Chapter 9.II. The Masquerade.
The acuter reader has already learned, without the absolute intervention of
the author as narrator, the incidents occurring to Rienzi in the interval
between his acquittal at Avignon and his return to Rome. As the impression
made by Nina upon the softer and better nature of Albornoz died away, he
naturally began to consider his guest - as the profound politicians of that
day ever considered men - a piece upon the great Chess-Board, to be moved,
advanced, or sacrificed, as best suited the scheme in view. His purpose
accomplished, in the recovery of the patrimonial territory, the submission
of John di Vico, and the fall and death of the Demagogue Baroncelli, the
Cardinal deemed it far from advisable to restore to Rome, and with so high
a dignity, the able and ambitious Rienzi. Before the daring Roman, even
his own great spirit quailed; and he was wholly unable to conceive or to
calculate the policy that might be adopted by the new Senator, when once
more Lord of Rome. Without affecting to detain, he therefore declined to
assist in restoring him. And Rienzi thus saw himself within an easy march
of Rome, without one soldier to protect him against the Barons by the way.
But Heaven had decreed that no single man, however gifted, or however
powerful, should long counteract or master the destinies of Rienzi: and
perhaps in no more glittering scene of his life did he ever evince so
dexterous and subtle an intellect as he now did in extricating himself from
the wiles of the Cardinal. Repairing to Perugia, he had, as we have seen,
procured, through the brothers of Montreal, men and money for his return.
But the Knight of St. John was greatly mistaken, if he imagined that Rienzi
was not thoroughly aware of the perilous and treacherous tenure of the
support he had received. His keen eye read at a glance the aims and the
characters of the brothers of Montreal - he knew that while affecting to
serve him, they designed to control - that, made the debtor of the grasping
and aspiring Montreal, and surrounded by the troops conducted by Montreal's
brethren, he was in the midst of a net which, if not broken, would soon
involve fortune and life itself in its fatal and deadly meshes. But,
confident in the resources and promptitude of his own genius, he yet
sanguinely trusted to make those his puppets, who dreamed that he was their
own; and, with empire for the stake, he cared not how crafty the
antagonists he was compelled to engage.
Meanwhile, uniting to all his rasher and all his nobler qualities, a
profound dissimulation, he appeared to trust implicitly to his Provencal
companions; and his first act on entering the Capitol, after the triumphal
procession, was to reward with the highest dignities in his gift, Messere
Arimbaldo and Messere Brettone de Montreal!
High feasting was there that night in the halls of the Capitol; but dearer
to Rienzi than all the pomp of the day, were the smiles of Nina. Her proud
and admiring eyes, swimming with delicious tears, fixed upon his
countenance, she but felt that they were re-united, and that the hours,
however brilliantly illumined, were hastening to that moment, when, after
so desolate and dark an absence, they might once more be alone.
Far other the thoughts of Adrian Colonna, as he sate alone in the dreary
palace in the yet more dreary quarter of his haughty race. Irene then was
alive, - he had been deceived by some strange error, - she had escaped the
devouring pestilence; and something in the pale sadness of her gentle
features, even in that day of triumph, told him he was still remembered.
But as his mind by degrees calmed itself from its first wild and tumultuous
rapture, he could not help asking himself the question whether they were
not still to be divided! Stefanello Colonna, the grandson of the old
Stephen, and (by the death of his sire and brother) the youthful head of
that powerful House, had already raised his standard against the Senator.
Fortifying himself in the almost impregnable fastness of Palestrina, he had
assembled around him all the retainers of his family, and his lawless
soldiery now ravaged the neighbouring plains far and wide.
Adrian foresaw that the lapse of a few days would suffice to bring the
Colonna and the Senator to open war. Could he take part against those of
his own blood? The very circumstance of his love for Irene would yet more
rob such a proceeding of all appearance of disinterested patriotism, and
yet more deeply and irremediably stain his knightly fame, wherever the
sympathy of his equals was enlisted with the cause of the Colonna. On the
other hand, not only his love for the Senator's sister, but his own secret
inclinations and honest convictions, were on the side of one who alone
seemed to him possessed of the desire and the genius to repress the
disorders of his fallen city. Long meditating, he feared no alternative
was left him but in the same cruel neutrality to which he had been before
condemned; but he resolved at least to make the attempt - rendered
favourable and dignified by his birth and reputation - to reconcile the
contending parties. To effect this, he saw that he must begin with his
haughty cousin. He was well aware that were it known that he had first
obtained an interview with Rienzi - did it appear as if he were charged
with overtures from the Senator - although Stefanello himself might be
inclined to yield to his representations, the insolent and ferocious Barons
who surrounded him would not deign to listen to the envoy of the People's
chosen one; and instead of being honoured as an intercessor, he should be
suspected as a traitor. He determined, then, to depart for Palestrina; but
(and his heart beat audibly) would it not be possible first to obtain an
interview with Irene? It was no easy enterprise, surrounded as she was,
but he resolved to adventure it. He summoned Giulio.
