FREDERIC THE BITTEN.
The slight illness that followed the accident which had so nearly proved
fatal to the young Jewess, was attended by no dangerous symptoms, and the
maidens amused her convalescence with conjectures concerning her
mysterious deliverer. Their pleasantries acquired new zest, when they
discovered that a rosy blush, no less than an evasive reply, answered
their reiterated prediction that the stranger would one day return, no
longer a simple knight, but a noble lord, or powerful prince, and claim
the fair hand on which he imprinted his parting kiss. Thus the weeks wore
away, and the affair at length ceased to be the engrossing topic of
conversation: the inhabitants of the palace resumed their accustomed
employments, and indulged in their usual rambles.
Eleanora received frequent despatches of the most satisfactory character
from her husband. The Christian arms had been everywhere successful
against the Moors, and the King of Arragon had added to his former
conquests, Majorca and Valencia, together with numerous castles and
churches taken from the Infidels. Edward proposed to return by sea to
Bordeaux, where he appointed his queen to meet him within the following
month.
But the tidings she received from Procida, through an ambassador that
craved a private audience, created a more agitating interest than even the
affairs of their own realm could awaken. At sight of the stranger, she
recognized the saviour of Agnes, and her first impulse was to thank him
for his generous exertions in behalf of her fair ward. But the grave
formality of his manner checked the graceful condescension. He seemed but
the bearer of a letter, and received her greeting merely as the messenger
of Procida, and presuming upon his avowed character, she proceeded to
peruse the despatch in his presence.
The epistle from the Jew commenced abruptly without date. It acquainted
the queen with the rank and title of the bearer, "Frederic the Bitten,"
Duke of Saxony, grandson of the illustrious Emperor of Germany, and
commended him to her courtesy as the suitor of the young Agnes. Procida
alluded darkly to negotiations and plots, which he trusted would
accomplish the deliverance of his country, but towards the close of the
epistle, the _father_ triumphed over the _conspirator_, and the
expressions of paternal love subdued the tone of vengeance to the accents
of tenderness and apprehension.
"I was anxious my royal friend," said he, "now that rugged winter has been
smoothed by a softer breath, I was anxious to write and to address thee
some grateful strain, as the first-fruits of the spring. But the mournful
news presages to me new storms; my songs sink into tears. In vain do the
heavens smile; in vain do the gardens and groves inspire me with
unseasonable joy, and the returning concert of the birds tempt me to
resume my own. I cannot behold with dry eyes the approaching desolation of
my kind nurse Sicily. Which shall I choose for her, the yoke, or honor? I
see that in the confusion of insurrection numbers of her innocent children
must perish. Shall I then leave her under the power of the tyrant? Shall
our beautiful Palermo be defiled by strangers? Shall the powerful and
noble Messina rest in quiet with the foot of her oppressor on her neck; or
shall I, while feigning peace, organize a war, rousing Sicily and the
world to revenge? Revenge! at the word all thoughts of pity and tenderness
leave me. The concentrated rage of Etna seems warring in my bosom; it
heaves at sight of the miseries of my unhappy people. The island is full
of preparations against the Greeks: but, when the sword is drawn, shall it
not be buried in the breast of him who drains the life blood from his
helpless subjects?
"But in that hour Procida may perish, and the King of Arragon fail to
restore the sister of Manfred to her ancient rights. There will then
remain of the house of Suabia only 'Frederic the Bitten.' If the daughter
of Procida favor his suit, detain him till the '_Ides of March_' be
passed, for with Frederic, dies the last hope of the Hohenstaufen."
Eleanora closed the letter and pondered a moment upon its contents. In the
plan of Procida to detain Frederic from the approaching conflict in
Sicily, she most readily acquiesced, but the difficulty of managing so
delicate an affair became instantly apparent to her ready perception.
When, however, she adroitly endeavored to draw from the young duke his
knowledge of the purposes of Procida, her apprehension was relieved by
discovering that the affair had been planned in such a manner as to
require from her, neither entreaty nor subterfuge, since the wily Jew had
exacted a promise from the young noble, that he would spend a twelvemonth,
at the court of his cousin Edward, before he demanded the hand of Agnes in
marriage. Procida had not indeed, left the duke ignorant of his ultimate
purpose, but he had led him to look for its accomplishment at a much more
distant date than that designated in the letter, and Frederic consequently
feeling no anxiety for an immediate return to Sicily, readily accepted the
queen's invitation to form part of the royal escort to Bordeaux.
