The Prime Minister Part 34

He had just pa.s.sed the last point from which the ruined capital could be seen,--Pedro, observing his master's mood, not attempting to interrupt his meditations,--when a horseman from a cross-road suddenly joined them, and riding up to the side of Luis, accosted him.

"Good morrow, Senhor Fidalgo, you are early on the road," said the stranger, in a clear jovial voice. "By your leave, I will ride on some way with you."

"Many thanks, senhor, for your polite offer," returned Luis, scarcely noticing the speaker; "but I should prefer travelling alone."

"What! Don Luis d'Almeida, the brave, the gallant, and the gay, turned misanthropical?" exclaimed the stranger, laughing. "However, great changes are taking place every day,--honest men turning rogues, and rogues turning honest; one can never tell what will happen next."

As the stranger was speaking, Luis regarded him attentively, nor was he long in discovering, beneath the military curled wig and queue, the fierce moustaches, and heavy travelling dress, the features of the _ci-devant_ Fre Lopez.

"I trust that you are one of those making a change for the better, Senhor Padre," said Luis; "but I expected to have met you in a dress more appropriate to your character than the one you wear."

"I am glad to find that you do not forget your old friends, as I was at first afraid you were going to do," returned the Friar. "With regard to my costume, you belie it, to say that it is not suited to the character of an honest man; for let me a.s.sure you, that, doubt it as you may, I have turned honest; and where can you find a more honourable dress than that of a soldier?"

"Yet, such is surely not suited to your character as a friar," said Luis.

"Why not? may I not belong to the church militant," returned Fre Lopez.

"However, to confess the truth, I have my friar's robes carefully wrapped up in my valise behind me, and I intend before long to don them for ever; for I am growing weary of the fatigues and dangers of the wild life I have led, and pine for the quiet and security of the cloister.

Yet, let me a.s.sure you that it was for your sake I a.s.sumed my present disguise. I heard that you were about to travel this way, and, knowing that the roads were very far from safe, on account of the number of thieves who have been frightened out of Lisbon, I thought it my duty to accompany you, to prevent your suffering from them."

"Many thanks for your attention; but are you not afraid of being apprehended yourself as a suspicious character? You heard that the Minister has issued an order to the corregidors of all the towns in the south, to stop every one who has no pa.s.s from him, in case they should be carrying off any property stolen from the city."

"Oh yes, senhor, I heard of the order, and am provided with a pa.s.s, if necessary; but I should think it would not be asked for in such wors.h.i.+pful company as yours."

"Then you had some other motive in favouring me with your company?" said Luis, scarcely refraining from laughing at the man's impudence.

"People generally have more than one motive for their good actions,"

returned the Friar. "Now, if I, being a rogue, preserve you from the rogues, you, in return, being an honest man, are bound to preserve me from the fangs of the law; therefore, the obligation is mutual, and I have the satisfaction of performing a good action, and receiving a service from you besides. Don't think I am the less honest on that account. I tell you my motives, whereas another man would keep them secret, or, at all events, give you only one of them; but I scorn such hypocrisy."

"You are honest," said Luis.

"You flatter me, senhor," interrupted the Friar. "It is the first time, for many a long year past, that I have been told so; and I will endeavour to merit the good opinion you have formed of me."

"I shall be indeed glad to hear that you have foresworn the very suspicious companions with whom I have so frequently met you," said Luis.

"I have already bidden farewell to most of them. There they hang, like fruit on the trees, thanks to the mild clemency of the Minister!" As the Friar spoke, he pointed towards Lisbon. "I am glad enough to get beyond the sight of those ghastly corpses. Ah, senhor! it is a dreadful thing to hang people up in that way; and many an innocent man is among them. Thank Heaven, I have not such deeds on my conscience! That reminds me, senhor, that I have gained some information which may a.s.sist you in discovering what you spoke to me about. I was speaking to one of those poor fellows the night before he was caught and hung,--and, by-the-bye, he no more deserved hanging than I do!--he told me that he had been employed, some time ago, in carrying a young fidalgo, who had been wounded in a night-fray, to a house in the outskirts of Lisbon; but that he could not exactly tell where it was, and who was the person. He had been hired by Rodrigo, who did not mention the name of their employer. The poor fellow was to have accompanied me the next day to try and find out the house, but he was hung instead. Ah! I am a great enemy to the system of hanging."

Luis listened with deep interest to this account. Then Goncalo might have escaped destruction from the earthquake! He might be yet alive!

