road was always hospitablyopen to them, as is the case at the present day.
The cold grey light of the early morn had just broken upon the world,when a party of horsemen sallied out of the inn, mounted on mostsorry-looking animals, the small horses, or rather ponies of thecountry, but whose nimble and surefooted paces belied the estimation oneformed of their qualities at the first glance. The men wore their largebroad cloaks, one side of which being thrown over the shoulder, andalmost over the head, completely concealed their features, while therest hung down, covering their own bodies, and a great part of those oftheir horses.
The robes of the friar were not perceived among them; but there was amost suspicious-looking figure who took the lead, with a broad slouchedhat on his head, fastened tightly down with a handkerchief under hischin, and from beneath it appeared a rim of closely-cut red hair, and aruddy face with a pair of twinkling eyes, the rest of the form, whichwas evidently of no slender mould, being enveloped, like the others, ina broad cloak. Their ponies carried them at a pace between a canter anda quick shamble over the heath we have described, in the direction ofLisbon, towards the long line of dark forest which was seen in the fardistance from the higher ground on which the inn stood.
The master of the inn remained at the door, watching them till theycould be no longer distinguished from the shrubs and clumps of heathwhich sprinkled the ground. "May the devil prosper them!" he exclaimed,"for were it not for such gentry, my very good friends, I might e'enshut up my house and go begging or robbing like them." Having thusgiven vent to his thoughts, he retired within to say his prayers, and tocalculate the probable amount of his share in the profits of theexpedition.
Volume 1, Chapter VIII.
The glowing sun of that lovely clime was already high in the heavens, inwhich not a cloud or vapour was to be seen; the air came soft and pureover the heath, laden with balsamic odours; and a blue, sparkling,transparent haze played over the ground, giving the promise of ascorching day. The notable daughter of the landlord stood at the doorof the inn, her fingers busily employed in spinning from the distaffstuck in her waist, while she sang, at the top of her voice, an air,which, at the end of each verse, fell into a low cadence, and amusedherself, by looking along the road in each direction, for the approachof travellers. At length, a cloud of dust rising in the north, greetedher eyes; and as it gradually drew nearer, she heard the jingling ofbells sound faintly through the air, the most pleasing music to the earsof a Portuguese innkeeper, when she perceived that it was caused byseveral litters, sumpter mules, and a party of horsemen. She hastenedin to give the joyful intelligence to the rest of the family, who, withher father, quickly assembled at the door to welcome the travellers,whoever they might be; for, as there was no other inn for severalleagues on either side of them, there could be no doubt that they wouldthere stop to bait their animals, and refresh themselves.
The Landlord muttered to himself, with an oath--"They are very numerous,and, if they choose to fight, my friends will have the worst of it.--Patience! I shall make my profits, at all events. Ah, honesty and aregular business is the best policy;" with this consoling reflection, hewaited the arrival of the party.
An arriero, or muleteer, came running on in front, to announce that theillustrious fidalgo, Goncalo Christovao, was approaching; and soonafterwards, a dignified and venerable gentleman, on a stout horse, rodeup, accompanied by a grave-looking personage, in the dress of aBenedictine monk, and followed by two servants, who, throwing themselvesfrom their mules, respectfully assisted him and his companion todismount, when they stood ready to receive the first litter whicharrived.
We have often, on entering a church or palace in Italy, been directed tosome picture, kept closely veiled from the vulgar eye; and, as thecurtain was drawn aside, have been delighted, by viewing the lovelyportrait of a Madonna or Venus from the pencil of Rafaelle or Titian;and far more, as the dignified cavalier drew aside the curtains of thelitter, would the eyes of our readers have been enraptured, by thevision of bright and rare beauty which was disclosed; for surely, noteven those great masters of the sublime art could, in their mostblissful moments, have conceived or executed aught more perfect.
"Oh, Jesus Maria, how lovely!" exclaimed the laughing Rosa, paying anunaffected tribute of admiration to nature's choicest work; and clappingher hands with delight, as the Portuguese peasantry invariably do, whenthey behold anything that causes admiration or surprise, she ran forwardto offer her services.
