the order was given.
"Aufyo" s:;Was"atlS"* 't/'" ^'^ ^''-''-ni.
And the t^ktur^T^«t^°"''i*'''™^y' M''^''""'?"
the fierceness of X sol^A™ 'kT' ^''°-''' ^^^
jectnre unfaTorable to TitorhS h^ , *''" "*<*« "' «>»-
any one present^ they were L^^ ^^"^ " "'«"'i°d of
wia-outtheaid^f n.:L'd:;Ugta^a *" «"'
looking, wild-eyed old man ol.H ,•„. . " ^''® oommon-
Uef withou. ve'^y string eicei^r'^^f^* '"'^'' """^ "^
who was enWed and disliked a!' > ^^ *'^'"«'l » ^an
and probable view of the case ^emLT'^fu""^^ congruous
the unpleasant accuser saf^out olli^. '^".T """ '«°*
antserviceable Tito just wKe wa^tL?' ''" "'^ P'"""
Of a man who ^^^S'^^^^Tl^^'T'' ^^'"^^
^v^ one was wiUingno^efa ^^Z^STC^^r^--
Tie laiges; prison in JMoranoe.
'WJ^J^
366
ROMOLA.
[ u
''i
Tito's heart was palpitating, and the wine tasted no better
to him than if it had been blood.
To-night he had paid a heavier price than ever to make
himself safe. He did not like the price, and yet it was in-
evitable that he should be glad of the purchase
And after all he led the chorus. He was in a state of ex-
citement in which oppressive sensations, and the wretched
consciousness of something hateful but irrevocable, were
mingled with a feeling of triumph which seemed to assert
itself as the feeling that would subsist and be master of the
morrow.
And it waa master. For on the morrow, as we saw, when
he was about to start on his mission to Borne, he had the aii
of a man well satisfied with the world.
CHAPTER XL.
' ■*!'
AN ARBBSTINO VOICB.
Wbbn' Bomola sat down on the stone under the cypress, all
things conspired to give her the sense of freedom and soli-
tude: her escape from the accustomed walls and streets; the
widening distance from her husband, who was by this time
riding toward Siena, while every hour would take her farther
on the opposite way; the morning stillness; the great dip of
ground on the roadside making a gulf between her and the
sombre cklm of the mountains. For the first time in her life
she felt alone in the presence of the earth and sky, with no
human presence interposing and making a law for her.
Suddenly a voice close to her said, —
"You are Romola de' Bardi, the wife of Tito Melema."
She knew the voice : it had vibrated through her more than
once before ; and because she knew it, she did Aot turn round
or look up. She sat shaken by awe, and yet inwardly rebel-
ling against the awe. It was one of those black-skirted monks
who was daring to speak to her, and interfere with her
privai^ ! that w^ all. And yet she was shaken, as if that
AN ARRB8TING VOICE ^gf
speaker, whose ezamTl7"gl°l*^;n"' *° .'''"■' «' '•'o
motionless, she said ~ resented. Sitting quite
garb, and you have nn «iT • " ® P"* °" » religious
the garb asTdisguL fc"" ^""P™'- ^""^ '"'-'' ""^g^
without being Xemed if '''? '',°* '"^f*'™'^ *° P'*^'' "•«
were: it is deolareTto 1 tw ^" """^""^ *» «« ''^o you
the lot God hS u^o^' Tou":ir "* r "^^ ^^-
your true place in Uffto^be liidde " Tw ^^ *'"' "."^^ '^'^
izt:z Tdi^: -' Seri^^^e^^^^
da^hte.you.utlelXrpSS^'*''^-''-''- ^^
tent"!: ei'thTLot T^"^ "'^'"- -«• --7 sen-
of submissbrbeotuse t^: cf """"'' '"'* *° "^"'^ -"^ "•«»
shaken made herCd WshTrT/,?' ^"^ ^^"^^
«he spoke with .oretiSortattir '" ' ^-^»*^-
-nks^ intr^^rithLrSrr^V^tl^'' "^ ^-^-^^ -^
me." •^ actions. You have no power over
ot2^^~iu:i z^rj^ """«'' "p - -o™ of
fere with you : it is the tr^h Tl """^ '^° "''^"'^ t" i°t«r-
cannot esofpe t Eir^S,*^"*"""."""'" ^''"- ^"^ y""
you, or you must dfsoty irLHt Ju If '^ '^'' '* "''' '^
weight of a chain which you ^i lZ\^« °" ?"" "'«> ">«
obey it, my daughter W^^ ^ ^°™''*- 2"* ^ou will
•*ith the mules; my «,ml2onf ''^"''^*7'" '«*«"» to you
will go back to FW^S *°"*' *" **""' ^''"; "^d you
^er.^'TtasV^iror:.^'!:- r r '•'^
^»e. ^^ewasnearlyastallashe^tlSei^flTS
kj :
8«8
ROUOLA.
it
f'1
1
(J
.4
is
M
almost on a level. She had started up with defiant words
ready to burst from her lips, but they fell back again without
utterance. She had met Fra Oirolamo's calm glance, and the
impression from it was so new to her that her anger sank
ashamed as something irrelevant.
There was nothing transcendent in Savonarola's face. It
was not beautiful. It was strong-featured, and owed all its
refinement to habits of mind and rigid discipline of the body.
The source of the impression his glance produced on Bomola
was the sense it conveyed to her of interest in her and care for
her apart from any personal feeling. It was the first time she
had encountered a gaze in which simple human fellowship ex-
pressed itself as a strongly felt bond. Such a glance is half
the vocation of bhe priest or spiritual guide of men, and Bom-
ola felt it impossible again to question his authority to speak
to her. She stood silent, looking at him. And he spoke
again.
" You assert your freedom proudly, my daughter. But who
is BO base as the debtor that thinks himself free? "
There was a sting in those words, and Bomola's countenance
changed as if a subtle pale flash had gone over it.
" And you are flying from your debts : the debt of a Floren-
tine woman; the debt of a wife. You are turning your back
on the lot that has been appointed for you — you are going to
choose another. But can man or woman choose duties? No
more than they can choose their birthplace or their father and
mother. My daughter, you are fleeing from the pcesenoe of
Otod into tiie wilderness."
As the anger melted from Bomola's mind, it had given
place to a new presentiment of the strength there might be in
submission, if this man, at whom she was beginning to look
with a vague reverence, had some valid law to show her. But
no— it was impossible ; he could not know what determined
her. Yet she could not again simply refuse to be guided; she
was constrained to plead ; and in her new need to be reverent
while she resisted, the title which she had never given him
before came to her lips without forethought.
" My father, you cannot know the reasons which compel me
to go. None can know them but myself. None can judge
.Ja M ^
AN ARRBSTmO VOICB.
869
I We beea driven by gieat .orrow. I am pesolred
for me.
to go."
not depend on S WUdr^You 1™ ^ '°"'7k''^' '^°«''
breaking a pledse Of wW .? ^ you-you are
daught^. wb^y^rn ylX7Zn^S.roroTfce7
the Chnrehwonld have toulf ''"«/"*y »* »t«grity, where
but religion." ^''* ^°" *" ""> °°* «*«8"'y °nly.
»stST' •'r^--XVo:^;era!^:.s
:S S;.rrorcor:i^Sor" " ^ --«
whe^rrro^st^^^^^^^^^^
wliom you owe the debt of a fellow-citizen."
1 should never have quitted Florpnna " ..;j u ,
you have^hved wzth thoee who sit on a hUl ^loIt.Zd^i
370
ROHOLA.
!!
I
i
-4
', '•■ .
■1
It
' 'i
'i
down on the lifa of their fellow-men. I know their vain dia-
oourse. It ia of what has been in the times which they fill
with theii own fancied wisdom, while they soorn Ood's work
in the present. And doubtless you were taught how tt -e
were pagan women who felt what it was to live for the i e-
publio; yet you have never felt that you, a Florentine woman,
should live for Florence. If your own people are wearing a
yoke, will you slip from under it, instead of struggling with
them to lighten it? There is hunger and misery in our streets,
yet you say, 'I care not; I have my own sorrows; I will go
away, if peradventure I can ease them.' The servants of God
are struggling after a law of justice, peace, and charity, that
the hundred thousand citizens among whom you were bom
may be governed righteously ; but you think no more of this
than if you were a bird, that may spread its wings and fly
whither it will in search of food to its liking. And yet yon
have scorned the teaching of the Church, my daughter. As
if yon, a wilful wanderer, following your own blind choice,
were not below the humblest Florentine woman who stretches
forth her hands with her own people, and craves a blessing for
them; and feels a close sisterhood with the neighbor who
kneels beside her and is not of her own blood ; and thinks of
the mighty purpose that Ood has for Florence; and waits and
endures because the promised work is great, and she feels her-
self little."
"I was not going away to ease and self-indulgence," said
Bomola, raising t:er head again, with a prompting to vindicate
herself. " I was going away to hardship. I expect no joy :
it is gone 'from my life."
" You are seeking your own will, my daughter. You are
seeking some good other than the law you are bound to obey.
But how will you find good? It is not a thing of choice : it is
a river that flows from the foot of the Invisible Throne, and
flows by the path of obedience. I say again, man cannot
choose his duties. You may choose to forsake your duties,
and choose not to have the sorrow they bring. But you will
go forth; and what will you find, my daughter? Sorrow
without duty — bitter herbs, and no bread with them."
"But if you knew," said Bomola, clasping her hands and
AK ARRBSTINO TOIOT. gji
me ll^Z' ' *" ""^'"'^ •"»»•""« it weaed to
by a stronger will and a 8toon^!f ""-doubt was grappled
He paused', and she ieW ZcS rLlZ/rT"
under a sudden impression of the wide SletTf '"i°«
present and her Da.tM.lf xm! \ , ," '^*'^«en her
{ravelled through^orl fi«^ "w.^ °' "^ •'«' J""!
Frate'shandsl HrWetfin ^^ ""!* """^ *"« the
Ud for W'^U ifhefyrg'^bLrets.'Irw'" t" " '*
that helped all other Buhdnin» i„fl * ^'^ » thought
movement, pr^wd «.™-^ ^ ?? " I"'"'' "^"'"ntary
at him wi^h'rr'tut^S^l^ZL'" """"^ ""^ '-""^
within you, and vortehold J,- „ !, , '^'''^''^"'^•'«"''
the light of thatZe yolwm not „«1, ''°" 't"""-"""" "^
You have carried vourselTnT^,^? ««" your offering great,
not of common bloTrS ^S rhor/hrblf toT"
enoe? Then' si^oe tt^ 1 u ""**' ^^ ^"^ *° "'"J' i" Kor-
without rellg on you 1^ n" w?^i y°" "« ''''"'"' » l»w,
when she isirbed"^:? C—X'ST " '^'* °' *'^« *'''<»
879
ROHOLA.
is;
M the history of » graat ndamption in whioh he ii hlmwU k
fellow-worker, in hit own place and among hia own peoplel
If yen held that faith, my beloved daughter, you would not be
a wanderer flying from suffering, and blindly seeking the good
of a freedom which is lawlessness. You would feel that Flor-
ence was the home of your soul as well as your birthplace, be-
cause you would see the work that was given you to do there.
If you forsake your place, who will fill it? You ought to be
in your place now, helping in the great work by which Qod
will purify Florence, and raise it to be the guide of the nations.
WhatI the earth is full of iniquity— full of groans— the light
is still struggling with a mighty darkness, and you say, 'I
cannot bear my bonds; I will burst them asunder; I will go
where no man claims me ' ? My daughter, every bond of your
life is a debt: the right lies in the payment of that debt; it
can lie nowhere else. In vain will you wander over the earth ;
you will be wandering forever away from the right."
Bomola was inwardly struggling with strong forces: that
immense personal influence of Savonarola, which came from
the energy of his emotions and beliefs; and her consciousness,
surmounting all prejudice, that his wordn implied a higher
law than any she had yet obeyed. But the resisting thoughts
were not yet overborne.
"How, then, could Bino be right? He broke ties. He
forsook his place."
" That was a special vocation. He was constrained to de-
part, else he could not have attained the higher life. It would
have been stifled within him."
" And I too," said Bomola, raising her hands to her brow,
and speaking in a tone of anguish, as if she were being dragged
to some torture. " Father, you may be wrong."
" Ask your conscience, my daughter. You have no voca-
tion such as your brother had. You are a wife. You seek to
break your ties in self-will and anger, not because the higher
life calls upon you to renounce them. The higher life begins
for U8, my daughter, when we renounce our own will to bow
before a Divine law. That seems hard to you. It is the
portal of wisdom, and freedom, and blessedness. And the
symbol of it hangs before you. Tliat wisdom is the religiOB
AIT ARRISTmo VOICB. 373
bafore the time when tht T.- ^^^'^ "*• "'•'' 'ho lived
And that isyo^rl^l^^ SVLTrd'^H T ''""'^^■'
doeed, and whoee eu is deaf t^ thl^ v Z^ ^^"^ '^^ •«
•iflee their time. Wh.t h„ T '/"f'' "' °°^ ">»' »>«» •*«
n.7 daughteT? It Ett^orji.^*^ 'if'""" '*°" '»' y-.
bor. among whom y" dweirwrti™? ' ^T* '°' *''» '"'^H^'
bj ^hioh Florence ^^to be r^. .!?" *." *'"' «'•«» ""k
holy; it haa left yoa wUhout^ *** v""^ ^^^ '"" "«de
quenche. the .en/eTSri/g SSTi^^h*'' ^''''"' "'» "^'o"
growing love. And now whfn th. '^^'^'>"> »' «» e^w-
■oul, you «iy, 'I will g^'aX^^ fl "I'*,^'" ?'•«»<» ^o"
And yon think nothing'^ftteirror...^" ""^ ''°™''
within the walls of the oi?; ^e« " r'^,,""' '^"8 ^^at are
your place empty, whenTSft: K iXr"''' '-<•
•nd your labor. If there ia wi«t J^ mied w,th your pity
•teps should shine with the h„htrfn'^»i° ^' "'"**•' '"^
of angniah, you, my <ku„hLTL ^""^i ^ **" >• » <»7
of thec:;:.L:jd Ltfit'st^^.^ri?!."""""^^
sSTi-if' -- -- a'"n:twSh^;°re»[;
j.{^SdXi:r.s.rdSS"h,t'dnr*^'*
which had abea^dv been ^^^.iT- V "''''"? '■"■ »uffering,
voice had bro^ i nTw c^r^^ ."^ ^'^ »" ""'"^
it seem impoedble to hlr ttaf h« "'*°,i" " '"«. 'bich mad!
"he had not heard it vet at !). ^\ "'"^ «° °° ''*^ '"7 « «
-Ae must take, but 'sS 'Sxtw ^' ""-'' ''^ '*'''"'• P"*
A^d the instiiictive Z^nkS f^ 1 h°' '"''. "'" ""«"•
brought doubts. She to™I^* v* "'""' ' ' *"«"• J-wband
!-o a„d sto^S for'aSrCXh''°? "^ «'™-
wg clasped before her litl ? J ^'^ ''" ''^^ds hang-
if the wC wrrriSgw^n'/ftth ^' 'r, "'"' 'P°''«' «
ground. * ^^* ^^ '^«'"' still looking on the
My hnsband hn i. j.
"My daughter, there .rLd ofT^L^^C'"...
j^^wiciBi'^jtir #'ii,>^ *r
^■1
I. i :
m
¥ H
8T4
noUGLk.
riitge U not ««ni*l only, made tor sdfldk ddlght. Bm ^hrt
thftt thought lend! you to I It l«wl« you to wandM twty in %
Um g»rb from all the obligationi of your pl»oe and n»me.
Th»t would not have bwin, if yon h»d learned that it U »
lacrameotal vow, from which none but God can releaee you.
My daughter, youi life U not as a grain of land, to be Uown
by the winda-, it ii a thing of fleeh and blood, that diee if it
be sundered. Your husband is not a malefactor? "
BomoU started. "HeaTen forbid I No; I accuse hun of
nothing."
" I did not suppose he was a malefactor. I meant, that if
he were a malefactor, your place would be in the prison beside
him. My daughter, if the cross comes to you as a wife, you
must carry it as a wife. You may say, 'I will forsake my
husband,' but yon cannot cease to be a wife."
"Yet if— oh, how could I bear " Bomola had involnn-
tarUy begun to say something which she sought to banish
from her mind again.
" Make your marriage-sorrows an offering too, my daugnter :
an offering to the great work by which sin and sorrow are
being made to cease. The end is sure, and is already begin-
ning. Here in Florence it is beginning, and the eyes of faith
behold it. And it may be our blessedness to die for it : to die
daily by the crucifixion of our selfish will— to die at last by
laying our bodies on the altar. My daughter, you are a chUd
of Florence ; fulfil the duties of that great inheritance. Live
for Florence— for your own people, whom God U preparing to
bless the earth. Bear the anguish and the smart. The iron
is sharp— I know, I know— it rends the tender flesh. The
draught is bitterness on the lips. But there is rapture in the
cup— there is the vision which makes all life below it drosi
forever. Come, my daughter, come back to your placel "
While Savonarola spoke with growing intensity, his arms
tightly folded before him still, as they had been from the fost,
but his face alight as from an inward flame, Bomola felt her-
seU surrounded and possessed by the glow of his passionate
faith. The chill doubts all melted away ; she was subdued by
th. flsnss of something nnspeakably great to which she was
being caUed by a strong being who roused a new strength
375
OOMIMO BAOK.
In.Toio,th.tw„Iik,,Iow,p„^^e,y.
witbin hemlf.
• -aiftn MtcK.
I .hould go on^d to Flo°e„o...^ *' °"^-- " ^ «"« ***
Bomola aroM from her kn«u ti,.* i .
«t SnenoLetarCr retlv. to :l\'°'r'-K. ^^ "»• °"
•wmed »> utterly bniiJj rt?f ^ '? ,\H' '""'*"'l' »"« '^
«aw Masoand the second nnmfT '^ ^ */*" °^ ''" o""'. •"d
toward her on the ^ge of^he^Tlff f "« "'"' '^•'" ^^
but she lookedat SavoL^ll !™ '^,"* *^ ^"'^* '«»» her;
order to M Jto 1^ S* tS'^L''*^;" ' »r^«. « « th^
j^^ ™rn oaok muit oome from him and not from
.piT" f^d""' S t^LLtd"'' '""""^« ^« «•-- «"
Brotheiwho iawTtTrnT^rH^""'."'^ '''"«^*«'' *° «■«
guidance, and to W that^"J "•.*°J"' ^'"^'^^ ""<>«
confide." "»e«n«n of San Marco, in whom I most
B^moCfXl.'r^'"' ^''^•"' "-* ^°-' ^»*^»." --i
"Myd.„ghter,Idonotacta.aconfe«K.r. The vocation
!i
U
87«
BOUOLA.
i1
I have withdraws me from offices that would f oree me into
frequent contact with the laity, and interfere with my special
duties."
" Then shall I not be able to speak to you in private? if I
waver, if " Romola broke off from rising agitation. She
felt a sudden alarm lest her new strength in renunciation
should vanish if the immediate personal influence of Savo-
narola vanished.
" My daughter, if your soul has need of the word in private
from my lips, you will let me know it through Fra Salvestro,
and I will see you in the sacristy or in the choir of San Marco.
And I will not cease to watch over you. I will instruct my
brother concer^ing you, that he may guide you into that path
of labor for the sufEering and the hungry to which you are
called as a daughter of Florence in these times of hard need.
I desire to behold you among the feebler and more ignorant
sisters as the apple-tree among the trees of the forest, so that
your fairness and all natural gifts may be but as a lamp
through which the Divine light shines the more purely. I
will go now and call your servant."
When Maeo had been sent a little way in advance, Fra Sal-
vestro came forward, and Savonarola led Bomola toward him.
She had beforehand felt an inward shrinking from a new
guide who was a total stranger to her: but to have resisted
Savonarola's advice would have been to assume an attitude of
independence at a moment when all her strength mus*: be
drawn from the renunciation of independence. And the whole
bent of her mind now was toward doing what was painful
rather than what was easy. She bowed reverently to Fra
Salvestro before looking directly at him; but when she raised
her head and saw him fully, her reluctance became a palpi-
tating doubt. There are men whose presence infuses trust
and reverence; there are others to whom we have need to
carry our trust and reverence ready-made : and that difference
flashed on Bomola as she ceased to have Savonarola before
her, and saw in his stead Fra Salvestro Maruffi. It was not
that there was anything manifestly repulsive in Fra Salvestro's
face and manner, any air of hypocrisy, any tinge of coarseness ;
his face was handsomer than Fra Girolamo's, hia person a
COHINO BACK.
377
large experience as a spiritual director R„f w. 7 v^ .
•»_i. • . ^' ■"* Salvestro had a oeouliar li.Kii
ui lueir age. For of these two there can be no Question whini,
was the great man and which the small ^ '"''
The difference between them was measured very aocnratelv
X her fi^ '°"^' °*. «^°t»«°° and encourageZ^r
a^. ":HriS.rmt.::^'oftinji£7-
Closing of the gray clouds over the sunrise, which made h«r
returning path monotonous and sombre
aftt'ti^H!"'^%°' •!!! '"""''™ P"*^" *^'" °" '''^ich we go back
^^^l^^^ II "f" * "'r* "^°'"*^°'' " **« ""^ that m^t
severely tests the fervor of renunciation As th^^ « «„* j
ae city gate, the light snow-flakes iSl a^ut t2^ ""°1t
tte gray sister walked hastily homeward from tte Pi^ ^
San Marco, and trod the bridge again, and turned fnTt£
I
i')
- 'h
ii^
878
ROMOLA.
lazge door in the Via de' Bardi, her footsteps were mwkad
darkly on the thin caipet of snow, and her cowl fell laden and
damp about her face.
She went up to her room, threw off her serge, destroyed the
parting letters, replaced all her pTeoious trifles, unbound her
hair, and put on her usual black dress. Instead of taking a
long exciting journey, she was to sit down in her usual place.
The snow fell against the windows, and she was alone.
She felt the dreariness, yet her courage was high, like that
of a seeker who has come on new signs of gold. She was
going to thread life by a fresh clew. She had thrown all the
energy of her will into renunciation. The empty tabernacle
remained looked, and she placed Dino's crucifix outside it.
Nothing broke the outward monotony of her solitary home,
till the nighii came like a white ghost at the windows. Yet it
was the most memorable Christmas Eve in her life to Bomola,
this of 1494.
BOOK HL
CHAPTEB XLII.
BOMOLA IN HKH PLACE.
It was the thirtieth of October, 1496. The sky that mom-
mg was clear enough, and there was a pleasant autumnal
T!^:^. , '. t^' Florentines just then thought very little
about the land breezes; they were thinking of the gales at sea.
which seemed to be uniting with all other powers to disprova
the Frate's declaration that Heaven took special care of Plor-
0D06.
For those terrible gales had driven away from the coast of
L^horn certain ships from Marseilles, freighted with soldiery
and com; and Florence was in the direst need, first of fooi
and secondly of fighting men. Pale Famine was in her streets
and her territory was threatened on aU ita borders
For the French king, that new Charlemagne, who had en-
tered Italy m anticipatory triumph, and ha.3 conquered Naples
without the least trouble, had gone away aga^n fifteen months
ago, md was even, it was feared, in his grief for the loss of a
new-bom son, losing the languid intention ot coming back
again to redrras grievances and set the Church in order A
league had been formed against him-a Holy League, with
Pope Borgia at its head-to "drive out the barbarians," who
still garrisoned the fortress of Naples. That had a patriotic
sound; but, looked at more closely, the Holy League seemed
very much like an agreement among certain wolves to drive
away al) other wolves, and then to see which among them-
salves could snatch the largest share of the prey. And there
was a general disposition to regard Florence not e3 a fellow-
wolf, but rather as a desirable carcass. Florence, therefore.
I
380
ROHOLA.
#^
m-
i
'I'
of all the chief Italian States, had alone declined to join the
League, adhering still to the French alliance.
She had declined at her peril. At this moment Fisa, still
fighting savagely for liberty, was being encouraged not only
by strong forces from Venice and Milan, but by the presence
of the German Emperor Maximilian, who had been invited by
the League, and was joining the Pisans with such troops as he
had in the attempt to get possession of Leghorn, while the
coast was invested by Venetian and Genoese ships. And if
Leghorn should fall into the bands of the enemy, woe to Flor-
ence! For if that one outlet toward the sea were closed,
hedged in as she was on the land by the bitter ill-will of the
Pope and the jealousy of smaller States, how oould succors
reach her?
The government of Florence had shown a great heart in this
urgent need, meeting losses and defeats with vigorous effort,
raising fresh money, raising fresh soldiers, but not neglecting
the good old method of Italian defence — conciliatory embassies.
And while the scarcity of food was every day becoming greater,
they had resolved, in opposition to old precedent, not to shut
out the starving country people, and the mendicants driven
from the gates of other cities, who came flocking to Florence
like birds from a land of snow.
These acts of a government in which the disciples of Sa-
vonarola made the strongest element were not allowed to pass
without criticism. The disaffected were plentiful, and they
saw clearly that the government took the worst course for the
public welfare. Florence ought to join the League and make
common cause with the other great Italian States, instead of
drawing down their hostility by a futile adherence to a foreign
ally. Florence ought t.o take care of her own citizens, instead
of opening her gates to famine and pestilence in the shape of
starvmg contadini and alien mendicants.
Every day the distress became sharper: every day the
murmurs became louder. And, to crown the difficulties of the
government, for a month and more — in obedience to a man-
date from Rome- Fra Girolamo had ceased to preach. But
on the arrival of the terrible news that the ships from Mar-
seilles had been driven back, and that no com was coming, the
BOHOLA IK HER PLACE. agj
Duomok and hLdTld thet»^r^ f^"" ^^ P">P'* °* tk'
and t,^ DiviteTwrM^ttCn.r '"'^ "^ '^"'^"*
pxe^ «.d citizenship, God'^id nT'orS'^ete'"''" "'
»o!j.:?Se "SrCS °' '"• ""^"'Mhe™ were
nea m devout procession to the Duomo that Mnfi,., • v ■
within their waUs. aTah.T^^'rj , "^ ^^ P"**"* ™a«e
Florence.^ fraternities, trades, and authorities of
But the Pitying Mother had not yet entered within the
382
BOHOLA.
walls, and the morning aioae on nnohanged miMry and de-
spondency. Pestilence was hovering in the track of famine.
Not only the hospitals were full, but the courtyards of private
houses had been turned into refuges and infirmaries ; and still
there was unsheltered want. And early this morning, as usual,
members of the various fraternities who made it part of their
duty to bury the unfrimded dead, were bearing away the
corpses that had sunk by the wayside. Aa usual, sweet
womanly forms, with the refined air and carriage of the well-
bom, but in the plainest garb, were moving about the streets
on their daily errands of tending the sick and relieving the
hungry. ^
One of these forms was easily distinguishable as Bomola de
Bardi. Clad in the simplest garment of black serge, with a
plain piece of black drapery drawn over her head, so 's to
hide all her hair, except the bands of gold that rippled apart
on her brow, she was advancing from the Ponte Vecchio
toward the Per' Santa Maria— the street in a direct line with
the bridge — when she found her way obstructed by the paus-
ing of a bier, which was being carried by members of the com-
pany of San Jacopo del Popolo, in search for the unburied
dead. The brethren at the head of the bier were stooping to
examine something, while a group of idle workmen, with fea-
tures paled and sharpened by hunger, were clustering around
and all talking at once.
"He's dead, I tell you I Meaaer Domeneddio has loved
him well enough to take him."
" Ah, and it would be well for us all if we could have our
lags stretched out and go with our heads two or three bracci
foremost! It's ill standing upright with hunger to prop
you."
"Well, well, he's an old fellow. Death has got a poor
bargain. Life's had the best of him."
"And uo Florentine, ten to one I A beggar turned out of
Siena. San Giovanni defend us! They've no need of sol-
diers to fight us. They send us an army of starving men."
"No, no! This man is one of the prisoners turned out of
the Stinche. I know by the gray patch where the prison
badge was."
ROMOLA IN HER Pi^qB.
„ - 883
K^eepquietl Lend a hand t n^^'*
"« going to lift him on the Wer? " ^°° "** *^ ^"^"^
warm if ""* °°^y »<>«>? of »«.„««rfa to
wh^}hrh;^'^r.?crthS: -^fr^: ^"-"-"^
sunk down for want of food " ^ perhaps only
wrVhTiit:,'-r;r:ii7a:k' r j^-^-^ --^"^
her belt, and, leaning toward7h« . "^''^ ^^^ ""^ed at
band she applied a 8m^r^o%t.SZ''?J~'y' ^''^ > ^"^^
and poured into the mouth a f^^^i"?* ^*'"''"' ">« teeth,
«ted: the wine was evMeutinwXwe/"'^^ ^''^ """'^l^
faU the head was moved a h«le tew.!! u ^^^ P°"«<* "O".
the old man opened full ^^nC^^tt'' '^^ f' ''^^ «>*
turning consciousness '*" ''*8°« ^°ok of re-
deep-lmed face, with the whTS wt7 "* *^' '"'"°^'
•«•">, were like an unmistat«w« ' "'' ^^ """^ 'ong
l.«Kiwriting. Th7lS.To^twi '"*°"'"" to a remembered
i»^e any fainter Xol^^ '^^'""^ ""* ""'<^"' *"■"
«»aped prisoner, whom sTetad ^ri^k'^l ^"^^ "^ ""»
when Tito first wore the armor aTwh ^'""° '•"« '''J'
with terror in the strange s^tc^^h! ^^ ^""^ ^''o '"« P»le
A wretched tremor Td pZ tetl « ^^ "f" i" Rero's studio,
perhaps, she was g„in„ toT^l ""^ '"'"• ^°^ »* lasti
more bitter than aTtha^ h^H """.' '*""' "'"'''' "-istt te
pulse to dart away as ;^^^ ^L ^T "'"•' '''' ^ ^■
more imperious need to keen pI™1 k ^f • '' *"^ agai", »
whom, the divination of keen r.,^ *'i',^'''« °^ «■'» °W man
had injured. In the vej. LSnt^ff ^ ' ^"' '*' ''"'^'^'J
eaned toward him and ke^t he^ rlh! . ", '""'^''=' "''« «»'"
ister more wine, while her 1.1 ^ ^*'"* ™"^y to admin-
Her hands trembS but hdr hT. ^/^ '""'«' *>" "'"t-
would have served to Se the J't^'/Vr'''"8 helpfulness
thought. ^ *""" ''•*''°"t the direction of her
Balda^^rre w. lookingat ^ for the first time. The close
4
-M ^
384
ROKOLA.
['■
• I
]!! ■
!■
i, .
If"
Moliuioii in which BomoU'a troable h«d kept her io the — tkl
preoeding her flight and hie eneet had denied him the op-
portunity he had sought of seeing the Wife who lived in the
Viade' Bardi; and at this moment the descriptions he had
heard of the fair golden-haired woman were all gone, like
yesterday's waves.
"Will it not be well to carry him to the steps of San
Stefano7 " said Bomola. " We shall cease then to stop up the
street, and you can go on your way with your bier."
They had only to move onward for about thirty yards before
reaching the steps of San Stefano, and by this time Baldassarre
was able bimsejlf to make some efforts toward getting off the
bier, and propping himself on the steps against the church
doorway. The charitable brethren passed on, but the group
of interested spectators, who had nothing to do, and much to
say, had considerably increased. The feeling toward the old
man was not so entirely friendly now it was quite certain
that he was alive, but the respect inspired by Bomola's pres-
ence caused the passing remarks to be made in a rather more
subdued tone than before.
" Ah, they gave him his morsel every day in the Stinche —
that's why he can't do so well without it. You and I, Cecoo
know better what it is to go to bed fasting."
" Gnaffi/ that's why the Magnificent Eight have turned
out some of the prisoners, that they may shelter honest peo-
ple instead. But if every thief is to bt) brought to life with
good wine and wheaten bread, we Ciompi had better go and
fill ourselves in Arno while the water's plenty."
Bomola had seated herself on the steps by Baldassarre, and
was saying, " Can you eat a little bread now? perhaps by and
by you will be able, if I leave it with you. I must go on,
because I have promised to be at the hospital. But I will
come back if you will wait here, ai^d then I will take you to
some shelter. Bo you understand? Will you wait? I will
come back."
He looked dreamily at her, and repeated her words, " oomo
back." It was no wonder that his mind was enfeebled by
his bodily exhaustion, but she hoped that he apprehended
her me&ning. She oonned her bssk^'*^ whinh wag fi11«H
■"r^
W IV
ROKOLA m UIR PLAOB.
J2^^pi«« Of «>ft b«.d, «d put », <rf u,, p.^ ^J^
who h«i elbowed hi. wfy ito S- ' ' "^ °*«^'-«P
— circle that was pr^C.^^^! 'Z^' ''^'' "^ »?«»»• to™
, "It anybody Un^Tn/r^*^^. "nf.°° ^""°'••
•lone. He's better off Seo^e X'~ 1^^ "''' '" ''^
aohs and no breakfast." ^ '^" ^ ""»''•■'» »tom-
oou'ri^ThSlL^Jte^fdV^if- ' T** *° '»'"'' ■''" • «"» to en-
^Jn. l4aTrir„7re5,-r '-^ - "^^ against
yo^^rintL'^lf/ntrtb? ''"I'' •'^"^'^'" "•<1 •
«gn. of want « "he ftal j^^''' "''r ^-^ "howed no
like Saint Anthony, .Id he^, Sn^lVT^'r *° ^ ^"^
"«de to feed the epar«,wraV?J^*'^'J""'^"'V''«'"
was made to feed siTsIlt^^ I!'^ «~"* Korentine citizen
Bologna. Madonna, ^ert^ is ^a^^^'T" *"•» ^">"° <"
going to thiow away her «liL«H'°"'/"«°''°«= 'he's not
Kot^^ the Frate's /-ph^":?,^^^,^?"-' ''''^-'' '^o'-
".much, we're hTS ^^Jy"" ' '"*^^ *^ -• W" *«*
gaSiTi" Sri'^e^VT" ""'- """"* "' '^-
Bomola. She had b^n Zing frot^t« H^w r«*" «•""•»
««P,. into which she pnt the^fceTb^^." ' "^^ ^°™
It with wine, and hitherto 9h«>?/ . '^^ J"'' moistened
But now she roTto herTee^^H r^'fP*"'^ *° '"^*««»-
stinctively the men who we« ^^^f J""""^ »' """"■ In-
aUtUe. as if their rude n^^t *° h« P«hed backward
hind. Bomola held "ut the^w ,";! ^! '■"■'* »* "><"« bo-
night-cap, looking at hLwiSln ^"^ *" ''''' "•»" •" *»>•
«« she said.- "'^"^"'"'y'eproaeh in her glance,
to "d7Z l"Z\ryT:m ^7' '"'^ ^- "•- »■"> power
«d children. You a^S n.^^ .T.^tf 1.^"^ -'^. ---
»-S« Wause you are strong, .ouWe 47^;^';^
SM
ROMOLA.
IViA'
I
,»;■(
•Terything from the weak. You can taks the braad from thU
basket; but I shall watch by this old man; I shall resist joxa
taking the bread from Aim."
For a few momeuts there was perfeot silence, while Bomola
looked at the faces before her, and held out the basket of
bread. Her own pale face had the slightly pinched look and
the deepening of the eye-socket which indicate unusual fasting
in the habitnally temperate, and the large direct gazu of her
hazel eyes was all the more impressiTe.
The man in the night-cap looked rather silly, and backed,
thrusting his elbow into his neighbor's ribs with an air of
moral rebuke. The backing was general, every one wishing
to imply that iie had been pushed forward against his will;
and the young man in the fine cloth tunic had disappeared.
But at this moment the armed servitors of the Signoria,
who had begun to patrol the line of streets through which the
procession was to pass, came up to disperse the group which
was obstructing the narrow street. The man addressed as
Cecoo retreated from a threatening mace up the church steps,
and said to Bomola, in a respectful tone, —
" Madonna, if yon want to go on your errands, I'll take care
of the old man."
Ceooo was a wild-looking figure: a very ragged tunic, made
shaggy and variegated by cloth-dust and clinging fragments
of wool, gave relief to a pair of bare lx>ny arms and a long
sinewy neck; his square jaw shaded by a bristly black beard,
his bridgeless nose and low forehead, made his face look as
if it had been crushed down for purposes of packing, and a
narrow piece of red rag tied over his ears seemed to assist in
the compression. Bomola looked at him with some hesitation.
"Don't distrust me, madonna," said Gecco, who understood
her look perfectly ; " I am not so pretty as you, but I've got
an old mother who eats my porridge for me. What I there's
a heart inside me, and I've bought a candle for the most Holy
Virgin before now. Besides, see there, the old fellow is eat-
ing his sop. He's hale enough: he'll be on his legs as well
as the best of us by and by."
" Thank you for offering to take care of him, friend," sai .
Bomola, rather penitent for her doubting glance. Than lea i-
rta UW8EEW lUDowNA. aar
^^^^„ ", «!« wia, i^y w«it for me Ull I oom»
MathH^ ia the Puw di 8tt M«^ ' '"'P'*^ *^ 8m
CHAPTER XLIII.
THB UNSBIUf MADONNA.
th. river. wluoh.hnlh^';r.ot:'H':''";'™"'* ^""^
i"g to h«ten Ssi^^i! 1'""^ i^''* bridge, intend-
•Ir-Kied to know moTe aZ^hi^ T^\ "^ Baldwaarre. She
But when she aDMo«3 ?! °" "•"" "'«'» "PO" !>».
Ponte Veoohio on^^ left .h^* ^"1 "«''* ''""* »"d the
-wdwhoeuddenlyw 'o^iS'r"."^"^'-" ^ »
knelt with them. The Crom w». ' • ^ '^'' "»°'«<^'*'ely
of the Duomo-whioh hel^T. P'""""*-"'" Great Croi
later than she had elve.X}^ Pfocewion. Bomola wa.
the prooewion had S A,^ T '^'' """' ^"i* «"
the Croas had ^pC^ ti \''~"'' ^'""^ ''<" ^nees, when
with nothing to do'S^nie"':.^' "^ *° » ^'-'l^g P^'ture.
fatigue than ahe had beTwhTlf !>. IT! '"»"«'"»'' of her
-Pie^. A BhopkeeXtlVdtaif _'"" ^'''^^ -"
« hi. door close at h^d W 1"""* '° H' ^°""'- «««
he love. God and the Zt Jtlao %";'/" ^°"- ^«*'
Bomola wa. aoouatomed n"w to t »^h ^ " y°"""
Ml way by ordinary oitiLnrwh^„ / '""* "» *■" ^™'<«-
from her luivinT^en S . T ^f*" ''*'•' *"""'" *» her
idaanf J, T J •" oonstantlv n the Ih-orsi Ti,
■dea of home had come to be identified forher C^ithS
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388
BOHOLA.
house in the Via de' Bardi, where she sat in frequent loneli-
ness, than with the towered circuit of Florence, where there
was hardly a turn of the streets at which dhe was not greeted
with looks of appeal or of friendliness. She was glad enough
to pass through the open door on her right hand and be led
by the fraternal hose-vender to an upstairs-window, where a
stout woman with three children, all in the plain garb of
Piagnoni, made a place for her with much reverence above the
bright hanging draperies. From this corner station she could
see, not only the procession pouring in solemn slowness be-
tween the lines of houses on the Ponte Vecohio, but also the
river and the Lung* Amo on toward the bridge of the Santa
Trinity.
In sadness and in stillness came the slow procession. Kot
even a wailing chant broke the silent appeal for mercy : there
was only the tramp of footsteps, and the faint sweep of
woollen garments. They were young footsteps that were
passing when Bomola first looked from the window — a long
train of the Florentine youth, bearing high in the midst of
them the white image of the youthful Jesus, with a golden
glory above his head, standing by the tall cross where the
thorns and the nails lay ready.
After that train of fresh beardless faces came the mysteri-
ons-looking Companies of Discipline, bound by secret rules to
self -chastisement, and devout praise, and special acts of piety ;
all wearing a garb which concealed the whole head and face
except the eyes. Every one knew that these mysterious forms
were Florentine citizens of various ranks, who might be seen
at ordinary times going about the business of the shop, the
counting-house, or the State; but no member now was dis-
cernible as son, husband, or father. They had dropped their
personality, and walked as symbols of a common vow. Each
company had its color and its badge, but the garb of all was a
complete shroud, and left no expression but that of fellowship.
In comparison with them, the multitude of monks seemed
to be strongly distinguished individuals, in spite of the com-
mon tonsure and the common frock. First crme a white
stream of reformed Benedictines; and then a mnch longer
Eitream of the Frati Minori, or Franciscans, in that age all clad
THE tJNSBEN MADONNA. 389
in gray, with the knotted cord roanH rt.i, „.- •_
ree.,— perhaps the moet numerous order in Wn^^n. •
their gains to ad'o^ S.S; Moir """^^ '"'° '°"°°''
of black and white coming oveV the brid°e TZT '''T
:zrcirr^d^^^^^^
ve.,co;rii xrt^Lrrm^ti s^c
2a^i;!!f^^ef hr,r;ih ^T ^^^"^^^^^^^^
390
ROHOLA.
were passing. The movement of silent homage spread ; it
went along the sides of the streets like a subtle shock, leaving
some unmoved, while it made the most bend the kne»and bow
the head. But the hatred, too, gathered a more intense ex-
pression; and as Savonarola passed up the Por* Santa Maria,
Bomola could see that some one at an upper window spat
upon him.
Monks again — Frati tJmiliati, or Humbled Brethren, from
Ognissanti, with !i glorious tradition of being the earliest work-
ers in the wool-trade ; and again more monks — Vallombrosan
and other varieties of Benedictines, reminding the instructed
eye by niceties of form and color that in ages of abuse, long
ago, reformers had arisen who had marked a change of spirit
by a change of garb; till at last the shaven crowns were at an
end, and there came the train of untonsured, secular priests.
Then followed the twenty-one incorporated Arts of Florence
in long array, with their banners floating above them in proud
declaration that the bearers had their distinct functions, from
the b'Aers of bread to the judges and notaries. And then all
the secondary oGBcers of State, beginning with the less and
going on to the greater, till the line of seoularities was broken
by the Canons of the Duomo, carrying a sacred relic — the very
head, enclosed in silver, of San Zenobio, immortal bishop of
Florence, whose virtues were held to have saved the city per-
haps a thousand years before.
Here was the nucleus of the procession. Behind the relic
came the archbishop in gorgeous cope, with canopy held above
him; and after him the mysterious hidden Image— hidden
first by rich curtains of brocade enclosing an outer painted
tabernacle, but within this, by the more ancient tabernacle
which had never been opened in the memory of living men,
or the fathers of living men. In that inner shrine was the
image of the Pitying Mother, found ages ago in the soil of
L'Impruneta, uttering a cry as the spade struck it. Hitherto
the unseen Image had hardly ever been carried to the Duomo
without having rich gifts borne before it. There was no re-
citing the list of precious offerings made by emulous men and
commrnities, especially of veils and curtains and mantles.
But the richest of all these, it was said, had been given by a
THE PNSBBN MADONNA. 391
poor abbess and her nuns whn »,»„•
materiaU, wove a mantle^f M^ \ f » "" """"y *» b»y
embroidered it and £ed ifttth r^" '"'^ """^ P^^e".
«w their work presently t 'the' BlS'd^^'' ••"^i. ^*"^'
Piazza by two beautiful vouth8%,hi . ^i *^ "" *• «««*
and ranished in the blue ^'^ °"* ^^''^ ^i"8»
JltSertoTZ^^r "^ "^""^ ^'^ *»'--•-
had been the advice of fTot^ZTT *" '^'J""'- "^^^
insisted on gifts to the invisi^Ww' w ^T'^'"' "«^"
visible need; and altars had tfrS '"«"'^ °° ^"'P 'o
front of the churches, on whkh the^hi .• T P"^" ^
were deposited. Not even a toth "°'"' ^°' '^^ P°or
hidden Mother oared Cforto^h, "^^ 'J^^' S^^l/the
wail of the hunp^ peoDle m^ ""^ ''"^'' ^'"^ f°^ the
had done her r^i^.S^or^'^r T, ^ "'^*"»"^-- »he
that was not in her L^^po^^f/ '^^'"'' ^o^o-nething divine
^*i% It itsTrofTertl^l'^^' '•''P -"^^ -
to their faith in the Rate's wZl-^ T^ "l^Si"* -"o™
^tnes of the unseen Ima« Bu??h«™ "" *""" ^ "»•
the fieree-hearted who thonf^V .T»k " ''*" """ » ^^^ of
Urate's word n.ightL^Sd*^'^e """' "'i<>>-^that the
Slowly the tabernacle moved forwarrl .n^ t
There was profound stilhieVs f^Tlf- ^^ T ""^^ •*"*"
ohaplainsfroniL'Inipnmetestir,lH "^ "^ ^"'^*^ «"d
ers. The prooessioT^Ct^ T ^T ^ *" ""'''"t-
the Gonfaloniere- a.e wT- • ^ ""' '"*^ *^« P™" and
which have Cr\£tic" --P-- ^ ^^"■•»'^'
8tir» it, was passing out of L^t . i^^ """"^ as a chorus
hope was all that stfugried wfthl^ T */*'°* ^"''^
Bomola, ivhose heMVh Jl;«^'','^,"|f '"T'^ 'J«''P°ndency
boding. hfOf with H^a?in^^■^?'^'"^«' balf with fore-
of the^ «UwTt^ hadtL?™ "^ ?"'"'''^P ^^'o'" the We
Bciousness of co'sZe SaTaS "d wtl'" '" "" *•■« «»"-
sigh, as at the end of some W ™«nf ,! ?°*°' ^^^ » •J**?
on her knees for venr7^L° * ZT *?r"' '^^ '"^^
from between the Z^Td l^J- f'^'l^'ly there flashed
'"^ht-colored. In ICZ^t^X':^-^^^
392
ROMOLA.
Ji '1
■l\
1.1
Btretohed out her armi, leaning from the windo*", while the
black drapery fell from her head, and the golden gleam of her
hair and the flush in her face seemed the effect of bne illu-
mination, A shout arose in ihe same instant; the last troopa
of the procession paused, and all faces wero turned toward
the distant bridge.
But the bridge was passed now : the horseman was pressing
at full gallop along by the Arnoj the sides of his bay horse,
]U8t streaked with foam, looked all white from swiftness;
his cap was flying loDse by his red beochetto, and he waved
an olive branch in his hand. It was a messenger — a messen-
ger of good tidings! The blessed olive branch spoke afar off.
But the impatient people could not wait. They rushed to
meet the on-comer, and seized his horse's rein, pushing and
trampling. >
And now Bomola could see that the horseman was her
husband, who had been sent to Pisa a few days before on a
private embassy. The recognition brought no new flash of joy
into her eyes. She had checked her first impulsive attitude
of expectation; but her governing anxiety was still to know
what news of relief had come for Florence.
"Good news!" "Best news!" "News to be paid with
hose (novelle da oolite) 1 " were the vague answers with which
Tito met the importunities of the crowd, nntil he had suc-
ceeded in pushing on his horse to the spot at the meeting of
the ways where the Gonfaloniere and the Priors were awaiting
him. There he paused, and, bowing low, said, —
" Magnificent Signori! I have to deliver to you the joyful
news that the galleys from France, laden with com and men,
have arrived safely in the port of Leghorn, by favor of a
strong wind, which kept the enemy's fleet at a distance."
The words had no sooner left Tito's lips than they seemed
to vibrate up the streets. A great shout rang through the air,
and rushed along the river; and then another, and another;
and the shouts were heard spreading along the line of the
procession toward the Duomo; and then there were fainter
answering shouts, like the intermediate plash of distant waves
in a groat lake whose waters obey one impulse.
For some minutes there was no attempt to speak further :
'i Wi
THE UNSEEN MADONNA.
•nd reaigjiation which has b^7„ Til "Jf "8*°" "* *"•*
At last, as the 8i<maJ w«!! . **'" ""^'"^ divine,
with a ,aiJe,_ "«°'^ *" K"^-" '» "ove forward, Tito said,
ni^'eenXL'S re:LZ'r *° -^ "^"^^^ •'^ *« Mag.
but to anotter ^ who ^^ Md"" 'f^f "^*' '^'"^ ""t *<> "S
would have been he« i^ ^'S h^^l *° "r* """"' -«
down just before he reached IZ mL h[ « '"''' °°' ''"'""'
less be here in an hour or t-i \ *" ^"*° will doubt-
^l^n^thegloryortherMei^r'^rheh^'^Kr'' ^^^^^
labor and has lost the chief dShV^ "^ *'"' "''''^
-fterirrdT^ij^^^^Kr "r^^*---^ --^
Signoria, this dign^^d Zetity oT tt:' .r^*""^""" °^ "">
«nd Tito turned his horse's h3 V 7* P^'^ession passed on,
the great bell otZTp^^VJl "^"^ ^ '*» ""^^ ^^^^
to swing, aadgivealouderv^ilt " ""^ "^y beginning
In that moment, when T^tJ^^ «. -^P'" ■ J°y-
imperatively direct ft J^^Va^-;^" """' ""^ *" >«
would look round and rec^^ C ^«° "P^'ted that he
fntly engaged with h^ o^^hTch^ow J^ '"" "" *■" "PP"'
leading his horse, he was abirto «'«? ^ *f «" I^P'^ '^e™
while his right hL>d wTs stm «^„ T "."'* ^^^ "^ ^is head.
He had a beco:.ing JpTiS^;*^ ^^*'"' ""^^ '^■
Komola, instead of*ma^4 an; ^ortlu?" '"''.'*'°'"' "^"l
threw her bUck drapery ov^WhJ^*""^^** ^^^
perfectly quiet. Yet^ flk all. '*""' '^'^ ^'nained
ber; he had the powef^f s^i!^^' """ """t Tito had seen
to see it. ^ °* "*"■« everything without seeming
8M
ROHOLA.
« n
CHAPTER XLIV.
TBI yUIBLB MADOITMA.
Thk crowd had no sooner passed onward than Romola de-
scended to the street, and hastened to the steps of San Stefano.
Ceooo had been attracted with the rest toward the Piazza, and
she found Baldaasarre standing alone against the ohnrch door,
with the horn cup in his hand, waiting for her. There was a
striking change in him : the blank, dreamy glance of a half-
returned consciousness had given place to a fierceness which,
as she advanced and spoke to him, flashed upon her as if she
had been its object. It was the glance of caged fury that
sees its prey passing safe beyond the bars.
Bomola started as the glance was turned on her, but her
immediate thought was that he had seen Tito. And as she
felt the look of hatind grating on her, something like a hope
arose that this man might be the criminal, and that her hus-
band might not have been guilty toward him. If she could
learn that now, by bringing Tito face to face with him, and
have her mind set at rest I
"If you will come with me," she said, "I can give yon
shelter and food until you are quite rested and strong. Will
you come?"
"Yes," said Baldaasarre, "I shall be glad to get my
strength. I want to get my strength," he repeated, as if he
were muttering to himself, rather than speaking to her,
"Comet-" she said, inviting him to walk by her side, and
taking the way by the Amo towar4 the Ponte Bubaoonte as
the more private road.
"I think you are not a Florentine," she said, presently, as
they turned on to the bridge.
He looked round at her without opcdking. His suspicious
caution was more strongly v.\xm him than usual, just now that
the fog of confusion and '/bliv^on was made denser by bodily
feebleness. But she wrj looking at him too, and there was
something in her gentl > eyes which at last compelled him to
' answer her. But he aiswered cautiously, —
rai VlfllBM MADONNA. S9S
ah^nl"^^\^'"^^^''i I •» • lonely man "
.he glanced at him ^^^ tt: to LtT *° ?t '""• ^'
with thought, which quelhTtTe W I T^ '" ''"^
nothing painful to be rev^ed.l!n,!f k t T *^'* '^•'" ""
man had been in the^* ^"* ''" ^"^^^ « thia old
•nd secrecy? ^°* "'"'" "" t^e cause for dread
and looked at her^th\si^d«r™ """"'"^ *'"'* ''« t""'«d
had passed through him A f *"*"' " " '^"o "hook
at thiTalf-open S?or of the t 7 "T*"*' •^'*"' »'"' Pauaed
" Ah I " >,- J ® "^"^ and. turned toward him
,,if,^' ''o-'J. -'-"«-8forhertospe^;"tu^h^
"Whose wife?" said Bomola.
