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In the site:
At first he was denied to us, but after a
while we got his servant to acknowledge that he was at home, and then we
made our way up to his studio.
Croppo
says it must have been magic, for he had searched you and he knew you
were not armed, and he was within a hundred yards of you when poor Pippo
fell, and he heard no sound.
In the end, however, and not without much objection, the landlord
advanced a sufficient sum to enable Richard to telegraph home.
Valeria told me that she
was still a bride, that she had only been married a few months, and that
she had been compelled to become Croppo's wife against her choice, as
the brigand's will was too powerful to be resisted; but that, though
he was jealous and attached to her, he was stern and cruel, and, so far
from winning her love since her marriage, he had rather estranged it
by his fits of passion and ferocity.
They all seemed rather astonished
at our group, and the captain laughed heartily as he rode up and called
out, "Who have you got tied to you there, _caro mio_?"
"Croppo's wife.
It was by this simple means, and by thus imposing myself upon the
hospitality of these unsophisticated people, that I worked my way, by
slow degrees, chiefly on foot, into the part of the country I desired to
visit; and I trust that I in a measure repaid them for it by the stores
of information which I imparted to them, and of which they stood much in
need, and by little sketches of their homes and the surrounding scenery,
with which I presented them.
Janovicz saw you with
her in Santa Maria della Salute the other day, and could have followed
her home quite easily if he had been so inclined.
"
We all felt a little anxiety to hear O'Brien's account of the matter,
and after having deposited the ladies at their homes Mackinnon and I
went off to his lodgings.
I shall be in hiding
with Croppo, where it will be impossible for you to find me, nor while
he lives could I ever dare to think of leaving him; but I shall never
forget you,"--and she pressed my hands to her lips,--"though I shall no
longer have the picture of the donkey to remember you by.
On the contrary, he had sent home
a remittance, as it were, by the butler, of more than five thousand
pounds.
By that night's mail he despatched a letter
home which gave the greatest delight at the Court, and also at the
vicarage, for Mr.
Richard was very amenable, and indeed showed no
desire for dissipation; his one weakness--that of having a "spree"--had
no opportunity of being gratified; and Maitland wrote home the most
gratifying letters, not only respecting the behaviour of his charge, but
of the improvement in his health.
"
He called Heaven to witness that he had never made a bet in his life
with any young gentleman, but that, having been molested, he believed by
a footpad, as he was returning home to his family, he had been compelled
to defend himself.
"And who is he, this Jack?"
"He's a dear boy," said Goneril, "and very clever; he is going home for
the Indian civil-service exam; he has been out to Calcutta to see my
father.
"
"Croppo is not far wrong," I said, glad of the opportunity thus offered
of imposing on the ignorance and credulity of the natives.
For instance:
"Administered extreme unction to A----, shot by Croppo's order; my share
ten scudi.
"
Smiling at this ambiguous compliment, I gave her the sketch she desired,
and was about to claim my reward, when she abruptly remarked:
"There is not time now; it is getting late, and I must not linger, as
I have still an hour to go before reaching home.
What does he care
about my ears?" And I laughed with such scornful contempt that Croppo
this time felt that he had made a fool of himself, and I observed
the lovely girl behind, while the corners of her mouth twitched with
suppressed laughter, make a sign of caution.
"
"And you will have the pleasure of seeing her back, I imagine; for as
for my rascal of a boy, I mean to take him off home with me as soon as
he arrives; and I can assure you that I have no intention of providing
myself with a daughter-in-law in the course of the day.
"I shall never see you again, Signor Inglese," she said, with a sigh;
"for Croppo says it is not safe, after what happened the night before
last, to stay another hour.
"Suppose I were to write to my government--how would that do?"
Croppo was evidently puzzled; my cheerful and unembarrassed manner
apparently perplexed him.
"I enclose you a check," he wrote, "just sufficient to
comfortably bring you home and pay your hotel bill, and exceedingly
regret that I cannot trust my son with more--lest he should risk it in
a way that gives his mother and myself more distress of mind than I can
express.
I saw three
prisoners captured and brought back, and when I asked the officer in
command how many had escaped he said three--Croppo's wife, the priest,
and another.
"Ditto, ditto, to S----, roasted by Croppo's order to make him name
an agent to bring his ransom; overdone by mistake, and died, so got
nothing.
About eighteen months after this I heard of the capture and execution
of Croppo, and I knew that Valeria was free; but I had unexpectedly
inherited a property and was engaged to be married.
As
one's eyes became accustomed to the dim green light one noticed the
incongruity of the furniture: the horsehair chairs and sofa, and
large accountant's desk with ledgers; the large Pleyel grand piano; a
bookcase, in which all the books were rare copies or priceless MSS.
"
"I am tolerably intimate with his Holiness the Pope, and I have a bowing
acquaintance with the King of Naples, whom may God speedily restore
to his own," I replied, in a light and airy fashion, which seemed
exceedingly to exasperate the man called Croppo.
Be that as it may, when once the
exasperated parents had discovered that they both really wanted the same
thing,--namely, to recover possession of their respective offspring, to
go home, and never meet each other again,--a species of truce was soon
agreed upon between them for the purpose of separating the two lovers,
who all this time were locked in each other's arms, in the prettiest
attitude in the world, vowing loudly that nothing should ever part them.
Lady Jane, the daughter of
a wealthy peer, who had almost put things on their old footing with her
ample dowry, was a very great lady, and had been used, I was told, to
an even more splendid home; but to me, who had no mother, she was simply
the kindest and most gracious woman I had ever known.
" But my allusion was lost upon
him, and I saw my charmer touch her forehead significantly, as though to
imply to Croppo that I was weak in the upper story.
We had been sea-fishing in a small open
boat which he had purchased, and which he managed without assistance;
that is to say, that we had provided ourselves with what was requisite
for the pursuit of that engrossing sport, and that the young count had
gone through the form of dropping his line over the side and pulling it
up, baitless and fishless, from time to time, while I had dispensed with
even this shallow pretence of employment, and had stretched myself out
full length upon the cushions which I had thoughtfully brought with me,
inhaling the salt-laden breeze, and luxuriating in perfect inaction,
till such time as it had become necessary for us to think of returning
homeward.
"
I am afraid my account of the episode with which I have acquainted the
reader was not strictly accurate in all its details, as I did not wish
to bring down my military friends on poor Valeria; so I skipped all
allusion to her and my detention in her home, merely saying that I had
had a scuffle with brigands and had been fortunate enough to escape
under cover of the night.
"There is nothing to be afraid of, lovely Valeria," I said, in a low
tone, as I lingered behind; "be sure I will never betray either your or
your rascally--hem! I mean your excellent Croppo.
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