He longed to turn back, and continue his search; but he had slight grounds to go upon; for the Friar could give him no further information, and his father was expecting him at home. With sanguine dispositions, the slightest thing is sufficient to raise hopes which, alas! may never be accomplished, but which it often takes years and years of disappointment to learn to distrust. Now old men, as we have informed our readers we are, even to this day, we find ourselves building castles in the air, of such bright and glowing colours, that our own sight is dazzled by the splendour of the fabric we have raised, when a single word has been sufficient to make it fade away like the morning mist, each brilliant hue growing less and less distinct, till we have wondered that it could ever have existed even in our imaginations; and at other times a rude blow has dashed the lovely edifice to the ground, and as we have flown to the spot, we have not found a fragment remaining.

The words the Friar had spoken had been sufficient to raise just such a fabric in Luis's brain; and, thus occupied, in happier mood he rode on, while the former fell back to converse with Pedro, who was not averse to the company of so amusing a personage, although a rogue. Several very suspicious parties either overtook them, or pa.s.sed them on the road; but a signal, or a few words, from the Friar, always sent them peaceably away; so that Luis, during the whole journey, met with no adventure worth relating.

"Farewell, Don Luis!" said the _soi-disant_ Friar, as they came in sight of the gates of the Count's estate. "I have borne you company thus far, and we must now part. We shall meet again some day, I hope; if not, think of me sometimes, as I would be, and not as I have been; but I fear I shall not be a more honest man as a real Friar than I have been as a pretended one. Adeos, senhor!"

And, without waiting for an answer, he rode back the way he had come; while Luis, followed by Pedro, hastened to embrace his father, although the tidings he had to communicate must, he knew, cause much sorrow to the old Count.

Volume 2, Chapter XX.

More than a year had pa.s.sed since the dreadful earthquake of Lisbon, as the violent convulsion of the globe in 1755 is commonly called, although it was felt over the greater part of Europe, to the north of England, and to the sh.o.r.es of Africa, where many towns were destroyed or severely damaged. Under the energetic superintendence of the Prime Minister, the city was rapidly rising from its ashes; and instead of the dark, narrow, and winding lanes of the old town, fine broad streets were planned by able architects invited by him from England and France.

The tents and wooden huts in which the inhabitants had so long dwelt, were ordered to be destroyed, to prevent the rogues and vagabonds, who it appears had again, notwithstanding the terrors of the hanging system, increased to an alarming degree, from harbouring in them.

The horrors of the previous year began gradually to fade from the recollection of men, and they forgot that beneath the ground on which they dwelt burnt those unquenchable fires which might, at any time, burst forth and again destroy their homes and property.

The King and the royal family had taken up their residence in the Palace of the Necessidades, having dwelt for nearly a year in one built of wood, of one story high, to run less risk of injury in case of a recurrence of the former disastrous visitation.

It was some hours past the time of sunset, when, in a cabinet of the palace, the Minister was seated at a table thickly strewed with papers, deeply immersed in the affairs of the state, it might be presumed, from the lines of thought and care which marked his brow. He wrote on for some time, without stopping or hesitating a moment for want of subject, and then, having concluded the work he was about, he threw himself back in the high leathern armchair in which he was sitting, and resting his brow upon his hand, continued for many minutes wrapped in meditation.

"Men would blame me, did they know the game I played," he thought; "but 'tis the way by which alone I can manage my weak and indolent master:-- master!" he muttered, in a scornful tone, "let me say, my slave, my tool! I can brook no master. While he is occupied by some mad folly, or new pa.s.sion, he will gladly resign all but the empty shadow of power into my hands, and it must be my care to keep him thus employed, while I silence, and for ever, all opposition from without to my aims. His infatuated admiration of this young Marchioness of Tavora may lead to serious results: but no matter; I can easily turn them to my advantage; and, at all events, it keeps him occupied. The pursuit is likely to be a long one, for the lady seems colder and more inaccessible than I had deemed her. Ah! here he comes!"

As he spoke, a door on one side of the room opened, and the King entered. The Minister bowed profoundly as the sovereign threw himself listlessly into a chair, and commenced signing a variety of papers, which the former placed before him, without even glancing at their contents. At last, with an air of disgust, he threw down the pen and rose from his seat, exclaiming, "I can sign no more of your long edicts to-night, my Carvalho. Far more pleasing cares call me elsewhere; and I must s.n.a.t.c.h a few hours of liberty while my most jealous lady Queen is persuaded I am closeted with my faithful Minister."

"Your Majesty's wishes are ever my laws," returned the Minister; "and I will occupy myself till your return with many important affairs which demand my attention."

"Do so, my good friend," said the King.

"I shall not detain you long. Has Teixeira yet come?"

"I will inquire," answered the complaisant Minister; and quitted the room by an opposite door to that by which the King had entered.

