A TALE OF VENICE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 2352, 6 August 1887, Page 1 (Supplement)

A TALE OF VENICE.

(COXOLODED.) CHAPTER 11. Wiif.x the Count read his daughter’s letter, and found she was missing, he at first thought that she had committed aub-ide ; but on reconsideration, and after questioning the terrified Betta, ho began to snspect that she had sought refuge in some convent. This idea was stre iglhened by the confession of Betta. that her mistress had sometimes spoken of dedicating her lire to the good God, but she declared with many tears that she did not know her whereabouts. lam afraid that, poor Betta told more than one falsehood ; but she considered that it was in a good cause, and eh ', confessed her fault the same day to the priest, who gave her absolution. The Count and the Marquess were put off the right scent, and they sought the missing girl in every convent, far and near. The Count began to repent his harshness, for he loved his daughter after his own fashion, and had never intended to drive her to such an extreme. All his researches of course, proved vain, and the terrible idea that she had taken her own life again occurred. She could not have gone far, for she had taken nothing that could be turned into money, and the unfortunate father fell ill with suspense and anguish. Meanwhile Annetta toiled along her way, hope buoying her up when her strength seemed exhausted. After many difficulties and hardships she at length arrived at the house of Signor Fernandez, and pale, emaoiited, and footsore gained access to his presence. Although so weary and worn her extreme youth and beauty touched his heart, and he listened patiently but incredulously to her tale. When, however, she had shown him the treamred letter and described her husband, he beg in to think there might be some truth in it, and he promised to make immediate inquiries.

Consigning Annetta to the care of his wife, he repaired to the lodgings which had been occupied by his young secretary, but he found that they had changed hands, which looked suspicious! He next sought the medical man who bad attended the fever patient, and in this he was more fortunate. The doctor declared that the man, whom he had known as Signor Gastone, had died; bat on farther inquiry it appeared that the time at which he was first taken ill did not coincide with the time in which the Gastone known to Signor Fernandez was seized, and there were some discrepancies in tho description of the patient.

The doctor agreed to accompany Signor Fernandez the next day to the asylum to where Gastone was supposed to be confined and asceit tin the truth of the alleged fraud, Annetta begged to be allowed to accompany them, bnt the doctor declared that she was in extreme need of rest, and she unwillingly consented to be left tebind. Some four hours brought them to their destination, and it was necessary to proceed with some degree of caution, but they found less difficulty than they had anticipated. The doctor listened with unfeigned astonishment to their story. The name of Signor Fernandez was well known to him, the time that Gastone was confided to him coincided with the time of his supposed death, and Gastone’s real name and that of his uncle were those contained in the letters which he bad u ritten, and which the directors had fortunately thrown aside and not destroyed. In reply to the many questions put to him by his visitors as to the manner in which Gastone had entered his establishment, he related that he had been brought there by a man, evidently a stranger to them all who had entreated his assistance for his friend, whom he declared had been seized with convulsions followed by fits of unconsciouness, which had affected his mind. He represented that they had been travelling for some weeks on a pleasure tour, and were on their return to their native country ; that urgent business neeessited his own immediate presence at home, and that he knew not to whom to consign his unhappy friend until his partial recovery would allow of his departure. He spoke of him as of noble birth, and gave as a reference the address of a certain Marquess living in Milan. The tale was so plausible, and Martelli’s distress apparently so genuine, that the director was entirely misled, and he consented, after some inquiries and the prepayment of a considerable sum of money, to receive the sick man and to send frequent tidings of his progress to his auxiousfriend.

It- now only remained to confront Gastone with his former employer, and draw from him a confession of his marriage and all that could throw light upon his strange fate. The attendant was called, who certified to the fact that Gastone had conversed with a young Italian lad, that he had been much affected, and that since then he had appeared at times excited, and at times much depressed. A few minutes later Gastone, without anj’ preparation, was introduced into the presence of Signor Fernandez, and his joy and surprise at the sight of him removed all doubt from the mind of the director. It is needless to relate the conversation that passed. Gastone was able to clear up the mystery to the man who had been buried in the (coffin in which, he shud dered to find, he had himself been placed: the doctor, although acknowledging that there was a striking resemblance between the two men, proved beyond a doubt that Gastone. had not been his patient, for the man who died had a peculiar mark on his breast, which had been seen by the doctor when he was in the paroxysm of delirium. As a still further precaution, Signor Fernandez telegraphed from the neighbouring town to a wellknown detective in M to discovir if the address and name of the person with whom the director was accustomed to correspond, with reference to Gastone, were a true one, and in answer they

