At each of the opposite inlets he saw people struggling into the piazza, while above them paper lanterns, held aloft on sticks, were waving uncertainly to and fro. A rude monotonous5 chant made a distinctly traceable strand6 of noise, across which screams, whistles, gibing7 chants in piping boyish voices, the beating of drums, and the ringing of little bells, met each other in confused din9. Every now and then one of the dim floating lights disappeared with a smash from a stone launched more or less vaguely10 in pursuit of mischief11, followed by a scream and renewed shouts. But on the outskirts12 of the whirling tumult13 there were groups who were keeping this vigil of the Nativity of the Virgin14 in a more methodical manner than by fitful stone-throwing and gibing. Certain ragged15 men, darting16 a hard sharp glance around them while their tongues rattled17 merrily, were inviting18 country people to game with them on fair and open-handed terms; two masquerading figures on stilts19, who had snatched lanterns from the crowd, were swaying the lights to and fro in meteoric20 fashion, as they strode hither and thither21; a sage22 trader was doing a profitable business at a small covered stall, in hot berlingozzi, a favourite farinaceous delicacy23; one man standing24 on a barrel, with his back firmly planted against a pillar of the loggia in front of the Foundling Hospital (Spedale degl’ Innocenti), was selling efficacious pills, invented by a doctor of Salerno, warranted to prevent toothache and death by drowning; and not far off, against another pillar, a tumbler was showing off his tricks on a small platform; while a handful of ‘prentices, despising the slack entertainment of guerilla stone-throwing, were having a private concentrated match of that favourite Florentine sport at the narrow entrance of the Via de’ Febbrai.
Tito, obliged to make his way through chance openings in the crowd, found himself at one moment close to the trotting25 procession of barefooted, hard-heeled contadine, and could see their sun-dried, bronzed faces, and their strange, fragmentary garb26, dim with hereditary27 dirt and of obsolete28 stuffs and fashions, that made them look in the eyes of the city people, like a way-worn ancestry29 returning from a pilgrimage on which they had set out a century ago. Just then it was the hardy30, scant-feeding peasant-women from the mountains of Pistoia, who were entering with a year’s labour in a moderate bundle of yarn31 on their backs and in their hearts that meagre hope of good and that wide dim fear of harm, which were somehow to be cared for by the Blessed Virgin, whose miraculous32 image, painted by the angels, was to have the curtain drawn33 away from it on this Eve of her Nativity, that its potency34 might stream forth35 without obstruction36.
At another moment he was forced away towards the boundary of the piazza, where the more stationary37 candidates for attention and small coin had judiciously38 placed themselves, in order to be safe in their rear. Among these Tito recognised his acquaintance Bratti, who stood with his back against a pillar, and his mouth pursed up in disdainful silence, eyeing every one who approached him with a cold glance of superiority, and keeping his hand fast on a serge covering which concealed39 the contents of the basket slung40 before him. Rather surprised at a deportment so unusual in an anxious trader, Tito went nearer and saw two women go up to Bratti’s basket with a look of curiosity, whereupon the pedlar drew the covering tighter, and looked another way. It was quite too provoking. and one of the women was fain to ask what there was in his hasket?
‘Before I answer that, Monna, I must know whether you mean to buy. I can’t show such wares41 as mine in this fair for every fly to settle on and pay nothing. My goods are a little too choice for that. Besides, I’ve only two left, and I’ve no mind to sell them; for with the chances of the pestilence42 that wise men talk of, there is likelihood of their being worth their weight in gold. No, no: andate con8 Dio.’ The two women looked at each other. ‘And what may be the price?’ said the second.
‘Not within what you are likely to have in your purse, buona donna,’ said Bratti, in a compassionately43 supercilious44 tone. ‘I recommend you to trust in Messer Domeneddio and the saints: poor people can do no better for themselves.’
‘Not so poor!’ said the second woman, indignantly, drawing out her money-bag. ‘Come, now! what do you say to a grosso?’
‘I say you may get twenty-one quattrini for it,’ said Bratti, coolly; ‘but not of me, for I haven46’t got that small change.’
‘Come: two, then?’ said the woman, getting exasperated47, while her companion looked at her with some envy. ‘It will hardly be above two, I think.’
After further bidding, and further mercantile coquetry Bratti put on an air of concession48.
‘Since you’ve set your mind on it,’ he said, slowly raising the cover, ‘I should be loth to do you a mischief; for Maestro Gabbadeo used to say, when a woman sets her mind on a thing and doesn’t get it, she’s in worse danger of the pestilence than before. Ecco! I have but two left; and let me tell you, the fellow to them is on the finger of Maestro Gabbadeo, who is gone to Bologna — as wise a doctor as sits at any door.’
The precious objects were two clumsy iron rings, beaten into the fashion of old Roman rings, such as were sometimes disinterred. The rust45 on them, and the entirely49 hidden character of their potency, were so satisfactory, that the grossi were paid without grumbling50, and the first woman destitute51 of those handsome coins, succeeded after much show of reluctance52 on Bratti’s part in driving a bargain with some of her yarn, and carried off the remaining ring in triumph. Bratti covered up his basket, which was now filled with miscellanies, probably obtained under the same sort of circumstances as the yarn, and, moving from his pillar, came suddenly upon Tito, who, if he had had time, would have chosen to avoid recognition.
