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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Royal Pawn of Venice, by Mrs. Lawrence
+Turnbull
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: The Royal Pawn of Venice
+       A Romance of Cyprus
+
+
+Author: Mrs. Lawrence Turnbull
+
+
+
+Release Date: March 8, 2008  [eBook #24784]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ROYAL PAWN OF VENICE***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Barbara Kosker, Suzanne Shell, and the Project
+Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net)
+
+
+
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+
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+
+
+
+THE ROYAL PAWN OF VENICE
+
+[Illustration: CATERINA CORNARO, QUEEN OF CYPRUS
+FROM THE PAINTING BY TITIAN]
+
+THE ROYAL PAWN OF VENICE
+
+A Romance of Cyprus
+
+by
+
+MRS. LAWRENCE TURNBULL
+
+Author of
+"The Golden Book of Venice"
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Philadelphia & London
+J. B. Lippincott Company
+1911
+
+Copyright, 1911
+by Francese Litchfield Turnbull
+
+Published April, 1911
+
+Printed by J. B. Lippincott Company
+Washington Square Press, Philadelphia, U. S. A.
+
+
+
+
+     DEDICATED
+
+     BY GRACIOUS PERMISSION OF
+
+     HER MAJESTY
+
+     TO
+
+     MARGHERITA OF SAVOY
+
+     THE BELOVED FIRST QUEEN OF UNITED ITALY
+
+
+
+
+Time:
+
+The latter half of the XV. Century.
+
+
+
+_THE ROYAL PAWN
+OF VENICE_
+
+
+
+
+I
+
+
+Among the day-dreams of the Rulers of Venice the island of Cyprus had
+long loomed large and fair--Cyprus, the happy isle of romance, _l'isola
+fortunata_, sea-girdled, clothed with dense forests of precious woods,
+veined with inexhaustible mines of rich metals; a very garden of
+luscious fruits, garlanded with ever-blooming flowers--a land flowing
+with milk and honey and steeped in the fragrance of wines that a god
+might covet.
+
+_Kypros_--_Paphos_--a theme for poets, where Aphrodite rose from the
+foam of the sea, and the fabled groves of the mysteries of Venus gave
+place to primitive shrines of Christian worship, while innumerable
+Grecian legends were merged in early Christian traditions, imparting
+some of their own tint of fable, yet baptizing anew the groves and
+hillsides to sanctity. Beautiful hillsides, rippling down to the
+sea-coasts; and plains, nestling among the mountain slopes, littered
+with remnants of vast temples of superb pagan workmanship and with
+priceless pre-historic remains: wonderful, ancient marbles,
+time-mellowed and crumbling, inwrought rather with barbaric symbols of
+splendor than with the tender grace of poetic suggestion.
+
+And this land of many races and dynasties, of conflicting ideals and
+religions, as of many tongues--where domination was largely a matter of
+the stronger hand--still held among the nations her ancient soubriquet
+of _the happy isle_.
+
+But less for her romance and beauty than because this _notissima famae
+insulae_ was a possession to be envied by a diplomatic nation, since its
+position lent it importance, the Republic had looked upon it with
+longing eyes--and because of its commerce, which equalled that of
+Venice, long ago the far-seeing Senate had sought to purchase it from
+the Greek Emperor, but the agreement had come to naught by treachery of
+the Emperor's son.
+
+Nevertheless, Cyprus had not been forgotten; and the time for Venice to
+make good this remembrance had now come uppermost on the calendar of the
+years.
+
+So they were ready to give rapt attention to the flattering proposals of
+the young Cyprian Monarch, as presented by his dignified ambassador, the
+Signor Filippo Mastachelli, when he appeared before the Signoria with
+the retinue and splendor of an Eastern Prince, bearing gifts of jewels
+meet for a royal bride, to claim the hand of a patrician maid of Venice,
+to make her Queen of Cyprus.
+
+Janus the Second was young and brave, the idol of a party of his
+people--and where was the kingdom in which there were known to be no
+discontents? He was upheld by the great Sultan of Egypt to whom he owed
+suzerainty and, if in disfavor of the Holy Father for this allegiance,
+Venice had always permitted Rome to question her own supremacy and was
+not disconcerted thereby. He was beautiful as a young god, with a face
+full of laughing appeal, and not less charming than the miniature set in
+crystals which Mastachelli bore among the wedding gifts; and the grace
+of him could not be matched, for his power of winning, when he had set
+his heart to the task. In whatever deed of skill and daring his prowess
+went before his knights and nobles--as, from childhood up, in whatever
+teaching from books or men, he had distanced all his comrades--with that
+strange facility and fascination with which the Genius of Cyprus might
+have endowed her favorite in that lavish land, beloved of the gods,
+where her great sea-bound plains were billows of flowers under a long
+summer sky, and Nature's gifts came crowding, each upon each, in
+bewildering redundancy.
+
+Laughter-loving, born to conquer, quick to reward, Janus was tender and
+generous to a fault; for it was whispered that he could take what lay
+nearest to give to those who offered him adoring service on his
+triumphal march, and that the murmur of the wronged belonged to the more
+serious side of life for which his full-flowing Greek blood had small
+patience. Such strange, unlikely tales one's enemy may tell!
+
+And for his religion--be it Greek, or Latin, or whatever else--had he
+not been named Archbishop of Nikosia at the responsible age of fifteen,
+before he had exchanged the Episcopal Mitre for the Royal Crown?
+
+These things were told, in all truth, of Janus II, King of Cyprus: and
+if some others were known, they were not discussed. For the monarch had
+lost his heart to the rare charm of the youthful Caterina, niece to a
+Venetian noble who had become his friend in Cyprus, and had more than
+once stood his helper with good Venetian gold; and who, in innocence or
+wile, had one day given him sight of the girl's fair face with its
+tender flush like a flower in spring, painted with rare skill by the
+greatest artist of Venice. The breeze might have toyed with that mist of
+golden hair, and the great dark eyes--softly luminous--had the
+expectancy of a gazelle awaiting the joy of the daydawn. She was
+daughter to one of the most ancient and noble of the patrician houses,
+in direct descent, so the Cornari claimed, of the Cornelii of Rome.
+
+"There need be no haste," the Signor Andrea had said lightly, as he
+returned the miniature to its case blazoned in pearls with the arms of
+the Cornari, "for the child is but fourteen, though she hath the
+loveliness of twenty. But it is the way with our patricians of Venice,
+and Messer Marco of the Cornari, father to Caterina, is already planning
+with an ancient noble house of the elder branch with estates of unknown
+wealth, for the marriage of his daughter. Thus the fancy of the King
+must pass--there will be another--in Venice or Cyprus--the world is
+large."
+
+"Nay, none so beautiful," the King made answer; "and for me none other.
+And for the matter of birth----"
+
+"Naught hindereth that she might be Queen," Messer Andrea replied with
+nonchalance, having a scheme somewhat more deeply laid than the casual
+dropping of the miniature would seem to imply. "For the matter of
+birth--it is a trifle--and doubtless the Republic would make her, by
+adoption, Daughter to Venice--if there were aught in a created title to
+enhance her princely name with semblance of royalty. But there are
+already quarterings enough to match with the arms of Cyprus, and the
+Lusignans are a house far less ancient than the Cornelii."
+
+Messer Andrea could say things with a certain facile grace that kept
+them from rankling, and at the moment the utterance of this truth was of
+consequence.
+
+The King threw him a quick glance, half in amusement, half in admiration
+of his easy insolence, while Messer Andrea placidly explained that the
+Casa Cornaro was one of the twelve original families which composed the
+ancient ruling class of the Republic.
+
+"And if the matter hath an interest for your Majesty," he continued,
+"our great-grandfather on our father's side, was that Marco Cornaro who
+was Doge of Venice; and the most noble Lady Fiorenza, mother to the
+child Caterina and wife to my brother Marco, was grand-daughter to
+Comnene, Emperor of Trebizonde. But that counteth little," he added
+magnanimously; "since the Empire of Trebizonde hath ceased to be."
+
+"For the matter of birth--verily, as thou hast said, 'it is a trifle,'"
+the King admitted with a laugh: "but I must create thee Master to the
+Pedigree of the House of Lusignan--a right royal post--and at thy
+discretion thou mayest find or _make_ it of a color noble enough to mate
+with thy fair maid of Venice."
+
+"It pleaseth your Majesty to be of a merry mood. And for the dowry----"
+
+Thence followed this embassy to Venice, for Janus was of those who would
+bear no thwarting nor delay. The princely dowry was forthcoming, for it
+had been offered by Messer Andrea Cornaro himself, and the condition of
+adoption by the Republic, "that the bride might be of a station
+befitting the royal alliance," well became the pleasure of the dignified
+Signoria.
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+
+They had just told her a thing most strange--a secret that made her
+childish heart stand still with wonder, then beat with a sort of
+frightened excitement, all unbefitting the new dignity to which she was
+called; for she was still enough a child to feel the glamour of it
+through all the strangeness, and she had stolen out upon the balcony,
+high over the Canal, to say over to herself the words that had been
+confided to her--the little maid Caterina.
+
+She dropped the title softly down to the water below, and started at the
+echo of her own trembling voice.
+
+_Caterina Queen of Cyprus_: Caterina--Regina!
+
+A swaying figure in a passing gondola glanced up to the balcony of the
+old Palazzo Cornaro and the young girl hastily fled, not pausing until
+she had reached her own little chamber, looking on an inner court--the
+only sanctuary that she could call her own, in all this great ancestral
+palace, she, the future Queen of Cyprus.
+
+Had any one heard her murmur those words? Would the Senate know that
+some one in a gondola had caught the new title from her own lips? And
+so--perchance--to punish the indiscretion--for the Senate was masterful,
+never-to-be-disobeyed, and the matter was not to be known until it
+should be declared by that solemn body of world-rulers. And if the
+gondoliero had carried her word to the Palazzo San Marco----? What if
+he had been sent there by the Senate itself to watch and see if she were
+already woman enough to be trusted? Then there would be an end to the
+golden dream--no coronation--no splendid ceremony of adoption. For there
+was more. Before she should be made queen of that distant island she was
+to be formally acknowledged "The Daughter of the Republic----" She was
+to be made a real Princess of Venice!
+
+What wonder that the heart of this young Venetian maid quivered with the
+excitement of these visions of splendor, for by all the traditions of
+her ancestors she measured the unwonted honor that was being decreed for
+her--no one had yet been adopted "Daughter to the Republic"--the title
+was to be created that she might wear a crown, to the further honor of
+Venice! For her, who had never worn a jewel, nor a robe of state, nor
+taken part in any but the simplest fete, who had never left the walls of
+her ancestral palace, save under closest veil and guard--this sudden
+vision of freedom and empire was intoxicating.
+
+If she had known of those wonderful tales of the "Arabian Nights" these
+things that were happening to her would have seemed more wonderful
+still: but her young mind was free of similes--a sensitive blank whereon
+the Senate might duly inscribe whatever tendencies seemed judicious; and
+after the Betrothal there would be much time.
+
+Caterina had taken courage again and stolen back to the balcony that
+opened upon the Canal Grande from the vast upper salon, impelled by her
+longing for freedom and light. The ripple of the water to the plash of
+passing gondolas took on the note of distance and soothed her like a
+lullaby, as the charming maid yielded herself to the golden
+daydream--the soft breezes lifting the bright rings of hair that
+clustered about her dainty head, while the wonderful light of the skies
+of Venice smiled down upon her like a caress. The strangeness slipped
+away from the new facts she had been repeating to herself, for she had
+already begun to take pride in them; and the other questions that had
+troubled her for a moment, were forgotten. All kings were to her
+youthful imagination great and noble when they were the friends of the
+Republic, and Janus was the close ally of Venice. In this stately
+patrician household she had suddenly risen to be first--not only as all
+maids are wont to be on the eve of their betrothal, with much
+circumstance of laces and brocade and gifts and jewels--but she was to
+bring new honor to their ancient house--honor even upon Venice, for her
+father had declared that the Senators, the Councillors, all the great
+men of the Republic--the Serenissimo himself--would bring her homage. It
+was a dizzying dream of glory--beautiful, child-hearted and fancy-free,
+she could dream of no more golden vision than the Signoria were
+preparing for her.
+
+So many generations of Cornari had gone forth from their palaces
+scattered through the great places of Venice, as ambassadors on
+momentous missions, or as Senators or Savii, had instilled the lesson of
+the glory of service to Venice; and more than once the mighty Lion of
+San Marco had set his imperial seal above their portal, and she,
+Caterina, was to lead them all in the honor she was bringing upon her
+country! If her own estimate of the part she was to play was a foolish
+one, only a Venetian patrician maid could comprehend the glamour that
+overlay this vision of Caterina's--the royal delivery from bondage--the
+unknown delights it must open to her!
+
+"Thou art sent for, _carina_, to the crimson salon; thy Father would
+speak with thee."
+
+It was the Lady Fiorenza, who seemed always a little sad to
+Caterina--too sad for all the state that surrounded her; too grave to
+suit the splendor of her silken robes and gleaming jewels; too weak to
+cope with the masterful ways of her lord, the Senator Marco Cornaro. Her
+mother's hand almost crushed hers in the strenuous clasp which,
+strangely to Caterina, seemed to convey a passionate message of
+sympathy; yet surely, at this radiant moment, there was nothing to
+regret! She met the love in her mother's eyes with the smile of a
+satisfied child, though she would have liked them all to rejoice with
+her.
+
+The curtain that hung before the door of the crimson salon was raised by
+the page who stood in waiting. Her stately father rose to greet
+her--which he had never done before in all her little life. She felt
+with a sudden vague discomfort, that the world was changing for her.
+
+"My daughter," he said, with a gravity of demeanor that befitted the
+importance of his message, "thou bringest honor, not alone to the Casa
+Cornaro, but also to the Republic. I have this day received from the
+island of Cyprus--of which thou shalt be Queen--" and he bent his knee,
+in courtly fashion before his child, as though he would be first to
+bring her homage, "by the hand of the ambassador Mastachelli, this
+portrait of thy Lord, Janus, the King; and these Eastern pearls--a royal
+gift."
+
+He kissed the little hand which Caterina eagerly stretched out for the
+casket; but her mother covered her face with her hands, almost in an
+attitude of prayer.
+
+The miniature was blazing with diamonds, and the pearls were more
+lustrous than any that had ever been seen in Venice--for Cyprus was even
+beyond Venetia in luxury; and Caterina called to her mother, with a note
+of triumph, to clasp them about her childish throat.
+
+"I must learn to _look_ a Queen!" she said with a little, playful, regal
+air: and then she dropped her eyes upon the beautiful, laughing face of
+the royal lover who was to open paradise to her. Her father watched her
+furtively; while her mother, over her child's shoulder, studied the
+picture closely, feeling that it was too beautiful to trust.
+
+"He is charming!" the girl cried in pleased surprise. She had not known
+what his face would be like; she had scarcely had time to think of it
+since the strange news had been brought her, a few hours before.
+
+"He will be kind to thee," the mother said at length with conviction,
+yet with a sigh, as if dissatisfied.
+
+Caterina meanwhile, in the simple straight blue robe of a young Venetian
+maiden, her dimpled throat encircled with the pearls that had been the
+ransom of a kingdom, stood turning her miniature from side to side,
+catching the sunlight on the jewels and the face, with the pleasure of a
+child in a new and splendid toy--for it was all beautiful together. "He
+is charming--charming, my King!" she repeated.
+
+But a shadow had crept into her mother's eyes. "It is a face that an
+artist might paint for his pleasure," she said with hesitation, as if
+seeking expression for some vague fear that haunted her; "I pray that he
+may make thee happy, _carina_; that he may be good and--and--noble."
+
+"'Noble!'" cried Marco Cornaro, scornfully; "what seekest more? Is
+Cyprus not enough for thy nobility? Is there another mother in Venice
+who doth not envy thee thy fortune! Go to thy tire-women and consult
+with them, for the Betrothal will be soon, by order of the Senate, and
+there is small time to waste in regrets that somewhat more to thy liking
+hath not befallen thee. See to it that the robing of Caterina be fit for
+that other kingdom thou wouldst, perchance, have chosen for her."
+
+"If he be noble--truly noble," the Lady Fiorenza said with unwonted
+persistence--for something moved her to assert herself, "I ask no more."
+
+But the Senator permitted her the questionable honor of unanswered
+speech, as he turned with a scowl and left her. For her word had
+rankled: since it was known, in the innermost circle of the Council and
+there discussed in strictest secrecy, that had Janus been born in
+Venice, the law would have excluded him from its _Libro d'Oro_, and no
+patrician father would have sought him for his daughter. But Cyprus lay
+far away beyond the sea which washed the borders of Venetia, and many of
+Oriental race had peopled its shores--the ideals of Venice might be no
+law for Cyprus.
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+
+These things took place in the spring of 1468; nor was it long before
+the ceremonial had been prescribed and the pageant had been made ready
+for the betrothal of the youthful Caterina; for the Senate could be as
+prompt in action as far-seeing in judgment when haste seemed wise; and
+other rulers were looking with no disfavor on the King of Cyprus in this
+matter of an alliance, for it was known that overtures had already been
+offered by the Court of Naples and by His Holiness of Rome for one of
+his own family who had claim to his protection.
+
+While Venice was plunged in a turmoil of preparation, the Casa Cornaro
+gathered from all its palaces and surged up and down the grand stairway
+of the Marco Cornari, bringing counsel, gifts and glorification; the
+dowagers to the remotest branches, were much in evidence, refurbished,
+and coming in solemn state to testify their approval of an alliance so
+honorable to their house, with many wise worldly maxims and pious thanks
+to the Madonna.
+
+There was no quiet anywhere within the palazzo, save deep down in the
+heart of the Lady Fiorenza, who had never been one with her family in
+worldly ambitions; and far below the giddy current of the day's
+happenings ran the ceaseless flow of the mother's wordless prayer,
+enfolding her child--pleading that that which was to come to her should
+make and keep her noble.
+
+Resistance would have been vain, if only because she stood alone in her
+family circle; but the decision of the Senate was supreme--unquestionable
+and irrevocable; she stood alone indeed with only prayer to help her, and
+a great faith that because of it her child would be saved in the path of
+danger from which her love might not hold her feet. And so the day of the
+Betrothal dawned.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Ah, how the bells were ringing--Madre Beata! For such a _festa_ as never
+had been in Venice! The hearts of the happy people throbbed to their
+rhythm, while each gave something to the splendor of the day--were it
+but the color of a mantle, or the grace of a jubilant motion, or the
+radiance of a beaming face--there was no _festa_ in Venice of which the
+people had not its part.
+
+They had been gathering since earliest dawn in the Piazza San Marco,
+arriving breathlessly in gondolas from the nearer points, in fishing
+boats with painted sails from the distant islands--hastening from their
+unsold wares in the market stalls near the wooden bridge of the Rialto
+to wait long hours for the pageant that no Venetian might miss. For
+never had there been such another, and there was not too much space
+where one might stand to see the glory and the beauty of it! _Dio!_ but
+it was good to be born in Venice, where life was a _festa_!
+
+Along the Riva their radiant, dark faces gleamed in the sunshine, where
+they stood in serried ranks, picturesque in all the brilliant coloring
+that their rustic wardrobes held in store for these days of _festa_;
+silken shawls that were heirlooms--strings of coral and amber and great
+Venetian beads of every tint, or an edge of old lace on the gala
+_fazzuolo_ that many a noble lady might be proud to wear; everywhere
+there was color against the background of festive garlands and brilliant
+rugs decking the balconies of the palaces--a dazzling picture in the
+sunshine, under the blue of the Venetian sky.
+
+Every window in the Piazza and the Piazzetta was thronged with
+spectators in gala robes, while under the arcades that stretched from
+San Marco to the ancient church of San Giminiano across the square, the
+people surged crowding and jubilant; climbing to the roofs and ledges of
+every building, the campanile, the churches, the columned palaces,
+leaving not a space where a man might stand save the avenue through the
+crowd which the soldiers kept free for the procession.
+
+The bells were beginning to ring--Santa Maria! all the bells--a true
+jubilee!
+
+Messer San Marco and San Tadoro were good to them to-day; how their
+golden images flashed in the sunshine on the columns! and the four great
+golden horses, in the dancing sunlight, seemed to quiver and prance
+among the frost-work of the arches of San Marco, while the gold and blue
+and scarlet of frieze and archivolt made a picture of delight.
+
+The little ones shouted and babbled, were lifted high on their fathers'
+shoulders, or clamored with disappointed half-sobs down in the crowd
+which shut out all vision, beside the weary, expostulating mothers
+whose arms were filled with wee things who could not stand, and who had
+come early in the day--so early--in hope of a treat for the _bambini_.
+
+They had carried them around the Piazza when they came in the early
+morning before the crowd--"Santa Vergine--wasn't that enough for them!
+to get a sight of all the grand balconies where the nobili were to be,
+with the garlands and the tapestries and the curtains of velvet and
+brocade, and the beautiful paintings, and the banners of San Marco, and
+the great golden horses in the Piazza--the wonderful golden horses--up
+so high, thou knowest, eh, Battista? What dost thou want more?
+Pazienza!"
+
+There was a commotion on the Piazzetta; the first barge, heading the
+long procession from the Palazzo Cornaro in San Cassiano far up the
+Canal Grande, was coming in sight, bearing the brilliant _Compagnia
+della Calza_, the noble youths of the Company of the Hose, whose gilded
+duty it was to appear at State Ceremonials in all the extravagance of
+fantastic elegance with which Venice had decreed their costumes. A
+laughing, dainty company, they sprang ashore at the landing of the
+Piazzetta, doffing their jewelled caps to the admiring crowd with
+capricious grace and whimsical motions, like a flock of birds of
+paradise, in doublets of velvet and cloth of gold, with hair floating
+loose about their throats; with devices of fabulous birds--of stars
+flashing light--of mystic arabesques and hieroglyphs embroidered on
+their silken hose, in pearls and gold and precious stones:--truly a gay
+and frivolous company to be under the grave control of the Ten!
+
+The people shouted with delight as they took their stand at the steps
+of the Piazzetta to receive the oncoming barges, for the "Calza" were
+the very darlings of their eyes, and never had they been more brilliant.
+With true Venetian comradery the crowd tossed them light banter on the
+names of their divisions, with pantomimic interpretation, in response to
+their sweeping salutations.
+
+"_Cortesi_! saw one ever such courtesy!"
+
+"San Marco keep you _Immortali_, for the grace of you!"
+
+"_Sempiterni_!--everlasting--ay, to be young like that, with so much
+pleasure in life--_Cielo_!"
+
+"And the gondolieri of the _Sempiterni_--do they live also forever?
+Signori Nobili, have you need of gondolieri?"
+
+But it needed only a whimsical motion of the Calza to fasten all eyes on
+the Canal Grande, where to the gracious rhythm of countless strings and
+flutes, the barges of State were nearing the steps of the Piazzetta,
+bearing the standards of Venice and Cyprus--their prows garlanded with
+roses, their rowers wreathed with myrtle--banners and draperies of snow
+and silver floating in the breeze.
+
+Far up the Canal Grande the gondolas of the nobles, waiting before their
+palaces, had glided into position as the procession swept down toward
+the Piazza--each gondola showing the colors of its _casa_, each
+fluttering a silken streamer in honor of Cyprus, each bearing its
+freight of crimson-garbed Senators and ladies in festal array.
+
+A murmur of intense satisfaction broke from the excited crowd along the
+Riva, as the barges which bore the youthful bride and her
+newly-appointed suite floated nearer; the great festal barges carved
+with bas-reliefs from classic story, were all of white and silver, their
+sails of satin, plumed with roses, and from each prow the figure of a
+glorified swan flashed rosy light from eyes of ruby: and every rower in
+white and silver plying his silver oar, wore the arms of Cornaro
+blazoned on his sleeve, with a sash of the colors of Cyprus.
+
+An opal light played over the group of the dainty maids of honor, yet
+each showed, for her only color, the arms of her ancient Venetian house
+wrought large upon the creamy fabric of her tunic, the threads of gold
+and gleam of jewels half lost within its folds as she walked: but the
+people looked for the heraldic devices and named them eagerly as, two by
+two, the maidens stepped on shore--Mocenigo--Giustiniani--Morosini--
+Dandolo--Contarini--a new name for every sweet young face--the King of
+Cyprus could add none fairer, nor no more noble arms to the court of his
+youthful Queen. The Senate had outdone itself in luxury of imagination.
+
+"Ecco!" The low long-drawn sound of delight swept through the expectant
+throng like the rustle of the wind among the rushes, for here, at last,
+was La Caterina! and a very child she seemed as she stood surrounded by
+the escort of noble Matrons of Honor most sumptuously clad, whom Venice
+had appointed to act as sponsors in the ceremonial of the Adoption. She
+was like a snow-drop in a garden of exotics--so pale and fair and young,
+in her robes of filmy lace from the cushions of Burano--the great pearls
+of Janus rising and falling with the frightened throbbing of her breast.
+Her mother only stood beside her under the canopy--her hand clasping
+that of her child with a pressure which gradually steadied her to forget
+herself and to do her part mechanically, as she might be instructed:
+for, deep in the heart of the Lady Fiorenza that ceaseless prayer upheld
+her with a rare and noble dignity--it brought her calm for the drama she
+had not willed, and faith that for her child all would be well. She had
+pleaded with the Senate that on this day of deep import the barge of
+Caterina should not be without the benediction of its tutelary saint,
+since every gondola was wont to have its shrine; and behind them under
+the canopy, from a mass of roses on an altar of alabaster, rose a noble
+Madonna by Bellini, painted with exquisite grace--the votive picture
+which later kept within the Chapel of the Lady Fiorenza in the Palazzo
+Cornaro, the memory of this day.
+
+The little ones cried and struggled down among the crowd, seeing
+nothing, and conscious from the chorus of ecstatic exclamations that
+they were missing a golden moment.
+
+"_Pace!_ Yes, they are coming: she is there--the Regina. Every one of
+you shall see--every one. _Pazienza!_ Some one will hold the _bimbo_ who
+sleeps? Then I could lift Tonino and Maria. _Mille Grazie!_"
+
+A dozen sympathetic arms had instantly offered in response to this
+appeal, for the good-natured Venetian crowd adored _festas_--they
+also--and it would be a pity of pities that the bambini should miss it,
+and this one was like heaven!
+
+"Ah, but she is beautiful, the bride--beautiful as an angel: and
+young--young like my Teresina! And to be a queen--Santa Maria!--she who
+was like the other daughters of the nobili on the Canal Grande! Ah, but
+life is wonderful for them--the nobili--but Messer San Marco is gentile
+to make this _festa_ for Venice!" The recollection of their own little
+part in the festa came with a patient sigh.
+
+"It is our Caro Maestro Giovanni Bellini who hath fashioned it all they
+say--the garlands, the barges--the costumes--he talked with their
+Excellencies, the Signoria."
+
+The rumor went round, for the Maestro was the honest pride of Venice.
+
+"It is he, verily, who hath painted our Blessed Lady for the barca of
+the Lady Caterina; for Madonna Fiorenza is almost a saint--and
+_devote_----! She hath the heart of a _carita_ within her."
+
+"They come now from the palazzo of the Cornaro," cried the little
+peasant-mother eagerly. "Hearest thou, my _bimbo_?" She moved the
+restless hands to and fro, the round eyes following the motion. "Clap
+thy hands for the Regina--thou too, give thy greeting; thou wilt
+remember it when thou art old. May the holy Madonna bless her!"
+
+The shouts to which Caterina landed were deafening: the children
+screamed for very ecstasy.
+
+The lagoon, from the Riva far out toward the islands was a dense mass of
+floating craft of the poorer sort, for below the Piazza there had been
+no restriction, and the waters were crowded with islanders--old people
+grateful for this nearness to the pageant, with a chance of separation
+from the standing, jostling crowd, and proud of lending the color of
+their pennons and painted sails for their share of the glory of the day.
+If one could see nothing, it was good to be there to hear the
+shouting--one would understand the better when Tonio should be taking
+his bit of supper and free to talk--for he was no good to his old mother
+now, with watching the tacking and the people. And one might as well be
+dead as to stay far off in Burano on a day like this! _Cielo_, but the
+bells and the shouting were divine! It made one young again.
+
+"A _king_, thou sayest? Who is the king that the child is going to
+marry? What is he like, Tonio? I cannot see so far."
+
+"_Not there?_ Holy Mother, but it is a strange wedding! There would have
+been the gossip of all the islands to answer if there hadn't been two to
+a wedding when I was young. But the Signori Nobili must have everything
+after their own new fashions. And to miss his own _sposalizio_! San
+Marco is not good to him--he'll never see another half so fine. Is she
+so young as they say--like Maria, there?"
+
+"Ah, to be Signori just for to-day!" sighed the little peasant-mother in
+the crowd, as the dazzling cortege passed out of sight into the golden
+glooms of San Marco. "To go with the nobili into the Duomo where one may
+behold the Pala d'Oro and the wonderful golden candlesticks which the
+Serenissimo hath given--to see the Serenissimo take her for the Daughter
+of the Republic--wonder of wonders! And then to the Palazzo Ducale for
+the Betrothal--_Pazienza_, one must wait; they will come again later, my
+_bambini_. Ah, but the beauty of it!" For the brave little woman was
+weary, and there was nothing like enthusiasm for keeping up one's
+courage, "and Heaven alone knew where Zorzi was with the _barca_!"
+
+The crowd relaxed and grew restless, losing some of the gaiety of its
+temper when a weary neighbor settled back a little too roughly on a
+fellow-shoulder, or the babies who had been put down on the ground to
+rest lost the last sweet morsels they had been munching and clamored in
+vain for more--too much excited by the unusual noises and happenings to
+deign to notice the brothers of the next size who were busily turning
+somersaults in their behalf.
+
+But it would not be long before the procession came again; for the last
+of the sumptuous nobles who made this holiday for the people had
+disappeared under the portico of San Marco.
+
+The bells were chiming now in soft low undertones, a very ripple of
+sound--like the breath of the summer-breeze upon the sea--stilling the
+shrill voices of the people in the Piazza, calming the exuberance of
+their motions. For it was a signal. They knew that within the Duomo,
+before the great altar where slept their patron-saint, ablaze now with
+lights and the marvel of the Pala d'Oro which was not for the sight of
+the eyes save on days of a _festa_ like this, the child of the Cornaro
+was waiting to be made the Daughter of Venice.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+And now--for the bells were silent--in the magnificent storied chamber
+of the Gran Consiglio, where so many momentous questions of state had
+been discussed, in the presence of the Serenissimo, the Signoria, the
+Senate and the Forty Noble Matrons, a new leaf was to be added to the
+story of the Republic, and thither the feeble old Doge led the Daughter
+of Venice with the brilliant assemblage who had witnessed the ceremony
+of the Adoption in the Duomo.
+
+Caterina had moved through the splendid pageant of the morning as in a
+dream, still too much a child to comprehend the responsibilities it
+portended--too much in awe of the distinguished company assembled to do
+her honor to be conscious of any feeling but unwonted timidity. But the
+tottering footsteps of the old man who held her hand as he led her
+through the Porta della Carta into the Ducal Palace, awoke her inborn
+sense of pity, and it was she who upheld him with her strong, young,
+vital clasp, recovering her own perfect poise in the act of giving help.
+
+The Ambassador Mastachelli was waiting with his suite, and the signing
+of the parchment which bore the seals of Venice and of Cyprus was the
+trifle of a moment. A circlet of rubies--the sign of the promise--had
+been consecrated by the saintly Patriarch, Lorenzo Giustiniani, and the
+Lady Fiorenza took comfort from the look in his noble face as he bent
+over Caterina to give the benediction. She would seek his aid in the
+training of the young betrothed for her life on that distant island.
+
+But now--at last--the hour was the people's once more, for the
+Serenissimo stood on the balcony above the portal of San Marco, between
+the great golden horses, with the Daughter of Venice beside him--the
+sunlight irradiating her white robes and beautiful, girlish face.
+
+"Caterina--Regina--_Figlia di Venezia_--_Nostra Venezia_!" A great cry
+rent the air; it came from thousands of hearts and thrilled her own to
+its core, and the first, great emotion of her young life swept through
+her, transforming and wholly possessing her.
+
+A mist swam before her and her heart throbbed as if it would break: she
+dimly saw innumerable faces leaning to her from roofs and balconies and
+windows, and below in the great Piazza, the dense mass of the people
+with faces offering love and homage, lifting their children to clap
+their tiny hands for her--it was wonderful--beautiful--had the Madonna,
+indeed, given her so much!
+
+The mist cleared before her eyes and each face, to the remotest corners
+of the Piazza stood out individualized, while a sudden great love of
+humanity was born within her. "She would pray to make her people
+happy--she would be something to the poor and suffering ones of her
+distant land of Cyprus--the Holy Mother would teach her----"
+
+It was the supreme moment that does not come to all, yet when it comes
+holds the making or the marring of a life--as the lightning gleams for
+an instant only through a rift of cloud, awe-inspiring and too luminous
+to be forgotten. To Caterina, on the verge of womanhood, it came with
+the force of a prophetic vision, giving her sight of the tie between a
+queen and her people--it was like the strong mother-love of a great
+woman--all-embracing; the splendor of the pageant, the personal homage
+had no longer part in the exaltation of that great moment--it was the
+_real_ beneath it all that stirred her soul. She lost herself in the
+emotion, seeking only for expression; she opened her arms wide to them
+as if she would embrace them all, turning on every side to smile her
+heart out to them--tossing kisses to the children who clapped their
+eager hands for her--scattering sunshine with that rare magnetic power
+which is the most wondrous gift that Heaven can bestow.
+
+"_Simpatica!_" the responsive people cried with glowing faces.
+"_Angiola!_--_Tanto Simpatica!_"
+
+The Lady Fiorenza standing where she could see the face of her child
+gave thanks for the vision, with joyful tears.
+
+"This hast thou granted her, _Madonna mia Beatissima_, for a wedding
+gift!"
+
+
+
+
+IV
+
+
+Now that the brilliant pageant of the Betrothal had taken place, life
+went on serenely in the Palazzo Cornaro in San Cassan, while the seasons
+came and went and Caterina developed into a charming maiden of
+seventeen--expanding in the gracious atmosphere and the wonderful new
+joys that it brought her, as a rose matures to its most radiant
+perfection in the sunshine. Her eager mind which had hitherto known only
+the meagre culture bestowed upon young Venetian maids of her time and
+estate, awoke with ardent response, growing with leaps and bounds to
+meet the new demands--yet always deepening because the spring of her
+will had its impulse in noble emotions.
+
+Her thin, restricted life had suddenly overflowed with interests: the
+boundaries of her vision had opened far beyond the narrow confines of
+the lagoons of Venice and the Euganean hills, as the consciousness
+dawned upon her of a world that had been rich in beauty and vital
+memories before Venice began to be. Life was beginning to pulsate
+tumultuously in her veins; her heart was awaking. All the fulness and
+delight of this germinal spring-time she owed to the lord and lover who
+was waiting for her across the shimmering, beckoning sea. What wonder
+that her maiden heart should cling to him with a passionate trust, while
+all her sweet self grew in shy loveliness out of the dream that she was
+fashioning, and the deepening currents of her being flowed purely about
+this vision of her betrothed, enthroning her love with her religion in
+one centre.
+
+The mimic court in the Palazzo Cornaro, under the supervision of her
+monitors of Venice, was already attracting distinguished strangers--for
+the element of romance in her position made the salon of the future
+Queen of Cyprus the feature of Venetian social life; and long hours of
+eager study with masters of the many tongues spoken in the Cyprian
+court--alternating with the teachings of her mother's noble friend, the
+Patriarch, as he sought to familiarize her with the early Christian
+story of her distant island, proved the quick grasp of her mind--giving
+dangerous hints of strength which, if disregarded, might thwart the
+moulding purpose of the Signoria. So it seemed wise to forestall her
+questionings with such historic glimpses as should fascinate her with
+her realm to be, while Venice was silently smoothing out the crumples of
+that distant Cyprian shore; and it was fitting that the bride of Janus
+should make acquaintance with the literary and legendary treasures of
+this fabled isle of poets, for the house of Lusignan had been known for
+its taste in literature. But of a certain proverb current in Cyprus in
+the days of the Lusignans, the watchful Senate took care that she should
+be left in ignorance, _Ce n'est pas Minerve qui est nee en Chypre_! and
+that Chief of the Ten whose difficult duty it had become to supervise
+the education of Caterina was giving peremptory instruction to the
+newly-created Historical Secretary to the Queen-elect:
+
+"Begin with thy narration far back in the days of the Greek myths--she
+hath much poetry in her soul. Take her carefully over the early
+Christian traditions--she doth most seriously incline to venerate the
+Church:--there is food in these matters to consume much time."
+
+"And then, Eccellentissimo, one may venture to tell the story of the
+House of Lusignan?"
+
+The research of the learned Secretary had brought him in contact with
+Cyprus, but it had not inclined him to make fancy pictures of its kings.
+
+"Of Guy--the founder--and of the Crusades; it is a tale a maid may
+hear," the Capo responded grimly. "Of gleanings, now and again, through
+the pages of the chronicle, as it may be wise. She hath not the judgment
+to endure it all, being yet scarce more than a child--and with leanings
+rather toward Church than State, being over-much under the influence of
+the Lady Fiorenza--_over-much_."
+
+The words came with pauses which lent them force, and the new Secretary,
+being Senate-trained, lost none of their significance.
+
+"Thine office doth demand discretion," the Chief continued, fixing the
+other with his piercing gaze. "One should choose the tale that may best
+please--that she may go glad-hearted and with a maiden's fancy."
+
+"Aye, your Excellency--for maids and women are not as men; and facts not
+over-gentle may be best untold."
+
+"Nay--not that--not that: but there is time--much time--and for the
+present the care shall be to delight."
+
+"It is the office of a courtier, Eccellentissimo; it befools a scholar,"
+the Historical Secretary exclaimed with indignation. "There be poets and
+romancers who would do it honor, rather than I--who have spent long
+years among the records searching for truth, that I may leave a
+chronicle to trust."
+
+"And most unworthily, Signor Segretario, if thou hast found no least
+trace of the great philosopher Zeno in the ancient city of Cition that
+was his birthplace; nor of Homer, that maker of literature, who hath,
+perchance, won space enough in the estimate of mankind to be worthy the
+brief thought of a child--even of thine--a scholar seeking for truth--he
+being the pride of Salamis.
+
+"But the Signoria have never learned the backward step that they should
+withdraw an appointment which conferreth unwilling honor," the Chief
+concluded coldly. "Thou shalt find some beauty in the legends of the
+Cinyradae, or the myths of Aphrodite, in this land of Cyprus where the
+goddess rose from the foam of the sea!"
+
+"Were not substance better than froth to train a maid to rule, your
+Excellency?"
+
+"Nay, but to _obey_; to _rule_ needeth not teaching."
+
+"But--your Excellency----"
+
+"Signore, foam shall suffice to teach obedience--thou hast heard the
+most gracious will of the Senate."
+
+The eyes of the scholar who loved truth better than fortune dropped
+baffled; for he could not afford to surrender the favor of the Senate
+which promised him means to achieve in his own special field; and he
+groaned in spirit while the wide halls of the Frari, with their
+treasure of ancient MSS. rose before his mental vision as the most
+tempting spot on earth, with his own _magnum opus_ lying there
+unfinished, yet far toward completion. And for one who had meant to
+chronicle the complete history of a _movement_, who had sought ever to
+weigh and sift in the interests of truth alone, to surrender the freedom
+of his mind to the Senate--to come down to the teaching of a child--to
+be commanded what he should speak--it was maddening!
+
+"My own work," he murmured in a last appeal:--"I have so little time."
+
+"The time of a Venetian is his best gift to the State," the Capo made
+answer icily.
+
+There was a pause during which the unwilling Secretary _felt_ the eyes
+of the Capo upon him, forcing him to lift his own. For an instant he met
+the strange fixed gaze which conveyed to him without words that what had
+passed between them was to be held inviolate; then, with a courteous
+salute, the man of power spoke:
+
+"The interview is dismissed." And the Segretario Reale went out from the
+presence, his soul revolting at the absolutism that forced him to
+accept; and he despised himself.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Meanwhile the soul of the maiden was thrilling to the Patriarch's tales
+of early Christian conquests in her islands--at Paphos--at Salamis--of
+the miracles of the great Paulus, saint and bishop and leader--as her
+eyes followed along the red-lettered parchment page of the rare volume
+which the holy man had brought from the treasures of the "Marciana" for
+her teaching--translating the story from the Greek, which was yet hard
+for her, into her own softer tongue.
+
+Cyprus had indeed been a favored land in those early days; for the Holy
+Spirit had commanded by a revelation that Barnabas and Paulus should set
+sail for Cyprus to preach the new faith at Salamis; and they had taken
+with them Marcus--their own San Marco!--it was so written in this
+strange, old book.
+
+"Tell me about him!" Caterina cried, clasping her hands eagerly: "what
+did he do in my land?"
+
+Every Venetian was familiar with the Patron-Saint of Venice in his
+symbolic guise, with his terrible, flashing jewelled eyes--as a power
+who would guard them and confound their enemies, rather than as an
+Evangelist--although the paw of the fierce Venetian lion rested always
+on the open gospel-page. But to hear of him as a man, before he was
+known as saint--young--'sister's son to Barnabas,' setting forth on this
+mission to Cyprus, made him strangely real to the young Venetian girl;
+it even brought Cyprus nearer with a tender home claim, to hear of the
+wanderings of San Marco among those temples of Aphrodite; and his scorn
+of the unholy worship kindled her soul as the Patriarch told how the
+young Evangelist had not feared to curse the godless Cyprian city for
+its idolatry--of the tumult that had been raised by his followers, as
+they hurled the images of the Pagan gods from their pedestals, ruining
+portions of the huge, unholy structure as they fell and killing some of
+those who were taking part in the games. She would visit these vast
+ruins in the ancient grove of Aphrodite, where giant-trees had grown
+among the fallen columns, and wonderful vases of gold and silver and
+alabaster, wrought like finest cameos, had been disinterred from mounds
+of rubbish to decorate the palaces of patricians.
+
+Of these, antique goblets, some flashing with an indescribable rainbow
+lustre, delicate as an opal, had already been sent her among the rich
+gifts of Janus. And so life took on new color for her--historic memories
+and trifles of the day crossing each other at many points, linking the
+old to the new, in unsuspected continuity.
+
+"Our San Marco was a hero even then!" she cried; "an early Crusader
+fighting for his faith!"
+
+"Aye, daughter--as thou and I must fight," the Patriarch answered her
+with tender approval in his eyes, a shadow of apprehension dimming them
+before he withdrew his gaze--for of such tender stuff had martyrs been
+made. "The story of those early days is for our guidance. If trials
+should come," he added, "cleave but to thy faith and Heaven shall show
+thee a way."
+
+"I never thought before that one might _love_ San Marco!" Caterina said,
+as she turned her glowing face frankly to the old man; "he was never a
+person, but just a grotesque image to me."
+
+"Symbols are for our race in its childhood, for with primitive peoples
+imagination dominates reason," he answered her; "later we weave a more
+enduring fabric out of the truth of history--still cherishing the
+myth--the earlier impulse."
+
+But it was Barnabas who was the true hero-saint of Cyprus; for he had
+owned estates in his native island and had sold them and given all for
+the propagation of the new faith; and when, after his cruel martyrdom
+the fierce spirit of persecution had cooled, and his remains were found
+interred in a grotto near the city--the divine revelation of St. Peter
+clasped to his breast--the possession of so sacred a relic sufficed to
+win great privileges among the hierarchy for the island of Cyprus, in
+perpetuity--the proud title of Archbishop of Salamis--the imperial staff
+with the golden apple at top--the cap with the red cross, and many other
+honors and immunities. It was a long way from the primitive simplicity
+of the fruitful ministration of Jose Barnabas, the Son of Consolation,
+as he had fought for souls in the splendid vigor of his youth and
+consecration!
+
+"I am glad of these sacred bonds between my two homes!" the young girl
+exclaimed with a little wistful sigh.
+
+"There are yet other links in the history of our Church; for Sant'Elena,
+the Mother of Constantine--whose tomb thou knowest on our fair island of
+Sant'Elena--hath enriched thy favored land of Cyprus with its most
+sacred relic, bestowing there the portions of the Holy Cross which she
+had brought from Orient, and thou shalt find them still revered in the
+Chapel of Santa Croce on the Mountain of the Troodos."
+
+"Thou perchance, most Reverend Father, wilt come some day in pilgrimage
+to this blessed shrine in my new land!" Caterina cried hopefully.
+
+"Nay, dear daughter; for my work lieth in Venice. But thou seest that
+where our Holy Church hath planted her banner, one may call no land
+strange."
+
+It was partly with this thought that the Patriarch had striven to
+interest Caterina in these incidents of early Christianity; and partly
+from his undefined dread as to what the future might hold for her, with
+the wish to keep the Church and its teachings uppermost in her mind,
+that she might lean upon them in need. She had been deeply interested
+and again and again had turned the talk upon this theme--a docile pupil,
+growing in grace and strength from the teachings he gathered for her
+from that quaint old volume so little known by the women of her time. It
+was his gift to fit her for the unknown life to which she was going, and
+it gave him an opportunity for many helpful words which if scarcely
+understood at the time came back to her later; yet he darkened her
+bright visions with no fears, thinking that hope and joy and faith would
+suffice for strength in trial.
+
+The Senate, meanwhile, had matter less placid touching Cyprus and the
+betrothed bride wherewith to fill this period of waiting: and more than
+once the Senator Marco Cornaro had returned from lengthy sessions at the
+Ducal Palace in no gentle humor, yet mute to all questioning. For it had
+been learned in that innermost Council, and told no farther than was
+needful, that Ferdinand of Naples was intriguing to draw Janus into an
+alliance with a princess of his house; it was also known, by that
+singular penetration in which Venice had no equal, that the new
+Archbishop of Nicosia, Alvise Fabrici, was an agent for Ferdinand,
+secretly working to further his ends in Cyprus; and finally in sign of
+the willingness of Janus to break faith with Venice, came the rumor of
+some coldness toward Andrea Cornaro, who had hitherto been his fast
+friend.
+
+It was enough to bring gloom to the brow of the Senator Marco Cornaro,
+whose heart was set upon this royal marriage.
+
+But nothing of this transpired beyond the walls of the Council Chamber,
+from whence at last, to make an end of the pitiful waverings of this
+fickle King, an ambassador was sent to the court of Cyprus to state in
+terms that could not be misunderstood, that if Janus were to disgrace
+his royal word, solemnly pledged by his Ambassador Mastachelli in
+presence of the Serenissimo and the Signoria, the insult to a Queen
+already betrothed to him would be a slight the Republic would not
+suffer, and that Venice would become the enemy instead of the ally of
+Cyprus.
+
+But no misgivings troubled the heart of the betrothed in the Palazzo
+Cornaro, where she waited in happy confidence, being taught through the
+ceaseless vigilance of the Senate, that in royal marriages haste was
+ever unseemly, and full time would be allowed for the fashioning of the
+wedding trousseau, the weaving of wedding damasks and the complete
+preparation of a household outfit consistent with the dignity of a
+queen.
+
+The prospect of further enemies was not an enviable one for Janus, who
+already counted Genoa, Savoy and Portugal and his Holiness of Rome among
+them; for he had won the wrath of the Genoese by recapturing their
+important holding of Famagosta in the very heart of his own island, as
+he had most heartily gained the disfavor of his Holiness by his alliance
+with the infidel Sultan of Egypt; and through his sister Carlotta, the
+enmity of Savoy and of Portugal was assured to him.
+
+So the galleys and favor of Venice were not to be disregarded, and it
+was not long before the Cyprian fleet appeared in the waters of the
+Adriatic, bearing in response to the secret embassy of Venice, the
+Ambassador sent by Janus to bring his young Queen to Cyprus.
+
+
+
+
+V
+
+
+Ser Gobbo Di Rialto bore on his broad breast announcements of intense
+interest concerning the ceremonies which would make the day of the
+departure of the Daughter of the Republic among the most splendid in the
+annals of Venice. A crowd of citizens who had not been advised by
+special invitation of the various banquetings and happenings, came and
+went about the grotesque figure with much lively comment of delighted
+anticipation, intermingled with benedictions upon San Marco that it was
+not long to wait, since to-morrow would be there after the next Ave
+Maria! For whatever of revelry was prepared for the nobles, brought
+always in Venice a corresponding pageant to delight the eyes of the
+people.
+
+Here and there some gondolier from the islands, sheepishly conscious of
+the brilliant _fazzoletto_, or the string of beads he had just bought in
+the tempting booths of the old, wooden Rialto, hung on the outskirts of
+the crowd before Ser Gobbo, to catch from the gossip of the more
+lettered ones about him the details of the morrow's _festa_ which he
+might not read for himself; for the knowledge would make him the oracle
+of his little circle in Burano--or at least with Giovanna, when he
+should bestow his silken trifle for the morrow's splendor. For, of
+course all Venice would be there to see the queen set forth.
+
+"Santa Maria!--the Serenissimo himself upon the Bucentoro will escort
+the Regina. Heard one ever such splendor!"
+
+"And at the Lido--hast heard, Tonio?--by favor of San Marco and San
+Nicolo, the gondolieri with their barchette may float in line to make
+our part of the _festa_. Oh, the beautiful day!"
+
+"And the Signoria, and all the nobili! and the court of the young
+Regina--and all the banners and the _barca_--most beautiful to
+behold--one might die of the splendor of it, Santissima Maria!"
+
+"Aye, Giuseppe, and the music of all the fleets!--it will be like
+heaven, if Messer San Marco doth but send the sunshine and the breeze."
+
+"Nay, he could not fail his Venice for a _festa_ that doth him such
+honor; _Messer San Marco e galant uomo!_ But how then, Tonio, thou hast
+a _sposalizio_ of thine own--with thy string of coral and thy
+_fazzoletto_ fit for a Signorina: the bells will be chiming for thee
+to-morrow?"
+
+"_Basta, basta!_" Tonio responded with commendable gruffness,
+considering his contentment at heart, as he hastily retreated to his
+gondola under the Rialto for needed shelter from the banter which
+followed him, until some other unwary victim became the centre of the
+well-meant pleasantry.
+
+"Wait then for a day, Tonio mio, and the Bucentoro will be ready for
+thee," cries one of the more daring as he vanishes; "hast thou already
+bespoken thy groomsman? I also am a Castellan."
+
+Across the Piazza San Giacomo, under the famous colonnade of San Giacomo
+di Rialto, the talk turned chiefly on the great event which was to
+culminate on the morrow, and which for three years had consumed much
+time in Senate and State, as the patricians strolled to and fro in
+lively discussion.
+
+It was here that for generations everything that affected the commerce
+of Venice was held up in the light of expression as free and candid as
+it was possible for opinion to be in this highly organized oligarchy;
+and here as elsewhere, Venice, like a faithful mother, watched over the
+welfare of her sons, though they were grown to man's estate; and since
+her commerce was, in fact, the mainspring of her wealth and prestige--a
+very vital part of her--she kept before their eyes on the exterior of
+this ancient church in the market-place where her merchant-princes daily
+met, her admonition to uphold them in righteous dealing. One might
+decipher it wrought into the wall of the apse under the stones of the
+frieze, in quaint lettering that tempted to the perusal and endowed the
+mastered motto with the impressiveness of a rite--for the legend assumed
+a quality of mystery, being much defaced from time.
+
+"_Hoc circa templum sit jus mercatoribus aequm, pondera ne vergant nec
+sit conventio prava._"
+
+(Around the Temple let the merchant's law be just, his weights true, and
+his covenant faithful.)
+
+Among the frescoes on the walls under the colonnade was the famous
+_mappa mondo_, upon which were indicated the various routes of Venetian
+commerce throughout the world.
+
+Two dignified elderly men wearing the black silk robe of the merchant
+with chains of heavy gold links were strolling to and fro in eager
+conversation--their comrades showing signs of deference as they passed.
+
+"Cyprus will seem nearer now," said one of them, pausing for a moment
+before the map to point out a speck in the Mediterranean with his
+gold-topped staff.
+
+"A century nearer than it was in the days of Comnenus," the other
+answered him, with a recollection of the attempted purchase and
+occupancy of the island in those earlier times. "But now--praise be to
+San Marco, the time is ripe."
+
+"And Venice hath never ceased to covet that 'Island of Delights!' But
+now her fleets may lie at anchor in the splendid port of Famagosta while
+she taketh her leisure in dealing with the merchants of the East; for
+the King of Cyprus must aye keep faith with the Republic."
+
+"Yet let Venice beware," the other answered, lowering his voice to a
+confidential tone. "It is not over-easy to hold His Majesty to any faith
+or compact, by what one may guess from the talk of the Senate: but the
+favor of Venice is needful to him."
+
+"And none the less that there be those who favor him not. Genoa is wroth
+at him for having chased them from Famagosta--the most marvellous
+stronghold in the world, if one may credit Messer Andrea Cornaro, the
+friend of the King."
+
+"He spake truly, from what I myself should have guessed thereof--getting
+no closer to the Fortress than any Cyprian might have done six years
+ago, when I had gone with my fleet to the Syrian Coast for a marvellous
+cargo of spices, and Cyprus tempted me to a voyage of pleasure, being
+not so far--the sail of a day with a fair galley. The Genoese held the
+great Fortress and the splendid city of Famagosta and the country for
+miles around; an enemy entrenched in the very heart of a kingdom! Small
+wonder that King Janus, being of a most laudable prowess, should claim
+his own again--which won him laurels, for the Cyprians had been sore
+over the matter. Aye; Cyprus is good for the commerce of Venice, and it
+would be a hard day when the ships of the Republic might not harbor in
+her waters. And if the good of Venice be the good of Cyprus,--the amity
+is the more like to last!"
+
+"Aye, for the commerce it is well--most truly well. But there will be
+too many of our patrician daughters in the suite of the young queen when
+she shall sail on the morrow. I could more easily have spared fewer."
+
+"They are but charming childish faces; and they have left their sisters
+behind them--they and the little Caterina; it is well that the bride
+should make a brave showing at the court of Cyprus--which is held for a
+marvel of splendor."
+
+"Thou knowest it, Messer Querini, having been there?"
+
+"Nay--not at court--it is Messer Andrea Cornaro who will tell of it. But
+I passed some days at Nikosia, on my way back from Alexandria, and
+verily the cities were twins for richness. The beauty of the
+churches--one for each day of the year through,--we of Venice may not at
+all equal, save in our Basilica of San Marco;--the precious altars
+inlaid with gold and jewels,--like our Pala d'Oro that cometh not forth
+of our treasury save on days of _festa_; finest statues of ivory and
+silver; great carven columns wrought like our columns of Acre--but
+vaster and of that same fineness of workmanship: and such broideries of
+golden thread and great pearls for draperies and altar-cloths, as one
+may scarce dream of! And in their market-places, strewn with the spoils
+of the East are faces and voices of every clime and a very babel of
+tongues; more--far more than on our own Rialto; with schools for every
+language. And I saw a thing in Nikosia that in all my journeyings I have
+not met with before."
+
+"Thy tales are more piquant than the tales of Marco Polo," his friend
+said rallying him.
+
+"All is marvellous of which thou hast not hitherto known, though it be
+simpler than thou art wont to behold. So I found strange and noble, a
+great building already a century and a half old, in the heart of this
+sumptuous city, whereon it was signified by a writing cut into the
+stone, that all men of every clime who but confess the name of Christus,
+being ill or needy, should receive therein, freely given, rest and
+entertainment."
+
+"If the entertainment were of the wines of Cyprus it would be verily a
+gift: for these one may even taste who hath not been in her great
+cities."
+
+"Truth is truth." the other assented. "And that wine of the
+Commanderie"--the dignified speaker interrupted himself with slow
+unmistakable signs of approval--"I will make it known to thee to-morrow
+at the banquet. And her ortolans!--It is a rich land: the Senate hath
+done well."
+
+"How sayest thou, 'the Senate hath done well?' Is it not that we are
+losing too many of our own patricians, rather than coming into favor of
+Cyprus?"
+
+"How 'losing them'--to win relations that be wise for Venice? Andrea
+Cornaro hath never been one to keep himself at rest in his palace at San
+Cassiano, and through his wandering hath come this royal alliance for
+Venice; and to-morrow he goeth again to Cyprus as auditor to the young
+queen, his niece. The Contarini, the Giustiniani--as thou knowest
+well--have already vast holdings on those Mediterranean shores."
+
+"What sayest thou of the Senator Aluisi Bernardini--that _he_ is no loss
+to Venice?"
+
+"Nay, nay: he is one that Venice may not too well spare: a man after her
+best traditions--one for an embassy or any place of power--a man to do
+us honor--overgrave and quiet, perchance, for his youth, yet of a
+courtesy and judgment!--and never leaving the thing undone! It is his
+father again."
+
+"Might not some other man, less finely tempered, have served in Cyprus?"
+
+"Aye--if the Bernardini himself were not so finely-tempered! I was in
+the Senate the day they put the choice before him--it was no secret, and
+it proved the man. To do him honor the Senate gave him choice--and the
+Senate doth more easily command. And this they laid before him. An
+Embassy to France, of which he should be chief--his father held it
+before him, and the Lady of the Bernardini hath been eager that her son
+should bear his father's honors: that, measured with this mission to
+Cyprus--to attend the charming little cousin, as private Chamberlain to
+the Queen, forsooth,--a man twice her years and already of an
+acknowledged dignity!"
+
+"It seemeth not easy to translate his choice. What sayeth the proud Lady
+of the Bernardini? For it is less honor."
+
+"One knoweth not; she being of Casa Cornaro, of the elder branch, and,
+like her son, of few words and great discretion. But she had lately
+spoken with me of this embassy to France, wishing that her son might
+hold it, thinking him well fitted for the place. Ah, well--she giveth no
+sign; and to-morrow she also setteth sail for Cyprus,--being created
+chief lady in waiting to her fair, young cousin."
+
+"The Lady of the Bernardini in the court of the Caterina! Impossible!
+She, in whose salons one might not think one's own thoughts!"
+
+"By San Tadoro! one might think them, at one's ease, so only they were
+of a quality to please her."
+
+"And the Lady of the Bernardini to leave her splendid palace! Venice
+without the Lady of the Bernardini!"
+
+"Where hast thou been that thou knowest it not? It is even so!"
+
+"Thou dost verily flatter the vanity of a man, Querini, to forget that I
+am but two days returned with my cargoes from Flanders."
