Consuelo, p.77
Consuelo, page 77
"Married!" murmured poor Consuelo, astonished to hear who the virtuous personage was whom the thrice virtuous and clear-sighted empress preferred to her.
"Yes, married," replied the empress in a decided tone, already dissatisfied with the doubts expressed relative to her protegée. "She lately gave birth to an infant, whom she has placed in the hands of a worthy and respectable clergyman, the canon of——, in order that he may impart to it a Christian education; and doubtless this excellent personage would not have taken such a charge upon him, if he had not held the mother deserving of his esteem."
"Neither do I doubt it," replied the young girl, consoled amid her indignation, to find that the canon was approved of in place of being censured, for a step which she herself had induced him to take.
"Thus it is that history is written!" said she to herself, as the empress sailed out of the apartment, giving her as congé merely a slight inclination of the head; "and thus it is that kings are enlightened. Well! after all, even the greatest misfortunes have their bright side, and the errors of men are often instrumental in bringing about good. The good canon will not be deprived of his priory; Angela will not lose her kind guardian; Corilla will be converted if the empress thinks fit; and I have not been compelled to kneel before a woman not a whit better than myself."
"Well?" exclaimed Porpora with a smothered voice, when she met him in the gallery where he was waiting, clasping and unclasping his hands with mingled hope and anxiety. "I trust we have won the day!"
"On the contrary, dear master, we have lost it."
"How calmly you say it—the fiend take you!"
"You must not say that, my dear master; his majesty is exceedingly unwelcome at court! When we are outside the gate I shall tell you all."
"Well—what is it?" resumed Porpora impatiently, when they were on the ramparts.
"Do you recollect, dear master," replied Consuelo, "what we said of the great minister Kaunitz on leaving the margravine's?"
"We said he was an old gossip. Has he done us any ill turn then?"
"Without doubt he has; and in the meantime I may tell you that her majesty, the empress, Queen of Hungary, is a good deal of the gossip also."
CHAPTER XCIV
CONSUELO mentioned nothing to Porpora of Maria Theresa's motives for thus disgracing or at least slighting her, except what it was necessary for him to know; any thing else would have only served to annoy and vex the maestro, and perhaps irritate him against Haydn to no purpose. Consuelo said nothing either to her young friend of what she had been silent upon to Porpora. She justly despised the false accusations which she knew had been concocted and furnished to the empress by two or three unfriendly individuals, and as yet at least had obtained no circulation with the public. The Ambassador Corner, to whom she thought it right to confide every thing, confirmed her in this opinion; and to prevent ill-natured persons from laying hold of these calumnies and turning them to her disadvantage, he arranged matters wisely and generously. He settled that Porpora should remain in his lodging with Consuelo, and that Haydn should become an attaché to the embassy, and be admitted to the table of the private secretaries. In this way the old maestro would escape some of the cares of poverty, and Joseph could still pay him a few personal attentions, which would give him an opportunity of coming frequently to the house and taking his lessons, while Consuelo would be protected against malignant imputations. In spite of these precautions Corilla was engaged in place of Consuelo at the imperial theater. Consuelo had been unable to give satisfaction to Maria Theresa. This great queen, while she amused herself with the intrigues behind the scenes, which Kaunitz and Metastasio only told her of by halves and always in a piquant and amusing fashion, wished to perform nothing less than the part of a special providence toward creatures who on their part acted to the life repentant sinners or converted demons. It may well be supposed that among these hypocrites who received pensions and gratuities for their assumed piety, neither Caffariello, nor Farinelli, nor Tesi, nor Madame Hasse, nor any of those great and celebrated virtuosi who occasionally came to display their talents at Vienna, were included. But the common herd were bribed by persons determined on flattering her majesty's devout and moralizing fantasies, and her majesty, who introduced her spirit of diplomatic intrigue into every thing, made the marriages and conversions of her actors an affair of state. One may read in the Memoirs of Favart, that entertaining romance of realities, the difficulties he experienced in sending proper actresses and singers, whom he had got a commission to furnish, to Vienna.
