“Yet this was the cruelty of it—that even while the Count was telling her of the man’s death Ugo Klun, hidden in a cave above the Verbas, was saying to himself that the pursuit would soon be over, and that he would return to hold little Christine in his arms again.
“Excellency, the report had lied that a corporal might profit.”
CHAPTER XI
ANDREA BEARS WITNESS
“You have told me, signor, that you know neither Jajce nor her mountains. May it be my privilege, if you are of a mind to see the wonders of this incomparable land, to be your companion in the venture! And when that day shall come, let it be a day neither of dreadful summer nor of unrelenting winter; a day when the hills are sweet with the air of spring; when the rills run down foamed with golden light; when the grass of the woods is carpeted with the year’s first flowers. Then we shall see the minarets of the city rising up like silver towers above the fresh waters of the river; then will the thunder of her cascade make music for our ears. She will win a victory over our affections; we shall hold her in perpetual honour.
“I am led to speak in this way since I am still mindful of my last journey to the town of the falling rivers, and of the many troubles that beset my path when I sought Christine in her new home. You may ask well enough how it was that I, having, in my misconception, sent soldiers to save her from shame, did not at once search for her in the mountains and carry her back to Sebenico. As God is my witness, I did this, and all else that might bring back to me the daughter I loved. Ten days I rode in the heights, asking of all that passed by for tidings of my child; ten days I searched the woods and the villages between Livno and my own city. But that very secrecy which the lad Ugo had observed stood between me and my desires. None but the shepherd knew where Christine had slept upon the night of her marriage. Vague rumours of a sharp pursuit in the mountains, intelligence of the fate of Orio, divergent accounts of the capture of the deserter, of his attack upon his commanding officer and his death—these things came slowly to our ears in a province where gossip is high treason and the publication of news often a felony. Indeed, I had begun to look upon little Christine as one snatched from my love and my life, to say that I should never hear her pretty prattle or touch her hand again, when—and that was five months after she had left the island—the summons from Jajce came to me, and I learnt not only of her new estate, but of her happiness and her fortune.
“She wrote the letter with her own hand—no longer the childish scrawl which was her gift from the priest at Zlarin, but neater characters, telling of some education and of culture. I read there that she was not forgetful of the old time or the old friends; but it was plain that the fervour of childhood had left her, and that she had put on the sober dignity of womanhood. Such love as she expressed for me was expressed in measured terms; she spoke of her great gratitude to the Count and of his unceasing kindness to her; she made mention of Father Mark and of her other friends; and she concluded by exhorting me to cross the mountains to Jajce and there to tell all I knew of her early life and circumstances—‘for,’ she said, ‘this I owe to my benefactor, and you alone can pay the debt.’
“I read her letter, and on the third day after, having suffered much by the way, I was driving my sleigh over the frozen park of Count Paul’s château. The scene was one to linger in the memory, excellency, a scene to bear witness to the glory of God, and of nature, which is God’s child. Peak upon peak, shining in the sun like domes of ice, rose up above the path I followed; Jajce herself had put upon her a mantle of snow; her frozen cascades were so many ropes of gold and of jewels; the great lake had become a vast mirror, like a mirror of silver; the hills themselves were full of the dismal howling of the wolves. From such desolation it was good to pass to the warmth and the welcome of the house of the Zaloskis; good to hear the barking of the dogs, to see the bright flame of the fires, to feel the spreading heat of the many stoves. But better than all was it to remember that little Christine was then in the house, and that I was about to hear her voice again.
“They received me in the great hall, excellency, the priest coming forward to meet me, and whispering a word in my ear before he led me to his master. He had a kindly face, open and sincere; and ill as Christine had liked him at the first, I make sure that she has reason now to love him. This, indeed, his words proved, as you shall learn subsequently.
“‘My friend,’ said he, ‘you must first drink a glass of prune brandy, and warm yourself with the soup which Hans shall bring us. I know very well what the cold may be on the hills. Let us thank God for these thick walls around us.’
“He poured me a glass of the liquor, which was like fire to the stomach; and when I had drunk it I asked for Christine.