TWO KISSES FOR TEN DOUBLOONS.
Next morning, the moment my guard was relieved by M'Coll of that Ilk
and a new party, I hurried to my quarters, and found that both Ian
and M'Alpine were at exercise in the Place of Arms. My heart beat
lightly with pleasure and expectation; for there was a charm in the
beauty of the señora, and the atmosphere of mystery surrounding her,
that enhanced her value to an admirer so young as I; and I was
further encouraged, by having heard the Baron Karl of Klosterfiord,
and other cavaliers of the army, say that, in their loves and amours,
the women of Spain and Italy always preferred strangers to their own
countrymen, who were apt to place too great restraint upon them.
With peculiar care I dressed my locks, which were then very long,
parting them fairly on the top of my head, in the fashion just then
introduced by that true saint and martyr, his majesty King Charles I.
of sacred memory,* and having a love-lock hanging far down on one
side. I sighed for some more mustache, for at twenty one has such a
scanty appendage of that kind. I put on my best buff coat, laced
with silver, and fastened my kilt with a diamond buckle, where the
end came over my left shoulder, forming the true _breacan fheile_ of
the Celtic soldier. I had a ruff of point lace, and a falling band,
over which I hung the magnificent gold chain of the Imperialist; a
white satin scarf sustained my claymore on one side, and my dirk
studded with Scottish topazes and gold-coloured stones from
Cairngorm. After the most careful arrangement of all this military
foppery, I descended the stair with a beating heart, to seek the
secret entrance to the bower of la señora Bandolo.
* Though our soldier served in Germany, his cavalier principles are
evident.
"Ah, if she should have deceived me!" thought I, with a pang; "but
here is the landing-place, and there is the passage to the left."
The first door to the right stood open, and close against the wall.
I looked behind it, discovered the important black spot indicated by
the señora, and pressed it with a trembling hand. A spring clicked,
and a door suddenly opened right through the paneled wall of this
passage, the wainscoting of which had hitherto completely concealed
it. At the other end, I saw the chamber of Prudentia, whose retreat
this close-fitting panel and double passage had always protected,
when she chose concealment. The moment I entered, the charming
actress arose from her little sofa, and hastened to receive me.
"So you have discovered my secret at last, señor; how droll that you
should never have found it till now! I am so happy you have come,
that I may thank you for your exceeding kindness last night. Our
walk was very pleasant--and, hola! it has quite given you a
complexion!" she added with a laugh, as a flush crossed my cheek.
While Prudentia ran on in this way, and while I seated myself near
her on the little sofa, I know not what answers I returned, being
wholly dazzled by her presence, and the perfect ease of manner she
exhibited. I cannot analyse what attracted me towards her; the idea
of marriage had never occurred to me; at the outset of a campaign,
that would be very like running full tilt against a cannon's mouth.
I thought it was merely for the pleasure of enjoying the society of a
girl more charming and beautiful than I had ever met; and yet it must
have been more than that; for my mind was full of passion and
passionate words, which an excessive timidity repressed. I have no
doubt that this timidity and admiration were expressed in my face;
for when the señora looked at me from under her long silky lashes,
her eyes glittered with the most beautiful smiles. She was
invincibly seducing; but there were times when her expression became
singular and inexplicable.
If she had appeared magnificent in her stage costume, the simplicity
of her morning dress made her more handsome than ever. She wore a
plain black satin fardingale, a long stomacher with an open bosom,
and a high close ruff; her arms were bare to the elbow. She had a
comb, and a square of black lace, which from the back of her head
fell gracefully over her neck and shoulders; and nothing in this
world could be more pretty than the little foot and embroidered
cordovan slipper, which rested on a footstool, and was made rather
more than visible as she reclined back among the soft downy cushions
of the sofa. The carved hilt of her little poniard appeared at times
through a slash in her boddice; all her dress was plain and black,
and nothing remained of the dazzling danzador but the roguish smile,
the brilliant teeth, and those beautiful Spanish eyes, with their
alternate animation and subdued fire. Young, and long a stranger to
female society (by the seclusion of my college life), I was timid;
she saw I was so, and, with the kindest good-nature, proceeded by her
prattle to relieve me from my dilemma.
"I trust, señor, your absence was not discovered last night?"
"Fortunately it was not."
"If so, what would have been the penalty?"
"Degradation, by sentence of a military court."
"And for me you ran that risk?"
"For you, señora, I would risk any thing--my life!"
"Señor--you quite overpower me."
"Ah, señora Prudentia," said I, with true and honest concern for her;
"I tremble for your safety! do not, I beseech you--do not venture on
such errands again. Had another cavalier been on guard at the gate
of the Elbe, and had you been taken prisoner----"
"I would have smiled, and gained my liberty. I have been wrong, I
know; but ah! surely," she added, casting down her fine eyes, "you
cannot blame me for serving my religion, my country and king--for
Spain leagues with Austria in this war against Christian of Denmark
and Gustavus of Sweden. Besides, as a woman, I am alike ignorant of
the laws of war, and the high punctilio of military honour."
