Congratulations !
You have been awarded points.
Thank you for !
- Story Listed as: Fiction For Teens
- Theme: Fairy Tales & Fantasy
- Subject: Fairy Tale / Folk Tale
- Published: 02/03/2016
The Ring
Born 1937, F, from Hertfordshire, United KingdomThe ring was designed by Allessandro Masnago and made by a skilled Milanese jeweller in filigree gold with a large square cut brilliant emerald as its centrepiece; it was the engagement ring of Christina Valenti Gonzaga, who was to wed Rudolpho d’Este, cousin of Duke Alfonso II of Ferrara. Allessandro had brought to Mantua a medallion carved in lapis lazuli, the image taken from a portrait of Francesco Gonzaga, who had requested it on a recent visit to Milan. He had arrived at the height of the celebrations between the two families for it was a genuine love match that linked two of the most prestigious clans in northern Italy. Christina begged him to make an extra special ring bearing an emerald to match the green of her eyes. With pen and ink he soon sketched out a number of designs and the young couple instantly chose one of them. He promised to complete his task before the end of the month and kept to his word. The ring was exquisite, made in the finest Venetian bright gold with the delicacy of the mounting showing off the large verdant green hue in the stone that had the purist clarity. It was a masterpiece. Christina and her bridegroom to be were overjoyed. The jeweller quietly mentioned to Rudolpho about the cost of the ring which was very high because of the size and quality of the emerald. He immediately turned to his treasurer who gave him a large velvet bag filled with gold Ducats which far exceeded the sum asked. His hands closed over the craftsman’s to signify he was more than happy with the result of his labours.
Rudolpho returned to Ferrara to prepare for the nuptials and her family spoke of nothing else but dresses, gowns, ceremonies and parties. It was to be the event of the year with no thought as to cost. One afternoon Christina retired to rest in her boudoir in the ornate Valenti Palace. The constant meetings and discussions concerning the wedding had worn her out and she very soon fell asleep, having placed the ring on a velvet pad next to her bed with the windows wide open to air the room on this very warm day. On waking some hours later she found the ring was missing. She called her personal maids thinking it had been put in a place of safety which they denied. They all searched the room looking in every possible place where it might be without success.
Her screams resounded through the whole palace with guards and family quickly on the scene.
‘My ring has been stolen, my beautiful ring has gone, find it," she demanded of the Captain of the Guard. He quickly isolated the only people who had access to her inner rooms as there were guards on all the staircases and halls, he would deal with them later. Her four personal maids were brought before him and they stood shaking with fear for he was a harsh, uncompromising man who was also very skilled at questioning people. He smiled at them and with deadly menace in a soft voice said, ‘There has been a mistake, an error, her excellence’s ring was put somewhere to keep it safe, no one is to blame, you will not get into trouble just tell me where it is and we can return it to her. You all know how much she loves that ring’. The girls all stood before him trembling but said nothing. ‘Who was with her just before she went to sleep?’. ‘Carissima and Maria were’, said the eldest maid. ‘You other two wait outside’.
He stood towering over them, his face close to theirs ignoring their tears and wailing for they were petrified.
‘Your last chance before I take you to the dungeons’.
Screaming at the top of his voice, ‘Own up, which one of you stole the ring, or was it both of you?’. Maria collapsed on the floor in a faint and Carissima gasped out, ‘milady took the ring off, put it next to her as she always does and went to sleep’.
‘Did you see Maria take it?’ No sir, it was by Milady’s bed when we left the room.
The Captain took the girl’s face in his massive hand and looked deep into her eyes and saw fear but honesty there.
‘Where did you both go then?’, he asked softly.
‘We sat in the after-chamber sewing as we always do’.
‘Did any of the guards come to see if our Lady was alright?’.
‘No one came sir, milady must not be disturbed’.
‘Perhaps someone climbed up the wall outside, put a hand through the open window and took it’, he suggested.
‘It is impossible Sir, it is too far up and besides your guards patrol the paths by the walls’, she whimpered. He had given her the chance to move the blame to someone else but her honesty was apparent.
The Captain then went to the Lord Gonzaga and admitted failure. ‘I could quite easily rack them but their confessions would be false ones’, he revealed. ‘One of them must have taken it’, his Lordship barked. ‘Lock them up together in the dungeon and let them simmer. Leave me and I will consider what to do next’, he was seriously worried about the embarrassment to his family name with the d’Este family over the loss of the jewel.
He walked from his study into the gardens to ponder over the problem.
Gardeners and palace servants, all aware of the calamity that had befallen their co-workers, avoided his prowling except for a senior gardener who had served the family for generations.
‘Permission to speak sire’.
‘Go away Enrico I have no time for you’, he growled.
‘Forgive me milord but was Milady’s window open?
