登陆注册
25527900000437

第437章

I Find a Lodging in the House of the Chief of the Sbirri--I Pass a Good Night There and Recover My Strength--I Go to Mass--

A Disagreeable Meeting I Am Obliged to Take Six Sequins by Force--

Out of Danger--Arrived at Munich--Balbi I Set Out for Paris--

My Arrival--Attempt on the Life of Louis XV

As soon as I saw Father Balbi far enough off I got up, and seeing at a little distance a shepherd keeping his flock on the hill-side, I

made my way-towards him to obtain such information as I needed.

"What is the name of this village, my friend?" said I.

"Valde Piadene, signor," he answered, to my surprise, for I found I

was much farther on my way that I thought. I next asked him the owners of five or six houses which I saw scattered around, and the persons he mentioned chanced to be all known to me, but were not the kind of men I should have cared to trouble with my presence. On my asking him the name of a palace before me, he said it belonged to the Grimanis, the chief of whom was a State Inquisitor, and then resident at the palace, so I had to take care not to let him see me. Finally, an my enquiring the owner of a red house in the distance, he told me, much to my surprise, that it belonged to the chief of the sbirri.

Bidding farewell to the kindly shepherd I began to go down the hill mechanically, and I am still puzzled to know what instinct directed my steps towards that house, which common sense and fear also should have made me shun. I steered my course for it in a straight line, and I can say with truth that I did so quite unwittingly. If it be true that we have all of us an invisible intelligence--a beneficent genius who guides our steps aright--as was the case with Socrates, to that alone I should attribute the irresistible attraction which drew me towards the house where I had most to dread. However that may be, it was the boldest stroke I have played in my whole life.

I entered with an easy and unconstrained air, and asked a child who was playing at top in the court-yard where his father was. Instead of replying, the child went to call his mother, and directly afterwards appeared a pretty woman in the family way, who politely asked me my business with her husband, apologizing for his absence.

"I am sorry," I said, "to hear that my gossip is not in, though at the same time I am delighted to make the acquaintance of his charming wife."

"Your gossip? You will be M. Vetturi, then? My husband told me that you had kindly promised to be the god-father of our next child. I am delighted to know you, but my husband will be very vexed to have been away:

"I hope he will soon return, as I wanted to ask him for a night's lodging. I dare not go anywhere in the state you see me."

"You shall have the best bed in the house, and I will get you a good supper. My husband when he comes back will thank your excellence for doing us so much honour. He went away with all his people an hour ago, and I don't expect him back for three or four days."

"Why is he away for such a long time, my dear madam?"

"You have not heard, then, that two prisoners have escaped from The Leads? One is a noble and the other a private individual named Casanova. My husband has received a letter from Messer-Grande ordering him to make a search for them; if he find them he will take them back to Venice, and if not he will return here, but he will be on the look-out for three days at least."

"I am sorry for this accident, my dear madam, but I should not like to put you out, and indeed I should be glad to lie down immediately."

"You shall do so, and my mother shall attend to your wants. But what is the matter with your knees?"

"I fell down whilst hunting on the mountains, and gave myself some severe wounds, and am much weakened by loss of blood."

"Oh! my poor gentleman, my poor gentleman! But my mother will cure you."

She called her mother, and having told her of my necessities she went out. This pretty sbirress had not the wit of her profession, for the story I had told her sounded like a fairy-tale. On horseback with white silk stockings! Hunting in sarcenet, without cloak and without a man! Her husband would make fine game of her when he came back;

but God bless her for her kind heart and benevolent stupidity. Her mother tended me with all the politeness I should have met with in the best families. The worthy woman treated me like a mother, and called me "son" as she attended to my wounds. The name sounded pleasantly in my ears, and did no little towards my cure by the sentiments it awoke in my breast. If I had been less taken up with the position I was in I should have repaid her care with some evident marks of the gratitude I felt, but the place I was in and the part I

was playing made the situation too serious a one for me to think of anything else.

This kindly woman, after looking at my knees and my thighs, told me that I must make my mind to suffer a little pain, but I might be sure of being cured by the morning. All I had to do was to bear the application of medicated linen to my wounds, and not to stir till the next day. I promised to bear the pain patiently, and to do exactly as she told me.

I was given an excellent supper, and I ate and drank with good appetite. I then gave myself up to treatment, and fell asleep whilst my nurse was attending to me. I suppose she undressed me as she would a child, but I remembered nothing about it when I woke up--I

was, in fact, totally unconscious. Though I had made a good supper I

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 懒人在校园

    懒人在校园

    她可以说是过目不忘,看过一遍的书都可以倒背如流。她可以说是没有记性,见过n遍的人和名字总对不上号。她是个天才,只要她有感兴趣的东西,都能做到最棒。她是个蠢材,对于感情,迟钝到男生向她表白都处于不明状态。她很勤快,办任何事的效率高到让人吐血。她很懒惰,睡觉睡一定要睡够12小时。她是谁?如此的矛盾。恩。就是个在校园的懒人。本故事纯属虚构,如有雷同,纯属巧合。
  • 萌狐拒寝:腹黑王爷请慢走