Eleanora in taking leave of her brother, was comforted with the thought,
that he was occupied with a more healthful and profitable pursuit than
were the abstruse researches into the mysteries of nature, in which she
had found him engaged. She had also the satisfaction of knowing that the
deposed monarch had laid aside all his ambitious projects for empire, and
now busied his thoughts in calculating the immense advantage and glory
that would accrue to mankind from the Castilian literature he had in
preparation. The affectionate farewells were exchanged, and, accompanied
by her two beautiful children, Beatrice and Berengaria, her maidens and
the attendant squires, and a small band of Spanish cavaliers, among whom
rode the Duke of Saxony, she set off to meet her lord in Aquitaine. In the
genial society of the queen and her maidens, whose spirits were
exhilarated by the exercise and incidents of the journey, Frederic seemed
to breathe an atmosphere to which he had been unaccustomed, and which
served to enliven his habitual gravity, and develop the gentler qualities
of his naturally generous character. The maidens amused themselves with
constant allusions to the happy accomplishment of their prediction, and
the wit of the fair Agnes was sorely tested, in meeting and parrying their
playful attacks. The courteous attentions of the duke, were so impartially
distributed among the ladies, that not even jealousy itself could find
cause for complaint; yet it was only the voice of Agnes that had power to
rouse him from his frequent reveries, and when he spoke, his eye
instinctively turned to read in her countenance approbation or dissent.
Disciplined in the school of adversity, he manifested a strength and
severity of character, tempered by a pensive tenderness, which showed that
his mother's wrongs had wrought in his heart a sentiment of sympathy for
the suffering which made him hesitate to involve his country in the
exterminating wars, that he foresaw would follow a renewal of the strife
between the Guelphs and Ghibellines; and though he felt an enthusiastic
admiration for the ardor and zeal of Procida, yet the unscrupulous Jew,
who studied the character of all he met with reference to their
availability in the approaching crisis, too accurately estimated the
probity and truth of the young noble, to attempt to engage him in the dark
plot for the overthrow of d'Anjou. Still he loved the duke, as the
descendant of his great patron, and honored him for those qualities, of
which he felt himself destitute; and thus it was with a feeling of joyful
security, rather than of pride at the princely alliance, that he consented
to bestow his only treasure upon the man, who least of all sympathised in
the one purpose of his life.
The royal party arrived at Bordeaux a few days in advance of the King of
England, and during these hours of leisure, Frederic unfolded to the queen
the mystery of his first appearance in Burgos.
Procida had entrusted him with despatches for the King of Arragon; and to
execute his commission with the more secresy, and at the same time to
enjoy the freedom of the mountain solitudes, he travelled without retinue
or insignia of rank. Thus he was leisurely pursuing his way along the bank
of the stream, communing pleasantly with his own thoughts, when the cries
of Eleanora attracted him, just in time to save Agnes from a watery grave.
Time had so developed her loveliness that at first he failed to recognize
in the fair being before him, the beautiful child he had been accustomed
to admire in her father's castle of Prochyta; but when the first flush of
returning life glowed upon her countenance, his admiration became lost in
a deeper emotion, and from that hour he determined to lay the ducal
coronet of Saxony at the feet of the beautiful daughter of Sicily.
The return of the royal family was an era in the annals of English
prosperity, from the number of valuables imported from Spain. In the
catalogue of the queen's plate, mention is made of a crystal fork, the
parting gift of her brother Alphonso, from which the first idea of these
articles of table luxury was derived: but the lamb, which had so nearly
cost the life of Agnes, proved a benefit to the nation, whose value can
never be estimated; and the shepherd of Cotswold to this day, has reason
to bless the queen, who bestowed the cherished pet in an English fold.
During his southern campaign, King Edward had contracted an alliance
between his eldest daughter Eleanora, and Alphonso, the young Prince of
Arragon. The next sister, Joanna of Acre, who most of all resembled her
mother in beauty and strength of character, was about the same time,
married to the first peer of the realm, Gilbert the red Earl of
Gloucester, and the third daughter wedded to John, the Duke of Brabant. At
these nuptials the queen presented a golden cup of benison to each of the
brides, inscribed with appropriate passages of Holy Writ; and though, in
consequence of Frederic's promise to her father, the betrothment between
himself and Agnes could not then take place, Eleanora bestowed upon her
lovely ward a similar gift, bearing these words, "Thou hast been unto me
as a daughter."