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The Eternal City, a novel by Hall Caine |
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Part 3. Roma - Chapter 4 |
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_ PART THREE. ROMA CHAPTER IV The little Princess called for Roma the following night, and they drove to the opera in her magnificent English carriage. Already the theatre was full and the orchestra was tuning up. With the movement of people arriving and recognising each other there was an electrical atmosphere which affected everybody. Don Camillo came, oiled and perfumed, and when he had removed the cloaks of the ladies and they took their places in the front of the box, there was a slight tingling all over the house. This pleased the little Princess immensely, and she began to sweep the place with her opera-glass. "Crowded already!" she said. "And every face looking up at my box! That's what it is to have for your companion the most beautiful and the most envied girl in Rome. What a sensation! Nothing to what it will be, though, when your illustrious friend arrives." At that moment David Rossi appeared at the back, and the Princess welcomed him effusively. "So glad! So honoured! Gi-gi, let me introduce you--Honourable Rossi, Don Camillo Luigi Murelli." Roma looked at him--he had an air of distinction in a dress coat such as comes to one man in a thousand. He looked at Roma--she wore a white gown with violets on one shoulder and two rows of pearls about her beautiful white throat. The Princess looked at both of them, and her little eyes twinkled. "Never been here before, Mr. Rossi? Then you must allow me to explain everything. Take this chair between Roma and myself. No, you must not sit back. _You_ can't mind observation--so used to it, you know." Without further ado David Rossi took his place in front of the box, and then a faint commotion passed over the house. There were looks of surprise and whispered comments, and even some trills of laughter. He bore it without flinching, as if he had come for it and expected it, and was taking it as a penance. Roma dropped her head and felt ashamed, but the little Princess went on talking. "These boxes on the first tier are occupied by Roman society generally, those on the second tier mainly by the diplomatic corps, and the stalls are filled by all sorts and conditions of people--political people, literary people, even trades-people if they're rich enough or can pretend to be." "And the upper circles?" asked Rossi. "Oh," in a tired voice, "professional people, I think--Collegio Romano and University of Rome, you know." "And the gallery?" "Students, I suppose." Then eagerly, after bowing to somebody below, "Gi-gi, there's Lu-lu. Don't forget to ask him to supper.... All the beautiful young men of Rome are here to-night, Mr. Rossi, and presently they'll pay a round of calls on the ladies in the boxes." The voice of the Princess was suddenly drowned by the sharp tap of the conductor, followed by the opening blast of the overture. Then the lights went down and the curtain rose, but still the audience kept up a constant movement in the lower regions of the house, and there was an almost unbroken chatter. The curtain fell on the first act without anybody knowing what the opera had been about, except that Samson loved a woman named Delilah, and the lords of the Philistines were tempting her to betray him. Students in the gallery, recognisable by their thin beards, shouted across at each other for the joy of shouting, and spoke by gestures to their professors below. People all over the house talked gaily on social subjects, and there was much opening and shutting of the doors of boxes. The beautiful young man called Lu-lu came to pay his respects to the Princess, and there was a good deal of gossip and laughter. The second act was more dramatic than the first, showing Samson in his character as a warrior, and when the curtain came down again, General Morra, the Minister of War, visited the Princess's box. "So you're taking lessons in the art of war from the professor who slew an army with the jaw-bone of an ass?" said Don Camillo. "Wish we could enlist a few thousands of him--jaw-bones as well," said the General. "The gentleman might be worth having at the War Office, if it was only as a _jettatura_." And then in a low voice to the Princess, with a glance at Roma, "Your beautiful young friend doesn't look so well to-night." The Princess shrugged her shoulders. "Of the pains of love one suffers but does not die," she whispered. "You surely cannot mean...." The Princess put the tip of her fan to his lips and laughed. Roma was conscious of a strange conflict of feelings. The triumph she had promised herself by David Rossi's presence with her in public--the triumph over the envious ones who would have rejoiced in her downfall--brought her no pleasure. The third act dealt with the allurements of Delilah, and was received with a good deal of laughter. "Ah, these sweet, round, soft things--they can do anything they like with the giants," said Don Camillo. The Baron, who had dined with the King, came round at the end of the next act, wearing a sash diagonally across his breast, with crosses, stars, and other decorations. He bowed to David Rossi with ceremonious politeness, greeted Don Camillo familiarly, kissed the hand of the Princess, and offered his arm to Roma to take her into the corridor to cool--she was flushed and overheated. "I see you are getting on, my child! Excellent idea to bring him here! Everybody is saying you cannot be the person he intended, so his trumpet has brayed to no purpose." "You received my letters?" she said in a faltering voice. "Yes, but don't be uneasy. I'm neither the prophet nor the son of a prophet if we are not on the right track. What a fortunate thought about the man Minghelli! An inspiration! You asked what his fault was in London--forgery, my dear!" "That's serious enough, isn't it?" "In a Secretary of Legation, yes, but in a police agent...." He laughed significantly, and she felt her skin creep. "Has he found out anything?" she asked. "Not yet, but he is clearly on the track of great things. It is nearly certain that your King David is a person wanted by the law." Her hand twitched at his arm, but they were turning at the end of the corridor and she pretended to trip over her train. "Some clues missing still, however, and to find them we are sending Minghelli to London." "London? Anything connected with my father?" "Possibly! We shall see. But there's the orchestra and here's your box! You're wonderful, my dear! Already you've undone the mischief he did you, and one half of your task is accomplished. Diplomatists! Pshaw! We'll all have to go to school to a girl. Adieu!" All through the next act Roma seemed to feel a sting on her arm where the Baron had touched it, and she was conscious of colouring up when the Princess said: "Everybody is looking this way, my dear! See what it is to be the most talked-of girl in Rome!" And then she felt David Rossi's hand on the back of her chair, and heard his soft voice saying: "The light is in your eyes, Donna Roma. Let me change places with you for a while." After that everything passed in a kind of confusion. She heard somebody say: "He's putting a good deal of heart into it, poor thing!" And somebody answered, "Yes, of broken heart apparently." Then there was a crash and the opera was over, and she was going out in a crowd on David Rossi's arm, and feeling as if she would fall if she dropped it. The magnificent English carriage drew up under the portico and all four of them got into it. "Grand Hotel!" cried Don Camillo. Then dropping back to his place he laughed and chanted: "And the dead he slew at his death were more than he slew in his life ... and he judged Israel twenty years." _ |
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