CHAPTER XXX.
"When sinking low the sufferer wan Beholds no arm outstretch'd to save, Fair, as the bosom of the swan That rises graceful o'er the wave, I've seen your breast with pity heave, And _therefore_ love you, sweet Genevieve!"
Coleridge.
When Isabella found herself alone with Ozema and Mercedes (for she chosethat the last should be present), she entered on the subject of themarriage with the tenderness of a sensitive and delicate mind, but witha sincerity that rendered further error impossible. The result showedhow naturally and cruelly the young Indian beauty had deceived herself.Ardent, confiding, and accustomed to be considered the object of generaladmiration among her own people, Ozema had fancied that her owninclinations had been fully answered by the young man. From the firstmoment they met, with the instinctive quickness of a woman, sheperceived that she was admired, and, as she gave way to the excess ofher own feelings, it was almost a necessary consequence of thecommunications she held with Luis, that she should think they werereciprocated. The very want of language in words, by compelling asubstitution of one in looks and acts, contributed to the mistake; andit will be remembered that, if Luis' constancy did not actually waver,it had been sorely tried. The false signification she attached to theword "Mercedes," largely aided in the delusion, and it was completed bythe manly tenderness and care with which our hero treated her on alloccasions. Even the rigid decorum that Luis invariably observed, and thesevere personal respect which he maintained toward his charge, had theireffect on her feelings; for, wild and unsophisticated as had been hertraining, the deep and unerring instinct of the feeble, told her thenature of the power she was wielding over the strong.
Then came the efforts to give her some ideas of religion, and the deepand lamentable mistakes which imperfectly explained, and worseunderstood subtleties, left on her plastic mind. Ozema believed that theSpaniards worshipped the cross. She saw it put foremost in all publicceremonies, knelt to, and apparently appealed to, on every occasion thatcalled for an engagement more solemn than usual. Whenever a knight madea vow, he kissed the cross of his sword-hilt. The mariners regarded itwith reverence, and even the admiral had caused one to be erected as asign of his right to the territory that had been ceded to him byGuacanagari. In a word, to her uninstructed imagination, it seemed as ifthe cross were used as a pledge for the fidelity of all engagements.Often had she beheld and admired the beautiful emblem worn by our hero;and, as the habits of her own people required the exchange of pledges ofvalue as a proof of wedlock, she fancied, when she received thismuch-valued jewel, that she received the sign that our hero took her fora wife, at a moment when death was about to part them forever. Furtherthan this, her simplicity and affections did not induce her to reason orto believe.
It was an hour before Isabella elicited all these facts and feelingsfrom Ozema, though the latter clearly wished to conceal nothing; intruth, had nothing to conceal. The painful part of the duty remained tobe discharged. It was to undeceive the confiding girl, and to teach herthe hard lesson of bitterness that followed. This was done, however, andthe queen, believing it best to remove all delusion on the subject,finally succeeded in causing her to understand that, before the counthad ever seen herself, his affections were given to Mercedes, who was,in truth, his betrothed wife. Nothing could have been gentler, or morefemininely tender, than the manner in which the queen made hercommunication; but the blow struck home, and Isabella, herself, trembledat the consequences of her own act. Never before had she witnessed theoutbreaking of feeling in a mind so entirely unsophisticated, and theimages of what she then saw, haunted her troubled slumbers for manysucceeding nights.
As for Columbus and our hero, they were left mainly in the dark, as towhat had occurred, for the following week. It is true, Luis received akind and encouraging note from his aunt, the succeeding day, and a pageof Mercedes' silently placed in his hand the cross that he had so longworn; but, beyond this, he was left to his own conjectures. The momentfor explanation, however, arrived, and the young man received a summonsto the apartment of the marchioness.
Luis did not, as he expected, meet his aunt on reaching the saloon,which he found empty. Questioning the page who had been his usher, hewas desired to wait for the appearance of some one to receive him.Patience was not a conspicuous virtue in our hero's character, and heexcited himself by pacing the room, for near half an hour, ere hediscovered a single sign that his visit was remembered. Just as he wasabout to summon an attendant, however, again to announce his presence, adoor was slowly opened, and Mercedes stood before him.
