The Honour of Savelli: A Romance
beat I disarmed him. He did not wait, but with the rapidity of a hare
turned and fled, not so fast, however, but that I was able to
accelerate his departure with a stroke from the flat of my sword.
"Adieu, ancient Brico!" I called out after him as he ran on, followed
by a howl of derision from the crowd, in which his own men joined.
It was lucky that I adopted the course of disarming him, for had the
affair ended otherwise, I doubt not but that the men-at-arms would
have felt called upon to avenge their leader, poltroon as he was. As
it happened they enjoyed his discomfiture, and an old trooper called
out to me--
"Well fought, signore--you should join us--there is room for your
sword under the banner of Tremouille. What--no--I am sorry; but go in
peace, for you have rid us of a cur."
Saying this, they rode off, one of their number leading the ancient's
horse by the bridle.
I turned now to look for my companion. He was nowhere to be seen, and
on inquiry I found that he had lifted the girl up, and supporting her
on his arm, the two, followed by the dog, had turned down by the
church, and were now not in view. It would, no doubt, have been easy
to follow, and as easy to trace them; but I reasoned that the man must
have purposely done this to avoid me; and after all it was no business
of mine. I therefore returned my sword to its sheath and walked on.
CHAPTER V.
D'ENTRANGUES SCORES A POINT.
Before I had gone fifty paces, however, I became aware that there was
some law left in Montevarchi, for a warning cry made me look over my
shoulder, and I saw a party of the city-guards, who had discreetly
kept out of the way when Brico and I crossed swords, hurrying towards
me. The same glance showed me that the ancient was already in their
hands, and was being dragged along with but little regard to his
comfort; and I felt sure that now, as the troop was gone, the citizens
would wreak their vengeance on this hen-roost robber, and he would be
lucky if he escaped with life. As for me, the catchpolls being out,
they no doubt reasoned that they might as well net me. To stop and
resist, would only result in my being ultimately overpowered, and
perhaps imprisoned; to yield without a blow meant very much the same
thing, and, in the shake of a drake's tail, I resolved to run, and to
trust for escape to my turn for speed. So I set off at my roundest
pace, followed by the posse, and the rabble who but a moment before
were cheering me.
More than once I felt inclined to turn, and end the matter for myself;
but the fact that this might mean laying aside all chance of settling
D'Entrangues, urged me to my best efforts. Some fool made an attempt
to stop me, and I was compelled to slash him across the face with my
sword, as a warning not to interfere with matters with which he had no
concern. I hardly knew where I was going; but dashed down a little
bye-street, and was, after a hundred yards, brought to a halt by a
dead wall. I could barely reach the top of it with my hands, luckily
this was enough to allow me to draw myself up, and drop over to the
other side, just as the police reached within ten feet of me. I did
not stop to take notes of their action, but was off as soon as my feet
touched ground, and found to my joy that I was close to one of the
unrepaired breaches in the city wall, made six months ago by
Tremouille's cannon. Through this I rushed, and scrambling down a
slope of broken stone and mortar, found I would be compelled to climb
down very nearly a hundred feet of what looked like the sheer face of
a rock, before I could reach level ground. There was not even a goat
track. My agility was, however, spurred on by hearing shouts behind
me, and preferring to risk death in attempting the descent, rather
than fall into the hands of messer the podesta, I chanced the venture,
and partly by holding on to the tough broom roots, partly slipping,
and aided by Providence and Our Lady of San Spirito, to whom I
hurriedly cast up a prayer, I managed to reach the bottom, and fell,
exhausted and breathless, into a cistus hedge.
I was too beaten to go another yard, and had my pursuers only followed
up, must have become an easy prey. As it was I heard them reach the
breach, where they came to a stop, all shouting and babbling at the
same time. One or two, bolder than the others, attempted to descend
the ledge of rock, down which I escaped, but its steepness damped
their courage. They, however, succeeded in loosening some of the
debris so that it fell over the cliff, and a few of the stones dropped
very close to me; but by good hap I escaped, or else this would never
have been written. One great block indeed, just passed over my head,
and I vowed an altar-piece to Our Lady of San Spirito, who alone could
have diverted that which was coming straight to my destruction; and I
may add I duly kept my word. After a time the voices above began to
grow fainter, and to my delight I found that the citizens, thinking it
impossible I should have escaped like a lizard amongst the rocks, were
harking back, and ranging to the right and left. I waited until all
sound died away, and cautiously peeped out. The coast was clear. I had
recovered my wind, and without more waste of time, I rose and pressed
on in the direction of the hills, determined to chance no further
adventures near the towns. Indeed, I had crowded more incident into
the past few hours, than into the previous five-and-thirty years of my
life, and my sole object, at present, was to reach Florence without
further let or hindrance.
Keeping the vineyards between me and the town, I avoided all
observation, and at a small wayside inn, filled a wallet which I
purchased, with food and a bottle of the rough country wine, so that
there might be no necessity for my visiting a human habitation during
the remainder of my journey. With the wallet swung over my shoulder,
an hour or so later I was ascending the slopes of Mount St. Michele,
cursing the fallen pine-needles, which made my foothold so slippery,
that I slid rather than walked.
