--"Song is on thy hills:
Oh, sweet and mournful melodies of Spain,
That lull'd my boyhood, how your memory thrills
The exile's heart with sudden-wakening pain."
The Forest Sanctuary.
From the moment that Isabella pledged her royal word to support Columbus
in his great design, all reasonable doubts of the sailing of the
expedition ceased, though few anticipated any results of importance. Of
so much greater magnitude, indeed, did the conquest of the kingdom of
Granada appear, at that instant, than any probable consequences which
could follow from this novel enterprise, that the latter was almost
overlooked in the all-absorbing interest that was connected with the
former.
There was one youthful and generous heart, however, all of whose hopes
were concentrated in the success of the great voyage. It is scarcely
necessary to add, we mean that of Mercedes de Valverde. She had watched
the recent events as they occurred, with an intensity of expectation
that perhaps none but the youthful, fervent, inexperienced, and
uncorrupted, can feel: and now that all her hopes were about to be
realized, a tender and generous joy diffused itself over her whole moral
system, in a way to render her happiness, for the time, even blissful.
Although she loved so truly and with so much feminine devotedness,
nature had endowed this warm-hearted young creature with a sagacity and
readiness of apprehension, which, when quickened by the sentiments that
are so apt to concentrate all the energies of her sex, showed her the
propriety of the distrust of the queen and her guardian, and fully
justified their hesitation in her eyes, which were rather charmed than
blinded by the ascendency of her passion. She knew too well what was due
to her virgin fame, her high expectations, her great name, and her
elevated position near the person, and in the immediate confidence of
Isabella, even to wish her hand unworthily bestowed; and while she
deferred, with the dignity and discretion of birth and female decorum,
to all that opinion and prudence could have a right to ask of a noble
maiden, she confided in her lover's power to justify her choice, with
the boundless confidence of a woman. Her aunt had taught her to believe
that this voyage of the Genoese was likely to lead to great events, and
her religious enthusiasm, like that of the queen's, led her to expect
most of that which she so fervently wished.
During the time it was known to those near the person of Isabella, that
the conditions between the sovereigns and the navigators were being
reduced to writing and were receiving the necessary forms, Luis neither
sought an interview with his mistress, nor was accidentally favored in
that way; but, no sooner was it understood Columbus had effected all
that he deemed necessary in this particular, and had quitted the court
for the coast, than the young man threw himself, at once, on the
generosity of his aunt, beseeching her to favor his views now that he
was about to leave Spain on an adventure that most regarded as
desperate. All he asked was a pledge of being well received by his
mistress and her friends, on his return successful.
"I see that thou hast taken a lesson from this new master of thine,"
answered the high-souled but kind-hearted Beatriz, smiling--"and would
fain have thy terms also. But thou knowest, Luis, that Mercedes de
Valverde is no peasant's child to be lightly cared for, but that she
cometh of the noblest blood of Spain, having had a Guzman for a mother,
and Mendozas out of number among her kinsmen. She is, moreover, one of
the richest heiresses of Castile; and it would ill become her guardian
to forget her watchfulness, under such circumstances, in behalf of one
of the idle wanderers of Christendom, simply because he happeneth to be
her own beloved brother's son."
"And if the Dona Mercedes be all thou sayest, Senora--and thou hast not
even touched upon her highest claims to merit, her heart, her beauty,
her truth, and her thousand virtues--but if she be all that thou sayest,
Dona Beatriz, is a Bobadilla unworthy of her?"
"How! if she be, moreover, all _thou_ sayest too, Don Luis! The heart,
the truth, and the thousand virtues! Methinks a shorter catalogue might
content one who is himself so great a rover, lest some of these
qualities be lost in his many journeys!"
Luis laughed, in spite of himself, at the affected seriousness of his
aunt; and then successfully endeavoring to repress a little resentment
that her language awakened, he answered in a way to do no discredit to a
well-established reputation for good-nature.
"I cannot call thee 'Daughter-Marchioness,' in imitation of Her
Highness," he answered, with a coaxing smile, so like that her deceased
brother was wont to use when disposed to wheedle her out of some
concession, that it fairly caused Dona Beatriz to start--"but I can say
with more truth, 'Aunt-Marchioness,'--and a very dear aunt, too--wilt
thou visit a little youthful indiscretion so severely? I had hoped, now
Colon was about to set forth, that all was forgotten in the noble and
common end we have in view."