+
+"Nay--thy pardon, friend. I mind it well enough and shall mind it better
+when thou hast a chance to make us envious of the wares thou wilt
+unburden from thy cumbrous, carven chests, for there is much talk of
+their richness. But the ear of Venice is so attuned to these
+wedding-chimes that it hath no chance to vibrate to another theme until
+the rejoicings of the morrow be past."
+
+"And the great estates of the Bernardini? I remember some rumor in the
+Broglio, before this matter of Cyprus came uppermost, that the houses
+would have been allied--a marriage between the little Caterina and the
+cousin Aluisi--a dispensation to be gotten from His Holiness. It would
+have been well for the estates and the Casa Cornaro."
+
+"Aye, it would have been well for the Casa Cornaro: better perchance
+than this dazzling foreign marriage, and more fortune in it for the
+Cornari. For the estates of the Bernardini are princely; and it is well
+known in the Senate, though it be uttered in decorous whispers, that the
+dower of the charming bride hath left small remainder to her noble
+uncle. And Messer Andrea also, is large lender to a king--for war-debts
+and the like--Janus having nothing until he had regained his kingdom.
+But as well buy a King as a vast estate for one's toy, if one hath the
+_zecchini_."
+
+"Thou art verily more a merchant than I had esteemed thee, Messer
+Querini, if thou hast no thought in this marriage but for the
+_zecchini_--as well those of her uncle Andrea for the maid Caterina, as
+those of the Bernardini."
+
+The Signor Querini gave a long, contemptuous sniffle.
+
+"May gold buy a man like our young Senator Bernardini! Nay:--but it is
+the fuss and manner of this marriage that turneth me somewhat against
+it: and because the father of the Bernardini was in truth my friend.
+But Caterina was still a child when a king appeared as suitor, and the
+question of the Bernardini was never made; and Marco Cornaro--Marco is a
+delighted _magnifico_. _Ebbene_--San Marco might see many of us wise,
+old fools choosing a king for a son-in-law, if one came our way to beg
+the favor. And Messer Andrea hath it that King Janus is full winsome.
+One should not be hard upon Marco Cornaro--it is not the first alliance
+that his noble house hath made with royalty. May happy fortune befall
+the maid--who is verily charming and of a consummate dignity."
+
+"The King hath sent an embassy, that doeth honor to any royal house, to
+bring his bride to Cyprus. His Excellency the Ambassador, Messer Filippo
+Podacatharo, is a princely escort; and yesterday when he gave banquet to
+the merchants of Venice, all were in admiration at the sumptuousness of
+the fleet of Cyprus."
+
+"I would have been there, but some matters of moment for the Bernardini
+held me. It is not easy for him to leave Venice, with his vast holdings.
+And his father was my friend. I command his galleys to-morrow, which
+follow the Bucentoro to the fleet of Cyprus, outside our harbor--San
+Marco favor the day!"
+
+
+
+
+VI
+
+
+When the Senator Bernardini had first made known to his stately
+patrician Mother his acceptance of the appointment to Cyprus, she had
+met him with surprise and keen disappointment.
+
+"There is surely some great error," she said; "for I had it in
+confidence that the Embassy to France hath been offered thee by the
+Senate."
+
+He confessed as much.
+
+"Thou wilt revise thy decision: I would gladly see thee wear thy
+Father's honors. Thou hast the gift of statesmanship."
+
+He waited to choose his words, for her tone betrayed more than her
+speech, and he grieved to thwart her ambitions for him.
+
+"So may it fit me the better for the Cyprian post," he answered with an
+attempt at playfulness.
+
+"Thou wilt verily give up this Embassy to France to go with the Caterina
+to her new land! There is some reason of which thou sayest naught--else
+were it hard to comprehend thy choice. We are but two, Aluisi; may not
+thy mother hold thy confidence?"
+
+For answer he raised her hand to his lips, smiling upon her. Her brow
+cleared.
+
+"It is not that the little cousin hath touched thy heart?" she
+questioned half seriously--"thou who art known as gracious for all and
+tender for none! I have not this to bear for thee--now that the marriage
+which thy Father would have favored is no longer possible? Then France
+were surely wiser for thee--the Fates are kind."
+
+"Nay, nay," he answered frankly--"have no fear. When I set sail from
+Venetia for my long voyage, the Caterina was still a child. And when,
+returning, I found her grown a charming maid, she was already set apart
+from all such dreaming for any honorable knight of Venice. Thou dost not
+guess the spell that holdeth me?"
+
+"It is not one of her fair maids of honor who go with her to her court
+of Cyprus?"
+
+"Nay, Madre carissima; thou art still before all others with thy wayward
+son."
+
+"Yet my wish for thee--of France--thou dost pass by," she interrupted
+eagerly.
+
+"It is but for duty to the Casa Cornaro,--in which thou wouldst be last
+to see me fail, dear Lady of Venice!"
+
+She laid her hand upon his arm as if she would constrain him.
+
+"Tell me," she urged.
+
+"Mother, when thy name and mine shall have been forgotten, _one_ name of
+the Casa Cornaro shall stand out never to be lost--since Fortune doth
+weave it into history. For honor to our house, we will not fail our
+Caterina."
+
+"And thou?"
+
+"As thou wouldst have me--thou, my Mother--than whom among the Cornari
+are none found prouder--I have sworn as solemnly as any knight may take
+his vow,--were it even in Crusade--to spend myself in service of the
+little Queen, my cousin--as in that far land there may be need."
+
+But for the Lady of the Bernardini--Venetian to her heart's core--the
+island of Cyprus had little charm; she had dreamed of a brilliant career
+for her only son which should open to him the best that Venice could
+give--and she was not satisfied.
+
+"There is no fault with that dear child," she said; "and as thy
+bride--if this had been--I could have loved her well. But if thy
+fortunes need be bound with hers--and all thine honors for which thou
+art so meet, and with which thy Venice would fain endow thee, must be
+surrendered for her sake,--'twere pity that this marriage which thy
+Father willed, went not forward."
+
+"Sweet Mother--the 'might-have-beens' make faincants of men. It is not
+love--but duty that calleth me. _There is no choice._ Where is thine
+honorable teaching?"
+
+"Bethink thee, Aluisi, of this post of dignity in France--a place of
+power--of service to thy country. How sayest thou 'there is no choice'?"
+
+"Mother--when our stars have ordered otherwise--there is no more to it
+than that--why then--if men lack strength to bend their wills to meet
+their destiny,--it is not as they will,--it is not as their honor
+wills--but far otherwise. And theirs the fault."
+
+She looked up into his noble face as he bent over her--a face not often
+yielded so fully to her gaze--dear as this widowed mother and her son
+were to each other, and intimate in friendship; and as she looked a calm
+fell upon her and she saw strength, truth, valor, judgment--the soul of
+the man like a rock beneath the light play of his speech.
+
+She no longer willed to oppose his choice. She put up her hand and drew
+him down beside her on the couch.
+
+"There will be much to think of," she said after a long silence; "thine
+interests in Venice will be hard to leave. Why--if some of Caterina's
+house must escort her and abide with her--why not her brother Zorzi? Who
+should be fitter in her defense?"
+
+"Zorzi is but a youth--less in years than her own. How should she lean
+on such a boy?"
+
+"Aluisi--thou hast some fear which thou hast not spoken."
+
+He was silent though she waited. How might he declare the bitter need of
+watchfulness, yet not betray the knowledge gotten in those secret
+councils of the Republic!
+
+"_Madre mia_," he said at last, when she had reminded him of her
+question. "Without cause I had made no vow. Canst thou not trust thy
+knight? And of my fealty, so solemnly sworn, Caterina knoweth naught. It
+is for me and thee alone--_and least of all for the ear of Venice_. But
+thou knowest--if it were no more than that the way of a crown be not
+easy for a young and guileless maid--some one of her own should be with
+her in that strange land; and he should be wise in counsel."
+
+"As thou?--who dost so qualify thyself?" she asked with a pitiful
+attempt to rally him--for her heart was sore. "What shall I do without
+thee--Aluisi!" Her voice had suddenly broken in yearning. It was not
+often that such emotion escaped her. He folded her hand more closely as
+they sat on in the silence, in the falling twilight, and his eyes
+wandered down the length of the splendid ancestral hall, while his
+resolve strengthened within him--the knights and ladies of the house of
+Cornaro for centuries back leaning to him out of the quaint carving of
+their time-dimmed frames--fading from him, like ghosts, into the gloom
+of the distant corners, yet holding him with a strange, vital
+fascination--for it was much to leave. The very tapestries rustled with
+the legends of the Cornelii of long, long ago, on the shores of the Rivo
+Alto, before the story of Venice had won its honored place in the
+chronicles of nations--yet not the less for their indistinguishable
+outlines and mythical color were they woven into the proud consciousness
+of the duty the Cornari owed their own.
+
+Memories of the state his Mother had held here rose to meet
+him--memories of his Father, who had been a power in Venice. How could
+he ask the Lady of the Bernardini, with her whitening hair, to leave it
+all for Cyprus? Yet that was in his thought. He could not frame the
+words; it was too much to ask--he must leave it to come from her.
+
+"Is thy fear not to be spoken?" she asked at last. "And must we accept
+it for the Caterina--who is very fair and tender?"
+
+"It is the ways of Cyprus that I fear," he answered quickly; "and of
+that strange people--a blending of half-pagan races with the blood of
+France and Greece. But, Madre mia--there must be no echoes from the
+Council-Chamber--none of our talk beyond thine own discreet hearing--it
+would but harm her. And for _acceptance_--'must we _accept_ it for the
+Caterina?'--thou dost ask--it is an empty word! The will of Venice is
+_set_ to do this thing."
+
+"Yet our cousin Marco--the child's own father--goeth not heavily; he
+hath no fear."
+
+"He is mad with the glory of it--after Venice's own temper."
+
+There had been some further talk--not over-much dwelling on vain
+regrets--and then the Lady of the Bernardini had asked,
+half-reluctantly:
+
+"How if some Lady of the Cornari went with her?--I--having no daughter
+of my own--and loving her well? And--thou and I need not be parted."
+
+"I dared not ask it of thee," he cried fervently--"for it is much. I
+dared not tell thee of the Senate's wish to name thee chief Lady of
+Caterina's Court."
+
+"The court of the child! The little Caterina!" she exclaimed
+impetuously, rising and taking a few steps away from him with the
+irresistible impulse of offended dignity.
+
+"I was bidden to lay their desire before thee--if it should be also of
+thy will, my Mother; it was not a command," he hastened to assure her.
+
+But she had already conquered herself--being strong as proud, and prompt
+in decision, but ruled above all by her deep affections, and she came
+back to his side before he had found words with which to propitiate her.
+
+"It was strange to me," she said, "but Venice would be more strange
+without my boy. Let us go together."
+
+"Thou canst verily bear to leave it all?" he asked when he could trust
+himself to speak.
+
+Her eyes followed the direction of his motion around the vast hall, then
+came back to rest upon his face.
+
+"The past is ours," she said, "but not to make us weak. Thy
+'might-have-beens' are not less wise for women than for men. I have only
+thee."
+
+"San Marco atone to thee for thy sacrifice," he cried devoutly.
+
+
+
+
+VII
+
+
+Never was a more brilliant pageant imagined to do honor to the symbolic
+rite of the _Wedding of the Adriatic_ than the triumphant Signoria had
+called forth to speed the young Queen to her distant island.
+
+Never did father more solemnly promise his protection to the child from
+whom he was parting, than did Cristoforo Moro, the Serenissimo, pledge
+the faith and support of Venetia to the Daughter of the Republic, as
+with slow majesty, to the rhythm of an ancient wedding canticle, the
+Bucentoro, escorted by all the galleys of the arsenal of Venice, the
+mighty galleasses of her patrician merchants and the gondolas of her
+nobles, moved forward, beyond the Lido, where the Ambassador Filippo
+Podacatharo waited with the fleet of Cyprus--most sumptuously
+outfitted--to receive the bride of Janus.
+
+And never sailed fairer maiden, more fearlessly, into the far sea of her
+unknown future, flooded with dreams, as with sunshine. Was it only a
+glamour, tissued of myth and of legend, that lay on the face of the
+waters, dazzling her eyes?
+
+The rejoicings of the people speeded her; the bells of all the campanili
+of Venice came echoing to the shores of the Lido; a tumult of
+voices--the voices of the _popolazzo_, shrill and jubilant, called down
+the blessings of all the saints upon her--of Santa Caterina--her own
+name-saint, fair patron of Betrothals; of charming San Luigi--the
+blessed guardian of love; of San Nicolo, Saint of the Sea; of Messer
+San Marco and San Tadoro; and shrilly, above them all, rose the babel of
+women's voices, invoking the Madonna, "Star of the Sea, Sancta Maria!"
+
+But most of all, deep within her girlish soul, love speeded her--love,
+grown strong through these years of waiting on the image she had
+fashioned for herself as the portrait of her lord--painted with all the
+glowing lights of a true and gracious heart that knew no shadows.
+
+As the galleys passed beyond the Lido into the wider water and the
+Daughter of Venice stood in her royal wedding-robes beside the Doge,
+under the golden canopy of the Bucentoro, a rosy light flashing from the
+circlet of rubies which, like the espousal ring of the Serenissimo, had
+been consecrated with solemn mass and benediction by the Patriarch of
+Venice,--did the words of the ancient rite occur to some among that
+throng of nobles, perchance, as an omen?
+
+"_Sea, we wed thee, in token of our true and perpetual dominion over
+thee._"
+
+But now, with a memory of the gracious legend of San Francisco del
+Deserto--that where the birds should light the favor of Heaven would
+follow, as they passed the convent on their outward way, a multitude of
+birds set free from their golden cages burst upon the air with a flood
+of song, inspired by their sudden liberty, then came throbbing and
+overwrought, to seek shelter among the silken sails of the Cyprian
+galleys--mere specks of iridescence, flashing like jewels in a chance
+ray of sunlight.
+
+The people saw and shouted, "_Benedizion della Madonna! Viva Messer San
+Marco! Viva la Regina!_"
+
+When the chimes of the campanili had dimmed to a faint cadence, like
+some unuttered rhythm of thought, as the distance grew between the
+outsailing fleet and all that pageantry of Venice, two faces stood forth
+like visions from the bewildering pictures of the morning and dwelt with
+Caterina forever.
+
+The pleading face of the Mother deep with tenderness, yet shadowed by an
+unspoken dread of the unknown that lay beyond:
+
+And the gaze of the saintly Patriarch, Lorenzo Giustiniani, full of
+strength and inspiration.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It was early summer, when the mere living was a joy; and there was much
+time for gracious dreaming as the galleys of Cyprus floated down the
+length of the Adriatic and past the fair coasts of the Mediterranean,
+before the coming of that wonderful day of days when the bridal fleet
+was nearing the shores of the _Isola Fortunata_ which had been for long
+the Mecca of the young Queen's girlish visions.
+
+It lay before her radiant under the Cyprian sky--palaces and ramparts
+stretching in long lines a-down the coast, against the background of
+mountain ranges, densely wooded and crowned with the sparkling snows of
+Troodos; there were gardens rainbow-dyed in bloom, cool with the spray
+of fountains and the shadows of waving palms; and between the cities
+were wonderful, fertile plains flowing down to the foam of the sea--a
+vision of tangled blossoms wreathing with beauty the shattered splendor
+of temples of outworn divinities, or rippling with tasselled corn and
+vines and all manner of fruit-bloom, in luxuriant promise of present
+good.
+
+What could there be but happiness in such a home! Already the spell of
+the fabled Cyprian isle was upon her,--could she ever forget this first
+vision of her land of dreams--fairer than even her hope had limned it!
+
+As she stood with beating heart, waiting with impatience that she scarce
+could bear for the first touch of her new, strange shore, for the first
+glimpse of her lover's face--all her pulses tuned to this harmonious
+rhythm of sky and sea and romance, it was told her that a messenger
+waited to speak with her.
+
+"Let him approach," she said, turning half-unwilling to watch a knight
+who advanced, unattended, bearing a missive with the pendant royal seal
+of Cyprus that she knew so well. He knelt before her, vizor down, yet
+with the customary homage; then, rising--
+
+"I am sent by his Majesty the King," he said, "to bear his greeting to
+his most gracious Sovereign Lady, or ever her foot shall touch the shore
+which blossoms for her alone."
+
+She drew a little pace away from him, fearing to utter her thought until
+she had seen his face.
+
+"Doth it become one so to speak the message of his King, with _visor
+down_, Sir Knight, to the bride whom his Majesty would honor?" she
+answered half-playfully--yet a little bashful in her first speech in the
+Grecian tongue which she had striven to make her own.
+
+"Our Sovereign Lady doth answer right royally," he said, as he bowed his
+acquiescence in her command, passing his helmet to one of the knights
+who came thronging behind him, and stood confronting her--very courteous
+and deferent in his bearing, though the breeze was tossing his waving
+hair about his throat with a hint of comradery, and there was a world of
+love and mastery in his charming face.
+
+Her own--very fair and true and radiant with girlish beauty--flushed,
+then paled again, with the quickened beating of her heart, and her eyes,
+eloquent in confession, were fixed on his, which deepened to a glow of
+pride and pleasure; yet he was loth to make an end of her charming
+confusion.
+
+"Hath this missive from his Majesty no meaning for his bride of Venice?"
+he asked, coming nearer.
+
+"Janus!" she cried--all her soul shining in her eyes; and then, in her
+own soft, Italian tongue:
+
+"How should my heart _not_ know thee!"
+
+
+
+
+VIII
+
+
+Caterina Veneta, Queen of Cyprus, stood on a high balcony of the summer
+palace in the Casal of Potamia, one beautiful June morning at early
+dawn, waving farewell to the cavalcade of nobles who were winding up the
+pass that led to the great forests where the patricians of the island
+were wont to pursue their favorite pastime. Janus was among them,
+leading in the chase as in every art that demanded agility and
+prowess--lithe, strong and beautiful in her eyes as in the first days of
+their short romance.
+
+It was the one hour of the torrid day when the air was fragrant with the
+breath of flowers and tingling with the freshness of the sea; and in the
+sparkle of the morning, with sunshine in her heart and love-light in her
+eyes, she was very fair to look upon.
+
+The scene had been exhilarating, full of color and motion--laughter and
+repartee mingling with the adieux of the knights and seigneurs to their
+ladies, the notes of the hunting-horns, the snorts of impatient steeds,
+the short expectant bark of the dogs, as the Master of the hounds, the
+young Count of Jaffa, with his great army of hunters and attendants,
+moved before the cavalcade into the heart of the forest. A fantastic
+train it was, with the picturesque costumes of the riders, the tinted
+tails of their horses and dogs flashing an orange trail in the
+sunshine, a touch of coquetry much in vogue among the young Cyprian
+nobles of the day.
+
+Caterina had watched the start with pride in her husband's grace and
+courtly bearing, his beautiful strong youth and the devotion of his
+chosen group of friends: and the winning charm of his manner, as he
+looked back with a parting act of homage, brought a flush of pleasure to
+her cheek. She stood for a moment, her eyes growing deep with delicious
+memories, as she recalled the romance of their first meeting.
+
+But she was conscious of a little pain at her heart, as she waited,
+following him with her eyes until the cavalcade was lost to view under
+the plumy shadows of the distant cypress-trees. Was it thus that kings
+should spend long summer days when there were rumors of discontent in
+the air--rumors definite enough to have reached the palace circle in
+mysterious undertones, quickly repressed when she turned to ask their
+meaning? Should Janus not have given up his pleasure to stay and examine
+into the cause which he had laughed away as a mere nothing--a jest of
+some discontented courtier of one of the old Greek families who had been
+in Cyprus before the days of the Lusignans; and all the more if they
+were always alert for fancied slights?
+
+"If he is discontented and it is a mere nothing, why should he not be
+summoned to state his grievance?" she had persisted, with a trace of
+pleading in her attitude that fretted the King. She was not to concern
+herself with questions of state or popular discontent suggesting
+unpleasantly the ruling spirit of Helena Paleologue, his father's wife;
+and he had not brought a girl-bride from Venice to watch his method of
+holding the reins!
+
+His annoyance had been very real under his laughing exterior, as he
+kissed the tips of her slender fingers in knightly fashion and assured
+her that there was nothing to trouble her dainty head about: she should
+keep her rose-leaf beauty dewy fresh for him, without brooding over the
+possible meaning of ancient discontented nobles who belonged to an
+earlier regime.
+
+A passing thought came over him while he made his laughing protest, of
+the four conspirators who had just been put to the cruel death which
+Cyprus reserved for her traitors; but their little game was happily
+over, and he dismissed the memory with a slight shrug of his graceful
+shoulders. "Was there ever a kingdom without malcontents?" he had asked,
+turning to his wife. "Was everyone satisfied throughout the length and
+breadth of Venetia?"
+
+She did not know, for she had been a mere child in her Venetian home,
+without thought for the things of state which few Venetian women dreamed
+of discussing--still less of influencing. But now, that she was left
+alone for a few days, she let her thought dwell upon the question. Was
+life more strenuous in Venice, or better ordered? As she recalled the
+ways of her father, the Senator Marco Cornaro, and of the other
+statesmen of his circle, she could not but recognize the fact that the
+nobles of Venice made the work of the Government their first concern.
+She would ask her Secretary-Cousin, Aluisi Bernardini; she felt sure
+that his knowledge and judgment were to be trusted on Venetian matters,
+although Janus had already told her with unconcealed disdain that
+Bernardini's opinion was valueless on Cyprian questions, which were new
+to him--and far too complicated.
+
+It was not until recently that some dim perception of this complexity
+had begun to dawn upon her, athwart the sunshine of her life as bride
+and queen. When she had first landed on this fabled island she had been
+too much under the influence of the glamour with which her dreams had
+invested Cyprus during the years of her betrothal for any serious study
+of conditions, or questions of right and wrong. She had been taught that
+kings rule by Divine Right, and no question of succession troubled her
+confidence of the people's choice of Janus as their sovereign. For her
+there were no disputes to consider, for the troubled state of Cyprus,
+but too well known in the Council Chambers of the Republic, had never
+been revealed to her. Janus was the only son of the late King, his
+father, tenderly beloved by him, supported by the Sultan who was
+Suzerain of Cyprus, and eagerly welcomed by the people of his realm.
+These were truths it had been considered wise for her to know, and they
+had been duly declared to her by her monitors of Venice.
+
+But there were others--conflicting truths--among them the facts of his
+birth and of his contest with Carlotta--with which they had
+diplomatically left her to come in contact when there could be no
+withdrawal, but which time must unerringly reveal to her, and with no
+gentle hand.
+
+The period of rejoicings for the Royal Marriage had been long and
+brilliant, as was the custom of the time, and the Coronation-fetes, the
+journeyings from city to city of the realm, that she might make
+acquaintance with her land and people, had brought them far into the
+early spring. But when the excitement of these days was over, she slowly
+grew aware of something sinister beneath the smiling surface, and the
+studied brilliancy of the atmosphere about her made her fear a
+conspiracy to keep her in childish ignorance of what was passing within
+the kingdom. But surely, if she were not equal to comprehending these
+things, she must bend herself to the task and try to grow!
+
+It was of this that the young Queen was thinking as her husband rode
+forth with his suite of gay, young nobles to the chase, and she summoned
+Aluisi to her presence.
+
+Already a blast of heat was rising over the land and the rasping cries
+of the cicala fretted their talk; and Caterina bade him follow her down
+into the _voto_--the vast, cool, underground chambers which, for the
+patricians of Cyprus, made life possible during this heated term,
+between the freshness of the morning and the comfort of the evening
+shadows.
+
+The talk was long and serious.
+
+"There was never a court without some discontent," he answered lightly
+to her questioning; "fair Madame, my cousin and Queen."
+
+The mingling of protection and affection in his attitude towards her was
+so natural in the older man who had known her as the petted child and
+cousin of their house through the years of intimacy in Venice, that she
+had never allowed him to change it when they talked alone together, and
+it was only in the presence of the court that he taught himself to
+remember her queenly estate.
+
+"Nay, Aluisi," she answered, earnestly, "thou art in league with the
+King--it was his very answer."
+
+"It is but truth, in league with truth, most gracious Majesty," he
+retorted playfully. "Nay--but no league at all; only two liege men
+speaking truth; therefore the oneness of speech."
+
+He had employed the stilted fooling of the period to cover his confusion
+and to gain time; for the matter was of moment and it had taken him
+unaware--he did not know how to answer her.
+
+"Nay, nay, Aluisi--I am distressed; there is some great trouble; I
+command thy knowledge."
+
+He had never heard her use the word before, and it became her well.
+
+"Fair cousin, it is not new," he answered deferentially, but pausing to
+choose his words, for it was no time to fill her soul with alarms. "It
+is, I hear them say, some question of a mutiny in Cerines."
+
+"It will mean an uprising?--danger for the King?"
+
+"Nay, have no fear; it was quelled at once."
+
+"How quelled?"
+
+"So soon as discovery of the plot was made--before any steps had been
+taken to carry out their plans."
+
+"_How_ quelled?" she asked again, dissatisfied.
+
+"The manner of it was not reported to me," he answered truthfully
+enough; "I knew not that the question would be put to me," he added with
+an attempt to turn easily from a subject on which he dared not speak
+freely to matter more nearly touching his office--of her commands for
+Venice for the galley that was to sail on the morrow. But meanwhile the
+vision of horror rose before him of that which he had seen with his own
+eyes; and lest, watching him so closely she should learn too much, he
+dropped his gaze, feigning to seek for some items on the tablet he held
+in his hand. How should he tell her the story of this plot to influence
+an uprising, to wrest the stronghold of Cerines for Carlotta, the rival
+claimant and heir? How explain this conspiracy against her husband when
+she probably knew nothing of what lay beneath it? How could he speak of
+the staunch loyalty to Carlotta of the leader of this conspiracy, of
+whom the disaffected were making a hero, and who had preferred any fate
+to the necessity of swearing fealty to Janus! He had shuddered at the
+barbarism which could decree such a fate for the conspirators; nor could
+he forget the horror of those bodies cut in bits, and swung on high, in
+the four quarters of the town--a ghastly warning for all men to see--as
+they walked to and fro in the marvellous great city of Nikosia--the city
+of luxury and of churches.
+
+But if the treatment of traitors in Venice was scarcely less barbarous,
+yet the State seemed to each son of the Republic a more awe-inspiring
+and less personal entity than a kingly head of any other government,
+justifying severer punishment when betrayed; Venetians had been brought
+up to feel that a traitor could ask for no milder fate than to swing
+high upon the Piazzetta between the columns--those who thought otherwise
+might avoid looking up as they passed.
+
+He would not start her questions when it was not for him to answer them.
+He caught helplessly at some court trifles, trying to evade her mood;
+but she silenced him with an impatient exclamation.
+
+When he raised his eyes he found her still watching him, with a
+pathetic, questioning look.
+
+"They keep things from me, as if I were a child!" she cried indignantly.
+"Can I be a friend to our people if I do not understand them? There are
+many things that I would know--the fiefs--the ancient nobles--Carlotta.
+They told me little in Venice of the things I need to know."
+
+"What things?" the Chamberlain asked helplessly.
+
+She looked at him searchingly. "To whom shall I go if not to thee,
+Aluisi? Art thou not enough my friend to help me?"
+
+"Messer Andrea, our cousin, being high in favor with his Majesty, hath a
+more intimate knowledge of Cyprian matters--I being new in the land--why
+not appeal to him? Was it not by him that our sweet Lady came hither?"
+
+She thought of the King's favorite, her Uncle Andrea Cornaro, as
+Bernardini spoke--debonair, charming--yet with a power of scorn and
+haughtiness beneath his facile exterior which won him the hatred of
+those who were not his friends. He had not found time for any serious
+talk with his niece, who had already appealed to him; indeed he had no
+time for anything but the brilliant surface life of the court, where he
+was a ruling spirit. After his own fashion he had been more than kind
+and generous to Caterina, showering her with princely gifts, eager that
+his niece should keep such estate as befitted the bride of Janus, and
+proud of his own part in securing so great an honor for the Casa
+Cornaro.
+
+But among the ancient nobles of Cyprus, there were some who resented the
+knowledge of their King's great indebtedness to this Venetian nobleman.
+
+The cousins Cornaro and Bernardini were of the same generation, and no
+less anxious for the honor of their house, but they represented opposite
+poles of Venetian character; Bernardini's gravity and dignity of
+demeanor concealed a depth of tenderness and consideration which he
+rarely confessed, yet, a true Venetian statesman, he could observe in
+silence, nor use his knowledge until it might be of some avail. The King
+disliked him, fearing his silent judgment, and was already considering
+how he might get him out of the Queen's household without offense to
+Venice, whose favor was important for him. Of the Cornaro, although he
+owed him much, he was less in fear; for Andrea Cornaro was one whom he
+might meet with his own weapons. The bearing and deference of Bernardini
+were unimpeachable, but Janus was impatient of his impenetrable reserve.
+
+Caterina laid her hand affectionately on her cousin's arm, in response
+to his question. "Aluisi," she said gravely, "my Uncle Andrea hath been
+more than kind--as to a child who asketh only baubles: but, truly, he
+will not see that one may not rest content to be always a child: he
+thinketh, perchance, that for women there is no duty but to move regally
+in the midst of a splendor where he would verily pour out his fortune. A
+question fretteth his mood, which persistence maketh not more serious.
+But in a kingdom where discontent hath a share, one must study the heart
+of the people and win it, if one may. And this is _my_ way to help my
+husband. The look of the peasants maketh me weary--as if the sunshine
+of their beautiful land were not for them. I miss the happy faces of our
+people of Venice!"
+
+"It is a queen-like task," he answered her, a little wondering at her
+gravity and purpose. "Meanwhile I will talk with the King's Chamberlain
+about the fiefs and about the old nobility," he continued, eagerly
+seizing the least tangled thread to draw this uncomfortable conversation
+to a close; "would not the Lady Margherita de Iblin know far better than
+I? Shall I ask my mother to send her hither?"
+
+The Lady Margherita--the one of all her Cyprian maids of honor who had
+most warmly won her friendship--there was no older nor more noble family
+in the island than the De Iblin; why had she not thought of her before!
+
+"Aye, bid her come hither," she answered, well-pleased; "we will rest
+together in the heat of the day and she shall tell me many things of
+Cyprus."
+
+But the Chamberlain felt some uneasiness as he went in search of the
+Cyprian lady who was to be the Queen's companion in more than one long,
+frank talk. If she were to presume too much upon Caterina's knowledge
+and speak too freely, what might happen when the King returned? Might he
+not vent his displeasure on Aluisi himself? And if he were to be
+dismissed to Venice, who would watch for her as he could do--protect and
+help her?
+
+But it was true that she ought not to be kept in ignorance of Cyprian
+affairs, and she herself had made the demand.
+
+In the days that followed, Cyprus began to unfold strange problems for
+the Queen, as its story fell from the lips of the young Cyprian woman
+whose confidence she had so freely invited.
+
+"Tell me I pray thee of Carlotta--Sister to the King--all that thou
+knowest," she said.
+
+"It is a long tale, your Majesty."
+
+"And these summer-days will be long, while the King is at the chase; we
+must seek wherewith to give them some new interest, for the Court is
+dull without him," she flushed like a shy, young girl, adding as if to
+cover her show of feeling: "it is dull with so many absent."
+
+The Lady Margherita was some years older than Caterina, and she felt the
+gravity of the task that the Queen had imposed upon her--to tell of the
+contest between her husband and his sister: she was silent in her
+perplexity.
+
+"It is a matter of history," she said slowly. "Doubtless your Majesty
+knew that many of us in Cyprus had taken oath of fealty to Carlotta
+before the Sultan sent us Janus and upheld him for our King. It is a
+difficult tale to speak of before our Sovereign lady--whom we love."
+
+She looked up, a smile transforming her grave, dark face and deep, sad
+eyes; the rare sweetness and directness of the young Queen's nature had
+already won her reverent love: but suddenly, as the Lady Margherita
+looked at her she grew aware of the unsuspected fund of strength beneath
+the gracious girlish exterior, realizing that the spring of her actions
+would be in true nobility--not in selfish pleasure. Might not some good
+for her dear land come from the enlightened love of its youthful Queen?
+Yet she hesitated to bring any shadow into the life which had seemed all
+sunshine during these few months of bridal festivity, and the Queen was
+young to look at life through such serious eyes. But she had asked, and
+the King, who was still a lover, might be steadied by his wife's
+influence.
+
+Caterina put out her hand in response to the smile and clasped that of
+Margherita.
+
+"It is for your Majesty to command silence or speech," the Cyprian
+maid-of-honor said tentatively, as Caterina still held silence. "Yet, if
+it be speech, I pray your Majesty to remember that it is not I, who am
+the cause, if my page of history should offend. If I must speak, it can
+only be what I believe to be truth."
+
+"It is only those who speak truth, my Margherita, of whom one may trust
+the friendship," Caterina answered gravely. "And I have chosen thee for
+my friend."
+
+A deep flush colored the Cyprian's ivory cheek as she knelt and kissed
+the queen's hand in acknowledgment; for the reticent maid had opened her
+heart, with unwonted warmth, to the appeal of the rare simplicity and
+force of her liege lady's gentle nature.
+
+"I would rather _know_, than fear I know not what," Caterina pursued.
+"Our most Reverend and beloved Patriarch of Venice hath given me this
+talisman to help me in my new land," there was a little pathetic
+lingering on the words, which touched her listener, "'Seek to know the
+truth concerning _all_ thy people. And tell thy perplexity, if there be
+any, to Christ and the Madonna.' I would know that I may help the King,"
+the young wife pleaded.
+
+
+
+
+IX
+
+
+And now, by the Queen's command which might not be denied, the talk
+flowed through the days of leisure during the absence of the King, while
+Caterina strolled with her Cyprian maid of honor through the terraced
+gardens in the cool of the evening, or rested in the heat of the day, in
+the shaded apartments of the _voto_. The girl-queen listened with
+breathless eagerness to the strange revelations, often interrupting with
+passionate exclamations, for her short taste of Cyprian life had been so
+colored with the glamour of love and happiness and the excitement of her
+novel surroundings that the vague forebodings which were beginning to
+temper the brilliancy had suggested no serious shadows.
+
+In vain Donna Margherita pleaded that she might be allowed to put the
+theme aside, as she told of the disaffection of some of the ancient
+nobles of Cyprus who had been despoiled of vast estates because of their
+sympathy with Queen Carlotta. "But Janus was ever generous," said
+Margherita, "and none of their riches went into the King's treasury, but
+always into the hands of those nobles who were loyal to the new
+Government."
+
+_The new Government! Queen Carlotta!_ The young Venetian's hot
+resentment rose fiercely against the Republic which had left her in such
+ignorance of Cyprian matters while she turned her proud young head away
+that Margherita might not guess how little the name of Carlotta had
+meant for her.
+
+"Tell me more of Carlotta--tell me everything," she commanded, steadied
+by her quick resolve to know and endure whatever the past might hold for
+her; and Margherita, who had been watching her with strange intuition,
+knew that she might hold nothing back, as she also knew that the young
+Queen had been kept in absolute ignorance of the complications preceding
+the accession of Janus. But it was impossible for Caterina to conceal
+the play of her angry emotions as the tale progressed, and she frankly
+gave up the attempt. Janus--her beautiful Janus--the idol of the old
+King--_not_ the legal heir to the throne! Janus, in his boyhood, hated,
+thwarted, intrigued against--living in very fear of his life!
+
+"Nay!" Margherita assured her with glowing eyes, "he knew not the color
+of fear, for he had the heart of a King!"
+
+Then Caterina drew her close and gave her a passionate kiss, in seal of
+a friendship that was never to be broken.
+
+"He had need to be brave," Margherita went on when she could command her
+voice, for the Queen's great eyes were beseeching, "for Queen Elena
+cared not how he should be put out of the way so that he might not
+interfere with her absolute sway nor with the holding of the Crown by
+her daughter Carlotta, when old King Janus should die."
+
+So this was why, by Queen Elena's command, the dashing, masterful boy of
+fifteen had been created Archbishop of Cyprus--in the hope that the
+honors of the Church might absorb his powers and keep the wish for his
+succession out of the thoughts of the people who idolized him! This
+holding of the Primacy had been a mystery to Caterina, who, dearly as
+she loved her hero, knew him to be no saint. But, whatever the rights of
+Carlotta--who had been left Queen by her father's will (and insistent
+questions thrust themselves into the thoughts of Caterina while she
+listened, zealous to escape no detail)--it was evident that Margherita's
+sympathies went out to Janus.
+
+"He hath more the quality of the Lusignans--to whom the De Iblin were
+ever loyal," she explained to Caterina, "and Carlotta is like her
+mother. Janus was first to offer his homage to his sister, pleading that
+as children of one father there might be truce and loving intercourse
+between them; but he was refused admittance to the Royal Palace; denied
+his right, as Primate of Cyprus, to preside at the coronation and
+commanded to remain within his palace during the ceremony, _lest the
+love of the people should acclaim him King_. But the crown of Carlotta
+fell from her head as she returned in stately procession to the palace,"
+Margherita exclaimed, crossing herself devoutly--"so one might know that
+her reign should not be happy!"
+
+"And then?" Caterina questioned, impatiently.
+
+"Ah, yes, your Majesty, there was more; for our brave Janus had been
+gentle withal, but for ceaseless outrage that forced him to forswear his
+oath of loyalty. His revenues were withheld: he was beguiled to a
+banquet in the palace of a high officer of the crown where poisoned
+meats were set before him, but here, as in many another intrigue, the
+watchful love of the beautiful Maria da Patras--his unhappy
+mother--saved his life. Poor lady! she watched and prayed for him, and
+had no other thought.
+
+"One knows not how--but she always knew--as if some spirit had told
+her!" Margherita continued in a tone of awe, after a moment's silence.
+"For none but she had dreamed the great Sir Tristan traitor to his
+trust, he who came of the noble house of De Giblet and was keeper of the
+Episcopal Palace and on guard at night! Yet once it befell that Sir
+Tristan came stealthily into the sleeping chamber of the prince, and the
+pages of the night who stand at arms beside the couch had fallen to the
+pavement, heavy with some strange sleep. But Donna Maria had watched and
+warned and our Janus was already stealing far on his way to Alexandria,
+when Sir Tristan drew aside the curtains and plunged his dagger deep
+into the mass of pillows which in the darkness wore some semblance of a
+sleeping form. It was told that he howled with rage at such childish
+thwarting, for Donna Maria had men at hand who came running at the
+outcry and took Sir Tristan into safe keeping."
+
+"Madre Sanctissima!" Caterina exclaimed in her excitement, and urging
+the recital with a quick motion of her hand.
+
+"It was the last time, sweet Lady, that our Janus might feel Carlotta's
+power; for soon he returned from Alexandria to take possession of Cyprus
+by order of the Sultan, our Suzerain, upheld by his armies and his
+treasure. For the charm of the Prince had won their hearts; the
+circumstance of his birth and a woman's rights were of small account in
+the estimation of the Sultan, and the march of our young King from his
+landing to his capital was a victory--the people kneeling in his
+pathway--wild with the joy of welcome."
+
+Margherita had told the tale with eloquence, her breath coming quickly,
+her color rising, but Caterina was fairly startled by the dramatic ring
+in her voice as she told how Carlotta, at the last moment, finding
+further resistance impossible, had sent an envoy to Janus to promise him
+the revenues of his See, once more, if he would but lay down his arms
+and renew his allegiance. But the magnificent ambassador from
+Alexandria, whom the Sultan had sent with Janus to see his will
+enforced, made reply:
+
+"It is the will of my master--the Sultan of Sultans, the Lord of lords,
+the King of kings--that Janus, prince of Cyprus, should reign as King;
+and my master, the Sultan of sultans, will acknowledge no other
+sovereign."
+
+Then, suddenly, Caterina felt that she could bear no more; she must be
+alone to think, and she held up her hand to entreat silence. How tender
+she would be to him on whom such cruelty had been wreaked--how
+loving--to make amends for all the hatred of the past! How brave he was,
+her true knight--how forgiving--to have told her nothing of all this
+tragedy! It was not strange that his people loved him so--his people who
+had thronged upon his pathway with acclamation and greeting! Her heart
+beat high with adoring love and her eyes filled with happy tears.
+
+"My Janus!" she cried, and then again, "my Janus," she whispered softly,
+filling the syllables with a wealth of tenderness and sympathy. She felt
+that she could not wait until he should come again; these few days had
+seemed so long!
+
+But her elation passed and a sense of overwhelming disaster possessed
+her. "The Senate had known it all--the Senate had told her
+nothing--_nothing about Carlotta_. Why had they not named her--was it
+because--because----?"
+
+And then the questionings that had come to her hastily and been lost in
+the recital of the perils and escapes of one so beloved came back with
+renewed force and would not be quieted, but called out for an answer.
+When Janus came she would ask him--in her staunch fair soul, she knew
+that she _must_ ask him, though he might be angry and the bare thought
+of this made her shrink and quail--it even shadowed a little the
+pleasure of his longed-for coming--for he had always been so knightly to
+her. But yet, she could not wait! A great horror came over her of the
+old Queen, who had been painted as without principle and of wild
+passions--shrinking from nothing so that she might gain her will, and
+she was glad in her soul that Elena was not the mother of her Janus,
+while she struggled with her Venetian pride and promised herself to be
+the truer to him for his wrongs. And so the night wore on; and between
+her longing and her trouble there was no sleep for her while the day
+delayed.
+
+A vague shape of terror seemed to hover between her and her vision of
+the future that had been so golden. Where was Carlotta? Might she not
+come again and strive to win back her crown? Were the nobles many who
+would uphold her?
+
+Nay; but it was Janus whom the people loved--Janus! who had been crowned
+their king, with all solemn ceremony in Alexandria, by order of the
+Suzerain of Cyprus--to oppose him was rebellion! Janus--her beloved--so
+winsome, so masterful! Then, slowly out of the darkness rose the noble
+face of Lorenzo the Giustinian, full of quiet and strength--her mother's
+face, loving, comforting--both asking her best of her; and the Question
+grew in her soul. "Perhaps Carlotta's right was greater--_could it be
+greater_ than her husband's?"
+
+
+
+
+X
+
+
+All day the queen had been restless and depressed, starting at the sound
+of a footfall only to drop her eyes again in disappointment and relapse
+into unquiet revery; the weight of empire hung heavily upon her girlish
+spirit and she was unutterably lonely in the absence of Janus which
+seemed so unduly prolonged. It was the latest day that he had named for
+his possible absence, and still no courier had come to announce his
+return.
+
+The noon had been unusually sultry, the stifling heat of the upper
+chambers oppressed her and the ceaseless, rasping whir of the cicala
+smote her with weariness, but she resisted the attempt of her ladies to
+detain her in the cooler atmosphere of the _voto_, for in these
+underground chambers she could have no sight of the great plain beyond
+the boundaries of the palace-gardens--and she preferred remaining in the
+halls that overlooked the terraces--turning her eyes often in the
+direction of the forest.
+
+It was like a pall upon them all to see their young mistress, usually so
+gracious and responsive, wholly absorbed in her troubled revery; but
+to-day her maidens played their sweetest strains upon their silvery
+lutes, without her answering smile; the gentlemen of her court sought in
+vain for some diversion to distract her; even the Lady Margherita could
+do nothing for her pleasure, while she watched in unobtrusive
+tenderness, feeling that quiet, however unsatisfying, was more welcome
+than speech.
+
+The pages, at a sign from the Lady Margherita, had dipped their fronds
+of feather in the great vases of mountain-snow that stood between the
+columns, and waved them about the chamber; the queen followed their
+movements with a fleeting smile as this breath of coolness reached her,
+then fixed her eyes again, with a despairing look, upon the distant
+forest.
+
+"She wearieth for the King," her maidens said low to each other, "and
+verily he may come to-night, for the days have already numbered more
+than he giveth of wont to the chase."
+
+"She is not like herself," the Lady Ecciva de Montferrat whispered to
+her young Venetian companion, Eloisa Contarini, as the company strolled
+out upon the terraces at a sign from the Lady Beata Bernardini whose
+loving motherly eyes saw that Caterina needed rest and solitude. "She is
+strange and pale to-day--like one who hath seen a vision." Lady Ecciva
+spoke with deep seriousness, for superstition was a vital part of the
+Cyprian nature, belonging alike to peasant and noble.
+
+"How meanest thou--_a vision_?" Eloisa questioned, startled.
+
+The other turned to see that they were not followed and answered in an
+awe-struck tone: "_The vision of the Melusina--the fate of the
+Lusignans!_ Didst thou not hear her shriek from the Castle of Lusignan
+in the dead of night?"
+
+"_The Melusina?_ Ecciva, who is _the_ '_Melusina_?'"
+
+"She is the evil genius of the House of Lusignan," Ecciva explained to
+her excited companion, "all Cyprus knoweth that when the Melusina crieth
+three times from the towers of the ancient Chateau of Lusignan, in far
+France, it meaneth death, or some great misfortune to a ruler of this
+house."
+
+"And thou--didst hear this lamentation verily, Ecciva? I should have
+died from fear!"
+
+"Yea, thou being from Venice--not knowing that it bodeth not harm for
+thee--it is misfortune only for some ruler of their house of Lusignan."
+
+"And that is naught to thee!" the Venetian girl exclaimed in
+astonishment. "Thy King--is he nothing to thee?"
+
+"One knoweth not," the other answered nonchalantly. "There is
+Carlotta--both of the house of Lusignan; and she might be kinder than
+King Janus who seized the fiefs of my father because he came not forth
+to do him homage when he landed with his army from Alexandria."
+
+Eloisa drew herself impetuously away from her companion who was watching
+her through long, half-closed eyes.
+
+"Thou then--why art thou here?" she exclaimed indignantly, "in service
+of my beloved Lady, who is so good and fair, if thou lovest her not--nor
+the King!"
+
+The youthful Dama Ecciva laughed lightly:
+
+"Thou art a veritable _turco_ for fierceness, Eloisa! I have naught
+against her Majesty, who truly is most fair and gracious--quite other
+than Carlotta--whom I love not at all! And if I held some grudge against
+the King for seizing of my father's lands (which broke his heart before
+he died) one cannot long be churlish in presence of our Janus, who hath
+a matchless fashion of grace with him, so that all think to have won his
+favor. Verily, that is a King for Cyprus!--he mindeth one of Cinyras. I
+must tell thee the tale of our hero of Cyprus some day, Eloisa."
+
+"Aye: but tell me now--how camest thou at Court if the King hath wronged
+thy house?"
+
+"Such eyes thou hast!--like a frightened child! I know not if I shall
+reach thy comprehension, were I to answer thee--but I, being only
+daughter to my father, Gualtier of Montferrat, who had no son--plead
+with my mother to send me hither when I came of age, to do homage
+loyally to King Janus, and claim our fiefs of him again--I being his
+vassal by right of long generations past--there was no other way."
+
+"A vassal so loyal doth honor to him and thee!" the warm-blooded
+Venetian maid cried scornfully, with a toss of her dainty head.
+
+Again the Lady Ecciva laughed lightly, but no shadow of discomposure
+marred the exquisite outlines of the beautiful, cold face: the skin,
+delicate and fine as ivory, showed no flush of color: her eyes and
+tresses were dark as night--the eye-brows slender, yet marking a perfect
+arc--the eyes beneath them tantalizing, inscrutable--the mouth rosy as
+that of a child--the fingers long, sinuous, emphasizing her speech with
+movements so unconscious that sometimes they betrayed what her words
+left unguessed.
+
+"I do not understand thy vassalship," the Lady Eloisa said with
+hesitation--yet eager to know more of her companion's attitude toward
+the Queen; they had wandered far down the terrace to the basin where the
+swans were floating, opalescent in the sunset light.
+
+Dama Ecciva broke off some oleander blossoms and flung them at the royal
+birds with teasing motion, watching them contentedly as, one by one,
+they floated away with ruffled plumage and sounds of protest.
+
+"It is a right of our house for many generations," she explained; "being
+allied with royalty through the elder branch of the Montferrats, I am a
+_dama di maridaggio_ by birth, and since there is no son of our house to
+offer homage in return for our fiefs, the duty was mine to do service to
+our King and claim our lands of him again. It was a simple ceremony--to
+bend the knee and kiss his hand, and make some empty vows--to see my
+mother Lady of her lands once more."
+
+"Aye, it were well--if thy vows were not so 'empty,'" Eloisa protested.
+"How shouldst thou speak so coldly of thy vision, if thou hadst one
+spark of loyalty?"
+
+"It was not _my_ vision," her companion answered nonchalantly; "I slept
+the night through, the better to enjoy the day, which, verily, was not
+worth taking such trouble for,--so stupid hath it been!"
+
+"But the vision?" Eloisa questioned impatiently--"there was no vision!
+Thou hast said it but to frighten me!"
+
+"It is her Majesty who hath had the vision--one can tell it but to look
+at her: and for the three fatal shrieks--the shrieks to curdle one's
+blood--Josefa told of them but now. _Some_ one hath heard them; but
+they hush it in the court for it meaneth disaster."
+
+"I may not stay with thee!" Eloisa cried turning away in hot
+displeasure; "not for fear--for I do not believe thy vision: but because
+I hate thy mocking spirit and thy so strange loyalty--_dama di
+maridaggio_!"
+
+The Lady Ecciva calmly resumed her pastime of swan-teasing as her
+impulsive companion, flushed and panting, began to climb the long flight
+of marble steps that led back to the palace-plateau.
+
+"I think I am better companioned this heavenly night without thy
+preaching," she said serenely, as Eloisa, half repenting her quickness,
+turned back to wave her a farewell, "for the breezes are comforting
+after the day, and fret me not with questions. And for my
+_loyalty_"--she lingered mockingly on the word--"my loyalty will serve
+King Janus well enough, unless he seeketh to enforce his rights to my
+displeasure."
+
+"How to thy 'displeasure'? What 'rights'?"
+
+"His right of Lord of the fiefs--for our lands are gifts of the
+Crown--to choose a husband for his _dama di maridaggio_ who suiteth not
+her fancy."
+
+"Nay, verily, Ecciva, he is a noble gentleman--he would not press thee
+too hard, thou wouldst protest."
+
+"Aye, I should protest--I _would_ protest. And so he hath no scheme to
+marry me with the miserable Neapolitan noble who held our lands while we
+were dispossessed, I care not! But it were good to know what fancy might
+seize him--our charming Janus! For he is a man of many moods and some
+favorite of the Soldan may next be friend to him!"
+
+The evening breezes were slowly waking over the torrid land, bringing
+needed refreshment after the long sultriness of the day: the air was
+laden with delicious odors--fragrance of rose and jessamine and orange
+blooms; birds of brilliant plumage called to each other in jubilant
+notes as they flitted hither and thither among the pomegranate blossoms
+which burned, like tongues of flame, among the thickets of green.
+
+Back through the long alleys of wonderful trees where many a clinging
+vine trailed masses of riotous color, it was pleasant to hear mirthful
+voices ringing freely after the dull day's repression, or echoing back
+more faintly from adventurous wanderers in the farther shrubberies. This
+garden of delights which Janus had made for his bride, environing this
+palace of Potamia, was alive with charm--rippling with stolen streams,
+more costly than molten silver at the summer's height, which kept it in
+such vesture of luxuriant bloom as only a monarch might command.
+
+But Eloisa sped quickly up from terrace to terrace, scarcely pausing to
+answer the persiflage with which her companion sought to detain her; she
+was overwrought and unhappy, in spite of herself; she had no faith in
+the vision of Ecciva; she felt hurt and outraged by her coldness, and
+she was hastening back for one look in the true and noble face of the
+Lady of the Bernardini, who mothered all these young Venetian maids of
+honor in the court of Caterina, craving to express her deep loyalty to
+the Queen herself by some immediate act of silent homage.
+
+Only the Lady of the Bernardini and Margherita de Iblin were with
+Caterina in the loggia, just without the palace, as Eloisa came flying
+up the steps and falling on her knees covered the young Queen's hand
+with passionate kisses.
+
+"What is it, _carina mia_?" Caterina asked in alarm; "thou bringest
+news? There is a courier?"
+
+"_Niente--niente, Serenissima_--only to be near the one I love!" the
+girl cried fervently; and then grew suddenly quiet, in full content
+after this needed avowal.
+
+"Poverina, thou art lonely for thy Venice, and thy people," the Queen
+murmured in her own soft Italian tongue, while her fingers strayed
+caressingly through the glory of red-gold hair which fell unbound about
+the maid, in the fashion of those days for one of noble birth and tender
+age.
+
+But presently she withdrew her hand and motioned Eloisa to a corner
+among the cushions on the curving marble slab, grotesquely wrought with
+talismanic symbols, which outlined the end of the loggia where they sat.
+"Thou art come a-propos: for the Lady Margherita hath promised us a tale
+of ancient Cyprus, and we of Venice wish to know these legends of our
+beautiful island."
+
+"Nay, beloved Sovereign Lady;--it is not legend but simple historic
+truth, which your Majesty hath granted me permission to narrate--a tale
+of love and loyalty of the annals of our house; and out of it hath come
+this Cyprian proverb: '_Quel che Iblin e non si puo trovar._' 'Such an
+one as Iblin may no man find!'" Dama Margherita, usually so pale and
+grave, was flushed and eager; her deep eyes sparkled; her breath came
+fast.
+
+The name of Joan of Iblin was revered in Cyprus and the Queen turned
+towards Margherita with some comprehension of her pride in the nobility
+of this ancestor who had spent himself in loyal service for the early
+Kings of Cyprus, touching her hand with a light pressure, smiling her
+approbation.
+
+No feast at any court in those days was complete without this diversion
+of recitation, when the nation's heroes, or some passage from its
+greater classics, furnished the theme; or when some improvisator wove a
+tissue of myth and legend, embroidered with fact, which won its way
+through confiding ages as historic truth, till the time, growing
+sophisticated, laid it heroically aside for a curio. And Cyprus stood
+high among the Eastern nations in literary reputation. Was not its poet
+Enclos earliest among the Greek prophetic singers? Was not the "Cypria"
+celebrated among the epics of antiquity, a precursor to the Iliad
+itself? Was any land more fertile than Cyprus in food for poets?
+
+The Cypriotes no longer knew whether Cinyras were god, or man, or myth;
+whether he were the son of Apollo, or of Pygmalion and the bewitching
+ivory image of the sculptor's dead wife; or, in very truth, that
+splendid prince of Agamemnon's time, as sung by Homer in the Iliad,
+winning laurels at the siege of Troy. This hero of the "_Cypria_," was
+he, in verity the great High Priest of the island and chief of the
+stately race of the _Cinyradae_ who had ruled the people long in State
+and Sanctuary, and filled their realm with stately temples? The
+Cypriotes drew breath in an atmosphere of myth and poetry and felt the
+recital of the feats of their heroes to be no less a duty than a
+delight.
+
+The improvisatorial faculty so often bestowed upon this imaginative
+people was greatly prized, and not infrequently it descended from father
+to son, as an inheritance, winning for its possessor something of the
+reverence granted to a prophet.
+
+Dama Margherita de Iblin possessed this gift, though only in moments of
+deep feeling was she willing to exercise it: but to-night she was
+strangely moved out of sympathy for the Queen, whose evident anxiety
+filled her with foreboding and whom she eagerly longed to divert.
+
+"Since your Majesty hath graciously commanded the story of Joan of
+Iblin, Lord of Beirut and Governor of Jerusalem--a tale of our dear land
+when it was young--I will tell it after the fashion of my people," she
+said, rising with her sudden resolve, her strong, dark face grown
+beautiful from the play of noble emotions.
+
+She stood for a moment, her tall figure in its sweeping folds swaying in
+slow rhythmic cadence--her attitude and gesture full of grace and
+dignity--irresistibly compelling--as in low, penetrating monotone she
+began her chant.
+
+The music-maidens stole noiselessly forth upon the loggia, accompanying
+the noble improvisatrice with lute and rhythmic posture; the night
+deepened and the stars came out, and still her hearers listened
+breathlessly, as in moments of emotion the chant leaped wildly to meet
+the urgency of her thought, or deepened in melting tenderness to its
+pathos; for such was the intensity of Margherita's emotion and dramatic
+quality that she endued each character with an almost startling
+vitality--or had she put her auditors under some magic spell with the
+compelling gaze of her deep eyes? They felt as if living in that past
+time, partakers in its very action, and they surrendered themselves to
+her power.
+
+It was the tale of an infant heir of Cyprus, when the realm was young
+and the Emperor Frederick was her Suzerain, and with a sweep of her
+magnetic fingers Margherita showed the babe lying helpless and appealing
+before his uncle the noble Lord of Iblin, to whom the widowed Queen had
+confided him during his tutelage. The guardian's faith and devotion were
+sketched in rapid strokes; and when the tiny King had been crowned and
+his knights and barons of Cyprus and Jerusalem had sworn him fealty, the
+souls of her listeners swelled indignant within them as Dama Margherita
+thrilled forth the challenge of the Emperor to the Lord of Iblin to lay
+down his trust and surrender the child with the customs of Cyprus to
+him--their Suzerain--until the boy should be of age.
+
+"_Not so--most gracious Lord and Emperor!_" Joan of Iblin had made
+dauntless answer; "_for my tutelage is by order of the Queen, his
+mother, who holdeth the regency justly, and by the laws of Cyprus and of
+Jerusalem--which, with all courtesy, I will defend. I make appeal unto
+the courts for this our right!_"
+
+Her sympathetic auditors verily _heard_ the tramp of armies in the wild
+chant of Margherita when the Emperor had replied with scorn and insult,
+trampling on the rights of Cyprus; they could have sworn that they saw
+the Emperor's hosts gathering on the plains as they watched the
+impetuous motions of all those beckoning maiden hands; and then,
+advancing in quiet dignity, sure of their right, the old-time knights
+and barons of Cyprus and Jerusalem, moving to the measure of a quaint,
+Christian psalm: and so fully had her listeners yielded themselves to
+her potent spell, that but hearkening to her recital, they quailed and
+trembled when she told that the enemies of the Lord of Iblin came by
+night and sought to whisper treachery to his staunch soul, while in
+tones that scarcely broke the hush, the false words of the tempter
+reached their consciousness, quivering through them, as if they
+themselves were guilty of this treachery:
+
+"_Ye are more in number than the hosts of the Emperor--kill him while he
+sleepeth! For we will see that his guards wake not._"
+
+Then fell a deep, throbbing silence, tingling with a sense of shame,
+broken by a sudden discord of the lutes and the wild burst of ringing
+scorn.
