1
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES, 
 
 THE AUTHOR OF 
 
 MIRIAM." 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 HILLIARD, GRAY, AND COMPANY. 
 1838.
 
 Entered, according to act of Congress, in the year 1837, by MILLIARD, GRAY, 
 AWD COMPANY, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Dis- 
 trict of Massachusetts. 
 
 Cambridge Press : 
 Motcalf, Torry, & Ballon.
 
 
 HER FATHER 
 
 THE FOLLOWING PAGES 
 
 ARE AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED BY 

 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 THE author of the following Tale deems some 
 apology due to the public, for offering them so 
 slight a production, founded on a subject so 
 fertile in materials ; for Joanna the First of 
 Naples, the high-minded and ill-fated proto- 
 type of Mary Stuart, bloomed and perished at 
 an epoch in the world's history, which can 
 scarcely be exceeded in interest by any given 
 period. It presents a theme worthy of the de- 
 parted Scott, or the living James. 
 
 Some years since, the writer perused Mrs. 
 Jameson's Lives of Female Sovereigns with 
 great pleasure, and the impression was a last- 
 ing one, particularly so with regard to the 
 biography of Joanna. She was led by it to 
 examine all the records of that celebrated 
 Queen, to which she had access. When after- 
 wards deprived of her customary occupations, 
 for two or three years, by partial blindness, one 
 of her chief resources against the weariness of 
 1
 
 2 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 forced idleness was in exercises of the Memory 
 and Invention. She sometimes entertained her- 
 self with weaving fictions and planning little 
 works, destined never to come forth from the 
 chambers of her brain ; and amid the visionary 
 processions which moved through her darkened 
 apartment, many a time did the majestic figure 
 of the Neapolitan Queen sweep sadly by, the 
 heroine of the unwritten romance. As a me- 
 morial of those hours, when the faculties mer- 
 cifully bestowed on every human mind asserted 
 their power to charm away physical evil, she 
 has, the last summer, committed some of their 
 fruits to paper, and the task has again beguiled 
 a few weeks of ill health. Want of eyesight 
 has prevented her indulging in researches that 
 might have graced her pages with antiquarian 
 lore ; but she trusts she has avoided any serious 
 anachronisms. Her narrative is not a work of 
 pure fiction, as most of the leading characters 
 and principal events are historical ; and she 
 has endeavored to take no unwarrantable liber- 
 ties with facts, as recorded by writers, who 
 believed Joanna innocent of the crimes charged 
 upon her by her enemies. 
 
 For a time, the author contemplated attempt- 
 ing a Tragedy, on the subject which is now 
 presented in a less ambitious form ; but a 
 strong consciousness of the high nature of the
 
 INTRODUCTION. 3 
 
 undertaking and of the difficulties to be en- 
 countered by any one, who proposes to conform 
 to the rules laid down by the established ca- 
 nons of criticism, deterred her from so hazard- 
 ous an enterprise. 
 
 In the following Tale, she has remembered a 
 wish often expressed in her hearing by judi- 
 cious mothers ; she has endeavored to discard 
 the machinery usually employed in works of 
 fiction ; and to bring strong passions and affec- 
 tions into play, without the cooperation of that, 
 on which the main interest of a romantic story 
 commonly depends. She respectfully waits the 
 decision of the Public, as to the degree of in- 
 terest excited for a heroine, whose fears and 
 trials are not interwoven with a love-tale. Her 
 little work is published in the hope, that, if it 
 win the approbation of her young readers, they 
 may be lured by it to the fountains of history, 
 ever pouring forth bright streams of pleasure 
 and instruction. As the current comes gliding 
 down from the urns of dim antiquity, it brings 
 us awful truths, that deserve contemplation, 
 the insufficiency of human greatness, the dan- 
 gers of a blinding prosperity, the terrible 
 retribution, which so often overtakes guilt, even 
 on this side of the grave.
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 IT was in the month of June, in the year 1382, on 
 a day of unusual heat, that a solitary female walked 
 her apartment in the fairest palace of Naples, while 
 the whole city lay hushed under the spell of the calm, 
 sultry noon. The siesta was upon the eyelids of the 
 noble in his hall, and the lazzarone stretched his in- 
 dolent limbs in the shade of some lofty wall ; while 
 the very waves of the lovely bay came murmuring 
 sleepily as it were to the beach, where not a living 
 thing stirred along the wide sweep. The sails of the 
 fishing boats hung down motionless ; the atmosphere 
 seemed to quiver above the roofs of the city; the 
 cone of Vesuvius, from whose apparently extinguished 
 fires no smoke had risen for nearly two centuries, 
 rose clearly defined in the pure realms of upper air, 
 1*
 
 6 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 and the sun, from a cloudless sky, poured down a 
 flood of yellow beams that seemed to oppress man, 
 beast, and inanimate nature with their fervor. But 
 there was one, in that vast and populous city, who 
 appeared unconscious of the hour and its influences. 
 She was pacing a superb room in a palace which 
 overlooked the bay, and held crushed in her hand a 
 loose packet, while meditation, of a deep and anxious 
 character, sat in her downcast eyes. Her tall figure 
 was worthy of the countenance where still lingered 
 an exquisite loveliness, though youth had long since 
 fled ; yet the touch of Time had scarcely woven a single 
 thread of silver among the dark curls, which would 
 have fallen in profusion about her face, had they not 
 been confined with a propriety becoming her years, by 
 a circlet of gold round her regal brows ; from which 
 a long veil depended over her graceful form and pur- 
 ple velvet robe. Her pale Italian complexion suited 
 the Roman cast of her features. The sadness of her 
 countenance was not that of a single hour's sorrow ; a 
 settled thoughtfulness was in her fine but deep sunken 
 eyes, which marked her for one who had long been 
 familiar with the lessons of affliction ; yet this was 
 a Queen ! In one of the fairest realms on earth, she 
 had been the loveliest and loftiest! the theme of poets 
 in that land of song, and fitted by the graces of her 
 mind as well as person to wake and claim admiration
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 7 
 
 from the most gifted intellects of the age. It was the 
 beautiful but unfortunate Joanna, Queen of Naples, 
 whose existence had opened with every prospect of 
 earthly felicity, which the heart of woman could 
 crave, and who had been early taught that rank, 
 beauty, wealth, and talent cannot ward off the fitting 
 trials of this life from a helpless human being; pow- 
 erful over a few fellow creatures, it might be; pow- 
 erless, in the hands of the unseen Ruler of people and 
 potentates. The meridian of her eventful life was 
 past, and there was little promise that its wane would 
 afford that calm, which a wearied spirit craves, when 
 the conflicts of youth have been fierce and many. 
 
 She sat down and looked between the massy col- 
 umns upon the prospect ; it was beautiful but life- 
 less. The desolate feeling in her own heart gave a 
 meaning to the universal repose, which did not belong 
 to it ; and she felt as if the unseen multitude, who 
 slumbered under that broad sky, were to wake no 
 more. She cast her eyes to the mountain, and re- 
 membering that it had been more than once the cause 
 of sudden destruction to thousands, she shuddered. 
 " But no ! " she thought, " the evils, I have reason 
 to dread for my people, are of another stamp ; and 
 these gloomy forebodings rise not from the past deal- 
 ings of God, but from what I know is in man cruel, 
 treacherous man." She turned over the leaves of the
 
 8 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 packet in her hand ; conned passages with a troubled 
 air, and passing her hand over her temples as if they 
 ached, she sunk into a long unbroken reverie, until 
 the hottest hours were past. A soft breeze at last 
 began to stir among the orange trees below the bal- 
 cony ; the sounds of voices rose once more on the 
 air, and a few figures appeared moving along the 
 beach. Still she sat, her head leaning against a mar- 
 ble column, her 'eyes closed, and her fine features 
 occasionally disturbed by the current of busy and 
 anxious thought within. A faint tinge, a reflection 
 from the crimson drapery that hung between her and 
 the broad glare of day, was thrown upon her cheek, 
 and the unconscious grace of her attitude would have 
 riveted a sculptor's eye. The apartment was sepa- 
 rated from two other chambers by doors, now thrown 
 open for the sake of coolness, yet hung with rich 
 curtains, waving in the rising breeze. A sound issued 
 thence, which roused the dejected Queen; the un- 
 steady steps and suppressed laughter of children came 
 from the ante-room, and presently the curtain was put 
 aside, and two lovely faces peeped archly through. 
 Sorrow fled instantly from the countenance of Joanna, 
 and she extended her arms to receive the little in- 
 truders, who, finding themselves perceived, came 
 laughing and bounding towards her. One was a 
 noble, animated boy, about five years of age ; the
 
 JOANNA OP NAPLES. 9 
 
 other, a little girl, scarce three; and both, for an 
 instant, clung round the neck of her who gave them 
 so loving a welcome. The boy, however, soon betook 
 himself to his sports, coursing about the apartment 
 on the broken spear which he called his war-horse ; 
 while the little girl, with the gentler habits of her sex, 
 sat contentedly on the lap of the Queen, playing with 
 the rich ornaments of her dress, ever and anon shak- 
 ing back the curls from her cheeks, and looking up 
 with her inquiring eyes, as she awaited answers to her 
 innumerable questions. She had already drawn the 
 pearl bracelets from the royal wrists they adorned, 
 and fastened one about her own brows, while the 
 other encircled her throat, and was in the act of trans- 
 ferring the sparkling rings of the Queen to her own tiny 
 fingers, laughing merrily at their disproportionate size, 
 when the drapery was again put aside from the door, 
 and a young and beautiful female entered. A glance 
 would have decided her to be the mother of the chil- 
 dren, though her fairy-like proportions and delicacy 
 of complexion gave her the appearance of extreme 
 youth. She was in fact scarce two and twenty, but 
 had been six years the wife of Charles of Durazzo. 
 
 When Joanna found herself bereaved of her 
 beloved sister, she had lavished upon her daugh- 
 ter the deepest affections of her nature; and to 
 Charles, the son of her enemy, as well as to Mar-
 
 10 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 garet, the daughter of her sister Maria, she had 
 manifested the tenderness of a mother. Her palace 
 had been their abode after the decease of their pa- 
 rents, and in their early union she had rejoiced. 
 There the young Margaret had found a home from 
 her very birth ; there she was wedded ; there had her 
 two children been born; and there she was now 
 bringing them up peacefully, under the protection of 
 the august Joanna; while her husband, Charles of 
 Durazzo, bore arms in the less genial regions of 
 Germany. Never was there a nobler instance of 
 magnanimity than Joanna's, in adopting the son of 
 that prince of Durazzo, who had so often disquieted 
 her reign ; and her extreme fondness for the youth 
 seemed justified by his bravery and talents. The 
 young Margaret delighted in pouring forth the idol- 
 izing feelings of her heart to one who had acted the 
 part of a mother to both herself and her husband. 
 In the affection of her niece, Joanna had found con- 
 solation during the absence of her adopted son ; and 
 her childless desolation had been cheered by the 
 caresses and sprightliness of their offspring. " Look," 
 said she to the approaching mother, " your little 
 Joanna would steal my sceptre, if it were within her 
 reach, without waiting for the day when it may be 
 hers ! " There was something sad in her tone, which 
 was inconsistent with the sportive manner in which
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 11 
 
 she held up the smiling face of the little girl, to show 
 the pearl bandeau on her forehead ; but there was no 
 reply to her remark. Absorbed in the children, it 
 was some moments before she observed the unwonted 
 abstraction of their mother. The boy was the first 
 who drew her attention to it ; as he came making a 
 sportive pass at them with his mimic weapon, she saw 
 a sudden change pass over his bright face, and he 
 stood gazing at his mother with a look of anxious 
 wonder. Joanna turned, and observed that tears 
 were trickling down the cheeks where smiles were 
 wont to play. She rose in surprise and summoned the 
 attendants to take away the children. They yielded 
 reluctantly, and the miniature queen resisted, as they 
 took the borrowed pearls from her and led her away, 
 turning back her face over her fair round shoulder 
 with many a sob. 
 
 When they were alone, Joanna endeavored to draw 
 from her pale and trembling niece the cause of her 
 agitation ; but in vain. She strove to speak, but 
 seemed half choked with emotion ; and it was not 
 until she had thrown herself on the neck of her 
 adopted mother, and poured forth a flood of tears, 
 that she uttered the words " My husband ! " 
 
 " What news from him ? " exclaimed Joanna, 
 " You heard from him this day, by the same courier 
 who brought despatches to me ? Is he not well ? I
 
 12 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 have not heard otherwise, at least not of his bodily 
 health." 
 
 " He is well," said Margaret, " but oh, my mother, 
 
 my dear mother ! he bids me " She could 
 
 not finish the sentence, and Joanna waited in dis- 
 may. 
 
 " Margaret," said she at last, " can it be possible 
 that I divine what you would say 1 Can it be that he 
 orders you to leave me?" Margaret faintly mur- 
 mured, " It is so," and sunk weeping on the cush- 
 ions. 
 
 The blood rushed over the face of Joanna, and for- 
 sook it again ; becoming deadly pale, she whispered 
 to herself, " Proof strong and terrible ! " and walk- 
 ed to the farthest end of the apartment, throwing 
 aside the drapery from the window, and leaning her 
 head against a column, as if in hopes that the fresh 
 air might revive her. The brief illness passed away ; 
 but her lips were still white, when she returned 
 with a steady step, and taking the hands of Mar- 
 garet in her own, she said quietly, " Margaret of 
 Durazzo, you shall go ; with all the honors of 
 your rank, you shall pass from my palace, from 
 my kingdom, from my protection, to that of your 
 husband." 
 
 " Oh, my mother ! " again exclaimed the princess, 
 " do you part with me so lightly ? "
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 13 
 
 " So lightly ! " repeated Joanna, pressing her hand 
 to her forehead, "God only knows whether ray 
 heart will break or not; but think you I am one to 
 mock a husband's claim? Have I taught you to 
 love Charles from your cradle, have I given my 
 benediction on your nuptials, have 1 been to him 
 in the place of his departed mother, seeking in all 
 things to gratify each wish of his heart, and think 
 you I could rob him of you at last 1 Margaret, were 
 I to lie down this night on yonder couch, and know 
 that I should never rise from it more, I would first 
 speed you on your perilous journey. Your children 
 too, doth he summon them?" 
 
 " He bids me sue for their company also ; and why 
 I weep so bitterly, I know not, since he asks but a 
 visit, a short visit, and promises to escort us to dear 
 Naples again, in a few weeks. But mother ! I have 
 never, never left you for a single day, and though it 
 be to meet my adored husband " 
 
 Joanna interrupted her, " The children too ! I 
 see it all ! The involuntary hostages must be with- 
 drawn. Margaret, look me in the face ! " 
 
 Astonished at the almost stern demand, Margaret 
 looked up ; Joanna fixed a penetrating gaze on her 
 sweet, innocent countenance, and then asked, "Do 
 you not know why your husband thus summons you 
 to the rude camp ? " 
 2
 
 14 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 " Nay, mother, is it strange that he should wish to 
 see me ? How long is it since he has beheld wife or 
 child ? " 
 
 Joanna contemplated her ingenuous features a mo- 
 ment longer, and then murmuring, "Guileless as 
 the morning dew ! " turned away with a deep sigh. 
 " No, Margaret ; it is not strange that he should wish 
 to see you. Go to him, my child ; your visit may not 
 be so brief as you imagine ; but be our separation 
 long or short, my blessing will be with you ; and 
 tell him I spoke no word to detain you, uttered 
 no murmur, breathed no doubt." The last words 
 died away in a whisper, and Joanna turned to leave 
 the kneeling princess with an air of abstraction ; but 
 suddenly recollecting herself, asked, " Does he 
 name a day for your departure ? " 
 
 "To-morrow," faintly articulated Margaret; "a 
 troop of horse for my escort are without the city." 
 
 Joanna's cheek was again flushed as she exclaimed, 
 " So soon ! are the hours so precious to him ! Then 
 the hurricane will come on apace ! Margaret," she 
 added, more calmly, " set forth in the cool hour of 
 morn, but do not seek to bid me farewell ; do not 
 send the children to me." Her lip quivered as she 
 spoke. "I am not quite well, methinks ; and I will 
 not sadden their gay setting forth upon their travels 
 with my tears. I have forebodings that it may be
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 15 
 
 long ere we meet again, and in solitary meditation 
 only can I combat the weaknesses of my nature." 
 
 " Not well ! " exclaimed Margaret, " nay, moth- 
 er, if you are not well, how can I leave you? Charles 
 would not ask it, would not expect it. Your color 
 comes and goes strangely ; indeed you are not well, 
 and do you imagine I can depart to-morrow ? " 
 
 Her plaintive question brought the tears, at last, 
 into the burning eyes of Joanna. She pressed her 
 lips on the forehead of the affectionate being, and 
 said gently, " You must go, my child ; it is a matter 
 of duty, of state-policy; and my honor as a Queen 
 bids me not impede you. Alas ! why should she, who 
 bears the crown on her brow, wear the heart of a wo- 
 man to ache with a woman's sorrows ? Go, Marga- 
 ret ; I am not ill, save in the spirit, and that you have 
 often seen weighed down with many cares. Leave me, 
 but do not, do not forget me ! do not cease to 
 love me ! and Margaret, hush ! let not the walls 
 hear me ; if evil counsellors come between me and 
 the children of my adoption, if they seek to steal 
 away thy husband's love for me, if they bid him 
 wrong me, insult me, rob me, bring him back, dear- 
 est Margaret! win him again to this maternal em- 
 brace ! speak to him like an angel of peace, and 
 save me from the wretchedness of despising one I 
 have idolized ! "
 
 16 JOANNA OP NAPLES. 
 
 Overcome by her emotions, Joanna remained hard- 
 ly conscious how far she had been hurried, with 
 her hands grasping firmly those of her kneeling niece, 
 and her head bowed down upon her breast. Marga- 
 ret continued a moment speechless, with an air of 
 utter amazement and horror, scarcely believing she 
 had heard aright, and then springing to her feet, she 
 exclaimed " Mother ! what is it you say ? what is it 
 you fear ? whom do you doubt 1 Is it of my hus- 
 band you speak? of Charles? Have the slander- 
 ers dared touch his unspotted fame ? You do not, 
 you cannot believe one word uttered against his love 
 and truth." 
 
 " Margaret," said Joanna, " there are things which 
 may not be lightly believed ; I believe nothing ; but 
 strange rumors have reached me. They tell me the 
 tempter has been with him; he is but a man, my 
 child, and an ambitious one, and I have lived to 
 see the surest-footed fall, in slippery paths." 
 
 " Oh, mother ! " said Margaret, " bitter must have 
 been the experiences, which have poisoned so noble a 
 mind as yours with suspicion. I will go to my hus- 
 band ; would I were with him now ; for I know that 
 a truer heart never beat. I will bring him to your 
 very feet to deny the calumny with his own lips. He 
 false, who has worshipped you from his infancy, and 
 would have poured out his blood a thousand times in
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 17 
 
 defence of your rights ! Oh, none but a wife can 
 know the heart of her husband ; and sure am I that 
 Charles loves, venerates, and adores you, as I do. 
 Would it were to-morrow ! " 
 
 " Would that another and another morrow were 
 past, until the last," said Joanna, " for the burden 
 of life grows heavier each day, and I fear I shall be- 
 come weary of it. I meant not to disturb your peace 
 prematurely, my child ; I meant to have locked up 
 miserable fears in my own heart, until their fulfilment 
 came ; but to distrust the affection of Charles has 
 given me pangs, that would not bear concealment. 
 Leave me, Margaret ; to part with you at all is wo 
 enough ; to part with you thus is a trial, under 
 which I must seek consolation at the foot of the altar. 
 There, at least, I have found peace in the saddest 
 hours I have ever known ; and there I trust I shall 
 yet find it, whatever darker doom may be in store for 
 me." 
 
 As she spoke, she drew a small golden crucifix from 
 her girdle, and pressing it to her lips, as she raised 
 her swimming eyes to heaven, she placed one hand on 
 the head of Margaret ; and whispering a short Latin 
 invocation to the protecting Virgin, she turned and, 
 walking slowly to the further end of the room, disap- 
 peared through a passage leading to a chapel. Mar- 
 2*
 
 18 JOANNA OP NAPLES. 
 
 garet, half blinded by her tears, gazed on her majes- 
 tic figure till it vanished, and then, with a bewildered 
 air and heavy heart, retired to her own apartment, to 
 order hasty preparations for her departure.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE morning star was yet glittering over Vesuvius, 
 when the blast of the horn was heard in the square 
 before the palace, and knights, gorgeously arrayed, 
 rode in from all quarters. Joanna had given orders 
 that her niece should be attended from the city by a 
 splendid cortege ; and the proudest barons of her 
 court came forth in obedience to the behest of their 
 Queen, the younger not unwilling to prance in the 
 train of so beautiful a princess. 
 
 Margaret roused herself from her broken slumbers 
 to a sad consciousness that the day of her first de- 
 parture from home had arrived ; an event which can 
 be devoid of interest only to the unthinking or cold- 
 hearted, and Margaret was neither. The deeper 
 causes of uneasiness, arising from her parting con- 
 versation with the Queen, were already floating from 
 her mind ; for she had persuaded herself that all 
 would soon be well. She had but to see her husband, 
 to converse with him, and all would be explained ;
 
 20 JOANNA OP NAPLES. 
 
 they would return together to the home of their youth, 
 and the heart of their adopted mother would be eased, 
 so that with the full ardor of youthful hope and confi- 
 dence, she prepared to set forth. A flush of indig- 
 nation indeed mantled her cheek, as she remem- 
 bered how base had been the insinuations conveyed 
 to Joanna ; but her hope of an immediate and proud 
 confutation was triumphant above all other emotions ; 
 and with a step as elastic as her own spirits, she de- 
 scended to the court-yard, at the head of her maiden 
 train. The great gates were thrown open, and she saw 
 the square filled with plumed heads, glittering arms, 
 and waving banners. Her little son, whom she led, 
 broke from her and clapped his hands exultingly at the 
 spectacle, while the blasts of the trumpets and shouts 
 of the throng gave token of the popularity which 
 attended Joanna and her family. Accustomed to the 
 saddle, which had already assumed the shape used by 
 fair equestrians in modern days, Margaret had pre- 
 ferred commencing her journey on the palfrey she 
 rode on hawking expeditions; and the milk-white 
 animal, gentle as he was beautiful, stood at the foot 
 of a flight of marble steps, sweeping the ground with 
 his flowing tail and rich caparisons. As she present- 
 ed herself to the public gaze, glowing with youth and 
 beauty, the first red beams of the rising sun fell upon 
 her, and shrinking at the unexpected acclamations of
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 21 
 
 the people, she looked like a young Aurora, retiring 
 as the god of Day advanced. Even as she descend- 
 ed the steps, conducted by a courtly knight, her re- 
 verted glances scanned the front of the palace, for she 
 hoped to meet with one kind, parting smile from her 
 whose presence she had been forbidden to seek ; but it 
 was in vain ; and while she mounted and rode forth into 
 the square, courteously bowing her head and lavish- 
 ing her grateful smiles on the populace, she felt that 
 her eyes were filling with tears of disappointment. 
 
 She did not, however, pass forth unmarked by one, 
 whose heart yearned after her as she went. The 
 royal canopy had that night sheltered a royal watcher, 
 not, alas ! for the first time in her eventful life. With 
 the first gray of morning, Joanna had again resorted 
 to the chapel, and there she strove to shut out the 
 confused sounds which indicated the early and unu- 
 sual stir in that part of the city, where quiet general- 
 ly prevailed at this hour, notwithstanding the restless 
 habits of the Neapolitans. The distant trampling 
 and neighing of steeds, the shrill blasts of the trum- 
 pets, and the bustle in a remote wing of the palace 
 occupied by Margaret, occasionally broke on her 
 devotions ; but at last, that most peculiar sound, un- 
 like all others, and most familiar to royal ears, rose 
 upon the air, and came with a full swell along 
 the arched roof of the chapel, the power of innu-
 
 22 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 merable human voices, united in one mighty and 
 prolonged shout. She dropped her rosary ; she 
 knew that Margaret was leaving the safe and happy 
 home of her youth. Again it came surging through 
 the lonely chapel ; and the imperious promptings of 
 affection could no longer be resisted. She left the 
 chapel and hastened to a gallery which overlooked 
 the square ; where, through a latticed window, she 
 might gaze unobserved on the splendors beneath. 
 Little attraction had the pomp of her nobility for her 
 eyes, riveted on one object alone. She saw the prin- 
 cess in the centre of the glittering throng, managing 
 her palfrey with exquisite grace, while her long, 
 white plumes, lifted up by the morning breeze, 
 danced gaily over her face, and gave to view its bright 
 and bewitching smiles. For a single instant a pang 
 shot through the heart of Joanna. " He would 
 make her their Queen, even now," thought she, 
 " and cannot wait till the faded and forgotten Joanna 
 rests in her grave ! " She covered her face to shut 
 out the spectacle ; she struggled inwardly, and the 
 better feelings of her noble nature rose with a mo- 
 mentary prayer, for she had learned that the worst 
 enemies of our peace are not without, but within us, 
 and to triumph there is to triumph every where. 
 
 When she looked again, the litters containing the 
 children and their attendants were passing, but the
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. !> 
 
 form of Margaret was still plainly visible; and she 
 now saw her face sadly reverted. The princess was 
 about to vanish from the square, when, by a sudden 
 impulse of feeling, she checked her steed, reined 
 him about, the knights around her drew up, the 
 procession halted, and a solemn and respectful si- 
 lence pervaded the whole throng, while the departing 
 princess took one last, mournful survey of the palace. 
 Joanna's hand was upon the lattice; her emotion was 
 almost irrepressible ; she longed to rush upon the 
 balcony, and in the presence of her assembled people, 
 bestow another parting benediction on the lovely and 
 innocent creature, whom she thought never to behold 
 again. But, while striving with the impulse, she saw 
 one of the barons respectfully take the bridle of Mar- 
 garet's horse, and turning about, lead him round the 
 angle of the street they were about to enter ; while 
 the princess drooping and manifestly in tears, drew 
 her veil over her face, and in that sad guise disap- 
 peared from the straining gaze of Joanna. No ac- 
 clamations now rose on the air ; the stillness of uni- 
 versal sympathy pervaded the multitude ; and Joanna 
 stood mechanically watching the train as the knights 
 rode, two and two, out of the square, until the last 
 had turned the corner ; the people crowded silently 
 after, till not a human being was left in the vast space, 
 save the lame beggars that lay in the porticoes. The
 
 24 JOANNA OP NAPLES. 
 
 tramp of innumerable feet died away in the distance, 
 and all was quiet and solitary ; not even the footstep 
 of an attendant was to be heard wandering through 
 the palace ; and for the first time in her life, cheq- 
 uered as it had been with many woes, Joanna's heart 
 died within her, with a lonely and forsaken feeling. 
 " They are gone, they are gone ! " is the idea that 
 takes complete possession of the mind, when the 
 young, gay, and beloved pass from our abodes. To 
 Joanna, full as her mind was of the gloomiest antici- 
 pations, the hush which prevailed in the palace, after 
 the bustle of departure, had in it something awful 
 and deathlike ; it seemed to her as if a funeral pro- 
 cession had left her gates. 
 
 In the mean time Margaret passed on through the 
 fairy regions, which encircle the city of Naples ; and 
 upon her was not lost the fresh matin beauty of its 
 matchless scenery. Her eye caught with pleasure 
 the innumerable fishing boats, gliding almost imper- 
 ceptibly over the mirror-like surface, scarce rocking 
 as they went, and distinctly reflected, with their snowy 
 sails, in the water. The faint night mist, which yet 
 lingered at a distance, half veiled the islands, which 
 rose looming from it like remote mountains ; and 
 over Posilipo hung the thin, cloud-like, waning moon, 
 still visible, though the sun was considerably above 
 the horizon. Absorbed in meditations, half sad and
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 25 
 
 half pleasing, she gave no encouragement to conver- 
 sation ; but after they left these familiar objects be- 
 hind them, and wound through vineyards and orange 
 groves, she felt one pang more in exchanging the gay 
 escort from the court of Joanna, for that of her hus- 
 band's rude and warlike band. With all graceful 
 courtesy, she bade adieu to the proud nobles, as one by 
 one they passed before her, bending to the saddle-bow 
 with their helmeted heads ; and as she saw them put 
 spurs to their steeds, fall again into ranks, and sweep 
 back along the road to Naples, soon lost among the 
 foliage, she turned a doubtful glance on the warriors 
 that surrounded her. It was a detachment of his 
 most tried and faithful cavalry, whom Charles had 
 sent to bring her into the distant plains of Lombardy, 
 whither he had promised to descend and meet her ; 
 and the perfect training of their steeds, the war-worn 
 condition of their armor, and their scarred visages 
 bore testimony that they had been engaged in no 
 holiday service. Margaret resigned herself to their 
 protection, with a feeling of confidence and security, 
 inspired by the bare idea that they were her husband's 
 soldiers, that the familiar banner which flaunted 
 above them was his, that they had fought by his 
 side, and were by him trusted with a most precious 
 charge. 
 
 3
 
 26 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 The day passed away without event, excepting that 
 as they approached Aversa, her attention was fixed 
 on the gray walls of a convent, rising above the trees, 
 on the brow of a wooded hill. There was nothing 
 peculiar in the object, so similar to many others along 
 their winding way ; but she saw an elderly knight of 
 the party pointing it out to his companion with a 
 frowning brow ; and as they rode closer together, and 
 fell into a low, eager conversation, still occasionally 
 looking towards it with austere countenances, she felt 
 assured that it had been the scene of some dreadful 
 calamity, perhaps, crime. Curiosity at last prompted 
 her to approach them to inquire its history ; when the 
 name of "Andrea" fell on her ear. Horror-struck 
 at the sound, she drew back in silence ; and shudder- 
 ed as she again fixed her eyes on those gloomy walls, 
 within whose circuit, that prince, the youthful hus- 
 band of Joanna in her early and happy days, had 
 been so foully and mysteriously murdered. She knew 
 that at the time, dark surmises had touched the char- 
 acter of Joanna; but she believed that her triumphant 
 acquittal had promptly cleared her fame, and that her 
 spotless course had, since, lived down all suspicion. 
 She knew not that the delicate texture of a woman's 
 reputation retains a tinge forever, where calumny has 
 once fallen ; she knew not the existence of those un- 
 charitable spirits, whose delight it is to believe the
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 27 
 
 worst ; who cannot forget that evil was once spoken, 
 and will not suffer oblivion to gather round the cruel 
 and idle slanders of bygone days. She little dreamed 
 that the character of the pure and lofty Joanna, the 
 kinswoman whose virtues she loved and reverenced 
 so deeply, was to be handed down to posterity, a 
 problem for the discussion of the antiquarian, a dis- 
 puted point among the searchers into the dark things 
 of history ; and that thousands would live and die 
 under the impression, that early ripe in guilt as in 
 talents, she had stained her soul, as she trod life's 
 threshold, with a murder of peculiar atrocity.* 
 
 We will not trace the route of Margaret as she 
 pressed on to a reunion with her husband. Impatient 
 of delay, she could not be detained by invitations or 
 proffered civilities from the court of Rome. Detest- 
 
 * " Public rumors, in the absence of notorious proof, imputed 
 the guilt of this mysterious assassination to Joanna. Whether 
 historians are authorized to assume her participation in it 
 so confidently as they have generally done, may perhaps be 
 doubted ; though I cannot venture positively to rescind their 
 sentence." " The name of Joan of Naples has suffered by 
 the lax repetition of calumnies. Whatever share she may have 
 had in her husband's death, and certainly under circumstances 
 of extenuation, her subsequent life was not open to any flagrant 
 reproach : the charge of dissolute manners so frequently made 
 is not warranted by any specific proof , or contemporary testi- 
 mony." HALLAM'S Middle Ages, Part n. Ch. HI.
 
 28 JOANNA OP NAPLES. 
 
 ing the character of the tyrannical Urban, of whom 
 Gibbon remarks that " he could walk in his garden, 
 reading his breviary, while hearing the cries of six 
 Cardinals upon the rack in an adjacent room," she 
 shrunk from the Vatican as from the den of a wild 
 beast, and pursued her northward journey with as much 
 celerity as possible for a train of females and children, 
 unaccustomed to fatigue. At one spot, the Baron di 
 Castiglione pointed out two routes, one of which led 
 winding through plains and valleys, while the other, 
 though far more rough and wild, would conduct them 
 more speedily through mountain defiles to their jour- 
 ney's end ; and on this she decided. 
 
