ank and influence
to obtain a hearing at the court of the Arab Caliph, or at all events of
his viceroy in Africa, and to conceive the idea of calling a foreign
army to execute his private vengeance. It is therefore extremely
improbable that the daughter of such a person should have been seen to
measure and compare the proportions of her legs with those of her
companions in the immediate vicinity of a bridge, necessarily the most
frequented of thoroughfares.

I confess I left the spot filled with disappointment. In vain I
reflected that after all the fact is fact--that the sensual Roderick may
certainly have spied from behind a window-lattice the frolics of some
ladies at their bath; and that, wherever his _espionage_ took place, he
may for that purpose have intentionally procured himself a place of
concealment, and have formed the resolution of possessing one of them.
In fact, it was a matter of indifference to me whether the circumstance
had occurred or not, provided I should ascertain its whereabouts,
supposing it real, instead of merely discovering the spot on which it
did not take place.

Having thus convicted the generally received tradition of deceit,--at
least, in one of its parts,--it became an object to discover some other
version of the story, which might tally in a more satisfactory manner
with present existing proofs. The Arab historians deny the invasion to
have been brought about by any such occurrence; but Mariana, copied by
more recent writers, has either discovered or compiled a very plausible
story, clear in its details, only erroneous in respect of the heroine's
name, which he makes out to be Cava. From this version the bath is
entirely excluded.

According to the custom in Gothic Spain, the sons of the nobles received
their education in the royal palace, and on attaining the age of
manhood, they formed an escort round the sovereign on all expeditions,
whether to the field or the chase. Their daughters were likewise
entrusted to the care of royalty, and attended the person of the Queen,
after having completed their education and instruction in the
accomplishments suited to their sex, under her superintendence. When
these noble damsels could number sufficient summers, their hands were
bestowed according to the royal selection.

Among the attendants of Queen Egilona, was a daughter of Count Julian,
possessed of extreme beauty. Florinda, while playing with her companions
in a garden, situated on the