Complete Works of F Marion Crawford

by F. Marion Crawford

  “Shall we ever part again, love?” he whispered, close to her. She shook her head, her starry eyes still fastened on his.

  “Then come, my own dear one, — come,” and he gently drew her with him. He glanced, naturally enough, at the step where they had sat, and something dark caught his eye just above it. Holding her hand in one of his, as though fearful lest she should escape him, he stooped quickly and snatched the thing from the stair with the other. It was Hedwig’s little bundle.

  “What have you here?” he asked. “Oh, Hedwig, you said you would not come?” he added, half laughing, as he discovered what it was.

  “I was not sure that I should like you, Nino,” she said, as he again put his arm about her. Hedwig started violently. “What is that?” she exclaimed, in a terrified whisper.

  “What, love?”

  “The noise! Oh, Nino, there is someone on the staircase, coming down. Quick, — quick! Save me, for love’s sake!”

  But Nino had heard, too, the clumsy but rapid groping of heavy feet on the stairs above, far up in the winding stone steps, but momentarily coming nearer. Instantly he pushed Hedwig out to the street, tossing the bundle on the ground, withdrew the heavy key, shut the door, and double turned the lock from the outside, removing the key again at once. Nino is a man who acts suddenly and infallibly in great emergencies. He took Hedwig in his arms, and ran with her to where the mules were standing, twenty yards away.

  The stout countryman from Subiaco, who had spent some years in breaking stones out of consideration for the Government, as a general confession of the inaccuracy of his views regarding foreigners, was by no means astonished when he saw Nino appear with a woman in his arms. Together they seated her on one of the mules, and ran beside her, for there was no time for Nino to mount. They had to pass the door, and through all its oaken thickness they could hear the curses and imprecations of someone inside, and the wood and iron shook with repeated blows and kicks. The quick-witted muleteer saw the bundle lying where Nino had tossed it, and he picked it up as he ran.

  Both Nino and Hedwig recognised Benoni’s voice, but neither spoke as they hurried up the street into the bright moonlight, she riding and Nino running as he led the other beast at a sharp trot. In five minutes they were out of the little town, and Nino, looking back, could see that the broad white way behind them was clear of all pursuers. Then he himself mounted, and the countryman trotted by his side.

  Nino brought his mule close to Hedwig’s. She was an accomplished horsewoman, and had no difficulty in accommodating herself to the rough country saddle. Their hands met, and the mules, long accustomed to each other’s company, moved so evenly that the gentle bond was not broken. But although Hedwig’s fingers twined lovingly with his, and she often turned and looked at him from beneath her hanging veil, she was silent for a long time. Nino respected her mood, half guessing what she felt, and no sound was heard save an occasional grunt from the countryman as he urged the beasts, and the regular clatter of the hoofs on the stony road.

  To tell the truth, Nino was overwhelmed with anxiety; for his quick wits had told him that Benoni, infuriated by the check he had received, would lose no time in remounting the stairs, saddling a horse, and following them. If only they could reach the steeper part of the ravine they could bid defiance to any horse that ever galloped, for Benoni must inevitably come to grief if he attempted a pursuit into the desolate Serra. He saw that Hedwig had not apprehended the danger, when once the baron was stopped by the door, conceiving in her heart the impression that he was a prisoner in his own trap. Nevertheless, they urged the beasts onward hotly, if one may use the word of the long, heavy trot of a mountain mule. The sturdy countryman never paused or gasped for breath, keeping pace in a steady, determined fashion.

  But they need not have been disturbed, for Hedwig’s guess was nearer the truth than Nino’s reasoning. They knew it later, when Temistocle found them in Rome, and I may as well tell you how it happened. When he reached the head of the staircase, he took the key from the one side to the other, locked the door, as agreed, and sat down to wait for Hedwig’s rap. He indeed suspected that it would never come, for he had only pretended not to see the mules; but the prospect of further bribes made him anxious not to lose sight of his mistress, and certainly not to disobey her, in case she really returned. The staircase opened into the foot of the tower, a broad stone chamber, with unglazed windows.

