Farewell Nikola: Chapter 06

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Chapter six of Farewell Niccola by Guy Boothby this LibriVox
recording is in the public domain. Chapter six. On the
following day, having sent my servant to inquire, I was
informed that the Don Jose di Martinos had arrived at
the hotel and had engaged rooms on the floor above

(00:24):
our own. Accordingly, after luncheon, I ascended to the rooms
in question and asked whether he would receive me. I
had scarcely waited more than a minute before he made
his appearance. He paused on the threshold to give an
order to his man, and while he did so, I
was permitted an opportunity of taking stock of him. He

(00:44):
was a tall, muscular man of between thirty five and
forty years of age. His appearance did not betray so
much of his Spanish origin as I had expected. Indeed,
it would have been difficult to have given him a nationality.
I noticed that his beard, which he walked closely, was
not innocent of the touch of time. His face was

(01:04):
a powerful one, but at first glance I was not
altogether prepossessed in its favor. His hands and feet were small,
the former particularly so for a man of his size
and build. Moreover, He was faultlessly dressed, and carried himself
with the air of a man of the world and
of good breeding. Sir Richard hatteras he said, and crossed

(01:26):
the room to greet me, this is kind of you. Indeed,
my friend Anstruther informed me that you were in Venice,
was good enough to take upon himself the responsibility of
introducing me to you. His voice was strong and musical,
and he pronounced every word. He spoke excellent English, as
if it had a value of its own, and quiet

(01:47):
after Anstruther's health, which for some time past had been precarious,
and it was with satisfaction that I learned of the
improvement that had taken place in it. You would scarcely
know him now now, said Martinez. He looked quite strong again.
But permit me to offer you a cigar. We Spaniards
say that we cannot talk unless we smoke. You English

(02:08):
say that you cannot smoke if you talk. And as
he said this, he handed me a box of cigars.
I fancy will like them. He said that tobacco was
grown upon my own estate in Cuba. For that reason
I can guarantee their purity. The weed I selected was
excellent in fact, one of the best cigars I had
ever smoked. While he was lighting his I stole another

(02:32):
glance at him. Decidedly he was a handsome man. But
here was the stumbling block. I cannot say what about him,
though I did not altogether like it was not a
crafty face. Far from it. The eyes were well placed
in the mouth, from what one could see of it,
under his black mustache was well molded, with white even teeth.

(02:53):
The nose was even slightly aquiline, and the chin large,
firm and square. Nevertheless, there was something about it that
did not suit my fancy. Once I told myself it
was a cruel face. Yet the singularly winning smile that
followed a remark of mine a moment later went some
way towards disabusing my mind. Upon that point, Lady hatteras

(03:16):
I understood from Signor Astruther's with you, he said, after
we had talked of other things, she is downstairs. At
this moment, I answered, we are a party of four,
Miss Trevor, the daughter of the Dean of Bedminster, the
Duke of Glenbarth, my wife and myself. I hope you
will permit me the pleasure of introducing you to them
at an early date. I should be most happy, he replied,

(03:39):
particularly fond of Venice. But when all is said and done,
one must have companions to enjoy it thoroughly. I have
been given to understand that this was his first visit
to the Queen of the Adriatic, but I did not
comment upon the fact. When I was inclined to believe
that Adam would have enjoyed the Garden of Eden if
it had not been for Eve, I remarked with a smile.
Poor Adam, I answered, I've always thought him a much

(04:01):
abused man. Unlike ourselves, he was without experience, he had
a companion forced upon him who worked his ruin, and
the loss on the transaction is not only physical but financial.
How long do you contemplate remaining in Venice, I asked,
after the little pause that followed his last speech. I
scarcely know, he answered. My movements are most erratic. I

(04:23):
am the most unfortunate of God's creatures. I wonder the
face of the earth. I have no relations, but few friends.
Aram about as a fancy takes me. Remain in a
place as long as it pleases me, and then not.
The Arab in the poem, Silently take up my tent
and move on as soon as the city I happened
to be in at the time has lost its charm.

