BIANCA THE EXQUISITE.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 6, Issue 282, 8 June 1917, Page 2 (Supplement)

BIANCA THE EXQUISITE.

THE TRAGIC -TORY OF A BEAUTIFUL GIRL WII- LOVED TOO WELL.

It was w tli something like ecus-erna-L.\.u tu.it tvaiio ..it>uiiti <j.iO u..y to It-am iiwc i».uiiv.;i, me ouij tii..a <ji HOI - grtiUeSl fiUi.cU, lite ueaituj o.guui- v_.iy<.'»io, aeuaiur aim **ri» - y lOl', 1...11 ua ;.way wan r'icuv uuiia- \ cut ill 1, a v.ti'K .11 ,3i..j».ut. s uaiiii; iol" x>luUtu Lupdio \.;io not omy a pai;-c:au, reliiweu uy 1. vv.ue gnu iroui tne (jutii-ur.ici' 01 vae uaiiK, out hue was »y L-uiv&tfai consent veince'o muse (/c-auuiui uaugnver.

Jail, anu win a figure of singular grace aU-a uarr-ed ner nc-adi as proudly ..:, any uui-eu. ner go.utu liar ieu in a ripping cascade beiow her waisc; her lace, nauds, aud throat, we aie toid, wen.* "whue as lilies save tor tiie delicate ruse colour that flushed ner cheeks; her eyes were large and dark and of a dazzlmg brilliance; and her lull, pouting iyps were red and fragrant as Hid rose, MARRIED A BANK CLERK. Many a rich and high-placed wooer had sought her hand, but t<x one and all she had turned a dainty indifferent shoulder. She preferred her liberty, she laugningly declared, to any fetters, however gilded. Then, when the most importunate of her noble lovers had begun to despair, whisperings were heard of secret rendezvous with the black-eyed Adonis of the bank-stool, quickly followed by the news that she had*eloped with him, had become his wife at a village altar, and had made her home under the humble roof of Jiis mother in Florence, where the daughter of the great Capello was sharing the household drudgery with her mother-in-law.

So furious was Bartolomeo Capello at h's daughter's escapade that he procured from the Council of. Ten a sentence of perpetual banishment against her, and of death against the partner in her folly in the event of his arrest, thus effectively closing the door to pardon and return.

As for Bianca, before her honeymoon had waned her brief dream of happiness was rudely shattered. All the glamour of her passion was soon dissipated in the sordid environment of her new home, and when the true character of her husband as a worthless adventurer was revealed to her. And it was in this mood of utter disillusion and despair that romance again entered her life, to transfigure it and to open, a new world of power and splendour to her.

LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT. Ono day Francesco de Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, was riding ■through a Florence slum when his eyes were drawn to-a beautiful face looking down on him from an upper window of a mean dwellng. They rented, fascinated, for a few moments on the fairest vision he had ever seen—the face of Bianca Bonaventuri, with itslialo of golden tendrils, its glorious dark eyes eloquent in their sadness, the ripe red lips with a pathetic droop at the corners, and the exquisite complexion of a rose. As at last ho withdrew his gaze from the entrancing and appealing v|ision and rode on he determined at any cost that the owner of that fair face must bo his.

On the following day a great lady of the Court r the Marchess. Mondragcne, presented herself at the slum dwelling, bearing a gracious invitation to Court for the lady of the window. In vain oignora Bonavcnturi protested that her daughter-in-law h»d no suitable clothes. "That," answered the smiling Marchcsa, "can be easily arranged. It will be my pleasure to supply the necessary outfit if the Signora and her daughter-in-law w'll but come to-morrow to the Mondragono Palace." SECRET MEETINGS. Thus it was that Bianca, richly bedecked in silks and gems, made her courtesy to the Grand Duke, blushing as he stooped to kiss her hand with courtly grace and more than courtly ardour. Then followed secret meetings such as marked Bianca's first unhappy wooing in Venice—hours of raptuire for the Tuscan Duke, of flattered submission by the runaway bride; and within a few weeks we find her installed in a palace of her own, with Francesco's guards and equipages ever at its door; while h's newly-made bride, Giovanna, Archduchess of Austria, kept her lonely vigil in the palace which so seldom saw her husband.

As for B.anca, deceived and betrayed by her hsuband, for whom she had now nothing but contempt and aversion, disgusted by tlie sordid poverty with which lie had surrounded her, this new world of luxury and adulation and love to which the Grand Duke had transported her by the magic of his passion was a, veritable heaven. To ethers her Grand Ducal lover might be "half ogre, half madman," as lie is do'seribed a man of violent temper, eccentric habits, and evil life. To her lie was all chivalry and tenderness, the stave of her slightest wish, the minister to her pleasure. Between her and her complete conquest and queendom there were only two obstacles —Pietro, her husband, and Francesco's unattractive and neglected wife. The knife of a jealous husband soon removed the too amorous Pietro from her path ; while the death of Giovanna, n. few months later, made her way clear to the altar and her full queendom. That Florence was in arms against the interloper" who had cast her evil spell over the Grand Duke; that the air was full of stories of her extravagance, her cruelty, and her "upstart airs," caused her no moment's unhapp'incss. She was a queen; Florence's ruler was her slave, a puppet in her clever hands. She revelled in her power and splendour.

DIE TOGETHER. Ear eight years she wielded the sceptre which her husband complakantly placed in her hands. Thicn suddenly and tragically cime the end of all things for her. The Grand Duke's brother, thp Cardinal, who had hitherto rented all her allurements, had come to Florence; and as the culmination of a scries of festivities a grand banquet wi\s given in his honour, at which she. practised all her arts to make a conquest of him. Never had her beauty been so dazzling, never had her high fcpM'its been so info; t : ous, li-t wit so brilliant, or her laughter so gay. The feast was nearng its eoncliH'on : Bianca was smiling her s-wcetrst on th<> Cardinal, when suddenly the smile died from her l'ps. and a look of pain and terror clouded the brilliance of her eyes.

She wa« seized by violent pains. "H"r mouth foams, her fare is distorted with agony; she shr'eks r.loud Uw.i. .she is

dying. Francesco tries to go to her aid, but his steps are suddenly arrested. He, too, is seized by the same terrible anguish. A few hours lo.ter both she and he breath their last breath." A COMMON VAULT. " Poison" was the word which ran swiftly through the palace, and soon through Florence, from blanched lips to blanched lips. Some sa'd it was the Cardinal who had done the deed, others whispered of a poisoned tarft designed by Bianca for the Cardinal, who refused to ho tempted. Whereupon the Grand Duke had eaten of it; and Bianca, "seeing that her plot had no tragically misca-rr'ed, seized the tart from her husband's hand and ate what was left of it." Thus, whatever may be the truth, did Bianca's sun of splendour set in tragedy. And —the pitiful irony of it all —whilo her husband's body "was lying in static in his palace, mourned over by his subjects, the body of the woman he so idolised was hurried away a-nd flung into the cemmon vault of San Lorenzo, with the feeble 'light of two wax torches to bear it company: and jeers, lnnghre.t. rand derisive shouts of "La Pertain Bianca !*' for its only requiem.