Even had he known that the
guerilla general had been arrested at Sinalunga and put in
confinement as soon as the proclamation had appeared, the prince
would have foreseen clearly enough that the prisoner's escape
would be only a question of a few days, since there were manifold
evidences that an understanding existed between Ratazzi and
Garibaldi of much the same nature as that which in 1860 had been
maintained between Garibaldi and Cavour during the advance upon
Naples. The Italian Government kept men under arms to be ready to
take advantage of any successes obtained by the Garibaldian
volunteers, and at the same time to suppress the republican
tendencies of the latter, which broke out afresh with every new
advance, and disappeared, as by magic, under the depressing
influence of a forced retreat.
The prince knew all these things, and had reflected upon them so
often that they no longer afforded enough interest to keep him
awake. The warm September sun streamed into the study and fell
upon the paper as it slowly slipped over the old gentleman's
knees, while his head sank lower and lower on his breast. The old
enamelled clock upon the chimney-piece ticked more loudly, as
clocks seem to do when people are asleep and they are left to
their own devices, and a few belated flies chased each other in
the sunbeams.
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