登陆注册
15744300000013

第13章

In the evening he, of course, went out in a boat on the lake, round and about the spit of land, to Brunnen and to Schwytz, and came in at nightfall. From afar he saw the window open and brightly lighted; he heard the sound of a piano and the tones of an exquisite voice. He made the boatman stop, and gave himself up to the pleasure of listening to an Italian air delightfully sung. When the singing ceased, Rodolphe landed and sent away the boat and rowers. At the cost of wetting his feet, he went to sit down under the water-worn granite shelf crowned by a thick hedge of thorny acacia, by the side of which ran a long lime avenue in the Bergmanns' garden. By the end of an hour he heard steps and voices just above him, but the words that reached his ears were all Italian, and spoken by two women.

He took advantage of the moment when the two speakers were at one end of the walk to slip noiselessly to the other. After half an hour of struggling he got to the end of the avenue, and there took up a position whence, without being seen or heard, he could watch the two women without being observed by them as they came towards him. What was Rodolphe's amazement on recognizing the deaf-mute as one of them;she was talking to Miss Lovelace in Italian.

It was now eleven o'clock at night. The stillness was so perfect on the lake and around the dwelling, that the two women must have thought themselves safe; in all Gersau there could be no eyes open but theirs.

Rodolphe supposed that the girl's dumbness must be a necessary deception. From the way in which they both spoke Italian, Rodolphe suspected that it was the mother tongue of both girls, and concluded that the name of English also hid some disguise.

"They are Italian refugees," said he to himself, "outlaws in fear of the Austrian or Sardinian police. The young lady waits till it is dark to walk and talk in security."He lay down by the side of the hedge, and crawled like a snake to find a way between two acacia shrubs. At the risk of leaving his coat behind him, or tearing deep scratches in his back, he got through the hedge when the so-called Miss Fanny and her pretended deaf-and-dumb maid were at the other end of the path; then, when they had come within twenty yards of him without seeing him, for he was in the shadow of the hedge, and the moon was shining brightly, he suddenly rose.

"Fear nothing," said he in French to the Italian girl, "I am not a spy. You are refugees, I have guessed that. I am a Frenchman whom one look from you has fixed at Gersau."Rodolphe, startled by the acute pain caused by some steel instrument piercing his side, fell like a log.

"/Nel lago con pietra/!" said the terrible dumb girl.

"Oh, Gina!" exclaimed the Italian.

"She has missed me," said Rodolphe, pulling from his wound a stiletto, which had been turned by one of the false ribs. "But a little higher up it would have been deep in my heart.--I was wrong, Francesca," he went on, remembering the name he had heard little Gina repeat several times; "I owe her no grudge, do not scold her. The happiness of speaking to you is well worth the prick of a stiletto. Only show me the way out; I must get back to the Stopfer's house. Be easy; I shall tell nothing."Francesca, recovering from her astonishment, helped Rodolphe to rise, and said a few words to Gina, whose eyes filled with tears. The two girls made him sit down on a bench and take off his coat, his waistcoat and cravat. Then Gina opened his shirt and sucked the wound strongly. Francesca, who had left them, returned with a large piece of sticking-plaster, which she applied to the wound.

"You can now walk as far as your house," she said.

Each took an arm, and Rodolphe was conducted to a side gate, of which the key was in Francesca's apron pocket.

"Does Gina speak French?" said Rodolphe to Francesca.

"No. But do not excite yourself," replied Francesca with some impatience.

"Let me look at you," said Rodolphe pathetically, "for it may be long before I am able to come again---"He leaned against one of the gate-posts contemplating the beautiful Italian, who allowed him to gaze at her for a moment under the sweetest silence and the sweetest night which ever, perhaps, shone on this lake, the king of Swiss lakes.

Francesca was quite of the Italian type, and such as imagination supposes or pictures, or, if you will, dreams, that Italian women are.

What first struck Rodolphe was the grace and elegance of a figure evidently powerful, though so slender as to appear fragile. An amber paleness overspread her face, betraying sudden interest, but it did not dim the voluptuous glance of her liquid eyes of velvety blackness.

A pair of hands as beautiful as ever a Greek sculptor added to the polished arms of a statue grasped Rodolphe's arm, and their whiteness gleamed against his black coat. The rash Frenchman could but just discern the long, oval shape of her face, and a melancholy mouth showing brilliant teeth between the parted lips, full, fresh, and brightly red. The exquisite lines of this face guaranteed to Francesca permanent beauty; but what most struck Rodolphe was the adorable freedom, the Italian frankness of this woman, wholly absorbed as she was in her pity for him.

Francesca said a word to Gina, who gave Rodolphe her arm as far as the Stopfers' door, and fled like a swallow as soon as she had rung.

