It was in fact Vivaldi who, putting aside the knot of idlers about thechaise, stepped forward at Odo's approach. The philosopher's countenancewas perturbed, his travelling-coat spattered with mud, and his daughter,hooded and veiled, clung to him with an air of apprehension that smoteOdo to the heart. He caught a blush of recognition beneath her veil; andas he drew near she raised a finger to her lip and faintly shook herhead.
The mute signal reassured him. "I see, sir," said he, turningcourteously to Vivaldi, "that you are in a bad plight, and I hope that Ior my carriage may be of service to you." He ventured a second glance atFulvia, but she had turned aside and was inspecting the wheel of thechaise with an air of the most disheartening detachment.
Vivaldi, who had returned Odo's greeting without any sign of ill-will,bowed slightly and seemed to hesitate a moment. "Our plight, as yousee," he said, "is indeed a grave one; for the wheel has come off ourcarriage and my driver here tells me there is no smithy this sideVercelli, where it is imperative we should lie tonight. I hope,however," he added, glancing down the road, "that with all the trafficnow coming and going we may soon be overtaken by some vehicle that willcarry us to our destination."He spoke calmly, but it was plain some pressing fear underlay hiscomposure, and the nature of the emergency was but too clear to Odo.
"Will not my carriage serve you?" he hastily rejoined. "I am forVercelli, and if you will honour me with your company we can go forwardat once."Fulvia, during this exchange of words, had affected to be engaged withthe luggage, which lay in a heap beside the chaise; but at this pointshe lifted her head and shot a glance at her father from under her blacktravelling-hood.
Vivaldi's constraint increased. "This, sir," said he, "is a handsomeoffer, and one for which I thank you; but I fear our presence mayincommode you and the additional weight of our luggage perhaps delayyour progress. I have little fear but some van or waggon will overtakeus before nightfall; and should it chance otherwise," he added with atouch of irresistible pedantry, "why, it behoves us to remember that weshall be none the worse off, since the sage is independent ofcircumstances."Odo could hardly repress a smile. "Such philosophy, sir, is admirable inprinciple, but in practice hardly applicable to a lady unused to passingher nights in a rice-field. The region about here is notoriouslyunhealthy and you will surely not expose your daughter to the risk ofremaining by the roadside or of finding a lodging in some peasant'shut."Vivaldi drew himself up. "My daughter," said he, "has been trained toface graver emergencies with an equanimity I have no fear of putting tothe touch--'the calm of a mind blest in the consciousness of itsvirtue'; and were it not that circumstances are somewhat pressing--" hebroke off and glanced at Cantapresto, who was fidgeting about Odo'scarriage or talking in undertones with the driver of the chaise.
"Come, sir," said Odo urgently, "Let my servants put your luggage up andwe'll continue this argument on the road."Vivaldi again paused. "Sir," he said at length, "will you first stepaside with me a moment?" he led Odo a few paces down the road. "I makeno pretence," he went on when they were out of Cantapresto's hearing,"of concealing from you that this offer comes very opportune to ourneeds, for it is urgent we should be out of Piedmont by tomorrow. Butbefore accepting a seat in your carriage, I must tell you that you offerit to a proscribed man; since I have little reason to doubt that by thistime the sbirri are on my track."It was impossible to guess from Vivaldi's manner whether he suspectedOdo of being the cause of his misadventure; and the young man, thoughflushing to the forehead, took refuge in the thought of Fulvia's signaland maintained a self-possessed silence.
"The motive of my persecution," Vivaldi continued, "I need hardlyexplain to one acquainted with my house and with the aims and opinionsof those who frequent it. We live, alas, in an age when it is a moraloffence to seek enlightenment, a political crime to share it withothers. I have long foreseen that any attempt to raise the condition ofmy countrymen must end in imprisonment or flight; and though perhaps tohave suffered the former had been a more impressive vindication of myviews, why, sir, the father at the last moment overruled thephilosopher, and thinking of my poor girl there, who but for me standsalone in the world, I resolved to take refuge in a state where a man maywork for the liberty of others without endangering his own."Odo had listened with rising eagerness. Was not here an opportunity, ifnot to atone, at least to give practical evidence of his contrition?
