The Genius (Carl Grosse)/Chapter 31
CHAP. XV.
We were now disagreeably roused from our trance, by a violent knocking at the door and the cry of, "Open! open! in the name of the Serene Republic!" I staggered forth to obey the call, and had no sooner with a tremulous motion, pulled back the spring of the lock, than an officer with the surgeon and a strong detachment of soldiers entered the house. The surgeon, by virtue of his oath, had gone to the pretor of the senate to report the matter, and the vigilant magistrate had given orders to the armed force to immediately bring the parties before him. After a short explanation, and the surgeon's representing it as dangerous to remove Adela, the commanding officer not only consented to her staying behind, but even had the politeness to permit Caroline to keep her company. As a measure of safety he, however, made a serjeant's guard remain in the house trill our return. In similar cases justice is so strictly administered at Venice, that the magistrates will not only consecrate the day, but even the night to the exercise of their functions. The pretor, who was owner of the house we rented, and to whom we had been strongly recommended by one of the first senators of the republic, as men of quality, heard our story with great attention, and was so far satisfied, as to dismiss us on condition of giving our word of honor to make our appearance as soon as we should be called upon again. To this we readily submitted, and thanking him for the confidence which he was pleased to repose in us, we returned home under a proper safe-guard. The body of Jago was left at a neighbouring bone-house to be owned, but much to our surprise the account of the business which appeared in public the next day, was so black, that nobody claimed the deceased except his landlord, who represented him as a stranger, of whom he knew nothing, but that he stood indebted to him for the hire of some apartments he had occupied for about a fortnight. The purse of gold was left in the pocket of the deceased, so that not the least suspicion of crime could fall upon us. His lodgings, we understand, were opened and searched the next day, and nothing found in them except a few clothes. On our arrival at home, the officer withdrew the guard. Adela and Caroline were transported with joy at the favorable issue of the affair, which, considering that we were foreigners, might naturally have induced the magistrate to detain us in custody till farther enquiries should have been made to clear up so serious a case.
"Thanks to Providence, Don Carlos!" exclaimed Adela, "that thy repentant wife has atoned for her wrongs by saving thy life and that of thy friend, and by haying become the chief instrument of the destruction of thy most cruel enemies in Spain,—of those whose dangerous intercourse has corrupted my innocence, and deprived us of our happiness! Thanks to Providence, which has chosen me thy second Genius, to snatch thee from perdition; I am afraid, I shall not live to enjoy the fruits of my dutiful endeavors, but the act itself is a sufficient reward, and I shall die contented if I survive in thy remembrance.
"It is my duty to relate to you the causes which brought me to this foreign country, and the circumstances which have guided my conduct in doing what has been accomplished. Your thanks are equally due to Caroline, who has accompanied me every where in this dangerous enterprise, impelled by the same motives in favor of the Count, her husband, whose generosity will no doubt reward her fortitude and more than female tenderness, love, and affection."
Here the count and I vowed, with tears in our eyes, never to part from them more. I knelt down by my Adela's side, covering her hand with kisses, while Count Selami loaded his Caroline with numberless acts of blandishment.
"A few weeks," continued Adela, "after you had sent us notice of your departure for Venice, a stranger came to the convent, and: demanded admittance to the parlor, alledging that she had a letter of the utmost importance to deliver to me. Her request was granted and she put the following: epistle into my hands:
"Madam,
"Since the death of Bernardos, which the Covenant you belong to is resolved to avenge, I have been informed by a friend of the place of your retreat at Seville, My respect for your husband, whom I once loved, makes me forget the injury he has done me, and I now put it in your power to save his life and that of Count Selami, his friend, whose spouse, I understand, also shares your fate.
"Don Carlos is gone to Venice, and next week, three members of the Cabal will set out for the same place charged with the execution of the horrid plan of murdering both him and his friend, at the first favorable opportunity. My advice is, that you do without delay set out to frustrate the black deed. To convince you of the sincerity of this communication, I will meet you next Tuesday at Alcantara, to point out the monsters who are to exterminate Don Carlos. As none of them knows you or was present at the time of your reception into the Mystic Society, you will soon remark their persons. They are indeed, very remarkable, and since, after having once seen them, you will easily know them again, you will please to stay with me for some rime longer, to receive such farther instructions as I shall then give you for the deserved punishment of your worst enemies and mine own. This done, you will have time enough to get the start of the emissaries, who have orders to stop at different places on the road.
"I shall therefore personally expect you, madam, at your own town-house at Alcantara on Tuesday next, by five o'clock in the a afternoon, and am with frankness and friendship, yours, &c.
"Alcantara, Dec. 12.
—"Good Heavens!" cried I with amazement, "is it possible, that the very woman, who has been represented to me as my death-fiend, and on whose affections I trampled, should thus magnanimously serve her undoer?"
