Matteo

“ I have thy name in my books, and have had a writ against thee this twelvemonth; so like a rogue, thou now deniest being Matteo, but an alias will not pay me my debt; take him away, take him away, we shall soon see if thou art Matteo.” Thus abusing him, they led him to prison, and as it was supper-time, they met no one on their way. Being arrived, the gaol-keeper took down the captive under the name of Matteo, and confined him among the other prisoners, who having heard his name mentioned, though without knowing him, called out, “good night, Matteo.” ”

“ We could never hide from Matteo: he would find us out and kill us both.”
“I will go to the Holy Father and tell him all. We could be in Rome early in the morning if we should walk all night.”
“Matteo would hear us: he hears everything. We should never reach Rome. He would find us wherever we might be hidden. If we were dead and buried he would pull us out of the ground to stab us. I must go. I have sinned in having so much intercourse with you. Be resigned, Claudio. Be a good man, and we shall meet in heaven. The earth is a terrible place: I am afraid of it. ”

“ Alessandro went lilting on. "We will sing to her all day, and of her all night. The saloon of the Villa Venusta shall depict the story of her glorious arising."
"Pretty, pretty!" cried Matteo, "I see that your honour knows the rules of play. Now when shall the game begin?"
"My honest friend, the litter will be at your door come daybreak," said Alessandro. "Three noble ladies will attend Madonna to bathe and dress her. After that, you shall leave her safely in our keeping."
Matteo bowed. "Excellency, I am your servant. Everything shall be as you wish." ”

“ Cleveland had sunk on the ground, Horace was kneeling beside her, half supporting her drooping form, when there strode into the dimly lighted space, the tall figure of the chief of the banditti.
Matteo was a large and powerful man, with a countenance on which the character of ruffianism was so legibly stamped, that had he appeared in gentlemen's society under whatever auspices, with whatever name, or in whatever dress, a child would have instinctively shrunk from him, and a stranger's first thought have been:
"There is one whom I would rather not meet alone at night in a solitary place." ”

“ A more prolix writer than his brother and a less acute observer, Matteo is well informed in his facts, and for the years of which he writes is one of the most important sources of Italian history. (2) Filippo Villani, the son of Matteo, flourished in the end of the 14th and the beginning of the 15th century. In his continuation which goes down to 1364, though showing greater literary ability, he is very inferior as an historian to his predecessors. His most valuable work was a collection of lives of illustrious Florentines. ”

“ But as a favor now—" and the signora assumed her most coaxing smile, and even advanced a plump white hand to touch Matteo's sleeve.
She might as well have tried to bewitch and persuade the bronze Augustus on the Capitoline Hill.
"Things are changed since it was promised that Silvia should stay a month with you," Matteo replied. "There is work at home for her to do. Since she is not to be a nun, she must work. Let her be ready to start in an hour: my carriage is waiting at the door. I am going out into the piazza for a little while. I will send a man up for her trunk when I am ready to start." ”

“ I am sure that now she is as true and faithful as she is beautiful.'
Matteo looked at me for a moment.
'Are you her lover?' he asked.
'Yes!'
Matteo opened his mouth as if about to speak, then stopped, and after a moment's hesitation turned away.
That evening I went to Giulia. I found her lying full length on a divan, her head sunken in soft cushions. She was immersed in reverie. I wondered whether she was thinking of me, and I went up to her silently, and, bending over her, lightly kissed her lips. She gave a cry, and a frown darkened her eyes. ”

“ They brought thee word, Matteo. Now it is my turn to love life, for it is better to have crooked legs and live ones than straight legs and dead ones. Be proud of your straight legs while you may, Matteo. ”

“ Matteo could not restrain his curiosity, but woke Francis:
"Has anything gone wrong, Francis? It is daylight, and Parucchi's party, as well as yours, are all asleep, while we have not been roused!"
"Everything is going on well, Matteo, and we did not wake you, because there was nothing for you to do. We have already passed in knives and javelins to the sailors, and they are at work cutting through two planks in their bulkhead; after which we shall be able to meet in the next hold, arm ourselves, and fall upon the Genoese when the opportunity offers." ”

