more than four hundred crowns. Ricardo was more generous. Heaven forgive
her who was the cause of his death, and that was myself; for I am the
unhappy maiden whom he wept as dead, and God knows how I should rejoice
were he alive, that I might repay him by letting him see how I felt for
his misfortunes. Yes, señor, I am the little loved of Cornello, the
truly wept of Ricardo, whom various chances have brought to the
miserable state in which I now am; but through all my perils, by the
favour of Heaven, I have preserved my honour unsullied, and that
consoles me in my misery. I know not at this moment where I am, nor who
is my master, nor what my adverse fates have determined is to become of
me. I entreat you, therefore, señor, by the Christian blood that flows
in your veins, that you will advise me in my difficulties; for though
they have already taught me something by experience, yet they are so
great and never-ending, that I know not what to do."
Mahmoud assured her he would do what he could to help her to the best of
his understanding and his power. He acquainted her with the nature of
the dispute there had been between the pashas concerning her, and how
she was now in the keeping of his master the cadi, who was to send her
to Constantinople to the Grand Turk Selim; but that he trusted that the
true God, in whom he, though a bad Christian, believed, would dispose of
her otherwise. He advised her to conciliate Halima, the wife of his
master the cadi, with whom she was to remain until she was sent to
Constantinople, and of whose character he gave her some details. Having
given her this and other useful counsel, he arrived at the cadi's house,
and delivered her over to Halima along with his master's message.
The Moorish woman received her well, seeing her so beautiful and so
handsomely dressed, and Mahmoud returned to the tents, where he
recounted to Ricardo, point by point, all that had passed between
himself and Leonisa; and the tears came into his eyes when he spoke of
the feeling displayed by Leonisa, when he told her that Ricardo was
dead. He stated how he had invented the story of Cornelio's captivity,
in order to see what impression it made on her; and in what disparaging
terms he had spoken of him. All this was balm to Ricardo's afflicted
heart.
"I remember, friend Mahmoud," he said, "an anecdote related to me by my
father; you know how ingenious he was, and you have heard how highly he
was honoured by the emperor, Charles V., whom he always served in
honourable posts in peace and war. He told me that when the emperor was
besieging Tunis, a Moorish woman was brought to him one day in his tent,
as a marvel of beauty, and that some rays of the sun, entering the tent,
fell upon her hair, which vied with them in its golden lustre; a rare
thing among the Moorish women, whoso hair is almost universally black.
Among many other Spanish gentlemen present on that occasion, there were
two of distinguished talent as poets, the one an Andalusian, the other a
Catalan. Struck with admiration at the sight before him, the Andalusian
began to extemporise some verses, but stopped short in the middle of the
last line, unable to finish them for want of a rhyme; whereupon the
Catalan, who saw his embarrassment, caught the line as it were out of
his mouth, finished it, continued the thought, and completed the poem.
This incident came into my mind when I saw the exquisitely beautiful
Leonisa enter the pasha's tent obscuring not only the rays of the sun,
but the whole firmament with all its stars."
"Gently, gently, friend Ricardo," said Mahmoud; "I am afraid if you
praise your mistress at that rate you will seem to be a heathen rather
than a Christian."
"Well, tell me then," said Ricardo, "what you think of doing in our
business. Whilst you were conducting Leonisa to Halima, a Venetian
renegade who was in the pasha's tent, and who understands Turkish very
well, explained to me all that had passed between them. Above all
things, then, we must try to find some means of preventing Leonisa's
being sent to the Grand Signor."
"The first thing to be done is to have you transferred to my master,"
said Mahmoud, "and then we will consider what next."
