Odo heard a slight movement behind him. He turned and saw that Fulviahad vanished. He understood her wish for concealment1, but its futilitywas written in the glance with which de Crucis followed her flight.
The abate2 continued to speak in urgent tones. "I implore3 you," he said,"to lose no time in accompanying me to Pianura. The situation there iscritical and before now his Highness's death may have placed the reinsin your hands." He glanced at his watch. "If your excellency is not tootired to set out at once, my horses can be harnessed within the halfhour."Odo's heart sank. To have let his thoughts dwell on such a possibilityseemed to have done little to prepare him for its realisation. He hardlyunderstood what de Crucis was saying: he knew only that an hour beforehe had fancied himself master of his fate and that now he was again inbonds. His first clear thought was that nothing should part him fromFulvia.
De Crucis seemed to read the thought.
"Cavaliere," he said, "at a moment when time is so valuable you willpardon my directness. You are accompanying to Switzerland a lady who hasplaced herself in your charge--"Odo made no reply, and the other went on in the same firm but courteoustone: "Foreseeing that it would be difficult for you to leave her soabruptly I provided myself, in Venice, with a passport which will takeher safely across the border." He drew a paper from his coat. "This,"said he, handing it to Odo, "is the Papal Nuncio's authorisation to theSignorina Fulvia Vivaldi, known in religion as Sister Veronica, toabsent herself from Italy for an indefinite period. With this passportand a good escort your companion will have no difficulty in joining herfriends."Excess of astonishment4 kept Odo silent for a moment; and in that momenthe had as it were a fugitive5 glimpse into the workings of the greatpower which still strove for predominance in Italy. A safe-conduct fromthe Papal Nuncio to Fulvia Vivaldi was equivalent to her release fromher vows6; and this in turn implied that, for the moment, religiousdiscipline had been frankly7 sacrificed to the pressure of politicalnecessities. How the invisible hands made and unmade the destinies ofthose who came in their way! How boldly the Church swept aside her owndefences when they obstructed8 her course! He was conscious, even at themoment, of all that men like de Crucis had to say in defence of thishigher expediency9, this avowed10 discrimination between the factors ineach fresh combination of circumstances. He had himself felt the complexwonder of thoughtful minds before the Church's perpetual miracle ofchange disguised in immutability11; but now he saw only the meaner side ofthe game, its elements of cruelty and falseness; and he felt himself nomore than a frail12 bark on the dark and tossing seas of ecclesiasticalintrigue. For a moment his heart shuddered13 back from its fate.
"No passport, no safe-conduct," he said at length, "can release me frommy duty to the lady who has placed herself in my care. I shall not leaveher till she has joined her friends."De Crucis bowed. "This is the answer I expected," he said, not withoutsadness.
Odo glanced at him in surprise. The two men, hitherto, had addressedeach other as strangers; but now something in the abate's tone recalledto Odo the familiarity of their former intercourse14, their deep communityof thought, the significance of the days they had spent together in themonastery of Monte Cassino. The association of ideas brought before himthe profound sense of responsibility with which, at that time, he hadlooked forward to such an hour as this.
The abate was watching him gravely.
"Cavaliere," he said, "every instant counts, all you had once hoped todo for Pianura is now yours to accomplish. But in your absence yourenemies are not idle. His Highness may revoke15 your appointment at anyhour. Of late I have had his ear, but I have now been near a weekabsent, and you know the Duke is not long constant to onepurpose.--Cavaliere," he exclaimed, "I appeal to you not in the name ofthe God whom you have come to doubt, but in that of your fellow-men,whom you have wished to serve."Odo looked at him, not without a confused sense of the irony16 of such anappeal on such lips, yet with the distinct consciousness that it wasuttered in all sincerity17, and that, whatever their superficial diversityof view, he and de Crucis were at one on those deeper questions thatgave the moment its real significance.
"It is impossible," he repeated, "that I should go with you."De Crucis was again silent, and Odo was aware of the renewed intentnessof his scrutiny18. "If the lady--" broke from him once; but he checkedhimself and took a turn in the room.
Meanwhile a resolve was slowly forming itself in Odo. He would not befalse to the call which, since his boyhood, had so often made itselfheard before the voice of pleasure and self-interest; but he would atleast reserve the right to obey it in his own fashion and underconditions which left his private inclination19 free.
"There may be more than one way of serving one's fellows," he saidquietly. "Go back without me, abate. Tell my cousin that I resign myrights to the succession. I shall live my own life elsewhere, notunworthily, I hope, but as a private person."De Crucis had turned pale. For a moment his habitual20 self-command seemedabout to fail him; and Odo could not but see that a sincere personalregret was mingled21 with the political agent's consciousness of failure.
He himself was chiefly aware of a sense of relief, of self-recovery, asthough he had at last solved a baffling enigma22 and found himself oncemore at one with his fate.
