The Prime Minister Part 22

Don Luis then thought it high time to speak, to relieve her embarra.s.sment, expressing his happiness at again meeting her, with many inquiries respecting her health, to which she made suitable answers, when he continued--"I have been fortunate in recovering the casket of jewels, the loss of which so much concerned you, and I came hither this evening on purpose to deliver it, not expecting to find a ball going forward."

"How kind, how thoughtful of you!" she exclaimed, repaying him with a sweet smile. "Do not deliver them now, but come to-morrow morning early, when I am sure my father will join with me in thanking you for all your attention to us, if you will take care of them a little longer."

"I would not willingly part with aught belonging to Donna Clara;" and Luis bowed, as many other gentlemen were bowing to ladies near him. But there was a look which accompanied that bow, unseen by any but the lady to whom it was made, which caused her heart to beat quicker than usual.

Now Luis, when he entered the room, had most certainly not intended to tell Clara that he loved her, nor had he yet done so, because he was not aware of it himself, but he quickly found it out in the course of their conversation, besides discovering that he was not indifferent to her; a circ.u.mstance adding considerably to his boldness in speaking.

It may seem extraordinary to some of our readers that Don Luis should have carried on so interesting a conversation with Clara, unheard by any persons who surrounded them; but such was the fact, for lovers quickly learn to lower their voices and restrain their actions, as we have always heard: indeed, a friend of ours, a miserable younger son, once made an arrangement with a young lady of fortune sufficient for them both, to elope with him, while her unconscious mamma was sitting on the other side of the room. The young lady was severely punished for her fault, by the just indignation of her friends, who refused to have any intercourse with her till, by the death of several relations of her husband's, a coronet was placed on her brow, when their hearts relented towards her, and they thought she had acted very wisely. The moral of this anecdote is, that chaperones must not be too confident because they keep the young ladies near them.

Luis claimed Donna Clara's hand, and led her forth to dance: they then wandered together through several rooms, where they fancied that they were un.o.bserved. The temptation was very great, and he yielded to it.

His words were few and low; but Clara's ears were quick, and she heard every one of them; for they were such as she would not have lost for worlds. She longed to ask him to repeat them again, but as she could not do that, she told him they made her very happy; for, at that moment, poor girl, she forgot all but the present. She looked up, and beheld the dark eye of the Count glaring at her from among the crowd. In an instant her joy was turned to anguish; and like a thunderbolt, the recollection of her father's stern decree, and of some dreadful words the friar had once spoken to her, rushed upon her mind.

Luis saw the sudden change in her countenance; but, knowing not the cause, supposed that an illness had seized her, when, forgetful of all his former caution, he exclaimed, "Speak, my beloved, are you ill?"

His agitation was marked by the Count, though his words reached no other ears but hers.

"Oh no, no! Leave me, in mercy," she answered, her voice trembling with alarm: "I am not ill, but I have acted very wrong; I ought to have told you at once of the lot to which I am destined; but oh! believe me, I forgot it in the joy of seeing you. See, the fierce glance of the Count San Vincente is cast on me. Oh! pardon me, that I must now tell you so, I am condemned to wed that dark man, or to a.s.sume the veil."

A chill weight pressed on Luis's heart. "Was the bright fabric he had just raised up but a vain illusion?" he asked himself.

Donna Clara was the first to recover herself; she continued, speaking more calmly: "Go now, and confide in me. Yesterday I might have been compelled to accept the Count; but now no earthly power shall make me wed him. The confidence of your love will give me strength to resist all the temptations, and to despise all the threats which are held out to cause me to do that which I knew was wrong, and against which my heart revolted. Come to-morrow, for my father has ever been kind, and he may relent. Tell him openly of our love, and I will beseech him not to sacrifice me to the Count: to you, surely, he can have no objection, and, for very grat.i.tude for what you have done for him, he cannot refuse you."