‘By the head of San Giovanni, now,’ said Bratti, drawing Tito back to the pillar, ‘this is a piece of luck. For I was talking of you this morning, Messer Greco; but, I said, he is mounted up among the signori now — and I’m glad of it, for I was at the bottom of his fortune — but I can rarely get speech of him, for he’s not to be caught lying on the stones now — not he! But it’s your luck, not mine, Messer Greco, save and except some small trifle to satisfy me for my trouble in the transaction.’
‘You speak in riddles53, Bratti,’ said Tito. ‘Remember, I don’t sharpen my wits, as you do, by driving hard bargains for iron rings: you must be plain.’
‘By the Holy ‘Vangels! it was an easy bargain I gave them. If a Hebrew gets thirty-two per cent, I hope a Christian54 may get a little more. If I had not borne a conscience, I should have got twice the money and twice the yarn. But, talking of rings, it is your ring — that very ring you’ve got on your finger — that I could get you a purchaser for; ay, and a purchaser with a deep money-bag.’
‘Truly?’ said Tito, looking at his ring and listening.
‘A Genoese who is going straight away into Hungary, as I understand. He came and looked all over my shop to see if I had any old things I didn’t know the price of; I warrant you, he thought I had a pumpkin55 on my shoulders. He had been rummaging56 all the shops in Florence. And he had a ring on — not like yours, but something of the same fashion; and as he was talking of rings, I said I knew a fine young man, a particular acquaintance of mine, who had a ring of that sort. And he said, “Who is he, pray? Tell him I’ll give him his price for it.” And I thought of going after you to Nello’s to-morrow; for it’s my opinion of you, Messer Greco, that you’re not one who’d see the Arno run broth57, and stand by without dipping your finger.’
Tito had lost no word of what Bratti had said, yet his mind had been very busy all the while. Why should he keep the ring? It had been a mere58 sentiment, a mere fancy, that had prevented him from selling it with the other gems59; if he had been wiser and had sold it, he might perhaps have escaped that identification by Fra Luca. It was true that it had been taken from Baldassarre’s finger and put on his own as soon as his young hand had grown to the needful size; but there was really no valid60 good to anybody in those superstitious61 scruplcs about inanimate objects. The ring had helped towards the recognition of him. Tito had begun to dislike recognition, which was a claim from the past. This foreigner’s offer, if he would really give a good price, was an opportunity for getting rid of the ring without the trouble of seeking a purchaser.
‘You speak with your usual wisdom, Bratti,’ said Tito. ‘I have no objection to hear what your Genoese will offer. But when and where shall I have speech of him?’
‘To-morrow, at three hours after sunrise, he will be at my shop, and if your wits are of that sharpness I have always taken them to be, Messer Greco, you will ask him a heavy price; for he minds not money. It’s my belief he’s buying for somebody else, and not for himself — perhaps for some great signor.’
‘It is well,’ said Tito. ‘I will be at your shop, if nothing hinders.’
‘And you will doubtless deal nobly by me for old acquaintance’ sake, Messer Greco, so I will not stay to fix the small sum you will give me in token of my service in the matter. It seems to me a thousand years now till I get out of the piazza, for a fair is a dull, not to say a wicked thing, when one has no more goods to sell.’
Tito made a hasty sign of assent62 and adieu, and moving away from the pillar, again found himself pushed towards the middle of the piazza and back again, without the power of determining his own course. In this zigzag63 way he was carried along to the end of the piazza opposite the church, where, in a deep recess64 formed by an irregularity in the line of houses, an entertainment was going forward which seemed to be especially attractive to the crowd. Loud bursts of laughter interrupted a monologue66 which was sometimes slow and oratorical67, at others rattling68 and buffoonish69. Here a girl was being pushed forward into the inner circle with apparent reluctance, and there a loud laughing minx was finding a way with her own elbows. It was a strange light that was spread over the piazza. There were the pale stars breaking out above, and the dim waving lanterns below leaving all objects indistinct except when they were seen close under the fitfully moving lights; but in this recess there was a stronger light, against which the heads of the encircling spectators stood in dark relief as Tito was gradually pushed towards them, while above them rose the head of a man wearing a white mitre with yellow cabalistic figures upon it.
‘Behold70, my children!’ Tito heard him saying, ‘behold your opportunity! neglect not the holy sacrament of matrimony when it can be had for the small sum of a white quattrino — the cheapest matrimony ever offered, and dissolved by special bull beforehand at every man’s own will and pleasure. Behold the bull!’ Here the speaker held up a piece of parchment with huge seals attached to it. ‘Behold the indulgence granted by his Holiness Alexander the Sixth, who, being newly elected Pope for his peculiar71 piety72, intends to reform and purify the Church, and wisely begins by abolishing that priestly abuse which keeps too large a share of this privileged matrimony to the clergy73 and stints74 the laity75. Spit once, my sons, and pay a white quattrino! This is the whole and sole price of the indulgence. The quattrino is the only difference the Holy Father allows to be put any longer between us and the clergy — who spit and pay nothing.’
