Heroines of the Crusades Part 35

"Grieve not," said the alchemist, with an air of superior wisdom, "Science will achieve new wonders with these dull atoms."

He now placed the powder in the crucible as before, and taking from a shelf what seemed a fragment of rock, pulverized it to a like powder, and mingled both in the crucible, which he placed upon the brazier and subjected it to a most intense heat.

"What dost thou now observe?" said the alchemist.

"A melted glowing ma.s.s of a ruby color," said Eleanora, with great interest.

Taking a small rod in his hand he lifted the adhering particles, and drew them into thin, fine hair, like threads of a shining whiteness, which he presented to Agnes, saying, with a smile, "I will bestow these frail crystals upon thee, fair one; perchance thou mayst preserve them in memory of the mad philosopher."

Every day the Queen of England became more interested in the society of her lovely ward, whose sprightliness was tempered by a sweetness, and a delicate discrimination, that never gave offence. It was gratifying to observe, in a fancy cultivated by the poetic legends of the South, and stored with the splendid fictions of Arabian romance, an ardent love of _truth_, and a strict adherence to its dictates; and Eleanora saw with pleasure that her most playful and entertaining sallies, though sometimes pointed at the peculiarities of those around her, never betrayed ill-humor, nor degenerated into sarcasm. Her beauty and gayety forcibly recalled the image of Eva; but the reliance which the obedient Jewess inspired, was in strong contrast to the anxiety ever awakened by the lovely, but volatile daughter of Clare.

The charming Agnes not only amused the queen with her vivacity, but afforded her a sense of repose, by her amiable observance of every admonition, and her evident desire to regard the wishes no less than the positive commands of her royal benefactress, and especially did she win the love of the mother by her graceful attentions to the infant Princess Beatrice.

While Agnes was actuated by the most dutiful affection to her father, she seemed by a happy trustfulness to escape partic.i.p.ation in that gloom and care which daily deepened upon the clouded brow of the Sicilian.

Desirous to relieve what she deemed his apprehensions for the future welfare of his daughter, the queen took occasion, upon one of his visits, to a.s.sure him of her increasing attachment to her lovely charge.

"Thy generous interest in the despised exile softens my bitter fate," said he, "but could the unhappy Procida enlist the influence of England's gracious sovereign in the great project that preys upon his being, he would feel that he had not lived in vain."

"My lord the king is ever ready to a.s.sist the unfortunate," said Eleanora, encouragingly, "and is free from those prejudices which embarra.s.s weaker minds. If thou deemest it proper to reveal thy secret, his queen will herself endeavor to redress thy wrongs."

"Procida seeks not the redress of a personal affront, nor restoration to his island home; my project is," said the Sicilian, drawing near the queen, and speaking in a low tone of terrible emphasis, "_revenge!_--death to the infamous Charles d'Anjou!"

The startled Eleanora essayed no reply, but gazed in mute terror at the dark and malignant face of the conspirator.

"Yes," continued he, his tall figure dilating with long repressed and cherished pa.s.sion, "I will rouse all Europe with the wrongs of the n.o.ble house of Suabia."

"I know," said the queen, the words faintly struggling through her white lips, "the woes inflicted upon our cousins of Suabia by the relentless fury of the Guelphs, but I dare not a.s.sume the office of their judge. It is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay it, saith the Lord.'"

"Aye, verily," replied the Jew, fiercely, "but how does the Lord repay vengeance? Is it not by the hand of man he brings retribution upon the guilty? Did he not commission the sword to cut off the Canaanites, the Midianites, the a.s.syrians, and those who vexed his people in every age?

Who can say he hath not inspired the heart, and nerved the arm of the proscribed and outcast Jew to execute his wrath upon the proud tyrant of Sicily?"

"_Thou_," inquired the queen. "By what t.i.tle claimest _thou_ allegiance to that fallen house?"

"I know," said Procida, stung by her remark, "full well I know, that your Holy Church denies to the son of Abraham all the tender ties that bind the lord to his va.s.sal, or the va.s.sal to his lord. He may have neither house nor land, he may not dwell in Jerusalem the city of his fathers, or be buried in consecrated ground. His possessions become the spoil of the tyrant, his innocent offspring the victims of brutal pa.s.sion; and yet your priests say,--Be meek--Be patient--Obey the precepts of that gospel which we trample under foot."

