Casanova's Homecoming
Page 8
CHAPTER EIGHT.
Casanova overtook Lorenzi in the chestnut avenue. Speaking lightly,he said: "May I have the pleasure of accompanying you on your walk,Lieutenant Lorenzi?"
Lorenzi, without looking at him, answered in an arrogant tone whichseemed hardly in keeping with his situation: "As you please, Chevalier;but I am afraid you will not find me an amusing companion."
"Perhaps, Lieutenant, you will on the other hand find me an entertainingcompanion. If you have no objection, let us take the path through thevineyard, where our conversation will be undisturbed."
They turned aside from the high-road into the narrow footway runningbeside the garden wall, along which Casanova had walked with Olivo onthe previous day.
"You are right in supposing," began Casanova, "that I have it in mind tooffer you the sum of money which you owe to the Marchese. Not as a loan.That, if you will excuse my saying so, seems to me rather too risky aventure. I could let you have it as a slight return for a service whichI think you may be able to do me."
"Go on," said Lorenzi coldly.
"Before I say any more," answered Casanova, in a similar tone, "I mustmake a condition upon your acceptance of which the continuance of thisconversation depends."
"Name your condition."
"Give me your word of honor that you will listen to me withoutinterruption, even though what I have to say may arouse your displeasureor your wrath. When you have heard me to the end, it will rest entirelywith yourself whether you accept a proposal which, I am well aware,is of an extremely unusual nature. But I want you to answer it witha simple Yes or No. Whatever the issue, no one is to hear a wordconcerning what passes at this interview between two men of honor, whoare perhaps no better than they should be."
"I am ready to listen to your proposal."
"You accept my condition?"
"I will not interrupt you."
"And you will answer nothing beyond Yes or No?"
"Nothing beyond Yes or No."
"Very well," said Casanova. They walked slowly up the hill, between thevine stocks, in the sultry heat of the late afternoon. Casanova began tospeak: "We shall perhaps understand one another best if we discuss thematter logically. It is obvious that you have absolutely no chance ofobtaining the money you owe the Marchese within the prescribed time.There can be no doubt that he has made up his mind to ruin you shouldyou fail to pay. Since he knows more of you than he actually disclosedto us to-day"--Casanova was venturing beyond the limits of his ownknowledge, but he loved to take these little risks when following up apath decided on in advance--"you are absolutely in the power of the oldruffian, and your fate as an officer and a gentleman would be sealed.There you have one side of the question. On the other hand, you will besaved as soon as you have paid your debt, and as soon as you get backthose rings--however you may have come by them. This will mean therecovery of an existence which is otherwise practically closed. Sinceyou are young, handsome, and bold, it will mean the recovery of anexistence which offers splendor, happiness, and renown. This appearsto me a most attractive prospect; especially seeing that the onlyalternative is an inglorious, nay, a shameful ruin; for such a prospect,I should be willing to sacrifice a prejudice which I had never reallypossessed. I am well aware, Lorenzi," he added quickly, as if expectingcontradiction and desiring to forestall it, "I am well aware, that youhave no more prejudices than I have or ever had. What I am going to askof you is merely what I should in your place under like circumstancesbe willing to do, without a moment's hesitation. Indeed, I have neverhesitated, at the call of destiny or as the outcome of caprice, tocommit a rascality, or rather, that to which fools give such a name.Like you, Lorenzi, I have ever been ready to hazard my life for lessthan nothing, and to call it quits. I am ready to do so now, if myproposal prove inacceptable. We are made of the same stuff, you and I;we are brothers in spirit; we may therefore disclose our souls to oneanother without false shame, proud in our nakedness. Here are my twothousand ducats. Call them yours, if you enable me to spend to-nightin your place with Marcolina.--Let us not stand still, if you please,Lorenzi. Let us continue our walk." They walked through the fields,beneath the fruit trees, between which the vines, heavy withgrape-clusters, were trellised. Casanova went on without a pause: "Don'tanswer me yet, Lorenzi, for I have not finished. My request wouldnaturally be, if not monstrous, at least preposterous, if it were yourintention to make Marcolina your wife, or if Marcolina's own hopes orwishes turned in this direction. But just as last night was your firstnight spent in love together"--he uttered this guess as if he hadabsolute knowledge of the fact--"so also was the ensuing nightpredestined, according to all human calculation, according to your ownexpectations and Marcolina's, to be your last night together for a longperiod and probably for ever. I am absolutely convinced that Marcolinaherself, in order to save her lover from certain destruction, and simplyupon his wish, would be