The last few sentences were spoken while Luis was conducting her to her seat. Unperceived by either, the Count had followed them at a distance, where he stood watching them among the crowd. Clara looked up into her young lover's face, and smiled. "Fear not, Luis, we may yet be happy,"

she said; but scarcely had she uttered the words, when, as if by some fascination she could not resist, she again beheld from afar the basilisk eyes of the Count glaring on her; but though their glance did not wither her, it at once recalled all her fears and forebodings, and brought clearly to her remembrance her father's words. Her gentle heart sank within her: she could not allow Luis to leave her with hopes which she felt too truly must inevitably be blighted. "Luis," she said, "I cannot deceive myself, and I must not deceive you. My doom, I fear, is sealed. My father, I remember, told me, though I scarce noted his words, that his honour was pledged to the Count, that if I did not wed him, I should become the bride of Heaven, for that such was my mother's dying wish. That I will not wed him, I have a.s.sured you, and I know you trust me; the rest is in the hands of Heaven, and in Heaven alone can I confide. Oh! Luis, once again I pray you to leave me. Farewell! for we ought not to meet again."

Luis saw by her looks that his remaining would agitate and pain her more. "At your bidding, beloved one, I leave you now. I will see your father to-morrow, and urge my claim; he cannot be so cruel as thus barbarously to sacrifice you. Farewell!" Saying which, with grief in his tone and look, he tore himself from her side, and hastily threading his way through the crowd of guests, he rushed from the palace.

Clara remained unconscious of all that was pa.s.sing around, till the Count and her brother approached her. "Who was the gentleman with whom you have been dancing?" said the latter. "He seemed an intimate acquaintance."

The tones of her brother's voice aroused her.

"Don Luis d'Almeida; to whom your grat.i.tude is due for rescuing your father and sister from the power of brigands," answered Clara, with greater firmness than she could have supposed herself to possess; but her womanly pride was roused at the tone of the question, and at the presence of the Count.

"He seemed to presume, then, too much on the service he was so fortunate to perform, for the Count tells me he was engaged in long and earnest conversation with you, which he does not approve, and would have interrupted, had not the etiquette of society prevented him."

"The Count was employed in a truly n.o.ble occupation," answered Clara, her gentle spirit excited beyond endurance at the unauthorised interference of the Count and her brother: "nor do I know by what right he claims the privilege of directing my conduct."

"By that of being your affianced husband, my fair sister; and as his friend, I must guard his interests as well as yours," said her brother.

"He requests your hand for the next dance, and will then better urge his own claims." Upon this the Count advanced, a.s.suming the softest smile, and in the blandest voice made his request.

Clara shrunk from him, as she answered, "I can dance no more; and I beg the Conde San Vincente will not deceive himself by supposing that any claims he can urge will afford me otherwise than pain."

"Is this, then, madam, the answer I may expect to-morrow--for which I have waited patiently a whole month?" exclaimed the Count, fiercely.

"Such is the only one I can ever be induced to give," returned Clara, with firmness. "Though, had not the Conde San Vincente drawn the answer from me now, I should have preferred giving it through my father."

The Count's brow lowered, and again that ominous glance shot from his eyes. "I give you till to-morrow to alter your determination, madam,"

he whispered, between his closed teeth; "for I was led to expect a very different answer; when, if I find that a rival has influenced it, as you have given me just cause to suspect, remember that his heart's blood shall pay for his audacity. I will not lose so fair a prize without wreaking my vengeance on him who has ventured to deprive me of it."

Clara turned pale at these words, which her brother could not hear; and though they increased her horror and hatred of the speaker, she smothered the feeling for the moment, for the sake of one who, from the contrast, was every instant becoming dearer to her. "Oh, no," she answered, "you have no rival but the Church, which claims me, if I become not your bride; yet, as a man, a n.o.ble, and a Christian, do not urge your claim. I can never love you; but surely that is not a crime: and I will never wed where I cannot love, for that would indeed be crime. Then spare me, for my fate is in your power."

The Count smiled darkly, as he spoke. "You know that I love you, lady, and my love is not a weak, puny pa.s.sion, to be thrown aside at pleasure; nor will I yield it to any power but the Church, against which even I cannot strive; so do not persuade yourself, that I am, like a boy, to be gained over, by prayers or tears, to do what I should most a.s.suredly repent of. For the present, I yield to your wishes, and leave you; but to-morrow I shall return, and claim the fulfilment of your father's promise." The Count, on this, bowed profoundly, and joined her brother, who was standing at some little distance, and to whom he expressed his conviction that he possessed a rival in his sister's affections in the person of Don Luis d'Almeida, when they together left the palace.

