Laurette having complimented the Signora upon a performance that discovered much taste and judgment, was conducted by her into the saloons, and other magnificent rooms in the castle, which were adorned with a profusion of rare and valuable pictures by the most celebrated of the Italian painters, and some that exhibited the bold and masterly strokes of the Roman pencil.
All here appeared like the work of enchantment; the windows, descending to the floors, opened into balconies, in which were placed vases containing roses, myrtle, and Amaranthus that distilled delicious fragrance; beyond these the most gay and beautiful parterres, lawns, groves, and winding streams, being aided by the natural grandeur of the scenery, presented to the eye of the enthusiast a combination of beauties which Fancy herself could not so successfully have delineated.
From the principal saloon they proceeded through a glass door, which opened into the pleasure-ground. Here our lovely heroine, whose astonishment could be only equalled by her admiration, was conducted to several grottos, cascades, and beautiful declivities, where so little method was observed by the artist, that they appeared like the work of Nature when in one of her most wild and fanciful moods.
The timidity natural to minds of quick and delicate perception, which had hitherto repressed the communication of sentiment, now imperceptibly yielded to reciprocal affection; and the Signora, ardently desirous of exciting an interest in the heart of her young and amiable guest, began to relate several incidents of her past life, endeavouring by her example to betray her into a similar and mutual confidence.
Laurette listened with attention; and some symptoms of curiosity appearing in her looks, the Signora continued.
"My life, which has been hitherto almost invariably marked with ill-fortune, can boast no great variety of incident; yet, though my story is uniformly sad, it may not be altogether uninteresting; and a mind that has been taught by reflection to think and to feel, will not contemplate the misfortunes I have endured without an emotion of pity."
Laurette, to whom the latter part of this discourse was particularly addressed, bowed gracefully; and still more desirous of being acquainted with a story, which though its prelude promised little to entertain, yet much to interest, besought her to proceed.
The Signora hesitated some moments, as if to recollect or to arrange some circumstances of her narrative, and then began as follows.
END OF VOLUME TWO
VOLUME THREE
CHAPTER I
The beauteous maid that bids the world adieu
Oft of that world will snatch a fond review.
Oft at the shrine neglect her beads, to trace
Some social scene, some dear familiar face.
Forgot when first a father's stern control
Chas'd the gay visions of her op'ning soul;
And e'er with iron-tongue the vesper-bell.
Bursts thro' the cyprus walk, the convent cell
Oft will her warm and wayward heart revive.
To love and joy still tremblingly alive.
-ROGERS
"My father, whose name was Ruberto, was lineally descended from a younger branch of the noble and once honourable house of Manini. The misfortunes of this family, which are well known, rendered it necessary for my grandfather, the unhappy victim of Court intrigue, to take refuge in obscurity. When the policy of this measure first appeared, he felt the severity of his fortunes with the keenest energy. To be compelled to quit his paternal inheritance in Naples, long the residence of his ancestors, was to him dreadful as a Siberian banishment; yet no alternative remained, and after many struggles, too powerful to be immediately overcome, he repaired with his wife, who was also a person of high birth and a numerous family, of which my father was the eldest, to a chateau on the borders of France.
"Thus trained in obscurity, and disguised under an assumed name, the children of the unfortunate Manini were deprived of the advantages of birth, though not of education, as my grandfather instructed them in the learned languages, and other branches of literature, with unceasing attention; but at the same time that he assisted them in classical acquirements, he instilled into them principles that were at enmity with the social virtues.
"After some years, a political revolution occasioned a change of circumstances; and my grandfather, whose character was finally cleared from the false aspersions of his enemies, returned once more to his paternal seat, and was restored to his former dignities. This sudden transition from disgrace to favour, from obscurity to comparative splendour, wrought so violent an effect upon his mind, that he, who could once think nobly, and act vigorously, now became weak, vain, and luxurious, a slave to passions he once boldly resisted, and to vices which he felt no longer an inclination to oppose. He believed, because he had met with some insincerity where he had the least expected it, that all were vicious and ungrateful. With this conviction he renounced all former friendships, he rather wished to excite envy than esteem, and as the most effectual way of attracting the observation of the multitude, enlarged his mansion, and increased his household.
"One expense naturally led to another, till his fortune, his peace, and the future prospects of his children were eventually sacrificed. In a few years this unfortunate and misguided courtier died insolvent; his widow did not long survive him; his three sons were provided for in the army, and his daughters forced into a convent, that the family might not be disgraced by inferior alliances.
"My father was united, early in life, to a woman, elegant in her manners, and amiable in her disposition. She was beautiful, but beauty was her least perfection, for she possessed, in an eminent degree, all those virtues and graces by which the female character is adorned and dignified;—she was a native of Italy, and an only child; her fortune was small, but her family respectable. Her parents dying in her minority, left their fair daughter to the guardianship of an uncle, who was distantly related to my father, which led to the connexion that afterwards formed all the happiness and misery of their future lives.
