Lucenay had heard addressed as DoA+-a Encarnacion de Almoceres; "are they
really so wicked and so frightful?"
"Without doubt; true demons incarnate," replied the veracious priest.
"Come, come, _reverendissimo padre_; you are too hard upon the poor
devils: I have seen a good-looking fellow amongst them, now and then."
"_Bondad sua, seA+-or_, I'll be sworn there is not one fit to tie the
latchet of your shoe in the whole army."
"Yet how strange, then," recommenced DoA+-a Encarnacion, "the infatuation
they excite! I am told that it is inconceivable the numbers of young
girls, from sixteen and upwards, who have abandoned their homes and
families to follow these brigands. Their want of mature years and
understanding," she continued, with a significant glance at DoA+-a
Inez--her indignation having been gradually aroused as she perceived the
admiration lavished on her by the strangers, and the indifference with
which they viewed her riper charms,--"may be one reason; but if the
French are so unattractive, such madness is inexplicable."
"Arts, unholy arts all!" cried the Confessor. "Their damnable practices
are the cause of it. They rob the damsels of their senses, with their
infernal potions and elixirs. The wretches are in league with the
devil."
"Assuredly," replied Don Fernando, gravely, "you must be right. No woman
in her senses would condescend to look at those insignificant triflers,
while a single _caballero_ of the true old type is to be found on
Spanish soil;" and he drew himself still more stiffly up.
"The Holy Virgin defend me from their snares!" fervently ejaculated a
thin wrinkled old woman, who until then might easily have been mistaken
for a mummy, casting her eye up to heaven, and crossing herself with the
utmost devotion.
A suppressed laugh spread its contagious influence all round the table.
"DoA+-a Estefania, have no fear; you possess an infallible preservative,"
exclaimed the cappellan.
"And what may that be?" responded the antiquated fair, somewhat sharply.
"Your piety and virtue, seA+-ora," rejoined the merry _cappellano_, with a
roguish smile, which was not lost on the rest of the company, though it
evidently escaped the obtuser perceptions of DoA+-a Estefania; for drawing
her mantilla gracefully around her, and composing her parched visage
into a look of modesty, she answered in a softened tone, while she waved
her _abanico_ timidly before her face, "Ah, _Padre Anselmo!_ you are too
partial; you flatter me!"
This was too much for the risible faculties of the audience; even the
grim Don Fernando's imperturbable mustache relaxed into a smile; while
to avert the burst of laughter which seemed on the point of exploding on
all sides, DoA+-a Inez interrupted----
"But, seA+-ora, I should hope there is much falsehood and exaggeration in
the reports you allude to. I trust there are few, if any, Spanish
maidens capable of so forgetting what is due to themselves and to their
country."
"Nevertheless, the contrary is the case," replied DoA+-a Encarnacion, with
asperity.
"Oh! no no--it cannot be! I will not believe it; it is calumnious--it is
impossible! What being, with one drop of Spanish blood within their
veins, would be so debased as to follow the invaders of their country,
the destroyers, the despoilers of their own land?" DoA+-a Inez, led away
by her own enthusiasm, coloured deeply, while DoA+-a Encarnacion seemed on
the point of making an angry retort, when the count gave the signal to
rise. The rest followed his example, and the Conde led the young
Frenchmen to a window, where he conversed a little with them, asked many
questions about the forces, about the general who was to be their
inmate, &c.--to all which De Lucenay's ready wit and inimitable _sang
froid_ furnished him with suitable and unhesitating replies. The Conde
then concluded with the information, that as there was to be rather a
larger tertulia than usual that evening, perhaps they would wish to make
some alteration in their dress before the company arrived.
The officers gladly availed themselves of the permission, and followed
the maggior-domo up a massive flight of stairs, into a handsome suite of
three or four rooms, assigned entirely to their use. After having
promenaded them through the whole extent of their new domicile, the
maggior-domo retired, leaving them to the attendance of their former
guide, Pedro, who was deputed to serve them in the capacity of
_valet-de-chambre_.
The young men were astonished at the magnificence of all that met their
eyes: walls covered with the finest tapestry; ewers and goblets of
chased and solid silver; even to the quilts and canopies of the bed,
stiff with gold embroidery. But they were too much absorbed by the
charms of the Conde's daughter, and too anxious to return to the centre
of attraction, to waste much time in admiring the splendour of their
quarters.
