Clementina — Chapter XXV, The Last, and Epilogue

CHAPTER XXV

An account remains of the marriage ceremony, which took place the next morning in Cardinal Origo's house.

It was of the simplest kind and was witnessed by few.

Murray, Misset and his wife, and Maria Vittoria de Caprara made the public part of the company; Wogan stood for the King;

and the Marquis of Monti Boulorois for James Sobieski, the bride's father.

Bride and bridegroom played their parts bravely and well, one must believe, for the chronicler speaks of their grace and modesty of bearing.

Clementina rose at five in the morning, dressed in a robe of white, tied a white ribbon about her hair, and for her only ornament fixed a white collar of pearls about her neck.

In this garb she went at once to the church of San Domenico, where she made her confession, and from the church to the Cardinal's Palace.

There the Cardinal, with one Maas, an English priest from Rome, at his elbow, was already waiting for her.

Mr. Wogan thereupon read the procuration, for which he had ridden to Rome in haste so many months before, and pronounced the consent of the King his master to its terms.

Origo asked the Princess whether she likewise consented, and the manner in which she spoke her one word, "Yes," seems to have stirred the historian to pæans.

It seems that all the virtues launched that one little word, and were clearly expressed in it.

The graces, too, for once in a way went hand in hand with the virtues.

Never was a "Yes" so sweetly spoken since the earth rose out of the sea.

In a word, there was no ruffle of the great passion which these two, man and woman, had trodden beneath their feet.

She did not hint of Iphigenia; he borrowed no plumes from Don Quixote.

Nor need one fancy that their contentment was all counterfeit.

They were neither of them grumblers, and "fate" and "destiny" were words seldom upon their lips.

One incident, indeed, is related which the chronicler thought to be curious, though he did not comprehend it.

The Princess Clementina brought from her confessional box a wisp of straw which clung to her dress at the knee.

Until Wogan had placed the King's ring upon her finger, she did not apparently remark it; but no sooner had that office been performed than she stooped, and with a friendly smile at her makeshift bridegroom, she plucked it from her skirt and let it fall beneath her foot.

And that was all.

No words passed between them after the ceremony, for her Royal Highness went straight back to the little house in the garden, and that same forenoon set out for Rome.

She was not the only witness of the ceremony to take that road that day.

For some three hours later, to be precise, at half-past two, Maria Vittoria stepped into her coach before the Pilgrim Inn.

Wogan held the carriage door open for her.

He was still in the bravery of his wedding clothes, and Maria Vittoria looked him over whimsically from the top of his peruke to his shoe-buckles.

"I came to see a fool-woman," said she, "and I saw a fool-man.

Well, well!"

and she suddenly lowered her voice to a passionate whisper.

"Why, oh, why did you not take your fortunes in your hands at Peri?"

Wogan leaned forward to her.

"Do you know so much?"

She answered him quickly.

"I will never forgive you.

Yes, I know."

She forced her lips into a smile.

"I suppose you are content.

You have your black horse."

"You know of the horse, too," said Wogan, colouring to the edge of his peruke.

"You know I have no further use for it."

"Say that again, and I will beg it of you."

"Nay, it is yours, then.

I will send him after you to Rome."

"Will you?"

said Maria Vittoria.

"Why, then, I accept.

There's my hand;" and she thrust it through the window to him.

"If ever you come to Rome, the Caprara Palace stands where it did at your last visit.

I do not say you will be welcome.

No, I do not forgive you, but you may come.

Having your horse, I could hardly bar the door against you.

So you may come."

Wogan raised her hand to his lips.

"Aye," said she, with a touch of bitterness, "kiss my hand.

You have had your way.

Here are two people crossmated, and two others not mated at all.

You have made four people entirely unhappy, and a kiss on the glove sets all right."

"Nay, not four," protested Wogan.

"Your manners," she continued remorselessly, ticking off the names upon her fingers, "will hinder you from telling me to my face the King is happy.

And the Princess?"

"She was born to be a queen," replied Wogan, stubbornly.

"Happiness, mademoiselle!

It does not come by the striving after it.

That's the royal road to miss it.