(04:43):
I possess a pedataia of four rooms in Cairo. I
have lived amongst the Carbiles in the desert, with the
Armenians in the mountains. Summed up, I have the instincts
of the wandering Jew and fortunately the means of gratifying them.
What it was I cannot say, but there was something
in his speech that grated upon my feelings. Whether what

(05:04):
he had said was the two or not, I am
not in a position to affirm, but the impression I
received that he was talking for effect, and everyone will
know what that means. As you are such a globe trotter,
I said, perhaps there's scarcely a portion of the world
do you have not visited. I have perhaps had more
than my share of traveling. The answer, I think I

(05:25):
can now safely say that, with the exception of South America,
I have visited every portion of the known globe. You've
never been in South America, then, I asked, in some surprise. Never,
he replied, and immediately changed the conversation by inquiring whether
I had met certain of Anstroth's friends, who was supposed
to be on their way to Venice. A few minutes later,

(05:46):
after having given him an invitation to dinner the next evening,
I bade him good bye and left him on my return.
My wife was eager to question me concerning him, but
as things stood, I did not feel capable of giving
her a detailed reply. There are some acquaintances whom one
feels will prove friends from the outset. There are others
who fill one from the first with a vague distrust.

(06:10):
Not that I altogether distrusted Martinos. I had not seen
enough of him to do that. At the same time, however,
I could not conscientiously say, as I have already observed,
that I was altogether prepossessed in his favor. The following morning,
he accepted my invitation for that evening, and punctually, at
half past seven he made his appearance in the drawing room.

(06:33):
I introduced him to my wife and also to Miss
Trevor when she joined us. My husband tells me that
you are a great traveler, said Phyllis, after they had
seated themselves. He says, you know the world as we
know London. Your husband does me too much honor, he
answered modestly, And what I have heard of you, you
must know the world almost as well as I do.

(06:53):
My friend Anstruther, has told me a romantic story about you,
something connected with the south Sea Island and a mysterious
personage named He paused for a moment as if to
remember the name Niccola. I said, you do not happen
to have met him, I suppose, to my knowledge never,
he answered, it is a strange surname. At that moment,

(07:16):
Glen Barth entered the room, and I introduced the two
men to each other. For some reason of my own,
I was quite prepared to find that the Duke would
not take a fancy to our new acquaintance, Nor was
I destined to be disappointed. Before dinner was half over,
I could see that he had a great difficulty in
being civil to the stranger. Had Martinez not been our guest,

(07:37):
I doubt very much whether he would have been able
to control himself. And yet the Spaniard laid himself out
in every way to please His attentions had paid chiefly
to my wife. I do not believe that he addressed
Miss Trevor Moran a dozen times throughout the meal. Notwithstanding
this fact, glen Barth regarded him with evident animosity, in

(07:57):
so much that Miss Trevor more than once looked at
him with an expression of positive alarm upon her face.
She had not seen him in this humor before, and
though she may have had her suspicions as to the
reason of it, it was plain that she was far
from approving of his line of action. When the ladies
withdrew and the wine was being circulated, I endeavored to

(08:18):
draw the two men into greater harmony with each other.
The attempt, however, was unsuccessful. More than once Glenbarth said
things which bordered on rudeness, till I began to feel
angry with him. On one occasion, happening to look up
suddenly from the cigar which I was cutting, I detected
a look upon the Spaniard's face that startled me. It, however,

(08:39):
showed me one thing, and that was the fact that,
despite his genial behavior, Martinos had not been blind to
the young man's treatment of himself. And also, should a
time ever arrive when he would have a chance of
doing Glenbarth a mischief, he would not be forgetful of
the debt. He owed him that as were not much better.
When we adjured to the drawer, glen Barth, according to custom,