The keeper of Hassan's Christian slaves now came up and took Ricardo
away with him. The cadi returned to the city with Hassan, who in a few
days made out the report on Ali's administration, and gave it to him
under seal that he might depart to Constantinople. Ali went away at
once, laying strict injunctions on the cadi to send the captive without
delay to the sultan, along with such a letter as would be serviceable to
himself. The cadi promised all this with a treacherous heart, for it was
inflamed for the fair Christian. Ali went away full of false hopes,
leaving Hassan equally deluded by them. Mahmoud contrived that Ricardo
should pass into the possession of his master; but day after day stole
on, and Ricardo was so racked with longing to see Leonisa, that he could
have no rest. He changed his name to Mario, that his own might not reach
her ears before he saw her, which, indeed, was a very difficult thing,
because the Moors are exceedingly jealous, and conceal the faces of
their women from the eyes of all men; it is true they are not so
scrupulous with regard to Christian slaves, perhaps, because being
slaves they do not regard them as men.
Now it chanced that one day the lady Halima saw her slave Mario, and
gazed so much upon him that his image regained printed on her heart. Not
very well satisfied with the languid embraces of her old husband, she
readily gave admission to a reprehensible desire, and as readily
communicated it to Leonisa, whom she liked much for her agreeable
temper, and treated with great respect as a slave of the Grand Signor.
She told her how the cadi had brought home a Christian captive of such
graceful manners and appearance, that she had never set eyes on a more
engaging man in all her life; she understood that he was a chilidi (that
is, a gentleman) of the same country as her renegade Mahmoud, and she
knew not how to make known to him her inclination, so that the Christian
might not despise her for her voluntary declaration. Leonisa asked what
was the captive's name, and being told that it was Mario, she replied,
"If he was a gentleman, and of the place they say, I should know him;
but there is no one of that name in Trapani. But let me see him, and
speak with him, lady, and I will tell you who he is, and what may be
expected of him."
"It shall be so," said Halima. "On Friday, when the cadi is at prayers
in the mosque, I will make Mario come in here where you may speak to him
alone, and if you can give him a hint of my desires you will do so in
the best way you can."
Not two hours after this conversation the cadi sent for Mahmoud and
Mario, and with no less earnestness than Halima had unbosomed herself to
Leonisa, the amorous graybeard opened his own to his two slaves, asking
their advice as to what he should do to enjoy the Christian and cheat
the Grand Signor, to whom she belonged, for he would sooner die a
thousand deaths, than give her up to him. So earnestly did the reverend
Turk declare his passion that he inspired his two slaves with no less
earnestness, though their purposes were quite the reverse of his. It was
settled between them that Mario, as a countryman of the fair
Christian's, should take it in hand to solicit her on the cadi's part;
and that if that failed, the latter should use force, since she was in
his power, and afterwards account for not sending her to Constantinople
by pretending that she was dead. The cadi was highly delighted with the
advice of his two slaves, and with all imaginable alacrity he gave
Mahmoud his freedom on the spot, and promised to bequeath him half his
property when he died. To Mario likewise he promised, in case of success
his liberty and money enough to enable him to return home a wealthy man.
If he was liberal in promises, his slaves were prodigal; they would
bring down the moon to him from Heaven, much more Leonisa, if only he
gave them an opportunity of speaking with her. "Mario shall have one
whenever he pleases," said the cadi, "for I will make Halima go for some
days to the house of her parents, who are Greek Christians, and when she
is away I will order the porter to admit Mario into the house as often
as he pleases, and I will tell Leonisa that she may converse with her
countryman whenever she has a mind." Thus did the wind begin to shift in
Ricardo's favour, his master and mistress working for him without
knowing it; and the first who began was Halima, as was to be expected of
her, for it is the nature of women ever to be prompt and bold where
their pleasures are concerned.
That same day the cadi told Halima that she might pay a visit to her
parents, and stay with them some time if she liked; but elated as she
was with the false hopes given her by Leonisa, she was so far from
wishing to visit her parents, that she would not have cared to go to the
imaginary paradise of Mahomet. She replied then that she had no such
wish at that moment; when she had she would mention it, and then she
would take the Christian maiden with her. "That you must not," replied
the cadi, "for it is not right that the Grand Signor's slave should be
seen by any one, much less should she converse with Christians; for you
know that when she comes into the Sultan's possession she will be shut
up in the seraglio, and must become a Turk whether she will or not."
