Chamberss Edinburgh Journal, No. 419 | Page 7

he would reveal where he had concealed the bagful of silver
he had taken from her brother. But in vain. Ripa was either guiltless or
obstinate, for nothing could be extracted from him but repeated

declarations of his innocence.
In the meantime Bianca had been undergoing a terrible persecution
from her father on the subject of Mendez, who had returned from
Florence and taken up his abode, as formerly, at Forni. Her former
lover was a condemned man, and altogether _hors de combat_: she
might regret him as she would, and lament his fate to her heart's content,
but he could never be her husband; and there was the Spaniard, rich and
ready; whilst the increasing age and poverty of her parent rendered a
good match of the greatest importance. In short, under the
circumstances of the case, it was urged upon her on all hands, that she
was bound both by her duty to her father and to evince her abhorrence
of Ripa's crime--which otherwise it might be supposed she had
instigated--to marry Mendez without delay.
Persuaded of Giuseppe's innocence, and half believing that the
accusation was prompted by jealousy, it may be imagined how
unwelcome these importunities were, and for a considerable time she
resisted them; indeed she seems only to have been overcome at last by
a ruse. A rumour being set afloat that the day was about to be appointed
for Ripa's execution, a hint was thrown out that it lay in her power to
save his life: she had only to become the wife of Mendez, and her
lover's sentence should be commuted from death to banishment. This
last argument prevailed, and poor Bianca, with a heavy heart, consented
to become the mistress of Forni. The Malfis, however, do not seem to
have been amongst those who desired the match; and it would appear
that they even made some attempts to prevent its taking place, by
circulating a report that she had been privy to the assault and robbery.
Perhaps they hoped, if Gaspar remained unmarried, to inherit his
property themselves; but however that may be, their opposition was of
no avail, and an early period was fixed for the wedding.
The year had now come round to the summer season again, and it
happened, by mere accident, that the day appointed for the marriage
was the anniversary of that on which Mendez had been robbed and
wounded. Nobody, however, appears to have thought of this
coincidence, till Mendez himself, observing the day of the month,
requested that the ceremony might be postponed till the day after:
'Because,' said he, 'I have business which will take me to Aquila on the
7th, so the marriage had better take place on the 8th.' And thus it was

arranged.
This alteration was made about ten days before the appointed period,
and nothing seems to have occurred in the interval worth recording,
except that as the hour of sacrifice drew nigh, the unwillingness of the
victim became more evident. We must conclude, however, that Mendez,
whose object in marrying her appears to have been fully as much the
soothing of his pride as the gratification of his love, was not influenced
by her disinclination, for when he started for Aquila on the 7th, every
preparation had been made for the wedding on the following day.
The object of his journey was to receive the rents before named, which
became due at this period, and also to purchase a wedding-present for
his bride. On this occasion Alessandro Malfi was to have accompanied
him; but when Mendez stopped at his door to inquire if he was ready,
Malfi came down stairs half-dressed, saying that he had been up all
night with his wife, who was ill, and that as she had now fallen asleep,
he was going to lie down himself, and try to get a little rest. This
occurred early in the morning; and Mendez rode on, saying that he
should call as he came back in the evening, to inquire how his sister
was. Upon this Malfi went to bed, where he remained some
hours--indeed till he received a message from his wife, begging him to
go to her. When he entered the room, the first question she asked was
whether Gaspar was gone to Aquila; and on being told that he was, she
said she was very sorry for it, for that she had dreamed she saw a man
with a mask lying in wait to rob him.
'I saw the man as distinctly as possible,' she said, 'but I could not see his
face for the mask; and I saw the place, so that I'm sure if I were taken
there I should recognise it.'
Her husband told her not to mind her dreams, and that this one