"The Senator holds a festival this evening - think you that the assemblage
will be numerous?"
"I hear," answered Giulio, "that the banquet given to the Ambassadors and
Signors today is to be followed tomorrow by a mask, to which all ranks are
admitted. By Bacchus, (Still a common Roman expletive.) if the Tribune
only invited nobles, the smallest closet in the Capitol would suffice to
receive his maskers. I suppose a mask has been resolved on in order to
disguise the quality of the visitors."
Adrian mused a moment; and the result of his revery was a determination to
delay for another sun his departure to Palestrina - to take advantage of
the nature of the revel, and to join the masquerade.
That species of entertainment, though unusual at that season of the year,
had been preferred by Rienzi, partly and ostensibly because it was one in
which all his numerous and motley supporters could be best received; but
chiefly and secretly because it afforded himself and his confidential
friends the occasion to mix unsuspected amongst the throng, and learn more
of the real anticipations of the Romans with respect to his policy and his
strength, than could well be gathered from the enthusiasm of a public
spectacle.
The following night was beautifully serene and clear. The better to
accommodate the numerous guests, and to take advantage of the warm and
moonlit freshness of the air, the open court of the Capitol, with the Place
of the Lion, (as well as the state apartments within,) was devoted to the
festival.
As Adrian entered the festive court with the rush of the throng, it chanced
that in the eager impatience of some maskers, more vehement than the rest,
his vizard was deranged. He hastily replaced it; but not before one of the
guests had recognised his countenance.
From courtesy, Rienzi and his family remained at first unmasked. They
stood at the head of the stairs to which the old Egyptian Lion gave the
name. The lights shone over that Colossal Monument - which, torn from its
antique home, had witnessed, in its grim repose, the rise and lapse of
countless generations, and the dark and stormy revolutions of avenging
fate. It was an ill omen, often afterwards remarked, that the place of
that state festival was the place also of the state executions. But at
that moment, as group after group pressed forward to win smile and word
from the celebrated man, whose fortunes had been the theme of Europe, or to
bend in homage to the lustrous loveliness of Nina, no omen and no warning
clouded the universal gladness.
Behind Nina, well contented to shrink from the gaze of the throng, and to
feel her softer beauty eclipsed by the dazzling and gorgeous charms of her
brother's wife, stood Irene. Amidst the crowd on her alone Adrian fixed
his eyes. The years which had flown over the fair brow of the girl of
sixteen - then animated by, yet trembling beneath, the first wild breath of
Love; - youth in every vein - passion and childish tenderness in every
thought, had not marred, but they had changed, the character of Irene's
beauty. Her cheek, no longer varying with every instant, was settled into
a delicate and thoughtful paleness - her form, more rounded to the
proportions of Roman beauty, had assumed an air of dignified and calm
repose. No longer did the restless eye wander in search of some imagined
object; no longer did the lip quiver into smiles at some untold hope or
half-unconscious recollection. A grave and mournful expression gave to her
face (still how sweet!) a gravity beyond her years. The bloom, the flush,
the April of the heart, was gone; but yet neither time, nor sorrow, nor
blighted love, had stolen from her countenance its rare and angelic
softness - nor that inexpressible and virgin modesty of form and aspect,
which, contrasting the bolder beauties of Italy, had more than aught else
distinguished to Adrian, from all other women, the idol of his heart. And
feeding his gaze upon those dark deep eyes, which spoke of thought far away
and busy with the past, Adrian felt again and again that he was not
forgotten! Hovering near her, but suffering the crowd to press one after
another before him, he did not perceive that he had attracted the eagle eye
of the Senator.
In fact, as one of the maskers passed Rienzi, he whispered, "Beware, a
Colonna is among the masks! beneath the reveller's domino has often lurked
the assassin's dagger. Yonder stands your foe - mark him!"
