daughter,against her will, of the innocent pleasures which accord with her ageand sex."
"Such ideas are but the instigations of the evil one, jealous that animmortal soul should be lost to him for ever," answered the Priest."Trust not to any feelings which war against the spirit on the side ofthe flesh. No human mind can conceive the dark machinations which thefather of sin employs to drag forth a chosen child from the bosom of ourholy Church, except we, who in our avocations study his works, and areprepared to repel him with the arms of our faith."
"You doubtless speak words of truth and wisdom," said the gentleman;"nor would I hesitate to allow my daughter to follow the bent of herinclinations, did she feel any calling for the life of the cloister; butshe knows not what is to be her fate, or the reason of our going toLisbon, for I have never yet ventured to inform her of my intentions."
"Let that be my care," returned the Priest, frowning darkly. "I willprepare her gentle soul for the happy change. But have you never, then,informed her of her mother's dying wish, delivered to me after she hadreceived extreme unction at my hands, that her daughter should bededicated to the service of the Church?"
"I confess, Father, that I have hesitated to speak to her on thesubject, fearful of throwing a gloom over the bright and elastic spiritsof her youth," returned Senhor Christovao.
"Know you not, that the sooner the wings of a young bird are clipped,the less will it wish to fly; and therein have you done wrong; butclearly do I perceive the work of Satan again, in this seeking to ruinyour soul, and that of your daughter. Ah! he is even now riding nearyou, plotting deeds of darkness. Get thee gone, thou spirit of evil!"he exclaimed with vehemence, making the sign of the cross. "Avauntthee, Sathanas! Fear him no longer, my son; he has flown off to theregions of iniquity, from whence he came."
"With you by my side, I fear not the evil spirit," answered the Fidalgo,though the expression of his countenance belied his words; "and I willtake the earliest opportunity of putting your directions into execution,though I knew not that my wife had expressed a wish that her daughtershould enter a convent. During her last illness, you informed me sheoften prayed that I would permit her child to assume the veil, ratherthan I should compel her to wed against her inclination. This Iconsented to do, trusting she would nor wish to rebel against my will inthe choice of a husband: as yet, her heart is free, and I have arrangedthat she shall marry, though yet she knows not of it, the young Conde deSan Vincente, one of the oldest Puritano families, and one of the mostwealthy; so that he is in every way unexceptionable. He is also a greatfriend of my son, who is very anxious for the match; and he tells methat the count is longing to see his intended bride. I therefore trustI shall have no difficulty on the subject, and that Clara, who hasalways been a dutiful child, will make no objections."
"With all these arrangements I was perfectly acquainted," said thePriest, in a calm tone; "but suppose she objects to marry the youngcount, will you not then follow her mother's wishes? or, I may saymore--for, know that your wife devoted her daughter to the Church, andthe quiet of her soul depends on the fulfilment of her vows."
"Father, you press me hard," exclaimed the Fidalgo, in a tone of voicewhich showed that his feelings were galled; and his ghostly confessorsaw that he might be going too far. "I seek to do what is best for thehonour of my family, for my daughter's happiness, and for the repose ofthe soul of my departed wife; what more would you have me do?"
"It is enough," returned the Priest; "you promise, then, that if yourdaughter, Donna Clara, refuses to obey your wish that she should marrythe Conde de San Vincente, she shall assume the veil, with the portionthat you would bestow on her if she wedded; for, remember, if you donot, it is at the peril of your own soul, of her's, and of that of yourdeparted wife."
"I promise so to do, holy Father, if thus her sainted mother vowed herto the Church," exclaimed the Fidalgo; "but I know that my sweet childwill not for a moment dream of disobeying my wishes."
"I seek alone the good of her precious soul," returned the Priest; andfor some time they rode on in silence.
