Gómez Arias
CHAPTER II.
Mais puisque je naquis, sans doute il falloit naitre; Si l'on m'eut consulte, j'aurais refuse l'etre. Vains regrets! Le destin me condamnoit au jour, Et je viens, o soleil! te maudire a mon tour.
_Lamartine_.
I have no dread, And feel the curse to have no natural fear Nor fluttering throb, that beats with hopes or wishes Or lurking love of something on the earth.
_Lord Byron_.
Returned to his dwelling, Caneri seated himself to his repast, which,though frugal in the extreme, was nevertheless served with all theetiquette of a sovereign. The taciturnity of the renegade was ifpossible more marked than ever, nor could he be prevailed upon topartake of the food which was before them. Caneri felt an invincibledesire to dive into the mysterious history of his confidant; an attemptwhich he had already frequently made, but always unattended withsuccess. As soon, therefore, as their meal was finished, he dismissedthe attendants, and turning to the renegade in the most friendlymanner--
"Alagraf," he said, "cheer up; let not thy noble spirit droop: think onour cause, and rouse thy energies in proportion to the danger whichsurrounds us."
"Danger!" cried the renegade, "talk not to me of danger--I am recklessnow of consequences;--what is the whole world to me? My hated, mydetested enemy is no more;--the only longing of my life is thwarted, andI can feel no longer any interest in the pursuits of man."
"Surely!" exclaimed Caneri, somewhat alarmed, "thou dost not mean toabandon our cause!"
"Moor!" replied the renegade, in a voice of thunder, his eyes flashing,and his brows assuming an additional sternness--"Moor! is it to me thoudarest hold such language? Thinkest thou that being _once_ a traitor, mywhole existence must be made up of treasons? Suspicious man, know mebetter; I am a dark and accursed villain; hateful alike to Christian andMoor, but yet I am no deluded wretch, that will stoop to swerve from thepath he has once resolved to follow."
"Calm thy temper, Alagraf," said Caneri, interposing; "I meant not tooffend thee, and if I have, I pray thy indulgence: thou art sensible ofthe friendship which unites us; it is from the zeal of that friendship,that I continually urge the questions which thou seemest to avoid. Greatmust be the nature of thy sufferings, and powerful the motive whichprovokes such unusual signs of emotion; yet surely some consolationmight be found in trusting thy secret to the bosom of a comrade."
The renegade remained silent for a few minutes; then, as if suddenlyadopting a fresh resolution--
"Caneri," he said, "oft has thine officious zeal, or weak curiosity,fatigued my ears with repeated questions that are daggers to my soul. Iwill now satisfy thy craving; yes, I will unravel the mystery that hangsaround my head. By this concession I may perhaps acquire the right tobrood over my wrongs and misfortunes undisturbed and unmolested infuture.
"Caneri," he continued, "all the calamity which is now the portion ofthe man that stands before thee--all the struggles, the racking throesthat torture this seared breast, arise from one solitary cause--theoffspring of one crime, and of that crime the unhappy victim who suffersby it is innocent. The rites of religion never blessed my mother'sbridal bed, and I was born a thing despised, looked down upon by theproud ones of the land, pointed at by the urchins, and even taunted bythe beggar as he went his rounds. But nature, that made me a thing to becontemned, gave me no feelings congenial to such a state. I was endowedwith sentiments more noble, and greater powers of mind than those whoaffected to spurn me. I know not my father, nor was I ever anxious tolearn a name to me so full of misery, and which could claim no othertoken from his child than a malediction. This much I learnt--that myparent was a nobleman; but what unnatural cruelty could induce him toabandon his offspring, I never was able to determine. I was brought up aretainer in the house of the sire of my bitter foe, Don Lope GomezArias, where I was subjected to indignities at which my proud naturerevolted, whilst the obscurity of my birth powerfully contributed toexasperate those feelings already too much excited by repeatedcontumelies and scorn. Wherever I turned my eyes I discovered a drearywaste in the midst of society; for I was an outcast, and I felt nosympathy with the uses of the world. Chance made me a wretch, and natureunkindly gave me feelings and sentiments to heighten the misery to whichmy existence was doomed. Alas! my dark and repulsive exterior gave anadditional motive to justify the dislike with which I was generallybeheld.
"Such a life," interrupted Caneri, "must have been insupportable."