"Luis," returned the aunt, regarding her nephew with the severe
resolution that was so often exhibited in her acts as well as in her
words, "dost think that a mere display of courage will prove sufficient
to win Mercedes from me? to put to sleep the vigilance of her friends?
to gain the approbation of her guardian? Learn, too confident boy, that
Mercedes de Guzman was the companion of my childhood; my warmest,
dearest friend, next to Her Highness; and that she put all faith in my
disposition to do full justice by her child. She died by slow degrees,
and the fate of the orphan was often discussed between us. That she
could ever become the wife of any but a Christian noble, neither of us
imagined possible; but there are so many different characters under the
same outward professions, that names deceived us not. I do believe that
poor woman bethought her more of her child's future worldly fortunes
than of her own sins, and that she prayed oftener for the happy
conclusion of the first than for the pardon of the last! Thou knowest
little of the strength of a mother's love, Luis, and canst not
understand all the doubts that beset the heart, when the parent is
compelled to leave a tender plant, like Mercedes, to the cold nursing of
a selfish and unfeeling world."
"I can readily fancy the mother of my love fitted for heaven without the
usual interpositions of masses and paters, Dona Beatriz; but have aunts
no consideration for nephews, as well as mothers for children?"
"The tie is close and strong, my child, and yet is it not parental; nor
art thou a sensitive, true-hearted, enthusiastic girl, filled with the
confidence of thy purity, and overflowing with the affections that, in
the end, make mothers what they are."
"By San Iago! and am I not the very youth to render such a creature
happy? I, too, am sensitive--too much so, in sooth, for my own peace; I,
too, am true-hearted, as is seen by my having had but this one love,
when I might have had fifty; and if I am not exactly overflowing with
the confidence of purity, I have the confidence of youth, health,
strength, and courage, which is quite as useful for a cavalier; and I
have abundance of the affection that makes good fathers, which is all
that can reasonably be asked of a man."
"Thou, then, thinkest thyself, truant, every way worthy to be the
husband of Mercedes de Valverde?"
"Nay, aunt of mine, thou hast a searching way with thy questions! Who
is, or can be, exactly worthy of so much excellence? I may not be
altogether _deserving_ of her, but then again, I am not altogether
_undeserving_ of her. I am quite as noble, nearly as well endowed with
estates, of suitable years, of fitting address as a knight, and love her
better than I love my own soul. Methinks the last should count for
something, since he that loveth devotedly, will surely strive to render
its object happy."
"Thou art a silly, inexperienced boy, with a most excellent heart, a
happy, careless disposition, and a head that was made to hold better
thoughts than commonly reside there!" exclaimed the aunt, giving way to
an impulse of natural feeling, even while she frowned on her nephew's
folly. "But, hear me, and for once think gravely, and reflect on what I
say. I have told thee of the mother of Mercedes, of her dying doubts,
her anxiety, and of her confidence in me. Her Highness and I were alone
with her, the morning of the day that her spirit took its flight to
heaven; and then she poured out all her feelings, in a way that has left
on us both an impression that can never cease, while aught can be done
by either for the security of the daughter's happiness. Thou hast
thought the queen unkind. I know not but, in thy intemperate speech,
thou hast dared to charge Her Highness with carrying her care for her
subjects' well-being beyond a sovereign's rights"--
"Nay, Dona Beatriz," hastily interrupted Luis, "herein thou dost me
great injustice. I may have felt--no doubt I have keenly, bitterly, felt
the consequences of Dona Isabella's distrust of my constancy; but never
has rebel thought of mine even presumed to doubt her right to command
all our services, as well as all our lives. This is due to her sacred
authority from all; but we, who so well know the heart and motives of
the queen, also know that she doth naught from caprice or a desire to
rule; while she doth so much from affection to her people."