perfectly willing to give this one night to hissavior. For she, too, is a philosopher, and is therefore just as freefrom prejudices as we are. Nevertheless, certain as I am that she wouldmeet the test, I am far from intending that it should be imposed uponher. To possess a woman outwardly passive but inwardly resistant, wouldbe far from satisfying my desires, least of all in the present case. Iwish, not merely as a lover, but also as one beloved, to taste a rapturewhich I should be prepared to pay for with my life. Understand thisclearly, Lorenzi. For the reason I have explained, Marcolina must notfor an instant suspect that I am the man whom she is clasping to hersweet bosom; she must be firmly convinced that you are in her arms. Itis your part to pave the way for this deception; mine to maintain it.You will not have much difficulty in making her understand that you willhave to leave her before dawn. Nor need you be at a loss for a pretextas to the necessity for perfectly mute caresses when you return atnight, as you will promise to return. To avert all danger of discoveryat the last moment, I shall, when the time comes for me to leave, act asif I heard a suspicious noise outside the window. Seizing my cloak,--orrather yours, which you must of course lend me for the occasion--I shallvanish through the window, never to return. For, of course, I shall takemy leave this evening. But half-way back to Mantua, telling the coachmanthat I have forgotten some important papers, I shall return here onfoot. Entering the garden by the side door (you must give me themaster-key), I shall creep to Marcolina's window, which must beopened for me at midnight. I shall have taken off my clothes in thecarriage, even to my shoes and stockings, and shall wear only yourcloak, so that when I take to flight nothing will be left to betrayeither you or me. The cloak and the two thousand ducats will be at yourdisposal at five o'clock to-morrow morning in the inn at Mantua, so thatyou may deliver over the money to the Marchese even before the appointedhour. I pledge my solemn oath to fulfil my side of the bargain. I havefinished."
Suddenly he stood still. The sun was near to setting. A gentle breezemade the yellow ears rustle; the tower of Olivo's house glowed red inthe evening light. Lorenzi, too, halted. His pale face was motionless,as he gazed into vacancy over Casanova's shoulder. His arms hung limp byhis sides, whereas Casanova's hand, ready for any emergency, rested asif by chance upon the hilt of his sword. A few seconds elapsed, andLorenzi was still silent. He seemed immersed in tranquil thought, butCasanova remained on the alert, holding the kerchief with the ducats inhis left hand, but keeping the right upon his sword-hilt. He spoke oncemore.
"You have honorably fulfilled my conditions. I know that it has not beeneasy. For even though we may be free from prejudices, the atmospherein which we live is so full of them that we cannot wholly escape theirinfluence. And just as you, Lorenzi, during the last quarter of an hour,have more than once been on the point of seizing me by the throat; so I,I must confess, played for a time with the idea of giving you thetwo thousand ducats as to my friend. Rarely, Lorenzi, have I been sostrangely drawn to anyone as I was to you from the first. But hadI yielded to this generous impulse, the next moment I should haveregretted it bitterly. In like manner you, Lorenzi, hi the moment beforeyou
blow your brains out, would desperately regret having been such afool as to throw away a thousand nights of love with new and ever newwomen for one single night of love which neither night nor day was tofollow."
Lorenzi remained mute. His silence continued for many minutes, untilCasanova began to ask himself how long his patience was to be tried.He was on the point of departing with a curt salutation, and of thusindicating that he understood his proposition to have been rejected,when Lorenzi, without a word slowly moved his right hand backwards intothe tail-pocket of his coat. Casanova, ever on his guard, instantlystepped back a pace, and was ready to duck. Lorenzi handed him the keyof the garden door.
Casanova's movement, which had certainly betokened fear, brought toLorenzi's lips the flicker of a contemptuous smile. Casanova was able torepress all sign of his rising anger, for he knew that had he given wayto it he might have ruined his design. Taking the key with a nod, hemerely said: "No doubt that means Yes. In an hour from now--an hour willsuffice for your understanding with Marcolina--I shall expect you inthe turret chamber. There, in exchange for your cloak, I shall have thepleasure of handing you the two thousand gold pieces without furtherdelay. First of all, as a token of confidence; and secondly because Ireally do not know what I should do with the money during the night."
They parted without further formality. Lorenzi returned to the house bythe path along which they had both come. Casanova made his way to thevillage by a different route. At the inn there, by paying a considerablesum as earnest money, he was able to arrange for a carriage to awaithim at ten o'clock that evening for the drive from Olivo's house intoMantua.