The Constant Prince

by Mrs. Molesworth

Enrique had not brought hisfreedom.

  "Come," he said, "tell me your errand."

  "They will not yield the fortress," said Enrique. "They offer anyransom, and the Moors accept none."

  "As God wills," said Fernando, but he tightened his grasp of Enrique'shand.

  "My most dear brother, Pedro and Joao would have freed you; but I--thatChristian town; and now I see the council risks your life--not for theChurch, but for selfish power, and _I_--I lent my voice to theirs."

  "I, too, have thought much on it," said Fernando, steadily; "of theobligations of the treaty, however ill our enemies have kept the lesserprovisions of it."

  "What, they ill-use you?"

  "Nay--you see I am well. And I think of those unhappy ones whose fatehangs on mine. And I thank the merciful Saviour, who lays not thechoice on me, but gives me the easier way of submission, and permits mypoor life to be a defence to a fortress of Christendom as in no otherway it could be. The wish of my heart is given,--may I but tread, inthe footsteps of those blessed ones who have endured worse sufferings inthe same cause, on honour which myself little deserved?"

  Fernando smiled as he spoke, and for a moment Enrique felt that theconfusion of good and bad motives, the doubtful self-denial, and stillmore doubtful justice, that led to the retention of Ceuta, were liftedby his brother's faith and love into the instrument of a holy martyrdom.

  "So," continued Fernando, "bid Duarte not to grieve, for if I suffer, itis no more than I have deserved, and to suffer, even without choice, forsuch an end, is too great honour."

  "Duarte is sick with the care and weight of decision," said Enriquesadly.

  "Ah, could I but see him?" said Fernando, suddenly faltering; then, withrenewed firmness, "But it cannot be. And you, my Enrique, how changedyour face is. You must turn your thoughts again to Sagres and theadventures of your mariners. That is the appointed way in which youmust serve. We still work together."

  "And if--if the council and the king resolve to yield Ceuta?"

  "Why then--God's will be done!" said Fernando, "and we may yet clasphands again. Meanwhile some soul is passing away with the holy rites ofthe Church, some babe receives Christian baptism--who else were castinto outer darkness. But see; the governor interrupts us."

  "Prince Fernando," said Zala-ben-Zala, "I trust your entreaties haveinduced the Duke of Viseo to endeavour to change the mind of the king."

  "The King of Portugal," said Fernando, steadily, "must act as he thinkswell. I have made no entreaties, and shall make none."

  "Know you what you say!" thundered out Zala-ben-Zala, suddenly changinghis tone. "Think you that henceforth your life will be easy, as it hasbeen! Shall the forsworn hostage be treated as a king's son? No! Ourprisoner no longer--you are our slave; and when next King Duarte sendsenvoys, let them see their prince of the blood--their Grand-Master--tending the horses of his Moorish masters as a slave--I say--in fettersand in rags?"

  "The princes of Portugal do not yield to threats," said Fernando,calmly.

  "I am but a mouthpiece," said Enrique, as steadily as he could.

  "Go home and tell what you have seen," said the Moor, roughly.

  The coarse threats stood the two princes in good stead, for their pridenerved them to a firm and silent farewell, though Enrique's heart wasready to break as he passed out of the hall with the officers whoaccompanied him, and left Fernando standing alone among his captors.

  A short while afterwards, as the Portuguese nobles were eagerly watchingfor the prince's return, or for a summons to join him, their prison wassuddenly entered by a party of Moorish soldiers.

  "Now, Christian dogs, our turn has come," roughly shouted the foremost;and seizing on the Portuguese nearest to him he tore off his velvetmantle, flung it aside, and forced him down while he fastened fetters onhis wrists. Resistance was vain, and with blows and curses the wholeparty, the old priest included, were loaded with chains, and draggedthrough the streets to the courtyard of the governor's palace.

  There stood their beloved prince in a rough dress of common serge,fetters similar to their own on his wrists, and his chained hands on therein of Zala-ben-Zala's beautiful Arab horse. He stood with his head upand his lip curled, with a sort of still disdain. At that moment thePortuguese envoys, with Dom Enrique at their head, passed with theirguards through the court, and Zala-ben-Zala advanced to mount his horsewith a rude gesture to the prince who held it.

