Brachiano

“ The murderous humorist whose cynical inspiration gives life to these deadly lines is at first sight a less plausible, but on second thoughts may perhaps seem no less possible a character than Flamineo. Pure and simple ambition of the Napoleonic order is the motive which impels into infamy the aspiring parasite of Brachiano: a savage melancholy inflames the baffled greed of Bosola to a pitch of wickedness not unqualified by relenting touches of profitless remorse, which come always either too early or too late to bear any serviceable fruit of compassion or redemption. ”

“ Brachiano is a thoroughly lifelike portrait of the man who is completely besotted with an evil woman. Flamineo I have spoken of, and [Pg 276] not favourably; yet in literature, if not in life, he is a triumph; and above all the absorbing tragic interest of the play, which it is impossible to take up without finishing, has to be counted in. But the real charm of The White Devil is the wholly miraculous poetry in phrases and short passages which it contains. Vittoria's dream of the yew-tree, almost all the speeches of the unfortunate Isabella, and most of her rival's, have this merit. ”

“ Just when the deed of vengeance has been completed, young Giovanni Orsini, heir of Brachiano, enters and orders the summary execution of Lodovico for this deed of violence. Webster's invention in this plot is confined to the fantastic incidents attending on the deaths of Isabella, Camillo, and Brachiano, and to the murder of Marcello by his brother Flamineo, with the further consequence of Cornelia's madness and death. He has heightened our interest in Isabella, at the expense of Brachiano's character, by making her an innocent and loving wife instead of an adulteress. ”

“ Brachiano seems here near his end; Lodovico and Gasparo, in the habit
of Capuchins, present him in his bed with a crucifix and hallowed
candle.
Brach. He will be drunk; avoid him: th' argument
Is fearful, when churchmen stagger in 't.
Look you, six grey rats that have lost their tails
Crawl upon the pillow; send for a rat-catcher:
I 'll do a miracle, I 'll free the court
From all foul vermin. Where 's Flamineo?
Flam. I do not like that he names me so often,
Especially on 's death-bed; 'tis a sign
I shall not live long. See, he 's near his end. ”

“ And Francesca herself was a true Braccio, though she was descended from a collateral branch, and, next to the Prince of Gerano, had been to Reanda by far the most important person bearing the name. She had admired him when she had been a child, had encouraged him as she grew up, and now she provided his genius with employment, and gave him her friendship as a solace and delight both in work and idleness. It is said that only Italians can be admitted to such a position with the certainty that they will not under any circumstances presume upon it. ”

“ He turned short upon the chained men, who were already on their feet, a murderous couple: the one, a square-headed, heavy man of past middle life, with hanging chops and not a hair upon him; the other, the Egyptian, hatchet-faced, lithe, and walnut-brown, with restless eyes which could never meet yours, and tight lips never soothed by smiling. The bigger was enormously strong. His muscles rippled as he moved, like incoming waves. The younger was all wire and brain; no ruth was in either, nor law, nor quarter. Captain Brazenhead sized them up and down when he had set them free. ”

“ He thought a great sculptor might succeed, and it was the one thing which made him sometimes wish that he had taken the chisel for his tool, instead of the brush.
She was never considered one of the great beauties of Rome. She had not the magnificent presence and colouring of her kinswoman, Maria Addolorata, whose tragic death in the convent of Subiaco—a fictitious tragedy accepted as real by all Roman society—had given her a special place in the history of the Braccio family. ”

“ The Biscayan, if such he was, proved himself a marvel of his age and nation. Such agility, lightning advance and retreat, thrust and parry had scarcely been seen since Bernard del Carpio engaged the dwarf Malimart. He would run in, drive and duck; then turn and fly like the wind. Such were his tactics. Twice Captain Brazenhead, thinking to have him, chased him round the limits of the well. But Lo Spagna ran so fast that he caught his enemy up. ”

“ Captain Brazenhead, sitting stiffly by the wall, nursed his leg in silence. His mood was short, his method precise. "Is he but one, then? Do you pit me to one man?" He frowned. "His offence!" was his next question, and he was told, deer-stealing in the Duke's park of Marignano. It shocked him out of his dignity. "What!" he cried. "Am I to embellish a man out of the world for a collop of venison? Let the hangman deal with him; let him dance in the air—or you will ask me next to whip dogs."
Gelsomino said: "As you will. 'Tis pity you fly off so fast, for this is a great fellow of his hands. ”

