Don Orsino

sudden changes in position which make epochs in the lives of fatherless sons, the event was considered as a family matter and no great social celebration of it was contemp

of old friends should be asked to dinner, to drink the he

ot contribute to prolong the effect produced. Orsino thought their stories and anecdotes very long-winded and pointless, and even the old prince himself seemed oppressed by the solemnity of the affair, and rarely laughed. Corona, with serene good humour did her best to make conversation, and a shade of animation occasionally appeared at her end of the table; but Sant' Ilario was bored to the verge of extinction and talked of nothing but archaeology and the trial of the Cenci, wondering inwardly why he chose such exceedingly dry subjects. As for Orsino, the two old princesses between whom he was placed paid very little attention to him, and talked across him about the merits of their respective confessors and directors.

stood before the fire in the state drawing-room, rubbing his hands and shaking his head. Giovanni and Corona sat on opposite sides of the fireplace, l

aracinesca raised his head and gave vent

all worn off and the brains are all worn out and there is nothing left but a cracked old block of wood with a ribbon around its neck. You will be just like them, Giovanni, in a few year

ll yourself a figure-

people have had enough of them, instead of sitting up at the table like death's-heads to grin at their grandchildren and great-grandchildren!' They talk like that, Giovanni. I have known some of those old monuments for si

ed round to enjoy the rare delight of seeing th

was because you were too good

against that graceless husband of yours? He is always abusing me-as though I were his property, or his guest. Orsino, my boy, go away

e too good," ob

hen you are eighty-two years old. And Corona is laughing at me. It is insufferable. You used to be a good girl, Corona-but you are so proud of having four

grandfather," the you

way you have brought up your children, Giovanni. I congratulate you. Upon my word, I congratulate you with all my heart! Not that I ever expected anything better. You addled your own brains with curious foreign ideas on your

speech. Orsino recovered his gravity first, by the help of

my boy," he said. "I

rince laid a hand on his shoul

nt. You ought to be flattered that we should take so much trouble to make the evening pass pleas

ed features twitched, and then a broad

er, you know-we quarrelled every day as regularly as we ate and drank. I believe it was very good for us. We generally made it up be

mely lively life," observed

laughing again-no matter, he knows it is true. You have a diabolical tongue. Do not quarrel with your father for amusement, Orsino. His calmness will exasperate you as it does me, but you will not laugh at the right moment as I have done all my life. You will bear malice and grow sullen and permanently disagreeable. And do not say all the cutting things yo

ad given him. Orsino was quick to profit by the permission and was soon in the Montevarchi ballroo

s of any change. The feudalism of it all was still real in fact, though abolished in theory, and the old prince was as much a great feudal lord as ever, whose interests were almost tribal in their narrowness, almost sordid in their detail, and altogether uninteresting to his presumptive heir in the third generation. What was the peasant of Aquaviva, for instance, to Orsino? Yet Sant' Ilario and old Saracinesca took a lively interest in his doings and in the doings of four or five hundred of his kind, whom they knew by name and spoke of as belongings, much as they would have spoken of books in the library. To collect rents from peasants and to ascertain in person whether their houses needed repair was not a career. Orsino thought enviously of San Giacinto's two sons, leading what seemed to him a life of comparative

e as good a head as any of them,

disappointed and irritated him on that day, the weariness of the dinner, the sight of his parents' placid felicity, the advice his grandfather had given him-good of its kind, but lamenta

ad not made the acquaintance of a single Grey family, in spite of his entreaties. He could not tell whether she had any fixed reason in making her choice, or whether as yet it had been the result of chance, but he discove

as he sat down with a cigarette in his mouth and a glass at

er form it was offered to him. He neither played nor drank every day, but when he did either he was inclined to play more than other people and to consume more strong liquor. Yet his judgment was not r