—"Yes, my lord," resumed Adela, "it is to her more than to myself, you stand indebted for your life. What follows will farther confirm the truth of my assertion.
"I showed Rosalia's letter to Caroline, by whose advice its contents were likewise communicated to the abbess. This lady whose esteem of you always manifested itself by the tender and indulgent treatment of your unhappy spouse, was quite charmed with my resolution to join you with Caroline. So we quitted the convent, and arrived at Alcantara two days previous to the appointment made by my generous informant.
"Rosalia was punctual to the minute, and we received her with transports of joy and gratitude. The amiable creature was so ingenuous as to confess to us her former frail ties, and the reasons that had made her break the tyrannic shackles of the odious Cabal. Its insidious councils were again swayed by your enemies, and all those who were friendly to the principles of your uncle, had withdrawn from it. She was present at the meeting of the society, in which it was resolved to send out emissaries to Italy to assassinate you and your friend.
"This atrocious project gave the last shock to poor Rosalia's outraged humanity. She now represented to me, in the most forcible manner, the necessity of my going to the governor of Alcantara to give information to have them secured at their next nightly conventicle, which she knew was to be holden in the night between the fifteenth and sixteenth of the same month. It was her opinion, that the seizure of their persons or papers would be of the last importance to the general interest of the State, and she promised to give all the assistance in her power to effect that salutary end.
"I vowed the strictest obedience to her orders. After dinner she went out with us to shew us the inn, where Jago and the two other emissaries of the Cabal were to arrive in the evening to set out for Italy, charged with the execution of the terrible plan, early on the ensuing morning. And so faithful a description did she give of their shape, figure, and dress, as to render any mistake on my part utterly impossible.
"After our return, we prevailed on Rosalia to make our house her own, till the final accomplishment of our enterprize, or as much longer as she pleased. In the evening Caroline and I, in the disguise of French officers, went again to the inn. About nine o'clock, Jago and his ruffian companions arrived in a travelling chaise, whom we recognized without the least difficulty. We ordered supper in an apartment adjoining to that which they occupied. The doors of each room being left open, we had an opportunity of overhearing the greater part of their discourse, in which they much enlarged on the manner they wish ed to perform the journey, not forgetting to mention three frontier towns, where it was their intention to stop for some dais. We slept that whole night at the inn, and about seven o'clock in the morning had the satisfaction to take tea and chocolate with the ruffians. The conversation chiefly ran on the pleasures of travelling, and as they made no scruple to inform us they were going to the carnival of Venice, we apprised them, that it was likewise our intention to be present at that celebrated amusement; and that we would have been happy in joining such excellent company, were we not forced to stay some days longer at Alcantara to wait for remittances.
"Jago replied, that he and his friends were highly sensible of the honor we meant to confer upon them, and they hoped to have the pleasure of meeting us in good time to share with them the festivities of the season. Having done breakfast, they politely took leave of us, and drove away. I forgot to state, that the better to elude all kind of suspicion, spicion, we took care to pass for two Basque officers, belonging to a foreign regiment in the French service, who, owing to the revolutionary broils, had left France to make the tour of Spain and Italy, till the expected reduction of the democratic principles, which most of the kings of Europe were so busily employed with eradicating, should occasion our recal with the rest of the fugitives who left that country.
"Satisfied with this preliminary success, we returned to our house and gave a scrupulous account to Rosalia of all which had passed. By her directions, I paid a visit to the Governor of Alcantara, in the morning of the fifteenth of December, to whom I unravelled all I knew or had heard of the dangerous principles of the Cabal. His excellency having given me his word to observe the profoundest secrecy respecting the disclosure of so momentous an affair, invited Caroline, Rosalia and me to sup with him that evening, when Rosalia gave him all such farther information as it was not in my power to grant. The governor then acquainted us with the measures he had taken for surprising the abominable miscreants in their den. About ten o'clock the drum beat to arms, and two hundred grenadiers and sixty troopers, according to the orders previously received collected on the parade facing his excellency's residence. A quarter of an hour after, the governor, Rosalia, Caroline and I, marched this corps out of the city, whence with lighted torches, and guided by Rosalia, we penetrated into the antic forest, towards the antic castle. Arrived on the spot, the troops immediately occupied all the passes and avenues to and from the ruinous mansion, so that it was impossible for any of the mystic barbarians to escape. It could then be about three o'clock in the morning of the sixteenth, and the Covenant was supposed to have sat not much longer than an hour. A detachment of twenty grenadiers, with fixed bayonets, were now picked out to force their way through the corridor, but they found the iron-gate, at the distance of a few yards from the anti-chamber of the saloon, shut up. Attempting to force it open, the monsters from within took the alarm, and perceiving the troops, who peremptorily demanded admittance, they declared their readiness to defend themselves to the last extremity, and rather than surrender, to bury themselves in the ruins of the place. The grenadiers, exasperated at this refusal, fired a volley of musquetry, which levelled with the dust several of their opponents. These, grown more obstinate by the height of the danger, so far from being inactive returned the firing by a smart discharge of blunderbusses, carabines and pistols, which were probably kept in the castle for the purpose of defence. The govenor now ordered the detachment to fall back from the corridor on the main body, and drafting a number of volunteers, made the necessary preparations for taking the den by storm. Already the forlorn hope was proceeding to the assault, when—shocking to relate!—the dark cavern blew up with its desperate tenants, strewing the ground with mangled limbs and carcasses, and smoking ruins. When day-light came the most awful scene of devastation presented itself to our view, but what grieved me most and will no doubt grieve you all—was, the unhappy end of the amiable Rosalia, who was blown up with fifteen grenadiers at the entrance of the corridor!"
