"There are letters from the French king intercepted," said one, after time had permitted them to rally their thoughts;—"it would appear they treat of the new intentions of the emperor."
"Have they been restored to the ambassador? or are the originals to go before the senate?" demanded another.
"On that we must take counsel at our leisure. I have naught else to communicate, except that the order given to intercept the messenger of the Holy See hath failed of its object."
"Of this the secretaries advertised me. We must look into the negligence of the agents, for there is good reason to believe much useful knowledge would have come from that seizure."
"As the attempt is already known and much spoken of, care must be had to issue orders for the arrest of the robbers, else may the Republic fall into disrepute with its friends. There are names on our list which might be readily marked for punishment, for that quarter of our patrimony is never in want of proscribed to conceal an accident of this nature."
"Good heed will be had to this, since, as you say, the affair is weighty. The government or the individual that is negligent of reputation, cannot expect long to retain the respect of its equals."
"The ambition of the House of Hapsburgh robs me of my sleep!" exclaimed the other, throwing aside some papers, over which his eye had glanced in disgust. "Holy St. Theodore! what a scourge to the race is the desire to augment territories and to extend an unjust rule, beyond the bounds of reason and nature! Here have we, in Venice, been in undisputed possession of provinces that are adapted to our institutions, convenient to our wants, and agreeable to our desires, for ages; provinces that were gallantly won by our ancestors, and which cling to us as habits linger in our age: and yet are they become objects of a covetous ambition to our neighbor, under a vain pretext of a policy that I fear is strengthened by our increasing weakness. I sicken, Signori, of my esteem for men, as I dive deeper into their tempers and desires, and often wish myself a dog, as I study their propensities. In his appetite for power, is not the Austrian the most rapacious of all the princes of the earth?"
"More so, think you, worthy Signore, than the Castilian? You overlook the unsatiated desire of the Spanish king to extend his sway in Italy."
"Hapsburgh or Bourbon; Turk or Englishman, they all seem actuated by the same fell appetite for dominion; and now that Venice hath no more to hope, than to preserve her present advantages, the least of all our enjoyments becomes a subject of covetous envy to our enemies. There are passions to weary one of an interference with governments, and to send him to his cord of penitence and the cloisters!"
"I never listen to your observations, Signore, without quitting the chamber an edified man! Truly, this desire in the strangers to trespass on our privileges, and it may be well said, privileges which have been gained by our treasures and our blood, becomes more manifest daily. Should it not be checked, St. Mark will be stripped, in the end, of even a landing-place for a gondola on the main."
"The leap of the winged lion is much curtailed, excellent Sir, or these things might not be! It is no longer in our power to persuade, or to command, as of old; and our canals begin to be encumbered with slimy weeds, instead of well freighted argosies and swift-sailing feluccas."
"The Portuguese hath done us irretrievable harm, for without his African discoveries we might yet have retained the traffic in Indian commodities. I cordially dislike the mongrel race, being, as it is, half Gothic and half Moorish!"
"I trust not myself to think of their origin or of their deeds, my friends, lest prejudice should kindle feelings unbecoming a man and a Christian. How now, Signor Gradenigo; thou art thoughtful?"
The third member of the secret council, who had not spoken since the disappearance of the accused, and who was no other than the reader's old acquaintance of the name just mentioned, slowly lifted his head from a meditative position at this address.
"The examination of the fisherman hath recalled scenes of my boyhood," he answered, with a touch of nature that seldom found place in that chamber.
"I heard thee say he was thy foster-brother," returned the other, struggling to conceal a gape.
"We drank of the same milk, and, for the first years of life, we spoiled at the same games."
"These imaginary kindred often give great uneasiness. I am glad your trouble hath no other source, for I had heard that the young heir of your house hath shown a prodigal disposition of late, and I feared that matter might have come to your knowledge, as one of the council, that a father might not wish to learn."
The selfish features of the Signor Gradenigo instantly underwent a change. He glanced curiously, and with a strong distrust, but in a covert manner, at the fallen eyes of his two companions, anxious to penetrate their secret thoughts ere he ventured to expose his own.
"Is there aught of complaint against the youth?" he demanded in a voice of hesitation. "You understand a father's interest, and will not conceal the truth."
"Signore, you know that the agents of the police are active, and little that comes to their knowledge fails to reach the ears of the council. But, at the worst, the matter is not of life or death. It can only cost the inconsiderate young man a visit to Dalmatia, or an order to waste the summer at the foot of the Alps."
"Youth is the season of indiscretion, as ye know, Signori," returned the father, breathing more freely—"and as none become old that have not been young, I have little need to awaken your recollection of its weaknesses. I trust my son is incapable of designing aught against the Republic?"
"Of that he is not suspected." A slight expression of irony crossed the features of the old senator as he spoke. "But he is represented as aiming too freely at the person and wealth of your ward; and that she who is the especial care of St. Mark is not to be solicited without the consent of the Senate, is an usage well known to one of its most ancient and most honorable members."