«?nar"rt mrrt'^t'^ *•- r-^^-- *» -ecaU
image of Tito pressTu^n hTm .'"15°"^ '''* ''»i'"' the
sign. He madHolnsTer S l^iT.? ? v'^*' ""^ ^"'»J
fixedness. ' ""* '<"^*<* at her with strange
wit?:trrr:iithr'tor/''''^f ^^^ •»-* --«^
little children orawTel t ^a "^ ';Vtt ^~P''' "'''''"""«'
c^atures. biting straws andgur^lg "" "'^'^•""y P"^*
findyora\:lrble^C^ifr'»' '^-"l-ly. "I will
"No, I will not come ITi S BaZ"""" '""" ""'"' ^""J""
still, arrested by the burde'n S L„ ' "'"'™- ^"* '"' «*ood
mi.d wa3 too confused tolre a""crr " "''" ''""^ ^
Plentifulsoon."'^ ^°'""*^''"y'«"l- It will be more
offered him mo^r^rfhe woufd C? '" ''• ^''^ ^"P""*!^
in the same ciroumsta^'ces itSed'T r°^°"'" '"'"
while, and then said,- "* "'«' "oins a little
"Yes, I will take them."
896
ROMOLA..
:
She pound the ooini into hi* palm, and ha giaapcd than
tightly.
"Tall me," laid Bomola, almoit beiaeohingly. "W^
■hall you "
But Baldauaire had turned away from her, and mmt walk-
ing again toward the bridge. Faiaing from it, itraight on up
the Via del Foaeo, he came upon the shop of Nicool6 Capana,
and turned toward it without a pause, aa if it had been the
yery object of his learch. Kiocolb was at that momect in
procession with the armorers of Florence, and there was only
oue appientioe in the shop. But there were all sorts of
weapons in abundance hanging there, ana Baldasaarre's eyes
discerned what he was more hungry for than for bread. Nic-
00I6 himself would probably have refused to sell anything that
might serve as a weapon to this man with signs of the prison
on him; but the apprentice, less observant and sorupnloni,
took three ffroui for a sharp hunting-knife without any hesita-
tion. It was a conveniently small weapon, which Baldassarre
oould easily thrust within the breast of his tunic, and he
walked on, feeliag stronger. That sharp edge might give
deadliness to the thrust of an aged arm : at least it was a
companion, it was a power in league with him, even if it
failed. It would break against armor, but was the armor sure
to be always there? In those long months while vengeance
had lain in prison, baseness had perhaps become forgetful and
secure. The knife had been bought with the traitor's own
money. That was just. Before he took the money, he had
felt what he should do with it — buy a weapon. Yns, and if
possible, iood too; food to nourish the arm that would grasp
the weapon, food to nourish the body which was the temple of
vengeance. When he had had enough bread, he should be
able to think and act — ^to think first how he could hide him-
self, lest Tito should have him dragged away again.
With that idea of hiding in his mind, Baldassarre turned
up the narrowest streets, bought himself some meat and bread,
and sat down under the first loggia to eat. The bells that
swung out louder and louder peals of juy, laying hold of him
and making him vibrate along with all the air, seemed to him
simply part of that strong world which was agai&iit him.
THB VISIBLE MADONNA. S»7
BomoU Iwd watched BaldasMne until h. h.A a-
not assuring herself wheth., nl * ''""' ''''°' '»'
in his lot K she W.S not^T,''"! ""^ «»»"»'•« ""'-'J
could she have ao^JZZXZ^.:itZ thi'b' "r
IreXSrirVa'"" ^us^rin^ad^aSrS
psmitted to d';K;:'£ t: fcLdr^r'?""
be pursued no'iirhn^riZ/ "iTr ''r "' '*«'■"« *°
rinw help had come to Korer;^i*w ' ^T *° '"J""*'
JSi<srdS:nrowt'th\vi%"'' ^'^''^^^^^^
that the womeStTe her Lt ' ^^'^!'°'^ ^er head,
«.d told then. thX™ wi^oSLT^d' Sh": ^T, "■'''
nnglng fop gladness at the newT T w .n J^* •*"' «'«™
while the ohUdren trr>«LH^ , T ^ *" "*' "P ^ ''"ten.
her bl«,k skirt, a.tf^w"'"'^ *°'"'* *"'' ■""> P-Ue^
long way rAirthr^eldTtrim '"'"'^ ' '^*
feeble voices arounThers^d " tI« W«? i»" .'^r- *"■* '^^
;itj« the precision .^^/Thfffl 0?^:^ b^J^,
"Blls" r mfd"' "J^J./" """« y"" y°" dinnt " P"'-
.^ep*herai^arucTwr^i.-riiSs
MS
ROMOU..
i
ii
«i
If'
brought to thttn the inspiration of har deapeit fealingt, thqr
would have been irkeonie to her. But they had come to be
the one unihalcen resting-place of her mind, the one narrow
pathway on which the light fell clear. If the gulf between
herself and Tito, which only gathered a more perceptible wide-
ness from her attempt* to bridge it by iubmission, brought a
doubt whether, after all, the bond to which she bad labored
to be true might not itself be false—if she came away from
her confessor, Fra Salrestro, or from some contact with the
disciples of Savonarola amongst whom she worshipped, with
a sickening sense that these people were miserably narrow,
and with an almost impetuous reaction toward her old con-
tempt for their superstition — she found herself recovering a
firm footing in her works of womanly sympathy. Whatever
else made her doubt, the help she gave to her fellow-oitizenii
made her sure that Fra Oirolamo had been rig.it to nail her
back. According to his unforgotten words, her place had not
been empty ; it had been filled with her love and her labor.
Florence had had need of her, and the more her own sorrow
pressed upon her, the more gladness she felt in the memories,
stretching through the two long years, of hours and moments
in which she had lightened the burden of life to others. All
that ardor of her nature which could no longer spend itself in
the woman's tenderness for father and husband had trans-
formed itself into an enthusiasm of sympathy with the gen-
eral life. She had ceased to think that her own lot could be
happy — had ceased to think of happiness at all : the one end
of her life seemed to her to be the diminishing of sorrow.
Her enthusiasm was continually stirred to fresh vigor by
the influence of Savonarola. In spite of the wearisome visions
and allegories from which she recoiled in disgust when they
came as stale repetitions from other lips than his, her strong
afSnity for his passionate sympathy and the splendor of his
aims had lost none of its power. His burning indignation
against the abuses and oppression that made the daily story
of the Church and of States had kindled the ready fire in her
too. His special care for liberty and purity of government in
Florence, with his constant reference of this immediate object
to the wider end of a universal regeneration, had created in
^^ '«c.
TM VIBIBiat MADONNA S99
of .uch as have netted th»„ ^T**"?' ""» I<«Miomm, ''/on q»i
di.beUeve „e^^o'e S^ u^v whlT r""° ?* ' ^ "*°"' ««" they who
hear him who inw^^ee rfhll^''thi n'"™' ^"'T " '" »""' "•'"« «»
«eeU them not; and tt.^ '"T .*"■* 'S""'" "^ •"*" I''" ''ho
«■?-" do auotons om tranafiua lortia aonat. • »
: I
400
ROHOLA.
No aoul is deaolate as long as there is a human being foi
whom it can feel trust and reverence. Bomola's t^ust in
Savonarola was something like a rope suspended securely by
her path, making her step elastic while she grasped it; if it
were suddenly removed, no firmness of the ground she trod
oould save her from staggering, or perhaps from falling.
CHAPTER XLV.
AT THE BABBEB'S SHOP.
Afteb that welcome appearance as the messenger with the
olive branch, wh.^h was an unpromised favor of fortune, Tito
had other commissions to fulfil of a more premeditated char-
acter. He paused at the Palazzo Vecchio, and awaited there
the return of the Ten, who managed external and war affairs,
that he might duly deliver to them the results of his private
mission to Pisa, intended as a preliminary to an avowed em-
bassy of which Bernardo Kucellai was to be the head, with
the object of coming, if possible, to a pacific understanding
with tiie Emperor Maximilian and the League.
Tito's talents for diplomatic work had been well ascertained,
and as he gave with fulness and precision the results of his
inquiries and interviews, Bernardo del Nero, who was at that
time one of the Ten, could not withhold his admiration. He
would have withheld it if he could; for his original dislike of
Tito had returned, and become stronger, since the sale of the
library. Bomola had never uttered a word to her godfather
on the circumstances of the sale, and Bernardo had understood
her silence as a prohibition to him to enter on the subject,
but he felt sure that the breach of her father's wish had
been a blighting grief to her, and the old man's observant
eyes discerned other indications that her married life was not
happy.
"Ah," he said, inwardly, "that doubtless is the reason she
has taken to listening to Fra Girolamo, and going amongst
the Piagnoni, which I never expected from her. These worn-
AT THE BAHBBR-8 8H0P. 401
with the needle AnH tt,;. t u ?^ . P™* ''^ ^ngera
I wish Tomabuoni and the restmav^lffi /.r*^*^ ^^'^''^
WeU, well.,„,«, '»'^».-^irZ:.nL;'aWr^^^
from a crooked furrow: and he who ^X I \ ^"^ /""'«»
likeL7for tie doubW^ff *•''*■ ^"'"'*°' '^''^ »»*
popular UrnrentwMe^t head's-*"'''''"'''"* *° *•"»
to Tito with more a.rhalf ^« wt^^ '*'"' '"" ""'°""°°
feip-ed With more s^ tjfn th^e ^^t^wS S S'^
rr:pX7dSl--^---r^^^^
Florence that the old tie between Bern^o 1 ^^"?^^^^ j"
srr;orrrbeXh^. ^r jisrrE'
xXreeti— ^tritfbS^
the^ratecouldhavestoodupinr^eaT^LIaX^^ehS
402
BOUOLA.
■'¥. i
I I
I I
to them, they might have been satisfied, but now, in spite of
the new discipline which declared Christ to be the ^peciai King
of the Florentines and required all pleasures to be of a Chris-
tian sort, there was a secret longing in many of the youngsters
who shouted "VivaOesu! " for a little vigorous stone-throw-
ing in sign of thankfulness.
Tito, as he passed along, could not escape being recognized
by some as the welcome bearer of the olive branch, and could
only rid himself of an inconvenient ovation, chiefly in the
form of eager questions, by telling those who pressed on him
that Keo di Sasso, the true messenger from Leghorn, must
now be entering, and might certainly be met toward the Porta
San Frediano. He could tell much more than Tito knew.
Freeing himself from importunities in this adroit manner,
he made his tray to the Piazza del Duomo, casting his long
eyes round the space with an air of the utmost carelessness,
but really seeking to detect some presence which might fur-
nish him with one of his desired opportunities. The fact of
the procession having terminated at the Duomo made it prob-
able that there would be more than the usual concentration of
loungers and talkers in the Piazza and roimd Nello's shop. It
was as he expected. There was a group leaning against the
rails near the north gates of the Baptistery, so exactly what
he sought, that he looked more indifferent than ever, and
seemed to recognize the tallest member of the group entirely
by chance as he had half passed him, just turning his head to
give him a slight greeting, while he tossed the end of his b^c-
chetto over his left shoulder.
Yet ^6 tall, broad-shouldered personage greeted in that
slight way looked like one who had considerable claims. He
wore a richly embroidered tunic, with a great show of linen,
after the newest French mode, and at his belt there hung a
sword and poniard of fine workmanship. His hat, with a red
plome in it, seemed a scornful protest against the gravity of
Florentine costume, which had been exaggerated to the ut-
most under the influence of the Pia£ mi. Certain undefin-
able indications of youth made the breadth of his face and the
large diameter of his waist appear the more emphatically a
stamp of coarseness, and his eyes had that rude desecrating
» 1
AT THE BABBEB'S SHOP. 403
pleaaantness of fte Xmadve '^*'; LT.^* ""' extreme un-
had been loudly declS Zt Mort^' '''^ """"^^ '•*'
iomed the group nellSdJ^.r^*'""*'^™^^ "« ^'*°
suspicion. For leaninl ,1- *'.?^ /°' ^^^ *° "^'^^'Pate the
the group WM a d<2Z ^ "^""'"P"'* '° «>« '=»''« of
all the smaU tSflS^r"' " '^ ""^ '"'"^ P«-'-*<^
Lvio^theyTruit £!."'*"'".? '"^"'^ dulness by the
mal of all is he who e^, t:^""'^ ^"'f '• ^°"' dullest ani-
ne who gnns and says he doesn't mind just after
404
ROHOLA.
'J
IfS «
he has had hit shins kicked. If I were a trifle duller, now,"
he went on, smiling as the circle opened to adm^t Tito, " I
should pretend to be fond of this Melema, who has got a aeo-
retaryship that would exactly suit me — as if Latin ill paid
could lore better Latin that's better paidt Uelema, you are
a pestiferously clever fellow, very much in my way, and I'm
sorry to hear you've had another piece of good luck to-day."
"Questionable luck, Niccol6," said Tito, touching him on
the shoulder in a friendly way; "I have got nothing by it yet
but being laid hold of and breathed upon by wool-beaters,
when I am as soiled and battered with riding as a tdbellario
(letter-carrier) from Bologna."
"Ah I you want a touch of my art, Messer Oratore," said
Nello, who had come forward at the sound of Tito's voice;
"your chin, I Jwrceive, has yesterday's crop upon it. Gome,
come — consign yourself to the priest of all the Muses. Sandro,
quick with the lather I "
" In truth, Nello, that is just what I most desire at this
moment," said Tito, seating himself; "and that was why I
turned my steps toward thy shop, instead of going home at
once, when I had done my business at the Palazzo."
" Yes, indeed, it is not fitting that you should present your-
self to Madonna Bomola with a rusty chin and a tangled
taxxera. Nothing that is not dainty ought to approach the
Florentine lily ; though I see her constantly going about like
a sunbeam amongst the rags that line our comers — if indeed
she is not more like a moonbeam now, for I thought yester-
day, when I met her, that she looked as pale and worn as that
fainting Madonna of Fia Giovanni's. You must see to it, my
bel erudito: she keeps too many fasts and vigils in your ab-
sence."
Tito gave a melancholy shrug. "It is too true, Nello.
She has been depriving herseU of half her proper food every
day during this famine. But what can I do? Her mind has
been set all aflame. A husband's influence is powerless
against the Frate's."
" As every other influence is likely to be, that of the Holy
Father included," said Domenico Cennini, one of the group
at the door, who had turned in with Tito. " I don't know
AT THI BABBBR'8 SHOP. 40B
of that rule IfTmv Zlf'^Tu' ^ "*' *» "° »'««ol>
We„ ajjd earth to get ^OraSl^Sof^^cS °"'^''
j«;rcteut^T.r^4::s-^^;-i>^^^^^^^
The Frate's game is ^ i>So«ibT one "S't ^!^ ''°'^*'"-
lumself with preaohing a(tS th« I-' , ^ '^ contented
prophesying that in^m^ not J^nHnl^^' ""^ ''*
sconxged, depend uponTt pZ A?, """f'*""^ It«ly would be
Wn. ^eWd Hs\^^S,f:^;r-"2havealWed
hearers. Such spiritual blasts wrtniv I ^^ ""^^ ^^
with some fervor. "Imvselfat il* lf™^> broke in.
Us prophe^ing alon.^ "ft four tJj^^'V^l' ^^ """^^ '«*
oiscussion. "Have vnn „r^^n • , «™ry otter force in
Ho. is it thafr; Z SeVrer*"' ^'*'i P"'"'-'
worU. attaoldng by an acurTa: lya'CnX^? i"^^^^
"' "" «"' ^^^ «" »' <*« people: because ^'gi^^tSZ
406
ROHOI^
I
threat! and promiaes, which they believe come straight ftom
Qod, not only about hell, purgatory, and paradise, J>ut 4bout
Pisa and our Great Council. But let events go against him,
so as to shake the people's faith, and the cause of his power
will be the cause of his fall. He is accumulating three sorts
of hatred on his head— the natred of average mankind against
every one who wants to lay on them a strict yoke of virtue ;
the hatred of the stronger powers in Italy who want to farm
Florence for their own purposes; and the hatred of the peo-
ple, to whom he has ventured to promise good in this world,
instead of confining bis promises to the next. If a prophet is
to keep his power, he must be a prophet like Mahomet, with
an army at his back, that when the people's faith is fainting
it may be frighljened into life again."
"Bather sum up the three sorts of hatred in one," said
Francesco Cei, impetuously, " and say he has won the hatred
of all men who have sense and honesty, by inventing hypo-
critical lies. His proper place is among the false prophets
in the Inferno, who walk with their heads turned hindfore-
most."
"You are too angry, my Francesco," said Macohiavelli,
smiling; "you poets are apt to cut the clouds in your wrath.
I am no votary of the Frate's, and would not lay down my
little finger for his veracity. But veracity is a plant of para-
dise, and the seeds have never flourished beyond the walls.
You, yourself, my Francesco, tell poetical lies only; partly
compelled by the poet's fervor, partly to please your audience ;
but you object to lies in prose. Well, the Frate differs from
yon as to the boundary of poetry, that's all. When he gets
into the pulpit of the Duomo, he has the fervor within him,
and without him he has the audience to please. Ecco I "
"You are somewhat lax there, Nicool6," said Oennini,
gravely. " I myself believe in the Frate's integrity, though
I don't believe in his prophecies, and as long. as his integrity
is not disproved, we have a popular party strong enough to
protect him and resist foreign interference."
"A party that seems strong enough," said Maochiavelli,
with a shrug, and an almost imperceptible glance toward Tito,
who was abandoning himself with much enjoyment to Kello's
AT THB BARBBRS SHOP. 497
private grudge?" ' ' '"* ^ *"™«1 round by a
Te;ilt:iVgtS:?Sutl''S^';i' "' •^«''- «>- "
would TisimuoTt^Z^'l^^^.f'^'''''^"''- ^o
tt«.d^ perhaps, like Ca^lo Si- 1^ "'' •^"'^
thow most oonneoted with th« famTi, . ^' "' '^'"' ""^e of
popular governmenValdwSd^ert^r' '"'?^«<«d- of the
I was talking to oLnoz^^Sr^NrSlt ''* '"''*«•
I am oonvineed there's nothing he would .^Jl^" '^ "^^
-e^t^an against any attem*p^^rS;1he^";i-ft'
laiSgreiS^ STu ITJ^C'''^: -<» T'*o. With a
theory there. I J pe^S^t^^f*""" "^o i" aid of hard
bottom of Gianno^^Sa1o?Wp'""".'^f'^°'">''''""'
00 amiable a creature as he wouW S^r C.t v^"'"'' "'^
sometimes allows to escape him k, tSIf „ i*'' bitterness he
the procession with you, K^o^.r ^"-^^ He was in
day.t.r'' Cennini; "he is at his viUa-went there three
ho^ «7hSl"heX"4f'""'"« '""" »* '^" "P'-^ed
obtained amuch.de^^*;Si5?n'^'- ^° "'^■•7 "e had
moment in his soarseiu a cTasSeTf^M "• u-^' '''"* "' *bat
gaged to deliver to GiannoLtutr nThal'"''!,'''''' *'°-
aa envoy of Rero de' Medici, whom ^If ^^T"^ '' ^""^
way to meet at Certaldo oTfteliZ ^'^ l"^"^*" ""* °^ bis
not in the town, he wouldsend^r "'f'^^'^ Puoci was
tbusian lay Broker in te S^X^^^^'''''''^' ^^ar-
receipt of that sign would hr^^ • u ,*^«d.ceans, and the
part of Tito's miSon ^ ^™' ^'^^ *" ^^-^ tbe verbal
«g .^iSi'^/tleTl^i ««i-? bis comb and point-
wolds,- now he 1^mTL^°^^ '^« ''"^'•^ "r ^the
Uel mondo di maremma. "
408
BOVOLA.
li
to Flormoe— ah? ud, I tow, there ue tome linee jut faintly
hinting themtelTee •bant yonr mouth, Meuer Oiatorel Ah,
mind is an enemy to beauty I I myself was thought beauti-
ful by the women at one time— when I waa in my swaddling-
bands. But now — oimil I oairy ny unwritten poems in
cipher on my facel "
Tito, laughing with the rest as Nello looked at himself tragi-
cally in the hand-mirror, made a sign of farewell to the eom-
pany generally, and took his departure.
"I'm of our old Piero di Oosimo's mind," said I'ranoeaeo
Oei. " I don't half like Melema. That trick of smiling gets
stronger than ever — no wonder he has lines about the moutii."
" He's too successful," said Maoohiavelli, playfully. " I'm
sure there's sopiething wrong about him, else he wouldn't
have that secretaryship."
"He's an able man," said Oennini, in a tone of judicial fair-
ness. " I and my brother have always found him useful with
our Qreek sheets, and he gives great satisfaction to the Ten.
I like to see a young man work his way upward by merit.
And the secretary Scala, who befriended him from the first,
thinks highly of him stUl, I know."
" Doubtless, " said a notary in the background. " He writes
Scala' s official letters for him, or corrects them, and gets well
paid for it too."
" I wish Messer Bartolommeo would pay me to doctor his
gouty Latin," said Macohiavelli, with a shrug. "Did he tell
you about the pay, Ser Ceooone, or was it Melema himself? "
he added, looking at the notaiy with a face ironically inno-
cent.
"Melema? no, indeed," answered Ser Ceooone. "He is as
close as a nut. He never brags. That's why he's employed
everywhere. They say he's getting rich with doing all sorts
of underhand work."
" It u a little too bad," said Macchiavelli, "and so many
able notaries out of employment I "
"Well, I must say I thought that was a nasty story a year
or two ago about the man who said he had stolen jewels,"
said Cei. " It got hushed up somehow ; but I remember Piero
di Cosimo said, at the time, he believed there was something
BT A SnUBT T.Aiip ^g.
Si'SKr^^'iriiirj!"-*' - ^^ j-'d of
■our old amte I^, » • ^*«»« •» • i»u,t«l with few,' „ our
«d the SMp.iilce„SKSw7, £t it^"at°J'"*''^
dangetoM madman, and he wai «i, ^iL .^•"'•""m*
•ni«.hief in pri«,n.' A. for oTpil^VSJ v P* •""' "^
"uuiing after the wind of MZriteC LT^^' J"' "'*• "•
•gant fancy that he wmdd S,. ,• ' ^ '"•* •" "*»^-
No: that Story hLhLrri *^V' '"'"'^ '"' » orooodUe.
ol^eot to it"^ '*'° ^'^ ""* '^'••d too long-onr no«i
" It is true, " said Maoohiavelli « V/», « . ^^
aw precedent, FrancZ ^e next Z, ^ *^' *^««' "*
•oouw you of stealteThi. ^^ ^f^ °>"> may
.teali„g^hi.c^"^i"«^^/h7«^ 7 ""^"^ ^•'P "»«' -^
door, "DolfoTptoi haToL^^C^' ^"^ '"'"* «»
K-oa- ThatMDtainof^r wd feather out of the
^o«, Pi«. jus^^^X C^«™ i::!' ""- t ^P"''""
frock off the Prate's back Wifh t * ^f P*^'" **" <*•
know h. is a fnend of^ours^^i " ^°»' ^^oe«oo-I
like better than to s^ hkHiTv ,t ^J^ "^8» ^ "^ould
wentout to H^ZZ^ttZ^t^^^ ^"^ ^''^'^ ^^o
with them in a ]j^^ ^ '''**'"^ ^ *^I*t» «>d returned
CHAPTER XLVL
■T A STBBST LAMP.
BoX'S^gSiZrian^ rK"*«-^« "^
the hospital of San MattaTJ?' k u^?™ ""^ ''»' "de, from
P«., enLntered Ter huMut «^e had visited af^r res-
of San Marco. Tit^ ThoT^ ^ ""^^ng from the monastery
duHng the da,. ^J^y'^^^^IZ^/l^Z^
410
BOMOLA.
diimiMing ICmo, whose ibort itent taaojti him. It wm
only usual for him to pay her such u offloikl attention when
it WM obviously demanded from him. Tito and Bomola
never jarred, never remonstrated with each other. They
were too hopelessly alienated in their inner life ever to have
that contest which is an effort toward agreement They
talked of all affairs, public and private, with careful adher-
ence to an adopted course. If Tito wanted a supper prepared
in the old library, now pleasantly furnished as a banqueting-
room, Bomola assented, and saw that everything needful was
done : and Tito, on his side, left her entirely unoontroUed in
her daily habits, accepting the help she offered him in tran-
scribing or making digests, and in return meeting her conjec-
tured want of I supplies for her charities. Yet he constantly,
as on this very morning, avoided exchanging glance .>th
her ; affected to believe that she was out of the house, in order
to avoid seeking her in her 'm room ; and playfully attributed
to her a perpetual preference of solitude to his society.
In the first ardor of her self-conquest, after she had re-
nounced her resolution of flight, Bomola had made many timid
efforts toward the return of a frank relation between them.
But to her such a relation could only come by open speech
about their differences, and the attempt to arrive at a moral
understanding; while Tito oould only be saved from aliena-
tion from her by such a recovery of her effusive tenderness
as would have presupposed oblivion of their differences. He
cared for no explanation between them; he felt any thorough
explanation impossible : he would have cared to have Bomola
fond again, and to her, fondness was impossible. She could
be submissive and gentle, she could repress any sign of repul-
sion ; but tenderness was not to be feigned. She was help-
lessly conscious of the result: her husband was alienated from
her.
It was an additional reason why she should be carefully
kept outside of secrets which he would in no case have chosen
to communicate to her. With regard to his political action
he sought to convince her that he considered the cause of the
Itfedici hopeless; and that on that practical ground, as well
as in theory, he heartily served the popular government, in
•#\ ." •
BT A STRUT LAHp 4J)
lore I can return and mat ■>. T .-,„ «-»uiioiir^ r>-..„.4«, be-
And then he tJ^^^n.ti:7 ^^^j^T.*" '°" .
untU they were o]o,e upon ,Tgi. T^l whi^wr" I* ^^
l«np before a picture of the vS n '.t± t"" *""«! '
one, u.d hitherto they had pa«iS few^n,. k T" ' \"""
;a^a .un' of .^ app^ti^rrr^tdTJi':^
Wilh °th/f '"'li* .'^"""'^"g J-eo^w. Let ub wait a little "
He had already dnrin., rt.^ "our with Bomola by his side.
with DoifoX'frd'i^ti^Thr^T" i"*"""'
Ola as yet to'be done w^as a Z?d Lltir w^k th^at^r
S™'toL 1°°8-P'eoonoerted plan, had be^n the bea^r of^l
erted hia influence at Eome in faTop nt fj,= ir t ^
port of Uie letter, waa to sL^S^^'^, tl^-.^^'Z
4U
B0M0L4.
progiM* from PiM, uid, unwilling for ttiaag nmou to wtit
FtortDoe, yet dMiiou of taking ooutmI with S«TonuoU at
thii diffloult Jtmotora, intended to p«uM thii ynj day at Ban
Caieianok about ten milea from the oity, whence he would
ride out the next morning in the plain garb of a prieet, and
meet Sarcnarola, as if oaiually, Ato milae on the Florence
road, two houra after innrite. The plot, of which thaee
forged letters were the initial itep, wai that Dolfo Spini with
a band of his Compagnaooi waa to be posted in ambush on the
road, at a lonely spot about five miles from the gates; that
he was to seise SaTCoarola with the Dominican brother who
would acoompany him according to rule, and deliver him orer
to a small detachment of Milaneee horse in readiness near San
Oasoiano, by whom he was to be carried into the Boman terri-
tory. '
There was a stnmg .aanoe that the penetrating Frate would
suspect a trap, and decline to incur the risk, which he bad
for some time avoided, of going beyond the city walls. Even
when he preached, bis friends held it necessary that he should
be attended by an armed guard; and here he was called on
to commit himself to a solitary road, with no other attendant
than a fellow-monk. On this ground the minimnTn of time
had been given him for decision, and the chance in favor of
his acting on the letters was, that the eagerness with which
his mind was set on the combining of interests within and
without the Church toward the procuring of a General Coun-
cil, and also the expectation of immediate service from the
Cardinal in the actual juncture of his contest with the Pope,
would l^umph over his shrewdness and caution in the brief
apace allowed for deliberatios.
Tito had had an audience of Savonarola, having 'declined
to put the letters into any hands but his, and with consum-
mate art had admitted that incidentally, and by inference, he
was able so far to conjecture their purport as to belisve they
referred to a rendezvous outside the gates, in which case he
urged that the Erato should seek an armed guard from the
Signoria, and offered his services in carrying the request with
the utmost privacy. Savonarola had replied briefly that this
was impossible: an aimed guard was incompatible with pri-
8T A anmr lamp. ^^g
2S"h. Sr !^ £ \^' ^^ -i Tito m ^r^
JJU» apmi wai an inconvenient oolleaima w. i. j
rrt excited with drinkine £»««„ ^^m He frequently
"Bwni,»ortoi)en^tothu» J T****' ^owno* had iti
hrt^ecn WnT^d Tito tS!? h" ^l?'" °' ""> '«^"'«»t
other .hoaWi„^^;^'^**f"' P?"'' "^^Wo" of ewh
the i.j«i wu^rJiTr^ °' *^* "^'"st «»*, there wm al«v.
the becohetto o^r tTtT^^ ,?' ^•'''*** •'««» "' <»'^
morning, bu? tt7^£n<^^ v''?'^ "" »»d««tood in Z
^^^^^ P on a fraternal grMp of the dionlder in the
.i«r„f'ht';LTth°:iorw^r'*«,sr''"'^"<^ •»"«•'*
Spini h«l h«l no cW Slw^ i.f'?v 'T? '?" '"""•^'^ «
Spini. But, himwuTsTi^w h^? ^"^ ^t ^"^ "^"K'" "f
fop «. instant™, d^rSt^a'' of th^, ""^ ^''^ iUuminated
»ay waa as stitigl/mXlTl >'^P..aiid Tito in hia
C<»npagn«.i. f^^tCa:^^.^^:^^^
now Stood behind her husbSS-s ^oSn
"&.(
> loeiria. Tito was
my carrier-pigeon I" grated Sf ,i'. haSi
not left to hope long.
voioe^ in
414
ROHOLA..
kM
ill
what he meant to be an undertone, while his hand giaaped
Tito's shoulder; "what did you run into hiding for? You
didn't know it was comrades who were coming. It's well I
caught sight of you; it saves time. 'What of the chase to-
morrow morning? Will the bald-headed game rise? Are the
falcons to be got ready? "
If it had been in Tito's nature to feel an acoess of rage, he
would have felt it against this bull-faced aooomplioe, unfit
either for a leader or a tool. His lips turned white, but his
excitement came from the pressing difficulty of choosing a safe
device. If he attempted to hush Spini, that would only
deepen Bomola's 8r.gpicion, and he knew her wel. enough to
know that if somu strong alarm were roused in her, she was
neither to be silenced nor hoodwinked : on the other hand, if
he repelled ^pini angiiiy the wine-breathing Compagnaocio
might become savage, being more ready at resentment than at
the divination of motives. He adopted a third course, which
proved that Bomola retained one sort of power over him the
power of dread.
He pressed her hand, as if intending a hint to her, and svd
in a good-humored tone of comradeship, —
"Yes, my Dolfo, you may prepare in all security. But
take no trumpets with you."
"Don't be afraid," said Spini, a little piqued. "No need
to play Ser Saccente with me. I know where the devil keeps
his tail as well as you do. What I he swallowed the bait
whole? The prophetic nose didn't scent the hook at all?"
he went on, lowering his tone a little, with a blundering sense
of secrecy.
"The brute will not be satisfied till he has emptied the bag,"
thought Tito : but aloud he said, — " Swallowed aU as easily as
you swallow a cup of Trebbiano. Ha! I see torches: there
must be a dead body coming. The pestilence has been spread-
ing, I hear."
" Santiddio ! I hate the sight of those biers. Oood-night, "
said Spini, hastily moving ofF.
The torches were really coming, but they preceded a church
dignitary who was returning homeward; the suggestion of
the dead body and the pestilence was Tito's device for getting
!; > i4
BY A STREET LAMP. 415
creased." -^ "'"'^ **« "i^ has not in-
trusted every worhfcould^JL"""'"""""^ '"'^- «^« <"-
"I wiU not ir;o on," she said". "I will nof m« -
Je^SS"-'- - --^a«ain^s*^Ke::r/S
wi7p:its'r.rrarrat:^^'^'';Ti ''^■
a wife who this time he f nr«. ' f w nsmg of dislike to
thwa.^«hi.in\^:;StS„TCe iiler- Of
Jr,s?rdiei?^rSoi^^T^^^ -'
necessary at thatto^r f» he? rZtT\" '^ ^°
and hurl herself with him Tw^ . ^™* "" ^*'' ^^baad
could have done U ™„„ ^A?"""^"''' '^^ *«^* " « she
the self-queU^g disoSSe ^f t*""' ""^' ^* *^^* "">""•»*
fied:yfeltn^lTt:h:^£/r:^^^^^^^^ •>« """^
falling a victim to it. " ™* *™** ^™™
"What is the plot?"
" That I decline to tell, " said Titn « t* • , ,
IVate's safety will be secur^" * '' "'""'^^ '^'" '^'
4" «4r?ii!" ''"'"« ^^ °"'«''^« »^« sates that Spini
416
BOHOIX
'
" There 1mm been no intention of mnider. It ia limply a
plot for eompelling him to obey the Pope's sammons to Borne.
But as I serve the popular government, and think the Prate's
presence here is a necessary means of maintaining it at pres-
ent, I choose to prevent his departure. You may go to sleep
witii entire ease of mind to-night"
For a moment Bomola was silent. Then she said, in a voice
of anguish, " Tito, it is of no use : I have no belief in you."
She could just discern his action as he shrugged his shoul-
ders, and spread out his palms in 'lence. That cold dislilie
which is the anger of unimpassioned beings was hardening
within him.
" If the Frate leaves the city— if any harm happens to him, "
sold Bomola, after a slight pause, in a new tone of indignant
resolution, — '' I will declare what I have heard to the Signoria,
and you will be disgraced. What if I am your wife? " she
went on, impetuously; " I will be disgraced with yon. If we
are united, I am that part of you that will save you from
crime. Others shall not be betrayed."
" I am quite aware of what you would be likely to do, anima
mia," said Tito, in the coolest of his liquid tones; "therefore
if you have a small amount of reasoning at your disposal just
now, consider that if you believe me in nothing else, you may
believe me when I say I will take care of myself and not put
it in your power to ruin me."
" Then you assure me that the Frate is warned — he will not
go beyond the gates? "
" He shall not go beyond the gates."
There was a moment's pause, but distrust was not to be ex-
pelled.
" I will go back to San Marco now and find out," Bomola
said, making a movement forward.
" You shall noti " 8?id " ito, in a bitter whisper, seizing her
wrists with all his masculine force. " I am master of you.
You shall not set yourself in opposition to me."
There were passers-by approaching. Tito had heard them,
and that was why he spoke in a whisper. Bomola was too
conscious of being mastered to have struggled, even if she had
remained unconscious that witnesses were at hand. But she
BT A STREET LAMP. 417
uiuu lor ner, it seemed the easiest of all oouraes «„f -
^bits of self-questioning, memories of imS .ibduel Td
that proud reserve which all discipline h^ left T™^-« /
began to emerge from the flood of pwsion Thl » i^v'^'
wrists, which asserted her husb^d'?phvsic^ n^^-°^ ^'"
mstead of arousing a new fiercenTs LS aj fr^^^'''
i<«a ... »lUSi« iftt^ «,t "* ?• ™ ""
my way.'
27
118
BOUOLA.
Tito assumed the tone which was just then the easiest to
him, oonjeoturing that in Bomola's present moo3 persuasive
deprecation would be lost upon her.
" Tes, Tito," she said in a low voice, " I think you believe
that I would guard the Republic from further treachery.
You are right to believe it: if theFrato is betrayed, I will de-
nounce you." She paused a moment, and then said, with an
effort, " But it was not so. I have perhaps spoken too hastily
— you never meant it. Only, why will you seem to be that
man's comrade?"
" Such relations .^~° inevitable to practical men, my Bom-
ola," said Tito, gra'^^i^ed by V:sc<)rning the struggle within
her. " You fair crealores live in the clouds. Fray go to rest
with an easy hearij" he added, opening the door for her.
CHAPTER XLVIL
Tito's clever arrangements had been unpleasantly frustrated
by trivial incidents which could not enter into a clever man's
calculations. It was very seldom that he walked with Bom-
ola in the evening, yet he had happened to be walking with
her precisely on this evening when her presence was supreme-
ly inconvenient. Life was so complicated a game that the de-
vices of skill were liable to be defeated at every turn by air-
blown chances, incalculable as the descent of thistledown.
It was not that he minded about the failure of Spini's plot,
but he felt an awkward difficulty in so adjusting his warning
to Savonarola on the one hand, and to Spini on the other, as
not to incur suspicion. Suspicion roused in the popular party
might be fatal to his reputation and ostensible position in
Florence: suspicion roused in Dolfo Spini might be as dis-
agreeable in its effects as the hatred of a fierce dog not to be
chained.
If Tito went forthwith to the monastery to warn Savonarola
before the monks went to rest, his warning would follow so
CHECK.
419
without telling him the true ™«n? • "°' '»™ Spai at once
diately allege 'the diSvt^' t^rsroni\°:."'V^ '°""*'-
purpose; and he knew S^ui weU IZlw^ "^"^^^ ^^
imderstanding would discern LrM„„u"i^ ^ ^""'^ <^t his
round" and fn^strated Z^ On t"h ^''^ ^-''''''''^*''
ferring his warning to Savonarola ^tim '' ^'^'*' ''y •*«■
be almost sure to l^e the Tn^ f . *5' momiug, he would
the Frate had oh^d LTmd"°«''/i"r^« «P«' t'^"'
gnacci would com7bIck ta ZTtL ^'.^"^ °^ ^ompa-
This last, however, wMtteL^H^t"^ <lisappointment.
power of soothing Spirrbv^Lr^/v 1^"' '"""-« *° ^s
due only to the ^ate'Tcautfon ^ "" *^''* '^^ ^^'-^^ ^"^
counter Eomola agaiZ ^d he dif LT ^t^"^'^'^ ^°i *» en-
She watohed through ientll^ '"""'' ""'*'"8ht.
clothes. She heardX 7^„ .^ ' *°? °«^«^ ^^ off her
She liked to hearse ^ Z ^°"'\''««"« "-d heavier,
gnard against m™'! T- 8'°™y heavens seemed a safe-
most doubt of her h-^^fbutw^r' ""'^ "^ «"« "'■
duct. What lie mieht h^L f by doubt as to her own con-
might he not hav^f Ih ch she":<^'',n"' ^"^ P^J^'
one who trusted T to wmT„ din . '^^ 'gnorant? Every
persuade herself of thronw'"!;^ IT ""/"t *° "^^ ^^
listening to the promntin« nf L ^"' °°* "''^ selfishly
from wLning'mTCmTLS^^t: tX '''r''^^
malefactor, her place was in rt/ • . husband was a
might be, 'she was contested to^fth? ,'^ ""'' «We"-that
a wife, to allow a husUnd 1 iSlf tt ""' • ^'''^^^^-'
make him a malefactor/Xnit miltt ""r'*' "•*' '^"■^'^
vent them? Prayer seemZj" ^-u^ ^ " ''*' P"^""- <» Pw-
o« 1, ir ,ayer seemed impossible to her Tlio .„*• v
Set'^"t^-S;^^— ^ ^*^*^ of^^hichlVe:^
^hemesbywMch. after all. Tlto-r^V^eTdlllS:
)l
; ' I
*•• ROKOLA.
•nd towatd daybreak the rain became leu vioient, tiU at lart
it oeaaed, the breeze rose again and dispersed the clouds, and
the morning fell dear on all the objects around her. It made
her uneaainesi all the less endurable. She wrapped her man-
tle round her, and ran up to the loggia, as if there oould be
anyvhing in the wide hmdsoape that mipht determine her
action; as if there could be anything but roofs hiding the line
of street along which Savonarola might be walking toward
betrayal.
If she went to her godfather, might she not induce him,
without any specific revelation, to take measures for prevent-
ing Fra Qirolamo from passing the gates? But that might be
too late. Bomola thought, with new distress, that she had
failed to ledm any guiding details from Tito, and it was al-
ready long past seven. She must go to San Marco : there was
nothing else to be done.
She hurried down the stairs, she went out into the street
without looking at her sick people, and walked at a swii't
pace along tti Via de' Bardi toward the Ponte Veochio. She
would go through the heart of the ciiy ; it was the most direct
road, and, besides, in the great Piazza there was a chance of
encountering her husband, who, by some possibility to which
she still clung, might satisfy her of the Prate's safety, and
leave no need for her to go to San Marco. When she arrived
in front of the Palazzo Vecohio, she looked eagerly into the
pillared court; then her eyes swept the Piazza; but the well-
known figure, once painted in her heart by young love, and
now . branded there by eating pain, was nowhere to be seen.
She hurried straighten to the Piazza del Duomo. It was al-
ready full of movement : there were worshippers passing up
and down the marble steps, there were men pausing for chat,
and there were market-people carrying their burdens. Be-
tween those moving figures Bomola caught a glimpse of her
husband. On his way from San Marco he had turned into
Nello's shop, and was now leaning against the door-post. As
Bomola approached she oould see that he was standing and
talking, with the easiest air in the world, holding his cap in his
hand, and shaking back his freshly combed hair. The contrast
of this ease with the bitter anxieties he had created convulsed
OOVSTMS-CiaCK.
quentersof 8«n Mar^ZK^Trt "^"^ ''"'"'wL-
thwugh her inmd,-nwmZ™T.. '''"''*"•'■ ^tA^hed
">en.» And her light .tepbZZ h"° ^ 'P~^ '»^°« t^O"*
ie had tiine to move, whUe fW* "'"'* "P°» l"™ before
IfadonnaBomol.." ' '*'^'' Cronaoa w«, aaymg, «Hereoom«
anxious watching, but there w^ a «.!>. f ^««"'* '''^ W
anj^etjr in her eyU aa X s Jd^ "^ "' ~"'««'^8 «!«> than
wonu^n. andue,Sn1a^ri?3en^V.^'P'''' '-'o" ^^^^
but Ser Cec^errn^o^^fet '^k""*"" °^ "•« ^'e.
«^w«aecretl, agSi;Xt^^"'^^^'°^■
H and the reverse of geS L t '^""'' '"'* "•""""-■
«bam,. It foUowed that he WMnotftl , %-^^ ^*°»t
"8 was not for.a of Tito Melema.
i
CHAPTEB XLVin.
OOUlmtB-CHBCK.
4»
SOHOLA.
light WM getting dim, wh«n her hiuband entered. He had
oome straight to this room to seek her, with a thoroughly de-
fined intention, and there was something new to Bomola in his
manner and expression as he looked at her silently on enter-
ing, and, without taking off his cap and mantle, leaned one
elbow on the cabinet, and stood directly in front of her.
Bomola, fully assured during the day of the Frate's safety,
was feeling the reaction of some penitence for the access of
distrust and indignation which had impelled her to address
her husband publicly on a matter that she knew he wished to
be private. She told herself that she had probably been
wrong. The scheming duplicity which she had heard even
her godfather allude to as inseparable from party tactics might
be sufficient to account for the connection with Spini, without
the supposition that Tito had ever meant to further the plot.
She wanted to atone for her impetuosity by confessing that she
had been too hasty, and for some hours her mind had been
dwelling on the possibility that this confession of hers might
lead to other frank words breaking the two years' silence of
their hearts. The silence had been so complete that Tito
was ifmorant of her having fled from him and come back
again; they had never approached an avowal of that past
which, both in its young love and in the shock that shattered
the love, lay looked away from them like a banquet-room
where death had once broken the feast
She looked up at him with that submission in her glance
which belonged to her state of self-reproof; but the subtle
change in his face and manner arrested her [speech. For a
few moments they remained silent, looking at each other.
Tito himself felt that a crisis was come in his married life.
The husband's determination to mastery, which lay deep be-
low all blandness and beseechingness, had risen permanently
to the surface now, and seemed to alter his face, as a face is
altered by a hidden muscular tension with which a man is
secretly throttling or stamping out the life from something
feeble, yet dangerous.
" Bomola," he began, in the cool liquid tone that made her
shiver, "it is time that we should understand each other."
He paused.
OOXWrBR-OHIOK.
tuwdity of self-doubt in it ^^L'^T', ""^ '"^^« bat the
"^ Yoa ^l'"*'*""''' <»"' -" enlth ''" ' """^'^ ''"^o-i"
« a fuller and firmer toneflito STh^S"'"' ""»" """^
iToS-sr "--"« "^"Snl Kris
-/oC':?::.r«£,':j-tr'^^^ ^e ..id. without
^tt our jK«ition a, hnaband ^d ^""Tw"k '"«°"'I«'iW«
^'a?"t;;t^-a'j^^^ -.in,
"»g> but we see a very litlJe «„Tf, * *"^ ''"'»8'>t <rf say-
>»« is to occur in fature wh^' """'•'"^ ^^' "ttaVnoth-
auspicions. You ..eT^teZ.TT ^"^ ™'««'°»able
70U have no belief in n>e. l^Z ' -^ ^'"' "'KJ-* «•»*
prated conclusion yea may ^^ frC'P™*^ "* '^7 exag-
I wish to point out to you wW T. ^T, ^^\* P"""'"""' b"*
your making such exagg^todLn,.^J' to bo the fruit of
fering in affairs of whf^ vo^ .^i""""''"' " Sround for inter-
tboroughly awake to wStTar^C^;- ^°" '''*«'"tio^
He paused for a reply. ^"'^^
tHis '^kZfof::^:^'''^ ^ ^P'-^"« --t-ent at
devising crimes for me, and you ma" '"i^K-^a'^n at work
B
'A
4S4
ROMOLA.
with io mnoh oounge, bat the urMt and rain Of many among
the ohief men in Florence, inolading Meuer Bernardo del Kero. "
Tito had meditated a deoisive move, and be had made it.
The flush died out of Bomola'i face, and her very lips were
pale — an unutual effect with her, for the wu little subject to
fear. Tito perceived hia sucoeti.
" Tou would perhape flatter yourself," he went on, "that
you were performing a heroic deed of deliverance: yoa might
as well try to turn looks with fine words as apply such notions
to the politics of Florence. The question now is, not whether
you can have any belief in me, but whether, now you have
been warned, you will dare to rush, like a blind man with a
torch in his hand, amongst intricate affairs of which you
know nothing."
Bomola felt as if her mind Wk.'e held in a vice by Tito's:
the possibilities he had indicated were rising before her with
terrible clearness.
" I am too rash," she said. " I will try not to be rash."
"Bemember," said Tito, with unsparing insistence, "that
your act of distrust toward me this morning might, for aught
you knew, have had more fatal effects than that sacrifice of
your husband which you have learned to contemplate without
flinching."
" Tito, it is not so," Bomola burst forth in a pleading tone,
rising and going nearer to him, with a desperate resolution to
speak out. " It is false that I would willingly sacrifice you.
It has been the greatest effort of my life to cling to you. I
wenl away in my anger two years ago, and I came back again
because I was more bound to you than to anything else on
earth. But it is useless. You shut me out from your mind.
You affect to think of me as a being too unreasonable to share
in the knowledge of your affairs. You will be open with me
about nothing."
She looked like his good angel pleading with him, as she
bent her face toward him with dilated eyes, and laid her hand
upon his arm. But Bomola's touch .d glance no longer
stirred any fibre of tenderness in her husband. The good-
humored, tolerant Tito, incapable of hatred, incapable almost
of impatience^ disposed always to be gentle toward the test of
COUNTEH-CHECK. 4^5
l«d known. With Mh^ZT^ the .trongest influence he
•-«ulin. effeotitii' of inSTe^d '''^'^''°"' "" ""^ «
•harpneasofedge. i. itJif 1° ""^ P^P"*' "hioh, like
out «,y strong m'l ntS^" ZZF^'J°'^''' '" "'^ -"«"-
which thwarted hie. and no »^n ^^ " ""ergyof her own
f«.bH will endure ^be^g thw".^d bt%" ""^ •«'«'P«'">alIy
must be a relation either of evm^L^ 1 ""'• *^""»8«'
o«nge. I have not ob^!^ !t^' °' ^^ * Pl*^ into an
•ffloaoy that way. YonZtZ^J^t^'*^'" '"'^« »"«'''
«trongin>pre8,ionsinaZrbI?to» '^^t" ^ I'-'ve certain
topreasions, and youT" iu^/ ° ',f ''"'"°* "»'"'> t^oee
oonwquenoe You have chaT^^''" f ''•"* *~'» '»« «
«»t I have ohan^ tllafd y^ tT*?** ""^ ' '' '« '""•"'•"J
">tn>»peot. VVeWe^ilnwrj ^* *"""'«" to take any
difoni!" * '""P'y *°»dapt°«™elvestoalteredoM,^
,B<;S'w*trr.:::sr.i^.frt^»'^ -peniy'^ud
living muscle against someE-"*""*' ^""n "»i°«
"It was the seTe of d^nt on ?n """"^"""toble resistance*
that has kept us ap^^Cd > ■^''" *^** "^"^l^^ ""»' "^d
fi«t. Youchan;^Cardtel"n°t'™'"''"^°'^8«<l
chain-armor. YoThad^lT *^^' y°" ^"* ""« that
that oldman-Ldlsi hZ ""^ "-"-it was about
went on, in a C of Znltd ent^a^.^j'"^- ^"°'" ""«
tell me everything let iT^twT^' '* J'"" ''""Id o°oe
pain-thatt^ere m%K S wai?.:^^^-^ '"'^'^ °°* "-^l
»ible that we could begin a „eS^"" "" '' "* »«' P"-
Heatd7i%::si\'urth:vr°" "-«'- '^•'°'« ^-.
him. He t«>k no notice "f R T^ ««««°e<i tohave whitened
ment's pause, sa^° Suy^L''"""'''' « "^P^' b«t after a mo-
m
■I I ^
f. Ml
I
4M
ROMOLA.
" Totu impctiKMitj kbont triflta, Bomola, luw » frMain; in-
fluano* that would oool the bathi of Nero. " At the** onttliia
worda, Aomola shrank and drew heraelf up into her usual aalt-
sustained attitude. Tito went on. " If by • that old man '
you mean the mad Jaoopo di Nola who attempted my life and
made b strange aoousation against me, of which I told you
nothirg because it would have alarmed you to no purpose, he,
poor wretch, has died in prison. I saw his name in the list
of dead."
"I know nothing about his aoousation," said Bomola.
"But 1 know he is the man whom I saw with the rope round
his neck in the Duomo— the man whose portrait Piero dl
Cosimo painted, grasping your arm as he saw him grasp it the
day the French entered, the day you first wore the armor."
"And where u he now, pray?" said Tito, still pale, but
goreming himself.
" He was lying lifeless in the street from starration," said
Bomola. "1 rerived him with bread and wine. I brought
hi'n tr ;ir ioK, but he refused to come in. Then I gave
him some money, and he went away without telling me any-
thing. But he had found out that I was your wife. Who is
he?"
" A man, half nuul, half imbecile, who was once my father's
servant in Greece, and who has a rancorous hatred toward me
because I got him dismissed for theft Now you have the
whole mystenr, and the further satisfaction of knowing that I
am again in da iger of assassination. The fact of my wearing
the armor, about which you seem to have thought so much,
must have led you to infer that I was in danger from this
man. Was that the reason you < those to cultivate his ac-
quaintance and invite him into the house? "
Bomola was mute. To speak was only like rushing with
bare breast against a shield.