 It was towards the close of a lovely summer's day 
 that the little troop descended along a thickly wooded 
 mountain road into a rocky pass. The cliffs rose 
 high above them on each side, garlanded in spots with 
 rough grass and tangled weeds, while here and there 
 the larch and the pine sprang from the clefts, and 
 partially clothed the gray eternal rocks with their 
 sombre verdure. On the right, a torrent came dash- 
 ing from the recesses of the hills, and with a perpen- 
 dicular fall of some twenty feet formed a deep basin, 
 from which it rippled quietly away down the valley. 
 Round the basin was spread a carpet of the greenest 
 and softest herbage ; and its waters lay dark under 
 the shadow of an enormous oak, that stood on its
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 29 
 
 brink. The gnarled roots of this monarch of the 
 dell rose above the turf, or stretching away under the 
 still water looked like sleeping serpents. The spot 
 had an aspect so cool and tranquil, that Margaret was 
 glad when she saw the Baron give a signal for halting ; 
 and though she had preferred riding on horseback 
 since noon, that she might enjoy scenery to her so 
 new and picturesque, yet weary and heated as she 
 was, it was a luxury to spring from the saddle upon 
 the fresh turf; and throwing back her veil, she in- 
 haled the bracing mountain air with delight. As she 
 seated herself on one of the huge twisted roots by 
 the basin, the children came rejoicing to her side; 
 her ladies gathered almost under the spray of the 
 torrent to enjoy its freshness ; the warriors dispersed 
 themselves in groups among the clefts of the rocks, 
 and their steeds came panting to drink of the pool, 
 or strayed quietly grazing down the little valley. The 
 Baron di Castiglione, having despatched a single 
 horseman in advance, removed the helmet from his 
 gray locks, and summoning his favorite, the spirited 
 boy, to his knee, established himself on a large frag- 
 ment of rock, which had fallen from the cliffs above, 
 whence he could command a view of the lower en- 
 trance into the pass. In a short time, fatigue hushed 
 every one into silence, and the tranquil genius of the 
 place seemed to have resumed his sway. The little 
 3*
 
 30 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 Margaret laid her curly locks upon her mother's lap, 
 and soothed by the continuous dashing of the water- 
 fall, sunk into a profound slumber ; and the wild goats 
 came to the edges of the rocks, looked down at the 
 peaceable intruders a few moments, in surprise, and 
 then bounded away to their heights. 
 
 As Margaret sat enjoying it all with the keen zest 
 of one who, having a true taste for nature, had escaped 
 to her wildest haunts from the irksome monotony of a 
 palace, she gazed upwards to the deep blue sky, of 
 which so narrow a space was visible, with an unwont- 
 ed admiration of its purity ; when suddenly, from the 
 summit of the loftiest precipice in view, a large, stately 
 bird rose upon the wing, and soared away with many 
 a majestic sweep. She needed no one to tell her it 
 was the mountain eagle; she almost fancied she heard 
 the rush of his mighty wings, as he sprang forth on 
 the breeze, and following him with an intense gaze, 
 as he diminished to a seeming speck and vanished in 
 the realms of upper air, she was unconscious of a 
 commotion among the recumbent knights about her. 
 When her strained eyes again rested on earth, she 
 perceived that most of them had risen, and were look- 
 ing towards the lower part of the defile. The Baron 
 di Castiglione, too, had turned in the same direction, 
 with the air of one listening intently ; and presently a 
 sound as of horsemen, ascending the rocky pass at
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 31 
 
 full speed, came upon her ear. The idea of an attack 
 from banditti flashed across her mind, as she cast a 
 hurried glance about the wild secluded spot; and 
 rising, she clasped her little girl to her bosom, and 
 advancing to the side of the Baron, stood in the centre 
 of the grass plat. In another moment, two knights, 
 mounted on black steeds, came rapidly into the pass, 
 and on seeing the group before them, reined up sud- 
 denly and respectfully, remaining motionless in their 
 saddles. The next instant, a third knight came dash- 
 ing between them, on a superb white charger, glitter- 
 ing like his master with steel and gold ; and as the 
 princely figure galloped almost to her side, threw 
 himself to the ground, and raised the vizor from his 
 noble countenance, Margaret recognised her long ab- 
 sent husband, Charles of Durazzo ! 
 
 When the first joy of meeting his wife and children 
 was over, Charles turned to the Baron, and exclaimed 
 hastily, " You have surprised me much. When your 
 messenger came but now to tell me the Princess was 
 here, I could scarce credit my ears. Why tarried 
 you not in Rome?" 
 
 " I had no such orders." 
 
 " What! have you met no couriers? I sent two, 
 with injunctions that if you had left the city, you 
 should forthwith return thither, and await me."
 
 32 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 " They have missed us then," said the Baron ; 
 " it was the Princess's pleasure to take the shorter 
 road through the hills, and they, no doubt, expected 
 to meet us in the plains." 
 
 " It is unfortunate," said the Prince ; " I did not 
 mean to welcome my wife to my canvass walls and 
 rough camp-fare, when Rome "has so many stately 
 palaces, whose gilded doors would fly open to receive 
 her." 
 
 " I should better love the humblest tent under your 
 banner," whispered Margaret, " than the proudest 
 palace in that city." 
 
 Charles smiled upon her kindly, and laying his 
 gauntletcd hand on the head of his boy, who lost in 
 admiration stood gazing up in his face, he added, 
 " And here, too, is one who will love a soldier's straw 
 pallet better than the silken pillows of Naples! To 
 the camp, then, Baron; we will give these fair ladies 
 as little cause as may be to repent their long journey; 
 and they shall look upon a sight that may repay no 
 small fatigue. They shall behold an army that a 
 Prince may be proud to lead." 
 
 It was now by the side of her husband, listening to 
 his cheerful voice, and feeling that his guardian hand 
 was on her palfrey's bridle, that Margaret resumed 
 her route, forgetting in the happiness of the moment 
 that such a thing as doubt, fear, or sorrow existed.
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 33 
 
 The Baron di Castiglione rode near them, and to him 
 Charles addressed much of his conversation, respect- 
 ing the state of his troops, and the Venetian wars. 
 In less than half an hour they emerged from the rocks 
 and trees of the mountainous country, and, as they 
 issued from the forest upon the brow of a hill, far as 
 the eye could reach,. extended a noble spectacle in- 
 deed. The champaign below them was green as an 
 emerald, with many rills winding and glittering 
 through the meadows; and every where were scat- 
 tered the white tents of an extended camp. By the 
 brook sides, in the fields, among the groves, the long 
 lines stretched away to the right and left, distinctly 
 visible by the light that yet came from the glowing 
 west, where the sun had just sunk below the horizon. 
 The shadows of twilight had indeed begun to gather 
 over some of the deepest dells ; but on their right, 
 along the whole eastern horizon, glimmered a range 
 of cloudlike forms, the summits of snow-topped moun- 
 tains, gilded by the beams of that sun, which to the 
 lower country had already set. Almost breathless 
 with admiration, Margaret uttered an exclamation, 
 which induced her husband to pause indulgently, a 
 few moments, that she might enjoy the scene ; and 
 she could scarcely help sighing, when, as they trotted 
 slowly down the green slope, the groves that soon 
 overshadowed them shut the whole from her view.
 
 34 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 New cause of wonder, however, arose as they en- 
 tered the city of tents ; where the cleanliness, order, 
 and stillness that prevailed spoke well for the disci- 
 pline of Charles's boasted army. Received with mili- 
 tary honors at the lines, the little cavalcade was 
 conducted through a long, wide street of tents, at the 
 termination of which an illuminated pavilion glim- 
 mered through the closing dusk ; and here the weary 
 Margaret dismounted. Every possible arrangement 
 had been hastily made for her comfort ; she sunk ex- 
 hausted upon the soft cushions, piled up for her 
 couch ; but though refreshments were brought her, 
 the fever induced by fatigue and over excitement be- 
 gan to burn on her cheeks and throb in her pulse. 
 Charles, in alarm, summoned the most experienced of 
 her attendants, who prescribed rest and quiet; he 
 passed softly from the pavilion, gave orders for pro- 
 found stillness throughout the camp, and retired to a 
 humbler tent in her vicinity. Even the centinel at 
 her door remained motionless at his post, lest his 
 footfall should disturb her slumbers ; and long ere the 
 usual hour, a midnight hush was upon those thousands 
 of living and active human beings.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 UNWONTED noises roused the Princess early the 
 next morning, but she awoke completely refreshed 
 and restored ; and for a while, ere she summoned her 
 attendants, lay endeavoring to collect her scattered 
 ideas. As the events of the preceding day floated 
 through her mind, a painful thought suddenly struck 
 her; and the more she reflected upon it, the more 
 she wondered that in spite of her fatigue and indispo- 
 sition, it had not occurred to her before. Not a word 
 of inquiry respecting the Queen had escaped the lips 
 of Charles ! He had shown no solicitude to hear of 
 her health or her occupations ; he had not mentioned 
 her, nor alluded to her. In vain Margaret strove to 
 bring to mind some hasty question, some one word of 
 loving recollection ; in vain she tried to extenuate 
 such seeming want of interest in his noble benefac- 
 tress, to fancy that the joy of meeting his wife and 
 children, or that military cares might have occasioned 
 a brief forgetfulness of what was nevertheless near
 
 3G JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 his heart. Uncomfortable and perturbed, she rose 
 betimes, and when the duties of her toilette were 
 completed, sent a page to answer the inquiries which 
 a messenger from Charles had already addressed to her 
 women. The Prince was then occupied among his 
 officers ; but she soon heard his jocund voice at the 
 door of her tent, and dismissing her attendants she 
 hastened to meet him. He was already armed and 
 prepared for the saddle; and joyfully observing the re- 
 stored bloom on her cheek, he drew her forth, saying, 
 " Come out, my wife, and look at this stirring 
 sight." 
 
 It was so, indeed ; the knoll, on which her pavilion 
 stood, commanded a view of a large portion of the 
 camp ; but wherever she turned her eyes, it dropped 
 at once from her sight, and in an instant the whole 
 aspect of the field was changed as if by magic. In 
 the distance, towards the south, the arms of the de- 
 parting troops were seen gleaming through the trees, 
 as they ascended the hills, which bounded the plain ; 
 and a large body of cavalry stood waiting at a short 
 distance. As she came forth from the pavilion, the 
 war-horse of Charles was led up by two grooms, who 
 could with difficulty restrain the ardor of the noble 
 animal, tossing his head and rearing under their grasp. 
 His eye glanced fire as he heard the well known voice 
 of his accustomed rider in the battle field; but Charles
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 37 
 
 hastily bade the men take him away. " I shall 
 not ride Caesar upon the march," said he ; "I shall 
 want him fresh for service. Bring me the Black 
 Prince." 
 
 " That was the name our mother taught you to 
 reverence. The brave English warrior befriended 
 James of Minorca, and she never forgot it," said Mar- 
 garet, scarce daring to look in her husband's face, as 
 she ventured this remark. 
 
 He winced, however, for she felt a sudden slight 
 motion of the arm on which she leaned ; but with- 
 out apparently having heard her, he exclaimed, 
 " You will call me no true knight, Margaret, for 
 deserting you as soon as you place yourself under 
 my protection ; but there are leaders among my 
 troops, with whom it is necessary I should hold 
 constant colloquy, and business, at present, demands 
 every moment of my waking time. It will be bet- 
 ter, therefore, that the good Baron di Castiglione 
 resume his office, and guide you back through the 
 hills again to Rome, while I march to the same point 
 along the plains." Observing the tears gathering in 
 Margaret's eyes, he added, " I must needs head my 
 troops, dearest ; and it will be safer, pleasanter, and 
 more fitting that you travel under a selected escort, 
 than in company with my rough soldiery. In Rome 
 we shall meet." 
 4
 
 38 JOANNA OP NAPLES. 
 
 " It is hard to part again so soon," said Margaret, 
 " but that is not all that disappoints me. I had some- 
 thing to say to you, Charles." 
 
 " And can you not say it briefly ? or is not that 
 a woman's talent?" asked the Prince, gaily; "my 
 body guard shall wait then a little for me ; we will 
 dash the faster through the dew, and overtake yon 
 creeping infantry, in marvellous short space. What 
 little harangue have you prepared, that makes you so 
 pale ? Surely there can be no boon which you dare 
 not ask of me." 
 
 "I have no boon to ask," said Margaret, trem- 
 bling ; " but do you know, Charles, it seems to 
 me strange that you have not inquired after the 
 Queen ! " 
 
 The Prince colored to the temples. " Have I not 
 indeed? Is it possible ? " said he, " but you know I 
 have scarce had time; you were ill, last night, 
 in fact, we have hardly met as yet. She is well, 
 is she not? " 
 
 " Ah, Charles," exclaimed Margaret, " our mother 
 would not thus have asked tidings of you ! It is of 
 you she thinks, night and day ! her absent husband, 
 dearly as she loves him, is not more constantly pres- 
 ent to her thoughts ; and the color comes proudly to 
 her cheek, when she hears you praised, as if you had 
 indeed drawn your very existence from her ! Could
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 39 
 
 you but have seen her, when the false rumor came, 
 that you were slain in battle ! She did not strive to 
 soothe my anguish, for she shared it. Pale as mar- 
 ble, speechless as a statue, she sat hours by my 
 couch, with the tears trickling down her cheeks, save 
 when she laid her head on my pillow to mingle her 
 groans and sobs with mine. Oh, my husband ! to 
 think an orphan boy, like you, should have found mater- 
 nal tenderness so fond, and in so noble a being ! " 
 
 Charles fixed his eyes on the ground ; but Marga- 
 ret waited in vain for a word. " How often I have 
 longed to tell you of her devotion to your children ; 
 how she trains up your son to look upon his father as 
 the model of all things heroic and excellent; how 
 she bids him be as brave in the field, as wise in the 
 council chamber, as generous to the unfortunate, 
 as true to those he loves ! " 
 
 The Prince started impatiently. " The sun grows 
 hot, Margaret," said he, "you were better in the 
 shade." 
 
 " Then come in with me," urged Margaret, holding 
 him pleadingly by the hand ; " think how long it is 
 since we have talked together, and how full my heart 
 must be ! Surely, if we are not to travel in company, 
 you will not begrudge me one half hour, before you 
 set out ! " Margaret's was the face, on which en- 
 treaty sits irresistible, and as her beseeching eyes
 
 40 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 were fixed on him, he looked irresolute, yielded and 
 reentered the tent. " Now tell me, dearest," said she, 
 striving to lift the heavy helmet from his head, 
 "when will you quit these weary wars ? Your face 
 is homewards now ; are you not coming home to live 
 tranquil and happy with us once more 1 I am afraid 
 you will be spoiled, Charles ; and forget mother, wife, 
 and children." 
 
 " That cannot be ! " exclaimed the Prince, with 
 energy, "I have the heart of a man still ! " 
 
 "I believe it, Charles, I believe it from the bot- 
 tom of my soul ! and no black calumny shall ever 
 make me doubt your truth and fidelity," added Mar- 
 garet, clasping her hands, as a bright look of confi- 
 dence beamed over her face. 
 
 " Why," said the Prince, with a look of some per- 
 plexity, " why such an asseveration 1 " 
 
 "Oh, Charles!" replied she, "I hardly dare 
 tell you why. It has been upon my lips all this time, 
 but I have not dared utter it. They have slandered 
 you, my husband; I know not who ; but enemies 
 of your fame have whispered the darkest insinuations 
 against you ; they have charged you with the blackest 
 of crimes, ingratitude! They have striven to 
 make the noble Joanna herself believe you forgetful 
 of the deepest and tenderest obligations, that could 
 bind man to a fellow creature ! False, even to her, 
 the mother of your desolate childhood."
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 41 
 
 The Prince started up impetuously, and as he walk- 
 ed about the tent, the veins in his forehead swelled 
 with agitation. "Who has done this?" exclaimed 
 he ; " whence came these tales ? " 
 
 " I know not," said Margaret ; " I asked not ; it 
 was enough for me to declare them false ; and I would 
 have died in the cause, had it been needful. They 
 say that base intriguing spirits abound in courts ; but 
 I thought that you, dearest, stood above suspicion, as 
 above temptation. It was from the Queen's own lips 
 I heard the tale." 
 
 " And yet she dismissed you safely and honorably, 
 from her court ! Did she make no effort to retain 
 you, nor my children, as pledges of my faith ? 
 Then she doubts me not, noble, generous, angelic be- 
 ing that she is !" 
 
 Margaret burst into tears. "O Charles!" she 
 ejaculated, " could she but hear you ! Come back 
 to Naples with me, my husband ; what need you of 
 these troops? Leave them behind, and hasten with 
 me to look once more on her beloved and beautiful 
 face. Come to receive those benignant smiles, with 
 which she always welcomed you ; the holy blessing, 
 which you used to say kept all wickedness away from 
 you. Next week will be the anniversary of our wed- 
 ding day; let us keep it in the palace where she 
 4*
 
 42 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 smiled upo n our childish affection ; where she her- 
 self bade me love you till my dying day." 
 
 Charles was deeply moved ; a tear even rolled down 
 his manly cheek, as he looked upon the fair creature 
 who clung to him. " I am indeed bound by the heart- 
 strings to her who bestowed on me such a wife, 
 were there no other tie," said he, in a low, sad tone, 
 as if musing aloud. At that moment the curtained 
 door of the tent was slowly drawn back, and the 
 Prince looked up sternly, as if indignant at the intru- 
 sion ; but on seeing the person who stood there in 
 silence, he changed countenance, and hastily disen- 
 gaging himgelf from his wife, he seized his helmet 
 from the cushion, replaced it on his brow, and left the 
 tent with the stranger, without uttering another word. 
 Margaret remained immovable with surprise. As 
 he stood with his back to the light, she had but faint- 
 ly distinguished the face of the unbidden guest, a 
 tall monk, with a downcast eye and colorless cheek ; 
 but the sudden paleness and abrupt departure of her 
 husband left her completely bewildered. Ere she had 
 recovered from her amazement, the ground beneath 
 her feet shook with (he tread of a large body of horse, 
 sweeping by at full speed ; arid in a moment more, a 
 page appeared to announce that the Baron di Cas- 
 tiglione waited her orders. She hurried to look 
 forth ; the camp had entirely disappeared ; a few
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 43 
 
 heavy wagons were moving slowly from the field ; her 
 own small band were already mounting; and at a 
 short distance, she perceived the party which had just 
 passed galloping towards the hills. At their head she 
 easily recognised the stately form of Durazzo, and by 
 his side rode the monk. Slowly and sadly she with- 
 drew, and as her women crowded into the tent to 
 assist in the bustle of departure, she was unconscious 
 of the dismay her aspect excited. 
 
 If the journey to meet her husband had appeared 
 long to Margaret, the same route, retraced, was in- 
 tolerably tedious. Surprise at his demeanor, a vague 
 anxiety, impatience to be once more in his presence, 
 where she still felt as if all doubt and fear must be 
 dispelled, took from her the power of enjoying either 
 the conversation of her companions, or the beauty of 
 the scenery through which they passed. To find her- 
 self in Rome, little as she cared for its Papal hon- 
 ors, was now the earnest object of her wishes ; and 
 on her last day's journey, as they ascended each hill, 
 she gazed anxiously forward, in hopes of catching a 
 distant glimpse of that city, whose fame was bruited 
 over the world, and whose power lay on the invisible 
 spirit of man. She dreamed not, however, that this 
 mysterious power was yet to crush her best hopes of 
 happiness; that the influence of the tiara was to 
 blight the remainder of a life, hitherto so free from
 
 44 JOANNA OP NAPLES. 
 
 bitterness. Still less did she dream of the sad en- 
 trance she should make into its renowned streets. 
 
 The noontide halt was over, and the Baron had 
 just given her the welcome assurance, that in four 
 hours, she would be within the walls of the Eternal 
 City, when one of the children's attendants came, 
 with an anxious brow, to announce that the little 
 Joanna was ill. The Princess hastened to her in 
 alarm, and found the child reclining on the shoulder 
 of her nurse, the rose-color on her cheek heightened 
 to a feverish scarlet, and her eyes dull and glazed. 
 She stretched her arms to her mother with a faint 
 moan ; Margaret took her at once, and on applying 
 to her attendants found, to her dismay, that none 
 knew what remedy to prescribe, or by what form of 
 malady the patient was attacked. Nay, some of the 
 more timid shrunk to a distance, and her quick ear 
 caught the fearful word " contagion " among their 
 stifled whispers. Clasping the little girl to her bosom, 
 she ascended the litter, and crying to the Baron, 
 " Rome ! Rome ! with all speed to Rome ! " she 
 sat in speechless suspense. Her children had been 
 blessed from birth with unusual health, and utterly 
 inexperienced as she was in the symptoms or man- 
 agement of disease, her emotions, on witnessing the 
 sufferings she could not relieve, were almost agoniz- 
 ing. On they went, with a speed which, at another
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 45 
 
 time, would have been unpleasing; but to her, it 
 seemed as if they crept along the interminable way ; 
 and to her incessant inquiries, " How far yet ? " 
 the answers only brought disappointment. At last 
 the domes of the city rose above the level of the 
 Campagna, along the dusky horizon ; but without 
 one throb of lofty associations, - one glance at the 
 objects which surrounded them as they drew nearer 
 to the Mistress of the world, Margaret forgot every 
 thing else, in the increasing distress of her child. 
 As the shades of twilight descended, she fancied 
 death already painted on the livid features she dis- 
 cerned more dimly ; and was at last, hardly conscious 
 that they had passed the Porta del Popolo, when they 
 reached the threshold of a magnificent palace, appoint- 
 ed by the Pope himself for her reception. 
 
 The most skilful physicians of the day came at her 
 summons. It was discovered that the little girl had not 
 been well, since the night, when the Princess had pass- 
 ed almost incognita through Rome, in her haste to join 
 her husband ; and that the building, in which they had 
 then slept, stood near the Lateran, recently discovered 
 to have become so infected by the encroaching Mala- 
 ria of the marshes, that during the summer months, 
 it was abandoned to the insidious and invisible foe. 
 The disease which had attacked the frame of the 
 little Joanna, was pronounced a dangerous, malig-
 
 46 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 nant fever ; and after despatching a messenger to 
 hasten her husband, still on the march, Margaret 
 gave herself up to that most wearing, yet sacred of 
 duties, a mother's patient, midnight watching by 
 the couch of her suffering child. The solicitations 
 of her attendants, the recollection of her rank, 
 the danger to her health, nothing could counter- 
 act the impulse of that common human nature, 
 throbbing alike in the heart of the high and low ; 
 and the wife of the poorest peasant, nursing her 
 squalid babe on the Pontine fens, could scarcely have 
 envied the wealthy, beautiful, admired Princess of 
 Durazzo, as all night long, she counted the weary 
 hours, listened to the feeble moans of her child, 
 held the draught to its parched lips, and laid its rest- 
 less head on that pillow, which, in palace or cottage, 
 is ever the softest, the bosom of maternal love.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 AFTER the departure of Margaret from Naples, the 
 melancholy days of Joanna crept on, unmarked by 
 any event distinct from the usual routine of her life. 
 In the regular administration of her queenly duties, 
 in the superintendence of many benevolent and pub- 
 lic-spirited works which she had undertaken, in pre- 
 siding over the court, which her own virtue and 
 dignified deportment had rendered as remarkable 
 for refinement as for magnificence, she sought to be- 
 guile the secret anxieties of her heart. Since the 
 opening dawn of her life had been clouded by sor- 
 rows most peculiar, by violent deaths or unlocked 
 for treachery among her dearest friends, she had 
 ever worn an aspect of majestic peusiveness ; and the 
 open smiles, which had forsaken her countenance at 
 eighteen, had never returned to illumine its more 
 mature beauty. Gentle and affable in her demeanor, 
 however, her habitual gravity did not banish inno- 
 cent mirth from those about her ; and she was loved,
 
 48 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 almost to adoration, by those who came oftenest 
 about her person. Yet none were admitted com- 
 pletely into her confidence ; the awe inspired by 
 her rank and character was never dispelled by indis- 
 creet communicativeness on her part; and not one of 
 her most trusted nobility suspected how deeply the 
 apprehension of coming evils, deadlier than all she 
 had yet known, was now haunting her hours of medi- 
 tation. When the warlike spirit of her adopted son 
 had led him, in spite of her remonstrances, to seek 
 distinction under the king of Hungary, once her 
 bitter foe, she had felt the want of a masculine 
 mind and chivalric arm to counsel or defend her. 
 Driven by necessity once more to form connexions 
 she had abjured, the duties which Charles had forsa- 
 ken now devolved on a husband ; and the unblem- 
 ished, disinterested character of Prince Otho of 
 Brunswick, suitable to her in age and accomplish- 
 ments, did honor to her matronly judgment. It is of 
 him, that the graceful pen of Joanna's female biogra- 
 pher writes thus. " Without demanding the title 
 of king, or arrogating any power to himself, this gen- 
 erous, brave, and amiable man won and deserved the 
 entire affection of his Queen, and maintained her 
 throne, for some time, in peace and security." At 
 this critical juncture, he was absent in the southern 
 part of his dominions, where some symptoms of insur- 

 
 JOANNA OP NAPLES. 49 
 
 rection among the rough mountaineers of Calabria 
 had required the check of his personal appearance. 
 So vague had been the rumors, which had reached 
 Joanna of the negotiations between Pope Urban, her 
 implacable enemy, and Charles, her adopted son, that 
 she forbore, as yet, to molest her husband with intelli- 
 gence which she shrunk from believing. 
 
 She returned, one evening, from an excursion to 
 visit the palace she was building under the brow of 
 Posilipo. The romantic beauty of its situation, 
 where its very foundations were laved by classic bil- 
 lows, had not been overlooked by her elegant taste ; 
 and while anxious to give occupation to the artificers, 
 whom she had hitherto employed on churches and 
 hospitals, she had designed it as a calm retreat for 
 her declining years. In the present state of her spirits, 
 she looked on the progress of the workmen with a 
 sadness she could scarce conceal. Again and again, 
 she cast back her eyes, as she rode from it, surrounded 
 by a gay party of courtiers ; and the question forced 
 itself continually on her mind, " Will it ever be 
 completed 1 Shall I live to tread in its fair halls, and 
 look from its windows over these blue waves? Or will 
 some gloomy blight fall yet again across my path ? 
 Will my plans be frustrated, my spirits broken, my 
 ever busy mind crushed by fresh sorrows? Then will 
 the hand of the workman cease, the sound of labor be 
 5
 
 50 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 hushed ; the lonely sea will murmur round the unfin- 
 ished walls, the fisherman will hang his nets in its 
 uncovered vaults, and the musing traveller shall pro- 
 nounce it a sad memorial of the uncertainties that 
 wait on all human schemes ! " 
 
 She spurred her steed forward, at last, to escape 
 these melancholy thoughts, and a temporary excite- 
 ment revived her drooping spirits, as she sped along 
 the delightful Mergellina ; the fleet Arabian, on which 
 she was mounted, dashed over the firm wet sands, as 
 if with a consciousness of enjoyment; the breeze, 
 which in that region comes down from the hills in 
 the afternoon, played with its bracing influences on her 
 frame, and her whole train entered with zest into that 
 most exhilarating pleasure, a gallop along a wide, 
 smooth beach. 
 
 When she arrived at the private apartments of her 
 palace in Naples, it was with an unwonted glow on 
 her cheek, and a brightness in her eye, which spoke 
 of her earlier and happier days. " My ride has done 
 me much service," she said, as she drew off her silken 
 glove, embroidered with gold, and turned to her pri- 
 vate secretary, who waited her return with papers ; 
 " and now I think these dull documents will not make 
 my poor head ache, as of late." She took a sealed 
 packet from his hand, as he said something of " a 
 courier from Rome," changed countenance as she 

 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 51 
 
 looked at the superscription ; broke it open hastily, 
 and casting her eyes over the brief contents, dropped 
 the parchment, staggered a few paces, and fell, as if 
 stunned, upon a couch. The confusion which ensued 
 lasted but a few moments; the alarm had hardly been 
 given by her terrified secretary, when the recovering 
 Queen roused herself, and standing up calmly, though 
 the late brilliant hue of her complexion had fled, and 
 her hand convulsively grasping the back of a chair, 
 she bade her female attendants quit the apartment ; 
 then directing the secretary to leave writing imple- 
 ments on the table, and see that couriers were in 
 readiness to set out for Calabria, she dismissed him 
 too. Motionless for a few moments after he left her, 
 she gazed on the fatal packet which lay on the floor, 
 as if it had been a scorpion, and then slightly spurn- 
 ing it with her foot, she murmured, "Man's vile- 
 ness I may scorn ! when God deals with me, may I 
 be resigned ! " Her eyes rose devoutly to heaven, as 
 she turned towards the table, where she seated herself 
 and leaned her head upon her hand. Deep was the 
 abstraction to which she yielded, and the groans, 
 which at times escaped from her, showed how severe 
 was her mental anguish ; but she at last seized the 
 parchment, and with a trembling, but practised and 
 rapid hand, traced the following epistle.
 
 52 
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 " My good and well beloved husband, 
 " The blow is struck ! the throne totters beneath 
 my feet, and I call to you for aid. Charles of Duraz- 
 zo claims the crown of Naples by right of the 
 Pope's investiture ! His army hovers on the borders 
 of my kingdom, and though my heart be pierced, 
 I will yield nothing to injustice and ingratitude. 
 Tarry not among the banditti of the mountains ; for 
 bolder though baser robbers are in the plains, and 
 will soon beset the gates of Naples." 
 
 -. o-l ''; : 
 
 She sealed her concise summons, despatched it, 
 and with a brow full of lofty determination descended 
 to the apartment where some of the bravest and wisest 
 among her nobility awaited her. They were thunder- 
 struck at the intelligence she had to communicate ; 
 they broke forth in righteous indignation at the viper 
 she had cherished ; and she alone was composed and 
 self-possessed. She was forced to remind them, that 
 they met not to dwell on the past, but to take counsel 
 for the future; and she proceeded to set forth her 
 resolution to resist the aggression of Durazzo, sanc- 
 tioned as it was by Urban himself. A spirited but 
 temperate and dignified reply was sent to the Manifesto 
 of Charles; and arrangements were made to summon 
 aid from her dominions in Provence, and to have the 
 city in a posture of defence, with all practicable speed.
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 53 
 
 Each Baron, as he left the presence of his Queen, 
 vowed fidelity with purse, sword, and heart's blood, 
 to her person and rights. The lamps suspended along 
 the galleries waned in their sockets, as Joanna passed 
 to her stately chamber ; the stars waned in the heav- 
 ens before sleep visited her aching eyes. 
 
 5*
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 WE return, for a short space, to the misguided 
 Charles, Prince of Durazzo. He had left his wife 
 abruptly, at the head of a strong party of horse, to 
 overtake the main body of his troops, marching 
 steadily south. In silence he rode on for some time, 
 exchanging not a word with his immediate compan- 
 ion, a monk, whose unusual sallowness of com- 
 plexion, emaciation of figure, and austerity of aspect 
 marked him as one, who strictly observed the rules of 
 his order. The black robe and wide sleeves of the 
 Dominican showed him to be a member of that pow- 
 erful brotherhood, whose zeal in the cause of Papal 
 supremacy, and success in attaining the office of Con- 
 fessors to kings and princes, had given them an in- 
 fluence over the destinies of men as unsuspected as 
 it was terrible. It was in this unscriptural and un- 
 hallowed relation that Father Matteo stood toward 
 the young prince, by whose side he rode; the keeper 
 of his conscience, the master of his secrets, the ruler
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 55 
 
 of a towering spirit, which thought to be controlled 
 by no earthly power. Without an effort to rouse 
 Charles from his unwonted taciturnity, without the 
 least apparent curiosity as to its cause, he kept his 
 large gloomy eyes fixed on the ground before him, in 
 a cold abstraction, which contrasted strongly with the 
 erect and open countenance of Durazzo, on whose 
 features worked a constant succession of strong emo- 
 tions. More than once, the Prince suddenly drew 
 up, as from an irresistible impulse, and seemed about 
 to accost his companion ; but a glance at that stern, 
 pale face appeared to have the power of checking 
 the half uttered remark; and muttering an ejacula- 
 tion, he drove the spurs impatiently into his steed, 
 forcing him into an idle caracole, that only betrayed 
 the moodiness of his master's mind. They reached, 
 at last, a grove of chestnuts, where the shade of 
 those beautiful trees spread like an awning over the 
 soft grass; and Charles, as if his resolution were 
 taken, gave some directions to his officers, and then, 
 making a sign to the monk to follow him, rode away 
 among the trees on their left, leaving the troops to 
 pass on without them. In a few minutes they came 
 to the brow of a cliff, and looked down upon a little 
 I quiet lake, hidden among the wooded hills. The 
 sun was not yet high enough to shine on its smooth 
 surface, and a tranquillity and freshness as of the
 
 56 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 early morning lingered on its shores. No human 
 habitation was in sight ; but on a promontory, which 
 jutted into the water, stood the ruins of a small, 
 ancient temple, classically graceful in its proportions, 
 and beautiful even in decay. 
 
 In this still seclusion, Charles paused, listened, and 
 looked around ; the heavy tramp of his troops came 
 sounding indistinctly along the ground ; the squirrel 
 chirped as he leaped among the branches over head ; 
 and the cry of the heron rose from the reedy border 
 of the little bay below them ; but there was no sign 
 of intrusion from the approach of man. He turned 
 upon his companion, and with a visible effort to 
 speak in an unfaltering tone, he exclaimed, "Fa- 
 ther Matteo ! the die is not yet cast. It is not too 
 late to pause and consider the dark paths I am about 
 to tread ! " 
 
 The monk made no reply ; he stroked the neck of 
 his horse, with his bony, gloveless hand, and a with- 
 ering sneer passed over his lips, but he did not even 
 lift his eyes to the speaker. 
 