"Soon after this marriage, which took place a short time after the commencement of the acquaintance, my father's regiment being called into action for the purpose of quelling a rebel troop of Condottieri, he was necessitated to leave Mantua that he might join a detachment in a distant part of the province, who were in readiness to march against the foe.
"During this state of separation, which was equally afflictive to both, my mother remained under the protection of Signor Montefico, her uncle and former guardian, at his residence, which was a small but elegant villa on the banks of the Po. My birth rapidly succeeded this event, and my mother's attention was now entirely confined to the care and education of her daughter; so much so that she seldom quitted her solitude, and seemed to be insensible to every pleasure or amusement but what I was empowered to bestow.
"Several years passed before the return of my father; and a report of his death being circulated, which his unusual silence tended to confirm, my mother resigned herself for some time to unavailing grief; but recollecting the defenceless situation of her child, she exerted herself to endure what could not be remedied, and in time regained some portion of her former tranquillity.
"As no doubt remained concerning the truth of the report, she assumed the dress of a widow, and with redoubled assiduity dedicated her time and her thoughts to my instruction and improvement.
"But the serenity she had acquired was soon afterwards disturbed by the death of Signor Montefico, who expired suddenly in a fit, without having received the benefit of the sacrament, or the other customary solemnities of the church. As he died without a will, his property, which would otherwise have been my mother's, descended to the male heir.
"Poverty, and other accumulated distresses, now threatened to destroy the small remains of comfort which had hitherto been afforded; but my mother, who possessed firmness sufficient to withstand the severest attacks of misfortune, did not suffer herself to sink under them; but having followed her venerable protector to the grave, and paid every mark o
f respect to his memory which pecuniary embarrassments would permit her to bestow, she prepared to quit the villa Santieri, which had been her home almost from infancy, and to repair to the interior of the city. But she was prevented from putting her design immediately in execution by the arrival of Signor Gualando, the rightful heir to the estates of her deceased friend, who came to assert his claim to the personal, as well as landed, property of Signor Montefico.
"Something relative to the arrangement of his affairs rendered frequent conversations with my mother indispensible, previous to her quitting the villa. She was too beautiful not to attract his admiration, and too amiable not to ensure his esteem. The soft melancholy that pervaded her features, the easy dignity of her figure, and the winning graces of her manners, inspired the most lively sentiment in her favour.
"He felt that he loved her, but that love was so tempered with esteem that it was long before delicacy allowed an avowal of his passion.
"At first he steadily opposed our leaving the villa, having no intention of continuing there himself, as he possessed a considerable estate, independent of this, in the neighbourhood of Pisa, the present residence of his family. But my mother strictly adhered to her first resolution, and soon afterwards, agreeable to her original intention, removed into the city.
"She was frequently visited in her new abode by Signor Gualando, whom necessary business detained some time in Mantua, who finally made her an offer of his person and fortune.
"Though my mother had no remaining doubt concerning her widowhood, she prudently declined the proposal, having already formed a resolution never to enter into a second engagement.
"The disappointment and uneasiness which a knowledge of this determination inflicted upon the Signor, cannot easily be described; not only his spirits, but his health, seemed to yield to the force of his attachment, which was too serious to allow him to relinquish the pursuit, and too ardent not to expose him to real distress. Yet not absolutely despairing of success, he ventured to continue his visits under the sanction of friendship, and was meditating on the most effectual method of insinuating himself into the affections of the beautiful widow, as she was generally called, when the unexpected return of my father, who had been confined five years in a fortress by the forces of the triumphant Condottieri, terminated all his future hopes.
"The Signor Gualando was alone with my mother on his arrival, and, in the attitude of intreaty, was pressing his suit with all the eloquence of an inviolable regard, when my father, whom no motive of prudence could restrain from precipitating himself into the presence of his wife, burst into the room.
"The rapturous surprise experienced by my mother when she beheld the long lost object of her affections, whose imaginary death she had so long and so tenderly lamented, can better be conceived than described. My father was sensible to the first impulse of joy, but far different emotions succeeded. From this moment his mind became a prey to violent and contending passions, which reason could neither bridle nor subdue. In the Signor Gualando he believed he beheld the favoured lover of his wife, to whom, supposing herself at liberty, she would shortly have been united, had not his unexpected and unhoped—for return rendered it impracticable. Though, from the natural expressions of transport which were portrayed in the countenance of my mother, and the innocent effusions of unfeigned rapture that succeeded, a mind collected and unimpassioned would have decided otherwise; yet too much was he blinded by an excess of jealousy to be enabled to observe the one, or to feel the just value of the other.
"From this aera a gloomy reserve characterised his deportment towards his wife, which no effort of tenderness, on her part, could soften or dispel; though she cautiously avoided giving him any cause of suspicion, by abstracting herself from society, and devoting every moment of her time to domestic duties.