"How beautiful DoA+-a Inez is!" said De Lucenay, as, in spite of all
prudential considerations, he tried to force his glossy locks to resume
a less sober fashion. "She must have many admirers, I should think?"
"By the dozen," answered the Spaniard. "She is the pearl of Andalusia;
there is not a noble _caballero_ in the whole province that would not
sell his soul to obtain a smile from her."
"And who are the favoured ones at present?"
"Oh, she favours none; she is too proud to cast a look on any of them:
yet there are four hidalgos on the ranks at present, not one of whom the
haughtiest lady in Spain need disdain. Don Alvar de Mendoce, especially,
is a cavalier whose birth and wealth would entitle him to any thing
short of royalty; not to speak of the handsomest face, the finest
figure, and the sweetest voice for a serenade, of any within his most
Catholic Majesty's dominions."
"And is it possible that the DoA+-a can be obdurate to such irresistible
attractions?"
Pedro shrugged his shoulders. "Why, she has not absolutely refused him,
for the Conde favours his suit; but she vows she will not grant him a
thought till he has won his spurs, and proved his patriotism, by sending
at least a dozen of those French dogs to their father Satanasso."
"A capital way to rid one's-self of a bore!" exclaimed De Lucenay, while
he cast a last glance at the glass. "So you are ready, milor," he added,
turning to his friend, who, notwithstanding his indifference, had spent
quite as much time in adonising himself. And, Pedro preceding them, the
young men gaily descended the stairs.
On entering the _salon_, they found several groups already assembled.
DoA+-a Inez was standing speaking to two or three ladies; while several
cavaliers hovered round them, apparently delighted at every word that
fell from her lips. She disengaged herself from her circle, however, on
perceiving them, and gradually approached the window to which they had
retreated.
"What a lovely evening!" she exclaimed, stepping out upon the balcony,
on which the moon shone full, casting a flood of soft mellow light on
the sculptured faASec.ade of the old castle, tipping its forest of tapering
pinnacles and the towering summits of the dark cypresses with silver.
"You do not see such starlit skies in England, I believe?"
"I have enjoyed many a delightful night in my own country, seA+-ora, and
in others, but such a night as this, never--not even in Spain!" answered
Alphonse, fixing his expressive eyes on her with a meaning not to be
mistaken.
"What a pity it is that we cannot import a few of these soft moonlights
to our own chilly clime, for the benefit of all lovers, past, present,
and future!" said De Lucenay gaily. "It is so much pleasanter to make
love in a serenade, with the shadow of some kind projecting buttress to
hide one's blushes, a pathetic sonnet to express one's feelings
infinitely more eloquently than one can in prose, moonlight and a guitar
to cast a shade of romance over the whole, and a moat or river in view
to terrify the lady into reason, if necessary--instead of making a
formal declaration in the broad daylight, looking rather more _bAȘte_
than one has ever looked before, with the uncharitable sun giving a
deeper glow to one's already crimson countenance. Or, worse still, if
one is compelled to torture one's-self for an hour or two over unlucky
_billet-doux_, destined to divert the lady and all her confidants for
the next six months. Oh! _evviva_, the Spanish mode--nothing like it, to
my taste, in the world!"
"_Misericordia!_" exclaimed DoA+-a Inez with a laugh, "you are quite
eloquent on the subject, seA+-or. But I should hope, for their sakes, that
your delineation of lovers in England is not a very faithful one."
"To the life, on my honour."
"Probably they do not devote quite as much time to it as our
_caballeros_, who are quite adepts in the science."
"Don Alvar de Mendoce, for example," muttered Alphonse, between his
teeth.
"What! where?" cried the young girl, in an agitated tone; "who mentioned
Don Alvar? Did you? But no--impossible!" she added hurriedly.
"I?" exclaimed Alphonse, with an air of surprise--"I did not speak. But,
_pardon_, seA+-ora! is not the cavalier you have just named, your
brother?"
"No, seA+-or--I have no brother: that _caballero_, he is only a----a
friend of my father's," she answered confusedly.
"Oh! excuse me," said Alphonse, with the most innocent air imaginable;
"I thought you had."
There was a moment's pause, and DoA+-a Inez returned into the saloon,
which was now beginning rapidly to fill.
"I am afraid I must leave you, seA+-ores; the dancing is about to
commence," she said, "and I must go and speak to some young friends of
mine who have just come in. But first let me induce you to select some
partners."
"I did not know it was customary to dance at tertulias," observed
Ernest.