The first glance that the young man cast upon his betrothed, told himthat she was suffering under deep mental anxiety. The hand which heeagerly raised to his lips trembled, and the color came and went on hercheeks, in a way to show that she was nearly overcome. Still sherejected the glass of water that he offered, putting it aside with afaint smile, and motioning her lover to take a chair, while she calmlyplaced herself on a _tabouret_--one of the humble seats she wasaccustomed to occupy in the presence of the queen.
"I have asked for this interview, Don Luis," Mercedes commenced, as soonas she had given herself time to command her feelings, "in order thatthere may no longer be any reasons for mistaking our feelings andwishes. You have been suspected of having married the Lady Ozema; andthere was a moment when you stood on the verge of destruction, throughthe displeasure of Dona Isabella."
"But, blessed Mercedes, _you_ never imputed to me this act of deceptionand unfaithfulness?"
"I told you truth, Senor--for that I knew you too well. I felt certainthat, whenever Luis de Bobadilla had made up his mind to the commissionof such a step, he would also have the manliness and courage to avow it._I_ never, for an instant, believed that you had wedded the princess."
"Why, then, those cold and averted looks?--eyes that sought the floor,rather than the meeting of glances that love delights in; and a mannerwhich, if it hath not absolutely displayed aversion, hath at leastmanifested a reserve and distance that I had never expected to witnessfrom thee to me?"
Mercedes' color changed, and she made no answer for a minute, duringwhich little interval she had doubts of her ability to carry out her ownpurpose. Rallying her courage, however, the discourse was continued inthe same manner as before.
"Hear me, Don Luis," she resumed, "for my history will not be long. Whenyou left Spain, at my suggestion, to enter on this great voyage, youloved _me_--of that grateful recollection no earthly power can depriveme! Yes, you then loved _me_, and me _only_. We parted, with our trothplighted to each other; and not a day went by, during your absence, thatI did not pass hours on my knees, beseeching heaven in behalf of theadmiral and his followers."
"Beloved Mercedes! It is not surprising that success crowned ourefforts; such an intercessor could not fail to be heard!"
"I entreat you, sir, to hear me. Until the eventful day which broughtthe tidings of your return, no Spanish wife could have felt more concernfor him on whom she had placed all her hopes, than I felt for you. Tome, the future was bright and filled with hope, if the present wasloaded with fear and doubt. The messenger who reached the court, firstopened my eyes to the sad realities of the world, and taught me the hardlesson the young are ever slow to learn--that of disappointment. It wasthen I first heard of Ozema--of your admiration of her beauty--yourreadiness to sacrifice your life in her behalf!"
"Holy Luke! Did that vagabond, Sancho, dare to wound thy ear, Mercedes,with an insinuation that touched the strength or the constancy of mylove for thee?"
"He related naught but the truth, Luis, and blame him not. I wasprepared for some calamity by his report, and I bless God that it cameon me by such slow degrees, and with the means of preparation to bearit. When I beheld Ozema, I no longer wondered at thy change offeeling--scarce blamed it. Her beauty, I do think, thou might'st havewithstood; but her unfeigned devotion to thyself, her innocence, herwinning simplicity, and her modest joyousness and nature, are sufficientto win a lover from any S
panish maiden"--
"Mercedes!"
"Nay, Luis, I have told thee that I blame thee not. It is better thatthe blow come now, than later, when I should not be able to bear it.There is something which tells me that, as a wife, I should sink beneaththe weight of blighted affections; but, now, there are open to me theconvent and the espousals of the Son of God. Do not interrupt me, Luis,"she added, smiling sweetly, but with an effort that denoted howdifficult it was to seem easy. "I have to struggle severely to speak atall, and to an argument I am altogether unequal. Thou hast not been ableto control thy affections; and to the strange novelties that havesurrounded Ozema, as well as to her winning ingenuousness, I owe myloss, and she oweth her gain. It is the will of Heaven, and I strive tothink it is to my everlasting advantage. Had I really wedded thee, thetenderness that is even now swelling in my heart--I wish not to concealit--might have grown to such a strength as to supplant the love I owe toGod; it is, therefore, doubtless, better as it is. If happiness on earthis not to be my lot, I shall secure happiness hereafter. Nay, allhappiness here will not be lost; I can still pray for thee, as well asfor myself--and thou and Ozema, of all earthly beings, will ever beuppermost in my thoughts."