As Don Luis uttered this with an earnest look, and features flushed with
sincerity, it was impossible not to see that he meant as much as he
said. If men considered the consequences that often attend their
lightest words, less levity of speech would be used, and the office of
tale-bearer, the meanest station in the whole catalogue of social rank,
would become extinct for want of occupation. Few cared less, or thought
less, about the consequences of what they uttered, than Luis de
Bobadilla; and yet this hasty but sincere reply did him good service
with more than one of those who exercised a material influence over his
fortunes. The honest praise of the queen went directly to the heart of
the Marchioness, who rather idolized than loved her royal mistress, the
long and close intimacy that had existed between them having made her
thoroughly acquainted with the pure and almost holy character of
Isabella; and when she repeated the words of her nephew to the latter,
her own well-established reputation for truth caused them to be
implicitly believed. Whatever may be the correctness of our views in
general, one of the most certain ways to the feelings is the assurance
of being respected and esteemed; while, of all the divine mandates, the
most difficult to find obedience is that which tells us to "love those
who hate" us. Isabella, notwithstanding her high destiny and lofty
qualities, was thoroughly a woman; and when she discovered that, in
spite of her own coldness to the youth, he really entertained so much
profound deference for her character, and appreciated her feelings and
motives in a way that conscience told her she merited, she was much
better disposed to look at his peculiar faults with indulgence, and to
ascribe that to mere animal spirits, which, under less favorable
auspices, might possibly have been mistaken for ignoble propensities.
But this is a little anticipating events. The first consequence of Luis'
speech was a milder expression in the countenance of his aunt, and a
disposition to consider his entreaties to be admitted to a private
interview with Mercedes, with more indulgence.
"I may have done thee injustice in this, Luis," resumed Dona Beatriz,
betraying in her manner the sudden change of feeling mentioned; "for I
do think thee conscious of thy duty to Her Highness, and of the almost
heavenly sense of justice that reigneth in her heart, and through that
heart, in Castile. Thou hast not lost in my esteem by thus exhibiting
thy respect and love for the queen, for it is impossible to have any
regard for female virtue, and not to manifest it to its best
representative."
"Do I not, also, dear aunt, in my attachment to thy ward? Is not my very
choice, in some sort, a pledge of the truth and justice of my feelings
in these particulars?"
"Ah! Luis de Bobadilla, it is not difficult to teach the heart to lean
toward the richest and the noblest, when she happeneth also to be the
fairest, maiden of Spain!"
"And am I a hypocrite, Marchioness? Dost thou accuse the son of thy
brother of being a feigner of that which he doth not feel?--one
influenced by so mean a passion as the love of gold and of lands?"
"Foreign lands, heedless boy," returned the aunt, smiling, "but not of
others' lands. No, Luis, none that know thee will accuse thee of
hypocrisy. We believe in the truth and ardor of thy attachment, and it
is for that very cause that we most distrust thy passion."
"How! Are feigned feelings of more repute with the queen and thyself,
than real feelings? A spurious and fancied love, than the honest,
downright, manly passion."
"It is this genuine feeling, this honest, downright, manly passion, as
thou termest it, which is most apt to awaken sympathy in the tender
bosom of a young girl. There is no truer touch-stone, by which to try
the faithfulness of feelings, than the heart, when the head is not
turned by vanity; and the more unquestionable the passion, the easier is
it for its subject to make the discovery. Two drops of water do not
glide together more naturally than two hearts, nephew, when there is a
strong affinity between them. Didst thou not really love Mercedes, as my
near and dear relative, thou mightst laugh and sing in her company at
all times that should be suitable for the dignity of a maiden, and it
would not cause me an uneasy moment."
"I am thy near and dear relative, aunt of mine, with a miracle! and yet
it is more difficult for me to get a sight of thy ward"--
"Who is the especial care of the Queen of Castile."
"Well, be it so; and why should a Bobadilla be proscribed by even a
Queen of Castile?"
Luis then had recourse to his most persuasive powers, and, improving the
little advantage he had gained, by dint of coaxing and teasing he so far
prevailed on Dona Beatriz as to obtain a promise that she would apply to
the queen for permission to grant him one private interview with
Mercedes. We say the queen, since Isabella, distrusting the influence of
blood, had cautioned the Marchioness on this subject; and the prudence
of letting the young people see each other as little as possible, had
been fully settled between them. It was in redeeming this promise, that
the aunt related the substance of the conversation that has just been
given, and mentioned to her royal mistress the state of her nephew's
feelings as respected herself. The effect of such information was
necessarily favorable to the young man's views, and one of its first
fruits was the desired permission to have the interview he sought.
