The Constant Prince

by Mrs. Molesworth

amid slavery and cruelty, andwithout those whom I love, He holds me up with such a frequentconsciousness of His presence, and such a blessed sense of His goodness,as is better than freedom and friends; so weep not, dear Harry, and bidmy Enrique not to weep for one who has blessings of which he is allunworthy."

  Harry could only bend down and kiss the wasted hands that held his.

  "My lord, I have sinned in my fierce anger," he said; "I see it, now Iknow what my prince has to bear."

  "You did always know, Harry, what was borne by the Prince of Peace,"said Fernando. "But here is Moussa; maybe we shall meet again in theroyal gardens; if so, pay me no respect--treat me as a slave."

  Moussa here entered with a skin of water, with which he permitted Harryto bathe the prince's face and hands before quitting him, as he laygrateful and smiling, with a word of thanks to Moussa for his kindness.

  When Harry found himself in the free air again, he staggered as if hewould faint, and, hardly recovering, hurried away out of the streets ofthe town into a quiet spot, where he threw himself down on the ground,able to think of nothing but of the condition in which he had found theprince. When he quitted Lisbon, full of resentment and anger, he had atonce resolved to seek the prince in his imprisonment, and obtain someevidence from him of his innocence. He was far too proud to go back toEngland with a dishonoured name, and though he believed Nella lost tohim for ever, he could not bear to think that she should be taught todisbelieve in him. He was too angry to consider that his violentquarrel with Alvarez, rather than the vague charge against him, had beenthe cause of his banishment. After a long series of adventures, andsome hardship and difficulty, he finally encountered the good Paolo, whoundertook to obtain him speech of the prince, and provided the bribe forthe warder. But not all the merchant's descriptions had prepared Harryfor what he saw, and he could not recover from the impression. He hungabout the place where the slaves were employed, and obtained speech ofone or two of the Portuguese, who were all eager to hear a word fromhome. They were all more patient than the other poor slaves, and hadevidently learnt something from the example of the prince, who after aday or two appeared again among them, working feebly at his humble toil;a sight that nearly drove Harry crazy.

  CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR.

  RESTORED.

  "Laila rushed between To save--. She met the blow, and sank into his arms."

  _Thalaba_.

  Meanwhile Leila mused much over the death of Manoel. The dim visions ofher childhood were too far away to be attractive. Even Nella, though atender thought to her, was vague compared to the maidens by whose sideshe had played for years. The notion of a father was utterly strange toher--too strange to be attractive. She loved the princess, who had beenon the whole kind to her, with the devotion of a loving nature; and sheshrank timidly from the unknown world without the palace walls.

  "To be a Christian" hardly came before her in the light of anobligation; she knew nothing of Christianity but a few words of prayer,which she did not understand, and the sign of the cross, madeinstinctively, to which she could scarcely attach a meaning. She wasfrightened by the call to become something so new and strange. Herfeelings were dormant and uncultivated. She was happy enough; whyshould she change?

  Then there rose up before her the one figure who had come to her out ofthe mists of darkness, the enslaved prince. _Her_ friends oppressed_him_, and she thought with a shudder of the ill-treatment she hadwitnessed. If she was a Christian too, was it not a shame to lie thereon her soft couch, to eat sweetmeats, and play with flowers, while hesuffered such cruel pangs! Strange contradiction!--it was not freedom,a father or a sister's love, that made her feel that she was aChristian, but the stripes and the fetters of her fellow-slave.

  Still this was but a feeling; and this poor child was no heroine, nodeliverer of her race, but a little soft, spoiled, tender creature, whohad lived all her days on sweetmeats and caresses.

  But a great desire possessed her to hear what the prince would say toher about that unknown world of which she had been lately thinking; andwith a view to getting an interview with him, she set herself to watchthe slaves as closely as possible. She soon perceived that it was a badtime for the Portuguese. The mild Hassan had been succeeded by anoverseer named Jussuf, whose cruelties were frightful, and the poorprisoners could do nothing so as to escape his blows.

