The Signora. A novel

Front matter

THE SIGNORA & jftobel. IN THREE VOLUMES. BY CAPTAIN E. D. LYON. (Late 68th Light Infantry.) VOL. III. ILontion: REMINGTON AND (JO., New Bond Street, W. 1883. [Al/ Rights Reserved. \ CONTENTS. CHAP. PAGE. I. "What is it You Wish to Know?" I II. " In an Hour you can be Free " ... ... ... 27 III. " L'homme propose et Dieu dispose " ... ... 46 IV. "I wonder You are not Ashamed of Yourself" ... 71 V. " When can we Start ? " 89 VI. "Living or Dead He shall be Mine" ... ... 115 VII. " Let us Hope the Worst is Over" ... ... ... 136 VIII. Was He Alone ! 164 IX. " Call it rather Infatuation ".. . ... ... ... 195 X. " Mother, Do You not Know Me?"... ... ... 209 XI. " I Hope and Trust you are Right"... ... ... 235 XII. " Henry, is that You?"

Chapter I

" WHAT IS IT TOU WISH TO KNOW ? " Daylight had broken, and the sun risen about an hour, when Salvo entered the guard room of the Custom House at the Goletta. He spoke to the officer in command, and had little difficulty in obtaining permission to see the prisoners ; but when the door of the cell was opened, and Salvo saw the horrible filth of the wretched hole in which they were confined, to say nothing of the stench that met him at the door, he hesitated to enter. The two men were both seated on the floor, with their backs against one of the walls, Antonio the picture of most abject despair, VOL. III. B but Paolo looking dogged and defiant, as if aware there was no sort of charge against him on which he could be detained in prison. Salvo read the faces of both without difficulty, and at once understood that, whatever he had to say to Antonio, must be spoken while they were alone.

There were few there who were not only willing, but glad to oblige the storekeeper, so, when he asked the officer to let him see one of the prisoners by himself, he at once agreed, and gave orders that Antonio should be taken into a small room next his own, in which Salvo was already waiting for him. As soon as the door closed, Salvo said — " What brought you back here ? " But Autonio only hung his head lower, and made no answer, so Salvo went on — " It is useless to sulk. Answer me the questions I am going to ask you, and you may perhaps be set free." " What use is freedom to me with the " WHAT IS IT YOU WISH TO KNOW ? " 3 charge of murder hanging over me, and always being brought up against me, first by the Signora and then by you." "Byrne?"' said Salvo, interrupting him. " I brought no charge of murder against you.

I only asked you why you returned to the Goletta." Antonio still made no answer. " As you will," said Salvo, preparing to go. " I came here to try if I could befriend jou, but if you prefer to be tried for being found at night iuside my store, and then, when you were disturbed, firing two pistol shots, one of which will probably be mortal, so let it be ; but it is an ugly charge, and I would not give much for your life. Before I go, however, I shall have you searched, as I suspect you have in your possession pro perty of mine, which you have stolen." "Who are you that you will have me searched ? " replied Antonio doggedly. " I am a British subject, and shall appeal to the English Consul. Who will dare to search me then I wonder." " Prove you are a British subject," said Salvo, and then, seeing there was no reply, he went on, " But perhaps you are right ; it would be better to leave the matter in the Consul's hands.

I will go myself and ask him to come and take charge of you this very morning." And Salvo moved towards the door. He had, however, hardly gone two paces before Antonio said — " What will he do with me ? Where will he put me?" " On board the gunboat lying in the bay, where you will be kept in irons till you are sent to Malta to be tried, and where you will be certain to be put in prison for fourteen years, if not for life." " And if I answer your questions, what then ? " " You will probably be set at liberty, as there will be no one to accuse you if I do not. It is true there is the man you shot last night, but it will not be difficult to let it be thought Paolo did that, unless you wish to have the credit of it, and save him by owning you did it yourself." A malignant sneer came over Antonio's dark, sulky face as he said — " What is it you wish to know ?