"As she will be in my company," said Halima, "there will be no harm in
her being in the house of my parents, or conversing with them. I do so
myself, and I am not less a good Turk for all that. Besides, I do not
intend to remain with them more than four or five days at most, for my
love for you will not allow me to be so long without seeing you." Here
the conversation dropped, the cadi not venturing to make any further
objection, for fear of rousing her suspicions.
Friday being come, he went to the mosque, from which he was sure not to
return for about four hours. He was no sooner gone than Halima sent for
Mario; but a Corsican slave who acted as porter, would not have admitted
him into the court-yard if Halima had not called out to let him pass,
whereupon he came in confused and trembling as if he were going to
encounter a host of enemies. Leonisa was seated at the foot of a great
marble staircase, in the dress in which she had appeared before the
pashas. Her right arm resting on her knee supported her head, and her
back was towards the door by which Mario entered, so that though he
advanced to where she sat, she did not see him.
Ricardo cast his eyes all round the place when he entered; all was
silence and solitude till he turned his gaze to where Leonisa sat.
Instantly he was seized with a thousand conflicting emotions. He was
within twenty paces of the object of his soul's desire; but he was a
captive, and the glory of his life was in the power of another. Thus
agitated with fear and exultation, joy and sadness, he advanced towards
her slowly, until Leonisa suddenly turned round and her eyes met his
earnest gaze. He stopped, unable to move another step. Leonisa, who
believed him to be dead, was struck with awe and consternation at seeing
him so unexpectedly before her. With her eyes still fixed upon him and
without turning her back, she retreated up four or five stairs, took a
little cross from her breast, kissed it again and again, and crossed
herself repeatedly, as though a being from the other world stood before
her. Ricardo presently recovered himself, and perceiving from Leonisa's
gestures what was the cause of her terror, he said, "It grieves me,
beautiful Leonisa, that the news which Mahmoud gave you of my death was
not true, so that I might be free from the fear I now feel lest the
rigour you have also shown towards me still subsists entire. Set your
mind at ease, lady, and come down; and if you will do what you have
never yet done--approach me--you will see that I am not a phantom. I am
Ricardo, Leonisa,--Ricardo the happy, if you will bid him be so."
Here Leonisa put her finger to her lips, giving Ricardo to understand
that he should be silent or speak more low. Gathering a little courage,
he drew near enough to hear her whisper thus: "Speak softly, Mario (for
so I hear you are now called): talk of nothing but what I talk of, and
bear in mind that if we are overheard it will be the cause of our never
meeting again. I believe that Halima, our mistress, is listening to us:
she has told me that she adores you, and has sent me here as her
intercessor. If you will respond to her desires, you will consult the
interest of your body more than of your soul; and if you will not, you
must feign to do so, were it only because I request it, and for sake of
what is due to the declared desires of a woman."
"Never did I think, never could I imagine, beauteous Leonisa," replied
Ricardo, "that you could ever ask anything of me with which I should
find it impossible to comply; but this present request of yours has
undeceived me. Is the inclination so slight a thing that it can be moved
this way or that at pleasure? Or would it become a man of truth and
honour to feign in matters of such weight? If you think that such things
can or ought to be done, be it as you will, since it is for you to
command and for me to obey; and that it may not be said I failed to do
so with regard to the first order you laid upon me, I will impose
silence on the voice of my honour, and will pretend to return Halima's
passion, as you desire, if I may thereby secure the blessing of seeing
you; and you have only to signify as much to her in such terms as you
shall think proper. In return for this sacrifice, to me the greatest
possible, I entreat you to tell me briefly how you escaped from the
hands of the corsairs, and fell into those of the Jew who sold you."
