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Consequently, he appointed Gilbert de Montpensier, of the house of Bourbon, viceroy; d'Aubigny, of the Scotch Stuart family, lieutenant in Calabria; Etienne de Vese, commander at Gaeta; and Don Juliano, Gabriel de Montfaucon, Guillaume de Villeneuve, George de Lilly, the bailiff of Vitry, and Graziano Guerra respectively governors of Sant' Angelo, Manfredonia, Trani, Catanzaro, Aquila, and Sulmone; then leaving behind in evidence of his claims the half of his Swiss, a party of his Gascons, eight hundred French lances, and about five hundred Italian men-at-arms, the last under the command of the prefect of Rome, Prospero and Fabrizio Colonna, and Antonio Savelli, he left Naples on the 20th of May at two o'clock in the afternoon, to traverse the whole of the Italian peninsula with the rest of his army, consisting of eight hundred French lances, two hundred gentlemen of his guard, one hundred Italian men-at-arms, three thousand Swiss infantry, one thousand French and one thousand Gascon.
"Very nice, I'm sure!" said Miss Hamelyn, greatly relieved; for she knew that Signor Graziano must be fifty. "We have known him," went on the old lady, "very nearly thirty years. He used to largely frequent the salon of our dear, our cherished Madame Lilli." The tears came into the old lady's eyes. No doubt those days seemed near and dear to her; she did not see the dust on those faded triumphs.
She sat quite quiet over her embroidery, listening to the talk of Sontag, of Clementi, of musicians and singers dead and gone. She noticed that the ladies treated Signor Graziano with the utmost reverence; even the positive Miss Prunty furling her opinions in deference to his gayest hint.
Imagine the corpse of the beautiful girl on the open tier, Surrounded by the mourners, their solemn De profundis, and along with all this, the comic masks, Doctor Graziano and Pasquarello, expressing their grief in the most absurd gesticulations; and then the two Capuzzis, howling and crying in despair.
Later in the morning Signor Graziano called. "Will you come out with me, Mees Goneril," he said; "on my land the earliest vintage begins to-day." "Oh, how nice!" she cried. "Come, then," said the signorino, smiling. "Oh, I can't come to-day, because of Jack." "Jack?" "My cousin: he may come any time." "Your cousin?" the signorino frowned a little.
"Yes, yes," he said a little testily; "unless and I pray it may not be so unless you ever need the help of an old friend." "Dear Signor Graziano!" "And now you will sing me my 'Nobil Amore'?" "I will do anything you like!" The signorino sighed and looked at her for a minute. Then he led her into the little parlour where Madame Petrucci was singing shrilly in the twilight. "But why not?
"And how, this evening, is Madamigella Ruth?" So he had seen her this evening, binding his corn. "I am quite well, padrone," she said, smiling shyly. The two old ladies looked on amazed, for of course they were not in the secret. "Signor Graziano, Miss Goneril Hamelyn," said Miss Prunty, rather severely. Goneril felt that the time was come for silence and good manners.
Graziano" of the troupe, who had a play of feature, a voice, a power of saying the most delightful things in, apparently, the most foolish manner, to which nothing in the world could be likened. This "Doctor Graziano" was an old Bolognese, of the name of Maria Aglia. As a matter of course, all the fashionable world of Rome soon came thronging to the little theatre outside the Porto del Popolo.
"He is going to sleep, and there are no end of things I want to know. Angiolino!" "Si, signora," murmured the boy. "Tell me about Signor Graziano." "He is our padrone; he is never here." "But he is coming to-day. Wake up, wake up, Angiolino. I tell you, he is on the way!" "Between life and death there are so many combinations," drawled the boy, with Tuscan incredulity and sententiousness.
Signor Graziano rose, a little stiffly, and led the pretty withered little Diva to the piano. Goneril looked on, wondering, admiring.
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