VARNEY, THE VAMPYRE; OR, THE FEAST OF BLOOD. CHAPTER CLXIII. [sic] [Chapter 171] THE OPINIONS OF DOCTOR PILLETTO. -- THE STRANGER'S ACCOUNT OF HIMSELF. -- THE WELCOME OF THE SIGNORA. At that moment the door opened, and a servant announced the arrival of a leech, the famous Doctor Pilletto, who forthwith entered the apartment, and advanced towards the couch on which the wounded man lay. "Oh, doctor, do what you can for my father," said Signora Isabella. "I will, signora," replied the doctor. "I will; but what are this hurts or his disease? for I see he has been taken very badly; but why this paleness? You appear to have lost blood." "I have bled, doctor, and I want you to dress my wound. I am hurt in the side here, and but for my friend here I should have been hurt mortally." "It was not a duel then?" said the doctor. "No, no, doctor, no, no; it was an attempt at assassination, and I have escaped the death some one with more enmity than courage had doomed me to; but, at the same tiem, I am free, and one of his agents has perished." "'Tis but just," said the doctor; "but I must now see the wound; with your good leave, we'll strip the wounded part and apply bandages to it, so as to secure it; after which something else must be done." The wounded Pollidori was stripped, and, after some exertion, the wound was dressed, and all bleeding stopped. "What is your candid opinion concerning my wound, doctor?" inquired the count, "What do you think will be the result? I would be truly informed of whatever probability of danger there may be remote or immediate, as the case may be; tell me, I beseech you, doctor?" "I will, count." "I have those things to do which are important, and the execution of them depends upon your answer; so do not mislead me." "I will not; I cannot form so clear a judgment of your case as I can in a few days hence, when I may see the progress of the wound towards healing; though at present I see no signs of danger, yet some may come." "You do not consider the wound dangerous of itself?" said the stranger. "No, not of itself; but it is so close to a mortal part that it cannot be considered free from danger; indeed, it may become so. A little more on one side would have made it quickly fatal; but, as it is, if it heal well, there will be no danger. You must keep your couch for some days." "That will be a lighter evil than any other," replied the count. "You have lost much blood, and that alone will make you very weak, and it will take some time before you will be entirely recovered from your present state, and then your wound will probably be healed." "And what you appear to think may be dangerous, is only any possible interruption from the wound itself." "It does so happen sometimes from bodily infirmity, it shews itself in healing, and the wound, which now appears healthy, may turn to gangrene, and then the worst may be apprehended." "It may," said the stranger; "but these things are only the worst that may happen in extreme cases." "Exactly," said the leech. "And you have seen nothing in this case to induce you to anticipate any such result as this-- it is only what may happen." "That is all. It appears to me that all is well at present." "Then I think the count had better be left to himself in quiet, and he may have a good mind upon his recovery." "It will be best," said the doctor. "I am fatigued and sleepy," said the count; "I would be alone. Daughter, you must entertain this gentleman as I would do were I able to do so. Signor, the signora will do the office of hostess-- excuse so cold a welcome." "Name it not," said the stranger. "I am well cared for. A welcome from such a one is well worth the acceptance of a prince, much less that of a stranger unknown in Venice. I thank you for it." "Say no more on that head," said the count. "I came here almost a refugee, and quite a stranger myself." "Will you come this way, signor," said Signora Isabella; "we will leave my poor father to himself, he will sleep." The stranger rose, and Doctor Pilletto also, both following the signora, who led them into a separate, but splendid apartment, and entreated them to sit down, and apologised for her own want of spirits to entertain them suitably. "For that matter," said the doctor, "I am by no means surprised; for such a mishap can never be heard of without producing lowness of spirits." "And such a misfortune is always productive of grief," said the stranger. "Signora, say no more, I would not interfere with your grief. I do not wish to stop it, and shall feel myself a bar to your own feelings if you say any more. I am made welcome, and feel myself so." "You are, sir-- your kindness deserves no less; but I pray you tell me how this affair occurred, in which you have been of such signal service to my father, in saving his life?" "To tell you that, signora, I must first tell you who and what I am." "I do not wish to be thought unduly curious," replied signora. "Not at all. I am bound to acknowledge you have a right to it, for you have no introduction with me which usually supplies the place of an account of who and what we are; therefore I'll tell you, though I cannot boast of being more than a simple chevalier of now no fortune, having left my country because I raised my voice against the abuses of state; therefore I am but a nameless and fortuneless stranger." "Many a worthy gentleman has been in such a plight before now," observed the doctor. "I have known many such." "And I am one. Not that I am without means," added the stranger; "I have been lucky enough to provide against such a calamity as that which has befallen me, though not to the