Here I uttered a scream, and raved with wild fury. I felt my heart almost rent at the melancholy tidings of the death of my fair preserver, and it was a full hour before Adela, the count and Caroline could, by their joint efforts, alleviate my frantic grief so far as to enable the former to resume her narrative, which my lamentations had quite interrupted. Seeing me a little more composed, she thus continued:
"Just and grateful, my dear Carlos, is the sorrow you testify at poor Rosalia's death, but moderate your emotions, and remember that it is not ours to stop the course of mortal destiny. No intreaty, no remonstrance could check her zeal on that memorable day, so fatal to her, and yet so glorious and beneficial for you. Even the-governor's frowns could not have prevented her from sacrificing her blooming existence at the mouth of that hellish cavern. The explosion also swept away several of the soldiers from without, and forty more including the governor and a subaltern were wounded. The ministry well satisfied with this exploit, voted their thanks to his excellency, and the force under his command in the most honorable and flattering terms. And I have good reason to believe, that, comprising Jago, all your cruel enemies are cut off, except the two nefarious companions of the former, who escaped our vengeance by flight. The hateful dungeon of our sorrows is made even with the ground, and a military station has replaced the ruinated pile, to prevent other traitors from assembling on its warning level.
"On our arrival at Venice, we, at first, found some difficulty to discover the place of your abode, but on making application to the police-office to inspect the list containing the names of all the foreigners recently arrived, we not only saw in it those of the Marquis de Grandez and Count Selami, but also of Don Jago de Proveros, Spanish noblemen. We paid a visit to the latter, who seemed highly pleased at seeing us again. I immediately employed several bravos to watch all his movements and those of his companions. I also had the good fortune to devote to our interest Jago's interpreter, a native of France, who had formerly been in my father's service at Montpellier. It was he, who afforded me the most essential aid in the prevention of the murder.
"I must confess, that Caroline and I were not a little chagrined, at observing in our disguise, the levities of your conduct. But you will pardon us, if we check so often the progress of those gallantries and intrigues, which your sex presumes to have an exclusive right to punish in frail woman, while they deem themselves above the duties of reciprocity, It was I who spilt the poisoned liquor, which the bravoes of the dutchess de F** had found means to infuse into the bowl at the coffee-house. One of these bravoes was at the same time in our pay, and for 500 zechins he betrayed the trust reposed in him by his first vindictive employer. Still a thousand dangers threaten you on the part of that irritated vindictive woman, and they will haunt you wherever you go, unless we speedily quit Venice. But—"
Here Adela, debilitated by the loss of blood, and exhausted of strength by the length of this account, fell into a long swoon, and passed the remainder of the night rather quietly.
In his morning visit the surgeon informed me, that all danger was over, and gave me hopes of Adela's speedy and entire recovery.
To my unspeakable joy this wished for event took place in less than a fortnight after, when we returned with my friend and Caroline to Spain.
It is worthy of remark, that a few days previous to our departure from the capital of the Venetain commonwealth, we received notice from the pretor to appear at the senate-house, in order to give evidence against the two other emissaries of the Cabal who, owing to the restless vigilance of our bravoes, were seized at Verona, whither they had fled immediately after the failure of their murderous design. They were convicted of the heinous charge and condemned to wear the chains of rowing galley-slaves on board the ships of that republic for the space of twelve years.
Thus, after the most perplexing incidents, and by the generous efforts of a misguided wife and a duped mistress, have I triumphed at last over the most implacable enemies! Thus, after numberless youthful follies and excesses have I found the harbor of peace amidst the terrible storms of an unsettled and buffeting fate! Long may it continue—the happy calm!—May the life of all the gay and impassioned only so far resemble mine, as to make the bitters of dear-bought experience contribute to an ultimate happiness, that shall need no witness to attest its perfection!
finis.