The Valley Of Decision

s elders any hint of a change in his own condition, hadbeen keenly conscious of t

ling a relic; while the old Marquess, though hetook his grandson seldomer on his rides, would sit staring at him with afrowning tenderness that once found vent in the growl--"Morbleu, buthe's t

ves, in silvernecklaces and hairpins, riding pillion on plump white asses; sickpersons travelling in closed litters or carried on hand-stretchers;crippled beggars obtruding their deformities; confraternities of hoodedpenitents, Franciscans, Capuchins and Poor Clares in dusty companies;jugglers, pedlars, Egyptians and sellers of drugs and amulets. Fromamong these, as the canonesses' litter jogged along, an odd figureadvanced toward Odo, who had obtained leave to do the last mile of thejourney on foot. This was a plump abate in tattered ecclesiasticaldress, his shoes white as a miller's and the perspiration streaking hisface as he laboured along in the dust. He accosted Odo in a soft shrillvoice, begging leave to walk beside the young cavaliere, whom he hadmore than once had the honour of seeing at Pianura; and, in reply to theboy's surprised glance, added, with a swelling of the chest and anabsurd gesture of self-introduction, "But perhaps the cavaliere is nottoo young to have heard of the illustrious Cantapresto, late primosoprano of the ducal theatre of Pianura?"Odo being obliged to avow his ignorance, the fat creature mopped hisbrow and cont

But as for me, sir,I have put a hand to every trade, from composing scenarios for the ducalcompany of Pianura, to writing satirical sonnets for noblemen thatdesire to pass for wits. I've a pretty taste, too, in compilingalmanacks, and when nothing else served I have played the publicscrivener at the street corner; nay, sir, necessity has even driven meto hold the candle in one or two transactions I would

about the Duke's person?""He lives

astic clapped a h

lency has in mind the f

livery at Pontesordo.""Pontesordo?" cried Odo. "It was there I lived.""Did you indeed, cavaliere? But I think you will have been at the Duke'smanor of that name; and it was the hunting-lodge on the edge of thechase that I had in mind. The Marquess uses it, I believe, as a kind ofcasino; though not without ri

aliere, you'vean eye," he cried, his soft body shaking with enjoyment; but before Odocould make a guess at his meaning their conversation was interrupted bya sharp call from the litter. The abate at once disappeared in thecrowd, and a moment later the litter had debouched on the grassy

descriptionhung on the outskirts of the square. The sight speedily turned Odo'sthought from his late companion, and the litter coming to a halt he wasleaning forward to observe the antics of a tumbler who had spread hiscarpet beneath the trees, when the abate's face suddenly rose to thesurface of the throng and his hand thrust a crumpled paper between thecurtains of the litter. Odo was quick-witted enough to capture thismissive without attracting the notice of his grand-aunts, and stealing aglance at it, he read--"Cavaliere, I starve. When the illustrious ladiesdescend, for Christ's sake beg a scudo of them for the unhappyCantapresto."By this the litter had disengaged itself and was moving toward the outergates. Odo, aware of the disfavour with which the theatre was viewed atDonnaz, and unable to guess ho

ofemptiness that I am perishing."The ladies at this, with exclamations of pity, called on thelay-brothers for broth and cordials, and

caryhad brought word that the abate, whose seizure was indeed the result ofhunger, was still too weak to rise; and Donna Livia, eage

e monastery's other nobleguests, in a tribune constructed above the choir. It was Odo's firstsight of a great religious ceremony, and as he looked down on the churchglimmering with votive offerings and gold-fringed draperies, and seenthrough rolling incense in which the altar-candles swam like starsreflected in a river

of the court. Odo's eyes swam with the splendour ofthis burst of banners, images and jewelled reliquaries, surmounting thelong train of tonsured heads and bathed in a light almost blinding afterthe mild penumbra of the church. As the monks advanced, the pilgrims,pouring after them, filled the co

trast to that they hadjust quitted. Here refreshment-booths had been set up, musicians werefiddling, jugglers unrolling their carpets, dentists shouting out themerits of their panaceas, and light women drinking with the liveriedservants of the nobilit

Entombmentor a group of stricken Maries. These figures, though rudely modelled anddaubed with bright colours, yet, by a vivacity of attitude and gesturewhich the mystery of their setting enhanced, conveyed a thrillingimpression of the sacred scenes set forth; and Odo was yet at an agewhen the distinction between flesh-and-blood and its plasticcounterfeits is not clearly defined, or when at least the sculpt

for following a vocationto which my frivolous parents condemned me when I was too young toresist their purpose? And have not my subsequent sufferings, my penancesand pilgrimages, and the state to which they have reduced me,sufficiently effaced the record of an involuntary error?"Seeing the effect of this appeal the abate made haste to follow up hisadvantage. "Ah, illustrious ladies," he cried, "am I not a livingexample of the fate of those who leave all to follow righteousness? Forwhile I remained on the stage, among the most dissolute surroundings,fortune showered me with every benefit she heaps on her favourites. Ihad my seat at every table in Pianura; the Duke's chair to carry me tothe theatre; and more money than I could devise how to spend; while nowthat I have resigned my calling t

satisfied with dismissing me in disgrace, he punished me byblackening my character to his uncle. To defend myself was to traduceDon Serafino; and rather than reveal his courses to the Bishop I sank tothe state in which you see me; a state," he added with emotion, "that Ihave trave

se, and the soprano's evident distress, so worked onthe canonesses that, having little money at their disposal, it wasfixed, after some private consultation, that he should attend them toDonnaz, where Don Gervaso, in consideration of his edifying conduct inrenouncing the stage, might be interested in helping him to a situation;and when the little party set forth from Oropa, the abate Cantaprestoclosed the procession on one of the baggage-mules, with Odo ridingpillion at his back. Good fortune loosened the poor soprano's tongue,and as soon as the canonesses' litter was a safe distance ahead he beganto beguile the way with fr

e old Marquess, a letter in hand, who springingforward caught his grandson by the shoulders,