Anna Maria Porter

“ The young Duchess trembled with sudden emotion, and her fine countenance assumed an expression of veneration, joy, and sorrow, which heightened its charms; she half bent her knee, while exclaiming, “who is it that I behold? O majestic stranger, dare I believe that I see in you—”
“The father of your mother!” replied the old man, tears trickling down his cheek, “the widowed, wandering Sebastian.”
Luisa sunk at his feet, and devoutly kissed them. “You return then, at last!” she said, weeping with delight, “all who have known or persecuted you, my honoured father, are vanished from the earth. ”

“ How often does the spirit of man die and revive! in the season of youth grief may destroy, but hope will renew it. Like the hardy eagle which poets have fabled immortal, the soul decays, sheds her plumes, sinks into transient death, then{39} suddenly glows again with life, rises new-winged from dust, and soars to Heaven!
Into the mind of Sebastian no visions entered, except such as were bright and blissful: an instant of time, an atom only of distance, seemed to divide him from the possession of all he panted for. ”

“ Joy and grief so blended, were too powerful for their hearts: nature sunk under such a meeting, and it was long ere the Duchess and her son succeeded in restoring them to life.
Sorrowful happiness was that which the young Hyppolito now witnessed; no sounds, save those of weeping and sighing, were heard through the apartment. Though the mother and daughter fondly embraced, fondly gazed on each other, their hearts were full of Sebastian, and incapable of real joy.
The tears of Blanche flowed with redoubled impetuosity whenever she looked on her mother. ”

“ Sebastian received the boy with trembling avidity:—as he bent to kiss his infant cheek, his silver locks sweeping over the eyelids of the little Prince, awoke him, and he looked smiling up. A nobler smile (for it was radiant with the immortal spirit) lighted up the face of the aged King, he leaned back in the royal{320} chair, he looked at the son of Gaspar, then at Braganza and Luisa, cast a last glance at their child, thought of them he was hastening to rejoin, and fixing his eyes on heaven, he feebly exclaimed, “Die, die! thou hast lived long enough.” ”

“ Even Gaspar began to reconcile himself to these languid expectations, when he was one day summoned to the presence of his friend and King.
Sebastian was standing alone with an opened letter in his hand; the contents of which had evidently taken the colour from his cheek: never before had Gaspar seen him so pale.
He raised his eyes on the entrance of the latter, and said in a low voice, “Gaspar, you must support me—my heart will not have strength of itself—such a sacrifice is demanded! all-gracious God! must I acquiesce?” ”

“ Sebastian was instantly surrounded by a band of armed men, who drawing their swords at the same moment with a horrid noise, which drew forth a shriek from Kara Aziek, flashed them before him with menacing attitudes.
Sebastian stood root-bound in their circle, his eyes fixed with amazement on the perfidious Chrysostom: stunned by so atrocious a perfidy, his faculties were for awhile overpowered: at length bursting into such a tempest of rage as had been long unknown to him, he called out, “Traitor! fear you not that heaven’s bolt will fall and strike you?” ”

“ In expressive silence the Prince took and squeezed his hand, and held it to his heart; his silence was even more eloquent than his countenance: that semblance of coldness which was natural to him, or rather, was the effect of a violent repression of violent sensibility, gave way before the magnitude of his obligations to Sebastian.
“You have indeed retrieved my error!” he said at last, “you have saved my father and the kingdom; you have preserved me from dying of grief and shame! ”

“ At these words Kara Aziek flung herself on his bosom with a cry of joy; she had lost sight of every object except her daughter, and contemplating her desolate state, possible danger to her husband was forgotten. “O my Sebastian!” she exclaimed, “let us indeed brave the world united; give me back my child, and then whatever be the destiny awarded us, we shall meet it with courage. Here, our peaceful days are over—long, long have they been over, without Blanche we live on, bereft of our soul.—Shall we ever see her again? ”

“ Sebastian smiled, and shook his head, “The world and I, my dear daughter, have long since shaken hands, and said farewel to each other: I have no more to do with its honours or its pleasures: these eyes see but one place of rest, and I am fast hastening to it. Sceptres and crowns, at fourscore years, are the toys and rattles of second childhood, and to desire them is to prove that we are become infants again. To rejoice in the emancipation of Portugal from an oppressive yoke, to rejoice at beholding the reins of her government in young and able hands, is yet permitted me. ”

“ Your birth-right is your patrimonial house, your noble name, your rank in the republic—mine is the throne of Portugal and the Indies; and now, by the blessing of God, I will perish ere I renounce it. When Kings are prosperous, then do you make them Gods; when they are in adversity, you reduce them below humanity: what manner of justice is this? Who shall say that aught but crimes can deprive a common individual of his lawful inheritance? ”

“ Sebastian’s penetrating eye read the lover’s heart; he smiled graciously, and pressing his hand, said, “Yes, for her also, I speak: her safety and her happiness are the sole objects of her father’s anxiety; and how are they to be secured, save in domestic privacy? Think of her again, Hyppolito, as you were used to do; forget the Princess of Portugal, but ever protect and cherish the unpretending Blanche.” ”

“ The departure of Gaspar was followed by preparations for that of Sebastian: his resolution was taken; and not even the fantastic fears of Kara Aziek (whose courage failed her when the moment drew near in which they must wholly depend on the sincerity of Venice) could make him shrink from the bold experiment he was about to hazard.
“Better to sink at once,” he said to himself, “than to continue thus struggling for life, in a stormy ocean of perpetual vicissitudes: the most precious things are not precious, unless held with a security of possession. I will lose or I will gain all!” ”