"This is so wonderful, Mercedes--so cruel--so unreasonable--and sounjust, that I cannot credit my ears!"
"I have said that I blame thee not. The beauty and frankness of Ozemaare more than sufficient to justify thee, for men yield to the senses,rather than to the heart, in bestowing their love. Then"--Mercedesblushed crimson as she continued--"a Haytian maid may innocently use apower, that it would ill become a Christian damsel to employ. And, now,we will come to facts that press for a decision. Ozema hath been ill--isstill ill--dangerously so, as her Highness and my guardian believe--evenas the physicians say--but it is in thy power, Luis, to raise her, as itmight be, from the grave. See her--say but the word that will conferhappiness--tell her, if thou hast not yet wedded her after the manner ofSpain, that thou wilt--nay, let one of the holy priests, who are inconstant attendance on her, to prepare the way for baptism, perform theceremony this very morning, and we shall presently see the princess,again, the smiling, radiant, joyous creature she was, when thou firstplaced her in our care."
"And this thou say'st to me, Mercedes, calmly and deliberately, as ifthy words express thy very wishes and feelings!"
"Calmly I may _seem_ to say it, Luis," answered our heroine, in asmothered tone, "and deliberately I _do_ say it. Marry me, lovinganother better, thou canst not; and why not, then, follow whither thyheart leadeth. The dowry of the princess shall not be small, for theconvent recluse hath little need of gold, and none of lands."
Luis gazed earnestly at the enthusiastic girl, who in his eyes neverappeared more lovely; then, rising, he paced the room for three or fourminutes, like one who wished to keep down mental agony by physicalaction. When he had obtained a proper command of himself, he returned tohis seat, and taking the unresisting hand of Mercedes, he replied to herextraordinary proposal.
"Watching over the sick couch of thy friend, and too much brooding onthis subject, love, hath impaired thy judgment. Ozema hath no hold on myheart, in the way thou fanciest--never had, beyond a passing and truantinclination"--
"Ah! Luis, those 'passing and truant inclinations.' None such"--pressingboth her hands on her own heart--"have ever found a place here!"
"Thy education and mine, Mercedes--thy habits and mine--nay, thy natureand the ruder elements of mine, are not, _cannot_ be the same. Were theyso, I should not worship thee as I now do. But didst thou not exist, thecertainty that I should wed Ozema would not give me happiness--but thouexisting, and beloved as thou art, it would entail on me a misery thateven my buoyant nature could not endure. In no case can I ever be thehusband of the Indian."
Although a gleam of happiness illumined the face of Mercedes for amoment, her high principles and pure intentions soon suppressed themomentary and unbidden triumph, and, even with a reproving manner, shemade her answer.
"Is this just to Ozema? Hath not her simplicity been deluded by those'passing and truant inclinations,' and doth not honor require that thyacts now redeem the pledges that have been given by, at least, thymanner?"
"Mercedes--beloved girl, hearken to me. Thou must know that, with all mylevities and backslidings, I am no coxcomb. Never hath my manner saidaught that the heart did not confirm, and never hath the heart beendrawn toward any but thee. In this, is the great distinction that I makebetween thee and all others of thy sex. Ozema's is not the only form,her's are not the only charms that may have caught a truant glance frommy eyes, or extorted some unmeaning and bootless admiration, but thou,love, art enshrined here, and seemest already a part of myself. Didstthou know how often thy image hath proved a monitor stronger thanconscience; on how many occasions the remembrance of thy virtues and thyaffections hath prevailed, when even duty, and religion, and earlylessons would have been forgotten, thou wouldst understand thedifference between the love I bear _thee_, and what thou hast sotauntingly repeated as truant and passing inclinations."
