Valperga (21 page)

He was followed by the story-tellers, who repeated various
anecdotes and tales which they had collected in their rambles; they
seldom invented a new story; but an old one well told, or some real
occurrence dressed up with romantic ornaments, formed the subjects
of their narratives.

CASTRUCCIO had not joined the amusements of the day; for he had
returned to Lucca, and assembled his council to deliberate on some
knotty question in the Lucchese policy. Having dispatched this
weighty affair, he mounted his horse, and turned his head the
accustomed road to the castle of Valperga. As he quitted the gate
of the town, he heard a voice behind calling him; and, reining in
his horse, he saw approach at a tremendously high trot, Benedetto
the Rich of Cremona. Although at some distance he instantly
recognized his old fellow- traveller, by his uncouth dress which
was still unchanged, his high shoulders, strait back and bent in
knees. Pepi, approaching with a humble salutation, said that he had
affairs of importance to communicate to the noble consul of Lucca,
and intreated him to give him audience.

"Willingly," said Castruccio: "I am going to ride
to yonder castle; do you accompany me; we will discourse on the
way; and when there you will find hospitality as well as
I."

"You must check your steed then," said Pepi, "for
mine will hardly gallop after the hard day's journey he has
had."

They rode on together, and Pepi seemed oppressed by a weighty
secret, which he longed, yet did not know how, to disclose. He
praised the fortifications of Lucca, the fertility of its plain,
and its mountains, those inexpensive barriers against the
incursions of enemies; and then he paused,--coughed,--scolded his
horse,--and sunk into silence.

"And now," asked Castruccio, "what is this affair
of importance concerning which you would speak to me?"

"Ah! Messer lo Console, it is a matter of such consequence
that I hardly know how to disclose it; and methinks you are in too
merry a mood to listen with requisite attention, so for the present
I will waive the subject."

"As you please, but, when we arrive at yonder castle, we
shall find little opportunity to talk of business; for amusement
and gaiety are there the order of the day."

"Gaiety!--Well; it perhaps will do my heart good to see
merry faces once again; I have seen few of them since you were on
the donjon of my palace. Cremona has not yet recovered its cruel
siege and storm; many of its palaces still lie in their ashes; and
many good and fertile acres have been sold at a low rate, to trim
the despoiled apartments in the guise they once were. Yet the
Guelphs have again attained the upper hand there; my townsmen are
proud and rebellious, and have not acquired through their
misfortunes the humility of poverty, which sits better on a subject
than the insolence of prosperity. Were I a prince, all my subjects
should be poor; it makes them obedient towards their master, and
daring towards their foes, on whose spoils they depend for riches.
Yet, alas! so obstinate is man in his wickedness, that, as we see
in Cremona, famine, fire and slaughter cannot tame their factious
spirits."

"Ah! Messer Benedetto, you are ever the same; you have
neither changed your dress nor opinions since I saw you last; ever
immersed in politics."

"Indeed, my good lord, I am fuller of those than ever, and
that of necessity; as, when you hear what I have to say, you will
perceive. Ah! the Cremonese are still proud, though they ought to
be humble; yet a small power might now easily overcome them, for
they are thinking more how to replant their burnt vineyards, than
to resist their lawful prince. Sovereigns make war in a strangely
expensive way, when they collect armies and man fleets against a
country: a dozen bold fellows with firebrands, when all the town is
asleep in their beds, will do as well to the full, as an hundred
thousand armed men by broad day-light: a well timed burning of
harvests is a better chastiser of rebels, than an army headed by
all the sovereigns of Europe. I was ever an admirer of the Hebrew
warrior who sent foxes with torches to their tails among the
enemy's corn; these are sleights of war that are much
neglected, but which are of inestimable benefit."

"Messer Benedetto, I listen with admiration to your wisdom;
but trust the word of a friend, and do not talk thus openly in
yonder castle; or if you cannot rein your tongue now, turn your
horse's head towards Lucca. They are Guelphs up here."

"Strange company for me to enter; for in Cremona I never
cap to a Guelph, whoever he may be; but if you, my lord, are safe,
surely so am I, and trust Benedetto Pepi for discretion. You are I
believe my friend, and a Ghibeline; and, being now lord of this
noble country, you can well judge of the truth of my remarks. As it
is I am glad to enter the company of Guelphs, and glad to find that
you are well with them; for it is always expedient to have a spy in
the enemy's camp."

