"Everything," he said, "proves me to be under the protection of some
powerful person,-this sudden fortune, the facility with which I have
overcome all obstacles, an unexpected family and an illustrious name
awarded to me, gold showered down upon me, and the most splendid
alliances about to be entered into. An unhappy lapse of fortune and the
absence of my protector have cast me down, certainly, but not forever.
The hand which has retreated for a while will be again stretched forth
to save me at the very moment when I shall think myself sinking into the
abyss. Why should I risk an imprudent step? It might alienate my
protector. He has two means of extricating me from this dilemma,-the one
by a mysterious escape, managed through bribery; the other by buying off
my judges with gold. I will say and do nothing until I am convinced that
he has quite abandoned me, and then--"
Andrea had formed a plan which was tolerably clever. The unfortunate
youth was intrepid in the attack, and rude in the defence. He had borne
with the public prison, and with privations of all sorts; still, by
degrees nature, or rather custom, had prevailed, and he suffered from
being naked, dirty, and hungry. It was at this moment of discomfort that
the inspector’s voice called him to the visiting-room. Andrea felt his
heart leap with joy. It was too soon for a visit from the examining
magistrate, and too late for one from the director of the prison, or the
doctor; it must, then, be the visitor he hoped for. Behind the grating
of the room into which Andrea had been led, he saw, while his eyes
dilated with surprise, the dark and intelligent face of M. Bertuccio,
who was also gazing with sad astonishment upon the iron bars, the bolted
doors, and the shadow which moved behind the other grating.
powerful person,-this sudden fortune, the facility with which I have
overcome all obstacles, an unexpected family and an illustrious name
awarded to me, gold showered down upon me, and the most splendid
alliances about to be entered into. An unhappy lapse of fortune and the
absence of my protector have cast me down, certainly, but not forever.
The hand which has retreated for a while will be again stretched forth
to save me at the very moment when I shall think myself sinking into the
abyss. Why should I risk an imprudent step? It might alienate my
protector. He has two means of extricating me from this dilemma,-the one
by a mysterious escape, managed through bribery; the other by buying off
my judges with gold. I will say and do nothing until I am convinced that
he has quite abandoned me, and then--"
Andrea had formed a plan which was tolerably clever. The unfortunate
youth was intrepid in the attack, and rude in the defence. He had borne
with the public prison, and with privations of all sorts; still, by
degrees nature, or rather custom, had prevailed, and he suffered from
being naked, dirty, and hungry. It was at this moment of discomfort that
the inspector’s voice called him to the visiting-room. Andrea felt his
heart leap with joy. It was too soon for a visit from the examining
magistrate, and too late for one from the director of the prison, or the
doctor; it must, then, be the visitor he hoped for. Behind the grating
of the room into which Andrea had been led, he saw, while his eyes
dilated with surprise, the dark and intelligent face of M. Bertuccio,
who was also gazing with sad astonishment upon the iron bars, the bolted
doors, and the shadow which moved behind the other grating.