Don Agostino

“ Don Agostino proved himself to be a courteous and agreeable host. He talked with the easy assurance of one who was not only a man of God, but also a man of the world. Silvio found himself rapidly falling under the spell of an individuality which was evidently strong and yet attractive. As he sat listening to his host's conversation, he wondered ever more and more why such a man should have been sent by the authorities of the Church to live, as he had himself expressed it, among peasants and pigs in a Sabine town. ”

“ Concetta Fontana took her hand, and, raising it to her lips, kissed it. "I will go to Don Agostino at seven o'clock this morning, before he says his mass, and I will give him the letter. Ah, signorina, if the Signorino Rossano is Don Agostino's friend, it is proof enough that, speaking with respect, you have chosen your husband wisely. Sicuro! Don Agostino is a good man. There are many at Montefiano who distrust the priests; but there is nobody who does not trust Don Agostino. ”

“ Don Agostino looked surprised.
"Rossano?" he said. "A relative, perhaps, of the Senator Rossano?"
"My father," replied Silvio. "Your reverence knows him?"
"Altrocchè!" exclaimed Don Agostino, holding out his hand. "Your father is an old friend—one of my oldest friends in days gone by. But I have not seen anything of him for years. Che vuole! When one lives at Montefiano one does not see illustrious professors. One sees peasants—and pigs. Not but what there are things to be learned from both of them. And so you are the son of Professor Rossano? But you have not come to Montefiano for sport—no? ”

“ You will go with Silvio, Giacinta, and monsignore and I will go together."
Don Agostino hesitated for a moment. "It is a place where one may meet people," he said, "and nobody knows that I am in Rome—"
"No, no," returned the professor, hastily, "you are not likely to meet any one you know at the Costantino, unless it be Countess Locatelli—and you certainly would not mind meeting her?"
"On the contrary," said Don Agostino. "It is always a pleasure to meet her—and to talk to her. Doubly so," he added, "after so long an exile at Montefiano. ”

“ From hence sprung some dissention, which from day to day encreases between the family of Don Agostino, and that of Don Mario, to the Popes great discontent, who to sweeten a little the bitterness of this Pill, gave Don Mario leave to call his Daughters, and their husbands to Rome; where he desir’d they should be respected as his Relations, and he accorded to Don Agostino, that his brother Sigismond might also be sent for, to whom he gave good Church Revenues. ”

“ There would be nothing unusual in that," answered Silvio, dryly. "Priests are no different from other people, I suppose, although they may profess to be so. No; Don Agostino is not like the majority of his brethren, because he has the honesty to be a man first and a priest afterwards. He does not forget the priest, but one hears and feels the man all the time he is talking to one.
"As to what I am going to do, Giacinta," Silvio continued, tranquilly, "I am going to marry Bianca Acorari, as I have told you before—"
"Very often," added Giacinta. ”

“ And when one is not in the mood, who knows whether it is not better to stay away than to go, and to pay Domeneddio the bad compliment of being bored with him when one gets there? No, I am not going to preach you a sermon; but I am going to make one or two suggestions to you, with your permission, and that of our worthy host," and Don Agostino turned with a smile to Sor Stefano.
"Evviva Don Agostino! Speak, speak!" resounded from all parts of the room, and from the street without people pressed nearer to the open doors of the caffè in order to hear more distinctly what the parroco had to say. ”

“ Don Agostino smiled. "Why not?" he asked. "I do not always agree with his conclusions on certain subjects. If I did, I should not wear this dress; it would be to me as the shirt of Nessus. But is it necessary always to agree with one's friends? I think the best friends and the best lovers are those who know how to disagree. However, we were talking of Princess Montefiano. I can quite understand that she would not desire to be on friendly terms with Professor Rossano."
"Or with any of his family," added Silvio, bluntly. ”

