Pietro Ghisleri

“ And yet in all the crowd that thronged the great drawing-rooms there was hardly a man with whom the young Englishman would not have exchanged face and figure, if only he might stand at the height of other men, straight and square, and be free forever from the halting gait which made life in the world so hard for him. He was very human, and made no great pretence of resignation, nor indeed of any other virtue.
Pietro Ghisleri was a very different personage except, perhaps, in point of humanity. ”

“ But he had acted with his usual generosity, and told every one that he had always believed Adele to be insane, and bore no one the least ill-will, since he had been put to no inconvenience whatever, thanks to San Giacinto's timely action. And, said the world, when a man consistently behaved as Pietro Ghisleri had done, he was certain to get his reward. What could any man desire more than to have that dear, beautiful, good Laura Arden for his wife, especially since she was so immensely rich? ”

“ But such a man could hardly expect that such a wish, or prayer, could be granted or heard, so long as he was spending many hours of each succeeding week in the company of Laura Arden. In the full strength of manhood, passionate, sensitive beneath a cold exterior, always attracted by women, and almost always repelled by men, Pietro Ghisleri could hardly expect that in one moment the capacity for loving should be wholly rooted out and destroyed by something [Pg 338] like an act of will, and as the consequence of his being disappointed and disgusted by his own fickleness. ”

“ Lady Herbert Arden—and Pietro Ghisleri."
He pronounced his own name with the utmost bitterness.
"Please do not speak of yourself in that way," said Laura, with something like entreaty in her voice.
"It is true enough," he answered. "An intelligent being might understand that I could be useful to you, but not that you—" He stopped short, and his tone changed. "I am talking nonsense," he said briefly, by way of explaining the truth.
"I think you are, in a way," said Laura, quietly. "It is your old habit of exaggeration. ”

“ Ghisleri followed him at a distance, lighting a fresh cigarette as he walked. He had recovered his composure the moment he had felt himself freed from the obligation to bear the insults heaped upon him by Bianca Corleone's brother.
It must not be supposed that no one had watched the two as they stood talking before the picture. More than one person had noticed the fierce look in Campodonico's eyes, and the unnatural paleness of Ghisleri's face. One of these was Donna Maria Boccapaduli.
"I suppose you have been discussing that painting," she said carelessly to Pietro. "People always do." ”

“ Both would have been very much surprised, could they have known why they were asked, and that the idea had originated with Pietro Ghisleri.
On the previous evening, Gerano had taken pains to see his daughter alone at her own house, on pretence of talking to her about business. With considerable skill he had led the conversation up to the required point, and had laid a trap for her.
"Do you see much of the Ardens just now?" he asked.
"No. We do not meet often," answered Adele, with a little movement of the shoulders. ”

“ It was rather tactless of him to drag Ghisleri's name into the conversation in the presence of Campodonico. But the Princess of Gerano was even more tactless than he.
"That wild Ghisleri!" she immediately exclaimed, as she always did when Pietro was mentioned.
"Ghisleri is no worse than the rest of us, I am sure," said Campodonico, anxious to show that he was not in the least annoyed. "He has as many good qualities as most men, and perhaps a few more."
"It is generous of you to say that," observed Donna Christina, looking at her husband with loving admiration. ”

“ And now, at the San Giacinto's dinner table, Ghisleri found himself seated next to Donna Christina, and nearly opposite to her husband. It had long been known and generally understood that Pietro and Gianforte had buried their enmity with the beautiful woman about whom they had fought, and that they had no objection to meeting in the world, and even to conversing occasionally on general subjects, so that there was nothing surprising in the fact that at a dinner of eighteen persons they should be asked together. ”

“ She knows what we were to each other once, and it might hurt her."
"How changed you are!" exclaimed Ghisleri. But he pressed the hand that lay near him.
"I am trying to be a good woman," she answered simply.
"If there were more like you, the world would be a better place," he said.
CHAPTER XXX.
"Just fancy, my dear," exclaimed Donna Maria Boccapaduli to the Marchesa di San Giacinto on the evening of the following day, "Pietro Ghisleri is going to marry Laura Arden, after all! That horrid, spiteful, wicked Adele will die of rage. ”

