“I am ardent, my general, perhaps too sanguine, but I have no self-love,
at least none when the interests of the great cause are at stake. Tell
me, then, their names, and count, if required, on my cooperation.”
“Garibaldi and Mary-Anne.”
“A Polchinello and a Bayadere!” exclaimed Mirandola, and, springing from
his seat, he impatiently paced the room.
“And yet,” continued the general calmly, “there is no manner of doubt
that Garibaldi is the only name that could collect ten thousand men
at any given point in Italy; while in France, though her influence
is mythical, the name of Mary-Anne is a name of magic. Though never
mentioned, it is never forgotten. And the slightest allusion to it among
the initiated will open every heart. There are more secret societies
in France at this moment than at any period since ‘85, though you hear
nothing of them; and they believe in Mary-Anne, and in nothing else.”
“You have been at Caprera?” said Mirandola.
“I have been at Caprera.”
“And what did he say?”
“He will do nothing without the sanction of the Savoyard.”
“He wants to get wounded in his other foot,” said Mirandola, with savage
sarcasm. “Will he never weary of being betrayed?”
“I found him calm and sanguine,” said the general.
“What of the woman?”
“Garibaldi will not move without the Savoyard, and Mary-Anne will not
move without Garibaldi; that is the situation.”
“Have you seen her?”
“Not yet; I have been to Caprera, and I have come over to see her and
you. Italy is ready for the move, and is only waiting for the great man.
He will not act without the Savoyard; he believes in him. I will not be
skeptical. There are difficulties enough without imagining any. We have
no money, and all our sources of supply are drained; but we have the
inspiration of a sacred cause, we have you—we may gain others—and, at
any rate, the French are no longer at Rome.”
CHAPTER 33 “The Goodwood Cup, my lord—the Doncaster. This pair
of flagons for his highness the Khedive—something quite new—yes,
parcel-gilt, the only style now—it gives relief to design—yes, by Monti,
a great man, hardly inferior to Flaxman, if at all. Flaxman worked for
Rundell and Bridge in the old days—one of the principal causes of
their success. Your lordship’s gold service was supplied by Rundell and
Bridge. Very fine service indeed, much by Flaxman—nothing of that kind
seen now.”
“I never did see it,” said Lothair. He was replying to Mr. Ruby, a
celebrated jeweller and goldsmith, in a celebrated street, who had
saluted him when he had entered the shop, and called the attention of
Lothair to a group of treasures of art.
“Strange,” said Mr. Ruby smiling. “It is in the next room, if your
lordship would like to see it. I think your lordship should see your
gold service. Mr. Putney Giles ordered it here to be examined and put in
order.”
“I should like to see it very much,” said Lothair, “though I came to
speak to you about something else.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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