“ That white wine is certainly good. May one ask, monsignore, what made you leave us so suddenly? Did you discover a cardinal of the holy office in disguise?"
Don Agostino laughed. "Not quite a cardinal," he replied, "but somebody very near to a cardinal."
"Do you mean the man who was with Baron d'Antin—the young man?" asked Silvio.
"Precisely," returned Don Agostino. "He is not quite so young as he looks, however," he continued. "In fact, he must be certainly ten or twelve years older. Do you know him, Silvio?" ”

“ But if Don Mario has been useless, or rather prejudicial to the Church, certainly Don Agostino, his Nephew, has been little better: He is one that would seem to be born to an Empire; and were it Alexander’s or Cæsar’s he did enjoy, he would not show a more lofty carriage, nor affect a greater insolence.
When he goes through the City, he does so little regard any body, that he is scarce induced to salute those Gentlemen that civilly do prevent him by pulling off their hats first: but he never begins to any body, no not to a Prince ”

“ Don Agostino hesitated.
"It depends," he replied. "You see, figlia mia," he continued, "we must be careful that in trying to do good we do not bring about a great deal of harm and unhappiness. I should like to talk with your father, and to-day I will go to see Stefano Mazza. The contadini are within their rights—I do not deny that—and a grave injustice has been done, both to them and to your father. Sicuro! they are in the right, but it should be the duty of those who have influence to prevent them from doing anything to put themselves in the wrong. ”

“ You must tell the women that I, Don Agostino, will support all that is done to obtain justice in a just way—but I will not countenance any measures that may provoke disorder, and perhaps violence. Now go, figlia mia, and give my message to your father this morning—and to the Principessina Bianca when you think it safe to go again to her apartment."
And Don Agostino, opening the door of the sacristy, accompanied Concetta through the empty church, and then returned to his own house, and to his morning coffee which Ernana always prepared for him after he had said his early mass. ”

“ One feels older when one has passed a night there."
"I cannot call myself an artist," said Silvio, laughing, "though I certainly draw a great deal. I am an engineer by profession, and Civitacastellana is—well, as you say, a very quiet place. Sometimes one likes a quiet place, after Rome."
"Ah, yes, that is true," returned Don Agostino, thoughtfully. "I, too, have come to a quiet place after Rome, but then I have been in it more than ten years. I think the change loses its effect when one tries it for so long a time." ”

“ The remarkable infelicity, under the circumstances, of the selection, certainly never suggested itself either to the organist or to the congregation, and Don Agostino, remembering that "to the pure all things are pure," was far too wise to think of pointing it out afterwards in the sacristy. Nevertheless, his sense of humor was acute, and not entirely to be suppressed, even when he was ministering at the altar.
But to-day the organist's doubtful compliment to the Madonna passed almost unnoticed by Don Agostino. He knew that his people gave of their best to their religion ”

“ As Don Agostino—he will not be called monsignore—says, such a thing must be prevented, and, of course, I am the proper person to prevent it."
"Of course!"
"You must admit that it is strange, Giacinta, that Don Agostino should have been engaged to Bianca's mother—and her name was Bianca also—just as I am engaged to the daughter, and that he should be at Montefiano. It seems like a destiny. As for this Baron d'Antin—"
"I have seen him several times," observed Giacinta. "He always stares very hard. I asked the porter who he was. He is not so very old, Silvio; he looks younger than the princess." ”

“ Don Agostino lifted his hat in response to the sportsman's salutation and regrets at having startled him.
"I was safe enough where I was, signore," he said, smiling; "but it was as well to warn you that there was somebody on the path. I did not wish to be taken for a crow," he added, with a downward glance at his soutane.
The cacciatore laughed. "Your reverence would have been even safer as a crow," he replied; "but indeed there was no danger. I was firing well above the path at a turtledove, which I missed badly. But it is better to miss than to wound." ”

“ And Don Agostino had found that the result of his conversation with Silvio's father was exactly what Silvio himself had foretold. The professor had dismissed the whole affair with airy good-humor as a pazzia, a folly in which he had so far participated as to have made formal overtures on his son's behalf for Donna Bianca Acorari's hand, and of which he did not wish to hear anything more. If Silvio thought the girl would make him a good wife, then by all means let him marry her, if he could. ”

