r 
 
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 Mi
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 AT LOS ANGELES 
 
 THE GIFT OF 
 
 MAY TREAT MORRISON 
 
 IN MEMORY OF 
 
 ALEXANDER F MORRISON
 
 * 
 
 FOND ADVENTURES
 
 Fond Adventures 
 
 Tales of the Youth of the World 
 
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 > , J ^ 3 J , J 
 
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 BY 
 
 MAURICE HEWLETT 
 
 O gran contrasto in giovenil pensiero, 
 Desir di laude, ed impeto il' Amore ! 
 
 Orlando Furioso, xxv. I. 
 
 , ", ''^ ' > 1 3 3 J 
 
 Hontion 
 
 MACMILLAN AND CO., Limited 
 
 y?// rigAts reserved
 
 c C C^ C t < 
 
 Copyright in the United States of America. 
 
 MORRISON Mrr/oRfAL LIBRARY
 
 fl3 
 
 a 
 
 ADVERTISEMENT 
 
 Of these four tales three have appeared before : 
 ' The Heart's Key ' and ' Buondelmonte's Saga ' in 
 Harper s Magazine^ and ' Brazenhead the Great ' 
 (under the title of ' The Fond Adventure ') in the 
 Cornhill. ' The Love Chase ' has not been printed 
 until now. 
 
 
 438108
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Heart's Key ....... i 
 
 Brazenhead the Great . . . . . . 35 
 
 Buondelmonte's Saga . . . . . • H3 
 
 The Love Chase ....... 229
 
 THE HEART'S KEY 
 
 B
 
 i J 3 ) 
 
 THE HEART'S KEY 
 
 {To the Tune of-A lafontatia del vergier ') 
 
 It is a tale of love and lovers which they tell, 
 saying that in the hill-country of Toulouse is to 
 be found the walled city of Ventadorn with its 
 castle and long church. Sir Simon was lord of it, 
 a vavasour of good Count Raimon's in the days 
 before his fall. The city towered over two valleys, 
 and the castle over it ; there this old vavasour lived, 
 and kept great state once upon a time, with men- 
 at-arms for his walls, and minstrels, chamberlains, 
 pages, and esquires to make cheer within doors. 
 But the days had worsened : his wife was dead, 
 his son Sir Bernart was in the service of King John 
 of England — Landless they called that king, who 
 tricked his father, and was tricked himself; now 
 all that remained to Simon of Ventadorn were his 
 two handsome daughters. Lady Saill and Lady 
 Tibors. 
 
 3
 
 4 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 , , . ;If I v/ere to relc< te all that the troubadours found 
 to sing of these ladies, I should weary myself and 
 make no way with you ; for it is quite true that 
 those women stand highest in esteem of whom 
 history has least to report. So our hopes jump, 
 and our minds after them. Tell a man that a 
 woman is fair — fair Helen, fair Cleopatra, lovely 
 Azalais — and he will make her so in his own 
 image. But enlarge upon her parts, tell over her 
 perfections on the fingers, he will say of one at 
 least, ' H'm, not to my taste.' This is certain. 
 Of Lady Saill, then, and of Lady Tibors, I content 
 myself with this much, that Saill was the elder 
 and more superb, a golden lady with long yellow 
 hair hke Helen's of Troy, and of fierce face, like 
 the Siren's when she has drowned a man. Tibors 
 was brown-haired and rather pale — a sleek, laugh- 
 ing girl. Saill, when she laughed at all, laughed 
 cruelly, with dreadful mirth. There were no more 
 lovely ladies in all the County of Toulouse, and 
 none more various. Men who sang of them — 
 and all men sang of them — called Saill the Proud 
 Lady, and Tibors, because of her kindness, the 
 Laughing Lover. Enough of this and of them : 
 it will be easily seen from so much whither the 
 striving went. A man will always sniff at what
 
 THE HEART'S KEY 5 
 
 lies to hand, if above him, just out of reach, he 
 sees a prize made rarer by the distance. To 
 Tibors' one or two, Saill, they say, had fifty lovers ; 
 but the deeds of three are all that can be handled 
 just now — these, and the deeds of an obscure fourth 
 lover, who watched the others reap what they sowed, 
 and afterwards went gleaning, and was content. 
 The three were JaufFrai of Brieuc, a very noble 
 youth, full of mettle, who made good songs ; the 
 Monk of Ouesle, a man of the Church, who made 
 better ; and the Viscount Ebles, a great man from 
 Roussillon, who made no songs at all unless he were 
 fighting, and then he sang a sharp low song like 
 the whistle of a sword in the air, which indeed was 
 the instrument he played on better than any. As 
 for the fourth lover, he was Guillem of Nantoil, a 
 poor minstrel, with a cropped head, meek eyes, and 
 smooth face, whom nobody thought a lover at all, 
 and who in his service never lifted his looks higher 
 than Lady Saill's knee. He kept his looks thus 
 modestly low, and his thoughts to himself and 
 the Virgin Mary. She, and she only, knew 
 that every night when Saill went to bed Guillem 
 kissed the edge of her bliaut as she left the 
 hall, kissed the lintel of the door where her 
 hand had stayed, and returning when she was
 
 6 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 gone, kissed the cushion where she had rested her 
 head. 
 
 Now, on a day in autumn after the vintage — 
 October was the month, bright and clear the 
 weather — those three great lovers came riding over 
 the brown hills to Ventadorn to pay their vows to 
 Lady Sail! ; and the time being an hour or so short 
 of noon, the sun high and the wind gentle, they all 
 went into the orchard to sing coblas and talk about 
 love — Tibors and Saill, with Saill's three lovers. 
 And Guillem the minstrel was there on his service, 
 and brought a little table, and set fruit, wine, and 
 snow upon it. 
 
 Saill sat in an ivory chair, with Tibors, her sister, 
 a little behind her on her left hand. Tibors was 
 in a red gown, with a jewel on her forehead ; but 
 Saill's gown was white, of a thin silk, which fitted 
 her so closely as to be a man's despair, to show 
 how glorious she was and how remote. Her hair 
 was plaited up with pearls and touched the ground 
 behind her. Round her waist was a very broad 
 girdle of gold, plates of gold riveted together with 
 hinges and stuck with sard and emerald, of the 
 sort they call a Heart's Key, the girdle which 
 virgins must wear until they are wedded. She 
 wore it outwardly by day, and at night next her
 
 THE HEART'S KEY 7 
 
 body ; it had never left her yet ; and the wonder 
 of the country was, when or how it would. Here, 
 too, was a mockery : not that the country admired, 
 but that no one dared turn the key or unlock the 
 shrine^ to lay bare Saill's heart and take it in his 
 hands. And just as the country admired, so now 
 these men looked or longed, each after his kind. 
 Jauffrai of Brieuc grew red : he was a young man. 
 The Monk of Quesle grew grey ; but Viscount 
 Ebles would not look at all, for simple fear of 
 what he might be driven to. As for Guillem, I 
 have told you already how far he dared look. 
 Yet he knew very well about the Heart's Key, 
 and every day made a prayer to Madame the 
 Virgin of Ventadorn : ' Madame, set the key in 
 my hands. I have within me what will still the 
 fire.' 
 
 Now, I ask you to note that in the orchard sat 
 Saill in her ivory chair, with Tibors a little behind 
 her on her left hand, but not so far that she could 
 not lean her cheek to her sister's or put her chin 
 on her white shoulder. On her right hand, also 
 a little behind her, sat Sir Jauffrai, where he could 
 win the fragrance of her hair and secretly touch it 
 when his need was sore. The Monk of Quesle 
 was on her left hand, near enough to brush against
 
 8 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 her gown, and a little in front of Tibors. Viscount 
 Ebles fronted her with folded arms across the 
 table, watching her, or Tibors, or the other two, 
 as he felt inclined. Guillem, the minstrel, stood 
 at his service a certain way off, under a pear-tree. 
 They made music and songs concerning Saill. 
 JaufFrai touched first his viol to tune it, then sang 
 a trembling song of dawn and the white light 
 stealing round the hills, of the sort which in that 
 country they call an Alba. ' Lady,' ran the song, 
 ' I wish that with me you might creep from your 
 father's house at that hour when the martins peer 
 first from under the eaves. Not more softly lieth 
 sleep upon your eyelids, lady, than the white dew 
 upon the grass. There are no shadows at all, but 
 every tree and every drowsy flower stands bathed 
 in a lake of light, that cometh none can tell 
 whence, that is not shamed by the moon, neither 
 welcometh the sun. Truly, it would seem that 
 the light is no borrowed thing, but lifteth up, as 
 it were, from the deep bosom and parted lips of 
 the Earth herself. So it is with you, lady, whose 
 own fire, whose own light, and ardent heart suffice 
 you. All night I watch for you, leaning by the 
 walls of Ventadorn, just as I watch for the white 
 dawn upon the hills about it ; all night I make
 
 THE HEART'S KEY 9 
 
 prayers to assure myself. And dawn cometh, and 
 you come, and I lift up heart and hands, crying, 
 " Oy, Deus ! Oy, Dens ! Deh, Valha tantost veh ! " 
 — " Ah, Lord God ! Ah, Lord God ! Lo, now, 
 the Dawn is here ! " ' 
 
 This was the song that Jauffrai sang ; through 
 which breathed such a tender heat, such rapture 
 held in check, such hope and wistfulness to make 
 the music shudder, that all the company was silent 
 when he had done. Tibors, leaning her chin on 
 her sister's shoulder, whispered in her ear, ' Oh, 
 Saill, that is a good song, which should not go 
 unrewarded.' 
 
 Saill said nothing ; but she let drop her right 
 hand behind her chair, and Jaufrrai, bowing over 
 it, took and kissed it. 
 
 Then said Viscount Ebles, with an oath in his 
 beard, ' By God's death. Lady Saill, but the song 
 I sing goes sharper than De Brieuc's. When I 
 sing it all the listeners begin to wail, urging, 
 " Quick, lord, the mercy stroke ! " I sing not at 
 dawn, in the half light, but at broad noon, rather, 
 when the sun can see my doings. And it is not 
 I who drone the burthen, " Ojy, Deus ! Oj, Dens ! " 
 but the people to whom I sing. When I sing my 
 song one man looks askance at his neighbour, as
 
 lo FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 if to say, " Is this a god, then ? " My song hath 
 a note of the scythe in wet grass, and again of the 
 screaming eagle ; it savours of the low-chuckling 
 owl when he hunts the parks of a night, and of 
 the hiss of a snake in a stony place, and of the 
 short snapping bark of the winter wolf So I call 
 my song the Song of Lop (which is to say, Of the 
 Wolf) ; and when I sing it a blue flame playeth 
 about my head, the spears work in vain, the archers 
 throw away their bows, and my horse picketh up 
 his feet among the spoiled bodies of men. This 
 is the Song of hop^ which is my song. If it please 
 you not, lovely Saill, I am sorry, for I cannot 
 amend it. Yet some think it good, and these are 
 the men of Toulouse dressing their vines on the 
 hill ; and some think it bad, and these are French- 
 men and the men of the English king.' 
 
 The Viscount shut his mouth like a trap, and 
 his black beard covered it. He looked a great 
 fighter who should make a lover no less great ; 
 and so Tibors thought and so said. For now she 
 leaned her cheek to Saill's, and whispered, ' By the 
 faith of a Christian, Saill, that is a brave singer 
 with a song full of matter. Let him have his 
 reward : it is little enough he asks.' 
 
 Saill considered these words and Viscount Ebles
 
 THE HEART'S KEY ii 
 
 together. She saw the man goodly, and found 
 that the words fitted him. So then she put her 
 foot out under the table, which when the Viscount 
 felt, his blood started in his neck and coloured all 
 his fage with crimson. The courtesy made a giant 
 of him ; he dared to look at Saill ; but Saill 
 blushed and looked down. So now she had 
 dropped both hand and eyes. 
 
 Then the Monk of Quesle, a keen-faced man, 
 touched the strings of his rote, and thus sang he : 
 * Neither the hope of dawn nor the satiety of the 
 noon-heat sing I, Lady Saill ; but the blue calms, 
 the very steadfast silver stars, the thin new moon 
 over the hill, the dusk, the end of fret, the even- 
 ing. My song is a Strena, which goes quietly as 
 my constant heart, saying, " Peace, my soul, peace, 
 my soul, the long day is done ! " 
 
 ' And I sing it to you, lady, claiming the end 
 of strife. Love in the beginning is a fire, like the 
 flame of kindling wood, which leaps and roars in 
 the heart, and devours the very bones of young 
 lovers. Not so, by insurgent rushes, cry of battle, 
 blood and rage, should a gentle lady be won to her 
 lover's arms. No, no, but by long gazing out of 
 quiet eyes, by patient smiling, by a bent knee and 
 obsequious head, and by the little shrug which
 
 12 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 says, " Eh, if she will not, she will not : wait a 
 bit ! " Also by a whisper in the hedged garden 
 and a sigh at the going to bed. For, look you, 
 the age-long lover very well knows that the 
 burden and flood of noon will be done. The 
 shadows creep forward, the bees go home ; in the 
 farms they milk the kine. The bats come flicker- 
 ing out, the goat-sucker goes purring through the 
 woods ; all look east for the new moon. Then at 
 last the lover lifts his eyes and counts the stars. 
 The light fades, the air is brown, the sky faints 
 out in green ; black, black stand up spire and 
 tower when the sun is low behind them. Through 
 the scented garden, among folded flowers and 
 leaves all breathless with sleep, I see you, Saill, 
 come in a white gown. Both your hands are 
 at the Heart's Key, both of mine at yours. 
 Together we hold the burning thing ; under my 
 hands I feel your fingers at the lock. The lock 
 is solved, the girdle loosed, I have the treasure ! 
 All in the violet night I cry my Sirena : " Peace, 
 my soul, peace, my soul, the long day is done ! " ' 
 Saill breathed fast and deep ; but Tibors, with 
 a cheek that pressed her sister's and an arm that 
 embraced her neck, whispered close, ' My Saill, that 
 is a pure sweet singer, very constant in love, to
 
 THE HEART'S KEY 13 
 
 whom his reward should be surely given if the 
 others have theirs. Stoop thy royal head, my 
 dear, that he may touch what I touch. I engage 
 that such velvet is not made at Quesle.' 
 
 SaHl bent her head to the singing Monk of 
 Quesle, and he kissed her on the cheek. So now 
 she had dropped both hand and eyes and head. 
 None the less young Guillem, at his service under 
 the pear-tree, held on with his prayer to the 
 Virgin of Ventadorn, ' Madame the Virgin, star of 
 Toulouse, the key, the key, the key ! ' 
 
 When dinner-time was over the three lords 
 took their leave and rode together out of Venta- 
 dorn to their own towns. The Monk of Quesle 
 could not contain himself, but turned in his saddle 
 and with uplifted hand began to exult. 
 
 ' Ha, now, lords,' cries he, 'am I or not 
 blessed above all men ? What ! Have I sprung 
 the citadel or not ^ Have I closed at grapple with 
 the inviolate .'' Have I lowered the flag or not ^ 
 You know very well that I have. Did she not 
 stoop her indomitable head ? Did I pasture where 
 no man living has laid his lips .'' Is it done } 
 Oh, is it not done, by the Light of the Earth ? '
 
 14 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 Viscount Ebles swore with a full oath, ' By 
 Saint Gregory, it is not done, thou half-man. 
 What is such open trifling worth ? Catlap, by 
 my Saviour. Why, even as she bowed her head 
 she looked wisely at me ; and long before thou 
 couldst touch her my foot had touched hers, and 
 so had touched throughout thy song.' 
 
 The Monk of Quesle bit his own hand. If 
 ever there was an angry clerk in the country of 
 Oc it was he. But Jauffrai threw up his young 
 head like a howling dog and laughed at the sky. 
 
 'Judge now between you, O solemn fools,' he 
 called out sharply — for he was in pain — ' what 
 store to set upon these touchings and lockings of 
 yours. For even when the goat-foot of Ebles 
 bruised her slipper by mischance her hand was 
 snug in mine, and while he sang of his sword- 
 stroke I kissed it ; and when the Monk began to 
 sigh of the evening breeze, and when he had done, 
 I kissed again. You prating fools, who is blessed 
 if not I .'' ' Again he laughed bitterly, as a man 
 should not laugh at the deeds of ladies, 
 
 Ebles broke out in blasphemy. ' Now may 
 God die twice,' said he, * if I deal not death 
 quickly.' He turned his horse towards Ventadorn, 
 which lay above him shining on the hill, but before
 
 THE HEART'S KEY 15 
 
 he could pull into a gallop the Monk of Quesle 
 reached after his bridle, caught and held it. 
 
 ' Listen, Viscount,' he says, ' before you do 
 what becomes you in this ill business. Are we not 
 all made fools together ? Is your case worse than 
 mine, or mine than Jauffrai's .'' Not a whit, be- 
 lieve me ; but fool, fool, and fool again, we sit here. 
 Well, then, shall not the little wisdom of one of 
 us, added to that of the others, make a wise head 
 at last, — wiser, at least, than one ? We three will 
 act together. Are you willing .'' ' 
 
 Cried young JaufFrai de Brieuc with a yapping 
 laugh, ' By my soul, I accord ! How low can we 
 drag the woman ? What kennel can we get black 
 or thick enough for her who mocks good lovers ^ ' 
 
 Said the Monk, ' Oh, a many.' And then the 
 Viscount, ' My lords, I am with you deep in this 
 matter. Let us set the wits of three offended men 
 to work.' Riding together over the hills among 
 the trampled vineyards they concerted a plan. 
 Saill of Ventadorn saw nothing of them till the 
 winter time, but cared little for that. 
 
 That winter, about Candlemas, the snow lay 
 very heavy on all the country, and could not be 
 thawed because of an iron frost. The sheep died
 
 i6 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 in the fields, fish in the rivers, birds on the trees, 
 and before morning were found frozen hard. A 
 most bitter wind blew night and day, enough to 
 search out and wither the very vitals of a man. 
 But war was awake also. Old Simon of Montfort, 
 kept warm by the Pope, took the field, such as it 
 was ; and the good Count Raimon of Toulouse, 
 with him his nephew the Viscount of Beziers, must 
 needs fight for life, whether snow awaited him or 
 green grass. The mesne lords of the country were 
 summoned by the horn ; sirventes were the only 
 songs you heard ; Sir Simon of Ventadorn made 
 ready for Toulouse against that other Simon ; all 
 his knights, squires, and men-at-arms must go with 
 him, and Lady Saill have no lovers, save Gulllem the 
 minstrel, who dared look no higher than her knee. 
 Saill sat twisting and untwisting her white fingers 
 by the window ; Guillem prayed to the Virgin for 
 the Heart's Key ; only Tibors kept snug and warm. 
 She did her loving quietly, saying Httle ; she went 
 laughing low all day long. In the Castle of Ven- 
 tadorn there were only those two, with Guillem 
 and a few old warders and the women of the house- 
 hold. 
 
 Now, on a night of creeping frost, and of mist 
 which froze as it touched, clinging to the bare
 
 THE HEART'S KEY 17 
 
 trees — to Ventadorn, at midnight, came Ebles, 
 De Brieuc, and the Monk of Quesle, in armour, 
 vizored, with men, swords, and torches. They 
 broke down the ward of the gate, and came raving 
 into the castle garth. ' Ha, death ! Ha, Mont- 
 fort !' they shouted, naming the two old dog- 
 wolves, enemies of Toulouse : ' havoc on Venta- 
 dorn ! Montfort ! Fire, sword, and death ! ' 
 They battered at the gate with their spears. 
 
 Guillem sat up scared in his bed, and listened. 
 * This is a bad affair,' he said to himself. ' Venta- 
 dorn is surprised. How shall I save my lady ^ ' 
 He dressed himself in haste and ran down the 
 corridor to her chamber. He opened the door, 
 he crept in ; by the light of the lamp he saw Saill, 
 wholly asleep, her cheek on her hand, and all her 
 gold hair streaming over the pillow to the floor. 
 
 ' Wake, wake, wake, my Lady Saill ! ' he whis- 
 pered. ' Death is upon us.' Then she sat up in 
 bed with fierce, reasonable eyes, and he saw the 
 Heart's Key burning all about her fair body. 
 
 ' Ventadorn is surprised, lady,' he said, blinking 
 before so much glory. ' We must come out, if 
 we are not to die.' 
 
 She said, ' Quick, a shift. Thou hast dared too 
 
 much. Go thou to the door till I come.' 
 
 c
 
 1 8 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 Clothed in her linen shift, she came out to him, 
 and they went to awaken Tibors. But Tibors was 
 very sleepy, and would have nothing more to say 
 to them than, ' Let them come, but let me sleep. 
 Leave me in peace, Saill.' So they let her lie, and 
 crept away down a little stair. 
 
 Guillem knew what door to try, a single turret- 
 door which gave on to a swing-bridge, and that on 
 to the privy garden. But the forayers, who knew 
 it as well as ever he did, waited for him and his 
 arriving there ; and so soon as he opened an inch 
 or two a foot was in, which prised it wider. The 
 torches flared in the black fog, a host bayed at 
 the door ; there came a rush, with ' Follow, we are 
 in ! ' That door which shut the invaders in shut 
 Saill and Guillem out. 
 
 Saill, the delicate lady, shivered and drew her 
 hair about her neck. In a lit-up circle all round 
 hustled the gaping soldiers, their pikes, their torches, 
 the clouds of their freezing breath. ' Follow me, 
 the pair of you, or you win cold quarters in the 
 fosse,' said a man in steel, who wore his vizor down. 
 The shamed couple were led away to the great 
 courtyard, where, in happier times, Sir Simon of 
 Ventadorn held tourney, and Saill sat in a gallery 
 as Queen of Love. There, in the trampled snow,
 
 THE HEART'S KEY 19 
 
 frozen into sharp ridge and furrow, Saill's cut feet 
 left a trail of red for all to see next day. 
 
 ' Into the middle with you.' There, shivering, 
 side by side they stood. 
 
 Above them soon shone a light in the windows 
 of the parvise, and showed it full of armed knights. 
 One set open the windows. Saill saw Ebles, De 
 Brieuc, and the Monk of Quesle, midmost of their 
 party, wagging their heads, grinning at each other 
 and at her. 
 
 ' Light there, ho ! ' cried the Monk in a new, 
 fierce voice. They beat up the torches into flame. 
 
 ' Ha, now, proud lady,' roared Viscount Ebles 
 like thunder ; ' you have heard my song sung, the 
 Song of Lop — what do you think of it } ' 
 
 She said between her teeth, * Shame on you to 
 shame a lady so.' 
 
 But he answered, ' What, then, of a lady that 
 mocks three lovers at once } ' 
 
 Then the Monk laughed, saying, * Ah, Lady 
 Saill, Lady Saill, now you have found out that my 
 old Sirena was more peaceful than my new. What 
 will you do to be let in .'' ' 
 
 She asked, * What must I do .'* ' 
 
 Jauffrai lifted up his sharp voice, ' You shall 
 do to him you have there as you did to us, before
 
 20 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 we let you in. Give him the hand to kiss which 
 falsely you gave to me.' 
 
 Saill held out her hand, and Guillem knelt to 
 kiss it. 
 
 * Now,' said she, * my lords, let me in.' 
 ' By the Five Wounds,' swore Ebles, * not so. 
 Set you first your foot below his, Saill. What I 
 touched let him touch now.' 
 
 She put her torn foot out, and Guillem, kneel- 
 ing still, kissed it many times. 
 ' Is it enough now ^ ' said Saill. 
 The Monk of Quesle held up his torch that he 
 might see her the better. 
 
 ' Not enough, my Saill, not enough ! Stoop 
 your false head, and turn your false cheek to the 
 lad there. Let him taste what I found bitter ! ' 
 
 She did as she was told ; but Guillem, blind 
 with tears, put up his face at random, and instead 
 of her cheek kissed the side of her frozen mouth. 
 And when he found how cold to death she was, 
 his words burst from him unadvisedly, and he 
 cried to the three lords : 
 
 ' Ah, sirs, have pity upon so fair a thing ! For 
 all the years of my service I have loved this lady, 
 and never yet have dared to touch more than the 
 hem of her gown. If she can stoop so low as this,
 
 THE HEART'S KEY 21 
 
 surely she is punished enough. By Heaven, my 
 lords, you will answer Heaven for it at the Last 
 Day ! Let her in ! ' 
 
 They all cried together, ' The brave lover ! 
 Give him the Heart's Key, Saill. Let him open 
 the door with that, and then we open.' 
 
 Saill said fiercely, ' That shall never be. I will 
 die rather.' And Guillem, too, cried out, ' I had 
 rather she died here and froze to the ground than 
 that she should suffer, or I do, such indignity as 
 that ! ' 
 
 ' Out with you then ! ' cried the three. ' Give 
 it where you will, sell or barter it, but here you 
 shall never trade.' Then they shut the windows, 
 and put out all the lights ; and soldiers took Saill 
 and Guillem by the shoulders and drove them 
 before to the city gates, and shut them outside. 
 They heard the wind howling round the watch- 
 towers, saw the great icicles stick out like giants' 
 fingers pointing scorn, and before them, dimly, 
 the far -ranging hills all in a shroud of white. 
 Saill struck herself upon the bosom, praying, 
 ' Mother of God, send death quickly. Amen ! ' 
 But Guillem whipped off his jacket, and put it 
 over her shoulders. 
 
 ' Lady, more dear to me than life,' says he.
 
 22 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 ' take my doublet and put it on thee, lest the frost 
 bite in, and thy dreadful prayer be heard. For 
 my part, I will make no such a prayer.' She did 
 his bidding, and he fastened the coat across her 
 chest, since her fingers were like stones. He gave 
 her also his shoes and stockings, telling her that 
 they were very necessary for her, seeing they had 
 two valleys to cross. When all was done as he 
 would, Guillem, bare to the shirt, urged her 
 ardently. ' Oh, come,' he cried ; ' oh, come, thou 
 loveliest companion in all the world ! Come with 
 me now across the bitter fields, on a good 
 pilgrimage.' 
 
 She looked at him in her fell old way, amazed 
 to see so much spirit in a youth who had served 
 her on his knee, and never looked higher than 
 hers ; but remembering how she stood, beggared 
 of all else, and looking down to see what plight 
 she was in, she hid her face in her hands ; ' O 
 Virgin, Lady of Seven Dolours, what am I to with- 
 stand any man born } ' she moaned to herself ; then 
 gave her hand to Guillem, saying very meekly, 
 ' Yes, I will follow thee, good Guillem.' 
 
 So they set off through the smothered vine- 
 yards and fields of olive-trees, where the snow was 
 untrampled yet, save by the criss-cross of the
 
 THE HEART'S KEY 23 
 
 anxious birds. They reached the valley, crossed 
 the river on hard ice, and so gained the flank of 
 the farther hills, and began to climb, with few 
 words said. Now and then Saill would sob under 
 her breath, or flag a little, and then, for certain, 
 Guillem would bear her up with his arm. She 
 would stop to pant, and he embrace her so while 
 she recovered herself ; she would lay her head on 
 his shoulder, and Guillem whisper in her ear, 
 ' Cry unto your courage, proud lady ; keep a good 
 heart. Shelter is not very far.' 
 
 ' Where is this shelter, Guillem ? ' she asked 
 him once. 
 
 * It is at Nantoil, lady,' he said, ' where I was 
 born.' 
 
 At the top of the hills they struck the great 
 road to Marseille, and then at the four ways under 
 a cross, found a dead man in the snow, frozen to 
 the degrees of the cross. ' God help the fled soul 
 of him,' says Guillem, ' as He hath helped me to 
 what his poor shell hath no need of.' He took 
 his doublet, breeches, and sword, and his cloak for 
 Saill, and so helped her along the better. But now 
 she leaned on him wholly, and his arm never left 
 her, because of the wounds in her feet. So with 
 many struggles, but yet with a heart that could
 
 24 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 not fail him (so full it was), to give a brave word 
 or helping arm to her whose spirit seemed dead, 
 he brought her to the river-girt city of Nantoil, 
 to his mother's house. 
 
 There he encompassed her with every sweet 
 observance the heart of young lover could devise ; 
 and there, while he humbled himself in her service, 
 she won back all her old spirit, and a cruel beauty 
 like the flame of a forest fire. But the more spirit 
 was in her, the less he dared to woo her. It was 
 not that she held him off too much, but that he 
 dared her too little. You know whether he had a 
 faint heart or not ; yet I will tell you this. Take 
 a bold way with a lady : if you love her, show 
 little of it. If she scorn you, it may be bettered ; 
 if she pity you, never in this world. Now, Saill 
 had scorned enough lovers, but never yet had she 
 been moved to pity one. But when Guillem dared 
 not kiss her cheek at the Good-night, nor again 
 the side of her mouth as in that hour of bitterness 
 he had found means to do, he lost what he had 
 achieved in the discovery of what he could not now 
 achieve ; she thought of him again as a foot-boy. 
 And as for the lad's mother. Madam Bruna, up in 
 arms for her son, when she rated her, Saill said, 
 ' Dear Madam, I am here safe-caught. He has
 
 THE HEART'S KEY 25 
 
 but to take me, I suppose. Arms he has, and a 
 mouth, I know, but I cannot open them for him.' 
 To herself she thought, ' I am in a cage with these 
 bird-catchers. Heaven pity the poor ! ' In these 
 days, 'as the winter wore, Guillem longed, and 
 Saill fasted, and Madam Bruna looked for a 
 stick. 
 
 Before long she found one, good soul ! The 
 war shifted from one valley to another like a 
 heavy cloud. Simon of Montfort laid siege to 
 Nantoil and held a close leaguer. Guillem went 
 to keep the walls, Madam Bruna changed her 
 manner, and Saill felt the whip. 
 
 Hunger came in, as bitter ally of the cold and 
 Count Simon. Food in Nantoil ran up to famine 
 price. Servants had mouths, but masters no 
 bread ; Madam Bruna packed hers out of doors. 
 ' Get you into the kitchen, my girl,' she said to 
 Saill. ' I cannot keep you idle when, as God 
 knows, I am hard shifted to keep you at all.' 
 So Saill went into the kitchen, and Guillem saw 
 nothing of her ; for she was ashamed that he 
 should see her in a kitchen plight, and prevailed 
 upon his mother to give her out as ill in bed. 
 'Have it as you will,' said the harassed woman ;
 
 26 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 'lies are cheaper than bread.' The lie was told, 
 and Guillem made miserable, but there was worse 
 to come. 
 
 That day was soon at hand when food there was 
 none, nor money to buy it. Saill was shivering 
 in the kitchen over the dying ashes of a fire long 
 spent when Madam Bruna came in, grey with 
 hunger and the waspish rage of hunger. ' Get 
 you out, girl,' she said, hatred shaking in her 
 voice, 'get you out into the city this night and 
 win us bread. Are we to starve, I and my son, 
 and the fault be yours.? Is this how you make 
 amends ? Out with you.' 
 
 ' How shall I get you any money, dear 
 Madam .? ' asked the Proud Lady, proud no longer, 
 but trembling at the look of affairs. 
 
 Madam Bruna looked her up and down. 
 'Hey,' she laughed savagely, 'are you so nice.? 
 Sell you now your Heart's Key, fool, and my son 
 and I shall be fed.' 
 
 Said Saill, bowing her head down very low, 
 ' Madam, for your son 1 will do it.' She went away 
 by herself, and took the Heart's Key, and broke 
 off a square link of it. This she sold to a Jew for 
 a price, and, after the proper time, came back 
 with the money to Madam Bruna. The famished
 
 THE HEART'S KEY 27 
 
 wretch snapped at it, but said nothing of question 
 or comment. She made herself and Guillem a 
 good supper. 
 
 Saill had what scraps she could find over, but 
 was so hungry that they were nothing to her. 
 She came at last to lick the dishes in the kitchen 
 and to drink the liquor in which she had washed 
 them. At supper Guillem had said, ' Mother, 
 here is better food than ever I tasted this many 
 days. The best of it, as is fitting, should have 
 been given to Lady Saill, who hath always fared 
 deliciously.* 
 
 * Trust me, my son, and so she has,' said his 
 mother, and Guillem believed her. But, following 
 his habit, before he went out to the walls he 
 crept to her door and scratched at it, whispering, 
 " Lady, is all well .'' ' Saill whispered back, as she 
 always did, ' I am well, Guillem.' But not for 
 all the world would she open to him, lest he 
 should see her as she was, or get news of the 
 Heart's Key. 
 
 But starvation had the longer wind. When 
 the great girdle was all gone, link by link, she 
 knew that she had no more to give but life 
 itself. That night Simon Montfort's men made 
 a breach in the wall through which, like a
 
 28 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 murderous flood, they streamed into Nantoil. 
 The kennels ran smoking red — fire, rapine, lust, 
 and rage stalked naked through the streets. In 
 Madam Bruna's house was nothing to eat. 
 
 * Girl,' she said to Saill, ' go out and sell. 
 This is the night of all others for you.' 
 
 ' Alack, mother,' said Saill, ' I have nothing to 
 sell. AH is gone.' 
 
 ' Pish,' said the other ; ' beg then ; get what 
 you can. Steal, sin, snatch ! Give my son food.' 
 She drove her from the house. 
 
 Saill stood cowering in the street, pondering 
 how to-night she could die. Then there came to 
 her mind the thought of Guillem fighting for her 
 life, who had saved her once and loved her always. 
 ' He has neither art nor part in this. No, no,' she 
 said to herself, ' that is not the way to reward good 
 lovers.' So she went slippering down the street 
 like a beggar girl, as indeed she was, among gaping 
 houses and dead men's bodies, and pale rags which 
 had once been women, half-sodden now in the 
 gutters. 
 
 ' That is where I shall lie when they have done 
 with me,' she thought ; and just then heard a 
 horse's hoofs ring like steel on steel, and saw one 
 come riding on a white charger, and knew she
 
 THE HEART'S KEY 29 
 
 must adventure him. He was a knight in a 
 golden cloak, who reined up under a pious lamp, 
 and looked all ways to find his own. Shivering, 
 Saill gathered her rags about her neck, and went 
 to lay hold of his stirrup. 
 
 ' How now, my girl ? ' said Sir Jauffrai de 
 Brieuc — for it was he. She looked up and spoke 
 to him, sickened at the sound of her own voice, 
 asking him alms, for the love of Mary. He, when 
 he understood her, scoffed aloud. 'Off with you, 
 wagtail, unhand me, go your ways. Montfort is 
 in, and you are out. I have nothing for you. 
 I am a lover of ladies, I ! ' 
 
 He spurred his horse till he plunged in the 
 kennel, and sent the mud spattering about. And 
 so he rode his way, looking to the upper windows 
 for ladies. 
 
 After that, and after much more deadly skirting 
 of peril (wherein that little which she had left stood 
 to be rifled at ease), she saw the Viscount Ebles 
 stand in the Cathedral Square, very noble, in red 
 armour, with a gold crest to his helm and white 
 cloak over his shoulder. He was a Knight of 
 the Temple, you must know. To him she went, 
 creeping on the tips of her toes, and faltered her 
 petition. But he turned, cursing and railing, and
 
 30 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 bade her be off, or he would send half-a-dozen of 
 his men on her heels. ' Look you, Mischief,' says 
 he, * I have forsworn women since one most 
 injuriously used me. Judge you, little misery, 
 how this was, and learn if it is not too late.' So 
 he told her the whole story of herself with those 
 three lords in the orchard. Saill hid her face in her 
 arm, and, leaning against the church wall, cried 
 bitterly, as if her heart was broken, as all her 
 spirit was. The Viscount resumed his meditations. 
 
 Now Guillem, at the entry of Montfort's men, 
 ran quaking by the lanes and alleys of Nantoil 
 to his mother's house, to save, if he might, all he 
 loved in it. ' Quick, mother, we must look to 
 ourselves,' he told her. * Simon Montfort is in — 
 we shall be dead or worse. Tell me, where is Lady 
 Saill ? There is no time to lose ! ' 
 
 ' Ah, misery and plague be on her,' cried the 
 old woman, despising whom she had used despite- 
 fuUy ; ' where would she be but abroad ? ' 
 
 Guillem turned white. ' What is this ? Where 
 is she, then ? On such a night ! ' Madam Bruna 
 showed herself at last. 
 
 *Ah, tell me now, Guillem, where else should 
 she be ? She is out and about selling the Heart's 
 Key, and so hath been this month of dark days.
 
 THE HEART'S KEY 31 
 
 How should the house have stood or you been fed 
 but for that ? ' 
 
 Guillem rebuked his mother. ' Peace, woman, 
 you make me ashamed,' he said. ' You should be 
 thankfu] for the bread she gave you, and honour 
 her who puts you above honour. Heaven send you 
 mercy ; I must find her.' 
 
 He turned and hunted among the dead and 
 dying in the streets. Friend or foe, dying or 
 killing, he asked them all — ' Tell me of my Lady 
 Saill, for the love of Jesus.' He asked JaufFrai of 
 Brieuc, he asked Ebles ; neither knew him ; but 
 JaufFrai drove him into the kennel, and Ebles 
 kicked him away. So at last, at a corner of the 
 great square, he saw the desolate figure of a woman, 
 who leaned, crying, by the church wall, blown upon 
 by the night wind, the screaming of the sacked city, 
 and all the reproaches of the night. His heart 
 gave a leap, his feet followed : he came to her 
 holding out his arms, kneeling, crying out, ' O my 
 heart ! O proud lady! O Saill, whom I love so 
 dearly, how is it with thee ? ' She turned and 
 gave a sob, and fell into the shelter he opened. 
 
 A party of soldiers came panting by, hunting 
 the houses, like a pack of hounds, for women and 
 liquor. Guillem drew her deep into an archway,
 
 32 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 and crouched with her there till they had passed. 
 Then from entry to entry they crept, a furtive, fearful 
 way, to the gate. Saill was as wax in his hands, 
 following when he bid her, clinging to him while 
 they waited, and when they ran never loosing his 
 hand ; but she was voiceless, neither defending 
 herself nor accusing, neither praying his forgive- 
 ness, nor justifying his faith. He, who was her 
 hope, must now become her judge as well. So 
 they crawled out of the fire and smoke of sacked 
 Nantoil. 
 
 Early in the morning they took the road to- 
 gether in peace : a battered soldier and his drab — 
 who should hurt them ^ The sun rose over the 
 hill, the light smiled upon their soiled faces, they 
 went along the valley hand in hand. But Saill 
 never spoke, for she dared not woo her judge ; 
 and Guillem never spoke, for he dared not risk 
 his treasure. 
 
 The primroses were out in the banks, in the 
 meadows cowslips nodded their heads, jonquils and 
 lady-smocks. The spring was in, earth quick with 
 it. They came to a little wood which crowned a 
 grassy field, and there they rested on the young moss 
 by a fountain, while they ate what bread they had. 
 Overhead, a pair of wood-doves by a new nest
 
 THE HEART'S KEY 33 
 
 sang to each other. Nantoil was burning that 
 day, but in the wood in the valley the doves sang 
 clear and long. Saill put off her slippers and 
 cooled her feet in the water ; she let down the 
 golden tace of her hair and threw her head back 
 to shake it free. As Guillem saw that proud fine 
 face fronting, unashamed, the sky, his love leaped 
 hody in him, rebuking him for his doubt. He 
 prayed his old prayer, ' Hey, Madame the Virgin 
 of Ventadorn, give me the Heart's Key ! ' 
 
 Prayer touched him, moved him to courage. 
 His arm was about Saill, his hand pressed her heart. 
 She turned with a face all aflame ; but he saw fear 
 in her eyes. That she should fear what he might 
 do whipped him like a rod ; then he, too, knew a 
 fear at which his lips went dry. 
 
 ' Alas, alas ! ' he whispered, ' O Saill, the 
 Heart's Key is gone ! ' 
 
 She blushed a deeper red ; but her eyes grew 
 dewy with something softer than alarm. 
 
 ' But not the heart, dear Guillem,' she said, 
 ' not the heart, O my love ! ' 
 
 He saw how lovely she was, all a burning colour, 
 nor did he take away his hand. ' Now,' said he, 
 ' tell me all the truth.' So she told him every- 
 thing from the beginning of their days at Nantoil, 
 
 D
 
 34 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 and so he learned the holiness and generous pride 
 of her whose pride had once been niggard. Guillem 
 thanked God. ' Now kiss me,' he said then, ' for 
 proud as you are, I am prouder still. You have 
 turned the Heart's Key for me, dear love ; now 
 give me thy red heart to keep.' 
 
 The Monk of Qucsle, with a singing company, 
 passed down the road on the way to a Court of 
 Love. In the midst was a lady In a litter. The 
 Monk was dressed in a bright green silken tunic 
 covered with white leopards ; on his head was a 
 cap of scarlet ; his white horse was trapped in the 
 same hue. He sang to the curtains of the litter 
 and to a fine hand which held them a little way 
 open. Guillem and the Proud Lady let him 
 sing. For them the wood - birds had a more 
 tuneful note.
 
 BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT 
 
 35
 
 Heaven is my witness^ I have no taste for prefaces. 
 A story is a story^ or verbiage. Tet it is to be remembered 
 by a writer that the public has its feelings no less than he ; 
 and if it have met with certain personages before^ likes to be 
 reminded of the occasion. Now the actors in the following 
 few pages have all had a hearing^ for they are the tellers 
 of some ' New Canterbury Tales^ to which the public was 
 pleased to listen not so long ago^ little thinking that those 
 speakers [as they jogged along the footpath ways through Hants 
 and Surrey and Kent) had hopes and passions and troubles 
 of their own over and above those which they pretended. 
 They had though : theirs was no peaceful pilgrimage. It 
 
 began with and ended in / but let the reader 
 
 judge for himself. 
 
 36
 
 BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT 
 
 I. How Captain Brazenhead won a Recruit 
 
 Pilgrimage to Canterbury and Saint Thomas of 
 Canterbury, which is in some a piety, in some a 
 courteous act, for some salvation, for some a frolic, 
 in others may very well be the covering of statecraft, 
 of policy, of deep design. So it was with Captain 
 Salomon Brazenhead in the month of May and year 
 of our Lord God fourteen hundred and fifty. With 
 him, ' late of Burgundy, formerly of Milan ' — a lean 
 man of six feet two inches, of inordinate thirst, of two 
 scars on his face, a notched forefinger, a majestic 
 nose, of a long sword, two daggers, and a stolen 
 horse, of experience in divers kinds of villainy, yet 
 of simple tastes — with this free routier, I allow, 
 pilgrimage was certainly a cloak of dissembling, 
 while none the less a congenial and (as he would 
 have been the first to admit) wholesome exercise. 
 If he had served too long in Italy not to love 
 
 37 
 
 4sai()8
 
 38 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 conspiracy, he had not been to Compostella and 
 Jerusalem for nothing. Indeed, he had skirted in 
 his time too close to the rocks of Death not to 
 respect those who (for honourable reasons) had 
 cast themselves upon them. Therefore he was by 
 no means without devotion in seeking the Head 
 of Thomas and the Golden Shrine, for all that he 
 had business, and high business, on the road. For 
 firstly, in this reign of King Henry the Sixth, he 
 was a Duke of York's man, a White Rose man. 
 Secondly, he was one of those who had sworn to 
 have Jack Nape's head on a charger.^ Lastly, he 
 was bosom friend of another Jack, whom he hoped 
 to meet in Kent ; I mean Jack Mend-all, Jack 
 Cade, Jack Mortimer — call him as you will — that 
 promising young man, who promised himself a 
 kingdom and Englishmen a charter, who actually 
 fought a battle on Blackheath, held London Bridge 
 against the Mayor, Aldermen, and Citizens, and 
 hanged Lord Say upon one of his own trees. 
 From this practical statesman our Captain had re- 
 ceived a roving commission to be his Vox Clamantis : 
 he was to trumpet revolution along the Pilgrims' 
 Way. This road was the most travelled in the 
 
 ' Jack Nape was Delapole, Duke of Suffolk, the best-hated man 
 of his day, and no worse served than he deserved.
 
 BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT 39 
 
 realm ; it led all men into Kent — Captain Cade's 
 country ; it could be safely used : with cockle- 
 shells and staves enough it could screen an army. 
 Pilgrim only by the way, therefore, was Captain 
 Salomon Brazenhead, sometime of Milan, late of 
 Burgundy, now Deputy-Constable of all England 
 under Letters Patent of the Captain of Kent. 
 
 I have spoken of his leanness, of his inches, of 
 his thirst. It must be added of him that he was 
 plentifully forested with hair, which drooped like 
 ivy from the pent of his brows, leaped fiercely up 
 from his lip to meet the falling tide ; gave him a 
 forked beard ; crept upwards from his chest to the 
 light at his throat ; had invaded his very ears, and 
 made his nostrils good cover for dormice in the 
 winter. I might sing of this, or of his eloquent 
 eyes : I prefer a pasan on his nose. Captain Brazen- 
 head had a nose — but an heroic nose, a trumpet, an 
 ensign built on imperial lines ; broad-rooted, full 
 of gristle, ridged with sharp bone, abounding in 
 callus, tapering exquisitely to a point, very flexible 
 and quick. With this weapon of offence or 
 defiance he could sneer you from manhood's 
 portly presence to a line of shame, with it comb 
 his moustachios. When he was deferential it 
 kissed his lip ; combative, it cocked his hat.
 
 40 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 It was a nose one could pat with some pretence ; 
 scratched, it was set on fire, you could see it 
 smouldering in the dusk. Into the vexed debate, 
 whether great noses are invariable with great men, 
 I shall not enter. Captain Brazenhead was great, 
 and he had a great nose ; let this instance go to 
 swell the argument. This fine, tall, hairy man 
 rode directly to Winchester from Southampton, 
 his port of debarkation, entered the city by the 
 West Gate, and stabled his horse at the George, 
 which was then the principal inn. This done, he 
 sent the ostler for a gallon of beer, and in his 
 absence inspected with great care all the animals 
 tethered in the yard. It was his intention to make 
 sure of a good one for the morrow, seeing that his 
 own — if a spavined makeshift levied from an East- 
 leigh smithy can so be called — did not please him 
 at all. He chose a handsome round -barrelled 
 roan, rising not more than seven, and did not 
 trouble to change the furniture further than to 
 add his pack to those already on the saddle. He 
 was then quite ready to drink his liquor turn and 
 turn about with the ostler and two Grey Friars 
 whom he found in a sunny corner — for the Cap- 
 tain was a large-hearted man. He captivated 
 whatever company he happened to be in ; this
 
 BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT 41 
 
 was his weakness, and he knew it. So now, with 
 scarcely a word said, he persuaded those two friars 
 that they had not seen what they had watched 
 with some interest a few minutes before : he con- 
 vinced -the ostler that the horse he now saw and 
 admired was the very horse he had despised when 
 it came stiffly into the yard. Admirable man ! he 
 set his steel bonnet at a rake over one eye, chewed 
 a straw, and cocked his sword point to the angle 
 of a wren's tail. These things nicely adjusted, his 
 mind at ease, full of the adventurous sense of 
 strange airs and hidden surprises waiting for him 
 behind strange walls, he walked abroad into Chepe, 
 intending to pay his devotions to the Shrine of 
 Saint Swithin, that (by these means) a good ending 
 might follow so good a beginning ; for, as he had 
 said more than once, honour is due to a dead 
 gentleman from living gentlemen. ' If I go,' he 
 would protest, ' into such an one's good town and 
 bend not my knee in his audience-chamber, I 
 shame my nobility by flouting his. So it is pre- 
 cisely when I visit a Cathedral city, whereover is 
 set enshrined some ancient deceased man of God. 
 That worthy wears a crown in Heaven which it 
 becomes me to acknowledge whiles I am yet upon 
 the earth. And so I do, by cock ! '
 
 42 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 With these and other like reflections he passed 
 by the Pilgrims' Gate, where the meaner sort of 
 worshippers — pitiful, broken knaves, ambush men, 
 sheep-stealers, old battered soldiers, witches, torn 
 wives and drabs — stand at the shining bars, their 
 hands thrust in towards the Golden Feretory, and 
 whine their petitions to the good saint's dust ; and 
 entered by the west door, with much ceremony of 
 bowing and dropping to the knee, and a very 
 courtly sharing of his finger-load of holy water 
 with a burgess's wife, who was quite as handsome 
 as one of her condition had need to be. Within 
 the church he paused to look about him, but not to 
 admire the shrine, the fine painting, the gold work 
 and lamp work with which it abounded. He knew 
 churches well enough : business was business, that of 
 Master Mortimer crying business, that of Captain 
 Brazenhead fisherman's business. Rather, he cast a 
 shrewd eye at the haunters of the nave, passing over 
 the women, the apprentices, all the friars. He saw 
 three or four likely blades playing with a dice-box 
 in a corner, and gained one of them by a lucky 
 throw. He picked up a Breton pedlar at his 
 prayers, also a shipman from Goole, who had been 
 twice hanged for piracy and twice cut down alive 
 — ' Three's the number for you, lucky Tom,' he
 
 BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT 43 
 
 told him by way of encouragement. In the Chapel 
 of the Sepulchre he found an old friend, Stephen 
 Blackbush, of Aldermary-Church, now in hiding 
 for coin clipping, claimed him, insisted on having 
 him, and got his way. All this was very well 
 indeed, yet the Captain sighed for more. ' I have 
 here so much mass,' he told himself, ' so much 
 brawn ; now Mortimer needs brain. This rascaille 
 would as lieve be under the bed as in it any day, 
 and not one of it worth a pinch of salt to the 
 pudding we have in the pot. Give me a stripling 
 of wit, kind Heaven, to outbalance all this dead 
 meat.' Scanning the company as he turned over 
 these reflections and framed these prayers, he 
 came plump upon the very thing — came, saw, 
 conquered, as you are to learn. 
 
 This was a slim, tall, gracefully made youth, 
 very pretty, who in a pale oval face had a pair of 
 hot, small, greenish eyes, a long nose, a little 
 mouth like a rose-bud, and a sharp chin dimpled ; 
 who wore his brown hair smooth and cropped 
 short, and had the shape and tender look of the 
 God's self of love, as you or I might have seen 
 the boy. This young man, whose name was 
 Percival Perceforest, was a scholar in his way, well 
 versed in the books of Ovid, the De Remedio and
 
 44 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 other like works ; knowing a great part of the 
 Romaunt de la Rose by rote, and also the Songs of 
 Horace. These he was accustomed to cite collo- 
 quially, as a priest his psalter. He would speak of 
 the Vitas hinnuleo^ the Integer vitae^ or the Sohitur^ 
 where the clerk would have his In Exitu Israel 
 or Notus in Judaea. Not that he had not these 
 also as pat upon the tongue : afterwards it came 
 out that, bred for the Church, he was actually in 
 minor orders. Now, with all these advantages of 
 person and training, it is a very strange thing that 
 he should have been found by Captain Brazenhead 
 leaning against a pillar of the nave, crying upon 
 the cuff of his jacket. Yet it was so. Round 
 about him stood unwholesome, too-ready sympa- 
 thisers, women of the town, harpies; hard-favoured, 
 straddling, bold-browed hussies, whose gain is our 
 loss. A short-faced, plainish man stood there too, 
 respectably dressed, who tried to cope, but failed 
 to cope, with two things at once. To the women 
 he was heard to say, ' Begone, shameless baggages, 
 tempt not the afflicted ' ; which made them laugh 
 and hit each other in their mirth. The weeper he 
 urged with a ' God help thee, youth, and expound 
 thy misfortunes to me if thou canst not ! ' But the 
 name of God caused the young man to blubber the
 
 BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT 45 
 
 more. Captain Brazenhead took a shorter way. 
 He smartly touched his man on the shoulder, 
 calling him his bawcock, his nip and frizzle, his 
 eye and his minion ; at the women he flung up his 
 hands \<^ith a rush, as one starts a greyhound. 
 ' Off, detriments ! ' he cried tremendously ; and they 
 slunk or swaggered away with very injurious but 
 muttered expressions to the effect that they were 
 not going to do for such an old piece what they 
 actually were doing as they spoke. ' Now, good 
 Master Burgess,' said the Captain to the respectable 
 man (whom he had placed at once), ' and now, 
 young Niobus,' to the lad, ' we will accommodate 
 these waterworks, if it suit you. Follow me.' He 
 laid a hacked finger to his nose, and scowled upon 
 the couple with so much hopeful mystery, such 
 commanding confidence, such an air of give-and- 
 take-and-be-damned, that follow him they did ; 
 the merchant as one who says, ' Well, well, since 
 your humour is so,' and the other with subdued 
 sniffs. But the merchant, as having a solid founda- 
 tion upon this earth, trampled stoutly, with a 
 smack of the shoes upon the pavement, while 
 Percival Perceforest went a-tiptoe. It is proper to 
 add that this latter was dressed in a tight jerkin of 
 green velvet, rather soiled, frayed at the edges,
 
 46 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 wanting a button or two at the bosom ; that he 
 wore scarlet stockings, darned in places and not 
 darned in other places ; that his shoes were down 
 at heel, the feather in his red cap broken-backed ; 
 that he looked rumpled but innocent, unfortunate 
 rather than debauched, as if he had slept out for a 
 night or two — which was precisely the fact. 
 
 The Captain, deep in the delights of mystery, 
 conducted his initiates to the stone ledge which ran 
 along the new chantry of Bishop Wykeham. Here 
 he sat down, and courteously invited the merchant 
 to a place at his right hand. This being declined 
 with a ' Sir, I thank you,' — ' Two feet for ever ! ' 
 said the Captain heartily, and nodded Percival 
 Perceforest to the place at his left hand. Percival 
 meekly took it. * Pretty lamb ! ' said this fatherly 
 Captain, and put a hand on his shoulder. 
 
 Undoubtedly Captain Brazenhead had a notable 
 manner ; endearment and command coincided in 
 his tones ; he seemed to be pursuing his own 
 generous way when really he was hunting yours. 
 He succeeded with Percival to the point of marvel. 
 
 ' Name, my suckling ? ' he asks, and is answered, 
 ' Percival Perceforest, sir.' 
 
 ' Could not be better, indeed. Your age, 
 Percival ? '
 
 BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT 47 
 
 * Of nineteen years, sir.' The Captain smacked 
 his leg. 
 
 ' I knew it ; I was certain of it ! ' he cried with 
 delight, then sobered in a moment to ask : 
 
 ' Now have you, Percival, in all your nineteen 
 years of travail in this old round, ever let so much 
 water from your eyes as on this day ? ' 
 
 ' No, no, indeed, sir. There has been no such 
 occasion,' says Percival, and breaks out sobbing like 
 a drawpipe. The Captain thumped him on the 
 back. ' No more o' this. Back to your kennel, 
 tears ! Down, ramping waters, waste my cheeks 
 
 no more ! Madness of moons ' Percival 
 
 thought it right to explain. He looked up with 
 all the proper pride of grief in his hot eyes. 
 
 ' Sir,' he said, ' I would have you understand, if 
 you please, that I am the most wretched young 
 man in all England.' 
 
 ' Stuff ! ' says the merchant testily ; * windy talk ! ' 
 
 ' By cock, not at all,' broke in the Captain, ' but 
 sound and biting truth, as I can tell. I know 
 something of wretchedness, let me assure you, 
 Scrivener' — the merchant started — 'ah, and of 
 English wretchedness too, since I myself have seen 
 the top of a handsome nobleman lying two yards 
 away from his trunk, and his pious lady pondering
 
 48 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 which morsel she should first embrace — a pitiful 
 sight, I hope. And in Lombardy, you must know, 
 they sow the fields with men's head-pieces, and 
 thereby breed dragons, as Cadman also did in the 
 tillage and common fields about Thebes, Sir, sir, 
 this lad is in an agony, if I have ever known 
 agony. Now, I will lay a thousand marks to your 
 ink-bottle that I can place a finger on the nut of 
 his grief.' The Captain spoke so heatedly that 
 Percival was minded to soothe him. 
 
 ' It is too deep-rooted, dear sir,' he said. 
 
 ' I prick deep,' replied the Captain, and raised a 
 finger. ' Now mark me, boy. You, in the first 
 delicious flush of manly love, have been torn from 
 your bosom's queen.' 
 
 ' Oh, sir ! ' says Percival, gasping. 
 
 ' And she is of high degree.' 
 
 ' Oh, sir ! ' 
 
 * And she is here in this city of Winton — and 
 you have tramped in her steps — and slept under 
 hedges, and in the skirts of brakes — and seen her 
 — and by her been seen — and yet you cannot get 
 at her — hey ? ' 
 
 ' Oh, sir ! ' cries Percival, showing the whites of 
 his eyes, ' oh, sir, what magic do you use ? ' The 
 Captain held out his hand for the other to kiss.
 
 BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT 49 
 
 * My magic is the magic of that glowing old 
 puddle of blood, my heart,' says this triumphant 
 man. ' What difficulty had I ? What does youth 
 cry for? Why, youth again. But you tell me 
 much more than such ^, h^ c. Your jacket ' (he 
 fingered the sleeve) ' was good Genoa velvet once ; 
 and is not green her livery } The sun hath printed 
 the badge in your cap and defies your busy fingers : 
 do you bear arms in your own right } ' He snapped 
 his fingers. ' You have played with your master's 
 daughter, page-boy.' Percival hung his head. 
 
 The Captain reassured him. ' Oh, you have 
 not gone too far. The velvet tells me another 
 tale, my friend. The pile lies down along this 
 line, and this Hne, and this line ' — he drew his 
 finger down Percival's back. ' I think your 
 master's staff has been at work here, therefore it 
 was no case for the hemp-collar. And he sent you 
 packing, I see. The white dust of Hampshire 
 cries from those shoes ; and here, as I live by 
 bread, is some Hampshire hay to tell me where 
 your bed was made last night.' He pulled a long 
 stalk from Percival's trunks and tasted it. ' Whit- 
 church hay } ' he asked. 
 
 Percival replied, ' No, sir, Sombourn.' 
 
 ' Ah,' says the Captain, ' I knew it was grown 
 
 E
 
 50 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 on the western side of the shire. My palate is out 
 of order. Where does your master live, then ? ' 
 
 ' At Bemerton, sir, in Wilts.' 
 
 ' I know the place.' He considered it, gently 
 rubbing his nose. ' Good pasture lands about 
 Avon. My Lord Moleyns owns the fee ; but 
 yours was not his badge. Would it be — no ^ 
 Never old Touchett — Angry Touchett, as we 
 called him in the old days.' 
 
 * Sir Simon Touchett is his name, sir,' says 
 Percival. The Captain snapped his fingers and 
 looked blandly at the merchant. 
 
 ' Do I prick deep, Scrivener } Now then, to 
 it once more. Angry Touchett hath a pretty 
 daughter, hey ?* 
 
 ' He hath four,' says Percival. The merchant 
 sniggered, and the Captain tapped his teeth, then 
 jumped up with a snort, pulling Percival after him, 
 ' Boy,' he cried, venturing his all on the main, ' you 
 love the second daughter of Angry Touchett.' 
 
 He deserved to win. Percival opened his 
 mouth, words failing him. The merchant said 
 ' Tush ! ' and walked away ; and Captain Brazen- 
 head clasped the youth in his arms. You may be 
 auite easy in your mind as to whether or no the 
 whole story was poured out unreservedly.
 
 BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT 51 
 
 True it was, according to his own tale, that 
 Percival Perceforest, foot -page to Sir Simon 
 Touchett, Knight, had loved his master's second 
 daughter. Mistress Mawdleyn. Certain famili- 
 arities « growing unawares, and growing dearer by 
 use ; certain innocent natural testimonies given 
 and received ; certain pledges scrupulously ob- 
 served, were followed by certain unmistakable 
 tokens. It was all very innocent and passably 
 foolish — a boy-and-girl, kiss-in-the-dark, dream 
 o* nights affair ; but Angry Touchett had beaten 
 his daughter and trounced his page. He had 
 packed the girl off to her aunt, the Prioress of 
 Ambresbury, and Percival to the devil, whom he 
 conceived to be his natural father. Poor Percival, 
 deplorably in earnest over his love-making, had 
 skulked about the shaws and osier -brakes of 
 Bemerton, trudged to Ambresbury over the 
 downs, and learned the news there — all as much to 
 the detriment of his spirits as of his trim adornment. 
 The news being that the Prioress would take her 
 niece on pilgrimage to Canterbury, Percival, too, 
 felt the call of Saint Thomas : he followed, 
 taking the hospitalities that offered on the road. 
 He saw the entry of Mawdleyn into Winchester 
 with the Ambresbury retinue ; saw her lodged in
 
 52 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 the stately Abbey of Hyde beyond the North 
 Gate. He had seen and been seen, and this 
 mutual grief had been too many for him. He 
 had opened the brimming sluices of his heart ; 
 he was tired, sick, longing, footsore, heartsore, 
 desperate, young. Tears had done him good, but 
 the Captain did him more. 
 
