A Siren

by Thomas Adolphus Trollope

  CHAPTER XII

  The Arrival of the "Diva"

  On the morrow of the Marchese's ball was the great day of the arrival ofthe divine songstress. And it was as lovely a day for the gala doings,which had been arranged in honour of the occasion, as could be desired.A brilliant sun in a cloudless sky made the afternoon quite warm andgenial, despite the general cold. An Italian sun can do this. Where heshines not it may be freezing. As soon as he has made his somewhatprecipitous exit from the hard blue sky, the temperature will suddenlyfall some ten degrees or more. But as long as he is in glory overhead,it is summer in the midst of winter.

  Three o'clock had been named as the hour at which the coming "Diva"would reach the city gates. But the plans which the young habitues ofthe Circolo had arranged for receiving her, had been in some degreemodified. The scheme of harnessing their noble selves to herchariot-wheels had been abandoned; and instead of that it had beenunderstood that the Marchese Lamberto would himself go in his carriageto meet her a few miles out of the city and bring her in. The MarcheseLudovico and the young Barone Manutoli were to accompany the MarcheseLamberto, and to assist in receiving the lady; but were to return to thecity in the carriage which she would leave, on getting into that of theMarchese, or in any other way that might seem good to them. The MarcheseLamberto and the lady alone were to occupy his handsome family equipage.There was to be a band of music in attendance, which would precede thecarriage as it entered the city; and some half-dozen young officers of aregiment of Papal cavalry, which chanced to be then stationed atRavenna, intended to ride at each door of the carriage as it returned tothe city. Altogether it was to be a very brilliant affair. And all thegay world of Ravenna was on the tiptoe of expectation and delight.

  The Marchese Lamberto, indeed, looked upon his share in the pageant as agreat bore. He had had put off one or two more congenial occupations forthe purpose of doing on the occasion his part of that which he deemedhis duty to the city. Professor Tomosarchi the great anatomist, who wasat the head of the hospital, and curator of the museum, was to have cometo the Palazzo Castelmare that morning to show the Marchese aninteresting experiment connected with the action of a new anodyne; andSignor Folchi, the pianist, was to have been with him at one, to tryover a little piece of the Marchese's own composition. And both theseappointments, either of which was far more interesting to the MarcheseLamberto than driving out in the cold to meet the stage goddess, had tobe set aside.

  Nevertheless, he had deemed it due to his own position, and to theoccasion, to grace this little triumphal entry with his presence. If hehad left it wholly in the hands of his nephew, and the other young men,it might have been the means of starting the Signora Lalli amiss on herRavenna career in a manner he particularly wished to avoid. After thatlittle hint on the subject, which the impresario had given him, he wasspecially desirous that anything like an occasion for scandal should beavoided in all that concerned the sojourn of the Signora Lalli inRavenna. He, the Marchese Lamberto, the intimate friend of the Cardinal,and the most pre-eminently respectable man in Ravenna, had had a verylarge--certainly the largest--share in bringing this woman to the city;and he was anxious that the engagement should lead to no unpleasantresults of any kind.

  It might be very possibly that the little matters at which theimpresario had hinted, were not altogether calumnious;--that the ladymight be one of those members of her profession who seek other triumphsbesides those of her own scenic kingdom, and the story of whose lives inthe different cities they visit is not confined to the walls and to therecords of the theatre. It might very well be that a little caution andlooking after was needed in the matter, It would be as well, therefore,to take the thing in hand at once in a manner that should put the ladyon a right course from the beginning;--all which could be excellentlywell accomplished by at once taking her, as it were, into his own hands;and would, on the other hand, be endangered by throwing her from thefirst into those of the youngsters who purposed going out to meet her.

  So the Marchese sacrificed himself; put off the anatomist and themusician; spent the morning in arranging all the details of the proposedcavalcade with the young men who were to compose it; and at two o'clockgot into his open carriage to drive out towards Bagnacavallo. The youngBarone Manutoli and Ludovico were in the carriage with him. But it wasunderstood, as has been said, that they were to leave it when they metthe heroine of the day, who was to enter Ravenna with the perfectly safeand unattackable Marchese alone in the carriage with her.

  "I wonder whether she is as lovely as she is said to be?" said Manutoli,as they drove out beyond the crumbling and ivy-grown brick wall, whichhad helped to repel the attack of Odoacer the Goth; but which had, somethirteen hundred years ago, failed to keep out the mischief brought intothe city by the comedian Empress Theodora, whose beauty had promoted herfrom the stage to the throne.