  Temistocle sat himself down to wait on an old bench that had been put there, and the light of the full moon made the place as bright as day. Now the lock on the door was rusty, like the one below, and creaked loudly every time it was turned. But Temistocle fancied it would not be heard in the great building, and felt quite safe. Sitting there, he nodded and fell asleep, tired with the watching.

  Benoni had probably passed a fiery half hour with the count. But I have no means of knowing what was said on either side; at all events, he was in the castle still, and, what is more, he was awake. When Hedwig opened the upper door and closed it behind her, the sound was distinctly audible to his quick ears, and he probably listened and speculated, and finally yielded to his curiosity.

  However that may have been, he found Temistocle asleep in the tower basement, saw the key in the lock, guessed whence the noise had come, and turned it. The movement woke Temistocle, who started to his feet, and recognised the tall figure of the baron just entering the door. Too much confused for reflection, he called aloud, and the baron disappeared down the stairs. Temistocle listened at the top, heard distinctly the shutting and locking of the lower door, and a moment afterwards Benoni’s voice, swearing in every language at once, came echoing up.

  “They have escaped,” said Temistocle to himself. “If I am not mistaken, I had better do the same.” With that he locked the upper door, put the key in his pocket, and departed on tiptoe. Having his hat and his overcoat with him, and his money in his pocket, he determined to leave the baron shut up in the staircase. He softly left the castle by the front gate, of which he knew the tricks, and he was not heard of for several weeks afterwards. As for Benoni, he was completely caught, and probably spent the remainder of the night in trying to wake the inmates of the building. So you see that Nino need not have been so much disturbed after all.

  While these things were happening Nino and Hedwig got fairly away, and no one but a mountaineer of the district could possibly have overtaken them. Just as they reached the place where the valley suddenly narrows to a gorge, the countryman spoke. It was the first word that had been uttered by any of the party in an hour, so great had been their haste and anxiety.

  “I see a man with a beast,” he said, shortly.

  “So do I,” answered Nino. “I expect to meet a friend here.” Then he turned to Hedwig. “Dear one,” he said, “we are to have a companion now, who says he is a very proper person.”

  “A companion?” repeated Hedwig, anxiously.

  “Yes. We are to have the society of no less a person than the Professor Cornelio Grandi, of the University of Rome. He will go with us, and be a witness.”

  “Yes,” said Hedwig, expecting more, “a witness—”

  “A witness of our marriage, dear lady; I trust to-morrow, — or to-day, since midnight is past.” He leaned far over his saddle-bow, as the mules clambered up the rough place. Her hand went out to him, and he took it. They were so near that I could see them. He dropped the reins and bared his head, and so, riding, he bent himself still farther, and pressed his lips upon her hand: and that was all the marriage contract that was sealed between them. But it was enough.

  There I sat, upon a stone in the moonlight, just below the trees, waiting for them. And there I had been for two mortal hours or more, left to meditate upon the follies of professors in general and of myself in particular. I was beginning to wonder whether Nino would come at all, and I can tell you I was glad to see the little caravan. Ugh! it is an ugly place to be alone in.

  They rode up, and I went forward to meet them.

  “
Nino mio,” said I, “you have made me pass a terrible time here. Thank Heaven, you are come; and the contessina, too! Your most humble servant, signorina.” I bowed low and Hedwig bent a little forward, but the moon was just behind her, and I could not see her face.

  “I did not think we should meet so soon, Signor Grandi. But I am very glad.” There was a sweet shyness in the little speech that touched me. I am sure she was afraid that it was not yet quite right, or at least that there should be some other lady in the party.

  “Courage, Messer Cornelio,” said Nino. “Mount your donkey, and let us be on our way.”

  “Is not the contessina tired?” I inquired. “You might surely rest a little here.”

