XVI.
Welcome Home.
"We are so unlike each other, Thou and I, that none would guess We were children of one mother, But for mutual tenderness."--E. B. Browning
After the first tumult of greeting, in which affection was expressedrather by look and gesture than by word, the brothers sat down andtalked. Eager questions rose to the lips of both, but especially tothose of Carlos, whose surprise at Juan's unexpected appearance onlyequalled his delight.
"But you are wounded, my brother," he said. "Not seriously, I hope?"
"Oh no! Only a bullet through my arm. A piece of my usual good luck.I got it in The Battle."
No adjective was needed to specify the glorious day of St. Quentin, whenFlemish Egmont's chivalrous courage, seconded by Castilian bravery,gained for King Philip such a brilliant victory over the arms of France.Carlos knew the story already from public sources. And it did not occurto Juan, nor indeed to Carlos either, that there had ever been, or wouldever be again, a battle so worthy of being held in everlastingremembrance.
"But do you count the wound part of your good luck!" asked Carlos.
"Ay, truly, and well I may. It has brought me home; as you ought tohave known ere this."
"I received but two letters from you--that written on your firstarrival, and dated from Cambray; and that which told of your notableprize, the French prisoner."
"But I wrote two others: one, I entrusted to a soldier who was cominghome invalided--I suppose the fellow lost it; the other (written justafter the great St. Laurence's day) arrived in Seville the night beforeI made my own appearance there. His Majesty will need to look to hisposts; certes, they are the slowest carriers to be found in anyChristian country." And Juan's merry laugh rang through the conventparlour, little enough used to echo such sounds.
"So I have heard almost nothing of you, brother; save what could begathered from the public accounts," Carlos continued.
"All the better now. I have only such news as is pleasant for me totell; and will not be ill, I think, for thee to hear. First, then, andin due order--I am promised my company!"
"Good news, indeed! My brother must have honoured our name by somespecial deed of valour. Was it at St. Quentin?" asked Carlos, lookingat him with honest, brotherly pride. He was not much changed by hiscampaign, except that his dark cheek wore a deeper bronze, and his facewas adorned with a formidable pair of _bigotes_.
"That story must wait," returned Juan. "I have so much else to tellthee. Dost thou remember how I said, as a boy, that I should take anoble prisoner, like Alphonso Vives, and enrich myself by his ransom?And thou seest I have done it."
"In a good day! Still, he was not the Duke of Saxony."
"Like him, at least, in being a heretic, or Huguenot, if that be a lessunsavoury word to utter in these holy precincts. Moreover, he is a triedand trusted officer of Admiral Coligny's suite. It was that day whenthe admiral so gallantly threw himself into the besieged town. And, formy part, I am heartily obliged to him. But for his presence, therewould have been no defence of St. Quentin, to speak of, at all; but forthe defence, no battle; but for the battle, no grand victory for theSpains and King Philip. We cut off half of the admiral's troops,however, and it fell to my lot to save the life of a brave Frenchofficer whom I saw fighting alone amongst a crowd. He gave me his sword;and I led him to my tent, and provided him with all the solace andsuccour I could, for he was sorely wounded. He was the Sieur deRamenais; a gentleman of Provence, and an honest, merry-hearted, valiantman, as it was ever my lot to meet withal. He shared my bed and board,a pleasant guest rather than a prisoner, until we took the town, makingthe admiral himself our captive, as you know already. By that time, hisbrother had raised the sum for his ransom, and sent it honourably to me.But, in any case, I should have dismissed him on parole, as soon as hiswounds were healed. He was pleased to give me, beside the good goldpistoles, this diamond ring you see on my finger, in token offriendship."
Carlos took the costly trinket in his hand, and duly admired it. He didnot fail to gather from Juan's simple narrative many things that he toldnot, and was little likely to tell. In the time of action, chivalrousdaring; when the conflict was over, gentleness and generosity no lesschivalrous, endearing him to all--even to the vanquished enemy. Nowonder Carlos was proud of his brother! But beneath all the pride andjoy there was, even already, a secret whisper of fear. How could hebear to see that noble brow clouded with anger--those bright confidingeyes averted from him in disdain? Turning from his own thoughts as ifthey had been guilty things, he asked quickly,--
"But how did you obtain leave of absence?"
"Through the kindness of his Highness."
"The Duke of Savoy?"
"Of course. And a braver general I would never ask to serve."
"I thought it might have been from the King himself, when he came to thecamp after the battle."
Don Juan's cheek glowed with modest triumph. "His Highness was goodenough to point me out to His Catholic Majesty," he said. "And the Kingspoke to me himself!"