"Luis, I ought not to listen to these alluring words, which come from agoodness of heart that would spare me present pain, only to make mymisery in the end the deeper. If thou hast never felt otherwise, why wasthe cross that I gave thee at parting, bestowed on another?"
"Mercedes, thou know'st not the fearful circumstances under which Iparted with that cross. Death was staring us in the face, and I gave itas a symbol that might aid a heathen soul in its extremity. That thegift, or rather that the thing I lent, was mistaken for a pledge ofmatrimony, is an unhappy misconception, that your own knowledge ofChristian usages will tell you I could not foresee; otherwise I mightnow claim thee for my wife, in consequence of having first bestowed iton me."
"Ah! Luis; when I gave thee that cross, I did wish to be understood asplighting my faith to thee forever!"
"And when thou didst send it back to me, now within the week, how was itthy wish to be understood?"
"I sent it to thee, Luis, in a moment of reviving hope, and by the orderof the queen. Her Highness is now firmly thy friend, and would fain seeus united, but for the melancholy condition of Ozema, to whom all hasbeen explained--all, as I fear, except the real state of thy feelingstoward us both."
"Cruel girl! Am I, then, never to be believed--never again to be happy?I swear to thee, dearest Mercedes, that thou alone hast my wholeheart--that with thee, I could be contented in a hovel, and that withoutthee I should be miserable on a throne. Thou wilt believe this, whenthou see'st me a wretch, wandering the earth, reckless alike of hopesand objects, perhaps of character, because thou alone canst make me, andkeep me the man I ought to be. Bethink thee, Mercedes, of the influencethou canst have--must have--_wilt_ have on one of my temperament andpassions. I have long looked upon thee as my guardian angel, one thatcan mould me to thy will, and rule me when all others fail. Withthee--the impatience produced by thy doubts excepted--am I not evertractable and gentle? Hath Dona Beatriz ever exercised a tithe of thypower over me, and hast thou ever failed to tame even my wildest andrashest humors?"
"Luis--Luis--no one that knew it, ever doubted of thy heart!" Mercedespaused, and the working of her countenance proved that the earnestsincerity of her lover had already shaken her doubts of his constancy.Still, her mind reverted to the scenes of the voyage, and herimagination portrayed the couch of the stricken Ozema. After a minute'sdelay, she proceeded, in a low, humbled tone--"I will not deny that itis soothing to my heart to hear this language, to which, I fear, Ilisten too readily," she said. "Still, I find it difficult to believethat thou canst ever forget one who hath even braved the chances ofdeath, in order to shelter thy body from the arrows of thy foes."
"Believe not this, beloved girl; thou wouldst have done that thyself, inOzema's place, and so I shall ever consider it."
"I should have the wish, Luis," Mercedes continued, her eyes suffusedwith tears, "but I might not have the power!"
"Thou wouldst--thou wouldst--I know thee too well to doubt
it."
"I could envy Ozema the occasion, were it not sinful! I fear thou wiltthink of this, when thy mind shall have tired with attractions that havelost their novelty."
"Thou wouldst not only have done it, but thou wouldst have done it farbetter. Ozema, moreover, was exposed in her own quarrel, whilst thouwouldst have exposed thyself in mine."
Mercedes again paused, and appeared to muse deeply. Her eyes hadbrightened under the soothing asseverations of her lover, and, spite ofthe generous self-devotion with which she had determined to sacrificeall her own hopes to what she had imagined would make her lover happy,the seductive influence of requited affection was fast resuming itspower.
