"And why did they send away one who did so much good here? Oh! unhappy me!"

"If our superiors were obliged to give reasons for what they do, where would be our obedience, my good woman?"

"But this is such a loss!"

"Shall I tell you how it has happened? they have probably wanted a good preacher at Rimini; (we have them in every place to be sure, but sometimes a particular man is needed;) the father provincial of that place has written to the father provincial of this, to know if there were such a person in this convent; the father provincial returned for answer, that there was none but Father Christopher who corresponded to the description."

"Oh! unfortunate! When did he go?"

"The day before yesterday."

"Oh! if I had only come a few days sooner, as I wished to do! And do they not know when he will return?"

"Why! my dear woman! the father provincial knows, if any one does; but when one of our preachers has taken his flight, it is impossible to say on what branch he will rest. They want him here; they want him there; for we have convents in the four quarters of the world. Father Christopher will make a great noise at Rimini, with his Lent sermon; the fame of this great preacher will resound every where, and it is our duty to give him up, because we live on the charity of others, and it is but right we should serve all the world."

"Oh! misery! misery!" cried Agnes, weeping; "what shall I do without this good man? He was a father to us; what a loss! what a loss!"

"Hear me, good woman--Father Christopher was truly a good man, but we have others equally so; there is Father Antanasio, Father Girolamo, Father Zaccaria! Father Zaccaria is a worthy man! And you must not wonder, as some ignorant people do, at his shrill voice and his little beard; I do not say that he is a preacher, because every one has his talent; but to give advice, he is the man."

"Oh! holy patience!" cried Agnes, with a mixture of grat.i.tude and vexation one feels at an offer containing more good-will than suitableness; "What is it to me what another man is, when he who is gone knew our affairs, and had every thing prepared to help us!"

"Then you must have patience."

"I know that. Excuse the trouble I have given you."

"That is of no consequence, my good woman; I pity you; if you decide upon asking advice of one of the fathers, you will find the convent still in its place. But let me see you soon, when I collect the oil."

"G.o.d preserve you," said Agnes; and she proceeded homeward, confused and disconcerted as a blind man who had lost his staff.

Having more information than Friar Galdino, we are enabled to relate the truth of this affair. Attilio, immediately on his arrival at Milan, performed his promise to Don Roderick, and visited his uncle of the secret council; (this was a committee composed of thirteen members, whose sanction was necessary to the proceedings of government; in case of the absence or death of the governor, the council a.s.sumed temporarily the control.) The count, one of the oldest members of the council, enjoyed in it some authority, which he did not fail to make known on all occasions. His language was ambiguous; his silence significant; he had the art of flattering, without absolutely promising; of menacing, without perhaps the power to perform; but these flatteries and menaces produced in the minds of others an impression of his unlimited power, which was the end and purpose of all his actions. Towards this point he lately made a great stride on an extraordinary occasion. He had been sent on an emba.s.sy to Madrid! And to hear him describe his reception there! Among other honours, the count-duke had treated him with particular attention, had admitted him to his confidence, so far as to ask him in the presence of the whole court, _if he were pleased with Madrid_? and to tell him on another occasion, at a window, that _the cathedral of Milan was the most magnificent church in the king's dominions_.

After having paid his duty to the count, and presented the compliments of his cousin, Attilio, with a seriousness which he knew well how to a.s.sume, said, "I believe it to be my duty to inform the signor, my uncle, of an affair in which Roderick is concerned, and which requires the interference of your lordship to avert the serious consequences that----"

"Ah! one of his pranks, I suppose."

"In truth, I must say that the injury has not been committed by Roderick, but he is exasperated, and none but my uncle can----"

"What is it? what is it?"

"There is in his neighbourhood a capuchin friar who sets himself in array against my cousin, who hates him, and the matter stands thus----"

"How often have I told you both to let the friars manage their own affairs? It is enough for those to whom it belongs--but you, you can avoid having any thing to do with them----"

"Signor uncle, it is my duty to inform you that Roderick would have avoided it, if it had been possible. It is the friar who has quarrelled with him, and he has used every means----"

"What the devil can the friar have in common with my nephew?"

