The Headsman - James Fenimore Cooper
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"And here is a talisman in sapphire, with many Eastern characters; I was
told it had been an heirloom in the family of the child, and was put about
his neck at the birth, by the hands of his own father."
"I ask no more--I ask no more! God be praised for this, the last and best
of all his mercies!" cried the Prince, clasping his hands with devotion.
"This jewel was worn by myself in infancy, and I placed it around the neck
of the babe with my own hands, as thou sayest--I ask no more."
"And Bartolo Contini!" uttered Il Maledetto.
"Maso!" exclaimed a voice, which until then had been mute in the chapel.
It was Adelheid who had spoken. Her hair had fallen in wild profusion over
her shoulders, as she still knelt over the articles on the pavement, and
her hands were clasped entreatingly, as if she deprecated the rude
interruptions which had so often dashed the cup from their lips, as they
were about to yield to the delight of believing Sigismund to be the child
of the Prince of Genoa.
"Thou art another of a fond and weak sex, to swell the list of confiding
spirits that have been betrayed by the selfishness and falsehood of men,"
answered the mocking mariner. "Go to, girl!--make thyself a nun; thy
Sigismund is an impostor."
Adelheid, by a quick but decided interposition of her hand, prevented an
impetuous movement of the young soldier, who would have struck his
audacious rival to his feet. Without changing her kneeling attitude, she
then spoke, modestly but with a firmness which generous sentiments enable
women to assume even more readily than the stronger sex, when
extraordinary occasions call for the sacrifice of that reserve in which
her feebleness is ordinarily intrenched.
"I know not, Maso, in what manner thou hast learned the tie which connects
me with Sigismund," she said; "but I have no longer any wish to conceal
it. Be he the son of Balthazar, or be he the son of a prince, he has
received my troth with the consent of my honored father, and our fortunes
will shortly be one. There might be forwardness in a maiden thus openly
avowing her preference for a youth; but here, with none to own him,
oppressed with his long-endured wrongs, and assailed in his most sacred
affections, Sigismund has a right to my voice. Let him belong to whom else
he may, I speak by my venerable father's authority, when I say he belongs
to us."
"Melchior, is this true?" cried the Doge.
"The girl's words are but an echo of what my heart feels," answered the
baron, looking about him proudly, as if he would browbeat any who should
presume to think that he had consented to corrupt the blood of Willading
by the measure.
"I have watched thine eye, Maso, as one nearly interested in the truth,"
continued Adelheid, "and I now appeal to thee, as thou lovest thine own
soul, to disburthen thyself! While thou may'st have told some truth, the
jealous affection of a woman has revealed to me that thou hast kept back
part. Speak, then, and relieve the soul of this venerable prince from
torture,"
"And deliver my own body to the wheel! This may be well to the warm
imagination of a love-sick girl, but we of the contraband have too much
practice in men uselessly to throw away an advantage."
"Thou mayest have confidence in our faith. I have seen much of thee
within the last few days, Maso, and I wish not to think thee capable of
the bloody deed that hath been committed on the mountain, though I fear
thy life is only too ungoverned; still I will not believe that the hero of
the Leman can be the assassin of St. Bernard."
"When thy young dreams are over, fair one, and thou seest the world under
its true colors, thou wilt know that the hearts of men come partly of
Heaven and partly of Hell."
Maso laughed in his most reckless manner as he delivered this opinion.
"'Tis useless to deny that thou hast sympathies," continued the maiden
steadily; "thou hast in secret more pleasure in serving than in injuring
thy race. Thou canst not have been in such straits in company with the
Signor Sigismondo, without imbibing some touch of his noble generosity.
You have struggled together for our common good, you come of the same God,
have the same manly courage, are equally stout of heart, strong of hand,
and willing to do for others. Such a heart must have enough of noble and
human impulses to cause you to love justice. Speak, then, and I pledge our
sacred word, that thou shalt fare better for thy candor than by taking
refuge in thy present fraud. Bethink thee, Maso, that the happiness of
this aged man, of Sigismund himself, if thou wilt, for I blush not to say
it--of a weak and affectionate girl, is in thy keeping. Give us truth
holy; sacred truth, and we pardon the past."
