“And why,” asked Odo, “do you speak of the court and the Church as one?”

“Because, sir, in our virtuous duchy the terms are interchangeable.  The Duke is in fact so zealous a son of the Church that if the latter showed any leniency to sinners the secular arm would promptly repair her negligence.  His Highness, as you may have heard, is ruled by his confessor, an adroit Dominican.  The confessor, it is true, has two rivals, the Countess Belverde, a lady distinguished for her piety, and a German astrologer or alchemist, lately come to Pianura, and calling himself a descendant of the Egyptian priesthood and an adept of the higher or secret doctrines of Neoplatonism.  These three, however, though ostensibly rivals for the Duke’s favour, live on such good terms with one another that they are suspected of having entered into a secret partnership; while some regard them all as the emissaries of the Jesuits, who, since the suppression of the Society, are known to have kept a footing in Pianura, as in most of the Italian states.  As to the Duke, the death of the Marquess of Cerveno, the failing health of the little prince, and his own strange physical infirmities, have so preyed on his mind that he is the victim of any who are unscrupulous enough to trade on the fears of a diseased imagination.  His counsellors, however divided in doctrine, have at least one end in common; and that is, to keep the light of reason out of the darkened chamber in which they have confined him; and with such a ruler and such principles of government, you may fancy that poor philosophy has not where to lay her head.”

“And the people?” Odo pursued.  “What of the fiscal administration?  In some states where liberty of thought is forbidden the material welfare of the subject is nevertheless considered.”

The hunchback shook his head.  “It may be so,” said he, “though I had thought the principle of moral tyranny must infect every branch of public administration.  With us, at all events, where the Church party rules, the privileges and exemptions of the clergy are the chief source of suffering, and the state of passive ignorance in which they have kept the people has bred in the latter a dull resignation that is the surest obstacle to reform.  Oh, sir,” he cried, his eyes darkening with emotion, “if you could see, as I do, the blind brute misery on which all the magnificence of rank and all the refinements of luxury are built, you would feel, as you drive along this road, that with every turn of the wheels you are passing over the bodies of those who have toiled without ceasing that you might ride in a gilt coach, and have gone hungry that you might feast in Kings’ palaces!”

The touch of rhetoric in this adjuration did not discredit it with Odo, to whom the words were as caustic on an open wound.  He turned to make some impulsive answer; but as he did so he caught sight of the towers of Pianura rising above the orchards and market-gardens of the suburbs.  The sight started a new train of feeling, and Gamba, perceiving it, said quietly:  “But this is no time to speak of such things.”