"They are not sovereigns," remarked the queen, with a smile that the
favorite could see was melancholy, though it surpassed her means of
penetration to say whether it proceeded from a really saddened feeling,
or whether it were merely the manner in which the mind is apt to glance
backward at emotions that it is known can never be again awakened in our
bosoms;--"they are not sovereigns, Daughter-Marchioness, to woo by
proxy, and wed as strangers. It may not be wise to suffer the
intercourse to become too common, but it were cruel to deny the youth,
as he is about to depart on an enterprise of so doubtful issue, one
opportunity to declare his passion and to make his protestations of
constancy. If thy ward hath, in truth, any tenderness for him, the
recollection of this interview will soothe many a weary hour while Don
Luis is away."
"And add fuel to the flame," returned Dona Beatriz, pointedly.
"We know not that, my good Beatriz, since, the heart being softened by
the power of God to a sense of its religious duties, may not the same
kind hand direct it and shield it in the indulgence of its more worldly
feelings? Mercedes will never forget her duty, and, the imagination
feeding itself, it may not be the wisest course to leave that of an
enthusiast like our young charge, so entirely to its own pictures.
Realities are often less hazardous than the creatures of the fancy.
Then, thy nephew will not be a loser by the occasion, for, by keeping
constantly in view the object he now seemeth to pursue so earnestly, he
will the more endeavor to deserve success."
"I much fear, Senora, that the best conclusions are not to be depended
on in an affair that touches the waywardness of the feelings."
"Perhaps not, Beatriz; and yet I do not see that we can well deny this
interview, now that Don Luis is so near departure. Tell him I accord him
that which he so desireth, and let him bear in mind that a grandee
should never quit Castile without presenting himself before his
sovereign."
"I fear, Your Highness," returned the Marchioness, laughing, "that Don
Luis will feel this last command, however gracious and kind in fact, as
a strong rebuke, since he hath more than once done this already, without
even presenting himself before his own aunt!"
"On those occasions he went idly, and without consideration; but he is
now engaged in an honorable and noble enterprise, and we will make it
apparent to him that all feel the difference."
The conversation now changed, it being understood that the request of
the young man was to be granted. Isabella had, in this instance,
departed from a law she had laid down for her own government, under the
influence of her womanly feelings, which often caused her to forget that
she was a queen, when no very grave duties existed to keep alive the
recollection; for it would have been difficult to decide in which light
this pure-minded and excellent female most merited the esteem of
mankind--in her high character as a just and conscientious sovereign, or
when she acted more directly under the gentler impulses of her sex. As
for her friend, she was perhaps more tenacious of doing what she
conceived to be her duty, by her ward, than the queen herself; since,
with a greater responsibility, she was exposed to the suspicion of
acting with a design to increase the wealth and to strengthen the
connections of her own family. Still, the wishes of Isabella were laws
to the Marchioness of Moya, and she sought an early opportunity to
acquaint her ward with her intention to allow Don Luis, for once, to
plead his own cause with his mistress, before he departed on his
perilous and mysterious enterprise.
Our heroine received this intelligence with the mingled sensations of
apprehension, delight, misgivings, and joy, that are so apt to beset the
female heart, in the freshness of its affections, when once brought in
subjection to the master-passion. She had never thought it possible Luis
would sail on an expedition like that in which he was engaged, without
endeavoring to see her alone; but, now she was assured that both the
queen and her guardian acquiesced in his being admitted, she almost
regretted their compliance. These contradictory emotions, however, soon
subsided in the tender melancholy that gradually drew around her manner,
as the hour for the departure approached. Nor were her feelings on the
subject of Luis' ready enlistment in the expedition, more consistent. At
times she exulted in her lover's resolution, and in his manly devotion
to glory and the good of the church; remembering with pride that, of all
the high nobility of Castile, he alone ventured life and credit with the
Genoese; and then, again, tormenting doubts came over her, as she feared
that the love of roving, and of adventure, was quite as active in his
heart, as love of herself. But in all this there was nothing new. The
more pure and ingenuous the feelings of those who truly submit to the
influence of this passion, the more keenly alive are their distrusts apt
to be, and the more tormenting their misgivings of themselves.