“ Grasso, turning to the man who had just arrested him, said, “what have I to do with thee? you have mistaken your man; I am not he you take me to be; I am Grasso, the carver in ebony; I am not Matteo, nor do I know who your Matteo is.” He was on the point of following up his words, with a few hard blows, but they seized him by the arms, and held him tight. The creditor coming forward, and looking at him from head to foot, said, “what! you not Matteo! do I not know Matteo? Matteo, my debtor! don’t I know who Grasso the carver is? ”

“ Matteo said the carriage tilted, and she, being asleep, fell out before he could prevent. Her temple struck a sharp rock, and Claudio missed his bride.
He had to keep quiet about it, though. What could he prove? what could any one prove? Where knives are sharp and people mind their own business, or express their opinions only by a shrug of the shoulders and a grimace, how is a poor boy, how is even a rich man or a rich woman, to come at the truth in such a case? Besides, the truth would not have brought her back, poor little Silvia! ”

“ Osio, haunted and desperate, stands without the bower, watching Matteo who is stealthily coming down from the pedestal of the Virgin where he has climbed to listen, and who crosses the terrace to him. ”

“ But in this he was deceived; for he soon heard that a daughter of Louis, king of France, was possessed by an evil spirit, which disturbed our friend Matteo not a little, thinking of his majesty's great authority and of what Roderigo had said. Hearing of Matteo's great skill, and finding no other remedy, the king dispatched a messenger for him, whom Matteo contrived to send back with a variety of excuses. But this did not long avail him; the king applied to the Florentine council, and our hero was compelled to attend. ”

“ Thou art much to blame to let such a trifling thing so distress you as almost to make you mad, and suffer yourself to be laughed at to your great discredit. In truth, Matteo, I will not have you do so, and I do desire that, for the love of me, thou wouldst promise me to give up this folly, and attend to thy business as an honourable man, like other people, by which means thou wilt delight thy brothers ”

“ And Matteo's answer,—
'Help us, Ercole! I have killed one. Checco is stabbed.'
'Ah!' a cry from Ercole, and with his men he rushed into the fray.
A few more cries, still the flash of swords, the fall of heavy bodies on the stones.
'They are done for!' said Matteo.
The shouts, the clang of metal woke up the neighbours; lights were seen at the windows, and night-capped women appeared shrieking; doors were thrown open, and men came out in their shirts, sword in hand. ”

“ It is true we are three brothers, among which is one whose name is Matteo, who, yesterday, on account of some debt, was put into prison, and has taken it so much to heart that we really think he is losing his senses, and going mad. In every thing he appears Matteo as heretofore, except in one thing, that is, he has taken it into his head that he is become another man than Matteo. Did you ever hear of such a thing? he pretends that he is a certain Grasso, a carver, well known to him, who has a shop behind San Giovanni, and his own home is St. ”

“ Matteo arrived soon at Naples, and, after some artful practices, removed the evil spirit from the lady; but before Roderigo quitted his hold, he said, “Matteo, thou seest I have kept my word with thee in enriching thee; I therefore am now under no obligations whatever to thee; do not thou ever attempt to appear before me, because I might hereafter do thee much harm, instead of the good I have done thee.” Matteo, returning to Florence very rich, for the king had given him fifty thousand ducats, thought of enjoying his wealth in comfort, unconscious that Roderigo would ever do him any injury ”

“ Francis said gravely. "He will certainly be a dangerous enemy if he is alive; and yet the thought of having killed a man troubles me much."
"It would not trouble me at all if I were in your place," Matteo said. "If you had not killed him, you may be very sure that he would have killed you, and that the deed would have caused him no compunction whatever. It was a fair fight, just as if it had been a hostile galley in mid-sea; and I don't see why the thought of having rid Venice of one of her worst citizens need trouble you in any way." ”