told that no such person existed tln-ie. This seemed conclusive, but before Gastono could be set at liberty it was decided to seek the landladv of bilodgings, and, by threatening b'-r with the punishment of the law, draw from her a confession of what had taken place. Most of Gastone’s effects had, after his supposed death, been confided to the care of Signor F until bis friends' wishes concerning them had been consulted, ami, upon search being made, proofs of the truth of his and Aunetta's assertions were found among bis papers. The latter, overjoyed at the news of her husband’s safety, and the thought of meeting- him again after so much sorrow, quickly recovered from the fatigue she had undergone, and did not fail to inform the anxious Betta of the success of her enterprise and of the kind friends she had met with. After much trouble it was discovered that tho landlady had removed from M to a neighbouring town, where she continued to let lodgings under another name, and there Signor Fernandez and the doctor followed her. At siiriit of them she changed countenance, and, being accused of acting as an accomplice in Gastone’s disappearance, she at first denied any knowledge of the affair; but the threat of punishment brought her to her senses, and on the promise of pardon she confessed all that had taken place, and signed a document to that effect.

Of the man who bad urged her to take part in bis scheme she knew but little ; she had received a large sum of money from him as her reward, and from her account it appeared that he was only acting for another, and that other was no doubt the Marquess G , who had never lost sight of Gastone. He had succeeded, by means of large bribes, in watching his correspondence and spying bis movements, but for a long time he bad discovered nothing. Gastone’s letter to his cousin and her father had often been discussed in his presence, hut his did not satisfy him that no others passed between them. I might have been less dangerous to himself to play the spy at a distance ; but failing in this, and his suspicions being increased by Annctta’s manner to himself, lie looked round him to find some tool worthy of his own base nature. He guessed rightly that someone must be a medium between the cousins, and who more likely than the young lady’s near attendant ?

Venetian postmen are not all incorruptible, and gold Napoleons are scarce among them ! What wonder then that the one who made his daily round, and was so eagerly looked for at the Palazzo, should at last yield to temptation ? The letters addressed to Betta found their way into the pocket of the Marquess, but he could not read them, in spite of all his efforts and the many bouts he spent in attempting to do so, for thev were only signs amt cyphers invented by the cousins when they were children. The first mark, however, was sufficient to prove that his suspicions were correct. He dared not even hint his discovery to the Count, for although lie was a stern man, who would not have hesitated to sacrifice his daughter to bis own selfish wishes, be would not have stooped to a mean ignoble action. The Marquess intercepted Gastone’* letters, but to prevent his receiving Annette’s was a more difficult matter. He counted upon his own wicked schemes and a woman’s weakness to help him. During the weeks spent at the bed-ide of his sick relative he had matured his plan. 1 Birds of a feather flock together' says the proverb, and the Marquess was not long in finding someone who, for the sake of gain, undertook to carry the plan into execution. Gastone must disappear for a time until the Marque*.* hid secured his bride. Martelli, the associate in guilt whom he chose, was more than his match in ciinuing and resource, and readv to commit a crime if necessary. Arrived in M , he soon contrived to make the acquaintance of the landlady of (la-Nuie's modest lodging, and, after carefully feeling his way, he confided to her as niu -b as was needful of bis plot, telling her that it wis desirable for Gastone's own benefit that he should bo kept out of the way for a time, and that ia order to prevent suspicion be must bj reported to be dead and buried.

The woman consented to do her parr, provided no harm was done to Gastone, for she had become attached to the young man, so different to many other b Mirers. On the floor above she had occasionally another lodger, whom Gastone sometimes laughingly called his wraith, so peculiar was his likeness to himself in height, complexion, £c.