Her mind made up, Dona Beatriz acted fairly by the young people. As soon
as Luis was admitted to her own presence, on the appointed morning, she
told him that he was expected by Mercedes, who was waiting his
appearance in the usual reception-room. Scarce giving himself time to
kiss the hand of his aunt, and to make those other demonstrations of
respect that the customs of the age required from the young to their
seniors--more especially when there existed between them a tie of blood
as close as that which united the Marchioness of Moya with the Conde de
Llera--the young man bounded away, and was soon in the presence of his
mistress. As Mercedes was prepared for the interview, she betrayed the
feeling of the moment merely by a heightened color, and the greater
lustre of eyes that were always bright, though often so soft and
melancholy.
"Luis!" escaped from her, and then, as if ashamed of the emotion
betrayed in the very tones of her voice, she withdrew the foot that had
involuntarily advanced to meet him, even while she kept a hand extended
in friendly confidence.
"Mercedes!" and the hand was withdrawn to put a stop to the kisses with
which it was covered. "Thou art harder to be seen, of late, than it will
be to discover this Cathay of the Genoese; for, between the Dona
Isabella and Dona Beatriz, never was paradise watched more closely by
guardian angels, than thy person is watched by thy protectors."
"And can it be necessary, Luis, when thou art the danger apprehended?"
"Do they think I shall carry thee off, like some Moorish girl borne away
on the crupper of a Christian knight's saddle, and place thee in the
caravel of Colon, that we may go in search of Prestor John and the Great
Khan, in company?"
"They may think _thee_ capable of this act of madness, dear Luis, but
they will hardly suspect _me_."
"No, thou art truly a model of prudence in all matters that require
feeling for thy lover."
"Luis!" exclaimed the girl, again; and this time unbidden tears started
to her eyes.
"Forgive me, Mercedes--dearest, dearest Mercedes; but this delay and all
these coldly cruel precautions make me forget myself. Am I a needy and
unknown adventurer, that they treat me thus, instead of being a noble
Castilian knight!"
"Thou forgettest, Luis, that noble Castilian maidens are not wont to see
even noble Castilian cavaliers alone, and, but for the gracious
condescension of Her Highness, and the indulgence of my guardian, who
happeneth to be thy aunt, this interview could not take place."
"Alone! And dost thou call this being alone, or any excessive favor, on
the part of Her Highness, when thou seest that we are watched by the
eye, if not by the ear! I fear to speak above my breath, lest the sounds
should disturb that venerable lady's meditations!"
As Luis de Bobadilla uttered this, he glanced his eye at the figure of
the duena of his mistress, whose person was visible through an open
door, in an adjoining room, where the good woman sat, intently occupied
in reading certain homilies.
"Dost mean my poor Pepita," answered Mercedes, laughing; for the
presence of her attendant, to whom she had been accustomed from infancy,
was no more restraint on her own innocent thoughts and words, than would
have proved a reduplication of herself, had such a thing been possible.
"Many have been her protestations against this meeting, which she
insists is contrary to all rule among noble ladies, and which, she says,
would never have been accorded by my poor, sainted mother, were she
still living."
"Ay, she hath a look that is sufficient of itself to set every generous
mind a-tilting with her. One can see envy of thy beauty and youth, in
every wrinkle of her unamiable face."
"Then little dost thou know my excellent Pepita, who envieth nothing,
and who hath but one marked weakness, and that is, too much affection,
and too much indulgence, for myself."
"I detest a duena; ay, as I detest an Infidel!"
"Senor," said Pepita, whose vigilant ears, notwithstanding her book and
the homilies, heard all that passed, "this is a common feeling among
youthful cavaliers, I fear; but they tell me that the very duena who is
so displeasing to the lover, getteth to be a grateful object, in time,
with the husband. As my features and wrinkles, however, are so
disagreeable to you, and no doubt cause you pain, by closing this door
the sight will be shut out, as, indeed, will be the sound of my
unpleasant cough, and of your own protestations of love, Senor Knight."
This was said in much better language than was commonly used by women of
the duena's class, and with a good-nature that seemed indomitable, it
being completely undisturbed by Luis' petulant remarks.
"Thou shalt not close the door, Pepita," cried Mercedes, blushing rosy
red, and springing forward to interpose her own hand against the act.
"What is there that the Conde de Llera can have to say to one like me,
that _thou_ mayest not hear?"