The lovely vision we have mentioned was, as the acute reader may havesupposed, a young lady; and, as she descended from the litter, leaningon the gentleman's arm, her figure was perceived to be rather above theordinary height of her countrywomen, but slender, and most gracefullyformed; her face, as we have said, was beautiful, and very fair, withlight brown ringlets escaping from under the blue hood of her travellingdress. In those days, the fashion of wearing bonnets had not beenintroduced even among the highest ranks; the hood or veil, thrown overthe head, being considered sufficient protection; and certainly, a moreelegant covering than the head-dresses worn in France or England at thesame period. Indeed, an out-of-doors dress was scarcely required, asladies seldom appeared abroad, except in their carriages or chairs: evenin the present day, were they to take more exercise than they are in thehabit of doing, their youthful promise of beauty would not be so sadlyunrealised, as it too frequently is. As soon as the young lady hadalighted, and had been ushered into the inn, the other litters drew up,from the first of which descended a respectable-looking old dame, withspectacles on nose, a parrot on a stand, two bird-cages, and a sleek,long-haired Angola cat. From the appearance of the old lady, she wasthe _Ama_, the nurse, or governess to the fair girl. A damsel followedher out of the litter, with sundry packages and baskets of eatables.Two other waiting women got out of the third litter, short, dark, andblack-eyed girls; while the fourth was empty, probably, for theaccommodation of the master. Five or six baggage-mules, and two mountedmen-servants, brought up the rear, besides a number of drivers belongingto the litters and mules, who kept up with the cavalcade on foot.
As his distinguished guests retired into the house, the landlord, bowingmost obsequiously, ushered them (alas! through the stable and kitchen),up a sadly narrow and dirty flight of steps, to the room we havedescribed before, where the servants spread a repast they had broughtwith them, the landlord being perfectly content with supplying themuleteers and their animals with food.
Rosa could scarcely keep her eyes from the young lady, as she bustledround her, offering to perform any service in her power; and when, atlength, she had contrived to separate her from the rest of her party,looking down on the ground as she spoke, she whispered "Do not beafraid, senhora, whatever sort of people you may meet on the road, for Iam sure they would not harm any one so lovely."
"What do you mean, my good girl?" asked the lady, in a sweet tone. "Weare not likely to meet any one to harm us, for they say the roads areperfectly free from robbers."
"Oh no, senhora, Heaven deliver us from robbers; I do not speak ofthem," answered Rosa, in a hesitating manner, "but there are all sortsof odd people about, and I thought I would put you on your guard, thatis all. I am sure they will not harm her," she uttered, as she turnedaway with a tear in her eye.
The young lady was not at all alarmed by the hints the good-natured girlthrew out; indeed, she so little attended to them, that she forgot allabout them a minute afterwards.
The travellers, after remaining nearly two hours at the inn, theirhorses and mules being refreshed, again proceeded on their way, the hostredoubling the obsequiousness of his bows as they departed, and wishingthem, with much apparent earnestness, a successful journey. The track,for it did not deserve the name of a road, lay over the uncultivatedmoor we have before spoken of; the hollows and hillocks they wereobliged to cross or to circumvent, much prolonging the distance, theutmost pace the litters could advance being scarce a league an hour; agreat contrast to the present railroad speed of other countries. Thiss
low progress was very fatiguing, increased by the fine dust, dried bythe summer heats, which rose in thick clouds at every step the animalstook; there was also scarce a breath of air, the fervent rays of the sunshining with uninterrupted force on their heads.
Senhor Christovao and the grave friar rode on in front, out of hearingof the rest of the party; the latter evidently endeavouring to presssome matter of importance on the consideration of the gentleman."Depend on it, senhor, the peaceful serenity of a monastic life is themost happy lot a female can enjoy in this vale of tears; there, freefrom the cares and disappointments which her sisters in adversity aredoomed to suffer, she spends her days in prayers and thanksgivings, inanxious expectation of the arrival of her heavenly Bridegroom."
"Your arguments are very powerful, Senhor Padre," returned hiscompanion; "but yet I feel some compunction in depriving my
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