‘Go from my sight with your stupid questions, go,' he bawled. The old retainer bravely pressed on, ‘it could be a magpie sire, they always go for shiny metal things’. Lord Valenti drew back his hand to strike the old man down but stopped dead when he absorbed what was said to him.
He was incredulous, ‘Is it possible?’
‘There’s a small colony of them now in the big oak tree by the lake, they are all busy building nests and go for anything that glitters, it’s their nature sire’.
For the first time in his life and the last, he asked his gardener of many years what to do. ‘Ladders and lads sire, put ladders into the tree and get the garden lads to climb into the upper branches to search the nests, but first fire muskets off to frighten the birds away’.
The area by the lake was soon full of ladders and young men waiting for the militia men to come with their muskets. The Valenti Gonzaga family turned out in force and young Christina stood gazing up into the tree praying for the youths to find her ring. His Lordship and his Captain arrived with four men all armed. He directed them to stand in a circle around the tree and fire spread shot into different parts with a short pause in between.
‘Stand well back everyone’, he directed.
‘Fire one, fire two, fire three, fire four, the bursts massively alarmed the magpies who took off in droves except for five that were shredded. ‘Up you go lads, 10 ducats to the one finding it’, called the Captain and they swarmed up the ladders and into the tree carefully testing the branches for weight and disappeared into the leafy canopy.
The old gardener stood right at the back with his fingers and legs crossed for luck because if this failed milord’s wrath would surely fall on him. The boy’s climbed higher and higher, they were finding nests built with all sorts of rubbish but of the ring there was no sign. After a long search, three of the youngsters came down shaking their heads leaving two to carry on. Suddenly there was scream from the topmost branches, ‘I found it, I found it’, came the cry, and the smallest boy who worked in the garden scrambled down his ladder and ran towards Christina and knelt before her. From his pocket he took a muddy, dirty metal object that still sparkled and was undoubtedly her ring. She flung her arms around him and burst yet again into tears. The Captain counted out 10 Gold Ducats into the little boy’s grubby hand who was astounded because he had only once seen a single Ducat in his life. This would pay for a new roof and much more for his parent’s cottage.
‘Enrico come here’, cried Lord Valenti. ‘It was you who had the courage to persist with me, well done. Another 10 Ducats for you old friend, enjoy your retirement and you can stay in your cottage’.
Cheers went up from all the staff for the generosity of his Lordship who was mightily relieved to let the maids go and more important he had avoided a humiliating meeting with the d’Este family.
The Ring(Stuart Raperport)
The ring was designed by Allessandro Masnago and made by a skilled Milanese jeweller in filigree gold with a large square cut brilliant emerald as its centrepiece; it was the engagement ring of Christina Valenti Gonzaga, who was to wed Rudolpho d’Este, cousin of Duke Alfonso II of Ferrara. Allessandro had brought to Mantua a medallion carved in lapis lazuli, the image taken from a portrait of Francesco Gonzaga, who had requested it on a recent visit to Milan. He had arrived at the height of the celebrations between the two families for it was a genuine love match that linked two of the most prestigious clans in northern Italy. Christina begged him to make an extra special ring bearing an emerald to match the green of her eyes. With pen and ink he soon sketched out a number of designs and the young couple instantly chose one of them. He promised to complete his task before the end of the month and kept to his word. The ring was exquisite, made in the finest Venetian bright gold with the delicacy of the mounting showing off the large verdant green hue in the stone that had the purist clarity. It was a masterpiece. Christina and her bridegroom to be were overjoyed. The jeweller quietly mentioned to Rudolpho about the cost of the ring which was very high because of the size and quality of the emerald. He immediately turned to his treasurer who gave him a large velvet bag filled with gold Ducats which far exceeded the sum asked. His hands closed over the craftsman’s to signify he was more than happy with the result of his labours.
Rudolpho returned to Ferrara to prepare for the nuptials and her family spoke of nothing else but dresses, gowns, ceremonies and parties. It was to be the event of the year with no thought as to cost. One afternoon Christina retired to rest in her boudoir in the ornate Valenti Palace. The constant meetings and discussions concerning the wedding had worn her out and she very soon fell asleep, having placed the ring on a velvet pad next to her bed with the windows wide open to air the room on this very warm day. On waking some hours later she found the ring was missing. She called her personal maids thinking it had been put in a place of safety which they denied. They all searched the room looking in every possible place where it might be without success.
Her screams resounded through the whole palace with guards and family quickly on the scene.