"Not in general, but to-night it is augmented into a little ball, in
honour of its being my _dia de cumpleaA+-os_. But come, look round the
room, and choose for yourselves. Whom shall I take you up to?"
"May I not have the pleasure of dancing with DoA+-a Inez herself?" said De
Lucenay.
"Ah no! I would not inflict so _triste_ a partner on you: I must find
you a more lively companion." And as if to prevent the compliment that
was hovering on Ernest's lips, she hurried on, while she pointed out a
group that was seated near the door. "There! what do you think of DoA+-a
Juana de Zayas? the liveliest, prettiest, and most remorseless coquette
of all Andalusia; for whose bright eyes more hearts and heads have been
broken than I could enumerate, or you would have patience to listen to."
"What! that sparkling-looking brunette, who flutters her _abanico_ with
such inimitable grace?"
"The same."
"Oh! present me by all means."
"And you, seA+-or," said DoA+-a Inez, returning with more interest to
Alphonse, who had stood silently leaning against a column, while she
walked his friend across the room, and seated him beside DoA+-a Juana,
"will you be satisfied with DoA+-a Mercedes, who is almost as much admired
as her sister; or shall we look further?"
"But you, so formed to shine--to eclipse all others--do you never dance,
seA+-orita?"
"Seldom or ever," she replied sadly. "I have no spirit for enjoyment
now!"
"But wherefore? Can there be a cloud to dim the happiness of one so
bright--so beautiful?" he answered, lowering his voice almost to a
whisper.
"Alas!" she said, touched by the tone of interest with which he had
spoken,--"is there not cause enough for sadness in the misfortunes of my
beloved country; each day, each hour producing some fresh calamity? Who
can be gay when we see our native land ravaged, our friends driven from
their homes; when we know not how soon we may be banished from our own?"
"Deeply--sincerely do I sympathise with, and honour your feelings; but
yet, for once, banish care, and let us enjoy the present hour like the
rest."
"Indeed, I should prove a bad _danseuse_; it is so long since I have
danced, that I am afraid I have almost forgotten how."
"But as I fear nothing except ill success, let me entreat."
"No, no--I will provide you with a better partner."
"Nay, if DoA+-a Inez will not favour me, I renounce dancing, not only for
to-night, but for ever."
"Oh! well then, to save you from such a melancholy sacrifice, I suppose
I must consent," replied DoA+-a Inez with a laugh: and as the music now
gave the signal to commence, she accepted his proffered arm; and in a
few moments she was whirling round the circle as swiftly as the gayest
of the throng. The first turn of the waltz sufficed to convince Alphonse
that his fears on one score, at least, were groundless; for he had never
met with a lighter or more admirable _valseuse_--a pleasure that none
but a good waltzer can appreciate, and which, notwithstanding all her
other attractions, was not lost upon the young Frenchman; and before the
termination of the waltz, he had decided that DoA+-a Inez was assuredly
the most fascinating, as she was undoubtedly the most beautiful, being
he had ever beheld.
"_Santa Virgen!_" exclaimed De Lucenay's lively partner, after a
moment's silence, which both had very profitably employed; he, in
admiring her pretty countenance, and she in watching the somewhat
earnest conversation that was kept up between the French officer and
DoA+-a Inez, as they reposed themselves on a divan after the fatigues of
the waltz. "It seems to me that our proud Inesilla and your friend are
very well satisfied with each other. I wonder if Don Alvar would be as
well pleased, if he saw them. _Grandios!_ there he is, I declare!"
Instinctively De Lucenay's eyes followed the direction of hers, and
lighted on a tall striking-looking cavalier, whose handsome features
were contracted into a dark frown, while he stood silently observing the
couple, the pre-occupation of whom had evidently hitherto prevented
their perceiving him. "Do, _per caridad!_ go and tell your friend to be
a little more on his guard, or we shall certainly have a duel: Don Alvar
is the first swordsman in Spain, jealous as a tiger, and he makes it a
rule to cripple, or kill, every rival who attempts to approach DoA+-a
Inez. Your friend is such a good waltzer, that I should really be sorry
to see him disabled, at least till I am tired of dancing with him."
"Your frankness is adorable."
"Why, to be sure,--of what use are you men except as partners? unless,
indeed, you are making love to us; and then, I admit, you are of a
little more value for the time being."
"The portrait is flattering."
"Assuredly; you are only too fortunate in being permitted to worship
us."
"In the present instance, believe me, I fully appreciate the happiness."
