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 THE 
 
 CONVENT AND THE HAREM. 
 
 MADAME PISANI, 
 
 AUTHOR OF "THE BANKER LORD," " VANDELEIR,"' &( 
 
 IN THREE VOLUMES. 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET, 
 
 1851.
 
 LONDON : 
 
 Printed by Samuel Bentley & Co. 
 Bangor House, Shoe Lane.
 
 8^3 
 
 TO 
 
 THE COUNTESS OF CLARENDON. 
 
 Madam, 
 
 Although mj lot has been cast in an- 
 other land from that which gave me birth, 
 so firmly do my thoughts and feelings re- 
 main interwoven with the latter, that while 
 seeking to contribute to its amusement by 
 ^v. a story of foreign interest, it is a moment 
 <3" of high and intense gratification to me to 
 ;^ be permitted to take that opportunity for 
 : adding the mite of my gratitude and un- 
 r bounded respect to those of a nation, with 
 cr%hich your name. Madam, and that of
 
 11 DEDICATION. 
 
 his Excellency, the present Lord Lieu- 
 tenant of Ireland, will be surrounded in 
 the pages of history. 
 
 Believe me. Madam, I appreciate the 
 honour of being allowed thus publicly to 
 declare myself, 
 
 Your Ladyship's 
 
 most devoted humble Servant, 
 
 Marian Pisani. 
 
 San Concordio, Italy, 
 November, 1851.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 Amongst the many advantages to be expected 
 from the increased facility of international com- 
 munication, that of a more thorough acquaint- 
 ance with what may, perhaps, be termed the idio- 
 syncrasy of the literature of different countries, 
 is not to be overlooked. It is true that, for 
 many years past, the acquisition of some three 
 or four modern languages has been considered a 
 necessary part of the education of every young 
 person in polite life ; but while, in my opinion, 
 more time and attention have been bestowed 
 on this mechanical acquirement than it was 
 worth, considering the perfection and extent to 
 which translating, even as a profession, has 
 been carried, it did not bring with it that ad- 
 vantage which can only be obtained by a long 
 residence in each country whose language it 
 is desirable to study, so as to be able to see.
 
 IV PREFACE. 
 
 compare, judge of, and, I may say, feel the 
 different tendencies, tastes, circumstances, and 
 temperaments, which occasion or have occa- 
 sioned such or such shades, modifications, or 
 differences, between languages. 
 
 Everything that tends to throw light upon 
 these, the component parts of what we call 
 our nature^ may, if properly directed, be ren- 
 dered useful; by teaching us what, and how, 
 to cultivate and encourage — what, and how, 
 to modify or eradicate. Without going so 
 far as those who pretend to pronounce upon 
 the character of an individual from his hand- 
 writing, I believe few dissent from the opi- 
 nion that some idea may be formed of the 
 character of a nation from its language. In 
 saying some idea, however, I would be under- 
 stood literally; for if due weight be not given 
 to the exceptions, the circumstances, the changes, 
 the comparative degrees of such or such quali- 
 ties or peculiarities, this theory would lead us, 
 it has led, to the grossest prejudice, ignorance, 
 and injustice. 
 
 To almost all other nations the German 
 language is harsh, rude, and mystical. It 
 would be as unjust as ignorant to apply these
 
 PREFACE. V 
 
 epithets to the Germans as a nation. As a 
 contrast, let us take the language of Italy. 
 Who is there, tant soit peu^ past " the bloom of 
 youth," who does not remember that, in the 
 vocabulary of their mothers, grandmothers, and 
 especially of their maiden aunts, the very word 
 " Italian " was translated as an anomaly between 
 a lover and an assassin. And that while the 
 unfortunate " professore," occasionally forgetting 
 his interests in the delicacy of his auricular 
 nerve, writhed in agony at the death-shrieks 
 of his country's most exquisite melodies, and 
 most musical words, in the throat of some 
 " promising English pupil," — who does not 
 remember yet the peep from the newspaper, or 
 " the pair of slippers," over the spectacles of the 
 respectable Duenna, whether mother, aunt, or 
 governess, in order to ascertain whether such 
 writhing might not be " the foreign way of 
 making love:" while the nervous "hem!" the 
 sudden approximation to the instrument under 
 some strange pretence, by changing the current 
 of the poor man's ideas, and causing his demon- 
 strations of disgust to cease, only served to 
 increase the suspicions against him. 
 
 I could relate an anecdote of this nature 
 
 A 3
 
 VI PREFACE. 
 
 which fell under my own observation, if I did 
 not fear being disbelieved. Well, and if we 
 should be disbelieved, will the fault rest with 
 us ? No ! — abiding, then, by the mens conscia 
 recti, I shall relate my anecdote. 
 
 A young, and very sincerely conscientious, 
 innocent girl, was left alone for two or three 
 lessons with her Italian language master, on the 
 strength of his age and ugliness. Her mother 
 at last inquiring, as a matter of form, what she 
 thought of him, was surprised to perceive the 
 young girl's face suffused with blushes, and a cer- 
 tain trepidation take possession of her. She anxi- 
 ously enquired the cause, and elicited at last that 
 there was something extremely particular in the 
 master's eyes, which alarmed her a good deal. 
 The terrified parent, after exhorting her daughter 
 to keep the sad fact secret for the present from 
 a censorious world, settled that she would place 
 herself behind a screen during the next lesson ; 
 where, without being seen, she could see and 
 judge whether the man should be denounced to 
 society, and of course ruined for life. 
 
 She" did so, and no sooner was he departed 
 than, rising to approach her daughter, she was 
 anticipated by the young girl throwing herself
 
 PREFACE. Vll 
 
 into her arms, and sobbing out, " you saw 
 him, mamma! you saw his* eyes ! did you 
 not?" 
 
 " Ye-ye-yes, my love, I did, but — ," hesitated 
 the mother, " was that what you meant he 
 always does with his eyes?" 
 
 " Yes, yes, mamma," burying her " innocent 
 shames" still deeper in her mother's expansive 
 bosom, "always! every day it has been the 
 same, and they are so black!" 
 
 " It is true they are black, my dear, all 
 Italians' are; but; but we must be just. It 
 seems to me that he only stares witli astonish- 
 ment that you cannot learn your verbs!" 
 
 " Oh, mamma! dear mamma! do you really 
 tliink so?" unaffectedly exclaimed the young 
 girl. " I am so glad! I should have thought 
 so, too, if he had been an Englishman ; but 
 I have been, you knovr, so cautioned against 
 Italian eyes!" 
 
 It is true that prejudice to this extent exists 
 no longer. But what has modilied it?— an im- 
 proved acquaintance between the countries, and 
 with the literature of each, and that acquaintance, 
 still further improved, will not only do away with 
 other prejudices, but will do away with much,
 
 VIU PREFACE. 
 
 on both sides, which has caused that pl*ejudice. 
 Already the English language is being a good 
 deal studied in Italy; and the English, in 
 general, are beginning to be aware that the 
 Italian language is capable of something more 
 than tickling the ear. Who, indeed, could read 
 the " Divina Commedia, " and continue to doubt 
 of that? And it is by the poetry, better than 
 by any other style or class of writing, that we 
 can judge of the character of the individual who 
 writes, and, according to the public reception 
 and estimation, of such, of that of the nation. 
 
 History, biography, scientific works, romances, 
 books of devotion — all, all are written for the 
 world, and adapted, as far as principle will 
 allow, to the world's tastes and sentiments. But 
 poetry — poetry is the secret of the heart; it is 
 the idiosyncrasy of the character, individual or 
 national : poetry claims privileges, prerogatives, 
 freedom, and has its claims allowed. Prose 
 adapts, poetry creates. Poetry is, then, the surest 
 literary test of a nation's character; and when we 
 would know a nation internally, either what it 
 is, or what it was, we should read and understand 
 its poetry. But the " Divina Commedia " of 
 Dante is not a poem only ; besides being a poem
 
 PREFACE. IX 
 
 of the most vigorous strength, it is a history 
 — a moral essay — a philosophical treatise — 
 almost a book of devotion. Yes, and however 
 some may differ from doctrines peculiar to the 
 age and country in which Dante wrote, I think 
 it would be impossible for any youthful mind, 
 which has not unfortunately been taught to 
 reject the heavenly particles on account of the 
 earthly scum, to rise up from the perusal of 
 that work without a favourable impression 
 having been made upon his mind and morals. 
 But, the very force and variety of the subjects 
 it embraces, while they add immeasurably to 
 the merits of the author, may cause it to be 
 less generally appreciated by the many unac- 
 quainted with the Italian history of that remote 
 period on which its interest is founded, than 
 a poem might be which only touched those 
 chords that find an echo in every breast. 
 
 It is true, that the episode — perhaps one of 
 the most tremendously fine in the world of 
 poetry — that of the vengeance taken by the 
 Count Ugolino della Gherardesca, over the 
 Archbishop Ruggieri, in the " Inferno" of Dante, 
 is nearly as familiar to every one, even tolerably 
 educated, as is his or her native alphabet ; but,
 
 X PREFACE. 
 
 while there is enough in the poetry itself to 
 create that horrid and mysterious attraction 
 which is the perfection of its style, how much is 
 lost to the many ignorant of all the circum- 
 stances attending that tremendous event ! And 
 how is this to be remedied? — a search through 
 confused and contradictory histories of a remote 
 age and country is rather too serious a prepa- 
 ration for the enjoyment of a poem. What then 
 is to be done? I had already often asked my- 
 self this question, from the want I myself expe- 
 rienced, when the most satisfactory answer was 
 unexpectedly given to me in the shape of the 
 historical novel " II Conte Ugolino della Gherar- 
 desca e i Ghibelini di Pisa,'* by the Cavaliere 
 Professore Giovanni Eosini.* 
 
 Enchanted with this interesting and elegant 
 key-note of the poem, I immediately thought of 
 communicating the pleasure I enjoyed to those 
 less acquainted with the Italian language than 
 circumstances have made me, by translating it; 
 
 * Author of many works of light literature, but whose 
 name will descend to posterity as the author of the " His- 
 tory of Italian Painting, from the Commencement to the 
 Present Time," containing upwards of five hundred 
 splendid prints of the best pictures.
 
 PREFACE. XI 
 
 but, when I re-read the work, and examined it 
 with this view, I found that much which renders 
 it interesting to the people for whom it was 
 written, and instructive to all, would be unap- 
 preciated by almost every English novel-reader, 
 requiring a translation. Such parts and per- 
 sonages, then, when not connected with the 
 historical plot, I have either left out alto- 
 gether, or modified to suit (as I hope) the English 
 taste, with the permission, and under the eyes, 
 of the liberal and illustrious author of the 
 original. 
 
 In the dialogues, especially of the lower 
 orders, I anticipate some criticism for their 
 being too Irish ; but, after a good deal of con- 
 sideration, I came to the decision that, as words 
 are but intimations or signs of certain feelings, 
 wishes, &c., it is translating with more accuracy 
 to give the words (as nearly as one can) in 
 which persons under the same influences would 
 speak in the language in which one is writing, 
 than, by what is called a literal or verbal trans- 
 lation, to change the spirit. We are not writing 
 a dictionary, but endeavouring to reproduce 
 scenes and feelings. 
 
 Such as I have been able to make this work
 
 Xll PREFACE. 
 
 I now commit it, not to the kind indulgence 
 of the world, for to that I have no particular 
 claim, but to the gracious acceptance for what 
 it may be worth, of those who may derive a 
 moment's entertainment from its pages. 
 
 Marian Pisani. 
 
 San Concordia, 1851.
 
 TO THE READER. 
 
 Before commencing the following historical 
 novel, the author entreats the reader to refresh 
 his memory by the perusal of these lines from 
 the " Divina Commedia." 
 
 Ch' io vidi duo ghiacciati in una buca 
 
 Si, die r un capo all' altro era capello : 
 E come il pan per fame si manduca, 
 
 Cosi 11 sovran li denti all' altro pose 
 
 La 've il cervel s'aggiunge coUa nuca. 
 Non altrimenti Tideo si rose 
 
 Le tempie a Menalippo per disdegno, 
 
 Che quei faceva il teschio e 1' altre cose. 
 tu che mostri per si bestial segno 
 
 Odio sovra colui che tu mange 
 
 Dimmi il perche, diss' io per tal convegno ; 
 Che se tu a ragion dl lui ti piangi 
 
 Sappiendo chi voi siete, e la sua pecca, 
 
 Nel mondo suso ancor io te ne cangi, 
 Se quella con ch' io parlo non si secca. 
 
 La bocca sollevb dal fiero pasto 
 
 Quel peccator, forbendola a' capelli 
 
 Del capo, ch' egli avea diretro guasto. 
 Poi commincio : Tu vuoi ch' io rinnovelli 
 
 Disperato dolor che il cor mi preme, 
 
 Gia pur pensando, pria ch' io ne favelli. 
 
 VOL. I. B
 
 TO THE READER. 
 
 Ma se le mie parole esser den seme, 
 
 Che frutti infamia al traditor ch' i' rodo, 
 Parlare e lagrimar vedrai insieme. 
 r non so chi tu sie, ne per clae modo 
 Venuto se' quaggiu ; ma Fiorentino 
 Mi sembri veramente quand' i' t' odo. 
 Tu dei saper ch' io fui '1 Conte TJgolino 
 E questi 1' Arcivescovo Kuggieri : 
 Or ti diro, perch' i' son tal vicino. 
 Che per reflfetto de' suo' ma' pensieri, 
 Fidandomi di lui, io fossi preso 
 E poscia morto, dir non e mestieri. 
 Perb quel che non puoi avere inteso 
 Cioe come la morte mia fu cruda 
 Udirai, e saprai se m' ha offeso. 
 Breve pertugio dentro dalla muda 
 La qual per me, ha il titol della fame, 
 E in che conviene ancor ch' altri si chiuda, 
 M' avea mostrato per Io suo forame 
 
 Pill lune gia quand' i' feci il mal sonno, 
 Che del futuro mi squarcio il velame. 
 Questi pareva a me maestro e donno 
 Cacciando il lupo ei lupicini al monte, 
 Perche i Pisan veder Lucca non ponno. 
 Con cagne magre, studiose et conte, 
 
 Gualandi con Sismondi e con Lanfranchi 
 S' avea messi dinanzi dalla fronte. 
 In picciol corso mi pareano stanchi 
 Lo padre e i figli, e con I'agute scane 
 Mi parea lor veder fender li fianchi. 
 Quando fu desto innanzi la dimane 
 
 Pianger senti' fra '1 sonno i miei figliuoli, 
 Ch 'eran meco, e dimandar il pane.
 
 TO THE READER. 
 
 Ben se' crudel, se fcu gia non ti duoli, 
 
 Pensando cio ch' il mio cor s'annunziava : 
 E se non piangi, di che pianger suoli 1 
 
 Gid eran detti, e 1' ora s'appressava 
 Che il cibo ne soleva essere addotto, 
 E per suo sogno ciascun dubitava : 
 
 Ed io sentii chiavar 1' uscio di sotto 
 All 'orribile tone ; ond' io guardai 
 Nel viso a' miei figliuoi senza far motto. 
 
 I' non piangeva ; si dentro impietrai : 
 Piangevan elli ; ed Anselmuccio mio 
 Disse ; Tu guardi si padre : che hai ? 
 
 Pero non lagrimai, ne rispos' io 
 
 Tutto quel giorno, ne la notte appresso, 
 Infin che 1' altro sol nel mondo uscio^ 
 
 Come un poco di raggio si fu messo 
 Nel doloroso carcere, ed io scorsi 
 Per quattro visi il mio aspetto stesso j 
 
 Ambo le mani per dolor mi morsi : 
 
 E quei pensando ch' io il fessi per voglia 
 Di manicar, di subito levorsi, 
 
 E disser : Padre, assai ci fia men doglia, 
 Se tu mangi di noi : tu ne vestisti 
 Queste misere carne, e tu le spoglia. 
 
 Quetkmi allor per non farli piu tristi : 
 Quel di e 1' altro stemmi tutti muti : 
 Ahi ! dura terra, perche non t' apristi ? 
 
 Posciache fummo al quarto di venuti, 
 Gaddo mi si gitto disteso a' piedi, 
 Dicendo : Padre mio, che non m' aiuti ? 
 Quivi mori : e come tu mi vedi, 
 Vid' io cascar li tre ad uno ad uno 
 Tra il quinto di e il sesto : ond' io mi diedi 
 
 B 2
 
 TO THE READER. 
 
 Gia cieco a brancolar sovra ciascuno, 
 E due li chiamai poi che fur morti : 
 Poscia, piu clie il dolor, pote il digiuno. 
 
 Quand' ebbe detto cib, con gli occhi torti 
 Ripresi il tescbio misero coi denti, 
 Che f\iro all' osso, come d' un cao, forti. 
 
 L'lnferno, Canto xxxii. xxxiii.
 
 THE 
 
 CONVENT AND THE HAREM. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 "Ecco il sole!" "Ecco il sole!'' Such was 
 the exclamation which, on the morning of the 
 4th of August, 1284, burst from as many lips 
 and was echoed by as many hearts as, perhaps, 
 ever before or since joined in chorus to wel- 
 come the re-appearance of that luminary, who 
 is to us the material representation of Him in 
 whom we live and move and have our being. 
 
 But if not frequent are such rapturous wel- 
 comes offered to the rising sun in those countries 
 where he is recognised only as an instrument, 
 rarely also do his first beams fall upon such a 
 scene as that which now received them after 
 several hours of impatient watching.
 
 b THE CONVENT AND 
 
 For a moment I had thought of giving to 
 my readers a little sketch of the Lung' Arno 
 of Pisa, with all that the eye embraces from 
 it ; — but when I reflected that it would be 
 with the intention of conveying to them some 
 idea of the efiect of the rising or the setting 
 sun upon that spot, I saw the folly of the at- 
 tempt. It would but disgust those who have 
 seen that most magnificent sight, and chill the 
 imaginations of those who have not. For the 
 latter then, I shall only say that the " Lung' 
 Arno" in Pisan and Florentine dialect means 
 the broad flagged space between the parts of 
 Arno which flows through those two cities, and 
 the magnificent palaces which bound that space 
 on the other side. Palaces to which, in both 
 cases, are attached stories and associations that, 
 if worthily handled, would send the generality 
 of our " fashionable novels " to the shades. 
 
 There is much resemblance between the Lung' 
 Arno of Pisa and that of Florence ; but as our 
 present scene took place in the former, to that 
 we shall confine ourselves, in the few words that 
 may be necessary, in order to the better under- 
 standing what took place there on the morning 
 upon which our story opens. The part of the
 
 THE HAREM. 7 
 
 Arno which runs through Pisa, is about two 
 hundred feet broad, and besides 
 
 " The rows of palaces and walls of state," 
 
 already mentioned, it is ornamented by pictur- 
 esque bridges, two of which are surmounted by 
 the remains of towers, placed to guard the 
 city-gates attached to them ; which towers, 
 darkly contrasting in their antique majesty 
 against the light, clear, blue skies, cannot fail 
 of wakening such recollections and associations 
 in the mind of him of whose stranger eye they 
 have not yet become "a part of sight/' as do 
 not render the view less interesting for peopling 
 it with human destinies. 
 
 But, when from these the eye is raised to the 
 mountains above, and beyond, and around them, 
 bathed as they are, morning and evening, in 
 those aerial dyes, which we may fancy become 
 condensed into precious gems in the earth's cold 
 b6som ; oh ! these — these are the towers, the 
 gates, the palaces, all that remains of man ; his 
 earthborn cares, and petty passions forgotten ; 
 and the mind becomes elevated and purified, 
 as it receives the glimpse, as it were, of the 
 land of promise in the distance !
 
 8 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 Glorious, however, as always is the scene of 
 the rising and the setting sun from the Lung' 
 Arno of Pisa, it was not that circumstance which 
 caused his return to be watched for a whole 
 night, and welcomed with shouts in the morning, 
 not by the entire population of the city only, 
 but by that of nearly all the surrounding country, 
 congregated together on the 4th of August, 1 284. 
 In order to enter somewhat into the spirit of what 
 that circumstance was, it will be necessary to take 
 a glance at the few years immediately preceding 
 that eventful day, and we promise our readers 
 that it shall be as hasty a one as may be consis- 
 tent with that object. 
 
 For a considerable period previous to that 
 which has been selected for the opening scene 
 of this historical story, Italy was divided into 
 separate petty states, not only generally at war 
 against each other, but torn by the intestine 
 broils, cabals, and civil wars of the opposite 
 parties of the Guelphs and Ghibelines. Those 
 wars, originating, according to some, in what 
 would now be called a breach of promise of 
 marriage, and healed by " damages" in a court 
 of justice, then enlisted popes and emperors 
 under their banners, divided brother against
 
 THE HAREM. if 
 
 brother, friend against friend, and a large por- 
 tion of the great Christian family against him 
 who was then considered almost universally as 
 the common father of Christendom. The Ghibe- 
 liDes, being of the Emperor of Germany's party, 
 against the Guelphs, who adhered to the pope. 
 This latter circumstance, however, brought with 
 it peculiar features. For, while worldly interests 
 justified or excused the Ghibelines to themselves 
 for this almost unnatural schism or separation, 
 they could not divest themselves of a certain 
 consideration, if not respect, for those who ad- 
 hered to the head of the church ; and conse- 
 quently, while private wrongs or hatred led to 
 fierce and hideous deeds, under the cloak of 
 political principle, where that political principle 
 was pure and unvenomed, it sometimes left 
 social intercourse and private friendship undis- 
 turbed. 
 
 To attempt, however, to unravel the intricacies 
 of the long, obscure, and remote drama of which 
 the country, which would seem to have been 
 intended by the Creator for the garden of the 
 world, was so long the theatre, would be a task 
 as much above my powers as it would probably 
 be distasteful to the reader. For the present 
 
 B 5
 
 10 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 object, it will be enough to mention that, while 
 Italy might be compared to a panorama, ever 
 representing a battle-scene under every dijfferent 
 phase, Pisa was the one conspicuous point in 
 each. Brave, honourable, faithful, and generous, 
 but haughty, powerful, and unflinching, we find 
 her at war with Genoa, Florence, Lucca, and 
 other minor states, at the same time, on private 
 grounds ; one of which, leading to long and 
 most disastrous consequences, was, not " a breach 
 of promise of marriage," but "breach of promise" 
 of — a little dog! while she was a sort of bul- 
 wark of Ghibeline interest, against the whole 
 of the central and southern parts of Italy. Great, 
 however, as were her resources, moral and mer- 
 cantile, they could not resist such a combination 
 against her; and, at the time our story opens, 
 she was reduced to a state of such complete 
 exhaustion, that her advisers had recourse to 
 an expedient which, they admitted frankly, would 
 be to kill or cure. That remedy was to strain 
 her last nerve, and tliose of all depending upon 
 her, as the Islands of Sardinia, Corsica, &c., 
 to procure men and money enough to meet the 
 Genoese, in what must, if lost, inevitably be 
 the last battle she should ever fight ; and to
 
 THE HAREM. 11 
 
 commit the direction of that battle to the Count 
 Ugolino della Gherardesca. 
 
 The rivalry existing between the republics 
 of Pisa and Genoa, was of such a remote origin, 
 and such long and apparently causeless duration, 
 that we must only set it down as having turned 
 into one of those instances of national antipathy, 
 which only civilization, in its most extended 
 sense, can gradually eradicate. 
 
 This antipathy had received a powerful stimu- 
 lus, about forty years before the approaching 
 battle, from circumstances to which almost every 
 Italian historian of the period attributes the 
 decline and fall of Pisa, under the immediate 
 manifestation of the wrath of God. In the yeat 
 1237, Pope Gregory IX., having summoned a 
 general council, in order to declare the emperor, 
 Frederic IL, not only excommunicated but de- 
 posed, the latter issued an order that what- 
 soever prelates or ecclesiastics of his dominions 
 should attempt to attend that council were to 
 be arrested and punished. Foreseeing, however, 
 that many of the more determined Guelphs might, 
 notwithstanding, endeavour to reach Eome, by 
 means of the Genoese vessels, that republic, having 
 always wished to preserve a neutral character
 
 12 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 between the two factions, the emperor sent to 
 desire that the Pisans, then lords of the Mediter- 
 ranean, should be on the watch, to prevent this 
 bj force of arms. 
 
 It would appear that the Pisans, though so 
 sincerely attached to the emperor's cause as to 
 have refused to be restored to the favour of the 
 Pope on condition of abandoning it, would gladly 
 have been spared offering to the latter so public 
 an insult. With this view they sent to inform 
 the Genoese of the orders they had received, 
 — entreating of them to spare them the necessity 
 of obejing them. 
 
 The Genoese, doubly offended, by the em- 
 peror's threat and the Pisans' caution, returned 
 a haughty answer, and put to sea with their self- 
 invited guests. The Pisans met them at ^lelona, 
 (a port of the Mediterranean between Genoa and 
 Pisa, so called from a rocky island there) gave 
 them battle, took twenty-two of their boats, 
 sank others, and made four thousand prisoners, 
 amongst whom were two cardinals, and all the 
 other ecclesiastics who had attempted that route 
 to Rome. 
 
 Exasperated probably by the haughty de- 
 fiance, and the resistance offered, the Pisans
 
 THE HAREM. 13 
 
 seem to have changed their late modera- 
 tion into fierce triumph ; for, carrying their 
 prisoners to Pisa, they led them, ecclesiastics as 
 well as laymen, through the streets, in chains, the 
 only distinction being that those of the Cardinals 
 were made of silver. 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to say that the thun- 
 ders of the church were now levelled against 
 them with redoubled fury ; especially as it was 
 said that the pope died of indignation at the 
 insult. 
 
 Without going the lengths of the historians 
 of the day, truth compels us to say, that, from 
 one cause or other, Pisa had thenceforth but a 
 fitful and still declining prosperity. Excommu- 
 nicated, pardoned, conquering and conquered 
 alternately, so decided a breach of ecclesiastical 
 respect and decency, dissevered many of the 
 moderate of all parties from her interests, while 
 the Genoese felt, from that hour, that the in- 
 sult to their guests could only be washed out 
 by the life-blood of the republic ; and what the 
 fathers had not been able entirely to accomplish, 
 they left as a sacred debt upon their sons. The 
 decisive moment was now at hand, and the 
 choice by the Pisans, of the Count Ugolino, as
 
 14 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 their leader, seems to have been one of those 
 acts of infatuation which we often observe to 
 precede ruin. 
 
 The government of the republic of Pisa, at the 
 time we write of, consisted of ihepodestd, or chief 
 magistrate ; il capitano del popolo, or com- 
 mander of the forces ; and the anziani, or coun- 
 cillors. ''^ 
 
 These offices were temporary, as to the persons 
 filling them; and it was a rule, although not 
 always strictly observed, that the two former 
 should not be held by natives of the republic ; in 
 the hope thereby of avoiding temptation to injus- 
 tice or partiality. Of the anziani, it was neces- 
 sary that four at least should be chosen from 
 amongst the class of tradesmen, which privilege 
 had been conceded to a popular insurrection not 
 many years before, and was still in full force. 
 
 The podestdy at the time of the opening of 
 our story, was Alberto Morosini, a noble Vene- 
 tian of merit, who had been invited to fill that 
 hio*h post at Pisa, after having acquired fame as a 
 brave and experienced admiral. 
 
 * In o-iving this interpretation to the offices named, we 
 do not pretend that it is in all respects accurate. We 
 only mean to make the nearest comparison consistent with 
 brevity.
 
 THE HAREM. 16 
 
 // capitano del popolo, was Ugolino della 
 Gherardesca, who, on the other hand, was not 
 only a native of the republic, but had been pre- 
 viously banished from it, and his estates confis- 
 cated as a traitor ! 
 
 The Count Ugolino della Gherardesca, who, in 
 1284, was in his seventy-fifth year, was one of 
 those men whose lives, characters, and even ap- 
 pearance, give the idea that they can never die. 
 Called upon, as we know every human being will 
 be, to go through a certain change, which we call 
 death, we wonder how it can be performed by 
 such, and even those who witness it remain stu- 
 pified, indeed, but scarely convinced ; and their 
 incredulity is, in part borne out by the immor- 
 tality attached to the memories of such men. 
 
 Count Ugolino, Lord of Donoratico and Giudice 
 of Cagliari, was one of the most important, as 
 well as extraordinary, personages of his age in 
 Central Italy ; important for the antiquity of his 
 noble family — important for his great wealth — 
 and, above all, important for his personal quali- 
 ties, and his prodigious talents, as a statesman 
 and a soldier. 
 
 To a person towering considerably above the 
 usual height, in all the might of fine, though
 
 16 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 somewhat meagre proportions, and the haughty 
 consciousness of moral strength, both still un- 
 bowed by the weight of years, he added a coun- 
 tenance calculated to enhance these advantages 
 by its stern yet flexible expression. A large 
 forehead, but not that of the meditative casualist, 
 a high and prominent nose, but not that of the 
 philanthropist, and eyes which, though of a clear 
 blue, sparkled in anger, witM a fierceness the more 
 terrible, because unusual in that colour ; the first 
 impression received from his appearance was ad- 
 miration, indeed, — but admiration qualified by 
 awe, if not by fear. Absent the cause of anger, 
 however, or his object for the time being to 
 render himself agreeable, few could succeed to 
 such perfection ; and the smile upon lips, whose 
 character was stern decision, was nearly irresisti- 
 ble, even in his old age. His character it is not 
 so easy to describe. Living but for one object, 
 and that one the most reckless ambition, with the 
 gift of reading the minds of others as clearly as 
 they might discern his outward features, and a 
 power of adaptability little less than super- 
 natural; without principles, public or private, 
 what would be character in others, in him could 
 be called little more than circumstance. If there
 
 THE HAREM. 17 
 
 was one fixed point in his character which even 
 he found it sometimes difficult to manage, it was 
 his fierce and imperious haughtiness. This had 
 been excessive even in his youth, but it grew 
 with his growth, and strengthened with his 
 strength, until it arrived at last at the pitch 
 which caused his downfall. Whatever might be 
 said of his character, however, his talents were 
 sufficiently decided. Clear in foresight, firm in 
 resolve, daring in action, yet capable, when ne- 
 cessary, of patience and of the profoundest dis- 
 simulation, he led his men to almost certain 
 victory — when he pleased : — and as he shared 
 with them the glory and the booty, which latter, 
 in those days, was nearly all they could lay their 
 hands on, it was the love of the troops for his 
 person, and their reliance on his skill, which 
 enabled him so long to sway the minds of all 
 wherever he appeared, — always doubting, but 
 always dazzled, — and refusing to believe in their 
 own convictions, until it was too late to save 
 their country from his machinations. 
 
 With advantages such as these, and in times 
 afi'ording such scope for their improvement, it 
 might be supposed that by conscientiously, or 
 even consistently, espousing one or other of the
 
 18 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 great leading parties, Count Ugolino need have 
 had no difficulty in attaining to all the power 
 and influence to which a patriot, or a man of 
 principle, could aspire. But power or influence, 
 limited hj any other considerations, could not 
 content his insatiate ambition. His haughty mind 
 rejected trammels of whatever kind ; and, while 
 controlled and controllable power was all that was 
 permitted or adopted in the governments around 
 him, he seems early in life to have conceived, and 
 never to have abandoned, the daring hope of 
 making himself supreme lord, wherever fortune 
 might promise most facility. With this one object 
 in view, he passed and repassed over the face of 
 the country like a meteor, brilliant, erratic,' seem- 
 ingly without course, sphere, or system, astonish- 
 ing all, terrifying many, and determined, as it 
 seemed, to make up in men's fear what they 
 refused of their esteem. 
 
 Of a high Ghibeline family, and professing 
 their principles, he gave his daughter's hand to 
 Uberto Visconti, Giudice of Gallura, the declared 
 head of the Guelphic party. Censured by the 
 pope, he replied with menaces and acts of aggres- 
 sion; a Pisan, he betrayed his country to the 
 Lucchese; the bravest soldier of his time, he
 
 THE HAREM. l9 
 
 fled from battle without striking a blow ; and, 
 pardoned, and again betraying his country, he 
 was raised to the highest honours to which an 
 individual there had ever yet attained. 
 
 But what were rules, consistencies, or difficul- 
 ties, to a mind like his ? One, and one barrier 
 only, had as yet been opposed to his monstrous 
 career. That one was Ruggieri degli Ubaldini, 
 Archbishop of Pisa. And here we would implore 
 our readers (such of them, at least, as are not 
 familiar with the story) to cast a backward glance 
 at the juxta-position, in which Dante describes 
 these great rival minds in the part of the '•'In- 
 ferno " quoted at the commencement.
 
 20 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 It has been said that the government of Pisa 
 consisted of the podesta, capitano del popolo, and 
 the anziani ; but it would perhaps have been 
 more correct to have added the qualification no- 
 minally ; for there was yet another oflice and of 
 a difierent kind, which exercised such an influence 
 over all the others, as it is nearly impossible to 
 conceive in the present age and state of the 
 world, and particularly, perhaps, of the English 
 world. The office was that of archbishop. Wars 
 had been made against the pope — kings and 
 emperors had endeavoured to shake off spiritual 
 interference with their temporal concerns, and 
 had been excommunicated ; but still so strongly 
 does the mixed nature of man cling to the mys- 
 terious — to that which belongs, or which he 
 believes to belong to the immortal part of that 
 nature, that, even while acting against those who 
 were supposed to be the ^ high priests of such,
 
 THE HAREM. 21 
 
 their influence only required to be exercised 
 with moderation and good sense, in order to ex- 
 ceed that of all others, almost as much as spiri- 
 tual concerns were considered more important 
 than temporal ones. 
 
 The man who now filled that high and influ- 
 ential ofl&ce at Pisa was one calculated to possess 
 that influence in its fullest extent. With talents 
 not inferior to those of Count Ugolino, though 
 difierentlj directed, and passions whose force he 
 was himself unwilling to recognise, except in his 
 efibrts to control them, he had hitherto main- 
 tained the priestly character with decorum and 
 even dignity.'''' 
 
 There were not, however, wanting those who 
 whispered that such had not been his natural 
 vocation. It was said that in early youth he had 
 known the strongest passion of our nature in all 
 its force ; but that, finding himself supplanted by 
 his elder brother, where he had given all his 
 heart, he consecrated his rejected vows to the 
 church, only allowing to himself the consolation 
 of adopting, later in life, the fruit of the mar- 
 riage which had marred his earthly happiness. 
 
 * I have already said that of the conflicting opinions I 
 have taken one side with decision. See dal Borgo, &c.
 
 22 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 When both the parents were called to another 
 world, he took their infant and only child to 
 educate as his own ; and, although as the little 
 Abaldino grew to manhood he proved no excep- 
 tion to the rule, bj which it would appear thai 
 those brought up under the shade of particularl} 
 strong and all -directing minds, seldom ripen intc 
 much strength or independence of character them- 
 selves, the youth was so amiable, so docile, so 
 affectionate, and so much admired in society, as 
 well for his winning and graceful manner and 
 acquirements unusual in that age, as for his 
 remarkably handsome person, that it was scarcely 
 exaggeration to say that he became the focus 
 of all his uncle's long smothered but ever power- 
 ful passions and affections. 
 
 The archbishop mixed in the world indeed, 
 and, with seeming interest in all that interested 
 others, he swayed councils with judgment and 
 firmness ; but there was not one ever admitted 
 to his intimacy who did not feel that, under a 
 reserved and almost cold exterior, there was one 
 idol in his heart — and one only — to which all 
 else would, if necessary, be sacrificed like idle 
 pastime. That one was his nephew, the son of 
 his youthful and only love.
 
 THE HAREM. 23 
 
 Kuggieri was not only of a Ghibeline family 
 like Ugolino, but was nephew to that Cardinal 
 Ottaviano degli Ubaldini, who was so fierce an 
 adherent of their party that it was said the 
 pope, in giving him the blessed ashes, empha- 
 tically whispered, " i\Iemento quia Ghibellinus es," 
 &c., and that the cardinal was heard to reply 
 that if he believed he had a soul he would lose 
 it for his party ! 
 
 How the nephew of one with so little appa- 
 rent claim upon the church, under any aspect, 
 came to be nominated to so high a place as arch- 
 bishop, and of the Ghibeline Pisan republic, is 
 one of those mysteries which it is not in our 
 power to solve, and which occur but too often 
 in the remote, confused, and often contradictory 
 histories and documents of those times ; where we 
 find efiects seemingly without cause, assertions 
 against apparent evidence, and all that can ren- 
 der confusion worse confounded. We must, there- 
 fore, have recourse, where we can, to conjecture, 
 and suppose it to have been a stroke of policy, 
 in order to conciliate the haughty and unflinch- 
 ing Pisans, who would probably have rejected a 
 spiritual head opposed to their political princi- 
 -ples, while Ruggieri, though at heart a thorough
 
 24 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 Ghibeline, had hitherto conducted himself in 
 every position with so much impartiality and 
 propriety as to gain the esteem and confidence 
 of both parties. 
 
 It was reserved for the Count Ugolino della 
 Gherardesca to disturb the equilibrium he had 
 hitherto preserved, and to send his name down 
 the stream of posterity with a stain which, if 
 not as deep as his own, is only lightened by the 
 comparison. 
 
 It was scarcely possible that two such minds, 
 with talents which attracted each other, while 
 their principles repelled, should come into colli- 
 sion without striking fire ; and it would appear 
 as if, from their first interview, each had felt 
 that he had met his most formidable antagonist ; 
 and before long it might be said that the fate 
 of Pisa depended upon a struggle between two 
 master minds, while the rest looked on as at a 
 game in which, though their all was at stake, 
 they were incapable of taking any part. 
 
 The reason of the Count Ugolino's having 
 finally fixed upon his native city as the point 
 of his ambition and the scene of his intrigues, 
 seems to have been the check which the Ghibe- 
 line party had received some time before, by the
 
 THE HAREM. 25 
 
 successes of Charles of Yalois, King of the Two 
 Sicilies, who, having cut off not only the young 
 Emperor Conrad himself, but most of the leading 
 Ghibelines at the fatal battle of Tagliacozzo, had 
 established such extensive colonies of French sub- 
 jects in Sicily and Naples, as, although leading 
 to the too famous " Sicilian Yespers," left the 
 Ghibelines little hopes for the present of recover- 
 ing their former importance. 
 
 While these circumstances, together with pri- 
 vate and internal causes, reduced Pisa to so low 
 an ebb, as to make the return of her prodigal 
 but powerful son Ugolino, almost of vital import- 
 ance, her honour and spirit, waxing stronger as 
 her fleshly resources failed, would, he well knew, 
 have closed her gates against him, even with a 
 dying hand, rather than have accepted his as- 
 sistance as a Guelph. He came then as a Ghi- 
 beline — was admitted and trusted ; but being 
 soon after found in secret league with the Luc- 
 chese, and even sending them troops, to be 
 headed by his Guelphic son-in-law against Pisa 
 herself, he was banished, and his goods confis- 
 cated. That after this, he was re-called, par- 
 doned, his goods restored, and himself promoted, 
 against rule and precedent, to be captain of the 
 
 VOL. I. c
 
 26 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 people, is one of those facts, to which we have 
 already alluded, and to which we must bow our 
 heads in silence. 
 
 Against the archbishop's will the circumstance 
 scarcely could have taken place ; we must there- 
 fore suppose, either that the Count, with that ex- 
 traordinary power of adaptability which becomes 
 divine or satanic, according to the uses to which it 
 is applied, had already succeeded in blinding even 
 him ; or, that the necessity of preventing the 
 influence and talents of such an ally, from being 
 thrown openly and irrecoverably, into the already 
 preponderating Guelphic scales, had induced him 
 to think, that with his eyes thus opened to the 
 Count's designs, it would not be possible for 
 him to be again deceived ; forgetting that it 
 avails little to know the designs against us, if 
 we know not the means that may be adopted 
 for compassing them. The Count, in the mean- 
 time, had, on his part, received a check, which 
 he determined to turn to his advantage. He 
 said to himself, that the barrier which could not 
 be overleaped, might be crept under ; and, ac- 
 cordingly, on his return, he presented himself 
 to Pisa, and to the Archbishop, as an altered 
 character. He not only devoted himself with
 
 THE HAREM. 27 
 
 ardent zeal and apparent single-heartedness to 
 the duties of his high station, but, by degrees, he 
 succeeded in persuading the Archbishop, that 
 he no longer desired to take a step in his most 
 private family concerns, without his advice and 
 approbation ; and, however the latter might dis- 
 trust him in general, each individual instance 
 skilfully conducted, served to flatter the vanity 
 of the man, and to conciliate the charity of the 
 ecclesiastic. 
 
 Thus, when he saw him publicly devoting not 
 only his time and valuable talents, but even his 
 private wealth, and that of his family, to forward 
 the preparations now making for the great and 
 decisive battle with the Genoese, the object upper- 
 most in every heart and every mind, he forgot 
 that, not the astute Count Ugolino only, but 
 no one human being was, ever yet contented 
 by that obtained from another's fears. The 
 goodness or the will of others we must bo con- 
 tent with, because these we cannot measure ; 
 but the fear, which depends upon ourselves, it is 
 our nature, even in its progressive quality, to 
 increase ever for our advantage. Nations, as 
 well as private individuals, would do well to 
 remember this. 
 
 c 2
 
 28 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 CHAPTEH III. 
 
 I]s^ the meantime, everything appeared to 
 succeed according to Ugolino's aspirations, l^or, 
 amongst the resources and advantages he pos- 
 sessed, should we omit to mention, that of a 
 long line of descendants from himself : sons and 
 daughters, and their sons and daughters, over 
 all of whom he continued to exercise the 
 authority of a parent, with that egotism, which 
 results alike, as all extremes meet, from unre- 
 gulated genius and narrow ignorance, which 
 cannot conceive, or will not admit, that the time 
 is ever arrived, when those once subject to their 
 direction may be capable of thinking or acting 
 for themselves. Ugolino taught his offspring of 
 two generations, to look upon him as a central 
 luminary, which sent out rays according to his 
 pleasure, to be re-called by the same influence ; 
 and, as yet, most of them believed they had 
 received their being, for the sole purpose of mul-
 
 THE HAREM. 29 
 
 tiplying his resources and capabilities. The 
 most important bj wealth and station amongst 
 these, was Nino Yisconti, Giudice di Gallura, 
 son of that Giovanni Yisconti to whom Ugolino 
 had given his daughter's hand, to propitiate the 
 Guelphs, of whom Dante writes " Nel Purgatorio," 
 Canto viii. 
 