“ I shall go to the club now and give an account of the day's doings."
"Why not wait and let people find out for themselves what has happened?" asked Pietro. "Will it do any good to talk of it?"
"Since people must talk or die," answered San Giacinto, "I am of opinion that they had better tell the truth than invent lies."
When he was gone Ghisleri wondered what had impelled him to take so much trouble. It would have been quite enough if he had appeared at the right moment to give security for him, and that alone would have been a very valuable service. ”

“ She told Laura that there must be more good than any one had dreamt of in a man who could act as Pietro did under the circumstances, and perhaps she was right. At all events, she was convinced and having once reached conviction she took him to her heart and found that he was a man much more to her taste, and much more worthy of Laura than she had supposed. For the rest, the match was an admirable one. Ghisleri was certainly very far from rich, but he was by no means a pauper, and what he possessed had been wisely administered. ”

“ But the rest of the world watched Maddalena and Pietro with great interest. They had quarrelled—or they had made it up—they had not danced together during one whole evening—they had danced a waltz and then a quadrille, the one after the other—Maddalena had been crying—by a coincidence, Ghisleri looked unusually strong and well—Pietro, again, was looking somewhat haggard and weary, and the Contessa met the world that evening with a stony stare. There was endless matter for speculation, and accordingly the world speculated without end, and, as usual, to no purpose. ”

“ So far as one man can answer for another, I will be responsible for them. With regard to the finding of the letter and to the manner of its being kept so long, I leave Don Tebaldo, the parish priest of Gerano, to explain that. You can question him at your leisure. Our mission is accomplished, and Pietro Ghisleri's innocence is established for ever. That is all I wished. Good morning."
After burning the confession Adele had let herself fall into the deep chair in which she had been sitting when the three friends entered the room. ”

“ He had almost forgotten her name and her nationality in the interest he felt in herself.
"Yes; but he rarely goes into society. I am very fond of him," she added, scarcely knowing why. "Mother," she said, as they came up to the Princess, "Lord Herbert Arden."
The Princess smiled and held out her hand. At that moment Pietro Ghisleri came up. He had not been seen since he had left Laura and Arden together. By a coincidence, doubtless, the Contessa dell' Armi had disappeared at about the same time: she had probably gone home, as she was not seen again in the ball-room that [Pg 15] evening. ”

“ Women love that man, and he knows how to love them." [Pg 426]
San Giacinto looked down at him and said nothing. He knew something of Bianca Corleone's short, sad life, and of what had passed between her brother and Ghisleri. He liked them both more than almost any of the younger men he knew, and he honestly admired them for their behaviour towards each other. He guessed what thoughts were passing through Campodonico's mind as he looked after the train that was bearing away Pietro Ghisleri, a married man at last. ”

“ Ghisleri grew slowly pale, as he bore one insult after the other for the dead woman's sake.
"In other words, you are a coward," said Campodonico, lowering his voice still more.
Pietro opened his lips and shut them without speaking. He glanced at the passionate white face of the woman in the picture before he answered.
"I do not think so," he said. "But I make no pretence of bravery. Have you done?"
"No. You make a pretence of other things if not of courage. You pretend that you will not quarrel now because of the promise you gave." ”

“ It will be remembered that both Maddalena and Ghisleri were from the north of Italy, where the superstition [Pg 169] about the evil eye is much less general amongst the upper classes than in Rome and the south. Pietro himself had not the slightest belief in it, and he had so often laughed at it in conversation with the Contessa that if she had ever had any vague tendency to put faith in the jettatura, it had completely disappeared. But both of them were thoroughly familiar with the society in which they lived, and understood the position in which Laura was placed. ”