Poor Clara watched their departure with anxiety. What fears does love conjure up in a woman's breast! She knew her brother's fiery temper, and dreaded the Count's vindictive disposition. They might encounter Don Luis; they would quarrel, and he would fall a victim to their anger.

She longed to be able to seek Don Luis, and to warn him of his danger; or to have some trusty messenger whom she could send to a.s.sist him; but she felt that she was helpless, and so completely did her agitation overcome her, that she was obliged to fly to her own chamber, to give way to her feelings in tears. The old marchioness was excessively angry when she found that the Count had quitted the party, and she could nowhere see Donna Clara. The fidalgo, who had been deeply engaged in a game of cards, knew nothing of his daughter; and when, at last, it was discovered that she had retired to her chamber, which no persuasions could induce her to leave, the old lady grew more sour than ever, and vowed she would never again be guilty of the folly and wickedness of giving a party to please any human beings, as other old ladies have often since done, when their _soirees_ have not gone off as well as they expected. b.a.l.l.s in those days, in Portugal, were very solemn affairs, the stately and sedate cotillon being the only dance allowed, people endeavouring, by outward gravity and decorum, to make amends for universal license and depravity of morals; hoops, bag-wigs, and swords, not increasing any inclination for saltatory amus.e.m.e.nts. How far better is the graceful and animating waltz, the inspiriting galop, and the conversational quadrille, of the present day, with the really correct behaviour so general in society.

Now, we dare say, some of our readers will accuse us of having again fallen into the errors of romance writers, in describing Donna Clara's hasty acknowledgment of her love for Don Luis; and, in our defence, we affirm, in the first place, that such was the fact--which ought to be sufficient. And that none may deem her unmaidenly, it must be remembered that she had naturally thought of him every day since they first met, that she had contrasted him with the Count, for whom she had from the first felt a dislike, and that Don Luis proved he had thought of her and her wishes, by recovering her mother's jewels; besides, he was a very handsome, n.o.ble person, and her equal in birth; but, above all, he told her he loved her, and she believed him. Why should she not? More than a month had pa.s.sed since they first met; and though they had not since personally encountered each other, they had, every day and hour, in spirit; for their love was of that pure essence which neither time nor s.p.a.ce can divide, which, born in heaven, outlives decay, and against which neither the powers of the earth, nor the spirits of darkness, can prevail; that heavenly spark which, in an instant kindled, burns brightly for eternity! Love at first sight! We pity the heart-withered worldlings who deem this impossible; who, because the furnace of society has seared and hardened their feelings, laugh and sneer at all the refined and tender sentiments which gentle nature implanted in the bosom of man; though such they truly cannot experience, yet the young and innocent may, and we know, are often thus blessed. We say blessed, for a few moments of such pure ecstasy are of incomparably far greater value than a whole life of apathetic indifference. Those who require confirmation of the truth of our history, we must remind, that Lisbon is considerably to the south of the lat.i.tude of Verona, for we firmly believe that a certain William Shakespeare never drew a character not true to life. Now, he tells how, in Verona, the young and ardent Romeo and Juliet loved, and loved so truly, that they died for love; and yet their love in one instant sprung to life, and flourished bright and lovely to the end. Before concluding, we may quote some words spoken by Juliet on their second meeting, and then we think Clara will not be accused of precipitancy:--

Juliet.

"Three words, dear Romeo, and good night, indeed.

If that thy bent of love be honourable, Thy purpose marriage, send me word to-morrow, By one that I'll procure to come to thee, Where, and what time, thou wilt perform the rite; And all my fortunes at thy foot I'll lay, And follow thee, my lord, throughout the world."

Volume 2, Chapter V.