 When he had the whole story out, ' Now,' said 
 this intrepid man, ' you and I, Percival, are in the 
 fair way of a classic friendship, as I see very well. 
 What ! we have mingled tears ' — this was true ; 
 ' confidences have passed ' — they had, but all one 
 way ; ' we have looked each into the heart of the 
 other ! You shall be Patrocle to a new Achilles, 
 Harmonium to Aristogeiton. Or let me stand 
 for Theseus, Duke of Athens, you shall be that 
 nobleman, whose name is on the tip of my tongue, 
 who was followed by his loving attentions to the 
 gates of Hell Town. Now, just as Achilles was 
 kindled by the sparks beaten from the heart of 
 Patrocle, whom he tenderly loved, so shall I most 
 reasonably be by you, my Perceforest. If Theseus 
 went to Hell after that other gentleman, I will go 
 to Bemerton if needs be. But needs will not. 
 Needs call otherwhere. What do you say to a 
 likely manor in Kent, with the title of Lord of
 
 BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT 53 
 
 Parliament, cousin and councillor to a great king ? 
 You have a kingly name, for was not a Perceforest 
 king of all England ? Everybody knows it. 
 You may carve out these rewards and have your 
 little Mawdleyn under your arm all the while. 
 Come. I see a part of the way, but I am plaguily 
 a-thirst with all this tongue-work. Come, boy, 
 let us drink. Leave the rest to me : counsel 
 comes on the flood. But let us by no means 
 omit our respects to the respectable Saint Swithin, 
 lord of this place, though dead as a mutton-bone. 
 Come, my gamebird, bend the knee with me.' 
 
 II, Wiles of Captain Brazenhead 
 
 They bent the knee together, the man of blood 
 and the weeper, then rose up and went out of the 
 great church. As they journeyed, the Captain 
 was good enough to expound his philosophy of 
 saints and ladies, whom he classed together as 
 amiable emollients of our frail age, as so much 
 ointment, necessary to us in early manhood, better, 
 however, taken early, and always in moderation. 
 Nearing the inn he became full of thought, and 
 his face took on so portentous a cast of brooding 
 melancholy that Percival dared not break in upon
 
 54 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 it. The Captain, as the result showed, had been 
 thinking partly of beer, for he drank deeply and 
 at once of this fount of solace, with both hands at 
 the flagon. Percival sipped his beer delicately, 
 without wetting more than the red of the lips ; 
 his little finger pointed to the sky as he lifted his 
 jug. This was not lost upon the Captain, who 
 said to himself, ' It is easy to see that you are 
 higher born than you suppose, my lambkin ; so 
 much the better for Jack.' But when he had 
 again drunk copiously, thrown down the flagon 
 for dogs to sniff* at, and wrung out his beard, 
 moustachios, and eyebrows, regardless of his birth 
 he slapped his young friend on the thigh, saying, 
 ' I have it, gamepoult, I have it.' 
 
 ' What have you, sir ? ' asks Percival. The 
 Captain replied, ' There is but one thing to have 
 in the world, since you and I are one. I have 
 your Mawdleyn like bird in net.' He shut his 
 two hands together to shape a cage ; one of his 
 thumbs was stuck up for the inmate. ' She is in 
 there, I tell you,' he averred. ' Do you see her ? ' 
 
 'Yes, sir,' says Percival. 
 
 ' You are a good lad,' replied the Captain ; 
 ' and I'll tell you this for certain-sure ; you too 
 shall be in there, billing on the same perch, in
 
 BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT SS 
 
 three shakes of a leg, if you follow me. Is this 
 to your liking ? ' Percival seized his friend's 
 hand. 
 
 *Oh, I will follow you to the world's end, 
 dear sif ! ' he cried with fervour ; and the Captain, 
 ' You shall follow me no farther than Kent at this 
 present. Now listen, and answer me. This 
 Prioress of Ambresbury, what favour hath she .'' 
 Is she a big lady, or a little mincing, can-I-venture 
 kind of a lady ? Is she of fine presence or mean .'' 
 In a word, doth she favour your tun or your 
 broomstick .'' ' 
 
 ' She is a fine woman, sir,' replied Percival, 
 * with a most notable shape.' 
 
 * Aha ! ' says the Captain, ' I feel a Turk. 
 Now then, what sort of a train hath she .' Many 
 or few ? ' ' 
 
 ' Sir, she is accompanied, as her due is, by two 
 stirrup-boys, half a score men-at-arms, an esquire 
 of the body, a seneschal, a confessor, and five 
 tirewomen, to say nothing of Sister Guiscarda, 
 who hath no teeth to speak of, or of Sister 
 Petronilla, who loves me a little out of pity.' 
 The Captain, musing, made a note of Sister 
 Petronilla. 
 
 * Very sufficient indeed for an honourable
 
 S6 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 gentlewoman,' he said, ' and very pleasing to God, 
 I am sure. Now, if I twisted the neck of one of 
 those stirrup-jacks, and put you into his place 
 and breeches, who is the worse ? ' Percival glowed 
 in his skin. ' No one would be the worse, sir,' 
 says he, ' save perchance the boy whose neck you 
 should be pleased to wring ; and, oh, sir, many, 
 many would be the better ! ' 
 
 ' Let be then,' said the Captain ; ' I will arrange 
 it for you.' Percival sighed, 
 
 ' How shall I thank you, my noble benefactor ^ 
 he said earnestly. The Captain put hands on his 
 shoulders. 
 
 ' You shall thank me by your deeds, my lad. 
 I know a youth of parts when I see him — a pale 
 face that knows the look of letters, a thin hand 
 that can curl about a penholder. You are exactly 
 what I need. Don't suppose that you are not to 
 work for your bliss. Not at all. You shall do a 
 pretty work in the world before you are a moon* 
 older. Now I am for the Abbey of Hyde. 
 Have you any conmiands for me.'' A billet for 
 the round eyes of Mawdleyn Touchett ? A love- 
 lock ? Ah, you are shorn like a Burgundian, 
 I see.' 
 
 ' Sir,' says Percival, ' I will write if I may.'
 
 BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT 57 
 
 'Write, write,' his friend urged him. 'I am 
 glad you have the knack of that. Presently you 
 shall be writing for the realm ! ' 
 
 Percival, using his knee for desk, wrote in the 
 inn-yard : — 
 
 My pretty lamb, these words shall kiss thine eyes, 
 letting thee know that I am near at hand, withal crying 
 to be nearer. And so I shall be anon, as I am assured 
 by the noblest friend ever young man had. Start not, 
 colour not, be surprised at nothing thou shalt see or hear 
 to-morrow. O my lovely love, my rose, my dear, kiss 
 this paper where my heart is spilt. — From thy true love. 
 
 Poor Percival. 
 
 To my Sweet Mistress Mawdleyn Touchett, by a 
 very trusty hand. 
 
 * Read it over to me, boy,' said Captain Brazen- 
 head. This Percival did, with some confusion of 
 face. 
 
 * By the bones of Saint Jezebel,' said his friend, 
 ' that is the prettiest letter but three I have ever 
 read of — ah, or caused to be written. Soon 
 enough, that gate, you shall wriggle where that 
 will go. Now help me out with my horse and 
 stuff. I lodge at Hyde this night ; and do you 
 lie snug in the Strangers' Hall, my dear, and stay 
 there till I send for you.'
 
 58 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 III. How Captain Brazenhead was 
 Himself recruited 
 
 The deeds of Captain Brazenhead from this point 
 became swift and ruthless ; they demand epic 
 treatment wholly beyond my present means, and 
 would be omitted, with a bare mention of the fact 
 accomplished, were it not for one beautiful flaw 
 in them, very characteristic of the man, which 
 (although he had no notion of it then) entirely 
 spoiled his own real design, to Percival Perceforest's 
 incalculable benefit. Let me, therefore, say that 
 the Captain rode (upon his stolen horse) into the 
 stables of the Abbot of Hyde, and told a lay- 
 brother whom he found there that he was to be a 
 guest for that night. Dismounted, he stalked into 
 the stables to see the animals. There was a fat 
 cream-coloured Galician horse there, with a head- 
 stall of red leather. He risked his all upon that. 
 
 * What ! ' he cried out, ' is my gossip the Lady 
 of Ambresbury abroad ? Is that possible ? ' 
 
 ' Her ladyship is here for one night, indeed, 
 sir,' says lay-brother Eupeptus. The Captain 
 faced him, with terrible eyes. 
 
 * And does she know, thinkest thou, bare-poll, 
 that her dear Cambases is herded with common
 
 BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT 59 
 
 sumpter-beasts ? By my head I will never believe 
 it. Where are her people ? Where are her two 
 stirrup -boys, her half a score men-at-arms, her 
 esquire of the body, her seneschal, her confessor, 
 her five; tirewomen, to say nothing of Sister 
 Guiscarda, who has no teeth, or of Sister Petronilla, 
 who loves me a little out of pity ? Lord of battles, 
 brother, answer me quick ! ' 
 
 ' Sir,' replied the trembling brother, ' I believe 
 they are in chapel at this hour ; but the two lads 
 are out in the meads, I am sure, birds'-nesting. 
 I saw them go down this half-hour or more, and 
 I'll swear to their present occupation (once they 
 be there) by my lively hopes of Heaven.' 
 
 Captain Brazenhead, with a great air, strode 
 out of the courtyard ; but, instead of going into 
 the Abbey, he turned through a wicket-gate into 
 the Abbot's garden, skirted a yew hedge, found 
 a hole in it, wormed himself through, crossed a 
 kitchen plot, a herbary, a nuttery, climbed a wall 
 by means of a fig-tree, and dropped ten feet into 
 the meads. Then he took his way over the grow- 
 ing grass towards the river, which he saw coiling 
 between banks of bright green, like a blue snake 
 enlarging under the sun. The evening was very 
 fair, the sun behind the towers of Wolvesey, the
 
 6o FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 rooks circling about the Nun's Walk. Larks soared 
 and sang, a soft wind played over the meadows. 
 The Captain particularly delighted in the cowslips, 
 which, springing everywhere about his feet, appealed 
 to his tenderest feelings, and caused him to skip 
 like a lamb unweaned, lest he should unhappily 
 tread on any nodding crown of them. ' My fresh 
 beauties ! My dairy-delights ! ' cried he, ' I would 
 as soon trample my mother's grave as your wag- 
 ging golden heads ! ' Prancing thus, full of the 
 soft mood which opening adventure always brings 
 to the truly adventurous, carolling and talking 
 secrets to the flowers, he drew near the smooth- 
 flowing, dimpled waters of Itchen, deep and dark 
 just here. Right and left, up and down river he 
 looked, first at the rising trout, next for bigger 
 game. He clacked his tongue in his cheek at 
 what he made out. 'I am in luck's way this 
 happy evening,' he told himself, ' I have divided 
 the enemy.' This was the case. To his 
 left he saw a figure in dark clothes — or (to 
 be exact) the lower half of a figure — busy in a 
 clump of osiers ; to his right another, very 
 delicately pink in the declining sunlight, sitting on 
 the bank of the river, naked arms clasping naked 
 knees, chin atop. 'This is my game,' said the
 
 BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT 6i 
 
 Captain to himself ; ' I leave sedge-warblers to the 
 other innocent. This one is a bather. He shall 
 have a long swim, by my immortal part.' 
 
 Captain Brazenhead, on his belly, crept warily 
 up a drain ; and it had assuredly gone ill with 
 the Prioress's stirrup-boy had his stalking enemy 
 not happened upon some very early forget-me-nots 
 growing upon the north bank of his covert. This 
 is one of those star-directed chances which may 
 change the fates of Empires. Seeing these flowers, 
 ' O patch of heaven's blue ! O eyes of the 
 deep hiding-place of my God ! ' breathed the prone, 
 delighted Captain Brazenhead. ' O colour of 
 sacred hope, what blissful fortune drew my sight 
 to thine ? ' He picked two or three of the starry 
 flowers and peered over the drain, as he did so, 
 at the unconscious youth, who, with his knees 
 clasped between his hands, still looked at the water. 
 Said the Captain in his thought, ' My lad, these 
 azure blossoms have saved thy virgin life. Thank 
 the Maker of all flowers ! ' So said, he sprang 
 suddenly upon him from behind, as a man will 
 throw himself upon a great fish in a shallow. The 
 boy, smothered under fold upon fold of Captain, 
 could neither move nor cry out : one great knee 
 was over his mouth, another pressed the pit of his
 
 62 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 stomach, his toes were pricked by a fierce beard. 
 The Captain at leisure reached over for his captive's 
 shirt, and tore it into three long strips over his 
 head. With one of these he securely bound the 
 prisoner's ankles ; turning him over, he next tied 
 his hands behind his back. Lastly he wound up 
 his mouth with three or four thicknesses of calico ; 
 then carried him off and laid him snugly in the 
 drain, which was very nearly dry. He did not 
 forget to choose a place for him close to the patch 
 of early forget-me-nots. ' There, my chicken,' 
 he said kindly, ' your eyes shall be gladdened by 
 the sight of the innocent saviours of your life. 
 Look upon these Httle blue beauties, and thank 
 God night and morning for one of the fairest 
 sights His world can offer you.' So said, he 
 picked up the discarded clothes and ran as fast 
 as he could towards the Abbey. 
 
 He broke through gates and doors, raced down 
 passages, crossed the Little Cloister, and jostled a 
 way for himself between the crowd of servants at 
 the lower end of the refectory. The monks were 
 at supper under the direction of the Prior, who sat 
 at the high table. The Lord Abbot, no doubt, 
 was entertaining guests in his parlour ; was 
 therefore more remote from approach. It would
 
 BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT 63 
 
 be necessary for the Captain to roar if he wished 
 (as he did wish) to be heard in there ; and yet his 
 sense of fitness told him that he should not bewail 
 outrageously so slight a misfortune as he had been 
 able to*procure. ' The noise I shall have to make,' 
 he had said to himself, reasoning as he ran, ' if I 
 am to penetrate the walls of the Abbot's parlour, 
 would be extravagant for the death of a prelate. 
 Tush ! and I am to waste it upon a thin little boy 
 not even drowned in truth. But what else can I 
 do to serve my friend Perceforest .'' ' 
 
 Even as he said the words, being within the 
 doors of the refectory, he began a wail which 
 might well wake the dead. Holding on high the 
 limp testimony of his news, he poured the whole 
 of his magnificent natural organ into gusts and 
 volleys of woe towards the rafters. Tui^a mirum 
 spargens sonum ! ' Oh, too much dole to be 
 borne ! Oh, misery of men ! Hapless, hapless 
 Narcissus ! Hylas, early cut off ! Out and alas ! 
 mes tres chers frereSy look upon these weeds ! ' It 
 was as if the Seven Vials had been loosed, as if the 
 Archangel were sounding the Last Trump, and all 
 the unhappy dead voicing their despair. ' O lasso ! 
 Oime ! O troppo, troppo dolore ! ' pursued the 
 Captain, intoxicated with his fancy, and breaking
 
 64 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 easily into the Italian. The monks and their guests 
 were all on foot, the servants ran about, the dogs 
 came out from under the tables and howled at the 
 howling Captain ; the Reverend Prior whipped his 
 napkin from his neck (lest he should strangle) and 
 swallowed a toast before the time. A picture of 
 tragic woe, the Captain stood before him, exhibit- 
 ing in one hand a pair of murrey breeches and 
 jerkin of leather, in the other a stout shoe, two 
 worsted stockings, and what remained of a shirt. 
 
 ' Look at these tokens. Reverend Father,' says 
 the Captain, ' and shudder with me.' 
 
 ' Who are you ^ ' asks the Prior, blowing out 
 his lips. The Captain was ready for that. 
 
 ' I am Mallecho, the Sorrowful Sprite, the Dark 
 Herald, Testadirame,' he announced in bodeful 
 accents. 
 
 ' And why under Heaven do you show me your 
 old clothes .'' ' the Prior asked him testily. The 
 Captain with sobs enlarged upon the question. 
 Would to God, he cried out, that they had 
 been his ! Alas ! they had covered a younger, 
 more blossoming body than his old skin could 
 hold. The nymphs, he went on to say, had the 
 beauteous owner of these weeds ; Itchen's blue 
 wave rolled over him, fishes explored his armpits.
 
 BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT 65 
 
 eels and other serpents wreathed his legs. ' This 
 man,' said the Reverend Prior, ' is undoubtedly 
 mad. Let the Almoner be sent for, the Infirmarer, 
 
 and the Exorciser ' But at that moment a 
 
 monk, running in from a door in the panel, knelt 
 before the Prior, a messenger from the Lord Abbot 
 to know what this monstrous commotion could be 
 about. 
 
 It was wonderful to see the change in Captain 
 Brazenhead. The usher of woe no more, there 
 stood erect as keen a man of affairs as ever you 
 saw in your life. ' Your pardon, my reverend 
 brothers, I had taken this good father for your 
 Lord Abbot. Conduct me, brother, to his Grace. 
 Unless I gravely mistake, I have sad news for his 
 most cherished guest.' 
 
 ' Do you mean ? ' the Prior began to 
 
 ask. 
 
 Captain Brazenhead laid a finger to his mouth. 
 
 ' I do mean ' he began to answer. 
 
 ' Take him with you. Brother Harmonius,' said 
 the Prior ; so the Captain with his tokens was led 
 away to the Abbot's parlour. 
 
 In this very stately apartment of black oak 
 and silver sconces and a statue of the Blessed 
 Virgin, he saw all that he wanted. The Lord
 
 66 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 Abbot was there, a shaggy-browed, portly man, 
 enthroned. On his right hand sat the Prioress of 
 Ambresbury, majestic, ox-eyed, slow-moving, with 
 the remains of beauty carefully husbanded ; next 
 to her a yellow old nun with a few teeth ; next to 
 her again the undoubted Mawdleyn Touchett of 
 Percival Perceforest's handling, a fine die-away 
 girl, with a creamy skin, bountiful shape by no 
 means concealed in a dress of white cloth, and a 
 pair of brimming brown eyes which, his experience 
 told him, would go through a diaphragm quicker 
 than a knife through butter. Upon her farther 
 side was another nun, of mild, repining counte- 
 nance, whose head mostly inclined to one side, and 
 who as she talked drew the breath inwards. This 
 must be Sister Petronilla, who loved Percival a 
 little. Other guests there were, of whom this 
 history has nothing to report. Supper was over : 
 the Abbot dallied with a sop in wine, the Prioress 
 with a silver toothpick ; Mawdleyn Touchett, who 
 seemed in a melting mood, rather tumbled and 
 very tired, played with her fingers in her lap. A 
 couple of minstrels half-kneeled on the floor, and 
 strummed their strings to deaf ears. Captain 
 Brazenhead was a diversion, a healthy gale in a 
 close garden ; the singers stopped of their own
 
 BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT 67 
 
 accord in the middle of an heroic couplet, telling 
 
 how 
 
 Sire Simone de Rochefort 
 N'i porta pas baniere a tort, 
 
 and Captain Brazenhead came lightly to the point. 
 
 ' By your leave, my Lord Abbot,' he said, then 
 turned nobly to the Prioress of Ambresbury. 
 ' Madam, I bring this sorrowful testimony of the 
 too early demise of one of your servants. A young 
 boy, Madam, whose privilege and hope it was to 
 serve by your foot, seeking the solace of the water, 
 has found eternal solace in the bosom of Our Lady 
 (whom let us bless for ever !). I found these 
 clothes by the water, Madam ; the tender body I 
 found not.' 
 
 The Prioress removed the toothpick, as she said, 
 ' I recognise the colour of my livery, sir, but do 
 not call to mind the wearer. It may be very true 
 what you tell me.' 
 
 ' It is most woundily true. Madam,' says the 
 Captain, with a glimpse at Mawdleyn's brown 
 eyes. 
 
 ' I do not doubt you, sir,' returned the Prioress; 
 *but I suppose I can find boys enough in 
 Winchester. Meantime, I am very much obliged 
 to you for your labours.'
 
 68 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 ' Madam,' says the Captain, ' my labours, as 
 you are pleased to call what I protest to be 
 delights, are but begun, if (as I assume) your 
 Ladyship needs a new stirrup -boy. I hope I 
 know what is due from a man of my degree to 
 a lady of yours. We chevaliers, Madam, are 
 sworn to the succour of ladies ; and I should 
 never dare look again into the face of my friend 
 the Duke of Milan (who dubbed me knight) if 
 I were false to that oath. Madam, I found the 
 husk, let me find a kernel ; I found the poor 
 weeds, let me find the sprouting bud.' 
 
 * I confess that I do not altogether understand 
 your desires,' said the Prioress, with some hesita- 
 tion ; ' but if the Duke's Grace of Milan ' 
 
 ' Yes, yes,' put in the Abbot, ' if the Duke's 
 Grace of Milan '• 
 
 ' Would to God, dear Madam,' cried the 
 Captain, with real feeling, ' would to God, my 
 Lord Abbot, I could supply you with the kind of 
 lads that flower in my good friend's court ! Hey, 
 the bloom, the glitter, the Cupid's limbs of these 
 dexterous youths ! They will tie you a shoe, 
 pommel you a cushion, they will trim you a wimple, 
 swing you to a horse, dance, sing, cap verses, tell 
 tales like young gods at play of an evening. I
 
 BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT 69 
 
 cannot, in this homely land, perform the impossible, 
 alack ! but I can get you a very handy youngster 
 of my own retinue, and warrant him no lick-pot 
 neither — if that will serve your Ladyship's turn.' 
 
 This was a delicate moment, if you please, for 
 the Captain. Directly he had offered, he knew 
 that he had offered too much and too soon ; but 
 there was no withdrawing. The Abbot spoke 
 first, leaning back in his chair ; plainly he was 
 weary of the thing : ' This appears to be a business 
 for my sister of Ambresbury to consider more 
 with her seneschal than with her host. Yet the 
 gentleman's pains merit some courtesy at our 
 hands. Sir,' he said to the Captain, ' a cup of 
 wine with you.' 
 
 ' My Lord,' said Captain Brazenhead, ' there 
 spoke a prelate.' 
 
 The wine was brought ; Captain Brazenhead 
 drank deep. After that he began to talk, and 
 the minstrels' office was at an end. He spoke 
 first of his travels in remote and marvellous parts 
 of the world — of the desert between the Church 
 of Saint Catherine and Jerusalem ; of the DryTree ; 
 and of how roses first came into the world. The 
 City of Calamye and its lamentable law of marriage 
 engaged him next ; also the evil custom of the Isle
 
 70 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 of Lamary, and concerning the palace of the King 
 of the Isles of Java. He told of trees that bear 
 meal, honey, wine, and venom ; of the herb Edelfla 
 which is said to resemble a woman ; of the realms 
 of Tharse ; of the Devil's head in the Valley 
 Perilous ; and of pismires and their hills of gold. 
 By a transition as easy as it was abrupt, he passed 
 to Natural Science, in which he showed himself 
 learned without pedantry. He spoke of the nine 
 eyes of the lamprey, and reasoned boldly for the 
 common opinion of the ostrich, which conceives 
 that it digesteth iron. This he said he had him- 
 self proved, though he must be excused from 
 telling them how. I wish you could have heard 
 him upon the vexed question of whether hares 
 are indeed hermaphrodites ; he was so adroit in 
 handling, fertile in parallels, discreet, subtle, pro- 
 vocative of thought. And he carried his hearers 
 with him. Not so, however, in the matter of 
 mandrakes, to whom he denied the virtue of 
 shrieking when pulled by night. Of this the 
 Prioress of Ambresbury was positive ; equally 
 constant was the Abbot of Hyde in the assertion 
 that they have thighs. The Captain laughed off 
 his obstinacy. 
 
 He spoke next of perils, painted in battle-
 
 BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT 71 
 
 pieces with a broad brush as he went. He took 
 his hearers with him to sunny foreign courts, to 
 Venice, to Rimini, to Florence, back again to 
 his dear Milan. They beheld him head a sortie 
 at the siege of Rhodes. When the Barbary 
 corsairs chained him naked to a galley they 
 sat still, crisping their hands, until he picked 
 up with his toes the half of a file ; then while 
 his escape was in the framing, while the file 
 (wetted with spittle) ground through the hot, 
 dense nights, ah, how they held their breath ! 
 He whirled them off with him into the Low 
 Countries, and bade them wait while he cut the 
 dykes and flooded a whole country-side. He 
 burned the Pucelle of Orleans before their dilating 
 eyes, and owned with natural blushes that it was 
 himself who (for reasons then found good) so 
 nearly broke the marriage -treaty between King 
 Harry's Grace and the daughter of King Rene of 
 Anjou. In a word, by these his accounts of wide 
 experiences, of patient, curious research, of gestes 
 and feats of arms, rapidly delivered, copiously 
 illustrated and exceedingly untrue, he had his 
 auditory between his finger and thumb ; and not 
 even a little misadventure with Mawdleyn midway 
 of his oration could throw him off his balance.
 
 72 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 The fact is, the Captain greatly admired this fine 
 girl, and paid her the tribute of his looks and 
 speech a httle more than he need, or was prudent. 
 This, while it escaped the Prioress, by no means 
 escaped the vigilance of the sour old nun who sat 
 at her left hand, and who deliberately brought up 
 the girl's blue riding-cloak from the back of her 
 chair, and pulled the hood over her head so as to 
 cover her eyes. Thus hooded like a hawk the 
 poor child remained ; yet, while the Captain not 
 so much as paused in his discourse at the cruel act, 
 he was careful to see the gentler nun on the other 
 side wince at it, and (good husbandman !) made 
 that serve his turn, as you will discover. The 
 end of all was that he won over the Prioress of 
 Ambresbury, who, on rising from the table, begged 
 his company for a further private conversation. 
 By this time she had been led to believe that 
 Captain Brazenhead had nearly lost his life in 
 the effort to save her stirrup-boy's, that he had 
 provided interment at his own charges, and written 
 gentlemanly letters (enclosing a sum of money) to 
 the parents. Such are the effects of the art of 
 suggestion in rapid narrative. 
 
 At the going out, which was done with great 
 ceremony of ushers, a chaplain and waiting women.
 
 BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT 73 
 
 the gentle nun fluttered near Captain Brazenhead, 
 wishful, but not daring, to speak. The Captain 
 encouraged her with the sort of eye that takes you 
 more than half-way. 
 
 ' Oh, sir,' said this palpitating creature, ' oh, 
 sir, forgive my sister Guiscarda. She hath our 
 charge greatly on her conscience.' 
 
 * Dear Madam,' replied the Captain soothingly, 
 * say no more. She hath a fine heart, I am sure, 
 and a lofty, great soul.' 
 
 ' She is too severe,' said the good nun. 
 ' Gentleness may lead where harsh dealing may 
 never, never drive.' Captain Brazenhead took 
 her hand and whispered over it : 
 
 ' You share the qualities of the blessed angels, 
 dear Madam,' he said. ' Be now an angel indeed, 
 a pious messenger. Hist ! come close. You are 
 a friend of our fair prisoner. You are, I know it ; 
 say no more.' 
 
 The nun quailed to hear him. 
 
 ' I love the dear child ' 
 
 ' You do ! And she loves — and she is loved 
 — and she suffers — we suffer — they suffer — 
 ha!' 
 
 ' Oh, sir ' 
 
 ' You have a red heart, Madam. Quick, quick!
 
 74 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 Take this writing — 'tis for her, a balsam for a 
 bruised little heart. Hearts go bleeding ; staunch 
 the wound. Deliver it as you can, while I hold 
 the old lady. I dare no more. Oh, sacred bond 
 between you and me ! ' He thrust into Sister 
 Petronilla's trembling hand Percival Perceforest's 
 love-letter. Before she could protest or implore 
 he was gone, had stepped after the Prioress's 
 people, and was in the thick of new oratory. 
 Here I cannot ask you to follow him, but from 
 what you know of his powers already displayed 
 you must judge the end of the adventure. He 
 enlisted Master Perceforest, in the name of his 
 sister's son. Piers Thrustwood (you mark the 
 disguise) into the place and breeches of the youth 
 who lay gagged and naked in a ditch in Win- 
 chester Meads, hard by a clump of early forget- 
 me-nots. By this time corroborative testimony 
 had been brought home by the second stirrup-boy, 
 the birds'-nester. 
 
 That night Mawdleyn Touchett wrote as 
 follows : 
 
 O heart ! S(ister) P(etronilla) delivered me your paper 
 after supper. Now it is, you know where, well kissed. 
 I would I had you there. They pulled my hood over 
 my face because your soldier looked at me. I saw your
 
 BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT 75 
 
 face the better. I will not see you to-morrow^ as you bid 
 me ; and yet, O shall I not see you ? 
 
 Good-night, good-night, good-night ! 
 
 Your pledged, 
 
 Mawdleyn. 
 
 
 * 
 
 Outside this she dared to write, unable to 
 resist the look of the words, ' To my bosom's 
 lord, P. P., give this, M. T. dardant desyr,' and 
 coaxed Sister Petronilla into delivering it to the 
 Captain. 
 
 That same night Captain Brazenhead lay on 
 his back upon the Abbot's good flock ; Percival 
 moaned in his half- slumber and rolled about 
 upon the beaten floor of the Common Hall ; and 
 Sister Petronilla, having Mawdleyn's happy cheek 
 against her bosom, tried to believe herself justified 
 by faith, not works. 
 
 IV. How Percival prospered and the 
 Captain felt justified 
 
 ' The humble supplication of Lancelot Corbet, 
 Citizen and Scrivener of London, Richard Smith, 
 mariner, of the county of the town of Kingston- 
 upon-Hull, of Gundrith his wife, native of Norro- 
 way, and of Giles Cruttenden of Mereworth, in 
 the county of Kent, yeoman,' was presented in
 
 76 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 the morning early to * the Reverend Mother, 
 their Good Ladyship, the Prioress of Ambres- 
 bury ' ; and was to the effect that her orators, 
 devoutly disposed by motions of their spiritual 
 parts in no wise to be mistaken, were bounden 
 upon the pilgrimage of Saint Thomas ; but because 
 of the disturbed state of the road, owing to these 
 unhappy times of discord and the far purposes 
 of Almighty God (not to be discerned by men 
 alone), they went in peril of their lives and 
 substance, ' being but poor folk unfriended of 
 any,' Their prayer was that they might be 
 allowed to join the retinue of the Prioress, and 
 be friends of her friends, foes of her foes ; whereby 
 they could not doubt but that Saint Thomas 
 would be favourable to them, and the Prioress 
 profit by the added prayers of very grateful 
 persons. Also her petitioners, as in duty bound, 
 would ever pray. 
 
 The Prioress was inclined to admit these honest 
 people to her company ; but Captain Brazenhead, 
 who enjoyed some authority with her, said, ' Pass 
 the mariner and his (apparently) heathen wife, 
 pass Cruttenden into Kent ; but leave me to deal 
 with Corbet the Scrivener, for I know him of old 
 for a short-faced, snarling rogue.' It was true
 
 BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT 77 
 
 that Captain Brazenhead knew him for his 
 acquaintance of yesterday in the Church of Saint 
 Swithin. When, therefore, the short-faced man 
 came pacing towards the gates of Hyde, cloaked, 
 strapped, and well-embaled, the Captain met him 
 with a short ' Ha, Scrivener, dismount. None 
 enter here.' 
 
 ' By your leave, sir,' says the Scrivener. 
 
 * You have no leave of mine,' said the Captain 
 in reply ; ' therefore, come down or I give you 
 number three.' He touched his pommel. 
 
 When the Scrivener, after multitudinous un- 
 strappings, was on firm ground, Captain Brazen- 
 head put on a very wise face and said : ' A word 
 will be enough in your ear. We carry with us 
 
 a person of consequence. You love Y k.' 
 
 The Scrivener went as white as the favoured 
 rose. 
 
 ' Who — what — how ! ' 
 
 ' Precisely,' replied the Captain, ' you answer 
 yourself. Say no more : finger on lip ; eyes on 
 the ground ; ears wide — pass in.' The Scrivener 
 went slowly in. Captain Brazenhead, his luck 
 still holding, had spoken wiselier than he knew. 
 
 At this point you may see, if you will, Percival 
 Perceforest demurely habited in the murrey jacket
 
 78 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 and breeches, the worsted stockings, greasy cap, 
 and shoes of the Prioress's stirrup-boy ; you may 
 guess what gUnt lay behind Mawdleyn Touchett's 
 dewy eyes, with what clouded white and opening 
 red she flushed and paled as each moment of a 
 wondrous day brought up its alarms, to melt them 
 suddenly in rewards ; how the heart of Sister 
 Petronilla (thick in the plot) played postman 
 at her ribs ; how greatly Captain Brazenhead 
 behaved, flourishing the party forward out of 
 Hants, how often his cap was in his hand to the 
 Prioress of Ambresbury, how often her ear at 
 his tongue's command. I cannot stay longer in 
 Winton or I would tell you myself It shall 
 suffice to say that Percival pleased. The Prioress 
 liked handsome persons about her ; Percival, 
 whose nerves made him vivid, looked very hand- 
 some in his meekness, eagerness-on-the-leash, and 
 high colours. They had not gone very far before 
 a chance outburst of his in the French tongue — he 
 sang from a full heart and quite unconsciously — 
 gave his mistress a hint that, if the new lad was 
 deficient in stable knowledge, he had other lore. 
 
 This happened when they were no farther on 
 their way than the two miles of deep descent and 
 gentle rise which bring you to Headborne Worthy
 
 BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT 79 
 
 and its miraculous Rood, which the curious may 
 still see, beaten, dumb, blind, but portentous, in 
 the sacristy of that weathered shrine — a maimed 
 Titan guarded by heroes. Sister Guiscarda had 
 vowed a candle to this image should she be delivered 
 from the face-ache of the previous day. She was 
 delivered. Captain Brazenhead judged it wise to 
 put a prayer out to usury. Mawdleyn, in this 
 heyday of her heart, must needs praise the kindly 
 Saints. But the Prioress sat her saddle, and 
 Percival, seeing his true love depart, took such 
 joy in her mere carriage of the head, had such 
 exuberant savour of the coming day, the coming 
 days, the coming week, which he should spend in 
 her fragrant company, that as he loitered dream- 
 ing by the gate he forgot himself and began to 
 sing : 
 
 Si cum j'oi la Rose aproch^e, 
 Un poi la trovai engroissee, 
 Et vi qu'ele iere plus crelie 
 Que ge ne I'avoie veue. . . . 
 
 The Prioress pricked up her ears, but let 
 Percival's voice go wandering on ; then she said, 
 * Come hither. Piers.' Percival started, blushed, 
 but obeyed. 
 
 ' Dost thou know what thou singest there ? '
 
 8o FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 ' Yes, please you, my lady ; I sang the Roman 
 de la Rose' 
 
 ' Thou hast that piece ? ' 
 
 ' I had all of it by heart upon a time, my lady ; 
 but have lost the greater part.' 
 
 ' Begin, if you please,' said the Prioress ; so 
 Percival began : 
 
 Maintes gens dient que en songes . . . 
 
 and had got as far as : 
 
 Ou vintiesme an de mon aage, 
 
 when the pilgrims came out of church, and a 
 chance shot from Mawdleyn's eyes threw him out. 
 He helped his beloved to the saddle, he shored up 
 Sister Guiscarda on hers ; but the Prioress did not 
 budge. When the confusion of horses was over, 
 she asked her stirrup-boy aloud, whether he could 
 continue this or any other lay } 
 
 ' Madame, if it please you,' said Percival, ' I 
 know the Romaunt very well ; and I know the 
 tale of the Twelve Peers and Ganelon, and of 
 Gallien le Rhetore (which is very short), and also 
 that of Le Jouvencel, a didactic piece. Moreover, 
 I know that story of The Proud Lady in Amours^ 
 which they call Blanchardyn, and also Isofere the 
 Hardy ^ and The Lays of Marie de France. There
 
 BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT 8i 
 
 are songs in The Ladies^ Orchard which I can sing 
 if you wish for them, and another in the Itahan 
 tongue which begins " In the greenwood I found 
 a shepherdess," and certain Triumphs of Petrarch^ 
 and very pleasant sonnets which he wrote to the 
 dear name and fame of Madame Laura, his 
 mistress — any of these I can sing, whichever the 
 company desire ' 
 
 ' Ah ! ' cried the Prioress, with a Kttle gasp, 
 * and the airs of these divine inventions, Percival 
 — where gat you these ? ' 
 
 ' Madam,' repHed he, blushing a little, ' some 
 of the airs were devised by me for the lute, some 
 in plainsong, and some in pricksong for three or 
 four voices, and some, not yet considered, I hope 
 to achieve as I go.' 
 
 ' I ask you now,' said the Captain, with huge 
 delight, ' is this a prodigy I have procreated or 
 not ? ' It came natural to him to suppose himself 
 the father of such a boy ; and, after all, a nephew 
 is not far removed. 
 
 The Prioress was observing the speaker with 
 gravity. Without taking note of Captain Brazen- 
 head's vaunt, she quietly bade him go on where he 
 had left off. The obedient lad once more put his 
 hands behind his back, threw up his chin, and
 
 82 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 rippled out his French syllables about love, with his 
 own love's heart beating a little above his own, and 
 her brown eyes burning through the top of his head. 
 She lent him eloquence ; he sang clear and loud : 
 
 Or veil eel songe rimaier 
 Por vos cuers plus fere esgaier 
 Qu'amors le me prie et comraande. . . . 
 
 at which last words, if the Prioress had been wary, 
 she could not have failed to see deep hue call unto 
 deep. For Mawdleyn grew very red, and Percival 
 was very red ; and Mawdleyn dropped her eyes, 
 and Percival's travelled as high as her chin, and 
 stayed there. Two others saw as much as they 
 should, namely, Captain Brazenhead, who thought 
 it too good to last, and Master Smith the mariner, 
 who studied Percival's nose. 
 
 'Very pretty,' said the Captain to himself, * but 
 full of jeopardy.' He broke in to address the 
 Prioress. ' Madam,' he said, ' the sun warns me 
 that we should proceed. Let us have my nephew's 
 minstrelsy on the way by all means ; but let the 
 ground-bass be our horses' hoofs. We have a far 
 road to Alton town.' 
 
 ' This swordsman is right, my jady,' said Corbet 
 the Scrivener. * Let your ladyship's boy sing as he 
 walks by your ladyship's foot.'
 
 BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT 83 
 
 ' I could have sworn by Saint John that there 
 was but one long nose in a pretty face in all this 
 world,' the Shipman thought to himself. ' And 
 whom have we here ? ' quoth he. The Prioress 
 took up the Scrivener. 
 
 ' My boy shall walk by my foot no farther than 
 Alresford,' she said with decision. ' Young man,' 
 she turned to Percival, ' you are out of your station, 
 I can see. I will look to your advancement if I 
 love music' 
 
 ' I thank your ladyship,' says Percival ; and 
 Captain Brazenhead glossed that text with ' Cer- 
 tainly, I did my friend Jack a good turn when I 
 won this throstle-cock. 'Tis a little marvel of 
 science.' 
 
 Now, the Prioress would have had the Romaunt 
 of the Rose in its entirety, though it should have 
 lasted her (as it would) to her first view of the 
 golden angel on Bell Harry. But this was not to 
 be. By the time Percival had failed at the three- 
 hundred-and-fiftieth line, the company was feverish 
 for something which they might possibly under- 
 stand. I have spoken somewhat of the Shipman 
 who travelled with them, who came from Kingston- 
 upon-Hull, called himself Richard Smith, and 
 thought he knew Percival's nose. This was a
 
 84 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 bright -eyed, confident, chin-in-the-air kind of 
 fellow, a golden -bearded, apple -coloured man, 
 with a thin wife, very much (and too much) at his 
 devotion, who studied the singing-boy sideways 
 the whole time of his singing, watched his feet, 
 his fine long hands, his sharp little chin, his small 
 mouth, his hot little eyes, his fine long nose. He 
 smacked his forehead and talked to himself, he 
 explored the sky, the downs, the birds in the trees, 
 but all to no purpose ; he could not put a name to 
 his memories. When Percival faltered, tried back, 
 caught at a line ahead and could not work up to it, 
 this mariner broke in with a laugh. 
 
 ' Belay there, shipmate, give over your lead,' 
 quoth he; 'you cannot bottom it. And I, dear 
 Lord, have been in shoal water this three hours. 
 By Blackbeard and Whitebeard, you know a mort 
 of French words, and all of them different, it 
 seemeth. Now, I would like to know of you, 
 where gat you all those words .'' For you and I, 
 little master, are not strangers.' 
 
 As Percival looked startled at him, ' By my 
 head and heart, Shipman,' said Captain Brazenhead, 
 ' you have spoilt a pretty dream I was in. For to 
 hear those fair words took me back to the sack of 
 Orleans, where I lay lapped in plenty, and learned
 
 BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT 85 
 
 that tongue out of as choice a mouth as your wife 
 hath. I have a mind to set my nephew another 
 task. What, Piers, what, gamebird, have at you 
 in Tuscan then ! ' 
 
 * Nay, sir,' said the Prioress, ' let Piers alone. 
 He has said enough for his turn.' 
 
 ' Is this young man your nephew, soldier ? ' 
 asked the Shipman. Captain Brazenhead twisted 
 his moustachios. 
 
 * I would like to see the older man who denies 
 it,' he said, with a glitter in his eye. 
 
 The Scrivener, who feared bloodshed more than 
 he feared Captain Brazenhead, intervened with a 
 hasty suggestion, that he supposed the friend of 
 the Duke of Milan might have as many nephews 
 as he chose. ' Ah,' said the Shipman darkly, * and 
 nieces — like the Pope — you would say ! ' The 
 Captain half-drew his sword, but here the Prioress 
 stayed him with a look. A tale from the Scrivener 
 held them as far as their lodging at Alresford on 
 the Hill. 
 
 V. How Percival was bold and the 
 Captain bold 
 
 In the morning very early Percival Perceforest
 
 86 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 rose from his bed of straw in the stables, and 
 busied himself with the horses' provand, singing 
 softly as he worked, 
 
 Now, Winter, go away, 
 And hide thy white array. 
 
 Gratia Magdalen a — 
 
 while his bedfellow, the true stirrup-groom, gibed 
 as he lay. Yesterday and yesternight had wrought 
 wonders with the young man. He had a clear 
 colour, his eyes shone, courage tingled in his fists. 
 So much was this the state of his case that within 
 a short half-hour of his rising he was pommelling 
 that other groom, that other him again, as if all 
 his future bliss were staked upon it. Battle was 
 cried and delivered in the inn-yard, where Captain 
 Brazenhead, his first flagon on his knee, sunned 
 himself and enjoyed the game. Discretion was no 
 part of that great man's equipment, boldness was 
 all. 'Stick in your right. Piers, — at him again! 
 Now, now, now, land him on the ear ! Ah, foul blow ! 
 
 Swing round, boy — paff ! now let drive ' Such 
 
 were his vociferous comments on the scuffling 
 youths. In less time than it has taken me to write 
 this exordium Percival had a black eye, his colleague 
 a mouth full of red teeth, many of which he was 
 forced to discard. The air was thick with eyes
 
 BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT 87 
 
 and alarms ; Mawdleyn Touchett strained in 
 anguish from an upper window, provocatively 
 dishevelled ; Sister Petronilla watched through a 
 chink in the shutter ; the Prioress in awful majesty 
 descencied to the yard, and required the truth. 
 The real stirrup-boy, whose name was Jenkin, 
 said, ' This fellow called me a black liar ' ; snorting 
 yet, Percival added, ' And that art thou, my man.' 
 The truth being demanded, Captain Brazenhead 
 struck in with many a courtly bow. 
 
 ' Dear Reverend Madam,' he said, ' now we may 
 well discern the truth of the vulgar saw, Blood will 
 out. I speak not of this knave's blood, which is a 
 very disgustful topic, not to be entered on so early 
 in the day ; but rather of that secret fount of our 
 life which we call a man's Blood: meaning his 
 strain — that essence, that quick ichor, that imparted 
 jet, that spring, that far-descended well, which 
 wanders from the Navel of the World down the 
 Protuberance of Time, searching for (but when to 
 find ?) the Sea of Eternity. In truth. Reverend 
 Madam, my nephew is something lowly placed in 
 your service. For, look now, had he been where 
 Nature, that wise parent, had designed, he had had 
 a dagger in his girdle to insinuate under that other's 
 girdle — ah, he had carried a sword ! Then there
 
 88 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 had been no rough-and-tumble of fisticuffs, Madam : 
 no, but a slick-out and a slick-in, and a dead knave 
 to bury. I hope I make my meaning plain. This 
 lout angered my nephew as he was loyally (O like- 
 ness to Apollo !) serving Queen Admeta — dear 
 Madam, forgive an old latinist, incorrigible dog. 
 My nephew says, " You lie, knave ! " meaning that 
 what he dared say of your ladyship was far from 
 the truth — no less. My nephew ups and smacks 
 him on the chops ; head down, fists in the air, 
 lick-pot comes on to his doom. One, two — one, 
 two — my nephew lands him in the teeth : up 
 again ! down again ! Sola ! My nephew, at the 
 cost of an eye, Madam, vindicates his own lineage 
 and his dear mistress's nobility ; at the cost of 
 one eye, observe. I hope I explain myself, dear 
 Reverend Madam.' Thus the Captain, while 
 Percival tried to temper his breath, and Jenkin 
 tested tooth after tooth. 
 
 The Prioress looked gravely from one to another 
 — regardless alike of her niece at the upper window 
 and her household at the gate — at the engaging 
 candour of Captain Brazenhead, whose explanatory 
 hands still showed her their palms, at Percival's 
 flushed cheeks and heaving chest, at Jenkin's pre- 
 occupation with the ruin of his teeth. Mostly she
 
 BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT 89 
 
 looked at Captain Brazenhead — not because she 
 liked him the best ; for Percival was handsome 
 and master of the Romaimt de la Rose, whereas the 
 Captain was neither ; no, but because he was her 
 chief justification for what she was about to do. 
 The Captain put his lineage very high, assumed 
 lightly certain privileges which she held dear. If 
 this personable, scholarly youth were the Captain's 
 nephew — and who proposed to deny it.? — then she 
 was acting Admetus to Apollo indeed. Piers had 
 played a gentleman's part without a gentleman's 
 weapons ; he had a soft voice, and knew the 
 Romaunt de la Rose. She must reward Piers — 
 and she did. 
 
 ' Piers,' she said, ' go into the house and have 
 your eye dressed. Sister Petronilla will see to it. 
 You say that you have acted rightly : I am sure I 
 hope so. I will talk to you presently. As for 
 you, Jenkin, I shall leave you to the care of Dan 
 Costard ' — Dan Costard was the Prioress's chaplain, 
 a fine disciplinarian — ' but I hope that, before you 
 see him, you will clean yourself Captain Brazen- 
 head, I am very much obliged to you for your 
 timely interposition.' The Captain bowed. He 
 held the lady in conversation for some half an 
 hour, while Percival was having his eye dressed —
 
 90 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 not by Sister Petronilla. His own lineage, and 
 by implication Percival's, lent him topics. It was 
 exceedingly distinguished. Assurbanipal, King of 
 Syria, by his illicit union with Blandamira, daughter 
 of the Prince of the Kurds, was the root of his title. 
 Those two valiant knights-errant, Sir Partenopex 
 of Blois and Sir Tyrant the White, figured later on, 
 about the time of King Uther Pendragon (in- 
 extinguishable enemy of the Brazenheads) ; and 
 Duke Regnier of Genoa, one of the twelve Peers of 
 Charlemagne, was a collateral. Magnijficent as this 
 pedigree was, the Captain frankly admitted the 
 irregularity of the tie which bound the exalted pair 
 from whom it sprang ; but attributed it to the 
 loose state of manners prevailing in their times, the 
 darkness all over the moral state, and the inex- 
 plicably tardy approach of the Christian dispensa- 
 tion. ' All this,' said he, ' I know as well as your 
 ladyship, and as heartily deplore it. But who are 
 we, to judge the practices of ancient kings ? My 
 ancestor of Syria, burthened with many lawful 
 wives (another deplorable custom of his age), was 
 hard pressed, what with his domestic and politic 
 engagements. There may not have been a priest 
 handy in Kurdistan at the time he fell on loving 
 Madam Blandamira — it is probable that there was
 
 BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT 91 
 
 not. And it would ill become me or my nephew 
 Thrustwood to impeach an union of hearts, of 
 whose passionate commingling we ourselves are 
 the late, pale flowers. With all this,' he concluded, 
 ' I vex your ladyship's good ears, that your lady- 
 ship may see how ill-suited my nephew must be in 
 a stable jacket, reduced to double his two fists into 
 cudgels for lack of a fine sword to grip. I make 
 bold to add. Advance my nephew, you do honour 
 to the imperial seed of Assurbanipal and the noble 
 (if erring) Blandamira ! ' The Prioress, who 
 appeared to be very much impressed with this 
 long recital, after thanking Captain Brazenhead, 
 returned thoughtfully to the house, but not in 
 time to see the balm which Mawdleyn Touchett 
 was applying to the eye of the Syrian imp. 
 
 In this simple manner Percival Perceforest was 
 advanced from stirrup-groom to secretary, although 
 he could lend no more testimony than a fine colour 
 to his kinsman's account of his ancestry. This, 
 however, he lent liberally, with a modesty so be- 
 coming that the Prioress gave him a chain of fine 
 gold for his neck. Alresford furnished forth a 
 suit of brown velvet ; he now rode the horse which 
 formerly he had curried, and had the boy in his 
 service with whose teeth he had littered the yard.
 
 92 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 Thus the Fortunate Gods seemed to favour him, 
 or rather his fistic ability. His place was now by 
 the side of his mistress, between her and Mawdleyn 
 Touchett. 
 
 The day was still young when they left the 
 town, and had need to be, for they were to reach 
 Waverley that night, and hoped to pass the heat 
 of noon at Alton. Again, as they went, they 
 began with minstrelsy, which Percival (out of a 
 full heart) could pour in a flood. And now the 
 lad was more daring than he had been. ' If it do 
 not displease your ladyship,' he said, ' I shall sing 
 you a ballade of my own making, which is in 
 honour of Saint Mary Magdalene — my patroness,' 
 he added with a thankful, tell-tale sigh. Mawdleyn 
 Touchett, knowing that song of old, looked scared : 
 Sister Petronilla turned up her eyes ; and Captain 
 Brazenhead thought it prudent to change the 
 conversation. 
 
 ' The conversion which I wrought by means of 
 that blissful Saint is very dear in my mind,' he 
 began. ' The Bashaw Korouc, I remember, met 
 
 me in the rocky defiles above Ascalon ' but 
 
 the Prioress said, *Sing, Piers, of Saint Mary 
 Magdalene,' so Percival thrust up his chin, and 
 sang :
 
 BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT 93 
 
 Now, Winter, go away. 
 And hide thy white array, 
 
 Gratia Magdalenae ! 
 Thy pelt is all too rude 
 To drape her melting mood 
 
 f Dominae Laus amoenae ! 
 
 Come, April, thou, with showers, 
 Bring daffodils, wind-flowers, 
 
 Gratia Magdalenae ; 
 Bring in the young lamb's bleat, 
 Soft rain, and gentle heat, 
 
 Dominae Laus amoenae ! 
 
 Let me go clothed in wet, 
 Tears be my carcanet. 
 
 Gratia Magdalenae ; 
 Silver my extern part, 
 Deep red about my heart, 
 
 Dominae Laus amoenae ! 
 
 Lady of sweet unrest. 
 Should I not love her best. 
 
 Gratia Magdalenae ? 
 Unquiet go I, unkist, 
 Her starved rhapsodist, 
 
 Dominae Laus Amoenae ! 
 
 'Thus women sing of women, but not men 
 of women,' said Smith the mariner to his wife. 
 ' Here we have for certain old Brazentop's mye^ 
 
 ' What hast thou to do with that since I am 
 with thee, sweetheart ? ' asked she. 
 
 ' More than Saints' love went to the making of
 
 94 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 that song, young gentleman,' was the judgment of 
 Dan Costard, the bony old priest from Ambresbury. 
 
 *We needs must love as we are able, sir,' 
 Percival replied. ' And, for my part, I hope 
 Saint Mary Mawdleyn will heed my crying and 
 give me good comfort in the end.' 
 
 ' Comfort is the man's part in crying matters,' 
 says the Shipman ; ' and comfort I have in my 
 pocket for thee.' 
 
 ' I want none of your comfort, I thank you, 
 Master Smith,' Percival cried : to which the Ship- 
 man retorted that he had been glad enough of it 
 once upon a time. With a tale from Dan Costard, 
 which has been told in another place, the day wore 
 to an end. They came out of Hants into Surrey 
 by the sandy way of Farnham, and rested that 
 night within sound of the tumbling weirs of Wey, 
 in the guest-chambers of the Abbot of Waverley. 
 Percival charmed them to sleep by his sweet 
 singing. 
 
 VI. How Percival rose where Captain 
 Brazenhead fell 
 
 Next morning it might have seemed that 
 Percival had reached, and over-reached, his zenith
 
 BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT 95 
 
 of ascension. For the Prioress, rising too early 
 for Mass and walking abroad to meditate, found 
 him with Mawdleyn Touchett in a singular situa- 
 tion. The girl, in fact, was seated by a fish-pond 
 with her feet bare and still wet from the water, 
 and Percival on his hands and knees before her, 
 ardently embracing and kissing those same wet 
 feet. ' Oh, dearest feet ! ' he was saying, and she, 
 ' Ah, foolish boy ! ah, foolish boy ! ' but mani- 
 festly thinking nothing of the kind. The Prioress 
 coughed, not loudly ; the cuckoo, which happened 
 then to be calling over the meadows, obscured the 
 discreet sound. So Percival pursued his amorous 
 transports and Mawdleyn suffered the raptures 
 afforded by such homage undisturbed. ' Boy and 
 girl,' mused the Prioress, ' together in the spring 
 pastures ; flowers all about them, flowers in their 
 faces, flowers making sweet their breath. Shall 
 not flower lean to flower .'' What harm do they 
 do .'' They have all life before them ; mine is 
 rounding its course. Let life for me end on a 
 mellow note. This Piers is a gentle boy — good 
 blood, I feel assured, sings in him ; he hath not 
 a pipe so true for nothing. And if my niece 
 played the mischief with Perceforest, Piers Thrust- 
 wood shall wash away the stain. Pretty dears,
 
 96 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 I will not disturb them ; but I will question 
 Captain Brazenhead a little further.' 
 
 Questioned, the Captain (who had been pick- 
 ing rose campions) lifted his shoulders to his ears, 
 lowered his brows, produced indefinitely his mouth 
 to meet them, spread his palms, then solemnly 
 enfolded his bosom. He gave the effect of an 
 inverted arch, and implied deference, noble 
 humility, some philosophy, and a friendly alliance 
 of benevolent neutrality. ' Madam,' he said, 
 ' may I not add, Reverend Friend, these pretty 
 plays of my enamoured nephew and your lovely 
 niece may end (why should I not say it .'') as they 
 ought to end. If I applaud my nephew's sagacity, 
 may you not in turn approve this tribute to your 
 niece's beauty ? ' 
 
 ' Why,' said the Prioress, ' there has been such 
 tribute paid before — for instance, by one Perce - 
 forest, my brother's page. Sincere enough, I have 
 no doubt ; but tribute is to be valued by the worth 
 of the tributary.' 
 
 ' Have at you there, dearest Madam,' returned 
 Captain Brazenhead warmly ; ' have at you there ! 
 If we are considering worthy for example ! ' 
 
 ' You refer, I suppose, to King Assurbanipal 
 and the fair Blandamira } ' said the Prioress.
 
 BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT 97 
 
 ' I did refer to their Majesties, I confess,' replied 
 the Captain. The Prioress had no enthusiasm 
 for this exalted pair, ' I fear,' she said, ' that the 
 title and estates have been alienated long since. 
 Such things would have appealed to my brother Sir 
 Simon's understanding before a fine descent. As 
 for lineage, indeed, the Touchetts do pretty well.' 
 
 ' Touchett ! Touchett ! ' said the Captain, ' dear, 
 dear, dear ! Oh, Touchett is a good Norman 
 house. Your Rolf Touchett held up the Bastard 
 at Pevensey, I believe. Very fair ! very fair ! 
 But the King of Assyria, but the Peer of Charle- 
 magne, Partenopex of Blois, Palmerin, Tyrant the 
 White ! ' 
 
 ' Captain Brazenhead,' said the Prioress with 
 dignity and point, ' when you exalt your house at 
 the expense of my own, you compel me to ask 
 myself why the scion of Partenopex of Blois took 
 the trouble to abduct a stable-boy and hide him 
 naked in a ditch on Winchester Meads ? ' 
 
 ' Thomas on the Pavement ! ' said the Captain 
 to himself. ' What a still puddle it is ! ' Aloud 
 he said, * Rack and pincers. Madam, could not 
 force me to tell you what that boy had done, or 
 how far he deserved what he got.' This was per- 
 fectly true, and the Prioress believed it. ' I will 
 
 H
 
 98 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 not apply such insistence,' she said mildly, ' for 
 I agree with you that it would fail.' 
 
 ' Ah, Madam,' said the Captain, taking her 
 hand, ' you and I know the world.' This pleased 
 the Prioress, who did not immediately perceive 
 how little it met her argument. ' Madam,' the 
 Captain went on rapidly, ' if my dear blood is 
 perhaps too dear to my barren loins ; if in default 
 of lawful issue — of issue, I should say (if I speak 
 the whole truth), if mindful of my ancient race, 
 if with a heart overful, out vailing head overtaxed ; 
 if philogenous, if stirpiferous, puffed with pedi- 
 gree, prolific, wily, fertile in shifts, if one and all 
 these things I stand naked to the world, do you 
 wonder, dear and gentle lady, that I run to cloak 
 myself in You ? If by the hand, a shorn lamb, I 
 lead my pretty nephew ; if I bid him curry your 
 nags, hold your stirrup, batter soft your cushion, 
 sing to you, tell you age-long romance, bear your 
 napkin on his arm, your livery on his King- 
 begotten back — if I do this, why do I do this ? 
 
 Because I love the boy. Madam, and because ' 
 
 the Captain bared his head, kneeling, ' and because 
 I love your ladyship ! Yes, Madam,' he went on 
 bitterly, ' the bloody, crafty, notched, maimed old 
 soldier is touched at last ! You will not misunder-
 
 BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT 99 
 
 stand me, I know. I love indeed ; but as Plato, 
 as the Seven Sages, as Ptolemy, as Hermes the 
 Threefold Mage, as the Abbot Ammonius, as 
 Simeon Stylites, as the Venerable Bede, might love. 
 Spiritually, that is inwardly, in the skyey places, 
 under the shadow of angel's feathers. Is it mad- 
 ness to love so ? Then Plato was mad, then 
 Venerable Bede was an ass. Is it wicked to love 
 so .'' Then it is wicked to seek your shelter for 
 my nephew's nakedness. Is it hopeless ? Then I 
 am damned. Are you angry .'' Then I hope I 
 am damned. Are you content .'' Then I sing Gloria 
 Tibiy and recall memories of my good mother, 
 at whose knee I learnt to say, Amo te devote ! ' 
 
 The Captain, out of breath, but filled instead 
 with the soft wind of ecstasy, rapturously kissed 
 the caught hand of the Prioress. She, confused, 
 had little to say. Percival and Mawdleyn, who 
 came upon her while their mouths were still much 
 too close together, had still less to say. They 
 parted as by a thunder-shock and stood still, their 
 heads hanging like tired roses. ' Children,' said 
 the Prioress, ' where have you been ? ' 
 
 ' I walked in the meadows, if it please you, 
 good aunt,' says Mawdleyn, ' and Piers has dried 
 my feet for me.'
 
 loo FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 ' Do you understand this service then, Piers, 
 as well as that of minstrelsy ? ' asked his mistress. 
 
