When the singer ended, I called out, 'Bravo!' He replied with a
polite salutation, and asked me if I was French.
"'No, I am Italian, and am called Silvio Pellico.'
"'The author of Francesca da Rimini?'
"'Yes, the same.'
"And now there followed a courtly compliment, with the usual regrets
for my imprisonment. He asked in what part of Italy I was born, and
when I told him in Saluzzo, in Piedmont, he awarded the Piedmontese
some words of high praise, and spoko particularly of Bodoni (a
celebrated printer, director of the national printing establishment
at Parma). His compliments were brief and discriminating, and
disclosed a finely cultivated mind.
"'And now, sir,' said I, 'allow me to ask you who you are.'
"'You were just singing a song that I wrote.'
"'These pretty verses here upon the wall, are they yours?'
"'Yes, they are.'
"'You are therefore--'
"'The Duke de Normandie.'
"The watchman was just then walking past my window and so I was
still. After some time we resumed our conversation. When I asked
whether he was Louis XVII., he responded in the affirmative, and
began to declaim hotly against Louis XVIII. his uncle, the usurper
of his rights.
"I implored him to give me his history in brief outlines. He did so,
and related to me all the details connected with the life of Louis
XVII.
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