Tito thought he knew the voice, which had a peculiarly sharp ring, but the face was too much in shadow from the lights behind for him to be sure of the features. Stepping as near as he could, he saw within the circle behind the speaker an altar-like table raised on a small platform, and covered with a red drapery stitched all over with yellow cabalistical figures. Half-a-dozen thin tapers78 burned at the back of this table, which had a conjuring79 apparatus80 scattered81 over it, a large open book in the centre, and at one of the front angles a monkey fastened by a cord to a small ring and holding a small taper77, which in his incessant82 fidgety movements fell more or less aslant83, whilst an impish boy in a white surplice occupied himself chiefly in cuffing85 the monkey, and adjusting the taper. The man in the mitre also wore a surplice, and over it a chasuble on which the signs of the zodiac were rudely marked in black upon a yellow ground. Tito was sure now that he recognised the sharp upward-tending angles of the face under the mitre: it was that of Maestro Vaiano, the mountebank87, from whom he had rescued Tessa. Pretty little Tessa! Perhaps she too had come in among the troops of contadine.
‘Come, my maidens88! This is the time for the pretty who can have many chances, and for the ill-favoured who have few. Matrimony to be had — hot, eaten, and done with as easily as berlingozzi! And see!’ here the conjuror89 held up a cluster of tiny bags. ‘To every bride I give a Breve with a secret in it — the secret alone worth the money you pay for the matrimony. The secret how to — no, no, I will not tell you what the secret is about, and that makes it a double secret. Hang it round your neck if you like, and never look at it; I don’t say that will not be the best, for then you will see many things you don’t expect: though if you open it you may break your leg, e vero, but you will know a secret! Something nobody knows but me! And mark — I give you the Breve, I don’t sell it, as many another holy man would: the quattrino is for the matrimony, and the Breve you get for nothing. Orsu, giovanetti, come like dutiful sons of the Church and buy the Indulgence of his Holiness Alexander the Sixth.’
This buffoonery just fitted the taste of the audience; the fierucola was but a small occasion, so the townsmen might be contented90 with jokes that were rather less indecent than those they were accustomed to hear at every carnival91, put into easy rhyme by the Magnifico and his poetic92 satellites; while the women, over and above any relish93 of the fun, really, began to have an itch76 for the Brevi. Several couples had already gone through the ceremony, in which the conjuror’s solemn gibberish and grimaces94 over the open book, the antics of the monkey, and even the preliminary spitting, had called forth peals95 of laughter; and now a well-looking, merry-eyed youth of seventeen, in a loose tunic96 and red cap, pushed forward, holding by the hand a plump brunette, whose scanty97 ragged dress displayed her round arms and legs very picturesquely98.
‘Fetter us without delay, Maestro!’ said the youth, ‘for I have got to take my bride home and paint her under the light of a lantern.’
‘Ha! Mariotto, my son, I commend your pious99 observance . . .’ The conjuror was going on, when a loud chattering100 behind warned him that an unpleasant crisis had arisen with his monkey.
The temper of that imperfect acolyth was a little tried by the over-active discipline of his colleague in the surplice, and a sudden cuff86 administered as his taper fell to a horizontal position, caused him to leap back with a violence that proved too much for the slackened knot by which his cord was fastened. His first leap was to the other end of the table, from which position his remonstrances101 were so threatening that the imp84 in the surplice took up a wand by way of an equivalent threat, whereupon the monkey leaped on to the head of a tall woman in the foreground, dropping his taper by the way, and chattering with increased emphasis from that eminence102. Great was the screaming and confusion, not a few of the spectators having a vague dread103 of the Maestro’s monkey, as capable of more hidden mischief than mere teeth and claws could inflict104; and the conjuror himself was in some alarm lest any harm should happen to his familiar. In the scuffle to seize the monkey’s string, Tito got out of the circle, and, not caring to contend for his place again, he allowed himself to be gradually pushed towards the church of the Nunziata, and to enter amongst the worshippers.
The brilliant illumination within seemed to press upon his eyes with palpable force after the pale scattered lights and broad shadows of the piazza, and for the first minute or two he could see nothing distinctly. That yellow splendour was in itself something supernatural and heavenly to many of the peasant-women, for whom half the sky was hidden by mountains, and who went to bed in the twilight105; and the uninterrupted chant from the choir106 was repose107 to the ear after the hellish hubbub108 of the crowd outside. Gradually the scene became clearer, though still there was a thin yellow haze109 from incense110 mingling111 with the breath of the multitude. In a chapel112 on the left hand of the nave113, wreathed with silver lamps, was seen unveiled the miraculous fresco114 of the Annunciation, which, in Tito’s oblique115 view of it from the right-hand side of the nave, seemed dark with the excess of light around it. The whole area of the great church was filled with peasant-women, some kneeling, some standing; the coarse bronzed skins, and the dingy116 clothing of the rougher dwellers117 on the mountains, contrasting with the softer-lined faces and white or red head-drapery of the well-to-do dwellers in the valley, who were scattered in irregular groups. And spreading high and far over the walls and ceiling there was another multitude, also pressing close against each other, that they might be nearer the potent118 Virgin. It was the crowd of votive waxen images, the effigies119 of great personages, clothed in their habit as they lived: Florentines of high name in their black silk lucco, as when they sat in council; popes, emperors, kings, cardinals120, and famous condottieri with plumed121 morion seated on their chargers; all notable strangers who passed through Florence or had aught to do with its affairs — Mohammedans, even, in well-tolerated companionship with Christian cavaliers; some of them with faces blackened and robes tattered122 by the corroding123 breath of centuries, others fresh and bright in new red mantle124 or steel corselet, the exact doubles of the living. And wedged in with all these were detached arms, legs, and other members, with only here and there a gap where some image had been removed for public disgrace, or had fallen ominously125, as Lorenzo’s had done six months before. It was a perfect resurrection-swarm of remote mortals and fragments of mortals, reflecting, in their varying degrees of freshness, the sombre dinginess126 and sprinkled brightness of the crowd below.
