cavalier, and utteredin a tone of respectful courtesy, she could not fail to put implicitconfidence. Notwithstanding his words, however, he kept a constant andwatchful glance on every side, having also given private instructions tohis own people, and to those of Goncalo Christovao to have their arms inreadiness for any sudden attack. By insensible degrees he was led toenter more into conversation with his fair companion, and, as he spoke,his words became animated with a new spirit; all thoughts of the pastbeing banished from his mind, while the roses again returned to hercheeks before blanched by fear, her soft eyes beaming with a strange andundefined happiness.
While Don Luis rode on to address the fidalgo, the old Nurse began tocomment on his appearance. "What a handsome young cavalier is that,"she said; "so brave too,--why, the servants say he killed ten of thebrigands with his own hand! What a noble countenance he has! with suchsparkling black eyes! and how many polite inquiries he made after ourhealth! Oh! mine is sore shaken by the fright.--Is he not handsome?"
"Do you think so, good nurse?" answered Donna Clara unconsciously. "Idid not look.--He is very brave and very good, I am sure."
"That he is; and so gallant, too," said the Nurse. "How few younggentlemen would take the trouble to turn back to protect us. What apity he is married!"
"Married!" exclaimed Donna Clara; and there was a sinking at her heart,and she felt her cheek again grow pale, she knew not why.
"If he is not married, he soon is to be, to his cousin Donna Theresad'Alorna. The moment I heard his name I remembered that I had learnedall about it from Senhora Anna, his father's housekeeper, whosebirth-place is near Oporto, and who came back to see her kindred sometime ago."
While the old lady was thus running on, the subject of her conversationagain rode to the side of the litter; for it was extraordinary howincumbent on him he considered it to make frequent inquiries respectingthe young lady's health. Now, many people will ask if Don Luis had thussuddenly forgotten Donna Theresa and all his griefs; and though wecannot, with perfect certainty, answer that question, yet we have strongreasons to suspect that, for the time, he thought very little abouteither one or the other; nor had he, indeed, from the moment when hedashed his spurs into his horse's flanks, as he rode forward to rescueDonna Clara from the power of the brigands, and, as now he rode by herside, gazing on her lovely countenance, and regarding her as one whoconfided in him for protection, he knew not how it was that all natureseemed suddenly to have assumed a brighter garb, and the weight to havebeen lifted from his heart. We must, however, beg no one to suppose wemean to insinuate, either that he had fallen in love with the lady, orthat she had fallen in love with him, at first sight; because all peopleof mature judgment agree that, if such is possible, it can occur aloneto very silly young people; and that the descriptions of such folly areto be found only in the most absurd and extravagant romances. Ofcourse, therefore, in a grave history, like the present work, we shouldnot venture even to hint at such a thing; and, with regard to hisaffection for his cousin, it must be remembered that she had treated himwith great cruelty and deceit; and that young hearts, however theirpossessors may fancy them seared and blighted, are of a very elastic andreviving nature, requiring but the warm sun and genial showers of springto restore their freshness and bloom.
However that may be, when Don Luis again rode up to the side of thelitter, his thoughts dwelt on no other subject than its fair occupant,and he felt a slight sensation of disappointment, as, instead of leaningforward to hear what he had to communicate, she reclined back in herseat. "I fear Donna Clara is fatigued with all she has undergone," heobserved.
"Yes, senhor," she answered, with a half averted eye, "I have, indeed,yet scarcely recovered from terror, though I know it is foolish to befurther alarmed; but--" and she hesitated to proceed.
"Do you know, Senhor Don Luis," exclaimed the old Nurse, eager to speak,and at the same time to relieve the embarrassment of her charge, "that Ihave heard a great deal of you, and seem to know you perfectly well,though I never saw you before. Ah! senhor, I have heard, too, of yourfair cousin, Donna Theresa, and am surprised she is not with you; for Ithought you were to have been married before this."
At Donna Theresa's name a cloud passed across the cavalier's brow.
"You must have been misinformed, senhora," he answered gravely. "Mycousin is engaged to the Marquis of Tavora."