+
+"_Shall we, Christian men of Cyprus, do this iniquity!_"
+
+Again, the whispered voice of the tempter: "_Aye! for the Emperor is
+false; he hath taken thine own sons for hostages and keepeth not his
+promise but in his camp entreateth them shamefully; and in the courts,
+which shall judge of this thy cause, doth seek to malign thee._"
+
+Once more came the voice of Joan of Iblin, invincible:
+
+"_We have sworn fealty to the Emperor--we are true men--be others
+untrue._"
+
+And then in unison--swift, sure, triumphant--the words vibrated on the
+air: "_We have sworn fealty to the Emperor--we are true men--be others
+untrue._"
+
+The voices in the garden had long since ceased, and one by one the
+wanderers had gathered on the terrace, waiting in responsive silence the
+conclusion of the tale they loved. Among them the Bernardini stood
+entranced. He had been strolling alone, filled with anxious thoughts
+which had brought him to a mood easily wrought upon, and from the
+silence of the garden to come suddenly upon this scene of picturesque
+action was a surprise that gave it added power.
+
+He stood as if fascinated, never moving his gaze from the lithe figure
+of Margherita, whose every motion revealed new grace and unsuspected
+depths of feeling. Margherita, whom he had thought so grave and cold! So
+intently was he watching her that he realized no others in the vivid
+pantomime until the music maidens had gathered closely about her with
+hushed lutes and a mysterious silence fell--as of night upon the
+plain--spreading with the slow movement of the down-turned palms of all
+that girlish throng--the graceful, swaying figures scarce advancing, yet
+seeming to encompass the plain.
+
+Between these interludes of dramatic rendering, the thread of the story
+was held in a quick, clear monotone easily followed. The hushed tramp of
+a great army withdrawing in the night--not from fear, but to honor their
+vows--the words of Iblin: "_We will not fight our Emperor, for our men
+are more than his: which having seen, it will now perchance please him
+to accept our terms of honorable peace._" The Emperor's acceptance of
+the terms from fear or wile, or because of new wars pressing in his own
+lands: his promise to leave the customs of the realm to Cyprus: and
+then, as Suzerain, his swift summons to the Lord of Iblin to join him in
+Crusade with men and arms. But the friends of the faithful guardian
+close round him and the chant of Margherita grows fierce and ominous:
+
+"_Beware! He meaneth treachery. It is no summons--save to entrap thee._"
+
+But the answer rings out loyally in the knightly faith of those early
+days, while the deep, contralto tones electrify her audience: "_Shall we
+show fear of our Emperor, or fail to bring him aid in holy warfare of
+Crusade--we, who are Christian knights? Faith begetteth Faith!_"
+
+Then the Cypriotes fare them forth to do the bidding of their dauntless
+leader,--all the knights and nobles of Cyprus and Jerusalem, the
+youthful King and the sons of the Lord of Iblin--with interchange of
+gifts and feasting and homage as of leal men to their Suzerain: with
+much pledging of faith, from each to each, after the manner of those
+days--against the background of that noble chorus following from afar in
+massive, chanted solemn tones--
+
+     "_Faith begetteth Faith._"
+
+But now, to the cities of Cyprus, left destitute of defense while their
+nobles were gone to honor the Emperor's command, came a band of
+mercenaries of the Emperor's sending, who stole the customs and by
+their lawless acts frightened the people who fled for safety to the
+convents, denouncing Frederick as false and craven; while the governors
+sent by him, in despite of his solemn treaty, made havoc in the land,
+proclaiming in every city:
+
+"_Let not the Lord of Iblin set foot in this land of Cyprus--by order of
+the Emperor!_"
+
+Suddenly the indignant cries of the whole listening company mingled in
+confusion with the inspired voice of the improvisatrice and the
+descriptive music of the lutes.
+
+Caterina sprang to her feet, not knowing what she did: "Bring back the
+Lord of Iblin!" she cried. "Bring the noble Joan back! Save this people
+of Cyprus!"
+
+At the sound of her voice the lords and ladies of her court came
+crowding up the steps of the loggia from the terrace, clinging around
+her, kissing her hands with fervent words of loyalty and pleasure,
+before she realized that she was in the _Now_, or that she had cried out
+in her excitement. But this was the Cypriotes' story of stories, and her
+unconscious action had bound them to her.
+
+But Dama Margherita, still in her trance of song, waved them to quiet
+again as they stood grouped about the Queen, in the very mood of the
+closing scene, creating an atmosphere of restrained passion, through
+which the voice of the improvisatrice throbbed and pulsated like their
+own hear-beats.
+
+But now the tones of the improvisatrice are low and quiet, and her
+motions assert the dignity of a life nobly lived. For Joan of Iblin has
+returned from Crusade, has conquered the intruders and restored quiet
+to the realm. But, thereafter, siege is laid to his own castle and fief
+of Beirut, and now, gray-haired and full of honors, his time of service
+drawing to a close, his trust fulfilled and the young monarch come to
+his majority, he implores his royal ward to assemble his full court, and
+kneeling in their presence before the youth whom he had served from
+tenderest infancy, he prays:
+
+"_If I have served thee well, my nephew and my monarch--now come to
+thine own--because I loved thee well, yet loving honor more:_
+
+"_If I have fought for thee in keeping of my trust, and dared the enmity
+of the Emperor our Suzerain,--and for thy sake:_
+
+"_Now, by my love for thee--for I am old and the cities of my fiefs are
+doomed;_
+
+"_Send, if it seemeth good to thee and to these, the knights and barons
+of thy realm, and save my lands--that they be not wrested from me when
+my strength is spent!_"
+
+The true-hearted Prince threw loving arms about him, with words of
+comfort and with promises, and would have raised him. But the Lord of
+Iblin would bring his speech to its conclusion and have his say before
+them all, thus kneeling--as if it were a rendering of his trust, a
+fitting close to a so loyal life.
+
+The words of his Swan-Song had been chanted in full, rare, solemn
+harmony--the lutes in gracious melody accompanying, like an undertone of
+love--slow tears down dropping from the eyes of Margherita.
+
+And one by one, as the chant proceeded, through her strange magnetic
+power, her listeners _saw_ a knight step forth from the circle and drop
+to his knees, swearing fealty to the King and the Lord of Iblin, until
+all were kneeling. Then the chanting voices hushed and the rapid motions
+ceased: and under that spell they saw, as in a vision, luminous in the
+darkness, the kneeling knights of that early court of Cyprus, and in
+their midst, the gray-haired Joan of Iblin and the boyish monarch, in
+his young, rosy strength--a vision of love and loyalty!
+
+Aluisi Bernardini breathed a sigh of content as he moved quickly away
+with a sense of his responsibility being shared; for it was only now
+that he felt that he knew Margherita, and she would be ever near the
+Queen, a Cypriote of the Cypriotes, but loyal to her heart's core. He
+could have kissed the hem of her trailing robe as it floated towards
+him, stirred by the motion of his passing--for in the maiden's tale she
+had revealed herself to him: it was not of her grace and talent, nor of
+the poem that he thought--but on the surety of her staunchness of
+soul--of her consecration: he heard her voice again ringing in the
+words:
+
+     "_We are true men: be others untrue!_"
+
+
+
+
+XI
+
+
+A Little page who had been leaning on the marble parapet beyond the
+terrace, came stealthily and beckoned to a comrade on the steps of the
+loggia.
+
+"A troop of horse were coming across the plain," he explained in low,
+agitated tones, as the other reached his side, and followed him back to
+the post where he had been watching. "I saw them all the time Dama
+Margherita was reciting--Holy Mother, but it was long!--I thought the
+King was coming, and it was I that should carry the news to her
+Majesty--I came near crying out! But I could not see his orange plume,
+and I waited. They came slowly--_Santissima Vergine!_ _He was not
+there!_"
+
+He clutched his comrade's doublet with a trembling hand and turned an
+ashen face towards him.
+
+"What ailest thee, Tristan?--thou who art already a damoiseau and shalt
+be a true knight? Thou art verily dreaming--I see nothing."
+
+"They are gone within--in the first great court of the palace--those who
+came. They were the King's gentlemen--_all_ the King's gentlemen--Messer
+Andrea among them. I thought the champing would have roused the Queen
+who hath been watching all the day. I am not afraid----" he gasped; "but
+it was so horrible!--Thou knowest, Guido, Messer Andrea never leaveth
+the King."
+
+The boy's eyes were dark with fear.
+
+"He will come with the others--he will surely, surely come," Guido
+asseverated.
+
+They clasped each other close and pressed their fresh cheeks together,
+trembling so that they could scarcely speak, yet struggling to be brave,
+as became little pages that should be knights.
+
+"They were so long," poor Tristan said in a choking whisper, "and it was
+so still--_so still_--no music, and they returning from the chase!
+And--when they came nearer, I thought I saw his horse, but I could not
+see a rider--and I thought, I thought--perhaps because it _was_
+dark--and I ran down the front of the palace to get nearer when they
+crossed the bridge. Ah, but the tramp was dreadful! And--and--it was his
+horse, and a squire leading him--and--behind them--oh Guido!--_Then I
+knew_."
+
+"We will be knights, Tristan mio," Guido whispered, wiping away his
+comrade's tears while his own were falling; and then, straining each
+other convulsively, they broke down in sobs together.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Dama Ecciva stole up the steps from the terrace, and catching Eloisa's
+hand, dragged her forcibly away.
+
+"Come quickly," she whispered, with chattering teeth, "_Santa Maria
+Vergine!_ I am so frightened. Oh, the poor, poor Queen! That was why she
+hath been so strange--she hath truly seen the vision. Poverina, it
+breaks one's heart! And he but a week away! So gay and debonair, and
+beautiful as a god!"
+
+There was no mistaking her wild eyes.
+
+"Tell me!" Eloisa gasped.
+
+"I was there in the pergola, and I saw them come--the _frati_ from the
+Troodos in the midst of the troop of horse--with--with IT.--Oh
+Eloisa, _it was true!_--They are telling her now."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+There was a stir in the great audience-chamber back of the loggia where
+Caterina sat--a sound of hesitant feet, as of many who came unwillingly,
+unutterably weary from the dull weight of evil tidings.
+
+The muffled footsteps roused her from her revery and she turned her head
+and saw them coming. Her heart stood still for fear.
+
+Messer Andrea came before the others, falteringly--as if youth had died
+out of him: he was pale and strange and no words fell from his blanched
+lips during that long instant while he crossed the interminable stretch
+between them, and Caterina waited, with all her tortured soul crying out
+for Janus.
+
+Then the King's favorite, with the cruel story written in his anguished
+eyes, turned them full upon hers for one moment, that she might
+_know_--then bowed his head upon his breast and opened his arms, as if
+he fain would shelter her--
+
+"Caterina----" he said--"Child----"
+
+
+
+
+XII
+
+In the first dazed days that followed, between the necessary adjustment
+of matters of state, and the many ceremonies incident upon the King's
+sudden death, there was scant time to discuss the rapid happenings; even
+in the court-circle they scarcely knew what was passing--still less how
+it had come about. It was said that Janus had died of malignant fever,
+due to the terrible malaria of the coasts where he had been hunting. Yet
+some hinted that there were natural poisons, as of the marshes, and
+others--more fatal: but this was with bated breath and kept well without
+the innermost circle of the court, for no one really _knew_. It was easy
+to talk of poison, but far less easy to make assertions implicating
+those who might be innocent; and, meanwhile, the complications
+surrounding the throne of Cyprus demanded infinite wisdom and despatch.
+
+Almost before the Queen could lift her head after the shock of her
+husband's death, the nobles and barons of the realm had penetrated to
+her private boudoir and sworn her fealty, with a tenderness and
+reverence that deeply touched her. By the will which the King had left,
+Caterina Veneta was now Queen of Cyprus, with a Council of Seven
+appointed to assist her; and every Venetian who held a post in the
+Government was restless until the young widow of Janus, who had been
+crowned with all due ceremony in the Cathedral of Nikosia at the time of
+her marriage, had publicly received the full seal of her authority.
+
+So quickly death had fallen upon the brilliant, pleasure-loving young
+monarch--so without warning--that it seemed to those of his court like
+some dread nightmare from which they might presently awake to a new
+morning, fair and gay as those they had known so little time ago, before
+the music and the mirth, the jewels and the festal robes that befit a
+court had given place to the gloom and mourning of these horrible days.
+As in a dream they had taken part in the sumptuous funeral ceremonies,
+feeling still that it could not be true--he was too young, too brave,
+too gay, too gracious, to have come so soon to this! And if to some of
+those young nobles it was rather the shock of the loss of a boon
+companion than a serious grief, there were many among them who, for the
+few bright words that cost him little--a smile--the grasp of his ready
+hand--permission to come and shine about him--now brought their tribute
+of adoring tears.
+
+Meanwhile, in the halls of the palace, time moved with slow and halting
+footsteps: the stricken Queen came rarely among her circle of ladies,
+and only for short intervals, and the talk, however varied, was but upon
+one absorbing theme.
+
+It was known that soon after the funeral, the Queen seeking how she
+might do highest honor in preparing the permanent tomb, had been told of
+the priceless sarcophagus of oriental jasper--the gift in early ages of
+the Emperor of the East to Santa Soffia in Nikosia, and she had sent an
+envoy to the brothers of the convent to ask that it be surrendered for
+the tomb of Janus, their king, promising whatever compensation they
+should ask.
+
+"Ah, but it will be magnificent, that tomb under the dome of our own San
+Nicolo! It will stand on the precious mosaic pavement from Alexandria,
+on columns of ivory chased with gold. Dama Margherita hath seen the
+design which hath been made for her Majesty by the curator of our
+library of art."
+
+"I also," said the little Contarini, timidly, for she was proud of the
+favor of the Queen whom she devotedly loved: "It was most beautiful; and
+the Serenissima la Regina held it long, as if she could not put it
+away."
+
+But a hand was raised to hush the topic:
+
+"Speak no more thereof; for word hath come but now that the request of
+her Majesty hath been denied."
+
+There was a chorus of indignant protest:
+
+"It could not be, when she so grieveth! They have no hearts--those
+_frati_ of Santa Soffia!"
+
+"The Queen will not endure this refusal without reason!"
+
+"There was no reason that should be told," their informer whispered low
+to one of them. "For love of the Queen, hush the topic."
+
+But an elderly member of the Queen's Council who had been passing
+through the great Hall and had paused near them, taking no part in the
+conversation, now came forward, after a moment's hesitation.
+
+"_I_ speak that you may forget it," he said: "for it seemeth to be a
+pleasing theme of discussion among you--yet should be so no more--a mere
+extravaganza of fancy that our girl-queen might wisely abandon."
+
+"Signore!" exclaimed the Lady of the Bernardini, rising indignantly, "I
+maintain the dignity of our Sovereign Lady's Court, while she perforce,
+from sore affliction, must be absent. All speech must be as in her
+presence."
+
+The Councillor, resenting the reproof, gave a slight cold bow, studying
+her curiously, and pondering whether he dared go further.
+
+"The matter is of interest," he pursued, after a moment's pause, "for
+they _gave_ their reason, these monks of Santa Soffia, and scrupled
+not--being willing to keep their treasure."
+
+"Signore Consigliere----!" Dama Margherita exclaimed beseechingly.
+
+But if the monks of Santa Soffia had a reason for their conduct, he also
+had for his, and would not be stayed.
+
+"They gave their reason; that the precious gift should not be desecrated
+to _hold relics that were subject to excommunication_," he said with
+painful distinctness, and would not linger for any explanation.
+
+"It is shameful--such a reason so calmly told by a member of our Queen's
+Council! He should unsay the words!" one of the maids of honor cried
+hotly. "There could be no color for it: the Signor Fabrici hath proven
+that he loveth not the Regina!"
+
+"It was unholy speech," said Dama Margherita crossing herself, "which
+had not been, save for the Consigliere: it hath no shade of truth; may
+the Holy Madonna forgive him--and us, who have listened to slander."
+
+"Cara Dama Margherita," said the little Contarini consolingly, "if we
+have listened--it is not with our hearts!"
+
+"Thou art wise, carina: and we who love her will see that the ill word
+goeth not beyond."
+
+But the speech of the Consigliere had caused such consternation that it
+could not be immediately dismissed; and one of the elder ladies of the
+Court was obliged to explain it, for "excommunication" was a word of
+evil omen.
+
+"The word is a slander," she said. "But it is known that the Holy Father
+hath had small friendship for King Janus since he declined alliance with
+the niece of His Holiness, who was not one to please our young King's
+delicate fancy, though His Holiness strove to have his will--first by
+promises and then by threats."
+
+They pressed closely about her, with exclamations of interest and
+astonishment, for this gray-haired noble woman, Madama de Thenouris, had
+not been one of those to retail gossip and they might not question her
+strange tale; they knew that she had some serious purpose in this
+unwonted freedom of speech.
+
+"This was known by some of us in Cyprus before the marriage of our
+King--yet was kept hushed, lest trouble should grow from mention of the
+displeasure of the Holy Father; but no threat of excommunication hath
+reached this court. My children, I am trusting you with confidences--for
+it is a time of trouble for our most gracious Lady and we of her court
+must know truth from slander that we may stand for her."
+
+Each one came and laid her hand, in silent pledge, in that of the
+gray-haired speaker.
+
+"Later, not long since," she continued, "there came from Rome a
+tale--maliciously whispered about by Fabrici--not to be believed--that
+by some act of renunciation of the Christian Faith, Janus won the favor
+of the Sultan when he sent him hither to regain his throne. The
+Consigliere Fabrici went with others to the monks of Santa Soffia, and
+if he told this matter there, so as he hath whispered it in the court of
+Cyprus, it may well be that the _frati_ reasoned thus."
+
+"Is it true, Madama, that an ambassador is already come from the Sultan
+to acknowledge Caterina as Queen of Cyprus, and that there shall be some
+gathering of the court to-night to receive his homage?"
+
+"Aye; such a gathering as one may have in these sad days, my children."
+
+"And Carlotta?" another asked eagerly--"Ecciva--tell them what thou hast
+spoken of Carlotta."
+
+"That she, in very person, hath sailed from Rhodes to meet the Admiral
+of Venice on his fleet--to throw herself on his mercy, as _heir of
+Cyprus_, to ask his help, to place her on the throne, _from the long
+friendship between the islands_." She told it with a little note of
+triumph, for it was strange news.
+
+"Carlotta! To seek aid from Venice!--It cannot be true!"
+
+"Aye; it is verily true," Madama de Thenouris said quietly--"as Ecciva
+hath told it; for a report hath come from Messer Mocenigo, himself. But
+that is like Carlotta, who leaveth no imagining of her brain untried.
+She hath even the courage to urge her near connection with Venice
+_through her brother Janus the King, by his marriage with Caterina
+Veneta_!"
+
+"She hath lost her reason, one would say: there can be no more to fear
+from Carlotta!"
+
+"No more to _hope_ from Carlotta," some one corrected in an undertone;
+but the voice sounded unfamiliar in the group and when they looked to
+see who might have spoken, there was no one to whom they could assign
+it.
+
+Eloisa Contarini turned to the young Dama Ecciva de Montferrat with her
+impulsive question:
+
+"Who was it, Ecciva?"
+
+"Nay, I was about to ask--I also."
+
+Dama Margherita turned and looked at her steadily; the girl gazed back
+at her with narrowing eyelids, slightly shrugging her shoulders as she
+finally dropped her eyes.
+
+"But Carlotta?" one of the Venetian maids of honor questioned, impatient
+for the tale: "she knew not of the will of his Majesty the King?"
+
+"Nay; and she had hope of being first to carry news of his death to the
+Admiral of Venice;--a most strange hope of any favor from such a
+quarter!"
+
+"The answer of the Mocenigo was a marvel of courtesy, as it hath been
+reported, and worthy of a diplomat," Madama de Thenouris continued.
+"Most graciously he assured the Princess that Venice held her friendship
+gladly and would not fail of anything that she might do to prove her
+loyalty to this Crown of Cyprus. Yet now, the Daughter of the Republic,
+Caterina Veneta, being left by the Will of Janus Queen of Cyprus, Venice
+must first uphold the rights of Caterina, and might show her Eccellenza,
+the Princess Carlotta, no favor that could prejudice the sovereignty of
+the Queen."
+
+"And then?"
+
+"And then came further pleading from Carlotta, with a new tissue of
+reasons. But finally the Mocenigo told her plainly: 'The reasons which
+avail in kingdoms are arms--not questions of legality.'"
+
+"It is a theme for a comedy! And Carlotta----?"
+
+"Hath sailed again with new wisdom for Rhodes; or, perchance to plan
+some enterprise that bespeaketh her less mad."
+
+"She is not mad--but brave!" cried the Dama Ecciva boldly.
+
+"It is enough of Carlotta," said the Lady of the Bernardini, rising to
+break up the talk.
+
+But she beckoned to Dama Margherita to remain, as the others were
+leaving the hall, and gave her a charge in a low tone.
+
+"See to it that these tales add not to the weariness of our beloved Lady
+who hath already enough of grief to bear; and the time is full of
+dangers for her. I count much upon thine influence with the younger
+maids to keep her from breaking her heart," she added with hesitation,
+but with a smile which conveyed her confidence in the Lady Margherita,
+"and to hold them loyal."
+
+She laid a detaining hand upon the younger woman's shoulder as she
+spoke the last words, uncertain whether to confide in her further, and
+Margherita, having given her assurance, still waited.
+
+"For this question of excommunication," the Lady of the Bernardini said
+at last--"lest it should be bruited about by the enemies of the
+Queen--_it hath no color of truth_. My Son, the Lord Chamberlain, hath
+confided to me--(I am trusting thee, Dama Margherita, that thou mayest
+_know_ it to be so, for the peace of mind of our poor, young Queen, and
+so mayest lead others to thy belief--yet speak no hint of this my
+confidence). My Son, the Chamberlain, hath seen in the most revered
+chronicle of State of this kingdom, the _Libro delle Rimembranze_, the
+copy of a letter sent by King Janus to His Holiness, to accredit his
+Reverence the Archbishop of Nikosia, brother to this same Signor Jean
+Perez Fabrici the Consigliere, who spoke with us but now--as Ambassador
+to His Holiness: and the manner of this letter leaveth no room for doubt
+that he wrote as a son of the Church, in all confidence of favor. He
+calleth His Holiness '_Santissimo e Beatissimo Padre!_' and the
+signature of this letter (which it is noted that he wrote with his own
+hand) was _'Devotus vester Filius, Rex Jacobus Cipri_.'"
+
+
+
+
+XIII
+
+
+"Madre Mia!" he said with deep tenderness, "I think it is not possible
+to hold the knowledge from her longer. It must be told to-night."
+
+They were in the loggia overlooking the splendid stretch of terraced
+gardens, now flooded with moonlight; they had been standing there, quite
+silent, for a long time, each feeling that there was something to be
+spoken and suffered--each praying to defer the moment.
+
+"Oh, Aluisi--no!"
+
+Her tone was an entreaty: but he only put out his hand and laid it
+tenderly upon hers: the beautiful, tapering fingers trembled under his
+touch, then slowly quieted, for there was a rare sympathy between them.
+
+"I have done everything," he continued in a low voice, without looking
+at her, "but they will not wait--matters of State, they say, to be
+passed upon--a Queen must give her signature when it is needed."
+
+He came closer, suddenly turning upon her a gaze which compelled her
+startled comprehension. "They would be quite willing to pass the measure
+_without_ her signature," he added, in a still lower tone. "It has come
+to that--we must think of her rights and protect her _against her
+Councillors_!"
+
+"She has had so much to bear, poor child--so young--and her heart is
+broken already with sorrow for her husband. For she had faith in him.
+And now!--Have they no feeling for her?"
+
+"Madre, carissima, thou knowest not Rizzo; he is the most powerful among
+them, and the most ill-disposed. 'Let her take the Prince of Naples,' he
+hath said openly before the Councillors, 'and give us a man to reign
+over us.'"
+
+"And Janus but two weeks dead!" The Lady Beata gave an involuntary cry
+of horror. "But Fabrici, the Archbishop?" she asked after a moment, "may
+he not influence them to be more gentle with her--having a brother in
+the Council?"
+
+Aluisi shook his head sorrowfully. "Nay, Mother--I know not which is
+worse. Venice, at his election, would have prevented it, but could not,
+because he represented this intriguing power of Naples which hath not
+ceased from effort to have its will of Cyprus, since the betrothal of
+Caterina--which also it sought to overthrow."
+
+"How knowest thou?"
+
+He laid his finger on his lips--"If we were yet in Venice, I might not
+answer thee; but here--and it is for me and thee alone--it was I upon
+whom the Signoria laid the task of drawing up their monitory letter to
+Janus to hold him to his contract."
+
+"Oh, if thou hadst not done it! I would rather thou hadst not written
+it!" she said with a low moan.
+
+"Aye--Mother: and I--even then I knew that it must be happier for the
+child if that contract might be broken. Though if I had dreamed of
+_this_ I could not have doomed one of our Casa Cornaro to such
+suffering and dishonor. But thou knowest the pride of Venice: if not
+_my_ hand, another's would have written it: and I then--we should not
+have been here to shield her."
+
+"But the Archbishop Fabrici cannot hold malice against Caterina. He hath
+all the church of Cyprus in his command; he _must_ be friendly to the
+Queen."
+
+But Aluisi's face gave her no hope, as she turned to him.
+
+"Fabrici, for another cause, holdeth the queen in deep disfavor," he
+said, "for that he, having been sent by Janus on some embassy of marriage
+for the child Zarla, came into the Chamber of Counts of the Kingdom--not
+many days since--and with much grossness of speech would have discussed
+the matter at length in that presence; which we, of her household--she
+being in the first grief of her young widowhood--prevented, through
+members of the Queen's Council, better disposed."
+
+"It was well, Aluisi: it seemeth even now too soon--too cruel--to add
+this shadow to her grief: and but for thee, she must have known thereof
+that day. For she seeketh already to take up the burden of the State and
+questioneth daily of the Secretary of the King of that which passeth in
+the Council. 'That I may rule my people,' she sayeth sadly, 'and those
+who loved the King will help me!' With what a tender grace she sayeth
+'_my people_!'"
+
+"Madre mia, thou who lovest her and art so wise--shall I leave this
+parchment with thee? Thou best canst spare her in what must be told. I
+have had made this copy of certain clauses of the Will of Janus, which
+may not longer wait official reading before the Council in the Chamber
+of the Counts and in presence of the Queen. Thinkest thou not it would
+be too hard for her to learn first of its provisions before them all?"
+
+"Thou art right, Aluisi--always right. But her faith in him is deep; how
+shall I make her believe it?"
+
+"I know not," he answered with a groan, and crushing the parchment in
+his hand. Then he smoothed it out remorsefully and gave it to her. "It
+is a faithful copy; there is no other argument. Thou wilt go to her
+now--for it _must_ be."
+
+With bowed head he led her to the door of the Queen's ante-chamber. "I
+am here," he said, "if need should be."
+
+She still hesitated. "It may be long, for I know not how to tell her."
+
+"Thank Heaven that she hath one like thee to care for her," he answered,
+gently forcing her through the doorway as he held her hand. "For I do
+think the Council would willingly have her away."
+
+In the ante-chamber scattered groups of court-ladies in deepest
+mourning, were talking in low tones. They all rose as the Lady Beata
+entered: but she, with only an inclination of her head passed on hastily
+into the inner chamber which was the private boudoir of the Queen.
+
+Caterina was quite alone, lying back on a low couch near an open window,
+through which the moonlight streamed in long pale rays; while many soft
+lights of perfumed oils, burning low in lamps of ivory, made only
+moonlight within the chamber. She held the miniature of Janus pressed
+against her cheek, and as the Lady Beata came towards her she tried to
+welcome her with a quivering smile.
+
+"I sent them all away, Zia mia: sometimes it seems less hard to bear
+when I am quite alone."
+
+The Lady Beata bent over her, stroking her hair caressingly, striving
+for courage to break the silence.
+
+"Caterina mia," she said at last, "it is needful to give some thought to
+matters of government--the Council will not wait. Hast thou the
+strength?"
+
+"I _must_ have strength," she answered with instant resolution, rising
+and laying aside the miniature with a lingering look. "Wilt thou call
+Aluisi? He ever maketh me understand. It is so new to me," she pleaded
+feebly, as the Lady Beata did not move.
+
+"Carina, it will be best alone; Aluisi hath asked me to speak with thee.
+If--if thou wilt read this parchment"--the Lady Beata held it out to
+her--"it is the Will of the late King, Aluisi hath bidden me give it
+thee."
+
+"There is no need," Caterina answered listlessly, as the Lady Beata
+opened it and put it into her hand, "the provisions have been told me."
+
+But the other persisted. "To-morrow--for the Council say that they will
+not longer wait; it will be read before the Counts of the Chamber, and
+they would have the Queen take oath of fealty to Cyprus."
+
+"I shall have the strength when to-morrow cometh," Caterina answered
+wearily, and making a motion to return the parchment.
+
+"There are other clauses; Aluisi thought it might be better to read
+them here--alone--before--before----" Her face was blanched and pained,
+and her words came with difficulty.
+
+The young Queen looked at her in surprise, then, after a moment's
+indecision, dropped her eyes upon the page and read the short clauses
+through; then once more--as if she did not understand--then again, a
+scarlet flush growing as she read.
+
+The parchment contained but three short clauses: King Janus left his
+kingdom to his wife Caterina, who was to reign, with their child, if
+there should be one; or alone, if the child should die.
+
+He provided a Council of seven to assist her with the Government:
+
+In case of her death and the death of the child, the kingdom should
+descend to each of the three other children of Janus, in the order
+named. The unwedded mother of these children was not mentioned and
+Caterina had never dreamed of their existence.
+
+She stood trembling--her face slowly paling to a marble whiteness.
+"_Mater Dolorosa!_" she gasped, with a moan of pain, instantly
+repressed.
+
+The Lady Beata put her arm around her to steady her; but Caterina drew
+herself away, standing upright.
+
+"Call back the Chamberlain!" she cried, imperiously; and stood
+waiting--panting--until he entered the room.
+
+Then she drew up her slight figure in defiance, her eyes flashing in her
+white, white face--her voice ringing scorn as she pointed to the
+document which had dropped from her hand.
+
+"How should I believe this--this _baseness_ of my husband--your King?"
+she cried. "Who hath _dared_ to fashion it?"
+
+"Beloved Sovereign Lady"--he answered her, and for very pity could say
+no more.
+
+She turned from one to the other with an impatient, questioning,
+imperious gesture.
+
+They came nearer--slowly--silently turning upon her such faces of love
+and sorrow and comprehension that the fire in her eyes died in anguish.
+
+A quiver shot through her, but she struggled to stand, motioning them
+away again when they would have helped her--she must drink this cup of
+bitterness alone. "How should I believe it?" she repeated brokenly,
+still studying their faces.--"How _should_ I believe it--ye are not
+faithless to him--to me----?"
+
+There was no need to answer her: again they looked their unspeakable
+compassion.
+
+But as Caterina's eyes rested upon the parchment once more, a sudden
+hope came to her. "The will of the King was written in his own hand,"
+she cried eagerly. "Thou hast said it, Aluisi; this is not the writing
+of the king!"
+
+"Nay, beloved Sovereign Lady," the Chamberlain made answer, as he picked
+it up, and held it before her; "this is but a memorandum made for your
+Majesty's convenience, but attested under the seal of the kingdom. The
+original Will is in the keeping of the Lord of the Privy Seals, awaiting
+your command. It was thought that your Majesty would wish to see it
+before the Council should be assembled."
+
+She understood and bowed her head in silence, while all hope died out of
+her face.
+
+Aluisi advisedly used the ceremonious form by which he was accustomed to
+address the Queen in public, hoping to hint to her of some necessary
+preparation to control the meeting of the Council that could not, in any
+event, be long deferred.
+
+They lingered wistfully, seeking vainly for words that might not hurt
+her; but Caterina looked at them beseechingly, with dim eyes--her lips
+moving without sound.
+
+The Lady Beata understood.
+
+"I go now to pray the dear Christ for thee--the Man of Sorrows," she
+said with inexpressible tenderness. "And later--Carinissima--I will come
+again, and thou wilt rest."
+
+So young--so sorely stricken--she knelt in the cold moonlight alone--her
+hands clasped in passionate repression on her throbbing heart--"Mater
+Dei!" she moaned: "Death--and then _this_!--If but it need not have been
+told me! If I might but have kept the _memory_ of my happiness!"
+
+Only the stars and the pitying angels looked down on the fierce conflict
+of grief and love and disillusion with which her desolate young soul
+wrestled alone through the long, midnight vigil. How should she separate
+these two beautiful faiths which had been enthroned as one in the happy
+depths of her guileless heart, without perilling her very trust in God!
+
+Yet, as the sad day dawned over the hills and sea, she knew that God was
+still in His Heaven, behind the clouds--while she clung as a drowning
+mariner--the more desperately for her weakness--to the spar of this
+faith in the wreck of her happiness, though the love to which her whole
+being had moved in rhythmic content was as a lost star, glimmering
+uncertainly behind the mists.
+
+But through the desolate night-watches the Lady of the Bernardini in the
+ante-chamber of the Queen had been agonizing in prayer for her until
+thought was spent; and now she had moved out upon the loggia and stood
+there waiting for the dawn that seemed long-deferred, in a
+half-conscious wonder that there were no sorrows great enough to stay
+Nature's punctual recurrences--that to-day and to-morrow there would
+still be dawns and sunsets, whatever happened to the souls of men.
+
+In the silver line that etched the dark mountain crests against the pale
+monotone of the sky, single firs stood forth saliently, while dim in the
+distance, vast shapes, clothed in perpetual snows, held wraith-like
+watch over the smiling plains below, where life and bloom were possible.
+
+Athwart the low, confused twittering of bird-notes which had infused the
+solemn silence with a vague hint of life, strident sounds grew
+dominant--a crow calling to his mate from tree to tree--a short, sharp
+symphony of swallows--a cock announcing the coming of the dawn.
+
+Then motion broke in upon the majesty; hurried rushes of flight across
+the sky--beatings of wings--pulsings and ecstasies and triumphs of
+bird-life--and the Day was new.
+
+Faint twitterings in the copses deepened to melody--to canticles of
+rejoicing; tints of turquoise and opal crept into the shadows and gold
+into the greens: the night-dews gleamed upon the firs and grasses, while
+a luminous haze dimmed the dark glint of the waters to pearly gray,
+softened the grimness of the mountain-faces and wrapped them--sea and
+mountains, as soul and body in a vision of mystery, a prelude to the
+blaze of golden glory that was suddenly outpoured on land and sea.
+
+Yet the heavenly splendor was but for a moment; it faded in sudden
+gloom, as a bell from the inner chamber called the Lady of the
+Bernardini to attend the Queen.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+When at early morning, the Chamberlain was summoned to the Queen's
+presence, the change in her beautiful face smote him to the heart: every
+line had been chiselled by pain--ennobled by a high resolve--by a strong
+new-born will, rendered selfless; and in her eyes a soul--tried by fire
+and suddenly grown to a great height--looked forth, luminous.
+
+Instinctively, he dropped his eyes and fell upon his knees, as if in the
+presence of some heavenly spirit, his hot tears falling upon the fragile
+hand she held out to him, which he clasped, unconsciously, in both his
+own, with a grasp so like a vise that it would have smitten her with
+sharp pain had she been capable at that moment of any physical emotion.
+
+"Beloved Cousin and Queen!" he cried, when he could find his voice, "we
+love and revere you; we would give our _lives_ to help you!"
+
+She made an effort to speak, but no words came; she could only bow her
+head to accept his homage, while his asseverations of loyalty and love
+and impotent help came crowding upon his first utterance--the
+immoderate outpouring of a deep, knightly soul, unused to confess
+itself--the barriers of reserve once overcome by the stinging sense of
+the irreparable wrong of which the revelation to this guileless,
+confiding girlish nature had suddenly wrenched every memory that once
+had been happiness, out of her young life--yet, in the very immensity of
+her anguish, had searched to the inmost truth of her woman's fibre and,
+in the fierce unfolding, had found it wholly noble.
+
+As he knelt, still protesting, yet out of his great reverence, using no
+word to wound her--the more compassionate because he might not denounce
+the one who had wronged her--it was as if he were looking up to a
+beloved daughter, immeasurably above him, who yet had need of his
+knightly protection. He did not know that he was speaking--he did not
+know what passed--only that deep in his soul he prayed to comfort her.
+
+Slowly, with expression, the hot passion melted into a softer mood; his
+grasp relaxed and she withdrew her hand, seamed and marred with red
+lines where he had unconsciously tortured it; yet in her misery she was
+grateful to be reached across the awful gulf of loneliness that
+separated her from the world by a sense that such loyalty yet remained
+to her.
+
+She laid her hand lightly on his head, the fingers moving for a
+moment--half in caress--half in benediction, while he felt her almost
+imperceptible gesture dismissing this unusual audience where soul had
+faced soul on the brink of a great catastrophe; and he rose to meet the
+strange, luminous, unsmiling gaze of the great dark eyes which yesterday
+had been almost the eyes of a child.
+
+She pointed to the loggia, where the morning breeze came freshly laden
+with the fragrance of myriad blossoms that were just opening to the
+gladness of the sunrise--a sunrise over the beautiful, fabled slopes of
+Cyprus--while shadows still lay on the flower-gemmed plains that
+stretched between them and the sea. Ah, yes, the cool, blue, restless
+sea stretched far between her island realm and the proud Venetian home
+from whence she had sailed a happy girl--one little year before--to meet
+her radiant visions of the future; and now, in all the splendor of the
+morning, for her the light of life had died forever on the hills of
+hope.
+
+It was to this loggia that Janus had first led her when he brought her
+to this summer palace of Potamia, that she might see what a vision of
+beauty he had prepared for his bride--the far-reaching terraced gardens
+with their brilliancy of exotics, rivalling the plumage of the peacocks
+that proudly flaunted their jewelled eyes among them--the pergolas of
+precious marbles from which the vines flung out a wealth of bloom,
+luring the birds to a perpetual feast of song; and behind them,
+spreading up to the deep groves of varied greens upon the hillsides, the
+snow of countless blossoms lay whiter than the wings of the swans,
+floating at leisure in silver pools among the beds of color. It was here
+that Janus had spoken words she had dreamed eternally and sacredly her
+own: Mother of Consolation, she must remember them no more!
+
+She had not thought of this when the sense of suffocation had impelled
+her to seek the air, to rush where it might blow over her and through
+her, lift her hair about her throbbing temples and help her to forget.
+Oh God--Omnipotent and Merciful--can one never forget!
+
+A sob broke in her throat, but she made no sound, as she turned to
+re-enter her audience-chamber--the sumptuous audience-chamber where she
+might feel herself less a woman and more a queen.
+
+But Aluisi, obeying her slight motion, had already passed between the
+marble columns of the portico, out into the sunshine, and stood
+confronting her--her friend, her cousin, and a Councillor of her realm.
+
+The thought gave her courage, and after a moment's struggle, she grew
+calm again, listening gravely to the question of State he had wished to
+open to her before it should be discussed in full Council.
+
+He spoke at first with averted gaze, feigning to be attracted by the
+beauty of the morning, that he might give her time to recover herself:
+but as he turned his face to hers for her reply, she put the matter
+aside with an imperious gesture.
+
+"To-day, Aluisi, I have graver matter to command my thought: the Council
+shall _wait_ until I give orders for its assembling--thou, meanwhile,
+using all courtesy in its delay and the enforcement of--of my
+command--the Queen's command--so only that it be enforced. These methods
+are new to me," she added, with a sudden softened appeal in her tone;
+"thou wilt know the way to compass it--for my sake--for it must be
+done."
+
+"It shall be done," he assented uncompromisingly; but in surprise,
+knowing only too well the imperious methods of the Council appointed to
+assist her in her government and the temper of the men who composed that
+body--for Janus had not been great in his knowledge of men; and possibly
+the only one of the seven who had been strictly devoted to the King, had
+died shortly after his appointment, and the place had been filled with
+one less favorable to the present rule of Cyprus. Fabrici was known to
+be in sympathy with Naples; Rizzo, Chief of Council, strong,
+domineering, unscrupulous, was perhaps the creature of Ferdinand, King
+of Naples. "It shall be done," he said again, having vowed to help her.
+
+"For, until I have had speech with the holiest man among the priests
+that may be found in all this kingdom of Cyprus," she said with a
+decision that amazed him, "I will treat of no matter of State, however
+urgent. Nay, Aluisi--my cousin"--as she noted his start of surprise--"to
+thee alone--who must be my counsellor in days of desolation--pray Heaven
+more dark than thou shalt ever dream of--I will confide that out of this
+night of vigil hath come this resolution which I dare not break. Seek
+thou the man."
+
+He had already turned to fulfil her quest which might be long in the
+doing--and these impatient Councillors would be hard to hold; yet he had
+no thought of parleying with this girl-queen, so suddenly grown to a
+full stature.
+
+But her voice, even and low, arrested him. "He must be Greek in birth,"
+she said, "and of the Greek Church, which my people love. But above
+all--_he must be a man to trust_."
+
+He turned when he had crossed the great audience-chamber, under the
+entrance colonnade of huge porphyry columns, wrought with barbaric
+symbols of earlier dynasties and guarded by colossal Assyrian bulls--she
+seemed so young and tender to leave, even for a day, in those
+surroundings unguarded, at the mercy of that Council of Seven whom he
+had reason to distrust--in her kingdom seamed with dissensions of which
+she had, as yet, small comprehension; of which, perhaps, she did not
+even dream--with her shattered happiness behind her and loneliness
+before, and this great responsibility pressing its leaden weight upon
+her fair young head.
+
+He longed to throw her a last reassuring glance--to leave with her the
+absolute faith that with every power of his being he would uphold and
+steady her in the rough and desolate way.
+
+For since he came from Venice he had not ceased his vigilant study of
+the complications of Cyprus, that when her need came he might be ready.
+
+He never forgot the vision of the girl-queen in her sweeping widow's
+robes, across the great space between them, in the sunshine of the
+loggia--her hand extended as if to hasten or to bless him--a wonderful,
+unearthly light and strength in her face; and, for one moment as she met
+his gaze and understood the full depth of his devotion, the ghost of a
+smile--as if it had been granted him to bring her in this hour of
+martyrdom one little ray of human comfort.
+
+
+
+
+XIV
+
+
+Hagios Johannes, the holiest man in Cyprus, stood waiting in the vast,
+empty presence-chamber of the young Queen; for, since the sudden death
+of Janus, there had been no court-life in this palace of Potamia, and
+the gloom hung most heavily over the more sumptuous halls of ceremony.
+
+Hagios Johannes--_the holy John_--they called this prior of the House of
+Priests from Troodos--the Mountain of the Holy Cross--after the name of
+the earlier Saint who had made the spot famous for the holiness of his
+living, for his boundless charity and the wisdom of his judgments, so
+that the people had gone to him in ceaseless procession with their sins
+and woes in the days of primitive Christianity in Cyprus, and had
+returned to their peasant homes the stronger to endure and to renounce.
+Johannes the Lesser, this one called himself--being truly great and
+devout of heart, so that his vision was wise and true as that of Hagios
+Johannes the Greater.
+
+A curtain at the further end of the audience-chamber parted to admit a
+stately figure in mourning-robes, as the Lady Beata of the Bernardini
+advanced to meet him, bringing the message that the Queen would receive
+him in an inner cabinet.
+
+"She is very worn and tired, most Reverend Father, and in years so near
+to childhood that the nobility and strength of her resolve are
+marvellous. And the comfort that she seeketh of thee she doth most
+sorely need."
+
+The eyes of this strong and faithful friend gleamed with unshed tears as
+she turned them upon the prior, in tender appeal.
+
+But to Hagios Johannes all courts were strange; the life of his mountain
+overflowed with possibilities of ministration which busied all his
+powers, and it was the first time that he had ever entered any of the
+palaces of the luxurious Kings of Cyprus--of which, perhaps, this summer
+palace of Potamia was the most sumptuous. The long corridors of precious
+marbles, with intricate carvings and gleamings of gold and mosaic
+displeased him, though he had no knowledge of their worth or beauty; but
+he stood aghast at the magnificence of the audience-chamber, and the
+huge Assyrian bulls which guarded the entrance gave a hint of pagan
+power and oppression which instantly angered him.
+
+The appeal of the gracious Lady Beata but roused his indignation.
+
+He was a stern, wild figure with his flowing beard, his long hair
+falling straight and unkempt about his brown throat; and his sombre
+monk's garment was wrought on breast and shoulders with a salient cross
+of natural thorns--the symbol of those monks of Troodos--the Mountain of
+the Holy Cross; and the Lady Beata trembled for the interview that was
+to be, as he answered her rudely:
+
+"The dwellers in palaces of ivory have naught to do with wild men of the
+mountains who live close to nature and care only for suffering humanity.
+I have Christ's work to do; let others bring her rose-leaves and honeyed
+words."
+
+She laid a gentle, detaining hand upon him as he thrust aside the
+curtain of the inner chamber.
+
+"Most Reverend Father, are not the words of our Lord and Saviour, as
+well for those who suffer in palaces, as for the wanderers and poor upon
+the earth?
+
+"Are not the wounds of the spirit as deep in anguish as those of the
+physical man?
+
+"May not the burdens of rulers be greater than those of the ruled?--Have
+compassion upon our Queen!"
+
+"Christ knoweth not kings," he answered her, as he shook off her light
+touch--"save only those who bow to Him: and the mighty among
+men--aye--even he who calleth himself His Vicar upon earth--are puffed
+up with pride and know in their hearts no virtue in this--His sacred
+symbol." He pressed his rough hand hard against the thorns upon his
+breast as he spoke. "Hath not he--this false and sumptuous Vicar--but
+now asserted that we, of the Holy Greek Church have no part in the
+Communion of the Holy Catholic Church on earth? Did Christ call the
+Latins only?" he ended fiercely.
+
+It was a grievance that rankled; and Hagios Johannes had not learned the
+gracious art of self-control, being accustomed to feel that whatever he
+thought or wished was good--his hatred as well as that which appealed to
+him--since he honestly sought nothing for himself, despising riches and
+station from the depths of his soul, with an open scorn for the great
+ones of earth and an imperious assertion of his own methods and
+judgments which he would have denounced in any earthly ruler, however
+wise. He never dreamed himself an autocrat over that continuous stream
+of pilgrims who made their way into the House of Priests on Troodos:
+they were chiefly peasants, rude in ways and understanding, whose
+accustomedness to absolute methods and short words made their obedience
+the swifter; and the few more learned ones who came to consult him knew
+that in his heart he was faithful and seldom treasured the offense
+against him--though they may have decried his wisdom. But these came
+more rarely as his absolutism grew upon him, and the prophet of the
+mountains came down to the cities of the plains only to see the luxury
+of them--the sin and godliness of them, and to denounce them, in
+unmeasured words.
+
+Within his soul, although he did not confess it to himself, the
+generations of men were separated by a wide impassable gulf--the rich
+and ruling class, the godless, on one side; the poor, the suffering and
+lowly--the to-be-saved,--on the other, and none ever passed across the
+deep abyss. He would have challenged any man who counted _him, Father
+Johannes_, in his hempen garment studded with thorns, among the rulers
+of men!
+
+The youthful Queen, weary and worn indeed from the perplexities and
+struggle of the two long nights and days that had elapsed since she had
+sent her Councillor on his quest of "the holiest man in Cyprus," rose
+from her couch as the prior entered and advanced to meet him with a
+gracious reverence.
+
+But he, unconscious of any rudeness, spoke at once, without turning his
+eyes upon her, and offering no homage.
+
+"I am a plain man from the Mountain of the Holy Cross, your Majesty; I
+know naught of the ways of Courts. The matter should be great that
+calleth me from my work. Let it be presented, that I may be dismissed."
+
+She was almost too weak to stand, and the rebuff smote her to the quick;
+her lip trembled slightly, but she only stretched out her hand to her
+beloved friend, drawing her close and leaning lightly upon her shoulder,
+that she might feel the support of loving companionship in her great
+need.
+
+Father Johannes had been vaguely conscious of some movement in the
+chamber and involuntarily he turned towards this royal lady whom, as
+yet, he had never seen, but whose urgent summons had roused his
+indignation.
+
+She looked so young and fair and simple in her heavy folds of
+mourning--so worn from vigil, with the lines of anguish and of a strange
+strength written in her white girl-face--that she might have been the
+vision of some youthful saint, wearing the rough cross of Troodos upon
+her breast, beneath her robe: and for a moment, the holy man was
+startled--did such heavenly visions, in truth, visit the palaces of the
+great?
+
+There was a moment of stillness in which his wonder grew.
+
+The breeze blew faintly in through the great arched openings, behind
+which rose the mountain chain that led to his own Troodos; there were
+the groves of pine, darkly green, below the hills, with their deep
+solitudes for prayer and meditation between the vast gnarled trunks; and
+the group of the two noble women before him--severely simple--was a
+vision of love and womanly grace and spiritual need; the younger one,
+all pleading and pain, clinging to the elder who closely enfolded her,
+her face strong in the strength of love. It was not like any life that
+he had ever seen--this holy man, whose personal life had been solitary
+and whose knowledge of human love, as it is known in happy homes, had
+died long years ago with the passing of the mother who had borne him in
+her heart. It might be that he needed such a vision to redeem his spirit
+from the harshness which sin and pride in high places, and want and
+crime and poverty of spirit among ignoble ones, had made him grow to
+think the whole of life!
+
+He was very weary and his vision was not clear; for the previous day had
+been a solemn fast, and he had walked far and long since the early
+morning, that he might be the less delayed. He felt like kneeling where
+he stood--if perchance it should be a vision!--But he only bowed his
+head and waited--and his weakness passed.
+
+The younger one--the maiden with that strange mystery of pain and
+strength in her white face, was coming towards him.
+
+"Father," she said, "hath none offered thee refreshment? Thou must
+indeed be weary, for the way is long. Zia, let us be served here--in
+sight of the great forest that will seem like home to our good Padre."
+
+"Nay, nay," he interposed quickly, with an effort to shake off this
+incomprehensible spell and return to his wonted mood of protest, "for I
+have never banqueted in the palace of a Queen--your Majesty."
+
+"Let it be brought," Caterina said, turning to the Lady Beata, "a simple
+meal; for I myself have need, having tasted nothing since the long vigil
+of the night--being too sore from my great perplexity." For she divined
+that she must be alone with the prior to melt his mood, which grieved
+her; but she had not the less faith in his judgment for his hatred of
+royalty, and at all costs she had the grace to crave for truth in the
+questions she would ask of him.
+
+"My Father," she said with winning gentleness when they were alone, "we
+will speak together as father and daughter--it will be better so, for I
+was not born to Majesty, and I have sent to ask of thee thy counsel, for
+life is difficult. And for my hospitality--is it not offered to the
+pilgrim in thy House of Priests of the Troodista? Hath not our Lord
+Himself commanded the giving of the cup of water?"
+
+He was startled at her learning: surely it was rare that women out of
+holy orders had such knowledge of Christian traditions. He looked at her
+reverently, still wondering, and would have spoken to excuse his rough
+speech, but that he knew not how to frame a thought so strange and new.
+
+She motioned him to a seat where a table had been spread under the deep
+arches that looked toward the forest. There were wines and fruits in
+tempting chalices of rainbow glass and low baskets of ivory and
+chiselled silver, cooling with snow from the mountain; figs from
+Lefcara; _caistas_, golden and delicious, emitting a fragrance of
+glorified nectarine that rivalled the perfume of the wine itself;
+pomegranates--the gift of a goddess to the thirsty Cyprian land,
+planted, as was well known, by the royal hand of Aphrodite herself, each
+fruit holding a fair refreshment for a torrid Cyprian day in its
+sparkling, semilucent, ruby pulp: ortolans from the sea-coast, steeped
+in wine.
+
+The table was a slab of oriental alabaster, polished like a jewel,
+upheld by griffins with outthrust tongues curiously contorted and
+entwined. But beyond the silken curtains of the palace-windows the
+forest and the hills, with a wandering breath of coolness from the
+mountain-breeze, drew and welcomed him, with some faint, new perception
+of the oneness of God's earth.
+
+She had banished with a glance the maiden who stood waiting with her
+lute to give the customary accompaniment to the meal, and they were
+quite alone.
+
+He crumbled his bread and swallowed his wine like a hungry man, drawing
+the wild, purple figs nearer, unconscious of the dainties which she did
+not press upon him, while he tasted the familiar food--the food which
+his Lord Christ had blessed to man's uses. So, also, the luxury of the
+service passed unnoticed, as he fixed his eyes on the distant darks of
+his own forest, with the "Troodista" rising on a peak far, far
+away--that haven of distressed souls to whom he was a father of
+consolation. Her fingers toyed with the fruit that lay untasted before
+her, while the difficulty of speech struggled within her. Yet he felt,
+subtly, as he kept his eyes upon the hills, that he was in sight of the
+shadow of a soul in pain, and he waited--for once, oblivious of the
+distance between a palace and a convent.
+
+"Thou art born a Greek, my Father?" she questioned. "Thou art a priest
+of the Greek Church--which my people love?"
+
+The commanding habit of a lifetime was strong upon him and again his
+resentment rose to quench the softer mood which was possessing him, and
+of which he was afraid.
+
+"I knew not that I had been summoned from my work for Christ to answer
+of myself," he said sternly. "If thou hast need of counsel, tell it
+quickly."
+
+Again her lip quivered at the hurt, but she put it aside bravely, as she
+rose and moved backward for a pace further into the shadow. "I ask it
+for my people's sake--I being their Queen," she said, "and knowing that
+my people are rather Greek in feeling, I would do naught to hurt them."
+
+How tenderly the words "my people" fell from the lips of this young,
+Venetian woman, who seemed almost a child--had their imperious Grecian
+Queen, Elena Paleologue ever so uttered them? Had she not named a boy to
+the highest See in the gift of their church--with no thought of
+fitness--but solely that he might be put aside lest he come between her
+and her greed of domination? Had she not plotted murder and whatever
+else might lie between her and the accomplishment of her will? His heart
+melted within him, and he rose and followed Caterina into the chamber.
+
+"The most Holy Father of Rome hath of late been prejudiced against the
+King--my husband--and I sought for one who might give me counsel,
+unprejudiced."
+
+If she had been a wily diplomat she could not better have wielded the
+prior's mood than by this unconscious utterance.
+
+"So help me God, I will strive to help thee in counsel," he answered
+fervently. "But are there not men, set apart as Councillors for the
+realm, to aid one so young in the ruling of her kingdom?"
+
+"Aye, Father," she admitted sadly, "but it is to steady mine own
+judgment _to judge of theirs_--that I have sent for thee. The question
+is not for Court Councillors, but for one who hath no part nor lot in
+this matter--who is often in meditation on holy matters, and hath won
+wisdom."
+
+He made a motion of deprecation, but she went on speaking in her clear,
+even voice, still questioning: "Thou knowest well the history of the
+kings of Lusignan?"
+
+He bowed his head in assent.
+
+"And the history of the life of the King--my husband?" She dwelt on the
+word with inexpressible tenderness--the slight pause that followed it
+was like unuttered music.
+
+Did she know? Was it possible that she knew? he asked himself.
+
+But the question came again.
+
+"And the provisions of his will--for myself and for--for others?" A wave
+of color had flushed her cheek and brow.
+
+He looked at her searchingly, seeking for words that might best comfort.
+"I know them," he said, "the provisions of the will having been told me
+by your Majesty's messenger: and I, being a Greek, and the friend of the
+people, that which toucheth them, toucheth me. My daughter, the sins of
+the race descend from father to son, and are in the blood; and there
+hath been no loving care of holy women about his childhood--which should
+be remembered and win forgiveness."
+
+"It is no question of forgiveness," she answered proudly, "of which I
+would speak with thee--_that_ lieth between our Holy Mother in Heaven
+and the souls of those who suffer." She seemed to dismiss the subject
+with an imperious wave of her slight hand. "It is a question of human
+judgment in which that of a holy man may avail, but in which this
+knowledge is necessary--else had it not been spoken of."
+
+She paused for a moment to gather strength, while the old man watched
+her in growing wonder--so young--so wronged--so tender--so brave--so
+strong to endure!
+
+Hagios Johannes the elder had been known through the long years of his
+canonization as _Lampadisti_, the _illumined_: and as the prior
+listened, he prayed with fervor that the wisdom of his sainted
+predecessor might descend upon his soul.
+
+"My Father," she resumed with a great effort, "I knew not of this
+history of the last of our Kings of Cyprus, until my marriage had been
+made.... I knew not of any right of Carlotta, being _own_ daughter to
+the King, the father of my husband"--again that tremulous pause of
+unuttered music--"to contest the crown with him, until I learned it in
+Cyprus, these few weeks past."
+
+Her head drooped lower, but she went on resolutely. "I knew not, until I
+came to Cyprus--for they who knew and should have told me, held the
+knowledge from me--that any might question the right of Janus--my
+husband--to this kingdom of Cyprus--he being only son to the King. For I
+knew not that his mother was _not_ the Queen, until I came hither."
+
+She paused again to gather strength, lifting her guileless great eyes to
+his, in agonized appeal, while he watched her dumbly.
+
+"And now, my Father," she said, throwing back her head with sudden
+vigor, and with the dignity of a great resolve, "this is my question,
+which hath come to me in the watches of the night and will not be
+denied, and for which I have summoned thee. I--being wife to Janus, who
+hath been crowned King of this people--and I, with him, crowned Queen;
+and by his will left Queen of Cyprus--with Council, appointed by him, to
+help me rule; shall I, a Christian woman--a Venetian and _not_ a
+Cyprian--his widow--_hold this kingdom against Carlotta_, who is
+daughter to the King, the father of my husband--and to the rightful
+Queen, Elena--his father's lawful wife?"
+
+He was dumbfounded and could not answer her at once; but while he sought
+for words he bowed his head in mute reverence.
+
+"My daughter," he said at length, "hath this question been put to thee
+by any men of Cyprus?"
+
+"Nay, Father; but it hath come to me in these sad nights, because I fain
+would do the _right_--that which is well for my people: and life is very
+difficult."
+
+"My people," again, uttered with the accent of a mother who folds her
+child to her heart--it was a revelation; but he must probe more deeply
+before he could answer her.
+
+"And this palace--and all the palaces of this estate?" he asked slowly,
+as if he could not comprehend her. "Thou wouldst renounce this splendor
+when none hath asked it of thee?"
+
+"I would even bear the weight of it, if it be _right_," she said,
+"though rest were sweeter."
+
+"Thou wouldst be free, perchance, to seek thy home in Venice?"
+
+"Nay, nay!" she exclaimed, shrinking from him--"never Venice
+again--since she hath sent me hither, knowing all, and told me not. I
+cannot go back to Venice!"
+
+He pondered gravely.
+
+"Then what is thy will, my daughter?"