"Nay, dear child, the noble cavalier is about to talk of love!"
"And is it thou, with whom the language of affection is so uncommon,
that it frighteneth thee! Hath thy discourse been of aught but love,
since thou hast known and cared for me?"
"It augureth badly for thy suit, Senor," said Pepita, smiling, while she
suspended the movement of the hand that was about to close the door, "if
Dona Mercedes thinketh of your love as she thinketh of mine. Surely,
child, thou dost not fancy me a gay, gallant young noble, come to pour
out his soul at thy feet, and mistakest my simple words of affection for
such as will be likely to flow from the honeyed tongue of a Bobadilla,
bent on gaining his suit with the fairest maiden of Castile?"
Mercedes shrunk back, for, though innocent as purity itself, her heart
taught her the difference between the language of her lover and the
language of her nurse, even when each most expressed affection. Her hand
released its hold of the wood, and unconsciously was laid, with its
pretty fellow, on her crimsoned face. Pepita profited by her advantage,
and closed the door. A smile of triumph gleamed on the handsome features
of Luis, and, after he had forced his mistress, by a gentle compulsion,
to resume the seat from which she had risen to meet him, he threw
himself on a stool at her feet, and stretching out his well-turned limbs
in an easy attitude, so as to allow himself to gaze into the beautiful
face that he had set up, like an idol, before him, he renewed the
discourse.
"This is a paragon of duenas," he cried, "and I might have known that
none of the ill-tempered, unreasonable school of such beings, would be
tolerated near thy person. This Pepita is a jewel, and she may consider
herself established in her office for life, if, by the cunning of this
Genoese, mine own resolution, the queen's repentance, and thy gentle
favor, I ever prove so lucky as to become thy husband."
"Thou forgettest, Luis," answered Mercedes, trembling even while she
laughed at her own conceit, "that if the husband esteemeth the duena the
lover could not endure, that the lover may esteem the duena that the
husband may be unwilling to abide."
"_Peste!_ these are crooked matters, and ill-suited to the
straight-forward philosophy of Luis de Bobadilla. There is one thing
only, which I can, or do, pretend to know, out of any controversy, and
that I am ready to maintain in the face of all the doctors of Salamanca,
or all the chivalry of Christendom, that of the Infidel included; which
is, that thou art the fairest, sweetest, best, most virtuous, and in all
things the most winning maiden of Spain, and that no other living knight
so loveth and honoreth his mistress as I love and honor thee!"
The language of admiration is ever soothing to female ears, and
Mercedes, giving to the words of the youth an impression of sincerity
that his manner fully warranted, forgot the duena and her little
interruption, in the delight of listening to declarations that were so
grateful to her affections. Still, the coyness of her sex, and the
recent date of their mutual confidence, rendered her answer less open
than it might otherwise have been.
"I am told,", she said, "that you young cavaliers, who pant for
occasions to show your skill and courage with the lance and in the
tourney, are ever making some such protestations in favor of this or
that noble maiden, in order to provoke others like themselves to make
counter assertions, that they may show their prowess as knights, and
gain high names for gallantry."
"This cometh of being so much shut up in Dona Beatriz's private rooms,
lest some bold Spanish eyes should look profanely on thy beauty,
Mercedes. We are not in the age of the errants and the troubadours, when
men committed a thousand follies that they might be thought weaker even
than nature had made them. In that age, your knights _discoursed_
largely of love, but in our own they _feel_ it. In sooth, I think this
savoreth of some of the profound morality of Pepita!"
"Say naught against Pepita, Luis, who hath much befriended thee to-day,
else would thy tongue, and thine eyes too, be under the restraint of her
presence. But that which thou termest the morality of the good duena,
is, in truth, the morality of the excellent and most noble Dona Beatriz
de Cabrera, Marchioness of Moya, who was born a lady of the House of
Bobadilla, I believe."
"Well, well, I dare to say there is no great difference between the
lessons of a duchess and the lessons of a duena in the privacy of the
closet, when there is one like thee, beautiful, and rich, and virtuous,
to guard. They say you young maidens are told that we cavaliers are so
many ogres, and that the only way to reach paradise is to think naught
of us but evil, and then, when some suitable marriage hath been decided
on, the poor young creature is suddenly alarmed by an order to come
forth and be wedded to one of these very monsters."