(09:02):
seated himself beside Miss Trevor and studiously ignored the Spaniard.
I was more than sorry for this, as I could say.
It was the behavior of a schoolboy, not that of
a man of the world. And the worst part of
it was that it was doing Glenbarth no sort of
good in the eyes of the person with whom he
wished to stand best. The truth was the poor lad

(09:24):
was far from being himself. He was suffering from mercutic
tack of a disease which has not yet received the
proper attention of science, the disease of first love. So
overwhelmed was he by his passion that he could not
bear any stranger even to look upon the object of
his adoration. Later in the evening, matters reached their climax

(09:46):
when my wife asked the don to sing. I feel
sure that you do sing, she said, in an artless
way which women often affect. I sometimes try to amuse
my friends, said he, and begging us to excuse him.
He retired to his own rooms, to presently return with
a large Spanish guitar, having taken a seat near the window,

(10:09):
and when he had swept his fingers over the strings
in a few preliminary chords, he commenced to sing. He
was the possessor of a rich baritone, which he used
with excellent effect. My wife was delighted and asked him
to sing again. Miss Trevor also expressed her delight that
seconded my wife's proposal. This was altogether too much for Glenbarth.

(10:32):
Muttering something about a severe headache, he hurriedly left the room.
My wife and I exchanged glances, but Martinos and Miss
Trevor did not appear to notice his absence. This time,
he sang a Spanish fishing song, but I did not
pay much attention to it. A little later, the dawn,
having thanked us for our hospitality, took his departure, and

(10:52):
when Miss Trevison good night to us and had retired
to our own room, my wife and I were left
alone together. I could have made the Duke behave like that.
She said, He's madly in love, my dear, and also
madly jealous. I answered, I hope and trust, however, that
he's not going to repeat this performance. If he does,

(11:13):
it will imperil any chance of his winning Gertrude's love.
She replied, He will also place us in a decidedly
awkward position. Let's be a lesson to you, my dear,
never to play with fire again, I replied, you bring
two inflammable people together and wonder that there should be
an explosion. Well, I'm really very angry with him. I
don't know what don Jose must have thought. Probably he

(11:36):
thought nothing about it, I replied. He mustn't be too
angry with glen Bath. However, leave him to me and
I'll talk to him tomorrow. I promise you he'll be
sorry for himself. If I know anything of women, Gertrude
will make him wish he had acted differently. I don't
think she will bother about the matter. She has too
much sense. Very well, we shall see. Then I bade

(11:56):
her go to bed, promising myself to sit up for
glen Bath, who I discovered had gone out. Was dinny
midnight when he returned, and noticed that every trace of
ill humor had vanished from his face, and he was
quite himself. One more, my dear, Dickie said, I don't
know how to apologize for my ridiculous and rude behavior.
To night, I'm more ashamed of myself than I could say.

(12:19):
I behaved like a child. Lookus he happened to be
in a repentant mood. I was not going to let
him off the chastising I felt. I ought to give
him a nice sort of fellow. You are upon my word,
I said, putting down the paper I've been reading, as
I spoke of a very good mind to tell you
exactly what I think of you. You'll only be wasting
your time. He returned, for he kind of thing half
as badly of me as I do myself. I can't

(12:41):
imagine what made me do it, can't you? I said,
well I can, and as you are pretty certain to
catch it in one particular quarter to morrow, I fancy,
on mature reflection that I can afford to forgive you.
The man had done you no harm. He not only
did not interfere with you, but he was not trespassing
upon your Don't speak of him, said the young fellow,

(13:04):
flaring up at once. If I think of him, I
shall get angry again. I can't bear the look of
the beggar. Steady, my young friend, steady, I returned, you
mustn't call other people's friends by that name. He is
not your friend, said Glen Barth excitedly. You've never seen
him until to night, and you've known me ever since.
I was about so high. I began to imagine you're

(13:25):
only so high this evening, I said, it's a good
thing for you that the wife has gone to bed,
or I fancy you had heard something would have made
your ears tingle. After the foolish manner of women, she
has come to the conclusion that she would like you
to marry miss Trevor. God bless her, he said fervently.
I knew that she is my friend. In that case,
she would probably have enjoyed a friend's privilege had you