Tito moved from his leaning posture, slowly took off his
cap and mantle, and pushed back his hair. He was collect-
ing himself for some final words. And Bomola stood upright,
looking at him as she might have looked at some on-coming
deadly force, to be met only by silent endurance.
"We need not refer to tb ie matters again, Bomola," he
0OUIfTlR.0H«0K. fgf
«J affair. 'y^„ STS^^ir^' ^°" *^ ^*"^'^' '» Politi-
but to be r^»inr^o^Tnt^Z7 "" '"? «"-«"'
« not yet . .uffloiently wd,nt pSn r^,°° ""• '^°»
•«r Bernardo del Nero U^e n^T?! '"u^''"" """ "e.-
JW^oVJori the „c£g,^M^ki,'^'?"«*\r Metier
""nd no promise from youT' ^ "''"^ ^ ""•^ «»•■
;• I have understood you too weU, Tito."
^1«°°"8V' he ««ud, leaving 'the Im.
•haU alway. be dW^;d .^^ -,t^-' T"" ^'^ ''" ^e
tkrough her mind. "ITnie.. ''^.J°^'^'/'"'"'^ »'•"%
d.n vleion had startled wtto .ih .^::,1''^'°'"« '"<^-
oomeandjoinusi" ""»»P«»li— unless misery should
oiS'th'rdrb:Cd'£nfb U' "-^"^ '^''' ^- ^^
Horenc a. soon as hi. life LreTaJ SLI^^.^'I °l '•*'^«
rtepping-stonetoaUfeelsewhe™ ™rh^ *„ '"«'' '"""S^
there was now for the flr.f T- ' P*""P* «* Kon»e or MUan,
from EomoCJnd tj leave wLn'S'*' ' """"' *° '«"«^
to belong to the de^™w. * -^^""^ ^"°- S''' J-ad ceased
poMibiufyVt e^JlS,^^^^ ^"'"«= therewa.no
inenes. on hi. W^ ^^ ° ^."^ *^''"' *'"">"' K^nu-
V»st. «,d con ss^'invdXT" ""^i''"* ~"^«"'- °' ">«
1-d a. little bent ttat war .1 1 ?i^°v *"^'"'- »"' Tito
it. teeth are grown^ 5^™ ,? ^^ 1»» to lap milk when
«d .«reeabrwe\no^^.f T^^*"- ">at T" ""' ^^^
cling to them? *" '''^''' "liy »hould he
.idtLsrrhar':'r,^?r '"»""^' ^*^ °*--'-
Spini, who had come baok^"^j"""""°^'^<"''"l'Dolfo
Boaking with r^ and W. v ""^^ ^' "^ ineffectual
between RoLlTaufhrellat^flW "?'"■*' '^'^^-^---e
Spini's ear, might te a Te^d o? JlfV ^°°'' '^"' '«P°^d i"
tban suspicion* But now ^° iea«T?T,"°" "°'""'''8«»ble
"•-ateredBomolabyltLT^rSi'' ^'T'* "•"* •"> '""^
/ » «rrc. hieh appealed to the strongest
438
ROKOLA.
foioes of her nature. He had alarmed her affeotjn. . . j- d her
oonsoienoe bj- the shadowy image of consequences. lie had ai-
rested her intellect by hanging before it the idea < J a hopeless
complexity in affairs which defied any moral judguei fc.
Yet Tito was not at ease. The world was not yet quii£
cushioned with velvet, and, if it had been, he could not have
abandoned himself to that softness with thorough enjoyment)
for before he went out again this evening he put on his ooat of
chain-armor.
CHAPTER XLIX.
I THK PYBAMID OF VANITIKS.
The wmtry days passed for Bomola as the white ships pass
one who is standing lonely on the shore — passing in silence
and sameness, yet each bearing a hidden burden of coming
change. Tito's hint had mingled so much dread with her in-
terest in the progress of public affairs that she had begun to
court ignorance rather than knowledge. The threatening Ger-
man Emperor was gone again; and, in other ways besides, the
position of Florence was alleviated; but so much distress re-
mained that Bomohk's active duties were hardly diminished,
and in these, as usual, her mind found a refuge from its doubt.
She dared not rejoice that the relief which had come in
extremity and had appeared to justify the policy of the Urate's
party was making that party so triumphant that Francesco
Valori," hot-tempered chieftain of the Piagnoni, had been
elected Gonfaloniere at the beginning of the year, and was
making haste to have as much of his own liberal way as possi-
ble during his two months of power. That seemed for the
moment like a strengthening of the party most attached to
freedom, and a re-enforcement of protection to Savonarola;
but } „omola was now alive to every suggestion likely to deepen
her forebr'ing, that whatever the present might be, it was
only an unconscious brooding over the mixed germs of Change
which might any day become tragic. And already by Carnival
time, a little aftei mid-February, her presentiment was con-
THE PYRAMID OP VANirOffl. 439
the Corso degli A°bizri lo i!^K^''*'°« *° I""""^' t<"'"<i
there was to be a s^ene „^I! ^T* •'*"» ^'8noria, where
Florentine eyt: LTdesi e'toZ if "» ^.«»' ""»* «"
struggled to get UP th«Z,i^^ "'"* ''" companions had
wel/fpieed^^rthLetncr lucbE w' '""^"^ ^"'""^
city where Christ had been deci^Sl' """ """ *° "^ ^ "
eve^;re%ntroVa" W dS:'r-r °* -^-^ -«> -^0''
sake of „atifvta»° 1„H* ^ Mght-seeing purely for the
day was^elfnTv „ I °' '"""^ ^"^ "^^^'•'^ f™nd. The
^^..^heg^tobe-lCset^---^^^^^
taS':s:„rverof*ttfjxr.* ^t^ *^''*'"''' -'«•'*
was still alone. 'i^T^S 4e -«i*'r ''"^ ■""
thing monstrous and many-«>S iTthr,!,^ ! '"'' *"""■
or, rather, like a h„„» « T ■ ^ '"^"I* °* * pyramid,
on the b^^ohes wMenitr^' ^"^^ .* ^^'J-i^h. with'^helve^
tW reachedt^ireLroret^%tr SeT *"^
wasfullof life- sliirhf ^„„„ c "'KJiiy yaros. Tiie Piazza
olive wreathTo; S/earwe™mo" "'Z'' ^f^"*^ ''*
base of the t)vra,nj^„i *! ' ^'""'"TU'K to and fro about the
»J^r^£rrdmat^:'f'^^''« '^^'^^'^ *"» °^ ''"gt*-
in the distance to m^JtJiu "'J^^^^e to various points
oisBUice to survey the wondrous whole: whUe a oon-
I' I
W i
430
ROUOLA.
If : ■
If'' '
' i I
ii'i
mr
Biderable group, ar^ongat whom Bomola reoognued Piero di
Cosimo, standing on the marble steps of Oroagna's Loggia,
seemed to be keeping aloof in discontent and scorn.
Approaching nearer, she paused to look at the multifarions
objects ranged in gradation from the base to the summit of the
pyramid. There were tapestries and brocades of immodest
design, pictures and sculptures held too likely to incite to
vice; there were boards and tables for all sorts of games,
playing-cards along with the blocks for printing them, dice,
and other apparatus for gambling; there were worldly music
books, and musical instruments in all the pretty varieties of
lute, drum, cymbal, and trumpet; there were masks and mas-
querading-dresses used in the old Carnival shows; there were
handsome copies of Ovid, Boccaccio, Petrarca, Puloi, and
other books of a vain or impure sort; there were all the im-
plements of feminine vanity — rouge-pots, false hair, mirrors,
perfumes, powders, and transparent veils intended to provoke
inquisitive glances: lastly, at the very summit, there was the
unflattering ef&gy of a probably mythical Venetian merchant,
who was understood to have offered a heavy sum for this col-
lection of marketable abominations, and, soaring above him in
surpassing ugliness, the symbolic figure of the old debauched
Carnival.
This was the preparation for a new sort of bonfire the
Burning of Vanities. Hidden in the interior of the pyramid
was a plentiful store of dry fuel and gunpowder; and on this
last day of the festival, at evening, the pile of vanities was to
be set ablaze to the sound of trumpets, and the ugly old Car-
nival was to tumble into the flames amid the songs of reform-
ing triumph.
This crowning act of the new festivities could hardly have
been prepared but for a peculiar organization which had been
started by Savonarola two years before. The mass of the
Florentine boyhood and youth was no longer left to its own
genial promptings toward street mischief and crude dissolute-
ness. Under the training of Fra Domenico, a sort of lieuten-
ant to Savonarola, lads and striplings, the hope of Florence,
were to have none but pure words on their lips, were to have
a zeal for Unseen Grood that should put to shame the luke-
THE PYRAMID OP VAATTTES.
431
warmneas of their elders, and were to kn„„
of an angelio sort - sintriT^ T T "° Pleasure save
white robes. It was for T.l w^ f™'"*" """^ ^»lking in
been raised high ^afnst thTwT '^\"^«^ »* seats h^
had been used to hTr stona J, "^ V" ^'"""°' '"'i «>ey
glory of a city bt^^wJTIJ"^^^^ *° *^«'n "« tie future
These fresLh^k^H^f ^^°'°**"* '° ^^ ^^ ''°'^ "^ God
generated iiSlftZerr ''■' "?"' »««''*« ^ «^« ™-
sacred parody of tie oTdC^'"":'^' "^'"^ ""^ ^ <^^ «*
time? There wJT to Je a W^'™ '*'° """^'^^ '" *>>« "Id
from off the earth mAt Z"""' <"»'»"n>i"g impurity
There were to bT—sions nnw ^?,fy""»«" Processions?
white robes and r~ °es ZZ' ^y' *^' "^'"''"^^ ''«™ *° be
peace and innocent glaresr-^,^ tf ? wreaths-emblems of
aloft were to teU thftrtu^^Ts^^'^^''"-^ r«-^eW
dancing in a ring under the open swTVh^ p ^*™ ^'°
sound of choral voices chanting llse Lis? T^"'"^ to the
dancing in a rine now h„^ ^ ■ ! ^^ There was to be
ternal love and livtaT'iov Ih"*?^ "^ """"^^ "-"^ '«'<7 *" ^a-
of hymns. As for TJ.^, . ! °""'' "'«' "^ ■>« the music
suppers, but^for the Cefit oTth! 1 ^°"" '^'^ «»P«'fluous
besides, there was the Slg omeS"' "^'If' "^^
tbia^s^SssTSrrtt'^/T *° ^°- -
given up to them. Perhaw X? I"'" Anathema should be
bad been surrendered M»I . ^' """* "''°^«d vanities
bad still cerraSl tTle Srd\!n 'I' ^'"'^"^ '^« ''°"««I'°H
intended to p^uce 1 » 1^ ^' u"'"^''* *'°'° ^^ ^-evant
mostingenuo'u^fZT? ifsTlttrV"'':?''''°'° °^ «>«
oast them into the ^sket „f h ^""* '^*'" ^"""^ a°d
ringlets and coils of "Sw^"'-/''n''''P«' '"'^ ^ad
to the street-door, not on h«A ' 7^^°' }^^ ^" ^^ng thorn
publicly renounr^L^Vn^tt a ^:tichVM h^ '"'^ ^
signs of age under a ehastlv J^lr 1, '"^ respectable
ward, she would heL fresh^oT. v^ °* ^''"*' ^'"^' '" '«'
on hep and her hoZ ^ ^ *" P'°"'»"<:e e blessing
The beardless Inquisitors, organized into little regiments,
433
ROHOLA.
doubtleas took to their work very willingly. To ooene people
by shame, or other spiritual pelting, into the giving up of
things it will probably vex them to part with, is a form of
piety to which the boyish mind is most readily converted;
and if some obstinately winked men got enraged and threat-
ened the whip or the cudgel, this also was exciting. Savo-
narola himself evidently felt about the training of these boys
the difficulty weighing on all minds with noble yearnings
toward great ends, yet with that imperfect perception of
means which forces a resort to some supernatural constraining
influence as the only sure hope. The Florentine youth had
had very evil habits and foul tongues : it seemed at first an
unmixed blessing when they were got to shout " Viva Oetti/"
But Savonarola was forced at last to say from the pulpit,
" There is a little too much shouting of ' Viva Oeaii I ' This
constant uttering of sacred words brings them into contempt.
Let me have no more of that shouting till the next Festa."
Nevertheless, as the long stream of white-robed youthful-
ness, with its little red crosses and olive wreaths, had gone to
the Duomo at dawn this morning to receive the communion
from the hands of Savonarola, it was a sight of beauty; and.
doubtless, many of those young souls were laying up mem-
ories of hope and awe that might save them from ever resting
in a merely vulgar view of their work as men and citizens.
There is no kind of conscious obedience that is not an ad-
vance on lawlessness, and these boys became the generation
of men who fought greatly and endured greatly in the last
struggle of their Bepublic. Now, in the intermediate hours
between the early communion and dinner-time, they were
making their last perambulations to collect alms and vanities,
and this was why Bomola saw the slim white figures moving
to and fro about the base of the great pyramid.
"What think you of this folly. Madonna Komola?" said a
brusque voice close to her ear. " Your Piagnoni will make
Vinfe.mo a pleasant prospect to ns, if they are to carry things
their own way on earth. It's enough to fetch a cudgel over
the mountains to see painters, like Lorenzo di Credi and young
Baccio there, helping to bum color out of life in this fashion."
" My good Piero)" said Bomola, looking up and smiling at
THB PYRAMID OF VANITIBS. 433
J^f„«'h T" T 'T ^"'^ """■* ^ S'-^ 'o »«« """o of these
"What then?" said Piero, turning round on her sharply
I never said a woman should make a black patch of^er
shltfr'* "^^ ^'^^l^^^^- Val Madonna AnHgonerit's a
shame for a woman with your hair and shoulders to run i^t^
such nonsense-leave it to women who are not worth pZtT.
.atl the most holy Virgin herself has always been dressed
wm. that's the doctrine of the Church :_talk of heresv iT
tl ^°" »^o""i lite to know what the exceUen Me'ss»
Bardo would have said to the burning of the divine poete W
these Frati, who are no better an imitation of men th^ ^
Uiey were onions with the bulbs uppermost. Look at that
that the heavenly Laura was a painted harridan? A^d Boo
Z7:flZ ° ^;? r'^ *° ""y- ^'"*°''"» Eomola^ou w^o
are fit to be a model for a wise Saint Catherine of Egyp^-dc
mZTl'M ^ ''^•^°" ^"r" "«^» '««1 the stories of&^.
mortal Messer Giovanni? "
"It is true I have read them, Piero, " said Eomola. « Some
t^T * 8!^"^""?^ *'"«« "^0'' ^J»«° I was a little girl. I
S ^Ut SiffT '"'" -' '"''- '- -^-p' - '^-
«««««?» said Piero, in a fiercely challenging tone.
«.. .7 ! ^™ T" *''"'8" '° ^^'^ I do not want ever to for-
S^?'?i^°'°^'. " ^"* y°" '"»''* '»°f««'>. K»°* that a g™^
ends. Men do not want books to make them think lightly of
Gir^amo for teaching that we owe our time to somethin"
.Sa^^ yes. it's very well to say so now you've read them."
~ud Piero, bitterly, turning on his heel iid walking aTay
a ^rTnf*; *^ '"^'f °°' ™^^8 "* ^'"»'» '°°"e°do. with
a sort of tenderness toward the old painter's anger, because
she knew aat her father would have felt sometS St
434
ROUOLA.
i. I i'
•^:i^i
fi r
jfi i.:
stoiot r^^;l " "^TT °^ °° '"''"•' «°"i"°" with the
sbiot and sombre view of pleasure which tended to repress
poetry in the attempt tc repress vice. Sorrow Id joXv"
like Savonarola's which ultimately blesses mankind by Kivine
the soul a strong propulsion toward sympathy wittoaSi^?
^gnauon against wrong, and the subju^tion of sIsuSir"
mast always incur the reproach of a great negation. Bomola';
We had given her an affinity for sadness which inevTteblv
t^re whiT"'' n r ** '""'^'»*- ^* ""btle res ,1 of oih
ture which we call Taste was subdued by the need for deewr
kted'h! ^"'* ?v*' "'•*' '^*""^'''' °f '^« palate „r^X
u^erS^Td?"""-''- ^"^^.^ '^"''ituall/amongst scene of
W h^S ^ ^""^ r""^ " '""•^•o"* disap^intment in
beneficent strength had no dissonance for her """"^""^e
CHAPTEE L.
TBSSA ABKOAD AND AT BOMIE.
Jn'^T^".**^ ^"y recognized by us-a figure not clad
m b^k^but in the old red, green, and whit^^ app^Ll^
ing the Piazza that morning to see the Carnival. She came
«.m an opposite pomt, for Tessa no longer Uvei on tte hm
to fiT'h ^^«>°"8W It best for that and other reasons
to find her a new home, but still in a quiet airy quarter in
t-JT!iT ""^ """"^ °"* Bight-seeing without special leave
Tito had been with her the evening before, and s^had C
throat unbl she saw him in a state of radiant ease, with one
WnTi*^^''*"'V"'°' '^^ *^« °*« resting grntiy on
her own shoulder as she tried to make the tiny Nto^ st^v
«! her legs. She was sure then that the weaZLI^i
WMSA ABROAD AND AT HOME. 435
ttigJit avoid vexing NMolT ! '^'^^'"^' by which she
way. She oouid md no^g ell r \"'"« "' ^« °w\
"adagooddealinherhuSftce "' """* '*"»•'» *°
wwXtdtte"^^,f,%i^
">? five yeare before, not hfvL L ' °" " ^*"*'" '°°"-
cei^ never retnrned8onearlvShfr'''^^.^°''"8«'' *" de-
« that etraight-backedjarv^ a™ .r"°\°^^'^''°' "^^t^d
vided for his comfort when h« «n ;^' """^ ^« J""-' P")-
dr«.. Tito Wmself wLX i eTa't^r ^"'* "''* «"> 'l^-
Uef which he felt in th J« ™!> ! ^' 8'''"^8 «ense of re-
towardTe,,,^ "he waf t" i^°Zt -and"": '""^ ^"^ '"'^
P^t him of anything. ^T. ,^f *°° '"°«=«"' *<> sus-
"Babbo; were /erysLtt his eL'o^rT "''''"« ^-
he heard them. When i>« *v ? ' *^^ ^"^ whUe that
neve, thought of T^Z.^^^ZV^^' ^^°""-^ ^«
He was very fond of these Z,n/^K '^^^'**'« o°es behind,
things that clung abolt C ZT^^^^fl ''I^Tl^'' J-"--
wherever affection can sprint iT ^iT ^l "^ °^ ^""- -A-nd
blossom-pure, and brTaSCS' wh' ^ ° ^'"^ "^'^ «•«
gww in. Poor Eomoh^ wSf ^ ht' »**^" ""^ " «ay
Lisa any time, and if she isTV J,« f T ^''^ ''*' "''^ Monna
sensible as c^ be-W^,'^.*^*;'^'^'!*"'' «"es, LiUo is as
lillo, whose ereat Ir^! '°'^, **»"?« Mouna Lisa."
his our'ls wereo^r igh V™:i^?°w ,."" *^« ^'^'^ because
Babbo^s knee, and wS fS^^^tSt ^rtT '"'' 1"'"^'^ °"
thumpmg Monna Lisa, who wll sh^tcfl v ""^^'g'""'* by
her spinning at the other end^^^.^i'"" bead slowly over
A wonderful boy!" said T,t„ 1 v^"
"iKi'the?" said Tes«"l *^ "^^"'S'
Tessa, eagerly, getting a littie clo«, to
4M
BOVOLA.
himi "and I might go and m« the Carnival to-morrow, luat
for an hour or two, mightn't I?"
"Oh, you wicked pigeon I" said Tito, pinching her cheek:
thoee are your longings, are they? What have jcu +o do
with carnivals now you are an old woman with two f hUrtren? "
" But old women like to see things," said Tessa, her lower
lip hanging a little. " Monna Lisa said she should like to go,
only she's so deaf she can't hear what is behind her, and she
thinks we couldn't take care of both the children."
"No, indeed, Tessa," said Tito, looking rather grave, "you
must not think of taking the chUdren into the crowded streets.
else I shall be angiy."
"But I have, never been into the Piazza without leave,"
said Tessa, in a frightened, pleading tone, " since the Holy
Saturday, and I think Nofri is dead, for you know the poor
madre died; and I shall never forget the Carnival I saw once;
It was so pretty— all roses and a king and queen under them
—and singing. I liked it better than the San Giovanni."
" But there's nothing like that now, my Tessa. They are
going to make a bonfire in the Piazza— that's all. But I can-
not let you go out by yourself in the evening."
" Oh, no, nol I don't want to go in the evening. I only
want to go and see the procession l^y daylight. There mil be
a procession — is it not true? "
"Yes, after a sort," said Tito, "as Uvely as a flight of
cranes. You must not expect roses and glittering kings and
queens, my Tessa. However, I suppose any string of people
to be called a procession will please your blue eyes. And
there's a thing they have raised in the Piazza de' Signori for
the bonfire. You may like to see that But come home early,
and look like a grave Uttle old woman; and if you see any
men with feathers and swords, keep out of their way; they
are very fierce, and like to cut old women's heads oft."
"Santa Madonna 1 where do they come fromi Ahl you
are laughing; it is not so bad. But I will keep away from
them. Only," Tessa went on in a whisper, putting her lips
near Naldo's ear, " if I might take Lillo with me I He U verv
sensible." '
"But who will thump Monn^v Lisa then, if she doesn't
r«WI»PL.«L'KPRP"«iTI '•^^'^^
"WSA ABROAD AND AT HOMC.
oonatancy that warranted pVeSL^'T"""' '*" '^^ "^'^
her up, and when Babbo wu ™^t^ ^^ *"* '*°* *° "natoi
cent teeth and other tam^ Pf^"* 'l"" .'"*""'°° to the r^
the^tXTaT'^' ~^'^-"' ^^-^"a, and ^
abun£'ce.'''"'"Lr '"''." ,'«^'' Te,«^ delighted at thi,
if I bring hin. sLShinr"""' """^ "'*'°"' I-^o so'LS;
wWeSl^bo^LtJlt "Sd'^rt"'' «-«* «-a
breeze cold enough to dern^d ft,l ""^ ^^'^ ^'' ^«l'r»aiy
woollen dree,, i mantle w,ildw« T'^^ *•" ^« S'^
would haye hidden a newIT^2 "J^" "PPressive, for it
withailver, the ordj oZ^Z^r^\K''' "'"P' """""ted
her Teaea did no! tkZT^t^ !tT^ ^'^ '"^ «-«' "•ade
one had ever told her it was d~^ r/ ^' ^«"™' ^^^ ■«>
that her necklace and cCwe^^f' .k"* '^^ ""^ I"*** "»«»
worn by the richest conS'" /* "•* P'«^e«t sort ever
hood over her head so tha^e^^t „A "^'^ ^^' ''hite
well displayed. These orna^e^t^M'*' ""J""" "'SJ"* he
:.^b:y"t^r^"^---=irrirdi^-
this oiz srsta^^tf "-"^ -^^«.
»he was to fiU her smaJl bM^t Z Vt^^ "'"«' "^^ which
one who Height be olaeJlS t; Yet h^'^^^ "' '^ "^ ""^
488
ROHOLA..
liooM to whioh ha had more than once dogged Tito. BaldM-
Mure wu carrying a package of yam : he wa« constantly em-
ployed iu that way, as a means of earning his scanty bread,
and keeping the sacred fire of vengeance alive ; and he had
come out of his way this morning, as he had often done be-
fore, that he might pass by the house to whioh he had fol-
lowed Tito in the evening. His long imprisonment had so in-
tensified his timid suspicion and his belief in some diabolic
fortune favoring Tito that he had not dared to pursue him,
except -<nder cover of a crowd or of the darkness; he felt,
with instinctive horror, that if Tito's eyes fell upon him, he
should again be held up to obloquy, again be dragged away ;
his weapon weuld be taken from him, and he should be cast
helpless into a prison-oell. His fierce purpose had become as
stealthy as a serpent's, whioh depends for its prey on one dart
of the fang. Justice was weak and unfriended ; and he could
not hear again the voice that pealed the promise of vengeance
in the Duomo ; he had been there again and again, but that
voice, too, had apparently been stifled by cunning strong-
armed wickedness. For a long while, Baldassarre's ruling
thought was to ascertain whether Tito still wore the armor,
for now at last his fainting hope would have been contented
with a successful stab on this side the grave ; bnt he would
never risk his precious knife again. It was a weary time he
had had to wait for the chance of answering this question by
touching Tito's back in the press of the street. Since then,
the knowledge that the sharp steel was useless, and that he
had no'hope but in some new device, had fallen with leaden
weight on his enfeebled mind. A dim vision of winning one
of those two wives to aid him came before him continnally, and
continually slid away. The wife who had lived on the hill
was no longer there. If he could find her again, he might grasp
some thread of a project, and work his way to more clearness.
And this morning he had succeeded. He was quite certaiu
now where this wife lived, and as he walked, bent a little
under his burden of yam, yet keeping the green-and-white
figure in sight, his mind was dwelling upon her and her cir-
cumstances as feeble eyes dwell on lines and colors, trying to
interpret them into consistent significance.
▼ir«i#»*w
TM8A ABROAD AND AT HOIU. 439
M.lTtnJ'Sh«.';^om,"cJ.r'°,''!j''"« •'"•»• ""tout
houra of a holiday b#for«tri. . , .'^ """kg the early
to te billing noth^gb^i!^'" »^'°'« him, who «,e«ed
v^ould also help to keen off h?i^'« "P"^" her bed; it
Ninnaatronger Te/sl °nf*^' '"I'"""'! Perhaps in^e
that ,he .night ask the peT'l't"-"^^^^^ "' »he atree
that they would^ a IM,;^' P™V' ''''' '"^'""' f-^^ng
her purchase of sheets Se^edW h"'.''!' *° "P"™ '«»"
toward her hitherto, but whe'El ""^ ^"^ ^'^ """«d
ni^danoldacquaintanLrf th„M ! "T '"""■h* r««og-
•nd, accustomed to fe^That III I'T' ^""* FerraveccW.
anoes, .he turned aw^y aRaLtH^" ^ "'"'^ °^^ ■"^""i-t'
the street. But Brattf'. fyf "'\P'""^ to the other side of
out at the comerX p^r^,^ ''" ""^'""'^ ^ '-'''4
to haye escaped himVa^r.ieJ*"'"''''/"' '"" "o^emenf
on ^the am> fL on^ oSetd TosCr"^ """'"*'* ''^ " '»P
h.a^^^rrf;:ro.?::^x^^^
four White qua^ita^rairpCM f^^^^^onuT,
.pare°LVSqfaS"'''''^''"'^^"«'^'"h«"eouldn.t
cusit:;iirarhrrrtbi''r *r ''•t^^^^^
to apeak he exclaimed, "8?^.^';'^' ''"' ''^^" """^ hegan
be the Uttle Tessa, a^d lL£„^''l^°/^r^'°^'^'' '"°"'"
WhatI you'yedonenoue tte wL^ /^ ."" * "P« "??'<"
from father Nofri? You wereTtL '■ . '. ''^"'"^ "'"'y
on crutohe. now, and a or^hZ Mill "?.f °^ "' ^'^ he goes
--> ^--ha^frhtXTiir^ii--
ll'fallli
••w ROMOLA.
"I'm married," taidTcaM, rather demarely, remembering
Naldo'i command that she ihould behave with graTifyj "and
my hutbaod takes great care of me."
"Ah, then, you've fallen on your feet I Nofri aaid yon
were good-for-nothing vermlo ; but what then? An aaa may
bray a good while before he (hakea the itan down. I alwaya
•aid you did well to run away, and it isn't often Bratti's in
the wrong. Well, and so you've got a husband and plenty of
money. Then you'll never think much of giving four white
quattrini for a red cross. I get no profit) but what with the
famine and the new religion, all other merchandise is gone
down. You live in the country where the chestnuts are plenty,
eh? You've bever wanted for polenta, I jtta see."
" No, I've never wanted anytiiing," said Tessa, still on her
guard.
" Then you can afford to buy a oroes. I got a Padre to
bless them, and you get blessing and all for four quattrini. It
isn't for the profit; I hardly get a danaro by the whole lot.
But then they're holy wares, and it's getting harder and
harder work to see your way to Paradise : the very Carnival
is like Holy Week, and the least you can do to keep the
Devil from get t'le upper hand is to buy a cross. God
guard you 1 think whsi the Devil's tooth is I You've seen him
biting the man in San Giovanni, I should hope? "
Tessa felt much teased and frightened. " Oh, Bratti," she
said, with a discomposed face, " I want to buy a great many
confetti : I've got little Lillo and Ninna at home. And nice
colored sweet things cost a great deal. And they will not
like the cross so well, though I know it would be good to
have it."
"Come, then," said Bratti, fond of laying up a store of
merits by imagining possible extortions and then heroically
renouncing them, " since you're an old acquaintance, you shall
have it for two quattrini. It's making you a present of the
cross, to say nothing of the blessing."
Tessa was reaching out her two quattrini with trembling
hesitation, when Bratti said abruptly, "Stop a bit! Where
do you live? "
"Oh, a long way off," she an.iwe.red, almost aat"j- -,
IWWA ABROAD AND AT HOME.
»«rf i. .Uoked b.W.^ " "" '"P °' "" liouM whM. ,S
l.t yp'Lri.V:!if "^f ;,Jf • f*f° if»« to-i " then 1 ,1
you lire iMid. the gate.? W.il 1. '^' '"' "" ■»<»'V- So
•npy at thi. reviva^TfVnf? ""^ '"* ^"^do .hould be
th. money. Take It „ot " °''' "'<"^'""''«- "lo^,p^
^"''f^'S^^S^i:^^ not a Wheaned
I -.t go and ,^tiZeIZ'^Z'L'' '"-^""J '»'^'' '"^
Brattj went on hi. wav .„J t ' -P"^"""
aoney into confetti before ^fZ"""^ f'in'uJated to change her
"top, a littJe fluttered bvi.« T'''""' ^'"" ^^^ ^^po"
W n.o,e about Ka^h^ htS ""L*"" '""» '"" B'^«
were certainly more danger. ilT^^ r"'** ''PP™^"- There
!J "tayingathome, and*he^o„THT**??**"'''C»"'^«l««n
« -he had known tCmeSHM '■''"'''' '°°"»*"»8Jy
to kill her husband on the LTl t« .^,T' ^^° *••«» ""-^
But she had not noticed tL'ii'':^/,''^^'^e«pi^^ ter in eight.
The oonsoiougness of having a .L.n if wf ? °° *■'" '^"k.
make the children glad diZfsX^J^t^^ °' *''^«» *»
teiea the Via de' Librai herfl l^ ^"'^' ""^ « "h" en-
childlike content, l^d' now Ihe thf l!^ 1"'"^ ^'P""""" <^
procesgioa coming, for.helww^^ ^*u' *''*"' ""^ «"»lly a
her heart began opJjLtewTfK ""^ '^^ " *^«. and
little aside, but in that n«tw'i:T'"*'°"- ."'"' '*^ »
of being obliged to look ve^ll V?!'! '"" """ P'*"»™
't was the Holy Mother with T- R k ?""" ""^ P'0%-'
Tessa had belie/edin mo^i mo^ ' ''^'"* ^°'« ^°' ^er
babies; and the figures iTlwta ^^ ""'^ "^^ ^ ^ad her
their heads, but HW^^crosae. b "t°h °"^^-f ""• '"«»"« °°
her some satisfaction that Z also hL ^ "'^'•7^'«^ "'"""^
ta«"ly, they looked as beautiful?. ^ ^'' ""* '"°"- Cer-
and to Tessa's mind theTtool^!/ the angeh. on the cloudi
-erythingelsethafcSrhe^iliJ'^^--'^f t"<i, "^»
"1 uie. How and whence did
443
ROHOLA.
they come? She did not mind much about knowing. Bnt oat
thing surpriged her as newer than wreaths and crosses ; it was
that some of the white figures carried baskets between them.
What could the baskets be for?
But now they were very near, and, to her astonishment, they
wheeled aside and came straight up to her. She trembled as
she would have done if St. Michael in the picture had shaken
his head at her, and was conscious of nothing but terrified
wonder till she saw close to her a round boyish face, lower
than her own, and heard a treble voice saying, " Sister, you
carry the Anathema about you. Yield it up to the blessed
Oesii, and He will adorn you with the gems of His grace."
Tessa was 'only more frightened, understanding nothing.
Her first conjecture settled on her basket of sweets. They
wanted that, these alarming angels. Oh, dear, deart She
looked down at it.
"No, sister," said a taller youth, pointing to her necklace
and the clasp of her belt, " it is those vanities that are the
Anathema. Take ofF that necklace and unclasp that belt, that
they may be burned in the holy Bonfire of Vanities, and save
you from burning."
"It is the truth, my sister," said a still taller youth, evi-
dently the archangel of this band. " Listen to these voices
speaking the divine message. You already carry a red cross :
let that be your only adornment. Yield up your necklace and
belt, and you shall obtain grace."
Thia was too much. Tessa, overcome with awe, dared not
say " no," but she was equally unable to render up her beloved
necklace and clasp. Her pouting lips were quivering, the
tears rushed to her eyes, and a great drop fell. For a mo-
meat she ceased to see anything; she felt nothing but confused
terror and misery. Suddenly a gentle hand was laid on her
arm, and a soft, wonderful voice, as if the Holy Madonna were
speaking, said, "Do irnt be afraid; no one shaJl harm you."
Tessa looked up and saw a lady in black, with a young
heavenly face and loving hazel eyes. She had never seen any
one like this lady before, and under other circumstances might
have had awestruck thoughts about her ; but now everything
else wag overcome by the sense that loving protection was near
■^^^^m'^
TE88A ABROAD AlO) AT HOME. 443
SeLtl^th^T."^'^^"" *^* ^"*«'' "''"""K !>« swelling
" I can't give them to be burnt. My husband-he bought
Sltr.ter ""'' "" - ^""^-""^ Kinnl-XSh'
whi^rol^^^ ^-^ *~ *^''"''" ^"1 Ko""!". «P«akmg to the
white robed boys in a tone of mUd authority, nt answers no
KL nitVhl^t '°n?"f "P """^ things against "erwuT
wh^!*!^""* ^'".°^'''' ''"'^ '''«' "°t to be resisted, and the
white train moved on. They even moved with hastTl if
bTsthlrthif '"' ""«''* ''"'" ^y-' an^lttlt^i,^
"I'wm ^ "'" f '""^ *" ^^ ^'"^" "^^ "aid, still agitated-
^S'E?-— ----
fin^^'li'^ ?™* "°'^^'" *** ""'"'V' «°d said, "Now can we
find room for your necklace and belt in yo,^ basket? AM
^.^ basket s full of crisp things that wSl^ : tt nt^
careful, and hiy the heavy necklace under them."
It was like a change in a dream to Tesaa-the escane fm™
car-Slv uL7T.^"\''^° '"'* ^'°°'^" "^^ ««'d, as Eomola
oamival? Else you have not far to go to the Piazza de' ^i
gnori. and there you would see the pil! for the ^erbo^re."'
444
BOXOL&.
iMflPf
*' ^o, oh no 1 " said Tessa, eagerly ; " I shall never like bon-
fires again. I will go back."
"Yon live at some oastello, doubtless," said Bomdla, not
waiting for an answer. " Toward which gate do you go? "
"Toward Por' Santa Crooe."
"Come, then," said Bomola, taking her by the hand and
leading her to the corner of a street nearly opposite. " If you
go down there," she said, pausing, "you will soon be in a
straight road. And I must leave "ou now, because some one
else expects me. You will not be frightened. Your pretty
things are quite safe now. Addio."
"Addio, Madonna," said Tessa, almost in a whisper, not
knowing what' else it would be right to say; and in an instant
the heavenly lady was gone. Tessa turned to catch a last
glimpse, but she only saw the tall gliding figure vanish round
the projecting stonework. So she went on her way in wonder,
longing to be once more safely housed with Honna Lisa, nn-
desirous of carnivals forevermore.
Baldassarre had kept Tessa in sight tiU the moment of her
parting with Bomola: then he went away with his bundle of
yam. It seemed to him that he had discerned a olew which
might guide him if he could only grasp the necessary details
firmly enough. He had seen the two wives together, and the
sight had brought to his conceptions that vividness which had
been wanting before. His power of imagining facts needed to
be re-enforced continually by the senses. The tall wife was
the noble and rightful wife; she had the blood in her that
would be readily kindled to resentment; she would know
what scholarship was, and how it might lie looked in by the
obstructions of the stricken body, like a treasure buried by
earthquake. She could believe him: she would be inclined to
believe him, if he proved to her that her husband wasimfaith-
ful. Women cared about that: they would take vengeance
for that. If this wife of Tito's loved him, she would have a
sense of injury which Baldassarre' s mind dwelt on with keoi
longing, as if it would be the strength of another Will added
to his own, the strength of another mind to form devices.
Both these wives had been kind to Baldassarre, and their
acts toward him, being bound up with the very image of them.
^t iEC-»mii
MONNA BHIGIDA'8 CONVERSION US
CHAPTER LI.
HOIWA bbioida's ookvebsion,
much that good kinsw iw«t:Str' rT'^'"'
gether toward the Piazza. tW^.H^ ■ ! . ■^*^"'8 *°-
youthsoo^ing to a a^VlSS^^ltEron "'
.hop,-l BhaU Jo batk twr°'*°°"= "^""^ forinetoBozu's
The truth was Monna Brieida h»A . „™ •
one hand of certain " vaniti^ " P«r^ oonscionsness on the
■"ues. u ner aoul wonld prosper better with-
446
ROHOLA.
!i
out them, was it Teally worth while to put on the ronge and
the braida? But when she lifted op the hand-minoi and saw
a sallow faoe with baggy cheeks, and oiows'-feet that were not
to be dissimulated by any simpering of the lips — when she
parted her gray hair, and let it lie in simple Fiagnone faahion
round her face, her courage failed. Monna Berta would cer-
tainly burst out laughing at her, and call her an old hag, and
ac Monna Berta was really only fifty-two, she had a superior-
ity which would make the observatioiL I'utting. Every woman
who was not a Fiagnone would give a shrug at the sight of
her, and the men would accost her as if she were their grand-
mother. Whereas, at fifty-five a woman was not so very old
— she only required making up a little. So the rouge and the
braids and the embroidered berretta went on again, and Monna
Brigida was satisfied with the accustomed effect; as for her
neck, if she covered it up, people might suppose it was too old
to show, and, on the contrary, with the necklaces round it, it
looked better than Monna Berta' s. lais very day, when she
was preparing for the Fiagnone *" -"ival, such a struggle had
occurred, and the conflicting fear iid longings which caused
the struggle caused her to turn k...^k and seek refuge in the
druggist's shop rather than encounter the collectors of the
Anathema when Komola was not by her side. But Monna
Brigida was not quite rapid enough in her retreat. She had
been descried, even before she turned away, by the white-
robed boys in the rear of those who wheeled round toward
Tessa, and the willingness with which Tessa was given up was,
perhaps, slightly due to the fact that part of the troop had
already accosted a personage carrying more markedly upon her
the dangerous weight of the Anathema. It happened that
several of this troop were at the youngest age taken into pecul-
iar training; and a small fellow of ten, his olive wreath rest-
ing above cherubic cheeks and wide brown eyes, his imag-
ination really possessed with a hovering awe at existence as
something in which great consequences impended on being
good or bad, his longings nevertheless running in the direc-
tion of mastery and mischief, was the first to reach Monna
Brigida and place himself across her path. She felt angry,
and looked for an open door, but there was not one at hand,
urn
KOlfNA BRIGIDAB CONVERSION.
addressed her Tt w^I yJuS^;?^""^ f"."* '»"' -''° ^^
of a wide basket. ^ ^***"' ''^° ''«" one handle
"Venerable mother I" he beean "rt. n ^ ,
mands you to give up the An^i J ^'^ •^•"" «»°'-
you. That cap embroidered w^^r* "^'"^ ^""^ "^ "?«">
f«tenupyourLseh^n,tC K' """« ^■«"'l'' ^'
tte poor; and cast the hair itedfTw^ 1^^'° "^ '^'^ ""^'^ '°'
:^a::y:;:^S3e>.^-"-^-^rsr
^fj:?'iis^^t7ib;taf^^^^^^^
JSpei^^^S^^adr^^^^^^^^
of tte poor, and be pSuTto .Ti'?^^'' "'* *'« ^""^^
head?" *^ " '^"y God's curse upon your
" In truth you aie old, buona madrn. » ..J j «, v
m a sweet soprano " Yon iLt ^ ,'^ theohembio boy,
vouP cheeks aid that bSck SLT"^ ".«^?^ '"^ '^'' ^ o"
■i-ings. It is only Sate^ wh*i ^?,.''^' "^^ "««« «"«
Angel is sorry. He wmS ^^^ "''\^'''«'° ««« Jou. Tour
The little fellow 8nItohtdTsorsnk'"''i:,*5' "^■"
and held it toward Mo^a BrigS. IL "^^ *'<?■» fe basket,
her guardian angel desired F^,r. ^ ® °"«^' "«« " as
&Bt giving way to spSal 2a™ ^''xT'' ''°'^<^^ou were
cloud of witnesses, ygSTd-fl"'- • 1°^* ^'t* ""d ^at
looking at her, and sWaTsu^unT^ IL*^"''''^' '^»''»°*
whose white robes, and wr^thsT. !^ '^^°™8 "'°°'»°'«.
fttl candor had so^^hinraSl t^.'"^ """""' '^'^ ''''^^
I^cisoan confessor X. r.^; " **'" nnusualness. Her
at hand to ^^Zl' Zl\^:^Z7 ^ ""'" ''"^' ^^ -*
«he was helplessly possessedl^d sfak^T a t^ """"""'• '^^
a supreme warning was come to ?„ *°J^^ a vague sense that
suggestion of any oth» cCe^a^ "*"^ ^ ""* '«'"*
the scarf that was held^t ^'/"^ °Pf " *° 1^"' "^"^^'^
trembling submissiveness ^ ^'''^'^ ^'■- '^'^"' ^^
gnming. And when you have taken those vanitie^
*W ROHOLA.
from yonr head, the dew of heavenly grace will deaoend on it."
The infusion of mischief was getting stronger, and putting hia
hand to one of the jewelled pins that fastened her braids to
the berretta he drew it out. The heavy Uaok plait fell down
over Monna Brigida's face, and dragged the rest of the head-
gear forward. It was a new reason for not hesitating: she
put up her hands hastily, undid the other fastenings, and
Hung down into the basket of doom her beloved orimson-velvet
berretta, with all its unsurpassed embroidery of seed-pearls,
and stood an unrouged woman, with gray hair pushed back-
ward from a face where certain deep lines of age had triumphed
ever embonpoint.
But the berretta was not allowed to lie in the basket. With
impish zeal the youngsters lifted it, and held it up pitilessly,
with the false hair dangling.
" See, venerable mother," said the taller youth, " what ugly
lies you have delivered yourself from I And now you look
like the blessed Saint Anna, the mother of the Holy Virgin."
Thoughts of going into a convent forthwith, and never
showing herself in the world again, were rushing through
Monna Brigida's mind. There was nothing possible for her
but to take care of her soul. Of course, there were spectators
laughing : she had no need to look round to assure herself of
that. Well! it would, perhaps, be better to be forced to
think more of Paradise. But at the thought that the dear
accustomed world was no longer in her choice there gathered
some of those hard tears which just moisten elderly eyes, and
she could see but dimly a large rough hand holding a red
cross, which was suddenly thrust before her over the shoulders
of the boys, while a strong guttural voice said, —
"Only four quattrini, madonna, blessing and all! Buy it.
You'll find a comfort in it now your wig's gone. Deh I what
are we sinners doing all our lives? Mining soup in a basket,
and getting nothing but the scum for our stomachs. Better
buy a blessing, madonna I Only four quattrini; the profit is
not 80 much as the smell of a dtmaro^ and it goes to the
poor."
Monna Brigida, in dim-eyed confusion, was proceeding to
the farther submission of reaching money from her embroid-
_ ^Iks. Jlk.
■r^ ■#-
"OIWA BBlOIDA-8 CONVERSION.
o' escaping, opeied beC afi^'L^T'*^'''^ '^•' ''»'«'
loosing prison-bolts. *^ " welcome as an angel
ton^ pSVo°SJi;;,*hX'h^t *""'""' ^"'^•^ in a piteous
The wliite troop was &Ip.<>.4 '
consciousness that its zeajXutttew/''''y: "''^ " ""el"
abundant enough to afford. Si ''eadgear had been super-
<lem«dforpeiten«aS4''"P«"'"'''°» '""^ -^^ *"^«
With S.-^Sar-SrabS ^^^1' ^'^ «-^ -"ten
pariUon of her kiiswofflw -^'P J°»l"'? "' tie sudden ap-
•twngely contrasted with all ™ a. genuine, natural guise,
black drapery fro^hefoS STdl'"->'^« *^^^^
Bngida's. "There," she went ^' ^^.v^T '* °^*'" ^onna
remark you now. WewUI^ Z' '^^'^S^y' "no one will
go straight to our h^use '• °"^ ^^ ^'» ^^ ^alagio and
l-XtCr* ifTgettt^n^^^* ^P^^ ^'^ol.'s
actually there. *^ ''™"8«'' assurance of her bemg
-ajesHcyoung|g„rrbSeterX^,''««P pace with the
a». I must be good-l mean to 'be gTSl-" "'^ «""-«- ^
tbe„uffi/:Lvr'lrifLrr ^°-' ^^^^
for Bratti was not to uJ^^Tl ^^°™ MonnaBrigida:
"nouncing a probable ^ustt// i^dhT'*'' '"''''"''* '°*°
np their retreat. "Only W nl !f^ ^? ^"'^''^ f°"owed
and if there was any profit 7,?,?™'' ^^'''^« and all-
Monna Brigida would W Z '^^ ^^ *" ">« P°°'-"
tf she had been in alesa tb„.^'" '^'^^^'^ '° P^"""' «ven
b^d deprecatingly Ja™ fCoVs "reton .''* ^•" "^ "-
the other reached out a gros^ ,^^k ""''?"°*' ^^ ^'th
saying, in an entreating t^^^ ^"^ "^^ ^''''^ ^"attrini.
« y f "'.8"°'J ""an, and begone."
-mqlSyran'JSL"':^'''""'^" '"'' «-«i, taking the
2^. ana tnrusting the cross into her hand; « I'U not
in
ROHOLA..
^r you change, for I might m weU rob you of • maM.
What I we must aU be soorohed a little, but you'll ooma off
the easier; better faU from the window than the roof. A
good Easter and a good year to youl "
"Well, Komola," cried Monna Brigida, pathetically, as
Bratta left them, " if I'm to be a Piagnono it's no matter how
I look! "
"Dear cousin," said Romola, smiling at her affectionately,
you don't know how much better you look than you ever did
before. I see now how good-natured your face is, like your-
self. That red and finery seemed to thrust themselves for-
ward and hide expression. Ask our Piero or any other painter
if he would not rather paintyour portrait now than before. I
thmk all lines of the human face have something either touch-
mg or grand, unless they seem to come from low passions.
How fine old men are, like my godfather 1 Why should not
old women look grand and simple? "
" Yes, when one gets to be sixty, my Bomola," said Brigida,
relapsing a little; " but I'm only fifty-five, and Monna Ber^
uid everybody— but it's no use: I wUl be good, like yoZ
Your mother, if she'd been alive, would have been as old as I
wn; we were cousins together. One miut either die or get
old. But it doesn't matter about being old, if one's a Pia-
gnone."
CHAPTER LII.
A PB0PBXTB8S.
Thk incidents of that Carnival day seemed to Bomola to
carry no other personal consequences to her than the new care
of supporting poor cousin Brigida in her fluctuating resigna-
tion to age and gray hairs; but they introduced a Lenten time
in which she was kept at a high pitch of mental excitement
and active effort
Bernardo del Nero had been elected Gonfaloniere. By
peat exertions the Medieean party had so far triumphed, and
that triumph had deepened Eomola's presentiment of some
A PROPBITX86. ^j
•wined to be that hauntm/fZt,!' * ^""' "^" ^~ «>om,
»omteg the fear we^ X W « ? ^^ *" '"• ^^^
fli^\thTad";!t ^itrtht-^^^^^^^^ ^-^-- -
waUs of Florenoo. For Savo^l ""^ """"""^ "*«■*» the
the last course of Lenten ^rmo^"^ "^ P'^whuig-preaohing
•nd he had reached Z S^t of T^""'"* '°° "" '"■">««»*.
condition of the Church KtrS^. *■ '*• ^^ ^"^'^ "P ««
mg .peech, which ^1^ ttL« bt\?"^' °' '" ""Ainch-
dealt in no polite periXase^^,^^ *?"' "«''* »»"«' «nd
ing confidence the KtT™no«r """"Z '^'^ ''''S^'te"-
there would be a g^er^lZ^ ^~°^ " "«'""«'* ^h^
own destiny, he ^^^dJta^rLr^r'"''?- ^'""^'^
prev^son: sometime, he sawh^s:^'^^?','^**"''*^*
m that revolt, sending forth T™- ^ * * glorious part
through all Christendom ^"1°"" ^* '""^d >» hLd
Church tremble into new lS„f^"l!.*^- ''««' ^y °f the
when the Divine voice pet'e^it\^r,! "^^ ^'»"W«d
«wno prospect for himsTbJttVS^.'r"'**^^ '"
^^Sc^^eS'eSr- -'^ a^^rr oTlJ X/SS;-
nrrSinT rtlt'nTof'r !J^ ^'^ ^"P--
« they were inclineTas SLrw/,,*^" '*'^^'«' °«J". «^en
Fwte's character by a Cth!!^^^*'"' ^'"' *» i"t»pret the
Bomola, whose kini^ Lt JJfT'^'lf °° '"*'»*»• To
n«oU's genuine greataes"of p^Zse'^th^e " ^"^ ^ ^-^o-
"ag as if it had been oart of h..^^ ' ^f ""*" "«« « stir-
aa an exalting mZ, J^i^J aU h^"^ 'f'L " "•»' ■'«^
labors were calling not^o^^^'rdSJt'^^"'^"" '^'^ ^^^^
new courage. Famine had nJver ;^'tS"'':™°A*'"* '°'
^^renee, and aU distress, by its 1^^ ^^^^fj^^.
4M
ROXOLA.
ting hwder to bau; diiewe wu tpiMding in the orawdad
tity, and the Plague wm expected. As BomoU walked, often
in wearinesa, among the aiok, the hungry, and the murmuring,
ahe felt it good to be inspired by aomething more than her
pity — by the belief in a heroism atruggling for aublime enda,
toward which the daily action of her pity could only tend
feebly, aa the dewa that freshen the weedy ground to-day tend
to prepare an unseen harreat in the yeara to come.
But that mighty muaio which atirred her in the Duomo waa
not without ita jarring notea. Since those first daya of glow-
ing hope when the Frate, aeeing the near triumph of good in
the reform of the Republic and the coming of the French
deliverer, had' preached peace, charity, and oblivion of politi-
cal differences, there had been a marked change of conditions :
political intrigue had been too obstinate to allow of the desired
oblivion ; the belief in the French deliverer, who had turned
his back on his high mission, seemed to have wrought harm;
and hostility, both on a petty and on a grand scale, waa at-
tacking the Prophet with new weapons and new determina-
tion.