These words were the first sharp and thrilling intimation of the perils
into which he had rushed, that the Tribune-Senator had received since his
return. He changed colour slightly; and for some minutes the courtly smile
and ready greeting with which he had hitherto delighted every guest, gave
way to a moody abstraction.
"Why stands yon strange man so mute and motionless?" whispered he to Nina.
"He speaks to none - he approaches us not - a churl, a churl! - he must be
seen to."
"Doubtless, some German or English barbarian," answered Nina. "Let not, my
Lord, so slight a cloud dim your merriment."
"You are right, dearest; we have friends here; we are well girt. And, by
my father's ashes, I feel that I must accustom myself to danger. Nina, let
us move on; methinks we might now mix among the maskers - masked
ourselves."
The music played loud and cheerily as the Senator and his party mingled
with the throng. But still his eye turned ever towards the grey domino of
Adrian, and he perceived that it followed his steps. Approaching the
private entrance of the Capitol, he for a few moments lost sight of his
unwelcome pursuer: but just as he entered, turning abruptly, Rienzi
perceived him close at his side - the next moment the stranger had vanished
amidst the throng. But that moment had sufficed to Adrian - he had reached
Irene. "Adrian Colonna (he whispered) waits thee beside the Lion."
In the absorption of his own reflections, Rienzi fortunately did not notice
the sudden paleness and agitation of his sister. Entered within his
palace, he called for wine - the draught revived his spirits - he listened
smilingly to the sparkling remarks of Nina; and enduing his mask and
disguise, said, with his wonted cheerfulness, "Now for Truth - strange that
in festivals it should only speak behind a vizard! My sweet sister, thou
hast lost thine old smile, and I would rather see that than - Ha! has Irene
vanished?"
"Only, I suppose, to change her dress, my Cola, and mingle with the
revellers," answered Nina. "Let my smile atone for hers."
Rienzi kissed the bright brow of his wife as she clung fondly to his bosom.
"Thy smile is the sunlight," said he; "but this girl disturbs me. Methinks
now, at least, she might wear a gladder aspect."
"Is there nothing of love beneath my fair sister's gloom?" answered Nina.
"Do you not call to mind how she loved Adrian Colonna?"
"Does that fantasy hold still?" returned Rienzi, musingly. "Well, and she
is fit bride for a monarch."
"Yet it were an alliance that would, better than one with monarchs,
strengthen thy power at Rome!"
"Ay, were it possible; but that haughty race! - Perchance this very masker
that so haunted our steps was but her lover. I will look to this. Let us
forth, my Nina. Am I well cloaked?"
"Excellently well - and I?"
"The sun behind a cloud."
"Ah, let us not tarry long; what hour of revel like that when thy hand in
mine, this head upon thy bosom, we forget the sorrows we have known, and
even the triumphs we have shared?"
Meanwhile, Irene, confused and lost amidst a transport of emotion, already
disguised and masked, was threading her way through the crowd back to the
staircase of the Lion. With the absence of the Senator that spot had
comparatively been deserted. Music and the dance attracted the maskers to
another quarter of the wide space. And Irene now approaching, beheld the
moonlight fall over the statue, and a solitary figure leaning against the
pedestal. She paused, the figure approached, and again she heard the voice
of her early love.
"Oh, Irene! recognised even in this disguise," said Adrian, seizing her
trembling hand; "have I lived to gaze again upon that form - to touch this
hand? Did not these eyes behold thee lifeless in that fearful vault, which
I shudder to recall? By what miracle wert thou raised again? By what
means did Heaven spare to this earth one that it seemed already to have
placed amongst its angels?"
"Was this, indeed, thy belief?" said Irene, falteringly, but with an accent
eloquent of joy. "Thou didst not then willingly desert me? Unjust that I
was, I wronged thy noble nature, and deemed that my brother's fall, my
humble lineage, thy brilliant fate, had made thee renounce Irene."
"Unjust indeed!" answered the lover. "But surely I saw thee amongst the
dead! - thy cloak, with the silver stars - who else wore the arms of the
Roman Tribune?"
"Was it but the cloak then, which, dropped in the streets, was probably
assumed by some more ill-fated victim; was it that sight alone, that made
thee so soon despair? Ah! Adrian," continued Irene, tenderly, but with
reproach; "not even when I saw thee seemingly lifeless on the couch by
which I had watched three days and nights, not even then did I despair!"