 Percival modestly replied that he had done his 
 best to understand it, and so should always do with 
 every office which might please her good ladyship. 
 They went back through the fields to hear Mass 
 and break their fast. The buttercups were so tall 
 that they brushed Mawdleyn's knees and dusted 
 her with gold — a charming sight, which, as Captain 
 Brazenhead remarked, made Danae of the girl, 
 and so of Percival an object of contempt to all 
 high-minded men. ' Perceforest, my young sprig,' 
 he improved the occasion by saying, ' the pace is too 
 hot to last. We cannot stay, you and I, at such a 
 course. We must break away, Percival, lest we 
 be broken.' Percival was too flushed with ad- 
 venture to heed him. * My cup is full, sir, shall 
 I not drink ? For such a morning as this I would 
 contentedly be drubbed every night by Sir Simon 
 himself. Oh, her feet ! Oh, her tender hands ! 
 Oh, her heart ! * And so on, and so on. All 
 this filled his friend with disquiet. 
 
 On their way by Crooksbury to Guildford and 
 the White Down, Captain Brazenhead drew from 
 the stores of his garnered experience that remark- 
 able tragic tale which decorates another page ;
 
 ^ BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT loi 
 
 but interesting as it, and subsequent comments 
 upon it, might prove, great press of matter- drfv^s' 
 me forward to Reigate. Fear of crmgestion, in 
 like manner, compels me to pass ovet the" iloble 
 countfy through which winds the Pilgrims' Way 
 — Compton and Littleton Cross, Saint Catherine's 
 Chapel on the side of a chalk down, Shalford 
 Meadows and Shalford Ferry, Guildford town, 
 and the long grass road which draws you up to 
 Saint Martyr's Church and the wooded ridge. 
 You shall picture our company riding there among 
 the boughs, and guess what opportunities for pilfer 
 — stolen looks, stolen touches, half- heard sighs, 
 whispers, vows : ' Dearest feet ! dearest feet ! ' and 
 ' Ah, foolish boy ! ' — there may have been ; what 
 earnest talk also held the Captain to the side of 
 his Prioress, and how Master Smith's wife lived 
 silently upon the sight of her bluff husband's eyes. 
 Those galliard eyes were much intrigued by 
 Percival's long nose, out of whose shape the 
 baffled Shipman read mystery, a long-lost sweet- 
 heart masquerading as a lad. Captain Brazenhead 
 for a terrific rival, himself for a flouted man. 
 There is meat for a tale here. But I am drawn 
 instead to Reigate, a red town on a hill, where 
 you might have found a noble Priory of Austin
 
 I02 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 Canons, with great welcome for their Sister of 
 lAnibfrs^bury ; a large inn called The Christopher, 
 znd a little beerhouse named The Holy Fish. 
 Thithfer," 'under the shades of evening, Captain 
 Brazenhead drew young Percival Perceforest, his 
 nephew by adoption, sadly against inclination and 
 nature. 
 
 * By cock, my bird of the bough,' said this 
 warrior, expostulant, ' thou hast had thy fill of 
 toying with thy dear. Work of men is now on 
 hand, battle- work, hack-and-hew, blood and 
 bones, a tragic dish. Am I to remind you that 
 you are beholden to me } Never in this life, I 
 hope.' 
 
 ' I shall never forget my duty to you, sir,' said 
 Percival warmly, already ashamed of his back- 
 sliding. 
 
 ' Why, that is as well,' returned the Captain, 
 ' for I assure you there will be every temptation. 
 But, in my opinion, you hold the iron and should 
 strike before it cools. The Prioress, let me advise 
 you, has discovered (how, I know not) my inno- 
 cent little device at Winchester ; and although 
 I was able by my arts to give her a check, she is 
 a singling hound, of whom God alone can predict 
 (if He will) how soon she will be nose -in -air
 
 ^ BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT 103 
 
 again. Therefore, Percival, I say, Time is. Cut 
 the way of Holy Thomas, tuck your sweetmeat 
 under your arm, take the road, ride with me — 
 and ho ! for war and dead men's shoe-leather. 
 How ^oes this strike you ? ' 
 
 It seemed a delightful plan to the speaker, 
 whose surprise was extreme when Percival drew 
 back. ' What, bawcock, art thou faint ? ' he 
 cried, generously putting the best excuse foremost. 
 But Percival was not faint. He was, on the 
 contrary, very red ; his eyes were misty, his lips 
 dry. He had to use his tongue to them before 
 he could avow the shameful truth to his bene- 
 factor. 
 
 * Oh, sir,' he faltered, after many a false start. 
 ' Oh, sir, do not be angry ; but I cannot deceive 
 my mistress much longer.' 
 
 ' Hey,' cried the Captain, ' why .'' does she smell 
 smoke, do you think } ' 
 
 ' No, no,' Percival assured him ; ' but my 
 conscience ' 
 
 ' Lord of battles, boy ! ' the Captain roared, 
 ' don't talk of conscience to me. We have our 
 fortunes to make.' 
 
 ' Let it be then,' says Percival ; ' but I dare 
 not add robbery to my fibs.' The Captain stopped
 
 104 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 in mid-street, and raised his eyebrows as if he saw 
 a snake in the gutter. 
 
 ' Robbery ! ' he said in a whisper, ' why, what 
 are maidens for if not to be robbed ? ' 
 
 *Sir, sir, the Reverend Prioress would be 
 robbed if I took Mawdleyn away,' says Percival. 
 The Captain gaped at him. 
 
 ' Well ? ' he said, ^ why not .'' Why are we 
 here, knights of the road ? Why is she here ? 
 Why have I told so many falsehoods, and why 
 hath she believed them, hey .? ' 
 
 ' I don't think she hath believed them, sir,' 
 says Percival humbly. The Captain scratched his 
 nose. ' Tush ! I must be sadly out then,' he 
 said. * Do you think it was Tyrant the White 
 she stuck at ? ' 
 
 'Sir, I think rather it was Blandamira the 
 Kurdish princess. But Partenopex of Blois seemed 
 to me rather a hard morsel.' 
 
 ' Blois is good enough,' said the Captain ; ' it 
 must have been that rascally Tyrant. To tell you 
 the truth, I had hoped that Blois would edge me 
 in the other, a great favourite of mine — especially 
 with a lady who could listen all day to the 
 Romaunt of the Rose. And now I remember that 
 she seemed to know something about my little
 
 - ' BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT 105 
 
 contrivance at Winchester. Well, well, 1 am 
 vexed about this. But everything conspires to 
 further my counsel to you, Percival. Cut and 
 run, my twittering finch, cut and run.' 
 
 ' Sir,' said Percival doggedly, ' I will run 
 whithersoever you bid me run ; but I shall leave 
 Mawdleyn behind.' 
 
 ' Then you tire of her } ' asked the Captain. 
 ' I am not surprised. The girl is too ripe for her 
 age. Thin ones pall not so soon.' Percival's little 
 eyes kindled. 
 
 * Captain,' he says hotly, ' I love my Mawdleyn 
 better than life or heaven ; but I will never tempt 
 her to wickedness.' 
 
 ' You will find that quite unnecessary,' said the 
 Captain. Percival despaired, and changed the con- 
 versation by asking abruptly, What was the duty 
 about to be put upon him, which he was quite 
 ready to perform ? 
 
 ' Why,' says the Captain, ' it is this. We are 
 about to visit an exalted friend of mine, here in 
 this town darkly disguised for the exact purpose of 
 meeting with me. He is a gentleman (at present) 
 of greater hope than fortune, and goes — oh, hush ! ' 
 he sank his voice to a rushing whisper which could 
 have been heard across the street, ' and goes — ah,
 
 io6 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 be mum ! — by the name of CADE. Master John 
 Cade, Jack Cade, Jack Mend-all ; so those who 
 love him call him. But, look you here, his name 
 is Mortimer, seed of the loins of King Edward 
 the Third, twin-apple on the stalk which holds 
 King Edward the Fourth ' 
 
 ' King Edward the — oh, sir ! ' says Percival in 
 a tremble, ' why, this is treason ! ' 
 
 * Treason it is,' replied the Captain, chuckling ; 
 ' damnable treason, and misprision of treason ; work 
 for Tower Hill, block-work, chopping-work, my 
 Ganymede.' 
 
 ' Is it this that you would have me do .'' ' Percival 
 asks ; and the Captain, taking his arm, says — ' It 
 is I It is ! ' 
 
 They stroll on in silence. Presently Percival 
 asks again, How he can serve Mr. Cade .? The 
 Captain became very frank. 
 
 ' Why,' he said, ' you must know that my 
 friend Mortimer (call him Cade, if you will), 
 although of extremely noble descent, is in this pass, 
 that he can neither read nor write. Other gentle- 
 men of birth and lineage are no better off. We 
 write our names in blood, ha ! And here are our 
 stiles, ha ! ' He patted his hip. ' Now Jack 
 Mortimer,' he went on, * corresponds with the
 
 BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT 107 
 
 D e of B y, the D e of Y k, my 
 
 L d of M h, the K g of F e '— 
 
 these names he indicated in atrocious whispers — 
 ' and hitherto hath done his best to cope there- 
 withal by help of an old monk of Bury, a Psalter, 
 and the Gesta Romanorum. The result hath been 
 that Jack's correspondence is in a devil of a mess. 
 Moreover, the monk is recently dead of a surfeit. 
 You, my lamb, having the Latin, the French, the 
 Burgundian, the Italian, on the tip of your red 
 tongue, you I have designed to be Jack Mortimer's 
 secretary, from the moment when I first saw you, 
 slim and tearful like Niobus the Great, in Winton 
 Minster. You say that you have deceived the 
 Prioress : me you could not deceive. I saw 
 tongues playing about your ingenuous front ; 
 everything you have done since has but confirmed 
 my opinion. Now, I need not tell a youth of 
 your parts that I open out a golden road for 
 you to travel. Jack will go far. He is ready at 
 all points. His men line the roads ; London stirs 
 for him ; Kent calls him King. He will give 
 thee a manor and a title, for thou shalt be his 
 right hand. Sir Percival Perceforest, knight ; 
 Percival, Baron Perceforest ; my lord Viscount 
 Perceforest ; our trusty and well-beloved Cousin
 
 io8 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 and councillor Percival, by the Grace of Jack, Earl 
 
 of Where the devil do you come from, my 
 
 dear ? ' 
 
 ' From Gloucester, sir,' says Percival. 
 
 ' I perceive that you speak the truth, for you call 
 it Glorster. Then you shall be Earl of Gloucester, 
 
 when my good lord R d is P e of 
 
 W s.' Thus comfortably, as the Captain 
 
 mused aloud and poor Percival found nothing to 
 say, they reached the shuttered green door which 
 announced by a sign on a string that it was that 
 of The Holy Fish. There hung the fish, with a 
 hole in the shoulder where St. Peter's thumb had 
 held it. 
 
 ' I must disguise myself, boy,' says the Captain. 
 ' Mum's the word now ; moonlight work begins. 
 You carry innocence all over your face, but I have 
 a plaguily fly-by-night appearance, and must by 
 all means conceal it.' 
 
 His method of disguise was admirably simple, 
 for he merely threw his riding-cloak over his head. 
 Thus he could neither see nor be seen, neither 
 deceive nor be deceived. This done, he made 
 Percival take his hand, saying, ' Lead on, noble 
 colleague.' Percival followed his nose into the 
 doorway of The Holy Fish.
 
 ^. BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT 109 
 
 A black-haired, stout, blotch-faced man sat in 
 dirty shirt and breeches at a tressel-board, eating 
 bacon from a skewer. A jack of beer was at his 
 elbow, onions reposed in a basin of vinegar beside 
 him ;^ all about his feet lay letters, parchments, 
 sealed writs in a heap. 
 
 His companions were a miller in his cups and 
 a Carmelite. Percival stood modestly in the open 
 doorway, still holding by the hand the muffled, 
 the motionless Captain Brazenhead. The eater of 
 bacon frowned upon the pair. 
 
 * What do you want, knave ^ ' then said Master 
 Cade, for this was he, ' and who is your mawmet 
 in a shroud .'' ' Captain Brazenhead threw off his 
 disguise with a flourish. ' God help this realm. 
 Jack, if I deceive even thee ! ' he said with fervour. 
 Master Cade resumed his bacon ; the Carmelite 
 had never stopped eating onions ; the miller went 
 to sleep. 
 
 Between bites the great revolutionary asked 
 of his friend. Who was this sprig of jessamy .'* 
 The Captain introduced his dearest nephew-by- 
 adoption. ' He hath a long nose,' said Master 
 Cade, ' too long for my taste. We are sworn 
 foes of long noses in Kent, as thou knowest. 
 What are we to do with him, Sol ^ '
 
 no FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 ' He was born under Sagittarius the Archer,' 
 says the Captain, * and is therefore lucky. Start 
 not at his nose : I tell you he is a penman. I 
 have trained him for thy secretary, Jack ! ' 
 
 Master Cade said Humph ! to this ; but of 
 Percival he asked, ' Where gat Sagittarius, your 
 father, you of the body of your mother ? ' 
 
 ' Sir,' replied Percival, ' I fancy that Captain 
 Brazenhead spoke tropically, by a figure. My 
 father's name is John Perceforest ; he is a clothier 
 of Gloucester.' 
 
 ' You said he was an archer, Sol,' said Master 
 Cade. 
 
 ' I spoke exuberantly, as this lad says, and in 
 the tropics,' the Captain admitted. ' Leave his 
 father and his nose alone. Jack.' 
 
 ' Stop that cackle,' cried Master Cade, who 
 seemed excited, ' and let me get on with the 
 boy. Now, boy, I have the truth of thy father 
 at last. Is that nose of thine his or thy 
 mother's .'' ' 
 
 ' My mother, sir, had a longish nose.' 
 
 * Losh ! ' said Master Cade. ' Now, who was 
 your mother } ' 
 
 * My mother is dead, sir.' 
 
 ' I asked you not what she is ! ' Master Cade
 
 . BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT 1 1 1 
 
 was very testy. ' Plague ! will you prevaricate 
 with me ? I asked you who she was.' 
 
 Percival answered, 'She was very well de- 
 scended, sir, as I have been told. Her name 
 before^, wedlock was Jane Fiennes.' 
 
 Master Cade grew livid. ' Lord of Might ! 
 And with a nose like that ! ' He paused to 
 breathe ; presently asked, ' And whence came 
 your Jane Fiennes } ' 
 
 ' She came from Kent, sir,' says Percival. 
 Cade threw up his hands and brought them down 
 with a crash on the table. The miller rolled on 
 to the floor and the Carmelite slipped out of the 
 room. 
 
 ' If I knew not his nose among a hundred ! 
 Jane Fiennes's son, Jane Fiennes's son ! ' Master 
 Cade was much perturbed. ' Do you know who 
 you are, young gentleman ? ' Thus he accosted 
 Percival, who answered, ' An honest lad, sir, if it 
 please you.* 
 
 ' Honest ! ' cries Master Cade, ' honest ! you 
 are better than that, I hope. King Melchior, I'll 
 tell you what you are. You are nephew of Lord 
 Say, that's what you are ! Nephew and apparent 
 heir, that's what you are ! And you hope yourself 
 honest ! Why, sir, you may be a peer of this
 
 112 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 realm. No need for honesty then, I hope. 
 Honest, quoth he ! ' He changed his tune 
 abruptly, and turned to the complacent Captain 
 Brazenhead. ' Didst thou lay this trap for me, 
 old gallows ? ' asked his chief. ' I'll not deny it, 
 Jack,' said the Captain. ' It will serve my turn,' 
 says Cade, ' or may do. When we have cracked 
 the old thief's skull at Sevenoaks, we'll set up this 
 slip of willow in his place, and have a lord on our 
 side. Do you smell ? Are you fly ^ ' 
 
 The Captain smelt, and was very fly. ' Let me 
 talk to my honoured young friend,' he said, and 
 drew Percival apart. 
 
 ' Now, Percival,' he began, ' it appears that you 
 are in a fair way. Your mother was Lord Say's 
 sister, and none the worse in that her brother is an 
 old cut-throat, ill-beseeming dog. You are heir 
 to the wicked man your uncle. Now I propose to 
 you an honourable game, fitting to your name, 
 degree, expectation, and parts. You shall stand 
 in with the noble Mortimer and me. We raise 
 all Kent, attack Sevenoaks, slay your uncle at 
 leisure. You come into title and estates, marry 
 your little Touchett (if she still content you), and 
 reward us after your own generous motions. Do 
 you see your way clear ^ I protest,' cried the
 
 - BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT 113 
 
 delighted Captain, embracing his young friend 
 warmly, ' I protest that is as workmanlike a little 
 cabinet of villainy as I have ever compassed ! 
 What is more, it will be of real service to you.' 
 
 But Percival did not see his way to the murder 
 of his uncle, and told Captain Brazenhead as much 
 with tears of shame in his eyes. ' Dear sir,' he 
 said, ' I know not what you will think of me — 
 ungrateful, unworthy of your continual favours, I 
 owe you all my earthly happiness ; but do not ask 
 me to kill my mother's brother. I will die for 
 you, or at your hands, if you choose ; but I cannot 
 dabble in my own blood. Slay me now. Captain 
 Brazenhead, where I kneel ' — and kneel he did — 
 ' and let Percival die blessing the hand that fells 
 him.' The Captain, profoundly touched, raised 
 him up and kissed him. ' Your sentiments, my 
 Percival, do you honour,' he said, ' though I deplore 
 their effect upon my plans. I must consider what 
 will be best to do now, for I'll be hanged if I know 
 offhand.' 
 
 Master Cade had a way of his own. ' If the 
 young gentleman can't help us, Sol,' says he, ' we 
 had better help ourselves. We should put a 
 winger into him at once, I believe. He must 
 never leave Reigate alive.' The Captain shook
 
 114 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 his head. ' No, no, my Trojan,' he replied, ' that 
 is a short-sighted way to work. You may trust 
 Mr. Perceforest, I am sure.' He added in a low 
 voice, * A friendly Lord Say will be better than 
 two dead ones, you fool ; let the boy go.' Turn- 
 ing to Percival, he kissed him again, saying, 
 ' Remember your old Brazenhead in after years ; 
 for now I must bid you farewell. If I have served 
 you, I am glad. I love you, my boy, and shall 
 pray for you every day. Note this also. You 
 shall do wisely to force your pilgrims on their way 
 with all speed. Kent will be on fire within a 
 week. At Canterbury you shall see either myself 
 or my ghost. Farewell.' 
 
 * Farewell, dear sir,' said Percival brokenly. 
 They parted affectionately, like father and son ; 
 Percival went out with tears in his eyes. 
 
 VII. Incidit in Scyllam, cupiens vitare 
 Charybdim 
 
 The Captain gone, not without comment and 
 discussion, in which Percival's explanation played 
 a poor part, our young man found himself involved 
 in a new difficulty. Smith the Shipman located 
 his long nose. ' Gloucester knew that nose of
 
 ' BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT 115 
 
 thine,' he declared, 'as I do verily believe. But 
 her name was not Thrustwood — no, nor nothing 
 like Thrustwood.' Percival did not deny that he 
 had been born in Gloucester, ' I would like to 
 see tlfee deny it,' said the Shipman. ' I would 
 swear to thy long nose and button mouth before 
 the Lord Mayor of London. And how comest 
 thou,' he asked reproachfully, ' how comest thou 
 tramping after a wicked old tosspot mercenary on 
 pretended pilgrimage, all in a page's breeches ^ 
 Fie upon such unwholesome dealing ! ' Percival 
 grew very angry, as well he might ; hereupon the 
 Shipman turned his gall to tenderness. ' Child, I 
 loved thee once ; pledges we exchanged, we split a 
 coin. I vowed I'd never forget thee, upon my 
 soul.' ' I vow that I have never seen you before, 
 sir, in all my life ! ' cried Percival hotly, ' nor your 
 good mistress either ! ' ' Jealousy,' quoth the 
 Shipman, 'jealousy is the mother of lies. What 
 is my wife to thee or to me, who cry back old 
 dead days .? ' But here, happily, that same lady 
 came out to show what she was to her lord : 
 ' Tease not the boy, honey, tease me ! ' Thus she 
 wooed him, and left Percival to his other anxieties. 
 These were to get his people well on the road 
 before it was taken by the grim Captain Cade, and
 
 ii6 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 to ponder how he could save at once his mistress*s 
 skin, his own skin, and the skin of his exalted uncle. 
 
 By ten of the clock — so successful was he — the 
 whole train was in the Vale of Darent. They 
 baited at Otford under the shadow of the Arch- 
 bishop's house, whence, if Percival could have 
 known it, he might have seen the threatened 
 turrets of Knole high on the wooded hill of Seven- 
 oaks. From that place a very agreeable tale from 
 the Prioress took them peacefully to Wrotham, 
 where they stayed out the heat of the day. If 
 Mawdleyn had to complain that her lover was 
 cold she did him an injustice. He was consumed 
 with fear on her account ; the country was ominously 
 quiet, with no pilgrim-booths in Wrotham town, 
 no folk in the inns, few houses that had not shutters 
 over the windows. They had halted at a smithy 
 a few miles out of the town : ' You must limp it 
 on three feet, Master,' was the answer Percival 
 got. ' There is not a scrap of iron short of Maid- 
 stone, I do believe.' ' What have you done with 
 your iron, Master .'' ' asks Percival. ' Ah,' says 
 the farrier, ' that is telling.' A bad answer : but 
 worse was to come. 
 
 After dinner, going by the well-worn lane that 
 lies snug under the bosom of the hill, they reached
 
 ' BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT 117 
 
 a little place called Trottesclive, some three miles 
 from Wrotham. Here were an inn, a village- 
 green, a spreading sycamore with a sign-post, a 
 stocks, and a pound. Here also was an armed 
 assembly of peasants, a priest at their head, march- 
 ing the opposite way, with ribald songs about Jack 
 Nape and Harry our King. Now Jack Nape was 
 the name they chose to give the Duke of Suffolk, 
 and the scythes, bills, falchions, glaives, and other 
 weapons they flourished, boded no good to Harry 
 their King. There was much confusion here : the 
 men-at-arms of the Prioress at once became none, 
 by throwing down their pikes and falling upon their 
 knees. Half-a-dozen rascals roared ' Down with 
 the fat minchin ! ' half-a-dozen others snatched up 
 the discarded pikes. Dan Costard showed his 
 mettle. * We are Saint Thomas's pilgrims, you 
 rogues,' cried he. * Touch us in jeopardy of Saint 
 Thomas ' ; and Percival, resenting extremely their 
 reference to the Prioress's condition in this world, 
 drew his dagger. 
 
 The Shipman leapt off his horse and caught the 
 poor young man round the waist. ' Vex not thy 
 pretty hands with a man's tools, my fair chuck,' 
 he said coaxingly. ' What if thy disguise should 
 undisguise thee ? '
 
 ii8 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 ' Avoid me, by heaven, you red fool ! ' cries 
 Percival in a fury. ' What have you to do with 
 me ? ' 
 
 ' Love, my hidden treasure ! ' said Master 
 Smith, ' Love is my goad. I know what I know.' 
 Percival flamed up. 
 
 ' Get you gone, look after your wife. Master, 
 and don't talk your balderdash to me,' he said with 
 his teeth together. The Shipman replied that 
 tempest suited a pretty lass better than a flat calm ; 
 so women were not like the sea. Percival stared 
 open-mouthed at him. ' What is your meaning ^ ' 
 he said aghast. Master Smith might have told him, 
 had he not been recalled to his wife's side by her 
 shrill complaining. Once more, therefore, that 
 thin woman set Percival free. He turned to the 
 fray ; but this had been composed by a colloquy 
 between Dan Costard and the priest, the leader of 
 the rabble. 
 
 The peasants, it seemed, were marching to 
 Sevenoaks, to meet (it was obvious to Percival) 
 Captain Brazenhead and Captain Cade. The 
 youth could not see without emotion so many 
 scythes turned to the dismemberment of his uncle, 
 my Lord Say. He felt the call of blood as well 
 as the admonitions of piety. ' Strange ! ' he
 
 ' BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT 119 
 
 thought. ' Yesterday I did not know that his 
 lordship was my uncle, and to-day I must risk my 
 life to save his. But it is so ! ' He therefore 
 accosted the rebel priest in the gentlest manner he 
 could, inquiring whether he was leading his forces 
 against any person of consequence. ' There is a 
 worthy man dwelling by Sevenoaks,' he added, 
 ' my uncle, whose estate, though it should fall to 
 me by the fact, I would not willingly have 
 disturbed.' The priest, having looked him up and 
 down, said, ' Bless your innocence, young man, we 
 shall never hurt any uncle of yours.' Percival 
 could afford to say, ' I wish I could believe it.' 
 ' But,' he went on, ' I fear the worst from what I 
 know of Master Mortimer, your friend.' 
 
 ' Ha ! ' says the priest, ' so you know some- 
 thing.' Says Percival, * Yes, I do.' The priest 
 rubbed his chin. 
 
 ' And did he intend any mischief against your 
 uncle, young gentleman .'' ' 
 
 ' 1 do verily think so,' says Percival. 
 
 ' Then,' said the other, ' either you are not 
 what you appear, or Master Mortimer's net hath a 
 small mesh.' The Shipman cut in again. 
 
 ' If he is what he appears to you,' he said 
 strongly, ' then I am a nun.'
 
 I20 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 ' And if he is not what he appears to you and 
 to me,' cried the Scrivener, very much excited, 
 ' then I was neither deaf nor bHnd at Winchester, 
 and do know his name, and can shrewdly guess 
 at that of his uncle.' 
 
 ' My reverend,' said Percival, who thought it 
 safer to take no notice of this interruption, ' I may 
 not tell you my uncle's name, lest you should do a 
 mischief to those I serve here as faithfully as I can. 
 Alack ! I have too many interests to serve, I 
 think. But I will ask you to take a message for 
 me to a hidden nobleman who passes under the 
 
 name of B d ' (he sank his voice in uttering 
 
 the word of power), ' Captain S n B d. 
 
 Are you acquainted with him .'' ' The priest 
 scratched his head. 
 
 ' Is it a wondrous hairy man ^ Has he a forest 
 on his nose, hairs on his lip and chin, and fierce 
 hairs which push upwards on his throat like ivy on 
 a stock .'' Is it a loud talker, speaking of things 
 which he knows little about, and the loudlier 
 speaking the less he knoweth ? Is he a kidnapper 
 and a horse-stealer .'' And doth he affect the use 
 of tongues ^ ' 
 
 ' In many things you have rightly drawn the 
 man, but in the accusation of various crimes I hope
 
 - BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT 121 
 
 you are wrong towards him,' Percival replied with 
 guilty knowledge painting his ingenuous face. 
 ' At least I suppose him to be the hairiest man in 
 this realm. Tell him from Piers, That if he loves 
 yet thf youth he loved once, he will do nothing to 
 hasten the inheritance nor his own reward.' The 
 priest winked one eye as he said, 
 
 ' Your message is dark. But shall I not esSay 
 it?' 
 
 ' Hush, oh hush ! ' Percival whispered, finger 
 on lip ; ' you will undo me.' 
 
 ' Tush, my lord,' quoth the priest, ' all shall be 
 well.' He left Percival in a cold sweat ; and 
 having made him a profound reverence, drew off 
 his people, who went with songs and cheering for 
 Jack Mend-all. Percival resumed his escort with 
 a heavy heart, and in due time had all safe under 
 the shadow of the famous Rood of Boxley. He 
 could not fail to observe the added respect with 
 which the Scrivener treated him, and was minded 
 to turn that honest man's skill to his own 
 advantage before it might be too late. 
 
 For although he knelt before the sacred and 
 wonder-working Image by the side of his tender 
 Mawdleyn, yet the Image cast its spells in vain. 
 He drew no comfortable assurance out of the
 
 122 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 rolling eyes and wagging head which made the 
 vulgar admire ; but the place held an awe for him 
 apart from all that ; and the conviction settled 
 down with a weight of lead in his heart that now 
 or on the morrow he must unbosom himself to the 
 Prioress of Ambresbury. And was that to be the 
 end of his fond adventure ? Was he to be hounded 
 out of the Prioress's livery as Sir Simon had hounded 
 him out of his ? Sir Simon had whipped him for 
 pilfering ; might not her Reverence do as much for 
 fibbing ? Percival's was that girlish nature that 
 clings the faster for stripes : he knew that the end 
 was not to be then, for Mawdleyn was just such 
 another as he, and when girl's nature loves girl's 
 nature the bond will never be broke. Was such a 
 love as his to be strangled by a confessed fib ? 
 Could he abandon his dear, soft, loving maid 
 because his name was Perceforest and not 
 Thrustwood ? He saw Mawdleyn's long lashes 
 brush her cheek, saw her folded hands, her lovely 
 meekness : he felt lifted up. Ah, for her sake he 
 had had thwackings on his back, for her sake had 
 lain in ditches o' nights, had begged crusts at 
 farmers' doors, had sung dishonest songs to thieves 
 and their drabs in tap-rooms at midnight. For 
 her sake he had been Captain Brazenhead's
 
 ' BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT 123 
 
 nephew, scion of the race of Assurbanipal and 
 Tyrant the White, he had hobnobbed with 
 treason, been misconceived by Smith the Mariner, 
 loosened one groom's teeth, indirectly drowned 
 another, gained a black eye, and deceived a noble 
 lady who was so benevolent as to love him. 
 ' Sweet Madonna ! ' he cried, ' how I have deceived 
 mankind ! Sir Simon Touchett thinks I am a 
 common footboy, whereas I am the heir to a lord ; 
 Captain Brazenhead thinks I am a rebel, and 
 Captain Cade thinks I am not ; the Prioress thinks 
 me Piers Thrustwood ; Mawdleyn must think me 
 a liar — which I am ; and Master Smith believes 
 me a Glo'ster girl, discreditably attached to (and 
 forsaken by) Captain Brazenhead. Alone in my 
 world, the Scrivener knows me for Percival 
 Perceforest, the heir of Lord Say ; and I am 
 bound to admit that him too I should have 
 deceived if I had thought him worth the while. 
 Is there nobody, then, to whom I have not fibbed 
 or wished to have fibbed ? Yes : I had forgotten 
 Dan Costard. That good man is under no mis- 
 conception as to my real person, because he has 
 never troubled his head about me. To him I will 
 impart my secret. If I am to receive the Sacra- 
 ment at Canterbury, I must confess to-morrow.
 
 124 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 He shall shrive me.' He concluded tearfully in 
 prayer, and so remained until the Prioress rose 
 from her knees and took Mawdleyn to bed. Full 
 of resolutions for the morrow, Percival also went 
 to bed. 
 
 But Captain Smith drew the Scrivener apart by 
 the parlour fire and said, ' Tell me the name of 
 that young spitfire of the Prioress's.' 
 
 ' His name,' said the Scrivener, ' on his own 
 confession, mind you, is Perceforest.' 
 
 The Shipman clapped a hand to his thigh with 
 a noise like a carter's whip. 
 
 ' Perceforest ! ' he thundered. ' Perceforest of 
 Gloucester ! I remember the lass to a hair — long- 
 nosed, thin, snuggling girl — spoke softly and kept 
 her eyes cast down. She had a trick of biting her 
 finger I recall, very captivating to youth. Some- 
 times it would be the corner of her apron — better, 
 as being less fanciful. Why, man alive, she used 
 to lean against the door-post in Hare Lane by the 
 hour together, and all the evening through, listen- 
 ing to my protestations and tales of the sea — and 
 be at that fingering game all the while ! Sakes of 
 me, if I remember that long-nosed wench or not. 
 And her name was Perceforest — now, now, now, 
 was it Moll Perceforest ? or Nance .'' It was Nance.
 
 BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT 125 
 
 It was never Nance ? What did she say her name 
 was, old parchment ? ' 
 
 ' I don't know what you are talknig about, my 
 good friend,' said the Scrivener, ' and my name is 
 CorHet, descended from Madam Alys, Countess 
 Dowager of Salisbury.' The Captain clawed the 
 Scrivener by the knee. 
 
 ' Her name was Jenny,' he shouted, ' Jenny 
 Perceforest, christened Jane ! Eh, by the Beacon 
 of our Faith, I'll remind her of that i' the morn ! 
 Now,' he pondered, ' how did old Brazenguts get 
 hold of such a good girl as that ? And why did 
 she traipse after him across all those shires in a 
 pair of cloth breeches ? Is it pure devotion to 
 Thomas ? Is it want of heart in the man ? It is, 
 by heaven ! For why ? He has cut and run. 
 Oh, I'll have it out o' Jenny i' the morn.' 
 
 ' You shall do what you please,' replied the 
 Scrivener, tired of all this, ' but I shall go to 
 bed.' 
 
 ' Put me on to a dextrous way,' said Captain 
 Smith earnestly ; ' give me my sailing orders, and 
 I steer dead into the heart of Jane.' 
 
 ' She, as you call him, will deny you point 
 blank, as I take it,' was the Scrivener's judgment. 
 
 ' I'll wake her up with a parable,' said Captain
 
 126 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 Smith. ' I'll tell her a tale to-morrow will open 
 her eyes.' 
 
 ' You had much better leave that to me,' said 
 the Scrivener. ' I know more tales of wonder 
 and romance than you know creeks and bays of 
 England.' 
 
 * Then keep your tales of wonder and romance 
 as I keep the creeks and bays of England,' said 
 Captain Smith ; ' and that is until I want 'em to 
 run to. This is my venture.' 
 
 ' It should also be your wife's venture, if she is 
 the fond woman I think her,' the Scrivener observed, 
 with one eye more open than the other. 
 
 ' My wife,' replied Captain Smith, ' knows her 
 duty, I believe ; and if you come to that, where's 
 the harm of old acquaintance ? Why, I knew Jenny 
 Perceforest before my wife knew the Christian 
 Dispensation. My wife was a heathen Norse 
 when I was playing hunt-the-slipper wi' Jane. 
 And if a man that hath travelled the lumpy seas 
 may not have a bit o' fun wi' a long-nosed girl he 
 hath known in ' 
 
 The Scrivener had gone to bed.
 
 BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT 127 
 
 VII. How Percival got more than he de- 
 served, THE ShIPMAN less, AND CaFTAIN 
 
 Brazenhead held Occasion by the Tail 
 
 After the conversation of the preceding night, 
 the Shipman became reproachful in his tone to 
 Percival. He disregarded the young man's pro- 
 tests that he was not his own sister, that she was 
 a mother of five at Moreton-in-Marsh, and nearly 
 twice his age. ' If so be, Jenny,' he said, ' that 
 you are mother of five lawful imps, the greater the 
 shame of your cropped head. To dance attendance 
 upon an Italianate cut- throat, an ambusher, a 
 blood-pudding man, with husband and babes cry- 
 ing at home-^fie, Jenny, fie ! But you and I, my 
 girl, shall be friends yet. You have not seen the 
 last of Dick Smith.' Percival despaired ; but in 
 point of fact his persecutor seemed to give himself 
 the lie, for he left the Prioress's party at Charing 
 and hastened on to Canterbury direct, leaving his 
 wife behind him. 
 
 They reached Harbledown by early afternoon, 
 and stayed there for a few hours, hard by the 
 lazar-house of Saint Nicholas. It was held im- 
 proper to enter Canterbury unshriven ; there was 
 hard work before Dan Costard before any of them
 
 128 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 dared so much as look for the gold Michael on 
 Bell Harry's top. The lepers came clattering out, 
 the good brothers who served them took the horses, 
 the Prioress with her company went into the Chapel, 
 to touch the relic and prepare for confession. Per- 
 cival's hour was come. Captain Brazenhead was 
 murdering his uncle, and he was about to murder 
 his own happiness. What a position for a boy in 
 love ! 
 
 But it seems that not he alone had a weighty 
 conscience to discharge. Consider these facts in 
 order : 
 
 i. The Prioress of Ambresbury confessed that 
 Captain Brazenhead loved her after the precepts of 
 Plato and the Venerable Bede ; also that she loved 
 Piers Thrustwood more as a son than the nephew 
 he was plainly desirous of becoming. 
 
 ii. Master Smith's wife confessed that she had 
 spied upon her husband on many late occasions, 
 but especially on the previous night. She said that 
 Piers Thrustwood was, in reality, one Jenny Perce- 
 forest, who had run away with Captain Brazenhead, 
 and been deserted by him ; and believed that her 
 husband was intending to renew an old acquaint- 
 ance with the young woman. She owned that she 
 was not to be trusted if he did. As she spoke
 
 BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT 129 
 
 mostly in sobs and the Norwegian language, Dan 
 Costard was occasionally at a loss. 
 
 iii. Mawdleyn Touchett confessed that she 
 loved Piers Thrustwood, who was not what he 
 seemed. 
 
 iv. Sister Petronilla confessed that Captain 
 Brazenhead had made her a letter- bearer to 
 Mawdleyn Touchett. She did not know what the 
 letter contained except by hearsay. She had taken 
 back an answer. When the Prioress told her to 
 apply cold meat to Piers Thrustwood's eye, she 
 gave over her office to Mawdleyn Touchett. She 
 did not know what Mawdleyn Touchett applied, 
 except that it was not cold meat. 
 
 V. Percival Perceforest admitted that this was 
 his name, that he was and had been in love with 
 Mawdleyn Touchett both before and after his beat- 
 ing ; that he was a deceiver of the Prioress, no 
 nephew of Captain Brazenhead, but nephew (on 
 the other hand) of my Lord Say 
 
 ' What ! ' cried Dan Costard, stopping him at 
 this point, ' you are not Piers Thrustwood ? ' 
 
 ' No, father,' says Percival. 
 
 * Then,' says the priest, ' the Prioress does not 
 
 love you as a son, rather than the nephew you are 
 
 plainly desirous of becoming.' 
 
 K
 
 I30 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 ' Alack, but I do desire it,' Percival owned. 
 
 ' Never mind that now,' replied Dan Costard ; 
 * one thing at a time. The Lady Prioress loves 
 Piers Thrustwood as a son ; but if there is no such 
 person she can have no such love.' Her absolu- 
 tion, therefore, is easy.' 
 
 ' Then she loves not me, father,' said Percival 
 sorrowfully, ' for I have just told you I am not 
 Piers Thrustwood at all.' 
 
 * But what do you say about Master Smith's 
 wife,' the priest continued, ' and her ugly tale about 
 Captain Brazenhead ? ' 
 
 Percival felt this to be a comparatively easy 
 matter. * I say, my reverend, that my name is 
 Perceforest, and own that I have a sister Jenny ; 
 but I deny that I am she.' 
 
 ' You are sure } ' asked Dan Costard. * Very 
 well, then. Smith's wife can be shriven. Now 
 there is Mistress Mawdleyn, loving Piers Thrust- 
 wood, who is not what he seems. What have 
 you to say ? ' 
 
 ' Oh, sir, oh, sir,' Percival urged, with pleading 
 looks, ' Mawdleyn loves me, and I love Mawdleyn. 
 And for that reason I was beaten by Sir Simon, 
 and came creeping back ; and for that reason I 
 told fibs, and for that reason I confess them.
 
 BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT 131 
 
 Further, I say, that if I cannot have her, I must 
 die.' 
 
 * Well,' says Dan Costard, hand on chin, ' and 
 why not ? It will make everything simple, it 
 seems to me.' 
 
 * But if I die, I cannot have Mawdleyn, good 
 father.' 
 
 ' Tush ! ' cried Father Costard, ' we are beat- 
 ing the air. Get your Lord Say to plead your 
 cause.' 
 
 ' Alas, dear father, I fear the worst for him,' 
 says Percival mournfully. 
 
 ' Then you can plead your own cause, my boy,' 
 replied the priest briskly ; ' for then you will be 
 his lordship. But I must insist upon your making 
 a clean breast of it to my lady ; this you shall 
 promise me before I shrive you.' 
 
 ' Sir,' said Percival, ' it is in the making. I do 
 but wait to ask Master Corbet, the Scrivener, to 
 inscribe it fair upon a sheepskin.' 
 
 ' Very good,' said Dan Costard, and shrived 
 him. Percival spent the rest of his time dictating 
 his lowly confession to the Scrivener, but what 
 with the interruptions of his own remorseful tears 
 and the emendations of that worthy man he had 
 got no farther than the words, ' The humble cry
 
 132 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 of the heart of P ,' when the summons to the 
 
 road came from the unconscious intended recipient. 
 Percival was called to do his squire's duty, and 
 worse, he was bid to tell a tale. This he did, as 
 all the world may know if it care, with direct 
 application to his case, showing how misadventure 
 may be piled on misadventure, and misconception 
 on misconception in affairs of the heart, until (as 
 in his tale) a young man named Galeotto may wed 
 a young man named Eugenio, and Camilla (a 
 young woman), a young woman, Estella, all for 
 the sake of love. It is not by any means certain 
 that this entirely met his own position, as he no 
 doubt intended that it should ; what is beyond 
 controversy is that it did point out the dangerous 
 state of his relations with the Shipman, and very 
 much affected the Shipman's true wife. 
 
 So much was this the case that when the tale was 
 ended, which was after supper in the parlour of the 
 Prior of Christchurch, Mistress Gundrith had a 
 fit of coughing and weeping intermixed, and retired, 
 as she said, to bed. But it is now known that 
 she did not go thither. The intentions also of 
 Percival were widely different from his perform- 
 ances. His resolution had been to charm the 
 Prioress first by his romancing and to melt her
 
 BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT 133 
 
 afterwards by his tears. He charmed her, it is 
 true, but his tears fell on stony ground. For they 
 fell upon the bosom of Master Richard Smith, 
 who, having thrown a handkerchief over his head, 
 had picked him up in the quadrangle (where the 
 lad had gone to compose his mind), pelted with 
 him in the dark down Mercery Lane, and now 
 held him in the cellar of a little beerhouse, com- 
 forting him with flagons and protesting against all 
 his rage that they should be married in the morn 
 and sail with the first tide. It was then, and not 
 till then, that Percival found out what he owed to 
 the great Captain Brazenhead. For he — but I 
 anticipate. 
 
 At five o'clock in the morning there came a 
 flying messenger into Canterbury bearing letters 
 for the Prioress of Ambresbury's grace. These 
 were from her brother Sir Simon Touchett and 
 thus conceived : 
 
 Loving Sister — After my hearty commendations, 
 these let you wite that you must by all means do honour 
 to one Master Perceforest who I believe is with you. 
 At the least I traced him as far as Winton, which I 
 know he left in your company. Fail me not herein as 
 you tender my welfare. And the Blessed Trinity pre- 
 serve you in His keeping, and give you all your desires. 
 From your brother, Si. Touchett, Kt. Postscriptum.
 
 134 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 I pray you, Sister, be temperate with my daughter 
 Mawdleyn. And if the said Mr. Perceforest will take her 
 with a fair manor of forty pound for dowry, let it be so 
 o' God's name. I fear I have no more to bestow, for 
 times are hard, and the crops very light this year, owing 
 to the dry weather. I pray God amend it. If the said 
 Mr. Perceforest shows signs of grudge against me for mis- 
 adventure — and for what I must call shameful mishandling 
 — in the past, tell him, I pray you, that I will meet him 
 hereafter on my old knees. Item, I will give two 
 manors of eighty pound clear with my daughter Mawd- 
 leyn. I beseech God to grant you a fair reward for 
 your pilgrimage. Your man Costard will marry my 
 daughter to the said Mr. Perceforest. Item, item, I 
 will give a fair thirty-pound land with the said two 
 manors. S. T., Kt. 
 
 A letter for the ' right worshipful and his lov- 
 ing friend Mr. Percival Perceforest ' was enclosed ; 
 and the Prioress, after reading this also, sent for 
 Piers Thrustwood. At this moment Mawdleyn's 
 soft cheek was against her own, and Mawdleyn's 
 soft heart discerned to be beating in fine disorder. 
 ' Dear Madam, dear aunt,' said this melting beauty, 
 ' I beseech you be a good aunt to poor Mawdleyn. 
 All he did was for love ' 
 
 ' I think so indeed, child,' said the Prioress ; 
 ' and no offence either, it seems. But I ask in 
 vain, why was the poor young man whipped for
 
 ' BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT 135 
 
 what he is now to be coaxed back to with forty- 
 pound lands ? ' 
 
 ' He will need no coaxing, dear Madam,' 
 Mawdleyn assured her. But it appeared that he 
 would need much coaxing. He could not be 
 found. He was not in his bed, had not been 
 in bed, had not been seen since bed-time. 
 Neither had the Shipman's wife been to bed. ' Is 
 it possible,' thought the Prioress, ' is it humanly 
 possible that my brother knows more than I do ? 
 Is it humanly possible that Piers, or Percival, is 
 running after Smith's wife ^ ' 
 
 Far from that, Smith's wife was at this moment 
 running after Percival. Percival Perceforest in his 
 shirt, breeches, and one of his stockings was flying 
 for his life through the streets of Canterbury. 
 Close at his heels came Smith's wife, behind her a 
 delighted pack of citizens, crying, ' Hold, thief, 
 hold ! Take the rogue alive ! Rope, rope, rope ! ' 
 and other like words. How long the chase had 
 held, I say not ; I know that it could have held 
 little longer. Percival's breath was gone, his eyes 
 were dim, his feet cut, his shirt and breeches barely 
 acquainted. Bricks, mud, sticks, stones whizzed 
 by his ears ; ' Peg him down ! Peg him down ! ' 
 were ominous sounds of preparation. Percival set
 
 136 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 his back against a wall and prepared to die hard. 
 On came the mob ; another minute had been his 
 last. As if rushing upon what he could not avoid, 
 Percival gave a sudden glad cry and sprang out 
 towards his enemies. But as he did so, these 
 parted from behind — whether by express command 
 or intuitive sense, can never be truly known. 
 Percival ran through his late pursuers and fell 
 panting into the arms of a Cardinal who, properly 
 attended by his foot-page, was advancing down the 
 street. The amazed inhabitants saw this Prince 
 of the Church enfold and kiss a young man who 
 was believed to have murdered a sailor in Mercery 
 Lane. It need not be said that His Eminence, who 
 was inordinately hairy, and fierce in the eye, was 
 Captain Brazenhead in disguise. 
 
 His first care was to get rid of the ragtails who 
 threatened the peace. ' Avoid, good people,' was 
 his sublime assurance ; ' he whom you seek is not 
 here. He is elsewhere.' His air, his hair, his hat, 
 his cassock and tippet of flame-red, did their work. 
 The men of Canterbury defined their bonnets to 
 His Eminence and suffered him to lead away their 
 murderer whither he would. Mistress Smith 
 raised shrill cries, but to no purpose. When she 
 denounced Percival, they referred her to the
 
 " BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT 137 
 
 Cardinal. When she scoffed at His Eminence, 
 they referred her to the devil, and so left her. 
 His Eminence led his young friend into the great 
 church, and producing a bundle from under his 
 arm, said with great apparatus of whispering and 
 tapping of the nose, ' Take this token, Percival, 
 of my travail for you.' Percival unfolded the 
 head of my Lord Say : deeply shocked, he gazed 
 at it. 
 
 * Let me not raise false hopes in you, dear 
 Percival,' said Captain Brazenhead. ' Your late 
 august kinsman was not beheaded, as this gift 
 would seem to imply, and as his rank surely 
 warranted. Li fact, the ground of my quarrel 
 with Captain Cade (Mortimer, as he foolishly calls 
 himself) was this, should my Lord Say be hanged 
 or sworded } I named the sword, but Jack would 
 have the rope. I exposed the infamy of this : 
 Jack strung him up. We quarrelled irrevocably. 
 Jack led his men towards London and certain ruin. 
 May Jack go in peace ! I believe he is a fool, and 
 know him to be without the feelings of a gentleman. 
 A ridiculous, yet fortunate, adventure brings me 
 to your rescue. You remember the Prioress's 
 knave whom I laid in a drain on your account } 
 This boy (and I speak to his credit), filled with
 
 138 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 revengeful feelings, followed me all the way, and at 
 Kemsing denounced me to a justice as his ravisher 
 and the thief of his clothes. Unworthy, you say r 
 Far from that, it is for that reason I have advanced 
 him. I was forced to disguise myself as you see. 
 But what a plight I find you in ! Where is your 
 jacket ? Where are your shoes } Where are 
 your points ? What have you been about ? No 
 scandal, I hope ? ' 
 
 * Scandal ! ' cried Percival, growing very red, 
 ' I say it was scandalous ; but I served him well 
 for it.' 
 
 ' Meaning whom ? ' asked the Captain ; and 
 Percival told him, ' The Shipman Smith, who would 
 have it that I was my sister Jane, and carried me 
 off with a towel over my head.' 
 
 ' The man is a silly fool, as I always knew,' said 
 Captain Brazenhead ; ' but it must have been simple 
 to satisfy him.' 
 
 ' Simple or not,' says Percival, ' I did it. For I 
 cut his face open with a grindstone.' 
 
 ' You did very well, bawcock, failing a foot and 
 a half of Toledo,' cried the Captain. ' By my faith, 
 I know not how a gentleman of your birth and 
 parts could have done better. But we have more 
 solemn business on hand. You and I will go and
 
 BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT 139 
 
 declare ourselves to the Lady Prioress. I fancy 
 your affair — if you are still in the mind for it — will 
 go better henceforward.' 
 
 Percival grew suddenly grave. ' Alas, dear sir,' 
 he said, ' but I was carried off from my mistress 
 before I could confess to her the wicked truth.' 
 
 * You will find the truth not half so wicked as 
 you suppose, my lord,' said the Captain. ' Come, 
 I will conduct your lordship.' 
 
 ' But, sir, consider the danger to yourself,' 
 Percival faltered — but, even so, sensibly changing 
 aspect as the new address warmed him. 
 
 ' Myself, ha ? ' the Captain snorted. ' I am 
 sufficiently protected by my disguise, I hope. I 
 warrant you there will be no trouble on that score. 
 Moreover, that boy who denounced me so took 
 my fancy for the fact that I have engaged him as 
 my foot-page. Have no fear for me, but come, 
 my dear lord, come.' 
 
 The magnificent Cardinal Brazenhead, every inch 
 a prelate and a prince, took the arm of Percival, 
 who was far from looking what he actually was ; 
 and caused the hall porter of the Priory to announce 
 the Lord Cardinal of Magnopolis and my Lord 
 Say, to wait upon the Prioress of Ambresbury. 
 I should fail to find words proper to express the
 
 140 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 surprise of the venerable lady. But Captain 
 Brazenhead by no means failed. He was at once 
 the courtier, the Churchman, and the deferential 
 lover (in Plato's vein). The moment he was face 
 to face with the lady, he advanced towards her, 
 took and kissed her hand. His page in attendance 
 held his tasselled hat — crimson on a black silk 
 cushion. 
 
 * At last, dear lady,' he said with a happy sigh, 
 ' at last my tiresome disguises are over ! I can 
 greet your ladyship without fatigue and without 
 embarrassment.' 
 
 ' Oh, my lord ! Oh, sir ! ' the Prioress 
 
 began — but he put up a deprecating hand. 
 
 * Titles of ceremony between us ! ' he said with 
 gentle amazement. ' Lady, you and I know too 
 much evil of the world to affect the world's cozen- 
 ing caresses. We, if you take my meaning, have 
 suffered, and laboured, ah, and loved, too long on 
 earth to feel any solace out of things like these. 
 But ' — he went on, waving the shamefaced Percival 
 into the discussion — ' but with the young it is 
 otherwise. An eyass falcon, dear Madam, may 
 take pride in her opening plumage, I suppose. 
 Here, Madam, is this noble youth, whom you 
 knew as Piers Thrustwood, and I as my dearest
 
 - BRAZENHEAD THE GREAT 141 
 
 nephew, Mr. Percival Perceforest, now (by the 
 unhappy death of his khisman) my lord Baron of 
 Say ; here, Madam, is he for whose advantage I 
 adventured as a Captain of men's bodies, where 
 men's- souls, perchance, are more under my care. 
 His dear kinsman is unhappily slain by rebels ; 
 and he (barely escaping with his own young golden 
 life) stands before you — ashamed of the deceit 
 forced upon him, glorying in the stripes wherewith 
 your brother anointed his princely back, and burn- 
 ing (if I may speak of such matters) for the tardy 
 bliss he has dared such hardships to win. My 
 dear lord and nephew " — he turned to Percival — 
 ' salute my friend the Prioress of Ambresbury.' 
 The young Lord Say knelt down before her. 
 
 ' Oh, Madam, beheve me — ' he began to stam- 
 mer ; but the Prioress raised him and gave him a kiss. 
 
 ' My sweet lord, my dear Percival,' she said, 
 ' you shall believe that we love you very much. 
 Come. My charge awaits you.' 
 
 She shook him by the hand and led him into 
 her chamber, where Mawdleyn Touchett was pick- 
 ing her hem to pieces. 
 
 ' Master,' said the Cardinal's new page, ' if my 
 mistress casts an eye on me she'll have me horsed 
 for bathing at Winton.'
 
 142 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 The Captain looked him over. * IVIy lad,' said 
 he, ' the Prioress is my very good friend. More- 
 over, you must have a rind like a porpoise to 
 stand the May frosts on your naked skin, I shall 
 make something of you yet. Go, boy, purvey me 
 beer from the Rainbow. I do furiously thirst.' 
 
 It is proper to add that the Prioress, Dan 
 Costard, Percival Lord Say, and Mistress Mawdleyn 
 Touchett paid their homage at the Shrine of St. 
 Thomas ; and that Captain Brazenhead was ap- 
 pointed Steward of the Manors of Westerham, 
 Knockholt, and Froghole, with a reversion of the 
 Office of High Bailiff of the Lordship of Sevenoaks. 
 
 History knows no more of Master Richard 
 Smith, Mariner of Kingston-upon-Hull, nor of 
 Gundrith his wife, native of Norway.
 
 BUONDELMONTE'S SAGA 
 
 143
 
 BUONDELMONTE'S SAGA 
 
 PART I 
 
 As I do not think the worse of a tale because it 
 may be true, so it is no detriment to it in my eyes 
 that it has been pieced together from a hundred 
 scraps — remnants, shavings, bits of brick and 
 plaster, a sentence torn from a letter, a sharp 
 saying passed into a proverb, the battered stump 
 of an old tower, the memory (not gone yet) of 
 wicked old hatreds or high young loves. One 
 may assume, I take it, a certain decorum in the 
 process. The raking and scraping, the groping 
 and poring over rubbish-heaps and rag-bags, 
 should be done in decent darkness, where a man, 
 in the company of his shaded candle, may shed 
 tears without a shameful face : the work has its 
 poignancy ; the refashioned thing should not lack 
 it either. What my own may want in this last 
 particular I am not bound to discuss beforehand. 
 
 145 L
 
 146 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 I confess to the raking and scraping, to the shift- 
 ing and piecing together, and will own to a wet 
 eye or so, if you press me. No more. I hope 
 that I have got the dust away, and that the old 
 bones are none the worse for my galvanism. 
 They wore great flesh once. 
 
 I 
 
 There were three men living in Florence, 
 before the days of Dante and his friend Giotto, 
 who, without much previous liking or disliking, 
 were drawn together and then torn apart. Buon- 
 delmonte de' Buondelmonti was the name of one 
 of them, a gentleman who had a tower in the city, 
 not far from the river wall. He came from the 
 west country, from the Val di Greve, where he 
 had a hill on the edge of the valley, and a castle 
 upon it, a strong place with a wall all about, and 
 houses for his servants and labourers and slaves 
 inside the wall. Here in the old days his grand- 
 father and great-grandfather had lived and taken 
 toll from all who journeyed by this highroad to 
 the sea ; a thing which vexed the Florentines. 
 So they attacked them on all sides, drove them 
 into a corner, and made a bargain with them that
 
 BUONDELMONTE'S SAGA 147 
 
 they should become citizens of Florence, and have 
 privileges there instead of toll. A house called 
 Degli Uberti had a chief hand in this. It was 
 Buondelnionte's grandfather who came in, or rather 
 had started to come. But the Ema was in flood 
 when he tried to ford it, and he, a very stout 
 man, was drowned. People told each other this 
 was a fate upon him, and advised his son to turn 
 back ; but the younger man said : ' Not Fate, but 
 Fat has done this. For if Ema had been thin my 
 father would have walked over, or if my father 
 had been thin he would have swum over. I shall 
 go on ; and it may be that the Uberti will be 
 sorry one of these days.' By which he meant 
 that they, in a sense, had drowned his father. 
 He went into Florence, therefore, and married 
 Cunegonda Giandonati, and begat this Buondel- 
 monte, and Ranieri, and some others, and then 
 died. Our man, now head of the house, was rich, 
 young, a good fighter ; a pleasant, handsome man, 
 very splendid in his tastes. His blood could not 
 be bettered, he was chief of all the kindreds who 
 dwelt in his country and had their towers near by 
 his in the street by the river wall. Blood relations 
 were the Giandonati, the Gianfigliazzi, and Im- 
 portuni ; other houses, like the Gualterotti, were
 
 148 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 allied by friendship or common interest. All of 
 these looked to him to play a great part, and to 
 that end, to marry ; but he had women enough at 
 his command, and set no store by marriage. He 
 was a great lover, they say ; few women could 
 look at him without looking again, and few twice 
 without a stir in the side. He had a very easy way 
 with them and their belongings : to pinch a girl's 
 cheek, or kiss her on the chin, as if to say, ' You 
 are worth so much to me, or so much.' They called 
 him the Butterfly for this sipping trick of his. 
 
 Of a different stamp altogether was Schiatta 
 degli Uberti — chief of that very house which had 
 brought in Buondelmonte's — a big, strong man, 
 very hairy, with arms too long for his height, which 
 was nothing to boast of His descent — if you 
 may believe all you hear — was the noblest in the 
 city, and his power great ; but not so great that 
 it might not grow greater, as he thought. He 
 said that Catiline, the enemy of Rome, was his 
 ancestor, and that, far from being descended from 
 the Emperor's house, the Emperor was derived 
 from some by-blow of his own. This was the 
 sort of talk he held. He had two great castles in 
 Florence, in that quarter of the city which lies 
 behind and below the Badia of the Marquess
 
 BUONDELMONTE'S SAGA 149 
 
 Ugo ; and all his kinsmen and friends lived near 
 about him and assembled at his board. They 
 filled the long tables of the hall, all told ; for he 
 had a great family of his own by his first and 
 second wives — sons, strong and warlike young 
 men, and grave daughters, all hungry for power 
 like their father, and proud, and quickly affronted. 
 These were the names of his kindred : the Amidei, 
 who lived north of him in the same quarter of San 
 Piero Scheraggio ; the Fifanti and Infangati, close 
 by ; the Lamberti, whose tower was west of the 
 Old Market, and of whom Mosca de' Lamberti, 
 the one-eyed man, was chief. He allowed also 
 the claim of the Caponsacchi to be relatives of his, 
 because they came from Fiesole, whence the wife 
 of Catiline's son Uberto had been taken. ' For,' 
 as Schiatta used to say, ' if your people, Capon- 
 sacchi, were as good as you say they were, they 
 must have been the best in Fiesole ; and I am 
 sure my ancestor Uberto would have been content 
 with nothing short of the best. So you may come 
 in.' Caponsacchi had to be content with that ; and 
 under some similar tossed favour the Gangalandi 
 could confess him chief and lord : the Gangalandi, 
 a great stock, who bore the arms of the Marquess 
 Ugo, and accounted themselves something !
 