It followed that the spirit of contention and self-vindication
pierced more and more conapicuoualy in hia aermona ; that he
was urged to meet the popular demanda not only by increaaed
inaiatence and detail concerning viaiona and private revela-
tiona, but by a tone of defiant confidence against objectors;
and from having denounced the desire for the miraculous, and
declared that miracles had no relation to true faith, he had
come to assert that at the right moment the Divine power
would attest the truth of hia prophetic preaching by a miracle.
And continually, in the rapid trmsitions of excited feeling,
as the vision of triumphant good receded behind the actual
predominance of evil, the threate of coming vengeance against
vicious tyrants and corrupt priesto gathered some impetus
from personal exasperation, aa well as from indignant zeal.
In the career of a great public orator who yields himself to
the inspiration of the moment, that conflict of selfish and un-
selfish emotion which in most men is hidden in the chamber
of the soul is brought into terrible evidence : the language of
the inner voices is written out in letters of fire.
But if th« tonat of
A PHOPBITI88.
tfS
~"z."is: r.srs'^'rj ".—^ <^
th« wonderful Fr«te waa D^JhinT^!^ "* '"""^ ""' "»*
ooold. h. went to hl^ STSZ^' ""^ ?• "'^^ - '•
<Wi>kintlietl>r«iteoflT«L,K^K "™°''' """ ^^ "'Wht
that Bomol. wMt too f„,T °'' '*°*"»« ^' ^^ •«»«>
^. When nor„!,*ti''- rjr;/, t.ir'"' *- •
log montal aUto. would tn.rb fi,- • v ^ ' "" ""^ *»^-
•a int«view Witt Z -^^ ^' 'f ' ."""r '" "^W"*
i«««. She wi.h«l not to ^Tt ^^^ glance w^ fUed on
it, a. niMx look for th.^J!!S^ T^ ^"^ ^^ '~'"«» '«
In the public mindf toatSld ll ^ " Presentiment,
•pread from Borne of a n!.„T- ^° '"^ "^ '""o™ h«l
d^ Medici, SrLl;e:'srs.rrj;:2c:::,tr«,°'^"~
go out of power. auepeoted Bernardo would
«» ^"l* T" *^"'« to g^er wme oouHwe from th-
«f her futile feara. when nn ffc« *!. Z^^ " *"* review
walking out on^ ZS' e^d, ^^''"^•''^ " ■*« '-
•he wu met by a ZL^f^ J?'"^ "^ *^« afternoon,
«»¥!«. iJut It had ijBoome so thoroughly
J^.i r
dWi
ROXOLA.
har hMt to njwt bar impuUiTe oboio*, and to obay paMirsly
tha guidanoa of oatward elainu, that, rapranng hartalf for
allowing her preaantimanta to make har cowardly and aalflah,
aha andad by oomplianoe, and went straight to Camilla.
She found tha nerroua, gray-haired woman in a ohambar
arranged aa mnoh at poaaible like a oonvent cell. The thin
flngen clutching Bomula aa aha tat, and the eager voice ad-
dreating her at fartt in a loud whitper, caused her a phyaical
ihrlnking that made it difficult for her to keep her seat
Camilla had a rition to communicate — a Tition in which it
had been revealed to her bj Bomola's Angel that Bomola
knew certain secrets concerning her godfather, Bernardo del
Nero, which, if disoloeed, might save the Republic from peril.
Camilla'a roice roae louder and higher as she narrated her
vision, and ended by exhorting Bomola to obey the command
of her Angel, and leparate herself from the enemy of Ood.
Bomola's impetuosity was that of a maasive nature, and,
exuept iu moments when she was deeply stirred, her manner
was calm and self-controlled. She had a constitutional dis-
gust for the shallow excitability of women like Camilla, whose
faculties seemed all wrought up into fantasies, leaving nothing
fur emotion and thought. The exhortation waa not yet endad,
when she started up and attempted to wrench her arm from
Camilla's tightening grasp. It wat of no use. The proph-
etess kept her hold like a crab, and, only incited to more eager
exhortation by Bomola's resistance, waa carried beyond her
own intention into a thrill statement of other visions which
were to' corroborate this. Christ himself had appeared to her
and ordered her to send his commands to certain citizens in
office that they should throw Bernardo del Nero from the win-
dow of the Palazzo Vecohio. Fra Girolamo himself knew of
it, and had not dared this time to say that the vision waa not
of Divine authority.
" And since then, " said Camilla, in her excited treble, strain-
ing upward with wild eyes toward Bomola's face, " the Blessed
Infant has come to me and laid a wafer of sweetness on my
tongue in token of his pleasure that I had done his will."
"Let me go I" said Bomola, in a deep voice of anger.
" God grant you are mad I else you are detestably wicked I "
"dhurry of th. .tre.tVh.^Lri.'*'" *" '~» "«• S
««it«i the thought of MTb^tr.! ''^•"* "d •" «••• suff.
of turmoil. * •" •'•"'•1 P«<» wbtLting m the JSSt
Br>«nl. A, waited in hone ^^t J 'f° 'PP«""»« to St
t^t''SaSrirte«ff/ntr the .o.t .utei, .3,
wicked folly. BoLla Td SoIC ' «"«'•''«'«• of W
hjd «motioa.d the throwtegof SL'^T!?*. •*""•»!>« he
jrmdowM . Divine .uweeti™ .^ ?f^° "*«' ^««> ^""0 the
Weehood or mistake iXt Jle^'ti « "T'" ^^'^ ""- --
come more and more ■«»•« L^*"^^""- 8*^onarola had be-
•o-tenu, but theTdelaTf Iwu"'*^' ««i«taaoe iTm^.
"Wtal toaU his po^iti^l Lf!^" *"a""* °^" "ere fu„d»-
Po«iWy fatal eir;^ of vi.S/' ^ ®**"' '^"^ J" W tte
"^ked distruBtof .uoh Si^f ^'^"'•'•. -moe he rafa
^"•m them „ «„oh as Z^rwlf'"'"'!"' ""^ '«?' aloo?
d«nonnoe wrong from theS^^'S'' 'f ^*f readines. ^
a.e.e pretended revelation, wilhhi. \°! ^""'•''y •J'»'°«"«e
^ Of ,^,t acroe. th7 Sept LH \Tuo """1^ ^■
""«' i he wa, feS out^arft T'".^^" '«»" ^" «""
quence of raising a cryXT.Tv^ ^' *« ^"eown conse-
of W. own p4, aronT^'o'if ' -» a-ongmemb:;.
'P'?j'°»°f which hehimseM WM no/T"*". *" ^^^^ *«■
oonfidential and supplementanr .^ "^f ." ^«hi«le-he or his
?«nola, kneeling with bur^^^ '"'""' ^™ Salvestio
•"■during one of thoTe sickent,, °° ""» "^t" "t-P- w^
«.«nwUehhadcorj£LS.e"rvT ""''" *^« '^'^-
the only energy strong enough
tfS
ROHOLA.
to make life worthy seemed to be inevitably bound up with
vain dreams and wilfnl eye-shutting. Hei mind rushed back
with a new attraction toward the strong worldly sense, the
dignified prudence, the untheoretic virtues of her godfather,
who was to be treated as a sort of Agag, beoause he held that
a more restricted form of government was better than the
Great Council, and because he would not pretend to forget old
ties to the banished family.
But with this last thought rose the presentiment of some
plot to restore the Medici; and then again she felt that the
popular party was half justified in its fierce suspicion. Again
she felt that to keep the Government of Florenc- vure, and to
keep out a vicious rule, was a sacred cause; , .) Fratowas
right there, and bad carried her understanding irrevocably
with him. But at this moment the assent of her understand-
ing went alone; it was given unwillingly. Her heart was re-
coiling from a right allied to so much narrowness; a right
apparently entailing that hard systematic judgment of men
which measures them by assents and denials quite superficial
to the manhood within them. Her affection and respect were
clinging with new tenacity to her godfather and with him to
those memories of her father which were u the same opposi-
tion to the division of men into sheep and goats by the easy
mark of some political or religious symbol.
After all has been said that can be said about the widening
influence of ideas, it remains true that they would hardly be
such strong agents unless they were taken in a solvent of feel-
ing. The great world-struggle of developing thought is con-
tinually foreshadowed in the struggle of the affections, seek-
ing a justification for love and hope.
If Bomola's intellect had been less capable of discerning the
complexities in human things, all the early loving associations
of her life would have forbidden her to accept implicitly the
denunciatory ezclusiveness of Savonarola. She had simply
felt that his mind had suggested deeper and more efficacious
truth to her than any other, and the large breathing-room she
found in this grand view of human duties had made her
patient toward that part of his teaching which she could not
absorl^ so long as its practical effect came into coUisiou with
A PROPHETESS. 4^7
once fouled Tc^ma^^tt* '^^'T"' ^'" indignation,
ran like an mu'L.Sg LZral^i k "5 "T^ '^'"'' »"»'
narola's teaching, anX ^ rieS sKet Jw " 'r
m the scornful sarcasma .*■« r^ """ "^ ^"e telt what was true
W " WhTe wer'eT'b!:"'' ^ ^ " "^ "^« '°°^ «»-% <»
whom she Iw wo^k S^dTnd '''"' V^t """''^ """S- '^"^
was workinHor the riX? On"!'.'"'^ '^^ *>«"«* "''" "J'e
eaePCT came I J . * ?■• , ** "^« *«"" which moral
with^ewTstSledn"'"" '""."'''''^ ^^^'^^ "J^rink-g
djawn b/a^S-^Zt -m'r;^™ S r'^"'' ^ ^''*
of some secret Dlottini? xThTh^i, •™, *"® Presentiment
not be unfaij calle7;rT^« her judgment told her would
other thought w'JtV^rinspt:^ CtC^^Ti' tT^
presentiment should be oon^rt^IT- 4.^1. , "'**' ^**' **»*
writing in th^ S solita^e TT-^'"*"' ''''*" *^« "'^n'.
celS peace^^i^^tratTirl^^J"""^'^
was unfed by any ^^" fai^ « . r^"?"* ^" ""«>«»'
she found herseU &c! J f <.u* '"''*'" ''^'' '"^"^ 'ound,
-l.twoy.rSS '^TrrSa^^-dTLr "^^^^
ROUOLA.
CHAPTEn Lm.
OK SAN MINIATO.
. "^7"'?° *P®*^ "**'' y«">>" ■aid Baldaasarre, ai HomoU
looked at hun in sUent expectation. It was plain that he had
followed and had been waiting for her. She was soins
at last to i the secret about him.
"Yea," she said, with the same sort of submission that she
might have shown under an imposed penance. "But you
wisli to go whege no one can hear us? "
" Where he wiU not come upon us," said Baldassarre, turn-
ing and glancing behind him timidly. "Out— in the air-
away from the streets."
^^ " I sometimes goto San Miniatoat this hour," said Bomola.
If you like, I will go now, and you can foUow m». It is
far, but we can be solitary there."
He nodded assent, and Bomola set out. To some women
It might have seemed an alarming risk to go to a compara-
tively solitary spot with a man who had some of the outward
signs of that madness which Tito attributed to him. But
Bomola was not given to personal fears, and she was glad of
the distance that interposed some delay before another Wow
fell on her. The afternoon was far advanced, and the sun was
already low m the west, when she paused on some rough
groMd in the shadow of the cypress-trunks, and looked round
for Baldassarre. He was not far ofif, but when he reached her
he was glad to sink down on an edge of stony earth. His
thiok-Mt frame had no longer the sturdy vigor which belonged
to It when he first appeared with the rope round him in the
&iomo; and under the transient tremor caused by the exertion
of walkmg up the hiU, his eyes seemed to have a more help-
less vagueness.
"The hill is steep," said Eomola, with compassionate gen-
tleness, seating herself by him. « And I fear you have been
weakened by want? "
He turned his head and fixed his eyes on her in silence,
OW SAN MIOATO. ^gg
nnable, now the moment of «M«,h ™
words that would convey the thS^ K """"f' *" •*^ ^^
Bhe remained as motioijir.! ^« £. m, ''*"'«'^ *" »"•' = and
her impatient. He iS ,t« If.^^'''^'^* ^^ 'honld suppose
bred, neglected oU^^'^^^T^l'"^'''!'^'^'''^'^^'^-
■narble image of horror FoTw Zl T" "^f^' '^^ »
made. She divined the faet« H,.*- ^ T^ ** revelation was
•^d in the first mo^nt £« '„ Jd*^''*^"l^ ttat single word,
"ve beUef which spran,? ftnm K , ''° "^^^ *° *^^ ™Pul-
toBaldassarre; for the fiSe hU f'^v '" " '^"^^^
right eflfect. He went on with 'th J"'''' ^"^ ''">"8"* *!>««
ne«, laying his hand on heTtf "°« "*««»»«« and firm-
go tl"erth7;rh:r.To:' w"i-" ■* -* *'-? y°u
.-«. an^ .i„m?hr?;A^^^^ that
take any note of CdST . ^ *** ™»8«» "^ the past to
«4«ulL'S:iihS"S.^''''''*^«"''' '"^•^Baldas-
coi>tact gave him p^we^"""?^! ^"^7? °" >>» arm, as if the
"Yes" Mill B 1 "« will help me?"
n.eant^fter'sEtS'hr,^'*'^"*^^* "'^ -'<>« as he
that grasped her^m!l,5\?^ 8«°*'y °° the rough hand
looked at him. "Oh Tt i, .f. ."'^^ *° ^'' ^J-"" as she
gmt scholar, you Sihlhl^'^lTis^:?""'^^"" were a
-iisX an^She^rr ^^"^-'^--^-^^
»«nt? But she'had tTe a"f Z^lr^f T"" "* P""' "fi''^-
She sat perfectly stUirw^alrto H? ""■ ^ "'°^'' ^« l""-!-
" Tf <• . • ' ''arang to listen with new canfin.
It « «oneI-it is aU g«e. " said BaldasCe "S they
4N
BOUOL&.
•roald not believe me, because he lied, and laid I wai mad;
and they had me dragged to prison. And I am old— my mind
will not oome baok. And the world is against me."
He paused a moment, and his eyes sank as if he were under
a ware of despondency. Ti. i he looked up at her again, and
said with renewed eagerness, —
" But you are not against me. He made you lore him, and
he has been false to youj and you hate him. Yes, he made
m» lore him : he was beautiful and gentle, and I was a lonely
man. I took him when they were beating him. He slept in
my bosom when he was little, and I watched him as he grew,
and gave him all my knowledge^ and everything that was
mine I meant to be his. I had many things; money, and
books, and gem«. He had my gems~he sold them; and he
left me in slavery. He never came to seek me, and when I
came back poor and in misery, he denied me. He said I was
a madman."
"He told us his father was dead— was drowned," said
Bomola, faintly. "Surely he must have believed it then.
Oh I he could not have been so base then I "
A vision had risen of what Tito was to her in those first
days when she thought no more of wrong in him than a child
thinks of poison in flowers. The yearning regret that lay in
that memory brought some relief from the tension of horror.
With one great sob the tears rushed forth.
"Ah, you are young, and the tears come easily," said
Baldassarre, with some impatience. "But tears are no good;
they only put out the fire within, and it is the fire that works.
Tears will hinder us. Listen to me."
Romola turned toward him with a slight start Again the
possibility of his madness had darted through her mind, and
checked the rush of belief. If, after all, this man were only
a mad assassinr But her deep belief in this story still lay
behind, and it was more in sympathy than in fear that she
avoided the risk of paining him by any show of doubt.
"Tell me," she said, as gently as she could, "how did you
loso your memory— your scholarship? "
" I was iU. I can't teU how long— it was a blank. I re-
member nothing, only at last I was sitting in the sun among
^:m'«i-
ON BAN MmUTO.
461
longed for: it waa for rt«^ ! ^*° *° ^""^ 'l""* I
•U ^ thoUtsTJn f f^^ *°,'*°"' **"''-'' ''M to find
darkneaa." ^ nothing but a waU and
Baldaaaarre had become dreamy a«ain and ..„v • . •
lenoe, restine his head hofwJTT- C^' ■"' ""to si-
^» .i«ed -o-UfttShThriLTed'oTK;
-d they X^\raw';r pS ""^ t,L:- '"V
noZrbJt"l^%'^-tXt "?^*-*™«'' -""-i^
and you have proud blood ^fi, J ^7 '^°"'"»' <*° l"*"?
lore rerenge." ^"^ fah^nesa, and you can
Shfr^r S:S 5^ 1« «^~^ "' --^"-^S feelinga.
tender arm. ""* «""? *^* *" ^ruuing her
S 'l:
I
M2
ROHOLA.
^ >
lit I
" You iliall oontriTe it," said Baldasiarre, presently, in an
eager whisper. "I have learned by heart that you are his
rightful wife. You are a noble woman. You go to hear the
preacher of vengeance; you will help justice. But yon will
think for me. My mind goes — eyerything goes sometimes
all but the fire. The fire is God : it is justice ; it will not die.
You believe that— is it not true? If they will not bang him
for robbing me, you will take away his armor— yon will make
him go without it, and I will stab him. I have a knife, and
my arm is still strong enough."
He put his hand under his tunic, and reached out the hidden
knife, feeling the edge abstractedly, as if he needed the sensa-
tion to keep alive his ideas.
It seemed to'Komola as if every fresh hoar of her life were
to become more difficult than the last. Her judgment was too
rigorous and rapid for her to fall into the mistake of using
futile deprecatory words to a man in Baldassarre's state of
mind. She chose not to answer his last speech. She would
win time for his excitement to allay itself by asking something
else that she cared to know. She spoke rather tremulously,
" You say she is foolish and helpless— that other wife and
believes him to be her real husband. Perh^M he is : perhaps
he married her before he married me."
" I cannot tell," said Baldassarre, paosing in that action of
feeling the knife, and looking bewildered. " I can remember
no more. I only know where she livee. You shall see her.
I will take you; but not now," he addad hurriedly, "he may
be there. The night is coming on."
" It is true," said Bomola, starting up with a sadden con-
sciousness that the sun had set and the hills were darkening;
" but you will come and take me— when? "
" In the morning," said Baldasaarre, dreaming that she, too,
wanted to hurry to her vengeance.
" Come to me, then, where you came to me te-day, in the
church. I will be there at ten; and if you are not there, I
will go again toward mid-day. Can you remember? "
"Mid-day," said Baldassarre — "only mid-day. The same
place, and mid-day. And, after that," he added, rising and
grasping her arm again with his left hand, while he held the
Wd
THK EVENma AND THE MORNING. 463
wiU ]^me^ '"•*"*• "" ""^'^ " •«»*»»» "», but you
"I would help yon in other warg." uiH Dy^n...!. ».•
fir.„ tiuud effort'to diapel huXio^Jbo^T^ "^L'
If re^eVhrr r vr ""'' ^°" ^-' -^ «»' i
"Talk no more about that," said Baldassarre, fieroelv " t
;;^-day, then," she said, in a distinct yoioe.
will wrt h^r""^ with an air of exhau.ion. "Go, i
wiS'lLdv ^°^ ""^L \"'°^°« »* *^« l"""* "P"* ''hence he
was likely to be in sights she saw him seated stUl.
CHAPTER Lrv.
THE XTBSma AND THI HOKJTDro.
.w^"""^ ^^ " P^P"" ^ ^^ ""ind as she was hastening
noon hours hke a side-stream, rising higher and higher alon..
mth the main current. It was less a resolve than a ne^eS
bd^ wh.^*,: ■ !' '''"' *"''°^' «h« •'""'ed across the
SSrL ?nf ^ n/er showed itself black before the distant
aying red, and took the most direct way to the Old Palace
^e nught encounter her husband ther^. No maL ^e
oou.d not weigh probabilitiesj she must discharge W he^
4«4
ROMOLA.
She did not know wh»t she paaaed in tha pillandconit or up
the wide itain ; she only knew that she uked tn osher for
the Oonfaloniere, giving her name, and begging to be shown
into a private room.
She was not left long alone with the frescoed flgoree and
the newly lit tapers. Soon the door opened, and Bernardo
del Nero entered, still carrying his white head erect above his
silk lucco.
"Bomola, my child, what is this7" he said in a tone of
anxious surprise as he dosed the door.
She had uncovered her head and went toward him without
speaking. He laid his hand on her shoulder, and held her a
little way from him that he might see her better. Her face
was haggard fh)m fatigue and long agitation, her hair had
rolled down in disorder; bat there was an excitement in her
eyes that seemed to have triumphed over the bodily ccd-
scionsness.
" What has he done? " said Bernardo, abruptly. " Tell me
everything, child; throw away pride. I am your father."
"It is not about myself — nothing about myself," said
Bomola, hastily. "Dearest godfather, it is about you. I
have heard things— some I cannot tell yon. But you are in
danger iu the palace; you are in danger everywhere. There
are fanatical men who would harm you, and — and there are
traitors. Trust nobody. If you trust, you will be betrayed."
Bernardo smiled.
" Have you worked yourself up into this agitation, my poor
child," he said, raising his hand to her head and patting it
gently, "to tell such old truth as that to an old man like
me?"
"Oh no, no I they are not old truths that I mean," said
Bomola, pressing her clasped hands painfully together, as if
that action would help her to suppress what must not be told.
" They are fresh things that I know, but cannot tell. Dearest
godfather, you know I am not foolish. I would not come to
you without reason. Is it too late to warn you against any
one, even/ one who seems to be working on your side? Is it
too late to say, 'Qo to your villa and keep away in the country
when these three more days of ofBoe are over'? Oh, Godl
THB BVIHINO AMD TM MORNIKO. 46S
lonritifled feeling lud found .paamodio nttenmoe lu? aJ
heraelf WM startled and arrested. BMine
"I mean," she added, hesitatingly, "I know nothing pod
**'•• I wJy know what fills me with fears. " ^^
r>«.I^til^T" '^^ ^"'^°' '~*^« •' »>" with qniet
penetration for a moment or two. Then he said: "Ga
BomoU-^go home and rest. These fear, may to only bt
traitors must see their interest in betraying; the rats will ™„
whe™ they smeU the cheese, «.d th^^i^ no faow^ J C^
which way the scent will come." ""owing yet
He paused, and turned away his eyes from her with an air
of abstraction, till, with a slow shrug, he added,"
" As for warnings, they are of no use to me, child. I enter
1 must share the consequences. Let us say no more abo«
fe, IV. ^''•u"* T^ y*^ '"^ »* *^» bottom <rf n>y sack
for them to rob me of. Go, child, go home and rest"
eo„?rt n^ ^r T'^ '"' *■** '"*^ "W^ caressingly, and she
oould not help clinging to his arm, and pressing her brow
Jguusthjs shoulder Her godfather's oarL seeie^^t^
thmg that was left to her out of that young filial life whS*
now looked «. happy to her even in its^troublei f JSy ^S
troubles untamted by anything hateful
« U silence best, my Romola? " said the old man.
Jfes, now; but I cannot teU whether it always will be."
sto answered, hesitatingly, raising her head with L a^ealSg
-he lifted the black drapery and folded it round heThe^L
adding,_'«andafather-shome; remember that." Theno^-
mg Uie door, he said: "There, hasten away. You ^ 1^^
Uwk ghost; you will be safe enough "
tat^^h J^"""!? J"'! i^^"^ *** °*8ht, she slept deep. Agi-
taUon bad^ched ,ts limits, she must gather itrengUi before
!iii
4M
BOWOLA.
M^""" '^K fr^*- " "•• *° ^* '"""d of gun.. Piwo ds'
m the houae, having been summoned to the Palazzo lonT^ll
She sent out the old m«. ^^ain. that he mightTthe" ne^
diBoern any signs of the dreaded entrance haHna be^n ™i^-
word that the great Piazza was fuU of armed men and tW
manyof the chief citizens suspected as^rdsTCweS
oflh^T"*""^ *" "•« ^^'' -^d detain^ !„ ^^"e
In her memory of those morning hours, there were „«f
inany thing, that Eomola could distinguir«^Zl '^r^"
oirei:rr:."*"°/^«'"'*''^^^<~**^-^'''«"-uKnTw.^i
wlCne'^L'^K^fr- She knew that she h^7^y
r^«l. \ t ^ ^ ^^ appointed time in spite of .treet
alarm.; she knewthat she had waited there in vahi And^«
scene she had witnessed when she came ouTo? Zihu^h^J^H
^rl^^"^ T" * "^T^" '° *^« '»««» "><! tones of the peoole
ttero de Medici and his horsemen had turned their ba^ on
Srr'Sd''°'srr "^J^J -^ *■"' a.theyco^d S"*^
K^. V V 1*"°** **" ^^^ » substantial shopkeeDine
Piagnone, who had not yet laid down his pUe. "'"P*''^"'*
r#wv
iJflB.*
WATTIHO. ^y
•he enteral her home «gZ h« mlf °'°"' "P"" '""' "^d «•
••"•. "*** "' » long while of B^dag-
CHAPTER LV.
WAITMfo.
They brought no Tgn frlT^/' "^^ "J" '"«'* dreadTd
oil watoh on the pS S l^t^"'.*"''' ^ "P"" °' 'P'"
»»«peoted oonspirC^ But^I ^ ""u*^ '"' revelation of U.e
touched her oloSeIy/«,d brfd^'^tt' ?''" *''»«' ''Woh
of anxiety with active ii™nfw • P''«"to'n-<'«>wded space
Savonarola. '^™™°« ^'W ^d the Excommunication of
wko had opened to hfr tte ^eTll ^J ff'""'"" *° ""> ^"^
now to be worsted in t' Xht foil ■ -T^' ^^ ''^° '^'^"d
For Bomola could not caSf^^rv"^'" '*^''*P"%acy.
of pertilence and misery^ .I^J^^ \^^ ''"° "■« »'»de8
that, eince such anguish^exTst'd ^A"""""* "* " gladness
of the anguish less Wtter w hi , t"'**"^ *° ""^'' "»««
this transcendent moTm, ^vIT'"^^'^« *'"" ""-e owed
witness the silencing^d "x™!, ^"'^°- ^^^ °°»W not
distinction from the^Tat maTs oT'STr" °' " ""^ -J"*"
heretical belief, not L lis «^L .-^ olergylay, not in any
with which he'soughrt^mZth« Pr- ^^' '° *^« «°"8^
w.«bont feeling herslf d™w"n';Ln;iy''i"ht^/^' " "^"^
■"f on in the hnt A„^, t """"o'y to Jiis side,
hot days of June the Excommunication, for
i
t
f I
*" ROMOtJL
■OB* WMki •rrirad from Borne, wm lolamiily p«faliah«d in
Um Dnomo. BomoU went to wltnsM the toena, that the f-
■iMuuM it inipirad might invigonte that lympsthy with Sa-
Tooatola which wa« one lource of her itrangth. It waa in
memorable oontrait with the irene ahe had been acotiatomed to
witneaa there.
Inatead of upturned oitizan-faeea Uling the vast area under
the morning light, the youngest riling amphitheatre-wiae
toward the walls, and making a garland of hope around the
memoriea of age— instead of the mighty roioe thriUing all
hearts with the sense of great things, Tisible and inrUiMe, to
be atruggled for— there were the bare waUs at erening made
more sombre by the glimmer of tapers; there was the black
and gray flock of monks and secular clergy with bent, unei-
peotant faces; there was the oocasi(mal tinkling of little bells
ta the pausea of a monotonous roioe reading a sentence which
had already been long hanging up in the churches; and at last
there was the extinction of the tapers, and the alow, shuiBing
tread of monkish feet departing in the dim silence.
Bomola's ardor on the side of the Frate waa doaUy strength-
ened by the gleeful triumph she saw in hard and coarse faces,
and by the fear-stricken confusion in the faces and speech of
many among his strongly attached friends. The question
where the duty of obedience ends, and the duty of resistance
begina, could in no case be an easy one; but it was made orer-
whelmingly difficult by the belief that the Church was— not a
eompromise of partiea to secure a more or less approximate
justice in.the appropriation of funds, but— a living organism,
instinct with Divine power to bless and to curse. To most of
the pious Florentines, who had hitherto felt no doubt in their
adherence to the Frate, that belief in the Divine potency of
the Church was not an embraced opinion, it was an inalienable
impression, like the concavity of the blue firmament; and the
boldness of Savonarola's written arguments that the Excom-
munication was unjust, and that, being unjust, it was not
valid, only made them tremble the more, as a defiance oast at
a mystic image, against whose subtle immeasurable power
there was neither weapon nor defence.
But Eomola, whose mind had not been allowed to draw its
WArrnrG.
4W
l-v ne,i i- who a^ „!f ii T ''•"•°' »P* ^ «» »«en except
glTe; and thh F^n^^ * °^'' *^' neutrality oouid not
-oba^ireSaS^ZTsa^o^iW^ '"^"
cx":kVtS;-s;°-%f?-- -^^^^^^^
Xl>eFr.te WW noTt^i * °'^*'°'' °* ""^"^ «^<1 doubt
•g^no^tiSnnrnS^^^hrh i"" 'Z"'"' '°'^"'»-
unchecked «citem~ fte pS 'T*^""^'^'*" '" '^^
■tapir as apDeallnirtof>,.nK^^?^ ""* presented himself
1-ptoginto the bZ>r Menev« "" " tfndard-bearer
M when the heartTLtina f "^ !T' "^ "'«" *"<» "V
ki8h«rt prize the'e^^oan^L i°ri """.'L^^ ''^ " t^'
power to attain it Ca^e^T T'.**""^*"" »"'»'»
Bon>olawaa helped throUftldT„°l°' """^ 'nthusiaan.
l«d Tentured on no 3 to tZ tf.f T""" "^"y"- »'«'
her late interview wiU fill^S^^t/r "^ "^r" ^•'° °'
upon hie traces, shouU l^vC IL^' ''"* *\'* '^•**^ """^
hiu^eif Of theLi.e/r;rwra"h::LS!'tss
•
470
ROHOLA.
BomoU fdt tlikt she oOnld do nothing deoiaive until ihe had
seen Baldassane again, and learned the full truth about that
"other wife"— learned whether she wete the wife to whom
Tito was first bound.
The possibilities about that other wife, which involTed the
worst wound to hep hereditary pride, mingled themselves as
a newly embittering suspicion with the earliest memories of
her illusory love, eating away the lingering associations of
tenderness with the past image of her husband; and her irre-
sistible beUef in the rest of Baldassarre's revelation made her
shrink from Tito with a horror which would perhaps have
urged some passionate speech in spite of herself if he had not
been more than usuaUy absent from home. Like many of
the wealthier citijsens in that time of pestilence, he spent the
mtervals of business chiefly in the country: the agreeable
Melema was welcome at many villas, and since Eomola had
refused to leave the city, he had no need to provide a oountiy
residence of his own.
But at last, in the later days of July, the aUeviation of
those public troubles which had absorbed her activity and
much of her thought left Bomola to a less counteracted sense
of her personal lot. The Plague had almost disappeared, and
the position of Savonarola was made more hopeful by a favor-
able magistracy, who were writing urgent vindicatory letters to
Borne on his behalf, entreating the withdrawal of the Excom-
munication.
Eomola's healthy and vigorous frame 'ras undergoing the
reaction of languor inevitable after continuous excitement and
over-exertidn; but her mental restlessness would not allow her
to remain at home without peremptory oocupatim, except
during the sultiy hours. In the cool of the morning and
evening she walked out constantly, varying her direction as
much as possible, with the vague hope that if Baldassarre
were still alive she might encounter him. Perhaps some ill-
ness had brought a new paralysis of memory, and he had for-
gotten where she lived— forgotten even her existence. That
was her most sanguine explanation of his non-appearance.
The explanation she felt to be most probable was, that he had
died of the Plague.
THB OTHiB yrm.
4n
CHAPTEB LVI.
THB OTHBB WITB.
on her way from Bs^mIZ'JTZ I^ ^°°« ^^ *« "^'^
her a litUe child not more fS^ '£ T^s^JTZ^' ^5°"
clothing than his whitB «i,)h- "7 "^y«a™ oM, with no other
look J^Tum In^ST *T/ ""^^^'^ "^ «»1
could only .ee h . bLflaXTrl"' """""^ °"^" •*"
withaoloudof redd^brotncLs^V^' TT '"'^ "'""'y'
he turned toward hT ,^^ ^ curls above itj but in the next
hid^ri^'u^fofter'SL'^srj^r*^''' ''^'''' -» -
arnl !.« i,^o7 j . Passionate tenderness, instantly uneov-
will meet ns. " ^"°- ^«rJ»"PS mamma
thf moSStJttt'r' '!.''' '" •"^P« "' " --'»>' when
473
SOHOtA.
him. •T'^nnJ'*"^' ^"^^ ^'^" "^^ «id, toying to lift
The parted lips remained motionlees in awed silencw. .n^
».1:rSTT''^^J -^with'almu"^*."^^^
-LTi', ^ »*«' yielded itself quite willingly to tl»
wonderful white Imnd, strong but soft ^ ^ *^
You hav» a mamma?" said Eomola, as they set out I«.w
*„n^''i!r J"" f "' "°°*^*^ *"™i°8 tlia' he had a decided oDin
on abouli and then Eomola found herself in a Zf .^
soionanou Ti,. > I'loysiiug saiaa, m deaf uncon-
aflort to wake her Ki *
•^- -d .u,.eWg5ais,to'ni •^'^ •«»-* ^«
As LiUo pushed a«ain.t h " ^ ^ ""^ **»' distance.
^ «P m be^iZ^Z'^Xn^Z^ T"'^ ^" •^««. art
'^'"d on the fimre at tj, ' ^®'' S'anoe had no «U^
^,'5;;«'«"-'"07ing forward^ "^'^ * ^''"«. "either
Ho '«a crying in thrstreet T/ ** '' ^'^ '■"'"' "<*!« C
So we walked together a 1M« - ^^°^ ^^ ^^^ ™- aw^v'
{ewae, and brought ^'h ^ "l^'t !" ' ?? ^« ^^-^ S
T^t IS well else you ^oZ\SlTf ^t""' '^^"^ ^^^
The shook of finding that T n t *"«'"*=«'J-'
every other feeling in T*s a for. J° ^"^ "^ '''^ay overcame
^, and, seizini LiliorJm .' """°''°*- Her color^^t
- ^. . the door^SLX^l- fl-VS
"Bnt^yr£L7r.:^s -^^.o?:^er^7/
Sctti:?-'^^ "-*'« ^e ^% i^^rh^w^ r;t
This question recalled TB«.f *v
pwsenoe Without answe^g^fCftr"""' °' «°°«"a'«
">g and timid again and iir **o™™ed toward her, blush-
«o,ement The*oW;oma„ mXaS:'" "''' *°"°-d her
'Doubtless the most nobMadv h, r?™'"'«' andsaid,-
advancing a little nearer to nLT^^^ ^^ •"^'^■" TUn
fame for him to hav7teen fo.fn? !l "^^ '«•'*«<*• ""'s^T
fe kicked, and wauldn.^tLfws .:;!"' °f' ^'' «"^ ""i ^t
-g^and the mother, poor tW :!!','':!^*''- - ">" mom-
-wi-^aanoldwomantodo^;,^:;^^
474
BOHOLA.
the lad's legs get so strong? Let yonr nobleness look at hii
legs."
Lillo, oonsoions that his legs were in question, pnlled his
shirt up a little higher, and looked down at their olive nmnd-
ness with a dispassionate and ourious air. Bomola laughed,
and stooped to give him a caressing shake and a kiss, and this
action helped the reassurance that Tessa had already gathered
from Monna Lisa's address to Eomola. For when Naldo had
been told about the adventure at the Carnival, and Tessa had
asked him who the heavenly lady that had come just when she
was wanted, and had vanished so soon, was likely to be
whether she could be the Holy Madonna herself? he had
answered, "Not^ exactly, my Tessa; only one of the saints,"
and had not chosen to say more. 80 that in the dream-like
combination of small experience which made up Tessa's
thought Bomola had remained confusedly associated with the
pictures in the churches, and when she reappeared, the grate-
ful remembrance of her protection was slightly tinctured
with religious awe— not deeply, for Tessa's dread was chiefly
of ugly and evil beings. It seemed unlikely that good beings
would be angry and punish her, as it was the nature of Nofri
and the devil to do. And now that Monna Lisa had spoken
freely about Lillo' s legs and Bomola had laughed, Tessa was
more at her ease.
"Ninna's in the cradle," she said. " Sh^i pretty, too."
Bomola went to look at the sleeping Ninna, and Monna
Lisa, one of the exceptivially meek deaf, who never expect
to be spoken to, returned to her salad.
"Ah! she is waking: she has opened her blue eyes," said
Bomola. " You must take her up, and I will sit down in this
chair— may I?— and nurse Lillo. Come, Lillol "
She sat down in Tito's chair, and put out her arms toward
the lad, whose eyes had followed her. He hesitated : and,
pointing his small fingers at her with a half-puzzled, half-
angry feeling, said, "That's Babbo's chair," not seeing hia
way out of the difficulty if Babbo came and found Eomola in
his pla-^e.
" But Babbo is not here, and I shi;.'! go soon. Come, let me
nurse you as he does," said Korool^ wnn Hni-ing to heraslf for
THE OTHKR WIPE. 475
boy mosf, as mL 5w *^ "^^ *°° "^'^"^ *° """"o «>e
Niima'slittfefoot ''^^v,"" '" '^^ •*"* '"'^"^ to kiss
care of me at the Carnivaf T ^11/^ *"* """" *° *at«
■"^e and went awayT^\o ftr LhTJ""''.''^' y°"
you were a sain, ^d^ttS'e'.etelM^a'a Tft
the saints are very good I know .,,1 *' "'°"8''
and now you h^.7S^o7iZ Xr™ ^"^ *? •"*-'
ways come and take care oT^f ^1, J^^^^ {"" ''"1 o^'
long while ago; he <^e a^d tnn^ ^?°'' ^'^^° ^^ "
2;sLr-^Sa3'°^^^^^^^^^^^
a quiet cert^y of iLti,^*S "'*«"°^*''«'y. "ut with
ous to Tessa. ""«""<» which was necessarily aysteri-
"pXTou'CwSof^ifnd p'' fr^« • "*«« --''^-
hill, and eVtr? C fi^^^';';;^ -^ our house on the
His hair is dark and W-' .h« T"' ^ut not his hair.
0^. "Ah, if ;:„ t i-t:;;r -• «««-« «ther ex.
«Sh^efnStdt":,t!:£?,'^^«^'^-^ «.at h„n«
-nt ^^, the horn of red c^r.,, ^TtC, d^k 0^^
478
ROKOLA.
ftOly tied rt at., end and raspended wift tho« myrtio txu-
" It iB a fresh one. loutitUWy. See how bright it i.1 "
SJlL™*^ ^J^* '* "«^'* *- '^'*« background of BomoU's
finger. "Th^ get dim, and then he lete me out anott^
when hu. hair M grown; «^ I put it with the Breve, beoauae
jomrtune. he i, away a long whUe. and then I think iV^
to take care of me." -~j»
acrws her fingers. At Tessa's first mention of her husbwid
,^^T''~°'u ™y''*«"°°»ly "I's kn«w not whence, a po.«bi]-
ity had risen before Eomola that made her heart beai&ster-
for to one who is .anxiously in search of a certain object the
faintes suggestions have a peculiar significance. And when
the curl was held toward her, it seemed for an instant Uke a
r^L'^*^^"' '^^ '°*'*'' ^""■"^ l-l «"* towindwft^
wU "'"'vf!''^'^ '*'• ^"* "•'« P^"^ k" out-
ward oalmnesB, bent not only on knowing the truth, but also
on coming to that knowledge in a way that would not S
this poor, truituig, ignorant thing, with the chUd's mindin
the womaoa'8 body. "Foolish and halpless": yes; so far she
corresponded to Baldassarre's aooonnt .wiarsne
w^Z* " t'T*^ ""''" '^* "^ "•^"8 the impulse to
withdraw her hand. « LUlo's curls will be Uke it, Lhlp^
for A« cheek, too, U dark. And you never know wh^ yo^
husband goes to when he leaves you? " '
children's way. « But I know Messer San Michele take, carl
j^ him, for he gave him a b«iutiful coat, aU made of little
ehans; and if he puts that on, nobody can kill him. And
perhaps, if" Tes«. heritated a Uttle, under a recurrencTof
«^«l!^*J, ., !!!™^ """•^^ "^^ ^""'•'' "^^"^ had been
expelled by chatting contact-" if you were a saint^ you would
ge^oare of him, too, because you have taken care of me and
An agitated flush came over Bomola's face in the first mo-
ment of certainty, but she had bent her cheek against Lillo's
b^ The feelingthat leapedout in that flush wZmeZg
wvm
THB OTHKl WIFB. ^^
be™ brought tol Bat Km^'^to t^'~^ """"^ *° '"^"'
the only i,sue that would ^1!^^.^"'°'* »« ** th»' "ere
tl«aan'insoluble p«bZ Y.t 1"*^ "'y"''"? -^^ for her
olearert tones,— ''*' ''**<^ ^^ ««id, in her
thi'/b2t£ratT™r h°asC//r ^°" "-^ -• Bat
were first married? PerLn. t^ '^i'^ °°' """ '* ''ben you
from you then?" ^^ ^' "'^'^ "«" *» be so long away
tb^uthurJoJiL^itTr? !^^^'- ^'^--^.i
I was beat«. then; a llnon^whil ""^ *" "^^ ^^^ ""o'
we had the goats ^d i " ' '^ " ^""«'°'''' ^bere
hai t^hL'^^t'?^ iL°d Sorr r"" ^- ^-^•^
and faster. """"^ ber heart beating faster
JrmrwI^h'^^I^S al!fT "°r r ••- «-«-.
<rf her destiny. *^ ^ '^ **«y ''°'^'l toU the seor^
Te;r^irnS,:-^p^rd"fi '^ '*•"' ""-^«^" "-^-^
"and then aitaL thev ^ZT ^'^" »8"bi as she spoke-
eold^e^s »m, and we heard thel^^^^d thr^Tdo £
0hurIrwet'yo':maSS53r~J^*-o years. I„ which
by one thought to p™! „^^^T^^ "^^^^^'j absorbed
haps before the next m^^nhe Wh?" I'^'v^'"^'" ^"-
and say that she was not T^MeCa^s l!^',° v' ^^'"^"
vows which had bound her fa, ^•\! ^'^^ wife-that the
had been made yoid befotl^d "' "^^ "^ ^"'P"™*'"' ^^
anIZk!r;\ttr wrallr'^°-*°- "^ ^"•l-''^.
ahe had «r.ttled onS ^ ''"'""*'°8 ezpreadon. Hither?;
, -_ aea on wi iout =ansoiomnes8 that she was making
478
ROlfOLA.
WTeUMoDB, any more than when she laid old thlnn over and
oyer again to Monna Lisa.
«^: , ?°J°" *'"°'' •" '"""d ""^ "* "Sry if I told youf »
It U nght that you should toll me. Tell me ererythhw »
said Bomola, looking at her with mild authority.
li the impression from Naldo's command had been much
more recent than it was, the constraining effect of BomoU's
mysterious authority would hare overcome it. But the sense
ttat she was tolling what she had never told before made her
oegm with a lowered voice.
" It was not in a church-it was at the Natiyiti, when there
was a fair, and aU the people went overnight to see the Ma-
donna m the Kunziata, and my mother was iU and couldn't
go, and I took the bunch of cocoons for her; and then he came
to me m the church and I heard him say, ' Tessal ' I know
him because he had taken care of me at the San Giovanni, and
then we went into the piazza where the fair was, and I had
some berhngozzi, for I was hungry and he was very good to
me ; and at the end of the piazza there was a holy father, and
an alter hke what they have at the processions outside the
churches. So he married us, and then Naldo took me back
mto the c^h and left mej and I went home, and my mother
died, and Nofn began to beat me more, and Naldo never came
rTi „ . ."'^ *° ''^' ""^ """^ »* tlie Carnival I saw him
and followed him, and he was angry, and said he would come
some time, I must wait. So I went and waited; but, ohl it
was a ong while before he eamej but he would have come if
he could, for he was good; and then he took me away, because
I cried and said I could not bear to stuy with Nofri. And,
ohl I was so glad, and since then I have been always happ^
for I don't mind about the goats and mules, because I tave
Lillo and Ninna now; and Naldo is never angry, only I think
he doesn't love Ninna so well as Lillo, and she « pretty "
Quite forgetting *hat she had thought her speech rather
momentous at the beginning, Tessa feU to devouring Ninna
with kisses, while Eomola sat in silence with absent ey-ss It
was ineyiteble that in this moment she should think of tie
ttree bemgs before her chiefly in their relation to her om n lot,
n...
THE OTHIR WOT. ^^j
h« hold of LUlo/aTd wS i'tt .^'T- ^^* ^-l "''•'•d
PMflwving • ehBOHB that ». ^T^ .. ^""""Mquickbi
from her shower of kiggei and^» ?*. u ° ""^ °°'' P»n»«l
more placid delight Ste^tSl*"^''' ™t«med to the
That face w« „*„derS a S« „h<^''*''^f y'aJy'»faoe.
wx^miDg of a warmet^ter Sthf T^*^ ^'' *''* 8™^""!
her «,i,«,r, fromTer '.^^L t . /f'^?"'^ ^°"«"» *°«i
wa^y looks, while the tt^„lr„f 'Z*' "'"' °' '"» 1°"8
movement, with kitten-STcCation"'' "'" '""""^ ^^
thuL7;:^r:rrmi:;r:;';,ts:'^
m.j..ifie.rk^owr.o„^r:rx^^:^rto%r
^"SoriS^ifiS£.--Ho„th«ha„dto
f«» for the least fo^L^eT™i?^i "'^ ^"^ ^^"^
in » friendly way on Mnn?. t , !^ ""^^ *° Pn* I'M hand
farewell Bi^ Befo^Te ^H*" " '^'"i^"' ""^ "''k' h«^a
reverence, romofatd dt;Sar"' "^ '"'^'^ ^"''-P
tantrLii?serih'5eThet':^h'?:'^ ^' ""-^ "^ -'^■
mother's skirts «Sey t^''£i:°:*°°^l'''«^«*°"'~'
"Do you think she «>« a^^t '"^dS''™ °* T
showing her the look "^ "" ^"» » ear,
movlmenfXS'gUtSZ^ ft'*^^ "^ " •«<*-<»
^^_ a« angers, and then stroking the rippled gold,
y'
11
1
480
ROMOLA.
" Sbe'i a gTMt ttid noble lady. I mw luoh in my youth."
Bomdla went home and sat alone through the aulby hoon
of that day with the heary certainty that her lot waa un-
changed. She was thrown back again on the oonfliot between
the demands of an outward law, which she recognized at a
widely ramifying obligation, aud the demands of inner moral
facts which were becoming more and more peremptory. She
had drunlc in deeply the spirit of that teaching by which Sa-
vonarola had urged her to return to her place. She felt that
the sanctity attached to all close relations, and, therefore, pre-
eminently to the closest, was but the expression in outward
law of that result toward which all human goodness and noble-
ness must spontaneously tend; that the light abandonment of
ties, whether inherited or voluntary, because they had oeaaed
to be pleasant, was the uprooting of social and personal virtn*.
What else had Tito's crime toward Baldassarre been but that
abandonment working itself out to the most hideous extreme
of falsity and ingratitude7
And the inspiring consciousness breathed into her by Sa-
vonarola's influence that her lot was vitally united with the
general lot had exalted even the minor details of obligation
into religion. She was marohing with a great army ; she was
feeling the stress of a common life. If victims were needed,
and it was uncertain on whom the lot might fall, she would
stand ready to answer to her name. She had stood long; she
had striven hard to fulfil the bond, but she had seen all the
conditions which made the fulfilment possible gradually for-
saking her. . The one effect of her marriage-tie seemed to be
the stifling predominance over her of a nature that she despised.
All her efforts at union had only made its impossibility more
palpable, and the relation had become for her simply a degrad-
ing servitude. The law was sacred. Yes, but rebellion might
be sacred too. It flashed upon her mind that the problem be-
fore her was essentially the same as that which had lain before
Savonarola — the problem where the sacredness of obedience
ended, and where the sacredness of rebellion began. To her,
as to him, there had come one of those moments in life when
the soul must dare to act on its own warrant, not only without
external law to appeal to, but in the face of a aw which is not
_Jf^--
TBI OTBIR Wm.
481
iTST!?.'"*. J«'^»rli«l>t«'tag._lightning. th.t m.yyet f.11
ii tlM WMrant hM been false.
«. t u ?^ "? ~""*' "' ^^ godfather or of Savonarola
natal she had made one determined effort to .peak freely with
Tito, and obtain hi. oonsent that she should live aput from
him. She desired not to leave him clandestinely again, or to
for«ke Florence. She would tell him that if he ever felt a
real need of her, she would come back to him. Was not that
tte utmost faithfulness to her bond that could be required of
wl '^"ddenng anticipation came over her that he would
clothe a refusal in a sneering suggestion that she should enter
a convent a. the only mode of quitting him that would not
be scandalous. He knew well that her mind revolted from
that mMns of escape, not only because of her own repug-
nance tea narrow rule, but because all the cherished mem-
ones of her father forbade that she should adopt a mode of
life which was associated with hU deepest griefs and his bit-
»er6Bt disXike.
ir, '^'*°«^'^ «»n"ounoed his intention of coining home this even-
tag. She would wait for him, and say what she had to sav at
once, for it was difficult to get his ear during the day If he
had the slightest suspicion that personal words were cominir
he slipped »way with an appearance of unpremeditated ease!
When she sent for Kaso to tell him that she would wait for
his master, she observed that the old man looked at her and
hngered with li mixture of hesitation and wondering anxiety •
but findu« that she asked him no question, he slowly turned
away. Why should she ask questions? Perhaps Maao only
knew or guessed something of what she knew already
It was late before Tito came. Bomola had been pacing up
and dtnm the long room which had once been the library with
ae windows open, and a loose white linen robe on instead of
her usual black garment. She was glad of that change after
the long hours of heat and motionless meditation: but the
coolness and exercise made her more intensely wakef uL and as
She went with the lamp in her hand to open the door for Tito
he might well have been startled by the vividness of her eyes
and the expressioa of painful re.«luti(Hi, which was in contrast
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483
BOHOLA.
with her nsual lelf-rMtraiiied qniesoenoa before him. But It
seemed that this excitement was just what he ezpeetedv
" Aht it is you, Bomola. Maso is gone to bed," he said,
in a grave, quiet tone, interposing to close the door for her.
Then, turning round, he said, looking at her more folly than
he was wont, " You have beard it all, I see."
Bomola quivered. He then was inclined to take the initia-
tive, lie had been to Tessa. She led the way through the
nearest door, set down her lamp, and turned toward him
again.
"Ton must not think despairingly of the consequences,"
said Tito, in a tone of soothing encouragement, at which
Bomola stood wondering, until he added: " The accused have
too many family ties with all parties not to escape ; and Messer
Bernardo del Kero has other things in his favor besides his
age."
Bomola started, and gave a cry as if she had been suddenly
stricken by a sharp weapon.
" What I you did not know it? " said Tito, putting his hand
under her arm that he might leal her to a seat; but she seemed
to be unaware of his touch.
"Tell me," she said, hastily— "tell me what it is."
" A man, whose name you may forget — Lamberto dell' An-
tella — who was banished, has been seized within the territory :
a letter has been found on him of very dangerous import to
the chief Mediceans, and the scoundrel^ who was once a favor-
ite hound of Piero de' Medici, is ready now to swear what any
one pleases against him or his friends. Some have made their
escape, but five are now in prison."
"My godfather?" said Bomola, scarcely above a whisper,
as Tito made a slight pause.
"Yes: I grieve to say it. But along with him there are
three, at least, whose names have a commanding interest even
among the popular party — Niocol6 Bidolfi, Lorenzo Toma-
buoni, and Giannozzo Fucci."
The tide of Bomola' s feelings had been violently turned into
a new channel. In the tumult of that moment there could be
no check to the words which came as the impulsive utterance
of her long-accumulating horror. When Tito had named the
WHT TITO WAS 8AFB. 433
^^ And you—jon are gafe? »
witt^^» •" fertainly an amiable wife, my Eomda. " said Ti(«.