"What, then, my vision did not deceive me! It was you who watched by my
bed in that grim hour, whose love guarded, whose care preserved me! And I,
wretch that I was! - "
"Nay," answered Irene, "your thought was natural. Heaven seemed to endow
me with superhuman strength, whilst I was necessary to thee. But judge of
my dismay. I left thee to seek the good friar who attended thee as thy
leech; I returned, and found thee not. Heart-sick and terrified, I
searched the desolate city in vain. Strong as I was while hope supported
me, I sunk beneath fear. - And my brother found me senseless, and stretched
on the ground, by the church of St. Mark."
"The church of St. Mark! - so foretold his dream!"
"He had told me he had met thee; we searched for thee in vain; at length we
heard that thou hadst left the city, and - and - I rejoiced, Adrian, but I
repined!"
For some minutes the young lovers surrendered themselves to the delight of
reunion, while new explanations called forth new transports.
"And now," murmured Irene, "now that we have met - " she paused, and her
mask concealed her blushes.
"Now that we have met," said Adrian, filling up the silence, "wouldst thou
say further, 'that we should not part?' Trust me, dearest, that is the
hope that animates my heart. It was but to enjoy these brief bright
moments with thee, that I delayed my departure to Palestrina. Could I but
hope to bring my young cousin into amity with thy brother, no barrier would
prevent our union. Willingly I forget the past - the death of my unhappy
kinsmen, (victims, it is true, to their own faults;) and, perhaps, amidst
all the crowds that hailed his return, none more appreciated the great and
lofty qualities of Cola di Rienzi, than did Adrian Colonna."
"If this be so," said Irene, "let me hope the best; meanwhile, it is enough
of comfort and of happiness to know, that we love each other as of old.
Ah, Adrian, I am sadly changed; and often have I thought it a thing beyond
my dreams, that thou shouldst see me again and love me still."
"Fairer art thou and lovelier than ever," answered Adrian, passionately;
"and time, which has ripened thy bloom, has but taught me more deeply to
feel thy value. Farewell, Irene, I linger here no longer; thou wilt, I
trust, hear soon of my success with my House, and ere the week be over I
may return to claim thy hand in the face of day."
The lovers parted; Adrian lingered on the spot, and Irene hastened to bury
her emotion and her raptures in her own chamber.
As her form vanished, and the young Colonna slowly turned away, a tall mask
strode abruptly towards him.
"Thou art a Colonna," it said, "and in the power of the Senator. Dost thou
tremble?"
"If I be a Colonna, rude masker," answered Adrian, coldly, "thou shouldst
know the old proverb, 'He who stirs the column, shall rue the fall.'"
The stranger laughed aloud, and then lifting his mask, Adrian saw that it
was the Senator who stood before him.
"My Lord Adrian di Castello," said Rienzi, resuming all his gravity, "is it
as friend or foe that you have honoured our revels this night?"
"Senator of Rome," answered Adrian, with equal stateliness, "I partake of
no man's hospitality but as a friend. A foe, at least to you, I trust
never justly to be esteemed."
"I would," rejoined Rienzi, "that I could apply to myself unreservedly that
most flattering speech. Are these friendly feelings entertained towards me
as the Governor of the Roman people, or as the brother of the woman who has
listened to your vows?"
Adrian, who when the Senator had unmasked had followed his example, felt at
these words that his eye quailed beneath Rienzi's. However, he recovered
himself with the wonted readiness of an Italian, and replied laconically,
"As both."
"Both!" echoed Rienzi. "Then, indeed, noble Adrian, you are welcome
hither. And yet, methinks, if you conceived there was no cause for enmity
between us, you would have wooed the sister of Cola di Rienzi in a guise
more worthy of your birth; and, permit me to add, of that station which
God, destiny, and my country, have accorded unto me. You dare not, young
Colonna, meditate dishonour to the sister of the Senator of Rome. Highborn
as you are, she is your equal."
"Were I the Emperor, whose simple knight I but am, your sister were my
equal," answered Adrian, warmly. "Rienzi, I grieve that I am discovered to
you yet. I had trusted that, as a mediator between the Barons and
yourself, I might first have won your confidence, and then claimed my
reward. Know that with tomorrow's dawn I depart for Palestrina, seeking to
reconcile my young cousin to the choice of the People and the Pontiff.
