donequickly," said the Count. "Go, take two or three of your companions;select whom you please; but my name must not be known. Watch the palaceof the Conde d'Almeida, and you will meet Don Luis, either entering orcoming out; for I just now parted from him. Strike him the moment yousee him; and take care your dagger does not fail in its work. Inform mewhen your work is done, and I promise you thirty crowns for yourself,and ten for each of your companions. Will that satisfy you?"
"It is but little, your Excellency, considering the danger I run; forall the work falls upon my shoulders."
"Well, I will add ten more, provided it is done to-night," said theCount. "I can no longer delay. Beware you fail me not!"
With these words the count took his departure, perfectly satisfied withthe arrangement he had made, and joined his companions at their revels,though, during the feast, he waited, with an anxious look, to heartidings of the deed having been performed. The young Goncalo,unsuspicious of the dark vengeance his friend meditated against Luis,and which he would have been the first to prevent, was the gayest of theparty, rallying the master of the feast on his gloom and taciturnity,ascribing it entirely to the ill-success with which his advances hadbeen received by his sister.
After leaving the abode of Senhor Mendez, Luis and his friend, who hadpromised to remain with him, accompanied by Pedro, as their body-guard,made the best of their way towards home, running the gauntlet of themany dangers to be encountered, without suffering from any of them. Asthey were within sight of the palace, Luis again observed severalfigures in the same position as before; and this time he pointed themout to Captain Pinto.
"We will keep out of their way," said his friend, "and we can then givethem no cause to insult us; for, depend upon it, they are there for nogood purpose, probably on the watch to rob or murder some unfortunatewretch. I am very happy to fight at times, but have no fancy for thesenight brawls."
As he spoke, the group moved towards them, and a figure, emerging fromamong them, advanced close to them, evidently endeavouring todistinguish their features.
"Don Luis d'Almeida, a friend wishes to speak with you," said theperson.
"You must seek him elsewhere, my friend," answered the Captain,preventing Luis from speaking. "Pardon us, we are in a hurry, and wouldpass on."
The man appeared satisfied, and rejoined his companions, who were aboutto move away, when they observed our friends stop at the door of thepalace, where the captain gave a loud summons. The strangers held amoment's consultation together, and were about again to advance towardsthem, when the captain, drawing his sword, ordered them to keep theirdistance; and while they hesitated, old Lucas, more agile than usual,had opened the door, allowing his master and his companions to enter,when the robbers, for such they appeared, retired.
The incident gave a subject of conversation to the friends before theyretired to their beds, and the captain was the first to discover thereal clue to the proceedings of the strangers. "You say the Conde SanVincente is a suitor of Donna Clara's, and that he observed you speakingto her at the palace of the Marchioness de Corcunda this evening; then,depend upon it, he was either among those gentlemen, or had deputed themto attack you, which they would most undoubtedly have done, had you beenalone. I have heard of some of his deeds, and his character is betterknown than he is aware of."
"Now you give me the idea," said Luis, "I feel confident that I havebefore heard the voice of that man who spoke to us;--yes, he is one ofthe brigands who robbed Goncalo Christovao in the forest, and afterwardsattacked me at the inn, when he swore to avenge the loss of a brother,of whose just death I was the instrument."
"Then I must most earnestly entreat you not to venture out alone, or youare certain to fall a victim either to his revenge, or to that of thecount, who has, very probably, employed him to murder you. Do not thinkthat it will exhibit want of courage to take every precaution, for sodaring have these ruffians become, that scarcely a night passes withoutsome dreadful murder, and I should deeply grieve to find you among thenumber of sufferers; therefore, as an old friend, I must make youpromise to run no greater risk than you can possibly avoid."
