Mercedes of Castile Part 54

The afternoon was deliciously balmy, and when the felucca drew in with the land, the surface of the sea was as smooth as that of an inland lake. There was just wind enough to cool the air, and to propel the little vessel three or four knots through the water. The day apartment occupied by our hero and heroine, was on the quarter-deck. It was formed, on the exterior, by a tarpauling, bent like the tilt of a wagon, while the interior was embellished with a lining of precious stuffs that converted it into a beautiful little saloon. In front, a canvas bulkhead protected it from the gaze of the crew; and, toward the stearn a rich curtain fell, when it became necessary to shut out the view. The latter was now carelessly festooned, permitting the eye to range over a broad expanse of the ocean, and to watch the glories of the setting sun.

Mercedes reclined on a luxurious couch, gazing on the ocean, and Luis touched a guitar, seated on a stool at her feet. He had just played a favorite national air, which he had accompanied with his voice, and had laid aside the instrument, when he perceived that his young wife did not listen, with her usual fondness and admiration, to his music.

"Thou art thoughtful, Mercedes," he said, leaning forward to read the melancholy expression of those eyes that were so often glowing with enthusiasm.

"The sun is setting in the direction of the land of poor Ozema, Luis,"

Mercedes answered, a slight tremor pervading her voice; "the circ.u.mstance, in connection with the sight of this boundless ocean, that so much resembleth eternity, hath led me to think of her end.

Surely--surely--a creature so innocent can never be consigned to eternal misery, because her unenlightened mind and impa.s.sioned feelings were unable to comprehend all the church's mysteries!"

"I would that thou thought'st less on this subject, love; thy prayers, and the ma.s.ses that have been said for her soul, should content thee; or, if thou wilt, the last can be repeated, again and again."

"We will offer still more," returned the young wife, scarce speaking above her breath, while the tears fell down her cheeks. "The best of us will need ma.s.ses, and _we_ owe this to poor Ozema. Didst thou bethink thee, to intercede again with the admiral, to do all service to Mattinao, on reaching Espanola?"

"That hath been attended to, and so dismiss the subject from thy mind.

The monument is already erected at Llera, and we may feel regret for the loss of the sweet girl, but can scarce mourn for her. Were I not Luis de Bobadilla, thy husband, dearest, I could think her the subject of envy, rather than of pity."

"Ah! Luis, thy flattery is too pleasing to bring reproof, but it is scarce seemly. Even the happiness I feel, in being a.s.sured of thy love--that our fortunes, fate, name, interests are one--is, in truth, but misery, compared with the seraphic joys of the blessed; and to such joys I could wish Ozema's spirit might be elevated."

"Doubt it not, Mercedes; she hath all that her goodness and innocence can claim. Ma.s.s! If she even have half that I feel, in holding thee thus to my heart, she is no subject for grief, and thou say'st she hath, or wilt have, ten-fold more."

"Luis--Luis--speak not thus! We will have other ma.s.ses said at Seville, as well as at Burgos and Salamanca."

"As thou wilt, love. Let them be said yearly, monthly, weekly, forever, or as long as the churchmen think they may have virtue."

Mercedes smiled her grat.i.tude, and the conversation became less painful, though it continued to be melancholy. An hour pa.s.sed in this manner, during which, the communion was of the sweet character that pervades the intercourse of those who love tenderly. Mercedes had already acquired a powerful command over the headlong propensities and impetuous feelings of her husband, and was gradually moulding him, unknown to herself, to be the man that was necessary to her own feelings. In this change, which was the result of influence, and not of calculation or design, she was aided by the manly qualities of our hero, which were secretly persuading him that he had now the happiness of another in his keeping, as well as his own. This is an appeal that a really generous mind seldom withstands, and far oftener produces the correction of minor faults, than any direct management, or open rebukes. Perhaps Mercedes' strongest arm, however, was her own implicit confidence in her husband's excellence, Luis feeling a desire to be that which she so evidently thought him; an opinion that his own conscience did not, in the fullest extent, corroborate.

Just as the sun had set, Sancho came to announce that he had let go the anchor.

"Here we are, Senor Conde--here we are, at last, Senora Dona Mercedes, lying off the town of Palos, and within a hundred yards of the very spot where Don Christopher and his gallant companions departed for the discovery of the Indies--G.o.d bless him a hundred-fold, and all who went with him. The boat is ready to take you to the sh.o.r.e, Senora; and there, if you do not find Seville, or Barcelona, cathedrals and palaces, you will find Palos, and Santa Clara, and the ship-yard-gate--three places that are, henceforth, to be more renowned than either: Palos, as having sent forth the expedition; Santa Clara, as having saved it from destruction, by vows fulfilled at its altars; and the gate, for having had the ship of the admiral built within it."