 " No, pursued the Prince, " it cannot be too late. 
 So secret have been our transactions, so desperate 
 is the deed contemplated, so madly have I been 
 hurried on of late ! I will, I must pause to re- 
 flect yet again ! There are moments when I am 
 alone at midnight, in which things wear an aspect so
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 57 
 
 different ! it seems to me, holy father, that whether 
 I prosper or fail, in this undertaking, I must be a 
 miserable, miserable man. At one time, I feel 
 that I am lured forward by the glittering form of an 
 ambition, as glorious as becomes my princely race ; 
 then it seems as if the base goblin figures, Covetous- 
 ness, Fanaticism, Treachery, beckoned me on 
 to my destruction. Now, methinks, the voice of God 
 is in my ear ; then, the horrid whispers of a fiend ! 
 Father ! it is dreadful." 
 
 " Is there nothing more dreadful? " asked the Do- 
 minican ; then raising his voice above the sepulchral 
 tone, which seemed to have awed the Prince for a 
 moment, he slowly pronounced the words, " Thy 
 faith broken with man, the commands of the Holy 
 Church mocked, the drawn sword basely sheathed, 
 thy warlike fame tarnished, the sparkling crown 
 withdrawn from thy unworthy brows, a woman's 
 foot upon thy neck, the derision of nations on thy 
 inglorious retreat, thy secret schemes made public 
 and scoffed at, because thou hadst not courage to 
 carry them through, thy life dragged out in igno- 
 ble obscurity, thy death a passage to eternal 
 perdition! Charles of Durazzo ! how likest thou 
 the picture? " 
 
 The face of Durazzo, red and pale by turns, spoke 
 volumes; but mastering the internal struggle, he ex-
 
 58 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 claimed, "It is dark as midnight! I know that I am 
 entangled almost beyond hope of extrication ; that to 
 advance or retreat must be alike desperate ; that my 
 worldly fortunes and happiness are already staked, 
 and cannot escape the dreadful jeopardy ; but, keeper 
 of souls ! I adjure you by all your holy vows, by 
 your regard for the salvation of a fellow creature, 
 who has given you the direction of his conscience ; 
 
 by your reverence for God, and the holy Virgin, 
 and the blessed company of saints and martyrs, 
 tell me one thing truly ; am I right 1 am I right ? 
 I ask you ! " 
 
 A sudden gleam of triumph shot from the eye of 
 the monk, as he heard this testimony to his still un- 
 shaken power ; but it was gone in an instant, and his 
 thin lips were compressed in a frigid and haughty 
 silence. 
 
 Charles laid his hand almost imploringly on the 
 coarse, black sleeve, and went on in a choked voice. 
 
 " Tell me what crime can be fouler than ingrati- 
 tude ; the very word is heavy on my tongue ! In- 
 gratitude to her, who took me under the shelter of 
 her palace, when I was an orphan boy; and it is from 
 that very palace I would drive her, now manhood has 
 made me independent of her protection. I know her 
 queenly spirit ; she will not yield her natural rights 
 without a struggle, and my hand must be raised
 
 JOANNA OP NAPLES. 59 
 
 against her in paricidal violence. My father was her 
 foe, and she forgave him. He fell by the hand of an 
 assassin, and she took me, a beardless, helpless boy, 
 scarce numbering twelve summers, to a home she 
 made always happy. O, holy priest! I tell you my 
 manhood will wear an indelible stain, if I wrong that 
 more than mother ! I told you so, when you first 
 came to me with the tempting propositions of our 
 most holy Father. I told you so in amazement and 
 indignation ; and how you have lulled those honora- 
 ble scruples, how you have alternately lured and 
 goaded me on to this wretched pass, I know not. 
 The struggle was long and fierce, you well know, and 
 now it begins afresh. Priest, I doubt! I doubt ! 
 banish these misgivings if you can. Prove, prove 
 to rne, that the deeds on which I am rushing are not 
 crimes, base, unnatural, monstrous crimes ! " 
 
 It was in tones of agony that the Prince spoke. 
 The perspiration stood on his forehead, and his eyes 
 were fixed almost wildly on the monk, who had the 
 advantage of perfect self-possession. Interlacing his 
 emaciated fingers, clasping his hands to his breast, 
 and raising his eyes to heaven, he seemed for a few 
 moments lost in holy meditation ; his lips then moved, 
 and as audible sounds began to escape from them, 
 the concluding words of a Latin prayer were articu- 
 lated solemnly and distinctly. He then bent his pene-
 
 60 JOANNA OP NAPLES. 
 
 trating eyes on the Prince, with a gaze so long and 
 fixed, that it became embarrassing ; and in a tone, 
 unwontedly gentle and tender, said, " My son ! to 
 recede is guilt ; to pause is guilt ; to hesitate is 
 guilt; penance and absolution can alone wash 
 away this day's errors. I have warned you ; the con- 
 sequences of a change in your purposes will be terri- 
 ble ; I cannot screen you from them. Worldly shame 
 will hurry you to an ignoble grave ; the malediction 
 of the Church will blight and blast you forever ; and 
 for what will you brave all this? Are you a man, 
 that the smile or the tear of a woman's eye can thus 
 work on the noblest purposes of your soul ? Are you 
 a prince, that when a fair kingdom is at your dis- 
 posal, and the arm of the Church is stretched forth 
 to place you on an independent throne, you prefer to 
 remain a vassal, because a woman has, this morning, 
 whispered old tales of your nursery days in your ear ! 
 For shame, belted knight ! for shame, armed war- 
 rior." Then changing his tone to one of deep and 
 awful denunciation, " Joanna must fall ! she that 
 brought you up at her footstool, to be the plaything 
 of her idle hours, and her bravo when you should 
 wear a sword ; she who would have kept you to glit- 
 ter at her court, or fight at her bidding under a hus- 
 band's banner, must come down from a height that 
 dizzies her female brain. The realms of Naples are
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. Ol 
 
 too fair and powerful to be longer swayed by the 
 caprices of a woman. God hath given to his Vice- 
 gerent on earth the power to crown and uncrown ; to 
 distribute sceptres among the children of men, not 
 according to the idle chances of birth, but in obedi- 
 ence to the nobler laws of the general good. She, 
 on whose fame lie indelible stains of evil report, 
 whom the wrath of Heaven has pursued with inces- 
 sant calamity, must sparkle no longer in the con- 
 stellation of crowned heads. Among the courts of 
 Europe, hers must fade with its boasted lustre. Her 
 hour is come ; and she must tell her beads in the 
 silent cell of a recluse, and wear the stones of some 
 secluded monastery with her humbled knees. Some 
 bold heart, brave hand, and manly brow shall win and 
 wear the prize suspended aloft. Prince of Durazzo, 
 whose shall it be 1 thine or another's ? Choose ! " 
 Charles sprung madly from his horse, and dashed 
 himself on the ground, at the foot of a noble tree, his 
 plate armor rattling as he fell prostrate. He remain- 
 ed plunged in a mental conflict the most severe ; while 
 the stately monk, drawing himself up to his full height, 
 sat composedly watching the victim, as he struggled 
 in the toils that were woven so invisibly but invinci- 
 bly about him. The master-key had again been 
 touched, and with a master's hand. Ambition, the 
 burning desire to exchange his ducal coronet for a 
 6
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 kingly crown, to step forward and signalize him- 
 self among the potentates of Europe, the peer, per- 
 haps, of Louis of Anjou, Regent of France, all 
 worked within the compass of one human breast to 
 accomplish his fate, and that of thousands linked with 
 it. The bare idea of seeing a boon so glorious, 
 snatched from him, enjoyed by another, roused the 
 jealousy of his nature, and made each better impulse 
 of generosity, honor, and gratitude seem like the sick- 
 ly fancies of some fever fit. 
 
 He rose at last, but languidly, as if the struggle 
 had taken the strength from his joints ; and as he sat 
 for a few moments with downcast looks, his fingers 
 play ed withthe moss and wild-flowers growing about 
 the roots of the old tree ; he even tore them up un- 
 consciously, but his thoughts were not with those 
 sweet, innocent objects of his boyish admiration. 
 The hectic spot on his cheek showed that the pas- 
 sions of manhood were racking him within, and the 
 big tears rolled slowly down his face. As the priest 
 seemed resolved on a stern silence, he was not roused 
 till a swelling breeze brought the faint blast of a 
 trumpet from some distant winding of the road. His 
 horse, grazing negligently beside him, lifted his head 
 and pawed the earth at the well known sound, and 
 Charles, starting up, vaulted into the saddle. As he 
 turned to regain the road, the hand of Father Matteo
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 63 
 
 was laid firmly on his bridle. " My son," said he. 
 The Prince looked up, and met those penetrating 
 eyes, bent upon him with their darkest austerity.. 
 " We must have no more of these scenes ! no more 
 faltering ! no more baby-talk ! The die is cast ; 
 and your soul is the stake for which you play ! Should 
 the birds of the air carry the tale of this day's irreso- 
 lution to the footstool of Urban ! " 
 
 Charles impatiently strove to dash forward, but the 
 grasp of the monk on his bridle was not to be shaken 
 off; and his horse reared so violently as almost to un- 
 seat th rider. "Whither so fast?" asked Father 
 Matteo ; "back, to play the hireling of a Hunga- 
 rian ? " 
 
 "Forward," shouted Charles, "to Rome, to 
 Naples, to a bloody grave, please God!" and 
 bursting from the priest, he galloped with frantic 
 speed, in the direction of his troops, and soon disap- 
 peared among the trees. His confessor sat gazing 
 after him, a moment ; and a smile of most unchris- 
 tian exultation played again over his features. " The 
 work speeds," he murmured to himself, "and he of 
 the tiara shall say he chose well his instrument. 
 Charles ! men speak of thy virtues ; but thou hast 
 one passion, which a master spirit shall use to exter- 
 minate them, and work his own ends. Ambition ! 
 ambition ! the crown for him, and for me,
 
 64 JOANNA OP NAPLES. 
 
 what lures me on, but the scarlet hat ! and the 
 hope of vengeance ! " His head sunk on his breast, 
 and he followed the Prince at a more moderate 
 pace.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 ONCE more, we revisit the beautiful city of Naples, 
 and her, whom its populace love, even at this day, to 
 call " our Queen Joanna." But we pass over an inter- 
 val of some weeks, since, struck to the heart by the 
 treachery of Durazzo, she stifled the feelings of the 
 woman, and prepared for the duties of the Queen. 
 Lofty and calm, she betrayed none of her secret grief, 
 and showed no irritability or hastiness of temper. 
 She listened coolly, when her officers came to consult 
 with her, deliberated wisely, but acted with decision ; 
 while to all her immediate attendants, the melancholy 
 sweetness of her voice and manner had something in 
 it so touching, that they were often melted into tears 
 in the midst of their most ordinary intercourse. The 
 panic among her women was indeed great, and not 
 without cause. 
 
 Charles, expecting no acquiescence in his demands, 
 and fully prepared to act, had marched with all speed 
 upon Naples ; Joanna had retreated into the Castell 
 6*
 
 66 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 Nuovo, and had immediately ascended its ram- 
 parts. Lying on the east of the city, which rises like 
 an amphitheatre from the north side of its celebrated 
 bay, the walls of the Castle were washed on one side 
 by the sea ; and thither she betook herself, fixing a 
 long and anxious gaze on the hazy line, where sky 
 and water met ; but riot a speck appeared. The gal- 
 leys from Provence were probably still ploughing their 
 way through distant tracts of the Mediterranean. She 
 went to another part of the Castle, and looked east- 
 ward. The dust rising in clouds above the vineyards 
 showed that Otho was advancing, with all possible 
 speed, from Calabria; but alas! too late. Between 
 him and his unfortunate wife, the troops of Durazzo 
 were pouring into the streets of Naples ; and it was 
 only tantalizing to watch his approach. Still, how- 
 ever, she stood, with breathless interest, her eyes fixed 
 on the spectacle ; till an officer of her household 
 came to her with every mark of haste and agitation. 
 
 " The gates," he exclaimed, " the gates of the 
 Castle are beset by fugitives. We have closed them, 
 but the cry is terrible. The wretches are flying be- 
 fore the sword of the enemy ! " 
 
 " Admit them," replied the Queen ; " admit them 
 instantly." 
 
 " May it please your Majesty," said an aged senes- 
 chal, " it will be your destruction ; they bring famine 
 with them as surely as 'they enter these walls."
 
 JOANNA OP NAPLES. 67 
 
 " How," asked the Queen, " have we no food ? 
 Did I not give orders, three days since, that the 
 Castle should be stocked for seven months? Was I 
 not obeyed? " 
 
 " To the letter," returned the old man, one of the 
 most trusted of her personal attendants; "your 
 officers and your servants have done your bidding ; 
 and the provisions in the Castle will last its present 
 inmates full seven months ; but we must have no 
 more mouths to consume them." 
 
 The Queen hesitated ; the distant cries of the popu- 
 lace reached her, and one of her Barons came hastily 
 upon the wall. " Let me pray your Majesty to with- 
 draw ; one of the apartments by the sea will be more 
 retired and quiet." 
 
 " Quiet ! " said she, with a tone of mournful sur- 
 prise ; "what have I to do with quiet? Is this an 
 hour for Joanna of Naples to seek ease and tranquil- 
 lity ? Why should I retire ? " 
 
 " Because," replied the Baron, " the people at the 
 gate are almost frantic with terror ; their shrieks fill 
 the air ; it must distress you, for you cannot afford 
 them the slightest aid." 
 
 " I hear them ! I hear them calling on my name ! " 
 exclaimed Joanna. 
 
 "They do, indeed;" replied the Baron; "they 
 seem to invoke you, as they would their saints. Let 
 me implore your Majesty to leave the walls."
 
 68 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 The tumult increased. " Are the gates strong?" 
 asked the seneschal. 
 
 " As adamant," returned the Baron. " I bade the 
 soldiers use no violence to drive the poor creatures 
 back on the enemy ; women and children can never 
 burst such barricades." 
 
 " Holy Virgin ! " cried the Queen, " I cannot bear 
 it. Let me see, let me speak to them." 
 
 The Baron threw himself respectfully before her, 
 " I conjure your Majesty to abstain. It may wring 
 your heart, but it can do no good; they cannot 
 they must not be admitted." 
 
 " Luca di Battista ! " said the Queen, " stand 
 back ! " 
 
 She uttered these words gently, but with a tone of 
 decision. He yielded instantly, and with a dejected 
 air and anxious brow followed his royal mistress to a 
 small apartment, above the great gate of the citadel. 
 This was one of the five fortresses by which Naples 
 was strengthened, and seemed proof against assault. 
 No sooner did the Queen present herself at the win- 
 dow, which looked down into the thronged square, 
 than the tumult redoubled; and for a moment, she 
 shrunk back, and hid her face in her hands. It was, 
 indeed, a startling sight. The throng consisted prin- 
 cipally of women and children ; the withered faces of 
 the aged, the ghastly ones of the sick, all were
 
 JOANNA OP NAPLES. 69 
 
 upturned to her. Arms were stretched out implor- 
 ingly, and every voice uttered her name, mingled with 
 all those piteous phrases of entreaty, in which the 
 Italian tongue abounds. In vain she attempted to 
 address them ; as they looked up to her, standing in 
 simple white raiment, without one regal ornament 
 about her person, recognised for their Queen only by 
 her noble air and well known countenance, it seemed 
 as if they beheld in her some blessed female saint, 
 who could save them from destruction, by a single 
 exertion of superhuman power. 
 
 Her gestures, at last, obtained a momentary hush. 
 She was about imploring them to attempt their escape 
 to another fortress, stating why she could not shelter 
 them in the Castell Nuovo, when the silver tones of 
 her voice were drowned in a shrill cry, which rose 
 from the outskirts of the throng. In a moment, the 
 whole crowd was again in motion, those at a distance 
 pressing towards the drawbridge, that crossed the 
 moat, against those nearest the gate, until the struggle 
 and crush became tremendous. The Queen and her 
 attendants saw too plainly the cause of the disturb- 
 ance from their elevated position. Overlooking the 
 heads of the people, their view extended down a long 
 street ; and at its termination the flashing of swords 
 showed a furious conflict going on. Some of the 
 citizens were defending themselves vigorously, as
 
 70 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 they retreated towards their helpless wives and chil- 
 dren ; but it was evident that their force was ineffi- 
 cient, and that the mounted soldiers of Durazzo were 
 driving them in triumphantly. No sooner did the 
 unhappy wretches, at the gate, become aware of this 
 fact, than their agonizing cries again rent the air. 
 " Our good dueen ! Our blessed Queen ! have mercy 
 on us ! We shall be cut to pieces ! For the love of 
 the Holy Virgin, save us ! " 
 
 The heart of woman could bear it no longer. Jo- 
 anna turned suddenly, with tears rolling down her 
 cheeks, to her officers, and bade them open the gates. 
 They hesitated ; but a momentary anger flashed 
 from her eyes, as she repeated her order, " Luca 
 di Battista ! descend and see that those gates be un- 
 barred to my people ! shall I stand here and behold 
 them slaughtered like sheep ? Admit them, or I will 
 give my own neck to the swords of yonder cut- 
 throats ! " 
 
 The nobleman obeyed her in melancholy silence ; 
 and as the work of unclosing the huge double gates 
 occupied some moments, the tumultuous throng 
 heard with impatience the clang of the dropping bars 
 and grating bolts ; and when, at last, the doors were 
 seen to move slowly inwards, the rush was dreadful. 
 The shrieks of the bruised ; the stifled cries of those 
 who were thrown down and trampled upon ; the con- 

 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 71 
 
 fusion within, where the unhappy creatures scattered 
 themselves in every direction, some still pale with 
 terror, hardly realizing their safety, some flushed 
 and heated with the struggle, some crying wildly 
 for those they had lost in the press, all produced a 
 bewildering effect on the mind of the Queen. She 
 stood a long time immovable and almost breathless. 
 At last a few bloody stragglers from the conflict came 
 flying up the street, hotly chased by the enemy. 
 There was barely time to admit them also, while vol- 
 leys of arrows from a body of archers, whom Luca 
 di Battista had stationed on the walls for the purpose, 
 kept back the pursuers, till the gates were again 
 closed and secured. 
 
 Then, and not till then, the Queen drew a long 
 breath, and turning from the window, looked for a 
 moment at those about her, with an expression of 
 despair. " Could I have done otherwise ? " said she. 
 None answered, and the old seneschal alone shook 
 his head, sadly, and she passed into the gallery, 
 which conducted to her own apartments, leaving con- 
 sternation in the little group behind. 
 
 Before night, a strict investigation was made by 
 order of the Queen ; and it was ascertained that, 
 swarming as the fortress now was with human be- 
 ings, the provisions it contained would barely enable 
 her to hold out one month. Before that period
 
 72 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 should have elapsed, success might crown the arms of 
 Otho; or the expected aid from Provence might 
 arrive ; and leaning on these two chances, she 
 was now condemned to that trial most wearing to the 
 nerves, a period of helpless inaction and cruel sus- 
 pense. Durazzo occupied the city ; her husband 
 immediately laid siege to him ; but though she could 
 distinguish the camp of that brave warrior, beyond 
 the walls, and was aware of the frequent skirmishes, 
 going on between the parties, she found it impossible 
 to open a communication with him. The difficulty 
 of enforcing attention to the rules her forethought 
 had laid down, and securing a wise abstemiousness 
 among the motley population of the Castell Nuovo, 
 gave her officers incessant perplexity within its walls. 
 Her own table was spread with the absolute parsimo- 
 ny which circumstances made needful, and she her- 
 self underwent a perpetual fasting penance, setting an 
 example of cheerful submission to privation ; yet each 
 day brought to her accounts of the alarming diminu- 
 tion in the public stock of provisions, and the neces- 
 sity of lessening the scanty allowance doled out to 
 the people. 
 
 Three long weeks passed on ; day by day the walls 
 were lined, before sunrise, with unhappy beings, 
 straining their eyes seaward, to catch a glimpse of 
 the hoped for succors from their Queen's French
 
 JOANNA OP NAPLES. 73 
 
 dominions, or striving to ascertain on which side suc- 
 cess lay, in the daily conflicts between Otho and 
 Durazzo. The latter showed little disposition to 
 assault the Castell Nuovo ; the strength of its fortifi- 
 cations, defended by skilful archers, made him un- 
 willing to waste the blood of his soldiers, while sure, 
 from the circumstances of the case, that his powerful 
 ally, Famine, would eventually give him a bloodless 
 victory ; and his immediate attention was engrossed 
 by the harassing attacks of his own besieger. He 
 contented himself with frequently summoning the 
 Queen to surrender ; and she at last felt that a 
 dreadful alternative was before her. She must sur- 
 render, or feel that she had brought a cruel and 
 lingering death on some hundreds of innocent fellow- 
 beings.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 IN the mean time, Margaret remained at Rome, 
 watching unremittingly over her little charge, whose 
 spirit hovered for days on the verge of death ; appar- 
 ently about to quit its tabernacle of clay, yet still 
 lingering as if yielded a little longer to the prayers of 
 maternal fondness. The instincts of her heart had 
 led Margaret to forget every other possible evil in the 
 dreaded calamity of bereavement. Even the myste- 
 rious delay of her husband was, to her mind, almost 
 satisfactorily explained, when her attendants assured 
 her, that business of the most pressing nature had led 
 him back to Lombardy. She questioned not the 
 truth of their statements ; her whole soul was ab- 
 sorbed in the conflict between life and death, carried 
 on beneath her eye ; and as the superstition of the 
 age led her to vow wealth untold to the altars of that 
 holy Mother, whose beautiful character and attri- 
 butes shone like the morning star on the night of 
 her sorrow, she felt the force of the loveliest delu-
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 75 
 
 sion that ever mocked an aching heart. Trusting 
 in the power of that sweet and gentle Being to call 
 back her darling from the threshold of the tomb, and 
 unconscious that there was, in her own nature, a 
 glorious principle of resignation, which could extract 
 the bitterness from all affliction, and fit her to bear 
 that which it was now intolerable to contemplate, 
 she prayed unceasingly for one specific object, the 
 restoration of her little Joanna to health. At last 
 the unskilful pharmacy of that age was no longer 
 baffled by the fierce disease ; it was plain that the yet 
 innocent soul of the patient was not to seek those 
 realms of kindred purity, where temptation could 
 never come nigh, nor sin pollute it ; it was to bear its 
 terrible probation on earth. Alas ! could the mother, 
 whose tears of rapture bathed the creature she 
 deemed rescued by her prayers, have seen the curtain 
 of futurity raised, and Joanna the Second of Naples 
 performing her disgraceful part amid its ignominious 
 events ! 
 
 Brief, however, was the transport of that hour, in 
 which her physicians announced that the child would 
 live. Margaret had returned from the neighboring 
 chapel, whither she had hurried to pour out the over- 
 flowing gratitude of her soul ; and she stood gazing 
 on the emaciated object of her tenderness, when her 
 reverie was interrupted by a benediction, uttered in a
 
 76 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 deep tone, by some one behind her. She turned and 
 beheld the Dominican standing in the doorway, with 
 whom her husband had left her so abruptly, at their 
 last interview. She did not recognise him, however, 
 nor did the idea of his identity with that unwelcome 
 person recur to her, till he announced himself as the 
 Father Matteo da Villani, the confessor of Charles 
 of Durazzo. Then indeed she clasped her hands 
 with a mingled emotion of joy and terror, as she ex- 
 claimed, "And whence come you holy father? from 
 him, my beloved husband ? " 
 
 " Even so," returned the monk. 
 
 " And how fares he? Why comes he not hither ? 
 When shall I see him again ? " 
 
 " He sends greeting by me, to his most noble lady, 
 and asks tidings of the health of his child ; and prays 
 that if her sickness pass away, you will come to him 
 with all convenient speed." 
 
 Worn out as Margaret was with fatigue and anxie- 
 ty, this fresh access of joy was received in eloquent 
 silence. She folded her hands, and raised her eyes 
 to a niche in the wall, where a lamp burnt before an 
 image of the Virgin, an image before which she 
 had so often kneeled, during her late cruel vigils. 
 It was some moments before she found words to ex- 
 press her eagerness to rejoin her husband, once more, 
 whenever the health of her child should be suffi-
 
 JOANNA OP NAPLES. t i 
 
 ciently restored ; " but you see ! " she added, 
 pointing to the cadaverous countenance of her pa- 
 tient. 
 
 Father Matteo cast a cold glance on the half inani- 
 mate object, and said, " It is well. My errand to 
 Rome was not of this; but coming on business with 
 his Holiness, I likewise bore the message of your 
 husband. When it is fitting, he will look for you 
 in Naples; meantime, I return thither to-morrow, 
 and " 
 
 " Naples ! said you ? " interrupted the Princess, 
 " my husband in Naples ? I heard you not right- 
 ly." She looked at her attendants in amazement, 
 and their downcast, confused countenances excited 
 her surprise still farther. " What is this mystery ? 
 Why have I been deceived?" inquired the Princess 
 with increasing vehemence ; " they told me he was 
 in Lombardy." 
 
 " I know not what they may have told you, nor 
 wherefore they have blistered their tongues with false- 
 hood," resumed the monk, calmly ; " but I acquaint 
 you with the truth. He is in his home, in the fair 
 city of Naples." 
 
 A suspicion now broke on the mind of Margaret, 
 and she faintly asked, " What doth he there, sir 
 Priest ? " 
 
 7*
 
 78 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 " He contends for the crown, which God's Vice- 
 gerent hath given him, and besieges the dethroned 
 Joanna, in her citadel." 
 
 The unhappy Princess heard not the concluding 
 words ; there was a ringing in her ears ; the room 
 seemed to turn round with a wavering motion, and 
 muttering, "Is he a villain?" she would have 
 swooned heavily on the floor, if her attendants had 
 not caught her as she fell. The monk staid not to 
 look on the sufferings of her whom he had felled 
 with a word ; but glided in the confusion out of the 
 palace, and with a rapid foot, sped towards the hill of 
 the Vatican. 
 
 It was long ere sense returned to the Princess ; 
 and when at last the indistinct recollection, that 
 something dreadful had befallen her, stole on her 
 mind, she eagerly uttered the name of her child, and 
 looked towards the well-known couch, where all her 
 anxieties of late had centered. Alas ! a few more 
 throbs of the reviving pulse, and memory performed 
 her wonted functions too faithfully ! The dreadful 
 conviction of unworthiness in him she best loved, 
 the idea of the sufferings endured by her, whom she 
 regarded as a mother, and a model of female excel- 
 lence, by turns took possession of her imagination. 
 Her frame, exhausted by long watchings and recent 
 cares, was not prepared to endure this new and more
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 79 
 
 intense agony of mind ; and before day-light, her 
 alarmed attendants had summoned the^ physicians 
 again to the palace, to exercise their skill on the 
 unfortunate Princess of Durazzo. A consuming fe- 
 ver had prostrated her so entirely, that her own life 
 hung by a thread, while the child, she had nursed 
 with such tribulation of soul, lay breathing still feebly 
 in a neighboring apartment. 
 
 The short Italian twilight was already descending, 
 when Father Matteo hurried from the lonely Palazzo 
 San Carlo ; but almost the whole extent of the city 
 lay between him and the hill of the Vatican. The 
 moon rose as he crossed the Tiber, and when he stood 
 at length in one of the gardens attached to the pal- 
 ace, even then venerable with time, the fountain, 
 by which he paused, showered drops of silver into its 
 basin beneath her beams. The massy pile of build- 
 ings, on which he gazed, was already a collection of 
 palaces rather than a single symmetrical edifice, cum- 
 brous, gloomy, and inconvenient. The glories of the 
 coming century had not dawned upon it ; when, un- 
 der the magnificent Julius II., its halls began to 
 glow with the creations of a Raphael's imagina- 
 tion ; when Architecture, Sculpture, and Painting 
 held counsel together, how they should render it most 
 worthy to be the earthly residence of Him, whose 
 empire was not of earth alone. The genius of Mi-
 
 80 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 chael Angelo had not yet suspended, between heaven 
 and earth, that dome over the neighboring Cathedral, 
 which should be the admiration of future ages ; the 
 long line of Pontiffs had not yet risen, who should 
 gather splendor after splendor round this favored spot, 
 until it became what the astonished traveller now 
 finds it, a wilderness of wonders. But the new 
 sanctity which was attached to it, since the sacred 
 Conclave had assembled within its walls, an arrange- 
 ment of recent date, made it solemn in the eyes of 
 all true Catholics; while the power of Urban VI., 
 cruelly arid perfidiously exercised, lent to his gloomy 
 residence no attractions in the eyes of the young 
 and gay. The stillness of death brooded over 
 it; the part of the building, which the monk had 
 approached, overlooked the garden with its long 
 ranges of windows ; but no one sat there to look forth 
 on the moonlight, to enjoy the evening breeze and 
 the fragrance of the orange blossoms. Here and 
 there along the garden walks, silently glided the fig- 
 ures of some holy brethren, disappearing like ghosts 
 in the deep shadows of the trees, with steps as steal- 
 thy as if pacing the cloisters of a Carthusian convent. 
 The lonely owl, in the Coliseum, hooting as the 
 moon-beams looked into his ivied retreat, could scarce 
 have inspired a more mournful sense of desolation, 
 than was awakened by the hum of the populous city,
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 81 
 
 coming so faintly on the ear, with the dash of the 
 solitary fountain. It seemed as if the world, with all 
 its living bustle and innocent pleasures were indeed 
 shut out from the haunt of religion. But the religion 
 of those days did not teach that worldly cares and 
 pleasures may be disarmed and sanctified by the spirit 
 we may carry into them ; or that to conquer tempta- 
 tion is better than to exclude it, if exclusion be 
 possible. 
 
 Father Matteo paused to take breath, after his long 
 and hurried walk ; and leaning against the trunk of a 
 tree, he watched the palace with some anxiety. At 
 last a glimmer appeared at a window ; it passed on to 
 another and another ; and the figures of a few attend- 
 ants, bearing lights, preceded and followed the form 
 of a tall aged man, as they passed along an extensive 
 gallery. " It is he," murmured the monk ; " he goes 
 to his private closet to await me ; and this night I 
 must sound the depths of that crafty bosom. He that 
 deals with Urban must tread warily, for yonder dark 
 chamber holds uneasy furniture for the limbs of those 
 he loves not. They say the creaking of the rack dis- 
 turbs some men, more than the shrieks of the tortured 
 trouble his ruthless spirit." 
 
 He again drew the cowl over his face, and ap- 
 proached a low door, in an angle of the buildings, 
 which was opened at his knock. He passed along
 
 82 JOANNA OP NAPLES. 
 
 many passages, leaving others on either hand, through 
 one of which he distinguished, far in the distance, 
 the massy balustrade of that ancient grand staircase, 
 over which had passed the footsteps of Charlemagne, 
 and beside it, the equestrian statue of Constantine the 
 Great, standing dimly seen and majestic, beneath the 
 lamps of the entrance hall. His course, however, was 
 to the more private recesses of the palace ; yet even 
 there, the presence of the Pope's body guard showed a 
 dread of danger, most natural in one who had been 
 raised to power in a popular sftdition, and whose claim 
 must needs be as insecure as unjust. The monk cast 
 not a glance on the stolid countenances of these auto- 
 mata; nor a thought on the incongruity, which placed 
 armed men round the Head of the Church ; but 
 pressed forward, till he found himself admitted into 
 a small apartment, scantily furnished. 
 
 Before him stood a heavy marble table, covered 
 with scrolls of parchment ; and in a cumbrous arm 
 chair beside it, without canopy or ornament of any 
 kind, was seated a stern old man. His complexion 
 was dark and bilious ; every line of his countenance 
 strongly marked; his forehead high and square ; and ', 
 above it rose a round, close cap of dark velvet. The 
 tiara was of recent introduction, and used then, as ; 
 indeed at this day, only on public occasions. Not a ] 
 symptom of the extravagance, which then inundated 

 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. OtJ 
 
 the civilized world had found its way into the Papal 
 palace ; neither gems nor gold glittered about the 
 person of that stern denouncer of luxury, Urban VI. ; 
 and the very lamp, which was suspended from the 
 ceiling over his table, was of iron. This affectation 
 of simplicity corresponded ill with the number of val- 
 uable parchments, scattered about the room ; a num- 
 ber which, in those days, was profusion ; but he who 
 had been distinguished as the learned archbishop of 
 Bari had not forgotten his pride of erudition ; so vari- 
 ous are the forms worn by that most insidious of hu- 
 man passions. 
 
 There was one person more present; a young man of 
 slight figure and mild aspect, who sat apart, as if wait- 
 ing the pleasure of a superior. The attention of the 
 Pontiff seemed absorbed by the illuminated manuscript 
 volume, over whose purple vellum pages he was por- 
 ing ; the monk stood unnoticed ; and though, from time 
 to time, he made slight movements to attract the eye of 
 Urban, he dared not approach the table. At last the 
 youth spoke in a low voice, and the haughty prelate, 
 looking up, coldly saluted the new-comer, and de- 
 manded the tidings from Naples. 
 
 " I have left it in the hands of Durazzo," replied 
 the monk ; " and though the Queen still holds out, 
 the Castell Nuovo is rather her prison than her for- 
 tress. She never can issue from it but as a state- 
 prisoner."
 
 84 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 " And Otho?" asked the Pontiff; " his troops be- 
 leaguer Naples, we have heard." 
 