Il Maledetto was moved by the beautiful earnestness of the speaker. Her
ingenuous interest in the result, with the solemnity of her appeal shook
his purpose.
"Thou know'st not what thou say'st, lady; thou ask'st my life," he
answered, after pondering in a way to give a new impulse to the dying
hopes of the Doge.
"Though there is no quality more sacred than justice," interposed the
chatelain, who alone could speak with authority in the Valais; "it is
fairly within the province of her servants to permit her to go unexpiated,
in order that greater good may come of the sacrifice. If thou wilt prove
aught that is of grave importance to the interests of the Prince of Genoa,
Valais owes it to the love it bears his republic to requite the service."
Maso listened, at first, with a cold ear. He felt the distrust of one who
had sufficient knowledge of the world to be acquainted with the thousand
expedients that were resorted to by men, in order to justify their daily
want of faith. He questioned the chatelain closely as to his meaning, nor
was it until a late hour, and after long and weary explanations on both
sides, that the parties came to an understanding.
On the part of those who, on this occasion, were the representatives of
that high attribute of the Deity which among men is termed justice, it was
sufficiently apparent that they understood its exercise with certain
reservations that might be made at pleasure in favor of their own views;
and, on the part of Maso, there was no attempt to conceal the suspicions
he entertained to the last, that he might be a sufferer by lessening in
any degree the strength of the defences by which he was at present
shielded, as the son, real or fancied, of a person so powerful as the
Prince of Genoa.
As usually happens when there is a mutual wish to avoid extremities, and
when conflicting interests are managed with equal address, the
negotiation terminated in a compromise. As the result will be shown in
the regular course of the narrative, the reader is referred to the closing
chapter for the explanation.
Chapter XXXI.
"Speak, oh, speak!
And take me from the rack."
Young.
It will be remembered that three days were passed in the convent in that
interval which occurred between the arrival of the travellers and those of
the chatelain and the bailiff. The determination of admitting the claims
of Sigismund, so frankly announced by Adelheid in the preceding chapter,
was taken during this time. Separated from the world, and amid that
magnificent solitude where the passions and the vulgar interests of life
sank into corresponding insignificance as the majesty of God became hourly
more visible, the baron had been gradually won upon to consent. Love for
his child, aided by the fine moral and personal qualities of the young man
himself, which here stood out in strong relief, like one of the stern
piles of those Alps that now appeared to his eyes so much superior, in
their eternal beds, to all the vine-clad hills and teeming valleys of the
lower world, had been the immediate and efficient agents in producing this
decision. It is not pretended that the Bernese made an easy conquest over
his prejudices, which was in truth no other than a conquest over himself,
he being, morally considered, little other than a collection of the narrow
opinions and exclusive doctrines which it was then the fashion to believe
necessary to high civilization. On the contrary, the struggle had been
severe; nor is it probable that the gentle blandishments of Adelheid, the
eloquent but silent appeals to his reason that were constantly made by
Sigismund in his deportment, or the arguments of his old comrade, the
Signor Grimaldi, who, with a philosophy that is more often made apparent
in our friendships than in our own practice, dilated copiously on the
wisdom of sacrificing a few worthless and antiquated opinions to the
happiness of an only child, would have prevailed, had the Baron been in a
situation less abstracted from the ordinary circumstances of his rank and
habits, than that in which he had been so accidentally thrown. The pious
clavier, too, who had obtained some claims to the confidence of the guests
of the convent by his services, and by the risks he had run in their
company, came to swell the number of Sigismund's friends. Of humble origin
himself, and attached to the young man not only by his general merits, but
by his conduct on the lake, he neglected no good occasion to work upon
Melchior's mind, after he himself had become acquainted with the nature of
the young man's hopes. As they paced the brown and naked rocks together,
in the vicinity of the convent, the Augustine discoursed on the perishable
nature of human hopes, and on the frailty of human opinions. He dwelt with
pious fervor on the usefulness of recalling the thoughts from the turmoil
of daily and contracted interests, to a wider view of the truths of
existence. Pointing to the wild scene around them, he likened the confused
masses of the mountains, their sterility, and their ruthless tempests, to
the world with its want of happy fruits, its disorders, and its violence.
