"Tangier shall be yours, when we meet again." Dom Joao shrugged his
shoulders. "That depends," he said, "on the number and the condition of
your troops."
All was now hurry and excitement. And between the contending views
there was much confusion.
Dom Joao's opinion on military matters had great weight; and when it was
known that he disapproved of the expedition, many held back from it.
The young queen liking the excitement of the start, and the probable
glory to Portugal favoured the enterprise; and strangely enough it fell
out, that the war was advocated by all the gayer and wilder spirits,
while the more sober doubted and held back.
Queen Leonora laughed at her husband for the strange reluctance that he
showed to part with Fernando.
"All the--others," she said, "were constantly absent from him on long
and dangerous errands; surely he could let Fernando go for a few
months."
"That is the very thing," said Duarte sadly; "I have never been parted
from him, and this war fills me with anxiety and dread."
"Why, you grow slow of heart," said Leonora, laughing. "You did not
think so when Ceuta was before you."
Spite of this rallying, the parting was a cruel one. Although there was
a keener sympathy of character and opinion between Enrique and Fernando,
Duarte had been to the latter a constant companion and support; and to
act against his judgment, and to cause him pain and anxiety, was the
first sacrifice in which his project involved him.