He would believe her in preference to all the calumnious tittle-tattle tongues in the city. If only she would say that—that—that—she loved him, Beppo Vanni, in short; that was, in point of fact, the exculpation that he thirsted to hear from her own lips!
Signor Sandro, if he had effected nothing else by his insinuations, had effectually destroyed the convivial capabilities of his guest. Beppo sat moody and silent, and could not be induced to drink, when the cheese and fruit were placed upon the table. The attorney made one or two hospitably-meant attempts to induce him to do so, but finding it of no avail, he said:
“Well, Signor Beppo, if you will not drink any more wine, I shall take my siesta! If you like to do the same, make yourself at home. And if you like to take Lisa to the passeggiata afterwards, I have no doubt she will be well pleased. You will find me in my study when you come back; and if you will look in for a moment before you mount, I will give you a line to take to your good father from me. A rivederla!”
As soon as ever Lisa and Beppo were left alone together, Lisa said:
“Now, Beppo, you must not mind a word of all papa was saying. It is all stuff and nonsense, You know what he has got in his head,—more stuff and nonsense still. Don’t you believe a word of it!”
“But when I saw that corporal with my own eyes, Lisa!”
“Saw the corporal! What of that? Do you think Giulia is going to shut herself up as if she was a nun, for you; and you never to come near her for weeks and weeks? But, I tell you she don’t care a fig’s end for the corporal! Just you see her, and it will all come right!”
“How am I to see her, Lisa?” asked Beppo, in a very piteous tone.
“How? Why come to la Dossi’s house, now directly, with me, to be sure!”
“Oh, Lisa! and if that corporal is still there?”
“That is just what you must go for, Signor Beppo! You must go and see for yourself that there is nothing at all serious between Giulia and Corporal Tenda. And, besides that, you must go, to let Giulia know that you are thinking of her. You have stayed away too long. What do you suppose Giulia would feel if she heard that you had been to Fano, and gone away without so much as making any attempt to see her! I know what I should feel if Captain Brilli treated me in such a way. Why, she would be justified in taking up with the corporal or anybody else out of sheer despair, she would. Most likely,” continued Lisa, improving upon the idea which had only that instant come into her head for the first time, “most likely it’s merely that which has led her to encourage the corporal at all,—if she has encouraged him, which I, for one, don’t believe. But you must not think that if you don’t do your duty by poor Giulia, the corporal won’t make the most of it to her. Of course he will. And small blame to him! If he should hear—as of course he will hear—that you have been to Fano, and never been near her, he will make a pretty story of it to her;—and then—there’s no saying what a girl may do in such a case as that!”
We know that little Lisa had her own reasons for being determined to pay a visit that afternoon, while her father was enjoying his siesta, to her friend Signora Dossi. Nevertheless it cannot be denied that her arguments were sound; unless indeed Beppo were minded to give up the matter altogether; and once or twice the vision of that corporal at Giulia’s side, on the church-steps, and of her manner, as she listened to him, as it recurred to his mind, almost made him wish to do so. The words of Signor Sandro, too, had not been without their effect, even though he knew that the counsel given was interested. For the well-to-do contadino is very sensitive to the voice of his public in matters of the sort. It would not be well for Vanni of Bella Luce to take home a wife who had been the town-talk of all Fano! That was true, let what would be the attorney’s motive for saying it. It was true! and he was mad, and miserable, and infatuated! He could not give up Giulia, however much his reason might be convinced that it were better that he should do so. He could not do it. Give her up! He knew at the bottom of his heart, all the time that he was irresolutely hesitating whether he should consent to go with Lisa or not, that he would rather give up his life than give her up. And then he thought over all the incidents—the things spoken and the things done—under the cypress-tree, in the path between Bella Luce and Santa Lucia; and his anger was forgotten, and his heart yearned towards her; and he would forgive her everything—if only she would be forgiven!
“Come, Signor Beppo!—come along! You can at all events come with me as far as the door of Palazzo Bollandini. We can talk of your going in or not by the way. Any way it’s as well to be walking as sitting here. Come along!”
So—merely out of civility to la Lisa, and because he could not help himself, he put on his hat and accompanied her.
It had seemed to Beppo in the morning that the Palazzo Bollandini was a long way off from Signor Sandro Bertoldi’s house—very much further that it now appeared! Perhaps he had not come the shortest way in the morning. Perhaps the difference was due to the different attitude of his own mind. He had made very small progress towards determining what he would do when he got there, when he found himself with Lisa before the huge portal of the palace; and he recognised, with a shudder, the church front and the steps where that horrid vision of Giulia and the Bersaglieri corporal had blasted his eyes.
Lisa entered the great gateway, and tripped up the huge staircase without pausing a second to give Beppo time to think what he should do. She skipped up the stairs to the primo piano, and he had nothing for it but to run up after her. She seized the little bit of scarcely visible twine—knowing right well exactly where to look for it—while he was lost in awe and wonderment at the grandeur of the place he had entered, and rung as vigorous a peal as the little bell-pull would execute.