ThlS^r' ^^"^ """y- " Yes! I am^ safe." ^ ""* "*^
They turned away from eaoh other in silence.
CHAPTER LVn.
WHY TITO WAS 8AFB.
agency from the Mediceans, he had^^lt Lll "'""^ ^"
employed and exclusively Cted Kern uT "^^"^^
him to keep up this triple emeThl «^- • , T"* *"? *»
admitted^ th'e Mec^S^sTtheir o^nThSe^ri'Tll"^
cf^y Standard by which they corras^'e*S.e KoS
z:;rormi\i:^^^j^^^^^^^^^
frianda nf fi,. 7-^ L- ^"^' ™^ -Bonjan and Milanese
484
BOHOU.
\i
hand correspondonce and espionage, in which tho deepest hy-
pocrisy was the best seivioe, and demanded the heaviest pay;
BO that to suspect an agent because he played a part strongly
would have been an absurd want of logic. On the other hand,
the Fiagnoni of the popular party, who had the directness
that belongs to energetic conviction, were the more inclined to
credit Tito with sincurity in his political adhesion to them, be-
cause he affected no religious sympathies.
By virtue of these conditions, the last three months had
been a time of flattering success to Tito. The result he most
oared for was the securing of a future position for himself at
Borne or at Milan; for he had a growing determinatinn, when
the favorable moment should come, to quit Florence for one of
those great capital^ where life was easier, and the rewards of
talent and learning were more splendid. At present, the scale
dipped in favor of Milan ; and if within the year he could ren-
der certain services to Duke Ludovico Sforza, he had the pros-
pect of a place at the Milanese court which outweighed the
advantages of Borne.
The revelation of the Medicean conspiracy, then, had been
a subject of forethought to Tito; but he had not been able to
foresee the mode in which it would be brought about. The
arrest of Lamberto dell' Antella with a tell-tale letter on his
person, and a bitter rancor against the Medici in his heart, was
an incalculable event. It was not possible, in spite of the care-
fol pretexts with which his agency had been guarded, that
Tito should escape implication: he had never expected this
in ease of any wide ditxsovery concerning the Medicean plots.
But his quick mind had soon traced out the course that would
secure his own safety with the fewest unpleasant concomitants.
It is agreeable to keep a whole skin; but the skin still re-
mains an organ sensitive to the atmosphere.
His reckoning had not deceived him. That night, before
he returned home, he had secured the three results for which
he most cared : he was to be freed from all proceedings agaJnst
him on account of complicity with the Mediceans; he was to
retain his secretaryship for another year, unless he previously
resigned it; and, lastly, the price by which he had obtained
these gnarantees was to be kept as a State secret The price
^^HT TITO WAS 8AFK. ^gg
Valori. aa we have Zn, ^LZt^ZV^ ^J"'" ^"^"^
ftk certain fine qnalitiUXtwere^n^ • ^' ^'''«°°"' « ""^
lent partisanship, with a^ t^JI!,?* ""'°'»P«ti'>le with vio-
friends, ^or with bXr^S^i^T' ''"* ""'""tod W.
terest being directed agS^Ci^fl'-f-""* °* ">« Wt-
• brief private intervi^^tefTf ^"^ ^*'°- T'' »''■". ia
Tito avowed hi, own i^^eTLt^Tf- " P''''*^ °^ "^'^y?
duced by motives abouf which h«^ Mediceans-an agency iil
tbe same tin>e that he had a "rsZir^S f^^' •'^''^'°8 "»
and that he sincerely pre Wd «.« n, • !^ """^ ''*^°'*« f"*"".
government; affected to cTngd^toT^?"^"' °* *^« P°P"J«
own personal dislike for Ctd^dll C' *" V'''' ^^
preparation, came to the imlTnt si/ '?' T*^ '^'«' ">«
another Medicean plot, of^M^ ^ 1^*"^°* *"* ""*« ^«
««.. from the goverameni hhlw . ^-"^ ""'*^ ''"■'di-
and into Bomagn^ where Piero de' L ^" ^°""«y *° Siena
to gather forces, obtain doc^m«nf. "i "^ "«»^ trying
the council. To thL «n^ documentary evidence to lay before
a Afedicean agent shord'b^ZLrenf'"^*"''' '"'--*^' «
bence the fact that he had hTn . "^ *°'" *" Mediceans, and
authorities must be wrao™^^ T"" °* i^ormation t^ the
odor of the facta miSeSe°i?'r'r'r^"'^- «*'»' «»-«
fore Tito could incL tte LpTeZnl ."' ^"*""*^°"' '^d ^e-
against his friends, he must^^^,.^ consequences of acting
aTe:^tre;^-----^Xr«^^^^^
atensely bent on the ^timatioa of Ti tol / "^^ ''^ ""t
mtensely bent on procuri^^ e°Z'^ '/""''"""i «»nd it «,„
five prisoners. O^ere were Zff^^ **"'*'"'« "«a'nst tb«
tbem, and it was to blw s^^^^*^ T'"'" '^°^ *° ^''-^
evidence .gainst them s^oSliV^""' «^"°<»«) *^' ""•
no Of the .trongeaii so as to
M6
ROyOLA.
w
mi
•larm all weU-»ffeoted men at tke dangers of clemency. The
character of legal proceedings at that time implied that evi-
dence was one of those desirable things which could cmly'be
come at by foul means. To catch a few people and torture
them into confessing everybody's guilt was one step toward
justice and it was not always easy to see the next, unless a
traitor .amiid up. Lamberto dell' Antella had been tortured
in aid of hit previous willingness to tell more than he knew
nevertheless, additional and stronger facts were desirable, es-
pecially against Bernardo del Nero, who, so far as appeared
hitherto, had simply refrained from betraying the late plot
after having tried in vain to discourage itj for the wel&re of
Florence demanded that the guilt of Bernardo del Nero should
be put in the strongest light. So Francesco Valori zealously
believed; aid perhaps > he was not himself aware that the
strength of his zeal was determined by his hatred. He de-
cided that Tito' s proposition ought to be accepted, laid it before
his colleagues without disclosing Tito's name, and won them
over to his opinion. Late in the day, Tito was admitted to an
audience of the Special Council, and produoec- a deep sensap
tion among them by revealing another plot for insuring the
^Jtery of Florence to Piero dt' Medici, whioh was to have
been carried into execution in the middle of thia very month
of August. Documentary evidence on this subjeot would do
more than anything else to make the right course clear. He
received a commission to start for Siena by break of day j and,
besides this, he carried away with him from the council cham-
ber a written guarantee of his immunity and of his retention
of office.
Among the twenty Florentines who bent their grave eyes
on Tito, as he stood gracefully before them, speaking of start-
ling things with easy periphrasis, and with that apparently un-
affected admission of being actuated by motives short of the
highest, which is often the intensest affectation, there were sev-
eral whose minds were not too entirely preoccupied to pass
a new judgment on him in theje new circumstances; they
silently concluded that this ingenious and serviceable Greek
was in future rather to be used for public needs than for pri-
vate intimacy. Unprincipled men were useful, enabling those
'rar TITO WA8 SAW. ^
be carried on in any de^rh^L? ^.' *°^''' ^°'' We was to
whom it would noTbe X^r?* "i'^"."* '•^'« iMtrum^ta
«.. .ct of handing'tTem tS:"i*° '^t °%\"^'' "P<'»^
who passed « tacit judgmen"rmto !r''°J"""* '""y""*"
8«ged in a memorable toansa«t°L that„ m t^'^' *»»'««»■
been carried through withou^TSe o7i ^ '"'°"""'' "^'^
M decided as his: bat as thij. t ^ "nsompnlousneas
»«id for them, it ^as one tti„^ f^ ."'^ ^"«''* ^ P»lci h!S
«.d «.oth^^ ^C: S^^i!"" "'•' '"^^ of treache^
" Ji *™«'imento a moW pl»ce .—
S'ra\'^i^^r«taf'n^°'"'«-'^««'-dagib.
jnst insight: « mixed ooUtio„„,1v'?""^«? truthfukess or
notof hopeles..oonfusionutof1t^f "^"^ " *'"' "P>,
For Tito himselt he ™„L'*™««^» "'<'«'•
Kttleintbeestimateof tt^^^iXT!""" *" •■*» "«* •
He had that degree otsluZtm^^'^^^^'^^'^-
Moompanies the habit of wti^ „ ^n^°° ^^'"^ necessarily
whatever qnaUiyj Td tf he ^^J^r^T''''^"'''* '^"^ ^
declined to «ee lUmself diLItlerr'''^"' *'*' ^"^^ ^^^
He had never meant to be SSVr/' '^^ '"'^'J-
to conduct himself so ably th^tSTJfi 5 •^'^ ""'"' -'ways
standard of other mea^Lshll f ^ ^ opposition to the
Wrier between himseSd Sa h^/IT "' "' «'<'«"'
"np.ssibUi(y of such conec^^t ° ^.'v*^ '^^ "^'^ ^^ tbe
condemnatory judgments mZ" T^ ^T ^* "'""^ fcom
notadapthimself. ^ut tl^^^^^^"^'*" ,'<'T''!''^ he could
of cleverness as oonld be wS.Id a!?^ * P^^" ^ ""^^^ds
•aoonv,niently. He had rX no ™n ""'. '"^ *""«d out
nardo del Nero; he haraZ^s? I^ ' ^^^^ ^'^^ »>,.
•-. and Oianno^ PnccrKJZS'^^----
;<•*
4M BOHOLA.
and in raoh a mj that U their party had been winners he
would hare merited high reward ; but waa he to relinqoiah all
the agreeable fruits of life because their party had failed? Hit
proffer of a little additional proof against them would proba-
bly have no influence on their fate ; in fact, he felt oonTinoed
they would escape any extreme consequences; but if he had
not given it, his own fortunes, which made a promising fabric,
would have been utterly ruined. And what motive could any
man really have, except his own interest? Florentines whose
passions were engaged in their petty and precarious political
schemes might have no self-interest separable from family
pride and tenacity in old hatreds and attachments; a modem
simpleton who swallowed whole one of the old systems of
philosophy, and took the indigestion it occasioned for the
signs of a divine dS&ai or the voice of an inward monitor,
might see his interest in a form of self-conceit which he called
self -rewarding virtue; fanatics who believed in the coming
Scourge and Renovation might see their own interest in a fu-
ture palm-branch and white robe : but no man of clear intel-
lect idlowed his course to be determined by such puerile im-
pulses or questionable inward fumes. Bid not Fontanus, poet
and philosopher of unrivalled Latinity, make the finest possi-
ble oration at Naples to welcome the French king, who had
come to dethrone the learned orator's royal friend and patron?
and still Pontanus held up his head and prospered. Men did
not rea'ly care alx>ut these things, except v hen their personal
spleen was touched. It was weakness only that was despised ;
power of any sort carried its immunity ; and no man, unless
by very rare good fortune, could mount high in the world
without incurring a few unpleasant necessities which laid him
open to enmity, and perhaps to a little hissing, when enmity
wanted a pretext.
It was a faint prognostic of that hissing, gathered by l^ito
from certain indications when he was before the council, which
gave his present conduct the character of an epoch to him, and
made him dwell on it with argumentative vindication. It was
not that he was taking a deeper step in wrong-doing, for it
was not possible that he should feel any tie to the Medioeans
to be stronger than the tie to his father ; but his conduct to
A riSiL UNDWJBTANDINO.
entmes, with their futile quwreh .„T t- ^'*' "^^ ^'"-
brilliant suooee. at Florenr w\ /"^-"^ '°^°«'- »«
he had fallen in love wUh thL t^n ''°""' "^'^ ^'^o « i' =
had come back under Sl,abTo°™ZT '"'' ??''»"'»™'
gaUoped with a loose rein;^.. i j ^,^**°<'*'- B"* «» Tito
Wm Chioh he w^uld L C "i!!"^ '" '"'' " *''"'«' b^fo^
fk-. HehadCht::ey3;„S„^-*«'»''y those „>i3-
WM in the fresh ripeness of elrfit J,?. ?"*v'^"*'^y' ^*
soioM of well-tried skiU Conllv, "l '"^y' ^« *»• <»"-
P«rti >• of rehearsal oJoaiin^nl!./°* "^^ ^'"""U °' t^"
to robe hin^self for thlt^L"' " "'"^ *"" '"'^ ""^^^
on ttSomltlciJ^h' "'^•*"«°"' - «"« ^-^ thai,
"•eoognize in the lamplight Th»™. l^** °°* """y*^ <»
willing to serve tTltato by ^viT'inT ^l Ceocone-ah»
euooesaful employers. ^ *^ * information against on-
CHAPTEE LVUL
A rmxh TrnDBBSTABMlfQ.
seventeenth of iZsT ^™ f '"^ ^^ '"'* °°* «"«° «" the
tte arrest of the X^'ed, S ftiU tf'*" ""^ ^"^"^ ^<«
their fate was uncer^' Znola hfdT ,rr> P'^"' »«"
as if all cares wore susnenrfT^T \ *^* '^'""'« *^ ^terval
flact™jtingprobaML"rn^i'^^,t:'*^r"r^«*''«
seemed strongly in favor of rt- ■ Sometimes they
effective inte^st on Teir bet^?™^'- *°' '^^ '^'^'^ ^
and an indefinite, pros^ ^^^ '"'"' l-^Khtened by deky,
P««Pect of delay was opened by the relno-
(7-37* ■
490
Ifil
ROMOLA.
tanM of all pattoni in authority to inonr the odiom ««»t«^if «»*
OQ any deoision. On the one side there was a loud vtj thAt
the Kepublio was in danger, and that lenity to the prisoners
would be the signal of attack for all its enemies ; on the other,
there waa a certainty that a sentence of death and oonfisoation
of property passed on five citizens of distinguished name
would entail the rancorous hatred of che<T relatires on all who
were conspicuously instrumental to such a sentence.
The final judgment properly lay with the Eight, who pre-
sided over the administration of criminal justice; and the sen-
tence depended on a majority of six votes. But the Eight
shrank from their onerous responsibility, and asked in this ex-
oeptional case to have it shared by the Siguoria (or the Oon-
fsloniere and %e eight ^Priors). The Signoria in its turn
shrugged its shoulders, and proposed the appeal to the Great
Council. For, according to a law passed by the earnest per-
suasion of Savonarola nearly three years before, whenever a
citizen was condemned to death by the fatal six votes (called
the teifavt or nz beam, beans being in more senses than one
the political pulse of Florence), he had the right of appealing
from that sentence to the Great Council.
But in this stage of the business, the friends of the accused
resisted the appeal, determined chiefly by the wish to gain de-
lay; and, in fact, strict legality required that sentence should
have been passed prior to the appeal. Their resistance pre-
vailed, and a middle course was taken; the sentence waa re-
ferred to a large assembly convened on the seventeenth, con-
sisting of all the higher magistracies, the smaller council or
Senate of Eighty, 'and a select number of citizens.
On this day Bomola, with anxiety heightened by the possi-
bility that before its close her godfather's fate might be de-
cided, had obtained leave to see him for the second time, but
only in the presence of witnesses. She had returned to the
Via de' Bardi in company with her cousin Brigida, still igno-
rant whether the council had come to any decisive issue; and
Monna Brigida had gone out again to await the momentous
news at the house of a friend belonging to one of the magis-
tracies, that she might bring back authentic tidings as soon as
they were to be had.
A FW AL PKMRBTAWDINO.
8h« Mt with her back to th. H~^." V '1 •»n«n»<Jed her.
•nd KomoU wa. exi«^r» w ^^**™°* ^"S'*!* !>•<» gone,
opened ri.e knew it w^of m""^?-., ^ut when the d^i
Since «he had l^A* T' ^"'«'*' '''«' ontofed.
.he h.dhadn^etteCprS"tol':^,L^r^r;r'' -'»•■''
won his safety by treaohVn; *"™°* ner belief that he had
denoethatheVs XTtid'rtrMiT''^^''''''^''''"^
ieved by then, to be ^TmSuhL^ « Medioean^ and was be-
«> Komagna, under coTX"^*^;''*^ '"^^ «" theirs
emment. For theobsoj^t whifh Sr''".'"'"''^''*'''-
u>g the conspirators was sW^T.,i "^f.^^^We oonoem-
"t Jt*^ 1--^^ -rt Slt^'^ •* *» ^ -^erstood
- :j Knd'jstrCd^^iL'- '^'^^'^= ^- '•»■
stent's pause tooka swt <m .h- 1 * '^ ^* '^' « fa>-
oppositetoher. ThrlhTr^^" "'^'' '^ ""» t""!- J>"'
tat she was mnte. He M^i, '''^' """^ ^'^^'^ "' hta;
oooUy,_ *'*"*'"*''<"'»nyi»itatipn, but said
I -^-trSt^'i:rote:fof°^'''i?"^' ^°^- ««*
oome, however, if you wiuS . '*"!"! '""^"'O- I am
lief of hope. " ^ "**" to me, to bring you the re-
duSHt^' "' """^ """' ^«-' •-' looked at him
whl'^K,SrtTh:trcu*°sT'°'^--'«» *'■-«'' ■*«!
^e Eight have been 51^7^^ '^^^^^'y^-
of condemnation, but the dem^^H V "■*" P«''"'8 « "eatenoe
^11
i:
i|!l:'
493
HOMOLA.
RomoU'i taM lent ito dnbioai •zpiMiioDi ih* uked Mr
gerly,—
" And when U it to be tuOtf "
" It hM not yet been granted i bat it may be granted. The
Special Council is to meet again on the twenty-fint to delib-
erate whether the Appeal ehall be allowed or not. In the
mean time there it an interyal of three dayi, in which ohaneaa
may occur in favor of the pritonen — in which interest may be
uied on their behalf."
Bomola started from her seat. The color had risen to her
face like a visible thought, and her hands trembled. In that
moment her feeling toward Tito was forgotten.
" Possibly," said Tito, also rising, " your own intention may
have anticipated what J. was going to say. You are t hinHn g
of the Frate."
" I am, " said Bomola, looking at him with surprise. " Has
he done anything? Is there anjrthing to tell me? "
"Only this. It was Messer Francesco Valori's bitterness
and violence which chiefly determined the coarse of things in
the council to-day. Half the men who gave in their opinioo
against the prisoners were frightened into it, and there are
numerous friends of Fra Oirolamo both in this Special Council
and out of it who are strongly opposed to the sentence of
death — Piero Ouicciardini, for example, who is one member of
the Signoria that made the stoutest resistance; and there is
Giovan Battista Bidolfl, who, Piagnone as he is, will not
lightly forgive the death of his brother Niocol6."
" But how can the Appeal be denied," said Bomola, indig-
nantly, "when 'it is the law — when it was one of the chief
glories of the popular government to have passed the law? "
" They call this an exceptional case. Of course there are
ingenious arg-.ment8, but there is much more of loud bluster
about t^e danger of the Bepublio. But, you see, no opposi-
tion could prevent the assembly from being prorogued, and a
certain powerful influence rightly applied during the next
three days might determine the wavering courage of those
who desire that the Appeal should be granted, and might even
giv^ a check to the headlong enmity of Francesco Valori. It
happens to have come to my knowledge that the Frate has to
A ntfAL tWDBR8TANDlH0.
l«gB uow." ^ "*""» *""• to UMJOOr priTi-
" It ii trn^" said KomoU. with .„ .1 , ^
-- •>•"- tut t., .s ;xtvi SSI .;?
which i. .taort entbelyti^; ^1 ^' ^^^t^ 80TTnm.nt
AppeU without entering hi. p„tLt.K ^^Z *° '^•°' *»"•
ing in hi. booke and .emoLeCt w^^ ' ^ """• ■»«"■
Vr^-' But between™^Lw w7r ^f '''° «°' ">» '""^
Fwte', ability, my Romoll hJ^ "" "•P«" '<» your
preaching thaTform Stin Jrifi*^ 'lf° *^'' P""""' °'
«awicked ■nalcontenuwtc^^forhi^forf '"""« '^"»'"
*°r^orit^„'-tL4*^-P--^'"'^
ffito';f"d5Jt-fit.rr^^^^^
"Better lo.e no timt hen -• ^^ Tito ^>k ""^ '""•*"<^-
%, moving hia cap round L hia^an^l ' 'i*? "°°'"'^ »««'■
pntitonanddepa^. "ITd n^,p ", "^ '""'*"'"''»«' *<>
be -We to see, i^ .pite of preiudr^^T'*' ^'^ '"1 P«'1>«P.
•^ P w 01 prejudice, that my wiehes go with
tim»tely enacted, being wider thaiwhl 1 ' ""* ^"o' -Appeal ul-
8.Tona«.l., wa.a«u^e„7bltte^^' '«"' ""ginally contemplS by
ot^ TLtocratio party ,ol at^hiTt^T *" """• " » ^"'r'^ance
ppvemmentthe injuriou. reauirof 1?™^ the mea«urea of the popular
2:rw"» biographer Ci ght oTLt^h','" '^"'« """"«'^
mon., but In a deliberately prenaredLt ,--"''' ""'y 'ahi««r'
«»««».) written long after the A^S h«S^ ' Compendium SaOa-
nerate. among the beneflto ewS^ .S*^,"^"™ '•"■ Savonarola enu^
^ ROHOLA.
yours in this mattei. Y<m will not regard the miifottane ot
my safety as an offence."
Something like an eleotric shook passed throngh Bomola: it
was the full consciousness of her husband's presence returning
to her. She looked at him without speaking.
"At least," he added, in a sUghtly harder tone, "yon will
endeavor to base our intercourse on some other reasonings
than that because an evil deed is possible / have done it.
Am I alone to be bey ond the pale of your extensive charity? "
The feeling which had been driven back from Bomola's lips
a fortnight before rose again with the gathered force of a tidal
wave. She spoke with a decision which told him that she
was careless of consequences.
" It is too late, Tito. There is no kUIing the suspicion that
deceit has once begotten. And now I know everything. I
know who that old man was: he was yonr father, to whom
you owe everything—to whom you owe more than if you had
been his own child. By the side of that, it is a small thing
that you broke my trust and my father's. As long as you
deny the truth about that old man, there is a horror rising
between us: the law that should make ns one can never be
obeyed. I too am a human being. I have a soul of my own
that abhors your actions. Our union is a pretence— as if a
perpetual lie could be a sacred marriage."
Tito did not answer immediately. When he did speak it
was with a calculated caution, that was stimulated by alarm.
" And you mean to carry out that independence by quitting
me, I presume?"
"I desire to quit you," said Bomola, impetuously.
" And supposing I do not submit to part with what the law
gives me some security for retaining? You will then, of
course, proclaim your reasons in the ear of all Plorence. You
will bring forward your mad assassin, who is doubtless ready
to obey your call, and you will teU the world that jou beKeve
his testimony because he is so rational as to desire to assassi-
nate me. You will first inform the Signoria that I am a
Medicean conspirator, and then you will inform the Mediceans
that I have betrayed them, and in both oases you will offer
the excellent proof that you believe me capable in general of
PLBADING. 4^
holding me up to ^Ivv? "^"K-'^'io^oe. you .uooeed in
of Meaner Ber^^! CoJ°"'^ *^° "^ "'^^S ^^^ «"
"Why do I speak of anythina? " oriaH Tin»„i- •
But in ^.t instant she'Z^:?,„^,S:L^°- Brigida.
».y Ser:r &t^ ^ ^^*^^- ^ -•* -
CHAPTER LIX.
PUEAOtN'O,
agX^&l: ^a^l^'i: ^■«.'"°«- -l-- Bon.ola wa.
Salves^, the eveninri^.^""*""**^'^ *^^^ ^»
with FraGiJCirfhe^^^te^horf?."' "^ ^'«'^'"'
rigidity with whinh a.r ""'P*'^''''"** of the conyent. The
ever they were grire^'th"; ^ "^7*::^ "'"' "^^ """^
«noe of mystery. FoTthis relZ h,?1 ^ 1""° "^^ *PP«"-
which there were likelvfciV-^ ^ l""" "''"^«° "as one at
tM. of San :^^*'^ *" '"' """^ ^"»t°« i« the outer olois-
496
ROHOLA.
She chose to pass through the heart of the city that Ae
might notice the eigne of public feeling. Byery loggia, eveiy
convenient comer of the piazza, every shop that nuwle a ren-
dezvous for gossips, was astir with the excitement of gratuitous
debate; a languishing trade tending to make political discus-
sion all the more vigorous. It was clear that the parties for
and against the death of the conspirators were bent on making
the fullest use of the three days' interval in order to deter-
mine the popular mood. Already handbUls were in circula-
tion; some presenting, in large print, the alternative of jus-
tice on the conspirators or ruin to the Bepublic; others in
equally large print urging the observance of the law and the
granting of the Appeal. Bound these jutting islets of black
capitals there were lakesi of smaUer characters setting forth
arguments less necessary to be read: for it was an opinion en-
tertained at that time (in the first flush of triumph at the dis-
covery of printing) that there was no argument more widely
convincing than question-begging phrases in large type.
Eomola, however, cared especially to become aoqoainted
with the arguments in smaller type, and, though obliged to
hasten forward, she looked round anxiously as she went that
she might miss no opportunity of securing copies. For a long
way she saw none but such as were in the hands of eager
readers, or else fixed on the walls, from which in some places
the sbirri were tearing them down. But at last, passing be-
hind San Giovanni with a quickened pace that she might avoid
the many acquaintances who frequented the piazza, she saw
Bratti with a stock of handbills which he appeared to be ex-
changing for smaU coin with the passers-by. She was too
familiar with the humble life of Florence for Bratti to be any
stranger to her, and turning toward him she said, "Have you
two sorts of handbills, Bratti? Let me have them quickly."
" Two sorts, " said Bratti, separating the wet sheets with a
slowness that tried Bomola's patience. " There's ' Law, ' and
there's 'Justice.'"
" Which sort do you sell most of? "
Justice '— ' Justice ' goes the quickest,— so I raised the
price, and made it two danari. But then I bethought me the
Iiaw' was good ware too, and had as good a right to be
MJADINO. 497
doing it. w„ng. Andl'JTfai^'^er ?^Jf'"^"l'^
more than one of a sort?" "^""P""- But you'U want
„i.'Tl!,°°' ''*'?'* " ''^*''' quattrino fop the two " said Rn»
o^ folding np the biUs and hurrying away "'"
<» U» «™8 j™m, Ji. IM ™. brfte. 6™iJS JS
498
nomohi.
spot— to be repelled by maible rigidity. She gave no ip*^
for the remembranoe to become more definite^ for the at onoe
opened the handbilli, thinking she should perhaps be able to
read them in the interval before Fra Oirolamo appeared. Bat
by the time she had read to the end of the one that recom-
mended the observance of the law, the door was opening^ and
doubling up the papers she stood expectant.
When the Frate had entered she knelt, according to the
usual practice of those who saw him in private; but as soon as
he had uttered a benedictory greeting she rose and stood op-
posite to him at a few yards' distance. Owing to his seclu-
sion since he had been excommunicated, it had been an un-
usually long while since she had seen him, and the late months
had visibly deepened in his face the marks of overtaxed men-
tal activity and bodily severities; and yet Bomola was not so
conscious of this change as of another, which was less defin-
able. Was it that the expression of serene elevation and
pore human fellowship which had once moved her was no
longer present in the same force, or was it that the sense of
his being divided from her in her feeling about her godfather
roused the slumbering sources of olienaticm, and marred her
own vision? Perhaps both causes were at work. Onr rela-
tions with onr fellow-men are most often determined by coin-
cident currents of that sort ; the inexcusable word or deed sel-
dom comes until after a&ection or reverence has been already
enfeebled by the strain of repeated excuses.
It was true that Savonarola's glance at Bomola had some of
that hardness which is caused by an egotistic prepossession.
He divined that the interview she had sought was to turn on
the fate of the conspirators, a subject on which he had already
had to quell inner voices that might become loud again when
encouraged from without. Seated in his cell, correcting the
sheets of his " Triumph of the Cross," it was easier to repose
on a resolution of neutrality.
" It is a question of moment, doubtless, on which you wished
to see me, my daughter," he began, in a tone which was gen-
tle rather from self-control than from immediate inclination.
" I know you are not wont to lay stress on small matters."
" Father, you know what it is before I tell you," said Bom-
VtMADOfQ. 4gg
rf hun h« gone together with the thought J my faS'L
long as I remember the davlieht Th«f L ^ "
owning to vou. e»T> if ™l » • v , '* "^ warrant for
P«h.;. i/i^ T ^ """^S «'«"^'i J'a^'e been needless
"I was going to say, father, that this matter is s„r«w ^
higher moment than many about whi«h T T ", *»"ly°f
preach and ethort fervidly if ifh-i ^ . *""* ^"^^ y""
'U
000
ROHOLA.
the nght bebg denied to alaoat the fint men who need
It? Surely that toaohes the Christian life more olosely than
whether yon knew beforehand that the Dauphin would die. or
whether Pisa will be oonquered. "
There was a subtle movement, like a snbdued sign of pain,
in Savonarola's strong lips, before he began to speak
My daughter, I speak as it is given me to speak— I am
not maater of the times when I may become the vehicle of
knowledge beyond the common lights of men. In this case I
have no illumination beyond what wisdom may give to those
who are charged with the safety of the State. As to the law
ofAppeal against the Six Votes, I labored to have it passed in
order that no Florentine should be subject to loss of life and
goods through the private hatred of a few who might happen
to be m power; but these five men, who have desired to ovm^
throw a free government and restore a corrupt tyrant, have
been condemned with the assent of a large assembly of their
fellow-oitizens. They refused at first to have their cause
brought before the Great Council. They have lost the right
to the appeal." ^
"How can they have lost it?" said Eomola. "It is the
nght to appeal against condemnation, and they have never
been condemned tiU now; and, forgive me, father, it » pri-
vate hatred that would deny thcai the appeal; it is the vio-
lence of the few that frightens others; else why was the as-
sembly divided again directly after it had seemed to agree?
And If anything weighs against the observance of the law, let
ttis weigh >• it-this, that you used to preach more earnestly
thui all else, that there should be no place given to hatred
and Woodshed because of these party strifes, so that private
lU- will should not find its opportunities in public acts. Father
you W that there is private hatred concerned here- will it
not dishonor you not to have interposed on the side of mercy,
when there are many who hold that it is also Ae side of law
and justice? ;'
"My daughter," said Fra Girolamo, with more visible emo-
tion than before* "there is a mercy which is weakness, and
even treason against the common good. The r fety of Flor-
ence, which means even more than the welfare of Florentines.
for » plot WohhMnot yrt^" ^ «»«i«»med, butalw
«>«t were leading to it. IVJT "~"'»<li and the dev^
^t « .till gaC4 ". w: rr P"* « »d to?^
»»« of Floreno^ w™Vt inT»\^^^°»'»8n», and the e^
l^ed Jrprise. ^""^ "^^"^g. «"d trembling with
poilSg S^^si.r °",^ w r" -''^ ^- «-l-o.
y°n that the government has h^"!""? ''^> P»Wa. td^
Bomola hastily opened tViT "f^.^^wiMtion. " '
"«l«iwthat thf^C^l*^'^^/^^'^^ '""'"^ "otyet read
^i plot, which waste CI KL°Z.?°J'''^"« «-W«>ce1^
^0. To her mind it wa/Ift« V""^ °"* ^ ">" August
T.tohadwonhissafe^by fS'JL"''"'*^' """^''^tion Zl
"■« that the JVate sho^d exert hT^^f; ^^ ?'*"•»«« «' '^-
dea^ed only helped Te w'etoh^"'^'' °." ^^ of theX
"P the paper in her haul ITt^iTTf'^- ^^' "'"•ied
'"tt new p„3i " JatherrwhaSv^'T'"^'^ •'^^'«^i
enoe when the worst man cL» ,Uwa« 1^ ""^o *^*«' ** ^^ ^lor-
on, a sudden flash of rem^K ^"^'"P*'^ And, "she went
about her huslTd, "CeTotT '^°'^«fr°"' ^e ta
d-eption Which o^rmXCC^T'"'''^'''''^^^
«^ favor to be shown to Lo^^tI^I"™"""' ^y wanting
two fiwes, and flattered yon^h JT "''°'' "^^ ^"" ''oi^
«y godfather has alwaysZn wf T of "flection, when
of those five men has the Tm^ ^"^ *" Florence who
^y who will name a^y otte/n '^^u'^'* "■««» ^1 not S^
you did interpose wi7Cc^^;f'^,^'""''°<^«'I^e«^
503
ROMOLA.
of her n»tura so roused that she forgot evwything Imt her In-
dignatioii. " It is not that you feel bound to be neutral ; else
why did yon speak for Lorenzo Tomabnonif Ton spoke for
him because he is more friendly to San Marco ; my godfather
feigns no friendship. It is not, then, as a Uedioean that my
godfather is to die; it is as a man you have no love fori "
When Bomola paused, with cheeks glowing, and with qniv.
ering lips, there was dead silence. As she saw Fra Oirolamo
standing motionless before her she seemed to herself to be
hearing her own words over again ; words that in this echo of
consciousness were in strange, painful dissonance with the
memories that made part of his presence to her. The mo-
ments of silence were expanded by gathering compunction and
self-doubt. She had committed sacrilege in her passion. And
area the sense that she ouold retract nothing of her plea, that
her mind could not submit itseU to Savonarola's negative,
made it the more needful to her to satisfy those reverential
memories. With a suddc. i movement toward him she said, —
"Forgive me, father; it is pain to me to have spoken those
words ^yet I cannot help speaking. I am little and feeble
compared with yon ; you brought me light and strength. But
I submitted because I felt the proffered strength— because I
saw the light Now I cannot see it. Father, you yourself
declare that there comes a moment when the soul must have
no guide but the voice within it, to tell whether the conse-
crated thing has sacred virtue. And therefore I must speak."
Savonarola had that readily roused resentment toward op-
position, hardly separable from a power-loving and powerful
nat.ire, accustomed to seek great ends that oast a reflected
grandeur on the means by which they are sought. His ser-
mons have much of that red flame in them. And if he had
been a meaner man his susceptibility might have shown itself
in irritation at Bomola's accusatory freedom, which was in
strong contrast with the deference he habitnally received from
his disciples. But at this moment such feelings were nullified
by that hard struggle which made haU the tragedy of his life
tie struggle of a mind possessed by a never-silent hunger
after purity and simplicity, yet caught in a tangle of egoistic
demands, false ideas, and difficult outward conditians, that
PLBAOIKO. ^
ing, «heh,a done befo^ tt, ^S^.^'oTS'^j; 'r*^-
lyentohim, xnd their probable !S filTt ? '"'*
aon on which »gment. oo~d ITd^i'.i '^" ' «""•■
Then you desire that they should die? Von a. ■ .v
the Appeal should be denied therr-'^L KoLlT^ ?"'*
«ew repelled by a vindication whTch seTmti to he^ Jl,"°*
the nature of a subterfuge. *" '^^^
«n S^^-ii,'"'* ^.'°°'»' •"» indignation rising a»in «v™
d04
ROMOLA.
m1
X'-
i- „,,
"Than wby do yon mj again, that 70a do not daiin nj
godfather'! death? " said Bomola, in mingled anger and da-
■pair. " Bather, jron hold it the more needful he ihonld die
beoante be it the batter man. I oasnot unravel your thoughti,
father; I oannot hear the real voioe of your judgment and
oonsoienoe."
There was a moment's pause. Then Savonarola said, with
keener emotion than he had yet shown,
"Be thankful, my daughter, if your own soul has been
spared perplexity ; and judge not those to whom a harder lot
has been given. You see one ground of action in this matter.
I see many. I have tc{ choose that which will further the
work intrusted to me. The end I seek is one to which minor
respects must be sacrificed. Thn death of five men — were
they less guilty than these— is a light matter weighed against
the withstanding of the vicious tyrannies which stifle the life
of Italy, and foster the corruption of the Church ; a light mat-
ter weighed against the furthering of Ood's kingdom upon
earth, the end for wMch I live and am willing myself to die."
Under any other circumstances, Bomola would have been
sensitive to the appeal at the beginning of Savonarola's speech;
but at this moment she was so utterly in antagonism with him
that what he called, perplexity seemed to her sophistry and
doubleness; and aa he went on, his words only fed that flame
of indignation which now again, more fully than ever before,
lit up the memory of all his mistakes, and made her trust in
him seem to have been a purblind delusion. She spoke almost
with bitterness.
" Do you, then, know so well what will further the coming
of Ood's kingdom, father, that you will dare to despise the
plea of mercy— of justice — of faithfulness to your own teach-
ing? Has the French king, then, brought renovation to Italy?
Take care, father, lest your enemies have some reason when
they say, that in your visions of what will further God's king-
dom you see only what will strengthen your own party."
"And that is truel" said Savonarola, with flashing eyes.
Bomola's voice had seemed to him in that moment the voice
of his enemies. " The cause of my party it the cause of Ood'i
kingdom."
■rai BOATrOLD. -«,
•^ Xi2?o7.i'" "f^ «<>-^ W who,. ,„„,
■oiii.ailagwider--.lL i.*^^*"""*- Ood'i kinBdo U
th« iTf,. " '^'^ '•* "•• •*"<> "Of id. it with^ UinJ,
The two fuel were lit nn i>.«k -j^v
•««* with M oppoeit. oertitad^ 1^-.. *" "P^*" «-">*^
CHAPTEB Li
»■» »0A»»OI,D.
hour of midnight did not^.L ;k ^'^ ^^^^ "ithin the
1>«iow.oathe%.vemer Sawt'".*' 'l°*^ "«^*- "^
WM to be seen, but only the Wh ^'^ »-»"<«dth of pavement
the pattering footatep. wd buW ™f "' "'"T '° *^^»>
»^« or rapid Mam~rin« of S^l ^"l ?"• ^»t«-ttniin.
Morenoe .tood out iTobtaiL diSL °'*^'.''""^''«'« <*
b«*g«,undof aroarfrlmiiried^^o^'^'^,'^'™ "■« *«
tnunplingg and pushinRs. and «p„^ .7 ^ ""^ impreoatioDi
««»8 which nothing?^ dTstin ° , r^ l'"^^* °* '''"'P-4
« the heavy droppi^gTuI;?' Xf""" ''^"^^^H "-Wek.
p:ifattrhi:i"'sr>*'''r'^-^^--
tf^ie.. theS^1„':iromet""^''''*'"''''^«^'St
citizens who L/been t hnf^\^*'^ '^'* '^^ °«'"'>«leot
•laylight and torchlJhWheSll th ? *^?"»'' ^°°« ^«^ <"
or whether the sentence S^^J^^WeaUhonld ^
prisoners forthwith, to foi^stal?tL^ ^ "'*"'*^ °" «"«
soc
ROMOUL
I 'I
I ?!
( !
lii
l|,|1':
ilJjffl
cided : tha Signoria had remained dirided, f onr of them atasd-
Ing out reeolutely for the Appeal in ipita of tha itrong arga-
ment tliat if thej did not gire way their honiea ahonld bt
lacked, until Franceaoo Valori, in brief and fnrioua •paeoh,
made the determination of hie party more ominonaly diatinet
by declaring that if the Bignoria would not defend the liber-
tiei of the Florentine people by executing thoi* fire perfldioni
oitizena, there would not be wanting others who would take
that cauM in hand to the peril of all who oppoied it. The
Florentine Cato triumphed. When the rotes were oonnted
again, the four obstinate white beans no longer appeared; the
whole nine were of thrf fatal afBrmative black, deciding the
death of the fire prisonerp without delay — deciding also, only
tacitly and with much more delay, the death of Franeaaeo
Valori.
And now, while the judicial Eight were gone to the Bar-
gello to prepare for the execution, the five ooi lemned men were
being led Inrefoot and in irons through the midst of the ooun-
oiL It was their friendi who had oontriTed this: would not
Florentines be moved by the yisible association of such cruel
ignominy with two venerable men like Bernardo del Nero and
Niccol6 Bidolfi, who had taken their bias long before the new
order of things had come to make liediceanism r etrograde—
with two brilliant popular young men like Tomabaoni and
Pucci, whooe absence would be felt as a hannong vacancy
wherever there was a meeting of chief Florentines? It was
useless : such pity as nould t« awakened now was of that hope-
less sort which leads not to rsaoue, but to the tardier action of
revenge.
While this scene was passing upstairs Bomola stood below
against one of the massive pillars in the court of the palace,
expecting the moment when her godfather would r.^ipear, on
his way to execution. By the use of strong interest she had
gained permission to visit him in the evening of this day, and
remain with him until the result of the council should be
determined. And now she was waiting with his confessor to
follow the guard that would lead him to the Bargello Her
heart was bent on clinging to the presence of the childless
old man to the last moment, as her father would have done;
TBB SOAnOLD.
Bor
S^^M.W'.u' .^r'"*""'*. "»«> WM going in bitUrwM
»h.t ihe .hould be guarded, .nd now .tood by h., ,id.
SlncL^h^;."" "> the paUci but BomoU h«l not «.n him.
Otter, u>d Tito only knew by inference from the report of the
^, n "^A^- ?'^' P'*"^* ^ **"«»■ hVw„ now
b»otod oounoil, mamtwning, except when he w«, directly ad-
dn»aed, tieeubdued air «>d grave .ilence of . ^.n whom
public wid private feeling. When an aUuaion wa. made to hS
vt^ln^ "' -r" *° '^.r ''""*^ ''• ^P"«^ '»«*. owing to tt^
faf).!^. offloe under a government concerned in her god-
father .condemnation rouwd in her a Cine^ hootS%
"Ah, tte old Bardi bloodl" wid Cennini, with a riirug.
from the Frate, as well aa some others I could name."
.in \'*"!r*".*. '° * ''°°*° *^° » doubUess beautiful.
~ace riie 1. the wife of Me«ier Tito," said a young FrenoW
voy, «numg and bowing to Tito, " to think that her affection.
SilSIT^" •''*' "^ "' ^"^ »'*'«' "«> ^ nobody is to bj
beheaded who >s anybody's cousin; but .uoh a view is not to
be encouraged in the male population. It seems to me your
JTlorentine polity u much weakened by it "
"That is true," said Nicool6 MacchiavoUi; " but where per-
sonalties are strong, the hostilities they raise must be taken
wHli^N?- ,M?°y°'«">'«>balf.way severities are me™
hot-headed Sundering. The only safe blows to be inflicted
aveSS ^ '*^" ■" ""* ^^'"' """ "* *~ ''^"^ *° be
"Niocol6," said Cennini, "there U a clever wickedness in
thy talk sometimes that makes me mUtmst thy pleasant
young face as if it were a mask of Satan."
,* '\.l
608
ROHOLA.
"Not at all, my good Domenioo," said MaaoUaTelli, imil-
ing, and laying his hand on the elder's shoulder. "Satan
was a blunderer, an introducer of novUh, who made a stupen-
dous failure. If he bad succeeded, we should all have been
worshipping him, and his portrait would have been more flat-
tered."
" Well, well," said Cennini, "I say not thy doctrine is not
too clever for Satan: I only say it is wicked enough for him."
"I tell you," said Maochiavelli, "my doctrine is the doc-
trine of all men who seek an end a little farther o£E than their
own noses. Ask our Frate, our prophet, how his universal
renovation is to be brought about: he will toll you, first, by
getting a free and pure government; and since it appears that
this cannot be done by making all Florentines love each other,
it must be done by cutting off every head that happens to be
obstinately in the way. Only if a man incurs odium by sanc-
tioning a severity that is not thorough enough to be final, he
commits a blunder. And something like that blunder, I sus-
peci, the Frate has committed. It was an occasion on which
he might have won some lustre by exerting himself to main-
tain tiie Appeal; instead of that, he has lost lustre, and has
gained no strength."
Before any one else could speak, there came the expected
announcement that the prisoners were about to leave the coun-
cil chamber; and the majority of those who were present hur-
ried toward the door, intent on securing the freest passage to
the Bargello in the rear of the prisoners' guard; for the scene
of the execution was one that drew alike those who were
moved by the deepest passions and those who were moved by
the coldest curiosity.
Tito was one of those who remained behind. He had a na-
tive repugnance to sights of death and pain, and five days ago
whenever he had thought of this execution as a possibility he
had hoped that it would not take place, and that the utmost
sentence would be exile: hia own safety demanded no more.
But now he felt that it would be a welcome guarantee of his
security when he had learned that Bernardo del ITero's head
was off the shoulders. The new knowledge and new j.Ctitude
toward him disclosed by Eomola on the day of his retura had
THB SCAFFOLD. jqj
given liun a new dread of tho «„»,. v
l^^po8ition ii.Be<«r^Ka^\P°7.f« PT"'"''""^'
JMking him an obieot of „^ ^ • *." ""^^ ""ooeeded in
not onJyfn^Ction ttirSr "f °'''™' ^« "^^
stances. Her belief in bI^ v"""^*' vmpleasant oironn,-
wavering feelL^s agalt ftS"' ""f '"'^'^ ^"'''•^^^ 1"»
father lived shf Sti^ r^?"""?' and if her god-
mnch trouble. Eo^ola <lld^ *° !^"' ^" ^^^^ 'without
able fact in hie des^v p T-^ T" **"' *^«' "> unmanage-
sition to her husbanded o'i^m I^""' '''""" ^ "PP""
shrintog pride. Therrfore &^J ^^^"•^'"[mountable to her
that the Eight had gone to th« r n" •"""' ''^<'° ^« ^"^
erection of the s^ofd F^^,^""^ *» order the instant
confederates-werTtolie. S^V""'°7^^ ^*^'''«* "^d
a n.an'8 own safety i^a^od tw .""'*° '^*'" ^«~- »»»
demands. Tito f^^em to t JT'^*' "'^!* ^'^ «^
what was agreeable, this p^a^oS^ i^Jf! J^/" Pf "*»'
desire for what was disagreeaWe BnfV T? v^"" ^ *^''
perience of thU sort, and m he hi ^1 "^ ^ °^''^ o^"
way the shuffle of ma^ f^^ttd " ^T*'' ""« °P«° ^"^^
ti-^0^ sad rLS:: trrn^ -17 °*^'' ^^^« '^^
be^^Tairdi^^l^rer;^- ^ r ^r °^ ^-^« ^^^
She needed no arm to sup^rt W T'^^'^ °* ^«^ "^t^^^-
felt that intensity of iSThtr' ^ ''''*'^ "^ *«"«• She
and joy_in which leZn^^^Z'^u'^'^''^ "^"^ ^"^
that wrought out existed ES.eS"/?''^*'^""'-
pain. Since her godfather'« feflt 7 u ^^ °^ pleasure and
vious struggle of Sg £ ht w • ""'^'^ ^' ^^■
cation of herself with hLTn ^e^^ *'^'° ""^ *° *" ''^''•^'ifi-
inwardly asserting for h^ that ff^'T ""'™°''-- ^''^^a'
of treason, he did noi de^rtt tl ""t'*'^ *''' punishment
victim to'a collision SrenLT7'^f"' '^'"'^^^
was not given him t^ die fTr ftetohW ' "* faithfulness. It
because of his noblls^ hIS ,'''?'' ""^y"' ''^ ^'''^
and found it ««ier not to ^^^5^! "Zmorr f^
510
BOHOLA.
!,.^iL ,
ing the full foioe of that sympathy with the indiyidnal lot
that ia continually opposing itself to the foimnls b' whieh
actions and parties aie judged. She was treading a way
with her second father to the scafFold, and nerving herself to
defy ignominy by the consciousness that it was not deserved.
The way was fenced in by three hundred armed men, who
had been placed as a guard by the orderr. of Francesco Valori,
for among the apparent contradictions that belonged to this
event, not the least striking was the alleged alarm on the one
hand at the popular rage against the conspirators, and the
alleged alarm on the other lest there should be an attempt to
rescue them in the mid^ of a hostile crowd. When they had
arrived within the court of the Bargello, Bomola was allowed
to approach Bernardo with his confessor for a moment of fare-
well. Many eyes were bent on them even in that struggle of
an agitated throng, as the aged man, forgetting that his hands
were bound with irons, lifted them toward the golden head
that was bent toward him, and then, checking that movement,
leaned to kiss her. She seized the fettered hands that were
hung down again, and kissed them as if they had been sacred
things.
" My poor Bomola," said Bernardo, in a low voice, " I have
only to die, but thou hast to live — and I shall not be there to
help thee."
"Yes," said Bomola hurriedly, "you ieill help me — always
— because I shall remember you."
She was taken away and conducted up the flight of steps
that led to the loggia surrounding the grand old court. She
took her place there, determined to look till the moment when
her godfather laid his head on the block. Kow while the
prisoners were allowed a brief interval with their confessor,
the spectators were pressing into court until the crowd became
dense around the black scafEold, and the torches fixed in iron
rings against the pillars threw a varying startling light at one
moment on passionless stone carvings, at another on some pale
face agitated with suppressed rage or suppressed grief — the
face of one among the many near relatives of the condemned,
who were presently to receive their dead and carry them home.
Bomola's face looked like a marble image against the dark
THB SCAFFOLD. gn
to take her a^^tS^'atr^hl'S "'\'"*^ ^"""^
have Been the last look of fh- v **"" ''^^'^ s''' '""M
had shared her" tSgKfoXt"th''°°'r J^ *'" ''°'«
background of he 'hono^J\f ***"• ■^'^ "till, in the
to be a hope, that s^Ze^eu^^ T ^ '"""""''y' '^^-^K
would keer^t s\Sdr,rX'br^' """''''''« "■''
court, rushing wares of so^H ^^ u^""^ ''°''*'' ''>'»'i° the
.hold.tasign-.^rera£^^^^
tre^SSt^r^Thl^ir *'•' ^^'^**'- "^^ *»
fold, and Beriardo del Ne™^ *' """ "^^ °° «"« 8<«f-
firm step. Sa inS „„ T "^"^^ " "^^ » "J"'
even asuppr^eT^uTd the. J^"' '"°^«»'«»t. "ttered not
firmness-^^^saw £_atl^ Tk*^?™'-^' ""^8 '" *"
taken ;™i"Lr"°^ '^^ °' "*« "-* -^ foliow-citizen. have
4": X^^f :ft K SsTes^/e "°.'^^ "«f ^"^ " ^«
.he was stretching out Sr Ts towarT^ ""^f' "".' ""*
no more till— a Ions while afkl, ^ ^^*" *he saw
«Myda.-.r, ^fsS^^n^;^' '^^^r'"."'-' ""■''«"«^'''
house." ^^ ^ "^ conduct you to your
si^ryTef ii:^^ -^»r her godfather-s confessor
"I am ready, " she said, startinit uo " T.«f „. i
She thought all olinrinK w^ af" ^* "" l*""-" time."
strength now should be riv^ to e^nrf °' ^^'- "^^ *"»
which she shuddered, ^ *""* * S^P «ndei
'1
•/.
sa
If
ii
•■ii
BOHOLA.
OHAPTEB liXL
otamva awi.t.
Oir the eighth day from that memoraUe night Bomola waa
■tanding on the brink of the Mediterranean, watcliing the
gentle summer pulse of the eea just above what was then the
little fishing village of Viareggio.
Again she had fled from Florence, and this time no aneet-
ing voice had called hei) back. Again she wore the gray re-
ligious dress; and this time, in her heart-sickness, she did
not care that it was a disguise. A new rebellion had risen
within her, a new despair. Why should she care about wear-
ing one badge more than another, or about being called by
her own name? She despaired of finding any consistent duty
belonging to that name. What force was there to create for
her that supremely hallowed motive which men call duty, but
which can have no inward constraining existence bave tlurough
some form of believing love?
The bonds of all strong affection were snapped. In her
marriage, the highest bond of all, she had ceased to see the
mystic union which is its own guarantee of indissolubleness,
had ceased even to see the obligation of a voluntary pledge :
had she not proved that the things to which she had pledged
herself were impossible? The impulse to set herself free had
risen again with overmastering force; yet the freedom could
only be an exchange of calamity. There is no compensation
for the woman who feels that the chief relation of her life has
been no more than a mistake. She has lost her crown. The
deepest secret of human blessedness has half whispered itself
to her, and then forever passed her by.