"First of all, he is known to be a quarrelsome fellow; he protects a peasant girl of the village, and regards her with a benevolence, to say the least of it, very suspicious."

"I comprehend," said his uncle; and a ray of malice pa.s.sed over the depth of dulness which nature had stamped on his countenance.

"For some time," continued Attilio, "the friar has suspected Roderick of designs on this young girl----"

"_He_ has suspected, indeed! I know the signor Roderick too well myself, not to need to be told that he is incorrigible in such matters!"

"That Roderick, signor uncle, may have had some trifling conversation with this girl, I can very well believe; he is young, and, moreover, not a capuchin,--but these are idle tales, not worth engaging your attention. The serious part of the affair is, that the friar speaks of Roderick as if he were a villain, and instigates all the country against him----"

"And the other friars?"

"They do not meddle with it, because they know him to be hot-headed, though they have great respect for Roderick; but then, on the other hand, the friar pa.s.ses for a saint with the villagers, and----"

"I imagine he does not know Roderick is my nephew."

"Does he not know it? it is that, precisely, which animates him to this course of conduct."

"How? how?"

"He takes pleasure, and he tells it to every one, he takes the more pleasure in vexing Roderick, because he has a protector as powerful as your lordship; he laughs at the n.o.bility, and at diplomatists, and exults at the thought, that the girdle of Saint Francis can tie up all the swords, and that----"

"Oh! the presumptuous man! what is his name?"

"Friar Christopher, of ***," said Attilio. The count drew his portfolio towards him, and inscribed the name.

Meanwhile, Attilio proceeded: "He has always had this character; his life is well known; he was a plebeian, and having some wealth, wished to a.s.sociate with gentlemen, and not being able to succeed, killed one of them for rage; and to escape the gallows he a.s.sumed the habit of a friar."

"Bravo! well done! we will see, we will see," said the count in a fume.

"Now," continued Attilio, "he is more enraged than ever, because he has failed in a project he had much at heart. It is by this that your lordship can see what kind of a man he is. He wished to have this girl married, to remove her from the dangers of the world, you understand; and he had found his man, a fellow whose name you have doubtless heard, because I have understood that the secret council has been obliged to take notice of the worthy youth."

"Who is he?"

"A silk weaver, Lorenzo Tramaglino, he who----"

"Lorenzo Tramaglino!" cried the count. "Well done, friar! Truly--now I remember--he had a letter for a--it is a pity that--but no matter. And pray, why did Don Roderick say nothing of all this? why did he suffer things to go so far, before he acquainted one who has the power and the will to support him?"

"I will tell you also the truth with respect to that: knowing the mult.i.tude of cases which you have to perplex you, he has not been willing to add to them; and, besides, since I must say it, he is beside himself on account of the insults offered him by the friar, and would wish to wreak summary justice on him himself, rather than obtain it from prudence and the power of your lordship. I have tried to cool his ardour, but finding it impossible, I thought it my duty to inform your lordship, who, after all, is the prop and chief column of the house."

"You ought to have spoken sooner."

"That is true. But I hoped the affair would finish of itself, or that the friar would regain his reason, or that he would leave the convent, as often happens to these friars, who are sometimes here, sometimes there; and then all would have been settled. But----"

"The arrangement of the business now rests with me."

"That is what I thought; I said to myself, the signor our uncle is the only one who can save the honour of Don Roderick; he has a thousand means that I know not of: I know that the father provincial has a great respect for him, and if our uncle should think that the best thing for this friar would be a change of air, he can in a few words----"

"Will your lordship leave the care of the business to him to whom it appertains?" said the count, sharply.

"Ah! that is true," cried Attilio; "am I the man to give advice to your lordship? But the regard I have for the honour of the family made me speak. And I am afraid I have committed another folly," added he, affecting a pensive air: "I am afraid I have injured Don Roderick in your opinion; I should have no rest if you doubted Roderick's confidence in you, and submission to your will. I hope the signor our uncle will believe, that in this case, it is truly----"