Tito’s glance wandered over the wild multitude in search of something. He had already thought of Tessa, and the white hoods127 suggested the possibility that he might detect her face under one of them. It was at least a thought to be courted, rather than the vision of Romola looking at him with changed eyes. But he searched in vain; and he was leaving the church, weary of a scene which had no variety, when, just against the doorway128, he caught sight of Tessa, only two yards off him. She was kneeling with her back against the wall, behind a group of peasant-women, who were standing and looking for a spot nearer to the sacred image. Her head hung a little aside with a look of weariness and her blue eyes were directed rather absently towards an altar-piece where the Archangel Michael stood in his armour129, with young face and floating hair, amongst bearded and tonsured130 saints. Her right hand, holding a bunch of cocoons131, fell by her side listlessly, and her round cheek was paled, either by the light or by the weariness that was expressed in her attitude: her lips were pressed poutingly132 together, and every now and then her eyelids133 half fell: she was a large image of a sweet sleepy child. Tito felt an irresistible134 desire to go up to her and get her pretty trusting looks and prattle135: this creature who was without moral judgment136 that could condemn137 him, whose little loving ignorant soul made a world apart, where he might feel in freedom from suspicions and exacting138 demands, had a new attraction for him now. She seemed a refuge from the threatened isolation139 that would come with disgrace. He glanced cautiously round, to assure himself that Monna Ghita was not near, and then, slipping quietly to her side, kneeled on one knee, and said, in the softest voice, “Tessa!’ She hardly started, any more than she would have started at a soft breeze that fanned her gently when she was needing it. She turned her head and saw Tito’s face close to her: it was very much more beautiful than the Archangel Michael’s, who was so mighty140 and so good that he lived with the Madonna and all the saints and was prayed to along with them. She smiled in happy silence, for that nearness of Tito quite filled her mind.
‘My little Tessa! you look very tired. How long have you been kneeling here?’
She seemed to be collecting her thoughts for a minute or two, and at last she said —
‘I’m very hungry.’
‘Come, then; come with me.’
He lifted her from her knees, and led her out under the cloisters141 surrounding the atrium, which were then open, and not yet adorned142 with the frescoes143 of Andrea del Sarto.
‘How is it you are all by yourself, and so hungry, Tessa?’
‘The Madre is ill; she has very bad pains in her legs, and sent me to bring these cocoons to the Santissima Nunziata, because they’re so wonderful; see!’ — she held up the bunch of cocoons, which were arranged with fortuitous regularity65 on a stem, — ‘and she had kept them to bring them herself, but she couldn’t, and so she sent me because she thinks the Holy Madonna may take away her pains; and somebody took my bag with the bread and chestnuts144 in it, and the people pushed me back, and I was so frightened coming in the crowd, and I couldn’t get anywhere near the Holy Madonna, to give the cocoons to the Padre, but I must — oh, I must.’
‘Yes, my little Tessa, you shall take them; but first come and let me give you some berlingozzi. There are some to be had not far off.’
‘Where did you come from?’ said Tessa, a little bewildered. ‘I thought you would never come to me again, because you never came to the Mercato for milk any more. I set myself Aves to say, to see if they would bring you back, but I left off, because they didn’t.’
‘You see I come when you want some one to take care of you, Tessa. Perhaps the Aves fetched me, only it took them a long while. But what shall you do if you are here all alone? Where shall you go?’
‘Oh, I shall stay and sleep in the church — a great many of them do — in the church and all about here — I did once when I came with my mother; and the patrigno is coming with the mules145 in the morning.’
They were out in the piazza now, where the crowd was rather less riotous146 than before, and the lights were fewer, the stream of pilgrims having ceased. Tessa clung fast to Tito’s arm in satisfied silence, while he led her towards the stall where he remembered seeing the eatables. Their way was the easier because there was just now a great rush towards the middle of the piazza, where the masqued figures on stilts had found space to execute a dance. It was very pretty to see the guileless thing giving her cocoons into Tito’s hand, and then eating her berlingozzi with the relish of a hungry child. Tito had really come to take care of her, as he did before, and that wonderful happiness of being with him had begun again for her. Her hunger was soon appeased147, all the sooner for the new stimulus148 of happiness that had roused her from her languor149, and, as they turned away from the stall, she said nothing about going into the church again, but looked round as if the sights in the piazza were not without attraction to her now she was safe under Tito’s arm.
‘How can they do that?’ she exclaimed, looking up at the dancers on stilts. Then, after a minute’s silence, ‘Do you think Saint Christopher helps them?’
‘Perhaps. What do you think about it, Tessa?’ said Tito slipping his right arm round her, and looking down at her fondly.
