Valperga (10 page)

Pepi fixed his little piercing eyes upon Castruccio, as if to
read into his heart, and discover the secret motive of this
question; but the frank and noble beauty of his fellow-traveller
was such, that it even had an effect on this man's rigid soul;
and, as he gazed on him, the hard lines of his face seemed to melt
away, and he replied at first with gentleness; until, carried away
by his subject, he poured forth the torrent of his hatred with a
warmth, strange to observe in one, who in calmer moments appeared
more as a man made of wood or leather, than of flesh and blood:

"My good friend, you say true, I hate the Florentines; yet
I may well find it difficult to tell the cause; for neither have
they wounded me, nor stolen my purse, nor done me any other great
injury of the like nature; but I am a Ghibeline, and therefore I
hate them. And who would not hate a people, that despise the
emperor, and all lawful authority; that have as it were dug up the
buried form of Liberty, which died when Milan fell under the
Visconti; who force their very nobles to become vulgar, and counts
of the palace, and counts of the empire, to inscribe their names as
weavers and furriers; who go about the world enriching themselves
by a wicked usury, and return and squander the money in purchasing
licence for themselves? Is not their town filled with brawls, and
are not their streets strewed with the ruins of the palaces of the
noble Ghibelines? Do they not one day undo the acts of the day
before, and ever introduce more and more licence? Now create every
two months a set of magistrates, who take all power out of the
hands of the rich, and now a captain of the people, who protects
and raises the vile multitude, till every lord must cap to his
shoemaker? The example is what I abhor; are not Lucca, Bologna and
Sienna free? and the contagion spreads over Lombardy. Oh! to every
saint in heaven would I put up my prayer, to the devil himself
would I give my thanks (but that so good a work could never have
been done by his means), if, as was once proposed, the town of
Florence had been razed, its streets sown with salt, and its
inhabitants scattered like Jews and Sclavonians about the world.
Curse thee, curse thee, Farinata, that through thy means this was
not done!"

"A disinterested love of the Imperial power causes these
emotions? In truth you are the warmest Ghibeline I ever
knew."

"My friend, the world, trust me, will never go well, until
the rich rule, and the vulgar sink to their right station as slaves
of the soil. You will readily allow that war is the scourge of the
world; now in free towns war has a better harvest, than where
proper and legitimate authority is established. During war neither
our persons, nor our lands, nor our houses are in safety; we may be
wounded in brawls, our lands laid waste, our houses and all our
possessions despoiled. Now my plan is easy, simple, and
practicable: if you are at all read in history, you must know, that
the fortunes of the nobles of ancient Rome consisted in many
hundreds of slaves, whom they brought up to various trades and
arts, and then let them out to work, or permitted them to keep
shops and make money, which the masters received, paying them a
small sum for their necessary support. Such is the order, which, if
I were a prince, I would establish, and every town, such as
Florence, where all is noise and talk, should be reduced to silence
and peace; about two thousand rich men should possess all the rest
of the inhabitants, who, like sheep, would flock to their folds,
and receive their pittances with thankfulness and
humility."

"But if, instead of sheep, they were to be wolves, and turn
rebels to their masters? Methinks their numbers would panic--strike
their two thousand drivers."

"Nay, then we would display our whips, and drive the flock
to market. Slaves rebel! we would starve them into decent
submission."

Castruccio could not help being amused by the strange policy and
earnest manners of the Italian lawgiver, and replied: "But,
Messer Benedetto, I dispute your first proposition, and assert that
there is as much war and bloodshed under kings, as in republics.
You who have fought in Flanders, and I who have also visited
England, know this to be true; yet in France and England the people
do not mingle with the quarrels of the nobles; so I think you must
mend your constitution, and reduce your two thousand slave-drivers
of Florence to a single one; yet I am afraid that, if there were
only one in each town of Italy, or even if there were only two in
the whole world, they would contrive to create war and
bloodshed."