A malignant fever was making many victims in M at this time, and abont a fortnight after the arrival of the worthv craissarv of the Marquess this young man was suddenly struck down in his turn, and the doctors being called in, declared that it was beyond their power to save him —death from this fever sometimes occurred in less than 24 h--urs. Tins was a state of affairs not to be neglected by Martelli and the landlady, and one f> be turned to good account. They lost no time, for this was, they thought, a piece of unexpected luck. The doctor oiled in for the fever patient knew neither bis name nor his condition, nor that there was another lodger in the house ; it was easy, therefore, to deceive him had be made inquiries. The landlady spoke of him as Signor Gastone, and on his decease the certificate of death was made out in that name. Two days before this took place Gastone himself was seized with some of the symptoms of fever; he took to his bed, and bis chief, who was communicated with, himself went to see him the same evening. The next morning, chancing to meet the doctor, he was told that Gastone was delirious, and that in all probability a few hours would terminate his sufferings. The doctor, however, spoke of the young man who was in reality dying of fever ; he had never seen the real Gastone, who had merely been drugged.

A telegram was sent to Gastone's friends in Venice, but 24 hours must elapse before they could reach him had they desired to do so, and his burial would already have taken place. The fever patient died as predicted, and the doctor certified to the fact. Gastone's chief, summoned in haste, saw his young friend, who hid been a great favourite with him, laid in his coffin, his countenance of a ghastly pallor, and he to all appearance dead. He was not .lead, bat only rendered unconscious. As soon as the doctor had paid his last visit Gastone had been hastily deposited in the coffin destined for the dead man ; the certificate was produced and presented to his chief, hut not before it had been c'eanly copied by Martelli, who substituted the real name of the deceased.

1 he same night the corpse was consigned to its last resting-place without further inquiry, for immediate interment was imperative in that fever-stricken city. Gastone, still unconscious, was removed at the dead of night and transported many miles to the lunatic asylum. When his senses slowly returned he felt strangel}’ bewildered, and unable to account for his surroundings. The drugs which had been administered had rendered him weak and incoherent, and the doctor and attendant whom he questioned gave him vague and unsatisfactory answers to his many questions. He was told that he had been ill, and had hj. eu brought there by his friend to be taken care of until In's recovery. Gastone remembered indeed that he had been ill. but he could recollect nothing more- and

liie began to ask himself whether he had lost his senses. When lie found t!«-. no . one listened to his tale, he asked sion to write to his friends, and this was i "ranted ; but the doctor had been prei pared for this, and the letters, when written, were thrown aside, and never left the house, Gastone declared that he hj id travelled with no friend, but all that he said was looked upon as the hallucination of his brain ; and as day after day passed, and the unhappy young man received no answers to his letters, he understood that he had some secret enemy, and that enemy must be the Marquess. This conviction, and his inability to convince the doctor that he was quite sane and illegelly kept in confinement, preyed seriously upon his mind. The doctor was not an unkind man. and he did all in his poaver for the comfort of his patient; but he avas accustomed to the a-agarics and strange confidences of those tinder his care, he was well paid, and did not trouble to discover if there were any truth in Gastone's repeated assertions. Three weeks of this imprisonment had already passed, and Gastone had recovered his health, and was allowed to tike exercise in the grounds of the establishment, but lie avas closely watched, ami even had he attempted to escape it would have been impossible. One day, as he avas taking his accustomed walk, he avas attracted by the sound of his native tongue, and approaching the barrier which divided the park from the high road, he perceived a little lad carrying a monkey, who avas carolling a song in the Venetian dialect. The tears rose to his eyes at the well-known sound, and he began to question the lad, who avas equally plea-ed to meet one of his oavu countrymen. He told Gastone that he avas ou his way home, and would be in Venice in the course of a aveefc. Here avas a chance for poor Gastone ! He hastily inquired of the lad if he would be willing to earn a gold Napoleon, and more still if he fulfilled a commission. The lad had never possessed so much money in his life, and he eagerly promised to do all that be was bid. Gastone hurriedly explained his situation, enjoined silence, and told him to return the next day, when be would find the promised sum and a letter, which he was to consign into the hands of Annetta, in a hollow tree which was said in as few words that the attendant might, suspect nothing- But the lad was sharp, and the attendant, who did not understand Italian, seeing the fears of joys in Gaston's eyes hud pity upon him, and thought no harm could come an innocent conversation. Gastone contrived to write a few lines to Annetta in cvpher with a small pencil which he had concealed ; ho briefly explained his whereabouts, and next day diverted the attention of bis keeper while he deposited it with the money in the place that that bad been agreed upon. It was with a beatinir heart that he continued his walk, and many days pas-ed before be could sati-fy bims-lf that the letter had been taken. Then his spirits rose, for help might be dear.