“ Si capisce! the Church must support the Church. But Don Agostino does not understand us. He thinks that we are considering our interests only—that our only object in going to the castle is to insist on the rents remaining as they were, and on Sor Beppe being recalled to his post. If that were all, reverendo, we should not take the trouble to go to the castle—niente affato! The rents would not be paid—and as to the new fattore whom the foreign priest has appointed—well, he would be a brave man to remain long in Montefiano. ”

“ No, signori," he added, turning to the listening crowd, "I feel sure that your interests are safe in Don Agostino's hands, and his advice is good. Let him go this afternoon to the castle as your representative. The princess has the reputation of being a very devout lady. She will doubtless, therefore, be pleased to receive a visit from the parroco of Montefiano. In the mean time, my friends, let us be calm and patient, and await the result of his reverence's interview with the princess and Donna Bianca." ”

“ A few days after the burial two of the Jesuit Fathers arrived from Florence, accompanied by Don Agostino, who, having in vain waited for his friend at Lucca, had sought him at Florence, and finally traced him to his dreary prison. By their influence Inglesant was allowed to depart; and actuated still by his desire to see Venice, set out, accompanied by Don Agostino, in the hope of reaching that city. They crossed the Apennines, and journeyed by Modena, Mantua, Verona, and Padua. ”

“ Shall I do as Monsignor Lelli wishes, and receive Signor Rossano?"
Monsieur d'Antin glanced at Don Agostino.
"Really, Jeanne," he replied, "you are putting my generosity to a severe test, and I should prefer, under the circumstances, to offer no advice. However, I will be generous; and since the young man is here—well, you might take the opportunity of forming your own judgment as to his suitability to become the husband of your step-daughter. At least, I beg of you to spare me the ordeal of being present at your interview. ”

“ The position, however, was serious; and all the more so because it was quite evident that neither the princess nor the abbé realized its gravity. Any rebellious attitude that the peasants might be driven by exasperation to assume could, it was true, be ultimately suppressed by the intervention of the military at the instance of the civil authorities of the commune. But Don Agostino well knew the legacy of hatred and smouldering resentment which such intervention almost invariably left behind it. ”

“ Giacinta also had caught sight of the new-comers. "Look, Silvio!" she exclaimed, in a low tone; "look, father, there is Princess Montefiano's brother, Monsieur d'Antin, with those people!"
"Very well, Giacinta," returned the professor, vexed at the interruption; "he can go to the devil! Go on with what you were saying," he added to Don Agostino. ”

“ The second demonstration of singular affection, which the Pope bears to Don Agostino, is his Marriage: p. 146for as soon as he saw him, he liked him so well, that he resolv’d to match with the greatest fortune of Rome, which was then the Princess Borghese, daughter to the Princess of Rossano, very rich, and having but one sickly brother, and therefore looked upon as an heiress; but however, her portion was two hundred thousand crowns in mony, besides the hereditary estate, which was in her brothers hands. ”

“ Therefore to avoid the match, he pretended, that indeed he did take it as a great honour to have his Neece so allyed to his Holiness, but did desire to see Don Agostino better provided for, and in possession of some eminent rank in the world, that his neece might still maintain the degree of Princess she had already. Upon this the Pope did every day straine himself to make his Nephew appear greater and greater, giving places of great profit and honour, and endeavouring to buy him a Principality, which at last he effected ”

“ The Abbot of San Clemente, who was a good and exemplary churchman, left a disciple in painting, Matteo Lappoli of Arezzo, who was an able and experienced painter, as may be seen by the works from his hand which are in the chapel of San Sebastian, in the church of Sant’ Agostino. There is also a San Sebastian in relief by this artist, in a niche of the same chapel, with figures of San Biagio, San Rocco, Sant’ Antonio of Padua, and San Bernardino, all painted by the master in question. ”