 " It is so," answered Father Matteo ; " but to no 
 purpose. Famine wastes the flesh of the wretches, 
 whom Joanna's folly admitted within her walls, and 
 the sword of her husband avails her little. A few of 
 her nobles deserted her on the arrival of a Prince, 
 whose claims were announced to be sanctioned by 
 heaven itself; and as I came, by stealth, through the 
 troops of Otho, there I found disloyal scruples, work- 
 ing in the minds of many." 
 
 " It is well, it is well ! " exclaimed the Pope, his 
 sullen eye sparkling for an instant. " On such ground 
 I plant my foot. The power of the Church rests on 
 public opinion ; I have sworn to myself that no tittle 
 of the rights claimed by the most noble of my pre- 
 decessors, Gregory VII., shall be wrested from 
 my hands ; and Princes must know, past all doubt, by 
 what tenure their bauble sceptres are held. This 
 woman, who disputes the authority of the Holy See, 
 and cleaves to Anti-Pope, how stands the affection 
 of your Prince towards her ? " 
 
 The monk hesitated somewhat, before he answer- 
 ed ; " It is still strong." 
 
 " How ! " cried the prelate ; " he wars upon 
 her, he keeps good faith with us, doth he 
 not?" 

 
 JOANNA OP NAPLES. 85 
 
 " Aye ; so long as the skilful hand is on the bridle, 
 he will not dart from the course ; but I may not con- 
 ceal from your Holiness, that he hath given me much 
 trouble, at times." 
 
 " Say on ; open this man's heart before me ; I must 
 know with what instruments we have to work." 
 
 As he spoke, the Pontiff rested his head on his 
 hand, and fixed his searching eye on the monk, who 
 felt under it the consciousness that he was, himself, 
 subjected to the keenest scrutiny. He went on calmly, 
 however ; " My trouble with the hot-headed Prince 
 hath arisen from many fond fancies he cherishes con- 
 cerning the gratitude due to the Queen of Naples and 
 the obligations of his youth. He is brave to heroism, 
 generous and open, full of what men call noble feel- 
 ings and good impulses ; but ductile, unsteady, and 
 devoured by ambition." 
 
 " He is the man I thought him," said Urban ; " he 
 is the man we want.". 
 
 " I believe it," replied the monk ; " but great as 
 are his reverence for the church of Rome, his belief 
 in the infallibility and supremacy of the Holy See, 
 his dread of its denunciation, and strong as is his 
 thirst for power, there are counteracting principles in 
 his nature that must yet be crushed, before we can 
 rely upon him. A single interview with his wife in 
 8
 
 86 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 Lorabardy, if I had not cut it short, would have un- 
 done all my labor." 
 
 " Hath she such influence?" asked Urban, knitting 
 his brows. " She must be disposed of." 
 
 " She is so ; I have no fear from that quarter, for 
 the present ; for I came upon her, when already half 
 dead with fatigue and anxiety, and when I told her, 
 with intentional abruptness, the part her husband 
 plays at Naples, she dropped as if smitten by a thun- 
 derbolt. She will not cajole the soft heart of Durazzo 
 very speedily, for, if I mistake not, she will be little 
 able to thrust herself among the counsels of men, till 
 the purposes of your Holiness are completed. It is 
 from Joanna herself, from the sorcery that she exer- 
 cises over all who approach her, that we must keep 
 this warrior. His wife but spoke to him of the 
 Queen, and his firmest resolutions dissolved like 
 vapor in the sunbeams. What effect will the aspect 
 the words the reproaches the tears of the Queen 
 herself have upon him? It was your pleasure, as to 
 my management on this point, I came to know." 
 
 Urban's countenance grew darker and darker. " Is 
 the faith of Charles pledged to you, in behalf of my 
 nephew here?" asked he. 
 
 " It is ; as surely as he mounts the throne of Na- 
 ples, so surely will he put the Count Butillo in pos- 
 session of the domains he hath promised. I have not
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 87 
 
 a doubt whether he will keep faith with your Holiness 
 in this matter. Let him but conquer the feelings, 
 which plead in behalf of Joanna, and the work is 
 done ; he is ours forever. The sole obstacle we have 
 to overcome is in his devoted attachment to that 
 woman. If that is not wrought upon by herself, or 
 any other subtle enemy to our plans, he will go all 
 lengths. Yet she has many friends ; and giving out, 
 as she does, that your Holiness has accepted costly 
 gifts from her, and professed much friendship for her of 
 late, a suspicion of duplicity has alienated many good 
 Catholics from their allegiance to the true Head of 
 the Church." 
 
 The monk watched the effect of this allusion on 
 the Pontiff; but the harsh features of Urban were 
 undisturbed. "It is true," he coolly remarked; " for 
 the good of the Church, not for our own emolument, 
 we have received her gifts, and we have kept terms 
 with her till our plans were matured. It is now time 
 that her unmanageable spirit be quelled, her luxurious 
 court be broken up, and our supremacy made to blaze 
 forth before the eyes of all the potentates of Europe. 
 She must be made a warning, a fearful one ; and I 
 charge you, Matteo da Villani, to see that neither 
 she, nor the pretty doll, her niece, get access to the 
 heart of this Prince of yours. He must be on the 
 throne of Naples, for there he can serve us. Whether
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 men work for us from the pure wish to aggrandize 
 the Church, or from the hope of reward, we must use 
 them." 
 
 . The monk, who had been so calm and decided 
 -when dealing with the feebler nature of Durazzo, 
 now felt himself overmatched by an abler and craftier 
 intellect than his own. The eye of Urban was still 
 upon him, cold and stern, watching each change of 
 his countenance, as he vainly strove to control its 
 muscles ; and he was conscious that he visibly shrunk 
 from a glance which seemed to penetrate his inmost 
 purposes. He looked at the door and at the youthful 
 nephew of the Pope alternately, uncertain whether to 
 retreat, or to venture farther into conference with 
 one so powerful, so wily, and so remorseless. 
 
 Urban perceived his embarrassment, and relaxing 
 his gloomy brow, added, "The Church hath re- 
 wards, it is true, for those who serve her skilfully and 
 faithfully, and on none can her honors be better 
 bestowed. Your Order, Father Matteo, stands pre- 
 eminent in services, and in your person we must find 
 one who will both carry forward our interests and 
 grace our favors. I bind myself by no promises, 
 mark me," he added, observing the brightened eye of 
 the monk ; " but I bid you go back to Naples, and 
 persevere in the work you have undertaken. I will 
 take care that my physicians visit the Princess Mar-
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. O\f 
 
 garet ; and if they manage their drugs aright, her re- 
 covery shall be conveniently tardy ; while you, without 
 molestation from her presence " 
 
 The cold-blooded Pontiff was here interrupted by 
 an ejaculation from the young man, who sat almost 
 behind him, and who arose suddenly. Urban looked 
 at his troubled countenance a moment, with some ex- 
 pression of surprise, and then said quietly, " Francis ! 
 you are but a boy, and a faint-hearted one. I must 
 indeed provide for him, who hath neither a politic 
 brain, nor a strong hand. Go forth ! a moonlight 
 walk is fitter pastime for you than these grave col- 
 loquies. I will take sufficient care of your inter- 
 ests. You shall be Prince of Capua, and hold sway 
 over a region whose soft clime may suit you well." 
 
 The young man left the room hastily, untutored, as 
 yet, in the dark policy of the court of Rome, and 
 rejoicing to escape from participation in counsels so 
 nefarious ; while the monk looked as if relieved by 
 his absence; so true it is, that there are times, when 
 the most hardened in guilt feel some wholesome awe, 
 in the presence of innocence. The door had scarcely 
 closed, when he drew nearer to the table, and in a 
 lower tone, with his eyes fixed inquiringly on the 
 countenance of Urban, he asked, "Will it please 
 your Holiness to give me your commands, your 
 8*
 
 90 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 final commands, respecting the course to be pur 
 sued 1 " 
 
 " Do you not comprehend the scope of my wish- 
 es ? " said Urban ; " have I not been sufficiently ex- 
 plicit?" 
 
 " My instructions have not been definite," returned 
 the monk ; " how far this Prince must be driven, 
 to what measures we may have recourse, in order to 
 bend this haughty Queen, I know not." 
 
 " She must bend or break," replied the Pontiff. 
 
 " She will never yield her crown, save with the 
 head that wears it," urged Father Matteo. 
 
 The Pontiff paused, " And you choose not to 
 venture too far, without the sanction of my express 
 command! You are a wise and cautious man, Matteo 
 da Villani ; and must needs prosper in these troubled 
 times. Now bear in mind what I say to you. That 
 mock-Pope at Avignon wins men's hearts by his 
 courteous words and gentle deeds ; I shrink not 
 from dipping my hands in the blood that would gush 
 from the neck of Joanna, Queen of Naples, you 
 know that I should not; but interest, good Matteo, 
 interest bids me work by measures more politic. Let 
 this Charles of Durazzo be goaded on by every spur 
 you can apply, to a spirit so fiery ; and either in the 
 hot hour of victory, or in some moment of despair, 
 when she blocks up his way, manage him well, good
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 91 
 
 confessor, and you will find no need of precise direc- 
 tions from me." 
 
 The face of Father Matteo again gleamed with the 
 terrible smile of exultation it wore, when Charles left 
 him, at their last important interview ; and that in- 
 voluntary smile was marked by a shrewd observer. 
 " I would have you -speed to Naples," said Urban, 
 " for your business there is weighty ; but before our 
 conference close, I will ask you a plain question, 
 and that is what you least look for. Why do you 
 harbor malice, bitter, persecuting, vindictive mal- 
 ice, against the Queen of Naples ? " 
 
 The monk for an instant stood dumb. He found 
 himself completely unmasked before one, to whom 
 the most iniquitous windings of the human heart 
 were familiar. But, taking courage from the very 
 emergency of the case, he resolved to unfold his 
 whole secret to the man, whose sympathies were be- 
 lieved to be with all things dark and cruel. His 
 frame shook, and his emaciated cheeks became livid, 
 as almost leaning on the table, he said in a suppressed, 
 hoarse voice, " I am the son of that Conrad Wolf, 
 whom she drove ignominiously from Naples. Cle- 
 ment VI. and his Cardinals had unanimously acquit- 
 ted her of the fearful charge of having murdered her 
 husband. She came back in her pomp from Prov- 
 ence. I saw her triumphal pageant j and then I
 
 92 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 saw my father die in obscurity. He had been man- 
 gled by the infuriated populace, that had risen in her 
 behalf, and I swore to avenge him. I swore that 
 she too should die a violent death ! " 
 
 Urban looked steadfastly on the convulsed features 
 of the monk, working with the worst passions of 
 human nature. " I have seen the German governor 
 of whom you speak," said he ; "I recognise him in 
 every lineament of his son's countenance. All men 
 said that he merited his fate." 
 
 " I care not ! I care not," cried the monk, 
 " forgive me, Holy Father, that I forget in whose 
 presence I stand. My feelings do not often burst 
 forth thus ; but for years, they have flowed on in a 
 deep, steady, strong current, that leads to sure re- 
 venge." 
 
 " Thou art of the wolf's own race, I see ; " said 
 Urban with a bitter smile ; " and truly, there is a 
 promise that thy thirst for blood may be quenched. 
 Go to Naples, to Naples, my son ! If I love not 
 its haughty Queen, I need but give her up to thy 
 tender mercies ; and that I surely will, if she do not 
 grovel in the dust beneath my feet. Leave us, and 
 set forth, for the hours are precious ; others have 
 now claims on my time." 
 
 The sound of footsteps was heard in theante-room, 
 and the monk, stifling his agitation, took a hasty leave.
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. Uo 
 
 Uneasy at being thus hurried away, he regretted hav- 
 ing been thrown off his guard, and resolved to lose 
 not an instant in hastening back to Charles, and 
 watching for the propitious moment to accomplish 
 his own purposes, by the hand of another. "If Joan- 
 na prove a feeble and fickle woman," he thought, 
 " and yield all required homage to this proud Pontiff, 
 she will escape me yet! he will not scruple to play 
 rne false." Miserable with the doubts and anxieties 
 that harass a bosom, on whose schemes the blessing 
 of heaven cannot be invoked, and feeling how little 
 reliance the unprincipled can place on each other, 
 Matteo da Villani hurried from the dark precincts of 
 the Vatican ; and as day broke over the Sabine hills, 
 it lighted him and his small train along the melan- 
 choly wastes of the Pontine marshes.
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 IT was on the afternoon of the twenty-fifth of Au- 
 gust, that Joanna ascended the walls of the Castell 
 Nuovo with a languid step, to look once more sor- 
 rowfully over the bay, for " hope deferred " had 
 almost settled into the sickness of despair. Day by 
 day she had seen misery deepening in the haggard 
 countenances of those about her ; and now as she 
 passed, every eye rolled upon her glassy and vacant; 
 every cheek was hollow with want ; and as the wo- 
 men and children sometimes held out their meagre 
 hands to her, silently imploring the succor she could 
 not give, she turned from them hopelessly to the 
 warriors, whose gaunt limbs and unsteady steps told 
 as fearful a tale of the sufferings their own stronger 
 frames endured. She had pledged herself to surren- 
 der on the twenty-sixth, if the expected aid from 
 Provence should not arrive ; and clinging to the last 
 slender chance of relief, sheriveted her gaze on the too 
 familiar entrance of the harbor, with an intensity that
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 95 
 
 sometimes almost seemed to conjure up the dim out- 
 lines of objects she longed to behold. 
 
 It was while thas absorbed, and striving to realize 
 that the last sun of her freedom was sinking rapidly 
 in the western skies, that she was roused by a moan 
 near her. She had been too much accustomed, of 
 late, to sounds of wo to be easily startled ; but this 
 was like the last faint groan of dissolution ; and 
 turning hastily, she perceived a wretched object, 
 lying in the shadow of a turret near her. It was an 
 elderly female, whose features were drawn out and 
 sharpened by the pangs of hunger and the approach 
 of death. Her head was supported by a pale, thin 
 youth, who occasionally wiped the damps from her 
 forehead ; and, as he stooped forward to watch the life 
 coming and going in her fixed eyes, was unconscious 
 of the Queen's approach. Joanna had, as yet, heard 
 of no actual death from starvation, in her garrison ; 
 and struck to the heart by this spectacle, she invol- 
 untarily drew near, and stood before the expiring 
 woman. For a moment she was recognised; the 
 poor sufferer made a feeble effort to raise her head 
 and stretch out her bony hand, whispering, " It 
 is the Queen, our good Queen." The young 
 man looked up, but did not move ; and after a mo- 
 mentary relapse, the woman again uttered, falteringly, 
 
 " Serve her, Giovanni ! I charge you, my son ! 
 
 serve our good Joanna! "
 
 96 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 The Queen was choked with emotion, as she 
 heard these words of affection from a subject, dying 
 so miserable a death at her very feet ; and again she 
 felt, as she had often done, the littleness of all human 
 power. She was still a Queen, still an object of 
 veneration to this departing spirit ; but not, in her 
 proudest days, could she have stayed its flight one 
 moment. It might be some such consciousness, that 
 floated through the mind of the young Giovanni ; for 
 after the first glance, he seemed to forget the presence 
 of majesty ; until Joanna, unable to look idly on the 
 convulsive spasms of the dying woman, turned hastily 
 away, and commanded an attendant to bring food, if 
 it were the last crum in the fortress. 
 
 The youth then impatiently moving his hand ex- 
 claimed, " No ! no ! it is too late ! " It was indeed : 
 in another moment, his mother again, as with her last 
 struggle, said more distinctly, " Serve her, my son, 
 for she has been good to us ! " and then turning to 
 his breast, drew her limbs upwards with a shiver, and 
 after a few gasps, ceased to breathe. 
 
 The cry, which seemed to break from the heart of 
 the youth, rung terribly in the ears of the Queen, and 
 incapable of speaking consolation amidst the first 
 bursts of filial sorrow, she retired at once to her apart- 
 ments; and herself gave directions respecting fitting 
 burial for the body. It had seemed to her, that those
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 97 
 
 emaciated features had not been unknown to her in 
 former days ; and when, at sunset, her attendants in- 
 formed her that the youth requested permission to see 
 her, she eagerly ordered him to be admitted into her 
 presence. He was scarcely eighteen ; and his hunger- 
 stricken countenance betrayed that youthful vigor 
 alone had enabled him to sustain the fearful ordeal 
 under which his mother had sunk. He was now 
 calm, though the traces of sorrow remained on his 
 swollen eyelids. His soiled but once costly apparel 
 showed him to be no menial ; and the modest courtesy, 
 with which he thanked the Queen for her kindness, 
 was that of one who had been accustomed to approach 
 personages of high rank. His face, too, had in it 
 something familiar; and Joanna sought in vain to re- 
 cal when and where she had seen him. " I cannot 
 forget my mother's last words, so long as I have 
 breath," said he, with a faltering voice. " She bade 
 me serve you ; to-morrow may take away the power; 
 and I have come to ask your Majesty, if it be indeed 
 possible that I may obey her commands." 
 
 " Tell me first," said the Queen, " who is the faith- 
 ful son and true subject, that forsakes neither his 
 mother nor his Queen in their adversity ? " 
 
 " I was a beardless boy when your Majesty last saw 
 me, but suffering hath changed me more than time. 
 My mother has often told me how, at the close of the 
 9
 
 98 JOANNA OP NAPLES. 
 
 terrible pestilence, you reentered Naples from your 
 exile; and how you passed, one day, like a radiant 
 angel, all pomp, youth, and beauty through the street 
 where she lived, when my father fell smitten by the 
 destroying angel on his own threshold ; how your 
 attendants stood back terrified, while you came down 
 from your palfrey, and courageously held water from 
 a neighboring fountain to his lips, and spoke com- 
 fort to her ; and how you protected the widowed 
 and fatherless, when his corpse was thrown into the 
 dreadful pit. Have you forgotten that when you 
 discovered her to be of gentle birth, you gave her a 
 place among the attendants of your own lovely in- 
 fant?" 
 
 " I remember it all," cried Joanna, " When God 
 smote my child in its cradle, with sudden and mys- 
 terious death, I came back from the gorgeous cere- 
 monies of my coronation, to forget its splendor in 
 the rosy smiles of the darling whom I left slumbering 
 in perfect health, and your mother stood sobbing 
 over its lifeless clay ! I have not seen her for years 
 past, but could I forget her? " 
 
 " Your bounty reached her," said the youth, " and 
 for me you provided nobly." 
 
 The dueen's countenance changed. "I recog- 
 nise you too," said she ; " I procured you an appoint- 
 ment in the household of my son of Charles of 
 
 Durazzo. You were his page, I think ? "
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES 99 
 
 " I am so," replied Giovanni. 
 
 " And what do you here ? " asked the Queen has- 
 tily. 
 
 " When my master approached Naples," said the 
 page, " I hurried forward to protect my mother. I 
 found her feeble from recent illness, and she re- 
 proached me because I did not forsake him, for his 
 treachery to you. I could not ! I could not ! for to 
 me he has been a noble and kind master, and I love 
 him. The people fled in all directions, and she con- 
 jured me to bring her hither. We entered with the 
 throng, and I staid to soothe her sufferings, to sup- 
 port her while I could, to see her die at last. And 
 now, I would go back to my kind, generous, misguid- 
 ed Prince." 
 
 Joanna sat a few moments, lost in thought ; and 
 then suddenly repeating his last words, " Misguided 
 Prince ! alas ! alas ! " she strove to repress a groan. 
 
 Giovanni spoke not, but his varying countenance 
 expressed shame for the master he adored, and re- 
 spectful compassion for the injured sovereign before 
 him. At last he inquired timidly, " Is there no way 
 in which the page of Durazzo can aid the Queen of 
 Naples? You will not bid me leave him." 
 
 "No, no!" cried Joanna; " God forbid that those 
 to whom he may have shown kindness should prove 
 ungrateful ! May that punishment never wring his
 
 100 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 heart. Go to him, faithful boy, and serve him so far 
 as you can innocently, through joy and sorrow, 
 through the deceitful hours of guilty prosperity, 
 and the dreadful season of retribution. / ask no 
 other kindness at your hands." 
 
 The youth burst into tears, and sunk on his knee 
 before her; it was the homage of uncorrupted feel- 
 ings to her virtue rather than her rank ; and Joanna's 
 dry and burning eyes were moistened with an emo- 
 tion most grateful in the midst of her afflictions. " Is 
 there nothing, nothing I can do for my august 
 sovereign? I would fain perform somewhat that I 
 may be glad to remember, when I am a man, some 
 service to her personally." 
 
 The Queen shook her head ; but as the youth 
 rose, something crossed her mind, and she exclaimed, 
 " Yes, stay ! My poor husband ! we may never 
 meet again ; and a line from my own hand would 
 cheer his brave heart ! Giovanni, will you leave the 
 honored remains of your mother under my charge ? 
 There are priests in the fortress and her dust shall 
 not be neglected. I will have masses said for her 
 soul ; but speed you forth this very night into the 
 city to rejoin your master ; and find means to bear 
 one farewell word from your unfortunate Queen to 
 her husband. Will you undertake it ? " The young 
 man hesitated, and she added, "I would not have
 
 JOANNA OP NAPLES. 101 
 
 you peril your life, and you know best yourself, with 
 what risks the enterprise may be fraught. I do not 
 urge it." 
 
 " It is not of my life I am thinking," said Giovan- 
 ni, " but of my honor ; yet I know not that I should 
 pass the bounds of duty to my master, in fulfilling 
 your request. My mother's dying words are in my 
 ears, and I will obey them at all hazards." 
 
 The Queen paused a little longer for reflection ; 
 and then turning to a table, where lay her writing 
 implements, she penned a hasty note of affection to 
 Otho, apprizing him of her approaching capitulation, 
 and bidding him a solemn farewell ; for she felt that 
 her future destiny was darkened by the prospect of a 
 long separation. Giovanni departed at twilight, and 
 by the Queen's command, was permitted egress from 
 the Castle, through one of the subterranean passages, 
 leading to the water's edge. We need not follow 
 him ; it is sufficient to say, that having presented 
 himself to his princely master, with whom he was 
 deservedly a favorite, and explained his absence, he 
 found means to convey the letter of Joanna into the 
 enemy's camp, and to the hands of Otho, before day- 
 break. Meantime the Queen forgot not her promise, 
 with regard to the poor woman who had died in her 
 presence ; and on the last evening of her cruel siege, 
 the most solemn services of religion were performed 
 9*
 
 102 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 in the Castell Nuovo, by those who felt that if relief 
 were not at hand, their own enfeebled limbs might 
 next lie down in the grave. 
 
 Few slept in the wretched garrison on that night. 
 Reduced to the last extremity, many of the famishing 
 wandered about ceaselessly, hushing the moans of 
 their children, watching the slow march of the 
 stars ; and as the hours wore on, casting many an 
 impatient glance to the east. The faintest silver light 
 was breaking over the hills, when Joanna left a couch 
 haunted by horrid dreams, and went up for the last 
 time among her people, few and faithful, to sur- 
 vey the uprising of the sun which would probably 
 light her into captivity. All night long, she had been 
 tormented with visions of blood, or with phantasma- 
 goria of the ghastly faces that met her by day; and 
 as the pale dawn of the fatal twenty-sixth of August 
 gave them again to her view, hovering along the walls 
 like spectres, she shuddered and felt, that any fate to 
 her would be welcome, which might save these un- 
 happy creatures from the slow and torturing death of 
 famine. As the eastern horizon grew brighter and 
 brighter, she had not the heart to look, as she had 
 once done, on that gorgeous spectacle, which never 
 wearies the eyes of the happy ; but turning to the 
 sea, vacantly contemplated the harbor, and Capri 
 rising dimly on the southern verge. Her thoughts
 
 JOANNA OP NAPLES. 103 
 
 were no longer on the promised aid from France ; 
 treachery had beset her all her life long, and Duraz- 
 zo had blighted the last remaining germs of her con- 
 fidence in mortal man. " Gay Provence has forgotten 
 me ; " said she to herself; " the mild and affable 
 Clement will not aid me ; Anjou is too busy with 
 his own pressing cares ; there is no man living, 
 that can or will strike one blow more for the liberties 
 of Naples or its deserted Queen ! Even my husband 
 has not the power to help me, or knows not how 
 critical is the emergency. Oh, Charles ! the bitterness 
 of all bitterness is to feel that thou hast made my 
 misery ! that in two short hours more, thy unnatu- 
 ral crime will be consummated, and I shall be hurled 
 from the throne by the very hands I have so often 
 clasped in mine, when thou wast like a loving son to 
 me, an innocent, affectionate, true-hearted boy ! 
 Shall I not awake, and find it all a terrible dream? " 
 
 The time had indeed been fixed at two hours 
 past, sunrise, when the Castell Nuovo was to be yield- 
 ed, without condition, into the power of Durazzo; 
 and though Joanna did not face the east, she knew 
 when the glorious luminary had lifted himself above 
 the Apennines; his rays shot across the city and bay, 
 and gilding the ridge of Posilipo, called, as it were, into 
 bright existence its wooded heights and white villas. 
 Still she sat motionless ; her officers silently gathered
 
 104 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 about her; and from the various subterranean pas- 
 sages and cells of the fortress its whole wan and trem- 
 bling population came pouring up, as if the graves 
 were yielding their dead. The walls next the city 
 were lined with them, standing, sitting, or lying, as 
 their strength permitted, in mute expectation. A clock 
 struck in a neighboring church ; it was the only one 
 in Naples, and still a new thing on the earth, and 
 men, not yet familiar with it, felt, when that solemn 
 voice came forth on the air, as if Time himself spoke 
 to them, while he sped on his awful course. Even 
 the Queen started at the sound, and withdrew her sad 
 contemplations from the monastery of San Martino, 
 the object of her munificence in happier days. Bat- 
 tista recalled her attention to the same quarter, how- 
 ever, by pointing out something about the Castle of 
 St. Elmo, which frowned on the heights just above it; 
 and with looks of surprise, she conferred with her 
 officers for some moments before she left the walls. 
 She retired to her private apartment, as the hour of 
 surrender arrived ; but Luca di Battista followed 
 shortly to inform her, that though the city was evi- 
 dently in commotion, no one approached the fortress. 
 " The passage leading into the Strada di Toledo is 
 deserted," said he ; "we see armed men continually 
 passing and repassing across it, at a distance, and there 
 is a sound of tumult that increases every moment ; 
 but we seem to be forgotten."
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 105 
 
 The Queen, who had assumed a noble composure, 
 now became agitated. " I believe you were right," 
 said she; " that brave boy kept his word with me, 
 last night, and Otho is roused to an effort that may 
 cost him dear." 
 
 " He must have attacked the city," returned the 
 Baron ; "I know of nothing else, that could with- 
 draw the attention of the enemy, at this moment. 
 Courage, my Queen ! we may be saved ! " 
 
 "No no" replied Joanna; "do not excite 
 false hopes, my good Baron ; it is the alternation of 
 hope and despair, that frets out the heartstrings. 
 Had the galleys from Provence arrived, a general on- 
 set from without might have done me good service ; 
 and for that advantage, Otho has, no doubt waited ; 
 but the news of my unhappy condition has driven 
 him on a desperate measure. He will fail ; my heart 
 forebodes nothing but evil." 
 
 " Nay," exclaimed the nobleman ; " think better 
 of it. Your Majesty is worn down with fasting and 
 anxiety, and they make even men prone to despond." 
 
 " I know it," said Joanna, sadly. " The weakness 
 of this frail tabernacle of clay does strangely debili- 
 tate the nobler tenant within. I will repair once 
 more to the walls." 
 
 As she approached a flight of steps, leading from a 
 court up to the ramparts, a large hound, still stately
 
 106 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 in his proportions, though extenuated by famine, 
 crawled towards her, whining and feebly making 
 demonstrations of joy at seeing her. He had be- 
 longed to her husband, and had once saved his mas- 
 ter's life in a boar hunt; and though not another 
 animal in the fortress had been spared, Joanna had 
 given orders that this faithful creature should not be 
 slaughtered till the last extremity. He had not tasted 
 food for three days; and as he looked up expressively 
 in her face, with his large imploring eyes, the Baron 
 said, " Methinks it were greater humanity to knock 
 the poor beast on the head, than let him die by inch- 
 es. Starving is an ugly death." 
 
 The Queen looked irresolute ; she passed her hand 
 over his long velvet ears, and as he stooped his head 
 to receive the caress, the gold collar which her hus- 
 band had playfully fastened round his neck, as the 
 reward of his bravery, caught her eye. " No ! " she 
 exclaimed, turning away ; " I have not the heart to 
 give such an order. Live on, a few hours longer, 
 poor Brancone, and thou shalt have a new master. 
 Di Battista, he that will enter this Castle to-day, as 
 a victor, loves a noble dog, and will feed the hound, 
 though he starve the mistress." 
 
 " Aye," said di Battista to himself; " the dog 
 hath no crown to be coveted."
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 107 
 
 They mounted to the walls, and as Joanna seated 
 herself where she could look down into the square 
 between the Castle and the city, she felt something 
 touch her hand. It was the dog, who had followed 
 her with difficulty ; and as she bade him couch at her 
 feet, obedient to the last, he lay, or rather fell down be- 
 fore her, and stretching forth his limbs, tried to forget 
 in uneasy sleep the hunger that gnawed his vitals. 
 
 In the mean time the clashing of weapons came 
 now distinctly on the breeze, and as the inhabitants 
 of the Castle stood listening breathlessly, wonder arid 
 anxiety were on every face. At times, the skirmish 
 seemed to recede, and then it approached again ; but 
 nearly an hour elapsed, before any token of the battle 
 presented itself. Suddenly, shouts were heard more 
 plainly; a cloud of dust was seen rising above the 
 houses in the Strada di Toledo. It advanced slowly, 
 and at last, a tumultuous throng appeared at the foot 
 of the street, leading from that main thoroughfare of 
 Naples to the square before the Castell Nuovo. Half 
 veiled in dust, and engaged in furious conflict, they 
 came on; but it was plain that every inch of ground 
 was contested ; and the progress of the party strug- 
 gling to reach the Castle was tardy. 
 
 Frantic with joy and reviving hope, Luca di Battista 
 summoned his feeble band of archers to their posts ; 
 and though it was evident that scarcely a dozen had
 
 108 JOANNA OP NAPLES. 
 
 strength to draw the long bow, he prepared boldly 
 to aid the approaching friends, and exclaimed again 
 and again to the Queen, " Courage, my noble mis- 
 tress ! they fight like lions ! we shall open the gates 
 to them presently." 
 
 The Queen did not remove her eyes from the scene, 
 but still sorrowful in aspect, only answered, " They 
 bring us no bread." 
 
 " But they open a passage through the enemy," 
 cried the sanguine warrior ; " they will find means to 
 throw in provisions, or set us free, trust me ! " 
 
 At this moment, a single knight, mounted on a 
 powerful bay horse, burst through all opposition, and 
 waving his bloody sword above his head, came gallop- 
 ing into the square. The white and silver scarf about 
 his body, despite its crimson stains, showed that he 
 belonged to the Queen's friends; and di Battista shout- 
 ed loudly and incessantly to the men at the gates to 
 open them and push forward the drawbridge. Be- 
 fore the brave knight could reach the moat, however, 
 several of the enemy dashed after him into the square; 
 and as he turned to defend himself, still backing his 
 horse towards the Castle, their strokes rained upon 
 every part of his armor. The flash of weapons in 
 the broad sunlight was dazzling to the beholders, but 
 he who fought, singlehanded against such fearful odds, 
 lost not his presence of mind for an instant ; plung-
 
 JOANNA OP NAPLES. 109 
 
 ing his sword into a crevice in the armor of one an- 
 tagonist, he drew it forth reeking; then suddenly 
 wheeling about, he dextrously hamstrung the steed of 
 another rider, who came heavily to the ground, and 
 left him for a moment unmolested. He again pushed 
 towards the drawbridge, but in vain ; the enemy were 
 upon him. Two spurred between him and the Cas- 
 tle, and not a follower of his own had yet emerged 
 from the street; his headlong valor had led him be- 
 yond their assistance; but without a shout or a word, 
 he defended himself manfully. The archers discharg- 
 ed their arrows from the battlements ; but many of 
 them dropped short of the mark, and others fell im- 
 potently, as if sent by the hands of children, against 
 the helmets and shields of the assailants. Luca di 
 Battista raged like a chained tyger; and crying, 
 " Give me a crossbow ; it brings the strong and 
 the weak on a level," he seized a huge arbalist and 
 prepared to discharge it with his own hands. The 
 Queen, meantime, had watched every movement below 
 with the most intense interest ; she had started up, as 
 the knight entered the square, and standing with 
 clasped hands and blanched lips, her garments flutter- 
 ing in the breeze, she seemed almost ready to leap 
 wildly into the fearful scene. Once or twice she ex- 
 claimed, "Who is he? di Battista! do you not know 
 him?" " No, not I," cried the Baron; " he is a 
 10
 
 110 JOANNA OP NAPLES. 
 
 brave man, bear he what name he may ; and we 
 will have him among us, please Heaven." 
 
