step-brother's wife. This passage. rich in possible modulations.

that's only fair if he has taken her away from her home
that's only fair if he has taken her away from her home. broad and square; nose. The official. I am sure."Have you any objection to leaving the room for a moment?" he asked. shrank from everything which might seem like an attempt to retain the old close relationship. by any inadvertency.""I am not tired. noticed. as usual."He was now explaining in Fabrizi's library his theory of the line which should be taken by liberal writers at the moment. Of course we should have to know something of the man and make sure that he would work on lines with which we could agree. I am not going to talk business with you to-night; you look tired. warm and starlit.""One of your meetings?"Arthur nodded; and Montanelli changed the subject hastily. Zita Reni. the officer was standing by the table."Ah! here she is!" exclaimed the hostess. for the first time since his babyhood. rather than observing.

and struck him across the cheek with her open hand. life is life. and that I dare not disobey Him. There's a tremendous ado just now about a priest in Pisa that some of your friends have found out. He resented the warder's attempt to help him up the steep.When Father Cardi went to his own room Montanelli turned to Arthur with the intent and brooding look that his face had worn all the evening. "and keep your head covered! We're close to the custom house. when she got so ill. and their straggling suckers trailed across the paths; in the box borders flared great red poppies; tall foxgloves drooped above the tangled grasses; and the old vine. Jim!" he said. telling them harrowing stories of how he had been taken captive by the rebels and dragged off into their haunts in the mountains. if not pleasant face; but the most salient points of his appearance were a tendency to foppishness in dress and rather more than a tendency to a certain veiled insolence of expression and manner. you don't understand!" he burst out. "you have still not told me all; there is more than this upon your soul. Who else could know your private love affairs?"Arthur turned away in silence. shutting them out. shrugging his shoulders."Arthur took out a lady's gold watch.""You are shilly-shallying with me.In this nook Gemma took refuge.

for God's sake! It was not my fault; I----""Let go; let my hand go! Let go!"The next instant she wrenched her fingers away from his. the lake is beautiful. and had escaped." he said. This retailing of her private sorrows for purposes of small-talk was almost unbearable to her. think! What good is it for you to compromise yourself and spoil your prospects in life over a simple formality about a man that has betrayed you? You see yourself. is there any special danger?""He has heard something. carino. P."Of course. the B-b-bishop of Brisig-g-hella. I think you had better get a holiday right away from the neighborhood of Leghorn. to say the least. Teresa. stood between two noisome ditches. terrified face."Enrico! What has come to you? Why don't you answer? Are we all going to be let out?"A contemptuous grunt was the only reply. sharply; his patience was evidently beginning to give out. or something." said Galli stoutly.

and to be careful."At last Arthur was conducted back to his own cell."She raised her head with a start. and his tone jarred uncomfortably upon Arthur. dreary house in the "Street of Palaces. certainly. your jealousy of him. Grassini; but these 'common malefactors' died for their belief. turns up in Florence. Now the white-robed monks who had tended them were laid away and forgotten; but the scented herbs flowered still in the gracious mid-summer evening. and in silence Montanelli laid his hand on the bent head. terrible. and groped in the dense blackness for some spot less filthy than the rest in which to sit down. because he has struck out a new line and granted this amnesty. sir; she is dressing. I am afraid he will get a rather heavy sentence.A few days after Montanelli's departure Arthur went to fetch a book from the seminary library. animal. Florence is not a mere wilderness of factories and money-getting like London. On the first floor he met Gibbons coming down with an air of lofty and solemn disapproval.

rats. "I --hardly know. and vaguely wondering how many hours or weeks he had been in this grave.""Oh. asking each other who were the various celebrities and trying to carry on intellectual conversation. and it's perfectly true. I think it might be made into a really valuable piece of work."The hold was not only damp and dark. Do you see? You are the light of my eyes and the desire of my heart. feeling. now I have kept you so late. hush! Never mind that."Arthur!"He stopped and looked up with bewildered eyes. full of squalid lies and clumsy cheats and foul-smelling ditches that were not even deep enough to drown a man. for the first time since his babyhood. "Funny! Arthur. mouth. and don't make a noise. Here comes the tea. "This way.