Thus Maria Theresa wished to give to her amusement an edifying pretext worthy of her beneficent character. Monarchs are always acting a part, and great monarchs probably more so than others. Porpora constantly said so, and he was not mistaken. The great empress, a zealous Catholic and mother of an exemplary family, conversed without repugnance with women of easy virtue, catechised them, and solicited strange confessions, in order to have the honor and glory of leading a repentant Magdalene to the foot of the cross. The empress' private purse, placed between vice and contrition, rendered these miracles of grace at once numerous and infallible. Thus Corilla, weeping and prostrate, if not in person—for her stubborn nature would have hardly bent to the humiliating act—at least through Kaunitz as her proxy, who went security for her conduct, must inevitably take precedence of a decided, proud, and fiery temperament, like that of Consuelo. Maria Theresa loved in her protegés of the drama only those virtues of which she could boast herself the author; those which had been self-created or self-maintained did not interest her very much; she did not believe in them, as her own virtue should have made her believe. Then Consuelo's proud attitude had provoked her; she found her logical and self-possessed. It was rather too much for a little Bohemian to wish to be wise and estimable without an empress interfering to bring it about, and when Herr Kaunitz, who pretended to be very impartial, while all the time he did his utmost to assist one and injure the other, asked her majesty if she had granted the little one's prayer, she replied:
"I was not satisfied with her principles; do not mention her name to me again."
And all was said. The voice, the features, and even the name of Porporina were thenceforth completely forgotten.
It was necessary to explain briefly to Porpora the meaning of this exclusion. Consuelo told him, that her being unmarried seemed to the empress an unsurmountable objection to her engagement.
"And Corilla?" exclaimed Porpora, on learning the admission of her rival; "has her majesty married her?"
"So far as I have been able to learn from her majesty's words, Corilla passes with her for a widow."
"A widow?" said Porpora with a bitter smile; "but what will they say when they know what she is, and when they see her conduct? And this child they tell me about, that she has left near Vienna with some canon?"
"She will turn the whole affair into ridicule with her companions, and she will laugh in private at the clever trick she has played the empress."
"But what if the empress learn the truth?"
"She will never learn it. Sovereigns are surrounded with ears which serve as barriers to exclude it. Many things apparently are never told, and nothing finds admission into the imperial sanctuary but what these guardians choose to give admission to."
"Besides," replied Porpora, "Corilla will always have confession as a last resource, and Herr Kaunitz can enjoin a proper penance."
The poor maestro endeavored to vent his spleen in these bitter sarcasms, but he was not the less deeply vexed. He lost all hope of seeing his opera performed, the more so as the libretto was not by Metastasio the court poet. He had some suspicion that Consuelo had not taken the proper means to secure the good graces of the sovereign, and he could not help evincing his ill-humor to her. To make matters worse, the Venetian ambassador, one day when he saw Porpora overjoyed at Haydn's rapid musical progress, was imprudent enough to tell him the whole truth, and to show him some of the young man's graceful compositions, which had begun to circulate and be admired among amateurs. The maestro exclaimed that he was imposed on, and became frightfully enraged. Happily he did not suspect Consuelo as an accomplice in the deceit, and Corner hastened to assuage the storm by a good-natured palliation. But he could not hinder Joseph from being banished for several days from Porpora's presence, and it required all the ambassador's influence to prevail upon the maestro to receive him agaiu. Porpora, however, bore him a grudge for a long time, and it was even said that he made him purchase his lessons by painful and unnecessary humiliations, since the servants of the embassy were always at his disposal. But Haydn was not to be repulsed, and by dint of sweetness of temper, patience, and docility, aided by the advice and assistance of the good Consuelo, ever studious and attentive, he disarmed the rough professor, and obtained all that it was in the power of the one to impart or the other to receive.
