THE JEWESS.
The conference between the queen and Procida was not limited to one
audience. Day after day he sought her presence, under various
pretexts--some unimportant business, some message from Alphonso--and each
time he lingered as if anxious to prolong the interview; till at length
his strange manner convinced Eleanora that something more momentous than
philosophical researches detained him in Castile.
When the mind is agitated upon any particular subject, fancy connects
every mysterious appearance with the prevailing thought; and the lovely
queen became impressed with the idea that some impending danger threatened
her royal brother.
She therefore strove to win the confidence of Procida, and encouraged him
to confide his secret to her keeping.
"Is there aught," said she, "of interest to thyself or others in which I
can aid thee?" finding that his anxiety and hesitation seemed rather to
increase than diminish.
"Most gracious sovereign," returned Procida, apologetically, "the despised
outcasts of Israel have little hope to enlist the sympathies of Christians
in their behalf."
"Nay," replied the queen, "thou forgettest that our gospel saith, God hath
made of one blood all the nations of the earth."
"And if _I_ have forgotten it," said Procida bitterly, "it is because the
practice of the church agreeth not with the precept."
"It is true," returned Eleanora, with a sigh, "that our lives exhibit
too little the holy influence of the faith we profess: but tell me, how
can the wife of Edward serve the alchemist?"
"Noble queen," said Procida, speaking earnestly and with great agitation,
"thou knowest not the peril in which thy generosity may involve thee."
"Speak, and fear not," reiterated she, "Eleanora fears no evil in the
practice of kindness."
Fixing his keen eyes upon her face, as if to detect every emotion which
his words might awaken, the Jew replied bitterly, "Procida for his
attachment to the noble house of Swabia, is proscribed and hunted from
Sicily, his daughter, a Jewess, can scarce claim the protection of law;
and concealed as she is in the suburbs of Burgos, her beauty has already
attracted the curiosity of those from whom her father cannot defend her.
Did I dare claim so great a boon I would beg a place for her among thy
maidens."
Eleanora paused. The prejudice against the Jews was so intense as to
affect even her upright mind; and the scandal it might bring upon the
royal household to enroll an unbeliever among its inmates, startled her
apprehensions: but the father stood before her with the air of one who had
intrusted his last treasure to her keeping, and she could not find it in
her heart to crush his confidence in her generosity.
"Bring thy daughter hither," added she, thoughtfully, "with me she shall
be safe."
"The blessing of him that is ready to perish, rest upon thee," said the
scholar, fervently, as he left her presence.
When the Queen of England next visited the apartments of her brother, she
was accompanied by a young girl of such surpassing loveliness as to
attract the attention of the philosopher himself. Her features were of
that perfect form generally described as Grecian, while her dark hair and
soft black eyes, suggested the idea of a brunette; but the fairness of her
complexion and the brilliant color of her cheek, that varied with every
emotion, gave a character of exquisite delicacy and sensibility to her
countenance.
"Does thy realm of England abound in such comely damsels?" inquired
Alphonso, while Agnes blushed at the king's encomium.
"England may rival Spain in the beauty of her daughters," answered
Eleanora, evasively. "My gentle Agnes is curious like her mistress to
learn the wonders of thy art: hence do we crave thine indulgence to pass
some weary hours of my lord's absence among thy folios."
"Thou art ever welcome," returned Alphonso, benignantly, "and this young
disciple shall receive the benefit of serving so good a mistress."
"I have pondered much," said the queen, who had been for some time
attentively regarding the care-worn lineaments of his face, "upon thy
theory of the planets. The globe moved around the lamp because thou didst
bear it in thine hand. By what power is our Earth carried around the Sun?"
"There is some invisible influence which retains it with its sister-orbs
in the eternal round, but the subtle essence has thus far eluded my
investigations," replied Alphonso.
"Thou believest then, my brother," said Eleanora, in her gentlest tone,
"in a power whose existence thou canst not demonstrate by thy 'Tables' or
diograms?"
"Verily, such a power is a matter of _necessity_," returned the monarch.
"And thy unlearned sister," replied the queen, hesitating, "finds the same
_necessity_ to believe in a God, whose existence she can demonstrate only
by the contemplation of his glorious works."
"It is well for the ignorant to repose in this idea," replied Alphonso,
"and it may perchance restrain the wicked from his misdeeds, to believe
that an ever-present Intelligence regards his actions."
"And it may comfort the sorrowing," said Eleanora, "to feel that this
Infinite Power can satisfy the needs of the human soul."
"Hast thou brought the metal I gave thee?" said Alphonso, abruptly
changing the conversation.
"I have it in my gypsire," said she, unclasping the bag and unfolding the
paper--"Lo! my brother, what a transformation is here," exclaimed the
queen, in amazement. "Thy silver has again become ashes."
"Grieve not," said the alchemist, with an air of superior wisdom, "Science
will achieve new wonders with these dull atoms."
