The maiden had but little time to effect her object, and gain her apartment, so
wilful and exacting is the devoted love—so impetuous and rapid had been the approach
of the strange warriors. The cavalcade was that of the Gothic monarch,
whom we have seen setting forth on a double mission for the castle of his lieutenant.
With that reckless hardihood of vice which distinguished his reign, and led to
his downfall, he came at the same moment to exact service from his subject, and to
inflict dishonor on his name. In his corrupt mind he already revelled in the charms
of La Cava, while her brave father was doing his battles and defending his country
from the infidel invader, But while purposing this deadly wrong to a faithful subject,
king Roderick was yet too well aware of the danger which he was about to incur
to suffer his secret thoughts to be known by others. He too well knew the
fierce and jealous nature of count Julian, who had come of the old Roman stock,
and he was not ignorant of the great influence which he possessed over the veteran
soldiers whom he had so often led to victory. To his creature Edeco, alone, from
whom—and the anonymous epistle of Oppas—the base incentive had come, did he
communicate his design. With more caution, therefore, than he was accustomed to
employ, he resolved upon pursuing his present object; and when he met count Julian,
who had come forth to the castle entrance to receive him, his manner and language,
though free and kingly, were yet singularly circumspect, for one so habitually
reckless.

“You do your poor noble honor, my lord king, when you so ride forth to see
him,” was the salutation of count Julian, while he held the stirrup for the monarcb
to alight.

“Ay, my lord; and had I known that your castle held so lovely a spot in

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command, I should not have been so slow to seek thee out. Truly the air is grateful,
and the hills—they rise around thee like a natural rampart. Wert thou a rebel,
count Julian, it would need a goodly force to undo thee in thy stronghold.”

“It is thine, oh king! and little prospect is there that it will be held against thee
or thine. The air, as thou sayest, is grateful; and in the sunset, the hills wear a
look which will delight thine eye far more than now. But let us in, my lord; thou
shouldst need refreshment. Thou wilt find a cup of choice wine grateful after thy
toilsome travel among these hills.”

“The thought is good;” and the king alighted while he spoke. The grooms
came forward and took charge of the horses, while, following their master's example,
the nobles in the train of Roderick alighted also, and, at the bidding of count
Julian, followed them into the castle. When they had drunk and been refreshed,
the lady Cava descended from her chamber, and the eyes of Roderick for the first
time rested upon the features of his chosen victim. He whispered to Edeco, when
he beheld her:

“The billet speaks truth only; there is nothing half so lovely in Toledo.”

The favorite ventured no reply, but his finger was lifted to his lips as if in caution,
for he saw the eyes of count Julian were upon the king, and the pride and jealousy
of the warrior were well known to him. But Roderick, though he strove,
could scarcely keep his eyes from the maiden. His glance riveted hers, for it was
the first time that she had beheld the king, and she looked upon him with a wonder
and admiration, no less fearless than innocent. And truly might she regard him
with admiration, for the person of Roderick was extremely noble. He was taller
than the general race of men, yet so proportioned and symmetrical as to command no
regard in this respect, save when standing by the side of others. His face was full
and his eye commanding. His forehead was rather broad than lofty, and his look,
though it was not wanting in intellectual expression, spoke more for the love of
sway, the pride of pomp, and strong passions, than for the good mind which he possessed
naturally, but which the sudden gain of unlooked for power had either entirely
perverted or kept in subjection. These gave an air of animation to his manner
and countenance, which could not fail to attract the eye, and win the admiration
of those he looked upon kindly.

After a brief space of time given to ordinary subjects, and when the beautiful
Cava, at the command of her father, had retired from the presence to attend to such
concerns of the household as were fitly entrusted to young maidens, in those
days, the king addressed himself to count Julian upon the obvious subject of his
visit.

“I have brought you a heavy charge, Julian,” he said, “and I look for you to be
as heedful in our cause, of the honor and security of the nation, as you have proved
yourself in the time of our predecessor.”

“There are none to challenge the faith of Julian of Consuegra, I trust, oh
king!” was the reply of the count, who looked round while he spoke, with searching
eye, among the nobles who attended the sovereign. “The faith which I have
pledged to you, king Roderick,” he continued, “I have ever kept, as I now again
pledge myself resolute to keep it. Declare thy will, oh king! and receive my service.”

“I believe thee, Julian; I meant not to question thy honor by my speech, but,
declaring my firm confidence in thy ability, again to give it employment.”

“I am ready in thy service, oh king! Command me as thou wilt, in honor, and
my sword and life are thine.”