Then directing the attention of his companion to the azure vault above
them, which, seen at that elevation and in that pure atmosphere,
resembled a benign canopy of the softest tints and colors, he made glowing
appeals to the eternal and holy tranquillity of the state of being to
which they were both fast hastening, and which had its type in the
mysterious and imposing calm of that tranquil and inimitable void. He drew
his moral in favor of a measured enjoyment of our advantages here, as well
as of rendering love and justice to all who merited our esteem, and to the
disadvantage of those iron prejudices which confine the best sentiments in
the fetters of opinions founded in the ordinances and provisions of the
violent and selfish.
It was after one of these interesting dialogues that Melchior de
Willading, his heart softened and his soul touched with the hopes of
heaven, listened with a more indulgent ear to the firm declaration of
Adelheid, that unless she became the wife of Sigismund, her self-respect,
no less than her affections, must compel her to pass her life unmarried.
We shall not say that the maiden herself philosophized on premises as
sublime as those of the good monk, for with her the warm impulses of the
heart lay at the bottom of her resolution; but even she had the
respectable support of reason to sustain her cause. The baron had that
innate desire to perpetuate his own existence in that of his descendants,
which appears to be a property of nature. Alarmed at a declaration which
threatened annihilation to his line, while at the same time he was more
than usually under the influence of his better feelings, he promised that
if the charge of murder could be removed from Balthazar, he would no
longer oppose the union. We should be giving the reader an opinion a
little too favorable of the Herr von Willading, were we, to say that he
did not repent having made this promise soon after it was uttered. He was
in a state of mind that resembled the vanes of his own towers, which
changed their direction with every fresh current of air, but he was by
far, too honorable to think seriously of violating a faith that he had
once fairly plighted. He had moments of unpleasant misgivings as to the
wisdom and propriety of his promise, but they were of that species of
regret, which is known to attend an unavoidable evil. If he had any
expectations of being released from his pledge, they were bottomed on
certain vague impressions that Balthazar would be found guilty; though the
constant and earnest asseverations of Sigismund in favor of his father had
greatly succeeded in shaking his faith on this point. Adelheid had
stronger hopes than either; the fears of the young man himself preventing
him from fully participating in her confidence, while her father shared
her expectations on that tormenting principle, which causes us to dread
the worst. When, therefore, the jewelry of Jacques Colis was found in the
possession of Maso, and Balthazar was unanimously acquitted, not only from
this circumstance, which went so conclusively to criminate another, but
from the want of any other evidence against him than the fact of his being
found in the bone-house instead of the Refuge, an accident that might well
have happened to any other traveller in the storm, the baron resolutely
prepared himself to redeem his pledge. It is scarcely necessary to add how
much this honorable sentiment was strengthened by the unexpected
declaration of the headsman concerning the birth of Sigismund.
Notwithstanding the asseveration of Maso that the whole was an invention
conceived to fervor the son of Balthazar, it was supported by proofs so
substantial and palpable, to say nothing of the natural and veracious
manner in which the tale was related, as to create a strong probability
in the minds of the witnesses, that it might be true. Although it remained
to be discovered who were the real parents of Sigismund, few now believed
that he owed his existence to the headsman.
A short summary of the facts may aid the reader in better understanding,
the circumstances on which so much denouement depends.
It has been revealed in the course of the narrative that the Signor
Grimaldi had wedded a lady younger than himself, whose affections were
already in the possession of one that, in moral qualities, was unworthy of
her love, but who in other respects was perhaps better suited to become
her husband, than the powerful noble to whom her family had given her
hand. The birth of their son was soon followed by the death of the mother,
and the abduction of the child. Years had passed, when the Signor Grimaldi
was first apprized of the existence of the latter. He had received this
important information at a moment when the authorities of Genoa were most
active in pursuing those who had long and desperately trifled with the
laws, and the avowed motive for the revelation was an appeal to his
natural affection in behalf of a son, who was likely to become the victim
of his practices. The recovery of a child under such circumstances was a
blow severer than his loss, and it will readily be supposed that the truth
of the pretension of Maso, who then went by the name of Bartolomeo
Contini, was admitted with the greatest caution. Reference had been made
by the friends of the smuggler to a dying monk, whose character was above
suspicion, and who corroborated, with his latest breath, the statement of
Maso, by affirming before God and the saints that he knew him, so far as
man could know a fact like this, to be the son of the Signer Grimaldi;
This grave testimony, given under circumstances of such solemnity, and
supported by the production of important papers that had been stolen with
the child, removed the suspicions of the Doge. He secretly interposed his
interest to save the criminal, though, after a fruitless attempt to effect
a reformation of his habits by means of confidential agents, he had never
consented to see him.