If Castruccio had not fully understood the eccentric mood of his
companion, he might have been offended at this speech; and even now
he felt his cheek flush at the name of spy being thus as it were
applied to him; but he replied laughing; "Aye, Messer
Benedetto, there will be fine sport for you; the lady of the castle
is holding a court, and tomorrow we have a tournament; will you not
enter the lists against these priest-ridden knights?"

"Not the less powerful for being priest-ridden; not the
less powerful if they were priests themselves; as I well know to my
misfortune, having been beaten almost to death by a young canon who
was my enemy; and that took place many years ago, when I was
younger, and more active than I am now. But I was revenged; aye,
Benedetto Pepi was never yet injured in a hair of his head, but the
heart's anguish of his enemy paid for it."

Pepi looked at his companion with the elevated brows of triumph
and vanity, while his sharp eyes spoke, not ferocity, but
successful cunning. Castruccio regarded him with a glance of
distrust, which he did not observe, but continued:--"This
young rascal had been forced into the priestly dress, but had not
yet made vows, when he resolved to supplant me with a rich, young
heiress whom I intended to marry. I was well off in the world, with
a good estate, and a noble palace, so the father gave his consent,
and all went on prosperously; till this roguish priest laid a plot
for my destruction. He waylaid me on the wedding day, as I was
conducting the bride to my own house; she loved him, and left me;
aye, at the first whistle of this brave dame--hunter I felt her
snatch her hand from mine, and saw her throw herself into his arms.
I resisted, more as an angry, than a wise man, for they were armed,
and I defenceless: so, as I told you, the villain beat me, till I
was carried home nearly dead from the blows I received. During my
recovery, as I lay there in my bed, my bones aching with the
bruises I had received, I formed my plan of revenge, which I
carried on, till he and she, and his kin and her kin, knelt to me
for mercy; but I did not bend, and was most gloriously revenged.
And now where is he? a grey-- haired wretch; old before his time,
rotting in the dungeons of the Inquisition. She has long been dead;
of grief, they say,--at least she never enjoyed a moment with her
paramour."

Castruccio started, as he heard the devilish confession of his
companion. He did not reply; but he no longer felt that careless
amusement which he had formerly done, in his conversation and
uncouth manners; but watched him warily as if he had been an old
and wrinkled serpent, whose fangs had fallen to decay, but whose
venom still lurked in his toothless gums.

Pepi rode on, unconscious of the emotions he had excited; he
imagined that he had just recited the finest passage of his life.
For this old craftsman was fully impregnated with the Italian
policy, which has stained the history of her lords and princes with
the foul blots of fraud and cruelty: he did not admire the
conqueror of a nation (although that were almost an object of
adoration to him), so much as he worshipped the contriver of
frauds, the base intriguer, who, not by the open combat of power
and passion, but by dastardly and underhand means, brings his enemy
on his knees before him.

When they arrived at the castle, they were conducted to the
fountain of the rock, and Castruccio introduced Pepi to the
company. The Cremonese bowed to the fair countess; and then darted
his quick glances around, to discover if he knew any of the
company; many he had seen before, and he could not help muttering
as he seated himself-- "Guelphs to the core! a pretty nest of
hornets this!"

The company in the mean time were examining with curious eyes
the garb and manners of their visitor. His dress was more shabby
than that of the poorest of the jugglers; for he had not brought
his gold-fringed cloak with him on this occasion; and, but for the
introduction of Castruccio, and the gold spurs which he wore, he
would have hazarded the disgrace of being dismissed to the company
of the valets of the castle. Pepi observed their contempt, and
addressed them as follows.

"For you, noble lords and ladies, who with upturned lips
sneer at my homely garb, listen to my story, and do not despise my
words, because they are those of a Ghibeline. You shine in silk,
and jewels, and costly furs; I am clothed in sheep-skin and
sclavina, and perhaps my capuchin may have a hole in its well worn
texture; but look at my golden spurs; I am a knight, and have a
palace, and a tower, and a good horse, as an Italian nobleman
should have. Now listen, and then tell me whether I am right or
wrong, in not throwing away the produce of my fields in trinkets
and trumpery.

"I dare say that you all know, that there was once an
emperor of the West, called Charlemagne. He was a great conqueror,
and during his life lorded it nobly over all Europe, even from the
tepid waters of the Mediterranean to the frozen Baltic sea; Italy
did not murmur against his sway, and Germany was obliged to submit
to the force of his arms. It was a glorious thing to see this great
prince ride out among his followers, clothed, as I may be, in
common skins, and greater than the meanest soldier in his camp only
through his superior prowess and wisdom. But the nobles of his
court were such as the nobles have continued to be to this day; and
the money they should have kept for the maintenance of their
followers, and the furniture and works of war, they expended upon
dress and foppery.