 " Solo tre passi credo ch' io scendesse 
 
 E fui di sotto, e vidi un che mirava 
 
 Pur me^ come conoscer me volesse. 
 Tempo era gia, che 1' aer s' annerava, 
 
 Ma non si che tra gli occhi suoi e' miei 
 
 Non dichiarasse cio che pria serrava. 
 Ver me si fece, ed io ver lui mi fei : 
 
 Giudice Nin gentil ! quanto mi piacque 
 
 Quando ti vidi non esser tra rei ! 
 Nello bel salutar tra noi si tacque : 
 
 Poi dimando : quant' e che tu venisti 
 
 Appie del monte per le lontane acque ? 
 Oh ! dissi lui, per entro i luoghi tristi 
 
 Venni stamane, e sono in prima vita, 
 
 Ancor che 1' altra si andando acquisti 
 
 tF Tf^ ^ ^ ^ 7^ 
 
 Poi volto a me : per quel singular grado, 
 
 Che tu dei a colui, che si nasconde 
 
 In suo primo perche, che non gli e guado, 
 Quando sarai di la dalle larghe onde, 
 
 Di a Giovanna mia, che per me chiami 
 
 La dove agl' innocenti si risponde 
 Non credo che la sua madre piu mi ami."
 
 30 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 Having inherited his father's rank and fortune, 
 he had also inherited his consideration as chief 
 of the Pisan Guelphs ; but, as yet, that consider- 
 ation was bestowed rather bj anticipation. For 
 having been, by the death of both his parents 
 in his youth, brought up with his sister Bianca 
 under the sway of his imperious grandfather ; 
 if his natural character had more of decision in 
 it than had that of the nephew of the Arch- 
 bishop, whose guardian, if all-directing in spirit, 
 was warm, amiable, and affectionate in temper, 
 it was as yet still less developed ; nor was it 
 until long after, when successful intrigue became 
 public and private tyranny, that the very gentle- 
 ness of his nature, by revolting against such, 
 taught him to know and assert his own inde- 
 pendence and importance. 
 
 His marriage with the beautiful Beatrice, of 
 the house of D'Este, who added to the Guelphic 
 principles of her family, all the vivacity and im- 
 patience of her own haughty temper, might have 
 been supposed to have had the effect of opening 
 his eyes to his own importance ; but it was not so. 
 A crushed spirit, like a smouldering fire, or a 
 famishing stomach, must be dealt with delicately 
 and cautiously, or else the fuel or the food,
 
 THE HAREM. 31 
 
 moral or material, will overwhelm the lingering 
 spark. 
 
 Such precaution it was not in Beatrice's nature 
 to adopt. She had grown up in the persuasion, 
 that her beauty, which was admirable, and her 
 talents, which, in her own opinion, were no less 
 so, were bestowed upon her for the good of the 
 Guelphic party. For this reason she had, as she 
 considered it, sacrificed herself to Nino without 
 having loved him, in order to render his position, 
 under her management, more effective to their 
 party. But, cold and imperious by temperament, 
 while believing herself not only justifiable, but 
 bound to exercise the power of her attractions, on 
 all where she presumed they might be useful, — 
 even, as it was said, upon the Archbishop himself, 
 she was incapable of harbouring even a thought 
 against what she considered due to her own or 
 her husband's honour. Unfortunately, disrespect 
 in public, and tyrannical ill-humour in private, 
 did not come under this denomination in her 
 vocabulary; and, as she soon read through the 
 dissimulation of Ugolino, that he was determined 
 to raise himself upon the ruins of the Ghibelines, 
 by any and every means, she joined forces with 
 him, almost to the exclusion of her gentle, con-
 
 32 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 scientious husband from their councils. And 
 Nino, who had loved her, as joung men love, 
 for her beauty, found, when it was too late, that 
 he had only riveted another chain upon his 
 neck, which he felt without being able to shake 
 off. His only resource was in the friendship of 
 his sister, Bianca, who had taken up her resi- 
 dence with them upon their marriage ; but whose 
 disappointment, in finding the uncongenial cha- 
 racter of her new sister, confirmed her in the 
 intention she had formed for some time past, of 
 following the example of the friend and compa- 
 nion of her childhood, the noble and beautiful 
 Michelina, who had some years before taken the 
 veil in the convent of Santa Croce, not many 
 miles distant from Pisa, where they had both 
 been educated, and had lived together in pure, 
 innocent, and happy enthusiasm, until the mar- 
 riage of her brother, calling Bianca from her 
 seclusion, Michelina, young as she was, was 
 elected the superior. 
 
 Bianca Visconti was one of those beings who oc- 
 casionally appear amongst us, though seeming to 
 belong, not only to another age, but to another 
 sphere. Exquisitely fair, with long, light, silken 
 hair, in a country where international communi-
 
 THE HAREM. S3 
 
 cation, not having jet blended the local pecu- 
 liarities, all were brunettes ; loving, gentle, 
 benevolent, as her large soft blue ejes uncon- 
 sciously entreated jou to believe ; intelligent, 
 reflective, and cultivated, as was manifested by 
 her clear, expansive brow, expressive smile, and 
 gracious, polished bearing; possessed of wealth, 
 rank, and family influence, it is scarcely neces- 
 sary to say that her hand was sought for almost 
 as a public prize. 
 
 But, while the occasional visits which she 
 had made from her convent to her grandfather's 
 home, wherever it might have been for the time, 
 had served to knit her heart to that of her 
 gentle and only brother, in that ineffable afiec- 
 tion which requires close consanguinity for its 
 foundation and sanction, as it requires the isola- 
 tion of refinement, in two beings diflering from 
 all around them, for its attraction and devotion, 
 such visits served to disgust her so completely 
 with the fierce, turbulent, and intriguing spirit of 
 the times, when the narrowed household circle 
 was often divided against itself, that she not 
 only rejected every ofier hitherto made her, but 
 rejected them with, at once, such shuddering 
 horror, and such gentle decision, as made even 
 
 c 5
 
 S4 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 her imperious grandfather afraid to arouse the 
 latent but chivalrous spirit of her brother, by 
 any attempt at tyrannical compulsion. 
 
 It was not until she formally announced to 
 him her determination to become a nun, that 
 he suflPered his fury to burst forth, and that he 
 threatened, with his dreaded vengeance, all who 
 should abet her in so mad a scheme. She then 
 bowed her head to the storm ; but became only 
 the more convinced, in her heart of hearts, that 
 a world where such a man was amongst the 
 rulers, was not for her ; and she would, probably, 
 all gentle as she was, have found means to es- 
 cape to that protection which a convent then 
 afforded, had not that brother himself come for- 
 ward to second the arguments, while he counter- 
 acted the harshness of their common grandfather. 
 
 The brother and sister, with that delicacy 
 which was the bond and safeguard of their 
 friendship, had never spoken to each other on 
 the subject of their deep and mutual disappoint- 
 ment in the character of Beatrice ; but on this 
 occasion, when every other argument had failed, 
 Nino took her hand within his, and, in accents 
 which could not be mistaken by her sympathetic 
 heart, he said —
 
 THE HAREM. S5 
 
 " Bianca, do not deprive me of the consolation 
 of your presence." 
 
 She looked into his eyes for one moment, 
 returned the pressure of his hand, and never 
 spoke again upon the subject of leaving him. 
 
 It appeared as if her self-sacrificing generosity 
 was destined not to pass unrewarded. 
 
 It has been said that Beatrice spared no pains, 
 nor hesitated at any means, to win over the 
 archbishop from that party which all knew was 
 really his at heart. Her woman's instinct soon 
 taught her that amongst those means was atten- 
 tion to his nephew. It was, accordingly, lavished 
 upon the young man in every possible shape ; 
 and, although the haughtiness and vanity to- 
 gether of Beatrice's temper made her consider 
 incense offered to any other woman in her society 
 as so much robbed from her, and even persuaded 
 her that the chief object of the proposals made 
 for Bianca's hand was the approximation to 
 herself, in the case of the nephew of the Arch- 
 bishop, she was obliged to have recourse to the 
 same line of reasoning for herself ; and, in order 
 to secure the uncle, to make the sacrifice of the 
 nephew to Bianca. Her political and personal 
 vanity were at variance for a few days; but,
 
 36 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 as she found it impossible to devote herself to 
 uncle and nephew at the same time, the former 
 won the day, and Ubaldino and Bianca found 
 themselves constantly and inevitably thrown 
 upon each other's society almost exclusively. 
 It has been said that Ubaldino was cultivated 
 far beyond what was usual for laymen at that 
 period. He was handsome, polished, and agree- 
 able, and that indecision of character, so fatal 
 in active life, or in critical circumstances, had 
 no other effect in the saloon than to lend grace 
 and softness to his voice and manners, which 
 forming a refreshing contrast in times like those, 
 had for Bianca an irresistible attraction. She, 
 on the other hand, was touchingly beautiful; 
 and so superior in intellect and accomplishments 
 to the generality of those to whose society he 
 had been accustomed, that, while attracted by 
 her beauty, his character, his affections, his tastes, 
 scarcely yet fully formed, and fluttering as it 
 were upon the edge of their nest, felt a repose 
 and reassurance in her society that, without 
 startling her under the abjured name or appear- 
 ance of passionate love, brought to her pure and 
 sympathetic heart all the best essence and effects 
 of such.
 
 THE HAREM. 37 
 
 As may readily be supposed, symptoms such 
 as these did not long escape the interested eyes 
 of Ugolino. The idea of a marriage between 
 his granddaughter and the nephew of the arch- 
 bishop had, indeed, vaguely crossed his mind 
 before then; but, though capable of fixing his 
 aim steadily and perseveringly upon an object 
 which to others might seem absolutely impossible 
 of attainment, he did so in confidence of the 
 very variety of resources within his power ; 
 but this one of marrying his Guelphic grand- 
 daughter to the idol of the Ghibeline arch- 
 bishop's heart, and the hope of his house, had 
 seemed too wild even for him, because he knew, 
 by his instinctive penetration into the minds 
 of others, that it could only be the result of 
 Ubaldino's own inclinations ; and these, previous 
 to the present occasion, he had had no means 
 of putting to the test. No sooner, however, 
 did he learn their tendency, and the pleasure 
 which Bianca seemed to receive from his society, 
 than he believed the game to be in his own hands, 
 and the crowning summit of his highest hopes 
 in view. He breathed not, however, a syllable 
 on the subject to any one : he even afiected 
 blindness for some time, in order not to be
 
 38 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 supposed to see too clearly. But while afifect- 
 ing not to see the important step which others 
 were attaching to his ladder of ambition, he 
 opened his eyes the wider, and fixed them all 
 the more steadily on that one which must precede 
 the crowning and the last — that one on which his 
 thoughts by day and dreams by night had run 
 ever since his last return to Pisa — that one pole 
 to which all his seemingly disinterested efibrts, 
 public and private, had pointed — that of his 
 causing himself to be nominated generalissimo 
 of the approaching expedition : a step the more 
 difficult, as it could be taken only by overlook- 
 ing the long, tried, and valuable services of the 
 admiral, Podesta Morosini ; to give the command 
 of a battle, to be fought at sea, to one who had 
 never fought or commanded but on land, and 
 that one who had already betrayed his trust and 
 country ! But to such he aspired, and he now 
 redoubled all his exertions, flattering the arch- 
 bishop, courting the anziani, and sparing no 
 pains and no expense to win popularity from 
 the people. At last, as soon as he believed 
 that all was pretty ripe, and that the affections 
 of Bianca and Ubaldino were at least so far 
 engaged as only to require a breath to kindle
 
 THE HAREM. 39 
 
 them into a flame, and the archbishop thoroughly 
 mystified as to his character, he betook himself 
 to the archiepiscopal palace, and made the pro- 
 posal for the alliance between their families, with 
 that apparent frankness which became one con- 
 scious that the advantages of wealth and family 
 were upon his side, and that the hand he offered 
 was in itself a treasure. The archbishop's recep- 
 tion of the proposal was even beyond what he 
 had ventured to anticipate. Skilled in reading 
 the human heart, even by profession, and, as 
 has been hinted, not unexperienced in its fond 
 emotions, he, also, had begun to observe the 
 pleasure which his nephew took in the society 
 of Bianca ; and, however he might have pre- 
 ferred that she had not been so nearly allied 
 to the man he still vaguely feared and doubted 
 as a patriot, her own sweet attractions, her femi- 
 nine silence and occasional blushes, while her 
 sister-in-law harangued on politics opposite to 
 his own, to crowded circles ; and, perhaps, above 
 all, the apparent appreciation of Ubaldino's merits 
 by one known to be so difficult to win, had so 
 far overcome his objections as to lead him to 
 persuade himself that so close a union would 
 confirm and strengthen the influence which he
 
 40 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 believed he had begun to acquire over the wily 
 count. 
 
 " "What, indeed, ca/i he aspire to more T' he 
 asked himself occasionally, " than to be capitano 
 del popolo." And although he started a little 
 when Ugolino ventured, in the same interview, 
 to liint at his having the direction of the ap- 
 proaching expedition against the Genoese, before 
 they separated, Ugolino had contrived, by ar- 
 guments, addressed to every assailable point 
 of his reason, his affections, or his weaknesses 
 to extort from him a promise, that at least he 
 would not oppose his nomination, should he 
 be able to succeed in gaining the suffrages of 
 the people. 
 
 " It is a tremendous trust," the archbishop 
 said to himself, when Ugolino departed, " but the 
 very fact of this marriage not being to take 
 place until his return, will ensure his fidelity, 
 which, perhaps, without such a pledge, might 
 have failed. I think, I trust, I have not mistaken 
 my own motives." 
 
 Alas ! poor, cunning, silly human nature !
 
 THE HAREM. 41 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 But, notwithstanding the unexpected success 
 which the count had had with the Archbishop, 
 he met with opposition where he least expected 
 it, and that was from Bianca herself. Pleased, 
 it is true she was, and even agreeably surprised 
 by the superiority of Ubaldino's tastes, manners, 
 and conversation, over those of the circle which 
 usually congregated round her grandfather ; but 
 so entirely and sincerely had she decided upon 
 a life of celibacy, even when tacitly consenting 
 that her convent should be her brother's house, 
 . — that when Ubaldino, receiving with rapture 
 from his uncle, the permission, which in those days 
 was necessary, came to offer her his vows, she 
 started as if really wakened from a pleasing 
 dream, and, as positively, though not as calmly, 
 as on other similar occasions, declined accepting 
 them. In vain did her brother plead, and 
 her sister rage> To Xino she said, —
 
 42 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 "It was not to marry that I gave up my 
 convent life :" and with Beatrice, she only tried 
 by soft words to turn away wrath. 
 
 When the news reached her grandfather's 
 ears, however, the matter assumed a new ap- 
 pearance. It was the Archbishop himself who 
 informed him of her rejection of his nephew. 
 Dark as midnight grew Ugolino's brow ; and it 
 was only respect for the Archbishop, and fear 
 of betraying his deeper interests, which re- 
 strained him from breaking forth into one of 
 those fearful bursts of passion, which, even 
 then, occasionally manifested themselves to those 
 honoured by his familiar intercourse. Even 
 under this control, however, enough escaped, to 
 somewhat surprise the archbishop, and to in- 
 duce him to say emphatically, — 
 
 "Let us understand each other, my Lord 
 Count ; when I gave my consent to this alliance, 
 I intended it should be a source of mutual 
 happiness to the young people, and never shall 
 I permit my nephew to force his attentions 
 where they are not welcome. Beware then, my 
 Lord, how you deal with your sweet grand- 
 daughter ; for, much as I — much as I am natu- 
 rally interested for my nephew, neither my
 
 THE HAREM. 43 
 
 sense of his dignity, nor justice to the young 
 lady, will allow me now to accept a consent, 
 unless I myself hear it ratified by her own lips. 
 Ubaldino is crushed for the moment under the 
 disappointment, but, although I am not one of 
 those who make light of any passion implanted 
 in us by the Creator, and whose individual 
 intensity only he can measure (and a shade of 
 pain passed over his brow, although he stifled 
 a rising sigh), I believe a man of spirit, a man 
 of honour, can better bear a solitary and 
 blameless grief, than indulgence at the expense of 
 another's happiness." 
 
 Ugolino's talent of adaptability came to his aid 
 in time. 
 
 " Monsignore," he said, in a frank and cordial 
 tone, "you are a churchman and I a soldier. 
 Such as you are would be of little use in such a 
 world as this, if there were not such as I am ; 
 and such as I am would be worse than useless 
 without you. United — permit me the expres- 
 sion, I feel strongly at this moment, that we 
 may hope for everything. Fear me no longer. 
 I will speak to my granddaughter — I will learn 
 her sentiments ; and to you — to you, accustomed 
 as you are to sound the depths of the heart.
 
 44 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 she shall declare them — in the confessional if 
 jou will." 
 
 Thej parted, and Ugolino betook himself to 
 Visconti's house, and desired to see Bianca alone. 
 
 The first words that ever passed between him 
 and his granddaughter on the subject were — 
 
 " Why have you refused the Archbishop's 
 nephew 1 " 
 
 "My dear grandfather, I thought you were 
 already aware that I had decided not to marry/' 
 
 " And why 1 " 
 
 " You know — do you not — that I had in- 
 tended becoming a nun '? " 
 
 " And why do you not do so 1 " 
 
 Bianca would have felt herself guilty of a 
 crime in assigning her generous sympathy for 
 her brother as her reason. She remained silent. 
 
 " Is this young man distasteful to you 1 " and 
 the question which she had unhesitatingly an- 
 swered in the negative to her sympathizing bro- 
 ther, some feminine instinct prevented her from 
 being able to answer, as it was now put by her 
 worldly-minded parent. " Will you not conde- 
 scend to give me a reply'?" he pursued. "But 
 you need not ; your burning cheek betrays you, 
 young woman ! Come hither, Bianca — nay, come
 
 THE HAREM. 46 
 
 nearer to me. I am occupied, as you know, by- 
 public duties ; but I am your mother's father, 
 and I cannot be without feeling for her daughter 
 — even if you had not deserved it on your own 
 account. Come hither, child, I say. Sit upon 
 my knee — nay, you are not yet a nun, you 
 goose ! I may not know how to show my affec- 
 tion by caresses and flattering words, like draw- 
 ing-room cavaliers ; but that does not say I do 
 not feel it. Tell me, Bianca, have you never 
 had the least idea of what a man suffers when 
 refused by the woman he adores ^ There ! you 
 are blushing again ; and I never saw you blush 
 about any of the others. Listen to me, my love. 
 You are very young and very innocent : I am 
 neither so young nor so innocent — (and he 
 laughed) — and, therefore, you may believe me 
 when I tell you, that if you had the most re- 
 mote idea of what Ubaldino — that nice, good- 
 looking, gentlemanly cavaliere — (with a slight 
 emphasis, which even policy could not wholly 
 restrain) — is suffering at this moment, you would 
 revoke your sentence. Nay, do not turn away 
 your head : I am not speaking now as your 
 grandfather, but as his and his uncle's ambas- 
 sador. He is really broken-hearted, Bianca."
 
 46 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 " You said the same of many others," she re- 
 plied, smiling, and they were the most familiar 
 words she had ever uttered to her stern grand- 
 father — "and I see them all as merry and as 
 happy as before." 
 
 " Ubaldino is not one of these. They were 
 all engaged either in war or politics, and, be- 
 lieve me, Bianca, these are great resources for 
 a man and great enemies to women. But you 
 would be so happy with Ubaldino ! He is just 
 cut out for you ! He would sit all day beside 
 your embroidery -frame, sing songs with you, and 
 help you to teach if not even to nurse your 
 children for what I know 1 Come, my girl ! next 
 to a convent, you could never have so quiet and 
 so holy a life as with him." 
 
 Awkwardly as was strung together this rea- 
 soning, there were parts of it which found an 
 echo in Bianca's heart ! but she only repeated 
 the words — 
 
 " Next to a convent." 
 
 " Yes ! but you don't seem to think any more 
 of that. I know you stay to comfort Nino for 
 the termagant he has got to wife ; but you could 
 be of much more use to him by having an es- 
 tablishment of your own, where he could take
 
 THE HAREM. 47 
 
 shelter when the storms were raging. Come, 
 Bianca, let me saj jou have changed your mind 
 and will make us all happy ; " and he stood up 
 and took his hat. 
 
 Bianca was startled by his precipitancy. 
 
 " No ! no ! my dear grandfather ; it is impos- 
 sible," she said, bursting into tears. "I have 
 always been so determined not to marry — in 
 short — the idea is so new, so strange to me — 
 oh, indeed, indeed it is impossible." 
 
 The Count felt his fury rising ; but knowing 
 by experience, that, however he might terrify, 
 he could not compel her to falsify her conscience, 
 he only allowed himself the indulgence of grind- 
 ing his teeth, and sinking the heels of his clumsy 
 boots into the floor as he strode three or four 
 times up and down the room. "When he could 
 trust himself to speak again, he stopt short be- 
 fore her, and seizing, rather than taking her 
 hand — 
 
 " Listen to me, my dear girl," he said ; " I 
 am going to let you into a secret — I am going 
 to put your principles to the proof. You, 
 women, cannot figlit for your country, but you 
 can often serve her in other ways : this privilege 
 has fallen to your lot, . . ." and he proceeded
 
 48 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 to inform her, with the perfect sincerity which 
 suited him on the occasion, that, although the 
 Archbishop's promise not to impede his appoint- 
 ment to the command of the army preparing 
 against Genoa, was of immense value, it was by 
 no means sufficient to ensure to him that ap- 
 pointment; because many, who would not hazard 
 an opposition to his positive vote, would be sure 
 to pretend ignorance of this negative promise 
 until it should be too late. But that a marriage 
 between Ubaldino and her would at once re- 
 move every obstacle, by preventing the possi- 
 bility of any one affecting ignorance of what 
 the Archbishop's wishes must be. " Besides," 
 he added, "he is so much respected in every 
 way, by all parties and classes, that such an 
 alliance would be a sort of public approbation 
 of me, and my views and principles, as, I confess, 
 I scarcely ever ventured to aspire to." 
 
 The importance to the country, which he 
 attached to his having the command he desired, 
 it is unnecessary to speak of; and Bianca, in 
 her maidenly seclusion, formed no exception to 
 that prepossession which makes us all believe, 
 in early youth, that the world goes wrong only 
 for want of hearing those who speak to us !
 
 THE HAREM. 49 
 
 " But the army will be ready immediately, the 
 departure is at hand ; I have heard Nino say so." 
 
 " It is true ; and I am far from intending 
 to hurry you into this marriage. All I beg, 
 and that I do, not only in my own and Ubal- 
 dino's name, but in that of your suffering coun- 
 try, (whose destiny, it really is scarcely too much 
 to say, is in your hands,) is, that you will give 
 Ubaldino leave to hope that time may change 
 your mind, I will not say your feelings, for, 
 believe me, Bianca, I know them better than 
 you do yourself, and you know I never said so 
 to you on other occasions ; if your mother lived 
 I would make her . . she would explain 
 them to you ; as she does not, hear her through 
 my voice, and as she looks down on me this 
 moment, addressing you, her orphan child, I 
 swear I believe I am advising you for your 
 own happiness ! " and, as he made the hallowed 
 appeal, a touch of tender nature beat for a mo- 
 ment at his seared heart, and lent irresistible 
 persuasion to his accents, as, after a moment's 
 pause, he said, " Come, Bianca, come my poor 
 orphan child, do sit for one moment upon your 
 old grandsire's knee. There! that's right! it is 
 so long since you have sat there ! but once you 
 
 VOL. I. D
 
 50 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 used to do so ; there, there, weep, poor child, 
 a moment on mj shoulder, it will do you good. 
 Strange ! I could almost weep for company ! 
 Harkee, Bianca, let us talk no more now, I will 
 send the good prior to talk with you, he knows 
 all, your fancy for the convent and everything ; 
 he will tell you whether you will please God 
 best by moping here or marrying the Arch- 
 bishop's nephew. I say marrying, but I should 
 not even wish that to be hurried on, it would 
 not suit my plans, and would not be decent in 
 the present state of the country ; for it is 
 almost a public affair, a marriage between two 
 such families, only let it be known that it is 
 intended, that will be enough, good-bye now, 
 Carina, I must go; come all of you to spend 
 the evening with me ; I feel in better spirits 
 than I have done for a long time; I think 
 everything is about to succeed. Good-bye ! 
 Shall I send the prior to you 1 '^ 
 
 "No," she replied ; " I shall see my own con- 
 fessor to-morrow, and — " 
 
 " To-morrow ! but you will see Ubaldino this 
 evening ! " and before she could make any fur- 
 ther observation, if indeed she would have made 
 any, he was gone.
 
 THE HAREM. 51 
 
 Left alone with her thoughts, she seemed to 
 herself, to have slept, dreamed, and wakened 
 into a new world. Her intention of celibacy 
 had been sincere as ever such had been; but it 
 had been formed from extraneous causes, so that 
 when counteracting causes appeared, she felt it 
 crumbling awaj, like the shadowy vision of a 
 dream, and she was almost shocked to find her- 
 self smiling, as other visions began to take its 
 place! She re-assured herself, however, by re- 
 capitulating her grandfather's latter arguments; 
 and before another week passed over she was 
 one of the happiest fiancees that ever saw the 
 smothered spark of her own heart kindled into 
 a bright and holy flame upon the altar of patri- 
 otism. If this was a delusion, it was one into 
 which more experienced heads than hers had 
 fallen. Her grandfather was elected general- 
 issimo of the army, and not only he himself 
 condescended to thank her, but every friend 
 who offered his congratulations upon the occasion 
 seemed to acknowledge her as its cause ; until 
 from a secluded and almost neglected girl, whose 
 pure and gentle heart would have sought in 
 religious observances, the exercise of the feelings 
 and energies she had felt to be unappreciated on 
 
 D 2 
 
 UNIVERSITY (
 
 52 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 earth, she found herself all at once erected into 
 a sort of public idol, approached with respect by 
 friends, blessed as she passed by the multitude, 
 who not irrationally founded high hopes upon 
 the alliance thus cemented between the Count 
 and the Archbishop ; two persons so opposite in 
 feeling and in principle, as to have become in- 
 vested with a sort of mysterious and hitherto 
 conflicting influence over their destinies, — the one 
 a Guelph at heart, afi'ecting to be Ghibeline, the 
 other a Ghibeline at heart, desiring to act at 
 least as much for the Guelphs, and looked upon 
 with interest, mingled with admiration, by all. 
 The change produced no effect upon her cha- 
 racter, but much upon her happiness and enjoy- 
 ment of life.
 
 THE HAREM. 53 
 
 CHAPTER Y. 
 
 But while Ugolino was thus floating tri- 
 umphantly upon the spring-tide of prosperity, 
 he forgot the rocks whose heads were only 
 covered by the waters, that were sure to ebb 
 again. Amongst these was a near relative, and 
 once a firm ally of his own, though his very 
 reverse in every point except the one of personal 
 bravery in his youth. Even that had now yielded 
 to the weight of years, and he who had once 
 swept the Mediterranean of Guelphic foes — the 
 Admiral Count Federigo Lancia — had for some 
 years past retired to his possessions in the 
 mountains of Pistoja, to pass his days in praying 
 for an opportunity to take that vengeance upon 
 the King of Naples, and his cousin Ugolino, the 
 one for a deed of commission, the other of omis- 
 sion, which, confounded in his mind with party 
 spirit, had included, in its intended victims, every 
 separate and individual Guelph ; because through
 
 54 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 each he hoped to give an additional stab to 
 his two arch-enemies. The deed of commis- 
 sion was black enough. When the Ghibeline 
 army, under the young emperor, Conradino, was 
 routed, at the desperate battle of Tagliacozzo, 
 amongst the few chiefs or leaders who attempted 
 escape, were the brother and nephew of the old 
 admiral. A faithful feudal follower of the fortunes 
 of the family, and who had fought by the side, 
 now of one, now of another of them, by land 
 and sea, and wherever their destiny might call 
 him, contrived to convey the fugitives, father 
 and son, in safety to the castle of a friend of the 
 party. As they were amongst the most impor- 
 tant to be taken, however, no pains were spared 
 for their discovery ; and a youth, who had been 
 sent a short time before, by the King of France, 
 to his brother Charles, as skilful in the then rare 
 profession of Troubadour, undertook— partly, 
 perhaps, as a boyish frolic— to join in the search. 
 He set out on foot, accordingly, with his lyre 
 in his hand, and succeeded in finding their 
 retreat by means of Sattarello, himself their 
 faithful but deluded follower, whom he met 
 by chance in that neighbourhood, and who, then 
 little past boyhood himself, readily fell into the
 
 THE HAREM. 55 
 
 snare of the wilj and accomplished stranger boy ; 
 but learned thereby a sad lesson, which served 
 him during his after life. 
 
 The chiefs were seized, carried to Naples, and 
 there, notwithstanding their rank, beheaded in 
 the public piazza ; the father being compelled, 
 by a refinement of cruelty, to stand by and 
 witness the decapitation of his brave son, and 
 then to steep his own grey locks in the yet 
 warm blood, while his own became mingled once 
 more with that which had sprung from it. The 
 younger Lancia had married a beautiful young 
 girl some months before, the daughter of another 
 high Ghibeline family, named Lanfranchi, who, 
 upon hearing of this tragedy, gave premature 
 birth to a little girl, and died immediately after. 
 
 The admiral, already advanced in the vale of 
 years, and who had been compelled, a short time 
 before, to resign his command, in consequence 
 of the distracted state of the country, when the 
 news of the death of his three nearest relatives 
 reached him, together with what seemed the 
 deathblow of their party, nearly lost his reason, 
 between grief, horror, and the impotent desire of 
 vengeance. His first step was to send for the 
 infant orphan, and, laying his sword across her
 
 56 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 breast, to swear never to have another aim in 
 life except the extermination of the party of 
 which Charles of Anjou made one. His second 
 was to fly to Pisa, where Ugolino was then in 
 trust and power, just before the discovery of his 
 first treachery with the Lucchese ; and, throwing 
 himself almost at his feet, to implore of him, by 
 what he believed to be their common principles, 
 and by their consanguinity, to give himself up, 
 soul and body, to seconding the vow which 
 Federigo had made. But far other, as we know, 
 were Ugolino's views and intentions at the mo- 
 ment. He endeavoured, indeed — as much from 
 habit as from any respect for the failing member 
 of a failing party — to satisfy the old man with 
 conciliatory words, exhortations to patience, and 
 vague, indefinite expressions of sympathy ; but 
 not for one moment did he succeed with that 
 bitter, unregulated, but honest heart. Federigo 
 looked at him in utter amazement, and to satisfy 
 himself that he heard aright. But when he met 
 the calm, cold eye, unflinchingly, unabashedly 
 fixed on his, he knew that all was over, and he 
 registered the sin of omission on the same page 
 as the other. 
 
 It was he who discovered, brought to light, and
 
 THE HAREM. 57 
 
 caused Ugolino to be banished for the treachery 
 already more than once alluded to. For some 
 time this served as a sort of stay to his hungry 
 vengeance, and he continued at Pisa, giving all 
 the weight of his name and influence to the 
 Ghibeline councils, and using every argument 
 and every effort in his power to persuade the 
 Archbishop to throw aside what he had almost 
 ventured to call the mask, and declare himself 
 the enemy of the Guelphs, which Lancia deter- 
 mined to believe him to be at heart, in spite of 
 all his assurances, and all his proofs to the 
 contrary. 
 
 At length, however, when the pardon and 
 recall of Ugolino were decided upon, the old man 
 seemed about to sink once more beneath the blow ; 
 and as, at the same time, another overwhelm- 
 ing misfortune befell him, he retired from the 
 world in disgust ; and, though never abandoning 
 the desire and hope of vengeance, necessity com- 
 pelled him to wait for a more propitious oppor- 
 tunity for its gratification. The misfortune was 
 the capture, by a Barbary corsair, of his little 
 grand-niece, the adopted child of his murdered 
 relatives. >She had been sporting with her at- 
 tendants in a boat, where the Mediterranean 
 
 D 5
 
 58 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 washed a part of Lancia's grounds, and having 
 persuaded them, by her irresistible wiles, to 
 venture further from the shore than usual, they 
 were seized upon, and the child, whose beauty 
 was even then of the most extraordinary lustre, 
 was sold to the chief favourite of the King of 
 Tunis, by whom she was brought up as the 
 plaything of the harem, and instructed in all 
 that was there considered to add to the attrac- 
 tion of female loveliness, in anticipation of the 
 day when, presenting her to him, the donor of so 
 rare a gift should receive the reward of, at least, 
 a smile from the tyrant lover. Happily, before 
 that day arrived, the efforts which the admiral 
 never ceased to make for her recovery, were 
 successful ; although the very anxiety betrayed 
 and the largeness of the ransom offered, in those 
 efforts, had caused their success to be delayed 
 from year to year, at the same time that they 
 ensured their object against aught that could 
 have had the effect of lessening the value of her 
 restoration to her friends and country. 
 
 She had been about a year returned to her 
 native mountains, and had just entered upon 
 her seventeenth year, when one evening as the 
 admiral was crossing the immense ante-chamber
 
 THE HAREM. 59 
 
 of his antique palazzo, he was addressed by a 
 messeuger, who had been dispatched by the 
 Ghibeline party at Pisa in all haste to give him 
 that news which, perhaps, of all that earth could 
 have supplied, was to him the most exasperating 
 in its triple quality, namely, that Count Ugolino 
 had been appointed generalissimo of the expe- 
 dition on which the republic's fate depended ; 
 that his niece was destined for the wife of the 
 Archbishop's nephew ; and that in consequence 
 of news having reached Pisa that the Genoese 
 were ready sooner than was expected, and al- 
 ready about to put to sea, an order had bedn 
 issued that, ready or not ready, the Pisan fleet 
 must depart at break of day on the 4th of 
 August, three days from that on which the 
 messenger appeared, in order that they might 
 not be braved at their very doors, and that the 
 consequence was such hurry, bustle, and confu- 
 sion, by day and by night as had scarcely ever 
 been seen before, the labours of men, women, 
 and children being all in requisition, according 
 to their several powers of usefulness. 
 
 He added, that, as the fleet was to be publicly 
 blessed by the Archbishop, permission was given 
 that the city gates should be left open all the night
 
 60 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 of the 3rd, in order to give to all who might wish 
 it, an opportunity of witnessing that ceremony, 
 as well as of bidding adieu to deptaring friends 
 or relatives. While the man continued speak- 
 ing, Lancia preserved the profoundest silence. 
 The rush of blood to his temples had deprived 
 him of the power of articulating. When it sub- 
 sided a little he asked if the news was authen- 
 tic. On being assured that it was, he asked why 
 it had not been conveyed sooner, and why not 
 by Sattarello. The messenger replied, that it 
 had been known but a very few days to any one, 
 — that Sattarello was, as he might remember, at 
 Naples ; and that for his not having been the 
 first informed, the chief Ghibelines had sent 
 round the country to all the friends of the party 
 soliciting their attendance on the morning des- 
 tined for the departure, in order that they might 
 be able to judge by the demonstrations there 
 exhibited what was to be hoped for, and what 
 attempted ; and that having sent to the cooler 
 and more distant first, they left Lancia amongst 
 the last, knowing that no time, and no notice, 
 would come too late for him. 
 
 Lancia found himself unequal to utter or hear 
 more : waving his hand to intimate that he would
 
 THE HAREM. 61 
 
 be left alone, he sank into a chair that happened 
 to be near him, and the rush of blood to his 
 head was succeeded by such a shivering as would 
 have alarmed him had he been able to disengage 
 one thought, even for his life, from what he had 
 just heard. The shivering passed away, perhaps 
 the more quickly from not being attended to ; and 
 then he closed the few teeth that yet remained to 
 him, and clutching his spare grey hair on each 
 side of his head, he indulged himself for some mo- 
 ments in sucking in and puffing out the air, as if 
 by so doing he would create an artificial vent for 
 the excitement of fury under which he laboured. 
 This, however, could not long suffice, and then 
 he arose, and crossing his arms behind him, he 
 began to measure his steps, much less steady than 
 they had been some twenty years before, up and 
 down the flagged hall, while shaking his head 
 with a slow and measured movement, he be- 
 gan exclaiming aloud to himself, his voice still 
 acquiring more force and fury at his own imagi- 
 nations — 
 
 " And soh ! and soh ! with all his mightiness, 
 and all his sanctity, he has been caught in the 
 trap ! Ah, Monsignore I j\Ionsignore Archbishop ! 
 you should have listened to the old fox whose
 
 62 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 best leg had already been lopped off by the 
 same. Book-learning and prayers are very well 
 in their places; but I never yet saw them do 
 the work of experience. Adieu, adieu!'' He 
 said, suddenly changing his tone, and wafting a 
 kiss from the tips of his fingers with a ghastly 
 imitation of a smile — " Adieu, my country I 
 adieu, my pretty Ghibeline republic ! down, down 
 into the dust, and kiss his holiness's foot, while 
 you beg him to press it lightly at least upon your 
 neck. Ha ! ha ! ha ! Oh, poor besotted Pisa I 
 Shaking, tottering, slavering in your dotage ! 
 Why, I am in the vigour of youth compared to 
 you ! My heart at least is stout ; but you — you 
 — ^you ! I saved you once, but down you drop 
 a^in at the betrayer's feet! and not content 
 with that you must first insist on pouring out 
 your last blood under his direction, and then 
 fall down into the dust, and knead it into mortar 
 with your own knees by way of a cement to patch 
 up his villanous schemes 1 Ha ! ha ! ha ! But 
 it is well — it is well — what was to be expected 
 from a traitor pardoned and raised to power 1 
 But, Ruggiero, can it be that he, too, is false- 
 hearted 1 No ! I do not, and I will not, believe 
 it : but it is part of his trade to act the hypo-
 
 THE HAREM. 63 
 
 crite with all, and he has fallen into his own 
 snare. Ha ! ha ! ha ! — what was to be expected 1 
 A Ghibeline pretending to be a Guelph, and a 
 damned Guelph pretending to be a Ghibeline ! — a 
 blessed coalition to govern a country ! And then 
 this marriage — nothing else forsooth than their 
 becoming closely united in private as well as in 
 public ties, for fear the besotted Archbishop 
 should have a chance of ever recovering his senses! 
 For every one knows that with all his sanctity 
 and affected coolness, that pretty boy, the spawn 
 he says of his brother, is more to him than earth 
 or heaven itself ; and that one sigh of his love- 
 sick heart would render the Ghibelines or Guelphs 
 all one to him. Ay, ay, Ugolino does not go to 
 sleep with his eyes open ! The base, heartless, 
 treacherous renegade. He first sold his daugh- 
 ter's hand to win the Guelphs, and he is now 
 trying to sell that of her daughter's to win the 
 Ghibelines. Yes, the ruin of Pisa is completed 
 if this alliance takes place ! It was all that was 
 wanting, and he will manage it. But what was 
 all the rest of the world about? Were they all 
 besotted alike that no one could see and, seeing, 
 prevent such a combination of disasters? A 
 noble generalissimo !" he repeated with a bitter
 
 64 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 ironical laugh. " Surprised at the very first 
 outset, and obliged to huddle ofi" his army like a 
 flock of sheep scared by the cry of wolf! Hoh ! 
 hoh! hoh! poor country! and you see no trick 
 in this 1 As if he could be surprised, and by his 
 old friends the Genoese ! as if it was not either 
 a preconcerted stratagem between them to hurry 
 off the poor fools to certain slaughter before they 
 are properly prepared, or that he was afraid of his 
 own false popularity — for such it must be — not 
 standing the test of the people having time to 
 come to their senses. Hah ! if it should be the 
 latter — and it would be just a stroke of his po- 
 licy — there is life in the old boat yet ! Yes, yes, 
 we showed him up once, why might we not 
 again 1 Coraggio ! I begin to breathe more freely. 
 If this, indeed, be so, there may yet be "
 
 THE HAREM. 65 
 
 CHAPTER YI. 
 
 "Did you call, ser?" ^' 
 
 " No, no ! I did not call, child ; but stay — 
 come hither, Genivra!" and a young girl, suffer- 
 ing the door to close behind her, approached a 
 few steps nearer to him, and then negligently 
 paused and stooped to adjust a long ribbon by 
 which a beautiful little greyhound was attached 
 to her person. This young girl, the grand-niece 
 of the old Admiral, his heiress and that of her 
 father and grandfather, in fact the only re- 
 maining scion of their house, was the very per- 
 sonification of all that a Mussulman's fancy had 
 ever revelled in. No pen, no pencil could convey 
 an adequate idea of the intensity of her beauty ; 
 for how contrive to picture or describe those 
 rays, that sparkling brilliancy which were the 
 
 ♦ A term of respect even still used towards great grand- 
 father, or other ancient relatives in respectable families, 
 instead of the degree of relationship named as we do.
 
 66 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 result of a combination of harmonious colouring, 
 and proportion of which we know not the secret 1 
 Yes, hers was properly the beauty of the Houri ; 
 for not the beauty-bestowing clime of Italy itself 
 could have given that peculiar tint to her com- 
 plexion, that lustre to her ebon hair, and that 
 peculiar grace to every gesture, every attitude, 
 and every movement, which caused a sort of de- 
 licious surprise to mingle with the rapture of 
 admiration. Even her expression was unlike that 
 we are accustomed to ; for, while those large open 
 black eyes glowed, not only with the vivacity of 
 sixteen, but with that of her individual tempera- 
 ment and habits, there was an almost childlike 
 absence of that softness which the wakened feel- 
 ings seldom fail to impart to those of woman. 
 Her lips were full, rich, and ruddy ; but when she 
 smiled it was generally either in childish glee, or 
 careless derision ; and if the beholder lingered 
 delightedly on the pearly treasure that smile dis- 
 closed, the heart felt there was something want- 
 ing to enchain its lasting homage. It was im- 
 possible that anything in nature could be more 
 beautiful than her cheek ; to which, if we may 
 not apply the too trite simile of the peach, it 
 must only be to change it for the deeper glow of
 
 THE HAREM. 67 
 
 the Italian apricot ; but even here, when the eye 
 turned occasionally, half hoping, half fearing to 
 find the mantling blush of early maidenhood, it 
 sometimes fell disappointed beneath the full, un- 
 abashed, and ardent, though passionless, gaze of 
 her brilliant eyes. Her form was as perfect as 
 her features, and her hands and feet were even 
 more than usually small and delicate, proba- 
 bly the consequence of her Harem absence of ex- 
 ertion. As if to complete the illusion of the 
 fancy, instead of the dress usually worn by those 
 of her age, sex, and country, hers consisted of 
 loose, white muslin trousers, confined at her an- 
 kles with rings of wrought gold ; a vest of white 
 silk, which, fitting close, defined her already beau- 
 tifully formed bust ; a crimson belt, in which was 
 stuck a small jewelled dagger ; and over all a sort 
 of open jacket of pea-green silk, embroidered in 
 various colours. 
 
