The Count of Monte Cristo (Unabridged Penguin) (62 page)

‘ “There is your way, Excellency,” he said. “You cannot make a mistake from here on.”

‘ “And here is your reward,” the traveller said, offering the young shepherd a few small coins.

‘ “Thank you,” said Luigi, withdrawing his hand. “I give services, I don’t sell them.”

‘The traveller seemed used to this difference between the servility of the townsman and the pride of the countryman: “Very well,” he said. ‘If you refuse payment, at least accept a gift.”

‘ “Ah, that is another matter.”

‘ “Fine! Take these two Venetian sequins and give them to your fiancée to make a pair of earrings.”

‘ “And you, then, take this dagger,” said the young shepherd. “You will not find one with a better-carved handle between Albano and Civita Castellana.”

‘ “I accept,” said the traveller. “But in that case, it is I who shall be in your debt, because this dagger is worth more than two sequins.”

‘ “To a shopkeeper, perhaps, but to me, who carved it myself, it is hardly worth one
piastre
.”

‘ “What is your name?” asked the traveller.

‘ “Luigi Vampa,” the shepherd replied, in the same accents in which he might have said: Alexander, king of Macedonia. “And yours?”

‘ “I,” said the traveller, “am called Sinbad the Sailor.” ’

Franz d’Epinay gave a cry of astonishment.

‘Sinbad the Sailor!’ he exclaimed.

‘Yes,’ the storyteller answered. ‘That was the name that the traveller told Vampa.’

‘What do you have against the name?’ Albert interrupted. ‘It’s a very fine one, and the adventures of the gentleman’s patron, I must admit, entertained me greatly when I was young.’

Franz did not insist. As one may understand, the name of Sinbad the Sailor had brought back a flood of memories to him, as had the name of the Count of Monte Cristo the previous evening.

‘Continue,’ he told his host.

‘Vampa disdainfully put the sequins into his pocket and slowly returned the way he had come. When he had arrived within two or three hundred yards of the cave, he thought he heard a cry. He stopped, listening to make out where it came from. A moment later, he clearly heard someone calling his name. The sound was coming from the grotto.

‘He leapt like a chamois, cocking his gun as he ran, and in less than a minute he had reached the top of the hill opposite the one on which he had seen the traveller. From there, he could hear the cry of “Help, help!” more clearly than ever. He looked down into the hollow below him and saw that a man was carrying Teresa off, just as the centaur Nessus carried off Deianira.

‘The man was making his way towards the woods and had already reached the halfway point between there and the cave.

‘Vampa measured the distance. They were at least two hundred yards ahead of him; he had no hope of catching them up before they reached the woods.

‘The young shepherd stopped as if his feet had grown roots. He put the gun to his cheek, slowly raised the barrel towards the ravisher, followed this moving target for a second and fired. The man stopped in his tracks. His knees buckled and he fell, taking Teresa down with him.

‘However, she got up immediately. As for the man, he stayed on the ground, thrashing in agony.

‘Vampa at once ran towards Teresa because she had not got ten
paces away from the dying man when her own legs failed her and she fell to her knees. The young peasant was terrified that the shot which had just brought down his enemy might have wounded her at the same time.

‘Fortunately this was not the case; sheer terror had deprived Teresa of strength. When Luigi was quite sure that she was safe and sound, he turned to the wounded man.

‘He had just expired, with his fists clenched, his mouth twisted in pain and his hair rigid with the sweat of his final agony. His eyes had remained open and threatening.

‘Vampa went across to the corpse and recognized Cucumetto.

‘On the day when the bandit had been saved by the two young people, he had fallen in love with Teresa and had sworn that the girl would be his. Since that time he had spied on her and, taking advantage of the moment when her lover left her alone to show the traveller his way, he had abducted her and already considered her his own when Vampa’s bullet, guided by his unerring aim, went straight through Cucumetto’s heart.

‘Vampa looked at him for a moment without showing the slightest sign of emotion, while Teresa, on the contrary, was still trembling and only dared to creep towards the dead bandit and cautiously take a look at him over her lover’s shoulder.