And now Bomola' s best support under that supreme wom-
an's sorrow had slipped away from her. The 'ision of any
great purpose, any end of existence which f'vjld ennoble
endurance and exalt the common deei?.s of a dusty life with
divine ardors, was utterly eclipsed for her now by the sense
of a confusion iu human things vM.^ made all effort a mere
JIJTO
DHIITIWG AWAT. J13
he was strueitlinff for? r„™„i„ v j , , *' ^^ •'""™
godl..:::erlu^ '„'.n Win. ^ * ^« ^een feeling for her
measures tiat wo^d sten^hlT" *° """^ P""'**"'^^ «"«
It was inevitable that she should iudee thITr»!f * • ,
mmmM
plicit formula of all energetrbeM l/d iJ '^ T ^^ •'""
this way poor Eomola was being blinded
teais.
by
I'J
BU
k
u^
ROMOLA.
No one who has ever known what it ia thua to loae faith in
a fellow-man whom he has profoundly loved and reverenoed
wiU lightly lay that the shook can leave the faith in the In-
visible Goodness unshakun. With the sinking of high human
trust, the dignity of life sinks too; we cease to believe in our
own better self, since that also is part of the common nature
which is degraded in our thought; and aU the finer impuhies
of the soul are dulled. Eomola felt even the springs of her
once active pity drying up, and leaving her to barren egoistic
complainmg. Had not the had her sorrows too? And few
had cared for her, while she had oared for many. She had
done enough; she had striven after the impossible, and was
weary of this stifling crowded life. She longed for that re-
pose in mere sensation which she had sometimes dreamed of in
the sultry afternoons of her early girlhood, when she had fan-
cied herself floating naiad-like in the waters.
The clear waves seemed to invite her: she wished she could
he down to sleep on them and pass from sleep into death.
But Bomola could not direcUy seek death; the fulness of
young life in her forbade that. She could only wish that death
would come.
At the spot where she had paused there was a deep bend in
the shore, and a small boat with a saU was moored there. In
her longing to glide over the waters that were getting golden
with the level sun-rays, she thought of a story which had been
one of the things she had loved to dwell on in Boccaccio, when
her father fell asleep and she gUded from her stool to sit on
the floor and read the "Deoamerone." It was the story of
that fair Qostanza who in her lovelomness desired to live no
longer, but not having the courage to attack her young life
had put herself into a boat and pushed oS to sea; then, lying
down in the boat, had wrapped her mantle ind her head,
hoping to be wrecked, so that her fear would be helpless to
flee from death. The memory had remained a mere thought
inRomola's mind, without budding into any distinct wish-
but now, as she paused again in her walking to and fro, she
saw gliding black against the red gold another boat with one
^ in it, making toward the bend where the first and smaUer
boat was moored. Walking on again, she at length saw the
DMFTmo AWAT. bu
gone with hT-her opw^tt ff K ?PP<f»"ity would be
She had not yet .ISI^eLi! & ""* "^•*"" *»•'•
but she felt . sudden eLern«Tf * ?**"* *° "»« **.
Ming it, which drXTfteL^ "'*"'' ."" pOBBibUityof
thought into a deeil^ *" half-unoon«,ious growth of a
whi'^Suti Se sr,it '.^-^ *° "•- ^■^•'"-.
-dhadn..deaiCeSVtS^^toi?8Sl*t" T^ ^«"-'
mysteriously in the evening soU^de "^ '"^^"'"^ *^'»
It WM his boat; an old one, hardiv seawort),, „ * .v
wpairag to any man who woid buv it rJ^^' Z* ^°'^
San Antonio, whose cha™i -T- ^ ■„ ^ ^^^ Messing of
b« had P-peM anWhTn^w^t'blTl^^'n'if f ■
once been Gianni's who died T^f ?!^^^'' "^""^ ^^
Old one. Eomola asked him\ \''?'^ ""'y** •»''' 'J'*
then, whilehe ww"sf ^,.7 "'•"^.'* "" ''<»«'. "^d
lying on the grou^dSoSi^J'tr' ^*° " ""'" '"'*°J"^
After that, shewatoh^d Wm^ r * V ""°°"°* °* '^ "ii^"-
how he sh^rsTt Sfhe wa^"t^T '"" "" ""* "^^^ "-
P-oJgup and down a^l^S^^^Ke^""'*^*""
dJ^erg'tZrwL' ^Sf-^^^ ''Ty '" ^^t on the
as the thoJ^t^I-^^^^f tal^i^' "r."*" " '°°«^«'
thirst. To be bJdfT^7^. f'"*f"«»« becomes a painful
n.otire w^ LS to^I^^^'^'^,? "^ "''"io* ''ben all
which would Xerb^inni.?"' "^""P^* *° '^^'^"y
might rouse a new Le to he^>' °'^ °*""^'*^"*' *'"'*
oned her the morl bwa^^e thet^^ '''" ■" "'°"«^' *^* »««''-
to rest in the still soUtade fl,^ T"""* "' """^o »"» l""*
and heat of LeviC ' ^ ^^ *^"' '" ^'' °°"»
and w"* wit J fwar'^r tr ^'t? "P "^^ ^^ --'>'-
01«
ROUOL&.
breeze from the land wu riling a little. She got into the botti
unfurled the tail, and fastened it as she had learned in that
firat brief lesson. She saw that it caught the light breeze,
and this was all she oared for. Then she loosed the boat from
its moorings, and tried to urge it with an oar, till she was far
out from the land, till the nea was dark even to the west, and
the stars were disclosing themselTes like a palpitating life over
the wide heavens. Besting at last, she threw back her cowl,
and, taking off the kerchief underneath, which confined her
hair, she doubled them both under her head for a piUow on
one of the boat's ribs. The fair head was still very young and
could bear a hard pillow.
And so she lay, with" the soft night air breathing on her
while she glided on the water and watched the deepening
quiet of the sky. She was alone now : she had freed herself
from all claims, she had freed herself even from that burden
of choice which presses with heavier and heavier weight when
claims have loosed their guiding hold.
Had she found anything like the dream of her girlhood?
No. Memories hung upon her like the weight of broken
wings that could never be lifted— memories of human sym-
pathy which even in its pains leaves a thirst that the Great
Mother has no milk to still. Eomola felt orphaned in those
wide spaces of sea and sky. She read no message of love for
her in that far-off symbolic writing of the heavens, and with
a great sob she wished that she might be gliding into death.
She drew the cowl over her head again and covered her
face, choosing darkness rather than the light of the stars,
which seemed to her like the hard li,(?ht of eyes that looked at
her without seeing her. Presently she felt that she was in the
grave, but not resting there: she was touching the hands of
the beloved dead beside her, and trying to wake them.
TH» BIMZDicTioN.
en
CHAPTEB LXlt
*H« BSNBDIOTIOX.
i'sL«-rs?.S-r • " ~«" =•' "K
•toewhere. "* ""* ^^^ "*"*" °* POP-^" i«teie.t lay
the pressure of n^w^m?™ ^ ^\ "'""^ proceeded from
•«mnd a semicircular b^ler i^' ft-lr*^'" T*"* "^8*'
within this barriep w-.^^ ^ "** °^ *** •^'"ol'. and
BrethreHf sTSLr ^^^ """"""^^ *^« ^"^<*«
doo^"*w2''sS?S:'"^'"' ^°''*'' '^'^ -•' *« "hurch
forbidden to WoTSore«olr*^f- "''^"^ ^""^ '««°
said. « A wioklfl^ .,n)S^ • ®^°°"n™«ation. This man had
tmil ctjTSti^b^^t noTSt^Vie^ r ^' ""' ^
broken swords: he wasDs a h^Tlit^ TV, ^" """«* "'^
^»ds are conl^ to^ZcSL'S* ft ^tfuf ^0^
over Florence if i7did nnf^ "1^8 *«"'"« <^«a<«
-atic and se^dli^ t'^1 TCZ^l^l''''^^, -^^■
oaint jr-eter? It was a momentous question, which for
I
IT
'i
BU
BOMOUL
the DIMS of eitiMDS oonld nam b« dMidad by the Fitte'i aM-
mate test, namely, what wai and what waa not aooordant
with the higheit ipiritual law. No: in noh a oaie aa thia,
if Ood had ohoaen the Frata as his prophet to rebuke the High
Priest who carried the mystio raiment unworthily, he would
attest his ohoioe by some unmistakable sign. As long as the
belief in the Prophet carried no threat of outward calamity,
but rather the confident hope of exceptional safety, no sign
was needed: his preaching was a music to which ib» people
felt themselves marching along the way they wished to gOj
but now that belief meant an immediate blow to their com-
merce, the shaking of their position among the Italian States,
and an interdict on their city, there inevitably came the ques-
tion, "What miracle i&owest thou?" Slowly at first, then
faster and faster, that fatal demand had beein swelling in
Savonarola's ear, provoking a response, outwardly in the dec-
laration that at the fitting time the miracle would come; in-
wardly in the iaith — not unwavering, for what faith is so? —
that if the need for miracle became urgent, the work he had
before him was too great for the Divine power to leave it halt-
ing. His faith wavered, but not his speech : it is the lot of
every man who has to speak for the satisfaction of the crowd
that he must often speak in virtue of yesterday's faith, hop-
ing it will come back to-morrow.
It was in preparation for a scene which was really a re-
sponse to the popular impatience for some supernatural guar-
antee of the Prophet's mission that the wooden pulpit had
been erected above the church door. But while the ordinary
IVati in black mantles wera entering and arranging them-
selves, the faces of the multitude were Lot yet eagerly directed
toward the pulpit: it was felt that Savonarola would not ap-
pear just yet, and there was some interest in singling out the
various monks, some of them belonging to high Florentine
families, many of them having fathers, brothers, or cousins
among the artisans and shopkeepers who made the majority of
the crowd. It was not till the tale of monks was complete,
not till they had fluttered their books and had begun to ohant,
that people said to each other, "Frs Qirolamo must be com-
ing now."
na UHiDionon.
yet ohMged with eleotrio .w« forfW * . ^**''*" ""•
tl»t thow who h«i S; tt.^1 <• ""'*> """it»de. ~
wms unnerved. ^ the wiU to atone him felt their
« whef mr:ho uv/S:^ ;.rr"r '^-'^'' t^S
•"eaven* aee tha «,r,^J^ watohmg for aomethiug in the
The ^tehS r^Tm^T** ^'tT'"' '^°'"^« ''»*"
his hands, whinh j- ii. • •"™<'»' Jhen he stretched out
"«»ibility too «„T^ nX.n ^P'-^ ^*° ''^<"« 0'
^:^^o.Sr=--'a:2:^e-^X^
inl^tt'^rrkstron'L"''";'^^ -"^ "' *^« --^
devout disciprf^t'o"; t th^:::;r' "^'v^^ *'*« »
some resisting the impulse to ttl^, "'"^^"'^ "*°°^ ^"^
catedman (miaht „rt ail^.^"*' '^*°~ <*" «xoommuai-
080
HOMOLA.
But then euna tha voice, dear wd low at flnt, uttering the
word* of abeolution— " Jf a»r«oft«r »«rtr»"— and more fell oo
their knees: and M it rose higher and yet dearer, the erect
heads became fewer and fewer, till, at the words " Bmtdieat
vol omnipottni Dmu," it rose to a masculine cry, as if protest-
ing its power to bless under the clutch of a demon that wanted
to stifle it: it rang like a trumpet to the extremitiee of the
Piazza, and under it every head wu bowed.
After the utterance of that blessing, Saronarola himself
fell on his knees and bid his face in temporary exhaustion.
Those great jets of emotion were a necessary part of his life,-
he himself had said to the people long ago, " Without preach-
ing I cannot live. " But it was a life that shattered him.
In a few minutes mere) soma had risen to their feet, bnt a
larger number remained kneeling, and all faces were intently
watching him. He had taken into his hands a crystal vessel,
containing tha consecrated Host, and was about to address the
people.
" You remember, my children, three days ago I besought
you, when I should hold this Sacrament in my hand in the
face of you all, to pray fervently to the Most High that if this
work of mine does not come from Him, He will send a fire and
consume me, that I may vanish into the eternal darkness away
from His light which I have hidden with my falsity. Again
I beseech you to make that prayer, and to make it now."
It was a breathless moment: perhaps no man really prayed,
if some in a spirit of devout obedience made the effort to pray.
Every consciousness was chiefly possessed by the sense that
Savonarola was praying, in a voice not loud, but distinctly
audible in the wide stillness.
" Lord, if I have not wrought in sincerity of sonl, if my
word Cometh not from Thee, strike me in this moment with
Thy thunder, and let the fires of Thy wrath enclose me."
He ceased to speak, and stood motionless, with the conse-
crated Mystery in his hand, with eyes uplifted and a quiver-
ing excitement in his whole aspect. Every one else was mo-
tionless and silent too, whi:« the sunlight, which for the last
quarter of an hour had here a^d there been piercing the gray-
ness, made fitful streaks across the convent wall, causing some
My%. awi"
THl B«NlDIcnoH. 531
triumph, aod in it. raptw^ „'!«?;' "?""" °' ">"~ubW
««»nder wene yet to IZ^,° "' ^' '"" ""'ied to •
••"led M the mesaenftc, of T.T ^^'"'' •■* ''"""W «g«in b«
Wm«,lf fu„ charged wtS w^:PJr«l«'''<»«»'>e». ^ fed
ment that expandti ifiw S'Zt n~ °'^- " '" ''"' » ■»<>-
vra. still ringing in hiHarB h« ta P"*^"""- WhUe the shout
f*elin» the stridn too J^' ?' ^""f '"'^ "'""" «"> oiuroh,
But when tie^ ^anil > "^ ^ "^^ *' '""R^'-
••wnednolongertoWetvt?'"^'^'^' ""^ ""» """l' fht
but w„ .pr^XgYt^riSiSlvT'",?' i" '">«-iu«tii
unclean, there '^.n, alZ'^^thl^ '","'^«» «>«« "ud
crowd, a oonfu^Xf voTofs' n wM J'"'!^'- ""''«""'"* °* *»».
PW.OU. silence and uniTerSfaeritn^ ^ "Jl!*'"" that, in the
Of T submitted unwilJindv^r!! *' '°'*''"y ""^ »<»ni had
" It seems to meX Su !?•.' °"»"«»taiy spell.
«id Tito, who ha^ L:n'wato;^ "thf"» ""^ *° """o'--"
M upper loggia in one Tf f hi ! '"*"' attentively from
"NeyertheleTitwasT^tl- '""'""' "PP"*'*" t^e ohmT
fta Girolamo is aTan to'^Jk/onT!?'' '''' ^*'«'" ^'^o?
a time when the monk's fT^t" ;°' ':f t««'*»fd that there was
men's minds rather than oveTthe W Z^"'^' "* P'"'" o^er
"Assuredly," said nZcfl^P °f ;°«en', cupboards. »
proof that Fra Girolamo has Ch i ^ "°*" ^ '«^« «««»>
ments than the commTruno^ln'/'^"' '° •^''' J^dg-
erably more, I shall n<^ wlveTa;'^''**"*' t '!*"'"« '^'^'^■
>" thi. way if hi. .cnl were W t'ttir''^. ''T ^'•'«
"• *'"! a conscious lie."
M:
»« p.,
.ill:-;
)■'
ROMOLA.
CHAPTEE LXUL
BIPENIira 80HBHB8.
A MONTH after that Carnival, one morning near the end of
March, Tito descended the marble steps of the Old Palace,
bound on a pregnant errand to San Marco. For some reason,
he did not choose to take the direct road, which was but a
slightly bent line from the Old Palace; he chose rather to
mi^e a circuit by the Piazza di Santa Croce, where the people
would be pouring out of the church after the early sermon.
It was in the grand church of Santa Croce that the daily
Lenten sermon had of late had the largest audience. For
Savonarola's voice had ceased to be heard even in his own
church of San Marco, a hostile Signoria having imposed silence
on him in obedience to a new letter from the Pope, threaten-
ing the city with an immediate interdict if this " wretched
worm " and " monstrous idol " were not forbidden to preach,
and sent to demand pardon at Borne. And next to hearing
Fra Girolamo himself, the most exciting Lenten occupation
was to hear him argued against and vilified. This excitement
was to be had in Santa Croce, where the Franciscan appointed
to preach the Quaresimal sermons had offered to clinch his
arguments by walking through the fire with Fra Girolamo.
Had not that sc^ismatical Dominican said, that his prophetic
doctrine would be proved by a miracle at the fitting time?
Here, then, was the fitting time. Let Savonarola walk
through the fire, and if he came out unhurt, the Divine origin
of his doctrine would be demonstrated; but if the fire con-
sumed him, his falsity would be manifest; and that he might
have no excuse for evading the test, the Franciscan declared
himself willing to be a victim to this high logic, and to b(
burned for the sake of securing the necessary minor premise.
Savonarola, according to his habit, had taken no notice of
these pulpit attacks. But it happened that the zealous
preacher of Santa Croce was no other than the Fra Fran-
oesoo di Puglia, who at Prato the year before had been en-
whJe the heat waa simply oratorical. iloue»f Cdo^W
Via del Cooomero, no sooner heard of this new challenge than
he tooK up the gauntiet for his master, and declared hLseW
^iZllt 'T'^'' *"* '™ "'*^ ^™ France"i::''iLrd"
tue people were beginning t» take a stronK interest in ^Z
seemed to them a short and easy method'o"tgle„t (for
Siv. % ?. T" *° ^ -^nvinced), when SaTona^irkeilv
t fl *^«''" *^** ^y '" «>« "•«'« discussion of tte ^e
commanded Fra IMmenico to withdraw his acc^Jtence ofT^
SlT '^^ rf ^f™"" *^« '^''"- The FranciCdecLed
altem, but to Fra Girolamo himself 8 ""any bud
S>iSAT P°P"'".^*«"''* i° the Lenten sermons had
PWdfsa^rr ,^'1 '°^"'"'«' ''^*'' Tito entered the
i-ia^ di Santa Croce, he found, as he e:tpected, that the neo!
pie were pouring from the church in large numbeT ^sS
of dispersing, many of them concentrated trm1^;estow«d
iTlfiTt^r,^'"'''"^^ °* ^^^ I^ancisca: mo^:^
■^' , ^ *^® ^*™« direction, threading the orowH
nJlT ""^ """^ «^P««tetion that occupied the crowd The
object they were caring about was already visible to ttemt
the shape of a large placard, affixed by order of tte Siml^
^d covered with very legible official /andwrit^g Brc^*:
w«^„v'"fl'"'"'7^"* ^^"^ ^y ^^^ f-"** «•"* the mTuscript
^ aS^T"""'"''^ "'"'* *^« P""'"'i co^tainedrhe had
an appetite for more exact knowledge, which gave him an irri
te™r^r,'"'"T'«'"^'''' '<^°"^'^ « not being abirto in-
terpret the learned tongue. For that aural acquaiftan^ wSi
Latin phrases which the unlearned might pick ud f^^-Zf
C'Me T'^'^' "''^™**'^ '■^ 1 prei'SheTp*
ITJT ^"^ "^"^l"" '""**'° ^-""i" ■' '»•« «P«Uing even of
the modem language being in an unorganized and scSi^J
iiii
524
ROMOLA.
condition for the mass of people who could read and write,'
while the majority of those assembled nearest to the placard
were not in the dangerous predicament of possessing that little
knowledge.
"It's the Frate's doctrines that he's to prove by being
burned," said that large public character Ooro, who happened
to be among the foremost gazers. " The Signoria has taken it
in .hand, and the writing is to let us know. It's what the
Padre has been telling us about in his sermon."
"Nay, Goro," said a sleek shopkeeper, compassionately,
"thou hast got thy legs into twisted hose there. The Frate
has to prove his doctrines by not being burned: he is to walk
through the fire, and come out on the other side sound and
whole." '
"Yes, yes," said a young sculptor, who wore his white-
streaked cap and tunic with a jaunty air. " But Fra Giro-
lamo objects to walking through the fire Being sound and
whole already, he sees no reason why he should walk through
the fire to come out in just the same condition. He leaves
such odds and ends of work to Fra Domenioo."
"Then I say he flinches like a coward," said Goro, in a
wheezy treble. " Suffocation I that was what he did at the
Carnival. He had us all in the Piazza to see the lightning
strike him, and nothing came of it."
"Stop that bleating," said a tall shoemaker, who had
stepped in to hear part of the sermon, with bunches of slip-
pers hanging over his shoolders. " It seems to me, friend,
that you are about as wise as a calf with water on its brain.
The Frate will flinch from nothing: he'll say nothing before-
hand, perhaps, but when the moment comes he'll walk through
the fire without asking any gray-frock to keep him company.
But I would give a shoe-string to know what this Latin
all is."
"There's so much of it," said the shopkeeper, "else I'm
pretty good at guessing. Is there no scholar to be seen? " he
added with a slight expression of disgust.
' The old diarlsta throw in their contommlB with a regard rather to
quantity than position, well typified by the RagwAo BragMello (Agnolo
Oabrlello) ot Boooaocio'a Ferondo.
RIPENIMO SCHIMEB. 525
hia_^r "^ ""' *"" ^°""« -"^P*"'. ^^^B and raiaing
doubUe"s; mlw^for wl^f^'i*!." ^^« *° <*" "invent,
finft though that a«k of ir^cttt. '' t^^P*"' '^° <J°^
tineeexcepttothehighestoaS '^,7«^y«^°'" byFloren-
was really exacted by the SDlendnr >^ "^""P^w-al reverence
ance, which made hi blackm!^! .f*"' °* ^•*°'« W*'""
like a regal robe and ht, .T ' .'t'** '*' 8°^^ fibula, loot
entirely elcep:i"C"d::^^7^er^"''*'' "'' ^^ "^
and mouth, which was the^Mef ^tL^t^T'f'"'"''"^'^
came to Florence, seemed t^ a suneS, ," ^"^^ ''^'"' ''«
which is an act of lib^r^tv w^^^ t'l' *" •'°**" ^^^ ^«>-
ria-reserving of com^7Hf/ 1^^/^ "'^ magnificent Signo-
doubtless n.^ybeCers:ii't "'*«'' ^^'^'tion. ^^
names. For what is it to Intr the I™ T '""^""^ '^"^
"firm? A man is afraid of th.fli*" **''* ^^"^ ^^
it wUI burn him • bnrtf^h« Lr ^\^^^oo ^e beUeves
Tito lifted his should^ td mir *^' """^^^^''-We
"for which reason I ha^ aller 1^ '^ "''*°"'"^ P''"'^-
Prate, when he has said tt^t It w^u ""^ *° '^''••^"•'^^ "">
his doctrine. F^in M, ^ '■"/"•'Id enter the fire to prove
not burn you, which of t^^'mv^^ "l'"''^ *^« ^"> ^"^^^
Lr:^i^ - - -- -^i-^-^SlTo/t:
cWe'L^retf hSudtcen^^*^! R ^ ''^ "
s^xr.S"ofni--££i"^^^^^^^^^
not every one who would ,,.»T '^""'8 Poetical, it was
hi
\ 1
S26
ROHOLA.
might have been too much for a gravity leu under oonunand
than Tito's.
"Then, Messer Segretario," said the yoang soolptor, "it
seems to me Fra Francesco is the greater hero, for he offers
to enter the fire for the truth, though he is sore the fire will
bum him."
"I do not deny it," said Tito blandly. "But if it turns
out that Fra Francesco is mistaken, he will have been burned
for the wrong side, and the Church, has never reckoned such
victims to be martyrs. We must suspend our judgment until
the trial has really taken place."
"It is trau, Messer Segretario," said the shopkeeper, with
subdued impatience. " But wiU you favor us by interpreting
the Latin?" '
" Assuredly," said Tito. " It does but express the conclu-
sions or doctrines which the Frate specially teaches, and which
the trial by fire is to prove true or false. They are doubtless
familiar to you. First, that Florence "
" Let us have the Latin bit by bit, and then tell us what it
means," said the shoemaker, who had been a frequent hearer
of Fra Girolamo.
"Willingly," said Tito, smiling. "You will then judge if
I give you the right meaning."
"Yes, yes; that's fair," said Goro.
" Mccletia Dei indiget renavatione ; that is, the Church of
God needs purifying or regenerating."
"It is true," said several voices at onoe.
"That means, the priests ought to lead better lives; there
needs no miracle to prove that. That's what the Frate has
always been saying," said the shoemaker.
" FlagellabituT," Tito went on. "That is, it will be
scourged. BenovaMtur : it will be purified. Florentia guoque
pottflagellamrenovaMturetproaperabitur: Florence also, after
the scourging, shall be purified and shall prosper."
"That means we are to get Pisa again, " said the shopkeeper.
" And get the wool from England as we used to do, I should
hope," said an elderly man, in an old-fashioned berretta, who
had been silent till now. " There's been scourging enough
with the sinking of the trade."
WTENmo SOHaMES. 527
an indifferent ^ce^i^Tit 1T7"^^ "v*^ "'^"'8'^
carelessly over iTlefl-.hnn^L"'.*"'""* ''" becohetto
«S^' *^'". ""^ ''°'^'* ^'''y •» «>"«? " said Goro
Exeommunicatio nuper lata nmf^ »^ j ^
alternately snqffed at a basket of paps and licked Ms
528
ROHOLA.
m
. , (
hands wiih that affectionate disregard of her xoaater's merala
sometines held lo be one of the most agreeable attributes of
her sex. He just looked up as Tito entered, but continued
his play, simply from that disposition to persistence '"n some
irrelevant action by which slow-witted sensual people seem
to be continually counteracting their own purposes. Tito was
patient.
"A handsome braeea that," he said, quietly, standing with
his thumbs in his belt. Presently he added, in that cool
liquid tone which seemed mild, but compelled attention,
" When you have finished such caresses as cannot possibly be
deferred, my Urlfo, we wUl talk of business, if you please.
M; „ime, which I could wish to be eternity at your service,
IS not entirely my owif this morning."
"Down, Mischief, down!" said Spini, with sudden rough-
ness. " Malediction I " he added, still more grufSy, pushing
the dog aside; then, starting from his seat, he stood close to
Tito, and put a hand on his shoulder as he spoke.
"I hope your sharp wits see all the ins and outs of this
business, my fine necromancer, foi- it seems to me no dearer
than the bottom of a sack."
" What is your difficulty, my cavalier? "
"These accursed Frati Minori at Santa Croce. They are
drawing back now. Fra Francesco himself seems afraid of
sticking to his challenge; talks of the Prophet being likely to
use magic to get up a false miracle— thinks he himself might
• be dragged into the fire and burned, and the Prophet might
come out whole hy magic, and the Church be none the better.
And then, after all our talking, there's not so much as a
blessed lay brother who will offer himself to pair with that
pious sheep Fra Domenico."
"It is the peculiar stupidify of the tonsured skull that pre-
vents them from seeing of how little consequence it is whether
they are burned or not, " said Tito. " Have you sworn well to
them that they shall be in ao danger of entering the fire? "
"No," said Spini, looking puzzled; "because one of them
will be obliged to go in with Fra Domenico, who thinks it a
thousand years till the fagots are ready."
" Not at all. Fra Domenico himself is not likely to go in.
^!a^MFm:
»n»«NWG SCHKMBa 529
•' Irto'l'Ci!"^^^^?:.^ ->^?- powerful min,
ria to take up this affaiWnH „ f°." ''*'" 8°* <*« Signo-
day the fuel should be p^r^'^ ''"* *«' °n a given
got together with the exSion ^f"^ and the people
digious. If, after thatTl^P ? **"°8 something pro-
any appearaicI^/a'SaSe on'St'sir'l' ""^ ^"^"^ "' j"^'
people: they will be reS t^ pe U hS, ? T""" '''*'' 'h"
Signoria will find it ea8vX> K. • v v- °"* °^ *'^^ o^^J, the
and his Holing mayl 1 1"!'? ^™ ^-^ ""« '•'"i^'y'
my Alcibiades, swe^ to ^J^ano ' ''!? ^^- therefore
Up^dhis^t^l^i^^^f^'^^^^^^^^^^ ^d. and
on ^m in'rPi^rlit^^ "^ again,°":nless we fall
-ake an end of hiTa^d hSie^thC^'^'^t ^ * '*««' -"^
the Salviati and the Albi^ wXt ^^ ""*'*' ^"^o" and
forhim. lknowthatw«tI^Jt/Xrr>.'"^'^"'^''«8ht
bub on Ascension Sunday Th th! ^'''° '^^'^ ^as the hnb-
again: there may be a star, t^ ^^ . ^v "^^^ ""^^ *wn round
again, or some ofter cur!^2„ °* ^^ ^'^""^ "^8 '=°n>ing
'^'Hlt^fb^"''^" •^^^^^S: o^^/i?^''-"'^*^'' ^-"
self ^7fX^?bi: Sf:™ti;n«r-L^°"«'^^
Kre. The wine and che s^ wfll l""""?^^ °^ ^^^ '^"al by
shouting to help them 1 ^lU make vinegar without anr
You will haverttofa^ti^f rr*^" "'*«'' ^"-'^ S
rs£s-f--src^^32r:f-sfi^^^^^^^
an?;rr:g^b'-«rxrx^«rs^ ^^'^ '^
r.'^.^rio':„r..r;-^^^^^^
m those things? Hm^ of^h, l*"? """' *^««'a nothing
Frate is .^ fuough tX£?" '''"^^ "" "•-' -" *^
rj
«.'
t
880
ROMOLA.
"Oh, of oooTM there are suoh things," said Tito, #ith a
shrug: "but I have particular reasons for knowing that the
Frate is not on snoh terms with the devil as can give him any
confidence in this affair. The only magio he relies on is his
own ability."
" Ability! " said Spini. " Do you call it ability to be set-
ting Florence at loggerheads with the Pope and all the powers
of Italy — all to keep beckoning at the French king who never
comes? You may call him able, but I call him a hypocrite,
who wants to be master of everybody, and get himseU made
Pope."
" You judge with your usual penetration, my captain, bnt
our opinions do not plash. The Frate, wanting to be master,
and to carry out his projects against the Pope, requires the
lever of a foreign power, and requires Florence as a fulcrum.
I used to think him a narrow-minded bigot, but now I think
him a shrewd ambitious man who knows what he is aiming at,
and directs his aim as skilfully as you direct a ball when yon
are playing at nutglio."
" Yes, yes," said Spini, cordially, " I can aim a ball."
" It is true," said Tito, with bland gravity ; " and I should
not have troubled yon with my trivial remark on the Prate's
ability, but that you may see how this will heighten the credit
of your success against him at Some and at Milan, which is
sure to serve you in good stead when the aitj comes to change
its policy."
" Well, thou art a good littie demon, and shalt have good
pay, " said Spini, patronizingly ; whereupon he thought it only
natural that the useful Greek adventurer should smile witii
gratification as he said, —
"Of course, any advantage to ma depends entirely on
your "
"We shall have our supper at my palace to-night," inter-
rupted Spini, with a significant nod and an affectionate pat on
Tito's shoulder, "and I shall expound the new scheme to
them all."
"Pardon, my magnificent patron," said Tito; "the scheme
has been the same from the first — it has never varied except
in your memory. .\re you sure you have fast hold of it now? "
Spini nhMUBad.
you're behind him, dH™ alt T "^ ' ""•" '^'^ ^^<«^
of him? » . ao you think [ m,y go on making u«,
Tito dared not sav " No » ti. u i .
to truat him with advi,^" wh^ ^'I- " "*"°P^'''° '^ '""
My against Ceocone." ™P"»°P'Jy- "I have nothing to
That suggestion of the notary's inhVn.^
caused Tito a passing twin^n^/ ^*t •"*" *° ^pini
faction in the suo«,m wiuTIL^t^^'i"* '^'' """"""l ««"«-
who fancied himXpLt:'"''F;;v':^« "J"'' °' ""« °«^
of Ser Ceocone. Tito's Mt„«, mZ ^^ ^"^ """"' "^"^^
circumstances that mVght bl Zn«S ^ ""^ ^"""'^ '^^« *»
memory was much Ta^W b^Tul t^lr^''"''^- ""
him to contrivances brwWohh«™\^ *"'"""■• """''^ting
it was not likelyZtKotld C- * I*^."""" °«- ^^
morethanayei^ ww^ T* "^^ ^*°'*' coming
Wore himft^e^;,; of^r."'" k '' '^'P**^ ^--^lenly
him to declare his oe^^ SSa oZr' "^ '""'P*'""^
outside the gates. The fantTw^ Girolamo was not going
nes. of that «^e, tSSe, ^X%\^T""' ^ •*«■" »'"-
~me reason or^erhfttarlIf/.?*,rP"°" *^' *"
had received a new L^Z,™ f"*"^^' °' ''"'"^« *° «>« notary,
For after having L?W^.l"?' *- «^"' t™' of evenS
having 'ounlTSrSfiT^^^S:^:^"- ''°''' '^'^
country for some time. Ser Cec^nn^rf 1^."^" '°'° ^
appearance in the eiiv Z±^ I- ,f '"**' """=« J""™-
and cultivated thl f^i^^^to^^l"^ ^« ^''bbiati.
tain of the Compagnacci X m,!^^ -^ ' . ^°^ *''»* <»P-
panyof intimatMtoZir.^? ^"^"^ ^^«» *" the com-
ened liy enmity, hTmi^htCr °°°''»"»ti»° were sharp-
could "seagakrt Tito S™t" 'T ''''°'"'^«« '""J'^-
ii
1^-
:l i\
S89
ROMOLA.
8«ct whom be had offended unawtree. "Bnt," Tito mM to
himself, " the man's dislike to me can be nothing deeper than
the ill-homor of a dinnerless dog; I shall conquer it if I can
make him prosperous." And he had been very glad of an op-
portunity which had presented itself of providing the notary
with a temporary post as an extra eaneellitra or registering sec-
retary under the Ten, believing that with this sop and the ex-
pectation of more the waspish cur must be quite cured of the
disposition to bite him.
But perfect scheming demands omniscience, and the notary's
envy had been stimulated into hatred by causes of which Tito
knew nothing. That evening, when Tito, returning from his
critical audience with the Special Council, had brushed by
Ser Ceccone on the stairs, ihu notary, who had only just re-
turned from Pistoja, and lei^^ed the arrest of the conspirators,
was bound on an errand which bore a humble resemblance to
Tito's. He also, without giving up a show of popular zeal,
had been putting in the Medicean lottery. He also had been
privy to the unexecuted ploc, .md was willing to tell what he
knew, but knew much less to tell. He also would have been
willing to go on treacherous errands, but a more eligible agent
had forestalled him. His propositions were received coldly;
the council, he was told, was already in possession of the
needed information, and since he had been thus busy in sedi-
tion, it would be well for him to retire out of the way of mis-
chief, otherwise the government might be obliged to take note
of him. Ser Ceccone wanted no evidence to make him at-
tribute his failure to Tito, and his spite was the more bitter
because the nature of the case compelled him to hold his peace
about it. Nor was this the whole of his grudge against the
dourishing Melema. On issuing from bis hiding-place, and
attaching himself to the Arrabbiati, he had earned some pay
as one of the spies who reported information on Florentine
affairs to the Milanese court; but his pay had been small, not-
withstanding his pains to write full letters, and he had lately
been apprised that his news was seldom more than a late and
imperfect edition of what was known already. Now Ser Cec-
cone had no positive knowledge that Tito had an underhand
connection with the Arrabbiati and the Court of Milan, bat lis
•bould 8er Ceooone like Me W . ' J^ V" '^ '*• ^7
•wye; Md wh.t right h,dhe^^^ ■ " "'^ ""^ t"
»»d. it pcible to him to show f/rr^P""'""" '"'•"k
tuned hi. voice to flattery Zrr ' "' ^"' »^«« he had
•->• key. and it re^S to be'T.eTlL""'' ^!!"^ ^» - '^
game of outwitting ~ «"» .een who would win at the
p-:nt:.^^5irn.°xt';sr'*°' ""--"' '^'-^
.enteometime., only the oil C«1k?' '"""'«°"y "onven-
•t anointing other mind. onS w- i~l'?'"'''' "^"^ '''^^
Tito, however, not being o^^nr*"' *" """""^ « ''oW.
C««»ne'. power to hm^ C t^ *' *?« •"Sge.tion of Ser
that he cared greatl7al»^" wj' •"" ""'^ '°' • "Wle whUe
hoetility. He Z ni:^yS:Z'&^ °' """P'*"'""' ""^
and the .kUl he wa. con.^iourof »n . **°'' ^ ^OTenee,
m it even apart from r^xlWf °*'^^''.'''" » P''^'"™
which he wa. bent to San mCw JSt • ^^l '"""^ °»
«o much confidence that he Ud I?t!/ • ' "" "^^^ ^^ '•!'
Ten of hi. desire toZi^ hia „ffl«T f '^^*'' "°*'™ *» t^e
within the next month^XoLfh!Af°. ^^"^^"^ P«ri°d
make that resignation .uddll tf M^ t*^*^ P~'»^'«''»' to
the vmderstanding that nS m v- "^^^ "**^«d it, with
^.ional aubetitute, i? no mI f ^"^"'-•'"i wa. to be hi. pr^
hypothetic grounds but th s wa.TZ" . "l^ "'« «<"-8 o"
keenest interest foi hi. ^CS ^Td ''^°""'«'h'»dthe
bon of general knowledge Z^e'ir^s ^"^ » """"Wna-
wjth diligently ob«,rved 'det^'^L ^r";'*'" P'«P°'«»'
which he was about to verifv W ^t ■ ■ ™"*'' * eonjeoture
he proved to be right, hi. ^ie^wo^/'^' *° ^ ^^- «
-oon tarn his back on FWc" Ha , tT' "^^ ^« «'«^'*
t^-t consummation, for m^^ circ^^^f^f .^-^f'^. toward
wearinewofthepliMjetoldhL
Kune.
that it waa time for him
I own
to be
ii I
S84
BOMOUL
CHAPTER LXIV.
TBI r>OPHKT IH BII OBIX.
TiTo'i Tiiit to San Marco had been announced beforehand,
and he was at once conducted by Fra Nicool6, SaTonarola'i
secretary, up the spiral staircase into the long corridors lined
with ceUa — corridors where Fra Angelioo's frescos, delicate as
the rainbow on the melting cloud, startled the unaoaustomed
eye here and there, as if they had been sudden reflections cast
from an ethereal world, where the Madonna sat crowned in
her radiant glory, and the Divine infant looked forth with per-
petual promise.
It was an hour of relaxation in the monastery, and most of
the cells were empty. The light through the narrow windows
looked in on nothing but bare walls, and the hard pallet and
the crucifix. And even behind that door at the end of a
long corridor, in the inner cell opening from an antechamber
where the Prior usually sat at his desk or received private
visitors, the high jet of light fell on only one more object that
looked quite as common a monastic sight as the bare walls
and hard pallet. It was but the back of a figure in the long
white Dominican tunic and scapulary, kneeling with bowed
head before a crucifix. It might have been any ordinary Fra
Oirolamo^ who had nothing worse to confess than thinking of
wrong things when he was singing in eon, or feeling a spitefol
joy when Fra Benedetto dropped the ink over his own minia-
tures in the breviary he was illuminating — who had no higher
thought than that of climbing safely into Paradise up the nar-
row ladder of prayer, fasting, and obedience. But under this
particular white tunic there was a heart beating with a con-
sciousness inconceivable to the average monk, and perhaps
hard to be conceived by any man who has not arrived at selJE-
knowledge through a tumultuous inner life : a consciousness
in which irrevocable errors and lapses from veracity were so
intwined with noble purposes and sincere beliefs, in which
se!f-jastafying expediency was so inworea srith the tissue of
TH« PROPHIT m H18 CKi.
b;rf»- th. obj^u of CZ fi^'^uf r"'""^ 'r ""-8
Powlble, whatever ooupM rnirfiftl ; ' "" P"''"?'' *">•
to And perfect repo^ '»''* ^ ^f*^' '«' ">• oonwi.noe
8«vonarol» wm not only in the .Hi*,.j .
were Latin word, of prayer on h7. li.^ "^ °' P™^"' "»"
Paying. He had ente^ hU «^n ^i ^n ^^ *•" '"'» «""
"d burat into word. oTauppU^L ■^''"'.°" ••'» ^ne..,
« infl.« of oalmnea. whioKuT ^ T. » ** '"' "'^ '°'
ti. rewlution. urged on himTv L. , ^""' *° •"'■» ">«»
•ion. were not w,Mtin„ him .. """'"'* **°"8'"» »d paa-
^t the previ.io;r::5 Xu ^ wt" 171^" """'°"
within him for the la.t hour we™ fl:' • '*"° »' ''"fk
preued hi. h«.da againaVhi. ftTe. ^h'"'?"';"""' '^^ "''"« 1"»
t»ing audibly, " ZTur^uJ^ • ** ''^,''' ^'" "P" ''«'™ "*-
on the Trial by Fire lubZZ ■ J^""^ ^"^"^ *» urge
P«ting that he\i" lZ7TZl ^""^"l "^^ ^^'^^^ «-
evoke the long.expecte^l'S^:'^^^^ ,»<;^Pt the chall^ -^
and triumph over maUgnitT hLi V '^"P»'" "^""bt
would declare himself at th/fif*;.- * °°' ""^"l ">»' Ood
twding of piriToreuSef^' '"""^ ^"^ *° «"» "»de^
•^led, it.eemedthit„ot^e\oXJ° "".^"'^ ''»«■«'"«'
Cortai^Iy, if Fra DlenioTwXid ^ '°°'! ^*.'^8 ^'^ *W..
'hat would be a miraoCrd t" e fith °^«\""' ^" "^"^
brother were felt to be a ^Irin """^ "'*°' °' "^"^ good
•cutely consoiou. Th^ ?he re^°f ^T^' "ut Savonarola wa.
■ee him accept the chaU^C ^K °h "'' '°"°-«'«' »»
»«ons he had given for hb refu«S ''"""P"'"'* ^ ""^
ITet ,t was impossible to him to sati«fv th.
ter distress he saw now thatTt w«1»C - ' T^ ^'"' ''■*■
longer to resist the pro-^o,^ of^atT, '"^ ^™ "^^
«-■ ^"tth.tSav'.n.^i.rad'^^;^'^!,.,; £"^1"^
" ■ '• .an aiaisil^
' i
886
ROUOLA.
I
.m
Vl
when he declared hia belief in a future inpernatnnl attesta-
tion of his work ; but his mind was so constituted that while
it was easy for him to believe in a miiaole which, being dis-
tant and undefined, was screened behind the strong reasons he
saw for its occurrence, and yet easier for him to have a belief
in inward miracles such as his own prophetic inspiration and
divinely wrought intuitions ; it was at the same time insur-
mountably dificult to him to believe in the probability of a
miracle which, like this of being carried vinhurt through the
fire, pressed in all its details on his imagination and involved
a demand not only for belief but for exceptional action.
Savonarola's nature was one of those in which opposing ten-
dencies coexist in alniost equal strength : the passionate sen-
sibility which, impatient of definite thought, floods every idea
with emotion and tends toward contemplative ecstasy, alter-
nated in him with a keen perception of outward facts and a
vigorous practical judgment of men and things. And in this
case of the Trial by Fire the latter characteristioa were
stimulated into unusual activity by an acute physical sensi-
tiveness which gives overpowering force to the conception of
pain and destruction as a necessary sequence of facts which
have already been causes of pain in our experience. The
promptitude with which men will consent to touch red-hot
iron with a wet finger is not to be measured by their theoretic
acceptance of the impossibility that the iron will bum them :
practical belief depends on what is most strongly represented
in the mind at a given moment. And with the Frate's consti-
tution, when the Trial by Fire was urged on his imagination
as an immediate demand, it was impossible for him to believe
that he or any other man could walk through the flames un-
hurt — impossible for him to believe that even if he resolved to
offer himself, he would not shrink at the last moment.
But the Florentines were not likely to make these fine
distinctions. To the common run of mankind it has always
seemed a proof of mental vigor to find moral questions easy,
and judge conduct according to concise alternatives. And
nothing was likely to seem plainer than that a man who at one
time declared that God would not leave him without the guar-
antee of a miracle, and yet drew back when it was proposed
*f^' ■•iW^' li;-
f i#^
THE PROPHBT IN H18 CULL. 537
^oni besides, .ead/rei/S.^rrWtr'r ^''■
of their superior courage, if it was not th!i. " "*'"*
Savonarola could not hare eioJn^h ^ '"P"™' ^^^
to Us friends, evra S^le h»rL If""^""* »»*^f''<'t°rily
ougUy to hi^seT An5 hj IsS'L ^ «Pl«-itthor'
make haste to clothe tlL»!i • °" ""^^ ^^^80
hand an,ong o^r store of ^in '" f°^''^<^o which lie It
Of whatpaLs"^: CSg^.^^^irec'' *"' ^^^
sincerity, even when sincerifrT^ „ • '^"«=«'«"y besides
momenta, when Sarona^rw^ t' JT"""*- ^ ^"^ ^"^
had ceased to hear CeTordrrnSsI? "tW '"^ ^T '' '^
by argumentative voices withrhi™ f w v ^ "^^ '^'""'«d
more and more for an o^twl'aSent * "^"^ """" '~"°-
a ohiJ.^^r^Hchrr ^°" " "■'""'''' ^ » «»1' '"'•'eptance of
foes. wTu!d' ^"^tmpr^T^^ ^ r '°^ T "' ^«°""^
be responded to. Let the P„™,^i . * "^^^ ^""^^ not
sadors of all the grelt Pow!^^ ^^^ '^"'*' ^'" t''^ '^»»s-
ing of a Geneva! CcU Td thTr-V ^Tr '^' ^'<^-
hang on the miracle ^d?ti^:"';r«fl' *^' ^"""^ """^
God will not withheld His sl^f^m tw '"'"'• *™'**"8 «^t
then I reserve myself for hiZrZ„^l?^'" ''°*- U"*"
upon me: it is not ™,mitt^d to m« f T '"'^'" ^"'^^y ^^
for the sake of wres^'^^fn ev"^*^^^^ 'T '""^ """^"^
Domenioo's invincible zfaTto enterlto th/^^ ^"* ^«
3;«^„. IMvine vocanon, mT^TpX'lHLtiS!
tH^L°e°i ^neirrSa.'rfiLalT\"'-« *° «'''
entering the fire, his beU^^X aZ"' ?t ""^ "^^
event that his imftirin«««„ „ -^"^lou agaw. it wan not an
shuddering vibSs to thre"!""".?'^ T= ^« *«" ■* -'">
gers. Thfmir^ec^^ *otL TvV.'r*'"'"^'' ^-
to happen : he was warr»nf!^ ■ ., • ^' ^^ *"^ ''"'* was not
der it The fuISrri^rir? "^1^^^ P°-" ^ ^■
might be assembly tetSrltoSforialv'^? ?^ I"»P^«
ta-ugh: .1 thi. wi. pe^sr^^rntrai?::
588
ROHOLA.
longer resiat it without bringing dishonor on— himself ? Tea,
and therefore on the cause of Ood. But it was not really in-
tended that the Franciscan should enter the fire, and while k»
hung back there would be the means of preventing Fra Do-
menico's entrance. At the very worst, if Fra Domenico were
compelled to enter, he should carry the consecrated Host with
hiw, and with that Mystery in his hand, there might be a
warrant for expecting that the ordinary effects of fire would
be stayed; or, more probably, this demand would be resisted,
and might thus be a final obstacle to the trial.
But these intentions could not be avowed: he must appear
frankly to await the ^ial, and to trust in its issue. That
dissideoce between inward reality and outward seeming was
not the Christian simplicity after which he had striven through
years of his youth and prime, and which he had preached as a
chief fruit of the Divine life. In the stress and heat of the
day, with cheeks burning, with shouts ringing in the ears,
who is so blest as to remember the yearnings he had in the
cool and silent morning and know that he has not belied them?
" O God, it is for the sake of the people— because they are
blind— because their faith depends on me. If I put on sack-
cloth and cast myself among the ashes, who will take up the
standard and head the battle? Have I not been led by a way
which I knew not to the work that lies before me? "
The conflict was one that could not end, and in the effort at
prayerful pleading the uneasy mind laved its smart continually
in thoughts of the greatness of that task which there was no
man else to fulfil if he forsook it. It was not a thing of every
day that a man should be inspired with the vision and the
daring that made a sacred rebel.
Even the words of prayer had died away. He continued to
kneel, but his mind was filled with the images of results to be
felt through all Europe; and the sense of immediate difScul-
ties was being lost in the glow of that vision, when the knock-
ing at the door announced the expected visit.
Savonarola drew on his mantle before he left his cell, as
was his custom when he received visitors; and with that im-
mediate response to any appeal from without which belongs to
a power-loving nature accustomed to make its power felt by
THE PROPHET IN HIS CELL. B3i
ared from a reaarkof mLI^^T^ f"^ ""^ P™*™- I gati-
you to pardon me if I have been t^„ffl • ' u ^ "■"'* '"*'*»'
Me«ser Domenioo is attJ! ™ ^ offloious; bnt inasmuch as
to appriseyouZatSrl^T''^"^ ''*"'■ "^»'I-'«ked
to depart L Lyonsr^^hrCLX^' ^'*'*" '" "'»»'
iB powerful, and in delibe^te^eS he 1.^1^?"^'^
diUtetionan7^*ded MW Ir.^" *^'"' ^""^ """e tea
control. HelSsSnSl?^^"''"^''""^"^
mediately, as if he h«A^ «« iito and did not answer im-
anyttVerpe^lr hadT" tT*^ °'"«''""' ""* '««ly let
fla^ of iro^^a^^,^'':;^: :^^,^,f:r"f ^*'f dUatationW
sions. He sawit aTffc • ^"^ """^^ °" other ocoa-
in>Pj./athefJL^Sif,X^4-g. -^^^ '^
inS:r rm1;i*m'er Mt '1.'«^~^'» *° "-- *!-«
dent disciple o^hi^ri h.^^""? '.°°' "' *^ '^*°> "» ""
private letlr to tte intinelm'^^ ''^^'"''^ *^ ^'"^ "
nC^sVa^^dX^tS-^-^^^^^
.m.-^-A,
" t
•^ ROHOLA.
ing a General Oooncil, that might reform the abiues of the
• ^,',"'^ '"^^ ^^ depoeing Pope Alexander, who was not
nghtfully Pope, being a vioioug unbeliever, elected by corrup-
tion and governing by simony.
This fact was not what Tito knew, but what his constructive
talent, guided by subUe indications, had led him to fuess and
hnnA
" It is true, my son," said Savonarola, quietly,— "it is tme
I have letters which I would gUdly send by safe conveyance
under cover to our ambassador. Our community of San Marco,
a« you know, has affairs in France, being, amongst other
things, responsible for a debt to that singularly wise and ex-
perienced Frenchman, Signer PhiUppe de Comines, on the
hbra^of the Medici, which we purchased; but I apprehend
that Domenico Mazzinghi himself may return to the city be-
fore evening, and I should gain more time for preparation of
the letters if I wanted to deposit them in his hands."
"Assuredly, reverend father, that might be better on aU
grounds, except one, namely, that if anything occurred to
hmder Messer Domenico's return, the despatch of the letters
would require either that I should come to San Marco again at
a late hour, or that you should send them to me by your sec-
retary; and I am aware that you wish to guard against the
false inferences which might be drawn from a too frequent
oommnnioation between yourself and any officer of the govern-
ment. " In throwing out this difficulty Tito felt that the more
unwillingness the Frate showed to trust him, the more certain
he would be of his conjecture.
Savonarola was sUent; but while he kept his mouth firm, a
sUght glow rose in his face with the suppressed excitement
that was growing within him. It would be a critical moment
—that m which he deUvered the letter out of his own hands.