(13:47):
been here to night before she retired and have received
a dressing down that is usually reserved for her husband.
I live in hopes that you may get it to morrow, bosh,
he answered. And now if you've forgiven me, I think
I'll go to bed. I've had enough of myself for
one day without me shook hands and bade each other
good night at his bedroom door. He stopped me. Do

(14:08):
you think she will forgive me? He asked, as humbly
as a boy who had just been caught stealing sugar plums.
My wife answered, yes, I think it very probable that
she will. No. No, how dense you are. I mean here,
He nodded his head in the direction of the room
occupied by Miss Trevor. You'll have to find that out
for yourself, I replied, and then went on to my

(14:29):
dressing room. That will give you a grace something to
think about all night, I said, as I took off
my coat. As it turned out, I was destined to
be fairly accurate in the prophecy I'd made concerning Miss
Trevor's treatment of Glen Barth. On the morrow at breakfast,
she did not altogether ignore him. When I say she
devoted the larger share of attention to myself. Those are

(14:51):
my readers who were married and have probably had the
same experience. Well understand. My wife, on the other hand,
was affability itself, and from a behavior toward him a
bit to be quite willing to forgive and forget the
unfortunate episode of the previous evening. I chuckled to myself,
but said nothing. He was not at the end of
his punishment. Yet all that day we saw nothing of Martinos,

(15:14):
whether he remained at home or went abroad, we could
not say. On returning to the hotel to lunch, however,
we discovered a basket of roses in the drawing room,
with the Don's card tied to the handle. Oh what
lovely flowers, cried my wife in an ecstasy. Look, Gertrude,
are they not beautiful? Miss Trevor cordly admired them, and,
in order I suppose that Glenbarth's punishment might be the

(15:35):
more complete, beg for a bud to wear herself, one
was given to her. While I watched glen Barth's face
over the top of the letter I was reading. At
the moment my heart was touched by his miserable face.
When he and my wife had left the room to
prepare for lunch, I determined to put in a good
word for him. Miss Gertrude, I said, as an old friend,
I have a favor to ask of you. Do you

(15:57):
think you can grant it? You must first tell me
what it is. She said, with a smile upon her face.
I know from experience that you are not to be trusted.
A nice sort of character for a family man, I protested,
Lady hatteras has been telling tales. I can see your
wife would never tell a tale of any one, particularly
of you, she asserted. But what would you ask of me?

(16:18):
Only a plea for human happiness? I said, with mock gravity.
I've seen the absolute despair written indelibly honor certain human
gauntance to day, and the sight has troubled me ever since.
Are you aware that there is a poor young man
in this hotel whose face opens like a daisy to
the sun when you smile upon him, and closes in
the darkness of your neglect? How absurd you are? Why

(16:41):
am I absurd? Because you talk in this fashion? Will
you smile upon him again? You suffered a great deal
these last two days. Really, you are too ridiculous. I
don't know what you mean. That is not the truth,
miss Trevor, and you know it. But what have I
done wrong? The business with the rose just now, for instance,
was cruel, to say the least of it. Really, Sir Richard,

(17:01):
you do say such foolish things. If I want a
rose to wear, surely I may have one. But I
must not stay talking to you. It's five and twenty
minutes past one. I must go and get ready for lunch.
I held, open the door for her, and as she passed,
I said, you will do what I asked, just to
please me. I don't know what you mean, but I
will think it over, she replied, and then departed to

(17:23):
her room. She must have done as she promised, for
the rose was absent from her dress when she sat
down to lunch. Glen Barth noticed it, and from that
moment his drooping spirits revived. That afternoon, my wife and
I went down to meet the pie Andot mail boat
in order to discover some friends who were on their
way to Egypt. As neither the Duke of glen Barth

