Complete Works of F Marion Crawford

by F. Marion Crawford

  “Meglio cosi, — so much the better. Good-night, Sor Conte. Good-night, Nino.” And so he turned down the Via Paola, and Nino and I went our way. I stopped to buy a cigar at the little tobacco shop just opposite the Tordinona Theatre. They used to be only a baiocco apiece, and I could get one at a time. But now they are two for three baiocchi; and so I have to get two always, because there are no half baiocchi any more — nothing but centimes. That is one of the sources of my extravagance. Mariuccia says I am miserly; she was born poor, and never had to learn the principles of economy.

  “Nino mio,” I said, as we went along, “you really make me laugh.”

  “Which is to say—” He was humming a tune again, and was cross because I interrupted him.

  “You are in love. Do not deny it. You are already planning how you can make the acquaintance of the foreign contessa. You are a fool. Go home, and get Mariuccia to give you some syrup of tamarind to cool your blood.”

  “Well? Now tell me, were you never in love with anyone yourself?” he asked, by way of answer; and I could see the fierce look come into his eyes in the dark as he said it.

  “Altro, — that is why I laugh at you. When I was your age I had been in love twenty times. But I never fell in love at first sight — and with a doll; really a wax doll, you know, like the Madonna in the presepio that they set up at the Ara Coeli, at Epiphany.”

  “A doll!” he cried. “Who is a doll, if you please?” We stopped at the corner of the street to argue it out.

  “Do you think she is really alive?” I asked, laughing. Nino disdained to answer me, but he looked savagely from under the brim of his hat. “Look here,” I continued, “women like that are only made to be looked at. They never love, for they have no hearts. It is lucky if they have souls, like Christians.”

  “I will tell you what I think,” said he stoutly; “she is an angel.”

  “Oh! is that all? Did you ever hear of an angel being married?”

  “You shall hear of it, Sor Cornelio, and before long. I swear to you, here, that I will marry the Contessina di Lira — if that is her name — before two years are out. Ah, you do not believe me. Very well. I have nothing more to say.”

  “My dear son,” said I, — for he is a son to me,— “you are talking nonsense. How can anybody in your position hope to marry a great lady, who is an heiress? Is it not true that it is all stuff and nonsense?”

  “No, it is not true,” cried Nino, setting his square jaw like a bit and speaking through his teeth. “I am ugly, you say; I am dark, and I have no position, or wealth, or anything of the kind. I am the son of a peasant and of a peasant’s wife. I am anything you please, but I will marry her if I say I will. Do you think it is for nothing that you have taught me the language of Dante, of Petrarca, of Silvio Pellico? Do you think it is for nothing that Heaven has given me my voice? Do not the angels love music, and cannot I make as good songs as they? Or do you think that because I am bred a singer my hand is not as strong as a fine gentleman’s — contadino as I am? I will — I will and I will, Basta!”

  I never saw him look like that before. He had folded his arms, and he nodded his head a little at each repetition of the word, looking at me so hard, as we stood under the gas lamp in the street, that I was obliged to turn my eyes away. He stared me out of countenance — he, a peasant boy! Then we walked on.

  “And as for her being a wax doll, as you call her,” he continued after a little time, “that is nonsense, if you want the word to be used. Truly, a doll! And the next minute you compare her to the Madonna! I am sure she has a heart as big as this,” and he stretched out his hands into the air. “I can see it in her eyes. Ah, what eyes!”

  I saw it was no use arguing on that tack, and I felt quite sure that he would forget all about it, though he looked so determined, and talked so grandly about his will.

  “Nino,” I said, “I am older than you.” I said this to impress him, of course, for I am not really so very old.

  “Diamini!” he cried impertinently, “I believe it!”

  “Well, well, do not be impatient. I have seen something in my time, and I tell you those foreign women are not like ours, a whit. I fell in love, once, with a northern fairy, — she was not German, but she came from Lombardy, you see, — and that is the reason why I lost Serveti and all the rest.”

  “But I have no Serveti to lose,” objected Nino.

