Gerald Fitzgerald: The Chevalier Part 5

'Is Mrs. Mary to be intrusted with the secret?' said the Fra timidly.

'No; not now at least.' The Prince sat down, and leaned his forehead on his hand in thought. At length he said: 'The boy will ask you, in all likelihood, whither you are leading him. You must say that a countryman of his own, a man of some influence, and who knew his friends, desires to see and speak with him. That he is one with whom he may be frank and open-hearted; free to tell whatever he feels; whether he likes his present life or seeks to change it. He is to address me as the Count, and be careful yourself to give me no higher t.i.tle. I believe I have said all.'

'If Kelly asks me what was my business with your Royal Highness?'

'Ay; well thought of. Say it was a matter of charity; and take these few crowns, that you may show him as you pa.s.s out.'

'Well, did you succeed?' asked Kelly, as the poor friar, flushed and excited from the emotion of his interview, entered the antechamber.

'I did indeed; and may the saints in heaven stand to _you_ for the same!

It 's a good work you done, and you 'll have your reward!'

'Egad,' cried Kelly, in a tone of levity, 'if I had any friends among the saints, I must have tried their patience pretty hard these last eight or nine years; but who is this Mary Fitzgerald--I just caught the name on the paper?'

'She's--she's--she's--a countrywoman of our own,' stammered out Fra Luke, while he moved uneasily from foot to foot, and fumbled with his hands up the sleeves of his robe.

'It was lucky for you, then, we were just talking about Ireland before you went in. He was saying how true and staunch the Irish always showed themselves.'

'And does he talk of them times?' asked the Fra in astonishment.

'Ay, by the hour. Sometimes it's breaking day before I go to bed, he telling me about all his escapes and adventures. I could fill a book with stories of his.'

'Musha! but I'd like to hear them,' cried Luke with honest enthusiasm.

'Come up here, then--let me see what evening--it mustn't be Tuesday--nor Wednesday--maybe, indeed, I won't be back before Friday. Oh, there's the bell now; that's for _me,_' cried he; and before he could fix the time he hurried off to the Prince's chamber.

CHAPTER V. AFTER DARK

It was a long and weary day to the poor friar, watching for that Tuesday evening when he should appear at the gate of the Jesuits' College and ask for the young Fitzgerald. He felt, too, as though some amount of responsibility had been imposed on him to which he was unequal. It seemed to his simple intelligence as if it were a case that required skill and dexterity. The rector might possibly ask this, or wish to know that; and then, how was he to respect the secrecy he had pledged to the Prince? or was he to dare to deceive the great president of the college?

Supposing, too, all these difficulties over, what of the youth himself?

How should he answer the inquiries he was certain to make--whither he was going---with what object--and to whom? Greater than all these personal cares was his anxiety that the boy should please his Royal Highness; that the impression he made should be favourable; that his look and bearing might interest the Prince and ensure his future advancement. Let us own that Fra Luke had his grave misgivings on this score. From all he could pick up through the servitors of the convent, Gerald was a wild, headstrong youth, constantly 'in punishment,' and regarded by the superiors as the great instigator of every infraction to the discipline of the college. 'What will a prince think of such an unruly subject?' was the sad question the simple-hearted friar ever posed to himself. 'And if the rector only send a report of him, he'll have no chance at all.' With this sorrowful thought he brought his reflections to a close; and, taking out his beads, set himself vigorously to implore the intercession of the saints in a cause intrusted to hands so weak and unskilful as his own.

The grim old gate of the college, flanked with its two low towers, looked gloomy enough as the evening closed in. The little aperture, too, through which questions were asked or answered, was now shut up for the night, and all intercourse with the world without suspended. The Fra had yet a full hour to wait, and he was fain to walk briskly to and fro, to warm his blood, chilled by the cold wind that came over the Campagna.

For a while the twinkling of a stray light, high up in the building, set him a-thinking where the cell of the boy might be; gradually these lights disappeared, and all was wrapped in gloom and darkness, when suddenly the chapel became illuminated, and the rich, full swell of an organ toned out its solemn sounds on the still night. The brief prelude over, there followed one of those glorious old chants of the church which combine a strain of intense devotion with a highly exalted poetic feeling. In a perfect flood of harmony the sounds blended, until the very air seemed to hold them suspended. They ceased; and then, like the softest melody of a flute, a young voice arose alone, and, soaring upward, uttered a pa.s.sage of seraphic sweetness. It was as though the song of some angelic spirit, telling of hope and peace; and, as a long, thrilling shake concluded the strain, the loud thunder of the organ and the full swell of the choir closed the service. The moment after, all was silent and in darkness.