He paused, struck by the compa.s.sionate gaze of Eleanora, who, for the first time, comprehended the hopeless misery of the hapless race.

"Thy pardon, n.o.ble queen," said Procida, softened by her tender pity.

"Were there more like thee, 'twere easier for the Jew to embrace the faith of the Nazarene. Thou didst inquire by what tie I followed the changing fortunes of Hohenstaufen." In a gentler tone he continued--

"The Jew loves gold. Loves he aught else? Yea, to the death his friend.

The Emperor Frederic was free from the chains of superst.i.tion. Christian, Saracen, or Jew, found equal favor in his eye, and learning and genius not less than military prowess were rewarded with t.i.tles and lands.

"Know me, then, royal lady, miserable and dest.i.tute as I appear, as favorite physician of the emperor, created by him Count de Procida, lord of the fairest island in the Bay of Naples."

CHAPTER XII.

THE FATE OF THE HOUSE OF SUABIA.

The soft climate of the south, and the rich and varied scenery upon the banks of the Arlanzon, invited Eleanora to long walks in the suburbs of Burgos: and she found the greatest delight in watching the changing foliage, which announced the approach of the mellow autumn.

Her recent interviews with the philosopher had given a new direction to her thoughts. She experienced a pleasure before unknown in studying the various aspects of nature, and contemplating the subtle arrangement by which all these beautiful phenomena were produced. New proofs of an All-creative Intelligence were daily forced upon her with peculiar distinctness, and her mind was thus fortified against the cold, insinuating doubts, with which her brother continually a.s.sailed her faith.

Often she became so lost in reflection as to be insensible to all external circ.u.mstances, and her ladies, loosed from the restraints of court etiquette, revelled in the unwonted freedom of these rural strolls.

Eleanora was often lured from her speculative abstraction by the sportive gayety of their amus.e.m.e.nts, and she saw with benevolent pleasure the ready tact with which the young Jewess avoided every inquiry that might lead to a discovery of her nation or position, without in the least compromising her truthfulness or transgressing the rules of courtesy.

During one of these rambles, a mendicant of the order of St. Francis approached the queen, and asked an alms. The smoothly-shaven chin of the monk, closely clipped hair, and unsandalled feet, at first completely imposed upon her credulity, but his voice at once betrayed Procida.

With a troubled look she gave him a few _denier_, as if desirous to escape all parley. But the monk lingered; and after a pause, hesitatingly remarked in a low tone, "I am about to leave Burgos, and I would fain confer with the queen before my departure."

"But wherefore the monkish habit? Has the Jew resolved to do penance for his sins?" inquired Eleanora.

"Nay," replied Procida, evasively, "if my gracious mistress will grant me an audience, I will unfold to her the purpose that hath moved me to this disguise."

"I cannot tell," replied the queen, with a tone of unwonted reproach, "if it be desirable to entrust thy plans to my keeping, since I may not encourage deceit, and I would not that thy Agnes, so innocent of guile, should learn that her father, for some dark purpose, has a.s.sumed the garb he abhors."

Tears glistened in the eyes of Procida, as he replied, "Thou sayest well and wisely. The sweet child knoweth not more of the secret schemes of her father, than do the angels of the dark deeds of fiends. But--"

"I hear the voice of my maidens," exclaimed the queen impatiently, "expose not thyself to their observation."

"_Benedicite_," murmured the counterfeit priest, turning away to avoid the scrutiny of the approaching group.

But Procida was so determined to secure the approbation of the queen, that the following day he craved an audience at the palace.

"My royal mistress," said he, "must permit me once more, to plead the rights of the ill.u.s.trious house of Suabia, before I depart on my pilgrimage, that if I never return, she may justify my acts in the eyes of my daughter."

"Speak," said Eleanora, moved by the sorrowful earnestness of his manner.

"My royal master Frederic," began the Jew, "had little cause to love the church. Hated by the pope, for that with a strong arm he claimed his hereditary possessions in Italy, he was excommunicated for refusing the pilgrimage, and again cursed for fulfilling his vow; and had not the honest pagan, Melech Camel, been more his friend than the christian troops by whom he was surrounded, he would have perished by treason in the Holy City itself.

"Freed from superst.i.tion, he looked upon all religions as formed to impose upon the vulgar; and it was through his instructions, that I learned the policy of conforming to the prejudices of mankind, and now avail myself of the privileges of an order, who wander everywhere, and are everywhere well received.