Luis promised faithfully to follow the gallant sailor's advice; and itwas fortunate for him that he did so, for in vain did the assassin,Rodrigo, watch night after night to find him alone. The followingmorning, he repaired, at an early hour, to call on Goncalo Christovao,his heart beating with doubts and fears as to the success of hispetition. He carried the casket of jewels to restore to Donna Clara,but, on searching for the letter to her father, he could nowherediscover it. After turning over every article of his baggage, aided byPedro, he was at last obliged to set forward without it, trusting,however, to have frequent opportunities of delivering it. The fidalgoreceived him with stately politeness, pouring forth torrents ofexpressions of gratitude for the service he had afforded him; but whenLuis mentioned the chief object of his visit, he at first lookedconfounded with astonishment, assuring him that he had never beforeheard of a young noble venturing to win a young lady's affectionswithout having first applied to the father for leave to do so; suchconduct was excusable only in low-born plebeians, whose marriages wereof no importance; that he had, however, no objections to him, exceptfrom his want of fortune, which was an insurmountable one; that hisdaughter could never wed without his leave, and that she was engaged toanother gentleman.
This answer, though very polite, was a most discouraging one, as most ofour readers will agree; but, at the same time, there was that buoyantnature in the composition of Luis, which made him hope where otherswould have despaired, though he certainly could not see very clearly onwhat grounds to found those hopes; indeed, he was obliged to acknowledgeto himself that they arose far more from the feelings, than from thejudgment.
The fidalgo made a great many more very polite speeches, assuring himthat his house, and everything he possessed, was at his service, excepthis daughter; that he would forgive his falling in love with her,provided he made no further attempts to see her, and that the trouble hehad taken to recover the casket, raised him, if possible, even higher inhis opinion than before; indeed, there was nobody he more admired in theworld; but that he must banish all thoughts of Clara from his mind. Weonly quote a part of the substance of the harangue, which was very long,and filled with the most courteous and elegant flourishes; indeed, it isextraordinary how very polite people are when they feel confident thatthey are saying the most disagreeable things in the world.
Luis listened in silence, and answered only by bows, evading carefullyevery promise the fidalgo endeavoured to draw from him, not to see Claraagain, determining to win her, if he possibly could; for the feelings ofwhat is now, in ridicule, called romantic chivalry, which animated him,rebelled against the thoughts of her being compelled to marry a man shehated; and he was persuaded that every principle of honour and dutycalled on him to prevent the sacrifice, at every risk to himself, andeven in direct opposition to the unjust commands of her proud father.
The fidalgo positively refused the earnest request of Luis, to bepermitted to see Clara, even to take a last farewell; nor would heundertake to bear any message to her: indeed, as our readers alreadyknow, she was led to suppose that he had not called, nor did evenSenhora Gertrudes discover the truth.
At length he was obliged to rise to take his departure, when the fidalgoredoubled his politeness, again thanking him for the casket of jewels,bowing him _out_, not only out of the room, but down stairs, through thehall, and into the very street, so that he had no opportunity of sendingto inform Senhora Gertrudes that he was there, which he had somethoughts of doing.
Don Luis made many endeavours to see Donna Clara, or to communicate withher, but they were all alike fruitless, the fidalgo, the marchioness,and the priest, keeping so very strict a watch; though, had it not beenfor the latter, he would probably have been successful. At length hewrote a letter, which he had every hope would reach her, couched in themost respectful terms, but every line breathing the tenderest and mostdevoted affect
ion. Day after day he waited for an answer, but it camenot; the priest had been too vigilant: his was the only eye which sawthe letter, and it served him as a copy for the next he had occasion towrite.
Volume 2, Chapter VIII.
More than a week passed away; it was now within three days of the end ofOctober, when Luis had repaired to a neighbouring church, to hearmorning mass, and was kneeling on one side of the aisle, attending tothe ceremonies going forward; he heard his name pronounced close to him,by a female, in the attitude of devotion, shrouded in the blackmantelha, or hooded cloak, then worn by even the very highest classes,at mass. The female turned her head as he looked round, when herecognised the features of Senhora Gertrudes, which gave him moresatisfaction than if they had been those of the fairest lady in theland, her young mistress excepted. The old lady sidled up to him, whenshe whispered,