‘After a short time, Vampa turned to his mistress and said: “Ah, good! You are dressed. Now it’s my turn to get ready.”

‘Teresa was indeed dressed from head to foot in the costume belonging to the daughter of the Count of San-Felice.

‘Vampa took Cucumetto’s body in his arms and carried it into the grotto while Teresa remained outside. If at this time a second traveller had ridden past, he would have seen something odd: a shepherdess watching her sheep in a cashmere dress, with pearl earrings and necklace, diamond pins and buttons of sapphires, emeralds and rubies. He would no doubt have thought he had been transported back into the age of Florian
⁴
and on his return to Paris would have sworn that he had seen the Shepherdess of the Alps seated at the foot of the Sabine Mountains.

‘After a quarter of an hour Vampa came out of the cave. His costume was no less elegant in its way than Teresa’s. He had on a jacket of garnet-coloured velvet with wrought-gold buttons, a waistcoat covered in embroidery, a Roman scarf knotted around his neck and a cartridge-belt picked out in gold leaf and ornamented
with red and green silk. He had sky-blue velvet trousers, fastened above the knee with diamond buckles, richly tooled buckskin gaiters and a hat decorated with ribbons in every colour. Two watches hung at his waist and there was a splendid dagger set in his cartridge belt.

‘Teresa cried out in admiration. Dressed in this way, Vampa looked like a painting by Léopold Robert or Schnetz.
⁵
He had decked himself out in Cucumetto’s entire costume.

‘He observed the effect of this on his fiancée and a smile of pride crossed his lips. “Now,” he said, “are you ready to share my fortune, whatever it may be?”

‘ “Oh, yes!” the girl exclaimed eagerly.

‘ “To follow me wherever I lead?”

‘ “To the ends of the earth.”

‘ “Then take my arm and let’s go, for we have no time to lose.”

‘The girl took her lover’s arm without even asking where they were going; for, at that moment, he seemed to her as handsome, as proud and as powerful as a god. In a few moments the couple had crossed into the forest and began to proceed through it.

‘It goes without saying that Vampa knew all the mountain tracks, so he went forward into the forest without hesitation, even though there was no path before them, finding his way merely by looking at the trees and bushes. They walked for about an hour and a half.

‘After that, they reached the thickest part of the wood. A dry river-bed led into a deep gorge. Vampa took this strange path which, enclosed between two banks and darkened by the thick shade of the pines, resembled in everything but the ease of descent the path of the Avernus
⁶
of which Virgil speaks.

‘Teresa’s fears had returned at the sight of this wild and desolate place. She pressed close to her guide, saying nothing; but, seeing that he continued to walk ahead at an even pace with a profound look of tranquillity on his face, she herself found the strength to hide her feelings.

‘Suddenly, ten yards ahead of them, a man seemed to appear from the very trunk of the tree behind which he had been concealed, and levelled his gun at Vampa, crying: “Not another step, or you are a dead man!”

‘ “Come now,” said Vampa, raising his hand in a contemptuous gesture, while Teresa clung to him, no longer able to conceal her terror. “Do wolves fight among themselves?”

‘ “Who are you?” asked the sentry.

‘ “I am Luigi Vampa, shepherd from the farm of San-Felice.”

‘ “And what do you want?”

‘ “I wish to speak to your companions who are in the clearing of Rocca Bianca.”

‘ “Then follow me,” said the sentry. “Or, rather, as you know where it is, lead the way.”

‘Vampa smiled contemptuously at this precaution, stepped ahead with Teresa and continued on his way with the same calm, firm step that had brought him this far.

‘In five minutes the bandit signalled to them to stop. They did so. The bandit gave the cry of a crow three times, and it was answered by a single cawing.

‘ “Very well,” said the bandit. “Now you can carry on.”

‘Luigi and Teresa did so; but as they advanced, Teresa trembled and pressed even closer to her lover: through the trees they could see weapons appearing and the sunlight glittering on the barrels of guns.