"_Bravo, bravissimo!_ I see you were made for me; I hate people who take
as much time to fall in love as if they were blind."
"I always reflect with my eyes."
"Ah! that is the true way; but come," rattled on the merry Juanita, "go
and give your friend a hint, and I will employ the interim in smoothing
the ruffled plumes of an admirer of mine, who has been scowling at me
this last half hour, and whose flame is rather too fresh to put an
extinguisher on just yet."
"A rival!" exclaimed Ernest in a tragic tone; "he or I must cease to
exist."
"Oh! don't be so valiant," cried DoA+-a Juana, leaning back in a violent
fit of laughter. "You would have to extinguish twenty of them at that
rate."
"Twenty is a large number," said Ernest reflectingly.
"Yes, yes--be wise in time," said the pretty coquette, still laughing.
"If you are patient and submissive, you have always the chance of rising
to the first rank, you know. I am not very exacting, and provided a
caballero devotes himself wholly to my service, enlivens me when I am
dull, sympathises with me when I am sad, obeys my commands as
religiously as he would his confessor's, anticipates my every wish, and
bears with every caprice, is never gloomy or jealous, and is, moreover,
unconscious of the existence of any other woman in the world beside, I
am satisfied."
"Is that all? Upon my word your demands are moderate."
"Yes, but as our pious friend DoA+-a Estefania says, perfection is not of
this world, and so I content myself with a little," replied the animated
girl, imitating the look of mock humility, shrouding herself in her
mantilla, and wielding her _abanico_ with the identical air and grace
which had so completely upset the gravity of the supper-table an hour
before. "And then, consider," she continued, as suddenly resuming her
own vivacity, "how much more glorious it will be to out-strip a host of
competitors, than quietly to take possession of a heart which no one
takes the trouble of disputing with you."
"Your logic is positively unanswerable," laughed De Lucenay.
"_Ah, per piedad!_ Spare my ignorance the infliction of such hard words,
and be off."
"But----" murmured the reluctant Ernest.
"Obedience, you know!" and Juanita held up her finger authoritatively.
Never had Ernest executed a lady's behests with a worse grace, nor was
his alacrity increased by perceiving that, ere he had even had time to
cross the room, his place was already occupied, as much apparently to
the satisfaction of his substitute, as to that of the faithless fair one
herself. But Alphonse and his partner had disappeared, and De Lucenay
went towards the balcony, to which he suspected they had retreated; but
there was no one there, and De Lucenay stood for a few moments in the
embrasure of the window, irresolute whether he should seek out his
friend or not, while he amused himself contemplating the animated
_coup-d'A"il_ of the saloon. The dark-eyed Spanish belles, with their
basquinas and lace mantillas, their flexible figures, and their
miniature feet so exquisitely _chaussA(C)es_; the handsome caballeros, with
their dark profiles and black mustaches, their sombre costume,
brilliantly relieved by the gold tissue divans, and varied arabesques of
the glittering saloon, they looked like the noble pictures of Velasquez
or Murillo just stepped out of their frames. As Ernest was re-entering
the saloon, the voices of a group of ladies, from whom he was concealed
by the crimson drapery of the curtains, caught his attention.
"_Ah! Mariguita mia_," said one, "how glad I am to meet you here! _Que
gusto!_ It is a century since I saw you last."
"_Queridita mia_," responded a masculine tone, very little in harmony
with the soft words it uttered; "in these terrible times one dare not
venture a mile beyond the town: As for me, the mere barking of a dog
puts me all in a flutter, and sends me flying to the window. You know
the news, I suppose; DoA+-a Isabel de PeA+-aflor has quarrelled with her
_cortejo_, and he has flown off in a rage to her cousin Blanca."
"_Misericordia que lastima_, they were such a handsome couple! But it
cannot last; they will make it up again, certainly."
"Oh no!" interposed another; "her husband Don Antonio has done all he
could to reconcile them, but in vain--he told me so himself."
"Well, I am sure I don't wonder at it; she is such a shrew there is no
bearing her."
"No matter," resumed the first speaker, "the example is scandalous, and
should not be suffered. Ah! it is all the fault of that artificious
Blanca: I knew she would contrive to get him at last."
"_Aproposito_, what do you think of the two new stars?"
"Oh, charming! delightful!" exclaimed a voice, whose light silvery tone
doubly enhanced the value of its praise to the attentive listener in the
back-ground. "Only I fear they will not profit us much; for if my eyes
deceive me not, both are already captured."
