My beautiful! my Irene!how shall I thank thee!
It was long before the delighted lover suffered himself to observe upon Irenes face a sadness that did not usually cloud it in his presence. Her voice, too, trembled; her words seemed constrained and cold.
Have I offended thee? he asked; or what less misfortune hath occurred?
Irene raised her eyes to her lovers, and said, looking at him earnestly, Tell me, my Lord, in sober and simple truth, tell me, would it grieve thee much were this to be our last meeting?
Paler than the marble at his feet grew the dark cheek of Adrian. It was some moments ere he could reply, and he did so then with a forced smile and a quivering lip.
Jest not so, Irene! Last!that is not a word for us!
But hear me, my Lord
Why so cold?call me Adrian!friend!lover! or be dumb!
Well, then, my souls soul! my all of hope! my lifes life! exclaimed Irene, passionately, hear me! I fear that we stand at this moment upon some gulf whose depth I see not, but which may divide us for ever! Thou knowest the real nature of my brother, and dost not misread him as many do. Long has he planned, and schemed, and communed with himself, and, feeling his way amidst the people, prepared the path to some great design. But now(thou wilt not betraythou wilt not injure him?he is thy friend!)
And thy brother! I would give my life for his! Say on!
But now, then, resumed Irene, the time for that enterprise, whatever it be, is coming fast. I know not of its exact nature, but I know that it is against the noblesagainst thy orderagainst thy house itself! If it succeedoh, Adrian! thou thyself mayst not be free from danger; and my name, at least, will be coupled with the name of thy foes. If it fail,my brother, my bold brother, is swept away! He will fall a victim to revenge or justice, call it as you will. Your kinsman may be his judgehis executioner; and Ieven if I should yet live to mourn over the boast and glory of my humble linecould I permit myself to love, to see, one in whose veins flowed the blood of his destroyer? Oh! I am wretchedwretched! these thoughts make me well-nigh mad! and, wringing her hands bitterly, Irene sobbed aloud.
Adrian himself was struck forcibly by the picture thus presented to him, although the alternative it embraced had often before forced itself dimly on his mind. It was true, however, that, not seeing the schemes of Rienzi backed by any physical power, and never yet having witnessed the mighty force of a moral revolution, he did not conceive that any rise to which he might instigate the people could be permanently successful: and, as for his punishment, in that city, where all justice was the slave of interest, Adrian knew himself powerful enough to obtain forgiveness even for the greatest of all crimesarmed insurrection against the nobles. As these thoughts recurred to him, he gained the courage to console and cheer Irene. But his efforts were only partially successful. Awakened by her fears to that consideration of the future which hitherto she had forgotten, Irene, for the first time, seemed deaf to the charmers voice.
Alas! said she, sadly, even at the best, what can this love, that we have so blindly encouragedwhat can it end in? Thou must not wed with one like me; and I! how foolish I have been!
Recall thy senses then, Irene, said Adrian, proudly, partly perhaps in anger, partly in his experience of the sex. Love another, and more wisely, if thou wilt; cancel thy vows with me, and continue to think it a crime to love, and a folly to be true!
Cruel! said Irene, falteringly, and in her turn alarmed. Dost thou speak in earnest?
Tell me, ere I answer you, tell me this: come death, come anguish, come a whole life of sorrow, as the end of this love, wouldst thou yet repent that thou hast loved? If so, thou knowest not the love that I feel for thee.
Never! never can I repent! said Irene, falling upon Adrians neck; forgive me!
But is there, in truth, said Adrian, a little while after this lover-like quarrel and reconciliation, is there, in truth, so marked a difference between thy brothers past and his present bearing? How knowest thou that the time for action is so near?
Because now he sits closeted whole nights with all ranks of men; he shuts up his books,he reads no more,but, when alone, walks to and fro his chamber, muttering to himself. Sometimes he pauses before the calendar, which of late he has fixed with his own hand against the wall, and passes his finger over the letters, till he comes to some chosen date, and then he plays with his sword and smiles. But two nights since, arms, too, in great number were brought to the house; and I heard the chief of the men who brought them, a grim giant, known well amongst the people, say, as he wiped his brow,These will see work soon!