Various reasons, which I need not now detail, would have made me wish to
undertake this heraldry of peace without previous communication with you.
But since we have met, intrust me with any terms of conciliation, and I
pledge you the right hand, not of a Roman noble - alas! the prisca fides
has departed from that pledge! - but of a Knight of the Imperial Court,
that I will not betray your confidence."
Rienzi, accustomed to read the human countenance, had kept his eyes
intently fixed upon Adrian while he spoke; when the Colonna concluded, he
pressed the proffered hand, and said, with that familiar and winning
sweetness which at times was so peculiar to his manner,
"I trust you, Adrian, from my soul. You were mine early friend in calmer,
perchance happier, years. And never did river reflect the stars more
clearly, than your heart then mirrored back the truth. I trust you!"
While thus speaking, he had mechanically led back the Colonna to the statue
of the Lion; there pausing, he resumed:
"Know that I have this morning despatched my delegate to your cousin
Stefanello. With all due courtesy, I have apprised him of my return to
Rome, and invited hither his honoured presence. Forgetting all ancient
feuds, mine own past exile, I have assured him, here, the station and
dignity due to the head of the Colonna. All that I ask in return is
obedience to the law. Years and reverses have abated my younger pride, and
though I may yet preserve the sternness of the Judge, none shall hereafter
complain of the insolence of the Tribune."
"I would," answered Adrian, "that your mission to Stefanello had been
delayed a day; I would fain have forestalled its purport. Howbeit, you
increase my desire of departure, should I yet succeed in obtaining an
honourable and peaceful reconciliation, it is not in disguise that I will
woo your sister."
"And never did Colonna," replied Rienzi, loftily, "bring to his House a
maiden whose alliance more gratified ambition. I still see, as I have seen
ever, in mine own projects, and mine own destinies, the chart of the new
Roman Empire!"
"Be not too sanguine yet, brave Rienzi," replied Adrian, laying his hand on
the Lion of Basalt: "bethink thee on how many scheming brains this dumb
image of stone hath looked down from its pedestal - schemes of sand, and
schemers of dust. Thou hast enough, at present, for the employ of all
thine energy - not to extend thy power, but to preserve thyself. For,
trust me, never stood human greatness on so wild and dark a precipice!"
"Thou art honest," said the Senator; "and these are the first words of
doubt, and yet of sympathy, I have heard in Rome. But the People love me,
the Barons have fled from Rome, the Pontiff approves, and the swords of the
Northmen guard the avenues of the Capitol. But these are nought; in mine
own honesty are my spear and buckler. Oh, never," continued Rienzi,
kindling with his enthusiasm, "never since the days of the old Republic,
did Roman dream a purer and a brighter aspiration, than that which animates
and supports me now. Peace restored - law established - art, letters,
intellect, dawning upon the night of time; the Patricians, no longer
bandits of rapine, but the guard of order; the People ennobled from a mob,
brave to protect, enlightened to guide, themselves. Then, not by the
violence of arms, but by the majesty of her moral power, shall the Mother
of Nations claim the obedience of her children. Thus dreaming and thus
hoping, shall I tremble or despond? No, Adrian Colonna, come weal or woe,
I abide, unshrinking and unawed, by the chances of my doom!"
So much did the manner and the tone of the Senator exalt his language, that
even the sober sense of Adrian was enchanted and subdued. He kissed the
hand he held, and said earnestly,
"A doom that I will deem it my boast to share - a career that it will be my
glory to smooth. If I succeed in my present mission - "
"You are my brother!" said Rienzi.
"If I fail?"
"You may equally claim that alliance. You pause - you change colour."
"Can I desert my house?"
"Young Lord," said Rienzi, loftily, "say rather can you desert your
country? If you doubt my honesty, if you fear my ambition, desist from
your task, rob me not of a single foe. But if you believe that I have the
will and the power to serve the State - if you recognise, even in the
reverses and calamities I have known and mastered, the protecting hand of
the Saviour of Nations - if those reverses were but the mercies of Him who
chasteneth - necessary, it may be, to correct my earlier daring and sharpen
yet more my intellect - if, in a word, thou believest me one whom, whatever
be his faults, God hath preserved for the sake of Rome, forget that you are
a Colonna - remember only that you are a Roman!"
"You have conquered me, strange and commanding spirit," said Adrian, in a
low voice, completely carried away; "and whatever the conduct of my
kindred, I am yours and Rome's. Farewell."