But Haydn's genius dreamed of a different path from that which he had hitherto pursued, and the future father of the symphony confided to Consuelo his ideas respecting instrumentation on a gigantic scale. These gigantic proportions which appear so simple and obvious to us at the present day, might well seem to our ancestors a hundred years ago rather the utopian dream of a madman than a revelation of genius. Joseph distrusted himself, and confessed to Consuelo the ambition which tormented him. Consuelo was at first a little terrified also. Hitherto the orchestral accompaniment had been merely a secondary consideration, and when it was severed from the human voice, its resources were bald and simple in the extreme. Nevertheless her young fellow-pupil evinced so much calmness and perseverance, and displayed in all his conduct and opinions so much real modesty and conscientious regard for truth, that Consuelo, unable to esteem him presumptuous, decided on considering him wise and encouraged him in his projects. It was at this period that Haydn composed a serenade for three instruments, which, accompanied by two of his friends, he proceeded to perform under the windows of those ditettanti whose attention he wished to draw to his works. He began with Porpora, who, without knowing the names of the performers, listened with pleasure from his window and applauded without reserve. The ambassador, who was also a listener, took care this time not to betray the secret; for Porpora would not have suffered the young composer to turn his attention from vocal music to any other pursuit.
"About this time Porpora received a letter from his pupil, the excellent contralto singer, Hubert, surnamed Porporino, who had entered into the service of Frederick the Great. This famous artist was not, like the other pupils of the professor, so infatuated with his own merits as to forget to whom be owed them. Porporino had been imbued by him with a species of talent which he never sought to modify, and which had always been successful, viz. to sing in a chaste and severe style without unnecessary ornaments and without departing from the sound doctrines of his master. He was particularly admirable in the adagio. On this account Porpora entertained a preference for him which he had some difficulty in concealing in presence of the fanatical admirers of Farinelli and Caffariello. He readily conceded that the ability, brilliancy, and pliability of voice of these great performers were more captivating and better calculated to charm an audience greedy of difficulties; but he repeated mentally that Porporino would never make such sacrifice to bad taste, and that his audience would never tire of hearing him, although he always sung in the same manner. It appeared, in fact, that Prussia did not tire of him, for he shone there during his whole musical career, and died at a very advanced age, after a lengthened sojourn of more than forty years.
Hubert's letter informed Porpora that the latter's music was much liked at Berlin, and that if he would join him there, he would do his utmost to have his new compositions performed. He urged him to leave Vienna, where artists were continually at the mercy of intrigues, and to recruit for the Prussian court a distinguished cantatrice who could sing with him the operas of the maestro. He highly eulogized the enlightened taste of the king, and his honorable conduct toward musicians. "If this project meets with your approbation," said he at the close of the letter, "reply quickly and state your terms, and three months hence I promise to procure such as will secure you in your old days a comfortable support. As to glory, my dear master, it is sufficient for that purpose that you write and that we sing so as to do you justice, and I trust your fame will extend even to Dresden."
This last expression made Porpora prick his ears like a veteran war-horse. It was an allusion to the triumphs which Hasse and his singers had obtained at the court of Saxony. The idea of counterbalancing the fame of his rival in the north of Germany, so tickled the maestro, and he felt at this moment so much dislike for Vienna and the Viennese and their court, that he replied without hesitation to Porporino, authorizing him to make proposals for him at Berlin. He mentioned what he would expect, making a moderate demand in order to avoid disappointment. He spoke of Porporina in the highest terms, telling him that she was his sister in education, genius, and affection, as well as in name, and desiring him to arrange for her engagement on the most advantageous terms possible. In this he acted without so much as consulting Consuelo, who was only informed of this fresh resolve after the letter had been dispatched.
Poor Consuelo was terrified at the very name of Prussia, and that of the Great Frederick made her shudder. Since the adventure with the deserter she no longer looked upon this so much-vaunted monarch as any thing but an ogre or a vampire. Porpora scolded her a good deal for testifying so little joy at this new engagement, and as she could not relate to him the history of Karl and the promises of Mayer, she drooped her head, and submitted quietly to his tutoring.
