The Duchess of Trajetto
Page 16
CHAPTER XVI.
THE DUCHESS AND THE MARCHIONESS.
It was given out to the world that Ippolito had been carried off byfever, caught on the marshes during his hot ride to and from Fondi; andthis filled the tender-hearted Duchess with grief, as she knew not butthat, had she been at home, he might yet be alive. She dwelt withmournfulness on his long-cherished attachment, wept over his poems,recalled his brightest points, and even questioned herself whether sheought to have accepted him; but the answer always was no. And surely shewas right; for whatever Ippolito's society-attractions might have been,and however his character might have been purified by householdassociation with a better nature, his worse qualities would undoubtedlyhave cropped out as long as he remained an unconverted man. Might notshe have converted him? Why, Vittoria, who knew her best, would havetold you that, at this time, Giulia was not even converted herself. Shewas very sweet, very amiable and charming; but she had not the faithwhich saves. Vittoria, with her higher views and deeper nature, wasalmost out of patience with her sometimes.
"What is it you want? What is it you need?" she would say to her; tryingto rouse her to a nobler life. "I can tell you: you want the HolySpirit; and He will come to you if you seek Him: but unsought, He isunfound."
"O Vittoria! why _will_ you torment me so?" said Giulia, fretfully. "Iwant rest; I want peace."
"Rest and peace? Why, you have a great deal too much of both to be goodfor you; and as for your lawsuit, that is a mere mosquito-sting, thatdraws neither blood nor tears. Fie on you, Giulia! with all youradvantages, you ought not to sit and wail about nothing. I think youloved Ippolito more than you say you did, or you would not give way so."
"I did not love Ippolito at all," said Giulia, nettled. "I suppose onemay be sorry for a friend, without having been in love with him. You doinjustice to the memory of my dear Duke, to suppose I could ever forgethim."
"As to that," said Vittoria, "considering your good Duke's years andinfirmities, it is difficult for any one to see why you should beinconsolable. I am sure I am quite ready to do justice to all hisqualities of head and heart; but, if I am to speak sincerely, I must ownthat your deploring him in the way you have done has always seemed to mea little exaggerated."
"I never asked you to speak sincerely," returned Giulia; "and peoplegenerally make that a pretext for saying things that are disagreeable.As for exaggeration, nobody possessed of any feeling could consistentlyaccuse me of having too much of it."
"I am the last person to make an inconsistent accusation," observedVittoria, "and my own irreparable and immense loss is too world-knownfor any one to say I want feeling. I think, cousin, there is no one inItaly, unless yourself, who has not compassionated me in having beenbereaved of my beloved, adored Pescara, a man of infinite virtues,graces, and attractions; in war a hero, in wisdom a sage; in love andconstancy a perfect phoenix,--reft from me, me wretched! in the veryprime and flower of his life."
"Well, and I was very sorry for it," said Giulia, "as sorry as it waspossible to be for a man I had never seen, because I could feel for_you_, cousin; and I went into the deepest mourning--"
"The outward garb has little to do with inward woe, Duchess," saidVittoria, severely, "else I had worn weeds for ever"--and she plungedinto her pocket for her handkerchief.
"Well, and so should I have done, Marchioness," said Giulia. And thenthey both burst into tears.
"Oh, Giulia," said Vittoria, in a stifled voice, after crying some time,"why _will_ you try me so?"
"Why, you began," said Giulia. And then they embraced, like Brutus andCassius; and Vittoria's good and kindly nature recovering itsascendancy, she said with her charming smile:
"I really thank you, Giulia, for upsetting me, for I have wanted therelief of a good cry for some time."
"You dear thing," said Giulia, kissing her--"that was just my feelingtoo."
So, after this little squall, there was bright sunshine. And as thiswas only a day or two before the 17th of August, when the Emperor wasexpected to land on his return from Africa, Vittoria proposed to Giuliathat they should witness the procession together from the balcony of afriend's palace in the best situation.
Giulia said half reluctantly, "I don't affect such worldly scenesmuch--"
"Nor do I, certainly," said Vittoria. "But yet I should like to show myloyalty to the Emperor; and the scene will not be a mere show, but willhave a kind of historic interest; and will doubtless figure hereafter onthe historic page. So that, if I go, surely you may."