"Come with me, then, Luis, and behold Ozema," she at length continued."When thou see'st her, in her present state, thou wilt better understandthine own intentions. I ought not to have suffered thee thus to revivethy ancient feelings in a private interview, Ozema not being present; itis like forming a judgment on the hearing of only one side. And,Luis"--her heightened color, the effect of feeling, not of shame,rendered the girl surpassingly beautiful--"and, Luis, if thou shouldstfind reason to change thy language after visiting the princess, howeverhard I may find it to be borne, thou wilt be certain of my forgivenessfor all that hath passed, and of my prayers"--
Sobs interrupted Mercedes, and she stopped an instant to wipe away hertears, rejecting Luis' attempt to fold her in his arms, in order toconsole her, with a sensitive jealousy of the result; a feeling,however, in which delicacy had more weight than resentment. When she haddried her eyes, and otherwise removed the traces of her agitation, sheled the way to the apartment of Ozema, where the presence of the youngman was expected.
Luis started on entering the room; a little on perceiving that the queenand the admiral were present, and more at observing the inroads thatdisappointment had made on the appearance of Ozema. The color of thelatter was gone, leaving a deadly paleness in its place; her eyespossessed a brightness that seemed supernatural, and yet her weaknesswas so evident as to render it necessary to support her, in ahalf-recumbent posture, on pillows. An exclamation of unfeigned delightescaped her when she beheld our hero, and then she covered her face withboth her hands, in childish confusion, as if ashamed at betraying thepleasure she felt. Luis behaved with manly propriety, for, though hisconscience did not altogether escape a few twinges, at the recollectionof the hours he had wasted in Ozema's society, and at the manner inwhich he had momentarily submitted to the influence of her beauty andseductive simplicity, on the whole he stood self-acquitted of any thingthat might fairly be urged as a fault, and most of all, of any thoughtof being unfaithful to his first love, or of any design to deceive. Hetook the hand of the young Indian respectfully, and he kissed it with anopenness and warmth that denoted brotherly tenderness and regard, ratherthan passion, or the emotion of a lover. Mercedes did not dare to watchhis movements, but she observed the approving glance that the queenthrew at her guardian, when he had approached the couch on which Ozemalay. This glance she interpreted into a sign that the count hadacquitted himself in a manner favorable to her own interests.
"Thou findest the Lady Ozema weak and changed," observed the queen, whoalone would presume to break a silence that was already awkward. "Wehave been endeavoring to enlighten her simple mind on the subject ofreligion, and she hath, at length, consented to receive the holysacrament of baptism. The lord archbishop is even now preparing for theceremony in my oratory, and we have the blessed prospect of rescuingthis one precious soul from perdition."
"Your Highness hath ever the good of all your people at heart," saidLuis, bowing low to conceal the tears that the condition of Ozema haddrawn from his eyes. "I fear this climate of ours ill agrees with thepoor Haytians, generally, for I hear that the sick among them, atSeville and Palos, offer but little hope of recovery."
"Is this so, Don Christopher?"
"Senora, I believe it is only too true. Care hath been had, however, totheir souls, as well as to their bodies, and Ozema is the last of herpeople, now in Spain, to receive the holy rite of Christian baptism."
"Senora," said the marchioness, coming from the couch, with surprise andconcern in her countenance, "I fear our hopes are to be defeated afterall! The Lady Ozema hath just whispered me, that Luis and Mercedes mustfirst be married in her presence, ere she will consent to be admittedwithin the pale of the church herself."
"This doth not denote the right spirit, Beatriz--and, yet, what can bedone with a mind so little illuminated with the light from above. 'Tismerely a passing caprice, and will be forgotten when the archbishopshall be ready."
"I think not, Senora. Never have I seen her so decided and clear. Incommon, we find her gentle and tractable, but this hath she thrice said,in a way to cause the belief of her perfect seriousness."
Isabella now advanced to the couch, and spoke long and soothingly to theinvalid. In the meantime, the admiral conversed with the marchioness,and Luis again approached our heroine. The evidences of emotion wereplain in both, and Mercedes scarce breathed, not knowing what to expect.But a few low words soon brought an assurance that could not fail tobring happiness, spite of her generous efforts to feel for Ozema--thatthe heart of our hero was all her own. From this moment Mercedesdismissed every doubt, and she regarded Luis as had so long been herwont.