+
+"To do the right!" she cried vehemently; "out of my own great sorrow to
+expiate the wrong! May it not be, my Father, if I shrink not from the
+right at any cost?"
+
+"I will consider," he said, "since thy will is strong for this
+sacrifice."
+
+"Sacrifice!" she cried, in her amazement breaking all reserve. "Oh,
+Father! To call _this_ 'sacrifice,' when the very light of life is gone
+from me! He was so beautiful and gracious--with such a light in his
+eyes--and I thought--oh, I _thought_ we were so happy! And now--oh, God,
+it breaks my heart--I _loved_ him!"
+
+"Daughter----"
+
+"May not the suffering of one atone for another's sin?" she questioned
+feverishly.
+
+"Nay--leave that thought, it is too heavy for thee: and not revealed to
+men, that they may declare it."
+
+"Pray for him, Father! Thou wilt pray for him--thou and all those who
+come to thee. There will be many, many prayers and God will hear. For
+his people loved him--none could stay from loving him, he was so
+winsome. Mother of Mercies, thou wilt take my anguish for his
+atonement!--_Oh I suffer!_"
+
+The words came in a low moan, wrung from her unaware. Father Johannes
+caught the small hands which she had flung out before her clenched, in
+her passionate struggle for control, and with faltering motions of
+unaccustomed gentleness, he soothed her until she had grown quieter and
+he could unclasp them. Then he spoke strange words, out of a great
+compassion:
+
+"Christ knoweth; for He is Love--and He will save!"
+
+"There is more," she gasped with her spent voice--"but I dare not name
+it--the thought of it is torture. But it is not true; Madonna mia! it
+_is not_ true!"
+
+The strong man could bear no more; he groaned in spirit and ground his
+hands against his breast--his lip curling with scorn at the pain of his
+own torn flesh. "Tell it!" he commanded; "it _cannot_ be true."
+
+She looked at him, hope dawning in her stricken face. "The words they
+speak--they who are his enemies--that he had forsworn his faith: it is
+not true."
+
+"It is the very machination of the Evil One!" he thundered. "I know the
+slander and the man who fathered it, for spite. And may Heaven forgive
+its maker--for he hath need--standing high in the holy place of Earth. I
+_know_ it is not true!"
+
+He looked his faith into her eyes until he had banished her terror, and
+she put out her wan hand, grateful, for his assurance.
+
+Then he turned from her abruptly and wandered away to weigh her
+question, looking into the depths of the great forest while he pondered
+and prayed to be enlightened. He must have sight of his own solitudes if
+he would keep his judgment free, and though she called to him, timidly,
+thinking he had forgotten her, he made no answer, being not yet ready.
+Surely, it could not be God's will that so fine a spirit should resign
+her claim to their uneasy crown!
+
+It was long before he returned to her side, for the shadows were
+lengthening and a crimson light flamed in the West.
+
+"Daughter," he said with deep solemnity, "it hath come to me with full
+light in answer to thy question, that thou, being crowned Queen and
+consecrated in the Duomo of Nikosia, together with King Janus, thy
+husband--whom this people loved--and decreed by him to hold this realm,
+which--for the first time in many years, and by his hand, is now united
+under one sovereign, that thy duty biddeth thee hold and rule it against
+all other claimants--were it even Carlotta who hath once been called its
+Queen.
+
+"Rule thou this people with the fear of Heaven in thy true heart--so God
+shall make thee wise!"
+
+She came slowly, as to a heavy task, and knelt before him, with clasped
+hands, kissing the crucifix which he held out to her; the red light
+streamed through the arches with a fierce illumination.
+
+"Father--and Janus!" she cried--"hear my vow!
+
+"To do for my people as Heaven and the Madonna shall teach me: to bear
+them in my heart and seek their happiness; to live for them alone! And
+if harm hath been--oh God, if harm hath been done--to nerve me to the
+more strenuous duty, that wrong may be forgiven!"
+
+
+
+
+XV
+
+
+It was a moonless night in June, with lowering clouds and a threat of
+distant thunder echoing from the far mountains.
+
+A crowd was gathering, low-voiced and eager, in the Piazza San Nicolo: a
+crowd chiefly of the people, and the faces and costumes of many races
+came out grotesquely under the spasmodic glare of the torches which
+flared about the standard of Cyprus, in the centre of the square--the
+standard was tied with mourning and wreathed with cypress. There were
+many women--here and there a peasant with a child slumbering in her
+arms, or clinging sleepily to the tawny silk scarf woven under her own
+mulberry trees. Here and there, with the fitful motion of the wind, the
+light touched the fair hair of a chance peasant from the province of _La
+Kythrea_ into gleams of gold that a Venetian patrician might envy, or
+brought into sudden relief the smothered passion of some beautiful, dark
+Greek face. But the women were chiefly of the lower Cypriote
+peasant-type, heavy-featured and unemotional. There was a sprinkling of
+monkish cowls and of the red fez from the Turkish village of Afdimou
+which lay in seeming friendliness of relation close to the village of
+Ormodos, whose population was wholly Greek.
+
+In front of the long facade of the palace of Famagosta a cordon of
+soldiers stood motionless, while before them the mounted guard paced
+slowly to and fro; and across the Piazza, with that impatient, surging
+crowd between, was faintly heard the steady footfall of the sentinels,
+measuring and remeasuring with unemotional precision their narrow beat
+before the entrance to the world-famed fortress of Famagosta.
+
+A group of nobles in eager, low-voiced converse crossed the square,
+pressed through the cordon of soldiers and gave the password and the
+great door was opened to admit them and closed again.
+
+Two burghers picked out a face among them, as the torches of their
+escorts flared.
+
+"That was Marin Rizzo, Counsellor to the Queen; a man of
+power--unscrupulous."
+
+"And more a friend--I have heard it whispered in Nikosia--to Naples than
+to Cyprus."
+
+"Hast evidence for thy speech?" the other questioned eagerly in a lower
+tone.
+
+"It is for that we must watch; the time is threatening."
+
+"But Messer Andrea Cornaro was with him: he will know how to guard the
+interests of the Queen, having been so great a favorite with our Janus,
+and one for management, despite his courtly ways! Without our Messer
+Andrea, his niece had never been our Queen."
+
+"Nay--nor if His Holiness had had his will. I had the tale from a source
+to trust, though the story was kept hushed. It would take one like our
+Janus, with his royal ways, to scorn the flattering offers of His
+Holiness! There were also threats!"
+
+"Nay; threats would never move him, except to see the comedy thereof and
+make his mood the pleasanter! But I had not dreamed him saint enough for
+the Holy Father to sue to him for an alliance."
+
+"Ah, friend, the ways of those above us be strange! But it was for this,
+I take it, that His Holiness--who hath a temper most uncommon
+earthly--sent none to represent him at the Coronation of the King."
+
+The other shrugged his shoulders. "It lacked for naught in splendor; it
+was a day for Cyprus and for Nikosia."
+
+"_Vanitas Vanitatum_," droned a friar of the Latin Church who had been
+standing near enough to catch echoes of their speech.
+
+Both men glanced towards him and instinctively moved away.
+
+"Aye; little it matters now--coronation honors or splendors for him! But
+he had a way with him!"
+
+"And he was one for daring!"
+
+They crossed themselves and lapsed into silence, as their eyes sought
+the banners drooping, shrouded, before the palace-gates, near the statue
+of their dead King--a very Apollo for beauty--the pedestal heaped high
+with withered tokens of loyalty and mourning.
+
+But the mass of the waiting crowd were silent, scarcely exchanging a
+whispered confidence;--so still that the long, low boom of the surf upon
+the shore reached them distinctly, like a responsive heart-throb. They
+could hear the storm-waves outside the port dashing wildly against the
+rock-bound coast, with fierce suggestions of strife. But they knew that
+within their sheltered harbor their waiting galleys rode at anchor,
+ready to sail at a moment's notice--for Venice, for Rome, for
+Egypt--though the flags they bore were still at half-mast, with their
+King but a month dead.
+
+There was a sense of suppressed excitement in the hush of the throng;
+almost, one might have said, an atmosphere of prayer. For the great bell
+of San Nicolo--the bell with that wonderful voice of melody--was ringing
+softly, as for vespers; continuously, as if the people had not answered
+to the call. Yet many a low-voiced "Ave" responded to the chime as now
+and again some toil-worn hand lifted the rosary that hung from a girdle,
+or clasped a rude cross closer.
+
+Restless under the chiming, some simple mother who had fought for her
+place in the crowd before the palace, deep in her heart besought the
+blessed Madonna to forgive her because she would not yield it to kneel
+at the altar in the Duomo; while leaning over the little one slumbering
+on her breast, she kissed it with a meaning holy as prayer, and did not
+dream that the angels were watching.
+
+The only steady light in all the square was the soft gleam, as of
+moonlight, streaming through the windows of the Duomo out into the mist,
+and here and there among the crowd some face turned towards it and was
+heartened.
+
+For back of the splendid marble columns of the peristyle, when the light
+from some torch flashed suddenly upon their polished surfaces, the long
+lines of palace-windows lay dark; and it was growing late.
+
+"They say that the holy sisters keep vigil this night in the Convent of
+the Blessed Santa Croce," murmured a woman's voice.
+
+"Aye," another answered her reverently, "for the love of Santa Elena and
+the Holy Relic, they will bless our beautiful Lady!"
+
+The theme unsealed their peasant tongues, for this relic brought from
+the East by the Mother of Constantine, was the glory of Cyprus, and
+their speech flowed more freely.
+
+"The most Reverend our Archbishop should send for that Santa Croce in
+procession, to bring it hither--for truly it can do anything!" another
+woman cried eagerly. She crossed herself and bowed devoutly as she
+spoke. "For all the world knoweth that once, when it had been lost and
+the good pater would prove if he had really found it, he held it in the
+heart of the fire until it glowed like the very flame itself. But when
+he drew it forth, it was burned not at all--_Santissima Vergine!_--but
+wood as before--being too holy to burn. A miracle! And then----"
+
+"I also know the miracle about Queen Alixe," another woman interposed,
+eager to show her knowledge of the marvel of the Relic, "for my sister
+dwelleth by the gate of the Convent of the Troodos, and she hath much
+learning of the most blessed Relic;--how that Queen Alixe laid the bit
+on her tongue--she who could never speak fairly--more like a blockhead
+of a stammering peasant than a Royal lady--may Heaven forgive me! And
+how for ever after, her speech flowed freely, so that all might
+understand her. It must be good to be in Cyprus."
+
+"Holy Mother! but it should be lonely in the great palace," a young
+peasant-mother confided to her nearest neighbor, as she shifted the baby
+to her other arm and arranged her wrappings tenderly, with hands that
+looked too rough for such loving ministration. She was thinking of her
+Gioan who would be waiting for her with a gruff greeting when she
+returned, but who was good to her, if he often scolded when the porridge
+was burned. But men were that way about women's work, and never knew
+that an angel would forget when the baby cried. "_But_ she was growing
+heavy, blessed be the Madonna! Why wasn't there a light?--It would be
+good if one might sleep!"
+
+A mounted messenger came out from the fort and dashed across the square;
+the crowd holding breath, parting silently before him, but surging
+tumultuously back, to wait--though they were very weary and the shifting
+clouds were dropping rain. But there were yet no lights in the palace
+windows.
+
+It was growing darker and the wind was rising; a quick flurry of drops
+extinguished some of the torches, and in the greater gloom the voice of
+the wind wailed like an evil omen. But still the women would not
+go--waiting for that sign of _the light in the palace windows_.
+
+Only they pressed closer to each other and crossed themselves in terror,
+with smothered ejaculations and adjurations, shuddering from the
+superstitions that enthralled their simple natures; for at this season,
+in Cyprus rain was most unwonted, surely a sign of Heaven's displeasure!
+Still they waited in the darkness of the night, with shivering hearts,
+with the wind growling like angry fiends out beyond the harbor and down
+from the environing hills--upheld to this costly tribute of devotion by
+the dumb, dog-like loyalty which their beautiful young Queen had roused
+within them, by a smile on her wedding-day and the sorrow that had
+quenched it.
+
+"It is good, _va_, to see the light in the Duomo! There is many a good
+candle burning for her at the shrine of Our Lady of Mercy, this night."
+
+"An' there were none for ourselves, we should find one for her!"
+
+"Not a woman of our _casal_ but held a candle in her hand as we came in
+at the gate of the city; for the silkworms have given us silk and enough
+to spin this year; and if they had not, we would not grudge it to her.
+For she hath a smile like an angel. May our Holy Mother bless her for
+them both."
+
+"And beautiful--beautiful so that it warms the heart! Dost thou remember
+the day when she came out of the Duomo, beautiful as the Madonna
+herself--may our Blessed Lady in Heaven forgive me!--with a necklace and
+a crown flashing fire, that our Holy Mother of Jesus might wear on the
+Feast of the Annunciation?--and the smile on her face?--and the King
+beside her----? Ah, but it was a wedding--Holy Saints!--and they ought
+to be happy--the great ones!"
+
+"Hush then!--But surely 'tis a sin that they left the mourning upon the
+banner to-night, one should have more respect! If I could get into the
+Duomo for a drop of Holy water--Sancta Maria!"
+
+But the crowd had swelled to hopeless density, and both women threw out
+their hands with the magical gesture that never failed to exorcise the
+evil spirits brought near by such an omen. Then they touched each other
+reassuringly, and crossed themselves and were silent again.
+
+For a beautiful Greek, not of their own class, stepped out from her
+group of attendants, and knelt on the pavement, stretching out her hands
+towards the dark palace with a prayer--they could hear her
+murmuring,--"For _her_ sake--for the sake of the innocent one who hath
+been wronged--Holy Mother of Angels, grant us one of her blood to rule
+this land!"
+
+Her heavy veil of mourning fell aside as she hastily rose and joined her
+attendants, disappearing in the crowd.
+
+"Madama da Patras! Could it be Madama da Patras, mother to the King,
+kneeling on the pavement in the night!"
+
+"Her heart is broken with grief, and she thought not to be seen, poor
+lady."
+
+Two nobles were wending their way with difficulty across the Piazza,
+they lingered a moment, arrested by the words of the prayer.
+
+"This night may make the difference between anarchy and peace for
+Cyprus," one of them said to his companion, as they resumed their
+struggle.
+
+"Aye--Cyprus for the Cypriotes,--instead of Genoa, or Venice, or
+Naples."
+
+"Or Queen Carlotta?"
+
+"_Maledetto!--Who spoke?_"
+
+But the challenge was unanswered. The noble who had dared to name aloud
+the daughter of their last Queen--the sister of their late King--had
+been lost in the darkness before the trusty guard, _sent from Venice_,
+could make sure of him.
+
+"The fellow should be thrust through for his insolence. A Cyprian master
+is good enough for Cyprus," they confided to each other, as they made
+pause again, emerging from the crowd at the other end of the piazza,
+before the gate of the fortress.
+
+"What matters it?" his comrade answered him nonchalantly, "for canst
+thou tell me the color of a Cypriote now? and his native tongue may be
+liker that of Spain or Venice than of France or Greece. My Lord of
+Piscopia hath the color of Venice."
+
+"But of the very household of our Queen:--speak soft! Our
+Queen?--Perchance this night may be her undoing--how runs King Giacomo's
+will? Yea, for the matter of the fiefs, she hath been royal with her
+gifts--a matter not so lordly when confiscation cometh thus easily."
+
+"But she hath a royal way with her, as of one born to the throne, and
+for that matter it were not strange for one of the house of
+Cornelii--they held their heads proudly enough in Venice, I am told; and
+her mother was of the blood of a Comnenus--more royal than a Lusignan,
+if not so well tempered."
+
+"Aye; she is well enough."
+
+"And she hath a grace that hath verily won the people; never was there
+such a crowd in the time of any other Queen. See how they throng before
+her gates to-night--poor simple souls--conquered by a smile that
+costeth naught."
+
+"Nay; it is not strange; for the people entered little into the thought
+of Queen Carlotta, or Queen Elena. There is no harm in her; she is a
+good child, and beautiful enough to be a saint; with too little
+understanding of the ways of our court: too great a saint for Janus--by
+every blessed saint of Cyprus! But I had rather she had more earthliness
+and wile than be the pawn of Venice. A Cyprian for the Cypriotes! Our
+Janus were better;--a Lusignan--not too much a saint--not a child nor a
+woman neither--but masterful: less the pawn of Venice."
+
+"As well of Venice with her fleets and commerce, as of Naples--if it be
+not a Cyprian. How sayest thou? And it was King Janus himself who gave
+Pelendria--that most royal and bountiful fief of a prince of
+Lusignan--into the hands of that parvenu of Naples, _Rizzo_! The King
+verily guessed not his quality when he named him to such estate! He
+would outrule monarchs."
+
+"_Pace!_"
+
+Close to them, in the crowd, they heard the sound of a soldier's lance
+rasping the pavement as he stood at rest. One not far off seemed to
+answer his signal.
+
+The storm was growing fiercer; the sullen mutterings of the wind broke
+into a shriek, with a terrible downpour of rain; but the rushing crowd
+was stayed by a cry of joy that rose above the tumult--a cry of love
+from the heart of the people--
+
+"Mater Beatissima! _A light in the palace window!_"
+
+A candle flamed in a dark window--two--more--a light in every casement!
+
+The gates of the palace were thrown wide and a splendid mounted corps
+rode forth amidst a flare of torches--white plumes of rejoicing waving
+from their casques--white banners raised high on the points of their
+lances--while the herald, in full armor with vizor up, bore proudly
+before the people the silken banner with the arms of Cyprus blazoned
+upon it--the white, royal banner of a Prince of Galilee.
+
+The waiting people went wild with joy, for the bells of all the churches
+of Famagosta were pealing a jubilee, and the night rang with shouts of
+homage for the Prince of Galilee, the heir to the crown of Cyprus:
+
+For an infant prince had just opened his unconscious eyes upon his
+troubled earthly heritage.
+
+
+
+
+XVI
+
+
+White banners of rejoicing floated from every stronghold and palace
+throughout Cyprus, to publish the birth of the infant prince; but a hush
+had lain for many days over the city of Famagosta.
+
+In the Cathedral of San Nicolo, the Archbishop of Nikosia, primate of
+all Cyprus, ministered in solemn state among a throng of lesser
+dignitaries, priests, and acolytes. His sumptuous robes of office, of
+cloth of gold broidered with costly pearls, flashed forth a marvellous
+radiance from the light of countless candles bought with the precious
+copper bits of the peasants who came from the provinces far and near. As
+they gathered about the steps of the altar they carefully drew their
+dingy work-worn garments back, lest their touch should sully the
+splendid Persian carpet spread for the Reverendissimo, little dreaming
+that the hint of sorrowing love in their stolid faces robed them with
+nobility and turned their hard-earned copper _carcie_ into a golden
+gift.
+
+In the many churches throughout the kingdom the humble people were
+kneeling, praying their unlettered prayers for the beautiful young
+Queen, with the more faith that the Holy Mother would listen because one
+so great as the Archbishop of Nikosia ministered in person before their
+sacred image of San Nicolo. For had it not been the booty of a
+slaughtered Eastern city, won by Peter the Valiant in most holy warfare
+of Crusade, which His Holiness of Rome would fain have counted among the
+treasures of the One True Church within the Eternal City?
+
+In the grim stone corridors of the impregnable fortress of Famagosta, a
+crowd of humble pilgrims from the Troodos knelt, breathlessly fingering
+their rosaries, while the monks of the Holy House upon the Mountain
+moved among the scattered groups, holding each one his Cross of Thorns,
+and reciting his low "Ave," that the people might follow in hushed
+whispers.
+
+But within the little Chapel of the Fortress, Hagios Johannes wrestled
+alone in prayer; it leaped from his heart with groans and sobs that
+might not be restrained.
+
+Surely the merciful Father in Heaven would leave this pure spirit to
+rule the distressed people of Cyprus:--"Were they found too sinful to
+win so great a boon?--'_Let the priests, the ministers of the people,
+weep between the porch and the altar!_'--My God, it is Thy word, spoken
+by Thy prophet of old!" He pressed his hands against the crosses on his
+breast and shoulders, lashing himself in a sort of frenzy from the
+passion of his thought, not knowing that his blood trickled in slow
+drops upon the very steps of the altar--the blood of man, defiling the
+purity of that slab of onyx brought from the Temple at Jerusalem by the
+first of the Kings of Lusignan.
+
+The fortress, not the Palace of Famagosta, had been the birthplace of
+the little Prince of Galilee; a wise precaution, possibly, in view of
+the diversities of sympathy to be found among the nobles of Cyprus. In
+the innermost of the apartments set apart for the Royal use, a grave
+assemblage of learned men had gathered--men of many races and tongues,
+of various schools of science, diverse in doctrines and ideals--all,
+with the exception of Maestro Gentile, the court physician, strangers to
+the patient whom they were called to treat in a critical moment. As a
+matter of science the case had a certain value for them, which was not
+lessened by the fact of the patient's quality; but to Maestro Gentile
+alone was the hopeless condition of the young Queen a matter of deep
+personal concern. They came from France, from Greece, from the famous
+University of Bologna; the Sultan of Egypt had sent a sage learned in
+all the lore of that ancient civilization; and a wise Arab had brought
+to this consultation the secrets of every herb that grew; while a holy
+man from Persia, steeped in the wisdom of the Zend Avestar and in the
+doctrines of Zarathrustra, stood ready to use his mystic comfort in
+behalf of the sufferer. The consultation had dragged its slow length
+through the hot August afternoon, while the strange faces came and went
+about the couch where the young Queen lay moaning and tossing; the
+single being under that roof who loved her as her own soul and would
+have given her life for hers, was waiting alone in the great
+ante-chamber, listening for every footfall, every motion within--filling
+each moment with an intensity of prayer.
+
+The great men had barred her from the sick-room while they made their
+diagnosis, lest the intricacies of the symptoms should declare
+themselves less positively in the presence of a nature without learning
+in any method of their art. "There was fever," they said; "it would
+excite the patient to have one of her own household so near her in this
+extremity; her strength must be carefully treasured."
+
+But all wore faces of gloom, speaking with hushed voices, as, one by
+one, they came forth from the darkened chamber, yet with a sense of
+relief that all had been done that could be done and the weakness might
+now be left to run its course, "For there is no hope," they said.
+
+The Lady Beata had questioned each face silently; but when the last one
+passed, bringing the same sense of doom, "Can _nothing_ more be done?"
+she asked with clasped hands.
+
+They shook their heads, gravely, with decorous looks of sympathy,
+repeating their short refrain, like a knell.
+
+"Then I will go to her," she answered, "that she may see a face of love
+when she passes," and pushing them all aside, she resolutely entered the
+sick-chamber, signing to Maestro Gentile to follow her; but the protest
+from the group of learned men was less than she had feared, since the
+Queen was now so ill that nothing could cure or harm.
+
+The fair young mother, fever flushed, with wandering eyes, lay tossing
+on the silken cushions of her low couch--broken words feebly struggling
+from the parted lips in pathetic tones, "Madonna--I am so tired--_so_
+tired--take me----"
+
+There was no recognition in her eyes, as the Lady Beata leaned over her,
+startled at the words, her soul wrung with sympathy.
+
+"Why can they do nothing?" she asked in low authoritative tones of the
+physician.
+
+"The will is gone," he answered sorrowfully; "she hath lost all desire
+of life; she will not rally, being too weak for the effort, and having
+no consciousness to help herself."
+
+There was a hunted, frightened look in Caterina's face; the words came
+again, more faintly--"tired--take me----"
+
+"She shall _not_ die until she hath known this joy which Heaven hath
+sent her!" the Lady Beata cried with conviction and a sudden sense of
+power. "We will save her--thou, Maestro Gentile--and I--who love her.
+Give her only some potion for her strengthening, I beseech thee, caro
+Maestro;--life is flickering--she _must_ not die yet."
+
+"There is no hope," he answered her again; but he gave the strengthening
+draught, for he could not resist her imploring eyes.
+
+The Lady Beata had been moving noiselessly, throwing wide the curtains;
+a faint, pitying evening breeze stole into the chamber. She came now and
+knelt beside the couch.
+
+"Bring the little Prince hither with all possible haste, from his
+chamber," she said without lifting her eyes from Caterina's face. "We
+must rouse her!"
+
+And now the Maestro went without further question, to do her bidding,
+although the child, and all that belonged to him had been kept out of
+sight and sound of the invalid, through these days of danger, lest an
+emotion should snap the slender thread of life.
+
+"Bring none with thee," she said, "save only the peasant-nurse; for we
+must be alone."
+
+Quite alone, with death so near, out of the marvellous great strength
+in her heart, the Lady Beata laid her firm, cool touch on the restless
+hands, scarcely restraining them--yet the spasmodic movements grew
+quieter; she smiled into her eyes, until the strain of the frightened
+gaze relaxed; she folded her close in the arms of her deep tenderness
+and _willed_ her back to life with the strenuousness of a great
+purpose--for was there not the little wailing child to live for, to give
+her sight of the love and happiness for which she was starving!
+
+Closer and closer yet she folded her, with light caressing motions on
+hair and brow, calling to her with all sweet names that deep-hearted
+women know, in tones so like a dream that they caught the wandering
+consciousness and lighted it with a faint, far hope.
+
+Time is not when such momentous issues are pending. Whether the moments
+passed into hours, or whether each instant were so fraught with its
+intensity of hope and fear that every heart-throb seemed an eternity,
+the yearning watchers never knew. Slowly--or was it swiftly?--Just as
+hope was dying in despair--a breath of peace, like the wafting of the
+wings of some heavenly messenger, stirred softly among them, dropping
+balm on the face of the sleeper.
+
+They bent above her breathlessly; the pale eyelids fluttered and
+unclosed.
+
+Her breath came gently and broke in a restful sigh; she lay quietly
+within the shielding arms that had held her back from the dread abyss;
+the light of recognition was dawning in her eyes.
+
+The Lady Beata trembled for joy; but she scarce dared move or speak;
+she kept her eyes fixed on the dear, fragile face,--deep in her heart
+that ceaseless prayer for life.
+
+Maestro Gentile was dumb with awe:--it was a miracle! He stood watching,
+intent to help--holding his breath lest he should work some harm, while
+he kept guard over the nurse who held the sleeping child; he was so
+completely under the spell of that wonder-working will that he needed
+scarce a sign to work with her.
+
+But the Lady Beata was no thaumaturgist; only a loving woman, standing
+where science had failed, translating another's desperate need from her
+own depths of sympathy--arresting the oncoming shadow because of her
+faith and her great love.
+
+"Now!" she exclaimed under her breath.
+
+She laid the infant on its mother's breast; its dainty breath came and
+went upon her face with the fragrance of a violet. She uncurled a little
+crumpled, rose-leaf palm and pressed it close upon the mother's
+cheek--never moving her gaze, with the will of life strong within it,
+from the eyes in which recognition had dawned with a strange, sweet
+surprise. A smile was brooding on lips and eyes. One baby-hand lay
+clasped in Caterina's--the wee pink fingers closed on hers like the
+tendrils of a vine.
+
+The Lady Beata's heart throbbed to breaking, but her voice came low and
+calm--stilled with the passion of her gladness, as Caterina's eyes
+smiled into hers:
+
+"It is thine own little son, who hath need of thy love:--God's wonderful
+gift of joy that only mothers know!"
+
+
+
+
+XVII
+
+
+With whatever magnificence of pageantry the ceremonies of the Baptism
+and Coronation of the infant Prince of Galilee were surrounded--and
+under the tutelage of Venice and the auspices of Cyprus which aspired to
+the splendor of an Eastern Empire, there could be nothing lacking--there
+were nobler aspects of that brilliant festival which those who witnessed
+never forgot.
+
+The Embassies which had been despatched to all friendly courts had
+returned with deputations of rejoicing; a fleet from Venice and ships
+from the East had brought costly gifts of welcome and men, high in
+dignity, charged to represent their governments: and the Admiral
+Morenigo, with two Provveditori had arrived to stand sponsors for the
+Grandson of the Republic. In the vast banquet-hall of the palace,
+decorated with all its ancient heraldic devices and trophies of Crusades
+and Eastern victories, the Coronation Feast was spread, where presently
+the knights of the noblest families of the kingdom would count it an
+honor to serve: and the splendid city of Famagosta was gay with the
+suites and banners of foreign guests.
+
+But, for all that, it was the _People's Day_--for the young Queen had
+willed it so.
+
+"Let proclamation be made throughout the land," she had said, "that all,
+of every degree, may share the festivities, and come to pay their homage
+to the infant King. And bid the mothers bring their little ones."
+
+The people thronged from far and near until Famagosta could hold no
+more; from Nikosia, from Larnaca and Limasol and Kerynea and other
+cities and districts of Cyprus, came great deputations of burghers, with
+those peasants from the nearer _casals_ and hamlets whom the invitation
+of their gracious Sovereign Lady had reached and who were not restrained
+by the unwillingness of their nobles: for there were still some among
+the ancient families of the island who looked with disfavor upon Janus
+and his successors.
+
+The Queen had not shown herself to the people since the birth of her
+little son; and they knelt along her pathway as she passed across the
+Piazza San Nicolo, from the palace to the Duomo, holding their children
+up that she might bless them--for it was a miracle! She had come back
+from Death's door to rule and bless their land!
+
+     "Sancta Maria!"
+
+Before her on the golden cushion of state were borne the sceptre and the
+quaint Royal Crown of Cyprus of the time of their first king, Guy de
+Lusignan--heavy and far too rough for her delicate brows to endure; and
+the Councillors and Counts of the kingdom, the knights and nobles and
+ladies of the court made a brave array. But the people,--the
+peasants,--half-dazed by their unaccustomed nearness to such
+magnificence, not feeling as did the people of Venice that the fetes of
+the kingdom were meant for them, had looked on stolidly at all the
+bravery of the passing procession and at the glitter of the
+insignia,--showing no sign of greeting until a white, girlish figure
+stood under the palace portal.
+
+"_Panagia mou!_ Holy Virgin!" The familiar ejaculation came,
+half-suppressed, in a whisper of awe, from hundreds of voices. For the
+words of the Cyprian peasant were few, and this appeal to their most
+revered image of the Virgin sufficed for the expression of their deepest
+emotions. Was it, in truth their Queen--or the blessed Madonna herself,
+who came forth from the palace arches in her sweeping robes, white and
+gleaming, her royal mantle of cloth of gold and her jewelled crown--like
+the beautiful ivory image in the Duomo of Santa Croce?--Very pale and
+fair and sad she was, yet with a smile in her eyes, as she turned from
+side to side to answer their greetings, which now broke forth
+rapturously.
+
+The color flushed her pale face when their cries of loyalty arose, and
+she turned and took the little Prince of Galilee from her Eccellenza,
+the Royal Governess the Dama Margherita de Iblin, holding him high,
+close-pressed to her cheek for all the people to see, with a great glory
+of mother-love in her shining eyes. They rent the air with their sobs
+and shouts.
+
+The child lay smiling on his mother's arm--serene and very beautiful; it
+was in truth a holy picture.
+
+The populace forgot that it was their Queen; as never before, that any
+distance of caste lay between them--they forgot their native awkwardness
+and dread of the great ones--they thronged nearer, unafraid--only to
+touch her--to kiss some hem of her floating garments--to look in the
+face of the little child who was to be their King!
+
+And when the mother and the child were gone into the shadows of the
+Duomo, so thronged with noble guests and with all the splendid Hierarchy
+of Cyprus that there was scarce room for the royal procession to pass to
+the High-Altar beyond the tomb of Janus, the hearts of the people in the
+Piazza joined in the chorus of love and benediction of the choirs
+within, as, with new hints of devotion in their patient faces, they
+folded their own little ones closer with some vague, struggling,
+incomprehensible sense of aspiration--they were one with their Royal
+Lady and the Blessed Madonna, in the sacred mystery of Motherhood.
+
+In the spacious apse the Hierarchy and the Royal Court were ranged for
+the ceremonial, and back of them a low three-arched opening at one side
+of the apse, supported on columns of polished porphyry clasped with
+grotesquely hammered copper, gave glimpses of palms waving in the great
+Court of the Tombs; gave glimpses also of the Monks of Troodos who had
+come hither with all their numbers, to witness the solemn services of
+the dedication of their infant king to his high trust.
+
+And just within the portal, in strange contrast to the pomp of his
+surroundings, stood Hagios Johannes Lampadisti, "the Illumined"--a wild,
+stern figure, in his sombre robes--unchanged for any highest
+festival--with the symbol of solemn sacrifice on his breast, beyond all
+thought of admiration or of reproach for the splendor about him, his
+prophetic gaze fastened on the face of the Queen with imperious
+intensity--one hand slightly extended towards her, holding out his cross
+of thorns.
+
+When the solemn rites were over and the Queen had received her child
+again from the arms of the Archbishop of Nikosia, Hagios Johannes,
+never moving his eyes from her face came forward with slow movements,
+and Caterina, with a sudden, uncontrollable impulse, lifting her eyes
+beheld the mystic gaze of Hagios Johannes and knelt down before the
+altar, straining her baby close to her breast.
+
+"Dear Christ in Heaven!" she cried, in the dialect of the people. "I
+give him to Thee!--I give _my All_ to Thee! He and I, we will live for
+Thee; and for this People of Cyprus!--so Thou and the Blessed Mother be
+our helpers."
+
+The Queen's Councillors in their splendid robes of office, looked in
+amazement to see their Queen forget her state in such a presence, and
+outrage every precedent by crying out in the unlearned language of the
+people, before this stately company; and the face of the dignified
+Primate flamed with wrath at this unseemliness. But Caterina, noting
+nothing, turned to receive their homage for the infant King, for whom as
+by an inspiration, she had publicly offered these vows, from the depths
+of her heart.
+
+As the procession moved out into the sunshine of the Piazza, she held
+the child up again to the eager, waiting throng--the light gleaming on
+the tiny coronet above his baby-cap as she spread out his dimpled hands
+with a motion of welcome, saying quite simply:
+
+"This is your King. Love him, dear people of Cyprus!"
+
+And she would not give the infant back to the Royal Governess, but
+carried him herself in her own arms across the Piazza, held up for the
+people to see--which never before had a queen of Cyprus been known to
+do. But there was a light in her face which silenced those who would
+have spoken of ways more seemly, and it was a triumphal procession to
+the palace. But she paused before the peristyle, turning to face the
+people again.
+
+"There is welcome for every Cypriote," she said, "men, women and little
+children, who come this day to pay homage to their infant King; and good
+cheer in the palace for all," and signing to the attendants that they
+should be made to enter she passed in, smiling, before them.
+
+The child lay in his cradle in the splendid _Sala Regia_, under the
+canopy blazoned with the arms of Cyprus--a little, helpless, smiling
+child--guarded by the Councillors and Counts of the kingdom; and near
+him stood the Queen with all her court, who for this day only had put
+off their mourning that no suggestion of gloom nor any hint of evil omen
+might shadow the royal baptismal and coronation fetes. The ladies were
+dazzling in gems and heirlooms of broideries and brocades; the knights
+and barons of the realm were glittering with orders--here and there,
+above his costly armor, one showed the red cross of the Crusade, or wore
+the emblem of the Knights of San Giovanni. But the people, who never
+before had entered those palace doors, came surging--not afraid--nor
+shrinking from the novelty and splendor nor curious for it; they came to
+pledge their fealty to the baby-prince--a little child like their
+own--whose gentle mother asked their love--than which no monarch may
+bring a gift more royal.
+
+
+
+
+XVIII
+
+
+"Is there aught to fear, Aluisi?--Thou seemest overgrave," the Lady
+Beata asked anxiously as her son came late, one evening into her private
+boudoir in their suite in the palace; he looked unusually weary and
+depressed.
+
+"There is always much to fear," he answered, with no brightening of his
+anxious face in response to his mother's smile.
+
+"But not now--surely not now! She hath won the heart of the
+people--these fetes were a triumph--they almost gladdened her. And now,
+poor child, she hath the little one to bring her comfort."
+
+"Aye, Madre mia; she hath perchance won the love of the simple folk; but
+it is a powerless love."
+
+"Aluisi!--thou art not like thyself to scorn it."
+
+"I may well be not like myself in so strange a land," he answered
+bitterly. "But I know not scorn; nor hopeless trust, neither."
+
+His mother watched him wondering, as he, who was usually so
+self-contained, strode impatiently about the chamber, as if its limits
+fretted him.
+
+"A few cries of loyalty--a group of peasants kneeling--make a pretty
+showing--a tribute to bring her comfort--but it is the chaff before the
+wind, when danger cometh. And she hath never spoken of the many fiefs
+from which they came not--withheld by command of their jealous nobles.
+This peasantry hath no initiative--no aggressiveness. How wouldst thou
+that they should save her when danger cometh?"
+
+"What danger, Aluisi?"
+
+"The ever-present danger from without and within," he answered
+despondently. "One knoweth not from whence the first blow shall come."
+
+She was silent for a moment, seeking how she might pursue the theme
+without further irritating him.
+
+"If the peasants are powerless," she said, "the burghers are strong. And
+they came in throngs to the coronation."
+
+"Aye, Mother; they are our hope: I thank thee for thy word."
+
+A silence fell again between them, and his face grew less anxious.
+
+"The burden is heavy for thee," she said, as he came and stood near her
+low couch. "It will ease thee to speak of it, if thou mayest not dismiss
+it. It is not this last attempt of Carlotta that troubles thee? _That_
+hath been crushed?--without renewal?"
+
+He gave a short laugh.
+
+"One knoweth not," he answered, with an attempt at playfulness that
+showed no color of mirth. "These two hours have I been within. Cornaro
+was with me. Another _mahona_ may have chanced to land, coming from
+Africa with some other Valentine to do Carlotta's bidding and assert her
+claim to this uneasy crown of Cyprus; _this_ Valentine of Montolipho,
+poor youth, having no longer a brain to work her schemes.--But danger
+from within is less easy to quell."
+
+She had never seen him so uneasy: but she tried to control her
+apprehension since he needed all her strength.
+
+"What saith Andrea Cornaro? Doth he share thy fear?" she asked in a low
+even tone.
+
+"We spoke together but now of his Grace, the Archbishop, who verily wore
+a face that boded no good to the child nor his mother--even as he held
+him in baptism that day--sealing him with the sign of the Holy
+Cross!--And to-day, in Council--verily Cyprus hath need of a new
+Council----" he broke off suddenly.
+
+"The Archbishop is not of the Council, Aluisi!"
+
+"But his brother, the Count Carpasso, is more to fear," he cried
+wrathfully. "They are men of one mind and both creatures of that
+treacherous King of Naples. If Janus had had more wit, he would have
+left Gioan Peres Fabrici to this day, bargaining for his cargoes of
+grain, instead of naming him to the Council of the Realm and lavishing
+the honors of the kingdom upon this faithless favorite."
+
+"Faithless--my son? It is an evil word."
+
+The quiet interruption arrested the angry flow of his speech.
+
+"I pray that he be not found faithless," he said more quietly, "when he
+hath a chance to prove his quality. But one would think a man so favored
+of the King would seek, at every turn, to prove his loyalty before the
+Queen--in which I find him not overanxious."
+
+"It is thou, perchance, who art overanxious, from the greatness of thine
+own loyalty, and the burden it hath brought thee."
+
+"Aye--am I!--Where there is cause for mistrust it maketh cowards of us,
+when faith were better. Thou knowest, gentle Mother, that this Valentine
+confessed, before his death, that he but heralded a larger craft sent
+from Rhodes, with knights and gentlemen and letters favoring _Carlotta_!
+And Gioan Peres Fabrici, Captain of our galley, sent with speed by
+prayer of us of Venice to bring them hither to confess themselves,
+_found them not_. He returned, _with speed_--and _found them not_. What
+thinkest thou, my Mother? Is it my judgment that is gone from too great
+anxiety?--Or may a valiant captain not see a brigantine armed upon the
+water?--a ship--a brig, scarce smaller than his own, perchance--that he
+should let them slip?"
+
+"Why should he let them slip?--And Valentine may not have spoken truth."
+
+"One speaketh truth, or naught--with death so near. And for thy
+question--I know not why----" He seemed to be evolving knotty reasons,
+as he sat, with stern brows, deep in thought. With an effort he roused
+himself and went on with his tale.
+
+"But yesterday, in Council--for Cornaro and I, we had discussed the
+matter of the royal residence together, thinking it suited not with the
+Queen's dignity to remain longer in the fortress--a most mournful palace
+for one so young and who hath need of some distraction about her to keep
+her from oversadness. But Rizzo, being Chief of Council, would hear
+naught of the Queen's return to the Palace. Fabrici also spoke against
+it."
+
+"It is strange:--but they gave no reason?"
+
+"They gave a reason--one of their own making: that there was a matter
+of more moment before the Council; that the Queen's pleasure might
+wait."
+
+"Aluisi! What saidst thou?"
+
+"Cornaro lost patience and answered roundly: that he, being by his late
+Majesty created Auditor of the realm, and by him greatly trusted--it
+behooved him as much to uphold the Queen's dignity as to have his word
+in the choice of the residence and aught else pertaining to the costs of
+the royal household. And that the Chamberlain of the Queen--I having
+upheld the demand made by him--was like to know what best might suit her
+Majesty."
+
+"And then?" the Lady Beata questioned, much agitated.
+
+"'Ye are like to know what best might suit Her Majesty--_both being of
+Venice_,' Rizzo made answer; and _dismissed the Council_."
+
+Neither of them spoke for a few moments.
+
+"How will Andrea accept this insolence?" the Lady Beata questioned.
+
+"There _is_ more--far more than that for anxiety," Aluisi said,
+dismissing her question with an impatient gesture. "I would that the
+Queen and the child were here--in their own palace--or that we were
+there. The question hath turned to one of larger import than the good
+pleasure of the Queen; or the wisdom of holding the Queen and the Prince
+Royal in a fortress, when the land is not at war--as if her own people
+might not be trusted with her life. But the argument did not touch the
+Council--not more than the whim of us--_of Venice_"--he spoke bitterly.
+"Before, it was expedient. _Now_----"
+
+"Now?" his Mother urged.
+
+"There may be some scheme behind it, and I would we were there. She hath
+none of her own beside her, if trouble should come."
+
+"She hath Dama Margherita--who loveth her well."
+
+"Dama Margherita," Bernardini echoed, and a feeling of peace came over
+him.
+
+But the Lady Beata sat pondering, in troubled silence. What could it
+mean? Caterina had taken up her residence in the fortress before her
+illness; it had been thought wise, although it had not been publicly
+declared. A few of her maids of honor and Lady Beata, Chief Lady of her
+Court, had gone with her. But before the baptism, her suite had returned
+to the palace, that all might be as usual for the reception of the royal
+guests; the Queen had lingered from day to day, partly that she might
+escape the crowd and keep more quiet until the festivities were over.
+But now--was it of her own choice? Why did she not return?
+
+"And now--what wilt thou do?" the Lady of the Bernardini asked at
+length, turning towards her son, failing to see what course of action
+might be wisest. "May we not go to her to-night?"
+
+"It is too late: the gates are closed; it could do but harm to rouse
+them for us to pass, with no cause but our anxieties to offer. But
+to-morrow, we will compass it.
+
+"Meanwhile I have done what may be done to bring hither more who are of
+our ways of thinking; for who should care for her, if not we '_of
+Venice_?'" It was evident that the thrust rankled. "I saw our Consul
+yesterday, who seemed not overanxious from what I told him--therefore _I
+told him not all_--I trust he hath not been tampered with by this most
+wily 'Council to the Queen!' but before the night had fallen, I sent a
+letter of warning to Mocenigo who, with his fleet, will be at anchor off
+the coast of Rhodes--to pray that he will come, or will send our
+Provveditore Vettore Soranzo to await the need."
+
+His Mother grasped his wrist--her eyes dilating. "It must be long before
+they can come," she said, in a whisper.
+
+"Not many days," he answered reassuringly; "and I have sent by a trusty
+Cypriote who will make full speed to bring me back the message that
+meaneth large reward for him. My warning must reach Mocenigo before any
+message sent from Cyprus to Venice might get to him again."
+
+"Is there aught else that may be done?"
+
+"I have given command to put my fastest brig in trim, and to-morrow she
+will sail with merchandise for Venice; all day she hath been lading in
+the port. The message in my special cypher, known only to the Secretary
+of the Ten, is ready here." He drew the missive from his breast, as he
+spoke, replacing it instantly. "Marco Bembo will sail with it on the
+morrow, which he may well do without suspicion, having come hither for
+the ceremonies now over. The brig will leave the port with all due
+tranquillity; and afterward will make all possible speed."
+
+"There could be nothing more," she said rising; "thou hast thought of
+all."
+
+"I thought also to have some one watching--ready to appeal to the
+burghers, if need should be: and I have sent but now a most secret
+message by my own trusty squire to his Eccellenza, Mutio di Costanzo, to
+tell him what hath chanced. He being Governor and Admiral of Cyprus,
+hath so great power that it should not be left for the Queen's Council
+to reach him first--if there should be scheming. Being Vice-Roy of
+Nikosia, he will have the will of the citizens for his following--if
+need should be. And his loyalty is sure: it was he, who with our _bailo_
+of Venice received Caterina's oath of allegiance, after the death of
+Janus; and he will not fail her."
+
+"Thou hast a right to thy weariness," his Mother said, laying her firm
+white hand with a weight of tenderness for a moment on his head. "Thou
+mindest me of thy father--so full of carefulness to be before in any
+cause that he held dear. I would thou wert not lost to Venice--it was my
+hope for thee--thou wouldst have been a power in her Councils."
+
+"We would not be false to our own for any fancied glory that might be
+possible for us," he answered more lightly than he had yet spoken: but
+he knew that his Mother's ambitions for him were not fulfilled in this
+mission to Cyprus--that she had sacrificed her heart's desire for him.
+
+He caught her beautiful white hand and spread it tenderly out upon his
+own--a hand that it had taken generations to fashion--made to command,
+yet knowing when to yield--modelled with exquisite lines of grace,
+goodness, courtesy, power--a hand of character, yet with delicate
+flushes of pink in finger tip and palm, with a touch as tender as
+strong.
+
+"It is too hard for thee, Madre mia, away from thine old home," he said
+tenderly. "There is room in the brig for thee to-morrow, if thou wilt:
+and Marco for thine escort."
+
+She shook her head: "It would be harder to live without my boy," she
+said resolutely. "Now think on sleep, of which thou hast need--and----"
+She half-framed the name of Margherita, yet would not utter it.
+
+He smiled at the wistful look in her face; for he understood. "Nay,
+Madre mia; such thoughts are not for me. I am a general in an alien
+camp, with scarce wit enough for my tangled duty."
+
+Then he bent his knee, and kissed her hand, in knightly fashion of the
+time, as doing her reverence, whom in his heart he loved, and left
+her--a little comforted by his long confidential talk.
+
+But the Lady Beata stood for a while motionless where her son had left
+her, before the long window that faced the splendid peristyle of the
+palace. Between the great spaces of the columns she saw the Piazza
+beyond them flooded with moonlight--white and still and absolutely
+deserted. There were no human sounds save the monotonous tread of the
+sentinels pacing to and fro before the palace; and across the Piazza,
+those of the guard before the closed entrance of the Fortress of
+Famagosta where their Queen and the infant Prince were in residence,
+echoed them back. From the Duomo San Nicolo shone the faint twilight
+glimmer of the tall candles that were ceaselessly burning about the
+tomb of Janus--each pale flame wafting a prayer for absolution from the
+broken heart of the Queen, who before her illness had brought them daily
+with her own hands: and far down upon the shore was dimly heard the
+ceaseless flow of the waves, keeping rhythmic beat to the passing
+moments in the mystery of the night.
+
+
+
+
+XIX
+
+
+The moon had waned and the night was starless when the chimes of San
+Nicolo told three of the morning in low melodious tones like a voice
+from dreamland, breaking no slumber.
+
+Suddenly the sharp wild clangor of the great alarum-bell of Famagosta
+crashed through the silence.
+
+The citizens sprang from their sleep with cries of terror and rushed to
+the windows; but, alas, they had _not_ dreamed that dreaded danger
+signal which kept up its fateful toll. Already men, fully armed, were
+hurrying through the streets that led to the Piazza; whence came echoes
+of voices talking in quick, awe-struck tones--the flash of torches--a
+horseman dashing down from the castle to the walls at the port--sounds
+of excited action ringing back from the ramparts--the quick gallop of a
+cavalier rushing to join his command.
+
+What might it mean!
+
+Commander Saplana moved calmly out among his mounted suite, fully
+equipped, from the Castle into the Piazza; yet there had not been many
+moments in which to make ready since the first notes of that wild alarum
+had sounded!
+
+Those among the citizens entitled to bear arms were quickly accoutred
+and dashed out to mingle with the throng.
+
+"What is it?" men questioned of each other--but no one knew.
+
+Had the Genoese returned to storm by night this post of vantage so long
+their own--and still so coveted?
+
+Were the Turks upon them?
+
+Was it some intrigue of Ferdinand of Naples?
+
+Was it treason?
+
+Was it Carlotta come from Rhodes, with men-at-arms, to surprise them?
+
+There was stealthy talk of a foreign galley in the port.
+
+Some one had noted strange sailors in the throng: one might not be sure
+of the letters on their caps, because of the darkness: but they were
+Christians--not Turks--thanks be to the Madonna!
+
+"But the Queen is safe, _Sanctissima Vergine_! The Queen is in the
+Castle."
+
+"There is His Excellency, Maestro Gentle, physician to Her Majesty, he
+passeth but now, the glimmer of his mail beneath his cloak! Holy saints!
+A gray-haired man, rushing out into the night--thinking first of the
+Queen and of her safety! The Madonna will be good to her!"
+
+The old court physician gave the password at the castle-gate and
+entered.
+
+The Signor Andrea Cornaro rode forth from his palace, fully armed, and
+with him Marco Bembo, cousin to the Queen--surely, they would know! The
+citizens called to them urgently for some explanation of the tumult, but
+they passed swiftly by to the palace of the Bailo, the Venetian
+Resident.
+
+But the Bailo gave them no comfort.
+
+"I know naught of the trouble," he answered them, "save that warning
+hath been sent me by His Excellency, the Count of Tripoli, that it were
+wiser that I keep within."
+
+"Then art thou the more needed!" burst from the lips of Cornaro, made
+desperate by this coolness; "for it well may be that the Count of
+Tripoli is a traitor set high in trust!"
+
+But the Bailo listened to their importunate pleadings as if it were a
+trifle.
+
+"Come with us swiftly to the Queen! By all the saints in heaven!--she
+should have her own about her in this danger--whate'er it be!"
+
+"Nay," he said, and would not move. "This is a place of intrigue--and
+warning hath been sent me. It is, perchance, some one who seeketh my
+life."
+
+There was no time to parley.
+
+"Haste thee to the royal palace," the elder man said to his nephew, as
+they galloped away, "and bring from thence, with all speed, the Queen's
+Chamberlain, the Bernardini--there is none more loyal. Let none hinder
+thee."
+
+"I serve our house and our honor!" young Marco called back to him, as he
+put his horse to the spur.
+
+"I go at once to Caterina," his uncle answered reassuringly, turning the
+head of his good steed towards the castle--a place of security indeed--a
+fortress famed as impregnable.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Royal Palace was doubly guarded--as never before, and Marco when he
+reached it, plead in vain for admission.
+
+"By order of the Council of the Realm, no man might enter."
+
+"Then take, I pray thee, this message to His Excellency, the Chamberlain
+of the Queen, and bid him come hither--it is for life or death."
+
+A golden coin, with the head of Janus stamped upon it, glittered in his
+palm. The valiant guard received the gift and refused the message.
+
+"No man shall enter, nor leave this palace to-night: by order of the
+Council of the Realm."
+
+"I bring an order from His Excellency, Andrea Cornaro, Auditor of Her
+Majesty, and member of the Council of the Realm," Marco pleaded
+desperately.
+
+"_Our_ orders are of the _Chief of Council_, the Signor Marin
+Rizzo--whom to disobey this night _is death_."
+
+The foremost guard of the line had led the defense: and among them all
+there was no motion to favor this young cousin of their Queen. He was a
+knight, and brave at arms--but to have fought that band meant certain
+death; and at the castle, one might, perchance, help the Queen!
+
+"There are some with Caterina to help her," he thought in his loyal
+heart, as baffled at the palace, he pushed his way across the Piazza and
+reached the entrance to the castle, "and here she is surely safe."
+
+The Count of Zaffo, her aged Councillor and friend, had risen from a
+sick-bed to go to her; he had been first to enter the castle-court. "So
+ill, that he scarce could hold himself upon his palfrey," some one told
+the young knight in the crowd, in answer to his question.
+
+"The old Councillor scarce could strike a blow for her," thought Marco;
+"but it is good that he should be within: for his devotion to Caterina
+is known. And Messer Andrea is there!"
+
+He drew breath more freely for this gleam of comfort, as he gave the
+usual password.
+
+But the guard was obdurate.
+
+"It is not the password for this night, my Lord."
+
+"I pray thee--I am cousin to Her Majesty, and _must_ have speech with
+her."
+
+"Eccellenza; by order of the castellan, none may pass, save those who
+give the word."
+
+"Then call me hither the castellan."
+
+"The password hath been given by the Chief of the Council of the Realm;
+and without it, the gates may not be opened," the castellan answered
+without preamble, when he appeared for an instant before the slide in
+the great gate--as quickly closed, though he had recognized a member of
+the Queen's family.
+
+"Had his uncle known the password and forgotten to give it to him?"
+Marco questioned in some anxiety, as he made his way, baffled again,
+through the crowd in the Piazza, which was growing denser and more
+excited. "And if he had not known it----?"
+
+He quickened his pace--his horse alert to obey his will, fretting with
+dilated nostril and pawing hoof at their frequent interruptions.
+
+The citizens had gathered in force, but no one of them knew the cause of
+the commotion, and they were not immediately formidable in the midst of
+this armed body of knights and soldiers who kept secret council and
+obeyed the slightest word of their commanders. Marco searched their
+faces, as well as he might for the uncertain glare of the torches, but
+in vain. If he could but find General Visconti and his men, they might
+cut their way into the fortress--they, being Venetians, were surely
+loyal to the Queen!
+
+His brain was in a whirl--he could think of nothing that was best, every
+moment might count--yet he crossed and recrossed his steps, turning down
+dark streets and back again into the Piazza; he was no longer sure of
+the safety of the castle; he was growing desperate.
+
+But Visconti's men did not reveal themselves, and Marco worked his way
+out of the Piazza--since they surely were _not_ there, and since no hint
+of what was passing within the fortress came from behind the
+porte-cullis--the single opening upon the square.
+
+Little did he dream that Visconti's men, _because they were Venetians
+and known to be in sympathy with the Queen_ were kept that night, by
+order of the Council of the Realm, in close detention.
+
+The troop of horse stood impassible before the entrance and the sentry
+as tranquilly kept guard upon the turrets, as Marco passed them on his
+way to a small gate upon the seaward side which he had once noticed and
+now hoped had been forgotten, and where, in truth he entered when he
+reached it; for it had not been thought important by the planners of
+this night's strange revel--possibly because few knew of it, or perhaps,
+because there were none from the port who would not be welcome, for the
+fleets of Venice were known to be at anchor off the coasts of Turkey,
+having sailed thither in glad and unsuspecting temper after the
+courtesies of the baptismal and coronation fetes.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It chanced that it was through this same small, unguarded doorway that
+Andrea Cornaro had passed when--unaware of the new password for the
+night and zealously kept in ignorance thereof by his colleagues in
+office--he had been denied admission at the great gate upon the Piazza.
+As all persuasion brought him the more strenuous denial, he felt sure of
+some perfidy and the more bent upon reaching his niece at all
+hazards--for he was not one to be easily overcome by obstacles.
+
+Meanwhile, Messer Andrea, Auditor to the Queen and Member of the Council
+of the Realm, had meant to scale the walls by the seaside and fight his
+way, hand to hand if need be, to the Queen's side, when he had chanced
+upon this little gate upon the moat so long unused that its rusty bolt
+yielded without over-much persuasion to his pressure from without. The
+first court upon which it gave entrance--being the farthest from the
+Piazza--was dark and deserted, and he passed, without resistance into
+the second court, finding it also empty, except for the sentry passing
+to and fro on his monotonous duty.
+
+The man saluted as he offered the usual password, then, recognizing one
+of the Queen's Council, presented arms.
+
+Here, at least, all was tranquil--possibly his fears had been too great.
+
+But from the third court--the one first entered from the Piazza, there
+came as he neared the arched passage that led from court to court
+through the thickness of the massive walls, hints of commotion that made
+him pause to consider whether he might not more surely reach the Queen
+by some other stairway.
+
+As he drew back into the shadow to make some farther plan, the Count of
+Tripoli, with Rizzo di Marin, Chief of Council, came through, from the
+first court, followed by one or two mounted nobles, questioning the
+sentry as to whether anyone had passed that way, and he heard the man
+give his name.
+
+"Sua Eccellenza, Messer Andrea Cornaro."
+
+The Count of Tripoli repeated this answer, with an accent of surprise.
+
+"He gave the password?" he questioned, sternly.
+
+"_Eccellenza, si--come sempre._"
+
+Andrea Cornaro, to whom fear was unknown, thinking himself called,
+immediately responded, coming forward into the light.
+
+"I have somewhat to discuss with thee," Rizzo said nonchalantly. "Wilt
+have a mount? We will go forth upon the ramparts and see whether all be
+in order."
+
+"I have but left my horse," Cornaro answered, calling the animal to him
+with a motion of his hand, "but I would first know of this tumult." He
+kept his hand upon the bridle and remained standing, while he looked
+searchingly from Rizzo to Tripoli, the Governor of Famagosta.
+
+"What is this tumult?" he repeated angrily, seeing them not quick to
+answer.
+
+"Nay, Friend, how knowest thou not? being of the Council--as we:" Rizzo
+answered with a hint of provocation in his tone. "It is but some
+difference of the soldiers as to rations and pay: it threatened mutiny
+and had to be met. It will be put down. Mount then, your Excellency."
+
+"'Rations,' and 'pay,'" Cornaro answered scornfully, "to rouse the city
+and 'put it down'--at dead of night!"
+
+"Aye: since they chose this time for their own deed of darkness, we
+men-at-arms may not be dainty about the hour of retribution."
+
+"The Queen--my niece," said Andrea, taking a sudden resolution and
+throwing the reins across his horse's neck; "I will first go to her.
+Later I wait thy pleasure, Signor Rizzo; on the ramparts, or where thou
+wilt.--This is no lightsome night for a woman--a mere girl."
+
+"'A woman'--'a mere girl'!"--the Chief of Council began tauntingly.
+
+Cornaro's hand was upon his sword.