 Such was the grand-niece of the Admiral, Count 
 Federigo Lancia — she on whose cradle he had 
 sworn to avenge her parent's death. Her return 
 had served as a temporary diversion to the old 
 man's thoughts and feelings. Entranced, almost 
 bewildered by her dazzling beauty, and manners 
 so unlike the monastic docility which then dis-
 
 68 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 tinguished young ladies of her class in Italy ; and 
 unskilled as lie was in female education, when 
 she declared her intention of continuing her 
 harem dress, he yielded to her fancy without op- 
 position, telling himself it mattered little in a 
 solitude like theirs, where female visitors never 
 intruded. But her wayward fancies were not 
 confined to this : adapting herself, as she had 
 done, to the habits of those by whom she had 
 been brought up, no sooner did she find herself 
 transplanted once more to her native mountains, 
 and deprived of all other society and resources 
 than such as she could extract from the few poli- 
 tical friends who still visited the old chief in his 
 solitude, than her young and elastic spirits began 
 to yield to the law of reaction and power of 
 adaptability, and to indemnify themselves for the 
 long and unnatural inactivity to which they had 
 been condemned ; and such was the native energy 
 and vivacity of her temper, that in the short 
 period which had elapsed since her return, she 
 had not only learned to manage the fleetest horse, 
 to fly the falcon, to shoot the arrow, and to throw 
 the javelin ; but she had not seldom, with a dex- 
 terity which nature alone could have given her, 
 put to shame experienced sportsmen, whose pride
 
 THE HAREM. 69 
 
 being at last piqued beyond their gallantry, had 
 tried their skill against her ; but whatever might 
 have been the morning's pique in the excitement 
 of the manly exercise of the chace, all yielded to 
 her surpassing fascination in the evening ; when, 
 alone in her loveliness, amongst those rude spirits, 
 she sat on an embroidered cushion, brought from 
 her harem, at her grandfather's feet, discussing 
 and disputing with them on the events of the day, 
 with childish eagerness, but woman's petulance : 
 or, if not too tired, sometimes yielding to their 
 entreaties to delight their eyes and gladden her 
 grand-uncle's heart by the luminous twinkling of 
 her exquisitely fairy feet and the graceful wind- 
 ings of her beautiful form, in all the luxurious 
 varieties of the solitary pantomimic dance. 
 
 Such extraordinary attractions could not, 
 however, long remain, without producing other 
 effects, than the rivalry or admiration of old 
 chiefs and sportsmen. Not only did the play- 
 thing of the harem soon become the little tyrant 
 of her aged relative and his inmates, but fathers 
 began to whisper to the old Admiral, that he 
 possessed a treasure that might be turned to 
 political account. 
 
 The old Admiral listened, and even sounded
 
 70 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 Genivra more than once upon the subject ; but, 
 so light and heartless was her ringing laugh, 
 at one proposal, so biting her derision of another, 
 as they were suggested to her, that as jet 
 no hope appeared of moulding her to his will ; 
 and, truth to tell, nothing had as yet presented 
 itself, in their solitude, which, by promising to 
 aid him in that one object, into which, all that 
 once was patriotism had become contracted in 
 his breast, could render him very anxious upon 
 the subject. As the young girl now, however, 
 presented herself, uncalled, unthought of, before 
 him, in that freshness of beauty, which had 
 the effect of ever striking with astonishment, 
 as if it were something beyond what the imagina- 
 tion, apart from the reality, could retain, a 
 sudden idea flashed across his mind ; it seemed 
 to him in his desperation, like an inspiration, 
 a fate, a destiny— he would almost have ventured 
 to call it a providence. 
 
 The opportunity for her winning a power- 
 ful addition to their party, had not occurred ; 
 but might she not be still more effective in pre- 
 venting a coalition so abhorred, as that which 
 threatened them from the others 1 Yes, surpass- 
 ing in her beauty, and not inferior in fortune,
 
 THE HAREM. 71 
 
 and, in his opinion, much more desirable as a 
 connection, why should she not rival the grand- 
 daughter of Ugolino, with uncle and with 
 nephew 1 " Yes,'' he muttered to himself, " I 
 shall trv, I shall try at least. I will sacrifice 
 every feeling to my country's good, and I shall 
 obey this call ; I shall go and be present at 
 his triumph, if I should die under the effort ; 
 and, since he is too base to meet me at honour- 
 able odds, we shall see if we cannot foil him 
 yet at his own, Genivra ! " and with such weak 
 sophistry did he whose name, before the family 
 calamity which distorted his warm but un- 
 regulated feelings, had been formidable, as the 
 commander of the Sicilian fleet, seek to justify 
 a game more worthy of the rival mothers, than 
 of political chiefs. 
 
 On his repeating her name, the young girl, who 
 still seemed occupied with the ribbon of her dog, 
 only looked up, opening wider as she did so, 
 her lustrous eyes, as if leaving to them the 
 task of answering ; a habit which was by no 
 means unusual with her, partly perhaps caused 
 by her late adoption of a new language, but 
 which, in a creature so beautiful, and with 
 an expression so attractively bewildering, pro-
 
 72 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 duced an effect on the beholder, impossible to 
 describe. 
 
 " Come hither, Genivra," the old man repeated ; 
 "you have not forgotten the story of your 
 father, your mother, and your uncle's fate?*' 
 and, as he looked on her, he saw, with pleasure, 
 rush over her face that blood which scorned to 
 betray itself, on occasions which so often call 
 it to the cheek of maidenhood; and if in her 
 eyes he saw not the tenderness which others 
 might feel at such a recollection, he was better 
 pleased by the fierceness of the young lioness's 
 wrath which shot from them. 
 
 " I see you have not forgotten it," he said, as 
 she again left to her features and her gesture, 
 the task of answering ; " but, tell me Genivra, 
 would you have courage to avenge it ? nay, nay, 
 my child, not thus ; " and the old man gently 
 drew back the tiny hand with which she clasped 
 her dagger ; while his eyes darkened with wrath 
 and ire, as he felt how impotent that would 
 prove. " Not thus, for you know the royal 
 murderer is too high, too mighty for our weak 
 efforts to approach him now ; weak, mutilated, 
 dismembered as his grace has left us ! " and 
 he laughed a hollow, and heart- withering laugh.
 
 THE HAREM. 73 
 
 " Perhaps not, perhaps not, ser," uttered the 
 young girl, at last, in the all-grasping confidence 
 of youth ; " or if he be, there is one who is not 
 so, and it is for him — yes, yes it is for him, the 
 base butcher's boy, who led my parents to the 
 slaughter, that this dagger hangs in my belt by 
 day, and lies on my pillow by night ! " 
 
 " Oh, the base-born cur, troubadour," said the 
 old man with afi'ected indifi*erence ; "the child 
 deserved to be flayed alive with a scourge, that "s 
 all!" 
 
 '' The child ! the child, ser ! and he was six- 
 teen ! — he was as old as I am ! Admitted into 
 Frangipani's hall, for charity, as much as to 
 soothe the poor fugitive prisoners, and after 
 begging his pittance from each, he returned to 
 his employer to betray them ! " 
 
 " It is all too true, my love, and we will whip 
 the cur if we ever meet him ; but our aim must 
 be higher and more extensive. Charles we may 
 not be able to reach ; but we must make him 
 die a thousand deaths through every individual 
 of his most accursed party ! Yes ! if the scythe 
 of death were at my throat, I would have 
 strength to dash it aside, and say ' I will not 
 die until I see that party crushed ! '" 
 
 VOL. I. E
 
 74 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 The young girl's breath heaved faster, and her 
 nostrils dilated as she listened to and looked 
 upon her parent's paroxysm ; and it was with 
 a sense of mortification that she asked — 
 
 "But how, ser, can I assist in this, beyond 
 the one victim to which I am vowed ? " 
 
 " You can, you can,'' he replied, in a less ex- 
 cited manner, though with deepening emphasis, 
 as he looked upon her loveliness, increasing with 
 every new emotion. 
 
 " You were born — you were educated for the 
 purpose. I see it now. Yes, I understand it all 
 now ! Listen to me, Genivra, and answer me 
 sincerely, for I ask it for serious purposes. Do 
 you know that you are beautiful — beautiful be- 
 yond all other women 1 '' 
 
 The answer he petitioned for was given in 
 a ringing laugh of careless glad assent ; while, 
 shaking back her clustering ringlets, the young 
 girl nodded her head in the quick succession 
 that is sign of affirmation in confidential fami- 
 liarity in Italy. 
 
 "Yes, but, my child, this may prove to be 
 our best weapon, since all others have failed," 
 rejoined her grand-uncle, half disappointed by
 
 THE HAREM. 75 
 
 her childish insensibility, for her joy was like 
 that of a child possessing a pretty toy. 
 
 Again she left to her distended eyes the task 
 of expressing her astonished inquiry. Before her 
 uncle had arranged how he could best convey 
 to her his new-conceived plan, however, her 
 countenance and manner suddenly changed from 
 bewilderment to petulant decision, as she ex- 
 claimed — 
 
 "If you mean that I should marry any of 
 these old chiefs who come hither to talk politics 
 with you, or any of their sons, or nephews, or 
 friends, whom / leave behind me in the morning's 
 chase, and who weary me to death with their 
 stupidity in the evening, I tell you, I would 
 rather marry Count Raimond Feraldo himself ! " 
 
 The old man started, as if an adder had stung 
 him, at this most unexpected declaration ; and 
 feeling the first emotion of anger his beautiful 
 favourite had ever wakened, even in his irascible 
 breast — 
 
 " Genivra ! " he said, " know you whose name 
 you have uttered 1 '' 
 
 " Perfectly ! " she answered, undauntedly ; " I 
 know that he who was the butcher's boy" — as 
 
 E 2
 
 76 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 she had learned to call him who had betrayed 
 her relatives — " is now the King of ^^aples' mi- 
 nister and the Queen's favourite." 
 
 " Then how could you utter such blasphemy '? " 
 " Blasphemy, ser ! Do you then deem it blas- 
 phemy when you call upon the devil every mo- 
 ment of your life ? — for in such spirit it was that 
 I named Count Raimond." 
 
 " Name him not again then, even to curse 
 him," exclaimed the old man, and in a tone so 
 unutterably full of hatred, malice, and all un- 
 charitableness, that Genivra, young and inexpe- 
 rienced as she was in human nature, discovered 
 that the contempt which her uncle affected on 
 that subject was only assumed to cover the agony 
 of impotency to punish, for which he despised 
 himself. " Name him not," he repeated. " Our 
 mark should be loftier."" 
 
 " Yours may be, ser, or that of your party ; 
 but Raimond is, ever has been, and shall be 
 mine. Yes ! '* she fiercely repeated, and her 
 fingers again moved towards her jewelled dagger. 
 " Sattarello used often to tell me the story, and 
 the traitor's name is known in the harem ! and 
 when we would express an act of treachery, we 
 called it a Raimond. Yes ! be other game yours.
 
 THE HAREM. 77 
 
 but he is miney and I will strike him though I 
 should die for it ! " 
 
 The old admiral felt confounded, if not almost 
 shocked, to find that while his highest hope had 
 been to make this young and lovely being an 
 instrument of revenge in his own hands, through 
 the characteristics of her sex, she had been all 
 the while nurturing a determination, almost sur- 
 passing his own in the ferocity of individual 
 revenge. He looked on her with astonishment, 
 for he knew not that the elements of nature are 
 the same in all ; and that it is only the system 
 or order which gives them different preponder- 
 ance and appearance ; and Genivra's were left 
 unregulated and unsystematised. 
 
 After a short pause, during which he felt that 
 he was as far as ever from the point he had now 
 in view, he began again. 
 
 "Do you never desire to see the world, Ge- 
 nivra — to go to Pisa, for example 1 " 
 
 " I can wait, sir," she replied ; "I know it does 
 not suit you to go there at present, while the 
 odious Count Ugolino rules. In the mean time, 
 I practise here to render myself more expert for 
 whatever may be required of me." 
 
 Again the old man felt almost alarmed.
 
 78 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 " You do not — you do not mean — Genivra, 
 that your sports here — " 
 
 " Yes, I do mean, ser, that I often fancy the 
 deer I pursue, or the birds at which I fly my 
 falcon, are such or such Guelphs, whom I hear 
 you and your friends cursing and wishing in 
 your clutches ! There is one deer whom I call 
 Ugolino, another Eaimond, but I have not yet 
 been able to master either ! It was Raimond 
 who, the other day, when I least expected, leaped 
 the river and threw my horse, by which I fell 
 you know, and was nearly drowned — let us hope 
 that it was not prophetic ! '^ and she laughed 
 that young, clear, ringing laugh which seemed 
 as if it could not have issued from the lips which 
 had just uttered such sentiments, and it was so 
 young, so clear, and so feminine, that it neu- 
 tralized their appalling tendency ! 
 
 "But, tell me, Genivra, in thinking so much 
 of Count Ugolino, do you never think of his 
 fair daughter 1 " 
 
 "No, never,— what should I think about herl 
 She reigns at Pisa, I in the mountains of Pistoja ; 
 we do not encroach on each others hunting 
 grounds !" 
 
 "You have not then heard that she is about
 
 THE HAREM. 79 
 
 to marry the nephew of the Archbishop of 
 Pisar' 
 
 «I^o!— and then 1" 
 
 '' Why, only then that the last blow is struck 
 to the very name of Ghibeline ; we are worsted, 
 scouted, spit upon!" his voice rising in fury 
 as he spoke. " The besotted Archbishop, in- 
 tending to be neutral, in order to please the 
 old man at Rome, has fallen into the snare of 
 the wiliest Guelph that ever called himself Ghi- 
 beline, to betray them! He has compassed 
 his object by means of his pale-faced grand- 
 daughter, who, notwithstanding her sanctity, and 
 the many she has refused, in order to become 
 a nun, as report says, consents at last to lend 
 herself to be the instrument of his treachery ! " 
 
 "Oh, then, if that be the case, there is a 
 pretty white fawn that just begins to promise 
 sport. I will call it, — what is her name, ser 1 
 Ugolino's daughter 1 and I will make it pay 
 the penalty ! and yet, I shall be sorry to hurt 
 that pretty, gentle-looking creature. I have, 
 hitherto, not only spared it myself, but saved 
 it from others. I shall be sorry if I must chase 
 it. What is the name of Ugolino's daughter, 
 ser 1 "
 
 80 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 " Oh, Genivra, you frighten me by your child- 
 ish inconsistencies ! " exclaimed her grand-uncle, 
 really feeling what he expressed. " Women have 
 other arms than the arrow or the javelin, and 
 you, Genivra, are particularly rich in such, it 
 is time you should learn to use them." 
 
 Genivra's eyes asked an astonished explanation. 
 
 " Yes," he said ; " Have I not told you that 
 this young woman, this Bianca Yisconti, is about 
 to marry the young, handsome, and accomplished 
 nephew of the Archbishop '? " 
 
 " And then '? " 
 
 " And then — and then — ," he repeated, with 
 increasing agitation, at being forced into the 
 details of a plan somewhat awkward for an old 
 parent whose instincts were good, however un- 
 regulated. " Why, this then, that unless this 
 marriage can be prevented, not only adieu for 
 ever, as I have said, to the name of Ghibeline, 
 but all hail to the star of Carlo, King of Naples, 
 whose minister, Eaimond Feraldo, will probably 
 be rewarded with the little boon of the sov- 
 reignty of Pisa ! " 
 
 The effect which these words produced upon 
 his grand-niece did not disappoint his expec- 
 tations ; her cheek, unused to change, became
 
 THE HAREM. 81 
 
 now deadly pale, and in the low, earnest tone 
 of sudden, concentrated, profound alarm, she 
 asked, — 
 
 "And what would be the means, uncle, to 
 prevent it ? " 
 
 "You, you alone, can do it!'' he at last 
 abruptly exclaimed ; " by winning the afiections 
 of this young man, and so making a breach 
 between the families ! " 
 
 "Oh ! ser," in tones of shocked reproachful en- 
 quiry — hut enquiry — was the only answer to this 
 announcement ; and what feelings found vent in 
 those two simple monosyllables must for ever re- 
 main a secret in the depths of our incongruous 
 nature ; while it must suffice for us to know that, 
 without another word having ever passed be- 
 tween the grand-uncle and niece upon the sub- 
 ject, preparations were immediately set on foot 
 for obeying the summons which the Ghibelines 
 had received to meet at Pisa on the morning of 
 the 4th. And now, having introduced to the 
 notice of our readers the personages who are 
 to act the chief part in this historic story, we 
 invite them to return, in their company, to that 
 sunshine which we left just breaking over the 
 Lung' Arno of Pisa ; and of which we attempted 
 
 E 5
 
 82 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 to give them a dawning glimpse, in the hope— 
 we may now confess it — of coaxing them into 
 patience during the digression which we deemed 
 necessary, by holding out the prospect of return- 
 ing to that light, brightness, and warmth, beneath 
 whose cheering influence I address these pages to 
 my own dear but distant country, whose colder 
 skies produce their peculiar advantages, as does 
 every work of the Creator's hand, if we did but 
 believe, and believing, study how to avail our- 
 selves of them.
 
 THE HAREM. 88 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 " The sun !— the sun 1 " 
 
 Such, then was the shout which, at least for 
 one joyous moment, blended into harmony the 
 conflicting feelings and opposing interests which 
 had kept watching for several hours in darkness 
 — not the population of Pisa only, but nearly 
 that of all the surrounding country — as, brilliant, 
 gorgeous, splendid beyond aught to which the 
 imagination of man could have attained, began 
 to rise, slowly and majestically, from behind the 
 dark Monte della Verrucola, that canopy whose 
 beams of purple, crimson, and bright gold, falling 
 like drapery over all the surrounding objects, 
 gave to view the glorious luminary whose presence 
 is the best apology for the ignorance which 
 worships him as a god. 
 
 It is difficult for those who have seen the 
 sun rise from the Lung" Arno at Pisa, to believe 
 that aught could add to the enchantment of the
 
 84 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 scene ; but, nevertheless, on the eventful morning 
 of the 4th of August, 1284, man's ingenuity 
 had succeeded in producing that effect. There 
 is an object, made by hands, which" may perhaps 
 be said to approach as near as human production 
 can to the works of creation. It is that object 
 which 
 
 " Walks the waters like a thing of life." 
 
 And such had been called into requisition on 
 this occasion, and in a manner the purpose of 
 which was clearly to strike the public mind, 
 and, by exciting astonishment, to avert reflection. 
 When the shades of darkness had, a few hours 
 before, veiled the Arno from the myriads of eyes 
 then waking and watching along her shores, her 
 expansive bosom was without a speck ; and it 
 was not more than five minutes before the rising 
 of the sun that a sudden " Hush ! " had passed 
 through the multitudes assembled, and a silence, 
 which nothing could have induced under such 
 circumstances — except the belief of approaching 
 relief to long-endured anxiety and watching — 
 was broken only by a shrill smart whistle ; then 
 the dipping of oars was faintly heard ; then a 
 light here and there on the water became visible,
 
 THE HAREM. 85 
 
 and before any mind could determine what this 
 might mean, the sun, as if only waiting for that 
 preconcerted signal, rose, and gave to view one 
 hundred beautiful galleys, ranged in two lines 
 on the eastern and western sides of what was 
 then called the Ponte Nuovo, leaving a long 
 line of water, fast assuming the appearance of 
 liquid gold, between them — and, in their calm 
 and perfect order, producing the effect upon the 
 spectators of having risen that moment from the 
 depths of the waters, in order that even that 
 element also should contribute its part to the 
 glorious pageant. 
 
 The people seemed to feel it thus, and their 
 enthusiasm found vent in fresh cries of exulta- 
 tion and clapping of hands, as if some new and 
 admirable exhibition had been got up for their 
 especial approbation. 
 
 The galleys were those destined to convey 
 the gallant army to the scene of their last 
 patriotic struggle, and to share in its destruc- 
 tion or success. They had now taken the places 
 assigned to them, in order to await the blessing 
 of their banners by the Archbishop previous to 
 their departure ; a ceremony seldom omitted 
 in those days, and not unfrequently resorted
 
 86 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 to in Catholic countries, in our own — as well 
 as to receive the superior officers, who were 
 still on shore, and who were to fall in with 
 the Archbishop's procession previous to embark- 
 ing. The variety of the colours of these hundred 
 boats, on which all that wealth, taste, or fancy 
 could devise had been lavished, the bright 
 gilding of their poops, the various forms and 
 colours of their different banners, now fluttering 
 in the morning breeze, the fanciful caps of the 
 crews, the devices of the shields, the bright 
 helmets and gay plumes of the commanders — 
 all, all glancing and seemingly sporting in the 
 new-born sunbeams — appeared a sight rather 
 calculated to propitiate fortune by winning her 
 fickle female smiles, than as the preparations 
 made for the last and fiercest effort of a totter- 
 ing state. It was not, however, the first time, 
 nor has it been the last, that destined victims 
 were gaily decked. 
 
 Nor did this appearance, all novel and bril- 
 liant as it was, constitute the whole enchantment 
 of that morning's dawn. K the streets were 
 crowded with persons of the hardier and more 
 adventurous classes, no sooner was the rising 
 sun announced, than windows, balconies, and
 
 THE HAREM. 87 
 
 porticoes were seen to fill rapidly with all that 
 Pisa and its vicinity could boast of rank and 
 beauty, adorned with all that the hour admitted 
 of, to enhance their attractions in the presence 
 of so many eyes. 
 
 Amongst the porticoes, there was one con- 
 spicuous above the rest — not so much for its 
 position beside the exquisite little church of the 
 Spina, which still happily exists in perfect preser- 
 vation, and close to which was the Ponte Nuovo, 
 nor yet for the richness and magnificence of 
 its temporary decorations, as for its being occu- 
 pied by all the most distinguished persons, of 
 both sexes, who were not immediately engaged 
 in the events of the morning. It belonged to 
 a nobleman of the family Gualandi, who, though 
 a fierce Ghibeline, forgot, for the occasion, party 
 difi'erences in the duties of hospitality, which 
 were no less graciously accepted by members 
 of the opposite party. 
 
 Amongst the persons assembled there, one 
 little group soon became the mark for all eyes. 
 That group consisted of Ubaldino — the Arch- 
 bishop's nephew — with the beautiful brunette, 
 Beatrice Yisconti, on one arm, and the fair and 
 Madonna-like Bianca on the other. The whisper
 
 88 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 of the projected marriage had been heard by all, 
 but this was the first time the fiances had ap- 
 peared together in public since it had been 
 spread ; and Bianca had only consented to do so 
 now at the earnest, almost humble, petition of 
 her grandfather, in order, as he confessed, that 
 so supported she might prove his shield against 
 any sudden outbreak of the people at the last 
 moment. 
 
 That such was necessary, would probably ren- 
 der a delicate young lady, in our happy days, 
 incapable of the effort ; but Bianca's youth had 
 been only too much inured to such apprehensions; 
 and to believe that she might be instrumental in 
 tranquillizing a people's fury, was to remove the 
 last lingering scruple she might have had upon 
 her purposed change of life. As she now came 
 forward, leaning upon her lover's arm, her eyes 
 fell, indeed, before the thousand looks turned 
 upon her, and a soft carnation passed over her 
 face, usually " fair, not pale ; " but, at the same 
 time, there was a smile unutterably attractive 
 upon her lips, because it expressed her confidence 
 and pleasure in the sympathy and congratulation 
 of the assembled world. Nor was she mistaken in 
 at least the temporary influence exercised hj her
 
 THE HAREM. 89 
 
 angelic appearance. Every heart blessed her at the 
 moment, and a buzz of ardent, though respectful, 
 admiration, ascended even to the portico. 
 
 It is not to be supposed that Ubaldino was the 
 last to become aware of the sensation created 
 by his fiancee, and, like all persons accustomed to 
 rely entirely on the judgment of others, he felt 
 his own admiration for her increase. 
 
 " How beautiful you are this morning ! ^' he 
 said, as he bent to catch his share of her beaming 
 smile. In a moment it was turned wholly upon 
 him. 
 
 "I am so happy!" she whispered. 
 
 Beatrice, who had not hitherto hated her gentle 
 sister-in-law, because, if Bianca made conquests 
 that Beatrice believed ought to be her own, she 
 seemed unconscious of the fact, and agreed with her 
 that the offers she received were only as passports 
 to Beatrice's favour. Appearances at this mo- 
 ment, however, were rather alarming. It was 
 time, Beatrice felt, to come to the rescue. 
 
 "You are very amiable, Bianca!'' she said. 
 " There are few so free from envy as you are." 
 
 " Envy, my sister 1 I fear I cannot boast of 
 being severely tried ; every one is so good to 
 me of late."
 
 90 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 "Yes, but the admiration others meet with 
 never disturbs your peace. Look at the eyes 
 now directed to this portico/' 
 
 Instead of doing so, however, Bianca turned 
 hers, in smiling, half-arch intelligence, on Ubal- 
 dino ; but in his she met not the response she 
 expected. He also had heard what Beatrice said, 
 and the doubt flashed across him, whether he 
 might not indeed have mistaken the object of 
 the people's admiration, particularly as the move- 
 ment made by Beatrice, in leaning across him to 
 speak to Bianca, had drawn all eyes for the 
 moment towards her ; and none were ever quickly 
 withdrawn from her majestic beauty, ^the very 
 consciousness of which almost ensured its rights. 
 Ubaldino perceived this, and, looking alternately 
 from her to Bianca, 
 
 " It is curious," he said, whisperingly, to the 
 latter, "to see such contrast in beauty, both so 
 perfect. I perceive the world is divided in its 
 preference. Yours, however, is the most uncom- 
 mon in Italy, and will ever attract most at first 
 sight.'' 
 
 There would not seem aught in this remark to 
 give pain to a heart so perfectly free from envy, 
 or even emulation, as was that of Bianca ; yet
 
 THE HAREM. 91 
 
 she felt something which made her turn a look of 
 quick though gentle inquiry upon her lover. 
 
 " Nay, forme," he said, with perfect good faith, 
 "for me, you know, nothing can ever be com- 
 pared with you. I only spoke of mere passing 
 observers." Then, looking on the advancing sun, 
 he added, " The procession will surely soon make 
 its appearance. Does Count Ugolino himself 
 wait to come with it ? I thought he would 
 have preferred making his appearance alone, in 
 order to receive the undivided salutations of the 
 people." 
 
 But far deeper than this was the policy which 
 had placed Ugolino in his high position. It is 
 scarcely too much to say that there was not a 
 man in Pisa to whom his own sentiments respect- 
 ing that chief were better known than they were 
 to him. He had gained the present object of 
 his solicitude, it is true ; he had been nominated 
 to the supreme direction of the republic's last 
 efforts ; but only to himself, and to a few neces- 
 sarily trusted minions, were known the promises, 
 the stratagems, the sacrifices, by which he had 
 contrived to confound, bewilder, terrify, overrule, 
 or otherwise silence the many who were opposed 
 to that appointment, even upon the general
 
 92 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 grounds of its being undesirable that so much 
 power should be accumulated in one person, and 
 the inexpediency of the two person^ holding the 
 chief offices of the state, the podesta and capitano 
 del popolo being absent at the same time on an 
 expedition so perilous. But, in addition to these 
 objections, there were not wanting persons — and 
 he knew it well — who went even so far as to 
 doubt whether his unscrupulous ambition would 
 not lead him to sacrifice the flower of the republic 
 now confided to him, in order at once to diminish 
 the possibility of resisting his ambitious designs 
 at home, and to bind the rival republic to his 
 interests abroad. But while the very magnitude 
 of such a crime prevented its being openly dis- 
 cussed, without more grounds than could be 
 adduced for the foul suspicion, many of those 
 who might have doubted of his principles, con- 
 soled themselves with the belief that so great a 
 military commander would not tarnish his laurels 
 in what might be his last military action ; for- 
 getting that, in his case, fame and glory were 
 only valued as steps towards the great object of 
 his life. 
 
 From the moment of his nomination, while 
 pressing on the preparations for departure with
 
 THE HAREM. 95 
 
 all possible diligence, he con^*-^^"^^ +n show him- 
 self as little as possible to . 3ple ; and 
 when he did appear, it was e. on some 
 popular occasion to which he had contributed, 
 or surrounded by his numerous descendants, or 
 in company of the Archbishop, or his nephew, 
 in short, never without some sort of shield 
 against a public demonstration, which he knew 
 was but hardly suppressed, of the discontent of 
 many; and, skilled above most people in the 
 sympathetic nature of the favour or disfavour of 
 the multitude, he felt that one word, one breath, 
 uttered against him on the morning of the em- 
 barkation, when so much excitement was afloat, 
 would suflfice, not only to cause him to be de- 
 nounced, but, probably, to be torn in pieces on 
 the spot. For this it was that he had caused 
 the boats to arrive in darkness and in silence, 
 in order to amuse their fancies ; and for this 
 he had arranged that he and the two admirals, 
 Morosini and Saracini, should only appear — for 
 devotional decency and respect, he said — in the 
 train of the Archbishop ; determining that ere 
 the holy feelings, excited by the touching cere- 
 mony of the parting benediction, should have 
 time to subside, he would be on board the
 
 .94 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 " Capitana," or flag-ship, whence he might, if 
 necessary, bid defiance to their wrath. In the 
 mean time, he was a prey to the most over- 
 whelming anxiety, with which he had ever yet, 
 in the course of his long life, been assailed. 
 "Well he knew, that, however wisely his measures 
 had been taken, however plausible his calcula- 
 tions, there were as many chances against him, 
 as there were intelligent heads amongst the 
 thousands and tens of thousands to whom he 
 was about to present himself. 
 
 Under the pressure of such feelings, it is 
 scarcely to be supposed that he slept during a 
 night in which all around him waked ; but, un- 
 able to maintain, for several hours, the calm 
 and imposing aspect that became his position — 
 even in his own family — he withdrew early to 
 his chamber, under pretence of taking some re- 
 pose ; nor, until his son, Lotto, who was to be 
 his companion in the expected battle, had twice 
 knocked at his door, had he seemed to hear the 
 cry of the sun having risen. He was then 
 obliged to admit his sons and his sons' sons, 
 in order that they might, as was then the cus- 
 tom, assist in accoutering him in his military 
 costume. During the process he endeavoured to
 
 THE HAREM. 95 
 
 speak cheeringlj, and to seem disengaged ; but, 
 as the hour advanced, he caused them to look out 
 more than once, to see whether there were not 
 any signs of the approach of the archiepiscopal 
 procession. The answer was still the same, it 
 came not, and as he heard the mighty buzz of 
 the people beneath his windows, and looked out 
 for one moment upon a congregation of human 
 energies, so awful in their might, he was com- 
 pelled to feel that he, who was about to take 
 a nation's destinies into his hands, was fast 
 losing all command over his own nervous ex- 
 citement. A few minutes more passed away ; 
 the military toilet was completed, and there was 
 no pretext for further movement. 
 
 "It is strange the procession does not ap- 
 pear!'' said Gaddo;"'' and at the words his 
 grandfather sank into a large chair, and covered 
 his pale and working features with his trem- 
 bling hands. 
 
 His descendants stood awe-struck round him 
 for a moment ; then silently withdrew to a 
 short distance, supposing him to be engaged in 
 one of those acts of devotion, which, seemingly 
 
 * Gaddo mi si gitto disteso a' piedi. 
 
 DelV Inferno, Canto xxxiii.
 
 96 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 at least, were then observed by the mightiest 
 warrior, as bj the simplest peasant, on every 
 occasion of public or private interest. 
 
 His, however, were the first ears to catch 
 the sounds which announced the departure of 
 the Archbishop from the archiepiscopal palace, 
 and, starting up with the exclamation of, "Dio! 
 he has not then betrayed me ! " the transforma- 
 tion from the almost powerless, nerveless old 
 man, to the haughty, determined warrior, was 
 startling. Once more his eyes emitted their blue 
 flame, and his worn cheek flushed ; and, em- 
 bracing in turn, each of his family whom he 
 was about to leave, he hurried out with Lotto 
 to fall into the rear of the procession. 
 
 The exclamation he had uttered, in starting 
 from his chair, fell with unmeaning or unno- 
 ticed efiect upon the occupied senses of the by- 
 standers ; but it recurred with fearful import 
 to their recollection in after times.
 
 THE HAREM. 97 
 
 CHAPTER YIII. 
 
 There was, indeed, no mistaking the announce- 
 ment now rung forth by a thousand joyous bells, 
 causing the very air sensibly to vibrate all 
 around. Those only who have heard the bells 
 of Pisa at twelve o'clock on the Saturday before 
 Easter Sunday, when, after two days of silence, 
 they announce the Saviour risen triumphant 
 from the dead, can form some idea of the effect 
 upon the assembled multitude that morning. 
 
 In the intensity of expectation and pleasurable 
 excitement, all conversation was suspended, and 
 even from the balconies, windows, and porticoes, 
 every head was stretched forward to catch the first 
 glimpse of the approaching procession. When the 
 bells ceased, they were succeeded by the chaunts 
 of the ecclesiastics and the choirs ; and, as these 
 sounds proceeded along, a space was cleared in 
 the crowd, which only a moment before would 
 
 VOL. I. F
 
 98 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 have seemed a labour that might vie with some 
 of those of Hercules. But, what is it which 
 human will cannot accomplish 1 
 
 According as the space was opened, several 
 young girls, all of remarkable beauty, dressed 
 in white, with long floating girdles of green, 
 and green wreaths, as the emblems of hope, 
 on their heads, were seen hurrying along, with 
 baskets on their arms, from which they cast 
 flowers of all kinds, — embroidering, as it were, 
 with them a thick carpet of that most fragrant 
 myrtle which grows in such profusion in this 
 part of Italy ; and which, thus crushed be- 
 neath the feet, renders the air redolent of 
 perfume. 
 
 They had scarcely completed their graceful 
 task, which had been deferred to the last moment 
 in consequence of the crowd, when appeared 
 the archdeacon, dressed in a snow-white tunic, 
 trimmed with lace, the immense value of which 
 was supposed to render it an acceptable offering 
 to him, who, however, accepts all that is offered 
 with a contrite and humble heart, — bearing the 
 symbol of our redemption, fixed upon an orna- 
 mented pole ; which, supported by both hands, 
 enabled him to raise it high in air, for the
 
 THE HAREM. 99 
 
 veneration of all. He walked alone : but imme- 
 diately behind him followed a long line of sub- 
 ordinates, clerks, and other persons connected 
 with the church ceremonies, each bearing a 
 large lighted torch ; which, however, on that 
 glorious morning, paled before the light of 
 heaven. These also were dressed in white, but 
 of a different form and less costly material. 
 After them came the regular clergy of the dif- 
 ferent parishes or churches. Then the chaplains 
 of the archbishop, distinguished by their short 
 fur mantles, drawn across one shoulder ; and 
 finally appeared, under a golden canopy, carried 
 over him by four priests, the archbishop himself, 
 in the gorgeous array which constitutes what is 
 called full pontificals, with a purple mitre on his 
 head, and the crozier in his hand. 
 
 Ruggiero degli Ubaldini, whose very name will 
 cause every heart that is not of stone to shudder, 
 so long as the language of Dante remains among 
 the languages of earth, was, at that time, not 
 much above fifty years of age, tall, handsome, 
 and of that imposing appearance which never 
 fails of its effect in public characters, however 
 surpassing talents may sometimes dispense with 
 it. As he moved along at this moment at a 
 
 F 2
 
 100 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 slow, solemn, and measured pace, there was, per- 
 haps, but one of that vast multitude which looked 
 on him, that did not feel as if the fate of the 
 battle must be influenced bj the blessing of 
 such a man. If earthly thoughts, or earthly 
 feelings were warring in his heart, — the fair, 
 serene forehead, defined and relieved by the dark 
 purple mitre, gave no intimation of such, as 
 he moved along apparently absorbed in begging 
 of the Lord of Hosts to bless his " blessing." 
 
 On the bridge there was erected the temporary 
 throne, from whence the blessing was to be given; 
 and as, towards that point the procession directed 
 itself; as each part of it arrived, they formed 
 themselves into a semicircle round the throne, 
 leaving the space open in front, from which the 
 archbishop could see the galleys lying beneath, 
 peopled by the thousands of valiant hearts 
 and proud heads waiting for that blessing with 
 the trust of childhood. 
 
 When the archbishop arrived within a short 
 distance of the seat prepared for him, although 
 there had already been left an ample space for 
 him to pass, and take possession of it without 
 the bearers of the canopy having been obliged 
 to alter its position in the slightest degree, still
 
 THE HAREM. 101 
 
 when he actually arrived, so imposing were his 
 appearance, his manner, and the occasion for 
 which he was there, that those nearest to where 
 he passed, involuntarily pressed still further 
 back upon those behind them, and those again 
 upon others, so that though not a word was 
 to be heard throughout that vast multitude there 
 was a momentary, undefinable, but universal 
 sound, and demonstration of respect, such as it 
 may be questioned whether it was good for the 
 heart of man to receive. The archbishop, in- 
 deed, appeared not even to be conscious of it ; 
 and without having once apparently raised his 
 eyes from the time he had become visble to 
 the multitude, he took his seat upon the throne 
 while the clerical officials ranged themselves be- 
 hind. The two admirals, Morosini, and Sara- 
 cini taking their places on his left hand, Ugolino, 
 with one or two others on his right. 
 
 For a few minutes more silence prevailed ; for 
 still, with his head now rather more bent, he 
 seemed engaged in prayer. At last he slightly 
 made the sign of the cross upon his breast in 
 token of having concluded ; and then clasping his 
 hands within each other, he cast his eyes for the 
 first time upon the gay and splendid galleys
 
 102 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 that seemed to repose, proudly but respectfully, 
 at his feet. He looked steadily at them for some 
 moments, as a magnificent, an affecting spec- 
 tacle, and then he proceeded to examine — pene- 
 trate them as it were with his eyes, — in detail, 
 one by one, as if he would indi\ddualise each 
 man on board in the coming blessing. He had 
 begun the apparent examination with the most 
 distant ; but, when he arrived at the nearest to 
 himself, the " Capitana," or flag-ship, his eyes were 
 attracted by an object which apparently arrested 
 and prevented them from wandering farther. It 
 was the silver cross in the dark purple field — 
 the beautiful, simple, expressive banner of the 
 Pisan Republic, under which some of her best 
 blood had watered the plains of the Saracen, and 
 which now, waving from the mast of the " Capi- 
 tana," by the accidental current of the sweet faint 
 breath of morning, was turned full upon him ; 
 and as it waved slowly and gracefully towards 
 where he sat at the moment, had almost the ap- 
 pearance of bidding him welcome to the holy 
 office he was come to fulfil ! It would seem as 
 if the idea had struck him, for after gazing fix- 
 edly and reverently on it for a moment, he slowly 
 raised his right hand, and slightly extending his
 
 THE HAREM. 103 
 
 forefinger towards it, his voice came forth upon 
 that excited but silently expectant multitude 
 with supernatural effect, as in deep sonorous and 
 richly cultivated tones, which reached to many 
 thousand ears he said, — 
 
 " Men ! brothers ! sons ! ]\Ien of the Pisan Re- 
 public ! brothers in your cause, and sons of my 
 ecclesiastical position ; — by each of these names 
 I had intended to offer you a few words of ex- 
 hortation on the subject now filling every head, 
 and occupying every heart to aching ! I had in- 
 tended bidding you remember that more than 
 national interest, more than national glory is at 
 stake upon the coming battle ; and that is, na- 
 tional honour! The evil spirit of discord has 
 been amongst us ; it must now be forgotten. You 
 know — you all know that after a long series of 
 glory, prosperity, and respect, such as will as- 
 tonish posterity when they seek out the narrow 
 limits of our small but noble republic, the face of 
 God has been averted from us ; you know that 
 he has said, a house divided against itself cannot 
 stand ; and our want of charity, our want of 
 brotherly love, has already shaken our house to 
 its foundations. You know, for you have each 
 done your part, what efforts it required to collect
 
 104 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 the noble army, and to fit it out for this enter- 
 • prise, and that if unsuccessful we never could 
 renew it. But what do I say of being unsuccess- 
 ful '? I tell you this was something of what I 
 had thought of saying to you — reminding you 
 that one false breast, nay, one moment's recollec- 
 tion amongst you of Guelph, or Ghibeline, from 
 the moment you raise those anchors that still 
 hold you to our common home, would be nothing 
 less than a base betrayal of your country's cause 
 — of your national honour. Yes, I had intended 
 in my short-sighted human pride, bidding you 
 forget the names of Guelph and Ghibeline, in the 
 common name of Pisans ; but as I was about to 
 open my lips in the wisdom which is foolishness, 
 that glorious symbol wafted the breath of life into 
 my nostrils, and teaches me instead to exhort 
 you to remember only that you are all of Christ ! 
 Go then, my sons ! my brethren — my Christian 
 flock ! go forth under that glorious symbol ; and 
 if an unworthy thought arise, in the heat of 
 action, or in the moment of defeat or of victory, 
 turn your eyes upon that symbol : and again I 
 say, forget everything except that you are en- 
 listed under its colours, and that to betray your 
 duty would be to deny your banner. One — only
 
 THE HAREM. 105 
 
 one word more, and it is a digression, — remember 
 that while the armies of old fought, their prophet 
 prayed and won the victory for them. I am 
 not a prophet, my sons ; I am a poor sinful man ; 
 but a sincere prayer ever finds grace with God ; 
 and be very sure that while you fight on sea, 
 there will be an old man praying for you on land. 
 And now, my sons, receive my blessing — receive 
 the blessing of God from my hand and heart ! " 
 And so saying he arose, and looking around him 
 once more upon every countenance to which his 
 could reach, he again raised his right hand, laden as 
 it was with the precious gems considered becoming 
 to the occasion, and with the seeming conviction of 
 more than life being dependent on the ceremony, 
 he made the sign of the cross in the air, and m 
 the language of antiquity he blessed the army, 
 sailors, banners, and boats, and resumed his seat. 
 The scene now changed entirely, and at once. 
 The silent attention was no longer necessary, 
 and the excitement of human feelings claimed 
 human vent. It had been arranged before-hand, 
 that the blessing given, not a moment was to be 
 lost in the commander's stepping on board, and 
 the anchors being weighed ; and Ugolino now 
 appeared as if his own individual life was 
 
 F 5
 
 106 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 pledged for the punctual observance of this 
 arrangement. He was, as has been said, close 
 beside the Archbishop whilst he spoke, and 
 when the latter, somewhat to the astonishment 
 of all, touched upon the subject of the two 
 contending parties, Ugolino was seen, though 
 only by those immediately opposite to him, 
 to change colour, and even to cast a hurried 
 though furtive look around ; and when the 
 Archbishop proceeded to speak of possible 
 treachery, and to appeal to the sacred symbol 
 of the banner, as involved in such, for one 
 instant his hand grasped at the pole which 
 supported the canopy over the Archbishop's 
 head, with what purpose it was not possible 
 to devise, so instantaneous was the movement, 
 and so instantaneous the recovery of his self- 
 possession. From that moment, he stood un- 
 moved as a rock, until the blessing was given, 
 and then, without one glance bestowed on any 
 one, with scarcely the attempt at a hasty and 
 silent inclination of his head, to the Archbishop, 
 he made a hasty sign to the " Capitana " on board 
 which he was to embark, and in another moment, 
 followed, as of course he was, by all the other 
 officers still on shore, he was standing upon
 
 THE HAREM. 107 
 
 the deck, embracing with his left arm the mast, 
 and looking upon the multitude, from which 
 he felt himself already severed, not in space 
 or element alone, but in every interest and 
 feeling, with that glance of defiance, that atti- 
 tude of independence, and that gesture of 
 separation, which only prepossession, or the 
 infatuation already more than once alluded to, 
 could have converted in the eyes of the spec- 
 tators, into courage, hope, and farewell : such, 
 however, was the interpretation put upon that 
 look, attitude, and gesture ; but, when in answer 
 to their own misinterpretation, there burst forth 
 such a cheer, as had not often been heard 
 before London became London, then Ugolino, 
 becoming aware as it would seem, of his mis- 
 take, accepted that interpretation, as still the 
 most convenient ; and as by this time the 
 anchors were weighed, and the other galleys 
 moving on, the " Capitana " being the last, 
 in consequence of her position nearest to the 
 Archbishop, when it came to her turn to 
 follow, Ugolino, still clasping the mast with 
 his left arm, with -his right hand took off his 
 helmet, an unusual mark of respect, which was 
 not at all necessary or expected, he waved an
 
 108 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 obeisance of adieu first to the Archbishop, and with 
 his stern but noble countenance exposed to view, 
 and his long white hair waving in the wind, 
 occasioned by the motion of the vessel, then to 
 the balconies and windows, finally the crowd in 
 genera], and then raising his helmet towards the 
 banner, he seemed as he would convey the as- 
 surance, that to that he consecrated it, main- 
 taining this position until the beautiful galley 
 moved gracefully round a bend of the river, 
 and he and it were lost to sight; the effect 
 upon the multitude was such, as left no doubt 
 upon the minds of any who witnessed it, that 
 if at that moment he had suddenly returned on 
 shore, they would have crowned him king ; 
 the shrieks of women mingled with the shouts 
 of men, all beginning and all ending with the 
 name of Ugolino, while they coupled it with 
 every epithet of honour, afiection, and devo- 
 tion ; and then, and not till then, the scales 
 seemed to fall from eyes that had too long 
 been blinded ; and the Archbishop himself, 
 forgetting, in the feelings of the moment, the 
 dignity of his character and position, looked 
 round him with a flushed brow, and a startled
 
 THE HAREM. 109 
 
 expression, and then suddenly complaining of 
 being overcome with excessive heat and fatigue, 
 he desired to be conveyed instantly, and ^vith 
 as little observation as might be possible, to 
 his palace.
 