" " I must have an answer to the question I have already asked twice. What brought you back here ?" " To endeavour to obtain possession of my wife, whom you took away from me two days ago, and who has some property of mine that I must and will have." " You supposed, then, I had taken your wife into my own house, and you forced open the door to get to her." " I heard you distinctly talking aloud to some one just before you locked up the door when you went away last evening." " I understand now ; this then was your object in breaking open my store ; you would naturally feel furious at the idea of your own wife being shut up by me, probably against her will, and, who knows ? perhaps in order to make her my mistress ; this would certainly weigh with any court of justice who might try the case.

Did you find her ? " Antonio hung his head. Salvo went on — " Why, then, having satisfied yourself she was not there, did you not come away at once, and leave my drawers and cupboards alone, instead of breaking them open?" "lam not satisfied now that she is not there. On the contrary, I believe she is ; otherwise who was it you were talking to ? And I know from past experience how well she can hide, and how almost impossible it is to find her," said Antonio. " And you expected she was concealed in the drawers ? " asked Salvo, " and that was why you insisted on looking inside, but when you did not come across her why not leave the other contents alone ? " " I did leave the contents alone," replied Antonio. " I took nothing away whatever.'' " You turned them topsy-turvy, papers, money and all.

Your wife could not have been under them." " No," answered Antonio, " but the pro perty my wife took away with her might have been, and I want that as much as I do her." "What did the property consist of?" asked Salvo. " Papers that she stole, and which I must have back again." " Well," answered Salvo, " if you can prove your right to them you will no doubt get them, but it will take time, things are not done in a hurry in these parts." Antonio looked up at him as he said, " I do not understand you." " Perhaps not," replied Salvo, "the truth is, that when I brought away what you call your wife, and which I did at her own earnest request, it turned out to be little more than her body, for no sooner was she in my boat than she became insensible, and though I poured brandy down her throat, rubbed her hands, and did all I knew, she re mained so all the way here, so I had her conveyed at once to hospital, where she now lies in the same state; if not already dead, as there is, I believe, no hope of her recovery."

Antonio was silent for a moment, then said, " What was the matter with her ? She seemed well enough when she left me." " The doctor said a chill, brought on by her getting wet, and also that too stron ■****- a dose of some narcotic had given a shock to " WHAT IS IT YOU WISH TO KNOW ? " 9 the whole system, from which it had no strength to rally." " And what will be done with all her property, all she has in her possession I mean, when she dies?" " It will be handed over to the Consul of whatever nation she may belong to. You say she is your wife, and you are English, so it will be the British Consul. Of course you have proof of your own identity, and of your marriage, as both will be necessary." Antonio sat lost in thought for a few minutes, then liftinghis head and looking Salvo full in the face, a thing he very rarely did, he said — " I do not believe a word of it, it is all a got-up story, most likely invented by you and her together, to get rid of me, in order that she may stay with you, but you will not find me so easily gulled as you think for ; I shall not stir an inch till I have seen her dead body •with my own eyes."

Salvo laughed, as he replied with a shrug " You certainly have a very good opinion of your wife. Had I wanted to get possession of her, and she been well enough and willing to consent, I could have sent her to Tunis and joined her there at any time ; you never would or could have found us." " I would," said Antonio, " I would have found you anywhere, and stabbed both you and her." Again Salvo laughed. " Never," he answered ; " there are parts of the city in whose labyrinth of streets you would be lost in five minutes, and where you would never have" dared to enter; it takes a brave man to venture there." " You had better not try me," Antonio replied, " or you may find out your mistake when it is too late." " You are talking nonsense," said Salvo. " You forget altogether you are a prisoner " WHAT IS IT YOU WISH TO KNOW?" 11 here, and if your wife is, as you suspect, well, and hid in my house, what object could I have in coming here ?

One word to the Consul, and you, as I told you before, would be sent to Malta, while she and I are free to enjoy ourselves here together. No ! I have told you the truth, as a little reflection will show you. I will go now, but will come again by-and-bye, and bring you word then if your wife lives or is dead, and in the latter case whether you can see her body ; she is, of course, in the hospital for women, into which, I need not tell you, no men but the doctors are admitted in this country, so it may not be easy to let you see her." And Salvo called to the guard and was gone. Antonio was immediately taken back to his cell, and it must be confessed his medita tions were by no means pleasant ones, though he had tried to put a bold face on the matter, and to doubt what Salvo had told him, as to THE SIGNORA. the state of his pretended wife, he had seen enough of the strange state of apathy into which she had remained while on board his boat not to feel that the probability was greatly in favour of Salvo's story being true; what would his master say, then ? and further, what about his own papers, which he still believed to be in the Signora's possession ?