  “You have a career as a musician to lose. It is not much of a career to be stamping about with a lot of figuranti and scene-shifters, and screaming yourself hoarse every night.” I was angry because he laughed at my age. “But it is a career, after all, that you have chosen for yourself. If you get mixed up in an intrigue now, you may ruin yourself. I hope you will.”

  “Grazie! And then?”

  “Eh, it might not be such a bad thing after all. For if you could be induced to give up the stage—”

  “I — I give up singing?” he cried, indignantly.

  “Oh, such things happen, you know. If you were to give it up, as I was saying, you might then possibly use your mind. A mind is a much better thing than a throat, after all.”

  “Ebbene! talk as much as you please, for, of course, you have the right, for you have brought me up, and you have certainly opposed my singing enough to quiet your conscience. But, dear professor, I will do all that I say, and if you will give me a little help in this matter, you will not repent it.”

  “Help? Dio mio! What do you take me for? As if I could help you, or would! I suppose you want money to make yourself a dandy, a piano, to go and stand at the corner of the Piazza Colonna and ogle her as she goes by! In truth! You have fine projects.”

  “No,” said Nino quietly, “I do not want any money or anything else at present, thank you. And do not be angry, but come into the caffè and drink some lemonade; and I will invite you to it, for I have been paid for my last copying that I sent in yesterday.” He put his arm in mine, and we went in. There is no resisting Nino when he is affectionate. But I would not let him pay for the lemonade. I paid for it myself. What extravagance!

  CHAPTER III

  NOW I OUGHT to tell you that many things in this story were only told me quite lately, for at first I would not help Nino at all, thinking it was but a foolish fancy of his boy’s heart and would soon pass. I have tried to gather and to order all the different incidents into one harmonious whole, so that you can follow the story; and you must not wonder that I can describe some things that I did not see, and that I know how some of the people felt; for Nino and I have talked over the whole matter very often, and the baroness came here and told me her share, though I wonder how she could talk so plainly of what must have given her so much pain. But it was very kind of her to come; and she sat over there in the old green arm-chair by the glass case that has the artificial flowers under it, and the sugar lamb that the padre curato gave Nino when he made his first communion at Easter. However, it is not time to speak of the baroness yet, but I cannot forget her.

  Nino was very amusing when he began to love the young countess, and the very first morning — the day after we had been to St. Peter’s — he went out at half-past six, though it was only just sunrise, for we were in October. I knew very well that he was going for his extra lesson with De Pretis, but I had nothing to say about it, and I only recommended him to cover himself well, for the sirocco had passed and it was a bright morning, with a clear tramontana wind blowing fresh from the north. I can always tell when it is a tramontana wind before I open my window, for Mariuccia makes such a clattering with the coffee-pot in the kitchen, and the goldfinch in the sitting-room sings very loud; which he never does if it is cloudy. Nino, then, went off to Maestro Ercole’s house for his singing, and this is what happened there.

  De Pretis knew perfectly well that Nino had only asked for the extra lesson in order to get a chance of talking about the Contessina di Lira, and so, to tease him, as soon as he appeared, the maestro made a great bustle about singing scales, and insisted on beginnin
g at once. Moreover, he pretended to be in a bad humour; and that is always pretence with him.

  “Ah, my little tenor,” he began; “you want a lesson at seven in the morning, do you? That is the time when all the washerwomen sing at the fountain! Well, you shall have a lesson, and by the body of Bacchus it shall be a real lesson! Now, then! Andiamo — Do-o-o!” and he roared out a great note that made the room shake, and a man who was selling cabbage in the street stopped his hand-cart and mimicked him for five minutes.

  “But I am out of breath, maestro,” protested Nino, who wanted to talk.

  “Out of breath? A singer is never out of breath. Absurd! What would you do if you got out of breath, say, in the last act of Lucia, so — Bell’alma ado — ?? Then your breath ends, eh? Will you stay with the ‘adored soul’ between your teeth? A fine singer you will make! Andiamo! Do-o-o!”