“ Donna Francesca was of the great Braccio family, the last of a collateral branch. She had inherited a very considerable estate, which, if she had no descendants, was to revert to the Princes of Gerano. She had married Don Girolamo in obedience to her guardians' advice, but not at all against her will, and she had become deeply attached to him during the short two years of their married [224] life. He had never been strong, since his childhood, his constitution having been permanently injured by a violent attack of malarious fever when he had been a mere boy. ”

“ The crazy Hic Jacets of the tombs coincided with these harsh-throated heralds of despair, and set Captain Brazenhead to stalk briskly about, himself like a long-necked bird of bad omen, if haply he might discover but one of his bond-slaves. Clinging to his arm was the now terrified Liperata, upon whose skirts dragged the child of slain Camus.
"I pin my faith to the Bilboan," said Brazenhead, "for he alone is fitted by his nature to inhabit so beastly a spot. His arm reaches to his knee-cap; he is, you may say, three-legged. ”

“ And in the grey of dawn came the convoy down the sea-road, a round dozen of men-at-arms, with the treasure on mules' backs; and at the word of command: 'Leap, ye thousand devils!' out we did leap, and put those men to the sword; and the muleteers fled, believing that hairy man's word that we were a thousand—though we were but eight Christians and one devil."
Captain Brazenhead cheered the speaker: "O brave! It was bravely done, my brother!"
"Not so brave as you might suppose," said the Italian, with grief thickening his voice. ”

“ Captain Brazenhead spoke as one in a dream. "I do not," he said. "Get on!"
The Egyptian, most uneasy, shifted his ground. "Alack the day, noble Captain, in the which I left that proud city and went down with a horse to sell—to Bristol——"
Captain Brazenhead started, snorted, and pounced upon him.
"That horse thou stolest, vile thief! He is branded on thy shoulder; thou art a dead man. A flea-bitten white gelding—that screwed the off-hind foot——"
"Oh, sir, oh, sir!" cried the Egyptian, falling on his knees. "That horse was never yours!" ”

“ Starting, Captain Brazenhead somewhat recoiled, and in so doing plucked his sword out of Lo Spagna's neck with the kind of noise you make when you draw a cork. A spasm of pain contracted the prisoner's features; but in his eyes hope shone bright. As for Captain Brazenhead, he knew that he must once more have mercy. "Cock's body, and is the world so paltry small?" The sword's point drooped nerveless to the ground. ”

“ And here stand I, Testadirame, friend of Visconti of Middlesex, late of Burgundy, Scourge of the Alps, offering you myself in his room. 'Tis for that I am come, from Visconti of Middlesex to him of Milan—I, Testadirame, bosom's mate of Death."
Viscounti paused, staring, as if fascinated, at the bosom's mate of Death.
"Do you dare to pretend," he said, "that you can stand where Lisciasangue stood? Are you so bold?"
Captain Brazenhead replied: "But I am." ”

“ Nothing could be more natural than that such a wonderful instance of the human intellect should court the congenial society of lovers of learning; he made his house the resort for them; and he placed at the disposal of the studious his library, which was the best in Florence, now that Salutati's, after his death, had been disposed of by his sons at auction.
Bracciolini was so struck by the attainments and captivated by the character of this man, that an acquaintance casually formed speedily ripened into an intimacy of the most confidential, cordial and communicative kind. ”

“ Regardless, in their terror, of the stern figures in mid-hall, they pelted by them, and gaining the daïs, crouched at the knees of the mother and child on the throne. There was no marvel in their mistake. They saw a miracle—and felt it, when Monna Liperata, heavenly mildness beaming from her eyes, put out her hand and laid it upon the head of the nearest. The heart of Duke Brazenhead leaped in his body, and warm tears flooded his eyes as he witnessed this fair sight. "As God liveth, I have that for which to fight this day." ”

“ Hence it is that Claudius, Nero and Tiberius are depicted as superhuman in monstrosities,—colossal in crime,—perpetrators of enormities that never yet met, and never will meet, in combination in any single man. Each is, in fact, a fiend, and not a human being. It was thus only that Bracciolini could show us in its true light the Church of Rome as it acted in his day. ”

