Page:The Granite Monthly Volume 6.djvu/195

 LUCRECIA.

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��they had placed her. They either forgot it or got used to it ; they even loved Capellani, because here, intel- lectual power commands respect and admiration. Beside, the love which .filled Lucrecia's heart had completely transformed her ; she appeared in all the splendor of her radiant beauty, all the verve of her powerful mind, all the maturity of her talents, and all the luxurv for which her ianje fortune gave her the materials.

Her palace, with its marble floors, its vestibule filled by liveried valets, its parlors paved with mosaics, its ceilings painted by Vasan, its walls ornamented with stucco work and gold, opened its doors each evening to the aristocracy of Pistoja. Dressed in velvets, cashmeres or silks, she looked like a queen ; and never had she spoken with so much eloquence, nor sung with so much enthusiasm. She was no longer a noble and cold statue, with ample and severe clothing ; she was a living, palpitating woman, whose eyes shone with joy, and from whose red lips fell, with divine tones, the words and songs of love. She covered herself with thread lace and twisted pearls and gold in her beautiful black hair ; and when she heard murmurs of admiration around her, she trem- bled with pleasure, saying to herself, " Marcel is there, and he will see and hear me admired."

Her parlors were filled, as of old, by titled ladies and learned men, only too happy to exchange, under the in- fluence of such a radiant patron, their discoveries or their ideas ; of lovers, who could never lose sight of her ; some resigned to their fate, and others hurrying on to meet theirs ; but all waiting for Capellani's fall, as a signal for their triumph. Among others, the sad face of Tosinghi, who seemed to haunt this brilliant circle like a re- proachful phantom.

One day, on the occasion of one of the great festivals, Lucrecia was re- quested to play the organ at San Spirito. She had often played this celebrated organ in her youth, and her

��splendid touch brought out all the sweetness of its tones, and they came from far and near to hear her. Then, she despised in her heart the harmoni ous chords of the sacred chants, and the religious ceremonies of the faith- ful ; but now she found an unknown beauty in them, which she accepted.

On this day. in spite of the attrac- tions elsewhere, the crowd pressed toward the church of San Spirito. While Lucrecia was playing the prelude to the celebrated mass of Palestrim, Capellani came in with the Marquise Malespini, and knelt near her. He was moved, and trembled as if he were about to perceive Lucrecia in a new character. Around him he heard her name pass from mouth to mouth, and the first notes of the organ min- gled with the incense in the air. He looked at the brilliant spectacle ; the costumes, the clergy ; he breathed the delicious perfumes ; he listened to the rustle of the silks as the ladies knelt and rose ; the low chant of the choir ; the sweet voices of children, and when, in the midst of it all, he heard the vibrating notes of the grand old organ, he closed his eyes to gain a more intense pleasure. A sort of intoxication, half physical, half moral, overcame him. Never had his soul been thus opened to religious emotions. He prayed, without being conscious of it, an ardent sincere prayer, in which all his faculties joined.

Every one around him was praying. The music rose to heaven, now in solemn notes, plaintive as the cries which mount from this sad earth to God ; now soft, pure, ravishing in their sweetness, like those of a choir of angels. It seemed as though the organ had a soul within it. Never had Lucrecia played like this ; the crowd listened breathlessly, and many wept. Marcel felt like giving way him- self, and he wondered if Lucrecia was praying, she who knew so well how to make others pray.

The mass was finished ; the last notes of the organ filled the church with their deep sonorous tones, and the

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