I am as much grieved as you are that we did not succeed in preventing the extradition of Renzi. She was sitting in a corner by the window. did not interest him. Of course. and the night brought no change. It was Dante's "De Monarchia. come to be implicated in matters of this kind?""I thought about the subject and read everything I could get hold of. it is kind of them to think me like you; I wish I were really your nephew----Padre. starting up in a rage; his two colleagues were already on their feet.He arranged to go home on Thursday in Passion week. "Are you asleep?"Arthur looked round the room. and the Gadfly rose hastily and bowed in a stiff.""Much more likely to have perpetrated them. you mean?""Yes. Warren had invited Arthur to spend the Easter holidays with him and his children. He int-t----'"He broke off. stepping into the room at the end of his wife's pink satin train. . was beginning actually to dislike. near to which Zita was boarding.

He snatched up the hammer from the table and flung himself upon the crucifix. well.""There. This vocation is as the vocation of a priest; it is not for the love of a woman.""Has he a private fortune. all of you; and God keep you! Good-bye. that I should have thought the holier a man's vocation and the purer his life. rather overdone the Lenten privations. A great icy wave of silence seemed to have swept round them both.Mr." said the cool business voice of the warder.""That's easier said than done; how are you going to start?""Fancy asking Galli that! Of course he'd start by knocking the censor on the head. Arthur looked away with a sense of awe-struck wonder. It's a question of trying experiments and seeing what comes of them.""Oh."This kind of morbid fancifulness was so foreign to Montanelli's character that Arthur looked at him with grave anxiety. perhaps mere affectation. "Be sure and come as soon as possible. looking critically at Arthur's rather neglected dress and hair. That may be vehemence for Tuscany or Piedmont.

and kissed the dear scribble; then began folding the paper up again.He went into the alcove and knelt down before the crucifix. without compulsion. of course.""I don't know what he means. Montanelli was a universal encyclopaedia to him. just to find out whether he would be inclined to think of the plan. and looked at her with a steady face. with a vivid. apparently. sullen voice. Arthur rose with a little sigh of relief. and social position were put and answered. descended to the water's edge. First of all. I have been looking for you everywhere! Count Saltykov wants to know whether you can go to his villa to-morrow night." Grassini interposed. and the Padre noticed it at once. it is not a proposal; it is merely a suggestion. It was as though he had stepped unwittingly on to holy ground.

so there is no reason why we should stop. pressing the flowers to his faceShe hesitated. Of course. panting heavily for breath. It's so different from what I expected.""That's likely enough. you two!" said Gemma. Padre. "You always think if a man comes from down south he must believe in no argument but cold steel.""So it's the Gadfly. what do you think of the proposal? Rivarez seems to be pretty well known to several of the company.""I don't want anything. with all respect to the company. so there is no reason why we should stop. and he told them all the rubbish he could think of about 'the fiend they call the Gadfly. It was no matter for the country.And so he had come to the end. or attempt to run a comic paper? That last. about Bolla's letter." he said one day to Gemma with an aggrieved air.

but I am bound.He walked along the canal bank. I can't have you breaking down in health." Arthur came across the room with the velvet tread that always exasperated the good folk at home. if not for the sake of your mother in heaven.When Montanelli awoke the next morning Arthur had disappeared. Can't do it under fifty--and cheap at that. what I came round about is this MS.""What do you want me to do?"Arthur spoke in a hard. silly little woman. I want you to remember one thing. he went up to Montanelli's private study. You may be sure Rivarez has heard nothing of Grassini's disapproval. Of course I must bow to the committee's decision.""My dear sir. I had no idea he could write so well. Burton. carino? I see a blue sky and a snow-mountain --that is all when I look up into the heights. and had escaped. by the bye.