"And other great events, good Sancho!" put in the count.

"Just so, your Excellency; and for other great events. Am I to land you, lady?"

Mercedes a.s.sented, and in ten minutes she and her husband were walking on the beach, within ten yards of the very spot where Columbus and Luis had embarked the previous year. The firm sands were now covered with people, walking in the cool of the evening. Most of them were of the humbler cla.s.ses, this being the only land, we believe, in which the population of countries that possess a favorable climate, do not thus mingle in their public promenades, at that witching hour.

Luis and his beautiful wife had landed merely for exercise and relaxation, well knowing that the felucca possessed better accommodations than any hosteria of Palos; and they fell into the current of the walkers. Before them was a group of young matrons, who were conversing eagerly, and sufficiently loud to be overheard. Our hero and heroine instantly ceased their own discourse, when they found that the subject was the voyage to Cathay.

"This day," said one of the party, in a tone of authority, "did Don Christopher sail from Cadiz; the sovereigns deeming Palos too small a port for the equipment of so great an enterprise. You may depend on what I tell ye, good neighbors; my husband, as you all well know, holding an appointment in the admiral's own ship."

"You are to be envied, neighbor, that he is in so good repute with so great a man!"

"How could he be otherwise, seeing that he was with him before, when few had courage to be his companions, and was ever faithful to his orders.

'Monica'--nay, it was '_good_ Monica'--said the admiral to me, with his own mouth, 'thy Pepe is a true-hearted mariner, and hath conducted to my entire satisfaction. He shall be made the boatswain of my own carrack, and thou, and thy posterity, to the latest antiquity, may boast that you belong to so good a man.' These were his words; and what he said, he did--Pepe being now a boatswain. But the _paters_ and _aves_ that I said to reach this good fortune, would pave this beach!"

Luis now stepped forward and saluted the party, making curiosity to know the particulars of the first departure, his excuse. As he expected, Monica did not recognize him in his present rich attire, and she willingly related all she knew, and not a little more. The interview showed how completely this woman had pa.s.sed from despair to exultation, reducing the general and more public change of sentiment, down to the individual example of a particular case.

"I have heard much of one Pinzon," added Luis, "who went forth as pilot of a caravel in the voyage; what hath become of him?"

"Senor, he is dead!" answered a dozen voices, Monica's, however, so far getting the ascendency, as to tell the story. "He was once a great man in this quarter; but now his name is lost, like his life. He was untrue, and died of grief, it is said, when he found the Nina lying in the river, when he expected to have had all the glory to himself."

Luis had been too much engrossed with his own feelings to have heard this news before, and he continued his walk, musing and sad.

"So much for unlawful hopes, and designs that G.o.d doth not favor!" he exclaimed, when they had walked a considerable distance. "Providence hath, I think, been of the admiral's side; and certainly, my love, it hath been of mine."

"This is Santa Clara," observed Mercedes. "Luis, I would enter, and return a thanksgiving at its altars for thy safety and return, and offer a prayer for the future success of Don Christopher."

They both entered the church, and they knelt together at the princ.i.p.al altar; for, in that age, the bravest warriors were not as much ashamed, as in our own times, of publicly acknowledging their grat.i.tude to, and their dependence on G.o.d. This duty performed, the happy pair returned silently to the beach, and went off to the felucca.

Early in the morning, the Ozema sailed for Malaga again, Luis being fearful he might be recognized if he continued at Palos. Their port was reached in safety; and shortly after the party arrived at Valverde, the princ.i.p.al estate of Mercedes, where we shall leave our hero and heroine in the enjoyment of a felicity that was as great as could be produced by the connection between manly tenderness on one side, and purity of feeling and disinterested womanly love on the other.

At a late day, there were other Luis de Bobadillas in Spain, among her gallant and n.o.ble, and other Mercedes', to cause the hearts of the gay and aspiring to ache; but there was only one Ozema. She appeared at court, in the succeeding reign, and, for a time, blazed like a star that had just risen in a pure atmosphere. Her career, however, was short, dying young and lamented; since which time, the name itself has perished. It is, in part, owing to these circ.u.mstances, that we have been obliged to drag so much of our legend from the lost records of that eventful period.

[Ill.u.s.tration]