 The unknown warrior was now within a few yards 
 of the moat, and once, for a single instant, he looked 
 up at the spot where the Queen stood ; but through 
 his closed visor, she could not discern his features. 
 " Yet it must be he ! it can be none else ! " she 
 whispered to herself; and the blood rushed joyfully to 
 her face, as she perceived several knights in white and 
 silver scarfs present themselves at the entrance of the 
 square. It retreated upon her heart again, however, 
 as a huge soldier, already unhelmeted in the conflict, 
 and gashed on one cheek, approached the solitary 
 combatant, whose attention was again, for a moment, 
 drawn off, by the appearance of his followers. The 
 man raised his immense battle-axe unheeded, as the 
 warrior, sending forth his voice for the first time, 
 shouted to his knights to come on. No sooner 
 was that voice heard than the hound, who had 
 been 'lying apparently unable to stir, by the side of 
 Joanna, uttered a cry, and getting on his feet with 
 difficulty, crawled to the very edge of the wall. He 
 gazed down earnestly a moment, then raising his 
 head, snuffed the breeze, and having uttered a few 
 moans, as if conscious of the danger, he sprang down 
 into the moat. Too feeble to swim, he struggled but 
 a few instants, and sunk in the stagnant waters. This
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. Ill 
 
 last display of fidelity in poor Brancone told Joanna, 
 too plainly, who was the heroic knight ; her agony of 
 suspense was already dreadful, and a shriek broke 
 from her lips, as Luca di Battista discharged an im- 
 mense javelin from his crossbow. At the precise in- 
 stant that it left the bow, aimed at the man who wield- 
 ed the battle-axe, the beset knight perceived his 
 danger, and to avoid the blow levelled at his crest, 
 checked his steed, who in rearing intercepted the 
 weapon from the walls. It pierced his shoulder ; 
 the noble animal made a plunge forward, and thus 
 exposed the head of his rider to the fatal stroke 
 of the battle-axe. It descended, the helmet gave 
 way, and the light German hair and manly features 
 of Otho were exposed to view, as he was dashed 
 senseless to the ground ! 
 
 Joanna knew nothing more. For the first time in 
 her life, she fainted away utterly, and was carried 
 down to her apartment.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE desperate valor of Otho was wasted ; with his 
 fall ceased the conflict ; slain, wounded, or made 
 prisoners, his troops suffered severely from the enter- 
 prise ; and before noonday the ruin of Joanna was 
 decided ; her last hope destroyed. She bore the in- 
 telligence with fortitude, however. On recovering 
 from her swoon, she learned that her husband still 
 lived, though wounded and in the power of the ene- 
 my ; and after a few hours' retirement, she nerved her- 
 self to endure an interview with her conqueror. 
 
 It was in the coolest and loveliest hour of the day, 
 when the land breeze blew refreshingly from the hills, 
 and the sun was sinking peacefully towards the hori- 
 zon, that the immense gates of the Castell Nuovo 
 were set open, its broad moat bridged for the adver- 
 sary's tread, and the square before it filled with arm- 
 ed men. Durazzo himself first planted his foot on 
 that bridge, but it was with a downcast eye. Then 
 came on rank after rank of silent soldiery, following
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 113 
 
 under the dark, massive archway, which, flanked with 
 huge round towers, seemed built to endure for ages. 
 As they entered the court and filed to the right and 
 left, before them stood the small and half-starved gar- 
 rison of Joanna; their visors up, and their ghastly 
 countenances bearing dreadful testimony to the suffer- 
 ings they had endured ; while at every loophole, and 
 at the doors of dark passages were dimly seen innu- 
 merable faces of women and children still more ema- 
 ciated with want. From the centre of the little group 
 of soldiers advanced Luca di Battista, himself pale 
 with fasting and sleepless nights, but with an aspect 
 so haughty and stern, that as he fixed his eyes on the 
 approaching victor, they spoke the contempt which 
 he felt in his soul ; and an observer, ignorant of the 
 truth, would have reversed the relative position of the 
 two warriors. Di Battista might have been taken for 
 the spirit of the fierce Charles of Anjou, the builder 
 of the Castle, rising from his grave in anger at the 
 ingrate, who came to rend her inheritance from his 
 fair descendant. The step of Durazzo had lost its 
 martial firmness ; it was slow and unequal ; he chang- 
 ed color every moment, and with a trembling hand, 
 without looking him in the face, he received from 
 di Battista the massy keys of the fortress, and hastily 
 delivered them to an officer who was to be its com- 
 mander. 
 
 10* 
 
 :,
 
 114 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 This slight ceremony over, the troops of Durazzo 
 were dispersed to their respective positions along the 
 deserted walls, which soon bristled on every point 
 with lances and spears ; and the native humanity of 
 Charles's disposition, chilled but not frozen by a 
 selfish ambition, manifested itself in the next arrange- 
 ment. Wagons, loaded with provision, came creak- 
 ing through the gateway, and the sufferings of the 
 famished were at an end. The chief seneschal of 
 Joanna, with several of the officers usually in attend- 
 ance on her person, then appeared to conduct Du- 
 razzo to her presence. They had reached the spa- 
 cious ante-chamber to her apartment, when the 
 Confessor of the Prince suddenly arriving at the 
 Castell Nuovo, followed him without hesitation, and 
 overtook him as he crossed its threshold. The monk 
 had been absent for a few days, and had returned to 
 Naples at the critical moment when the troops were 
 marching into the fortress ; and on learning that an 
 interview was to take place between the conqueror 
 and the conquered, he lost not a moment. Without 
 staying to shake the dust of travel from his dress,- 
 he hurried unceremoniously through the knightly 
 throng, that pressed towards the ante-room to catch 
 a glimpse of a Queen so celebrated ; and coming up 
 with the Prince as he entered the lofty apartment 
 where Joanna had proposed to receive him, he laid
 
 JOANNA OP NAPLES. 115 
 
 his hand hastily on his arm. " My son ! my son ! " 
 said he ; "what are you doing? Did I not caution 
 you ? Did I not warn you ? " 
 
 " I know it," replied Durazzo ; " but how can I 
 shrink from the presence of a woman ? I would 
 rather mount the scaffold than meet her eye ; but she 
 demands to see me, and on what plea can I refuse a 
 boon so trifling ? " 
 
 " Tush ! folly, folly ! " ejaculated the priest ; 
 "step hither and hear me." He drew the Prince 
 aside, and with earnest gestures and indefatigable 
 perseverance used every argument in his power to 
 dissuade him from holding the purposed colloquy. 
 He was but too eloquently aided by something in 
 Durazzo's own bosom; who, conscience-stricken, 
 and ashamed of the position in which he stood 
 towards the Queen, trembled as he entered the state- 
 ly halls of the Angevins, and approached her, on 
 whom he was inflicting wrongs so base. 
 
 " It were better that we should not meet, I ac- 
 knowledge ; " said he ; " but now that I stand almost 
 in her presence, now that I have intruded on the 
 sanctity of the royal apartments, and have warned her 
 of my approach, it were unknightly rudeness, 
 methinks, and most unbecoming in a generous con- 
 queror to turn from her, as with mere wanton ca- 
 price!"
 
 116 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 "Idle, boyish scruples!" exclaimed Father Mat- 
 teo; "said I not so? I knew that the very air she 
 breathed would unman you; your brave knights 
 will yet look on with scornful smiles, to see their 
 hero caught in the snares of this Jezebel. Go forth 
 from these enchanted chambers, my son, if you are 
 not already spell-bound and nerveless, and leave me 
 to deal with her who is your deadliest enemy. I will 
 bring you her demands; her smooth accents and 
 boasted eloquence will find another hearer than the 
 purchaser of Avignon. I pray you, have mercy on 
 yourself, my Prince, and begone from these danger- 
 ous walls. The house of Anjou totters at your 
 touch, but you may be crushed in its ruins, if you 
 will not be counselled." 
 
 Perturbed and uncertain what course to pursue, 
 still accustomed to be governed by the voice that 
 addressed him so authoritatively, Charles actually 
 turned to retire.; when the double doors at the upper 
 end of the hall were thrown open, and a dazzling 
 vision presented itself. Joanna stood before him in 
 the centre of a sparkling semicircle of attendants ; 
 and she herself blazed forth in the full majesty of a 
 Queen. Either by chance or design, the dress she 
 wore was similar to that in which he first saw her 
 arrayed for some public occasion ; rich folds of dra- 
 pery fell round her statue-like form with classic
 
 JOANNA OP NAPLES. 117 
 
 grace ; its glossy silken texture was wrought with 
 flowers of gold ; her girdle was composed of jewels ; 
 the crown, which rested lightly on her high forehead, 
 glittered with diamonds and rubies ; and her hands, 
 folded on her breast, held a small but exquisitely 
 wrought crucifix, worthy the approaching days of 
 Cellini. The lofty beauty of her countenance was 
 almost unearthly ; excitement glowed in her cheeks, 
 and flushed from her sunken but expressive eyes ; and 
 she looked all that she had been in the glory of her 
 earlier days, when the gaze of a Petrarch delighted 
 to dwell on one who realized a poet's dream of female 
 loveliness, and the laughter-loving Boccaccio learned 
 to reverence virtue in a form so fascinating. Years 
 rolled back ; the day, the hour, when that same 
 resplendent form first stood before him, rose on the 
 memory of Durazzo ; and though the rosy lips of the 
 apparition no longer wore the sweet, maternal smile, 
 which then dispelled his boyish timidity, but greeted 
 him with a cold yet placid gravity, the present mo- 
 ment vanished completely in the gush of fond recol- 
 lections. He stood thunderstruck an instant, and 
 then as he rushed forward and threw himself at the 
 Queen's feet, the tender appellation of other days, 
 " My mother ! my mother ! " burst from his uncon- 
 scious lips. The witnesses of a scene so unexpected 
 remained hushed as death ; the monk bit his nether
 
 118 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 lip, and with a countenance lurid with wrath, turned 
 away ; the Queen herself forgot her august compo- 
 sure, and as her lip trembled with a momentary emo- 
 tion, she almost laid her hand kindly on the bent 
 head of the Prince ; but suddenly recollecting her- 
 self, she drew back proudly. " I have wished to see 
 you, Charles of Durazzo," she said, " but not thus. 
 Rise, for that posture little becomes the terms on 
 which we meet." 
 
 Charles stood up, his cheeks burning with shame, 
 and his eyes fixed on the ground ; and with the same 
 calm, sweet tone the Queen proceeded. " You are 
 my master, by strength of arms you are so ; but the 
 crown of my ancestors is on my brows, and never, 
 while I breathe, will I voluntarily place it on the head 
 of an usurper. He that wears it, shall be worthy 
 of it. This it was my pleasure that you should hear 
 from my own lips." 
 
 The undaunted spirit of this declaration roused the 
 pride of Charles for a moment, and retreating a few 
 steps, he looked up boldly ; but again cowered as he 
 encountered the brilliant eye of Joanna, fixed steadily 
 upon him. He stammered a few words, and the Queen 
 bent her head forward to listen ; but unable to express 
 himself articulately, he looked towards his Confessor. 
 The monk met his embarrassed glance with a con- 
 temptuous smile, and the Queen resumed, "I ask
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 119 
 
 of you the safety of my husband and my garrison. 
 Priests, women, children, and a few brave men, 
 once able to bear the weight of armor and^kilful to 
 use it, have clung to my fallen fortunes with an affec- 
 tion and fidelity that have touched my heart's core ! 
 I would not be ungrateful, however I may be 
 sunken in the world's eye ; but a deposed Queen has 
 little grace to grant. I can plead for their lives and 
 property, with their conqueror and mine, it is all I 
 can do ; and for that purpose, I vise the few brief mo- 
 ments of our interview. Is my petition granted 1 " 
 
 " It is," said Durazzo; "all, every thing you 
 can ask ! Try me farther ! Demand any thing that 
 I can perform, and prove whether I am as heartless 
 and ungrateful as you deem me." 
 
 " Nay ! I have but one favor more to ask ; 
 an honorable prison, a convent rather than a dun- 
 geon." 
 
 " Mother in heaven ! " cried the Prince; " a prison ! 
 Think you I am a brute, a monster 1 I would smite 
 the head from the shoulders of him who should speak 
 of a prison for the person of my adored benefactress ! 
 Never, so help me Heaven ! shall wrong or outrage 
 approach you, while the son of your adoption wields 
 a sword or draws the breath of life ! No, most 
 august Joanna. By divine injunction I receive the 
 crown, which must pass from the house of Anjou ;
 
 120 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 by the will of him who bears the keys of Heaven, 
 and through whose mouth God himself speaks his 
 sovereign, pleasure to earthly princes, I claim the 
 throne which you must vacate ; but never, never 
 shall I forget the filial love of my boyhood ; never 
 shall I inflict one unnecessary pang upon the heart 
 that opened to me in my desolation. You shall dwell 
 with me in the Castle, whose foundations were laid 
 deep in the seashore by your warlike progenitor, and 
 steadfast as those foundations you shall find the faith 
 of Durazzo! Trust me, dearest mother; give me 
 back your love, your confidence. Abide with me 
 with all the wonted splendors of your rank about you ; 
 cheer me in my troubles ; aid me with your counsels ; 
 and though I may not bow the knee of a subject, I 
 will pay the fondest homage of a son at your feet." 
 
 As the Prince spoke, he again sunk on one knee, 
 and attempted to raise the golden hem of her garment 
 to his lips ; but the Q-ueen withdrew it with dignity ; 
 and as a slight expression of scorn passed over her 
 face, she replied; "This hour unfolds how little 
 you know me, Durazzo ; how ill you can understand 
 the true spirit of a born sovereign. I will not wrong 
 you ; I think not that you speak to mock and insult 
 me, though a proposal so degrading quickens this 
 pulse with an indignation you have not the soul to 
 comprehend. You are bound by the laws of chivalry
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 121 
 
 to respect me as a woman, and an oppressed one ; 
 and I do not hold you such a recreant, that you wil- 
 fully pour contumely on your prisoner. But I tell 
 you, Charles of Durazzo, I will not look tamely on 
 your usurpation. I will not walk about these halls 
 like the eagle, whose wings are clipped. I will be 
 caged, or I will soar ! Till my subjects forsake me to 
 the last man, I will not forsake them, nor acquiesce 
 in a mean compact, which transfers them to an un- 
 principled ruler." Charles started up, but the Queen 
 went on. "I know you, Prince of Durazzo; I 
 know you now. Physical courage you have ; fearless 
 and brave as a lion in the face of danger ; but moral 
 courage, the noblest gift of your race, you have 
 not. You have some vague, unsettled sentiments of 
 honor ; but fixed principles you have not ; and he 
 who is the slave of blind impulse cannot rule a king- 
 dom rightly." 
 
 "Urban thinks not so," said Durazzo; "he reads 
 me better than she who trained me at her knee." 
 
 " Rememberest thou those days, Charles? " asked 
 the Queen, in a voice so soft and tremulous, and with 
 a tone so melancholy that the eyes of all present filled 
 with tears. The Prince shook ; his heart swelled, and 
 it was with difficulty he repressed the impulse to burst 
 forth, once more, into protestations of affection ; but 
 a sudden movement of the monk, who seemed about 
 11
 
 122 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 to interfere in the colloquy, checked him. " If the 
 Head of the Church," he began, "if Urban 
 
 himself" 
 
 "Name him not," interrupted Joanna ; " he too is an 
 usurper, and himself born a subject of Naples, he may 
 well preach treason. You well know;Durazzo, that I 
 cleave to the cause of Clement, and look upon the 
 Archbishop of Bari as one who has grasped the keys 
 of St. Peter with a sacrilegious hand, and has made 
 intrigue and sedition his stepping stones to power 
 which he abuses. You know that I gave shelter to 
 the Cardinals who fled from his tortures ; that when 
 the tiara was brought secretly to Fondi, I sent my 
 ambassadors to witness the coronation of Robert of 
 Savoy, to whom I bow as Clement VII., the only law- 
 ful Father of the Church ; and that I have thereby 
 drawn on my head a fierce and unrelenting persecu- 
 tion. Urban, Charles, is my deadly enemy, the 
 enemy of my prosperity, my peace, my life, and 
 my reputation. If my name goes down to posterity 
 blackened with calumnies that make me shudder as I 
 think of them, it is his hand that has given the mortal 
 stab to my fame ! his influence that will live along 
 the page of history, blighting the character of an 
 injured and innocent woman, long after her bones 
 have crumbled to dust. Oh, Charles ! that you should 
 become the puppet of him, who would crush me into
 
 JOANNA OP NAPLES. 123 
 
 the earth ; who would drive me from the memory of 
 the good, and shut out my soul from heaven, were 
 that his prerogative; that you, whom I once loved 
 so tenderly, should become a thing I cannot respect, 
 a gilded toy-king I must despise ! " 
 
 A hectic spot was now on the cheek of Durazzo ; 
 when Luca di Battista burst suddenly into the apart- 
 ment, exclaiming, " The laggard, craven slaves ! I 
 would a whirlwind met them now! Look there, my 
 Queen ! " And as he spoke, the impetuous Baron 
 threw back the lattice from a window near Joanna, 
 which commanded a view of the bay. The whole 
 lovely scene was bathed in the richest crimson glow 
 of sunset ; but the eye of the Queen marked little of 
 its beauty, for full in view, ten French galleys came 
 on, just rounding the promontory of Posilipo, and 
 ploughing the golden waves, as they beat up bravely 
 against the land breeze, that almost baffled their pro- 
 gress. The Queen stood dumb, gazing as if bewil- 
 dered, and almost fancying it some optical illusion, 
 conjured up by the sunbeams and evening vapors; 
 then sadly exclaiming, " Too late ! too late ! " she 
 clasped her hands before her eyes to shut out a spec- 
 tacle so glorious in itself, so cruel under existing cir- 
 cumstances ; and sunk into a seat. 
 
 After some little conference with his officers and 
 with Father Matteo, Charles respectfully approached
 
 124 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 the Queen, whose spirits and fortitude seemed for a 
 time to have given way. " I relieve you from my 
 presence for to-day," said he; " but to-morrow, when 
 refreshed by sleep, you will perhaps admit me to a 
 conference that may terminate more satisfactorily." 
 
 " I know not that," replied Joanna, somewhat 
 impatiently; "but I would pray you one thing with 
 all earnestness. Let not these tardy Frenchmen be 
 harmed ; let them go back in safety from their fruit- 
 less errand ; and let me have one interview with them, 
 that I may thank them for the good they purposed." 
 
 " It shall be so," replied Durazzo ; " they shall be 
 treated as my own guests ; and to-morrow, if such be 
 your pleasure, they shall be ushered into your pres- 
 ence." 
 
 " I would fain see them," replied the Queen ; " my 
 destiny is sealed ; and after to-morrow, I would quit 
 the Castell Nuovo." 
 
 The Prince and his attendants left the apartment, 
 and Joanna, worn out with fatigue and excitement, 
 retired to solitude and tears.
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 IT was with unavailing consternation and regret, 
 that the deputies from Provence learned whose was 
 the banner floating so proudly on the tower San Mar- 
 tino ; and that, had they reached the bay of Naples 
 but a few hours sooner, its unfortunate Queen might 
 have been saved from a captivity as hopeless as unjust. 
 Mournfully they entered her presence on the day 
 after their arrival^ but they were not permitted a pri- 
 vate interview. Charles himself had gone to the 
 Castello dell' Uovo, on the west side of the city, under 
 whose wave-encircled walls the French fleet was 
 moored. He had proposed to strengthen its fortifica- 
 tions, and, at the instigation of his Confessor, had 
 chosen this day to inspect it; but several of his offi- 
 cers attended the foreigners in their conference with 
 the Queen, and Father Matteo mingled unbidden 
 with the train. It was his policy to keep the Prince 
 from all direct intercourse with a woman, whose high 
 spirit might soon be broken ; and whose tender ap- 
 11*
 
 126 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 peals to the better nature of Charles would then, he 
 well knew, be irresistible ; and he resolved, if possi- 
 ble, to be the medium of communication between 
 them. He feared indeed that a single night's reflec- 
 tion on the actual position of her affairs might have 
 humbled her into concessions, which would satisfy 
 the ambition of the Prince ; but the first glance at 
 her regal brow, as he followed the French into her 
 audience chamber, satisfied him that he need dread 
 no humility on her part, which would be dangerous 
 to his schemes of vengeance. The treasures which 
 she and her principal nobility had borne with them 
 into the Castle were still employed to support the 
 splendor she deemed becoming her rank ; for in that 
 age, the Genius of Invention, newly awakened from 
 a sleep of centuries, toiled diligently in the service of 
 luxury. The costly attire of the Cardinals, who 
 thronged around the wealthy Clement at the court of 
 Avignon, would have purchased whole cities in the 
 days of the ancient republics, though the anathemas 
 of the Church of Rome were thundered against the 
 vanities, not only of crowned heads and nobility, but 
 of churchmen themselves. Joanna, a female, 
 scarce emerging from childhood when she mounted 
 the throne, had caught the spirit of the age. Her 
 reign was the era of many inventions ; one of her 
 own subjects had bestowed the Compass on the ad-
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 127 
 
 venturous mariner; and the delicious climate of Na- 
 ples, the attractions of its sovereign, and her liberality 
 towards all worthy objects, drawing many distin- 
 guished foreigners to her court, it had been her 
 delight to welcome them with a magnificence suited 
 to her resources. 
 
 She now sat on a chair of state, raised three steps 
 above the floor ; a canopy of cloth of silver above 
 her, and a blue velvet carpet, flowered with silver, 
 covering the steps at her feet. Her own dress was 
 simple but costly; the single band of gold, which 
 confined her veil, being enriched with the most pre- 
 cious gems; a cross of large rubies resting on her 
 swan-like neck, and her black velvet robe delicately 
 embroidered round the hem with vine-leaves and 
 bunches of grapes in pearls. She was no longer 
 flushed with feverish excitement, nor unnaturally 
 pale; her eye had regained the calm, thoughtful 
 expression it had worn for years, and no one who 
 looked at her would have believed her a Queen but 
 yesterday deposed. Her reception of the French 
 noblemen, as they were severally introduced to her, 
 was full of her accustomed sweetness and majesty ; 
 and one or two of them she recognised at once. 
 " Noble Baron of Rocroi ! " said she, " it is many, 
 many years since we parted at Nice; we may almost 
 count them by tens; yet it were not well to dwell on
 
 128 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 the events through which they have whirled us. It 
 seems a dark, misty chaos, as I look back ; but I 
 joy to see your soldier-like frame unbent by time." 
 
 " These locks were hardly touched with silver, 
 when your Majesty left your faithful subjects in Pro- 
 vence," said the old warrior, as he knelt to kiss her 
 extended hand. 
 
 " No," replied Joanna, " but white as they now 
 are, and worn upon the temples by the helmet, you 
 see I cannot forget the hawk eye of Rocroi. And 
 this youth, his face is familiar, yet he could not 
 have seen the light, when we broke up our court to 
 traverse the seas." 
 
 " It is the young de Lisle," replied the Baron de 
 Rocroi, " who prayed earnestly to come on this ex- 
 pedition, that he might behold her of whom he has 
 dreamed from his cradle." 
 
 '' De Lisle ! " repeated the Queen sadly ; " I loved 
 your mother, young man ; the beautiful Countess de 
 Lisle was the pride and ornament of my French 
 court. In her bridal days we walked together amid 
 the shades of Vaucluse ; and her tears fell fast when 
 we parted. It is her clear olive complexion and her 
 animated smile that you inherit. Did she bequeath 
 to you, also, her reverence for her sovereign, her 
 sympathy for the oppressed ? "
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 129 
 
 " She did, indeed/' exclaimed the youth eagerly, 
 half drawing his sword from the scabbard ; " and I 
 have thought nineteen summers too many over my 
 head, before I brought my maiden blade into your 
 Majesty's service." 
 
 " One day too many has indeed passed," said the 
 Queen, with a melancholy smile ; " and now, my good 
 and brave friends, trusty, I doubt not, though dila- 
 tory ; how chanced this fatal delay ? What adverse 
 wind swept the Mediterranean, when the fate of Jo- 
 anna hung on your speed ? " 
 
 The Frenchmen looked downwards in silence ; and 
 it was some moments before the venerable Rocroi 
 replied to her inquiry. " It is true that we were for 
 many days wind-bound in the port of Marseilles ; 
 but, gracious Queen, your cry for help came 
 across the waters, just when the death of the monarch 
 had thrown the whole kingdom of France into con- 
 fusion, and Louis of Anjou was straining every nerve 
 to raise troops in his own defence. His regency 
 was over, but tumult and bloodshed were about him, 
 and distracted by innumerable perplexities, he could 
 not take measures in your behalf so promptly as his 
 heart would have dictated." 
 
 The Queen listened with attention to the defence 
 of the worthy Baron ; but paused before she answered. 
 A slight expression of doubt passed over her face,
 
 130 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 and leaning on the arm of her chair, she covered her 
 eyes with her hand, as if willing to reflect on what 
 she had heard. " Good Baron of Rocroi," said she at 
 length, " you were wont to be highly esteemed as a 
 man of no less sagacity and integrity than prowess ; 
 and such I do hold you. Tell me then, are these the 
 unvarnished facts 1 Is Louis of Anjou true in his 
 heart and worthy of my confidence ? " 
 
 " He is ! " exclaimed the old knight with energy. 
 " I believe him a most honorable and highminded 
 Prince ; and that the evil star of Queen Joanna, which 
 bade her summon his aid at the very conjuncture, 
 when he could not grant it, ruled him in this matter. 
 Never, never will he wrong or deceive you, most 
 august Queen ; and I verily believe he will be smitten 
 with the sorest anguish, when he learns how ill our 
 errand hath sped. Men dreamed not that your dan- 
 ger was so imminent." 
 
 " I thank you for this assurance, worthy de Rocroi," 
 replied the Queen, with her former unclouded aspect ; 
 "I trust you; but who, who can wonder, that a 
 nature, once too confiding, hath long since become 
 prone to distrust ? Who can blame me, when so late- 
 ly forced to rend an idol from my heart" She 
 
 paused to recover herself, but it was only for an in- 
 stant. " Now, most noble Barons of Provence, I see 
 around you men, whose swords and hearts are pledged
 
 JOANNA OP NAPLES. 131 
 
 to the cause of Durazzo ; I see Italians by your side, 
 who will listen to my words in the spirit of jealousy 
 and hatred ; yet, in their presence, will I speak boldly. 
 You well know, that at the tender age of fifteen, I 
 came to the crown. What perils, what difficulties, 
 what temptations then surrounded me, no mortal man 
 can know. It was not a day of vainglorious exulta- 
 tion ; the tears of my regret fell on the grave of my 
 venerable grandsire, and I trembled as I looked on 
 the wild breakers, amid which he had left me, though 
 I knew not half their hidden dangers. My sex, my 
 age, my rank, those charms of which courtiers told 
 me, now rapidly waning, each and all brought their 
 own trials ; yet men had no mercy on my youth and 
 inexperience; they forgave not my errors ; they forgot 
 not my infirmities ; they exaggerated my indiscre- 
 tions ; I had deadly foes and false friends, and my life 
 has been a succession of calamities ; my reign filled 
 with hurricanes, both political and domestic, and 
 slander has ever been busy with that, which is dearer 
 than life to the virtuous, my good fame. Yet, noble 
 Barons ; as truly as I now stand before you, a liv- 
 ing, breathing, hapless woman, so truly does my 
 conscience acquit me of aught that approaches crime; 
 so truly have I striven to serve God and my fellow- 
 creatures, in all innocence and uprightness. The 
 enemies of my youth are in their graves ; the sorrows
 
 132 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 of my earlier years have receded into the gloomy 
 Past ; but where do 1 now stand ? Let me declare to 
 you in the presence of yonder lowering Dominican, 
 that I know myself to be on the brink of a precipice, 
 and I know whose fierce hostility hath driven me to it. 
 I refused to acknowledge the unjust election of the 
 Archbishop of Bari, a bad man and a cruel one ; * 
 and he hath denounced me, excommunicated me, 
 tampered with the fidelity of my subjects, stolen from 
 me the affections of the son I adopted, poisoned the 
 sweet cup of domestic happiness, threatened me with 
 ruin, and I am in his power. Think not that I speak 
 boldly because unconscious of my danger. I behold 
 with an undaunted eye the melancholy vista opening 
 before me; dethronement, imprisonment, a brok- 
 en heart, a premature grave, and a blasted mem- 
 ory. He who can rend Christendom with a fatal 
 schism, make the Church a double-headed monster 
 
 * " Alle sciagure da cui giaceva oppressa 1' Italia, un' altra 
 assai piti grave se ne aggiunse nel funestissiino scisma, che per 
 tanti anni divise e desolo miseramente la chiesa. Morto 1' an. 
 1378 il pontef. Gregorio XI., che avea ricondotta a Roma la sede 
 apostolica, ed eletto a succedergli, non senza qualche tumulto, 
 Bartolomeo Prignani, arcivescovo di Bari, che prese il nome di 
 Urbano VI., questi, colla eccessiva sua severitk, fece ben presto 
 pentire piti cardinali, e i Frances! singolarmente, della elezione 
 
 che aveano fatta." 
 
 TIRABOSCHI, Tomo V., p. 14.
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 133 
 
 that distracts the consciences of the pious, forget 
 in his selfish ambition and unhallowed strife, that the 
 voice of the heretic, Wickliff, cries scorn even from 
 the shores of his own friendly England, he, I say, 
 will not hesitate to wreak his malice to the uttermost 
 on a helpless female. Yet knowing all these things, I 
 do hereby protest, that no creature of his shall ever 
 mount the throne of Naples, while I have breath 
 wherewith to oppose it, nor while the solemn voice of 
 the dead can forbid it. I do hereby revoke the decla- 
 ration I once made in favor of Charles of Durazzo, 
 my adopted son and intended heir, declaring that his 
 base subserviency to the designs of Rome, his impa- 
 tient ambition and black ingratitude have forfeited my 
 confidence and my affection ! And I do hereby trans- 
 fer all my dominions in France and Italy, after my 
 decease, to Louis of Anjou, late Regent of France, 
 declaring him my sole lawful heir, and conjuring him 
 to assert and make good his claim to rule my beloved 
 people. As a pledge and memorial of my sincerity, 
 worthy Baron de Rocroi, I call all present to witness, 
 that I deliver into your hands this document, the 
 last will and testament of Joanna of Naples ; wherein 
 the intentions I have so distinctly expressed are ful- 
 filled. And now, kind and true friends, I would 
 bid God speed you back to dear, happy Provence. 
 12
 
 134 JOANNA OP NAPLES. 
 
 Begone, while the sea is calm, and before the hand of 
 the spoiler is outstretched ; for the purposes of unjust 
 men are more unsteady than the winds or waves. 
 As for the disinherited Charles, I loved him like a 
 true woman, faithfully, trustingly, to the last. I 
 could not, would not believe him false till his own 
 hand rent the bandage from my eyes ; and even now, 
 I hate him not. I pity him, my friends, I pity him; 
 for with agony of soul will he yet atone for the unde- 
 served suffering, with which he has wrung this heart. 
 Yet, mark me ; if ever you are told hereafter 
 that I have admitted his unjust claims, believe it not ; 
 even if they place before you an act signed by my 
 hand, regard it as false or extorted from me by fraud 
 or violence ; believe it not ; believe not your own 
 eyes ; believe nothing but these tears which I shed 
 before you, "and avenge them ! " 
 
 The Queen descended two steps, and delivered the 
 roll of parchment into the hands of the Baron de 
 Rocroi, who received it on his knee. He then rose, 
 drew his sword, the other noblemen followed the ex- 
 ample, and their manly voices rung through the hall, 
 as they solemnly renewed their oaths of allegiance to 
 their persecuted sovereign. This ceremony over, he 
 approached to take a sad respectful leave of Joanna, 
 and kiss her unsceptered hand. She bade them a 
 kind farewell, and as they passed silently, one by one,
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 135 
 
 from her presence, the tones of that most touching 
 voice yet ringing in their ears, unwonted tears rolled 
 down their cheeks. 
 
 From the moment that the Baron de Rocroi had 
 ascertained the state of affairs in Naples, he had re- 
 solved not to linger a day near its treacherous shores. 
 The crews of his fleet had been permitted to land, 
 only to take in a supply of fresh water, at which em- 
 ployment they had toiled through the night, and cool 
 morning, and he had promptly demanded a safe con- 
 duct from Charles, which that prince had as readily 
 granted, under the influence of his recent interview 
 with Joanna. From her presence, therefore, the 
 French chiefs returned to their ships, and prepared to 
 sail as soon as the afternoon Vento di Terra should 
 fill their canvass. 
 
 In the mean time Father Matteo, with equal de- 
 spatch, had gone in pursuit of Durazzo, burning to 
 communicate the intelligence of the Queen's pro- 
 ceedings, and to seize the moment for striking an im- 
 portant blow. Before he reached the Castello dell' 
 Uovo, however, Charles had left it. Restless and 
 unhappy, the victor of yesterday had wandered from 
 place to place ; and as he galloped with a small party 
 of attendants to various parts of the city, under dif- 
 ferent pretexts, the perturbation of his mind was visi- 
 ble in his absent air and troubled countenance. It
 
 136 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 was not till the afternoon, that the monk overtook him, 
 just as he had returned to the Castello dell' Uovo, and 
 stood on its battlements, watching the French galleys 
 as they went down the harbor with a prosperous 
 breeze filling every inch of their white sails. 
 