+
+"_Scusi!_" Rizzo said, suavely, being not yet ready for the break. "I
+meant no disrespect--but she is young to rule. If thou wilt take thy
+horse, we will first seek the Queen, who would speak with thee. Nay--not
+by that court--the winding mount is quieter."
+
+The Count of Tripoli and his companions had already left them and passed
+into the first court, in eager converse; but Cornaro was scarcely in the
+saddle before a sudden great uproar in the streets of the city beyond
+the fort arrested them. Cries, as of many men in concert, proclaiming
+Alfonso, son of Ferdinand of Naples, Prince of Galilee and Heir to the
+Crown of Cyprus--"by order of the _Council of the Realm_:" deafening
+shouts and threats of the citizens, protesting:--sounds of clashes of
+arms, terrorizing the people:--the sudden crash of the alarum bell,
+bursting forth anew to drown their protests:--
+
+Then again the traitorous cries, passing off through the more distant
+streets of the city:
+
+"_Viva Alfonso--Prince of Galilee and Heir to the Crown of Cyprus!_"
+
+"What meaneth this insolence!" Cornaro cried, white with passion and
+instantly drawing his sword.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Neapolitan was not braver than the Venetian--but with an infinitely
+cooler brain, well-skilled in villany and intrigue and troubled by no
+sense of honor, he seized his opportunity, and when his victim's arm was
+raised, he dealt him a desperate blow on the head which hurled him, with
+stunning force from his horse. And then, upon the pavement of the
+castle-court, having him at disadvantage and senseless from the blow,
+the valiant Chief of Council, cruelly and like no loyal knight, summoned
+his mercenaries to his aid and dispatched his enemy with quick
+sword-thrusts, bidding them toss the lifeless body into the moat that
+circled the castle walls.
+
+The faithful horse was the solitary mourner who watched his unconscious
+master while life was ebbing and sought to comfort him with mournful
+whinnies of almost human affection.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Had the young knight Marco Bembo but known of his uncle's barbarous
+murder, and that the white-haired Councillor Zaffo lay foully
+slaughtered in the first court of the castle because of his great crime
+of loyalty to the Queen, he might have paused before he attempted to
+force an entrance to the fortress. And yet he would not--being loyal as
+the venerable Councillor himself, and as full of bravery as Andrea
+Cornaro; the thought of the Queen's greater need would but have spurred
+his courage.
+
+The young Venetian had reached the second court without molestation,
+when he turned to silence the cry that came from a swaggering band of
+sailors who had followed him and were shouting for "Alfonso--Prince of
+Galilee!" They fell upon him at the signal from Rizzo which marked him
+guilty--for was he not a Venetian?
+
+"_E tu, traditor!_"
+
+The words rang out unanswered, save by his desperate sword.
+
+They were but six, and he was standing against treason, for the Queen
+and the honor of his house!
+
+He fought them all, without a groan, until his strength was spent; and
+they, eager to do the will of this ruffianly king-maker, who was winning
+a fresh coronet for their Prince of Naples--this man of force who would
+make much booty possible--fought six to one, and spared not.
+
+And then, by bidding of their Chief, they flung the palpitating,
+tortured, lifeless remnant of what--one little hour before--had been a
+loyal, noble, winsome man, dreaming of duty and high achievement--into
+the horror of the moat by the pitiful wreck of Andrea Cornaro--the two
+murdered for the double crimes of relationship and loyalty to the
+trembling girl-Queen.
+
+
+
+
+XX
+
+
+His Grace, the Archbishop, was among the first to respond to the summons
+of the alarum, having his mind filled with weighty matters of life and
+death which had rendered him sleepless--some of which he had discussed
+confidentially with General Saplana, who had been one of those most
+distinguished and trusted by the late King.
+
+With Saplana the Commander of Famagosta, and with his own brother Gioan
+Peres Fabrici, as with some other members of the Queen's Council, many
+details of the conspiracy which was now being brought to so satisfactory
+a conclusion, had been arranged. They knew that the Neapolitan galley
+would be in port that night to support the uprising and the proclamation
+that should be made, if fortune favored. They knew of Ferdinand's
+untiring machinations to win a hold upon this much contested Crown of
+Cyprus; and none knew better how from the moment that the coveted
+alliance between Janus and a Princess of Naples had been frustrated by
+the Venetian marriage, Ferdinand had not ceased from intrigues to that
+end, secretly and zealously supported by certain men who were holding
+important positions of trust in the Government of Cyprus.
+
+Andrea Cornaro, by whose means his niece had come to her throne, would
+be the most formidable individual opponent in any scheme for the benefit
+of Naples, and it became important to remove him; yet it could not be
+done without some apparent excuse--because of his relationship to the
+Queen, and because unless success were complete, they might have cause
+to dread the strong galleys of Venice. So the wily Primate--keeping
+perhaps his own counsel as to the fabricator of the plot--invented a
+scheme which he asserted that the unconscious Cornaro intended to carry
+into effect that night by which, _when the great bell of the Castle
+should sound the call to arms, the Venetians in Famagosta, under
+Visconti and his band of Italian soldiers were to rise up and murder
+every Cyprian member of the Council of the Realm_. "Therefore let every
+man be armed and ready for the defense of Cyprus when the call shall be
+heard. And spare not the traitors!" he urged upon the Commander of the
+fortress.
+
+"And if Visconti's men could be under restraint this night," the
+Archbishop suggested casually, "and if that Chamberlain of the Queen's
+could be under trusty guard within the palace--not to make suggestions
+in a matter more to your understanding than mine, your Excellency--but I
+know the man--a troublesome one and proud and silent--my brother liketh
+him little. After the Cornaro he is most to fear."
+
+Thus Aluisi Bernardini found himself with his mother, close prisoner in
+the Royal palace, on the night when his Queen most sorely needed the
+help he would have perilled his life to give.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Queen had been restless and could not sleep, being greatly troubled
+by a missive which the Archbishop had that morning delivered into her
+hands and which contained a reprimand of no gentle nature, purporting to
+come from His Holiness of Rome, who charged the Queen and certain
+gentlemen of her kingdom with being 'wicked and ungrateful,' and
+assuring her that they were everywhere so regarded, for 'certain reasons
+well known to the writer,' which were not named.
+
+She had put the letter aside, meaning to discuss it with her Chamberlain
+in the morning; but in the darkness and solitariness of her chamber, it
+assumed new proportions, and she finally sent to pray the Lady
+Margherita to come to her, and they sat far into the night--Dama
+Margherita trying in vain to comfort her with her assurance that she did
+not believe the letter to be genuine.
+
+"His Holiness could not speak without reason," she asserted; "and having
+reasons, why should he not give them--that the fault might be confessed
+and atoned for?--_There are no reasons._ It is the work of some one who
+seeketh to annoy."
+
+Dama Margherita had a positive way of seeing things, which was often
+helpful to Caterina's more gracious nature.
+
+"Cara Margherita--it was His Grace himself who gave the letter into my
+hand."
+
+But Dama Margherita had no reverence for the Archbishop of Nikosia.
+
+"I think, your Majesty, that letter is not genuine," she repeated,
+uncompromisingly.
+
+"But--Margherita--the most reverend, the Archbishop would not----"
+
+Caterina broke off with a vivid flush and left the sentence unfinished,
+remembering that there had been a previous Archbishop of Nikosia whose
+code had not been fashioned by her ideals.
+
+Dama Margherita had but just withdrawn when the uproar in the streets
+began and she rushed back at once to her Lady's side. The sounds came
+muffled through the massive walls of the castle for there was no outlook
+on the Piazza; it was the low muttering of a storm, none the less
+terrible because undeclared. But there could be no mistaking the dread
+clangor of the bell, and the two young, helpless women clung to each
+other in trembling silence.
+
+Caterina was the first to recover her composure; she made a pathetic
+effort to steady her voice as she spoke.
+
+"Margherita, I must know at once what this meaneth. If one of the
+Council would come to me--there is always one in the Castle--my Uncle
+Andrea--or the Councillor Zaffo--I would they had not sent Aluisi and
+the Zia back to the palace!--and--and--_I will go to the Boy_."
+
+"Dear Lady," Margherita besought her. "Let me rather bring him hither.
+The Council will be coming at once--they would rather find you here. I
+will come with the Prince and his _aya_, so soon as I shall have found
+one of the Council. Your Majesty will not fear to be left alone?"
+
+"No: _No!_" Caterina hastened her with a motion of her hand. "The others
+will be here; thou wilt hasten with the child--and then thou wilt leave
+me no more!"
+
+But Dama Margherita was already far down the narrow stone corridor,
+beyond hearing the confession of failing courage which would have
+brought her instantly back, when a tapestry was thrust hastily aside,
+and Maestro Gentile, the old white-haired physician, fully armed, but
+with the air of a hunted man, tottered into the room.
+
+"They seek my life," he gasped, "I know not why. I came through the
+terror lest your Majesty should need me--for it is a night!--San Nicolo
+save us!"
+
+"Madonna mia!" the Queen cried piteously with clasped hands, "I do not
+understand!"
+
+"It is the time for reckoning, fair Majesty; and those who have the
+power shall rule."
+
+The Archbishop of Nikosia had entered the Queen's apartment unperceived
+and stood watching her with eyes of triumph.
+
+She shrank from him with a sudden comprehension of his false nature,
+while he offered his explanation in a voice that struck her sensitive
+soul like a blow.
+
+Instinctively she drew nearer to the old physician as if craving some
+stay, and laid her hand affectionately on his arm; then she pointed to
+the door: "Leave us at least the courtesy of our apartment!" she
+exclaimed indignantly to the Archbishop; "your Grace came unannounced."
+
+"I came to bring your Majesty news of import," he began, taking no
+notice of her command. "His Majesty of Naples----"
+
+Was he indeed about to confess his connection with the intriguing King
+of Naples, of which there had been more than one rumor? Aluisi had
+bidden her weigh the Primate's counsels before accepting them.
+
+"We will hear your news in presence of the Councillors of the Realm,
+whom I have already summoned," the Queen interrupted, raising her
+fragile hand with a motion of silence--her slight trembling figure held
+erect by force of will, her head thrown back--her eyes flashing
+scorn--her voice steadied by a supreme effort.
+
+He paused, half in admiration, half in triumph, gloating over the
+success of the conspiracy of which he had been the master-mind, while he
+picked the words in which he would announce it to his victim, as one
+might choose the pebbles for a sling--the smoothest and the sharpest.
+
+"It is scarce fitting that your Majesty should be last to hear what is
+already proclaimed throughout Famagosta," he said, "that Alfonso of
+Naples hath been created Prince of Galilee and Heir to Cyprus."
+
+She looked at him with a scorn that burned. "Is your Grace a _man_," she
+said, "to use this speech? Or do I not hear aright--from the horror of
+this night?"
+
+Then she turned to Maestro Gentile, compassionate and protecting.
+
+"It cannot be that any should seek thy life," she said. "Thou art my
+friend:--I will shield thee here--_Madonna Sanctissima_! I cannot
+think--let us pray that this horror pass!"
+
+She put her hands over her eyes and sank upon her knees, and Maestro
+Gentile knelt beside her.
+
+There was a rush of footsteps, as of pursuers coming swiftly up the
+secret passage by which the physician had entered the royal apartments;
+in another second the hanging was torn aside and Rizzo, dark and
+ferocious, panting like some savage with the madness of the deeds
+already done--his eyes glaring upon his prey--with an oath at finding
+them so engaged, thrust the young Queen violently away, and sprang at
+the physician crying out in a voice of frenzy, as he dealt him two
+desperate blows with his iron gauntleted fists.
+
+"_E tu traditor!_"
+
+It was the inglorious watchword--the signal of the brutal captain of
+this unequal fight; and the mercenaries following his lead, fell upon
+the old man and held him down while Rizzo stripped him of his sword,
+which, despite his years, he might have wielded too deftly.
+
+There was a second's reaction from the exhaustion of the rapid chase,
+and while they drew breath, the physician who had been protected from
+serious harm by the corslet worn under his long mantle, had watched his
+opportunity, and with the agility of a hunted man, he started to his
+feet and escaped into the corridor, running for his life, on and up to
+the ramparts.
+
+The Queen threw herself before the doorway, in agonized pleading for the
+life of her friend. But the clinging hands and streaming tears, the
+heroism of the girl facing all those frenzied men alone, were as nothing
+to their wrath at the delay--and in a moment they had passed her in hot
+pursuit.
+
+She listened, every faculty tense to detach the sounds of this tragedy
+from that other, jangling from without. She heard the footsteps of the
+ruffians overtaking him; she heard their demoniacal cries, echoing
+back;--his faint words--"_What have I done that ye seek my life_,"--but
+the voice came no more--only sounds of struggle, growing dimmer, as
+they dragged him farther away upon the ramparts--then silence--and the
+misery of it burning in her brain.
+
+She staggered back against the doorway where she stood.
+
+Then suddenly, came a flash of agonized revelation--the consciousness
+that this was but one link in the dark scheme of revolt, and with it
+came the acute revival of all her powers--the sharpening of every
+faculty of heart and brain.
+
+"My Boy!" she cried--her voice thrilled through the castle--"_Madonna
+Dolorosa_--_My Child!_" and with the fleetness of a deer she turned and
+sped with flying feet, down the corridor to the chamber of the little
+Prince.
+
+So lithe--so brave--so beautiful--so tortured--so resolute--she was a
+thing to curb and hold! Alvigi Fabrici, the tool of Ferdinand, would
+have liked to follow her and see the panting vision of her face, when
+she reached the cradle of her child--_and found him gone_.
+
+But there was already silence in the corridor: no faintest echo of
+flying feet--no vaguest rustle of fluttering robes--a moment had
+sufficed for the mother's startled quest.
+
+
+
+
+XXI
+
+
+It was dawn after that night of tragedy.
+
+From sheer exhaustion of passion the turmoil in the streets had
+subsided; the cries of indignant protest had ceased and the populace
+accepted their fate in sullen acquiescence, knowing themselves not
+strong enough to contest without aid those intriguing Councillors of the
+Realm who were entrenched behind the impregnable fortress of Famagosta
+where they held close captive the Sovereign they had sworn to defend and
+obey.
+
+The Piazza was deserted: the malcontents who had gathered to mutter at
+the horror of the moat where the victims of the night had been tossed
+unburied, had been dispersed by threat of arms; the sentinels nodded at
+their posts--scarce knowing whose power they were upholding, nor by what
+name men called their masters. Here and there throughout the city, a
+little knot of the graver burghers might be found lingering to discuss
+the situation in attitudes of helpless dejection, and scattering with
+their problems all unsolved. They were too insignificant to dread, and
+for the moment the triumphant conspirators were content to leave the
+city without further imposition or molestation to such rest as a
+merciful nature might vouchsafe.
+
+They were content to yield this lull in the storm, because it gave them
+needful quiet in which to mature fresh intrigues, to insure their
+triumph. Those men of Venice of the Queen's household, who would most
+strenuously have resisted them, had been quieted forever, it was true;
+but, as dawn lightened over the ghastly faces upturned beneath the
+windows of the poor young Queen, an unconfessed tremor stole into the
+doughty breasts of Rizzo and Fabrici, in the place where most men wear
+their hearts, and they got them together, in friendly converse, to
+ponder what should come next.
+
+For Venice was mightier than Naples--and the password they had so
+successfully wielded for a night--"_a bas Venezia_"--might not suffice
+to hold for the young Alfonso the dignity of _Prince of Galilee_, which
+they had proclaimed for him throughout the protesting city; it might
+even have a baneful ring, when news of the night's murders should reach
+the Republic. A plausible reason for the death must be contrived and
+sent forward with letters signed by the Queen's own hand, under the
+Royal Seal of Cyprus, accompanied with decorous lamentations and
+condolences on the part of her Councillors--such as one Government is
+wont to offer to another at the death of any distinguished patrician.
+
+For the Chief of Council, Rizzo di Marin and his Grace the Archbishop of
+Nikosia, no rest was needful: the consciousness of triumph stirred the
+blood in their veins like strong wine, and with a sense of exhilaration
+sharpening all their intellectual faculties, they prepared, in a few
+hours, work that might ordinarily have required the consideration of
+days. When they closed their conference they had contrived a sheaf of
+pretty documents which did more honor to their astuteness than to their
+loyalty, and which, with the signature of the Queen, would put them in
+possession of all the strongholds on the coast and many positions of
+vantage throughout the island, including the splendid city of
+Nikosia--which had shown much dangerous friendliness for Queen Caterina.
+It was a marvellous bold scheme--a bloodless victory for Alfonso, Prince
+of Naples; and Rizzo grew grimly merry as he discussed it with His
+Grace.
+
+His malignant eyes rested fondly on this order for the surrender of the
+famous stronghold of Cerines to a nephew of General Saplana, the
+treacherous Commander of Famagosta; with two such fortresses they should
+command the coast, and their empire in Cyprus was assured. It was a work
+of genius, this little parchment--he could scarcely bear to fold it out
+of his sight in the pouch that he wore next to his heart of stone.
+
+And this--to the magnificent Lord Admiral Mutio di Costanzo, Vice-Roy of
+Nikosia and friend to Caterina, who had received her oath of allegiance
+after the death of Janus--so high he stood among the nobles of
+Cyprus--Rizzo's eyes fairly gleamed as he gloated over it--this order
+commanding him to yield up the splendid city of Nikosia, with his
+fortress of Costanza and the fleets of the island, to those who should
+present this parchment with the little signature of _Caterina Regina_.
+He, Rizzo, would take the governorship of this city of Nikosia--or,
+perhaps, the command of the fleets--he knew not which--that was a trifle
+to decide since all would be in his power: and of course he should
+instantly re-man the galleys. He allowed himself a moment's vision of
+this stately Knight Mutio de Costanzo, with his escort of
+cavaliers--the forty of his noble house entitled to wear the Golden
+Spurs--surrendering his holdings at the Queen's command, to those whom
+Rizzo should elect--_Rizzo_, who had heard himself called "that parvenu
+of Naples"--and the vision filled him with delight.
+
+Then he folded the other orders without a glance, they touched upon
+minor points of vantage and entered properly into his scheme--the cities
+of Limisso and, perhaps, of Costanzo--but that might be requiring too
+much of the noble Lord of Costanzo, this could wait; he crumpled it in
+his hand. As for this _Castel Dio d'Amore_, it was well.
+
+Still another paper he folded in his pouch. That one must go first
+beneath her signature lest the pretty little Queen should rebel.--But
+she should not rebel!--By all the saints and devils, it was a good
+night's work!
+
+And for that session he wrote no more.
+
+When the pouch, compact and hard, lay closely over the place of his
+heart, it stirred a thought, and he laughed a short wild laugh, with no
+melody in it. He did not know his own laugh, and it startled him.
+
+"Perhaps," he thought, "when he should have presided over the
+investiture of these cities and strongholds of Cyprus in the interests
+of Naples and Alfonso, 'Prince of Galilee'--installing his own creatures
+in all those places of power--if Naples were not properly subservient
+and grateful--he, _holding the key to the land_--perhaps----"
+
+It was a vision that pleased him even better than that of the noble Lord
+Mutio di Costanzo, surrounded by his escort of cavaliers,
+golden-spurred, delivering the keys of the city of Nikosia. But he
+forgot to confide this last tantalizing, supremest vision to His Grace
+the Archbishop.
+
+These documents had been prepared in the underground Chamber of
+Conference of the Fortress, where secrets might be freely uttered
+because of the double walls of massive masonry: where flaring torches
+fastened high in the chamber, scattered the ghostly shadows, and ample
+potations of the fine wine of the "Commanderie" sustained their courage.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Meanwhile, a slender figure with vizor down, showing a tunic of mail
+between the folds of a dark mantle, came out from the Fortress, and
+stepping forth into the gray of the dawn, crossed to the Palazzo Reale,
+with slow, uncertain footsteps.
+
+"Open!--In the name of the Queen's Council!"
+
+The words came in muffled tones from behind the vizor--uncertain, like
+the footsteps, yet impossible to disregard.
+
+"The password for this night?" the guard demanded.
+
+It was given at once, but with visible repugnance--"_a bas Venezia!_"
+
+"Are ye many?"
+
+"But one."
+
+The bars were instantly drawn back and the young knight entered the
+first court of the palace.
+
+"Halt! Declare for whom thou standest. That password is already outworn:
+for they of the Queen's Council be of two minds."
+
+As if from a sense of suffocation the cloak was torn off showing a suit
+of armor too heavy for the slight limbs; and the helmet was loosened
+with supple, nervous fingers, disclosing a face pale, strong and
+soulful. The face might have been that of a man--an artist, or a poet;
+but the hair, lying in loose, dusky waves about the brows, and low, in
+rich clinging coils at the back of the shapely head, could only belong
+to a woman.
+
+A sudden wrath flamed in her deep eyes.
+
+"If they of the Queen's Council be of two minds they are craven, though
+I, a woman say it! But the Queen's guard, in the Queen's palace, can
+have but one mind--_to uphold her cause!_"
+
+There was no other voice in all Cyprus so tender, so compelling, so
+magnetic, so all-convincing; the voice revealed her.
+
+"Dama Margherita de Iblin!" was echoed about the court in surprise. The
+news spread. The men-at-arms came thronging about her with reiterated
+assurances of loyalty; it was good to confess their faith to her.
+
+"We hold this palace for our Queen," they said, "and for no traitorous
+Council. May the holy Saints in Heaven curse them roundly who forced us
+to do their bidding, when we thought ourselves serving Her Majesty!"
+
+"How came ye so many here?" she asked in astonishment, as they still
+gathered from the farther courts--a number far greater than the usual
+Palace-guard--chiefly a company of knights and men entitled to bear
+arms, but among them many of the more peaceful citizens.
+
+"Whom serve ye all?" She looked keenly from face to face: her words
+seemed a challenge.
+
+"Caterina Regina!" they cried in concert, with every man's right hand
+upraised, calling Heaven to witness.
+
+One, with signs of authority stepped forward to explain.
+
+"Eccellenza, we are in command of the Lord Chamberlain Bernardini, who,
+since he fought his way through the false guard placed before this
+palace to serve the treachery of the Council, hath not ceased to gather
+men of metal throughout the city, till enough shall come to claim the
+Queen's release. For the cries of the women and unarmed weaklings
+clamoring under the walls of the fortress for her release, are but
+impotent wails to tickle the pride of those fiends of Naples."
+
+"Bring me to the Bernardini, for I must speak with him on matter, it may
+be, of life, or death."
+
+"Eccellentissima, the Lord Chamberlain hath not stayed his foot since
+this horror began--nor may we see his face until he hath done the
+possible to gather strength for an uprising to chase these devils of
+Naples."
+
+"Dear men!" she cried, "it is a task!--I speak, not to stay your loyal
+hands, but to open your eyes that ye be prepared and fail not. The
+Commander of Famagosta hath men and arms behind those impregnable walls,
+and all the wicked strength of his cunning Council to direct
+them,--Rizzo and Fabrici--masters in intrigue--and the men of the
+galleys of Naples at the tower in the port, commanding land and sea.
+Without more force it is impossible!"
+
+"Dear Lady, the Bernardini lacketh no courage, and he commandeth. He
+hath sworn that we shall save the Queen. The Admiral will come from
+Nikosia; and the galleys of Venice will haste to the rescue, _Pazienza!_
+We are bidden to keep the peace and secrecy until the moment shall be
+ripe; but to die in defense of this palace, which we hold for Her
+Majesty as a place of refuge."
+
+"Dost bring us news of her. How fares it with Her Majesty?"
+
+"For that I came!" cried Dama Margherita, her voice ringing through the
+hall like a leader's call to arms; "to bring news of her to her own! How
+should it fare with a Queen made captive in her own stronghold?--With a
+mother whose child hath been stolen from her?--With a woman struggling
+with such anguish?"
+
+"The Prince!--Our King! _Sanctissima Maria!_ San Marco confound the
+knaves!"
+
+Every man's hand sought his sword with a murmured oath of loyalty and
+vengeance. Questions stormed upon her: but she commanded silence with a
+gesture.
+
+It was news indeed; no hint of it had passed beyond the walls of the
+Fortress.
+
+"Of where he may be hidden, naught is known. Yet the galley of Naples
+lieth in our port, and one may reach it at low tide over the shallows--a
+few feet away from the tower of the Fort. It were easy to carry the
+child there unseen."
+
+"Aye; it were easy--and not so hard to find him--if he were there."
+
+"Nay, but to hold him when found! Do it not rashly, lest harm come to
+him. The Bernardini will plan the emprise. Tell him the Lady Margherita
+came at risk of life--in this disguise--to put his true men on the
+quest. Tell him----"
+
+She was interrupted by an exclamation.
+
+"Margherita!--the Lady de Iblin--_thus!_"
+
+The Bernardini had just entered the court of the Palace.
+
+A vivid flush rose to her cheek, but she stood quite still in the place
+where he had found her, and he came and bent his knee and kissed her
+hand with the customary homage.
+
+"Else might I not have crossed the Piazza," she said, "nor left the gate
+of the Castle. It is easy to forfeit one's head at a moment of wrath
+where Rizzo commandeth! And one--a guard within the Fortress, friend to
+our cause unguessed of the Council--hath lent me this disguise that I
+might bring thee my so weighty tidings of woe."
+
+"'So weighty tidings of woe?'" he echoed startled.
+
+"These will tell it thee," she went on hurriedly, "for I must be
+returned to my chamber ere the change of guard--lest he be called on
+duty and fail to respond with this full toggery of steel, because he
+hath shown me this favor."
+
+"The Queen?" he gasped.
+
+"The Queen still liveth; but--oh, my Lord, Aluisi!"--her voice broke and
+her lips quivered, she stretched out her hands to him, the nervous
+fingers interlaced in a passion of pleading--"they have stolen the
+baby-Prince: she will go mad if they keep him from her!"
+
+"They shall not!" he thundered with a terrible oath: he--whose speech
+was fair as a woman's. "Tell her we pledge our lives to find him--to
+save them both--_all these and many more_."
+
+With a gesture he included all the company.
+
+"Heaven hear us!" they swore in deep, angry, concert.
+
+She turned her face to them, a great light shining in her eyes.
+
+"I carry Her Majesty the strength of your loyalty, dear friends," she
+said. "The Madonna be praised--for her need is sore!"
+
+Then, quite silently, and as with a solemn act of consecration, she made
+the sign of the Cross before the Leader who was to save the Queen, and
+with quick footsteps passed under the peristyle.
+
+"Margherita!"
+
+She motioned him back as he would have followed her, and he stood and
+watched her--his heart in his throat--until she had crossed the moat and
+been admitted to the Fort--the Lady Margherita--alone--in such a
+guise--fearless and direct as ever.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Sunrise was just gilding the sea: it flashed and sparkled as if there
+were no woe.
+
+
+
+
+XXII
+
+
+The horror of the night still lay over Caterina like a dense pall,
+clouding her understanding, when the Chief of Council and the Archbishop
+passed between the guards whom Rizzo had placed to watch within the
+doors of the Queen's chambers, where, prostrated by anguish and anxiety,
+one scheme after another for the recovery of her child absorbed her to
+the exclusion of all other grief. She looked up dumbly as Rizzo and
+Fabrici drew near her couch--her eyes deep with unspeakable misery.
+
+The Lady Margherita, watching near her, was indignant at the intrusion;
+she rose and stood before the Queen.
+
+"My Lords, you forget yourselves--Her Majesty hath not summoned you."
+
+"There are moments, my Lady of Iblin, when Majesty is but a farce--and
+Power need not do it reverence!"
+
+The Queen heard without heeding the words: but the insolent smile on the
+face of the speaker displeased her. She closed her eyes and turned her
+head away, imploring them by a gesture to leave her. She had exhausted
+every argument to induce them to restore her child or even to disclose
+his whereabouts--she had pleaded as only a mother may, but in vain; and
+worn by the unequal contest and all unnerved, she now feared to anger
+them further with impotent protests lest she should tempt them to
+cruelty towards her child.
+
+The Archbishop took a step towards her, pausing for a moment,
+irresolute, before attempting further coercion. But the cold glitter in
+the eyes of his companion urged him to conclude his task, and he spread
+a paper open on the table beside her.
+
+From pity, or from wile, if not from shame, he assumed a tone of
+deference as he explained:
+
+"Your Majesty, it will be needful at once to send advices to Venice,
+bearing our condolences for the sad fate of our noble Messrs Andrea
+Cornaro, and the young Seigneur Marco Bembo."
+
+The names roused her: she had been told of their fate, but everything
+had been forgotten in the later anguish. Now she remembered with a sharp
+sting of pain, and she turned her face toward the speaker, waiting to
+hear why they stayed to torment her.
+
+"It will be well for your Majesty to sign this writing, which we have
+prepared to explain to the Signoria the tragic ending of the quarrel of
+their Excellencies with a band of laborers whom they had refused to
+pay."
+
+Caterina had been gazing fixedly at the Archbishop while he spoke,
+trying to understand. Now she made a supreme effort to shake off her
+lethargy, seeming for the moment so like her usual self that the two
+conspirators trembled for their schemes.
+
+"The Council hath not found our signature needful for their
+extraordinary action of the night," she said. "This letter is of less
+consequence. We pray you to leave us."
+
+Rizzo strove to hearten his colleague with a glance, as the Archbishop
+produced the casket which held the Royal Signet and placed it open on
+the table beside the letter which the Queen had thrust aside, and which
+lacked only the royal signature to be complete. It had been folded and
+superscribed with all due formality and homage.
+
+"_Serenissimo Principe et Domine excellentissimo, Domine Nicolo
+Marcello, Dei gratia inclito duci Venetiarum, etc., Domine
+colendissimo._"
+
+The broad band of white-dressed skin by which it was to be closed was
+already fastened to the letter, though it hung loose with the silken
+fillets of blue and white which were to attach the great Seal of Janus
+the III--the helpless infant king whom his wily ministers had stolen
+from his mother's arms.
+
+Rizzo, opening the casket, stood for a moment gloating over the mastery
+he was to achieve with this little instrument of the Great Seal of the
+Kingdom--his triumphant gaze fastened on his scarlet treasure--a pretty
+toy of wax for such a ruffian to find of consequence, bearing the
+escutcheons of Jerusalem, of Cyprus, of Armenia and Lusignan, with the
+naked sword of Peter the Valiant for a crest; and for _border,
+encircling_ the Seal, the legend punctuated by heraldic roses--
+
+"_Jacobus, Dei Gratia, 22 us Rex Jherusalem, Cipri et Armenia._"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"_Rizzo, Rex!_"
+
+The Chief of Council syllabled the sweet morsel of his outrageous
+thought without utterance. There was no further need for any keeper of
+the Privy Seals; there was no longer any need for anyone but Rizzo in
+this Council of the Realm!
+
+But Dama Margherita, closely watching and fearing treachery, stole
+nearer to the table, standing over the open letter which she had read
+from end to end before the Chief of Council, in his absorption, had
+perceived her action. Now he felt her condemnatory eyes upon him, like
+the merciless gaze of a fate, and he would not look towards her while he
+rudely seized the letter and pushed it nearer to the Queen.
+
+"It is well for your Majesty to understand," he said imperatively, "that
+this matter is not one for choice--but of necessity."
+
+"We do not understand," the Queen answered haughtily, but already her
+voice showed failing strength.
+
+"Guards!" cried the Lady Margherita with tingling cheeks, to the men who
+stood just within the doorway, "arrest these intruders!--They trouble
+the Queen's peace."
+
+Unconsciously the men took a step forward--the words had rung out like a
+command: but Rizzo, with a face of insolent mastery, made a motion which
+arrested them, and they knew that their impulse had been a momentary
+madness.
+
+"The Child----" Rizzo began in icy tones, speaking with slow emphasis,
+his eyes fixed upon the Queen.
+
+The mother sprang to her feet, alert on the instant, her strength
+surging back tumultuously--every faculty tense.
+
+"The child is safe--_while your Majesty is careful to fulfil our
+pleasure_."
+
+"My Lords," cried Dama Margherita, fearlessly, "the writing on this
+parchment is not true."
+
+The hand of the Chief of Council fell to his sword, as if he would have
+struck her down--then--remembering that she was but a woman, in spite of
+her splendid courage, he withdrew it with a shower of muttered oaths.
+
+"It is the writing which Her Majesty will sign to insure the safety of
+her child," he asserted, in uncompromising tones.
+
+The Queen turned from one pitiless face to the other and knew that there
+was no hope for her.
+
+"My God, I shall go mad!" she moaned, as she seized the pen with
+trembling fingers, unconscious that she had spoken: then in a last,
+desperate appeal, she cried to Fabrici:
+
+"Most Reverend Father, by your hopes of Heaven, I implore you--give me
+my boy again! _il mio dilettissimo figlio!_ See, I sign the parchment!"
+and with feverish strokes she wrote her name; then with hands strained
+tightly together, awaited her answer.
+
+Fabrici moved uncomfortably, turning his gaze away from the stricken,
+overwrought face: his cruel triumph began to seem unworthy.
+
+But Rizzo calmly affixed the Royal Seal, covering it with the small
+wooden case prepared for its protection and knotting it firmly in place
+with the silken fillets--so careful lest a bruise should show upon the
+fair, waxen surface--he who could crush a woman's heart to breaking, or
+watch the life-blood dripping from some cruel wound that he had made, as
+lightly as he would drop the red wax for his stolen signet--it was all
+one to his deadly purpose.
+
+"Thanks, your Majesty," he said, "there are yet other documents to be
+signed," and he laid them before her.
+
+"My child!" she cried in extremity; "have mercy--restore him to me--I
+have fulfilled your pleasure!"
+
+"Your Majesty hath forgotten these," said Rizzo, "and the penalty--if
+they are left unsigned."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Again she seized the pen and wrote her name as with her
+life-blood--great veins starting out on her white forehead, her eyes dim
+and blurred, her heart beating so that she scarce could trace the words
+that seemed an irony:
+
+"_Caterina, Regina!_"
+
+"At last!" she gasped, as the pen fell from her hand--"_Madre
+Sanctissima_--they will bring my boy!"
+
+"It is enough that he is safe," the Chief of Council answered her. "We
+did not promise more."
+
+The Archbishop, stout-hearted though he was, felt his soul quail within
+him, as he glanced at the figure of this young mother agonizing for her
+child--his Sovereign to whom he had sworn fealty. He turned away from
+her to strengthen his resolve, taking a few paces forward, thinking
+perhaps of that "_act of homage_," over his own signature, duly
+witnessed, sealed and recorded in the Libro delle Rimembranze, "_Homagio
+et fidelta che e obligato a fare a la Magiesta sua, segondo le lege et
+usanze di questo regno_."
+
+("Homage and faith, which he is obliged to swear to Her Majesty,
+according to the laws and customs of this realm.")
+
+Margherita turned to Fabrici, who seemed to her less inhuman than Rizzo,
+for she had noticed the slight weakening in his attitude. "Pardon me,
+your Grace," she said in a tone of quiet deference; "hath the learned
+body of the Queen's Council no knowledge of the crime of lese-majesty?"
+
+Fabrici made no answer, being conscious-stricken; but Rizzo turned upon
+her with blazing eyes.
+
+"Beware!" he stormed, "a man, for less, hath paid the forfeit of his
+life."
+
+"Life were worth little," she answered undaunted, "if one must forfeit
+it for speaking truth--or for so poor attempt as mine to spare our Queen
+in such extremity."
+
+He had looked to see her cower and shrink as men had often done under
+the glare of his angry gaze; but she stood before him tall, straight and
+calm--so near that he might have felled her to the ground; there was no
+fear in her deep eyes while she gave him back his look of hatred,
+unflinching; dimly he realized that this woman had measured the manhood
+in him and found it beneath her scorn.
+
+Then--as if he had not been--she turned her gaze from him.
+
+"Your Grace," she said proudly, "it is for the last time,--your
+Queen--whom you have sworn to uphold--and I--Margherita, of the most
+ancient noble house of the de Iblin, who have ever served their
+Sovereigns with their life--we _demand_ our Prince of you; and all
+Cyprus is with us!"
+
+But if these dastardly usurpers were inexorable, heaven, more merciful,
+sent the respite of unconsciousness to quiet the mother's anguish just
+as she could bear no more. Rizzo was speaking when she tottered and
+fell into the shielding arms of Margherita.
+
+"We may need the infant," he was explaining pitilessly, "to force a deed
+of renunciation in favor of Alfonso, _Prince of Galilee_."
+
+"A sword thrust were more merciful," cried Margherita, now roused to a
+passion of scorn. "How may a man dare perjure his soul to bring her to
+this!"
+
+Rizzo having nothing further to gain from the interview left the chamber
+precipitately, muttering oaths; but the Archbishop lingered, from a dim,
+dawning sense of compunction, watching helplessly while Dama Margherita
+ministered to the victim of these Councillors who had been created to
+assist their youthful Queen in her weary task of ruling.
+
+"More air!" Dama Margherita ordered of the guards, pointing to the
+closely barred windows. "Strong wine--and one of Her Majesty's ladies to
+aid me--I may not leave her for an instant. The Lady of the Bernardini
+were best--will your Grace give the order? We must needs save her life
+while she hath yet a favor to grant."
+
+
+
+
+XXIII
+
+
+It was the _festa_ of San Triphilio, patron-saint of the city of
+Nikosia; the great church on the bluff beside the castle was filled with
+the sickly flames of paltry candles brought by the peasants from far and
+near. From the quaint tower on the castle-wall one might see them coming
+in little processions, winding through the forest that clothed the
+plains below--pausing on the banks of the stream Pedea, to gather
+water-bloom and rushes to scatter before the shrine of San Triphilio, in
+memory of the early days when the city had sprung from the marshes to
+stand--fair and firm upon the hillside above them, beautiful to
+behold--girt about with impregnable walls and gateways, guarded by its
+famous citadel, and fortified within by churches dedicated to many
+saints.
+
+To-day the gates stood hospitably open, to welcome the people who came
+and went unchallenged through them, wearing their holiday faces and
+bearing their burden of bloom and green--lotus flowers for the altars,
+and rushes to scatter on the steps before them--pausing before they
+entered the sacred precincts to lave their hands in the 'Fountain of
+Ablution.'
+
+It was truly a _festa_ of the people, and the Cyprian peasants who were
+a gentle, superstitious, ignorant race, devoutly subject to their
+priests and trained to the letter of their religious rites, came in from
+the mountains and the neighboring villages in numbers but rarely seen
+in the city: a motley throng--yet no shepherd among them was too poor to
+wear the boot of dark-green leather reaching to the knee--the _bodine_
+roughly fashioned and tough enough to protect them from the bites of the
+serpents which infested the island.
+
+Here and there some shepherd was leading with pardonable pride a sheep
+who gave a more than usual promise of fine wool, its extraordinary tail,
+bushy with soft long fleece, carefully spread out on the tiny cart to
+which it was harnessed for its own protection. It came, meek-eyed and
+wondering, if a little weary, to this _festa_ of San Triphilio, to whom
+its first shearing would be vowed, as a special tribute to the saint and
+a talisman to shield the flocks upon the mountains.
+
+The shepherd might draw himself away, perchance, with a mingling of
+caste-feeling and of superstition, from some poorer villager of the sect
+of the "Linobambaki"--a dark, unkempt figure, with his scarlet fez, his
+string of undressed poultry hanging from his shoulder, even on this day
+of _festa_ when the saints give all good Christians holiday! But he,
+poor man, was neither Christian nor pagan--a wonder that the good Lord
+made him so!--(expressed with devout crossing and genuflexion)--and he
+would sell a fowl on a holiday for the asking and the few copper
+_carcie_ that it would bring him, as though he were quite all Mussulman
+and not half Christian, as his contemptuous nickname signified--a
+mixture of royal linen and plebeian cotton! His touch might well defile
+the sacred sheep!
+
+Here was a picturesque peasant-priest from the province of Ormidia, who
+had left his work in the fields and was moving among the crowd with a
+slow dignity of motion and the mien of some antique statue--with
+sheep-skin garments of no shape, nor fashion, nor color, to mark his
+date--his hair flowing in loose waves to the throat, from under the
+high, conical hat, his full curling beard and moustache obscuring the
+lines of the face and intensifying its impassiveness--only in the eyes,
+without curiosity, a mild look of question at the strangeness of the
+ways and sights of cities--such as some shepherd-god might
+wear,--reserving judgment.
+
+To-day, also, some stray brother of the lower order of the Knights
+Hospitallers might be seen among the throng,--a white star, eight
+pointed on the breast of the black gown with which in early ages he had
+been invested by the Patriarch of Jerusalem: and near him some Crusader,
+with the red cross on his silver mail.
+
+The burghers, too, were abroad in the arcades of the streets of Nikosia,
+gathering in groups before the Palazzo Reale which had been the
+residence of the kings of the island until Janus had removed his capital
+to Famagosta.
+
+But Nikosia had always been a cradle of loyalty in spite of a floating
+population of strangers who came thronging to visit her monuments and
+palaces--to see the wonder of her merchandise gathered from the riches
+of her own fertile land--fruits and wines and silks and jewels,
+broideries of gold and silver wrought by her peasant women among their
+vines--exquisite vessels of beaten copper from the famous mines which
+had baptised this island of Cyprus. But there were carpets also from
+Persia, and fabulous Eastern stuffs--linens from Egypt, gossamer-fine;
+and carvings of ivory and gold, and drugs and spices from Arabia. There
+were slaves too--most fair to look upon--everything that might minister
+to the luxury of a great city, as there were churches, of many
+religions, and altars to many saints.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Suddenly a troop of horsemen dashed rapidly through the open gates and
+into the heart of the city among all the loitering holiday-wanderers,
+rousing them to instant strenuousness.
+
+"There is news!" some one cried startled. "They have come to pause at
+the palace of the Vice-Roy. The leader is already within--he hath not
+waited for his gentlemen to announce him!"
+
+"Aye, there is news:--may the Saints have mercy!" one of the burghers
+answered to the quick questions of the visitors from the hamlets. "And
+it is strange news, I wot--Heaven help us! For that was our own
+Seigneur, Pietro Davilla, new created a Knight of St. John, and gone but
+this morning, with all the gentlemen and squires of his household, to
+pay his homage--a leal Knight to Her Majesty. It must be some dread
+matter that hath chanced to turn him from such duty and purpose ere he
+could reach Famagosta."
+
+"That was the Seigneur Davilla, on the black champing steed? one of the
+Councillors of the Realm?" a stranger asked.
+
+"Aye, man; thou art in luck to see our Seigneur with all his bravery of
+men and horse! That was he who entered the palace of the Vice-Roy."
+
+"And that other--all armed, with vizor down--the steed that bore him
+foaming with haste, as if his hoof had scarce touched ground?"
+
+"I know not: but he weareth the colors of the Royal House. He hath the
+look of some spent herald. See, they summon him from within! It must be
+that he bringeth tidings from Famagosta. Pray Heaven it is well with Her
+Majesty!"
+
+"And with our Prince!"
+
+"_Viva la Regina!_"
+
+"Heaven save the Queen and the Infant King!"
+
+A tumult of _vivas_ broke from the excited throng who were on edge with
+unquiet expectation.
+
+And while they still waited watching the signs of commotion through the
+palace portals, they beguiled their impatience with bits of broken
+talk--strange surmises--asseverations of loyalty--distrust of the
+foreigners who filled important offices in the Government, especially of
+the Council of the Realm, which they looked upon with unconcealed
+displeasure. For they of Nikosia were desperately loyal and somewhat
+sore, withal, that King Janus had seen fit to remove the capital from
+their splendid city of Nikosia, which from the beginning of the Lusignan
+dynasty, had held this supremacy.
+
+"For that Janus had captured Famagosta from Genoa, a feat of prowess for
+his youth--and so would make his boast on it--keeping it ever in mind,"
+an elderly citizen explained to the crowd with a singular mingling of
+admiration and disapproval. "And mayhap he might have lived to learn
+more wisdom--may God have mercy on his soul!--if it had pleased His
+Majesty to dwell in our Palazzo Reale of Nikosia, where one may breathe
+the air of Heaven, instead of a pestiferous malaria from the marshes of
+Famagosta."
+
+"It would be well that Her Majesty came hither to dwell," said one of
+the burghers eagerly; "and the Prince--because of the noisome air and
+water of Famagosta."
+
+"Aye; and because of other things," interposed a stalwart man who had
+just issued from the palace of the Vice-Roy and joined the waiting
+throng. "That she may dwell among a loyal people and away from the
+Council of the Realm _which one may not trust_."
+
+He spoke in tones of bitter wrath, startling the others by his hint of
+danger.
+
+"How 'the Council of the Realm'?" another citizen questioned, astonished
+and half indignant. "Is not our Seigneur Pietro Davilla one of them?"
+
+"Aye--he is one--but a noble of Nikosia--our loyal city. And because of
+his loyalty--lest he be thought one with their foul purposes--he hath
+returned in haste. I spoke with one of his gentlemen but now. Nay, bide
+your time." For the crowd turned upon him with an avalanche of
+ejaculations and questions: "it will be proclaimed from the Palazzo
+Reale."
+
+"But, Stefano--the _Council of the Realm_?" one of his listeners
+persisted.
+
+"There are too many foreigners in the Council: and that black-browed
+fiend of Naples is the worst of them!"
+
+"Be not so daring, man! Hast thou no fear?" a stranger in the crowd
+exclaimed warningly; "we shall all be arrested for rebels."
+
+"Fear!" a citizen echoed--"_Santa Vergine!_ That was our Stefano!--thou
+knowest him not."
+
+But Stefano was one who spoke when it pleased him: he deigned no reply,
+but fixed an intent gaze on the balcony of the palace, while the crowd
+fell to talk among themselves, still waiting eagerly for news.
+
+Stefano Caduna, this man of the people, was, in truth an idol in
+Nikosia: rugged, commanding, with an air and tone of authority, the
+people looked to him for leadership. While they were speaking he moved
+quickly forward, the crowd making way for him at his quiet gesture--the
+strong hand, slightly raised.
+
+"_Pace!_" he commanded, with a motion toward the palace of the Vice-Roy,
+and an instant hush fell upon the throng.
+
+A band of knights, fully armed, came forth and stood before the palace
+portal, while their banner-bearers unrolled the standards of the Queen
+and the Prince--a challenge to the eager cries of loyalty which greeted
+them. Mounted messengers were dashing with orders up to the citadel and
+down to the city-gates. The Vice-Roy himself had come to the balcony
+above the portal and stood watching the messengers anxiously, as if he
+would speed them beyond their possible. Then he turned to the crowd of
+eager, upturned faces, now quieted once more, by an imperative motion
+from Stefano.
+
+Mutio di Costanzo, Admiral of Cyprus and Vice-Roy of Nikosia, Lord of
+the city and fortress of Costanza, one of a long line of knights, was a
+gentleman of honor devoted to the Crown and a loyal friend to the Queen:
+he held the confidence of the people and deserved it well.
+
+An inarticulate murmur of devotion stirred the crowd as he stood for a
+moment quite silent before them, too overcome by emotion to trust
+himself to speech. When he spoke, his voice was calm, far-reaching and
+authoritative.
+
+"Citizens of Nikosia," he said, "I bring you black news of perfidy to
+our Queen and infant King."
+
+He was interrupted by deafening cries of anger and alarm; but Stefano
+commanded silence.
+
+"I know," the Admiral continued, his noble face a shade less stern,
+"that every heart and arm in Nikosia is hot for her defense."
+
+And now Stefano let the passion of loyalty have sway. But the Admiral
+had more to say.
+
+"The gates of the city will be instantly closed and closely guarded; no
+man will be allowed to enter who doth not declare for the Queen--_who is
+captive_ in the _Fortress of Famagosta_."
+
+The shock of the news held them dumb while they listened. "The Council
+of Nikosia will sit at once to discuss measures for her release; the
+forces of Nikosia and of the citadel will immediately report, fully
+armed. The traitors are _Rizzo di Marin and others of the Council of the
+Realm who have insolently proclaimed Alfonso of Naples as Prince of
+Galilee and Heir to the Crown of Cyprus_."
+
+But now their voices came back to them, sputtering, uncontrolled; a
+babel of sounds arose, cries of loyalty--of fear--of indignation and
+wrath and fervor of affection--of hatred for the Council. Questionings,
+denunciations, curses that made one's hair stand on end--
+
+Only for a moment.
+
+Then the voice of the Admiral was heard again, stilling the chaos as by
+magic.
+
+"Every man to his post. Let order prevail, for love of our Queen! We
+have stern work before us."
+
+And below, among the people, Stefano Caduna boiling with suppressed
+anger, which deepened his voice to an ominous calm--as of the lull
+before an earthquake--saw that the orders of the Vice-Roy were instantly
+obeyed.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Stefano was in the very heart of the action in Nikosia during the days
+that followed; the people furious at the outrage to their Queen, swore
+that it should be people against nobles, if there were need, in her
+defense; and assembling in great numbers, at the house of Stefano, they
+chose a 'Council of the People' and made him its chief.
+
+And well it was for the peace of Nikosia that Stefano was gifted with
+that rare power which marks some men for mediators in time of storm. He
+stood between the nobles and the people, trusted by both parties--a man
+of force and judgment--reticent, comprehending, swift to see his way and
+scorning subterfuge.
+
+He it was who headed a delegation of the people to urge their petition
+that the Queen should be rescued with all speed and brought for safety
+within their walled and loyal city, and who rested not until the
+Vice-Roy with all his knights and all the forces that could be spared
+from the defense of Nikosia and of the citadel which they were holding
+for Her Majesty, had ridden forth to Famagosta.
+
+Stefano commanded the guard at the gates of Nikosia--as also the force
+of the entire city, during the absence of the Vice-Roy: and he could be
+swerved nor fooled by no entreaties nor orders from any noble in the
+land. "No man entereth," he explained in that terrible cold iron voice
+of his, "save only he who sweareth to live and die in defense of Her
+Majesty."
+
+He it was, also, who, waiting for no parleying, thundered a refusal to
+surrender the city to those who brought the demand from the Fortress of
+Famagosta, signed in trembling letters by the Queen's own hand,
+"_Caterina Regina_."
+
+"Nay, but Her Majesty shall write the letters from her own
+palace--freely--that we, her loyal, servitors may know her will,--or
+ever we surrender her city of Nikosia." And so, sent back the envoys of
+Rizzo--foiled.
+
+And when some days later, yet others came--a company of mounted
+noblemen, demanding entrance in the Queen's name to deliver her answer
+to the letter sent by the Council of the People from Nikosia and to take
+their oath of loyalty--Stefano, still unbelieving, not knowing how it
+fared in Famagosta, gave his unvarying answer:
+
+"No man entereth, save only he who sweareth to live and die in the
+Queen's defense."
+
+"We are content to swear," they answered him.
+
+But still he gave no order to open the gates, but rode forth himself
+with the captains of the Council of the People, fully armed, to meet
+them, dismounting as they approached and offering all courteous
+salutations of the time--yet with reluctant speech--fearing to grant
+unwise credence, lest this should be some new perfidy.
+
+"Think not to deceive us with fair words," said Stefano, "who hold this
+city for our Queen; but if with most solemn oath ye swear to live and
+die in her defense, we make you welcome."
+
+"On most fair honor of a Knight," they answered him, "in the name of San
+Giovanni!"
+
+"Call hither the Chaplain with the Holy Book!" said Stefano.
+
+And so without the city, Stefano Caduna, man of the people, received the
+most solemn oath of these knights and nobles, envoys of the Queen,
+bareheaded and on bended knee before him, ere he would consent to unbar
+the gates of Nikosia to receive Her Majesty's own messengers.
+
+
+
+
+XXIV
+
+
+The immediate liberation of the Queen had seemed a well-nigh hopeless
+quest to the body of brave men who were on their way to Famagosta, to
+pledge the loyalty of their city of Nikosia, so soon as news of the
+conspiracy had been proclaimed, and they had deemed it rather to be won
+by strategy than prowess. For the Cyprian forces were few and were
+chiefly intrenched in the fortress of Famagosta--the most formidable of
+all the strongholds of Cyprus--leaving no trained men at arms in the
+city itself, which thus lay unprotected, close under the vigilance of
+the now hostile Citadel, whose commander, Saplana, had been a favorite
+of the King but was now among the traitors. The Count of Tripoli was
+foremost among the leaders of this intrigue and he was Governor of the
+city of Famagosta! And scattered among this Cyprian corps to see the
+orders enforced, was a band of mercenaries _brought from Naples by
+Rizzo_!
+
+The situation in Famagosta had been briefly indicated in the despatch
+which the courier of Bernardini had urged his spent and panting steed to
+deliver in Nikosia; there were also certain dark hints of rumors current
+among the outraged populace, that Rizzo, Chief-of-the-Council appointed
+to help the Queen, might soon be master of all the strongholds of the
+island, having forced letters from the Queen commanding their surrender
+to the envoys of the Chief-of-Council.
+
+Outside the cities news travels slowly, as all men know. For along the
+highways there are no marke-places whence it may be proclaimed--there is
+no eager populace to tell it from mouth to mouth, and these treacherous
+orders might even reach the forts and be obeyed in all good faith, by
+their Commanders before they could have any suspicion of the revolt of
+the Council.
+
+Of the wisdom and foresight of the Queen's Venetian Chamberlain the
+Admiral had ample proof; since the Bernardini's message of alarm, sent
+the night before the mutiny, had arrived only a few hours before it had
+been followed by his second despatch, in swift and terrible
+justification.
+
+Because of these rumors Mutio di Costanzo, Admiral of Cyprus, had
+ordered messages of warning sent to the chief citadels, as he had been
+able, before he left Nikosia; and also because of them, he rode to-day
+with a so scanty following not having dared to leave any points of
+vantage without sufficient guard.
+
+He turned and surveyed his little band of Knights with frowning
+brows--his invincible Knights of the Golden Spurs--they seemed so few in
+the face of the perplexities of his problem.
+
+Not that any thought of personal danger for himself or for them, in the
+few against the many, entered into his difficulties; but that the facts
+made failure a possibility; and there must be no failure.
+
+He raised his visor and each man saw his leader's face as the face of a
+conqueror.
+
+"_Coraggio_, Signori!" he cried; "our cause is just! God and San
+Giovanni make strong our arms!"
+
+Well might he be proud of this noble company pressing forward silently,
+but with quickening pace, at sight of the urgency in their leader's
+face.
+
+No noble house of Cyprus could boast more ancient lineage, nor so many
+knights entitled to wear the golden spurs, nor more honorable trophies
+of the valor dear to knightly hearts. They rode all in full armor, some
+bearing their famous shields of crimson with the quaint heraldic lion
+rampant on his golden bar--the device which all men knew had been
+granted them for extraordinary proof of prowess centuries before.
+
+For this noble family the ancient city of Costanza had been named; and
+the quaint church of Santa Maria di Costanza, rich in relics and in
+decoration, had been the private chapel of their historic Castle.
+
+To the assuring rhythm of their strenuous tramp the Admiral turned again
+to his unsolved problems. For the galleys of Cyprus had hitherto been
+kept armed by force, but recently their crews had been disbanded, in
+obedience to a strange clause in the will of King Janus. Now, as Mutio
+di Costanzo went on his way, wrapped in meditations that were not
+cheering, the question came to him--"_Why?_"
+
+Janus, whatever his gifts, had been no judge of men--possibly from too
+strong reliance in his own power to conquer them by his personal charm.
+Had this disbanding been deftly suggested to the facile King by his
+friend, the arch-schemer of Naples?
+
+Was the wily Rizzo, even in those days, planning to leave Cyprus
+defenceless?
+
+The Admiral gnashed his teeth and sent up a smothered cry to all the
+saints that his wrath might not unnerve him to the point of losing his
+iron grip upon himself.
+
+But the situation was not rendered less galling by the reflection that
+the port of Famagosta--the sole harbor of importance in the island--was
+covered by the citadel commanded by a traitor; that just within the port
+a galley flaunting the colors of Naples, rode complacently; and that
+there were no longer any Cyprian ships-of-war ready for attack.
+
+But retribution must be near; for he knew that Bernardini had sent
+warning followed by immediate details of the revolt, by secret
+messengers, concealed in trading-ships to the Venetian fleet off the
+African coast, and strong help must be at hand. To risk failure by a
+premature attack, for want of patience to endure a temporary disgrace,
+would be unmanly weakness. The Madonna be praised, the Chamberlain of
+the Queen was a man of resource; the people of the cities were devoted
+to her, and the end might be nearer than seemed possible.
+
+The Admiral was impatient for the conference with Bernardini who had
+implored him to come without delay.
+
+"At all hazards we shall hold the city-gate," the Chamberlain had
+written in the first hours of that dark dawn. "With citadel and port in
+command of the traitors and the Queen in their keeping, this post may
+have no importance in their eyes. _But our help must come from
+without._"
+
+And now the little band of faithful knights were coming in sight of the
+city-walls--massive and splendid--a monument to the Lusignans.
+
+"For our Queen and Cyprus!" the Admiral said solemnly, his hand upon his
+sword.
+
+The tone of the utterance made it a command.
+
+"So help us God our Seigneur, and San Giovanni!" the knights answered
+him in a breath, nerving themselves to attack and success: but they came
+silently and with no sounds of battle--by order of their chief--not
+knowing whether to expect welcome or conflict, or whether secrecy might
+be well.
+
+At the tramp of their horses' feet the warden had advanced to the grille
+of reconnoitre and withdrawn the small stone shutter for inspection; his
+head appeared behind the bars, but he wore no tell-tale colors:
+
+"Open! in the name of the Queen! to Her Majesty's faithful vassals!"
+
+The Admiral spoke low--for secrecy might be the very discretion of
+valor: but fearlessly, for the words were a signal, and every knight
+stood ready.
+
+"Who challengeth? Speak low."
+
+Was it the word of caution, or a ruse de guerre?
+
+"One of Nikosia."
+
+The Admiral gave the password which Bernardini had sent in that hasty
+note, and listened, trembling as a brave man may with impatience to be
+within and at his post of duty, while one by one the bolts were
+withdrawn, the portcullises were raised, and the signal to advance was
+given--quite silently: the finger of the guard who had been detailed to
+accompany them, was upon his lips.
+
+Not until he had conducted them beyond, into the city, did he speak: "We
+know not what echoes there may be within those walls," he said, pointing
+back to the ponderous gateway with its many vaulted passages.
+
+Then impatient, the Admiral asked for news.
+
+"Your Excellencies are expected: the citizens await you:" it was said in
+a tone that meant more than courtesy: Mutio di Costanzo scanned him
+narrowly.
+
+"From whom dost hold thy orders?" he asked.
+
+"From the Signor Bernardini, commander of the city," the man answered
+readily.
+
+"Then speak."