"One day Charlemagne was at the town of Fugolano, clothed
as I have said in a well worn vest of fox's fur, and his only
jewel the well- tempered blade of his trusty sword. The courtiers
gathered round this royal eagle, and he was indignant at heart to
view their tawdry attire: they had just come from Pavia, which
place, then as now, the Venetians made the mart for all the rich
merchandize they brought from the East. They were dressed with
every extravagance of luxury; they wore tippets of the feathers of
Phoenician birds, lined with silk; robes of rich brocade, trimmed
with the feathers of the back and neck of peacocks. Their flowing
cloaks of fur were made of the skins of a thousand minute animals,
brought from the wilds of Tartary, and in their caps they had
jewels and feathers of extraordinary price. Thus they jutted up and
down before their master, fancying that he would admire them, he
who loved a well hacked helmet, boots bespattered with riding after
fugitive enemies, a blood-stained sword, and a spirited war horse,
more than ten armies of such fair-weather birds. `Come, my brave
comrades,' cried the emperor, `we have no battle and no siege
to amuse us; and the gloomy day with its drizzling rain makes the
quiet of my palace irksome to me; mount your steeds, and let us
away to the chase.'

"It had been a fine sight, to see the courtiers, as they
gave a last pitying glance to their gay dresses, and bestrode their
horses to follow their master. He led the way; no ditch or hedge or
thick cover of copse-wood, could obstruct his path; his noble steed
surmounted all, and every bramble had rich spoils from his
companions: silk, fur, and feathers strewed the ground, and hung on
the thorns by the roadside; what escaped the dangers of land, was
shipwrecked by water, for the rain wetted them to the skin, and the
materials of their clothes, in losing their gloss, had lost all
their value.

"When they returned, they bitterly complained among
themselves for the losses they had sustained: the emperor was
advised of their murmurs, and sent to command their attendance.
They obeyed, and approached his throne in a guise much unlike the
gay figure they had exhibited in the morning; their feathers
broken, their jewels lost, their silk torn, and their furs, which
had been wet, and afterwards dried by the fire, were shrunk,
disfigured and spoiled. `Oh, most foolish mortals!' cried
Charlemagne, `how are these furs precious or useful? Mine cost only
a few pence; yours cost not only silver, but many pounds of
gold!'"

Pepi ended his most apposite tale by a laugh of triumph; and it
might easily be perceived that some of the young nobles were by no
means pleased with the uncouth manners of their teacher. But the
sun had now set, and the bell of the Ave Marie rung from the chapel
of Valperga; so the company descended the rock, and joined in the
devotions of the priest, who celebrated vespers, attended by all
the more humble guests of the castle.

In the evening several mimes were represented under the
direction of Borsiere. No nation can excel the Italians in the
expression of passion by the language of gesture alone, or in the
talent of extemporarily giving words to a series of action which
they intend to represent; even in those ruder times they were able
to draw tears from the audience, or shake them with convulsions of
laughter. The actors now at the castle, first performed the
touching story of Palamon and Arcite, and afterwards the favourite
tale of the loves of Troilus and Cressida, and told with animated
action the story of the ill repaid constancy of the worthy knight
of Troy, and the black treachery of the faithless Cressida; so that
few eyes were undimmed with tears, when this unhappy knight, who
had sought death in vain, but who survived his country and his
friends, was supposed to stand beside the half choked cistern of a
once often visited fountain among the ruins and burnt palaces of
Troy, and to behold Cressida, in a mean garb, and deformed by
disease, bearing a heavy pitcher on her head, come to draw water
from the spring; and every bosom thrilled at the bitter grief of
Troilus, and the humble repentance and heart-felt self--reproaches
of his once wanton mistress, as, calling for pardon, she died. To
relieve the company from their painful sympathy, the mimes came
forward to act the antic pantomimes of the day: these were neither
very decent nor very clever; a miller and a priest were
over-reached in their love, and were left shivering in the snow
during a winter-night, while two young students of Bologna, whom
the other worthies had combined to trick, enjoyed that for which in
their dreary condition they ardently pined. Night had now run half
its course; and the company retired, after bestowing the praises
well due to Borsiere's successful exertions.