Monte-Cristo's Daughter
glittering jewels, waving his hand for silence. His gesture was
instantly obeyed and the entire hall grew still as death. Then the
Cardinal resumed his seat on the judicial bench, and, turning to the
clerk of the Court, commanded him to proclaim the session opened. This
was done, whereupon the Cardinal said, in a voice distinctly audible in
all parts of the vast apartment:
"Bring in the accused!"
A moment later Luigi Vampa entered a raised enclosure serving the
purpose of a dock in the custody of two stalwart and thoroughly armed
military policemen. His face was ashen, but he glanced about him
nonchalantly and defiantly. When his eyes rested upon Monte-Cristo and
the Viscount Massetti he smiled in a peculiar sort of way as if he felt
convinced that all their labors would be in vain. Suddenly he saw the
two gray-robed women in their linen nuns' bonnets, starting slightly as
he recognized Annunziata Solara, but otherwise evincing no emotion.
The men and women in the distant portions of the hall got upon the
benches, craning their necks to see the accused, and there arose a
murmur, a faint hiss, that was promptly checked by the vigilant Court
officials who were marching here and there with their long white staffs
in their hands and their black caps upon their heads.
Then Cardinal Monti again arose, speaking in a deep, impressive voice:
"Luigi Vampa, prisoner at the bar," said he, "you stand here accused of
many grave crimes, but the charge which the Court will first consider is
blacker than all the rest; that charge, Luigi Vampa, prisoner at the
bar, is that you abducted and afterwards seduced a peasant girl named
Annunziata Solara and, in collusion with her father, Pasquale Solara,
conspired to throw the onus and suspicion of your crime upon an innocent
man, the Viscount Giovanni Massetti. What say you, Luigi Vampa, prisoner
at the bar, are you guilty or not guilty?"
"Not guilty, your Eminence!" responded the unabashed brigand chief.
At this there was another murmur in the hall which was promptly
suppressed as before.
"Accused, you can take your seat," said the Cardinal.
Vampa did as directed, the policemen remaining standing at his sides
with drawn swords in their hands.
"Let the first witness be called," said the Cardinal, addressing the
clerk of the Court.
That official arose and called out, in a loud voice:
"Annunziata Solara!"
The former flower-girl came forward, slowly and timidly, and went upon
the elevated witness stand, where the accustomed oath was administered
to her by the clerk.
Again there was a general craning of necks, the women showing the
strongest anxiety to behold the girl who was said to have been Vampa's
victim.
In a low, faltering voice Annunziata proceeded to give her testimony.
She repeated her sad story precisely as she had done before, entirely
exonerating the bandit chief and throwing the whole weight of the crime
upon the shoulders of the Viscount Massetti.
This was the reverse of what the audience had expected and the murmur of
surprise was universal.
The prisoner glanced at Monte-Cristo and Massetti with a radiant look of
triumph.
The Viscount's lawyers then took the witness in hand, but shrewd and
able as they were they utterly failed to make her swerve even a hair's
breadth from her evidence. She returned to her place beside Mme. de
Rancogne, confident that she had done her duty and uttered not a single
syllable that was untrue.
Peppino followed her. He repeated almost word for word the details he
had given the Count of Monte-Cristo in Paris. His recital was so vivid,
so circumstantial, that it made a wonderful impression both upon the
Court and the audience. When he spoke of old Pasquale Solara's infamous
sale of his beautiful daughter to Luigi Vampa the male auditors could
scarcely restrain their indignation and the women fairly screamed with
horror, the utmost efforts of the Court officers being required to force
them into anything like quietude. Another sensation was caused by
Peppino's exposure of the nefarious conspiracy by which the innocent
young Viscount was brought and kept under the suspicion of murder and
abduction. When he concluded his narrative and quitted the witness stand
he and Vampa exchanged glances of bitter and vindictive hate, and it
required all the strength of the policemen in charge of the prisoner to
keep him from leaping from the dock and attempting to take summary
vengeance upon the fearless and outspoken witness.
The Viscount Massetti now took the stand. He gave the full history of
his acquaintance with Annunziata Solara from the meeting in the Piazza
del Popolo to the encounter with Vampa in the forest and the
administration of the oath of silence, speaking with such evident
sincerity and feeling that his testimony acquired additional weight
thereby. The brigand chief watched him closely, listening to his
testimony with a contemptuous smile. When the young Italian returned to
Monte-Cristo and resumed his seat his pale visage was a mass of
perspiration and great agitation had possession of him.
"Call Pasquale Solara," said the Cardinal to the clerk, after referring
to a paper upon the desk in front of him.
"Pasquale Solara!" cried the clerk, immediately.
There was a stir in the audience and four soldiers of the Swiss Guard
advanced towards the judicial bench, bearing a stretcher upon which was
extended the emaciated form of the aged shepherd.
As her father was borne past her, Annunziata uttered a cry and arose to
go to him, but Mme. de Rancogne gently pulled her back into her chair,
whispering to her that he was in the custody of the Court and that she
could only see him after the trial was concluded, when the requisite
permission would be obtained for her.
