Edmund Flagg

“ But he is innocent, Zuleika, as innocent of the dreadful crime imputed to him as the babe unborn! Of that you can rest assured, for the proof of his innocence is in my hands!"
Zuleika gave a wild cry of joy and flung her arms about her father's neck.
"Calm yourself, my child," resumed Monte-Cristo; "all will yet be well. I start for Rome to-morrow with Ali and two of Giovanni's friends. Be ready to accompany me!"
Zuleika's ecstasy was almost beyond bounds; but alas! she did not know that Giovanni's mind had been overthrown by the shame and disgrace that had been heaped upon him! ”

“ Signor Count, I wish to respect your friends, but they on their part must respect me and my band!"
"Luigi Vampa," replied Monte-Cristo, sternly, "you say that young Massetti has a grudge against old Pasquale Solara! What you seek to belittle with the name of grudge is simply just indignation for an outrage such as human beings rarely commit! This you know!—you to whom Solara basely sold his daughter!—you who plotted with the aged scoundrel that the charge of abduction and murder might fall upon the Viscount's innocent shoulders when you, Luigi Vampa, were the guilty man!" ”

“ Giovanni was not wicked; he was merely young, the prey of the irresistible passion of youth. Annunziata's surpassing loveliness had fired his blood, had driven him to the verge of a reckless action, a crime against this beautiful girl that money could not repair. This crime should not be committed, if he could help it, and he would risk the Viscount's friendship to save him from himself. Giovanni could not marry the humble peasant girl; he should not mar her future.
When Espérance came into the chamber, his presence recalled Annunziata to herself and also dampened Massetti's ardor. ”

“ The moonlight fell full upon her face, and both Espérance and Giovanni suddenly started as they recognized Annunziata Solara, the bewitching flower-girl of the Piazza del Popolo.
"It is she—it is Annunziata!" whispered the young Viscount in his comrade's ear.
"Hush!" returned the latter, in a guarded undertone. "Do not betray yourself! She will never recognize us, disguised as we are! Besides, our guide's suspicions must not be aroused! He might yet refuse us shelter!"
"You are right, as you always are," answered Massetti. ”

“ Espérance was horror-stricken. Annunziata abducted by Giovanni! He could draw no other conclusion from the young peasant's broken exclamations! Lorenzo slain, too, and doubtlessly also by the impetuous Viscount's hand! Oh! it was horrible!—it was almost beyond belief! He bent over Lorenzo's prostrate form, straightened it out and felt in the region of the heart; there was no beat; it was as he had divined—Annunziata's manly and generous brother was dead—the victim of a cowardly, treacherous assassin—and that assassin!—oh! he could not think of it and retain his faith in men! ”

“ I feared some terrible accident had befallen you."
"I am safe, darling Zuleika," answered the young Italian, folding her in a close embrace and showering ardent kisses upon her forehead and lips. "But you, dearest, you are well? You have not forgotten me, have not ceased to love me?"
"Forgotten you, ceased to love you, Giovanni!" whispered the quivering girl, in a tone of slight reproach, gazing fondly into his eyes. "Have I not given you my solemn promise to love you only?"
"Forgive me, my own!" cried the youthful Viscount. "What is a lover without fears and doubts? ”

“ You shall feel the crushing weight of my vengeance! You shall answer to me for your despicable, your unnatural crimes! Pasquale Solara, base wretch who sold your own daughter to a fate worse than death, ignoble scoundrel who did not respect the dictates of hospitality, I am Giovanni Massetti!"
As he spoke he leaped in front of the morose shepherd, barring his passage with his body.
"Well, what if you are Giovanni Massetti!" replied old Pasquale, coldly and defiantly. "I care not for you! Stand out of my path and let me pass before I strike you to the earth as I would a mongrel, yelping cur!" ”

“ I love my father and Lorenzo, I love—everybody!"
"But not as you would love a young man, who would throw himself at your pretty feet and pour out the treasures of his heart to you!"
"No young man has ever done that," said Annunziata, smiling and nestling closer to him.
"But some one will before long, perhaps before many minutes! How would you like me to be that one!" cried the Viscount, in his headlong fashion.
"I cannot tell," answered the girl, "I do not know!"
"Then let me try the experiment!" said Giovanni, rising from his chair and sinking on his knees in front of her. ”

“ Flirtations were frequent between beautiful dark-visaged girls, with hair and eyes like night, in their picturesque attire, and manly-looking youthful gallants, while here and there sullen and sombre glances spoke of jealousy as fierce as fire, hinting of marital vengeance and love tragedies characteristic of the hot-blooded, impetuous Italians.
In the midst of the throng on the Piazza two youths were strolling, arm in arm. They were the Viscount Giovanni Massetti and Espérance, the son of Monte-Cristo. Fast friends they seemed, and gayly they chatted as they passed leisurely along. ”

“ Waldmann gave vent to a loud laugh; the others smiled.
"I never before heard of a Frenchman who was afraid to meet a woman!" said Siebecker, much amused.
"I tell you I cannot go; you must let me off," said Bouche-de-Miel, obstinately.
"What!" cried Peppino. "Do you allow a woman to stand between you and your vengeance against the Count of Monte-Cristo? Remember Luigi Vampa's bill of fare!"
Bouche-de-Miel glared at the Italian savagely. ”