  One day, as she stood by the garden-wall watching, with a fascinationthat grew every moment more painful and more intense, Fernando detachedhimself a little from the others, and, unobserved for a moment, restedthe heavy load under which he staggered against the wall. The littlegate was unfastened, for some work had been going on within; and, withsudden courage, Leila, pulling her veil over her face, pushed it open,and touched the prince's arm.

  "They are not looking. Come inside and rest," she said.

  Fernando was almost fainting; he yielded unthinkingly, and putting downhis burden of heavy stones, dropped down on the grass.

  "Oh, you will die, as the other slave did," cried Leila, in terror.

  "No, lady," said Fernando, recovering himself; "this rest has revivedme. I have sought to speak with you to tell you that I have beenenabled to send home a message to your father, telling him of yoursafety; and I doubt not that he will find means to offer such a ransomas may restore you to your friends."

  Leila trembled.

  "My lord," she said, "I am afraid to be a Christian."

  "Ah, do not think," said Fernando, "that the cross would bring on yousuch suffering as you see in these poor slaves; or, if so, it is in theservice of a Master Who endured infinitely more for His followers."

  "Like you," said Leila.

  "Nay," said Fernando, "yet if I could reach that likeness--"

  The prince had risen to his feet, and stood leaning against the gateway.Leila sat on the grass. She had pushed aside her veil, and was lookingup at him with her clear blue eyes shining through half-shed tears.Suddenly Jussuf's heavy hand fell on Fernando's shoulder, striking himdown to the ground again.

  "Dog of a Christian!--what do you here?" he cried, striking blow afterblow.

  With a sudden impulse Leila rushed forward, and threw herself on herknees beside them.

  "I too am a Christian!" she cried, and before Jussuf could stay hishand, the heavy blow intended for his victim, fell on Leila's head, andstretched her senseless on the grass.

  "Coward and villain!" cried the prince, all his knightly manhood roused,as with sudden strength he sprang up, and for once returned the blow.

  All passed in a moment. Leila's screams had brought both the otherwomen and the slaves and overseers without to the spot, and Fernando'shands were pinioned, and he was dragged away before he had time to seewhether Leila's senses returned to her. He bitterly blamed himself forhaving yielded to her proposal, for the incident brought far severerrestrictions on himself and his companions, and he feared much sufferingon the poor maiden herself; and many were the prayers he offered thatshe who had been impelled to so brave a confession might not be forcedinto denying the Faith which she scarcely knew, and that this tender,innocent child might not have to endure such suffering as tried theuttermost strength of grown men. Leila, when she revived from thestunning blow, was dizzy and faint; but when her princess questionedher, she answered boldly, that she knew the slave Selim to be the Princeof Portugal, and that she herself was a Christian lady--she could notbear to see him beaten.

  Whereat the princess angrily reminded Leila that she too was but aslave, and sentenced her to a whipping--not very severe--for herdisobedience and folly. Leila _was_ a slave, and she took the stripesas her due, and cried at their smart, then kissed her mistress's hand,and begged for pardon; and the princess indolently forgave her, and badeher go and work at her cushion.

  "But do not weep," said she, "for Ayesha is growing prettier than you,and if you cannot laugh and sing to amuse me, I shall let Jussuf marryyou as he wishes. I told him you entertained me, and I would not spareyou."

 
; "Oh, princess!" cried Leila in an agony, "I love you; let me stay withyou."

  "Well, sing then, and learn some pretty dances; you are tiresome whenyou cry."

  But Leila's efforts failed to please. She was no longer a littlesoulless plaything. Thoughts of her distant home, of her prince'ssufferings, yearnings after that unknown Saviour, Whom he followed,filled her heart, and her eyes grew absent and her lips sad. Shefretted, and her feet were less light, her voice less ringing.

  "I shall let Jussuf have her," thought Zarah; "they are not so prettyand amusing as they grow older. Ayesha is only fourteen."

  In the meantime Harry Hartsed left Fez in company with Paolo, and beforemany weeks were over found himself on the stormy promontory of Sagres,telling his tale to Dom Enrique himself.

