se of her.' After she
had reposed, therefore, for some days at the castle, and recovered from
the fatigue and terror of the seas, he caused her to be conducted, with
all her train, in magnificent state to the court of Don Roderick.

The beautiful Elyata entered Toledo more like a triumphant sovereign than
a captive. A chosen band of Christian horsemen, splendidly armed, appeared
to wait upon her as a mere guard of honor. She was surrounded by the
Moorish damsels of her train, and followed by her own Moslem guards, all
attired with the magnificence that had been intended to grace her arrival
at the court of Tunis. The princess was arrayed in bridal robes, woven in
the most costly looms of the orient; her diadem sparkled with diamonds,
and was decorated with the rarest plumes of the bird of paradise; and even
the silken trappings of her palfrey, which swept the ground, were covered
with pearls and precious stones. As this brilliant cavalcade crossed the
bridge of the Tagus, all Toledo poured forth to behold it; and nothing was
heard throughout the city but praises of the wonderful beauty of the
princess of Algiers. King Roderick came forth attended by the chivalry of
his court, to receive the royal captive. His recent voluptuous life had
disposed him for tender and amorous affections, and, at the first sight of
the beautiful Elyata, he was enraptured with her charms. Seeing her face
clouded with sorrow and anxiety, he soothed her with gentle and courteous
words, and, conducting her to a royal palace, 'Behold,' said he, 'thy
habitation where no one shall molest thee; consider thyself at home in the
mansion of thy father, and dispose of any thing according to thy will.'

Here the princess passed her time, with the female attendants who had
accompanied her from Algiers; and no one but the king was permitted to
visit her, who daily became more and more enamoured of his lovely captive,
and sought, by tender assiduity, to gain her affections. The distress of
the princess at her captivity was soothed by this gentle treatment. She
was of an age when sorrow cannot long hold sway over the heart.
Accompanied by her youthful attendants, she ranged the spacious apartments
of the palace, and sported among the groves and alleys of its garden.
Every day the remembrance of the paternal home grew less and less painful,
and the king became more and more amiable in her eyes; and when, at
length, he offered to share his heart and throne with h