第15章 CHAPTER III(3)

Many a time,at the close of day,as the breeze from Posilippo or Sorrento coming from far away was playing in his hair,might Bertrand be seen leaning from one of the casements of Castel Nuovo,pale and motionless,gazing fixedly from his side of the square to where the Duke of Calabria and the Duke of Durazzo came galloping home from their evening ride side by side in a cloud of dust.Then the brows of the young count were violently contracted,a savage,sinister look shone in his blue eyes once so innocent,like lightning a thought of death and vengeance flashed into his mind;he would all at once begin to tremble,as a light hand was laid upon his shoulder;he would turn softly,fearing lest the divine apparition should vanish to the skies;but there beside him stood a young girl,with cheeks aflame and heaving breast,with brilliant liquid eyes:she had come to tell how her past day had been spent,and to offer her forehead for the kiss that should reward her labours and unwilling absence.This woman,dictator of laws and administrator of justice among grave magistrates and stern ministers,was but fifteen years old;this man;who knew her griefs,and to avenge them was meditating regicide,was not yet twenty:two children of earth,the playthings of an awful destiny!

Two months and a few days after the old king's death,on the morning of Friday the 28th of March of the same year,1343,the widow of the grand seneschal,Philippa,who,had already contrived to get forgiven for the shameful trick she had used to secure all her son's wishes,entered the queen's apartments,excited by a genuine fear,pale and distracted,the bearer of news that spread terror and lamentation throughout the court:Marie,the queen's younger sister,had disappeared.

The gardens and outside courts had been searched for any trace of her;every corner of the castle had been examined;the guards had been threatened with torture,so as to drag the truth from them;no one had seen anything of the princess,and nothing could be found that suggested either flight or abduction.Joan,struck down by this new blow in the midst of other troubles,was for a time utterly prostrated;then,when she had recovered from her first surprise,she behaved as all people do if despair takes the place of reason:she gave orders for what was already done to be done again,she asked the same questions that could only bring the same answers,and poured forth vain regrets and unjust reproaches.The news spread through the town,causing the greatest astonishment:there arose a great commotion in the castle,and the members of the regency hastily assembled,while couriers were sent out in every direction,charged to promise 12,000ducats to whomsoever should discover the place where the princess was concealed.Proceedings were at once taken against the soldiers who were on guard at the fortress at the time of the disappearance.

Bertrand of Artois drew the queen apart,telling her his suspicions,which fell directly upon Charles of Durazzo;but Joan lost no time in persuading him of the improbability of his hypothesis:first of all,Charles had never once set his foot in Castel Nuovo since the day of his stormy interview with the queen,but had made a point of always leaving Andre by the bridge when he came to the town with him;besides,it had never been noticed,even in the past,that the young duke had spoken to Marie or exchanged looks with her:the result of all attainable evidence was,that no stranger had entered the castle the evening before except a notary named Master Nicholas of Melazzo,an old person,half silly,half fanatical,for whom Tommaso Pace,valet de chambre to the Duke of Calabria,was ready to answer with his life.Bertrand yielded to the queen's reasoning,and day by day advanced new suggestions,each less probable than the last,to draw his mistress on to feel a hope that he was far from feeling himself.

But a month later,and precisely on the morning of Monday the 30th of April,a strange and unexpected scene took place,an exhibition of boldness transcending all calculations.The Neapolitan people were stupefied in astonishment,and the grief of Joan and her friends was changed to indignation.Just as the clock of San Giovanni struck twelve,the gate of the magnificent palace of the Durazzo flung open its folding doors,and there came forth to the sound of trumpets a double file of cavaliers on richly caparisoned horses,with the duke's arms on their shields.They took up their station round the house to prevent the people outside from disturbing a ceremony which was to take place before the eyes of an immense crowd,assembled suddenly,as by a miracle,upon the square.At the back of the court stood an altar,and upon the steps lay two crimson velvet cushions embroidered with the fleur-de-lys of France and the ducal crown.

Charles came forward,clad in a dazzling dress,and holding by the hand the queen's sister,the Princess Marie,at that time almost thirteen years of age.She knelt down timidly on one of the cushions,and when Charles had done the same,the grand almoner of the Duras house asked the young duke solemnly what was his intention in appearing thus humbly before a minister of the Church.At these words Master Nicholas of Melazzo took his place on the left of the altar,and read in a firm,clear voice,first,the contract of marriage between Charles and Marie,and then the apostolic letters from His Holiness the sovereign pontiff,Clement VI,who in his own name removing all obstacles that might impede the union,such as the age of the young bride and the degrees of affinity between the two parties,authorised his dearly beloved son Charles,Duke of Durazzo and Albania,to take in marriage the most illustrious Marie of Anjou,sister of Joan,Queen of Naples and Jerusalem,and bestowed his benediction on the pair.