It is difficult for us to understand how a few formal words of praisefrom the lips of one of the meanest and vilest of men could be lookedupon by the really noble-hearted Don Juan Alvarez as almost the crowningjoy of his life. With the enthusiastic loyalty of his age and countryhe honoured Philip the king; Philip the man being all the time apersonage as utterly unknown to him as the Sultan of Turkey. But notchoosing to expatiate upon a theme so flattering to himself, hecontinued,--
"The Duke contrived to send me home with despatches, saying kindly thathe thought my wound required a little rest and care. Though I hadaffairs of importance" (and here the colour mounted to his brow) "tosettle in Seville, I would not have quitted the camp, with my good-will,had we been about any enterprise likely to give us fair fighting. Butin truth, Carlos, things have been abundantly dull since the fall of St.Quentin. Though we have our King with us, and Henry of France and theDuke of Guise have both joined the enemy, all are standing at gaze as ifthey were frozen, and doomed to stay there motionless till the day ofjudgment. I have no mind for that kind of sport, not I! I became asoldier to fight His Catholic Majesty's battles, not to stare at hisenemies as if they were puppets paid to make a show for my amusement.So I was not sorry to take leave of absence."
"And your important business in Seville. May a brother ask what thatmeans?"
"A brother may ask what he pleases, and be answered. Wish me joy,Carlos; I have arranged that little matter with Dona Beatriz." And hislight words half hid, half revealed the great deep joy of his own strongheart. "My uncle," he continued, "is favourable to my views; indeed, Ihave never known him so friendly. We are to have our betrothal feast atChristmas, when your time of retreat here is over."
Carlos "wished him joy" most sincerely. Fervently did he thank God thatit was in his power to do it; that the snare that had once wound itselfso subtly around his footsteps was broken, and his soul escaped. Hecould now meet his brother's eye without self-reproach. Still, thisseemed sudden. He said, "Certainly you did not lose time."
"Why should I?" asked Juan with simplicity. "'By-and-by is always toolate,' as thou wert wont to say; and I would they learned that proverbat the camp. In truth," he added more gravely, "I often feared, duringmy stay there, that I might have lost all through my tardiness. Butthou wert a good brother to me, Carlos."
"Mayest thou ever think so, brother mine," said Carlos, not without apang, as his conscience told him how little he deserved the praise.
"But what in the world," asked Juan hastily, "has induced thee to burythyself here, amongst these drowsy monks?"
"The brethren are excellent men, learned and pious. And I am notburied," Carlos returned with a smile.
"And if thou wert buried ten fathoms deep, thou shouldst come up out ofthe grave when I need thee to stand beside me."
"Do not fear for that. Now thou art co
me, I will not prolong my stayhere, as otherwise I might have done. But I have been very happy here,Juan."
"I am glad to hear it," said the merry-hearted, unsuspecting Juan. "Iam glad also that you are not in too great haste to tie yourself down tothe Church's service; though our honoured uncle seems to wish you had akeener eye to your own interest, and a better look-out for fatbenefices. But I believe his own sons have appropriated all the stockof worldly prudence meant for the whole family, leaving none over forthee and me, Carlos."
"That is true of Don Manuel and Don Balthazar, not of Gonsalvo."
"Gonsalvo! he is far the worst of the three," Juan exclaimed, withsomething like anger in his open, sunny face.
Carlos laughed. "I suppose he has been favouring you with his opinionof me," he said.
"If he were not a poor miserable weakling and cripple, I should answerhim with the point of my good sword. However, this is idle talk.Little brother" (Carlos being nearly as tall as himself, the diminutivewas only a term of affection, recalling the days of their childhood, andmore suited to masculine lips than its equivalent, dear)--"littlebrother, you look grave and pale, and ten years older than when weparted at Alcala."
"Do I? Much has happened with me since. I have been very sorrowful andvery happy."
Don Juan laid his available hand on his brother's shoulder, and lookedhim earnestly in the face. "No secrets from me, little brother," hesaid. "If thou dost not like the service of Holy Church after all,speak out, and thou shall go back with me to France, or to anywhere elsein the known world that thou wilt. There may be some fair lady in thecase," he added, with a keen and searching glance.
"No, brother--not that I have indeed much to tell thee, but not now--notto-day."
"Choose thine own time; only remember, no secrets. That were the oneunbrotherly act I could never forgive."
"But I am not yet satisfied about your wound," said Carlos, with perhapsa little moral cowardice, turning the conversation. "Was the bonebroken?"
"No, fortunately; only grazed. It would not have signified, but for thetreatment of the blundering barber-surgeon. I was advised to show it tosome man of skill; and already my cousins have recommended to me one whois both physician and surgeon, and very able, they say."
"Dr. Cristobal Losada?"
"The same. Your favourite, Don Gonsalvo, has just been prevailed uponto make trial of his skill."
"I am heartily glad of it," returned Carlos. "There is a change of mindon his part, equal to any wherewith he can reproach me; and a change forthe better, I have little doubt."
Thus the conversation wandered on; touching many subjects, exhaustingnone; and never again drawing dangerously near those deep places whichone of the brothers knew must be thoroughly explored, and that at nodistant day. For Juan's sake, for the sake of One whom he loved evenmore than Juan, he dared not--nay, he would not--avoid the task. But heneeded, or thought he needed, consideration and prayer, that he mightspeak the truth wisely, as well as bravely, to that beloved brother.
The Spanish Brothers: A Tale of the Sixteenth Century Page 16