  Absit omen! And what, indeed, can there be common between Goths andGreeks of the Lower Empire, who lived thirteen hundred years ago, withthe good Catholic subjects, and the quiet Catholic city of our HolyFather the Pope, in the nineteenth century!

  At all events, it may be taken as very certain that no omen of the sortand no such thoughts were present to the minds or fancies of any ofthose who were about to form the escort of the modern actress.

  "All who have ever seen her, speak in the most rapturous terms of hergreat beauty," said Ludovico, in reply to his friend's remark.

  "Don't be too sure about it, figliuoli mio, or it is likely enough youmay be disappointed," said the Marchese Lamberto. "People repeat suchthings one after the other; there is a fashion in it. I have alwaysfound that your stage beauty is as often as not no beauty, at all offit; and then you know stage work and the foot-lights are terribly quickusers-up of beauty. And La Lalli is not at the beginning of her career.But what have we to do with all that! che diavolo! She is a greatsinger; she comes here to delight our ears, not our eyes!"

  "But time and work make havoc with the voice as well as with the faceand figure, Signor Marchese!" said Manutoli.

  "Not to the same degree, Signor Barone, and not quite so rapidly,"replied the Marchese, with the manner of one laying down the law on asubject of which he is an acknowledged master. "Of course a voice whichhas done much work, is not the same thing as a perfectly fresh one? Achi lo dite? though, observe, you very often gain more in knowledge, andin perfection of art, than you lose in freshness of organ. But withproper care, voice, though a perishable thing, is not so rapidly andfatally so, as mere beauty of face; that is sure to go very soon. I havenot troubled myself to inquire, as you may imagine, much about the stateof La Lalli's good looks. But I have informed myself of the condition ofher voice, as it was my duty to do. And I think that in that respect,which is the only one we need care about, the city will find that wehave not done badly."

  "For my part, I confess a romanzo comes very specially recommended to myears from a lovely mouth!" said Ludovico; "and I fully expect to find LaLalli quite up to the mark in this respect. I shall be disappointed ifshe is not."

  "From all I have heard, we shall none of us be disappointed!" saidManutoli.

  "We shall see in a few minutes!" returned Ludovico, looking at hiswatch.

  "There's something in the road now, I think, as far as I can see!" saidManutoli, who had stood up in the carriage, holding the rail of thedriver's seat with one hand. The road stretched long and flat, in aperfectly straight line before them for a great distance. "Yes,"continued he, "there is certainly something coming along the road;--acarriage by the quickness with which it nears us: now for it!"

  "Tell him to draw up, Ludovico; and he might as well turn round so as tobe ready to drive back. We will wait here till she comes; and ourfriends on horseback may as well remain here too," said the Marchese.

  So the little party drew up, and all eyes were turned to the small cloudof dust rapidly approaching them.

  "Yes: it is a carriage, and no mistake; and coming along at a good pacetoo!" said Manutoli.

  "It is
she, no doubt; she was to sleep at Bagnacavallo," returnedLudovico.

  "Signori!" said the Marchese, addressing the four, or five mountedofficers, "will you kindly put your horses across the road, so that thelady's driver may see that he is to stop, and that there may be nomistake."

  And then an open carriage became clearly visible, and in the nextminute, it could be seen that it was occupied by two persons;--a ladyand another figure--an old man apparently--muffled in a huge bluetravelling-cloak.

  Then in another instant the travelling-carriage, finding the roadblocked before it, had stopped, and in the next, the Marchese Lamberto,hat in hand, was standing at the door of it, on the lady's side;--thetwo young men standing immediately behind him, and the horsemen crowdedround, craning over the necks of their horses.

  Oh! per Bacco! There is no mistake about it; she is startlinglybeautiful. Report had not said half enough. And, somehow or other, itappeared as if a travelling-costume was specially becoming to her. Atleast, it seemed so to the innocent youths who so first saw her. Hadthere been any women present their minds would have at once gone backfrom the splendid effect produced to all the details of the artfullycombined causes which had gone to the producing of it. But there were noladies present, save the "Diva" alone.

  Such a Diva! She wore a little blue velvet hat, with a white feather init very coquettishly placed on a superb wealth of hair of the richestauburn tint. She was very delicately fair, with just such an amount ofthe loveliest carnation on her cheeks as might be produced by theperfection of health and joyousness and youth; or might be, a ladycritic would have whispered, by some other equally effectual means. Shehad large--very large--wide-opened, clear, and limpid light-blue eyes,with that trick of an appealing look in them which always seems to sayto every manly heart, "You, alone of all the harsh, cold, indifferentcrowd around us, are he to whom I can look for sympathy, comprehension,and fellow-feeling." And now these eyes looked round from one to anotherof those around her with a look of smiling, innocent surprise andinquiry that demanded an explanation of the unprecedented circumstanceswith a childish freshness the most engaging.