Salvo had told him what indeed he knew himself to be the case, that all her property, should she die, would be handed over to the Consul, who would of course keep them until Mr. Maltby established his right to receive them; this would be easy enough, but should the papers referring to himself be opened and read, and his own name by any means transpire, which Paolo, out of revenge, might at any moment make public, would not the Consul at once hand him (Antonio) over to the Italian government to be tried for murder, and, considering the nature of the " WHAT IS IT YOU WISH TO KNOW ? " 13 evidence against him, there could be little doubt of the result ; and yet nothing could be done. He was a prisoner, shut up in a cell, and must so remain until it pleased his captors to set him free, or have his case inquired into, and at present they seemed to have no sort of intention of doing either.

To say the hours he passed were miserable ones, would be too mild an epithet, it was rather absolute torture, than which the In quisition, even in its most flourishing days, could not have made him suffer more dreadful nor more acute agony. Again and again he looked round his filthy cell, hoping to see some means of escape, but there was none. Again and again he remembered that he could, if he chose, at any moment end all his sufferings. But, no ! he was too great a coward for that ; there was still, he said to himself, a chance, and Salvo might perhaps be persuaded to let him go after all, before THE SIGNORA. the Signora died. He saw now ouly too plainly the folly of wanting to see her dead body ; his whole object must be to get away at any and every cost while she still lived. In the meantime Salvo went straight to his own store, into which Publio had been carried and placed on the bed ; the ball had struck him just above the knee, and was still there, embedded somewhere close against the bone, which had been terribly splintered.

Two of the men of the boat had been left with him to attend to his wants, but Salvo was not at all satisfied with his condition ; his sufferings seemed to have been very severe, fever had already set in, and he was more or less de lirious ; under these circumstances Salvo determined to try and persuade the doctor from the palace to come and see him, as he did not like the treatment that was being pursued by the practitioner who had already been called in. He went on at once, takinc the basket of clothes with him, and one of the men to help him to carry it. They met the doctor just leaving the palace, and he agreed to go back with Salvo, sending the basket upstairs. On the way he told Salvo the Signora was getting on well, and was improving quite as much as could be expected. " She is most anxious to see you," said the old man, " but insists on calling you ' Henry,' and then appearing to recollect, changes it to Salvo.

She is a most charm ing person ; I do not remember in the wThole of my long life to have met anyone to be compared to her, and I congratulate you on your good luck in having won her, for she is evidently very fond of you." And the doctor glanced at Salvo with a smile, but the latter only shook his head, as he replied — " No, no ! you are quite wrong in your surmise, we love each other, it is true, very dearly, but only as brother and sister. We were brought up together from the time we were babies, and moreover she has been married long ago to quite another man." They had arrived by this time close to the store, so no more was said. The old doctor evidently thought the case a very bad one owing to its not having been properly under stood, for had he seen the man at once he would immediately have attempted to extract the ball and the splinters of the bone, and had that been impossible, it was a question whether it would not have been better to amputate the leg.

He strongly advised the man being sent to hospital, but on Salvo's telling him how averse Publio himself was to this, and how, having been wounded in his (Salvo's) service, he was anxious to let him stay where he was, the old man sent off for a nurse, and also for ice, which he ordered to be applied to the head, and also directed the wound to be dressed constantly with iced water, promising to see him again later in the day. Salvo and he walked back to the palace, and as they parted Salvo asked when he might come to see the Signora, and it was arranged that he should call that very afternoon at five o'clock. Accordingly at that hour he entered the same room in which he had seen the doctor' the first night, and in a few minutes the Sig nora came in. She was still weak, and walked with difficulty, leaning on the doctor's arm, who told them this being the first interview must be restricted to an hour, at the end of which time he would come himself and fetch his patient.