‘Because Saint Christopher is so very tall; and he is very good: if anybody looks at him he takes care of them all day. He is on the wall of the church — too tall to stand up there — but I saw him walking through the streets one San Giovanni, carrying the little Gesu.’
‘You pretty pigeon! Do you think anybody could help taking care of you, if you looked at them?’
‘Shall you always come and take care of me?’ said Tessa, turning her face up to him, as he crushed her cheek with his left hand. ‘And shall you always be a long while first?’
Tito was conscious that some bystanders were laughing at them, and though the licence of street fun, among artists and young men of the wealthier sort as well as among the populace, made few adventures exceptional, still less disreputable, he chose to move away towards the end of the piazza.
‘Perhaps I shall come again to you very soon, Tessa,’ he answered, rather dreamily, when they had moved away. He was thinking that when all the rest had turned their backs upon him, it would be pleasant to have this little creature adoring him and nestling against him. The absence of presumptuous150 self-conceit in Tito made him feel all the more defenceless under prospective152 obloquy153: he needed soft looks and caresses154 too much ever to be impudent155.
‘In the Mercato?’ said Tessa. ‘Not to-morrow morning, because the patrigno will be there, and he is so cross. Oh! but you have money, and he will not be cross if you buy some salad. And there are some chestnuts. Do you like chestnuts? ’
He said nothing, but continued to look down at her with a dreamy gentleness, and Tessa felt herself in a state of delicious wonder; everything seemed as new as if she were being carried on a chariot of clouds.
‘Holy Virgin!’ she exclaimed again presently. ‘There is a holy father like the Bishop156 I saw at Prato.’
Tito looked up too, and saw that he had unconsciously advanced to within a few yards of the conjuror, Maestro Vaiano, who for the moment was forsaken157 by the crowd. His face was turned away from them, and he was occupied with the apparatus on his altar or table, preparing a new diversion by the time the interest in the dancing should be exhausted158. The monkey was imprisoned159 under the red cloth, out of reach of mischief, and the youngster in the white surplice was holding a sort of dish or salver, from which his master was taking some ingredient. The altar-like table, with its gorgeous cloth, the row of tapers, the sham160 episcopal costume, the surpliced attendant, and even the movements of the mitred figure, as he alternately bent161 his head and then raised something before the lights, were a sufficiently162 near parody163 of sacred things to rouse poor little Tessa’s veneration164; and there was some additional awe165 produced by the mystery of their apparition166 in this spot, for when she had seen an altar in the street before, it had been on Corpus Christi Day, and there had been a procession to account for it. She crossed herself and looked up at Tito, but then, as if she had had time for reflection, said, ‘It is because of the Nativita.’
Meanwhile Vaiano had turned round, raising his hands to his mitre with the intention of changing his dress, when his quick eye recognised Tito and Tessa who were both looking at him, their faces being shone upon by the light of his tapers, while his own was in shadow.
‘Ha! my children!’ he said, instantly, stretching out his hands in a benedictory attitude, ‘you are come to be married. I commend your penitence167 — the blessing168 of Holy Church can never come too late.’
But whilst he was speaking, he had taken in the whole meaning of Tessa’s attitude and expression, and he discerned an opportunity for a new kind of joke which required him to be cautious and solemn.
‘Should you like to be married to me, Tessa?’ said Tito, softly, half enjoying the comedy, as he saw the pretty childish seriousness on her face, half prompted by hazy169 previsions which belonged to the intoxication170 of despair.
He felt her vibrating before she looked up at him and said, timidly, ‘Will you let me?’
He answered only by a smile, and by leading her forward in front of the cerretano, who, seeing an excellent jest in Tessa’s evident delusion171, assumed a surpassing sacerdotal solemnity, and went through the mimic172 ceremony with a liberal expenditure173 of lingua furbesca or thieves’ Latin. But some symptoms of a new movement in the crowd urged him to bring it to a speedy conclusion and dismiss them with hands outstretched in a benedictory attitude over their kneeling figures. Tito, disposed always to cultivate goodwill174, though it might be the least select, put a piece of four grossi into his hand as he moved away, and was thanked by a look which, the conjuror felt sure, conveyed a perfect understanding of the whole affair.
But Tito himself was very far from that understanding, and did not, in fact, know whether, the next moment, he should tell Tessa of the joke and laugh at her for a little goose, or whether he should let her delusion last, and see what would come of it —— see what she would say and do next.
‘Then you will not go away from me again,’ said Tessa, after they had walked a few steps, ‘and you will take me to where you live.’ She spoke175 meditatively176, and not in a questioning tone. But presently she added, ‘I must go back once to the Madre though, to tell her I brought the cocoons, and that I am married, and shall not go back again.’
Tito felt the necessity of speaking now; and in the rapid thought prompted by that necessity, he saw that by undeceiving Tessa he should be robbing himself of some at least of that pretty trustfulness which might, by-and-by, be his only haven from contempt. It would spoil Tessa to make her the least particle wiser or more suspicious.
‘Yes, my little Tessa,’ he said, caressingly177, ‘you must go back to the Madre; but you must not tell her you are married — you must keep that a secret from everybody; else some very great harm would happen to me, and you would never see me again.’
She looked up at him with fear in her face.
‘You must go back and feed your goats and mules, and do just as you have always done before, and say no word to any one about me.’
The corners of her mouth fell a little.
