Part 63

But he was serious at once. "Aye--ever to the Queen, in duty bound--by kinsman's ties--by knighthood's vows--by my honor, by her sorrows, and by my will--yet this hindereth not that there should be one----"

"Methinks my stirrup is caught fast in the housing!" she interrupted with an exclamation of dismay: and there was naught to do for the Bernardini but to dismount and readjust it,--she--talking brightly the while, of many things for which at that moment he cared naught; and less, because it was she who spoke.

But when they were riding side by side again, and the city was coming nearer, he would not be put off for any whim of hers.

"If thou hast discovered my secret--which I would fain know--most worshipful Dama Margherita,--I would that thou shouldst proclaim it wherever thy tongue listeth. 'Quel che Iblin è, non si può trovar!'"

He knew that the old Cyprian proverb, "Such another as Iblin is, may not be found," was the pride of her house, and would reach the tenderest spot in her loyal heart.

She turned to him gravely: "Dear Signor Bernardini, let it not be spoken between us," she said. "For the Queen hath sore need of us--of our every thought and care."

"Might we not serve her better so?" he pleaded.

But she shook her head. "Thou who hast been all faith and service, counting thy life naught--thou knowest. She in her trouble should see that we think but of her."

"Is this thy answer--most worshipful Margherita?"

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 gods?

But now from the splendid city came sounds of rejoicing--music and vivas--through the gates thrown wide, the tramp of a multitude 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 municipality; 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 nobles 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 passed with all her noble 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.

XXXIII

For the first time since the death of Janus, the magnificent hall of the Upper Court in the Palace of the Assizes was filled with a noble assembly of Cyprian patricians who came in state, each with his train of vassals, 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 class, signifying that he was entitled to receive homage and tribute from his vassals--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 assembly; 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 noble of Cyprus in sympathy with the present Government was waiting with his vassals 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 petition, to which the people, standing with faces towards the East and with outstretched hands, responded full-voiced.

O Thou, God 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.