 ISO FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 Then there was a man living below Santa 
 Reparata's church, named Forese Donati, a vexed, 
 rather unhappy man. He had made a good 
 marriage, with Gualdrada, the daughter of Guido 
 Bellincione de' Berti ; but for all that his affairs 
 had not prospered, and he was very poor. He 
 brooded over this a good deal ; for he said that 
 his family was longer in Florence than any other 
 save his wife's, and that while the Uberti were 
 hiding from justice behind rocks on the hills, 
 the Donati were making the Florentine laws and 
 feeding the Fifanti with scrap- meat from their 
 tables. On his wife's side he was akin to the 
 Counts Guidi of the Upper Arno ; but this served 
 him little, since most of them took up the cry 
 of the Uberti and helped them to do what they 
 chose with the government of Florence. They 
 were all Emperor's men, while Forese had chosen 
 for the Pope. He had three sons — Buonaccorso 
 was one of them, — lean, needy, sulky men, and 
 two daughters, Capuccia and Piccarda, fine slim 
 girls, the younger exceedingly beautiful. On the 
 day that this Piccarda was ten years old, Gualdrada 
 said to her husband : ' Forese, this is a peach to 
 keep on the wall, but veiled, lest the wasps get at 
 it. If you take my advice you will lock up this
 
 BUONDELMONTE'S SAGA 151 
 
 girl and feed her on the best. And you will put by- 
 all that you can spare in a good coffer with double 
 keys, to be her dowry. The likes of this girl are 
 not born in Florence every day ; no, nor every 
 ten jfears. She is all honey and wine in a lovely 
 case. You will be able to pick and choose where 
 you will for a husband ; and it will be a strange 
 thing if you don't better our fortunes.' Forese 
 said that she could do as she pleased ; there was 
 time enough. ' Never too early to begin,' said 
 Gualdrada ; ' as the ass knows, so he bites 
 carrots.' 
 
 From that day forward there was nothing she 
 did not do for her Piccarda. She washed her 
 every day and dressed her hair ; she gave her rich 
 and fine food, with cream and butter, wine and 
 the best fruits that could be had. She caused her 
 to take the air at a time when nobody was about, 
 and to sleep at noon and early in the night. So 
 careful was she in what she was doing that no 
 man in Florence knew of Piccarda. The elder 
 girl, Capuccia, went openly to mass with her 
 mother ; but when Piccarda went she was dressed 
 like a servant and covered up in a hood. For 
 confessor she chose a discreet and reverend priest, 
 canon of Santa Reparata and cousin of her own,
 
 152 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 and knowing that she could rely upon his counsel, 
 made him partner in her designs. Piccarda grew 
 up to be a still girl, excessively beautiful. She 
 had dark -brown hair which reached the joints 
 of her knees ; her head was small, her face oval 
 in shape, composed and steadfast in expression. 
 Her eyes were long, narrow, and grey, the lashes 
 of them black ; she had a very red mouth and a 
 smooth, white throat. For all this, she looked 
 more like a woman than a maiden. She was not 
 taller than a fine girl should be, had very little to 
 say ; and whether she could love or not, was not 
 to be determined, since no breath of that mystery 
 had ever been suffered near her, nor was any light 
 talk allowed in her presence. She saw no men 
 except her father and the priest : even her brothers 
 were not allowed with her. 
 
 Whatever Gualdrada could save, by pinching 
 or shifting, was put into a coffer and kept under 
 two locks. One way and another she got a good 
 deal together. Forese and his sons traded or went 
 to the wars ; their return was welcome to Gual- 
 drada according as they came heavy or light to 
 house. And she kept her ears wide, and looked 
 askance all ways for her great alliance. She had 
 heard about Buondelmonte, and thought he might
 
 BUONDELMONTE'S SAGA 153 
 
 do for lack of better. But the next thing she 
 heard about him put her in a fury. 
 
 II 
 
 Forese Donati met Buondelmonte outside the 
 gate of San Pancrazio as he was going to Peretola 
 upon some business of sheep. Buondelmonte was 
 coming in from hawking in the meadows by the 
 river. He had his falcon on his wrist, and two 
 greyhounds at his horse's heels. His colour was 
 fresh and strong, and his leather coat fitted him 
 well. Forese gave him the good-day, and Buondel- 
 monte reined up to talk. 
 
 ' What sport have you had, Buondelmonte ^ 
 asked Forese. 
 
 Buondelmonte said it was good. He had a 
 heron and a crane, and his goshawk had killed 
 three mallards in the osiers. He asked Forese 
 where he was going. 
 
 ' To Peretola,' said Forese, ' to fetch in some 
 sheep which have been on the mountains. I have 
 to look after household affairs, you notice, while 
 you take your pastime and kill mallards.' 
 
 Buondelmonte said, laughing, ' that his own 
 household affairs were easily managed.'
 
 154 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 ' You should marry,' said Forese, ' and then 
 they would be easier still. Your wife would stay 
 at home and see that your servants did their work, 
 and you would have still more time for your 
 mallards, or for warfare and exercise of arms.' 
 
 ' It does not seem to be the case with you, 
 Forese,' said Buondelmonte. ' Your wife, I 
 suppose, watches your servants as well as any 
 woman ; but you go after sheep to Peretola.' 
 
 Forese said : ' There are reasons for that. I 
 have had some bad affairs lately. My son Buonac- 
 corso got into trouble in the Garfagnana and came 
 home limping ; there has been a murrain among 
 the cattle ; and a convoy of mine from Rome, 
 coming by the Val di Chiana, was set upon by the 
 Aretines and stripped as bare as my hand. More- 
 over, I have my daughter's dowry to see to. That 
 will be worth having, mind you, when I have done 
 with it.' 
 
 ' Ah,' said Buondelmonte, ' I have no such 
 business on my hands.' 
 
 'It is a business which every man must take 
 up sooner or later,' said Forese. ' Think of it, 
 Buondelmonte.' 
 
 ' I do think of it,' said Buondelmonte ; and so 
 they parted.
 
 BUONDELMONTE'S SAGA 155 
 
 Buondelmonte rode into the city, to his house 
 in the Borgo Apostoli. He talked to his friends 
 of what Forese had said to him ; and they all 
 agreed that he should marry. For, as they put it 
 to him, a man is not a man until he has made a 
 man. Alberigo degl' Importuni said : ' An alliance 
 rightly framed might bring great advantage to 
 Florence and to our party. I like hard knocks as 
 well as any man, but they are best dealt with in 
 the open, not at the street corner. There has 
 been too much secret stabbing of late, all done in 
 the dark. If you do marry, Buondelmonte, let it 
 be in a good kindred.' 
 
 * Forese Donati was talking about his girl this 
 morning,' said Buondelmonte. ' He seemed to 
 think that she would have something.' 
 
 ' It will be all there is, then,' said Viero Gian- 
 figliazzi, who was there ; ' and what he will find 
 for the other, except a veil and a pair of sandals, 
 I should be sorry to say.' 
 
 * Has he two daughters : ' Buondelmonte asked. 
 ' Yes, there are two,' said Viero, ' as I happen 
 
 to know.' 
 
 They advised him strongly to marry one of the 
 Uberti kindred. No reason could be urged against 
 it. There had not been bad blood between Buon-
 
 156 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 delnionte and that house, or what there may have 
 been in the past seemed all fair now ; but between 
 the Uberti and the Donati it had been very bad. 
 
 ' If you go on with the Donati,' said Alberigo, 
 ' you will draw anew upon our faction all the 
 misesteem of the Uberti, and no good can come of 
 that. Choose one of the Uberti ; or if they don't 
 suit, go to the Fifanti or Amidei, settle how much 
 you will lay out, and see about it as soon as you 
 can. You are the head of all our race, and should 
 provide us with an heir. Sons to fight under your 
 ensign are no bad ensigns in themselves, let me tell 
 you. And do not let the pretensions of the Uberti 
 trouble you. When once we are all together 
 under the tree it will be an odd thing if none of 
 the apples fall into our laps.' 
 
 The others agreed. 
 
 Buondelmonte said he would talk with Schiatta 
 degli Uberti about it. Schiatta had treated him 
 fairly of late. He would give fifty gold florins 
 for Morgengabe — which is what they call the gift 
 paid by the bridegroom for the honour of the 
 bride on the morning after marriage — to a good 
 girl who brought him 1500 liras in lands, goods, 
 and money. 
 
 In two or three days' time, his mind made up,
 
 BUONDELMONTE'S SAGA 157 
 
 Buondelmonte went to the house of the Uberti 
 
 behind the church of San Stefano, He found 
 
 Schiatta sitting at board in the high seat, with his 
 
 kinsmen all about him — Lambertuccio desfl' Amidei, 
 
 * .... 
 
 Mosca de' Lamberti, Oderigo Fifanti, and others 
 
 of the race. Schiatta made him welcome, gave 
 
 him a place next to himself at the high table, and 
 
 asked him how he did. 
 
 ' Very well,' said Buondelmonte, ' but not so 
 well that I could not do better.' 
 
 ' That is the case with most of us,' said Schiatta, 
 throwing back his great shoulders to open his chest. 
 * But how can I serve you in that ? ' 
 
 ' Why, perhaps in this way : my kinsmen tell 
 me that I should take a wife.' 
 
 ' Well,' said Schiatta, ' that is a good thing to 
 do. But do you ask me to give you mine ? ' 
 
 * It is a wife I seek, not a grandmother,' said 
 Buondelmonte. ' And I am willing to offer so 
 much, if on behalf of one of your girls you will 
 put down so much. This will show you, I hope, 
 that I have no mind for foolish old grudges on the 
 score of our forefathers' misadventures,' 
 
 Schiatta said : ' This is a serious matter, if you 
 are serious. I shall not deny that I am very glad 
 of your friendly offer.'
 
 158 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 ' I take the world as lightly as I dare,' said 
 Buondelmonte ; ' but I am quite serious in this 
 affair.' 
 
 ' We'll soon see about that,' said Schiatta. 
 
 ' The sooner the better for me,' Buondelmonte 
 said. 
 
 All the eyes of the kindred were fixed upon 
 him ; but he bore their scrutiny pleasantly and 
 well. Some of them began to talk together in 
 undertones ; and Schiatta sat quiet, tapping his 
 teeth with his dagger. The young men, sons of 
 Schiatta, and the bastards, nephews, and cousins, as 
 they had been taught, looked down at their platters 
 while this was going forward. The minstrel sat 
 at the end of the board, his rote upon his knee, 
 waiting the sign. 
 
 Presently Schiatta looked straight at Buondel- 
 monte, and asked, ' How much are you good for, 
 my friend ? ' 
 
 Buondelmonte said : ' I like your frankness, 
 Schiatta, and will repay it in kind. My wife will 
 have her portion in my lands of Montebuono in 
 Val di Greve and my tenements in Signa. She 
 will have the use of my house in the Borgo, and 
 of all the gear both there and at Montebuono. In
 
 BUONDELMONTE'S SAGA 159 
 
 addition to this, I will give her fifty gold florins 
 for her honour as Morgengabe, if you will endow 
 her with 1500 liras in movables.' 
 
 ' That's a very handsome offer,' said Schiatta ; 
 * and I shall advise one of my kindred to take 
 advantage of it.' 
 
 Mosca de' Lamberti knocked on the table. 
 ' I will offer my daughter Lapia to Buondelmonte, 
 Schiatta,' he said, and seemed very keen. 
 
 Buondelmonte, who had his reasons, said that 
 his business was with Schiatta himself as far as he 
 understood it. He could not abide Mosca, though 
 he had nothing against the man, except an old 
 quarrel in which each of them had been to blame. 
 
 ' That is very well,' said Schiatta, ' but it is not 
 in my power to oblige you. Two of my girls 
 are wedded already, and one is promised, and a 
 fourth is too old, and a fifth too young for you. 
 I suppose you to be in a hurry } ' 
 
 Buondelmonte said, the sooner the better : that 
 brought Mosca to his feet. ' I say again, Schiatta,' 
 he said, ' that I am ready to meet Buondelmonte at 
 this very hour. And I hope he will read in that a 
 sign that I bear him no grudge.' 
 
 * What says Buondelmonte to that .? ' Schiatta 
 asked, and Buondelmonte replied that he could not
 
 i6o FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 hope to please Mosca de' Lamberti. Mosca sat 
 down. 
 
 ' That being so,' said Schiatta, with a great 
 laugh, ' I recommend you to my kinsman Lam- 
 bertuccio, who has a fine girl to dispose of.' 
 
 Buondelmonte knew this man well, as being of 
 a house, the Amidei, than which there were few in 
 Florence better descended or on surer ground. 
 He liked the man, too, and respected him. Lam- 
 bertuccio was a composed, smooth man, tall and 
 finely dressed. He had a large house, kept an 
 open table, and never went out under the Gon- 
 falon without a following of fifty men on horse- 
 back. He was first cousin of Schiatta's and 
 nephew of Mosca de' Lamberti's, that is, sister's 
 son. 
 
 ' What do you think, Lambertuccio, of this 
 fine ofi^er of Buondelmonte's ? ' said Schiatta ; 
 ' will it suit your Cunizza ? ' 
 
 Lambertuccio said that he thought it might, if 
 Buondelmonte held to it. 
 
 ' My offer was made to Schiatta,' Buondel- 
 monte said ; ' but I shall not be far away from 
 him if I go with you. Is your daughter to be 
 seen ? ' 
 
 ' You shall see her this afternoon,' said Lam-
 
 BUONDELMONTE'S SAGA i6i 
 
 bertuccio, ' If you will come to my house. At 
 this hour she will be sleeping, and will look all the 
 better for it afterwards. But come when you 
 please between noon and sundown.' 
 
 Buondelmonte replied that he would certainly 
 come, but without binding himself ; and then he 
 took his leave and went to walk on the Piazza 
 until it should be time to go. Here he met 
 Forese Donati by chance, who asked him if he 
 had been thinking over what he had said the other 
 day. Oh, yes, said Buondelmonte, he had been 
 turning it over in his mind. Well, Forese said, 
 he believed it would be a good thing well done, 
 when it was settled. Buondelmonte owned it 
 would be very good. 
 
 ' I believe I could meet you,' said Forese, ' in a 
 reasonable way.' 
 
 ' I have seen your daughter,' Buondelmonte 
 said. ' She looks a strong, willing girl, and very 
 religious.' 
 
 Forese said : ' She is all that and more. But I 
 have another girl.' 
 
 ' Ah,' said Buondelmonte, ' I heard something 
 of it, but I have never seen her.' 
 
 ' How would it be if I were to show her to 
 you ? ' asked Forese. 
 
 M
 
 1 62 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 ' There would be no harm done at any rate. 
 But to-day I cannot. I have business.' 
 
 ' As you please and when you please,' said 
 Forese, rather red in the face. ' We Donati have 
 no need to press our alliances. But it might be 
 worth your while.' 
 
 ' Very easily indeed,' said Buondelmonte. 
 Forese cursed him for a dunghill cock, and went 
 off on his affairs. He felt vexed with himself for 
 having cheapened to little purpose, and deter- 
 mined he had best say nothing to his wife about 
 it ; for she took, these things to heart, and made a 
 noise in the house, so that the neighbours knew 
 as much about his trouble as he did. 
 
 Buondelmonte went to the house of the Amidei, 
 and Lambertuccio told his wife to fetch down 
 Cunizza. So she was brought in. Buondelmonte 
 saw that she was a strapping girl, white as milk, 
 with yellow hair, and brown eyes like a deer's, 
 which had a trick of staring. Well brought 
 up, too, she proved ; not timid, answering 
 whatever questions were put to her in a quiet 
 voice, without tremor and with no trouble either 
 in breath or blood. She was turned fifteen and 
 had never been sick or sorry since she was 
 weaned. Buondelmonte saw that here was a
 
 BUONDELMONTE'S SAGA 163 
 
 wife who would do him credit, and get him an 
 heir as soon as he pleased. He said a few things 
 to her as they came into his head, jokes and 
 pleasantries. She looked down at her feet. Then 
 he gave her a kiss upon her cool chin ; and then 
 she was taken away by her mother. 
 
 Lambertuccio asked how the business struck 
 him. He said, ' I am ready to go on with it.' 
 
 ' Very well,' said Lambertuccio, ' we will have 
 the deed drawn up, and then do you come here 
 with your witnesses, and you shall plight her with 
 your ring as soon as you have sealed. Will you 
 drink a cup .'' ' 
 
 ' Very willingly.' Lambertuccio's wife poured 
 out the cup, and all three drank of it in turn, 
 
 III 
 
 The news came into the Old Market that 
 Buondelmonte was betrothed to Lambertuccio's girl 
 Cunizza, and that the dowry was such and such. 
 There was plenty of talk, as there always is about 
 those things. Forese Donati heard of it, and was 
 very angry ; but he said nothing at home, * Take 
 troubles as they come,' he thought ; ' my wife will 
 know soon enough.'
 
 1 64 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 Gualdrada got the news at San Piero Maggiore 
 when she went to mass. She was in a terrible 
 stew. Half her husband's lands would not have 
 been too much for Buondelmonte ; but when they 
 told her of his splendid proposals and of the dowry 
 that went with Cunizza, she could have torn her 
 hair out. ' A white slug,' she called Cunizza — ' a 
 mule, a cow, a bolster, a load of clay.' She told 
 Forese all her trouble. Had he heard of it ? 
 Yes, he said, he had understood something about 
 it. It was likely to be a fine match, a great 
 alliance on both sides. Buondelmonte would not 
 come empty to the wedding, nor alone. Half the 
 Borgo were his kindred — Giandonati, Gianfigliazzi, 
 Degli Scali, Gualterotti, Importuni. The Uberti 
 would be more careful how they came down the 
 streets with naked swords after this. It was good 
 to have a hostage of theirs in hand. A wife was, 
 as it were, a hostage. Then there would be chil- 
 dren — better and better. Forese would have gone 
 on if she had not stopped him with dangerous 
 eyes. ' Children ! Yes, indeed. But what of 
 my children ? They are to be barren, it seems. 
 And kiss the rosary, and have the crucifix for a 
 bedfellow ! And this to go on under your nose, 
 Forese, and all you do is to talk of great matches.
 
 BUONDELMONTE'S SAGA 165 
 
 and hostages, and advantage to the Borgo. Where 
 is our advantage ? What is to be done for my 
 beautiful girl ? Is that hair to be sheared off ? 
 Is ijiat soft body to be scrubbed by gray serge ? 
 Have I pinched all these years for the advantage 
 of the Borgo ? Gone hungry to my bed so that 
 the Gualterotti may go safely to theirs ? Oh, you 
 have given me something to dream about, let me 
 tell you.' 
 
 ' Wife,' said Forese, ' I cannot force Buondel- 
 monte to take my girl. That is not a becoming 
 action for the Donati ; and so I told him only the 
 other day.' 
 
 Gualdrada narrowed her eyes and peered at 
 her husband. 
 
 ' Ah, so you have spoken to him about Pic- 
 carda ? ' she said. ' Now I am learning something. 
 And the other day ? On his way to the Amidei ? ' 
 
 ' No, no,' said Forese. ' How you take me 
 up. You have it wrong. I spoke to him, then, 
 sure enough ; but we had talked of it before, 
 maybe a week ago. And I say again I could not 
 force Piccarda into his arms.' 
 
 Gualdrada raised her hands and let them fall 
 with a clap. Then she turned fiercely upon her 
 husband.
 
 1 66 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 ' This is what comes of your grievous secrecy,' 
 she said, ' that holds my dearest hope in the shut 
 fist of you, and lets it wither sooner than give it 
 air. Now, what a fine turn you have done me, 
 and your own daughter, and our affairs — as if they 
 needed it ! Do you suppose I would have let go 
 of Buondelmonte if I had seen him once or twice ? 
 But no ! You must needs go and come, and sit to 
 eat, and lie in your bed, with all this fast in your 
 mindj and when it is too late and the chance gone 
 for good, you tell me the whole story as if it was 
 news. Now, I shall say to you, Forese ' 
 
 He stopped her here, saying : ' You have told 
 me too much. Better hold there.' 
 
 ' Then I am to see you bring your family to 
 ruin, and laugh with you at the good fortune of 
 the Borgo ; and perhaps stand gossip to the child .'' ' 
 said Gualdrada, folding her arms. 
 
 Forese said : ' You are to see what you please, 
 and laugh as you can. But you are not to rail at 
 me. You may tempt me to do that which will 
 give you pain in one part and me pain in another. 
 I don't advise it.' 
 
 She knew she could not go any further ; so 
 held her tongue. But when Forese had gone out, 
 she walked up and down her hall, thinking of her
 
 BUONDELMONTE'S SAGA 167 
 
 troubles, past and to come. And for many days, 
 as she sat or walked, or went to church, or did her 
 marketing, she kept the bitter thing astir in her 
 mind. She felt that she had a grudge indeed. 
 The Amidei had outwitted her. Nay, they had 
 robbed her. For if Buondelmonte had been to 
 her first, as he as good as promised Forese, it 
 stood to reason that he would have concluded 
 where he was. And the portion that went with 
 Cunizza ! She knew the length of her coffer to a 
 finger's-point, and what was in it. She could have 
 given two hundred liras more than the Amidei. 
 Yes, she had been cheated of the best match in 
 Florence. 
 
 One night, as she thought of it all more 
 grievously than ever, she took the lamp in her 
 hand and went into the chamber where her two 
 girls slept together. She held the lamp over her 
 head and turned back the bedclothes. Capuccia 
 lay on her back, but Piccarda on her face, with 
 her cheek turned sideways on the bolster, and all 
 her hair tumbling about her. Her body was white 
 as alabaster, and her cheek flushed like the heart 
 of a rose. Her long eyelashes brushed it and 
 curved upwards. ' Ay,' said Gualdrada to herself, 
 ' there's a bonny shape for a nunnery, and a flower
 
 1 68 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 to hide up among cloister weeds.' Piccarda, feel- 
 ing the cold, turned and opened her eyes. Her 
 mother kissed her on the cheek and shoulder a 
 half-dozen times and covered her up again. Then 
 she blundered out of the chamber as best she 
 could, for the tears blinded her. 
 
 IV 
 
 After the betrothal, Buondelmonte went once 
 or twice to see Cunizza, but to no very good 
 purpose. He found the girl unresponsive, too 
 well-bred by half ' If this is a foretaste of the 
 rest of our commerce,' he said to himself, ' it 
 promises to be a dull affair.' He liked Lam- 
 bertuccio very well, and his wife ; but Schiatta 
 degli Uberti did not please him. Though he 
 knew his own value quite well, he was himself a 
 modest man, which Schiatta was not. And he 
 grew tired of hearing of his good fortune, of 
 the fine match he had made for himself, and 
 greatly resented being told that his politics were 
 contemptible, Schiatta talked openly when he 
 was well fed ; he did not disguise his intention of 
 ruling the city. He had hopes of being Vicar of 
 the Empire : that would do for a beginning. In
 
 BUONDELMONTE'S SAGA 169 
 
 those days, he said, it would be as well to find 
 yourself on the right side. ' You would not 
 choose, Buondelmonte,' he continued, ' to see your 
 wife and children trudging the hill road to 
 Bologna just because you had held out against 
 her family.' Buondelmonte laughed, and said that 
 all roads did not lead to Bologna. ' Some go to 
 Arezzo, Schiatta,' he said, ' where the Tarlati 
 might take pity on the Emperor's cast-ofFs. And 
 that would be the time for you to reflect whether 
 you had done wisely to refuse the warnings of 
 your niece's husband, between this and Arezzo, 
 my dear friend.' Schiatta frowned and said this 
 was poor jesting ; his son Farinata, who was a tall, 
 black-browed young man, openly advised Buondel- 
 monte to talk of other things. Buondelmonte 
 held on for a little, to save his face ; but he was 
 much annoyed. Mosca de' Lamberti, who was 
 present — he was a grizzled, one-eyed man, who 
 grinned fearfully when he was put out, — followed 
 him into the street after dark, saying he would 
 walk with him to Por' Santa Maria. ' You are a 
 bold man, Buondelmonte,' he said, ' to go out 
 alone and unarmed after nightfall, having said the 
 things you have.' 
 
 ' I think better of Schiatta than you do, it
 
 lyo FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 appears,' said Buondelmonte ; ' for though I con- 
 sider him a boaster, arrogant, and quarrelsome, 
 I have never suspected him of being a night- 
 stabber.' 
 
 ' He has many friends,' said Mosca, ' who 
 would be glad to prove their service.' 
 
 * It would be a strange way of proving it, to 
 my thinking. Are you one of them ? Here is 
 your chance if you wish for it. This is a lonely 
 corner, for instance. Would you prefer me to 
 stand still, or can you hit a running deer ? ' 
 
 ' This is very foolish talk,' said Mosca. ' Yet 
 the entry of the gate here would be an ugly place 
 for a man against two or three.' 
 
 Buondelmonte measured the ground with his 
 eye. There was moonlight, which was reflected 
 in the river, brimful of winter rains. ' I could 
 show you a worse in the Borgo,' he said. * We 
 fight very close in there. But, to be sure, we 
 don't send out six against one, as a rule.' 
 
 Mosca came closer and grinned into his face. 
 ' One against one is good fighting for me,' he said, 
 * by day or by night, with sword or dagger. And 
 so I proved it with you once before.' 
 
 Buondelmonte had a thought that Mosca 
 wished to pick up the old quarrel with him ;
 
 BUONDELMONTE'S SAGA 171 
 
 but as he had no more ill-will towards the man 
 than what sprang from hearty dislike, he took no 
 notice. He did say, however, that he was glad 
 Mosca could be so easily satisfied. Mosca stopped 
 short ; Buondelmonte stopped also. ' Yes, I can 
 be satisfied, Buondelmonte,' said he, ' if it will 
 satisfy you.' 
 
 ' Oh, I don't fight with a one-eyed man,' said 
 Buondelmonte. ' You had two when we tried 
 conclusions before ; and a thing done is done with 
 for me.' Mosca took a sharp breath and seemed 
 about to spring at him ; but he went on : ' And, 
 moreover, to kill the kinsman of my affianced 
 wife, or to be killed by him, if you will, is stupid 
 preparation for a marriage, to my mind.' 
 
 Mosca seemed to come to his senses after this, 
 muttered some sort of excuse, that he had over- 
 drunk himself, held out his hand, and would have 
 embraced Buondelmonte. This, however, the 
 young man did not feel inclined to accept. He 
 put his hand on his late enemy's shoulder instead. 
 ' Remember, Mosca,' said he, ' that it takes two to 
 make a marriage, and two for a good quarrel. If 
 Lambertuccio has thought it well to give me his 
 daughter, I may have had some thinking to do 
 before I could take her from him. But if Lam-
 
 172 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 bertuccio's kinsman thinks well to quarrel with 
 me, why, I may have some more thinking to do,' 
 said Buondelmonte. Mosca blurted out his griev- 
 ance : ' You passed me over. You would have 
 nothing to do with me. You chose to follow the 
 Amidei. The Lamberti are the better blood, 
 God knows. And yet you passed me by. I was 
 angry, and well I might be.' 
 
 ' I have had enough talking. Give you good- 
 night, Mosca,' said Buondelmonte, and turned 
 about on his heel and walked slowly up the Borgo, 
 picking his way among the puddles. Mosca 
 made the figs at him with his two fists ; but 
 Buondelmonte never looked back. He shrugged 
 his shoulders as he went into his house. * A brisk 
 kindred is preparing for me,' he thought, ' but 
 they are balanced by a stolid wife. When I feel 
 the want of bustle at home I shall know where to 
 go for it, by my head ! ' 
 
 The Uberti began to think their new kinsman 
 was rather fond of walking in the clouds. Fari- 
 nata told his father that the talk about Arezzo 
 and the Tarlati was very unbecoming. He 
 thought Buondelmonte ought to be told. Schiatta 
 laughed. ' He will learn soon enough where the
 
 BUONDELMONTE'S SAGA 173 
 
 corn-bin stands,' he said. ' He has mettle, and 
 should be ridden with a light hand at first. If 
 you put him on the curb now, he will pull your 
 arms out of you. It was I began the jesting.' 
 
 ' You are the head of the house, sir,' said 
 Farinata, ' and I am your eldest son. You may 
 say what you please ; it is your right. And I 
 may resent what is offensive to your honour. 
 That, I conceive, is my right.' Schiatta turned 
 upon him. 
 
 ' If you, Farinata,' said he, ' intend to quarrel 
 with my new kinsman, you will have first to 
 quarrel with me. I myself intend quarrels to 
 be done with. The Certaldesi have asked for 
 a Podesta. They shall have you. I will send 
 word that you are coming ; and you shall be 
 off this day three weeks. By that time Buon- 
 delmonte will be of the house. If you snap 
 your fingers under his nose now, you will scare 
 him off. So let there be an end of it. Go and 
 snap your fingers in Certaldo.' 
 
 Farinata said that he would obey. ' Of course 
 you will obey,' said Schiatta ; ' I should like to see 
 the son of mine who would disobey.' 
 
 Buondelmonte went to see his affianced the very
 
 174 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 next day, and remained with her for an hour or so. 
 Next he went to the hall of the Uberti, just to show 
 that he was not to be put down by Schiatta or 
 intimidated by his son Farinata. After that he let 
 a week or more go by, during which he meditated 
 on the state of his affairs. Then he went again to 
 each house in turn. Nothing was said which could 
 offend him. Farinata was not there, Mosca was 
 very civil, Schiatta as friendly as he knew how to 
 be. But at the end of dinner, as he mounted his 
 horse, he knew that he was glad the thing was over. 
 ' I shall hold off that quarter for a week or so 
 more,' he thought. ' I will go hunting in Monti 
 Catini, or to San Casciano to see Gentucca. One 
 or both of these pastimes I will afford myself 
 He rode up the street called ' de' Balestrieri,' which 
 leads along the old wall of Florence past the Badia, 
 until he came to the Corso, which runs east and 
 west in a straight line ; and there hesitated, 
 wondering what he should do. He was in a 
 quarter which held few of his friends, and was 
 unarmed ; instead of holding on, therefore, he 
 turned west along the Corso, and rode at a walk- 
 ing pace, the reins loose, and his thoughts fixed 
 upon his discontent. Richly dressed, as his custom 
 was, sitting a fine horse, he had the appearance of
 
 BUONDELMONTE'S SAGA 175 
 
 a lord of the earth, but of one who took his 
 signiory lightly, as if it was a plaything. Many 
 a woman followed him with her eyes, or nudged 
 her Avorkmate and said : ' There rides a winsome 
 young man. Happy is she who gets him.' 
 
 Gualdrada Donati was looking out of an upper 
 window of her house, and saw him coming. Her 
 heart gave a leap upwards, and she looked the 
 other way, as people do when they are considering 
 something they have seen suddenly. Then she 
 drew a deep breath and opened the shutters wide, 
 waiting for him to pass. As he came under her 
 window she took a flower from her dress and 
 dropped it before him into the street. Buondel- 
 monte saw it fall, and checked his horse lest it 
 should trample it. The next minute he looked 
 up, and saw Gualdrada. A boy in the street 
 picked up the flower and put it in his hand. 
 Buondelmonte, smiling, took the flower and 
 touched his lips with it, still looking up at 
 Gualdrada. 
 
 ' For me, fair lady ^ ' he asked. 
 
 ' A greeting from your friends,' said Gualdrada. 
 
 ' Happy augury ! ' he said, and again kissed the 
 flower. 
 
 ' Why not ? ' said Gualdrada. ' Do not all wish
 
 176 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 you well ? For one so seldom seen you are much 
 loved.' 
 
 ' If I am seldom seen,' said he, ' it is no fault of 
 mine. If I am seldom invited, I must needs sit 
 at home.' 
 
 Gualdrada said, ' If I invite one, I like to be 
 sure of my guests.' 
 
 ' Then you may invite whom you will, lady,' 
 said he. 
 
 She said, ' What if I take you at your word ? ' 
 
 ' Try me,' said Buondelmonte. She replied 
 nothing, but looked at him, and smiled wisely and 
 slowly. She was a handsome, sleepy-looking 
 woman, whom it became to smile in that fashion. 
 Buondelmonte called his page to tie up his horse. 
 He dismounted, and looking up to the window, 
 held out the flower. Gualdrada saw him, and 
 drew in her head. He went up the stair. 
 
 V 
 
 Gualdrada poured a cup of wine and touched it 
 with her lips, looking at Buondelmonte as she did 
 it. Then she offered it to him silently ; and he 
 took it and turned it round, so that the place her 
 lips had touched his should also touch.
 
 BUONDELMONTE'S SAGA 177 
 
 ' To what shall I drink, lady ? ' 
 
 She said : ' To what I did, O Buondelmonte. 
 To the fair bride, and the marriage-bed, and the 
 rich flowry.' 
 
 ' That is a toast I cannot refuse you,' said he, 
 and drank deep. Then they began to talk familiarly 
 together, sitting side by side in the window seat. 
 She told him she was a diviner, who by secret arts 
 would find out the uttermost places of his heart. 
 Laughing, he said that she would see herself in 
 there. 
 
 ' I know better than that,' she said. ' For 
 instance, I know that you have just now been 
 visiting a lady. Is it not so ? ' 
 
 * It is so.' 
 
 ' Now this lady was kind, and not cold at all ; 
 and she gave you three kisses. Am I right ? ' 
 
 He laughed again. ' No, you are gone astray. 
 The lady whom I visited was neither kind nor cold ; 
 and as for her kisses, she harboured them against 
 the proper time.' 
 
 ' The spells have worked awry,' said Gualdrada ; 
 ' but still I seem to see something. I see her cross 
 her arms and bow her head before you, bidding you 
 by those gestures to take her when you are ready. 
 Again, I see her with scissors in her hand cut a 
 
 N
 
 1 78 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 strand of her dark hair for your delight. Now I 
 am right.' 
 
 ' You are very wrong indeed. The lady sat all 
 the time by the window, spinning flax for a bridal 
 garment. And in her hair, which is as yellow as 
 corn, the snood was fast, and so it will remain yet 
 awhile. I see that you know very little of this 
 lady, for all your nigromancy.' 
 
 ' In the crystal ball,' said Gualdrada, ' I saw 
 her speaking a quick welcome ; and words came 
 tumbling from her lips. And I saw her take you 
 by the hand and show you her coffer full to the 
 lid with silver and gold, fine linen and wool. And 
 I heard it said that she would scorn to take money 
 from you for her Morgengabe ; for as her honour 
 was above price, so she would freely give it you for 
 the asking.' 
 
 ' It may be so,' said Buondelmonte. ' She 
 speaks when she is spoken to, and said Yes when 
 I asked her a question, and No when I asked her 
 another.' 
 
 ' She could hardly do less, certainly,' said 
 Gualdrada. * But she comes of a good house, and 
 a rich house. The coffer may speak for her.' 
 
 ' The coffer is a good orator,' Buondelmonte 
 said, ' and never tells lies.'
 
 BUONDELMONTE'S SAGA 179 
 
 She said, * I warrant it has spoken handsomely to 
 you.' 
 
 ' Lady,' he answered her, tired of this fencing, 
 ' if tlie coffer is not full, I can fill it up. But you 
 have much to learn of sorcery and divining if you 
 mean to go on with the arts.' 
 
 ' I know,' said Gualdrada, ' what I have done 
 and what I might have done. I know one more 
 ardent than this bride of yours, who is as beautiful 
 as the flush of dawn ; and what she has in hand 
 for the man of my choosing. And Lambertuccio 
 knows too, and Mosca knows very well.' 
 
 ' There is some magic here at all events,' said 
 Buondelmonte. 
 
 Gualdrada said, 'Yes, indeed,' and pressed her 
 lips together. 
 
 ' What is this, Gualdrada,' said he, * that you 
 have done ? Who is this flushed bride ? Who 
 is the man you are to choose for her ,'' Light a 
 candle ; it is hard walking in the dark.' 
 
 Then Gualdrada got up, saying : ' You shall 
 judge. Wait a little.' She went to the door of a 
 closet, opened it, and called out ' Come, Piccarda.' 
 Out there came in a little while a virgin not 
 fifteen years old, as beautiful as the rose of 
 dawn. Gualdrada took her by the hand and
 
 i8o FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 led her before Buondelmonte, who was greatly 
 astonished. 
 
 She said : ' See this girl of mine, Buondelmonte ; 
 look at her well. Is she not a lovely person .'' 
 Look at these smooth arms. Are the bride's as 
 white and warm.^ Hath the bride hair of this 
 length and texture .'' Hath she cheeks to flame as 
 quick ? ' She touched the girl's cheeks and set 
 them on fire. She held up her chin and bade her 
 look Buondelmonte in the face, saying, ' Give him 
 look for look, Piccarda ; for you may never see 
 again so fine a young man when you are in the 
 cloister, nor so great a lord, unless he be painted 
 upon the walls.' Buondelmonte saw that she had 
 grey eyes, narrow and serious, like deep water ; 
 and remembered that Cunizza's were brown and 
 blank. Piccarda had a gown of white silk upon 
 her, and a belt of gold. 
 
 ' By the Lord Jesus ! ' said Buondelmonte, ' this 
 is a lovely person indeed, and he is a fortunate man 
 who possesses her.' 
 
 Gualdrada said : ' I have no patience with you, 
 Buondelmonte, for your haste and easy temper. 
 For I had kept this girl for you from the hour in 
 which I saw what her worth was. No man has ever 
 looked at her but you, nor she at any man but her
 
 BUONDELMONTE'S SAGA i8i 
 
 father and you. Her very brothers are strangers 
 to her. And now, for some chance word of a fool, 
 you have sold yourself to a girl of stone and little 
 accoCint ; and my Piccarda must go into the cloister 
 of the Grey Women.' 
 
 ' That will be a great wrong done her,' said 
 Buondelmonte, ' and I am sorry on every account. 
 But the Amidei are a good house, well descended, 
 and their kindred are strong men.' 
 
 ' It seems, indeed, that you think them strong 
 men,' said Gualdrada. ' And it may be that the 
 Uberti and the Lamberti and Fifanti are too much 
 for the Buondelmonti, though formerly it was 
 otherwise.' 
 
 ' How, lady, too much ? ' he asked her, redden- 
 ing a little ; for, even-tempered as he was, he did 
 not relish this morsel. But he looked again at 
 Piccarda, and kept looking at her. 
 
 ' Why,' said Gualdrada, ' if Schiatta had a mind 
 he could compel you to wed with his cook-maid 
 and a dowry of a hundred solt^L' 
 
 ' You speak lightly,' he said, ' and as if you 
 were vexed. But you are wide of the mark. He 
 offered me Mosca's daughter, but I refused him. 
 Let me go now, lest I regret something.' He 
 said this without offering to go, or removing his
 
 1 82 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 gaze from Piccarda, who (for her part) by no 
 means refused pleasure to her own eyes. Her 
 hand lay still in her mother's, but her looks were 
 free. 
 
 Then Gualdrada moved lightly towards him, 
 and said, ' You fool, you shall regret something 
 indeed.' To her daughter she said, ' Girl, take 
 him into the closet and show him the marriage- 
 portion.' She put their hands together and stood 
 looking at them, tapping her foot on the flags and 
 shaking with rage and disappointment, as the 
 damsel led Buondelmonte towards the closet. 
 There he saw three chests full of fine stuffs, linen 
 and cloth of gold, fine woollen and silken webs, 
 and long table-cloths with scarlet fringes, bed- 
 clothes, and coverlets of silk and gold knot-work, 
 hangings of arras for the chambers and hall ; and 
 a chest full of gold, and another of silver. 
 
 Amazed, he said when he came back, ' All this 
 with a damsel so rich in herself ! ' 
 
 ' Rich she is indeed,' said Gualdrada, ' and you 
 have lost her.' 
 
 * That,' said he, ' is not so certain, as it would 
 certainly be a pity.' 
 
 On a sudden Gualdrada said to him, ' Take and 
 kiss her, Buondelmonte, for she was kept for you,'
 
 BUONDELMONTE'S SAGA 183 
 
 Buondelmonte took PIccarda in his arms and 
 kissed her on the mouth ; and when he felt how 
 sweet and buxom she was, he could not let her go, 
 but kissed her again. And she kissed him back ; 
 and so they remained for a space like fond lovers, 
 until he turned to Gualdrada, but without re- 
 leasing the girl, and said, ' I must have her, 
 Gualdrada.' 
 
 * Well,' said Gualdrada, ' take her, then, and I 
 will pay forfeit to the Amidei. Few men would 
 refuse her, I think.' 
 
 ' I am not one, at least,' said he ; and after an 
 hour took leave of Gualdrada and his beloved, and 
 rode to his house. 
 
 Forese Donati said, when he heard of it all : 
 ' There will be no good out of such a bargain 
 as this. I would rather cut my hand off than 
 consent to it.' 
 
 ' And I would rather see you with a maimed 
 stump than your child peaking in a cloister,' said 
 Gualdrada. 
 
 ' It has a bad look, this shifting and veering,' 
 Forese went on. ' How do we know but he will 
 serve us the same trick ? ' 
 
 ' Ah, never, never,' said Gualdrada. ' And so
 
 1 84 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 would you say if you had seen them together. 
 Love leaped playing between them like summer 
 fires on the hills. They were as two pigeons 
 billing each other ; you could not part them. 
 And was not he bound to us in the beginning ? 
 Did he not agree to come first to you before ever 
 he saw or thought of the Amidei ? And where 
 does our house stand in Florence if the Uberti and 
 Buondelmonti and all their kindreds join hands ? 
 Do you wish to bring in a tyrant ? And a tyrant 
 like Schiatta ? Your enemy and mine ? Do we 
 owe the Uberti so much ? Out upon such weak- 
 ness ! Is your heart a sponge, holding water 
 instead of blood ^ ' 
 
 *You madden me with your questions,' said 
 Forese. He was not convinced, though obliged 
 to own that he had spoken to Buondelmonte first. 
 He was for going to Lambertuccio then and there 
 with the forfeit ; but Gualdrada prevailed upon 
 him to leave the thing alone for a while, for she 
 believed Buondelmonte would pay it himself
 
 PART II 
 
 I 
 
 The year had turned to the spring ; March was 
 in, but Buondelmonte had not been to the Amidei 
 house for three weeks, nor more than twice in all 
 that time to see Schiatta degli Uberti. He had 
 been in the country, it was known ; but Mosca 
 de' Lamberti said he had seen him in the city with 
 his friends. He understood that a large table was 
 held in the Buondelmonti house. Schiatta asked 
 him if he had been a guest at it ; but Mosca only 
 grinned and grated his teeth together. Schiatta, 
 however, advised Lambertuccio to go to see Buon- 
 delmonte. 'It is time something was settled,' 
 he said. ' I hear of movements over the moun- 
 tains which may spread into our plain one of these 
 fine days. They will wait for the snows, yet it is 
 quite as well to have your musters ready. I 
 certainly think you should see Buondelmonte.' 
 So Lambertuccio went. 
 
 185
 
 1 86 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 The two men greeted each other, and Lamber- 
 tuccio said that he had not seen much of his new 
 kinsman lately. It was time that preparations 
 should be made. The year was getting on. 
 Would Buondelmonte be ready for the wedding 
 by Easter .'' Or what had he to propose .'' 
 
 Buondelmonte sat quiet for a little ; presently 
 he said : ' I think frankness is a good thing, 
 Lambertuccio, and I will be frank with you. I 
 should have spoken to you before this if oppor- 
 tunity had served me. But I have been in the 
 country, as you know, and troubled with family 
 matters. Now I must tell you that not only shall I 
 not be prepared to go to church with you by Easter, 
 but after Pentecost I don't think I shall be ready.' 
 
 ' What is the meaning of this, Buondelmonte ^ ' 
 said Lambertuccio, raising his eyebrows. 
 
 Buondelmonte said : ' I think that I was 
 perhaps hasty in my determination. I don't feel 
 myself inclined to marry just yet. I hope I don't 
 set more store by my youth than other men, but 
 I feel that I cannot yet awhile give up those 
 pleasures which young men have a right to. 
 Maybe I do more honour to Cunizza by not 
 marrying her than I should by fulfilling my 
 bargain. I hope you understand me.'
 
 BUONDELMONTE'S SAGA 187 
 
 ' I hope I do not,' said Lambertuccio. * This 
 is a very unpleasant story you have been keeping 
 for me, Buondelmonte. I am not prepared with 
 my- answer just yet. Nor will my cousins 
 Schiatta degli Uberti and Mosca de' Lamberti be 
 prepared, if they are the prudent men I think them 
 to be.' 
 
 ' Ah ! ' said Buondelmonte ; ' since you have 
 named them, I will add that when I agreed to 
 take Cunizza, it was after I had declined an offer 
 of Mosca's and been declined by Schiatta. There 
 I think that I was right, and Schiatta right. My 
 politics and his don't agree, and are never likely 
 to agree ; there will be grief over that sooner 
 or later. It is wiser to forestall grief than to 
 engross it.' 
 
 'You seem a poor tradesman to me,' said Lam- 
 bertuccio. ' Lucky for you that Farinata degli 
 Uberti is safely out of the way. I have known a 
 quarrel picked on much less ground than this, and 
 by him, for instance, on no ground at all, save 
 that the colour of a man's hair displeased him.' 
 
 * Ah, if you come to the colour of hair,' 
 Buondelmonte said, thinking, ' I have known a 
 bride left in the lurch for some such reason. But 
 I hope you are not supposing that I shall decline a
 
 1 88 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 quarrel with Farlnata. I did decline one with 
 Mosca the other day (though before that he had 
 found me ready enough) because he is short of an 
 eye ; and I should decline one with you, because 
 you are father of a lady whom I esteem and 
 respect. But the long and short of it is, Lamber- 
 tuccio, that I dislike Schiatta's politics, and that 
 your cousin Mosca is to me an abhorrence and 
 occasion of nausea. You will find me liberal, I 
 hope. I am prepared to pay the forfeit provided 
 by the bond, and to hand over my fifty florins in 
 addition.' 
 
 ' That is a reasonable offer, I must allow,' said 
 Lambertuccio, after a while ; ' but I have to think 
 of my girl's honour. Will you give me your 
 word not to marry until she is married ? ' 
 
 ' No ; that I certainly decline to do,' said 
 Buondelmonte, ' though it is a very probable course 
 of affairs.' 
 
 * Well,' said Lambertuccio, ' you must give me 
 time to talk over this with my friends.' 
 
 ' I cannot prevent it ; it is your right. But I 
 hope you will not compel me to take the bond 
 before the Gonfalonier to have it abated. Since 
 you speak of friends, it had much better be done 
 quietly, as between friends.'
 
 BUONDELMONTE'S SAGA 189 
 
 Lambertuccio thought so too, though he made 
 no such answer. ' Friends,' he said, ' are those 
 who act friendly.' He did not know what to say, 
 since he was not sure what he ought to do. He 
 was a slow, deliberate, rather stately man, not 
 soon put into a rage, but long there when once 
 there. If Buondelmonte thought the troublesome 
 business over because Lambertuccio's tongue was 
 at the end of its tether, he was greatly mistaken. 
 But the fact is, he thought very little about it, 
 save to be glad it was done with, the ground 
 cleared. The moment Lambertuccio was gone, he 
 put a cloak over his face and made haste to reach 
 the Donati house. 
 
 He told Forese his news, which Forese received 
 with many shakes of the head. ' It is but just 
 begun, the trouble,' he said. ' I should like to 
 hear Schiatta and the whole brood upon it as they 
 sit at meat. Remember, it was you that approached 
 them in the first place ; for they are not likely to 
 forget it. There will be high talk, I'm thinking. 
 You must be wary of your steps, Buondelmonte, 
 and wear chain mail. They are a dangerous nest 
 to meddle with.' 
 
 ' I shall take my life in my hands when I go 
 to pay the forfeit,' said Buondelmonte ; ' but a
 
 I90 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 man does that when he walks across the street. 
 You understand that you are not an ingredient of 
 this broth of mine.' 
 
 ' There's not much in that,' said Forese. ' I 
 shall be bobbing about with the best, the roundest 
 pippin there, so soon as the murder's out.' 
 
 Buondelmonte told him that nothing would be 
 done until his bond was returned to him, and the 
 affair a little blown over. Lambertuccio had 
 wanted a promise out of him, he said, but he would 
 not bind himself to the Uberti a second time. 
 
 Forese put a hand on his arm, saying : ' Never 
 mind what you promise, Buondelmonte ; but see 
 to it that you hold off until Cunizza is settled. 
 She is of full age — sixteen if she's a day ; they will 
 marry her in a hurry, to save her face. Wait for 
 that, my good friend, wait for that.' 
 
 Buondelmonte was in a hurry himself, but said 
 he would talk to Gualdrada about it. So he did ; 
 but Piccarda was there too. Gualdrada made very 
 light of the whole story. ' My husband is a born 
 croaker,' she said. ' Have you not yet found him 
 out ? If there comes a shower — there is to be a 
 flood. If the sun shines — we must prepare for a 
 drought. You will see : the very first thing the 
 Amidei do will be to marry off that girl to one of
 
 BUONDELMONTE'S SAGA 191 
 
 the house. There are plenty of them to be had ; 
 money was never a want of theirs, nor big-boned 
 youug men either. And when that is done, or as 
 good as done, what is to prevent your marry- 
 ing when you choose ? Nothing at all. I con- 
 sider you free as air. I consider the thing done 
 now, and done with.' Buondelmonte looked at 
 Piccarda, who returned his gaze steadily, but as if 
 she was troubled at something. Her eyes searched 
 his in pursuit of his secret thought, then turned 
 away ; she sighed ever so lightly. 
 
 ' Why do you sigh, sweetheart ? ' 
 
 ' Because I am in love.' 
 
 ' Will you sigh when I wed you ? ' 
 
 ' Ah, no.' 
 
 ' Why not, if now you sigh .'' ' 
 
 ' Because then I shall know that you are in love 
 also.' 
 
 He took her on his knee, and caressed her. 
 She spoke no more until he urged her very closely. 
 Then she said : ' I want you. I have no rest 
 because of you. Before you came I had long 
 nights and days. But now day and night I think 
 of you. I am wretched, in sore need.' Buondel- 
 monte kissed her. Such talk was very pleasant to 
 hear, and made him wild for the girl.
 
 192 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 Gualdrada, looking at these two, one caught up 
 on the knees of the other, laughed, as rich people 
 laugh. And when Buondelmonte asked her, 
 ' How soon will you give her to me, Gualdrada ? ' 
 she knew that her wages were in her hand, and 
 said : ' You are so near together that I care not 
 greatly to delay you. To-morrow you shall 
 plight her with your ring at San Giovanni. 
 Thereafter do what you will, each of you with the 
 other.' 
 
 Buondelmonte looked at Piccarda. ' If I do 
 what I will with thee, Piccarda ? ' he said, asking. 
 
 ' That will be what I will,' said Piccarda. So 
 he kissed her again, 
 
 II 
 
 On the morning after Buondelmonte had 
 broken his news to Lambertuccio, Oderigo Fifanti 
 happened to be passing San Giovanni about the 
 hour of terce when people were coming out from 
 the mass. He waited to watch them for a little, 
 and saw Gualdrada Donati with two unwedded 
 girls. He had always thought her to have but 
 one daughter, whom he knew quite well by sight ; 
 but this other he had never seen before. She 
 appeared to him of extraordinary beauty, dangerous
 
 BUONDELMONTE'S SAGA 193 
 
 to men. He was so much taken with her 
 that when she had passed with her mother and 
 sister *he went into the church to consider whether, 
 at his age, with grown-up sons of his own, he 
 might venture upon a second marriage. It would 
 be that girl or none, he thought, and turned it 
 over and over in his mind. In the church he saw 
 a young man offering candles to the Virgin, whose 
 make and shape seemed familiar. Puzzling idly 
 over this, but more concerned with his late en- 
 counter, presently the worshipper turned to go 
 out, and Oderigo saw that it was Buondelmonte. 
 There was nothing surprising about this, since San 
 Giovanni was the church where all the factions of 
 his way of thinking heard mass when they could ; 
 and on the great feasts made a point of taking the 
 Communion. There had been a Communion this 
 morning, he saw, and afterwards remembered. 
 Oderigo greeted Buondelmonte and received his 
 greeting ; but they said nothing. 
 
 When he came out, not having fully made up 
 his mind what to do about the girl of the Donati, 
 he went down to his own house, and heard the 
 news about the Amidei marriage. Instantly he 
 connected it in some way with the visit of 
 
 Buondelmonte to San Giovanni that morning and 
 
 o
 
 194 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 his offer of candles to the Virgin. ' He has had 
 a vision or a warning,' he told himself; 'that is 
 about the size of it. He has been expiating a 
 vow, or sealing a new one ; or he was giving 
 thanks for a danger averted. Now what will 
 Lambertuccio do ? And our kindreds .'' I must 
 go down to Schiatta's and find out.' And away 
 he went. 
 
 He found all the kindreds assembled in the 
 hall, Schiatta in the high seat, and Lambertuccio 
 finishing an oration amid murmurs and muttering 
 from the others. 
 
 ' The sum of the matter, Schiatta,' Lambertuccio 
 was saying, ' is that I cannot feel offended. I 
 believe Buondelmonte spoke the truth when he 
 owned that he would rather keep his kindred 
 separate from ours. Either he thinks himself 
 strong enough without the Uberti, or he fears to 
 make the Uberti too strong. We know very well 
 that he is wrong in the first, and as for the second, 
 may doubt if he would count for very much. But 
 a man must have his opinions. Another reason of 
 his seems to be that Mosca here tried to pick up an 
 old settled quarrel again, one night last winter. I 
 will not say whether Mosca did well to blow upon 
 dead embers ; but it was not a friendly act to me.
 
 BUONDELMONTE'S SAGA 195 
 
 and Buondelmonte was reasonable in resenting it. 
 He came to us of his own accord, peace upon his 
 tongjae ; then says Mosca, there shall be no peace 
 between you and me. Well, he would say, then 
 there can be none betwixt me and your kinsfolk. 
 You cannot have it both ways. He has reason on 
 his side, I say. Now Buondelmonte will pay 
 forfeit on his bond, and may have it back when he 
 chooses for all I shall say against it. My Cunizza 
 will wed with Malviso Giantruffetti here, a good 
 man and of our kindred ; so her honour will be 
 saved ; all the city will believe that we broke off 
 the match. This is all I have to say, Schiatta, 
 about the affair.' 
 
 Mosca de' Lamberti jumped up the moment he 
 had done. * By your leave, Schiatta,' said he, ' I 
 will answer Lambertuccio in your presence. I say 
 that it is well for Buondelmonte that Farinata is 
 tied to the chair at Certaldo ; for if he had been 
 here, there would have been wild work in the street. 
 And, for my part, I am not sure that all of us 
 Uberti will sleep in our beds this night, as I gather 
 Lambertuccio intends to sleep in his. Better had 
 it been for all of us if I had settled accounts with 
 my lord Picker-and-Chooser on that winter night. 
 He had not lived then, perhaps, to toss another of
 
 196 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 the Uberti aside after a little trial. Shall I tell 
 you now why I had my words with Buondel- 
 monte ? You think that I bore him a grudge for 
 a very old affair ? You wrong me there ; it was 
 just the opposite of that was the case. You 
 should remember the day he came into this hall on 
 his wife-buying errand, asking, I'll trouble you for 
 one of the chiefs daughters. " I come for a wife, 
 not a grandmother," says my young lord. That 
 of Schiatta's lady, look you. A wife he needs, not 
 a grandmother. I know very well what he needs. 
 Well, then, I made an offer on my own account ; 
 and Schiatta upheld it, and was right, since I am 
 his next in degree. Did that have the look of a 
 grudge ? No, indeed. But what says my lord ? 
 " I cannot hope to satisfy Mosca," are his words. 
 Great courtesy to me ! Oh, the :finest ! Who 
 bears the grudge, do you say .? He is pleased to 
 condescend to Lambertuccio's proposals, however, 
 and will look at the bride, as he might look at a 
 horse on sale. Vastly pleasant dealing, signori, as 
 things have turned out. Now that is why I picked 
 a quarrel with this Butterfly Squire, who thinks 
 that all our maidens' lips are at his disposal. And 
 I am ready for another when and how you please. 
 Lambertuccio's reasonings and reasonableness are
 
 BUONDELMONTE'S SAGA 197 
 
 nothing to me. Buondelmonte sought us out, 
 offering himself: now he throws us over. Can 
 we Ijear that, we who are lords of the city .'' I say 
 dishonour is done to our name and blood.' 
 
 There was a good deal of shouting at this, and 
 some of the young men leaped to their feet. One 
 raised a cry of ' Death to him ! ' But Schiatta 
 stopped all this with his hand. ' Let no man stir 
 till I give him leave,' said he. ' There must be no 
 bloodshed nor house-burning yet awhile. This 
 quarrel is Lambertuccio's, who, if he is satisfied, 
 may be an easy man to satisfy ; I say nothing 
 about that. But I say that Mosca did wrong to 
 offend Buondelmonte when he was in a state of 
 becoming my kinsman, and is chiefly to blame in 
 this which has followed. Had I been Buondel- 
 monte I know not how I could have acted other- 
 wise. Now I forbid you, Mosca, to move sword 
 or tongue against Lambertuccio's enemy without 
 his sanction. Let this be a warning to you to be 
 civil, and not to take more upon yourself than 
 your friends are disposed to award you. Has any 
 man else anything to say in this foolish affair } ' 
 
 Oderigo Fifanti got up. ' I say, Schiatta, that 
 Lambertuccio is right in his surmises, and will tell 
 you why. This morning, happening to be by, I
 
 198 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 went into San Giovanni, and saw Buondelmonte 
 there, offering candles at the altar of the Virgin, 
 Fine candles, too, seven pounds apiece at the least. 
 Now this is no great feast-day, as we all know ; 
 therefore he must have gone there with design, 
 and offered his candles with intention. It is clear 
 as day to me that he offered either because of 
 a vow he had made, which no man makes except 
 necessity drive him, or as thanksgiving for a 
 danger escaped. In either case, it seems, he is to 
 be excused, as a man is who thinks himself warned 
 by God. And after the words of Mosca de' 
 Lamberti it is not hard to see what sort of danger 
 a quiet man has escaped.' All the kinsmen 
 shouted their laughter at this, and Oderlgo sat 
 himself down. Malviso Giantruffetti also said 
 something, modestly and becomingly for so young 
 a man ; and then Buondelmonte walked into the 
 hall, alone and unarmed, and courteously saluted 
 Schiatta, Lambertuccio, and the company at large. 
 There was a great hush ; but all could see that he 
 bore himself like a gentleman, and a noble gentle- 
 man. His witnesses came after him, three young 
 men — his brother Ranieri, Alberto Giandonati, and 
 one of the Gualterotti, a mere lad, — none of them 
 at his ease in the stronghold of the Uberti.
 
 BUONDELMONTE'S SAGA 199 
 
 Schiatta, who sincerely admired him, returned his 
 salutation, and said : ' Buondelmonte, I guess your 
 errand and am sorry for It. I would have seen you 
 here more gladly on any other ; or if this is the 
 end of it, could wish that you had not come at all.' 
 
 ' I can well believe that,' said Buondelmonte ; 
 ' but when a man is told that he must lose his \tg^ he 
 does not say : " We will talk about it next week " ; 
 but rather, " Hack it off then, and have done 
 with it." So I, being forced into a narrow way, 
 make haste to get out even at the price of things 
 which may be dear to me. You say that you 
 know why I have come. I have given reasons to 
 Lambertuccio, which I hope he understands. No 
 doubt he has told them to you. Now, in the 
 presence of you all, his kindred, I pay the forfeit 
 in which I stand engaged, and will take my bond 
 again. Further satisfaction I offer him for the 
 honour of Monna Cunizza, namely, the fifty 
 florins which I should have laid down for Mor- 
 gengabe. This seems to be justly her due, since 
 I believe from my soul every good thing of her. 
 So I pay it now in your sight.' 
 
 * It is greatly done,' said Schiatta ; ' I own that.' 
 And so all confessed to one another that it was. 
 
 Lambertuccio said : ' Noble offer should have
 
 200 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 noble response. I shall not accept from Buondel- 
 monte more than is my due, nor money for that 
 which he has not had. This Morgengabe will 
 undoubtedly be paid by the satisfied man, and it 
 must not be supposed that it is due from Buon- 
 delmonte. That is Malviso's business here, to 
 whom my girl is betrothed.' 
 
 ' That alters the case,' said Buondelmonte. * I 
 should be doing Malviso a great offence.' So he 
 took back his purse of fifty florins, and shortly 
 after withdrew, he and his witnesses. 
 