(17:46):
nor Miss Trevor were acquainted with them, they were excused
from attendants. When we joined them. It was plain that
all traces of trouble had been removed, and in consequence,
the Duke was basking in the seventh heaven and happiness.
Had I asked the young man at that moment for
half his estates, I believe would have willingly given them
to me. He would have done so even more willingly

(18:07):
had he known that it was to my agency that
he owed the wondrous change in his affairs. For some
reason of her own, Miss Trevor was also in the
best of spirits. My wife was happy because her turtle
doves were happy, and I beamed upon them all with
the complacency of the God out of the machine. All
this time I had been wondering as to the reason

(18:28):
why we had not heard or seen anything of Niccola.
Why I should have expected to do so, I cannot say,
But after the events of three evenings ago I had
entertained a vague hope that I should have seen him,
or that he would have communicated with me in some
form or another. We were to see him, However, before
very long we had arranged to visit the Academy on

(18:49):
our return from the mail boat, where my wife was
anxious to renew her acquaintance with the Titians. For my
own part, I am prepared to admit that my knowledge
of the pictures is not sufficiently cultivated to enable me
to derive any pleasure from the constant perusal of these masters.
Phyllis and Miss Trevor, however, managed to discover a source

(19:09):
of considerable satisfaction in them. When we left the gallery,
we'd we made our way, according to custom, in the
direction of Piazza of Saint Mark. We did not advanced
very far upon our walk, However, before I chanced to
turn round to discover astriding after us, no less a
person than our new acquaintance, John Jose Martinos. He bowed

(19:30):
to the ladies, shook hands with myself, and nodded to
the Duke. If you are proceeding in the direction of Piazza,
will you permit me to accompany you? He asked, And
that permission having been given by my wife, we continued
our walk. What glen Barre thought of it, I do
not know, but as he had just discovered to himself,
I do not see that they had anything to complain of. I.

(19:52):
Reaching Florian's cafe, we took our customary seats, the don
placing himself next to my wife and laying himself out
to be agreeable. Once he addressed Glen Barth and I
was astonished to see the consideratory manner that the other
adopted towards him. Now that he sees he has nothing
to fear, perhaps he will not be so jealous, I

(20:13):
said to myself, And indeed it appeared as if this
were likely to be the case. I was more relieved
by this discovery than I could say, as we should
probably be some time in Venice, and the don had
arrived with the same intention, and we were to be
located in the same hotel. It was of the utmost
importance to our mutual comforts that there should be no

(20:33):
friction between the two men. But enough of this subject
for the present. There are other matters to be considered.
In the first place, I must put on record a
curious circumstance in the light of after events. It bears
a strange significance, and he would be a courageous man
who would dare say that he could explain it. It
must be borne in mind in the order that the

(20:56):
importance of what I am now about to describe may
be plainly understood. That Miss Trevor was seated facing me,
that is to say, with her back towards the cathedral
of Saint Mark. She was in the best of spirits,
and at the moment was engaged in an animated discussion
on my wife on the effect of ancient art upon
her bentoir. The Gootney tourist. Suddenly, without any apparent reason,

(21:19):
her face grew deathly pale, and she came to a
sudden stop in the middle of a sentence. Fortunately no
one noticed it but my wife and myself, and as
she was herself again in a moment me, neither of
us called attention to him. A moment later, I glanced
across the square until my amazement saw no less a

(21:39):
person than doctor Nicholler approaching us. Was it possible that
Miss Trevor, in some extraordinary manner had become aware of
his proximity to her? But was it only one of
those strange coincidences that were so difficult to explain away.
I did not know what to think then, nor, as
a matter of fact, do I now. Reaching up party,

(22:00):
Niccola raised his hat to the ladies. I fear Lady
hatteras he said, I must have been curred your displeasure
for keeping a husband so long away from you the
other night. If so, I hope you will forgive me.
I will endeavor to do so, said my wife with
a smile. But you must be very careful how you offend. Again.