+
+"The Signor Bernardini hath this night rescued our infant Prince from
+the galley of Naples----" He supplemented the statement with an angry
+oath coupled with Rizzo's name. "We know not where our Signor hath
+hidden him."
+
+"And the Queen?"
+
+The guard shook his head.
+
+"The Signor hath waited for help to come: it is said that her rescue
+will be this day. In the Palazzo Reale the guard hath been trebled for
+her defense, and every man would give his life for the Queen."
+
+"Is there more?"
+
+"Aye, your Excellency: rumor hath it that that devil of a Rizzo hath
+forced Her Majesty to give him letters of surrender for every fortress
+of Cyprus, and that to-day he is gone, with other traitors, to receive
+the keys of all our citadels. _Panagia mou!_ he is capable of every
+treachery! If he were not within----" He indicated the fortress with a
+scowl of hatred, then made a motion which seemed to include the entire
+city and plant the people, resolute, before the windows of the Queen.
+
+"And the Governor of Famagosta?"
+
+"That traitor Tripoli is in the train of the scoundrel Rizzo, both
+faring forth for other treacheries, thinking us safe enough to leave,
+with those spies of Naples on guard." His sputtering curses choked
+further speech.
+
+"It shall be _now_," said Mutio di Costanzo: "conduct us to the Signor
+Bernardini"--yet wondering at the silence of the streets as he passed.
+
+"Your Excellency," said the guard once more, in answer to his question,
+"it is the order of the Bernardini who hath commanded quiet and hath
+promised, on his life, to restore the Queen to her people."
+
+The hasty conference in the Palazzo Reale, developed the fact that the
+citizens of Famagosta, too furious for any considerations of expediency,
+had been with difficulty restrained from storming the Citadel and
+demanding the Queen's instant release: and now that any trained force,
+however small, was upon their side, the critical moment had come. Men,
+women and children flocked into the deserted streets and eagerly
+followed the cavalcade of Knights to the Piazza San Nicolo, where the
+crowd was increasing every moment; and when Bernardini and Mutio di
+Costanzo appeared among them, they were greeted with cheers and vivas.
+
+"Regina!"
+
+"Madonna Nostra Reale!"
+
+"Regina!"
+
+"_Subito! Subito!_"
+
+The cries startled the silence of the streets, and further restraint was
+impossible.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"_Regina! Madonna Nostra Reale! Subito!_"
+
+The city rang with their shouts--the voice of a multitude magnificent in
+righteous emotion--from the gruff tones of the men of the populace
+hoarse with anger, to the strident cries and sobs of the women and the
+high treble of little children; and clear and calm throughout the
+chorus, the clarion-notes of command.
+
+The mighty sound penetrated to the depths of the Citadel, waking the
+Cyprian force from its stupor of despondency, rousing the dormant
+manhood within them.
+
+It reached the chamber of the captive Queen, who had known no thrill of
+hope since that night of horror.
+
+"My God! my God!" she cried, with streaming eyes. "I thank
+thee!--_Madonna mia Sanctissima!_ My people are calling for me!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"In the name of Her Majesty!"
+
+"Surrender command to the Admiral of Cyprus!"
+
+To no mighty force could those strong bars have been more swiftly
+withdrawn; nor was there need of contest to displace the trembling
+guards of Naples, as the men of Cyprus within the fort hastened to obey
+the mandate from without, saluting as the massive gates creaked upon
+their hinges and protesting that further haste had been impossible.
+
+"Let every traitor crave mercy!" the Admiral thundered as he crossed the
+drawbridge with his cavalcade: "and on your knees crave pardon of your
+outraged Queen as we descend."
+
+"Signori!"--to the Knights of the Golden Spurs--"await us here--none
+less loyal may stand on guard."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+To-day the entire armament of the fortress was less than of wont; for
+Rizzo and Tripoli, secure in their victory and confident that there
+would be no uprising since none had yet been attempted, had not
+hesitated to take a considerable following with them to secure the
+surrender of the other citadels of Cyprus "_by order of the Queen_." For
+was not Rizzo the happy holder of many pretty bits of parchment signed
+by the hand of "Caterina Regina" herself and attested by the royal
+signet of Cyprus--which to disobey was treason? It would be a pretty
+farce to insist upon the potency of that trembling signature wrested
+from the captive Queen when she had worn no semblance of power--a farce
+to which the Neapolitan schemer was fully equal.
+
+None but a man who knew the famous stronghold of Famagosta so intimately
+as did the Admiral of Cyprus could thus quickly have made sure that the
+surrender was complete and that no secret reserves of men and arms were
+kept back for further intrigues. To swear in those who would stand for
+Cyprus--to banish the mercenaries of Naples and all who were in
+sympathy with them to the dungeons below--to make sure of the color of
+the guards at port and passage--was not so much longer in the doing than
+in the telling.
+
+And yet, to the young Queen and Margherita the moments had seemed hours:
+they stood close together; straining every faculty to interpret the
+meaning of the commotion below, within the fortress, alternating between
+hope and fear as, at intervals, the cries of the people reached them
+from the piazza, indistinct and broken by the thickness of the walls;
+now and again a fierce imprecation rising above the tumult--yet surely
+there were tones of loyalty--voices calling for "Caterina Regina!"
+
+Caterina's strength was well-nigh spent--she had suffered so much; she
+caught the hand of Margherita in agitation as the tramp of footsteps
+echoed through the corridor nearing the door of her chamber, and
+Margherita laid her other hand on Caterina's with an almost maternal
+tenderness, from the great pity within her.
+
+"Beloved Lady!" she cried reassuringly; "they bring us glad tidings."
+
+For she read it in their faces as the Bernardini and Mutio di Costanzo
+knelt in the low doorway to offer their homage.
+
+But the young Queen seemed to tremble between life and death as she
+stretched forth her arms to them with a low wail that almost unnerved
+those strong faithful men.
+
+"My Boy! My Boy!--your Prince!"
+
+How may joy immeasurable be told in an instant's space, and one
+schooled to agony not die from the swift change to such rapture of
+content!
+
+For the Bernardini had answered her: "Safe in the Palazzo Reale: and the
+people are clamoring for their Queen!"
+
+And because the Dama Margherita had seen the great shining light in his
+eyes her heart went out to him, and she knew that the safety of the
+Royal infant meant a tale of loyalty and danger that Aluisi Bernardini
+would never tell.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+But at last the Admiral and the Bernardini led Caterina forth into the
+piazza, pale and calm--the glory of a great gladness in her eyes--the
+suffering which had left deep traces in her face disguised by the
+exaltation of the moment so that she scarcely seemed less radiant than
+when she had last stood there on the day of the coronation fete with her
+child in her arms--as any woman of the people might have done, the
+tender, baby-cheek pressed close to hers.
+
+Some of them remembered it as they fell on their knees around her,
+kissing her hands, offering her homage--reparation--sobbing out their
+devotion:
+
+"Regina! Madonna Nostra Reale! Regina! Regina! May the Holy Mother bless
+her and our little King!"
+
+She was not a thing of State and jewels, cold and distant like the proud
+Queen Elena, but a tender human mother, fair and young, and her heart
+had been all but broken when that wicked Chief of Council had stolen
+away the child!--the people might gather close about her and weep and
+rejoice with her.
+
+"_Madonna Nostra Reale!_"
+
+The air was still ringing with the loyal shouts of the multitude when
+Vettore Soranzo with that eagerly expected Venetian fleet, weighed
+anchor in the port of Famagosta and with his men streamed through the
+unresisting gates of the Fortress into the Piazza San Nicolo, where the
+young Queen still stood radiant.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+With the holy calm of night peace brooded over the distracted city and
+the Cyprian stars looked down on the old, sweet story of mother and
+child--as closely clasped beneath the gilded roof of the royal palace as
+under the thatch of a peasant shed--smiling, forgetful of the days of
+anguish that had parted them.
+
+
+
+
+XXV
+
+
+The Venetian Admiral Mocenigo, god-father to the little prince, had
+followed close upon the coming of Vettore Soranzo, and they had lost no
+time in examining into the causes of the difficulties and in fixing the
+responsibility for the treachery where it belonged: disloyal officers
+were replaced by men in sympathy with the government, men of weight and
+character were sought for to fill the vacancies in the Council of the
+Realm, and it seemed that days of sunshine were dawning for Caterina,
+guarded by the affection of her people and the invincible arm of Venice.
+
+These Venetian nobles would have made short work in meting out justice
+to those chiefs who had been the instigators of the conspiracy, but as
+yet they had eluded the search; though it was rumored that Saplana, the
+Turkish commander of the Fortress of Famagosta, with his nephew Almerico
+to whom the conspirators would assign control of the castle of
+Cerines,--had been in hiding in the palace of the Archbishop. And a tale
+was brought to Bernardini by a group of agitated peasants from the
+hamlet of Varoschia, that at early dawn a man fully armed, with the
+semblance of Rizzo--"not an apparition, _Signore sa_--but how could one
+know the face of him with his vizor down?--was riding like the wind to
+Famagosta, and with him a multitude of horsemen, coming very silently.
+We saw them from the vineyards high up on the hillside. And then--quite
+suddenly--we looked and they were gone--they came no more--by San
+Nicolo and the Holy Madonna, it is true!"
+
+Significant gestures gave a certain mysterious color to the peasant's
+tale; but whatever its truth, it was actually known that Rizzo and other
+of the conspirators had been seen in the neighborhood of Nikosia; and
+the whereabouts of these intriguers was a topic of absorbing interest,
+for it was felt that the sunshine would be clearer when Rizzo with his
+accomplices should have been found and made to suffer the full penalty
+of their crime.
+
+Rizzo and Fabrici had been absent at the time of the uprising of the
+citizens of Famagosta, and the wolf-like courage of the Chief-of-Council
+was on the wane: for the letters of the Queen had not proved the
+passport he had expected toward the surrender of the Cyprian strongholds
+to a traitor: since more than one of the Commanders had been found so
+staunch in loyalty as to question the validity of the royal signature.
+
+When all had gone so well at first, these failures were exasperating to
+a man of Rizzo's temper--the more so that the little Queen had refused
+to prepare another letter of dismissal required of her; and Rizzo, the
+stronger in wrath and insolence because his faith in his star was
+somewhat less, had set forth himself to enforce the investiture of
+Almerico as Commander of Cerines--the castle to which he had been
+refused admittance on the morning of the uprising in Famagosta.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Venice, meanwhile, with her faculty for establishing confidence and
+settling all things in order, having brought back the smiles of the
+Court, had suggested the wisdom of relieving the strain and tickling the
+fancy of the people by some pageant. There was to be a grand review of
+the troops in the Piazza on the esplanade, in the presence of the Queen
+and the infant Prince, at which the presentation by Her Majesty to the
+Admiral Mocenigo of a golden shield, magnificently wrought with the arms
+of Cyprus, would diplomatically suggest the important role that Venice
+had played in the re-establishment of the Government.
+
+Dama Ecciva was in her element again, now that something had happened to
+scatter the unendurable dulness, and each day brought some new matter
+for discussion.
+
+"Hast heard, Eloisa, how that this new Council to Her Majesty hath
+captured the Secretary of His Reverence the Archbishop? and they thought
+to hang him for his master's treachery and his own; and then, because he
+promised to confess to save his life, he is in the Castle instead. And
+there were revelations!--and intrigues!--verily a Reverendissimo!"
+
+"Name him not to me; I have no patience!"
+
+"Thou hast never patience when I bring thee news: and it is tiresome of
+thee, for one must talk, or die of ennui in this court!"
+
+"Then let it be of something better." Eloisa answered in a tone which
+showed her distaste of the subject.
+
+"Choose thou--since one can never know thy whim. Shall it be of that
+famous Saplana who runneth away to put himself in hiding;--for
+fear--_verily for fear_--the Commander of Famagosta! afraid to die like
+a man! A comedy!--one might laugh if it were less craven."
+
+"One knoweth not if he be in hiding, since he is not found; he may be a
+traitor, yet not a coward too."
+
+"Yes, one knoweth, bella Contarini mia: did I not promise thee news? And
+thou wilt never guess it."
+
+"It was our Admiral Mocenigo who found him?" Eloisa asked eagerly.
+
+"Nay; not 'our Admiral Mocenigo';" the other answered lingering on the
+name with a fine mimicry of her tone; "not thine nor mine. Thou hast a
+foolish way with thee of mine and thine, as if all that came from Venice
+were held close to thy little heart.--How goes it with thy handsome
+Signor Bernardini?"
+
+"Oh, Ecciva! The Chamberlain of the Queen! how darest thou? Thou art
+over free with thy foolish speech."
+
+"Nay, little timid maid; it is thou who art foolish not to see--not to
+see----. Ah, well, he is but a man for all he is Venetian; and
+thou--thou art a child and hast no eyes."
+
+"What meanest thou, Ecciva? Nay, thou _shalt_ tell me." She caught her
+companion's hand as Ecciva made a feint of turning away.
+
+"So----; now there is something found that doth not tax thy fickle
+patience, since we speak of the splendid Bernardini! Thou hast ever
+thine adoration ready for a Venetian."
+
+Eloisa flushed indignantly, but she answered staunchly: "Not only
+I--but every one who loveth what is noble. Thou knowest, Ecciva, the
+Court is full of his praises."
+
+"Aye, is it, my little one? As well it may be! Then what harm that I
+should sing them too? Verily, I think he is noble beyond all others;"
+her taunting tone became suddenly earnest. "And this I came to tell
+thee."
+
+"This is not news," the other answered coldly, having found it difficult
+to keep the pace of Ecciva's changing admirations, for the Cyprian
+maiden was easily captured by any demonstration of power; "and thou
+camest to bring me news."
+
+"Hast ever thought that the Chamberlain of the Queen would woo a bride?"
+Dama Ecciva asked lightly, but unconsciously opening and closing her
+slender henna-stained fingers, straining them into the soft palms with
+strenuous motions, while she waited for her companion's reply.
+
+"If I knew his secrets or dreamed them, I would not tell thee--being his
+friend," Eloisa exclaimed indignantly, "such talk ill befitteth the
+dignity of Her Majesty's maids of honor. What is thy news?"
+
+Ecciva came closer and laid one hand on Eloisa's wrist, tightening her
+clasp while she spoke in low, slow, insinuating tones--holding her with
+her strange gaze.
+
+"This is no news to thee--that I--that I----? Tell me Eloisa, dost thou
+not see?"
+
+The Venetian turned from her uneasily.
+
+"Thou hast shewn me nothing with all thy talk of the Bernardini;" she
+spoke the name unwillingly, Ecciva seemed to force her to continue the
+theme, and it was with difficulty that she could withdraw her hand from
+the Grecian maiden's sinuous clasp. "Let us talk no more; for thou hast
+no news of real matter."
+
+"Not of the Bernardini, since thou wilt not hear it. But how if I knew
+of a bride for him?"
+
+"I think he would not ask of whom thou speakest!" Eloisa tried to laugh
+and shake off the spell. "I will listen no more, Ecciva."
+
+But the other paid no heed. "How if I knew of a bride for him?" she
+repeated; "of a most ancient house of Cyprus; noble enough to mate with
+him--for out of it came one of the queens of the land----. And if--and
+if she would not say him nay!--How then, Carina? For thou, 'being his
+friend,' wouldst wish to see him win such favor----?"
+
+"It is not the Dama Margherita de Iblin," Eloisa asked with sudden eager
+interest.
+
+"The Lady Margherita!" Ecciva echoed with a scornful toss of her head.
+"Doth one seek a bride no longer young when one is a man like that?
+Nor--nor beautiful?--She is not beautiful!"
+
+"She is more rare than beautiful," Eloisa retorted, piqued. "For she is
+noble, like the Signor Bernardini: and her face is like her soul."
+
+"They should not trust their secrets to so young a maid!" the Lady
+Ecciva cried tauntingly.
+
+She had suddenly flushed and grown pale again. Then a new thought came
+to her. "But she also is a Dama di Maridaggio--_she also_. Thou mightest
+tell that for a bit of gossip to the Queen, who, perchance, hath
+influence with the Signor Bernardini." She had laid her hand again on
+Eloisa's, with an insistent touch.
+
+"Why dost thou say, _she also_?"
+
+"That is for thy puzzle--to amuse thee, carinissima; for verily thy
+brain is dull. It is no wonder with the gravity of this court! But
+happily to-morrow--thou shalt see to-morrow how the people shout to him,
+for Cyprus doth owe him honor--and Her Majesty more than life. It is the
+Bernardini who hath done it all--more than the Soranzo, or the
+Mocenigo--more even than our great Admiral of Cyprus. Thou shalt see!"
+
+Eloisa fell easily into praises of her hero, and her tongue was
+unsealed. "To go at night, with only a poor fishing-skiff and a handful
+of men, to steal back the little king from the galley of Naples--it was
+not easy! But how should one think of peril when the Prince was in
+danger?--They are both like that--he and she."
+
+"All knights are like that, or they would be craven: that was no honor
+to him. But what woman went with him from the palace? I watched them
+going; it was a night like some great poem!"
+
+"That was our dear Lady of the Bernardini; lest the Prince should be
+strange without some loving face about him, and none can smile him into
+quiet, as she with her gracious ways; and they feared a sound, for the
+galley lay close under the fortress. So quietly they went, along the
+shore, lingering where the nets are thrown by the shallows, to take the
+galley by surprise--the Lady of the Bernardini shrouded in the mantle of
+a fisher-woman."
+
+"And after?--When they had found him? For it was not told where they hid
+the child--or I heard it not."
+
+"Yes--now it may be known; thanks be to our Mater Sanctissima!" Eloisa
+answered devoutly. "They floated about in the fishing skiff until they
+reached the private galley of the Signor Bernardini--so far around the
+coast that it would be safe for the Prince. And of the peril, the Lady
+of the Bernardini had no thought. The galley of His Excellency was dark
+and with no sign of action, yet it had been manned for a cruise the
+night before the treason--the poor Signor Bembo was to have gone
+therein"--her voice faltered and they both crossed themselves, the
+horror of that night was still so new.
+
+"The crew were hidden within it," she continued after a moment's pause,
+"and if there had been pursuit, it would have started swiftly for
+Venice, to put the Prince in safety."
+
+"How came this tale to thee?" Dama Ecciva asked with a sudden twinge of
+jealousy--"we both being of the court?"
+
+"Nay, nay, Ecciva," Eloisa pleaded; "we both are here to do our duty,
+and in time of peril--thou knowest well--one may not ask counsel on the
+house-tops; and this was for life or death. How might they hope to
+surprise the galley of Naples, if it has been told to all the Court?"
+
+"Thou, then?"
+
+"Listen, Ecciva! Since it is past, thou shalt see how they are noble,
+this Mother and her son! They left with me that night a message for the
+dear Queen whom they might not reach with speech, to spare her greater
+anguish, if they came not back. For, oh my God, how she hath suffered!"
+
+"It is yet more a poem," Ecciva exclaimed, stirred by the hope of
+further romance, and already half ashamed that she had shown her
+momentary feeling of jealousy. "The message--tell it!"
+
+"'If we come not back, thou wilt tell our beloved Lady that we have
+sought to wrest the child from the galley of Naples; for rumor hath it
+that he is hidden there. And if he be there, we will bring him, or give
+our lives to save him. Tell her our galley waiteth far, to take the
+Prince to Venice if, from pursuit, there should be need to fly.'
+
+"But--listen Ecciva--they said, '_if we come not again, and our galley
+should be found waiting on the coast, then tell her that our lives were
+little to express our love; and she shall not mourn that we have given
+them for her and for her child_.'--Oh, Ecciva!" she ended with a long
+sigh of adoring appreciation.
+
+Ecciva broke the tension with her exclamation: "No, Contarini mia, all
+knights are _not_ like that: I said it but to tease thee. Tell it to the
+Dama Margherita with a face like that, and she will make it a second
+'Kypria,' for she hath, verily the gift. I have not such a tale of
+knighthood to tell thee: yet, if thou carest for my tidings they would
+make a canto for the new Kypria of the Dama Margherita, in contrast to
+thine. And first of the traitor Saplana--_of whom there is news_."
+
+Eloisa greeted the tidings with an exclamation of relief.
+
+"He--and the precious group of noble villains--or of villain
+nobles--one's tongue takes twist in talking trash--the more when it is
+true; a precious group of traitors, all on the wild seashore--how the
+Dama Margherita would bring out the booming of the waves! These doughty
+villains fleeing because, forsooth, they feared the fleet of
+Venice!--tossing their reins on the necks of the steeds that brought
+them, and leaving them to wander at their will. A little gold and their
+arms and bucklers in the fishing skiff that brought them to the galley
+of the noble Ferdinand--the goodly King of Naples,--his well-beloved
+son, Alfonso, wore not for long the title of the 'Prince of
+Galilee!'--Is it a pretty tale for the poem of the Margherita? The tale
+of the fleeing villains!"
+
+"But who went with the Commander?--Which others?"
+
+"There was the nephew, Almerico--much in temper because thy noble uncle
+the Contarini would not yield up to his traitorous care the Castle of
+Cerines for the signature forced from the Queen. There was Fabrici--the
+very Reverend, the Primate of Cyprus. And then--and then--not last, but
+first, and deepest and darkest traitor of them all--the very darkest
+villain of them all--there was Rizzo!"
+
+"Ecciva! Not Rizzo!--the land is free of him!"
+
+"Aye, _Rizzo_, child. Did I tell thee I had news? And for their absences
+may Heaven be praised!--though, truly, they have deserved worse."
+
+"They have deserved _death_," said Eloisa solemnly: "death between the
+columns of the Piazzetta--death and confiscation."
+
+"So, my Venetian, thou never wilt remember that we are Cyprians! The
+drama of confiscation will surely follow upon their deserts, and there
+will be fiefs the more for their Cyprian betters. But as for
+death--'death between the columns'--I could almost be glad that Rizzo
+hath escaped. How shall one not admire the masterful scheming of the
+man, and the insolence and power of him?--he is fairly great in
+wile.--Have I not told thee news enough, and of a quality to make thy
+hair stand on end--the comely hair of a most decorous young Venetian
+maid?--and thou hast never a word of admiration. Verily, thou art
+tiresome!"
+
+"It is so terrible, Ecciva: I cannot jest, nor gloat on it for news."
+
+"There, there, sweet child!" Ecciva had slipped easily back into her
+old, mocking, taunting way--"go look out thy tire for the morrow and try
+on thy jewels, for the pageant will be fine: and, do thy best, I shall
+outshine thee--thee and the Dama Margherita! One pageant in six months
+of woe--it is not over much."
+
+
+
+
+XXVI
+
+
+The pageant had been brilliant, as one may read in the chronicles of the
+time.
+
+Even the Queen of the Adriatic, in all her pride, could offer little to
+surpass the splendor of this great esplanade by the sea where the review
+had been held. The pavement of costly mosaic stretched along the coast,
+guarded by the lofty tower which jutted out upon the sea; while the
+other side of this unusual piazza was dominated by the famous Citadel
+which climbed the steep acclivity with intricate windings of crenellated
+walls, dotted with sentry towers where banners were floating. In that
+clear atmosphere distance was not appreciable, and the castellated
+slopes seemed to lead up to the highest peak of the Troodos, whose
+snow-crowned summit flashed its crystal against the deep blue of the
+Cyprian sky.
+
+The massive walls of modern Famagosta skirted the esplanade, and above
+their mighty bulwark rose the domes and pinnacles of her palaces and
+churches--a city of delight. There were strange monuments breaking the
+sky-line; there were statues and fountains gleaming in the sunlight;
+there were hedges of rose and myrtle outlining the terraced gardens on
+the hill-slopes, where rioted all manner of fruits and bloom: back of
+them the vineyards of Varoschia--lemons, burning like topaz against the
+dark thatch of their glossy leaves, and near them the thin gray of the
+olive-trees, outlining with pale shadow the forests that spread to the
+mountains.
+
+Vast vases of stone looked down from the heights in grotesque
+shapes--serpents coiled, thrusting out their tongues tipped with rubies,
+with glaring emeralds for eyes: and below them, deep cut in the living
+rock and blazoned so that one might read them from afar, the arms of the
+kingdom--as if sacred pythons, terrible and fierce, kept watch above the
+harbor for the honor of the realm.
+
+And far off, against that wonderful mountain background, a colossal
+marble lion stood guard over the ruins of the city that slept upon the
+coast below--with demoniac, fiery eyes of flashing jewels, striking
+terror to the souls of mariners who might have wandered with
+sacrilegious feet among those crumbling tombs and temples in search of
+buried treasure.
+
+For this buried city on the coast was the ancient city of Salamis, and
+famed for her magnificence--the _Famagosta Vecchia_ which had furnished
+many a stately column and intricately wrought carving to enrich the
+modern city to which Janus had transferred the capital of his kingdom.
+Half-buried fragments of palaces and tombs and temples reached far along
+the coast, giving the touch of pathos and historic interest: and about
+them swept the broken circles of the splendid aqueduct which, in the
+days long past, had gathered the waters of the mountain streams to
+furnish the countless fountains and cisterns of Salamis. Great palms had
+sprung up in the fissures of the massive, grass-grown arches, and vines
+trailed draperies of beauty over their decay--and so they stood, a
+monument to the past, challenging the dwellers of the modern city to a
+labor so needful for the public weal.
+
+The port was gay with trading ships and colors of many lands; but Mutio
+di Costanzo studied it with frowning brows, noting only the absence of
+his own galleys of Cyprus, which lay, unmanned in the dock-yards by
+order of King Janus the Second! And before them, where he turned his
+gaze, still frowning, on the silver of the sea rode the galleys of the
+fleet of Venice--decked with the banners of San Marco and of Cyprus.
+
+Caterina, under her canopy, with all her court about her in fullest
+state, had received the homage of the people, as she passed her forces
+in review, her cheek tingling with honest pleasure at their enthusiastic
+greeting. The little Prince had been beside her, crowing his delight at
+the music, the motion, the noise, the color, in most unkingly fashion,
+quite unconscious that the storied jewel of his realm--the great ruby
+that Peter the Valiant had received as the tribute of a conquered
+Eastern city, glittering in the lace of his infant-cap, by way of royal
+insignia--demanded a regal bearing.
+
+The presentation to the Mocenigo of the golden shield, richly inlaid
+with the arms of Cyprus, had made a pretty scenic episode, quite worthy
+of dramatic Venice.
+
+For Mutio di Costanzo also, and for the Bernardini, there had been
+demonstrations, as Dama Ecciva had foretold: but the Lady Margherita de
+Iblin had noticed with uneasiness, that whereas it was a time when the
+people, high and low, should have assembled to testify their loyalty and
+affection, the crowd was chiefly composed of burghers and peasants from
+the hamlets in city neighborhoods, and that many of the old Cyprian
+nobles with their tenantry were conspicuously absent. And since the
+death of Janus, some of those who had formerly been in attendance at
+court, had rarely shown themselves there.
+
+Dama Margherita spoke of this afterwards to the Admiral, for he had
+asked for some private conversation with her in her boudoir, when the
+ceremonies should be over.
+
+"What mean these absences?" she asked, when they had bemoaned the
+situation.
+
+"Venice is feared, not loved," he answered her.
+
+But she was unwilling to confess that she understood him, having a pride
+in her land and love for her Queen.
+
+"Pardon, your Excellency," she said, "we were speaking of Cyprus."
+
+He passed the interruption by as unworthy, being greatly in earnest.
+
+"And the Queen--a very lovely young woman--is a mere figurehead--a pawn
+to be moved at the discretion of the higher powers."
+
+"Then, my Lord, it should be seen to that she hath a Council competent
+to advise," the Lady Margherita retorted with ready indignation,
+"instead of a horde of traitors."
+
+Her voice took on a higher key in her excitement, and the Admiral laid
+his hand lightly on her arm to quiet her.
+
+"Dear Dama Margherita," he said, "we have been in conference with His
+Excellency the Signor Mocenigo--a very remarkable mind--and the
+Provveditore Vettore Soranzo; and the vacancies in Her Majesty's Council
+have been filled with men, whom may Heaven keep more loyal!--But _why_
+did not the Counts of the Chamber rise up in eager demonstration of
+interest to put their best men in those vacant seats? And why--are we
+quite safe to discuss it here?--_why_ did we--having her interests at
+heart--not dare to ask the great nobles whom we wished to reach, to take
+those places?"
+
+"It is because of Janus, who hath been heedless and unfair?" she asked
+reflecting. "For verily the people love the Queen."
+
+"Let us not deceive ourselves out of our very loyalty. The citizens and
+the nearer peasants hold her in love and reverence: but those of the
+larger _casals_ and fiefs--the ancient nobles, have the power; and few
+of these are in her court. I would it were otherwise."
+
+"It is something, your Excellency, to have won the love of the simpler
+folk as no Queen of this land hath ever done before," the Lady
+Margherita said staunchly.
+
+"It is something, but not all," he answered; "the nobles are as much to
+be taken into consideration as the poorer classes. It is not all," he
+repeated with emphasis. "One may win from sympathy--but one must rule a
+kingdom by power. And the Queen--God help her!--is a charming child."
+
+"My Lord!"
+
+"A charming child--with a heart developed and matured like a saint; but
+with a mind untrained to intrigue, unsuspicious of jealousies,
+unconscious of any injustice wrought by her husband, not apt to
+comprehend, perhaps, any grievance of the nobles----"
+
+"May we not help her?" Dama Margherita interrupted eagerly. "She would
+give back the fiefs if she knew that they had been misplaced--that any
+right had been violated. And now--after these confiscations----"
+
+"Aye, there are more lands to satisfy their demands, it is true. But in
+their pride they might refuse--let her not wonder at it, nor cease from
+her courtesies. The nobles are rather sullen than overt in their
+discontent. They do not want Venetian galleys in their waters--though
+they must welcome them--nor to do homage to a Venetian for the gift of
+their own lands. And the restoration is less simple than was the
+confiscation. For temporary lords have been created and these remain to
+be reckoned with--even if the will were there."
+
+"I am sure, your Excellency, that the will would not be lacking if this
+matter were understood; for Her Majesty is fair and generous, and eager
+to do all her duty by her people. It is of them, and never of herself,
+that her heart is full."
+
+The old Knight looked at her with kindling eyes as he raised her hand to
+his lips with the gallantry of the time; yet retaining it in his own and
+petting it in fatherly fashion, for she had been his daughter's friend
+from childhood.
+
+"Dear Margherita," he said with emotion, "it is well for our dear Queen
+that thou art so loyal; and well for our distraught land that thou
+shouldst be near her." He kissed her hand again as he released it. "I
+spoke but to try thee, my child. If there are those near her whom we may
+not trust--it is not thou: I know that a de Iblin could not be
+disloyal."
+
+"To try me--my Lord----! _Me!_"
+
+She had drawn away from him, wounded and disdainful, her voice thrilling
+with anger.
+
+But he answered her quietly and sorrowfully. "Could I risk any hurt to
+thee, cara Dama Margherita, if duty of plainest speech were not
+imperative? I trust thee wholly--how else could I speak thus with thee?
+I have never for a moment doubted thee; yet one might doubt one's own
+loyalty in this court of Cyprus--where, it is told me, there is a most
+subtle intriguer who seeketh to do thee harm."
+
+"So it be not those whose esteem is dear to me," she answered wearily,
+still smarting from the hurt, "what matters it?"
+
+"My child," he pleaded, "if it had not been needful, I should not have
+told thee; nor told thee _thus_, but that I wished to see if any
+suspicion of this had dawned upon thee. But thou, like the Queen, art
+too noble to soil thy soul with distrust. Yet, bethink thee, for her
+sake, if there be any within this circle--however fairly spoken--who may
+be intriguing against thee, yet seeking in secret to disaffect the court
+in favor of some other claimant."
+
+"Who brought your Excellency this tale?" she asked; "since all may not
+be trusted?" Her tone was a challenge, and she moved towards the door to
+close the interview, but the Admiral would not follow.
+
+"Put by thine indignation, Margherita," he answered patiently, "for I
+have told thee as I would tell my own Alicia, if danger threatened--if
+somewhat overclumsily it seemeth to a maiden's fancy. It was told me,
+in confidence, by one of judgment and most loyal honor, whose name I may
+not reveal, and who besought me that I should warn thee--_thee,
+Margherita_--who knew thy loyalty staunch as his own."
+
+A slow, pale flush grew on the girl's proud cheek as she listened and
+her eyes took on a strange light.
+
+"What matters it, my Lord," she said again, "to me, if I have thy trust
+and--and--that of all men of honor! Forgive the temper of my house!" She
+stretched out her hand to him.
+
+"So thou but know when to curb it," he answered smiling, "it is thy
+strength and our pride. And now--as to this other?"
+
+"My Lord, I do not know"--but she paused suddenly.
+
+"It is well," he said watching her, "for I may name no names--but thou
+art on thy guard. She was named to me as very fair--subtle--charming--of
+an ancient house of Cyprus--_we have named no names_. Let no confidences
+escape thee in her presence: but we have no knowledge yet of any
+traitorous intent that might excuse her dismissal from Court; and if it
+be but petty, personal jealousy"--again Margherita had flushed
+unwontedly--"for a mere jealousy, one may not insult a noble, ancient
+house. It is not known if her sympathy be with Naples, or with
+Carlotta."
+
+"Your Excellency shall know if aught be discovered that should be told,"
+Margherita promised. "But the matter is difficult."
+
+"As to Her Majesty," the Admiral continued lowering his voice still
+further, "it hath been found needful to guard her interests, and the
+Signor Bernardini hath been named to the Council--a most excellent
+gentleman--if he were not of Venice. I would have had another of our
+Cyprian nobles, because of this jealousy of Venice. But they have kept
+themselves so much from court that we have not seen their color; and we
+dare not trifle with them, for the time is critical."
+
+"Why not thou--Eccellentissimo?"
+
+"Nay; I may keep a wider outlook on the interests of the kingdom without
+the Council. The city of Nikosia shall stand for her; the trading
+interests are to watch; the fleets must be re-manned; these intrigues
+must be thwarted. I outside the court, and thou within, very closely
+within--as near to the heart of the Queen as she will let thee--we shall
+work and help her, for her task is not light. She swore her oath of
+office to me, and I to her gave mine, as solemnly--to help her with my
+life. It is a heavy load for such tender hands to lift:--a question if
+one may conquer wile with innocency--yet the strife is noble."
+
+"What may be done to help her?" Dama Margherita questioned,
+heavy-hearted. "What is my part? It is not only the scandal of watching
+against intrigue."
+
+"That is no scandal to loyal service: and such her very trust and
+goodness do demand. But there is more: out of thy fuller knowledge of
+the Cyprian temper--thy comprehension of their grievances--thy loyal
+Cyprian pride--thy staunchness to the House of Lusignan--make thyself
+charming to these great Cyprian nobles; help the Queen to see the need
+of their conciliation, and stoop a little from thy loftiness to win it
+for them. To two such women, the impossible is easy. I leave thee now."
+
+"Is there no more?" she asked.
+
+"Nay:--or it is a trifle. If they have found the court a little
+over-dull, of late, blame them not over-much: the need for gayety and
+splendor is in their blood--more than in ours of Sicily--more even than
+in that of Venice--which hath greater gravity. I have spoken with Madama
+di Thenouris and the Lady of the Bernardini; but Madama di Thenouris
+hath better understanding of the Cyprian temper, its need of
+excitement--half barbaric--its impatience with a tone of gloom; the
+tourneys, the tennis, the hunt, all that bringeth life--let the court be
+charming again with jewels and color. Too great gravity is not wise."
+
+"Yet to-day, your Excellency, if there were no lack of brilliancy--how
+many were not there to see!"
+
+"It is the beginning only," he said; "let it not be the end. Great
+issues have been changed by such trifles."
+
+"Must there be no more than trifles?" she asked, detaining him,
+dissatisfied.
+
+He looked at her, uncertain whether it were wise to speak further.
+
+"Tell no one that they are trifles: but listen," he said. "It will take
+_strength_, and _patience_, and _wisdom_ and _cunning_ and _grace_ to
+rule this people. Shall we ask all this of any woman?" He dwelt upon the
+words with weighty enunciation.
+
+"Or of any _man_?" she answered, half-mocking at the demand. "And if he
+were really a man, and not a god--and if one might choose one's
+King----"
+
+He shook his head slowly in response. "Our paragon might not be found in
+the House of Lusignan, perchance. But surely he would not be a Louis of
+Savoy--nor a Ferdinand of Naples--no more than a Carlotta. _Nor any
+Cyprian noble who hath eyes upon the Crown._"
+
+"Not this, also!" she cried, startled; "_not this!_"
+
+"So rumor hath it; but none is strong enough. It frets me not. I have
+but told thee since thou art on guard."
+
+"Is there a remedy?" she asked despondent.
+
+"It is not hopeless. The Ministers must rule the land. We must choose
+our men and bide our time. Our Queen, by her grace, shall win the
+people's hearts: and all may be well."
+
+"And the little Prince--under her training?--For she will teach him love
+and justice. She hath vowed him to the service of his land."
+
+"Aye, he is our hope. We must guard her kingdom for him."
+
+Then suddenly his face flamed with wrath. "This Council of the Realm
+were arch-traitors!" he said fiercely, "and to think that they escaped
+death!--Wresting power for their own ends--taking no concern for Cyprian
+interests--they 'forget' the tribute which assures to Cyprus the support
+of our Suzerain, and wait for Venice to come with careful inquiry to set
+such failures right! But what cared they whether the provisions of a
+solemn treaty were kept or broken? They had no thought of honor--they
+wanted power to overturn the throne--not to uphold it.--The masterful
+meanness of such creatures is beyond comprehension!"
+
+"It doth unman me!" he said apologetically to Margherita, after this
+unusual outburst, for Mutio di Costanzo was a man of few words; then,
+
+"Madama di Thenouris is of our private council," he added, to her
+immense relief, as he left her.
+
+
+
+
+XXVII
+
+
+It was the Bernardini whose swift thought had sent the first faithful
+account of the revolt of the Council of the Realm to the Signoria--his
+ingenuity which had secured the delivery of this true statement before
+the false story under the signature forced from Caterina had reached
+Venice--his prowess that had generaled the uprising of the citizens for
+the Queen's release--his devotion that had rescued the infant Prince
+from captivity--his foresight that had sent warning to the Admiral
+Mocenigo before he could be summoned from Venice to the rescue. Such
+honors as might be decreed to a fidelity beyond reward had come upon
+Aluisi Bernardini from the Republic, apt in recognition: and the undying
+gratitude of the Queen was already his.
+
+"What shall I give thee, beloved Cousin?" the Queen had asked him. "Wilt
+thou be a noble of Cyprus?"
+
+"Dear Lady," he answered, "I want but thy favor. Doth it not suffice me
+that I am a noble of Venice?"
+
+"Nay--but to prove how thou art in my grace--with rich fiefs and
+holdings in this land for which thou hast spent thy service right
+royally."
+
+"He doth not spend 'right royally' who seeketh reward," he answered,
+smiling down upon her, as he stood before her.
+
+Caterina answered him by quoting the Cyprian proverb, "_Assai dimanda
+che fidelmente serve_." (Who hath faithfully served hath made a large
+demand.)
+
+But he shook his head, still smiling.
+
+"Other than I have done, what true knight would do?" he protested.
+"There could be no question of reward between us--thou being royal Lady
+of our Casa Cornaro, and I sworn to thy faithful service--my cousin and
+Queen. But, if thou wilt grant thy favor----"
+
+He had grown suddenly grave.
+
+"Nay, Aluisi, how may I grant what thou already hast?"
+
+"I thank thee, fair Cousin. See how I trust thy favor to bring thee
+warning--being so much thine elder--dealing so much more with men than
+thou--being now of thy Council of the Realm----"
+
+"Doth it need so many words from thee to me to excuse a counsel?--from
+_thee_, who gavest me back my child!"
+
+She held out both hands to him impulsively, as a daughter to a father,
+her beautiful face radiant with gratitude and affection.
+
+He closed the fair hands for a moment in his own, very tenderly. "I
+should have envied any," he said, "whose fortune it had been to do this
+thing for thee. My star hath favored me. Heaven keep our little Prince
+to bless his realm of Cyprus!"
+
+After a moment's silence, Caterina spoke playfully, to recall him to his
+theme. "Was it for this fervent vow of loyalty that thou didst crave my
+grace?"
+
+His face deepened to a seriousness that was almost compassionate.
+
+"Thou knowest that I would fain help thee: thy people would verily spend
+themselves for thee--thou hast won their hearts. But, among the ancient
+nobles--it were wise to tell thee frankly--there is some discontent."
+
+"Is it new matter?" she asked, frowning a little. She had motioned him
+to a seat, for she saw that he had much to say.
+
+"It hath been spoken of before, but since--since the treachery of the
+Council and--other things--and the most unbounded confidence by the
+Signoria reposed in me to uphold the Queen--I have sought more nearly to
+sift the causes of this disaffection. They seem to me to be not beyond
+conciliation."
+
+"'_Not beyond conciliation_,'" she echoed, "it _seems_ to thee! It is a
+sad word to bring me of my people, Aluisi, since I would give my life
+for them." Her eyes had filled with tears.
+
+"It is sad, beloved Lady: but nothing is hopeless that is not finished.
+Is it not better to see wisely than to ignore?--Let us be brave."
+
+She folded her hands very tightly for a moment, as if struggling with
+herself; then she lifted her eyes to his.
+
+"Teach me," she said. "What wouldst thou?--Thou shalt verily be made one
+of the Counts of the Chamber, that I may know _one_ loyal among my
+Cyprian nobles."
+
+"Nay, nay"--he made an effort to assume a lighter tone--"there is no
+need; else would it be wise to sail for Venice with the fleet of the
+Mocenigo! But, pardon me, fair Cousin; there is no need to bind _my_
+loyalty with Cyprian titles and Cyprian lands. Let the Sovereign of
+Cyprus seek _her own nobles_ for such favors."
+
+"Shall I stoop to _buy_ the people of my kingdom?" she asked, a little
+bitterly. "Is this thy honorable counsel?"
+
+He rose at once. "My Cousin," he said, "thou art not thyself--thine
+anger doth color thy speech. I crave thy promise to listen fairly to my
+honest thinking--which it is not over-easy to bring thee." He spoke
+compassionately.
+
+"Forgive me, Aluisi; I listen."
+
+"Out of thy generous heart, thou wouldst have covered me--who am a
+Venetian--with Cyprian honors. I thank thee. But I will translate thee
+to thyself. Was it 'to buy my loyalty?'"
+
+"Nay, nay--but of appreciation--to show thee grace. Thou knowest it,
+Aluisi!" Her repentance came swift and warm as that of a child.
+
+"I know it well," he answered heartily. "Show but this thy grace to thy
+Cyprian nobles and win them to thy court. They should come _first_ in
+favor of their Queen."
+
+"Have I been found lacking?" she asked, slowly; "and if--and if there
+seemeth little to reward?"
+
+"Reward that little openly, and there shall be more. Bethink thee: there
+hath been great honor shown the Mocenigo."
+
+"It was so ordered by the Republic," she began in a tone of
+self-justification; then stopped with a sudden perception of his point.
+
+"Was it for this, perchance, that the Cyprian nobles came less
+heartily?" he pursued. "Is there no honor that might yet be granted to
+that most noble knight, the Admiral Costanzo?"
+
+"Whatever favor he would have is already his:--he was the friend of
+Janus and my own," she answered in a tone of surprise that was almost
+indignant. And then, with a lingering on the words that was
+indescribably pathetic, she added:
+
+"Janus hath written of him, '_Nostro caro, fedel a ben amato Sieur Mutio
+di Costanzo_' (our dear, faithful and well-beloved seigneur) thou mayest
+read it in our '_Libro delle Rimembranze_.' Could I do aught to add
+thereto?"
+
+For answer he bowed his head, in tender reverence for her thought: for
+the loyalty with which she sought and treasured every token of nobility
+that had been chronicled of her husband--for the proud discretion with
+which she taught herself such utter silence on her wrongs--for the great
+love which, growing to a _culte_ through those years of girlish dreams
+and of fair anticipation, had made this attitude possible for her,--who
+was all truth.
+
+"His Excellency the Admiral is verily the champion of Cyprus," the
+Bernardini resumed after a little silence; "and methinks he would hold
+dear the royal order to re-man the galleys which have been disbanded--as
+it is now thought, by advice of the traitor Rizzo, or of some other
+Councillor _in favor of Ferdinand of Naples_. I would fain bring this
+matter for consideration before the Council, if it hath your Majesty's
+favor."
+
+"It is well," she said, in a tone of perplexity, "if it seemeth so to
+the Council of the Realm. But our counsellors of Venice who brought us
+aid, spoke not of this."
+
+She lifted her liquid dark eyes to his face, as she spoke--a girl of
+nineteen, bewildered with the intricate jealousies and strifes of her
+island kingdom--no wonder that she felt her hands weak to hold the
+sceptre so disputed!
+
+"It may be that _Venice_ hath not so closely at heart the interests of
+Cyprus as the Queen herself might hold them," he answered slowly and
+watching her as he spoke. "We must win the Cyprian nobles to our
+councils and consult their needs and bring them before the people as in
+the grace of your Majesty. _Let us not always think the thoughts of
+Venice._" She started and flushed slightly at his last words, but how
+could he help her else?--"We must do this to bind the hearts of the
+nobles to our Prince," he added, to give her courage.
+
+"Let us not always think the thoughts of Venice!" The meaning was new to
+her, and for a few moments she struggled with it silently; then she
+lifted her eyes to his face and searched it artlessly, as a child might
+have done, to see if she had fully comprehended his strange speech--most
+strange from her Venetian Councillor.
+
+But he met her gaze as frankly, having nothing to add to the simple
+statement wherewith he had sought to arouse this new consciousness
+within her, and which he wished her to ponder.
+
+"Thou art more Cyprian, my cousin, than any member of the Council hath
+ever shown himself," she said at length, "and it heartens me--for thou
+art right. But now--just now--what may be done?" She spoke eagerly, as
+if from a new standpoint.
+
+"There is Stefano Caduna, a man of the people--most worthy of your
+Majesty's grace. And there is Pietro Davilla, Seigneur and Knight, who
+hath proven his loyalty--how if he were to be named Grand Constable of
+Cyprus? Shall these be spoken of to the Council which will meet
+to-morrow, that some favor may be decreed them?"
+
+"It is well; it should be done, thou art strength to me, Aluisi."
+
+"Is there aught else that should be brought before the Council?" he
+asked.
+
+She hesitated a moment, and then added with visible timidity and
+reluctance, flushing a vivid scarlet:
+
+"There are other things that seem too petty--but since the death of the
+Auditor, our Uncle Andrea, thou hast perchance noted much scantiness of
+our treasury, though when it is a question of pageantry, the Council
+hath ever found enough and to spare. But the land is a rich land; yet
+there are no moneys in my hand wherewith to reward a favor or grant a
+dole of charity. If this be a symbol of power----"
+
+"I will replace the voice of Messer Andrea in the Council," he hastened
+to assure her. "And, meanwhile--we are of one house, my Cousin----"
+
+"Because thou art generous, shall the Council do less than its duty?"
+she asked proudly. "Or shall I be content to know that measures wise for
+the ruling of the realm may be frowned upon by those who hold the keys
+of my treasury--_yet render no account_? The knowledge of this added
+treachery hath come to me but recently; and this also was of Rizzo's
+malfeasance. Dost think that moneys shall be found for the manning of
+our fleet? Or that I have any voice in the spending of them?"
+
+"The Madonna be praised that Rizzo and that Minister of Satan are fled!"
+he exclaimed devoutly.
+
+"While Rizzo held office, I might ask _no_ question," she said, turning
+towards him a face of pathetic appeal; for she had never before dared to
+speak freely of her grievances even to him--in so comprehensive a manner
+had the Chief of Council known how to assert himself: "and now, that I
+would fain have knowledge, that I may rule my people wisely, so much
+there is to set in order, that my heart doth fail me. I have written to
+the Serenissimo to tell him my perplexities--to pray that he might make
+it lighter for me to rule."
+
+The Bernardini knew that she had cause for her failing courage, while
+yet he keenly felt that the remedy should not lie in an appeal to
+Venice, whose power was the unacknowledged core of bitterness in the
+growing disaffection among the Cyprian nobles. It might not yet be too
+late to save the kingdom for Cyprus; and what it lay within his power to
+do, Venetian though he was, he would do, rather than see this '_isola
+fortunata_' slip without a struggle, into a mere Venetian province. The
+knowledge had been painfully growing within him that Venice was playing
+her hand skilfully--that Caterina would find herself simply a pawn to be
+moved at will of the Republic, and that "check" would be called whenever
+that masterful will should elect: there had been signs, too many to
+ignore, of splendor of movement and expenditure whenever the prestige of
+the Republic might be concerned--of indifference when the grievances of
+the Queen were confessed, or the autonomy of the island was in
+question--of slowly increasing assertion of Venetian power and rights.
+
+He had accepted his mission, at the hands of his Government, to protect
+the rights of the Queen--not to enslave Cyprus; and his duty stood forth
+to him in firm, unwavering lines. Yet how should he dismay Caterina
+further in the attempt to force her fuller comprehension? He hesitated
+for a moment, but there seemed no other way. For very pity of her he
+spoke decidedly, with slow insistence holding her attention.
+
+"The Queen of Cyprus _holdeth her kingdom by no favor of Venice_; but of
+inheritance, through her husband, the King. The failures in the
+Government should be righted by Cyprian wisdom; we must fill the
+vacancies with Cypriotes. I will take counsel with His Excellency the
+Lord Admiral of Cyprus."
+
+
+
+
+XXVIII
+
+
+It was the birthday of the little Prince:--only one year since he had
+opened his baby-eyes on life--and the day of his anniversary dawned
+radiantly.
+
+Then, suddenly, athwart the sunshine and the promise, like the cloud in
+a perfect sky in a day of June, the shadows gathered and darkened.
+
+The child was stricken.
+
+"There is no hope," they said; and before the day had closed the little
+dimpled hands were folded over his marble breast, the long dark lashes
+peacefully swept the violet eyes that would never again unclose; and the
+tiny restless feet were still--oh, God, how still!--while, on the
+baby-brows that would never know the weight of the crown he was born to
+bear, the smile of a cherub crowned him with the promise of fairer Life.
+
+The nobles, the soldiers, the courtiers, the people, they came and
+looked, often with silent tears, as he lay in state, in the light of
+countless tapers, on his mound of flowers--offerings not only from royal
+terraces--for his mother had willed it so--but the gifts which his
+people had brought, lay there together, rare exotics and the flowers of
+the field and forest, crushed and mangled, perchance, in some toil-worn
+hand when they came from far.
+
+How little he seemed to have carried the hope of a kingdom!--how strong,
+to have swept it away with the mere folding of his baby-hand!--how
+mighty, to have crushed all dreams of happiness, forever, within his
+mother's breast!
+
+GOD HAVE MERCY!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+When the first days of the shock of the child's death had passed, and
+the Queen had roused herself to notice those who were anxiously watching
+her, she asked to be left alone with Dama Margherita: but of the child
+she would not speak.
+
+"Tell me," she said, "of the saintly Margherita of thine house, the
+Abbess of San Lazzaro; why left she the world?"
+
+"Dear Lady--beloved Lady"--Dama Margherita pleaded, and would have
+soothed her; but the Queen would have the story. She laid a hot,
+tremulous hand on that of her friend and urged her with dry, imploring
+eyes, as she listened to the tale of the founding of the Abbey of San
+Lazzaro, while for pity, the tears of Margherita were dropping fast.
+
+"We must turn her from this thought," said Dama Margherita earnestly to
+the Lady of the Bernardini, as she left the Queen's presence,
+sorrowfully. "She will not speak of the child; she hath wept no tears;
+and the fever of her grief, locked within herself, will drive her to
+madness. She hath asked that Father Johannes be sent for, without delay.
+Doubtless it is for this scheme. Doth it seem wise to your Excellency
+now--while she is in this state?"
+
+"Cara Margherita, should we be slow to obey the will of a suffering
+soul, for fear of what might chance? The reverend Father is wise for
+her: if any might bring her comfort, it is he."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Father Johannes Lampadisti had been often with the Queen in the past
+year, and had become her trusted counsellor, and almoner in many matters
+relating to the people, so that the guards and servants of the palace
+knew that when the wild prior of the convent from the mountain of the
+Troodos appeared in the palace court-yard asking audience of the Queen,
+he was never to be denied.
+
+"Most reverend Father," she said, stretching out her hand to greet him,
+yet with no hint of welcome in her wan face, "they have stripped me of
+every joy; I had thought the Holy Christus and the Blessed Mother of
+Sorrows had been more kind!"
+
+"Daughter!" he exclaimed, startled at her mood; "cry not out against the
+will of Heaven, lest thou sin because of thine unendurable anguish."
+
+The words had escaped him, involuntarily, but already he was chiding
+himself that he could bring her, at such a time, even the shadow of a
+reproach.
+
+But Caterina was beyond any perception of minor shades of feeling. She
+answered him in the same passionless tone in which she had greeted him,
+with no suggestion of self-pity, nor any claim for sympathy in her
+manner, as she motioned him to a seat near her.
+
+"Nay, Father," she said, "in this hath Heaven been merciful: I feel
+nothing; my heart is a stone. For this I thank the Holy Mother; she knew
+that I could not bear it, else."
+
+She made the statement simply, as if it implied nothing unusual, and
+waited for him to speak.
+
+But for once Father Johannes had no words; his eyes grew dim as he
+looked at the young, passive face of the Queen, "stripped of every joy,"
+alone on the threshold of life. "Daughter," he said, stumblingly, "I
+fain would comfort thee."
+
+"Nay, Father," she answered, still without emotion, "there is no
+comfort. Let us speak of other things."
+
+"Nay, _of this_," he said, with an awkward wave of his rough brown hand,
+as if he would have put everything else away: and then relapsed into
+silence, for in the presence of the grief which had mastered her, words
+seemed to have lost their meaning.
+
+She also waited--as a gray stone might wait by the wayside, unconscious
+of the lapse of time: for him the moments were quick with thought--for
+her it was as if they had not been, because life had ended.
+
+"There must be comfort for all sorrow that Heaven permitteth," he
+protested at last.
+
+She looked at him wondering.
+
+"But not for mine," she said in the same colorless tone. "Thou knowest
+naught of such sorrow, for thou livest apart from men. Thou canst not
+know the pain, when thou hast not known the joy."
+
+"Yet from sympathy one may know," he began feebly. But she took no
+notice of the interruption, and as he looked at her he realized that he
+had never known life in its poignancy--that he stood outside the depths
+of human suffering, though he had dwelt forever in its shadow, nor had
+his stern life measured the height of holy, human joy.
+
+"I left my people and my land," she said, "and came hither for a great
+love, and that--that"--there was the sound of a sob in her throat as she
+paused for a moment, then caught her breath and went on in the same even
+tone,--"and that was taken from me. And now--oh, God!--my child!"
+
+She strained her arms tightly to her breast and laid her cheek, with a
+great tenderness upon her thin, white hands, as if her little one were
+resting there and she sought the comfort of his caress.
+
+Father Johannes turned away his eyes: the low murmur of cooing tones of
+mother-ecstasy came to him as in a dream. Was the child's angel really
+there?--He did not know.
+
+"Now, oh holy _Mater Dolorosa_, _Mater Sanctissima_," he prayed within
+himself.--"I know what thou hast suffered; have mercy!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+There was no longer any sound in the room. She had dropped her arms at
+her side and had come nearer to him.
+
+"Thou canst not know the depth of human suffering, Father Johannes, for
+these things enter not into thy holy life--else couldst thou not pass
+thy days in prayer and passionless meditation."
+
+"Passionless!" he cried, and was silent, pressing his hand,
+unconsciously, against the thorny cross on his breast.
+
+"I have sent for thee again, Father, to ask a question which thou alone
+canst answer."
+
+She lifted her troubled eyes to his, deep with her question that seemed
+the more terrible because her quiet voice still showed no trace of
+emotion.
+
+"Thou, who knowest the ways of God----"
+
+(He groaned aloud.)
+
+"Hath He stricken me for any sin?"
+
+Then suddenly the passion of her question flamed in her white face--she
+searched his, as if life or death lay in his answer.
+
+From the hand upon his breast the blood trickled in slow drops, while he
+laid the other upon her head in benediction:
+
+"No--child--no," he gasped; "God help thee--no!"
+
+"If--if it were for sin of mine," she said slowly, and watching him as
+if she had not known whether she might trust his words--"might I not
+leave the world, and take the veil in the Convent of the Holy Cross?"
+
+"Thou?" he cried. "_Thou!_"
+
+"Am I not fit?" she asked. "Is it not for those who suffer and would
+leave the world?"
+
+He shook his head. "No; thou art beloved of the Holy Mother. The world
+is thy cross. It is there that thou shalt do thy penance. The Convent is
+not for thee."
+
+"Father, I have no tears to offer in penance."
+
+"God asketh not tears if He hath denied them," he answered--his own
+choking his speech, "but the gift of what He hath given thee--to stand
+where He hath placed thee and take up thy burden of life."
+
+"Father, I have no strength, nor will."
+
+"They will be sent thee," he answered her.
+
+"God is not angry with me?" she asked again with sudden passion. "Then
+why--_why_ did He take my child away--my little, little child?--and
+--_thus_?"
+
+He looked at her startled. Had the terrible rumor reached her which they
+were striving to keep from her, that the little, royal, innocent life
+had been the victim of some intrigue--that the sudden, fatal illness had
+not been sent by Heaven? The rumor had been sifted, and no clue had been
+found, while yet it might not be wholly dismissed. Yet was the fear of
+this horror added to the mother's anguish? Nothing but action would save
+her from madness.
+
+Then suddenly his weakness left him, because of her need; he felt that
+he must hold her in her place at all costs. He rose and looked down upon
+her, steadying her by the magnetic strength in his face,--his eyes wild
+with the intensity of his belief.
+
+"Whom He loveth, He chasteneth," he said. "It is granted thee to know
+the depth of the meaning of those holy words. The blessed Christus, with
+great drops of anguish falling from His sacred brows, cried out, 'Can
+any sorrow be like my sorrow?' God is not angry with thee, my daughter;
+but so He fashioneth a soul for His great work. Life is thy cross, my
+child. Lift it and clasp it--Heaven's peace shall be thine."
+
+"Why not the Convent, Father?" she asked, still irresolute. "I am so
+weary."
+
+Then his voice took on a note of authority--she shrank before it as the
+tones rang out like the cry of a prophet:
+
+"It is not for thee; for thy place is here.
+
+"If suffering is sent thee, thou must bear it here.
+
+"If loneliness hath come to thee, thou shalt meet it here.