 110 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The shouts at length subsided, and, as they 
 did so, a blank, a chill, a re-action, a pause, 
 as it were, in feeling, fell upon the multitudes, 
 so long and so powerfully excited. " They are 
 gone!" was the expression upon every coun- 
 tenance ; but that conviction had come from 
 the heart and left it blank. 
 
 When the feelings become calm, judgment 
 generally resumes its powers. " They are gone,'' 
 was the expression upon every face, and as, 
 with the unthinking, all was contained in these 
 words, they soon prepared to return to their 
 ordinary habits, calmly to await the time when 
 so agreeable a commotion might again occur. 
 
 But there were others, — and they were not 
 few, — who asked themselves the further questions, 
 of where, and why are they gone 1 — and many, 
 many even of those who had hitherto thought little 
 upon the subject, and offered no resistance to
 
 THE HAREM. Ill 
 
 the nomination of Ugolino, seemed suddenly to 
 awake to a sense of having slumbered too 
 long ; while those who had attempted opposi- 
 tion, but had suffered themselves to be over- 
 ruled, accused themselves now of cowardice 
 and want of principle, exaggerating through the 
 nervousness of wakened consciences, the reasons 
 they had for suspicion ; and not a few turned 
 and looked in each other's faces, as who should 
 say, " We have helped to betray our country.'' 
 
 " It was madness — moon madness — to say the 
 least,'' murmured at last some of the most daring ; 
 "a man who had already betrayed us, and given 
 no pledge of amendment ;" while others, more 
 cautious, though pale with consternation, shook 
 their heads in gloomy assent, and moved silently 
 away to brood in secret over their own remorse 
 and late apprehensions. 
 
 The group in the portico of the Gualandi, how- 
 ever, whom we have already mentioned, were 
 not amongst those on whom this chill presenti- 
 ment of evil fell. On the contrary, perhaps not 
 one of the three had ever felt more contented — 
 more happy than on that occasion. Beatrice 
 loved not the haughty grandfather of her hus- 
 band ; but, deeply interested in his success, be-
 
 112 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 cause connected with herself, she felt triumphaQt 
 in seeing him depart at the highest summit of 
 ambition which she, at least, had ventured to 
 anticipate for him ; and she gladly lingered in 
 the portico persuading herself that so long as 
 she did so she was an object of the people's 
 incense. Bianca was happy — most happy — in 
 believing herself the instrument of happiness to 
 others — that blessed privilege so peculiarly adapt- 
 ed to, but so long withheld from her ; and Ubal- 
 dino, delighted with the whole pageant, and the 
 admiration he became convinced Bianca had met 
 with, supposed all was as it should be, since 
 his uncle had approved of or not prevented Ugo- 
 lino's nomination of generalissimo. 
 
 They were each indulging silently in their 
 individual sources of enjoyment when Xino 
 Visconti, whose attendance on his grandfather 
 had hitherto detained him, appeared before them, 
 his face flushed and his whole manner betraying 
 excessive excitement if not agitation. Beatrice's 
 lips immediately assumed their sarcastic, not to 
 say contemptuous expression. 
 
 "Well," she exclaimed, ironically, as he ap- 
 proached, and without giving him time to speak ; 
 " are the Genovese at the gates ? Have they
 
 THE HAREM. 113 
 
 sunk our galleys at a blow 1— or is it only dutiful 
 apprehension for what may befall our well-be- 
 loved grandfather that throws you into such a 
 state with a world's eyes upon you 1 " 
 
 " The town is full of strange Ghibeline chiefs," 
 was Nino's answer in her ear ; " it is feared there 
 is treachery, well-timed, when we are without a 
 man to strike a blow. As yet there has been no 
 demonstration, and those who have been able to 
 hold council together have decided that, until 
 there be, it is better not to seem to suppose that 
 which we could not avert, but on the contrary to 
 treat them as welcome visitors come to see the 
 splendid sight of this morning ; for, where open 
 war is impossible, stratagem is admissible." 
 
 " Ha ! ha ! ha !" laughed his wife ; " and in 
 which I would beg to ask are you expected to be 
 useful r' 
 
 " Come, come, Beatrice,'' whispered her gentle 
 husband, who knew that for her, in wordy war 
 at least, he was no match ; " let us be serious for 
 a moment," and informing her that a party of 
 the most distinguished amongst the Ghibeline 
 chiefs had just then entered the portico he 
 trusted that as the Gualandi had forgotten party 
 distinctions in courtesy to her, and as she and
 
 1J4< THE CONVENT AND 
 
 Bianca were the most distinguished ladies present 
 thej would accompany him to receive the stran- 
 gers and offer them such civility as might be 
 acceptable. Beatrice, with whom it sufficed that 
 a suggestion should have originated with another, 
 especially with her husband, in order to question 
 its prudence or wisdom, affected to laugh at the 
 alarm, while she inquired the names of the 
 chiefs. Nino mentioned the Comte Guido Mon- 
 tefeltro, accompanied by his astrologer, the no 
 less though differently celebrated Guido Bonatti,* 
 and the admiral Count Federigo Lancia ; and, 
 had he stopped there, it is possible his success 
 might have been better, but when he added, 
 "and the latter is accompanied by his niece or 
 grand-niece, of whose extraordinary beauty some 
 rumours have reached us, but all which fall un- 
 utterably short of conveying an idea of what 
 she is, and every one is gathering round them — " 
 Beatrice haughtily interrupted him with — 
 " Every one may do as they please ; and, as 
 I affect to be somebody, even under that uni- 
 versal privilege, I shall beg to decline the office 
 your ridiculous terrors would assign me of mis- 
 
 * " Vedi Guido Bonatti ..." 
 
 Inferno, Canto xx.
 
 THE HAREM. 115 
 
 tress of the ceremonies to the fiercest enemies of 
 our party, and of begging them to have mercy upon 
 us. Since when, pray, did they carry their female 
 relatives about with them when they meant to 
 put towns to the fire and sword V 
 
 "Oh, Beatrice, have you no feminine feeling 
 for that lovely young creature V pleaded her hus- 
 band abstractedly and injudiciously ; " look how 
 all the men are gathering round her, while the 
 few ladies there, keep aloof — I fear following your 
 example." 
 
 " If it be so I feel flattered," she retorted ; 
 "for as well as I can see she has mistaken this 
 portico for a stage for mummers," and she cast 
 a glance of sarcastic disdain at Genivra's dress as 
 she stood with her back towards them ; which, 
 though somewhat modified from what we last 
 saw it, was still fantastic enough, partly to excuse 
 Beatrice's prudery. 
 
 Visconti, vexed and disappointed, was turning 
 away to rejoin the strangers, when Bianca, ever 
 desirous to oblige, proposed that Ubaldino at 
 least should accompany him. Nino gladly ac- 
 cepted this reinforcement, and on rejoining the 
 strangers he presented the nephew of the Arch- 
 bishop. Genivra turned quickly round at the
 
 11-6 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 words; and as Bianca, who was looking with 
 gentle interest at the young girl, alone amidst 
 so many strangers, saw the suffusion which in- 
 stantly passed over her exquisite face, believing 
 it to proceed from the modesty she would her- 
 self have felt under similar circumstances, she 
 found it impossible longer to control her desire 
 to come to her relief, and saying, hastily, — 
 
 "Oh, really Beatrice, this is too cruel!'' she 
 drew her sister-in-law forward, less reluctant, 
 as she had by this time caught a glimpse of 
 the splendid person and noble bearing of the 
 Count di !Montefeltro. He was at that time, 
 in what people of mature judgment call "the 
 prime of life,'' and eminently handsome. He 
 was dressed in a white tunic, on which was 
 embroidered the dark Imperial Eagle, and with 
 a plumed helmet on his head, and carrying the 
 baton of command in his hand appeared amongst 
 the different parties, by whom he was soon 
 surrounded, each eager to behold a man of such 
 exalted fame, and whose last visit to Pisa was 
 in attendance on their beloved young Emperor, 
 like a sovereign come to receive the homage, 
 and grant the pardon of subjects who had erred ! 
 It was him of whom Dante wrote the following
 
 THE HAREM. 117 
 
 lines, amongst others which we omit, as being 
 unintelligible without an historic explanation, 
 which would be foreign to our plot : — 
 
 " Udimmo dire : tu, a cui io drizzo 
 
 La voce, e che parlavi mo Lombardo, 
 
 Dicendo : issa ten' -va, piu non t' aizzo ; 
 Perch' io sia giunto forse alquanto tardo 
 
 Non t' incresca restare a parlar meco : 
 
 Vedi che non incresce a me edardo. 
 Se tu pur mo in questo mondo cieco 
 
 Caduto se' di quella dolce terra 
 
 Latina, onde mia colpa tutta reco ; 
 Dimmi se i Romagnuoli han pace o guerra ; 
 
 Ch' io fui de' monti la intra Urbino 
 
 E il giogo di che Tever si disserra. 
 Io era ingiuso ancora attento e chino, 
 
 Quando il mio duca mi tento di costa, 
 
 Dicendo parla tu, questi e Latino. 
 Ed io ch' aveva gia pronta la risposta, 
 
 Senza indugio a parlare incominciai : 
 
 anima che se' laggiu nascosta, 
 Romagna tua non e, e non fu mai, 
 
 Senza guerra ne' cuor de' suoi tiranni ; 
 
 Ma palese nessuna or ven' lasciai." 
 
 Inferno^ canto xxvii. 
 
 He was a warrior of such renown, that to 
 his absence was attributed the disastrous issue 
 of the battle of Tagliacozzo ; when, by one of 
 those infatuated decisions to which we have 
 already alluded, the doomed Emperor left him
 
 lis THE CONVENT AND 
 
 to the inactive protection of Rome, when the 
 Ghibeline cause was at stake upon the battle 
 field. Bj the force of his own genius and 
 prowess he had almost invariably kept the E,o- 
 magna, his native country, under the Ghibeline 
 sway ; and although the eclipse under which 
 that party now laboured, had cast a shade even 
 upon his fortunes, and he was now on his way 
 to Asti, whither he was sent in exile by the 
 Pope, it was with twelve hundred of his own 
 choicest men as an escort, who were at the 
 moment outside the gates of Pisa, under the 
 command of his son Buonconte. The permis- 
 sion for such an escort, which, in times so dis- 
 tracted, and parties so unregulated, might in 
 many cases have turned the scales one way or 
 other, to approach so close to the stronghold 
 of Ghibeline principles, if no longer of power, 
 while their exiled chief presented himself to the 
 people in all the insignia of his military rank 
 and party, is one of those apparent incongru- 
 ities that we must leave without comment ; but, 
 as the mind cannot rest upon absurdity, we 
 must suppose, that as no immediate advantage 
 seems to have been taken on that occasion of 
 the permission, that those who granted it had
 
 THE HAREM. 119 
 
 some assurance which justified it. In the mean- 
 time, as the chief stood in the Gualandi Portico 
 that morning, graciously receiving now a Ghi- 
 beline, now a Guelph, as either was presented 
 to him, without other apparent difierence than 
 a scarcely perceptible contraction of the pupil 
 of his eagle eye, as any of the more deter- 
 mined Guelphs were named, there was not one 
 who, looking into futurity, could feel surprised 
 to see that he was destined to rise upon the 
 ruins of Ugolino, when he should have foiled 
 him at his own arms of force and dissimulation. 
 He was exchanging with Lancia and his astro- 
 loger, in low rapid tones, short sentences and 
 observations, which each contained a chapter 
 of history for future ages, when Beatrice and 
 Bianca approached and were presented to him 
 by Visconti. He turned to them ; and from that 
 moment the warrior was lost in the polished 
 gentleman; the Ghibeline chief in the Guelphic 
 lady's cavalier ; and the stern muttered orders 
 or suggestions, in a playful exchange of wit 
 and badinage which, had he lived in other times, 
 would perhaps have been his most marked cha- 
 racteristic. Beatrice in a moment decided that 
 he was not only a captive worthy of being
 
 120 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 gained, but already almost in her chains ; and 
 it is needless to add, that from that moment 
 she neither had, herself, nor allowed him to 
 have, word or look for any other man or woman. 
 
 It is utterly impossible that anything in this 
 world could be purer, or more unaffectedly ami- 
 able than was Bianca's feeling in thus coming to 
 the support of the young Contessa Lancia, and, 
 when the introduction gave her the opportunity 
 of observing more closely her all-surpassing 
 beauty, she turned her eyes to Ubaldino, silently, 
 to evince her astonished admiration, without one 
 feeling or recollection of self having yet obtruded 
 itself in connection with her. That moment, 
 however, was destined to be the last in which 
 they were ever to be disunited in her mind or 
 heart ! 
 
 She turned to her lover, indeed — or to him, 
 alas ! who so lately was so ; but from him she 
 met no answering glance. As if deprived by 
 some sudden spell of all command over his men- 
 tal or physical forces, he stood apparently pour- 
 ing out his whole soul in the wrapt, uncontrolled 
 ecstacy with which he gazed upon Genivra ! 
 
 It was impossible for the most disinterested 
 not to be struck with it, but, happily, at the mo-
 
 THE HAREM. 121 
 
 ment all had their attention otherwise engaged, 
 except her who felt as if even that bright sky 
 now beaming over them, had become all at once 
 wrapt in clouds of horrible and impenetrable 
 darkness. Far too gentle and too dignified, how- 
 ever, to betray her feelings even by a breath, she 
 stood, for the moment, neglected by ; while Bea- 
 trice usurping the attention of the Conte Mon- 
 tefeltro, Genivra tasted, for the first time, the 
 delicious but dangerous and intoxicating draught 
 of public admiration, and under its influence, 
 became, in one short quarter of an hour, a co- 
 quette, without other limit or consideration, either 
 for herself or others, than what her own will or 
 amusement might suggest ! 
 
 Perfectly aware of the entranced gaze of Ubal- 
 dino, she turned from him to laugh with Nino 
 Visconti, but in doing so she brought Ubaldino 
 and Bianca within his view. No sooner did he 
 perceive their relative situations than, shocked at 
 such want of self-command in the young man, 
 and feeling deeply hurt for his sister, he made 
 his way behind Genivra, and having twice called 
 upon his name without receiving an answer, he 
 laid his hand impressively upon his arm. 
 
 Ubaldino, upon feeling the pressure, started as 
 
 VOL. I. G
 
 122 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 if he had been suddenly wakened from a trance, 
 looked wildly round him, and, without waiting 
 to recover his bewildered faculties, hastily ex- 
 claimed — 
 
 " What ?— why '?— who called me ? " 
 
 " Give your arm to Bianca ! " Visconti said, in 
 a voice of authority unusual for him ; " and con- 
 duct her and my wife home : the crowd is now 
 sufficiently dispersed/' 
 
 " Home 'i hence f " repeated Ubaldino in a 
 tone of such heart-struck but abstracted des- 
 pondency, as even Nino felt it impossible to re- 
 sent, even while he repeated — 
 
 " Yes, home, and immediately ; Ubaldino — do 
 you hear me ? — while I remain to endeavour to 
 prevail upon those distinguished visitors not to 
 run away from us immediately. Here, Beatrice!" 
 
 Visconti probably added the latter clause half 
 unconsciously, as a sort of bribe to obedience ; 
 and as Beatrice turned at the call, having gra- 
 ciously expressed her hopes to Montefeltro that 
 he would honour their poor house by his pre- 
 sence, Ubaldino mechanically offered an arm to 
 each, as if he understood and accepted the im- 
 plied compact. Finding, however, that one only 
 availed herself of his offer, and turning to in-
 
 THE HAREM. 123 
 
 quire the reason, though at the moment uncon- 
 scious, and, if the truth must be told, little 
 caring which had declined it, his eyes fell upon 
 the fair, sweet, and usually composed counte- 
 nance of Bianca, and saw it covered with death- 
 like paleness, and expressive of that agony which 
 only a woman's pure heart can feel, when, having 
 yielded the treasure of her love with unaficcted 
 difficulty, her unerring instinct tells her for the 
 first time that the treasure has lost its value ! 
 
 Ah ! what has earth to oifer in compensation 1 
 Nothing ! for the first time never can return ! 
 
 Ubaldino's kind heart and honourable feelings 
 immediately took the alarm, and, lost as he still 
 was to all self-command, precipitately seizing her 
 hand — 
 
 " Bianca ! Bianca ! " he exclaimed ; " for hea- 
 ven's sake what is the matter ? You arc ill — 
 you are very ill ! but there is — there shall be no 
 reason for it ! '' 
 
 There was truth at the moment in these seem- 
 ingly incoherent accents ; and Bianca, whose 
 gentleness and affection together made her anx- 
 ious to believe him, turned her sweet, though 
 now melancholy eyes once more upon him, and, 
 with an angelic smile, she said— 
 
 o 2
 
 124 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 " It is nothing ! a passing pang ; but I feel 
 sure it will not return ! Let us move on ! " and 
 her upright and generous heart sought his excuse 
 in the strangeness of Genivra's beauty ! 
 
 Ubaldino pressed the arm once more placed 
 confidingly within his, in gratitude, if no longer 
 in love, for a forgiveness of which he best knew 
 the extent, and led them from the portico with- 
 out trusting himself to look again upon the 
 enchantress.
 
 THE HAREM. 125 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 It is possible, so occupied were all with their 
 own thoughts, that the. trio might have arrived 
 at their destination without another word having 
 been exchanged between them, had it not been 
 that, in crossing the bridge, their progress was 
 arrested by a number of persons gathered round 
 one of those exhibitions which still too much 
 prevail in all countries, where one species of 
 sentient beings is tortured for the amusement of 
 the others ; but as their persons were well known 
 at Pisa, a passage was quickly opened for them, 
 and they were again moving forward, to escape 
 as rapidly as might be possible, when, amidst 
 the shouts of laughter and clapping of hands 
 which had prevailed, Bianca's ears caught shrieks, 
 which, inducing her to turn her head, she per- 
 ceived the cause of the merriment, as of the 
 shrieks, to be a hideous baboon, who, encouraged 
 by the applause he had met with for minor feats.
 
 126 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 or more probably seized with one of those mis- 
 chievous caprices to which all his kind are subject, 
 had sprung upon the head of an unfortunate 
 dwarf, whose deformity and extraordinary ugliness 
 rendering him remarkable even in the eyes of 
 the brute, had attracted his notice in the crowd, 
 and, fixing his nails in the poor wretch's mis- 
 shapen forehead, he stood grinning around him, 
 as if challenging a decision as to which bore 
 the most resemblance to human nature. 
 
 We must hope that those who. looked on, while 
 amused by the ludicrous position and contortions 
 of the animal, were unaware of the degree of 
 torture he was inflicting ; but Bianca, whose 
 sympathetic feelings were amongst her chief 
 charms, if we must not say virtues, no sooner 
 caught the sound of the shrieks, than she recog- 
 nised them to be of agony ; and a glimpse, caught 
 of the expression of the poor dwarf's face, as he 
 endeavoured to release himself from his horrid 
 foe, confirmed the impression beyond all doubt. 
 In the same moment, without taking time to 
 utter more than, " Oh, Ubaldino ! " she was by 
 the suflferer's side. The sight of the blood, which 
 was now seen to trickle down the poor creature's 
 face, at the same time began to waken some
 
 THE HAREM. 127 
 
 compassion in the bystanders. But, while the 
 grinning rage of the brute terrified all from 
 approaching too closely, those who attempted to 
 strike at him with sticks, or whatever other 
 weapon was at hand, being themselves beyond 
 his reach, only caused him to wreak a deeper 
 vengeance on the wretch within his grasp ; and 
 as the many still laughed, and enjoyed the 
 excitement, it is hard to say where it might 
 have ended, had not Ubaldino, springing after 
 Bianca, and seeing her, in her sympathetic agony, 
 about to attempt to seize the brute in her own 
 fair hands, drawn his stiletto and fixed it in his 
 heart. He fell in an instant to the ground, but 
 not with his death did his victim's agony cease. 
 And while the people^s attention was attracted 
 by the clamour set up by the foreign owner of 
 the baboon, upon Ubaldino's refusal to make 
 compensation for his loss, on the grounds 
 of his having permitted so cruel an aggression 
 in the hope of gaining a few additional sous, 
 Bianca, though not, perhaps, without some feel- 
 ings which, as a Christian, she conscientiously 
 overcame, occupied herself in binding her hand- 
 kerchief round the now profusely bleeding head 
 of the sufferer.
 
 128 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 Beatrice, who by this time had joined them, 
 screamed to her to desist, and to commit the 
 task to some of the bystanders ; but just as she 
 was about to conclude her work of mercy, she 
 felt him totter, and as she involuntarily laid her 
 hand on his shoulder to support him, he caught 
 at it convulsively, and, looking on it for a mo- 
 ment with an expression of devotional surprise 
 succeeded, in spite of her repugnance, in pressing 
 it passionately to his lips ; then, closing his eyes, 
 he reeled yet more faintly, and had those nearest 
 to him not prevented it, would have fallen to 
 the ground. Bianca now looked round in dismay, 
 — as she perceived no inclination in the people 
 to carry their charity farther, each seeming to 
 think the task belonged to some one else ; for 
 there had not been as yet systematised that best 
 of all charities, the " Misericordia," — when her 
 eyes fell upon the person of a burly friar, of the 
 Dominican order, who was one of the protected 
 of her grandfather — enemies said, one of his 
 political petty agents, as it was known that he 
 was likewise high in the confidence of his wealthy 
 prior, and being without any ostensible claims 
 to either distinctions, far less to both. People 
 solved the mystery, by supposing him to make
 
 THE HAREM. 129 
 
 up in talents for worldly intrigue, what he 
 wanted in spiritual gifts. Bianca loved neither 
 him nor his political prior ; but having been 
 accustomed all her life to see both frequent the 
 house of her family, and knowing the former 
 to be skilful in the healing art, which brought 
 many an offering to their convent at Pisa, she 
 rejoiced to see him now, more than she had ever 
 done in her life before. 
 
 Although he was making his way through the 
 crowd in evident haste, if not to say perturba- 
 tion, towards the Arno, he did not dare to 
 neglect a signal from the Count Ugolino's grand- 
 daughter; but, upon learning that her behest 
 was to have the dwarf conveyed to his convent, 
 and there to be attended by himself until re- 
 stored to health, he humbly entreated to be ex- 
 cused, in consideration of his having been already 
 detained so long in religious observances, as he 
 said, for the safety of the fleet, that although 
 appointed to attend on Count Ugolino in the 
 "Capitana," he had been too late, and that it 
 would now require all possible dispatch to over- 
 take him in a row-boat at the Porto Pisano, 
 distant seven miles or so from Pisa. 
 
 Bianca hesitated a moment between her ha- 
 
 G 5
 
 ISO THE CONVENT AND 
 
 bitual reverence for any order of her grand- 
 father, and her anxiety for the suffering being 
 who had turned his imploring eyes alternately 
 from one to the other of the speakers, as, still 
 unable, from torture and weakness, to support 
 himself, he was upheld by the somewhat re- 
 luctant hands of others. Taking a middle, 
 though desperate course, she turned to Beatrice, 
 and asked her if she would allow the creature, 
 whom she had ascertained to be a stranger, with- 
 out an acquaintance in Pisa, to be conveyed to 
 her house, where Bianca herself would, under 
 such directions as the Fra Bonifazio could give 
 her on the spot,* see him properly attended to. 
 Beatrice, who, to do her justice, warred only 
 with the high, the happy, or the beautiful, 
 shrugged a careless consent ; and Bianca, receiv- 
 ing from the hand of the friar a few hiero- 
 glyphic signs on a page of her tablets, in 
 comparison of which the recipe of our most 
 accomplished modern physician would be intelli- 
 gible, permitted him to pursue his way, while 
 Ubaldino took upon himself the care of having 
 the poor dwarf conveyed to the house of the 
 Visconti, from whence, in a few days after, he 
 was dismissed perfectly cured, under the personal
 
 THE HAREM. ISl 
 
 superintendence of Bianca, aided by her own 
 confessor, the humble, apostolic Capuchin monk, 
 Fra Tommaso, who, like most of his order, re- 
 nounced only the pomps and vanities of the 
 world, fulfilling all its duties, suffering all its 
 hardships, and resisting all its temptations ! 
 
 After his first private conversation with the 
 object of Bianca's charity, he sought her out, 
 and in a state of amazement, almost amounting 
 to consternation, he informed her, that in that 
 person of hideous deformity, there dwelt a spirit 
 which, though distorted by adverse circum- 
 stances, had sprung up, to right itself, with all 
 the force of re-action, at the very first offer of 
 assistance. 
 
 •' Could we but keep him here some time 
 longer ! " the good man rather sighed than 
 said. 
 
 " Here !" Bianca exclaimed, in a feeling, which 
 however she condemned and struggled against, 
 she could not wholly overcome. 
 
 "No, I do not mean here — in this house," 
 replied the friar. " But it may not be — what I 
 had thought of — he will not stay — enough ! let 
 us pray for him ! that his strength may be equal 
 to his purposes ! "
 
 132 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 " Oh, willingly, father 1 " and though it was 
 with heartfelt ardour she made that promise, 
 she shuddered in acceding to the request, which, 
 at parting, the poor outcast of humanity made, 
 to be allowed once more to kiss her beautiful 
 hand. 
 
 "Do not refuse it, lady,'' he pleaded, in the 
 deep, unpleasant tones which generally accom- 
 pany diminutive and deformed persons. "We 
 live in wild times ; and it might be, that as you 
 protected me from the caricature of man, under 
 one aspect, another caricature, perhaps still more 
 loathsome, might yet have an opportunity to re- 
 pay the service to you or yours." 
 
 In the meantime this adventure, trifling as it 
 seemed, gave, for the moment, a new turn to 
 the thoughts and feelings of the party, whose 
 progress home had been so unexpectedly inter- 
 rupted ; Beatrice declaring herself highly amused 
 with the first guest of the morning; Bianca for- 
 getting the shock her own feelings had received, 
 in the sufferings of another, and in the grati- 
 fication of having been permitted to alleviate 
 them ; and Ubaldino, touched by her amiability, 
 determining with the zeal, at least, if not the 
 perseverance, of a stoic, that henceforth the
 
 THE HAREM. 133 
 
 image of the bleeding and hideous dwarf should 
 replace in his fancy that of the bright and lovely 
 young Genivra. He forgot that we are recom- 
 mended by the truly philosophic apostle — mode- 
 ration in all things !
 
 134 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 No sooner had Ubaldino and his fair charges 
 left the Portico, than Visconti, with that polished 
 suavity, which Dante has commemorated in the 
 words, " Nin gentil,'^ hastened to second the in- 
 vitation of Beatrice, by putting his house, and 
 whatever accommodation it could afford, at the 
 disposal of the distinguished exile. His cour- 
 tesy was met with equal courtesy, although 
 Montefeltro pleaded an arrangement already 
 made with the Conte Lancia, as an insuperable 
 obstacle to his availing himself of the offer. 
 
 "But the Conte Lancia is, himself, so much a 
 stranger amongst us," Nino said, addressing him- 
 self graciously to the latter, " that he ought to 
 allow us to consider him also, and this lovely 
 lady, as guests, rather than as hosts on this 
 occasion." 
 
 But Nino was not only the nominal head of 
 the Guelphic party, but also the grandson of the
 
 THE HAREM. 135 
 
 detested Ugolino, and either title was in itself 
 enough for the irascible old man to neutralize, 
 if not to embitter, any compliments from him; 
 even if the events of the morning, and the 
 triumphant departure of Ugolino, had not ex- 
 asperated him almost to frenzy ; so that scarcely 
 containing himself within the bounds of decency, 
 he interrupted him, by repeating that the Count 
 de Montefeltro and his friend were engaged to 
 him ; and, moving abruptly away, prevented any 
 further discussion on the subject. 
 
 ^lontefeltro, however, both from gentlemanly 
 feeling and policy, hastened to show that he 
 neither participated in, nor approved such de- 
 monstrations, by asking Nino whether it would 
 be exacting too much of his politeness, to re- 
 quest him to be his guide and introducer to 
 the Archbishop's presence. 
 
 " His nephew had half made me the proposal," 
 Montefeltro added, looking round ; " but some- 
 thing interrupted him at the moment, and I see 
 him no lonfrer." 
 
 But, although gentlemanly feeling participated 
 in the reasons which induced ]\Iontefeltro to make 
 this proposal, they were strongly seconded at 
 least by the political desire to ascertain how the
 
 136 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 opposite parties were affected towards each other, 
 while giving to Yisconti, bj making his visit 
 to the Archbishop in his presence, a proof, as 
 it were, that his visit to Pisa at that time was 
 not only accidental, but that he had no intention 
 of even profiting by the occasion. 
 
 He was, however, surprised, if not somewhat 
 displeased, by the disengaged cordiality with 
 which JS^ino at once acceded to it. They set 
 out immediately on foot, accompanied or followed 
 by the astrologer, Lancia, the younger Morosini, 
 son of the admiral, who was nominated vice- 
 podesta in the absence of his father, Gualandi, 
 head of the Ghibeline party of Lucca, with the 
 boy Castruccio — afterwards so famous as still to 
 occupy one of the most conspicuous pages in 
 Italian history — Malaspina, even then wavering 
 between the two parties, Lanfranci, the grand- 
 father of Genivra, to whose daughter she had 
 been committed when the chiefs decided on the 
 visit to the Archbishop, and several others^ whose 
 names are no longer interesting to the world nor 
 useful to our story. 
 
 The request for the escort of the head of the 
 Guelphic party by the Ghibeline chief, then in 
 exile for his deeds against them, was chivalrously
 
 THE HAREM. 137 
 
 made and chivalrously granted. But chivalrous 
 feelings, like all others, are subject to the in- 
 fluence of circumstance ; and, no sooner were 
 they set out upon their walk, and the occasion 
 removed for the interchange of civilities and 
 compliments, than each felt that their conver- 
 sation must be subjected to a certain constraint, 
 as it could not proceed on that subject most 
 interesting to both. 
 
 Montefeltro, however, was not a man to suffer 
 such a conviction to appear, without an effort 
 against it ; and, accordingly, after a moment's 
 reflection, he decided that those expressions of 
 admiration of the beauty of the ladies to whom 
 he had been presented, which the manners of 
 the day allowed, would prove a theme which 
 could not lead to unpleasantness. After some 
 high-flown, though not exaggerated, compliments 
 to the majestic beauty of Beatrice, he inquired, 
 with interest, who was her lovely blonde com- 
 panion, as, in the crowd and noise around — 
 he did not say Beatrice's sudden usurpation of 
 his attention — he had not caught her name. 
 
 But, ere Nino had time to answer, Montefeltro's 
 astrologer, who had not yet been heard to open 
 his lips, or give other answer than an important
 
 138 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 bow to compliment or invitation, while keeping 
 always close to his patron's side, prevented him 
 by abruptly, but solemnly, pronouncing — 
 
 " She is the dove, sent forth from the ark 
 too soon ! '' 
 
 All who heard the words, started at their 
 ominous import ; and, as the blood rushed to 
 the temples of Visconti, ^lontefeltro laid his 
 hand upon his arm, and said — 
 
 " Bear with him ! You know the privileges 
 accorded to Bonatti/' 
 
 No sooner, however, did he utter the name 
 so universally known and dreaded at that time, 
 than all those who had not previously been 
 aware of its belonging to the portly and self- 
 important looking stranger, started, and moved 
 a little farther from him ; while some, after a 
 furtive glance at his feet, unconvinced by their 
 symmetry, while a long professional black mantle 
 favoured the supposition that another satanic 
 sign might be thereby concealed, withdrew alto- 
 gether. 
 
 ]\Iontefeltro perceiving this, and also that 
 Visconti seemed still disturbed, began to think 
 there must be something more implied in the 
 words of the astrologer than a general obser-
 
 THE HAREM. 139 
 
 vation which the state of the times and country 
 rendered almost generally safe ; and, anxious 
 though he was to avoid aught that could lead 
 to unpleasantness just then, he conceived it to 
 be so necessary to understand all that was to 
 be understood, that, addressing himself again to 
 Visconti— but this time in a low tone of voice, 
 for his ear only, — he said — 
 
 " You seem annoyed by what my astrologer 
 has uttered. K there was in it anything personal 
 — anything, in short, that passes the licence 
 accorded to his profession — " 
 
 " No, no ! '' Nino replied, making an effort 
 over himself, as he had yet stronger reasons 
 for wishing to avoid a breach ; " it was merely 
 foolish sensitiveness on my part ; I was just 
 about to tell you that the young lady you honour 
 with your approbation, is — my sister." 
 
 " Indeed ! " ^lontefeltro unaffectedly exclaimed. 
 " Bonatti named her well in calling her a dove ; 
 but I cannot conceive that she could ever appear 
 too soon, or fail in any mission ? '' 
 
 And though the words were almost affirmative, 
 the strong tone of interrogation in which they 
 were put, and the piercing glance that accom- 
 panied them, compelled Xino to feel them, not
 
 140 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 only as a question, but as a question that would 
 seem to involve a mystery if unreplied to. He 
 hesitated for a moment, with the natural delicacy 
 of a brother, to reveal the position of his sister 
 to a perfect stranger; but, reflecting that the 
 matter was nearly as much a public as a private 
 one, and that in a few minutes more Montefeltro 
 would hear of it from others, he hastened to take 
 the courteous part, by replying — 
 
 " What your astrologer may have referred to, 
 I cannot say. I give you every information of 
 which I am possessed, in telling you, that my 
 sister is affianced to the nephew of the Archbishop 
 — the young man whom I had the honour of 
 presenting to you just now." 
 
 Montefeltro, who had been for some time on 
 his way from Forli to his destined exile, arriving 
 at Pisa that morning, and who by chance knew 
 nothing of the projected marriage, on hearing 
 it thus announced by Yisconti was unable, with 
 all his polished and political self-command, to 
 restrain a visible start, while there shot from his 
 eyes that which might well be called a lightning 
 glance, at once from its fire and rapidity, as the 
 thought crossed his mind, " Is the Archbishop 
 false, and am I betrayed V*
 
 THE HAREM. 141 
 
 The idea was but momentary, however, for 
 the very air of openly-offended dignity which 
 Nino, with all his gentleness, unconsciously as- 
 sumed, while the blood rushed clearly and inge- 
 nuously over his pure, candid brow, told to the 
 practised eye that with treachery he could have 
 no part ; and resolving, therefore, to act with 
 circumspection, Montefeltro hastened to prevent 
 any expression of his feelings, by giving another 
 explanation of the agitation it was impossible 
 to deny, while he repeated his respectful admi- 
 ration of Bianca in all sincerity.
 
 142 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 CHAPTER XIL 
 
 But although this little cloud was thus pre- 
 vented from bursting over the heads of the repre- 
 sentatives of the opposite parties, each felt that 
 further private conversation between them for 
 the present would require an effort too great, if 
 not unbecoming on either side ; and as, at the 
 same time, total silence under the relative circum- 
 stances would be little less than hostile, both felt , 
 relieved bj their arrival at that piece of green- 
 sward which may, perhaps, vie with any other 
 of the same extent in the whole world for the 
 four monuments of art which it contains, namely, 
 the Cathedral, the Baptistery, the Leaning Tower, 
 or belfry, which was at that moment ringing out 
 its bells, tuned to the seven notes of the gamut, 
 as bells are rarely tuned, in honour of the pass- 
 ing events ; and though last not least, the Campo 
 Santo, just then completed, and which still re-
 
 THE HAREM. 143 
 
 mains the most beautiful, touching, and appro- 
 priate resting-place for the departed, which earth 
 can boast of.* That this monument, if so it 
 should be called, ought to be seen by moonlight, 
 is known, perhaps, to all who have ever heard or 
 read a description of it ; but only those who 
 have visited it under that influence can form 
 the remotest idea of the effect it produces 
 upon the imagination, the spirits, and may I not 
 add, upon the soul '? Yes, for there, surrounded 
 by relics of the Fine Arts, now mouldering be- 
 neath the cold finger of Time, like those whose 
 memories they had promised to render immortal, 
 as if immortality could be the boon of morta- 
 lity, — there, while forced to feel at once the great- 
 ness, of genius, and the littleness of space, the 
 mind, almost appalled, turns for relief to that 
 pale but glorious light which, like the star that 
 pointed to Bethlehem, gives promise of a better 
 world ; and, grasping at that promise, it is but 
 a natural progression to sympathise in, if not 
 to commend, the feeling that led the founders 
 of that beautiful structure to bring there a por- 
 
 * See "Descrizione delle pitture del Campo Santo di 
 Pisa, con 19 figure intagliate in Raine." — Da Giovanni 
 Rosino, Cav. Prof., &c. Conservatore del Campo Santo.
 
 144 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 tion of the soil upon which had fallen a Re- 
 deemers blood in order to form of it a bed for 
 the last sleep, the idea of which has soothed 
 many a wandering mind, composed many a dis- 
 turbed spirit, and bestowed that comfort and 
 resignation in the last struggle, which deprives 
 death of its sting, and the grave of its vic- 
 tory. 
 
 "How I wish we had time to examine them 
 in detail!" exclaimed Montefeltro, as he paused 
 for a moment to enjoy the general effect. 
 
 "That would, indeed, require delay," replied 
 Nino ; " but if you are a lover of the arts you 
 will be repaid for a moment's pause by looking 
 at the pulpit of the Baptistery. You can almost 
 see it from the door,'^ and as with patriotic pride 
 he moved towards it as he spoke, courtesy, if not 
 taste, compelled his companions to follow. Their 
 exclamations of deligkt, whether real or affected, 
 did not disappoint him. 
 
 " And where is the great artist at present V 
 demanded Montefeltro. 
 
 " There ! " replied Yisconti, pointing from the 
 door to a small house which seemed rather suited 
 to the residence of the sacristan than to the 
 greatest living artist of the time ; and whose
 
 THE HAREM. 145 
 
 name will be as immortal as the records of 
 humanity can render it. 
 
 " There r' repeated Montefeltro, in astonish- 
 ment ; " and — and — would it be possible to see 
 him — would he receive us '? " 
 
 " He is as gentle and accessible as he is ta- 
 lented," answered Nino ; " I will introduce you 
 with pleasure — we are well acquainted — my 
 sister, who is at least an enthusiast for the arts, 
 if we may not say artist herself, is a prime fa- 
 vourite — quite a pet of his, and spends hours 
 with him in his studies." 
 
 Montefeltro warmly thanked Yisconti for the 
 offer ; but at the same time, with some feeling, 
 which he sought to disguise by that very warmth, 
 he added, "I think I should prefer — I think, 
 — perhaps it would be more ceremonious, more 
 respectful, to send a request in my own name 
 for admittance to the honour of his acquaintance. 
 Oblige me then, Bonatti, by going forward, and 
 saying all that is proper." 
 
 Bonatti obeyed, — in part, at least, — but, judg- 
 ing by experience that his patron would give 
 but little time to the interview, and would take 
 that little to himself, he determined to steal a 
 moment for his own purposes, in the belief that 
 
 VOL. I. H
 
 146 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 the greatest artist in the world would be glad 
 to seize the occasion for modelling at least a 
 bust of the soi-disant greatest astrologer. 
 
 With this view he knocked at the humble 
 door, and there came, to open it, a little old 
 man, with a few long, but scattered grey hairs, 
 which fell over his attenuated temples, and 
 deeply furrowed forehead. He wore a cap of 
 sheepskin, secured by a blue cord and tassel, 
 and a long flannel dress fastened down the front 
 by brass clasps : he was without stockings, a 
 custom even yet sometimes indulged in the re- 
 tirement of the country in Italy, during the 
 excessive heat, and his white, well-formed feet, 
 covered only by green leather slippers. In his 
 hand he held a short stick, at the end of which 
 was, still soft, a piece of creta, which, if anything 
 had yet been wanting to reveal the mystery of 
 genius which shone about him, would have served 
 to convince the beholder that he looked upon 
 Nicola Pisano. 
 
 Bonatti at that moment felt himself of less 
 importance than a moment before, and began to 
 feel dubious of the extempore bust. " I will 
 prepare him a little," he said, "and accustom 
 him to my presence, e^e I overwhelm him with
 
 THE HAREM. 147 
 
 my name." He began accordingly to endeavour 
 to buy off, as it were, any mortification to his 
 own vanity, by pouring forth a profusion of com- 
 pliments, which the gentle old man received with 
 a quiet and good-humoured smile. 
 
 "I see you are still occupied," Bonatti went 
 on, pointing to the creta at the end of the little 
 cane. 
 