 The assembly broke up ; the kindreds left the 
 hall upon their several affairs ; but Oderigo 
 Fifanti stayed behind for a talk with Schiatta 
 about his own affair of the girl of the Donati. 
 Schiatta advised him against it. ' This is an idle 
 itch of yours,' he said, ' tending neither to good 
 husbandry nor good comfort. How will you get 
 a young wife to settle down with your sons, 
 who are themselves old enough to marry her ? 
 Remember the grief of Obizzo of Este, whose son 
 fell in love with his stepmother, and perished, 
 and caused her to perish, miserably. Yet you are 
 not to blame Obizzo for maintaining his rights, 
 since he had chosen to make them so, with a
 
 BUONDELMONTE'S SAGA 201 
 
 strong hand. Again, the Donati are a good 
 house, I'll not deny, though not so good as they 
 havp been, and no friends of mine. But mark 
 you this, when the hour comes, the Donati will 
 be on one side of the ramparts and the Uberti on 
 the other. This must infallibly be.' 
 
 * The same would have been true of the Buon- 
 delmonti, in my opinion,' said Oderigo. 
 
 ' Buondelmonte is a young man,' replied 
 Schiatta, ' and more supple than the Donati. 
 And his is a growing tree, where the other is 
 rotting at the heart. 1 warn you off this quest of 
 yours, kinsman.' 
 
 ' Well,' said Oderigo, ' maybe I shall not take 
 your advice.' 
 
 ' Oh, if you confess yourself an old fool, I have 
 nothing more to say,' Schiatta answered. To 
 which Oderigo replied with heat that if everybody 
 was a fool who did not hold Schiatta's opinions, 
 Florence held a goodly number of fools. 
 
 * I think it does,' said Schiatta, ' but that is no 
 reason why you should add to the number.' 
 
 ' He is a fool,' said Oderigo, ' who follows 
 blindly where another leads him. Knowledge of 
 this, and not profundity of wisdom, makes a 
 shepherd master of sheep.'
 
 202 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 ' Go your ways, Oderigo,' said Schiatta, ' go 
 your ways. Let January wed young May if he 
 can. But let not January quarrel with the nature 
 of things if he freeze May to death, or May 
 fritter him to water with her awakened fires.' 
 
 ' I shall certainly try my fortune,' said Oderigo, 
 ' and thank you for your friendly warnings.' 
 
 Ill 
 
 Buondelmonte, who had a journey to make, 
 laid out his fifty florins in a gold crown, the 
 finest- that money could buy in Florence or the 
 world. It was made of two hoops of gold, one 
 above another, joined together by flowers in red 
 and white enamel ; above was a garland of lilies 
 in the same work, with a star in the midst, to be 
 over the forehead, and in the midst of that again 
 an emerald of large size. He took it to the 
 house of the Donati, and before he left her that 
 night set it upon Piccarda's head. ' Let this speak 
 to thee of my love while I am away. I shall come 
 soon, my dear heart,' said he, and departed in a 
 torment of love by no means allayed. Gualdrada 
 embraced her beautiful daughter. ' He is bound 
 to you, my child, hand and foot. Think not that
 
 BUONDELMONTE'S SAGA 203 
 
 by giving you have nothing left to give. A fine 
 skein is in your hand, to be wound as you please. 
 Though it be of thin silk, it will drag this man to 
 heaven or hell.' Piccarda had nothing to say ; 
 or else she did not choose to speak of Buondel- 
 monte. 
 
 Gualdrada heard steps upon the stair, which 
 she thought were those of Forese coming in. 
 * Stay you there, Piccarda,' she said, ' and let your 
 father see what a lordly husband you have won.' 
 So she sat still where she was, looking like a 
 queen. 
 
 Forese came into the chamber with Oderigo 
 Fifanti, who, when he saw Piccarda with the crown 
 upon her head, stayed by the door as one dazed. 
 Forese said : ' Wife, here is Messer Oderigo come 
 a-wooing, wanting our Capuccia. What have you 
 to say to that ? ' 
 
 Gualdrada made a little demur ; her head was 
 turned by the happy conduct of Piccarda's affair, 
 and she had never set much store by her elder 
 daughter. It would have to be considered, she 
 said ; there was much to be said for and against 
 such a match ; and then to Piccarda : ' Go into 
 your closet and put off" that ornament you have 
 on. Your father shall see it another time.'
 
 204 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 Piccarda got up to go ; whereupon Oderigo 
 recovered his senses. ' Hold,' he said ; ' you 
 have my story wrong, Forese. This is the damsel 
 I seek, for a wife.' 
 
 ' Bad Easter to me,' says Forese, ' I am sorry 
 for that.' 
 
 Gualdrada said : ' You choose your words 
 strangely, husband. Messer Oderigo, you are 
 too late. This girl of mine is betrothed ; the 
 crown she wears now is a wedding-gift from her 
 affianced. Not every damsel hath so rich an 
 offering as that. But the bridegroom is a young 
 man, of an age with herself or near it, and well 
 found in goods, as you see.' 
 
 ' It is evident,' said Oderigo, putting the best 
 face he could upon it. ' There cannot be many 
 of his sort in Florence. Might a man know his 
 name ? ' 
 
 Forese looked at his wife, doubtful what she 
 would have him do. Gualdrada made haste to 
 answer. 
 
 * Indeed, there would be every reason why you 
 should know, and sooner than most,' she said. 
 ' But this is the true state of the case : the bride- 
 groom has gone to Siena on business of some 
 moment for himself and the state. Lest any
 
 BUONDELMONTE'S SAGA 205 
 
 shame should fall upon our daughter by failure of 
 his, or accident, or any such thing — which God 
 mertifully avert ! — he has charged me to withhold 
 his name and the betrothal itself until he is happily 
 back. But you have surprised us out of one of 
 these, through no fault of your own or of mine.' 
 
 * Your secret is safe with me,' said Oderigo ; 
 ' but indeed you have found a tender bridegroom, 
 singular in Florence on every account.' 
 
 * You may be sure that he is,' said Gualdrada. 
 After a few courteous speeches Oderigo, having 
 
 no further errand with the Donati, departed. He 
 owned himself for a fool ; but for all that he was 
 greatly puzzled at the mystery. Meeting by 
 chance with Mosca de' Lamberti as he crossed 
 the New Market, he clean forgot his assurance of 
 secrecy, and told him the whole of the story, 
 except the part he himself had played in it. 
 Mosca said at once : ' I met Buondelmonte on 
 the bridge even now, on the Siena road. What if 
 he were your man .'' What then, my friend ? ' 
 
 At once it jumped into Oderigo's mind that 
 he had seen Buondelmonte that morning in San 
 Giovanni, offering candles to the Virgin, and that 
 in the same church had been Gualdrada Donati 
 and her daughter. The remembrance of this, and
 
 2o6 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 the thought of what it involved, flushed him all 
 over ; but knowing Mosca for a pickstrife, a mis- 
 chievous man, he said nothing about it. It might 
 have been an accident, and the offering made for 
 safety on his journey. So also there might have 
 been the Communion there and yet neither 
 Buondelmonte nor Piccarda have communicated. 
 But if there were no accidents at all, and every- 
 thing had been as it looked, then the Uberti were 
 very much offended. Lambertuccio must then be 
 told, and Schiatta. While he thought of all this, 
 Mosca clapped him on the shoulder. 'We are 
 two fools,' he said. * There is but one man can 
 make such a gold crown as that. He is Lapo of 
 Lucca. We will soon have the Donati secret in 
 our hands.' 
 
 Lapo the garland -maker, who lived by the 
 bridge, made no secret of his part in the traffic. 
 It had been Buondelmonte who had bought the 
 crown this very morning. Mosca and Oderigo 
 looked at each other without saying anything. 
 By the Piazza of San Stefano they were about to 
 separate, when Oderigo took Mosca by the arm, 
 and held him fast, saying nothing. 
 
 * Let me go, cousin,' said Mosca, struggling ; 
 ' I have business.'
 
 BUONDELMONTE'S SAGA 207 
 
 Oderigo was no coward, to shrink from a 
 quarrel or many quarrels ; but he was a serious 
 man", who considered fighting a serious business ; 
 and he saw that such fighting as might now be on 
 hand would be no ordinary scuffle. So he held on 
 to Mosca by his gown. ' By Jesus Christ, Mosca,' 
 he said, ' you shall tell me to whom is your 
 business. For I see that it lies in a different 
 direction from that in which it lay when I first 
 met you.' 
 
 * Let me go, Oderigo,' he said again. ' I am 
 not bound to tell you of my affairs.' 
 
 ' But this affair is mine as well as yours ; so I 
 mean to have it out of you.' 
 
 Mosca looked this way and that with his one 
 quick eye — up at Oderigo, who was looking at 
 the men in the river drawing their nets below the 
 weir ; down at his feet ; about and about. 'Well,' 
 he said at last, ' there is no reason why I should 
 not tell you. I am going to Schiatta's.' 
 
 ' Then you may go,' said Oderigo. If he had 
 said ' To Lambertuccio's,' Oderigo would have 
 forced him to silence ; but he cared little what he 
 said -to Schiatta, because he knew nothing positive, 
 and Schiatta would see that it amounted to nothing. 
 A man is at liberty to plight himself with a woman
 
 2o8 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 when he has broken his pHght to another, but not 
 until. Now Oderigo knew very well, but Mosca 
 did not, that Buondelmonte must have been with 
 this girl long before. Therefore he had insulted 
 the Amidei. But whether Lambertuccio would 
 choose to avenge his own injuries or to share his 
 rights with the Uberti, he was not yet sure. 
 
 He went to the Amidei house and told 
 Lambertuccio the whole case, not concealing 
 from him his own share in it. Lambertuccio 
 listened without movement or sign, save that his 
 face took a darker tinge, and that this tinge was 
 darkest at his neck. At the end he said : 
 
 ' If this is true, as fate seems to have it, he 
 must die. No doubt of that.' 
 
 ' If you are for that work,' said Oderigo, ' I 
 shall stand in with you. For you are not the 
 only man offended.' 
 
 ' As you please,' said Lambertuccio. ' I need 
 no help from any man. You brought your trouble 
 on yourself. At your time of life, he who goes 
 running after maids unwed deserves what he 
 gets. My case is very different. I shall kill 
 Buondelmonte.' 
 
 Oderigo said : ' He will be in Siena by to- 
 morrow night ; it could be done very handsomely
 
 BUONDELMONTE'S SAGA 209 
 
 there. Any of the Tolomel would do it. Or 
 Farinata could arrange it easily for you from 
 Certkldo.' 
 
 ' It will be done very handsomely here, you 
 will find,' said Lambertuccio quietly. ' There is 
 plenty of time. But I have just supped, and this 
 is the hour at which I usually sleep. Forgive me, 
 and many thanks.' 
 
 ' You will let me know when you are ready ? '' 
 said Oderigo. 
 
 ' Certainly. There is plenty of time.' 
 
 ' Good repose to you, Lambertuccio.' 
 
 ' Many thanks.' 
 
 Schiatta heard Mosca's story, and put his finger 
 on the weak spot at once. ' A man freed is a free 
 man,' he said, ' and not less free for being that 
 moment free. Buondelmonte may have known the 
 Donati girl before, or he may not. He has acted 
 within the letter of his rights. You cannot prove 
 anything against him, and you cannot touch him.' 
 
 * Your son Farinata would touch him,' said 
 Mosca. 
 
 * My son Farinata would do nothing of the 
 
 kind,' Schiatta replied. ' You know very little 
 
 about it.' 
 
 P
 
 2IO FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 But afterwards, when Lambertuccio came with 
 his new story, Schiatta saw differently. ' If this 
 is the state of the case,' he said, * the family is 
 grievously offended — no less with the Donati than 
 with Buondelmonte, except in this, that the Donati 
 have always been open enemies. But the other 
 came to us unasked, professing the need of alliance. 
 Black treachery. Our name cannot endure this, 
 Lambertuccio. I must certainly interfere. And 
 it is a good occasion, after all, for what we have 
 in the back of our minds. For if we go sagely 
 to work, I don't know why we should have an 
 enemy left in Florence.' 
 
 Lambertuccio said : ' You are head of the 
 house. Do as you think proper. The quarrel 
 is certainly mine first of all — but do as you think 
 proper.' 
 
 ' I shall call a council of the kindreds,' said 
 Schiatta ; ' that is what I shall do.' 
 
 They all came together in the hall of the 
 Uberti ; Lambertuccio and Oderigo, the Infangati, 
 Mosca de' Lamberti, the Caponsacchi and Gan- 
 galandi, and Ruggiero Giantruffetti with his son 
 Malviso, who was to marry Cunizza. 
 
 Oderigo Fifanti, when called upon, confirmed
 
 BUONDELMONTE'S SAGA 2 1 1 
 
 his story. He said that he agreed with Lam- 
 bertuccio that the Amidei were chiefly concerned 
 in -the quarrel ; but he considered that he came 
 next on account of his private intentions towards 
 the girl. He should stand by Lambertuccio in 
 whatever he should choose to do. 
 
 There were cries for Lambertuccio degli 
 Amidei. He rose unwillingly and said little. 
 ' It is distasteful to me to speak of my private 
 affairs, and by your leave I shall not. I have 
 made up my mind what I ought to do ; if possible, 
 and Heaven on my side, I shall perform it. I 
 speak as a man, father of a maiden wronged, not 
 as kinsman of any other. If, however, you push 
 your claims upon me, as being of my blood or 
 intimacy or some such, I shall not refuse you. 
 Forgive me : I am little of a speaker at these 
 times.' 
 
 Mosca de' Lamberti spoke next, not fiercely, 
 but moderately and with show of reason. ' There 
 are two things to do,' he said, ' which equally 
 become us. Firstly, we must stand by our 
 offended kinsman ; secondly, we must seek the 
 benefit of the whole name and blood. Now, as 
 to the first, it is plain what we ought to do ; but 
 the second, to my thinking, is no less easy. It is.
 
 212 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 To do the first. I am not the only man to say 
 what I say now, that a thing done is done with. 
 Buondelmonte said those very words to me upon 
 a time. But I tell you now, a thing done is done 
 with. If we act with Lambertuccio in his quarrel, 
 we act justly, paying our debts. If anything 
 follows upon that, it will have been begun by 
 those who have thought themselves injured by 
 what we may have done. We can be ready to meet 
 them, and more than half-way. Therefore, by 
 doing what is in your right you bring that to be done 
 which is within vour desire ; and it will be done in 
 the course of nature, without any seeking of ours 
 or show of design. Do you wish the Florentines 
 to say to each other, '* These Uberti use a private 
 grudge to make a tyranny over us " ? That will 
 breed a maggot of discontent and turn the whole 
 city into fermentation. No, no. But if the 
 friends of the Buondelmonti, all the kindreds 
 in the Borgo and San Pancrazio, and all the 
 Donati and their likes, draw sword upon us and 
 seek publicly to requite what we have privately 
 and most justly performed, they put themselves 
 in the wrong, signori ; they themselves pick the 
 quarrel. We defend ourselves ; we are in the 
 right from the beginning ; our advantage flows
 
 BUONDELMONTE'S SAGA 213 
 
 naturally, like Anio from Falterona. This is my 
 sentence, kinsmen. A thing done is done with. 
 Let them begin a new thing if they choose.' 
 
 Schiatta said at once : ' Upon my soul and 
 conscience, I am in a case I never was in before, 
 to agree with Mosca here. My first counsel 
 would have been for war on all these houses : but 
 he is right. Now let us send the lads away and 
 settle matters between us. Let Malviso, however, 
 remain, since he is a party to the quarrel.' This 
 was done. Lambertuccio and Mosca, Oderigo 
 Fifanti, Leone Gangalandi, Malviso GiantrufFetti, 
 kept their places beside Schiatta. Lambertuccio 
 would not talk, and Oderigo said nothing new ; 
 Malviso was timid ; Schiatta and Mosca settled 
 everything. Farinata was to be written to at 
 Certaldo. He was to watch for Buondelmonte 
 upon the road home from Siena, at Poggibonsi 
 where the fork begins, and send a messenger with 
 word of his coming. If the man went over the 
 hills, by Torre in Val di Pesa, he would gain three 
 hours on Buondelmonte. The six Uberti would 
 wait for him in the church of San Stefano and go 
 out to the bridge-end and meet him. He would 
 probably be unarmed, at least without mail, be- 
 cause he would be going to the Donati. Mosca
 
 214 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 said that this was certain, because a man does not 
 give his betrothed a gold crown unless she has 
 something to give him in return. No doubt that 
 he was mad for her. When they were all agreed 
 and on the point of going away, young Malviso, 
 with a very troubled face, said that he could have 
 no part in it. Schiatta stared up at the rafters. 
 'What does this mean?' he said. 'Treachery,' 
 said Mosca. 
 
 Malviso stammered out his meaning as well as 
 he could. Here was an unarmed man, lightly 
 accompanied, upon whom were to set six with 
 weapons in their hands, and counsel in their heads, 
 and half the city at their backs. 
 
 ' Well,' said Mosca, * how many more do you 
 want to help you ^ ' Malviso took no notice, but 
 looked at Schiatta. 
 
 ' I am concerned in this, sir,' he said, ' since 
 I am to marry the offended lady. But certainly I 
 could not have married her if she had not been 
 offended by Buondelmonte, So it seems that he 
 has by no means offended me, but served me 
 rather.' 
 
 ' What ! ' cried Mosca, twitching his arms ; 
 ' by insulting your lady ? ' 
 
 'No, no,' said Lambertuccio ; 'you are too
 
 BUONDELMONTE'S SAGA 215 
 
 sharp with the lad. It is easy to see what he 
 means. So long as this is my quarrel, it is not 
 his.* He has my consent to stand out.' 
 
 ' And mine also,' Schiatta said. ' I consider his 
 feelings only right and proper, though they are 
 far from being mine.' 
 
 * Or mine, either,' said Mosca, 'luckily for us.' 
 
 They all went their ways. 
 
 IV 
 
 Buondelmonte settled the affairs of the com- 
 mune with which he had been entrusted, and his 
 own ; then he sent word to his friends that he 
 should be in Florence on the morning of Easter, 
 and started on Good-Friday night. He reached 
 Poggibonsi and slept there. 
 
 Next morning, as he came out of Poggibonsi, 
 Farinata degli Uberti saw him from a good way 
 off, and said immediately to a young man with 
 him, ' Off you go.' The young man departed at 
 once on foot, more fleetly than any horse could 
 have fared in such a country, and as long in the 
 wind. Farinata himself waited to see how Buon- 
 delmonte was accompanied, and saw to his great
 
 2i6 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 surprise that he was alone. It came into his heart 
 for a moment to warn him of his danger, so that 
 he might at least make a show to fight. Two 
 grooms would have been something, with his own 
 long sword. While he was turning it over, 
 thinking it a shame that a fine man should be 
 killed like a pig in a sty, and, on the other hand, 
 that it was no business of his, he saw that Buon- 
 delmonte had observed him. It would not do to 
 make off now. So he stayed. 
 
 Buondelmonte greeted him, wishing him a good 
 Easter. Farinata smiled. 
 
 ' You too look for a good Easter, I expect, 
 Buondelmonte,' he said. 
 
 Yes, Buondelmonte said, he thought it might 
 prove the best in his life. 
 
 Farinata, looking at him, said, ' I should hope 
 that the more heartily if you had not put a hitch 
 in our affairs.' 
 
 ' I am sorry to confess that I did,' said Buon- 
 delmonte. ' I did not behave well, but I behaved 
 as well as I could. Look, Farinata, you and I 
 are nearly of an age, so that I can expect you to 
 understand me when I tell you this. I saw Monna 
 Piccarda by chance, and her extraordinary beauty 
 troubled me not a little. Also I admit that the
 
 BUONDELMONTE'S SAGA 217 
 
 dowry she brought with her was a very fine thing, 
 much better than Cunizza would have had. But 
 both of these advantages would have been got 
 over. I have had my share of them, and still 
 have. Do you know what inflamed me to such a 
 pitch that I knew I could not live without Piccarda ^ 
 It was this, that when I kissed her for the first 
 time, she kissed me back. Ah, and earnestly. 
 Do you not see, my friend, that she gave me her 
 heart there on her mouth ? I have no words 
 ready to exhibit my thought or understanding, but 
 I was touched very nearly by that, and on a quick 
 spot, I could not tell Lambertuccio all this, 
 still less your father Schiatta : but I may tell 
 you.* 
 
 ' 1 understand you,' said Farinata. Then 
 he sighed : ' It is a pity.' 
 
 ' Yes,' Buondelmonte said, ' it is a pity ; but 
 I can see a greater pity avoided. For say that I 
 had been wedded to Cunizza before I had met 
 Piccarda, it would have made no difference. What 
 is was bound to be. And, to my thinking, that 
 would have been more shameful in me than what 
 I have done.' 
 
 ' Maybe,' said Farinata. 'Who knows.'' ' 
 
 ' I have mentioned this to nobody,' Buon-
 
 21 8 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 delmonte said ; ' and shall rely upon your con- 
 fidence.' 
 
 * You have it. Rest assured of that,' said 
 Farinata. * But I am keeping you from your 
 way.' 
 
 ' I have a good horse,' Buondelmonte said, 
 ' which will take me to the Impruneta by night- 
 fall. I shall find my servants and baggage, and 
 sleep there. It will not do to go to see my 
 beloved in a suit of sweat and mire.' 
 
 Buondelmonte rode on his way. He felt 
 much more at ease since he had unburdened him- 
 self to Farinata, and began to sing a song he had 
 learned in Siena. Folgore of San Gimigiano had 
 made it. It was a good song. 
 
 Farinata's messenger reached Schiatta very late 
 on the eve of Easter, but Schiatta judged that 
 there was no chance of Buondelmonte's coming in 
 that night. He put men on the look-out, one by 
 the Certosa and another at Porta Romana ; and 
 then he went to bed. The kindreds were in- 
 formed ; bidden to assemble, those who were
 
 BUONDELMONTE'S SAGA 219 
 
 concerned, in the church of San Stefano in time 
 for the first mass. 
 
 fei the morning twilight young Malviso Gian- 
 truffetti's heart misgave him. He had not slept 
 much all night for ihinking of the work on hand 
 and wondering what he ought to do. ' He has done 
 me a service, he has done me a service,' were the 
 words running in his head ; and then he thought : 
 ' What harm will there be if I do him a service in 
 my turn .'' Let him at least make a fight of it.' 
 With the earliest light, unable to endure himself 
 any longer, he put on his clothes and a cloak, and 
 went out of the house without disturbing any one 
 in it. The streets were empty ; but he knew the 
 gates would be open by the time he reached them. 
 He crossed by the Rubaconte bridge for fear of 
 being seen by Schiatta's outposts, and picked up 
 the Siena road at a point below the Certosa. Not 
 knowing where Buondelmonte had lain that night, 
 he went too far and overshot him ; but he found 
 out his mistake before he got to San Casciano, 
 stole a horse there, and pelted back the way he 
 had come. Such good pace did he get out of the 
 horse that he was again on the Rubaconte before 
 the bell of the Badia had struck for terce. But 
 he had not caught Buondelmonte for all that, and
 
 2 20 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 now dared not go to look for him, for he knew he 
 must be in or near the city. So he held his horse 
 by the rein, and leaned upon the one bridge, in 
 the angle of one of the little chapels which used to 
 be there, looking over to the other. It was a fine 
 morning, with very clear air and sunlight. At 
 first he saw peasants coming in, by twos and 
 threes, to the mass of the Resurrection ; but by 
 and by a horseman at a foot-pace, and he came 
 from Over-Arno. He looked immediately to the 
 foot of the bridge and all about the old Por' 
 Santa Maria, which stood there in those days, but 
 could see no men there. * If that is Buondel- 
 monte, he will get over yet,' he said to himself. 
 But then he saw that it was not Buondelmonte, 
 but a much older man. The Badia bell rang, and 
 the sound was taken up by Santa Reparata and San 
 Piero Maggiore, by San Frediano Over-Arno and 
 other towers ; and then he saw two men come at a 
 trot through the gateway and pass over the bridge, 
 going to Over-Arno. One was in green and bare- 
 headed ; the other wore a hood. He heard the 
 green rider laugh and the other reprove him, the 
 air was so still. ' That is a boy,' he said. ' That 
 wiU be Gualtiero Gualterotti going to meet his 
 cousin. The other has the air of Ranieri Buondel-
 
 BUONDELMONTE'S SAGA 221 
 
 monte, but I can't be sure. So they expect 
 him.' 
 
 Not long after the riders had gone by he saw 
 a party of men come slowly round the buttress of 
 the old gateway. He counted them : there were 
 four, two in cloaks and two without. If they 
 were the Uberti, there should be a fifth man : 
 where was he .'' He soon saw that they were the 
 Uberti. He knew Lambertuccio by his height, 
 and Mosca by his stooping shoulders, and head 
 incessantly on the move ; and Leone Gangalandi 
 by a white eagle's tail-feather he was fond of 
 wearing. The fourth must be Oderigo Fifanti, 
 because he seemed to feel the wind ; he kept his 
 cloak high up round his ears. He saw them 
 turn : then Schiatta degii Uberti joined them. 
 His head was bare, as usual with him. They 
 all talked together. He saw Mosca drive away a 
 cripple who came whining about, with his hands 
 held out over his crutches. Various people 
 passed in one direction or the other over the 
 bridge. Presently Leone Gangalandi went through 
 the gate at a brisk run, and the others waited 
 about. Ten minutes or more passed in this way, 
 Oderigo taking sharp turns up and down the 
 bridge, Mosca leaning over to look at the water.
 
 222 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 Lambertuccio quite motionless, and Schiatta look- 
 ing up at the sculptures on the gate. Malviso 
 wondered what was going on. Leone Gangalandi 
 came back with half-a-dozen men on horseback, 
 who went over the bridge, while he himself stayed 
 with his friends. ' I see the game now,' said 
 Malviso to himself ; ' these will go to detach 
 Gualtiero and Ranieri, so that Buondelmonte can 
 be dealt with separately. This is a bad business.' 
 
 As the day wore, so increased the number of 
 those coming and going over the bridge ; but it 
 was still easy to observe the riders. Malviso saw 
 one such come leading a pack-horse, and then two 
 others, also leading horses. They wore green 
 jackets. He guessed that they might be Buondel- 
 monte's servants ; but whoever they were, they 
 passed over unmolested and seemed to suspect 
 nothing. When the last of them was through the 
 gate, Oderigo Fifanti took off his cloak, and 
 Lambertuccio followed his example. They folded 
 the two cloaks together and put them into the 
 empty gate-house. There was shadow on the 
 east side of the bridge where they were standing. 
 Malviso saw Oderigo Fifanti cross over and 
 stand in the sun. He hated the cold. 
 
 A drove of pigs appeared on the bridge, from
 
 BUONDELMONTE'S SAGA 223 
 
 Over-Arno. Their herd ran backwards and 
 forwards, beating with his stick to get them 
 together. Malviso saw that the pigs were all 
 over the bridge, and was wondering what would 
 happen if Buondelmonte should come up behind 
 them, when the herd stopped, looked round, then 
 threw up his hand for a signal, and began beating 
 the pigs to one side. A white horse, having a 
 rider all in white, came at a quick trot on to the 
 bridge, followed by a party of seven or eight at 
 least. ' Here is their man,' said Malviso to him- 
 self *Ser Martino drives pigs to the shambles, 
 and these horsemen drive Buondelmonte. If I 
 could stop him even now, I would do it.' He 
 stood up on the balustrade of the bridge and 
 waved his hand, shouting, ' Back, Buondelmonte, 
 back ! ' Three or four times he shouted thus, and 
 at the fourth time Buondelmonte, who was riding 
 very fast, turned his head. Malviso went on 
 shouting and signalling ; then Buondelmonte 
 called out clearly over the water, ' Buona Pasqua,' 
 and lifted his hand. He rode on, his companions 
 about ten yards behind. Malviso saw that the 
 waiting men had come out and were standing in 
 the gateway at the end of the bridge, blocking the 
 passage. Buondelmonte reined up for fear of
 
 224 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 being into them ; and Lambertuccio walked out 
 slowly to meet him. 
 
 To return to Buondelmonte. He had started 
 betimes from the Impruneta, and made such good 
 pace that he met his friends well on this side of 
 the Certosa. He had on clothes to suit the feast- 
 day, a long tunic of white velvet, with white hose 
 and boots of red leather, a white bonnet on his 
 head, and a short cloak. He had no arms but his 
 dagger. Very glad he was to see his brother 
 Ranieri, and still more that Gualtiero Gualterotti 
 had come, for he loved that boy ; but he would 
 not stop or slow down, though he was all agog for 
 news. They had to talk as best they could. He 
 said he should go directly to the house of the 
 Donati. ' It is full six weeks since I have seen 
 my beloved Wonder of the World,' he said, ' and 
 I am on fire to learn what new beauties she has 
 grown by now.' They told him that Cunizza was 
 to wed with Malviso GiantrufFetti the next day. 
 ' The gentle Cunizza ! ' said he. ' It is only proper 
 she should have the start of me. She has a 
 worthy youth for her husband. I have a good 
 deal of friendship for Malviso.' Talking of this, 
 that, and the other, they came into the Via
 
 BUONDELMONTE'S SAGA 225 
 
 Romana by the gate, and there the young men 
 whom Malvlso had seen met them, as if coming 
 round by the steep road which leads from San 
 Miniato al Monte by the Porta San Giorgio. 
 Two of these were Uberti, one a Gangalandi, one 
 was of the Greci. Buondelmonte and his friends 
 greeted them and would have gone on their way ; 
 but Tacuino degh Uberti called out that he had 
 a message. * For me ? ' asked Buondelmonte. 
 ' No,' said Tacuino, ' for your brother.' So 
 Ranieri stopped, and was overtaken by two or 
 three of these men, who held him in talk while the 
 rest of them pushed forward, and got in between 
 Gualtiero and Buondelmonte, talking and laughing 
 among themselves. Buondelmonte kept up his 
 pace. Thus they came to the bridge and into the 
 sun, and crossed it, just as Malviso had seen 
 them. 
 
 The sun was full in Buondelmonte's eyes ; 
 but as he neared the Stone of Mars and the old 
 gateway he could see that there were people in 
 the road, not to distinguish them. He reined in 
 his horse and put his hand up as a warning to the 
 others; and just then Lambertuccio came out to 
 meet him, with a hand to take hold of his bridle ;
 
 2 26 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 and he saw who it was. Now he began to suspect 
 something. ' Stay me not now, Lambertuccio,' 
 he said, and turned quickly to see where his 
 friends were. They seemed to be in some 
 difficulty, he thought. The horses were all 
 huddled together. He heard Ranieri talking in 
 a rage and the others laughing at him. Then 
 Schiatta came up behind him as he sat half turned, 
 and jumped for him, and pulled him suddenly 
 from his horse to the ground ; and Mosca leapt 
 forward from behind Schiatta and stuck his knife in 
 deep. He stabbed between the collar-bone and 
 the neck. Buondelmonte cried out, ' Rescue ! 
 Rescue ! ' and felt himself losing blood very fast. 
 * One at a time,' he said, pleasantly ; but had no 
 more words, for Mosca stabbed him again, and 
 Lambertuccio came up in his deliberate way, 
 pulled off Mosca, and put his knee on Buondel- 
 monte's neck and drove at him twice in the heart. 
 He never spoke again ; but Oderigo Fifanti did 
 his part for all that. 
 
 A crowd of onlookers had gathered, but no 
 one interfered ; and as for Ranieri and Gualtiero, 
 they were prisoners and could do nothing. When 
 the Uberti saw that their work was done, they 
 wiped their daggers and walked away. Oderigo
 
 BUONDELMONTE'S SAGA 227 
 
 went for his cloak ; but Lambertuccio had to be 
 reminded of his, and went back for it. Going 
 off, Schiatta held up his hand for a signal, and the 
 six horsemen parted to allow the Buondelmonti 
 passage room. No harm had been done to them. 
 Ranieri spurred directly into the city up the 
 Via Por' Santa Maria, shouting as he went, * The 
 bells ! the bells ! Treason ! Buondelmonti ! ' 
 but young Gualtiero went and sat beside Buondel- 
 monte and put his head on his knees, and covered 
 his face with his cloak, or what was left of it. 
 The moment the Uberti had left the bridge all the 
 bystanders ran in various directions, and almost 
 immediately the great bell of the SS, Apostoli 
 began to toll. Others followed in no long time. 
 
 Ranieri, riding full gallop up the Calimala, met 
 Buonaccorso Donati coming down to see what the 
 crying was about. He was buckling his sword- 
 belt as he came. Ranieri told him the news, and 
 Buonaccorso ran back to fetch his father. Ranieri 
 hastened on to find, if possible, one of the Uberti 
 who should not have been warned. As luck 
 would have it, in the Via Condotta, he did meet 
 with Malviso Giantruffetti returning from the 
 Rubaconte bridge. ' Treason ! Treason ! ' he
 
 22 8 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 cried, and, ' Death to the Uberti ! ' and rode him 
 down. The fighting began within a few hours; 
 but by that time they had taken Buondelmonte 
 to his house and laid him on a bier. 
 
 Gualdrada came with her daughter soon after 
 they had got him home. They let her in through 
 the chains which had been put up at the head of 
 the Borgo. Fires were burning in the Quarter of 
 San Piero Scheraggio and all the bridges were 
 held ; but Gualdrada said, ' There will be place 
 made for the dead.' She chose that Piccarda 
 should sit upon the bier, with Buondelmonte's 
 head on her knees ; and Piccarda had nothing to 
 say. She only stared at the window. Even 
 while they were making ready, the Gonfalon was 
 being brought down the Borgo. Men heard the 
 roar of the fight in the north parts. The Donati 
 were driving the Uberti down towards the river.
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 
 
 229
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 
 
 I. Nello Nelli 
 
 In the Civic Museum of Padua you may see the 
 portrait of a fair-haired young poet wreathed with 
 myrtle, a pretty youth indeed. He has a chubby, 
 blooming face, a long mouth, a pair of eyes softly 
 brown enough to make any girl's heart beat ; 
 masquerading as I know not what sort of a shep- 
 herd, — Daphnis or another, — he wears the shep- 
 herd's leather chlamys and twirls in his fingers the 
 shepherd's reed. And yet he perplexes. You think 
 of Saint Sebastian, and of Dionysus ; you see a 
 sinner turned saint, a crucified Cupid : he looks 
 luxurious, drowsy with luxury ; clever, and aware 
 of it — he looks, in fact, a dreamer by choice who 
 yet has a root of good conceit in him which might 
 one day urge him to put his dreaming to the test 
 of practice. In the picture he can hardly be more 
 than two- or three-and-twenty, by which time — for 
 
 231
 
 232 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 his age was precocious — all his light-hearted piping 
 had been done, and his soft lips tempered to a 
 more measured music. When that was painted 
 he had been in prison and out of it, at death's 
 door and beyond its shadow for some two years ; 
 for that is the portrait of Nello Nelli the humanist 
 who, with more philosophy in him than most 
 Venetians, and more poetry than any, entered this 
 history and the Gabbia of Mantua at the tender 
 age of eighteen. Even by then he had been a 
 lover, was a scholar and a poet, and on the fair 
 way to some dignified position or another — a 
 professorate, a doctor's gown, Latin correspond- 
 ence. Stranger things had happened in his 
 country and century than that he, at five-and- 
 twenty, should have gained the red hat. That he 
 never did, was the result of putting dreams into 
 practice — a thing unheard of in Cardinals, — and is 
 the subject of this tale. 
 
 Venice had him first, but did not keep him 
 long. His early years, conception, parentage, 
 cradling, tutelage are no great matter. The 
 sestiere of San Pietro in Castello is famous for 
 easy marriages, and it is probable that that of 
 Masuccio Agnelli (vivacious man !) with Carlotta, 
 the ruddy-haired laundress, was as easy as most.
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 233 
 
 Masuccio was a scribe in the great monastery of 
 San Gregorio, able enough for much better things, 
 but too idle to attain them. He was singularly 
 handsome, and not without kindness ; therefore, 
 when Carlotta told him with flames in her eyes 
 that he must marry her, he pinched her cheek, 
 smiled tenderly, and said, half to himself, ' I have 
 never yet been a parent.' By so doing he 
 quenched Carlotta's flames in happy tears. He 
 hired a room in the sestiere where she worked, was 
 in it as often as not, and soon had that new joy 
 to add to his experiences. A golden-haired child 
 was born, with his smile and Carlotta's carnations. 
 Masuccio was enchanted, and gave instructions for 
 the christening. They called it Agnello, because it 
 had been born on Saint Agnes's day, and because 
 she carries a lamb ; also because of the patronymic. 
 Agnello Agnelli — Nello Nelli — could anything go 
 more trippingly.? * Dear girl,' said Masuccio to 
 his wife, * you tripped and 1 tripped, with this 
 result. Let him trip for ever in story to keep our 
 memories green.' Masuccio gave a feast and 
 illuminated the rio through all its length. They 
 had music, as much as they would ; they danced 
 into the small hours; and then he came and kissed 
 his Carlotta and her babe.
 
 234 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 But she gave him no more children and died 
 still a young mother. In such wise were the 
 birth and baptism of Nello Nelli, the friend and 
 correspondent of Politian. 
 
 Nello, to his widowed father, proved a charm- 
 ing consolation, always good-humoured, always 
 engaged in sucking health into his plump body ; 
 as a short-smocked urchin, sprawling with fine 
 contempt for display on the quays and canal steps, 
 he was so compact of beauty, grace, and bright- 
 eyed mischief as to be the envy of all women 
 not yet blessed with motherhood. But Masuccio 
 tripped no more — he was too happy in his son. 
 And while he aided him in his escapades up and 
 down the water, and fished him out whenever 
 he fell in, he succeeded also in being his friend. 
 He taught him all he knew, which was much ; 
 grew enthusiastic over the youngster's aptitudes 
 and his own, and ended in a perfect passion for 
 learning, that he might teach this most teachable, 
 lovable boy. The pair became fellow-students, 
 egged each other on, even quarrelled, as scholars 
 will, over particles and such small trophies of 
 the chase, and were reconciled with tears, kisses, 
 and generous concessions. Nello had Latin by 
 the time he was nine, Greek at twelve, and at
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 235 
 
 fourteen might have been in Hebrew but for an 
 accident. At that age he fell in love with a lady- 
 ten years older than himself, and found out that 
 he was a poet. 
 
 Zenobia Belforte was the name of this lady, 
 a Greek, and wife to a man three times her 
 senior, a very learned jurist, who was then lecturing 
 in the cloister of San Pancrazio. Her bright 
 black, eyes and slim fingers, always engaged with 
 this most promising pupil, spoiled the chances of 
 the Talmud, while they enriched the vernacular 
 with some very sugary canzoni and ballate. 
 Master Nello rhymed away, and in his own 
 person enacted his rhymes. At his age you must 
 be thorough — that's the time for logic. He was 
 in all the categories of this universal science, and 
 he rhymed them all. Languid ecstasies, com- 
 plaints, laments — Anima mia sono in torment ! 
 Ah^ bella crudely odi il mio lamento ! the dutiful 
 rascal played out this music to Zenobia's fingering, 
 and revelled in the most delicious pain. It was 
 make-believe, of course ; Nello was not in love 
 with Zenobia — he was in love with mnor, which 
 rhymes with cuor. But Zenobia was in love with 
 Nello, and Masuccio, his father, seeing how the 
 land lay, considered the lad's fortune made.
 
 236 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 With his entire approbation the enamoured lady, 
 with her professor and her Cupid, left Venice for 
 Padua. ' I've made him, and he me. He'll do 
 well. And that's the way of the world,' Masuccio 
 told himself. He knew he should never see his 
 son again, and never did. 
 
 In Padua, that happy little city, flowering away 
 quietly under the Euganeans, Nello made a mark 
 by his good looks, extreme youth, and learning. 
 He was hailed as a prodigy ; for it was a wonderful 
 time, when at any moment a God might burn upon 
 the earth — and fortunate were he who discerned and 
 hailed him first. He gave lectures of his own, 
 commenting, if you please, upon the Attis of 
 Catullus. He invented and caused to be enacted 
 in a green garden by the Ponte Corbo, a piece, half 
 masque, half satire, abominably clever, absurd, and 
 audacious, which he called The Priapeia. He 
 became the height of fashion, and Zenobia went 
 mad with jealousy. But the exercise of his proper 
 talents was her greatest rival : he cared nothing 
 for her the moment he became interesting to him- 
 self. From Padua to Este, from Este to Ferrara 
 and elsewhere, however, he went at the call of her 
 moods. Finally she took him to Mantua, in an 
 evil hour for herself In that city of waterworn
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 237 
 
 palaces he totally forgot her under the charm of 
 the great Politian. It was time — he had been four 
 years in bondage ; but what was better still was 
 that he forgot himself. He was in a fair way to 
 become a real scholar, for now he loved learning 
 only. 
 
 Eighteen as he now was, and in most things 
 astonishingly premature, he was happily wise before 
 the time in this, that he was no great lover of 
 women. Women loved him much, but his adven- 
 tures in their particular affair were seldom of his 
 own seeking. He was critic as well as minstrel, 
 and always judged his own cause to the detriment 
 of his advocacy. Certain traits, tricks, habits, 
 accidents, whatsoever they might be in women, 
 touched him and drew poetry out of him like a 
 stream of honey from a comb : he had a strain of 
 asceticism, or took a pleasure of the senses from 
 the contemplation of it. Frugality, economy of 
 beauty he thought exquisite ; recluse beauty — the 
 hidden rose ; a beauty unconscious of its own 
 excellence — Apollo playing cowherd ; meek beauty, 
 beauty in bondage, beauty discreet, beauty wise : 
 these kind interested him, or he told himself that 
 they would. No such beauty had been observable 
 in Zenobia, a hardy -flowering stock ; Zenobia
 
 238 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 became his abhorrence. She vanished, and left him 
 alone with his dreams, his studies, and his youth. 
 Nor did he find any wise beauty in Mantua which 
 he might worthily celebrate ; but instead, the 
 opportunity of putting a dream into practice, a 
 prison, a patron, a torment, a martyrdom, and 
 a wife. These things are vitally bound up with 
 him and his conduct in this tale. 
 
 To end my prologue. He had been six months 
 in Mantua, the wilhng bondsman of Politian (his 
 senior by two years) and a perfected Greek style. 
 With that profound young man he had explored all 
 known mines of learning, and had sunk a good 
 few shafts for unopened seams. He was very well 
 inclined, too, to let the world share his adventures. 
 He commented upon the Hymns of Callimachus 
 in an ' Interpretatio Mystica ' of such excellent 
 piety that Cardinal Gonzaga was to show it to 
 Pope Sixtus, and did not forget it for a day and a 
 half ; his Scholia upon Propertius lost nothing by 
 the discretion with which he treated that poet's 
 vexed loves. He became enamoured of physical 
 science, did not shun to probe the recesses of our 
 nature. He bottomed, for instance, the habits of 
 infants in a treatise — ' Why babies, when they 
 hear the nurse's lullaby, cease their squalling.
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 239 
 
 and soon, indeed, fall asleep ; but with men other- 
 wise ? ' Plato helped him, or the Platonic system, 
 and some very elegant Latinity. He passed, by 
 an easy transition, to consider the difficulties of 
 drunkards. ' Cur nonnulli ebrii gemina vident ? ' 
 is the title of his work — a gloss upon the Problems 
 of Alexander Aphrodisius. Intimate thoughts 
 concerning animals and lovers occupied him next. 
 ' Why mules are not fertile } ' — ' Why the ex- 
 tremities of lovers are at one time hot, at another 
 cold '^ ' — ' Why the bearers of loads sing as they 
 go .'' ' — ' Why insects die in oil .'' ' These excur- 
 sions delighted Mantua ; and Nello, instead of 
 following Politian to Florence, when the poet was 
 summoned by Lorenzo, stayed where he was in 
 the hope of preferment. Cardinal Guido Gonzaga, 
 brother of the Marquess and Regent of the State, 
 was understood to be benevolently inclined. 
 
 II. We Taste his Quality 
 
 The society of the learned had by no means cut 
 him off that of the gay. In that Italian spring 
 there was no dismal science. Nello took his learn- 
 ing lightly, as became so pretty a scholar, adorned 
 his person to be in tune with his mind, could
 
 240 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 compliment a lady or flatter a great man, with any 
 courtier in Lombardy. The Marquess of Mantua, 
 Lodovico the Turk, as they called him, was a big- 
 boned soldier in the main, a man of hard knocks 
 and lightning judgments, who chose a minister 
 like a battle-ground, and met arguments like 
 hostile squadrons. He respected the Church and 
 Churchmanship, and as for art and letters, he sin- 
 cerely admired what he made no pretence towards 
 himself — sound book-learning. He had made 
 Master Nello free of his Court, recommended him 
 to his more accomplished brother the Cardinal, and 
 encouraged his sons to be intimate with the youth. 
 These two^ in character very different, were 
 Federigo and Francesco, the latter a mild-mannered 
 boy, shy, and much under his uncle's thumb, 
 intended for the Church. He did not greatly 
 interest Nello, but Federigo did — a hot-blooded, 
 handsome, rebellious fellow, able, idle, and a rake. 
 With him our poet struck up a Horace-Maecenas, 
 patron-client kind of friendship, which ended 
 abruptly, and in the following manner. 
 
 Among the less reputable, but not on that 
 account least reputed inhabitants of Mantua, was 
 a very handsome young woman, known as La 
 Pernetta. She lived in the Via Sant' Agata,
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 241 
 
 between the Castello and the Ponte Mulina (where, 
 ove^ the rushing weirs, the Twelve Apostles pre- 
 side at their mills, and diligently grind out the 
 corn of the faithful) ; and being as prodigal of her 
 lovers' bounty as of her own, she attracted, when- 
 ever she chose to ask for it, a large company. It 
 was upon a hot July night that Nello found him- 
 self in her supper -room, one of a half-dozen 
 women and as many young men who were eating 
 and drinking there. Federigo Gonzaga, flushed 
 as the Wine-God himself, with vine-leaves in his 
 black hair, was there too. He was, as always, 
 bitter in his cups. There were others — Amedeo 
 Castiglione and his brother Baldassare, sedate and 
 master of himself; a beautiful little creature, all 
 roses and gold, called Giulia Romana ; a Lionello 
 d' Este (by a side-wind) with his broken nose and 
 hare-lip ; a shameful old man who thought it not 
 robbery to beshame his silver hair ; Sirena of Forli, 
 Violante Senese — to name no more, since their 
 names tell nothing. There had been songs, 
 hiccoughings, bickerings, loud talk, high words; 
 now and then already a man had bitten his lip, or 
 started and felt for his dagger. Throned in the 
 midst, magnificently disarrayed and magnificently 
 sulky, crowned with roses, and the colour of them.
 
 242 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 Pernetta sat and gloomed at her company. She 
 was in a bad humour. 
 
 ' Drhik, drink, my pantheress,' Lionello urged 
 her, grinning horribly through his split lip ; ' pour 
 to Lyaeus. See him over there in his ferment. 
 Sleek yourself for his sake.' 
 
 ' Silence, satyr,' said she, ' and let me alone. 
 Baldassare ' — she beckoned to the grave young 
 man, ' Baldassare, good friend, go and ask the 
 little Venetian to sing me out of this hubbub.' 
 
 Baldassare bowed his way from lady to lad. 
 
 ' Messer Nello Nelli, our lady is sick of love 
 and all sweet food. You are to comfort her with 
 music, since flagons are her loathing. Let it be of 
 your best, 1 beseech you — but not inflammatory, 
 my dear sir.' 
 
 ' May the fate of Pentheus be mine,' said Nello, 
 blinking his long eyelids, ' of Pentheus whom the 
 Maenads tore, if I provoke that God of theirs.' 
 
 * You rebuke me well, sir,' Baldassare said. ' I 
 speak with a man of soul. When ladies fall to 
 their knees, poets spread their wings.' 
 
 Nello said, ' I shall certainly do my best for 
 Monna Pernetta.' He swung free his lute, and 
 struck a chord or two. 
 
 I do not reproduce his song He had a sweet
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 243 
 
 and gallant voice, whose hardihood and adventurous 
 easp had the power to draw tears. A discretion 
 which was natural to him bade him select a country 
 song, his own wholesomeness secured its honesty : 
 it had been born in the Garfagnana of Tuscany, 
 upon some green and wooded slope of that pious 
 land, and breathed of a love artless, innocent, and 
 tragic at once, that of a girl for a man out of reach, 
 which hurt her and wounded her notes. It was 
 a girl who had sung it in his hearing, some such 
 poor drifting creature as he had before him now ; 
 and Pernetta may have been of her country, or may 
 have wished to be of it. Whether it was pity or regret 
 wrought the catharsis is not to be known. Her eyes 
 were blind when he had done. What cool breath 
 of what familiar pastures blew upon her from his 
 notes, what memories of peace and young love, 
 wonderful, hopeful, triumphant — who is to say .'' 
 She was deeply moved, and being vehement in all 
 that she did, rose suddenly, wine-cup in hand, and 
 threw over her chair in her haste. Nello, having 
 ended, sat down again and took the applause of his 
 company sedately ; but before long he was aware 
 of La Pernetta clamouring for a clear road. 
 
 ' Let me pass, herded swine,' he could hear her 
 scolding, 'let me pass, you who run swilling to
 
 244 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 the wine -trough so soon as you dare. Let me 
 pass, I say, I am going to kneel to the first clean 
 heart I have met with in Mantua.' She was half- 
 crying, half-railing, more than half-tipsy. Nello 
 considered her with a chill, critical eye, not with- 
 holding admiration of her bountiful parts, but 
 putting no heart into their study. She was like 
 a Roman Bacchante, with her loose hair, hot, 
 stained face, and gown slipt off one shoulder. If 
 you must have enthusiasm in a nymph, he pre- 
 ferred that shown by Scopas. The conception, 
 he thought, was none the worse for being cir- 
 cumscribed ; it was not necessary to spill over so 
 much. And yet it was curious to him to see 
 this sumptuous animal strive with the God. 
 
 Misused, misusing, burning creature, she came 
 towards him with a hasty lurch ; came stumbling 
 on, was quite near him, a goblet in one hand, 
 crushed in the other a rose-wreath torn from, her 
 hair. Her colour of fire, wild breath, disorder, 
 nearly scorched him. A little nervously, he rose 
 to receive her. 
 
 ' Hail, poet ! ' she cried out, swaying in her 
 balance. ' Hail, thou that singest of good love ! 
 Look at me well — look. I am the Shame of 
 Mantua, and I kneel to you ! '
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 245 
 
 Then and there she dropped to her two knees 
 and«began to struggle with her passion of penitence. 
 Tears came hardly from eyes long dry ; to sob was 
 horrible pain. It was a sudden and dangerous 
 frenzy she was in. Nello, greatly concerned, 
 would have lifted her up. 
 
 ' Ah, Madonna, never kneel to me ! ' But she 
 looked at him with a shocked and empty face. 
 
 ' Madonna ! ' She gestured her despair — ' Do 
 you call me Madonna — naming the holiest ? Call 
 me Robaccia — call me Corruption, for such am I.' 
 
 As he stooped, full of gentle disregard of this 
 sort of fury, to lift her up, his fine manners were 
 a sting. Her shame was driven sharply inwards 
 and maddened her. It was a tense moment, 
 chosen, of all others, by that misshapen devil 
 Lionello as one in which to crow like a cock. 
 Then some fool laughed, as fools will, and Pernetta 
 turned, furious. Even then the storm might have 
 grumbled out, had not Federigo hereupon put his 
 arm round her from behind and whispered in her 
 ear — some catchword of her class. That cut her 
 deep : at that she sprang away from him and 
 found her feet, mortification adding fuel to the 
 blazing heart. She swung herself clear of him, 
 and ' Dog ! ' she cried at him, and hit him full in
 
 246 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 the forehead with the metal cup. The edge cut 
 him open ; he staggered back and fell with a 
 thump in puddled blood and wine. There was 
 a moment of absolute quiet until he was down, 
 and then the roomful swarmed about him, about 
 the tragic woman, and about poor Nello, dazed 
 author of all these harms. The uproar was like 
 nothing so much as a disturbed rookery — cries, 
 whirling arms, foolish laughter, abandoned sobbing 
 from little Giulia Romana. One, more unmanly 
 than the rest, ran out screaming into the night. 
 
 ' Morte ! Morte ! ' they heard him shriUing 
 down the street. ' Treachery ! Treachery ! To 
 me ! ' Nello grew scared, the women were tuss- 
 ling to get at the door. Lionello d' Este, spurred 
 by his familiar fiend, locked and set his back to 
 it until the guard came. 
 
 The soldiery clattered into the house ; their 
 heels and jingling accoutrements soon quieted 
 down the clamour. Lionello threw open the 
 door with a flourish ; way was made to the body 
 in the midst of the wreck of feasting. 
 
 ' Whose work, gentlemen .'' ' The lieutenant 
 was standing over the red and motionless Federigo 
 — heir to the Mantuan dignity, good lack ! No- 
 body cared to claim the honour of having laid him
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 247 
 
 there. Pernetta was crouched, shaking in a corner ; 
 this was a hangman's business. Nello, only, saw 
 her, and pitied her. Besides, she had praised his 
 singing. 
 
 ' My work, heutenant,' he said. No one else 
 spoke. Pernetta, white to the Hps, stared at her 
 champion. 
 
 ' You are my prisoner,' said the lieutenant ; 
 ' kindly hand me your weapons.' Nello gravely 
 handed over his lute, and somebody sniggered. It 
 had fluttering ribbons, and was a pretty instrument ; 
 as a weapon a mouse would have laughed at it. 
 But you can never make an officer of the law look 
 foolish. The lieutenant took it all as a matter of 
 course. Nello's hands were strapped behind him, 
 and all names were taken down. 
 
 ' To the Gabbia,' said the officer, ' avanti ! ' 
 
 Now the Gabbia is an iron cage eighty feet up 
 the face of a tower, and is six feet by four by 
 four. 
 
 III. He Philosophises on High 
 
 The time is before dawn. Imagine Nello Nelli, 
 a bloom-faced, golden-haired lad in green velvet 
 doublet and trunks, green and white hose, and
 
 248 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 dainty shoes, crouched in an iron cage in mid-air 
 — a cage six feet by four by four — but do not 
 imagine him miserable. His undimmed eyes 
 searched the firmament with interest ; expectancy 
 kept his red lips moist, and gave colour to his 
 cheeks ; he held a keen look-out for stars, and the 
 first stirring of light. ' There burns Sirius,' he 
 mused, ' there falls, tired, the Wain. We have not 
 the Pleiades from our eyrie ; the Way of Milk is 
 paling already before the flushed face of Eos. 
 Courage, courage — what a blessing it is that my 
 lodging faces the east. She comes, the nymph 
 Eos comes, — 
 
 'all red, 
 Blushing to be so new from Tithon's bed ! 
 
 a pretty line, and I think new in conceit.' He 
 gave ease to his numbed right leg by doing violence 
 to his left ; he found, also, that to clasp a knee 
 was comfortable to the reins ; but he was forced 
 to admit that rectangular bars of iron make a bad 
 mattress. The air, however, was balm after the 
 wine-charged heat of Monna Pernetta's banquet. 
 He had been bathing in its freshness for two or 
 three hours already, and was not chilled by it yet. 
 That was famous, because the sun could not now 
 be far off, and its first rays must strike him at the
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 249 
 
 height he was. A faint breeze came to play about 
 his forehead — a sigh from love-lorn Eos ; the 
 whole city lay slumbrous beneath him, muffled in 
 the slipping shrouds of night. Probably he alone 
 was watching and waiting for the day. 
 
 His earliest sure premonition came from over- 
 head. A pigeon began to coo, softly at first, as if 
 tentatively ; then, gaining assurance with volume, 
 pouring out a comfortable stream of sound, full of 
 brooding, contented preparation, of monotonous 
 peace. ' Good,' said Nello, ' good ! I am on a 
 level with the birds, always friends of mine — and 
 now neighbours. That householder up there has 
 not, perhaps, so various a pipe as mine, but he 
 sings of what he knows, and in that does wiselier 
 than I. Did I do so at Monna Pernetta's Bacchic 
 interlude .? I doubted nothing at the moment, but 
 now I doubt — rebuked by this cool air, by the 
 cadences of this peaceful songster, my more reason- 
 able colleague. All Nature is in tune ; but I have 
 been an alien to her, fatally out of tune.' He 
 shook his head. ' I was cooler than the others ; 
 1 love not over-ripe women — I was more at peace 
 with my soul than poor spilt Pernetta ; but I gave 
 her none of my peace, and so she broke Federigo's 
 head, and I pay the bill.' He clasped both his
 
 2 so FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 knees, he put his chin between them, and gave 
 ineffable repose to his backbone. * There is a 
 surer foothold for me than singing of Nature in 
 a painted lady's bower ; love of books, love of 
 learning, love of God, love of stainless things, 
 things unshadowed and unsmirched, love of a 
 sweet-breathed lass. Ah ! ' he cried, in a sudden 
 flood of ecstasy ; ' ah, soft, Nello, soft ! See that 
 fluttering out yonder, that stretching of a silver 
 cord ; see the creeping light, the whisper of our 
 hidden world. Oh, pledge of Heaven, the Dawn, 
 the Dawn ! ' 
 
 Slowly the grey cup of the sky filled and flushed 
 with fire ; the belfry of Santa Barbara caught it 
 first. A bird or two cheeped, in the poplars 
 sixty feet below him some watcher rustled the 
 leaves ; the wind came on more assured, the light 
 broadened, and paled as it spread. He saw the 
 sheeted lagoon, the long bar of the bridge run out 
 like a spit of sand ; he saw the reeds bend, a heron 
 flap heavily by the shore : then reddening cloud- 
 wings caught his eyes, a band of rose and grey, 
 burning at the edge, intensely bright. The chorus 
 of the birds opened full ; the birds were at prime : 
 roof beyond roof Mantua lay out in ridges, like a 
 mountain prospect — with the belfries for the great
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 251 
 
 skyey peaks, the gables for cornices, ledges of rock, 
 the chimneys for splintered pikes, the domes like 
 breasted hills — oh, the wonder and the still de- 
 light of this daily miracle, to be seen only from 
 the Gabbia, and only savoured by the condemned 
 criminal! Nello lived at fever -rate for an 
 astonishing hour, and would not have changed his 
 cage with the tenant of Saint Peter's throne ; the 
 very Courts of Heaven, one may say, would have 
 seemed a doubtful bargain. 
 
 The pigeon, meantime, went chanting on, a 
 sweet and homely descant on the glowing theme. 
 Nello rubbed his hands. ' O benissimo, benissimo ! 
 I am in the happiest case,' he told himself. ' I 
 survey the open country. I see more sky than his 
 M-agnificence the Marquess of Mantua, or his 
 Eminence the Cardinal Guido Gonzaga. My 
 lodging is aerial ; certainly there is a draught, but 
 no soul in Mantua has seen what I have seen this 
 day. And, after all, it is satisflictory to remember 
 that I had nothing to do with cutting open 
 Federigo's head. That being so, I fancy that I 
 suffer considerably less than the real sinner. 
 Monna Pernetta is, I hope, lonely in her bed, 
 thinking ruefully of recent excesses, and deriving 
 (it may even be) some glimmer of wisdom from
 
 252 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 my chivalrous rebuke. For if a distempered 
 woman is not rebuked by a stranger offering to 
 take her offence upon himself there is no merit in 
 vicarious sacrifice. I did well by her, better by 
 myself, I am sure of it. The woman had been 
 moved to better desires by my singing — lifted up, 
 set on her feet ; but while she rose, as on wings, 
 Federigo was left behind, still grovelling in the 
 mire where she had once been. His muddy 
 touch shocked her : ah, believe it, there is a 
 cleanliness attainable by us all ! She did virtuously 
 to cut him down — she could not have done 
 otherwise — she was armed by Heaven. And I, 
 the cause of her great act, did well to pay the 
 shot ; for nobody ever paid so high a compliment 
 to my muse as to shed blood in its honour. At 
 this rate, Nello, a poet may command armies in 
 the field, and a philosopher may yet be king.' 
 