"The recital of my misfortunes," Leonisa answered, "demands more time
than we have now at our disposal; nevertheless, I will tell you some
particulars. The day after we parted company, Yusuf's galley was driven
back by a contrary wind to the island of Pantanalea, where we also saw
your galley, but ours, in spite of all efforts, was driven upon the
rocks. My master, seeing death so near, quickly emptied two water-casks,
closed them tightly, lashed them together with ropes, and placed me
between them. Then stripping off his clothes he took another cask in his
arms, and passing round his body a rope attached to the casks on which I
was placed, he boldly plunged into the sea. I had not the courage to
follow his example, but another Turk pushed me in. I fell senseless into
the water, and did not recover until I found myself on land, in the arms
of two Turks, who held me with my mouth downwards, discharging a great
quantity of water which I had swallowed. I opened my eyes, and looking
wildly round me, the first thing I saw was Yusuf lying beside me with
his skull shattered, having, as I afterwards learned, been dashed head
foremost against the rocks.
"The Turks told me that they had hawled me ashore by the rope, more dead
than alive. Only eight persons escaped out of the unfortunate galley. We
remained eight days on the island, during which the Turks treated me
with as much respect as if I were their sister. We lay hid in a cave,
the Turks being afraid of being captured by some of the Christian
garrison of a fort in the island, and we supported ourselves with
biscuits from the foundered galley which the waves cast ashore, and
which the men collected by night. It happened for my misfortune that the
commandant of the fort had died a few days before, and that there were
in it only twenty soldiers; this fact we learned from a boy whom the
Turks captured as he was amusing himself gathering shells on the shore.
At the end of eight days a Moorish vessel, of the kind which the Turks
call _caramuzal_, hove in sight; the Turks quitted their hiding-place,
and made signals which were recognised by the crew of the caramuzal.
They landed, and hearing from their countrymen an account of their
disasters, they took us all on board, where there was a very rich Jew,
to whom the whole cargo, or the greater part of it, belonged, consisting
of carpets, stuffs, and other wares, which are commonly exported by the
Jews from Barbary to the Levant. The vessel carried us to Tripoli, and
during the voyage I was sold to the Jew, who gave two thousand
doubloons, an excessive price; but the Jew was made liberal by the love
he conceived for me.
"After leaving the Turks in Tripoli, the vessel continued its voyage,
and the Jew began to importune me with his solicitations, which I
treated with the scorn they deserved. Despairing, therefore, of success,
he resolved to get rid of me upon the first opportunity; and knowing
that the two pashas, Ali and Hassan, were in this island, where he could
sell his goods as well as in Scio, whither he had been bound, he landed
here in hopes of disposing of me to one of the two pashas, with which
view he had me dressed as you now see me. I find that I have been
purchased by the cadi, for the purpose of being presented to the Grand
Turk, which causes me no little dread. Here I heard of your pretended
death, which, if you will believe me, grieved me to the soul; yet I
envied rather than pitied you, not from ill will towards you, for, if
insensible to love, I am yet neither unfeeling nor ungrateful, but
because I believed that your sorrows were all at an end."
"You would be right, lady," said Ricardo, "were it not that death would
have robbed me of the bliss of seeing you again. The felicity of this
moment is more to me than any blessing that life or death could bring
me, that of eternity alone excepted. My master, the cadi, into whose
hands I have fallen by as strange a series of adventures as your own, is
just in the same disposition towards you as Halima is towards me, and
has deputed me to be the interpreter of his feelings. I accepted the
office, not with the intention of serving his wishes, but my own in
obtaining opportunities to speak with you. Only see, Leonisa, to what a
pass our misfortunes have brought us; you to ask from me what you know
to be impossible; and me to propose to you what I would give my life not
to obtain, dear as that life is to me now, since I have the happiness to
behold you."
"I know not what to say to you, Ricardo," replied Leonisa, "nor what
issue we can find from the labyrinth in which we are involved. I can
only say that we must practise, what would not be expected from us,
dissimulation and deceit. I will repeat to Halima some phrases on your
part which will rather encourage than make her despair; and you may tell
the cadi whatever you think may serve, with safety to my honour, to keep
him in his delusion. And since I place my honour in your hands, you may
be assured that I have preserved it intact, in spite of all the perils
and trials I have undergone. Opportunity to converse together will be
easily afforded us, and to me this will be most pleasing, provided you
never address me on the subject of your suit; from the moment you do so,
I shall cease to see you; for I would not have you suppose that my
spirit is so weak as to be swayed by captivity. With the favour of
heaven, I hope to prove like gold which becomes the purer the more it is
passed through the furnace. Be content with the assurance I have given
you, that I shall no longer look upon you with repugnance, as I used to
do; for I must tell you, Ricardo, that I always found you somewhat more
arrogant and presumptuous than became you. I confess, also, that I was
deceived, and that my eyes being now opened, if the experiment were to
be made over again, perhaps I should be more humane to you, within the
bounds of honour. Go now, and God be with you; for I am afraid lest
Halima may have been listening to us, and she understands something of
our language."
