Don Mario

“ Quacquarà! Shout yourselves hoarse, if you like!”
“And, meanwhile, you scoundrel, you’re repeating it to my face,” yelled Don Mario, as he raised his cudgel, perceiving 123at last that he had been made a fool of. At this point the chemist, who was terrified for the safety of his plate-glass windows, thought it time to interfere; and, taking his arm, drew him out of the shop, condoling with his grievances, and soothing his ruffled feelings as well as he could.
“Come out this way; no one will see you.”
“Am I to hide myself? To please those louts? I am a gentleman, and the son of a gentleman!” ”

“ If we throw ourselves suddenly upon them, we may snatch away a rifle or two. Then Don Jorge and I, with the lads here, may drive them back––perhaps beat them! But my first blow shall be for Don Mario! I vow here that, if I escape this place, he shall not live another hour!”
“Better so, Rosendo, than that they should take us alive. But––Carmen? Do we leave her to fall into Don Mario’s hands?”
Rosendo’s voice, low and cold, froze the marrow in the priest’s bones. “Padre, she will not fall into the Alcalde’s hands.” ”

“ And Don Mario had confessed in his last moments that Wenceslas had sought to work through him and Josè in the hope that the location of the famous mine, La Libertad, might be revealed. Don Mario had been instructed to get what he could out of this scion of Rincón; and only his own greed and cupidity had caused him to play fast and loose with both sides until, falling before the allurements which Wenceslas held out, he had rushed madly into his own destruction. Josè realized that so far he himself had proved extremely useful to Wenceslas––but had his usefulness ended? ”

“ But a lady needn’t concern herself with the finer shades in Don Mario’s eloquent looks; he can be thoroughly trusted, at any rate in a public corner of a drawing-room.
An Englishman on the other hand, a candid young{213} Briton, is a queer untutored thing of which you can never be really sure. The Marchesa’s nephew was pink and pleasant, and his undisguised interest in Madame de Baltasar might please her, you would think, for any one could see that it was much more genuine than Don Mario’s. ”

“ 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 ”

“ Now, with a person of Don Mario's importance, to decide for himself is to decide for others, and inasmuch as he knew that Dona Isabel, Rosa's stepmother, was notoriously mercenary and had not done at all well since her husband's death, it did not occur to him to doubt that his suit would prosper. ”

“ Don Mario without doubt descends from the very serpent that tempted our mother Eve! He has become a person of considerable importance since the Governor and Don Wenceslas strive with each other to rest their authority and confidence in him. And, unless I mistake much, they have him slated for important work. However that may be, the man already has a large following. Moreover, he has them well poisoned against you, amigo Josè. They know more details about your book and your life before coming to Simití than do you. Bien, you must counteract the Alcalde’s influence by a public statement. ”

“ He has learned a lot, and now he loves the puppy.”
So had the priest learned much. He recalled the lesson. “Bien,” he said in soft tones, “I think we became a bit too earnest, Don Mario. We are good friends, is it not so? And we are working together for the good of Simití. But to have good come to us, we must do good to others.”
He went to his trunk and took out a wallet. “Here are twenty pesos, Don Mario.” It was all he had in the world, but he did not tell the Alcalde so. “Take them on Rosendo’s account. Let him have the new supplies he needs, and I will be his surety. ”

“ They would even have been happy if it had not been for the irritating behaviour of the street boys. One day matters reached a crisis. Don Mario, administering a cuff to an ill-conditioned fellow who assaulted him with the cry of Quacquarà, received the same back with interest, and got his coat torn into the bargain. The magistrate, before whom the case was brought, kept the vagabond under arrest for a couple of hours, and got up a subscription at the Casino, to present Don Mario with a new coat and hat. ”

“ I shall keep my eyes open.”
“I have lent the rolling-pin to Comare Nina.”
“I will get the wine from Scatá.... Vittoria wine this time.... Pater Noster!”
“Ave Maria!”
So they went to sleep.
They were growing old. Ignazio was right.
Don Mario sometimes wondered which of the two would die first, and the thought left him sad and depressed.
“I am the younger.... But, after me, the house will go to distant relatives, ... they will divide it up and sell it.... But, after all, what does it matter to us? We shall both be gone then.... We are the real Majori; when we are dead, the world is dead!” ”

“ He waved his hand as if to say, "I have nothing for you," and was about to bid the man drive on, but Tino cried out boldly,--
"Behold me, signor! I am Tino, the singing boy of Valrose. I have run away to join you if you will have me. Ah, please do! I wish so much to go with you."
"Bravo!" cried Mario, well pleased. "That is a lad of spirit; and I am glad to have you. I don't steal nightingales, as I told you down yonder; but if they get out of their cages and perch on my finger, I keep them. In with you, boy! there is no time to lose." ”

“ 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. ”

“ And I now remark that with all Don Mario’s beautiful finish he doesn’t set one gaping at the price he must have cost; one sees in a moment than an object of that sort is not to be bought with money. “Not to be bought?”—I can imagine the tone of the Principessa, if she chose to speak: “He looks as though he weren’t to be bought? Why, it’s exactly that that{217} will fetch his price, and well he knows it. Not to be bought indeed!—I could tell you a little about that. Now there behind you—there’s where money fails, if you like!”
She meant of course the Marchesa ”

“ A shade of disappointment seemed to cross the heavy face of Don Mario, but he graciously acquiesced in the priest’s suggestion; and arrangements were at once concluded whereby the house became the dwelling place of the new Cura.
Rosendo thereupon sent out a call for assistants, to which 30 the entire unemployed male population of the town responded. Mud for the walls was hastily brought from the lake, and mixed with manure and dried grass. A half dozen young men started for the islands to cut fresh thatch for the roof. Others set about scraping the hard dirt floors ”