“ An Italian of the fifteenth century, and a Florentine like Bracciolini, was glad to think, and proud to say, nay, ready to believe, and to perpetuate the belief, that Italy and Rome were identical, and the people consanguineous. We see how that pleasing delusion is still cherished fondly by the living countrymen of Bracciolini: General Garibaldi, to wit, as well as the late Joseph Mazzini, always looked upon the City of Rome as the "natural" capital of the Kingdom of Italy ”

“ Then suddenly, as they slipped round like beetles in a cask, the Egyptian edged out a foot and brought the Captain down. Was this treason? I fear it. Lo Spagna buffeted into him and flew over his head, his length on the floor. Immediately Captain Brazenhead arose, set his foot on the other's chest, and nicked the point of his sword into his throat. "I dig—thou diest—is a good verb, and an active verb. Phew! Bilboan, thou art a monarch of the chase. Say thy prayers now, say thy prayers, for I must kill a man this day—and why not thee? ”

“ Francesca started.
"A Sister of Charity?" she asked, after a moment's dead silence. "They do not take vows—"
"No. A nun from the Carmelite Convent of Subiaco."
His words were very distinct. There was no mistaking what he said. Francesca shrank from him instinctively, and uttered a low exclamation of repugnance and horror.
"That is not all," continued Lord Redin, with a [299] calm that seemed supernatural. "She was your kinswoman. She was Maria Braccio, whom every one believed was burned to death in her cell."
"But her body—they found it! It is impossible!" She thought he must be mad. ”

“ They had need. There was a ding-dong passage of arms of one hundred and thirty seconds, which was ample time for Captain Brazenhead to run his foe through the weazand, wipe his blade in his armpit, finish his drink, and say: "There lies long Italy." All this in one hundred and thirty seconds. Five minutes more remained to the fallen brave, and were not too much for what he had to do—namely, cough blood, say the Ave Maria, and bequeath a pair of horns to the tapster, Gregory.
Captain Brazenhead's reputation was established in Pavia, his age what he pleased. ”

“ The Duchess of Bracciano was the sister of the powerful Grand Duke of Tuscany. Nevertheless, Bracciano strangled her with his own hands while pretending to kiss her. Young Peretti was then called away from the Villa Montalto one night on the pretext that his dearest friend had need of him, decoyed into the desolate spaces on Monte Cavallo, and stabbed to death. The cardinal, his uncle, buried him without a cry either for justice or vengeance. He waited. But Gregory XIII forbade forever the union of Vittoria and the duke. More the Pope could hardly dare do against the greatest of his subjects. ”

“ Annetta glanced more keenly at the Scotchman's quiet face, and then laughed.
"There is one, if you could see her! The abbess's niece. Oh, that one is beautiful. She seems to me a painted angel!"
"The abbess's niece? What is she like? Let me see, the abbess is a princess, is she not?"
"Yes, a great princess of the Princes of Gerano, of Casa Braccio, you know. They are always abbesses. And the young one will be the next, when this one dies. She is Maria Addolorata, in religion, but I do not know her real name. She has a beautiful face and dark eyes. ”

“ I, Brazenhead, to whom the fleas in the bed are playmates!" Adding, however, that hard words would never break his bones, he cheerfully took it, and kissed the crucifix. Then the priest knocked three times at the door. It opened just wide enough to admit a man edgeways; Captain Brazenhead stood up in a dark and long apartment, lit at the further end by swinging lamps. ”

“ The Egyptian shivered.
"Aye," said Brazenhead, "die is the word." He was irritated with the man. "Cock's wounds!" he cried out, "am I Executioner to the Duke of Milan, and execute no man? Is it to be said of me: 'Testadirame is an unprofitable servant'? Never in life! Dog, thou diest!"
The Egyptian shook like a straw in the wind. ”

“ I. If there be one man more than another who might easily fall into the error of supposing that an ancient Roman could take in the most capricious and arbitrary way any name he pleased, Flavius, or Julius, or Pius, it would be a man like Bracciolini, who, as Secretary of the Popes for forty years, was in the habit of seeing every now and then, and that, too, at very brief intervals, a Cardinal, on being raised to the dignity of the Papacy, take any name from whim or fancy, and, sometimes a very queer name, too, as a Cossa taking the name of John, or a Colonna the name of Martin. ”