Edith Wharton - Novella 01 (8 page)

 
          
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Poor
Teresina
.

 
          
“When pain &
anguish wring the brow, a ministering Angel thou!”
 
Scott: “Marmion.”

 
          
The
returning
Winter
found Guy Hastings again at
Rome
, in the old studio which he & Egerton
had shared the year before; but Jack was still in
England
, though he wrote in the expectancy of
joining his Telemachus in the early Spring. Meanwhile Guy, on settling down in
his
Winter
quarters, began to apply himself with real
assiduity to his art. He painted a successful picture which was bought by an
Italian connoisseur; & inspirited by this piece of good fortune, grew more
& more attached to the great work he had heretofore treated as play. He had
lost his utter recklessness in this deepening interest, & a new &
softening influence seemed to have entered into his imbittered life since the
happy weeks at
Interlaken
. This influence was not the less tender or pleasant that it was somehow
connected with a pair [of] sweet, childlike blue eyes & a low voice full of
shy music. Little did Madeline, cherishing the secret of her first love in
silence, guess the innocent change she had worked in her hero; & perhaps
Guy himself scarcely realized her quiet power. When the Grahams came back to
Rome
however, the intercourse which had charmed
the
Interlaken
days,
was renewed;
Guy was always welcomed in their apartment, & many a little breakfast or
supper was given in their honour in his sunny studio. Mr. Graham, too,
discovered that Madeline’s portrait must be painted; & twice a week she
& her mother would knock at Guy’s door, until, when the last coat of
varnish was dry & the picture sent home, he grew to miss the timid rap
& the pleasant hour that ensued & to discover that it had been,
unconsciously, the brightest part of his day. Madeline’s frail health grew
stronger, & her shy laugh gayer; & though one parent was far from
satisfied with the cause, both could not but rejoice over the effect of this
change. Altogether, the
Winter
was a happy, if a quiet
one to the few with whom our story is most concerned; & as the days slipped
by, they forged the imperceptible links of interest & sympathy which were
drawing Guy nearer to Madeline. One of these links was brought about by a
little personage who by this time had nearly dropped out of Guy’s remembrance,
although her face was reflected on more than one canvas hung upon his studio
wall. He was hurrying homeward near dusk on a soft day toward the end of
January, & taking a short cut to the Piazza , struck a little, out of the
way street, apparently quite deserted in the waning light. The houses were old
& ruinous, & if Guy had found time to pause, their tumbling
picturesqueness would have delighted his artist-eye; but as it was, he was in
too great haste to notice anything, until at a turn in the street he nearly stumbled
across a little drooping figure huddled against a broken flight of steps.
Bending down in astonishment, he asked in Italian what
was
the matter
. There was no answer, or movement, & he repeated his
question more anxiously. Just then a coarse-faced woman came swinging down the
street bare-headed, & paused in astonishment to see the handsome Signore
Inglese bending over a little, cowering contadina with her face hidden. “Eh,
she won’t move, Signore,” said the woman, grinning. “She’s been there these
three hours.” “Is she dead?” asked Guy, pityingly.
“Dead?
Santa
Maria
!
No, not she.
Maybe she is crazy.” “You cannot leave
her here,” said Guy; “if she is alive she should be taken in somewhere.” The
woman shrugged her shoulders. “I tell you, she won’t move. I don’t know who she
is.” “Poverina!” said Guy, very low; but he had scarcely spoken when a tremor
shot through the crouching form at his feet, & a faint little cry reached
him. “Signore—it is
Teresina
!” “
Teresina
,” repeated Guy in amazement. “Are you ill?
What is the matter?” “Eh,” said the woman, staring, “The Signore knows her,
then?” “What has happened?” Guy continued, as a burst of sobs answered his
questions. “Will you get up,
Teresina
, & let me carry you into some house?”
But she did not lift her hidden face, nor move from her cowering attitude. Guy
was in sore perplexity. He could not leave her, not knowing whether she was ill
or frightened in some way; & the woman who had been watching him with an
expression of sleepy surprise on her heavy face ran off here in pursuit of a
brown-legged little boy who was scampering toward the Piazza. Just then, as Guy
was gazing doubtfully down the crooked street, two people appeared moving
quickly against the dark sunset glow; one a short, plain-faced little woman,
with the indefinable air of an English servant—the other tall, & blonde,
with soft blue eyes & her hands full of flowers. “Miss Graham!” exclaimed
Guy, as she recognized him with a start & a deepening blush. “What is the
matter?” said Madeline, glancing with surprise towards
Teresina
while Priggett, the maid, hung back with a
disapproving stare. “Who is that poor creature, Mr. Hastings?

