CHAPTER XIVThe sequel shall be told in a letter written by Theresa Leaney to Mansana's mother, and sent from the princess's Hungarian estate not long after the events set forth in the last chapter: "DEAREST MOTHER,"At last you shall have a connected account of all that has happened since we parted at Naples. Excuse me if at times I repeat what I have told you already."Well, then, you must know that after our wedding Giuseppe's gloomy reserve was replaced by a devoted and humble zeal to do me service which made me anxious; it seemed so strange in him. His old...
Long Stories - Post by : add2it - Date : May 2012 - Author : Bjornstjerne Bjornson - Read : 1075
CHAPTER XIIIThe Brandinis had sought refuge in the house of Nina Borghi, the old man's sister, and the mother of Luigi, and it so happened that the train by which they fled was the same in which the hero Luigi also took his flight. It was, however, only early the next morning, at a station, just as Luigi was leaving the train, that they discovered each other. The unexpected sight of them so put Luigi off his balance, he would have passed them without speaking, but that the old man seized him by the arm and obliged him to listen to...
Long Stories - Post by : rlscott - Date : May 2012 - Author : Bjornstjerne Bjornson - Read : 2984
CHAPTER XIIGiuseppe Mansana had gone to Borghi's quarters without finding him, and had searched for him in vain at the _cafe frequented by the officers of the garrison, and later in the day, among the crowds of holiday-makers. During these wanderings he encountered many officers of his acquaintance, some of them accompanied by civilian friends, and it struck him that they relapsed into silence when they saw him, and spoke to one another in whispers as he passed them. Yet he felt that, whatever might be thought of the enterprise on which he was now embarked, he was in honour bound...
Long Stories - Post by : Dusty13 - Date : May 2012 - Author : Bjornstjerne Bjornson - Read : 3327
CHAPTER XIThat same evening, Amanda's curiosity was stirred by receiving a letter conveyed to her with every appearance of precaution. She struck a light, and found that it came from Luigi--the first he had ever sent to her--and thus it ran: "MY AMANDA,--There is a madman in pursuit of me, and he threatens my life. An hour ago he got me to swear solemnly, and to put my hand to the oath, that I would renounce all pretensions to you, and never even speak to you again. I was a poltroon to submit to it. I know that well enough, and...
Long Stories - Post by : gabby - Date : May 2012 - Author : Bjornstjerne Bjornson - Read : 3953
CHAPTER XThe next morning Mansana took care to be earlier than usual at the trysting-place; but his two friends had also arrived before their accustomed time, as though they, as well as he, found pleasure in these meetings, and were anxious to make the most of them, especially now when only two more such opportunities were possible.Mansana forced himself to go through the inevitable political preliminaries with the old man; then turning suddenly to Amanda, changed the conversation by asking brusquely, "With whom were you disputing on the balcony last evening?"By way of answer her cheeks flushed with a bright, charming...
Long Stories - Post by : Joe_Coon - Date : May 2012 - Author : Bjornstjerne Bjornson - Read : 3181
CHAPTER IXAll that day, and for days to come, the lovers lived under the glamour of their intoxicating dream of joy. It swept the fashionable world of Ancona into its current; for the engagement had to be celebrated by a series of entertainments and country excursions. There was a fascinating element of strangeness and romance in the whole episode. On the one side there was Mansana's reputation, on the other, Theresa's wealth, rank, and personal attractions. That this invincible beauty should be plighted to the victorious young soldier, and that under circumstances which popular rumour exaggerated to an incredible extent, seemed...
Long Stories - Post by : gabby - Date : May 2012 - Author : Bjornstjerne Bjornson - Read : 3052
CHAPTER VIIIBy four o'clock the next day, Mansana was being conducted through the ante-room, mirror-room, and concert-hall, to one of the Gothic apartments in the interior of the palace scattered about on the various tables lay photographs of the princess' last journey. He was informed that the princess would be ready immediately.She made her appearance in a kind of Hungarian or Polish costume; for the November weather was chilly, and unusually so that day. She wore a tightly fitting velvet gown, with sable-edged tunic, reaching to the knee; and her hair was loosely coiled beneath a large hat, also trimmed...