‘And then, perhaps, I shall come and take care of you again when you want me, as I did before. But you must do just what I tell you, else you will not see me again.’
‘Yes, I will, I will,’ she said, in a loud whisper, frightened at that blank prospect151.
They were silent a little while; and then Tessa, looking at her hand, said —
‘The Madre wears a betrothal178 ring. She went to church and had it put on, and then after that, another day, she was married. And so did the cousin Nannina. But then she married Gollo,’ added the poor little thing, entangled179 in the difficult comparison between her own case and others within her experience.
‘But you must not wear a betrothal ring, my Tessa, because no one must know you are married,’ said Tito, feeling some insistance necessary. ‘And the buona fortuna that I gave you did just as well for betrothal. Some people are betrothed180 with rings and some are not.’
‘Yes, it is true, they would see the ring,’ said Tessa, trying to convince herself that a thing she would like very much was really not good for her.
They were now near the entrance of the church again, and she remembered her cocoons which were still in Tito’s hand.
‘Ah, you must give me the boto,’ she said; ‘and we must go in, and I must take it to the Padre, and I must tell the rest of my beads181, because I was too tired before.’
‘Yes, you must go in, Tessa; but I will not go in. I must leave you now,’ said Tito, too feverish182 and weary to re-enter that stifling183 heat, and feeling that this was the least difficult way of parting with her.
‘And not come back? Oh, where do you go?’ Tessa’s mind had never formed an image of his whereabout or his doings when she did not see him: he had vanished, and her thought, instead of following him, had stayed in the same spot where he was with her.
‘I shall come back some time, Tessa,’ said Tito, taking her under the cloisters to the door of the church. ‘You must not cry — you must go to sleep, when you have said your beads. And here is money to buy your breakfast. Now kiss me, and look happy, else I shall not come again.’
She made a great effort over herself as she put up her lips to kiss him, and submitted to be gently turned round, with her face towards the door of the church. Tito saw her enter; and then with a shrug184 at his own resolution, leaned against a pillar, took off his cap, rubbed his hair backward, and wondered where Romola was now, and what she was thinking of him. Poor little Tessa had disappeared behind the curtain among the crowd of peasants; but the love which formed one web with all his worldly hopes, with the ambitions and pleasures that must make the solid part of his days — the love that was identified with his larger self — was not to be banished185 from his consciousness. Even to the man who presents the most elastic186 resistance to whatever is unpleasant, there will come moments when the pressure from without is too strong for him, and he must feel the smart and the bruise187 in spite of himself. Such a moment had come to Tito. There was no possible attitude of mind, no scheme of action by which the uprooting188 of all his newly-planted hopes could be made otherwise than painful.
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1
piazza
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| n.广场；走廊 | |
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2
hooting
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| （使）作汽笛声响，作汽车喇叭声( hoot的现在分词 )； 倒好儿； 倒彩 | |
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3
dreariness
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| 沉寂，可怕，凄凉 | |
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4
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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5
monotonous
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| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
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6
strand
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| vt.使（船）搁浅，使（某人）困于（某地） | |
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7
gibing
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| adj.讥刺的，嘲弄的v.嘲笑，嘲弄( gibe的现在分词 ) | |
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8
con
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| n.反对的观点，反对者，反对票，肺病；vt.精读，学习，默记；adv.反对地，从反面；adj.欺诈的 | |
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9
din
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| n.喧闹声，嘈杂声 | |
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10
vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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11
mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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12
outskirts
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| n.郊外，郊区 | |
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13
tumult
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| n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹 | |
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14
virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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15
ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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darting
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的现在分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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rattled
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| 慌乱的，恼火的 | |
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18
inviting
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| adj.诱人的，引人注目的 | |
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19
stilts
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| n.（支撑建筑物高出地面或水面的）桩子，支柱( stilt的名词复数 )；高跷 | |
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20
meteoric
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| adj.流星的，转瞬即逝的，突然的 | |
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21
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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22
sage
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| n.圣人，哲人；adj.贤明的，明智的 | |
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23
delicacy
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| n.精致，细微，微妙，精良；美味，佳肴 | |
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24
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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25
trotting
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| 小跑，急走( trot的现在分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走 | |
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26
garb
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| n.服装，装束 | |
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27
hereditary
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| adj.遗传的，遗传性的，可继承的，世袭的 | |
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28
obsolete
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| adj.已废弃的，过时的 | |
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29
ancestry
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| n.祖先，家世 | |
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30
hardy
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| adj.勇敢的，果断的，吃苦的；耐寒的 | |
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31
yarn
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| n.纱，纱线，纺线；奇闻漫谈，旅行轶事 | |
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32
miraculous
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| adj.像奇迹一样的，不可思议的 | |
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33
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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34
potency
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| n. 效力，潜能 | |
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35
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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36
obstruction
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| n.阻塞，堵塞；障碍物 | |
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37
stationary
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| adj.固定的，静止不动的 | |
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38
judiciously
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| adv.明断地，明智而审慎地 | |
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39
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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40
slung
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| 抛( sling的过去式和过去分词 )； 吊挂； 遣送； 押往 | |
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41
wares
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| n. 货物, 商品 | |
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42
pestilence
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| n.瘟疫 | |
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43
compassionately
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| adv.表示怜悯地，有同情心地 | |
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44
supercilious
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| adj.目中无人的，高傲的；adv.高傲地；n.高傲 | |
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45
rust
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| n.锈；v.生锈；(脑子)衰退 | |
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46
haven
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| n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所 | |
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47
exasperated
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| adj.恼怒的 | |
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48
concession
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| n.让步，妥协；特许(权) | |
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49
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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50
grumbling
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| adj. 喃喃鸣不平的, 出怨言的 | |