 " There they go ! " said Durazzo, with a forced 
 smile ; " the officious intruders are glad to make us 
 but a twenty-four hours' visit, and back they speed to 
 gay France. If our last tidings be true, Anjou will 
 find work enough for their ready blades on his own 
 soil, without sending them to bluster in a woman's 
 cause. I would he had despatched a few old min- 
 strels and troubadours to cheer us in these anxious 
 days ; we would have shown them some royal cour- 
 tesy." 
 
 " You have shown yon knaves more courtesy than 
 beseems your interests, my son," said the monk, bit- 
 terly ; " but their safe conduct would have availed 
 them little, could I have traced you some hours soon- 
 er ; it is too late now. You have sown the seeds of 
 your own torment." 
 
 " What mean you?" exclaimed the Prince. 
 
 " I mean that the mischievous and malignant wo- 
 man, whom you handle so gently, has prepared strife 
 for your companion these many years ! Yonder fleet 
 galleys carry with them that which shall bring upon 
 you fresh enemies, increasing difficulties, and unceas-
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 187 
 
 ing warfare ! Know you not, can you not guess, 
 what precious document they transport to the hands 
 of Anjou ? " 
 
 Charles's countenance fell, but he stood mute. 
 
 " I tell you," continued the monk, " the last solemn 
 will of Joanna is in that bark, which leads the van so 
 proudly. It makes Louis of Anjou her heir, and 
 consequently bequeaths to you a goodly inheritance 
 of strife and bloodshed. Inch by inch will you be 
 forced to contend for these fair possessions, with the 
 chance that, at last, the hand of your French com- 
 petitor may rend the crown from your brows, so lately 
 placed there by Urban himself. You came from Rome 
 a newly made king ; you may be driven back to it a 
 hunted fugitive. These are the loving acts of Joanna 
 towards you ! " 
 
 " Have I deserved aught better at her hands? " asked 
 Durazzo, turning deadly pale. " And yet that she 
 should make him her heir! how could I anticipate 
 such a step ? " 
 
 " Back, back to Venice ! " said the monk; " there 
 you were a man and a warrior. Your friends of 
 Genoa have need of you ; for men say that an aged 
 magician hath brought up fire from hell to serve those 
 desperate Venetians ; and that with smoke and red 
 flashes, he rains down balls of iron upon the Genoese 
 12*
 
 138 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 fleet* Go back to Venice, my son ; think no more 
 of fair Naples and its rich sovereignty j and as you 
 pass through Rome, stay only to render account to 
 Urban of the massy church plate that he melted down, 
 to hire fresh troops against this disobedient woman. 
 Tell him you are no match for her wiles ; that you 
 have not the spirit to curb her; that you have made 
 her your prisoner, and dare not treat her as such. 
 Tell him that she taunts and insults you to your face, 
 and speaks of you with contemptuous pity ; yet goes 
 free, and with mingled craft and haughtiness, lays 
 her machinations for your future ruin, unmolested. 
 Oh, blindness and infatuation most inconceivable ! 
 Well may rumor whisper that she too deals in a dark, 
 
 * " We may say, this was the most cruell warre that vntill that 
 time euer was seen in the world : for, therein was artillery first 
 of all vsed by the Venecians ; which was about the yeer of our 
 Lord one thousand three hundred, eighty two, or a little while 
 after. The inuention of this pestilent scourge of mankinde 
 was attributed to the Germanes : some say that a Monk, who 
 was a great Philosopher, found out the same ; not to that purpose 
 to haue killed and slain men therewith, but with a desire to haue 
 experimented the quality and naturall force of things. Others 
 are of opinion, that it was one Peter, a great Magician : but it 
 importeth little to knowe who it was ; for besides the ordinary 
 Historiographers which I follow in this place, ther be many 
 others write thereof." GKYMESTONE'S Imperiall History.
 
 JOANNA OP NAPLES. 139 
 
 unhallowed science, which gives her more than human 
 power." 
 
 " What would you have me do?" asked the per- 
 plexed and wavering Charles. 
 
 His ghostly father gazed steadfastly on his counte- 
 nance, so full of wo and uncertainty, and then looking 
 round at the page of Charles and other attendants, who 
 stood almost within hearing, he sunk his voice to a 
 stern whisper, and said ; "It was but yesterday, 
 you threatened to smite the head from the shoulders 
 of him who should speak of a prison for Joanna, 
 yet I dare do it." 
 
 The Prince started, and striking his hand against 
 his forehead, turned from the monk abruptly, and 
 strode away. Father Matteo looked after him earn- 
 estly, and said to himself, " Aye, start at first ! then 
 look askance at the matter once more; ponder; 
 become familiar with its aspect, and brood over it, 
 till reluctance vanishes, and you plunge forward with 
 a blindfold desperation. I have her closely immured ; 
 I am as sure of it as if I looked through the grated 
 window of her prison." 
 
 Durazzo left the battlements, instantly ; but it was 
 to return to his quarters in the city, where he shut 
 himself up in his apartment for two hours. At the 
 expiration of that time, Father Matteo was summoned,
 
 140 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 as he had anticipated. The door was again closed, 
 and their fearful conference protracted till the purple 
 twilight descended over land and sea.
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 IN the mean time a message came from Joanna, 
 requesting permission to visit her wounded husband. 
 It met with a prompt refusal. Another arrived, de- 
 manding an interview with Durazzo himself. That 
 too was refused. It was her heart's desire to solicit 
 the return of her beloved niece, that she might have 
 the consolation of a visit from her, in some neighbor- 
 ing convent ; but indignant at the harsh incivility 
 with which her requests were met, and judging rightly 
 that it boded ill, she forebore to molest her conqueror 
 farther, that night. 
 
 As the evening waned, no sleep sat heavy on her 
 eyelids. She dismissed her weary attendants, and 
 placed herself alone at a window of her chamber. 
 The air was peculiarly still and sultry ; the sky hazy ; 
 and the stars shone with a dim, reddish lustre, as if 
 looking sadly down on a world where they witnessed 
 so much sin and suffering. The monotonous sounds 
 of the waves, continually washing against the Castle
 
 142 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 walls, harmonized with the dejected state of the 
 Queen's mind. She had observed that her own guard 
 had been withdrawn, and sentinels substituted from the 
 ranks of those fierce hireling mountaineers, by whose 
 aid Charles had spread dismay in Naples. She felt her- 
 self a prisoner ; and leaning out from her casement, 
 looked wishfully down to some gardens beyond the for- 
 tress, whose myrtle groves and pleasant walks reached 
 to the water's edge. There, indeed, an illumination, 
 like the work of fairies caught her attention, for a few 
 moments, as those glittering insects, which light up 
 the summer evenings of Italy, flitted in myriads 
 among the trees, emitting and concealing their sil- 
 very light with the regularity of machinery. The 
 laugh of the thoughtless Neapolitans, who strolled in 
 search of coolne >s at that late hour, came up occa- 
 sionally to her ear ; and she smothered a sigh as she 
 thought, " Yes ! there is brightness, there is joy 
 yet in the world, though not for me. Are my sor- 
 rows so selfish that the thought cannot soothe their 
 anguish ? Oh no ; Charles ! Charles ! the parental 
 heart mourning over the misconduct of the being it 
 condemns and loves at once, cannot be selfish ; and 
 mine are the pangs of a disappointed mother. Little 
 dost thou dream of them ; deep and secret are the 
 fountains of these gushing tears. My people too ; 
 beloved, unhappy people ! what horrors of misrule
 
 JOANNA OP NAPLES. 143 
 
 await ye ! The heartless usurper must needs be a 
 tyrant ; he cannot, he will not study your welfare as I 
 have done; and the wealth, that should be the hand- 
 maiden of religion, charity, and the people's good, 
 will be wasted in bloody, ambitious wars, wherein ye 
 have no concern. He cannot rejoice in the quiet 
 arts of peace, with a guilty conscience forever strug- 
 gling in his bosom ; and unrighteous contention must 
 be the element in which such troubled spirits move. 
 Oh my son ; my unhappy boy ! my wretched people ! 
 my forlorn and suffering husband." 
 
 Forgetting thus the gloom of her own personal 
 situation, in the sad prospects of those she loved, 
 Joanna yielded in the solitude of night to that sorrow, 
 which before the face of man she would have mag- 
 nanimously suppressed; and laying down her head 
 on the edge of the window, she wept freely. She 
 was unconscious how the hours passed, for the ab- 
 straction of utter affliction, sometimes, like that 
 of happiness, makes us forgetful of time. It was 
 long past midnight, however, and repose at last 
 seemed to have settled upon that populous and most 
 restless city, when its stillness was invaded by a 
 strange and awful' sound. The Queen raised her 
 head suddenly and listened. It was a low subterra- 
 nean rumbling, as if a thousand chariots were 
 driven through vaults far beneath the castle, jarring
 
 144 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 the whole massy fabric ; and as it approached from 
 the west, and died solemnly away, her heart seemed 
 to cease beating. It was hushed by awe, not terror ; 
 she knew the voice of the earthquake, which had 
 spoken forth its deep accents not unfrequently during 
 her reign ; but seldom excited alarm, because unat- 
 tended by serious consequences. It had only re- 
 minded the thoughtful, that though they dwelt under 
 the bluest of skies, amid balmy breezes, with a soil 
 beneath their feet so fertile that the whole country was 
 a garden, yet that that soil was but a crust over a vast 
 fiery abyss ; a fact to which, every where, the black 
 lavas of former calamity bore fearful testimony, and 
 the craters of extinct volcanoes, visible at so many 
 distinct localities, gave also their witness. The shock 
 which had roused the Queen was not a severe one, 
 and amid the innumerable noises of busy day might 
 have passed unnoticed ; but as she rose, she involun- 
 tarily looked towards Vesuvius. The mountain stood 
 calm, silent, and majestic beneath the starlight ; the 
 long sleep of its fires was not yet broken. She re- 
 membered that in the beginning of the century the 
 volcano in the isle of Ischia had been active ; and 
 though its lofty summit was hid by intervening objects, 
 she turned to that quarter, half expecting to see the 
 heavens glowing with the reflection of the red erup- 
 tion ; but there too the skies shone with their wonted
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 145 
 
 lights alone. It might have been produced by the 
 distant operations of Stromboli, which, as she well 
 knew, had been in a state of activity from time im- 
 memorial. But the current of the dueen's sad 
 thoughts was now broken, and she gave herself up 
 to those reflections on the omnipotence of the Al- 
 mighty, which to intellects of a high order are so 
 absorbing. 
 
 Lost in sublime reverie, she lingered at the case- 
 ment without a thought of retiring ; when another 
 interruption called back her spirit from its musings. 
 The red light of a torch appeared flaring among the 
 trees, in one of the neighboring gardens already men- 
 tioned ; and presently its bearer, evidently a stripling 
 from the slightness of his figure, emerged from the 
 shrubbery, which fringed the turfy margin of the 
 shore, and wandered along as if searching for some- 
 thing. He soon reached a cypress, whose drooping 
 branches swept the water ; and loosing a small skiff 
 which was secured to its trunk, sprang in, pushed 
 off, and plunged his flambeau into the sea. Its sud- 
 den extinction seemed to leave a total darkness be- 
 hind ; and the Queen, after listening some time in 
 vain, was preparing to leave the window, when the 
 dash of an oar caught her ear. She leaned out again, 
 and was convinced that the boatman was approach- 
 13
 
 146 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 ing under the castle walls with great caution ; and in 
 a few moments more, he shot forth from their shadow, 
 apparently satisfied that no sentinels were stationed 
 along the water-side of the fortress ; and as the small 
 bark glided silently on the dark waters opposite her 
 window, she perceived that he stood up and made 
 signs to her. Once she thought he raised his arms 
 as if about to draw a bow ; but through the shades 
 of night it was impossible to distinguish his gestures 
 clearly. Aware that she herself was conspicuous at 
 the window of a lighted apartment, she was persuaded 
 that the stranger must probably recognise her person, 
 and propose to hold conference with her ; but it was 
 hot till after watching some time, intently, that she 
 perceived he was making signs for her to withdraw. 
 She did so ; and the next instant an arrow came 
 whizzing past her, and penetrating the oaken wain- 
 scoting of her apartment opposite the casement, re- 
 mained quivering in the wood. Startled and amazed, 
 she looked out again ; the youth and his boat were 
 skimming the waves swiftly, and were soon lost in 
 the gloom of night, once more leaving her in utter 
 perplexity. On approaching the arrow, she found a 
 slip of linen paper attached to it; and the following 
 words solved the mystery.
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 147 
 
 " Most gracious Queen, 
 
 " A secret and deadly foeplots.your destruction, and 
 rules the conscience of my poor master. They have 
 held a conference to-night. I know its result, and 
 have striven to rescue you. I had even bribed the 
 rude Hungarian captain of your guard ; but when I 
 came to claim admission, scarce an hour since, for 
 the purpose of withdrawing you secretly to a place of 
 safety, I found him trembling with superstitious ter- 
 rors. The earthquake seemed to him a warning 
 against the betrayal of his trust, and I was forced to 
 retire and seek some method to warn you of your 
 danger. They will come to you with propositions 
 this night ; seem to yield, noble sovereign, or you will 
 be hurried beyond the reach of aid. Gain time ; 
 and by to-morrow night, abler heads may plot, and 
 abler hands accomplish your flight. 
 
 " GIOVANNI DEL MONTE." 
 
 if**^"'""' 
 
 " The page of Charles ! " exclaimed Joanna to 
 herself, "Strange, strange are the chances of 
 this world ! The evil for which we were prepared 
 comes not, but sorrow lights upon us from some other 
 quarter ; and so too, the staff we lean on breaks, and 
 help is extended by a stranger's hand ! Durazzo is 
 my enemy, and takes counsel with the emissaries of 
 Urban ; this unknown, humble boy rises up to com-
 
 148 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 fort and protect a crowned Queen ! Noble youth ; 
 I will not peril thee. Thou shalt not entwine the 
 thread of thy destiny with that of my dark and tan- 
 gled fate, nor mingle in schemes that might bring 
 thee to an early and bloody grave. I will use no ar- 
 tifice; I will ask no delay; I will face all dangers 
 bravely, which threaten me alone." 
 
 So saying, the high-minded Queen tore the paper 
 into small pieces and cast them from the window. 
 As she stood, with the arrow yet in her hand, uncer- 
 tain how to dispose of it, a noise within the Castle 
 broke on the universal stillness. It approached; 
 doors opened, and heavy feet came trampling on, 
 along the marble floors. Shrieks from the ante-room 
 were then heard, and two of her female attendants 
 who slept there burst into her apartments with 
 disheveled hair, and clung to her looking back with 
 wild terror. The Queen, not entirely unprepared for 
 this scene, stood motionless, as an armed knight 
 presented himself on the threshold, apparently uncer- 
 tain whether to advance. On seeing, however, that 
 the Queen had not yet retired, but was standing 
 completely dressed, beneath the antique golden lamp, 
 suspended from the centre of her apartment, he 
 stepped into the room with an air of deep respect. 
 Behind him in the doorway appeared the grim faces 
 of several Hungarian soldiers ; and as the knight
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 149 
 
 looked back impatiently, the cowled head of a monk 
 presented itself also. The quick eye of Joanna dis- 
 cerned it, though in the dim back-ground ; and find- 
 ing that the foremost intruder still hesitated, she said 
 calmly, " I pray you, sir knight, approach, and sum- 
 mon hither the rest of your party, that I may know to 
 whom I am indebted for a visit so well timed and 
 courteous. How ! The Baron di Castiglione ! a 
 brave and honorable knight, as I have been wont to 
 think him ! and in his company the dark-robed, 
 lowering Dominican I marked to-day, and a band 
 of foreign ruffians ! Pleasant and fitting guests to 
 enter a Queen's chamber at this dead hour ! It is 
 well that sorrow keeps vigils, or you might have 
 chased gay dreams from my pillow. May I ask what 
 midnight work hath been assigned you by your noble 
 master? " 
 
 " Most august Princess," began the Baron ; but 
 Joanna interrupted him ; " Nay, spare the courtesy 
 of soft words, good Baron, when the deeds are so 
 rough." 
 
 The monk now came forward, planted himself be- 
 fore the Queen, threw back the cowl from his fore- 
 head, and fixing his sternest glance upon her, said in 
 a harsh, imperious tone, " We come from Charles 
 the Third, King of Naples, your sovereign and ours ; 
 13*
 
 150 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 and the business that brings us is of import too press- 
 ing to wait for daylight." 
 
 The Queen bowed her head slightly and said, 
 " I know whom you mean to designate by these titles. 
 What is your master's pleasure?" 
 
 " That you sign this document," returned the 
 monk abruptly, extending to her a scroll. 
 
 Joanna took it, cast her eye over it carelessly, and 
 dropping it on the floor, placed her foot upon it. 
 Then drawing her proud figure up to its full height, 
 she inquired, "Is this all? Know you not that my 
 declaration to the Barons of Provence renders all re- 
 cantation useless ? You were present at the inter- 
 view; you heard my words. You were aware it 
 would be an idle form to subscribe this worthless 
 document ; men would know it to have been extorted 
 from me. Shame on Charles to palter thus ! What 
 else doth he demand? " 
 
 " That you promise to attend the meeting of Ital- 
 ian nobles he will summon to-morrow, and there for- 
 mally and publicly disclaim your proceedings of this 
 morning, acknowledging yourself possessed of no 
 right to wear or bequeath the crown of these realms." 
 
 " Hath Charles the shadow of an expectation that 
 I shall so far lose my reason? Tell him that if I 
 obey his summons, it shall be to his sorrow ; that if I 
 come before the nobles of my country, it shall be to
 
 JOANNA OP NAPLES. 151 
 
 declare my rights, to protest against his injustice and 
 iniquity, to rouse the loyalty and chivalry which are 
 sleeping, not dead, in the bosoms of belted knights. 
 I will not deceive him. It would be my heart's wish to 
 meet him face to face before the world, and make a 
 solemn appeal to God and mankind. These wan 
 cheeks, the accents of truth and injured innocence, 
 his own accusing conscience and inward shame, 
 would give me a power over the hearts of my hearers, 
 that would reseat me on the throne of my ancestors. 
 He knows it ; he dares not trust me with such oppor- 
 tunity ; he has no thought of it, and the mockery 
 covers some further meditated wrong. What more 1 " 
 
 " The alternative," said the Baron, in a low 
 voice to Father Matteo j " tell her the alternative at 
 once." 
 
 " There is an alternative then ? " asked the Queen, 
 with some eagerness. 
 
 " A prison in the Apennines," was the stern reply 
 of the monk. 
 
 Joanna involuntarily uttered an ejaculation of dis- 
 may, and a brief pause succeeded ; then folding her 
 arms across her breast, and bowing her head, she said 
 composedly, " I choose it." 
 
 " Most noble Joanna," exclaimed the Baron di Cas- 
 tiglione, "think well, I conjure you. What boots 
 vain resistance ? Why struggle with power that must
 
 152 JOANNA OP NAPLES. 
 
 overmaster all opposition? Bend, while the storm 
 goes by." 
 
 " Never ! The reed in the valley may bend and es- 
 cape destruction, but the pine on the mountain must 
 break. The storm will not pass while Joanna cum- 
 bers the earth, unless the heart of the ambitious man 
 again become that of a child, and he put away evil 
 counsellors, that foster his ruling passions. Few, 
 very few of my own nobles has he bribed or subdued ; 
 those who are true to me shall never blush for the 
 womanly faintheartedness of Joanna, nor say that she 
 set them the example of subserviency. I reign in the 
 hearts of my people ; and therefore it is, that these 
 hollow propositions are sent to me in haste and se- 
 cresy, that night may cover the approaching crime. 
 Should he drag me a prisoner through the streets of 
 Naples, beneath open day " 
 
 " Time wears ! " interrupted Father Matteo ; " our 
 messages are spoken, and her choice is made. Baron 
 di Castiglione, she is your charge." 
 
 " Nay," said the Baron ; " the business is too 
 weighty for such unseemly despatch. Decide not so 
 hastily, lady ; the castles of the mountains are dreary 
 abodes; and she who has reigned in the most luxuri- 
 ous court of Europe dreams not of the lonely, com- 
 fortless, heart-breaking hours that await her."
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 153 
 
 " Good Baron," said the Queen, " I read in your 
 eye the respectful compassion that my situation claims, 
 and I thank you for it. Pity not me, however ; pity 
 rather your own deluded master. My choice is hasty, 
 not rash. There are emergencies in life when thought 
 rushes with unwonted rapidity through the brain, and 
 the soul distinguishes right from wrong with the light- 
 ning glance of intuition. My principles have been 
 years in forming ; their operation is instantaneous. 
 Bear me to my quiet prison ; and believe not that 
 Charles will be happier on an usurped throne, than I 
 in my unjust confinement. Holy Father, tell him 
 that as I have bequeathed to Louis of Anjou my do- 
 minions, to him I send this arrow; so keen, so 
 barbed shall be the thought of Joanna in his bosom. 
 I am ready. Is it not the Prince's pleasure that we 
 set forth to-night?" 
 
 " It is so," answered the monk, " and every ar- 
 rangement is made." 
 
 " Aye," said Joanna, "it was wisely done; the re- 
 sult of this visit was easily foreseen. My women, 
 are they not to accompany me ? " 
 
 " Not one." 
 
 The Queen changed countenance ; and the cries 
 of her attendants again broke forth at this harsh pro- 
 hibition. "It is well," said Joanna, recovering her 
 self-possession ; " I would not have my poor maidens
 
 154 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 share my unkind fortunes, though the tenderness of 
 my own sex, and the sympathy of those who loved me 
 might have poured one drop of sweetness into the bit- 
 ter cup. Farewell, my faithful friends ! Pray for me. 
 It would have been difficult to break my heart, if 
 cheered in adversity by your affection, therefore you 
 must stay. May you find no harsher mistress than I 
 have been. Go to Margaret of Durazzo. They tell 
 me she lies on a sick bed at Rome, but I know 
 that my sweet niece is true to me yet. Carry her my 
 blessing, and say, that could I have looked once 
 
 more on her beloved face Lead forward, good 
 
 Baron ! it is no hour for tears ! " 
 
 So saying, the Queen disengaged herself from the 
 weeping women, who still clung round her person, 
 wrapped herself in a large mantle and veil, and refus- 
 ing to listen to farther expostulation from di Castig- 
 lione, followed the monk with a firm step from the 
 apartment. 
 
 Lighted by torches, the party went down to the 
 vaults of the Castle, and proceeding through damp 
 passages, which the sunbeam had never reached, and 
 whose solid masonry seemed to defy time and violence, 
 they emerged from the very foundations of the build- 
 ing, at the water's edge. A large boat, well manned, 
 was in waiting; and in a few moments more the 
 Queen found herself bounding over the waves, that
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 155 
 
 bore her from a palace to a prison. The boatmen 
 pulled vigorously, and as their course was due south, 
 in less than two hours she was in the centre of that 
 celebrated bay, the billows leaping about her with the 
 white foam cresting their summits, as the night breeze 
 swept over them ; the glorious amphitheatre of lovely 
 and classic hills rising indistinctly round nearly the 
 whole horizon, the heights of Capri and Ana-Capri 
 with their neighboring promontory before her, be- 
 coming every moment loftier to the eye; Vesuvius on 
 her left, calmly overlooking the whole region like a 
 Queen ; and far, far behind her, Naples, buried 
 in repose and darkness, as it lay on the gracefully 
 sweeping northern shore, its situation marked only 
 by a few twinkling lights. 
 
 It was long after daybreak, when the party landed 
 on the rocks, not far from Sorrento, near a spot after- 
 wards chosen by the Jesuits for the convent of La 
 Cocomella; and here a small troop of horse awaited 
 them. In silence the Queen mounted, and without 
 casting a glance toward the noble relics of antiquity 
 which grace these shores, then far more perfect than 
 the wandering antiquary of these days beholds them, 
 she rode in the centre of her guards along the fine 
 road, now covered by the encroaching waves. Avoid- 
 ing the populous town, the Baron led the way at full 
 speed across the fertile plain of Sorrento, where all
 
 156 JOANNA OP NAPLES. 
 
 the fruits of summer clustered upon vine and bough 
 over their heads ; and the peasantry, coming forth to 
 their morning labor, greeted them cheerfully as they 
 passed, little dreaming, while the glittering party 
 swept by, that their beautiful and unfortunate Queen 
 rode there a disconsolate prisoner. 
 
 When they had ascended the first ridge of the 
 mountains that approached the coast, Joanna profited 
 by a momentary halt to look back ; but the vast and 
 magnificent prospect, that lay below, only called up 
 agonizing remembrances. The remains of a noble 
 Roman aqueduct, striding across the plain with its 
 lofty arches ; the white villages and gray ruins ; groves 
 of every shade of green; capes, islands, and the silver 
 sea beyond all, fair in themselves, and hallowed by a 
 thousand associations, were stretched forth under a 
 cloudless sky and bright morning sun, that seemed to 
 rejoice in the beauty he beheld ; and her heart yearned 
 over the whole region with a mournful presentiment 
 that she should never more be gladdened by its love- 
 liness, nor minister to the happiness of its population. 
 On they went again, down the steep declivity ; the 
 whole fairy scene was shut from view, and eastward, 
 before them, extended the green Campagna, to the 
 foot of the eternal Apennines, rising in gloomy majesty 
 to the very skies.
 
 JOANNA OP NAPLES. 157 
 
 Towards the close of the next day, they paused 
 near a monastery at the very base of the mountains. 
 A tremendous pass opened before them, leading into 
 wild, untrodden recesses, from whose depths a torrent 
 came rushing down to the plains. The cliffs, which 
 overhung the valley, sometimes gray and bare, some- 
 times shaggy with ancient forests of larch and pine, 
 seemed to the inexperienced eye completely inacces- 
 sible ; but far up among the crags, and perched on 
 the very verge of a precipice, the turrets of a solitary 
 fortress caught the rays of the setting sun. The 
 evening mist already crept sluggishly along the stream 
 winding in front of the monastery, and as the Q,ueen 
 watched the illumination of the loftier and more dis- 
 tant mountain peaks, visible above all nearer objects, 
 the Baron di Castiglione approached her, and with a 
 countenance full of sad meaning, pointed to the lonely 
 Castle, uttering the words, " II Muro." Joanna shud- 
 dered as she looked up earnestly at her future prison, 
 but made no reply. Impatient to traverse their dan- 
 gerous road before nightfall, the Baron allowed but a 
 short halt at the monastery ; yet while they pressed 
 up the perilous ascent, the glowing west faded gradu- 
 ally away; the gloom of mighty forests hung over 
 them ; and Joanna felt that she was passing through 
 toil and danger to a region beyond the reach of suc- 
 cor. More than once, their road lay along the side 
 14
 
 158 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 of the mountain, which rose like a wall on one hand, 
 while on the other, yawned a tremendous chasm ; and 
 the rude bridges, thrown by the mountaineers over 
 the dashing waterfalls, shook at every step beneath 
 their horses' feet. At last they stood in safety before 
 the barbacan of the Castle Muro. A blast of the 
 horn, as in days of yet more ancient romance, was 
 succeeded by death-like stillness ; and then the moun- 
 tain solitudes rung back the unfrequent sound with 
 their clear, sweet echoes. Rude and dark were 
 the towers which rose against the sky ; and presently 
 red torch-light flashed through their few windows. 
 Bewildered and almost stupefied by the strangeness of 
 her situation, Joanna was scarcely conscious when 
 the gates were thrown open ; and she crossed the 
 drawbridge, the outer court, and was passing under 
 the heavy gateway of the inner wall, when the 
 harsh clang of the external gate, as it closed behind 
 her, shutting out the world and all it held dear, 
 smote on her heart like a death-knell. Then indeed 
 the iron entered her soul ; and the words " God help 
 me " escaped her with a deep groan, as the captive 
 Queen, amid a throng of wild, banditti-like soldiery, 
 placed her foot on the threshold of her prison.
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 IT were vain to attempt details of the trial, which 
 now fell upon the persecuted Joanna. The weary 
 monotony of a prisoner's day may be conceived ; but 
 how very weary its unoccupied hours became to her, 
 whose life had been devoted to constant and high 
 employment, full of variety, full of incident, cannot 
 be described. Her imprisonment was, in one sense 
 of the word, solitary ; for though two or three females 
 attended her to perform menial offices, and the com- 
 mander of the garrison had access to her presence, 
 she found them rough and ignorant almost to barba- 
 rism ; and the loneliness of the heart and intellect 
 was total ; the affections of the one, the cultivation 
 of the other, for a time, seemed wasted. The world 
 was not then flooded with books, and none were sent 
 to beguile the irksomeness of her existence. By a 
 refinement of inhumanity, idleness was made part of 
 the discipline intended to break her spirits. Thrown 
 on the resources alone of her own mind, she found
 
 160 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 Memory forever busy with the past, calling up its 
 chequered scenes with cruel fidelity ; while Hope 
 shrank away, because the future had no bright spot 
 to which she could point with her angel smile. The 
 suddenness of the transition at first stunned and be- 
 numbed the Queen's energies ; and there were hours 
 when she felt that incessant musing, still thinking 
 and thinking, without the slightest interruption to 
 reflections so engrossing and bitter, would almost 
 drive her to distraction. But hers was not a mind to 
 be thus unhinged and shattered; and though there 
 was nothing in her situation, which she could grasp 
 at and convert into happiness, she sought refuge 
 from madness in pursuits that could have claimed 
 slight interest under other circumstances. 
 
 The love of nature, ever strongest in the most 
 finely developed characters, did indeed sometimes 
 win her from sorrowful contemplations, as she looked 
 from her lofty turret window on the rugged, moun- 
 tain scenery about the Castle Muro ; and watched the 
 effects of ever changing lights and shadows on the 
 same immutable objects. It seemed to her, that the 
 mere creation of clouds alone had filled the world 
 with variety, and given to the broad skies perpetual 
 novelty with their ever-shifting scenery ; while the 
 mountain peaks, sometimes shrouded in mists, some- 
 times glittering in sunshine, seemed almost to lose
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 161 
 
 their identity, so different was the aspect they wore 
 under various states of the atmosphere. One win- 
 dow of her turret looked down the pass, and com- 
 manded a distant view of green fields, smiling like 
 some calm, remote Elysium ; the other opened to the 
 east a prospect as rough and savage, as if formed 
 only for the abode of the mountain blast, the torrent, 
 and the wild bandit. Thence came the frequent 
 hurricane, roaring fearfully as it passed down the 
 gorge, and tearing up the young pines by the roots ; 
 while the aged trunks, that had withstood the storms 
 of centuries, rocked with all their mighty branches 
 in the gale. There too, in the summer mornings, 
 she watched the timid ibex, that inhabitant of earth's 
 upper regions, tossing her fantastically twisted horns, 
 as she glided along the edge of some aerial cliff, or 
 led her young to drink of the brooks that gleamed 
 through the trees. The autumn saddened around her 
 at last ; and one morning she looked forth and the 
 mountain tops were white with snow. Then came on 
 the horrors of the long, long winter. Its incle- 
 mences reached her ; the fierce music of its storms 
 howled round her lofty dwelling, as she lay thinking 
 of the absent; and apparently forgotten both by 
 friend and foe, she suffered on for months, silently 
 and patiently, hoping that the frail dust, which held 
 her spirit in such bondage, would at length dissolve ; 
 14*
 
 162 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 and that the wild flowers of the mountains would 
 blossom with the breath of spring upon her grave. 
 
 Strong as her mind was by nature, it had derived 
 fresh strength from the development of the religious 
 principle, during her hours of solitary reflection, 
 where God spoke to her through his sublimest works ; 
 and all idle forms and pomps, devised by man, came 
 no longer between 'her soul and its Maker. The 
 purest exercises of devotion, in which her spirit ad- 
 dressed itself spontaneously to the Best of Beings, 
 for protection and support, had become familiar to 
 her mind ; and without a thought of heresy, her 
 faith had been ripened by circumstances, and was in 
 advance of the age in which she lived. The tenets 
 of Lollardism had indeed reached her ear ; but it was 
 her own vigorous reason that had thus taught her to 
 improve her unsought opportunities of meditation. 
 In those moments of weakness and despondency, to 
 which human nature is ever liable ; when the faces 
 she best loved haunted her waking dreams, until 
 homesickness seemed to melt her very soul ; then 
 came too that consoling confidence in Infinite Good- 
 ness, which had been born of wise reflections on past 
 events. Happy are those to whom a pause in life's 
 bustle is allowed, that they may ruminate and learn 
 for themselves, how various are the garbs which 
 mercy wears ; how inexhaustible the resources against
 
 JOANNA OP NAPLES. 163 
 
 sorrow, which are granted in the privilege of address- 
 ing ourselves to our Father in Heaven. The heart of 
 the Catholic Queen became filled in her solitude 
 with the piety expressed in these later days from a 
 New England pulpit, with such beautiful simplicity, 
 " Can he murmur who can pray 1 " 
 
 As the spring opened, more than one haughty mes- 
 sage from Durazzo broke upon her solitude, demand- 
 ing written concessions and acknowledgments, 
 which her sense of duty still forbade ; and she re- 
 fused compliance in a tone of calm dignity and with 
 an imperturbable sweetness of manner, which aston- 
 ished and melted his ambassadors. No murmur or 
 reproaches escaped her lips ; no petitions for relief 
 molested her conqueror; no vehemence marked her 
 deportment. Resignation, not sullenness, was in that 
 tranquil air ; and though her aspect showed that she 
 had suffered, those who held intercourse with her by 
 the command of Durazzo, left her with a feeling of 
 deep, involuntary reverence, for one who seemed 
 exalted rather than crushed by earthly calamity. 
 