(22:20):
Turning to Miss Trevor, he said, I hope you will
grant me your gracious intercession. Miss Trevor, I will do
my best for you. She answered with a seriousness that
made my wife and I look at her, and then
Nicholas shook hands with Glen Barth and glanced at the dock.
Permit me to introduce you to Don Josso di Martinos,
Doctor Nichola, I said, he is lately arrived, and oljeers.

(22:41):
The two men bowed gravely to each other. You are
fond of traveling, I presumed, Signor, said Nichola, fixing his
eyes upon the Don. I have seen a considerable portion
of the world. The other answered, I have seen the
midnight sun at Cape North and the drift ice off
the Harn, and have not found it all Barren Nichol
remarked gravely. From that moment the conversation flowed smoothly. Miss

(23:05):
Trevor had quite recovered herself. I could see that the
Don was intensely interested in Niccola, and indeed, on this
particular occasion, the latter exerted himself to the utmost to please.
I will admit, however, that something not unlike a shudder
passed over me as I contrasted his present affability with
his manner when he had threatened the unfortunate police agent

(23:26):
a few nights before. Now he was a suave, pleasant
mannered man of the world. Then he figured almost as
an avenging angel. Now he discussed modern literature, and then
I had heard him threaten a human being with the
direst penalties that it was possible for a man to inflict.
When it was time for us to return to hotel,

(23:47):
Niccola rose and bade us good bye. I hope you
will permit me the pleasure of seeing more of you
while you're in Venice, said Niccola, addressing the Don. If
your an admirer of the old palaces of this wonderful city,
and our friends will accompany you, I shall be delighted
to show you my own poor abode, possess his points
of interest that many of the other places lack. And

(24:09):
though it has fallen somewhat to decay, I fancy you
will admit that the fact does altogether detract from disinterest.
I shall hasten to avail myself of the opportunity you
are kind enough to offer me, the other replied, after
which they bowed ceremoniously to each other and parted. Your
friend is an extraordinary man, said the Don, as we

(24:31):
walked towards the steps. I have never met a more
interesting person. Does he altogether reside in Venice? Ah, dear, no,
I replied, if one were asked to say when Nichola
had his abode, it would be almost necessary to say
in the world. I myself first met him in London,
afterwards in Egypt, then in Australia, and later on the

(24:52):
South Sea Islands. Now we are together again in Venice.
I have good reason for knowing that he is also
familiar with China and Thibet. He himself confesses to a
knowledge of Africa and Central America. The Central America, said
the Don quickly, pray, what part of Central America does
he know? That I am unable to say, I replied,

(25:12):
I have never questioned him upon the subject. From that
moment the Don almost exclusively addressed himself to my wife
and did not refer to Niccola again. We parted in
the hall of the hotel. Next morning, we saw him
for a few moments at the post office, but at
no other time during the day. On the following day,
he accompanied us on an excursion to Chicagia and dined

(25:35):
with us afterwards. Though I knew that Gallimblath still disliked him,
his hostility was so veiled as to be scarcely noticeable.
Towards the end of the evening, a note was brought
to me. One glance at the handwriting upon the envelope
was sufficient to show me that it was for Nicola.
It ran as follows, my dear Hatteras, remembering your friend

(25:57):
Don Martino's desire to see my poor palace, I have
written to ask him if he will dine with me
to morrow evening at eight o'clock. If I can persuade
you and the Duke of Glenbarth to give me the
pleasure of your society, I need scarcely say that you
will be adding to my delight. Sincerely, yours, Niccola. You

(26:17):
have not, of course received your letter yet, I said,
addressing the doc what do you say to the invitation?
I shall accept only too willingly, he answered, bout delais provided,
of course you will go too. Have you any objection
to raise, Duke, I asked, addressing Glenbarth. I could see
that he was not very anxious to go, but under
the circumstances he could not very well refuse. I shall

(26:40):
be very happy, he answered, and for once in his
life he deliberately said what he knew to be untrue.
End of Chapter six