204


The  Journey  to  Rome

For  she  loved  him.     And  in  his  inmost
heart  he  knew  that  he  must  leave  her.
Yes  5  in  the  recesses  of  his  heart  he
knew  what  true  love  for  her  and  a  true
regard  for  his  own  honour  alike  de-
manded. But  he  did  not  mean  that,
because  he  saw  this  and  was  resolved  to
act  on  it,  the  Count  should  escape  cas-
tigation.  Before  he  went,  before  he  left
behind  him  what  was  dearest  in  life,  and
again  took  his  way  alone,  unfriended,
solitary  (penniless  too,  if  he  had  hap-
pened to  remember  this),  he  would  speak
his  mind  to  the  Count,  first  in  stinging
reproaches,  later  in  the  appeal  that  friend-
ship may  make  to  honour;  and  at  the
last  he  would  demand  from  the  Count,
as  the  recompense  for  his  own  services,
an  utter  renunciation  and  abandonment
of  the  lady  who  had  dropped  the  locket
by  the  ford,  of  her  whom  the  driver  had
carried  to  the  door  of  the  house  which
the  Countess  of  Fieramondi  honoured
with  her  gracious  presence.  In  drawing
a  contrast  between  the  Countess  and  this
205


Captain  Dieppe

shameless  woman  the  last  remembrance
of  the  Countess's  peccadilloes  faded  from
his  indignant  mind.  He  quickened  his
pace  a  little,  as  a  man  does  when  he  has
reached  a  final  decision.  He  crossed  the
bridge,  ascended  the  hill  on  which  the
Castle  stood,  and  came  opposite  to  the
little  gate  which  the  Count  himself  had
opened  to  him  on  that  first  happy—or
unhappy— night  on  which  he  had  become
an  inmate  of  the  house.
Even  as  he  came  to  it,  it  opened,  and
the  Count's  servant  ran  out.  In  a  mo-
ment he  saw  Dieppe  and  called  to  him
loudly  and  gladly.