She had seated herself on a divan as the doctor left her, and Salvo stood in front of her holding both her hands ; their eyes fixed on each other's faces reading the happiness depicted therein. " Six long years since we parted," said Salvo, seating himself beside her, after a few minutes' silence, " and now once more we VOL. III. c are again together, and you are looking as fresh and as handsome as ever, dear Mary, whereas I am changed, so that no one would ever know me. How much has passed in all those years, and how often have I thought of you, wondered what you were doing, and if you were happy, and when and where we should ever meet again, until at last I could endure it no longer, and wrote ; of course you got my letter, or you would not be here, but how did it happen, dearest, that you did not give them all the slip, you are generally so clever at getting away.

And yet that scoundrel was here waiting for you, I knew him at once, and will you believe it, Antonio came to me and asked my assistance to help him to find his wife who had run away from him at Genoa, and come here in company with a young sailor ; and then, when I asked him what his wife was like, he gave such an admirable description of you there was no mistaking who he was after. I wonder I did not tear his tongue out by the roots when he dared to speak of my Mary as his wife. Oh ! Mary, Mary, to hear your dear self talked of as belonging to that low villain, to imagine for one moment that he had ever allowed him self even to think of you in such a light, almost maddened me ; lucky for him he spoke of you with all respect and reverence, or I should have torn him limb from limb on the spot."

"Henry," said the Signora, now speaking for the first time, " dear Henry, do not excite yourself, your poor Mary has fallen very low since we last met, he has dragged her down and trampled her in the dust, but to hear her name linked with that of Antonio, is, as you say, an infamy that is hard to bear. How he came here I have no idea, I hoped I had got clear away, and believed both he and his master had gone to England in the steamer direct from Genoa ; it was only at Taormina that Publio first heard that Antonio was following us, or rather supposed he was fol lowing us when, in reality, he was ahead of us. We could only guess where he would go, and certainly never thought he would come here. " He had got hold of some information that you were coming here to remain with some relations of yours in Tunis, while the boat went to join the coral fishers.

I at once supposed he had got an inkling that I was in these parts, not, of course, that Salvo and Henry were one and the same person, but that Henry was living at or near Tunis, and that it was to him you were going." " And do you still think that he has some suspicions that such is the case ?" asked the Signora. " I hardly know what to think," was Salvo's answer. " The man is so made up " WHAT IS IT YOU WISH TO KNOW ? " 21 of low cunning and deceit that it is quite im possible to form any sort of idea of what he suspects and what he does not. He is in my power now, and will not get out of it again easily as long as he remains here." " Oh, Henry, dearest Henry ! be careful for my sake. If anything were to happen to you, what would become of me, alone here in this place ? And I need not tell you that man will stop at nothing.

I have heard my husband often say that he would not trust the man a moment only he knew his life would be forfeited if he attempted to injure his master; but you, Henry, have no such power over him, so you must indeed be most careful." Salvo smiled as he replied — " Fear not, Mary dear ; your husband never had so much power over him as I have now, for I have only to say one word to the Consul and Antonio would be sent in irons to Malta, to be tried there for what took place last night ; and have you forgotten the story I told him on board his own boat of the murder of the poor girl at Leghorn, when you yourself accused him to his face of being the murderer?" " I remember something of it," said the Signora, " but it seemed to me more like a dream than the reality. But however did you hear about that ?

I see the papers are not among my things now, so, of course, concluded they had fallen into his hands, and in that case that all proof was lost." " The papers are in my possession safe enough," said Salvo; "I found them in an envelope under the table in your cabin when I went to look for you the morning after they took you away." " I am glad of that," answered the Sig nora, " very glad. But were there no others? for I had some of nearly equal importance ; in fact, of more consequence to us, though not so much to him." " WHAT IS IT YOU WISH TO KNOW ? " 23 " None," answered Salvo, " nor are there any now, for I looked everywhere." " Then Antonio must have got possession of them at the same time he took me away. Tell me, Henry — for I am getting tired now — how did he know I had come ? Surely the note I sent did not fall into his hands.