 " Yes,'' Mcola replied ; "nor must you won- 
 der that while Count Ugolino, who is but two 
 years younger than I am, goes forth to battle, I 
 should amuse myself with this harmless occupa- 
 tion.'' 
 
 " Harmless ! " repeated Bonatti ; " that is not 
 a dignified term for such an art, neither as ap- 
 plied to the public nor to you. May I take the 
 liberty of asking, now, what has been the greatest 
 recompense you have ever received '? " 
 
 " That of seeing my son succeed in my profes- 
 sion," the old man replied, with the quietness of 
 rebuke, which accompanies true dignity. 
 
 Bonatti felt he had mistaken his man, and 
 once more changing his tactics, he determined to 
 take by storm that which he had not been able 
 to sap. Kising with this intent from his chair, 
 he approached the old man, who rose also ; and, 
 
 H 2
 
 148 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 taking his hand with great solemnity between 
 his, while Xicola began to feel somewhat asto- 
 nished, — " You do not know who addresses you," 
 he said, smiling blandly, and laying his left hand 
 over the small withered hand that lay in his 
 right. 
 
 Mcola, who had been accustomed to be courted 
 by kings and popes, now began to ask himself, 
 though without trepidation, what new potentate the 
 circumstances of the country had brought to Pisa, 
 and looked a courteous and respectful inquiry to 
 that effect. Bonatti saw with pleasure the im- 
 pression he had succeeded in producing; and 
 smiling still more benignantly, and pressing 
 the little imprisoned hand more closely between 
 his, " You begin to guess, I see — you begin to 
 guess," he said, " who is your visitor. You will 
 henceforth have to say you have clasped hands 
 with Guido Bonatti ! " but, ere the words were 
 well uttered, a shrill and piercing shriek from the 
 old man came as an accompaniment, while, with 
 the energy of horror, snatching his hand from 
 the contamination of that which he firmly be- 
 lieved to have signed a compact with the devil, 
 be fled into an inner room, and fastening the 
 door, with trembling haste he plunged the in-
 
 THE HAREM. 149 
 
 suited member into a reservoir of holy water, 
 which always hung at his bed's head. 
 
 Bonatti remained for a moment confounded 
 by this reception of his annoucement ; for, al- 
 though he knew himself to be regarded with 
 avoidance in general by the uninstructed, as he 
 had not hitherto put the precise nature of that 
 avoidance to the test, self-love had persuaded 
 him it proceeded from reverence, though not, 
 perhaps, unmixed with awe. 
 
 iSo self-love that ever existed, hovever, could 
 have misinterpreted the nature of Nicola's scream 
 and flight ; nor was there much to soften the 
 mortification to Bonatti when, knocking at the 
 door, and calling repeatedly upon the old man, 
 delivering the message from his patron, and re- 
 sorting to whatever other means he thought 
 might reassure him, the only sounds that met his 
 ear were those of Xicola repeating aloud, in fer- 
 vent and heart-struck accents, the confession of 
 sins, called in the Roman Church, the Confiteor 
 and each time, as Bonatti's entreaties became 
 more urgent, the striking of his breast in peni- 
 tential fervour, as he repeated " Mea culpa ! mea 
 maxima culpa ! " and the historians whom we 
 have consulted on this point aver, that he only
 
 150 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 waited for the departure of Bonatti, to repair to 
 the confessional. 
 
 In the meantime, Bonatti, forced at last to 
 believe the case hopeless, muttered a parting 
 salutation, which would not have tended much to 
 make the old man change his opinion, and re- 
 turning to his patron, announced, in equivocal 
 terms, the impossibility of receiving an answer, 
 which Montefeltro, already impatient of the 
 delay, gladly accepted as an excuse for proceed- 
 ing on his way without farther inquiry.
 
 THE HAREM. 151 
 
 CHAPTER XIIL 
 
 When the party arrived at the Archepiscopal 
 Palace, it was evident that its lord had been pre- 
 pared for the visit, either by preconcerted ar- 
 rangement, or bj some wing-footed Mercury who 
 had the honour of his house at heart. Not only 
 were the , servants already dressed in their most 
 gorgeous liveries, as was the fashion of the day 
 upon any great occasion, but the state suite of 
 rooms, adorned with all that was then known of 
 comfort or of luxury, was thrown open ; while, 
 at the end of the long vista, appeared a table 
 sumptuously spread with whatever could at once 
 please the eye, tempt the palate, and display the 
 hospitality of the host. Visconte could not fail 
 to be struck with this, and even to feel somewhat 
 bewildered, if not alarmed, at the seeming under- 
 standing between the Archbishop and the Ghibe- 
 line strangers, of which he, the brother of his 
 affianced niece, had been kept in ignorance. But
 
 152 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 except these symptoms, which admitted of no 
 demonstration on his part, and a sort of side 
 glance and growl from Lancia when he ob- 
 served Nino enter the palace with those whom 
 he had conducted, nothing appeared inconsistent 
 with the impression of mere social civility which 
 Montefeltro desired should be the impression of 
 the visit. Far from receiving his guests with 
 that ill-restrained but pleasant excitement which 
 usually accompanies the meeting of long-divided 
 political partisans, under the constraint of an 
 opponent's presence, the Archbishop's demeanour 
 was not only calm and subdued, but sad and ab- 
 stracted beyond all his efforts to control. Ugo- 
 lino himself was second to him in the power of 
 self-command in general, because that of the 
 Archbishop arose from a less unstable founda- 
 tion ; but there are circumstances and occasions 
 which master all men and all talents ; and this 
 the Archbishop Ruggie^o was forced to feel and 
 to acknowledge for the first time in his life upon 
 that morning. The flush that had rushed to his 
 brow as he heard the acclamations with which 
 Ugolino had been received, had indeed contracted 
 itself into one small and burning spot under 
 each eye ; but not with it had diminished the
 
 THE HAREM. lo3 
 
 surprise — the suspicion— the suddenly wakened 
 alarm — we might almost say the remorse, which 
 had called it forth. He had, as we know, no 
 reliance upon the steadiness of Ugolino's princi- 
 ples ; but surrounded as he himself was by the 
 more moderate of each party, which is equiva- 
 lent to saying, those who hope for the best in 
 others ; and, confident as he was in his own 
 power and talents, it was not until that morning, 
 when he had a practical proof of Ugolino's power 
 of creating transitory effect, and the liability of 
 the multitude to be swayed by such, that it 
 flashed across his mind, as it did across those of 
 many less thinking than himself, that the trust 
 reposed in Ugolino was inconsistent with a sha- 
 dow of suspicion ; and that either he was an 
 honest man or all those who had so trusted him 
 were worse than fools. Where there was room 
 for doubt the alternative was overwhelming ; for 
 it involved not only the ruin of the republic, but 
 such a loss of human life as he, in his character 
 of general father, could not look upon without 
 horror. 
 
 " If it be so," he said at last, rousing himself 
 from the sort of paralysis into which he had suf- 
 fered his senses for the first time to fall, as the 
 
 H 5
 
 154 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 hour for Montefeltro's visit was at hand, — " if it 
 be so, I am conquered bj circumstance and not 
 bj superior genius ; but it was a wild and des- 
 perate game to plaj. In thee, God ! alone 
 rests now the power to deliver us." 
 
 Oppressed by such feelings it was above the 
 strength of human nature to attain to the disen- 
 gaged courtesy which the present visit called for ; 
 and no one could fail to be struck with the 
 change from his usual bearing, in one of the most 
 bland and polished gentlemen of his day. Nino 
 Visconti, who had remarked that, for the first 
 time, the Archbishop had omitted to inquire for 
 Bianca, supposed, not unnaturally, that his pre- 
 sence was the cause of the cloud which had fallen 
 upon the party; and being prevented by the 
 etiquette of the times from withdrawing without 
 the guests whom he had escorted, he joyfully se- 
 conded the first movement made by Montefeltro 
 to terminate the visit. When they rose accord- 
 ingly, the Archbishop, perfectly aware that his 
 otfering some courtesy to guests so distinguished, 
 under every point of view, was indispensable ; 
 yet feeling himself absolutely unequal, under his 
 present oppression, to the task of entertaining 
 them at his house, proposed to them the diver-
 
 THE HAREM. 155 
 
 sion of a hawking party for the following morn- 
 ing : for, in those days, when mental occupations 
 were not only less resorted to, but less attain- 
 able than in ours, the wisdom of our ancestors 
 did not condemn, even in the ecclesiastics, such 
 innocent excitement as served like safety-valves 
 to energies which must be exercised in some way. 
 The visitors gladly accepted the invitation ; but 
 when Nino gracefully seconded it by expressing 
 his hopes that they would honour him the day 
 after by meeting at his house in the evening for 
 such an entertainment as the shortness of the 
 time would admit of, Lancia's bushy brow be- 
 came tremulous ; and as Nino, secretly perhaps 
 not regretting that by the refusal which this fore- 
 boded, Ubaldino might be spared another meet- 
 ing with Genivra, forebore to press his invitation, 
 it was Montefeltro himself who exclaimed, — 
 
 " Come, come, Lancia, you have kept your 
 pretty niece too long from a world that she was 
 formed to adorn ; if you will not accept the cour- 
 tesy of this most. courteous gentleman, I swear 
 to you I shall take her under my own wing ; and 
 then, as I do not promise to close my mature 
 eyes on all but Ghibeline charms," and he glanced 
 one of his playfully expressive cautions to the
 
 156 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 husband and brother of the two Guelphic beau- 
 ties of the day — " she may occasionally be left to 
 the tender mercies of some adventurous Guelphic 
 cavalier, who will seek to win you over to their 
 party by winning her !" 
 
 The tremulous eye - brow shook, the eye 
 beneath it shot fire, and the thin lips were 
 drawn back until the jaws, all lantern as they 
 were, formed a skinny ridge on each side, as 
 he gazed on ^lontefeltro, whose father having 
 been his dearest friend and companion in arms, 
 he loved almost as a son. 
 
 Montefeltro saw the strong effort the old 
 man made to restrain his wrath, 
 
 " Come, come," he said, changing his tone 
 in a moment into frank kindness ; " you know, 
 Lancia, I do but jest ; you know your honour 
 is my honour, your cause my cause ; but we are 
 both, I trust, too much men to want to enlist 
 the lovely little girl into our rude ranks ; each 
 in his and her own place, and be sure she will do 
 her part." And with these words, unconsciously 
 recalling to Lancia's recollection his own plan, 
 which was constantly forgotten in the irasci- 
 bility of the moment, he too changed his manner 
 as suddenly as Montefeltro himself had done,
 
 THE HAREM. 157 
 
 albeit with far less grace and amiability, and 
 walking close up to Yisconti, with the air and 
 tone of one about to knock him down, he said 
 rapidly,— 
 
 " Yes, I will come ; I accept your invitation 
 for myself and my grand-niece ; nay, more, I 
 thank you for the invitation ; but — stop ! — do 
 not you thank me, young man; that I could 
 not bear ; that is all I could not bear ! " And 
 as Nino looked round him in astonishment, as 
 if to ask of the by-standers an explanation of 
 this strange address, Montefeltro stept between 
 him and Lancia, and making a sign to Nino, 
 (who knew of the cruel massacre of the old 
 man's relatives, by the Guelphic party,) that his 
 brain was a little disturbed, he accepted the 
 implied excuse, not only with good-humour, but 
 with a feeling of sincere compassion not unac- 
 companied with humiliation, and the strangers 
 no longer requiring his guidance he left them 
 and returned home to announce to Beatrice the 
 tidings, all-important to her, of the hawking 
 party, and the acceptance by Montefeltro of a 
 ball at their house the evening after. 
 
 Although the avoidance by the Archbishop 
 of all political allusions, and of all demonstra-
 
 158 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 tions of particular pleasure at meeting with 
 the Ghibeline chiefs, was precisely what Mon- 
 tefeltro would have counselled in the presence 
 of the head of the Guelphic party, could such 
 counsel have been necessary to the finished gen- 
 tleman, and dignified ecclesiastic, neither he 
 nor any of his companions could persuade them- 
 selves that there was not in the Archbishop's 
 manner something more than could be accounted 
 for, either by politeness or precaution ; but, if 
 any one amongst them was inclined for a mo- 
 ment to doubt his probity, it required but 
 little reflection to come to the conclusion, that 
 people of his age do not begin to act the hy- 
 pocrite ; and that if they are long-practised, 
 they do not betray themselves by outward 
 emotion. But, if all were equally convinced 
 of the fact of his labouring under some impres- 
 sion, not in accordance with his people's hilarity 
 that day, difierent as their tempers, views, and 
 interests were, the feelings with which they 
 came to that conviction, — some irritated, some 
 alarmed, and some bewildered, Montefeltro alone 
 seemed not only satisfied, but even to find in it 
 some mysterious cause for satisfaction. Nor 
 was this want of sympathy with the immediate
 
 THE HAREM. 159 
 
 and straightforward object of these disinter- 
 ested though violent Ghibelines, less observable 
 a moment after, when, on passing the tower 
 called the ]\Iuda,''' where the Eagles of the Re- 
 public were kept, which with crowns of gold 
 were, on solemn occasions, borne on the wrists 
 of young women, as emblems of the Ghibeline 
 party, their attention was attracted by the de- 
 spairing gestures of one or two men who were 
 discoursing together, and on inquiring the cause 
 they learned, that the youngest and finest of 
 the only two remaining eagles, whose illness 
 had been the cause of their not having been 
 exhibited that morning was, at that moment, 
 in the agonies of death. The Ghibelines, who 
 well knew, and were far from being exempt 
 from the superstitious importance attached to 
 the health of these birds, which never were 
 suffered to become infirm by age, in the hopes 
 of persuading the people of their immortality, 
 
 * Breve pertugio dentro dalla muda, 
 
 La qual per me ha il titol della fame, 
 E 'n che couviene ancor ch' altri si chiuda, 
 M' avea mostrato per lo suo forame 
 
 Piu lune gia, quand' i' feci '1 mal sonno, 
 Che del future mi squarcio il velame, 
 
 DeW Inferno, cauto xxxiii.
 
 160 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 cast such a startled glance upon each other as 
 would in these days be the very height of im- 
 becility ; while Montefeltro, whose eyes at the 
 moment might have been said to have stolen 
 the fire from those of the dying bird, turning 
 hastily to his astrologer, asked what the token 
 might mean, — 
 
 " It means," replied Bonatti, " that his cage 
 is wanting for a bird of another feather." And 
 though no one seemed to understand the saying, 
 it was understood in after days, when it was 
 also remembered that Montefeltro, pleading an 
 engagement to visit another friend, which had 
 not previously been mentioned, turned hastily 
 away, as if to conceal an emotion of pleasure, 
 which he found it impossible entirely to con- 
 trol, — 
 
 "You will not forget our dinner-hour 1" 
 Lancia called after him. 
 
 He looked back, with the smile that was then 
 become admissible, and, kissing the tips of his 
 fingers in sign of acceptance, he disappeared.
 
 THE HAREM. 161 
 
 CHAPTER XIY. 
 
 The party assembled at the dinner-table of the 
 Count Lancia were eight in number, namely, 
 himself, Genivra, who positively refused to be 
 excluded from a political party in which, she 
 said, she was the most interested ; Montefeltro ; 
 Giunige, representative of the small Ghibeline 
 party in Lucca ; Fra Loderingo, one of a con- 
 fraternity of monks lately instituted, and who, 
 from • their privileges and comparatively luxu- 
 rious manner of living, were commonly called 
 frati quadenti ; a gentleman named Mornello ; 
 the astrologer, and Buonconte the son of Mon- 
 tefeltro, who, having seen his companions in 
 arms properly accommodated outside the city- 
 gates, had come to join his father at dinner, as 
 had been previously arranged. 
 
 Nor was Montefeltro without a father's pride 
 in presenting to the distinguished friends there 
 assembled, one whose deeds of arms had already
 
 162 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 made such noise in the world, and whose earlj 
 education under Bonatti had, at the same time, 
 so tinctured his bravery with polite literature, 
 that his appearance in society never failed to 
 excite a sensation of admiration and applause. 
 His name has come down to posterity in the lines 
 commencing 
 
 Deh se quel disio 
 Si compia, che ti tragge all' alto monte. 
 Con buona pietate aiuta il mio. 
 lo fui di Montefeltro, i' fui Buonconte, 
 
 Del Furgatorio, canto v, 
 
 Lancia himself presented him to his niece, and 
 when Montefeltro, as the first in rank, led her to 
 the dinner-table, neither the father nor the uncle 
 was displeased to see the eagerness with which 
 Buonconte secured his place on her other 
 side. The present object, indeed, of the old 
 man's life was to make a breach between the 
 Archbishop's nephew and Count Ugolino's gTand- 
 daughter ; but his aspirations went little further 
 upon that point. He still kept terms with Rug- 
 giero, and hoped in his fidelity ; but, even having 
 his choice, he would a thousand times have pre- 
 ferred a close alliance with the son of his friend's 
 son, the dauntless and undoubted Ghibeline, 
 Montefeltro.
 
 THE HAEEM. 168 
 
 Buonconte proved in the mean time no excep- 
 tion to the extraordinary fascination exercised by 
 Genivra on all who approached her : nor did her 
 manner towards him prove an exception to that 
 with which she received all demonstrations of 
 admiration. 
 
 " I feel that we are about to disprove the say- 
 ing of the ancients," Buonconte whispered, as he 
 took his place beside her, and prepared to pay 
 his compliments in the hyperbolical style of the 
 day. 
 
 She asked what the saying was. 
 
 "That a dinner party for perfect enjoyment 
 should not be less than the Graces nor more than 
 the Muses," he replied. 
 
 " Then, a Ute-dj-tete could not be perfect en- 
 joyment \ " she asked. 
 
 " It could scarcely come under the denomina- 
 tion of a dinner party." 
 
 By this time Genivra had counted the persons 
 present, and then turning her brilliant eyes full 
 upon him, she asked — 
 
 " How many were the Muses % " 
 
 " Nine." 
 
 "And the Graces r' 
 
 " Three."
 
 164 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 " I thought so : then we are in rule for per- 
 fect enjoyment, which / also am determined on. 
 We are but eight."" 
 
 " Pardon me, we are ten." 
 
 Again Genivra counted, and again opened her 
 eyes widely upon him. 
 
 " It is true," he replied to them, " we men are 
 only seven ; but — " 
 
 " Oh, I know ! I guess," she interrupted him, 
 delightedly, " / unite all the Graces in myself ! 
 Bravo ! I like those sort of compliments ; and 
 they are new to me, for, to say truth, those 
 who visited us in the mountains — ! " and a 
 pretty gesture of her little hands completed her 
 meaning. 
 
 But, pleased as her uncle was to observe the 
 attentions of Buonconte, the object of the present 
 meeting was too serious in his estimation to be 
 sacrificed even to that. When summoned to 
 meet the Ghibelines at Pisa, he had hoped for 
 he scarcely knew what himself, but certainly 
 nothing less than the capture of Ugolino. When 
 his triumphant departure dispelled this delusion, 
 he looked impatiently to the visit to the Arch- 
 bishop for some explanations or discussions. This 
 also proving, as we know, abortive, he had but ill
 
 THE HARTEM. 165 
 
 restrained his impatience until the present hour, 
 and looking with hungry eyes at every spoonful 
 of soup carried to the lips of Montefeltro, he left 
 his own untasted, in his anxiety to hear what 
 might be the plans and decisions of that import- 
 ant personage. 
 
 As eager as was the one, however, to com- 
 mence the political discussions, as indifferent, if 
 not desirous, was the other to defer them ; and 
 when at last the impatient abstraction of Lancia 
 could no longer be overlooked, Montefeltro en- 
 deavoured to avert its expression by saying gaily, 
 
 " You do not invite me to eat, Lancia ; and I 
 assure you, the fast of so many hours will require 
 all that your hospitality can afford as an excuse 
 for the consequences it is about to entail." 
 
 " Eat, then," grumbled the old man to one 
 whom he loved as a son ; and half-smiling in 
 spite of himself, at his impatience, "only eat 
 fast, for you know time is precious with us, and 
 we have already lost a day." 
 
 " I know I have at least, and it is for that I 
 
 would now make up . However, I feel myself 
 
 already somewhat refreshed ; so let us hear what 
 is this we have got to talk about." 
 
 Lancia now scowled more seriously.
 
 166 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 " For what then, are we met here 1 '' he asked. 
 
 Montefeltro looked humorously round the 
 table for a moment. 
 
 " To — to — eat — I — I — understand," he said. 
 
 '' Come, come, Guido mio ; do not go too far. 
 Naj, sciocco ! take up your knife again. You 
 know I do not mean that. Eat till you can eat 
 no more. But tell me at least when it is so.^' 
 
 " And of course your hospitality will allow me 
 to drink in proportion, for the sake of my 
 health. Nay, nay, if you take it seriously I 
 have done, in every sense of the word.* Hear 
 me, then, speak my sentiments with all the 
 sincerity that the occasion and the company 
 present call for f and he changed his manner 
 to that befitting the profession he made, with 
 the rapidity which attends those accustomed to 
 sport with words not meant to wound. 
 
 " I ask you to hear me, because I know that 
 you all honour me with your confidence ; and 
 if I have hitherto seemed to trifle with our 
 precious time, and to defer giving my opinion, 
 it is, my friends, because I fear — I may say 
 because I know — that it will difier from that of 
 most if not all of you, and especially and above 
 all, from that of him with whom I should
 
 THE HAREM. 167 
 
 most wish to agree — from jou, Count Lancia, my 
 father's friend and my own." 
 
 All, except Buonconte, started at this unex- 
 pected announcement, and Lancia seemed afraid 
 either to hear more or to trust himself to reply 
 to what had already seemed to scorch his ears. 
 Montefeltro looked round on each, with an open 
 and unflinching eye. 
 
 " No, my friends," he said, " I will not believe, 
 I will not suppose, that even for a second, you 
 start in doubt of me. Were there reason for 
 that, why am I here to-day V 
 
 All bowed, to avoid disclaiming in words that 
 which they felt instantly to have been groundless, 
 — all, except the old admiral, who, with eyes 
 as if vowed to the table, in a low, constrained 
 voice said, 
 
 "' That is what I wait to hear." 
 
 Montefeltro threw back his head, to conceal 
 a good-humoured smile, which, however, he knew 
 would be offensive to the old man ; and again 
 resuming the seriousness of his manner, he con- 
 tinued, 
 
 " I am here, my friends, on my way to exile. 
 Had I indeed only come in obedience to a call 
 which has summoned those I see around me,
 
 168 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 and others, to Pisa at this moment, it might 
 appear strange that I am not more prompt, more 
 prepared to enter upon discussion, to strike out 
 some plan founded on the circumstances of the 
 moment ; but, my friends, my circumstances are 
 such as have allowed me to look beyond the 
 moment, and to form my conclusions accordingly. 
 Hear, them, then, in one word, and hear them 
 with patience. If there were at this moment 
 the slightest hopes for the Ghibelines, I should 
 not now be on my road to exile." 
 
 "Hah!" 
 
 ^*Nay, dear, valiant, and respected admiral, 
 have a moment's patience at least to hear me. 
 It is true that the prayers which the gallant 
 Sicilians forced the accursed French to say, two 
 years ago, instead of the vespers they intended, 
 have turned to good account for them so far, and 
 they are managing bravely to keep up their 
 advantage. But, at the same time, they have 
 maddened the party against us poor Ghibelines, 
 who are not defended, like Sicily, by the barriers 
 of Nature ; and, although I did something against 
 the rascals myself at Forli, their name is legion ; 
 and Carlo is, as you know, at this moment in 
 France, gathering a fresh accession. Yes, yes,
 
 THE HAREM. 169 
 
 admiral, it would seem at first sight as you 
 exclaim, that now is our time, before he returns 
 with that fresh accession ; but this is a matter 
 of pure calculation. If, as we are, we could 
 have the most remote hope of conquering the 
 Guelphs, then, then indeed — " and for a moment 
 the warrior's fire overcame the politician's cool- 
 ness—" I would even now turn back with my 
 fourteen hundred brave lances, and at least have 
 my share of the struggle ; but it is not so — it 
 is not so, my friends — but absolutely the reverse. 
 Were every Frenchman in Italy dead this night, 
 we could not hope to conquer our native foes. 
 Look at J^aples, against the French it is true, 
 but in league with the pope. Look at Florence, 
 — Guelph to the death. Look at Lucca, Pistoja, 
 Rippafratta. Look even at Genoa, though affect- 
 ing to be neuter, leagued, on one pretext or 
 another, with the Guelphs ; and, without going 
 further, look, let me say, at Pisa — " 
 
 " At Pisa 1— at Pisa ? " 
 
 "Nay, I know — no one better than myself — 
 what Pisa was in body, and what she still is in 
 spirit — in some noble spirits at least ; but let 
 us be men, my friends ; let us look our fortunes in 
 the face, as they are, not as we should wish them 
 
 VOL. I. I
 
 170 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 to be ; and, as such, I ask you, where is the 
 army ?— where are the troops '?— where is the help 
 you could at this moment give to the Ghibeline 
 cause ? " 
 
 He looked i-ound for an answer, but none 
 came, until at last came forth the words, with 
 a deep groan, from Lancia, 
 
 '' They are gone with Ugolino ! " 
 
 " It is true ; they are gone with Ugolino," 
 resumed Montefeltro ; *' and I tell you now, my 
 friends, that on the result of this battle depend 
 our hopes." 
 
 " Heaven forbid ! " ejaculated Lancia, more 
 in the tone of a curse than a prayer. 
 
 " Excuse me, Lancia ; but Heaven does not 
 act capriciously. It forbids not one day what 
 it has made evident the day before ; and I repeat, 
 that, only if this army return victorious, we may 
 begin to look about us again ; not so much for 
 those that may return efficient to us, as for those 
 that the enemy will have lost. But if the Pisan 
 troops are defeated, it wdll become us to hold 
 down our heads and shut our eyes, until the 
 tide turns, and it will turn all the sooner for our 
 doing so ; as otherwise, we shall only prevent the 
 remnant of true hearts that remain, from being
 
 THE HAREM. l7l 
 
 cut off like the rest; and then adieu for ever 
 to the name of Ghibeline ! " 
 
 "And when the arch-murderer, Charles, re- 
 turns with more blood-hounds at his heels 1 " 
 
 " They will find a few steady Ghibelines, at 
 least, to inspire them with respect, instead of 
 laughing over our self-dug graves ! " 
 
 " And for how long does your valour intend 
 that we should play this prudent game ? " 
 
 " Until we are in a state to change it without 
 ruin to our cause/' 
 
 " And if this battle be won, and Ugolino, the 
 traitor Ghibeline, disguised as Guelph, return 
 triumphant 1 " 
 
 " As long as he wears the disguise, he must 
 act with us ; but, at all events, if he return 
 triumphant, he will bring back some true hearts 
 with him." 
 
 " And then will your valour allow us to 
 act 1 " 
 
 " Lancia, my friend, permission to act does not 
 depend on me. I only offer my opinion ; and 
 when I do so, it must be in truth and sincerity. 
 I repeat then, that this army returning victo- 
 rious, would put us in a better position than 
 we are in at present, for it might frighten Genoa 
 
 I 2
 
 172 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 from the league that is forming against Pisa, 
 between the Guelphic cities, and give us time 
 to look about us, but would, bj no means, enable 
 us to take a decided step at the present mo- 
 ment. However, as in order to form a plan, we 
 must suppose a position, let it be a hopeful one ; 
 this battle won, I would recommend you, Mor- 
 nello, to return forthwith to Genoa, and while 
 all there is confusion and alarm, in consequence 
 of their pre-supposed defeat, exercise your emi- 
 nent diplomatic talents in turning all to the 
 account of the Ghibelines, under whose name, at 
 least, Ugolino will have conquered. A conquer- 
 ing cause has always reason with the many ; 
 possession is a strong foundation. Eight makes 
 heroes — might makes men ; we have the former, 
 we want the latter ; see what you can do for 
 us in that way, Mornello ! You, Guinigi, return 
 to your small, but most important republic, 
 where the want of quantity is supplied by the 
 quality, and where heads do the part of hands. 
 Watch every movement of your government, for 
 we cannot refuse it the honour of fearing it, and 
 fear in such cases is respect." 
 
 Guinigi bowed in silence, for as the Lucchese 
 were the most decided, and the least divided of
 
 THE HAREM. 173 
 
 all the surrounding states, while Guinigi as 
 Ghibeline formed an exception amongst them, he 
 scarcely knew how to take the compliment to 
 his country, especially as there passed across the 
 upper lip of Montefeltro, at the moment, a fur- 
 tive gleam of that humour, that it cost him 
 dear to suppress, when obliged to manage dull 
 spirits, that would not be convinced that all did 
 not depend on their good-will. As if irresistibly 
 under the influence of this humour at the mo- 
 ment, yet fearful of pressing it further upon one 
 victim, Montefeltro turned to the heavy-browed, 
 and heavy-headed Frate Guadenti, who had been 
 dispatched to seek satisfaction for his bishop, 
 whom the daring Guelphs of Arezzo had repre- 
 sented by an ass let loose through the streets, 
 with a mitre covering his long ears. 
 
 " Your cause is a serious one, Lodoringo," ]\ron- 
 tefeltro began ; " and being of a more private 
 nature, perhaps is more susceptible of redress ; 
 but it is necessary, for that purpose, to under- 
 stand all the particulars. Tell me," he continued, 
 crossing his arms on the table, and leaning for- 
 ward, with an air of the gravest inquiry, " what 
 reason was there to suppose, that the ass was 
 intended as the type of your worthy bishop '? "
 
 174 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 Even Lodoringo himself, all obtuse as he was 
 by nature, and now, by more than his share of 
 Lancia's excellent good cheer, looked round him 
 to see how he was to take this question ; but, 
 although he saw suppressed smiles upon many 
 lips, while Genivra laughed out her undaunted, 
 ringing laugh, Montefeltro's countenance assumed 
 an expression of such reproving regret at these 
 indications, as left him no pretext for not an- 
 swering, accordingly he stammered forth, — 
 
 "Why — Eccelenza ! — I — I don't know — but 
 it wore the mitre, you know ! '' 
 
 "Yes, I know; but every bishop wears the 
 mitre." 
 
 " So they do ; but every bishop is not bishop 
 of Arezzo, and this happened at Arezzo ; and 
 then — I really do not know — except that every 
 one thought it must be our bishop." 
 
 " Ah ! hem ! it is curious — but I fear — let me 
 see — I fear this is a case which admits of no 
 other proof than general opinion, and seems to 
 reduce itself to this ; — as all bishops wear the 
 mitre, that he only .... 
 
 " But all bishops are not asses . . . ." 
 
 " If I were his grace, I would take no pains to 
 prove that it could only have applied to me, but, 
 on the contrary, I would take a dignified posi-
 
 THE HAREM. 175 
 
 tion, and saj it was all a mistake, and that 
 the mitre never could have been meant for me." 
 
 The frate swallowed another glass of Vernac- 
 cia, and again looked round him to see what he 
 ought to think ; but again seeing a smile on 
 every face, he came to the wise resolution 
 that as the cause was Ghibeline he had better 
 take it as others took it, and so justify his name 
 of Guadenti. ^""ot such, however, was Lancia at 
 that moment. Perhaps, never in his life did he 
 feel so disappointed, except when Ugolino refused 
 to avenge his relative's death. Seeing, however, 
 that no one attempted to refute the reasoning of 
 Montefeltro, nay, that all were disposed to pro- 
 nounce it wise, and such alone as the circum- 
 stances of the times admitted of, he knew not 
 how or where to seek redress, and sat brooding 
 in moody silence, until ^lontefeltro who really 
 loved and compassionated the bereaved old man, 
 anxious to afford him every satisfaction that was 
 consistent with his own plans, which, for the 
 moment at least, were those of the party, turned 
 to him and once more changing his manner into 
 that of graceful and earnest frankness, he took 
 his passive hand and said, 
 
 " Xow that I have given my humble opinion, as 
 was expected, of me, may we not hear a word
 
 176 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 from jou to confirm, to modify, or to disprove it, 
 as may be ; believe me, you cannot doubt it, that 
 we will listen. with respect, and, if possible, re- 
 ceive conviction." 
 
 Lancia's disappointment, however, was too 
 deep, too sincere, to be caressed or flattered away. 
 
 "To invite one to refute arguments which 
 have been all addressed to what is most pleasing 
 to our weak and worthless natures, is not a very 
 pleasing office," he began with an attempt at imi- 
 tating the cool and easy oratory with which Mon- 
 tefeltro was peculiarly gifted, however little it 
 may appear through the medium of a translation, 
 but which Lancia being particularly deficient in 
 caused a sad confusion. 
 
 "You call me to harangue the troops after 
 you have dispersed them," he went on ; " ha ! ha ! 
 ha ! I thank you ! but I leave that to you ! Go, 
 Mornello, to Genoa ; go, Gunigi, to Lucca ; go, Lo- 
 doringo, to Arezzo, — go all of you together here 
 and there, to the devil if you like, but by this 
 hand I swear," and he made the glasses and bot- 
 tles on the table almost ring back his oath ; "that 
 if I should do it alone I will stay here to throttle 
 the traitor if he return without tugging the 
 Genoese vessels behind him.
 
 THE HAREM. 177 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 These words had scarcely passed the lips of 
 Lancia when they, and the violent gesture which 
 accompanied them, were re-echoed by three fierce 
 savage- looking old men, heads of the noble houses 
 of the Gualandi, Sismondi and Lanfranchi, who 
 having been prevented earlier by the concourse 
 of friends, came now to join the ultra- Ghibeline 
 party ; and how fully they kept their oath pos- 
 terity to this day shudders to remember. They 
 are commemorated by Dante in these words — 
 
 Con cagne magre, studiosoe, e conte, 
 
 Gualandi, con Sismondi, e con Lanfranchi 
 S' avea messi dinanzi della fronte. 
 
 DelV Inferno, canto xxxiii. 
 
 Montefeltro could scarcely conceal his mortifi- 
 cation at this fresh fuel to a fire which it had 
 already required all his afiection for Lancia and 
 his self-confident good-humour to keep under ; and 
 
 I 5
 
 178 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 all he could now do was to form a resolution to 
 continue the same tone of good-humoured badi- 
 nage with him, at least, as long as might be posi- 
 sible ; and to let the others rant on unanswered. 
 For the present, however, while Lancia acted the 
 host by forcing them to recommence their dinner 
 just finished at their own table, he thought him- 
 self privileged to resume his harangue, and ac- 
 cordingly pursued, as if no interruption had 
 occurred — 
 
 " Yes, I see how it is ! Xo one would open his 
 lips to the Archbishop through delicacy to the 
 Ghibeline chief, forsooth !— and why then came he 
 with us 1 We could not, perhaps, have made out 
 the archepiscopal palace without his guidance. 
 Oh ! oh ! and oh ! what are we become 1 — and 
 the Archbishop giving his nephew to the grand- 
 daughter of the archtraitor, and we all going 
 in a body to offer him our humble congratu- 
 lations." 
 
 Montefeltro affected to start. 
 
 " Did you really do so '? " he asked ; " for if 
 so, I must have cut a sorry figure ! " 
 
 " You cut a sorry figure when courtly manners 
 are in question !" exclaimed the old man, with 
 the most sovereign contempt ; " never be afraid
 
 THE HAREM. 179 
 
 of that—[ed.Ye that at least to me ; and I do not 
 feel presumptuous in saying so ! " 
 
 " But did any of us congratulate him V per- 
 sisted Montefeltro as the only vengeance he in- 
 dulged in for the old man's taunts. 
 
 "Aye, now, you had better go and cut up 
 my words as if I meant what I say 1 No, no, 
 you are too cunning : I beg your pardon, too 
 politic I would say, to congratulate him — that 
 might commit you — do you understand me ? 
 Cammit you, that is a very useful word, and I 
 foretell will go down to posterity, because it 
 has no meaning, or at least such a slippery one 
 that an honest man cannot take hold of it. Ah, 
 Montefeltro ! Guido ^lontefeltro, had your noble 
 father been alive, that word never would have 
 come into fashion ; he would have nipt it in the 
 bud ; he would have caught it at its first twist, 
 and held it till it told what it meant, or where 
 it was to lead one." 
 
 "Come, come, Lancia, say what you will 
 against myself. I love and respect you, and will 
 bear it all — but spare, I beseech you, my father's 
 memory.'^ 
 
 Lancia started full round on his seat, and with 
 the fiercest excitement asked of Montefeltro what 
 he dared to mean.
 
 180 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 "You said," he replied, "that no honest man 
 could lay hold of that word, and that my father 
 only was fit do so." 
 
 The old chief laid his hand on his dagger, but 
 Montefeltro seized, and in spite of his efforts 
 carried it to his lips. 
 
 " Listen to me one moment more," he said ; " I 
 was too hungry, and I may have drunk a glass 
 too much of your delicious Vernaccia ; and so 
 you must, you must all,'' he said, looking round 
 him, " forgive me if I have said a word too 
 many, or too lightly — believe me there is not one 
 here feels more deeply, more seriously than my- 
 self ; and, if I have not spoken to the Archbishop 
 it is because I know what his reply would be. 
 Do any of you suppose — do you, Lancia, sup- 
 pose, I was deaf to the shouts that crowned the 
 departure of Ugolino '? Do you suppose, while 
 mingling in the crowd for the purpose, ere 
 ascending to the portico, which the noble and 
 courteous Gualandi, bowing to that chief as he 
 spoke, ' so handsomely put at the service of all ' 
 I did not mark — not, indeed, all those from 
 whom those shouts proceeded ; but the important 
 amongst those from whom they did noi proceed ? 
 Do you think I did not see the Archbishop's
 
 THE HAREM. 181 
 
 sudden change of colour'? His subsequent pre- 
 text of illness, and desire to be conveyed from 
 the observance of all eyes ? i\ly friends, that 
 man yields to none of us — not even you Lancia, 
 in sincere devotion to our cause, but he will not 
 tamper with it in uncertainty — he will await the 
 event of the battle, and then and then only 
 will he begin to act — " 
 
 " Montefeltro," said Mornello, suddenly, "you 
 have spoken with the Archbishop V 
 
 " I have, ^lornello," ^^he replied, slightly colour- 
 ing. "After we parted, I returned to thank 
 him, for having been instrumental with his 
 holiness, in procuring me permission to take 
 with me my fourteen hundred men ! " 
 
 On hearing this confession, each of the chiefs 
 coloured in his turn, and one asked why this 
 could not have been done in their presence. 
 
 "Because it would not have come well in 
 the presence of Yisconti," he replied, trusting 
 that no one would have acuteness enough to 
 perceive that he was reasoning in a circle, and 
 to ensure their not having time to find it out, 
 and also perhaps to prevent the new arrivals 
 from expressing their opinions. "Does there 
 still linger a shadow of dissatisfaction, my
 
 182 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 friends ? " he asked ; " if there do, let me remove 
 it by this proof I go from amongst you, — you 
 know I must, — but I leave you a pledge far more 
 precious than any words of mine ; my hands, 
 indeed, are tied," he said, with a touching 
 resumption of dignity ; " but light are those 
 words in the mouth, and from the heart of a 
 father, whom Heaven has blest with such a 
 substitute as that I now offer you, in this my 
 well-beloved son," and passing his hand behind 
 Genivra's chair, he laid his hand upon Buon- 
 conte's shoulder. " He is not unknown to any 
 of you, and to you, Federigo Lancia, I consign 
 and I confide him ; let him be my hostage, since 
 my faith has been doubted," and he laughed a 
 sincere, uncontrollable laugh, which was curious 
 under the circumstances. " I brought him here 
 for the purpose, use him as your own, for in so 
 saying, I know I dedicate him to the service of 
 the country and of our party !" 
 
 There was no resisting a pledge like this ; all 
 murmured their applause ; while Lancia, at 
 last fairly overcome, grasped the hand of Mon- 
 tefeltro, the weakness of age's emotion prevent- 
 ing him from speaking, and cast an anxious 
 inquiring glance at the young man.
 
 THE HAREM. 183 
 
 " Oh, yes ; it is with his consent, is it not, 
 Buonconte V* his father answered to the silent 
 inquiry. 
 
 "It was with my consent, father," the latter 
 expressively replied ; " but it is now become the 
 dearest wish of my heart," and the colour, which 
 mounted to his cheek as he spoke, might have 
 passed for martial ardour, had not an involuntary 
 glance, directed towards Genivra, and her gratified 
 appropriating smile, given it a truer interpreta- 
 tion. The father and uncle again saw the blush 
 and the smile, and again without displeasure. 
 On the contrary, Montefeltro, too happy in an 
 excuse to give the conversation a turn more 
 suited to the ears of beauty, suddenly called on 
 his astrologer for some agreeable prognostics. 
 
 "You have been too silent this evening, 
 Bonatti," he said ; " come, tell us upon chance 
 what are you thinking of this moment ; your 
 eyes are fixed upon this young lady ; your 
 thoughts must be pleasant to hear." 
 
 " Will you take chance for that ? " 
 
 " Yes, yes ! I will," cried Genivra ; " I will 
 hear your thoughts." 
 
 " I was thinking, then, of the raven and the 
 dove ! "
 
 184 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 " What raven and what dove V she asked. 
 
 " Those that were sent out of the ark." 
 
 "And what of themr' pursued Genivra, who 
 was not too well versed in sacred history. 
 
 "The one sent out too soon returned to her 
 friends, though without the olive branch ; the 
 other, was faithless, and perished in the raging 
 waters!" * 
 
 "I wonder if he means me for the raven, 
 on account of my eyes and hair!" whispered 
 Genivra to Buonconte. " But who is the dove 1 
 Oh, yes ! I guess it all now ; but surely my 
 voice is not that of a raven V she added, turning 
 to Montefeltro. 
 
 " Your voice, like yourself, is all that is most 
 lovely," he replied, ardently, but openly, and 
 as if in rebuke of his astrologer, while Buon- 
 conte, on the other side, added in a whisper, — 
 
 " And most beloved." 
 
 The astrologer, offended, leaned back in his 
 chair, sullenly observing, — 
 
 " I was requested to speak my thoughts." 
 
 " It is true, Bonatti," said his patron, " the 
 
 * We do not hold ourselves responsible for Bonatti's 
 " Notes and Comments."
 
 THE HAREM. 185 
 
 fault is ours, for supposing they could be what 
 we should like to hear." 
 
 To those curious in searching out the windings 
 of the human heart, it might not be here un- 
 interesting to inquire, if it could be answered, 
 what there was in the ill-humour of Bonatti, 
 at that moment, that made Lancia overlook the 
 discourtesy to his niece, in order to inquire 
 what, in his opinion, would be the result of 
 the coming battle. 
 
 " I have not cast the horoscope of that parti- 
 cular circumstance of Count Ugolino's life," he 
 replied solemnly ; " but thus much I may say, 
 that he has not with him the boat of wax." 
 