Such then was the nature of the conflicting statements. While hope and the
pure delight of finding himself the father of a son like Sigismund, caused
the aged prince to cling to the claims of the young soldier with fond
pertinacity, his cooler and more deliberate judgment had already been
formed in favor of another. In the long private examination which
succeeded the scene in the chapel, Maso had gradually drawn more into
himself, becoming vague and mysterious, until he succeeded in exciting a
most painful state of doubt and expectation in all who witnessed his
deportment. Profiting by this advantage, he suddenly changed his tactics.
He promised revelations of importance, on the condition that he should
first be placed in security within the frontiers of Piedmont. The prudent
chatelain soon saw that the case was getting to be one in which Justice
was expected to be blind in the more politic signification of the term.
He, therefore, drew off his loquacious coadjutor, the bailiff, in a way to
leave the settlement of the affair to the feelings and wishes of the Doge.
The latter, by the aid of Melchior and Sigismund, soon effected an
understanding, in which the conditions of the mariner were admitted; when
the party separated for the night. Il Maledetto, on whom weighed the
entire load of Jacques Colis' murder, was again committed to his temporary
prison, while Balthazar, Pippo, and Conrad, were permitted to go at large,
as having successfully passed the ordeal of examination.
Day dawned upon the Col long ere the shades of night had deserted the
valley of the Rhone. All in the convent were in motion before the
appearance of the sun, it being generally understood that the event which
had so much disturbed the order of its peaceful inmates' lives, was to be
brought finally to a close, and that their duties were about to return
into the customary channels. Orisons are constantly ascending to heaven
from the pass of St. Bernard, but, on the present occasion, the stir in
and about the chapel, the manner in which the good canons hurried to and
fro through the long corridors, and the general air of excitement,
proclaimed that the offices of the matins possessed more than the usual
interest of the regular daily devotion.
The hour was still early when all on the pass assembled in the place of
worship. The body of Jacques Colis had been removed to a side chapel,
where, covered with a pall, it awaited the mass for the dead. Two large
church candles stood lighted on the steps of the great altar, and the
spectators, including Pierre and the muleteers, the servants of the
convent, and others of every rank and age, were drawn up in double files
in its front. Among the silent spectators appeared Balthazar and his wife,
Maso, in truth a prisoner, but with the air of a liberated man, the
pilgrim, and Pippo. The good prior was present in his robes, with all of
his community. During the moments of suspense which preceded the rites, he
discoursed civilly with the chatelain and the bailiff, both of whom
returned his courtesies with interest, and in the manner in which it
becomes the dignified and honored to respect appearances in the presence
of their inferiors. Still the demeanor of most was feverish and excited,
as if the occasion were one of compelled gaiety, into which unwelcome and
extraordinary circumstances of alloy had thrust themselves unbidden.
On the opening of the door a little procession entered, headed by the
clavier. Melchior de Willading led his daughter, Sigismund came next,
followed by Marguerite and Christine, and the venerable Doge brought up
the rear. Simple as was this wedding train, it was imposing from the
dignity of the principal actors, and from the evidences of deep feeling
with which all in it advanced to the altar. Sigismund was firm and
self-possessed. Still his carriage was lofty and proud, as if he felt that
a cloud still hung over that portion of his history to which the world
attached so much importance, and he had fallen back on his character and
principles for support. Adelheid had lately been so much the subject of
strong emotions, that she presented herself before the priest with less
trepidation than was usual for a maiden; but the fixed regard, the
colorless cheek, and an air of profound reverence, announced the depth and
solemn character of the feelings with which she was prepared to take the
vows.