‘My ring has been stolen, my beautiful ring has gone, find it," she demanded of the Captain of the Guard. He quickly isolated the only people who had access to her inner rooms as there were guards on all the staircases and halls, he would deal with them later. Her four personal maids were brought before him and they stood shaking with fear for he was a harsh, uncompromising man who was also very skilled at questioning people. He smiled at them and with deadly menace in a soft voice said, ‘There has been a mistake, an error, her excellence’s ring was put somewhere to keep it safe, no one is to blame, you will not get into trouble just tell me where it is and we can return it to her. You all know how much she loves that ring’. The girls all stood before him trembling but said nothing. ‘Who was with her just before she went to sleep?’. ‘Carissima and Maria were’, said the eldest maid. ‘You other two wait outside’.
He stood towering over them, his face close to theirs ignoring their tears and wailing for they were petrified.
‘Your last chance before I take you to the dungeons’.
Screaming at the top of his voice, ‘Own up, which one of you stole the ring, or was it both of you?’. Maria collapsed on the floor in a faint and Carissima gasped out, ‘milady took the ring off, put it next to her as she always does and went to sleep’.
‘Did you see Maria take it?’ No sir, it was by Milady’s bed when we left the room.
The Captain took the girl’s face in his massive hand and looked deep into her eyes and saw fear but honesty there.
‘Where did you both go then?’, he asked softly.
‘We sat in the after-chamber sewing as we always do’.
‘Did any of the guards come to see if our Lady was alright?’.
‘No one came sir, milady must not be disturbed’.
‘Perhaps someone climbed up the wall outside, put a hand through the open window and took it’, he suggested.
‘It is impossible Sir, it is too far up and besides your guards patrol the paths by the walls’, she whimpered. He had given her the chance to move the blame to someone else but her honesty was apparent.
The Captain then went to the Lord Gonzaga and admitted failure. ‘I could quite easily rack them but their confessions would be false ones’, he revealed. ‘One of them must have taken it’, his Lordship barked. ‘Lock them up together in the dungeon and let them simmer. Leave me and I will consider what to do next’, he was seriously worried about the embarrassment to his family name with the d’Este family over the loss of the jewel.
He walked from his study into the gardens to ponder over the problem.
Gardeners and palace servants, all aware of the calamity that had befallen their co-workers, avoided his prowling except for a senior gardener who had served the family for generations.
‘Permission to speak sire’.
‘Go away Enrico I have no time for you’, he growled.
‘Forgive me milord but was Milady’s window open?
‘Go from my sight with your stupid questions, go,' he bawled. The old retainer bravely pressed on, ‘it could be a magpie sire, they always go for shiny metal things’. Lord Valenti drew back his hand to strike the old man down but stopped dead when he absorbed what was said to him.
He was incredulous, ‘Is it possible?’
‘There’s a small colony of them now in the big oak tree by the lake, they are all busy building nests and go for anything that glitters, it’s their nature sire’.
For the first time in his life and the last, he asked his gardener of many years what to do. ‘Ladders and lads sire, put ladders into the tree and get the garden lads to climb into the upper branches to search the nests, but first fire muskets off to frighten the birds away’.
The area by the lake was soon full of ladders and young men waiting for the militia men to come with their muskets. The Valenti Gonzaga family turned out in force and young Christina stood gazing up into the tree praying for the youths to find her ring. His Lordship and his Captain arrived with four men all armed. He directed them to stand in a circle around the tree and fire spread shot into different parts with a short pause in between.
‘Stand well back everyone’, he directed.
‘Fire one, fire two, fire three, fire four, the bursts massively alarmed the magpies who took off in droves except for five that were shredded. ‘Up you go lads, 10 ducats to the one finding it’, called the Captain and they swarmed up the ladders and into the tree carefully testing the branches for weight and disappeared into the leafy canopy.
The old gardener stood right at the back with his fingers and legs crossed for luck because if this failed milord’s wrath would surely fall on him. The boy’s climbed higher and higher, they were finding nests built with all sorts of rubbish but of the ring there was no sign. After a long search, three of the youngsters came down shaking their heads leaving two to carry on. Suddenly there was scream from the topmost branches, ‘I found it, I found it’, came the cry, and the smallest boy who worked in the garden scrambled down his ladder and ran towards Christina and knelt before her. From his pocket he took a muddy, dirty metal object that still sparkled and was undoubtedly her ring. She flung her arms around him and burst yet again into tears. The Captain counted out 10 Gold Ducats into the little boy’s grubby hand who was astounded because he had only once seen a single Ducat in his life. This would pay for a new roof and much more for his parent’s cottage.
‘Enrico come here’, cried Lord Valenti. ‘It was you who had the courage to persist with me, well done. Another 10 Ducats for you old friend, enjoy your retirement and you can stay in your cottage’.
Cheers went up from all the staff for the generosity of his Lordship who was mightily relieved to let the maids go and more important he had avoided a humiliating meeting with the d’Este family.
- Share this story on
- 3
COMMENTS (0)