On reflection, however, she found some comfort in the project. It served to delay her return to the stage, since the affair might not go on, and since Porporino under any circumstances required three months to conclude it. Until then she was at liberty to dream of Albert's love, and endeavor within herself to respond to it. Whether she finally admitted the possibility of a union or the contrary, she could still at least honorably keep her promise to think of it without force or constraint.
She determined to wait for Count Christian's reply to her first letter before announcing this intelligence to the family at Riesenburg; but this reply did not arrive, and Consuelo was beginning to think that Count Christian had renounced the idea of this mesalliance, and was endeavoring to make Albert renounce it also, when she received from Keller a communication to the following purport:
"You promised to write to me; you have done so indirectly in acquainting my father with your present embarrassing position. I see that you are placed under a yoke from which I should think it criminal to withdraw you. My father is terrified at the consequences which your submission to Porpora may have upon me; but as for myself, Consuelo, I am not yet alarmed at any thing which has taken place, because you express regret and repugnance at what is imposed on you-a sufficient proof that you will not lightly decide upon the question of my eternal unhappiness. No, you will not break your promise! you will try to love me? What matters it to me where you are or what you do, or the rank which glory or prejudice may give you among men, or the lapse of time, or the obstacles which prevent us meeting-if I can hope, and if you tell me to hope? I doubtless suffer much, but I can suffer still more without sinking, so long as one solitary gleam of hope remains unextinguished.
"I wait! I can wait! Do not think to alarm me by taking time to reply; do not write under the influence of fear or pity, to which I would not wish to owe any thing. Weigh my destiny in your heart, my soul in yours, and when the time has come, when you feel sure of your decision, whether you be in the cell of a nun or on the boards of a theater, tell me never to trouble you more, or to come and rejoin you. I shall either be at your feet or forever dumb, as you may decide."
"Oh, noble Albert!" exclaimed Consuelo, pressing the letter to her lips, "I feel that I love you! It would be impossible not to love you, and I will not hesitate to tell you so; I long to reward you by my promise for your love and constancy."
She immediately began to write; but Porpora's voice made her quickly conceal Albert's letter as well as her reply. Throughout the day she had not a moment's leisure or security. It seemed as if the cynical old man had divined her desire to be alone, and had resolved to prevent it. When night came Consuelo was more tranquil, and could reflect that so important a determination required a longer trial of her own feelings. It would be wrong to subject Albert to the hazard of any change in her feelings toward him.
She read and re-read a hundred times the young count's letter, and perceived that he feared equally the pain of a refusal and the danger of a hasty promise. She determined to take some days to consider her reply, a step which Albert himself seemed to desire.
The life which Consuelo now led at the embassy was quiet and regular in the extreme. To give no grounds for scandal, Corner was considerate enough not to visit Consuelo in her own suit of apartments, and never invite her, even in company with Porpora, to his. He only saw her in the presence of Wilhelmina, where they could converse together with perfect propriety and enjoy a little music. Joseph also was admitted to these musical parties, where Caffariello came often, Count Hoditz sometimes, and the Abbé Metastasio rarely. All three regretted Consuelo's failure, but not one of them had the courage or perseverance to make any attempt in her favor. Porpora was indignant, and had much difficulty in concealing it. Consuelo endeavored to calm him, and persuade him to take men as he found them, with all their faults and weaknesses. She induced him to exert himself, and, thanks to her, he was occasionally visited by gleams of hope and enthusiasm. She encouraged him only in his dislike to bring her before the public. Happy at being forgotten by those great people whom she had looked upon with terror and repugnance, she addicted herself to serious study and delightful reveries, cultivated the friendship of the good Haydn, and each day said to herself, while she lavished every care and attention on her old master, that if nature had not intended her for a life free from emotion and bustle, still less had it intended her for the pursuits of vanity and ambition. She had dreamed, and still dreamed in spite of herself, of a more animated existence, of deeper and more heartfelt joys, of the pleasures of a boundless and ever expanding intellect; but the world of art which she had imagined so noble and so pure, had shown itself on a nearer view under so ugly and forbidding an aspect, that she chose in preference a life of obscurity and retirement, gentle affections, and a solitude sweetened by labor.