As is usual in the presence of royalty, the conversation was carried onin a low tone; and a quarter of an hour elapsed before a page announcedthat the oratory, or little chapel, was ready, opening a door thatcommunicated directly with it, as he entered.
"This wilful girl persisteth, Daughter-Marchioness," said the queen,advancing from the side of the couch, "and I know not what to answer. Itis cruel to deny her the offered means of grace, and yet it is a suddenand unseemly request to make of thy nephew and thy ward!"
"As for the first, dearest Senora, never distrust his forgiveness;though I much doubt the possibility of prevailing on Mercedes. Her verynature is made up of religion and female decorum."
"It is, indeed, scarce right to think of it. A Christian maiden shouldhave time to prepare her spirit for the holy sacrament of marriage, byprayer."
"And yet, Senora, many wed without it! The time hath been when DonFerdinand of Aragon and Dona Isabella might not have hesitated for sucha purpose."
"That time never was, Beatriz. Thou hast a habit of making me look backto our days of trial and youth, whenever thou wouldst urge on me somefavorite but ill-considered wish of thine own. Dost really think thyward would overlook the want of preparation and time?"
"I know not what she might feel disposed to overlook, Senora; but I doknow that if there be one woman in Spain who is at all times ready in_spirit_, for the most sacred rites of the church, it is your Highness;and, if there be another, it is my ward."
"Go to--go to--good Beatriz; flattery sitteth ill on thee. None arealways ready, and all have an unceasing need for watchfulness. Bid DonaMercedes follow to my closet; I will converse with her on this subject.At least, there shall be no unfeminine and unseemly surprise."
So saying, the queen withdrew. She had hardly reached her closet, beforeour heroine entered, with a doubtful and timid step. As soon as her eyesmet those of her sovereign, Mercedes burst into tears, and falling onher knees, she again buried her face in the robe of Dona Isabella. Thisoutbreak of feeling was soon subdued, however, and then the girl stooderect, waiting her sovereign's pleasure.
"Daughter," commenced the queen, "I trust there is no longer anymisapprehension between thee and the Conde de Llera. Thou know'st theviews of thy guardian and myself, and may'st, in a matter like this,with safety defer to our cooler heads and greater experience. Don Luisloveth thee, and hath never loved the princess, though it would not beout of character did an impetuous young man, who hath been much exposedto temptation, betray some transient and passing feeling toward one ofso much nature and beauty."
"Luis hath admitted all, Senora; inconstant he hath never been, thoughhe may have had his weaknesses."
"'Tis a ha
rd lesson to learn, child, even in this stage of thy life,"said the queen, gravely; "but it would have been harder were it deferreduntil the nearer tenderness of a wife had superseded the impulses of thegirl. Thou hast heard the opinions of the learned; there is little hopethat the Princess Ozema can long survive."
"Ah! Senora, 'tis a cruel fate! To die among strangers, in the flower ofher beauty, and with a heart crushed by the weight of unrequited love!"
"And yet, Mercedes, if heaven open on her awaking eyes, when the lastearthly scene is over, the transition will be most blessed; and they whomourn her loss, would do wiser to rejoice. One so youthful and soinnocent; whose pure mind hath been laid bare to us, as it might be, andwhich we have found wanting in nothing beside the fruits of a piousinstruction, can have little to apprehend on the score of personalerrors. All that is required for such a being, is to place her withinthe covenant of God's grace, by obtaining the rite of baptism, and thereis not a bishop of the church that could depart with brighter hopes forthe future."
"That holy office is my lord archbishop about to administer, as I hear,Senora."
"_That_ somewhat dependeth on thee, daughter. Listen, and be not hastyin thy decision, which may touch on the security of a human soul."
The queen now related to Mercedes the romantic request of Ozema, placingit before her listener in terms so winning and gentle, that it producedless surprise and alarm than she herself had anticipated.
"Dona Beatriz hath a proposal that may, at first, appear plausible, butwhich reflection will not sanction. Her design was to cause the countactually to wed Ozema"--Mercedes started, and turned pale--"in orderthat the last hours of the young stranger might be soothed by theconsciousness of being the wife of the man she idolized; but I havefound serious objections to the scheme. What is thy opinion, daughter?"
