The Gadfly by Ethel Voynich (top fiction books of all time .txt) 📕

to preserve the respectful tone due to a high dignitary of the Church; but there was audible irritation in his voice. His liver was out of order, his wife was running up heavy bills, and his temper had been sorely tried during the last three weeks. A sullen, disaffected populace, whose dangerous mood grew daily more apparent; a district honeycombed with plots and bristling with hidden weapons; an inefficient garrison, of whose loyalty he was more than doubtful, and a Cardinal whom he had pathetically described to his adjutant as the “incarnation of immaculate pigheadedness,” had already reduced him to the verge of desperation. Now he was saddled with the Gadfly, an animated quintessence of the spirit of mischief.

Having begun by disabling both the Governor’s favourite nephew and his most valuable spy, the “crooked Spanish devil” had followed up his exploits in the marketplace by suborning the guards, browbeating the interrogating officers, and “turning the prison into a bear-garden.” He had now been three weeks in the fortress, and the authorities of Brisighella were heartily sick of their bargain. They had subjected him to interrogation upon interrogation; and after employing, to obtain admissions from him, every device of threat, persuasion, and stratagem which their ingenuity could suggest, remained just as wise as on the day of his capture. They had begun to realize that it would perhaps have been better to send him into Ravenna at once. It was, however, too late to rectify the mistake. The Governor, when sending in to the Legate his report of the arrest, had begged, as a special favour, permission to superintend personally the investigation of this case; and, his request having been graciously acceded to, he could not now withdraw without a humiliating confession that he was overmatched.

The idea of settling the difficulty by a courtmartial had, as Gemma and Michele had foreseen, presented itself to him as the only satisfactory solution; and Cardinal Montanelli’s stubborn refusal to countenance this was the last drop which made the cup of his vexations overflow.

“I think,” he said, “that if Your Eminence knew what I and my assistants have put up with from this man you would feel differently about the matter. I fully understand and respect the conscientious objection to irregularities in judicial proceedings; but this is an exceptional case and calls for exceptional measures.”

“There is no case,” Montanelli answered, “which calls for injustice; and to condemn a civilian by the judgment of a secret military tribunal is both unjust and illegal.”

“The case amounts to this, Your Eminence: The prisoner is manifestly guilty of several capital crimes. He joined the infamous attempt of Savigno, and the military commission nominated by Monsignor Spinola would certainly have had him shot or sent to the galleys then, had he not succeeded in escaping to Tuscany. Since that time he has never ceased plotting. He is known to be an influential member of one of the most pestilent secret societies in the country. He is gravely suspected of having consented to, if not inspired, the assassination of no less than three confidential police agents. He has been caught⁠—one might almost say⁠—in the act of smuggling firearms into the Legation. He has offered armed resistance to authority and seriously wounded two officials in the discharge of their duty, and he is now a standing menace to the peace and order of the town. Surely, in such a case, a court-martial is justifiable.”

“Whatever the man has done,” Montanelli replied, “he has the right to be judged according to law.”

“The ordinary course of law involves delay, Your Eminence, and in this case every moment is precious. Besides everything else, I am in constant terror of his escaping.”

“If there is any danger of that, it rests with you to guard him more closely.”

“I do my best, Your Eminence, but I am dependent upon the prison staff, and the man seems to have bewitched them all. I have changed the guard four times within three weeks; I have punished the soldiers till I am tired of it, and nothing is of any use. I can’t prevent their carrying letters backwards and forwards. The fools are in love with him as if he were a woman.”

“That is very curious. There must be something remarkable about him.”

“There’s a remarkable amount of devilry⁠—I beg pardon, Your Eminence, but really this man is enough to try the patience of a saint. It’s hardly credible, but I have to conduct all the interrogations myself, for the regular officer cannot stand it any longer.”

“How is that?”

“It’s difficult to explain. Your Eminence, but you would understand if you had once heard the way he goes on. One might think the interrogating officer were the criminal and he the judge.”

“But what is there so terrible that he can do? He can refuse to answer your questions, of course; but he has no weapon except silence.”

“And a tongue like a razor. We are all mortal, Your Eminence, and most of us have made mistakes in our time that we don’t want published on the housetops. That’s only human nature, and it’s hard on a man to have his little slips of twenty years ago raked up and thrown in his teeth⁠—”

“Has Rivarez brought up some personal secret of the interrogating officer?”

“Well, really⁠—the poor fellow got into debt when he was a cavalry officer, and borrowed a little sum from the regimental funds⁠—”

“Stole public money that had been entrusted to him, in fact?”

“Of course it was very wrong, Your Eminence; but his friends paid it back at once, and the affair was hushed up⁠—he comes of a good family⁠—and ever since then he has been irreproachable. How Rivarez found out about it I can’t conceive; but the first thing he did at interrogation was to bring up this old scandal⁠—before the subaltern, too! And with as innocent a face as if he were saying his prayers! Of course the story’s all over the Legation by now. If Your Eminence would only be present at