"No doubt, child," said a voice which had not yet spoken; "good looks
and good dancing are quite enough to constitute your standard of
perfection."
"At all events," interrupted another, "they are very unlike Englishmen.
Do you know," she continued, lowering her voice to a whisper, "that Don
Alvar swears they are nothing else than a pair of French spies; and as
he speaks English very well, he means to try them by and by."
The intelligence was pleasant! and Ernest seized the first instant when
he could slip out unobserved, to go in search of his friend. After
looking for him in vain amidst the dancing and chattering crowd, he
wandered into an adjoining gallery, whose dark length was left to the
light of the moon, in whose rays the gloomy portraits that covered the
walls looked almost spectrally solemn. The gallery terminated in a
terrace, which was decorated with colossal marble vases and stunted
orange-trees, whose blossoms embalmed the air with their fragrance. As
Ernest approached, the sound of whispered words caught his ear. He stood
still an instant, hidden by the porphyry columns of the portico.
"Indeed, indeed, I must return; do not detain me; it is not right; I
shall be missed; I cannot listen to you," murmured the low voice of DoA+-a
Inez.
"One moment more. Inez, I love, I adore you! Oh, do not turn from me
thus--the present instant alone is ours; to-morrow, to-night, this hour
perhaps, I may be forced to leave you; give me but hope, one smile, one
word, and I will live upon that hope--live for the future--live for you
alone, beloved one! till we compel fate to reunite us, or die. But you
will not say that word; you care not for me--you love another!" said
Alphonse bitterly. "Would that I had never seen you! you are cold,
heartless! or you could not reject thus a love so ardent, so devoted, as
that I fling at your feet."
"But why this impetuosity--this unreasonable haste? If you love me,
there is time to-morrow, hereafter; but this is madness. I love no
one--I hate Don Alvar; but your love is folly, insanity. Three hours ago
you had never seen me, and now you swear my indifference will kill you.
Oh! seA+-or, seA+-or! I am but a simple girl--I am but just seventeen; yet I
know that were it even true that you love me, a love so sudden in its
birth must perish as rapidly."
"It is not true! you know--you feel that it is not true--you do not
think what you say! There is a love which, like the lightning, scorches
the tree which it strikes, and blasts it for ever; but you reason--you
do not love--fool that I am!"
"Oh! let me go--do not clasp my hand so--you are cruel!" and Inez burst
into tears.
"Forgive me--oh, forgive me, best beloved! _luz de mi alma!_"
A sound of approaching footsteps on the marble below startled them, and
Inez darted away like a frightened fawn, and flew down the gallery.
"Well, stoical philosopher!" exclaimed Ernest, as his friend emerged
from behind the orange-trees; "for so indifferent and frozen a
personage, I think you get on pretty fast. _Ca ira!_ I begin to have
hopes of you. So you have lost that frozen heart of yours at last, and
after such boasting, too! But that is always the way with you
braggadocios. I thought it would end so, you were so wondrously
valiant."
"But who ever dreamed of seeing any thing so superhumanly beautiful as
that young girl? Nothing terrestrial could have conquered me; but my
stoicism was defenceless against an angel."
"Bravo! your pride has extricated itself from the dilemma admirably. I
must admit that there is some excuse for you; the pearl of Andalusia is
undoubtedly _ravissante_. But your pieces of still life never suit me. I
have the bad taste to prefer the laughing black-eyed Juanita de Zayas to
all the Oriental languor, drooping lashes, and sentimental monosyllables
of your divinity."
"Oh, sacrilege! the very comparison is profanation!" exclaimed Alphonse,
raising his hands and eyes to heaven.
"Hold hard, _mon cher_. I cannot stand that!" responded Ernest
energetically.
"Then, in heaven's name, do not put such a noble creature as DoA+-a Inez
on a level with a mere little trifling coquette."
"Oh! she is every inch as bad. I watched her narrowly, and would stake
my life on it she is only the more dangerous for being the less open.
Smooth water, you know----however, you have made a tolerable day's work
of it."
"Either the best or the worst of my life, Ernest!" said his friend
passionately.
"What! is it come to that?--so hot upon it! But while we are standing
trifling here, we ought to be discussing something much more important."
And here De Lucenay repeated the conversation he had overheard. "In
short, I fear we are fairly done for," he added, in conclusion. "I hope
you are able to bear the brunt of the battle, for my vocabulary will
scarcely carry me through ten words."