"Senora, could I believe--as lately I did, but now do not--that Luis hadsuch a preference for the princess as might lead him, in the end, to thehappiness of that mutual affection without which wedlock must be a curseinstead of a blessing, I would be the last to object; nay, I think Icould even beg the boon of your Highness on my knees, for she who sotruly loveth can only seek the felicity of its object. But I am assuredthe count hath not the affection for the Lady Ozema that is necessary tothis end; and would it not be profane, Senora, to receive the church'ssacraments under vows that the heart not only does not answer to, butagainst which it is actually struggling?"
"Excellent girl! These are precisely my own views, and in this mannerhave I answered the marchioness. The rites of the church may not betrifled with, and we are bound to submit to sorrows that may beinflicted, after all, for our eternal good; though it be harder to bearthose of others than to bear our own. It remaineth only to decide onthis whim of Ozema's, and to say if thou wilt now be married, in orderthat she may be baptized."
Notwithstanding the devotedness of feeling with which our heroine lovedLuis, it required a strong struggle with her habits and her sense ofpropriety to take this great step so suddenly, and with so littlepreparation. The wishes of the queen, however, prevailed; for Isabellafelt a deep responsibility on her own soul, in letting the strangerdepart without being brought within the pale of the church. WhenMercedes consented, she despatched a messenger to the marchioness, andthen she and her companion both knelt, and passed near an hour together,in the spiritual exercises that were usual to the occasion. In thismood, did these pure-minded females, without a thought to the vanitiesof the toilet, but with every attention to the mental preparations ofwhich the case admitted, present themselves at the door of the royalchapel, through which Ozema had just been carried, still stretched onher couch. The marchioness had caused a white veil to be thrown over thehead of Mercedes, and a few proper but slight alterations had been madein her attire, out of habitual deference to the altar and its ministers.
About a dozen persons, deemed worthy of confidence, were present,already; and just as the bride and bridegroom were about to take theirplaces, Don Ferdinand hastily entered, carrying in his hand some paperswhich he had been obliged to cease examining, in order to comply withthe wishes of his royal consort. The king was a dignified prince; andwhen it suited him, no sovereign enacted his part more gracefully or inbetter taste. Motioning the archbishop to pause, he directed Luis tokneel. Throwing over the shoulder of the young man the collar of one ofhis own orders, he said--
"Now, arise, noble sir, and ever do thy duty to thy Heavenly Master, asthou hast of late discharged it toward us."
Isabella rewarded her husband for this act of grace by an approvingsmile, and the ceremony immediately proceeded. In the usual time, ourhero and heroine were pronounced man and wife, and the solemn rites wereended. Mercedes felt, in the warm pressure with which Luis held her tohis heart, that she now understood him; and, for a blissful instant,Ozema was forgotten, in the fulness of her own happiness. Columbus hadgiven away the bride--an office that the king had assigned to him,though he stood at the bridegroom's side himself, with a view to do himhonor, and even so far condescended as to touch the canopy that was heldabove the heads of the new-married couple. But Isabella kept aloof,placing herself near the couch of Ozema, whose features she watchedthroughout the ceremony. She had felt no occasion for publicmanifestations of interest in the bride, their feelings having so latelybeen poured out together in dear and private communion. Thecongratulations were soon over, and then Don Ferdinand, and all butthose who were in the secret of Ozema's history, withdrew.
The queen had not desired her husband, and the other attendants, toremain and witness the baptism of Ozema, out of a delicate feeling forthe condition of a female stranger, whom her habits and opinions hadinvested with a portion of the sacred rights of royalty. She had notedthe intensity of feeling with which the half-enlightened girl watchedthe movements of the archbishop and the parties, and the tears hadforced themselves from her own eyes, at witnessing the struggle betweenlove and friendship, that was portrayed in every lineament of her pale,but still lovely countenance.
"Where cross?" Ozema eagerly demanded, as Mercedes stooped to fold thewasted form of the young Indian in her arms, and to kiss her cheek."Give cross--Luis no marry with cross--give Ozema cross."