Turning the corner of a bluff, I suddenly came upon half-a-dozen men,
reclining under the pines in various attitudes of ease. They sprang up
at once on seeing me, and one of them, presenting his arquebus, called
on me to halt.
"You must pay our toll before you pass, Signore," said the man, who
appeared to be the leader of the party.
"As you please," I replied, "but my only metal is cold steel."
"_Corpo di Bacco!_" he exclaimed. "I thought I knew you, and your
voice makes me certain. Surely I address the Cavaliere di Savelli?"
I bowed, a little confused at the thought of my disguise being so
easily penetrated, and the bandit went on, turning to his comrades--
"Put down your gun, Spalle, this gentleman is one of us, and--hawks do
not peck out hawks' eyes. Signore," he added, "you pass free. I had
the honour to serve in your _condotta_ during the Siena war, and
doubtless you remember Piero Luigi?"
"I do," I said, and the memory of a bag of florins which accompanied
this same Luigi on his disappearance one fine day came to my mind. I
had not however seen the man for three years, but he was apparently of
those who do not forget faces. As it turned out, however, he had seen
me very recently without my knowing it.
"It is a pleasure to think I am not forgotten, and in a way,
Excellency, you have paid your footing." The rascal was alluding to my
stolen florins. "To think," he continued, "that you should have joined
us! But I suppose it was the dice, and, to be sure, the rubies were
worth ten thousand. You should have realised at once and vanished; but
experience will come, and mayhap another chance. I saw the trial,
Excellency, and we do not war with the profession, least of all with a
new recruit. You are free to pass, or, if you prefer it, to accept our
hospitality for a while."
I declined the proffered invitation with a brief thanks, and went on,
my blood boiling at the impertinence of the scoundrel who so
familiarly claimed me as one of his own kind. Innocent myself, I was
tasting to the dregs all the humiliation of the guilty, and it was
only perhaps a lucky chance that saved me from the rope, or the still
worse fate of the galleys at Pisa. Turn which way I would, my own
country would never be a country for me again. I was cut out from my
order, my infamy would be known wherever my name was heard, and my
associates would henceforth have to be the vilest of mankind. Had I
committed a murder, or even an act of treachery in war, that could
have been wiped out; but to have sunk to the condition of a common
thief, this was ignominy beyond repair. I therefore resolved, as soon
as I pushed matters to a conclusion with D'Entrangues, that I should
leave Italy and seek a new life in the strange countries beyond the
seas which Messer Columbus, the navigator, had discovered, and there,
my past being unknown, perhaps find a future of peace or the rest
which fears no disturbing from this world.
My original idea had been to seek the dominions of the Turk, but they
were too close to my shame; even the New World was hardly far enough.
So I planned, and so doubtless would I have acted had not
circumstances worked to give me back what I lost, as I thought
hopelessly, and to bring home to my mind the certainty of that tender
mercy of God, of which we on earth take too little account.
It was late in the evening before I halted and ate my dinner under an
overhanging rock, sheltered from the north wind by a clump of pines.
When I finished I rolled myself up in my cloak, and fatigue, together
with a good conscience, combined to send me to a sleep as sound as it
was refreshing. I was up before the sun and continued my way,
determined to reach Florence by evening. I took no particular notice
of the view, where I could see to my right the Prato Magno, and to my
left all the valley of the Greve; but kept my eyes before me, intent
on my thoughts.
At length, when passing Impruneta, where the black virgin is, Florence
came in sight. There was a slight haze which prevented me from seeing
as clearly as I could wish; but I plainly made out the houses on the
banks of the Arno, Arnolfo's Tower, the Palace of the Signory, the
Cathedral, the Bargello, and the unfinished Pitti Palace, whilst
beyond rose the convent-topped hill of Senario, where the Servites
have their monastery.
As I looked, there was little of admiration in my heart, although the
scene was fair enough; but I could give no mind to anything beyond the
fact that I was at last within measurable distance of D'Entrangues,
and that in a few hours my hand was like to be at his throat.
With these thoughts there somehow mingled up the face of Madame, and
the scene of our last meeting. I put this aside, however, with a
strong hand, and determined to think no more of her, although no such
recollection could be anything but pleasant and sweet. Until I met her
I had managed well enough without womankind, and for the future I
would leave bright eyes alone. Yet I knew I was the better man for
holding the privilege of her friendship. However, she had passed out
of my life, and across the seas I would have other things to think of
than the memory of my platonic friendship with Doris D'Entrangues.
It was close upon sunset when I entered the San Piero Gate, and found
myself in Florence, and in a difficulty at the same time, in
consequence of my wearing a sword. I luckily, however, remembered that
La Palisse, the French leader, was then in the city, and explaining
that I was from the army at Arezzo with a message to him, inquired
particularly his abode, which I was told was in the palace of the