"Signor Gualando, in the mean time, suffered all the chagrin and mental uneasiness which love and disappointment could inflict. He saw the necessity of tearing himself from the object of his regard, and of combatting these feelings by the most strenuous exertions in his power; and, after repeated conflicts with himself, was enabled to put his prudent resolutions into practice, and returned to his former abode.
"The behaviour of my father, which was alternately sullen and severe, was so injurious to the peace of my mother, that her natural vivacity disappeared, and her health rapidly declined. Her cruel companion beheld this change without either pity or remorse; he imputed it to chagrin for the loss of her lover, not to his unmerited severity; and this reflection, as distressing as it was unjust, marked his appearance and manners with increasing asperity.
"In a short time this patient victim of groundless and unjustifiable resentment, was removed from a state of sufferance and oppression to receive the reward of uncorrupted innocence; and left him, who was insensible of her value when living, to feel and lament her loss.
"As at this period I was not more than twelve years of age, my father, who had no female relation living, was for some time irresolute in what manner to dispose of me. At length he determined to board me in a convent of Celestinas, which was about a league and a half from Mantua, whither he promised to convey me at the expiration of the time which he had fixed.
"That boundless love of variety, which is inseparable from youth and inexperience, made me readily agree to the proposal; and my father having previously entered into a contract with the Superior to admit me as a boarder, I was conducted by him to the convent.
"The Lady Abbess received me with a stately kind of politeness but little adapted to my sentiments or my years; and the nuns eyed me with a kind of eager curiosity, which, young as I was, filled me with confusion and displeasure.
"When my father had left me, which he appeared to do with little regret, I felt the forlornness of my situation with redoubled energy. I seemed to have awakened to a new state of existence, and to be placed among beings of another order, which made it long before I was sufficiently reconciled to my new abode to be able to enumerate its comforts.
"But as the mind naturally submits to necessity, and endeavours to accommodate itself to those circumstances that are unavoidable, in time I became tranquil and even gay; though I believe my satisfaction chiefly arose from the too sanguine expectations I had indulged of the future, when, being liberated from confinement, I should be restored to society.
"With these hopes, which I conceived were shortly to be realized, the hours fled rapidly away, and having no idea of continuing in the convent longer than the time proposed, I felt the tenderest pity and commiseration for those whom pride, bigotry, or other adverse circumstances had condemned to perpetual retirement.
"Many of the sisters were young, and some of them were extremely lovely. The dress of the order, which consisted of a loose white robe simply confined at the bosom, and ornamented with a blue cloak, and scapulary of the same colour, added grace to beauty; and had they not been characterized by a certain air of discontent and dejection, they would have appeared infinitely charming. But few had voluntarily resigned themselves to a conventual life, and the hopelessness of their situations was a source of continual dissatisfaction and regret.
"Whenever I contemplated features whose harmony and expression, if lighted up by the animated smile of contentment and benevolence, would have possessed indescribable powers of attraction, I mingled a degree of silent indignation with my pity at the violated rights of human nature, at once trampled on and overborne by creatures, formed and endued with so many delicate and exalted affections. Can it be the will of heaven, thought I, that beings, who are endeared to each other by so many tender connexions, should embrace a system which is unquestionably subversive of all the ties of humanity? Is it virtue to fly from the possibility of exercising those amiable principles which are implanted in our natures for the noblest purposes, and to relinquish those innocent sources of amusement and delight, that are bountifully bestowed upon us to give value to our existence? It cannot be—we are assuredly designed to be the mutual support an
d comfort of each other; and as by mixing with the world our sphere of action is enlarged, it is indisputably our duty to continue in it.
"But pardon me, Madame," continued the Signora, "I confess I have been guilty of an egotism, and am now amusing you rather with sentiment than narrative; but I will resume my story, and conclude it as briefly as possible."
Laurette replied only with a smile, and the Signora proceeded.
"Two years had elapsed before my father again visited the convent, who I now believed was come to obtain my dismission. But what were my feelings when he acquainted me with his determination, which was, that I was to remain in the convent, and immediately to take the veil as a novice! My anguish was now too acute to be concealed, and, throwing myself at his feet, I besought him not to doom me to eternal regret—not to exclude me from the blessings of nature, but to allow me to return with him.
"The sternness that was gathering on his brow convinced me that I had nothing to hope; and the peremptory tone in which his former resolution was repeated, terrified me into silence; and knowing that resistance would be in vain, and being fearful of exasperating him with a refusal, I appeared to acquiesce. When he left me, his countenance somewhat relaxed from its severity; and after an assurance that he would see me again before the ceremony was performed, he quitted the convent.
"The recollection of my sufferings when I was apprised of my unalterable destiny, returns, even at this distant period, forcibly to my thoughts, and brings with it a train of correspondent ideas. At one time I resolved to disobey, and to purchase liberty at the expense of duty and every moral obligation; at another, to submit patiently to what was unavoidable, and to endeavour, at least, to alleviate the sense of my uneasiness with the rectitude of my conduct.
The Complete Northanger Horrid Novel Collection (9 Books of Gothic Romance and Horror) Page 351