“ This ominous word, with all the terrible weight of meaning it conveyed, struck upon the young Italian's ear like a sound of-doom. A murderer? Yes, he would be a murderer, if he slew old Solara then and there, and branded with an assassin's dark crime he must forever resign all hope of possessing his beloved Zuleika, must abandon her to die of a broken heart! Perhaps, too, he would be seized, tried, condemned and meet a felon's fate upon the ignominious scaffold! True, Roman justice might be silenced with money, but he was a disowned and disinherited son, a penniless outcast! ”

“ It was old Pasquale Solara! The son of Monte-Cristo shuddered as he thought that the father, with all his Italian ferocity thoroughly aroused, was in pursuit of the man who had abducted his daughter and murdered his son. In that event the Viscount's death was sure, for he could not escape the vengeance of the distracted and remorseless shepherd! Should he raise his voice and warn him? No, a thousand times no! Giovanni deserved death, and did the furious old man inflict it, he would be only advancing the just punishment of the outraged law! ”

“ Mon Dieu!" exclaimed Monte-Cristo, springing to his feet and pacing the cell, a prey to intense agitation he did not endeavour to control. "A raving maniac!—Giovanni a raving maniac! Oh! my daughter, my daughter!"
"All I say is the truth," resumed the Italian. "As I hope for Heaven I swear it!"
"But what has become of Massetti? Where is he?" demanded the Count, abruptly pausing in his walk. "Has he been consigned to some asylum?"
"He is an outcast and a wanderer," replied Peppino. "All Rome frowns upon him, avoids him as a pestilence is avoided. ”

“ You are my friend, my friend of friends, Giovanni Massetti, but the instant you menace that innocent girl's honor my friendship for you crumbles to dust and you become my deadly foe! Take your choice. Either leave this hospitable cabin with me as soon as the state of your wound will permit you to do so, meanwhile respecting Annunziata Solara as you would your own sister, or meet me pistol in hand on the field of honor! ”

“ He must be induced to accompany us to some asylum, some institution where he can be treated for his dreadful malady."
"You are right, Valentine, as you always are," answered M. Morrel. "The course you suggest is the only one to be taken at this juncture. But how is Giovanni to be induced to accompany us? Force cannot be employed—we have no legal right to use it—and I greatly fear that the Viscount will not follow us of his own accord, no matter to what solicitations we may resort."
"Trust that to me, Maximilian," rejoined Valentine, sweetly and persuasively. ”

“ For a moment longer the Hebrew maintained his position; then he withdrew his hands, taking a small vial from the pocket of his coat and uncorking it; immediately a powerful and subtle odor pervaded the apartment, [Pg 290] causing Valentine, Maximilian and the Italian physician to breathe painfully, as if stifling.
"What is it?" gasped M. Morrel, catching the Italian by the arm.
"I do not know," answered the latter. "But look at Massetti—his face is violet, the preliminary hue of death! If the Jew kills the patient nothing can save him from the fury of the Roman populace!" ”

“ The body was that of a man. Espérance arose to his knees and drawing a match-safe from his pocket struck a light. As the flame flashed upon the countenance of the unconscious man, the features of Giovanni Massetti appeared! Espérance was stunned. How was this? The Viscount there, beneath his hand, cold and motionless! Who then could have been the individual with whom old Pasquale Solara had been struggling but a moment since? Truly the mysteries of this night were becoming too complicated for solution! And where was the unfortunate Annunziata? ”

“ It had been agreed upon between him and Espérance that, during their sojourn at the Solara cabin, they should be known respectively as Antonio Valpi and Guiseppe Sagasta, and already Annunziata had bestowed upon her patient the friendly and familiar diminutive of Tonio, a name to which he answered with wildly beating heart and eyes that spoke volumes.
By means of shrewdly managed questions the young Viscount had ascertained that the flower-girl had no lover, that her breast had never owned the tender passion, and this intelligence added fuel to the flame that was consuming him. ”

“ No wonder that Viscount had failed to recognize him!
"Why did you disguise yourself, and how came you here at this critical juncture?" demanded Giovanni, after a pause.
"I disguised myself that I might follow you without fear of detection. You would not listen to reason, and I determined to protect you during your rash adventure so far as might lie in my power."
"From the bottom of my heart I thank you, Espérance. You are a brave as well as a devoted friend, fully worthy of your illustrious father! But how did you know me? I too, am disguised." ”

“ But like you I do not know his present condition, as Vampa did not vouchsafe me any information upon that head. I can only hope that he is not seriously wounded and will recover."
"I am singularly unfortunate," said the Viscount, humbly. "Everything I do seems to be wrong."
"Because you are governed by impulse alone and do not wait for your calmer judgment to come to your aid," replied Monte-Cristo. Then he added, firmly: "Giovanni Massetti, either you must submit wholly to me for the future, be guided entirely by my wishes, or I will be compelled to leave you to your fate! ”