 Genivra inquired what the boat of wax 
 meant ; and while Buonconte explained to her 
 that it was a little boat which Bonatti had 
 formed of wax, and which had the power of 
 bringing success to whoever sailed with it on 
 board,* the astrologer kept his eyes so intently 
 fixed upon her, in order to see the eflfect pro- 
 duced by this narration, that this anxiety for 
 praise on his part, together with her being of 
 a peculiarly unimaginative and incredulous temper, 
 caused the whole affair to assume an aspect so 
 * Historical.
 
 186 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 ridiculous in her eyes, that she became seized 
 with one of those uncontrollable bursts of 
 laughter, to which untamed youth is subject, 
 and yielded herself so heartily to it, that the 
 astrologer, with an air and manner resem- 
 bling rather the spite of detected charlatanism, 
 than the dignity of science, said, 
 
 " Laugh, young lady, laugh ! but the time 
 may not be far distant, when you will be glad 
 you had that or any other boat at hand ! " 
 
 " Oh ! what can he mean by this about water 
 and boats '? '' Genivra said, now half-laughing, 
 half-pouting, " Perhaps he has heard of my 
 horse falling with me into the river, the other 
 dayl" 
 
 But, before any one had time to make an 
 observation in reply— and to the no small satis- 
 faction of Montefeltro — a sound was heard which, 
 by its effect upon Lancia, attracted all attention. 
 
 " It is Sattarello, returned from ^"aples ! " he 
 exclaimed, as the sound of a sort of bagpipes 
 playing a well-known air, but in a peculiar 
 manner, was distinguished. " How lucky that 
 we are all here assembled ! "
 
 THE HAREM. 187 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Oy the exclamation of Lancia, every one 
 rushed to the windows, to hasten, if possible, by 
 their eager countenances, instead of signs which 
 they did not venture to make, the entrance of the 
 man who, from having been almost from his birth 
 the devoted personal attendant of the Lancia 
 family, had, on account of his sharp wits, his 
 gay social humour, and his incorruptible fidelity, 
 been of late years converted, almost unconsciously 
 — and certainly without his formal consent — into 
 the spy, though still calling himself the messenger 
 of the Ghibeline party. Wandering from town 
 to town, and from province to province, under 
 pretence of leading about a dancing bear, which 
 served him as a passport when neither dancing 
 bears nor policemen were as frequent as they 
 are at present. 
 
 The moment he perceived, by the faces at 
 Lancia's windows that his signals had been
 
 188 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 understood, he took the speediest means of dis- 
 missing the persons who had followed him, 
 that of going round to ask for payment of the 
 amusement which the bear's feats had afforded 
 them, and when he had succeeded in this he 
 dismissed the latter also, with its own particular 
 attendant — a boj, who generally accompanied 
 them in that dignified capacity — and, going 
 round by a back street, and thence entering 
 the house of Lancia, he was presently intro- 
 duced into the dining-room, where he was so 
 eagerly expected. 
 
 " What news — what news from Naples 1 " 
 was asked at once, by many voices. 
 
 " Sicily is true ! Salerno is caught ! — and 
 the old fox almost wild with fury ! " were the 
 first words he uttered. 
 
 " What does all this mean ^ " exclaimed 
 Lancia ; " explain yourself clearly, and at once." 
 
 " It means," replied the man, " that I have 
 seen what I never expected, and never wished 
 to see again. I was there, dancing Bisiccio, at 
 Santa Lucia, just beside the shore, when, looking 
 about to see how many were gathering round 
 me, I saw spectators I little dreamt of seeing. 
 The Sicilians themselves, so close to the land
 
 THE HAREM. 189 
 
 that we heard their voices, as they cried — 
 ' Death to the French poltroons ! The French are 
 rabbits ! ' and such like, at the same time making 
 horns at them/" and dangling the ropes with 
 which thej meant thej would hang them. Did 
 your lordships ever hear of such dare-devils 1 " 
 
 The Ghibeline chiefs looked upon each other 
 with grim smiles of approbation, and, with in- 
 tense interest, called upon Sattarello to proceed. 
 
 " Oh ! I have plenty to tell," he resumed. 
 " As I heard them, and knew what the conse- 
 quences would be, I shortened Bisiccio's cord, 
 made a present of the dance he had performed 
 to the spectators, and — " 
 
 And here he filled up his meaning by that 
 movement which seems part of the nature of 
 every Italian of the lower and even middle 
 class when they would express a hasty retreat 
 — that of striking the edge of the right hand 
 upon the middle of the left arm, as if they 
 would sever half of the limb. It is evidently 
 the acting charade of the Irish expression of 
 " Cut your stick ! " but in what either has had 
 
 * An Italian sign of scorn, performed by extending the 
 first and little finger, while all ^he others are kept bended. 
 Its power of -provocation is inexplicable to us.
 
 190 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 its origin, I must leave to more skilful archaeolo- 
 gists to explain. 
 
 " You hurried away, then 1 '' exclaimed Lancia, 
 breathless lest he should hear no more. 
 
 " I did ; but not till I had done mj business. 
 I thrust Bisiccio into her den, and away with 
 me to the top of La Grotta di Posilipo, from 
 whence I had a full and safe view of the whole 
 manoeuvre." 
 
 " Do, then, proceed ! " exclaimed Lancia, im- 
 patiently. " It is of what you saw, and not what 
 you did, that we want to hear." 
 
 " As for that," said the fellow, mischievously 
 but good-humouredly enjoying the old man's 
 irritability for a moment ; "if I risked my 
 neck, by delaying, to gather news for you, you 
 may bear with the delay of my telling you that 
 I did so.'^ 
 
 " Well, well ; that is true," interposed Monte- 
 feltro. " We are in your power ; but — come, be 
 a good fellow, and don't use it tyrannically. 
 You are too much of a Ghibeline for that." 
 
 " Ah, master ! " exclaimed the man, earnestly ; 
 ''you know how to come about one. Yes, it 
 is only the Guelphs that are tyrants. I will 
 tell you, then. The French were like dancing
 
 THE HAREM. -.g, 
 
 devils, when they saw and heard these insults. 
 They shrieked, and cursed, and clenched their 
 fists at the Sicilian boats, that were shaking their 
 ropes and making their horns at them. And 
 such another pantomime of a battle, between 
 two different nations, was never, I believe, fought 
 before. At last the boats were ready, and in 
 whipped the French monkeys, without waiting 
 for order, or discipline, or anything else. If 
 one really ought to give the devil his due, we 
 must own they have courage. It is a pity that 
 they mistake it for charity, and think it covers 
 a multitude of sins. Well, but the best of my 
 news is, that the Prince of Salerno — who, natu- 
 rally enough, took it all to himself — jumped 
 into one of the boats with them, and away they 
 go towards the Sicilians ; and away go the 
 Sicilians immediately, like crabs." 
 
 " Like crabs ! What do you mean ? " 
 
 " Why, don't you know how crabs go ? " 
 
 " No ! I do not understand you." 
 
 " They go, then, backwards." 
 
 " Backwards ! " 
 
 " I mean they wheeled about, and went back 
 upon their steps." 
 
 " And this is your news 1 "
 
 192 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 " Well, and is it not fine news ? " 
 
 " But did it end there 1 " 
 
 "Did the Sicilians right or wrong?'' asked 
 Sattarello. 
 
 " Wrong, base wrong ! " exclaimed the joung 
 chief Buonconte, " thej should not have come, 
 or thej should not have gone in that manner." 
 
 " What do you say 1 " Sattarello asked of 
 Lancia, who, reading something in the fellow's 
 chuckling manner, replied, — 
 
 " Right ! I say ; they did right ! I wager 
 they drew the Frenchmen after them into the 
 open sea ! " 
 
 " Ah, bravo ! bravo ! master ; there 's a spark 
 of the old admiral alive still ! " exclaimed the 
 follower, heartily. " Yes, it was just so ; they 
 drew back, but kept making mouths at the 
 Frenchmen, who dashed after them until they 
 had got them wiled out of the reach of help from 
 I^aples, and then I saw no more, but one that 
 escaped when all was over, told me that imme- 
 diately the bait was taken the Sicilian admiral 
 got out of his galley into a little boat, and went 
 round to every vessel, telling them that they had 
 now not to try who would make the worst faces, 
 nor yet to fight for glory only, but for those golden
 
 THE HAREM. 193 
 
 florins which they would get in exchange for every 
 prisoner taken. He had scarcely time to get 
 back, when the French began the work in earnest; 
 but, bless your soul, they know nothing of the 
 sea, and the Sicilians are like fish in the water, as 
 well they may be ; and if you didn't know that 
 before, you'll believe it when I tell you, that 
 one fellow jumped into the sea, as I might jump 
 on this floor,— swam under the water, I believe, 
 — with one hand only to help him, holding a 
 sharp iron in the other, until he came under the 
 French admiral's vessel, where the Prince of 
 Salerno was ; and what does my lad do, but tap 
 her as they do for the dropsy, only that, instead 
 of letting the water out, they let it into her, so 
 that in a few minutes she was full. And when 
 the people in her perceived this, and could see 
 no cause for it, you may judge it did not en- 
 courage them very much, for human nature can- 
 not battle against such odds as that ; but they 
 thought little of it until the Sicilians, seeing their 
 plight, came up to them crying, ' Oh ! never 
 fear ! you '11 not be drowned f and again they 
 shook a rope at them, meaning there was an- 
 other sort of death in store for them. The 
 prince then thought it best to put his honour in 
 
 VOL. I. K
 
 194 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 his pocket, and crying peccavi, walk quietly into 
 the Sicilian admiral's ship, and no less than eight 
 big-wigs with him. But that 's not the fun of 
 it, until you hear the pity and condolence he met 
 with from his subjects, as he calls them. As the 
 vessels stood off Sorento, the inhabitants, wish- 
 ing to show their sympathy with their own flesh 
 and blood, to be sure, before those barbarians of 
 Frenchmen, came off from the shore with a 
 present of fruit, flowers, and money for the ad- 
 miral ; but on being ushered into his vessel, and 
 mistaking the prince, who stood on the deck in 
 grand gala dress for him, they presented their offer- 
 ing to him, saying, * Accept, great conqueror, our 
 trifling gift, while we offer our prayers to Heaven 
 that as you have taken the son, so you may 
 take the father ; and please to remember we 
 were the first to revolt ! ' The prince, they say, 
 had like to have laughed, with all the plight 
 he was in, at the comicality of the address, and 
 cried out good-humouredly, 'By my faith, it 
 appears we have brave and loyal subjects ! ' and 
 now, there 's my news for you ; and I ask you 
 all, whether or not it was worth the hearing." 
 
 It is unnecessary to say that Sattarello met 
 with not only all the applause and felicitations
 
 THE HAREM. 195 
 
 which he anticipated, but with much more sub- 
 stantial rewards, — and having received orders to 
 transport himself and his bear forthwith to 
 Leghorn, to catch what further news might arrive, 
 he was leaving the room with many salutations 
 and promises of deserving farther of their bounties, 
 when Genivra sprang after him, and in a low 
 voice inquired, " Saw you nought of him ? — of 
 Raimoul 1 '' 
 
 " No ! " he replied in the same tone ; " some 
 say he is gone with the king into France ; some, 
 that he is out on some secret expedition ; but 
 at any rate he is not now at Naples.'' 
 
 " But he will return ? — he will return into 
 Italy 1 " she exclaimed, breathlessly, while her 
 eyes flashed like those of a young tigress, whose 
 prey was about to escape her. 
 
 " Yes, yes, to be sure he will return ; for the 
 head of King Charles, and the heart of Queen 
 Mary are in his keeping," and Sattarello made 
 good his retreat to those lower regions which 
 are far from being the most comfortless on earth, 
 in order to make such preparation for his visit to 
 Leghorn, as the occasion called for, and the time 
 admitted of. 
 
 While these few words were passing between 
 
 K 2
 
 196 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 Sattarello and Genivra, the gentlemen gave way 
 to the most sanguine anticipations, in conse- 
 quence of the capture of the Prince of Salerno, 
 all except Montefeltro, who again disappointed 
 not Lancia only, but even the more moderate 
 of those present, without their being able exactly 
 to say in what. Judging by his manner, it 
 would appear as if not the fate of Pisa alone, 
 but that of the whole Ghibelline party was 
 now suddenly found to depend upon the battle 
 with the Genoese ; and that while the result of 
 that was uncertain, all anticipations would be 
 premature. They knew not that even then his 
 haughty eye was fixed on Pisa as his portion, 
 and that his aim was to preserve it from being 
 rendered unworthy of his acceptance. What he 
 wanted in warmth of congratulation upon the 
 news, however, was made up by Lancia ; he 
 forgave, or rather he perceived not Montefeltro^s 
 coldness in his own frantic joy. 
 
 " Who knows — who knows — what may now at 
 last be in store for mef" he exclaimed, with 
 terrible ferocity. 
 
 All understood, all compassionated him, but 
 no one cared to say so. He perceived it, and 
 turning to his niece, as one to whom, at least,
 
 THE HAREM. 197 
 
 he had a right to express his inmost feelings, 
 and, seizing her by the arm, while he brandished 
 his stiletto before her eyes, so as almost to terrify 
 even her, and to cause Buonconte, who was but 
 little acquainted with him, to make a step to- 
 wards them, he exclaimed. 
 
 " This, girl, this shall be thy wedding gift to 
 thy husband ; and in presenting it to him, thou 
 shalt say, that since thy old uncle's hand is be- 
 come tremulous, though his heart is stout, and as 
 he would show his love for thee, he will use it 
 to avenge thee ! " 
 
 Buonconte withdrew the step he had advanced, 
 but the elder friends of Lancia, in whose memo- 
 ries were yet fresh the wrongs and sufferings he 
 had endured, now advanced towards him, not, 
 indeed, for the purpose of condemning, or even 
 remonstrating with him, which they knew would 
 be but to irritate him to frenzy, but, in order 
 to propose to him and Genivra, to take advan- 
 tage of an evening and a setting sun worthy of 
 the morning, of which, perhaps, we have already 
 said too much, and on that same spot, the 
 Lung" Arno of Pisa, where thousands of the in- 
 habitants then, as now, congregated as regularly 
 to enjoy the scene, as we do to take our even-
 
 198 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 ing tea ; not, indeed, to gaze upon the familiar 
 sight as strangers do, but to . lounge, stand still, 
 laugh and chat, while, unconsciously, feeling 
 themselves, beneath its influence, a happier and 
 more civilized people, than if it were not there. 
 
 On that particular evening, however, the crowd 
 was much greater than usual, not only on ac- 
 count of the many visitors who lingered in the 
 town, but also of the unexhausted excitement, 
 w^hich made every one wish to see and speak to 
 every one, and for which purpose there was no 
 other rendezvous so commodious and so agree- 
 able as the Lung' Arno. 
 
 Lancia at first refused, positively, to accede 
 to the proposal, alleging that he foresaw the day 
 was about to conclude as it had begun with — 
 nothing ; although he had ventured to hope the 
 news from Naples might have put a little heart 
 into their councils; and it was not until ]\Ion- 
 tefeltro had seemed to agree with him, that such 
 news might call for a change of place, but that 
 without mingling a little with the people, at that 
 hour of general meeting, they never should be 
 able to learn how they stood, that he was pre- 
 vailed on to give a reluctant consent. 
 
 " At least, I shall keep Genivra to myself," he
 
 THE HAREM. 199 
 
 said ; " for any one else will think himself bound 
 to her, instead of to what we have got to say 
 and think about, and so little time to do it in." 
 
 " I must say I think we have all of us shown 
 tolerable self-denial in that way," ]\Iontefeltro 
 said, smiling towards her, while Buonconte, 
 taking his place with decision beside her, said, — 
 
 " Unless you mean to oblige us to do battle 
 in the streets, which will hardly serve our cause, 
 with every man who must touch her garments 
 in passing, I shall take leave to keep this post," 
 and as this admitted of no reply with her grand- 
 uncle on her other side, they at last set out.
 
 200 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 CHAPTER XYII. 
 
 The impatience of Lancia, however, was not 
 proof against the broken sentences, which alone 
 he could thus catch of the conversation of the 
 rest of the party which followed them; and it 
 was as much in compliance with that impa- 
 tience, as in pursuance of his plot against the 
 innocent Bianca, that, seeing Ubaldino pass soon 
 after, at a little distance, with an air of pleased 
 pre-occupation, which prevented him from ob- 
 serving Genivra, surrounded as she was by her 
 own party, Lancia called to him, and requested 
 him to join them; and by taking his place be- 
 side his niece, allow him to join his friends, and 
 hear and exchange remarks and conclusions with 
 them. 
 
 It is impossible to give an idea of Ubaldino's 
 feelings upon hearing this call, and receiving this 
 commission, seconded as it was by an inviting 
 smile from Genivra, as she withdrew her arm
 
 THE HAREM. 201 
 
 from that of her uncle, and held it disengaged. 
 The nearest attempt might be to saj, that he 
 felt as if he had been suddenly transported, by a* 
 stroke of lightning, or by some other violent 
 death-blow, into another and a brighter world, 
 whose brightness, as yet, dazzled rather than 
 delighted him, because he had not yet time to 
 recover from the shock, enough to rejoice. 
 His heart beat ; his head swam ; his limbs 
 trembled ; and, as he rather suffered the young 
 girl to take his arm than offered it, the first 
 intelligible words that escaped from his lips 
 were, — 
 
 " I thought you were gone ! " 
 
 " Gone where ? "' she inquired, unaffectedly. 
 
 " I do not know ! I thought — I thought — 
 in short," he desperately added, " I thought I 
 should never see you again ! " 
 
 Whether really mistaking the words he uttered, 
 as his tone and manner rendered very possible, or 
 that Genivra, with the young instinct of coquetry, 
 desired to hear his exclamatory denial — 
 
 " You hoped never to see me again ? " she 
 asked, as if repeating his words in interrogatory 
 surprise. 
 
 " I did not say so," he replied ; '• though, per- 
 
 K 5
 
 202 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 haps, I might and ought : " and the open smile of 
 acceptance with which this half-confession was 
 received, did not tend to restore the young man 
 to his senses. 
 
 After a few minutes' silence, he attempted to 
 address himself to Buonconte ; but, besides that 
 Buonconte was already more or less engaged in 
 the important discussions carrying on by the po- 
 liticians close behind him, Genivra, either really 
 more pleased with Ubaldino, or less certain of 
 securing him, rendered every attempt of the sort 
 abortive by turning to him, so as almost to in- 
 tercept their view of each other ; while she her- 
 self incessantly addressed to him some slight but 
 animated remark, which, bewildered as his senses 
 already were by her surpassing beauty, seemed to 
 him at the moment the very essence of wit and 
 judgment. 
 
 " Where were you going in such a meditative 
 mood when we met you '? '' she asked. " I hope 
 not upon any mission of duty, as my uncle in- 
 terrupted it." 
 
 Ubuldino's conscience made him suppose her 
 words were pointed, and he looked at her with 
 such reproachful agony as would have turned any 
 heart with a spark of feeling from such a purpose
 
 THE HAREM. 203 
 
 as hers. But if Genivra's heart had that spark, 
 it was as jet latent. She burst out laughing aj 
 he looked at her ; but her eyes and teeth were 
 most beautiful when she laughed : and Ubaldino 
 became more and more enamoured. 
 
 It was true, perfectly true, as his look implied, 
 that he was on his way to Bianca when he met 
 the present party. Occupied as he had unavoid- 
 ably been, by the various preparations necessary 
 for the chase of the following morning, he had 
 pleased his imagination with the hope of finding 
 a slight shade, not of anger but of sorrow, upon 
 Bianca's fair and intellectual brow, on account of 
 his usual evening visit having been somewhat 
 delayed ; because he was conscious of the power 
 of dissipating it with a word — a word of truth — 
 a word she never yet had had cause to doubt; but 
 now — now he turned from the thought, for it was 
 more than he could endure : while that want of 
 moral courage, without which good principles, or 
 rather good wishes, are as seeds sown upon the 
 barren sand, where indeed the birds of the air, 
 in the guise of temptations, come and eat them 
 up, left him without force to tear himself from 
 the perilous situation in which he was placed, 
 and, late as it might be, to repair his weakness.
 
 204 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 Nor can we saj how long he might have yielded 
 to the fascination, or to what lengths the evident 
 enjoyment of Genivra might have carried him, 
 had he not been terrified into decision by seeing 
 Visconti pass not many paces from them ; but by 
 whom, as he hoped, he had in the crowd been 
 unperceived. 
 
 Not daring, however, to trust himself to make 
 the announcement of his intended retreat to the 
 laughing girl, whom the day's success seemed to 
 have converted all at once into a finished co- 
 quette, for which she had as yet the best foun- 
 dation—a perfectly disengaged heart,— with a 
 sudden effort he dropt her arm, and turning to 
 her uncle, who, with the others, were close be- 
 hind them — 
 
 " Resume your precious trust," he said, hastily ; 
 " I must be gone ! " 
 
 " Gone ! *' repeated Genivra, almost aghast ; 
 " but you will be at the chase to-morrow '? Oh, 
 yes, I forgot ; you are, in fact, the host. You 
 cannot fail to do us honour ! " and with another 
 syren smile she kissed the tips of her fingers and 
 waved him an adieu. 
 
 There never beat a kinder heart, or existed 
 more honourable feelings in a passive state, and
 
 THE HAREM. 205 
 
 united with a facile temperament than those of 
 Ubaldino ; and now as he turned to take his way 
 to the house of the Visconti, were it only to 
 keep his morning's promise, he made more efforts 
 than he had ever made for anything in his life 
 before, to repent of and regret the accident, as 
 he called it, which had befallen him. He tried 
 not to rejoice in Genivra's open expressions of 
 pleasure in his company, but it was beyond his 
 power. Her last words rang not only in his ears 
 but in his heart — " You are our host ; you must 
 do us honour." He felt and knew that she said so, 
 in order to secure his attention to her, the most 
 important, as she was beyond all comparison 
 the most beautiful of the stranger lady -guests: 
 and, instead of the miserable, self-condemned 
 wretch he endeavoured to think himself, he arrived 
 at Bianca's door with an unconscious smile upon 
 his lips, a joyous tumult at his heart, and feeling 
 himself the happiest of created beings ! What 
 had been Bianca s state in the mean while '? 
 
 Somewhat fatigued by the events of the 
 morning, neither she nor Beatrice had felt dis- 
 posed to leave the house again ; and, in the 
 early part of the evening, she placed herself 
 at her embroidery-frame, in the saloon with
 
 20(> THE CONVENT AND 
 
 her sister-in-law, in that most blissful state that 
 this world affords, that of feeling oneself capable 
 of giving attention to another, while waiting 
 the arrival of the authorized and beloved lover, 
 from the very fulness of confidence in that 
 beloved one, and the sweet, unobtrusive, self- 
 importance attached to such a confidence. 
 
 " What dress will jou wear at the chase to- 
 morrow V she asked of Beatrice. 
 
 " I have not decided even yet," Beatrice replied ; 
 " it will depend exactly upon how I look in 
 the morning. If pale, I shall wear pink and 
 silver ; if fresh and rosy, as I hope, as I mean 
 to go to bed early for the purpose, I shall wear 
 green and gold. What will you wear V 
 
 " I ! dearest Beatrice 1 I do not think of 
 going." 
 
 " !N'ot going ! upon such an occasion ! And 
 why, may I ask '? I think when / go, you need 
 not have any scruples." 
 
 " Scruples, I have none ; and, if I had, your 
 presence would, as you say, remove them ; but 
 you know I am a goose, and that I do not much 
 enjoy such sports." 
 
 " Oh ! falcons do not fly at geese, so you may 
 come with perfect safety."
 
 THE HAREM. 207 
 
 " Thej do not fly at geese that keep the place 
 for which Mature designed them," Bianca returned 
 laughing ; " but if thej rise out of that, and be- 
 come wild, I don't know that they might not 
 meet with some mishap ; however, if it could 
 be any object with you, or give you any pleasure, 
 you know I am at your command." 
 
 "None in the world to me, I thank you, 
 except of course, as the general pleasure of 
 your company ; but I really and disinterestedly 
 would rather advise you to come ; you look par- 
 ticularly well on horseback, you know." 
 
 "Oh, what a reason to adduce," Bianca ex- 
 claimed, unaffectedly laughing still more, and 
 little dreaming of what was passing in the more 
 experienced mind of her sister : " Ubaldino has 
 often seen me on horseback." 
 
 "Yes, but — " and Beatrice forbore for once 
 to inflict a wound on that gentle and confiding 
 heart. 
 
 " But what '? " asked Bianca. 
 
 " I forgot what I was going to say ; but why 
 does not Ubaldino come 1" 
 
 " It is early yet," Bianca said, although for 
 the last few minutes — for minutes make epochs 
 with lovers — for the last few minutes she found
 
 208 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 her thoughts less blissfully disengaged than they 
 had been a few minutes before. 
 
 Another half-hour passed away, and again 
 Beatrice expressed the astonishment she really 
 felt at Ubaldino's absence. Bianca still, but 
 more faintly, refused to admit there was any 
 reason for it as yet ; but she betrayed her 
 inward feelings a moment after, by a sudden and 
 joyous exclamation of, — 
 
 " Oh, Beatrice ! I have found out the reason ; 
 you know he has to make all the arrangements 
 for the chase, to-morrow!'' 
 
 " I thought of that an hour ago, but it cannot 
 occupy all this time merely to give the orders." 
 
 Bianca felt it was too true, but still would 
 not admit it, even to herself ; yet another half- 
 hour passed. 
 
 " You will make an admirable wife, Bianca,'' 
 Beatrice said, rising at last, really in dis- 
 pleasure against Ubaldino, but neutralising the 
 kindness of the feeling, as she almost in- 
 variably did, by her manner of exhibiting it. 
 '*You will make an admirable wife, but I 
 cannot pretend to emulate your patience, I shall 
 therefore, with your leave, wish you good night, 
 as you know I must rise early, and I shall
 
 THE HAREM. 209 
 
 send Adelaida to keep jou company in your 
 vigil." 
 
 As she closed the door a tear started into Bi- 
 anca's eyes, which she persuaded herself was for 
 her sister-in-law's want of sympathy — but, alas ! 
 that want would have been little felt if she had 
 not required sympathy at the moment. Her 
 young attendant came, and seated herself, as was 
 then the custom, and, as is still more so in Italy 
 than with us, at a little distance with her work. 
 After some time, observing that her young mis- 
 tress made little progress with hers, and that she 
 seemed disposed to silence, with the tact unusual 
 in such persons, and sometimes in those much 
 above them in class and education, she imme- 
 diately conceived it her duty to endeavour to force 
 her into conversation. Accordingly she began — 
 
 "Do you know, Signorina, that Sattarello is 
 come back 1 " 
 
 Bianca, who never in her life had been so 
 self-occupied as to reject an attempt at kind- 
 ness, or even aught that came under that guise, 
 answered, that she did not know it, and asked 
 who Sattarello was. 
 
 " Who is Sattarello ! " the girl exclaimed, 
 with all the astonishment of one enamoured of
 
 210 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 a public character. "Why Signorina ! surely 
 you know, —I said Sattarello ! '' 
 
 " I heard you ; but I really do not know." 
 
 " You do not know the Bear \ " 
 
 " Oh I you mean there is a bear arrived in 
 Pisa ; on such an occasion as this everything 
 by which money can be made is brought and 
 tortured for public amusement. Had you never 
 seen a bear before 1 " 
 
 " Heavens ! Signorina, what is the matter 1 
 Don't you know how often we have looked at 
 the bear dancing here before the windows '? '' 
 
 " I know, indeed, that you often ran down 
 to look at it, much against my will as it is to 
 encourage such cruelty. I forgot it at the mo- 
 ment ; but Sattarello is the bear then 1" 
 
 Adelaida now looked half offended ; but as. 
 she looked at her young lady, in reproachful 
 surprise, she saw that instead of mirth or mis- 
 chief there was a shade of abstracted pensiveness, 
 which for a long time had been a stranger to 
 her sweet face. The girl instantly forgave her, 
 and proceeded to say, with recovered dignity, — 
 
 "No, Signorina, Sattarello is not a bear, but 
 quite the contrary, he is the bear's master, and 
 a remarkable nice genteel young man." Bianca
 
 THE HAREM. 211 
 
 smiled faintly, and the girl continued, " He 
 returned from Naples this evening, with great 
 news. The Sicilians have not left a Frenchman 
 alive in all Italy. They have killed the Prince 
 of Salerno, and they say the pope will have to 
 turn Ghibeline, as there will not be left a Guelph 
 to protect him." 
 
 " These are some of the usual exaggerations 
 of your lively imagination, Adelaida,'' replied 
 Bianca. "I wish you would take my advice, 
 and leave these subjects to those who under- 
 stand them better than we women." 
 
 " Well, if you like not such subjects, Signorina, 
 I will tell you another, that you cannot say does 
 not belong to us, — there is the most beautiful 
 creature come to Pisa that the eyes of man 
 ever looked upon, they say. I misdoubt me 
 even handsomer than you, my lady, and that 
 is a big word ; but they say there is something 
 more than natural about her, for not a man 
 can come under the glance of her eye, but 
 falls dead in love with tier — no matter who it 
 be." 
 
 Bianca's blood rushed to her heart as she 
 heard these words, and left her cheek deadly 
 pale ; but woman's dignity, again driving it
 
 212 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 thence, she blushed deeply for the momentary 
 alarm, and forced herself to ask — 
 
 " Who is this mighty paragon 1 and from 
 whom have you heard of her "? " 
 
 " Oh, I heard of her this morning from every 
 one who saw her. Crowds followed her in the 
 streets ; but Sattarello knows her well, and 
 told me all about her this evening. She is 
 niece, or grand-niece, to the Conte Lancia, who 
 is come here to take the command of Pisa." 
 
 And Adelaida's instinct and sympathy of 
 character and situation, prevented her from 
 adding what Sattarello had added — that the 
 fiancee of Ubaldino ought to look sharp, as 
 he had just met him with Genivra leaning on 
 his arm. 
 
 " But, tell me, Adelaida," said Bianca, now 
 somewhat recovered in self-possession, " if this 
 Sattarello is only arrived this evening, how have 
 you managed to receive all this information from 
 him '? You have not been out, and I have not 
 heard the usual sounds that accompany the bear's 
 arrival under the windows." 
 
 " Oh ! those are only the signs of his public 
 arrivals ! " the girl replied, half archly, half 
 naively.
 
 THE HAREM. 213 
 
 " What do you mean '? " inquired her mistress 
 with more interest. 
 
 Adelaida bent her head still lower over her 
 work, and seemed seized with a sudden fit of 
 industry. 
 
 " Adelaida, I wish to know what you mean 
 by his public arrivals — it does not sound very 
 well." 
 
 " Signorina ! — does the Conte Ubaldino sound 
 the bagpipes in the streets every time he comes 
 hereV' 
 
 A new light broke upon Bianca as her attend- 
 ant, again, half slyly half pleadingly, asked this 
 question. 
 
 " Adelaida," she said, kindly, " what do you 
 know of this man ? " 
 
 " Sure ! — has n't he the bear, my lady '? " 
 
 " Come, come ! — lay aside this parrying for 
 the present. You are far from silly, as such 
 answers would imply. You have made me really 
 anxious. Once more, then, I ask you seriously, 
 what you know of this person 1 " 
 
 " Then I will tell you, seriously, my lady. 
 The widow of my poor brother, that was killed 
 two years ago in battle, lives in the house 
 of this Conte Lancia ; and, though I never
 
 214 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 saw her, she often sends me messages by this 
 Sattarello — and, surely, I can do no less than 
 receive them '? " 
 
 " And is that all you know of him 1 He may 
 then be a mere vagabond, as I believe most of 
 his manner of living are." 
 
 " Oh ! he is not, really, one of them, my lady. 
 And my sister-in-law sent me word that he is not 
 what he seems, but a decent respectable man, 
 and that I could not do better than take him/' 
 
 " By whom has she sent you such messages ? " 
 
 " By himself, my lady ! " 
 
 " You are returning to your idle jesting, 
 Adelaida; but — " 
 
 " Hear me then, really seriously, my kind lady. 
 I like the way this man speaks of himself ; and, 
 after all, we can sometimes judge as much by 
 that as by anything else. He says, 'Adelaida, 
 I am an honest man. I have, maybe, played a 
 prank or two in my day, but I am no longer 
 young and foolish. I have saved a little money, 
 though I seem but poor ; for I have always been 
 industrious ; and when Bruin was sick sometimes, 
 I ducked my head, put up my shoulders, and, 
 with the skin of his father, which I keep for the 
 purpose, I danced in his place, and no one ever
 
 THE HAREM. 215 
 
 knew the difference — thus ; ' and, indeed, Signo- 
 rina, if jou saw him that minute jou would have 
 taken him for a bear, he is so clever. ' Well,' he 
 says, ' if a pretty girl could overlook my having 
 eight or ten years too many, in gratitude even for 
 that I would make her a good husband, and a 
 happy wife.' Xow, my lady, does not that sound 
 well, though he does say it himself '? " 
 
 *' I must confess it does, Adelaida ; and, more- 
 over, as you say, one can sometimes judge much 
 from the person himself." 
 
 " Ah, now you are thinking of Count Ubal- 
 dino, my lady ; and indeed, if you had not 
 set me the example, maybe I should not have 
 thought of marrying." 
 
 " That, certainly, is an argument to close my 
 lips at least," returned Bianca, smiling at the 
 familiarity which was permitted in those days 
 by the highest, " as I suspect was your intention ; 
 but, Adelaida, I am not married yet." 
 
 '* Nor I, my lady." 
 
 *' But we do not intend marrying for some time 
 to come — in short, until the state of the country 
 is somewhat more composed." 
 
 "But as we are of less importance, my lady, 
 it is not necessary for us to wait so long."
 
 216 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 " Would you then leave me, Adelaida 1 " and 
 Bianca felt more at *that moment, at the idea 
 of the companion of her childhood thinking thus 
 lightly of leaving her, than she would have felt, 
 perhaps, at another. 
 
 " Ought I not to set you a good example in 
 my turn ? " asked the girl, with ever-recurring 
 archness ; but unable longer to resist the emotion 
 she herself felt at the tone in which her kind 
 and beloved mistress had asked the question, she 
 suddenly flung aside her work, and rushing to 
 her mistress's feet, she threw herself on her 
 knees, caught her hand, and covered it with 
 kisses, while she sobbed out, 
 
 " I will not leave you 1 I will not leave you, 
 my dearest lady ; I will wait until you are mar- 
 ried yourself, and then— and then— who knows — " 
 and the arch eyes laughed again through her 
 tears. 
 
 " You are really a naughty girl, I fear, Ade- 
 laida," said her mistress, trying to frown, and 
 trying not to blush ; " but I think I heard the 
 hall-door open ; rise, rise, and take your work."
 
 THE HAREM. 217 
 
 CHAPTER XYIIL 
 
 Adelaida had just time to make her exit ere 
 Ubaldino entered. He approached Bianca with 
 a certain haste and excitement in his manner, 
 which might have been mistaken for empresse- 
 ment by any but a woman's loving heart. How- 
 ever, as Bianca received him with her usual 
 sweetness, without even asking the cause of his 
 being so late, he became gradually more com- 
 posed, until compelled by etiquette to inquire 
 for Beatrice, and being informed she was retired 
 for the night, he felt called on to make some 
 excuse for having failed in the promise made, 
 verbially at least, rather to her than to Bianca, 
 of the evening visit even earlier than usual, and 
 he offered that of the preparations necessary for 
 the chase in the morning. 
 
 "I was sure you had some good reason," 
 Bianca replied, believing him and herself sincere, 
 yet feeling herself unsatisfied. 
 
 VOL. I. L
 
 218 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 " You will honour us by your presence, of 
 course ? " Ubaldino asked. 
 
 " Why of course, dear Ubaldino ? You know 
 I never partake of such amusements." 
 
 " Oh, I thought upon such an occasion ; how- 
 ever—perhaps you may be right — it will probably 
 be a very fatiguing day." 
 
 Bianca remained silent, for she felt somewhat 
 surprised ; not at Ubaldino's not pressing her to 
 go, but at the reason he assigned for not doing 
 so ; a reason that never before had appeared to 
 occur to him on any occasion, and which he sel- 
 dom even admitted when by chance she had been 
 obliged to offer it. There was a moment's awk- 
 wardness, which Adelaida relieved by saying that 
 she heard Visconti's step upon the stairs. 
 
 " Oh, then, it must be much later than I sup- 
 posed," said Ubaldino, starting up ; " make my 
 apologies, I beg of you, to Beatrice, and accept 
 them yourself," and hastily kissing her hand, as 
 was his privilege, he passed Nino on the stairs 
 with a hasty " good night," and escaped from the 
 house. 
 
 We shall not follow him to his agitated pillow, 
 agitated between fear and hope, resolution and 
 repentance, but rather accompany Nino, who,
 
 THE HAREM. 219 
 
 entering the saloon, greeted his sister with that 
 affectionate cordiality which ever existed be- 
 tween them, while Adelaida, on his appear- 
 ance, withdrew to await her young lady in her 
 chamber. 
 
 " Ubaidino has just left you V he said : "why 
 did he hurry away the moment I entered 1" but 
 this being one of those questions which seek 
 not for answers, without pausing he continued, 
 " Do you know, Bianca, if there has been any 
 previous correspondence or acquaintance of any 
 kind between him and the Lancias V 
 
 Bianca felt herself grow cold at this question, 
 but answered as steadily as she could, — 
 
 '* No ; I think not : not that I know of, at 
 least ;--why, brother ^ " 
 
 " "Why because he seems wonderfully domesti- 
 cated with them for a morning's introduction." 
 
 " Domesticated with them ? " 
 
 " I should say so ; as I met him, just now, 
 walking up and down the Lung' Arno, with 
 Lancia's niece leaning on his arm, and the whole 
 bevy of ultra-Ghibeline chiefs close upon their 
 shoulders." 
 
 Bianca no longer felt the power of making 
 an effort. She remained cold, pale, and silent ; 
 
 L 2
 
 220 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 and, even in that moment of agonj, the severest 
 pang was the recollection that Ubaldino had 
 assigned a false reason for his late appearance, 
 and had fled the sight of ^N'ino for fear of 
 conviction. 
 
 Visconti, absorbed, as he was in the responsi- 
 bility that had, for the first time, fallen upon 
 him by the absence of his grandfather — of whose 
 views he w^as the blind but conscientious tool — 
 believing, as usual, that what Ugolino professed 
 to him was the truth, whatever he might appear 
 to others, and his mind being now full of the 
 political consequences of this intimacy between 
 Ubaldino and Lancia, perceived not the force of 
 the blow he had struck into his sister's heart- 
 He had, indeed, in the morning, seen, with a 
 momentary displeasure, the too open display 
 which Ubaldino had made of his admiration 
 of Genivra's surpassing beauty ; but, having 
 seen it himself without emotion, and knowing 
 him the betrothed of his sister, pledged not 
 only to the family, but almost to the whole 
 republic, and believing him to be good and 
 honourable, the boyish inexperience, as it seemed 
 to him, did not even occur to his mind again ; and 
 it was not until, rising to bid good night, struck
 
 THE HAREM. 221 
 
 with the cold damp of Bianca's hand, and the 
 deadly hue of her face, he exclaimed — 
 
 " Bianca, dearest ! you are not well this even- 
 ing! The fatigue of the morning has been too 
 much for you! Had you not better retire to 
 rest 1 — though, I suppose, as usual, you do not 
 think of accompanying us in the morning "? " 
 
 Bianca, still unable to articulate, turned me- 
 chanically to her embroidery -frame, as if to 
 cover it, in order to follow her brother's sug- 
 gestions, which, contenting him, he again wished 
 her " good night," and withdrew. And then ! 
 and then it was that Bianca, for the first time 
 in her short life, conceived what was meant by 
 real and intolerable misery. It had been diffi- 
 cult to win her love — to win her hand ; she 
 had been almost averse from marriage, from the 
 consciousness of all she required in the man to 
 whom she could unite her soul ; and, without 
 the union of soul, the state of constant com- 
 panionship and unity of interests was terrifying — 
 was abhorrent to her. She had daily and hourly 
 before her eyes a marriage not considered particu- 
 larly ill-assorted, and she felt she would rather 
 die than be so united to another. In proportion 
 as these feelings were strong and peculiar in her,
 
 222 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 was the abandonment of every hope, of every 
 affection, of her entire being, in fact, to him 
 who had overcome them, and the possibility that 
 such a change in his favour — so ardently sought, 
 so publicly invoked — could ever be undervalued 
 by him, had never even indirectly crossed her 
 imagination. So that her life, from the moment 
 of giving her consent to become Ubaldino's wife, 
 up to that very morning, had been such as she 
 would have thankfully heard was to constitute 
 her eternity. 
 
 Yes ! life has many and fearful ills, moral as 
 well as physical ; but if each person could 
 accurately recall every shade of the past, there 
 is not, perhaps, one who has ever experienced 
 it, that would not say the most dreadful moment 
 is that in which we first perceive, with reason, 
 that we are no longer loved by the one we 
 love!'"* Long, long do we struggle, in self- 
 defence, against the desolating conviction, but 
 in vain ; in vain we inay reason, hope, listen, 
 and tell ourselves we are mistaken ; but the 
 " still small voice,'' whispering at the heart, 
 cannot be hushed — for it is the heart, and not 
 the reason, that presides in the court of love. 
 * Sentiment of the original.
 
 THE HAREM. 223 
 
 Bianca stood perfectly still for some minutes 
 after her brother left her, with her arms ex- 
 tended downwards at full length, and her hands 
 clasped before her, almost doubting of her own 
 identity. Presently, howeyer, she felt her head 
 begin, as it were, to swim ; the walls of the 
 apartment appeared about to fall upon her, and 
 the floor to heave beneath her feet. She 
 hastened to the species of seat which preceded 
 our luxurious sofa, and, throwing herself upon 
 it, she was only able, by the force of all the 
 self-command that she had left, to prevent her- 
 self from swooning. Remaining perfectly still 
 for some time, her strength gradually returned, 
 and with it the dignity of her pure and feminine 
 spirit. At the moment of the first shock, she 
 felt that all was over with her, for she believed 
 she had loved one ungrateful and untrue : and 
 with all the unbounded respect, esteem and 
 affection which we possess for our illustrious 
 original, we take leave to say that the mere 
 fact of feeling ourselves no longer loved even 
 where we love, is nothing in the misery it pro- 
 duces compared with the first moment of con- 
 viction that the beloved object is unworthy of 
 that love. This it is which constitutes the
 
 224 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 purity of love, and, I had almost said, sanctifies 
 its illusions. For, whence are these illusions 1 
 They spring from that within us which yearns 
 after perfection — that unconscious tending to- 
 wards it which, while our fallen nature draws 
 us, through the senses to give up our whole 
 being to imperfection, leads us to disbelieve that 
 such is the case, and to invest the object of our 
 love with celestial attributes. The fall, then, on 
 the discovery of our mistake, is from heaven to 
 earth : our very nature receives a shock from 
 which it never recovers — for never, never come 
 those blissful illusions a second time ! We feel 
 naked, cold, and ashamed, as did our first 
 parents when they became acquainted with sin. 
 Like them, our eyes are opened to universal 
 desolation, but, unlike them, the only consolation 
 we then feel is, that we no longer believe our- 
 selves immortal ! 
 