Suddenly he heard a step behind him. Fulvia had re-entered the room. Shehad put off her drenched23 cloak, but the hair lay in damp strands24 on herforehead, deepening her pallor and the lines of weariness under hereyes. She moved across the room, carrying her head high and advancingtranquilly to Odo's side. Even in that moment of confused emotions hewas struck by the nobility of her gait and gesture.
She turned to de Crucis, and Odo had the immediate25 intuition that shehad recognised him.
"Will you let me speak a word privately26 to the cavaliere Valsecca?" shesaid.
The other bowed silently and turned away. The door closed on him, andOdo and Fulvia remained alone. For a moment neither spoke27; then shesaid: "That was the abate de Crucis?"He assented28.
She looked at him sadly. "You still believe him to be your friend?""Yes," he answered frankly, "I still believe him to be my friend, and,spite of his cloth, the friend of justice and humanity. But he is heresimply as the Duke's agent. He has been for some time the governor ofPrince Ferrante.""I knew," she murmured, "I knew--"He went up to her and caught her hands. "Why do we waste our time uponhim?" he exclaimed impatiently. "Nothing matters but that I am free atlast."She drew back, gently releasing herself. "Free--?""My choice is made. I have resigned my right to the succession. I shallnot return to Pianura."She continued to stare at him, leaning against the chair from which deCrucis had risen.
"Your choice is made! Your choice is made!" she repeated. "And you havechosen--""You," he said simply. "Will you go to France with me, Fulvia? Will yoube my wife and work with me at a distance for the cause that, in Italy,we may not serve together? I have never abandoned the aims your fathertaught me to strive for; they are dearer, more sacred to me than ever;but I cannot strive for them alone. I must feel your hand in mine, Imust know that your heart beats with mine, I must hear the voice ofliberty speak to me in your voice--" He broke off suddenly and went upto her. "All this is nothing," he said. "I love you. I cannot give youup. That is all."For a moment, as he spoke, her face shone with an extraordinary light.
She looked at him intently, as one who seemed to gaze beyond and throughhim, at some mystic vision that his words evoked29. Then the brightnessfaded.
"The picture you draw is a beautiful one," she said, speaking slowly, insweet deliberate tones, "but it is not for me to look on. What you saidlast is not true. If you love me it is because we have thought the samethoughts, dreamed the same dream, heard the same voice--in each other'svoices, perhaps, as you say, but none the less a real voice, apart fromus and above us, and one which would speak to us as loudly if we wereapart--one which both of us must follow to the end."He gazed at her eagerly as she spoke; and while he gazed there came tohim, perversely30 enough, a vision of the life he was renouncing31, not asit concerned the public welfare but in its merely personal aspect: avision of the power, the luxury, the sumptuous32 background of traditionalstate and prerogative33 in which his artistic34 and intellectual tastes, aswell as his easy impulses of benevolence35, would find unchecked andimmediate gratification. It was the first time that he had been aware ofsuch lurking36 influences under his most generous aspirations37; but even asFulvia ceased to speak the vision faded, leaving only an intenserlonging to bend her will to his.
"You are right," he rejoined; "we must follow that voice to the end; butwhy not together? Your father himself often questioned whether thepatriot could not serve his people better at a distance than in theirmidst. In France, where the new ideas are not only tolerated but put inpractice, we shall be able to study their effects and to learn how theymay best be applied38 to the relief of our own unhappy people; and as aprivate person, independent of party and patronage39, could I not do morethan as the nominal40 head of a narrow priest-ridden government, whereevery act and word would be used by my enemies to injure me and thecause I represent?"The vigour41 and rapidity of the attack, and the promptness with which heconverted her argument to his own use, were not without visible effect.
Odo saw his words reflected in the wavering glow of Fulvia's cheek; butalmost at once she regained42 control of her pulses and faced him withthat serenity43 which seemed to come to her at such moments.
"What you say might be true," she answered, "were your opportunitiesindeed restricted to the regency. But the little prince's life is knownto hang on a thread: at any moment you may be Duke. And you will notdeny that as Duke of Pianura you can serve your people better than as anobscure pamphleteer in Paris."Odo made an impatient gesture. "Are you so sure?" he said. "Even as DukeI must be the puppet of powers greater than myself--of Austria, of Rome,nay, of the wealthy nobles who will always league themselves with theirsovereign's enemies rather than suffer a hand upon their privileges. Andeven if I were fortunate enough to outwit my masters and rule indeed,over what a toy kingdom should I reign44! How small a number would bebenefited! How little the cause would be helped by my example! As anobscure pamphleteer I might reach the hearts of thousands and speak togreat kings on their thrones; as Duke of Pianura, fighting single-handedto reform the laws of my little state, I should rank at best with theother petty sovereigns who are amusing themselves all over Italy withagricultural experiments and improved methods of cheese-making."Again the brightness shone in Fulvia's face. "How you love me!" she saidas he paused; and went on, restraining him with a gesture of thegentlest dignity: "For it is love that speaks thus in you and notreason; and you know as I do that the duty to which a man is born comesbefore any of his own choosing. You are called to serve liberty on athrone, I in some obscure corner of the private life. We can no moreexchange our duties than our stations; but if our lives divide, ourpurpose remains45 one, and as pious46 persons recall each other in themystery of the Sacrament, so we shall meet in spirit in the new religionwe profess47."Her voice gained strength and measure as she spoke, and Odo felt thatall that passion could urge must spend itself in vain against such highsecurity of spirit.