  “Caro mio,” answered Nino, “we must be safe at the top of the pass before we rest. We were so unfortunate as to wake his excellency the Baron Benoni out of some sweet dream or other, and perhaps he is not far behind us.”

  An encounter with the furious Jew was not precisely attractive to me, and I was on my donkey before you could count a score. I suggested to Nino that it would be wiser if the countryman led the way through the woods, and I followed him. Then the contessina would be behind me, and Nino would bring up the rear. It occurred to me that the mules might outstrip my donkey if I went last, and so I might be left to face the attack, if any came; whereas, if I were in front, the others could not go any faster than I.

  CHAPTER XXII

  THE GORGE RISES steep and precipitous between the lofty mountains on both sides, and it is fortunate that we had some light from the moon, which was still high at two o’clock, being at the full.

  It is a ghastly place enough. In the days of the Papal States the Serra di Sant’ Antonio, as it is called, was the shortest passage to the kingdom of Naples, and the frontier line ran across its summit. To pass from one dominion to the other it would be necessary to go out of the way some forty or fifty miles, perhaps, unless one took this route; and the natural consequence was that outlaws, smugglers, political fugitives, and all such manner of men, found it a great convenience. Soldiers were stationed in Fillettino and on the other side, to check illicit traffic and brigandage, and many were the fights that were fought among these giant beeches.

  The trees are of primeval dimensions, for no one has yet been enterprising enough to attempt to fell the timber. The gorge is so steep, and in many places so abruptly precipitous, that the logs could never be removed; and so they have grown undisturbed for hundreds of years, rotting and falling away as they stand. The beech is a lordly tree, with its great smooth trunk and its spreading branches, and though it never reaches the size of the chestnut, it is far more beautiful and long-lived.

  Here and there, at every hundred yards or so, it seemed to me, the countryman would touch his hat and cross himself as he clambered up the rocky path, and then I did likewise; for there was always some rude cross or rough attempt at the inscription of a name at such spots, which marked where a man had met his untimely end. Sometimes the moonbeams struggled through the branches, still bare of leaves, and fell on a few bold initials and a date; and sometimes we came to a broad ledge where no trees were, but only a couple of black sticks tied at right angles for a cross. It was a dismal place, and the owls hooted at us.

  Besides, it grew intensely cold towards morning, so that the countryman wanted to stop and make a fire to warm ourselves. Though it was the end of March, the ground was frozen as hard as any stone wherever it was free from rocks. But Nino dismounted, and insisted upon wrapping his cloak about Hedwig; and then he walked, for fear of catching cold, and the countryman mounted his mule and clambered away in front. In this way Hedwig and Nino lagged behind, conversing in low tones that sounded very soft; and when I looked round, I could see how he held his hand on her saddle and supported her in the rough places. Poor child, who would have thought she could bear such terrible work! But she had the blood of a soldierly old race in her veins, and would have struggled on silently till she died.

  I think it would be useless to describe every stone on the desolate journey, but when the morning dawned we were at the top, and we found the descent much easier. The rosy streaks came first, quite suddenly, and in a few minutes the sun was up, and the eventful night was past. I was never so glad to get rid of a night in my life. It is fortunate that I am so thin and light, for I could never have reached the high-road alive had I been as fat as De Pretis is; and certainly the little donkey would have died by the way. He was quite as thin when I sold him again as when I bought him, a fortnight before, in spite of the bread I had given him.

  Hedwig drew her veil close about her face as the daylight broke, for she would not let Nino see how pale and tired she was. But when at last we were in the broad, fertile valley which marks the beginning of the old kingdom of Naples, we reached a village where there was an inn, and Nino turned everyone out of the best room with a high hand, and had a couch of some sort spread for Hedwig. He himself walked up and down outside the door for five whole hours, lest she should be disturbed in her sleep. As for me I lay, on a bench, rolled in my cloak, and slept as I have not slept since I was twenty.

