Alexandre Dumas

“ I heard Diamond howling at Mucchio, and he has been with me quite a quarter of an hour since then; he is a good and faithful dog, is he not, Monsieur Lucien?”
“Yes, indeed he is, Orlandi,” replied Lucien, as he patted the animal.
“But,” said I, “since you knew that Monsieur Lucien was here, why did you not come sooner?”
“Because our appointment was for nine o’clock,” said the bandit, “and it is just as unpunctual to be a quarter of an hour too soon as to arrive a quarter of an hour too late.” ”

“ The young man smiled bitterly as he continued—“But this is a finer thing than a Vendetta! isn’t it? For four hundred years, in Corsica, they have been talking of nothing else. Now you will see a reconciliation. I assure you it is a much rarer sight than a Vendetta!”
I could not help laughing.
“There, you see, you are laughing at us,” he said. “And you are right, after all. We are really a very droll people.” ”

“ There was in this young man’s manner of speaking a polished irony, and good-nature withal, which at once set people at their ease, and never passed the bounds of perfect politeness.
I simply bowed in reply, while he carefully inducted his hands into a pair of kid gloves of Paris manufacture.
As now attired, he looked a thorough Parisian.
All this time I was dressing rapidly.
A quarter to ten struck.
“Come along,” said Lucien, “if you wish to see the play. I think it is time we took our seats, unless, indeed, you would rather have breakfast first, which appears to me only reasonable.” ”

“ As soon as we had got into the brushwood a pheasant once more loudly announced his presence.
He was about eighty paces from us, roosting in the branches of the chestnut tree, the approach to which was prevented on all sides by the undergrowth.
“I do not quite see how you are going to get him,” I said to Lucien; “it does not appear a very easy shot.”
“No,” he replied; “but if I could just see him, I would fire from here.”
“You do not mean to say that your gun will kill a pheasant at eighty yards?”
“Not with shot,” he replied; “it will with a bullet.” ”

“ Victor turned tremblingly to the door, opened it, and then standing still in the room, said—
“Will monsieur be kind enough to come in?”
I immediately heard the footsteps of my visitor crossing the ante-chamber, and sure enough, at the door there appeared M. de Franchi.
I confess that I was terrified, and took a step backwards as he approached.
“I trust you will excuse my appearance so late,” said my visitor; “I only arrived ten minutes ago, and you will understand that I could not wait till tomorrow without seeing you.”
“Oh, my dear Lucien,” I exclaimed, advancing quickly, and embracing him. ”

“ In Paris I should have thought that this young man was hoaxing me; but here in Corsica, in a little unknown village, one must look upon him either as a foolish person endeavouring to deceive one for his own purposes, or as a privileged being amongst other men. ”

“ At this moment the valet entered, carrying the supper tray.
Lucien ate like a man without a care in the world.
After supper I showed him to his room. He thanked me, shook me by the hand, and wished me good-night.
Next morning he came into my room as soon as the servant told him I was up.
“Will you accompany me to Vincennes?” he said. “If you are engaged I will go alone.”
“Alone!” I replied. “How will you be able to find the spot?” ”

“ In about five minutes Louis said,
“There, I have finished.” And he rang for his valet.
“Joseph,” said he, “I am at home to no one, not even to the Baron Giordano. If he calls, ask him to wait in the salon. I wish to be alone with this gentlemen for ten minutes.” ”

“ It was the last dwelling-place of our famous ancestress Savilia, the widow of Lucien de Franchi.”
“Is there not some terrible history connected with this woman?”
“Yes; were it daylight I could now show you from this spot the ruins of the Castle of Valle. There lived the lord of Guidice, who was as much hated as she (Savilia) was beloved, as ugly as she was beautiful. He became enamoured of her, and as she did not quickly respond to his desires, he gave her to understand that if she did not accept him in a given time he would come and carry her off by force. ”

“ If a fly causes a man’s death the man is none the less dead because a fly caused it.”
I saw that he hesitated to tell me the cause of this terrible war, which for the last ten years had desolated the village of Sullacaro.
But, as may be imagined, the more he attempted to conceal it the more anxious I was to discover it.
“But,” said I, “this quarrel must have a motive; is that motive a secret?”
“Good gracious, no! The mischief arose between the Orlandi and the Colona.”
“On what occasion?”
“Well, a fowl escaped from the farm yard of the Orlandi and flew into that of the Colona. ”

“ I said, “I fancied I saw another dog at your house.”
“Yes, that is Brucso, he possesses the same qualities as Diamond, only he came to me from a Colona who was killed by an Orlandi, and so when I pay a visit to a Colona I take Brucso, but when I have business with an Orlandi I take Diamond. If I were to make a mistake and loose them both together they would kill each other. So,” continued Lucien, with a bitter smile, “men can make it up, and will receive the sacrament together; the dogs will never eat from the same platter.” ”

“ These ruins were those of the Castle of Vicentello d’Istria, our destination.
In about five minutes we had climbed up to the last terrace, Lucien in advance, and as he extended his hand to assist me he said:—
“Well done, well done; you have not climbed badly for a Parisian.”
“Supposing that the Parisian you have assisted has already had some little experience in mountain scrambling?”
“Ah, true!” said Lucien, laughing. “Have you not a mountain near Paris called Montmartre?” ”

