Blanche de Bourbon
The Princess Blanche de Bourbon, sister to the Queen of France, wife of
Charles V., lived in the old fortress of Narbonne, beside the sea, in
those romantic days when ladies’ robes were sewn with _fleur-de-lis_ and
heraldic devices, dragons, and coats of arms--wore pointed shoes, long
chains from the waist, and high coifs and head draperies incredible in
our eyes.
She was young, only fifteen, small and delicate in stature, with a
tender, beseeching look, as seeking for fondness and protection from
those around her. By nature she was little fitted to command or to
dazzle, but rather to creep into the heart of manly affection and nestle
there.
The very name of the King of Castile gave her the horrors, and when
called into the presence of her father and told she was to marry him,
she lay three days on her bed without speaking. Imagine her feelings
when she took courage to look at his proxy, of all his brothers the most
like the king!
But Don Fadique was altogether cast in a slighter mould, fitted rather
for a lady’s bower than the stern ranks of the battle-field. His address
was soft and gentle, and no amount of provocation could call up on his
features any resemblance to that tempest-torn expression that so often
disfigured the countenance of Don Pedro. It is true that at the time of
his mother’s death, when certain suspicious circumstances pointed to
foul play, he had joined in the rebellion of his brother, Enrique, but
he had rallied afterwards to the king, and was the only one of his
family who gave him a loyal allegiance. As the nearest relation of Don
Pedro, he was selected by Albuquerque as proxy for the king.
In such haste was the great minister to avail himself of the
half-promise of marriage he had obtained--hastened by the ravages of the
Free companies of France in the north--that he immediately despatched
Don Fadique with a splendid retinue, without ever reflecting upon his
personal fitness for the mission; fitness indeed as a consort, but not
as a proxy, for he was specially created to please a lady’s eye. His
large brown eyes had the sweetest expression, and there was a womanly
softness about him, united to the manly bearing of a knight, that suited
exactly his half-military, half-religious position as Grand Master of
the order of Santiago.
Of all created beings Blanche was the simplest and the best; unselfish,
trusting, relying on the faith of others, utterly inexperienced and
easily impressed by kindness, of which she had not known much.
Her mother died at her birth. Her brothers were always away at the
court, in Touraine, or in the camp. Her women and her friend, Claire de
Coucy, were her only companions, so that when the brilliant cortège of
knights and nobles arrived at Narbonne, and Don Fadique, Grand Master of
Santiago, most becomingly attired in the splendid robes of his order, a
great jewelled cross on his breast, and a heavy chain of gems sparkling
around his neck, advanced to kiss her hand, so happy was she in the
respite from the dreaded Don Pedro, so frankly affectionate in her
sisterly confidence, that the very charm of her innocence became a fatal
snare to him.
Not that Don Fadique nourished any thought of treason towards his
brother’s bride. No plan or project of supplanting him had entered his
brain when selected by Albuquerque as nearest of blood to the king. He
had neither foreseen nor imagined the danger in which he was placed by
reason of the manifold charms of the Lady Blanche, and that he would be
more than man to resist them.
Alas for the fair-haired Grand Master! Hour by hour he yielded. Did she
love him? was the question that rang through his brain day and night. On
the answer his life depended. But how could he ask? Honour, loyalty,
chivalry forbade. Yet the time must come when he would
[Illustration: Puerta del Vino, in the Plaza de los Algibes,
Alhambra.]
have to know. Could he see this innocent creature delivered over a prey
to his licentious brother without one word of warning? Without one
devoted friend to shield her from the deadly intrigues of a court wholly
under the spell of Maria de Padilla?
And that warning. What did it mean? Love to himself? Great Heaven! And
if she did not love him in return? The doubt brought agony. A woman
would have been more easily deciphered, but this royal girl was all
simplicity and guilelessness. When her little hand rested in his as,
attired with all the pomp of the Queen of Castile, and blazing with the
rich jewels sent by Don Pedro, he, with a wildly beating heart, led her
to the nuptial supper, it lay as trustingly in his as though he had been
her brother.
Poor young Grand Master! How was he to know if that young heart
fluttered alone for him, or if those pulses beat to the music of another
voice?
A thousand good resolutions were formed when Blanche was absent. But
they were all scattered to the winds when her soft eyes rested on his,
with that appealing look that was so touching. After all, he meant no
harm, only he _must_ know whether she loved him or not. Life was
intolerable without; and as the putting of this question grew more and
more difficult as time wore on, he left Narbonne without asking it.
* * * * *
Now Blanche is at Valladolid, in the Gothic palace, with its dark
_patio_ and big angular casements, which still jut out over the street
just as they did then.
She is expecting the king, who is to arrive that very night. Need I say
that she is quite beside herself with terror? Resistance is vain; as
well might the helpless lamb resist the butcher’s knife.
The dreadful hour has come when she is to be eaten up by the royal ogre,
and she can only lie and sob in the quaint painted chamber prepared for
her. Claire de Coucy, quite unconscious of what is really breaking
Blanche’s little heart (for she has kept her own counsel in all but
hatred of Don Pedro), is busying herself about her, with many entreaties
not to make herself look a fright. Even if she does hate the king, is
there not Don Fadique, and all those other splendid Sevillianos,
specially Don Juan de Mañara, whose fame has reached Narbonne, as the
boldest lover in Spain?