 In the mean time, a winter of wretchedness had 
 passed over the usurper's head. Opposition and diffi- 
 culty had met him at every turn. The crown sat un- 
 easy on his brows ; for not one moment of peace had 
 his bosom known, since the coveted prize had been 
 won. Continually in arms against the enraged nobil-
 
 164 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 ity of the kingdom, who, with few exceptions, had 
 embraced the cause of Joanna ; harassed by the de- 
 mands of Urban, who imperiously claimed the prom- 
 ised domains of Capua for his nephew, which it was 
 out of his power to bestow ; shut out from domestic 
 enjoyment, by the illness of his wife at Rome, and 
 the unsettled state of his affairs ; domineered over by 
 his Confessor, who had ascertained the weak points of 
 his character, and, made insolent by success, played 
 on his ambition, his superstition, and his impetuosity, 
 with masterly skill, Charles became daily more eager 
 for power, more reckless of the means by which it 
 might be gained, more remorseless as he looked back 
 on the steps already taken. The gentler traits of his 
 moral constitution were obliterated, one by one, as 
 he rushed along his downward and bloody career. 
 His cheerfulness vanished ; his temper became sour- 
 ed ; his heart grew heavy and cold, and the open 
 smile of his earlier and better days was gone forever 
 from his countenance. Unable to shake off the irri- 
 tating consciousness of his guilt, yet panting still for 
 its fruits, the gallant Prince of Durazzo was fast be- 
 coming the selfish, relentless tyrant. So the opening 
 spring of 1383 found the conqueror of Joanna. 
 
 It was early in the month of April, that Francis 
 Prignano, or Butillo, as he is styled by some histori- 
 ans, the nephew of Urban, returned to Rome after a
 
 JOANNA OP NAPLES. 165 
 
 long excursion, and accidentally learned that the 
 Princess of Durazzo yet lay there, the victim of some 
 lingering malady. The threat of his cruel relative 
 flashed on his recollection, and a feeling of compas- 
 sion for the youthful sufferer stirred his heart. Urban 
 was absent from the city, and the opportunity was not 
 to be lost. A secret intimation was conveyed to the 
 Princess's trusty attendants ; the prescriptions of the 
 Pope's physicians were neglected, and before the re- 
 turn of his Holiness, the evident amendment in the 
 strength of the Princess allowed them to transport 
 her privately from his dominions, and she was con- 
 veyed to the genial atmosphere of Baiae. Here her 
 health rapidly improved. 
 
 It was at this period, that the aged and palsy-strick- 
 en Wickliff was lifting up a voice from his retire- 
 ment at Lutterworth, which rung more clearly through 
 Christendom, as the hour approached which was to 
 hush its accents forever ; and this too was the year, 
 in which the hot-headed, young Henry Spencer, bish- 
 op of Norwich, undertook his mad crusade in favor 
 of Urban, against the Lollards in Flanders; while the 
 schism which so fatally degraded the dignity and 
 lessened the power of the Catholic church went on 
 fiercely, and the Pope of Rome, engrossed with so 
 many other cares, had no leisure to think of protracting 
 the separation of Margaret from her husband. Father
 
 166 JOANNA OP NAPLES. 
 
 Matteo rejoiced that, while Charles was fighting in 
 the southern part of his dominions, against rebellious 
 Barons, she was not likely to seek him ; and she, 
 thus overlooked, in her hours of convalescence, un- 
 ceasingly laid fond plans to reclaim her unhappy lord 
 to the paths of honor, duty, and virtue ; so hard is it 
 for woman to credit the utter extinction of good prin- 
 ciples, in the heart she has prized ; so true is it, that 
 the veriest reprobate may find in the bosom of mother 
 or wife, something that still hopes and pleads, when 
 all mankind beside may have delivered him over to 
 his sins and their consequences ! 
 
 The tumultuous state of the country kept her for 
 some time inactive ; but at last, tidings reached her, 
 that Durazzo had been defeated in a severe skirmish 
 among the Calabrian wilds, and was about to return 
 to Naples. She determined to set forth, without delay, 
 and accompanied by a strong escort, to meet him near 
 the mountains, which encircled the Castle Muro. In 
 this hour of defeat and discouragement, she trusted 
 that an appeal to his reason and his heart, in the very 
 neighborhood of his august captive, might unbar the 
 gates of that prison, give back their Queen to a dis- 
 tracted people, restore peace to her husband, and long 
 forgotten happiness to herself. 
 
 The gloom of twilight was fast obscuring the land- 
 scape round the monastery of Santa Maria, on the 
 

 
 JOANNA OP NAPLES. 167 
 
 evening of May the twenty-first, when the dispirited 
 and weary troops of Durazzo came filing through the 
 mountains south of the plain. They were to halt for 
 the night near the base of those cliffs, which were 
 crowned by the gray turrets of II Muro; and Charles, 
 acquainted with the localities of these regions, ap- 
 proached to take possession of the quiet little monas- 
 tery, which stood in the centre of the plain, without 
 daring to look up at the prison of his benefactress, as 
 it frowned on him from the heights, which, on the 
 east, bounded the level grounds. His march had been 
 hurried and toilsome ; for the snows, melting among 
 the Apennines, aided by heavy rains, had swoln every 
 brook to a torrent ; and the roads, at all times steep 
 and rough, had been rendered almost impassable by 
 masses of earth and rock and fallen trees, strewed 
 over them by the waters and winds. He followed in 
 the rear of his troops, mounted on a jaded horse, who 
 stumbled with fatigue under his master, as he de- 
 scended the last hill that swept down to the plains; 
 and with his head sunk on his breast, the rider vented 
 the moodiness of his mind in frequent ejaculations of 
 impatience at the worn out animal. Changed, 
 changed indeed was the whole outward aspect of that 
 warrior, within one short twelvemonth. He was clad 
 yet in the complete steel, whose fashion had just 
 superseded that of mail, when the introduction of
 
 168 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 artillery threatened to render it as useless as it was 
 cumbrous ; but he no longer bore himself aloft, with 
 the noble, chivalrous air of his more virtuous days. 
 The solid helmet pressed no more heavily on his 
 brows than of yore ; but he was weighed down by the 
 consciousness of guilt, which lay on him as a mighty 
 burden, and still more by that which he deemed a 
 necessity for crimes yet more fearful. His closed 
 visor hid a face darkened by the terrible meditations 
 of his soul. 
 
 His evil genius came to meet him under the omi- 
 nous shadows of the primeval forest ; Father Matteo 
 had awaited him for some hours at the monastery, and 
 now rode forth to communicate tidings, which were 
 of no small import. 
 
 "What is that you say?" exclaimed Durazzo, 
 starting from a sullen reverie ; " Louis has crossed 
 the Alps ? and with what force ? " 
 
 " Rumor tells so wild a story," answered the priest, 
 " that we can lend her little credit. They say the 
 plains about Bologna shake under the tramp of thirty 
 thousand cavalry." 
 
 " Impossible ! impossible ! " cried Charles, " unless 
 some wily sorcerer hath called up armed knights and 
 chargers from the ground, to take the field for 
 Anjou."
 
 JOANNA OP NAPLES. 169 
 
 " Aye," resumed the monk, " and whirled them 
 through the air across those Alpine barriers. But 
 allowing for all probable exaggerations, we may well 
 fear that he brings with him a force sufficient to ac- 
 complish his avowed object." 
 
 " And what may that be^ if not to war on us ? " 
 
 "His immediate purpose is to release Joanna from 
 her confinement." 
 
 Durazzo's gesture indicated his surprise and anger, 
 but he made no reply. 
 
 "There are tidings also from the city; " continued 
 Father Matteo, after a brief pause. " I left it because 
 I saw that the Wild Horse * of Naples grew restive ; 
 and a courier, this afternoon, brought news of an in- 
 surrection among that idle and innumerable popu- 
 lace." 
 
 " We will carry them snow balls from the moun- 
 tains," said Durazzo, with a sneer ; " it is easy to 
 cool the fever of Neapolitan patriotism with a little 
 iced water." 
 
 Father Matteo shook his head. " Their Queen 
 Joanna, as they style her, still sits on an invisible 
 throne in the bosom of each poor man in the city. 
 The affections are spiritual, my son, and you will find 
 it hard to use sword and lance against these shadowy 
 opposers." 
 
 * An emblem on the banner of the Neapolitan populace. 
 15
 
 170 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 " Peace ! I pray you, good father ; " exclaimed 
 Charles ; " I will take order with these lounging 
 knaves. Came not Castiglione with you to meet 
 me?" 
 
 " He hath declared against you." 
 
 " He 1 di Castiglione ! " cried the usurper, with 
 unconcealed dismay ; " the man I have trusted 
 again and again ! He that has fought battle after 
 battle by my side ! I gave him charge of my wife, 
 when she came, last year, to meet me ; I commis- 
 sioned him to carry yonder headstrong woman to her 
 cage, because I thought his gentle courtesy fitted him 
 for such task ; but I deemed him true as steel. Are 
 you well advised of what you say ? " 
 
 " I am ; " replied the monk, with a laconic cool- 
 ness, which was peculiarly irritating to his fiery com- 
 panion. 
 
 " And what more ? Come, these are all refresh- 
 ing tidings after a defeat and a weary day's journey. 
 Have you no more blessed news for me ? I shall sleep 
 soundly after these anodynes." 
 
 " Di Castiglione has tampered with the barons, who 
 gave you the preference over Anjou, because, they 
 said, no Frenchman should wear the crown of Naples ; 
 and three of them, the very three whom you lately 
 sent with propositions to yonder Castle, have joined 
 him in his revolt."
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 171 
 
 " So, so ; our prospect brightens apace ! She has 
 but to look upon my best followers with her proud 
 smiles, and the bonds of their allegiance dissolve. I 
 think we will send her no more messengers ; no more 
 false-hearted barons ; you shall deal with her, good 
 father. Were it not wise ? " 
 
 " They say," resumed the priest, " that the hard- 
 ships of this winter have undermined her health ; that 
 she hath been ill." 
 
 " 111 ! " repeated Durazzo, his dark eye flashing 
 through his visor. " You have spoken one word of 
 pleasing import at last. She is of flesh, and all 
 flesh must fade ; she will not live forever. Aye, aye ; 
 when she perishes from my path, all other obstacles 
 will shrink aside, or be as nothing. What is her 
 malady ? " 
 
 " Men will call it a broken heart ; a tedious disease, 
 my son." 
 
 " Is that all ? " asked the Prince impatiently ; 
 "hath she no burning fever? no wasting con- 
 sumption in her blood? nothing that promises her 
 a speedy deliverance from those high walls? " 
 
 " Nothing of that sort. I said she had been ill ; 
 but it was some slight, passing distemper, that hath 
 already left her ; the rumor thereof, in all likelihood, 
 will excite fresh sympathies in her behalf. If the 
 eagles of the air carry her tidings of all that is un-
 
 172 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 dertaken for her release, she will begin a new life ; for 
 the hope of freedom is an efficient cordial for the sick 
 captive." 
 
 " Freedom ! " muttered the chieftain ; " there is but 
 one freedom for her." 
 
 " I would her sickness had been unto death," said 
 Father Matteo ; " at this crisis it might have been 
 your salvation." 
 
 He made this remark thoughtfully, and with a side 
 glance endeavored to observe its effect on his com- 
 panion, but the sudden halt of the Prince startled him. 
 The flush of sunset had long since died away, but a 
 pale, amber light yet lingered on the western horizon; 
 the new moon and the evening star hung there, side 
 by side ; and as the two riders emerged from under 
 the trees, Charles, turning upon his companion, threw 
 up his visor, under the soft radiance of that most 
 beautiful hour. Never was there a more fearful con- 
 trast with the tranquillity of nature. If the iron 
 frame of that monk could have shaken with human 
 feeling, he would have trembled as he looked on the 
 dreadful expression of Durazzo's features. " Father 
 Matteo ! " said the unhappy man, in a low hollow 
 voice ; " look on me and read what is in my heart ! 
 You have the fiend-like power to penetrate its 
 gloomy recesses, and call its unformed purposes of 
 evil into being. Tell me how to shape its present 
 designs ! "
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 173 
 
 The crafty monk saw that he was no longer called 
 on to suggest iniquity, but to aid in its accomplish- 
 ment ; the triumph of the Prince of Darkness was 
 complete over the once struggling victim, and the 
 work was nearly done. With wary hesitation he gazed 
 on the Prince irresolutely, as if uncertain how to un- 
 derstand him ; but Charles exclaimed more vehemently, 
 " Why do you not answer me ? You do, you 
 must comprehend ! Is there more than one deed that 
 hath no name ? " 
 
 " My son," replied the monk, " I have said that the 
 death of Joanna would be your salvation ; do I under- 
 stand you now ? " 
 
 Durazzo shuddered and looked round wildly, as the 
 night breeze came rustling through the forest behind 
 them. " Who goes there? " cried he ; " have we not 
 listeners in the coppice ? " 
 
 " No," said the monk calmly ; " you are agitated, 
 my brave Prince. Be composed, and let us talk de- 
 liberately of your affairs. They are in an unpromis- 
 ing state assuredly ; the juncture is perilous." 
 
 " Perilous ! " interrupted Charles, " it is desperate; 
 it drives me wild. I tell you, the storm breaks from 
 every quarter at once, and I will endure its buffetings 
 no more. That woman " and he ground his teeth 
 and raised his gauntleted hand towards the dark 
 mountain, where a twinkling light pointed out the 
 15*
 
 174 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 turret of Joanna, " that woman is a thorn in my 
 side, an arrow in my flesh, a canker at my 
 heart's core. Her influence comes out from her soli- 
 tary cell, and baffles me every where, winning prince 
 and peasant by the mere magic of her name. While 
 that proud heart of her's throbs with life, there is 
 neither peace nor prosperity for her successor ; no 
 stability for his throne ; no security for his days. See 
 you not this, father 1 " 
 
 " I have seen it long," replied the monk. 
 
 "And can I bear it?" 
 
 ." Not if you are a man, with energy enough to 
 snap the mere cobweb that entangles you." 
 
 " I could burst chains of forged steel ! It is not 
 the rage of a moment, that nerves my arm. No, 
 good priest; for many days and nights past, my 
 mind has been working, working, taking dead- 
 lier hues from the troubles that darkened around me. 
 And though I dared not look steadfastly on my own 
 purposes, as they flickered like horrid phantoms in 
 the void of the future, I knew to what I must 
 come. I rode, last night, among these savage moun- 
 tains till day break ; and what think you banished 
 hunger, thirst, fatigue ? What followed, at my 
 horse's heels, wailing in my ears continually, as we 
 trampled along the rocky defiles ? Some unseen 
 demon, good father, whispering murder! mur- 
 der ! all the livelong night."
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 175 
 
 The priest smiled ; " This form of phrensy bodes 
 some spirited deed, I acknowledge," said he; "but 
 the how, the when, the where, if your cour- 
 age hold?" 
 
 " They must be matters of prudent deliberation," 
 said the Prince ; " and as soon as I have crushed these 
 gnats at Naples " 
 
 " Pardon me," interrupted the monk ; " there is 
 yet another item of intelligence I had well nigh for- 
 gotten. The Queen comes to meet you ! " 
 
 "The Queen!" repeated Durazzo ; "what 
 Queen!" 
 
 " The Queen Margaret, your royal consort." 
 
 " And what brings her into these wild mountains ? 
 Why has she not waited my summons ! These are 
 no times for itinerant Princesses, when lances scour 
 the country in every direction. What seeks she?" 
 
 " I hear her errand is to solicit the liberation of 
 your prisoner." 
 
 " Is it so 1 We will not encounter her soft plead- 
 ings ; we will take another road." 
 
 " You cannot well avoid her ; she and her train 
 lodge, this night, at Capanna. It was her purpose to 
 meet you here ; but the weariness of her children 
 compelled her to halt at ten miles' distance, and she 
 will join you early to-morrow morning." 
 
 " She must not ; she shall not ! "
 
 176 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 "Nay," said the monk; "it may matter little. 
 She may come too late." 
 
 " How ? how so ? " asked Charles, somewhat be- 
 wildered. 
 
 " Why," replied Father Matteo, " your prisoner 
 has had a most well timed indisposition, of late. It 
 may return, it may prove fatal, it may save your 
 fair Queen the trouble of those eloquent expostula- 
 tions from which you shrink." 
 
 " To-night ? do you mean this very night ? " 
 asked Charles in a whisper, again looking fearfully 
 round, as if conscious that the very stones of the val- 
 ley ought to cry out against such foul conspiracy. 
 
 " Is not your purpose fixed," said his companion ; 
 " is not the deed to be done ? Is not your condition 
 such as to make it not only a matter of policy, but 
 necessity ? Will you have the folly and feebleness to 
 procrastinate for a single day the one bold stroke, 
 which cuts the knot of your embarrassments ? Shun 
 not this Q-ueen of yours ; it would excite suspicion. 
 Let her come hither to-morrow morning. Meet her 
 boldly, and let her hear the message which will come 
 down from II Muro, before the dew is off the grass. 
 Take my counsel once more, my son ; for if you have 
 not the courage to do, at once, what you perceive to 
 be fitting, it will never, never be done; and your 
 destruction is at hand. Mark my words. I have not
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 177 
 
 prompted you to the deed ; but I declare that nothing 
 else can save you. I offer to conduct the transaction 
 with such secresy, that the world shall never cry aloud, 
 Charles did it. Stealthy whispers, vague sur- 
 mises may be stifled ; as yonder fair-spoken Joanna 
 might testify, from the dark experiences of her own 
 early life." 
 
 " Priest ! priest ! " exclaimed Charles, " tell me 
 one thing; tell me truly. Was it not all foul calum- 
 ny? Is her conscience heavy with a husband's 
 blood? Do you believe it ?" 
 
 "I do;" replied the monk with solemnity. 
 
 Durazzo looked him earnestly in the face, a mo- 
 ment, and then his head sunk on his breast as he 
 groaned aloud. "I do not;" said he. " Would to 
 God that I could. I would give half this realm to 
 know that there was a shadow of just retribution in 
 this dreadful measure ; to feel myself the avenger of 
 innocent blood; but it cannot be! My conviction 
 of her blameless uprightness rests on the close inter- 
 course of years, when in the free unguarded com- 
 munion Let us speak of it no more. Her soul 
 
 will need few masses, when I have sent it to the long 
 account, and mine, good father, you will 
 shrive me ! You will give me absolution ! Blessed 
 be the power of the Church ; there is no crime be- 
 yond the reach of its mercy."
 
 178 JOANNA OP NAPLES. 
 
 " Crime ! " said the monk impatiently ; " what 
 speak you of crime? Could you do the Church 
 better service, than by thrusting this rebellious and 
 malignant child out of existence ? Is not the seal of 
 perdition upon her 1 Loo'c for wreaths of gold and 
 palms of glory, my son ; for you do but perform the 
 will of Heaven in this matter. Blind and ignorant 
 men might cast censure on you, therefore let it be a 
 deed of privacy and darkness ; but from the great 
 Head of the Church, from Urban himself, approba- 
 tion, assistance, and all manner of favor will descend 
 upon you. Trust me ; he that lays low the haughty 
 head of Joanna does God and man service." 
 
 During this conversation, the two riders had re- 
 sumed their journey, and had now reached the south- 
 ern bank of the stream, which meandered through 
 the valley from east to west. The monastery of 
 Santa Maria stood on the opposite side, and farther 
 up ; but the only access to it was over a slight wooden 
 bridge which they were approaching ; and as they 
 caught the glimmer of its waves, dancing in the 
 moonbeams, they perceived the river was swollen, 
 till , the water laved the very edges of the rough 
 planks, and at times washed across them. Branches 
 and even trunks of trees, hurried along by the rapid 
 current, were accumulating on the upper side ; and 
 after reconnoitering it a few moments, as they halted
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 179 
 
 under the willow trees, Durazzo and his companion 
 crossed it singly and cautiously, lest it should be 
 swept from under them. Soon afterwards, finding 
 themselves among the soldiery, they postponed their 
 fearful theme, till Charles had taken possession of a 
 friar's cell in the monastery. There, forbidding all 
 intrusion, he summoned his Confessor to his side 
 again ; and there, in that quiet retreat of simple 
 piety, shut in by stone-walls, which had been raised to 
 exclude all earthly temptations from its tenants, and 
 surrounded only by the emblems of religion, he re- 
 sumed the unhallowed consultation. We will follow 
 its details no more. 
 
 In the mean time the page of Charles, who had 
 been sent forward by his master to the monastery, 
 before the sun set, had become impatient and anxious, 
 on seeing that the waters continued to rise, as evening 
 came on ; and he had gone back to meet him. Cross- 
 ing the little bridge, he had sat down beneath the 
 willow trees, and almost exhausted by the fatigues of 
 the recent march, as he awaited his master, he looked 
 up at the stars, shining through the long, slender, 
 waving branches, with eyes that, in spite of himself, 
 closed in momentary slumber. In vain he struggled 
 against it, straining his ears to catch the distant 
 tread of horse. The waves murmured by him, with 
 a most lulling sound ; the tall sedges, not yet under
 
 180 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 water, rustled in the breeze; the gleaming light 
 from the tower of Muro, on the mountain, seemed 
 to recede and become a star in the dark sky ; and all 
 things gradually assumed a shadowy and dreamy 
 aspect, till a profound sleep fell irresistibly on his 
 eyelids. He woke not till roused by the tramp of 
 steeds close at hand ; and as he started up, the harsh 
 voice of Father Matteo struck his ear, uttering the 
 too intelligible words, "He that lays low the head 
 of Joanna does God and man service" His blood 
 ran cold, he remained immovable, concealed in 
 deep shadow ; while his master and the monk, uncon- 
 scious of his. presence, debated on the security of the 
 bridge, finally crossed it and rode out of sight, leaving 
 him petrified with dismay, as he pondered on the 
 ominous words. His resolution was soon taken. He 
 knew that Margaret was at Capanna; and rushing 
 once more over the tottering bridge, with a fleet, 
 light step, he procured a horse among the officers, 
 pretending that he was despatched by his master, and 
 instantly took the road down the river side, to the 
 village. It was not necessary to cross the stream 
 again ; and long before midnight, he stood in the 
 presence of the amazed wife of Durazzo. 
 
 She heard his tale with speechless horror; and then 
 repelled with indignation the suspicion that her lord 
 would yield to suggestions so barbarous.
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 181 
 
 " You know him not, as he now is ! " exclaimed 
 the youth ; " believe me, gentle lady, my beloved 
 master is an altered man. You have not watched, 
 as I have done, the terrible change stealing over him 
 for months past ; his temper, his heart, lady, 
 so hardened. Come to him, I implore you ! you 
 alone can soften it ; you alone can counteract the in- 
 fluence of that dreadful priest. Have mercy on your 
 husband and on the royal captive ! " 
 
 The agitation of Giovanni could not be witnessed 
 without exciting some sympathetic alarm, and Mar- 
 garet, at last, assented. " If you warned me that he 
 was but threatened with a dangerous malady, I 
 should fly to him ; surely the evil that endangers 
 soul, instead of body, is more fearful ; and it may 
 be, it may be, that he yields. Holy Virgin ! aid 
 me ! I will go." 
 
 Leaving the greater part of her train to follow with 
 her children next day, Margaret left Capanna at 
 midnight, and rode up the river banks, under the 
 protection of Giovanni and a few chosen horsemen. 
 Sad and silent was the little journey. The road in 
 many places was covered with water, so that the 
 party were obliged to take higher ground, forcing 
 their way through thick aloes, while every moment of 
 delay seemed intolerable to those, whose anxiety and 
 impatience increased the more they reflected on the 
 16
 
 182 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 circumstances in which Durazfco was placed. Gio- 
 vanni observed with pleasure that the surface of 
 the stream was covered with wrecks, which tes- 
 tified that the force of the current had carried 
 away the bridge, nearly opposite the monastery ; 
 and when they reached the spot, he pointed out the 
 fact to his royal mistress, assuring her that the de- 
 struction of the bridge must have prevented all 
 passage to the road that led up among the moun- 
 tains. 
 
 " He can have sent no messengers to II Muro, this 
 night ; " said the page, with a lightened heart, as he 
 assisted the trembling lady to dismount at the con- 
 vent gate. The door was opened, before they had 
 demanded admittance; but it was to give egress to a 
 tall, dark figure, which started back at first, on meet- 
 ing them ; and then, with muffled face, passed hastily 
 out, and disappeared in the gloom. Giovanni looked 
 suspiciously and anxiously after it; and then urged 
 the admission of the Queen to her husband. It was 
 in vain. The friars obstinately refused to disturb the 
 Prince, who had expressly forbidden all intrusion 
 upon his solitude, that night ; and the vehemence of 
 the youth, the pathetic entreaties of Margaret were 
 alike wasted. She was, however, conducted to a cell, 
 and there left alone, by a monk whose charity and 
 hospitality could carry him no farther. Repose she
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 183 
 
 could not ; but as she kneeled at her devotions, awed 
 by the stillness which prevailed, ere long, through 
 the cells and cloisters of the whole building, it 
 seemed to her that something stirred near her door. 
 A soft tap was presently heard, and as she opened it, 
 an aged friar presented himself, with a light in his hand. 
 " Daughter," said he, " I was once in the world till 
 its sorrows drove me hither. I had a wife, as young, 
 beautiful, and loving as thou art ; and while she 
 walked with me on earth, she made me a better man. 
 For the sake of her memory, dim in my soul for 
 many years till this night, I will lead thee to thy 
 husband. Use thy influence well, daughter, for 
 therefore did God bestow it. Beauty is a holy gift, 
 and the woman, that views it aright, forgets vanity 
 and trembles at her responsibility." So saying, the 
 mild old man, with a noiseless step, moved along the 
 passage, and placing the lamp on the floor, near a 
 door which stood ajar, he cast one more compassion- 
 ate glance at the fair creature, who trembled as she 
 approached a husband's presence, and whispering, 
 " Linked to a man of blood, I pity thee ! " he with- 
 drew. 
 
 Margaret paused for a few minutes to summon 
 strength ; not a sound came from the apartment ; 
 a light glimmered within; but it seemed as if the 
 repose of death must be there. Arousing all her
 
 184 JOANNA OP NAPLES. 
 
 courage, she at length pushed the door open, slowly, 
 and stood on the threshold. The bare walls within 
 were feebly lighted by a candle, waning in its socket. 
 As its blaze rose and sunk, uncertain shadows flick- 
 ered about the room, and the mournful effigy of a 
 suffering Savior, which hung on the wall, seemed its 
 only occupant. Margaret took up her own lamp and 
 advanced a few steps, when she discovered the pros- 
 trate figure of her husband, stretched on a rude pallet 
 of straw in a corner. " He sleeps ! " thought she 
 joyfully ; " could he sleep if he purposed such a 
 crime ? " Her reflections were broken by a convul- 
 sive shudder, which passed over the limbs of Duraz- 
 zo, and a stifled groan. " It is troubled sleep," 
 she thought again ; and placing her lamp on the 
 rough table, she drew near him, and perceived that 
 his attitude was not that of slumber. His face was 
 buried in the pillow; his hands locked over his head, 
 as if he had thrown himself down in agony. She 
 stooped, and softly whispering, "Charles!" she 
 touched one of those burning hands with hers. At 
 that sound and touch he sprang up on his knees, 
 and glared on her with a livid face, and eyes that 
 seemed starting from their sockets. Appalled and 
 speechless, she stood trembling, till in a hoarse and 
 almost inarticulate voice he demanded, " Marga- 
 ret ! is it Margaret ? "
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 185 
 
 "Surely, it is your wife," replied she; "none 
 other would dare come to your side unbidden; but 
 oh Charles ! is it thus you welcome me ? Do you 
 not know me, beloved ? " 
 
 His eyes wandered about so wildly, that for an 
 instant a surmise of his insanity crossed her mind, 
 and she retreated a few paces, when he leaped up, 
 and seating himself on the side of the couch, placed 
 his hands before his face, as if striving to recollect 
 himself, " Margaret here ! " said he again, " and 
 how is that ? Whence came you ? " 
 
 " From Capanna," replied the Princess ; " have I 
 done wrong to seek my lord uncalled ? O my beloved 
 husband ! we meet not as we once did !" 
 
 " And I am not what I was ! " cried Charles, in a 
 softened tone ; and as he looked on her steadfastly a 
 few moments, the wildness passed from his eyes ; they 
 even filled with tears. " Beautiful, though pale ! 
 sweet and gentle as ever ! " said he. " Thou hast 
 been ill, my wife ; and our separation has been 
 long ! " He held out both his hands to her, and she 
 threw herself on his neck, weeping without restraint. 
 Again and again she attempted to speak, but a fresh 
 burst of emotion checked her words; and Charles 
 held her in silence, till the violence of her feelings 
 was expended. When she became calm, she rose 
 and looked in his face, smiling through her tears with 
 16*
 
 186 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 the same innocent expression he remembered so well, 
 in the April days of her childhood ; but a change had 
 passed over his countenance ; the demon was there 
 again. He almost threw her from him as he cried, 
 " Smile not on me, Margaret ! what have I to do 
 with angels ? Go, go ! leave me ! It is my pleas- 
 ure to be alone. Gave I not orders " Margaret 
 clasped her hands supplicatingly and again approached 
 him ; but in a voice of thunder he repeated, " Leave 
 me, I say ! what brought you hither ? who gave you 
 entrance ? " 
 
 " Dearest, dearest ! " said Margaret, still cour- 
 ageously drawing closer to the frantic man, though he 
 lifted his clenched hand, as if actually about to deal 
 a furious blow on her temples. Such daring, in a 
 creature so soft and naturally so timid, smote him 
 with a nameless sensation, that overpowered all wild 
 passions, and he remained immovable, till she imper- 
 ceptibly sunk at his feet, threw back the dishevelled 
 locks from her face, embraced his knees, and remain- 
 ed with upturned countenance, mutely imploring for- 
 bearance, such tenderness beaming from her eyes, 
 that a heart of stone must have been melted. 
 
 His arm dropped. " Margaret ! Margaret ! " said 
 he, " thou hast grown bold ! Whence comes this 
 new-found courage ? " 
 
 Do I not love thee, Charles ? "
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 187 
 
 " Even yet, my wife ? " 
 
 " Till death." 
 
 " No, no, no ! deceive not thyself; thou canst 
 not love me always. Were I unworthy of thee, couldst 
 thou love me?" 
 
 " Thou shalt not be. It was to ward off evil, be- 
 loved, that I came hither. Thou hast erred much, 
 and they told me that temptation had again beset 
 thee ; therefore nothing had power to daunt me, 
 to keep me from thy side. O Charles ! the deeds thou 
 hast done since we parted are dreadful, but it is not 
 too late to retrieve all; not too late to repair the wrong 
 and be again happy." 
 
 " Woman ! woman ! " cried Durazzo, fiercely ; 
 "thou knowest not what thou sayest! For what pur- 
 pose earnest thou hither, demon in a seraph's shape ? 
 To mock me ? to hiss at me ? What brought thee 
 hither, I say ? " He gazed on her with fixed eyeballs, 
 and from the darkened corner in which he stood, they 
 glared like a tiger's ; but he no longer beheld a quak- 
 ing suppliant, ready to sink at his feet. 
 
 Some new feeling had rushed over the mind of Mar- 
 garet, and though she became pale as marble, she 
 stirred not, she trembled not, but met his maniac 
 stare with an expression of countenance he had 
 never seen her wear before. " Charles," said she, 
 " I came hither to save thee from thyself. Why do I
 
 188 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 find thee mad, mad, my husband? What crime hast 
 thou been ruminating upon, by the midnight lamp, 
 till thy noble reason is almost unseated ? Think of 
 it no more ; think only of me. Rejoice that I have 
 come between thee and thy meditated crime." 
 
 Charles gnashed his teeth and rapidly muttered in a 
 low tone, " Art thou not come too late ? " 
 
 " The words had hardly struck her ear, when Mar- 
 garet disengaged herself from him, sprang to the 
 centre of the room, and turning upon him a face of 
 horror, asked in a whisper, fearfully distinct, " Am I 
 the wife of a murderer ? Stand back till I am an- 
 swered. Heaven breaks our vows if it be so." 
 
 " Then they are cancelled ! " was the half suffo- 
 cated answer of Durazzo. 
 
 Margaret uttered not a word ; the veins in her fore- 
 head swelled, and she gasped for breath. 
 
 Charles suddenly rousing himself from his stupor 
 exclaimed, " What have I said ? " Margaret ! Mar- 
 garet ! believe it not. Did I say I had murdered her? 
 No, no, she lives yet, it may be. I have 
 struck no blow." 
 