"That," replied Pepi, with a groan, "is the great
fault that I find in the constitution of the world. If the rich
would only know their own interests, we might chain the monster,
and again bury Liberty. But they are all fools; if the rich would
agree, if the few princes that there need exist in the world, would
league in amity, instead of quarrelling, such a state as that of
Florence would not subsist a year. But, if reason had a trump as
loud as that which will awaken us at the last day, the clash of
arms of these senseless people would drown it. Now, if instead of
quarrelling, the Pope and Frederic Barbarossa had made a league,
all Italy would now be on its knees before this Henry of
Luxembourgh. And one day this may be; mark my words; tyranny is a
healthy tree, it strikes a deep root, and each year its branches
grow larger and larger, and its shade spreads wider and wider.
While liberty is a word, a breath, an air; it will dissipate, and
Florence become as slavish as it is now rebellious; did not Rome
fall?"

"I am little acquainted with the history of ancient
times," said Castruccio gaily; "but, since the world
began, I can easily imagine that states have risen and fallen; we
are blind with regard to futurity, and methinks it is foolish to
build for a longer term than a man's life. Kingdoms are as
fragile as a porcelain vessel tossed by the ocean; nay, so very
weak are they, that even the stars, those small, silly points of
light, are said to rule them; and often, when they are at their
highest glory, God sends his scourges, pest or earthquake, to sink
them for ever; let us work for ourselves alone; we may be obscure
or famous, grovelling as the worm, or lofty as the kingly eagle,
according as our desires sink or mount."

Discoursing thus they arrived at Turin, and were again
entertained by a merchant, the friend of Pepi. Here they found a
numerous company, who all discoursed with warmth concerning the
political state of Italy, and poured forth the most extravagant
praises of the emperor Henry. He had passed two months in Piedmont,
reconciling factions, hearing complaints, and destroying the
vexatious tyrannies of its petty lords. Pepi, not considering this
a fit occasion to poison these sanguine hopes by his prophecies,
sat in silence with elevated brows and pressed lips, turning his
sharp eyes from one speaker to another, as if by their means to
drink in all the intelligence the politicians were able to
afford.

The next morning Pepi and Castruccio parted; whether this was
caused by the necessities or the prudence of the former cannot be
determined. He alleged that his business called him to Alessandria
in his way to Cremona, and the road of Castruccio lay directly for
Milan. On parting Pepi made a speech, expressive of his gratitude,
and the return he was willing to render for the benefit he had
received; which was a welcome to his house and board, whenever his
preserver should pass through Cremona. "Yet," he added,
"if you have any other friends in that town, you maybe will
prefer them to me. I have, as I related yesterday, suffered many
losses, and am endeavouring to repair them by an *conomical mode of
life; I have no rich wines or soft couches, and can neither afford
to burn wax lights, nor to eat delicate food. I have a good tower
to my house; and, now that I am a knight, I shall have a good horse
in my stable; and that is all I have to boast. You seem to have no
taste for coarse fare or hard beds; and therefore my dwelling would
in no manner be agreeable to you."

Castruccio thanked him, and carelessly replied, that, as a
soldier, he had been accustomed to hardship and privation, nor
would the poverty of Pepi's dwelling render it less worthy in
his eyes; and they coldly took leave of one another, Pepi trotting
gravely on the road towards Alessandria, his head full of plans
which he kept carefully locked up in his own brain, and his
hard-lined face, faithful to his commands, giving no indications of
what was passing in his soul.

Castruccio rode on gaily towards Milan; the cheerless wintry sky
and the cold air could not tame his buoyant spirits or his hopes.
He panted for action, for distinction, and for power; yet he no
longer desired these things as a boy, unknowing of the road which
led to them. During the interval which he had spent in England and
France, he had studied human nature with the observant eye of
genius; and, all careless as he appeared to be, he had learned how
to please the multitude, how to flatter the foibles of the noble,
and thus to gain the hearts of men and to rule them. Under Alberto
Scoto he had revolved with care the political state of Italy, such
as that commander had pictured it to him; his plans of lordship and
conquest were already formed; he had only the first step to make,
to proceed afterwards with a swift pace to the goal for which he
panted.