  Nino saw he must begin, and he set up a shout, much against his will, so that the cabbage-vendor chimed in, making so much noise that the old woman who lives opposite opened her window and emptied a great dustpan full of potato peelings and refuse leaves of lettuce right on his head. And then there was a great noise. But the maestro paid no attention, and went on with the scale, hardly giving Nino time to breathe. Nino, who stood behind De Pretis while he sang, saw the copy of Bordogni’s solfeggi lying on a chair, and managed to slip it under a pile of music near by, singing so lustily all the while that the maestro never looked round.

  When he got to the end of the scale Ercole began hunting for the music, and as he could not find it, Nino asked him questions.

  “Can she sing, — this contessina of yours, maestro?” De Pretis was overturning everything in his search.

  “An apoplexy on those solfeggi and on the man who made them!” he cried. “Sing, did you say? Yes, a great deal better than you ever will. Why can you not look for your music, instead of chattering?” Nino began to look where he knew it was not.

  “By the by, do you give her lessons every day?” asked the boy.

  “Every day? Am I crazy, to ruin people’s voices like that?”

  “Caro maestro, what is the matter with you this morning? You have forgotten to say your prayers!”

  “You are a donkey, Nino; here he is, this blessed Bordogni, — now come.”

  “Sor Ercole mio,” said Nino in despair, “I must really know something about this angel, before I sing at all.” Ercole sat down on the piano stool, and puffed up his cheeks, and heaved a tremendous sigh, to show how utterly bored he was by his pupil. Then he took a large pinch of snuff, and sighed again.

  “What demon have you got into your head?” he asked, at length.

  “What angel, you mean,” answered Nino, delighted at having forced the maestro to a parley. “I am in love with her — crazy about her,” he cried, running his fingers through his curly hair, “and you must help me to see her. You can easily take me to her house to sing duets as part of her lesson. I tell you I have not slept a wink all night for thinking of her, and unless I see her I shall never sleep again as long as I live. Ah!” he cried, putting his hands on Ercole’s shoulders, “you do not know what it is to be in love! How everything one touches is fire, and the sky is like lead, and one minute you are cold and one minute you are hot, and you may turn and turn on your pillow all night and never sleep, and you want to curse everybody you see, or to embrace them, it makes no difference — anything to express the—”

  “Devil! and may he carry you off!” interrupted Ercole, laughing. But his manner changed. “Poor fellow,” he said presently, “it appears to me you are in love.”

  “It appears to you, does it? ‘Appears’ — a beautiful word, in faith. I can tell you it appears to me so, too. Ah! it ‘appears’ to you — very good indeed!” And Nino waxed wroth.

  “I will give you some advice, Ninetto mio. Do not fall in love with anyone. It always ends badly.”

  “You come late with your counsel, Sor Ercole. In truth, a very good piece of advice when a man is fifty, and married, and wears a skull-cap. When I wear a skull-cap and take snuff I will follow your instructions.” He walked up and down the room, grinding his teeth, and clapping his hands together. Ercole rose and stopped him.

  “Let us talk seriously,” he said.

  “With all my heart; as seriously as you please.”

  “You have only seen this signorina once.”

  “Once!” cried Nino,— “as if once were not—”

  “Diavolo; let me speak. You have only seen her once. She is noble, an heiress, a great lady — worse than all, a foreigner; as beautiful as a statue, if you please, but twice as cold. She has a father who knows the proprieties, a piece of iron, I tell you, who would kill you just as he would drink a glass of wine, with the greatest indifference, if he suspected you lifted your eyes to his daughter.”

  “I do not believe your calumnies,” said Nino still hotly, “She is not cold, and if I can see her she will listen to me. I am sure of it.”

  “We will speak of that by and by. You — what are you? Nothing but a singer, who has not even appeared before the public, without a baiocco in the world or anything else but your voice. You are not even handsome.”

  “What difference does that make to a woman of heart?” retorted Nino angrily. “Let me only speak to her—”

  “A thousand devils!” exclaimed De Pretis impatiently; “what good will you do by speaking to her? Are you Dante, or Petrarca, or a preacher — what are you? Do you think you can have a great lady’s hand for the asking? Do you flatter yourself that you are so eloquent that nobody can withstand you?”