    萌狐拒寝:腹黑王爷请慢走

    某狐欲哭无泪的看着床榻上的男人,心里呐喊着,好歹传来的时候给件衣服吧!“哈哈,那个我好像睡错房了……”王爷僵硬的脸缓缓露出笑容,压住她“吃饱了,就想走吗?”大帝的无意,导致她夜夜睡不好……不行,我要拒寝!“王爷,我今晚好累啊!”“乖,本王先帮你按摩……”“有小日子。”“本王记得前日才来走。”“不准,被你无节制的生活给打乱了。”“让本王看看。”某狐狂吼,天呐,来道雷劈死他吧!
  • 指尖刀客

    指尖刀客

    一个美发师的都市生活,缘起一次登山,改变了自己的安逸现状!人类身体暗合宇宙轨迹,练武修道不断的开发肉身的极限,可力拔山兮,拳镇山河。万物分阴阳五行,始生终灭,有因有果,如果人类感悟其中的道与理,是否可以控制阴阳五行,飞天遁地!!!
  • 次元反派

    次元反派

    我只是发现了,这个世界的违和感,然后在以最为平常的一部穿越小说的方向进行推理,没想到,我就变成了人人叫打的过街老鼠!聪明一点有错啊!我是宅男很对不起啊!
  • 诛天禁

    诛天禁

    邪?什么是邪?我封禁万古岁月,血染诸天,可为邪?我破碎日月星辰,覆灭苍穹,可为邪?
  • 皇冠豪门继承者:千亿女王

    皇冠豪门继承者:千亿女王

    【已完结!名门Bossvs商界女王!男强女强!】季恩琳职场不顺,又遭男友劈腿,偷喝了‘穷’Boss吕熙琅的酒,借酒消愁。酒醒,发现她的手指上,居然戴着一枚戒指。活见鬼!明明是‘穷’Boss吕熙琅,占了她的便宜,却还要她负责,真是没天理!吕熙琅伸手轻抚着季恩琳的脸:“为夫希望你工作时是精英,和我在一起时是妖精。”“好......累。”季恩琳等吕熙琅熟睡时,扶着酸痛的小腰,躲到国外去。吕熙琅发誓,无论天涯海角,都要把季恩琳追回家!----【故事虚构,不喜勿喷!】----新书《高冷影帝来袭:宠婚晚成》已发。
  • 绝尽风华:一世锁清秋

    绝尽风华:一世锁清秋

    那一天,桃花纷飞,青丝拂柳。倩笑了半面的妆容。抚一曲,千年的瑶琴,沉醉了谁的心?迷茫中,惊鸿了那一撇,沦陷了那一眼,一沉沦便是千年……“涟幽,你只可以喜欢我一个!”强烈的占有欲那般霸道。被唤做涟幽的女子,淡笑,“怎么办,我很花心耶!”“那我会杀光你身边所有的男人!”令人心寒的话语涟幽不过一笑而过。可多年后,涟幽才知道他说的是真的。“羽化尘,我的心里从来没爱过你!”让她逃吧,逃避的远远的,爱是什么?如果是痛,那么她甘愿不要!多少次的午夜梦回,是谁在嘶吼着,“我永远不会放开你,除非我死!”如果我为你入了魔,就请罚你倾这一世来渡我……可好?——羽化尘。
  • 扎恩猎手

    扎恩猎手

    1999年的一天,神被拉下了王座。无数的力量涌入了人间,造成了一场巨大的变革。十五年之后,在一所普普通通的初中里,我们的故事,就伴随着欢声笑语展开。轻松,搞笑,热血,励志——你,都可以看到。这里是扎恩猎手。这里,是程明羽(神圣魔导回归!三年磨一剑,三年写一书,不鸣则已。今日,我便要一鸣惊人!)
  • 腹黑萌宝:前夫,快滚来离婚

    腹黑萌宝:前夫,快滚来离婚

    【不要脸前夫篇】六年前,这男人在他们刚刚结婚后,消失不见一个月之后,云非墨发现自己怀孕了六年后再次见面“凌洛,快点和我去离婚。”“我不老婆,我爱你。”“滚。”......【腹黑萌娃篇】“小混蛋,你给我闭嘴,小心我把你打包送给老混蛋。”“哼哼,我才不怕,我又不是不认识回家的路,又不是没钱,我不会自己回家呀!”“云非墨我可告诉你,在我没满十八周岁,你都有义务抚养我。”
  • 我的老公是机器人

    我的老公是机器人

    遭遇丈夫外遇而准备离婚的李冬婷,意外获得了一枚古朴的戒指,一条同样花纹的项链,机缘巧合下,开启宇宙位面交易平台,且看她踹掉渣男,发家致富奔小资。李泽凯:“编号903714向您致敬!”李冬婷:“呵呵!”宝宝:“我爸爸竟然是机器人?”李冬婷:“呵呵!”