The Royal Pawn of Venice Part 37

Again she turned her eyes to his--serene and deep--no hint of trouble in them.

"There hath been no question," she said; "there can be no answer, where there hath been no question."

And although he would fain have spoken further, he could not: for that brief moment in which her eyes held his--half-commanding--wholly trusting--was like the sealing of a vow to do her bidding.

Then as she turned away, the echo of a name floated towards him--"Aluisi!" so spoken as no one had ever uttered it before.--Or had he surprised it, written on her soul, in that deep gaze, which she had permitted?

But now the sudden sunset glory of that Eastern clime flamed in the skies, touching the domes and pinnacles of this city of delights with flecks of crimson and purple and molten gold, illuminating the lovely Cyprian landscape with a never-to-be-forgotten light--and Nikosia stood forth radiant against the background of dark environing hills, clothed to their summits with kingly cedars--while in the far distance the sea flashed its silver setting, melting into the opal of the clouds which seemed to rise from its breast.

Was it this fleeting radiance of color that always stirred the birds to sudden, joyous song at the charmed hour of sunset?--that outpoured upon the heavenly breeze, for which the long day often panted, this flood of perfume of a thousand odors? Or was it only because it was Cyprus and for her magic beauty she had indeed been named of all the isles of Greece, "L'Isola Fortunata," beloved of the G.o.ds?

But now from the splendid city came sounds of rejoicing--music and vivas--through the gates thrown wide, the tramp of a mult.i.tude issuing forth to welcome their Queen, with the homage of loyal hearts,--and her own throbbed almost to breaking. The Vice-Roy and Admiral, Mutio di Costanzo, with his escort of Knights of the Golden Spurs came bringing the keys of the city which had stood for the Queen against the mandates of the Council of the Realm; Stefano Caduna, Leader of the people, stalwart and faithful, brave as a lion, with his devoted guild about him--the judges of the courts and the chief men of the munic.i.p.ality; a chapter of the Knights of St. John, in their white mantles and eight-pointed crosses of red--the new primate of Nikosia, with all the hierarchy of his province of diverse creeds--the burghers--the n.o.bles of the city--they made a welcome that stirred the soul of Caterina and filled it with a hope warm as the presage of the glowing skies.

"_Viva la Regina--La ben-venuta!_"

The people shouted her name; they thronged to swell the royal procession as she rode through the garlanded streets, in regal state, under the golden canopy which they had brought to do her honor, upheld over her fair young head by four mounted knights of the most ancient houses of Nikosia. Before the portico of the Duomo Santa Soffia the cavalcade came to pause, while Caterina dismounted--the people clinging about her to kiss her hand, to prove their loyalty--until pale from emotion she left them, and pa.s.sed with all her n.o.ble company under the fretted arches of the vast portal, to offer up her orisons--her first act in this city of her adoption, a service of faith and adoration--her first resting-place in her new home, the altar of the church which was one in all lands.

x.x.xIII

For the first time since the death of Ja.n.u.s, the magnificent hall of the Upper Court in the Palace of the a.s.sizes was filled with a n.o.ble a.s.sembly of Cyprian patricians who came in state, each with his train of va.s.sals, who were also privileged to enter the great judgment hall and witness the imposing ceremony of the opening of the Court. Each baron wore at the point of his lance the small square banner with the device and color of his ancestral house and the motto, "_Cour, Coin, Justice_,"

which was the privilege of his cla.s.s, signifying that he was ent.i.tled to receive homage and tribute from his va.s.sals--his _hommes liges_ and his serfs, and to render judgment upon their minor causes.

The long arcaded corridors leading out to the court-yards of the palace were thronged with serfs in attendance upon the knights and barons, and with citizens who had no seat of right in the a.s.sembly; and beyond, from the court-yards, came the sound of the champing of steeds impatient for the voice of their masters and chafing under the unwelcome restraint of their attendants, who kept up a ceaseless babel of adjuration and coaxing.

Every n.o.ble of Cyprus in sympathy with the present Government was waiting with his va.s.sals and suites in splendid array to pay his homage to the young Queen, who now first since the death of her child was to appear among them at a high function; there were others who, uncertain or careless of their sentiments had responded to the urgent invitation of the Council of the Realm, from no stronger motive than a mild curiosity; and possibly a few had come with a wrathful determination to find something to condemn in the bearing of the Queen that might stimulate an organized opposition.

Between the splendid shafts of the monoliths that rose like a Cyprian forest from the polished marble pavement, a vast company of the hierarchy of Cyprus--Greek, Latin, and Armenian, in rich sacerdotal vestments--were waiting to take part in the solemn ceremonial; for the royal white-robed procession had already ascended the steps of the dias where the newly appointed Archbishop of Nikosia would offer his prayer of consecration and receive the pledge of the Queen faithfully to uphold the laws of the Realm.

