It is in obedience to the precept of Horace that I have begun by plunging /in media res/. Now that every one is asleep--the beautiful Colomba， the colonel， and his daughter--I will seize the opportunity to acquaint my reader with certain details of which he must not be ignorant， if he desires to follow the further course of this veracious history. He is already aware that Colonel della Rebbia， Orso's father， had been assassinated. Now， in Corsica， people are not murdered， as they are in France， by the first escaped convict who can devise no better means of relieving a man of his silver-plate. In Corsica a man is murdered by his enemies--but the reason he has enemies is often very difficult to discover. Many families hate each other because it has been an old-standing habit of theirs to hate each other； but the tradition of the original cause of their hatred may have completely disappeared.
The family to which Colonel della Rebbia belonged hated several other families， but that of the Barricini particularly. Some people asserted that in the sixteenth century a della Rebbia had seduced a lady of the Barricini family， and had afterward been poniarded by a relative of the outraged damsel. Others， indeed， told the story in a different fashion， declaring that it was a della Rebbia who had been seduced， and a Barricini who had been poniarded. However that may be， there was， to use the time-honoured expression， "blood between the two houses." Nevertheless， and contrary to custom， this murder had not resulted in others； for the della Rebbia and the Barricini had been equally persecuted by the Genoese Government， and as the young men had all left the country， the two families were deprived， during several generations， of their more energetic representatives. At the close of the last century， one of the della Rebbias， an officer in the Neapolitan service， quarrelled， in a gambling hell， with some soldiers， who called him a Corsican goatherd， and other insulting names. He drew his sword， but being only one against three， he would have fared very ill if a stranger， who was playing in the same room， had not exclaimed， "I， too， am a Corsican，" and come to his rescue.
This stranger was one of the Barricini， who， for that matter， was not acquainted with his countryman. After mutual explanations， they interchanged courtesies and vowed eternal friendship. For on the Continent， quite contrary to their practice in their own island， Corsicans quickly become friends. This fact was clearly exemplified on the present occasion. As long as della Rebbia and Barricini remained in Italy they were close friends. Once they were back in Corsica， they saw each other but very seldom， although they both lived in the same village； and when they died， it was reported that they had not spoken to each other for five or six years. Their sons lived in the same fashion--"on ceremony，" as they say in the island； one of them Ghilfuccio， Orso's father， was a soldier； the other Giudice Barricini， was a lawyer. Having both become heads of families， and being separated by their professions， they scarcely ever had an opportunity of seeing or hearing of each other.
One day， however， about the year 1809， Giudice read in a newspaper at Bastia that Captain Ghilfuccio had just been decorated， and remarked， before witnesses， that he was not at all surprised， considering that the family enjoyed the protection of General -----. This remark was reported at Vienna to Ghilfuccio， who told one of his countrymen that， when he got back to Corsica， he would find Giudice a very rich man， because he made more money out of the suits he lost than out of those he won. It was never known whether he meant this as an insinuation that the lawyer cheated his clients， or as a mere allusion to the commonplace truth that a bad cause often brings a lawyer more profit than a good one. However that may have been， the lawyer Barricini heard of the epigram， and never forgot it. In 1812 he applied for the post of mayor of his commune， and had every hope of being appointed， when General ----- wrote to the prefect， to recommend one of Ghilfuccio's wife's relations. The prefect lost no time in carrying out the general's wish， and Barricini felt no doubt that he owed his failure to the intrigues of Ghilfuccio. In 1814， after the emperor's fall， the general's protégé was denounced as a Bonapartist， and his place was taken by Barricini. He， in his turn， was dismissed during the Hundred Days， but when the storm had blown over， he again took possession， with great pomp， of the mayoral seal and the municipal registers.
From this moment his star shone brighter than ever. Colonel della Rebbia， now living on half-pay at Pietranera， had to defend himself against covert and repeated attacks due to the pettifogging malignity of his enemy. At one time he was summoned to pay for the damage his horse had done to the mayor's fences， at another， the latter， under pretence of repairing the floor of the church， ordered the removal of a broken flagstone bearing the della Rebbia arms， which covered the grave of some member of the family. If the village goats ate the colonel's young plants， the mayor always protected their owners. The grocer who kept the post-office at Pietranera， and the old maimed soldier who had been the village policeman--both of them attached to the della Rebbia family--were turned adrift， and their places filled by Barricini's creatures.