“Surely it is not so hard to be a queen, and live in sunny Seville, in
the beautiful Alcazar!” says Claire, turning over the marriage ring all
the time, an uncut emerald of priceless value, which Blanche has flung
on the floor and, unlike her gentle self, stamped on.
There lie the marriage gifts. The jewelled diadem and sceptre, as Queen
of Castile; the Oriental combs and bracelets, cut in antique silver, the
collar of sapphire, the solid links of sequins, the rare Tunisian lace
and Algerine embroideries, jewelled fans, and veils of rarest lace of
such delicate texture, no one had ever seen the like before. All sent in
perfumed chests of sandalwood, covered with royal crowns.
To Claire, who is just out of a convent, and has never seen a marriage
or a bride, it does occur that Blanche is strangely still and sad; but
she supposes it is the proper thing, and that Blanche knows best, so she
goes on turning over the marriage gifts with little exclamations of
delight, as each fresh object seems to her more lovely than the last.
But when, all in a moment, as Claire is winding round her waist a light
Moorish scarf, worked in a perfect kaleidoscope of silken thread and
pearls, Blanche (unable any longer to keep silent) staggers up and falls
upon her neck, sobbing as if her heart would break, it is the most
astonishing event her small experience has ever conceived.
Much more, when Blanche, putting her rosy lips to Claire’s shell-like
ear, whispers in a voice choked with tears: “I love him, I love him! I
cannot go to Don Pedro. I know he will kill me. I hate him. I won’t go!
Be kind to me, Claire, and help me, for I love him!”--her astonishment
turns into terror, for she thinks Blanche is gone quite mad.
“Love whom?” she gasps, feeling cold all over, and letting the scarf
drop to support the quivering form of Blanche.
“Who? Why, Don Fadique to be sure,” she answers, blushing all over.
“Why--you must be blind, Claire, not to see it--at Narbonne. Who else
could it be?”
And Blanche’s fair head, covered with small child-like curls, drops upon
Claire’s friendly neck and buries itself there, as she clings to her
tighter and tighter.
“Oh, Blanche!” was all Claire could say, being too utterly staggered to
remonstrate. “Don Fadique! Why, he is your husband’s brother? Oh,
Blanche, do you mean what you say?”
“Yes, I do,” falters out Blanche, in an almost inaudible voice “I love
him, oh, I love him!”
The very uttering of these words gave her courage. The secret had passed
her lips. The spell of silence was broken.
“Don Fadique!” exclaims Claire. “Why, he must be the greatest traitor in
the world.”
“He does not know it!” returns Blanche, reddening to the roots of her
hair. “He does not guess it. He is an angel.” As she speaks, a quick,
warm light comes into her eyes, a soft flame rises on her cheeks,
kindling up her whole face with an inexpressible glow. Even her slender
figure seems to gather strength and height. “No! no! you must say
nothing against him! He is perfect.”
Claire, who was very pious, and just out of a convent, where the nuns
had taught her all men were dangerous and to be avoided, actually
recoiled. That a wife should love her lord and receive presents from him
and letters was admissible, even among the nuns--but another man!
Her pretty hands dropped from Blanche’s waist, and for some moments she
could not speak.
“What!” she exclaims at last. “Holy Mary, what a horror!” at which the
poor little queen takes courage to reply:
“A husband, Claire, why you seem to forget I have never seen him. How
can I love a man I do not know? I have seen Don Fadique. That makes a
great difference. If Don Pedro is what they say, and strangles women, I
do not see how I can ever love him. So I told my father. I did say
_that_, Claire. I suffered very much. You know it, you cruel girl. I was
brought here against my will. I shall die when I see the king, I shall
die,” she repeats shuddering. “Besides, why did he send Don Fadique to
marry me in his name? If I had never seen him, I could not love him.”
A sweet pout came over her childish face as she gazed into Claire’s
eyes, confident that these arguments must convince her.
But Claire only shook her head, and continued to stand aloof. The
teaching of the nuns still held her. Was it not better that Blanche
_should_ die and be buried, sooner than not love her husband? Yet the
gentle little queen had used a mighty weapon in talking of her death.
Death was so awful, so far away from the fresh rosy life of Claire, that
with the charming inconsistency of youth, Claire, impetuous and ardent
in all things, in a moment forgetting all about the nuns, flung her arms
round Blanche’s neck.
“Dear, dear princess,” was all she could utter, “don’t talk of death. I
know it is very wrong, but I love you too well to chide you. Promise me
that you will not speak to Don Fadique any more. Say an _Ave_ when he
comes near you, and make the sign of the Cross when you feel his eyes.
Remember, whether you like it or not, you are Don Pedro’s wife. No! no!
don’t push me away. It is true. Great princesses and queens must learn
to command themselves more than other folk. My father said so, before I
left Navarre, and that I was not to follow what you did, because you
were of royal blood.”
Then Blanche and Claire, fully reconciled, sat down side by side to talk
under the shadow of the Gothic casement, which lit up the room; the
freckled colour of the painted glass falling upon them in patches of
glowing light, as the trees outside swayed to and fro; Claire going on
about her duty to her husband and to her new country. She was quite
eloquent, and repeated all the fine things which had been taught her out
of history. Not only _Aves_ and crossings, but fasting and penance were
suggested by the ingenious Claire, as helps against temptation, until
poor Blanche, quite stupefied, took up a lute which lay upon the seat
and hummed a French love song; and Claire, remembering there was a
string of pearls loose in the wedding robe in which Blanche was to
appear before the king, kissed her and went out.