 Warm fires leaping over a ridded world assured 
 him that he spoke the truth ; the sun's good face, 
 which at that moment sent a kindly ray into his 
 cage, gave him the heart of a warrior. He ate 
 his bread — it was capital. He sipped his cup ot 
 water — the night had iced it for him. * If I die 
 within the next hour,' he said to himself, ' I can 
 be very sure that 1 have lived greatly during its
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 253 
 
 predecessor.' He awaited his summons with con- 
 fidence, and as he watched Mantua crawling (like 
 a nest of ants) to its labours, was In such high 
 good humour with himself and it that he forgot 
 that one of Mantua's labours was to be his execu- 
 tion, and that there were to be no more labours 
 for him in this world. 
 
 He was in the Cage of the Condemned on his 
 own confession of having cut open the head of 
 Don Federigo Gonzaga, heir to the Marquessate 
 of Mantua, with a silver goblet. At half-past 
 ten in the morning the Turnkey came to take 
 him out. ' Master Poet,' said he, ' the time has 
 come.' ' Sir,' replied Nello, ' I have been expect- 
 ing him a long while. I hope he is as ready as 
 I am.' 
 
 ' There is a guard below, sir, to take you 
 immediately to his Eminence.' 
 
 ' Master Turnkey,' says Nello, with sparkling 
 eyes, ' moriturus te salutat." 
 
 IV. The Cardinal 
 
 Cardinal Guido Gonzaga, who, in the absence 
 of the Marquess his brother, was Regent of 
 Mantua, was a prince of this world and a man
 
 254 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 of it in the first place, a prince of the Church 
 when it suited him so to be, and forty years old. 
 His proportions were massive and imposing ; he 
 was square-shouldered and necked like a bull. 
 His chest was a buttress, his chin manifold, his 
 hands were somewhat gross. He had staring, 
 black eyes, which had the faculty of seeming to 
 be aware of nothing, and consequently of telling 
 you nothing ; and yet he was by no means without 
 insight, humour, or a pleasurable sense. He had 
 lived without scandal in a quasi-married state with 
 a lady of the noble house of Pico ; he had earned 
 fame as a warrior, and plumed himself upon his 
 statesmanship. Since the death of his companion, 
 without issue, no disorders had been observable in 
 his life and conversation ; in fact, he took particular 
 care that the world, admiring him as he trampled 
 its ways, should take due note of his fine discretion. 
 He was no ascetic ; his reason, which told him 
 that appetite was not given us for nothing, made 
 the thought absurd. But he was accustomed to 
 say that heartache was as sure a sign of ill-health 
 as the headache, and as easily avoided. He took 
 his pleasures, therefore, temperately, and enjoyed 
 them all the more. 
 
 It was before this stately personage that young
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 255 
 
 Francesco, his mild-mannered nephew, knelt and 
 blushed as he told the tale of overnight's revel 
 and tragic upshot. It seems that La Pernetta had 
 embarrassed him with her confidence, and assailed 
 him with prayer that the truly guilty might suffer. 
 The Cardinal smiled, partly at the story, partly at 
 the teller of it. 
 
 *You report a Magdalen in our midst, my 
 nephew,' says he. 
 
 ' My lord,' replied Francesco, ' the woman has 
 led a deplorable life by her own confession. She 
 has told me all — she is a beautiful, wild creature. 
 It was she alone who did the deed, provoked by 
 the untimely acts of my poor brother. The poet, 
 on the other hand, had moved her to repentance. 
 She is, as I say, exceedingly ' 
 
 ' As you saw, nephew, I think you would have 
 said.' 
 
 Francesco was fluttered. ' Your Eminence, as 
 a candidate for holy orders ' 
 
 * Never protest, my son,' said his uncle, cross- 
 ing his legs, ' and never explain, if you hope to 
 be a prince of the Church. Do, rather, and do 
 strongly. Let the woman be what she is, or what 
 she appears to you to be, we have the means of 
 proving her contrition under our hands. I will
 
 256 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 examine the poet myself, but believe that I under- 
 stand the affair very well. Your brother Federigo 
 will be none the worse for his cupping, and I 
 suspect that the girl has given him no more than 
 his deserts. But the httle philosopher moves my 
 admiration. No doubt the whole affair was very 
 flattering to his vanity — yet it was a gallant return 
 to make to a lady who praised his verses, to be 
 ready to be hanged in her stead. I like the spirit 
 of him much more than I do his discourses on the 
 classical authors. Send him to me, Francesco.' 
 
 Francesco, having kissed the princely ring, was 
 about to withdraw, but the Cardinal laid a heavy 
 hand on his young shoulder, ' Mind me now, 
 Francis,' he said, ' be discreet. Do not interfere 
 with wiser heads than your own, nor with the 
 hopes of your country. We shall not make very 
 much of Federigo, I believe. Already I know 
 that he is not docile in this Bavarian marriage we 
 are getting him. The road he is upon now leads 
 to Ruffianism : I see him a bravo, a dunghill 
 cock flapping his wings among cut-throats. Now, 
 my boy, with you in your scarlet and Mantua 
 under your hand, what is to keep you from the 
 Vatican ^ ' He shrugged as the lad drooped. 
 ' At least, be it not said against you that some
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 257 
 
 slobber-cheeked baggage of a girl kept you from 
 it. ^ Now go, my boy, and send the poet to me.' 
 
 By this means Nello's meteorological observa- 
 tions were cut short at half-past ten in the morn- 
 ing. He lost no time in presenting himself in 
 the Cardinal's antechamber. He had already a 
 bowing acquaintance with the great man. 
 
 ' Master Nello,' said the Prince, ' your in- 
 vention surprises me. What part did you propose 
 yourself to play up there in the Gabbia ? ' 
 
 ' The part of a gentleman, my lord, had been 
 in my thoughts,' replied Nello, ' but predilections 
 are unmanageable. I found myself studying the 
 weather.' 
 
 ' Did you consider it a gentleman's business to 
 tell lies for worthless women, sir ? ' 
 
 ' Ah,' said Nello, waving his hand to one side, 
 ' your Eminence knows better than I do whether 
 a man may not sometimes prevaricate. As to the 
 lady's worth, I know nothing of her, except that 
 she praised my singing.' 
 
 ' At the cost of my nephew's head, young 
 man.' 
 
 'That is so. Eminence. Her flattery took a 
 practical form. But if I may be permitted to 
 explain, Don Federigo's head happened to be the
 
 258 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 next to her hand. In reality she was as guiltless 
 as he was, and I alone culpable. For undoubtedly, 
 if I had not sung she had not repented her way of 
 life ; and if she had remained in sin, Don Federigo 
 had remained in health, but in sin also with her. 
 So that I cannot but feel that in chastising Don 
 Federigo she did him a good service, and that in 
 moving her as I did a good service was done to 
 her. For such things as these, though I may 
 deserve the penalty of the Civil Arm, I shall not 
 shrink from a higher tribunal.' 
 
 The Cardinal was pleased. He tossed his head 
 and laughed. 
 
 ' Bravo ! ' he said. ' Either you have learned 
 that frankness is acceptable to my family, or (which 
 is better still) that it is acceptable to yourself. I 
 agree with your estimate of the service done to my 
 nephew, and can perhaps do you one in return. 
 What are your plans. Master Nello ? Have you 
 ever thought of the Church } ' 
 
 * Eminence,' Nello replied, ' I think of Holy 
 Church every day. It is the duty of every man 
 who would be thought wise.' 
 
 ' No doubt,' said the Cardinal. ' In a Christian 
 State ' 
 
 ' Eminence,' said Nello quickly, ' in every State.
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 259 
 
 I am of the opinion of Plato, that a wise man 
 bows his knee to the divinity of the place in which 
 he may happen to be, not as a token of acquaint- 
 ance, but lest, by the omission, some god may be 
 offended.' 
 
 ' I had not remarked that passage in the philo- 
 sopher,' said Gonzaga drily ; ' but we Churchmen 
 cling mainly to Aristotle. He, we think, is not 
 so apt to commit himself. I do not wish to press 
 you — yet it is a fine career.' 
 
 ' Learning also appears to me a fine career,' 
 Nello ventured to say. The Cardinal nodded. 
 
 He said, after a pause, ' I have a place in my 
 Secretariate empty, which I shall be glad to put at 
 your disposal. It is a very personal affair, requir- 
 ing tact, amiability, power of invention, some 
 reasoning, and a knowledge of tongues. Arabic 
 will be useful ; you should learn that language. 
 I have heard nothing but good of you from 
 Agnolo Poliziano ; Vittorino da Feltre speaks well 
 of you. But your best credentials are your own. 
 What do you say, my friend ? ' 
 
 ' I say that I will serve you to the utmost of 
 my wit,' said Nello sedately, and kissed the ring. 
 The Cardinal, moved by some paternal humour, 
 patted his bent head, and with a ' State sano,
 
 26o FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 figliuolo mio ' nodded him away. He went out of 
 the Castle as if on wings. He had been long 
 enough in the world to know the worth of such a 
 friendship as he had made ; it justified him in a 
 long visit to the tailor in the Via Broletta. 
 
 * Battista,' he said to that careworn artist, * I 
 invite you to share my good fortune. This day I 
 enter the Cardinal-Regent's service, and consider 
 your accounts as good as paid.' Battista rounded 
 his dutiful shoulders, and rubbed his hands to- 
 gether. 
 
 ' Let us not speak of such things, dear sir. 
 What are little accounts between you and me ? ' 
 
 ' Trifles,' said Nello. ' My way is clear before 
 me, stocked with the miraculous. Consider the 
 variations of my fortune. At five this morning I 
 was in the Gabbia, able to remark that you did not 
 attend the first, nor indeed the fourth, mass in 
 Sant' Andrea. At eleven I was in the study of his 
 Eminence. Now, at noon, I am in your shop, 
 ordering a suit which is to do you credit, as surely 
 as you will give credit for it to me. Make me a 
 black cloth doublet and trunks, of the finest web. 
 There shall be slashes on the shoulders and at the 
 hips — slashes in which you will insert black satin, 
 Battista, and liberally, lest it should be said of me
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 261 
 
 that I display all my goods to the market. I will 
 hav^ black silk hose, my friend, and fine lace at 
 the neck and wrists. No colour, my genius, no 
 colour, save one scarlet garter on the left leg to 
 mark the rank of my patron ; and a scarlet cap 
 of the present fashion, with a pheasant's feather 
 therein, pointing ever forwards, to indicate my 
 sanguine future. Let all this be done with speed, 
 for I have much to perform before we go to 
 Milan, the Cardinal and his secretary. Let me 
 have also a cloak of black velvet with a lining 
 of honourable purple.' 
 
 ' Benissimo, benissimo, dear sir,' murmured 
 Battista. ' And a sword .'' And a hanger .? 
 Yes ? ' 
 
 ' A fig for your andirons ! ' cried the youth. 
 ' You should know well enough that the weapons 
 I work with are here.' He touched his smooth 
 forehead, and the rebuked Battista hastened to his 
 tapes. ' You have the person of the young David, 
 dear sir ' 
 
 ' Ah,' said Nello, ' let us accept the augury. 
 I observed that Goliath was very civil.' 
 
 He dined at the Castiglione Palace, and later in 
 the day paid La Pernetta a visit of inquiry. This 
 he did deliberately, feeling that he could afford
 
 262 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 himself the luxury. ' It is not given to every 
 young man in the world to play the part of a 
 saviour,' he said to himself. ' If I stung the soul 
 of that deplorable, pretty woman by a light verse, 
 I did as well as Saint Benedict of Norcia, who 
 made an oration to a dozen of them, and moved 
 no more than I did. She has been a baggage, 
 and put great heart into the business. Who 
 knows what she may become under my handhng ? ' 
 
 He found her pensive and bashful ; she had 
 been weeping, but her disorder became her. She 
 was soft, lax, repentant, and rapturous at once — a 
 troubled Magdalen, but a Magdalen pur sang. 
 He took her hand, and asked her how she did ; 
 he thanked her warmly for her advocacy ; was 
 very discreet, gentle, dispassionate ; he treated her, 
 indeed, as if she was a lady of condition, flattered 
 and tormented her at once. After premonitory 
 signs of approaching storm, quivering lip and heav- 
 ing breast, she suddenly threw herself with passion 
 at his feet, and clasped his knees. 
 
 ' Save me, save me, sir,' she sobbed. ' I am 
 bad, but would be better. I am a shame before 
 all the world — an animal ' 
 
 'You are wrong,' says Nello ; 'nobody is 
 shameful who feels himself so. Nobodv is below
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 263 
 
 his nature who knows it. How did Nature make 
 us men ? To be free, generous, pious ! How do 
 we know that ? In this way : what other creature 
 blushes? What other creature is capable of 
 shame ? None. Pernetta, by your blushes you 
 are saved.' 
 
 She looked at him, kneeling there before him, 
 open-mouthed — in wonder. ' Are you sent from 
 God to be my salvation ^ Are you an angel — a 
 messenger from Heaven ? ' 
 
 ' Who knows .'' ' said he. ' I desire vour salva- 
 tion. You are too handsome to be wicked ; it is 
 horrible waste. I would have you — I would have 
 all women — remember what they are — poets at 
 once and their poems, painters and their pictures. 
 Good Heavens, Pernetta, if my song, which 
 dies with the shutting of the lips, moved you to 
 wholesome tears, how much the more might that 
 lovely person of yours, quick so long as your 
 blood throbs, move your sisters to wholesome 
 living ! My friend, there are two things worth 
 doing in this world — one is to be at peace, the 
 other to declare it. These are what poets, philo- 
 sophers, and gracious women can best accomplish, 
 but few others. So, then, you and I are in the 
 fair way. What have I gained by peace of mind.''
 
 264 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 The Cardinal-Regent's friendship, your friendship, 
 a fine velvet suit, and an Arabic grammar ! What 
 may you gain ? Your own respect ; mine, if you 
 care to have it. Pursue, Pernetta, pursue. To 
 be breathless, to be torn, to flush, to pant, to 
 crush the breast, these are no ways to peace of 
 mind. Forgetfulness is not peace, but assured 
 memory, rather. Adieu — be your own poet, your 
 own poem. Live your music before the world. 
 We shall meet again.' 
 
 ' Oh, talk to me again ! ' she implored. * Touch 
 me ' 
 
 ' Never,' said Nello ; ' but I will certainly see 
 you again. Adieu, my sister.' 
 
 * That is a woman of great appetite,' he told 
 himself. ' I can imagine her becoming a very 
 glutton for frugality one of these days. I will 
 make use of her when I need her — which is not 
 now. Unless I am greatly mistaken she has done 
 with Coan vests and scented ointments and crowns 
 of blown roses. Will she become a saint or a 
 wife ? She might be both, with care, especially if 
 she have children.' 
 
 The rest of his day was spent in his lodging 
 with a lamp. He began the study of Arabic ; but 
 first he wrote to his friend Politian.
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 265 
 
 V. The Vow in the Wood 
 
 Messer Nello Nelli, the golden-haired little 
 humanist, having been started in life with a 
 patron, experience, and an Arabic grammar, I 
 must go behind the scene to set up some other 
 figures for my stage. It is a common mistake of 
 the story-teller's — perhaps a generous fault — to 
 suppose the business of our planet suspended while 
 his hero buckles on his greaves and sets his lance 
 in rest to go out and conquer it. He ought to 
 remember that this poor globe is peopled with such 
 heroes, who are all bent on the same enterprise 
 at her expense, and that through their clashing 
 together and frequent slaughter business is actually 
 carried on. Nello Nelli had been racing for the 
 goal since his fourteenth birthday, and had no 
 notion but that he was sure of his prize. He had 
 heard by report of Simone della Prova, the Black 
 Dog of Cittadella and hired soldier of Venice, for 
 all North Italy had heard of his doings ; but how 
 was he to guess him a competitor? What had 
 he to do with condottieri — he the scholar, poet, 
 saviour of Magdalens, student of Arabic .'' But 
 the three women in the mountain-glen who weave
 
 266 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 the thread and keep the shears at hand (as he at 
 least devoutly believed) had another spool to 
 unwind, whose yarn was to cross his own. Long 
 ago, when Nello, at fourteen or so, was kissing the 
 hand of mature Donna Zenobia, Simone della 
 Prova, two years older, was kissing the cold lips 
 of Emilia Fiordispina, a child of scarcely Nello's 
 age. 
 
 La Colombina, they called her, because of her 
 quiet allure, her sleekness and gentle ways ; pet 
 names she always had — La Madonnina was one of 
 them, and La Nina another, to be given her in 
 due time by her mates at the Court of Milan, when 
 the soft dove-habit was to be in danger of soiling, 
 and the soft dove's ways were to be the only shield 
 she could have. But this is to anticipate her story 
 and Nello Nelli's, to whose coincidence we approach 
 by sure stages. The tale finds her now, a growing 
 slip of a girl, with but little trace of that enigmatic, 
 pondering beauty for which she was afterwards 
 made famous by Luini's pencil, in the arms of 
 Simone della Prova, swearing, in response to his 
 fierce adjurations, a little matter of eternal fidelity. 
 They were alone in a myrtle thicket, the hour the 
 tired close of a long August day. The sun, low 
 in the sky, covered them with a cloud of gold-
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 267 
 
 dust, warmed her white gown, and set his buff on 
 fire,. Like a pitiful epitome of the Lovers' Hell 
 (the tragedy in small, jigged by puppets) was 
 the scene — dusky fire, clinging figures, straining 
 and despair, kisses which could not satisfy and 
 hearts which could not believe. So straitly he 
 held her, so fierce were his words, if this were 
 matter of life to him, it might be one of death to 
 her. 
 
 ' Swear, my Emilia, swear ! Swear by the 
 Holy Virgin and her tears ; by her most bitter 
 tears over the body of her Son, and by all tears of 
 unhappy women, that you love me for ever.' 
 
 'Ah, yes, I swear it — I have sworn it, my 
 love.' 
 
 ' Swear by the True Cross and Him that hung 
 there all day long ; by the Five Wounds, the 
 Sponge, and the Spear ; by the Crown of Thorns 
 and the threefold writing over the Holy Head ! 
 Swear, my Emilia, swear ! ' 
 
 ' Oh, dear Simone, dearest love, dearest soul, 
 I swear, I swear ! Ah, but you hurt me, dear 
 love. I am frightened — but I shall die of this 
 love ! ' 
 
 Her words, rather than her faint struggle to 
 free herself, moved him to set her free. He did
 
 268 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 it, however, and stood looking at her as moodily 
 as if she had denied him everything. This made 
 her tremble, and her eyes to search his timidly 
 as if asking for a spark of belief. Simone's arms 
 were folded over the place where she had been ; 
 he was scowling as if he knew for certain that, 
 as they held nothing now but emptiness, so she 
 would never fill them again. He was, I take it, 
 of that exorbitant sort which always feels empty. 
 He was a handsome, swarthy, hulking young man, 
 magnificent to look at, built after the antique 
 Roman fashion — cropt in the head, low and square 
 in the brow, stern and square in the chin, with 
 fixed lips and sullen, deep-set eyes. Of his 
 strength there could be no doubt ; it ran through 
 him from within to without, and transfigured him. 
 He was flat in the right place — his calves were 
 flat, and his upper arms ; so were his brows and 
 the broad stretch from cheek-bone to ear. He 
 looked cruel, but was not so by nature : he was 
 perfectly ruthless, however, and could only think 
 of one thing at a time. 
 
 Of the child before him now there is not much 
 more to say. Her beauty, which was not then 
 remarkable, lay in her hair, in the shape of her 
 head, in her eyes — dark grey shot with black.
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 269 
 
 She was growing fast, was thin, was very pale, 
 even- to the lips ; but her mouth had begun to 
 take the curve of the bow which Luini made im- 
 mortal, and already she could make the most of 
 herself. Young as she was, she had her troubles 
 before her ; for here was Simone della Prova, after 
 all her oaths, scowling at her as if she had done 
 him a wrong. 
 
 Woman-like, she began to coax him as soon as 
 she dared, to woo the evil out of him by deference 
 and caress. She snuggled near, she slipped one 
 hand into his, she put another on his shoulder, 
 then stroked his hair. Simone, very full of his 
 trouble, did not stay her. He found himself 
 listening to the cooing of her voice much against 
 his will. 
 
 * Dear Simone, what will your poor child do 
 without you ? All Peschiera, all the blue lake, all 
 the islands for her alone ! I shall not be able to 
 look upon the mountains without tears, nor watch 
 the boats draw in, nor walk in the meadows — you 
 will be gone ! What will become of Emilia ? ' 
 She sighed as she lifted his brown hand and 
 stroked her cheek against it. Simone quivered, 
 but said nothing. She pursued him and her 
 thought — ' Ah, my Simone, never forget me ! '
 
 2 70 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 He looked at her then. ' Forget you ? O 
 Christ ! ' She blushed, exulted in him, laughed 
 her glory. 
 
 * I would be happy with that cry in my ears. 
 Listen to what I shall do when you are gone. 
 Every morning after mass I shall light a candle 
 before the Madonna del Lago, and pray to her 
 for you and me. " Madonna mia," I shall say, 
 " keep me for Simone, the bravest, the noblest, and 
 the best " ' 
 
 ' Ah,' he groaned, ' you will have need to pray. 
 You will grow old praying.' 
 
 ' Wait, wait. Nobody, not even my mother 
 will know why I do this devotion — nobody, not 
 even Father Pandolfo. You do not confess 
 your merits, but only your sins. And this 
 will be a merit, I am sure. Will it not be, 
 Simone ? ' 
 
 She waited for his assurance, but did not get it. 
 Simone was fighting his despair — very real to him 
 at this hour. Emilia leaned to him, and took 
 his chin in her little white hand. La Colombina, 
 they called her later, when she was wiser but not 
 more wheedling than now. Her voice was very 
 low and calling ; it sounded hurt, it appealed. 
 
 ' Must it be to-morrow, dear one .? Can we
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 271 
 
 not have to-morrow — the feast of the Assunta ? 
 We could begin my devotion together.' 
 
 ' Pooh,' said Simone, his face to the sky, 
 ' pooh, devotions ! There will be no time for such 
 things. I must be in the saddle with the light. 
 You know that I must go.' 
 
 ' To fight for the Republic ! ' 
 
 Simone squared his jaw, and took some bitter 
 comfort from the fact that he was to fight against 
 the party of his beloved — his cruel, about-to-be- 
 faithless beloved. ' To fight against your Milan, 
 at least.' 
 
 ' You care against whom you fight ? Not on 
 whose account ? You hate many, love but one ? ' 
 
 He looked down at her with those storm- 
 wrecked eyes of his. She knew what he was 
 going to say, and thrilled to know it coming. He 
 took her in his arms again. 
 
 ' I love nobody but you — nobody. Why should 
 I love the Republic ? I am no Venetian, Deo gra- 
 tias ! It is true that they have always been friends 
 of my house, and my house of them — but what of 
 that .'' I fight because I have my way to make. 
 Love.'' It is you I love — you — you.' He sealed 
 his words upon her lips. ' Dearest Simone, you 
 are my lover indeed,' sighed the little Emilia.
 
 272 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 The sun was down, it began to grow dusk all 
 at once. Emilia shivered and longed suddenly to 
 be alone. She was tired to death. ' They will 
 come to look for me ; I must go,' she pleaded. 
 
 ' Listen first — then you shall go.' She clung 
 to him, obedient to the call, looking up into his 
 hard face. Her two imploring hands were on his 
 breast. But he put her away, made her stand 
 alone and in front of him. It became rather like 
 a lecture. 
 
 * I love you so cruelly that, in truth, my heart 
 seems to me afire. I know not whether I am to live 
 or die in the fighting, but this I know well, that I 
 had sooner die believing you true than live on in 
 the state I see ahead. I have a mind to kill you 
 myself where you stand — that you might die with 
 no other kisses on your lips than mine, and no 
 other name but mine upon your tongue. That 
 would be the only certainty, I do believe. You 
 are a child ; you have no strength, as men have, 
 no purpose, no will of your own. You will be 
 easy to bend this way or that way. They will 
 seek to betroth you, to marry you here or there — 
 by Heaven, they will be at you day after day. 
 Now, I tell you, Emilia, that, as I shall be 
 unutterably true, look at no women, think of none
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 273 
 
 but you, so I shall expect of you. Is that too 
 much ? If I, a man, can do that, cannot you ? 
 A man's nature is different from a woman's — it 
 does more, it asks and needs more. Why, I am 
 setting myself an enormous task in this pledge. If 
 I prove false — but let us not talk of absurdities. 
 If you prove false, Emilia, I shall kill you. 
 Certainly I shall kill you. It would be just. 
 God would demand it. Is it not so ^ ' 
 
 * Yes, Simone, it would be just.' She looked 
 deplorable, drooping there before him, and felt as 
 though she had been beaten. Such a lover was a 
 glory — but ah ! he was terrible in this mood. 
 
 ' And now we must part, my child, my girl, 
 
 my dove ' He tried to hold himself sternly, 
 
 and might have succeeded if he could have kept her 
 at a distance. But at the first break in his voice 
 her own sorrow broke over her like a wave. She 
 was in his arms again, sobbing her fear, her aban- 
 donment, imploring him not to leave her, not to 
 love her so, not to frighten her, to love her more. 
 This pure tide of her misery knocked out his 
 guard : two children, they clung and kissed 
 together, tearing the very heart out of passion. 
 ' My soul, my white dove. Let no one call thee 
 Colombina but me ! ' She swore him that also. 
 
 T
 
 274 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 Was there anything she would not have given him 
 then ? 
 
 From beyond the trees, up from the darkling 
 sheeted lake came the stroke of a bell. One by one 
 the belfries of Peschiera took up the cry. They 
 started apart. Emiha held her side. ' Oh, I 
 must go,' she said brokenly ; but ' Not yet,' said 
 Simone, ' come to me.' This was more than she 
 could bear — she fell on her knees, hid her face 
 and wept unfeignedly. She frightened and humbled 
 him ; he dared not touch her. At the last deep 
 clangour of the bell she rose, and slipped guilty 
 through the trees. As for Simone, he cried unto 
 God, not with his voice, and threw himself face to 
 the ground. There the night dews found him, 
 there the stars. 
 
 VI. The Lover and the Lass 
 
 What the parents of this Colombina were 
 about to allow such desperate heart-probings as I 
 have had to relate can be easily explained. They 
 knew nothing about them, and were too hungry 
 to inquire. Spinello Fiordispina was the lord of a 
 tower and a few leagues about it, including a strip 
 of the shore of Garda. In his dark old strong-
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 275 
 
 hold down there he maintained himself and Monna 
 Lucia, his wife, his two old sisters, his Colombina, 
 and some twenty servants, on what he could exact 
 from the fishermen of the place. That, in fact, 
 was very little ; whence it arose that care for the 
 bodies of all these people usurped the rights of 
 their more subtle needs. It was literally a matter 
 of food sometimes. His family was ancient, the 
 towers and poor lands about them represented 
 what had once been a great fief of the Empire ; and 
 just in the same way he himself was a ruin. He 
 had been a notable warrior in his day, warring 
 in Tuscany, Umbria, on the March, here and 
 anywhere with old Sforza-Attendolo, founder of 
 the robber-house of Milan. When that renegade 
 shepherd, and king of men, went down in the 
 flood, whither he had swept his enemy's horse, 
 Spinello found that he was too old to stomach 
 the new Sforza — or the new Sforza may have 
 found himself too young. At any rate, Spinello 
 was squeamish ; he knew he was a good man still, 
 but doubted he was getting past his work. He 
 was painfully sensitive, sniffed about for offences 
 where none were, and thought that he could detect 
 an odour. He withdrew himself, his dignity, and 
 his spearmen, to Garda, and was chagrined to find
 
 276 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 that the affairs of Milan continued to prosper. 
 This embittered, while it stiffened him. It also 
 caused him to be exceedingly hungry. 
 
 His own affairs certainly did not prosper. His 
 spearmen ate up every green thing. He had to 
 disband them, to sell land, to see some slip from 
 him without price asked or offered. At the time 
 I am now reporting his household was, as I have 
 put it — three old ladies, Colombina, twenty servants, 
 himself, and Simone della Prova — rueful reckon- 
 ing for the Lord of a tower, a Fiordispina, and a 
 knight of the Empire. 
 
 What was this shrunken gentleman doing with 
 a Simone della Prova in his household ^ It is to 
 be remembered that he was a great, as well as a 
 shrunken gentleman, and the holder still of fine 
 old traditions of warfare. None knew this better 
 than another battered warrior, Malipiero della 
 Prova, lord of Cittadella, that red citadel within 
 turreted walls which may still be seen by the 
 traveller much as it was in an earlier day. Delia 
 Prova had always taken the other side — he was 
 too near Venice to do otherwise, just as Fiordi- 
 spina was too near Milan ; but though they had 
 dealt each other hard knocks, they had no less 
 mutual esteem — indeed, they had more. It was in
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 277 
 
 an interval of peace that the old Venetian sent his 
 boy, Simone, to Garda to learn the arts of knight- 
 hood from a man who had proved his science to 
 Cittadella's detriment. And while Simone learned 
 those arts, he learned others, as we have seen. 
 
 That young Simone, swarthy in blood as in 
 hue, a fighter by inheritance, proved an un- 
 conscionable lover. It was an affair of a moment : 
 the child Emilia, whose gravity made her look 
 older than her little tale of years could warrant — 
 those pondering eyes of hers, that sweet, slow 
 smile, the pallor and tired grace she had even 
 then — stung him sharply. Instantly he stormed 
 the enemy, stormed, fired, and had her at discretion. 
 She had no time to judge, no leisure to choose, no 
 choice, no voice. He assumed the position of 
 her lover before she knew that she loved. She 
 never did really love. She was gentle, she was 
 timid, greatly flattered by the homage of this 
 wild, scowling youth ; she was a girl, she was 
 twelve years old, she was lonely, — and what more 
 is there to say .'' She was a very sweet-tempered, 
 meek -mannered child, who could never refuse 
 anything to any one. When Simone came spur- 
 ring up to storm her with cries to surrender, she 
 lowered the flag at once. The donjon was his,
 
 278 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 and he sat down as tyrant of the poor little city. 
 There were sweets for the conquered, of course. 
 It is sweet to dispense one's bounties, and sweet 
 to be needed. She had cool, soft hands. Simone 
 brought her headaches to be cured, fits of the 
 sulks, fevers to be soothed, horrible suspicions to 
 be explained away. He scolded her, threatened 
 her, was madly and unreasonably jealous — he 
 thought that no girl who was loved should kiss 
 her parents' hands ; and as for Father Pandolfo, 
 the old priest, oh horrible ! why, she owned that 
 she loved him ! She suffered more than can be 
 said, but she never dreamed of rebellion ; and 
 it is not to be denied that she had hours when 
 her glorious estate as the beloved of so strenuous 
 a youth seemed almost more than she could bear. 
 She responded wonderfully to all his moods ; she 
 was penitent, ardent, passionate, thoughtful, 
 virginal as he willed her. Of course he learned 
 to play upon her as upon an instrument, and 
 got the most piercing, whispering, or wailing 
 music from her that ever you heard. For two 
 years he scorched himself and drained her thus ; 
 then came the summons to arms : Mantua and 
 Milan at war with Venice ; he must join his 
 father in the cause of the Republic. The
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 279 
 
 children were torn apart ; Simone scoured away, 
 riding on a storm-cloud of his own brewing. 
 Her last sight of him had been with his sword 
 in his hand, threatening her from his horse, 
 daring her to forget him, daring her to let some 
 other mouth her name ; and for weeks afterwards 
 the poor girl sat dry-eyed in the myrtle woods, 
 remembering her hero ; or prayed without end 
 before the Madonna del Lago ; lit up little candles 
 in secret ; crisped her little hands ; held her little 
 foolish heart, and wondered sadly why it did not 
 ache ; looked about her askance, half in panic, 
 half in awe, at a new world which could be so 
 dispassionate, or at daily customs which could 
 dare go on while Simone was so far and she so 
 forlorn. 
 
 She was wretched that she could not be more 
 wretched ; her conscience tormented her as cruelly 
 as Simone had ever done. For six months she 
 dragged herself about, white and weak, hollow- 
 eyed, listless and morose. Then the fever spent 
 itself ; she heard nothing ; Simone was no pen- 
 man. She still believed herself wretched, still 
 lighted little candles and prayed to the Madonna 
 — the ritual itself was her best comforter. The 
 snow came down, Garda had a rim of ice ; the
 
 2 8o FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 days crept out, the almonds flowered ; there were 
 orchids and fritiilaries in the water-meadows, 
 cyclamen in the woods. Spring came laughing 
 into Lombardy with the sound of the shepherd's 
 pipe ; and Emilia, turned fourteen, began to peer 
 about for columbines, her own flower. The year 
 went peacefully round : no word from Simone, 
 no rumour of him, made all the difl^erence to the 
 girl. Behold Emilia at fifteen, a maiden grown — 
 and behold her if you can as Luini painted her, of 
 womanly parts and wisdom so early compact, with 
 the considering eyes and heavy eyelids of a beauti- 
 ful, much-courted woman, the mysterious smile of 
 a woman with secrets which amuse her, but the 
 curves and tender bloom of a girl to make her 
 the more dangerous. Luini's picture, now at St. 
 Petersburg, calls her La Colombina, and shows 
 her in a dress of loose brocade, caught at the 
 bosom by a jewel, but leaving one breast bare, 
 with a hand holding jasmine in her lap, the other 
 delicately lifting for contemplation the flower, her 
 namesake. Her hair is crisped and plaited closely, 
 to show the shape of her head : it is brought 
 below and round the ears. It represents Emilia 
 at twenty ; she had lovers then and to spare, and 
 less matter for pleasant thought than for patience
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 281 
 
 to be got out of them. It is a more mature 
 Emilia than we can yet consider, but all the charms 
 so ripely there were in bud at this earlier age. She 
 was sleek at fifteen, dainty in movement, dainty in 
 pose, deliberate in speech, witty when she chose, 
 demurely sharp in reply without being malicious. 
 She was very kind, and in her ways showed it ; 
 her hands besought your patience, her head was 
 meekly disposed ; she had quick, affectionate 
 motions ; women always liked her, and without 
 meaning it she had a fatal charm for men. Much 
 as she was in flower at twenty, such she was in 
 bud at fifteen, v/hen, in a straight silk gown of 
 white and red, with a necklace of pearls and a 
 fillet of silver daisies for her hair, with a deep red 
 cloak and hood of the same for her journey, she 
 kissed her parents and two old aunts, and rode 
 brightly forth into the world to begin her adven- 
 tures. She was for the Court of Milan, to be 
 maid of honour to the Duchess Bianca. It was 
 nearly three years since she had watched Simone 
 ride away to the wars and had been threatened by 
 the gleaming of his sword. She had heard nothing 
 of him since, and his name, if ever mentioned in 
 talk, caused her no distress. That day of her 
 going there had been no time to light a candle
 
 2 82 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 before the Madonna del Lago. It had often 
 happened so before, but never before had she 
 forgotten the omission. She remembered it at 
 Brescia where they baited the horses. The stab 
 was momentary. And at Milan I must leave her 
 with this remark, that among the many things she 
 learned there which a girl needed or needed not 
 to know, the lighting of a votive taper to keep 
 memory green was not one. It had, indeed, been 
 nearer her desire more than once to propitiate 
 the shrouded altars of the Gods of Silence and 
 Oblivion. 
 
 But as for Simone della Prova, he had forgotten 
 nothing. He was not of the kind that forgets. 
 The constant lover, it may be, is the man that 
 most loves himself, and cannot bear that the least 
 speck should mar the adorable surface. Simone 
 would have died a hundred deaths sooner than 
 face the thought that he could forget or be for- 
 gotten — but Emilia would have died first. Cling- 
 ing to his faith in her, which was really part of his 
 faith iji himself, he performed what was required 
 of him by his nature — sweated, bled, fought, 
 drilled, and killed men. There was a league 
 against Venice in those days : Sforza of Milan, 
 Bentivoglio of Bologna, Gonzaga of Mantua,
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 283 
 
 joining forces, worked to stem back the Republic 
 within her marshy lagoons. On the side of 
 Venice was young Simone, with his Cittadella as 
 an outpost to the North. The war went, as 
 Italian wars always did, with varying fortunes, and 
 more attention to the moves of the game than its 
 objects ; but there was enough blood-shedding to 
 show young Delia Prova as a master. With two 
 hundred horsemen behind him — young men raised 
 and dragooned by himself — he scoured the Southern 
 country, killing, burning, pillaging. He excelled 
 in avoiding dangers and countering upon the 
 dangerous. On one occasion, notably, he escaped, 
 by hard riding, a large body of Milanese horse 
 sent from Vicenza to cut him off, crossed the 
 Euganeans by night and swept down upon the 
 Mantuan camp at Legnago in the plain before 
 sunrise. In that encounter, though he spared no 
 one in his path, he had his horse killed under him. 
 Wounded in the shoulder, half-a-dozen of his men 
 bore him off the field under the very eyes of 
 Cardinal Guido Gonzaga, the warrior -priest of 
 Mantua. That great man, however, forbade any 
 pursuit of a youngster so heroic. ' No, no,' he 
 said, ' let him live to wear the spurs he has won 
 from us. Who is the young man ^ '
 
 2 84 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 They told him it was Simone della Prova, 
 called the Black Dog of Cittadella, and that the 
 Devil was his friend. 
 
 'A useful ally,' said the Cardinal. 'Where 
 did he learn arms ? ' 
 
 ' His father, my lord, old Malipiero, was a 
 great leader ; but this fellow was for two years 
 with Messer Spinello Fiordispina of Garda, who 
 was a greater.' 
 
 ' Certainly he was,' said the Cardinal ; ' no- 
 body knows it better than I do. I remember 
 him in Calabria. It is a noble blend that should 
 come out of those two old tigers. I must keep 
 an eye upon Master Simone — truly, a promising 
 youth.* 
 
 When Simone's father died, and he reigned 
 instead of him as Lord of Cittadella, the Cardinal 
 fixed two eyes upon him instead of one. He 
 thought he saw a way of ending the weary war. 
 
 VII. The Black Dog of Cittadella 
 
 About a month after his patronage of Nello, 
 so benevolently bestowed and happily accepted — 
 in September — with a retinue of not more than 
 fifty horse, Cardinal Gonzaga started on a mission ;
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 285 
 
 indeed he started upon two. Nello, very trim 
 and very gay — seeming to be the more resplend- 
 ently in health for his black habit — rode by his 
 side, and received his confidences. Some half- 
 dozen chaplains, cassocked and big -hatted on 
 mules, who were in the next rank, carried with 
 them all the signs of churchmanship which his 
 Eminence chose to display ; the Cardinal himself 
 rode out as a warrior, resplendent in arms. 
 
 'A man of my rank,' he observed, 'keeps his 
 mind's eye for Heaven, but with his bodily organs 
 directs the world. God is not to be mocked by 
 the ill-ordering of that ; and Mantua with the 
 dominions thereof are my immediate concern. 
 We have a very delicate task to perform, my 
 Nello, with which I regret to say the Church has 
 little to do.' 
 
 He outlined the case for his young friend's 
 consideration. Mantua was at war with Venice — 
 Mantua and Milan in league. Milan was ex- 
 tremely necessary to Mantua, the big to the little ; 
 but it was by no means so clear that the converse 
 could be maintained. Sforza, in fact, was languid ; 
 he did not prosecute the war as he had promised ; 
 he was half minded to make peace. If he did 
 that Venice might swallow up Mantua. The
 
 286 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 Cardinal's business, therefore, was to make friends 
 elsewhere in case of need, but by no means to 
 give up hopes of Sforza. He intended for Milan 
 to arrange a marriage between his niece Dorotea 
 and Sforza's heir, Galeazzo Maria ; but first of all 
 he was going to Cittadella. Did Nello know 
 why ? Nello did not. 
 
 ' Did you ever hear,' asked the Cardinal, ' of 
 the Captain of Cittadella ? ' Nello nodded. 
 
 ' Of Simone della Prova — the Black Dog, as 
 they call him ? Eminence, yes. I heard of him 
 when I was in Padua. He was a fighting youth 
 — a very demon of the blood and dust. But he 
 is for Venice — it is an old alliance. Men used to 
 say that he learned warfare of Milan, to use it 
 against them. He was the idol of Padua in my 
 day, much trusted by the Republic. All women 
 were in love with him, if for no better reason than 
 that he would never look at one of them. Hip- 
 polytus, the son of Theseus, was not more chaste 
 than he.' 
 
 ' We shall see, we shall see,' said the Cardinal. 
 ' I am going to pay him a visit : so much has been 
 arranged. He and I have met once before — in 
 the field. It was at Legnago, where he made a 
 dawn attack upon our camp and gave us a couple
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 287 
 
 of hours' exquisite anxiety. We rallied, however, 
 and beat him off. The fellow was wounded ; I 
 might have had him, and he knew it. But I ad- 
 mired him, and let them carry him off* — and he 
 knew that also. I believe he hated me for it ; but 
 I cannot think him without a bottom of generosity. 
 It is for you and me to tempt that out of him, my 
 Nello. Tell me something more of his habits. 
 Women, you say, made no appeal to him ^ ' 
 
 ' I think — none at all. He seemed to be proof. 
 Preoccupation may account for that.' 
 
 * In what way, my friend ? ' 
 
 * A man of that sort, Eminence — an unreason- 
 ing, furious man — is generally chaste because he is 
 a lover. It may be of a woman, it may be of 
 himself, it may be of warfare or statesmanship, or 
 of the Blessed Virgin. It may even be of virtue ; 
 but this Is rare in a captain of horse. As a 
 rule, I should say that the love of women is a 
 solace to every man of action who does not happen 
 to be the lover of one woman in particular — or of 
 himself 
 
 ' I think you may be right. Indeed, that is how 
 I have found it. But now — was our man quarrel- 
 some ? ' 
 
 * He was. Eminence.'
 
 288 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 ' Ruthless ? ' 
 
 * I understood it.' 
 
 * Revengeful ? ' 
 ' Bitterly.' 
 
 ' Gluttonous ? ' 
 
 * A hearty eater, I think.' 
 
 * A wine-bibber ? ' 
 ' I never heard it.' 
 
 ' Then you consider .'' ' 
 
 * I consider that this man scorns all women born 
 for the sake of one. Her, I think, he does not love 
 for the sake of her beauty or virtue so much as 
 because she is his. I conceive him perfectly. He 
 is like a great beast of the desert who sets his paw 
 upon some prey, not to adjust it for his meal, but 
 to mark it for his property. His possession of 
 the thing thereafter becomes essential to his com- 
 fort, because to lose it would be to lessen his value 
 in his own eyes.' 
 
 ' All this is very acute,' said the Cardinal, ' but 
 I do not see ' 
 
 ' Eminence,' replied Nello, ' this Simone was 
 trained in the castle of Spinello Fiordispina, an 
 old Milanese soldier. I think it very possible that 
 he is tied body and soul to the slim waist of some 
 Lombard girl.' Nello's prescience, no doubt, was
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 289 
 
 a thing of calculation. He knew very well, by 
 report, that Simone considered himself betrothed. 
 But the Cardinal evidently had not known it. Our 
 young friend took his profit where he found it. 
 
 So talking, they went their way through the 
 burnt gardens and by the dusty roads of the 
 Venetian March. They reached Vicenza, at a push, 
 by night — or as near it as was prudent to go. 
 Next morning the Cardinal was up and stamping 
 in the courtyard while Nello was rubbing his 
 eyes. 
 
 * We must go carefully to-day,' said master to 
 man. * I don't anticipate any treachery from our 
 friend, but it is quite as well to be on the safe side. 
 We will place an ambush at Sampietro and keep in 
 touch with them. You and I, with twenty spears, 
 will push on to Cittadella.' 
 
 The Cardinal was right — there was no treachery. 
 The gates of Cittadella, a grim little fortress- 
 town, spiked and towered, were wide open ; the 
 Mantuans were received with elaborate respect. 
 The Prefect of the city, the Bishop and his 
 Chapter, stood before the citadel ; the keys were 
 presented on a dish, taken by the Cardinal, and 
 punctihously returned to their former keeping. 
 The visitors rode into the piazza, dismounted 
 
 u
 
 290 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 there, entered the Cathedral church, and heard a 
 solemn mass. The Lord of Cittadella, the Lord 
 Simone della Prova, was expected momently from 
 a raid ; meantime the citizens hoped that his 
 Eminence would break his fast in the Vescovado 
 hard by. The retinue would be entertained at the 
 public charge in the courtyard of the Palazzo del 
 Governo. The Cardinal, very urbane, very much 
 the great bow unstrung, rubbed his gross hands 
 and smiled his thanks. 
 
 At the stroke of noon hoarse cheering by the 
 gates announced the coming of Simone. The 
 Cardinal went out to the balcony of the Vesco- 
 vado to watch him in. 
 
 ' Now, now, if I am not mistaken, I shall have 
 something to show you,' he said eagerly, flicking 
 his fingers together, whetting his lips like a child 
 at a play. Nello, to whom a man-at-arms was 
 but a clothes-peg, or perhaps a stand for iron- 
 mongery, was amused. But the Cardinal, more 
 than half a soldier, had an unaffected delight in 
 the display ; his eye caught the first glimmer of 
 spears above the massed heads in the piazza. 
 
 ' Here is the young wolf of the Veneto,' said 
 he aloud, ' homing to his lair — and with booty 
 between his paws, by the Cross ! ' It is true,
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 291 
 
 there were prisoners — allies of the Cardinal's, no 
 doubt. But he was here incognito. 
 
 The cavalry came jingling by at a quick 
 walking pace, three hundred of them, young men 
 all. As they reached the piazza they opened out 
 and took the sides of the square, so as to hold 
 back the people with a hedge of arms. The 
 enclosed space was bare, save for three or four 
 officials, a sinister figure in red, and the huge 
 gallows, which (it was understood) was never 
 taken down, and very seldom out of exercise in 
 these days. 
 
 If Nello noticed this gloomy apparatus the 
 Cardinal did not. His thoughts were centred 
 upon the troops. Their body-clothes were red 
 and yellow, their armour blue steel ; upon the 
 pensels of their spears they showed within a 
 bordure the badge of Simone della Prova of 
 Cittadella — a black dog on a white field. All 
 rode black horses, of which they seemed to be 
 parts ; it was truly as if a herd of centaurs had 
 been drilled to obedience. Behind them came, 
 on foot, a sorry crew of chained prisoners, the 
 scouring of some burned village — men, women, 
 children, all white with dust, all limping footsore, 
 bound neck to neck. Mothers some, and some
 
 292 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 to be so soon ; bearded men, and young boys with 
 eyes not yet too tired to be incurious — they had 
 no special guard set on them but their chains. 
 Last of all, riding alone, driving this rout of wild 
 creatures and their prey, armed completely in 
 black steel, bareheaded and scowling, came the 
 Black Dog of Cittadella himself — Simone, a sullen 
 young God of War. He took not the smallest 
 notice of the people's acclamation — they cried him 
 * Cane ! Cane! Evviva Simone!' — nor of the 
 grouped grandees on the Bishop's balcony ; the 
 Cardinal of Mantua was nothing to him at this 
 moment of still triumph ; Nello was aghast at such 
 pride. He sat his horse as if man and beast were 
 carved out of one block ; his face was nearly as 
 black as his look, burnt deep by the sun ; he held 
 his head high, but had lowered eyelids — scorn, 
 not modesty, bent them. The only hint of atten- 
 tion to living thing which he gave was to his 
 horse. Once he leaned over the crest and seemed 
 to speak in the beast's ear. The Cardinal noticed 
 that the flanks had been fiercely spurred ; but he 
 had not seen the sudden prick of the ears with 
 which the fine animal heard his master's whisper. 
 This Nello did see, and it gave him food for 
 thought. The day was before him when he was
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 293 
 
 to know Simone and his horse to fatal purpose. 
 When the Cardinal, therefore, slapped his thigh, 
 and said aloud, ' By the eyes of God, this is a great 
 captain ! ' his secretary was bound to agree with 
 him, though unwillingly. ' I pity from my soul 
 the man or woman who is in the power of this 
 Dog,' thought he. * This is a wild beast, dowered 
 by Heaven, for some inscrutable reason, with the 
 superior rapacity of a man.' The little humanist 
 was faced like a cherub, but he could criticise with 
 the Assessing Angel. 
 
 What followed justified his reason, while it 
 drove him back to unreason. It made a child 
 of Nello again — frightened him, appalled him, 
 made him furious, as children are when they have 
 been frightened. In a breathless silence — a silence 
 from victims and witnesses alike — the Black Dog 
 hanged every one of his prisoners. Nello's breast 
 began to heave at this terrible sight ; he could 
 hardly stand, yet could not keep his eyes from 
 seeing. And while his heart wailed, his mind 
 must needs admire the awful elements of the 
 tragedy : the young condottier out there in the 
 empty space, motionless on his black horse, the 
 figure of a dream ; the silent haste of the execu- 
 tioner, the despairing silence of the butchered
 
 294 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 (when scarcely a boy cried above a whimper) ; 
 the hush over all the people. Nello clenched his 
 teeth, clenched his hands, gripped the ground with 
 his toes. ' Ah, fiend of hell ! Ah, blockish devil ! 
 Ah, smear upon the day's face ! ' Tears of im- 
 potent rage scalded his young eyes. 
 
 The Cardinal was puzzled, yet profoundly 
 interested. ' I set no limits to the scope of this 
 fine young man,' he said to Nello. ' For aught 
 that I can see he may be Doge of Venice or 
 Patriarch of Christendom, if he have a mind for 
 such trifles ! He may be imperial Caesar — what 
 is to stay him ? Not I, you may say. Wait, 
 wait. I am a man also.' 
 
 ' But — but — oh, Eminence ! he has hanged the 
 women and boys ! ' Nello was sobbing, 
 
 * Curious, curious, curious ! ' said the Cardinal. 
 
 VIII. Nello as Recorder 
 
 When the meeting took place the Cardinal's 
 curiosity was gratified. The Black Dog received his 
 august visitor in the Palazzo del Governo, bowed 
 stiffly, kissed with perfunctory stiffness the ringed 
 hand, then invited his Eminence into the Council 
 Chamber. The Cardinal entered, followed by
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 295 
 
 Nello and his letter-bag ; Simone walked in after 
 them, alone, and deliberately shut and locked the 
 door. No doubt the Cardinal took a quicker 
 breath ; but the other, without lifting his eyes, 
 handed the key to Nello. 
 
 ' Keep it,' he said shortly. ' We use no 
 treachery in Cittadella ; but you need not know 
 that.' 
 
 Nello took it in silence and dropped it on the 
 table. He had such a loathing of the man at this 
 time that he could hardly hold a thing polluted by 
 his touch. Was it not drenched in blood — the 
 blood of the poor .'' 
 
 The Cardinal, bursting with wonder, began 
 with a question, which he begged his young 
 friend to answer with a soldier's frankness. Why 
 had it been necessary to hang the prisoners ? 
 Simone looked him fully in the face. 
 
 ' That question can be easily answered,' he 
 said. ' Your Eminence is here to deal with a 
 man of whom you know little. I thought it 
 proper that your Eminence should know more.' 
 The Cardinal was delighted, rose, held out his hand. 
 
 ' I suspected it ! A rare stroke ! Young sir, 
 we will shake hands, if you please. I am face to 
 face with a plain bargainer. Trust me now, as
 
 296 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 you deal with me, so I with you.' Nello felt 
 himself blush to the roots of his hair. O Shades 
 of Academe ! O fading, classic Porch ! O 
 greensward, where the Muses dance enlaced ! 
 Where were ye, O clean-breathed groves.? To 
 such men as these two traffickers of souls poor 
 tarnished Pernetta were a wholesome lass. 
 
 They settled to business, the Cardinal very 
 large and suave — Simone keen, quiet, and stiff as a 
 rod — Nello behind them, covering his eyes with 
 his hand. The Cardinal praised the enthusiasm of 
 the populace, who knew their master and the 
 beneficent severity of his rod ; the other shrugged 
 ever so slightly, to show his contempt of the 
 populace. The appearance and discipline of the 
 troops came next in review — ' as clean a company 
 of horse as I have seen since I served with 
 Fortebraccio in Calabria,' said the Cardinal with 
 conviction. Simone never blinked an eyelid. He 
 was waiting. But so was his opponent. 
 
 'You will remember,' the Cardinal went on, 
 steadfastly urbane, ' that I have reason to know 
 something of their valour. We have met in the 
 field, Simone.' 
 
 ' I remember it very well,' replied the young 
 man. ' I drove you out of Legnago.'
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 297 
 
 The Cardinal, who had deliberately provoked 
 this, and had been waiting for it, suddenly changed 
 his manner and his voice with it. His eyes grew 
 narrow and hard ; his smile remained, but had 
 stiffened. 
 
 ' I think you should remember it indeed. You 
 were wounded in the groin, your shoulder was 
 broken under your horse, I think ? ' 
 
 Simone nodded. ' It is true.' 
 
 ' You were surrounded by men — by the enemy 
 — by men in red and white.' 
 
 Simone's eyes flashed, but he said nothing. 
 
 ' But you were not made prisoner,' said the 
 Cardinal. 
 
 The youth started up, red in the face. ' No, 
 by the splendour of God, I was not ! ' 
 
 The Cardinal rose in his turn, and towered 
 above the other. Nello was struck by the stern 
 strength latent in his bulk. 
 
 ' I will tell you, Simone,' he said, * why you 
 were not taken in chains to Mantua, why you were 
 not treated, it may be, as you treated those dazed 
 wretches this day. It was because I called my 
 men off. It was because I saw stuff in your hot 
 head too good for a short rope and seven-foot 
 post. You owe your life, your generalship, your
 
 298 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 gallows, and your brave displays to my clemency. 
 Now, sir, are you disposed to treat a prince of the 
 Church and a Gonzaga with civility? * 
 
 The whole thing had been finely done, and 
 Nello saw that it was to be successful. Simone 
 tried bluster, and looked as if he might try worse. 
 He looked, for that matter, murderous, and for 
 some two minutes or more the issue may have been 
 in doubt. But Nello had no need to snatch at the 
 key. The Cardinal was superb, plainly the greater 
 man ; Simone, with all the rage which burned in 
 his deep-set eyes, could not hold out beyond 
 that brace of minutes. He mumbled some 
 kind of apology — a soldier's life, distance from 
 courts, etc. — and pointed to the chairs, not yet 
 cold. The Cardinal, quite easy after his little 
 triumph, sat down at once, crossed his leg, and 
 took up the discourse as if nothing had dis- 
 turbed it. 
 
 ' I have heard,' he said, ' of the death of Mali- 
 piero your father, and regret the fact, though not 
 the manner of the fact. To die of a sword, with a 
 sword in his hand, was to die as he had lived, as 
 you doubtless hope to die. It was a brave end to 
 a brave chain of events,' 
 
 The storm had not yet cleared ; but the young
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 299 
 
 man showed some consciousness of the honour 
 done to his father. 
 
 ' With such an example before us,' continued 
 Gonzaga, *I could not hesitate for a moment 
 to make the suggestion I make now, this, namely, 
 that you should throw the weight of Cittadella and 
 your array into the scale against the Republic. You 
 know Mantua, Simone, and whether it can be a 
 generous foe. Judge from that what sort of a 
 friend it may prove. You know Milan, too ' 
 
 Simone said fiercely, as if, Nello thought, he 
 felt himself being pushed against the wall, ' You 
 should have asked my father whether his house 
 loved Milan.' 
 
 ' On the contrary,' said the Cardinal, ' I prefer 
 to ask his son. You, at least, know something of 
 Milan. You studied arms under Spinello Fiordi- 
 spina, an old ally of that duchy.' He watched his 
 man, and Nello, watching too, saw the tell-tale 
 flame kindle in eyes and dusky cheeks. He knew 
 the meaning of that. Simone, it seemed, could 
 not trust himself to speak. His lips moved, 
 fashioned a word — one word ; but neither of his 
 companions could read it. Certainly, however, a 
 shot had gone home. 
 
 * If then,' said the Cardinal, ' you can think
 
 300 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 kindly of Fiordispina, you can hardly refuse merit 
 in Fiordispina's allies, patrons, friends — the Duke 
 of Milan, the Marquess of Mantua. Believe me, 
 they are solid men, with solid benefits to confer on 
 those who love them, however late in the day. I 
 am not inviting you to turn your coat at a ven- 
 ture. I am inviting you to fight with Spinello 
 Fiordispina, your old friend — and mine.' After 
 a pause he added, ' I am now going to Milan.' 
 
 It was deeply interesting to Nello now to see 
 Simone struggling against unexpected odds. At 
 the name of Fiordispina he had watched him fire, 
 at that of Milan he saw him blench, as though in 
 the one he exulted, but feared the other. What 
 was the connection ? What was the missed clue ? 
 Here was the blood -botched despot morally on 
 his knees at the mere name of Milan. 
 
 * Milan,' Simone stammered — he had lost his 
 breath — ' you go to Milan ! You will be in Milan 
 in a day — two days ? * 
 
 ' That is my intention,' said the Cardinal, 
 blandly. ' Can I do you a service there ? ' 
 
 Simone was tearing at himself, to get his 
 breastplate away. He broke the straps of the 
 gorget, wrenched the mail apart, threw it with a 
 clatter on the flags. He fumbled in his leather
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 301 
 
 doublet, his eyes all alight, his breath most short. 
 Flushing like any boy, he produced a something 
 from his bosom, a something which he kept 
 smothered in his fist, and stood with it before the 
 Cardinal. He stared — his words came in jerks. 
 ' All I have is in Milan — at this hour — four years 
 it has been there — without a word — without a sign. 
 What I have suffered — perdition ! ' He stopped 
 suddenly as if he had betrayed himself — then, ' No, 
 no, I must speak — now, at last,' he grumbled to 
 himself. 
 
 He addressed the Cardinal. ' If you go to 
 Milan, Eminence, you may serve me if you will. 
 Nay, I will say this much, that without such ser- 
 vice I shall have nothing to say to these proposals 
 of yours.' 
 
 ' Be sure of me, Simone, my friend. In what 
 can I serve you } ' 
 
 * There is at Milan — in the service of Bianca 
 the Duchess — entrusting her honour and extreme 
 youth — there is, I say — Pest ! ' he cried, striking 
 his forehead, ' I am no speaker of such things.' 
 
 ' There is at Milan ? ' said the Cardinal. 
 
 * There is a lady there. Eminence, a lady very 
 young. Madonna Emilia Fiordispina — maid of 
 honour to the Duchess Bianca. She is betrothed
 
 302 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 to me. If your Eminence think fit to reward me 
 service for service ' 
 
 ' It shall be my particular care, Simone,' said 
 the Cardinal, by no means exhibiting the amuse- 
 ment he felt. ' Having sought and found her, 
 my friend, — assume both in my favour — what am 
 I to do with her ^ ' 
 
 Simone held out in the palm of his hand a thin 
 gold ring — an affair of a twisted wire, having a blue 
 jewel in a loop. 
 
 ' You will say, my lord, that you are from the 
 Veneto, bearing this token — but name no names. 
 Much hangs on this. She will take it, smiling a 
 little, a little lifting her eyebrows, colouring ever so 
 faintly, for she is by nature pale.' He closed his 
 eyes here, and seemed as if dreaming. ' She will 
 ask your Eminence from whom is this token, and 
 to what intent.' You will say, " It is thus con- 
 signed : To La Colombina, from him who only 
 knows that name." That is all — my name need 
 not be mentioned ; she will not have forgotten it. 
 That title, which is hers by right, for she certainly 
 partakes of the nature of the dove, will be sufficient 
 reminder. None knows it but she and I ; none 
 has used it, I am certain of it. There is the 
 utmost prayer I have to make of your Highness.
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 303 
 
 I shall consider your attention to it a friendly act. 
 The rest may be a matter of arrangement. If 
 terms are proposed, I will consider them — as is 
 open to me : I am by no means bound. Should 
 they approve themselves, in consideration of your 
 service performed, I shall be prepared to become 
 the friend of Mantua.' 
 