He now placed the powder in the crucible as before, and taking from a
shelf what seemed a fragment of rock, pulverized it to a like powder, and
mingled both in the crucible, which he placed upon the brazier and
subjected it to a most intense heat.
"What dost thou now observe?" said the alchemist.
"A melted glowing mass of a ruby color," said Eleanora, with great
interest.
Taking a small rod in his hand he lifted the adhering particles, and drew
them into thin, fine hair, like threads of a shining whiteness, which he
presented to Agnes, saying, with a smile, "I will bestow these frail
crystals upon thee, fair one; perchance thou mayst preserve them in memory
of the mad philosopher."
Every day the Queen of England became more interested in the society of
her lovely ward, whose sprightliness was tempered by a sweetness, and a
delicate discrimination, that never gave offence. It was gratifying to
observe, in a fancy cultivated by the poetic legends of the South, and
stored with the splendid fictions of Arabian romance, an ardent love of
_truth_, and a strict adherence to its dictates; and Eleanora saw with
pleasure that her most playful and entertaining sallies, though sometimes
pointed at the peculiarities of those around her, never betrayed
ill-humor, nor degenerated into sarcasm. Her beauty and gayety forcibly
recalled the image of Eva; but the reliance which the obedient Jewess
inspired, was in strong contrast to the anxiety ever awakened by the
lovely, but volatile daughter of Clare.
The charming Agnes not only amused the queen with her vivacity, but
afforded her a sense of repose, by her amiable observance of every
admonition, and her evident desire to regard the wishes no less than the
positive commands of her royal benefactress, and especially did she win
the love of the mother by her graceful attentions to the infant Princess
Beatrice.
While Agnes was actuated by the most dutiful affection to her father, she
seemed by a happy trustfulness to escape participation in that gloom and
care which daily deepened upon the clouded brow of the Sicilian.
Desirous to relieve what she deemed his apprehensions for the future
welfare of his daughter, the queen took occasion, upon one of his visits,
to assure him of her increasing attachment to her lovely charge.
"Thy generous interest in the despised exile softens my bitter fate," said
he, "but could the unhappy Procida enlist the influence of England's
gracious sovereign in the great project that preys upon his being, he
would feel that he had not lived in vain."
"My lord the king is ever ready to assist the unfortunate," said Eleanora,
encouragingly, "and is free from those prejudices which embarrass weaker
minds. If thou deemest it proper to reveal thy secret, his queen will
herself endeavor to redress thy wrongs."
"Procida seeks not the redress of a personal affront, nor restoration to
his island home; my project is," said the Sicilian, drawing near the
queen, and speaking in a low tone of terrible emphasis, "_revenge!_--death
to the infamous Charles d'Anjou!"
The startled Eleanora essayed no reply, but gazed in mute terror at the
dark and malignant face of the conspirator.
"Yes," continued he, his tall figure dilating with long repressed and
cherished passion, "I will rouse all Europe with the wrongs of the noble
house of Suabia."
"I know," said the queen, the words faintly struggling through her white
lips, "the woes inflicted upon our cousins of Suabia by the relentless
fury of the Guelphs, but I dare not assume the office of their judge. It
is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay it, saith the Lord.'"
"Aye, verily," replied the Jew, fiercely, "but how does the Lord repay
vengeance? Is it not by the hand of man he brings retribution upon the
guilty? Did he not commission the sword to cut off the Canaanites, the
Midianites, the Assyrians, and those who vexed his people in every age?
Who can say he hath not inspired the heart, and nerved the arm of the
proscribed and outcast Jew to execute his wrath upon the proud tyrant of
Sicily?"
"_Thou_," inquired the queen. "By what title claimest _thou_ allegiance to
that fallen house?"
"I know," said Procida, stung by her remark, "full well I know, that your
Holy Church denies to the son of Abraham all the tender ties that bind the
lord to his vassal, or the vassal to his lord. He may have neither house
nor land, he may not dwell in Jerusalem the city of his fathers, or be
buried in consecrated ground. His possessions become the spoil of the
tyrant, his innocent offspring the victims of brutal passion; and yet your
priests say,--Be meek--Be patient--Obey the precepts of that gospel which
we trample under foot."
He paused, struck by the compassionate gaze of Eleanora, who, for the
first time, comprehended the hopeless misery of the hapless race.
"Thy pardon, noble queen," said Procida, softened by her tender pity.
"Were there more like thee, 'twere easier for the Jew to embrace the faith
of the Nazarene. Thou didst inquire by what tie I followed the changing
fortunes of Hohenstaufen." In a gentler tone he continued--
"The Jew loves gold. Loves he aught else? Yea, to the death his friend.
The Emperor Frederic was free from the chains of superstition. Christian,
Saracen, or Jew, found equal favor in his eye, and learning and genius not
less than military prowess were rewarded with titles and lands.
"Know me, then, royal lady, miserable and destitute as I appear, as
favorite physician of the emperor, created by him Count de Procida, lord
of the fairest island in the Bay of Naples."