And I, having no aim before me, cheerfully undertook the commission;
and springing on shore, went straight to the royal palace, where I
found myself in presence of Cæsar's majesty, into whose august hands
I delivered the folded paper.
This having opened, he read aloud these words:--"Illustrious Lord! most
powerful King of Ireland, the bearer of this letter is a physician
of great renown; the sickness of thy daughter, which none can cure,
shall flee away at the very sight of him."
Then I was troubled, and would have explained to the King how I was no
physician, and the way in which the lot had fallen upon me to bring
the letter, which might equally have fallen on the most ignorant
sea-boy aboard; and in truth I knew no more of medicaments than the
lowest sea-boy of them all.
But the King was overjoyed at the prospect of the healing of his
daughter, and would listen to no explanations. And in proportion as
he manifested his joy, my dismay increased, for I feared his anger
when the undeception came.
Meantime, at his command, I was ushered into a vast hall, where were
assembled a thousand lords. But, gentle reader, you will well believe
me, it was not upon one of them I looked, for at first entering my
eye lighted upon a casket covered with emeralds and brilliants which
I had given to my beloved bride on the day of our espousals.
I threw myself upon it, crying, "Beautiful Isabela! Ah! where art
thou? Where art thou mourning over my grief, as I mourn over thine?"
She, who lay sunk down in the depths of her white couch, at hearing
these words darted up from it, and flinging her arms round me,
embraced me.
I knew her as our lips met; and full of a thousand joys, we sat
talking over the past, forgetful of all present.
And first, I asked what had become of the wicked captain.
"Oh, he!" she said, "when I told my father what he had done, he sent
and had him put to death.
"And now," she continued, "did I not tell you that time would reveal
to you all about my history? For now that you have seen who and where
I am, there is little left to tell. While I was yet little more than
a child, my father would have married me against my inclination to
a prince of Scotland; and I, knowing his intention, went out from
the palace in the night, disguised, upon a swift mare, and when I had
ridden a long way, I came to the sea-coast. I found a ship into which,
thoughtless child, I sought refuge, only caring to get away from the
prince of Scotland.
"But they were corsairs who manned the vessel; and they carried me
off with them to Tunis, where you found me, and set me free from that
terrible suffering."
While we were talking, the king came up; and as I was yet musing on
the marvellous direction of Providence, by which the lot had fallen
on me, rather than another, to come on the embassage to the palace,
without which I had been like never again to have met my bride, it
fell into my mind that I had yet the letter to give to his Majesty,
which having reached to him, he read thus aloud:--
"That I rest in holy ground, my soul at peace, is due to thee;
therefore, when the perfidious captain threw thee into the deep sea,
I was there; I provided the plank which carried thee to shore; I
was the hermit that received and nourished thee; I was captain of
the ship that brought thee to Ireland. And now live long with thy
good spouse, and rest after many misfortunes, even as I rest in the
eternal habitations."
Then I knew that it was the soul of him I buried at Tunis that had
thus befriended me.
Not very long after this the king died, and all the people acclaimed
me as their sovereign, where I have been reigning ever since, full
of happiness and glory.