  She wore a bright blue velvet pelisse, trimmed with ermine, whichadmirably showed to the greatest advantage her magnificently shapedbust, and round slender waist; and bent forward towards the Marchese, ashe stood at the carriage-door, with inimitable grace of gesture, and asmile on her sweet lips that would have utterly defeated and put toshame any St. Antony exposed to such temptation.

  "Signora," said the Marchese, who looked very handsome, as he stood withhis hat in his hand, and bowed with stately courtesy, "Ravenna welcomesyou, and places itself at your feet in our persons. Permit me to presentto you these gentlemen, who have had the good fortune to be selectedamong many aspirants to that honour, to assist me in welcoming you toour city: the Barone Adolfo Manutoli; my nephew, the Marchese Ludovicodi Castelmare."

  "E Lei dunque e il Marchese Lamberto di Castelmare?" said the lady, inthe sweetest possible of silvery tones, and with an air of humble wonderat the greatness of the honour done her, mingled with gratefulappreciation of it, that was inimitably well done; and held up twoexquisitely-gloved slender little hands, as she spoke, half joining themtogether in thankful astonishment, and half extending them towards himwith an almost caressing movement of appeal.

  "Si, Signora; I am the man you have named; I am fortunate that my nameshould have reached your ears; more fortunate still in having had a partin making the arrangements that have brought you here;--and mostfortunate of all if I shall be so happy as to make your sojourn among usagreeable."

  "Signor Marehese! Lei e troppo garbato,--troppo buono; ma troppo buono,davvero!" said the pretty creature; and the appealing eyes looked intohis with the semblance of a tear of emotion in them.

  "Will you allow me the pleasure, Signora, of conducting you to the cityin my carriage?" said the Marchese, with a graceful wave of his handtowards his handsome equipage. "I have thought it might possibly beagreeable to you to place it and myself at your disposition on thisoccasion."

  "Ma come? It is too great an honour, davvero. But to make my firstappearance in your city under such auspices will go far towards assuringme such a success at Ravenna, as it is my most earnest wish to attain."

  The Marchese put out his hand to assist her to alight, as headded,--"Perhaps you will allow these gentlemen to return in yourcarriage, Signora? They have no other here. I did not think it necessaryto bring a second carriage."

  "Come loro commandano!--as their lordships please," said La Lalli with agraceful bow; though the young men were of opinion, that her eyes veryplainly said, as she glanced towards them, that she would have preferredthat they should have returned in the same carriage together.

  She rose, as she spoke, and giving her hand to the Marchese, put onefoot on the carriage-step in the act of descending, and then paused tosay, as if she had forgotten it till that moment:

  "Will you permit me, Signor Marchese, to present my father to you,Signor Quinto Lalli? I never travel without his protection!"

  The old man in the corner moved slightly, and made a sort of bow withhis head. He had remained quite still and passive in his cloak and hiscorner all through the rest of the scene, taking it all apparently assomething very much in the common order of things. Perhaps the piecethat was being played had been played too often in his presence to haveany further interest for him.

  While thus presenting her father, as she called him, to the Marchese,the beautiful actress had remained for the moments necessary for thatpurpose, with her matchless figure poised on the one dainty foot, whichshe had stretched down to the step of the carriage. The attitudecertainly showed the svelte perfection of her form to advantage; andfrom the unavoidable circumstances of the position, it also showed oneof the most beautifully formed feet that ever was seen, together withthe whole of the exquisite little bottine that clothed it, a beautifullyturned ankle, and perhaps as much as two inches of the silk stockingabove the boot.

  The mere chance that caused the lady to bethink herself of presentingher father just at that moment, was thus quite a piece of good fortunefor the young men on foot and on horseback, who were standing around,which no other combination of circumstances could have procured forthem.

  Then the Marchese handed her with graceful gallantry to his carriage,took the place in the back of it by the side of her; and the littlecavalcade began its return to the city. At a small distance from thewalls, they found the band stationed, and thus preceded by music, andpassing through all the elite of the population in the streets, theMarchese conducted her to the Palazzo Castelmare, and handed her up thegrand staircase to the great saloon, where all the theatrical world ofRavenna, and many of the more notable patrons of the theatre, wereassembled to receive her.

