Explore "Rienzi" by Edward Bulwer-lytton on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
It was on the following evening that a considerable crowd had gathered / in the streets of Avignon. It was the second day of the examination / of Rienzi, and with every moment was expected the announcement of the / verdict. Amongst the foreigners of all countries assembled in that seat / of the Papal splendour, the interest was intense. The Italians, even of / the highest rank, were in favour of the Tribune, the French against him. / As for the good townspeople of Avignon themselves, they felt but little / excitement in any thing that did not bring money into their pockets; and / if it had been put to the secret vote, no doubt there would have been a / vast majority for burning the prisoner, as a marketable speculation!
Amongst the crowd was a tall man in a plain and rusty suit of armour, / but with an air of knightly bearing, which somewhat belied the / coarseness of his mail; he wore no helmet, but a small morion of black / leather, with a long projecting shade, much used by wayfarers in the / hot climates of the south. A black patch covered nearly the whole of / one cheek, and altogether he bore the appearance of a grim soldier, with / whom war had dealt harshly, both in purse and person.