“ Supported by her lover, Blanche was kneeling by the bed, distracted between grief for her mother, and fear for her father’s senses; Hyppolito hastily resigned her to Baptista, and judging this to be the decisive moment, he dashed away his own tears, and motioning to the pale Don Christopher, they lifted Sebastian from the chamber into the open air.
Trusting him to their attention, Blanche allowed herself to yield to her own sorrow, and remained weeping over the beauteous remains of the tenderest of women. ”

“ When the officer who narrated these events came to this part of his recital, the young Sophi uttered a cry, and throwing himself on the earth, covered his head with his mantle; no one ventured to disturb his grief:—the tears of a virtuous son for a tender parent are precious in the sight of men and angels.
After awhile he raised himself with a serious but desolated air, and looked wishfully round for his friend; but he saw him not. Sebastian had disappeared the moment his own justification began; he had gone in search of Kara Aziek. ”

“ A vivid glow kindled on the cheek of Luisa, her eyes were instantly full of her soul: “I am the happiest of women,” she said ardently, “the whole world contains nothing of what is valuable, great, or endearing, that is not comprised in the character of my Juan. O my father, I am only too happy; and my fond heart trembles sometimes at its own felicity.”
Tears glittered in her brilliant eyes, and the love that blushed through every vein of her delicate frame, communicated a sad thrill to those of the aged wanderer. ”

“ Why is it that the dearest connexions, when about to lose sight of each other, avoid looking on the countenance they love, and which they will so soon long to behold again? is it that the soul instinctively prepares for its calamity, and tries to soften the pang by gradual abandonment of its enjoyments? or is it that grief would be uncontrollable if those delightful feelings were indulged which we are conscious must end with the removal of the person beloved? ”

“ You assert it?”
“I assert nothing: persons and voices may resemble; but in events we cannot be mistaken. If this be the King, whom I entertained at Cadiz, ere his expedition to Africa, he will be able to point out to me amongst some armour which I have had brought hither, the present he made to me at that period.”
“I gave thee a sword, Sidonia!” said Sebastian, “and I think I should remember it again.”
The surrounding nobles, with dismay and surprise, followed the Duke to the stern of the galley, where some attendants had just arrived with a heap of swords, spurs, curious pistols, and daggers. ”

“ This unknown European, his incertitude, his grief, his fears, all were forgot, when in the retired chamber to which she pointed, he beheld Kara Aziek alone, unveiled, trembling with love and expectation: he flew forward, he locked her in his arms, he held her to his heart in silence; but that heaving heart, his quick and disturbed breathing, his trembling convulsive grasp, spoke more eloquently than words the extent and the intensity of his joy. ”

“ Earnest to observe the countenance of Braganza, Sebastian inclined his venerable person, and lifted up the white locks which obscured his sight. His imagination had represented the husband of Luisa, with a mien dignified, but somewhat austere, and a brow armed with the lofty courage of his conduct. On the contrary, he beheld a man in the prime of life, whose elegantly proportioned figure moved with gentle gracefulness; whose face,{292} (seriously sweet) invited love, destroyed apprehension, and spoke a heart warmed with the most amiable affections. ”

“ Thus protected by the power of Don Emanuel, and assured of his friendship, Sebastian was content to remain in exile from his country and his throne, while Providence allowed him thus amply to fill even an obscure sphere of usefulness. His soul and his senses had pleasures in Brazil far superior to all they had ever enjoyed in the old world: the sight of so many human beings rescued from the misery of ignorance, indolence, and crime, was a never-ceasing source of satisfaction ”

“ It was only to Sir Anthony Shirley that Sebastian had disclosed the prime motive of his appearance at Ispahan; the name of her he loved was too sacred for lighter ears: and besides, the impression made even by a description of beauty on these sons of sensual pleasure, was sufficient to deter him from mentioning her charms to others; Abbas’s apparent insensibility to beauty, and the prejudices of his religion, were motives too strong for Sebastian uselessly to break through. ”

“ With Medina Sidonia he conversed aloud on various subjects, calculated to place his integrity under a yet broader light; the gratitude he felt for the protection afforded to his daughter, gave warmth to his manner, and attracted the heart of Don Hyppolito.
Upon that young man Sebastian cast many approving looks, for there was a careless intrepidity in the young Spaniard’s manner, and an ardent precipitation in his speech, which announced a generous and a brave character. ”

“ Gently walking under a long line of cedars shading the Cachoeira, Sebastian descried them afar off.—The full and{3} perfectly-formed figure of Kara Aziek, her slow soft step, the gentle dignity which distinguished her, were contrasted by the slight and budding graces of Blanche’s more airy form. Her step was quick, bounding, and uncertain as the young Gazelle’s; her looks were timid, not majestic; and like spring preceding summer, she sportively advanced, admiring every object she had seen and admired a thousand times before. ”

“ Tefza’s intreating eyes spoke only too audibly, as they perpetually turned and fixed themselves upon the face of Sebastian.
The regards of the King were cast down; his head was inclined, his step slow; but this downcast look, this regulated pace, the burning glow that increased every moment upon his cheek, plainly developed the struggles of a man, the expression of whose gladness, decency and gratitude united to control. ”