 
          
Why,” she continued suddenly, “it must be your little peasant—
Teresina
!”
“So it is,” said Guy, “& I cannot find
whether she is ill or only unhappy. She will not move, & I cannot get her
to answer my questions.” “Poor thing!” and Madeline, regardless of the dirty
cobble-stones & her own soft, pretty dress, knelt down beside Teresina;
& began to speak in her sweet, shy Italian. “Will you not tell us if you
are suffering?” she said; “we are so sorry for you & we cannot leave you
here.” “Miss—” said Priggett in an agony, “Miss, it’s growing very dark.”
“Never mind, Priggett.
Mr. Hastings, will you hold these
flowers, please?” & putting her roses into his hand, she quietly slipped
her arm about
Teresina
& raised the poor little drooping head tenderly. “I do not think
she is in pain—speak to her, Mr. Hastings.” Guy bent over her & said a few
soothing words; & Madeline, still kneeling by her side, asked again very
gently: “What is it,
Teresina
?” “Tell the Signora,” urged Guy. “She is very kind & wants to help
you.”
Teresina
was still sobbing, but less violently &
now she made no attempt to hide her face; & in a few moments they caught a
little, trembling answer. “I am hungry.” “Poor thing—poor thing—” said
Madeline, through her tears. “Have you no home?” She gave a little shriek &
tried to hide her face, repeating passionately “No, no, no!” “She is not fit to
answer any questions,” said Madeline. “Mr. Hastings, she must be carried into
some house at once & taken care of.” The woman who had stared at Guy came
back just then from her chase to the piazza; & calling her, they persuaded
her to let
Teresina
be taken into her house close by. Guy lifted
the poor, fainting creature in his arms & Madeline followed, for once
regardless of Priggett’s indignant glances, while the woman led the way up some
tumbling steps into a wretched little room. The night had fallen when, having
left some money & sundry directions, they turned once more into the lonely
street, Madeline shyly accepting Guy’s escort home. “I will go & see the
poor thing tomorrow,” she said, her sweet voice full of pity. “I think she has
had a great blow. She does not seem really ill—only exhausted.” “She could not
be under kinder care—poor child!” said Guy, thoughtfully. “I cannot understand
what has happened. She was happily married to her lover last year—as you know.”
“He may have died. How lonely she seemed! O poor, poor thing—it makes me feel
almost guilty to think how loved & happy I am while others…” Madeline
brushed away her tears hastily, & for a few moments neither spoke. The next
morning found Priggett & her young mistress hurrying down the same obscure
street, laden with baskets & shawls, towards the house into which
Teresina
had been carried. She was still lying on
the low bed where they had left her the night before, her great eyes wide with
grief, her childish face haggard with lines of suffering. “She won’t eat much,
Signora,” said Giovita, the woman of the house, as Madeline bent anxiously over
the bed, “but I think she’ll be better soon, poor fanciulla!”
Teresina
turned her eyes to the fair, pitying face
that stooped above her. “You are the beautiful Signora,” she whispered, “that
came to me last night. The Signore Inglese said you would be kind.” Madeline’s
colour brightened softly; he called her kind! “I want to be your friend,
Teresina
,” she answered; “for he has told me a great
deal about you, & we are both so sorry for you!”
Teresina
sighed. A new contentment was entering into
her eyes as they met those other eyes, pure & tender as a guardian Angel’s.
“You look like one of the Saints in the great pictures,” she murmured dreamily.

 
          
“It
was at Easter—I saw it—the saint with the white face like yours.” “Never mind
that,
Teresina
,” Madeline said gently. “I want you to tell
me why you were so hungry & unhappy & all alone in the street last
night. Do not be afraid to tell me. If you have no friends, I want to help you
& take care of you.” “I have no friends,”
Teresina
whispered, still gazing up at Madeline. “Oh,
I am so unhappy, Signora… I ran away to starve all alone… I could not kill
myself…” she shuddered & hid her face with a burst of sobs. At first
Madeline could win no more from her, but gradually, as she sat by the wretched
bedside, she learned the story of
Teresina
’s sorrow. She had been married—poor child!—to
her sweetheart, Matteo, & they had been so happy, until Matteo could get no
work, & grew harsh & reckless.
Teresina
was unhappy, & cried because he did not
love her any more—& the bambino died of the fever, & Matteo got worse
& worse. Still there was no work, &
Teresina
was ill at home—Matteo said he could not
feed her. He used to go out all day, & one day he did not come back—she
never saw him again, & she knew that he had deserted her. “Oh, it was so
lonely without the bambino,” ended the poor little wife, through her tears. “I
could not bear to go home, for the Madre is dead & the Padre was so angry
when I married Matteo—& I did not want anything but to run away & hide
myself—& die.” But she did not die; Madeline felt a new interest in her
after this & watched & comforted her tenderly; & in a few days she
was strong enough to be moved from the wretched house to the Graham’s
apartment. They sent for her father, a rough old peasant who would have nothing
to do with her, & cursed her for marrying against his will.
Teresina
begged with passionate tears not to go back
to him; & Madeline had grown so attached to her that she easily prevailed
on her father to keep the poor child at least for the present. On
Teresina
’s part there had sprung up a blind
adoration of the beautiful Signorina who was the Signore Inglese’s friend; she
asked nothing but to stay with her always & serve her & follow her like
a dog. Guy was not a little interested in the fate of his poor little model;
& Madeline’s kindness to her won him more & more. Few girls, he
thought, would have behaved as nobly, as impulsively & as tenderly as
Madeline had done. And so it was that
Teresina
’s
misfortune revealed to
him the earnest, quiet beauty of this shy English girl’s character, & made
him think
more & more seriously every day that in this world of sin
& folly & darkness there are after all some pure spirits moving, like
sun-gleams in a darkened chamber.

 
          
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Villa
Doria-Pamfili.