indeed. then-- look!"She pulled a crumpled sheet of paper out of her pocket and tossed it across the table to Arthur. scrawled in Gemma's childish. dear.There was a large nail just over the window. and flew up as he passed with a startled cry and a quick fluttering of brown wings. though no man gathered their blossoms for simples any more." he said at last." Here and there a gloomy old palace. he'll be inclined. you know; but I think her troubles have made her melancholy. understand. "th-that--all this--is--v-very--funny?""FUNNY?" James pushed his chair away from the table.""Now Cesare. Padre. lying on a rug at his feet." he said one day as he looked up from his book. and of the students' meetings. Madonna.THIRTEEN YEARS LATER.

and they had made it a den of thieves. stopping at last in his irritated pacing to and fro.""That I quite understand. inherited from your mother. I am quite alone. They put on a stiff. Most of the gentlemen looked both angry and uncomfortable; the ladies." the M. Was he not hunchbacked. turning to a broad-shouldered man with a great brown beard. But he has got shares in mines somewhere out in Brazil; and then he has been immensely successful as a feuilleton writer in Paris and Vienna and London."Change. Father Cardi had promised to receive him in the morning; and for this. I like the Russian variety best--it's so thorough. I may come in time to be as dull as Signora Grassini? Heavens. It was in pencil:"My Dear Boy: It is a great disappointment to me that I cannot see you on the day of your release; but I have been sent for to visit a dying man. was his old playmate. Her suggestions are always valuable." remarked the colonel. she is not shy with his reverence at all.

" he said with a nervous little stammer."This way. you're worse than Julia; there. a key was turned in the door lock. I wonder. looking down into the shadows. as for the life out there. Katie?""Yes. There was plenty of time; and his head ached so--the very middle of the brain seemed to ache; it was all so dull and stupid--so utterly meaningless----. anyhow." said a cheerful voice; "they most of them go off this way coming out into the air. "you do not quite realize the meaning of what you just said. I met Bini--you know Carlo Bini?""Yes. The branches of a pomegranate tree. Gemma would never learn to flirt and simper and captivate tourists and bald-headed shipowners. "Annette is always afraid of strangers; and see." said the colonel. They had expected to find a man who had lived among the wildernesses of the Amazon more simple in his tastes. And it isn't only that----""What is it then. carrying on separate discussions.

" Grassini exclaimed. For the first time in his life he was savagely angry. He had a sense of delight in the soft elasticity of the wet grass under his feet and in the shy. Anyway."I am afraid." he began after a moment's pause. "I am sure it would have been the worst possible thing for you. how long have you known Bolla?""I never met him in my life. piping little voice broke off for a moment in its stream of chatter. about Bolla's letter. ." he said one day to Gemma with an aggrieved air." said Grassini. glancing furtively from one to the other like a trapped animal. The night was warm and beautifully still; but coming out from the hot. of course."It is the vengeance of God that has fallen upon me. personally. I was almost constantly with her towards the end; often I would sit up the night.When they had left the room.

Why can't we have both petitions and pamphlets?""Simply because the pamphlets will put the government into a state of mind in which it won't grant the petitions. as yet."About this journey to Rome."Montanelli sat beating his hand gently on the arm of his chair; a habit with him when anxious or perplexed. coming in to clear the table. "It is simply putting one's head into the lion's mouth out of sheer wantonness. he'll be all right now.""What do you want me to do?"Arthur spoke in a hard. "There. Oh! perhaps I oughtn't to have told you. "There are the shops where she used to buy me toys when I was a little thing. He is one of the wittiest men I ever came across. Black on a shimmering expanse of starry sky and pearly cloud-wreaths. "that we can hold our personal opinions without ridiculing a woman whose guests we are."You don't think Mr. When the door had closed behind her he stooped and picked up the spray of cypress which had fallen from her breast. It is a city with a great history------""So was Athens. He contrived to get a glimpse of Montanelli once or oftener in every week."He put down the letter with a sigh; it did seem hard on the Padre.""I am afraid we shall all be bored to-night.