“I had deemed them so, Julian, ere I came to thee. Advices have reached me

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that the insolent Moslem again threatens us with invasion. The post at Ceuta is
again thy charge. We require thee to move for it by the morning, and do thy best
to chastise the foe.”

“Now, this instant, oh king! if thou wilt, I am ready to depart!” was the immediate
answer of the count.

“I knew thy promptness, Julian, but it will not need that thou shouldst depart
before the dawn, unless thou shalt deem it important to thy toils. Nor, indeed
canst thou well do it, since it is our purpose to be this night thy guest. We wildepart
together in the morning, and thou shalt ride with us to our royal city of Toledo,
where it is the will of the queen Egilona, that thy fair daughter, of whom she
hath heard, should abide until thy return. She shall be handmaid to the queen during
thy absence, and her happiness and instruction shall be our care. Does this
disposition please thee, count Julian?”

“It does, oh king! since this were but a wild and lonely region for my daughter
to abide in when I am absent; and still less would it suit that she go with me to
Algeziras, when the cloud of war hangs over the coast. In the presence of the noble
Egilona my daughter will learn the lessons of truth, and be confirmed in the
gentle virtues which I have toiled, and not in vain, to impart to her mind. Thou
hast well determined, oh Roderick! and I will not spare my sword in strife with
the Moor, remembering the sacred charge which I leave in thy protection.”

The object of the lustful monarch so far had been pursued successfully; and his
exultation could scarcely be concealed. The watchful Edeco beheld it, in his
quick, hurried glances, in the sudden flow of blood into his cheeks, and in the passionate
movements of his person. But these signs entirely escaped the observation
of count Julian, who, though jealous in the last degree of the honor of his name and
family, yet had not the slightest suspicion of the meditated bad faith of the sovereign
who had just yielded to his hands so great a trust; and one which would so readily
enable him to revenge himself for any such wrong. Nor did the reckless spirit of
Roderick, thoughtful only of personal indulgence, permit him to perceive the extent
of the security which he had thus given to Julian, for the honor of his daughter. It
he did, he was but too well disposed to defy consequences, to seek the correction of
his error. With a blindness which was like fatality, he gave to the man whom he
was about to wound in the most sensitive part, the command of a post, the most
important in his kingdom, and the exclusive control of ten thousand veteran soldiers.
But this thought troubled neither the mind of the monarch, nor that of his creature,
Edeco. As his sword-bearer, this man slept that night in a chamber adjoining that
of Roderick, and having access to it. When they were retired for the night, he gave
a loose to those congratulations on the success of his project, which he knew would
flatter the hopes of the king, whose foul appetites were all in activity. He exaggerated
the charms of La Cava, dwelt on her gentleness, which he mistook for weakness,
and with the peurile affectation of the fop discoursed of those topics which belong
rather to the vicious profligate. It need not be said with what impatience Roderick
longed for the departure of Julian, and the possession of his unconscious daughter

But what could exceed the agony of soul of La Cava, when she was apprised by
her father of his intention to remove her to the court. She would have pleaded
against his purpose, but that she had no pretence for doing so. To declare to him
the near neighborhood of her lover, might be to compromise his safety. To declare
to him how deeply she loved Egiza, would be no reason why she should not be
removed to Toledo, unless it could be shown that the supposed rebel could, in a
moment, reconcile himself to the usurper, and receive her immediately, in the eye
of the nation, as his wife. The more the mind of Cava reflected upon these

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matters the more did their difficulties increase. Her own reflections yielded her no satisfactory
counsel, and she could only hope, by seeing Egiza before her departure,
to learn from him what remedy might yet be found to relieve her from the approaching
difficulties of her situation. The anxiety increased to agony, when, after several
attempts to steal forth, she found it impossible to succeed. The courtiers and
guards of Roderick were numerous, and they filled all the grounds of the castle.
Night came on at length, and she gave up the desire in despair. She slept not, or
only slept to dream of sorrows, and she rose the next morning only to realize them.
At an early hour, assisted by her father, she entered the covered carriage which had
been prepared for her, and, escorted by Roderick, who closely attended upon the vehicle,
she set forth, sick at heart, and paralyzed in hope, upon a journey, every step
of which carried her further from her lover. Did she imagine it only, or was it
the face of Egiza, that peered down upon their progress from the brow of the mountain,
as they wound their tedious way through one of its gorges? Did he know of
her departure—did he doubt her truth? How much would she have given that moment
to have breathed but a single sentence in his ears.