The Prime Minister Part 48

Note. The Father Jacinto was soon afterwards imprisoned and tortured.

He died in confinement from the effects of his treatment, say the Jesuits.

Volume 3, Chapter XII.

It was the middle of winter, but, notwithstanding the season of the year, the sun shone brightly forth, shedding a genial warmth upon the beggars and dogs who were basking beneath it in the streets of Lisbon.

The former were stationed at the posts they had each appropriated, exhibiting every species of loathsome deformity, and imploring the charity of the pa.s.sers-by in the name of Heaven, warning them of the opportunity afforded of bestowing alms for the benefit of their souls.

The dogs were enjoying their time of rest, every now and then uttering a growl of defiance if any stranger encroached on their districts. The Galician water-carriers were filling their barrels at the fountains, laughing and joking among themselves, strangers as they were in the land, happy by nature, and independent of all the plots and conspiracies which agitated the natives. Some women were was.h.i.+ng at the tanks, and striking the linen to rags against the stones, while they gaily sang in chorus; while others, sitting at the corners of the streets, were employed in roasting chestnuts in little earthen stoves, and calling on the pa.s.sers to buy. Fishermen were selling the produce of their nets, or wild-fowl; country-women their poultry. Now a citizen might be seen closely m.u.f.fled up in his large cloak, more to hide the dress beneath than to keep out the cold; then a gentleman would hasten along in his bag-wig, and sword by his side, long flowered waistcoat, and deep waisted coat, politely returning the salutations of all who bowed; indeed, all the world was abroad, a few in carriages or on horseback, but mostly on foot: it was not yet dinner time.

Among the pedestrians was our old friend Antonio, the cobbler, who had long since given up his former occupation, and by many was supposed to live completely on his wits--not a bad compliment to them, however. His keen eye, as he walked along, observed all that was taking place around him. He saw a beggar walk merrily to his post, kicking a dog out of his way, and then ask alms in the character of a confirmed cripple. He laughed--he was fond of laughing, somewhat bitterly oftentimes.

"There are a good many knaves in the world," he muttered, "of all cla.s.ses, from the lordly traitor, who would barter his country's honour and safety for gold to supply his extravagance, to this loathsome wretch in rags and tatters."

He next observed a boy stealing a coin from a blind man's hat placed before him, when the seeming blind man, dealing a heavy blow, struck the youthful vagabond to the ground.

"Ay, we can see sharply enough when our own interests are attacked, and fight hard to defend them," said the Cobbler, as he walked on. "That young rogue has learned a useful lesson, he will make sure that a man is blind before he tries to pilfer his property."

Antonio pa.s.sed through several streets, till he came to an open place.

There a crowd was collected round a man perched on a high stool, who was selling nostrums, and making the people laugh by his wit and jokes: a real object of pity lay at a doorway, half dead with starvation and disease. A rich man pa.s.sed by, looking coldly on the wretched beggar, turning aside, and refused his earnest appeal for a copper to relieve his hunger; but when he came within hearing of the quack, he stopped to listen; when the latter, uttering one of his best jokes, and paying him a well-timed compliment, he threw the knave a crown, and, laughing, pa.s.sed on.

"Such is the way of the world," thought the Cobbler. "The impudent charlatan succeeds and grows rich, while the honest and humble poor man is left to starve. The foolish rogues are soon hung; 'tis the cunning ones who live and thrive. Bah! it makes me sick to think of it. What fools men are! they will often confide in a plausible knave, when blunt honesty is kicked out of doors."

The Cobbler saw much more in his walk, on which he made his observations. He did not seem to have a very good opinion of the world he lived in. Whether he thought worse of people than they deserved we cannot pretend to say.

He now left the city behind, and, pa.s.sing through the suburbs of Belem, directed his course to the Quinta of the Marquis of Tavora. He came under a garden-wall, in which was a window, and out of the window a pair of sparkling black eyes were gazing. He kissed his own hand, for he could not reach that of the lady, and she kissed hers in return; so he went and stood as near her as he could get.