You may build up your house of happiness with all your care through years, and you will find you have only built it up to draw down the blinds and hang out the hatchment above the door, for the tenant to inhabit it is dead."

Maria Vittoria listened very seriously till he came to the end.

Then she made a pouting grimace.

"That is very fine, moral, and poetical.

Your Princess was born to be a queen.

But what if her throne is set up only in your city of dreams?

Well, it is some consolation to know that you are one of the four."

"Nay, I will make a shift not to plague myself upon the way the world treats you."

"Ah, but because it treats you well," cried she.

"There will be work for you, hurryings to and fro, the opportunities of excelling, nights in the saddle, and perhaps again the quick red life of battlefields.

It is well with you, but what of me, Mr. Wogan?

What of me?"

and she leaned back in her carriage and drove away.

Wogan had no answer to that despairing question.

He stood with his head bared till the carriage passed round a corner and disappeared, but the voice rang for a long while in his ears.

And for a long while the dark eyes abrim with tears, and the tortured face, kept him company at nights.

He walked slowly back to his lodging, and mounting a horse rode out of Bologna, and towards the Apennines.

On one of the lower slopes he came upon a villa just beyond a curve of the road, and reined in his horse.

The villa nestled on the hillside below him in a terraced garden of oleander and magnolias, very pretty to the eye.

Cypress hedges enclosed it; the spring had made it a bower of rose blossoms, and depths of shade out of whose green darkness glowed here and there a red statue like a tutelary god.

Wogan dismounted and led his horse down the path to the door.

He inquired for Lady Featherstone, and was shown into a room from the windows of which he looked down on Bologna, that city of colonnades.

Lady Featherstone, however, had heard the tramp of his horse; she came running up from the garden, and without waiting to hear any particulars of her visitor, burst eagerly into the room.

"Well?"

she said, and stopped and swayed upon the threshold.

Wogan turned from the window towards her.

"Your Ladyship was wise, I think, to leave Bologna.

The little house in the trees there had no such wide prospect as this."

He spoke rather to give her time than out of any sarcasm.

She set a hand against the jamb of the door, and even so barely sustained her trifling weight.

Her knees shook, her childlike face grew white as paper, a great terror glittered in her eyes.

"I am not the visitor whom you expect," continued Wogan, "nor do I bring the news which you would wish to hear;" and at that she raised a trembling hand.

"I beg you--a moment's silence.

Then I will hear you, Mr. Warner."

She made a sort of stumbling run and reached a couch.

Wogan shut the door and waited.

He was glad that she had used the name of Warner.

It recalled to him that evening at Ohlau when she had stood behind the curtain with a stiletto in her hand, and the three last days of his perilous ride to Schlestadt.

He needed his most vivid recollections to steel his heart against her; for he was beginning to think it was his weary lot to go up and down the world causing pain to women.

After a while she said, "Now your news;" and she held her hand lightly to her heart to await the blow.

"The King married this morning the Princess Clementina," said Wogan.

Lady Featherstone did not move her hand; she still waited.

It was just to hinder this marriage that she had come to Italy, but her failure was at this moment of no account.

She heard of it with indifference; it had no meaning to her.

She waited.

Wogan's mere presence at the villa told her there was more to come.

He continued:-- "Last night Mr. Whittington came with the King to Bologna--you understand, no doubt, why;" and she nodded without moving her eyes from his face.

She made no pretence as to the part she had played in the affair.

All the world might know it.

That was a matter at this moment of complete indifference.

She waited.

"The King and Mr. Whittington came at nine of the night to the little house which you once occupied.

I was there, but I was not there alone.

Can your Ladyship conjecture whom I brought there?

Your Ladyship, as I learned last night from Mr. Whittington's own lips, had paid a visit secretly, using a key which you had retained to the house on an excuse that you had left behind jewels of some value.

You saw her Highness the Princess.

You told her a story of the King and Mlle.

de Caprara.

I rode to Rome, and when the King came last night Mlle.

de Caprara was with the Princess.

I had evidence against Mr. Whittington, a confession of one of the soldiers of the Governor of Trent, the leader of a party of five who attacked me at Peri.