"Oh! I beg your pardon, senhor," said the old Nurse; "I hope I have notoffended by the question; but I hear that she is a very lovely younglady."
"Oh no, no, you have not offended," said Don Luis, as he rode from theside of the litter, to avoid showing the blush which burned on his cheekat hearing an affair so lightly alluded to, which he had fancied unknownto the world. Very different was the effect of his words on DonnaClara; for though she felt that, whether he was single, engaged, ormarried, ought to be a matter of complete indifference to her, yet acertain uneasy sensation seemed removed from her breast, and she againleaned forward to speak, when she found he was no longer by her side.
More than an hour elapsed before Don Luis again approached the litter,during which period the young lady unconsciously allowed a number of newsensations, which had never before been known to her, to take possessionof her heart; and she welcomed his return with a smile whose sweetnessmight have softened the bosom of a stoic,--and certainly her gallantdeliverer was not one. For the remainder of the journey he did notleave the side of her litter for more than a few minutes at a time,always gladly again returning to it; and, although they had emerged sometime before from the dark forest of pines, and were traversing acomparatively thickly-peopled country, so that all fear of the brigandswas banished, yet he insisted on accompanying the party to the end oftheir day's journey. As the travellers wound round the base of a hill,the bright rays of the evening sun were throwing a ruddy hue on thetopmost turrets of the once proud castle of Leiria; which, standing onthe summit of an eminence, situated to the north of that most ancienttown, now burst on their view, enclosed in an amphitheatre of hills,surrounding a smiling, well-cultivated valley. A road winding round thefoot of the hill conducted them, through the narrow streets of the town,to the house of a fidalgo, who, though absent, had requested GoncaloChristovao to take up his abode there.
Don Luis spent the evening in the society of the fidalgo and hisdaughter; nor did he lose the ground he had gained in the estimation ofeither; though the priest regarded him with frowning looks, keeping alynx-eyed watch on every expression of his countenance, and on each wordhe uttered: the whole party, however, overcome with fatigue, were gladto retire at an early hour to rest.
The sun had already risen above the walls of the town on the followingmorning, before Don Luis thought of ordering his horses, and he thenconsidered it but an act of common courtesy to wait till he had seen oneof Donna Clara's attendants, to inquire how their lady had borne thefatigues of the journey, and at last, when a black-eyed soubrettetripped down stairs, she kept the handsome stranger in conversation withabundance of questions in return, hoping that he neither had suffered inany way, and finishing by assuring him that her young mistress would bequite offended, she felt sure, if he departed without allowing her againto thank him in person for his gallantry. These observations, we mustremark, were entirely the damsel's own ideas; for, of course, DonnaClara would not have dreamed of delaying Don Luis in his journey on heraccount; but so thought not the soubrette, and she was merely actingtowards her mistress as she would have wished others to do towardsherself; for it is remarkable what quick perceptions her class possesson such matters. He therefore could not be so ungallant as to refuseher request, and then he bethought him also that he ought to pay hisrespects to Goncalo Christovao, who had not yet issued from his sleepingapartment. He had for some time been pacing the drawing-room withrather impatient steps, when, on facing the door, it opened, and DonnaClara appeared, enveloped in the full and graceful drapery of hertravelling dress, a slight pallor on her delicate cheeks, her eyes softand liquid, and with a slight degre
e of bashfulness in her manner as sheadvanced into the room. There seems to be always a brighter halo offreshness and purity, circling round a young and innocent girl when shefirst greets the early morn with her smile of gladness, before theglowing sun of noon-day has cast his scorching beams upon her head todim the seraph-like lustre of her beauty. So lovely, indeed, did DonnaClara appear to the eyes of Don Luis, that for a moment, as the bloodrushed quickly from his heart, he stopped, unconsciously, to gaze withadmiration involuntary; but, recovering his usual manner, he approachedher with graceful courtesy, to inquire if she had suffered from theterror and fatigue of the previous day. She answered, in tones ofsilvery softness, a sweet smile beaming on her lips, and, as she spoke,his eyes wandered over her features, imprinting every lineamentindelibly on