  There Enrique had retired, and amid plans for navigation, observationsof the heavens, and constant efforts to improve the mathematicalinstruments with which they were carried out, endeavoured to forget thedistracting disputes between Dom Pedro's party and that of the queen.Nevertheless he was never deaf to the call of duty, and succeeded on thewhole in keeping unimpaired both his brotherly love and his loyalty tohis young nephew, through all the petty spite and false accusation ofthat miserable time.

  He listened with great attention to Harry's story, and then said--

  "I think, Master Hartsed, that in the soreness of our hearts weneglected to inquire sufficiently into the vague story that so angeredyou. But it is ended; for a wretched soldier not long since madeconfession that he, and he only, was aware of the traitor's intention onthat fatal night, and being sentry, permitted him to pass the outpost.But I will come with you to Sir Walter Northberry and confirm thistale."

  "I thank you, my lord. Dom Alvarez is doubtless--is doubtless--"

  "Dom Alvarez and Sir Walter are no longer friends, since Dom Alvarez,with his family, has joined the party of the queen. Sir Walter is oneof those who wish for my brother's regency. His betrothal therefore isat an end."

  "Oh, my lord, I never hoped--I never dreamed of hearing this," criedHarry so ecstatically, that a smile broke over the prince's grave face.

  "Well, Master Hartsed, you shall come with me to Lisbon. I offer youagain a place in my household, and doubtless Sir Walter will understandhow matters have sped, especially when you bring him such good news."

  "My lord, I can never thank you."

  "I ask but this, this precious writing," said Enrique, sorrowfully, ashe laid his hand on the tablet.

  "Oh, my lord, is there no hope of a deliverance? I would give the lastdrop of my blood to save him!"

  Enrique shook his head.

  "Sometimes," he answered, "I am thankful that he does not know theintrigues and the meannesses that have kept him where he is, and all thelight of my life with him. Well," added the prince, as if to himself,"he is winning a martyr's crown, and I must do that work in the world towhich I am called. But you love him."

  And with a smile of exceeding sweetness Enrique rose and held out hishand to Harry, as if that love was to be a bond between them.

  He kept his word. When they came to Lisbon, he took on himself to tellSir Walter how completely he considered Master Hartsed's character to becleared from the doubt cast on it. He showed Fernando's preciouswriting, and prepared the father for the revelation of Catalina'sexistence.

  And so it came to pass that one day Nella was called away from herembroidery, and found herself once more in the presence of her oldfriend, and heard that he had found her lost sister.

  Nella had passed but a dreary time of late; but she was of a hopefulnature, and certainly had found it hard to regret the quarrels thatparted her from her unwelcome suitor. She had learned too, by theendurance of a real grief and loss, to be more patient of the rubs andthe dullnesses of daily life, just as Harry had learned patience by thesight of suffering so far exceeding his own.

  Both were changed from the impetuous boy and wilful girl, who hadlaughed and disputed little more than a year ago. But their hearts wereunchanged towards each other, and Dom Enrique's influence soon inducedSir Walter to consent to a union which ensured his daughter's happinessand gained a faithful adherent to the Regent's cause.

  But first there was great joy at hearing of Catalina's safety, and DomEnrique aided Sir Walter in offering a ransom large enough to insure herfreedom, and it was sent to Fez by trusty messengers. It came at theright time; Leila had been bidden to consider herself the promised brideof the terrible Jussuf, and all her tears and intreaties had availednothing.

  The princess was tired of her, and when a sum of money large enough topurchase a ruby on which she had set her fancy was offered, Jussufhaving at the same time fallen into disgrace for neglecting sometrifling order, Leila, with hardly a farewell, scared and halfreluctant, was handed over to the unknown Christians who were to conducther to Lisbon.

  She was passive in the bewilderment of change and novelty; her few wordsof Portuguese failed her utterly; her father's welcoming kiss made hertremble and hide her face; and though she returned Nella's embraces, andsmiled when her sister dressed her in clothes like her own, and calledher Kate, it was with a bewildered surprise.