+
+"If thou art desolate, the children of thy people are thine.
+
+"If thy dream of love is broken, the love of thy people is about thee.
+
+"If thy heart and hands are empty, the duties of thy realm shall fill
+them.
+
+"_Thou shalt keep thy vow!_
+
+"Thou shalt make none other; none other may be so holy for thee.
+
+"Thou hast tasted joy and found it bitter; in duty shalt thou find
+sweetness and strength.
+
+"And the Lord thy God, and the Madonna and the Holy Christus shall bless
+thee. Amen.
+
+"I have the revelation!"
+
+The crisp sentences crashed upon each other like a rushing torrent, hot
+with inspiration, challenging acceptance. She had risen to her feet and
+stood quivering before him, her eyes held to his by a strange
+fascination--the wild glow within his giving her sight of her dormant
+self and will.
+
+He raised his crucifix above her and she slowly fell on her knees; and
+so he left her.
+
+
+
+
+XXIX
+
+
+For days after the visit of Hagios Johannes, Caterina scarcely spoke, or
+noticed what was passing around her; and the Lady of the Bernardini and
+Dama Margherita, with hearts aching from the burden of their pity, were
+helpless before such desolation.
+
+But at last the young Queen turned to them with mournful eyes of
+comprehension, holding out her hands to clasp theirs in a convulsive
+pressure, rousing herself heroically from her absorption and nerving her
+dormant will to meet the unwelcome stress of life again.
+
+"The Holy Mother hath left you for me to love," she said in a tremulous
+voice. "Life is not all a blank."
+
+They could not answer her for tears; but her own eyes were dry.
+
+"I thought," she said, "if it might but have been the will of Christ
+that death should come to me--also"--she paused a moment to steady her
+voice, "it would have been sweet--I was so weary. And when it did not
+come to lift me out of the shadow, I longed to carry my broken heart
+into some holy Sisterhood and be at rest--I felt no strength to live. I
+thought it might have been the will of the Madre Sanctissima, for she
+hath suffered; and I know not how to live without my _figlio
+dilettissimo_."
+
+Then suddenly she clasped her hands crying out with the passion of
+prayer:
+
+"My God! I would have trained him for thee! He should have been a noble
+man and a Christian King. Why hast Thou stricken me!"
+
+She turned to them wide-eyed with her question but the Lady Beata, for
+answer, could only fold compassionate arms about her--soothing her
+silently; so young and so bereft.
+
+But Caterina struggled into quiet speech again, as in a
+confessional--sorely needing some comfort of human sympathy after her
+long, silent conflict.
+
+"I thought it might have been the will of the Blessed Mother that I
+should rest; but Hagios Johannes hath shown me that it might not be; I
+have taken my vows again to serve my people--to live for them; the padre
+hath promised me that strength shall come."
+
+Her lip quivered, but she bore herself bravely. "Thou wilt help me,
+Zia," she continued, in pathetic appeal, "and thou, my Margherita; for
+life is difficult. And Aluisi--he will think what must be done for the
+people until my strength returneth--for I have forgotten how to think."
+She pressed her hands tightly against her forehead as if to compel the
+resistant brain-power.
+
+Then suddenly she laid her hot, trembling hand on that of her
+compassionate, motherly friend, her voice rising into a wail--"Father
+Johannes hath said that I must give the people all the love I gave my
+baby--but not yet--I cannot do it yet!--Mother of Sorrows forgive
+me!--_he doth not know_."
+
+She fell back on her pillows exhausted by her emotion, while in a low,
+crooning voice the name she loved to utter broke from her longing lips
+again, like a threnody:
+
+"_Figlio dilettissimo!_"
+
+The Lady Beata's heart was wrung with pity.
+
+"Nay, nay, Carinissima," she said, stooping over the couch and speaking
+with tender decision, "Hagios Johannes could not know what mothers feel!
+This holy love for thy little one shall bide ever with thee and grow
+with thy life. It is thy breath of Heaven! It shall nerve thee to do the
+work of thy child--to live for the people he would have ruled. Him thou
+shalt love forever--it is the will of the Madre Beatissima:--but after
+thy child shall come his people."
+
+A change passed over the strained, worn face of the young Queen, like a
+faint breath of comfort.
+
+"Zia mia," she murmured, laying her thin white hand in the warm, restful
+clasp: and so passed into the first quiet sleep that she had known for
+days.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+While the unhappy Queen was bravely struggling to recover her poise,
+many things were happening; for the death of the infant King had been
+the signal for further manifestations of discontent from a party of
+Cyprian nobles whose dread of the "Lion of the velvet paw" increased as
+the need for some firm governing hand became more evident. They would
+have liked to anger Venice to the point of withdrawing all protection
+and leaving them to their own devices--yet they dared not attempt it
+openly, appreciating the futility of any armed resistance that
+unassisted Cypriotes might offer.
+
+For the Turk was watching from his near point of vantage; and if he had
+hitherto been content with sending his private ships to ravage and
+terrorize the towns along the coast, this might but be the prelude to
+more ambitious projects. Naples was still eagerly awaiting some
+favorable moment to lay hands upon the coveted island, and rumors of
+waning favor had been wafted from Alexandria, since Cyprus had allowed
+the tribute due to the Sultan to fall in arrears.
+
+Carlotta, upon hearing of the death of the little Janus III, had at once
+renewed her claim to the throne; some of the ancient nobles had declared
+for her, and it was felt, rather than known, that her partisans were
+secretly gathering strength. There was evidently some hostile influence
+at work in the innermost circle of the Court.
+
+And now, when Cyprus was at extremity, Venice alone--alert, powerful,
+resourceful--could be relied upon for aid: her protection of the island
+in the time of Rizzo's conspiracy, had given her the right to a voice in
+the government--or so she claimed, and there were none to gainsay it.
+Her _Provveditori_ were armed with the plenary power that was not
+invariably used to the advantage of Cyprus, yet the vigilant Signoria
+were ever ready with fresh instructions--if the paw were of velvet, it
+was no longer sheathed!
+
+Letters of condolence were duly sent from the Serenissimo; so, also,
+came without delay the declaration that the Queen had inherited the full
+rights vested in her son, and should reign alone; with the further
+announcement, so simply stated that it might well seem beyond
+refutation--_that Venice was heir to her beloved daughter, Caterina
+Veneta_.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+No wonder that the Cypriotes gnashed their teeth in their powerlessness
+to dispute this insolent assertion, while their indignation effervesced
+in petty intrigues!
+
+But Dama Ecciva's spirits had revived.
+
+"It is more like the olden days," she said, well content; "for if there
+is no splendor of court-life such as our good Janus loved, at least
+there is matter for gossip to brighten the mortal dulness of a court in
+mourning! The Ambassador hath returned from the Court of Alexandria, and
+hath made relation of his mission and declared the favor of the Sultan,
+which, to the surprise of some"--she paused and glanced about her to
+make sure that all were listening--"hath been granted to Her Majesty the
+Queen Caterina--and _not_ to Queen Carlotta."
+
+"There is no Queen Carlotta!" a chorus of indignant young voices
+answered her. "If the Lady of the Bernardini were here----"
+
+"Aye--but she is not." Ecciva returned placidly: "The Madonna be praised
+for a moment's liberty to utter one's thought! She and the Dama
+Margherita who knoweth more surely to tie one's honest speech than even
+the great Lady of the Bernardini, are gone to the Sala Regia to
+represent Her Majesty and receive the splendid gifts which His
+Excellency the Ambassador hath brought from Alexandria. And this am I
+sent to tell you, by the Lady of the Bernardini--who is a gracious
+tyrant and would save a bit of pleasure for our childish souls out of
+the dulness of the days. And when we hear the champing of horses in the
+great court of the palace--but there is already a tumult below--fly
+then!"
+
+She had dashed out under the arcades and was leaning between the
+columns, making her quick eager comments to the bevy of maidens who had
+followed her, as the little train of slaves bearing the royal gifts
+passed through the court-yard of the palace.
+
+"A regal mantle of cloth of gold, with its gleam of jewels for her lorn
+Majesty--who will never again wear aught but trappings of woe, if she
+might have her will--it is a waste of treasure!"
+
+"For shame, Ecciva!"
+
+"Nay; for we are only _we_--not the Dama Margherita; nor the Lady of the
+Bernardini.--Will the mourning bring back the child?--One may weep one's
+life away in vain."
+
+"Thou hast no heart, Ecciva: how should we not grieve with her!"
+
+"So it pleaseth one to grieve, I am well content. But the way of weeping
+is strange to me. Methinks it would be kinder to cheer her soul with
+some revelry--or a race on that splendid Arab steed, stepping so
+daintily, with its great dark eyes and quivering nostrils, where the red
+color comes! The Sultan himself hath chosen this beauty for Her
+Majesty--she who perchance will never mount him, scorning to do aught
+that would make the blood flow warmer through the veins;--going daily to
+San Nicolo with her taper and knowing naught of pleasure in life;
+unless it verily pleaseth her to grieve! What availeth it to her that
+she is Queen!"
+
+"What availeth it to her to win the love of the people as none hath ever
+done before!" Eloisa cried hotly, moved from her timidity by her
+indignation. "That wilt thou never know, Ecciva, who dost so belie thy
+heart with thy unkind speech. But verily"--she pursued, relenting--"thou
+art far gentler than thy speech--not untrue, as thou wouldst have us
+believe!"
+
+"What is '_untrue_'?" Dama Ecciva asked, undisturbed. "How may one know?
+Shall one ask Carlotta?--Or Queen Caterina? Or--if he might but answer
+us now--the charming Janus?--My brain is too little to unravel the
+mystery."
+
+
+
+
+XXX
+
+
+Naples also found the moment propitious for re-asserting her baseless
+claims to this much-disputed crown; since the death of the infant King
+had left the Queen without a successor in her own line, and might
+dispose her to look with favor on the proffer of the hand of Don Alfonso
+of Naples who would graciously consent to accept the position of
+King-consort--instead of that of "Prince of Galilee," which had not
+proved to be the imposing, permanent honor his partisans had fondly
+hoped.
+
+Meanwhile, with the persistence worthy of a better cause, his supporters
+had ingeniously thrust him forward--a compliant puppet--from one scheme
+into another--all tending toward this same noble end. Immediately after
+the failure of Rizzo's conspiracy, he had been betrothed to the
+illegitimate daughter of King Janus--one of the three children mentioned
+in his will--who with her two brothers, had been sent to Venice to avert
+possible disastrous consequences; a small following in Cyprus upheld
+this match--so eager were they that some descendant of their charmer
+King Janus, should keep the crown of their realm, that they granted the
+Neapolitan Prince Alfonso the shadowy title of "Prince of Galilee."
+
+But after the death of his young betrothed, Alfonso had followed
+Carlotta to Alexandria, where Rizzo now held the honorable post of
+Ambassador to the Sultan from the Court of Naples; and here, while
+Venice was still playing her game, sub-rosa without the overt confession
+of power that came later--Rizzo, the arch-schemer, first sought to bring
+about the adoption of the prince of Naples by Carlotta--as
+heir-presumptive to her rights; and later, as her following among the
+Cyprian nobility increased, proposed Alfonso for _husband_ to Carlotta.
+
+But now, since the strength of Venice could be no longer doubted, Rizzo,
+holding ever in view the ascendancy of his chief and with an astounding
+faith in his own magnificent insolence, rose to the occasion, and sailed
+on a secret embassy for Cyprus to propose the hand of Alfonso to Queen
+Caterina herself!
+
+The details of this romantic intrigue were not known until long
+afterward in the court-circle, except by the few who had intercepted and
+frustrated the carefully-laid plans; but there were many hints of some
+concealed happening of deep interest which made delightful themes for
+romantic conjecture whenever the younger maids of honor found themselves
+happily without the dignified supervision of the Lady of the Bernardini
+and Madama di Thenouris, or the equally-to-be-evaded younger
+maid-of-honor, Margherita de Iblin.
+
+"Something has happened, and no one tells us anything," one of them
+declared discontentedly when curiosity had reached an unbearable pitch,
+and the rumors of which they had caught echoes were growing in interest.
+"There was a fire high upon the hills one morning; some say it was a
+beacon fire."
+
+"There are always rumors that mean nothing," said Eloisa quietly.
+
+Dama Margherita had been kept in close attendance upon the Queen, who
+had been often in counsel with the Counts of the Chamber of late, and
+Eloisa had an uneasy sense that it devolved upon her to uphold the
+quietness of discussion for which Dama Margherita always strove.
+
+"Nay, Eloisa--that strange craft, hiding back of the great rock on the
+coast--without lights or colors--why was it anchored there, in sight of
+the signal-fire, instead of in the port where it had been safer?"
+
+"Thou wilt have it a beacon-fire," Eloisa interposed again; "it is in
+truth more romantic than a blaze some wanderer may have lighted to do
+duty for his camp."
+
+But no one answered her, they were all humming about Dama Ecciva,
+interrupting each other with excited questions; for Dama Ecciva had
+been, if possible, more mysterious and tantalizing than ever since these
+rumors had been afloat--which was a sign that she could tell something
+if she would. "So, my pretty friends!" she answered with a silvery
+laugh, "for once it entereth your thought that there be matters about
+which we--the Maids of honor of Her Majesty--are not worthy to hear!"
+
+"I make exception of the Dama Margherita, to whom Her Majesty is
+honey-sweet!" she added, as her glance rested on Eloisa; and growing hot
+as she dwelt upon the thought, she went on--"she hath a manner quite
+insufferable--she, who hath not more right than I to rule this court. If
+one were to put the question to our knights--'an Iblin or a de
+Montferrat?' would it make a pretty tourney for a Cyprian holiday?"
+
+She laughed a mocking, malicious laugh; then suddenly stretched out one
+slender hand and made a descriptive motion as of tossing her glove into
+the centre of a distant circle--her eyelids narrowing until they seemed
+almost to close--a strange light escaping from them--her breath coming
+with slow pants, as if from suffocation--the hand dropped at her side
+betraying her passion by convulsive movements trembling through the
+tinted finger-tips.
+
+In the bizarre Cyprian costume which many of the ancient Greek
+patricians still retained, she seemed of a different mold from the young
+Venetian gentlewomen of the court of Caterina--like some fantastic fury,
+half-elf, half-woman.
+
+"_The Melusina!_" Eloisa whispered, shuddering: "thou mindest me of her.
+I like thee not in this strange mood!" while the others drew away from
+her with a faint cry of protest.
+
+But Ecciva's momentary mood of passion passed as quickly as it came; and
+she answered her companions with a tantalizing, sparkling smile,
+rallying them on their seriousness, and flashing whimsicalities around
+the circle like some splendid, inconsequent fire-fly.
+
+Her dark hair, woven with coins and trinkets, fell in innumerable long
+slender braids behind, from under a coronet of jessamine blossoms strung
+together upon strips of palm, which clasped the clustering waves of hair
+closer about her face--pure and colorless as old ivory. Her robe, of
+green brocade, richly embroidered with gold, fell over full pantaloons
+of scarlet satin which were tightly bound about the slender ankles by
+jewelled bands, displaying to advantage the tiny feet, clad in boots of
+soft, yellow kid, fantastically wrought with gold threads; the robe
+parted over a bodice of yellow, open at the throat, around which chains
+of gold and jewels were wound in undue profusion.
+
+"It is thou, perchance, Ecciva, who knowest not how to win the favor of
+Dama Margherita," ventured one maiden, bolder than the rest; "for with
+us hath she ever been most gracious. And for Her Majesty, the Queen----"
+
+But a sudden impulse had come to Ecciva to cover herself with glory by
+making her companions sharers in the news of which she had gotten
+knowledge by a fashion peculiarly her own.
+
+"Nay: leave the Queen to the Dama Margherita for this one blissful
+morning," she interrupted without ceremony: "for I have news--verily;
+and they may return ere it be told. Which of you knoweth aught of the
+Holy Sister Violante--she of the down-held lids and silent ways--who
+slipped into the court the night of that _great signal fire_ upon the
+mountain, behind the citadel?"
+
+She scanned the eager faces triumphantly, but no one had anything to
+tell.
+
+"For verily the Sister Violante maketh part of this strange mystery,"
+she proceeded after a moment of impressive silence. "She and the great
+signal fire--of which no one knew aught!--so innocent were all the
+gentlemen of the court--and the Bernardini most of all! But they are
+parts of one romance; and the Violante came to influence Her Majesty;
+the Violante, with her devout ways, wearing the habit of a holy
+sisterhood to which her gracious Majesty is wont to give undue
+reverence--being not apt to penetrate an intrigue--too fair a saint, by
+far!--The Sister Violante came to win Her Majesty to acquiesce in some
+strange bidding from Rhodes; or perchance from the Sultan himself."
+
+"How knowest thou, Ecciva?" They crowded around her thrilling with
+pleasant excitement--the craving for which was unduly whetted by the
+splendor and aimlessness of the life of this Eastern court--for a
+romance with such a beginning might have an indefinitely delightful
+termination; and Dama Ecciva had some strange knack of always knowing
+more than others of any savory morsel of gossip of which there might be
+hints in the air.
+
+She looked at them nonchalantly, well-pleased at any sort of dominance,
+but never confessing it by her attitude.
+
+"Have I not eyes?" she questioned, with tantalizing slowness; "and
+ears?--Are they to grow dull for lack of usage?"
+
+"Nay; tell us, Ecciva."
+
+She drew nearer and lowered her voice mysteriously. "That Tristan de
+Giblet--he who would have killed the King the night that he climbed the
+city-walls and fled to Rhodes--we know the tale----"
+
+"Aye, aye; we know it. And then?"--they pleaded impatiently.
+
+But Dama Ecciva was not to be swerved from the irritating composure
+which pleased her mood for the moment:
+
+"And one of us--hath any one seen Alicia de Giblet? She hath not been
+among us since that night of the _signal fire_."
+
+"She hath been ill, in the Chateau de Giblet this month past," several
+voices responded at once.
+
+"Perchance, sweet maids;--or in some other less splendid castle where
+dungeons are of more account than the fine banquet hall of the de
+Giblet! And because Alicia is sister to this Messer Tristan--I have done
+much thinking of late--it is time for the Bernardini to return. Let us
+give over talk."
+
+"Alicia de Giblet was sister to that traitor!" one of them exclaimed
+indignantly; "and we never dreamed it! But she was _gentilissima_;
+_poverina_! Ah, the pity of it!"
+
+"But how came she ill, 'because of it,' as thou sayest, Ecciva?" Eloisa
+questioned, wishing ever to have a reason for her beliefs; "it was long
+since!"
+
+"The night of the King's flight was long since--verily--before his
+coronation. Carlotta was Queen, then;--there have been wars and death
+and woe enough since then! But this night of the signal fire is but a
+month agone--and _that night came Tristan de Giblet to talk with his
+sister_, who let him into the Palazzo Reale. The daring of the man! We
+are not cowards--we Cyprians!"
+
+"Ecciva!--how canst thou verily be sure!"
+
+She touched her eyes again, mysteriously.
+
+"I knew him," she said, "when he was talking with his sister, and I
+heard her promise him to bring him into the private audience chamber of
+the Queen."
+
+"And thou, also, wert there?"
+
+"Am I the Margherita to be shown such favor? Nay, but I have an
+audience-chamber of my own from the window of my turret when there is no
+light within: and all that day I knew by the face of Alicia that there
+was some intrigue--which I was not one to miss through heedlessness!
+Alicia was watching for him that night; and I knew his face when I saw
+them together on the terrace. And with them was another man--wrapped in
+a cloak--the feather of his hat drooping low over his face.--And his
+face--I never turned my eyes away from him and I saw it for a moment
+when the wind swept his feather aside--his face was the face
+of--_Rizzo!_" she whispered the name.
+
+"Nay, nay, Ecciva--not he! It could not be _he_!"
+
+"Nay, my trusting children; believe your betters, if you will! As for
+me--I trust these eyes, rather than the uncertain speech of those who
+teach us what we _may_ believe. These eyes are good eyes! They have not
+failed me yet!"
+
+She laughed lightly, satisfied with the impression her tale had made, as
+she turned away indifferently; but they were eager for the rest.
+
+"There is more, Ecciva!--that which cometh after?--_subito_--for the
+Lady of the Bernardini might return!" They were all clamoring about her.
+"And Alicia verily brought him to the Queen's audience-chamber?"
+
+"Nay--bide my time, chatterers, if you would hear the tale--for it hath
+a sequel--we do not often get one good enough to be spoiled by a too
+hasty telling.--Rizzo, for it was verily he--can any one forget
+Rizzo!--he turned from them and began to climb the mountain, there,
+where the signal fire glowed later. And Tristan, the handsome knight,
+came into the palace with his sister; and after them come following the
+holy sister Violante--she who came hither from Rhodes some days before."
+
+"Go on!" they cried eagerly, crowding closer. She waved them away from
+her.
+
+"There is no more," she answered provokingly--"save that which we all
+know; _the signal-fire_, and the _galley floating below by the coast,
+half hidden by the great rock_--for that also I saw from my
+turret--thanks be to the Madonna for lifting the mortal dulness! And I
+left sleep for better things that night; for it was well-nigh the hour
+of matins when the galley set sail for Venice."
+
+"But the audience with the Queen?"
+
+"There was no audience. For I bethought me of somewhat I had _forgotten_
+in the ante-chamber--not to miss the knowledge of what was passing--and
+I sped me thither. And then there was naught left to do but to hide me,
+somewhat weak of heart, in the tapestry of the ante-chamber; for the
+door was wide into the Queen's salon, and there was His Excellency the
+Bernardini, flashing scorn in his speech, so that one thought the air
+would break into flames--he, the while, standing still enough for an
+image of a wrathful Kinyras; the Queen's guard was around him, all in
+full armor--a doughty corps of men to meet those three!--Alicia, white
+as a spirit, weeping against Tristan; and Violante, shaken out of her
+holy calm, kneeling to pray His Excellency's grace!"
+
+"And then----?"
+
+"And then they left the Queen's chamber and I dared not creep forth
+until all was quiet again. But I heard His Excellency's speech as he
+stood bowing in the doorway when the guards led Tristan forth--a model
+of courtesy one would have said--for I could see him through a parting
+in the arras though I risked my life in standing there--'Her Majesty'
+said the Bernardini--very fair of speech--'doth surely owe such escort
+to the Illustrissimo, the Seigneur de Giblet, for the attention he would
+fain have offered in his own person to King Janus, in his Episcopal
+Palace before he wore the crown of the realm.' And the Seigneur de
+Giblet, not to be outdone--being Cyprian--answers him--very proud and
+cold--'Is your Excellency ever so faithful to reward a service
+_contemplated, but not achieved_?' For he had meant to smother the King
+in his sleep that night, if Janus had not escaped to Egypt."
+
+They were all silent until Ecciva, less overcome by these tragic
+memories, resumed her story.
+
+"And after that, Tristan came no more; nor his sister, the fair Alicia;
+nor Rizzo, the dark-browed. Nor was it many days ere Violante, the most
+holy sister, had left the court.--Ask the Provveditori!"
+
+"But what message did they bring Her Majesty?"
+
+"Am I a noble of _Venice_ that I should know this mystery which toucheth
+our realm of Cyprus?" she answered scornfully. "Ask the Bernardini, or
+the Dama Margherita--to whom he confesseth all his soul!"
+
+"But Rizzo?" Eloisa asked, bewildered.
+
+"And Rizzo--when he had lighted the signal fire on the
+mountain--thinking perchance, there had been time for the meeting with
+the Queen which Alicia had promised Tristan--and the galley had come to
+shore beneath and waited for him,--went on board, nothing doubting,
+thinking to return to Rhodes--who knoweth?--To Carlotta perchance;--but
+he found the galley _manned with mariners from the arsenal of Venice_;
+and Tristan coming to set sail for Venice, with the Queen's guard, all
+in full armor, to speed him on his way: _and a Venetian General in
+command, in lieu of the African Captain of the galley who brought him
+hither_. For one may seek in vain to outwit a Venetian; one must admire
+them for that, though it work us woe!"
+
+"It is thine own tale, verily, Ecciva; thou speakest to mock us!"
+
+"Nay--faith of Sant'Elena, it is true and sad enough--if there were not
+sadder to come. For Tristan, the gallant, handsome knight, being in
+chains, and fearing worse awaited him when he should reach Venice,
+wrenched the diamond from a ring he wore and kneaded it into the bread
+they served him for his breakfast, and swallowed it--and so there was an
+end."
+
+They still looked at her incredulously--"How shouldst thou know this
+tale of horror more than others--if it were true?"
+
+She shrugged her shoulders indifferently. "If one maketh wise use of
+opportunity, one need not always wait the telling. But to-morrow the
+court will be ringing with the tale; it cometh but now from Venice."
+
+"But Rizzo?"
+
+"He is there in Venice in the _pozzi_; and the end will not be easy like
+that of Tristan. For he is the greatest traitor of them all--verily a
+traitor almost sublime. It were not so difficult to admire the nerve of
+the man!--Rizzo----"
+
+But her further speech was lost in the babel of expostulation and
+question that broke forth, and which would have lasted long but for the
+return of Madama di Thenouris and Dama Margherita.
+
+
+
+
+XXXI
+
+
+The court had been recently thrown into consternation by the discovery
+of a plot to seize the various citadels of the island and hold them for
+Carlotta. It was evidently well supported and far advanced, as disclosed
+by the intercepted letters addressed to some unknown person, which had
+been laid before the Council; all who were mentioned as partisans or
+confidants in this intrigue were designated under assumed names, but the
+knowledge which these papers gave the Council was of immense value,
+enabling them to provide that all the garrisons of Cyprus should be
+commanded by men of known loyalty to the Queen. Meanwhile vigorous
+efforts were being made to discover the identity of the person addressed
+as
+
+     "_L'Illustrissima,
+     Madama di Niuna._"
+
+But no light had been thrown upon the matter, although it had been
+openly discussed in the court-circle.
+
+Dama Margherita had noticed with uneasiness that Ecciva de Montferrat,
+who was usually on the alert for any excitement, had seemed singularly
+apathetic when this subject had been broached, and she felt that the
+trust reposed in her by the Admiral required her to mention her
+suspicions to Madama di Thenouris, although she shrank from this duty
+the more because she knew that Dama Ecciva was supposed to be exerting
+some secret influence against herself.
+
+"Dear Madama di Thenouris," she said appealingly, "it seems so much the
+more ungracious on my part. Yet it is treachery to our Queen. And if it
+should be that Dama Ecciva hath been receiving these letters and holding
+such part in these intrigues--to leave her where she hath free access to
+the court-circle.--But it cannot be true; she is too young to be so
+faithless! And if she need not know that I have hinted of my fears? It
+would seem like some petty revenge--yet I cannot be false to my trust!"
+
+"Thank heaven thou canst not, Margherita, since others find it easy! Yet
+we must watch for our own assurance, and may thy fears prove naught!
+Comfort thy soul, for _some_ one is guilty, and the finding of the
+culprit will clear all others of suspicion."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"It is most strange about these letters," Madama di Thenouris said
+later, as the young maids of honor sat around her with their embroidery
+frames. "Tell me, Ecciva----"
+
+There was a sudden convulsive movement of the girl's arm and she gave an
+exclamation of annoyance as the golden thread snapped in her needle; but
+she did not look up.
+
+Madama di Thenouris, closely watching, saw that her fingers trembled so
+that she could scarcely hold her needle.
+
+"Tell me," she pursued in her leisurely fashion, after a slight pause,
+while Ecciva's needle still remained unthreaded, "what method shall we
+take to discover the identity of this unknown 'illustrissima'--this
+_Madama di Niuna_?"
+
+The girl's alarm grew evidently less; but it was a moment more before
+she answered:
+
+"Why doth your Excellency thus honor me, in calling me in counsel? There
+are others whose opinion would carry more weight."
+
+"Nevertheless, since I have asked thee, give me thy thought."
+
+"_Madama di Niuna_," the young maid of honor exclaimed petulantly,
+forgetting her deference, "there is no Madama di Niuna!--How should I
+know?" The silk was hopelessly knotted and twisted about the tiny pearl
+she had just threaded, requiring close attention; Madama di Thenouris
+also seemed to watch her work with interest.
+
+"Thou art right, my child, thou art over-young to have any knowledge of
+so despicable an intrigue. But the matter is naturally of deep concern
+for us all," she added, as Ecciva, having recovered her perfect
+self-control lifted her eyes to Madama di Thenouris with a smile that
+was intended to thank her for her trust, while assuring her that there
+was no possible ground for supposing that she had any knowledge of this
+intrigue.
+
+But the gray-haired court-lady met her gaze searchingly and with no
+answering smile--she who could be so gracious.
+
+"The Council will follow a clue upon which they have just chanced, and
+which may lead to the discovery. If Madama di Niuna would come forward
+to confess," she pursued with quiet emphasis, "it might lessen the
+penalty for participation in this intrigue--which some among the Council
+tell us can be nothing less than death."
+
+There was a murmur of abhorrence from the young voices about her, but
+Dama Ecciva was quite silent, although there had been a motion of her
+blanched lips as if to speak, and Madama di Thenouris still held her
+fascinated gaze. Her eyes had suddenly dilated with a look of terror,
+yet almost instantly reassumed their long oval shape--the lids closing
+to more than their narrow wont: her embroidery had slipped to the floor,
+as she rose, and she was treading it under her feet--bruising and
+grinding it passionately, as if it were some safe, unnoticed outlet to
+the fear and anger that might smother her. She had flung out her hands
+desperately, the dainty tapering fingers working with strenuous, nervous
+motions--but now they were tightly clenched in the rose-leaf palms, and
+she stood bracing herself, like a statue of defiance. There was an added
+pallor on the beautiful ivory face--so still she was she scarcely seemed
+to breathe--yet all at tension--like some wild thing of the tropical
+forest, suddenly brought to bay, summoning all her strength for the leap
+that was to free her.
+
+But she might rage in vain against the invisible meshes that held her,
+although it was but for a brief moment that Madama di Thenouris had
+searched her soul in silent confession.
+
+
+
+
+XXXII
+
+
+The times were perilous, and it behooved those whose duty it was to keep
+the wheels of the machine sufficiently lubricated to run without
+over-much creaking, to see that not only were all possible precautions
+taken to secure the Queen's safety, but that everything that might
+promote the loyalty of the uncertain Cyprian nobility should be
+encouraged.
+
+Some of the older Greek families lived like petty rulers within their
+own estates, holding absolute sway over their vassals and enforcing
+their allegiance at least to the point of not daring to act in
+opposition to whatever political views their lords might choose to
+adopt. Yet the fact that an old patrician was not in sympathy with the
+Crown was by no means an assurance of loyalty to Carlotta; it might
+simply mean that he was waiting to select one from among the many
+banners that were eager to float over his happy island of Cyprus--or
+that a more fervent hope possessed him of gathering to his own standard
+the various malcontents and of wearing, with true Cyprian magnificence,
+the royal honors that he craved;--as why should he not? since more than
+one of those ancient Cyprian families claimed kinship by marriage with
+the royal house of Lusignan.
+
+Thus it had been decreed by the powers behind the throne that the seat
+of government should be removed to Nikosia,--the most loyal of all the
+cities of the realm, whose jealousy at her loss of prestige in being
+supplanted in this dignity by the less important city of Famagosta
+should be wisely taken into account; and great preparations were being
+made for the royal progress about to take place, by which it was hoped
+to stimulate an increased pride in the Government among the populace and
+the citizens.
+
+Great hopes were also entertained by the Admiral Mutio di Costanzo, the
+Bernardini, Dama Margherita and Madama di Thenouris that the _High
+Court_--an institution distinctively Cyprian, which had not been held
+since the death of Janus, but of which a session had now been proclaimed
+throughout the island--would assemble a throng of nobles with their
+vassals and would prove a strong appeal to their loyalty.
+
+The old Cyprian gentlewoman, Madama di Thenouris, under advice of the
+Admiral and the Council, had held long frank talks with the Lady of the
+Bernardini.
+
+"We love our gentle Queen," she said with feeling; "and we do our
+possible to uphold her. But she also--she must show herself among the
+nobles--she must claim their loyalty. Hath she the strength to rise
+above her grief and try to rule? There hath been enough of mourning for
+the temper of this people; we must have action. We are like
+children--half-barbaric--more easily swayed by trifles that please
+us--not of such sober poise as the people of Venice; but the good Lord
+hath made us thus."
+
+But Caterina was ready to do her part. "Whatever the customs of the
+country doth require," she answered without hesitation, "I shall have
+the strength, since it is for my people. Only, cara Madama di Thenouris,
+thou and the Zia will provide what is best--I cannot think about these
+things--they seem like trifles; till I grow stronger," she added
+timidly, in a tone of appeal.
+
+"Nay, beloved Lady; they are but trifles; we will spare you thought of
+them, that the real matters may help the sooner to win your interest.
+But it will not be displeasing to your Majesty to see your maidens about
+you in robes of white--to hold a fairer memory of the infant King, in
+his innocence and charm, than these robes of woe?" She touched the heavy
+mourning folds of the Queen's garments, as she spoke.
+
+Caterina started in surprise; but she answered in a moment, with a
+little effort, "Aye--it will be sweeter--mine also, cara Madama; since
+never can the grief be less. The Holy Mother, and my _figlio
+dilettissimo_--it is enough that they know. And it is for his people!"
+
+Yet in the loneliness of the night, after she had made her last prayer
+at the tomb of Janus, and lighted the last taper with her own hands for
+him in the Duomo San Nicolo, and wept her last tears before the altar
+where, but a few short months ago her little son had been baptized and
+crowned--kneeling on the slab that bore her baby's name--the sense of
+desolation overpowered her.
+
+"Even this little comfort I must lose," she cried; "Madonna mia--Janus
+and my boy seemed nearer here! They leave me nothing--nothing!"
+
+But later in her own chamber, alone in the solemn stillness, deep in
+her heart an appeal that could not be uttered because of its intensity,
+her strained gaze fastened on the brilliant, star-lit skies as if she
+would pierce the mysteries of life and death and surprise some effluence
+of spirit-love--some smile of tenderness from the angel of her little
+child--a strange calm came to her--a dim perception of eternal
+values--of the nothingness of time and place--of the everlastingness of
+any love that has been true.--Then slowly she sank upon her knees, still
+looking upward, and the anguish lessened and peace and strength
+descended upon her soul--a gift from the holiness of the night.
+
+It was in such vigils, since her great sorrows had come to her, that the
+desolate girl-queen had learned her life-lessons--and she was no longer
+afraid of their solemnity, coming thus into closer friendship with her
+own soul and a more implicit faith.
+
+"Dear Father in Heaven!" she cried. "Thou knowest it is because I love
+them that I leave them, to do their life-work! and Thou wilt grant me
+wisdom! If but I knew--if but I knew my people's need!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+At that most perfect hour of early evening when the sun was sinking
+rapidly behind the mountains in a flood of gold and crimson glory, and
+the air was filled with a delicious wandering breeze, soft and
+refreshing after the heat of the day and laden with the perfumes of a
+thousand flowers, the Queen set forth upon her journey.
+
+She was accompanied by her full court of knights and maidens, a guard of
+infantry and escort of cavalry, with many mounted nobles besides, to do
+her honor,--a sumptuous cavalcade of at least two hundred horse; with
+such state had the Council of the Realm thought fit to decree the royal
+progress. With them came forth the dignitaries of Famagosta and other
+nobles, as was the custom of those days in bidding a ceremonious
+farewell--to journey with the royal train a league beyond the city which
+the Queen was leaving to take up her residence in Nikosia.
+
+And thus the cavalcade proceeded on its way, pausing anon, for the
+greetings of the villagers who came forth to meet them and offer
+homage--Caterina slow-pacing on her snow-white palfrey--six knights from
+among the noblest in the land in constant attendance at her bridle,
+giving place continually to the new group pressing forward to claim
+their part of this so honorable service.
+
+They had journeyed thus for an evening and a long day, with but the
+needful pauses for rest and refreshment, when they saw before them in
+the distance, embowered in delicious gardens of palms and cypresses and
+rich masses of bloom, the domes and minarets of the city of
+Nikosia--slender and white and lace-like against the deep blue sky--and
+climbing the hillside, high above the city, the turrets and crenellated
+walls of its far-famed citadel.
+
+The chances of travel had often brought the Signor Bernardini and Dama
+Margherita together, and there had been much friendly talk between them
+of things which both held dear and in which their hopes for the quieting
+of the kingdom had a large share. She was flushed and eager beyond her
+wont, when they first came in sight of the distant city of Nikosia, and
+he laid his hand upon her bridle and lowered his voice. "Let us not
+hasten," he said entreatingly; "the journey hath been so beautiful; and
+our bourne is all too near."
+
+"Nay--not too near--for Her Majesty may well be weary."
+
+"The Dama Margherita hath ever a thought for others," he answered her.
+"_And for me?_--will she not grant me to reach the bourne I covet?"
+
+"How may I help to that of which I know nothing?" she asked
+inadvertently, her thoughts being full of the problems they had
+discussed touching the Queen: then suddenly lifting her eyes and meeting
+his, she turned her head away in confusion.
+
+"Then I will make confession----" he began eagerly.
+
+"Nay; I am no priest," she answered, touching her horse with her whip.
+
+He followed, disconcerted; but she, repenting, soon quieted her pace and
+turned her face to him again, serene as of wont.
+
+"I would fain tell thee my secret, Margherita," he pleaded.
+
+She lacked the courage to reprove him while he lingered on her name with
+an accent that turned it to music.
+
+"Nay--if it be a secret, tell it not: for women have tongues."
+
+"Have they also hearts?" he asked.
+
+"Not those who yield them," she said; "but only those who hold them
+fast."
+
+"_Is_ my secret a secret, Margherita?"
+
+"Your Excellency--a member of the Council of the Realm hath so reported
+it," she answered, laughing frankly. "Who am I, that I should question
+his judgment?"
+
+"Thou art thyself," he said half banteringly--half seriously, and
+watching to see how she would take it. "To none other would I so defer."
+
+"Not to the Queen?" she asked, still playfully.
+
+But he was serious at once. "Aye--ever to the Queen, in duty bound--by
+kinsman's ties--by knighthood's vows--by my honor, by her sorrows, and
+by my will--yet this hindereth not that there should be one----"
+
+"Methinks my stirrup is caught fast in the housing!" she interrupted
+with an exclamation of dismay: and there was naught to do for the
+Bernardini but to dismount and readjust it,--she--talking brightly the
+while, of many things for which at that moment he cared naught; and
+less, because it was she who spoke.
+
+But when they were riding side by side again, and the city was coming
+nearer, he would not be put off for any whim of hers.
+
+"If thou hast discovered my secret--which I would fain know--most
+worshipful Dama Margherita,--I would that thou shouldst proclaim it
+wherever thy tongue listeth. '_Quel che Iblin e, non si puo trovar!_'"
+
+He knew that the old Cyprian proverb, "Such another as Iblin is, may not
+be found," was the pride of her house, and would reach the tenderest
+spot in her loyal heart.
+
+She turned to him gravely: "Dear Signor Bernardini, let it not be
+spoken between us," she said. "For the Queen hath sore need of us--of
+our every thought and care."
+
+"Might we not serve her better so?" he pleaded.
+
+But she shook her head. "Thou who hast been all faith and service,
+counting thy life naught--thou knowest. She in her trouble should see
+that we think but of her."
+
+"Is this thy answer--most worshipful Margherita?"
+
+Again she turned her eyes to his--serene and deep--no hint of trouble in
+them.
+
+"There hath been no question," she said; "there can be no answer, where
+there hath been no question."
+
+And although he would fain have spoken further, he could not: for that
+brief moment in which her eyes held his--half-commanding--wholly
+trusting--was like the sealing of a vow to do her bidding.
+
+Then as she turned away, the echo of a name floated towards
+him--"Aluisi!" so spoken as no one had ever uttered it before.--Or had
+he surprised it, written on her soul, in that deep gaze, which she had
+permitted?
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+But now the sudden sunset glory of that Eastern clime flamed in the
+skies, touching the domes and pinnacles of this city of delights with
+flecks of crimson and purple and molten gold, illuminating the lovely
+Cyprian landscape with a never-to-be-forgotten light--and Nikosia stood
+forth radiant against the background of dark environing hills, clothed
+to their summits with kingly cedars--while in the far distance the sea
+flashed its silver setting, melting into the opal of the clouds which
+seemed to rise from its breast.
+
+Was it this fleeting radiance of color that always stirred the birds to
+sudden, joyous song at the charmed hour of sunset?--that outpoured upon
+the heavenly breeze, for which the long day often panted, this flood of
+perfume of a thousand odors? Or was it only because it was Cyprus and
+for her magic beauty she had indeed been named of all the isles of
+Greece, "L'Isola Fortunata," beloved of the gods?
+
+But now from the splendid city came sounds of rejoicing--music and
+vivas--through the gates thrown wide, the tramp of a multitude issuing
+forth to welcome their Queen, with the homage of loyal hearts,--and her
+own throbbed almost to breaking. The Vice-Roy and Admiral, Mutio di
+Costanzo, with his escort of Knights of the Golden Spurs came bringing
+the keys of the city which had stood for the Queen against the mandates
+of the Council of the Realm; Stefano Caduna, Leader of the people,
+stalwart and faithful, brave as a lion, with his devoted guild about
+him--the judges of the courts and the chief men of the municipality; a
+chapter of the Knights of St. John, in their white mantles and
+eight-pointed crosses of red--the new primate of Nikosia, with all the
+hierarchy of his province of diverse creeds--the burghers--the nobles of
+the city--they made a welcome that stirred the soul of Caterina and
+filled it with a hope warm as the presage of the glowing skies.
+
+"_Viva la Regina--La ben-venuta!_"
+
+The people shouted her name; they thronged to swell the royal
+procession as she rode through the garlanded streets, in regal state,
+under the golden canopy which they had brought to do her honor, upheld
+over her fair young head by four mounted knights of the most ancient
+houses of Nikosia. Before the portico of the Duomo Santa Soffia the
+cavalcade came to pause, while Caterina dismounted--the people clinging
+about her to kiss her hand, to prove their loyalty--until pale from
+emotion she left them, and passed with all her noble company under the
+fretted arches of the vast portal, to offer up her orisons--her first
+act in this city of her adoption, a service of faith and adoration--her
+first resting-place in her new home, the altar of the church which was
+one in all lands.
+
+
+
+
+XXXIII
+
+
+For the first time since the death of Janus, the magnificent hall of the
+Upper Court in the Palace of the Assizes was filled with a noble
+assembly of Cyprian patricians who came in state, each with his train of
+vassals, who were also privileged to enter the great judgment hall and
+witness the imposing ceremony of the opening of the Court. Each baron
+wore at the point of his lance the small square banner with the device
+and color of his ancestral house and the motto, "_Cour, Coin, Justice_,"
+which was the privilege of his class, signifying that he was entitled to
+receive homage and tribute from his vassals--his _hommes liges_ and his
+serfs, and to render judgment upon their minor causes.
+
+The long arcaded corridors leading out to the court-yards of the palace
+were thronged with serfs in attendance upon the knights and barons, and
+with citizens who had no seat of right in the assembly; and beyond, from
+the court-yards, came the sound of the champing of steeds impatient for
+the voice of their masters and chafing under the unwelcome restraint of
+their attendants, who kept up a ceaseless babel of adjuration and
+coaxing.
+
+Every noble of Cyprus in sympathy with the present Government was
+waiting with his vassals and suites in splendid array to pay his homage
+to the young Queen, who now first since the death of her child was to
+appear among them at a high function; there were others who, uncertain
+or careless of their sentiments had responded to the urgent invitation
+of the Council of the Realm, from no stronger motive than a mild
+curiosity; and possibly a few had come with a wrathful determination to
+find something to condemn in the bearing of the Queen that might
+stimulate an organized opposition.
+
+Between the splendid shafts of the monoliths that rose like a Cyprian
+forest from the polished marble pavement, a vast company of the
+hierarchy of Cyprus--Greek, Latin, and Armenian, in rich sacerdotal
+vestments--were waiting to take part in the solemn ceremonial; for the
+royal white-robed procession had already ascended the steps of the dias
+where the newly appointed Archbishop of Nikosia would offer his prayer
+of consecration and receive the pledge of the Queen faithfully to uphold
+the laws of the Realm.
+
+The majestic martial music to which the procession had moved had
+diminished to a dim, melodic undertone, over which the prayer of the
+Primate rose and fell in swift, rhythmic periods--a litany of ascription
+and petition, to which the people, standing with faces towards the East
+and with outstretched hands, responded full-voiced.
+
+O Thou, God over all, great in Majesty and power, to Thee we ascribe all
+praise!
+
+_To Thee we ascribe all praise!_
+
+O Thou, Lord of lords and King of kings, grant to Caterina, Sovereign of
+this Realm, grace and wisdom to rule her people.
+
+_Grace and wisdom to rule her people!_
+
+And grant to her, O Giver of all good, Thy benediction, with gladness!
+
+_Thy benediction, with gladness!_
+
+O Thou, Creator of Life and Immortality, Lord of the living and of the
+dead, grant that the soul of thy servant Janus may rest in peace!
+
+_May rest in peace!_
+
+O Thou, Holy and Ineffable, around whose throne the pure souls of
+sinless little ones float as an effluence of Thy love, grant to the soul
+of our infant King, Thy joy perpetual.
+
+_Thy joy perpetual!_
+
+O Thou, supreme in justice, Ruler of all rulers and Judge of all men,
+grant to the rulers of this Court wisdom, that they may judge
+righteously!
+
+_That they may judge righteously!_
+
+Yet, O Eternal Father, Thou who art merciful, grant us to temper
+judgment with mercy.
+
+_Judgment with mercy!_
+
+Thou, who art Everlasting Truth, grant us to be true.
+
+_Grant us to be true!_
+
+And then, while the Archbishop was standing with hands outspread in
+benediction over the kneeling throng, the music of a wonderful, rhythmic
+_Amen_, oft repeated, thrilled and throbbed from arch to arch.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+How cruel the changes that had swept the island-kingdom since the last
+High Court had assembled in this Council-Chamber! Their young and
+charming monarch, in the very exuberance of life, had been summoned
+without warning to lay it down. His little child, the hope of the realm,
+had come and passed as swiftly as some fair vision of the night, leaving
+scarcely a trace of his short earthly career save in the heart of the
+mother where its every memory would be cherished deathlessly. And for
+their fair young Queen, who stood among them widowed and childless--in
+lieu of the fulfilment of the radiant hopes which had brought her
+hither, there had been a pitiful record of conspiracy, betrayal and
+captivity.
+
+These memories smote upon the nobler souls in the throng, moving them to
+compassion and admiration; for what knight among them could more bravely
+have borne such suffering and thwarting?
+
+But Caterina, in trailing garments glistening like the snows of Troodos,
+stood like a queenly lily among her white-robed maids of honor, exalted
+by the solemnity of the service and looking deep into the heart of her
+life-problems--ignoring self and contests--dreaming only of duty and the
+achievement that her people's love might render possible.
+
+They had feared to see her in mourning robes, with a woful court about
+her,--trembling, sorrow-weighted, pitiful and unimpressive; and a low
+murmur of admiration just stirred the hush of the chamber as she took
+her place under the royal canopy and turned to confront the great
+assembly--the strength of suffering and resolve in the beautiful
+unsmiling face, which yet seemed to promise and crave for love--to plead
+with them for their allegiance.
+
+She stood so for a moment, quite still; then she stretched out both arms
+to them with a sudden impulse.
+
+"_My people!_" she said brokenly.
+
+Her voice thrilled them, and they answered with a burst of loyalty warm
+enough to screen the silence of those who took no part in the grateful
+chorus.
+
+She only bowed her head in acknowledgment, struggling with her emotion:
+then moving a little aside, she laid her hand upon the arm of the
+alabaster seat that Janus had been wont to use,--it was filled with
+lilies in memory of the infant King and guarded by the group of
+white-clad pages who should have been his knights. And now, as if the
+touch gave her courage, her voice came clear and unwavering.
+
+"_My people!_" she said again, lingering on the words as if the claim
+were inexpressibly dear to her; "because ye were _his_ people--my
+husband's--the King's: because ye should have been _his_--my little,
+little son's;--_because they have left me their work to do_."
+
+She paused for a moment to steady her voice, for a sudden desperate
+sense of loneliness and self-pity had overpowered her as she looked into
+the sea of faces turned to hers and saw--with the intense spiritual
+insight granted to the few in crucial moments--the conflicting emotions
+with which they regarded her.
+
+Then, as swiftly, there flashed into her recollection the memory of the
+scene in Venice, on the day of her betrothal, when there had been
+revealed to her the sacredness of the tie possible between a Queen and
+her people--a vision of the holy, surging, passionate mother-love,
+adequate to all sacrifice. Surely for these days of her desolation that
+early vision had been granted; and with the force of a heavenly message
+its memory now brought her strength.
+
+The appeal in her eyes deepened, and the lines of her mouth grew more
+tender, while she held herself firmly erect,--as one accustomed to
+rule,--and the tones of her voice took on the accent of unquestioned
+authority.
+
+"Dear people of Cyprus," she said quite calmly, "I _need_ your
+love--that together we may rule wisely."
+
+She had not dreamed that ever again she should taste so dear a joy as
+came with the sound of this tumultuous response to her appeal; for the
+hearts of the nobles had warmed to her, and a wave of compunction and
+loyalty swept the assembly.
+
+As she took her seat upon the throne and gave the signal to open the
+court, the light in her face was a radiance beautiful to behold.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Bow down before the Majesty of the Law!" His Grace the Archbishop,
+solemnly proclaimed, while two priests from Santa Soffia stepped forth
+from under the arcades, reverently carrying the illuminated MS. of the
+Evangel which had been the treasure of their monastery from earliest
+ages; and behind them came others of their brotherhood bearing the
+quaint, copper casket in which were enshrined those revered Books of the
+Law known as the "_Assizes of Jerusalem_," and esteemed among all the
+codes of the nations for their wisdom and justice.
+
+The ancient volumes which bore this title had long since disappeared, in
+the destruction of Jerusalem; and tradition, prone to assign to
+well-known authors of illustrious deeds many good feats accomplished by
+those who remain nameless, had ascribed the compilation of this early
+masterpiece of judicial wisdom to Godfrey de Bouillon. It had been
+sacredly kept in the church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and
+guarded by a decree ordaining that it should not be opened except in the
+presence of certain high officials.
+
+Upon the maxims of this ancient work, faithfully digested in the famous
+law-schools of Nikosia by their greatest scholars, the present volume of
+Assizes had been founded; and among those most largely concerned in its
+authorship was Joan of Iblin--the distinguished ancestor of Dama
+Margherita.
+
+Dama Margherita had never been present when the volume was opened, for
+like the famous code which had preceded it, it was hedged about with
+solemn formalities and might not be unsealed save in the presence of the
+Sovereign and four barons of the realm; and she leaned eagerly forward
+as the herald, who parted the crowd before the bearers of the sacred
+chest reiterated again and again the command:
+
+     "Bow down before the Majesty of the Law!"
+
+The little procession proceeded slowly through the intricacies of the
+throng, all heads bowing as they passed, until they brought it under the
+dome that was raised over the dias where the thrones were set for the
+Sovereigns, and where, looking upward, one might read in great golden
+characters, wrought above the frieze, this admonition from the Book of
+the Law:
+
+_Whoever shall appear in this Court and bear false witness, be he the
+noblest in the land, he shall lose his head._
+
+The Queen, to show her reverence, had risen from her throne as they
+paused before her, and descending the steps she laid her hand upon the
+Evangel, where His Grace the Archbishop held open the page for her, and
+kneeling to kiss the venerated Book of the Assizes, she solemnly swore
+to uphold the laws and statutes of Cyprus.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+But this day was destined to become memorable in the annals of the
+courts.
+
+There had been some disputes and decrees of minor interest to be passed
+upon before the matter of the recent conspiracy had been brought
+forward. This had absorbed the attention of the most learned Cyprian men
+at law for some time past, and at this first session of the Court of
+Assizes, the summing up of evidence and the closing arguments were to be
+laid before the tribunal and sentence would be declared. The revelations
+of the trial had thus far been kept secret--but it was known from other
+sources that the identity of many of those implicated had been
+discovered, and an important prisoner, who was supposed to have had a
+large share in shaping the plot, was to be brought into court to close
+her trial.
+
+It was she, they said, who, trusted near the person of Her Majesty,
+having full opportunity of access to those highest in authority and of
+friendly intercourse with all the ancient Cyprian nobility, had been
+chosen by the chiefs of the conspiracy to receive and transmit their
+orders covertly; to win converts for the scheme, wherever there might be
+hope of partisans, and to protect their plans from suspicion. The charge
+was "High Treason," for it was whispered that the seizure of the
+strongholds was but to have been a step toward the seizure of the Crown,
+and this leader came of an ambitious race, than which no family of
+Cyprus could boast a more ancient lineage.
+
+In the innermost circle about the Queen, whatever the suspicions of the
+maids and knights might have been, the name of this arch-offender was
+not even whispered: for their dear Queen herself, with eyes that were
+dark with emotion, had pleaded with them.
+
+"For love of me, seek not to know until her innocence or guilt shall be
+declared. If she should be innocent--which may our Blessed Lady
+grant!--let us save her from dishonor in thought and name."
+
+But one of their number had been long absent, on a visit, it had been
+declared, to her distant estates; and if some who came less frequently
+to court, named the name of "Madama di Niuna" over-curiously, the
+courtiers turned their faces from each other, lest their eyes should
+betray the request of their beloved Sovereign Lady--for so had her
+misfortunes and her graces and high demeanor won their loyalty.
+
+The prisoner stood before her judges, when they led her into the Hall of
+the Assizes, mercifully swathed from head to foot in the filmy silken
+veil usually worn by the women of Nikosia; but through the snowy folds
+which concealed the features, there came the gleam of the fantastic
+jewelled garb, and the lines of the pose--proudly defiant--were plainly
+discernible--it could be none other than the young and beautiful and
+high-born Dama Ecciva de Montferrat.
+
+The young maids of honor turned sad eyes upon each other, each seeking
+to touch the hand of her nearest companion, by way of assurance, while
+all waited, in a stress of suspense that was near despair.
+
+Throughout the trial, the splendid assembly followed every phase with
+breathless attention, yet with conflicting emotions,--for the prisoner
+was one of their peers and all felt the case to be momentous; while, as
+the masterly arguments proceeded, and the evidence seemed irrefutable,
+perhaps few among them could have determined how it should be most
+wisely decided, in view of the waverings and discontent which had
+threatened to undermine the Government.
+
+And now the judges and the learned men had withdrawn for private
+consultation, and the assembly waited for the verdict in a hush through
+which one might have counted the heart-beats sounding in tumultuous
+rhythm; but the girlish prisoner still kept her defiant
+attitude--tapping the pavement impatiently with her tiny booted foot--as
+making light of any crime that might be imputed to Dama Ecciva de
+Montferrat.
+
+Then, more swiftly than one might tell it, a blaze of irrepressible
+human passion broke upon the decorous quiet of the Chamber; the nobles
+sprang to their feet, struggling for expression; for the awful
+announcement "_Guilty_," although they had awaited it, brought a sudden
+desperate realization of the fearful consequences, as, almost without
+pause, the penalty was declared and a piercing shriek rent the air.
+
+"Not _death!_--Holy Saints--NOT DEATH!"
+
+They could see the sinuous figure writhing and panting convulsively
+under her wrappings, then tearing her veil like a frenzied woman, as she
+sank fainting upon the pavement; and the crowd made way in awe-struck
+silence for the Lady Beata with the maidens of the court who closed
+about the tortured figure in shielding ministration.
+
+A stately patrician robed in black, fought her way through the excited
+throng to the steps of the throne, and threw herself at the feet of the
+Queen.
+
+"Have mercy!" she cried; "she is too young to die! Take my life for
+hers--_she is my child!_"
+
+A messenger was crossing the chamber from the judge's throne, bearing a
+parchment tied in black, a portentous seal depending from the ribbon. It
+was the first time that a death-warrant had been presented for the
+Queen's signature, and she was visibly agitated.
+
+The agonized mother at her feet kept up her passionate entreaties.
+
+Caterina started up pale and trembling, holding out her hand to the
+kneeling figure and drawing her forward:
+
+"Counts and Barons of the Realm, Judges of the Court and all ye people
+who look to us for protection! We have sworn before you all to uphold
+the laws of Cyprus--we will not fail you!" she protested. "Yet, oh I beg
+you to remember that together in this Chamber we have prayed to-day that
+we might temper judgment with mercy!--_Let us not sign it!_"
+
+A low murmur of sympathy echoed through the assembly, half-assenting,
+and Caterina, perceiving it hurried on.
+
+"Let us rule together wisely," she besought them, "and for the honor of
+Cyprus! Let it not be told that our first meeting in this noble assembly
+hath been darkened by a sentence of death upon one of our own nobles!
+Madonna mia! Grant us to be merciful--spare the noble house of
+Montferrat; let the penalty be exile!"
+
+There was a confused murmur in the Hall of the Assizes: disjointed words
+punctuated the low babel of sounds: "Exile!" "Exile with confiscation!"
+"Death!" "Mercy!" "Death and Confiscation."
+
+They scarcely knew whether they prayed for death or mercy, or whether in
+their souls they wished for justice or pardon, for the question was too
+weighty to be solved by law, since a nation's peace might hang upon it.
+They knew not if they saw distinctly, for the mist that seemed to cloud
+their vision--a mist enfolding two women like a halo--the one tall,
+black-robed, superb in anguish, with pathetic lines of age upon her hair
+and brow, and in her eyes, darker than night, such frenzy of
+supplication as one may only offer for a dearer than self: the other
+young, tender, fair--all compassion, divine in forgiveness and
+comprehension--for were they not both mothers, and had she not suffered
+the irreparable loss that she might learn to shield grieving
+mother-hearts? She held the Countess of Montferrat closely clasped as if
+she would sustain her in her trouble.
+
+"_Not_ confiscation!" she pleaded. "Hath not this mother enough to
+suffer in knowing that her child hath missed the highest trust? Shall we
+add this also to her pain, and take from her the estates which have been
+the home of her people for long ages? Shall she not take the vow of
+fealty to the State, instead of her child? And for the Dama Ecciva--we
+grieve that it must be exile--yet the safety of the Crown demandeth it.
+Be merciful--dear people!"
+
+It was a woman's reason--but a woman's heart, stronger than law or
+precedent, had won the day.
+
+
+
+
+XXXIV
+
+
+"A confidential communication of deep import to Cyprus--so thou come at
+once, and alone. 'The Prisoner in the Castle.'"
