第 85 节
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which almost might have seemed disdain; and which Viola; at
least; interpreted as a defence of the Absent; stronger than her
own lips could frame。
Glyndon broke the pause。
〃Thou wouldst stay; for what? To betray a mother's duty! If any
evil happen to thee here; what becomes of thine infant? Shall it
be brought up an orphan; in a country that has desecrated thy
religion; and where human charity exists no more? Ah; weep; and
clasp it to thy bosom; but tears do not protect and save。〃
〃Thou hast conquered; my friend; I will fly with thee。〃
〃To…morrow night; then; be prepared。 I will bring thee the
necessary disguises。〃
And Glyndon then proceeded to sketch rapidly the outline of the
path they were to take; and the story they were to tell。 Viola
listened; but scarcely comprehended; he pressed her hand to his
heart and departed。
CHAPTER 7。V。
Van seco pur anco
Sdegno ed Amor; quasi due Veltri al fianco。
〃Ger。 Lib。〃 cant。 xx。 cxvii。
(There went with him still Disdain and Love; like two greyhounds
side by side。)
Glyndon did not perceive; as he hurried from the house; two forms
crouching by the angle of the wall。 He saw still the spectre
gliding by his side; but he beheld not the yet more poisonous
eyes of human envy and woman's jealousy that glared on his
retreating footsteps。
Nicot advanced to the house; Fillide followed him in silence。
The painter; an old sans…culotte; knew well what language to
assume to the porter。 He beckoned the latter from his lodge;
〃How is this; citizen? Thou harbourest a 'suspect。'〃
〃Citizen; you terrify me!if so; name him。〃
〃It is not a man; a refugee; an Italian woman; lodges here。〃
〃Yes; au troisieme;the door to the left。 But what of her?she
cannot be dangerous; poor child!〃
〃Citizen; beware! Dost thou dare to pity her?〃
〃I? No; no; indeed。 But〃
〃Speak the truth! Who visits her?〃
〃No one but an Englishman。〃
〃That is it;an Englishman; a spy of Pitt and Coburg。〃
〃Just Heaven! is it possible?〃
〃How; citizen! dost thou speak of Heaven? Thou must be an
aristocrat!〃
〃No; indeed; it was but an old bad habit; and escaped me
unawares。〃
〃How often does the Englishman visit her?〃
〃Daily。〃
Fillide uttered an exclamation。
She never stirs out;〃 said the porter。 〃Her sole occupations are
in work; and care of her infant。〃
〃Her infant!〃
Fillide made a bound forward。 Nicot in vain endeavoured to
arrest her。 She sprang up the stairs; she paused not till she
was before the door indicated by the porter; it stood ajar; she
entered; she stood at the threshold; and beheld that face; still
so lovely! The sight of so much beauty left her hopeless。 And
the child; over whom the mother bent!she who had never been a
mother!she uttered no sound; the furies were at work within her
breast。 Viola turned; and saw her; and; terrified by the strange
apparition; with features that expressed the deadliest hate and
scorn and vengeance; uttered a cry; and snatched the child to her
bosom。 The Italian laughed aloud;turned; descended; and;
gaining the spot where Nicot still conversed with the frightened
porter drew him from the house。 When they were in the open
street; she halted abruptly; and said; 〃Avenge me; and name thy
price!〃
〃My price; sweet one! is but permission to love thee。 Thou wilt
fly with me to…morrow night; thou wilt possess thyself of the
passports and the plan。〃
〃And they〃
〃Shall; before then; find their asylum in the Conciergerie。 The
guillotine shall requite thy wrongs。〃
〃Do this; and I am satisfied;〃 said Fillide; firmly。
And they spoke no more till they regained the house。 But when
she there; looking up to the dull building; saw the windows of
the room which the belief of Glyndon's love had once made a
paradise; the tiger relented at the heart; something of the woman
gushed back upon her nature; dark and savage as it was。 She
pressed the arm on which she leaned convulsively; and exclaimed;
〃No; no! not him! denounce her;let her perish; but I have slept
on HIS bosom;not HIM!〃
〃It shall be as thou wilt;〃 said Nicot; with a devil's sneer;
〃but he must be arrested for the moment。 No harm shall happen to
him; for no accuser shall appear。 But her;thou wilt not relent
for her?〃
Fillide turned upon him her eyes; and their dark glance was
sufficient answer。
CHAPTER 7。VI。
In poppa quella