 But Bianca was now a prey to both these 
 terrible convictions ; that she was no longer 
 loved, and that he whom she loved was unworthy 
 of her love. Her feelings, her principles, her 
 physical powers, for a moment, nay, for one 
 dreadful half hour, succumbed to the shock; 
 but she was too pure, too dignified, too truly
 
 THE HAREM. 225 
 
 pious to continue long in a state for which, as 
 yet, she had not fully established foundations. 
 "There may, — there must be some excuse 
 for him, — some explanation which does not 
 occur to me as yet,'' she said ; " or — if not — " 
 and without finishing the sentence, woman's 
 pride sent a glow once more to her cheek, and 
 as she thought upon her long-descended race — 
 her noble parents gone unsullied to their graves 
 — her brother who treated her more as an angel 
 than a mortal, she felt that her health might 
 give way beneath the private wrong and public 
 insult, that life itself might be the sacrifice, 
 but that never, never would she stoop to re- 
 monstrance, or to be pitied as the object of 
 hopeless jealousy. In the mean time she came 
 to the resolution, in order to avoid injustice to 
 him, and, if possible, misery to herself, that she 
 would endeavour to look on the past merely as 
 a flash of light which was to prevent her mis- 
 taking her path for the future. Under this 
 influence she had, fortunately, recovered some 
 degree of composure, when Adelaida, having heard 
 Visconti retire to his room sometime before, 
 became somewhat uneasy at the unusual delay of 
 her young mistress, coupled with her air of 
 
 L 5
 
 226 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 sadness, knocked at the door of the saloon, 
 and, without waiting for permission, opened it, 
 declaring as her excuse that she thought her 
 young lady had fallen asleep. 
 
 Bianca started up as she entered, fearful that 
 her late sufferings must be visible to every one, 
 and allowing the girl's apology to pass without 
 contradiction or affirmation, — 
 
 "You did right, you did right, Adelaida," 
 she said; "let us hasten now— it must be very 
 late;" and she proceeded to her chamber. But 
 her affected haste did not blind the eyes of 
 her affectionate attendant, whose woman's heart 
 and " woman's wit " had already divined enough 
 to make her wish to come to Bianca's aid. As 
 she performed the duties of the toilet, accord- 
 ingly, she began, regardless of all Bianca's little 
 stratagems to appear overcome with sleep, — 
 
 " And you are determined not to go to the 
 chase to-morrow, Signorina '? " 
 
 " Quite, quite determined, Adelaida," she re- 
 plied in a tone, the sad energy of which betrayed 
 anything but sleepiness. 
 
 " Why to be sure," said the girl, no longer 
 able to command her indignation, " I must con- 
 fess you did not get much encouragement," but
 
 THE HAREM. 227 
 
 as she said so she reddened at her own teme- 
 rity. 
 
 '* "What do jou mean, Adelaida 1 " her mistress 
 asked, with just enough of surprise in her tone to 
 convince the girl she had been understood, but 
 was warned against further presumption. 
 
 " Nothing— I meant nothing," she said accord- 
 ingly. 
 
 " But, be said * by me for once, my dear young 
 lady, and go like the rest — go, if it were only 
 not to let this new beauty carry away the hearts 
 of all our gentlemen. See, the lady Beatrice is 
 going, though her husband's a married man, and 
 a good husband : but sometimes men like to see 
 their wives shine out like the rest, instead of 
 moping at home, and I know I would not let 
 Sattarello get the habit of looking at and attend- 
 ing on other women— if I could keep by his side." 
 
 Bianca felt to her inmost soul the full meaning 
 of the girl's hints, coming as they did in the rear 
 of all that had already past, and she now re- 
 collected her sister-in-law's words to the same 
 effect, and forgave the latter every annoyance 
 she had ever inflicted on her, for that one mo- 
 ment's kindly interest now understood, and the 
 * Be prevailed on — Irishism.
 
 228 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 delicacy that forbore to explain her reasons more 
 plainly. What was delicacy in the high-born 
 lady, however, to forbear, was warm and untu- 
 tored affection in the waiting-maid to persist in, 
 and Bianca felt no less gratefully towards her 
 humble friend than to her haughty sister-in-law ; 
 but finding it impossible to give her permission 
 to continue on a subject so delicate, she endea- 
 voured to turn it into jesting by saying, 
 
 " I thought you had more pride, Adelaida, 
 than to value the attachment that depended on 
 your presence." 
 
 " I don't know, my lady, we are weak creatures 
 all of us, and ought to help each other. If your 
 presence, or my presence, or any one's presence 
 was what first made a man love us, why should 
 that presence not still have some effect, especially 
 before marriage, before they know our other good 
 qualities ; for what is a laughing girl, after all, to 
 a man compared with a good wife, when, if we are 
 sick or sorry at home, when others are gay and 
 laughing round him, there is still the thought of 
 the faithful companion, and may be the smiling 
 infant .... and if a man's heart be ever so 
 hard, or even if it be turned astray for a minute, 
 that thought will bring him back sooner or later
 
 THE HAREM. 229 
 
 . . . but before a man is tied — when he is only 
 a lover — only taken by our faces, it is wise to 
 keep that face as much before him as we can." 
 
 " You are a good and sensible creature, Ade- 
 laida," Bianca could not now; resist saying, as she 
 heard this simple reasoning of nature : " and now, 
 good night, and thank you for all your kindness." 
 
 " Do you really thank me, Signorina 1 " asked 
 the girl. 
 
 " I really do, my dear, good Adelaida,'' re- 
 turned Bianca, extending her hand to her, though 
 astonished at> the earnestness with which she 
 asked the question. 
 
 " Then will you grant me a boon in return ? " 
 
 "I might almost say yes without hesitation; 
 for I know you would not take advantage of me, 
 to ask anything I should be sorry to grant." 
 
 " Then do say yes/' 
 
 " 1^0, Adelaida ; I said I might almost — that 
 is, I feel inclined, but my reason tells me it is 
 silly to bind myself, as, if it be not wrong, I 
 shall have more pleasure in granting it freely; 
 if it be wrong, I should be angry with you and 
 myself, for granting it at all." 
 
 "Will you go, then, to the chase to-morrow 
 morning '? "
 
 230 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 " Is that your boon, my girl 1 Listen, Ade- 
 laida ; I might make a compliment to you of my 
 compliance, but it would be a false one, for I 
 have recollected since I have been in my room, 
 that my sister-in-law seemed to wish very much 
 that I should go ; and, therefore, as I know I 
 ought to make an effort to do what others wish me 
 to do, I had already determined to consider with 
 myself during the night, whether I should go or 
 not ; your wishing it so much, also, will not, 
 believe me, be without its weight. "Will that 
 satisfy you '? " 
 
 " It will ; it will, my lady ; only, instead of 
 lying awake the night to think about it, sleep 
 as soon and as long as you can, that you may 
 rise so fresh and fair, as not to fear the best 
 amongst them.'' , 
 
 And the faithful Abigail, instead of retiring to 
 her own slumbers, betook herself to the ward- 
 robe, there to decide upon what costume might 
 produce the most effect in the morning's display, 
 the riding dress of ladies not being then, as now, 
 confined to the one invariable rule, but varying 
 with the season, the occasion, and even the taste 
 or complexion of the wearer.
 
 THE HAREM. 231 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 The consequence of Adelaida's vigil was, that 
 when Bianca opened her eyes the following morn- 
 ing, they were greeted bj the sight of a white 
 silk dress, fitting close to the bust, but flowing 
 gracefully to the feet, edged with gold lace, over 
 which was to be worn a sort of tunic of cerulean 
 blue, and a black velvet hat, with a long floating 
 ^hite feather. 
 
 " What do you say, Signorina '? '' asked the 
 expectant Abigail ; " your large gold chain round 
 your neck to match this gold trimming, the gold 
 bracelets, my lord, your grandfather, gave you 
 
 the other day, that came from , and your 
 
 slippers with gold clasps — I think — what do you 
 think, my lady r' 
 
 "I think the efiect is irresistible— to me at 
 least," replied Bianca, commencing with a smile,
 
 232 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 which ended in a sigh. "I did not think that dress 
 had been completed, Adelaida; when did you 
 add the trimming '? '' 
 
 " Oh, at odd times, my lady," equivocated the 
 girl. 
 
 " You will go, then ? " 
 
 " Yes, yes, I shall go ; but is not that hat 
 rather heavy for the season." 
 
 " Perhaps it may be ; but you never look so 
 well in anything as in a black velvet hat, it 
 shows off so beautifully your fine, fair ringlets, 
 and the gentlemen will praise you for them, and 
 blame me for the hat ; so get up, get up, my lady, 
 and you will see how I shall dress your hair to- 
 day. Rosaura has been with the lady Beatrice 
 this half-hour past." 
 
 "Oblige me, then, Adelaida, by going to my 
 brother and sister, while I rise, and saying, that 
 as the morning is so lovely, and as my sister was 
 so good as to advise me, I have decided upon 
 accompanying them this morning." 
 
 And Adelaida obeyed, but wondered, as she 
 went along, why she did not feel herself more 
 happy in her young lady's compliance. She told 
 herself it was some evil presentiment, but it was, 
 probably, the effect of the change which she
 
 THE HAREM. 233 
 
 perceived in Bianca's whole manner and counte- 
 nance, from that which it had ever been before. 
 She seemed to have grown ten years older in the 
 course of the one night ; her brow was, indeed, 
 as smooth as it was a few hours before ; her 
 complexion as fair, and her hair as bright ; 
 but — but — there was that undefinable expression, 
 which, even when all this remains, marks the 
 heart grown old, either by years or by affliction. 
 The expression is undefinable, because it is rather 
 an absence than a presence, a negative than an 
 affirmative ; it is the want of that expression of 
 confiding, hopeful happiness, which seldom, in- 
 deed, outlives the prime of youth, or the first 
 overwhelming moral disappointment. Bianca had 
 lost that expression in one night, and for ever. 
 In the calm, still hours of darkness, she had re- 
 viewed the events of the preceding day, with 
 the desire of the dying to grasp at the hope of 
 living, but with the sincerity and dignity of one 
 who would rather die than live dishonoured — 
 and dishonoured she would have felt, either in 
 pronouncing too hastily Ubaldino guilty of, what 
 seemed to her, conduct the most unworthy, or in 
 constraining him against his changed affections to 
 the fulfilment of his enpraprement with her. On
 
 234 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 such a point she felt she could take council of no 
 one ; not alone, because no one but the persons 
 themselves who love are susceptible of those 
 delicate sensations and shades of feeling which 
 mark its progress or decline, and which, to the 
 heart, are as conspicuous as mountains are to 
 the outward eyes, but because she knew that the 
 mighty interests involved, or supposed to be in- 
 volved, in her union with Ubaldino, and the pub- 
 licity given to their engagement, would render 
 the least idea of its rupture, through breach of 
 faith on his part, a subject of yet more fatal 
 consequences, even than those which usually at- 
 tend such in private life. 
 
 All these considerations, duly weighed, some- 
 thing given to the homely straightforward rea- 
 soning of Adelaida, and much to the warm 
 affection so long nourished in her heart for the 
 erring one, though it now veiled itself under the 
 aspect of the Christian duty of aiding each other 
 to prevent a fall, she came to the resolution 
 that she would not only appear at the chase, 
 but endeavour to appear there and elsewhere as 
 if a doubt of Ubaldino's faith, or a fear of Ge- 
 nivra's beauty, had never disturbed the felicity 
 she had till now enjoyed. Under the influence
 
 THE HAREM. 235 
 
 of the last two arguments also, she suffered Ade- 
 laida to exercise her taste and ingenuity in em- 
 bellishing her person ; and when the process was 
 completed, and that the delighted and unpreme- 
 ditated exclamation of, " There ! I am content at 
 last! and I defy all the Genivras in the world 
 now!" drew her eyes to the long mirror which, 
 even at that remote period, adorned the dressing- 
 room of the rich and noble, and she beheld her- 
 self, pale indeed, but surpassingly lovely in her 
 paleness, she could not help turning away to hide 
 a conscious smile, while her heart echoed Ade- 
 laida's words : Alas ! alas ! all is lovely, all is 
 great, all is large, all is small, all is everything 
 in this world, until a lovelier, a greater, a larger, 
 a smaller, or a second appears. Genivra was not 
 so lovely as Bianca, but she was brighter, and 
 she dazzled the senses more, especially in her 
 present novelty. Yisconti and Beatrice herself 
 were struck by Bianca's beauty as they met in 
 the saloon, and her gentle heart felt re-assured 
 as they paid her their compliments ; she even 
 thanked God in her ever present piety for what 
 she believed to be the reward of the resolutions 
 she had formed. When the horses were an- 
 nounced, Yisconti assisted the ladies to mount ;
 
 236 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 and taking his place between them with un- 
 wonted gaiety he exclaimed, — 
 
 *' Do you know I feel quite proud this morning, 
 as I am sure there will not be a cavalier out with 
 two such beautiful women under his escort." 
 
 " There must not be even one," replied Bea- 
 trice, haughtily, but good humouredly. 
 
 " Come ! I don't know that," he said : " this 
 niece of Lancia is something extraordinary, and 
 they say her uncle counts on her a good deal ; 
 but, as I said before, I think two against one we 
 may defy the Ghibelines yet." 
 
 The day before, this speech would have terri- 
 fied Bianca ; but after what she had already seen, 
 suffered, weighed, and resolved, and especially 
 after the little compliments she had received 
 from all sides that morning, its effect was rather 
 of an opposite tendency, and they moved along 
 beneath the influence of a glorious morning sun ; 
 a more harmonious trio than elements so dissonant 
 usually produce ; nor did this harmony at first 
 seem likely to receive an interruption from their 
 observing Ubaldino at a short distance before 
 them, mounted also, but pacing so slowly and ap- 
 parently listlessly along, as while joining him need 
 be but the effort of a few minutes, it gave to
 
 THE HAREM. 237 
 
 Bianca the sudden and soothing hope that it was 
 her supposed absence which made him thus appa- 
 rently indifferent to gain the scene of general 
 enjoyment. Short lived, however, was that flat- 
 tering illusion : they spurred their horses to over- 
 take him, and he, on hearing the accelerated 
 steps behind him, wheeled his round to meet 
 them with a movement that bespoke not only 
 eager anticipation, but such pre-occupation as made 
 him believe that nothing but what his mind was 
 so intently fixed on could have arrived. But as 
 the parties met, not the vainest or most blindly 
 confiding self-love could prevent the sudden irre- 
 vocable conviction, that disappointment, poig- 
 nant disappointment, was the first, and fear and 
 self-condemnation the second feeling that flushed 
 the face of Ubaldino and clouded his brow : we 
 will not say disappointment at the sight of his 
 so lately loved and ever lovely fiancee, but dis- 
 appointment that it was not Genivra — the pre- 
 sent phantom of his distempered fancy. 
 
 We have said we should not follow him to his 
 agitated pillow ; but we may in one word give 
 the result of his night's reflections ; that word is 
 — nothing. He felt frightened, shocked at him- 
 self, indeed, and made good resolutions for the
 
 238 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 future ; but a more independent mind, and prin- 
 ciples more accustomed to self-reliance, would 
 have whispered him, how weak, hollow, and self- 
 deceptive were those resolutions, when he found 
 himself rejoicing, wildly rejoicing, in what he 
 called the necessity for deferring to put them 
 into practice, until the day should be past in 
 which he was to act the host, and, as such, to 
 devote himself to her against whom they were 
 formed. With this weak but dangerous soporific 
 to his conscience, he fell asleep, dreamed of 
 Genivra, in even more than earthly charms, and, 
 when the morning sun invited him forth, he felt 
 nothing short of relief in the recollection that 
 Bianca was not to be present ; and gave his soul 
 up to the anticipation of a day of unclouded, 
 ecstatic bliss, silencing his conscience, as all 
 weak and erring mortals probably do, by resolv- 
 ing that it was to be the last. Arrived in the 
 open air, his spirits rose higher and higher, 
 and his imagination became more and more 
 inflated. " The hour is come ; she must appear ; 
 this, this at least is certain ; and for one day, 
 if never more, I am sure of perfect happiness !" 
 and he paced his horse backwards and forwards, 
 in such blissful reveries, as made the reality of
 
 THE HAKEM. 239 
 
 delay not unpleasant to him. When, however, 
 the quick trotting of well-managed horses met 
 his ea.r, approaching in the direction in which the 
 idol of those reveries was to come, anticipation 
 and desire, so long indulged, became stronger 
 than reason, and he wheeled round, without 
 recollecting that it was even possible he might 
 be mistaken. The consequences were, a stroke 
 to the heart of Bianca, which he would have died 
 rather than premeditatedly inflict, and an ex- 
 clamation from Beatrice of, 
 
 " Why, Ubaldino, what is the matter '? Which 
 of us three has got the Gorgon's head this morn- 
 ing, when we flattered ourselves we were looking 
 tolerably well 1 " and she afiected to look at 
 those of her husband and sister, and to put her 
 hand up to her own. 
 
 The unfortunate young man, thrown wholly 
 off his guard by this public intimation of his 
 consternation, muttered some unintelligible words, 
 as he bowed his head, and, making confusion 
 worse confounded, instead of taking his place 
 at Bianca's side, he reined his horse back, and 
 placed himself beside Beatrice. Even Yisconti 
 himself could not fail to observe this ; and, turn- 
 ing quickly to Bianca, he saw her so disturbed.
 
 240 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 that, had the occasion been any other, he would 
 have called the attention of his wdfe, in order 
 to procure her some restorative ; but a brother's 
 sympathy telling him it would be unacceptable 
 now, he affected not to notice her agitation, while 
 he endeavoured to flatter himself that it pro- 
 ceeded only from some momentary pique between 
 the lovers, arising, perhaps, even from Bianca's 
 not having sooner decided upon joining the 
 chase. 
 
 It required all Beatrice's careless self-compla- 
 cency, in anticipated display and admiration 
 from the assembled sportsmen, to draw any one 
 of her companions into anything like a connected 
 conversation ; and if Bianca and Ubaldino had 
 not been able mutually to hide themselves from 
 each other's eyes, each by her and his companion, 
 even the few answers she succeeded in procuring 
 would have been still more unconnected and 
 unintelligible. Provoked, at last, by the con- 
 tinued insensibility of Ubaldino to all her efforts 
 to recall him from his abstraction, of which she 
 but too clearly guessed the cause, and, as was 
 but too usual with her, sacrificing every consi- 
 deration to her ill-humour, — 
 
 " You had been coming to meet us," she said.
 
 THE HAREM. 241 
 
 maliciously ; " we saw you turn your horse just 
 as we came round the corner of the i\Iuda ; so 
 you had been out early, and paced up and down 
 waiting for us 1 " 
 
 Ubaldino felt inclined to wheel about yet once 
 more, and to gallop away from her, from the 
 chase, from Pisa, from himself, if he could. 
 
 "You do not answer," she mercilessly con- 
 tinued ; " come, you are ashamed of your de- 
 fection yesterday evening; but we must pardon 
 you, in consideration of this morning's gallantry, 
 must we not, Bianca '? You see how repentant 
 he is, and with what subdued gratitude he met 
 you this morning here at his request." 
 
 Bianca, at this appeal, felt ready to fall from 
 her horse, knowing, by sad experience, that, 
 when once her sister-in-law gave the rein to her 
 sarcastic humour, neither Beatrice, herself, nor 
 any one else could guess how far it might carry 
 her. In the agony of the moment, she turned 
 to her brother, upon which he, thus appealed to, 
 looked from one to the other of his three com- 
 panions, and then asked seriously, — 
 
 "What is all thisl — what do you allude to, 
 Beatrice ? Is there any misunderstanding be- 
 tween Count Ubaldino and my sister 1 " and once 
 
 VOL. I. M
 
 242 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 again he showed that the dignity of a brother's 
 feeling was capable of rendering stern even his 
 peculiarly gentle nature. But Beatrice, however, 
 once excited, his sternness or his gentleness were 
 alike disregarded. 
 
 " ]\lisunderstanding ! " she repeated ; " why, 
 how can you ask such a question, Mno 1 Do you 
 not see that he is all devotion, she all condescen- 
 sion ? Did you not observe his ecstatic start 
 upon meeting her unexpectedly this morning ? 
 was there ever a countenance and manner so ex- 
 pressive of rapture as his, at that moment ; and 
 though, to subdue himself, to the rules of pro- 
 priety, he has placed himself beside me for the 
 moment, have you not observed his head every 
 now and then turned backwards, at every sound, 
 lest some envious cavalier should take his place 
 beside her, or, mayhap, lest some forward damsel, 
 unaccustomed to our manners, should rein up 
 beside him : which was it, Ubaldino 1 " 
 
 But this stroke was too cruel, — and Bianca, 
 the ever good, the ever gentle, generous Bianca, 
 forgetting her own agony in what she knew that 
 must be the greater agony of Ubaldino, from the 
 very conviction of his sin against herself, plucked 
 up her spirit, and coming to his aid, said,
 
 THE HAREM. 243 
 
 " Beatrice, it is enough ; jour raillery is be- 
 coming painful. Be satisfied with the assurance 
 that Ubaldino and I understand each other." 
 
 " Oh ! if you are satisfied, I certainly may be 
 so ; — let us only hope Count Ugolino will be 
 equally so ! " retorted Beatrice, more and more 
 incensed. 
 
 " Beatrice ! " exclaimed her husband, in his 
 turn, " what is all this 1 Do you mean to insult 
 me, also, by supposing that if there be cause for 
 dissatisfaction where my sister is concerned, it is 
 necessary to invoke any presence but mine to 
 make it manifest '? " 
 
 " Insult ! " repeated Beatrice, with a sarcastic 
 ironical laugh ; " I have not the least idea of in- 
 sulting any one : on the contrary, I did my best 
 to keep the peace, and to put a decent appear- 
 ance where it seemed to me to be wanting ; but, 
 I repeat, if Bianca is satisfied, I am sure I am 
 so." 
 
 "I am perfectly satisfied," Bianca repeated, 
 decisively, and she looked so resigned, so sweetly 
 dignified, that no one was so wanting in tact as 
 to add another word, Beatrice only indulging her 
 spleen by whipping her horse smartly forward 
 without inquiring the will of any one else. All 
 
 M 2
 
 244 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 attempted to follow her, however ; but, whether 
 by chance or by design, as they did so, Ubaldino 
 found himself beside Bianca; and presently, as they 
 turned a corner, the husband and wife were riding 
 tSte-d'tSie considerably in advance, and the fiances 
 followed, not as if risking their necks to overtake 
 them. There was silenca between them, how- 
 ever, for a few minutes ; but Bianca, feeling how 
 painful must be the position of Ubaldino, turned 
 to him at last with a calm, sweet, though pensive 
 smile. He immediately moved his horse closer to 
 hers, and in a low tone pronounced her name. 
 She gave him her attention. 
 
 " Can you forgive me 1 " he asked from the 
 bottom of his soul. 
 
 " Have I then aught to forgive 1 " she asked, 
 sadly. That moment, that question might have 
 sufficed to repair the past, to rectify the future 
 in a man of steadier, more manly character than 
 that of Ubaldino. But, alas ! alas ! his, facile by 
 nature, and weakened by the circumstances of his 
 education, was unequal to the necessary effort of 
 confessing his error and taking Bianca herself 
 into his confidence as a shield against himself. 
 
 She would at that moment have accepted the 
 trust, and fulfilled it considerately and faithfully ;
 
 THE HAREM. ' 245 
 
 for, painful as it would have been to find the 
 necessity of guiding and strengthening one by 
 whom she had hoped to be guided and strength- 
 ened, she still loved him well enough to have 
 loved him even in his weakness. 
 
 But it was not to be. Instead of this, grasping 
 in his vacillation, at the hope of the ignorance 
 her question seemed to imply of how matters 
 really were, he answered — 
 
 " No, no, Bianca, you have nothing to forgive. 
 But Beatrice might have put ideas into your 
 head." 
 
 " It is not easy, Ubaldino, for a comparatively 
 indifferent person to put ideas of the sort you 
 mean into the heads of those who have known, 
 and — I may, at least, say — esteemed each other 
 so entirely as we have done : with me at least, 
 and I am sure with you, it would require much 
 more." 
 
 "Oh, yes, yes!" he exclaimed, ardently, fer- 
 vently, sincerely ; " I could doubt of earth, 
 heaven, any thing, or everything except of you, 
 Bianca ! You are only too good, too angelic for 
 one like me !" and again there was a moment 
 that might have rectified all, had it not been that 
 as the words passed his lips, Beatrice and Vis-
 
 246 ' THE CONVENT AND 
 
 conti, both looking back at the same instant, 
 made signs that they were arrived in sight of the 
 Piazza Delia Cattedrale, which was fixed on as 
 the place of general rendezvous, previous to set- 
 ting out for the chase-grounds, and where seemed 
 to be already assembled such a gay concourse of 
 both sexes, and of all ages and conditions, as is 
 not often seen in the open air. 
 
 Had Ubaldino's life been at stake he could not 
 for a moment longer have commanded his atten- 
 tion; his heart beat violently, his sight became 
 dazzled : he told himself it was fear of encoun- 
 tering Genivra the next moment. Perhaps he 
 was right — but why was he afraid '?— and when 
 breathless and stealthily he looked around on 
 all sides without perceiving her, and feeling that 
 as he did not perceive her she could not be there, 
 why did his heart cease to beat — his cheek be- 
 come pale — nay, tears almost start into his 
 eyes'? Alas! alas! he asked himself not these 
 questions, and if he had, we know not where 
 would then have been the use.
 
 THE HAREM. 247 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 The place where the hunt was to take place 
 was that fine stretch of land extending almost 
 from the gates of Pisa to where the blue Mediter- 
 ranean washes its confines, at the distance of 
 six miles. This ground was then, as it still is> 
 devoted to ornament and the pleasures of the 
 chase ; it was then called San Lussorio, but by 
 that common, and to us curious transposition, 
 made by the Italians of mid-Italy between the let- 
 ters R and L, it has since subsided into San Rus- 
 sore. This ground is now the property of the 
 sovereign of Tuscany, and was then the property 
 of the Republic. It would, perhaps, have been in 
 those days, if not at present, difficult to have 
 found the same extent of ground so near to a 
 city, so perfectly adapted for the object to which 
 it was devoted, as was this of San Lussorio. Its 
 extent, terminated only by that natural boundary
 
 248 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 which offered no molestation to its wild inhabi- 
 tants, admitted of every variety of ground, cover, 
 swamp, shade, and thicket, suited to the cultiva- 
 tion of almost every species of animal that could 
 serve for the sport of man. Accordingly, it was 
 the resort of wild boars, of deer of every species ; 
 foxes, hares, birds of every description : nor were 
 there wanting artificial reservoirs of water, in 
 which were nurtured such fish as could not be 
 hoped for in those, here and there supplied by 
 nature in the form of small lakes or lagunes. It 
 is not to be supposed that on an occasion like the 
 present, a sort of hospitable truce offered, as it 
 were to hostile feelings and contending interests, 
 aught was omitted, which could be resorted to in 
 so brief a space to render these advantages avail- 
 able to the invited guests. The moment the 
 invitation had been issued, proper persons were 
 dispatched to beat the covers, close the earths, 
 extend the nets, and make all the other neces- 
 sary preparations ; but there were not wanting 
 those who whispered that, for many days before, 
 other preparations had been silently making there, 
 such as clearing of spaces lately overgrown, throw- 
 ing up banks so as to form temporary couches 
 under the most umbrageous trees for the repose
 
 THE HAREM. 249 
 
 of all during the hotest hours, and such others as 
 it would have been impossible to have effected on 
 so short a notice as that ostensibly given. All 
 this served now to confirm the idea that the 
 assembling of the Ghibeline chiefs was not un- 
 known to the Archbishop ; but, while this con- 
 yiction brought an anxious cloud to the brow of 
 Visconti, who found himself, for the first time 
 in his life, in a responsible, though not official, 
 position, with only the young vice-Podesta as 
 supreme magistrate ; who, being a puppet in the 
 hands of others, could not be relied on a moment 
 for good or ill, the impossibility of making any 
 defence in the present state of the town, should 
 such become necessary, again forced him and 
 others who had made the same observations to 
 decide that their best hope was by averting, if 
 possible, that necessity ; and thus, policy and 
 judgment coming in aid of the more animal in- 
 fluences of such a morning and such a day's 
 amusement as that before them, soon succeeded 
 in banishing every depressing reflection, and put- 
 ting into the highest spirits and most present 
 enjoying humour, a people who, then as now, ask 
 but an excuse to be happy ! To this general feef 
 ing there was only the exception of the two 
 
 M 5
 
 250 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 whose state was beyond external influences, how- 
 ever powerful. In the mean time, if the scene 
 of the preceding morning had been gorgeous in 
 its military display, and intensely exciting from 
 the mighty interests it involved, it is impossible, 
 physically impossible, that anything on earth 
 could be more exhilarating to the animal portion 
 of our double existence than the scene which now 
 presented itself to the eyes of Yisconti and his 
 party as they approached the Piazza della Catte- 
 drale. Of that Piazza, or rather of the treasures 
 which it contains, we have already said a few 
 poor, meagre words, which we felt disposed to 
 erase when written, by reason of their unworthi- 
 ness of the subject ; but let them pass, as the 
 reader may pass them by ; and we shall now only 
 add, that if there was one feeling in any dis- 
 engaged heart not in perfect harmony with the 
 gaiety and brilliancy of the scene presented by 
 that Piazza on the present occasion, it proceeded, 
 and perhaps in few only, from the too strong 
 contrast of the still, sublime, silent majesty of 
 those monuments of — may we say — another 
 world — the world of spirits — with the prancing 
 of horses, the yelping of dogs, the noisy greet- 
 ings, the buzz of subdued but universal com-
 
 THE HAREM. 251 
 
 pliraents, the laughter with which they were 
 sometimes received, the clattering of spurs, the 
 whipping of impatient quadrupeds of every de- 
 scription. The important bustling of the Arch- 
 bishop's falconers, in their sumptuous liveries of 
 green and silver, jealously taking precedence of 
 all the other officials of the chase ; the variety 
 and richness of the dresses of the guests, evi- 
 dently destined for display if not for con- 
 quest ; and, though last not least, the shouts of 
 the multitude on the outskirts, in which they 
 sought vent for their excitement and impatience. 
 Bianca was one of the few who felt that con- 
 trast ; she received courteously and gracefully 
 the various greetings offered her ; exchanged for 
 a few minutes compliments with the ladies, and 
 salutations with gentlemen ; but when these be- 
 came less frequent she asked Ubaldino, who was 
 like one spell-bound by her side, for whom they 
 waited, or why they did not proceed to the 
 ground 1 Ubaldino started at the simple and 
 pointless question like a murderer caught in the 
 fact ; and, feeling the blood crimson his whole 
 face, he turned his head away as if he had not 
 heard her. 
 
 " Is Conte Montefeltro arrived 1 " she con-
 
 252 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 tinned ; " if not, I suppose it is for him we are 
 waiting." 
 
 " Yes — oh, jes— apropos — it is for him, of 
 course, we are waiting. I had not — I forgot — *" 
 
 " And yet, — ^you are the host of the morning," 
 she said, smiling now a little archly, but still 
 pensively. "It would not have been well to 
 have set out without him.*' 
 
 " You are right, you are right, Bianca ; I really 
 am forgetting my duty ; I fear I must consign 
 you to your brother for a moment, and move a 
 little through the company to see that all is 
 right." 
 
 "Conduct me rather to my dear old friend, 
 Pisano," Bianca answered, feeling little incli- 
 nation, at that moment, to make one of the 
 laughing throng gathered round Beatrice, but by 
 which she, with her fiancS by her side, was no 
 longer molested ; " take me to him, it is but a 
 few paces distant, and as you pass his door in 
 going to San Lussorio, I am sure neither you 
 nor my brother will think it too much trouble 
 to call for me en passant." 
 
 " Of course not, of course not," Ubaldino an- 
 swered, preparing to obey her ; and here again 
 we have an instance of how little words signify
 
 THE HAREM. 253 
 
 in themselves, independent of time, place, cir- 
 cumstance and manner. Ubaldino's words were 
 only expressive of compliance and civility, and 
 yet they fell with a deadly chill upon the already 
 cold heart of Bianca. In silence, however, she 
 turned her horse's head, and they won their 
 way through the crowd, and arrived at the old 
 man's door, and hearing he would gladly receive 
 her visit, even at that early hour, Ubaldino lifted 
 her from her horse and consigned it to one 
 of the grooms who had followed them, and 
 departed. 
 
 " You are early, my good Niccola," she began, 
 with the familiarity which had pleased the old 
 man from her lisping days upwards. " You are 
 early for one not called up by this our brilliant 
 fete ; and you are at work too, as you always 
 are ; may I see at whaf? " 
 
 " I do not know, my child," answered the good 
 old man ; "it is not exactly a subject in unison 
 with your present feelings ; perhaps," he added, 
 smiling, "you could not, just now, sympathize 
 enough with it to satisfy my vanity; let us 
 leave it for another day." 
 
 " Is it then so gay a subject, Niccola 'i " Bianca 
 asked, with a peculiar smile.
 
 254 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 The old man looked intently at her, and taking 
 her hand, — 
 
 " Bianca, my child," he asked, " what is the 
 matter ? — you are not well, your countenance is 
 not what it ought to be, what it always is." 
 
 " Do you know," she said, with a sort of inno- 
 cent prevarication, " I wish they had chosen any 
 other scene for this noisy rendezvous than where 
 your works and those of your son''' awake in 
 the soul feelings so different/' 
 
 " If such be your frame of mind this morning, 
 my child, you may see my work;" and he led 
 her into his little studio, and there showed her 
 the design which he was modelling for the tomb 
 of a first-born, who had died a few days after 
 its birth. The design consisted of a beautiful 
 female figure reclining on a couch, from whose 
 arms, half yielding, half resisting, an angel was 
 soliciting, rather than drawing, an infant with 
 one hand, while, with the other, he pointed to 
 the Heaven, to which he was about to convey it. 
 
 "Oh, this, this is beautiful! this is human 
 nature, and this is divine ! " she exclaimed, en- 
 thusiastically, as she gazed from the agonized, 
 
 * The Campo Santo was lately finished by Giovanni, 
 son of Niccolo Tireno.
 
 THE HAREM. 255 
 
 but yielding expression of the young mother's 
 countenance, to the compassionating but autho- 
 ritative expression of that of the angel. " Nic- 
 cola, you must model my tombstone 1 " 
 
 The old man unaffectedly started : — 
 "" If you mean to flatter my dull cold ear with 
 such a speech, know me better, my child, than 
 to think that one who has tried to study the 
 true and the probable all his life, however little 
 he may have succeeded, can be pleased with 
 hyperbole or exaggeration even in language." 
 
 " Your reproof would put me to shame, my 
 father,'' said Bianca, with earnest respect and 
 affection, " if it were merited, but indeed, indeed 
 it is not ; you know better than I do, that the 
 race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the 
 strong, nor length of days to the young. Tell me, 
 Niccola, have you not a proof of this in your 
 hand this very moment 1 " 
 
 The old man put down the model, with a sort 
 of superstitious feeling, — 
 
 " Listen to me, Bianca," he said, " I never 
 flatter ; if I had done so, perhaps I had not 
 now been living in this poor house — but let that 
 pass—it is, perhaps, better than I deserve, or, if 
 I have deserved more, posterity is sure to render
 
 256 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 me justice, even with interest ; and that, and 
 the knowledge that I have given pleasure, even 
 if unrewarded, is more than enough to content 
 me, and mj son will succeed better ; yes, he is 
 more a man of the world, and the surest road 
 to success is to have just so much genius as to 
 amuse the world without enough to disturb its 
 inertia. I do not mean by this, its dulness, or 
 its want of taste : I mean that law of nature — 
 of fallen nature — which is opposed to progres- 
 sion, and which is, probably, necessary to pre- 
 serve the equilibrium, until the fulness of time 
 and humanity be completed ; and yet, — and yet, 
 — Bianca, my son's name will be lost in mine, — I 
 feel it, — I know it, — and I regret it. He has raised 
 an immortal monument of beauty, elegance, and 
 sublimity, in the Campo Santo, — and yet, — and 
 yet, — he is in himself inferior to me as an artist ; 
 but his mind and manners are better propor- 
 tioned, and he will make more money and be 
 more honoured, while he lives, than his father — 
 that comforts me. But what was I about to say ? 
 — forgive, my child, the garrulity of an old, a 
 very old man. I said I never flattered, and it is 
 not worth my while to begin now ; for this rea- 
 son I will not answer you, that you, with all your
 
 THE HAREM. 257 
 
 pretty taste, should design my tombstone, for 
 that is the privilege of my son ; but hearken, 
 my child, to what I wish as surely as I wish for 
 heaven, that your kindly tears may long keep 
 fresh the garlands that I am sure you will throw 
 on the old man's grave ;" and, with the pri- 
 vilege of age, he took her head between his 
 trembling hands, and imprinted a kiss upon her 
 fair forehead, perhaps to conceal the moisture 
 that rose plentifully to his eyes. 
 
 Nor is it improbable that it was with the same 
 view, mingled, perhaps, with that of giving a less 
 melancholy turn to her thoughts, that he lightly 
 raised her drooping white plume and said — 
 
 " This ornament was not intended for the ca- 
 ress of one like me. Rouse thee, rouse thee, my 
 child.'' 
 
 " And yet, father," she interrupted, " the black 
 velvet decked with white plumes is the emblem 
 of the maiden death." 
 
 " Come ! come ! this is going too far," the old 
 man exclaimed, now trying to look displeased, in 
 order to conceal his terror at her persistance. 
 
 " Where is the Count Ubaldino 1 Where is 
 Nino 1 Why did you come here this morning to 
 interrupt me and to sadden yourself '? Ah ! I
 
 258 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 hear a movement — they are all coming this way 
 now. There, they are knocking for you. Away, 
 my child, and may an old man's blessing go with 
 you." 
 
 Bianca stood up instantly, but instead of going 
 or suffering the old man to go down the stairs, 
 she seized his hands, and, with irresistible earnest- 
 ness, she said — 
 
 "Let us make a bargain, then, Niccola. If 
 you die first, I will promise to keep your garlands 
 fresh with my tears, if you will promise me if I 
 die first to design some little monument for my 
 tomb. I feel as if I could not bear to die with- 
 out leaving some trace which would show at least 
 that I had lived." 
 
 The old man could endure this no longer. 
 Almost with the animation of youth, and with 
 all the tenderness of a father, he caught her to 
 his heart, and bursting into a flood of tears, while 
 he hid his face upon her shoulder — 
 
 "Bianca! Bianca!" he said, "something is 
 gone wrong with you ; but you should not treat 
 me thus ! — you should not break my old heart 
 before its time. Something is over us all, how- 
 ever — I see it now; for that devil's bondsman, 
 Bonatti, took hold of my hand yesterday ! It is
 
 THE HAREM. 259 
 
 true, I put it in holy water immediately ; but 
 there are some curses which even that cannot 
 avert ! Go, go, my child, they are knocking 
 again. I promise you — I promise you — I may 
 safely do so. There, there, dry your eyes. What 
 will they think I have been doing to you 1 " and 
 he hurried her to the door, where Nino and 
 Ubaldino were waiting for her. Beatrice, in her 
 impatience, having ridden on, surrounded by 
 admirers, either of her imposing air and per- 
 son, or of her husband's influential family and 
 position. 
 
 " You stole away from us," said Nino, as again 
 he assisted Bianca to her horse. 
 
 " Yes, but I had a partner in my flight," she 
 said, smiling towards Ubaldino, her spirits rather 
 soothed than oppressed by her little visit and the 
 tears she had shed. 
 
 Ubaldino, too, seemed no less recovered. 
 
 " Yes," he said, gaily, " I was her accomplice ; 
 and if there be penance to be performed mine 
 must be the heavier part ; " and Yisconti, re- 
 lieved by these few words jocosely uttered, from 
 the vague suspicions which had been forced upon 
 him, rode forward leaving them together, only too 
 glad to dismiss the subject from his mind ; and
 
 260 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 such is the sympathy of even the nearest and 
 most affectionate friends in affairs of the heart ! 
 
 " The Conte Montefeltro is, of course, ar- 
 rived 1 " Bianca asked of Ubaldino. 
 
 *' Yes, he is just arrived," Ubaldino answered, 
 and with the words some ecstatic association 
 seemed to cross his mind. 
 
 *' And Conte Lancia — and his niece — are they 
 arrived "? " asked Bianca. 
 
 " Yes, they all arrived together." 
 
 " And where are they 1 " 
 
 " They have preceded the rest to the ground, 
 as those for whom the entertainment more es* 
 pecially is given. I remained behind, according 
 to my promise for you.'' 
 
 " Thank you — but — do not omit any part of 
 your duty as host, for me. You know Nino 
 never forgets me." 
 
 " I know, and I am glad ; not that there could 
 in any case be any fear of your wanting attend- 
 ants ; but I must, as you say, devote myself to 
 others to-day ; " and in a few minutes more they 
 were cantering, Bianca knew not how, amidst the 
 throng. 
 
 After a ride which none who have ever taken 
 it, even in our days, can forget, the company
 
 THE HAREM. 261 
 
 arrived at the first open space cleared expressly 
 in the hunting-grounds for the purpose of arrang- 
 ing the preliminaries and commencing the chase. 
 This space was surrounded by a circle of mag- 
 nificent palm-trees, such as are rarely to be seen 
 in plains ; and as ladies, gentlemen, huntsmen, 
 falconers, with the noble birds hooded on their 
 wrists, and all those concerned in the business of 
 the day, took their places, each with a view of 
 preventing as much confusion or obstruction as 
 possible to the others ; the scene was again one 
 which it is impossible for the imagination un- 
 aided by recollection to conceive. 
 
 Bianca had not, as yet, seen either Montefeltro, 
 Lancia, or his niece ; but, as she took her place 
 beside Nino, while Ubaldino, with a hurried ex- 
 cuse, galloped away ; her attention was soon 
 attracted by a low murmur of admiration, 
 mingled with voices of entreaty, and laughing 
 refusals, which every moment approached nearer 
 and nearer, while the words, " beautiful ! " " an- 
 gelic ! " " heavenly ! " met her ear upon all 
 sides. 
 