"It might," nobly answered the renegade, "to a weak mind--not to mine,for the very injustice of my fate gave me courage to support it. I rosesuperior to my misfortunes, and nourished a sensation of mixed hatredand contempt towards my kind: I assiduously nurtured sentimentscalculated to make me believe myself independent in the bosom of slaveryand degradation.--Yes, I had a beam of cheering hope, a wild andromantic emulation, a noble ambition, to acquire by my own deeds, mydaring exertion, that which was denied me by the combined oppositions ofbirth and station. My pretensions were supported by my pride, and spreada solitary but brilliant light amidst the darkness with which myexistence was clouded. In these sentiments I grew, hated and abhorring,despising and contemned. The springs of my heart, which would havesympathised with human nature, seemed to have been dried up for ever. Ifound myself incapable of any kindly feeling, and my whole being waswrapped in that dismal and isolated gloom which, like the mephiticvapour, tended to paralyze the exertions and blight the fair prospectsof life. Alas! I was mistaken; for, to my misfortune, I eventuallydiscovered that I was a man, subject to the weakness of human nature,that the depths of my heart, which I had judged impenetrable to theinfluence of the softer passions, were soon to be deeply stirred, andthat I was fated to experience those sentiments which I had proudlyimagined to be foreign to my nature.
"Amongst the numberless beings who conspired to render mewretched--amongst the many whom I was forced to look upon more asnatural foes than fellow-creatures, there was one who first beheld mewith a genuine and heavenly feeling of compassion, and from that sweetand pure emanation of sensibility soon sprung the most tender anddevoted attachment. This being, generous and kind, this solitaryexception to the overwhelming mass of hatred that encompassed me, forwhose dear sake alone I might forgive my parents for the miserable lifethey bestowed upon me--this being was a woman--a woman, alas! for ourmutual woe! She was as abundant in personal attractions as she was richin mental beauty. She loved, aye! she devotedly loved the unhappyBermudo, the wretched outcast, from whom every one else recoiled. Sheloved him, and she found in that dark form, in that being so degradedand despised, a heart capable of feeling and estimating a genuinepassion. Yes, in this desolate wilderness of my heart, not all was thenbarren, and the kindly feelings sowed by her hand took root and buddedforth; I fostered them, and they flourished as vigorously as if they hadbeen cast in a more generous mould. I loved her! Oh, Anselma! Five yearshave passed since that dreadful moment, but yet the bloody scene isglowing, burning in my memory. I see thy mangled form, thy beauteouslimbs broken, and thy long dishevelled hair clotted with gore. Anselma!Anselma! I did not follow thee to thy untimely grave, for I had to planand accomplish the deed of vengeance.--I cannot weep: the sad fountainsof these eyes are long since dry, but my scorched heart still weeps withtears of blood, when the scenes of thy youth, thy love, and thy horridfate crowd upon my agonized recollection."
The renegade could not proceed; his agitation became terrible, and allthe occurrences of his past life were busy in distorting those featuresand adding to their natural ferocity. Caneri looked aghast, for hisfrivolous soul could not easily comprehend the nature of an attachmentso fervent, so deeply rooted, as to produce the violent effects which henow witnessed. But his wonder increased as he perceived that gust ofuncontroulable passion gradually subside and give place to a kinderemotion than he thought congenial to the being that stood before him.The renegade was again calm. A tear stood trembling in his eye, andthat pityi
ng drop spoke of affections long subdued, but not entirelyextinct in the breast of him who had but few tears to bestow. Soon,however, his glassy eyes were fixed, and as Bermudo raised mechanicallyhis long sinewy fingers to his burning forehead, his countenance becamethe index of a mind engaged in scenes far away. It was a deep thoughmomentary abstraction, for as Caneri gazed in amazement, the renegadeawoke from his trance, and became aware of the notice which his emotionhad excited. He felt ashamed that a token of weakness should havebetrayed him before man, and with a strong exertion strove to smotherthe commotion which swelled his breast. He dashed away the drop thatfain would soften the lurid expression of his eye. His pride succeededin the conflict: soon that lip recovered its sardonic curl, and hisfeatures relapsing into their calm and gloomy ferocity, he thenproceeded--
"Gomez Arias, upon whom nature had lavished her choicest gifts, only asthe means of following with greater success his licentiouscourses--Gomez Arias saw the beautiful Anselma. Her attractions andinnocence could not escape his observation, and he marked her out forhis prey. Curse the day his wily smile first lighted on the unfortunategirl!"
"She did not then," interrupted Caneri, "fall into the snare of theseducer?"