Mercedes, herself, took the cross from the bosom of her husband, whereit had lain near his heart, since it had been returned to him, and putit in the hands of the princess.
"No marry with cross, then," murmured the girl, the tears suffusing hereyes, so as nearly to prevent her gazing at the much-prized bauble."Now, quick, Senora, and make Ozema Christian."
The scene was getting to be too solemn and touching for many words, andthe archbishop, at a sign from the queen, commenced the ceremony. It wasof short duration; and Isabella's kind nature was soon quieted with theassurance that the stranger, whom she deemed the subject of her especialcare, was put within the covenant for salvation that had been made withthe visible church.
"Is Ozema Christian now?" demanded the girl, with a suddenness andsimplicity, that caused all present to look at each other with pain andsurprise.
"Thou hast, now, the assurance that God's grace will be offered to thyprayers, daughter," answered the prelate. "Seek it with thy heart, andthy end, which is at hand, will be more blessed."
"Christian no marry heathen?--Christian marry Christian?"
"This hast thou been often told, my poor Ozema," returned the queen;"the rite could not be duly solemnized between Christian and heathen."
"Christian marry first lady he love best?"
"Certainly. To do otherwise would be a violation of his vow, and amockery of God."
"So Ozema think--but he can marry second wife--inferior wife--lady helove next. Luis marry Mercedes, first wife, because he love best--thenhe marry Ozema, second wife--lower wife--because he love nextbest--Ozema Christian, now, and no harm. Come, archbishop; make OzemaLuis' second wife."
Isabella groaned aloud, and walked to a distant part of the chapel,while Mercedes burst into tears, and sinking on her knees, she buriedher face in
the cloth of the couch, and prayed fervently for theenlightening of the soul of the princess. The churchman did not receivethis proof of ignorance in his penitent, and of her unfitness for therite he had just administered, with the same pity and indulgence.
"The holy baptism thou hast just received, benighted woman," he said,sternly, "is healthful, or not, as it is improved. Thou hast just madesuch a demand, as already loadeth thy soul with a fresh load of sin, andthe time for repentance is short. No Christian can have two wives at thesame time, and God knoweth no higher or lower, no first or last, betweenthose whom his church hath united. Thou canst not be a second wife, thefirst still living."
"No would be to Caonabo--to Luis, yes. Fifty, hundred wife to dear Luis!No possible?"
"Self-deluded and miserable girl, I tell thee no.No--no--no--never--never--never. There is such a taint of sin in thevery question, as profaneth this holy chapel, and the symbols ofreligion by which it is filled. Ay, kiss and embrace thy cross, and bowdown thy very soul in despair, for"--
"Lord Archbishop," interrupted the Marchioness of Moya, with a sharpnessof manner that denoted how much her ancient spirit was aroused, "thereis enough of this. The ear thou wouldst wound, at such a moment, isalready deaf, and the pure spirit hath gone to the tribunal of another,and, as I trust, a milder judge. Ozema is dead!"
It was, indeed, true. Startled by the manner of the prelate--bewilderedwith the confusion of ideas that had grown up between the dogmas thathad been crowded on her mind, of late, and those in which she had beenearly taught; and physically paralyzed by the certainty that her lasthope of a union with Luis was gone, the spirit of the Indian girl haddeserted its beautiful tenement, leaving on the countenance of thecorpse a lovely impression of the emotions that had prevailed during thelast moments of its earthly residence.
Thus fled the first of those souls that the great discovery was torescue from the perdition of the heathen. Casuists may refine, thelearned dilate, and the pious ponder, on its probable fate in theunknown existence that awaited it: but the meek and submissive will hopeall from the beneficence of a merciful God. As for Isabella, shereceived a shock from the blow that temporarily checked her triumph atthe success of her zeal and efforts. Little, however, did she foresee,that the event was but a type of the manner in which the religion of thecross was to be abused and misunderstood; a sort of practical prognosticof the defeat of most of her own pious and gentle hopes and wishes.