  Signor Ercole Stadione, the little impresario, was there of course, andin high enjoyment of the triumph of the occasion, and of the importancewhich his share in it reflected on him. He buzzed about the large saloonfrom one group to another, raising himself on tiptoe as he looked upinto the faces of his noble friends and patrons, and rubbing his handstogether cheerily in the exuberance of his satisfaction.

  "You had the happiness of accompanying the illustrissimo Signor Marcheseto receive our honoured guest to-day, Signor Barone!" said he toManutoli, who was giving an account of his expedition, and of the firstappearance of the new "Diva," to a knot of young men grouped around him;"mi rallegro! Mi rallegro! Ravenna could not have had a more worthyrepresentative than yourself, Signor Barone! But is she not divine! Whatbeauty! What a grace!"

  "Why, Signor Ercole, one would think you had begotten her yourself. Sheis a pretty creature certainly. What a smile she has!"

  "Eh bene, Signori miei! Are you satisfied? Are you content? Have we donewell?" said the little man, buzzing off to another group. "Che vi pare?Is she up to the mark, or is she not?"

  "Bravo, Signor Ercole! We are all delighted with her!" said one.

  "If she sings as she looks," cried another, "Ravenna
has a prima donnasuch as no other city in Italy has."

  "Or in Europe, per Bacco!" added a third.

  "What do you think of her, Signor Leandro? Did I say too much?" askedthe happy impresario, moving off to a console, against which the poetwas leaning in an abstracted attitude, while his eye, in a fine frenzyrolling, managed nevertheless to look out for the manifestation on theDiva's face of that impression which he doubted not his figure and posemust make on her.

  "What a bore she must find it having to talk to all those empty-brainedfellows that have got round her there, just like buzzing blue-bottleflies round sugar-barrel! I wonder it does not occur to the Marchesethat it would be more to the purpose to present to her some of thebrighter intelligences of the city. She must think Ravenna is a city ofblockheads! And one can see, with half an eye, that is the sort of womanwho can appreciate intellect!"

  "It will be for you, Signor Conte, to prove to her that our city is notdeficient in that respect. Sapristi? Would you desire a better subject?What do you say to an ode, now, on the rising of a new constellation onthe shores of the Adriatic? Hein! Or an inpromptu on seeing the divineLalli enter Ravenna through the same arch under which the EmpressTheodora must have passed?"

  "I had already thought of that," snapped the poet, sharply.

  "Of course you had," said the obsequious little man. "An impromptu, byall means! You could have it ready to present to her at the theatreto-morrow."

  "Unless the Marchese thinks fit to present me to the lady presently, Ishall decline to write anything at all," rejoined Signor Leandro, thusunjustly determining, in his ill-humour, to punish all Ravenna for thefault of one single individual.

  The Diva was, in the meantime, winning golden opinions on all sides. Shehad bright smiles, and pretty captivating looks, and courteous,prettily-turned phrases for all. But amid all this she contrivedunfailingly all the time, by means of some exquisitely subtle nuance ofmanner, to impress every person present with the unconsciously-conceivedfeeling that there was something more between her and the Marchese andhis nephew than between her and anybody else in the room; that she insome sort belonged to them, and was being presented to the society undertheir auspices. She remained close by the side of the Marchese. Shewould look with an appealing and inquiring glance into his face at eachfresh introduction that was made to her, as if to ask his sanction andapproval. She had some little word from time to time either for his ear,or that of his nephew, spoken in such a manner as to reach those ofnobody else; while, gracious to all, she delicately but markedlygraduated the scale of her graciousness towards those who wereintroduced to her, according to the degree of intimacy which seemed toexist between them and the Marchese. The result was that the Marchese,without having been in the least conscious by what means and steps ithad been brought about, felt, by the time the gathering was at an end, asort of sense of proprietorship in the brilliant and lovely artiste;--itwas so evidently he who was presenting her to the city! She herself soevidently felt that it would become her to rule her conduct in allrespects at Ravenna according to the Marchese's wishes and ideas, andthere was so sweet and so subtle a flattery in the way in which she madethis felt, that when, after all the crowd had retired, and she was aboutto take leave of the Marchese to go to the lodging that had beenprepared for her, she ventured to take his hand between both hers, whilelooking up into his face to thank him, in a voice quivering withemotion, for his kindness to her, there passed a something into thesystem of the Marchese from that contact of the palms that he found itvery difficult to rid himself of.

  BOOK III

  "Sirenum Pocula"