Part 48 (1/2)
Although Isabella was prepared to see a being of surprising perfection of form, she started with surprise, as her eye first fell on Ozema. It was not so much the beauty of the young Indian that astonished her, as the native grace of her movements, the bright and happy expression of her countenance, and the perfect self-possession of her mien and deportment. Ozema had got accustomed to a degree of dress that she would have found oppressive at Hayti; the sensitiveness of Mercedes, on the subject of female propriety, having induced her to lavish on her new friend many rich articles of attire, that singularly, though wildly, contributed to aid her charms. Still the gift of Luis was thrown over one shoulder, as the highest-prized part of her wardrobe, and the cross of Mercedes rested on her bosom, the most precious of all her ornaments.
”This is wonderful, Beatriz!” exclaimed the queen, as she stood at one side of the room, while Ozema bowed her body in graceful reverence on the other; ”can this rare being really have a soul that knoweth naught of its G.o.d and Redeemer! But let her spirit be benighted as it may, there is no vice in that simple mind, or deceit in that pure heart.”
”Senora, all this is true. Spite of our causes of dissatisfaction, my ward and I both love her already, and could take her to our hearts forever; one as a friend, and the other as a parent.”
”Princess,” said the queen, advancing with quiet dignity to the spot where Ozema stood, with downcast eyes and bended body, waiting her pleasure, ”thou art welcome to our dominions. The admiral hath done well in not cla.s.sing one of thy evident claims and station among those whom he hath exhibited to vulgar eyes. In this he hath shown his customary judgment, no less than his deep respect for the sacred office of sovereigns.”
”Almirante!” exclaimed Ozema, her looks brightening with intelligence, for she had long known how to p.r.o.nounce the well-earned t.i.tle of Columbus; ”Almirante, Mercedes--Isabella, Mercedes--Luis, Mercedes, Senora Reyna.”
”Beatriz, what meaneth this? Why doth the princess couple the name of thy ward with that of Colon, with mine, and even with that of the young Count of Llera?”
”Senora, by some strange delusion, she hath got to think that Mercedes is the Spanish term for every thing that is excellent or perfect, and thus doth she couple it with all that she most desireth to praise. Your Highness must observe that she even united Luis and Mercedes, a union that we once fondly hoped might happen, but which now would seem to be impossible; and which she herself must be the last really to wish.”
”Strange delusion!” repeated the queen; ”the idea hath had its birth in some particular cause, for things like this come not of accidents; who but thy nephew, Beatriz, would know aught of thy ward, or who but he would have taught the princess to deem her very name a sign of excellence?”
”Senora!” exclaimed Mercedes, the color mounting to her pale cheek, and joy momentarily flas.h.i.+ng in her eyes, ”can this be so?”
”Why not, daughter? We may have been too hasty in this matter, and mistaken what are truly signs of devotion to thee, for proofs of fickleness and inconstancy.”
”Ah! Senora! but this can never be, else would not Ozema so love him.”
”How know'st thou, child, that the princess hath any other feeling for the count than that which properly belongeth to one who is grateful for his care, and for the inexpressible service of being made acquainted with the virtues of the cross? Here is some rash error, Beatriz.”
”I fear not, your Highness. Touching the nature of Ozema's feelings, there can be no misconception, since the innocent and unpractised creature hath not art sufficient to conceal them. That her heart is all Luis', we discovered in the first few hours of our intercourse; and it is too pure, unsought, to be won. The feeling of the Indian is not merely admiration, but it is such a pa.s.sionate devotion, as partaketh of the warmth of that sun, which, we are told, glows with a heat so genial in her native clime.”
”_Could_ one see so much of Don Luis, Senora,” added Mercedes, ”under circ.u.mstances to try his martial virtues, and so long daily be in communion with his excellent heart, and not come to view him as far above all others?”
”Martial virtues--excellent heart!”--slowly repeated the queen, ”and yet so regardless of the wrong he doeth! He is neither knight nor cavalier worthy of the s.e.x, if what thou thinkest be true, child.”
”Nay, Senora,” earnestly resumed the girl, whose diffidence was yielding to the wish to vindicate our hero, ”the princess hath told us of the manner in which he rescued her from her greatest enemy and persecutor, Caonabo, a headstrong and tyrannical sovereign of her island, and of his generous self-devotion in her behalf.”
”Daughter, do thou withdraw, and, first calling on Holy Maria to intercede for thee, seek the calm of religious peace and submission, on thy pillow. Beatriz, I will question the princess alone.”
The marchioness and Mercedes immediately withdrew, leaving Isabella with Ozema, in possession of the room. The interview that followed lasted more than an hour, that time being necessary to enable the queen to form an opinion of the stranger's explanations, with the imperfect means of communication she possessed. That Ozema's whole heart was Luis', Isabella could not doubt. Unaccustomed to conceal her preferences, the Indian girl was too unpractised to succeed in such a design, had she even felt the desire to attempt it; but, in addition to her native ingenuousness, Ozema believed that duty required her to have no concealments from the sovereign of Luis, and she laid bare her whole soul in the simplest and least disguised manner.
”Princess,” said the queen, after the conversation had lasted some time, and Isabella believed herself to be in possession of the means of comprehending her companion, ”I now understand your tale. Caonabo is the chief, or, if thou wilt, the king of a country adjoining thine own; he sought thee for a wife, but being already married to more than one princess, thou didst very properly reject his unholy proposals. He then attempted to seize thee by violence. The Conde de Llera was on a visit to thy brother at the time”--
”Luis--Luis”--the girl impatiently interrupted, in her sweet, soft voice--”Luis no Conde--Luis.”
”True, princess, but the Conde de Llera and Luis de Bobadilla are one and the same person. Luis, then, if thou wilt, was present in thy palace, and he beat back the presumptuous cacique, who, not satisfied with fulfilling the law of G.o.d by the possession of one wife, impiously sought, in thy person, a second, or a third, and brought thee off in triumph. Thy brother, next, requested thee to take shelter, for a time, in Spain, and Don Luis, becoming thy guardian and protector, hath brought thee hither to the care of his aunt?”
Ozema bowed her head in acknowledgment of the truth of this statement, most of which she had no difficulty in understanding, the subject having, of late, occupied so much of her thoughts.
”And, now, princess,” continued Isabella, ”I must speak to thee with maternal frankness, for I deem all of thy birth my children while they dwell in my realms, and have a right to look to me for advice and protection. Hast thou any such love for Don Luis as would induce thee to forget thine own country, and to adopt his in its stead?”
”Ozema don't know what 'adopt his,' means,” observed the puzzled girl.
”I wish to inquire if thou wouldst consent to become the wife of Don Luis de Bobadilla?”
”Wife” and ”husband” were words of which the Indian girl had early learned the signification, and she smiled guilelessly, even while she blushed, and nodded her a.s.sent.