"And, in this mode, hast thou been treated! It would seem that much
pains are taken to make the young of the two sexes think ill of each
other. But, Luis, this is pure idleness, and we waste in it most
precious moments; moments that may never return. How go matters with
Colon--and when is he like to quit the court?"
"He hath already departed; for, having obtained all he hath sought of
the queen, he quitted Santa Fe, with the royal authority to sustain him
in the fullest manner. If thou hearest aught of one Pedro de Munos, or
Pero Gutierrez, at the court of Cathay, thou wilt know on whose
shoulders to lay his follies."
"I would rather that thou shouldst undertake this voyage in thine own
name, Luis, than under a feigned appellation. Concealments of this
nature are seldom wise, and surely thou dost not undertake the
enterprise"--the tell-tale blood stole to the cheeks of Mercedes as she
proceeded--"with a motive that need bring shame."
"'Tis the wish of my aunt; as for myself, I would put thy favor in my
casque, thy emblem on my shield, and let it be known, far and near, that
Luis of Llera sought the court of Cathay, with the intent to defy its
chivalry to produce as fair or as virtuous a maiden as thyself."
"We are not in the age of errants, sir knight, but in one of reason and
truth," returned Mercedes, laughing, though every syllable that proved
the earnest and entire devotion of the young man went directly to her
heart, strengthening his hold on it, and increasing the flame that burnt
within, by adding the fuel that was most adapted to that purpose--"we
are not in the age of knights-errant, Don Luis de Bobadilla, as thou
thyself hast just affirmed; but one in which even the lover is
reflecting, and as apt to discover the faults of his lady-love as to
dwell upon her perfections. I look for better things from thee, than to
hear that thou hast ridden through the highways of Cathay, defying to
combat and seeking giants, in order to exalt my beauty, and tempting
others to decry it, if it were only out of pure opposition to thy idle
boastings. Ah! Luis, thou art now engaged in a most truly noble
enterprise, one that will join thy name to those of the applauded of
men, and which will form thy pride and exultation in after-life, when
the eyes of us both shall be dimmed by age, and we shall look back with
longings to discover aught of which to be proud."
It was thrice, pleasant to the youth to hear his mistress, in the
innocence of her heart, and in the fulness of her feelings, thus uniting
his fate with her own; and when she ceased speaking, all unconscious how
much might be indirectly implied from her words, he still listened
intently, as if he would fain hear the sounds after they had died on his
ear.
"What enterprise can be nobler, more worthy to awaken all my resolution,
than to win thy hand!" he exclaimed, after a short pause. "I follow
Colon with no other object; share his chances, to remove the objections
of Dona Isabella; and will accompany him to the earth's end, rather than
that thy choice should be dishonored. _Thou_ art _my_ Great Khan,
beloved Mercedes, and thy smiles and affection are the only Cathay I
seek."
"Say not so, dear Luis, for thou knowest not the nobility of thine own
soul, nor the generosity of thine own intentions. This is a stupendous
project of Colon's, and much as I rejoice that he hath had the
imagination to conceive it, and the heart to undertake it in his own
person, on account of the good it must produce to the heathen, and the
manner in which it will necessarily redound to the glory of God, still I
fear that I am equally gladdened with the recollection that thy name
will be forever associated with the great achievement, and thy
detractors put to shame with the resolution and spirit with which so
noble an end will have been attained."
"This is nothing but truth, Mercedes, should we reach the Indies; but,
should the saints desert us, and our project fail, I fear that even thou
wouldst be ashamed to confess an interest in an unfortunate adventurer
who hath returned without success, and thereby made himself the subject
of sneers and derision, instead of wearing the honorable distinction
that thou seemest so confidently to expect."
"Then, Luis de Bobadilla, thou knowest me not," answered Mercedes,
hastily, and speaking with a tender earnestness that brought the blood
into her cheeks, gradually brightening the brilliancy of her eyes, until
they shone with a lustre that seemed almost supernatural--"then, Luis de
Bobadilla, thou knowest me not. I wish thee to share in the glory of
this enterprise, because calumny and censure have not been altogether
idle with thy youth, and because I feel that Her Highness' favor is most
easily obtained by it; but, if thou believest that the spirit to engage
with Colon was necessary to incline me to think kindly of my guardian's
nephew, thou neither understandest the sentiments that draw me toward
thee, nor hast a just appreciation of the hours of sorrow I have
suffered on thy account."