I knew after Publio had gone ashore how foolish I had been in writing in the way I had done." " No," said Henry ; " he did not get that note. I suppose he saw Publio, and guessed it was you. I was in Tunis that evening, and returned just before daylight, when I found your man asleep inside my place. I liked his looks, or, it is probable, should have given him a ducking in the canal for being there." And then Salvo told the Signora all that had occurred, and how he had been able to get her back from Antonio's possession into his own boat ; how he had brought her into the palace and given her in charge of the doctor, and then of the events of the previous night — how Publio had been shot, and was now lying ill at his own store on the canal, while Antonio and Paolo were locked up. The doctor had come in to interrupt their tete-a-tete before Salvo's story was finished, and Salvo had at once changed from the English language, which he had been speaking, and continued in Italian, guessing the old man would stay himself to listen, which turned out to be the case ; but no sooner was the narration over than the doctor rose, and offering the Signora his arm, led her away.

Tears were in her eyes as she said good-bye to Salvo, and she went away mur muring — " My poor Publio ! what will his poor mother say if anything happens to him ? " Salvo waited a moment, and the doctor returning almost immediately, they walked " WHAT IS IT YOU WISH TO KNOW ? " 25 back together along the canal to the store where Publio was lying. The doctor found him decidedly better in every way, and ordered the same treatment to be continued till morning, when he would call again. As he left, Salvo asked him whether it would be a long case, and in reply was told that it would probably be several months before he could be moved, if he lived, which was by no means certain as yet. No sooner was the doctor gone than Salvo had the Signora's boat moved further down the canal, close to the entrance to the bay, and he then questioned the men on board as to where they came from, and if they had sailed with their skipper, Publio, long.

One of them answered that he had known his father, and had saded with him several times when a lad. Salvo thereupon told him to be ready to start the next day in the steamer for Malta, partly to watch another passenger who would go on board at the same time he did, and partly to go on to Genoa by steamer and bring back Publio's mother as quickly as he could.

Chapter II

"IN AN HOUR YOU CAN BE FREE." It was between nine and ten that evening that Salvo again had an interview with Antonio. He found a wonderful change both in the man's manner and demeanour, and when Salvo informed him his wife was in the same state, and seemed likely to remain so for some days longer, so there was nothing for it but to wait, Antonio replied that he was quite satisfied that what Salvo had told him was the truth, and that for his part he was only too anxious to get away from the Goletta, if that could possibly be managed. " But what about the papers, which are your property," said Salvo, " and which you are so anxious to obtain ? Will you leave them behind you ? " " Could I not give an order to someone to get them for me and forward them by post to London ? " " I suppose you could," answered Salvo. *' Shall I speak to the Consul about it ?

I thought he would have been here this after noon. It appears he has heard that two British subjects are in custody, and wants to make inquiries as to who they are and what they have done." Antonio was silent ; he seemed to be con sidering. Then at last he said — " But suppose I do not claim his protec tion, and am not a British subject ? " " In that case you should tell the officer of the guard here that you are an Italian. They have evidently supposed you to be a Maltese ; but now the Italian Consul must be sent for." Again Antonio paused to consider. He at once saw that it would never do to allow " IN AN HOUR YOU CAN BE FREE." 29 himself to be given up to the Italian Govern ment — anything were preferable to that — so he said — " Why should I be given up to either ? You told me if I answered your questions you would not bring any charge against me, and there is no one else here to do so.

Why, then, will they not let me go ? " " Of course you will be allowed to go, but having once been put into prison, there are certain formalities to be gone through, the first of which is to prove clearly your name and nationality." Antonio looked about him like a wild beast driven to bay. His eyes roved round the room, striving to pierce the gloom which, as there was only a solitary candle on the small table, may be said to have filled the apart ment ; then he fixed them on Salvo, who stood leaning carelessly with his back to the wall, but without for one moment taking his eye off his companion. He noted the fierce, wicked gleam which for a moment lighted up Antonio's face like that of a tiger about to spring on his prey ; he marked also how quickly it passed, and how, with a slight shake of the head, as much as to say, " It will not do," an expression of dull, abject despair succeeded ; nor if the man had re ceived a blow full in his face from Salvo's powerful arm could he have appeared more thoroughly beaten.