"Oh! my pretty Margarida, how I love you!" he began. At which words, the eyes sparkled even more brightly than before. "I have many wishes, and the first is, that I was on the other side of the wall."

"Hus.h.!.+ senhor, you must not say that; at least, not so loudly," softly murmured Margarida; "some one will hear you, for people are pa.s.sing constantly this way; but the window is not so very high from the ground."

"Ah, dear one! I could leap up in a moment, if you do not run away,"

said the gallant Cobbler.

"Oh! no, no, senhor! some one would see you to a certainty, while it is light," answered the coy Senhora Margarida.

"I have many things to say to you, pretty one. When will you like to hear them?" asked Antonio.

"Cannot you say them now, senhor?"

"Some one will hear me, you know. Wait till the evening, and then n.o.body will see me jump in at the window. Remember to leave it open."

"I will forget to shut it," innocently answered Margarida. "But tell me, senhor, are you really a fidalgo?"

"I will tell you all about it, with my other secrets, when I come at night. Remember to forget to shut the window; and do not forget to come yourself, Adeos for the present, my pretty charmer! I see some one coming." And Antonio walked away, humming a tune, while the pair of black eyes disappeared from the garden window.

If the Portuguese are fonder of one employment than of another, it is looking out of window; they all do it, from the highest to the lowest.

There is so little mental or bodily exertion required for it; and there is always something moving in the streets, either men, dogs, or rats.

Even watching a pig will afford amus.e.m.e.nt; and anything is preferable to reading, working, or thinking; therefore they always have looked out of windows, and always will, till their taste improves. Antonio proceeded on till he came to the side of the river, where he sat himself down on the bank, to wait till the evening, and to meditate. He thought a great deal, light-hearted and merry as he seemed, often very gravely, sometimes fiercely, as he remembered the foul wrongs and insults the race to which he belonged had for centuries endured, and for which treatment their cruel tyrants had sought every excuse which cunning hypocrisy, or the fiercest bigotry, could invent, claiming ever the authority of G.o.d for their cursed deeds. "Miscreants!" he muttered, "where in the Christian's gospel can they find permission for the rapine, murders, and cruelties, with which their souls have been stained since the triumph of their faith? Fools! who practise not what they preach, and yet expect to be believed." He would then think on for some time, and, giving a deep-drawn sigh, would conclude with the oft-repeated apophthegm, "What cannot be cured must be endured;" he then, growing calmer, would turn to other subjects. "Yet," he continued, soliloquising, "it is a hard office to bide this life of concealment, of deceit, and treachery; but it must be endured till my object is accomplished. The time draws near, happily, when my toils may be at an end; and then, if faith can be placed in the word of man, I shall reap the rich reward of all. Can I confide in him? Yes, 'tis his interest to fulfil his promise. There is one thing troubles me more than all the rest; how some men would laugh to hear me, if I confessed it! My pretty Margarida! Now that girl is fully persuaded I love her to desperation; and, a.s.suredly, I have done my utmost to make her believe so, to learn, through her, the secrets of the Tavora family.

They little think how closely the meshes of the net are drawn around them, to enclose them ere long, and drag them to sh.o.r.e, as yonder fishermen are now doing with their prey." As he thought this, he was watching a party of fishermen hauling in their seine. "I must try and make amends to Margarida, poor girl! I feel an interest in her. I did not think she would so soon learn to love me. I was not born to be that cursed wretch who would win a maiden's affections for the base, cowardly satisfaction of tampering with them, and then deserting her. I leave such work to the wealthy and high-born. May they reap their reward!"