"What you tell me sir," he exclaimed, "cannot but increase my zeal toserve you. Here is no time to palter. I am on my way to Lombardy, which,from what you say, I take to be your destination also; and if you andyour daughter will give me your company across the border I think youneed fear no farther annoyance from the police, since my passports, asthe Duke of Pianura's cousin, cover any friends I choose to take in mycompany.""Why, sir," said Vivaldi, visibly moved by the readiness of theresponse, "here is a generosity so far in excess of our present needsthat it encourages me to accept the smaller favour of travelling withyou to Vercelli. There we have friends with whom we shall be safe forthe night, and soon after sunrise I hope we may be across the border."Odo at once followed up his advantage by pointing out that it was on theborder that difficulties were most likely to arise; but after a fewmoments of debate Vivaldi declared he must first take counsel with hisdaughter, who still hung like a mute interrogation on the outskirts oftheir talk.
After a few words with her, he returned to Odo. "My daughter," said he,"whose good sense puts my wisdom to the blush, wishes me first toenquire if you purpose returning to Turin; since in that case, as shepoints out, your kindness might result in annoyances to which we have noright to expose you."Odo coloured. "Such considerations, I beg your daughter to believe,would not weigh with me an instant; but as I am leaving Piedmont for twoyears I am not so happy as to risk anything by serving you."Vivaldi on this assurance at once consented to accept a seat in hiscarriage as far as Boffalora, the first village beyond the Sardinianfrontier. It was agreed that at Vercelli Odo was to set down hiscompanions at an inn whence, alone and privately, they might gain theirfriend's house; that on the morrow at daybreak he was to take them up ata point near the convent of the Umiliati, and that thence they were topush forward without a halt for Boffalora.
This agreement reached, Odo was about to offer Fulvia a hand to thecarriage when an unwelcome thought arrested him.
"I hope, sir," said he, again turning to Vivaldi, and blushing furiouslyas he spoke, "that you feel assured of my discretion; but I oughtperhaps to warn you that my companion yonder, though the good-naturedestfellow alive, is not one to live long on good terms with a secret,whether his own or another's.""I am obliged to you," said Vivaldi, "for the hint; but my daughter andI are like those messengers who, in time of war, learn to carry theirdespatches beneath their tongues. You may trust us not to betrayourselves; and your friend may, if he chooses, suppose me to betravelling to Milan to act as governor to a young gentleman of quality."The Professor's luggage had by this been put on Odo's carriage, and thelatter advanced to Fulvia. He had drawn a favourable inference from theconcern she had shown for his welfare; but to his mortification shemerely laid two reluctant finger tips in his hand and took her seatwithout a word of thanks or so much as a glance at her rescuer. Thisunmerited repulse, and the constraint occasioned by Cantapresto'spresence, made the remainder of the drive interminable. Even theProfessor's apposite reflections on rice-growing and the culture of themulberry did little to shorten the way; and when at length thebell-towers of Vercelli rose in sight Odo felt the relief of a man whohas acquitted himself of a tedious duty. He had looked forward with themost romantic anticipations to the outcome of this chance encounter withFulvia; but the unforgiving humour which had lent her a transitory charmnow became as disfiguring as some physical defect; and his heart swelledwith the defiance of youthful disappointment.
It was near the angelus when they entered the city. Just within thegates Odo set down his companions, who took leave of him, the one withthe heartiest expressions of gratitude, the other with a hurriedinclination of her veiled head. Thence he drove on to the Three Crowns,where he designed to lie. The streets were still crowded withholiday-makers and decked out with festal hangings. Tapestries andsilken draperies adorned the balconies of the houses, innumerable tinylamps framed the doors and windows, and the street-shrines were dressedwith a profusion of flowers; while every square and open space in thecity was crowded with booths, with the tents of ambulant comedians anddentists, and with the outspread carpets of snake-charmers,posture-makers and jugglers. Among this mob of quacks and pedlarscirculated other fantastic figures, the camp-followers of the army ofhucksters: dwarfs and cripples, mendicant friars,............