Evening star., 1921-10-02
THE LAST ROOM OF ALL
n those days all Italy was in
turmoil and Lombardy lay COW
cred with blood and fire. The

all. Inc Marquis AzzO, oeiAS ol1NSh
forth from Ferrara, slaked his rage
on such outlying castles as favored
the imperial cause. Against the
castle of Grangioia. remote in the
hills, he sent his captain, Lapo Ger
camorte.
This Lapo Cercamorte was nearly
forty years old, a warrior from boy
hood, uncouth, barbaric. ferocious.
With a hundred men at his back be
rode by night to Grangioia Castle. As
day was breaking. by a clever bit OF
stratagem, he rushed the gate.
He found the family at bay in
their hail. the father and his three
sons naked except for the shirts or
nail that they had hastily slipped on.
Behind these four huddled the Gran
gioia women and children, silently
awaiting the end.
However, Ceremonies purpose was
not to destroy this clan. but to force
it into submission to his marquis.
A bargain ensued: he gave them
their lives in exchange for their ale,
glance. And it would have ended
there had not the sun, reaching in
through a easement toward the
group of silent women. touched the
face of old Grangioia's youngest
daughter. Madonna Gemma-
From the crown of her head.
whence her hair fell in bright ripples
like a gush of gold from the ladle
of goldsmith. to her white feet.
bare on the pavement. Madonna
beauty.
The conquerer rose. went jingling
to her. thumbed strand of her
bright hair, touched he her soft cheek sl.
the elbow, he led her forward.
.Ts this your daughter. Grangioiao
Good l will take her as a pledge of
your loyalty"
With a gesture old Grangioia COM
manded his sons to sit still. He let
his head sink down. and faltered
DO you marry her. Cercamorte"
why not?" croaked Lapo. Il will
do everything according to honor"
That morning Lapo Cercamorte es-
pouSed Madonna Comma Grangioia.
Then. setting her behind his saddle
on A cushion, he took her away to his
own castle. This possession. too. he
had won for himself with his sword.
1t was called the Nespaione, the Big
Hornets Nest. Rude and strong. it
crowned a rocky hilltop in lonely
region.
Madonna Gemma. finding herself
in this prison, did not weep or utter a
sound for many days
HERE Lapo Cercamorte met his frs,
sOeIettt. I1lS uTc pTONcu uNdDle 10
melt that ice. Instead of terror and
. establishment. he met scorn-the
cold contempt of a being rarefield, and
raised above him by centuries of
gentler thought and living.
So he stood baffied, with a new
longing that groped blindly through
the wells of flesh and blood, like a
brute tormented by the dawning of
some Unsuitable aspiration.
1t occurred to him that the delicate
creature might be pleased if her sur
roundings were less soldierly. So
oiled linen was stretched across her
windows, and a carpet laid for her
feet at table in the hail. The board
was spread with white cloth on
which she might wipe her lips. and
in spring the pavement of her bower
was strewn with scented herbs. Also
he saw to 1t that her meat was sea-
soned with ounces. that her wine
was spiced on faest days.
He got her a little greyhound, but |
it sickened and died. He sent her |
jewelry-necklaces torn by his SOL |
diers from the breasts of ladies in |
surrendered towns, rings wrested |
from fingers raised in supplication.
She wore none of these trinkets |
Indeed. she seemed oblivious of all |
his efforts to change her. |
Finally, whenever Lapo Cercamorte |
met her in the hall his face turned |
dark and bitter. Old one-eyed Baldo. |
Ceremonies lieutenant, voiced the |
general sentiment when he muttered |
into his cup: |
This house has become tomb. and |
] have feeling that presently there !
may be corpses in it, ,
"She has the evil eye" another as
sented.
God give US our next fighting in |
the open. far away from this jetta- |
trice" |
1t presently seemed as If that wish |
gers appeared. In an upper chamber J
a shabby priest from the nearest i
town-the stronghold of Count Nico- |
lotto Muti-neatly wrote down. at |
able men, horses and arms. Then one |
morning Cercamorte said to Baldo, !
his lieutenant:
Il am off for a talk with Nicolotto ]
Mutt. The house is in your care"
Madonna Gemma watched him de- !
part alone. his helmet dangling from |
his saddle bow. The nshe saw, below /
her on the hillside. also watching |
him, the horse boy, Foresto, his grace
full figure limiting at an origin SUI
perior to his station. his dark, peaked
face seeming to mask some avid and |
sinister dream. Her gaze travelled on
to the house at the foot of the hill |
to the hut where. under Lapo's pro-
lection, dwelt a renegade Arabian, re-
puted to be a sorcerer. No doubt the
Arabian knew of subtle poisons,
charms that withered mems bodies,
enchantments that wrecked the will /
and reduced the mind to chaos. On
the third day of Ceremonies alb
sence, while Madonna Gemma was
leaning on the parapet of the keep,
there appeared at the edge of the
woods a young man in light-blue
tunic and hood, a small gilded harp
under his arm.
Because he was the young brother
OF Nicolotto Mutt they admitted him
into the castle.
His countenance was effeminate,
fervent and artful. The elegance of
his manner was nearly oriental. The
rough soldiers grinned in amusement.
or frowned In disgust. Perfumed
with sandlewoOd, in a white, gold
stitched robe, its bodice tight. it's :,
skirts voluminous, Madonna Gemma
welcomed him in the hall The re-
ception over old Baldo spoke with the
crone who served Madonna Gemma as
maid:
II do not know what this pretty
little fellow has in mind. While I
watch him for spying, do you watch
him for love-making. Perhaps he
thinks himself a singing-bird."
A singing-bird was what Raffaele
Mutt proved to be.
In the Mediterranean lands a new
idea was beginning to alter the con-
duct of society. Woman. so long re-
Sarded as a SoulleSS animal, was be- |
ing transfgured into an immaculate
goddess whose business was mans ref
ormation, whose right was mans
worship.
This was the song that Raffaele