The sun was now setting over the mouth of the Tagus, casting a broad, glowing line of fire upon the smooth bosom of the stream, and tinging the tower of Belem, the gothic spires of the church, and the hills beyond, with its ruddy hue. Antonio rose, for he calculated that it would be dark by the time he reached the Quinta of the Marquis of Tavora. He met but few people on the way, nor were any near when, without much difficulty, he clambered in at the window in the garden-wall, which Margarida had, according to her promise, left unbolted.

It was now as dark as it was likely to be in a star-light night.

Antonio carefully shut to the window, and looked around, but Margarida was nowhere to be seen. He softly called her name, but she did not answer. He then observed a building, which appeared to be a summer-house, at the end of a walk. "Ah! she will probably go there to look for me; and if any one by chance comes into the garden, I shall not be exposed to view as I am here." He accordingly advanced towards it, but when he arrived there, he found the door closed. He tried the handle, but it was locked. He just then heard a step at a distance. He listened attentively; it was too heavy for the elastic little feet of his mistress. It approached nearer, and in the direction of the spot where he stood. "I must find some place to hide in, or I shall be caught," he muttered.

At the back of the summer-house there were some shrubs growing closely together, a window overlooking them, which spot Antonio, as he looked about, selected to conceal himself till the person who was coming near had retired. He shrunk down on the ground, under the walls of the building; and he had scarcely done so, when a person, applying the key to the door, entered. Striking a light, the man lit a lamp on the table, in the centre of the apartment, which, from the noise he made, he appeared to be placing in order. After having performed this office, he again opened the door, when, at that instant, Antonio heard a light step coming along the path, and which he fancied he could recognise as Margarida's. Of this he was soon convinced, by hearing a voice, which he knew to be hers, exclaim--

"Oh! Senhor Ferreira, is that you? You quite frighten me! What are you doing?"

"Let me rather ask you what you are doing here at this hour of the evening, Senhora Margarida," was the answer.

"I came out to pick some flowers for my mistress, which I forgot to do in the day-time, so, if you are gallant, you will come and a.s.sist me,"

said Senhora Margarida.

"An odd time, to pick flowers in the dark," answered the man-servant; "but I cannot a.s.sist you now; I must return to the house."

"Many thanks for your gallantry, Senhor Ferreira," she responded, as he turned away; "I dare say I shall find enough myself;" and she stooped over the flower-beds, as if in search of flowers.

Antonio guardedly peeped out of his concealment, and seeing his mistress alone, "Hist, Margarida, hist!" he whispered. "Come beneath the shade of the summer-house; that prying servant will be less likely to observe us."

"Oh, Senhor Antonio, I am so glad to have found you, for when I pa.s.sed by I found the window closed, and I was afraid you might not have got in," said Margarida.

They sat themselves down on a stone bench placed against the side of the building. Antonio, while declaring his affection for the young lady, some of which he had really begun to feel, at the same time managed to draw from her various pieces of information he was anxious to gain. A few minutes had thus pa.s.sed rapidly away, when the sound of approaching footsteps was again heard.

"For the love of Heaven, conceal yourself," exclaimed Margarida, jumping up and seizing a bunch of flowers, with which she had wisely provided herself previously to coming into the garden. "They will see you, if you attempt to reach the window. Down behind the summer-house. 'Tis the young Marquis and some visitors. I must away." And she tripped along the walk towards the house. "Who goes there?" exclaimed a stern voice, as she pa.s.sed the party by a different though parallel pathway.

"I have been gathering flowers, Senhor Duque--see, here they are,"

answered Margarida, quickly.

"Gathering flowers at this time of night, indeed! Say rather, looking for a lover, senhora," exclaimed the voice; "think you we can distinguish them in this light? Go, Manoel, and watch her safely into the house--we must have no prying eyes and listening ears to what we are about."

Manoel being despatched to follow Margarida until he saw her out of their way, the party advanced and entered the summer-house, where, fresh lamps being lit, they took their seats round the table which the servant had arranged.