Oastone and Annetta, restored to one another, could no sufficiently thank !h ir kind friend' for their exertions on their behalf, and the former wrote to inform his uncle of the strange misfortune that had befallen him, and of the recovery of his liberty. There were no podfive proofs against the Marque-.-, and his accomplice was too crafty, and had too well laid his plans to he e&dir discovered. Their own guilty conscience, if th-y had any, and the failure * f their contemptible plot would Ire their only punishment; but no one doubt's! who was the real author of such misery to others, and what had been his intentions. Oastone’s letter to his uncle was answered hy one full of joy at finding him still alive, and an entreaty to return immediately to Venice : he appeared broken down in spirit, and liegged his nephew, for the sake of the afte lion lie had borne his cousin, to assist him in his hitherto fruitless search, and bring back his chil i, if -be were -till in the land of the livinir. Thus arced, Gaston", accompanied bv his brave young wife, lost no lime in obeying the summons, much to the regret of Signor Fernandez and bis wife, who would hj ive liked the young couple to remain with them.

Annetta had left her home at night alone and unprotected and not knowing what might fcefal her. About the same hour of night she returned to it, but with "‘bat different declines.’ }Jv means of 15 tla she entered the room unknown to the Count, while Gastone went with a smiling * :ce to greet his uncle and prepare him for the surprise which awaited him. The young man was grieveljto set the change which had taken place in his relative, and immediately set about the task of eon-'iling him : indeed, his whole air was s,. j .y mis. notwithstanding his cousin'* absence. That he soon betrayed himself, and in t few minutes Annetta wis m brr father's arms, :i'k;n_r his forgiveness for leaving him. The C unt, l»ewiMer-d at the turn affairs had taken, did not at first inquire where and how she had been found, and he was bevoud degree astonished when all the details of her journey to M —, the reason of her taking it, and Gastone's strange adventure* were related to him. He asked himself and them who could have been the traitor who had deceived thorn, and who merited the severest sentence of the law. Gastone and Annetta were silent; they would not express their suspicions, and judged it better that the Count should make the discovery for himself. As the truth slowly dawned upon him hi s anger knew no bounds and he would have taken immediate measures for bringing the Marquess to justice; but his nephew reminded him that, although his suspicions were no doubt correct, they had no means of proving the fact.

W hen the Marquess presented himself a few days after to congratulate the (‘aunt ou the return of his nephew and daughter, his reception was such that he never again dared to show his face or cross the threshold of the palace.

While Gastone and Amietta were hesitating as to whether they should confess tiieir marriage and implore the Count’s forgiveness, the former became very uncxpectively the heir of a large fortune. It came from a 'juarter entirely unlooked for; Indeed, I doubt whether Gistone had been aware that the person who had loft it to him existed at ail, for he had been absent very many years from his native land, anil had acquired a fortune by his own industry. Thus rendered independent. Gastone hesitated no longer to throw himself upon his uncle’s mercy, for his poverty had lieen the one great obstacle to his advancement in his good graces. The Count had naturally inferrJ that something more than cousinly auction had induced his daughter to undertake a long and perilous journey, to save her e-main, and he secretly wished for their marriage. One day, therefore, in the presence of Annetta, he playfully told his nephew that he might now think of taking a wife. Gastone replied hy looking significantly at his cousin, and begged his uncle to find him one. The Count regarded him doubtfully until his daughter’s blushing face told him the truth. He drew her towards him and, joining their hands, he perceived the wedding ring which Annetta had put on. Tiiere was a moment’s silence, for the Count was not prepared for this denouement, but the anger he felt for a moment at the deception that had been practised

upon him somi passed away ; his heart was softened at the aiuht of his child's tears, and he wondered at his own blindness in not discovering the truth. The happiness of the young couple would not havu been complete hut for one thinpj—the loaa of their little son. Advertisements were put into all the papers papers offering a liberal reward if the child were restored to its parents, hut without result, and so nearly two years passed and no other child came with its smiles to bless them.