‘The clearing at Rocca Bianca was on the summit of a little mountain which had no doubt previously been a volcano, but one that had become extinct before Romulus and Remus left Alba to come and build Rome. Teresa and Luigi reached the summit and were immediately confronted with about twenty bandits.

‘ “Here is a young man who has been looking for you and wants to talk to you,” said the sentry.

‘ “And what does he want to say?” asked the man who was acting as captain in their leader’s absence.

‘ “I want to say that I am tired of being a shepherd,” said Vampa.

‘ “Ah, I understand,” replied the lieutenant. “You have come to ask to be admitted to our ranks?”

‘ “Let him be welcome!” several bandits from Ferrusino, Pampinara and Anagni cried, having recognized Luigi Vampa.

‘ “Yes, except that I am requesting something else, apart from being your companion.”

‘ “What is your request?” the bandits said in astonishment.

‘ “I want to ask to be your captain,” the young man said.

‘The bandits burst out laughing.

‘ “So what have you done to aspire to such an honour?” the lieutenant demanded.

‘ “I have killed your leader, Cucumetto, whose clothes these are,”
said Luigi. “And I set light to the villa of San-Felice to give my fiancée a wedding dress.”

‘An hour later, Luigi Vampa had been elected captain to replace Cucumetto.’

‘Well, my dear Albert,’ said Franz, turning to his friend. ‘What do you think now of Citizen Luigi Vampa?’

‘I think he’s a myth,’ Albert replied. ‘He never existed.’

‘What is a myth?’ Pastrini asked.

‘It would take too long to explain, my good friend,’ Franz replied. ‘So you are telling us that Signor Vampa is currently exercising his profession in the environs of Rome?’

‘With a boldness that no previous bandit has ever displayed.’

‘So the police have tried in vain to capture him?’

‘What do you expect? He is in league with the shepherds of the plain, the Tiber fishermen and the coastal smugglers. If they go looking for him in the mountains, he is on the river; if they hunt him down the river, he is out at sea; then suddenly, when they think he has taken refuge on the islands of Giglio, Guanouti or Monte Cristo, he reappears in Albano, Tivoli or La Riccia.’

‘And how does he treat travellers?’

‘Very simply. According to the distance from the city, he allows them eight hours, twelve hours or a day to pay their ransom. Then, when the time has elapsed, he gives them an hour’s grace. On the sixtieth minute of that hour, if he does not have the money, he blows out the prisoner’s brains with his pistol or buries his dagger in his heart, and there’s an end to it.’

‘Well, Albert,’ Franz asked his companion, ‘do you still feel like going to the Colosseum via the boulevards outside the walls?’

‘Naturally,’ said Albert, ‘if the route is more picturesque.’

At that moment the clock struck nine, the door opened and the coachman appeared.

‘Excellencies,’ he said, ‘your carriage awaits you.’

‘Very well,’ said Franz, ‘in that case, to the Colosseum!’

‘Via the Porta del Popolo, Excellencies, or through the streets?’

‘Through the streets, confound it! Through the streets!’ said Franz.

‘Oh, my dear fellow!’ said Albert, getting up and lighting his third cigar. ‘I must confess I thought you braver than that!’

Upon which the two young men went down the stairs and got into their carriage.

Franz had found a compromise that would allow Albert to reach the Colosseum without passing by any antique ruin, avoiding a gradual approach that might deprive the colossus of a single cubit of its massive proportions. This compromise was to go down the Via Sistina, turn due right at Santa Maria Maggiore and take the Via Urbana, past San Pietro in Vincoli, to the Via del Colosseo.

There was an additional advantage in this route, which was that it would not at all distract Franz from the effects of the story which Signor Pastrini had told them – and in which his mysterious host from the island of Monte Cristo had made an appearance. So he was able to sit, resting, in a corner of the carriage and to consider the endless succession of questions that had arisen in his mind, though without finding a satisfactory reply to any of them.