  Dom Enrique asked to see her, knowing enough of the Moorish tongue toquestion her as to all she could tell of his dear brother; and when shesaw him she threw herself at his feet and kissed his hand, with anabandonment unlike indeed to Nella's stately greeting.

  But Enrique won from her the story of the blow she had borne forFernando's sake, and thenceforth she was to him an object of entireadmiration and reverence.

  In order that she might learn the duties of her religion and accustomherself a little to the life of a Christian lady, she was sent to aconvent, and there she was far more at home than in her father's house,learned to speak Portuguese slowly and with difficulty, and practisedwith great docility all the observances required of her.

  The nuns would fain have kept so apt a pupil altogether, and Catalinawas not unwilling: the outer world was too strange to be a happy one.

  But she went home on the occasion of her sister's marriage, and thereher beauty, equal to Nella's, and the soft gentleness that distinguishedher manner from the bride's gayer, franker air, attracted the notice ofNella's old suitor, Dom Alvarez, whose friendship, in some new turn ofcourt intrigue, was now sought again by Sir Walter.

  Here was Nella's face, without Nella's untamable English spirit, and theyoung Portuguese thought the face none the less fair for the deficiency.He asked Catalina in marriage, being assured, he said, that she was agood Christian and a gentle lady; and Sir Walter, glad to be quit ofthis perplexing maiden, at once agreed.

  Catalina showed no unwillingness, and perhaps her gentle passivenessagreed better with Portuguese notions than ever Nella's lively willcould have done. She was loving and dutiful, and in the love of herchildren she was happy, knowing little and caring less for the politicalambitions and intrigues which formed her husband's life, simplybelieving that his part must be the right one.

  Eleanor Hartsed looked differently on life, and perhaps her clear andsteadfast nature helped to point the right path to her husband in thetroublous days in which their lot was cast, for Harry was too muchattached to Dom Enrique to desert his adopted country, and the greatprince never ceased to mark with a peculiar favour those who had beenamong the last to love and serve his beloved brother.

  But Catalina never forgot to pray for the captive prince who had taughther what it was to be a Christian; and Harry Hartsed, amid civil strifeand political passion, cherished to his dying day the precious memory ofhaving seen in the very flesh the "patience of the saints."

  CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE.

  VICTORY.

  "It is not exile--rest on high; It is not sadness--peace from strife; To fall asleep is not to die; To dwell with Christ is better life."

  In the meantime the slow years went by for the prisoners of Fez andbrought no change in the main features of their lot. One or two, likethe poor young Manoel, sank and
died, and for these the survivors couldbut give thanks; but still Fernando lived on and endured. Perhaps thevoluntary self-denials to which he had accustomed himself in earlieryears made him better able to bear these later hardships; but certainlyfor seven long years he bore his cruel lot so firmly and so calmly as towin the respect even of his jailers, while his fellow-captives loved himwith such entire and devoted affection that they could hardly bemiserable in his presence. They leant on him with a dependence strangetowards one who indeed could not defend them "from the least insult ofthe meanest foe."

  Long years of hopeless slavery did not as a rule raise the character orennoble the life. Many of the poor Christian slaves were degraded bythe tyranny under which they suffered to a lower level than the masterswho oppressed them, and became faithless, cowardly, and brutal. Foroppression does not of itself make men heroic. It is much to say of thePortuguese that as the years went by they grew more patient, more manly,and more Christian; while to Fernando the blissful end of his sorrowsshone ever nearer and more bright, till his daily trials seemed hardlyfelt for the inward light that shone on them.

  Perhaps this strange content defeated the intentions of Lazurac, orperhaps Fernando's increasing weakness and helplessness made him fearthat he would soon lose his captive, and with him his hold over thePortuguese nation; but Fernando was one day suddenly separated from hiscompanions and confined in a separate prison, the reason alleged beingthat he was unable to perform the toil exacted from him.

  This was the cruellest stroke that had ever fallen on them. They feltutterly lost and forsaken, and for days could have no news of him,