Antonio, in the mean time, unable to escape, was obliged to resume his position among the bushes, expecting every instant that the party would search round the building, and feeling confident from what he had learnt from Margarida of their proceedings, that he should fall an instant sacrifice to their fears. He was somewhat relieved when he heard their feet on the floor of the summer-house, and their voices speaking in tones which showed that they had no suspicion of the presence of a spy upon their actions.

After waiting some time, the persons within the summer-house having become highly excited in their discussion, whatever it was, Antonio thought he might venture to move his position, so as to gain a view of what was going forward. The shutters of the window, which looked over the shrubbery in which he was concealed, were left partially open, so that by carefully lifting his head among the branches of the evergreens, he was able to see clearly into the room without incurring any risk of being himself observed.

At one end of the table, sat, or rather now stood, the Duke of Aveiro, who was, with vehement gestures, addressing the party: on each side were various members and connexions of the Tavora family, among them being the young Marquis and his brother, the Conde d'Atouquia, the old Marchioness, and the Jesuit Malagrida.

"Ah! ah! thou old hypocrite," muttered Antonio, as he observed the last-mentioned personage. "Wherever thou art there is sure to be mischief brewing; but I have thee now, if I mistake not;" and, like an Indian warrior approaching his foes, he crept close to the window, placing himself behind the shutter, so that, although he could hear more clearly, he was less able to distinguish what was taking place, till he discovered a broad c.h.i.n.k, and, by putting his eye to it, he had complete command of the greater part of the room.

"The very persons who met at the Jesuit's vault down the river," he thought to himself, "when they all fancied themselves so secure and un.o.bserved; as did yon mad priest deem himself hidden from the searching eye of the Minister: yet, forsooth, he made a capital bait to catch others. Ah! I am glad to find my young friend the Conde d'Almeida is not among them, and he has certainly not fled the country, for I saw him this very morning."

We do not intend to give the whole particulars of the conversation which Antonio overheard; suffice it to say, that he heard enough to prove that a dangerous and powerful conspiracy existed to overthrow the power of the Minister; and more, that one had existed to destroy the sovereign, fomented and encouraged by some of those now present, if indeed the actual would-have-been a.s.sa.s.sins were not among them. Antonio noted well every word they uttered, every gesture they made, words sufficient to bring the speakers, as they themselves well knew, to the scaffold, had they deemed that an ear was listening to them; but, infatuated as they were, they triumphed in fancied security, calling on Heaven to aid them in their wickedness. Now some were seen to draw their swords, and to kiss the blades, as they ratified some dreadful oath; others grasped their fire-arms, and vowed to use them to better effect than before; when Malagrida stood up and blessed the a.s.sembled conspirators and their cause.

Some movement now taking place among them, Antonio, fearful lest his face might be perceived through the cas.e.m.e.nt, stole back to his leafy shelter; and fortunate was it for him that he did so, for some one, perceiving that the shutter was unclosed, sent Manoel round to fasten it. Antonio held his breath, hiding his face beneath his cloak, for the man's feet almost touched his as he pa.s.sed; and had not the eyes of the latter been dazzled by the light within, he could not have avoided perceiving him; as it was, the man performed his orders, and quickly returned to hear what his superiors were saying. Suddenly the lights were extinguished, and Antonio heard the party hurrying from the building towards the house. He waited some further time, with eager anxiety to bear the important information, for which he had so long toiled, to his employer, till the sound of voices and footsteps had died away. He listened attentively--not a sound was heard. He started from his lair towards the garden window, which afforded the easiest means of escape; for, if found in the grounds after what had occurred, he well knew he must expect nothing short of death from the conspirators. As he gained the front of the summer-house, what was his horror to perceive two men standing beneath the porch before it, so earnestly engaged in a whispered conversation, that they did not perceive him! He stepped back cautiously a couple of paces, so as to be out of their sight, but was afraid to retreat further, lest he might attract their notice. The movement was not, however, entirely unremarked.