tly been abducted, report
said, by a youthful member of the Roman aristocracy; that the reckless
scion of nobility had courted and won her in the guise of a peasant, had
carried her off to a bandit fastness and there had eventually deserted
her. No names were given. Inquiry at the office of the journal elicited
the fact that the proprietors had undoubted authority for the
publication of the statement, but no further information could be gained
from them. A few days later, however, the same newspaper gave the
further particulars that the nobleman had been assisted in effecting the
abduction by a young foreigner residing in Rome, and that the brother of
the unfortunate girl had been killed in attempting to rescue her. That
completed all the intelligence ever vouchsafed to the public in regard
to the mysterious affair, and thereafter the journal maintained an
unbroken silence respecting the matter. The rumor ran that its
proprietors had been bribed by interested parties to say nothing
further, but this rumor could not be traced to any reliable source and
was, therefore, by many considered a fabrication. No steps were taken by
the authorities in the premises, and it was evident that the affair was
to be allowed to die out. Still Roman society was considerably excited,
conjectures as to the identity of the guilty party and his accomplice
being rife in all the fashionable and aristocratic quarters of the city.
These conjectures, however, did not grow to positive statements, though
insidious hints were thrown out that those who guessed the Viscount
Giovanni Massetti to be the culprit were not far out of the way.
Massetti, it was known, had been absent from Rome for several days about
the period the abduction was supposed to have taken place, but he did
not deign to notice the hints current in regard to himself and no one
was hardy enough to question him. Nevertheless some color was given to
the rumors concerning him by the fact that, immediately on his return to
the city, after the absence above referred to, he became involved in a
violent quarrel with a young Frenchman, generally supposed to be
Esperance, the son of Monte-Cristo, who at once challenged him to a
duel, but the duel was not fought for some reason not made public, the
difference between the two fiery youths having been arranged through the
mediation of mutual friends. It was observed, however, and widely
commented upon that, although the twain had previously been a