“ If Giovanni remained in this attractive nook long enough to open and carry on a flirtation with the beautiful flower-girl, he must do so solely as a peasant and under the cover of his clever disguise. It was hardly likely that Annunziata would recognize in Massetti and himself the two youthful gallants she had encountered but for a moment amid the gay throng and crush of the brilliant Piazza del Popolo. ”

“ Happy and contented in my humble peasant home, I was pure and innocent. I knew nothing of the wickedness of men, of the snares set to entrap unwary young girls. I lived with my father and brother in the vicinity of Rome, selling flowers in that city from time to time. I had never had a suitor, never had a lover. My heart was free, filled with the joyousness of youth. I had been told that I possessed a fair share of beauty, but that neither made me vain nor inclined me to coquetry. ”

“ Meanwhile a raging fever had set in and Giovanni was rapidly growing worse. As the son of Monte-Cristo was about to start on his tour of investigation, he heard a man's voice singing at some distance away, but gradually coming nearer. The sound was cheery and reassuring, for certainly the man who could sing so sweetly and joyously must have a good, kind heart. As the man approached Espérance recognized his song—it was that beautiful and expressive serenade, "Cara Nina," a melody dear to all youthful Italian lovers whether humble or of high degree. ”

“ Annunziata for the time abandoned her visits to Rome, installing herself as Giovanni's nurse. She was almost constantly beside him, and her presence and care were more potent medicines than any the physician administered. Her smile seemed to exercise a bewitching effect upon the young Viscount, while her voice sounded in his ravished ear like the sweetest music. The handsome girl was the very picture of perfect health, and her well-developed form had all the charm of early maturity, added to youthful freshness and grace. ”

“ Monte-Cristo uttered a sigh of relief.
"Can you prove this?"
"I can. Luigi Vampa and his whole band know your son to be entirely innocent so far as the flower-girl is concerned and will so express themselves. Even old Solara himself, hardened and despicable wretch as he is, will not seek to inculpate him. Rest assured that the proof of your son's innocence is ample."
"Luigi Vampa has already written to me that no guilt attaches to Espérance, but I must have more reliable vouchers than the letter or even the oath of a notorious brigand." ”

“ Courage, daughter, courage! The worst is over! The clouds are sweeping from the young man's mind to leave it clear and perfect! Remain here where I place you! It is important that upon awaking the patient's eyes shall rest on you!"
Zuleika, astounded, bewildered, gazed at her lover and with difficulty resisted the impulse to cast herself upon his neck.
Monte-Cristo, Maximilian, Valentine and the Italian physician grouped themselves a short distance away, waiting and watching. Their eagerness and anxiety were intense. ”

“ But the Viscount did not heed her. He was fearfully agitated and his entire frame shook with excitement and emotion.
"Fly with me, Zuleika, fly with me now, this very moment, and be my wife!" he exclaimed, in a voice so strangely altered that Monte-Cristo's daughter scarcely recognized it. "I am rich, and my family has wealth and power sufficient to protect us against everything and everybody, even your father, with all his untold gold and influence! The Count of Monte-Cristo seeks to part us; that is the reason he has sent you here, to this convent, where you are little less than a prisoner!" ”

“ Monte-Cristo now that the excitement of the fray had left him was filled with anxiety for his daughter. What had happened to her since she had been a captive in the bandits' den? Had her honor been respected as well as her life? His suspense was the most terrible torture possible to conceive. He could scarcely restrain himself until he should learn the truth, be it fatal or favorable. Maximilian was almost equally agitated, but managed to maintain a comparatively calm exterior that he might the better support and cheer his friend in this his hour of bitter need. ”

“ Besides, her words did not betoken that ignorance alluded to by Espérance or that depravity the Viscount had spoken of.
"Buy some bouquets for your fair sweethearts, signors," she said. "They will gladden their hearts, for the perfume speaks of love!"
"Love!" exclaimed Giovanni, smiling at her earnestness and poetic language. "What do you know of love?"
"Ah! signor," she answered, blushing deeply and averting her eyes, "what girl does not know of love! ”

“ This catastrophe happened twenty years ago."
"Do the houses often fall here?" asked M. Morrel, glancing uneasily around him at the dilapidated buildings.
"Very often," answered the Count. "Age and decay will bring them all down sooner or later."
"Then for Heaven's sake let us hasten lest we be crushed beneath some sudden wreck!" said Maximilian. "The houses project over the street at the upper stories until they almost join each other in mid air. If one should fall there would be no escape!"
"Have no fear, Maximilian!" replied Monte-Cristo, smiling. ”

“ Fate sided with old Pasquale and Vampa. His wound kept the Viscount at the cabin and the fair Annunziata nursed him. He had become smitten with her beauty the day he met her in the Piazza del Popolo. Intimate association with her intensified her influence over him, and when he had been in the cabin nearly a week and convalescence had begun he made violent love to her, even going so far as to ask her to fly with him. Espérance divined his friend's intentions and, knowing that Massetti could not marry the girl, interposed to save her. ”