One,two,three,four,five。Therewerefiveofthem。
Fivecouriers,sittingonabenchoutsidetheconventonthesummitoftheGreatSt。BernardinSwitzerland,lookingattheremoteheights,stainedbythesettingsunasifamightyquantityofredwinehadbeenbroacheduponthemountaintop,andhadnotyethadtimetosinkintothesnow。
Thisisnotmysimile。Itwasmadefortheoccasionbythestoutestcourier,whowasaGerman。Noneoftheotherstookanymorenoticeofitthantheytookofme,sittingonanotherbenchontheothersideoftheconventdoor,smokingmycigar,likethem,and-alsolikethem-lookingatthereddenedsnow,andatthelonelyshedhardby,wherethebodiesofbelatedtravellers,dugoutofit,slowlywitheraway,knowingnocorruptioninthatcoldregion。
Thewineuponthemountaintopsoakedinaswelooked;themountainbecamewhite;thesky,averydarkblue;thewindrose;andtheairturnedpiercingcold。Thefivecouriersbuttonedtheirroughcoats。Therebeingnosafermantoimitateinallsuchproceedingsthanacourier,Ibuttonedmine。
Themountaininthesunsethadstoppedthefivecouriersinaconversation。Itisasublimesight,likelytostopconversation。
Themountainbeingnowoutofthesunset,theyresumed。NotthatI
hadheardanypartoftheirpreviousdiscourse;forindeed,IhadnotthenbrokenawayfromtheAmericangentleman,inthetravellers\'parlouroftheconvent,who,sittingwithhisfacetothefire,hadundertakentorealisetomethewholeprogressofeventswhichhadledtotheaccumulationbytheHonourableAnaniasDodgerofoneofthelargestacquisitionsofdollarsevermadeinourcountry。
\'MyGod!\'saidtheSwisscourier,speakinginFrench,whichIdonothold(assomeauthorsappeartodo)tobesuchanall-
sufficientexcuseforanaughtyword,thatIhaveonlytowriteitinthatlanguagetomakeitinnocent;\'ifyoutalkofghosts-\'
\'ButIDON\'Ttalkofghosts,\'saidtheGerman。
\'Ofwhatthen?\'askedtheSwiss。
\'IfIknewofwhatthen,\'saidtheGerman,\'Ishouldprobablyknowagreatdealmore。\'
Itwasagoodanswer,Ithought,anditmademecurious。So,I
movedmypositiontothatcornerofmybenchwhichwasnearesttothem,andleaningmybackagainsttheconventwall,heardperfectly,withoutappearingtoattend。
\'Thunderandlightning!\'saidtheGerman,warming,\'whenacertainmaniscomingtoseeyou,unexpectedly;and,withouthisownknowledge,sendssomeinvisiblemessenger,toputtheideaofhimintoyourheadallday,whatdoyoucallthat?Whenyouwalkalongacrowdedstreet-atFrankfort,Milan,London,Paris-andthinkthatapassingstrangerislikeyourfriendHeinrich,andthenthatanotherpassingstrangerislikeyourfriendHeinrich,andsobegintohaveastrangeforeknowledgethatpresentlyyou\'llmeetyourfriendHeinrich-whichyoudo,thoughyoubelievedhimatTrieste-whatdoyoucallTHAT?\'
\'It\'snotuncommon,either,\'murmuredtheSwissandtheotherthree。
\'Uncommon!\'saidtheGerman。\'It\'sascommonascherriesintheBlackForest。It\'sascommonasmaccaroniatNaples。AndNaplesremindsme!WhentheoldMarchesaSenzanimashrieksatacard-
partyontheChiaja-asIheardandsawher,forithappenedinaBavarianfamilyofmine,andIwasoverlookingtheservicethatevening-Isay,whentheoldMarchesastartsupatthecard-table,whitethroughherrouge,andcries,\"MysisterinSpainisdead!I
felthercoldtouchonmyback!\"-andwhenthatsisterISdeadatthemoment-whatdoyoucallthat?\'
\'OrwhenthebloodofSanGennaroliquefiesattherequestoftheclergy-asalltheworldknowsthatitdoesregularlyoncea-year,inmynativecity,\'saidtheNeapolitancourierafterapause,withacomicallook,\'whatdoyoucallthat?\'
\'THAT!\'criedtheGerman。\'Well,IthinkIknowanameforthat。\'
\'Miracle?\'saidtheNeapolitan,withthesameslyface。
TheGermanmerelysmokedandlaughed;andtheyallsmokedandlaughed。
\'Bah!\'saidtheGerman,presently。\'Ispeakofthingsthatreallydohappen。WhenIwanttoseetheconjurer,Ipaytoseeaprofessedone,andhavemymoney\'sworth。Verystrangethingsdohappenwithoutghosts。Ghosts!GiovanniBaptista,tellyourstoryoftheEnglishbride。There\'snoghostinthat,butsomethingfullasstrange。Willanymantellmewhat?\'
Astherewasasilenceamongthem,Iglancedaround。HewhomI
tooktobeBaptistawaslightingafreshcigar。Hepresentlywentontospeak。HewasaGenoese,asIjudged。
\'ThestoryoftheEnglishbride?\'saidhe。\'Basta!oneoughtnottocallsoslightathingastory。Well,it\'sallone。Butit\'strue。Observemewell,gentlemen,it\'strue。Thatwhichglittersisnotalwaysgold;butwhatIamgoingtotell,istrue。\'
Herepeatedthismorethanonce。
Tenyearsago,ItookmycredentialstoanEnglishgentlemanatLong\'sHotel,inBondStreet,London,whowasabouttotravel-itmightbeforoneyear,itmightbefortwo。Heapprovedofthem;
likewiseofme。Hewaspleasedtomakeinquiry。Thetestimonythathereceivedwasfavourable。Heengagedmebythesixmonths,andmyentertainmentwasgenerous。
Hewasyoung,handsome,veryhappy。HewasenamouredofafairyoungEnglishlady,withasufficientfortune,andtheyweregoingtobemarried。Itwasthewedding-trip,inshort,thatweweregoingtotake。Forthreemonths\'restinthehotweather(itwasearlysummerthen)hehadhiredanoldplaceontheRiviera,ataneasydistancefrommycity,Genoa,ontheroadtoNice。DidIknowthatplace?Yes;ItoldhimIknewitwell。Itwasanoldpalacewithgreatgardens。Itwasalittlebare,anditwasalittledarkandgloomy,beingclosesurroundedbytrees;butitwasspacious,ancient,grand,andontheseashore。Hesaidithadbeensodescribedtohimexactly,andhewaswellpleasedthatIknewit。
Foritsbeingalittlebareoffurniture,allsuchplaceswere。