“ Were you grieved when he died?"
"Yes, Mario. He was my cousin, and I wept for him."
"And so if I should die, who am neither your cousin nor your husband, you wouldn't weep for me?"
"You must not talk about dying, Mario," said Lauriane; "they say that it brings bad luck when one is young. I don't want you to die, and I say again that I love you dearly."
"But you won't promise me when I shall be your husband?"
"Why, Mario, what good would it do you to have me for your wife? You do not even know whether you will want to marry when you are old enough." ”

“ Stand up and keep your hands out of your pockets. Mind what I told you about supping soup noisily, and don't handle your fork like a shovel. See what others do, smile, and hold your tongue. There is the gong. Let us go."
Tino's heart beat as he followed Mario down the long hall to the great salle à manger with its glittering table d'hôte and many guests. But the consciousness of new clothes sustained him, so he held up his head, turned out his toes, and took his place, trying to look as if everything was not very new and dazzling to him. ”

“ What touches your fingers turns to gold. But you are not at the mercy of an administrador."
"Precisely! I am my own manager. If your crops do not pay, then Pancho Cueto is cheating you. He is capable of it. Get rid of him. But I didn't come here to talk about Esteban's hidden treasure, nor his plantations, nor Pancho Cueto. I came here to talk about your step-daughter, Rosa."
"So?" Dona Isabel looked up quickly.
"She interests me. She is more beautiful than the stars." Don Mario rolled his eyes toward the high ceiling, which, like the sky, was tinted a vivid cerulean blue. ”

“ If you succeed in escaping, it will be of some use to you; but, although I don't in the least understand what you tell me, it seems to me that you were crazy to come here instead of going far away from La Flèche. It makes me afraid that you are acting in concert with him to——"
"No, no, Mario! keep your money! and, if you think that I mean to betray you, go and hide somewhere else; I won't follow you. I am not a wicked girl to you, Mario. You are the only person in the whole world that I love! I came here thinking that, while they were fighting, I might go into the château and stay with you. ”

“ My legatee? when Mario——"
"Ah! there we are! the pretty boy is the stumbling-block. But never fear, I will treat him well if he behaves to me as he ought, and at my death your property can go back to him, provided that I am satisfied with him."
"You are mad, Bellinde!" cried the marquis, rising, "unless this is all a game——"
"It is not a game; and if you don't write at once what I demand," she said, rising in her turn, "why, death of my life! I will wake the captain and call my people upstairs!"
"Have me murdered, if you think best," replied Bois-Doré ”

“ The programme of the entertainment was one which to-day would seem rather commonplace, though the performers were not so. A handsome young man, of slender figure, opened the concert by singing the serenade from the opera of "Don Pasquale." I felt at once that this must be Mario, but that name cannot suggest to one who never heard him either the beauty of his voice or the refinement of his intonation. I still feel a sort of intoxication when I recall his rendering of "Com' é gentil." ”

“ In Lobby.—Much agitation among ancient Opera-goers on hearing report that Mario is to sing here on Saturday afternoon. "Mario!" they exclaim; "impossible!" Not at all: it turns out that this "Mario" is a character in a new Opera by "Alick Maclean" (pretty name, but nicer if it were "A Wash Meclean") , entitled Petruccio (not Shakspear's Petruchio) , in which one Mario is "Elvira's little brother;" and so, possibly, he was quite an infant when sister Elvira was cruelly treated by Don Giovanni. Also in this new Opera appears "Elvira's mother." ”

“ He will be there with his people. It's a long way; you will never be able to do it on foot!"
"I will go straight to Brilbault," said Pilar. "I know the way; I have just come from there!"
"Yes," said the coachman; "go, little one; you can warn Monsieur Robin. Do you know him? You don't belong about here, do you?"
"No matter, I will find him."
"Or Monsieur d'Ars; will you remember?"
"I know him, I saw him once."
"Off we go, then! Ah! Monsieur Mario, if I could only lay my hand on your horse! you could go faster and not kill yourself running."
"I know how to run," said Mario ”

“ At this point a footman came to Mario’s rescue by announcing that the vermouth was served.
“And what of the progress toward peace in the human family, Honourable?” asked Don Riccardo, merrily, as they took their places at table.
Mario answered that the progress, as to the branch of the human family known as Italian, was for the time being somewhat backward. “The [Pg 30] trouble with our party,” he said, “is that we can’t break ourselves of the habit of being right at the wrong time. Our foes are better strategists. They are wise enough to be wrong at the right time.” ”

“ It doesn't weigh much."
"That's very easy!"
"But the sarrasine is down! But don't be alarmed; I will go up into the room where we work it. If there's anybody there, so much the worse for them; I'll strike and kill, and raise one of the stakes! Don't lose time by waiting for me. Pass through, steal away, fly! If the stake falls on the girl, so much the worse for her; you cannot help it, nor I. God guard you! Keep on running, I will overtake you."
"But, if you are——"
Mario stopped short ”

“ He was nevertheless kind and thoughtful for every one, and to his personal graces and charms he owes his reputation as much as to his art, for he was always more or less of an amateur. His wonderful gifts were not developed by study, like the equally wonderful voice of Rubini, who surpassed in this respect every tenor before or after.{74}
As an instance of the admiration in which Mario was held by the fair sex, we are told that a certain lady followed him wherever he sang. ”