Bell after bell, from the great city beneath, tolled out seven o'clock; and Fra Luke knocked modestly at the gate of the college. His visit appeared to have been expected, for he was admitted at once and conducted to the large hall, which formed the waiting-room of the college. The friar had not long to wait; for scarcely had he taken his seat when the door opened, and young Fitzgerald appeared. Advancing with an easy air, and a degree of gracefulness that contrasted strangely with his poverty-struck dress, the boy said, 'I am told you wish to speak to me, father.'

'Are you Gerald Fitzgerald, my son?' asked Fra Luke softly.

'Yes; that's my name.'

The Fra looked at the beaming face and the bright blue eyes, soft in their expression as a girl's, and the dimpled cheek, over which a slight flush was mantling, and wondered to himself could this be the wild, reckless youth they called him?--had they not been calumniating that fine and simple nature? So deeply was the Fra impressed with this sentiment that he forgot to continue the interrogatory, and stood gazing with admiration on him.

'Well, said the boy, smiling good-humouredly, 'what is your business with me, for it is nigh bed-time, and I must be going?'

'It was _your_ voice I heard in the solo a few minutes ago,' cried the Fra eagerly; 'I know it was. It was _you_ who sang the

'Virgo virginum praeclara, Mihi jam non sis amara?'

'Yes, yes,' said the youth, reddening. 'But what of that? You never came here to-night to ask me this question.'

'True enough,' said the Fra, sighing painfully--less, indeed at the rebuke than the hot-tempered tone of the boy as he spoke it. 'I came here to-night to fetch you along with me, to see one who was a friend of your family long, long ago; he has heard of you here, and wishes to see and speak with you. He is a person of great rank and high station, so that you will show him every deference, and demean yourself toward him respectfully and modestly; for he means you well, Gerald; he will befriend you.'

'But what need have I of his friends.h.i.+p or his good offices?' said the youth, growing deadly pale as he spoke. 'Look at this serge gown--see this cap--they can tell you what I am destined for. I shall be a priest one of these days, Fra; and what has a priest to do with ties of affection or friends.h.i.+p?'

'Oh! for the blessed Joseph's sake,' whispered the Fra, 'be careful what you say. These are terrible words to speak--and to speak them here, too,' added he, as he threw his eyes over the walls of the room.

'Is this man a cardinal?'

'No,' said the Fra; 'he is a layman, and a count.'

'Better that; had he been a cardinal, I 'd not have gone. Whenever the old cardinal, Caraffa, comes here, I'm sure to have a week's punishment; and I hate the whole red-stockinged race----'

'There, there--let us away at once,' whispered the Fra. 'Such discourse as this will bring misfortune upon us both.'

'Have you the superior's permission for my going out with you?' asked Gerald.

'Yes; I have his leave till eleven o'clock--we shall be back here before that time.'

'I'm sorry for it,' said the boy sternly. 'I'd like to think I was crossing that old courtyard there for the last time.'

'You will be cold, my poor boy,' said the friar, 'with no other covering but that light frock; but we shall find a carriage as we go along.'

'No, no, no,' cried the boy eagerly. 'Let us walk, Fra; let us walk, and see everything. It's like one of the old fairy tales nurse used to tell me long ago--to see the city all alight thus, and the troops of people moving on, and all these bright shops with the rich wares so temptingly displayed. Ah! how happy must they be who can wander at will among all these--exchanging words and greetings, and making brotherhood with their fellows! See, Fra--see!' cried he, 'what is it comes yonder, with all the torches, and the men in white?'

'It is some great man's funeral, my child. Let us say a _Pax eterna_,'

and he fumbled for his beads as he spoke.

