Valperga (12 page)

Pepi descended the stairs; and from a small port-hole Castruccio
saw him cross the court, and then in a few minutes return with
cautious and observant steps. When he came near Castruccio, he
said: "Those German ruffians are now eating and drinking, and
will not mark us; yet let us tread lightly, for I have admitted
none of them to my tower, nor is it my intention to do so. It is a
place of strength; and the little I have in the world is preserved
here, which little in spite of the emperor and his devils I will
preserve."

Although the tower had appeared large without, yet its walls
were so thick that there was only room left within for a small
circular staircase; at the top of this Pepi undrew the bolts,
pushed up a trap- door, and they ascended to the platform on the
outside. The sky was darkening; but the west was tinged with a deep
orange colour, and the wide and dusky plain of Lombardy lay far
extended all around: immediately below was the town of Cremona,
which to them appeared as silent and peaceful as if the inhabitants
were in the enjoyment of perfect security. They continued some
minutes gazing silently, Castruccio on the wide extent of scenery
before him, Pepi on the thick walls of his tower. At length the
former said; "An evil star pursues you, Messer Benedetto, and
I am afraid that you were born in the descent of some evil
constellation."

"Doubtless," replied Pepi: yet there was an
indescribable expression in his countenance and manner, that
startled his companion; his eyes sparkled, and the lines of his
face, as plainly as such things could speak, spoke joy and
exultation. His voice however was drawn out into accents of grief,
and he ended his reply by a groan.

"Your palace is wasted by these ruffians."

"Nay, there is nothing to waste; the walls are too thick to
be hurt, and I removed every thing else before they came."

"They consume your food."

"I have none to consume. I am a poor, lone man, and had no
food in the house for them. They bring their rapine here; I send my
squire for wood, wherever he can collect it; I make a fire, and
they dress their food; and that is all that they get by
me."

"Have you lost no friend or relation in the war?"

"There is no one whom I love; I have met with undutifulness
and ingratitude, but no kindness or friendship; so I should not
have mourned, if my relations had fallen; but they are all
safe."

"Then it would appear, that you have lost nothing by the
havock of these Germans, and that you are still Benedetto the
Rich."

Pepi had answered the previous questions of Castruccio with
vivacity, and an expression of triumph and vanity, which he in vain
strove to conceal; his brows were elevated, a smile lurked in the
corners of his strait lips, and he even rubbed his hands. But, when
Castruccio spoke these last words, his face fell, his mouth was
drawn down, his arms sunk close to his sides, and, glancing at his
mean clothing, he replied: "I am always poor, always
unfortunate; and, Messer Castruccio, you do me great injustice and
injury by supposing that I have any wealth. I have a well built
palace, and a strong tower; but I can neither eat the stones, nor
clothe myself with the plaster; and, God knows, my possessions are
now reduced to fifty small acres; how therefore can I be
rich?"

"At least, if you are poor," replied Castruccio,
"your unfortunate townsmen share your misfortunes. Their
habitations are pillaged; those that escape the ravage of the
emperor, are driven out, starving and miserable, from the only
dwellings, be they palaces or cottages, which they
possess."

The countenance of Pepi again lighted up, his eyes sparkled, and
he said; "Aye, aye, many are fallen; but not so low--not so
low: they have still lands, they are not quite destitute, and the
dead have heirs--"

"Yes, indeed, heirs to famine and indignity; unhappy
orphans! far more miserable than if they had died with those who
gave them birth."

"Nay, I pity them from my soul; but I also have suffered
losses. The first party of Germans that broke into the town, seized
upon my horse, and my squire's gelding: I must buy others when
our enemies are gone, to keep up the honour of my knighthood. But,
enough of this. You, Messer Castruccio, have a troop of Italians,
horsemen, I believe, under your command: what do you intend to do
with them? Do you stay in Lombardy, or follow the emperor
south?"

"Events are now my masters; soon I hope to rule them, but
at present I shall be guided by accident, and cannot therefore
answer your question."