  Fernando bowed with knightly courtesy, and, advancing, held his stirrup,as if it were a graceful service rendered by a younger to an eldernoble; then looked up and smiled in his brother's face.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN.

  TIMES OUT OF JOINT.

  "Commingled with the gloom of imminent war The shadow of his loss drew like eclipse, Darkening the world."

  Nella Northberry was standing alone by the fountain in the hall of herfather's house. The oranges were ripe on the trees, their sweet blossomwas passed, and she herself looked pale, sad, and sullen. She hadscarcely known what made her heart so heavy when her father had told herthat she was to regard Dom Alvarez as her betrothed suitor, receivingher girlish expressions of unwillingness with entire indifference.Spirited as Nella was, it could not occur to her to resist her father'swill, or think of disposing of herself in marriage; she knew that it wasimpossible, and the girls of her day had generally too littleintercourse with the world before marriage to feel aggrieved at theirabsence of choice. Nella's life had not passed quite in accordance withestablished rules hitherto, and the fetters galled her.

  She stood looking down into the clear waters of the fountain, her tallslim figure drooping a little with unwonted sadness, and her thoughtsstraying tenderly back to England--England, which she should never seeagain now. She thought of the grey convent, the wide woodlands nowpainted with russet and gold, the fresh autumnal breezes, the cheerfulbarking of the dogs at the old Manor house door; and her heart went outto it all with a passionate yearning that brought the hot tears to hereyes.

  "If Catalina were here, perhaps Dom Alvarez would have liked _her_best," she thought, "and I might have gone home again." And with thisstrange reason for missing her lost sister, the tears came faster, andshe pressed her hands over her eyes.

  "Nella?" suddenly said a voice beside her, "does your father tell metrue? Are you indeed betrothed to Dom Alvarez?"

  Nella looked up with a start, for beside her stood Harry Hartsed, with apale face and heavy eyes, as if he had passed a sleepless night.

  "Oh, yes, Harry, it is true!" said Nella.

  She turned her head away and cried bitterly, while Harry was dumb for amoment; for if she had told him that she was married already, therewould hardly have been a greater barrier between them.

  It did not occur to Harry to ask her if she loved Dom Alvarez; but hesaid, passionately--

  "I had hoped one day to go back to the old Devon tower, which must cometo me; and though I never could have made you a great lady, Nell, youshould never have been vexed or crossed, and have had your will always."

  "Oh, hush! hush!" said Nella, "hush!"

  "Tell me one thing," said Harry; "Dom Alvarez accuses me of a share inthe treason that rained my beloved prince. Do you believe _that_ ofyour old playmate!"

  Nella turned round, her blue eyes flashing through their tears.

  "I would as soon believe it of myself," she said.

  "Then I care for no one," cried Harry; "and when my prince comes home,he will see me righted."

  Perhaps it was as well for Nella that her father at this moment came outof the inner room. She ran up to him, and grasped his hand.

  "Father, Harry is no traitor! How dared Dom Alvarez utter such afalsehood!"

  "Leave me to settle that matter, my daughter," said Sir Walter, sternly,"and go you within. What have you to do with the disputes of thesegentlemen? Your country-breeding makes you too forward, and too free oftongue."

  Nella blushed deeply, and withdrew; but as she curtsied to her father,she looked f
or a moment at Harry, and said quickly--

  "I shall never believe it!"

  In all ages of the world, it is hard for women to sit at home and wonderhow matters are going in the world without, and Nella had no chance ofasking a question as she prepared for her first interview with hersuitor. She was very unhappy, and knew too well that she would not havebeen so had Harry Hartsed been in Alvarez's place; but she submitted toher unusually splendid toilet with a sense that she was submitting tothe inevitable. Only she felt as if the blue brocade weighed down heryoung limbs till there was no life left in them, and as if the stringsof pearls were burning their way into her brain.

  She waited long after she