"But you know the fate of--of--a secret informer," said I; for in
such a presence the hateful word spy faltered on my tongue.
"No----" she replied, pouting.
"They are hanged on the first tree."
"Madre de Dios! and would you be so barbarous to a lady?"
"Señora," I continued, with the most sincere feeling; "from this gulf
I would gladly save you. Tremble for us both, if the escapade of
last night is discovered--for I would not survive you."
(Here was a good shot!) She laughed when I became so serious; then
pouted her ruby lips, shook back her black tresses, and, reclining on
the sofa, looked at me with a droll and languishing expression in her
half-closed eyes, saying--
"What, señor, are you in love with me?"
"Oh yes! señora," I replied, quite overwhelmed by this naïveté;
"indeed--indeed, you do not know how much I love you!"
At forty I could not have said more. She still continued to smile,
and murmured--
"Ah, my heavens, he loves me! but, _o mal hayas tu_," she added,
"there is no such love on earth as that of which the poets sing and
romances tell us."
"It will ever be where you are, Prudentia," I continued, venturing to
take her hand in mine, and feeling how fast a whirl of thoughts was
coming over me. At that moment I heard a sound.
It was like a cough behind the wainscot.
I turned, but saw nothing. Had I looked more closely, a grey eye
would perhaps have been discovered, glistening through a hole in the
wood, from which a knot had fallen.
"Oh no!" continued the señora, hurriedly; "Lopez de Rueda of Seville,
Juan Timoneda, and Alonzo de la Vega, have all sung of love, and
portrayed their lovers, but none such exist. Now hear me, señor,"
said she, gazing fully at me with her large dark eyes; "I would not,
for the whole kingdom of Castile, be troubled with a regular fit of
love, and all its accompaniments of hope, fear, and anxiety. Oh no!
the whole ambition of my life has been to please and receive
adulation--to dazzle and be adored--but at a distance. Now," she
continued, withdrawing her hand and casting down her eyes, only to
raise them more seducingly than ever; "oh! I love so to be
surrounded by admirers; to hear the plaudits of the crowd--the shouts
that ring from pit to ceiling; to see the lights, with the music, the
scenery, the joyous dance; and could I give up all these to sit and
mope beside a man--and that man my husband?--oh horror, never!"
I might have been confounded by this morality, but for the
tragi-comic tone in which she spoke, and the playful manner in which
she had continued to draw off and on her tiny glove, to show the
whiteness and beauty of her hand.
"And do you think," said I, in the same manner, "that I can give up
my hopes of glory and renown, the joyous society of my comrades, the
pride of their achievements, the roll of the drum and the blare of
the trumpet, to mope beside a woman, and that woman my wife?
Remember the words of your countryman, Matias de los Rheyes. 'One
would imagine, after considering how Adam lost his innocence, Samson
his power, Asher his constancy, David his holiness, and Solomon his
wisdom, by having a _wife_, that a man would examine what measure he
possessed of all these good qualities, before he committed himself to
the marriage state.' But is it really possible that one so beautiful
cares not to be loved?"
"I have not said so."
"Ah, señora! I think that life would be valueless without the
pleasures love strews on its way." My voice actually became
tremulous. "Tut!" thought I; "'tis only a little actress." But she
had the eyes of a queen!
"And you love me--how droll it is!"
"Dearest Prudentia," said I, becoming quite giddy with pleasure, as I
timidly placed a hand on each side of her slender waist; "dearest
Prudentia, with my heart--with my soul I do!"
"O los ojos negros!" she exclaimed playfully, as with her pretty
hands she patted my eyebrows. The blood rushed to my temples--I
ventured to kiss her cheek, and then drew back, abashed at my own
temerity; but the graceful girl merely laughed, and said--
"I assure you, Señor Don Philip, that if any other person but you had
ventured to do that, I should have been exceedingly angry." With a
being so playful and artificial as Prudentia, I did not reflect how
much good and sincere feeling I was perhaps lavishing before the
shrine of a goddess who might yield me no reward; but, as I kissed
her, my whole soul seemed to tremble on my lips, for I was but a
boy--an ardent and impassioned boy. In Prudentia nothing charmed me
more, next to her winning manner, than the luxuriance, the gloss, and
the lustre of her magnificent hair. It was her most glorious
ornament; fastened by two pearl pins, which contrasted so well with
its blackness, it towered behind in rich braids, and fell over her
neck in a shower of ringlets. I have heard it remarked that women of
good hearts and happy dispositions, have ever the most luxuriant hair
and the finest teeth.
"'Tis all very well to get pretty presents from lovers," said she;
"to have them applauding my songs and dances, to have them for
laughing with and talking to; but as for marrying--pho! I can never
marry!"
"Never!" I repeated, not knowing very well what to say; for much as I
loved her, and I did so with all the heedless ardour of twenty--I had
not considered the chances of a climax so awful.
