The Bronze Statue, or, The Virgin's Kiss — page 286: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

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Ss ee > as , oe . - ae | 5 ee Re ee a See eee = © a - _ ga a ee ee dk to * ,_ - +» >> ae we & . «ity 284 THE BRONZE STATUE. life of the young lord was not, there- ments of all kinds, and his nights in feg- fore, a very happy one; and certain is| tivity or liceatious debauchery. it that he did not shed many tears when the tidings svere one day conveyed to him that his father had suddenly died with a stroke of apoplexy. ‘Well do I remember that occasion! ‘The intendance of the castle and the management of the estates were left entirely in the hands of Korali; and so long as the Baron Ildegardo found his treasury full, his cellar well provid- ‘The head steward or intendant of the! ed, his table laden with luxuries, his castle and estates was an elderly man mistresses attired with magnificence, named Korali; and this functionary, he | and his guests smiling and contented, household physician, the priest, and} he asked his steward no questions nor myself, formed the party who repaired to the young nobleman’s suite of rooms, to acquaint him with his sire’s decease, and salute him as Baron [ldegardo. He was then eighteen years of age, and his fine form, rendered elastic and agile by constant training, was marked by strength, elegance, and grace. His hair was jet black, his eyes were dark as night, and yet as lustrous as when that self-same night is lit by a thousand lamps. His countenance possessed the aquiline shape of feature, with the ele- vated forehead, the arching brows, and the short upper lip, with its expression of supreme haughtiness. Such was the young Baron of Ildegardo at the age of eighteen, when he succeeded to the “rank and estates which had been hand- ed down in his family throughout count- less generations. ‘The impious pride of his father, who loved and admired nothiog in his son save his martial skill and his won- drous perfection in horsemanship, had named him * The Thunder; and all the vassals and dependants naturally conjectured that the education which the young lord had received would ren- der him even more warlike in his pur- suits and quarrelsome in his propensities than his father. But great was their surprise, and to some extent their dis- appointment also, when they found that | | troubled himself with regard to the condition of his numerous dependants -and vassals. The result was that Ko- ral indulged with impunity in all that petty tyranny, favoritism, peculation, and injustice, for which his selfish na- ture and unprincipled character were so well adapted; and while he took | good care to pander to all his master’s | extravagances, he was at the same time enriching himself. Thus the local tax- ation was augmented, heavy fines were imposed for the slightest offences, jus- tice became venal, and the vassals of the neighboring barons, deeming them- selves safe from chastisement at the hands of the indolent Ildegardo, began to set no bounds to their arrogance and even effected predatory incursions in ee | certain parts. ; ‘In this manner did a couple of years pass away; and the population of the baron’s vast estates grew more and more dissatisfied, until their murmurs broke out into bitter complaints. But still the astute and designing Korali contrived to prevent these ren onstran- ces from reaching the ears of the ba- ron, who seemed to be every day sink- ing lower and lower into the slough of debauchery and dissipation. Deeply grieved was Ito behold the emasculated character ot my lord and the ruin with which Korali’s mal-administration threa- immediately after his sire’s funeral he | tened him. .But I was merely the un- cast aside the sword to grasp the wine-| der-bailiff at that time; and, although goblet, and threw off the helmet to as- sume the chaplet of flowers, wreathed | by the hand of beauty. In a word, a my position allowed me frequent op- portunities of neutralising the oppres- .sive and calamitous tendencies of Ko- total change suddenly took place within | rali’s proceedings, still I was utterly the walls of Iidegardo Castle; and the | young lord seemed determined to in- | demnify himself for the austere mode | of existence prescribed by his late fa- ther. He accordingly invited numerous. guests, threw open the brilliant saloons | to the splendid company of lords and ladies, retained a band of musicians and | a troop of dancing-girls, and chose the fairest women from amongst his vassals to become his mistresses. His. days were passed in diversions and amuse- i . J « *, . - a rs | / ' ' unable to obtain a private interview with my master. ‘'l'wo years, I said had passed under auspices so mournful to all the true friends of the young lord of Ildegardo; and at the expiration of that period Baron Manfredo, then the patrician owner of the powerful stronghold whose ruins now stand on yon south- eastern eminence, suddenly made an incursion at the head of all his vassals into my master’s estutes. The pretence P * comicbooks.com