Pepi paused a few moments, and at length said, half to himself;
"No; this is not the time; events are as yet unripe; this
siege has done much, but I must still delay;--well, Messer
Castruccio, at present I will not reveal some circumstances, which,
when we began this conversation, I had thought to confide to your
discretion. Sometime, perhaps when you least expect it, we shall
meet again; and if Benedetto of Cremona be not exactly what he
seems, keep the secret until then, and I shall rest your obliged
servant. Now, farewell. You came to offer your services to save my
palace; I am a prudent man, and ordered my affairs so, that it ran
no risk; yet I am indebted to you for this, and for your other
generous act in my behalf; a time may come when we shall know one
another better. Again farewell."

This speech was delivered with a grave and mysterious mien, and
a face that signified careful thought and important expectations.
When he had ended, Pepi opened the trap-door, and he and Castruccio
descended slowly down the now benighted staircase into the court of
the palace: here they again interchanged salutations, and parted.
Pepi joined his boisterous guests, and Castruccio rode towards the
camp of the emperor. He mused as he went upon what the words of his
strange acquaintance might portend; his curiosity was for a time
excited by them; but change of place and the bustle of action made
him soon forget the existence of Benedetto the Rich, of Cremona.

QUITTING Cremona, Henry engaged himself in the siege of Brescia,
which made a gallant resistance, and yielded only on honourable
conditions, in the month of September. Castruccio served under the
emperor during this siege; but his nature was shocked by the want
of faith and cruelty of this monarch, who punished his enemies by
the most frightful tortures, and treated his friends as if they had
been his enemies. Castruccio therefore resolved to separate himself
from the Imperial army; and, when Henry quitted Lombardy for Genoa,
he remained with his friend, Galeazzo Visconti.

The petty wars of Lombardy could only interest those engaged in
them; and all eyes were turned towards the emperor during his
journey to Genoa, his unsuccessful negotiations with Florence, his
voyage to Pisa, his journey to Rome; where, the Vatican being in
the hands of the contrary party, he was crowned in the Lateran. And
then, his army diminished by sickness, and himself chagrined by the
slow progress of his arms, he returned to Tuscany, made an
unsuccessful attack upon Florence, and retired to the neighbourhood
of Sienna, where he died on the eighteenth of August 1313; leaving
Italy nearly in the same situation with regard to the preponderance
of the Guelph party, but more heated and violent in their factious
sentiments, as when he entered it two years before.

During this long contest Florence was the head and heart of the
resistance made against the emperor. Their detestation of the
Imperial power, and their fears of the restoration of their
banished Ghibelines, excited them to exert their utmost faculties,
in gaining allies, and in the defence of their own town. The death
of Henry was to them a bloodless victory; and they hoped that a
speedy change in the politics of Italy would establish the
universal ascendancy of the Guelphic party.

Pisa had always been constant to the Ghibelines, and friendly to
the emperor; by his death they found themselves thrown almost
without defence into the hands of the Florentines, their enemies;
and they therefore gladly acceded to the moderate terms offered to
them by the king of Naples and his ally, Florence, for the
establishment of peace in Tuscany. If this treaty had been
fulfilled, the hopes of the Ghibelines would have been crushed for
ever, nor would Castruccio ever have returned to his country; the
scenes of blood and misery which followed would have been spared;
and Florence, raising its benign influence over the other Tuscan
states, would have been the peace- maker of Italy. Events took a
different turn. To understand this it is necessary to look
back.

Immediately on the death of Henry, the Pisans, fearful of a
sudden incursion of the Florentines, for which they might be
unprepared, had engaged in their service a condottiere, Uguccione
della Faggiuola, who with his troop of a thousand Germans, took on
him the guard of their city. War was the trade of Uguccione; he
therefore looked with dismay on the projected peace, and resolved
to disturb it. The populace of the Italian towns, ranged under
party names, and ever obedient to the watchword and signals of
their party, were easily moved to fall on the contrary faction. The
Pisan people were Ghibelines; and, while the more moderate among
them had advanced far in the negotiating of a peace, Uguccione
caused live eagles, the ensigns of the Ghibelines, to be carried
through the streets; and the cry of, "Treason from the
Guelphs!" was the rallying word of fury to the populace. The
magistrates in vain endeavoured to assert their authority; their
partizans were dispersed, their captains taken prisoners and put to
death, and Uguccione declared general of the war against the
Florentines. This active chieftain lost no time in his operations;
he marched against the Lucchese, the allies of Florence, ravaged
their country, brought them to terms, and made peace with them on
condition of their recalling their Ghibeline exiles.