Long Stories - Post by : best4you - Date : May 2012 - Author : Bjornstjerne Bjornson - Read : 3618
CHAPTER VIIAfter this encounter, Mansana might very well have gone to visit the princess at her palace, but he still hesitated, perhaps with the secret hope that she might make one more advance towards him. The kind of self-brooding vanity, which he had so long cherished in secret, can be carried to absurd extremes, and is apt to be at once too retiring and too exacting. His shy reserve forbade him to call upon her, in spite of her express invitation, and yet he was audacious enough to cherish a hope that she would seek him at the place where he...
Long Stories - Post by : mrtwist - Date : May 2012 - Author : Bjornstjerne Bjornson - Read : 3641
CHAPTER VITwo days later he was standing on the high ground near the wall, that surrounds the old Cathedral precincts in Ancona; his attention was riveted neither on the battered red marble lions which support the columns of the porch, nor yet upon the beauties of the bay which lay beneath him. His eyes wandered indiscriminately over the sailing vessels and the laden boats and barges, and over the busy, bustling life of the arsenal and the quays, but his thoughts were in the great church he had just quitted; for there he had seen _her_. A solemn ceremonial had brought...
Long Stories - Post by : simkl - Date : May 2012 - Author : Bjornstjerne Bjornson - Read : 2535
CHAPTER VWe have seen how Mansana bore himself in the funeral procession the next day, and we know now why he walked behind his father's bier with that elastic gait, that buoyant and springy step. He had expected to find in the woman he had insulted, an implacable adversary, and was prepared to meet her enmity with disdain. But a single glance in the Corso from the eyes of Theresa Leaney, as she stood there in all her triumphant brilliancy and beauty, had set up a new image in his soul. It was the image of Theresa herself as the radiant...
Long Stories - Post by : cclittle - Date : May 2012 - Author : Bjornstjerne Bjornson - Read : 1017
CHAPTER IVWhen Princess Theresa Leaney came to herself again, all her strength and energy seemed gone from her. She would not rise, she scarcely touched her food, and allowed no one to remain near her. In silence her companion passed through the large mirror-room that adjoined the ante-room; in silence she returned when her duties were accomplished, and when she entered the small Gothic apartment which the princess occupied near the centre of the palace, she was still careful to observe the same silence. The servants followed her example. This elderly chaperon of Theresa's had been brought up in a convent,...
Long Stories - Post by : add2it - Date : May 2012 - Author : Bjornstjerne Bjornson - Read : 3336
CHAPTER IIIAs Giuseppe Mansana followed his father's bones to their last resting-place, looking, even on that sad and solemn occasion, as though he would fain leap over the funeral-car, it was plain enough that he was under the spell of his first burning dream of love. Later on, in the course of that same evening, he took the train to Ancona his regiment was quartered. There lived the woman he loved, and nothing but the sight of her could assuage the fire of passion that flamed in his heart.Giuseppe Mansana was in love with a woman whose temperament was not...
Long Stories - Post by : rlscott - Date : May 2012 - Author : Bjornstjerne Bjornson - Read : 1165
CHAPTER IIBy the scene which I had witnessed my memory was long haunted; but not so much by a recollection of the impressive part which the mother had played, as by the defiant countenance, the tall, muscular figure, and the athletic bearing, of the young officer of the Bersaglieri. I was curious to learn something of his history, and discovered, to my surprise, that it was the daring exploits of this son, which, by recalling attention to the father, were responsible for the tardy honours now accorded to the latter's memory. I felt I had struck upon something characteristically Italian. The...
Long Stories - Post by : sbeard - Date : May 2012 - Author : Bjornstjerne Bjornson - Read : 1181
CHAPTER II was on my way to Rome, and as I entered the train at Bologna, I bought some newspapers to read on my journey. An item of news from the capital, published in one of the Florence journals, immediately arrested my attention. It carried me back thirteen years, and brought to mind a former visit I had paid to Rome, and certain friends with whom I had lived in a little town in the vicinity, at the time when Rome was still under the Papal rule.The newspaper stated that the remains of the patriot Mansana had been exhumed from the...