"I fully acknowledge the propriety of all you have said, lady," replied
Ricardo. "I am infinitely obliged for the explanation you have given me,
and perhaps time will show you how profoundly respectful is the
adoration I profess for you. Rely upon me that I will deal in the best
manner with the cadi, and do you do the same with Halima. Believe me,
lady, since I have seen you, there has sprung up in my heart an assured
hope that we shall soon achieve our freedom; and so I commend you to
God's keeping, deferring to another time to tell you the events by which
fortune brought me to this place, after we were parted."
They now separated, Leonisa well pleased with Ricardo's modest
behaviour, and he overjoyed at having heard from her lips words unmixed
with harshness. Halima, meanwhile, had shut herself up in her room, and
was praying to Mahomet for Leonisa's success in the commission she had
given her. The cadi was in the mosque, burning, like his wife, with
desire, and anxiously awaiting the answer to be brought him by the slave
he had sent to speak to Leonisa, and whom Mahmoud was to admit to her
presence for that purpose, even though Halima was at home. Leonisa
inflamed Halima's impure desires, giving her very good hopes that Mario
would do all she wished, but telling her that two months must elapse
before he could consent to what he longed for even more than herself;
and that he asked that delay that he might complete a course of devotion
for the recovery of his freedom. Halima was satisfied with this excuse,
but begged Leonisa to tell her dear Mario to spare himself the trouble
and her the delay he proposed, for she would give him, at once, whatever
the cadi required for his ransom.
Before Ricardo went with his answer to his master, he consulted Mahmoud
as to what it should be. They agreed between them that it should be as
discouraging as possible, and that he should advise the cadi to take
the girl as soon as possible to Constantinople, and accomplish his
wishes on the way by fair means or by force. Moreover, that in order to
prevent the unpleasant consequences that might ensue from supplanting
the sultan, it would be well to purchase another slave, then pretend, or
contrive on the voyage, that Leonisa should fall sick, and throw the
newly-purchased Christian woman into the sea by night, with all possible
secrecy, giving out that the person who had died was Leonisa, the
sultan's slave. All this might be done in such a manner that the truth
should never be known, and the cadi would remain blameless in the
sultan's eyes, and have the full enjoyment of his desires. The wretched
old cadi, who was so blinded by his passion that he would have listened
to any absurdity they proposed, eagerly fell in with this scheme as one
full of promise; and so indeed it was, but not as he imagined; for the
intention of his two advisers was to make off with the boat, and pitch
the old fool into the sea.
But a difficulty occurred to the cadi, one of the greatest in his eyes
that could possibly be. It occurred to him that his wife would not let
him go to Constantinople without her; but presently he got over this
obstacle by saying, that instead of buying a Christian woman to put to
death in Leonisa's name, he would make Halima serve his turn, for he
longed with all his heart to be rid of her. Mahmoud and Ricardo agreed
to this expedient as readily as he proposed it, and this being finally
settled, the cadi that same day imparted to his wife his design of
setting out at once for Constantinople, to present the Christian captive
to the Sultan, who, he expected would, in his munificence, make him
grand cadi of Cairo or Constantinople. Halima, with great alacrity,
expressed her approval of his intention, believing that Mario would be
left at home; but when the cadi told her that he would take both him and
Mahmoud along with him, she changed her mind, and began to dissuade him
from what she had before advised; and finally, she told him that unless
she went with him she would not allow him to go at all. The cadi had
great satisfaction in complying with her desire, for he thought he would
soon get rid of a burden that hung like a millstone round his neck.