The three years which these events occupied were spent by
Castruccio in Lombardy. He made each year a campaign under one or
another of the Ghibeline lords of that territory, and passed the
winter at Milan. He formed a sincere and lasting friendship with
Galeazzo Visconti: but, although this amity contributed to his
advancement, his character suffered by the congeniality of
sentiment which he acquired with this chief. As they rode, hunted,
or fought together, often employed in mutual good--offices one for
the other, their affection became stronger; and it was as
disinterested and generous as it was firm. Galeazzo sincerely loved
Castruccio, and opened to him the dearest secrets of his heart; but
these secrets were such as to initiate the latter in the artful
policy and unprincipled motives of the Milanese lord, and to make
him regard treachery and cruelty as venial faults. He had no saving
passion, which by its purity and exalted nature, although it
permitted him to forgive, would make him avoid the faults of
Galeazzo. Ambition was the ruling feeling of his soul; an ambition
for power, conquest and renown, and not for virtue, and that fame,
which as the ph*nix, cannot live at the same period as its parent,
but springs from his ashes with the strong pinions of immortal
being.

It was this aspiring disposition which strongly recommended him
to Galeazzo. For it was not with him the wild desire for what he
had neither qualities nor capacity to obtain; it was combined with
transcendent talents, an energy of action and a clearness of
judgement, which greatly surpassed that of his companions.
Castruccio was fond of power; yet he was neither arrogant nor
tyrannical; words of kindness and winning smiles he bestowed at
will on all around. He appeared to fit himself for each scene in
which he was to take a part; in the camp he was energetic,
valorous, and swift of action; in council he was as prudent and
cautious as a grey-haired minister of state: at balls, or during a
hunting party, he recommended himself by grace, agility, wit, and a
courtesy whose sweetness was untarnished by vanity or presumption.
His beauty took a more manly cast; and somewhat of pride, and more
of self-confidence, and much of sensibility, were seen in his
upturned lip; his eyes, dark as a raven's wing, were full of
fire and imagination; his open forehead was shaded by the
hyacinthine curls of his chestnut-coloured hair. His face expressed
extreme frankness, a frankness that did not exist in his mind; for
his practices among the wily chiefs of Lombardy had robbed him of
all ingenuousness of soul, although the traces of that which he
once possessed had not faded from his countenance. Amidst all the
luxury of Lombardy he was abstemious, nor spent in personal
magnificence the money which he rather applied to the equipment of
his troop. At length the patient improvement which he had bestowed
upon his powers, and his perseverance in preparing for advancement,
obtained their due reward; and he among the other Lucchese exiles
returned to his native city.

But Castruccio was ill content to return as it were by the
endurance of the opposite party; on the contrary he wished to raise
his faction to that supremacy which would invest him with dominion
as its chief. He therefore carried on a treaty with Uguccione's
army, requiring their assistance for the overthrow of the Guelphs
of Lucca, and for placing him in authority over his native town;
while the tyrant of Pisa should in return gain a faithful ally, and
one more step should be taken towards the final establishment of
the Ghibeline ascendancy.

After arranging this scheme, Castruccio and his companions
passed the defile of the Serchio; and, advancing towards Lucca,
assumed a warlike appearance, and endeavoured to force the gate of
San Frediano; the Guelphs opposed him, and battle ensued. In the
mean time Uguccione arrived in another direction, and, not finding
free entrance at any of the gates, began to batter the wall. The
Guelphs, defeated by the Ghibelines, were in no condition to
resist; the Ghibelines, headed by Castruccio, considered Uguccione
as their ally, and thought not of impeding his operations; indeed
they were fully employed in resisting their adversaries, who,
though worsted, would not yield. The breach was effected, Uguccione
entered triumphantly, and, treating Lucca as a conquered town,
delivered it over to be sacked by his troops; while he himself made
a rich booty of the treasure of the Pope which had been preserved
in the church of San Frediano; Lucca having been selected as the
safest deposit for such a treasure.