y my poor
sister; I pity her for becoming so young the prey of a wretched man who
sacrifices her to his own ambition, hoping by this marriage to establish
a claim to the throne. O God! what a strange fate oppresses the royal
house of Anjou! My father's early death in the midst of his triumphs;
my mother's so quickly after; my sister and I, the sole offspring of
Charles I, both before we are women grown fallen into the hands of
cowardly men, who use us but as the stepping-stones of their ambition!"
Joan fell back exhausted on her chair, a burning tear trembling on her
eyelid.

"This is the second time," said Bertrand reproachfully, "that I have
drawn my sword to avenge an insult offered to you, the second time I
return it by your orders to the scabbard. But remember, Joan, the third
time will not find me so docile, and then it will not be Robert of
Cabane or Charles of Durazzo that I shall strike, but him who is the
cause of all your misfortunes."

"Have mercy, Bertrand! do not you also speak these words; whenever this
horrible thought takes hold of me, let me come to you: this threat of
bloodshed that is drummed into my ears, this sinister vision that haunts
my sight; let me come to you, beloved, and weep upon your bosom, beneath
your breath cool my burning fancies, from your eyes draw some little
courage to revive my perishing soul. Come, I am quite unhappy enough
without needing to poison the future by an endless remorse. Tell me
rather to forgive and to forget, speak not of hatred and revenge; show
me one ray of hope amid the darkness that surrounds me; hold up my
wavering feet, and push me not into the abyss."

Such altercations as this were repeated as often as any fresh wrong
arose from the side of Andre or his party; and in proportion as the
attacks made by Bertrand and his friends gained in vehemence--and we
must add, in justice--so did Joan's objections weaken. The Hungarian
rule, as it became more and more arbitrary and unbearable, irritated
men's minds to such a point that the people murmured in secret and the
nobles proclaimed aloud their discontent. Andre's soldiers indulged in a
libertinage which would have been intolerable in a conquered city:
they were found everywhere brawling in the taverns or rolling about
disgustingly drunk in the gutters; and the prince, far from rebuking
such orgies, was accused of sharing them himself. His former tutor,
who ought to have felt bound to drag him away from so igno