During this discussion, the fair subject of it, little suspecting thather fate was being thus summarily settled, was thinking alone of theamusements she was to meet with in the capital, to which this was herfirst visit, her life having been spent in the quiet seclusion of herfather's quinta, at a short distance from the city of Oporto, whosepointed walls could be seen from the windows of the mansion. All beforeher was unknown, and she had painted it bright and beautiful; for hersoul was pure, and her mind contented and happy; nor had all thespecious reasonings of the intriguing monk, who acted as her fatherconfessor, been able to sully the one, or cast a gloom over the other;for God has benignantly afforded a sacred shield to some of the fairbeings of his creation, whose own weakness and loveliness would exposethem to the attacks of the darkly designing and wicked, who, though theysee not, yet feel its power, and wonder at their own defeat.
Senhor Goncalo Christovao was the head of one of the oldest and purestnoble families of Portugal, their motto being, "Kings descend from us;"not one of his ancestors having intermarried with any other family,unless they could show an equally pure escutcheon. Though of thehighest class of fidalgos, he disdained to accept any title, which hesaw often bestowed on men whom he looked down upon on account of theirbirth, priding himself far more on the antiquity of his own descent.This system was, at that time, strictly adhered to by a certain numberof families, claiming the high distinction of being called Puritanos, orthose of pure race, they being the highest class of fidalgos. TheFidalguia rank above the Nobres, and are entirely independent of alltitles: they are divided into a great number of classes, according tothe quarterings on their shields, each considering it a disgrace tomarry out of their own pale.
The Nobres rank with the English esquire, being simply gentlemen whocarry arms, though they often rise to rank and influence, from which,indeed, no class of the present day are debarred; but, until the time ofPombal, the Fidalguia had exclusively retained among themselves everypost of power and authority, wreaking their vengeance on any whoventured to interfere with what they considered their privileges.
This short digression is necessary to explain the position in societyheld by Goncalo Christovao, for so he delighted to be spoken of. Afterriding for some time in silence by the side of the priest, he guided hishorse close to his daughter's litter, remorse and sorrow combating inhis heart with the superstition and bigotry the friar had endeavoured toinstil into it; but when he was about to speak on the subject heintended, his courage again failed him, and he smiled as he gazed on hislovely child, and inquired how she bore the fatigues of the journey.
Two weary hours passed away in crossing the moor, before the partyreached the borders of one of those large pine-forests, with which theface of Portugal is so thickly sprinkled. The trees grew so closelytogether that it was impossible to see far amongst them; and a high bankrose on one side of the pathway, which led through a deep dell, with asparkling rivulet running at the bottom of it. It was a shady and coolspot; but after having just quitted the bright sunshine, a certaingloomy air appeared to hang over it, and for the first time the warningof the maid at the inn occurred to the mind of the fair Clara. "Oh! myfather, what a dark forest this seems!" she exclaimed; "are not robberssometimes met with in these places? I know not why, but I do not feelso happy as I did before, and cannot help wishing you had more people toguard you."
"Fear not, my sweet child," answered the Fidalgo; "we muster too strongto dread an attack from any band of robbers we are likely to encounter;and if any should dare to molest us, they shall pay dearly for it."
The words were scarcely uttered, when several musket-shots were heard,as if discharged from among the trees; and one of the servants fell fromhis mule,--the blood streaming from a wound in his side; and the animalof one of the other men reared, and rolled over, with his rider, to theground. Donna Clara trembling with agitation, gazed anxiously at herfather, who, drawing his sword, looke
d around, fearful lest any othershots from the unseen assassins might injure his child.
Confusion and dismay took possession of all the individuals of thecavalcade; the women in the litters screamed loudly and long, and themen stood aghast, not knowing which way to turn to meet theirtreacherous foe.
"Lift your fellow from the ground, and push on in close order," criedGoncalo Christovao; "we must not remain here to be murdered. Look wellto your arms, and miss not your aim, if any of the villains showthemselves."
But, alas! the order was useless; for, before the party could advancemany paces, another volley was discharged among them, bringing down oneof the hindmost litters, containing the maid-servants, whose shrieks andcries of terror utterly confounded