The marriage rites were celebrated by the good clavier, who, not content
with persuading the baron to make this sacrifice of his prejudices, had
asked permission to finish the work he had so happily commenced, by
pronouncing the nuptial benediction. Melchior de Willading listened to the
short ceremony with silent self-approval. He felt disposed at that instant
to believe he had wisely sacrificed the interests of the world to the
right, a sentiment that was a little quickened by the uncertainty which
still hung over the origin of his new son, who might yet prove to be all
that he could hope, as well as by the momentary satisfaction he found in
manifesting his independence by bestowing the hand of his daughter upon
one whose merit was so much better ascertained than his birth. In this
manner do the best deceive themselves, yielding frequently to motives that
would not support investigation when they believe themselves the strongest
in the right. The good-natured clavier had observed the wavering and
uncertain character of the baron's decision, and he had been induced to
urge his particular request to be the officiating priest by a secret
apprehension that, descended again into the scenes of the world, the
relenting father might become, like most other parents of these nether
regions, more disposed to consult the temporal advancement than the true
happiness of his child.
As one of the parties was a Protestant, no mass was said, an omission,
however, that in no degree impaired the legal character of the engagement.
Adelheid plighted her unvarying love and fidelity with maiden modesty, but
with the steadiness of a woman whose affections and principles were
superior to the little weaknesses which, on such occasions, are most apt
to unsettle those who have the least of either of these great distinctive
essentials of the sex. The vows to cherish and protect were uttered by
Sigismund in deep manly sincerity, for, at that moment, he felt as if a
life of devotion to her happiness would scarcely requite her
single-minded, feminine, and unvarying truth.
"May God bless thee, dearest," murmured old Melchior, as, bending over his
kneeling child, he struggled to keep down a heart which appeared disposed
to mount into his throat, in spite of its master's inclinations; "bless
thee--bless thee, love, now and for ever. Providence has dealt sternly
with thy brothers and sisters, but in leaving thee it has still left me
rich in offspring. Here is our good friend, Gaetano, too--his fortune has
been still harder--but we will hope--we will hope. And thou, Sigismund,
now that Balthazar hath disowned thee, thou must accept such a father as
Heaven sends. All accidents of early life are forgotten, and Willading,
like my old heart, hath gotten a new owner and a new lord!"
The young man exchanged embraces with the baron, whose character he knew
to be kind in the main, and for whom he felt the regard which was natural
to his present situation. He then turned, with a hesitating eye, to the
Signor Grimaldi. The Doge succeeded his friend in paying the compliments
of affection to the bride, and had just released Adelheid with a warm
paternal kiss.
"I pray Maria and her holy Son in thy behalf!" said the venerable Prince
with dignity. "Thou enterest on new and serious duties, child, but the
spirit and purity of an angel, a meekness that does not depress, and a
character whose force rather relieves than injures the softness of thy
sex, can temper the ills of this fickle world, and thou may'st justly hope
to see a fair portion of that felicity which thy young imagination
pictures in such golden colors. And thou," he added, turning to meet the
embrace of Sigismund, "whoever thou art by the first disposition of
Providence, thou art now rightfully dear to me. The husband of Melchior de
Willading's daughter would ever have a claim upon his most ancient and
dearest friend, but we are united by a tie that has the interest of a
singular and solemn mystery. My reason tells me that I am punished for
much early and wanton pride and wilfulness, in being the parent of a child
that few men in any condition of life could wish to claim, while my heart
would fain flatter me with being the father of a son of whom an emperor
alight be proud! Thou art, and thou art not, of my blood. Without these
proofs of Maso's, and the testimony of the dying monk, I should proclaim
thee to be the latter without hesitation; but be thou what thou may'st by
birth, thou art entirely and without alloy of my love. Be tender of this
fragile flower that Providence hath put under thy protection, Sigismund;
cherish it as thou valuest thine own soul; the generous and confiding love
of a virtuous woman is always a support, frequently a triumphant stay, to
the tottering principles of man. Oh! had it pleased God earlier to have
given me Angiolina, how different might have been our lives! This dark
uncertainty would not now hang over the most precious of human affections,
and my closing hour would be blessed. Heaven and its saints preserve ye
both, my children, and preserve ye long in your present innocence and
affection!"