"Such is the law, and none coming of me shall show it disrespect. I have preferred my claims to that connexion openly, but with diffidence; and I await the decision of the state in respectful confidence."
His associates bowed in courteous acknowledgment of the justice of what he said, and of the loyalty of his conduct, but it was in the manner of men too long accustomed to duplicity to be easily duped.
"None doubt it, worthy Signor Gradenigo, for thy faith to the state is ever quoted as a model for the young, and as a subject for the approbation of the more experienced. Hast thou any communications to make on the interest of the young heiress, thyself?"
"I am pained to say that the deep obligation conferred by Don Camillo Monforte, seems to have wrought upon her youthful imagination, and I apprehend that, in disposing of my ward, the state will have to contend with the caprice of a female mind. The waywardness of that age will give more trouble than the conduct of far graver matters."
"Is the lady attended by suitable companions in her daily life?"
"Her companions are known to the Senate. In so grave an interest, I would not act without their authority and sanction. But the affair hath great need of delicacy in its government. The circumstance that so much of my ward's fortune lies in the states of the church, renders it necessary to await the proper moment for disposing of her rights, and of transferring their substance within the limits of the Republic, before we proceed to any act of decision. Once assured of her wealth, she may be disposed of as seemeth best to the welfare of the state, without further delay."
"The lady hath a lineage and riches, and an excellence of person, that might render her of great account in some of these knotty negotiations which so much fetter our movements of late. The time hath been when a daughter of Venice, not more fair, was wooed to the bed of a sovereign."
"Signore, those days of glory and greatness exist no longer. Should it be thought expedient to overlook the natural claims of my son, and to bestow my ward to the advantage of the Republic, the most that can be expected through her means, is a favorable concession in some future treaty, or a new prop to
some of the many decaying interests of the city. In this particular, she maybe rendered of as much, or even more use, than the oldest and wisest of our body. But that her will may be free and the child may have no obstacles to her happiness, it will be necessary to make a speedy determination of the claim preferred by Don Camillo. Can we do better than to recommend a compromise, that he may return without delay to his own Calabria?"
"The concern is weighty, and it demands deliberation."
"He complains of our tardiness already, and not without show of reason. It is five years since the claim was first preferred."
"Signor Gradenigo, it is for the vigorous and healthful to display their activity—the aged and the tottering must move with caution. Were we in Venice to betray precipitation in so weighty a concern, without seeing an immediate interest in the judgment, we should trifle with a gale of fortune that every sirocco will not blow into the canals. We must have terms with the lord of Sant' Agata, or we greatly slight our own advantage."
"I hinted of the matter to your excellencies, as a consideration for your wisdom; methinks it will be something gained to remove one so dangerous from the recollection and from before the eyes of a love-sick maiden."
"Is the damsel so amorous?"
"She is of Italy, Signore, and our sun bestows warm fancies and fervent minds."
"Let her to the confessional and her prayers! The godly prior of St. Mark will discipline her imagination till she shall conceit the Neapolitan a Moor and an infidel. Just San Teodoro, forgive me! But thou canst remember the time, my friends, when the penance of the church was not without service on thine own fickle tastes and truant practices."
"The Signore Gradenigo was a gallant in his time," observed the third, "as all well know who travelled in his company. Thou wert much spoken of at Versailles and at Vienna; nay, thou canst not deny thy vogue to one who, if he hath no other merit, hath a memory."
"I protest against these false recollections," rejoined the accused, a withered smile lighting his faded countenance; "we have been young, Signori, but among us all, I never knew a Venetian of more general fashion and of better report, especially with the dames of France, than he who has just spoken."
"Account it not—account it not—'twas the weakness of youth and the use of the times!—I remember to have seen thee, Enrico, at Madrid, and a gayer or more accomplished gentleman was not known at the Spanish court."
"Thy friendship blinded thee. I was a boy and full of spirits; no more, I may assure thee. Didst hear of my affair with the mousquetaire when at Paris?"
"Did I hear of the general war? Thou art too modest to raise this doubt of a meeting that occupied the coteries for a month, as it had been a victory of the powers! Signor Gradenigo, it was a pleasure to call him countryman at that time; for I do assure thee, a sprightlier or more gallant gentleman did not walk the terrace."
"Thou tellest me of what my own eyes have been a witness. Did I not arrive when men's voices spoke of nothing else? A beautiful court and a pleasant capital were those of France in our day, Signori."
"None pleasanter or of greater freedom of intercourse. St. Mark aid me with his prayers! The many pleasant hours that I have passed between the Marais and the Chateau! Didst ever meet La Comtesse de Mignon in the gardens?"
"Zitto, thou growest loquacious, caro; nay, she wanted not for grace and affability, that I will say. In what a manner they played in the houses of resort at that time!"
"I know it to my cost. Will you lend me your belief, dear friends? I arose from the table of La Belle Duchesse de——, the loser of a thousand sequins, and to this hour it seemeth but a moment that I was occupied."