"No," firmly replied the renegade, "she did not; but the gentle creatureknew too well how boundless was the power of her persecutor, andtrembled to provoke its influence--not for her own sake, but for mine.Our mutual inclination was no longer a secret; and my presumption incrossing the will of my arrogant master, would have been attended withinevitable ruin. Anselma, sensible of our dangerous position, carefullyendeavoured to avoid the threatened storm. It was all in vain; her tearsfell fast, and her prayers were uttered in all the fervour of desolategrief; but the barbarian saw those tears unmoved, and heard her piteousexpostulations with the coldness of a villain. Nay, he felt exasperatedat the resistance with which his wishes were opposed by one whom hispride naturally led him to consider as affording an easy conquest. Hehad been accustomed, in his shameful career, to meet with little or noopposition; he was base enough to doubt the very existence of femalevirtue; and was it for a poor humble girl, born his dependant, an orphanfrom her childhood, and clinging to no other protection than that whichcould be afforded by such a thing as I, to contradict the vile opinionwhich the proud patrician entertained?
"Caneri, I will no longer dwell on this subject. Gomez Arias at lengthresolved to accomplish by a vile contrivance, what he could not obtainby seductive persuasion. I was despatched on a trifling commission toone of his estates, my presence being an obstacle to his designs; forpoor and despised as I was, Gomez Arias nevertheless looked upon me witha feeling of dread. He could crush the reptile, but he feared the sting.I was strong in my very weakness, for as I had but one solitary motiveto link me to life; that being removed, my oppressor felt aware my lifewould then only serve as the price by which I was to purchase revenge.
"I was absent, when one of his miscreants administered some deleteriousbeverage to the unsuspecting Anselma, the effects of which answered totheir utmost extent the wishes of the libertine. An irresistiblelethargy oppressed the senses and rendered powerless the limbs of thehelpless victim. In that state she was borne to the couch of her undoer,and by a stratagem worthy of the monster by whom it was invented, GomezArias triumphed over her passive unconscious form. Happy, happy if theunnatural slumber in which Anselma was immersed, had subsided into thesleep of death. But no, she awoke--she returned to life, only to cursethat life which was now covered with degradation. Alas! she had no oneto whom she could fly, and under whose fostering kindness she might hideher shame; she had no refuge left--none but death, the last shelter ofvirtuous woman betrayed. She spurned with indignant pride the glitteringoffers of the miscreant who wrought her ruin. She recoiled withabhorrence from his loathsome caresses; cursed in bitter agony hisunmanly deed, and brooded over her misfortune, until the loss of herreason followed the profanation of her person."
Again the renegade stopt in his recital, as if unable to sustain thepainful recollection, and after a pause he continued:--
"Evening was falling as I returned from my distant mission. My heartfelt unusually heavy and desponding; as I was passing near a precipicein these very mountains, my ear was struck with the hum of voices,mingled with the discordant shrieks of birds of prey which issued fromthe abyss below. Presently a flight of those ominous birds camescreaming on high, as if scared by some unwelcome intruders, and the humof voices was converted into a long, piercing, and promiscuouslamentation. With as much activity as the perilous nature of thatprecipice would permit, I hastened towards the spot, and soon perceivedthe melancholy cause of the wailings that had arrested my course. Somepeasants were with difficulty dragging from that frightful abyss aburthen, which, as well as I could distinguish from the distance,appeared a human body. I approached nearer, and found that it was inreality a human--a mangled corpse!--It was that of my Anselma!"
"Oh, horror!" exclaimed Caneri, in chilled amazement.
"It was Anselma," gloomily repeated Bermudo; "my love, my only happinessin this accursed world. She had already been dead sometime. Her slendergarments were rent, her long tresses torn and stained with blood, andher delicate limbs broken and mangled with the fall. Alas! her beautifulfeatures were now scarcely discernible; the raven had plucked at thoseeyes that once beamed with affection, and the hungry vulture hadlacerated the pure heart, that hallowed shrine of innocence and love andvirtue. I did not weep, nor did I utter a single groan; no sign ofgrief escaped me. No,--the springs of my heart were instantaneouslyfrozen, and with horrified stupor I gazed on the ghastly spectacle.Suddenly my whole frame underwent a revolution. I felt a dreadfulpressure on my heart,--a ball of fire seemed rolling in my brain. It wastorture intense; the pangs of frenzied agony came over me, and for atime I knew not what I did; but the tempest of passion graduallysubsided, and my soul became fixed in that settled and sombre mood,which has been to me as a second nature since that dreadful event.