On the' evening of that disastrous day, the-Otli of June, when darkness had crept over the land, a wizened old woman, known as (liuditta, who had been lingering about the place, muttcringand crossing herself, cautiously approanhe.il the. ruins of the church and peered about to ace that no one was near. Having convinced herself that she was not watched she groped her way among the masses of crumbling bricks and mortar till she name to one corner which had been overlooked in the search. In the morning she had noticed tho young' peasant woman enter with a bundle in her arms, and she did not recognise her among those who had been brought out. There might he something very valuable in that handle 1 The woman of course was killed like tho rest, and no ono would he the wiser if she pilfered the dead. F"(diiig her way she reached the porch, which was still standing, and waited for tho first glimmer of daylight. Listening intently for every sound, she fancied she heard tho feeble mullled cry of an infant quite near her, and, by the aid of a Hinall lantern, which she carefully covered, she preceivcd a few feet from her, and almost hidden from view, what she discovered to bo the body of tho woman for whom sho was in search.

Having succeeded in partly raising her, sho found that in her arms sho still clasped a baby, which had miraculously escaped tho general destruction. The woman, struck by a beam, had fallen forward, and thus formed a shelter for tho child. Loosing it from tho convulsive clasp that, had held it, she proceeded to take from the corpse the earrings and tho pearl necklace which constitutes tho dowry of an Italian peasant woman. Then securing the contents of the pocket she wrapped the infant in her own shawl and stealthily loft the church, chuckling to herself at her good luck ! Sho had seen from a glance at the cloth ing that it was a foster child, and she reckoned to make a fortune from it in course #f time ! The hovel she called home was at some distance from tho village and stood quite hy itself, and she determined to hide tho infant for tho present lest it should ho missed and a search instituted, and in case it should be discovered sho would declare it to he a grandchild which had been left an 'orphan. The old hag tank good care of tho child, for it would not have answered iter purpose to let it die, and tho pure country air and the goat’s milk upon which sho fed it made it thrive.

At the time when the advertisements appeared her hovel was vacant, for her daughter was ill in a distant village, and she had gone to nurse her, taking the child with her. She was no scholar, but probably, had she been in tlio neighbourhood of the place wlmre the the nurse had peri-hed, she might have heard of the offered reward from some neighbour.

When she returned at the end of several months the affair had been forgotten, and besides Cliuditta was by no moans a favourite and people did not sock her company, although they had sometimes wondered how such an ugly old woman could bo grandmother of so lovely a child. The little creature with its dark blue eyes and sunny hair, seemed strangely out of placo with the. shrivelled old woman and the largo black cat, its constant companion and playfellow ; but it did credit to her rough care, and would have rejoiced the heart of the poor mother who had pined for it. (linditla had not been idle all this time; she had ascertained the name of the village from which the nurse had come, and discovered that this wanot her own child, for she had given birth to a daughter. She then directed her inquiries as to the families residing near tho village, and, putting two and two together, she judged that there had been somo mystery, and this sho hoped in time to unravel. But Oiuditta was not destined to reap any reward for that dark night's work three years before, Sho Ml suddenly ill, and a neighbour fetched the priest, for sho saw that tho old woman had not long to live. I‘lxhortcd by him to confess her sins before death should overtake her, she related what the reader already knows, and showed him a small gold cross which had hung round tho child's neck and which might bn a means of identifying him Tho priest was startled ;ho had been somo years in those parts, and remembered the advertisement which had appeared more than two years before ; ho also knew tho family of tlio Count, whose villa was not many miles distant, and some part of tho romantic story attached to his daughter's marriage. Promising to return, ho hastened to the village, and begged tho assistance of the Contessina for an old woman who was dying Annctta, always kind ami geuetous towards the poor, lost no time in repairing to the cottage, and there almost the first object that met her gaze was the little child, so like herself. She looked from it to the old woman on her miserable bed and (lien inquiringly at the priest (linditta’s eyes were already growing dim, but they were not too dim to perceive the marvellous likeness between the mother and son, for such they must be Signing to Annetta to approach, she drew the cross from under her pillow, and with gasping breath told how she had taken the infant from tho arms of its dead nurse, unseen by any human being. That night she died, begging the for givencss of the mother she bad injured, and who remained to close the eyes of the repentant woman. It were vain to attempt to describe the joy of the parents whose child was thus restored to them, and I must not forget to add that the Venetian lad, who had been the bearer of the letter from Gastone to Annetta, was munificently rewarded, and became a trusted .servant to tho young Contessina and her bus band. Cianixa.