The Royal Pawn of Venice

  XXV

  The Venetian Admiral Mocenigo, god-father to the little prince, hadfollowed close upon the coming of Vettore Soranzo, and they had lost notime in examining into the causes of the difficulties and in fixing theresponsibility for the treachery where it belonged: disloyal officerswere replaced by men in sympathy with the government, men of weight andcharacter were sought for to fill the vacancies in the Council of theRealm, and it seemed that days of sunshine were dawning for Caterina,guarded by the affection of her people and the invincible arm of Venice.

  These Venetian nobles would have made short work in meting out justiceto those chiefs who had been the instigators of the conspiracy, but asyet they had eluded the search; though it was rumored that Saplana, theTurkish commander of the Fortress of Famagosta, with his nephew Almericoto whom the conspirators would assign control of the castle ofCerines,--had been in hiding in the palace of the Archbishop. And a talewas brought to Bernardini by a group of agitated peasants from thehamlet of Varoschia, that at early dawn a man fully armed, with thesemblance of Rizzo--"not an apparition, _Signore sa_--but how could oneknow the face of him with his vizor down?--was riding like the wind toFamagosta, and with him a multitude of horsemen, coming very silently.We saw them from the vineyards high up on the hillside. And then--quitesuddenly--we looked and they were gone--they came no more--by SanNicolo and the Holy Madonna, it is true!"

  Significant gestures gave a certain mysterious color to the peasant'stale; but whatever its truth, it was actually known that Rizzo and otherof the conspirators had been seen in the neighborhood of Nikosia; andthe whereabouts of these intriguers was a topic of absorbing interest,for it was felt that the sunshine would be clearer when Rizzo with hisaccomplices should have been found and made to suffer the full penaltyof their crime.

  Rizzo and Fabrici had been absent at the time of the uprising of thecitizens of Famagosta, and the wolf-like courage of the Chief-of-Councilwas on the wane: for the letters of the Queen had not proved thepassport he had expected toward the surrender of the Cyprian strongholdsto a traitor: since more than one of the Commanders had been found sostaunch in loyalty as to question the validity of the royal signature.

  When all had gone so well at first, these failures were exasperating toa man of Rizzo's temper--the more so that the little Queen had refusedto prepare another letter of dismissal required of her; and Rizzo, thestronger in wrath and insolence because his faith in his star wassomewhat less, had set forth himself to enforce the investiture ofAlmerico as Commander of Cerines--the castle to which he had beenrefused admittance on the morning of the uprising in Famagosta.

  * * * * *

  Venice, meanwhile, with her faculty for establishing confidence andsettling all things in order, having brought back the smiles of theCourt, had suggested the wisdom of relieving the strain and tickling thefancy of the people by some pageant. There was to be a grand review ofthe troops in the Piazza on the esplanade, in the presence of the Queenand the infant Prince, at which the presentation by Her Majesty to theAdmiral Mocenigo of a golden shield, magnificently wrought with the armsof Cyprus, would diplomatically suggest the important role that Venicehad played in the re-establishment of the Government.

  Dama Ecciva was in her element again, now that something had happened toscatter the unendurable dulness, and each day brought some new matterfor discussion.

  "Hast heard, Eloisa, how that this new Council to Her Majesty hathcaptured the Secretary of His Reverence the Archbishop? and they thoughtto hang him for his master's treachery and his own; and then, because hepromised to confess to save his life, he is in the Castle instead. Andthere were revelations!--and intrigues!--verily a Reverendissimo!"

  "Name him not to me; I have no patience!"

  "Thou hast never patience when I bring thee news: and it is tiresome ofthee, for one must talk, or die of ennui in this court!"

  "Then let it be of something better." Eloisa answered in a tone whichshowed her distaste of the subject.

  "Choose thou--since one can never know thy whim. Shall it be of thatfamous Saplana who runneth away to put himself in hiding;--forfear--_verily for fear_--the Commander of Famagosta! afraid to die likea man! A comedy!--one might laugh if it were less craven."

  "One knoweth not if he be in hiding, since he is not found; he may be atraitor, yet not a coward too."

  "Yes, one knoweth, bella Contarini mia: did I not promise thee news? Andthou wilt never guess it."

  "It was our Admiral Mocenigo who found him?" Eloisa asked eagerly.

  "Nay; not 'our Admiral Mocenigo';" the other answered lingering on thename with a fine mimicry of her tone; "not thine nor mine. Thou hast afoolish way with thee of mine and thine, as if all that came from Venicewere held close to thy little heart.--How goes it with thy handsomeSignor Bernardini?"

  "Oh, Ecciva! The Chamberlain of the Queen! how darest thou? Thou artover free with thy foolish speech."

  "Nay, little timid maid; it is thou who art foolish not to see--not tosee----. Ah, well, he is but a man for all he is Venetian; andthou--thou art a child and hast no eyes."