AFTER several days travelling, he arrived at Milan; and his
first care was to hasten to the palace of Matteo Visconti. This
chief was gone to the meeting of the senate, deliberating with the
nobles of Milan on the sum of money which should be voted for the
use of the emperor. Castruccio was therefore introduced to his son,
Galeazzo, who was then in the hall of the palace, surrounded by all
the young Ghibeline nobility of Milan. It was a scene of gaiety and
splendour. The young nobles were preparing to attend on the emperor
in a royal hunt. They were attired with the utmost magnificence,
with full dresses of embroidered silk, cloth, or velvet, and cloaks
of precious furs; some were accoutred in short gowns with trowsers
tied in the same manner as that of Pepi, but made of fine linen and
embossed silks; their collars were ornamented with strings of
pearl. Their hair, parted equally on the forehead, was curled and
fell down as far as the shoulders; they wore different kinds of
caps, some flat and adorned with plumes of feathers, others high
and pointed, and the lower part twisted round with pearls fastened
with a rich broach; most of them held a falcon on his fist, or
caressed a favourite hound, or vaunted the prowess of a noble
steed. There were many ladies in company who seemed to vie with
their male companions in luxury of dress. Their gowns were made of
the same costly stuffs, and ornamented with greater profusion of
precious stones; their wide sleeves which fell almost to the ground
were edged with pearls, while underneath, a small sleeve of the
finest silk fitted tight to the arm; the borders of their dresses
were richly embroidered with pearls or golden beads; they wore
their veils adorned with the same richness, and small capuchins of
oriental fur bordered with fringes of gold and pearls; and their
girdles were studded with the most splendid stones.

Castruccio paused, half dazzled by the scene. In the ruder
courts of London or Paris he had never seen so much splendour and
luxury: he cast an involuntary glance on his own habiliments, which
although rich were soiled by travelling, and in their best days
could not have vied with the meanest dress worn by these nobles. He
quickly however recovered his self--possession; and his name, whose
sound had passed the Alps, and been repeated with enthusiasm by
many of the followers of the emperor who had served with him in the
Low Countries, caused this brilliant assembly to receive him with
flattering distinction. They crowded round him, and courteously
invited him to partake of their amusements; while his handsome
person won the smiles of the ladies who were present. Galeazzo
Visconti received him with that kindness and cordiality which was
then in fashion among the Italians; and he, as the most courteous
cavalier of the country, was well versed in all the politeness of
the age. Castruccio was provided with a beautiful horse, and a
mantle of rich fur befitting the cold season, and made one of the
gay and splendid band as they rode towards the palace of the
emperor; here they were joined by the sovereign himself, the
empress, and the noble Germans of his retinue. Riding through the
streets of Milan, they quitted the city at the eastern gate, and
dividing into various parties, spread themselves abroad in search
of game. The Germans followed the dogs through the open country,
chasing down foxes and hares; while the Italians, who were dressed
for gala, and would not risk their fine silks among the brambles
and impediments of the fields, were content with unmuffling their
falcons when they saw game aloft, and making bets on the superior
speed of their several birds.

During the first part of the ride Galeazzo observed Castruccio,
who appeared to be too much wrapped up in his own thoughts to
attend to the discourse of the gay throng around him. He loitered
behind, that he might indulge in his reveries; and Galeazzo, who
had separated himself from the rest, now rode up to him; and they
entered into a conversation together, which at length turned into a
discussion of the plans and wishes of Castruccio. They were both
men of caution and prudence; yet, being young, they were
susceptible of impressions to which men lose their sensibility as
they advance in years. They were mutually pleased with each other;
and a single glance, a single word, sufficed to make each
understand the other, and to unite them in the bonds of
friendship.

Castruccio asked what it was believed that the designs of the
emperor were; and Galeazzo replied: "You would hardly guess
what anxious hearts, throbbing with distrust and fear, are
concealed under the apparent gaiety of these hunters. We Milanese
are full of dissentions and ambition; and I, as a chief among them,
have my head well loaded with care and doubt, while I follow this
joyous train with my falcon on my fist. In a few days the game will
be up; and we shall see what power the Visconti or the Della Torre
will have over Lombardy. At present wait. The emperor is expecting
supplies of money, and we are voting them for him with apparent
zeal: you, as a politician, must well know that money is the great
mover of all change in a state. I prophesy change; but you as a
stranger, must stand aloof, and be guided by circumstances. In the
mean time make friends; attach yourself to the emperor and to the
lords of Lombardy, many of whom are extremely powerful; and rest
assured, that whether he be successful or not, he will not quit
Italy without endeavouring to change the politics of the Tuscan
republics. Now let us join our friends; tomorrow I will talk
further with you; and, if we have recourse to arms, I need not say
how proud I should be in having my party distinguished by the
acquisition of Castruccio dei Antelminelli."