, fair queen," replied the confidante, fixing an
admiring look on Joan,--"you find me just the opposite, very happy that
I can lay at your feet before anyone else the proof of the joy that the
people of Naples are at this moment feeling. Others perhaps may envy
you the crown that shines upon your brow, the throne which is one of the
noblest in the world, the shouts of this entire town that sound rather
like worship than homage; but I, madam, I envy you your lovely black
hair, your dazzling eyes, your more than mortal grace, which make every
man adore you."

"And yet you know, my Cancha, I am much to be pitied both as a queen and
as a woman: when one is fifteen a crown is heavy to wear, and I have not
the liberty of the meanest of my subjects--I mean in my affections; for
before I reached an age when I could think I was sacrificed to a man
whom I can never love."

"Yet, madam," replied Cancha in a more insinuating voice, "in this court
there is a young cavalier who might by virtue of respect, love, and
devotion have made you forget the claims of this foreigner, alike
unworthy to be our king and to be your husband."

The queen heaved a heavy sigh.

"When did you lose your skill to read my heart?" she cried. "Must I
actually tell you that this love is making me wretched? True, at the
very first this unsanctioned love was a keen joy: a new life seemed to
wake within my heart; I was drawn on, fascinated by the prayers, the
tears, and the despair of this man, by the opportunities that his mother
so easily granted, she whom I had always looked upon as my own mother;
I have loved him.... O my God, I am still so young, and my past is so
unhappy. At times strange thoughts come into my mind: I fancy he no
longer loves me, that he never did love me; I fancy he has been led
on by ambition, by self-interest, by some ignoble motive, and has
only feigned a feeling that he has never really felt. I feel myself a
coldness I cannot account for; in his presence I am constrained, I am
troubled by his look, his voice makes me tremble: I fear him; I would
sacrifice a year of my life could I never have listened to him."

These words seemed to touch the young confidante to the very depths of
her soul; a shade of sadness crossed her brow, her eyelids dropped, and
for some time she answered nothing, showing sorrow rather than surprise.
Then, lifting her head gently, she said, with visible embarrassment--

"I should never have dared to pass s