"The sad remains of the lovely Anselma were consigned to the kindredearth, and I hastened to learn the cause of the appalling fate, which myboding heart already but too faithfully foretold. I hurried to themansion of Gomez Arias; the truth was soon revealed, but I felt nosurprise--I was prepared for the dire intelligence. I reproached GomezArias in the most bitter and provoking terms; he answered me with thelaugh of contempt. I laid my hand on my sword--he smote me on the face.Furiously I drew the mortal weapon, but was soon overpowered anddisarmed by the numerous attendants of my foe. I applied forredress--for justice. I denounced my enemy as the murderer of Anselma.It was all in vain; justice affected to be deaf to my earnest andreiterated appeal. Alas! what redress could I obtain against so powerfulan enemy? His constant good fortune had raised him in the estimation ofthe court; he was brave, victorious in various encounters against theMoors in the war of Granada. His services were rewarded; his crimesoverlooked; and I with the sting of shame and revenge and disappointmentrankling in my heart, determined to extort with my own hands thatredress which the justice of my country had denied me. I made a world tomyself in the solitude of my now desolate feelings. Severed from everypursuit, a stranger to every natural tie, I resolved to dedicate all theresources of my soul to the prosecution of the most exemplary revenge.Ever since that time, I have, under the cover of various disguises,hovered about his path, and I had once an opportunity of partlysatiating my thirst of revenge; but I let it pass, because the draughtwould not half satisfy my fevered longing for deeper retribution. It wasin the embrace of a deep slumber that I once saw Gomez Arias, and Ihovered over his devoted head with the pleasure of the vulture that seesbeneath him its defenceless prey."
"And why didst thou not slay him?" inquired Caneri.
"No!" replied the renegade, "I would not kill him then, for that were norevenge; his soul would flee from this world without the knowledge thatit was _I_--it was Bermudo that inflicted the wound. I did not kill him;I reserved his hated life for more exquisite tortures--a more appallingfate, with
all the harrowing attendants of remorse and despair."
"And what probability was there afterwards," demanded the Moor, "ofprosecuting your intentions with success?"
"That," returned the renegade, "was the constant object of mymeditation; but alas! the whole study of my existence is now rendereduseless by the unexpected death of my enemy. However, I joined yourcause from hatred to the injustice of my countrymen. That hatred stillburns, and I will yet find means for vengeance in the detested blood ofChristians. Moor," he then added, with sternness, "I am sunk low, low inthe depths of crime, and this is thy best security for my constancy tothe desperate course I have adopted. My life is solitary andindependent, reckless of all results. Lead then to the combat, and whereslaughter stains the way, and where shrieks and groans encumber the air,where death is busiest, there! thou mayest exultingly cry, there is therenegade!"
As Alagraf delivered these words, he suddenly withdrew, leaving the Moorplunged in astonishment. Caneri, however, was soon aroused from histrain of reflection by a consciousness of the importance of his station.He prudently judged that too much of his valuable time had already beendevoted to a matter of individual interest. He started therefore fromhis couch, summoned his various officers, and inquired with minuteaccuracy into the state of every thing in the palace. Satisfactoryanswers were returned, and the chief received the communications with ademeanor appropriately grave and dignified. He next paraded the townwith a display of importance that might well have amused his followers,if indeed they had been capable of feeling anything but concern in theirdestitute situation.
Again Caneri returned to his dwelling, and a discussion was entered intowith respect to the several articles that composed his dress: his fadedturban was retrimmed; his couch arranged with the greatest care, andodoriferous shrubs burnt in the apartment which he honoured with hispresence. The duties of the day having been happily completed, the chiefresigned himself to his habitual indolence with all the complacency ofone who considers himself by situation entitled to the contribution ofevery one towards his comfort and luxury.
At the close of evening, however, his repose was disturbed by amessenger who arrived from El Feri de Benastepar, announcing that theredoubtable Don Alonso de Aguilar was rapidly advancing, and that theyshould shortly be obliged to join in combat. He implored Caneri to beready for any disaster that might occur, and to keep his men preparedfor all contingencies. This intelligence, as it may be well conceived,threw the Moor into some degree of agitation, and being rather late, heresolved to call into requisition the multifarious powers he possessedof serving his country. He speedily summoned a cabinet council, whoseopinions he would condescend to hear, and whose understandings hegraciously intended to enlighten. He pompously reclined himself on thecushions, and assembling his courtly retinue, commenced his haranguerespecting the plans necessary to be adopted under existingcircumstances. His councillors, however, appeared in a very sorryplight to give advice: they looked at each other with woe-begonecountenances, and their sleepy eyes seemed to concur in one opinion,though they did not actually venture to give it utterance, that the mostrational course to pursue, after the fatigues of the day, was to indulgenature with a few hours of refreshing repose. Indeed the judicious andsalutary tendency of this measure appeared to meet with such unanimousassent, that after sitting half an hour, both the president and thesapient members of the council very leisurely fell asleep, and therebytestified their opinion, like sensible men, as to the most rational wayof terminating a council of state.
The renegade, disturbed in the meditations into which he had fallenduring the empty oration of Caneri, by the sonorous and unequivocalsigns of slumber evinced by his colleagues, saw with surprise theconclusion to which they had unanimously arrived, and casting a look ofcontempt on the sleeping councillors, retired to his quarters.