The majestic martial music to which the procession had moved had diminished to a dim, melodic undertone, over which the prayer of the Primate rose and fell in swift, rhythmic periods--a litany of ascription and pet.i.tion, to which the people, standing with faces towards the East and with outstretched hands, responded full-voiced.

O Thou, G.o.d over all, great in Majesty and power, to Thee we ascribe all praise!

_To Thee we ascribe all praise!_

O Thou, Lord of lords and King of kings, grant to Caterina, Sovereign of this Realm, grace and wisdom to rule her people.

_Grace and wisdom to rule her people!_

And grant to her, O Giver of all good, Thy benediction, with gladness!

_Thy benediction, with gladness!_

O Thou, Creator of Life and Immortality, Lord of the living and of the dead, grant that the soul of thy servant Ja.n.u.s may rest in peace!

_May rest in peace!_

O Thou, Holy and Ineffable, around whose throne the pure souls of sinless little ones float as an effluence of Thy love, grant to the soul of our infant King, Thy joy perpetual.

_Thy joy perpetual!_

O Thou, supreme in justice, Ruler of all rulers and Judge of all men, grant to the rulers of this Court wisdom, that they may judge righteously!

_That they may judge righteously!_

Yet, O Eternal Father, Thou who art merciful, grant us to temper judgment with mercy.

_Judgment with mercy!_

Thou, who art Everlasting Truth, grant us to be true.

_Grant us to be true!_

And then, while the Archbishop was standing with hands outspread in benediction over the kneeling throng, the music of a wonderful, rhythmic _Amen_, oft repeated, thrilled and throbbed from arch to arch.

How cruel the changes that had swept the island-kingdom since the last High Court had a.s.sembled in this Council-Chamber! Their young and charming monarch, in the very exuberance of life, had been summoned without warning to lay it down. His little child, the hope of the realm, had come and pa.s.sed as swiftly as some fair vision of the night, leaving scarcely a trace of his short earthly career save in the heart of the mother where its every memory would be cherished deathlessly. And for their fair young Queen, who stood among them widowed and childless--in lieu of the fulfilment of the radiant hopes which had brought her hither, there had been a pitiful record of conspiracy, betrayal and captivity.

These memories smote upon the n.o.bler souls in the throng, moving them to compa.s.sion and admiration; for what knight among them could more bravely have borne such suffering and thwarting?

But Caterina, in trailing garments glistening like the snows of Troodos, stood like a queenly lily among her white-robed maids of honor, exalted by the solemnity of the service and looking deep into the heart of her life-problems--ignoring self and contests--dreaming only of duty and the achievement that her people's love might render possible.

They had feared to see her in mourning robes, with a woful court about her,--trembling, sorrow-weighted, pitiful and unimpressive; and a low murmur of admiration just stirred the hush of the chamber as she took her place under the royal canopy and turned to confront the great a.s.sembly--the strength of suffering and resolve in the beautiful unsmiling face, which yet seemed to promise and crave for love--to plead with them for their allegiance.

She stood so for a moment, quite still; then she stretched out both arms to them with a sudden impulse.

"_My people!_" she said brokenly.

Her voice thrilled them, and they answered with a burst of loyalty warm enough to screen the silence of those who took no part in the grateful chorus.

She only bowed her head in acknowledgment, struggling with her emotion: then moving a little aside, she laid her hand upon the arm of the alabaster seat that Ja.n.u.s had been wont to use,--it was filled with lilies in memory of the infant King and guarded by the group of white-clad pages who should have been his knights. And now, as if the touch gave her courage, her voice came clear and unwavering.

"_My people!_" she said again, lingering on the words as if the claim were inexpressibly dear to her; "because ye were _his_ people--my husband's--the King's: because ye should have been _his_--my little, little son's;--_because they have left me their work to do_."

She paused for a moment to steady her voice, for a sudden desperate sense of loneliness and self-pity had overpowered her as she looked into the sea of faces turned to hers and saw--with the intense spiritual insight granted to the few in crucial moments--the conflicting emotions with which they regarded her.

Then, as swiftly, there flashed into her recollection the memory of the scene in Venice, on the day of her betrothal, when there had been revealed to her the sacredness of the tie possible between a Queen and her people--a vision of the holy, surging, pa.s.sionate mother-love, adequate to all sacrifice. Surely for these days of her desolation that early vision had been granted; and with the force of a heavenly message its memory now brought her strength.

The appeal in her eyes deepened, and the lines of her mouth grew more tender, while she held herself firmly erect,--as one accustomed to rule,--and the tones of her voice took on the accent of unquestioned authority.

"Dear people of Cyprus," she said quite calmly, "I _need_ your love--that together we may rule wisely."

She had not dreamed that ever again she should taste so dear a joy as came with the sound of this tumultuous response to her appeal; for the hearts of the n.o.bles had warmed to her, and a wave of compunction and loyalty swept the a.s.sembly.