Arms! Are you sure of that? said Adrian, anxiously. Nay, then, there is more in these schemes than I imagined! But (observing Irenes gaze bent fearfully on him as his voice changed, he added, more gaily)but come what may, believe memy beautiful! my adored! that while I live, thy brother shall not suffer from the wrath he may provoke,nor I, though he forget our ancient friendship, cease to love thee less.
Signora! Signora! child! it is time! we must go! said the shrill voice of Benedetta, now peering through the foliage. The working men pass home this way; I see them approaching.
The lovers parted; for the first time the serpent had penetrated into their Eden,they had conversed, they had thought, of other things than Love.
Chapter 2.III. The Situation of a Popular Patrician in Times of Popular
Discontent.Scene of the Lateran.
The situation of a Patrician who honestly loves the people is, in those evil times, when power oppresses and freedom struggles,when the two divisions of men are wrestling against each other,the most irksome and perplexing that destiny can possibly contrive. Shall he take part with the nobles?he betrays his conscience! With the people?he deserts his friends! But that consequence of the last alternative is not the solenor, perhaps, to a strong mind, the most severe. All men are swayed and chained by public opinionit is the public judge; but public opinion is not the same for all ranks. The public opinion that excites or deters the plebeian, is the opinion of the plebeians,of those whom he sees, and meets, and knows; of those with whom he is brought in contact,those with whom he has mixed from childhood,those whose praises are daily heard,whose censure frowns upon him with every hour. (It is the same in still smaller divisions. The public opinion for lawyers is that of lawyers; of soldiers, that of the army; of scholars, it is that of men of literature and science. And to the susceptible amongst the latter, the hostile criticism of learning has been more stinging than the severest moral censures of the vulgar. Many a man has done a great act, or composed a great work, solely to please the two or three persons constantly present to him. Their voice was his public opinion. The public opinion that operated on Bishop, the murderer, was the opinion of the Burkers, his comrades. Did that condemn him? No! He knew no other public opinion till he came to be hanged, and caught the loathing eyes, and heard the hissing execrations of the crowd below his gibbet.) So, also, the public opinion of the great is the opinion of their equals,of those whom birth and accident cast for ever in their way. This distinction is full of important practical deductions; it is one which, more than most maxims, should never be forgotten by a politician who desires to be profound. It is, then, an ordeal terrible to passwhich few plebeians ever pass, which it is therefore unjust to expect patricians to cross unfaulteringlythe ordeal of opposing the public opinion which exists for them. They cannot help doubting their own judgment,they cannot help thinking the voice of wisdom or of virtue speaks in those sounds which have been deemed oracles from their cradle. In the tribunal of Sectarian Prejudice they imagine they recognise the court of the Universal Conscience. Another powerful antidote to the activity of a patrician so placed, is in the certainty that to the last the motives of such activity will be alike misconstrued by the aristocracy he deserts and the people he joins. It seems so unnatural in a man to fly in the face of his own order, that the world is willing to suppose any clue to the mystery save that of honest conviction or lofty patriotism. Ambition! says one. Disappointment! cries another. Some private grudge! hints a third. Mob-courting vanity! sneers a fourth. The people admire at first, but suspect afterwards. The moment he thwarts a popular wish, there is no redemption for him: he is accused of having acted the hypocrite,of having worn the sheeps fleece: and now, say they,See! the wolfs teeth peep out! Is he familiar with the people?it is cajolery! Is he distant?it is pride! What, then, sustains a man in such a situation, following his own conscience, with his eyes opened to all the perils of the path? Away with the cant of public opinion,away with the poor delusion of posthumous justice; he will offend the first, he will never obtain the last. What sustains him? HIS OWN SOUL! A man thoroughly great has a certain contempt for his kind while he aids them: their weal or woe are all; their applausetheir blameare nothing to him. He walks forth from the circle of birth and habit; he is deaf to the little motives of little men. High, through the widest space his orbit may describe, he holds on his course to guide or to enlighten; but the noises below reach him not! Until the wheel is broken,until the dark void swallow up the star,it makes melody, night and day, to its own ear: thirsting for no sound from the earth it illumines, anxious for no companionship in the path through which it rolls, conscious of its own glory, and contented, therefore, to be alone!