not,fortunately for themselves, live in happier times, and under a moreenlightened government, without having their own wisdom, we suspect, tothank for their safety.
The Duke had just risen, and was seated, in his morning-gown, in theroom he usually inhabited, when his son, the young Marquis of Gouvea,entered, with a gun in his hand, equipped for a shooting expedition.The youth was in high spirits at the thoughts of his day's sport; andthe father, with his many faults, was proud of his noble boy, andblessed him as he parted from him.
Scarcely had the young Marquis quitted the house, when SenhorPolicarpio, with disordered dress, and covered with dust, rushed intothe presence of his master. "Fly, my lord!" he exclaimed,--"we arebetrayed, and all is discovered! There is not a moment to lose: theMarquis of Tavora and all his family were apprehended last night, andthe moment I heard of it I hurried off here to warn you of your danger."
"Whither can I fly?" exclaimed the Duke. "It is useless; besides, noone will dare to injure me. Even that bold plebeian, Sebastiao Joze,would not venture so far."
"Pardon me, your Excellency, then," answered Policarpio; "I feel verycertain that he will venture to hang me, if he can catch me, so I musttake care of my own life." And, without waiting to hear anything hismaster might wish to say further, he hurried from the apartment.
His first care was to go to his own room, and to collect in a bag allthe money he had hoarded up. He then threw off the garments he wore,and dressed himself in some ragged ones, which he had brought under hiscloak. The latter garment served to conceal his new costume, as,seizing his bag of coin, he hastened from the house, unnoticed by anyone. He took the least frequented way across the estate, stopping everynow and then to listen and to look around, lest any guards might beapproaching. He then, after quitting his master's property, hurriedacross the country, and halted not for many miles, till he arrived inthe centre of a pine-forest, through which ran a clear and tranquilbrook. Having looked carefully around, he sat himself down on the bank,and, drawing a knife from his pocket, he deliberately cut off everyparticle of his hair, throwing it, as he did so, into the water. Hisnext operation was to scratch the entire surface of his face and neck,and the greater part of his legs and hands, with his knife, rubbing themover at the same time with an ointment he had provided. With thisapplication the skin became swollen and discoloured to a frightfuldegree, so that, after a few minutes had passed, it would have beenutterly impossible, even for the most intimate acquaintance, to haverecognised him. He next tore and dirtied still more the garments hewore, and, cutting a rough staff from a branch of a fallen tree, he leftthe spot with the exact appearance of a loathsome and wandering beggar.For many years was that wretched figure seen roaming from spot to spot,expecting every instant to be recognised, daring to confide in no one,without a friend in the world, conscience-stricken and miserable, yetclinging to life--no one suspecting that beneath those rags was hiddenthe atrocious criminal, Joseph Policarpio.
We must now return to the Duke of Aveiro. For some time he would notbelieve the account Policarpio had given him; but sat waiting, everyinstant expecting his return, to give him further information, when hisservant, Manoel Ferreira (who, at the particular desire of Policarpio,had, for obvious reasons, transferred his services from the Marquis tohim), rushed into the room with the information, that an officer ofjustice, and a considerable body of armed men, were approaching thehouse.
He now, for the first time, showed some symptoms of comprehending hisdanger; and, when his Duchess, entering the apartment, and throwingherself at his feet, entreated him to fly, he no longer hesitated tocomply with her urgent prayer. He hastened to the window, whichcommanded a view of the entrance to the grounds, and there, at a fewpaces off only, he beheld a body of cavalry, advancing rapidly up theavenue. He stood for a moment, irresolute what course to pursue.
"Come, my lord, we must not stay here to be taken like rats in a trap,"exclaimed Manoel, whose impatience had become excessive. "We have yettime to escape into the woods, where we may remain concealed till welearn the worst that is likely to happen to us."
"Oh! follow Manoel's advice," added the Duchess. "I will stay, andendeavour to delay the police."