 The Cardinal bestowed the ring in his bosom. 
 ' You will be friend of both Milan and Mantua,' 
 he corrected. 
 
 ' Of Mantua, Lord Cardinal,' said Simone 
 steadily, and Nello marked that. Gonzaga 
 shrugged. 
 
 ' As you will. I cannot refuse the courtesy 
 you do my house. Now, shall we get some of 
 this into writing ? ' 
 
 ' All of it, as you choose,' said Simone, 
 holding up his head. Nello was beckoned into 
 action. 
 
 The youth advanced with his portfolio to the 
 table, and sat mending the head of a pen, ready 
 with a cool head, though his heart was on fire. 
 Boyish, or even girlish, as he looked beside these 
 two, with his face like a flower and his head in a 
 cloud of gold, the slim and buoyant creature was 
 as tense as a bowstring, and could have strangled
 
 304 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 Simone by the mere strength of his hatred. 
 Hatred ! The word is thin, and what it implies 
 was worn thin. He had hated him once for 
 what he had done — his detestable, cold murder- 
 ing ; now he loathed him for what he was and 
 stood to be, as one abhors a dusty snake. A 
 snake he thought him, rather than a dog — flat- 
 headed, slit-eyed, adust, staring into stupor a 
 girl with the neck and breast of a dove. La 
 Colombina — poor dove, indeed, under this freezing 
 spell ! If Nello could have killed anything born, 
 he could have killed Simone, and gone singing to 
 Hell for it. Beside him, in his Cardinal, he saw 
 an amateur of policy, who could admire the 
 intricate interworkings of brain and brain, and 
 delight in the force of villain as well as hero. 
 This was, he would argue, a lawful state of the 
 soul. And indeed the greater strength and longer 
 calculation of this fine Gonzaga had been admirably 
 displayed. But he was too righteously shocked 
 with the Condottier to be obsequious. While he 
 was waiting for the word — his pen adjusted — he 
 looked at him with grave, undisguised rebuke. 
 Simone's scornful eyelids were intolerable ; Nello's 
 not once blinked before them. In fact he looked 
 too shrewdly and too long to please the other.
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 305 
 
 'You should know me by now, Master 
 Scribe,' said Simone with a scowl. 
 
 ' Not yet, not yet,' Nello replied. 
 
 ' You shall know this much of me at once, 
 that this is not a cabinet of curiosities, nor I here 
 to be valued.' 
 
 NeJlo looked to his paper, 'So much,' he 
 said, 'you have demonstrated.' No more was 
 said between them. 
 
 Many and diverse were the comments of 
 Cardinal Gonzaga as, with Nello by his side, he 
 pursued the road to Milan. He congratulated 
 his secretary highly upon his remarkable prescience. 
 
 * To have touched the soft spot in that steel- 
 trap before you set eyes on him ! ' he crowed. 
 
 * Confess now, my Nello, that I know something 
 of men. That was a happy day for me when 
 you went into the Gabbia. Mehercle ! but you 
 read your Simone like a church-book. Now we 
 must see what you can do with women. My 
 notion is that Monna Colombina will receive her 
 token with mixed feelings. It is not every young 
 woman who would wish to be fuel to such a 
 roaring fire as our friend there.' 
 
 ' Our knowledge of women,' said Nello, 
 sententiously, ' is apt to be prejudiced by our
 
 3o6 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 desire to know them. The fancy imposes a 
 portrait beforehand, from which it does not 
 wilHngly depart. I feel very sure what sort of a 
 lady we shall find La Colombina to be, and for 
 that reason beg you not to prove me.' 
 
 He had indeed made a picture for himself. 
 * Very young — rather pale — partaking the nature 
 of a dove.' A fair thought — a fair soul in a 
 delicate body — and, O God, under the paw of the 
 Black Dog ! ' Here,' he considered, ' are the 
 elements of a tragic scene, which I pray Heaven 
 may not move across my vision. Love might 
 ruin me,' And with all his horror and hatred of 
 Simone, he was forced to allow a sense of reality 
 in the fierce youth. The man knew what he 
 wanted and how to get it. 
 
 Busy as he was, forecasting and reflecting, he 
 found time to answer a letter which he received 
 at Treviglio from La Pernetta. The penitent 
 fair also, it seemed, knew what she wanted ; she 
 wrote in an ecstasy of renunciation : — 
 
 * Excellent Messer Nello, my unique tutor,' she said, 
 ' I let you have this news of me because I desire you to 
 praise me. I have wrung the necks of my parrots, and 
 sold my black slave-boy TofFolo. I go to Mass every 
 day and fast three days in the week. I have begun the 
 study of Latin, and find it most severe. These things
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 307 
 
 I do that I may attain to some power over myself, hoping 
 that I may find approval in your eyes. I am well in 
 health, and keep no company. I drink only water. It 
 was truly said by you that the pleasures of denial are 
 more curiously sweet than those of gratification. I am 
 often hungry, but get happy dreams thereby. I kiss 
 your hands. La Pernetta.' 
 
 To this he replied very shortly : — 
 
 'Madonna, I rejoice in your account of yourself. 
 Socrates sacrificed a cock to i^sculapius, you parrots — to 
 the same end. Yet I would warn you against enthu- 
 siasm. It is better to feast upon dainties than to grow 
 lean on visions. It is not well to neglect the care of the 
 body, for that is a temple made by the hands of God, 
 and always fair whether it enshrine a saint or a demon. 
 Beware of exaltation. As to water-drinking, Epictetus 
 says it is not matter for self-flattery. Do it, saith he, 
 unto yourself, and not unto the world. " And do not," 
 he adds, " embrace the statues ; but some time, when you 
 are exceedingly thirsty, take a mouthful of cold water, 
 and spit it out, and say nothing about it." 
 
 'Madonna, keep your health and the remembrance of 
 my desire to serve you. 
 
 ' Angelus D£ Angelis. Secretarius.' 
 
 IX. The Passionate Quest 
 
 True to his conceptions of himself as a states- 
 man, it was no emblazoned captain of armed men
 
 3o8 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 who entered the Porta Venezia of Milan that hour 
 before noon, but a vested Cardinal- Legate in cope 
 and mitre, borne in a great swaying chair, with 
 cross-bearer and singing men, with hat-bearer and 
 ring-bearer, with torches and silver trumpets — 
 with all the sanction of the Vatican on his sur- 
 roundings, and all the rune of the Gospel graven 
 on his abstracted face. Cardinal Guido, indeed, 
 as he fully intended, looked superb ; strong as a 
 saint and impassive as an image of Caesar. Sforza 
 on horseback with his suite, in gilded armour, the 
 ducal sword erect before him, found a stiffer than 
 himself in this vacant-eyed effigy, who blessed the 
 people as he swayed above them, and passing the 
 Duke without a sign, and the balconied ladies 
 without a hint of knowledge, was carried forward 
 to the steps of the Cathedral, and received there, 
 still sitting enthroned, the homage of the Arch- 
 bishop and the Chapter. It was most impressive, 
 and most politic, but it had been learned on the 
 journey. Just as in little Cittadella the tyrant of 
 the town had kept the Prince of Mantua waiting, 
 so now Cardinal Gonzaga, in towered Milan, taught 
 Duke Francesco Sforza his place. Nello smiled to 
 know it. 
 
 ' Policy, policy ! ' he said to himself, chuckling ;
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 309 
 
 * but my master is a greater man than I thought 
 him, since he is not above learning a lesson from 
 the very man whom he has recently taught one. 
 Now which of these flowering bosoms, I wonder, 
 holds the Columbine heart ? ' If the Cardinal saw 
 no ladies, Nello saw many. They were all beautiful 
 — so much so that he swore them all virtuous. 
 From one glancing head to another his eye roved 
 for what he had pictured La Colombina to be. In 
 front, upon a draped tribune, were the princesses 
 of the house of Sforza with their mother, or her 
 who stood for such — fine, bold-eyed ladies, Ippolita, 
 Polissena, Maddalena, Anna : behind were the 
 maids of honour, ranked like angels in a fresco of 
 Paradise. ' Very young, rather pale, partaking the 
 nature of a dove ' — he sought among these beauties 
 to fulfil his words. Whose was that dividing 
 curtain of dark hair ? Whose the moonlit brow 
 it draped ^ He may just have had a glimpse of 
 Emilia Fiordispina, but nothing to what she had 
 of him, * There rides a beautiful person,' said one 
 of her mates with a nudge ; ' look, look, Nina. 
 One pace behind the litter — all black with a golden 
 head.' 
 
 'He is lovely — but not all black. Sec his 
 scarlet garter. Who should he be .'' A nephew .'' '
 
 310 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 ' No, no — not he. If he were nephew he would 
 be before the chair. 'Tis a secretary — that is his 
 livery. He is a servant of the household.' 
 
 ' Maybe, Isotta. But I am sure he is wise.' 
 
 ' It will be for you to be wise, child,' said Isotta, 
 ' for it is certain he looked only at you.' For 
 answer Emilia pinched her friend's finger. 
 
 After high mass was done, sitting on a throne 
 in the Chapter House, the Cardinal received the 
 Duke of Milan. Sforza, grinning fearfully, came 
 limping in between two of his gentlemen, the 
 whole force of his brocaded court, chamberlains, 
 chancellors, secretaries, poets, esquires, historio- 
 graphers, soothsayers, Latin orators, behind him. 
 Nello had never seen his patron so monumental as 
 when Sforza, old, sanguine, hacked by battle, 
 crept painfully up the degrees of the throne, and, 
 looking as if he could mangle it, kissed the sacred 
 ring. Gonzaga spared him nothing, pitied nothing 
 in him. Neither his gout, at its worst that day, 
 nor his rank, nor the villainies he had done, nor 
 those he had power to do, saved him one wriggle 
 up the steps, one inch of reverence. So with the 
 others ; all proud heads must stoop, all stifF knees 
 be bent. Galeazzo Maria, the heir, a splendid 
 youth, black and white, slim, straight, carven —
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 311 
 
 down he must go ; Lodovico, the blonde prince, 
 Ascanio ; the bastards — Don Hermes, Don Tristan, 
 Don Dioneo : all Milan must abase itself, for 
 the Cardinal played out the game. ' Zeus the 
 Olympian, the lightnings bundled in his hand,' 
 thought Nello, admiring. 
 
 After the men, and after a banquet at the 
 Castle, it was the ladies' turn. The household of 
 the Duchess received all the benevolence and more 
 than the scrutiny which they looked for. The 
 Duchess Bianca was a stately and handsome woman, 
 in a fierce snow-and-fire sort ; her excellence was 
 known, and her Visconti lineage. The Cardinal, 
 after her obeisance, raised her up and saluted her 
 forehead in a brotherly fashion. He patted Donna 
 Ippolita's head ; Donna Maddalena he touched 
 on the chin, Donna Polissena on the cheek. 
 Last came the ladies of the household — half-a- 
 dozen in a row — to kneel for his blessing. La 
 Colombina must be here, the pledged bride of the 
 Black Dog of Cittadella, the dove cowering before 
 the snake's cold eye. 
 
 The Cardinal's heavy gaze lurched over their 
 ranked, obsequious heads, wandered to their young 
 bosoms, their folded hands. Nello's bright glances 
 were untiringly there, casting far and wide. ' Very
 
 312 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 young, rather pale, partaking the nature of a dove.' 
 The elements pleased him ; the picture he had 
 made from them pleased him more. Now he 
 would see if he was not right. 
 
 At the extreme left knelt Isotta de' Nervi, black- 
 haired, small-headed, very pale, in a straight robe 
 of black with gold threads, an under-dress of red. 
 She knelt stiffly and looked straight before her. 
 ' Young enough, too pale, more hawk than dove,' 
 said Nello, Alessandra Ciappelletti, a Veronese 
 lady, was next — colour of Venice, opal-pink, golden 
 and white, sumptuous and confident. ' An im- 
 possible victim of Simone.' Francesca del Vescovo, 
 like a cHnging silver reed, thin and swaying, what 
 of her .? ' I reserve her,' said Nello, ' though 
 against my better judgment. Whom have we 
 here.^' A maid, with a bent -down head, and 
 hands folded at her neck, came next. Her lips 
 were pale, but a smile just touched and seemed to 
 tinge them, as the sun warms with colour a wintry 
 landscape. ' A little nun } A nun in Carnival, 
 pleased and scared, wary and hardy at once ? A nun 
 in green, with rose-tipt daisies strewn about her ! 
 She smiles askance. Why.? Timidity.? Partly. 
 Mischief, malice ? Partly these ; for her danger 
 may teach her to be dangerous. She is pale,
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 313 
 
 smooth, her neck astonishingly white ; she hath 
 deep grey eyes ! Demure, secret, meek, kind as 
 the earth. Why do you look so wistfully at me, 
 little lady ? Do you know that I have conversed 
 with you already — in dreams ? Do you carry your 
 fate in your face ? Are you dedicated, set apart, 
 afraid? Very young, rather pale, — and, by Heaven, 
 she wears a columbine in her breast ! You are she ! 
 you are she ! ' He had no thought, no eyes left, 
 but for her. 
 
 The Cardinal, after his benediction, gave his 
 more worldly salutation. He held the hand of 
 Isotta, kissed the cheek of Alessandra, took Emilia 
 by the chin, and because she looked down, held 
 her head up that she might be seen. ' To one of 
 you fair maids,' he said, as he held her, ' I have a 
 message. Which of you is called Madonna Emilia.^ ' 
 The tremor of what he held in his hand warned 
 him. ' Oho ! ' said he, ' I have you, Mistress 
 Emilia, eh ? ' 
 
 ' Yes, your Eminence, indeed,' says La Colom- 
 bina. The others looked sideways at this play. 
 
 ' There is time enough for message and 
 messenger, my child,' said the great man. ' All I 
 hear of you is good.' He stooped his great head 
 and kissed her on each cheek. ' One for myself
 
 314 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 and one for a friend of ours,' he added, to her 
 extreme confusion. Nello watched him as a cat a 
 mouse. ' The bird in the net of the fowler. Here 
 is a more redoubtable hunter than Simone.' He 
 felt that he might grow to hate his master. Was 
 he jealous then ? Detestable fact. 
 
 Soon after this the reception was over. The 
 Cardinal went away to his lodging and his 
 correspondence ; but he trifled with it, against his 
 custom — looked out of window, had out his 
 jewellery-boxes, turned over cameos and gems — by 
 and by produced Simone's token. ' Here is a re- 
 minder of an absurd errand of ours, less poignant 
 than that which we have had already,' he said. 
 ' Simone's little mistress has a haunting face — it 
 nauseates me to think of him with her. What 
 mystery in those judging eyes ! For his brute- 
 staring to explore ! What touch of demure 
 mockery in those frail lips ! As if she could 
 smile at the gross follies of men while she bled 
 for them. Such things Hft her out of the 
 category of silken flesh and rounded limbs, 
 my Nello. Women have few charms for me in 
 these days ; but that sleek and furtive beauty 
 moved me strangely. I must see her again — 
 certainly I must see her again.' He fell into a
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 315 
 
 fit of musing, as he sat there by his window, the 
 huge, appetent man, fingering the thin gold ring. 
 Here, thought Nello with a wry face, was a 
 monstrous big dog in full cry. What disconcerted 
 him precisely was that the very thoughts of the 
 Cardinal were his own. Pity for the flying prey 
 swallowed up his disgust, and made his growing 
 love — like any carnal dealing with such a filamental 
 thing — seem profane. To pursue in any manner, 
 even the gentlest, a creature so recluse seemed to 
 him a brutality. What was he then, but another 
 dog in running — a third hound in the Love Chase ? 
 
 Vitas hinnuleo me similis, Chloe — 
 
 Alas, alas ! 
 
 He viewed his own state, too, with profound 
 dismay. It disturbed all his plans, upset his 
 theories, made his stoicism ridiculous. But he 
 could not help it. He now loved this exquisite, 
 elfin, hunted creature — claimed by Simone, pondered 
 by the thick Gonzaga : yes, yes, he too desired her. 
 Not Epictetus himself, had he been raised from 
 the dead, could keep him from haunting Emilia 
 Fiordispina. And yet, and yet — there were a 
 hundred women more beautiful than she — and not 
 one of them fit to kneel before her. The rose
 
 3i6 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 and gold, the black and silver, the reedy, the 
 voluptuous, the sprightly, the pensive — not one of 
 them availed beside La Colombina, who went so 
 secretly, smiling to herself, who said so little and 
 judged men out of her grey eyes, and was under 
 the paw of the Black Dog, and now overshadowed 
 by the huge Molossian hound. Love, pity, intense 
 curiosity ached in his bones. He groaned to 
 know it, but could not move. 
 
 But it may be guessed what a fine tumult raged 
 in the maids' bosoms that day, and not in theirs 
 alone ; it stirred the ladies of the house of Sforza. 
 The Duchess spoke of it, spoke to the girl herself. 
 ' It seems,' she said, ' that you have attracted the 
 Cardinal's attention, child. Let me advise you 
 not to count upon it. These great gentlemen, 
 after dining, feel benevolent, and are easily induced 
 to acts of generosity which the morning's reflection 
 dispels. I have noticed, my child, that you have 
 the power of attraction — you meek women can do 
 that. I shall be the first to congratulate you upon 
 any real mark of favour, depend upon it. Now, 
 go to bed, my dear, and don't forget your 
 prayers.' 
 
 Emilia curtsied, kissed hands, and withdrew. 
 Isotta de' Nervi looked wisely at Sigismunda.
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 317 
 
 Francesca del Vescovo whispered in Alessandra's 
 ear. They grew very respectful to their mate — 
 the observed of an Eminence ! But Emilia took 
 the episode with great humility. She had not 
 lived at the Court of Milan four years without 
 learning something. 
 
 X. Angelic Salutation 
 
 The usher at the door of the Duchess's side told 
 Nello that Donna Emilia was not on duty at that 
 hour. It was time of siesta. * That young and 
 pretty lady, sir, loves to sleep out of doors,' said 
 the usher, ' and I understand the passion. Very 
 well I remember that when I came up from the 
 country — myself am from Battaglia among the 
 hills — I was always for running out of house to 
 snuff the air. I used to weep at the sight of the 
 mountains in those young days, sir : a trickle of 
 tears, indeed ! Milan seemed to me a prison, a 
 great maze of brick. Now I'm a fireside cat — 
 you'd never guess me a mouser. Well, well, the 
 city drains the country blood out of us soon or 
 late. In the garden, sir, you'll find her. Try the 
 long walk where the naked ladies, whom they call 
 the Graces, are. Graces enough, and no fear of
 
 31 8 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 displaying them, in their ladyships. My old 
 mother would have had smocks on them the first 
 night — but a week of Milan changes all that. 
 Hey ! what's a little nudity hereabouts ^ A 
 thousand thanks, sir, your servant, I salute you.' 
 
 Nello had come, on his own initiative, to deliver 
 to Emilia the badge of her servitude ; but he had 
 not come ingenuously, but, rather, under the spur 
 of his own desire. That could not be justified, he 
 knew in his heart, though with his head he juggled 
 himself into some sort of assurance that it could. 
 The Cardinal, engrossed in affairs of State — which 
 were not going too well — had forgotten the ring, 
 the ringer, and the ringed, and had given over the 
 business to his secretary with a ' Va via ! Get it 
 done with, and come back to me.' Nello had gone 
 out to find her, treading on air. 
 
 He had seen her, on some pretext or another, 
 every day, and had fallen irrevocably in love with 
 the Betrothed of the Black Dog. He fortified him- 
 self with sophisms ; he was not a humanist for 
 nothing. He told himself that from that moment 
 of horror when the wretch, new from his shambles, 
 had revealed her, he, Nello, had been her slave. A 
 passion of pity, a passionate foresight of the bound 
 victim — this white Iphigenia, ' very young, rather
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 319 
 
 pale ' ; a passionate certainty, when he saw her in 
 the kneeling row of maids ; add her mystery, her 
 nunlike charm, and he was at her feet. He adored 
 her mutely for a week, feeding upon chance 
 glimpses of her here and there. He bathed in her 
 light, drank thirstily of the air about her. He 
 knelt in the same church, or chapel of a church, 
 went to the Porta Giovia, on one shift or another, 
 a dozen times a day ; and when he was blessed, he 
 went again — and when he was not blessed, he went 
 again. He passed her in the crowded streets, and 
 stood bareheaded till she was by, he jostled in the 
 pack about the litters when the Duchess and her 
 ladies were to take the air. He did his business in 
 a dream. Emilia bent her head over his pillow as 
 he closed his eyes ; between sleep and waking in 
 the mornings he saw her shy and smiling there. 
 He was Endymion, she the white Goddess of the 
 Moon ; once he dreamed that she stooped and 
 kissed him. Awaking with a cry, he saw the 
 young moon clear beyond the window. An 
 omen ! He had been on Latmos. 
 
 Here is enough to account for his errand ; for 
 mortal man cannot feed for ever on dreams, nor is 
 sight enough for him. A craving to be nearer, to 
 make her look at him, to make her conscious of
 
 320 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 his love, to make her speak ; the knowledge that 
 he could, that the power was his ; the temptation, 
 crawling and deadly, to make his power felt — why, 
 by one word of Simone he could make her catch 
 her breath, tremble, go white ; and by another, 
 spoken from his knees, he could comfort her ! 
 He fought, but could not resist. Here was 
 something stronger than himself, under which a 
 man the most humane may be turned into a wolf. 
 He pondered, he prayed, he longed, he trembled — 
 and he fell. The Cardinal gave over to him ring 
 and message. Emilia, poor bird, was under his 
 net. 
 
 The gardens of the Palazzo Porta Giovia were 
 very extensive. Terrace spread beyond terrace ; 
 vista opened upon vista of white statues, balus- 
 trades, trees trimmed, garlanded pillars — a wonder- 
 ful order. By broad steps you descended through 
 all this ranked pomp of marble and leafage to the 
 green grass alleys hedged with cypress ; half-a- 
 dozen of these, like rays of a semicircle, drew the 
 eye to a distant point — a focus of all the garden's 
 wonder, the pride of all Milan, a group of the 
 Three Graces intertwined, supposed by Praxiteles. 
 There was deep shade at that place, a little grove 
 of pines, a fountain, tall grass. There Nello found
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 321 
 
 Emilia, pillowing her cheek upon her arm, coiled 
 and asleep. 
 
 He stood, tiptoe and breathless, to look at her. 
 He was not as yet so much in love with the image 
 he had fashioned out of her and her pitifulness that 
 he could not admire her for what she was. In 
 sleep the simple thing you are or may be, the 
 child, the savage, or the beast, comes out and sits 
 upon your quiet brows, and looks about him. The 
 cage door is open, the keepers are away : out he 
 comes ; you may see him if you watch. The child 
 within Emilia sat now full-faced, without fear, for 
 Nello to wonder at. All her defences were down, 
 all the little makeshifts of her daily life, which he 
 found so pathetic, and loved because he pitied — 
 the anxious lift of the eyelids at some strange 
 advance, the quick response of the brows, the 
 fixed smile on the lips, which commits you to 
 nothing, — smoothed away now by sleep's soft 
 palms. If she dreamed it was of comfortable 
 things ; full and even came her breath ; still her 
 hands lay ; her brows were not written, her lips 
 were unlocked. Nello sighed as he looked. 'Cruel 
 fate that makes me a messenger to this lovely 
 thing ! Cruel fite that denies me the right to 
 guard this opening rose ! '
 
 32 2 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 He felt so wicked — here on so vile an errand — 
 that by comparison the proffer of his own love as 
 a protection against Simone's seemed to him the 
 act of a hero. A traitor ? Yes, but to Simone, 
 who himself was a traitor broadcast. How many 
 hearths were staring under that dastard's stroke, 
 how many souls adrift, how many fiends abroad ^ 
 Was such a wretch then to mar and mangle at his 
 will ? His scythe was dripping with the blood of 
 boys, women, children at the breast. Insatiable — 
 like the Minotaur — he fed upon the flesh of virgins. 
 Well, here was Nello ready to be Theseus. He 
 told himself that he had done ill, but that now he 
 was to be redeemed. His eyes, on their lift to 
 heaven with this boast, caught sight of the Graces, 
 the three white women enlaced, pure as the marble 
 in which they lived. In his fancy he saw in them 
 the threefold soul of Emilia escaped from her 
 sleeping body. He could speak to them freely. 
 
 He stood before them with stretched-out arms, 
 like a young Adorante at his service, and began his 
 prayer. 
 
 ' Pious ladies,' said he, softly, ' made in the 
 image of the tender thought of God, Thaleia, 
 Aglaia, Euphrosyne, hear me when I cry. In 
 secret come ye forth from your fair, discarded
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 323 
 
 house, and in this marble dwell ; but I come 
 praying while she sleeps, that not for long ye shall 
 depart from her, but rather abide to be at once 
 her justification and her shield. For ye are her 
 soul, O women ; and without you, what is she ? 
 A shell for music, a soft casket whence the jewel 
 has been ravished. Nay, since I do indeed believe 
 that the soul is true Form, without you she is less 
 than this. Alas ! she is but the pretty matrix, the 
 gem for the graver. It is ye, it is ye that are the 
 true seal ; it is ye that are the young, the holy, 
 the dawn-hued, pious Emilia. To whom, O soul 
 of Emilia, I devote all I know, can learn, hope, or 
 believe, to protect, to comfort, cherish, and defend 
 against the fret and clamour of the world.' He 
 thrust forth his arms in an ecstasy ; his voice 
 took ardour, thrilled, pierced, and awoke Emilia. 
 When he turned, glowing with devotion, he saw 
 her wondering gaze. Still flushed with sleep, the 
 child not yet dethroned, she lay prone, her face 
 between her hands, and looked at him. 
 
 * Are you an angel ? ' she asked him, as if she 
 dreamed still. The sunny golden cloud of his hair, 
 his rosy face, and slim lines may have deceived her. 
 But Nello dared not play the god. An angel ! 
 A messenger ! Alas, what a message was his !
 
 324 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 ' Madonna, I am Nello Nelli, a young man of 
 Venice. No angels do my work — I serve the 
 Cardinal of Mantua.' 
 
 ' The Venetians are beautiful persons,' Emilia 
 pursued her thoughts : the gloss of sleep was still 
 upon her eyes, and her voice was languid with 
 sleep. ' They say that gold hair means the sun at 
 birth.' 
 
 ' It is the Moon that shines upon me now,' 
 replied Nello, * and turns me to holy desires. 
 That is the holy season, when the moon rides lonely 
 in the sky, frosty, pure, calm as the spaces she 
 inhabits, and sheds a chaste benediction on all 
 burning foreheads upon earth.' 
 
 Emilia shut her eyes, and sighed. ' The thought 
 is good. But such an estate is not for us.' 
 
 ' It is for me — it strengthens me and makes me 
 wise.' 
 
 Emilia sat up and laughed softly. Acquaintance 
 with an angel seemed easy on these terms. She 
 leaned back on her hand, and smoothed her hair 
 with the other. ' I have had those thoughts 
 myself,' she said, ' but not here. Long ago — in 
 my home — I had them. That place lies by 
 Garda, and at night the moon rises from behind 
 the mountains and sails slowly above the lake.
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 325 
 
 It is impossible to be wicked on such nights ; there 
 is no such thing as wickedness. But here in 
 Milan — the moon is yellow and hot.' She sighed, 
 and looked older. ' The nights are more wicked 
 than the days.' 
 
 Nello took two steps and cleared the distance 
 between them. He now stood over her. ' Wicked- 
 ness is rife in the world,' he said, his voice tremb- 
 ling, ' but not for you ! Thou shalt tread upon 
 the lion and adder ; the young lion and the 
 dragon shalt thou tread under thy feet. Because 
 He has set his love ' 
 
 She did not look up ; he was too near. ' I try 
 to be good,' she said, ' but in Milan ' 
 
 ' There is no goodness under the sky if you are 
 not good ' ; his voice shook. 
 
 Sleek, she crouched under the caress of his 
 words. 
 
 ' Why do you say that ? You know me not.' 
 
 ' Yes, yes, I know you. I have known you 
 since — ah, a long time ! ' 
 
 She was puzzled. ' You know nic ! But 
 how ' 
 
 ' By heart,' said Nello, ' in the heart, and 
 through the heart. You are very young.' She 
 nodded her head.
 
 326 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 ' Rather pale ' — she smiled ; but at that moment 
 she was not at her palest. 
 
 ' And you partake of the nature of a dove.' 
 She looked quickly up. Their eyes rested long 
 together. 
 
 Gradually she grew frightened. He saw her 
 pupils dilate ; he saw her call up her reserves, 
 
 ' Since you have learned so much of me — how 
 I know not — and voice me so high, I must 
 certainly tell you the truth. You think me very 
 good ; perhaps I was so once. But I have been 
 here two years. Do you know Milan? There 
 is no time to think in Milan, There is no time 
 to pray. Ah ! ' she broke off suddenly, with a 
 strange look of concern, as if she had betrayed a 
 secret — ' ah, I am not good now to be telling you 
 this.' 
 
 Nello was quick at all points — quick to under- 
 stand, to feel, and to resolve. As her poor tongue 
 had hovered over the secret sins of Milan he had 
 changed the direction of all his desire. Compared 
 to this hotbed of a city — its staring suns and 
 yellow moons — wedlock with Simone, the love 
 and the arms of that ruffian seemed to him a 
 haven for La Colombina. For what was he — 
 poor hireling — to save her from storm and wreck ?
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 327 
 
 Alas ! a swirling straw. But he could lead her 
 to a rock. And what was he, poor hireling, but 
 a pufF of idle wind } So be it, but he could bring 
 her to a steady stream. Yes, yes, Milan was a 
 worse fate for the white dove than Simone at 
 Cittadella. 
 
 He said, then, deliberately : ' You are more 
 good. Madonna, than you can believe, since you 
 are able, of your mere motion, to turn men's 
 thoughts towards the good. One such man is 
 known to me — another such am I. When I came 
 upon you sleeping, and saw that only then were 
 you at peace, I learned all that I dreaded, and 
 knew what I must do. Other hopes, other 
 resolves had I — but now have only one. Many 
 and splendid dreams were mine, but I have put 
 them all away. You are in danger here — you 
 have said it, but I knew it long before. Well, I 
 have the means to safeguard you, here with me. 
 Listen.' 
 
 She rose to her feet and stood before him, 
 searching his face, waiting upon his words. 
 
 * My master, the Cardinal, and I were at Citta- 
 della before we turned our faces to Milan. Do 
 you know anything of Cittadella ?' She shook her 
 head. 'Nothing.'
 
 328 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 ' When there we received in charge a certain 
 token — for you.' 
 
 * A token — for me ? ' 
 
 He held out betwixt finger and thumb the 
 little ring. The lace ruffles at his wrist almost 
 covered his hand. 
 
 ' This is the token.' He waited for the warm 
 flood of colour, the tell-tale blood, rapturous 
 recognition. He was prepared to hold her as she 
 fell. No such thing. Emilia stared vacantly at 
 the jewel. 
 
 ' I know nothing of this,' she said in a dry 
 voice. ' Who gave it .'' Who sent it ^ ' 
 
 ' I shall repeat you the words which destined 
 it for you. "It is," said the giver, "for La 
 Colombina — for remembrance." ' 
 
 Now she put her hand to her side, she gave 
 back a little, she put her hands behind her. ' Ah,' 
 she said, ' now I know. What shall I do ,? ' 
 
 ' To La Colombina,' repeated Nello, looking 
 fixedly at the grey of her cheek — ' for remem- 
 brance — from him who only knows that name ' ; 
 and Emilia began to wring her little hands. 
 
 ' Oh, oh ! ' she said, ' he has never forgotten — 
 he could never forget ! He requires so much — 
 he will kill me ! ' She strained her head back — he
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 329 
 
 thought now that she would fall, and was shocked 
 at what he had done. His wits had betrayed 
 him, and again his passion veered like a weather- 
 cock. 
 
 ' Let it never be given,' he said, ' let the fault 
 be mine — let the vengeance fall on me.' He 
 look round for a bog or bottomless morass : the 
 garden did not supply one ; but then Emilia 
 turned about. 
 
 ' Shall I be serpent instead of dove — and you 
 make me so ? Give me the ring. It is mine, and 
 I must wear it.' 
 
 She held out her left hand, the third finger 
 separate and stiff. ' Put the ring on, if you 
 please.' But as Nello obeyed her, her large tears 
 collected, brimmed over, and trickled down her 
 cheeks. This silent witness of self-pity moved 
 Nello oddly, not to pity her in his turn, but to 
 harden him against so dangerous a generosity, to 
 hector her rather. The prig in man is, after all, 
 the quickliest moved. There she stood, melting 
 before him ; and he, wise fool, could do no better 
 than work ardently for the man whom, of all 
 men, he loathed. 
 
 ' It is not for me to say that you arc wise or 
 unwise ; but I may praise your nobility, I hope.
 
 330 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 I know not what right Messer Simone had to claim 
 your loyalty — —'' 
 
 Here she looked very wistful as she considered 
 her case, and his putting of it, and Nello felt proud 
 of himself. He had given great measure to his 
 enemy — that butcher Simone — and he had made 
 this lovely creature think. To make a maid of 
 honour think in Milan appeared to him to be 
 something. But he was not prepared for the set- 
 back which she was to give him. She had the 
 knack, among others, of extremely simple utter- 
 ance, and by the very directness of her attack could 
 disarm you. 
 
 ' It is easy to answer you. He was my lover 
 long ago. I was twelve years old.' 
 
 He was staggered. ' Twelve, Madonna ! 
 Twelve years old ! ' She affirmed with the 
 eyes. 
 
 ' O Heaven ! And he ^ ' She shrugged — 
 
 she looked very desolate. 
 
 ' He was older, of course, and very big. My 
 head was here.' She touched her bosom with her 
 finger, and let her hand drop again, a dead weight. 
 The stormy picture which Nello instantly made 
 shocked him to the soul. He shivered — round 
 backed his desire to full, warm south. Emilia,
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 331 
 
 who had been watching him without his knowledge, 
 continued her dreary confession. 
 
 XI. Emilia's Way 
 
 She said, with eagerness strangely in leash, 
 ' You will not misjudge me, I hope. I was very 
 young — but a promise is a sacred thing. I loved 
 him — or thought that I did. But do not mis- 
 judge Simone either. No, no ! ' She put her 
 finger up to check Nello's budding eloquence. ' It 
 is easy to misjudge Simone, but I cannot allow it. 
 He is good,' Nello was crimson. 
 
 ' He is not good, by the King of kings ! He 
 is vile and horrible — cruel as death. I have seen 
 
 him ah ! I cannot say what I have seen. He 
 
 will kill you.' 
 
 ' He will kill me,' said Emilia, ' if I am not 
 faithful.' 
 
 Nello went mad. He took the girl's two 
 
 hands She would not look at him, but made no 
 
 resistance. He held them, and drew her nearer. 
 
 ' Madonna,' he said, ' I am nothing to you ; 
 but to me you are everything which a woman 
 
 should be ' She framed 'Oh, no!' with her 
 
 shocked lips, but neither looked nor drew away.
 
 332 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 * Everything,' he repeated, ' which a woman should 
 be. You are holy, you are sublime, you are the 
 soul of honour. As a mercy to me, wear not this 
 ring of Simone's until such time as he shall prove 
 his right to ask it by better title than the terrors 
 of a child. Will you do this ? You will ? Ah, 
 but you will ! ' He drew the ring off her finger 
 and put it in his bosom. He kissed the freed 
 hand, then the other. He was trembling, love 
 was his master ; he knew not what he did 
 
 * Madonna Nina,' cried a boyish voice behind 
 the girl. 
 
 * Death and the Devil ! ' said Nello. 
 
 They were broken in upon by an eager-faced 
 page, who, pelting down the garden, had pulled 
 up short when he was upon his quarry. 
 
 ' Forgive me, Madonna Nina ; forgive me, 
 Signore. Madonna, you are summoned, the 
 Duchess has called for you twice.' He had barely 
 time to bow his little person away before Emilia 
 had composed her own. A very altered, wise, 
 and circumspect young lady turned to face her 
 flushed adorer. 
 
 ' Signor Nello,' she said sedately, ' I have been 
 talking foolishly, but I was startled for the 
 moment. I hope that you will understand that.
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 333 
 
 You have been most kind to me, but I must not 
 trouble you any more. I think that you have my 
 ring. Will you give it to me ? ' 
 
 * I will give it to you, Madonna,' said Nello, 
 'on condition that you do not wear it. I have 
 a reason for asking what you may think an 
 extraordinary request.* 
 
 ' What is your reason, sir .'' ' 
 
 ' I will tell you when we have more leisure. 
 It will approve itself to your judgment and 
 clemency at once. It is highly reasonable.' 
 
 They were ascending a broad flight of steps ; 
 at the top they paused. ' We should not go any 
 farther together,' said she. 
 
 He protested, but could not move her. He 
 plunged into nonsense, and made her smile, but 
 she did not advance. ' We are children with a 
 bogey between us,' says he, ' which we dare not 
 so much as name. Let us be bolder — come. 
 Tell me what bogey prevents my walking with 
 you, and I will tell you who it is that drives me 
 to insist.' She started and turned pale. ' Look, 
 look ! ' she said. He followed her direction, and 
 there was a bogey indeed. Cardinal Gonzaga 
 stood smiling, vast and benevolent, peering upon 
 them out of narrowed eyes.
 
 334 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 Nello, sober in a moment, dropped upon his 
 knee ; Emilia took to both of hers. The Cardinal 
 advanced. 
 
 ' Charming little lady,' he said, ' happily met ! 
 If my young friend lingers in his farewells it is 
 no wonder. I should have been tempted myself. 
 Rise, rise, and come to me.' Faltering she came 
 and kissed his ring. He patted her cheek and 
 put his hand on her shoulder, which drooped to 
 receive it. 
 
 ' I sent Master Nello out to you upon a little 
 errand, which I have no doubt is performed. Is 
 it so, Madonna Emilia } ' 
 
 She met his blinking gaze with a faint colour, 
 a curtsey, a bent head. He almost embraced her 
 with his arm. ' Strange, indeed,' he said, * that 
 so young and gentle a lady should be a counter 
 in the rough games of states — ^yet so it is. 
 There is a price upon that pretty head — a great 
 price. Do you know what it is ? It is Mantua, 
 it is Milan, it is the glory of Venice. Are you 
 prepared for this fine marketing ? ' She murmured 
 some inaudible words, while Nello bit his lips. 
 
 ' Our friend out yonder,' said the Cardinal, 
 and waved his hand greatly to the east, ' is 
 vehement in many things, as swift as a dry wind.
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 335 
 
 By the splendour of God, but he is ! I have 
 not emulated him there, my child ; I have not 
 been so eager to do his errand as he is showing 
 himself in the doing of mine. You shall forgive 
 a vexed statesman, who is, nevertheless, sincerely 
 your friend. But now listen to this of our keen 
 Simone. He has lost no time. He has surprised 
 the Venetians in a wood near Padua ; cut van 
 from rear. The former he killed to a man, and 
 the latter pursued with such incredible swiftness 
 that he was upon them — his butchery done — 
 before they could reach the gates. He did some 
 steel work under the very walls, and mocked 
 them rarely — with his palio for horsemen, his 
 foot-race for camp-women, and what not — and 
 drew off his men in good order, with half-a-dozen 
 gonfalons and a lion of Saint Mark for booty. 
 They tell me that he has burnt up the maize 
 fields for three leagues about Abano, and turned 
 the contado into a smoking desert. I sav nothing 
 of prisoners, since he says nothing ; but I have 
 little doubt of how he has served them. And 
 now the Republic has called in Piccinnino against 
 him, and we shall have news before long. A 
 fighter — ha ! what a lover for a pretty lady — 
 ha!'
 
 2,^6 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 The Cardinal beamed about him, shining and 
 exalted. Nello sickened, but not so much at 
 Simone as at this gross priest. He now believed the 
 worst of the Cardinal, that his eyes had been caught, 
 and that he had turned his craft towards the en- 
 trapping of Emilia for his own house. Watching 
 her by stealth, he saw that her eyes were troubled, 
 and that her lips framed unsounded words. She 
 prayed ; she was in deadly fear. 
 
 The Cardinal turned about to continue his 
 walk, so Emilia fell to Nello without further 
 demur. Each felt the nearness of the other ; there 
 was an urgency to speak, yet neither spoke. That 
 which the Cardinal stood for, that which underlay 
 every word he had said, was dreadfully present to 
 Nello ; but his tongue was tied. As for the little 
 lady, he was to learn before long that she by no 
 means told all that she thought. So it was that 
 they returned, charged, but silently, together. 
 
 Nello counted the minutes which remained to 
 him. They narrowed fearfully. He dared delay 
 no longer ; speak he must. 
 
 ' Oh, I pity you ! oh, I pity you ! ' 
 
 She shook her head, bit her lip, but said nothing. 
 He leaned to her again. ' Courage, courage ! 
 there must be a way. Ah, let me live to find it ! '
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 337 
 
 She hurried on blindly. At the foot of the last 
 flight of steps she stopped, and spoke in a quick 
 whisper. ' To-night — after vespers — remain. I 
 shall come back. I need you.' She went from 
 him swiftly. Nello walked with God. 
 
 True to her word, she did come back into the 
 chapel glooms, where Nello waited for her with 
 his beating heart, and all his philosophy in rags. 
 What she had to do with him was got by heart, 
 and done swiftly. She was muffled in a cloak, 
 came directly to him, and began to speak in a low 
 and measured voice. The church was empty but 
 for those two, and a white nun at a distant altar 
 adoring the sacrament. 
 
 ' Long ago,' thus she said, ' when I was a child, 
 and plighted to a lover, I tried to be most faithful 
 to Simone. Every night after vespers, after he 
 had left us, I lighted a candle before the Madonna 
 del Lago. I promised him that I would, and so I 
 did. Then, afterwards, for some reason, I omitted 
 it. It was long ago. I came to Milan ; there 
 were many things to do, much to take care of. 
 I forgot it. I see now that I did wickedly ; you 
 have taught me that. I am going to begin again. 
 I will light my candle and pray that I may be kept 
 for Simone. I wish you to pray with me. You
 
 338 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 must do it. I ask it of you. You know my 
 secret ; you have guessed my — my — danger. I 
 trust in you — in no one else — come ! ' 
 
 Nello was bewitched by the strange, secret girl, 
 who spoke as out of a lesson-book, but had a 
 thrill of tears within her voice. She had his hand 
 in her own, which was hot and dry ; she led him 
 away to a hidden altar, where a dim picture glowed, 
 half-revealed by a lamp and some dying lights. 
 She lit her taper by another, offered it, spiked it, 
 and knelt — Nello by her. Her head was bowed — 
 it may be questioned whether she prayed, or for 
 what. Nello had no words, but his agitation was 
 piercing. He longed for this girl's soul as he had 
 never longed for anything ; he felt that she lifted 
 him up, gave him wings which he had never 
 dreamed to have. The piety, the resignation which 
 he saw in this act of hers, made him faint with 
 rapture ; her breath, so near, all about him, the 
 soft fretting of her robe where it touched him, the 
 mystery, the silence, his beating heart, moved him 
 so much that he could not keep still. In fact, he 
 trembled, as they say, like a leaf. But whatever 
 fire had nerved her — whether love of Simone or 
 love of God — the same burned steadily to the end. 
 She was perfectly still, perfectly calm, her own
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 339 
 
 mistress — and his. The devotion done, she rose 
 and held out her hand to Nello. He could just 
 see the outline of her pale face, her serious eyes, 
 and moving lips. 
 
 ' You have made me better than I ever hoped 
 to be. Your words, your countenance, your 
 prayers, have given me great courage. Watch 
 over me, help me all you can. I mean to do well 
 — but I go in peril. Pray for me — good-night.' 
 
 He kissed a little hand, crvinor to himself that 
 it was as cold as a stone. That is as it may be. 
 Quickly she glided out and left him. 
 
 He remained motionless for a long while. ' She 
 has forgotten to take her rijig. I am done for — 
 Love is my master — she shall never have it. She 
 is adorable ; there is no woman left in the world. 
 All are in her ; she is the first and the last. Now 
 may the Gods who gave me love teach me how to 
 win her, I have never loved before.' Dust lay 
 on the Arabic grammar that night ; and had 
 Pernetta any more parrots for strangulation, she 
 would have strangled them unpraised.
 
 340 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 XII. Devotions of a Vicar 
 
 It was not without some misgivings that our 
 Nello, when his fever had had time to cool, saw 
 himself embarked upon the waters of love in 
 a skifF none too stout in the timbers ; nor did it 
 add to his contentment that his shallop, such as 
 it was, was not his own. He loved Emilia 
 Fiordispina ; but what of her ? She, if he must 
 believe her, loved duty ; and Simone stood for 
 duty. The more she clung to Nello, therefore, 
 the better seemed Simone's case ; the more Nello 
 followed her, the less his chance of outwitting 
 this distant menace, only present in himself. The 
 false position hurt his sense of dignity, and yet he 
 could not escape it. The truth may well be, also, 
 that he sighed more than once as he confessed 
 the reproaches of his books. Dust upon the fair 
 edges of his Virgil — the gift of Vittorino da 
 Feltre ; dust, alas, upon the Arabic grammar ; 
 and dim with dust looked his learned future. 
 He shook his head. ' What a scholiast is lost 
 here ! What a chair of Rhetoric is gaping for 
 me in Mantua — gaping in vain.' But the thought 
 of that head so sweetly bent over a task — the 
 thought of dire Simone, black-avised, bloody and
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 341 
 
 sudden, spurred him to the fray. He pushed 
 aside his books, huddled his notes together. The 
 day was fair ; the golden trees outside, the lazy 
 air, the humming of the bees called him. In the 
 garden he might find Emilia, or from some gallery 
 window might see her at play with her mates. 
 The spring called him, and Emilia's urgent cry 
 of the heart, ' I need you, Nello, I need you. 
 I am forgetting Simone. Come ! ' And he went. 
 Strange destiny for poet and lover — to be vicar 
 to one who was butcher and tyrant. ' I am 
 humiliated to the earth. My soul is glued to 
 the pavement. I am wretched, I despise myself 
 — she needs me : I go.' He always went. 
 
 Again, there was another thing. As we know, 
 he was nothing if not critical ; not even the 
 romantic uplifting of his heart could numb this 
 faculty of his head. But observe the curious 
 result — that his heart was now able to turn his 
 head to its service. He could not avoid criticising 
 his Colombina ; he could not but see that she 
 was dangerously attractive, nor withhold from his 
 private mind the opinion that she was not in- 
 sensible to the power she had ; but he was able, 
 by some intricate juggling of his parts, to assure 
 himself that he adored her more than ever. Her
 
 342 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 ' kindness ' was charity, her secretiveness was 
 * mystery,' her candour (for she was both secret 
 and open, as she chose) was innocence. 
 
 Her lovers, declared and undeclared, were 
 innumerable. There was not a maid at Court 
 who had half so many. Behind the Duchess's 
 chair — who whispered in her ear as he passed .'' 
 to whom did she listen with vague and wandering 
 eyes ? for whom did those sober lips part and 
 gleam ? for what, at what, did that shy smile 
 hover for a moment, and flicker and fade out ? 
 Alas, it was not for one only ! Now it was the 
 magnificent, black-and-white young lord, heir of 
 Milan, Galeazzo-Maria ; now it was Don Tristano ; 
 now Don Hermes — Sforzas all three, who fought 
 with knives for her ; now it was Messer Filelfo, 
 most unphilosophic philosopher, greasy with sin 
 and over-eating ; now it was a Pallavicini ; now a 
 Bentivoglio. There were rumours about her ; 
 it was she who made Don Galeazzo cold upon the 
 
 Mantuan marriage ; it was she , but enough 
 
 of that ! La Nina and the Cardinal — Heavens, 
 what a lover's tale ! And then the evidence of the 
 eyes — what of that? Billets were passed up 
 below the table where the maids sat dining ; 
 Nello could see them go. From lap to lap they
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 343 
 
 went — from Gismonda to Isotta, from her to 
 Bianca, to Susanna, to Violante-Maria — but on 
 La Nina's lap they rested — that was always the 
 ark of their pilgrimage ; and Nello, if he happened 
 to be present, watched that she should open and 
 declare the contents by her face. But she never 
 opened, and he swore to himself that she was 
 wise ; and his heart instructed his head to say 
 that it was for her wisdom he loved her. That 
 obsequious head of a sophist that he had ! 
 
 Sometimes he surprised her at intimate quarters 
 with some splendid youth — in the gardens — on the 
 terraces — in the great, coffered chambers. She 
 would be biting the stalk of a flower, he leaning 
 over her, pouring out a fiery stream of rhetoric. 
 She would say little, she would scarcely smile ; 
 she looked down always — listened, judged, con- 
 sidered. So the game went on. So wise a head 
 on so young and tender a body ! So wary a heart 
 to throb with blood so new ! ' Is she a miracle ? 
 Do I love a witch ? A Siren .'' Calypso, Queen 
 of Faery ? Morgan le Fay herself .'' ' he asked, but 
 could not answer himself Wonder of wonders — 
 he never reproached her ; he was entirely her 
 slave — her right hand, her conscience, she used to 
 say, when she made him help her, as she did every
 
 344 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 day. On the contrary, he accepted everything 
 that she did, and was perfectly loyal to the fiction 
 which held him to her side. His books had no 
 chance with his infatuation. He could not bear 
 to see them Jest, regretting their dusty sides, he 
 should seem untrue to Emilia. 
 
 Yet, anomalous as they were, he had to own 
 that the privileges which she gave him were signal. 
 So far as he could tell, no other lover of hers was 
 so highly favoured as he, or Simone in him. Not a 
 day passed but he met her, and more than once ; 
 not a day but she confided some secret to him or 
 accorded him some begged gratuity. They swam, 
 he told himself, the strong flood of Milan 
 together, he breasting it gallantly in her quarrel, 
 she, on her side, taking her line from him. She 
 grew to be dangerously frank, did not always 
 disguise what he had darkly feared, and with 
 her confidences stabbed and anointed him in one 
 breath. 
 
 This, however, was after he had had ocular 
 testimony of what she chose to confide more than 
 once. He had seen D021 Galeazzo with her in the 
 lemon-garden ; he had seen Don Tristano in the 
 orchard — and then she told him about it. ' Oh, 
 Nello, last night Don Galeazzo ,' or ' Dearest
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 345 
 
 friend, in the orchard Don Tristano took me by 
 both my hands. Alas, I did wickedly by my poor 
 Simone ! ' Again it was, with breathlessness and 
 with tears, ' Nello, Nello, I must speak with you 
 for a moment — indeed it is urgent, my Nello. 
 This afternoon the horrible Messer Filelfo 
 followed me into the rose-garden, and made 
 
 proposals ' The proposals could only be 
 
 hinted — nor was more needed. She fairly broke 
 down over that business. Nello pulled the 
 philosopher's nose, to the great scandal of his 
 young wife — a staring Greek girl. ' Heyday, do 
 you batter a learned man in his own house ? ' cried 
 she. ' Madam,' says Nello, ' you may well ask. 
 Permit me to explain.' But as he very well knew, 
 that was exactly what he would not be allowed to 
 do. Filelfo, with a fearful grin, protested that the 
 assault was a joke between him and his 'dear 
 young friend,' and there were no more complaints 
 of him from Emilia. These things were of 
 frequent occurrence, and Nello, between his 
 Cardinal and his mistress, was stretched as far 
 as his nerves would go. The odd part about his 
 love-affair is that the more she confided him of 
 her escapades the more madly he loved her. It 
 would seem that all that could be necessary to
 
 346 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 his perfect happiness would be that some fine 
 gentleman of Milan should ruin her in earnest. 
 But she was not of the sort to be ruined. 
 
 By these means and others, by the possession of 
 a common secret, by common understanding, and 
 by strong predilections, Nello and his Emilia were 
 bound up together. It could not be long, you 
 would have said, before some surging of one or 
 the other of them in the bonds should turn them 
 breast to breast. That was the expectation of 
 their acquaintance in Milan — that such warm lips 
 as theirs, throbbing in concert at every pulse of 
 the hour, could not long be held apart. After 
 their first meeting in the chapel at dusk Nello had 
 taken leave to wait there for her every night. 
 Together they went through the mystical cere- 
 mony of the taper, together bowed their heads, and 
 prayed, or seemed to pray, in Simone's interest. 
 If ever the Madonna winked (as the Protestants 
 fable) she might be excused for it here. The 
 taper was kindled for Simone, but it kindled a 
 more secret flame. Not only was Nello there 
 every night ; every night Emilia counted on his 
 being there. The first turn of her quick eyes was 
 to that pillar against which he always leaned ; she 
 almost ran to meet him ; her hand sought his ;
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 347 
 
 without knowing the why or the why not, she 
 nestled to his side as she spoke. The witch ! how 
 they whispered together : there was always some- 
 thing to say — some ruse whereby the Duchess 
 should not miss her, some wise forethought which 
 provided the Cardinal with employment. Her 
 face came close to his ; he stooped his head that it 
 should be closer. She grew more earnestly con- 
 fidential, there seemed no bounds to their inter- 
 course — and then a sigh escaped him, a word of 
 rapture, an 'anima mia,' or a 'dearest,' and that 
 broke the spell. Emilia became serious at once. 
 ' Come, Nello, we forget poor Simone's candle.' 
 Then he lit it for her, because he was the taller, and 
 she offered it ; they knelt before the veiled picture ; 
 and if their hands did not meet half-way through 
 the droll performance, and so stay until the rite 
 was done, Nello thought that he had wasted a day. 
 They rose up. ' Good-night, dear Nello.' ' Good- 
 night ; happy dreams to my Nina.' Or else it 
 was, ' Shall you be at the masquerade this evening.''' 
 or ' The Cardinal will be at the Duchess's circle. 
 I shall see my Ninetta again ' — and so it went on. 
 As well as this, by hook or crook, he contrived 
 to cross her path half-a-dozen times in the week. 
 Sometimes, as you know, the moment was ill-
 
 348 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 chosen. He saw her with this one or that — saw 
 her sometimes when she was unaware, biting a 
 flower, or twiddling her fingers, Hstening, smiHng, 
 while some curled and anointed golden youth 
 whispered in her ear. At such times it is to his 
 credit to say that he tore himself from the place, 
 and that, though he suffered the torments of the 
 damned, she never knew it. He might have 
 guessed from such unwholesome sights that all was 
 not well. There were whole sections of the days 
 and nights when he could not see her. But, God 
 help the boy, he was a loyal soul, and thought her 
 a minister of Heaven. 
 
 On her account — mysterious, slow-smiling little 
 creature — there was no telling. What lay behind 
 those locked lips, which seemed for ever on the 
 point of a confidence and for ever refusing it at 
 the last, there was nobody in Milan could say. 
 There were at least a dozen who believed that they 
 could, but Nello was not one of them. He was 
 perfectly honest with himself; he had no notion 
 whether she loved him or not. He knew that she 
 trusted him, and that in spite of his very obvious 
 passion. Sometimes he believed, and sometimes 
 could not bring himself to believe that she was 
 using him only as Simone's proxy — detestable,
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 349 
 
 inglorious office ! What he did not know — one 
 of many things — was that his name had got into 
 her letters to old Father Pandolfo, her confessor of 
 old when she was a slip of a girl by Garda. That 
 white-haired, peaceful man had more of the truth 
 from her than anybody. 
 
 ' Reverend my father, last night the Cardinal of 
 Mantua paid me great attention at the Duchess's 
 assembly. Her Grace asked me upon going to bed what 
 it meant. I could not tell her. He said that I had 
 dove's eyes, and that La Colombina was my rightful 
 name. Did you ever hear me called by that ? . . . 
 Messer Nello Nelli was not present. He is the most 
 clever of all the young gentlemen in Milan, and exces-, 
 sively learned. I read Seneca with him sometimes, and 
 sometimes the Songs of Catullus. He calls me Lesbia, 
 and has tamed a sparrow for me, but we call the bird 
 Simone. Do you remember Messer Simone della Prova, 
 who was squire to my father long ago ? He is winning 
 great battles in the Veneto for our party. His name is 
 on all lips — that is why we have given it to our sparrow. 
 Messer Nello Nelli thinks him very strong, but the 
 Cardinal of Mantua yesterday advised me to have nothing 
 to say to him should I ever meet him again — which is 
 improbable,' 
 
 It was true about the sparrow — that she had 
 named it. ' Passer, deliciae meae pucllae,' Nello 
 had said ; and she, soberly, ' Ah, in that case wc 
 will call him Simone.' Nello, ruefully, had to sec
 
 350 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 this Simone sip his full of sugar from the most 
 tormenting, beautiful, changeable mouth in the 
 world. 
 
 Father Pandolfo, rather perturbed, wrote in 
 reply — 
 
 ' Have a care, my daughter. Your Messer Nello is 
 evidently a talented youth, and has caught the knack of 
 appearing good. Before you bestow upon him your 
 treasure, however, I advise you to inquire of his bankers.' 
 
 Emilia answered at once — 
 
 'We have lost each other, dearest father in Jesus Christ. 
 What is this of treasure and a bank ? Last evening the 
 magnificent Don Galeazzo, etc., etc' 
 
 ' It's a bad case,' quoth Father Pandolfo to the 
 cat on his knee. 
 
 It was a worse case than the good man sup- 
 posed. The Cardinal had sent a messenger to 
 Mantua with orders to put in complete furniture 
 the Palazzo Senzanoja, which had not been 
 occupied since the demise of Donna Vittoria Pico, 
 of the princely house of Mirandola. La Pernetta 
 heard of it, among others ; in fact all Mantua was 
 interested.
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 351 
 
 , XIII. The Riven Heart 
 
 It may seem Incredible, and yet is perfectly true, 
 that Nello, sharp-eyed lover as he was, had no 
 notion of that affair of Senzanoja ; and while he 
 suspected every gallant in Milan of meditating the 
 murder of his bliss, did not include in the host the 
 one man of them all who meant it most. One 
 reason is that he could not, poor youth, look every 
 way at once, and another that his Nina's confidences 
 were not so generous as he believed them. Nothing 
 had been said of the Cardinal's dealings with her. 
 And yet those dealings had never ceased since the 
 day when he held her chin at the audience of his 
 entry. She had been forced upon his attention then 
 by Simone della Prova's charge ; she had remained 
 in it by her own powers. It was certain that she could 
 attract men without seeming so to do : the Duchess 
 knew it, Nello knew it, everybody knew it. The 
 Cardinal, it has been said, was not at all scandalous 
 in his life and conversation ; far from that, ho had 
 been very little worse than Saint Paul's supposed 
 bishop. He had been as much the husband of 
 Donna Vittoria Pico as the law allowed him ; and 
 when she died he had mourned her in deed as well 
 as at heart. However, he was forty years old and
 
 352 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 a fine man, and could not be expected to mourn 
 her for ever. 
 
 He had not, perhaps, been able to see so much 
 of Emilia as his secretary had ; but he had been 
 able, either from absence of tact or a disregard of 
 it, to go nearly as far. And this without Nello's 
 knowledge, for the simple reason that he had not 
 chosen that Nello should know. Tact is one 
 thing, discretion another. He was very well 
 aware that he had a rival in that bright-faced young 
 man ; he did not fear him, but saw no occasion to 
 provoke him. * All's fair in the game we play 
 here,' he would have said. ' If I mean to give 
 Delia Prova the go-by, my Master Nello has the 
 same intentions with regard to the pair of us. He 
 has his talents and ingenuity, his beauty, his wit, 
 his singing-voice and his blessed, blessed youth on 
 his side. Let him thrive, in God's name. I wish 
 him every good but one.' 
 
 It was discretion in the Cardinal, not forgetful- 
 ness, which gave over the ring and the message 
 to Nello ; it was discretion which enlarged upon 
 Simone's fury of fighting in the hearing of the 
 lady. These were statesman's methods, and shov/ 
 that he had something on his side. 
 