"Dearest, most generous, noble-hearted girl, I am unworthy of thy truth,
of thy pure sincerity, and of all thy devoted feelings! Drive me from
thee at once, that I may ne'er again cause thee a moment's grief."
"Nay, Luis, thy remedy, I fear me, would prove worse than the disease
that thou wouldst cure," returned the beautiful girl, smiling and
blushing as she spoke, and turning her eloquent eyes on the youth in a
way to avow volumes of tenderness. "With thee must I be happy, or
unhappy, as Providence may will it; or miserable without thee."
The conversation now took that unconnected, and yet comprehensive cast,
which is apt to characterize the discourse of those who feel as much as
they reason, and it covered more interests, sentiments, and events, than
our limits will allow us to record. As usual, Luis was inconsistent,
jealous, repentant, full of passion and protestations, fancying a
thousand evils at one instant, and figuring in his imagination a
terrestrial paradise at the next; while Mercedes was enthusiastic,
generous, devoted, and yet high-principled, self-denying, and womanly;
meeting her ardent suitor's vows with a tenderness that seemed to lose
all other considerations in her love, and repelling with maiden coyness,
and with the dignity of her sex, his rhapsodies, whenever they touched
upon the exaggerated and indiscreet.
The interview lasted an hour, and it is scarce necessary to say that
vows of constancy, and pledges never to marry another, were given, again
and again. As the time for separating approached, Mercedes opened a
small casket that contained her jewels, and drew forth one which she
offered to her lover as a gage of her truth.
"I will not give thee a glove to wear in thy casque at tourneys, Luis,"
she said, "but I offer this holy symbol, which may remind thee, at the
same moment, of the great pursuit thou hast before thee, and of her who
will wait its issue with doubts and fears little less active than those
of Colon himself. Thou needst no other crucifix to say thy paters
before, and these stones are sapphires, which thou knowest are the
tokens of fidelity--a feeling that thou mayst encourage as respects thy
lasting welfare, and which it would not grieve me to know thou kept'st
ever active in thy bosom when thinking of the unworthy giver of the
trifle."
This was said half in melancholy, and half in lightness of heart, for
Mercedes felt, at parting, both a weight of sorrow that was hard to be
borne, and a buoyancy of the very feeling to which she had just alluded,
that much disposed her to smile; and it was said with those winning
accents with which the youthful and tender avow their emotions, when the
heart is subdued by the thoughts of absence and dangers. The gift was a
small cross, formed of the stones she had named, and of great intrinsic
value, as well as precious from the motives and character of her who
offered it.
"Thou hast had a care of my soul, in this, Mercedes," said Luis,
smiling, when he had kissed the jewelled cross again and again--"and art
resolved if the sovereign of Cathay should refuse to be converted to our
faith, that we shall not be converted to his. I fear that my offering
will appear tame and valueless in thine eyes, after so precious a boon."
"One lock of thy hair, Luis, is all I desire. Thou knowest that I have
no need of jewels."
"If I thought the sight of my bushy head would give thee pleasure, every
hair should quit it, and I would sail from Spain with a poll as naked as
a priest's, or even an Infidel's; but the Bobadillas have their jewels,
and a Bobadilla's bride shall wear them: this necklace was my mother's,
Mercedes; it is said to have once been the property of a queen, though
none have ever worn it who will so honor it as thou."
"I take it, Luis, for it is thy offering and may not be refused; and yet
I take it tremblingly, for I see signs of our different natures in these
gifts. Thou hast chosen the gorgeous and the brilliant, which pall in
time, and seldom lead to contentment; while my woman's heart hath led me
to constancy. I fear some brilliant beauty of the East would better gain
thy lasting admiration than a poor Castilian maid who hath little but
her faith and love to recommend her!"
Protestations on the part of the young man followed, and Mercedes
permitted one fond and long embrace ere they separated. She wept on the
bosom of Don Luis, and at the final moment of parting, as ever happens
with woman, feeling got the better of form, and her whole soul confessed
its weakness. At length Luis tore himself away from her presence, and
that night he was on his way to the coast, under an assumed name, and in
simple guise; whither Columbus had already preceded.
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