CHAPTER XX.

Waikato Times, Volume XIX, Issue 1607, 21 October 1882, Page 1 (Supplement)

CHAPTER XX.

" Baldovino," said the' Count, in Italian, to his old servant next morning; " did not I yesterday see thee working in the garden?" " Of a truth, Ecccllcnza," answered the old man, " I did therein labor a little —only a little i" " That was not well, my friend," said his master., "Thou growest old and feeble, aim such iwork is not for thee. I will engage'a man to attend to the garden. See to it, figliamia!" „ , > "I, will advertise fo-morfow," .replied Paola. ", Baldovino shall in future take his ease with his cjga'rette, while' he superintends operations," she added, with a laugh. t ] "The,si(7;io?;ma;i is pleased to be merry," said the ,old fellow, with a low ,bow, " buj; the, idleness it likes not Baldovino, and with $he( signorina's permission he, w|ll still do so much as is possible |qjaim." „ ,, |(, '( „, ,( .VWell^well-j-aS. thbu;pleasest," said. ,the Count';,~' f&ut take, f care of .thyself, for thou^ hast been k. r faithful; and. hard-working ser- J vant<! ' National .preju^iQey, %° Tepfc pn, 'iq. • English, whe^,Ba^dovulo,h!ad lJ}'obbie"a,,o l vlu <$' [ the roQm,,',^ qallstheltalian| l^zy; but I fear me 1 that ( what"passes for'jl^zines^is top, often tljie, w;ant Qf sbme.thing tq do. ''Th,e trayeller sees tne( i lazzaroni "lying* about in'the'sun'aU'r.day. 1 Vi yfbs.t lH an people 1' hp^gay^jior-' . ge^iin^th'^tnV?^, m. u3t be /iaj.^hefore^'^^ani

prisiingly good. The pieces, oi couit>e, cannot be placed on the stage with the splendour of London or Paris ; still, they are fairly mounted, and the singing is not ■to be despised. Indeed the basso — the Duke Alfonso of to-night — is at present under engagement to London, and in my opinion he will do no discredit to the boards of Her Majesty's. But you will be able to judge for yourself this evening. I see by the papers, too, that a new tenor undertakes Gennaro, but I do not expect much from him — the tenor is always the weak point of second and third-rate companies." Donizetti's "Lucrezia" is everywhere a favourite, and when we reached the Operahouse in the evening it was filled from floor to ceiling. The overture was played — the curtain raised — the opening chorus sung — and the new Gennaro made his appearance. Though evidently not young, he was slight and undersized, and certainly looked more of a stripling than the robust young woman who played Maffeo Orsini ; but his voice was good, and had something in its tones which awoke a vague recollection within me. His face, too — despite the tinted cheek, blackened eyebrow, and the pointed beard — struck me as one that I had seen before, and for some time I vainly tried to remember where ; but no sooner had the bingcr approached the footlights and commenced the beautiful "Di pescator' ignobile" than the truth came to me like a Hash. The voice was Dumarlay's 1 I looked round at the Count and saw by his face that he had made, by the eye, that disco vei y which) had come to me through the ear. Yes ! — scarcely less sweet and powerful for the passage of over twenty years, these were the tones which had made such an indelible impression upon my memory on that long past night at Monkton-Edgett. My mind travelled back to that time, and, absorbed in a painful reverie, I heard as in a dream the increasing applause which greeted each successive effort of the new singer. Would he recognise the Count or myself, I wondered ; but no — his eyes, as they roved over thehouse, rested upon our party several times, and no look or motion betokened that he knew either of us. But after a time something occurred which did make him start. Towards the end of the second act there flounced into the stalls a party of Haunting, overdressed women, and no sooner did Gennaro's glance alight^ on them than he gasped, faltered in his music — and then went on again with an ovident effort. Directing my glass upon the group which had caused this emotion, I was startled in my turn to recognise another link between me and my unfortunate past. Amongst the impudent painted faces — altered by years and dissipation, by rouge and violet powder, but unmistakeable through all — wds the face of Glika Nasilovitch! That she had — wholly or partially — recognised Dumarlay was evident from the fixed gaze with which she regarded him. Singing or silent, moving about or standing still, she never took her eyes off him, and so uncomfortable did he grow under this scrutiny that his performance deteriorated until people began to think if he was ill. At last, however, the Russian relieved him of her presence by leaving the house, and the last act was sung as well as ijhe first had been. The opera came to an end; Gennaro, having duly died in great agony, was called before the curtain to receive, with his suppo-si-ti-tious mother, a final tribute of applause, and then for the first time I thought of looking at the play-bill. " Gennaro — Signor Claudio Dimarelli." " Claude Dumarlay, Italianised," I said to the Count, as we left the theatre. " That removes all doubt !" "Yes," he leplied; "but I knew him the moment I set eyes on him." "He is not the only ghost of the past that has risen before me to-night," I said, and was , proceeding to speak of the Eussian woman, when the all- seeing Count interrupted me. He had recognised her as soon as I had. " Put these wretches out of your mind, my dear Raymond," he said. " They wore not in it when you went to the theatre, and a little effort will drive them otit again." But even as he spoke, and as we crossed the street which skirted the rear of the .Operahouse, we saw a dense crowd collected round the stage-door, and soon gathered from the scraps of conversation around us that Signor Dimarelli had been accosted, upon leaving the theatre, by a low woman, who had not only claimed him as an old friend but had assaulted him upon his repudiating the acquaintance. " The traps is taken 'er off to chokey 1" shouted one delighted gamin to another, and in a few minutes two constables made their way through the throng, dragging between them — struggling, yelling and blaspheming — Glika Nasilovitch. " I thought as much," said the Count, as, having seen them" disappear into the neighbouring police-office, we pursued our way to the railway-station, whither Walter and Paola had preceded us. (To be continued.)