"No---never! look, at these two couples on the benches under those
trees on the rampart. There is a gentleman with a scarlet cloak and
white feather; see how earnestly he talks to the young lady in the
hoop fardingale; he looks into her eyes, as if he would there read
what passes in her heart, but her eyes are cast down, and timidly she
plays with her fan, and now with the fringe of her stomacher; she is
pleased and confused--he earnest and impassioned; 'tis the Baron
Karl, of the pistoliers, and the burgomaster's daughter--they are
lovers! Nearer, look at that cavalier in the barrelled doublet and
calfskin boots, who sits beside a lady in a coif and veil. He looks
superbly vacant at the still waters of the canal, while the lady
gazes quite as listlessly down the vista of the opposite street. Ay
de mi! they are married! 'Tis a conjugal tête-à-tête--a married
pair seriously employed! Dost think that I could ever come to that,
and live? Santos, no! Give me plenty of admirers, but never a
husband, until I am as old as dame Krumpel. See yonder dames--one in
a red and the other in an orange fardingale. They are an old
baroness and a countess--yet they are the most miserable women in the
world. One has had two husbands without any children--the other has
two children and no husband."
"How----"
"He was killed at Lütter," said the señora, with a burst of laughter.
I was somewhat silenced. I knew not whether to be perplexed or
pleased by her curious morality and strange flow of spirits; but the
warnings of Ian came to my memory.
"Believe me, señor, I am very happy as I am; marriage is only a
traffic in which two people try to cheat each other, as sharpers
would with cogged dice.
I saw that nothing would be made of this little one by gravity, and
resolved to encounter her with some of that banter which one picks up
so readily at camp and college, when she resumed--
"And you would have me to go with you to the camp--ha! ha! where I
should be scared by the aspect of your bareknee'd Scots."
"Nay, señora, I had no such intention. The camp is not the place for
one so fair--so tender. Women should never be there. Old Anacreon,
who describes female beauty as being more powerful than fire or
steel, was convinced of the impropriety of women going to war, as
they were meant only for a soft and luxurious life."
"How!" exclaimed my actress, after the manner of Medea, in the
tragedy of Euripides; "dost thou not know that I would rather stand
thrice in the ranks of war, than once endure the pains of childbirth?"
Then, blushing with the most charming modesty at the vehemence she
had betrayed, she said--
"Did you not hear some one laughing?"
"I heard something behind the wainscot, again."
"'Tis a rat scratching--the place is full of those animals; but now,
señor, you must go, for I expect another visitor."
"A visitor," said I, as my old jealousy of the Hausmeister returned;
"I vow to you I will not go; for if this visitor is a man I will run
him through the brisket."
"Now, señor, do retire if you please; why linger?"
"Because I am so fond of speaking to pretty women."
"Doubtless you think to conquer in the field of Cupid, as Tilly and
Wallenstein do in the field of Mars."
"Your friends the Imperialists will have another tale to tell at
Vienna, when Lord Nithsdale's nine thousand Scots unfurl their
banners against them."
"Señor--go--for now you annoy me."
"I am incapable of doing so."
"You tire me, then," she said, sharply.
"I am deeply sorry for that."
Prudentia saw that I was not to be beaten. A sudden gleam shot over
her eyes; but she laughed, and half turning her back to me, began to
read the comedy of "Florinea."
"How very unkind of you--to be displeased, because I still wish to
talk with you!" said I, still bent on banter.
"Of what?"
"The admiration with which you inspire me."
"'Tis all very fine," she replied, keeping her back to me; "but none
will love me as I would wish to be."
"In what way would you be loved, señora."
"To desperation." Then she burst into another fit of laughter, and I
caught the rogue looking at me over her snow-white shoulder. "Señor
Don Philip," said she, suddenly closing her comedy; "could you lend
me six doubloons--it would be such a favour--and then, as there is no
play to-night, if you will dine with me, they shall be returned then
with a thousand thanks."
"I have just ten doubloons in the world señora, but they are at your
service," said I, and, opening the mouth of my sporran, which was a
gift from Ian, and secured by a remarkable spring, I handed over the
whole money I had received from the regimental scrivener to maintain
me on our march towards the Weser. Prudentia laughed excessively at
the fashion of my Highland purse, and put both her hands into it. To
resist kissing her again was impossible; and for that I would have
given ten times ten doubloons.
"A'dios! señor Caballero, at three I will see you again; then we
shall have such a nice little dinner, and a game at chess, or
something else. Do not forget."
"Forget!" I exclaimed, kissing her hand; "how could I live and
forget?" I hurried away, and the mysterious door closed behind me.
My heart was brimming with delight; I paused a moment in the passage,
and heard a sound like the voice of the Hausmeister. He seemed to be
laughing somewhere, but it might be my own fancy.
In addition to my own pay, I had lent Prudentia five doubloons of
poor Ian's; so I did not wish to see him until after dinner, which
was yet two hours distant, and, leaving the city, I took a quiet
stroll along the sunny bank of the Elbe.