"Go, cavaliere," she continued, "I implore you to lose no time inreaching Pianura. Occasion is short-lived, and an hour's lingering maycost you the regency, and with it the chance of gaining a hold on yourpeople. I will not expatiate48, as some might, on the power and dignitiesthat await you. You are no adventurer plotting to steal a throne, but asoldier pledged to his post." She moved close to him and suddenly caughthis hand and raised it to her lips. "Your excellency," said she, "hasdeigned to look for a moment on a poor girl that crossed your path. Nowyour eyes must be on your people, who will yet have cause to love andbless you as she does."She shone on him with a weeping brightness that dissolved his very soul.
"Ah," he cried, "you have indeed learned your lesson well! I admire withwhat stoic49 calmness you pronounce my doom50, with what readiness youdispose of my future!""It is not mine to dispose of," she caught him up, "nor yours; butbelongs, as much as any slave's to his master, to the people you arecalled to rule. Think for how many generations their unheededsufferings, their unrewarded toil51, have paid for the pomp and pleasureof your house! That is the debt you are called on to acquit52, the wrongyou are pledged to set right."Odo was silent. She had found the unanswerable word. Yes, he was calledon to acquit the accumulated debt of that long unrighteous rule: it washe who must pay, if need be with the last drop of his blood, for thesavage victories of Bracciaforte, the rapacity53 of Guidobaldo, themagnificence of Ascanio, the religious terrors and secret vices54 of thepoor Duke now nearing his end. All these passions had preyed55 on thepeople, on the tillers and weavers56 and vine-dressers, obscure servantsof a wasteful57 greatness: theirs had been the blood that renewed theexhausted veins58 of their rulers, through generation after generation ofdumb labour and privation. And the noblest passions, as well as thebasest, had been nourished at the same cost. Every flower in the ducalgardens, every picture on the palace walls, every honour in the ancientannals of the house, had been planted, paid for, fought for by thepeople. With mute inconscient irony the two powers had faced each otherfor generations: the subjects never guessing that their sovereigns werepuppets of their own making, the Dukes that all their pomp andcircumstance were but a borrowed motley. Now the evil wrought59 inignorance remained to be undone60 in the light of the world's newknowledge: the discovery of that universal brotherhood61 which Christ hadlong ago proclaimed, and which, after so many centuries, those whodenied Christ were the first to put in practice. Hour by hour, day byday, at the cost of every personal inclination, of all that endears lifeand ennobles failure, Odo must set himself to redeem62 the credit of hishouse. He saw his way straight before him; but in that hour of insighthis heart's instinct of self-preservation made one last effort againstfate.
He turned to Fulvia.
"You are right," he said; "I have no choice. You have shown me the way;but must I travel it alone? You ask me to give up at a stroke all thatmakes life desirable: to set forth63, without a backward glance, on thevery road that leads me farthest from you! Yesterday I might haveobeyed; but how can I turn today from this near view of my happiness?"He paused a moment and she seemed about to answer; but he hurried onwithout giving her time. "Fulvia, if you ask this sacrifice of me, isthere none you will make in return? If you bid me go forth and work formy people, will you not come with me and work for them too?" Hestretched out his hands, in a gesture that seemed to sum up his infiniteneed of her, and for a moment they faced each other, silenced by thenearness of great issues.
She knew well enough what he offered. According to the code of the daythere was no dishonour64 in the offer and it did not occur to her toresent it. But she looked at him sadly and he read her refusal in thelook.
"The Regent's mistress?" she said slowly. "The key to the treasury65, theback-door to preferment, the secret trafficker in titles andappointments? That is what I should stand for--and it is not to suchservices that you must even appear to owe your power. I will not saythat I have my own work to do; for the dearest service I could performwould be to help you in yours. But to do this I must stand aside. To benear you I must go from you. To love you I must give you up."She looked him full in the eyes as she spoke; then she went up to himand kissed him. It was the first kiss she had given him since she hadthrown herself in his arms in her father's garden; but now he felt herwhole being on her lips.
He would have held her fast, forgetting everything in the sweetness ofher surrender; but she drew back quickly and, before he could guess herintention, throw open the door of the room to which de Crucis hadwithdrawn.