Che guidar gli dovea; fatal Donsella。
〃Ger。 Lib。〃 cant。 xv。 3。
(By the prow was the fatal lady ordained to be the guide。)
The Italian did not overrate that craft of simulation proverbial
with her country and her sex。 Not a word; not a look; that day
revealed to Glyndon the deadly change that had converted devotion
into hate。 He himself; indeed; absorbed in his own schemes; and
in reflections on his own strange destiny; was no nice observer。
But her manner; milder and more subdued than usual; produced a
softening effect upon his meditations towards the evening; and he
then began to converse with her on the certain hope of escape;
and on the future that would await them in less unhallowed lands。
〃And thy fair friend;〃 said Fillide; with an averted eye and a
false smile; 〃who was to be our companion?thou hast resigned
her; Nicot tells me; in favour of one in whom he is interested。
Is it so?〃
〃He told thee this!〃 returned Glyndon; evasively。 〃Well! does
the change content thee?〃
〃Traitor!〃 muttered Fillide; and she rose suddenly; approached
him; parted the long hair from his forehead caressingly; and
pressed her lips convulsively on his brow。
〃This were too fair a head for the doomsman;〃 said she; with a
slight laugh; and; turning away; appeared occupied in
preparations for their departure。
The next morning; when he rose; Glyndon did not see the Italian;
she was absent from the house when he left it。 It was necessary
that he should once more visit C before his final Departure;
not only to arrange for Nicot's participation in the flight; but
lest any suspicion should have arisen to thwart or endanger the
plan he had adopted。 C; though not one of the immediate
coterie of Robespierre; and indeed secretly hostile to him; had
possessed the art of keeping well with each faction as it rose to
power。 Sprung from the dregs of the populace; he had;
nevertheless; the grace and vivacity so often found impartially
amongst every class in France。 He had contrived to enrich
himselfnone knew howin the course of his rapid career。 He
became; indeed; ultimately one of the wealthiest proprietors of
Paris; and at that time kept a splendid and hospitable mansion。
He was one of those whom; from various reasons; Robespierre
deigned to favour; and he had often saved the proscribed and
suspected; by procuring them passports under disguised names; and
advising their method of escape。 But C was a man who took this
trouble only for the rich。 〃The incorruptible Maximilien;〃 who
did not want the tyrant's faculty of penetration; probably saw
through all his manoeuvres; and the avarice which he cloaked
beneath his charity。 But it was noticeable that Robespierre
frequently seemed to wink atnay; partially to encouragesuch
vice in men whom he meant hereafter to destroy; as would tend to
lower them in the public estimation; and to contrast with his own
austere and unassailable integrity and PURISM。 And; doubtless;
he often grimly smiled in his sleeve at the sumptuous mansion and
the griping covetousness of the worthy Citizen C。
To this personage; then; Glyndon musingly bent his way。 It was
true; as he had darkly said to Viola; that in proportion as he
had resisted the spectre; its terrors had lost their influence。
The time had come at last; when; seeing crime and vice in all
their hideousness; and in so vast a theatre; he had found that in
vice and crime there are deadlier horrors than in the eyes of a
phantom…fear。 His native nobleness began to return to him。 As
he passed the streets; he revolved in his mind projects of future
repentance and reformation。 He even meditated; as a just return
for Fillide's devotion; the sacrifice of all the reasonings of
his birth and education。 He would repair whatever errors he had
committed against her; by the self…immolation of marriage with
one little congenial with himself。 He who had once revolted from
marriage with the noble and gentle Viola!he had learned in that
world of wrong to know that right is right; and that Heaven did
not make the one sex to be the victim of the other。 The young
visions of the Beautiful and the Good rose once more before him;
and along the dark ocean of his mind lay the smile of reawakening
virtue; as a path of moonlight。 Never; perhaps; had the
condition of his soul been so elevated and unselfish。
In the meanwhile Jean Nicot; equally