 This unusual sound in such a scene was at 
 length explained, as a sudden and eager opening 
 in the circle, immediately opposite to where she
 
 262 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 and her party had reined up, gave to her view 
 Genivra, clad in a complete suit of mail, except 
 the helmet, fitting perfectly to her exquisite form, 
 and composed of the richest and most elastic 
 materials, wrought by the most exquisite skill 
 which the world could then produce. On her 
 head she wore a hunting cap of crimson silk, 
 ornamented with the gold embroidery for which 
 Lucca was then famous, with a heron's plume 
 fixed to it by a valuable diamond. This costume, 
 with a falcon hooded on her wrist, and a little 
 silver bell attached to her saddle behind, gave 
 the intimation to the entranced beholders that 
 she was come, not as a spectatress, but as a 
 sharer in their sports. She rode a beautiful bay 
 Arab, and her groom, decked in the colours of 
 her cap, followed close behind, carrying a fairy 
 bow, arrows, and lance. 
 
 It is quite impossible to convey the least idea 
 of the effect produced on that assemblage of 
 gentlemen by such an appearance — such a com- 
 pliment — such an intimation of fellowship in 
 their ruder sports, from a creature so exquisitely, 
 so femininely beautiful, in spite of, or rather in 
 contrast with, her warlike attire ; and it required 
 that effect to account for, and excuse the only
 
 THE HAREM. 263 
 
 half-suppressed shout of "Viva! evviva la Bel- 
 lezza ! evviva Tangelina ! " which burst from 
 almost every mouth, as, with ]\Iontefeltro at one 
 side, and Ubaldino at the other, she, at length, 
 suffered herself to be led into the centre of the 
 enclosure, there to avail herself of the privilege, 
 universally assigned her, of commencing the sport 
 of the day. 
 
 As soon as it was possible to detach her 
 eyes from an object, at once so new and 
 so beautiful in itself, whatever might be the 
 feelings it excited, Beatrice turned, almost 
 breathless, to Bianca, with something between 
 bewilderment and unfeigned sympathy for what 
 she supposed — when she had time to think — 
 must be the effect upon her of such an appari- 
 tion, and so attended, but she only proved her- 
 self incapable of appreciating her to whom she 
 turned. That Bianca beheld the sight perfectly 
 unmoved or unconcerned, would be, perhaps, to 
 place her above or below woman's nature ; but, so 
 entirely was the love she felt, and the love she 
 wished to inspire, removed from that which mere 
 beauty, however dazzling, could create or destroy, 
 that until the proofs of its power became at last 
 forced upon her, they occurred not to her imagi-
 
 264 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 nation; and now, in an exhibition so unusual, 
 seeing no room for comparison with herself, she 
 looked on Ubaldino's attendance as that of the 
 master of the ceremonies, upon a curious, and, per- 
 haps, somewhat perilous pageant; and her undis- 
 turbed countenance and quiet smile gave to 
 Beatrice, who knew her to be above affectation, 
 the surprising, and, to her, almost provoking 
 conviction, that her feelings, her hopes, and her 
 fears, remained exactly what they had been half- 
 an-hour before. 
 
 In the meanwhile, Genivra prepared to fulfil 
 the part assigned her. Bowing her thanks of 
 dismissal to each of her cavaliers, who, accord- 
 ingly, drew a few paces back from her side, she 
 checked her tutored horse with an unperceptible 
 movement of her finger, and, without a glance 
 deigned to the thousand admiring eyes she felt 
 were on her, and, seemingly, wholly absorbed in 
 the sport, she cast her own towards the heavens, 
 rather as if challenging competition amongst the 
 stars, which had hidden their diminished lustre, 
 than in search of earthly prey, so brilliant, so beau- 
 tiful, so playful, was their expression ! The multi- 
 tude, a moment before so noisy, became hushed in 
 the intensity of admiring expectation. They had
 
 THE HAREM. 265 
 
 not to endure it long; a speck was presently 
 seen floating in the air; Genivra unhooded her 
 falcon, and, scarcely moving her wrist, the noble 
 bird raised his head, as if to salute the light, 
 looked round him for a moment on the assembled 
 company, then, as if become aware, by what he 
 saw, of what was expected from him, he cast a 
 searching glance into the air, perceived, and 
 seemed to reconnoitre the enemy's movements for 
 a second; then, slowly stretching out his wings 
 to their fullest extent, as if to assure himself of 
 their being in order, he darted upwards, leaving 
 on the minds of the spectators the impression of a 
 haughty, but noble character, slow to decide, but 
 prompt in action, and certain of success. Nor did 
 that success become doubtful, in the eager eyes 
 which followed him, because he hastened not to 
 seize his prey ; but, never increasing nor shorten- 
 ing the distance between him and it, as, terrified 
 and bewildered, one of the most beautiful of 
 the pheasant tribe moved higher and lower, and 
 performed various evolutions through the air, the 
 falcon seemed as if he were enjoying the splendid 
 emanations reflected from its plumes, as they re^ 
 ceived the sun's rays in difierent positions. 
 
 The shouts of the delighted crowds beneath, 
 VOL. I. N
 
 266 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 appeared to excite the pursued and the pursuer. 
 They quickened their movements, contracted the 
 sphere of their circles, and, at last, just as Bianca 
 turned to Beatrice to say, " And this gives jou 
 pleasure '? " the falcon, with the air of one who 
 v^ould not exhaust the plaudits that gratified 
 him, stooped upon the beauteous creature, and, 
 seizing it in his talons, lowered himself, grace- 
 fully, until he arrived whence he had departed, 
 when, placing his prey in the right hand of his 
 mistress, with the air of a knight who would say, 
 " I have done your behest and won my reward,'' 
 he resumed his place upon her left wrist. The 
 admiration and enthusiasm of the spectators was 
 now unbounded, and, it is scarcely necessary to 
 say, that, in a. moment, the lovely stranger was 
 surrounded by all who could, by any means, get 
 within sight or hearing of the idol of the mo- 
 ment. Foremost amongst these were Ubaldino, 
 Montefeltro, and his son, and her uncle himself, 
 who deemed it right to come to her side in a 
 position becoming every moment more conspicu- 
 ous and public, and which she seemed to occupy, 
 not only without a feeling of mauvaise honte, but 
 with open smiles of enjoyment, lavished on all 
 around her.
 
 THE HAREM. 267 
 
 As may well be supposed, all were loud, eager, 
 and fluent in their compliments, all except him 
 whose cheek was blanched, and whose lips trem- 
 bled from the sincerity and excess of his admira- 
 tion. Genivra's quick eye saw it at a glance ; 
 but, light-hearted, heedless, and excited, even 
 beyond her usual unsympathizing nature, by the 
 incense breathing round her, as Ubaldino at- 
 tempted to make her understand some low mur- 
 murs, unintelligible, except to the feeling or 
 pitying heart, she turned from him with an 
 impatient " pooh ! " and, causing her horse to 
 bound a step forward, she made a tender of the 
 captured pheasant to Montefeltro, as the principal 
 personage for whom the festivities had been in- 
 stituted. 
 
 Montefeltro, who, though far from insensible 
 to the fascination of Genivra, had hitherto en- 
 deavoured to maintain towards her the bearing 
 which became their relative years, and his son's 
 evident captivation, was surprised and delighted 
 by this her graceful homage ; and hastily draw- 
 ing from his finger a ring of great price, as the 
 manners of the times permitted to one of his 
 age and rank, in receiving the bird he caught 
 and held the hand which presented it, while he 
 
 N 2
 
 26'8 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 transferred the gem to her finger. Genivra, as 
 she permitted him to do so, bent her head, as if 
 she would have kissed the hand which had so 
 long and so successfully wielded the sword of 
 their party; but the warrior, perceiving her in- 
 tention, bent his so quickly and dexterously at 
 the same moment, that he bestowed upon her 
 bright cheek the salute that was intended for 
 him. 
 
 All around applauded what had passed openly 
 as playful gallantry, on one side, towards the 
 comparative child, and, on the other, graceful 
 respect towards him who might almost be her 
 grandfather ; but Montefeltro himself felt his 
 weather-beaten cheek glow, and, if his heart did 
 not beat, his head, at least, refused longer to 
 resist the general intoxication ; and Genivra, soon 
 observing the change in his manner, turned from 
 all others to devote herself exclusively to one 
 whose adoration had all the more charms for her, 
 because it was as unexpected, as it was unbe- 
 coming, to his years and position.
 
 THE HAREM. 269 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 While this scene was enacting, Nino and his 
 party looked on, in a sort of bewilderment, at a 
 little distance, — 
 
 "By Heavens," he exclaimed, at last, "there 
 is something extraordinary in all this, it looks 
 like enchantment." 
 
 "Do you feel it so?" inquired his wife. 
 
 "No, I do not," he answered, firmly and sin- 
 cerely ; " but I can understand and pardon those 
 who do ; " and Bianca's gentle heart blessed him 
 for the words— for she felt her love for Ubaldino 
 momentarily becoming more and more that of 
 a sister, but a sister who knew all that was 
 at stake upon a brother's conduct. 
 
 In the meantime Ubaldino and the whole 
 party disappeared ; nor did the chances of the 
 chase bring them under the eyes of Nino, Bea- 
 trice or Bianca, until, some hours after, when 
 peculiar notes of a horn having resounded
 
 270 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 through different parts of the woods, Ubaldino 
 came galloping towards them in a state of 
 great, but evidently painful, excitement, to con- 
 duct them to a tent, more richly adorned and 
 provided than the others, which was prepared for 
 the more distinguished guests. There they 
 found several persons already assembled, and 
 amongst them, Lancia, Montefeltro, his son, and 
 Genivra. The moment Lancia saw Ubaldino 
 enter, conducting Bianca, he went over to his 
 niece, and drawing her a little apart, whis- 
 pered, — 
 
 " Take care what you are about ! Do you see 
 who are just entered 1 In your own amusement 
 you are letting your true prey escape, and re- 
 member, none other will satisfy me ! " 
 
 •' Never fear, ser," she returned, laugh- 
 ing, with careless vanity. " The bird is struck, 
 don't you see that he has retired into his cage 
 to die!" 
 
 " Silly child ! once more I say, take care." 
 
 " Well, well, ser, we will look to it when I 
 have time." 
 
 But, notwithstanding her heedless answers, 
 Genivra's vanity was too rapacious in this, its 
 first intoxication, to risk a jot of that incense
 
 THE HAREM. 271 
 
 which delighted her ; accordingly, as Ubaldino, 
 struggling to hide the mortification and torture 
 he had all day endured from her evident avoid- 
 ance of his company, if not ridicule of his 
 passion, determinately placed himself between 
 Bianca and her brother, while, without turning 
 his eyes towards Genivra, he left her to the care 
 of her profiered attendants, she began to feel 
 that it might be time to listen to her uncle's 
 hints, — not so much in doubt of her power, or 
 of the depth of Ubaldino's wound, as fearing 
 that he might, literally, as she had playfully said, 
 by retiring to die, deprive her of a slave. Ac- 
 cordingly, she began to consider how she could 
 now manage, separated as they were at table, 
 to interrupt him in the devoted, though forced 
 attention, he was paying to Bianca, and to which 
 she was submitting, with the feelings, if not the 
 air, of the loveliest martyr that ever suffered a 
 living death. Suddenly an idea came into her 
 head, that seemed to content her, and accord- 
 ingly, after a few minutes' laughing, animated 
 whisper between her, Montefeltro, Lancia, and 
 Buonconte, Montefeltro arose, and assuming a 
 countenance of mock gravity, requested Ubal- 
 dino's permission to make a proposal to the
 
 272 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 company, which being accorded, and silence 
 obtained, he said, — 
 
 " Fair ladies, and valiant gentlemen, — Stran- 
 gers as were, yesterday, several of those now 
 assembled around this hospitable board, amongst 
 whom are the Count of Lancia, his fair niece, 
 my son and myself, I have been requested to 
 attempt expressing our deep sense of the kind- 
 ness manifested towards us, by all ranks and 
 parties, and," he added, bowing gracefully to the 
 ladies present, "what we feel more than all the rest, 
 by both sexes. This task, however, of returning 
 adequate thanks, or doing justice to our feelings 
 by words, is above, not only my poor capacity, 
 but that of any one of us ; and we should, there- 
 fore, have been obliged to rest under the painful 
 apprehension, that while with us, the receivers, 
 the recollection of such a reception is indelible, 
 yet with the generous pride which usually en- 
 hances such bounties, it might pass from the 
 minds of the bestowers were it not for that 
 delicate and graceful ingenuity of which we men 
 are incapable, and which has come to our aid 
 at this moment of mortification. Fair ladies, 
 and valiant gentlemen, the young lady who has 
 had the honour of being made Queen of the
 
 THE HAREM, 273 
 
 sports this day by you, feels herself too deeply 
 flattered and touched by the distinction not to 
 desire to leave some token by which she may be 
 recalled to your recollection, when far from here, 
 in association with your noble hospitality. She 
 proposes then, that the heron's plume which 
 adorns her cap, or is adorned by it, should be- 
 come the prize of him who, at the close of this 
 day shall be able to show the best proof of 
 huntsman skill and courage in the more arduous 
 chase that is to take place after the present rest 
 and refreshment ; such prize to be henceforth 
 worn by him, on similar occasions, until by the 
 young lady's honouring some yet happier man 
 with a yet more valuable prize, the lesser one 
 shall have lost its value. Gentlemen, do you 
 accept the pledge 1 " and as he asked the ques- 
 tion, Genivra, raising from her head the crimson 
 cap, let fall upon her shoulders such a mass of 
 dark ringlets as gave yet another and ever- 
 admirable aspect to her beauty, while detaching 
 the heron's plume with the diamond clasp still 
 adhering to it, she threw it on the table, saying,— 
 " There lies my gauntlet, who will redeem it ? " 
 " Who will wear it must win it from me^^ 
 exclaimed Ubaldino, snatching it before it had 
 
 n5
 
 274 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 well touched the table, but, apparently, in such 
 uncontrollable emotion, if not frenzy, that, at 
 the same moment, Is^ino on one side, and Bianca 
 on the other, hastily laid a hand upon his arm 
 in alarm, which so far recalled him to his senses, 
 that, turning to the former, he said aloud, and 
 with an attempt at gaiety, — 
 
 "Yes! I am here in an official capacity, — I 
 must see justice done, — pledges are always con- 
 signed to the keeping of some person, I feel 
 myself to be that person here." 
 
 " But you are aware that in assuming that 
 office, you incapacitate yourself from being one 
 of the competitors," said Montefeltro, trying to 
 convert into a smile the trembling of his com- 
 pressed lips. 
 
 Ubaldino's eyes flashed fire, — 
 
 " You are my guest,'' he said ; " but I cannot 
 acknowledge you as my legislator, and — ," 
 
 " No, no," interrupted Genivra, with irresist- 
 ible impetuosity, "no one is, and no one shall 
 be legislator in this cause but me ! I institute 
 a knighthood of my own, that acknowledges no 
 other rules. Count Ubaldino shall hold the 
 pledge ; and yet, as a privilege to our Host" 
 (and she laid an emphasis on the word) " he shall
 
 THE HAREM. 275 
 
 take his chance with the rest for the right to 
 keep it. Who wins it shall be Knight of the 
 Heron's plume ! but you, Conte Montefeltro, have 
 already had your prize from me, and it will not 
 be just to let you try for another ; your son may, 
 if he deem it worth while ; but you shall 
 stay and take care of me ; for though I have 
 come armed for better sport than birds, and 
 flatter myself I should not be found unworthy 
 of it, I am contented with the success I have 
 already had ; " and the look which accompanied 
 the words restored to Montefeltro his good hu- 
 mour, while his son was no less satisfied with 
 the management, each giving it his own inter- 
 pretation : and the other gentlemen present vied 
 with each other in their professions of value for 
 the prize, and readiness to risk their lives to 
 win it. Ubaldino only, spoke no more upon the 
 subject. Content to place the plume between 
 him and Xino, he appeared more amiable, and 
 more unaffectedly disengaged in doing the duties 
 of the Host, and in promoting conversation, 
 than he had been since the first meeting with 
 his companions in the morning. He scarcely 
 turned his eyes towards Genivra, while to Bianca 
 he continued assiduously, but no longer con-
 
 276 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 strainedly, attentive ; and the only allusion he 
 again made to what had passed was that, after 
 some time, he begged permission of the company 
 to absent himself for a few minutes, in order to 
 look into the other tents, and do the gentlemen 
 there assembled the justice of making known 
 to them the incitement that had been offered 
 to their prowess. 
 
 When he returned, in a very short time, as 
 he had promised, the herons plume had disap- 
 peared, and no one, not even Montefeltro cared to 
 ask him where he had deposited it. His return 
 was the signal for the party breaking up, in order 
 to allow the ladies to collect themselves together in 
 as many of the tents as were necessary for their 
 more complete repose, while as many of the gen- 
 tlemen as could be accommodated took possession 
 of those that remained, the others throwing them- 
 selves under the shade of the thickest trees. 
 
 At the appointed hour the same joyous sounds 
 which had called the company to repose, now 
 sounded a reveilUe, and they started up to re- 
 commence the sports with redoubled vigour, not 
 only from the respite there had been, but from 
 the more exciting nature of those which were to 
 succeed, and not a little from the whisper that
 
 THE HAREM. 277 
 
 had run, with many exaggerations, through the 
 different groups, of the prize offered bj the 
 heroine of the day. 
 
 It is not our intention here to attempt, even 
 by translation, to give a description of the scenes 
 that succeeded in the magnificent preserve of San 
 Lussorio. Such have been too often described, 
 and too often witnessed, to render such an at- 
 tempt necessary, or even tolerable. It will be 
 sufficient to say, that Genivra herself was soon 
 forgotten by all but her immediate attendants, in 
 the fiercer charms of foxes, wolves, deer, and wild 
 boars ; and the joyous shouts that made the very 
 ground vibrate beneath the clattering feet, had 
 other excitement than that of winning the heron's 
 plume. Not so was it, however, with the few 
 who had hovered more immediately about her, 
 and amongst whom, we need scarcely say, were 
 Buonconte and Ubaldino. To them the chase, as 
 such, had lost its charm, and was converted into 
 a trial of skill between two rival lovers, where 
 prowess would bring no consolation for defeat. 
 They left their party at the same moment, waving 
 a smiling adieu to each other, but their brows 
 were already flushed, and it was a smile which 
 said, " We understand each other."
 
 278 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 As Genivra, although she caused her bow and 
 arrows to be slung beside her, in case, she said, 
 of any game coming across her path, persisted 
 in her determination not to ride in search of 
 any; little as, probably, any of the three ladies 
 of the two parties most interested, desired to 
 increase the acquaintance which already existed 
 between them, the circumstances of their having 
 dined in the same tent, and the challenge insti- 
 tuted by Genivra ha^dng deprived each party of 
 one of their especial attendants, it seemed to all 
 that they could not again separate without be- 
 traying feelings, which Bianca and Yisconti, at 
 least, were most anxious to conceal ; and they 
 therefore continued to pace about, keeping tole- 
 rably together, notwithstanding a degree of ill- 
 humour on the part of Beatrice, at finding herself 
 left almost to her husband's care, which required
 
 THE HAREM. 279 
 
 all his eiforts to prevent from exploding, and a 
 degree of anxiety on that of Bianca, which ren- 
 dered necessary all her sweetness and self-control 
 to enable her to reply to the few remarks ad- 
 dressed to her by Lancia, or by ]\lontefeltro ; 
 while her attention was, at one time, somewhat 
 more particularly engaged with the latter, Bea- 
 trice found an opportunity to say, in her most 
 sarcastic tone, to Xino, — 
 
 "You are wiser than I take you for, if you 
 see where this is to end ! Heaven only avert the 
 catastrophe of its reaching your grandfather's 
 ears ! Indeed, poor Bianca herself seems, by her 
 forbearance, aware of the fate that would then 
 overtake us all ! " 
 
 " Pooh ! " answered Xino, though with a cloudy 
 and anxious brow ; " it is all a sort of enchant- 
 ment, as I have said — a boyish surprise. Ubaldino 
 would not be so mad ; and if he were — but you 
 will see it will pass away with a night's sleep. 
 1 only wish we had not given this invitation to 
 Montefeltro for to-morrow evening ! " 
 
 " Hah ! you wish it now, when it is too late ; 
 but you did so, you know, without consulting 
 me, so what could you expect 1 For my part, I 
 think we shall all have reason to regret the day
 
 280 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 he and his friends came to Pisa, and the reception 
 we have madlj given them." 
 
 " They came independently of each other — if, 
 by his friends, you mean Lancia and his niece," 
 said Nino. " I regret the invitation only because 
 it includes them." 
 
 " And I regret it for him ; it was a ridiculous 
 and inconsistent thing to do. You, head of the 
 Guelphs ! " 
 
 " But, my dear Beatrice, you had already given 
 the invitation — I only fixed the time.'' 
 
 " Because, deceived by his appearance, for a 
 moment, I took him for a polished gentleman, 
 instead of which — " but ere she had time to 
 finish her sentence, or Nino to ask — if he would 
 have ventured to do so — what his manners had 
 to do with his political principles, Buonconte was 
 seen galloping towards them, radiant in triumph 
 and delight. 
 
 " It is mine ! the prize is mine beyond a 
 doubt ! " he exclaimed ; " I have just killed such 
 a buck as has not been seen for many years, 
 besides a quantity of smaller game, and I have 
 claimed the plume of Count Ubaldino, who cast 
 a look full of vengeance towards the declining 
 sun, while vowing a pilgrimage to — Ephesus, I
 
 THE HAREM. 281 
 
 believe, if Diana (and he cast a smiling glance 
 at Genivra's bow and arrows) would yet take pity 
 on him ; but it is too late, in every sense of the 
 word ; a hunt by moonliglit in these woods would 
 make victims of more than the beasts we chase." 
 
 " Has he resigned you the prize ? " asked 
 Genivra eagerly, interrupting his joyous rhap- 
 sody. 
 
 " No — he uses his privilege to the last — but I 
 can now afford to suffer him to do so." 
 
 He had scarcely uttered the words, when the 
 sound of dogs at bay, the trampling and snorting 
 of a horse, and the other various sounds of a 
 fierce encounter close beside them, though hid 
 from view by some intervening trees and brush- 
 wood, made all except Bianca spur their horses 
 forward, so as to enable them to witness what- 
 ever might be the sport ; but Bianca, already 
 scarcely able to maintain her seat from moral 
 and physical exhaustion, and dreading the addi- 
 tional pain of seeing some harmless creature out- 
 raged and destroyed for the gratification of man's 
 destructive propensity, reined up her horse and 
 remained behind. It was fortunate for her that 
 she did so, for the sight which presented itself, 
 was one on which no one could have looked with
 
 282 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 indifference ; and the reader's imagination must 
 suggest to him how it affected those who now 
 found themselves its spectators. It was Ubaldino, 
 engaged in combat with an unusually large and 
 powerful wild boar, whose fury seemed excited to 
 the utmost by a wound he had inflicted in its 
 neck, as was betrayed by a part of his broken 
 lance still sticking there. He had betaken him- 
 self to his javelin, and had repeated the blow 
 with such dexterity, that the creature reeled and 
 fell, but, in doing so, grappled, with the instinct 
 of dying vengeance, the fore-feet of Ubaldino's 
 horse, threw him to the ground, and, seizing upon 
 Ubaldino as he fell, would in a moment more 
 have attained his object, if, before any one else 
 could decide on what was best to do, an arrow 
 had not been shot so dexterously as to enter the 
 animal's upturned eye, and thence reaching to the 
 brain, cause him at once to relinquish his hold, 
 while rolling over two or three times he expired. 
 In the fearful confusion of the moment, no one 
 knew at first from whence the saving arrow 
 came, but, when seeing Ubaldino, though slightly 
 wounded, rise without further injury, they looked 
 round upon each other, the mystery was solved 
 by their beholding Genivra with the bow still ex-
 
 THE HAREM. 283 
 
 tended in her hand, and that expression in her 
 countenance, in which triumph was almost sub- 
 dued by some stronger interest. Once more, all 
 who looked upon her thought thej never before 
 had seen her so beautiful. The expression of alarm 
 gave to her countenance what none would have 
 admitted it had required until they saw it there. 
 It lasted but a moment, however. 
 
 As Ubaldino once more approached her, every 
 one now making way for him, with his soul so 
 entirely absorbed by her, that his senses seemed 
 as it were to suffer from its withdrawal, and again 
 vainly attempted to convey to her some idea of 
 what she inspired, the wayward child of nature, 
 teased rather than gratified by such, to her, in- 
 comprehensible intensity of feeling in one whom 
 she only meant to detach from another, actually 
 burst out laughing, saying — 
 
 " Come, come. Count Ubaldino ! restore to me 
 my pretty plume ; I wager I have gained the 
 prize myself ! no one will bring a better proof of 
 prowess to the tribunal than that ugly monster ; 
 and even were it not so, I think one man saved 
 worth two boars slain : so give me the plume." 
 
 " That at least you shall not have," muttered 
 Ubaldino, writhing between indignation and de-
 
 284 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 spair, at such cruel contempt of his feelings. 
 " In this I will not obey you ! '^ 
 
 " Then I must right myself ! " she exclaimed ; 
 and before he could guess at her intention, with 
 one end of her bow she chucked to the ground 
 the heron's plume, which the disordered dress of 
 Ubaldino had, unperceived by him, caused to pro- 
 trude from his breast, where it had been con- 
 cealed. 
 
 Exactly as she did so, Bianca, who hearing 
 unusual cries and exclamations, could no longer 
 remain behind, came up beside them ; but as she 
 was turning away, heart-sick from the scene that 
 she found enacting, her eye was attracted by 
 blood trickling from the sleeve of Ubaldino, and 
 uttering a faint exclamation, and overcome at last 
 by the sufferings of the day, she fell from her 
 horse, and was received into his arms. The 
 alarm that had but just begun to subside, was 
 now transferred to her with redoubled anxiety ; 
 and IS^ino, whose feelings all through had not 
 been the less acute, because, seeing no legitimate 
 object on which to give them vent, he had endea- 
 voured to conceal them even from himself, seiz- 
 ing his sister from Ubaldino, repulsed his offered 
 aid with what at another moment would have
 
 THE HAREM. 285 
 
 been unaccountable rudeness, and could not have 
 been suffered to pass unquestioned ; — under the 
 present circumstances, however, with the unini- 
 tiated it passed for the frenzy of his alarm ; while 
 Ubaldino, who never having seen Bianca faint 
 before, was terrified into thorough repentance, 
 contented himself with whispering, — " You wrong 
 me, Nino ! — by heavens you do me wrong !" 
 
 Bianca continuing insensible, notwithstanding 
 all the efforts to restore her which the circum- 
 stances admitted of, was finally carried to the 
 nearest tent, and there, after some time, she re- 
 lieved the fearful apprehensions that were begin- 
 ning to seize upon her friends, by showing signs 
 of returning life. Presently she opened her eyes, 
 and, as usual after so deep a swoon, she was for a 
 moment bewildered by the objects that met her 
 view ; but it was only for a moment, the impres- 
 sions were too deep in her heart to be long for- 
 gotten. Seeing Beatrice and her brother hanging 
 over her, she glanced beyond them, and there 
 beheld Ubaldino in an attitude of unaffected re- 
 morse, with his face buried in his hands. ^lon- 
 tefeltro, Lancia, and Genivra, were whispering 
 together at the entrance. The first words Bianca 
 uttered were, — " How is Ubaldino V In a mo-
 
 286 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 ment he was beside her and her temporary couch ; 
 but, without even attempting to speak, he gazed 
 upon her with a heart-breaking expression of 
 anxiety and humiliation. She held out her yet 
 feeble hands to him, and smiled faintly, but 
 while doing so again closed her eyes, as if the 
 thronging thoughts were too much for her ; and, 
 in fact, in spite of all her efforts, large tear- 
 drops were seen forcing their way through the 
 lids. Xino immediately made an impatient sign 
 to Ubaldino to retire, but as he attempted to 
 withdraw his hand from hers,' she held it more 
 closely ; while, without opening her eyes, she said 
 in a low, faint voice — 
 
 " Has his wound been attended to '? — and is it 
 serious '? " 
 
 " It is nothing — absolutely nothing, dearest,'' 
 answered Mno, while Beatrice did not trust her- 
 self to speak. " Think more of yourself and less 
 of others." Again a pensive, forced smil6, accom- 
 panied by a more copious flow from her eyes, 
 showed that she understood but too well the 
 state of her brother's feelings. 
 
 After a moment's pause, she said, more firmly, 
 
 "Not to think of him, would be to forget 
 myself, Nino," and Ubaldino, no longer able to
 
 THE HAREM. 287 
 
 endure such sweetness, caught her hand wildly 
 to his lips, covered it with kisses, pressed it to 
 his heart and to his forehead, and bursting into 
 a passion of tears, rushed past ^lontefeltro, Gen- 
 ivra, and all, into the open air, more like one 
 who had seen all he loved and valued upon 
 earth snatched from his grasp by the cold hand 
 of death, than the fiance of so loving and so 
 lovely a creature just restored to him. His 
 absence seemed to remove all necessity for 
 concealment of her feelings, Bianca, once more 
 opened her eyes, and looking pleadingly at her 
 brother and Beatrice, and half pronouncing the 
 words, " Forgive me ! " she gave such free course 
 to her tears, as they both felt must have a salu- 
 tary effect upon her oppressed heart, and over- 
 taxed nerves. 
 
 When this beneficent resource of nature had 
 somewhat subsided however, and she began her- 
 self to perceive that the sun was sinking fast, 
 she said something about the necessity of moving. 
 Beatrice then felt she could no longer defer 
 making known a request from Genivra, to be 
 permitted to see her, which, till then, she had 
 refused ; and which she now did in a voice, and 
 Avith the manner of one compelled to make a
 
 288 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 request which she ardently desired should be con- 
 sidered as an insult. Such, however, would not 
 have been consistent with the dignity of Bianca's 
 character and resolutions. 
 
 " Surely, let her come," she answered ; and 
 when, the next moment, she approached, unaf- 
 fectedly assuming the air of a frightened, half- 
 repentant child, with her splendid eyes opened 
 wide, and looking so intensely beautiful, and 
 so unlike all other young women of the world, 
 Bianca once more recollected the words of Nino ; 
 and could not deny to her a gentle smile, as 
 she whispered to herself, — 
 
 " Yes, there must be enchantment here." 
 
 Genivra, perfect, as it were by nature, In her 
 manners and conversation with men, was not, 
 indeed, awkward, for that, in a creature so beau- 
 tiful and so carelessly unaffected and unattempt- 
 ing could never be, but constrained, silent, and 
 ill at ease, in her intercourse with women, per- 
 haps from some feminine instinct that she should 
 not meet with, and, perhaps, that she did not 
 deserve their approbation. 
 
 "How are you T' she said, abruptly; "lam 
 sorry for your illness." 
 
 " I am sure you are," Bianca gently returned ;
 
 THE HAREM. 289 
 
 " but I am much better now ; I am not ac- 
 customed to the chase, and my nerves are not 
 in training." 
 
 Genivra seemed not to know what more to 
 say. After a moment's pause, however, she 
 added, — 
 
 " Do you think you shall be able to attend 
 the ball to-morrow evening 1 " 
 
 " We shall see,'' Bianca replied in a low un- 
 determined voice. 
 
 " Oh, yes, try," resumed Genivra. " There 
 will be no such scenes there ; '^ and Bianca 
 looked into the brilliant, open, but still untamed 
 eyes, to see whether there lurked any deeper 
 meaning than the words would imply, but she 
 could not decide. 
 
 Nino, who had disappeared a few moments 
 before, now returned, to say, that a temporary 
 litter which he had ordered at the first moment 
 of Bianca's illness to be prepared, was ready ; and 
 she, availing herself of it, without opposition, 
 they prepared to return home without further 
 delay. 
 
 Ubaldino had not re -appeared; nor when 
 Nino, by Bianca's desire, inquired for him later 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 290 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 in the day, could he receive any intelligence 
 as to what had become of him. Before even- 
 ing closed in, however, he called at the door 
 of Yisconti's house ; but contenting himself 
 with hearing that Bianca was pretty well, and 
 with the family in the saloon, he declined 
 entering. 
 
 Nino and his wife exchanged looks on hearing 
 this, but Bianca's more deeply sympathizing heart 
 saw in this avoidance a better sign than in the 
 fitful and exaggerated attention of the morning. 
 Her brother, however, instigated by the haughty 
 and impetuous temper of his wife, was at last 
 persuaded that it was time for him to inquire 
 more particularly into the meaning of all he 
 saw, and all he knew that his sister suffered ; 
 determining to be decided by her answers as 
 to what line of conduct was proper to pursue 
 towards Ubaldino. 
 
 " It is true," he said to Beatrice, " everything 
 should be sacrificed rather than the Archbishop's 
 friendship — everything, except my beloved orphan 
 sister." 
 
 " But are you quite sure that the breach of 
 which you are thinking would now be so dis-
 
 THE HAREM. 291 
 
 pleasing to the Archbishop V she asked with 
 woman's tact. 
 
 " I do not know ; but if it should be as you 
 would imply, there is all the more reason for our 
 endeavouring, if possible, to avert such a breach, 
 especially in the absence of my grandfather," 
 rejoined Nino, with man's policy. " We shall see," 
 he added. " In the meantime I will not agitate 
 her by touching on the subject to-night, and we 
 shall see how she is in the morning." 
 
 The morning found Bianca, to all appearance, 
 as she had been before the eventful morning of 
 the departure of the troops. 
 
 "You will appear at the ball of course?" 
 inquired her brother the first moment he found 
 himself alone with her, as had been agreed on 
 between him and his wife, as a sort of leading 
 question to the purposed investigation. 
 
 "Yes, surely, dear Nino!'' she replied, mo- 
 mentarily surprised at the doubt of what, in her 
 own mind, she had determinately fixed on as a 
 decisive trial. 
 
 " I thought — I thought — perhaps," stammered 
 Nino, a little awed by her manner, and he 
 paused.
 
 292 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 '' What did you think, Nino V she asked, 
 smiling expressively. 
 
 " I thought — as you were so disturbed yes- 
 terday — but you are right, as you always are ; 
 and I am glad of it." 
 
 '' Dearest Nino," Bianca said, with much ex- 
 pression, "I understand you, and I thank you, 
 but I believe I am right on this occasion ; let 
 this evening pass and we shall see our way 
 better." 
 
 " You are right, you are right, dearest," he 
 replied, only too happy to escape with a clear 
 conscience from a duty which he dreaded more 
 than any that had yet fallen to his lot ; and at 
 that moment a servant appeared to say that 
 Count Ubaldino had just called to inquire for 
 the signorina. 
 
 " Beg of him to come up," Nino eagerly ex- 
 claimed. 
 
 " He is gone, my lord ; he only waited to 
 hear how my lady Bianca felt herself to-day," and 
 the servant vanished. * 
 
 Nino looked inquiringly and anxiously at 
 his sister. She smiled ; but seeing he did 
 not smile in return, "Nino," she said, "ex-
 
 THE HAREM. ^^o 
 
 tremes meet, and the one would be trop fort 
 as yetr 
 
 " You may be right," Nino said this time, and 
 went about his business ; and as Beatrice had 
 already been for a long time engaged in profes- 
 sional consultation on her evening's toilet, 
 Bianca, feeling herself unequal to serious occu- 
 pation, retired also to consult with Adelaida. It 
 was not that Beatrice, with all her vanity, could 
 hope to vie in beauty with the young and brilliant 
 Genivra ; but her savoir faire came to comfort 
 her with the whisper that Genivra was but a 
 comet, whose erratic course might disturb for a 
 moment the regular order of things, but could not 
 permanently affect the fixed stars, of which she 
 accounted herself the most important. 
 
 When Bianca had returned from the chase the 
 evening before, Adelaida had received her with all 
 the affectionate alarm likely to be excited by 
 seeing her who had gone forth so gay and lovely 
 return borne in a litter ; but the very variety and 
 volubility of the questions she poured forth to all 
 around her prevented her from perceiving that 
 from none did she receive a satisfactory answer, 
 while the words " blood,'' " wild boar," and a few 
 
 o 2
 
 294 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 other such, thrown into proper confusion, served 
 perfectly to content her until all the little duties 
 and extra offices of affectionate but officious 
 service being performed and her lady returned to 
 the saloon, she was fain to make her escape to 
 the lower regions, and there, at leisure, insist on 
 understanding all. At night, when she reappeared, 
 a serious and unaccountable change had come 
 over her, and instead of the demonstrative and 
 kindly attention of her habits, she showed herself 
 cold, reserved, and as nearly sullen as one of her 
 constitutional good humour could ever be. Bianca 
 for some time did not, and for some time longer 
 would not, observe this change. At last, when 
 Adelaida showed herself determined to proceed 
 until she should succeed in making her observe 
 it, Bianca, in self-defence, asked, 
 
 " What is the matter, Adelaida 1— has Sattarello 
 disappeared 1 " 
 
 " No, my lady," with a calm dignified de- 
 meanour. "Men of his class have not time to 
 give to tormenting their sweethearts, and the 
 women have not education to bear it if they 
 should." 
 
 " That is not exactly in accordance with what
 
 THE HAREM. 295 
 
 you preached to me yesterday evening, Adelaida," 
 said Bianca, gently. 
 
 " There are limits to all things, my lady,'' the 
 waiting-maid returned with the air of a Puritan 
 preacher. 
 
 Bianca not choosing either to encourage her by 
 an answer, or to seem to understand her by 
 silence, said, 
 
 "I really fear you have had something to 
 annoy you, Adelaida. Tell me, have you seen 
 Sattarello to-day r' 
 
 " I have, signorina, and perhaps if I had not 
 I should have been less annoyed." 
 
 " Then I really cannot help you, Adelaida ; I 
 am not in a mood to read riddles — so good 
 night." 
 
 Adelaida felt that she had overshot her mark. 
 In the. morning she appeared in another and 
 more natural mood — all trace of sullenness had 
 disappeared, and was replaced by quiet, unaffected 
 sadness ; which, though still reserved, did not even 
 seek for observation. Bianca was not only satis- 
 fied, but, under existing circumstances, delight- 
 ed with this mood, and accordingly, when left 
 alone, after the agitation consequent on the
 
 296 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 little conversation with her brother, it was 
 without reluctance that she went to meet her 
 in her chamber. 
 
 "And what have jou destined for me to- 
 night '?" she asked on entering. 
 
 " Nothing, mj lady. I will leave it to your 
 
 own taste — I do not think mine ^has much 
 
 luck." 
 
 " When did you become so humble, Adelaida V 
 
 " Yesterday.'^ 
 
 " Silly girl ! because a fine dress could not 
 prevent me from swooning at seeing Count Ubal- 
 dino torn by a wild boar ! " 
 
 " Count Ubaldino was in no danger, by all 
 accounts." 
 
 " I saw his blood streaming, however." 
 
 '' Lord ! " dropping what she had in her hand. 
 " His blood ! — his blood flowing ! Did you 
 really, my lady ? That handsome gentleman ! 
 — then was he really hurt 1 " 
 
 " Really and truly, Adelaida ; you know you 
 may believe what I say, and, further I assure you 
 that was the cause of my fainting." 
 
 The waiting-woman fixed her eyes on her 
 mistress.
 
 THE HAREM. 
 
 297 
 
 " I know you always say the truth, my lady : 
 and yet I heard a very different reason. Did not 
 that half-man, half-woman, save his life V 
 
 " x\nd ought I to faint because his life was 
 saved, Adelaida ; but whom do you mean by the 
 half-man, half- woman ? " 
 
 " That creature that goes about in small-clothes 
 — that wild niece of Count Lancia/' 
 
 Bianca was unable to refrain from laughing 
 as the image of that exquisite and femininely 
 beautiful creature rose before her mind's eye 
 under such a denomination. 
 
 " Adelaida," she said, " some one has been 
 quizzing you sadly. The young Contessa Lancia 
 is certainly the most beautiful creature you ever 
 beheld, without the least tendency to masculine 
 appearance or manners, except graceful dexterity 
 in the chase.'' 
 
 Again Adelaida fixed her astonished and in- 
 quiring eyes upon her mistress. Such a manner 
 of speaking of a rival was so different from all 
 her experience and pre-conceived ideas, that it 
 was much easier for her to doubt the correctness 
 of the surmises that reached her than to believe 
 in such magnanimity. With the sudden wit,
 
 298 THE CONVENT AND 
 
 then, whicli hope inspired, she threw, as it were, 
 the load of suspicion from her heart, and approach- 
 ing her mistress with her usual animated air and 
 manner, she exclaimed, 
 
 " If it be so, then let us begin in good earnest ! 
 I had not heart to think about jour dress, and 
 that 's the truth of it ; for I said to myself, where 's 
 the use — what single face can fight against a 
 double one that can be man and woman at the 
 same timel — But," she added, her animation 
 subsiding as rapidly as it had returned — ^'may 
 I ask you one question — just for curiosity sake, 
 signorina'?'' 
 
 " No, Adelaida ! I must confess I do not feel 
 that I can trust to the discretion of your curio- 
 sity ; you must excuse me from giving such un- 
 limited permission." 
 
 " I am sorry, signorina, you have such an opi- 
 nion of my curiosity ; and indeed you do me 
 wrong, for all I wanted to know was whether it 
 was not true that the Count, out of his senses 
 with the enchantments put upon him by that 
 one, whipped out his stiletto and made an ofier to 
 cut off a curl to keep for her sake, and that she 
 struck him a blow of her sword because he mis-
 
 THE HAREM. 299 
 
 took the side of her face, and cut off a whisker 
 instead ! " 
 
 It was now Bianca's turn to look into her dam- 
 sel's eyes ; but finding there the most perfect 
 sincerity and seriousness, and believing her dis- 
 obedience proceeded from anxiety, she contented 
 herself with assuring her in a manner to set her 
 heart at ease that nothing could be more absurd 
 and unfounded than what had been related to 
 her ; and the girl at last, setting herself with a 
 clear conscience to the necessary occupation, many, 
 many were the attempts made by Bianca to escape 
 before she could decide upon what colours and 
 what head-dress were likely to have most power 
 in counteracting the spell she still feared, and 
 not very mistakenly, was endeavouring to cast its 
 deadly influence over Ubaldino. The first part of 
 the question was at length decided in favour of a 
 robe of pink and silver ; the casting argument in 
 the abigail's mind being that her lady had ap- 
 peared in gold the day before ; and for the latter, 
 Bianca herself fixed -upon a floating silver gauze 
 veil, which partially covering the hair, fell with a 
 graceful effect upon the shoulders. To this Ade- 
 laida at first objected, as being too like a nun ;
 
 SOO THE CONVENT AND THE HAREM. 
 
 but when Bianca laughingly said, — " Rather like 
 a bride, — " 
 
 " Oh, yes ! yes ! true, true, signorina ! just 
 wear it," the girl exclaimed ; " and who knows 
 but it may frighten her from her schemes : if she 
 be a right woman it will ! " 
 
 END OF THE FIRST VOLUME. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 Printed by Samuel Bentlbt and Co,, 
 
 Bangor House, Shoe Lane. 
 
 /