The King walked impatiently about the room till Carvalho returned, accompanied by another person, who bore a large cloak, which he threw over the royal shoulders. The King then wrapping it around himself, so as to conceal his features, left the cabinet, followed by his attendant, while the Minister resumed his previous occupations.

More than two hours thus pa.s.sed away; not a sound reaching Carvalho's ears, and no one venturing to intrude where his Majesty was supposed to be occupied in framing laws for the welfare of the kingdom committed to his charge.

For the first hour he continued writing without rising from his seat; inditing letters which no eye but his own and the persons to whom they were addressed might see; making notes only of their contents as he folded and sealed them; for it was his principle never to trust any one where it could possibly be avoided: nor did he allow the secretaries and clerks, who were absolutely necessary to carry on the public business, to be acquainted with any affair beyond their immediate office, punis.h.i.+ng those severely who betrayed what was committed to them. He then rose and strode up and down the room for some minutes, with knitted brow and compressed lips. "Ah!" he exclaimed, "thus shall all suffer who dare oppose my will. I have given the people of Oporto a lesson they will not easily forget. Their chief magistrate and eighteen of his seditious companions executed; three hundred of the princ.i.p.al people sent to the galleys, and their city given up to the licence of a brutal soldiery. This will, methinks, put a stop to further conspiracies against my authority; and, if not, in every town and village throughout the kingdom I will have gibbets erected, and hang every one who dares to utter a word of complaint. By terror alone can these people be ruled-- all mild measures are worse than useless; for, instead of conciliating, they cause the nation to suppose that it is through fear, or want of power, that they are employed. By Heavens! they shall no longer have reason to suppose so. I have begun my reign of terror, and from henceforth I banish all pity or remorse from my bosom; and the abject wretches on whose necks I will trample, shall feel that, at length, they have a man, instead of the drivelling priests or ignorant debauchees who have hitherto attempted to govern them."

Muttering, rather than speaking, his thoughts aloud, he returned to his desk. He was still writing when he felt a hand laid on his shoulder, and, rising from his seat, he bowed to his sovereign, who had entered, if not unperceived, at least unattended to.

"You work hard for our benefit, my faithful Minister," said Joseph, seating himself; "but we wish you would rule a lady's changeful mood as easily as you can govern our kingdom. The lovely Donna Theresa continues cruel as ever: she listens to all my pa.s.sionate speeches with a smile of satisfaction, and entreats me to return again before long, for that she should die were she deprived of my society; and in the same breath talks of her husband and the honour of her family. Her coldness provokes me, while her fascinations increase my love."

"Your Majesty need not despair," said the sagacious Minister. "A woman who has once consented to admit a lover to an interview without her husband's knowledge will never draw back if he proceeds with caution; and when that lover has the qualifications of your Majesty, her fate is certain. A few weeks' more perseverance and she will yield, or I must renounce all knowledge of the female heart."

"She must, Carvalho, she must!" exclaimed the King, impatiently. "This suspense is dreadful. What advantage is gained by being a King, unless our subjects will dutifully obey us?"

"Your Majesty is perfectly right; and few there are, I trust, of all your Majesty's subjects who would prove thus disloyal, except some of the haughty n.o.bles of the realm, who appear to suppose your kingdom their own; and of one of those families is the lovely Donna Theresa, which will account for her most undutiful hesitation. Yet your Majesty need have no fears of the result."

"I know, I know," said the King, hastily; "I am convinced she loves me; but some foolish prejudice appears to restrain her from her own wishes."

"'Tis the work of those accursed Jesuits," exclaimed Carvalho; "but your Majesty need not fear, and will be able to counteract their aims, if you will follow my advice."

"Your counsel is always that of wisdom," said the King. "Speak, my Carvalho."

"I would, then, advise your Majesty to make a present to Donna Theresa of your favourite dwarf, Donna Florinda. She is acute and observing, and will very soon become mistress of all the young lady's secrets, at the same time that she will counsel her no longer to treat your Majesty with her general cruelty."

"Ah! the idea is indeed worthy of following!" exclaimed the King, enraptured at the bright thought. "Thanks, my Carvalho, thanks. You are truly the most sagacious and first of Ministers. I will persuade our Queen, who will willingly part with her, to send her to-morrow morning; and then, if she succeeds, I shall indeed be thankful to one who has so well aided my wishes."

The King then, holding out his hand, which the zealous and unprejudiced Minister kissed, with every sign of respect, retired to his chamber, and the latter, securing his papers, some in an iron chest, the key of which he kept, and others of more importance about his person, sought his carriage, which was in attendance, and returned to his home.

Volume 2, Chapter XXI.