"It IS most probable that Messer Domenico will return in
tame," said Tito, affecting to consider the Frate's determina-
taon settled, and rising from his chair as he spoke. " With
your permission, I will take my leave, father, not to trespass
on your time when my errand is done; but as I may not be
favored with another interview, I venture to confide to you—
what is not yet known to others, except to the magnificent Ten
THI PROPHET m HIS OXLL.
_. 641
i^Srir^S^^lTS -y -«t«y»hip, and Wing
yourp'^p^r ""'"'^' *^^ ''^■- "I desbe to know
The politic of FloreZ ^W ^^'''' ^ "" •'""8ht up.
^test mind-to Z;y'/:^%Z T^'- *° """"P^ '^•
to execute his own ideaa • h,.7„K7 i? a man is in a position
to be the mere instiuLMt of I^n^ '^^ f "' ^^ ""^ ""^y l-"!*
be animated by the^^ at^^JT? '"i'""'^' ''^ "^"^^ ^
alao, my wife's unhappT^en^^f °*.? >»« Florentine:
since the painful eTrt^rf Z^^ ^T ^f '"«»*«« residence
wish to join her." '^"^' ""'"™"y ""Auences me. I
••rS'.^^*^ ^ ""^ approvingly.
oouriTEi^i'LT^wid^Z^''-'^^^-^^ «>" chief
of letters in thr;ai ^Zm^''^^'^ "1*^ «•« »»
court of Hunrarv hnrT I!k i ^ «^aU go hwt to *»-
and I shaU pro^^S^ .t^'int'S ortent'"'"''^^ r'""-'
concealed from you, father thJ^f ^^'- ^ ^»^« "<>*
I have not my wiftft^tl* k . ,"° "^'°"'' enthusiast;
conceive, is no?n:^»a^L°'iat\ot^°-. '>'^^-^^>->i
and justice of your vieWc^r^f.^PP'**'"'** *^o grandeur
and the ChJh ^^r^^^^. **r"^™'°*'«'«°»B
any commission th^will drfr"","* *" ^^'' »"« ^a^
establish, I shaUf^lWrT^Mt'*'''*'""' y°" "^'^ to
"Stay, my son. Whrjou ^Zt iZ"^" ''^ '^^'>' "
send a letter to your wife nf^i, • • ^o™noe I wUl
fa^be -ured,'fo" Sftl^tLr '"1"?"Th ' ^'^
to Prance, such as I have ready—!" *''^ betters
tookS:iXrtwrh^,,t^^^esl.ashespol.e. He
address in the Pr^'s olfl . ^^ "**' ^"' ""t "ad, an
still to be eeenflrri^gTerSs'oJrK^r' ''"'^'"'^«'
-^ "-e-tVereTo:^sx5°ir:iire:
643
ROMOLA.
not incur the responsibility of oanying aw»y the letter.
Mesaer Oomenioo Mazzinghi will doabtleu letom, or, if not,
Fra Nioool6 can convey it to me at the second hour of the
evening, when I shall plaoe the other despatches in the ooorier'B
hands."
"At presen«i my son," said the Frate, waiving that pointy
" I wish you to address this packet to our ambassador in you
own handwriting, which is preferable to my secretary's."
Tito sat down to write the address while the Frate stood l^y
him with folded arms, the glow mounting in his cheek, and
his lip at last quivering. Tito rose and was about to move
away, when Savonarda said abruptly,— "Take it, my son.
There is no use in waiting. It does not please me that Fra
Nioool6 should have needless errands to the Palazzo."
As Tito took the letter, Savonarola stood in suppressed ex-
citement that forbade further speech. There seems to be a
subtle emanation from passionate natures like his, making
their mental states tell immediately on others; when they are
absent-minded and inwardly excited there is silence in the air.
Tito made a deep reverence and went out with the letter
under his mantle.
The letter was duly delivered to the oonrier and carried out
of Florence. But before that happened another messenger,
privately employed by Tito, had conveyed information in
cipher, which was carried by a series of relays to armed agents
of Ludovico Sfotza, Duke of Milan, on the watch for the very
purpose of intercepting despatches on the borders of the
Milanese territory.
CHAPTER LXV.
THX TBIAIi BT riBIE.
LiTTLB more than a week after, on the seventh of April, the
great Piazza della Signoria presented a stranger spectacle even
than the famous Bonfire of Vanities. And a greater multitude
had assembled to see it than had ever before tried to find place
for themselves in the wide Piazza, even on the day of San
GiovannL
■•. ^smJ*
™» rsUL BY TOR J43
*W OP diMdytotage offered ht JT^J '* "'"y ""^ <>' van-
P-Wic. Men werT^t^ ™ i^""*""?* •• were fr«e to tba
•ngl. with the r "k^S weiTSn^l^ '"^^ """>« ' "W
«ms and legs, were S'on^« ^1^''"'/ u'"'" PUl««.\dtt
that here and there eumoLted^r^"* ""■ '""«'' •*«t"'«7
!««»«., were finding a^S^. btS*,*"^"*" <" the grandi
t«ve, and a footing oVler^*^ '"'* °" " ^itof arohi-
•tonework. whUe thfy dutohed'2 .S~*'°°'' °' ""> "'•^
driven into the walh, beside tTeif "'^^ '"•" '^"ff* « staple.
For they were oome to sen > \r).- i
abraded flesh seemed sUght ifoo^ "'^'" ""^^ ^^ «>d
close at hand. It it ^^T^I^^T ""t "^^ ^""^
?iwoles, and more or lew to hMi. ■ T^^ to hear of
Florentines were going t^s« t« i"! *?""' '^^ "•>» «"»
would see half a Se for if Th. ^l^' ^-^ '««" they
out of the fire, they Zldteli^ IT"^."*'^ ?°* «•""» ^^^
was burned in the midZ °**' '*^ ""^ ^^ that he
There oould be no reasonahln Hn^K* .l
would be kindled, andX?S>» ^ '* '^°""'' ^^ the fire
there, before ti^ir eyeT™ f kT^ ''"^'* ""*« it ^
broad, and twenty yLTlor^aa°Z''''?r"' "«"* *««*
^rnbly, great brl^hes of^ ^^J HL'nH « *' ""^^^^ "P
thorns aboye, and weU-anototod tow andtZ^ °°' '^^«
&.e flame, in Florentine illuZaZT ^^T *°.°"^«
at the comer <rf the marble ^^3^- i. ® P'atform began
close to Marzocoo, tte ston^S^" 1^' '^f"' °"* ^^
frowningly along\e gw^e of fa J^w "*"* ^""8" '"^
«««»» the Piazza. *"*' *^* stretohed obUquely
fivfhS^rieS,l-„^^Hro bodies of armed men:
palace; fiye h^u^iZcZ^l^t^'^T'^^''""^ ^^o^ the
on.the opposite silof^'Z^C'r/"^^" '^^ '^'^
wtizens of another sort, undTMa^o s^'V""- '"^ "^
friend, in front of Oroya's W^ t '*i' Savonarola's
and Dominicans were toTplaS^Vthr f ^'^"i-^
Here had Uen much e^p^^f ref^dt^r^:! h,.
■■rf
*** ROMOLA.
dignitiM woe oon«enMd. Then oould be no natonable doubt
th«t Bomathing grMt was about to h«pp«n; and it would oar-
tainly be a great thing if the two monks were simply burned,
for in that case too Ood wr 'Ud hare spoken, and said Tory
plainly that Fra Qirolamo waa not His prophet
And there was not muoh longer to wait, for it was now near
midday. Half the monks were already at their posts, and
that half of the Loggia that lies toward the Palace was already
filled with gray mantles; but the other half, divided oS by
boards, was still empty of everything except a small altar.
The Franciscans had ^tored and taken their places in silence.
But now, at the other side of the Piazza was heard loud chant-
ing from two hundred voices, and there was general satisfac-
tion, if not in the chanting, at least in the evidence that the
Dominicans were come. That loud chanting repetition of the
prayer, "Let God arise, and let His enemies be scattered,"
was unpleasantly suggestive to some impartial ears of a desire
to vaunt confidence and excite dismay; and so was the flame-
colored velvet cope in which Fra Domenico was arrayed as he
headed the procession, cross in hand, his simple mind really
exalted with faith, and with the genuine intention to enter the
flames for the glory of God and Fra Girolamo. Behind him
came Savonarola in the white vestment of a priest, carrying in
his hands a vessel containing the consecrated Host. He, too^
was chanting loudly; he, too, looked firm and confident, and
as all eyes were turned eagerly on him, either in anxiety, curi-
osity, or malignity, from the moment when he entered the
Piazza till he mounted the stops of the Loggia and deposited
the Sacrament on the altar, there was an intensifying flash and
energy in his countenance responding to that scrutiny.
We are so made, almost all of us, that the false seeming
which we have thought of with painful shrinking when before-
hand in our solitude it has urged itself on us as a necessity
will possess our muscles and move our lips as if nothing but
that were easy when once we have come under the stimulus of
expectant eyes and ears. And the strength of that stimulus
to Savonarola can hardly be measured by the experience of
ordinary lives. Perhaps no man has ever had a mighty influ-
enos over his fellows without having the <nnate need to domi-
THS TRIAL BT TOM. B4B
Mte, and thia need VMxuUy beooniM rt.
from • purpoM which is not «IH.i t .V ^weparable
P-.tb.tTth. day of the ^tW°thtL^^ '* "T *°
w the preeains temntaWn.. f»T ^ '^,*"« aoublenegg which
Prieat, orat^'or TCTan t« ^ ^"''"'' •"^*'' '^""^^^ -^
SayoMPola'.^nKiou^Z^"' J- T" '*""8'y "^^fi""-! «
other period ThUl Je ""h" Z'T'J ' ^f '^'^ « ""^
P^mganar^rdo:^ but aS^Ti^'Sftr "«""'"' ^"'■
weight on hia he^ Tnf^ ."f •~^'»8 waa preaaing with leaden
this trii^ bn" b^ae of t^'l^*"'"' °' *''"' P™'^"'' "»"«« o?
whior:Ji'i*iTa1rn?r.7°' already past-^
. window of the ofd l£r nZT""-'"'"' ^'"^^'^ ^"'^
toward which thoae wideT'-nn^ !f ?.'«"'"""» turning-point
tag, that two ey^llri^^K^'^*""? ^'^"^ '""^ '»«° "o^verg-
tine co^elof tt^^ ^^'"'^' '""' """"^ *"' «"> ^loref-
d-patchea. 1 tLll^ni^.r^ttT' -'» ~^'' °f aU hia
lundaoftheDukeofMilar^rri J„ ?f ^aa already in the
of the Pope, not ^l heteZ^n/ ** ^^ ^ ^ ^^ ^^
tiflc.tionl^'extrerm^Si^^ATe wt ^'"* V"" ^'^■
TitoMelen.a'aaatiafaotiW^wa«th«lT^ » ""^'8°''^ "
• Bum who has won aL^ Ih^f^ ** Bflf-gratulation of
notions about covemm.nt. „" . tv, ! ' ^"^ '*™a'^aUe
keep hia ae^^r ™h!^ ° ''"''•''"V''"*"^
Il
t ii
B4»
BOHOLA.
oontent And«T.»ythlngiiowwMiBforwMdpr«pMationfor
•: „•" '•* *"• ""*• *^ '"• •"<! «>*. •ai Tito hoped to
qmt Plowno* He luuj bwn w indu.tiiou. tUt he felt at
^iT^ ^J^^" '''"•^ ""^ *^^y'* '»»»dy. "Woh the
thi(4-he«led Dolfo Spini could nerer ha^e bninght about but
for nun*
Not yet did the loud ohantUg eeaae, but rather swelled to a
deafening roar, being taken up in all parte of the Plana br
the Piagnoni, who carried their little red oroeiea ae a badM
J^moetof them, chanted the prayer for the confueiMrf
uod B enemies with the expectation of an answer to be given
through the medium of a more signal personage than Pra Do-
memoo. This good Prate in his flame-colored cope was now
kneeling before the litUe altar on which the Sacrament was
deposited, awaiting his summons.
On the Franciscan side of the LoggU there was no chantinit
and no flame-color : only silence and grayness. But there was
thu counterbalancing difference, that the Pranoisoans had two
champions: a certain Pra Giuliano was to pair with Pra Do-
menioo, whUe the original champion, Pra Pranoesoo, confined
his challenge to Savonarola.
•,',' ®'"^^',." *•""«'•'* *•'• ""° P«™^«d uneasUy on the rods and
pillars, « aU must be ready now. ThU chanting might stop
and we should see better when the Frati are moving toward
the platform."
But the Prati. were not to be seen moving yet Pale Pran-
Mscan faces were looking uneasily over the boarding at that
flame-colored cope. It had an evil look and might be en-
^ted, so that a false miracle would be wrought by magic
Your monk may come whole out of the fire, and yet it may be
the work of the deviL '
And now there was passing to and fro between the Loggu
and the marble terrace of the Palazzo, and the roar of ^t-
mg became a little quieter, for every one at a distance was
beginning to watch more eagerly. But it soon appeared that
the tfew movement was not a beginning, but an obstacle to be-
pnning. The dignified Plorentines appointed to preside over
Uus affair as moderators on each side went in and out of the
Palace, imd there was much debate with the Franciscans
TBS TBXAL BT nSM. 547
ing, which wa. not miraculous ^TfT^ 1 "^°"' "•"«*-
TMtment standing iuat^ th!^. , Oirolamo in hi. whit.
Palace again, and returning to hilb^ Tl °"* "" ""
•U hi. clothe, with . b^l^i'Lj'^- Hehadchaaged
•Mh flank by a Franciscan lesT on™; • ! '"" »■"«*«» »«>
8.:"naro.ah'e.ho„ld be"::ilr«2 ""° '"" ^'""^'^ "^
~A c'^pi^atfhXer^ri^'^*^.''-^
-tof theflv.'^.Taitr:L'eT'"^ir'*" ^--"
Kii* w— n- 1 ""»" uare a nne view of him "
J^lZ^ZX^^t -tI^ •-P^'^^^the ordinal
perhaps «.nieXt i«nC reSsS'.r 'l!'" '^^ ^^'
to the priests of Baal. dZ^di^JTh ^ ^^ *^* "* ®y»h
delays. But sne^. T!^ °*.'^" oeMation of these trivial
.«.pty in the stomach. £t^^tnZ^ ?. ^^^ ^^'^ ««i
K the miracle did not be^in.'^* "h*^ J" ^'"> '°' '^^?
PraGirolamo',, whomig^!^ 't . ^'* "° "'""' f""" but
offering himself now^tS^e'l'^eX' « hiht;!"^''^
ward enough to do when there™ tm A. T •\'"* "^^ '«■
More movement to and fro J„" °, ^"^ "" "S^*'
noon seemed to hesi^^^^'Z^^^^'n '^l*^" '^-
clouds had gathered, LT!hS^he Lt^**' *^'"'' *^''
andwntaohiU through the 8n£!teff v* °° everything,
j^^ Lurougn tne spectators, hungry in mind and
y<ne it wa. the oruoifix whinh w-. n
into the fire and mustlt be 11:^^^^/° '"'*^ *° ""^^
ner. After «,me Uttle reai^tanr! 9, ^^**°* "" *^* nian-
Objection, «.d thu. ^Id^l^^^^rnl^Vrm^S
il
••■ ROMOLiL
caneauion; but ha imiMdiattly pltoad in Fra Doamieo'i
haodf the veMal oontaming tha eoniaoimtad Hott. Tha idaa
thkt tha praaanoa of the imorad Myitaiy might in the wont
aztramity aTart tha ordinary effects of fire hovered in hia mind
aa a poaaibility ; but the issue on whioh he counted wu of a
more positire Itind. In talung up the Host he said quietly,
as if he were only doing what had been piaaupposad from tha
Unt, —
" Since they are not willing that you should enter with the
oruoifiz, my brother, enter simply with the Sacrament."
New horror in the Franciscans; new firmness in Savonarola.
" It was impious pres\tmption to carry the Sacrament into the
fire : if it were burned the scandal would be great in the minds
of the weak and ignorant." "Not at all: even if it were
burned, the Accidents only would be consumed, the Subatanoe
would remain." Here was a question that might be argued
till set of sun and remain as elastic as ever; and no one could
propose settling it by proceeding to the trial, since it was
essentially a preliminary question. It was only necessary
that both sides should remain firm — that the Franciscans
should persist in not permitting the Host to be carried into tha
fire, and that Fra Domenioo should persist in refusing to entdr
without it.
Meanwhile the clouds were getting darker, the air chiller.
Even the chanting was missed now it had given way to inau-
dible argument; and the confused sounds of talk from all points
of the Piazza, ihowing that expectation was everywhere relax-
ing, contributed to the irritating presentiment that nothing
decisive would be done. Here and there a dropping shout
was heard; then, more frequent shouts in a rising scale of
scorn.
" Light the fire and drive them in 1 " " Let us have a smell
of roast — we want our dinner I" "Come, Prophet, let us
know whether anything is to happen before the twenty-four
hours are overt" "Yes, yes, what's your last vision?"
" Oh, he's got a dozen in his inside; they're the small change
for a miracle! " "014, Frate, where are you? Never mind
wasting the fuel I"
Still the same movement to and fro between the Loggia and
'^m.^mm^^m.
fBX TRUL BT Km. g^
£SfCd.l't^;eX:u&''°:'"K' uninfUigibl. to
to no other .pp««.t rf^S^ t^T".""' '"'"='' '^»«»""
hit- in wWohTlXZo wL ' r"?'"" '^ "•^•"d d'
h. who w„ hiade^mg^rtriri ^'^^^ " 'P~^'"= " ''-
W»«ow, „d h. Z'hXLlliJ"^'^^ "- 'PP^i-S to
•n M.d to norenUne difflSrh^ "".l *° ** '°'* '" P-tting
«m.d a« towLSTtTe iZl. th" T " '.i'""'"' '"'^ <" the
driring them on to the mZJ^ "'J'.^' P*°P'« '""e, or
P*J«oe. At thi. movement ev^7 '*'"°'"^ •" '"»■* "'the
with monk, „demb^!Zd'Sr* "" '""^"^'^ •»«•
•gain tow«d the TettoWiThenVeT, "^ '^''""'^
hesTena seemed to inteneifvTfJ ^^ '"'•"kneM of the
•ion, ..d the rain, whl:^ "^I^lTfeh' ""•' ""'"■
drops, began to fall with «,r>;ji ^ "" "• scattered
fa.l/and'^i^g 'iT' te^f ^|"-«Vif nee, wet^^
''••'y hungry peopirto^e"X.°«'^«Plf"». wetting the
gust and rage inward to fermT^f ?? "^* "''*"7 "'"'s d'*"
pen. The Signoria was ZbtieL JS of fh? ^•'" ""^ *° '"'P'
OM reason, better than any pr^ft f ° f ^"!"• ■" ■"" "bvi-
PWies might go home It w.. f.,^ '^'""""'g that both
i^ expected ^d d^^ed yltit wn J!?'",!^'"''^ ^"^°""°J*
of what he felt to ZZi /e w« T^^ '*,'" "' description
-ud plashed on the i^ge of thrjJ"! ""^ """ "^ '«"'
h. altar and all garmento ^dtoe^'^rFrl'T* "^T^ "'"^
demand for him to enter the fi^Tl ^t/™? '^.^'^ »«* t^e
too, with a certainty
as srresistiiile as the
was at an end. But he knew
damp chill that had
«B0
BOHOLA.
1
14.!
taken posBession of his frame, that the design of his enemies
was fulfilled, and. that his honor was not saved. He knew
that he should have to make his way to San Marco again
through the enraged crowd, and that the hearts of many friends
who would once have defended him with their lives would now
be turned against him.
When the rain had ceased he asked for a guard from the
Signoria, and it was given him. Had he said that he was
willing to die for the work of his life? Yes, and he had not
spoken falsely, t! t to die in dishonor — held up to scorn as a
hypocrite and a false prophet? "Oh, Ckidl iAot is not mar-
tyrdom I It is the blotting out of a life that has been a pro-
test against wrong. Let me die because of the worth that is
in me, not because of my weakness."
The rain had ceased, and the light from the breaking clouds
fell on Savonarola as he left the Loggia in the midst of his
guard, walking as he had come, with the Sacrament in his
hand. But there seemed no glory in the light that fell on him
now, no smile of heaven: it was only that light which shines
on, patiently and impartially, justifying or condemning by
simply showing all things in the slow history of their ripen-
ing. He heard no blessing, no tones of pity, but only tannta
and threats. He knew this was a foretaste of oomiug bitter-
ness; yet his courage mounted under all moral attack, and he
showed no sign of dismay.
" Well parried, Fratel " said Tito, as Savonarola descended
the steps of the Loggia. " But I fear your career at Florence
is ended. What say you, my Nicool6? "
" It is a pity his falsehoods were not all of a wise sort," said
liacchiavelli, with a melancholy shrug. " With the times so
much on his side as they are about Chuioh afhirs, he might
have done something great."
A MASQUE OF THE FURIEa
HI
CHAPTEB LXVI.
A MASQUlt OF THB ruaOS.
•un shone with a more de!^i!^*, ^""'' ""^ <*« "«'ming
•Bd aaw a flock around him who^^ST^f "" ^ ''' *'»«^'
•taken ; and this morning in ^ .„^ J^ ^" "'^ ""-
dared himself ready to die- in fr^nt ^ ,f^ ?"ioeritjr he de-
own doom. Once more he'uSeSthf t "^"'"l' ^^ ""^ ^■•
the feces of men and women S J^ ^"f"'""""' "^^ "»'■
love. Then he desoenTnX^^'^e '^ v """""»«"«
away from that sight foreve™ P'^P'* """^ *«°ed
For before the svm had sat liln^—
P«sions which had hlJ^Tj^ '^^^f"^' The
.mouldering through that qS^rtloSnfL.^"":? had been
out again with a fury not wwMis^T^' "^^ ^ "<"' b""*
out olBcial connivance T^^^, ZJT!^ ""^ "°* ''^*^-
in an attempt of acme Com^gSo 1LS:fTh "* ''^'^°'"°
mon, which the Piagnoni hST^ <» hinder the evening ser-
"oner had men's bkTLo^tTrd ^^ '".>'*'• «"* "°
be^meanafeythantte"r.^%fl.'^*"''»°"<'» ^
toSanMarool" "^y arose, To San Marco I the fire
-.d^^nSwrr/Sa'i-^ ''''' "^ "•« <^-*
aUy increasing multitude TTlf^^ "I '^"'^ "«» <^^^-
monks, long ^ouTof groZe i^r, J^'^'T'''- ^" ^^^
within their walls, and so^ o7th™^^7'*^°"*^ '^ ««"•
their long white ^nios CS tht td bf^T as vig„„usly in
Even the command of Savon«i!,?f ,i^° ^'«''** Templars,
impulse to self-defe^L r^'S;^"!^ ""'^ "'^ "^^ «"»
, the Dominican serge m^w^ iT "*• ^ """""^ """J"
"hosen to depart, wd some of al™ j^^'?*"^**' "^o had not
firing from CRttiroitn/r^^^'^y-- *^''"»'"«'
."uringof stonesLdhtixi^^rrr^,-^':^
S62
ROMOLA.
1
was close fighting with swords in the cloisters. Kotwith-
standing the force of the assaUanto, the attack lasted tiU deep
night. ^
The demonstrations of the Government had all been against
the convent; early in the attack guards had been sent for, not
to disperse the assaUants, but to command aU within the con-
vent to lay down their arms, aU laymen to depart from it, and
Savonarola himself to quit the Florentine territory within
twelve hours. Had Savonarola quitted the convent then, '
could hardly .._ve escaped being torn to pieces; he was wiu
ing to go, but his friends hindered him. It waa felt to
be a great risk even for some laymen of high name to de-
part by the garden wall, but among those who had chosen to
do so was Pranoesoo Valori, who hoped to raise rescue from
without
And now when it was deep night— when the struggle oould
hardly have lasted much longer, and the Compaguaooi might
soon have carried their swords into the library, where Savona-
rola was praying with the Brethren who had either not taken
up arms or had laid them down at his command— there came a
second body of guards, commissioned by the Signoria to de-
mand the persons of Pra Girolamo and his two coadintors, Pr»
Domenico and Fra Salvestro.
Loud was the roar of triumphant hate when the light of
lanterns showed Ihe Frate issuing from the door of the con-
vent with a guard who promised him no other safety than that
of the prison. The struggle now was, who should get first in
the stream that rushed up the narrow street to see the Prophet
carried back in ignominy to the Piazza where he had braved it
yesterdK.7— who should bo in the best pUoe for reaching his
ear with insult, nay, if possible, for smiting him and kicking
him. This was not difSoult for some of the armed Ccmpa-
gnacci who were not prevented from mUing themselves with
the guards.
When Savonarola felt himself dragged and pushed along in
the midst of that hooting multitude; when lanterns were lift-
ed to show him deriding faces; when he felt himself spit
upon, smitten and kicked with grossest words of insult, it
seemed to him that the wwst bitterness of life w»s past. H
t .^m^
A HA8QUB OF THE TVmxa. 5S3
.Uence JdL "?^^!t''l°r ^"' covered our hL, in'
who"'h^''*J™l'"'P*'**"* *''""'?>' of i"»nltmg the Prate
with olnbs and 8^47 wrwSl^nffl ''^' f'^ ""* ""> ^■"'"e
P»gnaooi wL&l^lT . ^"^"^ •'y s«rord-girt Com-
hi. arm aSThis^S Hul ? '"^'•' T"*" ''«°' ^ ^^^
five of iaa^l;rtiS;,"t J;T::^Tm' t r*^" °°
experience what other, called i„,ft^ f«>m San Marco to
founded by an mgrTJ^edfj^^^^. "^ ^^ ^""^ ^"^
deadwithanar^rknTto h« V «' *° T ^" ^« '"'°'
SM
ROHOLA.
^i
Compagnaoci sat through this memorable night, teoeiving vis-
itors who oame and went, and went and came, some oi them
in the guise of armed Compagnaoci, others dressed obscurely
and without visible aims. There was abundant wine on the
• o • ■ "Irinking-cups for chance comers; and though
Spmi was on his guard against excessive drinking, he took
enough from time to time to heighten the excitement produced
by the news that was being brought to him continually.
Among the obscurely dressed visitors Ser Cecoone was one
of the most frequent, and as the hours advanced toward the
morning twilight he had remained aa Spini's constant com-
panion, together with Francesco f.Vi, who was then in rather
careless hiding in Florence, expecting to have his banishment
revoked when the Fate's fall had been accomplished.
The tapers had burnt themselves into low shapeless masses,
and holes in the shutters were just marked by a sombrerot-
ward light, when Spini, who had started from his seat and
walked up and down with an angry flush on his face at some
talk that had been going forward with those two unmilitary
companions, burst out,
" The devU spit himl he shall pay for it, though. Ha, hal
Hie claws shall be down on him when he littie thinks of them.
So A« was to be the great man after all! He's been pretend-
mg to chuck everything toward my cap, as if I were a blind
beggar-man, and all the while he's been winking and filling his
own soarsella. I should like to hang skins about him and set
my hounds on him! And he's gc; that fine ruby of mine. I
was foo enough to give him yesterday. Malediction I And
he was laughing at me in his sleeve two years ago, and spoU-
ingthe best plan that ever was laid. 1 was a fool for trusting
myself with a rascal who had long-twUted contrivances that
nobody could see to the end of but himself."
" A Greek, too, who dropped into Florence with gems packed
about hun," said Francesco Cei, who had a slight smUe of
amusement on hb face at Spini's fuming. "You did tut
Choose your confidant very wisely, my Dolfo."
" He's a cursed deal cleverer than yon, Francesco, and hand-
somer too, ' said Spini, turning on his associate with a general
desire to worry anything that presented itself.
WUTIKO BT THE RIVER. jjj
yon^^in'CiS^TpK ^""'•'""'^''ota^'s trick of
now they have been balked wTiMhfv^"°l'' '?'""''' ""^
a we don't take care I suTn^Tth/ *"" '™'^« °° ""^
buzring about among them .STl- "" "'""' Mediceane
your ptlaceorerthe'bS Wore ?„r^ T *^'"" ''*'«"'«8
bait for them another waf" * '^''" "" ""^ ^"d a
dr^w'S^aiii: r?iv?£'^?^« ''l'*'^- l^ '^e belt he
on^^WCeihowrs.t^--SarSer:
i i :!«
CHAPTER LXVII.
WAITDfo BT THE BITKB.
.^"ns i''rr:rwh':r^r ^^'" - ^--^
the Amo, was also onJn„^ ^. ? "^^ opposite side of
His erra-idTSpSLnr ol°H 1^ *^' '^"^ ^'"'^ ''"'S^*-
was making his waT to thTh- ^! u° «''*tion to theirs; he
and which only seem^dThiTL "^"looked by no dwellings,
warehouses ZSe?tSrf"'"'^'^'"'*^°°«^y '°' ^«
^ ROHOIiA.
ail „/"?•" ""^ *'"' '<»*li"'"" ^^ the attraction that dr»r
this mau to come and sit down among the gras^ and S^
X ZT"^, T '"V'^^y •" ""^ channeKCaJS
wlw ,^!!^ '""^ ^^ » ^86 piece of bread bright to
hm by one of those friendly runlets, and more than on«, a
raw carrot and apple-parings. It wa^ worth whileTwsJt foJ
wch ohanoe. in a place where there was no one to il^ an"
W^n^ju •\°"«'" .'*''! '"'" *°' «>°« day the need of that silent
begging which consisted in sitting on a church-step by S.
wayside out beyond the Porta San Frediano '^'^^^^
hlUf'^^T"^ ^"^ "^KS'"* "'' """"'' «•»* he would per-
S bulfn """' *" ^•'' 'f '^^ *^'^ "^^ '^"^ that sUent'T^
peal, but for one reason that made him desire to live. It wm
no longer a hope j it Was only that possibility which clings to
tte sort of possibility that makes a woman watch on a hwd
land for the ship which held something dear, though all W
ago. After he had come out of the convent hospital where
tte monks of San Miniato had taken care of him aS kng „^
Z . if r^- "**"' ^"^ ^^ '"tched in vain for the mfe" ho
was to help him, and had begun to think that she was de Jof
in ^l *"""!•«'' ^« had been unable to conceive any way
ZJ t Tf '«°8eance could satisfy itself through hU
arm. H,s knife was gone, and he was t^ feeble in b^y to
win another by work, too feeble in mind, even if hrhThad
a«. knife, to contrive that it should se^ve its one p™
He wasashattered, bewUdered, lonelyoldman, yet hed^^
to live: he waited for something of which he had no di^rt
viBion-something dim, formlesslthat startled Urn Ld^e
stoong pulsations within him, like that unknown Si^wh^h
^ ried'ur R^H "'"'' 'T"'"^' «»°"8h no voice frlnS
orenrit in th« r,:!'^''^'* *° "^«i and therefore he
crept out in the gray light, and seated himseU in the lona
P^a^s, and watched the waters that had a fai^t'ro^if
MeanwhUe the Compagnacci were busy at their work. The
j^_mmi^§^
WAirmo BT TM RIVEB. „y
nona, had parted into trj2r^„'!tth"'°* "°"°'^« ^'^
their way by different roads Wd ft^? '""'T' "">^8
n>M8 waa making for the V„^I^\ *" ■^"°- The smaUer
month to month aa a eipj Ij fTl ""^^ ^""l P^^^d from
«tude knew that he wfTtoi^ * "iv^.''^'"^ man of the mul-
streams of rabble had a Mrfeot nn? *« '««der8 of the two
"•rhe-ryB^r^^^^^^^^^
bed; hehadnotblibe/rt'"'.r'''" "'"^P-S "or in
to quit Florence had b^L^JS^t-th"""- ^''°'' """'^
Tious day : investigations woSdTT ^ * ""^"^ °* **« P™'
be made to Wmdela^^ng hSf!^"" 'bieh appeals mi^ht
had an uneasy sense that th«e tr^' ""* ^ "^ "^^'V h«
prospered and waxed strong bnlT, ^f"' ^"^''bood had
1«^ Fear. He no lon^ wire vif ^ "v"^*^ ""e twin
afraid of Baldassane; ^t IZ ^^ '™°'' ^^ ""^ "o longer
aspirit had risen-the UL^'.?^" "'t^atdead f^
-ho^ld not be safe tiU he w^^^out olf^h"* i"^' ^^ ^-^t h"
enoe; and now he was rLI^to ' M " ^'""^ *"^'''<J ^1<»-
|i«. house to the new tenant^ Ws^or^^/", *° '*'"^^" °P
mg him in San Gallo; Tes«^ ^l t^u^ '^^'^ '«" await-
for the night in the C^ ^^^de "^'j'^" bad been lodged
dressed in readiness to m^t tte l,!f ^"^ !^^ '""^d be
desoended the stone ^TirZ\T '^^ i°^^i^- He
through the greatXr^^^nn^?^ ^^ "onrtyard, he paswd
briUiant.sofSe^^„r,*^«,'r' '^'"»' ^"* "-"^
and made the mistake rf f^t. , "* ''"**"*^ that hiu^
mistake was remedle^^l''t:oMi^''''*^«°«°b. ^
"oon to be far behind him ''*^ """ """' °ff. «"d wa.
He turned with rapid sto- --»= - ■
r ■•
B»
ROMOLA.
intending to pu« over the Ponte KnbMonte; bat m lie went
•long certain ioand< oame npon Us ears that made him4aim
round and walk yet more quickly in the opposite direction.
Was the mob coming into Oltramo? It waa a vexation, for
he would have preferred the more private road. He mntt
now go by the Ponte Veochio; and unpleasant sensations
made him draw his mantle close round him, and walk at his
utmost speed. There was no one to see him ia that gray twi-
light. But before he reached the end of the Via de' aidi,
like sounds fell on his ear again, and this time they were much
louder uid nearer. Could he have been deceived before?
The mob must be coming over the Ponte Vecohio. Again he
turned, from an impulse of fear that was stronger than refleo-
taon; but it was only to be assured that the mob was aotnaUy
entering the street f rota the opposite end. He chose not to
go back to his house: after aU they would not attack him
Still, he had some valuables about him; and all things except
reason and order are possible with a mob. But necessity
does the wcrk of courage. He went on toward the Ponte
Veoohio, the rush and the trampling and the confused voices
getting so loud before him that he had ceased to hear them
behind.
For he had reached the end of the street, and the crowd
pounng from the bridge met him at the turning and hemmed
in his way. He had not time to wonder at a sudden shout
before he felt himself surrounded, not, in the first instance,
by an unarmed rabble, but by armed Compagnaooi- the next
sensation was that his cap fell off, and that he was thrust vio-
lently forward amongst the rabble, along the narrow passage
of the bridge. Then he distinguished the shouts, " Piagnone 1
Medicean I Piagnone I Throw him over the bridge I •'
HU mantle was being torn ,^ him with strong pulls that
would have throtUed him if the fibula had not given way
Then his soarsella was snatched at; but all the while he was
being hustled and dragged; and the snatch failed— his scar-
sella still hung at his side. Shouting, yelling, half motiveless
execration rang stunningly in his ears, spreading even amongst
those who htd not yet seen him, and only knew there was a
man to be reviled. Tito's horrible dread was that he should
^.»
WAmso BY THE RIVER
one hope fo, hu- ^^,^^ Zv *°„w °i *" bndge. There wu
lu«l wounded h^ Tl^Z X '^l! *"° "'« "x'"" ^V
whole soul wa«.teor^i^w' T'^ ""* "* »^i ««i h^
^, Vea-they u-Titl^f jj^:.''''''.^''^ -d it. obveree terror.
WoodleM face and eyes duTtZ'hJn^", ".""""'* '^"°' '''«'
inspirations that come in «7^ ^ ""^ ' **« self-preserving
•te eirort he jZ^^Z !f *"T/l'. ^"^ * ""•'^«' <!««?«'
««r,ella forwardTtS ali? J^^.^ -dflnngbeltLd
I»«pet. crying in . ringing S -1 •'*°' "S^' "'"'
In flT- "^ '^^""dsl there ig'goldl"
with a desperate lir^dthe^! ?""' ^""""""^ «>« Parapet
with ;««.^pif L^tetrrrtrr^r'^-^w^
his strong priLTTi fk ^"'^ °"* "''^ «" «»e energy^
onlyswi^^CndrptrXcaSTh ''-•,«'•• -«
remote part of the city 2d^^^^^ °"«^* '""d in a
w« stiU before hL^k^d'^tt^.f^f T"" v^"" ^»"°- I"""
lowing on the bridge tht~ wo„U v T^ ''"'°*^« ""^ •»!-
They did thinkT P^!°" "if'' '" '''" "^^'^^d.
.tre«n: they could^-ot ^7^1 ?» t" '"^^"^'»'8 '''"''"k
the fl^^ting hair. and;hr.ri"f^;Ii7-« ""^^^ "^
riX t^aSfrth^ S ^^ f -^^'°-5
agate-likeeyes. Onward thtfo^'' ^^ """ ^°°« 1"**^™
withinflatiquiver^g^lsMs witJte?.*"' '"' °""""'*'
on the temples. One brid™ „U ^ ""* ^™°* distended
Trinit4. Should he risk wT P"^^-"-* bridge of Santa
strength? No. He ht S or^r' ^^^'^'^ '^"''* *° "»
cries pursuing him. S ore J^ v '" ^'""'^ y«"» ""d
ofhisfellow-men: he w™ C",!'^ "°''* *«>"> the side
'ess a&aid of indefinite chanoea,
S60
ROMOLA.
■nd ha twun on, putting and ttndning. He wm not m irMh
M he would have been ii he had paiaed the night in sleep.
Yet the next bridge-thela«tbridge-wa» pawed. Hewu
oonsoious of iti but in the tumult of hii blood, he ooold only
feel Taguely that be waa safe and might land. But where?
The current was having its way with him: he hardly knew
where he was: exhaustion waa bringing on the dreamy state
that precedes unconsciousness.
But now there were eyes that discerned him— aged eye^
strong for the distance. Baldassarre, looking up blankly from
the search in the runlet that brought him nothing, had seen a
white object coming along the broader stream. Could that be
any fortunate chance for Aim ? He looked and looked till the
object gathered form : then he leaned forward with a start as
he sat MQong the rank green stems, and his ^es seemed to
be flU^ with a new light. Yet he only watched— motion-
less. Something was being brought to him.
The next instant a man's body was cast violently on the
fpw two yards from him, and he started forward like a pan-
ther, clutching the velvet tunic as he fell forward on the body
and flashed a look in the man's face.
Dead— was he dead? The eyes were rigid. But no, it
could not be— Justice had brought him. Men looked dead
sometimes, and yet the life came back into them. Baldas-
sarre did not feel feeble in that moment He knew just what
he could do. He got his large fingers within the neck of the
tunic and held him there, kneeling on one knee beside the
body and watching the face. There was a fierce hope in his
heart, but it was mixed with trembling. In his eyee there
was only fierceness: aU the slow-burning remnant of life
withm him seemed to have leaped into flame.
Eigid— rigid still. Those eyes with the half-faUen Uds
were locked against vengeance. Could it be that he was dead?
ThMe was nothing to measure the time : it seemed long enough
for hope to freeze into despair.
Surely at last the eyelids were quivering: the eyes were no
longer rigid. There waa a vibrating light in them: they
opened wide.
" Ah, yes I You see me— you know me I "
\ ww'j^mi^i'
WAirmo BT TBI mvra. «,
gloom with the face of the hiH^„. . v '^''' ""^ ""'■ "h"!
erer. * """ ''"^~'" P«' I'Mging over hUn for-
But now BaldasMrre-i only dread watl..tt).. ,• .
"hould escape him. He nr«J3i. ■ ^ . "" y"""* "™b«
round thro«r«nd knelt u™T7l. i* ^"""•» '«^»t tke
Again he kept his watch on the face Ar,A -i. .v
were rigid again, he dared not ta^sTSem hJ m* '^-
lose his hold tUl some on« L™. j f ' "* ''°"''* »«»«
would send «.me wiW^dTen T^T^ """""■ J««-
ohire that he had kiUerSi.?tl^!" ^ Baldassarre, would de-
would be content with tt^ .^„^. J^'° '""'' ^^ **«" he
he would desire to^^ ^^t^tf ^tt^'i '"' earth-then
th^^itortohellti^rm&rtcThtS' ""' ^°"°''
«>^/ th°r^,'':^lrtf sti^ ^n' ^ ^-"" ««-* the
light got string S^t'';„^°«^*?« aeeming death, t<ll the
oa the body, stiU clutohi^^the „Sc ."f r^*; •^''' »'" "*
hours went on, and no wibiZn^^. L * *"""'• ^"' <*•
offthetwohu;anb^ii;'^''nK- ,1° "'*" <*'»'^«d far
I will confess I" " "'yog out in hu agony.
It was not untU the sun was westwurf th.* .
bj a mild gray ox came to th^X oUh*^ '"*°" ''""^
as the man who led it was Wnfn»\ *!?'"^ °'"«^' "'<'
rtones that lay heaped L^L^i t r""",' "P t^« '"""d
teoted some starUing object aT™^ ^f"^' ""j"-
fallen forward and his de»A^J^ * *»*^ ""»" had
the other. It wis not T.o».thl ! "" °" *^'' ^""'ent of
better to put Mem i!t^ th, '° "'P^** *^<""- "V. ** wae
were into Ae g^t P^^ fK ?*°'L"''' "^ them as they
Eight. "^ ^"^ "■"* '"""'«' "-ight be Riven to tS
36
!i'«
•" ROMOLA.
A» tha WHoa ratand tha fMqamM itnct* thmwM*
growing crowd Moorting it with ita atruga biudan. Kp ana-
knaw tha bodiaa for a long whUe, for tha agad tmo» hul &Uan
forward, half hiding tha yoonger. Bat bafbra thaj had baan
morad out of light, they had been reoognixad.
" I know that old man, " Piero di Coaimo had taatiflad. « I
painted hia likeneaa onee. Ha ia tha prlionar who olatehad
Halama on tha atepa of the Duomo."
" Ha ia parhapa tha aama old man who appeared at inppar
in my garden*,'' aaid Bernardo Buoellai, one of the Eight
" I had forgotten him. I thought he had died in priaon. But
there ia no knowing tha truth now."
Who ahall put hia finger on the work of juatioe, and aay, " It
is there"? Justice ia like the Kingdom of God— it is not
without ua aa a fact, it U within us aa a great yearning.
CHAPTER LXVm.
boxola's WAXoro.
RoMOLA in her boat passed from dreaming into long deep
sleep, and then again from deep sleep into busy dreaming, tiU
at last aha felt herself stretching out her arms in tha court of
the BargeUo, when the flickering flames of tha tapers seemed
to get stronger and stronger till the dark scene was blotted
out with light Her eyes opened and she saw it was the light
ot morning. Her boat waa lying still in a Uttle creek ; on her
right hand lay the specklesa sapphire-blue of the Mediter-
ranean; onherleftoneof thoae scenes which were and still
Me repeated again and again like a sweet rhythm, on the
shores of that loveliest sea.
In a deep oniTe of the mountains lay a breadth of green
land, curtained by gentle tree-shadowed slopes leaning toward
tte rooky heights. Up these slopes might be seen here and
Uiere, gleammg between the tree-tops, a pathway leading to a
Uttle irregular miss of buUding that seemed to have clambered
in a hasty way up the mountain-side, and taken a difficult
d«wy ,h«law. No •ound !!!!! "'^ """""i »» 'l*' l»y in
wtor. .wmed to C ^CTr.*""^ "" '"''°«" >^S
early waking, momenta wC^^- ""? "*'> ^ •^' " ^ '" ^^'
•Biftmg pa.t US .^J"rrT'' *"'««""<iL',, :i„
Bwgrilo, „d thTthe JtZn d^' "'"'/."'' '"•'"' « «"•
w<Jly oome back to h„ For \ ^! °' '"" «^'""'°'l tad
wa. nntroubledj .he did not Ln f..""l ?' *"•• "" ""'^"n
her. forever, .h. on!y felt ttatlh ""fi"**' "he oo„M rest
dUtinotly o«;«,iou. ttat ih^wa,'^:";^ -..^^ '^^ ^>^'
been b«tting her overtte wlt^r. aj^^^J" *u "f" ''^'''' »"«»
rtead of bringing her to dLu. ?f i, i !^'°"«^ **«' "'e'^'- In-
o«dleof.3fife I'd^' '^»„<i^^« "'« gently lullin,
wu glad that themomb^h^ oomi to h "''!""« '''^P'^' «*«
that she was resting iwh.#T^" *«*"'= glad to think
ttennknownrlSsoMith^'^w/T"'''* ""^" *»"« i»
eonnd from FloSnoe would ««nhr^ "5!',"°* ""* '"'™? No
t^bW, f«.mb.htrfte'S„''ra.e w"^^"""^'"" '«
and towers and walls, parted by? ri™, T ^T'"* '^'»"'»
green hills. '^^ ^ * "^*" ""^ enclosed by the
wiSgXS^i'a^rS^? ^^rf r "'' - '''« •»•*.
themselves alon;? with th- „ • ^'^ °* ""'"Sbto that urged
carried her. ^v 1?' 7^~^ ^'' *" «"> boat hS
nook where therU^^Srslh' "",/ ''''«''«'<^
her. For a little while. atCrih? •^° '^°'^'* ""^ barm
on nothing. Presently she w"uldi Z^^' '''' '^^ """l^e
-.Uk, and then ^. wo^nlJn^r t-thrg^-^-J -
ffi
8M
ROHOLA.
that there wm a pause in her life. She tnmed to watch th«
oresoent-shaped valley, that she might get back the soothing
sense of peace and beauty which she had felt in her firat
waking.
She had not been in this attitnde of contemplation more
than a few minutes when across the stillness there came a
piercing cry; not a brief cry, but continuous and more and
more intense. Eomola felt sure it was the cry of a little child
in distress that no one came to help. She started up and put
one foot on the side of the boat ready to leap on to the beach j
but she paused there aad listened: the mother of the child
must be near, the cry must soon cease. But it went on, and
drew Eomola so irresistibly, seeming the more piteous to her
for the sense of peac9 which had preceded it, that she jumped
on to the beach and walked many paxes before she knew what
direction she would take. The cry, she thoughj^ came from
some rough garden growth many yards on her right hand,
where she saw a half-ruined hovel. She climbed over a low
broken stone fence, and made her way across patohes of weedy,
green crops and ripe but neglected com. The cry grew plainer,
and convinced that she was right she hastened toward the
hovel; but even in that hurried walk she felt an oppressive
change in the air as she left the sea behind. Was there some
taint lurking amongst the green lu:nriance that had seemed
such an inviting shelter from the heat of the coming day?
She could see the opening into the hovel now, and the ciy was
darting through her like a pain. The next moment her foot
was within the doorway, but the sight she beheld in the som-
bre light arrested her with a shock of awe and horror. On
the straw, with which the floor was scattered, lay three dead
t jdies, one of a tall man, one of a girl about eight years old,
and one of a young woman whose long black hair was being
clutched and pulled by a living child— the child that was send-
ing forth the piercing cry. Bomola's experience in the haunts
of death and disease made thought and action prompt: she
lifted the little living child, and in trying to soothe it on her
bosom, still bent to look at the bodies and see if they were
really dead. The strongly marked type of race in their fea-
tures, and th jir peculiar garb, made her conjecture that they
BOMOLA'S WAKDfO. j^
^-"^^^SZ^^C/IZV'". "^ P-^P- been put
the« property remained «« ^re^^Z^ ^""^ *» ^^'^
Pening oontinuaUy to Jews ^^n j I^ *^8» "we hap-
■ea, and the oruelty of au«,r.«f • *^ "'™''* **e™ *«»>» the
Sn?rhTp,rrd35';se'r '^"^^^'^^^^^^^
This <ioubt rem^llt,':^,"'"? « '" '^^'^ ^^■'^
emaoi^ed and alao ahow^'T.^i^.f ^ T^ "•<» K^^^ I°oked
woman seemed to haTeleTh°.!,^^'°«'r"^°"8 dead, the
the robustness of her foL B^ l""*^ '""' °°* «"*« lost
% her hand on the C7' but ? l"* ,^'*'^»' '-« about to
low woollen draper^ 2? W "''• l"*^-^ ^'> P^^o of yel?
purple spots whaTmSL LT",.""' '"'"»■' ''^'' ""-t^e
itruok her that if t^^Q^LT^,^^'-^''^- Then it
jnore difficulty than ehe iTe"p^ ^^"^ ■*" »i8ht have
them, they wo,Ud perhaps shrSK T *""?■« ^"'P *""»
her arms. But she had moneTto nff *^'* ^^ *^* "WW in
»ot refa«, to give her ~re g^f^S^""'.""* "^^ ^'^^
She set out at once toward tt« J?. "» ezohange for it
with the effort to sooaI^e1itae^\^" '^^^ '"l«d"ow
wondering how she should win l^l^i,""**"™' '^ with
to It. She could not help hoping HtfSt "°""^ '"^<!°°^
h«d observed herself to insni^ wi,V !' "* * ''"*»^ »'« »he
and unexpected, in her ^^tZ 'a^T''^ "»l«own
a breadth of cultivated eromid .h. L ^ *^* P««««d across
htUe patohes of corn mS'wS T^ ''** '""*«'- ^
left to over-ripeness nnSed bf t?„V m"' ""P" ^""^ ^een
apples and dark figs W S„ „ the «okle, and that golden
fat. The stillness began to W« .~''' "<' ^^oep, or
Bomola, she hurried^„g*°towr«~^«thmg fearful in it to
houses where there would if tte".^! "''°''""'* <='»»*«' of
1^ of the helpless lif e she^rf^^ k^'*" *" "PP'*' *° o» be-
P>oked up two figs, and bit 1M« "* ''""""'■ »»* «he h«i
to still the chUd Witt '"^'' P'""" ^-^ the sweet pnj
«l.e entered b^een two line. Of dwellings. Xt was time
666
ROMOLA.
that TillageiB shQuld haTe been atiiring long ago, but no^ a
loul was in sight. The air was beooming more aiA more
oppressive, laden, it seemed, with some horrible impurity.
There was a door open; she looked in, and saw grim empti-
ness. Another open door; and throngh that she saw a man
lying dead with all his garments on, his head lying athwart
a spade handle, and an earthenware erase in his hand, as if
he had fallen suddenly.
Bomola felt horror taking possession of her. Was she in a
village of the unburied dead? She wanted to listen if there
were any faint sound, but the child cried out afresh when
she ceased to feed it, and the cry filled her ears. At last she
saw a figure crawling slowly out of a house, and soon sink-
ing back in a sitting posture against the wall. She hastened
toward the figure; it was a young woman in fevered anguish,
and she, too, held a pitcher in her hand. As Bomola ap-
proached her she did not start; the one need was too absorb-
ing for any other idea to impress itself on her.
" Water 1 get me water ! " she said, with a moaning utterance.
Bomola stooped to take the pitcher, and said gently in her
ear, " You shall have water; can you point toward the well? "
The hand was lifted toward tiie more distant end of the
little street, and Bomola set off at once with as much speed as
she could use under the difficulty of carrying the pitcher as
well as feeding the child. But the little one was getting more
content as the morsels of sweet pulp were repeated, and ceased
to distress her with its cry, so that she could give a less dis- j
tracted attention to the objects around her.
The well lay twenty yards or more beyond the end of the
street, and as Bomola was approaching it her eyes were di-
rected to the opposite grern slope immediately below the
church. High up, on a patch of grass between the trees, she
had d>>scried a cow and a couple of goats, and she tried to trace
a line of path that would lead her close to that cheering sight,
when once she had done her en-and to the well. Occupied in
this way, she was not aware that she was very near the well,
and that some one approaching it on the other side had fixed
a pair of astonished eyes upon her.