itement, innocent or the reverse, instead of in sleep. The operator in the stock market, the barrister, the mechanic, the miner, in every case the men whose faculties are the more severely strained, are those who seek strong emotions in their daily leisure, and who are the more inclined to extend that leisure at the expense of bodily rest. It may be objected that the worst vice is found in the highest grades of society, that is to say, among men who have no settled occupation. I answer that, in the first place, this is not a known fact, but a matter of speculation, and that the conclusion is principally drawn from the circumstance that the evil deeds of such persons, when they become known, are very severely criticised by those whose criticism has the most weight, namely by the equals of the sinners in question-as well as by writers of fiction whose opinions may or may not be worth considering. For one Zola, historian of the Rougon-Macquart family, there are a hundred would-be Zolas, censors of a higher class, less unpleasantly fond of accurate detail, perhaps, but as merciless in intention. But even if the case against society be proved, which is possible, I do not think that society can truly be called idle, because many of those who compose it have no settled occupation. The social day is a long one. Society would not accept the eight hours' system demanded by the labour unions. Society not uncommonly works at a high pressure for twelve, fourteen and even sixteen hours

te and turns into a necessity. Orsino gambled because it amused him when no other amusement was obtainable, and he drank while he played becaus

nce of late, and the stimulants he drank suddenly fixed it into a purpose. It was true that he did not command any sum of money which could be dignified by the name of capital, but he generally had enough in his pocket to play with, and to-night he had rather more

course he lost, and as he saw his heap of notes diminishing, he filled his glass more and more often. By two o'clock he had but five hundred francs left, his face was dea

ey were considerable. A last sensation of caution prevented him

id to the man nearest him, who immed

im again. Once more he held a five. The other men saw that he was losing and put up all they could. Orsino hesitated. Some one observed justly that he probably held a five

other men dropped off one by one, having lost as much as they cared to part with at one sitting. At four o'clock in the morning Orsino went home in a cab, having about fifteen thousand franc

excitement in which a fixed idea takes hold of the brain, and if it had been possible he would undoubtedly have gone as he was, in evening dress, with his winnings in his pocket, to rouse Del Ferice, or San Giacinto, or any one e

on, just five times as good a chance of succeeding as they. And they had been successful. His plan fascinated him, and he looked forward to the constant interest and occupation with a delight which was creditable to his character. He would be busy and the magic word "business" rang in his ears. It was speculation, no doubt, but he

the watch he carried in his pocket. Of the first principles of building he knew, if possible, even less and he did not know whether land in the city were worth a franc or a thousand francs by the square foot. But he said to himself that those things were mere details, and

ad not the power to keep him from entering upon any honourable undertaking, though he might justly refuse to be responsible for the consequences. At the worst, thought Orsino, those consequences might be the loss of the money he had i

be unkind, and if he had dreamed of the effect his manner would produce, he would have been more

do you know of business or architecture, or of a dozen other matters which you

ed out of the window, thoug

l affairs in Rome are neither one nor the other. If you want to be a banker you must go into a bank and do clerk's work f

ot done that," obse

n how to make use of other men's talents, and he had a rather more practical education than I would have cared to give

that has to do wi

e him understand men as you and I cannot und

ject to my t

you could need, but I shall not diminish your allowance in order to hinder you from throwing it away. If you want more money for your amusements or luxuries, say so. I am not fond of counting small expenses, and I have not brought you up to count them either. Do not gamble at cards any more than you can help, but if you lose and must borr

" said Orsino, turning from th

"That will make it all the harder for you to deal wit

uggest, and I will ask his opinion. But if he discourages me I will try my luck all the sam

acinesca and build houses for the peasants-you will do no harm there, at all events. Go and drain that land in Lombardy-I can do nothing with it and would sell it if I could. B

hen thoroughly convinced that he was right. Orsino stood still for a moment an

?" asked Or

t his hand with a ki

am angry, my boy. There is to be no

h alacrity, as he shook hands with his father. "I see y

ry well what his father's views were but he had not foreseen that he would be so much irritated by the expression of them. His determination hardened and he resolved

estive colt. But few men are wise enough to see that there is only one universal principle to follow in the exertion of strength, moral or physical; and instead of seeking analogies out of actions familiar

e boy's new hobby will take him to places

of Orsino's intentions, simply because he did not believe that they would lead to anything serious, and there was no use in d