  Nino knew that the danger of pursuit was past now, and that the first thing necessary was to give Hedwig rest; for she was so tired that she could not eat, though there were very good eggs to be had, of which I ate three, and drank some wine, which does not compare to that on the Roman side.

  The sturdy man from Subiaco seemed like iron, for he ate sparingly and drank less, and went out into the village to secure a conveyance and to inquire the nearest way to Ceprano.

  But when, as I have said, Nino had guarded Hedwig’s door for five hours he woke me from my sleep, and by that time it was about two in the afternoon.

  “Hi, Messer Cornelio! wake up!” he cried pulling my arm. And I rubbed my eyes.

  “What do you want, Nino?” I inquired.

  “I want to be married immediately,” he replied, still pulling at my elbow.

  “Well, pumpkin-head,” I said angrily, “marry, then, in Heaven’s name, and let me sleep! I do not want to marry anybody.”

  “But I do,” retorted Nino, sitting down on the bench and laying a hand on my shoulder. He could still see Hedwig’s door from where he sat.

  “In this place?” I asked. “Are you serious?”

  “Perfectly. This is a town of some size, and there must be a mayor here who marries people when they take the fancy.”

  “Diavolo! I suppose so,” I assented.

  “A sindaco, — there must be one, surely.”

  “Very well, go and find him, good-for-nothing!” I exclaimed.

  “But I cannot go away and leave that door until she wakes,” he objected. “Dear Messer Cornelio, you have done so much for me, and are so kind, — will you not go out and find the sindaco, and bring him here to marry us?”

  “Nino,” I said, gravely, “the ass is a patient beast, and very intelligent, but there is a limit to his capabilities. So long as it is merely a question of doing things you cannot do, very well. But if it comes to this, that I must find not only the bride, but also the mayor and the priest, I say, with good Pius IX., — rest his soul, — non possumus.” Nino laughed. He could afford to laugh now.

  “Messer Cornelio, a child could tell you have been asleep. I never heard such a string of disconnected sentences in my life. Come, be kind, and get me a mayor that I may be married.”

  “I tell you I will not,” I cried, stubbornly. “Go yourself.”

  “But I cannot leave the door. If anything should happen to her—”

  “Macchè! What should happen to her, pray? I will put my bench across the door, and sit there till you come back.”

  “I am not quite sure—” he began.

  “Idiot!” I exclaimed.

  “Well, let us see how it looks.” And with that he ousted me from my bench, and carried it, walking on tiptoe, to the entrance of Hedwig’s room. Then he placed it across the door. “Now sit down,” he said, authoritatively, but in a whisper; and I
took my place in the middle of the long seat. He stood back and looked at me with an artistic squint.

  “You look so proper,” he said, “that I am sure nobody will think of trying the door while you sit there. Will you remain till I come back?”

  “Like Saint Peter in his chair,” I whispered, for I wanted to get rid of him.

  “Well, then, I must risk whatever may happen, and leave you here.” So he went away. Now I ask you if this was not a ridiculous position. But I had discovered, in the course of my fortnight’s wanderings, that I was really something of a philosopher in practice, and I am proud to say that on this occasion I smoked in absolute indifference to the absurdity of the thing. People came and stood at a distance in the passage, and eyed me curiously. But they knew I belonged to the party of foreigners, and doubtless they supposed it was the custom of my country to guard doors in that way.

  An hour passed, and I heard Hedwig stirring in the room. After a time she came close to the door and put her hand on the lock, so that it began to rattle, but she hesitated, and went away again. I once more heard her moving about. Then I heard her open the window, and at last she came boldly and opened the door, which turned inward. I sat like a rock, not knowing whether Nino would like me to turn round and look.

  “Signor Grandi!” she cried at last in laughing tones.

  “Yes, signorina!” I replied, respectfully, without moving. She hesitated.

  “What are you doing in that strange position?” she asked.

  “I am mounting guard,” I answered. “I promised Nino that I would sit here till he came back.” She fairly laughed now, and it was the most airy, silvery laugh in the world.