Long Stories - Post by : ben.g - Date : May 2012 - Author : Bjornstjerne Bjornson - Read : 1153
The following note was prefixed by the author to the first edition of "Captain Mansana: an Italian Tale":This story was originally published, several years ago, in a Danish Christmas Annual, "From Hill and Dale," which was edited by Mr. H. J. Greensteen. "Captain Mansana" has already run through two editions in German, and many friends have urged the author to republish it, in a separate form, and in his own tongue.The following remarks seem necessary in consequence of some criticisms which have appeared in the Danish and Swedish press. The narrative, in all essential particulars, is based on facts, and those...
Long Stories - Post by : cclittle - Date : May 2012 - Author : Bjornstjerne Bjornson - Read : 3399
A Painful Memory from ChildhoodI must have been somewhere about seven years old, when one Sundayafternoon a rumour reached the parsonage that, on that same day,two men, rowing past the Buggestrand in Eidsfjord, had discovereda woman who had fallen over a cliff, and had remained half lying,half hanging, close to the water's edge.Before moving her, they tried to find out from her who had thrownher over.It was thirty-five miles by water to the doctor's, and then anorder for admission to the hospital had also to be procured. Shehad lain twenty-four hours before help reached her, and shortlyafterwards she died. Before she...
Long Stories - Post by : DaveK - Date : July 2011 - Author : Bjornstjerne Bjornson - Read : 2695
Chapter 5The next day they were married. That night, long after his wifehad fallen into her usual healthy sleep, Rafael thoughtsorrowfully of his lost Paradise. HE could not sleep. As he laythere he seemed to look out over a meadow, which had nospringtime, and therefore no flowers. He retraced the events ofthe past day. His would be a marred life which had never known thesweet joys of courtship.Angelika did not share his beliefs. She was a stern realist, asneering sceptic, in the most literal sense a cynic.Her even breathing, her regular features, seemed to answer him."Hey-dey, my boy, we shall be...
Long Stories - Post by : chris24wms - Date : July 2011 - Author : Bjornstjerne Bjornson - Read : 1532
Chapter 4He came to Christiania like a tall ship gay with flags. His lovewas the music on board.His numerous relations were ready to receive him. Of these manywere engineers, who were a jour with all his writings, which theyhad taken care should be well known. Some of the largestmechanical undertakings in the country were in their hands, sothat they had connections in every direction.Once more the family had a genius in its midst; that is to say,one to make a show with. Rafael went from entertainment toentertainment, from presentation to presentation, and wherever heor his mother went court was paid to...
Long Stories - Post by : wooky - Date : July 2011 - Author : Bjornstjerne Bjornson - Read : 3236
Chapter 3It was a bright evening in the beginning of June that theydisembarked from the steamer, and at once left the town in theboat which was to take them to Hellebergene. They did not know anyof the boatmen, although they were from the estate; the boat alsowas new.But the islands among which they were soon rowing were the oldones, which had long awaited them and seemed to have swum out tomeet them, and now to move one behind the other so that the boatmight pass between them. Neither mother nor son spoke to the men,nor did they talk to each ether....
Long Stories - Post by : bojan - Date : July 2011 - Author : Bjornstjerne Bjornson - Read : 2083
Chapter 2Within a few days of the funeral mother and son were in England.Rafael was now to enter upon a long course of study, for which, byhis earlier education, his mother had prepared him, and for which,by painful privations, she had saved up sufficient money.The property was to the last degree impoverished, and burdenedwith mortgages, and the timber only fit for fuel.Their neighbour the Dean, a clear-headed and practical man, tookupon himself the management of affairs; as money was needed thework of devastation must begin at once. The mother and son did notwish to witness it.They came to England like two...
Long Stories - Post by : juanita - Date : July 2011 - Author : Bjornstjerne Bjornson - Read : 2201
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Captain Mansana - Chapter 14