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51
destitute
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| adj.缺乏的；穷困的 | |
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52
reluctance
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| n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿 | |
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53
riddles
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| n.谜（语）( riddle的名词复数 )；猜不透的难题，难解之谜 | |
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54
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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55
pumpkin
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| n.南瓜 | |
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56
rummaging
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| 翻找，搜寻( rummage的现在分词 )； 海关检查 | |
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57
broth
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| n.原(汁)汤(鱼汤、肉汤、菜汤等) | |
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58
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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59
gems
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| growth； economy； management； and customer satisfaction 增长 | |
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60
valid
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| adj.有确实根据的；有效的；正当的，合法的 | |
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61
superstitious
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| adj.迷信的 | |
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62
assent
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| v.批准，认可；n.批准，认可 | |
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63
zigzag
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| n.曲折，之字形；adj.曲折的，锯齿形的；adv.曲折地，成锯齿形地；vt.使曲折；vi.曲折前行 | |
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64
recess
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| n.短期休息，壁凹（墙上装架子，柜子等凹处） | |
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65
regularity
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| n.规律性，规则性；匀称，整齐 | |
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66
monologue
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| n.长篇大论，（戏剧等中的）独白 | |
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67
oratorical
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| adj.演说的，雄辩的 | |
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68
rattling
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| adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词 | |
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69
buffoonish
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70
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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71
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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72
piety
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| n.虔诚，虔敬 | |
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73
clergy
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| n.[总称]牧师，神职人员 | |
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74
stints
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| n.定额工作( stint的名词复数 )；定量；限额；慷慨地做某事 | |
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75
laity
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| n.俗人；门外汉 | |
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76
itch
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| n.痒，渴望，疥癣；vi.发痒，渴望 | |
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77
taper
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| n.小蜡烛，尖细，渐弱；adj.尖细的；v.逐渐变小 | |
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78
tapers
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| （长形物体的）逐渐变窄( taper的名词复数 )； 微弱的光； 极细的蜡烛 | |
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79
conjuring
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| n.魔术 | |
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80
apparatus
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| n.装置，器械；器具，设备 | |
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81
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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82
incessant
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| adj.不停的，连续的 | |
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83
aslant
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| adv.倾斜地；adj.斜的 | |
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84
imp
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| n.顽童 | |
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85
cuffing
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| v.掌打，拳打( cuff的现在分词 )；袖口状白血球聚集 | |
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86
cuff
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| n.袖口；手铐；护腕；vt.用手铐铐；上袖口 | |
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87
mountebank
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| n.江湖郎中；骗子 | |
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88
maidens
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| 处女( maiden的名词复数 )； 少女； 未婚女子； （板球运动）未得分的一轮投球 | |
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89
conjuror
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| n.魔术师，变戏法者 | |
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90
contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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91
carnival
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| n.嘉年华会，狂欢，狂欢节，巡回表演 | |
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92
poetic
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| adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的 | |
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93
relish
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| n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味 | |
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94
grimaces
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| n.（表蔑视、厌恶等）面部扭曲，鬼脸( grimace的名词复数 )v.扮鬼相，做鬼脸( grimace的第三人称单数 ) | |
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95
peals
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| n.（声音大而持续或重复的）洪亮的响声( peal的名词复数 )；隆隆声；洪亮的钟声；钟乐v.（使）（钟等）鸣响，（雷等）发出隆隆声( peal的第三人称单数 ) | |
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96
tunic
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| n.束腰外衣 | |
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97
scanty
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| adj.缺乏的，仅有的，节省的，狭小的，不够的 | |
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98
picturesquely
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99
pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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100
chattering
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| n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式 | |
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101
remonstrances
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| n.抱怨，抗议( remonstrance的名词复数 ) | |
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102
eminence
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| n.卓越，显赫；高地，高处；名家 | |
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103
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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104
inflict
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| vt.(on)把…强加给，使遭受，使承担 | |
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105
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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106
choir
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| n.唱诗班，唱诗班的席位，合唱团，舞蹈团；v.合唱 | |
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107
repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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108
hubbub
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| n.嘈杂；骚乱 | |
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109
haze
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| n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊 | |
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110
incense
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| v.激怒；n.香，焚香时的烟，香气 | |
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111
mingling
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| adj.混合的 | |
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112
chapel
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| n.小教堂，殡仪馆 | |
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113
nave
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| n.教堂的中部；本堂 | |
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114
fresco
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| n.壁画；vt.作壁画于 | |
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115
oblique
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| adj.斜的，倾斜的，无诚意的，不坦率的 | |
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116
dingy
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| adj.昏暗的，肮脏的 | |
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117
dwellers
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| n.居民，居住者( dweller的名词复数 ) | |
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118
potent
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| adj.强有力的，有权势的；有效力的 | |
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119
effigies
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| n.（人的）雕像，模拟像，肖像( effigy的名词复数 ) | |
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120
cardinals
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| 红衣主教( cardinal的名词复数 )； 红衣凤头鸟（见于北美，雄鸟为鲜红色）； 基数 | |
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121
plumed
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| 饰有羽毛的 | |
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122
tattered