“ For the world is unconsciously wise in its generation, and on the rare occasions when it has found out that it has made a mistake, its haste to do the civil thing is almost indecent. In eight and forty hours the whole Savelli family and the Prince and Princess of Gerano had left Rome, [Pg 411] and Ghisleri found it hard to keep one evening a week free for himself.
But in the afternoon of that day on which San Giacinto had so suddenly turned the tables upon Pietro's adversaries, Pietro went to see Laura Arden. ”

“ I promise. What is it?"
"People are beginning to say already that you are making love to her, and that you are always at the house."
"The brutes!" exclaimed Ghisleri, fiercely. "Who says that?"
"The women, of course. The men are much too sensible, and none of them care to quarrel with you."
"Oh!" Pietro contented himself with the exclamation, and controlled his anger as best he could.
"Was I wrong to tell you?" asked Maddalena. ”

“ Pietro smiled when he read the note. On the following day the great man went again to the Tempietto, and with many protestations of incompetence did as he was requested, assuring Lady Herbert that it was only in deference to her wishes that he did so.
"You are not consumptive—in the least, and you may even become strong," he said, after a very long and thorough examination. "That, at least," he added, "is my humble opinion."
Arden's face brightened suddenly. But Laura and Ghisleri remained alone together for a moment afterwards, while the doctor was already putting on his coat. ”

“ And Laura must have money—she must have plenty—not that she is extravagant, but you know how she was brought up in the Gerano's house, and I should never have thought of marrying her, but for Uncle Herbert's money."
"You would both have been perfectly happy on a hundred a year," observed Pietro. "People are when they love each other as you do."
Arden's face softened at once, and Ghisleri saw that he was thinking of his wife. ”

“ From that point she could tell the truth, without even sparing Lucia, until she came to the discovery that it was Ghisleri himself who had picked up the letter, or confession, under the shaft of the oubliette. And here she would lay great stress on Ghisleri's attachment to Laura, and consequent dislike of herself. The well-known fact that Pietro had fought a desperate duel merely because Campodonico said that Lady Herbert Arden might have the evil eye, sufficiently showed to what lengths he would go in her defence. Nothing more would really be needed. ”

“ Laura looked at him in surprise.
"He said he had studied medicine," she answered. "Shall I ask Signor Ghisleri, if, as a friend, he would come and give his opinion?"
"It is too much to ask of a stranger."
"Nothing is too much to ask," she said quietly. In her own room she wrote a note to Pietro.
With many apologies, she explained to him that her husband was so delighted with Ghisleri's friend, that she [Pg 90] believed it might make a difference if, as a doctor—since he was one—the latter would be willing to see him once and give his opinion. ”

“ Ghisleri suddenly grew thoughtful and a distant look came into his eyes, while the shadows seemed to deepen under them, till they were almost black. He had eaten hardly anything, and now, regardless of the fact that the meal was not half over, he lit a cigarette and leaned back in his chair as though he had finished.
"You are not looking well, Arden," he said at last. "You must take care of yourself. Take my advice. We will go somewhere together for a couple of months."
"There is nothing I should like better, but not just at present. I will stay in Rome until the weather is a little warmer." ”

“ And throughout all this quiet time the song of happiness was ever in their ears. The world they cared so little for, and which had taken the trouble to say such disagreeable things about them, was left infinitely far behind in their new life. From time to time letters reached Laura from Rome, and Arden had one from Ghisleri, containing little detailed news, but full of angry threats at a kind of general undefined enemy, which might be humanity taken all together, or might be some one particular person whom the writer had in his mind. Pietro generally wrote in that way. ”

“ He would never have forgiven him, at the best; but he might have respected him if Ghisleri had honoured Bianca's memory by leading a different life. It made his blood sting to think that a man who had been loved to the latest breath by such a woman as Bianca should throw himself [Pg 179] at the feet of Maddalena dell' Armi—not to mention any of the others for whom Pietro had felt an ephemeral passion during the last six years and more. And Pietro, on his side, knew that Campodonico was right in judging him as he judged himself, harshly and without mercy. ”