extent I could have wished." "You are fortunate, chevalier." "I am so far. I came but this morning to Venice; I landed here, and agreed to meet the captain of the vessel, who promised to meet me on the Rialto, to conduct me to some quiet and respectable changehouse where I could lodge." "And he met you not?" "No. While I was waiting for him, I heard a cry for help, and found, upon running up, the Count Pollidori beaten to the earth, beset by three villains, who had already wounded him in the manner you have seen; and I at that time stepped up, and, being unexpected, the men were confused, and one of them fell, mortally wounded; and, after a little further desperate fighting, they all fled." "It was fortunate you yourself were not beaten down too with such odds; for these men are usually desperate." "True; but, you see, one was gone, and they could not tell how it might be with the count-- they did not know how far he might be able to join in the fray again, and if he were to do so, there would immediately be an equality between us, and such men do not seek such a fight." "Truly not, chevalier," replied the signora -- "truly not. When they are safe and secure in their deeds of blood, they will perpetrate them; but in fair contest such men never shine-- their deeds are of darkness." "Most true-- most true." "But they have a deal of ferocity," said the stranger; "and, when they can, will pour out blood like water; but what amazes me is, that one like the count, your father, should have been beset by such villains. They must have had some object to accomplish in getting rid of him by such means." "Private enmity." "Indeed! It must be a bad state of things." "It is, chevalier. It is a sign of great degeneracy in the state; but it is so. For gold you can procure the death of any man in Venice." "Horrible!" said the stranger. "I have heard of such things; but I deemed them fabulous, or, at least, overrated." "No, no-- I fear not; and yet, who could have an enmity so deep as only to be healed by blood? and yet, the good and great have as many enemies as the wicked, for they are always opposed to each other." "Undoubtedly," said the doctor; "good and bad are always antagonists." "Exactly. What, however, is the worst in these cases is, the bad very often get the better of the good, which is the reverse of what ought to be done; because, you see, if we are to suppose that there is a power above that rules men's actions, surely we might expect to see goodness manifest in the majority of cases; whereas, we usually see, to a much greater extent, the success of evil." "Not always." "Not always, certainly," said the doctor; "but the exception proves the rule. Goodness ought to be the great object of men's lives; but it is not; yet it ought to rule, and we must endeavour to be ruled by it, despite the way of the world, which is often, as we daily see, the reverse of what it ought to be." "But," added the chevalier, "when ambition rules the minds of men, you will find that all other principles give way." "It is so; but why, I cannot see." "Because 'tis the master emotion of the mind," said the stranger. "And ambition appears to possess the souls of those who govern, whether for good or for evil," said the signora. "Some are ambitions of being rulers-- some of being conquers, and some of politicians; but they are all moved to it by ambition." "Aye," said the stranger, "the lover is ambitious of the smiles of his mistress, though ill fortune will, now and then, deny him the good luck to win them." -+- Next Time: The Count Pollidori's Recovery. -- The Interview With the Signora Isabella. -- The Consent. +=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=+ | This Varney the Vampyre e-text was entered by members of the | | Science Fiction Round Table #1 (SFRT1) on the Genie online | | service. | | The Varney Project, a reincarnation of this "penny dreadful" bit | | of fiction, was begun in November of 1993 by James Macdonald and | | should take about four years for re-serialization. | | These chapters are being posted once a week to the Round Table | | Bulletin Board and are also being placed in the Round Table File | | Library. | | For further information concerning Varney e-texts, please send | | email to: | | h.liu@juno.com | +=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=+ ============================================================================== The Varney Project Chapter 171 Ver 1.00 04/06/1997 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ General notes on this chapter Source: H.Liu entry from the Arno edition, 1970, text is reprint of 1847 edition Drop capital: No Figures in source: 0 Page numbers in source: 716-718 Sections: 1 Approximate number of characters: Number of paragraphs: Comments: Chapter appears mis-numbered as CLXIII. The doctor summoned to treat the injured Count Pollidori arrives and gives his opinion of the count's wound. The count is then left to rest, and the doctor, the stranger, and Signora Isabella are left in discussion. The stranger tells his tale of being a chevalier, in exile from his native land, and only having arrived in Venice that very day. He explains how he came to the aid of the count, and the conversation ends with the three speculating on the nature of assassination and its motivations. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Modification History Version Date Who What changes made -------- -------- ------------- ---------------------------------- 1.00 04/06/1997 H.Liu Initial gold version, rough proof read. ==================================End of File=================================