"The emperor, like thy brother Alphonso, was a man of science. He opened schools in Sicily, and maintained poor scholars from his own purse, and by every means promoted the welfare of his subjects; but he could not escape the toils spread around him by his great enemy the church."

As he said these words the queen beheld in his eyes the same vengeful fire that once had before so startled and shocked her.

"Thy pardon, sovereign lady," said he, recollecting himself, "but the wrongs of the master have well-nigh maddened the brain of the servant.

"His own son Henry, wrought upon by the malicious representations of the pope, revolted, and his beautiful boy Enzio, pined away his young life in the prison of Bologna. The great Frederic died; and his wretched Procida vowed to avenge him upon his murderers." He paused a moment overcome by his emotions, and then continued, "There yet remained Conrad and Manfred: the former, only son of the Queen of Jerusalem, and the latter, illegitimate offspring of a Saracen woman. Conrad pa.s.sed into Italy to claim his inheritance, only to be poisoned by the pope; while Manfred, calling around him the friends of his mother, battled for his father's strongholds and treasures. He was brave, generous and n.o.ble. He would have made peace even with his enemy, but the tyrant d'Anjou spurned his overtures, and insultingly replied to the messenger, 'Go tell the Sultan of Nocera, that I desire war only, and this very day I will send him to h.e.l.l, or he shall send me to Paradise.' He prepared for the conflict. As he fastened on his helmet it twice slipped from his grasp. 'It is the hand of G.o.d,' was his exclamation, and with a presentiment of his fall, he hurried to the fight. I stood by his side in the b.l.o.o.d.y battle of Benevento, and we made a holocaust of our enemies; but a fatal spear pierced his brain! The implacable d'Anjou would have the poor excommunicated corpse remain unburied, but the French soldiers, less barbarous than their master, brought each a stone, and so reared him a tomb."

"Tell me no more horrors," exclaimed the queen, with a look of painful emotion.

"Ah! lady," said the artful Procida, sadly, satisfied that his recital had so moved his royal auditor, "thou art grieved at the very _hearing_ of these atrocities, but bethink thee of the misery of the poor daughter of Frederic, wife of the Duke of Saxony. When the family fell, the duke repented of his alliance with the house of Suabia. From cold neglect and scorn, he proceeded to violence--he brutally struck her. She, unhappy woman, thinking he sought her life, endeavored to escape. The castle rose upon a rock overhanging the Elbe. A faithful servant kept a boat upon the river, and by a rope, she could let herself down the precipitous descent.

An agonizing thought stayed her footsteps. Her only son lay asleep in the cradle. She would once more fold him to her breast. She would imprint her last kiss upon his cheek. With a maddening pang she closed her teeth in the tender flesh, and fled, pursued by the screams of her wounded child.

The treacherous rope eluded her grasp, and the frantic mother fell, another victim from the doomed race of Hohenstaufen.

"The little Corradino, who should have been King of Jerusalem, had also a mother, tender and fond, who would fain have detained him from funereal Italy, where all his family had found a sepulchre; but ere he attained the age of manhood the Ghibelline cities called to him for aid, and no entreaties could withhold the valiant youth. Accompanied by his dearest friend, Frederic of Austria, and a band of knights, he pa.s.sed the Alps to claim his inheritance. There was a battle--there was a defeat--there was a prisoner--The Vicar of Christ, showed he mercy? He wrote to d'Anjou, 'Corradino's life is Charles's death.' Judges were named, a strange and unheard-of proceeding; but of these some defended Corradino, and the rest remained silent. One alone, found him guilty, and began to read his sentence upon the scaffold. But outraged nature a.s.serted her rights, d'Anjou's own son-in-law leaped upon the scaffold and slew the inhuman judge with one stroke of his sword, exclaiming, "Tis not for a wretch like thee to condemn to death so n.o.ble and gentle a lord.' But the execution proceeded. I stood among the spectators a shaven priest, _honoring the decrees of the church_! I heard the piteous exclamation of the hapless youth, 'Oh my mother, what sad news will bring thee of thy son.' His eye caught mine, he slipped a ring from his finger, and threw it into the crowd. I seized the precious jewel, and renewed my vow of vengeance. The faithful Frederic of Austria stood by his side, and was the first to receive the fatal stroke. Corradino caught the bleeding head, as it fell, pressed his own upon the quivering lips, and perished like his friend. 'Lovely and pleasant in their lives, in death they were not divided.'"