  "What meanest thou, Ecciva? Nay, thou _shalt_ tell me." She caught hercompanion's hand as Ecciva made a feint of turning away.

  "So----; now there is something found that doth not tax thy ficklepatience, since we speak of the splendid Bernardini! Thou hast everthine adoration ready for a Venetian."

  Eloisa flushed indignantly, but she answered staunchly: "Not onlyI--but every one who loveth what is noble. Thou knowest, Ecciva, theCourt is full of his praises."

  "Aye, is it, my little one? As well it may be! Then what harm that Ishould sing them too? Verily, I think he is noble beyond all others;"her taunting tone became suddenly earnest. "And this I came to tellthee."

  "This is not news," the other answered coldly, having found it difficultto keep the pace of Ecciva's changing admirations, for the Cyprianmaiden was easily captured by any demonstration of power; "and thoucamest to bring me news."

  "Hast ever thought that the Chamberlain of the Queen would woo a bride?"Dama Ecciva asked lightly, but unconsciously opening and closing herslender henna-stained fingers, straining them into the soft palms withstrenuous motions, while she waited for her companion's reply.

  "If I knew his secrets or dreamed them, I would not tell thee--being hisfriend," Eloisa exclaimed indignantly, "such talk ill befitteth thedignity of Her Majesty's maids of honor. What is thy news?"

  Ecciva came closer and laid one hand on Eloisa's wrist, tightening herclasp while she spoke in low, slow, insinuating tones--holding her withher strange gaze.

  "This is no news to thee--that I--that I----? Tell me Eloisa, dost thounot see?"

  The Venetian turned from her uneasily.

  "Thou hast shewn me nothing with all thy talk of the Bernardini;" shespoke the name unwillingly, Ecciva seemed to force her to continue thetheme, and it was with difficulty that she could withdraw her hand fromthe Grecian maiden's sinuous clasp. "Let us talk no more; for thou hastno news of real matter."

  "Not of the Bernardini, since thou wilt not hear it. But how if I knewof a bride for him?"

  "I think he would not ask of whom thou speakest!" Eloisa tried to laughand shake off the spell. "I will listen no more, Ecciva."

  But the other paid no heed. "How if I knew of a bride for him?" sherepeated; "of a most ancient house of Cyprus; noble enough to mate withhim--for out of it came one of the queens of the land----. And if--andif she would not say him nay!--How then, Carina? For thou, 'being hisfriend,' wouldst wish to see him win such favor----?"

  "It is not the Dama Margherita de Iblin," Eloisa asked with sudden eagerinterest.

  "The Lady Margherita!" Ecciva echoed with a scornful toss of her head."Doth one seek a bride no longer young when one is a man like that?Nor--nor beautiful?--She is not beautiful!"

  "She is more rare than beautiful," Eloisa retorted, piqued. "For she isnoble, like the Signor Bernardini: and her face is like her soul."

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; "They should not trust their secrets to so young a maid!" the LadyEcciva cried tauntingly.

  She had suddenly flushed and grown pale again. Then a new thought cameto her. "But she also is a Dama di Maridaggio--_she also_. Thou mightesttell that for a bit of gossip to the Queen, who, perchance, hathinfluence with the Signor Bernardini." She had laid her hand again onEloisa's, with an insistent touch.

  "Why dost thou say, _she also_?"

  "That is for thy puzzle--to amuse thee, carinissima; for verily thybrain is dull. It is no wonder with the gravity of this court! Buthappily to-morrow--thou shalt see to-morrow how the people shout to him,for Cyprus doth owe him honor--and Her Majesty more than life. It is theBernardini who hath done it all--more than the Soranzo, or theMocenigo--more even than our great Admiral of Cyprus. Thou shalt see!"

  Eloisa fell easily into praises of her hero, and her tongue wasunsealed. "To go at night, with only a poor fishing-skiff and a handfulof men, to steal back the little king from the galley of Naples--it wasnot easy! But how should one think of peril when the Prince was indanger?--They are both like that--he and she."

  "All knights are like that, or they would be craven: that was no honorto him. But what woman went with him from the palace? I watched themgoing; it was a night like some great poem!"

  "That was our dear Lady of the Bernardini; lest the Prince should bestrange without some loving face about him, and none can smile him intoquiet, as she with her gracious ways; and they feared a sound, for thegalley lay close under the fortress. So quietly they went, along theshore, lingering where the nets are thrown by the shallows, to take thegalley by surprise--the Lady of the Bernardini shrouded in the mantle ofa fisher-woman."

  "And after?--When they had found him? For it was not told where they hidthe child--or I heard it not."