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| adj.破旧的，衣衫破的 | |
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123
corroding
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| 使腐蚀，侵蚀( corrode的现在分词 ) | |
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124
mantle
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| n.斗篷，覆罩之物，罩子；v.罩住，覆盖，脸红 | |
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125
ominously
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| adv.恶兆地，不吉利地；预示地 | |
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126
dinginess
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| n.暗淡，肮脏 | |
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127
hoods
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| n.兜帽( hood的名词复数 )；头巾；（汽车、童车等的）折合式车篷；汽车发动机罩v.兜帽( hood的第三人称单数 )；头巾；（汽车、童车等的）折合式车篷；汽车发动机罩 | |
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128
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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129
armour
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| （=armor）n.盔甲；装甲部队 | |
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130
tonsured
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| v.剃( tonsure的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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131
cocoons
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| n.茧，蚕茧( cocoon的名词复数 )v.茧，蚕茧( cocoon的第三人称单数 ) | |
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132
poutingly
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| adv.撅嘴 | |
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133
eyelids
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| n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色 | |
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134
irresistible
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| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
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135
prattle
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| n.闲谈；v.（小孩般）天真无邪地说话；发出连续而无意义的声音 | |
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136
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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137
condemn
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| vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑 | |
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138
exacting
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| adj.苛求的，要求严格的 | |
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139
isolation
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| n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离 | |
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140
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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141
cloisters
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| n.（学院、修道院、教堂等建筑的）走廊( cloister的名词复数 )；回廊；修道院的生活；隐居v.隐退，使与世隔绝( cloister的第三人称单数 ) | |
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142
adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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143
frescoes
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| n.壁画( fresco的名词复数 )；温壁画技法，湿壁画 | |
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144
chestnuts
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| n.栗子( chestnut的名词复数 )；栗色；栗树；栗色马 | |
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145
mules
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| 骡( mule的名词复数 )； 拖鞋； 顽固的人； 越境运毒者 | |
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146
riotous
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| adj.骚乱的；狂欢的 | |
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147
appeased
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| 安抚，抚慰( appease的过去式和过去分词 )； 绥靖（满足另一国的要求以避免战争） | |
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148
stimulus
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| n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物 | |
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149
languor
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| n.无精力，倦怠 | |
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150
presumptuous
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| adj.胆大妄为的，放肆的，冒昧的，冒失的 | |
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151
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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152
prospective
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| adj.预期的，未来的，前瞻性的 | |
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153
obloquy
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| n.斥责，大骂 | |
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154
caresses
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| 爱抚，抚摸( caress的名词复数 ) | |
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155
impudent
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| adj.鲁莽的，卑鄙的，厚颜无耻的 | |
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156
bishop
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| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
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157
Forsaken
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| adj. 被遗忘的, 被抛弃的 动词forsake的过去分词 | |
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158
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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159
imprisoned
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| 下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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160
sham
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| n./adj.假冒(的)，虚伪(的) | |
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161
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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162
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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163
parody
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| n.打油诗文，诙谐的改编诗文，拙劣的模仿；v.拙劣模仿，作模仿诗文 | |
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164
veneration
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| n.尊敬，崇拜 | |
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165
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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166
apparition
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| n.幽灵，神奇的现象 | |
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167
penitence
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| n.忏悔，赎罪；悔过 | |
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168
blessing
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| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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169
hazy
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| adj.有薄雾的，朦胧的；不肯定的，模糊的 | |
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170
intoxication
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| n.wild excitement;drunkenness；poisoning | |
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171
delusion
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| n.谬见，欺骗，幻觉，迷惑 | |
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172
mimic
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| v.模仿，戏弄；n.模仿他人言行的人 | |
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173
expenditure
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| n.(时间、劳力、金钱等)支出；使用，消耗 | |
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174
goodwill
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| n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉 | |
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175
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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176
meditatively
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| adv.冥想地 | |
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177
caressingly
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| 爱抚地，亲切地 | |
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178
betrothal
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| n. 婚约, 订婚 | |
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179
entangled
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| adj.卷入的；陷入的；被缠住的；缠在一起的v.使某人（某物/自己）缠绕，纠缠于（某物中），使某人（自己）陷入（困难或复杂的环境中）( entangle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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180
betrothed
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| n. 已订婚者 动词betroth的过去式和过去分词 | |
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181
beads
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| n.（空心）小珠子( bead的名词复数 )；水珠；珠子项链 | |
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182
feverish
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| adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的 | |
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183
stifling
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| a.令人窒息的 | |
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184
shrug
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| v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等) | |
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185
banished
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| v.放逐，驱逐( banish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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186
elastic
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| n.橡皮圈，松紧带；adj.有弹性的；灵活的 | |
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187
bruise
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| n.青肿，挫伤；伤痕；vt.打青；挫伤 | |
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188
uprooting
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| n.倒根，挖除伐根v.把（某物）连根拔起( uproot的现在分词 )；根除；赶走；把…赶出家园 | |
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