"Close every door and window in the house," she cried to the otherservants, who crowded in to learn what was the matter. "Haste, haste!not a moment is to be lost--your master's life depends on your alacrity.We may hold out for some time, before they suspect we are deceivingthem."
While the servants hurried off to obey her orders, she took herhusband's hand, and led him to a small door, at the back of thebuilding, whence he might escape across a field, into the woods whichsurrounded the Quinta. She here resigned him to Manoel; for socompletely had terror now mastered him, that he seemed incapable ofguiding his own steps, while she retired to an upper window to watch hisprogress.
The Duchess gazed anxiously from the window. She saw her husband passthrough the garden, without being observed; and he had already crossedmore than half way the field which separated it from the wood, when thetramp of horses sounded in the paved court, in front of the building.No one yet followed him. A loud knocking was now heard at thehall-door, and a voice, in an authoritative tone, demanded admittance inthe King's name. She longed to watch, until he was in comparativesafety; yet she feared, lest the servants, becoming alarmed, might openthe door to his pursuers, when his capture must be inevitable; for,exposed to view, as he now was, from every upper window at the back ofthe house, they could scarcely avoid seeing him, as they hurried throughthe rooms in search of him. Casting a last glance in the direction hewas pursuing, she hastened down stairs, where she found most of theservants collected in the hall, consulting as to the prudence ofadmitting the emissaries of justice. The blows on the door wererepeated with greater violence; the old major-domo, trembling withalarm, had his hand on a bolt, about to withdraw it.
"Would you murder your master?" she exclaimed, seizing the old man'sarm. "If you are men, protect him to the last; I will be answerable tothese people for all that may happen."
With prayers and commands, she then persuaded the domestics to retire tothe upper part of the house, whither she followed them; and, throwingopen a window, she inquired, in a calm voice, the object of the visit ofthe military.
"We come to demand the body of Don Joze de Mascarenhas, Duke of Aveiro,"answered the Desembargador, the officer of justice, who had charge ofthe party. "If he does not forthwith deliver himself up to our lawfulauthority, we shall instantly proceed to force open the door."
"Let me first see the warrant for his apprehension, and I will then obeyyour commands, if I find you speak the truth," returned the Duchess,anxious by any excuse to gain time.
"That cannot be," answered the officer. "Either at once open the door,or we must find some other means to make an entrance."
"Do so at your peril," said the Duchess, firmly. "The Duke does notfeel disposed to allow any stranger to enter his house; but, if you willwait, I will go and consult his wishes with regard to our proceedings;"and, closing the window, she hurried away to the back of the house,leaving her enemies under the belief that the Duke was still within.
The servants were running backwards and forwards, wringing their hands,and sobbing with alarm, as they entreated her to allow them to throwopen the door. Again insisting on their obeying her orders, she lookedforth towards the wood.
"Oh! Heaven protect him!" she exclaimed, as she saw the Duke and hisattendant, still at some short distance from the wood. "In two minutesmore he will be hidden from their view."
Scarcely had the Duchess uttered these words, when again the loud blowson the door resounded through the house. Again they were repeated; acrashing noise, as of wood rent asunder, was heard. The women shrieked,and fled in all directions to hide themselves, followed by themen-servants, except a page of the Duke's, who, seizing a sword, seemeddetermined to defend his mistress from insult. The door was throwndown, the tramp of feet echoed through the hall, heavy steps were heardasc
ending the stairs, but the Duchess heeded them not; her gaze wasfixed on her lord. A few paces more and the trees would have concealedhim, when the door of the apartment was thrown open, and several menrushed in. She could endure no longer, and uttering a cry of despair,she sank, fainting, on the ground. The page in vain attempted toprevent the soldiers from approaching the window; he was soon disarmedand bound, when, at that moment, the officer of justice entering, hiskeen eye caught sight of the persons of the fugitives in the distance.He at once guessing who they were, and the reason of the Duchess'srefusal to admit the party, despatched some of his followers in pursuit.
The Duke's courage had revived on finding that no one followed, and hewas congratulating himself on his chance of escape, when, as he andManoel had