“ I introduced Louis to D——.
“Now,” said B——, “if all the presentations have been made, I suggest that we present ourselves at table.”
“All the presentations are made, but all the guests have not arrived,” replied D——.
“Who is expected then?”
“Chateau Renaud is still wanting to complete the party.”
“Ah, just so. By-the-by, was there not some bet?”
“Yes. We laid a wager of a supper for twelve, that he would not bring a certain lady here to-night.”
“And who is the lady,” asked the bouquet of myosotis, “who is so very shy as to be made the subject of a bet?” ”

“ One should live so as to be able to proclaim what one has done. I never had a mistress, [Pg 21] and I never shall have one. If my brother should marry, and have children, it is probable that I shall never take a wife. If, on the contrary, he does not marry, perhaps I shall, so as to prevent our race from becoming extinct. Did I not tell you,” he added, laughing, “that I am a regular savage, and had come into the world a hundred years too late? But I continue to chatter here like a crow, and I shall not be ready by the time supper is on the table.” ”

“ D—— rose and opened the door.
“I can recognize her voice,” said Louis, as he grasped my arm with a vice-like grip.
“We shall see! wait! be a man!” I answered. “It must be evident that if she has thus come to supper with a man, of her own will, to the house of a stranger, she is not worthy your sympathy.”
“I beg, madam, that you will enter,” said D——’s voice in the outer room. “We are all friends here I assure you.”
“Yes, come in, my dear Emily,” said M. de Chateau Renaud, “you need not take off your mask if you do not wish to do so.” ”

“ He was quite touched, knowing the true Corsican instincts of Lucien, with the care he had taken to reconcile the Orlandi and the Colona.
[Pg 98]
The clock struck twelve.
“I do not wish to hurry you, gentlemen,” said Louis, “but I think you should return the visit of those gentlemen. It will not do to put ourselves in the wrong.”
“Oh, you may be quite easy on that point,” I said, “we have plenty of time before us.”
“No matter,” said the Baron Giordano, “Louis is right.”
“Now,” said I, “we must know whether you prefer to fight with sword or pistol?” ”

“ If I die, this letter will be posted immediately after my death; for in the selfishness of my love for you I wish that [Pg 103] you should know that I am dead without regretting anything in the world except your tenderness and my brother’s.
“Adieu, mother!
“Do not weep for me. It is the soul that lives, not the body, and when the latter perishes the former will still live and love you.
“Adieu, Lucien! Never leave our mother; and remember that she has you only to look to now. ”

“ Yes, and nevertheless, even here, between my mother and myself, in the face of four hundred years of reminiscences of this old fortified mansion, the French spirit has come to seek out my brother—has carried him away to Paris, when he will return to us a lawyer. He will live in Ajaccio instead of dwelling in his [Pg 32] ancestral home. He will plead—if he possess the talent—he may be nominated procureur du roi perhaps; then he will pursue the poor devils who have ‘taken a skin,’ as they say here. He will confound the assassin with the avenger—as you yourself have done already. ”

“ We Corsicans do not work.”
“What do you do, then?”
“We overlook the labourers. We walk about with a gun upon our shoulders.”
“Well, my dear Monsieur Orlandi,” I said, extending my hand, “I wish you good luck; but recollect that my honour as well as your own will be compromised if you fire at anything but game or wild animals. You must never on any account draw a trigger on the Colona family.”
“Ah! your Excellency,” he replied, with an expression of countenance which I never remarked except amongst the natives of Normandy, “that hen they gave us was a very thin one.” ”

“ An instant afterwards a great spaniel bounded out, and jumped joyously around its master.
We had not gone many paces from the house when Lucien turned round and said—
“By-the-by, Griffo, tell them if they hear any shots on the mountain that it is we who have fired them.”
“Very well, your Excellency.”
“If we did not take some such precautions,” said Lucien, “they would think that hostilities had recommenced, and we should soon hear our shots echoing in the streets of Sullacaro. A little farther on you will see a footpath to the right that will lead us directly up the mountain.” ”

“ As to lodging for the night, it is still more simple in Corsica. The traveller having arrived at a village, passes down through the principal street, and making his own choice of the house wherein he will rest, he knocks at the door. An instant after, the master or mistress will appear upon the threshold, invite the traveller to dismount; offer him a share of the family supper and the whole of his own bed, and next morning, when seeing him safely resume his journey, will thank him for the preference he has accorded to his house. ”

“ I advanced between the windows, where, hanging half-drawn from its scabbard, which it could not fully enter, I perceived the sabre bent and hacked, bearing the simple inscription—
“Battle of the Pyramids, 21st of July, 1798.”
At that moment the servant came to announce that supper was served.
“Very well, Griffo,” replied the young man; “tell my mother that we are coming down.”
[Pg 27]
As he spoke he came forth from the inner room, dressed, as he said, like a mountaineer; that is to say, with a round velvet coat, trowsers, and gaiters; of his other costume he had only retained his pouch. ”

“ Who could this woman be who was accustomed to carry a carbine like a soldier?
What sort of person could this brother be, who felt the same grief that his brother experienced at a distance of three hundred leagues? ”