"These patriots do not play at killing!" said Rodolphe to himself as he felt his sufferings when he found himself in his bed. " '/Nel lago!' Gina would have pitched me into the lake with a stone tied to my neck."Next day he sent to Lucerne for the best surgeon there, and when he came, enjoined on him absolute secrecy, giving him to understand that his honor depended on it.

同类推荐
  • The Call of the Wild

    The Call of the Wild

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 枕中记

    枕中记

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 青龙寺轨记

    青龙寺轨记

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • Indian Why Stories

    Indian Why Stories

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 畜德錄

    畜德錄

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
热门推荐
  • 农门悍妇

    农门悍妇

    林月娘是个悍妇,无论是前世还是穿越后。所谓武力值爆表,加上比泼妇更凶猛的彪悍,简直是言情界的一朵奇葩。和离回家后,挣挣钱,致致富,顺手捡个忠犬来养养。可是自己认定的憨子,咋突然变的这么会宠媳妇了呢?【情节虚构,请勿模仿】
  • 福妻驾到

    福妻驾到

    现代饭店彪悍老板娘魂穿古代。不分是非的极品婆婆?三年未归生死不明的丈夫?心狠手辣的阴毒亲戚?贪婪而好色的地主老财?吃上顿没下顿的贫困宭境?不怕不怕,神仙相助,一技在手,天下我有!且看现代张悦娘,如何身带福气玩转古代,开面馆、收小弟、左纳财富,右傍美男,共绘幸福生活大好蓝图!!!!快本新书《天媒地聘》已经上架开始销售,只要3.99元即可将整本书抱回家,你还等什么哪,赶紧点击下面的直通车,享受乐乐精心为您准备的美食盛宴吧!)
  • 仙路之下

    仙路之下

    仙门重开,万族并起,天变却频频出现。谁为谁布局,谁又是谁的棋子,谁才是真的幕后博弈者。一位少年伴随着天变而生,降落昆仑,是阴谋,还是命运,昆仑,故事从这里开始…………
  • 浴血战途

    浴血战途

    咄咄逼人的外敌,乌烟瘴气的朝政,这腐朽的国度,末路的王朝,在夕阳的余晖之下从此走向了无边的黑暗......诸侯与诸侯的乱战,世家与世家的暗斗,宗门与宗门的争夺,民族与民族的厮杀在这一片大陆之上随处可见。动荡,混乱,灾难,杀戮,征服,这是一个创造出无数英雄的时代,也是一个由英雄们创造的时代。他,一个本不应该转动的命运齿轮,就像一颗小小的石子,投入了波澜壮阔的大海,但他却搅动风云,掀起了汹涌的波涛。只因为他为征服而生,他随着征服而来,追着征服而走,永远无法停下脚步,因为征服永无止境。
  • 张艺兴:单纯绵羊别想逃

    张艺兴:单纯绵羊别想逃

    “艺兴。我们都辣么单纯,以后结了婚,在一起生活了,怎么办?”善恩拖着下巴问。“我不单纯……”话音刚落,善恩的小嘴巴又被堵住了。
  • 玄黄少年

    玄黄少年

    孤儿常青在体内种下一棵树,掌控世间植物。光合太阳能量,创造新型能源;植被沙漠,改善环境;淡化海水,造福人类。引发能源巨头围剿,野心家的觊觎,超级大国的嫉妒。;剿佣兵,横扫非洲;收吸血鬼,大战欧洲;破五十一区,喋血美洲。烽烟未净,辐射怪物强势登场,人类面临生存危机。玄黄世界,何以止戈,铁血少年,以杀止杀。
  • 咖啡的味道只有我们知道

    咖啡的味道只有我们知道

    深爱太伤人,要把自己的心毫不保留地放出去,受苦了也只能自己承受,可要是不放,能知道他是对的吗?
  • 末视幻觉

    末视幻觉

    父母早年失踪,只有一个几乎不存在的复姓。而一一个科技的大突破,一个虚拟网游的锻炼,以及后来的世界变异,会出现什么样的天才?他,踏上了寻找父母、寻找复姓真正意义,甚至决定人类存亡的道路,但,这条路能走多远?
  • 纪末游戏

    纪末游戏

    一个大收藏家在末日的成长史,他收藏各种事物...萝莉,御姐,信仰,装备,食物,才能,能人...只要他感兴趣的,就只有被收藏...收藏是为了什么呢?自然是为了在把妹的时候顺便拯救末日...(按他的话讲...)
  • 高楞

    高楞

    你想探索神魂的奥秘吗?一起出发吧!这是将生活中的一些常识融入故事,用故事来告诉你一些生活常识。同时也去探索我们的神魂到底去哪里了。如果你看了后,觉得无聊,那因为我们追求的目标不同。如果你看了后,对你没有帮助,那是因为你已经超越了我。