+
+The Signor Aluisi Bernardini read the note a second time with frowning
+brows, for there was more than one prisoner, even of this recent
+conspiracy, in the castle, and the hand was disguised or unknown to him,
+and he could but guess at the identity of the sender of this mysterious
+message, which had been brought him, quite openly, by one of the castle
+guards.
+
+The man stood waiting at the door of his study, until he called to him:
+
+"Thou hast a message for me from----?"
+
+"The Dama Ecciva de Montferrat, Eccellentissimo," the messenger
+answered, readily.
+
+"Deliver it."
+
+"I was to remind your Excellency that the galley will sail to-morrow for
+Venice--if your Excellency should have despatches--the Dama de
+Montferrat feared that it might not be known beyond the castle."
+
+"Is this known within the castle and by order of the Castellan?"
+Bernardini asked quickly, in surprise.
+
+"Eccellentissimo, the word came to me by the Dama de Montferrat, in
+confidence. I have no other message."
+
+The Bernardini pondered a moment. She had meant him to feel that the
+case was urgent, for no hint of the immediate sailing of the prisoner's
+galley for Venetian waters had yet reached him, who was usually foremost
+in any information that touched upon Venetian interests. It might be a
+ruse, or a mere plausible excuse to her messenger.
+
+"Is there aught else in which I may serve the Dama de Montferrat?" the
+Bernardini asked with assumed nonchalance, partly to gain time to decide
+upon his own course of action, yet hoping to throw some little light
+upon the mystery.
+
+"It is written in the note. Doth your Excellency bid me return alone?"
+
+The man's manner was insistent: he had been shown a jewel of value that
+should be his if he brought the Bernardini back with him, and such
+fidelity as might thus be purchased, Dama Ecciva could count upon.
+
+"Nay: I follow," the Bernardini answered, waving him on before,--"yet
+not too closely. At the castle wait for me."
+
+"Of deep import to Cyprus," he repeated to himself, as he made his way
+across the breadth of the city to the citadel: he was alone save for his
+horse, who often brought him a sense of almost human companionship, and
+to-day the responsive quiver of the animal, as his master laid a
+caressing touch upon his arched neck, gave him an assurance of fidelity
+that was helpful. For the matter of this conspiracy had sorely wrought
+upon him and he might not ignore such a message, though it came from one
+so unreliable as Dama Ecciva, for she was surely in touch with the
+disaffected nobles. It might be a new conspiracy--yet it was more likely
+a mere whim, or an attempt to get her sentence remitted--poor girl!
+
+But he felt no emotion of compassion towards her, save for her
+duplicity, as he was conducted to the apartment which the Queen had had
+prepared in the castle for her young prisoner of State. By the Queen's
+grace, also, the Countess of Montferrat occupied the royal apartment
+under the same roof and was permitted at certain hours, to visit her
+daughter, though never without surveillance. But for one so high in
+authority as the Bernardini there were no restrictions and he soon stood
+confronting the Dama Ecciva in a small cabinet, which by the Queen's
+mercy had little the aspect of a prison; for she had thought of the
+mother, as she gave her orders for the prisoner's comfort, and of the
+last days that she and her daughter might spend together in their native
+land, and her tender heart had overflowed to them; there were even
+flowers from the royal gardens, and the air was fragrant; but in Dama
+Ecciva's manner there was no softening change.
+
+"So your Excellency hath even deigned to respond to the request of a
+_prisoner_?" she exclaimed by way of greeting, and lingering with a
+little mocking pretense on the last word.
+
+"If it be within my power----" he began tentatively.
+
+"Promise not too rashly, my Lord Chamberlain, lest I hold thee to thy
+word," she answered lightly. "For I shall ask naught of thee that is not
+within thy sole power to grant. If I ask thee aught--yet I know not if
+I will:--methinks my mood hath changed."
+
+He was dumb as he looked at her--within a few hours of perpetual
+banishment she stood before him, brilliant, inconsequent, carefully
+dressed in her usual fanciful garb--the very jessamines in her hair
+lusciously over-sweet--with no hint of regret in face or manner--her old
+fire-fly self.
+
+"Our time is short, Dama Ecciva," he reminded her at length, when she
+had chosen a cushioned corner and sat toying with a bunch of wild
+orchids--seemingly forgetful of his presence, as of her summons. "We are
+alone: and if thou hast a confidence to make--'of import to the
+State'----"
+
+"The time is long enough for our needs, Eccellentissimo," she retorted,
+with a rippling laugh. "Verily, I like these wild blooms better than Her
+Majesty's choice favorites--this orchid hath a face well-nigh human--but
+overwise; I scarce need tell it--as to thee--that the sailing of the
+galley was my device to bring thee quickly."
+
+He bit his lip to hold back his impatient speech, for she might not be
+dealt with as other women, by any appeal to trust or reason.
+
+"Wherefore 'quickly'," he answered her, "since there is time?"
+
+She looked up in surprise at having missed the expected reproof for
+which she was already fashioning a saucy reply, and her mood changed
+suddenly.
+
+"Nay, nay, there is not time," she cried passionately, stretching out
+her hands to him. "There is _not_ time! Though it be not to-night, it
+may be to-morrow--who knoweth? And it is forever--forever and ever!
+Caro Signore, art thou not a little sorry for me?"
+
+She looked like a child as she made this appeal, and his heart smote him
+for his coldness, for she was truly suffering. His sudden sympathy
+brought a new note of tenderness to his voice.
+
+"So sorry," he said, as he took her hand in a compassionate clasp. "So
+sorry--that only duty to our land of Cyprus stayeth me from seeking that
+thy weary penance be lightened. If I might, I would help thee."
+
+"_Our land of Cyprus!_ and thou a Venetian!" she cried triumphantly, her
+rainbow face flashing smiles, "and how, caro Signore--_carissimo
+Signore_--if 'duty to our land of Cyprus' should bid thee help me?"
+
+"It is some new intrigue of which thou hast knowledge?" he questioned,
+striving to hold her thoughts in one direction.
+
+"Is not the one for which I stand here, and which will send me hence,
+enough," she answered tantalizingly, "that thou wouldst have more?"
+
+"If it be but for whim of speech that thou hast summoned me," he said
+rising, knowing well that she would yield nothing to persuasion, "I may
+not linger longer. If there be a way in which I may serve thy mother,
+the Countess--ere I take my leave----?"
+
+She shook her head for answer, pulling impatiently at the orchids which
+she had gathered up again; they seemed akin to her--half elfin flowers.
+
+"Or if there be some message of farewell for Her Majesty?"
+
+Again she shook her head, in emphatic denial; but she was conscious that
+the Bernardini still lingered, although he had taken a few steps away
+from her: and looking up she saw that he was watching her in keen
+disappointment. Suddenly her cheek flamed, for his look was both
+compassionate and reproachful, yet despite her anger, she thought him
+more than ever noble while she struggled to repress the half-conscious
+feeling within her that dumbly answered to his appeal.
+
+"She hath been merciful and forgiven much," he urged, in a tone that was
+still compassionate toward Ecciva herself; "she hath suffered much
+because of the grief for thy mother and thyself--and because she might
+not lighten the penance. Is there no little word of farewell for her?"
+
+Dama Ecciva tossed away her flowers, and rose indignantly:
+
+"I _have_ a message for Her Majesty," she said in quick, hard tones.
+"Tell her I thank her for"--she glanced about the chamber as if summing
+up its comforts and elegance--"for her flowers. Tell her that the de
+Montferrats come of a noble house, well nigh as old as the Lusignans;
+that of our elder branch came a queen of Cyprus. Tell her that if I know
+not how to thank her for that she hath decreed banishment for a noble of
+our ancient house--she who hath lived in our land of Cyprus these _few
+years of her little life_--if I lack the grace to be so good a
+courtier--yet I humbly thank her for--these orchids--which might have
+sprung from some mouldering trunk in a forgotten corner of my estates.
+They mind me of the days before _she_ came to Cyprus."
+
+She crushed them angrily beneath her foot as she spoke, and her words
+stormed upon him.
+
+As he would have answered her, she broke in with more hot words.
+
+"Tell her that I shall not lose my color in exile; it will not cure me
+of my _crime of loyalty_ to my people--I cannot change my faith--tell
+her----"
+
+But he interrupted gravely:
+
+"Thou dost wrong thyself and her: knowing well that thy 'crime' is not
+'of loyalty to thy people'; but that thou couldst _profess_ a loyalty
+which was but pretence to the Queen who held thy vows of fealty."
+
+She was quivering still with anger and she did not answer him.
+
+"Speech is useless," he said, "if it be not reasonable: and none
+grieveth more than our gentle Lady that the welfare of the State
+demandeth the exile of one who hath conspired against it. She, of her
+grace, will have it that others have misled thee;--that of thine own
+heart thou wouldst not have sought this treachery."
+
+"_Treachery!_" her eyes flamed. "If that be treachery----Listen! I
+thought to send thee away without my confidence and leave thee to thy
+blind struggle to rule our people of Cyprus--thou and the fair little
+Queen! Yet I _will_ tell thee, for I cannot leave thee so."
+
+She had come nearer. "Will the nobles in their far lands bow at _her_
+bidding? _Never!_ They need a _man_ to sway them, for the good of
+Cyprus--one who knoweth how to rule--of strength and constancy to shape
+their kingdom and make it great. For _such_ a man the nobles would rise
+in their might."
+
+"There is none such," he answered coldly, "and talk of treason--except
+it were a maid's wild dreaming--must be brought before the Council of
+the Realm. Unless thou hast confession of some real import to the
+State--or names that we should know--and for the telling much might be
+forgiven thee--I bid thee farewell. Truly it is hard for thee, my poor
+Dama Ecciva; but in thy heart thou knowest that the penalty could not be
+less.--May thy reason and the years soften it to thee."
+
+She had not listened to his last words, but stood irresolute as he took
+his ceremonious farewell: then suddenly she sprang towards him and
+caught his hand to detain him. Her face had grown soft and eager.
+
+"It _is_ 'confession'!" she cried, "'of import to the State'--and
+'names' that thou shouldst know. There are many nobles whom I could
+reach--I will name thee all their names when we have spoken together:
+those who suffer banishment with me are but a few. At word of mine they
+would kindle into fire and make a glory of Cyprus!" She had drawn
+herself up proudly, her eyes were flashing; she had clenched her small
+hands so tightly over his that he could not withdraw it.
+
+"Poor child!" he said compassionately; "shall one woman rule them, and
+not another!--It is the madness of imprisonment and exile; it shall be
+forgiven thee."
+
+He tried to make his escape, but she clung to his hand yet more closely,
+so that he could not move without dragging her with him.
+
+"It is not forgiveness that I want," she cried furiously, "but
+comprehension. Canst thou not see! Have I not said that Cyprus hath need
+of a man to rule? _Who_ led the people to storm the Fortress of
+Famagosta? _Who_ ruled the city in quiet through those days of
+stress?--_Thou_ art the man! _Through me, who hold the key, thou shalt
+rule them well._"
+
+"I am a Venetian," he answered coldly; and no longer hesitating to use
+the needful force to unclasp the clinging, importunate hands. "From
+compassion have I shown too great patience with thy mad dreaming. I will
+direct that the Countess of Montferrat be permitted to come to thee now:
+for the galley must soon sail for Venice.--May the Madonna help thee!"
+
+But as he reached the door a mocking laugh rang out and made him turn in
+surprise, for it was but a moment since he had instinctively averted his
+gaze, lest he should read too easily in her mobile face the emotion
+which she made no effort to conceal.
+
+"Let us at least part with due ceremony, your Excellency," she said,
+"since we shall both have travelled to other worlds before we meet
+again: I--who might have been a Queen, hadst thou but believed my 'mad
+dreaming' and accepted my aid to make thee--that which should have made
+me thy Queen indeed, and thee a Sovereign of Cyprus!--had I but
+condescended so far!"
+
+She swept him her most courtly reverence. "Adieu! Thou art a man
+indeed--like many another--to let a woman outwit thee and befool
+thee--so that even now thou knowest not within thy soul if she hath
+spoken truth,--or flattery to beguile thee; or 'mad dreaming'--for
+which, perforce, she 'may be forgiven,' and render thanks! Thou knowest
+not whether she hath, in truth, spoken _to mislead thee_ that which
+should have brought the pride of thy superb Venice low--hadst thou but
+listened!--So much hath my 'confession' availed thee. O, most astute
+Venetian!"
+
+She flung the words at him in triumphant tones, while he, in noble pity,
+stood speechless--having seen her face when she thought he had not seen;
+and she stood thus--radiant--defiant--until there was no longer an echo
+of footsteps back through the long vaulted corridor of the castle. Then
+the mocking smile died on her lips and eyes and she threw herself on her
+couch in a bitter paroxysm of passion.
+
+"One may dare all, for a man of stone," she cried, "and yet not win! And
+I would have made him great--_great_ beyond his dreams! O
+fool!--FOOL!"
+
+
+
+
+XXXV
+
+
+With the removal of the Court to Nikosia days of peace and sunshine had
+at last dawned for the distracted island kingdom--whether compassed by
+the wisdom of the astute and vigilant counsellors who sat close under
+the ear of the youthful Queen--by the superior force of the Venetian
+galleys, or by the winning charm of the Queen herself. The echoes of
+conspiracy had been stilled and the cities of Cyprus were taking new
+pride in their commerce, while they were growing richer in measures of
+philanthropy and education and that blossoming of arts and culture which
+only may adorn a court at leisure from petty wars and intrigues.
+
+Early in these days of quiet Caterina had turned once more to her cousin
+the Bernardini, bidding him ask some favor at her hand--"For verily I
+owe thee more than I may repay."
+
+"There could be never a debt between us, my cousin," he answered
+smiling: then with the ceremonious bow of a courtier, he added, with a
+singular mixture of gravity and playfulness: "I would remind your
+Majesty of a function of this Court which it hath never pleased my fair
+cousin to exercise. There is one among the maids of honor--most rare and
+noble--bounden by special vows of fealty, as a _Dama di Maridaggio_, to
+marry at the command of her Sovereign."
+
+He stood before her quite unabashed and smiling, while she scanned him
+in surprise.
+
+"Margherita de Iblin?" she questioned, half unbelieving.
+
+"Margherita!" he answered, radiantly; "there is no other."
+
+"And how--if when I name the other two which custom doth demand for this
+ceremonial, she shall find a knight more to her liking?" Caterina asked
+teasingly.
+
+"Name one; and name him thrice," he answered boldly.
+
+"Little I dreamed thee, Aluisi, so poor a knight that thou shouldst lack
+the courage to plead thine own cause," she exclaimed in amusement. "And
+of what avail a gift that is not free?"
+
+He joined frankly in her laugh.
+
+"Nay," he said; "the case is quite otherwise. For she will not say me
+nay, fair Cousin, because--in sooth some day she shall tell me why; and
+I count myself too leal a knight to tell it--if I knew--before she shall
+bid me speak. For the cause hath been pleaded and _not_ rejected; and
+the gift hath been given, but _not_ confessed; which, were it not thus,
+I should seek no aid--having no mind to steal, were it even the heart of
+a maid. But now it is rather wit than 'courage' that I lack, to outwit
+my lady--may those forgive me who hold her favor!"
+
+"I will right heartily forgive thee, so but thou win it," Caterina
+assured him. "Yet if she hath not said thee nay--what lackest thou of
+favor?"
+
+He was suddenly grave. "She will not say me '_yea_,'" he answered her,
+"lest the speaking of the word which she foldeth close in her heart
+until she giveth her rare self leave to utter it, should make her
+somewhat less to her Sovereign Lady--who, she hath most solemnly assured
+me--hath need of us both--and _thus_--with no bond between her two loyal
+servitors but their loyalty to their Queen."
+
+"Shall mine be less because of their happiness?" Caterina questioned
+indignantly. "Nay, but much less--_much_ less, without it!--Where is the
+Dama Margherita?"
+
+"Nay, fair Cousin," he protested, "let discretion rule the command, I
+beseech you. For she herself is more proud than any Queen and of a
+temper to which surrender cometh not easily; and the wooing hath been
+long. Yet the truth of her deep eyes betrayeth her,--and so I trust my
+happiness in your gracious hands."
+
+But Caterina would not rest until she had found the occasion for speech:
+and so soon as she chanced to be alone with Dama Margherita, she
+announced, without preamble, that she would presently command a right
+royal festival to please the nobles but lately come to court, with
+jousts of song and floral games, "and I myself will give the prize, and
+thou--Cara Margherita, being my faithful _Dama di Maridaggio_, shall be
+the Queen thereof."
+
+But the Margherita drew herself haughtily away from the Queen's
+outstretched hand.
+
+"I do not understand," she said, in a tone that was half resentful. "I
+am ever at your Majesty's command for loyalty and service: but this
+custom displeaseth me--I pray your Majesty, let it be dismissed."
+
+"Nay, Margherita, it is my right;" the Queen persisted. "I would have
+thee choose one of three noble knights whom I will present to thee."
+
+"Three!" she echoed with a sensation of relief: then, after all, her
+secret had not been guessed: it was truly some freak of the Queen's, and
+she turned more willingly to listen.
+
+"The first is of rare nobility, whom I fain would honor in bestowing
+upon him the hand of one so dear--because he hath spent himself for me,
+and hath held his life little when it might serve me."
+
+Margherita half opened her lips to speak, then closed them resolutely
+and held silence--a faint flush growing in her cheek.
+
+"The next is one of a most ancient house, of vast estates, it hath been
+told me, which he himself nameth not, save for some generous use when
+there is need: of whom all men speak well, because of a certain strength
+he hath; but women rarely, for the scorn he showeth for heartless
+trifling. If he should love a woman, she need not fear to trust him."
+
+"And if he loveth not though he were a prince among men," Margherita
+answered with an effort at playful speech, "it were folly to trust his
+vows."
+
+"Truly it were folly," the Queen replied, growing suddenly pensive, "and
+it were not easy to know wisdom from folly in such a matter, perchance.
+Let us speak no more of it--though I had a third to bring before thee."
+
+"Then," said Margherita with unexpected docility, "an' it please your
+Majesty I will listen."
+
+"Thou art so gracious that I scarce do know thee!" the Queen retorted
+playfully, "thou who art wont to hold me with a wholesome fear! But for
+the third--now I bethink me--it were scarce worth the telling, since it
+was but a word that he left with me--no more--that I would that thou
+hadst seen him utter it, a simple vow--yet I know that none shall move
+him from it! Listen, Margherita: '_For me there is none other._'"
+
+"Said he no more, when he asked so much?" Dama Margherita questioned
+with a desperate attempt to defer the moment of yielding.
+
+Caterina turned and looked at her seriously.
+
+"If he hath not the gift, already," she said, "it is much to ask. Yet,
+if he holdeth it, by no constraint--but _because it is for him alone and
+may not be withheld_--however one may struggle,--need one ask further
+assurance of happiness? Choose thou from these, my Margherita. They are
+good knights."
+
+"All three--or one?" Margherita asked, with deepening color and shining
+eyes that were her confession and surrender. "These three are one--my
+Lady giveth me no choice."
+
+"How one?" the Queen answered promptly, willing to grant her a little
+more time, for she saw that it was not easy for this proud maid to
+yield. "For one is lofty and masterful, and of a great prowess--so that
+men fear him. And one is knightly and worshipful, with a trick of speech
+when it pleaseth him, so that a woman might love him if he plead with
+her for favor. And one--nay, of him we will speak no more. For he hath a
+will that may not be denied when he hath said, '_For me_ there is none
+other.'"
+
+"My beloved Lady doth trifle with me," Margherita exclaimed in
+confusion. "She will not lay this command upon me!"
+
+"My Margherita--most solemnly I bid thee choose that which shall bring
+thee happiness. For thy lover hath confessed himself to me."
+
+"Is it happiness to love,--or is it pain?" the girl questioned very low.
+
+"If sometimes it may be pain," the young Queen answered, a shadow
+crossing her brow; "yet even then, methinks, one would not have missed
+it--so only one hath held one's own heart true: for it discovereth
+depths and heights one might not know without it, and bringeth dreams
+that make one's soul the fairer. But for thee, _cara_ Margherita--it
+shall be all happiness--for thy knight is true and noble like thyself;
+and my heart is glad that I may give thee to him."
+
+"Since I have not chosen him--and there are three!" Margherita
+interposed faintly--"but if it is of your Majesty's command----?"
+
+"Tell me but this one thing--dost love him, Margherita?"
+
+"If there must be confession, should not the high-priest of this
+sacrament be first to hear it?" the proud maid whispered, as she knelt
+and kissed her Lady's hand with a sudden grace: but the Queen knew that
+she might neither tease nor trifle more.
+
+"My Margherita," she said, folding her closely; "I could dream no
+sweeter dream than to know my two very dearest ones worthy of each other
+and happy together."
+
+So it was not long before the Court of Nikosia was gladdened with a
+festival of old-time splendor, lasting for many days--with tournaments
+of knights and jousts of song, and recitals of quaint Cyprian legends
+and classic story, and all that their most punctilious custom might
+decree for a noble's marriage feast in the days of the _cinque cento_.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+But as time slipped by in apparent tranquillity and growing prosperity,
+with constant evidences of judicious thought bestowed by the Queen upon
+the well-being of her subjects--with the coming and going of artists and
+men of letters to her court, and the resuming of all those ancient
+Cyprian customs that might minister to the content of the nobles--whom
+it was ever most needful to satisfy with a sufficient show of
+gaiety--there had nevertheless been an imperceptibly increasing
+tightening of the threads of government which stretched far across the
+waters to Venice's own blue Adriatic, into the very Council-Chambers of
+the Palazzo San Marco.
+
+Even the moneys of Cyprus were flowing somewhat overfreely into the
+coffers of the Venetian Provveditori who kept vigilant watch over the
+island kingdom--which was, in truth, no longer anything but a Venetian
+province, except in name. Yet Caterina, while she chafed at many
+hampering restrictions which she was powerless to overcome, loved her
+people and her work with the strength of desperation, and struggled
+bravely on.
+
+It was a relief that the petty warfare of conflicting claimants without
+and within her kingdom had ceased; even the importunity from aspiring
+suitors came no more--since the same cold answer was ever ready for all,
+alike: and to Caterina this also was a relief. For, although of her own
+will she could have given but one reply, she had bitterly resented the
+imperative command of the Signoria forbidding her second marriage, as an
+indignity assuring her that she was not free--and each fresh
+importunity was a reminder of her bondage.
+
+If the Cyprian members of the Council of the Realm also saw that the
+meshes of Venice were steadily gathering more closely about them, they
+had no longer power of resistance against that craftiness of the
+Republic which had known how to divert the moneys that should have gone
+to the making of a Cyprian Marine, while tickling their love of splendor
+with some outward show--yet had kept the island kingdom from
+appreciating this great need, by the readiness with which full-manned
+Venetian galleys protected the Cyprian coasts whenever they were
+threatened with devastation.
+
+More than one letter of resistance and impotent pleading in Caterina's
+own hand, had gone from this Daughter of the Republic to the Doge
+himself, and passed from the Serenissimo into the secret archives of San
+Marco; but the very fact of the appeal was an acknowledgment of Venetian
+right, and the evils steadily increased. While Caterina tried to forget
+that the clasp of a velvet paw may fatally crush, when the force of an
+angry lion is behind it: or--if she remembered it too cruelly in the
+hours of her desolate midnight vigils, what could she do but ignore the
+insult, with a woman's power of endurance, that she might defer the day
+that should separate her from her work and her people with whom her last
+dim hopes of happiness were inextricably bound up: for to them she knew
+that she was still the Mother Queen--"Nostra Madonna," and the dear
+title was a cure for much heart-anguish.
+
+More than once the good Father Johannes--his hair and beard now falling
+in thin gray locks about his throat and breast, but the spirit within
+him still gleaming fiercely from his deep eyes--had come with painful
+steps down the long way from his distant Troodos to help and comfort
+her.
+
+"Daughter," he said, "for thy brave wrestling I absolve thee from thy
+vow. Christ and the Holy Mother are merciful. They ask no more than man
+may do. If thou hast not the strength----"
+
+"Father, without my work I have naught to live for. I have not the
+strength to leave it."
+
+"Then God help thee! and the prayers of all the pilgrims to the
+Troodista help thee! And of all who have tasted of thy bounty; and of
+all who have known thy care!"
+
+"Unless, my Father," she interrupted painfully, "there should be one who
+might better hold this trust, to whom I may yield it? If Carlotta----"
+
+"Is she not like her Mother, the Paleologue?" the Lampadisti answered
+angrily. "Hath she not plotted murder and treachery to compass her ends?
+Aye--even a fratricide--because forsooth of the crime of the grace that
+her brother possessed? Is there a record of good deeds, that the people
+should wish her back?--Did _she_ strive to uphold the laws, or to know
+them?--To have her people taught and comforted?"--his eyes blazed.
+
+"Thou dost verily comfort me, my Father."
+
+"For that I am sent. The Holy Relic on the altar of the Troodista seemed
+to point me hither, with every Sacred Thorn. I could pray no prayers but
+for thee; I could hearken to no other tales of woe. My feet turned ever
+thither without my will: and thus I knew that thou hadst need of me!"
+
+But once when he came, and she knew not that it was the last time, she
+said:
+
+"I have somewhat to ask of thee, my Father."
+
+"Say on."
+
+"That thou wilt receive me into the Holy Sisterhood of St. Francis--as a
+lay sister; that if I find the world more weary than I can bear, I may
+be sure of a retreat which thou my faithful friend and spiritual Father
+will have prepared for me. So that the act of my admission may be known
+only to thee and me and the directors of the Chapter of St. Francis, and
+to the Holy Sisterhood, of which I shall be one--yet living in the
+world, so long as my duty shall call me."
+
+"Thou hast deserved it by thy constancy," he said. "And may the Holy
+Madonna be gracious to thee: and our blessed St. Francis sing to thy
+sorrowing soul sweet measures of content, by the voices of 'his
+brothers, the birds of the air.'"
+
+It was evening, and the Queen had bidden him to her summer terrace over
+the gardens, where in the luxuriant shrubberies below them the birds
+were vying with each other in the loud-voiced evening orisons for which
+the brief flame of the Cyprian sunset was ever a signal.
+
+"The years will make of thee a poet, my Father," Caterina said, smiling
+at the turn of phrase so unusual from his lips.
+
+"It is not the years but thou, my Daughter, who hast taught me that
+beauty may be holy and lift the soul."
+
+
+
+
+XXXVI
+
+
+An Embassy from Venice was expected upon important affairs of State, and
+there was an unusual radiance in the face of the Queen, for it had been
+announced that the Illustrissimo, the Signor Zorzi Cornaro, brother to
+Caterina, was chief of the Commission, and it was long since one of her
+very own had been with her.
+
+"_Zia mia_," she said eagerly to the elder Lady of the Bernardini. "Thou
+wilt see that no courtesy of reception shall be omitted--it is to
+welcome one of my very own!"
+
+She dwelt on the phrase with a pathetic accent of delight, returning to
+it again as she discussed some details of the welcome that should be
+offered to her brother, whom, for years she had not seen.
+
+Never had an ambassador been received with higher honors in the Court of
+Nikosia, or with such glad faces by all the attendant circle--for was
+not His Excellency of the Queen's own household?--and it had been rare
+to see such a light of happiness in her beloved eyes.
+
+And well did the Cornaro seem to carry the honors due to his
+house--being very noble in bearing, as befitted the brother of the
+Queen; and so eloquent in speech that already before the first day had
+passed, the scholarly men of the Court were exchanging glances of
+admiration at the skill with which he parried their compliments; while
+Caterina, noting their courtesy and the deftness with which he had won
+them, grew more than ever radiant, with a certain look of restfulness
+and of heart-satisfaction which, since the death of the child, those who
+loved her had scarcely seen her wear.
+
+But Aluisi Bernardini grew somewhat graver than his wont, as the banquet
+proceeded, while he watched his cousin, the newly-arrived Ambassador,
+less graciously, his lady thought, than he need have done on this first
+evening when all were hastening to shower honors upon him.
+
+"Whatever cometh," he said to his wife, as they rose at last from the
+brilliant tables and passed out upon the terraces at the invitation of
+the Queen; "whatever cometh, leave her not alone with him, though she
+should urge thee; use thy sweet insistance--as thou knowest how--to keep
+others about them for this first evening."
+
+"What meanest thou, Aluisi?" she asked in alarm, and moving quickly
+aside, as the gay company swept by, that he might explain himself.
+"Surely she might wish to speak with him alone; she is more happy in his
+presence than she hath been for years. Seest thou not?"
+
+"Aye, my very dear one, I see it well. It is that I would hold this rare
+happiness for her so long as may be; and there is that in the manner of
+my cousin, the Cornaro, which pleaseth me not. I would not have him
+unfold to her the matter of his Embassy, if it may be a little
+deferred."
+
+"It hath been told thee, already?"
+
+"Not more than to thee. But in all the grace of him I see his head above
+his heart--a certain quality of his father, the 'Magnifico, Marco
+Cornaro'--as he was known in Venice. Yet one who standeth watching,
+somewhat apart, may note a hint of displeasure at the splendor of his
+welcome and the loyalty of the court for the Queen: and the ready wit
+with which he answereth concealeth under its sparkle a certain
+persistent measuring of some purpose which he hath much at heart--as if
+he were studying meanwhile how best to compass his end."
+
+She laid her hand entreatingly on his arm. "For once, my Aluisi, it may
+be thou dost o'er-reach thyself. Is he not her brother?"
+
+He smiled at her, unconvinced.
+
+"I have watched so long," he said, "and the life of our Queen-Cousin
+hath been so sadly thwarted that it may well be my fear for her taketh
+flame too lightly. But she hath set such store upon his coming, and with
+such gracious scheming for his pleasure, that if he leave her time she
+may soften any hard intent. San Marco grant that I have misjudged him,
+for he is of our house."
+
+"Thou hast much weight with her," the Dama Margherita answered very low.
+"Stay near me, that we may guard her."
+
+But scarcely had they reached the terraces where all the Court were
+scattered, than they found the Queen pleading with her brother.
+
+"Not to-night, Zorzi mio! For this one night let us take the pleasure of
+thy coming as a brother to my home. Thou must know our customs and our
+people and let them offer thee glad welcome. I have music and song
+planned for thee:--and our Cyprian gardens--with their delights!--Let us
+stroll awhile."
+
+He made a gesture of dissent.
+
+"The banquet hath been long enough," he said, "nor lacking for sweets.
+There is meat of stronger quality to digest. Not for feasting I came,
+but upon an embassy the matter of which we must discuss."
+
+"And _now_?" she asked, still unwilling.
+
+"Said I not 'now'?" he answered resolutely, advancing toward the arches
+which admitted to the palace.
+
+But Bernardini stood in his way, arresting his quick pace.
+
+"My cousin, thy 'now' must wait upon the Queen's good pleasure," he
+said, with due deference. Then, more lightly, "It is the way of our
+Court in Cyprus--which would do thee honor. Her Majesty hath ordered
+some festive trifle of music, or other entertainment, which our
+music-maidens, skilled upon the lute, would fain begin."
+
+At a signal from the Lady Margherita, they came floating out upon the
+terrace: but the Cornaro turned frowning from them and signed with his
+hand that his cousin, the Bernardini, should let him pass.
+
+At a glance from the Queen, Bernardini moved courteously aside, but
+Caterina did not follow: she waited for a moment before she spoke--as if
+to weigh her speech.
+
+"If it be for matter of the Embassy which may not be delayed," she said,
+"I will bid our Chamberlain advise our Council of the Realm, that we may
+receive it with all honor befitting the Court of Venice, so soon as they
+shall be gathered in the Audience-Chamber. Though the hour be strange,
+it is of thy choosing; and thou art our dear guest--as, also, our
+honored Ambassador from the Republic."
+
+The Cornaro stood for a moment as if uncertain what part to play; then,
+making light of it all, he dismissed his frown and with a whimsical
+laugh and graceful deprecatory motions, he turned to his sister and
+offered his hand to lead her in.
+
+"Nay, nay, my sister; I spoke of no formal session of State to receive
+my Embassy; rather of a friendly talk between us two, touching the
+matter upon which the Republic hath sent me hither--that we may better
+understand each other before it be laid before the Council. With thy
+leave, my cousin."
+
+He passed with a friendly nod and some jesting word, which the
+Bernardini returned more gravely:
+
+"Thou dost verily surround thyself with state, Caterina!" her brother
+exclaimed in a tone of stern displeasure, when she had indicated a
+chamber where they might be alone, and he had carefully assured himself
+that the quaint Eastern draperies concealed no guards--the while she
+watched him in amazement.
+
+"It is better for thee that there be no listeners," he said, as he
+placed a seat before her and sat down, fixing her with his gaze.
+
+"Hearken without speech until I have spoken." His tone was threatening.
+
+She turned white and red, half starting up, but cowed by his manner,
+fell back into her seat again.
+
+"Is this my brother," she asked, "or is it the Ambassador?"
+
+"Nay; leave tragedy, Caterina; I am come to bring thee word of a great
+opportunity."
+
+"For my people?--For Cyprus?" she responded with instant interest.
+
+He laughed, a curious, unmirthful laugh.
+
+"Aye--for 'thy people'--'for Cyprus,' verily. Listen! Thou hast it in
+thy power, at this moment, to bestow a gift upon the Republic--thou who
+art the Daughter of Venice--that shall make thee memorable throughout
+the ages."
+
+She was taken unaware; yet suddenly the happenings of all the past years
+seemed to converge in her, as their central point, binding her hand and
+foot so that she might not free herself: an icy bolt shot through her:
+"I--I fail to understand," she answered faintly, for there was somewhat
+in his look that interpreted the meaning she would fain have missed.
+
+"Aye: it _is_ hard to understand--that thou, who art one of our Casa
+Cornaro--a woman--upon whom Venice hath bestowed such fatherly and
+unceasing care--should have it in thy power so to reward the Republic,
+who might have seized the throne of Cyprus, without waiting for thy
+gift! Yet, of her grace, the Serenissima Repubblica doth verily ask it
+of thee, as a favor--thou who art Daughter to Venice. Thou mayest well
+find it hard to understand!"
+
+She rose, indignantly.
+
+"Hath the Signoria of Venice broken faith with her ally of Cyprus? Is
+she not content to wait for the sovereignty of this realm until my
+death--knowing that by my will Venice hath been created heir to this
+throne--that she should wish to deprive me now of that which hath come
+to me through so great sorrow, by the will of my husband, the King?"
+
+He watched her curiously, while the color came and went with her
+tumultuous emotions, and her troubled breathing; and he changed his
+tone--being subtle.
+
+"I said that the Signoria would have thanked thee for thy gift of the
+realm; and that the ages should have decreed thee great honor for thy
+queenly giving: but it would have been more of their courtesy than of
+thine. For thou dost verily hold too great a matter this little kingdom
+of Cyprus--forgetting the nets that have many times been spread for
+thee; and the disfavor of those Cyprian nobles who would have a man to
+rule over them and not a woman--young and without power--unless Venice
+be her ally and defender! Even now, thou mightest have been a slave in
+the land of the Turk, were it not for thy faithful upholding by the
+galleys of Venice, which came between thee and the devastators. Where is
+the generous response of a woman who, without them, were nothing?--I
+thought thee more noble!"
+
+She was bewildered, and he had cut her to the quick.
+
+"Nay, Zorzi: thou dost not comprehend. A Queen must first be faithful to
+her people."
+
+"Aye--'to her people!'" he retorted scornfully. "And are thy people of
+Venice, or of Cyprus?--that thou mayest be faithful neither to one nor
+to the other! Wilt thou show thy faith to Cyprus by turning thine only
+helpers and defenders from thee, that thine enemies of the coasts may
+have free entrance to thine unprotected harbors, while the galleys of
+Venice no longer waste upon thine ingratitude their unrequited care?"
+
+"It is not true!" she cried; "they would not thus desert me."
+
+"It is like a woman to build a belief without foundation," he answered
+her--calmly, as one who makes a study at his ease.
+
+"And this is verily thy mission from Venice--_and to me?_"
+
+"I have spoken," he said, "but the time is short: thou mayest not delay
+to reply--Venice hath so decreed."
+
+"My people love me," she pleaded, with a gasp. "I have only them to live
+for!"
+
+"Thou hast only them, if thou wilt perforce give up thine own," he
+answered readily; "it is of thine own choice."
+
+"What meanest thou?" she questioned, grasping his arm in terror:
+"Zorzi!"
+
+He shook off her touch and answered her unmoved. "The choice will be
+thine, between thy people of Cyprus--who love thee, thou sayest--and thy
+people of Venice--we of the Casa Cornaro and the Signoria, whom thou
+wilt offend and who have spent themselves upon thee. _They will leave
+thee to thine own devices, withdrawing every galley from thy Cyprian
+coasts._"
+
+She gave a low moan, pressing her trembling hands to her brow, as if
+brain-weary from perplexity; then she turned to her brother again with
+the exclamation:
+
+"How shouldst thou so utterly desert me, Zorzi--_thou_, and my people
+whom I love!"
+
+"The mercy of the Republic is at an end," he assured her
+uncompromisingly, "and for the Casa Cornaro--thou dost mistake, which
+seemeth easy for thee; it is rather thou who wilt disgrace me--thy
+brother, with his honorable pride in his house and his most noble
+country. For him and his children there will no longer be honors, nor
+any favor of the Senate: upon thy brother, who doth so faithfully
+counsel thee and from his heart, will fall the enmity of the Republic
+who hath _forbidden him to fail_ in his mission. And what is left for a
+patrician who hath suffered exile and confiscation, but death and the
+extinction of his house? This will be thy doing."
+
+She sprang up, attempting to reach a silken cord that swung upon the
+wall near her; but Cornaro raised his hand above her and lightly tossed
+it aside.
+
+"No one shall come between us until I have thy promise: it lieth between
+me and thee."
+
+"I need some one to help me," she implored; "and Aluisi is of our Casa
+Cornaro,--he would understand."
+
+"Two are enough," he said,--"nay, too much; for where the matter is
+urgent, one sufficeth."
+
+She sat on mutely, wrestling with her problem.
+
+From the time that she had first known of her royal destiny, problems of
+rights of governments had never been put before her in unpartisan,
+clear-cut lines of white and black--as right and wrong: her judgment had
+been intentionally befogged by those who should have been her teachers,
+until she found herself Queen by coronation and inheritance, consecrated
+in her right by the awful seal of the great High-Priest Death--before
+whose inviolable silence questions cease, and the scroll of the closed
+life is no longer searched, save with eyes that blur the lines through
+overflowing mercy.
+
+It had been easy for Venice to retain her ascendency over Caterina by
+intensifying her dependence, by fostering the distinctively feminine and
+predominant side of her nature--by insisting upon abnormal claims to her
+duty, her obedience, her love, her gratitude.
+
+When the eyes of the Queen had finally been opened to see the danger of
+these claims of Venice, it was already too late, for the freedom of her
+realm had been inextricably tangled in the toils of Venice. Since then
+she had struggled with all her soul to govern her recalcitrant people by
+the only power that she believed in or possessed--the power of love. But
+it was love with little knowledge of the problems of nations or the
+measures needful to cope with the disaffected nobles who were numerous
+enough to create an influence and who cared rather for their own
+pleasure, than for any duty that they owed to enhance the unity or moral
+splendor of their land.
+
+"My Husband left me Queen," she said at last, raising her troubled eyes
+to his. "It was by his Will that I rule. Have I the right to yield this
+power?"
+
+"POWER!"
+
+She recoiled from the irony of the tone.
+
+"They are my people--they love me," she persisted, "and thou canst not
+know how the care for them doth fill my life. Have I the right to give
+them to any other?"
+
+He laughed again. "Thou hast a veritable talent for creating problems
+wherewith to vex thyself, my sister, conscience-tossed! Hath one a right
+to give that which he can no longer hold? Art thou the first who could
+not rule, to _abdicate_ in favor of a stronger sceptre?"
+
+"We must ask these questions," she said struggling to be firm, "for duty
+is not easy to find."
+
+"Nor fortune," he answered coldly. "And one must be wise indeed to know
+when 'one may grasp it by the hair'--as thou hast the chance with this
+most gracious proffer of the Signoria before thee to reject."
+
+She turned her head away that he might not read her thoughts, while she
+dwelt upon the full meaning of the cruel word he had spoken so
+easily--_to abdicate_: it meant the disgrace of rulers, the
+acknowledgment of supreme weakness--unless to the greater power belonged
+the supreme right.
+
+Was this supreme Right vested with Venice, that she might bow without
+question? The word smote upon her like a touch of ice and her heart
+quailed.
+
+Meanwhile Cornaro was watching, urging her decision with further
+arguments. The Signoria would provide for her; she should retain her
+title; she should still be styled '_Caterina, Regina_;' she should live
+in royal state.--But--_if she did not yield_--our Lord himself in heaven
+would be displeased with her, hating no sin so much for any Christian as
+base ingratitude;--with much more, to which she made no answer.
+
+And thus the night wore on.
+
+At last she rose, weary and heart-broken.
+
+"My brother," she said in trembling tones, "none of thine arguments move
+me: yet thou knowest I should grieve if thou, because of me, shouldst
+suffer exile and disgrace, or thy children be held from any honor they
+might win. But even for this I could not yield. Thy happiness and mine
+must be as naught in this great crisis, against the welfare of my
+people. Them only I must consider."
+
+A torrent of imprecation rose to his lips, but he left it unuttered. For
+as he turned his angry glance upon her and saw her face pallid and
+distraught by the anguish of her struggle, with the strange gleam of
+unearthly strength in her sorrowing eyes--it would have seemed like
+cursing a spirit. He crossed himself unconsciously, drawing a little
+apart from her, and waited impatiently.
+
+There was a motion of her lips, as if she had more to say: but her
+strength was spent, so that her voice would not come with her first
+effort. Cornaro was conscious as he watched her of his fear lest it
+should fail her utterly before she found her speech. He knew what he had
+to expect if he did not succeed in his mission, and for him the moment
+was crucial; others, for a far less bitter thwarting of the will of the
+Signoria, had suffered death--which had been hinted to him. He had meant
+to offer this as his supreme argument when all others had failed to
+coerce her: but instinctively he held it back, fearing to anger her to
+the point of stubborn refusal, for there was some unexpected power of
+resistance within the soul of this slight woman.
+
+Just as he was beginning to assure himself that, at all costs he must
+use further persuasion, her voice came--far away and colorless:
+
+"And if I yield----?"
+
+He went nearer, almost abject in the joy of this sudden reaction,
+promising her with glowing visions, state, glory, luxury, honor, favor
+of the Senate, ease, everything that his vivid imagination could seize
+upon to tempt the fancy of a woman; but she waved her hand impatiently
+to arrest his quick flow of words.
+
+"Not for myself--but for my people--what for them?"
+
+"Everything!" he answered undaunted; "security, prosperity; they shall
+be ruled as Venice rules her provinces--ever more wisely than the people
+rule themselves. Thou knowest that, because of this, foreign States have
+come to plead that Venice would accept their submission."
+
+She knew that this was true; but her heart was like lead within her as
+she raised her impotent clasped hands with a sudden, sharp cry of pain.
+"My God! my God! I am not faithless to my vow--Thou knowest. I must
+choose their welfare, though my heart should break!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+As the Cornaro gave his hand to lead her to her chamber in the light of
+the early dawn, she turned to him pitifully imploring his comprehension
+of her motive: "The Holy Mother knoweth that I am not faithless to my
+people--since with the favor of the Republic turned from me, I might
+neither serve nor guard them.--My lot is bitter!"
+
+But the day had dawned for him, if not for her. "Nay; trust me, sweet
+Sister and Queen, thou hast chosen wisely," he answered with easy
+gallantry, as he kissed her hand and would have left her where the Lady
+Margherita stood waiting with troubled eyes and heightened color to
+receive her--scarcely condescending to notice the Cornaro's homage or
+his gay, parting words--"your fair Queen hath done this night an act
+that shall send her name down through coming ages, wreathed with glory."
+
+For words came easily to him, and he had been too well content with his
+own triumph and escape to weigh the effect of its cost upon Caterina.
+But now, after the mockery of his conventional salutation--which none
+knew better than he to make an expression of profound deference--as he
+turned his bright gaze upon her, the strained pallor of her face with
+its deep lines of suffering smote upon him, and he addressed Dama
+Margherita again with some assumption of concern for his sister's
+welfare.
+
+"I fear she is overwearied; but the long discussion upon business of the
+Senate hath been needful. Yet now there is only rest before her, and I
+may leave her, in confidence, in your gracious care."
+
+But the Lady Margherita had turned impatiently from him to busy herself
+with the Queen before he had finished his speech; then she flashed him a
+glance which he found it hard to meet.
+
+"We who love her need not your counsel, my Lord, to strive to undo your
+'doing of this night. These are the apartments of Her Majesty. We need
+to be alone."
+
+
+
+
+XXXVII
+
+
+Was Venice insatiable in requirement?
+
+"It is enough," Caterina pleaded impotently. "Venice cannot ask more!"
+
+"Nay, it is little," the Cornaro answered, "and only that which shall
+bring thee further honor. The Provveditori will charge themselves with
+the details of the Royal progress--as the Signoria hath directed."
+
+"Let me but sign the parchment, as it may please them," she urged, "for
+the last time with the Royal Seal of Cyprus--but spare me more! I would
+fain withdraw into the Holy House of St. Francis and be at rest."
+
+But this might by no means be permitted; and the Ambassador of the
+Republic was ready with his threadbare argument of ingratitude, with
+much other reasoning of which he was scarcely less proud.
+
+"One giveth not a regal gift with the downcast air of compulsion--else
+were it base in him who receiveth. Bethink thee ever of thine honor and
+of that of Venice," he admonished his sister many times during the weeks
+of preparation that followed upon the Queen's decision; whatever the
+detail under consideration--and few escaped his vigilance--he was
+inflexible, and her opposition could not go beyond his announcement:
+"_It is the will of Venice._"
+
+Where were the nobles of this country tossed hither and thither like a
+shuttle-cock at the will of the strongest, that they would not arm for
+resistance--nay--wrapped themselves in sullen silence in the seclusion
+of their estates, or gathered in great companies to plunge into the
+forests and forget their vexations in the comradery and excitement of
+the chase, while for Caterina the slow days passed in agonized entreaty
+that some miracle might yet chance to save the realm for Cyprus?
+
+Sometimes a wild hope came to her that this extremity might stimulate
+them to an uprising to save the integrity of their land: but a few words
+with those of the Council most devoted to Cyprus convinced her that the
+hope was futile. The days of national ambition were over for this people
+of many races: their luxuries sufficed for their content and lulled them
+into a lethargy which had so deadened their perceptions that the gradual
+encroachments of Venetian power could reach this climax without arousing
+them to action.
+
+Even the burghers who had so valiantly defended their Queen in earlier
+days looked on in mournful inertia while preparations for the royal
+progress went forward, knowing that if Venice thus joyfully accepted the
+'resignation' of their Queen--for thus had the act been freely
+translated to the Cyprian people--they were themselves powerless; and
+the day of farewell dawned at last, when the royal cortege passed out
+from the palace-gates to the grand Piazza of Nikosia, where the formal
+act of renunciation was to be made.
+
+It was a long and ceremonious procession--the high officials of the
+realm were there in splendid vestments, with many Venetian functionaries
+in crimson dignity among them--with a numerous escort of guards in full
+armor--with companies of cavalry and men-at-arms, while, in their midst
+the Queen, in regal velvet and pearls, rode surrounded by the knights
+and ladies of her court. But the color of her robe was black, as were
+also the garments of her maids of honor--of satin, soft and lustrous,
+reflecting the lights from their jewels as they gleamed in the
+sunshine,--yet, to the Embassy of Venice the sombre choice was
+displeasing, as an unpermissible expression of the Queen's sentiments.
+
+"Hath Venice also concerned herself with sumptuary laws for the ladies
+of my household?" Caterina asked with ineffable disdain, when
+remonstrance had been made. And they, having gained so much, feared to
+press her further.
+
+After the solemn mass in the Duomo, the magnificent chords of a jubilant
+Te-Deum filled the Piazza with harmonies--it was the music of a Triumph
+indeed:--the soldiers, the knights, the high functionaries of State, the
+priests and chanting choirs were all there; but the central figure under
+the golden baldachino, upheld by the barons of the realm and surrounded
+with royal honors, was not the Conqueror--but the victim--the prey--the
+sacrifice. It was rather they--the leaders of this pageant, in their
+crimson robes of office with the shadow of the banner of San Marco above
+them, who rode proudly, sure of the honors and emoluments that awaited
+them when Venice should echo to them the Roman cry of victory--"_Io
+Triumphe!_"
+
+And now the Queen pronounced the speech that Venice had decreed,
+wherein she claimed the love that her simple people had lavished upon
+her--
+
+"_For Venice--to whom we have freely yielded our right._"
+
+The words were strange upon her lips, and she spoke them stonily, as if
+she knew not that they had a meaning; and thus tortured from her, it may
+well be questioned whether the Recording Angel ever noted them in his
+book--yet they were her answer to the _popolo_ who thronged about her
+with tears and blessings, as she journeyed from city to city to repeat
+the mournful ceremony of farewell; and the people heard them with sobs
+and groans.
+
+In every city, as one for whom life had died and speech had lost its
+soul--she uttered these words which Venice had decreed; in every city
+she looked on mutely from under her royal canopy--she who was so
+powerless--while the flag of the island of Cyprus was supplanted by the
+banner of San Marco, and the sculptured marble tablet with the winged
+lions guarding its triumphant inscription, was placed as a record of a
+kingdom too weak to rule.
+
+     FRAN. DE PRIULI VENETAE CLASS.
+     IMPER. DIVI MARCI VESS.
+     CYPRI FELICITER ERECTUM EST.
+     NO. MCCCCLXXXVIII. 28 FEBRU.
+
+How dreary the passage across those wide waters to the shores of the
+smiling Adriatic for the desolate woman who had left them in the first
+flush of her youth, with hopes as brilliant as the skies of Venice, and
+with a promise as fair--to return to them lonely, despoiled,
+heart-broken, craving rest! The gray light of the storm-clouds by the
+banks of the Lido and the moan of the rising winds which threatened to
+engulf the Bucentoro and the fleet of attendant barges coming in state
+to meet the deposed Queen, were typical of the change.
+
+Not caring for the splendor of her equipage, though the Doge himself was
+her escort--not deceived by the pageant of welcome that Venice offered,
+Caterina--very beautiful and pale and still, with the sense of the
+motive power broken within her--passed up the long length of the Canal
+Grande by the side of the Serenissimo, receiving the glad homage of the
+people of Venice.
+
+"Caterina Veneta! Caterina Regina!"
+
+Venice was outdoing herself in triumph, showering regal honors upon her:
+the bells of all the Campanili were ringing a jubilee: music greeted her
+from the shores as they glided by--the portals wreathed with festal
+garlands, the beautiful city a glory of light and color; for the storm
+of the evening had passed and the morning had dawned in sunshine, and
+along the Riva the people were thronging to welcome her--the Queen who
+had bestowed the gift of her kingdom upon Venice!
+
+Yet how had the Republic kept faith with Cyprus? Step by step, through
+the years, drawing the velvet clasp closer--closer--until there was
+scarce life left--smiling the while: gathering in the revenues of the
+rich land amply, with no care to spend them on the welfare of the
+island, or for its increase: slowly, strenuously, with deft insinuations
+of filial duty, striving to dominate the young Queen's moral judgments
+and press the claims which were of Venice's own creation--jealously
+watching lest she become too popular, and hampering her action through
+the very officers sent in guise of help--lest through freedom she should
+in truth grow strong to rule: Year by year--stealthily--smiling under a
+cloak of splendor which the Cyprians loved, Venice had grasped at
+power--a little more, and a little more--until resistance was
+impossible.
+
+Was it meet to receive her thus? Could she find smiles for the people
+to-day with the memories of her bridal pageant greeting her at every
+turn--a woman despoiled of hope--a widowed wife--a childless mother--a
+queen without kingdom or power?
+
+Before the Palazzo Corner Regina, the long procession came to pause, and
+with the ceremonies that were meet, Zorzi Cornaro, brother to Caterina,
+knelt down bareheaded before the Doge and was knighted for his prowess
+in persuasion--since without his eloquence it might well have been that
+the Queen of Cyprus would not have given that complete and absolute
+surrender which was so graciously announced to all the allies of Venice
+as "_of the full and free determination_ of our most serene and most
+beloved daughter, Caterina Cornaro."
+
+For the grace of Venice--when her smiling mood was on her, as for the
+fear of her life-crushing frown, men did her bidding without question,
+and never _dared_ to fail.
+
+But Venice still claimed a final act of gift and of submission, where
+the Venetian people might be her witnesses: and when the domes of San
+Marco flashed in the sunset light, the procession entered in solemn
+state--the Senate and Signoria and all the Ducal Court, in full
+attendance--and once more Caterina knelt before the altar and repeated
+her hard lesson, taught by that imperious ruler who knew how to hold the
+sea "in true and perpetual dominion," and who would not suffer 'his
+beloved daughter' to fail in one jot or tittle of her act of
+renunciation.
+
+The homecoming of the Daughter of Venice was over.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Then, at last, came rest, and the sylvan-shades of Asolo--vine-crowned
+among the hills, with the sea spreading far below--blue, shimmering,
+laughing--as if she laved but shores of content, under happy skies.
+
+Whatever of good there remained for Caterina to do in this petty domain
+which the munificence of the Signoria had bestowed in exchange for
+Cyprus, she did with a gracious and queenly hand, so that her realm was
+wider than her territory, for she had won the love of the people
+wherever she had passed, and in the years of her tried and chequered
+life, no evil was ever spoken of her. Yet often the gentle Queen slipped
+away from the modest festivities she had devised for the pleasure of her
+slender mimic court--the music tourneys--the recitations--the fanciful
+quibbles in words--which could have had for her great weariness of empty
+hands but a pale moonlight charm--to the lovely gardens of her hillside
+castle, to woo sad memories--and sweet as sad--of the far-off terraces
+of Potamia which Janus had prepared for his girl-bride.
+
+Then once again Venice decreed a pageant for the gentle Lady of Asolo.
+
+It was night, and the skies had clothed themselves in gloom; out on the
+lagoon the lights in the shipping scarce pierced the mists, and the rain
+fell in flurries, drifting in gusts under the arcades of the Ducal
+Palace, and lifting the cloaks of the Senators and Councillors who
+sought shelter there while the procession was forming. But none turned
+back for the wildness of the night, for the order of the Senate was
+imperative that all the State officials and all the embassies must do
+her honor; and the time had been appointed by a King who bows to no
+mortal will and brooks no delay. Across the Piazza, down through the
+Palace Court-yards and through the _calle_ the people were
+flocking--dark groups over which the lights of the torches flared
+fitfully: the nobles were waiting in their gondolas--each at his palace
+portal, to take his place--there were no sounds but the wind and the
+rain--footsteps plashing over the wet pavements--a whispered order.
+
+And now to strange, solemn music,--the sobbing of the 'cellos, the
+tenderer melancholy of the flute--the long procession was moving up the
+Canal Grande--the ducal barge and the gondola of the Patriarch not
+keeping decorous line, for the roughness of the waters. From the portals
+of the Palazzo Corner Regina a bridge of boats had been thrown across
+the Canal Grande to the mouth of the Rio of San Cassan, and out of the
+blackness of the great Cornaro Palace the bearers met them, bringing in
+reverent state the form of the gracious Queen for whom all earthly
+problems were solved--who might never again answer their devotion with
+smiles or benediction.
+
+Silently each noble stepped up from his gondola, crossing himself
+devoutly and bowing his head as he joined the long, never-ending
+procession: like a phantom vision it swept through the mists--each dark
+figure bearing its torch--_as if it were the soul of him above his
+head_, casting a ghostly reflection, in lessening rays, down through the
+blackness--gliding in air across the water, over the arch of the bridge
+which was all but invisible in the darkness--and down through the narrow
+rio to the Church of the Sant'Apostolli--the weird harmonies of the
+songs of the dead echoing faintly back through the windings of the rio,
+like half-heard whispers from the spirit land.
+
+When the solemn music of the midnight mass had been chanted over the
+noble company in the Church of the Sant'Apostolli, they left her lying
+in state before the altar of the Cappella Cornaro, while in the church,
+outside the chapel, the Ducal guards kept watch. Very still and pale she
+was in the light of the tall wax candles burning about her and the
+torches flaring from the funeral pyre, and strange to look upon in the
+coarse brown cape and cowl of the habit of St. Francis, with a hempen
+cord for girdle. But the Lady Margherita had tenderly folded the hood
+away from the beautiful face and head, and in the pale patrician hands a
+rose lay lightly clasped, and a wealth of floral tributes heaped her
+bier--which was crowned with the royal crown of Cyprus.
+
+Now that the gentle Sovereign had put aside forever her robes of royalty
+and donned for her last vestment the symbol of service and humility, how
+should Venice fear the unconfessed rivalry of her rare spirit,--a mere
+woman--conquered by the power of the State and stricken by death?
+
+Now that the slight hands, folded nerveless over the quiet breast, might
+never more thrill to her emotions of large motherliness, and scatter
+gladness with gracious flutterings, in swift response to a too-adoring
+populace--now that the sleeping eyes might never again unclose to smile
+her loving soul out to her people--the Signoria could be magnanimous in
+homage: and through the days that the proud city mourned for her, the
+sable hatchments on church and palace bore the arms of Venice and of
+Cyprus.
+
+
+
+
+    +----------------------------------------------------+
+    | Transcriber's Note:                                |
+    |                                                    |
+    | Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the       |
+    | original document have been preserved.             |
+    |                                                    |
+    | Typographical errors corrected in the text:        |
+    |                                                    |
+    | Page  21  spozalizio changed to sposalizio         |
+    | Page  26  tumuluously changed to tumultuously      |
+    | Page 168  Prooveditore changed to Provveditore     |
+    | Page 169  bailo changed to bailo                   |
+    | Page 178  unusued changed to unused                |
+    | Page 180  Conaro changed to Cornaro                |
+    | Page 180  Conaro's changed to Cornaro's            |
+    | Page 199  Benardini changed to Bernardini          |
+    | Page 205  dillettissimo changed to dilettissimo    |
+    | Page 234  Revenendissimo changed to Reverendissimo |
+    | Page 306  dias changed to dais                     |
+    | Page 311  dias changed to dais                     |
+    | Page 343  Republica changed to Repubblica          |
+    | Page 356  Bucintoro changed to Bucentoro           |
+    |                                                    |
+    +----------------------------------------------------+
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ROYAL PAWN OF VENICE***
+
+
+******* This file should be named 24784.txt or 24784.zip *******
+
+
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/4/7/8/24784
+
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