  “Yes,” said Nino, boldly. “If I could only speak to her—”

  “Then in heaven’s name, go and speak to her. Get a new hat and a pair of lavender gloves, and walk about the Villa Borghese until you meet her, and then throw yourself on your knees and kiss her feet, and the dust from her shoes; and say you are dying for her, and will she be good enough to walk as far as Santa Maria del Popolo and be married to you! That is all; you see it is nothing you ask — a mere politeness on her part — oh, nothing, nothing.” And De Pretis rubbed his hands and smiled, and seeing that Nino did not answer, he blew his nose with his great blue cotton handkerchief.

  “You have no heart at all, maestro,” said Nino at last. “Let us sing.”

  They worked hard at Bordogni for half an hour, and Nino did not open his mouth except to produce the notes. But as his blood was up from the preceding interview he took great pains, and Ercole, who makes him sing all the solfeggi he can from a sense of duty, himself wearied of the ridiculous old-fashioned runs and intervals.

  “Bene,” he said; “let us sing a piece now, and then you will have done enough.” He put an opera on the piano, and Nino lifted up his voice and sang, only too glad to give his heart passage to his lips. Ercole screwed up his eyes with a queer smile he has when he is pleased.

  “Capperi!” he ejaculated, when Nino had done.

  “What has happened?” asked the latter.

  “I cannot tell you what has happened,” said Ercole, “but I will tell you that you had better always sing like that, and you will be applauded. Why have you never sung that piece in that way before?”

  “I do not know. Perhaps it is because I am unhappy.”

  “Very well, never dare to be happy again, if you mean to succeed. You can make a statue shed tears if you please.” Ercole took a pinch of snuff, and turned round to look out of the window. Nino leaned on the piano, drumming with his fingers and looking at the back of the maestro’s head. The first rays of the sun just fell into the room and gilded the red brick floor.

  “Then instead of buying lavender kid gloves,” said Nino at last, his face relaxing a little, “and going to the Villa Borghese, you advise me to borrow a guitar and sing to my statue? Is that it?”

  “Che Diana! I did not say that!” said Ercole, still facing the window and finishing his pinch of snuff with a certain satisfaction. “But if you want the guitar, take it — there it li
es. I will not answer for what you do with it.” His voice sounded kindly, for he was so much pleased. Then he made Nino sing again, a little love song of Tosti, who writes for the heart and sings so much better without a voice than all your stage tenors put together. And the maestro looked long at Nino when he had done, but he did not say anything. Nino put on his hat gloomily enough, and prepared to go.

  “I will take the guitar, if you will lend it to me,” he said.

  “Yes, if you like, and I will give you a handkerchief to wrap it up with,” said De Pretis, absently, but he did not get up from his seat. He was watching Nino, and he seemed to be thinking. Just as the boy was going with the instrument under his arm he called him back.

  “Ebbene?” said Nino, with his hand on the lock of the door.

  “I will make you a song to sing to your guitar,” said Ercole.

  “You?”

  “Yes — but without music. Look here, Nino — sit down. What a hurry you are in. I was young myself, once upon time.”

  “Once upon a time! Fairy stories — once upon a time there was a king, and so on.” Nino was not to be easily pacified.

  “Well, perhaps it is a fairy tale, but it is in the future. I have an idea.”

  “Oh, is that all? But it is the first time. I understand.”

  Listen. Have you read Dante?”

  “I know the Vita Nuova by heart, and some of the Commedia. But how the diavolo does Dante enter into this question?”

  “And Silvio Pellico, and a little literature?” continued Ercole, not heeding the comment.

  “Yes, after a fashion. And you? Do you know them?”

  “Che c’entro io?” cried Ercole, impatiently; “what do I want to know such things for? But I have heard of them.”

  “I congratulate you,” replied Nino, ironically.

  “Have patience. You are no longer an artist. You are a professor of literature.”

  “I — a professor of literature? What nonsense are you talking?”