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"And where is Castruccio?" asked Maltravers. "In his boat on the lake," replied Teresa. "He will be inconsolable at your departure: you are the only person he can understand, or who understand him; the only person in Italy I had almost said in the whole world." "Well, we shall meet at dinner," said Ernest; "meanwhile let me prevail on you to accompany me to the Pliniana.
The union of culture and the untameable profusion and loveliness of nature is here so close, that the line where they are divided can hardly be discovered. But the finest scenery is that of the Villa Pliniana; so called from a fountain which ebbs and flows every three hours, described by the younger Pliny, which is in the courtyard.
This Larian Lake, as the ancients called it, is full of classic associations, and of those of a later time connected with Italy's heroic struggle for independence, for the Villa Pliniana was once the home of the heroic and beautiful Princess Christina Belgiojoso, the friend of Cavour and Garibaldi, who equipped a troop of Lombardy volunteers which she herself commanded, until she was banished from Italy by order of the Austrian general.
On either side of the porch are the figures of the two Plinys, who used often to make the Villa Pliniana their residence, writing many of their celebrated works there. In the gardens of the villa is a fountain of which Pliny the younger made frequent mention in his letters.
The apartments of the Pliniana are immensely large, but ill-furnished and antique. The terraces, which overlook the lake, and conduct under the shade of such immense laurel-trees as deserve the epithet of Pythian, are most delightful.
"Well, we shall meet at dinner," said Ernest; "meanwhile let me prevail on you to accompany me to the /Pliniana/. I wish to say farewell to that crystal spring." Teresa, delighted at any excursion, readily consented. "And I too, mamma," cried the child; "and my little sister?" "Oh, certainly," said Maltravers, speaking for the parents.
Ten miles from Como, under the steep heights of the eastern mountains, by the margin of the lake, was a villa called the Pliniana, from its being built on the site of a fountain, whose periodical ebb and flow is described by the younger Pliny in his letters. The house had nearly fallen into ruin, till in the year 2090, an English nobleman had bought it, and fitted it up with every luxury.
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