'Let us follow them,' said the boy; 'they are bearing the catafalque into that small church--how grand and solemn it all is!' and now, attaching himself to the long line of acolytes, the boy walked step for step with the procession, mingling his clear and liquid notes in the litany they were chanting. While he sang with all the force of intense expression, it was strange to mark how freely his gaze wandered over all the details of the scene--his keen eyes scrutinised everything--the costumes, the looks, the gestures of all; the half tawdry splendour below--the dim and solemn grandeur of the Gothic roof overhead. If there was nothing of levity, as little was there anything of reverence in his features. The sad scene, with all its trappings of woe, was a spectacle, and no more, to him; and, as he turned away to leave the spot, his face betrayed the desire he felt for some new object of interest. Nor had he long to search for such; for, just as they entered the Piazza di Spagna, they found a dense crowd gathered around a group of those humble musicians from Calabria--the Pifferari, they call them--stunted in form, and miserably clad: these poor creatures, whose rude figures recall old pictures of the ancient Pan, have a wonderful attraction for the populace. They were singing some wild, rude air of their native mountains, accompanying the refrain with a sort of dance, while their uncouth gestures shook the crowd with laughter.

'Oh! I love these fellows, but I never have a chance of seeing them,'

cried the boy; so bursting away, he dashed into the thick of the a.s.sembled throng. It was not without a heartfelt sense of shame that the poor friar found himself obliged to follow his charge, whom he now began to fear might be lost to him.

'Per Bacco! cried one of the crowd, 'here's a Frate can't resist the charms of profane melody, and is elbowing his way, like any sinner, among us.'

'It's the cachuca he wants to see,' exclaimed another; 'come, Marietta, here's a connoisseur worth showing your pretty ankles to.'

'By the holy rosary!' cried a third, 'she is determined on the conquest.'

This outburst was caused by the sudden appearance of a young girl, who, though scarcely more than a child, bore in her a.s.sured look and flas.h.i.+ng eyes all the appearances of more advanced years. She was a deep brunette in complexion, to which the scarlet cloth that hung from her black hair gave additional brilliancy. Her jupe, of the same colour, recrossed and interlaced with tawdry gold tinsel, came only to the knee, below which appeared limbs that many a Roman statuary had modelled, so perfect were they in every detail of symmetry and beauty. Her whole air was redolent of that _beaute du diable_, as the French happily express it, which seems never to appeal in vain to the sympathies of the populace. It was girlhood, almost childlike girlhood, but dashed with a conscious effrontery that had braved many a libertine stare--many a look significant in coa.r.s.eness.

With one wild spring she bounded into the open s.p.a.ce, and there she stood now on tiptoe, her arms extended straight above her head, while with clasped hands she remained motionless, so that every line and lineament of her faultless figure might be surveyed in unbroken symmetry.

'Ah carina--che bellezza! come e graziosa!' broke from those who, corrupt, debased, and degraded in a hundred ways as they were, yet inherited that ancient love of symmetry in form which the games and the statues of antique Rome had fostered. With a graceful ease no ballarina of the grand opera could have surpa.s.sed, she glided into those slow and sliding movements which precede the dance--movements meant to display the graces of form, without the intervention of action. Gradually, however, the time of the music grew quicker, and now her heightened colour and more flas.h.i.+ng eye bespoke how her mind lent itself to the measure. The dance was intended to represent the coy retirings of a rustic beauty from the advances of an imaginary lover; and, though she was alone, so perfectly did she convey the storied interest of the scene, that the enraptured audience could trace every sentiment of the action. At one moment her gestures depicted the proudest insolence and disdain; at the next a half-yielding tenderness--now, it was pa.s.sion to the very verge of madness--now, it was a soul-subduing softness, that thrilled through every heart around her. Incapable, as it seemed, of longer resisting the solicitations of love, her wearied steps grew heavier, her languid head drooped, and a look of voluptuous waywardness appeared to steal over her. Wherever her eye turned a murmured sigh acknowledged how thoroughly the captivation held enthralled every bosom around, when suddenly, with a gesture that seemed like a cry--so full of piercing agony it seemed--she dashed her hands across her forehead and stared with aching eye-b.a.l.l.s into vacancy,--it was jealousy: the terrible pang had shot through her heart, and she was wild. The horrible transitions from doubt to doubt, until full conviction forced itself upon her, were given with extraordinary power. Over her features, in turn, pa.s.sed every expression of pa.s.sion. The heartrending tenderness of love--the clinging to a lost affection--the straining effort to recall him who had deserted her--the black bitterness of despair--and then, with a wild spring, like the bound of a tiger, she counterfeited a leap over a precipice to death!