"Signor abate!" she said.
The Jesuit came forward. Odo was dimly aware that, for an instant, thetwo measured each other; then Fulvia said quietly:
"His excellency goes with you to Pianura."What more she said, or what de Crucis answered, he could never afterwardrecall. He had a confused sense of having cried out a last unavailingprotest, faintly, inarticulately, like a man struggling to make himselfheard in a dream; then the room grew dark about him, and in its stead hesaw the old chapel66 at Donnaz, with its dimly-gleaming shrine67, and heardthe voice of the chaplain, harsh and yet strangely shaken:--"My chiefprayer for you is that, should you be raised to this eminence68, it may beat a moment when such advancement69 seems to thrust you in the dust."Odo lifted his head and saw de Crucis standing70 alone before him.
"I am ready," he said.
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concealment
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| n.隐藏, 掩盖，隐瞒 | |
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abate
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| vi.(风势，疼痛等)减弱，减轻，减退 | |
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implore
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| vt.乞求，恳求，哀求 | |
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astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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fugitive
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| adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者 | |
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vows
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| 誓言( vow的名词复数 )； 郑重宣布，许愿 | |
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frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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obstructed
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| 阻塞( obstruct的过去式和过去分词 )； 堵塞； 阻碍； 阻止 | |
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expediency
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| n.适宜；方便；合算；利己 | |
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avowed
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| adj.公开声明的，承认的v.公开声明，承认( avow的过去式和过去分词) | |
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immutability
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| n.不变(性) | |
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frail
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| adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的 | |
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shuddered
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| v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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intercourse
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| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
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revoke
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| v.废除，取消，撤回 | |
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irony
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| n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄 | |
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sincerity
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| n.真诚，诚意；真实 | |
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scrutiny
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| n.详细检查，仔细观察 | |
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inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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habitual
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| adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的 | |
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mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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enigma
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| n.谜，谜一样的人或事 | |
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drenched
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| adj.湿透的；充满的v.使湿透( drench的过去式和过去分词 )；在某人（某物）上大量使用（某液体） | |
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strands
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| n.（线、绳、金属线、毛发等的）股( strand的名词复数 )；缕；海洋、湖或河的)岸；（观点、计划、故事等的）部份v.使滞留，使搁浅( strand的第三人称单数 ) | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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privately
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| adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地 | |
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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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assented
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| 同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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evoked
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| [医]诱发的 | |
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perversely
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renouncing
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| v.声明放弃( renounce的现在分词 )；宣布放弃；宣布与…决裂；宣布摒弃 | |
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sumptuous
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| adj.豪华的，奢侈的，华丽的 | |
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prerogative
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| n.特权 | |
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artistic
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| adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的 | |
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benevolence
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| n.慈悲，捐助 | |
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lurking
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| 潜在 | |
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aspirations
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| 强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音 | |
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applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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patronage
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| n.赞助，支援，援助；光顾，捧场 | |
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nominal
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| adj.名义上的；(金额、租金)微不足道的 | |
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vigour
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| （=vigor）n.智力，体力，精力 | |
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regained
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| 复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地 | |
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serenity
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| n.宁静，沉着，晴朗 | |
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reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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profess
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| v.声称，冒称，以...为业，正式接受入教，表明信仰 | |
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expatiate
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| v.细说，详述 | |
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stoic
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| n.坚忍克己之人，禁欲主义者 | |
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doom
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| n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定 | |
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toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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acquit
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| vt.宣判无罪；(oneself)使(自己)表现出 | |
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rapacity
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| n.贪婪，贪心，劫掠的欲望 | |
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vices
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| 缺陷( vice的名词复数 )； 恶习； 不道德行为； 台钳 | |
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preyed
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| v.掠食( prey的过去式和过去分词 )；掠食；折磨；（人）靠欺诈为生 | |
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weavers
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| 织工，编织者( weaver的名词复数 ) | |
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wasteful
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| adj.（造成）浪费的，挥霍的 | |
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veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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60
undone
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| a.未做完的，未完成的 | |
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61
brotherhood
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| n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊 | |
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62
redeem
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| v.买回，赎回，挽回，恢复，履行（诺言等） | |
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63
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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64
dishonour
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| n./vt.拒付（支票、汇票、票据等）；vt.凌辱，使丢脸；n.不名誉，耻辱，不光彩 | |
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65
treasury
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| n.宝库；国库，金库；文库 | |
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66
chapel
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| n.小教堂，殡仪馆 | |
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67
shrine
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| n.圣地，神龛，庙；v.将...置于神龛内，把...奉为神圣 | |
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68
eminence
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| n.卓越，显赫；高地，高处；名家 | |
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69
advancement
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| n.前进，促进，提升 | |
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70
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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