"Ah, well, we will go together," said Giulia, who really liked the idea.So these two illustrious ladies were among the fairest of the fair whoseeyes "rained influence" on the gay pageant; and, the same evening, thestaid, sober Emperor left the banquet early, and sought out the widowof his brave though not blameless general, Pescara; and he liked her sowell, that the following year, when he and she were in Rome, she wasalmost the only lady whom he condescended to visit.
On the present occasion, Giulia was with her; and something happening tobe said by the Viceroy, Don Pedro di Toledo, who accompanied theEmperor, about her roses having paled in consequence of her vexatiouslawsuit, Charles inquired into it, and in his dry, succinct way, desiredDon Pedro to see to it, and let the affair be adjusted. So, when theEmperor was gone, the Viceroy undertook the investigation of the rivalladies' claims; and the result was, that he advised the Duchess to besatisfied with her ample dowry, and the addition made to it by herhusband.
This did not content Isabella, who laid claim to thirteen thousandducats for pin-money, and required that a judicial disposition sheherself had made should be declared void! She offered, as a set-off, togive up five hundred ducats per annum to Giulia; but again changed hermind. So that Giulia, nearly worried out of her life by thisunreasonable woman, again appealed to the Emperor, who deputed acommission of three members of his council to give judgment as the caserequired. This unpleasant affair extended through great part of anotheryear.
Nothing brings out the unromantic features of human nature sounpleasantly as a lawsuit. Giulia was in a constant turmoil; and shelacked those leadings to a better life, which Ochino might have affordedher; for he had been summoned to Venice by Cardinal Bembo, who wasanxious to hear him.
This cardinal was not a good man, though I suppose there are goodcardinals now and then; however, he was at least a distinguished manand a great scholar. And being an epicure in pulpit eloquence, he wroteto Vittoria Colonna, begging her to use her known influence with FraBernardino, to induce him to preach at Venice during the ensuing Lent.Vittoria complied with his behest; and Ochino consequently went toVenice, where the impression that he made may be judged-of from thefollowing passage in a letter from the Cardinal to the Marchioness:
"I send Vossignoria notes of Fra Bernardino's sermons, to which I have listened with a pleasure I cannot express. Certainly, I never heard so capital a preacher, and I cannot wonder at your estimation of him. He discourses in quite another manner from any one I have ever heard; and in a more Christian spirit; bringing forward truths of the utmost weight, and enforcing them with loving earnestness. Every one is charmed with him: he will carry away all our hearts."
And again:
"I write to you, Marchioness, as freely as I talk to Fra Bernardino, to whom I this morning opened my whole heart. Never have I had the pleasure of speaking to a holier man. I ought to be now at Padua, on account of a business which has engaged me all the year, and also to get out of the way of the constant applications with which I am assailed on account of this blessed cardinalate; but I could not bear to lose the opportunity of hearing some more of his excellent sermons."
And again:
"Our Fra Bernardino, whom I must call mine as well as yours, is at present adored in this city. There is not a man or woman who does not cry him up to the skies. Oh, what pleasure! oh, what delight, oh, what joy has he not given! But I will reserve his praises till I see Vossignoria, and meanti
me pray God to prolong his life for the glory of the Lord and the good of man."
What a pity that this enthusiasm was so short-lived! Ochino was soonafterwards chosen Director of the Capuchins. His influence over hisbrother friars was then great; and many of them, before they were wellaware of it, became imbued with the reformed opinions. Purgatory,penance, and papal pardons crumbled and fell before his powerfullywielded hammer, the doctrine of justification by faith.
Side by side with him laboured Pietro Martire Vermigli, who possessedmore scholarship, and who, while Ochino filled the pulpit, furthered thesame cause by delivering lectures on the Epistles of St. Paul. Manymonks, many students, many nobles attended these lectures. At lengththeir tone became so different from that of the Church, that theViceroy interdicted him from preaching and lecturing. But PietroMartire appealed to Rome, and obtained the removal of the interdict.