It
appeared that the elder Lodi had flattered one of his slaves with the
prospect of his freedom, but had, nevertheless, included this slave in
the sale that he had made of his estate. Actuated by revenge, the slave
assassinated Lodi in the open street, and resigned himself, without a
struggle, to the punishment which the law had provided for such a deed. "The property had been recently transferred, and the price was now
presented to young Vincentio by the purchaser. He was by no means
inclined to adopt his father's project, and was impatient to return with
his inheritance to France. Before this could be done, the conduct of his
father had rendered a voyage to the Continent indispensable. "Lodi had a daughter, whom, a few weeks previous to his death, he had
intrusted to an American captain for whom he had contracted a
friendship. The vessel was bound to Philadelphia; but the conduct she
was to pursue, and the abode she was to select, on her arrival, were
known only to the father, whose untimely death involved the son in
considerable uncertainty with regard to his sister's fate. His anxiety
on this account induced him to seize the first conveyance that offered. In a short time he landed at Baltimore. "As soon as he recovered from the fatigues of his voyage, he prepared to
go to Philadelphia. Thither his baggage was immediately sent under the
protection of a passenger and countryman. His money consisted in
Portuguese gold, which, in pursuance of advice, he had changed into
bank-notes. He besought me, in pathetic terms, to search out his sister,
whose youth and poverty, and ignorance of the language and manners of
the country, might expose her to innumerable hardships. At the same
time, he put a pocket-book and small volume into my hand, indicating, by
his countenance and gestures, his desire that I would deliver them to
his sister. "His obsequies being decently performed, I had leisure to reflect upon
the change in my condition which this incident had produced. In the
pocket-book were found bills to the amount of twenty thousand dollars. The volume proved to be a manuscript, written by the elder Lodi in
Italian, and contained memoirs of the ducal house of Visconti, from whom
the writer believed himself to have lineally descended. "Thus had I arrived, by an avenue so much beyond my foresight, at the
possession of wealth. The evil which impelled me to the brink of
suicide, and which was the source, though not of all, yet of the larger
portion, of my anguish, was now removed. What claims to honour or to
ease were consequent on riches were, by an extraordinary fortune, now
conferred upon me. "Such, for a time, were my new-born but transitory raptures. I forgot
that this money was not mine. That it had been received, under every
sanction of fidelity, for another's use. To retain it was equivalent to
robbery. The sister of the deceased was the rightful claimant; it was my
duty to search her out, and perform my tacit but sacred obligations, by
putting the whole into her possession. "This conclusion was too adverse to my wishes not to be strenuously
combated. I asked what it was that gave man the power of ascertaining
the successor to his property. During his life, he might transfer the
actual possession; but, if vacant at his death, he into whose hands
accident should cast it was the genuine proprietor. It is true, that the
law had sometimes otherwise decreed, but in law there was no validity
further than it was able, by investigation and punishment, to enforce
its decrees: but would the law extort this money from me? "It was rather by gesture than by words that the will of Lodi was
imparted. It was the topic of remote inferences and vague conjecture
rather than of explicit and unerring declarations. Besides, if the lady
were found, would not prudence dictate the reservation of her fortune to
be administered by me, for her benefit? Of this her age and education
had disqualified herself. It was sufficient for the maintenance of both. She would regard me as her benefactor and protector. By supplying all
her wants and watching over her safety without apprizing her of the
means by which I shall be enabled to do this, I shall lay irresistible
claims to her love and her gratitude. "Such were the sophistries by which reason was seduced and my integrity
annihilated. I hastened away from my present abode. I easily traced the
baggage of the deceased to an inn, and gained possession of it. It
contained nothing but clothes and books. I then instituted the most
diligent search after the young lady. For a time, my exertions were
fruitless. "Meanwhile, the possessor of this house thought proper to embark with
his family for Europe. The sum which he demanded for his furniture,
though enormous, was precipitately paid by me. His servants were
continued in their former stations, and in the day at which he
relinquished the mansion, I entered on possession. "There was no difficulty in persuading the world that Welbeck was a
personage of opulence and rank. My birth and previous adventures it was
proper to conceal. The facility with which mankind are misled in their
estimate of characters, their proneness to multiply inferences and
conjectures, will not be readily conceived by one destitute of my
experience. My sudden appearance on the stage, my stately reserve, my
splendid habitation, and my circumspect deportment, were sufficient to
entitle me to homage. The artifices that were used to unveil the truth,
and the guesses that were current respecting me, were adapted to gratify
my ruling passion. "I did not remit my diligence to discover the retreat of Mademoiselle
Lodi. I found her, at length, in the family of a kinsman of the captain
under whose care she had come to America. Her situation was irksome and
perilous. She had already experienced the evils of being protectorless
and indigent, and my seasonable interference snatched her from impending
and less supportable ills. "I could safely unfold all that I knew of her brother's history, except
the legacy which he had left. I ascribed the diligence with which I had
sought her to his death-bed injunctions, and prevailed upon her to
accept from me the treatment which she would have received from her
brother if he had continued to live, and if his power to benefit had
been equal to my own. "Though less can be said in praise of the understanding than of the
sensibilities of this woman, she is one whom no one could refrain from
loving, though placed in situations far less favourable to the
generation of that sentiment than mine. In habits of domestic and
incessant intercourse, in the perpetual contemplation of features
animated by boundless gratitude and ineffable sympathies, it could not
be expected that either she or I should escape enchantment. "The poison was too sweet not to be swallowed with avidity by me. Too
late I remembered that I was already enslaved by inextricable
obligations.