Old Pasquale was lifted from the stretcher by a couple of soldiers and
aided to mount the witness stand. He was so faint and weak that it was
necessary to hold him in an upright position after he had with great
difficulty mounted the stand. Even then he trembled like a paralytic and
it was some moments before he could answer the questions addressed to
him. Vampa regarded him with intense anxiety, eagerly leaning forward to
catch the feeble, almost imperceptible sounds that issued from his lips.
"May it please your Eminence," said old Pasquale, painfully pausing
after every word, "I am a dying man. The hospital physician who has
accompanied me and is now in the Judgment Hall assures me that I can
last but a few days at most. I have been a great sinner, but I do not
desire to go before my angered God with all the weight of my iniquity
upon me; therefore, I have resolved to speak, to tell all I know!"
The spectators in the body of the hall shuddered. Old Solara's voice
did not reach them, but they felt instinctively that some dreadful
revelation was either being or about to be made. Monte-Cristo and
Massetti half arose in their seats; they were near enough to grasp the
purport of what the shepherd had said and its effect upon them was
absolutely overwhelming; they had expected that Pasquale would either
tell a cunningly fabricated tale calculated to shield Vampa or take
refuge in stony, stubborn silence, but instead he was going to make a
clean breast of the whole terrible crime! Annunziata had also heard and
was listening for what should follow with a countenance almost as white
as her nun's bonnet. Mme. de Rancogne caught her hands and held them
firmly; she too was startled beyond expression by old Solara's words and
feared the effect of further revelations upon her protegee. Zuleika,
Valentine, M. Morrel and Esperance were too far away from the witness
stand to comprehend a syllable, but like the spectators in the body of
the hall they divined what was on the point of coming, holding their
breath in fear and expectation. As for Vampa, he could hardly be kept
still; his fingers worked nervously as if he desired to strangle the
dying witness, and he glanced at him with the flashing eyes of a
ferocious tiger brought to bay.
Old Pasquale continued, amid the deepest silence:
"I do not seek to shield myself. Vampa is guilty both of the abduction
and of the plot to ruin the Viscount Massetti, but I was his tempter and
to me he owes his crime! However, with the murder of my son Lorenzo I
had nothing to do--the chief alone is responsible for that! But I
tempted him with the beauty of my poor daughter Annunziata! Greedy for
gold I sold her to him! The abduction was proposed by me and executed by
him! The plan to throw young Massetti under suspicion also originated
with me, Vampa and myself carrying it out together. In forming the plan
I was actuated by a desire to obtain vengeance upon old Count Massetti
for a wrong he did me in the past! Now, your Eminence, you know the
whole black history!"
Pasquale Solara ceased and sank back into the arms of the two soldiers
who were supporting him, totally overcome by the terrible exertions he
had made in delivering his crushing testimony, and lay there a helpless,
quivering mass. As they were about to remove him from the witness stand
a sudden thought occurred to him, and with a herculean effort he
straightened himself up, making a sign to the Court that he had
something further to communicate.
"Speak, witness," said Cardinal Monti, in response to this sign.
"Your Eminence," resumed the shepherd, slowly and painfully, "I wish to
say yet another word. I received my death wound at the hands of the
Viscount Massetti!"
There was a quick stir among those who heard this unexpected accusation
and a score of eyes, including those of Cardinal Monti and his
associates on the judicial bench, were instantly fixed upon the young
Italian, who glanced at Monte-Cristo and the lawyers with a look of
consternation. The Count was about to address the Court in explanation,
when old Solara, who had paused to recover breath, added:
"But I richly deserve what I received and it is fitting that I should
die by the hand of the man I sought to ruin! The wound, however, was
dealt me in a perfectly fair duel and with my latest breath I shall
exonerate the Viscount from all blame in the matter as I do now!"
The concluding portion of old Solara's last speech was a surprise.
Massetti drew a long breath of relief. It was scarcely probable that he
would be prosecuted by the Roman authorities for fighting a duel with
the shepherd under the circumstances, and the wounded man had
voluntarily removed every suspicion of foul play from him. Monte-Cristo
and the lawyers cast congratulatory glances at the young Italian. His
rehabilitation now only needed Vampa's conviction and sentence to be
perfect, and it could not for an instant be doubted that they would
speedily follow.
The effect of her father's testimony or rather confession upon
Annunziata had been startling. It completely shattered all her
convictions, placing her misfortunes in a new and horrible light. The
Viscount was innocent as he had steadily asserted, and her parent stood
revealed to her in all his moral hideousness; he was a monster, a demon;
he had made his fearful revelations only when death was upon him and
reparation was impossible; besides, there was nothing noble or elevating
about his remorse--it was thoroughly characteristic of the
man--altogether selfish, induced solely by the fear of consequences in
the world to come. Annunziata felt as if all faith in humanity had been
withdrawn from her, and as she gradually realized the full meaning of
her father's words she closed her eyes and with a gasp sank fainting
into the arms of Mme. de Rancogne, who, hardly less shocked and
surprised than the poor girl herself, used every effort to revive her,
finally succeeding.
In the little group consisting of Zuleika, Valentine, M. Morrel and