 He certainly had : he was a prince. It is not
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 353 
 
 every maid of honour that can hold a Cardinal 
 captive to her petticoat. Emilia was made aware 
 of that at all hours of the day. The Sforza 
 princesses petted and teased her on account of it ; 
 her mates were jealous or envious, it matters not 
 which, for one symptom was as flattering as the 
 other. It was not, and could not be, without a 
 flutter of the heart that she met this great lover, 
 almost so declared ; it hardly occurred to her to 
 resist. What were her poor little weapons of 
 defence — her poor little walls of silence, her poor 
 little screens of secrecy — against such artillery as 
 his .? She heard him speak — and he spoke well ; 
 she received his presents, and he was splendid at 
 giving as at all else ; she read his notes — and kept 
 them to herself But Nello was perhaps the only 
 person at Court who was ignorant of all this. 
 
 The Cardinal had sent her some half-dozen 
 little notes, each with a ring, or a jewel, or a 
 painted book bound in silver. These notes were 
 not signed, but bore upon the wax the impression 
 of a Greek gem — Hercules at the distafi^ and 
 Omphale leaning over his shoulder — a beautiful 
 piece of work. It was a famous gem : two Popes 
 had begged it of Gonzaga. He used it rarely, it 
 was a valuable thing ; but he thought it well 
 
 2 A
 
 354 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 employed for this particular service, and told 
 himself with a smile that it exactly represented his 
 case. He told Emilia so too — the hero's neck, 
 the hero's bulk prone beneath her little foot ! 
 How could she avoid a leap of the heart ? 
 
 There was, for the rest, no harm in any one 
 of his notes. Some were rather pretty. That 
 which covered a jewel bearing a Pelican in Piety 
 (in white and red enamel) said, * So, lady, would 
 I bleed if you might thereby be served. But, 
 alas ! what is pious duty in the bird, in the man 
 may be presumption.' No harm in that, I hope : 
 at most a foolishness in Cardinals. Another said, 
 * Take my Little Hours, Madonnetta mia ; for 
 even as your pure prayers rise up to the great 
 Goddess of the Christians, so mine (poor pagan !) 
 wander round your feet.' The prayers of Cardinals 
 should be otherwise directed — but let it pass. 
 The man was strenuously in love ; and in any 
 case, enough of his notes. 
 
 Now, when August came and Milan lay blister- 
 ing in dust and red heat, the Ducal Court moved 
 to Pavia, where there was a castle, a green park, 
 hunting for the men, and grass to cool the feet 
 of ladies. Thither went the Duchess and her 
 household ; thither went Emilia the demure ; but
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 355 
 
 thither the Cardinal, detained by business from 
 Rome and a state-marriage which hung fire, could 
 not go. Love, when it cannot feed on words, 
 makes shift with letters ; and if, during these 
 weeks of aching, Nello was living on the letter- 
 bag, so was the Cardinal his master. Whence, 
 suddenly, there blazed a thunderbolt, which fell 
 between them and rove the solid earth. Into the 
 yawning gulf so made must tumble Nello, Emilia, 
 Mantua, Milan, and all. 
 
 It was Nello's duty to open the great man's 
 letter-bag while he himself was at his prayers. 
 With what a shock it came upon him to discover 
 a folded square within it, in Emilia's fine hand, 
 I leave you to judge who have learned the 
 youth by this time and know what he had and 
 had not of Emilia's little affairs. The blood 
 swirled in his head ; his heart gave a wild surge 
 upwards into his throat, then sank like a leaden 
 ball, and he knew that all the colour, all the 
 rhythm, all the music had shuddered out of life. 
 ' Riverendissimo in Xpo patri ac domino. Domino 
 Guidoni Principi Cardinali de Sancta Maria in 
 Cosmedin,' etc. etc. There was no doubt : the 
 flourish, the thin penmanship, the spelling, the seal 
 — Hercules and Omphale, the priceless Smyrniotc
 
 356 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 gem, sought by two Popes — Emilia's letter, the 
 Cardinal's gift ! O God, the wreck, the wreck ! 
 
 The Cardinal, glowing from his prayer, found 
 his secretary peering at this hideous fact ; saw 
 the little square fact itself shaking in his hand. 
 He was instantly aware, and made up his mind in 
 an instant. Now was the time for a sudden stroke. 
 
 ' Aha, my Nello. What is this pretty thing ? 
 Let me see the seal. It seems familiar. Ha, the 
 little Colombina ! ' He did not keep the letter, 
 but having turned it over and looked at the seal, 
 put it back into Nello's hand. He sat down 
 comfortably in his deep leathern chair, crossed his 
 leg, clasped his knee. 
 
 'Well, well,' he said, 'we have known each 
 other quite a season, my Nello. By a bold stroke 
 you claimed my protection, deserved, and won it. 
 It is time that you should learn more of your 
 master, what manner of man he is, by my head, 
 when the priest is taking a walk and the prince 
 a siesta ; when the soldier is at his ease, unarmed, 
 'and the statesman can smooth out the creases in 
 his brow. Hey, my little humanist ! You whose 
 study is mankind — let me show you Guido 
 Gonzaga, the naked man — ha ! ' 
 
 ' Foul flesh — a mountain of it ! ' Nello shivered
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 357 
 
 all through himself. The Cardinal sat well back, 
 and put his hands behind his head. 
 
 * Come,' he said, ' let me hear what the lady of 
 Garda has to tell me. She is a sleek little witch, 
 by the Blood — and has charmed away my seal from 
 me. And has used it, by Hercules himself!' 
 Nello did not move. 
 
 ' She has pricked me — Nello, I will own it. I 
 am a man, not insensible to pricks. 
 
 Nc sit ancillae tibi amor pudori — 
 
 Ha ! So say I, so say I. We have had some 
 talk together — she has approved herself to me — 
 modest, sensible, frugal of favours, of sufficient 
 nobility — in fine, I contemplate a pleasant bondage. 
 But read, Nello, read, what my shy Omphale 
 pleads.' 
 
 Atrocious pain for Nello, but not to be 
 refused. 
 
 It was a humble letter enough, creditable to 
 the writer at least. The Cardinal thought it 
 remarkable. Did not Nello think it so ? That 
 so young a lady should be so guarded — extra- 
 ordinary ! Here it is : — 
 
 * Sacred and most eminent Prince, father and lord,* 
 wrote Emilia, ' I return on my knees my humble thanks
 
 358 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 for his princely thought of me, esteeming it miraculous 
 that so perexcellent a lord should stoop to the grass in 
 his path ' 
 
 * Ah, she outvies modesty itself ! ' the Cardinal 
 protested with shut eyes. ' But proceed, proceed.' 
 
 ' in his path. As to what your Eminence is so 
 
 gracious as to say of myself, I am thankful to have 
 pleased him. All my life I shall strive to win and to 
 deserve that pleasure ; for to what other end do I, do all 
 bondmaidens, live, but to give pleasure to those whom 
 we serve ? So far as my duties about the serene person 
 of Madonna the Duchess may comport, I beg your 
 Eminence to believe me studious to obey him in all things 
 commanded. 
 
 I prostrate myself at the Eminent feet. 
 Praying that they will believe me 
 Of your Eminence 
 The most humble, devout, grateful, pious 
 servant, 
 
 Emilia Fiordispina.' 
 
 Of Nello it may be truly said that the prevail- 
 ing sense he had was of pity so unutterable that he 
 was able to detach Emilia from his heart, and con- 
 template her for what she seemed — a white ghost 
 of a girl, shivering and doomed, in some infernal 
 Sabbath of devils. Tonguing thieves, lust and 
 clamour personified, came leaping about her ; ruin, 
 horror, nameless life and death, were hers. He
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 359 
 
 saw her end — bloodless, a shredded rag — who had 
 been lovely once ; he saw her ghost — she gibbered 
 at him, a mocking sepulchre, the spurned husk of 
 a fair woman, trodden like an orange-skin after all 
 the sweet joy had been sucked out. Beside such 
 a fate as this, a bondage to Simone della Prova 
 seemed perfect freedom. All his love wailing in him 
 cried upon the evil ; and yet he was dumb before 
 it. He knew himself a coward, and sickened to 
 know it. He dared not gainsay the Cardinal. 
 Vacant and frozen as he sat, the letter in his hand, 
 he was suddenly shaken into life by the sound 
 of his name. 
 
 * Come hither, Nello,' said the Cardinal. 
 
 The machinery obeyed. He knelt before his 
 master, who put a hand upon his shoulder, and 
 kissed him. ' My dear,' said Gonzaga, ' I have 
 loved you from the first moment of our meeting, 
 and I believe that you love me also. You have so 
 served me at any rate — and now you shall serve 
 me again. My senses are all alight, but I am not 
 acting without judgment. I need that little person 
 extremely, more, perhaps, than you might have 
 thought reasonable in me. But think again. 
 There is nothing so wayward as the fancy of a 
 strong man. What says your Horace .''
 
 36o FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 Arsit Atrides medio in triumpho 
 Virgin e rapt a — 
 
 It is so, indeed. You put wine before him, 
 some great vintage that has lain deep in the earth 
 for two decades, browned ruby, smooth, silky as 
 balm, holding fire, as it were, in essence. He will 
 have none of it : his fancy for the hour is — milk ! 
 So with women. A hot Venetian, all burning 
 kisses and straining arms ; a slim white Tuscan ; 
 a strapping Veronese — basta ! basta ! He passes 
 them all without a quiver, and lights upon a staid 
 mouse of a girl, like this Fiordispina ; her will he 
 have — no other. Strange that it should be so. 
 But I assure you, my friend, she has set me afire. 
 Well, I might talk for ever ; let me give you 
 directions. This accursed business of my niece 
 Dorotea's marriage will tie me here for another 
 fortnight ; meantime my shy captive flutters in 
 the springes of Pavia. You shall leave me, Nello, 
 take her a letter, and plead my cause. What I 
 cannot well write, you shall say. You know me 
 very well — for an honest man, a prince not without 
 wisdom to temper his power. Tell her I am 
 coming on wings. Ah, my boy, I may be a happy 
 man yet. What ! Am I a lover .? By my soul, 
 I am. Does this entertain you ? To see the
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 361 
 
 puller of imperial strings, the genius of battle— 
 which I have been called by good judges — with a 
 white hand under his chin ? Anima mia — ha ! 
 Leave me, child, to write my letter. Prepare you 
 for your journey — and away.' 
 
 Nello, in a white garment of rage, took the 
 road for Pavia. 
 
 XIV. The Power of the Dog 
 
 Riding up through the dappled glades of the 
 park — the towered castle of Pavia in the level sun 
 of afternoon — he saw a herd more absorbing to 
 his eyes than the twinkling, antlered deer : a party 
 of silken ladies and lords — in yellow, in green, 
 in white — who walked slowly over the grass. 
 He saw the sun strike on Polissena Sforza's hair, 
 on Donna Anna's white arm, on Don Tristano's 
 sword. And then he saw two ladies who strolled 
 apart. Their heads were near together, one's arm 
 was round the other's waist. Even at that distance 
 his deadly fear told him that it was Emilia who 
 was held, and Ippolita Sforza who held her. 
 
 His heart jumped, with fear, but with rage also 
 — for he was a man. He stopped, white and 
 staring. ' She shall have it now — before her friends
 
 362 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 and lovers — the Judas- price, the unholy thing. 
 Yes, while the rage is on me, and my tongue 
 can tell. A little more sight of her and I should 
 love her again — a disgrace to my manhood.' He 
 signed to his servant to lead on his horse, dis- 
 mounted, and strode over the grass. 
 
 Presently he saw that he was seen. Ippolita 
 Sforza observed him first and spoke to Emilia, a 
 laughing whisper in her neck. He saw Emilia 
 falter, look quickly up, but guardedly, but never 
 cease looking towards him. ' She feels her shame : 
 it beats down her head : yet she must have it.' 
 The rest of the party were at some distance — by 
 a great oak. The cavaliers were spreading their 
 cloaks that the ladies might sit. Ippolita Sforza 
 drew Emilia to meet Nello ; shyly she came, and 
 dared to wave her hand. Nello bared his head 
 and came on to execute judgment. As he neared 
 he might have seen the blush of welcome, the 
 bright light in Emilia's eyes — if his rage had let 
 him. But to him, as then he was, she appeared 
 all scarlet, cloaked in that monstrous love; she 
 leered, as it were, out of the Cardinal's cassock. 
 He could not have spared her then had she 
 worn an angel's stole. When he came up he 
 was trembling all over and like to die.
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 363 
 
 But he knelt to kiss Donna Ippolita's friendly 
 hand. 
 
 ' Where is his great Eminence ? ' she asked 
 him, while Emilia hung behind. ' Here we have 
 everything to delight him — but he comes not.' 
 
 Nello fired at this bitter truth, 
 
 ' I am his Eminence's legate, princess. I have 
 a message from him to your companion. It is no 
 secret, I believe, from your Grace. Have I your 
 leave to deliver it ? ' 
 
 'Oh, of course, of course.' Seeing Emilia 
 through red mist, he held out to her the abhorred 
 letter. 
 
 ' Madonna Emilia,' — she did not know his 
 voice, — ' his Eminence, my master, bids me thank 
 you for your letter — which it was my privilege to 
 read to him. He would have answered it in person 
 but that business holds him still in Milan, Here 
 he has written all that your ladyship can desire to 
 know. He is yours, lady. The bargain is struck 
 — your wishes — the honour that pertains, I take 
 my leave — O God, have I told you all of it ? ' 
 
 He strained his face away that she might not 
 see it, but his voice broke, and she heard 
 that, 
 
 'Now, what in the world 'began Ippolita
 
 364 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 Sforza in a ringing voice. Emilia broke away 
 and plucked at his sleeve, 
 
 ' Nello, Nello, dear friend, what is this ? Never 
 abandon me, Nello ! Speak to me for pity.' 
 
 Nello turned upon her a bloodless face, quiver- 
 ing and furious. 
 
 ' Ah, how could you stoop down there in the 
 mire ! Fie, a man -mountain, a hill of flesh ! 
 Will you be buried in the ruins of a church ? 
 After your prayers, your weeping to the cross, 
 
 your Why, if all the tapers you have lighted 
 
 to show love pure were turned upon you now, they 
 would show you speckled, Emilia, spotted like a 
 snake. Ah, come now, come now, see yourself : 
 let me show you your similitude in a glass. One, 
 two, four, six, ten, twenty — jewels, girdles, chains, 
 verses — hey ! the great Cardinal gives like a prince. 
 Of whom else have you had so much and so many 
 times ? * He pointed to her neck, the Smyrna 
 gem was there, burning his eyes. ' Hercules and 
 Omphale, done by a Greek in chalcedony ! Now, 
 is not this a curious sin, when so small a woman 
 tames a bulk ' 
 
 ' Stop, or I kill you,' flashed Ippolita Sforza. 
 ' The girl is down.' 
 
 Down she was, struggling with dry sobs which
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 365 
 
 nearly cut her in half. Nello stood mute above 
 her, surveying his fine piece of work. Ippolita 
 scorned him. 
 
 ' You are at liberty to take what pride you can 
 in this successful performance, young sir. For my 
 part, I consider you more coward than fool, if that 
 is possible.' 
 
 ' She is the lure of the Cardinal ' 
 
 ' Dolt, she loves you only.' 
 
 * She wrote meekly to him ' 
 
 ' Are you a flint } ' 
 
 ' I can recite you her letter ' 
 
 * Have you read his .? I am ashamed of you. 
 Go.' 
 
 ' Pity me, princess. I adore her.' 
 
 * Adore ? Do you call this love .'' Pooh, you 
 love yourself, as all men do. They use women as 
 ointment, to smear themselves ; and when they 
 have coated themselves sick — angry, they break 
 the pot. Foh ! who would love a man .'' ' 
 
 ' Ah, Nello, Nello ! ' Emilia moaned where she 
 lay — and down went he beside her. 
 
 * My soul, my soul — look upon me — pity me — 
 I am in hell.' 
 
 ' You deserve to be, my friend,' said Ippolita 
 
 Sforza.
 
 366 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 Donna Polissena, her sister, came lightly up. 
 The others followed her, curious. 
 
 ' What is this comedy you are at, sister .? And 
 why are we not to behold it ? Who are your 
 prostrate comedians ? ' 
 
 Nello, on his knees, faced about. He had 
 some honesty left in him, and some of his old 
 quality at command. He stretched out his arms, 
 as if asking for punishment. 
 
 ' Strike down, Madonna,' he said, ' strike down 
 without ruth a graceless villain — a suicide who 
 would slay his best self — an atheist who denies his 
 revelation of Heaven. Have no mercy — do a 
 piety to God ! ' 
 
 * The matter is this, sister,' said Donna Ippolita : 
 ' that little fool on her face has given her heart to 
 this little fool on his knees. This little fool whips 
 her for a spendthrift. He has eaten up what she 
 gave him, I suppose, and now reviles her because 
 there is no more in her cupboard.' 
 
 The haggard misery of the youth would have 
 struck any eye which had not first seen the girl's 
 despair. It struck Polissena Sforza. 
 
 'This is too bad, sister,' said she. 'These 
 poor children are aching for each other. Let 
 us leave them in peace to sob the truth out
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 367 
 
 between them. Come, sister, come, Isotta, come, 
 Manfredo. Tristano, come you especially. We 
 do harm if we stop. Let them kiss, you let 
 them cry ; let them cry, you loosen their poor 
 tongues. Once they talk all is well. Come, 
 ladies — come, sirs.' 
 
 And now Ippolita chose to be generous. She 
 put up her hand. 
 
 ' Stay, sister — you are always an hour before 
 the clock. Let us bind them — let there be a 
 treaty. They ought to be plighted with a ring : 
 never were there two lovers more disposed to 
 each other. Give them a sanction, they will 
 never stray again. For they are pious children, 
 after all. Let us have a betrothal — here are 
 witnesses enough. Signori, do you stand by 
 Nello. Donzelle, lead the Betrothed. Come, 
 come.' 
 
 Polissena fired. ' Pretty finale ! Under the 
 green tree.' 
 
 They plighted Emilia and Nello in the ap- 
 proved Lombard fashion. Ippolita Sforza said 
 the words : it was more than half a play and 
 quite a pretty scene. Polissena and Isotta led 
 forward the shrinking Fidanzata : the princess 
 held out the hand for the ring of troth. Nello,
 
 368 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 squired by Tristano Sforza, by Manfredo Benti- 
 voglio, and a swarthy young Orsini from Rome, 
 was brought to the tryst. Fated to be a vicar, 
 he betrothed her with Simone's thin gold ring, 
 put it on her finger whence he had drawn it 
 once already, held the cold little hand, and so 
 remained until the words were done. Bidden 
 then to kiss the bride, he touched her cheek. 
 ' Now leave we them,' said Polissena, and so it 
 was done. The long velvet shadows sank them 
 deeper into the dark, the deer fed round about 
 them ; so handfasted stood those two, serious at 
 the end of a game. 
 
 ' You have me now, Nello. Are you pleased 
 with me ^ ' 
 
 * Give me back the letter.' She handed it to 
 him unopened, without a word of protest. 
 
 ' It is yours with the rest of me, Nello.' He 
 looked up and saw her tears falling fast. 
 
 ' O God, what a devil gnaws me ! ' he cried 
 out. Then he tore the letter across and across. 
 ' Thus I scatter all dark clouds between me and 
 thee. No more protestation, no backward looks, 
 no doubting, no faint hearts. No, but trust in 
 each other — courage, hope, love — wings for 
 Heaven ! with thee, my saint, with thee ! * He
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 369 
 
 took her in his arms and kissed her. She lay 
 all silken and still. 
 
 With Nello, as with poets in general, words 
 stood for things. To say that he loved and to 
 love were one and the same act ; to cry out his 
 hopes was to have them ; to pray was to have 
 prayer answered. Not so with her ; but she 
 needed the sanction of a thing done before she 
 could express her acquiescence. The thing was 
 done now ; she gave him kiss for kiss, returned 
 him love for love. Deep in her shining eyes he 
 saw himself enthroned, and swore her the most 
 perfect, the pattern of women. The joy of which 
 he supped filled him full. He thought he could 
 never hunger again. 
 
 There was no time for more than rapture that 
 night ; their last clinging, their last kisses robbed 
 speech. Emilia fled away to her duty ; Nello 
 testified to the new moon, and walked home to 
 his lodging nursing his new heart. Next day, 
 when their full joy might have begun — perversity 
 of fate ! they could get nothing but alarms. Each 
 had a sharp dread, each a vain comfort for the 
 other. Emilia pointed awfully to the ring 011 her 
 finger. ' Simone's pledge, Nello,' she said ; and 
 when he kissed away her fright, 'Thus Simone 
 
 2 B
 
 370 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 might have kissed.' In the act to take her he 
 saw Hercules plying the distaff on her bosom. 
 ' Gonzaga's mark, O God ! ' he groaned, and 
 she fell crying in his arms, *Save me from 
 Gonzaga ! ' 
 
 The two panics beat their courses above these 
 young heads. They were like children, crouching 
 under the trees, while above, in the black air, storm 
 met storm and pealed ruin on the world. It was 
 a feverish time, without stay, or peace, or assurance, 
 a time of straining together, of kisses, of hot tears, 
 and cold shivers, of doubt and misgiving. He 
 could not trust her, nor she him. She paled and 
 burned, till she crept about like a Reproach made 
 flesh ; Nello bit his nails to the quick, and started 
 at every touch on the shoulder. Such hours as 
 they had, not spent in the glades of the park, 
 they passed, tearless and speechless, in one church 
 or another. From altar to altar they dragged one 
 another, from saint to saint, from Mary of the 
 Seven Dolours to Mary of the Seven Wounds. 
 What courage he had to spare her, he lent. It 
 was all to Gonzaga's advantage ; for she could 
 think only of Simone — that he would come and 
 kill her. ' Ah, Simone, my soul ! I have seen the 
 Cardinal beat Simone. He handled him as if
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 371 
 
 he had been a raw colt ; he left him trembling 
 all over, broken to the voice.' She smiled woe- 
 fully and shook her head. ' We have to face 
 Simone's master,' says Nello. * Yes — but Simone ! ' 
 says she. It is a poor way of gaining courage in 
 the dark to learn that the day is still more dreadful. 
 Emilia took fright of Gonzaga, but she lost none 
 of Simone. His scowling black shadow was for 
 ever looming, turned all her sweets to sours, and 
 drove her at last to desperate measures. 
 
 Nello found her on a day at their place of 
 meeting, and went to embrace her. She clapped 
 her arms across her bosom and shrank from him. 
 ' No, no ; leave me,' she muttered, frowning and 
 white. ' I am a snake — unclean.' He took her 
 in spite of herself, and swore her his holy one. 
 He kissed her clay-cold lips, but could not move 
 or warm her. ' Perjured, most false ! ' she cried. 
 ' O Nello, my soul is dead. Pity me, Nello, and 
 forgive.' 
 
 He gave her what comfort he had ; she lay 
 trembling, uninspired, inert. ' I think the plague 
 is upon me, Nello. I feel one taint. I am deep 
 in perjury. Simone betrayed, the Cardinal be- 
 trayed, and now you, my love — O Lord Christ I ' 
 
 She held up fearfully the left hand. 'The
 
 372 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 traitor hand ! Burn it, burn it, Nello, before 
 Simone come. Be sure he will come, be sure of 
 it. Kiss me once, my Nello, but never again. 
 We have done sinfully who meant to do well. 
 O love, good-bye.' 
 
 All he could win of her was the grace to see 
 her as chance might afford. She agreed that he 
 need not return to Milan until he was sent for ; 
 but there must be no more secret meetings, 
 ' assignations,' she called them now. ' All's to 
 do again,' he groaned. 'She loves me — but 
 wretchedly. I can only pray.' His courage 
 was gone, his resource, his philosophy, such as 
 it was, even his wit. One thing only stayed 
 him from entering religion, the necessity of see- 
 ing her. Much good might that do him ; he 
 became her miserable shadow. He haunted her 
 footsteps, but never spoke to her, and she never 
 looked his way. He slunk out of sight of the 
 Court, dared not be seen, yet had to see. More 
 unhappy young man than Nello Nelli the history 
 of Pavia has not yet revealed. 
 
 The Cardinal wrote daily with messages and 
 enclosures. Nello sent them on to Emilia by a 
 trusty hand. What was done, doing, or to be 
 done upon them he could not learn ; but the
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 373 
 
 Cardinal announced his speedy arrival. And 
 meanwhile Emiha passed and repassed before 
 him where he lurked, walking staidly behind the 
 Duchess, riding with the princesses, with the 
 young lords and esquires of the household. 
 Marvel ! he saw her laugh, talk, ask questions, 
 give light replies. It was as if she saw him 
 not, as if she had never known him — never put 
 her lips to his, never felt his arms about her, 
 nor clung to him with hers. 'She laughs, 
 O Heaven ! Are women devils, then ? Was a 
 woman the Mother of God.? Harlot-hearted — 
 O Saviour, save my Emilia ! ' Nello was in 
 hell, it seems. 
 
 But Emilia, paler than she ought to be perhaps, 
 yet shapely and adorned, sleek in silk, with a jewel 
 in the midst of her forehead, and a very fine-cut 
 gem on her breast, went about her daily work as 
 if all were well — sang to her Duchess, laughed 
 when her princesses were merry, was gentle in 
 reply to Sforza or Borromeo, Manfredi or Belgio- 
 joso ; said her prayers, made her confessions, took 
 the Cardinal's gifts, read his letters, and answered 
 them dutifully ; was never seen to cry or heard to 
 moan. Women are your real stoics. One of the 
 maids told Nello that in her sleep she tossed about
 
 374 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 and muttered, too fast for them to catch the sense. 
 She was not thought to be happy : let that comfort 
 him In his own misery. Was she miserable then .'' 
 Who knows.? A maid of honour has no business 
 with misery. She is there to be courteous. 
 Emilia's courtesy could never be called in question, 
 for she was of great family, a Fiordispina of Garda, 
 of a house famous for loyalty to the Dynasty 
 of Milan and to all princely stocks in alliance 
 with that. Ah, there need be no fear but that 
 Emilia would do her duty. 
 
 She did her duty indeed ! She did it when the 
 Cardinal wrote naming the day of his arrival ; but 
 she said not a word of it to any living soul. 
 
 XV. The Incredible Stoop 
 
 At this time, it is to be related, Simone della 
 Prova, now tyrant of seven citadels on the Venetian 
 frontier, received a letter. He was sitting in the 
 hall at Castelfranco — one of his added towns — 
 when it came, in conference with two square-faced 
 men in red robes. He took his letter, and held 
 it tossing in his hand while he continued his 
 talk.
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 375 
 
 ' What do you say to us, Simone ? Is it a 
 bargain ? ' 
 
 ' I will consider what you report.' 
 
 ' We answer for Sforza, remember.' 
 
 ' So I understand you. I have your master's 
 letter. And the money ' 
 
 ' The money is here. Now, as to the Car- 
 dinal ' 
 
 ' Leave the Cardinal to me,' said Simone. 
 
 When the Venetians had taken their leave he 
 opened his letter and read it slowly, twice through. 
 He sat staring at it, chewing his tongue for maybe 
 half- an -hour ; at the end of that paroxysm he 
 laughed, or barked rather — like a wolf at night in 
 the snow. ' Trick for trick, hey ? ' he said, and 
 called for his secretary in a voice which made the 
 fellow tremble as he ran. 
 
 ' Write, Tebbaldo,' said he. 
 
 The secretary sat on the floor. ' Ready, 
 Sir. 
 
 'Write thus : "Traitress, I come in judgment." 
 That is all. Seal.' 
 
 ' The direction, my lord.'' ' 
 
 ' Madonna Emilia Flordispina, at the Castle of 
 Milan. Now send me Fabrizio — go.' 
 
 Fabrizio, a blunt Venetian of the inlaiul, came
 
 376 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 blinking to his master. Simone put a heavy hand 
 on his shoulder. 
 
 ' Saddle two horses, and gallop. You are 
 to be at Milan by noon to-morrow, though you 
 break the hearts of both good beasts. If she 
 whom you seek with this letter be not in the 
 city, you are to find her. Here is your safe- 
 conduct. I start six hours after you, and take 
 the same road, with what speed you who know 
 me and Renegado will guess. If I am nearer to 
 you by thirty minutes at any stage of the journey, 
 I shall kill you, Fabrizio. You are riding for your 
 life. Now be off.' 
 
 Those six hours of his in his subject burgh 
 were memorable. Never was known such a case 
 of dreadful deliberation and performance. He was 
 as vibrant as a stretched cord, his very voice cut 
 the air. He did judgment in the courtyard and 
 saw it executed, with a square full of hushed 
 people waiting on his commands. There were 
 nine-foot walls, grass ramparts and a moat between 
 him and them ; yet had he been in their midst, a 
 whip in his hand, he could not have kept them In 
 silence more absolute. When the bodies had been 
 huddled into the death -cart he called up his 
 captains, chose a viceregent from among them, and
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 377 
 
 gave him minute orders for the six days following. 
 At the stroke of noon on the sixth day he would be 
 back, he told them, and was believed. To Citta- 
 della, to Campodarsego, to Montebelluna, to San 
 Martino, to Camposampiero, and to San Giorgio 
 delle Pertiche, all his towns, he sent governors 
 with plenary powers. He ate hardly anything, 
 and drank nothing at all. At the end of his time 
 he gave order to saddle Renegado, his black barb ; 
 and at the prick of the hour appointed, cantered 
 smoothly out of his town-gates, and heard them 
 clang behind him. 
 
 Passing Cittadella at a steady pace, but not 
 drawing rein, he had the satisfaction to be challenged 
 by his own outposts, to give them the word of the 
 day, and to see afar off, at the end of the avenue 
 of dusty acacias, his own well-barred gates. In 
 an hour from that Renegado was swimming the 
 Brenta. He had no need to whisper in those 
 tender ears, laid flat for a sign ; his was a great 
 horse, full of heart, who knew that much was to be 
 required of him before nightfall. Simonc let him 
 go his own pace, a swinging gallop, let the reins 
 hang free ; he was, as always, from the knees 
 upwards a part of the lunging beast : so much so 
 that he seemed not to be human. He breathed
 
 378 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 wholly through his nose, and looked dead before 
 him, in a stare. 
 
 He skirted Vicenza in the brown dusk, crossed 
 two little racing streams which merge just there — 
 the turbid and the green water — to form the 
 Bachigiione ; then coming to some common land, 
 where the sunburnt sods afforded certain softness 
 to the feet, he checked his shining Renegade, and 
 walked him for an hour. At Arzignano, a little 
 village just outside the debateable country, where 
 a long spur of the Alps lies like a rugged finger 
 over the fields, he baited for the first time since 
 leaving Castelfranco. Fabrizio had come in and 
 gone just six hours before. He had changed horses 
 there, and dosed one with meal and water. Both 
 were in a lather, and one pretty well gored in the 
 flanks. Simone saw to Renegado with great care, 
 cooled him, washed and rubbed him down, fed and 
 watered him. He took his own food standing, 
 and at the end of two hours and a half was 
 ambling through chestnut woods, watched by a 
 shy young moon. 
 
 He reached the swirling green Adige by seven 
 in the morning, and refreshed both man and beast 
 by the swim ; pushed on desperately to Bussolengo, 
 whence lemon- trees and trellised vines stretch to
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 379 
 
 the shores of Garda. There he stayed. Fabrizio 
 had passed through five hours and three-quarters 
 earlier, but — ' He'll never reach Milan with the led 
 horse,' said the landlord of the inn. ' He had 
 better,' was Simone's short comment. 
 
 Two hours later yet, he rode through Peschiera 
 under a burning sun. Garda itself looked white 
 hot ; the tower of the Fiordispina was trembling, 
 the ilex-woods all about it were motionless and pale 
 with dust. He had not been there since that night 
 when he had held Emilia to his heart and sworn her 
 his for ever ; but he took no sort of notice. If 
 any memory touched him he opened not his mouth, 
 if his rage goaded him he did not grind his teeth. 
 He rode through the place, under the very shadow 
 of the tower, unwinking, unregarding, undeterred. 
 Like a carved man's his eyes were blank ; the hand 
 that held the reins to the pommel might have been 
 blocked out of stone. 
 
 Flagging crest and drooping quarters : Renegade 
 cried to him. At Bagnolo he stayed three 
 hours. He washed the good horse's legs, his 
 face and chest with aqua vilae, fed him stoutly, 
 and went to get news of Fabrizio. ' FMve and 
 a half hours away, sir,' they tell him. ' He has 
 left a dead horse a mile down the Garda road.
 
 38o FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 Cracked his heart by order, as I understood him 
 to say.' 
 
 ' I saw nothing of it,' says Simone. ' Hey, that 
 may very well be, my lord,' says the man with a 
 grin. ' Perhaps he knew what he was about.' 
 — ' May be so, but he has lost his law.' 
 
 He spent the rest of his time walking up and 
 down the inn yard, his hands behind his back, his 
 face rigid and expressionless. He ate nothing. 
 ' There's a maggot groping in that signore's head,' 
 said one groom to another, ' which numbs his 
 brains. Wait a bit, wait a bit, till your worm 
 works another inch — and then pity the fine beast 
 he rides.' There was no fear for Renegado ; but 
 Simone bestrode more beasts than one. 
 
 Folk upon the road, the stir of the day's affairs ; 
 heavy ox-carts, little companies of dusty soldiers, 
 priests by twos and threes, friars silent, cowled, in 
 file, loitering girls, warned him where he was. 
 Then, afar off, in the misty grey of the heat, marble 
 pinnacles, towers, the bulk of some huge fortress, 
 walls, battlements, a dome. He reached Milan 
 before nightfall and made such a clamour at the 
 gate, you would have thought the Venetians there 
 in force. * La Fiordispina, sir ! ' cried a guard. 
 ' Dio mio, how many more urgencies upon this
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 381 
 
 lady's account ? Is she Queen of Sheba then ? Is 
 she Empress of the East ? Five hours gone there 
 came a man all panic on a horse all blood with the 
 same cry. I told him what I tell your lordship — 
 she is not here, she is away. She is with the Court 
 of Madama at Pavia — taking the air — bathing her 
 eyes in green. Seek her on the grass, and don't 
 leave me a dead horse on mv hands.' 
 
 ' Ha ! so he left a dead horse ? ' 
 
 ' I can show you the skin, or what remains of it 
 — peppered with spurs like a sieve. Our man flew 
 away on foot as if the devil was behind him — And 
 I think that the devil was,' he added, as Simone 
 pounded back to find the Pavia road. 
 
 All night he pushed on ; and Renegado, 
 whose noble heart was nourished by a purer flame, 
 never denied him. But Renegado was nearly 
 spent. Simone's mouth was at his ear continually, 
 and at every fierce whisper of his voice it was 
 pretty to see the sensitive twitch, the gallant 
 attack, and pitiful to see the flagging come so 
 soon. The end was near — none too soon for the 
 horse. The tower of San Michele uncertain in 
 the foggy dawn, the convent roof, deep in green, 
 far off to the left ; the massed clouds, which were 
 the trees of the park ; last of all the castle turrets.
 
 382 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 the lodges, the tents about the walls ; the banner 
 of Sforza lazy in the still air — ' Courage, my soul! 
 Courage, my good beast ! ' breathed Simone to his 
 horse. * We are here ; thy work is done, and 
 mine is at hand. God comfort thee, my Renegado, 
 that deniest only fear.' Whatever else he hated, 
 he loved his horse. 
 
 In the yard of an inn of Pavia Fabrizio was 
 heavily asleep, but awoke at the clatter of 
 Renegado's hoofs, saw his master and began to 
 pray vehemently. Simone ignored him until 
 he had seen to his horse. But when all was done 
 which could be done, in a few strides he was upon 
 him. 
 
 ' You have delivered the letter : ' 
 
 ' Sissignoria.' 
 
 ' When .? ' 
 
 ' Eh, Dio mio ! So many hours ago — six, 
 seven, eight ! Who can tell : ' 
 
 ' You are lying. It was less than three. It 
 is now ten. You delivered it at the coming out 
 from mass at seven.' 
 
 ' Sir, sir, have a little mercy ! My horses failed 
 me — you cannot flog dead flesh. I came from 
 Milan to Pavia afoot — and ah, saints in heaven, 
 how I ran ! I am nearly dead, Signore, nearly a
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 383 
 
 dead man. Look, master, look ! ' He held up 
 his boot — with half the sole away. Simone was 
 unmoved. 
 
 'You have killed my horses — you, that had 
 two to my one. I have killed nothing — as yet 
 — and have gained three hours upon you. A 
 messenger who cannot ride — humour his beasts — 
 who disobeys my orders, is useless. I will see you 
 presently.' 
 
 Fabrizio clung to his knees. ' My lord, my 
 lord, pity me ! ' 
 
 ' Speak of that later,' said Simone, and spurned 
 and left him. 
 
 XVI. Resumption 
 
 Lurking under the beech boughs, loathing 
 himself for the slave he was become, on watch 
 (as always) for Emilia, Nello saw her come in 
 company over the park that early forenoon. It so 
 happened that he was expecting the Cardinal from 
 hour to hour. He wondered, with a sickening of 
 the heart, whether that was her expectation also. 
 He dreaded it so much that he could almost have 
 prayed at any time now that the end should come: 
 the end, and the worst, that so he might despair
 
 384 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 in peace. He little knew what the poor girl's 
 expectance was, what tryst she was out there to 
 keep, what turned her faint between the flashes 
 of the talk. 
 
 She was walking with her mates Isotta and 
 Sigismunda, a black-haired Manfredi, and two or 
 three chattering pages, who chased each other in 
 and out of the trees. This company passing very 
 near where Nello was hidden, she with one sidelong 
 cast of the eye saw his shadow there. Just at the 
 moment Manfredi had paid her a daring compli- 
 ment ; between her blush and dextrous parry she 
 had seen Nello and he her. But she was in com- 
 pany and he was not, and if the sight of him hurt 
 her heart, no one must know it. 
 
 He heard the general laugh at Manfredi's bold 
 attack, saw Emilia turn her head to meet it full. 
 ' Heartless — harlot - hearted, O God ! ' groaned 
 the miserable boy ; but stayed where he was, 
 peering. Impossible to help it ! He followed all 
 their progress over the grass — from shade to sun, 
 to shade again. 
 
 A page struck a chord of music, and began to 
 sing in saucy, boyish tones — a song of light love. 
 He walked backwards before the rest, improvised 
 audaciously, and more so, and more : he was
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 385 
 
 resolved to make La Nina laugh. So they went 
 on by degrees and degrees, Nello keeping at his 
 distance, until presently he saw Emilia stop short, 
 stagger for a minute, lean her head as if she was 
 faint, press upon Sigismunda's arm. Slgismunda's 
 questioning look downwards, a quick survey by 
 Isotta, Manfredi's chin in the air, the scared boys 
 — what was this } 
 
 Then he saw what they had seen. A tall 
 figure of a man on horseback came pacing up the 
 grass ride — a bare-headed, close-polled young 
 man in gleaming body-armour, booted to tlie 
 thighs. Square shoulders, thick neck, small head 
 — ' O God, Simone ! ' 
 
 He saw Emilia held between the two girls ; 
 Manfredi go to meet the newcomer. The little 
 page dropped his viol. All his bright temerity 
 was gone ; he shrank to a nursery size. All eyes 
 were on Simone save Emilia's. Hers were cast 
 down, and intently down. She swayed her bent 
 head about as if in the troubles of a dream. Ncllo 
 could see that she was chalk-white, and had a 
 crying fear. He broke away from his hiding- 
 place and went towards her. But Simone reached 
 her first, and Nello stopped. 
 
 When he had dismounted and thrown the reins 
 
 2 c
 
 386 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 to one of the lads ; when he was so near that she 
 could hear his short breath, Emilia looked up. 
 She said nothing ; her eyes were fixed on what he 
 held in his hand — a letter. 
 
 ' Is this yours ? ' He spoke as to a thief 
 caught in the act. 
 
 * Yes, Simone.' Nello guessed at the whispered 
 words. Sigismunda, very red, put her arm round 
 Emilia's body. 
 
 * And you have my answer to it ? ' 
 
 * Yes, Simone.' 
 
 The savagery smouldering in him broke out in 
 flame. ' Ah, untirable duplicity of women ! Ah, 
 traitress born, hardy merchant that sells to one the 
 cheek, to another the hand, to another the longing 
 eye, the word in secret. How long will you be 
 out on your traffic ? Is this tolerable ? By life 
 and death, not so tolerable. Are you an encoun- 
 terer ? do you angle ? You, who swore yourself 
 mine utterly by Garda ; you, to whom I vowed 
 all my faith, from whom I have never once 
 wavered in my thought, for whose sake all women 
 have been dross in my treasury, laughed out, 
 counted for nought ; you, for whom I have 
 fought, bled, killed, conquered, achieved — look 
 now at the end of all my toils and the answer to
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 387 
 
 all my strong prayers, that when I seek for you on 
 high, on the throne where I saw you for a queen, 
 you are not there — the throne is bare, the crown 
 tumbles. No, but you come crawling, trailing 
 through the dust, like a little snake, to fasten on 
 my feet. What are you doing down there in the 
 dust ? You were quiring with angels when I left 
 you ; you were bathed in the blue. Now you 
 sing hallate with pages, go to market with 
 minions, are offered here, shrugged away there, 
 appraised, taken as a makeshift. O Heaven, what 
 bargain is this } But you know me too well, it 
 appears. You falter, you repent. By the soul of 
 God, I will never let you go. However you are, 
 I take what I have won. Hold out your left 
 hand. Whose ring is that '^. ' 
 
 ' It is yours, Simone.' 
 
 ' I know it ; but I never put it there. Is it 
 with that you played me false .'' ' 
 
 ' Yes.' She motioned it with her head. 
 
 ' Give it me, then.' 
 
 She held out her hand. Simone pulled off the 
 little blue ring, bit it in half with his teeth, threw 
 down the pieces and trod them under his heel. 
 'Now,' said he, 'give me that jewel.' Sjioil of 
 Smyrna, desired of Popes, (he Hercules ami
 
 388 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 Omphale was delivered up and ground to powder. 
 Simone took an iron ring from his breast. 
 
 ' In the presence of these persons I, Simone 
 della Prova, lord of Cittadella and other subjugate 
 cities, betroth you, Emilia Fiordispina, in the 
 name of the holy and immeasurable Trinity.' He 
 thrust the iron ring up to the stem of her finger, 
 turned and left her. Gismonda saved her from 
 a fall ; and Nello, running forward too late, was 
 brushed out of the way. He felt deadly cold ; 
 he shivered. His course was run. 
 
 Not quite, however. His was one of those 
 natures which success makes bold, which without 
 approval are palsied. A glance from Emilia would 
 have heartened him into flying at Simone's throat ; 
 but she had had no eyes for him ; her acquiescence 
 had chilled him to the bone — no human force 
 could have nerved him then. 
 
 That figure of bronze, that Simone was a man. 
 He knew his mind, he chose what he wanted, 
 marked it for his own, and in his time took it. 
 To him and the like of him must all created 
 things fall down. The Fates were his servants, 
 for he despised the spindle and mocked at the 
 shears ; he had no ruth, nor concern either. 
 ' If I take you, you die ? Well, die now, sooner
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 389 
 
 than that I should be robbed.' The Jamb's 
 shoulder, do you see, bore the imprint of the 
 wolf. Horrible, sublime arrogation ! But the 
 other was as fine. ' If I have you not, I die ? 
 Well, let me die, if I may not have my own.' In 
 no way can such men as these be moved. They 
 are above the world, masters of the spindle and 
 the shears. 
 
 Nello in his misery, outcast and acold, knew 
 that Simone was a lord of the earth, and that he 
 himself, poor vicar, must lay down his cure. He 
 acquiesced ; it v/as reasonable ; what had a Nello 
 to do in a world trampled by heroes, except be 
 trampled with the rest ? And Emilia, the branded 
 dove ? Lonely victim, meek she bowed her head 
 to the sanction of a thing done ! She took up her 
 yoke, would go almost gladly into bondage ; for 
 the strength of her chain would be a strength to 
 her, and her flower the more exquisite for her 
 garden enclosed in steel. True ir was, true it 
 was ; no furious domination of a man could rob 
 sacrifice of its virtue. And that virtue, at least, 
 was not denied to the vilest. Vile he was, poor 
 Nello — but he could die. 
 
 Naked as he saw himself now, he shivered at 
 his plight, but did not reject it. It was just,
 
 390 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 he deserved it ; his butterfly hour was over. He 
 had spread his gauze wings and glanced in the 
 sun for a day ; the storm had come crashing 
 overhead, the rain had fallen ; he was draggled, 
 defenceless ; he must die. But how .''... 
 Presently he saw the way. They had taken 
 Emilia from him, and Simone, afar off over the 
 park, was out of his reach. But whose was that 
 cavalcade that came winding by the dusty road-f* 
 Simone had become aware of it, had reined up 
 his horse to watch, and now was moving warily 
 forward, like some beast of the desert that 
 sees danger in the distance, and prepares to 
 meet it. 
 
 It was the Cardinal of Mantua coming to find 
 Emilia. Nello gave a little cry, and ran with all 
 his might towards his fate. 
 
 XVII. The Last Bout 
 
 Cardinal Gonzaga sniffed mischief in the wind 
 when he saw who the oncomer was, and rose to 
 meet it. His face was a broad sheet, blank and 
 bland. He greeted his enemy with heartiness. 
 
 * Bravo, Simone!' cried he, reining up. 'Be 
 you the happily met, my champion ; and may I
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 391 
 
 be the first of the allies to take your hand. The 
 
 lion-breaker — ha ! The dictator of Venice ha ! 
 
 By the Saint of Padua, my son, but your scamper 
 over Abano will need a new Titus Livy. I have 
 the very man for it. Or will you, like Caesar, 
 be your own chronicler ? ' 
 
 ' I must have a short word with your Eminence 
 — in private,' said Simone. 
 
 'Now, my hero, now!' cried the Cardinal. 
 ' Upon my soul, I can refuse you nothing.' He 
 signed to his retinue to advance, turned his horse 
 over the grass, saw Nello coming, and hailed him. 
 ' Here comes my little secretary, Simone,' he 
 said. ' We three were once before in conference. 
 I have no secrets from him — nor need you have.' 
 Simone took no notice. Nello came up and 
 stopped short. He had forgotten his manners ; 
 he did not salute his master. 
 
 ' Three days ago, your Eminence, I received 
 this letter. Be pleased to read it.' Simone 
 handed over a folded paper. If the Cardinal's 
 breathing troubled him when he saw the famous 
 seal, the hand which took it was unshaken, and 
 he could look steadily at the writing. 
 
 ' Ha ! a lady's letter, if one may judge. My 
 dear Simone, what do you ask me to do ? '
 
 392 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 ' I ask you to read.' 
 
 The Cardinal handed it over to Nello. * I 
 have secretaries, my good young sir. Nello, 
 read me this letter.' Nello read it without a 
 falter. 
 
 'To her most Excellent Friend and good Lord, Messer 
 Simone della Prova : 
 
 * Excellent and dear friend, for many days I have been 
 seeking the force to write you a letter, but have not 
 been able to find it until now^. It is perhaps a weakness 
 in women, though it may be (as I hope it is) a law of 
 their nature, which forbids them to intrude themselves, 
 unless required, into the bolder counsels of men ; nor 
 (believe me) should I have ventured now if my necessities 
 had not been great. 
 
 ' Excellent lord and friend, I should assuredly have 
 answered your letter if you had ever written any to me 
 or sent me any token of your mind towards me until 
 now of late, when I was shown a ring and learned that 
 you still had me in remembrance. Four years is a long 
 time in which to have no message from a friend — and if 
 I was surprised to receive your ring you will not blame 
 me, I hope. I wear it on my finger, as in duty I 
 ought ; but I must tell you the truth, which is that my 
 mind is not altogether as it was when we were together 
 by Garda ; nor is that to be wondered at, seeing that 
 I was a child in those days and since then have had 
 experience of many things. 
 
 'It is not easy in Milan to do well j it is not easy to 
 discover where duty becomes inclination, and inclination
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 393 
 
 is a sin. I have been troubled lately about my soul, 
 seeking by all means safety for it, if that be a possible 
 thing in Milan. And now of late, dear friend, there has 
 been proposed to me a discreet alliance ' 
 
 The Cardinal caught and stifled an exclamation. 
 Nello read drily on. 
 
 ' a discreet alliance which would give me assurance 
 
 against disaster, comfort to my parents (whose necessities 
 are known to you), and a certain influence in the world. 
 I thought it right and honourable, however, to let you 
 know so much, so that, if you should desire your ring 
 back again, you should send a messenger ; or that, at 
 any rate, you should not suppose that I ignored your 
 right to be informed. Alas ! we cannot pledge what we 
 have not, and the promises of children, like the kisses of 
 their mouths, testify no more than their simplicity. 
 'With kissing of hands I am, 
 
 ' Your Lordship's friend and servant, 
 
 'Emilia Fiordispina.' 
 
 Nello ended. The Cardinal found himself 
 more moved than he could have expected. A 
 certain warmth crept into his voice, and a good 
 deal of honest conviction, 
 
 'I protest that is a gentle, virtuous lady, 
 Simone,' he said. Simone's face twitched. 
 
 ' Your Eminence remembers the terms of our 
 alliance .'' ' 
 
 ' Perfectly, perfectly.'
 
 394 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 ' There has been treachery somewhere. That 
 is clear.' 
 
 'Ah, by God, I should not say that! No, 
 no. In promising to deliver your token to the 
 lady I did not engage to become her keeper.' 
 
 ' Your Eminence, then, delivered the token ^ ' 
 
 The Cardinal squared his shoulders. ' I did 
 not. My secretary here delivered it.' Simone 
 looked at Nello, who did not flinch. He re- 
 membered him now. He had returned him the 
 same steady scrutiny at Cittadella. 
 
 ' Personally,' continued the Cardinal, * I de- 
 livered your message — and in doing that much 
 I considered that you could hardly, all things 
 taken into account, call upon me for more. Is 
 it not so ? ' The eyes of the two men met, and 
 once more Simone had to lower his flag before 
 his adversary. He shifted his ground. 
 
 ' This matter is very dear to me — it is life and 
 death. I have come at once and taken action. 
 I have destroyed the token which I gave by other 
 hands — unwisely, as it seems — and have substituted 
 one of my own delivery. I am not to be trifled 
 with, let thieves beware. What is mine I keep. 
 And I am no orator, to dispense vain wind. I am 
 for deeds — those who know me say that I have
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 395 
 
 a knack — it is not for me to say. Now I claim 
 Donna Emilia as mine by vows not to be broken. 
 I hold to what I had before — I shall always hold 
 to it. If it is Milan which tampers with treachery 
 against me, let Milan choose. If it is Mantua, 
 Lord Cardinal, let Mantua. Venice was my 
 father's country formerly, and has been mine. 
 Do you think I have no letter from Mocenigo ? 
 None from Piccinnino their captain ? Do you 
 think I have no price — no market.^ You are 
 mistaken then. Let Milan beware — if Milan 
 it be.' 
 
 The Cardinal put up his hand. ' Stop there,' 
 he said, 'resolve your doubts as you will. I will 
 have none on my account. Do you trust me or 
 not .? ' 
 
 Simone stared at him for a while, then 
 shrugged. ' Who knows ? Whom am I to 
 trust .? ' 
 
 ' That is my question. Do you trust me ? ' 
 
 'How am I to say.^ What do I know— save 
 this, that there has been treachery ? ' 
 
 'I will tell you what 1 am rcatly to do for you,' 
 said the Cardinal coldly. ' I will secure the young 
 lady's establishment at Mantua, in the household 
 of my sister the Marchioness. She will be much
 
 396 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 under my eyes there — perhaps I shall be able to 
 
 serve you 
 
 It was a time to admire the intense black of 
 the Cardinal's eyes, if admiration had been in 
 Simone's way. Nello could never withhold a 
 tribute — even to villainy, if it was bold enough. 
 He could not withhold it now. And yet he had 
 made up his mind what he was going to do, and 
 ought to have been thinking of his end. 
 
 Simone had no thanks for this handsome offer, 
 nor any distrust of it either. His belief at present 
 was that some Sforza had betrayed his honour. 
 
 ' If I could be sure ' he began, muttering half 
 
 to himself ; but the Cardinal would have none of 
 that. 
 
 ' You can be sure of nothing, Simone,' he 
 said curtly, ' least of all when women are in 
 question.' 
 
 ' It is true, it is true ! They will give her no 
 peace — desperate, breathless work ! ' 
 
 ' As breathless as you please,' said the Cardinal, 
 and believed that he had him. For a second time 
 in his short life Nello saw death cheek by jowl ; 
 and now in an uglier guise than when it had worn 
 the executioner's red livery. That had seemed a 
 Carnival death. Here was death by violence ; for
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 397 
 
 ugly passion would lend it terror. So must it be ; 
 he dared not quail. 
 
 ' If I could learn whose was the villainy ' 
 
 Simone was grumbling to himself, 
 
 ' I will tell you, Simone,' said Nello, speaking 
 with a croak in his voice. ' The time has come. 
 Two traitors are before you. I am one.' 
 
 Simone stared — then laughed grossly. ' You ! 
 with your milk teeth ! Pooh, you white face ! ' 
 
 * Little hound ! ' cried the Cardinal, and would 
 have ridden him down ; but his rein was caught. 
 
 ' Stop, my lord,' Simone said. * We will hear 
 this fellow out.' 
 
 ' Simone,' said Nello, ' I have loved Donna 
 Emilia and done my utmost against you. I have 
 been no traitor, for I never gave you a pledge — 
 nor has she, for she would take none but yours. 
 But I have kept off" a worse than myself Now, 
 I tell you that if you let her go to Mantua with 
 this Lord Cardinal it will be her ruin.' 
 
 The Cardinal gave a short cry. His face was 
 curious to see. He wrung his head round and 
 stared at the sky, as if to get an explanation 
 thence. ' Have I nourished a viper — this little 
 snake ! ' He gaped, could not believe. ' \'ipcr I 
 Viper!' The tragic mask, with its grin awry,
 
 398 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 was his ; but not the tragic calm. He 
 leaned over the saddle and studied this little snake 
 with real surprise; and then with his dagger 
 struck down at the boy as you might strike off 
 a wasp, but stabbed Nello deep between neck 
 and shoulder. The lad sobbed, and for a moment 
 or two stood stiffly in his place, staring, nodding 
 his head. He put out his arms to balance himself, 
 swayed, and did not fall. The blood came in a 
 spurt down his black velvet ; he looked at it, 
 pondered it, half dazed, half wondering. Slowly 
 then his eyes grew filmy, lost their sight ; his 
 arms jerked, and held him no more ; he swayed 
 wider, fell, lay beneath the horse. 
 
 Simone, quite unmoved, said, ' That tells me 
 the tale. Cardinal, you have tricked me ; but we 
 will cry quits, for I have tricked you. I have 
 accorded with Venice, and have in my pocket 
 Sforza's proposals to the Ten. He is tired of 
 the war. I think you will hesitate before you 
 continue it. I certainly think so. I salute your 
 Eminence.' 
 
 He turned and went back across the park. The 
 Cardinal rode thoughtfully to his lodging. 
 
 Late at night, Emilia, muffled in a hood, rode
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 399 
 
 pillion behind her strong lover, and clasped him 
 close. Going out of the park, the horse swerved 
 violently and nearly threw her ; but Simone 
 spurred him forward. 
 
 ' Dearest lord, what was that ? ' she cried, her 
 cheek caressing his shoulder. 
 
 ' 'Twas a dead man, or some such thing,' said 
 Simone. 'A man was stabbed out here this 
 morning. You need not regret it.' 
 
 ' My soul, I have you — I regret nothing ! ' 
 whispered Emilia, and kissed his shoulder. 
 
 Epilogue — Philosophy in Grey 
 
 Nello Nelli to Politian. — '. . . Here 
 at Urbino I have books and leisure once more. 
 Apollo, who does not love to see any other 
 served than himself and his chaste sister, has now 
 been appeased. I have been very near to death, 
 and in a case where death seemed the only 
 gain; but martyrdom was denied mc — I am 
 not without hope that I can give longer testi- 
 mony than my blood could have provided. In 
 short, after labours as great as those of Alcides, 
 torments as long as those of Sisyphus, and no
 
 400 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 more fruitful (you may think), I emerge sane 
 and whole. With my hot blood I poured out my 
 fatal passion, and return to my studies with what 
 appetite you may guess. The Duke is most 
 urbane — as a soldier I have never seen his equal 
 but once ; as a philosopher he has none since 
 Pericles fought in Samos. . . . 
 
 ' But because it is not reasonable that one, 
 who has known the sweets of a woman's mouth — 
 ah, and more — should be without such refresh- 
 ment, and that, nevertheless, without hindrance 
 to his serious affairs, I now contemplate wedlock. 
 For love, as lovers understand it, is an achins 
 fever, and precludes the study of the ancients ; 
 but it is otherwise with marriage. A wise man, 
 desiring to be wiser — and for that purpose desiring 
 above all things leisure — does not choose his wife 
 as he would his mistress, for her fragrance, or mere 
 perfection of parts, nor because she is much sought 
 by others, nor because she greatly seeks himself. 
 Of such dangerous lures I have had more than 
 enough. No, but he asks of his wife comeliness 
 indeed, but also modesty ; he asks her to be 
 bountiful to himself, to the world very thrifty ; 
 and (as in my own case) requires also experience 
 in the affairs of men and women, and temperance
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 401 
 
 in the pursuit of them. For to pant is a sign 
 of weakness in a horse or of bad manege in the 
 rider ; and so it is in a household. 
 
 ' . . . The lady is selected, not without mature 
 reflection, after a two years' acquaintance violently 
 begun, violently disrupted, happily resumed. But 
 I have watched her carefully and corresponded 
 with her much ; more sparingly I have of late 
 allowed myself to converse with her, but never 
 alone. Like myself, she has drunk of the sweet 
 waters of our life, so thirstily that I cannot but 
 believe her sated. Indeed, I have proved her so, 
 for all her appetite now is for moderation, decorum, 
 and womanly excellence. Like myself also, she 
 has had troubles and shames, self-inflicted, there- 
 fore self-paid. Her repentance began where my 
 excesses took hold of me. Her diligence was to 
 learn frugality, mine to taste luxury. Now we 
 are come to a point where we can touch. I know 
 now the heady delights of love, she the calmer 
 pleasures of continence. We esteem each other 
 no less for our frailties overcome than for our 
 virtues fortified. 
 
 'She is called Pernetta, and is a daughter of the 
 Adriatic. Rimini saw her birth twenty-one years 
 ago. Of her history I shall report to you by a 
 
 2 D
 
 402 FOND ADVENTURES 
 
 more discreet conveyance ; I have had some share 
 in it which I do not at all regret. She is grateful 
 to me, and is prepared to teach me gratitude. In 
 other words, she desires to get out of my debt in 
 the most pleasant way open to her. Indeed, I 
 believe that she loves me overmuch — a fault in 
 women to which we are apt to be tender. She is 
 a very beautiful person, most modest, most sub- 
 missive, most willing to do my will. I have had 
 her instructed in the rudiments of Latin, and as 
 soon as I possess her I propose to continue her 
 instruction. We shall read Ovid together : 
 the poet is easy and the task should be congenial. 
 Amant alterna Camenae ! At the head of my table 
 she will be an ornament, in the chamber a solace, 
 into the study she will never come but by invita- 
 tion. For she knows just how far a woman can 
 be companion to a man, and is not jealous of my 
 books. In short, my Politian, you may felicitate 
 me upon my nearing bliss. 
 
 * ... I meditate an exposition of the Cantica 
 Canlicorum, mystical and exegetical, in seven 
 books. Your advice will be much. 
 
 ' . . . Messer Vittorino da Feltre, that shepherd 
 of young minds, salutes you. I have spoken 
 twice to the Duchess of Urbino in your regard.
 
 THE LOVE CHASE 403 
 
 She loves you well. The Cardinal of Mantua, 
 I am told, is lately dead. What is this that I 
 hear of a Ferrarese friar — a Dominican — who 
 inveighs against good learning ? What says your 
 Laurentius of the ignorant rascal .' If we had 
 him in Urbino we would cast him from the Rocca 
 to appease the Nymphs. Valete.' 
 
 THE END 
 
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 BY MAURICE HEWLETT 
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 A ROMANCE 
 
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