No doubt you know of that little matter too;" and again Lady Featherstone nodded.

"Thus your double plot--to set the King against the Princess, and the Princess against the King--doubly failed."

"Go on," said Lady Featherstone, moistening her dry lips.

Wogan told her how from the little sitting-room on the ground-floor he had seen the King and Whittington cross the lawn; he described his interview with the King, and how he had come quietly down the stairs.

"I went into the garden," he went on, "and touched Whittington on the elbow.

I told him just what I have explained to you.

I said, 'You are a coward, a liar, a slanderer of women,' and I beat him on the mouth."

Lady Featherstone uttered a cry and drew herself into an extraordinary crouching attitude, with her eyes blazing steadily at him.

He thought she meant to spring at him; he looked at that hand upon her heart to see whether it held a weapon hidden in the fold of her bosom.

"Go on," she said; "and he?"

"He answered me in the strangest quiet way imaginable.

'You insulted Lady Featherstone at Ohlau, Mr. Wogan,' said he, 'one evening when she hid behind your curtain.

It was a very delicate piece of drollery, no doubt.

But I shall be glad to show you another, view of it.'

It is strange how that had rankled in his thoughts.

I liked him for it,--upon my soul, I did,--though it was the only thing I liked in him."

"Go on," said Lady Featherstone.

Mr. Wogan's likes or dislikes were of no more interest to her than the failure of her effort to hinder the marriage.

"We went to the bottom of the garden where there is a little square of lawn hedged in with myrtle-trees.

The night was very dark, so we stripped to our shirts.

From the waist upwards we were visible to each other as a vague glimmer of white, and thus we fought, foot to foot, among the myrtle-trees.

We could not see so much as our swords unless they clashed more than usually hard, and a spark struck from them.

We fought by guesswork and feel, and in the end luck served me.

I drove my sword through his chest until the hilt rang upon his breast-bone."

Then just a movement from Lady Featherstone as though she drew up her feet beneath her.

"He lived for perhaps five minutes.

He was in great distress lest harm should come to you; and since there was no one but his enemy to whom he could speak, why, he spoke to his enemy.

I promised him, madam, that with his death the story should be closed, if you left Italy within the week."

"And he?"

she interrupted,--"he died there.

Well?"

"You know the laurel hedge by the sun-dial?

There is an out-house where the gardener keeps his tools.

I found a spade there, and beneath that laurel hedge I buried him."

Lady Featherstone rose to her feet.

She spoke no word; she uttered no cry; her face was white and terrible.

She stood rigid like one paralysed; then she swayed round and fell in a swoon upon the floor.

And as she fell, something bright slipped from her hand and dropped at Wogan's feet.

He picked it up.

It was a stiletto.

He stood looking down at the childish figure with a queer compassionate smile upon his face.

"She could love," said he; "yes, she could love."

He walked out of the house, led his horse back onto the road and mounted it.

The night was gathering; there were purple shadows upon the Apennines.

Wogan rode away alone.

EPILOGUE

Sir Charles Wogan had opportunities enough to appreciate in later years the accuracy of Maria Vittoria's prophecy.

"Here are two people cross-mated," said she, and events bore her out.

The jealousies of courtiers no doubt had their share in the estrangement of that unhappy couple, but that was no consolation to Wogan, who saw, within so short a time of that journey into Italy, James separated from the chosen woman, and the chosen woman herself seeking the seclusion of a convent.

As his reward he was made Governor of La Mancha in Spain, and no place could have been found with associations more suitable to this Irishman who turned his back upon his fortunes at Peri.

At La Mancha he lived for many years, writing a deal of Latin verse, and corresponding with many distinguished men in England upon matters of the intellect.

Matters of the heart he left alone, and meddled with no more.

Nor did any woman ever ride on his black horse into his city of dreams.

He lived and died a bachelor.

The memory of that week when he had rescued his Princess and carried her through the snows was to the last too vivid in his thoughts.

The thunderous roll of the carriage down the slopes, the sparks striking from the wheels, the sound of Clementina's voice singing softly in the darkness of the carriage, the walk under the stars to Ala, the coming of the dawn about that lonely hut, high-placed amongst the pines.