 " Durazzo ! " said the Princess, " trifle not with 
 me. What hast thou done ? It is remorse that al- 
 most maddens thee, and think not to keep thy fatal 
 secret from a wife. The guilt undivulged for years 
 will escape thy lips, and cast thee from me at some
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 189 
 
 future hour of agony; for never, never will I know- 
 ingly share the fortunes of Oh Charles ! I cannot 
 utter that fearful word again. Tell me ; what hast 
 thou done ? " 
 
 Still Durazzo sat in sullen silence. The sugges- 
 tions of the page flashed on her mind. " Hast thou 
 sent orders to yonder mountain to-night ? " she asked. 
 The look with which he answered her told enough ; 
 and clasping her hands, she cried in a tone of joy, 
 " Heaven be praised ! I have not come too late. No 
 message can have passed that swollen stream, and oh! 
 my husband ! thou art saved from anguish unuttera- 
 ble and eternal." 
 
 "What mean you?" exclaimed the bewildered 
 Durazzo. 
 
 "That God hath interposed, that the wild work 
 of the elements hath been merciful to thee. The 
 bridges have been swept away ; and if thou hast in- 
 deed been in the power of evil spirits, and hast sent 
 bloody commands to II Muro, they cannot have been 
 transmitted." 
 
 Charles rose, but stood perplexed, his faculties 
 confused by a revulsion of feeling so unexpected. 
 " Art thou sure?" asked he, at last, abruptly. 
 
 " I saw the wrecks with my own eyes," replied 
 Margaret ; " I saw the stream unspanned by the 
 handiwork of man, as it hurried foaming through
 
 190 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 the plain ; and your own page told me, no man could 
 have crossed it this night." 
 
 " But he will seek a passage higher up," said Du- 
 razzo. 
 
 "Then fly! fly at once!" exclaimed the Prin- 
 cess; " whoever may be your bloody courier, he must 
 have met with embarrassment and delay ; he may be 
 overtaken. Oh Charles ! I found thee in purgatory, 
 but if there is paradise on earth, thou shalt know it 
 to-morrow night, when looking on thy bloodless hands. 
 She, who loved us so fondly will forgive thee, Oh, 
 speed ! speed ! why dost thou delay ! " 
 
 " Down, busy fiend ! " muttered Durazzo to him- 
 self, still fixing his eyes on the floor, a dark and ter- 
 rible irresolution sitting on his brow. 
 
 " Thou dost not hesitate ? " cried Margaret, aston- 
 ished and terrified. " Then Satan is indeed here, 
 though mine eyes behold him not. Good saints and 
 angels, defend us ! " 
 
 " Margaret," said Durazzo, " her life is my earthly 
 ruin, my death ! " 
 
 " Believe it not ! " cried Margaret, something of 
 Joanna's noble spirit flashing from her beautiful face ; 
 " it is the foul fiend that whispers it ; and what if it 
 be so ? Come death ; come any thing but guilt and 
 eternal remorse ! Husband of my youth, rather would 
 I hang over thy bloody corse and know that those
 
 JOANNA OP NAPLES. 191 
 
 beloved eyes would never look on me again, so that 
 thou diedst innocent of this foul, irreparable crime! 
 Then, the memory of thy virtues would minister com- 
 fort. Let me rather wear the widow's garment of 
 mourning than live to shudder at thy approach ! " 
 
 " Callest thou this the language of love?" said 
 Charles, bitterly. 
 
 " Aye, of love the purest, the most exalted ! 
 love that adores hopes pleads to the last, con- 
 tending and struggling with Sin itself, for thy salva- 
 tion. Love that is quicksighted to thy true digni- 
 ty and happiness ! Love that foresees thy coming 
 agony of remorse, and trembles even at the earthly 
 retribution that will overtake thee : love that clings 
 to thee on the very brink of a precipice ! When thou 
 hast fallen, then indeed, virtuous love must forsake 
 thee, a ruined and degraded wretch. Start not ! 
 Since all higher appeals fail, hear this ! Wife as I 
 am, fond and faithful wife, mother of thy chil- 
 dren, Durazzo, I declare to thee, that, polluted 
 with the murder of a benefactress, the cold-blooded 
 ungrateful deliberate assassin shall forfeit all 
 reverence, all homage, all affection, from the woman 
 that once adored him ! He shall search for her in 
 bower and hall, and find her not, to share the fruits 
 of his sin and infamy. No, Charles ; thou mayst 
 revel amid empty pomps if thou canst, but thy broken-
 
 192 JOANNA OP NAPLES. 
 
 hearted wife shall kneel at the foot of the cross, in 
 some lonely convent, forsaking thee and the world, to 
 drag out her days in penitence for another's crime. 
 O noble and wretched Joanna; is this thy reward ? 
 Is it by a cruel, violent death thou must pass from a 
 life of many sorrows ! Charles, couldst thou have the 
 heart to look on her dying agonies ? Couldst thou 
 behold those eyes closed forever, that beamed so 
 kindly on thee, knowing thyself her murderer, and 
 ever hope for peace again 1 Picture her lying, this 
 moment, cold and lifeless at thy feet ; and then re- 
 member the hour of thine own dissolution, fearful 
 and frantic with the pangs of remorse ! perhaps 
 bloody, unconsoled, deserted by man, frowned upon 
 by the unutterable wrath of God ! Thou must die, 
 Charles ; thou knowest not when ; but be it to-mor- 
 row, or in a decrepid old age, the memory of this 
 very moment, fleeting so swiftly by us, will be with 
 thee then. It speeds, it speeds ; it will be gone, 
 never to return ! Oh, seize it, my wretched husband ! 
 It hurries thee to perdition, and I cling to thee in 
 vain. Oh Joanna ! more than mother ! when his 
 children ask me of thy death, what shall I say ? 
 Have mercy on us all, Charles ! Cover not thy inno- 
 cent offspring with ignominy. Leave me not to shud- 
 der, when I speak to them of their father ! Hath 
 any man a right to bequeath shame to his children ?
 
 JOANNA OP NAPLES. 193 
 
 Have mercy on thyself; it is for thine own soul, 
 for thy salvation I plead ; and the invisible God, who 
 hears and sees us this moment, will remember these 
 tears against thee ! yet I would die any death, to 
 save thee from this complicated guilt ! Thou yield- 
 est ! I see it in thy softening aspect ; the cloud 
 passes from thy brow ; thy lip quivers, thou art 
 saved ! Holy Mother, be praised ! Guardian angels, 
 are about us, and the discomfited fiend retires! 
 
 "Thou, thou art, indeed, my guardian angel, 
 glorious, inspired being ! " cried Charles. 
 
 " Give not me the honor," said Margaret ; " but 
 haste, fly, trust no messenger, go in person. 
 If I am worthy to be her sister's child, let me look once 
 more on that august countenance. Come to me with 
 forgiveness from her living lips upon thy brow, or 
 never approach me again. Nay ; bring her from the 
 prison that dishonors thee ; or the wife of Durazzo 
 becomes the bride of Heaven ! And Thou, im- 
 age of a suffering Savior, listen to my vows ! " 
 
 As she spoke she threw herself exhausted before 
 the crucifix. Durazzo cast but a single glance on 
 her kneeling figure, on a face pale with the anguish 
 of the scene and streaming with tears, and on eyes 
 uplifted in fervent faith. He rushed from the cell, 
 and Margaret heard his rapid steps as he fled along 
 the cloister ; the eager voice of Giovanni ; the 
 17
 
 194 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 loud demand for his war-horse. Then came the bus- 
 tle among the soldiers, the trampling of the charg- 
 er, the furious gallop, dying away in the distance, 
 the gradual subsiding of the confusion within 
 doors, and all was again still. It seemed like a 
 dream. She prostrated herself in prayer, till nearly 
 an hour had passed away ; then she arose and re- 
 turned to the cell the friars had appropriated to her, 
 and at its door, found the page, his countenance 
 beaming with joy. " AH will go well ; " cried he. 
 " The priest had but left my master, when we arrived. 
 The caitiff took with him four Hungarians ; he durst 
 not ask such service of Neapolitans ; and they rode 
 up and down the river bank, vainly seeking boat, 
 bridge, or fording place. Then they ascended the 
 pass to a narrowing of the stream, and there cut 
 down trees and threw them across. I tracked them 
 so far and returned ; told the King as he came forth, 
 and he galloped thither at once. He will overtake 
 them, lady; they must delay to fell trees from time to 
 time, as they pass the mountain torrents, and he will 
 press unchecked over their bridges ; all is safe ! 
 By the gray light of dawn, I saw his white charger 
 but now, as he passed the face of the Black Rock, 
 nearly half way up the mountain side ; he cannot be 
 far behind them." Margaret clasped her hands 
 thankfully, and retired to bear her suspense, where
 
 JOANNA OP NAPLES. 195 
 
 solicitude of the most intense nature is always best 
 endured, in solitude. 
 
 Giovanni was right. The monk had been delayed, 
 finding no passage across the swollen stream; but 
 bent on fulfilling his atrocious mission, he had gone 
 higher up the river, where it issued from the gorge 
 between two wooded cliffs, that nearly met over its 
 bed ; and here a few trees, hastily felled, had allowed 
 him and his ruffians to reach the opposite bank, far 
 above which rose the solitary fortress. Charles, act- 
 ing once more under the better impulses of his na- 
 ture, pursued his own myrmidons furiously ; yet so 
 long had been the interval between their departure 
 from the monastery and his own, that his heart al- 
 most sickened with despair, as he followed their 
 tracks up the steep ascent, and dashed over the rude 
 bridges they had constructed. Higher, they seemed 
 to have met with less to delay them ; the old bridges 
 had not been carried away by the upper brooks ; and 
 the perspiration stood on his brow, as he emerged 
 from the forest trees, which encircled the lower re- 
 gion of the mountain. Raising himself on his stir- 
 rups, he looked over the stunted firs and gray rocks ; 
 not a figure was to be seen moving up the melan- 
 choly waste. The mists of the valley had not begun 
 to ascend, and the air around was so pure, so full of 
 light from the yet unrisen sun, that he seemed to
 
 196 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 have reached the very birth-place of the morning. 
 No matin song of birds, as on lower earth, welcomed 
 the approaching god of Day ; nor did the wild 
 scream of the still slumbering eagle break the silence 
 of those awful solitudes ; a silence more dreadful 
 than the voice of battle to the conscience-smitten 
 man, who felt as if his guilty soul were here brought 
 alone, face to face, with his Maker. Onward he 
 pressed, and the noble animal he rode strained every 
 nerve against the steep ascent ; now striking fire with 
 his hoofs, as he clattered over the rocks ; now bound- 
 ing along the boggy interval, where the short Alpine 
 grasses and wild flowers yielded to his hurricane pas- 
 sage. By snatches the pleadings of his weeping Mar- 
 garet haunted the fierce rider, and the words, " pic- 
 ture her, lying cold and lifeless at thy feet! " sounded 
 ever and anon in his ear, while at each fresh pang of 
 remorse and terror, he goaded the snow-white flanks 
 of his charger till the blood streamed from them. 
 Occasionally the towers of II Muro came in sight, 
 clearly defined against the morning sky ; but in vain 
 he eyed them ; they told no tales of the work doing 
 within their dark circuit. He knew not if the mur- 
 derer's step had yet touched their threshold, or wheth- 
 er their noble inmate still slumbered peacefully, 
 unconscious that the wing of the destroying angel 
 waved so near her.
 
 JOANNA OP NAPLES. 197 
 
 He reached at last a spot, where the road, nar- 
 rowed almost to a footpath, made a sharp turn round 
 a cliff, which rose high on his right ; while on the 
 left, a steep slope led down to the brink of a fearful 
 chasm. Heedless of the dizzying abyss, as he was 
 about to wheel rapidly round the projecting angle of 
 the rock, he almost came violently in contact with the 
 person of a man descending on foot. It was the 
 monk ; his cowl thrown back, his face more 
 ghastly than usual, his eyes wild. Both, for a mo- 
 ment, gazed on each other as if thunderstruck, and 
 then Durazzo, though his tongue seemed to cleave 
 to the roof of his mouth, demanded abruptly, "la 
 it over ? " 
 
 " No ; she lives," replied the monk, attempting to 
 put his hand on Charles's bridle, " but " 
 
 Durazzo stayed not to hear the sentence complet- 
 ed ; again he plunged the spurs into his nearly spent 
 charger, and rushing violently between Father Mat- 
 teo and the rocky wall on his right, turned the cor- 
 ner and continued his upward course. He heard 
 not the cry that followed him ; he knew not that the 
 shock had thrown the miserable monk upon the slope, 
 on whose verge he was standing. It was smooth and 
 slaty; its inclination almost perpendicular; not a 
 shrub, not a blade of grass grew upon it, and as the 
 wretch alternately slid and rolled down, in vain he 
 17*
 
 198 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 clutched the pebbles that filled his grasp, without stay- 
 ing his destruction. He was at the brink of the 
 precipice, he was gone ! Yet he had time to know 
 and feel the complete horror of his situation. Below 
 the verge of the cliff, a few young trees sprang from 
 the interstices of the rocks, on one of which the 
 falling monk seized with a frantic grasp. One look 
 upward at the blue sky with fleecy clouds sailing 
 across, a single shuddering glance downward. The 
 roar of the cataract came up distinctly ; he saw the 
 white foam at the bottom of the gloom; he felt the 
 shrub to which he clung bending, giving way; and 
 heard the earth and stones around rattling and thun- 
 dering down the face of the precipice. For an in- 
 stant, like flashes of lightning, the recollection of 
 crime, and terrors of judgment darted through his 
 soul ; in another moment all was over. In the midst 
 of health and strength, in the full possession of his 
 faculties, and conscious of his situation, the bad man 
 went to bis account. When the heats of summer 
 dried up the mountain torrent, the wolf and the bird 
 of prey alone knew where his bones lay amid the 
 rocks of a lonely defile, untrodden by the foot of man ; 
 and a rumor went abroad that the ambitious Domini- 
 can, the proud Confessor of Durazzo, who had dis- 
 appeared so mysteriously from amidst men, had 
 perished by the hands of the lawless banditti of the 
 Apennines.
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 REFRESHING had been the slumbers of Joanna, on 
 the night preceding the twenty-eighth of May ; and 
 pleasant dreams had hovered about her pillow, bring- 
 ing round her the scenes and friends of her youth. 
 The beautiful face of Philippa, the Catanese, whom 
 years before she had fondly cherished with the friend- 
 ship of unsuspecting girlhood, whom she had seen 
 torn from her arms to perish in tortures, had smiled 
 upon her again and again, amid her visions ; and as she 
 awoke at daybreak, the lovely phantom seemed to 
 melt gradually away, still smiling and beckoning her ; 
 while above and in the background, the yet more 
 celestial countenance of the Holy Mother looked down 
 on the dreamer with an aspect that breathed peace 
 and consolation. 
 
 She rose, not to mourn over the vanishing illusion 
 and at the harsh realities about her ; but to kneel in 
 gratitude, because happy dreams were not shut out 
 from the prisoner ; because unseen protection had
 
 200 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 guarded her slumbers, and cheered her drooping 
 spirit. Her late indisposition had passed away, and 
 an exhilarating perception of returning strength, 
 a luxury unknown to one who never experiences sick- 
 ness, ran through her veins. She stood at her 
 favorite window, which looked eastward into the very 
 heart of the mountain scenery, and as the dappled 
 skies gradually brightened with crimson and gold, a 
 thought of the vain earthly pomps, in which she had 
 once taken such delight, stole into her mind. " Idle 
 and frivolous were ye all ! " she said to herself, " and 
 mercifully was I drawn away from snares and tempta- 
 tions. When the work is done, when the spirit is 
 purified, then will it be called away. But as yet, 
 earth holds something to which it cleaves. Could I 
 but linger to speak one cheering word to Otho, to 
 embrace my beloved Margaret once more, to kiss 
 the fair brows of her children ! could I but see my 
 poor, deluded, miserable Charles, once more touched 
 with penitence, his hard heart softened like the rock 
 in the wilderness, and gushing again with pure affec- 
 tions ! Cannot the God, who smote the firm granite 
 with the prophet's rod, work amoral miracle? Why 
 am I haunted with such fond fancies ! Let me not 
 become a dreamer, when the heavens are flooded 
 with the broad light of day. Enough for visions in 
 the dead hour of night, when the eye sees not, when
 
 JOANNA OP NAPLES. 201 
 
 the hand is weary, and the senses crave their neces- 
 sary repose." 
 
 So saying, she shook off the inclination for melan- 
 choly reverie, which was stealing over her, and with 
 one admiring glance at the mists which had covered 
 the valley like a sea, and were now climbing upwards 
 in silver wreaths, she turned energetically to her 
 morning tasks. A single volume in Latin, the produc- 
 tion of a venerable Father of an earlier century, had 
 lately found its way to her aerial prison ; and she 
 often amused herself with committing passages to 
 memory, or reading it aloud in choice Italian, for not 
 in vain had she been educated in the court of her 
 grandfather Robert of Sicily, the patron of reviving 
 literature. Thus employed she sat ; and as she read, 
 she slowly unbound the thick tresses which were now 
 bearing testimony that sickness and trouble silver the 
 dark locks of woman no less than time. The last 
 few months had changed them much ; but it was with 
 a faint smile, not with a sigh, that the most beautiful 
 female of her day looked on the token of her fading 
 loveliness. Like all strong-minded women, she had 
 never prized the flattery that chose her person for its 
 theme ; but had sought from the wise and good that 
 approbation which age could not forfeit ; and she 
 neither mourned what was lost, nor triumphed in the 
 consciousness that her majestic beauty might even yet 
 have dazzled a courtier's eye.
 
 202 JOANNA OP NAPLES. 
 
 In the midst of these quiet occupations, she heard 
 the immense door unbarred, at the end of a long 
 vaulted passage, leading to her apartment. It was 
 the customary sound at this period of the day ; but 
 there was an unusual violence in the haste with 
 which it was thrown back ; and the footsteps ap- 
 proaching along the stone floor were heavy and many. 
 "Another embassy from Charles!" she said to her- 
 self; "it is an uncommon and unseemly hour. They 
 must bring me tidings of pressing importance. Oh! 
 could it be that among the mysterious vicissitudes of 
 life, Anjou hath terminated my captivity, and my free- 
 dom were at hand ! Be quiet, throbbing heart ! " 
 
 Striving to conquer the emotion with which this 
 thought, so natural, yet so wild, tinged her cheek 
 and brightened her eye, she surveyed the opening 
 door of her apartment. Those without held a whis- 
 pering consultation ; it seemed as if they hesitated on 
 the very threshold ; but her suspense was not long. 
 Four strangers entered, one by one, silently ar- 
 ranging themselves along the wall. Theirs were not 
 the well known faces of Neapolitan barons ; their 
 limbs were clad neither in the glittering armor nor 
 the silken tunic of the nobles ; she missed even the 
 familiar, dark eye of Italy, which might have spoken 
 some encouragement. Foreigners, Hungarians, 
 hired ruffians ! she read them and their fatal business
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 203 
 
 at a glance, and a sudden sickness of the heart for an 
 instant came upon her. It was not in human nature 
 to look, without apprehension, on death, approaching 
 so unexpectedly, with violence, perhaps with torture. 
 But though she involuntarily pressed her hands to- 
 gether, clasping the crucifix which always hung at her 
 girdle, she neither started up with undignified terror, 
 nor uttered a single ejaculation. Three of the men 
 gazed on her with cold and curious eyes ; she saw no 
 token of sensibility or humanity there, to which she 
 might appeal ; they were of the lowest rank of society, 
 utterly abandoned and inured to crime. Their leader 
 alone appeared embarrassed and unable to meet the 
 eye of Joanna, as if capable of appreciating the mag- 
 nanimity, with which she seemed prepared to encoun- 
 ter her fate. After waiting in vain for him to dis- 
 close his errand, she herself broke silence at last. 
 " You are a stranger to me, a foreigner. Do you 
 speak Italian?" 
 
 The man answered in the affirmative. 
 " Then if your business be with Joanna of Naples, 
 she is before you ; unfold it." 
 
 He still hesitated, looked at the door, at his 
 followers, and began. "Lady, I am not wont to 
 shrink from that which I undertake; but the gold 
 that has bought my services, this day, will be hardly 
 earned. I know not how to look upon you, and re- 
 member the reward that is to banish my poverty."
 
 204 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 " I understand you ; my hour is come. Tell me 
 only by whose order a life of sorrows is to close in 
 blood." The Hungarian shook his head. " You are 
 forbidden to speak a name so high? It is an idle 
 mystery. My prison walls are protection to me against 
 all save one, and his authority alone can admit the 
 hired assassin to my guarded cell. But it is best; 
 the sound of that name, as the sanction of such a 
 deed ! let me not hear it. Would I had died peace- 
 fully on yonder couch, and spared his soul this last 
 leap into sin and misery. I could not have believed, 
 could not have dreamed it! I will not think of 
 it, for the departing spirit should be calm. 
 Stranger, by what mode is it your will that I should 
 pass from this troubled scene of shadows ? " 
 
 " It is the pleasure of those who sent us hither, 
 that no mark of violence remain on your person." 
 
 "I thank them for the unintentional grace; so 
 much of the woman and the Queen remains uncrush- 
 ed, that I should have shrunk from the fierce handling 
 of your ruffians. Alas! idle thought! say on." 
 
 " We are ordered to allow your Majesty a choice 
 between three deaths;" said the man, awed into the 
 use of a term, which had but seldom reached her ear 
 of late. 
 
 She repeated the word sadly after him. " There is 
 but One Majesty, and no mortal eye hath seen that.
 
 JOANNA OP NAPLES. 205 
 
 I rejoice that I have never forgotten it. Go on." 
 The captain pointed without speaking to the pillows 
 of her couch. She understood him, and shuddered. 
 " Suffocation ! that is indeed a death of struggles ! 
 Four men to stifle down the breath of one helpless 
 
 woman! Oh no! no!" " The Castle well is 
 
 deep, it is full of water, but that too is a fearful 
 death ; " said the same man, his aspect softening more 
 and more. 
 
 Joanna paused ; for a moment the innate love of 
 life stirred in her heart. "If yonder misguided 
 Prince should repent ! " said she ; " he was ever the 
 victim of impulse. He is violent as the winds, and 
 as unsteady. Two hours' delay may bring counter- 
 manding orders." 
 
 The man shook his head impatiently, and darted 
 an anxious glance at the door, from whence a harsh 
 voice was heard exclaiming, " Stilicho, speed! 
 speed ! I charge you." The relenting murderer re- 
 membered his price, and hastening to the door re- 
 ceived from the hands of some unseen person a silver 
 cup, which he presented to the Queen, saying in a 
 low voice, " Let this be your choice, it is sure, 
 but quiet." 
 
 " What ! by my own hand ? " 
 
 " If you reject the cup, remember how rudely 
 the deed must be done. There is no escape, no 
 18
 
 206 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 delay possible. Spare me, noble lady, the most 
 hateful part of my vile office. I was not always what 
 I now am ; and my heart once more beats with the 
 feelings of a man. I conjure you, force me not to 
 order those degraded wretches to lay hands upon 
 you." 
 
 " He has chosen his instrument ill," said Joanna, 
 searching the countenance of the Hungarian with a 
 lingering hope. 
 
 " No ; " replied he, averting his face ; " I cannot 
 save you, and time presses." 
 
 Joanna's eyes filled with tears as she took the cup, 
 and said solemnly, " Appear not at the judgment 
 seat against him who has laid this burden on thy soul ! 
 Oh my unhappy, parricidal child ! I bow to the 
 dreadful necessity, and choose as best I may. The 
 deed is not mine ; I only strive to meet, becomingly, 
 the death I cannot avoid. Even in this awful moment, 
 let me not forget to thank him who performs his task 
 with no brutal roughness. Is it forbidden me to hope 
 for the rites of religion 1 Is there no priest sent to 
 shrive the departing soul ? " Stilicho signified to her, 
 that there was not. An expression of bitter disappoint- 
 ment escaped her ; "I would fain have manifested 
 my reverence for religion with the last act of my life. 
 It is well, all is well. There is mercy inexhausti- 
 ble, to which my heart whispers that even the un- 
 shriven sinner may appeal."
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 207 
 
 So saying, she sunk on her knees, lost in devotion. 
 There was no agitation perceptible in her frame ; she 
 seemed about to commend herself calmly to Divine 
 Protection, at the approach of quiet sleep ; and after 
 a brief exercise of the spirit, she again rose with an 
 almost superhuman dignity in her motions. " I am 
 strengthened ; I am ready ! " said she ; and throw- 
 ing back the locks which concealed her countenance, 
 bright already with the hues of immortality, she lifted 
 the cup of poison, and for a moment surveyed the 
 dark liquor it contained, earnestly. As she raised it 
 to her lips, the door opposite opened, and Father 
 Matteo presented himself, haggard with anxiety and 
 impatience, and ready to utter one exclamation of 
 triumphant revenge as he looked on her despair. She 
 paused only to greet him with a smile of celestial 
 sweetness. " Father ! there is no pride, no anger 
 on the grave's brink ! Tell him I forgive him, that 
 I have prayed for him, and may God pardon you 
 all ! " With these words, she drank the deadly liquor 
 to its dregs, and then regarded the group with the 
 same heavenly serenity as before. 
 
 The monk stood cowed, trembling, before her. 
 He had not intended to witness such a scene ; and so 
 unexpected, so unearthly was the aspect of his victim, 
 as she stood full in the stream of red sunlight from 
 the eastern window, which seemed to cast a glory
 
 208 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 round her brows, so touching, yet so sublime was 
 the sweetness of her address to him, that for the first 
 time in his life, he felt that he had a conscience, 
 a fearful thing to deal with; for the first time in his 
 life, the majesty of virtue broke upon his mind. One 
 moment he stood in dumb horror, his knees 
 knocking together, and then turning about, he fled, 
 panic stricken, from the walls of II Muro. His horse 
 had dropped under him at its gates on bis arrival, and 
 he rushed wildly down the mountain on foot, a thou- 
 sand passions making a pandemonium of his breast. 
 His fatal rencounter with Durazzo has been described. 
 For a short space after the departure of the monk, 
 an awful stillness was in the chamber of crime. The 
 three Hungarians, whose services the use of the poi- 
 son had rendered needless, retired at a signal from 
 their leader ; the just risen sun looked in upon the 
 motionless Queen, who had seated herself near the 
 open window ; and with her eyes fixed upon the cru- 
 cifix, appeared again absorbed in mental exercises 
 most fitting her condition ; while Stilicho leaned 
 against the doorway, struggling with the new and 
 strange sentiments of reverence and compassion, 
 which the events of this day had developed in a 
 bosom not entirely hardened. Suddenly Joanna ut- 
 tered a faint cry of pain, putting her hand to her side; 
 but as the Hungarian started involuntarily forward,
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 209 
 
 she smiled sadly and said, " It is gone ; it must 
 return again ; but it is gone for the present. I would 
 say one thing more before my tongue shall lose its 
 office. They have doubtless bound you to secrecy. 
 Keep your vow. A dying woman adjures you to spare 
 the fame of her murderer, for the sake of his inno- 
 cent wife and children. Tell no man that my death 
 arrow came from the hand that should have closed 
 my dying eyes with filial tenderness. Alas, Charles, 
 the draught was sweet compared with the gall of that 
 thought! You promise me? that is well. It is 
 better my people should believe that I sickened, and 
 died, and went calmly to my rest. It is true ; I am 
 ill, I am ill ! would it had been sent of God ; but 
 I can bear it patiently." 
 
 She then leaned against the high-backed chair, and 
 closing her eyes meekly, she pressed the emblem of 
 her faith to her lips ; but another stab of pain soon 
 forced her to moan aloud, and as she looked upward 
 imploringly to heaven, Stilicho saw that her paleness 
 had increased. Falling on his knees before her, he 
 exclaimed, " Let me depart. I cannot bear it. I 
 have looked on death many a time, but not on such 
 as this, let me depart ! " 
 
 Compassionately the Queen turned to the subdued 
 man of guilt, as she answered, " Aye, it is better 
 that you should go. Forbid my women to come 
 18*
 
 210 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 hither till noonday ; then they will find me sleeping 
 indeed. I would that no heart should be wrung by 
 witnessing the sufferings through which I must pass; 
 will they be long, think you ? " 
 
 " I know not," said Stilicho ; " the monk prepared 
 the draught." 
 
 " Why do I ask 1 " added Joanna. " Eternity alone 
 is long : moments and hours are nothing to me now. 
 Oh begone ! these pangs come fast and keen. Re- 
 pent, and be forgiven. Trust not the absolution of 
 priests. Nay; /forgive you, but that too is the for- 
 giveness of frail humanity, of kindred dust. Go; 
 for the venom works fast." Stilicho saw tokens of 
 its dreadful efficiency in the increasing lividness of 
 her complexion and in her dilating eyeballs. He too 
 hurried, shuddering, from her presence ; and Joan- 
 na of Naples was left to struggle alone with death ! 
 
 Half an hour passed away ; she still breathed ; but 
 her limbs were becoming cold and lifeless; stupor 
 was upon her open but dull organs of vision, and her 
 arms hung down powerless by her side; yet con- 
 sciousness had not altogether left her. Her lips 
 moved occasionally, and a gleam of intelligence now 
 and then shot from those orbs, which once beamed 
 light from the pure soul within ; the spirit seemed 
 loth to quit its fair shrine. At last the sacred still- 
 ness was again broken by the sound of approaching
 
 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 211 
 
 footsteps. The dueen heard them ; there was some- 
 thing familiar in the sound. She struggled to rise; 
 and as she sat upright, stiff, and with the counte- 
 nance of a corpse, Charles of Durazzo appeared on 
 the threshold, himself hardly wearing the semblance 
 of a living man, so wan and spectre-like was his 
 aspect. With an unearthly cry he rushed forward 
 and fell at her feet, and then suddenly rising again, 
 exclaimed, " Thon art not dying, thou must not 
 die!" He looked wildly about the apartment, "I 
 see them not ; I see no mark of intrusion here, 
 I am not then too late ! Thou art ill, my mother ? " 
 
 " Aye, ill unto death, Charles ! Thou hast 
 called me back from its shadows ; but they gather, 
 they gather." Her speech faltered, and her sight 
 grew dim again ; but she pointed to the silver cup 
 on the table. Charles looked at it, at his expir- 
 ing benefactress ; there was unutterable anguish on 
 his face, and he covered it with his hands ; but a 
 bright smile irradiated the features of the Queen, as 
 she murmured, " God hath spared my reason, and 
 I see thee mourn thy crime. Could I but have spo- 
 ken one word to my brave husband, to my sweet 
 Margaret ! To die is not dreadful, Charles ! Heav- 
 en hath permitted me to behold thy tears, and I go 
 where there is mercy. I would not return, I 
 would not return ! " The words died inarticulately
 
 212 JOANNA OF NAPLES. 
 
 on her lips, as thus, thoughtful of others to the last, 
 she soothed the sinner's remorse. Charles endeav- 
 ored to support her, when writhing with a sudden 
 return of pain, she attempted to sink on her knees, 
 but in the effort fell heavily forward from his enfeebled 
 arms, and lay dead at the feet of her murderer ! 
 
 The Hungarians had been guided down a shorter 
 path to the valley by some mountaineers ; and when 
 the wretched Durazzo once more reached the monas- 
 tery, a rumor was already circulating, that the Queen 
 had died of a sudden illness. Margaret had heard 
 and understood it ; and shunning her guilty husband, 
 was already on her way to take shelter in a distant 
 convent. Once in her after life, she appears on the 
 page of history, as regent during her son's minority. 
 The young Giovanni, alienated from the master he 
 had loved till so foul a crime repelled the most en- 
 during affection, had fled to Otho, who, cured of his 
 wounds and released from prison, was hurrying to 
 join Louis of Anjou. 
 
 The body of the lamented Joanna lay in state in 
 the church of Santa Chiara, bearing no external 
 mark of violence ; where the tears of a grateful and 
 idolizing people bewailed her unmerited sorrows; 
 and mothers, as they looked on her marble features, 
 thinking that so much beauty, genius, magnanimity, 
 and virtue would never again be vouchsafed to them
 
 JOANNA OP NAPLES. 213 
 
 in the form of an earthly sovereign, read the sol- 
 emn lesson, and forbore to ask of Heaven those ex- 
 ternal advantages for their children, which, even 
 when combined with high moral qualities, had brought 
 to one woman so little felicity. 
 
 But of her assassin, the pen of Fiction shall not 
 tell the tale of retribution. " After a turbulent and 
 unhappy reign of three short years, he deemed him- 
 self securely fixed on the throne of Naples, and pro- 
 ceeded to Hungary to wrest the crown from Maria, 
 the daughter and heiress of Louis of Hungary, the 
 old enemy of Queen Joanna. The young Queen of 
 Hungary, who was then about fifteen, was of a gene- 
 rous, frank, and noble nature; but her mother, the 
 regent Elizabeth, was more than a match for Durazzo 
 in artifice and cruelty. By her machinations, he was 
 decoyed into the apartment of Maria, and while he 
 stood reading a paper, a gigantic Hungarian, secret- 
 ly stationed for that purpose, felled him to the earth 
 with his sabre. His death, however, was not instan- 
 taneous ; he lingered for two days in agonies, neg- 
 lected and abandoned ; at length his enemies, becom- 
 ing impatient of his prolonged existence, and fearful 
 of his recovery, caused him to be suffocated or 
 strangled." 
 
 THE END.

 
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