“ This the baron refused to do, but persisted in his wish to have it for a vile price, whereupon the artist, falling into a rage, siezed a hammer, and, in the presence of the noble, he dashed his work to pieces.
Matteo prepared many cartoons as designs for tapestry, at the desire of King Francis, and with these he was compelled to go himself into Flanders, for so his Majesty would have it be, when he remained in that country until all had been woven in cloth of silk and gold; which being done, and the works taken to France, they were found to be most beautiful. ”

“ The Continuation of Nangis, which reflects with fidelity the current of popular thought, recounts the sins of Matteo and his sons, described in the papal sentence, as a new heresy arisen in Lombardy, and the papalist military operations as a righteous crusade for its suppression. Although this was naturally a French view of the matter, it was not confined to France. In Lombardy Matteo’s friends were discouraged and his enemies took fresh heart. A peace party speedily formed itself in Milan, and the question was openly asked whether the whole region should be sacrificed for the sake of one man. ”

“ A Madonna from his hand is to be seen at the great altar of the Carmini in that city; and in Padua, his Pietà, placed at San Tommaso [Pg 282] Cantuariense. I conclude this list with one Matteo, a Florentine artist, not commemorated in his own state, from the circumstance of having resided abroad; better known by the name of Matteo da' Pitocchi. He displayed most talent in his representation of Mendicants, heads of which class are to be met with in Venice, in Verona, in Vicenza, and elsewhere, as well as several burlesques and other fanciful pieces, in the galleries of many Italian nobles. ”

“ The gaiety and high spirits of the two girls, when they were in the house, amused and pleased him, especially as it was in contrast to the somewhat stiff and dignified demeanour which they assumed when passing through the frequented canals in the gondola.
"I do not like that woman Castaldi," Francis said one evening as, after leaving the palazzo, Giuseppi rowed them towards the Palazzo Giustiniani, where Matteo was to be landed.
"Gouvernantes are not popular, as a class, with young men," Matteo laughed. ”

“ The interview was short. 'From information that I have received,' said Cesare, 'I will wager a thousand ducats to a horseshoe that Matteo Orsini is with his uncle at Pievano. I offer that thousand ducats for his head. Go and earn it.'
Pantaleone was taken aback. He blinked his bold black eyes. 'What men shall I take?' he stammered.
'What men you please. But understand the thing is not to be done by force. At the first show of it, Matteo, if he is there, will go to earth like a mole, and not all your questing shall discover him. This is an affair for wits, not lances. ”

“ Checco and Matteo stood looking at one another; then the former, shaking himself as if to regain his calmness, turned his back on us and left the room. Matteo strode up and down for a while in thought, and then, turning to me, said, 'Come.'
We went out and returned to our hostelry.
IV NEXT day we went to Donna Giulia's.
'Who is she?' I asked Matteo, as we walked along.
'A widow!' he answered shortly.
'Further?' I asked.
'The scandal of Forli!'
'Most interesting; but how has she gained her reputation?'
'How do I know?' he answered, laughing; 'how do women usually gain their reputations? ”

“ In pursuance of his policy of tranquillising the party strife which forbade all stable and settled government in North Italy, Matteo made a marriage for this son with Beatrice d’Este, widow of Nino Visconte, Judge of Gallura, and sister of the Marquis of Ferrara, recognised chief of the Guelf party in Lombardy. The marriage was of evil omen for the Visconti. We all know those sad words on the little durability of woman’s love which fall from the ghost of the forgotten husband in the Purgatorio. ”

“ Silvia gave him the salad, and poured wine and water into the tumbler for him, while his mother went to the kitchen for a dish of fricasseed pigeons.
“There’s no onion in the salad,” Matteo grumbled when she came back.
[Pg 174]
Silvia uttered an exclamation of dismay, ran for a silvery-white little onion and sliced it thinly into the salad.
“Forgive me, Matteo,” she said. “I was distracted by the thought of Claudio. It seems such a terrible thing.”
“It would be a much more terrible thing if it were a girl who disobeyed,” Matteo growled. He did not like that girls should criticise men. ”