Bomola certainly presented a sight which, at that momeut
»0ir0LA.8 WAKHta. 587
•nd in that place, could hardlr li.v« k^
PauMg and palpitation wK ^'i'^ without some
^^t alopefth' lonr^ae. of her thl^!!*^ ^'"'"^ » ^o
• gliding character to her w^d 1^ ^ «T •«""""'' S^^K
ward and illuminated on tte l.fT ^ ^f ^" """■"« b-ok"
tk« little oUve bab/orht rthtf " ^^ '^^ ""-^y"' «"!
Jet-bUck eyes, .he mijht well S^tw ^'*'''"« ""^ '^''>
aooustomed to swing the censer Sfth„ * ^''"''' °^ fi^*.
leBs fair and marrellou, t^^ttis ^"'^'^ °* " ^""i"""'
.ick'\Tt^rH'i?'M^e'"^-<^-*°f''t«h water for the
who had the pesScf^^ '' "'""•' '° *"^'' "«« <>* «•« peo^
thilrfS^tarior'^tter^ltrt^'if '-S'y -ith
down hi3 vessel in terror LdS ^^ '^''<'y°"th flung
n»ar her, «iw the blwl LTiw^fi'*- "'''"«' ""'^ °f "ome on!
toward the slope .hTtTlr^bee^^^ "" '' '°' ^'" W«
».e.nbering the parched sXerXT^'"!;^"!- ^°' -'
quickly and hastened back "^ ''«'■ P>*«lif'-
litering the house to look for a s>i.n
meat and meal: there we«. n„ .• T^ ""P' *^» "w salt
With nimble movenlt she ZTl°' Tl"* *° ^^^ <^'«"«8
and lifted a cup of wlr to Xtuff^r th Z *"! «^°""''
and then closed her eyes and W.!S k u ^° ^^"^ ^^^h
ing to give her«U up tTtte ll " r ?'"''^"'^' «^««'"
opened her eyss, and Io^i„„ .f p °^ '^'*^- I^'esenUy she
;; Who are you? » ""» ** ^°""'^' «»i<i languidly,-
I came over the sbil'' .o;j r> ,
morning. Are .5^thn;,opte dir"" t "^ ""^r came this
"I think they arr^I^ „^ dead m these houses?"
father and myTist^' ^1,7"^- '^'" "^ ""' ^ead. My
bury them: ^d ^^^^ 'rs^fdi:'""""' '"'» ^'"«™ - «o one t^
Of ;r '^'«i'rd"rr;Se„„rr """"^ *° <»^« -
th-" must be some left who'^^rm T. '"" '^"''•'- «"*
i-ople went ^Siy, 2'drfv: TIT ""'V '"^' ""-^
me more waterl » °* *** *~^* and goats. Give
■"^ ROHOLA.
Bomola, su8pe<M:mg that if she foUowed the direetion of «•
youth's flight, she should find some men and women who were
still healthy and able, determined to seek them out at once,
that she might at least win them to take care of the child, and
leave her free to come back and see how many living needed
help, and how many dead needed burial. She trusted to her
powers of persuasion to conquer the aid of the timorous, when
once she knew what was to be done.
Promising the sick woman to come back to her, she lifted
the dark bantling again, and set off toward the slope. She
felt no burden of choice on her now, no longing for death.
She was thinking how she would go to the other sufferers, as
■he had gone to that fevered woman.
But, with the child on her arm, it was not so easy to her as
usual to walk up a slope, and it seemed a long while before
the wmding path took her near the cow and the goats. She
was beginning herself to feel faint from heat, hunger, and
thirst, anil as she reached a double turning, she paused to con-
sider whether she would not wait near the cow, which some
one was likely to come and milk soon, rather than toU up to
the church before she had taken any rest. Baising her eyes
to measure the steep distance, she saw peeping between the
boughs, not more than five yards off, a broad round face,
watohmg her attentively, and lower down the black skirt of a
pnest s garment, and a hand grasping a bucket. She stood
mutely observing, and the face, too, remained motionless.
Bomola had often witnessed the overpowering force of dread
in oases of pestilence, and she was cautious.
Raising her voice in a tone of gentie pleading, she said, " I
came over the sea. I am hungry, and so is the child. Will
you not give us some milk? "
Bomola had divined part of the truth, but she had not di-
vined that preoccupation of the priest's mind which charged
her words with a strange significance. Only a little whUe ago,
the young acolyte had brought word to the Padre that he had
seen the Holy Mother with the Babe, fetching water for the
sick : she was as tall as the cypresses, and had a light about
her head, and she looked up at the church. The pievaao* hud
' Jf ariiib priest.
1%
ROMOLA'S WAKING. jj,
not iMtened with entire beUrf . ),„.,.,.
year, ia the world without W,/«n -^ ""'"' *^'« «%
and he thought the boy m^BhiZ! '"y.''«»°° <* the MadonnZ
Pected appearance ofT^SerlnTT?"'^ *^' ""«■
««y. and before veutu^gToom. d„t '*^'"^° ""^^ »"-
he had repeated many Avi tC ^^ " ?"'* '^^ ^'o "ow,
mented tin, a little: he ti^Lmb J at ^T". ? ~'""'''«"=« *°'-
toembled at the thought of tte m?M^ P™blence, but he ako
that that Invisible Uercy^Z^tit'^^ ^°^'"- "<»'«'»«»
h^ than prayera and ^sZ^ r^T r""""^? "-o™ «*
able to banish the ima7el^a h/\ J' "**** °* aind-un-
with tte glo,7 about hefteS^t'^^th^'^- T^^ °^ ">« Mother
oofflo down to milk his cow and h-^ !.'^^~*^'' P'"^"'" had
BomoU pau«ng at the p^ w^J h"1 ''?'^..'""'«^* "K''* "^
their strange refinement oftonlL ^ ^l"-'^'"* ^"''^''' ^'th
explanatory, had a pretemat^p^t^irr^"""*^ °^ l««8
not qmte believe he saw the hX Mott °' t"^' ^«' J'* ^^
Jrf alarmed hesitation. If «,yZ^™^ ■,'"' ""^ " « "tate
""ft he felt there was no st^nf™* miraculous were happen-
would be in his favo^. He^ed^^r^*'"" """ «"" '^^^
advance. "* '^^d »<« run away; he dared not
^eL'XrrdlyniSSh^'*^""- "^-tf«..
A moment •fterfth?'b4^;J',^<^- "^"^ «'' ^-^
figure of a thick-set priest «4^rr^' ""*<*« complete
W«>k frock much wornrdso^S.L^'^ 1"^^" ^""^ ^s
mg at her timidly and »f ill t • ^' ''""^^t in hand, look-
toward the cow i^" sale """^ ^°°^ " J"*" t*'" th; ^l
J^omoU followed him and wftt^t,.-? u-
apun, a. he seated himself LTZ^.y"^. '?'''°"t speaking
whenheluuinervousIyT^^r t^ *^"'«"<1 =°''. and!
l««s cup he carried Ji^C^^^I'^ f" '' *° »"«' in a
the cup to the lips of the ° ^ child 1" i" *°"'°''' P«t
some milk herself, the Pa^ll ^J ^^ afterward drank
-rtool with a timidity that ctnS [^ .>,^" f ""^ ^ ^"•"i™
n»ogni2ed the Hebrew baby h« J "'"'*^' " "'"«• He
-mbstantial woman before Wm bulrh;"''"" *''' ''^ ^"^ *
'^'^'^°"""*"*""^-'«>«t things' we^X't
070
ROHOLA.
«liange with him. HoraoTer, that Hebraw bab* wm turiUV
asaooiated with the dmd of pestilence.
Nevertheless, when Komola smiled at the little one saeking
it« own milky lips, and stretched out the brass cup again, aar-
ing, "Give us more, good father," he obeyed leaa nerroualT
than before. ^^
Romola on her side was not nnobserrant; and when th«
second supply of milk had been drunk, she looked down at
the round-headed man, and said with mild decision,—
"And now teU me, father, how this pestilence came, and
why you let your people die without the Sacramento, and lie
unburied. For I am come over the sea to help those who ai«
left alive— and you, too, will help them now."
He told her the stt)ry of the pestilence : and while he was
telling it, the youth, who had fled before, had come peeping
and advancing graduaUy, till at last he stood and watched the
scene from behind a neighboring bush.
Three families of Jews, twenty sonls in all, had been put
ashore many weeks ago, some of them already ill of the pesti-
lence. The vilUgers, said the priest, had of course refused to
give shelter to the miscreants, otherwise than in a distant
hovel, and under heaps of straw. But when the strangers
had died of the plague, and some of the people had thrown the
bodies into the sea, the sea had brought them back again
in a great storm, and everybody was smitten with terror. A
grave was dug, and the bodies were buried; but then the pes-
tilence attacked the Christians, and the greater number of the
villagers went away over the mountain, driving away their
few cattle, and carrying provisions. The priest had not fled;
he had stayed and prayed for the people, and he had prevailed
on the youth Jacopo to stay with him; but he confessed that
a mortal terror of the plague had taken hold of him, aod he
had not dared to go down into the valley.
"Ton will fear no longer, father," said Komola, in a tone
of encouraging authority; "you will come down with me, and
we will see who is living, and we will look for the dead to
bury them. I have walked for months where the pestilence
was, and see, I am strong. Jacopo will come with us," she
added, motioaiiig to the peeping iad, who oaue slowly ftom
ROKOLA-8 WAKINO. g^
I am tiwd. " ^ ' yo"' "ffls are stWg, Ld
them to obey. The suspioMat IT ^ '^''•°*'* '""'"8
form wa. di8Bip,ted, but tZr m?„H .T " »»P«""»t«nJ
the more effeot^re wnse thatrJ ""'! *"^ '»''t««d ^i*
%^ rwT ''•«-- ~d ^hL^- •>«''« -'-
-if Jy^Lin^^o- tJ-e -ilk,", aid RomoK "and
we., hardly n.o«, th^ u~ajte"iL° ^'^ tl^'' T^erf
aU of the» were oomfo^™ ti'JU ' "^"^^ ^'^^''^■- ^'
were buried. ' °"*' ''«" "*^«d. and the dead
smiled at her as thJ^J^t ^'^ ^«^ *^ the women
to the well, and ZhTbI ttv^*"" "**" °" «•"' l'<«^
Christian, Ben«i«t^ by nZe. hJ .!- *°"'''°« *^bling
ohuroh on themoTtak-sWr^B^tT^^ '"P*^^"' « thf
waa 8uifering from the &tile 11 \' ^"^ *™'' "'»« h«"elf
after a contiguous sZnoZlTLl'^Z''' 'i^^ """"^ «»"">
f« her dwelling one^h A ^^ ^^^- ^he had taken
"tandingalittlf ZfS^"^"»-;^<ioned by their ow^™
thick heap of clean s^n a VJi^ ''^'**' '^^ ^^'^ <>" a
not dre«n of do^s^foU tlad^T ?!f *"' """"' ''h" ^o
the daylight hours, tZn cl^of -^ =*'» *'"""«'' "'<»t of
drtto by a womaTwho^ thn„ !•> ^v^'* "'" «ttle Bene-
E^ery day the pIZ*^ /"'"''""'"' ^<^ widowed,
'iving'^vill^rs Sfd'Xfr vSTti^ ^^"^ "<^'' °^ -
Messed Lady, and to bring her^ Lf L?"**" *" »** ^'
honey, fresh cakes eem =n!i , best as an offering-
oould none of them foTt a stht r^- n" ""^ " "kJ-* *h«y
age-how the sweet SJJ^X^'^ ^- '?''* °^ '" '^'^ "«
K"iden ha.r, and her brown "e^es th^^ ^ ^^^ fT^
07S
ROMOLA.
l»y WSM7 with her Ubon after she had been Mnt over the m«
to heJptiieni m their extremity, and how the qneer little blaok
Benedetto used to crawl aboat the itraw by her aide and want
eye^hing that was brought to her, and ahe always gave him
a b.t of what she took, and told them if they loved her thev
most be good to Benedetto. '
Many legend! were afterward told in that valley about the
blessed Lady who came over the sea, but th<7 were legends
by which aU who heard might know that in times goneW a
woman had done beautiful loving deeds there, resouing those
who were ready to perish.
tHAPTER LXIX
BOMSWAKD.
Ik those silent wintry hours when Bomola lay resting fiom
her weariness, her mind, travelling back over the past, and
gaang across the undefined distance of the future, saw .2l ob-
jects from a new position. Her experience since the moment
^her waking in the boat had come to her with as strong an
effect as tiiat of the fresh seal on the dissolving wax. She
had felt herself without bonds, without motive; sinking in
mere egoistio complaining that life could bring her nocMitent-
fMlmg a right t; say, «I am tired of life, I want to die •'
mt thought had sobbed within her as she fell asleep, bit
from the moment after her waking when the cry had drawn
her, she had not even reflected, as she used to do in Florence,
that she was glad to live because she could lighten sorrow— she
had simply lived, with so energetic an impulse to share the
life ground her, to answer the call of need and do the work
which cned iiloud to be done, that the reasons for living, en-
during, laboring, never took the form of argument
The experience was like a new baptism to Bomola. In
Morence the simpler relations of the human being to his fel-
low-men had been complicated for her with all the special ties
of marnage, the State, and religious discipleship, and when
these had disappointed her trust, the «h<y* ss«s£4 p. jj^..^
mi
HOMEWAHD. „„
•Mkan bar aloof from lif. md .f«„-«j u
BOW ri,, «id, "It w« me«^;^^ t" ?".'**''• »»*
I* eretrthinB elm i. H»,vL^??^ w me to desire death.
« only the trui. ^Wh£ tT, " SJh'""'-'"' "■* '»'«"' ^
stretch it out to the fZiin» ^*^ ""» my arm I will
tJ..y .hall seekthe foS^.; ''"^" "" '"'^^ visits my eye.
woSin^"is*^;r;i°:;::jd'onrL'r"^"- ««
were disenmuMd frnm tk , ?' ""^ '''« emotions that
™ri.ed bacK Se^old deeTSLirl'" '^'^ """"-^ ^'
That rare possibUitjr of .elStemTaSn wWcT** ''*~«™-
complete severance from our w3w^ I"]"!'' '*!"!'' *" »°y
«rif as she had never done before fhf ^" J'"^8e her-
ioaeparable from a sympatte^LT.; \^";P'"""'°" '"«'' «
«ble experience of oZs Cn ^ fi^^-lj: '^^^ *» the pos-
force. Shequestionedth^Staeslof Woi" '^*!' ^"^«
her own deeds : she had hJn » A ^° oonolnsions, of
fied that outers were nott^ir!!:",*' tV <""»«-
not been true to what her^ T?* ' ^^^ "^« ''«"«" tad
She began to •rnl^'hXurrT^r''" *'■•'•'-*•
««ily self-care, thHro^d. on .v^^' "^'^ '^° '«"'-
taken her back ' were C^fdrper^t r"""""; ""^ "'"«'
had for her second flight lC^„T, v^ «^°"»^ »i« l»d
others and not fed, above Ith.T. ^' '^' ^''^ '"^ <>'
But then eam7'rei"'i^r?„tH°' {?''-'««»'?
memory of her life with Tito^ Vk f f'^Pwaeh. The
their real union i4"8ible.wh?f«^i! °°°'^'^°'''' ''''''* "»de
P««la«,toffalse7aZon W Itr;'*'"''^ """"" -'
concealment and -anctiolTof wh^t wl ."^'".'""^ '^^
told her that flight had bZ w , ™'°^ "™"«i *">"».
except such as ^ deUve^* T\ ™'°"""'- ^11 mindZ
bUit^, must teTu^it to t^r/°"^ '^ *''^''^» °f »««*■
m;«>y-twistedconS«^f S^'CeTb^jr"';^ f "" '^^
of a bond. For in striotoM. tL • *°'''"^f «° tbe fulfilment
the presence of Z^T^^ '^Z!,IT «P'r?»°' '«>"*■'»"' =
of the old LiiTh,.Z TT "°* "•^'••fy the failure and breach
and untif the wrd":rou1rrr^?L!!-^l" •»- -imed'
«»» backward, doubting glauMs. ' '' ■"•""'""°* oontinuaUy
S74
BOVOLA.
Romol* thiank with drM>d from the ranewtl of hu pm.
Unity to Tito, and yet sho wu uneMy thit ihe had put J»ar-
•Jlf out of reach of knowing what wai hit fata-uneaw that
tha momant might yet oome when he would be in miaen and
DMd her Thera waa atUl a thread of pain within her, teati-
fying to tho«) wordf of Pra Oirolamo^ that the could not ceaie
to be a wife. Could anything utterly ceaae for her that had
onM mingled itMlf with the current of her heart'a blood?
Florence, and aU her life there, had oome back to her like
hunger; her feelings could not go wandering after the poui-
ble and the T«gue: their living fibre waa fed with the m«m-
ory of fumhar things. And the thought that ehe had diyidad
neraelf from them forever became more and more importunate
ta theao hours that were nnfiUed with action. What if Fra
QiroUmo had been wrtog? What if the life of Florence waa
awebofinconsiatenciee? Waa she, then, aomething hioher
that she should shake the dust from off her feTLd say
This world IS not good enough for me "f If she had bem
re^y higher, she would not so easUy have lost all her trust
Her indignant grief for her godfather had no longer com-
plete poeseaaion of her, and her aense of debt to Savonarola
waa recovering predominance. Nothing that had oome. or
was to come, could do away with the fact that there had been
agreat aspiration in him which had waked a new life in her
WHO, in all her experience, could demand the same gratitude
from her aa he7 His errors-might they not bring calamitiaa7
She could not rest. She hardly knew whether it was her
strength returning with the budding leaves that made her
actave agam or whether it waa her eager longing to get nearer
if^lorenoe. She did not imagi::e He rself daring to enter Flor-
ence, but the desire to be near ev^gh to learn what was hap-
Pjmmg there urged itself with a strength that excluded lOI
other purposes. ~ »"
And one Mareh morning the peonle in the valley were gath-
ered together to aee the blessed Lady depart:. Jacopohad
fetched a mule for her, and was going with her over the moun-
♦ ■ .w. "^ ***"• "»• Boing with her to the nearest
town that he might help her in learning the «ifest way
by which ahe might get to PUtoja. Her store of trinkato
"■■TWO AOAW. gjg
Sir*''' ""'"^•^ ^*^r^.^ .b«.d«t f« h«
•!>• wiUk^l Song tha tCI SSl f^K'","""'.* '"' '^ "J"*
^«ood «„<m « beginning „d^. TmL^,, l"" «"• ""■•»
Why wiU you go? » ' • "'"P* "^^ »» pJentifal?
"Do not be itarj, " wid RomoU, '< yon .«, „ii
sh»n remember you. I mu.t gHnd Z^ "'^' ""^ ^
want me." •■• go wa see if my own people
;; A^ yes, if thqr h,ye the peetilenoet "
A^St atJ? '*"'»«?«'<> to the Uttle B«,edettoI -
At last Bomola mounted her mnl. k„«. ^".'"'™*"
J-^ --mu.'-?et SlSe^i:,- -7^- -
tinX^rpri:i;'„^j'»\"««-la turned con-
OHAPTEB LXX.
"SKTWO AOAIK.
the^u'?.%S::S;^^S,f^-'- — ith'"
t«dietory report, reached h~ >i^! fv ^'"'"j'' ^1"" "O""
J»d gone on to Prato .^ i*' 'v^°* *^* Trial by Kr«, rf^e
.houlf'be drarr^ ZZ ft^of*!^' ^ '*«'
JsrSftL-'tr:^ '^ sprri^ho-LSS, t^gS!
.confess^. From am .he learned the full ,to^
'^f^%^y§Mf,
"^m^^ ■■^--^'■'4m
Xfocomr itscumoN tbt cnmt
(*NS) ond ao TEST GHAUT No. J)
1.0 £
UiliS
125
22
1.1 f '^ 1^
^ I 1.8
li^iu
^
1653 Eatt Main Slrvat ^
B7»
BOMOLA.
h
■ y ill'
Mi
Savonarola 8 arrest, and of her hruiband'. death. This Augua-
tmian monk had been in the stream of people who had fol-
lowed the wagon with its awful burden into the Piazza, and he-
oould teU her what was generally known in Florence-that
Tito had escaped from an assaulting mob by leaping into the
Arno, but had been murdered on the bank W an old man
who had long had an enmity against him. But Komola un-
derstood the catastrophe as no one else did. Of SavonaroU
the monk told her, in that toneof unfavorable prejudice which
was usual m the Black Brethren (Frati Neri) toward the
brother who showed white under his black, that he had con-
fessed himself a deceiver of the people.
Eomola paused no longer. That evening she was in Flor-
ence, sitting in agitated silence under the exclamations of iov
and wailing, mingled with exuberant narrative, which wen
poured into her ears by Monna Brigida, who had backsUded
into false hair in Eomola's absence, but now drew it off again
and declared she would not mind being gray, if her dear ohUd
would stay with her.
Eomola was too deeply moved by the main events which
rfie had known before coming to Florence, to be wrought upon
by the doubtful gossiping details added in Brigida's narratiVe
The tragedy of her husband's death, of Fra Girolamo's con-
fession of duplicity under the coercion of torture, left hw
hardly any power of apprehending minor circumstances. All
the mental activity she could exert under that load of awe-
stricken grief, was absorbed by two purposes which must su-
persede every other; to try and see Savonarola, and to learn
what had become of Tessa and the children.
"Tell me, cousin," she said abrupUy, when Monna Bri-
gida s tongue had run quite away from troubles into projects
of Romola's living with her, "has anything been sera or
said since Tito's death of a young woman with two Uttle
children?"
Brigida started, rounded her eyes, and lifted up her hands
Cristo I no. What 1 was he so bad as that, my poor childT
Ah, then, that was why you went away, and left me woid
only that you went of your own free will. Well, well; if I'd
known that, I shouldn't have thought you so itiange and
XXVnSO AGAIN. 577
what it is.' Well tefl n^^'^' ^'^^'•' ^ ''"^' 'tl"»t'8
fierce, you can't dlu' Butu":™ r^' '*!'''= ^"-^o --
truth, that there wm a vo„n!^ ^ ^*'* ""'^ *°''* •"« th..
hay7unde«,torit^ irvthi '^ '""* «»'"'1'«". I should
and the less the l^tT; TW^ .T "' ""^ °* ""? No,
without that. But^ucettatw^f^,. '"'"«'' °^ '" =''»"* l"™
" No> dear oo^in » «!?f p "" ^^ ™'"°» y°» ^e-* "
nestlyr-prayd^r'tair^' ^^^ ^*«'T"» ''«' «""
ttat young 4man anrhor childrTn J^^! f "^^^ *° «°''
They are quite hebleas S^t „ ?^ ^ '° *^^^ *"« °f them,
thing I shLl do first of aU » ^ °^^ '*'''°'" '*' «"* ^ «">
loweSK^voS'^L^r'^ ''r««'°» ^"^ '"'"-W- and
that's bling aPiZo'f TV«;!:! °' ^^"^'^ discomfiture, "if
Why. IVaSiroCTsL^d jSl^»fP«-/o'Paternosters.
marry again. Steo in at H.fX-. ^ * ."^""^ ""K''* °ot to
it seeL,, but come ^o^ tte^L"^"^ " ^^ "^ "^-l " "^ame,
iWchildren-SantiS» *^ ""^ y°"'™ '«l'»"'e!
i. i2So?:v^r i";iS°:Si";rr" ^---^^ -'•«
Earlv tho «<.,* • ^ ™^ you— but not now "
Tessa; but it was as^e l^Sed ^ "'"' ^"^ """^ ^°-"»
ol* conjectured that Tito had I^'J,T''\8°°«- Bom-
Bomespot where he had iZL^L^lT^ J^^^^^ *°
believe that he would ^iZgljVB^lZ ^' °"^^t ^'^ "°*
waa a painful conjectureTSse^ T^„*^ °^'*"»'- I*
enoe, there was hirdly a ch^ee nf fi^^ T" ""* °^ ^'«-
piotured the childish cLt^'t,!*^! ^^'' «"d Bo^ola
wayside spot in wonderCTe^X ? "^"^ '"""'"^ at some
near could tell her nSS^xS tS7. Thosewholived
away a week ago with her o^^k. ^ ^^^ ^■'» ^^^ gone
ff78
ROHOLA.
•ensitiyeMM made her shrink from asauming an attitade of
to'ri^'^Z \7V "' "^T ^' P-Wishing Tea«'. relation
to Tito, along with her own desire to find her. Many -d-vs
passed in anxious inaction. Even nnder strong solicitatiM.
from other thoughts Eomola found her heart palpitating U^
caught sight of a pair of round brown legs, o? of ashLt ^!
man m the oontadina dress.
«r«^f^ ?,*^ "" '".'""^ "J^^'^y to care for; she yeamedto
clasp the children and to make them love her. ThU at least
woiJd be some sweet result, for others as well as herself, from
II. V?w"''' "'"' ^ * *'^""'' »>"* "'"« distrusted thVcW
ness of that money, and she had determined to make it aU
over to the State, except so much as was equal to the price of
her father's library. This would be enough for the modest
support of Tessa and the children. But Monna Brigida Zw
suchplannmg mto the background by clamorously instating
had seen her safe in Paradise-eU,e why had she persuaded
people 8 children, she, Momia Brigida, must rear them too
Only they must be found first.
Eomola felt the fuU force of the innuendo. But strong feel-
uig unsatisfied is never without its superstition, either of
hope or despair. Bomola's waa the su^rstition of hop^
somehow she was to find that mother and the children. Mi
at last another direction for active inquiry sumested itself
Sue leanied tiiat Tito had provided hors^es iid mulerto^2i
the gate of San Gallo, and she determmed, though without
much confidence in the issue, to try and ascertain from 2
gatekeepers If they had observed any one correspontog to
^l 1?°"£S°° ti ^"""^ ""'"^ ^" "^"■1"'°' *° hive paLd
the gates before the morning of the ninth of April. Walkinit
along the Via San Gallo, and looking watohfully abouT^ef
that might aid her, she descried Bratti chafiEering with a ona-
«™TINO AGADT. 575
aside her veU and oross^ fh«:!. .. ""• ^"* *» «!»« Put
thi.g hanging froHf <^t» rAt';!?!"'.'"^"''' "»-«-
W leap with a much sC^^ fo J^' '*»'''" '"^«'' "^e W
that n^te"'^""'''" "^"^ ""^ "•'"'P^'y' "-I'e" did you get
ve;''d"iSJ.';tS'„"^'^""^' "^'^'^^o^^ at he.
"It's a necklace wort^ mo«y ttl ^Lir'^r^V' ""P""-
n.v heart's too tender for a teiiw's ?Si *"* ''**^'' ''^ '*> ^^
It in pledge. " * * ' ^ ™^e promised to keep
n-^Ses^iTttro'tZe^" "^ ''^-^'" » «*«" --«
a charity, for sheSaTpXwifcr .';:;'' "" -^"-^
she was running into a broA ?f ' "-you'd hare thought
you. You shaU W it fo^ . fl * •" "/""^' P"«* 1'" change
hard-hearted." "' " *"'■"' *" I don't like to be
"Where is she?" miA i?^~_i • .
unclasping the „eckl^lt"he''bSL?''"i'?"'°°''y' '-^
"Outside the gate Hie™ »7!k l*"'J°y''^a8»tation.
wtor-;i^.:^rei=2?^oS-^^^^^^
Wthem-Bomolawit£l-.„tbS";err
te^irs:^ircw^^o:kS'- iit"^r'"^p'-^«*°
two children^ who were ph^^S^r^^ „f ^!f^ ^^^ at the
oovering his head with his Ai^ r/^^°"'"*"""'-I'^<'
««hten her, then r-pW^t^ia^^to^rhL'shf ^ if
880
ROMOLA.
The door was a little behind Tessa, and she did not turn
round when it opened, thinking it was only the old woman;
expectation was no longer alive. Eomola had thrown aside
her veil and paujed a moment, holding the necklace in sight
Then she said, in that pure voice that used to cheer her
father, —
"Tessa I"
Tessa started to her feet and looked round.
"See," said Bomola, clasping the beads on Tessa's neck,
"Ood has sent me to yon again."
The poor thing screamed and sobbed, and clung to the arms
that fastened the necklace. She could not speak. The two
ohiliren came from their comer, laid hold of their mother's
skirts, and looked up with wide eyes at Bomola.
That day they all went home to Monna Brigida's, in the
Borgo degli Albizzi. Bomola had made known to Tessa by
gentle degrees that Naldo could never come to her again : not
because he was cruel, but because he was dead.
" But be comforted, my Tessa, " said Eomola. « I am come
to take care of you always. And we have got LiUo and
Niuna."
Monr<\ Brigida's mouth twitched in the struggle between
her awo ut Bomola and the desire to speak unseasonably.
"Let be, for the present," she thought; "but it seeJis to
me a thousand years till I tell this littie oontadina, who seems
not to know how many fingers she's got on her hand, who
Eomola is. And I wiU teU her some day, else she'll never
know her place. It's all very weU for Bomola;— nobody wUl
call their souls their own when she's by; but if I'm to have
this puss-faoed mini living in my house she must be humble
to me."
However, Monna Brigida wanted to give the children too
many sweets for their supper, and confessed to Bomola, the
last thing before going to bed, that it would be a shame not
to t ke care of such cherubs.
" iiut you must give up to me a Uttle, Eomola, about their
eating, and those things. For you ha.-e never had a baby,
and I had twins, only they died as soon as th«y were bom."
B ^
THE 0OHFB88ION.
Ml
CHAPTER LXXi.
taa coirvBsaioir.
mind had been, wroueht to i^t^ ^*' «^*' "^«<y on her
u. print of JVa oSo^aSort'Sr' 'f *?^ ^^'''^^"-
d™wn from him by the sit^ ^,"'*" °^ ">« confessions
fioned to interrogate him %^_f """t^^e citizens commis-
»«.ed by order of the sTgnoS hiH^^nV^ "'" ''°«»»><"'t.
expressions of p„bUo sS^n anH ^ "' ^°^ ""'"' '^^8
measures were iLnediateNZen^„t'^'T''°'^ **"* «"»«
tter^werecopiesaooidSy^Sa^^ IT^*'*-. °^ '^"''^
by order of the Signon^iT^"^ X'^''^'^'^"' ""*
readers. ".was soon in the hands of eager
judge it by some clearer ifrVT?,""'' T^' d-^Wng to
Bions that were taking tte foL „7 "'!J'°"t'«dictory impres-
both partisans and Z^L ""'*°°' ^ '^o """"'bs of
«.ty*trtot:::::*rrxtr'^ahiswantofcon-
kad produced a owwtenmtion^^ , ° °* P™P^«"« "laims,
placed as it ultimat^ w« by ^„ ^"'^"""'^ *° ^ "* ""oo <ii«-
into a positive datuZ, Tt 4^3'°"' J^'"5 ^°" S^*''
were in inexplicable o^ntrad^tioTto It • ^°'?t °* ^^ ''""h
not come from the lips ofXT^ w ^^ *"* « ^im, had
pen of Ser Ceccone, thafn^tL^^? ^ ''"* *™"' '^'^ ^'^^m
the digest of the V^^^ %TtuT''' ''° ""^^^
that at once threw discredit on th« *l'«™7f e obvious facts
not the list of sixteen exZ^^nT^^^P™''"^ ^T""^'- Was
bitterest enemies? Was3rt!.'"*'^*"P°^*be prophet's
tbenew Eight prematoei;1lSted t"7 ""f" 'P^' '« °'
IMfainst a man whose ruin LSnJ«™L*° ^°^^ '^' -J'™
« power? It was but a muZ- 1'^ T*^ f "^^ '^-^ ?«%
was being transacted in C d pl^^tf ■"''"'''.'' *'"''
^«"aoe. The Signoria had
083
ROHOL^
i
naolyed to drive a good baigain with the Pope tnd the Dnke
of Milan, by extinguishing the man who was as great a molee-
tation to vicious oitiiens and greedy foreign tyrants a« to a
corrupt clergy. The Frate had been doomed beforehand,
and the only question that was pretended to exist now was,
whether the Republic, in return for a permission to ky a tax
on eoolesiastioal property, should deliver him alive into the
hands of the Pope, or whether the Pope should further con-
cede to the Republic what its dignity demanded— the privilege
of hanging and burning its own prophet on its own piazza.
Who, under such oiroumstances, would give full credit to
this so-called confession? If the Frate had denied his pro-
phetic gift, the denial had only been wrenched from him by
the agony of torture— agony that, in his sensitive frame, must
quickly produce raviiw. What if these wicked examiners de-
clared that he had only had the torture of the rope and pull^
thrice, and only on one day, and that his confessions had been
made when he was under no bodily coercion- was that to be
believed? He had been tortured much more ; he had been tor-
tured in proportion to the distress his confessions had created
in the hearts of those who loved him.
Other friends of Savonarola, who were less ardent parti-
sans, did not doubt the substantial genuineness of the confes-
sion, however it might have been colored by the transpositions
and additions of the notary; but they argued indignantiy that
there was nothing which could warrant a condemnation to
death, or even to grave punishment. It must be clear to all
impartial me-' that if this examination represented the only
eivdence against the Frate, he would die, not for any crime,
but because he- had made himself inconvenient to the Pope, to
the rapacious Italian States that wanted to dismember their
Tuscan neighbor, and to those unworthy citizens who sought
to gratify their private ambition in opposition to the common
weal.
Not a shadow of political crime had been proved against
him. Not one stain had been detected on his private conduct :
his fellow-monks, including one who had formerly been his
secretary for several years, and who, with more than the aver-
age culture of his companions, had a disposition to criticise
THB CONTBSSION. gff
fV* Oirolamo's rule aa Prior hni> t-^tj^.-.
«id poS w^Jlf^*^ " ■" "'•*"«" °'l *« ecclesi«tio.l
Neyertheless euoh shrewd men were forced to admit th.t
predetermined aa an aot of nnlinv «,. _ . ^"
a«in«t a.,™. 1 P°™y> tne measures of the Pone
:« ^reted'^'ir"' ^"^"^^ *^« S ton^h
meant, that he would "otSri^r T"""^^ '"'?* ^^
Ufe and death struggle bet:^'^;^;^ ^dTe""C? t
po;"s eisr '^"^ ^^°— Bhor js^eSif s
Bomola's ears were fflW m this way with the suggestions
'■r
"•• ROMOLA..
erf a faith still ardent under its woondi, and the luggeethnw
of worldly diioeniment, judging things aooording tok a repy
moderate standard of what is possible to human nature. Slw
could be satisfied with neither. She brought to her long medi-
tations over that printed document many painful obserrations,
registered more or less consciously through the years of her
discipleship, which whispered a presentiment that Savcmarola'a
retractation of his prophetic claims wos not merely a spas-
modic effort to escape from torture. But, n the other hand,
her soul cried out for some explanation of his lapses which
would make it still possible for her to believe that the main
striving of his life had been pure and grand. The recent
memory of the selfish discontent which had come over her like
& blighting wind, along with the loss of her trust in the man
who had been for her an incarnation of the highest motives
had produced a reaction which is known to many as a sort of
faith that has sprung up to them out of the very depths of
their despair. It was impossible, she said now, that the nega-
tive disbelieving thoughts which had made her soul arid of all
good, could be founded in the truth of things : impossible that
It had not been a living spirit, and no hollow pretence, which
had once breathed in the Frate's words, and kindled a new
life in her. Whatever falsehood there had been in him
had been a fall and not a purpose; a gradual entanglement ik
which he struggled, not a contrivance encouraged by success.
Looking at the printed confessions, she saw many sentences
which bore the stamp of bungling fabrication: they had that
emphasis and repetition in self-accusation which none but very '
low hypocrites use to their feUow-nien. But the fact that
these sentences were in striking opposition, not only to the '
character of Savonarola, but also to the general tone of the
confessions, strengthened the impression that the rest of the
text represented in the main what had really faUen from his
hps. Hardly a word was dishonorable to him except what
turned on bis prophetic annunciations. He was unvarying in
his statement of the ends he had pursued for Florenoe, the
Church, and the woridj and, apart from the mixture of falsity
in that claim to special inspiration by which he sought to gain
hold of men's minds, there was no admission of having used
THE COSrasSION. gfg
get myself made a Cardinal o?Pol T ? "f """"K^** '°
achieved the wo'k I h^rf i^^ ^' t°'J'''*" ^ '^""'•^ ''"^e
*»-i^ . ^rj-tsa SI':?.'' -"* ■" ' ■^•^
That blending of ambition with belief in ti.. .
that h« J T""'" "^-'1 toconoeiyegreat things, and to f^
that he was the man to do them. Iniquitv shonM kT k T!
SM
ROMOLA.
J
I
malted in the MnM of th* UnipMlubla, tnd in that put of
lii« cxpariMiM Uy Um elamenU of genuine aelf -abMemeat ; b ,t
in tlie pretence of liii feUowm«i for whom he ww to tot, pre*
eminence leemed a neoesaary condition of hia life.
And perhapt thii oonfeMion, even when it detoribed a
doublenesa that waa conioioua and deliberate, really implied
no more than that wayering of belief concerning hia own im-
preuioot and motiTeii which moat human beinga who hare not
• atupid inflexibUity of eelf-oonfldenoe mutt be liable to under
a marked change of external oonditiona. In a life where the
experience waa lo tomultuouily mixed u it must have been in
the Frate'g, what a poaaibility was opened for a change of self-
judgment, when, instead of eyee that venerated and kneea that
knelt, instead of a great work on ito way to accomplishment^
and in its prosperity stamping the agent aa a chosen inttm-
ment, there came the hooting and the spitting and the onnea
of the crowd ; and then the hard faces of enemies made jndgea •
and then the horrible torture, and with the torture the irre^
pressible cry, " It is true, what you would have me say : let
me go: do not torture me again: yes, yes, I am guilty. O
OodI Thy stroke has reached me I "
As Bomola thought of the anguish that must have fbllowed
the confession— whether, in the subsequent solitude of the
prison, conscience retracted or confirmed the self -taxing worda
—that anguish seemed to be pressing on her own heart and
urging the slow bitter tears. Every vulgar self-ignorant per-
son in Florence was glibly pronouncing on this man's de-
merits, while h» was knowing a depth of sorrow which can
only be known to the soul that has loved and sought the most
perfect thing, and beholds itself fallen.
She had not then seen— what she saw afterward— the evi-
dence of the Prate's mental staie after he had had thus to lay
hia mouth in the dust As the days went by, the reports of
new unpublished examirations, eliciting no change of confes-
sions, ceased; Sa- onarola was left alone in his prison and al-
lowed pen and ink for a while, that, if he liked, he might use
his poor bruised and strained right arm to write with. He
wrote ; but what he wrote was no vindication of his innocence,
no protest against the proceedings used toward him: it waa
THl OOMTKasiOIf. W7
• oontinuaa ooUoquy with that dirine purity with which h«
wugHt oomplate nanioni it w«i tha outpouring of lelf-abMc-
mmt j it wu one long cry for inward renovation. No linger-
ing eohoM of the old vehement telf-aiMrtion, "Look at my
"""J^ ..,5 *" »°°^' "^ **"»• "^o •«* their faces againit it
aw the children of the denl I " The voice of Sadness tells him.
«od placed thee in the midst of the people even as if thou
hadst been one of the excellent In this way thou bast taught
others, and hast faUed to learn thyself. Thou ha«t cured
others: and thou thyseU hast been still diseased. Thy heart
»T'!* i u"P f "" '*'"*^ °' *^y "'^ <'~'J». •"<» through
this thou hast lost thy wisdom and art become, and shalt be
»•• w •'•""^' ""tl'wg- •.. After so many benefits with
which God has honored thee, thou art fallen into the depths
rf the sea; and after so many gifts bestowed on thee, thou,
^ thy pride and vainglory, hast scandalized all the worid "
And when Hope speaks and argues that the divine love has
not forsaken him, it says nothing now of a great work to be
done, but only says, " Thou are not forsaken, else why U thy
heart bowed in penitence? That too is a gift"
Tliere is no jot of woriiy evidence that from the time of
nis imprisonment to the supreme moment, Savonarola thought
OT spoke of himself as a martyr. The idea of martyrdom b»d
ftsen to him a passion dividing the dream of the future with
the triumph of beholding his work achieved. And now, in
place of both, had come a resignation which he oaUed by no
glorifying name.
But thmsfore he ma;, the more fitly he called a martyr by hit
feUowmen to all time. For power rose against him not be-
cause of his sins, but because of his greatness-not because
he sought to deceive the world, but because he sought to make
It noble. And through that greatness of his he endured a
double agony : not onl, the reviling, and the tort^, and the
death-throe, but the agony of sinking from the vision of glori-
ous achievement into that deep shadow where he could only
say, "I count as nothing: darkness encompasses me: yet the
light I saw was the true light"
588
ROHOLA.
CHAPTER LXXn.
THB LAST SILKHOB.
^MOi^ had seemed to hear, as if they had bi«n « «« ti.-
sanes, charged with the completion of SavonMola"' WaT ^
^ate. decep^nat"^rS^^i"o7mr»^^^^ S
£torv^^rir?i-rer-d^-
:tLS'*a^sstni"^s:t£^-*jr^^^-
wordn ■^^„.*.j i • ^ . "***' *■"' m Dnef passionate
IZ^^^T ■ *".<»Vi»^. declared that he had spoken
I hl^tt^tL'o.Sr''-"^'*""'^*^"-'^^
l,«™'"'V'"'iT*'"' *"'*'"'""« ^^ »P°n him, and when
he was mider .t he was asked why he had utte«d ttosT^
nothing but confessions of guUt were held a reason for rele:!
from torture. The answer oame : « I said it ^7^7^
good; tear me no more, I wUl teU you the truth." *
There were Florentine assessors at this new trial, and those
THB LAST 8ILEN0B. 089
^™1°' 'r?^*^ retractation had soon spread. They fiUed
Bomola with dismayed uncertainty ^
.h'»"i*"~'* ^^!^ '^'"' her-" there wUl come a moment
wt K ..r^/P^-. ^o" there is no dread han^g o^*
him but the dread of falsehood, when they have bS hiL
Mn^r him from speal.n« a St tis^e t:^*^7;ri*
Three days after, on the twenty-third of May. 1498 th^™.
was again a long narrow platform stretching wr^th^ ^
p.««, from the Palazzo Vecohio toward t^Te^de' S
t^^ ^,*° tmncated to avoid tha resembhmce
On the marble terrace of the Palazzo were thren fHh,. i
one near the door for the Bishop, WhZL^^r^^r^'
monyof degradation on Pra Gi^W^dtKwT S^Zn"
for the Papal Commissaries, who were to pronounce them
heretics ana schismatics, and deliver them overT X ^Z
tararm; and a third, close to Marzocco, at the comer ofTe
A^fi^.J^^''*"' *° P^oo^oe the sentence of death
th«tf ^^ ^"^ "■" *^~"8ed with expectant faces a«ain
there was to be a great fire kindled. In tte mai„^^„?*^
mwd that pressed around the gibbef th^^Son wJ
ttat of ferocious hatred, or of mere hard ouriosirto b^holl"
barbarous sight. But there were still many sneLto™ „n «.
as hypocritical Piagnoni, were not without a lingeriuR ^0™
even at this eleventh hour, that God would interS,y so^e
^ to manifest their beloved prophet as His s^ ^ Tl
thwe were yet more who looked forward with tremhUng e^
S90
BOXOtA.
,'• f
eniMs, as Bomola did, to that final moment wlien SaTonanda
might say, " O people, 1 was innooent of deceit."
Bomola was at a window on the north side of the Fi^usa,
far away from the marble terrace where the tribnnals stood-
and near her, also looking on in painful doubt concerning the
man who had won his early reverence, was a young Roren-
bne of two-and-twenty, named Jaoopo Nardi, afterward to
deserve honor as one of the very few who, feeling Fra Giro-
lamo's eminence, have written about him with the simple de-
sue to be veracious. He had said to Bomola, with respectful
gentleness, when he saw the struggle in her between her shud-
denng horror of the scene and her yearning to witness what
might happen in the last moment,
"Madonna, there is no need for you to look at these cruel
ttmgs. I wiU teU y^u when he comes out of the Palazzo.
Trust to me; I know what you would see."
Bomola covered her face, but the hootings that seemed to
make the hideous scene stUl visible could not be shut out.
At last her arm was touched, and she heard the words, "He
comes." She looked toward the Palace, and could see Savon-
wola led out in his Dominican garb; could see him standing
brfore the Bishop, and being stripped of the black mantle, the
white scapulary, and long white tunic, till he stood in a dose
woollen under-tunic that told of no sacred office, no rsnk. He
had been degraded, and out off from the Church MiUtant.
The baser part of the multitade delight in degradations,
apart from any hatred; it is the satire they best understand.
There was a fresh hoot of triumph as the three degraded
brethren passed on to the tribunal of the Papal Commissaries,
who were to pronounce them schismatics and heretics. Did
not the prophet look like a schismatic and heretic now? It
IB easy to believe in the damnable state of a man who stands
stripped and degraded.
Then the third tribunal was passed— that of the Florentine
officials wV were to pronounce sentence, and amongst whom,
even at her distance, Bomola could discern the odious figure
of Dolfo Spini, indued in the grave black lucco, as one of the
Eight.
Then the three figures, in their close white raiment, trod
THB LABT StLBSOE. 591
^^r long th. pUtfo™, amidst yelU and grating tones
v.iL^UrSriTeta.^otTl^r'"''^- «-
wh!t *£ w^.'Zl.rr \"^I-*«*i«" diH and she only sa.
^^..a. w.t '^ trfS^-:rsr s
ROHOLA.
I ■
EPILOGUE.
Oh fte evening of the twenty-second of May, 1C09, five per-
nVL "'"'^ '• ^^^ ^-^ something, wire se^
i^ rit^ iTT "P^' T"". *'P'^8 °° *° " l°8gia which, at
ite nght-hand comer, looked aU along the Borgo PintTand
ondt.^ **** **""* ^'"*''*' ""^ "'^ ^^'^ ^e^*' ^
At one end of the room was an archway opening into a nar-
row inner room, hardly more than a recess, where the light fell
from above on a small altar covered with fair white linen.
Over tte altar was a p,cture, discernible at the distance where
the 1 ttle party sat only as the small full-length portrait of a
Dommican Brother. For it was shaded from tiie^S aWe
by overhangmg branches and wreaths of flowers, and the fresh
tapers below it were unlit. But it seemed that the decoration
or tne altar and its recess was not complete. For part of the
floor was strewn with a confusion of flowers and green boughs.
«.d among them sat a deUcate blue-eyed girl of thirteen, toss-
ing her long hght-brown hair out of her eyes, as she made se-
leobons for the wreaths she was weaving, or looked uTat h«
motiier s work m the same kind, and told her how to do it
with a little air of instruction.
For that mother was not very clever at weaving flowers or
adro t with the years-only very much fatter. She got on
dowly and turned her head about a good deal, and asked
Ninna s opinion with much deference; for Tessa never ceased
to be astonished at the wisdom of her children. She still
wore her contadina gown: it was only broader than the old
one; and there was the silver pin in her rough curly brown
hair, and round her neck the memorable necklace, witt a red
cord under it, that ended mysteriously in her bosom. Her
l^.r *"'\'»'^™ even a more perfect look of childish con-
tent than in her younger days : everybody was so good in the
worid, Tessa thought; even Monna Brigida never found fault
with her now, and did little else than sleep, which was an
aPILOOCX. 893
»mtaWe prwtioe in eveiybody, and one that T«,„ liked for
Monna Brigida was aileep at thi. moment, in a etraight-
KThk-'^nr *"" ^^\^o< tad that soft whitenis which
w1,h1 I \°l ^^^« *'•*- I'"* " """Ply the lovely
whiteness of aged hair. Her ohin had sunk on her W.™
and her hands rested on the elbow JTer cWr She iS^i
bee|. w^vmg flowers or doing anything else: she had o^y
rt^rJl .u **^™ ''*'* "***«d f«*her off, at the wide
ground with his back against the angle of the doorpost,
and his long legs stretched onl, while he held a lax^ Ck
open on his knee, and occasionally maue a dash with Ws
T^u V u"""**^ •"? *^ ^«'y Prioto'i oopy of Petraroh
i^i^i byt«r " " °"« ^^' - " ''^ '- '-^«
ingr^»-Sfl-\rhet-^^^^^
were fixed absently on the distant mountains^ X iL ZT-
denUy unconscious of anything around her. An eZ Me
stmk a Me, tte gdden crown was less massive: but there
waa a placidi^ ^ uomola's face which had never belonge"
to It m youth. It is but once that we can know o^
worst sorrows, and Eomola had known them whUe liflww
h.:f ^'^.'", *^^ "'l^' ^° "«» "°* »* fi"t """o that LUlo
had ceased to ook at his book, and was watohing her witt a
slighter impatient air, which meant that he wanted to tTt^
^Lr\ * '" V"* '^*'^*' "^'^ ''°°W lik» that ente^
fl^attr r''-, ^"i P'"''-""^ looks make themselvM
felt at last. Bomola did presently turn away her eyes from
the distance and met Lillo's impatient dirk gai witt a
brighter and brighter smile. He shuffled along the floorstiU
k^mg the book on his lap, till he got close to w' anS
lodged JUS ohm on her knee
QO
5M
BOKOLA.
«™ ttn ■ w""" J" ' ^'"'*~""' 1»^ b«t hi. fe.ta«.
were turning out to be more mawiTe and leu reaular th^
h«father'.. The blood of the Tu««n peZtTi in iS
te,!l!?TAJ!^°'°'"' '^*"" I t° »«?" he .aid, weU con-
tmted that there wu a prospect of talking till it would be too
late to oon"SpirtogentU» any longer. «"<»"<» be too
"What .hould yon like to be, LiUo? You miffht be a
a great deal That 1. the rea«.n why I can teach you!^
w • ; "' .1.*"^ '^°' ""^" ''eoitatingly. « But he i. old and
bl^d in the picture. Did he get a great deal of glory? »
toZ T^ ""°- "^' ""'^^ '" "°* I'"/' v»y kind
I^^ ' ^ T "*""" °"^ *^»" ''™««« Pnt into higher
And then hi. dear «,n thought it right to leave him and be-
wl%T \w ^\^*' '^y fetl«'. being blind Z
lonely, felt unable to do the things that would hiTve made hi.
earning of greater use to men, so that he might .till have
lived in his works after he was in his grave "
"I should not like that sort of life," said Lillo. "Ishould
like to be something that would make me a great man. and
v»y happy besides-Mmething tha* would not hindei me
trom having a good deal of pleasure."
" That is not easy, my Lillo. It is only a poor sort of hao-
piness that could ever come by caring very much about oai
own narrow pleasures. We can only hive the highest happi-
ness, TOch as goes along with being a great man, by ha^«
wide thoughts, and much feeling for the rest of the world, a^
weU a. ourselves; and this sort of happiness often brings so
much pain with it, that we can only teU it from pain by its
beingwhat we would choose before everything else, because our
souls see it is good. There are so many things wror , and diffi-
cult in the worid, that no man can be great-he can hardly keep
himself from wickedness-unles. he gives up thinking much
about pleasure or rewards, and gets strength to endure what
I. hard and pamful. My father had the greatness Jiat be-
longs to mtegnty ; he chose poverty and obscurity ratier tiian
IPILOOUX. J9g
kt!^' ^^ *""" "" ^ Girolamo-yott know why I
" » uie (pent in strugglmg against powerful wronir and i^
SLTrnTLUlaV ""^ "•«""' '^' '^^^ - 5.bto"
«^ i.\L.^?. *^ " y** ™*»" to aot nobly and seek to Vn„J
albert aiing. God h„ put within reacj:;l:''y^„i^'^
"" ROHOI^
•bn«ei you fttt dmdng the »ltM, Md thinkin. K) mudiirf »,
QixoUmo, «.d y« he bring, you the flowwT? «>•»'«*««»
pie wnaTotLrr^a j.^;^s!.Tir »-
l^Sir^^ '- ^ i^ ^e h«i not^'^iSs'i.ts r;:
^'"'^ I
r good pao-
lould nerer
whan I wM