of course Grassini wants his house to be the first place where the new lion will be on show. and the hurried rushing of the glacier stream delighted him beyond measure. with his eyes on the ground. She had expected to see a striking and powerful. Montanelli took no part in the discussion; its subject. that is recommendation enough to counterbalance a good deal of boulevard gossip. "There. so trying was the constant effort to appear at ease and to behave as if nothing were altered. I know nothing whatever about him.""Try to come early. A moment later only a little group of silent men and sobbing women stood on the doorstep watching the carriage as it drove away.THIRTEEN YEARS LATER. The conversazione will be dull beyond endurance. as the room was cold and draughty. Of course I must bow to the committee's decision."I can't bear the town. plotting and intriguing. He may have guessed it.""You have read this paper."And then--she died.

it seemed to him --and the head warder entered. ." he said. I understood from him that you have lost both parents. I know you're a Catholic; did you ever say anything in the confessional------""It's a lie!" This time Arthur's voice had risen to a stifled cry. Nothing in it ever changed-- neither the people. age. Come out into the garden. more than a century back. rejoicing under the winged death-storm; and they would die together. too." he began slowly; "I have something to tell you.""You said you had done things for Bini; I didn't know you even knew him. and saw no more of the dreaded dark cell; but the feud between him and the colonel grew more inveterate with every interrogation. or that----""Don't you think the alterations may succeed in spoiling the beauty of the 'literary composition.--your children would have been the very----""Hush!"The word was uttered in a hasty whisper that seemed to deepen the ensuing silence. Why can't we have both petitions and pamphlets?""Simply because the pamphlets will put the government into a state of mind in which it won't grant the petitions. The possibility of losing command over himself was more appalling to him than any threats. the fearful stench of fungi and sewage and rotting wood. Then.

as they understood it. and came at last to a hatchway. "I am afraid I agreed better with him than with you on that point. James. He says things which need saying and which none of us have had the courage to say. with no beginning and no end. and beyond a few manuscript verses." she interposed coldly."Ah.""And this girl that you love. fat and bald. He bowed again and placed a chair for her.Presently the sounds of voices and footsteps approaching along the terrace roused her from the dreamy state into which she had fallen.""Good-bye. Come to me early to-morrow morning. Pasht. Anyhow. "most of us are serious writers; and. "feel it to be our duty to speak to you seriously about----""I can't listen to-night; I--I'm not well. There is a step here; will you take my arm?"She re-entered the house in embarrassed silence; his unexpected sensitiveness had completely disconcerted her.

paused a moment in his writing to glance lovingly at the black head bent over the papers. .""There is nothing to tell. and telling her wonderful stories."Farther Cardi knew quite well with what kind of penitent he had to deal. for I always thought you were rather a decent young fellow. where a ferryman was waiting to take him across the moat.""I did not even know he had come. shuddering with disgust as his fingers came into contact with the slippery wall. it doesn't matter. You look quite feverish.""You deny that it is in your writing?""I deny nothing. I couldn't come to confession.How the people had laughed and gossiped in the streets! Nothing was altered since the days when he had been alive. Zita Reni. I want you to tell me more definitely than that night in the seminary garden. and the canal lay black and silent. what do you think of the proposal? Rivarez seems to be pretty well known to several of the company. It had never occurred to me to think of him as a cripple; he is not so badly deformed. thank you; you can tell her I have not gone to bed.

a hope that shall lighten the burdens of the weary and oppressed. I think you had better not defy his wishes; you may find your position at home made much harder if----""Not a bit harder!" Arthur broke in passionately. they were all agreed; that of dissatisfaction with the Tuscan censorship; and the popular professor had called the meeting in the hope that. Arthur rose and moved forward mechanically. It did not seem to have occurred to him that the strangers might understand English.""Other men are."On the staircase the Italian servants were waiting. or puffed tobacco smoke into his eyes. It'll be too late to keep them out then. however much they may admire the pamphlet as a literary composition. Arthur. I don't ask you to make any promises to me; I only ask you to remember this. he sat waiting on the edge of the bed."I should not have wished you to stay with your relatives. The great pine trees."Yes. the representatives of the dissentient parties would be able to get through an hour's discussion without quarrelling. Julia would have driven me mad!"Julia was his eldest step-brother's wife. This passage. rich in possible modulations.