These recollections bore him company through many a solitary evening.

Somehow the world had gone awry.

Clementina, withdrawn into her convent, was, after all, "wasted," as he had sworn she should not be.

James was fallen upon a deeper melancholy, and diminished hopes.

He himself was an exile alone in his white _patio_ in Spain.

In only one point was Maria Vittoria's prophecy at fault.

She had spoken of two who were to find no mates, and one of the two was herself.

She married five years later.

THE END

*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CLEMENTINA ***

Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will be renamed.

Creating the works from print editions not protected by U. S.

copyright law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and you!

) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission and without paying copyright royalties.

Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ concept and trademark.

Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use of the Project Gutenberg trademark.

If you do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very easy.

You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and research.

Project Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away—you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected by U. S.

copyright law.

Redistribution is subject to the trademark license, especially commercial redistribution.

START: FULL LICENSE

THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG™ LICENSE

PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK

To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project Gutenberg License available with this file or online at www.

gutenberg.

org/license.

Section 1.

General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg electronic works 1. A.

By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property (trademark/copyright) agreement.

If you do not agree to abide by all the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg electronic works in your possession.

If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project Gutenberg electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1. E.

8. 1. B.

“Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark.

It may only be used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.

There are a few things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg electronic works even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.

See paragraph 1. C below.

There are a lot of things you can do with Project Gutenberg electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg electronic works.

See paragraph 1. E below.

1. C.

The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project Gutenberg electronic works.

Nearly all the individual works in the collection are in the public domain in the United States.

If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the United States and you are located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg are removed.

Of course, we hope that you will support the Project Gutenberg mission of promoting free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg name associated with the work.

You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg License when you share it without charge with others.

1. D.

The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern what you can do with this work.

Copyright laws in most countries are in a constant state of change.

If you are outside the United States, check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project Gutenberg work.

The Foundation makes no representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any country other than the United States.

1. E.

Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: 1. E.

1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg License must appear prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg work (any work on which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, copied or distributed: This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever.

You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg™ License included with this eBook or online at www.

gutenberg.

org.

If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.

1. E.

2. If an individual Project Gutenberg electronic work is derived from texts not protected by U. S.

copyright law (does not contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees or charges.

If you are redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase “Project Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1. E.

1 through 1. E.

7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1. E.

8 or 1. E.

9. 1. E.

3. If an individual Project Gutenberg electronic work is posted with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution must comply with both paragraphs 1. E.

1 through 1. E.

7 and any additional terms imposed by the copyright holder.

Additional terms will be linked to the Project Gutenberg License for all works posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.

1. E.

4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg.

1. E.

5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1. E.

1 with active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project Gutenberg License.

1. E.

6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any word processing or hypertext form.

However, if you provide access to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg work in a format other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official version posted on the official Project Gutenberg website (www.

gutenberg.

org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other form.

Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg License as specified in paragraph 1. E.

1. 1. E.

7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg works unless you comply with paragraph 1. E.

8 or 1. E.

9. 1. E.

8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing access to or distributing Project Gutenberg electronic works provided that: • You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from the use of Project Gutenberg works calculated using the method you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.

The fee is owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg trademark, but he has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.

Royalty payments must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns.

Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in Section 4, “Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.

” • You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™ License.

You must require such a user to return or destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg™ works.

• You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1. F.

3, a full refund of any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of receipt of the work.

• You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works.

1. E.

9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg™ electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark.

Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.

1. F.

1. F.

1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread works not protected by U. S.

copyright law in creating the Project Gutenberg™ collection.

Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg™ electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment.

1. F.

2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1. F.

3, the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a Project Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal fees.

YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT

LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.

F.

3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE

TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

1. F.

3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a written explanation to the person you received the work from.

If you received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with your written explanation.

The person or entity that provided you with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a refund.

If you received the work electronically, the person or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.

If the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further opportunities to fix the problem.

1. F.

4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth in paragraph 1. F.

3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’, WITH NO OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.