  "Yes--now it may be known; thanks be to our Mater Sanctissima!" Eloisaanswered devoutly. "They floated about in the fishing skiff until theyreached the private galley of the Signor Bernardini--so far around thecoast that it would be safe for the Prince. And of the peril, the Ladyof the Bernardini had no thought. The galley of His Excellency was darkand with no sign of action, yet it had been manned for a cruise thenight before the treason--the poor Signor Bembo was to have gonetherein"--her voice faltered and they both crossed themselves, thehorror of that night was still so new.

  "The crew were hidden within it," she continued after a moment's pause,"and if there had been pursuit, it would have started swiftly forVenice, to put the Prince in safety."

  "How came this tale to thee?" Dama Ecciva asked with a sudden twinge ofjealousy--"we both being of the court?"

  "Nay, nay, Ecciva," Eloisa pleaded; "we both are here to do our duty,and in time of peril--thou knowest well--one may not ask counsel on thehouse-tops; and this was for life or death. How might they hope tosurprise the galley of Naples, if it has been told to all the Court?"

  "Thou, then?"

  "Listen, Ecciva! Since it is past, thou shalt see how they are noble,this Mother and her son! They left with me that night a message for thedear Queen whom they might not reach with speech, to spare her greateranguish, if they came not back. For, oh my God, how she hath suffered!"

  "It is yet more a poem," Ecciva exclaimed, stirred by the hope offurther romance, and already half ashamed that she had shown hermomentary feeling of jealousy. "The message--tell it!"

  "'If we come not back, thou wilt tell our beloved Lady that we havesought to wrest the child from the galley of Naples; for rumor hath itthat he is hidden there. And if he be there, we will bring him, or giveour lives to save him. Tell her our galley waiteth far, to take thePrince to Venice if, from pursuit, there should be need to fly.'

  "But--listen Ecciva--they said, '_if we come not again, and our galleyshould be found waiting on the coast, then tell her that our lives werelittle to express our love; and she shall not mourn that we have giventhem for her and for her child_.'--Oh, Ecciva!" she ended with a longsigh of adoring appreciation.

  Ecciva broke the tension with her exclamation: "No, Contarini mia, allknights are _not_ like that: I said it but to tease thee. Tell it to theDama Margherita with a face like that, and she will make it a second'Kypria,' for she hath, verily the gift. I have not such a tale ofknighthood to tell thee: yet, if thou carest for my tidings they wouldmake a canto for the new Kypria of the Dama Margherita, in contrast tothine. And first of the traitor Saplana--_of whom there is news_."

  Eloisa greeted the tidings with an exclamation of relief.

  "He--and the precious group of noble villains--or of villainnobles--one's tongue takes twist in talking trash--the more when it istrue; a precious group of traitors, all on the wild seashore--how theDama Margherita would bring out the booming of the waves! These doughtyvillains fleeing because, forsooth, they feared the fleet ofVenice!--tossing their reins on the necks of the steeds that broughtthem, and leaving them to wander at their will. A little gold and theirarms and bucklers in the fishing skiff that brought them to the galleyof the noble Ferdinand--the goodly King of Naples,--his well-belovedson, Alfonso, wore not for long the title of the 'Prince ofGalilee!'--Is it a pretty tale for the poem of the Margherita? The taleof the fleeing villains!"

  "But who went with the Commander?--Which others?"

  "There was the nephew, Almerico--much in temper because thy noble unclethe Contarini would not yield up to his traitorous care the Castle ofCerines for the signature forced from the Queen. There was Fabrici--thevery Reverend, the Primate of Cyprus. And then--and then--not last, butfirst, and deepest and darkest traitor of them all--the very darkestvillain of them all--there was Rizzo!"

  "Ecciva! Not Rizzo!--the land is free of him!"

  "Aye, _Rizzo_, child. Did I tell thee I had news? And for their absencesmay Heaven be praised!--though, truly, they have deserved worse."

  "They have deserved _death_," said Eloisa solemnly: "death between thecolumns of the Piazzetta--death and confiscation."

  "So, my Venetian, thou never wilt remember that we are Cyprians! Thedrama of confiscation will surely follow upon their deserts, and therewill be fiefs the more for their Cyprian betters. But as fordeath--'death between the columns'--I could almost be glad that Rizzohath escaped. How shall one not admire the masterful scheming of theman, and the insolence and power of him?--he is fairly great inwile.--Have I not told thee news enough, and of a quality to make thyhair stand on end--the comely hair of a most decorous young Venetianmaid?--and thou hast never a word of admiration. Verily, thou arttiresome!"

  "It is so terrible, Ecciva: I cannot jest, nor gloat on it for news."

  "There, there, sweet child!" Ecciva had slipped easily back into herold, mocking, taunting way--"go look out thy tire for the morrow and tryon thy jewels, for the pageant will be fine: and, do thy best, I shalloutshine thee--thee and the Dama Margherita! One pageant in six monthsof woe--it is not over much."