went and got himself obscurely
killed in a night skirmish, scarcely noticed in history. After the
pope's death and his son's exile, it was supposed that the Spada family
would resume the splendid position they had held before the cardinal's
time; but this was not the case. The Spadas remained in doubtful ease,
a mystery hung over this dark affair, and the public rumor was, that
Caesar, a better politician than his father, had carried off from the
pope the fortune of the two cardinals. I say the two, because Cardinal
Rospigliosi, who had not taken any precaution, was completely despoiled.

"Up to this point," said Faria, interrupting the thread of his
narrative, "this seems to you very meaningless, no doubt, eh?"

"Oh, my friend," cried Dantes, "on the contrary, it seems as if I were
reading a most interesting narrative; go on, I beg of you."

"I will."

"The family began to get accustomed to their obscurity. Years rolled
on, and amongst the descendants some were soldiers, others diplomatists;
some churchmen, some bankers; some grew rich, and some were ruined. I
come now to the last of the family, whose secretary I was--the Count of
Spada. I had often heard him complain of the disproportion of his rank
with his fortune; and I advised him to invest all he had in an annuity.
He did so, and thus doubled his income. The celebrated breviary remained
in the family, and was in the count's possession. It had been handed
down from father to son; for the singular clause of the only will
that had been found, had caused it to be regarded as a genuine relic,
preserved in the family with superstitious veneration. It was an
illuminated book, with beautiful Gothic characters, and so weighty with
gold, that a servant always carried it before the cardinal on days of
great solemnity.

"At the sight of papers of all sorts,--titles, contracts, parchments,
which were kept in the archives of the family, all descending from
the poisoned cardinal, I in my turn examined the immense bundles of
documents, like twenty servitors, stewards, secretaries before me; but
in spite of the most exhaustive researches, I found--nothing. Yet I had
read, I had even written a precise history of the Borgia family, for
the sole purpose of assuring myself whether any increase of fortune had
occurred to them on the death of the Cardinal Caesar Spada; but could
only trace the acquisition of the property of the Cardinal Rospigliosi,
his companion in misfortune.