"I remember the evening. Thou wert seated between the wife of the Spanish ambassador and a miladi of England. Thou wert playing at rouge-et-noir in more ways than one; for thy eyes were on thy neighbors, instead of thy cards. Giulio, I would have paid half the loss, to have read the next epistle of the worthy senator thy father!"
"He never knew it—he never knew it. We had our friends on the Rialto, and the account was settled a few years later. Thou wast well with Ninon, Enrico?"
"A companion of her leisure, and one who basked in the sunshine of her wit."
"Nay, they said thou wert of more favor—"
"Mere gossip of the saloons. I do protest, gentlemen—not that others were better received—but idle tongues will have their discourse!"
"Wert thou of the party, Alessandro, that went in a fit of gaiety from country to country till it numbered ten courts at which it appeared in as many weeks?"
"Was I not its mover? What a memory art thou getting! 'Twas for a hundred golden louis, and it was bravely won by an hour. A postponement of the reception by the elector of Bavaria went near to defeat us; but we bribed the groom of the chambers, as thou mayest remember, and got into the presence as it were by accident."
"Was that held to be sufficient?"
"That was it—for our terms mentioned the condition of holding discourse with ten sovereigns in as many weeks, in their own palaces. Oh! it was fairly won, and I believe I may say that it was as gaily expended!"
"For the latter will I vouch, since I never quitted thee while a piece of it all remained. There are divers means of dispensing gold in those northern capitals, and the task was quickly accomplished. They are pleasant countries for a few years of youth and idleness!"
"It is a pity that their climates are so rude."
A slight and general shudder expressed their Italian sympathy, but the discourse did not the less proceed.
"They might have a better sun and a clearer sky, but there is excellent cheer, and no want of hospitality," observed the Signor Gradenigo, who maintained his full share of the dialogue, though we have not found it necessary to separate sentiments that were so common among the different speakers. "I have seen pleasant hours even with the Genoese, though their town hath a cast of reflection and sobriety that is not always suited to the dispositions of youth."
"Nay, Stockholm and Copenhagen have their pleasures too, I do assure thee. I passed a season between them. Your Dane is a good joker and a hearty bottle companion."
"In that the Englishman surpasseth all! If I were to relate their powers of living in this manner, dear friends, ye would discredit me. That which I have seen often, seemeth impossible even to myself. 'Tis a gloomy abode, and one that we of Italy little like, in common."
"Name it not in comparison with Holland—wert ever in Holland, friends? didst ever enjoy the fashion of Amsterdam and the Hague? I remember to have heard a young Roman urge a friend to pass a winter there; for the witty rogue termed it the beau-ideal of the land of petticoats!"
The three old Italians, in whom this sally excited a multitude of absurd recollections and pleasant fancies, broke out into a general and hearty fit of laughter. The sound of their cracked merriment, echoing in that gloomy and solemn room, suddenly recalled them to the recollection of their duties. Each listened an instant, as if in expectation that some extraordinary consequence was to follow so extraordinary an interruption of the usual silence of the place, like a child whose truant propensities were about to draw detection on his offence, and then the principal of the council furtively wiped the tears from his eyes, and resumed his gravity.
"Signori," he said, fumbling in a bundle of papers, "we must take up the matter of the fisherman—but we will first inquire into the circumstance of the signet left the past night in the lion's mouth. Signor Gradenigo, you were charged with the examination."
"The duty hath been executed, noble Sirs, and with a success I had not hoped to meet with. Haste at our last meeting prevented a perusal of the paper to which it was attached, but it will now be seen that the two have a connexion. Here is an accusation which charges Don Camillo Monforte with a design to bear away, beyond the power of the Senate, the Donna Violetta, my ward, in order to possess her person and riches. It speaketh of proofs in possession of the accuser, as if he were an agent intrusted by the Neapolitan. As a pledge of hi
s truth, I suppose, for there is no mention made of any other use, he sends the signet of Don Camillo himself, which cannot have been obtained without that noble's confidence."
"Is it certain that he owns the ring?"
"Of that I am well assured. You know I am especially charged with conducting his personal demand with the Senate, and frequent interviews have given me opportunity to note that he was wont to wear a signet, which is now wanting. My jeweller of the Rialto hath sufficiently identified this, as the missing ring."
"Thus far it is clear, though there is an obscurity in the circumstance that the signet of the accused should be found with the accusation, which, being unexplained, renders the charge vague and uncertain. Have you any clue to the writing, or any means of knowing whence it comes?"
There was a small but nearly imperceptible red spot on the cheek of the Signor Gradenigo, that did not escape the keen distrust of his companions; but he concealed his alarm, answering distinctly that he had none.
"We must then defer a decision for further proof. The justice of St. Mark hath been too much vaunted to endanger its reputation by a hasty decree, in a question which so closely touches the interest of a powerful noble of Italy. Don Camillo Monforte hath a name of distinction, and counteth too many of note among his kindred, to be dealt with as we might dispose of a gondolier, or the messenger of some foreign state."
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