How bright and fair are the hopes of youth, like the early flowers of spring; but how soon, alas! do they, too, wither and decay, beneath the first scorching blast of summer. Poor Donna Clara awoke, the morning after the events we have described in the previous chapter, with a weight at her young heart such as she had never before experienced. A short month ago, the world promised naught but happiness, and now every feeling of joy lay crushed and blighted. Old Gertrudes attended her loved mistress with looks of sorrow, while the business of the toilette was proceeding; and no sooner had she dismissed her Abigails, than she urged her to confide to her bosom all the causes of her grief. She was in no way restrained in her abuse of the Count, describing his character very much in its true light; but her observations, far from relieving Clara's mind, only increased her fears for the safety of Don Luis.

When the old lady heard that her fate was to be settled that very day, her tears flowed fast, as she embraced her affectionately: "I will not have my child torn from me to be shut up in a convent, where I cannot attend on her," she exclaimed. "I don't believe my mistress, your lady mother, who has gone to heaven, ever wished you to go into one at all.

I never heard her say so, and there's n.o.body but the Senhor Confessor who ever did; so I see no reason why you should be forced to do what you do not like. If you were to marry some young fidalgo whom you loved, it would be very different, and all natural; because I might then accompany and take care of you; but this I am determined shall not be, let that stern friar say and do what he will. I don't care for him; for I know more about him than he is aware of, clever as he thinks himself."

The old lady had got thus far in her tirade, when a knocking was heard at the door, and the deep voice of Father Alfonzo demanded admittance, which Clara could not refuse. He entered with a slow step, and a solemn look; and after seating himself by the side of the fair girl, ordered Senhor a Gertrudes to withdraw. She looked as if she would very much like to disobey; but there was no help for it. "I have matter of importance to communicate to my young penitent, which no ears but hers must hear;" so the old nurse, casting a warning glance towards Donna Clara, quitted the room.

"My daughter," began the Friar, "this day you are to make your selection, either to wed the Count or to a.s.sume the veil. Now, I would not bias your choice; but I consider it my duty to inform you of certain things which have come to my knowledge, which will have great effect on your future happiness,--but on one condition, that you reveal them to no one; this swear to me, and I will speak them."

Clara took the oath as the Friar directed; for why should she refuse to do that which her confessor asked?

"Know, then, my daughter, that the man whom your father and brother desire you towed is a dark and blood-stained murderer!" and the friar poured into the ear of the gentle girl a tale of horror, which made her cheek grow pale, and her frame tremble with fear. "But remember," he continued, "that you have sworn to reveal this tale to no one, not even to your parent, or dearest friend."

"I will not forget my oath; for my lips could not even utter the dreadful tale," cried the agitated girl.

"'Tis well, then: you renounce all intention of wedding this Count?"

said the Friar.

"Oh yes, yes, I would die sooner!" returned Clara.

"You have a far happier alternative in store for you, my daughter," said the Friar: "a life of sanct.i.ty and devotion; in which you will be free from the cares and troubles of the world; and in the daily communion of pious and humble women, whose every action is guided by religious and learned priests, you will soon forget all the frivolities and vanities of the society you quit."

"I will submit to the will of Heaven," answered the gentle Clara, in a faint voice.

"Such a temper is highly commendable, my daughter," returned the Friar.

"You must prepare to enter, in a few days, the holy retreat selected for you, while, in the mean time, I will make arrangements with the Lady Abbess for your reception. I now go to seek your father, to communicate your pious determination."

"Oh no, let me speak to my father," cried Clara, eagerly. "I would rather that he should hear from my lips that I cannot wed the Count: he may--" and she hesitated, recollecting herself.

"As you will," said the Friar, looking at her suspiciously; "but remember your oath, and dread the punishment of Heaven."

A dreadful doubt crossed her mind: had the Friar any sinister motive for deceiving her?

The Friar rose without again addressing her, and quitted her chamber.

He sought the fidalgo, and, notwithstanding Clara's request, he informed him of her determination. "Your daughter seems bent on disobeying your wishes, senhor," he said. "Though I have exerted my humble endeavours to persuade her to follow them, and have placed the character of the young Count in as favourable a point of view as possible, she has a foolish and invincible repugnance to him; however, perhaps a father's persuasions may have more effect than mine; but should you not succeed, be firm, and remember your oath, or dread the vengeance of Heaven!" and the Friar turned aside his head, to hide the dark smile which lighted up his features.